Stormzy has come under fire from rival U.K. grime star Chip, who has accused the “Vossi Bop” star of attempting to intimidate him by turning up at his home.
The pair have reportedly been at odds since March when Chip, along with fellow grime stars Skepta and Young Adz, teamed up for “Waze” which contains lyrics that appear to mock Stormzy’s declaration that he’s the “king” of the genre.
In a tweet that has now been deleted, Chip posted a video purportedly showing Stormzy turning up at his home, only to be turned away by an associate who warned Stormzy his actions were “disrespectful.”
Chip captioned the video: “June…when you get sent a video of Stormzy & friends tryna run up on your house.”
In the clip, a figure referred to as Stormzy says, “Telephone me, innit,” and then is told by a person leaning out of an upstairs window: “You think you can just pull up to people’s houses? No I ain’t gonna phone you, Stormzy. You’re disrespectful bro, and that’s that.”
Stormzy, who deleted his social media accounts earlier this year, is yet to publicly respond to Chip’s allegations, although fans have assumed the hitmaker’s guest verse on Tion Wayne’s new track “I Dunno” slams his rival for questioning his “goat” (greatest of all time) status.
Grime veteran Wiley has also weighed in on the feud, warning Stormzy, real name Michael Ebenezer Kwadjo Omari Owuo, Jr., to be “careful” about pursuing the beef.
“Listen, I’m all for the war. I love war,” Wiley said in a video shared by fans on social media since his own accounts are disabled due to antisemitic comments he made earlier this summer.
“Obviously, my two young gunnas, I’m not tryna see them do it. I was aware of this but Mike, I told you be careful of this, it’s 2020. You can’t be around people’s doors, it’s not the old days. I said this to ya. Listen, they’re gonna make an example mate, be careful Mike.”
Tyrese has been acclaimed as one of the most prolific, powerful, also confounding artists of the day with a range that identifies him as the consummate Renaissance man. Moving from movies to Hip-Hop to R&B, the Watts representative has managed to thrive, all the while, keeping deep roots with the people. Musically, he has not been as vocal, but all of that stopped with the release of “Legendary,” a song that pairs him up with Cee-Lo Green. Together they tackle the rampant scourge of police brutality that plagues America. Visually, “Legendary” is stunning as it re-examines Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, Trayvon Martin and others that have been murdered in brutish abuses of authority.
AllHipHop’s Chuck “Jigsaw” Creekmur talked to Tyrese and got his take on Social Justice as well as himself as an outspoken artist with much to lose for fighting racism. Check out Tyrese, live and direct.
AllHipHop: I gotta salute you. I want to ask you, first of all, you’ve come back to music with “Legendary.” It’s a thought-provoking and a deep, deep song. Talk to us about what made you do this now. Talk about the song a little bit and why it was so heavy on your heart.
Tyrese: Well, the thing is, us as recording artists, we got this huge gaping hole inside of us. We’re competitive. We’re insecure. We’re always chasing relevancy. We want to be on the charts. We don’t want to disappear. If we’re going through some s###, we don’t even want to go through some s### without releasing a song about it.
You know And which is contributed to a whole lot of trash out here. Rather you saying a rap and people just in the studio not really diving into…focusing on the culture or the craft. And that’s no disrespect and I’m not calling out names even though I am known for doing that because I’m too real to fake it. The truth is I have felt no need to do music. I have felt no need to make any statements or do anything on any level. George Floyd’s death gave me life.
I don’t care about where we land on the charts. I don’t care how many single sales are sold. I don’t care about people but And talking about Tyrese. I did this on behalf of the victims’ families.
And I jumped out there to do this song and create this uncomfortable visual experience where we’ve heard all the stories about Brianna Taylor. But supposedly there was no bodycam footage. No apartments had cameras, no cars venue to police squads who pulled up and murder this innocent woman in her apartment. Everything we’ve heard about stories of what actually happened to Breonna Taylor is now featured, a little small peek in this “Legendary” song and video. And I said to myself something which is very uncomfortable and there is no media training them prepare you for how to say what I’m about to say.
I’m not a part of the LBGT community, but I do care. And I am in tune with the sensitivities of what they deal with and have to live with every day. I’m not Asian, but there’s a spike in domestic violence and the aggressive abuse and blatant racism that’s happening towards Asian people, because this coronavirus supposedly came from Wu Han and Asia. I’m not Jewish, but I am worried and concerned about the spike in anti-Semitism where people are in the synagogue innocently praying and I Donald Trump has motivated racist white bigots and evil people to start killing and abusing and doing bad things to innocent Jewish people.
