R&B/Hip-Hop
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On July 13, 2019, Blanco Brown’s “The Git Up” began a 12-week reign on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart.
Brown’s debut entry, released as the first single from his album Honeysuckle & Lightning Bugs, was sparked by a viral dance challenge on TikTok and YouTube. He helped spur the craze by personally posting a tutorial.
“I grabbed spoons, tambourine, anything I could find that made a nice sound,” Brown told Billboard in 2019 of solely writing “The Git Up.” “When I got finished, it was so full of joy. I was doing the dance as I was writing it. I said, ‘This is going to be a song that makes people dance and brings joy.’ ”
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While the single marked Brown’s first hit as a recording artist, he had previously produced songs for pop acts including Chris Brown, Fergie and Pitbull.
Brown followed “The Git Up” with “Just the Way,” his collaboration with Parmalee that led Country Airplay in March 2021 and hit No. 3 on Hot Country Songs.
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In 2020, Brown, who hails from Athens, Ga., was involved in a motorcycle accident, breaking his wrists, arms, legs and pelvis, resulting in a 12-hour surgery. “I was broken, but it didn’t break my spirit,” he told Billboard in his first interview after the accident six months later.
In June, Brown released a four-song EP, Cedar Walls & Whiskey. “I’m gonna keep on manifesting everything I do in life,” he mused to Billboard at the 2024 ACM Awards on May 16. “I’m gonna stay positive no matter what and just keep thriving and striving to get where I need to go.”
It has been a long time since LL Cool J grabbed the mic. How long? One of the most beloved MCs of all-time has been away for the game for such an extended period that some newer fans might only know him as the host of the Grammy Awards (2012-2016) and that jacked guy from Hawaii Five-O and NCIS: Hawai’i.
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He is, of course, a Grammy- and Billboard Music Award-winning rap legend and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame honoree who has merely taken a powder from his MC duties to pursue some other interests for the past decade-plus.
That pause will end on September 6, however, when LL drops his 14th studio album, THE FORCE (Frequencies of Real Creative Energy), via Def Jam Recordings/Virgin Music Group. In an interview with the Associated Press, LL said that while he’s always “tinkered around” in the studio, over the past few years he felt more inspired before hitting a wall with the producer he was working with on new music.
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“I just felt like the tracks that this producer was giving me were better than the songs that I was writing,” he said. When late A Tribe Called Quest member Phife Dawg appeared to him in a dream, LL said he got an inspirational message from beyond. “He told me, ‘Yo, man, that new music you’re working on is great, man.’ But he had a look on his face like a Cheshire cat, like he was lying to me.”
That wake-up call led to LL tapping fellow ATCQ rapper Q-Tip, who produced the entire album and made all the beats. Inspired again, LL said that it had been so long that he needed to brush up on his mic technique. The process required, “going back to the drawing board and learning how to rap again … making sure I was really inspired by the things I was saying. That’s why there isn’t a lot of fluff on this album. The LeBrons, the Stephs, the Jordans and the Kobes, they all go back to the drawing board, they always try to make themselves better. I wasn’t trying to do trendy, and I wasn’t trying to recapture anything I did before.”
The rapper also released the track list for the anticipated 14-track album on Friday morning (July 12). Among the guests joining him on the collection are: Snoop Dogg (“Spirit of Cyrus”), Rick Ross and Fat Joe (“Saturday Night Special”), Sona Jobarteh (“Black Code Suite”), Saweetie (“Proclivities”), Busta Rhymes (“Huey in Da Chair”), Nas (“Praise Him”), Eminem (“Murdergram Deux”) and Mad Squablz, J-S.A.N.D. and Don Pablito (“The Vow”).
According to a press release, the album covers a number of relevant topics, touching on “themes like racial injustice, law enforcement abuses, isolation and observations brought on by the pandemic, legacy, and musings on LL’s place in the canon, while remaining vital, fun, and some of LL’s most urgent lyrical work.”
After previously dropping the album’s first single, the Ross and Joe collab “Saturday Night Special,” Friday also saw the release of the bubbling single “Passion.”
Check out the full track list for THE FORCE here and watch the “Passion” video below.
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Yep, he’s back. Shady’s back, tell a friend. Eminem returned on Friday (July 12) to deliver his highly-anticipated The Death of Slim Shady (Coup De Grâce) album. The new LP marks Em’s first album since 2020’s Music to Be Murdered By as he seeks a 10th consecutive chart-topper on the Billboard 200. Mere hours before […]
Ye (formerly known as Kanye West) and Ty Dolla $ign’s collaborative album Vultures 1 mysteriously vanished from Spotify just before midnight on July 11, only to re-appear several hours later without explanation.
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The album, which has had a tumultuous release history, remained available on Apple Music, but its sudden disappearance from Spotify left fans and industry insiders puzzled for several hours until it reappeared on the streaming platform.
Vultures 1 has been embroiled in issues from its inception, including delays and canceled listening events.
