State Champ Radio R&B/Hip-Hop
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It looks like Kid Cudi is putting his potential retirement on the back burner — at least for now. On Sunday (Nov. 6), the “Pursuit of Happiness” rapper explained on Twitter that he will prepare one more album before his record deal with Republic Records is up, and that he’ll potentially be releasing songs he’s previously teased.
“Im doin 1 more album and then im done w my deal and not sure what ima do after that but yea, 1 more,” he wrote. “Wont be next year. Keep u posted.” In a follow up tweet, Cudi added, “This is for all my fans that have been ridin w me for so long. This will be all new music. The songs ive teased ill prolly put out as singles here and there to hold u over.”
During the rapper’s appearance on Hot Ones in early October, he shared that he feels like his career as a rap artist is “nearing the end.”
Host Sean Evans had asked the rapper who he looked to as the blueprint for aging gracefully as an artist. “Yeah, like Jay-Z for sure,” Cudi said. “But I don’t feel like I have what they have. I just don’t know if I wanna do music, drop albums for too much longer, you know? I’m kind of nearing the end on all things Kid Cudi, I think.”
As for what the artist sees himself doing in the future? “This is like a wacky idea I had years ago. But it would be cool to, like, one day be a kindergarten teacher, and just do that for a couple years,” he shared. “Like, when I’m, like, 50 … And I just, like, infect the youth with that freshness. Get ’em young, and then those kids will just sprinkle the freshness to the world, and I’ll just be like, ‘Yes! Yes!’”
Cudi’s most recent album Entergalactic — the corresponding set for animated Netflix special of the same name — peaked at No. 13 on the Billboard 200.
See Cudi’s tweets below.
Im doin 1 more album and then im done w my deal and not sure what ima do after that but yea, 1 more. Wont be next year. Keep u posted.— The Chosen One (@KiDCuDi) November 6, 2022
This is for all my fans that have been ridin w me for so long. This will be all new music. The songs ive teased ill prolly put out as singles here and there to hold u over— The Chosen One (@KiDCuDi) November 6, 2022
Brooklyn rapper Gloria “Hurricane G” Rodriguez has died at age 52. The passing of the Puerto Rican MC best known for her 1997 No. 10 hot rap singles hit “Somebody Else” as well as binlingual songs including “Underground Lockdown” and “El Barrio,” was confirmed by EPMD’s Erick Sermon, who had a daughter with Rodriguez.
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“My heart is hardened today. One of my good friends…. my oldest daughters mother passed away today #HURRICANEGLORIA was also a legend in her own right in the Hiphop community,” Sermon wrote in an Instagram tribute posted on Sunday (Nov. 6). “One of the first puertorican female rappers She rapped with me. @redmangilla she paved the way @keithmurray @diddy she was in all the Hiphop magazines with all the top females at the time.”
Rodriguez first gained fame in 1992 when she appeared on Redman’s “Tonight’s da Night,” then teamed up with him again two years later on “We Run N.Y.” from his Dare Iz a Darkside album. Her debut full-length Spanglish album, All Woman, dropped in 1997 on the New York-based H.O.L.A. Recordings after she’d logged spots on songs by everyone from Xzibit to Funkdoobiest, Keith Murray and Puff Daddy. She also became the first female member of the East Coast hip-hop crew the Def Squad, which included Sermon, Redman, Murray and Jamal.
Though her output was sparse, Sermon noted in his tribute that legendary underground hip-hop radio due Stretch and Bobbito “loved a song that she did called ‘MILKY,’” adding, “She will be missed all around the world. I can’t believe this. Pray for us. Beautiful blessings. She was a beautiful person a wonderful mother as real as they come.”
At press time no cause of death was revealed, but according a FB post on May 20 from Rodriguez’s daughter, Lexus, her mom was suffering from advanced lung cancer. “My mom has stage 4 lung cancer,” she wrote at the time. “I dont know how many of you understand what that means but even after 30 years of life Im still trying to process it myself. I have never cried so much in my life I have never felt so disconnected from reality in my life. Yet my mom still manages to be the one to hold it together and say “dont worry baby everythings gonna be alright”. S–t im crying right now but today is a blessing.”
