State Champ Radio R&B/Hip-Hop
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Nelly shared his thoughts on President Donald Trump’s first 100 days in office before stepping on stage for his Stagecoach performance. In a quick interview with Fox News Digital prior to his Stagecoach set on April 26, Nelly called himself a “glass half-full type of guy” when speaking on Trump’s first 100 days back in […]
On the heels of delivering Kush + Orange Juice 2, Wiz Khalifa is hitting the road. Wiz and Sean Paul announced the Good Vibes Only Tour on Tuesday (April 29), which will feature DaBaby as a special guest performer. The 15-date amphitheater run will go through North America this summer, kicking off on July 6 […]
So, who invented “rage” rap? Trippie Redd has an idea.
“The inventors of the rage sound is me, [XXXtentacion], Carti and Uzi,” he said in an Instagram Stories video posted April 27. “We paved the way. We popularized it. I’m not gonna let you old a– n—s say you invented something that you ain’t invent. N—s need to take they pills, man. You n—s be psychotic, like, out of they f—king mind. Your old a– ain’t invent sh—t.”
“That’s exactly why I ain’t pull up on his old a– ‘cause he always just wanna put a n—a beneath him and s—t. You ain’t really for black people. You ain’t really for your people, n—a. You be using n—as and you lost right now.”
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Trippie then added a message for younger artists to be careful who they chose to collaborate with.
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“Artists coming up — keep a hold of y’all craft, man,” the Ohio rapper warned. “Don’t give y’all s—t out to these old n—as ’cause they just wanna get around you, find out your sound, use you, and then dump you, n—a. They won’t f—k with you ever again. All these n—as cutthroat.”
And while he didn’t mention any names, Trippie may be referring to Ye’s April 26 comments during an interview with Sneako, claiming that he invented the style with his 2013 album Yeezus, and more specifically with the song “Blood on the Leaves.”
“I invented ‘rage,’ bro. ‘Blood on the Leaves,’ Ye claimed. “I invented this whole ‘rage’ sound … Yeezus is that energy. ‘N—as in Paris’ is the first time n—as was moshin’. We got Black people moshin’, that was some white boy s—t.”
Some fans on social media have credited Kid Cudi as the rapper to introduce that specific sound and point to his Man on the Moon series of albums and the fact that he often referred to himself as “Mr. Rager.”
“We’re going to scream our faces off!” So declared two cowboy-garbed fans even before Beyoncé stepped onstage to kick off the first show of her Cowboy Carter Tour last night (April 28). Multiply those two sets of screams by the thousands of others screaming, cheering and dancing inside Inglewood, Calif.’s SoFi Stadium throughout the 35–time […]
Yung Miami is clapping back at speculation she’s in pursuit of NFL draftee Shedeur Sanders. On Sunday (April 27), the former City Girls rapper responded to someone on X who implied she was “making it sooo obvious” that she romantically wants Sanders. “Y’all b—hes don’t know what ‘supporting your ppl’ look like!!!!” she wrote in […]
When Wiz Khalifa‘s seminal mixtape Kush and Orange Juice dropped in 2009, the Pittsburgh staple brought a new sound and lifestyle that forever shifted the hip-hop landscape.
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“The mode I was in — tapped in with the fans, being on the road, buying Jordans, wearing Chucks, wearing camo shorts every day,” recalls Khalifa a decade-and-a-half later to Billboard. “[I] was literally smoking Kush and drinking orange juice, [and] putting the world onto a whole lifestyle that we were living.”
Earlier this month, Khalifa kept the Kush and Orange Juice legacy alive when he released the sequel to his magnum opus. He enlisted familiar faces such as Taylor Gang affiliates Ty Dolla $ign, Juicy J and Chevy Woods while linking up with new characters including LaRussell, Don Toliver and Larry June, making this 23-track ride memorable. The album’s standout tracks, such as the swagger-filled “Pimps n Hustlers” and the Curren$y-featured “Jet Taylor,” showcase the same gusto that made Kush and Orange Juice a classic.
