State Champ Radio Hip-Hop
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There is no trouble in paradise. At least according to Kid Cudi, who took to X (formerly Twitter) on Sunday (Sept. 10) to defuse rumors that he has had a falling-out with his pal, Wonka star Timothée Chalamet.
After a commenter wrote, “they think u and timmy aren’t friends anymore for some reason — it’s going viral on tiktok,” Cudi, 39, put those rumors — whose origins were not clear at press time — to rest. “What da hell,” Cudi tweeted along with two face palm emoji. “I literally just shouted him out in ‘Most Aint Dennis.’ I spoke to him a few weeks ago. Timmy is my brother til the end of time and beyond I will always ALWAYS love him. We are good. Trust me. Idk where this is comin from but please dont believe the gossip online yall.”
The “Dennis” reference is to a song from Cudi’s upcoming Insano album, on which he raps, “Doin’ movies, TV shows out with Timmy, I’mma burn a pack/ Never fallin’ off, whose the boss? That’s facts.”
Chalamet gave the origin story of their friendship in a 2018 GQ story, in which he described his early struggles in Hollywood after appearing in a small role in the 2014 Christopher Nolan space drama Interstellar. Unsure if he was going to break through, Chalamet got a chance to spend a few hours backstage with his idol at one of Cudi’s shows in Montreal.
“Cudi described his own lows and the single-minded determination that forced him to double down on his efforts to perform his way out of trouble,” the story explained. “Timothée excused himself to run home so he could write down everything he’d heard. He keeps the notes on his phone. The takeaway was: Are you, Timothée, the sort of person who can’t possibly live any other way? ‘F–k yeah.’” Later in the story, Chalamet spontaneously rapped a lengthy Cudi verse for the writer that mentioned the magazine.
That same year, Chalamet nearly lost it on Twitter after finding out that Cudi had called him his favorite actor. “UHMM OKAY STRIKE ME THE FUCK DOWN,” Chalamet tweeted, quoting Cudi’s response to a fan who asked him who is favorite artist of the moment was. The two-way love fest continued from that point, with Chalamet responding with “STAN LEVEL 368483” to Cudi tweeting about Chalamet’s earlier post about his song “My World.”
Cudi celebrated his 35th birthday in 2019 at Nobu in Malibu with Chalamet, Pete Davidson and former friend/collaborator Kanye West (who now goes by just Ye). The bromance reached epic levels in 2021 when Cudi joined former SNL stars Davidson and Chris Redd in s sketch celebrating the underrated “Weird Little Flute” sounds in rap that also featured a cameo from Chalamet dancing with the trio.
Listen to “Most Ain’t Dennis” and see Cudi’s tweet here.
Drake season is quickly approaching, as the 6 God nears the release of his forthcoming album, For All The Dogs. Slated to drop on Sept. 22, the OVO general announced during his Austin tour stop on Monday (Sept. 11) that the project’s first single will drop this week. “I’m even going to say something tonight […]
Cardi B stopped by to chop it up with Andy Cohen on Watch What Happens Live on Monday night (Sept. 11), and, as always, the “Bongos” rapper didn’t hold back when it came to everything from her disappointment in the work ethic of today’s strippers to whether she’d say yes if tapped to perform at the SuperBowl and which famous person has slid into her DMs.
First things first, though, during the call-in segment, a fan asked if Cardi will finally collab with her hero Lil Kim on her upcoming, as-yet-untitled sophomore album. “I really do want one. I’m going through my songs right now,” Cardi said of the long-teased follow-up to smash 2018 debut studio album Invasion of Privacy.
“My thing is, like, everybody be like, ‘If you guys love each other so much why you guys still don’t have a collab?’,” she said in a mocking voice. The truth, Cardi revealed, is that she wants a potential team-up to be so great and undeniable that nobody can judge it and be harsh on them. “I want to make sure that it’s like, the greatest song. But I would love, love, love to do a song with Lil Kim.”
For the record, Cardi said her next album will be finished this year, released next year and might feature some male rapper collabs and will be followed by a tour.
Asked to dream up what her tagline would be if she joined Cohen’s Real Housewives universe, Cardi wasted no time coming up with the perfect, ripped-from-the-headlines quip: “The only thing I throw harder than mics is shade,” she said in reference to the microphone she hurled at a fan who’d tossed a drink on her in Las Vegas earlier this summer.
After turning down a chance to perform at the 2019 Super Bowl with Maroon 5 because of her desire to “stand behind” ex-NFL player Colin Kaepernick, a fan asked if Cardi would reconsider if asked again. “Now I would say yes,” Cardi said. “Things change.”
