R&B/Hip-Hop
Page: 411
Happy anniversary, dahhlings! As all members of the Lambily know, March 27 is the annual anniversary of Mariah Carey‘s birth.
And while the Songbird Supreme may classify herself as “eternally 12” — and refuses to use the term “birthday” or, you know, recognize the concept of time in general — we couldn’t let the day go by without honoring her legacy as one of the most iconic chart-toppers in Billboard history.
To date, the Elusive Chanteuse has racked up a record-setting nineteen No. 1 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 — making her the solo artist with the most number ones and only one behind The Beatles’ high water mark of 20.
Of course, Carey’s latest, and some would argue greatest, No. 1 is “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” which reached the top of the tally for the first time in 2019 — a full 25 years after its initial release — and has since made its annual return to No. 1 every holiday season since.
However, ask any Lamb and they’ll tell you there’s so much more to Mariah’s songbook than Christmas music. Starting out at the dawn of the ’90s, the singer became instantly known for her iconic voice and notched adult-contemporary hits like “Vision of Love” and “Love Takes Time” as well as certified pop smashes like “Dreamlover,” “Fantasy” and “Always Be My Baby.”
Eventually, she spread her wings and found her artistic freedom with the release of 1997’s Butterfly, which became a blueprint for successfully melding R&B, hip-hop and pop with singles like “Honey” and “My All.” High-profile collabs with Jay-Z and Joe and 98 Degrees soon followed in the form of “Heartbreaker” and “Thank God I Found You,” but Mariah hit another level of artistic achievement and string of No. 1s with 2005’s The Emancipation of Mimi and its 2008 successor E=MC2.
Throughout the 2000s, the songwriter crafted the sound of the decade thanks to hits like “We Belong Together,” “Don’t Forget About Us” and “Touch My Body,” with the worldwide success of the former even barring its equally infectious follow-up “Shake It Off” from reaching the top of the chart.
To celebrate Mariah’s “anniversary,” vote for your favorite of her nineteen No. 1 hits below.
Tyler, the Creator is hosting an estate sale! Kind of.
Nearly two years following the release of his critically acclaimed Billboard 200 No. 1 album, Call Me If You Get Lost, the Odd Future rapper is offering a deluxe version of the album, titled, Call Me If You Get Lost: The Estate Sale, containing unreleased songs that didn’t make the final cut back in 2021.
“Some of those songs I really love, and knew they would never see the light of day, so I’ve decided to put a few of them out,” he tweeted Monday (March 27), along with the release date — March 31.
Explore
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
Fans were elated, one tweeting a meme that reads, “Tyler I love you more than my wife” written across a man’s bare chest.
CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST WAS THE FIRST ALBUM I MADE WITH ALOT OF SONGS THAT DIDNT MAKE THE FINAL CUT. SOME OF THOSE SONGS I REALLY LOVE, AND KNEW THEY WOULD NEVER SEE THE LIGHT OF DAY, SO IVE DECIDED TO PUT A FEW OF THEM OUT.— T (@tylerthecreator) March 27, 2023
Along with the announcement, Tyler dropped the track “DOGTOOTH” and an accompanying self-directed music video showing the California-born rapper in an industrial setting, with elements of the Call Me If You Get Lost aesthetic dispersed throughout. Adopting a cadence reminiscent of southern hip-hop legends such as Pimp C, Tyler starts off strong with the line, “She could ride my face, I don’t want nothin’ in return/ Her body count and who she f–k ain’t never my concern.”
The deluxe album is available for pre-order on Tyler’s website as a triple vinyl set and CD, with accompanying merchandise including hats, socks, hoodies and T-shirts ranging in price from $30 to $120.
In the past, vinyl proved quite successful for the 32-year-old artist: Call Me jumped from No. 120 to No. 1 on the Billboard 200 in April 2022, following the set’s release on vinyl. It marked the album’s second nonconsecutive week atop the list; it debuted at No. 1 in July 2021.
