Hip-Hop
Texas Church Twists Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Hamilton into Bible-Thumping Homophobic Screed
A Texas church’s unauthorized production of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Hamilton has drawn widespread criticism and a cease-and-desist letter for shoehorning in several references to Jesus as well as a homophobic screed that compares being gay to being addicted to drugs. This attempt to put some rap into the rapture was first reported by OnStage Blog, with more details provided by The Washington Post and The Dallas Morning News. On Friday, August 5th, The Door McAllen church livestreamed a never-before-seen take on Hamilton, with plenty of lyrics that would have surprised, if not the Creator, then at least the show’s creator, Miranda. Now-iconic lyrics such as, “What is a legacy? It’s planting seeds in a garden you never get to see/ I wrote some notes at the beginnin...
Doja Cat Responds to Concerns After Shaving Her Head: “I’m Rich, I’m Fine”
Doja Cat’s a little fed up with the Internet, to say the least. After shaving her head and her eyebrows prompted fans to inquire if she was doing okay mentally and emotionally, the artist begged fans to leave her alone, saying, “I’m rich, I’m fine.” “Just the whole ‘Are you okay, queen?’ shit makes me want to rip my…I guess the hair that I have left out, and that would be my pubics,” she said on Instagram. In another clip, she explained her reasoning for shaving her head, revealing that having hair felt burdensome to her for a long time. “I feel like I was never supposed to have hair anyway,” Doja said. “I don’t like having hair. I’ve never liked having hair. I cannot tell you one time since the beginning of my life that I’ve ever been like, ‘This is cool.’” Advertisement Related Vid...
Richmond, Virginia Honors MF DOOM with Street Sweeper Named MF BROOM
The residents of Richmond, Virginia clearly have a good sense of humor (and music taste). As the city introduces a new bike lane street sweeper, it engaged residents in a March Madness-style bracket to decide on a name for the machine, ultimately landing on MF BROOM, a play on the late hip-hop artist MF DOOM. Community organization Venture Richmond handled the naming, crowdsourcing ideas from the city and organizing polls on Twitter. Besides MF BROOM, other potential names for the street sweeper included Kate Brush, Meryl Sweep, Dirt Reynolds, Bike Dyson, LeBroom James, and The Grim Sweeper — the latter of which made it all the way to the final round of voting before losing 59%-41% to MF BROOM. “The people have spoken!” Venture Richmond tweeted. “We crowdsourced name ideas, you voted, and ...
Lil Wayne Says ‘Tha Carter VI’ Is ‘Coming Soon’ at Young Money Reunion With Drake & Nicki Minaj
Lil Wayne is finally teasing Tha Carter VI. The 39-year-old rapper confirmed that he’s working on the sixth installment of Tha Carter album series during the final night of Drake‘s October World Weekend on Saturday (Aug. 6) at Toronto’s Budweiser Stage. “I’m working on Tha Carter VI, coming soon,” Weezy told the crowd during his onstage reunion with former Young Money labelmates Drake and Nicki Minaj. Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news Lil Wayne’s most recent album, Funeral, debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 in February 2020, earning the hip-hop star his fifth leader on the chart. He previously topped the Billboard 200 with Tha Carter V (2018), Tha Carter IV (2011), I Am Not a Human Being (2010) and Tha Carter III (2008). Saturday’s show, whic...
Frank Ocean Selling $25,000 Luxury Cock Ring
If you’re in the market for a luxury cock ring, Frank Ocean has you covered. Homer, the luxury goods company launched by Ocean in 2021, has unveiled their latest capsule of premium pendants, earrings, and keychains. Highlighting the collection is the XXXL H-Bone Ring, an 18-karat yellow gold cock ring that’ll set you back $25,000. Ocean himself modeled the ring in a photo posted to Instagram (see the censored version below). There are a few more economical options, ranging in price from $1,365 to $5,695. Check out Ocean’s full selection of cock rings and other luxury products via Homer’s website. Related Video Back in December, Ocean premiered a nine-minute song as part of a special Christmas episode of blonded RADIO. Next April, he’s due to headline the 2023 installment of Coachella. [fle...
Big Sean & Jhene Aiko Take a Trip Down Memory Lane in Rapper’s Hometown of Detroit
Big Sean is showing Jhené Aiko a piece of his past. The rapper and singer, who are expecting their first child together, took a trip down memory lane in Sean’s hometown of Detroit following their appearance at the city’s Mo Pop Festival in late July. “I got a chance to show Jhené n our family my roots (my old house, grandma’s house, high school etc in Detroit) and connect the past with the future in a sense,” the “I Don’t F**k With You” rapper captioned a photo gallery on Instagram. “Can’t wait for our lil one to get here n see this.” Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news In one sweet photo, Sean is seen placing his hand on Aiko’s pregnant belly as they pose in front of an older brick house. He also shared several snapshots and a brief video of him t...