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The album was first removed from Apple Music and iTunes just five days after its release on February 10. On Feb. 15, it returned to Apple Music without explanation.
The album’s distributor, FUGA, had initially declined to release the project, only for it to be delivered through the platform’s automated processes by a long-standing client, violating FUGA’s service agreement.
This led to the album’s temporary removal as FUGA worked with DSP partners to rectify the situation.
The project then faced its first streaming issues on Feb. 14, when Spotify removed “Good (Don’t Die)” from its platform due to claims of “copyright infringement” made by Donna Summer’s estate. The song was later also removed from Amazon Music.
Despite the drama, Vultures 1 debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart on February 24, marking Kanye West’s 11th career No. 1 album and Ty Dolla $ign’s first. The album accumulated 148,000 equivalent album units in its first week in the U.S., according to Luminate data.
Billboard has reached out to Spotify for clarification. However, a few hours later, the album was reinstated, suggesting the disappearance might have been due to a glitch.
The incident follows recent speculation about West’s career. Earlier this week, Rich The Kid shared an alleged text from West claiming he was “retiring from professional music.”
“I am retiring from professional music Not sure what else to do,” Ye wrote in the message while seemingly caught in a state of uncertainty.
Rich replied trying to convince him otherwise: “Retire? Why? How? The ppl NEED you the music you & Ty & we have made the BIGGEST STAMP in culture to this date in 2024. Drop Ye about mine & V2 and we do it all over again the kids need you big bra fasho maybe some time to chill but retiring ain’t it.”
However, Rich The Kid later posted that West would be featured on his upcoming album Life’s A Gamble, set for release on July 19.
The “New Freezer” rapper deleted the text message exchange featuring Ye’s alleged retirement from his Instagram Story about a half-hour after originally posting it.
Shady’s back, back again. Eminem returned to unleash his 12th studio album on Friday (July 12) with The Death of Slim Shady (Coup De Grâce). The LP boasts 19 tracks and includes previously released singles “Houdini” and “Tobey” featuring Big Sean and BabyTron, along with a sequel to 1999’s “Guilty Conscience” with Dr. Dre. Eminem […]
Serena Williams may have gotten the last laugh against Drake. On Thursday night (July 11), Williams hosted the 2024 ESPY Awards and, during her monologue, made a joke referencing the feud between Kendrick Lamar and Drake, where she poked fun at the OVO MC.
“If I’ve learned anything this year, it’s that none of us, not a single one of us, not even me, should ever pick a fight with Kendrick Lamar,” quipped Williams before breaking out and dancing to Lamar’s “Not Like Us.” “He will make your hometown not like you. The next time Drake sits courtside at a Raptors game, they’re going to Forrest Gump him. Seats taken.”
In 2022, Drake fired shots at Williams’ husband and co-founder of Reddit, Alexis Ohanian, rapping on “Middle of the Ocean”: “Sidebar, Serena, your husband a groupie. “He claim we don’t got a problem but no, boo, it’s like you comin’ for sushi/ We might pop up on ’em at will like Suzuki.”
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Ohanian responded to the Her Loss track on social media: “The reason I stay winning is because I’m relentless about being the best at whatever I do – including being the best groupie for my wife & daughter.” Williams and Drake do have history, as it was reportedly rumored that the two dated in 2015.
Lamar also came to Serena’s defense on “Not Like Us” when he stood up for his fellow West Coast native. “I’m glad DeRoz’ came home, y’all didn’t deserve him neither / From Alondra down to Central, nigga better not speak on Serena,” he rapped.
Earlier this week, Williams spoke on “Not Like Us” and dubbed it the song of the summer. “I love that song. It’s like the hit of the summer,” she said. “When they play that jam, I’m jamming. That jam is jamming.”
Watch the video of Williams clowning on Drake at the 2024 ESPYs below.
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Ice Spice and Central Cee join forces on their first collab “Did It First,” which dropped on Thursday (July 11). “If he’s cheatin’, I’m doin’ him worse (Like)/ No Uno, I hit the reverse (Grrah)/ I ain’t trippin’, the grip in my purse (Grrah)/ I don’t care, ’cause he did it first (Like)/ If he’s […]
Houston rapper Travis Scott and baseball legend Ken Griffey Jr. are in a new spot teasing a collaboration for Nike Diamond — the sneaker company’s baseball division. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news The commercial features Scott at the plate taking batting practice while hitting baseballs with […]
Travis Scott and Ice Spice have a collaboration on the way. La Flame brought out the “Deli” rapper during his London concert on Thursday night (July 11) for the live debut of the unreleased and still-untitled track. Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news Footage emerged of Ice Spice […]
Cash Cobain is up to his old antics again. The Bronx rapper and producer has been known to post snippets of songs he’s making on social media. Sometimes he releases the finished product, sometimes he doesn’t. So there’s no telling if he will ever officially drop his remix of Laila!’s viral “Not My Problem” song. […]