Hip-Hop
The 10 Best R&B Albums of 2020: Staff Picks
10. Brandy, B7 Eight years since her last release and three years in the making, Brandy Norwood’s B7 arrived at the end of July like a salve, with warm production and messages of self-love. Her seventh studio album goes to unexpected places, diving headfirst into loneliness, depression and anxiety, while deep bass and watery synthesizers — and sometimes actual water sounds, like on “Lucid Dreams” — offer her depths to explore. “I’m the most jealous girl in the whole wide world,” she confesses on album standout “Borderline,” her voice dancing atop a ticking hi-hat. Her instrument is still as strong and smoky as it ever was, only now it’s lower and more lived-in. “One day I woke up/ And now my love is unstuck,” she sings on the closing piano ballad, “Bye BiPolar.” “I can see...
Why 2020’s Protest Songs Aren’t Part of a Passing Trend
The May 25 murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police resulted in the eruption of worldwide protests against racial injustice, as well as an influx of new protest anthems across demographics in the weeks that followed. As superstars like Billie Eilish, The Weeknd, Taylor Swift and Harry Styles vocalized support for the Black Lives Matter movement, artists ranging from country singer-songwriter Mickey Guyton to trap veteran Juicy J to soul-R&B star Leon Bridges rapidly released new songs commenting on systemic discrimination. Protest music soared on the charts, too: “Rockstar,” the DaBaby and Roddy Ricch smash that crowned Billboard’s 2020 Songs of the Summer chart, received an official “BLM remix” in the weeks after Floyd’s death, while “The Bigger Picture,” Lil Baby’s poig...
Eminem Drops Music To Be Murdered By – Side B (Deluxe Edition): Stream
At the top of 2020, Eminem dropped his eleventh studio album, Music To Be Murdered By. Now, as the year comes to a close, he’s unveiled an expanded deluxe edition of the album. Take a listen below via Apple Music or Spotify. Officially titled Music To Be Murdered By – Side B (Deluxe Edition), the release boasts an additional 16 tracks, including new collaborations with Dr. Dre, Ty Dolla $ign, DJ Premier, and Skylar Grey. They’re followed on the tracklist by the album’s original 20 songs. Over the summer, Eminem joined Big Sean on a new song called “The Adventures of Moon Man and Slim Shady”, and was forced to defend himself against a home invader. More recently, he made a surprise cameo on Saturday Night Live. Music To Be Murdered By – Side B (Deluxe Edition) Artwork: <img data-att...
slowthai Pops Off on New Song “Thoughts”: Stream
UK rapper slowthai gives us a piece of his mind on the new song “Thoughts”. While the artist born Tyron Frampton recently announced his sophomore album TYRON, “Thoughts” did not appear on the tracklist. This apparent loosie finds the volatile MC spitting a stream of consciousness flow. “There’s a fine line between love and hate,” is how he begins, and this tension infuses all that follows. Early on, he raps, “Couple times I’ve contemplated killin’ my folks,” then later he says, “Knock on wood that my family’s good.” He contemplates a life that’s perceived as, “Too black for the whites, too white for the blacks,” and his childhood traumas are balanced against a recently fat wallet (“Check my account, won’t believe I was poor once”). slowthai’s “Thoughts” is revealing and deeply persona...
Eminem Surprise Releases ‘Music To Be Murdered By – Side B’: Stream It Now
Arriving at the stroke of midnight, the deluxe edition is a sprawling effort, spanning 36 songs and nearly 2 hours in running time. Marshall Mathers taps Dr. Dre, Ty Dolla $ign, Skylar Grey, and DJ Premier and many others for guest spots. Music To Be Murdered By gave Em his historic 10th No. 1 on the Billboard 200. Will Side B make it 11? Stream it 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 revenue.
Big Sean & Jhené Aiko Channel Iconic ’90s Black Rom-Coms for ‘Body Language’ Video With Ty Dolla $ign
Big Sean and Jhené Aiko show off a ’90s type of love and speak a certain “Body Language” in their new cinematic music video with Ty Dolla $ign, which came out on Wednesday. The mini-film shows the real-life couple taking on the roles of iconic onscreen duos from ’90s Black romantic comedies, from Tupac and Janet Jackson in Poetic Justice (1993) to Larenz Tate and Nia Long in Love Jones (1997). Aiko also serves big Angela Bassett energy from Waiting to Exhale (1995) when she burns her ex’s car with his clothes inside. And of course, the featurette has pop and R&B music’s favorite featured star Ty Dolla $ign popping up in each scene while he narrates the chorus. “Big homage paying to a few of my favorite flicks ...
What Does ‘Alternative’ Mean in 2020?