The problem with living in this Black skin every single day is there is a general of people are here who have decided I don’t care about Black topics, Black issues or any of the sensitivities of what it is to live in the life of being a Black and Brown person in this country. And so as I did this song and this video, specifically on behalf of the victim, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, Eric Garner and Trayvon Martin, I did something that was the most uncomfortable thing I have ever done ever in my life. Because I’d like to be the voice for the voiceless. I’d like to create a stage and the platform and use my God-given stage of influence to shed light on these and justices. And so rather you’re a pastor giving a speech at a podium. Rather you’re an on-air personality or like you a man of significant in Hip-Hop culture. It is our job duty and responsibility to use by any means necessary, as I brother Malcolm X, would have said, to shed light on the falls and shortcomings of what’s going on in this world, that Black and Brown people continue to be on the receiving end.
Police in Michigan are trying to figure out who shot rapper Mr. Macnificent during a home invasion early this morning (October 9th).
Mr. Macnificent, born Jerry Miller, was shot multiple times during the violent incident which occurred at his residence in West Bloomfield, Michigan around 3:30 am according to cops.
Three unidentified assailants broke into the residence and shot Mr. Macnifient while his wife was inside of the home.
While his wife called 911, Mr. Macnificent live-streamed a video of himself screaming in pain, as he lay in a pool of his own blood. So far the police have no suspects. The rapper is reportedly in serious condition.
One of the members of the popular R&B group Pretty Ricky could be turning in his microphone for prison scrubs.
Diamond Blue Smith is accused of being involved in a scheme that netted more than $24 million in ill-gotten funds from a Paycheck Protection Program scam.
Blue allegedly ran the scam with Tonye C. Johnson, 28, an owner of a Pennsylvania towing company.
According to a federal complaint, Blue forged documents and obtained over $400,000 for a company he called Throwbackjersey.com. His larceny didn’t stop there according to the Feds.
After the first loan, Blue, 36, received another loan in the amount of 708,000 for his label, Blue Star Records.
Once he had the cash, Blue went on a spending spree and copped a Ferrari which cost almost $100,000. He also withdrew over $250,000 from a bank account.
According to the criminal complaint, the overarching scheme involved 90 fraudulent applications as Blue, and his co-conspirator would run their scam for other people to get kickbacks.
The “Love & Hip Hop” star and 11 other defendants are charged with wire fraud, bank fraud, and conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bank fraud.
Cardi B might not be on speaking terms with her estranged husband Offset, but that won’t stop her from defending him from critical fans.
The 27-year-old rapper split from Migos star Offset last month with the news coming as a shock to the “WAP” singer’s millions of fans. Following their breakup, one of Cardi’s devotees said on Twitter that it’s fans’ “right to drag” Offset – but the mother-of-one was quick to jump to her former spouse’s defense.
Cardi, who shares two-year-old daughter Kulture with her ex, hit back: “I don’t give a fk if you don’t like him. I don’t talk to him but you not going to disrespect my child father. I will slap the st out of you in curtesy of Kulture.”
Continuing her since-deleted tweet, Cardi wrote: “If he die, go broke, you not the one that’s going to raise my kid & you not the 1 who pays for her s**t.”
In the divorce papers, she said their marriage was “irretrievably broken” and “there are no prospects for a reconciliation” – after previously giving Offset another chance following his alleged infidelity.
Bhad Bhabie wrote a lengthy message apologizing and explaining why she never addressed the Breonna Taylor case.
The 17-year old rap phenom said her team “decided it was best she kept her mouth shut because she’s young”. But after seeing the disturbing bodycam footage from the incident she could no longer stay silent.
She said that she wanted to speak out sooner, but was prevented from doing so by her “team.” The post is powerful, and teeming with honesty.
