(AllHipHop News) Two huge female duets were released in 1998. “The Boy Is Mine” by Brandy Norwood and Monica Arnold dropped in May of that year, then “When You Believe” by Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey came out in November.
Brandy is getting ready to let loose her new B7 album on July 31 via Brand Nu Entertainment/eOne. The legendary R&B songstress connected with Zane Lowe on Apple Music to promote her upcoming project and her “At Home With” playlist.
The interview also included Brandy discussing some of her past recordings. She reflected on “The Boy Is Mine” collaboration with Monica by suggesting the Rodney “Darkchild” Jerkins-produced tune provided inspiration for “When You Believe.”
“That’s the biggest song of my entire career, I think. What an amazing record. I think when I first heard the record with Rodney Jerkins, I couldn’t believe to hear the instruments that he used in that song. I was blown away by it,” said Brandy. “I knew that just with the topic of the song, it needed Monica on it. I thought that she just brought such an amazing flavor, an amazing swag to the song and every time I hear it, it sounds fresh and new to this day.”
The 41-year-old Grammy winner continued, “And I want to say this. After that duet, I remember Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey then doing a duet. I always say that it was because of ‘The Boy Is Mine’ my two favorite artists got together to do a duet. I always feel like me and Monica had something to do with that.”
Partially inspired by Michael Jackson and Paul McCartney’s 1982 Thriller track “The Girl Is Mine,” the 2x-Platinum “The Boy Is Mine” single lived on both Brandy’s Never Say Never album and Monica’s The Boy Is Mine album. The smash-hit spent 13 weeks at #1 on Billboard‘s Hot 100 chart.
“When You Believe” appeared on The Prince of Egypt soundtrack, Whitney Houston’s My Love Is Your Love studio album, and Mariah Carey’s #1’s compilation album. The songpeaked at #15 on the Hot 100. Songwriter Stephen Schwartz won an Oscar for Best Original Song at the 71st annual Academy Awards ceremony.
(AllHipHop News) In June, SAINt JHN earned his first Top 10 record on theHot 100 with the single “Roses” off the 2018 Collection One album. The track currently sits at #8 on the Billboard chart.
SAINt JHN’s song could see a chart bounce in the coming weeks, thanks to a new version of “Roses” featuring Future. The Brooklynite and the ATLien also shot an official music video for the remix.
The visuals were filmed in Miami with a lo-fi vintage aesthetic. SAINt JHN ended the MV with a black screen featuring the words, “Breonna Taylor’s murderers have still not been arrested.”
Breonna Taylor was shot and killed inside her Louisville home on March 13 when three plainclothes cops served a “no-knock warrant” for a suspect that did not live at that residence and who was already in police custody. Officer Brett Hankison was fired from the department, but none of Taylor’s killers have been arrested or charged with a crime.
(AllHipHop News) Following days of condemnation, Nick Cannon sat down with Rabbi Abraham Cooper. Thediscussion was part of Cannon’s public reconciliation with the Jewish community following comments he made that were viewed as anti-Semitic.
In addition to the Cannon’s Class conversation with Cooper, Cannon was also a topic during an interview involving Tip “T.I.” Harris. The Atlanta-bred entertainer spoke about the Howard University graduate on The Breakfast Club.
“It ain’t our job to cancel him. First of all, let’s look at Nick Cannon’s career and his reputation. Look at how many Black people he’s put in position and helped and got off of zero. Look at how time after time after time, he’s made contributions to the culture. I think that has to speak for him,” T.I. stated.
The expediTIously podcast host added, “We must hold him accountable if necessary, but we can’t just discount and discard our people because don’t no one else do their people like that. Why we expected to throw ours away when they make a mistake?”
First and foremost I extend my deepest and most sincere apologies to my Jewish sisters and brothers for the hurtful and divisive words that came out of my mouth during my interview with Richard Griffin.
T.I. defended Cannon’s decision to offer remorse. He said, “Whether you agree or disagree with the apology, I don’t think you take that apology and use it as a reasonable justification to slander or villainize one of our national treasures. We just can’t do that. We, as a people, can’t afford to do that. I don’t know how strong motherf*ckers think we is in this sh*t, but in order for us to make it to where we’re going, we got to stick together.”
(AllHipHop News) Shocking footage emerged earlier this month of two Caucasian men attacking a Black man in Bloomington, Indiana. It appeared that Sean Purdy and Jerry Cox were attempting to lynch civil rights activist Vauhxx Booker at Lake Monroe.
Purdy and Cox have been charged with criminal confinement, battery, and intimidation by Monroe County Prosecuting Attorney Erika Oliphant. However, Memphis rapper Mario “Yo Gotti” Mims is among the people calling for a federal hate crime investigation.
Gotti and WNBA All-Star Skylar Diggins-Smith as well as attorneys Joe Tacopina and Jordan Siev signed a letter addressed to U.S. Attorney General William Barr. Team Roc, the social justice arm of Jay-Z’s Roc Nation, also secured Tacopina and Siev to assist Booker’s local attorney in the case.
The opening paragraph of the Team Roc letter reads:
We write to you about a recent hate crime that took place in Indiana which has outraged and appalled Americans nationwide: the attempted lynching of Vauhxx Booker. We write as a group of concerned citizens and lawyers working with Team Roc—the social justice division of entertainment company Roc Nation LLC— in order to respectfully call on your office to fulfill its duty to see that justice is done, by taking swift and sure action to hold the perpetrators of this heinous crime accountable pursuant to the Shepard Byrd Hate Crimes Prevention Act, 18 U.S.C. section 249.
