R&B/Hip-Hop
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Wendy Williams and her niece called in to The Breakfast Club recently to speak with her old protégé Charlamagne on her health, the conservatorship she’s apparently in and her thoughts on Diddy, who is currently awaiting trial on multiple charges which includes sex trafficking. Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts […]
Method Man has denied allegations of assault at a gym in Staten Island as reported by the New York Post on Thursday (Jan. 16). A rep for Meth — born Clifford Smith — tells Billboard: “Mr. Smith categorically denies the allegations as reported and has not been the subject of an arrest by any law […]
What is Drake doing?
Tuesday night, Rap Twitter was sent into a frenzy when news of Drake withdrawing his legal action accusing his label UMG and Spotify of using bots and payola to push Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us” diss track to one of the biggest songs in the world. Social media lawyers simultaneously claimed victory and defeat, but little did they know he was clearing the way for something more serious and ridiculous (depending on who you ask).
Then on Wednesday, news broke that the Toronto superstar decided to file a straight-up defamation lawsuit against his current and longtime parent record company, Universal Music Group. Drake claims UMG benefited and helped promote a “false and malicious narrative” and chose “corporate greed over the safety and well-being of its artists.”
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Drake’s lawyers claim the drive-by shooting of one of his security guards outside of his Toronto mansion (a.k.a. “The Embassy”) may be connected to “Not Like Us,” because it happened just days after the song was released. “UMG’s greed yielded real world consequences,” his lawyers wrote. “With the palpable physical threat to Drake’s safety and the bombardment of online harassment, Drake fears for the safety and security of himself, his family, and his friends.”
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A few days after the shooting, an intruder was apprehended trying to break into Drake’s residence, and while The Embassy is featured prominently on the cover art for “Not Like Us,” the address is well-known and was the location used for the “Toosie Slide” music video released during the Covid lockdown of 2020, a video that has since racked up close to 400 million views on YouTube. And a week before both incidents at Drake’s crib took place, The Weeknd’s manager Cash’s security guard was also shot in front of his security gate. At the time, many fans speculated both shootings were connected based on the history between the Canadian record labels XO and OVO.
Elsewhere in the filing are less-serious claims if you’re familiar with rap battle etiquette (or lack thereof). Firstly, his lawyers mistakenly say Kendrick grew up in Oakland when they reference the “Not Like Us” line, “I think that Oakland show gon’ be your last stop.” Drake’s lawyers allege that Kendrick was suggesting that Drake “would not make it out alive” if he chooses to perform in the city where the late 2Pac once lived. Drake famously (and notoriously) used an A.I. version of ‘Pac’s voice and told Lamar that he should mention Drake “likin’ young girls.” Secondly, they claim “Not Like Us” actually “alludes to Drake’s Jewish heritage saying that Drake is ‘not a colleague’ but ‘a f—kin’ colonizer,” completely disregarding the bars that preceded those statements that mention his history of aligning himself with artists from Atlanta to allegedly bolster his street credibility.
Drake winning this lawsuit has the potential to change the way diss songs are handled moving forward. Mind you, Drake insinuated that Kendrick’s kids aren’t his and that he has abused the mother of the children — who, according to him, are really the children of his friend and business partner. Kendrick could sue as well if he truly wanted to, but the game isn’t played that way. There are many unwritten rules in hip-hop, and suing over a diss song is one of the 10 Rap Commandments of dos and don’ts.
Ironically, Drake suing over a diss further complicates his relationship with hip-hop culture, making him look like an outsider and *check notes* a colonizer. He can win this lawsuit, but he’s already lost in the court of public opinion. He’s currently doing more damage to his public perception amongst rap fans than “Not Like Us” ever could. Rap music has always been full of hyperbole. Most rap fans don’t take every single lyric literally and Drake, who has said publicly that he “studies rap battles for a living” on LeBron’s talk show The Shop should know that.
To quote one of the great philosophers of our time:
“The streets is the streets, this is industry. N—as wanna bring they lawyers to muthaf—kin’ battles, man. Don’t bring your lawyer, bring your gat or bring your clique, man. So, it’s a big difference… They not ghetto celebrities if they tellin’.”
Eminem’s longtime spokesperson has spoken out against the collection of leaked songs from Slim Shady’s vault in recent weeks. While the Detroit legend hasn’t officially released anything this year, fans have stumbled upon a handful of tracks that have gone viral on social media, including songs with longtime collaborators 50 Cent and Dr. Dre, as […]
Lil Wayne won’t be playing the Super Bowl halftime show at this year’s game in his hometown, but Weezy will be one of the headliners (with the Roots) of the 2025 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. The iconic event that will host more than 5,000 acts on 14 stages from April 24-May 4 on the Fair Grounds Race Course announced this year’s lineup on Wednesday (Jan. 15), which will also feature headliners Pearl Jam, the Dave Matthews Band, Luke Combs, Lenny Kravitz and Kacey Musgraves.
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Other acts booked for this year’s predictably eclectic edition include: Santana, John Fogerty, Burna Boy, HAIM, Cage the Elephant, Laufey, Bryson Tiller, Harry Connick, Jr., Patti LaBelle, Trombone Shorty, My Morning Jacket, Gladys Knight, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, Cheap Trick, Babyface, Diana Krall, Goose, The Revivalists, Big Freedia and many more.
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Louisiana residents have the chance to snag lower prices for weekend passes and single-day tickets now, with non-resident weekend passes and VIP packages already available already and single-day tickets slated to go on sale at a later date; fans need to set up an account with AXS.com to purchase tickets, with more information available here.
Among the other acts slated to take the stage this year are: Banda MS, Irma Thomas, Tank and the Bangas, Branford Marsalis, Kamasi Washington, The Wailers with Julian Marley, Ledisi Sings Nina, PJ Morton, Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Maze Honoring Frankie Beverly, James Bay, Margo Price, Rickie Lee Jones, Seun Kuti & Egypt 80, Morris Day and the Time and others.
