Hip-Hop
R. Kelly’s Been Found Guilty, But What’s the Verdict for the Music Industry?
The history of R. Kelly’s allegations and belated fall from grace highlights the industry’s current crisis of culture. It has historically been a space where social norms are flaunted, disregarded or even subverted; especially with sex and drugs. The bigger the talent — artist or executive — the wider the allowances for behavior no “normal” person could get away with. As such, record labels and publishers have rarely directly addressed the personal lives of their artists in a critical way. There is currently no standard morals clause in recording contracts, and because the artist is not only the product but a brand and business unto themselves, public sentiment usually only impacts their label home so far as it affects sales, streams and airplay. If an artist’s viability ...
Could Criminal Charges Against Pras Impact Fugees’ Overseas Reunion Dates?
A spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Justice confirmed to Billboard that Michel was forced to surrender his passport as a result of the charges and ordered not to apply for or possess a passport or any other travel documents as the case continues to slowly wind its way through the legal system; Michel’s attorney, David Kenner, also confirmed that his client’s passport has been confiscated, but tells Billboard that he is working on getting it returned. Kenner says he brought up the topic of the passport with the government this week, has advised the judge in the case about the tour, and plans to file a motion soon seeking to modify the conditions of the rapper’s release to allow him to get his travel documents back for the planned non-U.S. dates. “It’...
Atmosphere Invite MF DOOM and Aesop Rock to the “Barcade” on New Song: Stream
It’s been almost a year since MF DOOM passed away, but new verses keep dropping that further cement his legacy. Now, Minneapolis duo Atmosphere have shared an ode to some of DOOM’s favorite hobbies — specifically, getting fucked up and playing video games — on the new song “Barcade” that also features Aesop Rock. The track closes Atmosphere’s latest album, WORD?, which dropped today, October 8th. Producer Ant provides a dark, glitchy beat, and Aesop Rock opens the proceedings with some syllabic pinball: “Duck, duck, I’m too next/ Punk jump to get suplexed/ My two cents is y’all fucked up/ Should come buddy up with these moose heads.” MF DOOM takes over from there with a vintage sticky verse. “Shitty fingers in your weed jar,” he wheezes, “This whole world like VR/ Free shows at the Re...
BTS Taught Megan Thee Stallion the “Butter” Hand Choreography at Their First In-Person Meeting: Watch
BTS recently met up with Megan Thee Stallion and taught the collaborator some intense hand choreography. During the casual rooftop hang, the rapper gushed about getting to work with the K-pop idols on the remix to their No. 1 hit “Butter.” “I was so happy and I was so grateful,” she tells the boy band in a clip posted to the BANGTANTV YouTube channel. “I was like, ‘Oh my gosh.’ I had already told my managers, I was like, ‘I wanna do something with BTS.’ And then when it came up, I was like, ‘They know me?’ I was so happy!” Megan also revealed at the meeting that she has major ideas in mind should she get a second chance to collaborate with the band. “Like, whenever we do another song, I feel like we gotta do it big, we gotta do the video. Yeah, it’s gon’ be epic,” she says, much to th...
The Alchemist Drops New EP This Thing of Ours 2 Featuring Vince Staples and Danny Brown: Stream
The Alchemist has dropped This Thing of Ours 2, the star hip-hop producer’s sequel to his April EP This Thing of Ours. Stream it below. The 5-track project is highlighted by appearances from Vince Staples (“6 Five Heartbeats”) and Danny Brown, who guests on “Flying Spirit” alongside fellow Bruiser Brigade members JUS, Bruiser Wolf, and Fat Ray. Other artists The Alchemists recruited for This Thing of Ours 2 include MAVI (“Miracle Baby”), MIKE (“Lossless), and ZelooperZ (“Wildstyle”). Earlier this year, The Alchemist helmed two of the best rap releases of 2021, Bo Jackson with Boldy James and Armand Hammer’s Haram. He also produced standout tracks including “Iron Steel Samurai” by Quelle Chris and AZ’s Conway the Machine and Lil Wayne collaboration “Ritual,” which w...
Baby Keem Announces 2021 US Tour Dates
California rapper Baby Keem is ready to hit the road in support of his new album. He’s just announced a string of US tour dates for the end of 2021 that he’s dubbing, “The Melodic Blue Tour.” Check out the complete list of concerts below. The 12-date trek primarily runs through the West Coast, East Coast, and Texas. Baby Keem will kick things off on November 9th in Santa Ana, California before making stops in cities like Las Vegas, Austin, Dallas, Houston, Boston, Philadelphia, New York, and Los Angeles. He plans on wrapping up the tour just a few weeks later on December 3rd in San Francisco. This will mark the first time fans get to hear Baby Keem perform material from his long-awaited debut studio LP The Melodic Blue live in person. The album includes “Durag Activity” featuring Travis Sc...