Cardi — who did time as an exotic dancer before pivoting to rap — also weighed in on what she sees as a lack of work ethic among strippers these days. “What I don’t like is, I feel like back then strippers, like, used to dance a little harder,” she said. “Like now, the girls won’t even climb the pole.” When Cohen wondered if strippers today are phoning it in, Cardi said, “They’re lazy. They’re lazy and I be spending like racks.”
The host and guest then bonded over their mutual love of Madonna, with Cardi explaining that her devotion was born out of her mom’s love for the pop legend. “Growing up I always listened to Madonna, Madonna, Madonna,” she said. “In fact, I asked Megan [Thee Stallion] what is her favorite to-do love song… well, she said she likes to hear yer own ass clappin’… but mine, when I’m a little bit drunk and I’m in there, in there, I like to listen to ‘Erotica,’” she said.
Cardi also shared what her go-to karaoke song is: Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You,” while busting out a few whispery bars of the iconic ballad and confessing that the most famous name to slide into her DMs was tennis champ Serena Williams.
Some other tidbits we learned:
— Cardi’s first concert, and the only one she attended before getting famous, was by Bronx-bred bachata group Aventura, which she went to when she as eight-years-old because her dad knew someone who worked at the venue.
— While playing “Plead the Fifth,” Cardi said out of her nine Grammy nominations, the one she feels most robbed about losing was for best rap song and best rap performance for her breakthrough hit “Bodak Yellow” at the 60th annual ceremony in 2018.
— Since she got her start on Love & Hip-Hop, a fan asked if Cardi would ever do a reality show with husband Offset. “Yeah I wouldn’t mind, but I kind of mind,” Cardi said. “I feel like I would get cancelled every day.”
Cardi also played a round of “Fashion, or Trash, Hun,” running down some of her best and worst red carpet looks, while howling at a few of her weirdest, wildest and most on-point outfits.
Watch Cardi on WWHL below.
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Lil Nas X has always been unabashedly himself, never shying away from being out and proud in a genre that hasn’t always been accepting to the LGBTQ community. The “Industry Baby” rapper also reveals in his new documentary, Lil Nas X: Long Live Montero, that he helped his brother, Tramon Hill, come out as bisexual.
The film — which has its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on Saturday night — includes a scene in which Hill describes how Lil Nas, 24, made him comfortable discussing who he is as well, according to EW. “My brother really opened doors for a lot of people,” Hill says in the film, EW reported. “Yeah, he opened a door for me. What I mean by that, like, I’m not gay, though, you feel me? I’m bisexual. He helped me be real with myself. My brother made me more open to it.”
Later in the movie, Hill says that while he was worried about losing some of his cherished relationships after coming out, Lil Nas helped show him the way again. “If you f–k with me, you f–l with me. If you don’t, you don’t. Bye. Get out of my presence. I don’t need you,” Hill says. “At the end of the day, people are going to f–k with who they f–k with, so stop trying to chase a friend. A friend is going to always be there.”
The film also follows Lil Nas as he hits the road for his debut tour, 2022’s Long Live Montero, hangs with Madonna and faces off against homophobic protesters outside his shows. EW also noted that Lil Nas tells a funny story toward the beginning of the movie about running into How to Get Away With Murder star Viola Davis at the iconic L.A. grocery store Erewhon that did not go as expected.
“I met Viola Davis at an Erewhon, but I don’t think she knew who the f– I was,” Lil Nas says while showing directors Carlos López Estrada and Zac Manuel a photo of David taped to his bedroom wall, which also features images of Taylor Swift, Bad Bunny and Euphoria star Alexa Demie. “I was like, ‘I’m such a big fan,’ and she was like, ‘Oh, thanks,’ and she hurried out the store. It was kind of funny.”
At press time there was no release date yet for the film, whose debut this weekend was delayed by 20 minutes after a bomb threat was called in to the festival; authorities later verified that the threat was not credible.
Offset is keeping his giant Michael Jackson stomach tattoo even though wife Cardi B recently said it makes private time kind of awkward. The “Bongos” rapper stopped by Hot 97 last week to talk to the morning crew and she revealed that the King of Pop does not make things pop for her in the […]
In many ways, the most recent years of Gunna’s career have cast the rap superstar in a number of different narratives — some of them false and some of them true. To some, Gunna is a hero — a true star who was able to launch a formidable comeback album amid his precarious new social standing. To others, he is a villain, the new mascot for snitching. On Saturday night (Sep. 9), during his first headlining performance in two years, Gunna obliterated each and every one of those narratives while simultaneously crafting and cementing his story on his own terms.