Hurricane G’s last released album was a 2013 collaboration with Thirstin Howl III entitled Mami & Papi.
See Sermon’s tribute and listen to “Somebody Else” below.
Iconic 80’s funk band Morris Day & The Time will receive the Legend Award at 2022 Soul Train Awards.
The band amassed five top 10 hits on Billboard’s Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart (then called Hot Black Singles) in the ‘80s and early ‘90s, including “777-9311,” “Jungle Love” and “Jerk-Out,” which reached No. 1 in August 1990. The band had four gold albums, with 1984’s Ice Cream Castle going platinum.
Maxwell was last year’s winner of the Legend Award. Other recent winners include Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, Erykah Badu, Toni Braxton, Teddy Riley, Babyface, Kool & the Gang and Dionne Warwick.
Hosted by comedian and actor Deon Cole, the 2022 Soul Train Awards premieres Sunday, Nov. 27 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on BET and BET Her.
Day went to school with Prince Rogers Nelson and sang in Grand Central, Prince’s first band. In 1984, Morris Day & The Time appeared in Purple Rain, which captured the exploding Minneapolis music scene at its peak. The following year, Day launched his solo career, releasing three albums: Color of Success (1985), Daydreaming (1987), and Guaranteed (1992). Day is releasing his final album, Last Call on Nov. 11, with an eye toward retiring at the end of 2023.
“They say the way you start is the way you finish, and being that I’m retiring end of next year, it’s only fitting that I return to the place that helped start it all,” Day said in a statement. “Our first major TV appearance was in 1981 on Soul Train with Don Cornelius. And 41 years later, to be honored with the Soul Train Awards Legend Award is what we call full circle. Truly amazing!”
“Morris Day & The Time create and perform timeless, feel-good music for fans to enjoy all over the world,” Connie Orlando, evp specials, music programming & music strategy said in a statement. “Their unique sound, style, and artistry continue to serve as inspiration to music lovers and recording artists today.”
BET Soul will dedicate a full hour to Morris Day & The Time music videos on Monday, Nov. 7, at 5 p.m. ET. Check local listings.
As previously announced, Xscape will receive the Lady of Soul award at the 2022 Soul Train Awards.
Ari Lennox, Chanté Moore, Muni Long, SiR, Tank and BET Amplified stage artists Coco Jones and Q are set to perform on the show, which BET brands as “the feel-good party of the year.” Alex Vaughn, Durand Bernarr, Muni Long and Tasha Cobbs Leonard are slated to blend harmonies for this year’s Soul Cypher. DJ and music producer D-Nice will take command of the turntables.
Beyoncé and Mary J. Blige lead 2022 Soul Train Awards nominations with seven nods each. Ari Lennox received six nods. Lizzo and Chris Brown are tied at five nods each, followed by Burna Boy, Muni Long, and Steve Lacy with four nods each. Bruno Mars, Anderson .Paak, Silk Sonic, PJ Morton, and Tems each garnered three.
Orlando will oversee the annual show and executive produce for BET with Jamal Noisette, VP, specials & music programming. Jesse Collins, CEO of Jesse Collins Entertainment, will also serve as executive producer along with Jeannae Rouzan–Clay and Dionne Harmon, two of the top executives in Collins’ company.
If you recently read a headline quoting Snoop Dogg‘s professional joint roller claiming that the 51-year-old rap icon smokes up to 150 joints per day, take that news with a pinch of Sour Diesel. The quote from Snoop’s “professional blunt roller,” Renegade Piranha, had her saying that she rolls up about half a pound of sticky icky per day, which equals around 75-150 joints every 24 hours, or more than 450,000 to date.
