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Drake‘s Sunday night show at the Apollo Theater was momentarily put on pause after a man fell from the lower mezzanine balcony into the audience.
“Just gotta make sure somebody’s OK,” the OVO rapper said after a crew member ran onstage to inform him of the fall.
The incident occurred about 90 minutes into the show, just as 21 Savage walked out to perform “Rich Flex” and a slew of other Her Loss hits alongside Drake. The pause lasted about 15 minutes as venue staff treated the injured man.
“Unfortunately, last evening an incident occurred with an audience member who landed in the orchestra from the lower mezzanine,” the venue said in a statement posted to Instagram on Monday (Jan. 23). “Drake, Apollo and SiriusXM halted the show immediately when learning of a potential fan injury and standard protocols were taken. They were seen immediately by EMS on site. The fan and other audience members reported that they were OK. No major injuries have been reported. The Apollo is investigating the situation further.”
In partnership with SiriusXM, Drake announced the concert as a one-night only event last fall. It was originally meant to take place Nov. 11 but was moved to early December to mourn Takeoff, whose shooting death occurred a little over a week prior. The show was then delayed again to January due to production issues, and a second show was added.
The two-night event attracted an A-list crowd, including Justin and Hailey Bieber, Kevin Durant, Odell Beckham Jr., Aaron Judge, A$AP Ferg and more, as Drake performed a mix of his biggest hits and deep cuts spanning his catalog. The Toronto native also brought out Dipset and Lil Uzi Vert as special guests, and hinted at a possible tour with 21 this summer.
Some audience members leaving a concert by Drake at the Apollo Theater in Harlem came outside to see a New York Police Department officer filming those filing out, raising concerns from privacy advocates over what would be done with the footage.
The NYPD said Monday (Jan. 23) the video would only be used for a social media post, but there were still calls for the material to be deleted.
Music writer Jon Caramanica of The New York Times tweeted on Saturday night that the NYPD was filming those leaving the show at the Apollo Theater, putting up a video showing an officer seemingly recording those coming out.
In a statement, the department said the officer was part of the social media team for the local precinct and was getting video for a social media post about local events.
“The video will not be utilized for any other reason,” the department said.
But the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project, a New York City-based group that focuses on privacy and civil rights, called the videotaping “highly concerning” and that attendees were being surveilled without their consent. It demanded the video be destroyed.
See Caramanica’s video below:
Less than one week after releasing the first single from his upcoming debut studio album, The First Time, The Kid LAROI is already preparing to release a follow-up track, and is using his partnership with Epic Games to do it.
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On Friday, Jan. 27, The Kid LAROI is inviting fans of his to a very special Fortnite experience titled “Wild Dreams.” It will feature new music of his, including his new single “Love Again,” which will also be released this coming Friday. The partnership marks the first time in Fortnite that multiple new songs will narrate a game experience. “Wild Dreams” will become available on Friday starting at 6 p.m. ET, and will be available to fans in Fortnite for three months.
“MY FORTNITE ISLAND EXPERIENCE IS LAUNCHING WITH THE NEW SINGLE ‘LOVE AGAIN’ and some other surprises.. CHECK IT OUT THIS FRIDAY! #EpicPartner,” the 19-year-old shared via Instagram, as well as some interesting in-game footage and a preview of the new track.
The “Wild Dreams” quest through “Laroitown” will let players earn not only XP, but also special LAROI items and attend the in-game concert. After that show, players can join the musician for what Fortnite calls the Afterparty, where the “Wild Dreams” mix will play on a loop, while offering a look at the musician’s life, including his time on the road.
On Jan. 19, fans got the first taste of LAROI’s forthcoming LP with previously released single “I Can’t Go Back to the Way It Was (Intro).” The track sees Laroi sharing intimate details about his life, such as his relationship with his mother and father, and the difficulties that life often holds. The 19-year-old also struggles to keep up with the fast pace of his existence, and feels bad for the bridges he’s burned in the process.
Listen to a preview of “Love Again” in the “Wild Dreams” teaser posted to The Kid LAROI’s Instagram:
Doja Cat turned heads when she arrived at the Schiaparelli Haute Couture Spring Summer 2023 show for Paris Fashion Week on Monday (Jan. 23) covered head to toe in red jewels and makeup.
