R&B/Hip-Hop

Jay-Z will be splitting eights and doubling down on 11 at the blackjack table this weekend.Hov and Michael Rubin are hosting an invite-only blackjack tournament in Atlantic City on Sunday (Sept. 15), reps for the Fanatics CEO confirmed to Billboard. (Page Six was first to report the news.)

Per a press release, it’s all going down at the Ocean Casino Resort in celebration of the grand opening of the new Fanatics Sportsbook, which Jay-Z co-founded and co-owns. Fanatics VIPs and star-studded guests will have the chance to mingle in the sportsbook while watching the early slate of NFL games on Sunday before the blackjack tournament gets going later on, which will reportedly feature both Jay and Rubin, with a grand prize of $250,000 going to the winner.

Last year, Rubin and Jay teamed up to host another high-profile blackjack tournament at the same hotel in Atlantic City. The Reform Alliance event saw celebrities in attendance ranging from Jack Harlow to Kim Kardashian and actor Matthew McConaughey.

Jay-Z revived his 40/40 Club at Michael Rubin’s inaugural Fanatics Fest NYC, which brought a reimagined version of the classy sports-themed lounge to the Javits Center in August. Athletes such as Carmelo Anthony and Tom Brady, along with artists such as Quavo and Travis Scott, made appearances throughout the weekend in August.

The celebrity blackjack tournament will serve as Jigga’s first public outing since the NFL announced that Kendrick Lamar is slated to hit the stage at Super Bowl LIX as the Halftime Show’s headlining act.

Jay-Z has been a co-producer of the Halftime Show since Roc Nation struck a partnership deal in 2019, and he’s faced some backlash from Nicki Minaj, Cam’ron, Master P and more for not having Lil Wayne perform at the big game in his hometown next year.

It’s not every day that you wake up to a loving shout-out from one of the planet’s biggest pop stars. But that’s where Bay City, Texas rapper That Mexican OT is right now after Beyoncé gave him a loud and proud stamp of approval in an email interview with GQ in which the “Texas Hold ‘Em” superstar said she’s a huge fan of the “Johnny Dang” MC.

“THANK YU!!! [prayer hands emoji] @Beyonce & S/O TO HOUSTON,” OT — whose stage name is short for Outta Texas — tweeted on Tuesday along with the iconic GIF of Flavor of Love‘s Tiffany Pollard incredulously saying “BEYONCE?” to a fellow contestant who thinks she looks like the global icon.

In the interview, Bey was asked which music and movies/TV are inspiring her right now and noted that she respects “all of the female singers-songwriters who are out right now,” while mentioning Raye, Victoria Monét, Sasha Keable, Chloe x Halle, and Reneé Rapp, as well as Doechii and GloRilla. Then came the the nod that put him over the edge. “I just heard That Mexican OT, he’s from Houston…. He goes hard!,” she said in reference to the fellow Houstonian whose 2023 breakthrough hit “Johnny Dang” hit No. 65 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Last year, the rapper told Billboard that breakthrough hit is not only an homage to Slick Rick’s signature flow on his 1989 top 5 Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart classic “Children’s Story,” but also a nod to Queen Bey herself. “Dang,” he said, is also a nod to the sought-after Texas jeweler of the same name, who appears in the song’s video, who has created flashy chains and grills for artists including Migos, Nicki Minaj, Travis Scott and, of course, Beyoncé.

Check out That Mexican OT’s tweet below.

Kendrick Lamar is standing on business. Lamar returned with his first song since the nuclear “Not Like Us” Drake diss on Wednesday (Sept. 11).

As of press time, the track is available only on K. Dot’s Instagram account. The five-minute sneer-fest arrived without a title, but has a heavily creased pair of Black Air Force Ones as the cover art.

Lamar addresses his disgust with what he sees thriving in society and admits he’d trade a lot of those sucking up the Earth’s oxygen to get the late great Nipsey Hussle back.

“I know b—-s that’s harder than a lot of you n—-s/ Would trade y’all for Nip I can’t be proud of you n—-s,” he raps of his “Dedicated” collaborator.

Next, the Compton legend turns his attention to what’s being pushed on the radio airwaves and television screens across the country.

“The radio personality pushing propaganda for salary/ Let me know when they turn up a casualty/ I want agony,” Lamar spews.

Essentially, K. Dot sounds fed up with society.

“Thank god. Quality hip-hop has been missing,” one excited fan wrote in his comments section.

Lamar was announced as the Super Bowl LIX Halftime Show headliner on Sunday (Sept. 8); he’ll take the Caesars Superdome stage in New Orleans on Feb. 9. There’s been much debate in the hip-hop community about Kendrick being chosen to headline the big show, as some — such as Nicki Minaj –weren’t thrilled to see Lil Wayne, who is a New Orleans native, get snubbed.

Listen to the track below.

Raphael Saadiq recently revealed that he’s learning how to play piano and that D’Angelo is one of his biggest supporters — and that the elusive singer is making new music.

“D’s in a good space right now,” Saadiq said during an appearance on the Rolling Stone Music Now podcast. “I talk to him a couple times. He’s excited. We don’t talk much, but when we do talk it’s crazy, like, ‘Oh, you gotta hear this!’ He’s like, ‘You gotta play bass. I’ve got this track. I’m telling you, you got to get on it. It got your name all over it.’”

Saadiq added: “He’s working on six pieces right now and he seems super excited. He’s in control of his own destiny at this point. He has a management team, but they can’t make him do anything that he don’t wanna do. He knows it’s on him now and I think that’s a different angle that he’s coming from.”

One of those songs is from their Lynwood Rose days, when they formed a short-lived group with A Tribe Called Quest‘s Q-Tip. “I think it’s going to be a record on D’Angelo’s new album when it comes out, a record that we all did together,” Saadiq said. “Lynwood Rose lives. I’m playing bass, D’s playing, me and D is singing backgrounds. It’s funky as hell too. D is a bad boy. … It’s aged well. Good music ages well.”

The singer has popped out here and there since releasing his most recent album, Black Messiah, in 2014. In 2018, he contributed to the Red Dead Redemption 2 soundtrack (he’s a big fan of the series) with the song “May I? Stand Unshaken” after Rockstar Games sent him the game to test. He did a Verzuz at the Apollo in 2021 that was essentially a solo set featuring some of his friends, and he also contributed to another soundtrack alongside Jay-Z on “I Want You Forever” from The Book of Clarence released last year.

You can listen to the entire episode here.

You thought there was a drought? Future is making sure his fans never get parched in 2024. The Atlanta rapper is gearing up to drop off his third project of the year.

Future announced on Wednesday (Sept. 11) that his Mixtape Pluto project is slated to hit streaming services later this month on Sept. 20. “F*** the publicity I got this out the mud MIXTAPE PLUTO 9-20-24,” he wrote in his caption for the announcement post to social media. Future also revealed the cover art for the new project, which features the famed Dungeon family house drenched in pink fluorescent lighting.

Per Apple Music, Mixtape Pluto boasts 17 tracks in total with features not yet revealed. Pre-save links for the project are currently live.

Freebandz’s website added merch and vinyl bundles for fans wanting to pre-order the project. CDs and vinyl records are available solo with an alternate cover switching out the pink for lime-green Brat-infused lighting in the Dungeon. The $40 bundles come with shirts in two options — purple/white or black/green.

Later the Mixtape Pluto post, Future teased a track from the project titled “Too Fast.” He appears to have shot the visual for the cut already with Kid Art at the helm directing the flick. “Bought the Patek I was moving too fast/ New G-Wagon I was moving too fast/ Got the condo I was moving too fast,” he raps.

While most of the project’s collaborators are still unknown, Travis Scott has repeatedly teased his involvement in Mixtape Pluto. Last week, he previewed a snippet from a collaboration that appears to be titled “South of France.”

On the production side, 808 Mafia’s Southside signaled he played a role in the project with Wheezy. “It’s almost that time presave link in bio can’t wait for yall to here this masterpiece me and brothers put together @wheezy @future and if you a drop one in the comments for the cover #MTP 9/20 we go up,” he wrote.

Future’s third project of 2024 follows his pair of collab albums with Metro Boomin We Don’t Trust You and We Still Don’t Trust You, both of which topped the Billboard 200 earlier this year. The duo wrapped up their We Trust You Tour north of the border in Vancouver on Sept. 9.

Find Future’s announcement post below.

This one is for the veteran hip-hop heads. LL Cool J and Eminem take fans back in time as they recreate some memorable moments for their “Murdergram Deux” music video, which was released on Wednesday (Sept. 11).

LL and Em traveled to Detroit to pack on the nostalgia for the JakeTheShooter-directed clip. The New York legend steps back into 1987 to remake the Bigger and Deffer (BAD) album cover art nearly four decades later.

The “Loungin” rapper puts a modern twist on his “Going Back to Cali” visual while stepping into the black-and-white fishbowl scene with his signature bucket hat. But it’s Eminem who gets the emperor treatment as he pays homage to Big Daddy Kane’s Long Live the Kane album cover. The pair also salutes Death Row’s legendary VIBE cover from 1996.

“Murdergram Deux” arrived ahead of LL Cool J’s The Force as a single, and marks the first team-up between the rap icons.

“Give blessings to my disciples, professional I’m a sniper/ Like eight miles away, me and Marshall doing murders/ With dirty burners, break them down and melt them in the furnace,” LL Cool J raps over Q-Tip’s production.

An unfinished version of the track was leaked earlier this year, which frustrated LL. “It’s not A.I., but it’s not official. It’s not official, it’s not the right version,” he told Raymond T in late June. “People just walk all in the kitchen, touching the rolls before they’re done — you know, how your grandmother slaps your hand when you try to check the pots early. It’s not A.I. — it’s a real joint.”

LL Cool J’s The Force landed on Sept. 6 and serves as his first album since 2013’s Authentic. The LP also features Snoop Dogg, Busta Rhymes, Rick Ross, Saweetie, Nas and more.

Watch the “Murdergram Deux” video below.