State Champ Radio R&B/Hip-Hop
Page: 34
Antoine Massey is one of the two remaining inmates still on the run since allegedly breaking out of the Orleans Justice Center on May 16, and he may be looking for help from the president, as well as three rappers who have been entangled in the criminal justice system.
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
A video that appears to feature Massey surfaced on social media on Monday (June 2), in which the man pleads with Lil Wayne, Meek Mill, YoungBoy Never Broke Again and Donald Trump for assistance in his legal situation.
“Who I was in the past is not who I am today,” a man appearing to be Massey begins in the video. “So I’m asking, please for help. [NBA] YoungBoy, Meek Mill … People that been through the system that know it’s corrupt. Lil Wayne, Donald Trump, please, I’m asking for help … When I get back in custody, I’m asking y’all please to come and help me.”
He continued: “I’m letting y’all know I’m not a raper, man. I’m not none of that. None of that. I’m a good person. I am a father that want to be in my children’s life … I want to let the younger you know that going down the route of trying to be a street person is not the route.”
Neither the rappers nor Trump have responded to Massey’s video, which the Louisiana State Police has been made aware of.
According to Baton Rouge ABC affiliate WBRZ, Massey was arrested in March on charges of domestic abuse battery and vehicle theft, and that he was also wanted for suspicion of rape and kidnapping in St. Tammany Parrish. At the time of his escape, he had not entered a plea yet.
“If the individual depicted in the video is indeed Antoine Massey, we strongly urge him to come forward and turn himself in to the proper authorities,” said Orleans Parish Sheriff Susan Hutson in a statement. “Cooperating with law enforcement is in his best interest and may help avoid additional charges. It is important that justice is served appropriately and that due process is followed.”
This isn’t Massey’s first reported escape either. According to local CBS affiliate 4WWL, Massey and five others broke out of the Juvenile Justice Intervention Center in 2007. He also escaped from Morehouse Detention Center in 2019.
Orleans Justice Center maintenance worker Sterling Williams was reportedly arrested on felony charges for facilitating the May prison break. CBS affiliate KFVS12 in Cape Girardeau, Mo., reports that Williams claimed that Massey threatened to stab him if he didn’t take part in helping the escape. The Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office also said the inmates’ jail break may have been helped by “defective locks,” the outlet reported.
Of the 10 fugitives, Massey and Derrick Groves are the final two inmates remaining at large. There’s a $50,000 reward being offered for information leading to their apprehension.
Billboard has reached out to the Orleans Police Department and the White House for comment.
LeBron James stays tapped in. The NBA goliath has been bumping plenty of Kendrick Lamar this year, and he’ll have a new verse this summer when K. Dot’s “Chains & Whips” collab with the Clipse arrives in July.
GQ got an early listen to Lamar’s verse on Let God Sort Em Out as part of a Clipse cover story released on Monday (June 2), and LeBron reposted one of the Compton rapper’s unhinged bars — as first revealed in the magazine — to his Instagram Story.
“Therapy showed me how to open up! It also showed me I don’t give a F,” he wrote to IG as the lyric clearly resonated with the Lakers star.
Trending on Billboard
According to Pusha T, Kendrick’s verse was at the center of his and Clipse’s split from Def Jam, as the record label wanted Lamar removed from the project completely.
“They wanted me to ask Kendrick to censor his verse, which of course I was never doing,” Push told the publication. “And then they wanted me to take the record off. And so, after a month of not doing it, Steve Gawley, the lawyer over there, was like, ‘We’ll just drop the Clipse.’ But that can’t work because I’m still there [solo]. But [if] you let us all go.”
Def Jam did not reply to Billboard‘s initial request for comment on Pusha’s statement.
Clipse ended up inking a distribution deal for a comeback album with Roc Nation. Many fans online tied the alleged attempted censorship to Def Jam’s parent label, Universal Music Group, being actively sued by Drake for defamation over the alleged artificial inflation of Lamar’s “Not Like Us.” The label has denied Drizzy’s claims, and in early May, asked a judge to dismiss his updated lawsuit.
“Chains & Whips” will serve as Pusha T’s first collab with Lamar since teaming up for “Nosetalgia” in 2013. The track was initially premiered at Pharrell’s Louis Vuitton fashion show earlier this year.
