State Champ Radio R&B/Hip-Hop
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Drake has always been one to keep his eye on the pulse of music, and now, he’s showing love to an emerging pop star. The 6 God shouted out Gracie Abrams on his Instagram Story on Tuesday (March 11), which had social media buzzing.
Drizzy spotlighted Abrams’ “I Knew It, I Know You” from the singer’s sophomore album, The Secret of Us, and more specifically, the beat switch that he was feeling.
“[GOAT]’d beat switch on this,” he wrote. “Second half is [sad emoji, brain exploding emoji, blue heart emoji].”
Fans had plenty to say about the idea of Drake and Gracie aligning after seeing him praise the guitar-driven 2024 tune produced by Aaron Dessner.
“Well, at least he has good taste in music,” one person wrote to X. Another chimed in, “We live in the timeline where DRAKE posts about GRACIE ABRAMS!”
The OVO faithful have also found their way to the “I Knew It, I Know You” music video and flooded the comments section.
Drake has been showing love to the pop stars in recent weeks, as he shouted out fellow Canadian Tate McRae as well as Charli XCX on $ome $exy $ongs 4 U track “Small Town Fame.”
“B—h, I feel like Tate McRae/ Puttin’ Charli up her nose, X on her tongue, she been geekin’ hard/ She done had a Brat summer,” he raps.
Abrams released her The Secret of Us album last June. The 25-year-old’s sophomore LP peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 and was Billboard‘s No. 16 album on our 50 Best Albums of 2024 list.
See Drake’s Instagram Story below.
https://twitter.com/chriscznn/status/1899614961288016211
Another day, another single from Lil Nas X. At this rate we could have the whole album by next week. After surprise dropping the songs “Big Dummy” and “Dreamboy” earlier this week, LNX was at it again on Wednesday morning (March 12) when he served up the latest taste of his upcoming Dreamboy album. This […]
SZA stopped by Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Tuesday night (March 12) and spilled details about her upcoming Grand National Tour with Kendrick Lamar, her excitement for Sesame Street, and dodged a cheeky question about Drake.
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When Kimmel asked if the Grand National Tour would resemble their Super Bowl LVIII halftime performance, the “Saturn” singer teased that fans can expect something entirely new.
“Oh, we’re doing a new thing,” she said. “We’re both just kind of throwing all the paint at the wall… This is our first stadium show for both of us, so we pretty much have to go insane.”
While SZA and Lamar might be co-headlining, she hinted that the Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers rapper is very much in his own lane.
“Well, he’s a wizard, so that’s different,” she quipped when asked if they hang out behind the scenes. “Wizards tend to be solitary beings, from my observation… I think he’s doing the Merlin thing backstage, getting us ready to take off.”
The “Kill Bill” singer also fielded a not-so-subtle question from Kimmel about the tour’s upcoming Toronto stop—where one particular rapper famously resides.
“But what if you-know-who shows up?” Kimmel asked, clearly alluding to Canadian rapper, Drake.
SZA simply shrugged: “Who knows? Who knows?” before Kimmel joked that Kendrick would “wave his wand, and he will disappear.”
“That’s what he’s the man behind the curtain,” she replied.
Beyond the tour, SZA also gushed to Kimmel about a lifelong dream coming true—appearing on Sesame Street.
“That was actually the most intense room of celebrities I’ve ever been in,” she joked. “Elmo, Big Bird, Oscar the Grouch… I got to talk to Cookie Monster.”
When Kimmel asked about the blue monster’s conversational skills, she laughed: “Terrible diction and alliteration. Very poor vocabulary, but tons of enthusiasm, I was so inspired!”
“It was like a true indicator that I’ve made it,” SZA added of her appearance on the show. “Shout out to the Super Bowl but Sesame Street..”
The Grand National Tour kicks off April 19 in Minneapolis, with stops across North America before heading overseas.
