Hip-Hop
Open Mike Eagle Drops New Song “Neighborhood Protection Spell (Lana Del Biden Nem)”: Stream
After wrapping up a prolific year in 2019, Open Mike Eagle still had a lot on his mind — and rightfully so. From a global pandemic to a jumbled party of political nominees, this year hasn’t exactly gotten off to the best start. So he did what any talented rapper would do: pick up a mic and recorded a new song. It just so happens that the single, “Neighborhood Protection Spell (Lana Del Biden Nem)”, is as prescient as it is astute. According to The New Negroes star, he decided to write the song because felt like public figures were regularly taking aim at the Black community, seemingly without even realizing it. Instead of venting about the ignorance of and low-flying racist remarks by celebrities — especially, but not excluded to, Joe Biden and Lana Del Rey — he chose to turn his obse...
T.I. Pens Open Letter to Lloyd’s of London Demanding Reparations for Descendants of African Slaves
T.I. is putting Lloyd’s of London “on notice.” On Friday (July 17), the rapper and activist shared a two-page open letter to the U.K. insurance giant, demanding that the firm pay reparations to descendants African slaves for its role in the transatlantic slave trade. “Our people have been financially impaired & economically disabled due to the systemic oppression and institutional racism it leaves behind,” T.I. captioned an Instagram post featuring the letter. “TIME TO TAKE WHAT WE KNOW OUR ANCESTORS DESERVED & DIED FOR.” In June, Lloyd’s acknowledged its ties to the slave trade and pledged to make amends, which included recruiting more Black employees and providing financial support to charities that promote diversity and inclusion, ...
‘Check’ Out Iggy Azalea’s Latest Sultry Outfit: Pics
Iggy Azalea has her 13.5 million Instagram followers “checking” out her latest Fashion Nova outfit. In yesterday’s (July 16) quarantine ‘fit pic, the “Fancy” rapper stays classy and cool with a mimosa in hand, showing off a checkered two-piece set that had Noah Cyrus commenting, “wwoow.” The artist (real name Amethyst Amelia Kelly) unveiled the name of her newborn son, Onyx, on Instagram earlier this week with a voice recording titled “Amethyst & Onyx,” revealing his adorable coos. Last month, she announced she had given birth and that she wanted fans to respect her family’s privacy. “I want to keep his life private but wanted to make it clear he is not a secret & I love him beyond...
Logic Is Calling Time on His Music Career: ‘It’s Been a Great Decade’
Logic is dropping the mic. The Maryland hip-hop artist revealed his future plans in a good-news, bad-news message, which caught almost everyone by surprise. “Officially announcing my retirement with the release of ‘No Pressure’ executive produced by No I.D. July 24th…,” reads a tweet from Logic’s official account. “It’s been a great decade. Now it’s time to be a great father.” Officially announcing my retirement with the release of “No Pressure” executive produced by No I.D. July 24th… It’s been a great decade. Now it’s time to be a great father. Art by @SamSpratt pic.twitter.com/stgSU6dMBt — Bobby No Pressure (@Logic301) July 16, 2020 If he does go out, he’ll do so at the very top of his game. The “Homicide” rapper (r...
DJ Khaled and Drake Team up for ‘Popstar’ and ‘Greece’: Listen
DJ Khaled doesn’t do b-list collaborations. The Miami emcee and music man tapped none other than Drake for his latest work, which spills out over two tracks, “Popstar” and “Greece.” It’s all part of a big plan for the We the Best chief, who this week revealed the title of his forthcoming 12th studio album, Khaled Khaled, due out later this year. Drizzy and Khaled go way back. The hip-hop megastars worked on the track “I’m on One,” which peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2011. And they joined forces on the tracks “For Free” and “Fed Up.” New tracks “Popstar” and “Greece” dropped at midnight. They’re the first tunes from the new album, and both can be streamed in full below. [embedded co...
Audio Engineer Kesha Lee in Atlanta, in a Pandemic: ‘I’m Getting to the Place Where I’m Wanting to Create’
Lee was planning to travel for audio engineer work when her car broke down — now, she’s collaborating with a local songwriter on her own music. Since getting her start through a chance meeting with Gucci Mane, Atlanta-based audio engineer Kesha Lee has worked on chart-toppers like Childish Gambino’s “This Is America” and Migos’ “Bad and Boujee” and is now the go-to audio engineer for rappers including Playboi Carti and Lil Uzi Vert. She spent the past two-and-a-half years working on Uzi’s Eternal Atake album in the artist’s native Philadelphia, before it was released on March 6 — mere weeks before the near-national lockdown to prevent the spread of coronavirus began. As part of Billboard’s efforts to best cover ...