Nick Cannon is loving being a baby daddy, and the Masked Singer host joined Audacy’s Hot 104.1 this week, where he discussed keeping healthy relationships with the mothers of his 12 children.
Explore
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
“I have so much respect and admiration for the individual,” Cannon explained. “Everybody has their challenges – but when you really understand this woman has given the greatest sacrifice, and sacrificed her body to bring a child into [this world], that’s the best gift any man could ask for. Regardless of what goes on in any scenario, I’m gonna always show love and respect. I’ll never say anything disrespectful or bad about any of the mothers of my children.”
Of course, the radio hosts went on to poke some fun at Cannon, telling him that his “pull out game is trash.” In response, the comedian joked, “Or my insert game is amazing.”
Cannon shares twins Monroe and Moroccan with ex-wife Mariah Carey, and twins Zion and Zillion with Abby De La Rosa, who gave birth to her third baby with Cannon, Beautiful Zeppelin, less than two months prior to his youngest child, daughter Halo’s birth. He shares the 3-month-old with model Alyssa Scott.
He is also dad to Golden Sagon, Powerful Queen and Rise Messiah, whom he shares with Brittany Bell; Legendary Love, whose mom is Bre Tiesi; and Onyx Ice Cole with LaNisha Cole.
On child support payments, Cannon says he gives whatever his children’s mothers ask for. “It ain’t even about a monthly allowance or amount of money because I don’t give myself that. What they need, they get it,” he shared. “There’s never been something that one of the mothers of my children has asked for and they didn’t receive…. That’s why they call me the provider.”
Listen to the full Hot 104.1 interview here and below.
With the spring season set in motion, no time is better for some introspective work. Let sounds by West coast rapper Navy Blue, “Brooklyn soulstress” Nia Sultana and U.K. singer-songwriter Yazmin Lacey be your guide, while also letting loose to energizing cuts from FLO and Big Boss Vette.
Explore
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
Feel free to share the wealth with a friend, using our Spotify playlist linked below.
Freshest Find: FLO feat. Missy Elliott, “Fly Girl”
U.K. R&B trio FLO are setting the standards for what it means to be a fly girl. “If you a fly girl, get your nails done, get a pedicure, get your hair did/ See, you telling me I’m pretty but it’s obvious/ I don’t need a man to tell me where the party is,” they harmonize on their Missy Elliott-assisted new single. Billboard’s March R&B/Hip-Hop Rookie of the Month, the girl group is channeling ‘90s and ‘00s R&B, and with “Fly Girl,” they arguably have song of the summer contender on their hands.
Navy Blue, “The One”
Rapper Navy Blue melds together jazzy influences, west coast sonics and introspective words into a noteworthy major label debut. On his new album Ways of Knowing, Navy Blue taps into his spirit, peeling back the layers of trauma and hurt to uncover inner consciousness throughout the joyous and the mundane, namely on “The One.” “I want to make something that makes people smile out of joy, rather than smile in grief,” he says in a press release.
Yazmin Lacey, “Fool’s Gold”
Press play on Voice Notes and simply close your eyes, Yazmin Lacey will do the rest. On her debut album, the U.K. songstress’s soulful voice is transportive, atop a bed of neo-soul perfection. Lacey says that “Fool’s Gold” was born from a jam session and inspired by a conversation with a stranger on the bus. As hand drums pulsate around her dancing melodies, the East Londoner sings of someone on a dead-end mission.
Montell Fish, “2 seater”
Shape-shifting singer/songwriter/producer Montell Fish is back with another unexpected-yet-welcomed single, “2 seater.” Fish’s rap-like cadence coupled with gentle guitar and piano melodies are offset by abrasive synths, making for a pleasing marriage of hard and soft, a worthy symbol of the multifaceted artist himself.
Amaria, “Secrets”
“Where’s your love when I need it?” It’s a fair question that many of us have left unspoken, but Amaria isn’t shy to say exactly what’s on her mind. With a tone that can only be described as silky, the 22-year-old Tampa crooner repeats the mantra, “secrets never help,” as a bass guitar and Rhodes piano dance hand-in-hand in the background.
