Hip-Hop
Doja Cat Performs “Been Like This” and “You Right” at 2021 MTV VMAs: Watch
Doja Cat wasn’t only the host of the 2021 MTV VMAs, she was also a performer. The rapper/singer gave a spectacularly out-of-this-world performance that mashed up “Been Like This” and “You Right,” tracks from her recent album Planet Her. Gymnast Simone Biles might’ve introduced the performance, but for once, she wasn’t the one flipping through the air; Doja Cat descended from the Barclays Center ceiling, spinning above the crowd as a giant ring of light twisted around her. She sang “Been Like This” from the sky before touching down on the stage to do a contemporary dance routine to “You Right.” Check out footage from the performance below, and replay all of tonight’s performances here. Advertisement Related Video This isn’t Doja’s first awards show performance this year: Back in May, s...
Machine Gun Kelly and UFC Champ Conor McGregor Fight on 2021 MTV VMAs Red Carpet: Report
Machine Gun Kelly doesn’t shy away from other people’s blood, so maybe this was bound to happen. In the midst of all the glitz and glamour that was going down at the 2021 MTV VMAs, the rapper-turned-pop-punk torchbearer reportedly got into an altercation with UFC champ Conor McGregor. According to Page Six, MGK and McGregor had to be separated on the red carpet at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center Sunday night. People reports that the tiff all started when McGregor asked for a photo with MGK, but was denied by his team. He then apparently started swinging his cane in the artist’s direction, and Page Six says sources saw the UFC fighter throw a drink at MGK. “[McGregor] was ready to throw fists,” one source said. “Security was having trouble holding him back.” Apparently, red carpet phot...
Alicia Keys and Swae Lee Shine at 2021 VMAs With Debut Performance of ‘LALA (Unlocked)’
“LALA (Unlocked)” marks the first official musical collaboration between the two artists. Less than two weeks before its debut, Keys announced the forthcoming release of her young adult graphic novel, titled Girl on Fire, expected out March 1 via HarperCollins Publishers. The book, named after the 15-time Grammy-winner’s Billboard Hot 100-charting track, tells the fictional story of 14-year-old Lolo Wright and her telekinetic superpowers. “When I wrote ‘Girl on Fire,’ I knew I was writing it for that girl in the way back row who needed someone to tell her there’s nothing you can’t do, that nothing is impossible,” Keys said in a statement. “When Andrew [Weiner] and I came up with the idea of translating the song into a young adult graphic novel, I ...
Drake’s ‘Certified Lover Boy’ Debuts at No. 1 on Billboard 200 Chart With Biggest Week for an Album in Over a Year
Let’s take a look at some of the feats that Drake achieves with the debut of Certified Lover Boy: 10th No. 1 Album: Drake is now one of only eight artists with at least 10 No. 1 albums in the 65-year history of the Billboard 200 chart. The Beatles have the most No. 1s, with 19. They are followed by Jay-Z (14), Bruce Springsteen, Barbra Streisand (11 each), Drake, Eminem, Elvis Presley and Kanye West (10 each). Drake first topped the Billboard 200 dated July 3, 2010, with Thank Me Later. Biggest Week for an Album in Over a Year: With 613,000 equivalent album units earned, Certified Lover Boy logs the largest week for any album since Swift’s Folklore launched at No. 1 on the Aug. 8, 2020-dated chart with 846,000 units. Certified also easily scores 2021’s biggest week, blowing past the previo...
Pop Smoke’s Brooklyn Gravesite Vandalized
The gravesite of Pop Smoke was vandalized over the weekend, and there’s evidence to suggest the vandals attempted to remove the late rapper’s casket. TMZ reports that the crypt at Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York was smashed open sometime between Friday evening and Saturday morning. Drag marks were also seen on the ground outside of the crypt, suggesting that the vandals attempted to remove the rapper’s grave. It was not immediately clear if they were successful. Pop Smoke (whose real name Bashar Barakah Jackson) was shot and killed during a home invasion in Los Angeles on February 19th, 2020. Advertisement Related Video Share this: 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. ...
Nicki Minaj’s Husband Pleads Guilty for Failing to Register as a Sex Offender
In March 2020, the 43-year-old Petty registered with the California Megan’s Law database, which tracks local sex offenders in California, where he and Minaj currently live with their infant son, and had his charges dropped by the Los Angeles District Attorney’s office. But he still faced federal charges from the Department of Justice — which this plea deal addresses. Petty is now scheduled for sentencing on Jan. 24, 2022. The New York State department labels Petty as a level-two sex offender, which deems him of having a moderate risk of a repeat offense, after he was convicted of attempted rape in the first degree in 1994. United States attorney Tracy L. Wilkison and assistant U.S. attorney Sarah E. Gerdes represented the U.S. Attorn...
Harry Coombs, Veteran Philadelphia International Records Executive, Dies at 85
Coombs was also instrumental in the careers of R&B vocal group LeVert and singer Gerald Levert. LeVert’s first album, I Get Hot, was released on Coombs’ Tempre label in 1985. “I’m Still,” the album’s first single, drew the attention of Atlantic Records which later signed the group. Coombs launched his music career at the legendary Waxie Maxie record store chain in Washington, D.C. and later worked at various music labels including CBS Records and Capitol Records prior to PIR, which he left in 2002. An alumnus of the Modern School of Music in Washington, D.C. and an Army veteran, Coombs was presented with the Living Legends Foundation Award in 1999. After PIR, he relocated to Myrtle Beach in 2007. Coombs is survived by his wife Sandy Coombs, daughter Ashley Coombs-Cox (Malik), step...
Rap Song of the Week: AZ Performs a Rhyming “Ritual” with Lil Wayne and Conway the Machine
Rap Song of the Week breaks down the essential rap and hip-hop tracks released each week. Check out the full playlist here. This week, AZ teams up with Lil Wayne and Conway the Machine on a cut from his highly-anticipated album, Doe or Die II. After more than a decade in the making, New York hip-hop royalty AZ has finally dropped Doe or Die II, the sequel to his mafioso rap classic debut. Lyrical exercises like “Ritual” ensure the album was well worth the wait, as The Firm member tag-teams with Lil Wayne and Conway the Machine over a grimy beat by The Alchemist to remind fans and fellow MCs alike that he’s been a force to be reckoned with since the mid ’90s. Using an effortless multi-syllabic flow, AZ raps about not needing the spotlight to prove he’s been one of the best rappers over...
Nicki Minaj’s Husband Kenneth Petty Pleads Guilty for Failing to Register as Sex Offender
Nicki Minaj’s husband Kenneth Petty, who was convicted of first-degree attempted rape in 1995, has pleaded guilty for failing to register as a sex offender. Via NBC News and Pitchfork, he had initially pleaded not guilty, but in August reached a deal with prosecutors, and formally entered a guilty plea yesterday, September 9th. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for January 24th, 2022. In July of 2019, Petty moved from New York to California, at which time he was legally required to register. Law enforcement officials noted his failure to do so during a November 2019 traffic stop in Beverly Hills and arrested him. Petty walked free after posting $20,000 bail, but found himself arrested again in March of 2020 because he still hadn’t registered as a sex offender. In that instance,...
J Balvin Announces 2022 Jose Tour, Performs “In Da Getto” on Fallon: Watch
J Balvin stopped by The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on Thursday night to announce he’s headed out on a world tour next year in support of his new album Jose. “There was rumors of you announcing a tour or going on tour, and you haven’t done anything or said anything that you’re going to. But is there anything you would like to tell me?” host Jimmy Fallon asked, leading Balvin to playfully quip, “Besides that I love you?” He continued: “Yes, we’re going on sale next week. Yes! Jose’s tour! We’re gonna start in the West. Are you guys ready?” The 27-date jaunt will kick off April in San Antonio before indeed heading west to Arizona and California. Balvin will then hit major cities including Las Vegas, Houston, Miami, and Boston before closing out the tour with a performance in San Juan,...
DaBaby Drops Introspective Track ‘Lonely’ With Lil Wayne
Nearly a year after his older brother Glenn Johnson died as a result of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, DaBaby released the introspective Lil Wayne collab “Lonely” on Thursday (Sept. 9), on which he appears to address the incident, as well as his feelings about being an outcast in the music industry. “As if I got a reason to act like I’m lonely/ I saw my big brother laid out with his brains blown out/ It’s been catchin’ up on me/ S—, how would you act if your bro took his life?/ And you know that you rappin’ like all of these n—-s/ And you don’t even trap and you livin’ your life,” he raps on the second verse of the mid-tempo tune on which he sings “Lonely, lonely baby” on the chorus. You Deserve to Make Money Even Whe...
Aaliyah’s Chart-Topping Final Album Arrives on Streaming Platforms: Listen
Since then, most of her consequential works have been kept off digital service providers and out of print. Last month, Aaliyah’s sophomore album One in a Million finally dropped on all streaming services. The long-overdue streaming release follows a deal struck between EMPIRE and Blackground Records, founded by her uncle Barry Hankerson, which makes available the late singer’s biggest albums for the first time in over a decade. That deal unlocks all Aaliyah catalog for streaming, and other releases on Blackground, including albums by Timbaland & Magoo, Tank, Toni Braxton and JoJo. 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 p...
