Hip-Hop
6ix9ine Releasing New Song & Music Video on Friday
6ix9ine just went to No. 1 with Nicki Minaj on “Trollz,” but there’s already another new music release in the works. With “Trollz” at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart — a first for 6ix9ine — he’ll be dropping another song and music video on Friday (July 3). “NEW MUSIC VIDEO THIS FRIDAY JULY 3RD,” wrote 6ix9ine on Instagram Saturday afternoon (June 27). “I have about 34 more days ’til house arrest is over, about 34 more days and the ankle monitor comes off and the king of New York is back on the street. I’m gonna give you all one more music video,” 6ix9ine teased in a video accompanying the post. “Just picture this, right. I’ve been on house arrest. I broke a whole b...
H.E.R. Rocks ‘I Can’t Breathe’/’Fate’ Medley for Roots Picnic 2020
H.E.R. brought a two-song medley live from a socially distant studio session to this year’s Roots Picnic. The Roots’ annual Roots Picnic went virtual this year, kicking off Saturday night (June 27) with Michelle Obama encouraging viewers to take action and vote in this year’s elections, and then launching into a series of virtual music performances. H.E.R. started off her spot in the lineup with a powerful, acoustic guitar-led “I Can’t Breathe,” the moving new song she debuted earlier in June inspired by current events and protests following George Floyd’s killing. She switched gears for the second part of her medley, picking up an electric guitar for a rocking rendition of “Fate.” The Roots Picnic began streaming at 8 p.m. ET Saturday ...
‘BET Awards 2020 Needed More Than Ever’: President Scott Mills Reflects on Show’s Lasting Impact & More
BET president Scott Mills wants viewers of this year’s BET Awards to understand one thing up front: don’t call it a virtual awards show. It’s a “complete mischaracterization of what the show is,” says Mills of the BET Awards which, like many other special events, has had to shift gears as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to rage. Celebrating its 20th anniversary, the ceremony will air Sunday evening (June 28) and also make its national broadcast debut on CBS. Noting that other media have tagged the show as virtual, Mills continues, “We actually never have described it as virtual. We said that we’re proceeding with the awards show and not doing it in front of a live audience.” Mills further emphasizes that the show won’t feature artists simply performing from their homes. Instead, performanc...
Lil Wayne Welcomes All-Star Lineup of Usher, Fabolous, Jadakiss and More to Young Money Radio
After taking a week off to commemorate Juneteenth, Lil Wayne returned to Young Money Radio on Friday (June 26) with an all-star guest lineup. Weezy discussed a wide variety of topics, ranging from new music to racial injustice, during the ninth episode of his Apple Radio show, as he welcomed guests Usher, Jadakiss, Fabolous, Juelz Santana, Jack Harlow and others. First up was Usher, who recently dropped the empowering song “I Cry” and penned an op-ed for The Washington Post highlighting the importance of Juneteenth. The superstar singer told Wayne that the inspiration behind “I Cry” came from the death of George Floyd. “There’s an outcry for us to be able to change the reality of what’s going on in our country,” Usher said. “And this so...
G-Eazy’s ‘Everything’s Strange Here’ Has Arrived: Stream It Now
After a slight delay, G-Eazy returns with Everything’s Strange Here. Originally scheduled to arrive on June 5, the new set dropped in full at midnight. The health crisis has turned many things inside out, including the Oakland rapper’s release strategy. In fact, if it weren’t for the lockdown, the new album wouldn’t be at our fingertips right now. These Things Happen Too was meant to come first, but, well, the coronavirus changes everything. In a social post last month, G-Eazy wrote: “8 weeks ago I didn’t know I needed to make this. The world has been turned upside down and inside out – but a lot of us have had the fortunate opportunity to self reflect, grow and evolve.” This new project,” he explains, “is a representation of where my heart and head have been at. It’s hon...
Megan Thee Stallion Unleashes ‘Girls in the Hood’: Stream It Now
Megan Thee Stallion apologizes to absolutely no one on her new release “Girls in the Hood,” which dropped at midnight. The Houston rapper is in total control on “Hood,” a statement track on which she lets her thoughts be known from the opening stanza. Channeling Eazy-E’s “Boyz-n-the-Hood” from 1987, Megan fires away: “F— being good, I’m a bad b—-/ I’m sick of motherf—ers tryna tell me how to live.” She teased the track Wednesday on social media, sharing its cover art and an audio cut. The “B.I.T.C.H.” rapper has been using her time wisely — and creatively — during the lockdown. Back in April, she dialled in for a chat with The Tonight Show’s Jimmy Fallon. “I’ve been recording. That’s the best thing about quarantin...
