R&B/Hip-Hop
5 Takeaways From Latto’s ‘Future of Hip-Hop’ Q&A at Billboard MusicCon
Latto brought her famous “Big Energy” to “The Future of Hip-Hop” panel during Billboard’s inaugural MusicCon on Friday (May 13) at Area 15 in Las Vegas. The 23-year-old rapper – whose Mariah Carey-sampling hit “Big Energy” has stayed in the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 for the last six weeks, thanks in part to a remix with Mimi herself and DJ Khaled – chopped it up with Billboard R&B/hip-hop staff writer Neena Rouhani about how she’s taking over the rap game while holding it down for the South. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news Here are the five takeaways from Latto’s “The Future of Hip-Hop” panel: She’s living her 8-year-old self’s biggest dreams The ATL MC told Rouhani that she’s been rapping since she was only 8 years old. “This...
Every Song Ranked on Kendrick Lamar’s ‘Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers’ Album: Critic’s Picks
Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers, released Friday (May 13), is Compton wordsmith Kendrick Lamar’s momentous 18-track return to the rap spotlight after a five-year layoff. Outside of a few guest appearances on cousin Baby Keem’s 2021 effort The Melodic Blue, fans have not heard much from the Pulitzer Prize winner since 2017’s DAMN. Precursor single “The Heart Pt. 5,” in which Lamar raps over a sample loop of Marvin Gaye’s 1976 single “I Want You,” came earlier this week (May 8) and gave fans a taste of the new record’s overarching concepts, themes and ideas. Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news Sporting guest appearances from Ghostface Killah, Kodak Black, Blxst, Sampha, Summer Walker and plenty more, the double-disc record clocks in at 73 minutes a...
Kendrick Lamar Addresses Drake and Ye’s Reconciliation on ‘Father Time’: ‘I Was Slightly Confused’
When Drake and Kanye West (now Ye) buried the hatchet, some saw it as the moment hell froze over. Others were just downright confused. Kendrick Lamar falls in the latter camp. At the stroke of midnight, Lamar dropped his latest studio album Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers, the followup to 2017’s Damn. On album track “Father Time,” featuring Sampha, the Los Angles native takes a good hard look at himself and explores the long-ingrained “daddy issues” that’ve both fueled him and held him back. Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news How so? “When Kanye got back with Drake, I was slightly confused,” he raps. “Guess I’m not as mature as I think, got some healin’ to do.” He wasn’t the only one confused by it all. Drizzy and Ye kept hip-hop’s heavyweight f...
A$AP Rocky Says Astroworld Tragedy Has Changed Concerts, But ‘We’re Still Going Crazy at My Sh–‘
A$AP Rocky joined N.O.R.E. for an unfiltered conversation about fashion, his new whiskey brand and more for the latest episode of Revolt’s Drink Champs, which arrived Thursday night (May 12). Amid the wide-ranging discussion, the “Sundress” rapper explained how the Astroworld tragedy in November changed how performances are run. “I would say ever since that horrific night, they’ve been really adamant about how you mosh,” he told the host. “I was just out in Brazil and they just stopped the show like, ‘Yo, some people were getting a little rowdy in the front and trampled and stuff.’ They just stopped the show and I was like, ‘Aight, cool.’ I get it.” Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news Ten people died at Travis Scott‘s Astroworld festival, and accor...
Young Thug Arrested on Gang-Related Charges: Reports
Young Thug has reportedly been arrested and booked into an Atlanta court on gang-related charges. The Slime Language rapper, real name Jeffery Lamar Williams, was booked into Fulton County Jail Monday (May 9) on two separate counts, jail records show. The Grammy Award-winning artist is said to be charged with conspiracy to violate the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act and participation in street gang activity. The first of those charges relates to an alleged offense in January 2013, while the second, the gang activity charge, is in connection to events from May 2018, according to multiple reports. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news Williams is schedule to make his first court appearance Tuesday at 11:30 am, Channel ...
Jack Harlow Announces 2022 ‘Come Home the Kids Miss You’ North American Tour: See the Dates
Jack Harlow is gearing up to head on the road again. On Monday (May 9), the “First Class” rapper announced that he will be going on a North American tour this fall, scheduled to kick off on Sept. 6. The Come Home the Kids Miss You tour — which includes a total of 23 dates — begins in Nashville at the city’s Municipal Auditorium, and has stops in major cities including, Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago, Detroit, Los Angeles and more before concluding on Oct. 16 in Atlanta at the State Farm Arena. City Girls are slated to open for the rapper, with the exception of the Boston date. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news Absent from the official tour are stops in New York City and Harlow’s Native Louisville, Ky. The rapper is instead making two...
