(AllHipHop News) Chance The Rapper has made history. The indie emcee earned the distinction of being the first act to earn a spot on the Billboard 200 chart from strictly streaming.
Chance’s latest project Coloring Book was not available for sale, but the “free album” was exclusively premiered on Apple Music.
In its first week of release, the Chicago native’s third official mixtape was streamed 57.3 million times.
Under the new chart calculations, that total equals 38,000 equivalent album units which was enough to put Chance at #8 on the 200 album chart. Coloring Book is expected to join other streaming services such as Spotify and Tidal on May 27.
If we look back on Hip Hop, it’s original roots come from a desire to tell the truth from a community perspective that the mainstream establishment might not feel comfortable with or want to acknowledge as a symptom of a greater societal ill.
Public Enemy’s “Fight The Power,” single from the Album “Fear Of A Black Planet” became a battle cry for the disenfranchised and the crux of Spike Lee’s movie “Do The Right Thing” in the 1990s.
In 1988, N.W.A changed the way the world at large looked at the LAPD with “F### tha Police,” a treatise on police brutality and racial profiling that still applies today, almost twenty years after the album “Straight Out Of Compton” made it’s debut.
However, if the largely African American based Hip Hop community enjoys a fairly united front when it comes to being staunchly supportive of musical critiques on inequities within the confines of race and class, we’re still working through it and could do more when it comes to gender and sexuality.
We, along with mainstream society often have a hard time fully acknowledging the societal difficulties that come with being Gay or transgender.
It’s something that shouldn’t be overlooked considering that while the exact statistics vary, it a universally accepted fact that LGBT teens and young adults have been found by researchers to have the highest rate of suicide when compared directly to the rest of the general population in America and Worldwide.
The result? A silent epidemic of suicide.
To this end, rap artist Milan Christopher of VH1’s “Love & Hip Hop Hollywood” has just released his new music video “When I Go,” ft. Papi Chulo which is his look at what leads to this sort of self destruction born of isolation and homophobia.
It would definitely be overstating it to put it on par artistically with N.W.A. or Public Enemy, but with regards to what it is looking to communicate politically via Hip Hop to a wider audience, it’s a start.
(AllHipHop News) Compton rapper Game has landed some major exposure for his new album Streets of Compton through a new deal with A&E Networks.
Game will star in a new three-part docuseries also titled “Streets of Compton” about the history of the city, which will air on A&E throughout June.
The documentary will tell the history of Compton, in addition to highlighting the many rappers the city has produced.
In addition to Mayor Aja Brown and former mayors Omar Bradley and Eric Perrodin, Lil Eazy-E, Arabian Prince, DJ Speed, Tha Chill, Game’s mom Lynette Baker, manager Cash Jones, his father G.A. Taylor and Venus and Serena Williams’ father Richard Williams are featured in the series.
The docuseries will premiere new music from Game’s project, which will drop on June 17, after the final of “Streets of Compton” episode airs.
Game dropped a new single titled “Roped Off” from his new 11-track project Streets of Compton today.
Parts one and two of “The Streets of Compton’” will premiere on Thursday, June 9 at 9PM and 10PM ET/PT. The third and final hour airs on Thursday, June 16 at 10PM ET/PT on A&E.
Game’s new album Streets of Compton releases on June 17.
Baltimore’s Mayor, Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, said her officers were on standby to make sure there would be no repeat of the April 2015 unrest in the city.
“This is our American system of justice and police officers must be afforded the same justice system as every other citizen in this city, state, and country,” Rawlings-Blake said in a statement. “Now that the criminal case has come to an end, Officer Nero will face an administrative review by the Police Department. We once again ask the citizens to be patient and to allow the entire process to come to a conclusion.”
Officer Nero is the second officer to be tried in relation to Freddie Gray’s death.
Late last year in December, Officer William Porter’s trial ended in a hung jury and mistrial.
Four more officers, including William Porter, are still facing trials in Baltimore between June and October.