The letter ends:
Now more than ever, it is crucial that federal law enforcement entities show that they take racism seriously, and stand on the same side as the Black Americans who face it every single day. Americans are watching: only bringing the attackers to justice will honor their trust.
(AllHipHop News) Mr. West is at again. The billionaire rapper/designer took over Twitter with another round of random tweets about topics ranging from Michael Jackson and Tommy Mottola to Lil Baby and Drake.
One particular post garnered a lot of attention because it seemed as if West was suggesting his wife, Kim Kardashian, tried to have an affair with another Hip Hop star. The tweet appeared to reference a 2018 Criminal Justice Reform Summit featuring Kim K and Meek Mill.
“I been trying to get divorced since Kim met with Meek at the [Waldorf Hotel] for ‘prison reform.’ I got 200 more to go. This my lady tweet of the night,” wrote Kanye in a now-deleted message. He later added, “Meek is my man and was respectful. That’s my dog. Kim was out of line.”
The self-described Christian also had some critical things to say about his mother-in-law, Kris Jenner, who he referred to as “Kris Jong-Un.” He claimed Kardashian and Jenner put out a statement about him without his approval and ended that tweet with “that’s not what a wife should do… white supremacy.”
(AllHipHop News) J. Cole was hit with massive criticism the last time the world heard him on wax in June. “Snow On Tha Bluff” seemed to be a response to NoName, and some listeners took issue with what Cole had to say to the Chicago rapper.
This week, the world is set to get more new music from J. Cole. The Dreamville Records co-founder announced he is dropping two new tracks tonight (7/22).
The Climb Back – produced by me. Lion King on Ice – produced by J. Cole, T-Minus, and Jetson. First 2 songs from The Fall Off. Dropping tomorrow night 10pm. No date for the album yet, taking my time, still finishing. ❤️
“The Climb Back – produced by me. Lion King on Ice – produced by J. Cole, T-Minus, and Jetson. First 2 songs from The Fall Off. Dropping tomorrow night 10 pm. No date for the album yet, taking my time, still finishing,” tweeted Cole on Tuesday afternoon.
“Lion King on Ice” appears to be a continuation of The Lion King theme that J. Cole has incorporated into his brand with other records such as “Simba,” “Grown Simba,” and “Return of Simba.” The Fall Off project will be the 35-year-old’s first full-length album since 2018’s KOD.
(AllHipHop News) Rap star Kanye West is being accused of skipping out on several depositions in relation to a claim the Bible-thumping rapper stole a kid’s prayer and used it without permission.
Andrew Green and Shirley Green say Kanye never had permission to license their adopted four-year-old’s prayer, which was integrated into the first 28-seconds of his song “Ultralight Beam” from the rapper’s#### album The Life of Pablo.
The Green’s are the legal guardians of a minor named “N.G.” and another child named Andreia Green. They maintain Kanye stole the little girl’s prayer called “4-Year-old Natalie Praying for us” from social media.
Kanye’s lawyers have rejected any wrongdoing since the copyright for the prayer was not registered until after Kanye commercially released “Ultralight Beam” and The Life of Pablo.
Furthermore, Kanye’s attorneys assert the recording was actually filmed by the girl’s biological mom, Alice T. Johnson, who used her mobile phone to record the girl “praying over” Andreia and then uploaded the clip to Instagram.
“[N.G. and] Andreia have publicity rights in the commercial use of their voices as sampled in Mr. West’s song, along with certain copyrights in their performance as recorded,” according to the Green’s lawyer, Jason Scott Luck.
“In addition, N has acquired by signed, written agreement all copyrights of the recording of N ‘s and Andreia’s performance from Alice Johnson a/k/a Carmin Johnson. Ms. Johnson is the person who recorded the video of N ‘s and Andreia’s performance that Mr. West sampled,” according to Luck.
A few days ago, the Green’s grumbled to the court that Kanye has skipped out on three different depositions, so they are asking a judge to force the rap star into court on August 21st.
The Green’s claim Kanye has avoided the sit down for over seven months now, and that the rapper has just flat out refused to cooperate.
To be fair, Kanye’s lawyers warned the Greens that he would be difficult to pin down due to his schedule, which is booked months in advance.
The Chicago rapper isn’t really hiding either.
Ye has been busy taking on President Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden, in the 2020 race for the White House.
According to reports Kanye is currently holed up in a bunker on his ranch in Wyoming surrounded by security after a rambling speech at his kickoff campaign rally in South Carolina over the weekend.
A1Beam is here to prove himself in the rap game, while putting on for Baltimore. Doing everything completely independent, the 24-year-old arrives with his own sound, own raps, and own swag. He states, ”I produce my own beats, I make my own videos, I engineer my own music. I do everything myself.”
With 42.5K followers on instagram and counting, Beam is quickly proving why he’s one of the hottest artists and producers to come out of Bmore. With a father who was a musician, he spent his lunch breaks and off days in high school recording music and shooting music videos. He was also an all-star athlete, who was actually on the path to play college football.
The turning point in his life arrived when he was unjustly shot by a police officer while recording a music video. Since then, he’s made it a point to chase his dreams for the long run, with music being his end-be-all. With Beam actually being part of his last name, the “Walk” rapper pushes his #NLU mantra, which stands for Never Let Up.
AllHipHop caught up with A1Beam via FaceTime to discuss the making of “Walk,” what made him want to rap, being shot by the police, dream collabs, wanting to sign, and more!
AllHipHop: “Walk” is a banger. Were you feeling yourself in the studio?
A1Beam: Man, I don’t write songs. I was in the studio, somebody said something about walking and I put it together like that. Pieced it all together. I be in my zone when I’m in the studio. I put it together in 10 minutes.