Here is what she said in a lengthy Instagram post:
First i would like to to say I apologize for not posting or speaking about this sooner. as a lot of you know i was in rehab when these horrific events of racist police brutality started and at the facility i was at they aren’t allow to keep us updated on the out side world…which i believe is f##### up and that me and the rest of the girls i was in there with should b told about and educated on these horrific events happening in our country. and with that being said when i got home i didn’t know to much about it. my mom and kj explained some stories to me so i called in a meeting with my team on how i should properly and respectfully address this and THEY decided it was best for me to keep my mouth closed due to the fact that i’m young and some times i don’t word things properly and that allows the internet to easily twist my words i understood what they were saying but i still didn’t feel comfortable staying silent bc i have a huge following and fan base and with that being said i know i can help show awareness and support but i had to respect my team bc 9 times out of 10 they are right about how i should go about things and i didn’t want to fall victim to a “i told you so “ situation. but after seeing the body cam video that was released this morning of this young girl while these disgusting idiots with guns just walk over her with out even the slightest bit of sorrow I could no longer keep my silence this is just heartbreaking,horrific and just overly upsetting. one of the scariest things about this is police are supposed to b the ppl who “protect us” no matter what or who we are at the end off the day we are all human and we all bleed red and what bothers me the most is these grown ass men in the video probably have wife’s,daughters and sisters have absolutely no compassion for this innocent women they just murdered FOR NO F##KING REASON . my heart goes out to her and her family i pray they get the justice she deserves. #justiceforbreonnataylor
“I need a kidney y’all any volunteers? B+ blood type,” Scarface wrote.
His public appeal comes months after Scarface revealed his kidneys never healed from COVID-19.
“COVID attacked my lungs first, and then it attacked my kidneys and knocked them out,” he told Fox5DC.com. “I got full lung recovery, but my kidneys never came back…
“I’m still a little weak. I don’t have a lot of strength in my legs yet. I still haven’t got full taste back and sense of smell yet. But I am glad to be alive.”
Several fans offered to undergo testing to find out if they could be a match for Scarface, including rapper Glasses Malone, who replied, “I’m a go find out… all that street s**t your music got me thru, a kidney would be my pleasure.”
I'm a go find out… all that street s### your music got me thru, a kidney would be my pleasure
I'm B Pos I got you for real. It would be returning the favor. Your music speaks to me more than any artist ever. Learned how to manage depression openly cause of you.
Face I'm one of your biggest fans, I can go back to when you were none as DJ Action I'm not sure what my blood type is but I'm willing to help God bless you and your family 🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾
I have a friend named Diana Demouchet and she would LOVE to try to be the donor for a kidney transplant. She would love to be a blessing in your life. Whatever it takes, we can do it together. We saw your message on ABC 13, and would love to help. DM me whenever.
— Jonathan “Topher” Symmank (@Merlin1point0) October 8, 2020
Hailing from Lexington, Jay The Roccstar serves us with melancholic rap and punk rock music. The rapper and actor can be seen in various movies and commercials, before completely shifting his focus to his full solo artistry. At the end of last month, real name Jamason Coles unleashed his debut single titled “LOST,” as an ode to his Hollywood lifestyle. He quickly followed it up with “Billy and Mandy one week later, dropping a new song every Monday until the release of his debut EP.
These two singles hold fans over until his forthcoming project titled SICC WORLD. He’s also dating Noah Cyrus, which means each record is fun, lighthearted, and easy to dance to. Listen below!
He announced the spontaneous initiative on Twitter declaring, “I KNOW SCHOOL JUST STARTED AND I WANNA TAKE CARE OF 5 KIDS TUITION FOR THERE FIRST SEMESTER OF SCHOOL !!! WHY NOT!!!!!”
Travis then stipulated that applicants must be planning to attend HBCUs.
This is to honor his mother and father, who both graduated from such institutions.
When one follower, named Nasire Branch, revealed he dreamed of studying at Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia, the Goosebumps star replied, “My mom always wanted me to go here.!!!! So I got u bro !!! Just lock in (focus) and come out of there ready to change the world.”
Hit machine PRICE and KOTA the Friend, a Brooklyn emcee, have built a bi-coastal bridge on “Maya,” the latest from Price. The pair go bar for ethereal bar, almost giving listeners an audio cloud to lay on. The song gives a not-so-subtle nod to the late, amazing poet Maya Angelou. “Maya” is another single from Price’s opus CLRD that drops on October 16 through Heads Music.
Price is not new and his affiliations paint a magnificent picture. He’s written and produced for Travis Scott, Mariah Carey, Ty Dolla $ign, Kanye West, Brandy, Hitboy and numerous others. He is also one half of the lyrical rap duo Audio Push.
