Rap
Smino Goes Slow on New Song “24-8”: Stream
Smino has unveiled “24-8,” a new song from his upcoming album Luv 4 Rent. Take a listen below. “I’m fucking good at this shit, dawg,” Smino says to open his latest single, produced by Phoelix. “For real for real.” “24-8” proves him right; an eerie, psychedelic melody propels the artist’s “Sometimes I wanna go slow” hook, but in the verses, Smino picks up the speed. In the song’s music video, he chills by the fire and picks out the perfect Digiorno at the convenience store. Smino shared an open letter alongside “24-8,” detailing his personal journey in recent years and thanking fans for their support. “I Spent Alotta time becoming a better fren to myself…” he wrote. “I spent Alotta time searching for time I already had… I spent Alotta time tryna make this shit perfect only to realize the on...
Kendrick Lamar’s Bickering Gets Brutal in New Short Film We Cry Together: Watch
Tensions are very, very high in We Cry Together, a new short film from Kendrick Lamar. Based on the track from the same name off his recent album Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers, the clip is a rap-meets-skit that stars Lamar and actress Taylour Paige as a couple whose regular fight blows out of control into a dark debate about the intersection of gender roles, Blackness, and culture. Filmed in a single five-minute take with live vocals, We Cry Together begins like a typical romantic drama: “I’m tired of these emotional ass, ungrateful ass bitches/ Unstable ass, confrontational ass dumb bitches,” Lamar spits over the track’s jazzy beat. “We could go our separate ways right now/ You could move on with your life, I swear to God.” Then, Paige comes in horns blaring: “You love ...
Jamie Foxx Cracks Snoop Dogg Up With Spot-On Donald Trump Impersonation: ‘Fake News!’
Who knew Jamie Foxx could transform into Donald Trump? The comedian revealed his eerily accurate impression on Thursday during an interview alongside Snoop Dogg. The hilarious moment happened during a sit-down with the Rap Radar podcast, where the stars were promoting their new Netflix vampire hunter flick Day Shift. In the middle of the chat, Foxx effortlessly broke out his Trump bit, saying, “There’s a lot of great people on both sides. Lots of great people on both sides. I know Harry O,” he said, referencing Death Row co-founder Michael “Harry O” Harris, whom President Trump pardoned and was released from prison last year. “He’s a great person. He couldn’t vote for me at the time. Now he can vote for me once he gets out. I love Snoop D-O-double-G, great person.” Explore See latest video...
DJ Khaled Talks ‘God Did,’ Reuniting With ‘Favorite Artists’ Drake & Lil Baby: Watch
In a new interview from his home in Miami, DJ Khaled sits down with Billboard News to talk all about his next album God Did. Speaking to Billboard‘s Carl Lamarre, the producer reflected on reaching his milestone 13th album with the upcoming release, which drops Friday (Aug. 26) via We the Best/Epic Records. “To get to a 13th album is, like, beyond incredible for me,” he said. “The greats that I look up to, when I see how many albums they put out, I’m on the right track. And I know how hard it is to be in this game — some people can’t make it past their first single or their first album.” Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news Khaled’s latest LP features the top five single “Staying Alive” with Drake and Lil Baby, as well as collaborations with the lik...
Kid Cudi on Kanye West: It Would Take a “Motherfucking Miracle” to Be Friends Again
While they’ve mended fences before, the Kid Cudi seems adamant that he’ll never again be friends with Kanye West after their most recent public fallout in February. In a new cover story for Esquire conducted back in June, Cudi said it would take a “motherfucking miracle” for them to patch up their relationship. After initially declining to speak about West for the interview, Cudi let off steam about being cut from Donda 2 solely due to his friendship with Kim Kardashian’s now former boyfriend Pete Davidson. “Do you know how it feels to wake up one day, look at your social media, and you’re trending because somebody’s talking some shit about you?” Cudi said. “That shit pissed me off. That he had the power to fuck with me that week. That he used his power to fuck with me.” He...
A$AP Rocky Charged with Assault in A$AP Relli Shooting
A$AP Rocky has been charged with assault with a firearm in connection to a shooting that occurred last November, Rolling Stone reports. Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón charged Rocky, born Rakim Mayers, with assault with a semiautomatic firearm with allegations of personally using a firearm. The rapper, whose arraignment is set for Wednesday, August 17th, could face up to nine years in prison if found guilty of the offense. “Discharging a gun in a public place is a serious offense that could have ended with tragic consequences not only for the person targeted but also for innocent bystanders visiting Hollywood,” Gascón said in a statement. “My office conducted a thorough review of the evidence in this case and determined that the addition of a special firearm al...