Treating Brooklyn, New York’s Barclays Center to a special show titled The Gift, a nod to the first part of the name of his A Gift & A Curse album — which peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 in July — Gunna electrified the arena with an impressively staged, discography-spanning show.
Gunna teamed with PLUS1 and the nonprofit organization Goodr for The Gift. Every $1 per ticket went towards The Goodr Foundation, which, according to its website, “strives to end world hunger by cultivating countless resources.”
A Gift & A Curse served as Gunna’s official follow-up to last year’s Billboard 200 No. 1 album DS4Ever. That record, which spawned memorable hits such as “Pushin P” (with Future and Young Thug) and “P Power” (with Drake), became Gunna’s second consecutive No. 1 album. Primed to become one of the defining hip-hop album eras of 2022, the DS4Ever promotional campaign was cut short in May 2022 when Gunna (alongside Young Thug and 28 other YSL associates) was charged in a 56-count RICO indictment and subsequently turned himself in. After pleading guilty to a single racketeering conspiracy charge last December and receiving a four-year suspended sentence, Gunna was released from jail.
Drawing on imagery informed by Ancient Greece and the Old Testament alike, Gunna tore through a towering set that reminded the arena of his consistent ear for pristine beats, his enviable roster of hits, and his unwavering allegiance to Young Thug and YSL.
To begin his set — which was preceded by brief opening sets from “In The Party” rapper Flo Milli and a remarkably uncharismatic YouTuber-turned-rapper named DDG — Gunna emerged from behind a life-size marble bust of himself toppled onto its side. Donning a gray tank and crystal-studded shorts, Gunna’s entrance was a take on the “phoenix rising from the ashes” trope that only he could deliver. For his first major performance in two years, Gunna arrived completely aware of the gravity of the moment. A video interlude that played before he took the stage traced the imagery of his album covers, eventually landing on the bust that characterized the DS4Ever artwork — his final album before he went to jail.
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With his victorious stance atop the toppled bust, Gunna embraced the blows to his name and reputation and funneled them into a winning display of his live performance capabilities and the quality of A Gift & A Curse. Nonetheless, he smartly balanced all of this by choosing “Back At It,” A Gift A Curse’s breezy no-frills opener, as the first song of his setlist. The packed arena erupted into an avalanche of cheers as the song set the tone for a night anchored by a crisp live band and a determined entertainer who tore through his discography without a backing track.
The first half of The Gift featured a slew of hit singles as well as fan favorites. As Gunna maneuvered around the elaborate set — which also included a life-size marble snake and several large crystalline structures — Gunna delivered renditions of a number of DS4Ever songs, a reminder that although the show was thematically centered around his most recent album, the concert also served as the first live performance of several DS4Ever tracks. With the help of a fantastic drummer and guitarist, Gunna’s performances of “South to West” and “Too Easy” rocked Barclays. For “Poochie Gown,” a gaggle of statuesque women struck poses in flowy gowns as Gunna rapped his way through the track; the staging nodded to the song itself while also casting the women in Muse-adjacent roles in Gunna’s Ancient Greece-inspired production.
Gunna’s first moment of onstage banter came in his introduction of “P Power,” his hit Drake collaboration from DS4Ever. He flirted with the ladies in the crowd before launching into a lively rendition of the X-rated track. In terms of crowd engagement, classic Gunna reigned supreme; the lyrics of “Drip or Drown” and “Pedestrian” ricocheted across the arena with notable intensity. The best part of the first half of the show — besides the incredibly dope skull-adorned microphone stand — was when Gunna recreated his viral A Colors Show performance of “Top Off,” complete with a hanging mic.
To introduce the second half of the show, yet another video interlude played on the massive screens behind Gunna and his band. This time, documentary-style footage provided the first real glimpses into Gunna’s psyche regarding the aftermath of the YSL RICO indictment, his stint in jail, and the thorny intricacies of his post-release life. “I don’t think we talk,” a voice advises Gunna over the phone, “We put out the music.” The interlude also included snippets of what appeared to be conversations between Gunna and his mother — tender moments in which she encourages him to keep pushing despite the difficulties he’s facing. The montage showcased a clearly despondent Gunna packing bowls of weed, ruminating on the way his world unraveled, and figuring out how to pick up the pieces and rise from the rubble.
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From there, the second half of The Gift launched into the stronger and more memorable A Gift & A Curse tracks, as well as his borderline bulletproof litany of collaborations with Young Thug and Lil Baby. Album standouts “Back To the Moon” and “Bread & Butter” sounded even more lush and layered in their live arrangements; both songs cut much deeper with the added emotional context of the preceding interlude. Gunna performed the beginning of the latter half of his set on an elevated platform adorned with a combination of floral greenery and skulls à la the Gift & A Curse album cover — a move that highlighted the thematic throughline of the show’s art direction. For this part of his set, Gunna opted for an outfit change: gray-black jeans paired with a black top that recalled the obsidian wings of fallen angels. Before launching into a medley of Young Thug collaborations, Gunna flashed a “Free Jeffrey” graphic across the screens, and performances of “Hot,” “Ski,” “Oh Okay,” Billboard Hot 100 top 10 hit “Pushin P” (No. 7), and an exclamation of “Free Slime!” soon followed.
The final act of The Gift featured the two biggest hits from Gunna’s last record. “Fukumean,” which became the highest-charting solo song of Gunna’s career on the Hot 100 (No. 4), roared through the arena, cementing its status as not only one of the most beloved anthems of the year but also an immediate staple in Gunna’s live shows. “Rodeo Dr,” which recently got a cheeky, cinematic music video, elicited even stronger crowd reactions. Shirtless and charged with a new level of urgency and adrenaline, Gunna’s grit and gratitude illuminated Barclays on Saturday night. “I love the f— out of y’all, I swear to God,” he said. “This s— is crazy.”
And crazy it was. For an artist who saw pop culture at its most fickle while at the height of his career, Gunna’s awe was far from contrived. If anything, it was a genuine reclamation of his narrative. By drawing on various pieces of religious imagery, Gunna was able to reassert his own humanity. As triumphant as his return was, he made the admirable decision to not gloss over the hurt, pain, and depression of the past year — and that emotional depth helped add smart pockets of nuance to an already well-staged and well-produced performance. A true gift indeed.
Vice President Kamala Harris on Saturday (Sept. 9) hosted a celebration of hip-hop’s 50th anniversary with appearances by some of the music genre’s pioneers and stars. Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news Common, Jeezy, MC Lyte and Roxanne Shante were among the hip-hop artists invited to join Harris for the […]
SZA is sharing details about the upcoming deluxe version of her chart-topping 2022 album, SOS.
During her album celebration event at New York’s Brooklyn Navy Yard on Friday (Sept. 8), the 33-year-old Grammy winner announced that she’ll be releasing a deluxe version of her groundbreaking sophomore album, featuring seven to 10 new tracks.
“So the deluxe is like a whole ‘nother album, and it’s called Lana. It’s seven to 10 songs, and it’ll be out this fall,” SZA is heard saying in a fan-captured video at the show.
The TDE singer-songwriter, whose real name is Solána Rowe, performed unreleased tracks and fan favorites during the exclusive show in Brooklyn. The event also included a surprise appearance from Ice Spice, according to People.
“Heads up, we don’t actually have a plan,” SZA reportedly said at the event. “We’re just playing some songs off the deluxe, and we’re just gonna play a couple of songs you already know. It was really just — I just wanted to do something for free that was a vibe ’cause I was here in town. Literally there’s no other point to this whatsoever.”
Upon its release in December 2022, SOS debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, becoming her first chart-topper. With more than 400 million streams in the U.S. during its release week, the set became the second-largest streaming week for a female artist and third-largest of 2022 among all albums.
SOS also enjoyed a non-consecutive 10-week run atop the Billboard 200. During that time, SZA launched the aptly titled SOS Tour, which grossed $34.5 million and sold 238,000 tickets, according to Billboard Boxscore.
In late August, SZA shared the music video for “Snooze,” which features some of today’s hottest male stars, including Justin Bieber and Benny Blanco. The SOS track notched SZA her second No. 1 on Billboard’s R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay in July.
The calendar says September, but Megan Thee Stallion and Cardi B are clearly not ready to give up their Hot Girl Summer in the new video for their latest joint single, “Bongos.” The Technicolor extravaganza that dropped on Friday (Sept. 8) is filled to bursting with a rainbow of high-fashion looks, shoes so impossibly stacked that even Lady Gaga would have trouble balancing in them and, of course, lyrics that will keep censors working overtime.
For their first collab since 2020’s Billboard Hot 200 No. 1 smash “WAP,” the pair tapped Ukrainian director Tanu Muino (Lil Nas X, Lizzo, Harry Styles), who kicks things off with a shot from behind of dancers in brightly colored bathing suits bouncing along to the song’s hypnotic “bong, bong, bong” refrain as they balance on beachside chaise lounges on geometrically shaped high heels.