“Doja Cat Couture @dojacat in 30 000 @swarovski crystals applied by hand at the @schiaparelli Haute Couture SS23 show held at Petit Palais in Paris,” the fashion house shared in an Instagram post, detailing that the rapper’s stunning ensemble was also comprised of a “red silk faille bustier,” “hand-knit skirt of lacquered wooden beads” and “Trompe l’œil toe boots.”
Makeup artist Pat McGrath offered an even closer look at Doja’s glittering visage, which she revealed took four hours and 58 minutes to create. “The final product was a magical, mesmerising masterpiece of sparkling brilliance,” McGrath wrote, thanking the Grammy winner for her “sublime patience” during the process.
The fashion show featured the likes of Naomi Campbell, Shalom Harlow and Irina Shayk strutting down the runway in haute couture gowns embroidered with giant animal heads in a nod to Dante’s Inferno. Kylie Jenner was also seated front row during the presentation with a giant lion’s head attached to her black dress. (All of Schiaparelli’s posts ensured “NO ANIMALS WERE HARMED IN MAKING” any of the looks.)
Recently, Doja nabbed five nominations at the upcoming 2023 Grammy Awards — including record of the year for “Woman” — as well as five more for this year’s iHeartRadio Awards. Interestingly, should her song beat out the crowded field for record of the year, it would become the shortest track to take home the trophy in more than half a century.
Get a closer look at Doja’s jaw-dropping Schiaparelli look and all the work that went into creating it below.
If you really loved Jazmine Sullivan‘s Grammy-nominated 2020 single “Pick Up Your Feelings,” then Normani has some news for you. The former Fifth Harmony singer and “Motivation” solo star appeared to confirm a fan rumor over the weekend when she responded, “now how did ya’ll get this” to a claim that she’d recorded a previously unheard “Feelings” demo.
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The comment was tagged to a tweet from a fan, who wrote, “Normani ate on ‘Pick Up Your Feelings,’ but glad it went to Jazmine. Mani knows what she wants & her album will be great!” The post also appeared to contain a snippet of Normani’s demo version fading into Sullivan’s released take.
The original song that was the second single from Sullivan’s debut EP, Heaux Tales, and was penned by the singer along with Audra Mae, Kyle Coleman, Michael Holmes, Brittany Coney and Denisa Andrews (the latter of the production duo Nova Wav); it was nominated for best R&B song and best R&B performance at the 64th annual Grammy Awards, where it won the performance prize in a rare tie with Silk Sonic’s “Leave the Door Open.” Sullivan’s version topped out at No. 75 on the Billboard Hot 100 and hit No. 1 on the Billboard adult R&B chart, her first chart-topper on that tally.
At press time spokespeople for Normani and Sullivan had not responded to Billboard’s request for further comment.
In August, Normani snapped back at some disgruntled fans who said they were questioning her musical motivation amidst the long wait for the singer’s anticipated full-length solo debut album. “Just shut the f— up,” she wrote at the time. The singer has yet to share a release date for the long-awaited debut album fans have been pining for following Fifth Harmony’s split in March 2018.
Since releasing her solo debut single “Motivation” in 2019, Normani has delivered two other solo tracks: “Wild Side” featuring Cardi B in 2021 and “Fair” in March of last year. She was also featured on Megan Thee Stallion’s “Diamonds” from the 2020 Birds of Prey soundtrack and on Calvin Harris’ single “New to You” alongside Tinashe and Offset for the DJ’s Funk Wav Bounces Vol. 2 album.
Check out Normani’s tweet below.
“I’d like to take you on a little journey tonight, if that’s ok?,” Drake asked onstage at the Apollo Theater on Saturday (Jan. 21).
After two postponements last fall, the Toronto superstar finally graced the stage at the legendary Harlem venue on Saturday night for his first of two shows there this weekend. In partnership with SiriusXM and his radio show Sound 42, the concert was originally meant to take place on Friday (Nov. 11) but was moved to early December to mourn Takeoff whose untimely death occurred a little over a week prior. The show was then delayed again due to production issues.
Twenty-five minutes after his scheduled set time of 9:00 p.m., a white screen lifted to reveal Drake sitting in a bedroom made to look like his old room in his mother’s basement. The other side resembled a record label office.
Drake then took fans and guests on a journey through his career. As he sat on the edge of the bed “where I wrote a lot of these songs,” he said, he took the crowd back to his early days with songs like “Marvin’s Room,” “Say Something” and “Practice.” After 15 minutes there was a slight pause before the set changed to an office, representing the times he played his music at record labels, only to get rejected. Early hits like “Best I Ever Had,” “Over,” “Headlines” and “I’m On One” soundtracked that scene.
