Rap
Kanye Stages First Concert in Five Years with Drake as Special Guest: Setlist + Video
Kanye West staged his first headlining performance in five years at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on Thursday night, teaming up with longtime frenemy Drake for a concert that Kanye organized in order to raise awareness and support for the release of Gangster Disciples co-founder Larry Hoover. The evening began with a few hymns performed by Kanye’s Sunday Service gospel choir, including slowed-down, harmonious versions of Adele’s “Easy On Me” and Fugees’ “Ready or Not.” As the choir sang “Ultralight Beam,” Kanye and Drake entered the coliseum through one of its arches. And thus began, one of the most anticipated concerts in recent memory. Kanye kicked off his headlining set with a prayer that segued into “Praise God.” “Wait, wait! Hold up, let’s take it back to day one,” he then shouted...
Posthumous Juice WRLD Album Fighting Demons Released: Stream
Juice WRLD’s second posthumous album is here. Today the late emo rapper’s mother, Carmela Wallace, and record labels, Grade A and Interscope, released Fighting Demons. Listen to the LP below. Born Jarad Higgins, Juice WRLD died in December 2019 after suffering a seizure; authorities believe he ingested a large amount of painkillers just beforehand. Fighting Demons, then, naturally examines the rapper’s struggles with drug addiction and mental illness. His mother discussed the record’s content in a statement. “Jarad was always searingly honest about his struggles and through his musical genius he articulated what was on his heart and mind vividly through his art,” Wallace said. “He never gave up and his friends and family never gave up on offering their support to him. We encourage all...
Kanye and Drake’s Free Larry Hoover Concert to Stream on Amazon Prime Video
On Thursday, Kanye West and Drake will reunite for the Free Larry Hoover benefit concert at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. For those who cannot be there in person, the concert will be livestreamed for free on Amazon Prime Video, Amazon Music’s app, and Amazon Music’s Twitch channel. It will air live in 240 countries beginning at 8:00 p.m. PT. Additionally, IMAX will host screenings of the concert in select theaters across the United States. Tickets are available now at www.tickets.imax.com. The concert, which marks Kanye’s first headlining show in five years, was organized by the Chicago rapper in an effort to raise awareness and support for the release of Gangster Disciples co-founder Larry Hoover. Advertisement Related Video Hoover is currently serving six life sentences after being ...
Top 50 Albums of 2021
Our 2021 Annual Report continues with our Top 50 Albums list. As the year winds down, stay tuned for more awards, lists, and articles about the best music, film, and TV of 2021. You can find it all in one place here. We’re all friends here, so let’s be honest: Most playlists are boring. Corporation-curated playlists are boring, influencer playlists are boring, and the playlist you made for your high school crush became boring the moment you liked someone new. We use them at times — road tripping, studying, or working out — for a pleasant background vibe. But when it comes to prolonged active listening, only an album can demand your full attention. Advertisement That was especially true in 2021. Many workers returned to the office, even as the COVID-19 pandemic continued to teach us new let...
Drake Withdraws Name as Grammy Nominee
Drake has reportedly withdrawn his name as a nominee at next year’s Grammy Awards. The Toronto rapper had been up for two awards — Best Rap Album (for Certified Lover Boy) and Best Rap Performance (for “Way 2 Sexy”). However, Variety reports that Drake’s name has been removed from both categories at the request of the artist and his management. The Recording Academy will not replace Drake’s name on the ballot – presumably since voting is already under way — but will instead move forward with only four nominees in the two categories. Advertisement Related Video Best Rap Album nominees include J. Cole’s The Off-Season, Nas’ King’s Disease II, Tyler the Creator’s Call Me If You Get Lost, and Kanye West’s Donda. Meanwhile, the finalists for Best Rap Performance are Baby Keem and Kendrick Lamar...
Top 50 Songs of 2021
The 2021 edition of our Annual Report continues with our Top 50 Songs of 2021 list. As the year winds down, stay tuned for more awards, lists, and articles about the best music, film, and TV of 2021. You can find it all in one place here. While 2020 felt like the year that didn’t happen, 2021 has felt like the year that just… kinda did. As the calendar pages flipped by, we cautiously began searching for a semblance of a familiar life, culminating in a summer-fall explosion as festivals returned and venues reopened. But for so many reasons, we were always looking over our shoulders, waiting for the other shoe to drop. Even as the world proved ever stubborn, we were desperate to put the worst behind us. The term “post-pandemic” entered the lexicon, a fallacy we were all fully aware of as we ...
