Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx opted to drop sexual abuse charges against R. Kelly.
The prosecutor announced her office won’t pursue R. Kelly’s four pending criminal cases on Monday (January 30). Foxx cited “limited resources and court time” as the main factors for dismissing the charges.
“Mr. Kelly is potentially looking at the possibility of never walking out of prison again for the crimes he has committed,” Foxx said. “This office, in the pursuit of justice for the victims in our indictment – as well as those across the country – worked tirelessly to get us to this point. While today’s cases are no longer being pursued, we believe that justice has been served in the sentences that have already been handed down to Mr. Kelly as well as the sentence that will come down next month.”
R. Kelly, 56, was charged with 10 counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse in Cook County. The charges dated back to 1998 and involved at least three minors.
The disgraced singer was sentenced to 30 years in prison for sex trafficking and racketeering charges in New York. He awaits sentencing for a separate conviction in Chicago.
A Chicago jury found R. Kelly guilty of producing child pornography and coercing minors into criminal sexual activity. He faces 10 to 90 years in prison.
Kanye West’s old presidential campaign paid more than $14,000 to white nationalist Nick Fuentes.
Ye’s 2020 presidential campaign committee disclosed the payments in a filing with the Federal Election Commission on Monday (January 30). Nick Fuentes received $14,719 from the campaign.
According to Raw Story, the campaign sent $9,026.46 to Nick Fuentes on November 22, 2022. That same day, the white nationalist and Kanye West had dinner with Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago.
Ye’s campaign paid $5,693 to Nick Fuentes on December 27, 2022. The committee referred to both payments as “travel reimbursement.”
The Kanye West campaign’s financial disclosures also revealed $49,955 worth of payments to far-right commentator Milo Yiannopoulos. The former Breitbart News editor briefly served as an adviser to Ye in late 2022.
Ye and Nick Fuentes were rebuked by the Republican National Committee on Friday (January 27). The RNC took months to respond before condemning the two for their antisemitism.
“Antisemitism has no place in our political party, American politics or any political discourse,” the RNC declared. “Rapper Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, has repeatedly made statements that are antisemitic, shameful, wrong, offensive, bigoted and contrary to American and Republican principles.”
Read more about the RNC’s censure of Kanye West and Nick Fuentes here.
The network renewed 50 Cent’s show Power Book II: Ghost for a fourth season prior to the third season’s premiere. Starz also announced the addition of Michael Ealy as a series regular. The actor will portray Detective Don Carter in the fourth season.
“The high-octane drama of Power Book II: Ghost continues to resonate with our viewers and we’re thrilled to get season four production underway ahead of our season three debut,” Starz President of Original Programming Kathryn Busby said in a press release. “It’s clear our fans are ready to devour more of this explosive series and we look forward to having Michael join our incredible cast.”
Earlier this month, Starz renewed the 50 Cent-produced series BMF a few weeks into its second season. Last year, the network ordered new seasons of the G-Unit rapper’s shows Power Book III: Raising Kanan and Power Book IV: Force.
Power Book II: Ghost’s third season premieres on March 17. The show is the first spinoff in the Power franchise.
The original Power series ran for six seasons on Starz. The show’s finale aired in February 2020. 50 Cent’s Power Book II: Ghost launched in September 2020.
Lauren London better understood her Jewish ancestry thanks to her role in the new Netflix film You People.
The actress explained how the movie provided her with an opportunity to learn in an interview with PEOPLE. Lauren London’s father is Jewish and her mother is Black, but she never felt connected to her Jewish roots since her parents split when she was young.
“That’s where my disconnect is,” she told PEOPLE. “I just grew up with my mother in my household. I didn’t grow up with my dad living with us. My parents divorced when I was really young. I was three, so my experience is of my mother’s experience because I just grew up with a single Black mom.”
While working on You People, Lauren London enjoyed discovering more about her Jewish side. The film explores a cultural clash brought on by her character’s relationship with a Jewish man (played by Jonah Hill).
“I liked that they were Jewish ‘cause it was also some stuff that I got to learn via being in the movie that I didn’t know,” Lauren London said.
You People was directed by Kenya Barris, who co-wrote the script with Jonah Hill. The film is now streaming on Netflix.
The Universal Hip Hop Museum in the Bronx just secured $5 million in federal funding. The money will go toward completing construction of the Universal Hip Hop Museum, funding K-12 educational programming and building affordable housing in the surrounding area.
KRS-One and wife Simone G. Parker, Grandmaster Flash and Eric B. were on hand to celebrate the generous gift. They were joined by Senator Chuck Schumer, U.S. Senator Kristin Gillibrand and Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson who proudly declared they were “planting seeds for the next generation.”