“I wasn’t nervous at all,” Khalifa confidently states when facing the arduous task of following up his 2009 classic. “It was something that I felt I could challenge myself to do. And I would also know if it was it or wasn’t it. There were a couple of times during the process where I would get to maybe I’m done, maybe I figured it out, and I did, but the fans would always let me know what direction to shift it. When I finally got to the end of it, I was 100% confident. So, it wasn’t scary. It was fun trying to figure it out.”
Wiz Khalifa, the spry MC who emerged as the cornerstone of stoner rap in the early 2010s, has transcended past being a caliber MC from the Blog Era. He has become a Billboard Hot 100 contender, courtesy of his rap bona fides. His journey from songs such as “Black & Yellow,” “We Dem Boyz” and “Work Hard, Play Hard” to the melancholic anthem “See You Again” placed him in the venerable territory, hitting Diamond status and accruing 12 weeks at No. 1 on the Hot 100, is a testament to his evolution. This growth, from his stoner rap roots to becoming a Hot 100 contender, is something that his fans can take pride in. Despite these milestones, Khalifa’s love for hip-hop runs deep in his blood, as proven by his latest freestyles over J. Cole’s “Clouds” and Kendrick Lamar’s “Squabble Up.”
“I did it strategically,” says Khalifa, revealing a key aspect of his creative process. “I started working on the album and removed myself from social media for a bit. It was about four months, and I didn’t scroll or digest anything. It was on purpose because I had to find myself and figure out what I was going to do regardless of what was going on around me.”
Watch Khalifa’s full Billboard News In Conversation interview above, during which he spoke about his love for Snoop Dogg, linking up with J. Cole and more.
Cardi B has never been one to pull punches when it comes to her love life. And on Sunday (April 27) the “Bongos” rapper took to Twitter Spaces to lay it all out about the new man she said is rocking her world. While Cardi did not name names, she did give the gentleman props […]
Beyoncé launched her Cowboy Carter and the Rodeo Chitlin Circuit world tour on Monday night (April 28) with the first of five shows at SoFi Stadium in L.A. And, as usual, it was a high-energy, high-fashion feast for the eyes and ears that lasted nearly three-hours. After opening with the Cowboy Carter track “Ameriican Requiem” […]
Lizzo celebrated her 37th birthday on Sunday, and at one point during her party, she was overcome with emotion to the point that it brought the flute-playing singer to tears. The Detroit native took a moment to reflect on her party, and she said time stood still as she took in seeing her family members […]
Doechii’s 2023 breakout hit “What It Is (Block Boy)” was originally intended to land on Normani‘s debut album according to songwriter Bianca “Blush” Atterberry.
Atterberry explained over the weekend in a TikTok video how she was commissioned by RCA Records to write tracks for Normani and what led to “What It Is” eventually landing with Doechii.
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“This record ‘What It Is’ was intended for Normani. Me, J White [Did It], Verse Simmons and Fresh locked in. Label set it up — they wanted records for Normani,” she said. “We all got together in the studio. We were locked in for like three days and we got about six songs and ‘What It Is’ was one of them.”
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Once the song was finished, Atterberry knew they had a hit on their hands. “We immediately knew,” she stated of the track’s potential. “We were like, ‘This is a smash. This is one of them ones.’ You just be knowing.”
They played it for RCA Records and Normani, but she didn’t think “it was something that fit her vision” at the time. “Which is normal. It happens all the time,” she added. “Sometimes that’s just how this works… It’s not odd. It’s very normal.”
After holding onto the track for a couple of years and disregarding a few other artists who attempted to cut the record, Doechii entered the fold. “We heard it and absolutely loved it. We were like, ‘She’s out of here. She’s a star.’ Always been a star.”
Atterberry made sure to defend Normani’s decision to pass on the track. “We uplift over here,” Blush concluded.
“What It Is (Block Boy)” arrived in March 2023 with a version featuring an assist from Kodak Black. The J White Did It and Brian Kennedy-produced track served as the TDE rapper’s first Billboard Hot 100 entry, which hit the top 40 and peaked at No. 29.
Normani’s much-delayed debut album, Dopamine, was released in June 2024 and landed at No. 91 on the Billboard 200.
Watch the full oral history of “What It Is” from Blush’s perspective below.