(AllHipHop News) After the passing of Prince on April 21, much of the world anticipated seeing the music award shows honor the legacy of the pop culture icon.
The Billboard Music Awards were up first, and the event tapped several individuals to pay tribute to Prince Rogers Nelson.
Questlove came out to pay homage to one of his musical idols. The Roots’ drummer addressed the audience with a touching speech.
“All of us live in the land of music, and his departure from it was an earthquake,” said Quest. “But we can follow the trails he blazed and his example. We can be fierce, uncompromising, experimental, and we can also listen to all the songs he left for us. He was very generous in that regard.”
The BBMAs also featured Madonna and Stevie Wonder honoring Prince. The two music legends performed “Nothing Compares 2 U” and “Purple Rain.”
(AllHipHop News) Rapper Ludacris and R&B songbird Ciara hosted the 2016 Billboard Music Awards earlier this evening (May 22) in Las Vegas.
The enduring legacy of the late singer Prince was honored during this year’s Billboard Music Awards, which was televised nationally for the first time via ABC from the T-Mobile Arena.
Ciara at the 2016 Billboard Music Awards
Ludacris at the 2016 Billboard Music Awards
The highlight of the show came thanks to a tribute performance to Prince by another pop icon, singer/songwriter Madonna. Roots’ frontman/Prince collaborator Questlove shared some special words about the icon, who died unexpectedly on April 21 at the age of 57.
Questlove’s tribute kicked off a cringeworthy set by “the Material Girl,” who sat on a purple throne and began a medley of Prince’s hits, including “Let’s Go Crazy,” “Nothing Compares 2 U,” and a surprise guest duet of “Purple Rain” with Stevie Wonder.
Performers during 2016’s Billboard Music Awards included Britney Spears, who opened the show and snagged the Billboard Millennium Award.
Others to hit the stage included Rihanna, Justin Bieber, Tove Lo, Fifth Harmony and Ty Dolla Sign, while DJ Khaled, Kelly Rowland, Marc Cuban and Keke Palmer served as presenters.
Rihanna at the 2016 Billboard Music Awards
Kelly Rowland at the 2016 Billboard Music Awards
Tributes aside, singer The Weeknd snagged Top Hot 100 Artist and Wiz Khalifa ft. Charlie Puth won Top Hot 100 Song for “See You Again.”
Other big winners included Taylor Swift and Adele, who won Top Billboard 200 Album for, 25. She used the awards show to premiere her new video “Send My Love (To Your New Lover).’ Fetty Wap won Best New Artist and Drake took home Best Rap Artist.
Drake’s rival Meek Mill scored a huge victory by winning the Top Rap Album. The Philly rap legend not only bested Drake’s If You’re Read This It’s Too Late, he also triumphed over Drake and Future’s What A Time To Be Alive and Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp A Butterfly.
Justin Bieber beat out Drake, Fetty Wap, Ed Sheeran and The Weeknd for Top Male Artist and Rihanna won the Billboard Chart Achievement Award which was voted on by fans. Check out the full winners list here.
Ludacris at the 2016 Billboard Music Awards
Ciara at the 2016 Billboard Music Awards
Rihanna at the 2016 Billboard Music Awards
Michael Strahan at the 2016 Billboard Music Awards
Wiz Khalifa at the 2016 Billboard Music Awards
Meredith Mickelson at the 2016 Billboard Music Awards
Zendaya at the 2016 Billboard Music Awards
Serayah McNeil at the 2016 Billboard Music Awards
Seal at the 2016 Billboard Music Awards
Keke Palmer at the 2016 Billboard Music Awards
Eudocio Mbouguiengue, Ludacris at the 2016 Billboard Music Awards
Chris Tucker at the 2016 Billboard Music Awards
Ciara, Russell Wilson at the 2016 Billboard Music Awards
Bryshere Y. Gray at the 2016 Billboard Music Awards
AllHipHop’s Chuck Creekmur, lawyer Peter Brill and Christopher Anderson of Male Survivor (abuse advocacy organization) talk to Lisa Evers of Hot 97’s Street Soldiers/ New York’s Fox 5 about the charges against Afrika Bambaataa, the validity and the legal implications of the allegations.