After a quick glimpse of Cardi laying in the sand in a purple and pink bikini with a gigantic furry matching hat, the “Jealousy” rapper struts her stuff in Carnival-like blue, pink and yellow flamingo headdresses and matching bathing suits for a mansion full of men in bikinis as she busts out the song’s provocative first verse. “N—a eats this a– like a plum/ This p—y tight like a nun/ Better chew it up like it’s gum/ Then wipe your mouth when you’re done,” she raps over the song’s insistent beat.
“I’m hot like Nevada/ P—y get popped, piñata/ B–ch, I look like money/ You could print my face on a dollar,” Cardi adds before the “Beat it up (bong bong bong bong)” refrain comes around and Cardi twerks in front of an open fridge while rocking a burgundy string bikini and matching cascading braids.
Cardi warned fans in a preview DJ Whoo Kid interview that fans shouldn’t expect the “Bongos” video to serve up the same energy she and Meg brought in the eye-popping “WAP” clip, but the two definitely share a similar high-fashion, all-the-colors-of-the-rainbow aesthetic, minus the latter’s celeb (and big cat) cameos, of course.
Cardi kicks off the second “Bongos” verse modeling one of her wildest outfits ever, a body-hugging paisley bodysuit that matches the pattern on a couch she grinds her hips on while dissing unnamed “dusty-a– hoes.” After Cardi’s surfside hip-swiveling routine with a half dozen dancers, Megan gets her spot, entering the action in a provocative green monokini and matching headdress while posing on a diving board.
“This a– sit like the stallion/ All these wannabes my lil’ ponies/ These hoes camped out in the comments/ Always talkin’ like they know me/ Thick b—hes in the black truck, packed in,” Meg raps before busting out her own routine on a swim-up platform in front of a massive mansion while bragging about a purse so big “had to treat it like a person.”
And while Cardi promised Whoo Kid the video was “intricate [and] beautiful” and that it had a “different theme” than the “WAP” visual, don’t worry, there are still plenty of be-thonged butts shaking throughout, as well as a Bollywood-style section where Cardi, Megan and their dancers rock the sand in bright, gauzy outfits featuring billowing material on their hips fanned out like wings.
Along the way the pair pose provocatively on a strip-club-worthy oceanside jungle gym before Cardi steals the show with a final, over-the-top look that includes a flowing curly copper wig, enormous orange and purple earrings and foot-high chunky heels that would make an acrobat topple over.
Watch the “Bongos” video below.
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A man was shot and critically wounded during a Lil Baby show at the FedEx Forum in Memphis, TN on Thursday night (Sept. 7) according to an Associated Press report. According to a statement posted by the Memphis Police Department, officers responded to reports of a shooting at the venue at 10:23 p.m., with “one adult male shooting victim [was] located and transported to Regional One Health in critical condition.”
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At the time of the tweet from the Memphis PD, the identity of the shooter was unknown and no other injuries were reported in the incident during Baby’s It’s Only Us tour, which also features The Kid Laroi and Glorilla. At press time a spokesperson for Lil Baby had not returned Billboard‘s request for additional comment on the shooting.
The venue released a statement on the shooting, saying, “A person was shot tonight at FedExForum during the Lil Baby concert. The incident is under investigation and we are fully cooperating with the Memphis Police Department.”
WREG 3 reported that Baby (born Dominique Armani Jones), 28, was performing and had to be rushed off the stage after the shots were fired in the venue. “I heard a pop,” concert attendee Clarissa Johnson told the station. “I’m not sure what happened but I had a suite, so I told all my crew, ‘get down.’ So we evacuated. Once we evacuated, did a head count. I’m still not sure what happened. It’s not so sweet tonight, though.”
Memphis Police said the shooting took place on the first floor of the 19,000-seat arena that is home to the NBA’s Memphis Grizzlies; concertgoers reportedly told WREG that the shots were fired during the first 30 minutes of Baby’s headlining set, after which the venue was evacuated. MPD public information officer Sgt. Louis Brownlee told the Commercial Appeal that it was unknown if the shooter and victim knew each other, how many times the victim was shot or how many shots were fired.
Brownlee also said it was not clear how the firearm got into the venue; the venue requires concert attendees to go through a metal detector while entering.
Baby was scheduled to play the KFC YUM! Center in Louisville, KY on Friday night (Sept. 8), but the venue announced that the gig had been cancelled with no explanation, with refunds available at point of purchase. At press time it appeared the rapper’s show at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville on Saturday night (Sept. 9) would go on as scheduled.
See the Memphis PD statement below.