Snoop has never been one to play down his love of the flower, but in a video posted on Sunday (No. 6) the “Smoke Weed Every Day” MC corrected the record… and not in the way you might expect. “B—h said I smoke 450,000 [joints on her watch]… B—h, this is all in a day’s work,” he said in an Instagram video entitled “Stop Lyin’” in which he pointed to a pile of a mere nine blunt roaches.
“Stop lyin’. How the f–k am I gonna smoke all that weed in one day?” he said. “What am I a f—in’ machine? B—h this is the roaches. See? Roaches.” He, of course, followed that video up with another one a short time later in which he’s cruising in his car while staring into the camera and puffing on a fat blunt while rocking a Death Row Records jacket and listening to Curtis Mayfield’s “Superfly.”
Snoop will need some extra lung capacity next month when he drops the latest from super-stacked California rap supergroup Mount Westmore, which also features such West Coast legends as Ice Cube, E-40 and Too $hort. The long-awaited debut is slated to drop on Dec. 9 and feature the just released bouncy single, “Too Big,” featuring P-Lo. The Bigg Dogg also recently revealed that he’s working on a sequel to his 1993 Dr. Dre-produced solo debut, Doggystyle, which he’s calling Missionary.
Check out Snoop’s smoke-and-tell below.
Rihanna is already drawing artistic inspiration from her newborn son with A$AP Rocky as she gears up to headline February’s Super Bowl halftime show. After dropping the moving ballad “Lift Me Up” from the Black Panther: Wakanda Forever soundtrack last week, RihRih chatted up ET on the red carpet of her fourth Savage X Fenty Show, where she talked about motherhood and her new priorities; the Savage X Fenty Show Vol. 4 will premiere on Amazon Prime Video on Weds. (Nov. 9).
“Oh my God, the mornings, like, seeing his morning face! Seeing a baby with, like, little bags and waking up and they’re just, like, startled,” she said of the baby boy she and Rocky welcomed in May. “They’re trying to figure out where they’re at. It’s the cutest, it’s my favorite part of the day.”
And while she’s trying to make the most of every moment with her “amazing… happy” son, Rihanna said he’s already inspiring her to “freestyle” song when she sings to him. He’s also given her some new ideas for her Fenty brand during their early-morning bonding sessions.
“You know, I always thought doing kid stuff would be cliché and the obvious thing to do when you have a baby. It’s, like, the obvious next step,” she said of a possible Fenty line for kids. “But when I went shopping, that’s when I realized like, OK, maybe I need to start making the stuff that I want my kids to wear because it’s hard! I got my own ideas.”
While she’s enjoying her time at home, Rih is also hard at work gearing up for her 2023 Apple Music Super Bowl LVII halftime show. “I can’t believe I even said yes. It was one of those things that even when I announced it, I was like, ‘OK, I can’t take it back. Now, it’s like final,’” she told ET on the carpet.
“The Super Bowl is one of the biggest stages in the world, it’s an entertainer’s dream to be on a stage like that,” she added. “But it’s nerve-racking. You want to get it right. You know, everybody’s watching. And they’re rooting for you. And I want to get it right.” At press time it was still unknown what the 34-year-old singer’s halftime performance will look like, but it sounds like she’s gearing up to blow out the “now or never” opportunity.
“Nothing would have gotten me out of the house if it wasn’t a challenge like that,” she said. “You could get real comfortable being at home as a mom, [so this is] challenging myself to do something that I’ve never done before in my career. I have to live up to that challenge.” She’s not giving up any details, but the Barbados-bred star did say she plan to “incorporate a lot of culture” into the Feb. 12 blowout.
“I want to incorporate different aspects of entertainment and things that I just enjoy and bring it to the stage,” she said. “I want to celebrate the music that I’ve made.”
When Ashanti and Yung Miami of the City Girls teamed up for the “Queens Remix” of Diddy’s “Gotta Move On” featuring Bryson Tiller, the R&B top five hit was transformed into a no-holds-barred women’s anthem.
