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A Contest For Hip-Hop Tracks By Prisoners Launches With Lecrae As A Judge
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: Paras Griffin / Getty A unique collaboration between an HBCU, Grammy Award-winning rapper Lecrae and a foundation dedicated to helping those in correctional facilities is now the basis for a contest to give an incarcerated individual a shot at releasing their own Hip-Hop track. The “Original Hip-Hop Track Contest” was announced in a press release this past Monday (August 16th). Contestants in the competition will write original lyrics and come up with a song title to one of three beats specifically crafted for the contest by renowned producer Zaytoven. The entries will be reviewed and judged by a committee of students at the Department of Music at Morris Brown College in Atlanta, Georgia. After the group selects 25 finalists, Lecrae will then choose the w...
Waxahatchee Covers “Talkin’ Dust Bowl Blues” for Woody Guthrie Tribute Album: Stream
“Mighty thin stew though.” Waxahatchee has released a cover of Woody Guthrie’s “Talkin’ Dust Bowl Blues.” Stream it below. On the track, the indie project of Katie Crutchfield spins a yarn the late folk icon first told in the opening track of his 1940 album Dust Bowl Ballads. “Back in 1927/ I had a little farm that I called heaven/ Well, the prices up and the rain come down/ And I hauled my crops all into town/ I got the money/ Bought clothes and groceries, fed the kids/ And raised a family,” Crutchfrield recounts over gentle acoustic guitar. Advertisement Related Video Waxahatchee’s take on the folk classic serves as the second single off the upcoming tribute album, Home in This World: Woody Guthrie’s Dust Bowl Ballads. The album also features lead single “Dust Cain’t Kill Me”...
Lil Wayne Opens Up About His Suicide Attempt And Mental Health
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: Rich Fury / Getty These days, mental health has gotten more attention in Hip-Hop culture and society overall leading to more rappers being forthright about their struggles. A recent revelation by Lil Wayne about his own journey and suicide attempt at the age of 12 has caught many by surprise and added to the conversation. As a guest on the web series Uncomfortable Conversations with Emmanuel Acho, the five-time Grammy Award winner got candid about his battles with mental health and bravely spoke about the pressures he was under at the time, saying he felt he couldn’t talk to his friends or even confide in his strict mom about what he was going through. After trying to hide his activities afterschool and being found out by a relative, his mother put her fo...
Cardi B Claps Back At Online Negativity Directed At Lizzo
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: Bernard Smalls / @PhotosByBeanz83 It’s an unfortunate fact that the web is a haven for the most vile and vicious streams of negativity, and that the targets are often celebrities. A prime example of that occurred over the weekend after Lizzo dropped her latest single, “Rumors”. But her friend and collaborator on the track, Cardi B was having none of it. After a fan of hers shared a clip from the now-deleted Instagram Live video where Lizzo tearfully spoke about how the negativity was impacting her, Cardi B had words for the haters via her Twitter account: “When you stand up for yourself they claim your problematic & sensitive,” she wrote. “When you don’t they tear you apart until you crying like this. Whether you skinny, big, plastic, they going to al...
Nick Cannon Defends DaBaby, Decries Cancel Culture On ‘The Breakfast Club’
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: Bernard Smalls / @PhtoosByBeanz DaBaby has had a terrible couple of weeks since his infamous homophobic rant at Rolling Loud Miami, but he’s now got support from someone who’s been in his shoes – Nick Cannon. During his appearance on The Breakfast Club, Cannon spoke his mind about the rapper’s comments and how the backlash from entertainers and the public has led to several festivals including Lollapalooza and the Governor’s Ball Music Festival dropping him left and right. He feels that DaBaby was wrong in his commenst but is against the way “cancel culture” is involved. “I challenge all these people who actually want to cancel somebody, and even specifically in DaBaby’s situation, let’s use this as an opportunity for education.”, he said. The Wild’N Out ...
LeVar Burton Graciously Thanks Fans After Jeopardy Locks In New Host
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: CBS Photo Archive / Getty The decision this week made by the people at Jeopardy! to go with another host has caused an uproar among many in the public upset that LeVar Burton wasn’t chosen. But Burton is taking the news in stride, feeling the experience means he’s already won. The Star Trek: The Next Generation actor and former host and former host of Reading Rainbow took to Twitter on Thursday (August 5th) to express his thanks to the many fans and supporters who were heavily advocating for him to become the new host of the syndicated game show after the passing of iconic host Alex Trebek. “I have said many times over these past weeks that no matter the outcome, I’ve won. The outpouring of love and support from family, friends, and fans alike has been in...