Rap Song of the Week: Doechii and Rico Nasty Are “Swamp Bitches”
Rap Song of the Week breaks down your must-hear hip-hop tracks every Friday. Check out the full playlist here. This week, Doechii taps Rico Nasty for her new track “Swamp Bitches.” Doechii has been positioned to be the next one up from Top Dawg Entertainment after being chosen for the 2022 XXL Freshman Class. Boxing in the Tampa native as a rapper would be downplaying her talents, however, because she is just as comfortable with the flirtatious singing on tracks like her SZA collab “Persuasive” as she is with delivering hard-hitting bars on “Bitch I’m Nice.” Both tracks appear on Doechii’s new EP, she / her / black bitch, which opens with the Rico Nasty collaboration “Swamp Bitches.” In the most impressive display of her rapping skills to date, Doechii kicks the track off with snarling bar...
Duckwrth Announces New EP Chrome Bull, Shares “Ce Soir” Featuring Syd: Stream
Back in March, Duckwrth shared a party-ready song called “Power Power.” Turns out, that was the lead single to his newly-announced EP Chrome Bull, which is due out August 26th via STEM. To keep the momentum going, he’s shared another new song today called “Ce Soir” with Syd, and he’s also unveiled a hefty list of tour dates across North America and Europe. While Duckwrth is keeping most other details about Chrome Bull EP under wraps for now, he’s promised that “once you press play, you won’t want to sit down.” Informed by innovative artists ranging from N.E.R.D. to Thom Yorke, what we’ve heard from Chrome Bull EP so far indicates it’ll be a staple for late-summer dance parties. “Ce Soir,” which translates to “tonight” in English, is sultry and soulful while still keepin...
DJ Khaled Taps Drake and Lil Baby for “Staying Alive”: Stream
DJ Khaled has shared his new collab “Staying Alive” featuring Drake and Lil Baby as well as its hospital-themed music video. The mid-tempo collab is the lead single off Khaled’s upcoming 13th studio album God Did, which will arrive on August 26th via We The Best Music Group/Epic Records as a follow-up to last year’s Khaled Khaled. The track interpolates Bee Gees’ 1977 disco classic of the same name, with all three members of the group accordingly listed in the credits. On the chorus, Drake croons, “Try me a hundred times/ Wanted me to lie, wanted me to cry, wanted me to die/ I, I, I, I’m stayin’ alive, I’m stayin’ alive, I’m stayin’ alive, I’m stayin’ alive.” In the music video, the superstar rappers turn the Khaled Khaled Hospital For Those That Didn’t Believe™ into a veritable hou...
Eminem and 50 Cent Are in Classic Bounce Mode on Previously Unreleased Dr. Dre-Produced ‘Is This Love’
Eminem got the band back together. As part of his just-released greatest hits album Curtain Call 2, alongside some of Slim Shady’s most beloved tracks is the previously unreleased collaboration from 2009 with 50 Cent entitled “Is This Love.” The song, produced by the rappers’ mutual mentor and label boss Dr. Dre, has the good doctor’s classic g-funk bounce to spice up what passes for a love song from the Shady Records stable. “‘Cause on a scale of one to 10, that’s how I rate your vibe/ Let me be your vibrator/ Your body’s slammin’ like André the Giant/ Two wrongs make a right/ Let me take you by the arm, I’m alligator-like (Bite her arm)/ Gal, I waited all my life for you, heart is racin’ like Talladega Nights/ Sick minds think alike, girl, you got me singin’, like,” Em raps over the...
John Legend Says He and Kanye West “Haven’t Been Close” Because of Donald Trump
Even the uber-rich aren’t immune to the toll that political party lines can take on relationships: John Legend has admitted that his friendship with his formerly-frequent collaborator, Kanye West, dwindled largely due to the latter’s support of Donald Trump. The “All of Me” singer spoke about the fallout on a new episode of The Axe Files podcast: “[Kanye and I] aren’t friends as much as we used to be,” Legend told host David Axelrod. “I honestly think because we publicly disagreed on his running for office, his supporting Trump, I think it became too much for us to sustain our friendship, honestly.” Kanye and Legend go pretty far back: The former was one of the producers on Legend’s 2004 debut album Get Lifted, and even released the record on his own GOOD Music label. The pa...
Man Who Killed Nicki Minaj’s Father in Hit-and-Run Sentenced to One Year in Jail
Charles Polevich, the man who killed Nicki Minaj’s father Robert Maraj in a February 2021 hit-and-run, has been sentenced to one year in jail. Polevich, now 71, struck Maraj, 64, while he was walking in the village of Mineola on Long Island, New York. Polevich drove off and hid his car, while Maraj was taken to a Nassau County hospital, where he died. Using security footage, Nassau County police were able to track down Polevich’s vehicle. “He’s absolutely aware of what happened,” Nassau Police Homicide Detective Lt. Stephen Fitzpatrick told CNN. “He got out of the car and he looked at the deceased, got into his car and made the conscious decision to leave. Instead of dialing 911, instead of calling an ambulance for the man, he went and went home and secreted his vehicle.” Advertisement Rel...