Laura Ohls, senior editor, folk and AAA, Spotify: I’ve always thought of “alternative” as referring to any artist creating music that challenges what’s being popularized in the mainstream, across all genres. In the ’90s, rock music was still very much at the core of popular music culture, and as a result, “alternative” [was more] guitar-driven in sound. Fast forward to 2020, where hip-hop, pop and Latin are the titans of genre, and you’ll find that the class of artists defying what’s expected are doing so within these genre spaces. As a result, there is an amalgamation of genres that make up modern “alternative” sounds. We launched our Alternative Hub earlier this year in order to unite all of our alternative programming into one dedicated space. The idea was to have a destination that enc...
Kamaiyah Opens Up on Her Own Terms with No Explanations: Review
The Lowdown: Since 2016’s A Good Night in the Ghetto and her inclusion in the coveted 2017 XXL Freshman Class, Kamaiyah has been one of rap’s most consistent and exciting players. The Oakland-born and -raised rapper has hyphy written all over her music as part of the Bay Area’s highly influential scene, one that has birthed some of the most iconic gangster rap and party anthems. Kamaiyah exists in between the “hard” and the hyphy, taking the infectious, cocky grooves of Mac Dre and Too $hort into a new age for a wider audience without yielding to current trends. After departing from Interscope Records due to release disputes, the Bay Area star used 2020 to release multiple projects, No Explanations being the third. Despite a quiet release, due in part to the end of the year lull, Kamaiyah ...
CupcakKe Drops Epic Diss Track “How to Rob (Remix)”: Stream
Leave it to Chicago rapper CupcakKe to start some drama right before the year’s end. In a nod to 50 Cent’s debut single “How to Rob”, she’s released her own diss track called “How to Rob (Remix)” where she goes after more than 20 rappers. Stream it below. CupcakKe sets the scene by opening the song with cheeky insults and friendly digs, saying, “It’s all motherfuckin’ love, don’t take shit personal.” From there, she wastes no time calling out Cardi B, Megan Thee Stallion, DaBaby, Lil Baby, 6ix9ine, Lizzo, Offset, Migos, Wiz Khalifa, Tory Lanez, Young M.A., Doja Cat, Sukihana, Lil Durk, City Girls, Lil Kim, Chief Keef, G Herbo, Mulatto, Flo Milli, Sada Baby, and DreamDoll. The one-liners she shoots off, ranging from “Drop Offset’s body in the jungle since he wanna be a cheetah” to “Is that ...
Open Mike Eagle on the Mental Scarring of Trauma
Listen via Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Stitcher | Google | Pocket Casts | Radio Public | RSS Presented by Consequence of Sound and Sound Mind Live, Going There with Dr. Mike is a new interview podcast series in which clinical psychologist and life coach Dr. Mike Friedman talks with musicians about the crossroads where music and mental health meet. Open Mike Eagle joins the show this week to discuss his experiences coping with trauma. The Chicago artist explains how trauma can occur in someone’s life through many pathways. Sometimes it’s caused by a specific event (e.g. an assault or plane crash); in other cases, it’s the result of an ongoing series of events (e.g. racial discrimination). Coming off his new album Anime, Trauma, and Divorce, Open Mike Eagle also explains how t...
Megan Thee Stallion & James Corden Wish You A Very Ratchet Christmas
“Naughty, got a thicc body/ Rosy red cheeks/ People think he’s Pavarotti/ He would never slip on a roof while it’s snowing b–ch/ There’s you mom, mistletoe, you know it/ Ah, I’m a Santa, Jolly, happy, merry/ Face is plump and hairy/ Sacks of gifts I carry,” Meg added, with Corden joining in on the reworked chorus. The bit had it all: ugly sweaters, PS5s and a special, pop-up surprise if you sit on rappin’ Santa’s lap. “I’m a Santa/ Call me Krissy Kringle/ Make your North Pole tingle,” Corden rhymed as Meghan rode a giant wooden horse, tongue out. “Bells are gonna jingle, b—ch/ They jingle, b–ch.” Watch “Savage Santa” below. You Deserve to Make Money Even When you are looking for Date...
Roc Nation to Launch Publishing Imprint With Books From Lil Uzi Vert, Meek Mill
Under a new partnership with Random House, Roc Lit 101 will also put out titles by Yo Gotti, Fat Joe and music journalist Danyel Smith. Roc Nation is getting into the book publishing business via a new partnership with Random House, the companies announced today. The new imprint, which is rolling out under the name Roc Lit 101, will be dedicated to publishing books “at the dynamic intersection of entertainment and genre-defying literature, including exhilarating, innovative work from some of the biggest artists and most imaginative and incisive writers of our time on a wide range of subjects such as music, sports, pop culture, activism, and art,” according to a release. The imprint will be overseen by Chris Jackson, publisher and editor-in-chief of Random House imprint One World Books, and...