Ne-Yo has been in the news lately and it’s not for his music. Apparently, the R&B star is in a polyamorous relationship with four other women which he recently introduced to the world on his Instagram — and they each have a cute little nickname. “Since the world is so intrigued,” he wrote in a […]
Nelly thinks Diddy wouldn’t stand a chance against Jermaine Dupri in a Verzuz. The St. Louis rapper visited Drink Champs recently, where he was asked to choose between Timbaland and Dupri, and the convo veered into a Verzuz that — for whatever reason — never came to fruition. “Respectfully, and outside of current situations,” he […]
Ian has seemingly responded to Tyler, The Creator after the Grammy-winning rapper subliminally dissed him during an interview with Maverick Carter last year. Ian pulled up to the Lyrical Lemonade studios on Monday to deliver his fiery “Lunch Break Freestyle,” which saw him reference his love for Odd Future while growing up and address some […]
2 Chainz doesn’t plan on leaving the underground indie scene anytime soon. After shooting over to the West Coast to team up with Larry June and The Alchemist for the stellar Life Is Beautiful project, he’s planning on releasing a joint album with East Coast producer Statik Selektah. Explore See latest videos, charts and news […]
Suge Knight has continued to fire at Snoop Dogg for what he thinks is damaging the Death Row legacy with the “Gin and Juice” rapper at the helm.
Suge was interviewed by The Art of Dialogue from behind bars over the weekend, when he went off on The Doggfather after Snoop claimed Knight was just “mad” he was in control of Death Row.
“You trying to create something that Suge Knight created, but instead of making something big, you disappointed the world by making everything flops,” Knight said. “When I put out Tha Dogg Pound, they sold records. You put out Tha Dogg Pound, they sold nothing — it flopped.”
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Suge believes the essence of hip-hop culture is being destroyed, and claimed Snoop is also killing the credibility of the once-feared West Coast record label.
“You don’t got to talk tough,” he added. “We don’t got to talk about each other that gets [us] nowhere. One person or three or four people is not bigger than hip-hop. We should be trying to figure out how to make hip-hop better. Everybody destroying hip-hop — you guys are making it worse. If you have Death Row, you destroyed it. You messed up the name.”
Snoop acquired the Death Row Records brand from the Blackstone-controlled MNRK Music Group (formerly eOne Music) in a February 2022 deal. “It feels good to have ownership of the label I was part of at the beginning of my career and as one of the founding members. This is an extremely meaningful moment for me,” Snoop said in a statement at the time of the transaction. “I’m looking forward to building the next chapter of Death Row Records.”
However, Suge Knight still isn’t buying that Snoop owns Death Row Records, and demanded he show some paperwork before Suge gives him his respect on that endeavor. “Snoop, you said I’m mad because you bought Death Row,” Knight said. “What you buy? Shut me up. Show me where y’all paid the money to buy it. Show me the paperwork — show me what you own.”
Billboard has reached out to Snoop Dogg’s reps for comment.
Suge Knight remains imprisoned on a 28-year sentence for voluntary manslaughter charges that resulted in the death of businessman Terry Carter and injuries to longtime rival Cle “Bone” Sloan. The 59-year-old former rap mogul is eligible for parole in October 2034.Watch the full phone interview with Suge Knight below.
Lil Nas X took some time off, but clearly it was no vacation. The rapper has dropped back-to-back new singles this week and on his latest he’s warning that no games will be played this year. “B–ch, I’m in my prime like a paintbrush/ Big s–t poppin’, walkin’ ’round in a mink vest/ Whoop-whoop, talkin’ […]
An unexpected appearance by Ms. Lauryn Hill and Wyclef Jean was just one of the many riveting moments at the celebration of life honoring the legendary Roberta Flack inside Harlem, New York’s Abyssinian Baptist Church on Monday (March 10).
Among the additional stars, executives, friends and family lifting up their voices in tribute to the pioneering singer-songwriter-musician-activist were Stevie Wonder, Valerie Simpson, Phylicia Rashad, Dionne Warwick, Alicia Keys, India.Arie, Peabo Bryson and Clive Davis. Flack died on Feb. 24 at age 88.
