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Tee Grizzley’s relentless work ethic has led him to releasing at least one project every year of his career since first exploding onto the scene with his classic “First Day Out” single in late 2016.
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The Detroit resident checked off 2024’s box on Friday (Oct. 4) when Post Traumatic arrived 11 months after his last album, Tee’s Coney Island.
When Tee and his team were in the process of whittling down the 40 to 50 tracks he recorded for this LP, he noticed something consistently peering through from his lyrics — his pain. That’s what led Grizzley to titling his fifth studio album Post Traumatic.
“I feel like this is my best work,” he confidently declares over a Zoom call to Billboard. “After they hear this, they not gonna want to hear nothing else from nobody.”
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It’s fitting that Tee is cathartically letting go of the decades of pain and trauma endured throughout his life, as he recently had surgery on his middle finger to remove part of a bullet fragment lodged into his hand since he was 14 years old.
Grizzley followed up his “Swear to God” collaboration with Future by grabbing another rap A-lister to spar with in J. Cole. What started out as a friendship where Tee wanted to have the Dreamville boss join him to play in his GrizzleyWorld RP on Grand Theft Auto, ended up in the thumping back-and-forth of “Blow for Blow.”
Earlier this year, Cole essentially executive-produced the track, when finding the eerie Pi’erre Bourne beat and ripping it before sending the track over to Tee. “When I heard it, I was blown away by his verse. Like, ‘I can’t half-step on here,’” Grizzley describes his reaction of listening to “Blow for Blow” for the first time.
Give the rest of our interview with Tee Grizzley a read as he details the oral history of teaming up with J. Cole, working with Kanye West in Mexico and what’s on tap for GTA 6.
What happened to your middle finger?
I was playing with a gun a long time ago when I was 14. It had went off and I had a piece of fragment in my finger. It been there this whole time and I finally got it removed.
Post Traumatic — what led to this project coming about?
You know I’m always working in the studio. Just trying to perfect my craft. A lot of the songs I realized I heard a lot of my pain in it when I was coming up with the album title. I come up with the album title after I make the songs. I was listening back like, “I been through some s–t.” I was in Detroit most of the time. I recorded a couple songs in L.A. I just want my core to be super happy with this work and I want to gain some new fans.
Have you noticed a difference creatively since trying ayahuasca?
Nah, I don’t really feel like ayahuasca helped me with my creative. I feel like ayahuasca helped me with life in general. It was deeper than being more creative. It was a life help.
I feel like that could go hand-in-hand.
For some people — but for me, it showed me what life was and how life works. It ain’t gonna write the music for me.
“Blow for Blow,” how was linking up with J. Cole? Tell that story for us.
I was trying to come up with the perfect song to do with Cole. I don’t want to just put Cole on any song. He helped me with that process like, “I already know what we should do. I got the perfect one for us.” When I heard it, I was blown away by his verse. Like I can’t half-step on here. Usually I go to the studio and go with the flow a little bit. This one I had to sit with it and really figure out what I want to say on here. Ain’t no matching Cole. He gave his sharp pen and I had to get my sharp pen for my world.
Did you talk to Pi’erre Bourne? He was surprised when the track dropped [as the producer].
I never kicked it with Pi’erre before. That was all Cole’s doing. [The track] was sent back-and-forth. [Cole and I] talked a lot so it was like we was in the studio together.
What was the origin of your friendship with Cole?
Probably like a year. The way we connected it wasn’t even about music. I’m really trying to get bro on GTA. I’m trying to get J. Cole on GTA and we’re kicking it about the game and chopping it up about real life. I told him about my experience with ayahuasca and stuff like that. To have a friendship like that, I just decided to take advantage of that. I let him know I needed him. Even if he would’ve said no, nothing would’ve changed about our friendship. I still would’ve f–ked with him. I know he in the middle of working on The Fall Off. I would’ve understood. But bro made it happen for me. I wanna say this was March or April.
You reconnected with Mariah the Scientist for “Situationship.” You guys seem to have a good chemistry coming off “IDGAF” with Chris Brown, which hit the Billboard Hot 100 for her first entry.