Jesy Nelson Gets Post-Little Mix Career Underway With ‘Boyz’ Featuring Nicki Minaj: Stream It Now
With Little Mix in the rearview, Jesy Nelson launches her solo career with some help from the Queen of Rap. Nelson today (Oct. 8) releases her debut single “Boyz”, featuring Nicki Minaj. The ex-girl group member first announced the collaboration between her and Minaj on Sept. 28, by teasing fans with a behind-the-scenes snippet of her filming the “Boyz” music video, and, later, shared its cover art. You Deserve to Make Money Even When you are looking for Dates Online. So we reimagined what a dating should be. It begins with giving you back power. Get to meet Beautiful people, chat and make money in the process. Earn rewards by chatting, sharing photos, blogging and help give users back their fair share of Internet revenue.
Nicki Minaj Throws 1-Year-Old Son ‘Kung Fu Panda’ Birthday Bash & Lil Wayne Came Bearing Designer Gifts
Diddy’s daughters, XO Records CEO Wassim “Sal” Slaiby and his family, and Minaj and Petty’s loved ones were in attendance at the gathering. Variety reported last month that Minaj was in talks to be managed by Sal — who heads the SALXCO management company that’s home to The Weeknd, Doja Cat and more — which she confirmed during an Instagram Live. While Papa Bear’s birthday was on Sept. 30, it looked like it was Dec. 25 at Minaj’s house after she opened the swarm of designer gifts from Young Money brother Lil Wayne. “@liltunechi I just opened the bags & I’m in shock,” she captioned a video on her Instagram Story. “This is insane. I love you so much. This is A LOT OF STUFF. OMG.” A...
Neil Dominique Is Ready to Go From All-Star Manager to Top Label Owner
Interscope’s svp of A&R and creative director, Randall “Sickamore” Medford, seconds Wyskoarko’s thoughts and lauds Dominique for his commitment to improving daily: “It’s been amazing to watch Neil’s rapid ascension from Chairman’s assistant to entrepreneur and #JUSTAREGULARLABEL CEO. There’s absolutely nothing regular about his passion and ears. He’s starting off hot with Ryan Trey and Nia Sultana, But it’s only the beginning of a long relationship.” Dominique is looking to add more talent after St. Louis polymath Ryan Trey dazzled with his EP, A 64 East Saga, and Brooklyn singer Nia Sultana captivated listeners with her dulcet vocals, but outside the hip-hop and R&B spheres. “Don’t ...
Dave Chappelle Says U.S. More Offended by DaBaby’s Homophobic Comments Than Killing a Man
“Part of the LGBTQ+ community doesn’t know DaBaby’s history,” Chappelle said. “He once shot [19-year-old Jaylin Craig] and killed him, in Walmart. This is true.” “DaBaby shot and killed a [man] in Walmart in North Carolina. Nothing bad happened to his career,” the Emmy Award-winner continued. “Do you see where I’m going with this? In our country, you can shoot and kill a [man], but you better not hurt a gay person’s feelings.” While chatting with Billboard in October 2019, DaBaby (real name Jonathan Kirk) said he doesn’t feel bad for shooting the man. When asked whether the incident weighs on his conscience, he said, “Not at all. From my end, it was unavoidable. It wasn’t my action, it was my reaction....
R. Kelly’s YouTube Channels Are Terminated
The Alphabet-owned streaming giant terminated the channels based on its creator responsibility guidelines which, in 2018, were updated to penalize creators for behavior off the platform. Per those guidelines, the tech giant can terminate a creator’s channels if they’re accused of a very egregious crime and if the content is closely related to the crimes, or should the creator be convicted or plead guilty. And based on its “repeat infringer” policies, R. Kelly (full name Robert Sylvester Kelly) will be banned from using, owning, or creating any other YouTube channels going forward. “We can confirm that we have terminated two channels linked to R. Kelly in accordance with our creator responsibility guidelines,” reads a YouTube statement, provided to Billboard. Kelly failed those guidel...
Meek Mill Flashes Back to His Days as a Starving Artist in ‘Expensive Pain’ Music Video: Watch
Later in the music video, Meek appears in another previously recorded tape. In it, he says, “I was broke for 13 years. When you see me, I had nappy braids. My stomach was hurting. It really was hurting. I really starved some nights, man.” In the tune, Mill raps about the newfound emotional and interpersonal challenges he faces as a star. “And this expensive pain,” he says in the chorus. “When you ridin’ through the trenches, bulletproof all on the Range/ This expensive pain/ Lovin’ on the b—h you claim knowin’ some rich n—as hittin’/ It’ll never be the same, this expensive pain/ This expensive pain/ Went through some shit about this money, I seen some n—as change, expensive pain.” Since the 2012 releas...
