Rap Music News
Kanye West’s Yeezy Company Received a PPP Loan for Over $2 Million
Kanye West, a literal billionaire, sought a government-backed loan to pay his employees during the coronavirus pandemic. According to the Small Business Administration (via The Daily Beast), the 2020 presidential candidate (?) has received between $2 and $5 million for his Yeezy fashion line company through the SBA’s Paycheck Protection Program. The Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program was created so that companies with 500 or fewer employees could apply for loans to cover the cost of eight weeks of payroll, up to two and a half times the company’s average monthly payroll costs, with a cap of $10 million total. It’s weird to think Kanye’s “small business” was allegedly in dire need of financial support despite its expensive shoes regularly selling out, its branc...
Posthumous Juice WRLD Album Legends Never Die Dropping Later This Week
The first posthumous album from Juice WRLD has been announced, and its due date is literally just days away. Fittingly titled Legends Never Die, the effort arrives later this week on July 10th. This new collection marks the third album overall from Juice WRLD, following Goodbye & Good Riddance from 2018 and 2019’s Death Race for Love, which hit shelves just a few months prior to his passing in December. A tracklist hasn’t been revealed, but previous teasers “Righteous” and the Trippie Redd-assisted “Tell Me U Luv Me” are expected to appear on the album. As a third preview, a single dubbed “Life’s a Mess” is now being shared by the late rapper’s estate. A collaboration with pop singer Halsey, it sees Juice WRLD detailing the ups and downs of life, especially his arduous search for ...
DaBaby Is Performing at a 4th of July Concert for a Live Audience
Fresh off his moving performance at the BET Awards, DaBaby is ready to play to a live audience again. According to an Eventbrite listing, the North Carolina rapper is scheduled for a 4th of July concert in Decatur, Georgia that’s well aware of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The event, titled “4th of July Bash”, is hosted by J Hart Productions and is being marketed as part of a “weekend concert series” at Cosmopolitan, the newly renovated venue in Decatur. The event lists DaBaby as its featured performer on July 4th alongside MoneyBagg Yo and Blac Youngsta on July 5th. The “4th of July Bash” is proudly declaring itself “the only concert in the city.” Surprisingly, yes, organizers seem to be aware that COVID-19 has been skyrocketing recently — there’s been 43,644 new cases and 560 new dea...
Disclosure Enlist slowthai and Aminé for New Single “My High”: Stream
Disclosure continue to edge closer to the release of their first new album in five years, ENERGY. Following up on last month’s title track, the electronic duo is now sharing a second single called “My High”. For the Lawrence brothers, who are used to weaving together house-inflected club tracks, this latest offering incorporates a new fabric: hip-hop, courtesy of guest rappers slowthai and Aminé. Disclosure talked about the collaborative process in a statement: “We always wanted to work with rappers, we just didn’t know any and we had no means of contacting them… There aren’t a lot of rappers in Reigate. Writing ‘My High’ with Aminé was a lot a fun, he’s hilarious and may as well be a comedian. He writes so quickly and it’s amazing to watch. He brought so much energy to this already very e...
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...
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...
Beyoncé Drops New Song “Black Parade” to Honor Juneteenth: Stream
Beyoncé went big to honor this year’s Juneteenth, a day that commemorates the end of slavery in the United States. On Friday, the pop icon not only launched “Black Parade Route”, an initiative that supports Black-owned small businesses, but she also dropped a brand new song called “Black Parade”. Of course, it’s as timely and moving as expected from Queen Bey. Musically, “Black Parade” is a celebratory blend of pop, trap, hip-hop, and electronica-verging on Detroit techno. Over cascading horns and a chipper flute melody, Beyoncé sings about the unique joys of being Black, touching on everything from womanhood to her heritage and the ways in which Blackness proudly permeates throughout it all. Stream “Black Parade” below. [embedded content] It’s been a while since Beyoncé dropped new music ...