Mach-Hommy Drops New Album Balens Cho: Stream
Less than a year after his last full-length project Pray for Haiti, Mach-Hommy is back with a new album. Balens Cho — which translates to “hot candles” in Creole — is out today, offers an even deeper understanding of the New Jersey rapper’s Haitian roots. Balens Cho is 13 songs total, with its subject matter detailing Mach’s hopeful outlook on Haitian youth, for whom he hopes to soon build a technology-focused school. Though Pray for Haiti was unfortunately snubbed for a Best Hip-Hop Album Grammy this year, Balens Cho further cements Mach’s status as one of today’s most exciting underground rappers, serving up an innovative take on East Coast rap. Stream the album on Apple Music or Spotify below. Last month, Mach-Hommy was featured on Kaytranada’s la...
Rap Song of the Week: Tierra Whack Embraces Her Inner Joker on “Stand Up”
Our recurring new music feature Rap Song of the Week breaks down the hip-hop tracks you need to hear at the end of every week. Check out the full playlist here. This week we highlight “Stand Up” off Tierra Whack’s new Rap? EP. In the three years since releasing her innovative debut Whack World, Tierra Whack has put out a steady stream of one-off singles that have kept her in the conversation as one of the most talented rappers in the game. The Philly native officially returned this week with her new EP Rap?, which is unfortunately only three tracks long. With the opener “Stand Up,” however, Whack serves up a reminder that she will never stop pushing forward. In an interview with Apple Music, Whack shared her love for the most recent Joker film and expressed her ambitions to ...
Fight Breaks Out During Three 6 Mafia and Bone Thugs-N-Harmony’s Verzuz Battle
A fight broke out between members of Three 6 Mafia and Bone Thugs-N-Harmony during a Verzuz battle on Thursday night. As Complex points out, Bone Thugs’ Bizzy Bone accused Three 6 Mafia of “mocking” him as he performed, and proceeded to throw a bottle in the group’s direction. In response, members of Three 6 Mafia rushed towards Bone Thugs N’ Harmony’s side of the stage and threw punches. The Verzuz battle was briefly paused as organizers of the event sought to get the situation under the control, but the two groups eventually returned to the stage and resumed the concert. Advertisement Related Video Later in the evening, Bizzy Bone apologized for the scuffle, saying, “I want to apologize to everybody the fuck out there, on both sides. I’m not trying to fuck this shit up. Pardon me. Let’s ...
Tierra Whack Announces Rap? EP
Tierra Whack is returning this week with new music. The Philadelphia rapper just announced a new EP called Rap?, which will be released on December 2nd via Interscope Records. Rap? is Whack’s first complete of songs since her 15-track, 15-minute 2018 debut, Whack World. That’s not to say the Philadelphia artist hasn’t stayed busy: she’s released a steady flow of singles since her debut, including three songs — “Link,” “76,” and “Walk the Beat” — in 2021. To coincide with Rap?, Whack is dropping a collaboration with Vans on December 3rd. The rapper teamed with stylist Shirley Kurata to create an 80s-inspired collection of shoes and apparel that centers the mantra “Weird Hype And Creative Kids” (or “WHACK”). Advertisement Related Video Whack recently contributed to the star-st...
Your Old Droog Unleashes New Album Space Bar: Stream
Your Old Droog has unveiled the new album Space Bar. Stream it below with Apple Music or Spotify. A meditation on travel, space, culture, and limits, Space Bar is set beyond Earth’s atmosphere. “Here we are, in space,” he says. “A bar in space, at that. Drink up!” This is the ever-prolific Droog’s fourth (!) new album of the year, following TIME and his two collaborations with Tha God Fahim, Tha Wolf on Wall St and Tha YOD Fahim. Fahim appears on a pair of Space Bar tracks, and YOD has also recruited features from Lil Ugly Mane, billy woods, and Nickelus F. Production comes from 88 Keys, Nicholas Craven, SadhuGold, and Elaquent. Advertisement Related Video Previously, Your Old Droog shared the Space Bar singles “Yuri” and “Meteor ...
R.I.P. Virgil Abloh, Fashion Designer and Kanye West Collaborator Dead at 41
Fashion designer Virgil Abloh has died following a private two-year battle with cancer. He was 41. According to a statement released by Abloh’s family, he “valiantly battled a rare, aggressive form of cancer, cardiac angiosarcoma. He chose to endure his battle privately since his diagnosis in 2019, undergoing numerous challenging treatments, all while helming several significant institutions that span fashion, art, and culture.” Born in Rockford, Illinois, to Ghanaian immigrant parents, Abloh graduated from the University of Wisconsin–Madison with a Bachelor of Science degree in civil engineering, and later received his Master of Architecture at the Illinois Institute of Technology. While working at a Chicago print shop, Abloh met rapper Kanye West, which marked the beginning of a close fr...
