Hip Hop News
Bong Bong: Nas and Wu-Tang Clan Announce NY State of Mind Joint Tour
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: press handout / Live Nation Hip-Hop fans just got blessed with some great news as legendary rappers Nas and the Wu-Tang Clan have announced that they’re going on tour together. The iconic artists announced Tuesday morning (April 19th) that they will be co-headliners on the “NY State of Mind” Tour. The tour, which will hit 25 cities across North America, will be sponsored by Live Nation. The “NY State of Mind” Tour will kick off in the late summer at the Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre in St. Louis, MO on Tuesday, August 30th. The news comes as Nas is on a hot streak with his recent albums and The Bridge podcast on Spotify with Miss Info, and with the Wu-Tang Clan having their debut album recently added to the National Recording Registry. Related Storie...
Long Live The Drama King: Hip-Hop World Mourns DJ Kay Slay’s Untimely Death
HipHopWired Featured Video CLOSE Source: Johnny Nunez / Getty The world of Hip-Hop received some tragic news on Easter Sunday as it was confirmed that radio executive and cultural personality DJ Kay Slay passed away after battling COVID-19.The family of Kay Slay, also known as Keith Grayson, confirmed his death on social media along with local New York radio powerhouse HOT97 on Sunday night (April 17th). The “Drama King” had been in the hospital after falling ill with COVID-19 in December 2021. Wack 100 had provided an update on his struggle last week through his Instagram account, verifying that he had been taken off the ventilator: “He’s been off the #ECMO machine for a couple weeks now,” he wrote. “Let’s continue our prayers as our brother continues to fight.” “Our hearts are broken by ...
Consequence Discusses New Album & What The Kanye West Doc Left Out
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: Scott Dudelson / Getty Veteran MC Consequence announced that he’s about to release a new album, and he also took the time to share his thoughts on what he felt was missing from the new Netflix documentary on Ye f.k.a. Kanye West. The Queens, N.Y. rapper shared that he’s set to drop a new album entitled Nice Doing Business With You, that will boast an “all-star line-up” with regards to the LP’s features and production via a conversation with AllHipHop. And to that end, he stated that the first single, “Bloodstain”, will feature production from West. During the conversation, he spoke about the jeen-yuhs documentary released earlier this year through Netflix and produced by Coodie & Chike and what he felt was missing from it. “There’s always gonna be a n...
Bad Beat: Dame Dash Ordered To Dish Out $800K Over Copyright Infringement
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: Courtesy of Damon Dash / Damon Dash Dame Dash just took a significant hit to his pockets after a court ruling directing him to pay over $800,000 to the director and producers of a movie he attempted to pass off as his own. According to reports, the verdict against the entrepreneur was issued earlier in the week after a jury found in favor of the plaintiffs, director Josh Webber and Muddy Water Pictures who made the motion picture Dear Frank. The film stars Brian White, Claudia Jordan, Nick Turturro, Lil Durk, and Columbus Short. They sued Dash in 2019 after it was discovered that he was trying to shop the movie around as his own despite being removed from the project, even to the point of sending promotional material to outlets such as BET – with the...
Drill Rapper Dougie B Arrested After Shots Fired By Bronx Courthouse
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: DON EMMERT / Getty Drill rapper Dougie B is now in custody due to being arrested after an altercation that led to gunshots being fired across from the Bronx courthouse he was scheduled to appear at. On Thursday afternoon (March 31st), the arrest of the drill rapper took place on East 161st Street, only steps away from the Bronx County Hall of Justice. According to reports, court officers had rushed over after hearing gunshots. Four people were detained and led away in handcuffs, including the “Kill Em With Kindness” rapper. “Y’all keep doing this to me, bro,” Dougie B exclaimed as he sat down in the street in handcuffs, surrounded by a dozen officers next to a gray automobile parked in the street with its doors open. Onlookers told reporters that the alte...
Black Thought Returns To Lead “School Of Thought” Carnegie Hall Workshop
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: Johnny Louis / Getty The lyrically potent MC and entertainer Black Thought is making a return to Carnegie Hall to help young Hip-Hop artists perfect their craft later this spring. The Weill Music Institute of Carnegie Hall is welcoming back the Grammy Award-winning frontman and co-founder of The Roots to guide six young musicians in a workshop consisting of free classes designed to help them hone their skills. The MC will lead each of the artists in classes of the “School Of Thought” workshop focusing on lyricism, flow, style, and delivery, with producer and DJ Sean C providing assistance. The participants will also dive deep into learning the history of Hip-Hop during the workshop as well as getting intricate knowledge of the music industry through perso...