AllHipHop: You say “in the city move with heaters.” What’s the reality of growing up in Baltimore?
A1Beam: Staying protected and staying out the way, because it gets serious out here.
AllHipHop: What was the household like growing up?
A1Beam: It was good. It was me, my mother, my sister, that’s it. Just us in there. I did what I had to do to make sure everyone’s happy.
AllHipHop: When did music come into play?
A1Beam: When I was 11 or 12, I was watching something about Boosie on YouTube. I thought “I want to be like that, I want to be a rapper now.” Ever since then, I started rapping. My stepfather got me into the studio years ago and I ran with it. He was a Jamaican artist so he got me in there, stopped me from being shy. That’s how it happened.
AllHipHop: At what point did you realize you could do music for a living?
A1Beam: When I started getting a lot of streams and a lot of views. I did some marketing, I probably got over 10 million views online. I was posted on The Shade Room, Say Cheese. I was all over the place, I went viral. I was getting handcuffed while shooting a music video out here in Baltimore, it went all over the place. I was at 8K followers and overnight, I had 21K. It’s crazy, it happened overnight.
AllHipHop: What were you handcuffed for?
A1Beam: They said I was trespassing, it is what it is.
AllHipHop: What happened when you were shot by the police?
A1Beam: I was actually filming a video, [police came. I had my back turned, I got shot in my back. They opened the door and shot inside the building, hit me in my back. I guess they got a call. I don’t know what kind of call they got because I wasn’t doing anything but shooting a video. He shot me in my back for no reason.
AllHipHop: How old were you?
A1Beam: I was 20 or 21. I was in the hospital for about a week. From there, I went home. I couldn’t walk for a month or 2. I was kicking back the whole time, trying to stay home.
AllHipHop: Did music help obviously?
A1Beam: At the time, yeah. I was making beats everyday in my free time. I make all my beats, I was making beats everyday and healing. I produce all my own s##t.
AllHipHop: Did you start out producing?
A1Beam: I actually started out rapping, but I didn’t have anybody to make beats. I didn’t really know about YouTube beats like that forreal so I started learning on my own. Trying to learn how to record myself on the laptop, it helped. I do it all the time now.
AllHipHop: What’s one thing you want fans to get from Da Preacher EP?
A1Beam: I want them to see how hard I’m about to come. That was a warm up. Expect a lot of videos, another big mixtape with some nice features on it. If I can go viral again, I’ll do that again. I’m coming real hard.
AllHipHop: You didn’t expect to go viral right?
A1Beam: Nah, just at the moment type thing. I didn’t expect to get 21K followers overnight, I was literally at 8K followers. Worldstar posted me, I was all over the place. I was going viral on Facebook, it was crazy. It can happen again, I wish it would. [chuckles]
AllHipHop: You released the visual for “Quick Flippa,” what was your creative vision with this one?
A1Beam: I said “let’s shoot it, let’s get this s##t done.” I actually edited that video. Sometimes I’ll be like “this song is fire, let’s shoot.” I make the song that night and shoot the video the next day, that’s how I do it.
AllHipHop: What does it mean to shoot videos in your hometown?
A1Beam: It’s where I’m from. I’m good anywhere out here.
AllHipHop: Talk about the independent grind. Are you looking for a major?
A1Beam: I actually want to sign because it’s part of my rap dream. I want to sign one day. As far as independently, I’m doing well for myself actually. I’m getting a good amount of views, a good amount of streams. “Walk” hit 100K plus streams, “Quick Flippa” going up. I’m actually doing fine with barely any blog posts, I’m doing marketing myself.
AllHipHop: What’s the origin of NLU?
A1Beam: When I got shot, I felt like I lost it all. I was down. I kept thinking to myself: keep pushing and never let up. It’s a rough time in my life and I kept pushing, kept striving. Never Let Up and ran with it. It means a lot to me.
A1Beam: Water, cell phone, and I like to record with money sometimes. It motivates me.
AllHipHop: I know Shordie Shordie is from Baltimore, are you cool with him?
A1Beam: Yeah we’re cool, we’ve never worked with each other. I was out in Atlanta with Bandhunta Izzy this weekend, the studio session was fire. The track’s crazy, I plan on dropping that next once we shoot the video. Once he’s back in Baltimore because I’m in Baltimore now.
AllHipHop: Who are your dream collabs?
A1Beam: That’s a hard one, I could name a couple features I want right now. Lil Baby, Migos, DaBaby. I always listened to Migos coming up. I used to like 50 Cent a lot, I’d do something with 50. And Boosie.
AllHipHop: What goals do you have for yourself?
A1Beam: My goal right now is to hit a million views on a video. I haven’t hit a million views yet, that’s one of my main goals. To sign, of course. A lot of people keep telling me don’t sign though. It was a dream though, so I want to accomplish it.
AllHipHop: Anything else you want to let us know?
A1Beam: A lot of music is on the way, keep following the kid. Stay tuned.
(AllHipHop Rumors) Drake and J. Cole are not built the same way. Both men seem to be pretty private but one of them has been able to successfully hide his children. J. Cole recently made a startling revelation that he actually has two sons.
The rapper made the revelation in a 3500-word essay for a website called The Player’s Tribune. The story was titled “ The Audacity“ and he reflects on his life after his 2016 album, 4 Your Eyes Only. “Four years have passed. In that time I’ve been blessed with two sons, learned the delicate art of balance between parenthood and career, had the pleasure of working with a ton of talented artists as a featured rapper, spent 10 magical days recording a Dreamville album in Atlanta, and put a lot of time and energy into sharpening my sword and growing as an artist,” Cole wrote in the opus.