I feel like the chemistry is there. I think I work well with female R&B artists. They bring a different type of soul to music. They melodies and voices and my verses — it just pairs very well.
Anything you wanted to do with the album that didn’t make the cut?
I did so much recording, and when we narrowed everything down, the best music was chosen. The way I usually do it — I make songs with a purpose. By the time I get to 15 or 16 songs, I’m confident in all of them. But this time, I recorded a bunch of music. Me and my time listened to all of it and chose the best 24. It was like 40 or 50 songs.
What else you got coming up the rest of the year?
I feel like this album gonna be in rotation for the rest of the year, and next year we got a tour coming. I feel like this is my best work. After they hear this, they not gonna want to hear nothing else from nobody.
There’s this leaked song with Kanye I think was supposed to be on either Yandhi or Jesus Is King called “Survive.” What’s the history of that? How was working with Ye? It’s a dope record. I wish people heard it.
When YNW Melly was out — free Melly — he had pulled up on Kanye. Melly had called me up when he was working on a mixtape at the time. He didn’t even ask Kanye if it was cool, he was just like, “Pull up.” I pull up, and Kanye was like, “I rock with you too. I want to do some work with you.” That turned into me going out to Mexico, and Kanye was out there and we started working and vibing. It was a super dope experience.
Touch on the gaming space, as far as what’s ahead and how lucrative it’s been for you.
It’s so much deeper than the money. I enjoy doing it. Before I was a rapper, I was a gamer. I grew up on it. It’s definitely lucrative if done right. In a sense that you gotta stream and repurpose your content.
What do you think about GTA 6 potentially coming out next year? Has Rockstar tapped in with you?
Yeah, I definitely developed a relationship with Rockstar throughout this GTA thing. I think GTA 6 is coming next year for sure. I’m super excited to play. I would like to see servers based off of GTA 6. I definitely hope that role play is incorporated into it somehow.
Have GTA and Rockstar embraced RPs?
They have. FiveM is the host for all the role play servers and Rockstar bought FiveM. Rockstar has a FiveM team that’s heavily involved with the role play community. [I’m taking off] three weeks.
What’s your favorite GTA of all-time?
I like Grand Theft Auto III. That’s the one I played the most. That was a game you actually rode around shooting people. San Andreas is a classic for sure. What made me fall in love with it was Grand Theft Auto III.
Do you have any community service coming up?
I’m going to the jails and the juveniles. Not only giving back, but talking to the people and younger generation. Trying to give them some game, and shine some light on the fact that it ain’t over for you.
Big Glo season has arrived. GloRilla looks to cap off her banner year with the release of her Glorious debut album on Friday (Oct. 11). Ahead of the project hitting streaming services, Glo revealed some of the superstar guests that will be joining her on the LP on Monday (Oct. 7). Explore See latest videos, […]
Drake rapped about having “No Friends in the Industry” on 2021’s Certified Lover Boy, and he’s continuing to see it play out years later.
Drizzy took the stage at Tyrone Edwards’ Nostalgia Party in Toronto on Saturday night (Oct. 5), where he went on a cryptic rant regarding his “real friends” and those who have switched up on him and stabbed him in the back recently.
“My real friends are definitely in the building,” he began. “But let me tell you that you’re going to come to a point in life where people you thought were friends, people you thought were close to you switch up.”
The 6 God continued to snipe at his opps: “They might try to move funny with you. They might stab you in the back. They might do a lot of things to you. You’ll come to that realization, wherever you’re at in life. You’ve probably been there and you’ll be there again. That’s how life is. Sometimes it’s you and you alone by yourself.”
Drake spoke on “real friends” last night 🤔“People you thought were friends, or people you thought were close to you… they might switch up… they might stab you in the back.” pic.twitter.com/pkCwAgxU1t— Kurrco (@Kurrco) October 6, 2024
Drake continued to have the DJ press play on a couple of records that could be tied to his rant, such as 50 Cent’s “Many Men,” and then finished up with Beyoncé’s 2003 independence anthem “Me, Myself and I,” per XXL.