George Harrison’s All Things Must Pass Gets Massive 50th Anniversary Reissue: Stream
The much-anticipated 50th anniversary edition of All Things Must Pass, the landmark solo album from George Harrison, is here. Following a couple of preview tracks last month, the newly remastered audio mix is here in all its glory, chock full with loads of outtakes, demos, and never-before-heard tracks to devour. This expansive reissue was compiled in collaboration with the late Beatle‘s son, Dhani Harrison. “Since the 50th anniversary stereo mix release of the title track to my father’s legendary All Things Must Pass album in 2020, my dear pal Paul Hicks and I have continued to dig through mountains of tapes to restore and present the rest of this newly remixed and expanded edition of the album you now see and hear before you,” he said in a statement. Dhani continued: “Bringing greater so...
A New Battle Between Aaliyah’s Estate and Her Label Emerges Online
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: David Corio / Getty For fans of Aaliyah who have been eagerly awaiting news as to when her music will be available to the world to stream, a recent statement from her family might put a damper on their emotions. Since her untimely passing in 2001, the music of Aaliyah Haughton has been kept from music streaming sites due to a contentious battle between her estate and her uncle and former manager Barry Hankerson. This past Wednesday (August 4th), a website emerged on the web with a cryptic message: “Aaliyah is coming.” As fans began to speculate online that this might mean that there was an agreement in place, that was quickly squashed with a statement posted to Instagram and Twitter by her estate. The Estate of Aaliyah Haughton, represented by her brother...
DaBaby Reportedly DaDropped The Ball on Delivering Apologies To Festivals
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: Radio One Digital / @Stretchd_34 for Radio One Digital It’s been a bad week for DaBaby, who’s now been dropped from a few music festivals including last weekend’s Lollapalooza festival in Chicago, Illinois. And the word is that once again, he did it to himself. The North Carolina rapper found himself in the midst of heavy backlash after viral video emerged of him making a homophobic rant during his set at the Rolling Loud festival in Miami on July 25th. After notable musicians such as Questlove and Sir Elton John took him to task, he made a lackluster apology via social media. After that faltered, representatives for DaBaby reached out to seven music festivals that he was scheduled to appear at on July 28th. They assured the promoters at each festival, wi...
U.S. Senate Designates November As Hip-Hop History Month & More
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: Steven Ferdman / Getty The United States government is putting some added respect on our culture’s name. The U.S. Senate has designated November as Hip-Hop History Month. By unanimous consent, via the Senate, the country will be encouraged to honor the music that changed the world. On Sunday, July 29 the upper chamber of the United States Congress agreed on the resolution of slotting August 11, 2021, as ‘‘Hip Hop Celebration Day’’, designating August 2021 as ‘‘Hip Hop Recognition Month,’, and designating November 2021 as ‘‘Hip Hop History Month’’. “Whereas, on August 11, 1973, at a ‘‘Back To School Jam’’ organized by his sister Cindy Campbell and held at the recreation room of 1520 Sedgwick Avenue in the Bronx, New York, Clive ‘‘DJ Kool Herc’’ Campbell in...
Edgeless Warrior Candace Owens Trends Again On Twitter For Trolling Ways
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: Jason Davis / Getty One of the worst things about waking up and checking Twitter is to see something horrible trending. In this regard, Candace Owens takes center stage once again for some awful comments she’s made on the social media platform in the past couple of days. Yesterday (August 2), the edgeless espouser of disgusting right-wing commentary took to Twitter to give her fans a double dose of ugly rhetoric. Her first tweet that caused a backlash was directed against Megan Rapinoe and the U.S. Women’s National soccer team, who lost in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics semifinals to Canada. Owens targeted Rapinoe primarily for the player’s protest against police brutality and racial equality by taking a knee on the field. And in keeping with her reputation of b...
The Fire This Time: Celebrating James Baldwin On His 97th Birthday
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: Sophie Bassouls / Getty Today (August 2) would’ve been the esteemed author, playwright and activist James Baldwin’s 97th birthday. In honor of the day, many outlets and individuals on social media are celebrating his life and his words, which still have great resonance and a prophetic tone today. Baldwin’s early life was marked with discoveries and moments of disillusion with society due to racism and hypocrisy. This ranged from his experiences in school to what he encountered in the Pentecostal church he once found refuge in after becoming a junior minister. He worked on his writing, being published in The Nation when he was 17 and having his first book, Go Tell It On The Mountain published while he lived in Paris, France where he would spend most of his...
