R&B/Hip-Hop

Roc Nation has spearheaded plenty of philanthropic initiatives in the past, and Jay-Z’s company’s latest campaign hones in on improving youth education for students in Philadelphia.

The Roc announced an initiative on Friday (June 7) that will assist students with about $300 million in scholarships. The funding will give underprivileged kids in grades K-12 the opportunity to attend prestigious private schools and various educational institutions across Philly.

Roc Nation will look to spread awareness by hosting events running daily from June 10 to June 21 throughout the greater Philadelphia area. Those in attendance will have the chance to learn more about the PASS program (Pennsylvania Award for Student Success), which is also known as Senate Bill 757.

“We have enjoyed such a special connection with Philadelphians, so we’ve made it our mission to invest in the long-term success of the city’s changemakers,” said Roc Nation Managing Director of Philanthropy Dania Diaz in a statement. “Impact starts with the students and with awareness. We want to empower the youth and families with the knowledge to pursue their scholastic dreams, make their voices heard and become the leaders of tomorrow.”

Scholarship amounts for students vary depending on their age group and education level. Half-day kindergarteners will receive $2,500, K-8th graders get $5,000, while high schoolers can secure $10,000. Special needs children of any age will be eligible to collect $15,000 in scholarship funding. For a student to be able to receive a scholarship, their family cannot make more than 250 percent of the federal poverty threshold, which currently sits at $75,000 for families of four.

Hov and Roc Nation are no strangers to uplifting and connecting with the Philadelphia community throughout the years. The Roc previously hosted the annual Made In America festival on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, and the REFORM Alliance has assisted in passing legislation to help citizens on parole or probation in Pennsylvania.

Find the Roc Nation information schedule for the program below.

In celebration of Black Music Month, Andra Day will be bringing her luscious vocals to Los Angeles for a concert, which will be broadcasted live courtesy of Amazon’s Rotation.

The powerful singer will hit the Warwick stage on Friday night (June 7) as part of City Sessions from the streaming giant’s Forever the Influence series.

Tickets are still available for the L.A. show through Dice for $15 retail. Doors for the 21-plus event open at 5 p.m. PT with the concert starting at 6 p.m. PT. For those who can’t attend, fans will be able to live-stream it on Amazon Music’s Twitch channel.

There will be plenty of more programming courtesy of Amazon Music’s Rotation in the coming weeks. “In June, we celebrate Black Music Month by honoring Black artists whose works are potent reminders that Black music is the American songbook across a multitude of genres,” said head of hip-hop and R&B for Amazon Music, Sierra Lever.

She continued: “With Forever the Influence, fans around the world will have a front-row seat to live performances from artists who are continuing to expand the reach of Black music and cultural influence across generations.”

Andra Day is set to be performing soothing cuts from her CASSANDRA album, which will be followed by a Q&A with the audience.

The Golden Globe-winner’s CASSANDRA album arrived on May 10 and served as Andra Day’s first solo LP since her debut in 2015. “I just named it after myself, interestingly to ground myself again in who I was designed and made to be,” she told Billboard of the project at the 2024 Women in Music event in March. “I want it to just be a little less apologetic and raw about my experiences.”

The “Cheers to the Fall” singer also recently sat down with amNY where she promised fans it won’t be another nine years before her next album.

“I do want to put together more music, more consistently,” she said. “I’ll take another break at some point. It won’t be another nine years. I really want to make EPs with artists that I love. Just drop a whole bunch of EPs. All types of genres. All types of styles. I want to bolster other producers that worked on this album.”

After netting his first No. 1 record with “Not Like Us,” Mustard is dropping his first album since 2019’s Perfect Ten.

The Los Angeles producer announced his new album Faith of a Mustard Seed on social media where he posted a trailer along with the message, “FAITH OF A MUSTARD SEED SUMMER 2024 A GIFT FROM ME TO YOU. LOVE Y’ALL. SEE YOU SOON.”

ScHoolboy Q has already heard the project apparently and retweeted Mustard’s post with the quote, “Heard it. S— go dumb. LA bout to do it again… LA up this year.” That’s very high praise coming from someone that has already released one of the better rap albums of the year so far with Blue Lips.

The trailer is a collection of behind the scenes studio footage, photos from his childhood, recent civil rights protests and glimpses into his personal life with a speech from Louis Farrakhan serving as the soundtrack. In the speech, the minister quotes a verse from Matthew 17:20 in which Jesus says, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”

The producer has had five songs hit the top 10 in the Hot 100 before with Ella Mai’s “Boo’d Up,” Jeremih’s “Don’t Tell ‘Em” feat. YG, Rihanna’s “Needed Me,” Tyga’s “Rack City,” and Lil Dicky’s “Freaky Friday” feat. Chris Brown.

Mustard’s critically acclaimed Perfect Ten album featured the smash hits “Pure Water” featuring the Migos and “Ballin” featuring Roddy Ricch. As of today, both videos have 500 million views on YouTube between the two.

Be sure to keep it locked as we wait for a release date and track list.

On Wednesday night (June 5), Drake removed the rest of his Instagram posts related to the Kendrick Lamar beef and posted a carousel of stoic contemplative pictures of himself.

The photos came with a vague caption that read, “The only yes man around me is my Rolex dealer.” While it looks like it’s back to business for Drake as he seems to be moving on and focusing on what’s next, the post does leave us with more questions than answers.

Since the battle with Lamar has died down, the Toronto rapper has been featured on two songs. First, he assisted friend Sexyy Red on her song “U My Everything,” which debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 at No. 44, where he raps over “BBL Drizzy” for a portion of his guest verse. Then, he gave Canadian parody rapper Snowd4y the greenlight to release their Plain White T’s “Hey There Delilah” Toronto slang remix “Wah Gwan Delilah.”

Recently, Gordo aka DJ Carnage posted a picture on social media with Drake asking, “you guys ready for summer 2024…”

However, the DJ and producer walked that photo back in an interview with Complex claiming it was a troll job. “I am being completely honest, I went over to his house cause I ran out of milk, so I went and got 2%, whole, Goat milk. He has everything. So I went & I just took that photo just to f—k with people,” he told the outlet. Gordo worked closely with Drake on his dance-adjacent album Honestly, Nevermind where he produced five of the project’s 14 tracks.

Kendrick, on the other hand, still has links to his diss tracks up on his X and Instagram, and just announced a concert in LA for the upcoming Juneteenth.