“On behalf of Hip-Hop’s education piece, this is so important,” KRS-One said. Grandmaster Flash added: “I co-created what is unarguably the biggest music culture on planet earth.”
The Universal Hip Hop Museum was initially announced in 2017. Since then, it’s been collecting artifacts, constructing the building and securing funding.
“The Universal Hip Hop Museum may be the single most important project for the preservation of Hip Hop culture,” Kurtis Blow said at the time. “This new cultural institution will be a great new tourism destination for NYC and the Bronx. What a great day for Hip-Hop! Our four years of hard team work has paid off. I thank God, as I am elated to know that this mecca devoted to the cultural phenomenon of Hip-Hop will preserve not only my legacy but also the legacies of many others for the world to see.”
The 50,000 square-feet UHHM is part of a $349 million project alongside the Harlem River waterfront. Bronx Point’s first phase promises to deliver 542 units of permanently affordable housing to the Lower Concourse neighborhood with approximately 2.8 acres of public open space. It will also provide an array of cultural and community-focused programming, including the UHHM, an early childhood space run by BronxWorks and outdoor science programming run by the Billion Oyster Project.
In 2019, the State of New York donated a $3.5 million grant to the museum. Museum Director Rocky Bucano explained the museum will celebrate the four elements of Hip Hop culture: breaking, graffiti, DJing and MCing.
“The museum is part of the renaissance of the Bronx,” Bucano said at the time. “The Bronx is coming back, but the museum will be of the people and for the people.”
AI is officially taking over the world, with some deeming it “the future.” Specifically in the music industry, where recording artists (who are ahead of the curve) can use it to attend to their creative needs at a click of a button. In fact, Lil Yachty used Artificial Intelligence to generate the album cover for his forthcoming album.
Insert Darnell Williams, the Detroit rapper and music video director who just created the first AI music video in hip-hop. The newly released visual was made entirely using the new Encore Studio app. Co-founded by Kid Cudi, Encore first launched as a virtual performance platform, giving artists the ability to stream from their phones to their fans, who “clap” to support artists from the comfort of their homes.
Encore is now utilizing AI to allow artists to create unique, one-of-one video content for free — essentially offering a whole video production studio from their smartphone. Artists are able to generate unique images using their voice or any text description they can imagine and immediately place them into their room.
Darnell’s new visual is titled 23’ Lark Freestyle and is inspired “finally having the power to match some of the crazy ideas I have in my head to a visual canvas using A.I,” said Darnell.
AllHipHop spoke with Darnell Wiliams at the Encore office in Culver City, who had just wrapped the first AI performance on the app.
“It’s really exciting,” Darnell states. “It’s dope. I’m just blessed to be one of the first people to do it. I’m honored to be able to pioneer moving the culture forward and ushering rap and tech into one thing. People seeing us as more than rap artists that sing and dance, so I’m proud to be one of the pioneers of that. I hope that other people see it and take heed to it. Remix it, do the s### their way.”
Beyond the AI music video he created, Williams was the first to perform virtually live on Encore using AI to build his set design and background.
“That s### felt great,” he explains. “It felt great to make. The thing is, it’s always dope to see the product in motion. Usually, there’s so much work behind it that I’m doing by myself. But with the AI s###, AI does a lot of the work for me. It’s a different feeling because as dope as it is, it almost feels too easy. [laughs]”
Williams puts it into comparison: making a freestyle video for someone would take over two days of editing. But using AI? No more than 30 minutes.
Additionally, Williams launched his own Artificial Intelligence app called Rapswift, a song-generating AI app that can produce a full rap at the click of a button.
“It generates raps from any style, any artist, at the click of a button,” Williams explains. “You can take it and write a full song, but it’s really to show artists how to write and give you ideas. Eliminate writer’s block, it’s like having your own personal ghostwriter. At the same time, it’s inspired by the prompts that you put into it. It’s you, just in AI form. Definitely check that s### out. Rapswift: the first AI song-generating app made by a rapper, so you know it’s good.”
To summarize, AI can make anything in seconds as long as you have creative brainpower.
Lil Yachty dropped a new album called Let’s Start Here via Motown Records/Quality Control on Friday (January 27), another one I was completely ready to ignore. But then Questlove wrote such a convincing argument as to why I should listen to it that I found myself typing “Lil Yachty” into my Apple Music search bar. Not only did The Roots drummer—whose musical tastes I greatly admire—say it got him “hyped” about the future of music, he also labeled it Lil Yachty’s “departure” album, comparing it to the likes of Beastie Boys’ Paul’s Boutique or The Beatles’ Sgt. Peppers. Me? I think of it more like his reinvention album in the spirit of Childish Gambino’s Awaken My Love! (although some would disagree).
