music

Earlier this week, the New York State Senate passed a bill restricting the use of song lyrics as evidence in court. According to the NY State Senate’s official website, Senate Bill S7527 is being sponsored by Senator Brad Hoylman and aims to limit lyrics or any other “creative or artistic expression” to be used against the defendant in criminal cases: “The purpose of this legislation is to protect freedom of speech and artistic expression in New York State. This bill effectuates the enhanced free speech protections provided by the New York State Constitution, ensuring that criminal defendants are tried based upon evidence of criminal conduct, not the provocative nature of their artistic works and tastes.” In order to make the lyrics and other “creative or artistic expression” admissible in...

The Notorious B.I.G.‘s Life After Death is set to receive a special 25th anniversary super deluxe vinyl box set. The GRAMMY-nominated album’s re-release is set to drop on June 10 and will feature a total of eight LPs, a booklet highlighting rare photos from the album cover shoot, liner notes by music writer Sheldon Pearce and “exclusive reflections from members of the team who worked on the original album.” Fans can also look forward to the 12” of hits “Hypnotize,” “Mo Money Mo Problems,” “Sky’s The Limit” and “Nasty Boy.” Prior to the release of 8-LP box set, New York City will be celebrating what would have been Biggie Smalls’ 50th birthday. On May 20, the Empire State Building will host a ceremony with the rapper’s family, his mother Voletta Wallace, his children CJ and Tyanna Wallace a...

DONDA Academy, headed by the artist formerly known as Kanye West, will be holding auditions for its gospel choir on behalf of Sunday Service. Set to take place on May 20 and May 21 at Eighty Eight Studios in North Hollywood, the newly-launched DONDA Academy website states that they are looking for Grade 2 to Grade 12 students “who love to sing and lift up the name of Jesus.” Although the extent of the gospel choir’s involvement with Sunday Service was not explicitly revealed, a press release states that the academy will be “allowing their students to grow in their faith and community through daily all-school worship and celebration at Sunday Service.” Jason White, the director of the Sunday Service Choir, told Rolling Stone in a 2019 interview about the origins of his work with Y...

The Game is more than confident in his abilities, stating that his upcoming album Drillmatic will make people understand why he is “the best rapper alive.” In a lengthy and personal Instagram post promoting the project, The Game shared that he believes Drillmatic will be the best album of the year and that listeners can expect something new and fresh. He also went on to show love to other critically-acclaimed albums of 2022 so far, including releases from Pusha T, Kendrick Lamar, Denzel Curry, Vince Staples, Benny The Butcher and Conway The Machine’s, with the last two reaffirming his belief that “REAL RAP will always be supreme.” He added, “When it drops, I promise you that if you put your ear to it you will then understand why I’m the best rapper alive. My controversy has always stepped ...

Twitter account @Kurrco recently spotted a change on Instagram that sent Migos fans in a frenzy. The user noticed that Offset unfollowed the other two members, Quavo and Takeoff, while Cardi B also unfollowed the pair. While the group’s reps have not confirmed anything, millennials have taken it as a sign of a breakup, naturally sparking rumors that Migos is disbanding. The news arrives on the same day Takeoff and Quavo announced that they will be dropping new music under a new musical duo name called Unc and Phew, a nod to their familial ties. The new song is titled “Hotel Lobby” and is slated to arrive on May 20. Fans have now speculated that Migos has split up and that the launch of Unc and Phew is different from their individual solo album releases. In a 2018 interview with XXL, O...