Back in April, Jay “Jeezy” Jenkins and Jeannie Mai announced they were engaged. The upcoming marital union between the Trap music legend and The Real talk show co-host generated a lot of attention from celebrity news outlets.
Their relationship once again became headline material over the last few days. On a recent episode of The Real, Mai said, “So, I’m gonna say right here, that I, Jeannie Mai, going into my marriage, I want to submit to my man.” She also stated, “I make the decisions in my life. When I come home, I like the idea that my man leads us.”
Those comments caused a stir online as some people took issue with the idea of a successful, influential woman willingly submitting to a man. Mai was a guest on Thursday’s edition of Tamron Hall, and the Dancing with the Stars season 29 contestant addressed the social media backlash hurled her way over her statements on The Real.
“Well for me, submit does not mean that you are lower or less important than your man. Of course, Jay and I respect each other very equally,” Mai explained to Hall. “What I mean is in my work life, in my actual life, I own my businesses, I run my team, I make all of the decisions, and I lead entirely in the outside of my life. So in my home, I want my man to lead. I want him to take in what I would like and what my wishes are, what my dreams are, and then incorporate it, making the overall decision that’s best for our vision together.”
Hall then asked the Daytime Emmy Award and NAACP Image Award winner about some women’s response to what she had to say about her preferred role in a relationship. Apparently, the opinions of the Twittersphere and YouTube bloggers are not going to shape her viewpoint on the matter.
“Girl, I am 41. I don’t care what kind of pushback I get from other women out there,” said Mai. “This is my life and coming out of divorce and also making a major decision to marry again after being blessed to fall in love and finding such a beautiful person, I want to be very clear and open about how our life can be so that we make sure that our vision is aligned and that we both are empathetic to each other and know that this is the structure we’re going into. I think the biggest mistake that you can make is not communicating what you want and not setting it up for a win.”
Individuals once connected to Democratic politicians former President Barak Obama, former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg, and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio are now working with the REFORM Alliance. There were also new recruits from the corporate, philanthropic, digital, and communications sectors.
Janet Choi was named Chief Content and Communications Officer. She previously served as the Deputy Commissioner of the New York City Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment as well as the General Manager of NYC Media. Choi will now oversee content development and distribution, digital and social, press and media, internal communications, and work with the REFORM’s Advocacy and Growth teams.
Adia Smith Parker, who worked on both Obama’s 2008 and 2012 presidential campaigns and served as the West Coast Director of Investment for Buttigieg’s 2020 presidential campaign, is taking the position of Senior Director, Development for the REFORM Alliance. The well-connected political fundraiser is said to be taking on an integral role in mobilizing financial resources for the organization and fostering relationships with philanthropists.
In the last presidential election, 2.5% of the voting age population couldn’t vote because of a felony conviction. Fortunately, several states have since restored voting rights to hundreds of thousands of people 👏
Other new additions to REFORM’s executive leadership team over the last six months include Meagan Bond (Senior Director, Creative Campaigns), Geoff Holtzman (Director of Communications), Britton Smith (Senior Organizing Strategist), Colleen Donnelly (Director of Digital), Jasmine Wadsworth (Advocacy Chief of Staff), and Yesenia Valdez (Special Assistant to the President and Chief Growth Officer).
REFORM Alliance already included Hip Hop artist Meek Mill (Co-Chair), Philadelphia 76ers partner Michael Rubin (Co-Chair), Roc Nation founder Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter (Founding Partner), New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft (Founding Partner), Vista Equity Partners CEO Robert Smith (Founding Partner), Third Point CEO Daniel S. Loeb (Founding Partner), Galaxy Digital CEO Michael E. Novogratz (Founding Partner), Brooklyn Nets co-owner Clara Wu Tsai (Founding Partner), Arnold Ventures Co-Chair Laura Arnold (Founding Partner), and CNN commentator Van Jones (CEO).
Racial biases in our supervision system hold millions of Black Americans from success. This isn’t right, and this isn’t fair.
“As CEO, my most important job is building up REFORM’s greatest asset – our team,” said Van Jones. “We are building a group of leaders that brings valuable experience, perspectives, and insights from across sectors. The diverse skill set and background of these individuals will be critical to our organization as we continue to ‘fight different’ to bring meaningful change to the criminal justice system.”
