Rap
Tyler, The Creator Performs “LUMBERJACK” at 2021 BET Awards: Watch
Tyler, The Creator hit the stage at the 2021 BET Awards tonight for a performance of his new “LUMBERJACK”. Marking his first-ever performance at the BET Awards, Tyler made the most of the opportunity with a creative stage production that began with him riding in the back of a Roll- Royce and ended with him being blown away by a wind storm. Watch the replay below. “LUMBERJACK” comes off the pioneering hip-hop star’s latest album CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST, which arrived Friday, just two weeks after the artist otherwise known as Tyler Okonma dropped the first mysterious teaser announcing a new release was on its way. Related Video In the coming months, Tyler is set to play multiple festivals including Bonnaroo, Outside Lands, and Day N Vegas Festival. Get tickets to all of his upcoming dates he...
Silk Sonic’s Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak Perform “Leave the Door Open” at BET Awards: Watch
Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak may only have one single out under their collaborative Silk Sonic moniker, but that didn’t stop the duo form nabbing Best Group at the 2021 BET Awards on Sunday night. Later in the evening, they proved that their joint star power alone made them worthy of the honor by performing their hit “Leave the Door Open” at Los Angeles’ Microsoft Theatre. Silk Sonic have thus far only played at awards show, debuting at the Grammys back in March and stopping by the iHeartRadio Music Awards last month. Their BET Awards performance continued that string of smooth, soulful appearances for a third straight ceremony. Check out the replay below. Silk Sonic’s debut album, An Evening with Silk Sonic, will feature funk legend Bootsy Collins as “guest host.” The full...
Lil Nas X Performs “Montero (Call Me by Your Name)” at 2021 BET Awards: Watch
The last time Lil Nas X took to a nationally televised stage, the viral rapper went viral for all the wrong reasons when his pants ripped during his Saturday Night Live performance. Thankfully, he was safe from a repeat wardrobe malfunction during his appearance on Sunday night’s BET Awards. The chart-topping rapper may have not been up for any awards during Culture’s Biggest Night, but he delivered the goods with a streamy performance of “Montero (Call Me by Your Name)”, which culminated with a long kiss with one of his backing dancers. The Egyptian aesthetics all called to mind something between Michael Jackson’s “Remember the Time” and The Mummy series. Watch the replay below. Next up for Lil Nas X is a cameo appearance on the hit FXX series Dave. Season 2 of Lil Dicky’s comed...
DMX Honored with Star-Studded Tribute at BET Awards: Watch
DMX was honored at tonight’s BET Awards with a star-studded performance curated by his close friend Swizz Beatz and featuring Busta Rhymes, Method Man, Jadakiss, The Lox, the rap collective Griselda, and actor Michael K. Williams. The performance kicked off with Method Man performing “Get At Me Dog” a cappella before giving way to Griselda to spit their posthumous collaboration “Hood Blues”. Williams, channeling DMX to a T, then took the stage and recited the lyrics to “Slippin’”. To close the set, Busta Rhymes, Jadakiss, The Lox, and Ruff Ryders performed a medley of “The Hood At?”, “Ruff Ryders’ Anthem”, and “Party Up”. Watch the replay below. Speaking to Complex ahead of the awards show, Beatz opened up about approaching the tribute to his fellow artist in a “noncon...
Jay-Z Commissions Reasonable Doubt NFT at Sotheby’s for 25th Anniversary
JAY-Z has commissioned a non-fungible token to commemorate the 25th anniversary of his 1996 debut album Reasonable Doubt. Created by Brooklyn-based multidisciplinary artist Derrick Adams, the NFT is titled Heir to the Throne and is being auctioned off at Sotheby’s. (Via Pitchfork.) Opening bids for the NFT start at $1,000, with the auction set to close on July 2nd. A portion of proceeds from the sale will go directly to the rapper’s eponymous charitable organization, the Shawn Carter Foundation, whose mission is to “help individuals facing socio-economic hardships further their education at post secondary institutions.” “It’s fitting that JAY-Z’s pioneering lyrical brilliance is commemorated through the iconic vision of acclaimed artist Derrick Adams in a bold new medium,” said Cassandra H...
R.I.P. Gift of Gab, Blackalicious Rapper Dead at 50
Gift of Gab, who set a new standard for tongue-twisting lyricism as part of hip-hop duo Blackalicious, has died at 50. The artist also known as Timothy J. Parker passed away on June 18th. His exact cause of death has not been released publicly, though a statement from his family and crew noted that he had been diagnosed with kidney failure in 2014. He was undergoing dialysis three to four times a week even while on tour, and successfully received a new kidney in 2020. Born October 7th, 1971, Gift of Gab became a fixture in the Sacramento rap scene in the early 1990s. But with the formation of Blackalicious alongside DJ Chief Xcel (aka Xavier Mosley), he would change the trajectory of hip-hop forever. The pair’s first two albums, 1999’s Nia and 2002’s Blazing Arrow, ...