Drake powered through a good mix of his biggest hits and deep cuts. Below are eight best moments from Drake’s night at the Apollo.
Free merch
Fans and guests were treated to free OVO T-shirts that were especially made for the show. The shirts were white with the OVO owl and the Apollo Theater’s logo on the left chest with the original show flier printed on the entire back.
The star-studded crowd
What’s a Drake show without a star-studded guest list? Notable people like Elliott Wilson, Kevin Durant, Odell Beckham Jr, A Boogie wit da Hoodie, Ice Spice, 2 Chainz and more were in attendance for Drake’s first show in, what he said, “like five years or some s—.” A few times throughout the performance, the rapper also thanked his longtime friend and producer Noah “40” Shebib, who was in the crowd.
Drake’s nods to his Degrassi days
As he opened the concert with Take Care cut “Over My Dead Body,” Drake sported his Degrassi character Jimmy Brooks’s basketball jersey with baggy jeans and white Air Force 1s. “That’s what this sequence is about, me trying to grind my a– off and let people know that I’m not in a wheelchair in real life [and] Canadians can make music or whatever it was,” he joked later in the night after the record label scene.
The night was about gratitude
About seven minutes into his set, Drake took time to address the crowd. “I wanted to make this show about gratitude. This is a little story we put together about my deep love for my family, for my dear friends and for each and every one of you that have been supporting me for a long time,” he said. The star said he associates New York City with feelings of making it, and he revisited those feelings of gratitude by performing his biggest hits and deep cuts spanning his catalog thus far.
Drake being a mama’s boy
We all know that Drake is mama’s boy at heart. The rapper pointed out his mother, Sandi Graham, sitting in the mezzanine and thanked her for everything she’s done for him.
Dipset and diamond bracelets
After the record label scene, the stage design transitioned to a Harlem bodega and Dipset emerged along with Drake, who was wearing Cam’ron’s original pink mink coat and headband combo. The Harlem rap group — which includes Cam’ron, Jim Jones, Juelz Santana and Freekey Zekey — performed their songs “I Really Mean It,” “Dipset Anthem” and Jones’s solo hit “We Fly High (Ballin’).” “I know I talk a lot about being influenced and I got a lot of love, but like … these guys right here from Harlem made us dress different, talk different, walk different, rap different, all the way in Canada,” said Drake after they performed. Jones then gifted Drake a diamond bracelet with jewels resembling the Dipset bird, praying hands, OVO logo, OVO owl and the Apollo logo.
’21, can you do something for me?‘
Fans were in for a treat when Drake brought out 21 Savage to perform a slew of Her Loss songs for the first time together. The two started with “Rich Flex” then tag-teamed for “Privileged Rappers,” “Spin Bout U,” “Jimmy Cooks” and “Knife Talk.” The Atlanta rapper told the crowd that his friendship with Drake is beyond music saying the Toronto native Drake would check on him often after they met in 2015. “He helped me every step of my career behind the scenes,” 21 said before hugging his friend.
Drake hinted at a summer tour with 21
“You should come see us this summer, we might be around,” Drake said before 21 left the stage.
Cardi B is doing the time. Three days after getting the deadline for her court-ordered community service — assigned to her as part of a plea deal stemming from a 2018 strip club altercation — extended until March 1, the 30-year-old rapper posted a small update on Twitter.
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True to Cardi fashion, the post had an element of fun: The “WAP” musician shared a mirror selfie with one hand on her hip, making a funny faux-stern face at the camera. “Second day of community service……,” she wrote Friday (Jan. 20). “Obey the law.”
With long acrylic nails, a chic pink sweater and Tabi luxury split-toe boots, it certainly doesn’t look like Cardi is heading out to do something like, say, clean up trash from the side of the road. But this is the woman who raps “Bodak Yellow” and “I Like It,” so she very well could be putting in some elbow grease while being effortlessly glam.
Cardi was originally assigned the community service after pleading guilty in September to two misdemeanor charges stemming from a 2018 incident in which she was involved in a physical fight with female bartenders at Angels Strip Club in Queens, New York. The deadline for her to complete the 15 days of service had been Tuesday (Jan. 17), at which point she hadn’t completed a single hour, a spokesperson for the Queens District Attorney told People.
Luckily, she was given a month and a half extension by the Queens County Criminal Court. And based on her tweet, it looks like she’s putting in the work.