Will Smith Serves Up New Quarantine Mix: Hear ‘Lo-Fi Summertime Beats to Social Distance To’
Summer, summer, summertime, time to sit back and unwind! On Friday (July 10), Will Smith dropped his second quarantine mix on YouTube. Titled “Lo-Fi Summertime Beats to Social Distance To,” the mix contains tracks by rising producers and artists including Yungmaple (“Two Door Coupe”), Rinse Cycle (“Solitude”), Bloopr (“Cold History”) and more. The 90-minute mix kicks off with a popular quote by Smith from 2007 interview with CBS News, in which he admits, “I’ve never really viewed myself as particularly talented. Where I excel is ridiculous, sickening work ethic.” As Smith’s voice echoes, the mix launches into Don_Solo’s “Sentimental Feelings” and the camera pans out to reveal an illustration of the ra...
Japanese Rapper Awich is “Shook Shook” on Her New Single: Stream
Japanese rapper Awich is ready to break through to America with her upcoming EP, and there’s no better track to make a memorable introduction with than “Shook Shook”, the new song she’s dropped today. Over the past few years, Awich has been busy establishing herself as a rising force within Japan’s hip-hop scene. And now, in a few weeks, she will cross over to western audiences with Partition, her upcoming EP due out August 21st via Universal. “Shook Shook” is our first taste of Partition, and it comes on strong in the best of ways. Awich alternates between Japanese and English while rapping about her experiences as a women in the male-centric music industry. Behind her, a dark piano loop can be heard atop a gritty bass beat, all smoothed out by producer Chaki Zulu. It’s almost reminiscent...
Megan Thee Stallion Says She Was Shot in the Foot
Megan Thee Stallion has issued a social media statement regarding the incident over the weekend that led to Tory Lanez’s arrest and her own trip to the hospital. The “Girls in the Hood” rapper was taken to a Los Angeles hospital with what was reported at the time as a foot wound caused by broken glass found in Lanez’s car. However, Megan has now said the injury was in fact “gunshot wounds” she sustained “as a result of a crime that was committed against me and done with the intention to physically harm me.” She also clarified that she was never arrested, and the police only drove her to the hospital. Despite her public statement, the Los Angeles Police Department told TMZ that while Megan Thee Stallion was with police, “she did not report that she was the victim of any crime.” Accordi...
Kanye West Is Still In the Presidential Race
Stop the presses: Kanye West’s political ambitions aren’t finished. The unpredictable hip-hop superstar has filed with the Federal Election Commission and has qualified to appear on Oklahoma’s presidential ballot, the Associated Press reports. This just hours after a wave of reports which claimed West had failed to file the requisite paperwork and was no longer in the U.S. 2020 presidential race. West met the deadline for a spot on the state’s Nov. 3 presidential ballot and paid the $35,000 filing, according to a spokesperson for the Board of Elections in Oklahoma, where Ye now calls home. Two other independent candidates also paid fees ahead of the cut-off: concert pianist Jade Simmons and cryptocurrency entrepreneur Brock Pierce. The West campaign filed a “Statement of Organization” on W...
DMX Will Challenge Snoop Dogg for Verzuz ‘Battle of the Dogs’
There’s a dogfight coming to #Verzuz. In what’s billed as “The battle of the dogs,” DMX will square off with Snoop Dogg for the next round of the Verzuz series, due to take place July 22. There are no puppies in this stoush. DMX’s decades-long career includes 15 visits to the Billboard Hot 100. Snoop, of course, is a mainstream superstar with a long list of movie credits, TV series and no less than 43 Hot 100 hits, including three No. 1s: “Drop It Like It’s Hot” (featuring Pharrell), and assists on Akon’s “I Wanna Love You” and Katy Perry’s “California Gurls”. Verzuz was launched in March by hip-hop producers Timbaland and Swizz Beatz. Starting life as a 20-song showdown between evenly matched producers, the series has also come to enlist writers and performers. Some of the hottest b...
Pop Smoke’s Shoot for the Stars, Aim for the Moon Secures the Late Rapper’s Legacy: Review
The Lowdown: Last summer, at a congested intersection in Flatbush, the hip-hop rule book was left to smolder in a fiery, steel mesh garbage can. Passersby extinguished the fire, but by then Pop Smoke had already scored an improbable hit with “Welcome to the Party”. Pop Smoke (born Bashar Jackson) hardly seemed destined for superstardom; only a Noo Yawker could love those carelessly dropped “R’s” and that honking bassone cadence. And “Welcome to the Party”, with its retro drum’n’bass synth riff, could have been recorded between rounds one and two of the Bush tax cuts. It was the song that time forgot. Yet, it was streamed 80 million times. Coming to a barber shop near you is Shoot for the Stars, Aim for the Moon, Pop Smoke’s posthumous new album. (He was killed in a February home invasion; ...