LeBron James has continued to show support for Kendrick after making an appearance at the award-winning rapper’s Pop Out concert last year, which seemingly damaged the NBA star’s relationship with Drake in the heat of battle.mDrizzy appeared to send shots at King James on the leaked “Fighting Irish” freestyle in January, but the Conductor Williams-produced track was quickly scrubbed from YouTube.
Clipse kicked off the project’s rollout with “Ace Trumpets” on May 30. Look for Let God Sort Em Out to arrive on July 11.
With Tha Carter VI set to arrive on Friday (June 6), Lil Wayne is plotting a North American tour to bring the album with him on the road later this year. Announced on Tuesday (June 3), Weezy’s Tha Carter VI Tour is slated to kick off on Friday with a celebratory show at the iconic […]
Kneecap has announced its biggest-ever English show with a huge headline date at London’s OVO Wembley Arena this coming September. The Belfast hip-hop trio will head to the 12,500-capacity show on Sep. 18 and follows their headline show at London’s Wide Awake festival in Brockwell Park in the capital in May. Tickets for the show […]
Drake has expanded his upcoming summer tour with his newly-announced $ome $pecial $hows 4 UK run through the United Kingdom and Europe with PARTYNEXTDOOR. Earlier this year it was announced that Drake would headline Wireless Festival in London on all three nights (July 11-13), and the Canadian superstar will now expand his run to include […]
Ye (formerly Kanye West) regrets what he’s said about mentor and former collaborator Jay-Z. Over the weekend, the controversial artist took to X to say that he often “dreams” of making amends. “All my dreams have been about apologizing to Jay Z,” he wrote. In another deleted post back in April, he said he was “sorry” […]
As you might have predicted, Pusha T isn’t the biggest fan of Drake‘s UMG lawsuit.
While sitting down with GQ alongside his brother Malice to promote their upcoming Clipse reunion album Let God Sort Em Out, Push brought up the lawsuit when discussing a Kendrick Lamar feature that almost didn’t make the album.
“They wanted me to ask Kendrick to censor his verse, which of course I was never doing,” he said of Def Jam’s parent company UMG. “And then they wanted me to take the record off. And so, after a month of not doing it, Steve Gawley, the lawyer over there was like, ‘We’ll, just drop the Clipse.’” They got their wish, as both the group and Push himself were dropped from the label, according to GQ.
Trending on Billboard
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
He then added that he went through similar pushback over his unreleased verses on Rick Ross’ “Maybach Music VI” and Pop’s Smoke’s posthumously released track “Paranoia” after the release of “Story of Adidon.”
“If [Drake’s] adamant to have a lawsuit,” he said, “it’s only because he knows all the things that they did to suppress everything that was happening around ‘Adidon’ and the verses and the records and things that were happening back then. I don’t rate him no more. The suing thing is bigger than some rap sh–. I just don’t rate you. Damn, it’s like it just kind of cheapens the art of it once we gotta have real questions about suing and litigation. Like, what? For this?”
However, he feels no need to reignite his beef with Drake anytime soon. “I think after everything that had been done, I don’t think there was ever anything subliminal to be said ever again in life,” he said of his longstanding feud with the Toronto rapper. “Not only just musically, like bro, I actually was in Canada. I actually had a show and made it home. So, I can’t pay attention to none of that. I did the dance for real, not to come back and tiptoe around anything.” Push added that he would only engage again if he felt like it.
Elsewhere in the interview, Push addressed his current standing with Ye (formerly Kanye West), saying he doesn’t view his former collaborator as “a man.”
Ye recently tweeted over the weekend that he misses his friendship with the Virginia rapper.
I miss me and Pusha’s friendship— ye (@kanyewest) May 30, 2025
The Clipse released “Ace Trumpets,” the lead single from their first album since 2009, last week.
It’s about to get messy. Lola Young is spinning the block for a full-blown North American tour later this year. The South London-bred singer announced the tour on Monday (June 2), and Young will hit the road in November. “It’s happening… i’m coming back to North America…for pre-sale access enter ur details in the link […]
E-40 kicked off Black Music Month with a swaggering Tiny Desk concert debut on Monday (June 2), which saw 40 Water run through three decades worth of boastful bops in 25 minutes.