Big Boss Vette, “Problem”
St. Louis newcomer Big Boss Vette is wasting no time. After the TikTok-assisted success of “Pretty Girls Walk,” the hard-hitting rapper is back with “Problem.” Donning a charming-yet-deceiving smile on her face, Vette warns, “B—h, I’m a problem/ quick to tell a h-e to come solve it.”
Rimon feat. Rini, “I Choose U”
Rimon and Rini’s “I Choose U” is the ultimate love song. As its title suggests, the ballad reflects the thrill of choosing and feeling chosen by one’s lover. The accompanying video captures innocent moments of Rimon and her person and various other couples, as they stroll around NYC showing each other affection.
Victoria Monét feat. Lucky Daye, “Smoke”
Victoria Monét season is upon us. The singer teamed up with Lucky Daye for “Smoke,” the hazy and soulful first single off of her upcoming new project Jaguar II. In the visual, the smoke references are abundant, along with a reprise featuring Monét pole-dancing at the end.
Nia Sultana, “Some Feelings Never Go Away”
Nia Sultana is elevating her songwriting and incorporating women empowerment in her love songs. With “Some Feelings Never Go Away,” the Brooklyn singer-songwriter is acknowledging her emotions, but also choosing herself first and moving on from her past lover.
Destin Conrad, “Switch”
With its sensual vocals and rhythmic drum kicks, Destin Conrad’s “Switch” will likely be the soundtrack to summer parties. At a little under two minutes long, the song is the perfect length for a quick dance with your lover or one-time fling. Elite waistlines only.
Latto will be taking some lucky listeners on a ride of a lifetime with her new Apple Music 1 show 777 Radio, which will be landing on Apple Music’s global live-streaming radio station Thursday, March 30.
Apple Music announced the “Lottery” MC’s new show on Monday (March 27), who was dressed in the flyest flight attendant outfit and addressing the rest of the passengers (herself) from 30,000 feet in the air. “Welcome aboard 777 Air. I’m Big Latto, and I’ll be your flight attendant today,” she announced over the intercom. “Please make sure to put the BS on airplane mode and leave all your baggage at home. ‘Cause we goin’ outside, baby. Sit back, relax and enjoy the ride.”
Latto
Courtesy Photo
Her “For the Night” collaborator Chloe Bailey will be 777 Radio‘s first guest on Thursday at 11 a.m. PST, when they’ll discuss relationships, body image, comparisons with her sister (and the other half of Chloe x Halle) Halle and more.
“I’m going to keep it very personal and play what I actually listen to,” Latto said in an Apple Music press release. “I’m going to highlight new artists that I feel like the world needs to hear, artists that I think deserve more spotlight. I listen to a lot of female rap, so definitely supporting the girls, and definitely a lot of Southern music.”
The radio show’s title comes from Latto’s sophomore album 777, which she released a year ago on March 25, 2022. The album — which spawned hits like the Billboard Hot 100 No. 3, multi-platinum smash “Big Energy” — peaked at No. 15 on the Billboard 200 and No. 8 on Billboard‘s Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart.
See the trailer for Latto’s 777 Radio Apple Music 1 show below.
Naturally, John Legend could help but react when footage surfaced on social media over the weekend of Harry Styles locking lips with Emily Ratajkowski to one of his songs.
The crooner hilariously retweeted the video — which shows the Harry’s House star kissing the model on the streets of Tokyo — on Sunday (March 26), writing, “Making out to Dope. So dope” with a cool, sunglass-wearing emoji. (Featuring a guest assist from JID, “Dope” was released as the lead single off the singer’s 2022 self-titled album Legend.)
Legend’s friends and fans flooded his replies with amusing appreciation over the post. Rapper D-Dot wrote, “You must be stopped” with a laugh-crying emoji, to with the singer reiterated, “Happy to be helpful.” Meanwhile, one Twitter user declared, “I’ve been looking for the name of the song it’s a bop” while another chimed in, “They can just blame it on @johnlegend, lol.”