The announcement of these key leadership hires for the REFORM Alliance comes on the heels of a major legislative victory in California. The organization was instrumental in getting the AB 1950 legislation passed into law. Sponsored by Democratic Assemblywoman Sydney Kamlager-Dove, AB 1950 caps probation terms to a maximum of one year for misdemeanor offenses and two years for felonies in the state.
There are too many Latinx people stuck in the justice system.
This #HispanicHeritageMonth, we’re committed to fighting all the racial biases and injustices against the Latinx community in our justice system to ensure equality for all 👊 pic.twitter.com/xQiqtYU2vn
Michael “Killer Mike” Render is a longtime advocate of supporting Black-owned banks. The rapper/activist/entrepreneur has now banded with civil rights icon, former United Nations ambassador, and former Atlanta Mayor Andrew Young as well as Bounce TV founder Ryan Glover for a new venture.
Render, Young, and Glover are launching an online banking option specifically for members of the Black and Latinx communities. They have already secured $3 million in seed funding from private investors for the Greenwood service.
“Today, a dollar circulates for 20 days in the white community but only six hours in the Black community,” said Killer Mike. “Moreover, a Black person is twice as likely as a white person to be denied a mortgage. This lack of fairness in the financial system is why we created Greenwood.”
Greenwood offers savings and spending accounts that come with a black metal debit card for people who sign up by the end of the year. Additionally, additional features like Apple, Samsung, and Android pay, virtual debit cards, peer-to-peer transfers, mobile check deposits, and free ATM usage in over 30,000 locations are offered with no hidden fees. All deposits are FDIC insured by a partner bank.
“It’s no secret that traditional banks have failed the Black and Latinx community,” said Glover. “We needed to create a new financial platform that understands our history and our needs going forward, a banking platform built by us and for us, a platform that helps us build a stronger future for our communities. This is our time to take back control of our lives and our financial future. That is why we launched Greenwood, modern banking for the culture.”
The Greenwood Gives Back initiative includes:
For every customer sign-up, Greenwood will provide five free meals to a family in need.
Every swipe of a Greenwood debit card will prompt a donation to UNCF for education, Goodr to feed the hungry, or NAACP to support civil rights.
Every month, Greenwood will provide a $10,000 grant to a Black or Latinx small business owner that is a Greenwood customer.
Plus, customers who invite their friends to open accounts with the bank will receive cash awards as a thank you. Greenwood also plans to work with brick-and-mortar, minority-owned banks to provide deposits to help strengthen those historically Black financial institutions.
“The work that we did in the Civil Rights Movement wasn’t just about being able to sit at the counter. It was also about being able to own the restaurant,” said Ambassador Young. “We have the skills, talent, and energy to compete anywhere in the world, but to grow the economy, it has to be based on the spirit of the universe and not the greed of the universe. Killer Mike, Ryan, and I are launching Greenwood to continue this work of empowering Black and Brown people to have economic opportunity.”
Greenwood’s executive leadership consists of President & Chief Technology Officer Aparicio Giddins (previously of Bank of America and TD Bank), Chief Marketing Officer David Tapscott (previously of Green Dot and Combs Enterprises), Board Member Andrew “Bo” Young, III (managing partner, Andrew Young Investment Group), and Board Member Dr. Paul Judge (co-founder of Pindrop and TechSquare Labs).
Megan has now turned her attention to funding higher education for two women of color. Yesterday, the Texas Southern University student introduced her $10,000 “Don’t Stop Scholarship” which draws its name from Thee Stallion’s latest single “Don’t Stop” featuring Young Thug.
In honor of all the young women out there who don’t stop working hard to get their education! Women remain underrepresented and undervalued in society and female students of color are at a larger disadvantage when it comes to access financial resources. Still a college student herself, Megan is incredibly passionate about the transformative power of education and remains a strong advocate for women pursuing a college degree. Megan is partnering with Rap Rotation, Amazon Music’s flagship global Hip-Hop brand and playlist that spotlights the best in Hip-Hop, to award two $10,000 scholarships to female students of color pursuing an associates, bachelors, or postgraduate degree in any field.
Apparently, the website quickly went down on Thursday afternoon. Around 10 minutes after Megan first tweeted about the scholarship opportunity, she returned to Twitter to write, “Hold on y’all crashed the website lol one sec… The site will be back up in a few minutes and it is a GLOBAL SCHOLARSHIP so hot girls from all over the world can apply.”
