State Champ Radio Hip-Hop
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With so many Hollywood movies on ice as the strike by actors drags on into the fall, Busta Rhymes is prepping his own blockbuster. Actually, make that Blockbusta, the MC’s 11th solo studio album, which is due out on Black Friday, Nov. 24.
Busta announced the project in a video posted on his socials on Monday (Oct. 23), in which he held a Zoom sit-down with the project’s four AAA-list super producers: Pharrell Williams, Timbaland and Swizz Beatz. “This project right here is executive produced by the f—ing committee,” Swizz said in the clip. “Pharrell the Pharaoh, Timbo the King, Swizz Beatz the student.”
Timbaland gave thanks for the Transformers-like gathering of production legends, telling Busta that he is, “so grateful that you chose me to be a part of your legacy.” Pharrell also gave some insight into the project, whose track list has not yet been released.
“You really feel illuminated,” Skateboard P said of the collection that also lists Busta as an exec producer. “This illumination is good because I think people gonna be able to get and feel that.” Timbaland had a one-word description for the follow-up to Busta’s 2020 sequel album, Extinction Level Event 2: The Wrath of God, which featured guest spots from Eminem, Kendrick Lamar, Rick Ross, Mary J. Blige, Ol’ Dirty Bastard, Anderson .Paak, Mariah Carey and more.
“Timeless,” Tim said, as Swizz scatted, “The Blockbusta, Busta Rhymes…zaa zaa za, zone, zone, zone.” The clip ends with a volcano erupting the album’s title into the sky.
In September, Busta dropped the “Luxury Life” single featuring Coi Leray and last week he teased a new single, “Chooky,” featuring Elesia Limura and O.T.; at press time it was unclear if either song will be featured on the new album.
Check out Busta’s Blockbusta announcement below.
On Monday (Oct. 23), Ty Dolla $ign announced a “multi stadium listening event” for his reported joint album with Kanye West. The simple IG announcement — the lone post on Ty’s otherwise-wiped-clean account — has a black background with white text that shows the yen “Y” symbol with a dollar-sign symbol and the words “multi […]
Cardi B gave husband Offset props this weekend for being his own man and inspiring her to do things her way. “So proud of my baby!!,” Cardi wrote on Sunday evening (Oct. 22) of the Migos member and solo star.
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“Going against all odds… leaving his label, starting fresh, staying focused determined and not letting nothing break him… he did that!” she added. The “Bongos” MC then cryptically added, “MY TURN.”
At press time spokespeople for Offset and his former label, Quality Control, had not returned Billboard‘s request for comment.
Back in August, Offset ended his lawsuit against Quality Control Music, the label that helped launch him and the Migos into superstardom. TMZ reported at the time that Offset would not work with QC moving forward as a solo artist and that “all disputes and differences were smoothed over.” A year earlier, the MC born Kiari Cephus filed paperwork in Los Angeles seeking a declaratory judgement “that Quality Control has no rights, title, or interest in or to Offset’s recordings” since he bought out his deal with the company in 2021. He alleged at the time that despite buying the rights to his solo works, QC continued to claim ownership over his recordings.
Billboard previously reported that Offset signed a production agreement with Quality Control in 2013 that covered his work in Migos and as a solo artist. According to court documents, as of January 15, 2021, Offset “negotiated a deal in which he reclaimed the rights to his own solo recording and songwriting from Quality Control,” and the new arrangement made the star the “sole owner of all rights, title, and interest in and to his services as a solo recording artist, entertainer, and songwriter.”
A judge formally dismissed Offset and QC’s suits against each other on August 16.
Despite that agreement, Offset claimed that QC continued to assert an ownership interest in his 2022 single “54321,” even though the track was credited to his then label, Motown Records; he is currently signed to Capitol Records.
Cardi has been teasing the long-in-process follow-up to her 2018 major label debut album, Invasion of Privacy, for much of this year, with no formal release date set at press time.
See Cardi’s tweet below.
So proud of my baby!! Going against all odds… leaving his label, starting fresh, staying focused determined and not letting nothing break him… he did that! ❤️ MY TURN.— Cardi B (@iamcardib) October 22, 2023
Just three shows into her tour in support of the 25th anniversary of her landmark debut solo Ms. Lauryn Hill has had to temporarily hit pause on her celebratory The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill outing. The Fugees MC and solo star posted a note on her socials on Sunday night (Oct. 22) informing fans in […]
The Doggfather only turns 52 one time, so it was fitting that when Snoop Dogg celebrated his half century plus two that his Step Brothers were on hand to give him his flower(s). At Saturday night’s Best Night of Your Life 2 Benefit, Snoop took the stage with host Will Ferrell and the actor’s Step […]
Travis Scott seemed to be looking out for his fans at a recent stop in Dallas, Texas, where he brought his Utopia Circus Maximus Tour earlier this week.
A clip from the Oct. 18 show, which was filmed by someone in the audience, has started circulating around social media. In the short video, a fan in the crowd falls to the ground while there appears to be an interaction with security.
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“One thing you not gonna do, you not gonna kick a fan out,” Scott called out from Dallas’ American Airlines Center stage as the music turned down. “You not gonna do that, brother. You’re not gonna do that. You back up. You back up, brother. She’s just enjoying herself. You back the f— up. Let her just have a good time.”