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Drake is still dealing with the fallout from his feud with Kendrick Lamar, which also saw him spar with The Weeknd, Future, Metro Boomin, Rick Ross and more.
Last week, Drizzy reportedly slammed the unfollow button a few of the aforementioned artists, including Future and Playboi Carti. He also unfollowed a couple of NBA stars he was previously tight with, such as LeBron James and former Toronto Raptor DeMar DeRozan, who appeared in K. Dot’s “Not Like Us” video and his Pop Out concert in June.
Charlamagne Tha God was taken aback after hearing the audio of Drake’s Toronto rant, as he didn’t realize how “hurt” Drizzy was in the months following his battle with Kendrick.
“I thought that Kendrick’s execution of this battle was flawless, the strategy, the songs, everything,” The Breakfast Club co-host said on Monday (Oct. 7). “But I didn’t think that it had that much of an impact on Drake. Drake’s hurt. Oh my God, he is hurt … When I tell you Kendrick Lamar put his foot all the way up Drake’s a–, he put his foot all the way up Drake’s a– and he is wiggling his toes.”
Fans are still awaiting Drake’s next move on the music side as the calendar flips to his birth month of October. He’s previously stated he and Partynextdoor are teaming up for a joint project, but there’s no release date imminent.
Victoria Monét went seriously retro for a promotional shoot in support of the new expanded edition of her Grammy winning debut studio album, 2023’s Jaguar II. The singer posted a series of pics from her Playboy magazine shoot over the weekend, including a modest cover in which she is seen kneeling on a long table in a sparkly green dress with matching gauzy elbow-length gloves and a towering blonde bouffant hairdo.
Other pics in the series the singer posted included a close-up of the her face alongside the teases for the stories on the inside: “Taking you through A-sides, B-sides and all the way inside,” “Queen of the Jungle: Big dreams an a discography to match” and “a provocative interview with the jungle’s self-proclaimed ‘Dickmatizer.’”
A third snap found Monét on all fours on the gilded desk wearing clear stripper heels and the same green dress while posing under a glittering chandelier. The caption for the pics reads “Hi @playboy,” while the comments from some fellow stars gave the “Oh My Mama” star props for posing in the classic gentleman’s mag.
“GIRL,” Taraji P. Henson wrote along with three ice cold emoji, while singer JoJo added, “Literally KNOW THAS RIGHT [heart eye emoji],” Andra Day said, “MA’aM! It’s all everything,” SZA quipped, “SHES COOKING W GASOLINE,” Lauran Jauregui posted heart eyes and fire emoji, the magazine gave their cover star three black heart emoji and Saweetie could only gasp, “W00000W.”
The expanded edition of the album adds 10 new tracks, including “DickAtNight,” “SOS (Sex on Sight)” featuring Usher, “1900’s,” “Love Is Stronger Than Pride,” “Everybody Needs Someone,” We Might Even Be Falling In Love” featuring Bryson Tiller, “The Greatest” and the “2SEXY” interlude and “The Greatest (Lovenotes)” outro.
In September, Monét took home the Hitmaker award at Billboard‘s first-ever R&B No. 1s party at The Box in New York after her Grammy-nominated hit “Oh My Mama” topped the Adult R&B Airplay, Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay and R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay charts over the past year.
Check out Monét’s Playboy pics below.
The Living Legends Foundation (LLF) celebrated its 33rd anniversary with a star-studded slate of honorees and guests at its annual awards dinner and gala at Hollywood’s Taglyan Cultural Complex on Oct. 4. Leading the parade of honorees was Recording Academy and MusiCares CEO Harvey Mason jr., who was presented with the A.D. Washington Chairman Award.
Noting that “the room was filled with legends from celebrities to executives,” Living Legends Foundation chairman David C. Linton added, “On behalf of our board of directors, it’s an honor to bring together the music and entertainment industries for an important cause benefiting the executives that have poured so much into the industry and, more importantly, the culture. Congratulations to this year’s honorees. Thank you for making us proud.”