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“What makes it [“Queens Remix”] so dope is how Diddy flipped it from the original version’s male perspective about moving on,” says Ashanti. “For the remix, it’s the female telling him to move on. It just gives the song a whole new light.” And of the pairing with Yung Miami, she adds, “Yung Miami just makes sense. You know, they have their thing going on, and me writing from real-life experiences … the timing was absolutely perfect.”
Dishing on her studio session for the remix, Yung Miami says that Diddy turned out to be a stern collaborator to the point where cell phones were banned. “I was like, ‘Diddy, you’re a serious producer; you don’t play,’” she recalls of laying down her verse. It reads in part: “Step one, I can’t stress me a n***a (Yeah) / Forty-point necklace, I could buy me a n***a (That’s right) / DeLeón sippin’ but my new n***a richer (Facts) / He hit like this tequila, I could feel him in my liver.”
But the results were worth it, Yung Miami adds. “I’ve been reading the reviews and people have been like, “That’s the best verse she ever did … Diddy really got her on beat.”
Ashanti’s remix lyrics seemingly address producer/industry executive Irv Gotti’s recent comments about having a relationship with her, which the Grammy winner has denied. “It’s givin’ ‘Obsessed’ / It’s givin’ you stressed / It’s givin’ you pressed / It’s givin’ this n***ga missin’ the best …,” she sings in the second verse.
“It just organically came together,” says Ashanti. “My name was all over the place. But sometimes it’s really cool to be able to express yourself through your art. Sometimes we get into situations where people need to move on instead of being bitter or talking ill or negative about a person. It’s better to just let go and move on.”
Since the release of “Queens Remix,” its accompanying video has garnered 3.8 million YouTube views. It’s one of four remixes — including one by Cool and Dre — comprising the “Gotta Move On” bundle that Diddy’s Love Records/Motown released in mid-October. “Gotta Move On” continues to rank at No. 3 on the R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart, No. 4 on Adult R&B Airplay and has climbed to No. 25 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs tally.
Moving on beyond the remix, both queens are currently busy with other projects. Ashanti released her new single, “Fall for You,” on Oct. 28. Produced by Bleu, who also co-wrote the song with Ashanti, its accompanying video has logged 1.3 million YouTube views. While the title may suggest the mid-tempo tune is about the start of a romance, Ashanti says it’s quite the opposite.
“Immediately you think the record is about falling for someone,” she explains. “But it’s actually titled that because I’m not falling for [the person] anymore. It’s very Ashanti 2022-esque. From [pre-release] snippets I dropped on Instagram, people were like ‘I need this. This is my life.’ I love those connections that come with writing from a real place.”
Earlier this year, Yung Miami made her debut as an executive producer, along with City Girls mate JT, on Issa Rae’s recently renewed HBO Max series Rap Sh!t — inspired by the pair’s own career. Yung Miami also launched her own talk show this year, Revolt’s Caresha Please, which tied with fellow Revolt show Drink Champs for the best hip-hop platform award at the BET Hip Hop Awards in early October. The accolade, which she describes as an honor and blessing, is another step toward her dream of being the “next Oprah.”
“I’m not gonna lie, I was very nervous,” says Yung Miami of doing the show’s first episodes with Diddy and Kevin Gates. “I was the one doing the interviewing and coming up with the questions, so I was just shaking in my boots.” But now that she’s been honing her talk-show skills, Yung Miami is setting her sights on a new goal: having Beyoncé as a guest on the show next season.
“Beyoncé, if this interview reaches you, please!” she says.
In the meantime, next up for the rapper is joining the cast of BMF, along with comedian/actress Mo’Nique. The Starz series begins its second season in January. Also coming next year: a new City Girl album. As for what fans can expect, Yung Miami hints only that the album will feature two love songs. “It’s still going to be fun,” she assures. “But it’s also going to give you another side of us.”
Nandi Bushell picked the perfect time to pay tribute to a rap god. In fact, on the eve of Eminem getting formally inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the 12-year-old British drummer phenom tipped her hat the only way she knows how: by ripping through a killer cover of Slim Shady’s 2013 anthem “Rap God” just hours before Marshall Mathers joined the ranks of rock royalty.