Afrika Bambaataa has been the subject of scorn for months as allegations of sexual abuse of boys has taken a front seat in the rich legacy of one of Hip-Hop’s Founding Fathers. The legend broke his silence recently in an exclusive TV interview with Lisa Evers of Fox 5. Evers asked Bambaataa very directly: “Have you ever abused any underage boy?”
“I never abused nobody. You know, it just sounds crazy to people to say that, hear ‘you abused me,’” Bambaataa said in the interview. “You know my thing is you know all my people back then, you know the hundreds of people that been around me. If something like that happened, why you never went to none of them?”
In a candid discussion, Chuck Creekmur, attorney Peter Brill and Male Survivor’s Christopher Anderson examine a myriad of topic matter surrounding the case with Lisa Evers. Anderson, for example reveals why a male victim of sexual abuse may take longer to come forward. Brill talks the legalities of these cases and how a celebrity like Afrika Bambaataa and be maligned through the media. Creekmur speaks on how Hip-Hop has dealt with the matter as a community, particular as a pioneer under scrutiny.
Check out the entire conversation on Evers’ Street Soldiers podcast. The story continues below the player.
Afrika Bambaataa and The Soulsonic Force crafted a hit, 1986’s#### “Planet Rock.” The song is regarded as one of the most influential, transformative songs ever. The 59-year old is also known as morphing New York street gangs into the international Zulu Nation, a positive organization that has. Essentially, Bambaataa is a worldwide ambassador of Hip-Hop culture. He seemed baffled at the accusations, the timing and the motives of those that claim he victimized them.
“What is the motivation, what is the agenda?” he said. “It’s hard to say. You don’t know what many of these people are thinking. What is behind it. Some parts are saying it could be shakeups. Certain things people might have wanted.”
Ronald Savage is 50 years old. He is the first person to go on record to accuse Bam of sexual misconduct, which was complimented by years of unsubstantiated rumors. Savage alleges that Bambaataa first molested him in 1980 at the age of 15 (the age of consent is 17 in New York). Savage claimed he skipped school and it lead to his first sexual experience with the rap music pioneer.
Savage said, “I didn’t have nowhere to go so I had his number and I called him and he paid for the cab for me to go to his house. “I couldn’t believe it. I was confused, I was little nervous. I was just wondering, the other guy coming into the room, what was they going to do to me?”
Bee Stinger, Savage’s old Hip-Hop moniker, claims he was molested numerous times, causing him to hate himself. He was unable to move forward legally, because the statue of limitations in New York has long passed. Underage victims cannot pursue their accused attackers after they turn 23.
Bambaataa calls Savage a liar.
“The brother knows the people who he came around in my group with, and knows that he wasn’t in my presence unless among those people and he needs to go back and speak to those people who were part of our organization and deal with them. And stop all this type of craziness that they been trying to put by attacking me,” Bambaataa said, seeming to say the alleged abuse happened with others.
You never touched Ronald “Bee Stinger” inappropriately?
Bambaataa: “I ain’t touched this brother whatsoever.”
Three other men have come forward with very similar claims. No criminal charges can be brought against Bambaataa in these cases and he has yet to be accused by anybody that can file against him civilly or criminally.
After defending Bambaataa steadfastly, The Zulu Nation has severed ties with its founder and leader.
(AllHipHop News) What started off as a prank Tweet, ended up being a life threatening situation for “Empire” director Lee Daniels.
Jussie Smollett, one of the stars of “Empire,” caused an uproar from fans of Fox’s#### television series, when he sent out the Tweet implying that he would not be starring in season 3 of the show.
