R&B/Hip-Hop
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If you know anything about Eminem it’s that he always reps his city. Which is why it made perfect sense that the sometimes reclusive MC came out during the grudge match between the Baltimore Ravens and Cincinnati Bengals last night (Nov. 16) to talk about a Motor City NFL great.
The surprise appearance came during a promo for an upcoming documentary on legendarily elusive Detroit Lions running back Barry Sanders, who won the league’s MVP award in 1997 when he rushed for more than 2,000 yards during the regular season and also secured his second NFL Offensive Player of the Year hardware.
“I’ve seen every documentary on Barry Sanders that there is to see and I never walked away feeling like I knew why he walked away,” Em said in the brief clip from the film in which he talked about Sanders while sitting at the mixing console of a recording studio. “And I know that he walked away at a time when he could have broken every single record there ever was and ever will be.”
Sanders led the league in rushing yards four times during his 10-season career before shocking fans by retiring from football in 1999 at 31, at a point where he was 1,457 yards short of overtaking Chicago Bears great Walter Payton for the all-time rushing record. His shock decision to pull the plug is the subject of the film promoted during the Em appearance, the new sports doc Bye Bye Barry, which will world premiere at Detroit’s Fox Theatre on Friday night (Nov. 17).
“We had the greatest running back that ever played the game,” Em says in the official trailer for the film, which probes Sanders’ shocking decision to leave the league, still at his peak
According to the Detroit News, tickets for the screening will be available to Lions season ticket holders only, with Sanders expected to walk the red carpet along with Lions coach Dan Campbell, QB Jared Goff and other current team members. In addition to Marshall Mathers, the film features interviews with actor Jeff Daniels and a number of sports luminaries, including Jalen Rose, Calvin Johnson, Herman Moore, Chris Spielman, Patriots coach Bill Belichick, Emmitt Smith and ESPN’s Dan Patrick.
Bye Bye Barry will debut on Prime Video on Nov. 21.
Watch Eminem talking Sanders and watch the Bye Bye Barry trailer below.
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In the ultimate example of game recognizing game, Drake makes a humble acknowledgement on the lyrics to “Red Button,” the opening track from the 6 God’s surprise Scary Hours 3 EP. The six-song collection that dropped on Friday (Nov. 17) as part of an expanded editino of his recent For All the Dogs album, kicks off with the headlong lyrical tumble track that finds Drizzy paying homage to the chart prowess of none other than Taylor Swift.
“Taylor Swift the only ni–a that I ever rated/ Only one could make me drop the album just a little later/ Rest of y’all I treat you like you never made it/ Leave your label devastated/ Even when your pad the stats, period, I never hated,” he raps on the song co-produced by Lil Yachty that surrounds his bars with an angelic chorus and a scorched-earth series of scenarios in which the Toronto native promises winter is coming for his detractors.
Drake — who is in a perpetual Billboard chart horse race with Swift over the most Hot 100 hits crown — released his most recent album, For All the Dogs, on Oct. 6, three weeks before Swift released her 1989 (Taylor’s Version), the latest in her series of catalog re-records. Last year, Swift released her Midnights album on Oct. 21, with the Drake/21 Savage joint album, Her Loss, originally scheduled for Oct. 28, then pushed to Nov. 4, seemingly giving Swift a few weeks to run the boards.
Her Loss then bumped Midnights out of the No. 1 spot on the Billboard 200 album charts upon its release.
Drake also finds time to take a mild swipe at Kanye West in a couplet suggesting that the long-running feud between them is not quite settled. “Every time that Yeezy call the truce/ He had my head inflated/ Thinking we finally peace it up and get to levitating/ Realized that everything premeditated,” Drake raps about the disgraced MC whose career melted down last year after West (who now goes by Ye) went on a series of hateful antisemitic rants.
The Drake/Ye feud dates back years and though it seemed to tamp down when the two got together for the “Free Larry Hoover” benefit concert in Los Angeles in 2021, it was reignited last year with Drizzy taking shots at West on the Her Loss track “Circo Loco” and this year’s “Search & Rescue,” which featured a sample of Ye’s ex, Kim Kardashian, talking about the couple’s split.
Drake announced the third in his Scary Hours series on Wednesday in an elaborate video featuring the Toronto Symphony Orchestra in which he revealed that he’d cooked the lyrics up just days before the collection’s release.
Today (Nov. 17), Drake gifts fans another round of music quickly after releasing his 10th solo album, For All The Dogs Scary Hours Edition. The lauded Scary Hours series has previously included hits such as “Wants & Needs” with Lil Baby and his Hot 100 chart-topper “God’s Plan.” In a video posted in the wee hours of the morning […]
A new era has dawned for André 3000, who released his debut solo album, New Blue Sun, on Friday (Nov. 17) — and it absolutely zero rapping on it. Despite doling out standout verses on songs such as Kanye West‘s “Life of the Party” from the deluxe version of Donda to Killer Mike’s “Scientists & […]
Megan Thee Stallion strikes back on Billboard’s Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart as “Cobra” debuts at No. 10 on the list dated Nov. 18. The rapper’s new release marks her first appearance on the multimetric chart, which blends streaming, radio airplay and sales into its calculations, through her independent Hot Girl label after she and her […]
The press-shy Andre 3000 is stepping out of his comfort zone. After talking to NPR about his forthcoming debut solo album, New Blue Sun, Thursday (Nov. 16), Three Stacks continues his media run by sitting with GQ for its first-ever video cover story, where the Outkast lyricist explained his decision not to rap on his latest offering. “I’ve […]
Drake is closing out 2023 with one more drop. The 6 God announced on Wednesday night (Nov. 15) that he will issue the threequel Scary Hours 3 EP on Friday (Nov. 17) via a moody video filmed at Toronto’s Roy Thomson Hall. “I’ll say this to you I’m not… I feel no need to appease […]
On Wednesday (Nov. 15), Drake and J. Cole’s torrid momentum continues with the lyrical pair releasing a visual for their Billboard Hot 100 chart-topper “First Person Shooter.” In the video, directed by Gibson Hazard, Brian Baumgartner — the man behind The Office character Kevin — makes a cameo, ironically playing video games in an office while listening […]
The Hot Girl Coach is in. Megan Thee Stallion posted one of her signature workout TikToks showing off her new glute-building fitness routine, but be warned: Even the stallion herself struggled to get through it.
