music

“Forever,” the title track of late MC Phife Dawg’s forthcoming posthumous album, has been released by his estate. The new single samples different hip-hop artists using the word “forever,” including Wu-Tang Clan and Outkast. It’s also the last song that the A Tribe Called Quest rapper recorded before his passing in 2016. Produced by DJ Rasta Root, V. Rich and Nottz, the Forever LP is scheduled to drop tomorrow, March 22, via a partnership between AWAL and Phife Dawg’s estate. Spanning 13 songs in total, the album includes the previously released “French Kiss Deux” featuring Illa J and “Nutshell Part 2” featuring Busta Rhymes and Redman. Forever was first announced over four years ago in 2017. The last time fans were able to hear music from Phife Dawg was on A Tribe Called Quest’s We Got It...

Machine Gun Kelly will head out on tour this summer in support of his sophomore pop-punk album, Mainstream Sellout, which is scheduled for release on March 25. The Blonde Don is already confirmed to perform at 52 arenas across North America and Europe, with guests including Travis Barker, Avril Lavigne, Blackbear, Trippie Redd, Willow, Iann Dior, Pvris and 44phantom. MGK will open his tour on June 8 at the Moody Center in Austin, Texas, before taking off across North America with stops in Atlanta, Boston, Miami, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Portland, Louisville, Montreal, Salt Lake City, Denver and several others. The North American leg of the tour will conclude on August 13 in the 31-year-old pop-rocker’s hometown of Cleveland. The “Emo Girl” singer will then jet off to Europe, where his tour ...

After upwards of 30 years in the music business, Daddy Yankee will be retiring. The Puerto Rican rapper is known for coining reggaeton and introducing the genre to an international audience with his 2004 hit “Gasolina.” On Sunday, he shared the news of his retirement in a heartfelt video posted to his YouTube channel “This race, which has been a marathon, finally sees the finish line. Now, I am going to enjoy what all of you have given me,” he said in the video, translated per CNN. “People say that I made this genre worldwide, but it was you who gave me the key to open the doors to make it the biggest in the world.” Ahead of retiring for good, Daddy Yankee will put out one last album. Entitled Legendaddy, the LP drops this Thursday, March 24. It’ll be the first full-length project from the...

Kanye West has officially been banned from performing at the Grammy Awards. In a recent report from Variety, a rep has confirmed that the awards show has called Ye’s team to alert them that he has been “unfortunately” removed from this year’s performance lineup. The rep has confirmed that this is due to his “concerning online behavior.” West, who is up for five 2022 Grammy Awards, was initially not announced as one of the listed performers. The Blast also reported that Ye’s team is not surprised by the Grammy’s decision to remove the rapper as a performer. Lately, West has been a topic of controversy with recent reports stating that the decision was made because of concerns over possible interactions between the hip-hop artist and Grammy host Trevor Noah. Ye was recently banned from Instag...

Lil Durk is opening this week’s Billboard 200 at No. 1 with 7220. The 16-track record earned 120,500 equivalent album units including 117,500 in streaming equivalent album units (164.81 million on-demand streams of the songs), 2,500 in album sales and 500 in track equivalent album units. 7220 officially marks Durkio’s first solo No. 1 album; he previously hit the top of the Billboard 200 with Lil Baby for their collaborative effort The Voice of the Heroes.  Other new entries on this week’s top 10 are Ghost at No. 2, Rex Orange County at No. 5 and KING & COUNTRY at No. 7. Elsewhere on the chart, the Encanto soundtrack falls to No. 3 after eight straight weeks at No. 1 followed by Morgan Wallen at No. 4. Making up the bottom half of this week’s top 10 are The Weeknd, Gunna, Dra...

J.J. Abrams is reportedly developing a series about Irish rock band U2 for Netflix. According to reports, the Star Wars director will executive produce the scripted series his under his Bad Robot banner while Anthony McCarten, who penned the biographical features Bohemian Rhapsody about Queen and The Theory of Everything about Stephen Hawking, will write the script. The involvement of U2 and the show’s plot are unconfirmed as of writing. The four-piece Irish group, now comprised of Bono, Adam Clayton, The Edge and Larry Mullen Jr., formed in 1986 and currently has a total of 14 studio albums. U2 a 46-time GRAMMY-nominated band, winning 22 of the nods including Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group seven times and Album of the Year, Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best...

Lil Baby‘s My Turn has set a new record on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. According to Billboard, the 2020 album now holds the title for most weeks in the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums top 10 since the chart’s inception in 1965. My Turn logs its 85th week, remaining at No. 8 with 21,500 equivalent album units earned. The album breaks Post Malone’s previous record with Hollywood’s Bleeding, which clocked 84 weeks in the top 10 between 2019 to 2021. My Turn originally dropped on February 28, 2020 and has spent a total of 106 weeks on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. The 20-track record featured guest appearances from Gunna, 42 Dugg, Future, Lil Uzi Vert, Lil Wayne, Moneybagg Yo, Young Thug and Rylo Rodriguez, and went on to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. Take a look ...