I've thoroughly enjoyed my time w/ @EmpireFOX. I love you all. Truth. Time 2 make a record & some movies. #Empire 🌹 pic.twitter.com/xeCONIhAlE
That was enough to send the internet into a frenzy, which led to Smollett, who portrays “Jamal Lyon” on the show, to backtrack and say he was just trying to rile up his own Twitter fan base, where he has hundreds of thousands of followers.
The Tweet was not so funny for Lee Daniels, who was blindsided insults, and even death threats.
“There were calls about it and Lee (Daniels) was getting death threats about it,” Jussie Smollett told the Associated Press in an interview Friday (May 20), at an event celebrating the second season finale of “Empire.”
“I’ll be back season three and hopefully season four if I don’t p### everybody off,” Smollett said.
The actor was spotted out with the rest of the cast of “Empire” over the weekend, where they hit the red carpet for The Academy for Television Arts & Sciences FYC (For Your Consideration) for its members.
Take a Look below:
Terrence Howard, Taraji P. Henson at ‘Empire’ FYC ATAS event
Terrence Howard, Miranda Pak, Taraji P. Henson at ‘Empire’ FYC ATAS event
Trai Byers, Grace Gealey at ‘Empire’ FYC ATAS event
Bryshere Y. Gray at ‘Empire’ FYC ATAS event
Gabourey Sidibe at ‘Empire’ FYC ATAS event
Ilene Chaiken, Sanaa Hamri at ‘Empire’ FYC ATAS event
(AllHipHop News) Having a pool bigger than Kanye West would be an accomplishment for a lot of people, but not Drake.
The rapper, who recently made the boast in his song “Summer 16,” is looking to outdo Kanye and even himself, with a new mansion being erected in his hometown of Toronto, Canada.
According to reports, Drake submitted plans to build a massive 21,000 square foot mansion in Toronto’s upscale neighborhood of Bridle Path.
According to zoning documents submitted to the city, Drake’s new house will be at an Italian style Villa.
The custom-built home will have a massive basketball court, swimming pool, theater room, a hot tub on the roof, a custom-made bar and even a museum to house Drake’s valuables.
The rapper, who has had a record-setting year thanks to the release of his latest album Views, has already spent over $6 million for two acres of property.
The house is being built by Ferris Rafauli, the same architect behind the design of the rapper’s exclusive space inside the Air Canada Centre.
So far there have been no concerns expressed from residence in the neighborhood, where a number of power businessmen and musicians also live.
A hearing is supposed to take place on May 26 regarding some minor construction exemptions, mainly because most everything is larger than current laws allow.
Once again, Chris Brown has taken to social media to troll people, and this time, it’s because of his child.
The pop singer slammed his baby mother, Nia Guzman, on social media for taking a racy photo of their daughter, Royalty, and putting it on Instagram. Royalty was dressed in a tutu and leg warmers in the photo, following her recent dance class.
However, Brown posted the picture on his account, noting that he believed she was improperly dressed. The Shade Room captured Brown’s comments soon after.
When it comes to big Hollywood hitter Russell Crowe, no movie – let alone a comedy- is a given when it comes to his involvement in what has already been a long and illustrious career.
Add this to the fact that Russell Crowe’s talents tend to veer more toward the dramatic versus the comedic, and it really isn’t a shock that his initial interest in “The Nice Guys” wasn’t situated in the comedy.
“I just really liked the density of the script and what the narrative was trying to achieve, ” stated Crowe on the subject of what he believes the 1970s based comedy is about and why it caught his eye.
“(Director Shane Black) has tried to reach back into history and find a point in time where America simply corrupted it’s own future by certain decisions that were made, and that’s heavy.
“Now take that and put it into an extremely absurd world with gigantic characters who have a thorough and deep belief in themselves and see what happens, ” said Crowe, adding with a quick laugh: “I wouldn’t have described it necessarily as a comedy because it was full of social commentary.”
Russell Crowed at The Nice Guys UK film premiere at the Odeon Leicester Square, London. Credit: WENN.com
To that very point, immediately after expressing interest in the project, Crowe began to worry that perhaps as an outsider, he had read more into the “comedic” script than was actually there.