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“Guess who’s back? My first new cover in almost 6 months! #rapgod by @eminem!,” Bushell tweeted, noting that her stick-spinning, booming version was inspired by HAL, the drummer for Japanese rockers CVLTE. But there was even better news. After years of expertly covering other people’s songs — and picking up new pals like Foo Fighters’ Dave Grohl in the process — Nandi said she’s got big things in store.
“I am still working on my original songs. Coming soon!,” she added. “I can’t wait for you to hear them. Working on my speed and consistency.”
In the video, a smiling Bushell bounces her sticks off the floor, hits a pummeling double-kick drum and blasts out double-time beats to go along with the track of Em’s verbal blitzkrieg.
Longtime friend and collaborator Dr. Dre inducted Eminem on Saturday night, recalling how just about nearly everyone tried to discourage him from working with the then-unknown rapper, saying no one believed or saw the vision. “I knew that his gifts were undeniable,” Dre said during his speech. “Each of us was what the other one needed — and I was willing to bet my entire career on it.”
Em took his place this weekend alongside a 2022 Hall of Fame class that also included Dolly Parton, Pat Benatar & Neil Giraldo, Duran Duran, Eurythmics, Lionel Richie and Carly Simon.
In September, Spin spoke to Bushell about her upcoming debut EP, Into the Abyss, which will feature her first collection of original songs after years of posting viral cover videos and jamming with the Foos on “Learning to Fly” at the London Taylor Hawkins tribute concert earlier in the month. She’s already released the first single from the five-song effort, “The Shadows,” as well as “Forsaken,” which was inspired by a song she was invited to sing on by Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello to help Afghan girls and young women at a school learn to play guitar under the repressive Taliban government.
Bushell said her originals are inspired by everyone from Billie Eilish to Slipknot and Twenty One Pilots. “I also wrote everything and I played everything,” she said.
Check out Bushell’s cover below.
Singer-songwriter Ambré made noise in 2015 with her debut project Wanderlust and has been working nonstop since, following up with 2090’s in 2016. In 2019, Ambré finally signed to Jay-Z’s record label Roc Nation, dropping her EP Pulp, a soulful project that showcased her songwriting, producing, and singing abilities. Additionally, she earned a Grammy for best R&B album for her contribution to H.E.R.’s self-titled project at the 2019 Grammys.
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Now, the 26-year-old Ambré is back with her 3000° project, which was released in June. The project is an ode to a pair of New Orleans classics – Juvenile’s 400 Degreez and Lil Wayne’s 500 Degreez.
The album’s Jvck James-featuring single “I’m Baby” has gone on to be the most-added at R&B Radio and Sirius’ Heart and Soul, according to a press release. She’s also dropped visuals for her song “Illusionz ” featuring BEAM and Destin Conrad, which was directed by child, who has worked with the likes of Future and Doja Cat.
To commemorate the release of her latest EP, the Grammy-winning artist is headlining her The Wild Magnolia Tour, which will kick off on Sunday (Nov. 6) in Atlanta and wrap up on Sunday (Nov. 20) in Los Angeles. The tour announcement follows Ambré’s set and appearance at Afropunk and performance at this year’s Made in America Festival.
With now 66 million global streams, Ambré is turning heads with her unique sound, which infuses jazz and trap. As she gears up for the seven-stop tour, Ambré chatted with Billboard about her tour, signing to Roc Nation, LGBTQ+ representation in music, working with H.E.R. and Jay Electronica, and more.
1. Let’s go back to New Orleans. Where did your love of music develop?
I think naturally, I just always loved music. Everybody knows in my family — since I was a kid, I always loved to sing and stuff. But I think what probably helped spark it was I was in choir growing up in church. I was in choir at school, too, so that was one of the things that I think helped me to keep singing. I was also in the marching band and stuff like that. I think just being around music my whole life, too. New Orleans is a musical city, so I think it helped [with my] love of music for sure.