“Personally and professionally, Cardi is dedicated to community service and charitable endeavors,” her attorney said in a statement to People after she received the extension. “She therefore appreciates the court giving her until March 1 to complete her community service commitment in Queens, New York.”
See Cardi’s post about community service below:
You’ve heard of Diddy, P. Diddy, Puffy and Puff Daddy. Now, get ready for Sean Combs’ newest nickname — no, seriously, get ready, as in, brace yourselves — Pee Diddy.
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Your eyes do not deceive you. The 53-year-old rapper and record producer’s newest nickname is 100% inspired by a very different type of … ahem … No. 1 than what’s found on the Billboard charts. The phrase “Pee Diddy” has been trending atop Twitter since Combs’ girlfriend, City Girls’ Yung Miami, revealed Thursday (Jan. 19) that she enjoys a “golden shower.”
“It say take a shot if you like golden showers — I do,” the 28-year-old “Act Up” rapper said on her REVOLT talk show Caresha Please while playing a drinking game with guest Trina. “It’s fun. You know when you’re drunk … you can pee on me in the shower … it just depends on how the night flowing.”
Though she didn’t name names, it didn’t take long for fans to associate Yung Miami’s … um … appreciation for water sports with Diddy, whom she’s been confirmed to be dating since last summer. It also didn’t take long for a “golden” pun opportunity to occur to the good people on Twitter, which has been absolutely flushed with slightly vulgar posts and memes about “Pee Diddy,” a not-so-subtle twist on P. Diddy.
Watch her full interview below, and see the best tweets about and reactions to “Pee Diddy” below:
Surprise! Trippie Redd just dropped a brand new album titled Mansion Musik, on Friday (Jan. 20).
Mansion Musik, according to an official press release regarding the album, is an an ode to Chief Keef’s 2018 Mansion Musick mixtape. Keef had his fair share of involvement on the project and served as Redd’s executive producer for the new studio set, and also features as an artist on tracks “Atlantis” and “Rock Out.”
In addition to the Keef collaborations, Redd’s Mansion Musick is stacked with collaborations. Lil Baby and Future team up with the rapper on “Fully Loaded,” Travis Scott makes an appearance on “Krzy Train” and Juice WRLD makes a posthumous feature on “Knight Crawler.” Other rappers on the project include DaBaby, Lil B, Rich the Kid, Nardo Wick, Kodak Black, G Herbo, Summrs, Rob 49, Ski Mask the Slump God, LUCKI and more. Mansion Musick‘s title track, “Van Helsing,” “Free Rio” and “Killionaire” are the only songs in which Redd is solo.
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Mansion Musik is the follow up to Redd’s 2021 album, Trip at Knight. It peaked at No. 2 following its August 2021 release on the all-genre Billboard 200 chart, where it spent a total of 27 weeks. The project’s singles — “Miss the Rage” featuring Playboy Carti, and “Holy Smokes” featuring Lil Uzi Vert — reached the Billboard Hot 100, charting at Nos. 11 and 50, respectively. “Rage” spent 11 weeks on the tally, while “Smokes” spent three.
Stream Mansion Musik below.
Since catching the attention with “Munch (Feelin’ U)” last August, Ice Spice has been on the very tip of many tongues.
The Bronx freestyle specialist followed it up with “Bikini Bottom,” a fun exercise in drill which could easily soundtrack an silly scene from Spongebob Squarepants.
“Munch” has racked up more than 25 million views on YouTube and 39 million listens on Spotify, and landing spots on the Billboard Rhythmic Airplay, Bubbling Under Hot 100 and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs charts.
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“Bikini Bottom” is at 9.5 million and 39 million plays, respectively.
Cardi B and Lil Nas X are fans, and Billboard anointed her as October R&B/Hip-Hop rookie of the month.
All that love and attention spilled over when Vevo sent Ice Spice to the 2023 class of “DSCVR Artists to Watch”.
The 23-year-old rapper is repaying the faith, and getting in early with Like…? (via Capitol), a new six-track EP which dropped at the stroke of midnight.
The six-pack captures “Munch” and Bikini Bottom” at the back-end, with the recently-released cut “In Ha Mood,” and newbies “Princess Diana,” “Gangsta Boo” with Lil Tjay, and “Actin a Smoochie” at the top.
Like…? is stickered with a “parental advisory” warning, which could also apply to its naughty artwork which features an animated stripper in a compromising pose.
so excited for ya to hear this project likee