Upon accepting his award from Linton later in the evening, Mason — who recently re-upped to serve four more years as CEO — said, “I’m proud of the work that we are doing at the Recording Academy because what you all see is the trophies … the celebration, the nominations. But what you don’t see is the work that goes on with the organization. The [award] show gives us the money; the money then comes back into our community. The one thing I recognized when I took on this role is that there’s more work needed to be done around the Black music community. So a lot of effort has gone into using the resources, platform and the ability of the [Recording] Academy to continue to help all genres of music, but specifically some of the underserved communities.”
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Longtime music executive Ed Eckstine was the recipient of the Ray Harris Lifetime Achievement Award, presented by LLF chairman emeritus Harris and singer/actress Vanessa Williams. Williams, who sent a video message, was one of the artists that Eckstine, son of legendary jazz vocalist Billy Eckstine, signed and mentored during his tenure as president of Mercury Records — the first African American to be appointed president of a major non-Black owned record company.
Maury Phillips
Paying tribute to mentors Quincy Jones and Clive Davis, Eckstine said in part, “I do not have the words to describe the charmed life properly or adequately I led under the guidance and tutelage of ‘Q’ [while serving as GM at Quincy Jones Productions]. He taught me so much about life, music, production, the chess game called the music business, global hustle, what and what not to do and say. My 20 months doing A&R … and working for Clive exposed me on a corporate level to activities and events I had not previously been privy to … After having attempted to grow and expand beneath the shadow of two very tall trees in Q and Clive, my life was forever changed.”
After being presented with the first-ever Impact Player Award from LLF board member Shannon A. Henderson, Joi Brown — founder/CEO of the organization Culture Creators and former record label senior executive — said, “We’re not just here to create culture; we’re here to shape the future … It is our responsibility to ensure we occupy space — not to rely solely on company policies or DEI initiatives to make room for us. We belong here. We must stand tall among giants, not as guests, but as equals.”
The evening’s additional honorees included: pioneering radio/television broadcaster Donnie Simpson (Jerry Boulding Radio Award); NorthStar Group chairperson/entertainment attorney L. Londell McMillan (Kendall A. Minter Entertainment Advocate Award); B. Lifted Up! Inc. founder/CEO Gwen Franklin (Mike Bernardo Female Executive Award); veteran label executive/radio broadcaster Mike Kelly (Music Executive Award) and The Chamber Group founder/CEO Chris Chambers (Media Executive Award). All of the honorees’ acceptance speeches can be viewed here.
Arnold Turner
Among the presenters and special guests spotted inside the Taglyan Cultural Complex were Epic Records chairman/CEO Sylvia Rhone, Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, The Time’s Jerome Benton, Sugar Ray Leonard, artists Ray Parker Jr., Chanté Moore and Johnny Gill, legendary radio PD Melvin “Cookin’” Jones, MRC Live & Alternative exec. vp of creative Stephen Hill, playwright/filmmaker David E. Talbert and additional LLF dignitaries, including: general counsel Dr. Denise J. Brown, president Azim Rashid and board members Skip Dillard, Sheila Eldridge and Vivian Chew.
Radio personality Skip Cheatham of Dallas R&B outlet Majic 94.5 (KZMJ) hosted the gala, with entertainment provided by DJ Battlecat. Former LLF honorees Tracey J. Jordan and Lionel Ridenour served as this year’s dinner chairpersons. For additional information about the Living Legends Foundation, visit the website.
Star Bandz is newest youngin’ on the scene. The teenage rapper out of Chicago has been doing her thing for a couple years, but she caught a little wave earlier this year with her breakout song “Yea Yea” where she had clever lines like, “Had to show ’em how to run the game, he got […]
Ye and Drake have had a love/hate relationship over the years.
The two had a friendly rivalry up until he produced Pusha T‘s “Infrared” song in 2018 where the Virginia rapper brought up Drake’s ghostwriting allegations. The Toronto rapper took shots at both of them on “Duppy Freestyle,” and mentioned that he had written for Kanye in the past. And then “The Story of Adidon” followed, and the rest is history. Drake felt betrayed by some of the information in Push’s scathing diss record, and his and Ye’s relationship really hasn’t been the same since.
