Hip-Hop
Lakeyah Breaks Down New Gangsta Grillz Mixtape My Time Track by Track: Exclusive
Our Track by Track feature offers artists the chance to share the inspirations and stories behind each track on their new album. Today, Lakeyah offers insight into her mixtape, My Time. Quality Control rapper Lakeyah has dropped her new mixtape My Time, the latest installment in DJ Drama’s groundbreaking Gangsta Grillz series. Stream it below. Led off by the Milwaukee native’s hard-hitting Tee Grizzley collaboration “313-414,” the 11-track project brings Lakeyah to the next level, as she deftly balances boastful raps and effortless flows with R&B-influenced songs like “A Letter to You.” Other featured artists include Moneybagg Yo, Tyga, and fellow QC signee Bankroll Freddie. Advertisement Related Video Not even at drinking age, Lakeyah has come a long way since she caught the attention...
The Weeknd, H.E.R. and Motown’s CEO Honored at First BMAC Music in Action Awards
That mission statement remained front and center throughout the nearly three-hour ceremony/dinner during which emotions ran high. The Weeknd, co-recipient of The Quincy Jones Humanitarian Award for his philanthropic support of various charities and organizations including COVID relief, Black Lives Matter and MusiCares, recalled the first time he met the industry icon. “He pulled up to one of my club gigs in Las Vegas; he’s one of the reasons why I started making music,” said the emotional singer, to whom Jones presented the award via videotape. “He said he’d wait for me to visit with fans first before we talked. He was teaching me the lesion that nothing is more important than people and giving back. This is the best award I’ve ever gotten in my life, I swear. I won’t take this for g...
Lizzo Covers BTS’ “Butter” at BBC Radio 1 Live Lounge: Watch
Lizzo’s talent for covers is well known, and during a recent visit to the BBC Radio 1 Live Lounge, she showed love to the biggest K-pop band on the planet. During the appearance, Lizzo tipped her hat to BTS by performing their No. 1 hit, “Butter.” While BTS’s original iteration of “Butter” is a shimmery, synth-pop jam, Lizzo tones it down a notch with a more spare crew of backup musicians and singers. Her version gives the track a retro, funky flair that wouldn’t sound out of place on a Parliament record. Before diving into “Butter,” Lizzo also performed her latest single “Rumors” sans Cardi B. You can listen to both below. Back in early 2020, the rapper/singer/flautist trifecta wowed us with a cover of her pal Harry Styles’ “Adore You” for BBC Radio 1. It came on the heels of Styles’ take...
Rihanna Explains How She & A$AP Rocky Almost Missed the 2021 Met Gala
Seems like RiRi and Rocky are a match made at the Met and in heaven since he doesn’t seem to be the kind of man who turns the 33-year-old billionaire entertainment mogul off, which she described in the new interview as “a man that doesn’t smell good and sits on his ass all day,” she said, adding, “There’s so many opportunities out there. You’ve got to go find one or make one.” The 32-year-old A$AP Mob rapper has had plenty of opportunities to perform at the latest music festivals, from July’s Rolling Loud Miami he co-headlined to last weekend’s Life is Beautiful in Las Vegas to this coming weekend’s Governors Ball in New York, where he’s listed as one of the headliners. Rocky also gushed about feeling “...
Aaliyah’s Self-Titled Album Returns to Top 10 on Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Chart
Streaming makes up the second-largest category, with 9,000 units from that sector, equal to 11.5 million on-demand plays of the album’s songs. The remaining 2,000 units derive from individual track downloads of the album’s songs. (One unit equals the following levels of consumption: one album sale, 10 individual tracks sold from an album, or 3,750 ad-supported or 1,250 paid/subscription on-demand official audio and video streams for a song on the album.) The album rejoins the top 10 for the first time since the chart dated Nov. 10, 2001, when it ranked at No. 9. Aaliyah peaked at No. 2 for four nonconsecutive weeks that year – its first and second weeks on the chart (Aug. 4 and 11) and again on Sept. 15 and 22, with the latter pair owed to reaction after the singer’s death on Aug. 25 that ...
The Fugees Shine at NYC Reunion Show, Despite Ms. Lauryn Hill’s Chronic Lateness
There was obvious excitement when The Fugees announced their long-awaited reunion earlier this week, along with understandable doubt that we would finally see it happen with our own eyes. Yet we did, at a secret pop-up show on Wednesday night (September 22nd) atop New York City’s Pier 17, as the three members of the Fugees (Yes, Lauryn Hill included) put aside their differences to celebrate one of the greatest albums of all time, The Score. It was a 25-year reunion, and with the time it took for them to arrive on stage, it was truly as if Ms. Lauryn Hill was time-traveling from the year 1997. Never one to be fashionably early, Hill, along with bandmates Wyclef Jean and Pras Michel, sauntered on stage almost four hours past the scheduled start time. Advertisement Related Video It was clear ...