Kodak Black Denies He’s The Rapping Creep Sending Latto Flagrant DMs
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: (Photo by Johnny Louis/FilmMagic) / (Photo by Johnny Louis/FilmMagic) Latto’s revelation about an unnamed male rapper causing her headaches related to her upcoming album have many pointing the finger at Kodak Black, who has called them false claims. On the eve of the release of her second album 777, Latto has been fueling the excitement surrounding it by releasing the tracklist and speaking about a collaborator on the album who had been giving her grief by not clearing his vocals since she wouldn’t respond to his direct messages on social media. The Atlanta, Georgia native first brought up the situation while being interviewed on the Big Boy’s Neighborhood radio show last week, with the discussion topic focusing on how it is to work with men in the rap ga...
Kodak Black Mixes It Up At Mar-A-Lago, Meets Trump For First Time
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: (Photo by Johnny Louis/FilmMagic) / (Photo by Johnny Louis/FilmMagic) Kodak Black got the chance to meet Donald Trump for the first time since he was granted a pardon by the former president at an event last week.According to reports, the meeting took place at a dinner held at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida. Ray J, who has met with the former president as a tech entrepreneur beforehand, invited the “Super Gremlin” rapper to come to the function with him in order to finally meet with Trump. Kodak Black was introduced to Trump at one point in the evening. “How are you?, Trump asks him during their brief interaction, which included a fist bump exchange between the two. Later, Kodak Black is seen standing next to Trump as he addresses the cr...
Careless Biting: Tory Lanez Hit With Allegations Of Illegal Sampling, Again
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: Chelsea Guglielmino / Getty Tory Lanez has been hit with another accusation of illegally sampling an ‘80s musical great – this time, after his initial request to do so was denied. According to reports, the estate of the late George Michael has taken action to have a song from the rapper’s Alone At Prom album removed from streaming services, which was inspired by music from the 80s and was widely released last year. The estate claims that “Enchanted Waterfall” interpolated the melody and the chorus from the Wham! hit single “Careless Whisper”, which Michael singer wrote with bandmate Andrew Ridgeley and was released in 1984. In a statement that was sent to Variety, the estate alleges that “requested permission for this use had been declined in June 2021 so...
Sir Mix-A-Lot Creates Cheeky NFTs For A Worthy Cause
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: Tim Mosenfelder / Getty If you thought the world of NFTs and cryptocurrency lacked a little spice, veteran rapper Sir Mix-A-Lot is here to change that – and just in time to celebrate an anniversary and do some good to boot. The “Baby Got Back” rapper is reportedly marking the 30th anniversary of his hit number one single by putting out a series of non-fungible tokens, or NFTs. Sir Mix-A-Lot is partnering with a developer, META-X Studios to create the NFTs in a series that will be called “Bit Butts”. The collection of digitally-crafted cabooses will first be hand-drawn, colored, and assembled by animation artists commissioned for the project, with the Seattle, Washington rapper himself contributing personal designs for some of the more rare NFTs. The “Bit ...
Russian Hip-Hop Artist Oxxxymiron Organizes Anti-War Concert Series To Help Ukrainians
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV / Gettynews The Russian invasion of Ukraine is now in its third week, and the majority of the world has decried the action including Russian citizens. Now, one notable Russian rapper is organizing a concert series to condemn the war. According to reports, the rapper Oxxxymiron has put together a concert series that will be a show of protest against his country’s invasion of Ukraine. “Today my nose is red from the cold, I’m cheerful but very angry. I’m angry because sh*t’s still f*cked up, because the war in Ukraine has been going on for more than two weeks. And yet there are tens of millions of Russians who categorically disagree with this war. And I think this should be said as loudly as possible,” Oxxxymiron said in a video shared to ...
Kendrick Lamar & Dave Free’s pgLang Partner With Def Jam, Sign Tanna Leone
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: Jason LaVeris / Getty Kendrick Lamar is investing in the future of Hip-Hop through his company, which has signed an up-and-coming artist and is now partnered with Def Jam as part of the deal. According to reporting that was released on Wednesday (March 9th), Los Angeles-based artist Tanna Leone is officially signed to pgLang, the production company founded by Kendrick Lamar and Dave Free. The 23-year old joins the “King Kunta” rapper as the only artist repping pgLang along with Baby Keem. The signing also becomes the start of a partnership deal between pgLang and Def Jam Recordings. “We’re excited to welcome Tanna Leone and pgLang to the Def Jam family as valued partners,” Def Jam’s new CEO Tunji Balogun said in a statement announcing the news. “I’m lucky...