Women of color who are interested in applying for financial assistance from Megan Thee Stallion and Rap Rotation have to fill out an online application that includes personal information, a field of study, current institution, and an essay. Last night, she tweeted, “The essay for the scholarship should basically be about yourself, what you are majoring in, and why you need the degree! Doesn’t matter how many words or pages just do your best hotties!”
The essay for the scholarship should basically be about yourself, what you are majoring in, and why you need the degree! Doesn’t matter how many words or pages just do your best hotties !
There have been conversations among Hip Hop fans about which rap group was the hottest of the 2010s era. Mississippi’s Rae Sremmurd and Georgia’s Migos earned platinum plaques, #1 records on Billboard, and industry awards over the last six years.
Which southern-based faction reigned supreme during that time? One way to determine the answer to that question is by having Rae Sremmurd and Migos participate in a Verzuz hit-for-hit battle.
While appearing on the Power 106 radio station, Swae Lee of Rae Sremmurd discussed the possibility of him and his brother Slim Jxmmi going head-to-head against the family unit of Takeoff, Offset, and Quavo. The EarDrummers representative seemed open to the idea of a Rae Sremmurd versus Migos matchup.
“All I’m gonna say is we got a nice catalog. It’s gonna be hard. We got some classics. I got some classics. SremmLife got some classics. The numbers don’t lie,” said Swae Lee. When asked if he would be down for a Verzuz with Migos, the 27-year-old rapper replied, “That would be good because they got some hits, we got some hits. That’d be fun… They’d have to cut us all a nice little [check]. That’s gonna be action-packed. You know we gonna turn up.”
Rae Sremmurd’s discography includes popular tracks like “No Flex Zone,” “No Type,” “Throw Sum Mo,” “Look Alive,” and “Black Beatles.” Swae could also pull from his solo work like “Sunflower,” “Sativa,” and “Unforgettable.” The Migos members would likely play records such as “Versace,” “Hannah Montana,” “Fight Night,” “Bad and Boujee,” “MotorSport,” “Walk It Talk It,” “Pick Up the Phone,” and “Clout.”
After once working at a Vans retail store in Topanga Canyon, California, Grammy-winning musician Anderson .Paak is now the new Global Music Ambassador for Vans. The partnership features an exclusive footwear and accessories collection inspired by the singer’s southern California roots as well as his critically-acclaimed Venice and Malibu albums.
“I’m honored to be the newest member of the Vans Family and look forward to making history with one of the most respected global brands,” said Anderson .Paak. “I’m thankful for Vans’ partnership with .Paak House and can’t wait to broaden our reach to help even more people tap into their greatest potential.”
In addition, Paak has released a new animated music video for his single “JEWELZ” which includes cartoon versions of AP and his son Soul “Khlex” Rasheed. They are both wearing exclusive Vans x Anderson .Paak footwear in the visuals directed by .Paak and Ali Graham. The record was produced by super-producer Timbaland.
“We are inspired by AP’s multifaceted creative talent and are excited to continue to partner with him throughout the next year for curated music and art initiatives, product design, and enabling creativity within the local community and around the world,” said Tierney Stout, global music marketing lead at Vans. “Anderson epitomizes creative expression and we are thrilled to officially welcome him into the Vans Family.”
The Vans x Anderson .Paak collection will be available worldwide beginning November 13 at Vans retail locations, Vans.com, and select retail partners such as Foot Locker stores and Footlocker.com. Anderson .Paak was also tapped to serve as a global judge for the Vans Musicians Wanted competition.
When it comes to his ability to rap and spitfire flow, he’s a machine. Hailing from South Brunswick, New Jersey, AK, real name Austin Kassabian has been grinding and putting in the work completely independent, getting his start recording in his bedroom with nothing but Logic and a microphone.
In 2016, AK went viral with his explosive remix of Desiigner’s “Panda,” with the official music video currently hailing over 40 million views and counting. Since then, he’s followed it up with a string of releases from covers to original music, carving his own lane as the future of Hip-Hop. His 2018 single “Now I’m Forever” even peaked at #1 on the iTunes Hip Hop Charts in the States.