2. How have Juvenile and Lil Wayne been pivotal to the music you make, considering you all are from the same place?
My mom, she always loved Juvenile, and just the whole city in general. There was no way to get around it. But my momma used to love Juvenile, and she would play his albums. I was more of an R&B kid, but I still feel influenced by those eras of music.
Obviously, when I was in high school and stuff, Lil Wayne was super-popping. Every time he dropped a mixtape, I would play that. You know what I mean? Those are definitely some of my top influences when it comes to just how I approach [my music] lyrically, I think.
3. What other artists were you listening to growing up?
I listened to a lot of music. I definitely listened to Nat King Cole, Nina Simone, Brandy, super heavy, and Frank Ocean. And then on the hiphop side, Andre 3000, Kendrick Lamar. I like those blended artists that bend the genre a little bit.
4. How does 3000° differ from your earlier projects like Wanderlust and Pulp?
I think the way that it’s different, in my opinion, is it’s just more personal. I think with my other projects, I was trying to create a world, basically. With this one, I was more focused on telling my story and letting people know where I come from and what I’m about.
5. How did your collaborations with Jay Electronica and Jvck James on the EP come about?
I met Jay at a movie premiere for The Harder They Fall. My friend Kehlani actually introduced me to him, and she was like, “You need to know her,” or whatever. She from New Orleans, you’re both from New Orleans.” He was like, “Oh yeah, what part you from?” That whole little thing where you meet somebody from where you from, you got to be specific and stuff like that.
I started talking my s–t and he like, “All right, bet, bet, bet.” We had a little moment there. And then from there, I just kept seeing him. Also, he signed to Roc Nation, so my A&R is super cool with him. Yeah, basically, that’s how that happened. He just was like, “I’m down, let’s do something.” I sent him the song [“Jay’s Reprise”] and he liked it. He sent something back, he was asking me my opinion and stuff. I’m like, “Dude, you’re Jay Electronica.”
Jvck, I had been following him for a while on social media, and when he finally came to the States, we linked up and we did some sessions. Funny enough, none of those songs ever came to be anything. But after one of the sessions, I sent him “Baby,” and he was just like, “I like this,” so he just hopped on it. I feel like all the features I do are usually super easy like that, but it’s organic, and I prefer that rather than the label situation.
6. Tell me about your music deal with Roc Nation. How did that partnership come about?
I got into management in 2019 after being with a few different people that were helping me out. I had already recorded Pulp, which was my last EP. I had the whole idea for everything. I was like, “I just need to put it out.” They were like, “Bet. We going to find a way to get it out.” Roc Nation was one of the first people that we had a meeting with. Honestly, I went for songwriting and then I played them my stuff and Omar [Grant] was just like, “Yeah, we got to put this out.”
Also, I knew Lawrence “Law” Parker, he’s not at Roc Nation no more, but he from New Orleans and he was like, “Yeah, they good people over here.” I trusted him and it felt like the right thing to do. I signed with them in 2019 and that’s how this journey began.
7. You and Jvck James have the most-added song at R&B Radio and Sirius’ Heart and Soul for “I’m Baby.” How does that feel?
Honestly, at first, I didn’t know what it even meant. But when I figured out what it meant, I was very excited. But I was also shocked. “Wow, that’s a little crazy.” But it made me feel happy and excited that people just genuinely like the song. That was a cool thing for me, a first for me. I’m trying to get in the habit of celebrating myself more.
8. What does the song mean to you in your own words?
I think it means just allowing yourself to be vulnerable with somebody. Because specifically, I say the word “submissive” in the hook. I don’t know if people think I’m talking sexually, but I mean in the sense of emotionally, just allowing somebody to break down an emotional wall. That’s what it was about for me. Just being comfortable and okay with that and having that balance and a relationship.
9. How would you describe your unique sound?
I think my sound is psychedelic — but I wanted to be a rapper at first, so I always try to be super-melodic, and my cadences, I try to do some different stuff with it. Also, I used to play trombone, so I feel like I have a naturally rhythmic cadence or whatever. But I think I’m a mix of soulful with some, I don’t know, new age.