Anyway, back to Questlove. As he explained, “I dunno man: after about 3 listens (and I thought I’d NEVER say this—-& not because ‘I didn’t expect this from Lil Yachty”——but just in general I didn’t expect this from MUSIC). How should I put it? I really really really really love this @lilyachty record and I love when artists pull off a good departure record (departure albums are when musicians pull a COMPLETE creative left turn —-most times as a career sabotage of feeling doomed to not be able to live up to a standard they set. Not being able to make the Thelma & Louise jump. Quitting the job/relationship before you give em a chance to fire you).”
But Questlove took it a step further and applauded Lil Yachty’s album louder than the audience at The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon.
“Some famous departure albums backfired (Sgt. Peppers wound up making the Beatles even MORE important,” he continued, “further proving you can’t just do tin pan alley showtunes & think THAT is gonna get rid of the screaming fanbase….now the entire world wants a piece of you). Some were pure art that turned off the fanbase that came to the party for seconds of what you served before (Paul’s Boutique/Around The World In A Day) some seemed like career disasters w critics (Dylan’s Self Portrait & Davis’s On The Corner & Gaye’s Here My Dear).
“And then some come just for the sheer sake of surprise & man it’s like ‘WTF did I just listen to?’ (Kid A/Kamaal The Abstract/Back To Black/A Seat At The Table). This aptly titled #LetsStartHere lp might be the most surprising transition of any music career I’ve witnessed in a min, especially under the umbrella of hip hop. I remember @divinestyler_1 has a sophomore release that shocked me & im still processing the 3rd @junglebrothers4life lp some 30 yrs later. But man….whatever you put in your Wheaties bro….keep goin.”
Of course, reviews are mixed. People still wanna hate the kid who couldn’t name five 2Pac or Biggie songs. But if the musicians in Questlove’s comment section are any indication, Lil Yachty made a good album. But we’ll let you be the judge.
Finesse2Tymes is on the rise, but he may have to start upping where he rocks. A recent show in Kansas City ended in a huge fight that seemed to involve the successful rapper. But was that the case?
Finesse2Tymes got my attention quickly because he had a crazy chain of KKK members hanging by a noose. Anyway, social media got to going, but they finessed the facts. They made it seem like the rapper, who happens to be down with J. Prince and Atlantic Records, was involved in a fight.
In a video, he seems like it could be Finesse2Tymes, but it is not.
DJ Rocky Montana told XXL that “the man” didn’t even hit the stage when the fighting broke out.
“No Finesse had not hit the stage yet. The altercation was between me and an opening artist. The artist ( went over their stage time and didn’t want to leave the stage. One artist walked up on me and got dropped then as I got my stance back together and waited to see which artist would rush and [that’s] when one of the artist tackled me and attempted to hit me while I was down however he wasn’t connecting with any punches,” he said.
This ends in Finesse hitting the stage with no issue.
A trial to get justice for slain rapper XXXTentacion is inching to its start as both sides grapple with jury selection.
As of Monday, Jan. 30, all jurors have not all been agreed on.
However, the courts are clear, after four years the effort to convict three men of the four men connected to the South Florida artist’s death will begin this week, according to NBC 6 Miami.
The shooting suspect is Michael Boatwright, 28. Boatwright allegedly had three accomplices, Dedrick Williams, 26, Robert Allen, 26, and Trayvon Newsome, 24.
The other three are set to stand trial, despite their former friend flipping. Sources say the trial is expected to start within days and wrap up in March.
The two men slipped up beside him and one fatally blasted the artist through his window, stealing from him a Louis Vuitton bag containing $50,000 and zipping off.
Four men were arrested in connection with X’s death.
The four men were arrested within weeks of his death, AllHipHop.com also reported.
The 2023 Billboard Women In Music Awards will recognize Atlanta-based Hip Hop artist Alyssa “Latto” Stephens at this year’s ceremony.
Lattowill receive the Powerhouse Award. Jessie J, Brittany Howard, Andra Day, Kelly Clarkson, Megan Thee Stallion, Dua Lipa, and Doja Cat are previous winners of the honor.
After finishing in first place on The Rap Game reality competition series, Latto signed with RCA Records. She released Queen of da Souf in 2020 and 777 in 2022. The 777 track “Big Energy” peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart last year.
Latto also scored two nominations for the upcoming 65th Annual Grammy Awards which air on Sunday, February 5. “Big Energy (Live)” is up for Best Melodic Rap Performance. Latto also has the chance to win the coveted Best New Artist award.
In addition, Tampa-bred rapper Doechii will take home the Rising Star Award at the Billboard Women In Music Awards. Past winners include Lady Gaga, Jazmine Sullivan, Nicki Minaj, Janelle Monáe, Ariana Grande, and Chloe x Halle.