“That’s a female,” he said. “You don’t grab a female like that, OK?”
The security guard in question shook hands with the fan the rapper defended, who stood up on a platform for a moment to hype up the crowd, and then went back down to the floor.
Last week, Scott postponed a date of the tour at the last minute. According to local reports, he played a sold-out show at the PNC Arena in Raleigh, N.C., on Oct. 13, but when concertgoers arrived at the arena for his second show at PNC the following night, they were told it had just been called off. The arena told fans to hold on to their tickets, which will be honored at a to-be-determined future date.
Watch him call out a security guard at the Dallas show below, plus check out a performance clip Scott posted on Instagram. He heads to Denver, Colorado, for his next tour date on Oct. 22.
Happy birthday to Doja Cat! The “Paint the Town Red” hitmaker asked for birthday greetings on Saturday (Oct. 21), but she already got a pretty good gift before her actual birthday: Usher serenading her in Las Vegas.
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Usher gave all his attention to Doja Cat at his Vegas residency Friday night while singing the sexy “There Goes My Baby,” off of the 2010 album Raymond v. Raymond, which hit No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart that year.
“Ooh girl,” he sang, taking her hand. “You don’t know how good it feels to call you my girl/ There goes my baby/ There she goes, and she goes, and she goes and she goes.”
“Loving everything you do,” the “Good Good” singer crooned, then let the audience take over for “Ooh girl, look at you” as the pair danced.
“Doja Cat, ladies and gentlemen,” Usher, who’s in the midst of his My Way residency at Vegas’ Dolby Live, announced to the crowd.
He even improvised a bit, switching his lyric about “heels” to “stilettos: “Bet you ain’t know that I was checking you out when you was putting your stilettos on/ Swear your body’s so perfect, baby, how you work it baby/ I love the way that you be poking it out.”
Doja Cat released her latest album, Scarlet, in September. It rose to No. 4 on the Billboard 200 upon release.
Usher continues with his residency through early December.
Coming Home, the Atlanta superstar’s upcoming ninth album, will arrive the same day as his Super Bowl Halftime Show on Feb. 11, 2024.
Watch Usher singing to Doja Cat below.
Shygirl has canceled her upcoming co-headlining tour with Tinashe due to health issues. The U.K. rapper took to social media on Friday (Oct. 20) to reveal that she was “heartbroken” to call off the 13-date North American trek because of a respiratory condition. “Devastated to share that due to an ongoing respiratory condition I’ve been […]
While a herd of GOP candidates are trying to overcome seemingly insurmountable odds to unseat Donald Trump as the Republican who will take on President Joe Biden in next year’s election, there is now at least one no-chance campaign you can scratch off the list.
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Kanye West‘s personal attorney, Bruce Marks, told Rolling Stone on Thursday (Oct. 19) that the rapper who now goes by just Ye will not throw his hat in the ring a second time. “He’s not a candidate for office in 2024,” said Marks, who is reportedly working on winding down the rapper’s campaign, seemingly before it even got started.
An October Federal Election Commission filing by Ye’s Kanye 2020 political committee showed that the campaign had allocated zero dollars for primary expenditures in all 50 states and U.S. territories in the most recent reporting period from January to September of this year; it also appeared to show that the campaign raised zero dollars in the most recent reporting period and had less than $25,000 cash-on-hand.
At press time Marks had not returned Billboard‘s request for comment on the winding-down of Ye’s presidential bid.
West’s once formidable music and fashion career melted down last year after the rapper went on a hateful string of antisemitic rants. He has kept a low profile since then and the news of his halted second bid for the White House is not surprising giving the anemic showing of his first run.
Ye announced the launch of his long-shot presidential campaign under the “Birthday Party” banner on July 4, 2020, so late in the game that he managed to get on the ballot in just 12 states. With only one campaign appearance and two 11th hour video ads, despite what could have been a major pop culture megaphone and built-in audience of millions, West’s vote totals in the election between one-term president Donald Trump and President Joe Biden resulted in a grand total of 60,000 votes after the rapper reportedly pumped $9 million of his own money into the failed bid.
The most recent Ye presidential campaign got off to a rocky start in May when British right-wing political commentator Milo Yiannopoulos proclaimed that he was the “director of political operations” for the “YE24” campaign; RS reported that Yiannopoulos — whom the Anti Defamation League has dubbed a “misogynistic, racist, xenophobic, transphobic troll” — is no longer on Ye’s political payroll. The magazine also reported that there were serious questions raised earlier this year about whether it was even legal to hire a foreign national to work in a decision-making role in an American political campaign.
An unnamed source also reportedly told the magazine that the unpredictable MC could change him mind, but that “there’s no plan to do that… there’s no campaign structure or anything along those lines in place,” dubbing chances of a possible reboot of the campaign as “beyond remote.”
At press time it did not appear as if Ye had commented on the report about his reportedly scotched bid.
Drake is celebrating his 37th birthday with a red hot giveaway. The For All the Dogs MC has teamed up with Dave’s Hot Chicken for a worldwide stunt in which the chain will give every fan a free hot chicken slider or tender in Drizzy’s honor. “?BIG NEWS?We’re collaborating with @champagnepapi to celebrate his birthday… AGAIN ? […]