While he loved the absurdity of the piece, Crowe wasn’t willing to sacrifice what he saw as a “nobility” in it’s subject matter to pander to broader funnier concerns.
To hear Crowe tell it, he became so concerned that he made an elaborate plan to ‘gently’ tell director Shane Black, who had traveled via plane for more than five hours to meet, that he wasn’t interested.
“I’ll invite him over to my house. When he gets here, I’ll say ‘do you want a drink?’ I’ll cook him a steak, and part way through that I’ll say, ‘look man, I thought it was really something else. I’m really sorry for wasting your time and all that stuff.’ So I had a plan.” recounted Crowe.
However, when Black arrived, he revealed that he was allergic to alcohol, scuttling Crowe’s plan.
“I said, ‘what do you mean you’re allergic to alcohol?’ He says, ‘yeah, one drink and I break out in handcuffs.’ And I said, that’s funny,” remembered Crowe.
Actor Ryan Gosling spotted on the set of “The Nice Guys” with co star Russell Crowe. Credit: Cousart/JFXimages/WENN.com
Then, before Crowe could say anything more, Shane Black, almost as an apology, revealed that even though Crowe was to have been cast first in “The Nice Guys,” Black had just spoken to Ryan Gosling, and that Gosling was willing to co-star opposite Crowe as, in Black’s view, the perfect compliment to Crowe and everything that “The Nice Guys” was meant to be about.
“I had a meeting with (Gosling) before I went to the airport, he knows it’s going to be you, he wants to play the other character. What do you think of that?’ And I’m like, ‘How do you have your steak?’ and the evening got back on track,” stated Crowe, with a huge laugh.
“The Nice Guys” starring Russell Crowe, Ryan Gosling, Kim Basinger, Margaret Qualley, Matt Bomer and Angourie Rice opened nationwide in theaters on Friday, May 20, 2016.
As the saying goes, “You don’t know where you’re going until you know where you’ve been.” Here is a look at notable events that took place in Hip-Hop this week from years past.
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(AllHipHop News) A former NYPD officer who worked for Kanye West and Kim Kardashian, continues to reveal details about Kanye’s Behavior.
According to Steve Stanulis, Kanye is a diva whose erratic behavior cannot be predicted – surprise.
However, Stanulis goes in on Kanye and revealed a little more about the egocentric rapper in a new article published by the The Sun.
“I’ve been employed by a lot of high-end people but I’ve never worked for someone like him. He’s ten times worse than what you see.”
Stanulis was a member of Kanye and Kim Kardashian West’s inner circle of security guards for about two weeks.
Prior to that job, Stanulis worked as muscle for stars like Leonardo DiCaprio, Tobey Maguire and Alanis Morissett.
Steve Stanulis, aka “Savage Steve,” bumped heads with Kanye West prior to the most recent Met Gala held in New York, and was subsequently fired by the Chicago emcee/production wizard.
Stanulis claimed Kanye fired him after the rapper caught him talking to Kim Kardashian West in the hallway of the Waldorf Astoria.
Since then, Steve Stanulis has been dishing out details about Kanye West’s antics, as well as the rap star’s relationship with Kim Kardashian.
The latest article reveals a number of incidents that could lead one to believe the Kanye is off of his rocker.
For instance Stanulis recounted a story of the time Kanye went “ham” on security guards associated with Italian dignitaries, who were also staying at the Waldorf Astoria, where Kanye also had a suite.
The rapper was allegedly drunk when he wound up in a confrontation with the security guards, while searching for his own suite, which was actually on another floor.
“Rather than apologizing Kanye started yelling and screaming, ‘Don’t you know who I am? I’m Mr West!’ To which the guys looked blank and curtly replied, ‘No’.”
In another incident, Kanye allegedly refused push his own button on an elevator, because it wasn’t his position in life to do so.
Kanye was apparently miffed that Stanulis did not know what floor his meeting was on in advance.