RMR Teams Up with Young Thug for “RASCAL” Remix: Stream
RMR may be semi-anonymous thanks to his mysterious masked persona, but that hasn’t stopped the hip-hop vocalist from trying to scale the hype charts rather quickly this year. First came his breakout song “RASCAL”, which he followed up last week with his debut EP, Drug Dealing Is a Lost Art. Now, RMR has dropped a remix for his hit single featuring the inimitable Young Thug. RMR — pronounced Rumor — found viral fame this spring with “RASCAL”, a song that opens with a beautiful a cappella rendition of Rascal Flatts’ “These Days” before launching into an interpolation of country classic “Bless the Broken Road”, complete with new lyrics about staying close to your crew and flipping off the boys in blue. In this remix, “RASCAL” gets a new, moving verse from Young Thug that reworks the trac...
J. Cole Drops New Single “Snow on tha Bluff”: Stream
J. Cole, photo by Ben Kaye J. Cole has released a surprise new single called “Snow on tha Bluff”. Stream it below. The track takes its name from the 2011 Damon Russell film Snow on tha Bluff, a drama about real-life drug dealer Curtis Snow. Russell shot the movie as if it were a documentary, leading some — including the Atlanta Police Department — convinced it was real. On his track, J. Cole turns that concept of perceived reality in on himself, wondering if he’s being active enough in the current Black Lives Matter movement. “He was like ‘Cole, ‘preciate what you been doin my nigga, that’s real,’” he raps in the rapid-fire cut. “But damn, why I feel faker than Snow on Tha Bluff?/ Well maybe ’cause deep down I know I ain’t doing enough.” Throughout the ruminative number, J. Cole cons...
André 3000 Selling Shirts Based on His Jumpsuits to Benefit Movement for Black Lives
André 3000 has reemerged. No, not with a new verse or track, but with new merch. The Outkast members is selling shirts specifically to benefit Movement for Black Lives. The long-sleeved black T-shirts are based on the jumpsuits 3 Stacks wore during OutKast’s 2014 reunion tour. Each one is emboldened with one of 13 phrases André 3000 wore across his chest during that anniversary trek, along with a “Not 4 Sale” tag printed on the left sleeve. (Why 13? André isn’t known for doing things haphazardly, so one has to wonder if it’s a reference to the 13th Amendment.) Designs include “across cultures, darker people suffer most. why?”, “can one rest in peace & violence?”, “narcissistic americans.”, “obviously oblivious.”, “which type of stereo are you?”, and the direct “breathe.” The collection...
Meek Mill Breaks Down the “Otherside of America” on New Single: Stream
Meek Mill has shared a new single called “Otherside of America” about his childhood growing up black in the US. The political track opens with a sample of a negative Donald Trump speech over romantic orchestral strings, setting the rapper up for an emotional journey. Don’t mistake “Otherside of America” for your usual protest song. While there’s a high intensity to the track, courtesy of producers Butter Beats and Shroom, the Grammy-nominated rapper spends his time talking about the effects of poverty, violence, and racism on black kids-turned-teenagers with nuance and vivid imagery. “Reporting live from the other side/ Same corner where my brothers died,” he raps. “Living like we ain’t got care/ Told my mama I ain’t dying here.” Stream it below. Earlier this week, Mill — who was released ...
YG Releases New Protest Song “FTP” (“Fuck the Police”): Stream
For the last four years, “FDT” has been something of a signature song for YG — and with good reason. Now he’s back with another acronymic protest song to match the current socio-political climate: “FTP”, or “Fuck the Police”. Bass heavy with piano notes creeping throughout, the track sees YG being direct about his feelings about the “Ku Klux Cops,” as he puts it. “I’m tired of being tired of being tired/ I’m tired of being shot at like a opp,” he raps. “Callin’ all the foodies from the tribe/ We on some fuck the police shit, it’s the vibe.” YG announced the song via an Instagram video in which he said he wouldn’t be attending a protest he’d promoted earlier. Standing in front of a framed photo of Nipsey Hussle (who joined him on “FDT”), YG said, “I was told today that my protest is not saf...