10. How do you feel about the thought from people like Diddy that R&B is dead?
I don’t think it’s true. I don’t think it ever was true — but for some reason, R&B is one of those genres that people consistently want to talk about. There’s literally so many great R&B artists, and there always have been and there always will be, but it just depends on what you’re paying attention to.
I don’t think it’s dead, though, and I don’t think it will ever die — because it’s real music that it comes from, so I just don’t think people share it as much, because it’s a vulnerable type of music, generally. It’s not something that you’re not going to hear in the club all the time.
11. How are you making your mark in R&B, with so many different artists trying to make their stamp in the genre?
I think about being authentic to myself and [making] things that I want to hear. I just feel like I’m just a different person in general — so if I’m being myself, then my music is going to be different, too. I try not to think about everybody else.
12. I want to know how sexuality plays in your music. Do you put much thought into it and make sure that representation is there for LGBTQ+ audience?
Honestly, I don’t think about it. I’m being myself and just being honest and I’m speaking about my life and my experiences. I think it’s important, but I’m going to be honest — when I’m recording and stuff, it’s not something that I think about.
13. Do you see the masses embracing more from LGBTQ+ artists in the industry?
Slowly but surely. For sure. Hopefully eventually, it won’t be a thing to even discuss or talk about. Yeah, I do feel like the world is slowly accepting of other people’s just sexualities and the way people want to live their own lives.
14. You’ve collaborated with the likes of Thundercat, and D Smoke — who else would you like to work with in the music business and why?
I really want to work with PinkPantheress, because I love her voice — and I don’t know, I think she has a cool, unique sound. Also Hiatus Kaiyote, which is a band that I love. And obviously Andre 3000.
15. What is the writing process like writing for artists, specifically H.E.R.?
With H.E.R., pretty much every time we have a session, we’ll talk for honestly two hours or something like that — and just, “How you doing, what’s going on with your life,” or whatever. Usually, from that conversation, it would spark something creatively, and we might write a song about it.
But the process for pretty much everybody I write with is similar. We all just go based off how it’s feeling. If we pull up a beat, we might lay some melodies or whatever, but it’s really collaborative. I feel like if we are in a studio together, then everybody’s opinion is important. It’s a community effort. We constantly checking, “Oh, you think this is cool or should I do this?” Everybody’s ideas are valued, and we end up coming up with something cool every time.
16. You’re a solo artist, but I want to know — if you could put together a five-man band of any artist past or present, who would it be and why?
Including me. Okay. Five man band. I would say my best friend Destin, Kehlani. I’m going to throw, let’s see a rapper. I don’t know. Let’s say John Doe, and Ravyn Lenae.
17. Your tour, The Wild Magnolia Tour, kicks off on Nov.6. What’s the meaning behind the tour name?
Yeah, it’s some New Orleans stuff. It’s a saying. I don’t know how to explain it, but if somebody does something crazy or says something crazy, it be like, “Oh, you Wild Magnolia.” It’s a saying. But also, magnolia is the state flower and everything. So it’s just another extended homage to New Orleans.
18. What are you looking forward to most from this tour?
I’m looking forward to sounding really good. Hopefully I get to stage dive or crowd surf. That’s a goal of mine. I know people don’t expect that from an R&B show, but hey. I’m just looking forward to having fun, and seeing the people that I love and that support me, and just having a good time.
19. What do people need to know about Ambré inside and outside of music?
I want people to know that I’m a very sensitive person. I’m an artist. I’m sensitive about my s–t. [Laughs.] Nah, I’m just kidding. I feel like just that I care a lot about everything that I’m doing, and that I’m always learning, always growing. I’m just very grateful to be here.
20. What can fans expect next?
Outside of the tour, I’m working on some new music. Hopefully I’ll be able to put something out soon, but I’ve been recording a lot and shooting some more visuals and stuff like that. But I’m ready to drop a whole nother project.
