Hip-Hop
Disclosure Announce New Album ENERGY, Featuring slowthai, Kehlani, Common, and More
Disclosure returned in February with an EP called Ecstasy. Now, the electronic music duo is prepping a proper full-length album for August. It’s dubbed ENERGY and sees the Lawrence brothers collaborating with rappers for the very first time in their decade-long career. ENERGY follows up on 2015’s Caracal and serves as the group’s third LP overall. It boasts guest contributions from hip-hop acts like slowthai, Common, Mick Jenkins, Aminé, and Channel Tres. Also slated to make cameos are Kelis, Syd of The Internet, Fatoumata Diawara, and Blick Bassy. According to a statement, recording sessions for the new album yielded upwards of 200 (!) potential tracks, which Disclosure eventually whittled down to 11. “The thing that decided which songs made it and which songs didn’t was that on...
Mr. Rogers Sued Ice Cube for Sampling Him in “A Gangsta’s Fairytale”
Mr. Rogers and Ice Cube Over the weekend, Ice Cube celebrated the 30th anniversary of his debut solo album, AmeriKKKa’s Most Wanted, with a digital listening party. He hosted the event on Instagram Live where he rapped along to his hits, shared insight into the songwriting process, and recalled old memories. Unexpectedly, one of those recollections involved getting sued by Mr. Rogers himself. As noted by Stereogum, the N.W.A. rapper brought up the surprising legal tussle practically as an aside. “I actually wrote [‘A Gangsta’s Fairytale’] for Eazy-E. But y’all know what it is; we weren’t getting down at the time so I had to take it myself,” he said on Instagram. “It’s a trip because off this song, Mr. Rogers sued us. He was mad because we had the Mister Rogers theme at the beginning of thi...
Kendall Roy’s Succession Rap “L to the OG” Gets an Official Release: Stream
During Season 2 of Succession, the character Kendall Roy (Jeremy Strong) tried to honor his father Logan with a lot of effort and no self-awareness by writing the octogenarian a rap song. Now you can relive that cringeworthy moment, as HBO and WaterTower Music have released the official studio version of “L to the OG”. Written by Succession composer Nicholas Britell, who also plays DJ Squiggle on the show, “L to the OG” is an intoxicating mix of simple rhymes, brown-nosing lyrics, and one of the whitest characters in TV history appropriating black vernacular. “Yo, bitches be catty, but the king’s my daddy,” he raps, “Rock all the haters while we go roll a ’rati/ Squiggle on the decks, Kenny on the rhyme / And Logan big ballin’ on Hamptons time.” In an interview with Vulture,...
Wu-Tang Clan Selling “Protect Ya Hands” Sanitizer
Wu-Tang Clan are here to protect ya hands with their own signature line of hand sanitizer. The all-natural, plant-based, vegan hand sanitizer is a collaboration between RZA’s lifestyle brand 36 Chambers and the skincare company Jusu. Though a 8.45 oz bottle of “Protect Ya Hands” will set you back $28.00, for every purchase, 36 Chambers will donate another bottle to The Ottawa Mission Foundation and other homeless shelters in Canada. Order yours here. Wu-Tang’s “Protect Ya Hands” sanitizer isn’t the only band-themed piece of PPE up for grabs: Devo recently launched Energy Dome Face Shields. Additionally, Consequence of Sound just launched its own capsule of custom face masks. A portion of the proceeds will benefit MusiCares’ COVID-19 Artist Relief fund supporting indepen...
Russ Drops Five New Songs With ‘Shake the Snow Globe (Deluxe)’
After capturing a top-five debut on the Billboard 200 with his third album Shake the Snow Globe, Russ has given his fans five new songs for the deluxe edition of the project. Along with the new tracks, there are also fresh features from Ty Dolla $ign (“3 AM”) and Boogie (“Sky”). Released in January, the initial Shake the Snow Globe included features from Rick Ross, Kiana Lede and Benny The Butcher. Shake the Snow Globe received a steady boost, courtesy of the success of his radio scorcher “Best on Earth.” The song peaked at No. 46 on the Hot 100 and earned platinum certification. Before the pandemic, Russ was preparing to head on the road in light of his latest album. Last month, he canceled his Shake the Globe Tour but assured fans that their ...
Kid Cudi Just Dropped a Fashion Collab With Virgil Abloh to Celebrate His New Single
The rapper also premiered the lyric video for “Leader of the Delinquents.” Kid Cudi returned in April with his first solo single in nearly four years, “Leader of the Delinquents,” and now he’s dropping the perfect merch to go with it. On Tuesday (May 19), the rapper unveiled his new fashion collaboration with Virgil Abloh: a chic T-shirt featuring a sketch of the rapper by the Off-White founder and current Louis Vuitton artistic director with the name of the single emblazoned across the back. In conjunction with the new merch, Cudi also released the colorful lyric video for the track, which serves as the lead single for his first solo project since 2016’s Passion, Pain & Demon Slayin’. Cudi has certainly had plenty to celebrate lately: Along wi...