Explore
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
Everywhere he goes, E-40 brings a bit of the Bay Area with him, and he represented for the West Coast when heading to the other side of the country to perform at NPR‘s Washington, D.C. offices. “I’ve been doing this since Kermit the Frog was a pollywog,” 40 said regarding his longevity in the rap game.
40 set the tone with “Da Bumble” and “Yay Area,” before taking it back to the ’90s for “Sprinkle Me,” which featured an incredible transition into “Captain Save a Hoe.”
Trending on Billboard
“That transition from Sprinkle Me to Captain Save A Hoe was a special one,” E-40 wrote on Instagram. “Thank you @NPRMusic for letting me grace the Tiny Desk stage and set off Black Music Month.”
40 received a ton of flowers in his comments from peers and fans alike. G-Eazy, Ty Dolla $ign, Busta Rhymes, Rick Ross and Three 6 Mafia all saluted the Bay Area legend.
The 57-year-old brought an eight-piece band with him to give his hyphy hits a renewed texture with a mix of bass, keys, backup vocalists, guitars and drums. He continued the show with new arrangements to “Snap Yo Fingers,” U and Dat” and “Choices (Yup),” which broke through on TikTok earlier this year to introduce him to a whole new demographic. “I’m on my fourth wind,” 40 said.
He wasn’t done just yet either, as E-40 went back to the well for “Hope I Don’t Go Back,” 1-Luv,” “Function” and his idiosyncratic catalog staple “Tell Me When to Go.”
40 hasn’t dropped an album yet in 2025, but delivered his braggadocios “Beating They Ass” single in May.
Watch E-40’s Tiny Desk concert below.
Pusha T severed ties with G.O.O.D. Music, where he served as the label’s president and distanced himself from Ye (formerly Kanye West) in late 2022.
King Push and his brother No Malice graced the cover of GQ on Monday (June 2), and Pusha reflected on his falling out with the embattled rapper, who has faced criticism for his repeated hate speech.
“The one thing that I can say about [Ye] is that he knows that every issue that he’s having and crying about online right now, I’ve told him distinctly about those things,” Push said. “He don’t talk to me like he talks to others.”
Trending on Billboard
Pusha T took things a step further while disrespecting Ye and saying that he doesn’t “think he’s a man” following his myriad controversies over the years.
“His intuition is even more genius-level, right? But that’s why me and him don’t get along, because he sees through my fakeness with him,” he continued. “He knows I don’t think he’s a man. He knows it.”
The Virginia rapper went on: “And that’s why we can’t build with each other no more. That’s why me and him don’t click, because he knows what I really, really think of him. He’s showed me the weakest sides of him, and he knows how I think of weak people.”
Billboard has reached out to Ye’s rep for comment.
Pusha T and No Malice kicked off the Clipse’s Let God Sort Em Out rollout on Friday (May 30) with “Ace Trumpets,” which finds Push name-dropping Yeezy.
“Sold ecstasy and disappeared, I am Whodini/ Look at them, him and him, still waitin’ on Yeezy/ I hope you got your squeegees/ At your interviews, I just ki-ki,” he raps.
Ye got wind of Pusha’s bars and expressed that he misses the friendship they once had. “I miss me and Pusha’s friendship,” West wrote of his ex-G.O.O.D. Music president to X.
While Yeezy won’t be appearing on Let God Sort Em Out come the July 11 release date, Push confirmed that Kendrick Lamar is slated to be featured on the album track “Chains & Whips.”
However, Lamar’s assist was at the center of Clipse’s rift with Def Jam, as the Universal Music Group-owned label wanted K. Dot’s verse removed from the project. Push stood firm in keeping the Compton rapper on the album, which led to a split with Def Jam for the duo as well as Pusha’s solo career. LGSEO will now be distributed by Roc Nation.
“They wanted me to ask Kendrick to censor his verse, which of course I was never doing,” he said. “And then they wanted me to take the record off. And so, after a month of not doing it, Steve Gawley, the lawyer over there was like, ‘We’ll just drop the Clipse.’ But that can’t work because I’m still there [solo]. But [if] you let us all go.”
Billboard has reached out to Def Jam for comment.