“He flipped out, squealing that his time was precious and that he couldn’t believe I hadn’t called ahead to find out which floor he worked on,” Stanulis told The Sun.
Over the past several months, Kanye has been the subject of some rather salacious reports.
In January, his ex-girlfriend Amber Rose broke the Internet when she implied that Kanye likes to have a finger in his a### during sex, which went viral with her hashtag #fingersinthebootyassbitch.
When it comes to a child celebrating their 16th year on earth, there are a few parents who would stunt for their child as hard as Floyd Mayweather.
Over the weekend, the famous boxer hosted an enormous sweet sixteen party for Iyanna Mayweather, and managed to hire both Drake and Future to perform for her entertainment.
The two performed a plethora of tracks from both of their single albums.
Unfortunately, most of clips that surfaced last night featured the two rap stars performing separately, but there’s a good chance that they performed their collaborative hits together.
(AllHipHop News) God MC Rakim is currently hopping from city to city on his “Paid In Full ” tour.
The tour marks the 30th anniversary of his breakout track “Eric B. For President,” a track which was birthed in the home studio of Queensbridge production legend Marley Marl.
In an interview with The Chicago Sun Times, Rakim gave a little peek into the creative process behind the track.
“Marley Marl and MC Shan kept trying to get me to stand up and put more energy into it. If I stand it’s gonna sound the same way, ’cause that’s what I’m trying to do, Rakim revealed. “It took a little tug o’war for them to just leave me alone and finish the song. But after it came out they was like, ʻYo Rakim, man, we see what you was doing; it’s dope.ʼ”
Paid In Full is an album that is held in very high praise in Hip-Hop history.
Thanks to groundbreaking releases with partner Eric B., Rakim is credited as being very influential on MCs such as Kool G. Rap and Nas.
Rakim was still attending high school as a senior at New York’s Wyandanch Memorial High when he first heard “Eric B For President” blaring through the streets.
“I see a car with somebody in the passenger seat, window down, and I hear ʻEric B. Is President. I walk up to the car and I’m like, ‘Yo, is that a tape?’ – around my neighborhood, a lotta my friends used to steal my demo tapes. He’s like, ‘Nah, that’s the radio.’ And from that second on, I don’t think I touched the ground. I think I floated all the way home.”
Shirts commemorating the 30th anniversary of “Eric B. For President” can be purchased here.
Snoop’s partner in the effort is CEO of Roderick Music, Damien “Big Percy” Roderick. This movement is part of the resurgence of Snoop’s Doggy Style Records and is inspired by the Long Beach City Movement.
Six rappers from six different areas of the city that are actually at war with each other were selected to take part in this movement, and even created a mixtape together.
Rapper Norfside Nusense called the execution of this project a “miracle.” Going even further to show those acclimated to the streets another life, Snoop signed Jooba Loc, an ex-gang member, to his label, making him the first artist endorsed by Doggy Style Records.
Snoop Dogg has been busy with a variety of projects. He will take part in a charity basketball game in Flint to raise money for citizens affected by the water crisis, has a new series where’s he’s mentoring young athletes called Coach Snoop and even is slated to be in a new film with Lucy Lui Future World
(AllHipHop News) “Black Fist,” featuring Tito Lo, is a single that featured off of Banner’s upcoming album The God Box, and the rapper is going to get dialogue going with shocking imagery.
The emcee even warns viewers about the visuals that they’re about to see from the get-go.
“The intention of this visual is not to promote violence, but to show that we as a people will no longer accept the loss of innocent black lives,” Banner says at the opening of the piece. “The purpose of this message is not to target anyone, but instead, to value everyone. This video is a statement and a reminder that black lives won’t be ‘taken’ lightly.”
The Mississippi rapper’s set of visuals showcases the disturbing image of African Americans being “hung” in front of cop, but to juxtapose when the officer is brutalized by those that were hung.
That’s only the beginning , you can check out the rest below.