Bono Names Kanye West’s “Black Skinhead” as a Song That “Saved My Life”
For his 60th birthday, U2 frontman Bono curated a list of “60 Songs That Saved My Life”. As part of the project, he penned individual letters to each of the artists behind his songs of choice. Among those receiving the a handwritten note from Bono was Kanye West, whose Yeezus cut “Black Skinhead” sounded like nothing [Bono had] ever heard before.” Bono was actually in the SNL house the night “Black Skinhead” debuted in 2013. “I was a hundred feet away from your feet,” the letter begins. “Your eyes were shut so as not to be distracted from the words you had just written around the corner.” The letter quotes some favorite lyrics, and suggests that with this performance, “It felt like hip hop wanted the black leather jacket back from rock ‘n roll…. and the rock ‘n roll sil...
NAV’s ‘Good Intentions’ Debuts at No. 1 on Billboard 200 Albums Chart
Plus: Kehlani scores highest charting album yet, Lil Durk debuts in top five, and Bad Bunny’s surprise album starts in top 10. NAV nabs his second No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 chart, as Good Intentions starts atop the tally. The album was released on May 8 via XO/Republic Records, and earned 135,000 equivalent album units in the week ending May 14, according to Nielsen Music/MRC Data. Of its total starting unit sum, album sales comprise over half of that figure — 73,000, with nearly all of the sales driven by merchandise/album bundles sold via NAV’s official webstore. Also making news in the top 10: Kehlani tallies her highest charting and best week ever in units earned, as It Was Good Until It Wasn’t starts at No. 2 (83,000 units), Lil Durk’s Just Cause Y’all Waited 2 debuts at ...
Fat Joe Reveals Something Ashanti Never Knew About ‘What’s Luv?’
Ashanti had a hit in her hands, alongside Fat Joe and Ja Rule, with “What’s Luv?” in 2001. But there’s one thing she never knew about the song. To Ashanti’s surprise, she wasn’t the vocalist originally in mind for the final version of the track. Fat Joe dropped the news in the middle of an Instagram Live chat with Ashanti on Friday (May 15). On Saturday, her name was trending on Twitter with countless messages of disbelief and support from fans. “Irv and Ja had called me, and they woke me up [at] like 3 in the morning, and they say, ‘Yo, come down, we made a song for you,” he recalled. “I go to the studio, it was like 4 in the morning. They played ‘What’s Luv?’ and you on it. And they was telling me, ‘...
Ludacris Debuts New Lil Wayne Collaboration ‘Silence of the Lambs’ During Nelly ‘Verzuz’ Battle
The Atlanta rap legend also played part of a Chance The Rapper team-up and hinted at a full project with Timbaland. During a momentary pause in the Verzuz battle between Ludacris and Nelly on Saturday night (May 16) due to the latter’s Internet issues, Luda debuted part of “Silence of the Lambs,” a new track featuring Lil Wayne that was produced by Timbaland and included references to Bill Cosby, R. Kelly and Roseanne Barr. “I love R. Kelly, but around my daughters I’m not comfortable,” Luda raps in the opening verse, after dropping a lyrical reference to “Bill Huxtable” and before declaring that racists are still drinking “from Roseanne’s bar.” Weezy comes in to warble through the second verse, and on the hook Ludacris makes his intent clear: “Rap brought me back to restore a little bit o...
Nelly vs. Ludacris in ‘Verzuz’ Battle of ’00s Rap Hitmakers: See Billboard’s Scorecard and Winner For the Showdown
Nelly and Ludacris were two of the defining hip-hop artists of the early 2000s, expanding the genre’s sound while representing St. Louis and Atlanta, respectively. Their personalities were undeniable; they each collected more hits than most mainstream pop heroes of the time. On Saturday night (May 16), the two chart-topping greats went head-to-head on Instagram Live, in arguably the most high-profile battle in the Timbaland- and Swizz Beatz-curated Verzuz series to date. “It’s gon’ be a historic night!” Ludacris, rocking a giant chain and an Dominique Wilkins Atlanta Hawks throwback jersey, declared prior to the showdown while combing his afro with a pick. “I feel the energy from around the world!” After Nelly initially signed on, Luda also mentioned that this year marks the 20th anniversa...
New Music Friday: 6 Songs You Need to Hear
Each Friday, Consequence of Sound rounds up the most exciting new music to hit our inbox. Today, May 15th, brings fresh singles from the likes of OneDa, Christian Lopez, The Sea The Sea, Lila Ikè, American Trappist, and Cat Clyde. Take a listen below, and keep track of all our favorite New Sounds via our exclusive Spotify Playlist. Christian Lopez – “Sick of Me” [embedded content] At just 24 years old, Christian Lopez has made a name for himself as a rock-tinted americana singer-songwriter. The Los Angeles-via-Nashville artist sounds like a cross between Chris Daughtry and The All-American Rejects on his newest single, “Sick of Me”, which uses an explosive chorus to highlight Lopez’s strengths not just as a songwriter, but as a pop-leaning country vocalist. According to Lopez, “Sick of Me”...