Regardless of the ups and downs life brings you, one thing’s for certain for AK: music is his life. His passion, dedication, and work ethic in perfecting his craft is both admirable and respectable, with a dedicated fanbase supporting his every move. Now, he returns with his most powerful record to date: “Family Tree.”
The visual sees AK digitally morphing into the legends he came up on, from Lil Wayne to Eminem to Drake to Snoop Dogg.
AllHipHop: How’s Jersey been under quarantine?
AK: It’s been cool, it was hell at first. With New York being right here, everybody was freaking out over the virus in the beginning. People are still, it’s still masks everywhere. For the most part, it’s pretty chill.
AllHipHop: How have you been holding up? I know artists are in a weird space.
AK: At first, it was real difficult. I left Cali in March, been home in Jersey since. During March, April, May, I was locked in my house. Nobody could even go anywhere. I was really struggling to adjust but once I found my groove and figured out what my plan, my daily thing should be, it’s been fire.
AllHipHop: What’s your daily agenda?
AK: Wake up, maybe go for a walk. Now, I can run and grab coffee. Come back home, sit down, make music, and learn new s###. Since quarantine, I’ve been locked in on production and mixing. I know I have the writing down, I can do that. But I want to really get everything in my arsenal, dip my finger in everything.
AllHipHop: You’re producing and mixing your own tracks now?
AK: Yeah, quarantine is what got the whole ball rolling on that. Once I realized there’s nothing else for me to really do, f### it. Why not use this time to figure all that s### out?
AllHipHop: How did you teach yourself?
AK: Trial and error, over and over and over again. I was calling my homies, my friend Shaggy, my boy Little Bird who’s in Atlanta. All those guys have been helping me a lot with figuring out what to do. There’s so much more to it than I thought. Mixing is a completely separate art within itself. Once I started viewing it as its own thing rather than a side thing from production, it’s become much easier.
AllHipHop: Talk about recording “Family Tree,” what you were going through?
AK: I actually did that here, the whole song was done in my bedroom. I found a loop on Splice of a guitar sound and programmed it to my keyboard. The lower I played it, the slower it’s going to be. I ended up finding a nice little loop I created out of the original one. I wanted it to be an old school boom bap sound. The whole idea came from a conversation I had with my manager, he was trying to put me on to s### he grew up on. This was way back, I just got out of high school. I wasn’t really f###### with it that much. He grew up on it so he’s got a different perspective.
To me, ehh it’s cool, but I definitely wouldn’t listen to that. All the artists he’s showing me, I wasn’t really giving it enough mind. Wasn’t giving it too much of my time. After thinking more about it, I realized all that s### was what the people I f### with were listening to when they were my age. I thought about how much further back that cycle goes. It’s me, people like Hopsin, J. Cole, Kendrick. All the guys before them: Tupac, Biggie, all those greats. Then before them and before them, it’s crazy how deep it really is. It was never acknowledged in a song, so let me put something together and try to captivate that whole idea in a song.
AllHipHop: How often are you listening to Nas’ Illmatic?
AK: I’ma be honest, recently I’ve been listening to my own music nonstop, whether it’s me mixing or working on something new. Right now, I’m trying to put together a short setlist for a potential thing we got going. This morning I was thinking to myself, I haven’t listened to any other music besides my own. I need to take a day, it’s been heavily me. Tweaking a beat or my vocals, mixing, it’s been a lot of my own s###.
AllHipHop: On “NOW I’M FOREVER,” you say “artists are all connected to each other,” how so?
AK: I’ll elaborate on the example I gave in the song. I never was inspired directly by Eminem although everybody compares me to Eminem because I’m a rapper and I’m white, but I never was able to listen to him. Literally wasn’t allowed to. When he was on the rise, I was young as s###. My parents obviously knew of him but they didn’t want me hearing what he’s saying. I was too young to really even understand what he was saying, but I was old enough to know I was missing out on something. Middle school hit, I got my first iPod so I was able to listen to music not monitored by my parents. My brother put me on to Hopsin, literally the only artist I’d listen to. He was god to me.
AllHipHop: I love Hopsin! I remember “SAG MY PANTS.”