Megan Thee Stallion Flips Eazy-E’s Classic in New Song “Girls in the Hood”: Stream
Megan Thee Stallion is ready to break the internet… again. The Houston rapper has just released her latest single, “Girls in the Hood”, which flips Eazy-E’s classic rap hit “Boyz-n-the-Hood” on its head. “Girls in the Hood” is an obvious nod to Eazy-E’s famous single both in name and in sound. The track warps the original number’s backing track into something fresh and modern. Of course, Megan Thee Stallion makes the music into something memorable by turning rapid-fire verses into a straight-up vocal flex, flaunting her skills not just as a rapper, but as a musical artist who continues to climb the charts. Hear it for yourself below. This is the latest instance of Megan Thee Stallion stealing the spotlight in the midst of a pandemic. She dropped her star-studded album Suga in March to high...
Fabolous and Jadakiss Will Face Off For Next Verzuz Battle
The Big Apple is where the next Verzuz is going down. Veteran New York rappers Fabolous and Jadakiss will rumble next Monday, June 29 for the latest instalment in the online hip-hop and R&B face-off. Announced on a fetching jersey in traditional New York Knicks colors, the FAB vs. JADA battle squares off at 8 p.m. ET on Instagram Live and Apple Music. Neither has a shortage of tracks to revisit. Fabolous has impacted the Billboard Hot 100 on 21 occasions, with five top 10s, including “Into You” and Can’t Let You Go.” Jadakiss has nine credits on the Billboard Hot 100, including his work on Jennifer Lopez’ No. 3 hit “Jenny From The Block.” Verzuz was launched in March by legendary hip-hop producers Timbaland and Swizz Beatz. Starting life as a 20-song showdown between evenly matched pro...
Tekashi 6ix9ine Earns First Billboard No. 1 Single with “TROLLZ”
Protest songs have been dominating the streaming and radio charts these past few weeks, but that hasn’t stopped Tekashi 6ix9ine from rising to the top right alongside them. The controversial rapper just earned his first No. 1 single on the Billboard Hot 100 with “TROLLZ”, his collaboration with Nicki Minaj. According to a press release, “TROLLZ” also helped Create Music Group — the distributor who put out the single — make history by being the first fully independent distributor in modern music industry history to achieve a No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 Singles Chart as well. “Tekashi 6ix9ine is without a doubt one of the most galvanizing figures making music today,” said Create Music Group Founder and CEO Jonathan Strauss in a statement. “We are thrilled that we’ve been able to attain what...
6ix9ine Crowns Himself & Nicki Minaj the ‘F—ing Monsters of This S—‘ After ‘Trollz’ Hits No. 1 on Hot 100
6ix9ine and Nicki Minaj‘s “Trollz” launched to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart this week, marking the first leader for 6ix9ine and the second for Minaj. The ecstatic rapper took to Instagram on Monday (June 22) to share his thoughts on the milestone, uploading a video popping champagne and celebrating. “#1 ON @billboard YOU CANT STOP ME. YOU CANT BLACKBALL ME. DIDNT I TELL YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!” Tekashi went on to call out Spotify, Apple and a few other music services for not pushing “Trollz,” but noted that they can’t “blackball” him because the song prevailed on the Billboard charts regardless. “YOU CAN SAY WHAT EVER IM NUMBER 1 AND YOU CANT TAKE THAT FROM ME I WENT UP A...
Top 25 Albums of 2020 (So Far)
Welcome to our Mid-Year Report. All week long we’ll be sharing the music, movies, and television that have helped us survive a strange and confusing six months. We start today with our Top 25 Albums of 2020 (So Far). It’d be fatuous to pretend that the first six months of 2020 have been like any other. All of us are facing difficult realities: the pain of injustice, the loss of a loved one, or even just the despair of looking out the window and not knowing what tomorrow will bring or when it will come. For the purposes of this list, then, maybe it’s equally foolish to think music impacted us the same way it always does. Then again, perhaps that’s what makes music so integral to our lives: that no matter what the world or our individual lives look like, music has the magical knack of provid...
Noname Responds to J. Cole With “Song 33”, First New Song In Over a Year: Stream
Noname has returned with her first new song in over a year. It’s called “Song 33”, produced by Madlib, and references both the tragic deaths of George Floyd and Toyin Salau. What’s more, the minute-long track serves as a timely response to J. Cole, who appeared to throw shade at the Chicago MC earlier this week with his own new single, “Snow On Tha Bluff”. “Wow look at him go/ He really ’bout to write about me while the world is in smokes?” Noname asks, cutting right to the core: “When his people in trees, when George was begging for his mother saying he couldn’t breathe/you thought to write about me?” She’s not finished, though, and hammers the point: “Little did I know all my reading would be a bother/ It’s trans women being murdered and this is all he can offer?” Clearly, J. Cole’s twee...