The Streets Shares New EP Brexit at Tiffany’s: Stream
UK hip-hop veteran Mike Skinner has returned with a new EP under his moniker The Streets. The three-song project is called Brexit at Tiffany’s, and it’s out now along with the title track’s music video. Brexit at Tiffany’s is a smorgasbord of Skinner’s sonic personas as The Streets. Opening track “3 Minutes to Midnight,” which features grime artist Manga Saint Hilare, is driven by a pulsing beat that mirrors the imminent anxiety of the track’s nihilistic, dystopian themes: “It’s three minutes to midnight on the doomsday clock/ Hold up your lighter, we’re all still alive.” Closer “Test of Time” is more melodic, switching off between a driving synth and a piano backdrop. But the Jazz Morley-featuring “Brexit at Tiffany’s” is the most somber, comparing the agony of a breakup to the ...
Song of the Week: Megan Thee Stallion Delivers an Ode to Perseverance with “Her”
Song of the Week breaks down and talks about the song we just can’t get out of our head each week. Find these songs and more on our Spotify Top Songs playlist. For our favorite new songs from emerging artists, check out our Spotify New Sounds playlist. This week, Megan Thee Stallion reminds us all exactly who she is. “I don’t care if these bitches don’t like me, ‘cause, like, I’m pretty as fuck,” Megan Thee Stallion asserts in the opening lines to “Her,” with all the casual matter-of-factness of a happy hour gossip session. But, jokes aside, how could she even have the energy to care? Though her consistent string of feel-good, booty-shaking anthems — and her astonishing ascent to hip-hop royalty — would have you convinced otherwise, the H-Town Hottie’s personal li...
Danger Mouse and Black Thought Share Posthumous MF DOOM Collaboration “Belize”: Stream
Though Danger Mouse and Black Thought shared several a handful of stellar collaborations in anticipation of their new album, Cheat Codes, they held back a track with the late MF DOOM titled “Belize.” Now that the album is out in the wild, we can finally get ears on the reunion between the three artists. Danger Mouse’s production on “Belize” is steeped in soul, with warm brass and a hypnotic bassline making way for each MC to spit a dizzying array of bars. Even without a chorus to bridge the gap, the track still transitions from Black Thought’s precise delivery to DOOM’s less structured flow with ease. When two of the greatest rappers of all time appear back to back, song structure is basically irrelevant. “You checking the Top 2 of a thousand intelligent chaps,” Black Thought boasts. ...
Open Mike Eagle Announces New Tape Component System with the Auto Reverse, Shares “i’ll fight you”: Stream
Open Mike Eagle set to return this year with Component System with the Auto Reverse, his forthcoming mixtape via his own Auto Reverse Records. Before its release on October 7th, the rapper is previewing the project today with the new single “i’ll fight you.” Component System with the Auto Reverse is Mike’s eighth full-length project to date, and from what we’ve heard about it so far, it might also be one of his most sonically eclectic. With some high-profile collaborators including Madlib, Diamond D, and Quelle Chris, the 14-track record is embellished with jazzy boom-bap, blips of hard rock, cartoon show samples, and more — all grounded in Mike’s progressive approach to hip-hop. As for the inspirations behind Component System with the Auto Reverse, Mike drew from some of hi...
Doja Cat Assures Fans She’s OK After Shaving Off Her Hair & Eyebrows: ‘I’m Rich, I’m Fine’
Doja Cat knows she’s still a boss b—h, even if she has no hair. In a recent Instagram Live, the 26-year-old “Vegas” rapper told viewers that the recent surge in online negativity over her newly shaved head and eyebrows isn’t bothering her — but that people speculating she’s mentally ill because of her new look definitely are upsetting her. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news Doja first revealed her bare head in a Thursday (Aug. 4) Instagram Live, during which she later shaved off her eyebrows on camera as more than 20,000 people watched in real time. Ever since, she’s been sharing lots of selfies showing off different painted-on brow looks — but not everyone is a fan. Some on social media have commented their dislike for the style change, w...
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 ...