Check out the full lineup below.
Lil Baby isn’t letting up. The Atlanta rapper recently dropped off the deluxe version of his fourth solo album WHAM and is planning on releasing another project entitled Dominique some time in February. He’s also mentioned working on a tape with Future, but made sure to mention Young Thug may be involved in what they […]
DJ Khaled and 50 Cent have a rocky history dating back to around 2005 when G-Unit was in the midst of a beef with Fat Joe and they can thank baseball legend Reggie Jackson for bringing them together all these years later.
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The two former foes dapped it up at Reggie Jackson’s annual “Mr. October Foundation Celebrity Golf Classic” in Port St. Lucie, Florida earlier this week and the footage was captured by 50, whose Sire Spirits liquor brand helped sponsor the event.
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Tony Yayo once told a story on Drink Champs about the time the Miami DJ told him to “get the f—k outta here” when he went down to South Florida to promote a song for the radio. “I had ‘[So] Seductive’ dropping. I didn’t know nothing about the music business,” he told hosts N.O.R.E. and DJ EFN. “We beefing with [Fat Joe]. You f—k with Fat Joe, Khaled ain’t f—king with you. I got my record I’m trying to promote, so they like, ‘Yo, you gotta got to Miami … You gotta go to DJ Khaled.’”
Adding, “So we go up there. I told these n—as, ‘Yo, don’t take me to DJ Khaled. Fat Joe, that’s his man. He damn near Terror Squad,’” before revealing Khaled pretended to shake his hand while yelling his tagline. “Go to Khaled to shake his hand — ‘DJ Khaled, get the fuck outta here! I respect Khaled for that ’cause [Fat Joe] is his man … But I did go ’cause this is radio. I don’t understand this sh—t, I’m getting out of jail … So I’m like, ‘Yo, f—k you Khaled!’ I swear to God. You can ask him.”
Khaled confirmed Yayo’s story during an appearance on Club Shay Shay. “At that time, I work at a radio station,” he told Shannon Sharpe. “Everybody’s welcome at a radio station so you could never involve them type of situations and I understood that. And I’ve always been somebody that showed love, but when they told me [Yayo] was coming up I was like, ‘Wow.’”
Adding, “You know, him and my man don’t get along. [Fat Joe] is my brother, for real. I was just saying to myself, ‘This is gonna be hard for me’ because if I would have completely embraced him, I probably wouldn’t have been able to sleep at night. And if I did, I would have called [Fat Joe] immediately like, ‘This is what happened.’ That’s how much I care.”
He then said that’s “it’s all love now” which is try judging by 50 including their greeting in his recap of the charity event and Khaled telling the Queens rapper and filmmaker, “Nothing but love and respect.”
Lil Yachty delivered one of the most memorable Hot Ones episodes in 2018 with his first hot sauce experience, and the album has returned to the table for another bout. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news Rocking a hot pink wig and a Coogie sweater from The […]
R&B singer-songwriter SZA has opened up about her complicated relationship with fame.
In a candid conversation during One of Them Days alongside Issa Rae and Keke Palmer, SZA (real name Solana Imani Rowe) admitted that even after over a decade in the spotlight, she still finds being in the public eye “weird.”
“Some people are very well acclimated in being perceived and also have a different mechanism to approach that,” she explained. “Keke has this crazy network of a mechanism where it’s like, everything just kind of like flows, even when the cameras are on.”
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For SZA, who last month dropped SOS Deluxe: LANA, fame is a foreign concept. “I don’t really know what is happening. I don’t know what the hell going on,” she continued.
“I didn’t grow up famous, I grew up in the ‘burbs, I went to regular school, went to regular college, did regular odd jobs until everything popped off.”
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The four-time Grammy winner elaborated, “I’ve never been examined in this way. … I get just a comfortability with letting my shoulders down and knowing that I’m not in danger just because I’m being perceived by people that I don’t know.” She echoed Keke Palmer’s sentiment, describing fame as “weird” and admitting that people often assume she’s more at ease with it than she truly is.
SZA also reflected on her unexpected rise to superstardom: “They be like, ‘That’s what you signed up for,’ and then I’m like, ‘I didn’t even know what I was signing up for, actually.’ I just made a couple songs and I was grateful that they were liked, and then I kept going.”
In a recent social media post in January, SZA shared her intention to create two children’s albums, describing the move as a way to channel her creativity while contemplating a future outside of mainstream music.
“Every day I grapple with, ‘Am I done with music?’ Maybe I’m just not meant to be famous – I’m crashing and burning and behaving erratically,” the singer told British Vogue last year.
“It’s not for me because I have so much anxiety. But why would God put me in this position if I wasn’t supposed to be doing this? So I just keep trying to rise to the occasion. But I’m also just like, ‘Please, the occasion is beating my ass.’”
SZA’s recent accomplishments suggest otherwise. Her latest album, SOS Deluxe: LANA, released on December 20, 2024, builds upon the monumental success of SOS,” which spent multiple weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart. SOS returned to No. 1 on the Billboard 200 in December after 22 months, thanks largely to activity generated by the album’s deluxe reissue.
In addition to her solo work, SZA’s collaboration with Kendrick Lamar on “30 for 30” from the SOS Deluxe: LANA album debuted at No. 1 on Hot R&B Songs Chart, with the two artists set to embark on a joint tour in 2025.
The calendar may have turned to 2025, but the Cardi B and Offset drama has spilled into the new year. Cardi took to X Spaces on Tuesday (Jan. 14) where she accused her estranged husband along with his mother, Latabia Woodward, of robbing her. Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts […]