Hip-Hop
Megan Thee Stallion Rules Hot 100 Songwriters Chart for First Time
Here’s a look at all six of Megan Thee Stallion’s songwriting credits on this week’s Hot 100. Rank, Title (songwriters in addition to Megan Thee Stallion)No. 12, “Body” (Lil Ju, Christopher Petrel) (debut)No. 23, “WAP,” Cardi B feat. Megan Thee Stallion (Cardi B, Ayo, Keyz, Pardison Fontaine, Frank Rodriguez) (spent four weeks at No. 1 beginning in August)No. 62, “Don’t Stop,” feat. Young Thug (Young Thug, BuddahBless) (peaked at No. 30 in October)No. 71, “Cry Baby,” feat. DaBaby (DaBaby, d.a. got that dope, Daniel Levin, Katie Smith) (debut)No. 80, “Girls in the Hood” (Scott Storch, IllDaProducer, Bobby Sessions, Eazy-E, Ice Cube, Dr. Dre) (peaked at No. 28 in July)No. 82, “Shots Fired” (Buddah...
Top 50 Songs of 2020
The 2020 edition of our Annual Report continues today with our Top 50 Songs of 2020. If you haven’t already, check out our Top 50 Albums of 2020, which came out earlier in the week. Also, be sure to tune in next week as we begin handing out our annual accolades and continue looking back on the strange year that was 2020. Upon being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame some years ago, Tom Waits said, “We love music, but what we really want is for music to love us back.” Believe it or not, it felt like music did that in 2020. For me, anyway. I know that it’s easy to see the world through pandemic goggles right now or strictly through the lens of racial injustice or political turmoil. Tragedy and frustration that keeps piling on can definitely cloud our vision or color our window on t...
Drake Selling Scented Candles That Smell Like Drake
The only thing Drake loves more than himself is knowing how much more he’s loved by other people. Perhaps that’s why the Toronto rapper has created a new scented candle that “actually smells like Drake,” so fans can cozy up to his essence in the comfort of their own homes. Drake began teasing his new candle line, Better World Fragrance House, in June by mailing the fragrances to a bunch of his friends, including Kehlani, Steph Curry, and Toronto Raptors players Norm Powell, Fred Van Fleet, and Kyle Lowry. In turn, the celebs all shared pictures of the wicked wonders on social media. “Okayyyyyy thank you @champagnepapi,” wrote Kehlani alongside a photo of a candle inscribed with her name. The official Better World Fragrance House line is set to officially launch “this holiday season,” but t...
G Herbo Arrested for Stealing Identities to Pay for Vacation, Designer Puppies, More
Maybe it’s time for G Herbo to drop “Lawyer Fees Pt. II”. The Chicago rapper has been arrested on 14 counts of aggravated identity theft and conspiracy to commit wire fraud, as the Chicago Tribune reports. The $1.5 million scheme allegedly took place over the last four years, and was used to charter private jets, book a vacation, and purchase two designer puppies. The MC born Herbert Wright III isn’t the only one facing legal scrutiny. His manager and promoter Antonio “T-Glo” Strong is “alleged to be the ringleader of a $1.5 million fraud,” according to court records written by U.S. District Judge Robert Dow. Four other men are also charged: rapper Joseph “Joe Rodeo” Williams, and alleged co-conspirators Terrence Bender, Steven Hayes Jr., and Demario Sorrells. All have been charged wi...
If Lil Nas X Could Join Any Boy Band, He’d Pick This K-Pop Group
The star stuttered before admitting his childhood crush was none other than Usher, and gushed over how “proud” he was of Megan Thee Stallion for her sultry “Body” music video. It’s hard to picture Lil Nas X as anything other than a solo artist, but he revealed that if he were to join a boy band, it would be BTS. Here’s to hoping a “Dynamite” remix is on the way. Watch his full “Burning Questions” segment below. 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 reve...
Hip-Hop Streaming Platform Spinrilla Found Liable for Users’ Copyright Infringement
On Monday, U.S. District Judge Amy Totenberg granted summary judgment in favor of the RIAA on the issue of liability and rejected Spinrilla’s DMCA Safe Harbor defense. Totenberg notes that the 11th Circuit hasn’t yet considered whether direct copyright infringement must be willful, but finds “even if volitional conduct is required to prove direct infringement, the cases on which Plaintiffs rely have all held that the affirmative act of streaming constitutes direct infringement of the copyright holder’s exclusive right of performance regardless of the fact that the streaming occurs at the request of the user.” She continues, “Defendants have created an interactive internet player that streams copyrighted content directly from its website and mobile app. In doin...
Your Old Droog Reveals the Origins of New Track “Krygyzstan”: Stream
Origins is our recurring new music feature in which artists dare to dig deep into the stories behind their latest track. Today, Your Old Droog takes us on a trip to “Krygyzstan”. Recent years have put a different vibe on the life of the American immigrant. Never mind that the entire country was established by expatriates, it feels like there’s never been a more tenuous time for outsiders. Yet that also makes it the perfect time for those with diverse background to embrace those differences, something Your Old Droog does thoroughly on his new album, Dump YOD: Krutoy Edition. Due out December 4th, the effort finds the Ukraine-born, Brooklyn-raised rap musician channeling his Eastern European and Central Asian heritage. He showed us what that sounds like on the lead single “Pravda”, and now h...
Top 50 Albums of 2020
As we return from Thanksgiving and head into December, our Annual Report will spend the next few weeks looking back upon the strange year that was 2020 and the music, film, and television that came with it. We begin today with our Top 50 Albums of 2020. You’ve heard it from me dozens of times already: 2020 has not been a normal year. And by that, I mean absolutely nothing has been normal. The music world hasn’t been immune, of course. I’ve spent more time cancelling flights and accommodations and trying to get tickets refunded than I actually did watching live music this year. Instragram became a concert venue, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductions had no performances, and livestreams (which are pre-taped) seem to be the often-underwhelming future of live music at least for the forseea...
Now You Can Buy the Travis Scott Cologne and Scented Candle
Announced Monday (Nov. 30), the new TRAVX collaboration yields the exclusive Space Rage range, available in a bottle of Eau De Parfum (priced at $285) and as a scented 240g candle ($95). The high-end fragrances are said to have been developed over “many months” by the Houston rapper and the founder of BYREDO, Ben Gorham. Scott has kept busy during the pandemic. Earlier this month, the hip-hop star launched the Cactus Jack Foundation in his hometown, a project which provides educational and creative resources for the next generation of youth. Separately, Scott has worked on partnerships with PlayStation, McDonald’s and Fortnite and he recently announced his Astroworld festival would return in 2021, after skipping this year’s edition due to the health cri...
Snoh Aalegra Debuts Exclusive “Find Someone Like You” and “I Want You Around” Performances
Artist Mentioned “When I was nine years old, I told my mom, ‘I’m going to be an artist, let’s do this,’” Snoh Aalegra laughs. Her mother picked up the phone book and started making calls. Without any demos or recordings to share, she landed a meeting with a studio executive who gave her young daughter a chance to sing for him. That eventually led to a development deal with Sony ATV in Sweden for the hopeful 13-year-old. At the time the family lived in Enköping and a young Aalegra had to travel 45 minutes to Stockholm after school and on the weekends to attend recording sessions. She looks back on those years fondly, remembering train rides as a time to sit quietly with her thoughts. In the first of two new exclusive performances, Aalegra returns to that familiar train setting w...
Cardi B Apologizes For Hosting 37 People During Thanksgiving Dinner Amid Coronavirus Pandemic
The apology came after Cardi appeared to be reveling in hosting a large dinner for her family. It started with an innocuous post about enjoying the holiday in which she wrote, “Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Enjoy your family & friends and the turkey legs” amid LOL re-posts about hilarious “WAP”sgiving videos. Then, on Sunday, Cardi said she had “12kids and 25 adults over the holidays.” A short time later, Cardi shared how blessed she was feeling about the last few years of her life. “Back in 2017 God revealed so many people around my circle that I though was .I didn’t understand why but In 2018 I found I was pregnant & had a very successful year,” she said of her breakthrough year. “God revealingly people to me again this ye...
H.E.R., Ella Mai, Brandy and More Bring the Sizzle to the 2020 Soul Train Awards
H.E.R.’s acceptance speech was just one in a series of memorable show moments. Taking place at The Lot Studios in West Hollywood, Calif., the telecast mixed videos with live performances, the latter on a stage resembling an intimate club setting complete with a small band and a few socially distanced tables and sofas occupied by no more than two people — and all wearing masks. Tichina Arnold and Tisha Campbell, former co-stars on the TV series Martin, returned for the third time as hosts. While keeping the show on pace with quick and easygoing banter, T and T also lit up the proceedings with their own brand of fireworks beginning with the opening sequence. In prefacing the opener, the pair proclaimed 2020 “the year of Black women” in the wake of the country being ravaged by racial injustic...