Honestly, this should come as no surprise. J. Cole is seriously private and we really don’t see much of anything about his personal life in public. But I do think that it is quite shocking that he has been able to hide this new kid for this long. We have not seen pictures of either. You know the Internet is able to sleuth out just about anything. I was looking at a couple of sites and they claim to know more about J. Cole than J. Cole knows about J. Cole. All of his personal details seem to be out there but I personally think they are telling duck tales. There are a lotta rumors!
Imagine being so fanatical about a person that is simply trying to keep his business to himself! At any rate J. Cole seems to be a very proud papa and he has two sons to boot. A lot of people thought he had a daughter with his wife Melissa but that was bad intel.
In other rumors, the North Carolina rapper has been considered retiring. That much, I did not know. I don’t believe he will retire but I can imagine that having some kids, or wife and aging and Hip-Hop can wear a good guy down. A lot of these people just run the streets shirking their responsibility to their families. I do not think that Cole is that kind of a man.
Can’t wait for the new album to drop. Can we get past this coronavirus mess already?
(AllHipHop Rumors)This is “Signs The World IS Coming To An End!” This is a section of the site that I used to do back in the day where I would highlight things that happen in the world that signify the world is coming to an end. Now, in the year 2020, we see that the world may just be coming to an end. So there is more and more crazy stuff going on for me to draw from. And draw, I shall!
In Texas, there’s a woman who has amassed a salary of six figures every year! What does this woman do? This woman acts like a puppy on the Internet in her OnlyFans page. Her name is Jenna Phillips in Austin, the oasis of Texas. Jenna once was an optician but quit because she made more money pretending to be a puppy. Now I don’t know if she does any nudity because that is what is the norm on OnlyFans pages! I certainly am not going to pay for that mess but, there seem to be guys that are willing to look at a 21-year-old play fetch scratch themselves and just act like a little dog.
On top of this the woman has 125,000 followers on TickTock. Monthly you can look at this for $20 a month and it does lead into some sexual content. I just simply don’t know what that is. Shout out to “thatpuppygirl”!
Now how are we supposed to tell people that education is the way when this is how people are getting six figures. College is a wonderful thing and it often times frees people up from poverty. But if you can get paid six figures to act like a damn puppy, I am thinking that a lot of people were up to just do that foolishness. In fact, this woman makes more money than me to keep it real with you! I am broke by comparison!
Did I mention, she does this in public?
Now you were not about to see illseed act like a puppy but I’m thinking maybe I need to act like something other than myself in order to increase my pay. Help!
The outcome of her lawsuit against Shaft is crucial because Cardi’s royalties have been jammed up for the last two years as the lawsuit winds through the court.
Cardi had two firms representing her: Robins Kaplan and Reitler Kailas & Rosenblatt.
Yesterday (July 20th) another legal battle erupted in court when a lawyer named Paul V. LiCalsi representing Reitler Kailas & Rosenblatt asked a judge to be removed from defending Cardi B in her countersuit against Shaft.
In a heavily redacted court document, LiCalsi said “Ms. Almanzar and Reitler have divergent and irreconcilable views regarding the litigation strategy to employ in this matter,” which have seriously impaired Reitler’s ability to represent her.
“During the course of Reitler’s representation of Ms. Almanzar in this litigation, Reitler has performed a substantial amount of work in connection with the discovery phase of this action and has participated in extensive and lengthy settlement negotiations on behalf of Ms. Almanzar in the hopes of effectuating a global settlement to resolve the instant action,” Paul V. LiCalsi said.
But LiCalsi said they cannot agree on an appropriate strategy to resolve the lawsuit and as such, there has “been a significant erosion of the attorney-client relationship.”
LiCalsi said Reitler warned Cardi they wanted to be dropped from the case, but the superstar rapper never responded to their request to be removed as her counsel.
Thankfully, Cardi still has the legal firepower of Robins Kaplan, which LiCalsi admitted was more than enough and would not prejudice the litigation once Reitler is off the case.
Kevin Michael Brophy is suing the pair for allegedly using his back tattoo on her mixtape “Gangsta B##ch Music Vol 1.”
During her deposition, Cardi revealed she hadn’t received royalties from her music in almost two years due to the litigation with Shaft, who claims he gave the rapper one of her biggest hits, “Bodak Yellow.”
Cardi confirmed the information during a series of tweets, where she explained the situation in greater detail.
According to my lawyers alittle but more then that but it can’t be touch till my litigation is over.Its just can’t be touch till we solve the despute.But when that fat ass check hit my account all at once it’s gonna be lit .Thats why I never trip cause it’s there. https://t.co/aHibuWDOT8
I don’t know really.I already bought everything I want .My cars ,house I got sooo much jewelry bags clothes .Nothing really I might just leave it in the bank like the rest of my money . https://t.co/qcqP0ybh1G
(AllHipHop Features) The evolution of Kamaiyah Jamesha Johnson as a recording artist encompasses a transition from being snared in the major label corporate system to once again experiencing the freedom of independence. However, that musical emancipation did not come without battle scars.
Kamaiyah signed to Interscope Records in 2016. The following year she was named a member of XXL‘s 2017 Freshman Class along with other rising rookies like A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie, Playboi Carti, and XXXTentacion. The “How Does It Feel” performer even booked a Sprite commercial with NBA superstar LeBron James.
After significant time waiting on stand-by for her major-label debut album to get the final green light, Kamaiyah chose to break from Interscope and YG’s 4Hunnid Records. A new self-owned company called GRND.WRK was established and the West Coast queen freed her latest full-length project earlier this year.