AK: Exactly that time. Right when Ruthless flucked him over, I was listening to him religiously. When I started making my own music, I wanted to be everything Hopsin was. After listening to and watching interviews, I realized the way Hopsin viewed Eminem when he was my age, is the way I view Hopsin. People tell me that I sound Eminem in some of my songs, more so early on. That’s because starting out, all I wanted to be was Hopsin. It’s that trickle down effect, now I’m in the position to inspire the next guy. I was inspired by Eminem because of how much I like Hopsin, so the “Family Tree” goes on and on. When I’m gone, the next kid who idealized me now might have influence from Hopsin and Eminem through me. It’s f###### insane to think about, how deep it can go.
AllHipHop: Have you and Hopsin crossed paths?
AK: No. I DMed him a couple times, I’m not going to knock his door down. i’m doing my thing, I have a lot I want to be doing. Of course, I’ve hit him up. No response. I let him do his thing, it’s not going to stop me from doing what I have to do.
Earlier today, (October 8), Tory was charged with assault with a semiautomatic firearm.
The D.A. also slapped the Toronto-born artist with a charge for carrying a loaded, unregistered firearm in the SUV carrying the rapper, Meg, and their friends.
Megan had to have had surgery on her feet for bullet wounds. Shortly after the shooting, Megan came forward and name Tory as her assailant.
“I suffered gunshot wounds, as a result of a crime that was committed against me and done with the intention to physically harm me,” Megan revealed.
“I was never arrested, the police officers drove me to the hospital where I underwent surgery to remove the bullets. I’m incredibly grateful to be alive and that I’m expected to make a full recovery, but it was important for me to clarify the details about this traumatic night,” Megan Thee Stallion said.
Reports say Tory is already preparing to claim the shooting was an accident.
The charges for shooting Megan is just the latest set back for Tory Lanez, who was once one of the top rapper’s in the world.
Tory is also facing a lawsuit filed by former “Love and Hip Hop: Miami” star, Prince, who maintains the “ChixTape” singer assaulted him in November of 2019 during a party at LIV nightclub.
There’s a new Hip-Hop classic on Netflix and “The 40-year Old Version” is an already critically acclaimed film directed and starring Radha Blank.
The movie, which also stars popular rapper Oswin Benjamin, chronicles the exploits of an aging playwright that decides to pursue a rap career and all the foibles that accompany the journey. Radha, also the name of the lead character in the movie, struggles with the fickle, odd, and seemingly racist world of theater. Fighting for a breakthrough, she decides to rebrand herself as rapper RadhaMUSPrime, and bounces between contrasting worlds.
“The 40-year Old Version” is more than a traditional rap movie as it explores the 40-and-up crew, where this growing community fits in the culture, the changing demographics of New York City, and even romantic love amid the changing Hip-Hop landscape.
Radha revealed the movie honors the OG’s of the culture, stating explicitly that they have a stake in the game in 2020.
“I think the messaging – very much like Common’s ‘I Used to Love H.E.R.’ – Hip-Hop has gone through many changes, but, at the end of the day, it still belongs to us. It’s ours,” she told AllHipHop, “And when I say ours, I mean people that are not necessarily in the prime of their youth.”
The movie takes place in the current era, but has a distinct retro-feel that did not escape critical audiences that gave it a whopping 98% on Rotten Tomatoes.
“I know that the culture of typically associated with the young people, but I feel like we’ve gotten to the point now where so many people got their hands on it. I am hoping that the film represents us taking it back in a way. One of the biggest compliments on the film is that it takes place in the 90’s,” Radha explained. “And I feel like at that time– not to be an old person reminiscing on the good old days – it was when the art form was at its best. So many voices were represented. From the Native Tongues to…whatever….we had so many different styles and emcees. I’m hoping that we get back to that, but the film is my way of celebrating that diversity of New York Hip-Hop.”
Oswin Benjamin, a rapper well-regarded in the tightly knit NYC rap scene, plays an introverted producer, Dee. He found himself in a unique place taking a backseat to the many rappers in the movie.
“If you’re an emcee, you got that thing. You see other people rapping around you, you kinda want to speak your peace. That’s very much something I am familiar with, but to be able to turn all that down, and just observe as a producer), it was like ‘Ohhhh I got a 16!’,” he said laughingly. “It was like aiiight cool. This is not the time for that. This is the role you are playing. I think it was cool to differentiate that for myself. It was a life lesson: you don’t gotta be ‘that guy’ anyway.”
Radha and Dee take a liking to each other in a clash of generations and the result is a special blend of authenticity, humor, and Hip-Hop.