Jack Harlow Announces 2022 ‘Come Home the Kids Miss You’ North American Tour: See the Dates
Jack Harlow is gearing up to head on the road again. On Monday (May 9), the “First Class” rapper announced that he will be going on a North American tour this fall, scheduled to kick off on Sept. 6. The Come Home the Kids Miss You tour — which includes a total of 23 dates — begins in Nashville at the city’s Municipal Auditorium, and has stops in major cities including, Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago, Detroit, Los Angeles and more before concluding on Oct. 16 in Atlanta at the State Farm Arena. City Girls are slated to open for the rapper, with the exception of the Boston date. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news Absent from the official tour are stops in New York City and Harlow’s Native Louisville, Ky. The rapper is instead making two...
Jack Harlow Explains How He Got Dua Lipa’s ‘Blessing’ for His New Song… ‘Dua Lipa’
Jack Harlow’s debut studio album Come Home the Kids Miss You is out now, and the Kentucky native finally gave fans some inside details behind the making of his viral song “Dua Lipa.” Chatting with The Breakfast Club in an episode that premiered Friday (May 6), the Grammy nominee explained that while Lipa has not publicly addressed the new song, he did reach out to her to receive her approval privately. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news “I wanted to get her blessing, so I FaceTimed her and played it for her,” he told the co-hosts. “‘Cause I didn’t want her to be blindsided by that or feel like creeped out or anything. “If she had said, ‘Yo, I hate it. I don’t want it to come out,’ it wouldn’t have come out,” Harlow went on. ...
Lil Nas X Celebrates Getting A New BB Gun With Song Teaser: Listen to the Clip
It’s been less than a year since Lil Nas X dropped his debut album Montero, and yet the rapper keeps on offering up teasers of new tracks for his fans — and his latest tease comes along with a cheeky video. In a Twitter post on Friday (May 6), Lil Nas shared a video of himself dressed in full camouflage hunting garb, smiling at the camera with his hands behind his back. He eventually pulls out a tan pellet gun and aims it at the camera … before immediately breaking into a dance. “Guess who got a new bb gun,” he wrote in the caption. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news Of course, the more important highlight from the video came from the music playing in the background. Throughout the 13-second clip, a snippet of an upcoming Lil Nas song...
Every Song Ranked on Jack Harlow’s ‘Come Home the Kids Miss You’ Album: Critic’s Picks
As Hot 97’s Peter Rosenberg said earlier this week, “It’s either Euphoria or f—–g Jack Harlow on Complex every 10 minutes.” Arguably, no artist has taken more advantage of the COVID-19 pandemic musically than Missionary Jack, who is on the precipice of joining rap’s A-list and seemingly became America’s heartthrob overnight. Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news The Louisville native has turned lifelong dreams into realities this year — whether it was joining Kanye West on stage in February, vacationing to Turks and Caicos with Drake, or notching his second No. 1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 with the Fergie-sampling “First Class” in April. After cutting drinking alcohol completely out of his life in 2021, Harlow’s vision for greatness couldn’t b...
Lil Wayne Calls Missy Elliott the Best Rapper Ever & She’s Forever ‘Grateful’
Lil Wayne is highlighting Missy Elliott and her incomparable music legacy. When asked to name the top five best rappers while guesting on Fox Sports’ What’s Wright? With Nick Wright podcast Thursday (May 5), Lil Wayne made sure to spotlight Elliott. “For me, it’s always going to be first, Missy Elliott,” he said. “She’s a huge influence of everything I’ve ever done. ” Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news Tunechi went on to name Jay-Z, the Notorious B.I.G., Goodie Mob and UGK before the host noted that he hadn’t included himself on the list. The five-time Grammy winner then replied, “I can’t touch them guys. I would never put myself in my list.” Elliott responded to Wayne’s mention with a heartfelt tweet on Thursday. Retweeting a clip from the ...
Drake Did the Most Drake Thing Ever & DM’d a Troll’s Wife on Instagram
Drake has warned his fans a number of times in his lyrics about stealing girls away from their boyfriends and husbands — he even has a song with Lil Wayne titled, “Take Your Girl.” The rapper jokingly walked the walk on Tuesday (May 3), when an Instagram troll poked fun at Drake’s son, Adonis, writing, “Ya son prolly play with ghost writers.” The snide remark was in reference to past controversies, in which Drake was accused of not writing his own verses and using ghostwriters. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news Instead of getting heated, Drake decided to have some fun. He found the troll’s wife and followed her on Instagram. “I just followed your girl cause she’s prob miserable and needs some excitement in her life,” he replied to the ori...