Got It Made arrived on February 21. Kamaiyah was able to flaunt her fiery lyrical ability and impassioned delivery while still pocketing the lion’s share of the profits. She quickly reinforced her Declaration of Independence by letting her followers and detractors know, “I love myself. I trust myself. I don’t need nobody else,” on the track titled “Pressure.”
Last week, I spoke to Kamaiyah by phone about the artistic and financial significance of being an indie artist in 2020. Her seesawing journey in the entertainment industry equipped her with experiences that serve as lessons for her own advancement and possibly other creators’ progression as well.
AllHipHop: How are you holding up during this COVID-19 situation?
Kamaiyah: I’m doing well, honestly. With the circumstance that’s going on, I think I couldn’t be doing better.
AllHipHop: You released your latest mixtape, Got It Made, while all this was happening. A lot of the industry was forced to shut down. Concerts were canceled and postponed. Did you have to make any major changes to your rollout process?
Kamaiyah: Yeah, I was supposed to be on tour immediately after I came back from my birthday trip on March 16. The whole world shut down. I was supposed to be on tour by April. We had to cancel the whole tour because COVID-19 made all the arenas be like, “No.” Every venue was like, “No.” At first, they were like, “Maybe we can switch the dates.” It went from switching the dates to completely to “no.” It went from switching the date to it absolutely not happening to maybe we can do it in June 2020. Now it’s potentially 2021 for touring. So it’s just not good right now.
AllHipHop: You left the major label and decided to go independent. This year we’ve seen quite a few artists talk about wanting to break away from that corporate label structure. Do you have any advice on making that transition? How has it been for you professionally?
Kamaiyah: I feel like for me, personally, I have more liberty and freedom to do what I want. I feel like as an artist, when we sign these deals, people have this assumption of how things are going to go. But it’s not the 1990s or early 2000s. These labels just want something that’s already blowing so they can just add a little fire to it, if that, to make money off it. They’re coming to you because you’re already hot. People don’t understand that. They think, “I need the label to get hotter.” All you really gotta do is know the right people and you can invest in yourself and make your career go better. They go to the label thinking the label’s going to invest more money into them, but they’re not. Now you’re in the hole and wondering why you’re not making money no more. You’re better off staying indie.
AllHipHop: That seems to be the route a lot of artists are trying to take now. Especially with social media. You can directly connect with your fans.
Kamaiyah: Direct marketing.
AllHipHop: You have your own label now. Did you pick up any lessons from your experience in the industry that you’re going to apply while you’re running your own company?
Kamaiyah: Yeah, don’t waste money. Don’t go too big on too many visuals. People just want to see you. They don’t give a f*ck if you shot it on an iPhone. Just don’t waste money and have consistent content. The quality [of your videos] don’t always gotta be 100%. Nobody gives f*ck. You can be standing on your couch in your living room shooting a video. People just want to see you.
AllHipHop: You’re pretty active on social media.
Kamaiyah: Yeah. I like Twitter more than anything. Yeah, I f*ck with Twitter.
The “ Pressure “ video is out now and it’s my favorite video I’ve ever shot I don’t care about the numbers right now I’m just giving y’all quality s### so y’all can see how f##### dope I am until I catch a hit record this is back to back high quality s### 😩🙏🏾 https://t.co/7QONe7jN1e
AllHipHop: As a writer, I kind of lean more towards Twitter too. You talked about shooting videos. When you released the “Pressure” video, you tweeted that you don’t really care about the numbers for this one. As an indie artist, do you feel less pressure, no pun intended, to not be so focused on the stats and just focus more on the art?
Kamaiyah: Yeah, cause I feel like when you’re on a label, everything’s about the numbers because you got to recoup a certain amount of money. When you’re independent, you’re going to make a certain amount because you own all your sh*t. So it’s like a whole different type of ball game.
AllHipHop: So you own all of your music?
Kamaiyah: Correct.
AllHipHop: You were talking before about how people don’t really understand how the business works. I think that’s one of the things that a lot of people don’t really get – the ownership aspect of it. Owning your masters is huge because a lot of artists don’t get that. That’s a big move.
Kamaiyah: You got to look at it like this, back in the 90s you had n*ggas like Master P and E-40. They owned their masters. They understood the end game of that. It’s going to always be certain people in the game who understand that. But then there’s going to be other n*ggas who ain’t got the patience for that, so they’re going to just go to the label which is essentially just a bank. Instead of holding out on that $1 million right now, when you can get $100 million if you’re just patient. They don’t get that philosophy behind it. They just want the money and everything now.
AllHipHop: I’ve had conversations with people in the industry. One of the things people talk about, especially over the last few months, is how there needs to be more responsibility put on the labels. Obviously, they’re not going to do this because they’re companies, but there should be more pressure put on them to educate artists when they first come in the game. If you’re a 17-year-old kid and somebody’s throwing a million dollars at you, you may not necessarily understand what you’re actually signing up for.
Kamaiyah: You have to understand it from a business aspect. I don’t get why people make those types of statements. What motherf*cker you know would want to tell a n*gga the game? This is how I make my money. I’m not about to tell you how not to make me money. That’s essentially what they’re asking of the labels.That’s dumb. The label ain’t gonna be like, “If I sign you for this, you’re only going to make this much, and I make this much.” That’s never going to happen. That’s not realistic.
AllHipHop: Like you said, going the indie route can really be beneficial.
Kamaiyah: You’re going to get everything except the distributor’s cut which is roughly 10%-15%, possibly 20%. I rather take 80% of everything than to be on a label and get 10% or 11% of absolutely f*cking nothing because I’m always in the hole and recouping.
AllHipHop: Who’s your distributor?