However, in a recent trip to China, where he performed, Ye thanked his rival for penning the hook for his song “Yikes” off the Chicago rapper’s Ye album that was released in 2018. “I wanna thank Drake for writing this chorus for me,” he said as the song started to play.
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Kanye shouted out Drake before playing ‘Yikes’ at his recent concert in China 🙏
“I wanna thank Drake for writing this chorus for me” pic.twitter.com/DkoHh21OTv
— NFR Podcast (@nfr_podcast) October 4, 2024
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Footage of Drake recording a “Yikes” reference for Ye surfaced on his 100 Gigs purge.
Drake recording Kanye’s reference track for yikes pic.twitter.com/imjJgy7MGs
— Akademiks TV (@AkademiksTV) August 6, 2024
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This isn’t the first Ye extended an olive branch to Drake. While performing in South Korea in August, he dedicated a performance of Graduation’s “I Wonder” to him. “This one for Drake,” he said as the song started playing.
Kanye gives a shoutout to Drake before performing ‘I Wonder’
“This one for Drake”pic.twitter.com/AtnjE7lmhG
— Kurrco (@Kurrco) August 23, 2024
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This is about four months after Ye tried to get in on the Drake Hate train with his own “Like That” diss where he rapped, “Where’s Lucian? Serve your master, n—a/You caught a little bag for your masters, didn’t ya? Lifetime deal, I feel bad for n—s/Y’all so outta sight, outta mind I can’t even think of a Drake line.”
We’ll be sure to update once we figure out what happened between then and now.
Donald Glover has announced that he’s canceled the rest of his dates on The New World Tour. Glover issued a statement on Friday (Oct. 4) explaining why an “ailment” has forced him to can the North American and European trek.
“After my show in New Orleans, I went to the hospital in Houston to make sure of an ailment that had become apparent,” he began. “After being assessed, it became clear i would not perform that night, and after more tests, i could not perform the rest of the US tour in the time asked.”
The Grammy Award-winning artist previously planned on postponing the North American dates when telling fans to hold onto their tickets, but with surgery needed and an extended recovery time, that would not be possible.
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“As of now I have surgery scheduled and need time out to heal. My path to recovery is something I need to confront seriously. With that said, we have made the difficult decision to cancel the remainder of the North American tour and the UK and European dates,” he continued.
Fans who purchased tickets will be able to receive a refund at the point of purchase. There’s no timetable on when Glover will be healthy enough to hit the road again.
“Tickets will be refunded at point of purchase,” the multi-hyphenate concluded. “I want nothing more than to bring this show to the fans and perform. Until then, thanks for love, privacy, and support.”
Childish Gambino was originally slated to wrap up his North American leg on Oct. 3 before heading across the pond on Halloween. Shows were scheduled for Norway, France, Belgium, Ireland and the U.K. throughout the rest of 2024.
The Atlanta creator released his final album under the Childish Gambino moniker, Bando Stone and the New World, in August. The LP debuted at No. 16 on the Billboard 200 and featured assists from Jorja Smith, Flo Milli, Khruangbin and more.
Find his full statement below.
After my show in New Orleans, I went to the hospital in Houston to make sure of an ailment that had become apparent. After being assesed, it became clear i would not perform that night, and after more tests, i could not perform the rest of the US tour in the time asked. As of now…— donald (@donaldglover) October 4, 2024
Jaden Smith is on a “rainbow swag mission,” three years since he’s released any solo music, as his recent sorrow pushed him back to the studio.
“Roses” kicked off Smith’s next era in June and he followed that up with “D.U.M.B.” on Friday (Oct. 4). Short for “Deep Underground Military Base” and built around a hypnotic chorus, Smith gets candid about his disdain for hurting those around him while trying to navigate love and manage his relationships in the digital era.
Smith will release another two songs on Oct. 18 with “Gorgeous,” a pop-leaning love letter to women, and “The Coolest Part 2,” a sequel to his signature 2012 track. The four-pack will be packaged as 2024: A Case Study on the Long Term Effects of Young Love, his first project since 2020’s CTV3: Cool Tape Vol. 3 (he released a deluxe in 2021). The vulnerable, genre-blending EP will explore “young love and really just the mental landscape of young people right now dealing in a world with social media,” according to the 26-year-old multi-hyphenate.