The Voice coach wasn’t the only celebrity to offer his take on Styles and EmRata’s viral PDA, either. Lewis Capaldi also posted a TikTok using his own song “How I’m Feeling Now” in response to the hook-up. “Me after seeing the video of Harry and emrata,” he wrote on the clip as his voice wails, “So here’s to my beautiful life/ That seems to leave me so unsatisfied.” Of course, Capaldi is hysterically in his feelings over the smooch considering he recently got his own kiss from the “As It Was” singer at the 2023 BRIT Awards.
Check out Legend and Capaldi’s respectively amusing reactions to seeing Styles and Ratajkowski’s public make-out session below.
Nick Cannon addressed his history of anti-semitic comments and what he learned from the public backlash over them in a new interview that published Friday (March 24).
Speaking to All Hip-Hop, the host of The Masked Singer reflected, “I’m going to be super honest with you, man. That process was a growth moment for me, on so many levels as a man,” after the reporter lumped his past remarks about Jewish people in with similar antisemitic rhetoric from the likes of Kanye West and Kyrie Irving.
Cannon cited his podcast Solutions: To Hate or Not To Hate with Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt, as a way he’s shown growth on the issue. He said of the podcast: “It’s really talking about the equation of our two communities from two different perspectives. We voice our side, or the perspective as a Black man, and then he voices his side from a Jewish man. Just even that alone is helpful and educational for both communities. And again, because that’s the thing, we can sit up here and be enraged, but if we don’t engage, what are we really doing, if we can’t even learn from one another? And clearly, we all know the issues, we all know the tropes, we all know the stereotypes.”
The singer-actor also said he’s “no longer about just talk.”
“I’m really putting my money where my mouth is and my energy to where my heart is,” the father of 12 said. “To me, that situation says, ‘All right, I’m done talking. Everybody talk. Let’s figure it out, let’s solve it. What’s the problem?’ The next people who say something in front of a microphone can have an understanding of what it is, so they don’t stumble and fumble and have to lose opportunities or get so-called canceled and all of that stuff on the next go around. Really, it’s just about bringing people closer together. Ultimately, nobody’s monolithic, but we’re all one organism that allows this thing to keep pumping.”
Back in the summer of 2020, Cannon perpetuated controversial conspiracy theories about Jewish people on his now-axed podcast Cannon’s Class during a conversation with former Public Enemy member Professor Griff.
While he issued a public apology at the time, he was fired by ViacomCBS from his long-running MTV improv show Wild ‘N Out. (The media company has since resumed its working relationship with the star.)
New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft has enlisted a pair of his celebrity friends to help spread the word about his family’s new multi-million dollar effort to fight back against an unprecedented wave of antisemitism in America.
People reported that the 81-year-old billionaire is investing $25 million in a multi-level campaign to fight antisemitism through his Foundation to Combat Antisemitism (FCAS), teaming up with the Patriots’ former QB legend, Tom Brady, as well as rapper Meek Mill to help spread word about their efforts.
The Foundation has been promoting stories about efforts to combat anti-Jewish hate on its social feeds and is launching a campaign with a blue square emoji that Kraft said he hopes will “educate all Americans” on the rise of hateful acts against Jewish Americans. “What’s happening in America today, it is a big part of my life,” Kraft told People. “There’s been work done that shows that 50% of Americans do not realize that antisemitism is any problem, and the Jewish population is roughly 2.4% of the population in the US but yet receives over 55% of the hate crimes.”
Kraft said the American Jewish community — which numbers approximately 7.6 million per most recent estimates — needs the help of “all Americans” to combat the highest level of antisemitism in the country in a quarter century; the ADL recently reported that antisemitic incidents increased 36% in 2022.