Tyler, the Creator Shares New Album CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST: Stream
Tyler, the Creator released his new album, CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST, today. Stream it via Apple Music and Spotify below. The 16-track project follows his 2019 Grammy-winning album, IGOR, and features an impressive list of guests. Featured artists include Lil Wayne, Lil Uzi Vert, and Pharrell, as well as 42 Dugg, Ty Dolla $ign, and YoungBoy Never Broke Again. Odd Future member Domo Genesis also makes an appearance. In the lead-up to CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST, Tyler shared “LUMBERJACK” and “WUSYANAME”. Word of new music from Tyler first surfaced earlier this month via mysterious billboards and an accompanying website. Both provided a phone number which initially played a conversation between the rapper and his mother. Related Video Tyler has lined up a number of festival appearances t...
Mick Jenkins Drops New Single “Truffles”: Stream
Mick Jenkins has unveiled his new single “Truffles”, produced by Monte Booker and available via Cinematic Music Group. The track serves as the rapper’s follow-up to his pair of 2020 one-offs, “Frontstreet Freestyle” and the Kojey Radical-assisted “Snakes”, as well as last year’s The Circus EP. The accompanying visual for “Truffles” — directed by Andre Muir — depicts Jenkins in an eerie suburban neighborhood filled with smiling, zombie-like residents that slowly transform from Black to white. “It was Goyard totes and Carhartt tees/ And atop the Coldplay carpet ’round my feet/ The Dolce scarf that’s ’round my face, forgot my mask/ Fuck,” he raps as he watches a jogger make her way down the street. Later, he’s surrounded by his creepy, dead-eyed neighbors as they invade his house, c...
GZA, Raekwon, and Ghostface Killah Announce “3 Chambers Tour”
Wu-Tang Clan members GZA, Raekwon, and Ghostface Killah are uniting for the “3 Chambers Tour”, a “tri-headlining” outing which will see each rapper perform material from his respective classic solo album. GZA will perform tracks from Liquid Swords; Raekwon will run through Only Built 4 Cuban Linx, and Ghostface Killah will revisit Ironman. The “3 Chambers Tour” officially kicks off in Minneapolis on October 1st and visits 25 US cities through mid-December. Check out the full list of dates below. Related Video Tickets go on sale Wednesday, June 23rd at 12 pm local time. “3 Chambers Tour” Dates:10/01 – Minneapolis, MN @ Skyway Theatre10/02 – Sauget, IL @ Pop’s10/03 – Fort Wayne, IN @ Piere’s10/16 – Denver, CO @ The Fillmore10/20 – Chicago, IL @ Concord Music Hall10/22 – Chicago, IL @ Co...
Tyler, the Creator Is Smitten on New Song “WUSYANAME”: Stream
In case you missed the memo, Tyler, the Creator season is officially in full swing, culminating in the release of his new album Call Me If You Get Lost this Friday. The rapper has shared another preview of the record today with the lovesick track “WUSYANAME”. The song arrives with a dreamy, summery music video directed by Tyler under his Wolf Haley pseudonym. “WUSYANAME” is short and sweet, backed by a ‘90s R&B groove as Tyler tries to woo the apple of his eye. “Let’s go to Cannes and watch a couple indie movies that you’ve never heard of,” goes one of the track’s standout lyrics. “If you got a man, you should cut him off/ Get your passport, ’cause we runnin’ off.” The music video sees Tyler arrive at an outdoor European-style cafe, making futile attempts to pick up a pretty woman who ...
Al Green, Snoop Dogg, and Ice Cube to Headline Once Upon a Time in LA Festival
Whoever said old-school hip-hop and R&B were dead hasn’t seen the lineup for Once Upon a Time in LA, an epic one-day fest going down at Banc of California & Exposition Park on December 18th, 2021. Al Green is the main headliner, and while that’s incredible enough on its own, the fest’s lineup is also stacked with West Coast icons like Snoop Dogg, 50 Cent, Ice Cube, The Game, Cypress Hill, E-40, and tons more. This is, in fact, not a fairytale. Along with the aforementioned artists, this fest will include additional veteran hip-hop favorites like Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, Three Six Mafia, DJ Quik, Warren G, Xzibit, and Too Short. There’s also a big pull for funk and soul fans, with performances by the Isley Brothers, Parliament-Funkadelic, War, Zapp, Brenton Wood, Mary Jane Girls, Morri...
Lil Baby Announces 2021 Tour with Lil Durk
Lil Baby has detailed a 2021 tour, “The Back Outside Tour”, with Lil Durk as his special guest. The star rappers’ joint album, The Voice of the Heroes, debuted at No. 1 earlier this month. The fall trek kicks off on September 1st at the Xfinity Cente in Mansfield, Massachusetts, and includes stops in New Orleans, Los Angeles, and Brooklyn. It wraps up at iThink Financial Amphitheatre in West Palm Beach, Florida on October 15th. Pre-sales have begun at Ticketmaster, with tickets opening to the general public on Friday, June 25th at 10:00 a.m. local time. Look for deals here once they sell out, and check out the full schedule of Lil Baby’s 2021 tour dates with Lil Durk below. Related Video Prior to The Voice of the Heroes, Baby released his chart-topping sophomore album, My Tu...