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Smith’s relationship with model-singer Sab Zada has been the subject of plenty of social media chatter and tabloid fodder in recent months. Instead of responding to rumors surrounding his love life, however, Smith has elected to turn to music. “I don’t need to convince people of stuff as far as what’s going on with me in the world and I just put it in my music with how I feel and my experiences of what I’m going through,” he tells Billboard on a video call while walking around the woods of France as he’s in town for Paris Fashion Week.
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Check out the rest of our interview with Jaden Smith as he details his upcoming mini-project, young love, his plastic furniture company and more.
Billboard: What’s inspiring you creatively these days?
Jaden Smith: Honestly, I’m so sad that it’s put me into a corner where I can’t do anything besides make music. That’s why I decided to release this next project. I kind of found my inspiration in making these mini-projects that are a couple of songs and I think kind of just put off a vibe and gets people like, “Dog, I really like this mini-pocket where he’s catching a very specific vibe for like four songs.” Then kind of moving on.
A Case Study on the Long-Term Effects of Young Love. Explain to me that title and how tough it is to put your relationship into music?
It’s just about the case study of young love and really just the mental landscape of young people right now dealing in a world with social media, dealing in a world with internet and how that changes mental health and what people are talking about doing and feeling. How that psychologically affects people long-term in ways that it didn’t past generations, because we didn’t have the technology, access to the world that we have. It’s a snapshot of that for myself.
What was your recording process with these songs?
Very long-term — songs I’ve been working on for other albums that didn’t make it and needed more time to figure out exactly what I wanted to do. This has been over the course of three or four years. Literally, the process is me f–king crying in the studio, and then like, singing in between when I can make words happen. That’s really the process. I’m going through emotional things, dealing with those experiences and feeling overwhelmed. Like I don’t know what to do, but that’s when I get into the studio.
So this is a good creative outlet for you.
Yeah, and my fans are people who go through these extremely emotional situations. Emotional people tend to like my music. That’s who I do it for.
What have you learned about young love?
That it hurts in stages, and then it’s very serious. If it’s something that lasts a long time, it can create long-term psychological effects and defects in people when they go through adulthood, then goes on to affect their generation and families. It’s just a topic of something I wanted to bring up. Every time you make a song title and an album title, you have the opportunity to bring up a topic and think about something and pop an idea into people’s minds, and that’s what I wanted to pop into people’s minds this go-around.
Is it tough when so many people can comment on your relationships and everything you have going on, even if it’s not true? How you can push back against that?
It’s not even so much you have to push back against it as much as you just have to deal with it. The way I deal with it is by making music. I don’t need to convince people of stuff as far as what’s going on with me in the world and I just put it in my music with how I feel and my experiences of what I’m going through.
In an older interview, I saw you explain how you try to tell your story without straying toward anything that could be considered misogynistic lyrics. Is that something you have to battle?
Yeah, that’s a current battle that I’m battling with myself. I just don’t like to say certain words that I don’t feel are useful for me personally. Not that I don’t like to say it, I say all different types of things in my normal life, but I just don’t like to rap it, because I know that everybody’s listening and my mom and my sister and everybody don’t say s–t. It’s a growing battle.
In the process of me making this album, this is the first time that I’ve ever gone out of my way to have girls in my music video in a way that makes sense for me and a way that I would do it, because I would always get wrapped up in the way everybody else does stuff. Now I’m starting to find the way I want to do it. I’m going through a thing, a time and a moment with me right now. I don’t even know what it is, but I feel it in the world even when I walk outside. I’m just trying to put whatever’s happening with me into the music.
I saw when you announced the project it was on your dad’s birthday. Was there anything to that?
No, I didn’t realize that. I probably should’ve thought about that.
Have you played the music for any of your family members? Is that a typical practice for you?
I have played them the songs. I usually don’t play them the music.
