Hip Hop News
DMX To Be Honored With A Special Tribute at the 2021 BET Awards
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: TV One / TV One Uncensored The beloved rap legend DMX will be the subject of a special tribute to take place during the 2021 BET Awards. The segment honoring the life and career of the Yonkers, New York musician was announced today (June 22nd) through a press release from the network. Swizz Beatz, the renowned producer and DMX’s long time friend is curating the entire production. Veteran choreographer and video director Fatima Robinson, the mind behind some of the culture’s iconic videos like Michael Jackson’s “Remember The Time” and other artists from Kendrick Lamar to Aaliyah to Sade, will be serving as creative director for the segment. Artists that will be performing during the tribute include Busta Rhymes, Method Man, the Griselda crew and Swizz Beat...
Bout It Bout It: Master P Campaigns For New Orleans Pelicans Coaching Job
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: Paras Griffin / Getty With news that New Orleans Pelicans star Zion Williamson isn’t happy after his coach was fired after one season, one notable person has thrown their name into the mix for the job—Master P. The rapper and entrepreneur recently spoke to TMZ Sports and publicly declared he’s the right man for the job, now open after the team fired Stan Van Gundy at the end of a 31-41 season. This led to reports of Williamson’s family being none too pleased with the franchise. Master P is also open to taking a role as an assistant coach. “The NBA is entertainment. I think it’s time for me to be the first hip-hop coach.” he said to TMZ reporters. Master P is no stranger to the National Basketball Association. He had contracts in 1998 with the Charlotte Ho...
Pras Gets Hit With New Federal Illegal Lobbying Charges, Allegedly
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: Johnny Nunez / Getty Pras’ recent legal troubles just got more complicated. The Fugees rapper Prazrakel “Pras” Michel, along with a Malaysian financier, was hit with charges from a federal grand jury this past Thursday (June 10) of illegally lobbying the former Trump administration to drop an investigation tied to a global bribery scandal and attempting to remove a Chinese billionaire dissident from the United States. The indictment, announced by the Justice Department, comes six months after former President Donald Trump issued a pardon to Elliot Broidy, who pled guilty last October for his role in the illegal lobbying effort on behalf of Low to stamp out the investigation into Low’s embezzling funds from the 1Malaysia Development Berhad development and ...
Pras Gets Hit With New Federal Illegal Lobbying Charges, Allegedly
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: Johnny Nunez / Getty Pras’ recent legal troubles just got more complicated. The Fugees rapper Prazrakel “Pras” Michel, along with a Malaysian financier, was hit with charges from a federal grand jury this past Thursday (June 10) of illegally lobbying the former Trump administration to drop an investigation tied to a global bribery scandal and attempting to remove a Chinese billionaire dissident from the United States. The indictment, announced by the Justice Department, comes six months after former President Donald Trump issued a pardon to Elliot Broidy, who pled guilty last October for his role in the illegal lobbying effort on behalf of Low to stamp out the investigation into Low’s embezzling funds from the 1Malaysia Development Berhad development and ...
Lil Jon Among Slew of Stars Taking Over As ‘Bachelor In Paradise’ Host
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: Kevin Winter / Getty The return of ABC’s Bachelor In Paradise will see its longtime host replaced by Atlanta’s own Lil Jon among a slew of other celebrities this summer. The other hosts include comedic actor and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt star Tituss Burress, comedian David Spade and former NSYNC boy band singer Lance Bass. Each will rotate as host during the upcoming season, with other special guests slated to make an appearance. The move comes as it was announced on Tuesday (June 8th) that the original longtime host, Chris Harrison, was permanently leaving the reality-show franchise. Harrison had been the host since the first Bachelor aired in 2002. He caught a lot of heat for defending former contestant, Rachael Kirkconnell with racially insensitive com...
Megan Thee Stallion To Provide Scholarship For Roc Nation School
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: Kevin Mazur / Getty The latest addition to the academic programs at Long Island University-Brooklyn created in partnership with Jay-Z‘s Roc Nation just got another star-studded boost. Today (June 9), Megan Thee Stallion announced her plans to provide a four-year scholarship with tuition fully paid for a student wishing to pursue their degree at the Roc Nation School of Music, Sports and Entertainment at Long Island University’s Brooklyn campus. The inaugural semester of the school will begin in the fall of 2021. The news comes weeks after renowned producer and Hip-Hop educator 9th Wonder announced that he would be joining the school along with other veteran musicians as a visiting professor, teaching courses on how to create an album and about the history...