Before segueing into a beautiful and measured take on the Flack classic “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face,” an emotional Hill sniffled her way through reflections about her late idol. “We weren’t formally asked to do this because I think they were a little shy in asking us to attend,” Hill began. “So we kind of bum-rushed the service because it really wouldn’t be possible for us to just stand by and not participate.
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“The artistry of Ms. Roberta Flack was beyond trailblazing,” Hill continued in part. “Like Nina Simone, she carved out for me a pathway of soulful Black intellectual sublime beauty that not only spoke to Black resistance directly in lyric and statement, but was Black resistance to racism, bigotry and limitations by virtue of its existence. … She didn’t just write about the beauty; she was the beauty. She didn’t just write about resistance; her existence was a form of resistance. She wrote our stories in forms the established authorities of the time could not deny; compositions wrapped with graceful classical forms and nuances that would not nor could not be dismissed. … I thank my parents for introducing me to her masterful music. Thank you to our Father in Heaven, to our God on high for blessing and enriching all of our lives with her presence and undeniable gifts. Roberta Flack is legend.”
Met with resounding applause, cheers and a standing ovation inside the packed church, Hill and Jean — accompanied by a pianist and three backing vocalists — launched into a sing-along of the Fugees’ hit reinterpretation of the Flack gem “Killing Me Softly With His Song.” Adding an extra touch to the performance: Wonder standing in the church aisle playing the harmonica.
Following next on the program, Wonder prefaced his musical contribution with insightful comments that touched on Flack’s artistry as well as her commitment to activism. “The great thing about not having the ability to see with your eyes is the great opportunity in being able to see even better with your heart,” he shared. “So I knew how beautiful Roberta was. I celebrate that because I see that so much of the world and yes, this nation too, must be blind at this point … and it breaks my heart. And Roberta, I want to just say to you in spirit, I thank you for letting me hear your voice, letting me know your spirit, letting me know your heart and letting me be able to share with you songs that I was writing.”
One of those songs was “If It’s Magic.” Accompanied solely by a harpist, Wonder delivered a piercing take on the track, which is featured on his award-winning double album Songs in the Key of Life. Joined afterwards by the harpist and a conga player as he sat at the piano, Wonder performed a song that he wrote for Flack, “I Can See the Sun.” Noted Wonder at the end, “She spread love all over this world.’
Songwriter Hall of Fame member Valerie Simpson (along with late husband Nick Ashford) also sat down at the piano for an improvised take on one of Ashford & Simpson’s signature hits “Ain’t Nothing Like the Real Thing,” in salute to Flack’s artistic authenticity. Among the other memorable performances was famed backing vocalist Lisa Fischer’s searing and soaring version of “Somewhere (There’s a Place for Us)” from West Side Story. Also sharing their reflections and memories were actress Phylicia Rashad, Flack’s cousin Carol Flack, Flack’s longtime manager/friend Suzanne Koga and family friend Santita Jackson. Jackson, a singer who once toured with Flack, said her father Rev. Jesse Jackson wanted her to remind attendees of one important fact: that Flack “was the perfect blend of soul and science; she put her ego to the side and just sang the song. A pure genius.”
Rounding out Flack’s celebration of life were video clips featuring reflections from a diverse range of artists and industry personages such as Clive Davis (“There will never be another Roberta Flack”), Oprah Winfrey, Alicia Keys, India.Arie, Peabo Bryson, Dionne Warwick, Les McCann and Yoko Ono. Letters from former vp Kamala Harris and Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason jr. were read as well. Rev. Al Sharpton delivered the eulogy; presiding over the memorial service was Abyssinian Baptist Church’s Rev. Dr. Kevin Johnson. The celebration program also noted that donations in Flack’s memory can be sent to the RobertaFlackFoundation.org.