Before diving into the Tuesday (Nov. 14) video, Meg started off with her trademark introduction. “What’s up, y’all, it’s your girl Megan Thee Stallion, aka the Hot Girl Coach,” she said in a voiceover, speedily talking over clips of her posing in an athletic hoodie and biking shorts.
“Let me tell you something, Pilates is not for the mothaf–king weak,” she continued, showing footage of herself trying out movements assigned to her by a trainer. “I don’t wanna f–k with no b—h that do pilates because that little motherf–ker be tiny but that h- got might on her.”
The “Plan B” artist also shared some of her go-to booty burners, including lunges — “that’s what make the booty stick up” — and one-legged glute bridges that “really help the glutes grow.”
Madam Stallion has made a habit of sharing regular workout videos on TikTok in the past year, documenting her progress and giving “Hot Girl” tips to her fanbase, lovingly known as the Hotties. And based on the comments, her fitness content doesn’t go unappreciated. “Bro I want Megan to be like my personal trainer,” wrote one fan, while another chimed in, “You’re inspiring these people out here.”
The 28-year-old rapper is fresh off the release of her new song “Cobra,” her first single as an independent artist operating under her own company Hot Girl Productions. She recently announced via Instagram Live that she was no longer signed to a label after settling a years-long legal battle with her former record label, 1501 Certified Entertainment, in October.
Her mental health struggles are a main focus of Meg’s new track, which comes a few months after she said she’d be taking a break from music to focus on “healing” in April. “Fans can expect new music when I’m in a better place,” she said in an interview with InStyle. Since then, she’s released “Bongos” with Cardi B and “Out Alpha the Alpha” from the Dicks: The Musical soundtrack.
Watch Meg’s latest “Hot Girl Coach” TikTok below:
Travis Scott has not really shared the personal impact of the Nov. 5, 2021 crowd crush at his Astroworld Festival in Houston that resulted in the deaths of 10 fans and injuries to hundreds more. But in a new interview with GQ for its annual Men of the Year issue, the “Skitzo” MC spoke out for the first time about how the tragedy influenced his Utopia album, as well as his ongoing struggle to come to grips with the losses on that dark day.
“I mean I was just overly devastated, you know. Yeah,” he told writer Chris Heath. “I always think about it. Those fans were like my family.” Scott also described how those feelings are reflected on Utopia, telling the magazine, “Making music, you think about things that go on in life and things that happen in your life, and you dial in on things. That moment for families, for the city, you know, it was devastating. And when it came to making, like even finishing the album…I got back into it probably like, I don’t know, months and months and months after. And the idea of just even getting back into music, working on music and just even getting into that, was therapeutic of being able to channel some of the energy into production and sounds and finishing it.”
Eager for fans to realize, “I have pain too,” Scott said the Utopia song “My Eyes” references the Astroworld deaths and that it represents “the things I deal with on a day-to-day basis and the fact of how it could be misunderstood and the struggles of life and all aspects of life. The constant weight that’s put on. That you carry, you know. And just a vision through my eyes.”
In the song, Scott raps, ” I replay them nights, and right by my side, all I see is a sea of people that ride wit’ me/ If they just knew what Scotty would do to jump off the stage and save him a child.” The MC said those emotional lyrics “just came out” when he was writing “My Eyes,” describing it as a “real moment. The song is emotional to me. It’s one of my favorite songs on the album. And that verse means a lot to me.”
As for what he wants his fans to get from it, Scott said he hopes it acknowledges his pain and concerns, as well as the “things I see on a day-to-day basis I think about them. And every day I want to find change in the things, to make things better, make myself better. It’s just like: I go through things like everyone else. And even recently through something like I never could imagine.”
After a 19-month investigation, a Houston grand jury determined in June that Scott and the other Astroworld organizers would not face criminal charges. The rapper, however, faced hours of questioning in September in a civil deposition in connection with the hundreds of lawsuits that were filed against him and others; to date there are more than 1,500 active cases tied to the festival tragedy, with the first trial scheduled for May 6, 2024.
Scott also talks to GQ about his relationship with his daughter Stormi, his eldest of the two children he shares with his ex, Kylie Jenner, as well as how he originally conceived of Utopia as a Broadway play. He reveals that he even met with acclaimed playwright Jeremy O. Harris (Slave Play) to see if they could figure out a way to bring a Broadway-style production — incorporating some “Sin City s–t. Like Frank Miller style. Like comic, but try to bring it to 3D, incorporate some high-level Fantasia-style s–t” — to stadiums and arenas around the world.
Scott, who became obsessed with studying to become a nephrologist (a kidney doctor) as a child, also said he plans to go back to college soon and study architecture at Harvard. He’s already made a few visits to the storied Boston university and looked into the admissions process. “I got to work hard to get in. They’re not letting me take any shortcuts,” he said, suggesting that the hard right turn might come after he wraps his Circus Maximum world tour. And, don’t worry, even though he plans to do the full four-year course, he promised, “I’m still going to make music, of course.”
Check out the GQ cover below.
Travis Scott