Jenifer Smith Now Heads Urban Tour Marketing at Live Nation Concerts
Jenifer Smith has been named head of urban tour marketing & strategy at Live Nation Concerts. Smith, who oversaw the global marketing efforts for the recently announced Fugees reunion tour, will supervise the team supporting the concerts division’s roster of R&B/hip-hop tours. Among the established and rising artists that Smith will be supporting across tours and key festivals are Beyoncé, Jay-Z, Drake, The Weeknd, Travis Scott, Kendrick Lamar, J. Cole, H.E.R., Young Thug and Jack Harlow. She will also be developing and building out Live Nation’s urban tour marketing team. In a statement announcing Smith’s new executive post, Omar Al-joulani, head of talent & touring for Live Nation Concerts, said, “Whether it’s artists or our own internal team, Live Nation is always inve...
Camila Cabello, Billie Eilish & More Urge Entertainment Execs to Demand Congressional Action on Climate Change
The artists have joined forces with the NRDC Action Fund in an effort to urge the CEOs to use their voices and call on Congress to pass the most ambitious climate change plan in U.S. history this fall, President Biden’s Build Back Better agenda. In a statement, Cabello — who initiated the effort along with the NRDC — said, “Climate change is threatening our communities and future — the time to act is now to avoid the worst impacts of the climate crisis. Entertainment companies have the opportunity to show leadership and push Congress to enact bold action on climate. This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to protect our communities, create a just transition away from fossil fuels, and create millions of new jobs.” Read the full text of the letter here. Other...
The Fugees Serve Satisfying NYC Pop-Up Concert In Preparation of Reunion Tour
A live band accompanied by a suit-and-tie-clad brass section and backup singers introduced the legendary trio with an electrifying rendition of “The Score” and “How Many Mics.” Fans cheered at the sight of Wyclef and Pras but erupted after seeing Ms. Lauryn Hill make her entrance in a red ruffle dress, black circular shades and a matching pair of platform boots. The crew wasn’t going to waste any energy the raucous crowd was giving them as they trailblazed their way through “Ready or Not,” “Zealots” and “Killing Me Softly With His Song.” The crowd’s energy amplified when the thunderous Salaam Remi-produced hit “Fu-Gee-La” caused fans to shake the ground at Pier 17 with all the jumping. Wyclef took some time...
G-Eazy on These Things Happen Too and Demi Lovato Collab: “We’re Both Complicated Human Beings”
Listen via Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Podcasts | Stitcher | Pocket Casts | Radio Public | RSS G-Eazy sits down with Kyle Meredith to talk about These Things Happen Too, an album that sequels his 2014 breakthrough. The rap artist talks about the 436 songs that were written for the project, E-40’s influence, and his nostalgia for the past. Advertisement Related Video He also tells us about befriending Cage The Elephant’s Matthew Shultz, who guests on a track, covering David Bowie’s “Lazarus” on last year’s Everything’s Strange Here, collaborating with Demi Lovato on Breakdown and their shared experience as artists, and teaming up with Diane Warren and Santana on “She’s Fire.” Listen to the latest episode of Kyle Mer...
R. Kelly Says He Won’t Testify at His Sex Trafficking Trial
The short defense case has relied on a handful of former Kelly employees and other associates who agreed to take the stand to try to discredit allegations that he sexually abused women, girls and boys during a 30-year musical career highlighted by the 1996 smash hit “I Believe I Can Fly.” Most of the defense witnesses said they never saw Kelly abuse anyone. One went as far to say Kelly was “chivalrous” to his girlfriends. Another admitted he owed Kelly for his break in music business and wanted to see him beat the case. By contrast, prosecutors have called dozens witnesses since the trial began in federal court in Brooklyn on Aug. 18. They included several female and two male accusers to back up allegations that Kelly used a cadre of managers, bodyguards and assistants to systematically re...
R. Kelly Unlikely to Take Stand In Sex-Trafficking Trial: Lawyer
The prosecution’s closing arguments could begin as early as Wednesday afternoon. Kelly, 54, has repeatedly denied accusations that behind the scenes of a 30-year career highlighted by his 1996 megahit “I Believe I Can Fly,” he was a sexual predator who groomed and exploited his young victims. His lawyers have portrayed the accusers as groupies seeking to take advantage of his fame. On Tuesday, accountant John Holder was among the latest former Kelly associates to testify for the defense that they never saw him torment his alleged accusers. Holder described seeing Kelly carrying around a backpack full of cash — proceeds from concerts — to take the women and girls on shopping sprees. On cross-examination, prosecutors displayed for jurors a piece of evidence suggesting Holder’s contributions ...