Let’s start with “D.U.M.B.,” which was my favorite. What was your process with that one?
That s–t is super duper old. I’m rapping about s–t that happened long ago. I went in there and I made it. I just be rapping sometimes, man. Sometimes it makes sense and I was like, “Oh, the concept of this song makes sense.” Sometimes you just receive it and it’s like, “This is already a song. All I have to do is rap on this.” It’s amazing. Sometimes you gotta really think hard and sometimes they come to you straight away. That’s what was happening with me.
“Gorgeous” is another track coming.
I wanted to make a pop song. It’s really just about my love for the opposite sex, my love for women and how that has evolved to where I am now in my life. That’s my love letter to the opposite sex and all women around the world.
What made you want to do a sequel to “The Coolest?”
I just had to remind everybody because they’ll forget. Then they’ll meet me and be like, “Yo, what the hell is this?” Remind everybody again — that’s what that was. That song’s so old. I’m glad to be back at it. It’s an awesome experience. I’m just trying to master my own mind. I’m trying to have less thoughts. I’m trying to master my thoughts.
How was working with your dad and Russ on “Work of Art”?
That was fun to do. That was tight. It was fun to perform. That was an amazing experience.
Do you have any goals for the rest of the year?
Yeah, I’m trying to get this recycled plastic furniture company off the ground. A circular economy for used trash to produce park benches or I think drywall is probably the best. Using old clothes and denim as insulation. Recycling clothes through the circular economy. Companies — that’s my biggest thing. That’s what a lot of my raps are about. Circular economy, recycling plastic.
I read you go to the movies a lot by yourself. Is that something you’re still doing?
I watch everything. I watched Beetlejuice Beetlejuice but I watch everything. Every single movie that comes into the theaters.
Is this going to develop into an album?
After I release this mini-project, I’m on a swag mission. I’m on a rainbow swag mission and I’m just trekking through. Wherever the mission takes — that’s where I’ll be. If I get this plastic furniture company off the ground, I have no idea what happens next. It all depends where the wind blows, how sad I am.
Cardi B and Offset aren’t getting back together. At least, according to Cardi.
While speaking on X Spaces, the Bronx rapper felt the need to get some things off her chest as she and her estranged husband, Migos rapper Offset, head toward divorce for a second time. She responded to fans making a big deal about Offset being at her studio recently. “Slowly but surely, everybody gotta go their separate ways,” she said. “My kids gotta get used to that, ‘No, you’re not going to come home every single day and your dad is gonna be here.’ Slowly, but surely.”
She continued: “It’s kinda hard — I don’t wanna talk about it ’cause I don’t wanna get emotional — but it’s kinda hard, as an adult, you gonna get used to a certain type of lifestyle without being with somebody. But it’s also kinda hard for your kids to get used to that, ‘Your dad is not going to be here with you every day after school. Your dad is not going to be picking you up after school.’”
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The Billboard Hot 100-topping rapper also spoke on making sure Offset would remain in the kids’ lives. “I want my baby to know who their dad is because I don’t ever want my little baby to get used to my dad or my cousin. I want them to be like, ‘This is your dad.’” She then touched on how she wants to try to keep things platonic because their relationship has been tumultuous, saying, “One thing I don’t want to entertain is, ‘Oh, we’re in the same crib. Come upstairs, let’s sleep together.’ I don’t want to entertain that. I don’t want to sleep, I don’t want to f—k, I don’t wanna do nothin’.”
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Adding, “Because that’s what keeps us being in the same trap. Oh, we sleep together, we cuddling, the next day we smiling and then guess what? The same day we’re arguing, and we’re back in that cycle. I don’t want that cycle. That’s why I’m not entertaining love. That’s why if a muthaf—a is here, I’m not here. If I’m here, he’s not here. Slowly but surely, there’s going to be a whole end to it. It takes time. I don’t know how to explain it but everything is dead.”
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Last week, the couple made some of their issues public with Offset accusing Cardi of cheating on him while she was pregnant. This led to Cardi going on an epic rant and exposing text messages between herself and the Atlanta rapper. However, it seems like things have simmered down since for the power couple.