Turn Up In T-Dot: Drake Opening Concert Venue With Live Nation
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: Kevork Djansezian / Getty Drake has done quite a lot in his storied career, and now he’s adding another piece to his empire. On Tuesday (June 8), Live Nation Canada announced that it was teaming up with the Grammy-winning rapper, actor and global ambassador to open a new live-entertainment venue in his hometown of Toronto, Canada. The venue will be called History, and it is expected to open later this year. The venue has been in the works for three years, and construction is slated to be completed at the end of the summer. History is located in the east end of the city in the popular and trendy Beaches neighborhood at 1663 Queen Street East. It will have a general admission area with reserved seating plans that can be configured for various events, with a...
Fashion Killa With Purpose: A$AP Rocky & Klarna Launch Global Partnership
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: Klarna / Klarna Fresh off of being CEO for a day, A$AP Rocky is building on his new status as a tech entrepreneur with the formal announcement of a new global partnership and campaign. Source: Klarna / Klarna The Harlem-born style icon, rapper and actor teamed up with Klarna, the company behind the buzzworthy all-in-one shopping app as an investor. Today (June 8), the Swedish company launched a new global multimedia campaign featuring the entertainer that’s designed to get consumers worldwide to revitalize their look as the lockdowns due to the pandemic are easing up. “It’s not for me to decide what people should wear or how they should wear it, but helping Klarna create a space for people to discover their own style is more of the consulting and curation...
Lil Yachty and Bhad Bhabie Invest In A Culturally Jewish Dating App
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: Paras Griffin / Getty A dating app on the rise that describes itself as “culturally Jewish” just got two notable backers from the Hip-Hop world—Lil Yachty and Bhad Bhabie. The two young stars have partnered with agent Adam Kluger and his Scoop Investments firm to invest $1 million in The Lox Club. The Lox Club is billed as a dating app that has “ridiculously high standards.” Founded in late 2020, it’s also described as an app that is “it’s culturally Jewish, but you don’t have to be Jewish to enjoy it.” A statement announcing the news went on to further describe the aesthetic appeal of The Lox Club: “The app itself is a virtual speakeasy hidden within an old-school deli and offers users the chance to speak with a real-life matchmaker instead of solely rel...
Is Vince Staples Responsible For Policing Asian Crip Behavior? Twitter Thinks So
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: Tim Mosenfelder / Getty Is there a Crip HR for non-Crips to make a complaint? Apparently, some Twitter users think that Vince Staples is the closest thing to that department. After trying to start a conversation about the NBA playoffs the Long Beach rapper took some incoming fire on Twitter from Hip-Hop blogger DDot Omen for not speaking up about a video showing a gang of Asian Crips in Sacramento using the N-Word and calling themselves “Real Black N-ggas” while wearing “Stop Asian Hate Shirts.” We know—there’s a lot of irony to unpack there. Staples, a reformed gangbanger who ran with the Crips growing up in Long Beach, was probably confused on why DDot directed the tweet at him like he’s responsible for these non-Black Crips that he’s probably nev...
Swizz Beatz Tries To Clean Up Justin Timberlake Verzuz Slander
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: L. Busacca / Getty Swizz Beatz is now walking back some comments he made during his Memorial Day Weekend Verzuz battle with Timbaland this past Sunday (May 30) about Justin Timberlake. During a recap of the show with his battle partner two days later on his Instagram page, Swizz Beatz explained his reasoning. “I don’t got no problem with JT. I don’t got a problem with nobody. We’re just having fun. It’s called ‘Verzuz,’” explained Swizz. During the show on Sunday that featured some classic hits from the two and some rare gems, the super-producer called out the multi-award winning Timberlake with this statement: “He gotta admit that he love the Black culture and he gotta be on this stage. You took from the Black culture, you give to the Black culture. Come...
A$AP Rocky Gets Into The Tech Investing Game
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: Tony Forte/WENN / WENN A$AP Rocky is riding a new wave of rejuvenation in his life and career as he prepares to release a new album, All Smiles. His latest move links him up with a rising company in the world of financial tech. On Tuesday (June 1), the Swedish fintech company Klarna announced that A$AP Rocky has become their latest investor. As part of the move, Rocky will take over the duties of CEO from the current CEO and co-founder, Sebastian Siemiatkowski, for one day. While in the role, he’ll “renounce the global fashion hibernation” that was part of the story of 2020 while the world was grappling with the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic. Going forward, the rapper will be in charge of curating exclusive content on the Klarna shopping app with a foc...