Kamaiyah: Empire right now. Before Empire, I owned A Good Night in the Ghetto through TuneCore.
I take full accountability for the fact that I used to be toxic as f### I had to go through some s### to grow through some s### and I appreciate my toxic stinct because it gave me values, moral, and character. I wasn’t born with a manual to life but I navigate life well to grow.
AllHipHop: I saw a tweet you put out about taking responsibility for possibly being toxic in the past. The idea of “cancel culture” has been a major conversation recently. What are your thoughts on this idea of people being “canceled” for old comments or old actions?
Kamaiyah: I don’t believe in that sh*t. If a mother*cker would have pulled my Twitter before I blew up they would see some crazy sh*t. People have the ability to grow. When you’re young, you gotta evolve. People don’t believe in evolving. How I feel right now, I may be ignorant of a situation because I’m not educated on it. So it’s like you can’t judge me, based on my ignorance, right now. Everybody has the opportunity to grow and be educated on a topic. I feel like nowadays instead of somebody educating you, they’re like, “Oh, we’re going to cancel this motherf*cker! F*ck them!” How are you going to say f*ck somebody for being ignorant? If you see somebody’s ignorant, as a brother who’s supposed to be woke or as a mentor, you’re supposed to educate them. Canceling them ain’t evolving our people or making us manifest as a culture. You’re setting the culture back when you cancel somebody. How are we gonna grow? We can’t evolve like that. Put them on game.
AllHipHop: Another big topic recently has been the Black Lives Matter movement. You put posts on your Instagram page about George Floyd and topics related to that. Then on Juneteenth, you dropped a video for “Black Excellence” which seemed to be appropriate for the times. Was that particular [song] a setup for you to release another project?
Kamaiyah: “Black Excellence” was recorded months before everything happened. I had pushed it back for weeks because of what was going on. So it wasn’t done with intent, but it just happened when it happened. And there’s definitely a project coming very soon. I’m definitely about to start dropping more music. Because like I said, I feel like being independent is like real estate. I have to have different streams of income which is [releasing] multiple projects. I have to keep continuously dropping projects, so I’m just focused on that. I’m planning out my years ahead of time versus just doing things monthly. On my calendar, I plan things out by the year. The projects’ names already be done. It’s just a matter of when the public actually gets what I already created.
AllHipHop: I saw you hinted about dropping an EP. In another interview, you said that you’re working on a collaborative project. Is that the same thing or two separate projects?
Kamaiyah: Two separate entities.
AllHipHop: Do you have a timeframe of when you’re thinking about which one you’re going to drop first?
Kamaiyah: Nah, I’m just working. Like I said, there ain’t no pressure on me. The game I’m playing is the numbers game. It’s a probability game. If I put out 60 to 100 records, what’s the probability that one of them is going to be a hit? Versus me just putting out one project and hoping one of those 12 records will be a hit. I rather put out 100 and know I got 100 chances to make a hit versus me only having 12.
AllHipHop: You sound like you’re really loving your artistic freedom.
Kamaiyah: Absolutely. I felt like I was in a cage for so long that I started doubting myself because of the pressure other people were putting on me that wasn’t there initially. It was like all of these cages and boxes that didn’t exist. Now I’m back to just being free. I can f*cking wake up and make a Pop song if I want to. That’s liberating because you never know what’s going to be the song that changes your life forever. So I rather just keep shooting my shot. That’s why I feel like putting out multiple projects and multiple records will quadruple my chances of having that opportunity.
AllHipHop: That’s a true statement. It only takes one song and everything changes.
Kamaiyah: If I put out 100 records right now and one of them changes my life, what do you think that’s going to do for those other 99 [records] that’s already out there? It makes me more f*cking money because everybody is gonna go back and listen like, “What are these other 99 records that I never heard before from this person?” And that’s great when you’re independent because now you have 99 songs that just went up 600% in streams because you have a hit record. And you own all of it.
AllHipHop: That is one of the big advantages of being in the streaming era. I wrote an article recently. [The data tracking firm] Nielsen looked at the increase in streams over the last month, and they noticed that a lot of the songs that got huge boosts were songs like Kendrick Lamar’s “Alright” and Childish Gambino’s “This Is America.” People are going back to streaming those songs. Like you said, now you’re getting more revenue for old songs. That may not have been the case 20 years ago because people may not have gone out and bought a CD.
Kamaiyah: Yeah, you’re not going to the damn store to buy a CD. You can just play the same record over and over. That’s where we got an advantage. That’s why album sales don’t really matter anymore because the consumer has a direct record that they can listen to over and over again. And they don’t have to buy the whole album to get that one record. Back in the day, you had to get the album unless there was a hit single that label was pushing that had a single disc. Now somebody can get that one record and every time they spin it, it still counts towards you making money. Back in the day, they only made money off that one single CD. Now you can continuously play that same sh*t and I’m making money.
AllHipHop: About a year ago, Cardi B shouted you out on Instagram. She also shouted out Tierra Whack, Chika, and Rapsody at the time. It got a lot of attention, even outside of the Hip Hop press. Did that moment impact your numbers?
Kamaiyah: I didn’t really pay attention. I know I got a lot of followers from it, for sure. Shout out to the homegirl, Cardi. Cardi is a real one. I f*ck with Cardi. That takes a lot of humility and a lot of self-confidence to big up other females because females are insecure in Hip Hop. So that shows how secure she is within herself to shout out multiple other women. It’s dope that she did that.
AllHipHop: It does seem like over the last couple of years female artists have been more willing to work together than we may have seen before.