Tickets for The Wild Magnolia Tour are available at ambremusic.com.
The Wild Magnolia Tour Dates11/6: Atlanta, GA @ Heaven At The Masquerade11/7: New Orleans, LA @ The Parish at HOB11/10: Houston, TX @ White Oak Music Hall11/15: New York, NY @ SOB’s11/17: Washington, DC @ Union Stage11/19: San Francisco, CA @ Cafe du Nord11/20: Los Angeles, CA @ Peppermint Club
Diddy rang in his 53rd birthday on Friday (Nov. 4) by, well, celebrating himself, of course.
In a video posted to his Twitter account, the rapper lays in bed while being the first person to wish himself a happy birthday in song. “Happy birthday to me/ Happy birthday to me/ Happy birthday to meeee/ Happy birthday…to…me!” he sings with increasing enthusiasm before excitedly shouting, “Thank you God! I lived another year! Woo!”
“THANK YOU GOD FOR LETTING ME WAKE UP LIKE THIS!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME! LOVE! LOVE!! LOVE,” he captioned the post followed by a series of emojis.
For his big day, the mogul appears to have gifted himself multiple cannabis companies in New York, Illinois and Massachusetts, thereby priming him to head the largest Black-owned cannabis business in the country (according to a report by Los Angeles-based radio station REAL 92.3 that Diddy shared to his Instagram Story).
Last month, Diddy fought back against allegations made by Ma$e that he exploited artists signed to Bad Boy Records, and turned the tables by claiming the “Feel So Good” rapper actually owed him $3 million for an advance on an album that was never created.
In a private exchange leaked by Kanye West on social media just a few days later, Diddy also attempted to get through to the embattled Yeezy founder with his advice not to sell the “White Lives Matter” shirts Ye presented — and wore — at Paris Fashion Week.
Watch Diddy wish himself a “Happy Birthday” from bed below.
Drake threw shots at Serena Williams’ husband Alexis Ohanian on his Her Loss song, “Middle of the Ocean,” and now Ohanian is clapping back.
“Sidebar, Serena, your husband a groupie/He claim we don’t got a problem but/No, boo, it is, like you comin’ for sushi/We might pop up on ’em at will like Suzuki,” Drake, who was rumored to be dating Williams in the past, rapped on his track.
In response, Ohanian shared a sweet photo to Twitter on Friday (Nov. 4) smiling while watching the tennis superstar on the court alongside the couple’s daughter, Olympia. “The reason I stay winning is because I’m relentless about being the absolute best at whatever I do — including being the best groupie for my wife & daughter,” he captioned the post, which seems to be a direct reference to the “groupie” lyric.
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The reason I stay winning is because I’m relentless about being the absolute best at whatever I do — including being the best groupie for my wife & daughter. pic.twitter.com/oaEKuRWFnj— AlexisOhanian7️⃣7️⃣6️⃣ (@alexisohanian) November 4, 2022
Ohanian is not the only person to respond to Drake’s Her Loss jabs following the album’s release. Megan Thee Stallion called out Drake for a line from his “Circo Loco” song off the rapper’s new joint album with 21 Savage, where he suggested that the Houston rapper lied about getting shot by Tory Lanez.
“This b—h lie ’bout getting shots, but she still a stallion/ She don’t even get the joke/ But she still smiling,” Drake raps on the song, in which he doesn’t mention Meg by name. He then says, “Shorty say she graduated, she ain’t learn enough/ Play your album, track one, ‘kay, I heard enough.”
“Stop using my shooting for clout b–h ass N—-s! Since when tf is it cool to joke abt women getting shot !” she tweeted early Friday morning in a series of heated comments that did not call out Drake by name, but which appeared to be a reaction to the “Loco” lines, which The Daily Beast described as a “vile, misogynistic” attack. “You n—-s especially RAP N—-S ARE LAME! Ready to boycott bout shoes and clothes but dog pile on a black woman when she say one of y’all homeboys abused her.”