The Patriots owner said he’s already reached out to recently re-retired QB Brady about the blue emoji symbol in advance of the new campaign’s launch. “He and I are still very tight and he will be using this blue emoji when we kick off again,” Kraft said, noting that he hopes the emoji will become a “symbol of solidarity” that will help fight anti-Jewish hate and other forms of discrimination.
Mill — who has received funding from Kraft to build his REFORM Alliance to push for parole/sentencing/probation reform — is also on board with the team owner’s cause. In fact, People reported that Meek (born Robert Rihmeek Williams) will fly with Kraft to Poland next month, where the NFL boss will lead the this year’s annual March of the Living event that takes thousands of visitors on a walk between the remains of concentration camps in the country.
The billionaire said he wanted Meek to join him in Poland to “see what went on” in Holocaust death camps. “So when I tell you there are 15 million Jews in the world today, what happened 75, 80 years ago with the killing of 6 million, they would’ve represented 60, 70 million people today,” Kraft said. “And it is really horrible.”
Check out FCAS’ YouTube video for its #StandUpToJewishHate campaign below.
Snoop Dogg, rapper of dragons? On Friday (March 24), the superstar came face to face with Game of Thrones actor Emilia Clarke and shared his love of the hit HBO fantasy series.
“SNOOP. DOGGY. DOGG.” Clarke posted alongside a sweet photo of the pair on social media, backstage at the rapper’s show at The O2 in London. “The man, the myth, the legend. When he calls, you (I) come running.” She even geeked out with her hashtags, writing, “#my16yearoldselfishavingalifealteringmomenthere #soismy36yearoldself.” Meanwhile, Snoop commented under the post, “I’ love me some you” with the requisite dragon, flame, paw prints, TV camera and smiling heart emojis.
In a sweet video in the slideshow, Snoop proved the love was nothing but mutual. He can be heard telling the actress, “I would protect your eggs any day…I’m here for you, baby, I’m here! You know I’m a fan of the show, right?” referring to Clarke’s famous role as Daenerys Targaryen. Visibly blown away, Clarke quips, “Can I get that in writing?” before responding, “You know I’m a fan of you since forever and ever and ever?”
Earlier this month, the 2022 Super Bowl halftime show performer made major business moves by starting Shiller, his very own Web3 livestreaming platform with British tech entrepreneur Sam Jones and returning the entire catalog of releases on Death Row Records — including classics like 1993’s Doggystyle and 1996’s The Doggfather — to streaming services. Other albums in the deal included Tupac’s All Eyez on Me and The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory as well as Lady of Rage’s Necessary Roughness and Kurupt’s Against the Grain.
Check out Snoop’s adorable meet-up with Clarke below.
On Thursday (March 23), 15-year-old New York phenom Sugarhill Ddot is officially part of the Priority Records family.
“Being signed to Priority Records is a blessing,” said the teenager in a press release. “I thought being a signed artist would never be possible. I’m grateful for this opportunity.”
Originally named after the famous Sugar Hill area in Harlem, Ddot has gained traction courtesy of his trap-laden records. Notching co-signs from Drake and Lil Durk, Ddot has released notable Tri-state area songs, including “Evil Twins” and “Evil Twins 2.” On YouTube, his videos for “I Wanna Love You,” “Dream” and “The Real Purge” have also amassed a total of 10 million views combined.
Ddot is one of the first artists signed to the newly-revamped Priority Records, which relaunched in September under the Capitol Music Group (CMG) umbrella with CMG executive vp Orlando Wharton at the helm as president. “We’re bringing New York back,” Wharton said in a statement. “Sugarhill Ddot is a star in the making to ignite the resurgence of Priority Records.”
Priority Records was once home to prominent West Coast artists including N.W.A., Snoop Dogg, Ice Cube and more. Wharton, an experienced creative talent, was tapped to guide artists across CMG’s portfolio of labels while overseeing the resurrected Priority, which will serve as a dedicated label for new, developing and established hip-hop artists.
“[Priority] is a legendary label that gave artists a voice when they were voiceless; a label that was about real music that didn’t rely on gimmicks to make an impact,” added Wharton.