Kamaiyah: We don’t give a f*ck about that old sh*t. That old-dated “y’all can’t get along”… That sh*t is gone. You’re hustling. I’m hustling. You’re getting money. I’m getting money. What’s the beef? There’s nothing to beef over. You have your market that you’re directly pitching towards. I have my market. If they somehow happen to cross paths, we’re still both making money because both of our sh*t is streaming. So what’s the real f*cking issue?
AllHipHop: What do you have planned next for GRND.WRK?
Kamaiyah: Building the catalog and growing as a brand and a label. That’s it.
AllHipHop: Have you signed any artists yet? Are you looking to add anyone to the roster?
Kamaiyah: Not yet. I gotta build myself up. How am I gonna f*ck somebody else’s life up if mine ain’t correct? [laughs] I can’t make you a millionaire if I ain’t a millionaire yet, g########. I gotta get my sh*t straight before I even attempt to actually be that type of person. I feel like I’m educated enough to do that, to evolve and change someone’s life, but I’m not in the position to be doing that because I’m more focused on myself and I would be selfish to put somebody in that predicament.
(AllHipHop Rumors) Grumble, grumble. Kanye West is in news again, y’all. This time we are talking about something that periodically comes up over and over and over and over and over again. Is divorce looming over Kanye West and Kim Kardashian? The answer is always yes, because these folks live a life that we cannot conceive, nor do we want it.
At any rate, there are rumors that Kim and Kanye are all set to be divorced over the last manic episode from Mr. West. Yes, that fiasco where he seemed to shade Harriet Tubman. People are universally stating that he has mental disease running rampant through his body. But does anybody love him? There does not seem to be anybody around him to help him manage his condition. The first person you would think that would be around him would be his wife, right? But no, it does not seem like he and his wife are even in the same home. She lives in LA and he lives in Wyoming, on a ranch.
On top of it all, Kanye called out for his wife to simply give him a call and to contact him. ON TWITTER! This is highly suggestive that there’s a problem with communication. In fact, it states very matter-of-factly that there is a problem, big time! Can’t Pusha T help him out? What about GLC? And this is the guy you want for president? IJS!
What is more confounding is really we are looking at someone promote an album. Can we get that out of the way? Is Kanye acting, or is this simply a man having a bipolar mental breakdown right in front of us. Kanye West says he loves his wife and kids but seems highly isolated from them in a way that might promote a mental decomposition. Divorce rumors have surrounded these guys for years so this is nothing really new, but I just hope they don’t take him to the cleaners before he dies or gets the divorce.
GLC, Kanye West’s friend and collaborator, commented on the whole ordeal…..around the 27-minute mark. He says some nice things about Kanye West.
Oh and yes…there is a picture of Kanye and Trump…just because.
(AllHipHop News) Hip Hop superproducers Swizz Beatz and Timbaland helped keep millions of people entertained during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic with Verzuz. The head-to-head hits clash showcased music legends and classic songs.
Apple Music is now officially the exclusive music partner for the Verzuz series. The battles will be broadcast live on Apple Music and Beats 1 for free while simultaneously streaming on Instagram Live. The events will also be available on-demand following the live streams.
As a precursor for the upcoming battle, Apple Music host Lowkey curated the “Verzuz Cheat Sheet Playlist: Snoop Dogg x DMX” which includes cuts like Snoop’s “Gin & Juice” and DMX’s “Ruff Ryders’ Anthem.” The collection also hosts records by artists like LL Cool J, Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, 2Pac, Jay-Z, and The Lox that feature either X or the D-O-double-G.
Swizz Beatz and Timbaland are said to be producing more episodes of Verzuz in the coming weeks. Atlanta emcee T.I. recently challenged Queens native 50 Cent to go against him as part of the popular series, but that possible musical bout has not been confirmed.
Previously, fans got to see RZA vs DJ Premier, Teddy Riley vs Babyface, Erykah Badu vs Jill Scott, Nelly vs Ludacris, John Legend vs Alicia Keys, and more. Verzuz battles consistently boosted the participants’ plays on streaming services with Badu and Scott’s combined catalogs seeing a 217% increase on May 19.
(AllHipHop Rumors) Meek Mill and Nicki Minaj had it all at one point. The one-time couple used to be the B-level celebrity romance (the hood Jay-Bey!) that a lot of people were tuned into even if they didn’t really understand how it occurred. These days, everything has changed and they are no longer an item, no longer friends. Meek and Nicki‘s husband Mr. Petty almost got into a fight earlier this year. It never ends.
Now with the revelation that Nicki Minaj is pregnant or eyes are on her once again. The reason I’m writing this is because Meek made an emoji comment under another post that chided people for congratulating the rap queen on her pregnancy. This guy named Justin is apparently a celebrity influencer but he cracked a real funny when he made fun of Barbs that we’re sending their well wishes. And then came Meek Mill with his comments which really was the equivalent of laughter. Check out the comments below.
(AllHipHop News) No one managed to dethrone DaBaby’s “Rockstar” featuring Roddy Ricch from the pinnacle of the latest Hot 100 chart. The smash collaboration leads the tally for a sixth nonconsecutive week.
Plus, “Rockstar” continues to top the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and Hot Rap Songs chart. It also climbed two positions on the Radio Songs chart to #3 because of a 9% increase in airplay audience impressions.
“Rockstar” did slip to #2 on the Streaming Songs chart. The newly released “Come & Go” by Juice WRLD and Marshmello, off the Legends Never Die album, took over the pole position in that ranking.
Roddy Ricch has dominated Billboard‘s Hot 100 chart this year. Between “Rockstar” and his own breakout hit “The Box,” the Compton native controlled the #1 spot for 57% of the weeks in 2020.
(AllHipHop News) The 2014 police shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri was one of the catalysts for Black Lives Matter. At the time, BLM was not viewed as favorably nationwide as it is now in the wake of George Floyd’s murder on May 26 of this year.
Many prominent figures spoke against the movement six years ago. For example, Travis Scott offended some people when the Houston-raised rap star seemed to suggest he was upset at the African-American community for demanding Brown’s killer be held accountable.
“I’m kind of angry that so many Black people are acting like fake activists. It’s like publicity and we’re still talking about this. I’m not saying Mike Brown was an evil person. I’m not saying he was perfect either. I’m not saying he deserved to get killed, but I’m not saying that he didn’t deserve to pay for consequences he probably inflicted,” Scott stated during an interview with Ebro in the Morning. “That’s what’s wrong with Black people and culture in general. Once something happens, no one knows how to move on without causing a disruption.”
It appears the 29-year-old Astroworld album creator has changed his mind about Black Lives Matter. Scott launched a new season of his .WAV Radio show on Apple Music, and he spoke about the activism taking place around the world that is calling for police reform and the end of systemic racism.
“It’s at a point where we got to move as one and really use our voice to maximize the attention we need. It’s been a lot of hurt. It’s been a lot of targeting towards our community. It’s been a lot overlooked. It’s been a lot of passive attention that aggressively needs to be handled,” said Scott. “And just even for myself, whether I was young or might’ve said the wrong thing, or might’ve just been misinformed, or just might’ve just been so young, having other words on my mind, not even noticing that like, ‘Yo, man. It’s a one and two with this thing.’ Where there’s people that’s hurt, there’s ways that you can jump up and help move the needle.”
He continued, “Then it’s at certain times where things in your life don’t matter no more, it’s time for you to focus the attention to a greater good cause and what’s needed immediately. Just even these past months, and just even before this, it’s always just figuring out a way that you can create direct change. At the end of the day, I’m no politician. But I know in some way, I could demand for immediate action or at least put in an influence on something. We grew up in these same streets, came from these same woods. So it’s one of them things where you just see that and you want to go fix that.”
(AllHipHop News) Less than a month ago, investors were jumping at the chance to buy Gap, Inc stock. The company had just announced a 10-year partnership with Kanye West, and its value on the New York Stock Exchange instantly jumped 30% following the news.
Yesterday, investors seemed to be more hesitant about putting money behind the ailing retailer. Gap’s stock fell around 6% on Monday. Stock market watchers believe West’s erratic speech on Sunday played a part in the decline.
“Risk or no risk of losing whatever deal possible, I am not on the board at Adidas. I am not on the board at Gap. And that has to change today or I walk away,” West told the crowd a his “presidential campaign event” in South Carolina.
The musician/entrepreneur also has a deal with the German sportswear brand Adidas for his Yeezy sneaker line. Adidas’s stock opened at $137.20 on Monday but only dropped to $136.99.
Gap is set to be the official home for the Yeezy clothing collection beginning in 2021. Yeezy was hopefully going to be a much-needed boost for Gap’s financial and public relations situation.
Art Peck stepped down as Gap’s CEO in 2019, and the company’s net sales fell by 50% in the first quarter of 2020. Reportedly, Gap was forced to close around 90% of its global stores because of the COVID-19 pandemic and its year-to-date cash flow was at a negative $1.1 billion.
(AllHipHop News) Once again, Juice WRLD is making history following his passing in December 2019. The late recording artist became just the fifth rapper to have a posthumous #1 album, and he also joined a particular pantheon for the singles chart.
Billboard revealed five songs from Juice’s Legends Never Die made it into the Top 10 of the Hot 100 this week. His name now lives besides Drake and The Beatles as the only acts to ever have at least that many songs in the Top 10 at the same time.
Juice WRLD currently has 17 records on the Hot 100. “Come & Go” with Marshmellow debuted at #2. It was also the most-streamed song of the week. His career total of entries on the chart now stands at 48.
In addition, the Chicago-bred performer helped Polo G and The Kid LAROI earn their first Top 10 song with “Hate The Other Side” landing at #10. Juice WRLD’s Legends Never Die also features Trippie Redd and Halsey.
#15, "Righteous" #16, "Bad Energy" #34, "Stay High" #35, "Fighting Demons" #38, "Tell Me U Luv Me" w/ @trippieredd #42, "Up Up and Away" #46, "Screw Juice" #47, "I Want It" #50, "Can't Die" #51, "Man of the Year"
(AllHipHop News) #PrayForYe is currently one of the top trending topics on Twitter. The world is watching Kanye West use the platform to share random thoughts about his family, Bill Cosby, NBC, Nelson Mandela, Anna Wintour, Pusha T, and more.
Many social media users are expressing concern for the billionaire entertainer as it appears he could be experiencing a bipolar manic episode. West has openly talked about his mental health diagnosis in the past.
50 Cent took to Instagram to offer his thoughts about West’s epic multi-message Twitter rant, which has now been deleted from the site. In particular, the G-unit leader focused on a tweet about Kim Kardashian.
Kanye accused his wife of trying to have him locked up for crying hysterically at a weekend “campaign rally” over once wanting to abort his firstborn child. He also referenced Jordan Peele’s award-winning film Get Out.
” oh sh*t, fool you said you almost killed your daughter. ♂️ Your wife knows best sit your ass down. Happy wife happy life,” wrote 50 on Instagram.
Kanye West and 50 Cent have a long history together. The two Hip Hop stars were engaged in a historic same-week album sales battle in 2007. Ye’s Graduation outsold Fiddy’s Curtis, 957,000 copies to 691,000 copies, in the projects’ first week of release.