“Persuasive” by Doechii has racked up over 17 million plays on Spotify. She put out herShe/Her/Black B#### EP in 2022 via Top Dawg Entertainment and Capitol Records.
Doechii’s discography contains the self-released 2021 EP Bra-Less as well. Last year also saw the rising performer earn nominations at the Soul Train Music Awards, MTV Video Music Awards, and MTV Europe Music Awards.
“We’re thrilled to recognize these groundbreaking artists across genres and generations who are defining today’s sound – and paving the way for tomorrow’s women in music,” said Billboard Editorial Director Hannah Karp. “With the inspiring Quinta Brunson as our host, this year’s Billboard Women in Music Awards is going to be an incredible night.”
The 2023 Billboard Women in Music Awards take place on March 1 at the YouTube Theater in Los Angeles. Becky G, Ivy Queen, Kim Petras, Lainey Wilson, Lana Del Rey, and TWICE have also been announced as special award recipients.
Lil Yachty’s name was a top trending topic on Twitter over the weekend. People on the platform had a lot to say about the Quality Control Music recording artist’s latest body of work.
Let’s Start Here became a major talking point online with Yachty receiving praise and criticism for the new album. Did the social media conversations generate album sales?
According to HitsDailyDouble, Lil Yachty’s Let’s Start Here is on pace to open with 19,000-24,000 first-week units. It is not clear if that range will be enough to secure the Georgia native a Top 10 debut.
Lil Yachty Currently Has Two Top 10 Projects In His Discography
2020’s Lil Boat 3 peaked at #14 on the Billboard 200 chart with 30,000 first-week units. At the moment, Yachty has two projects in his catalog that have made it into the Top 10 region – 2017’s Teenage Emotions (#5) and 2018’s Lil Boat 2 (#2).
Last week, Lil Yachty informed his Twitter followers that he created Let’s Start Here in just six months. However, the FaZe Clan member apparently decided to hold off on dropping the 14-track project for over a year.
Some fans appreciated Yachty experimenting with different sounds, while others complained the 25-year-old songwriter went too far away from his Trap roots. Apparently, Lil Boat sees Let’s Start Here as a step in the right direction.
“Truth be told, all I ever wanted was to be respected as an artist,” tweeted Lil Yachty on January 27. That statement also ignited a polarizing response as some Hip Hop followers believed Yachty essentially disrespected rap as a genre.
Lil Yachty broke out with 2015’s 2x-Platinum-certified “One Night” single. Plus, the 2016 XXL Freshman scored an 8x-Platinum plaque as a guest on “iSpy” by Kyle and a 7x-Platinum plaque as a guest on “Broccoli” by DRAM.
Truth be told, all I ever wanted was to be respected as an artist.
R&B singer/songwriter SZA continues to cement her name in the music record books with SOS.
The Top Dawg Entertainment vocalist’s sophomore studio LP remains at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart for a seventh consecutive week. SOS earned 111,000 equivalent album units during the latest tracking period.
SZA’s SOS is now the first R&B album to spend its first seven weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 since Whitney Houston’s Whitney in 1987. Whitney held the top spot for 11 straight weeks.
In addition, SZA’s seven-week reign atop the Billboard 200 puts her in rare company for the modern era. 2021’s Encanto soundtrack was the last album to hold the #1 position for seven consecutive weeks.
Only two other female acts from the 21st century have had an album lead the Billboard 200 for as long as SOS. Taylor Swift and Adele both have multiple projects that have pulled off that feat in the last 27 years.
SOS hosts the “Good Days”, “I Hate U,” “Shirt,” and “Kill Bill” singles. The latter track currently holds the #2 slot on the Billboard Hot 100 chart behind the #1 song “Flowers” by Miley Cyrus.
SZA’s 2017 album, Ctrl, is a chart juggernaut too. After peaking at No. 3 in 2017, the TDE/RCA Records-backed release has remained on the Billboard 200 for more than 290 weeks.
Elsewhere on the most recent Billboard 200, Trippie Redd debuted at No. 3 with his Mansion Musikproject. The Ohio-raised rapper now has seven Top 10 entries in his career.
An up-and-coming rapper from West London murdered outside his home has been named as 23-year-old Fernando Johnson.
The trainee electrician who was considered “a local hero” by kids in his Acton community was ambushed by two men while getting out of his BMW at around 2:15 A.M. on a residential street in West London.
Police rushed to the scene after receiving reports of a man “significantly injured”. Despite the best efforts of paramedics, he was pronounced dead at the scene.
Authorities are yet to confirm his cause of death, stating it was too early to say if Johnson, who used the stage name FDot, had been shot or stabbed.
However, a family member said Fernando “FDot” Johnson “lived on the road where he was stabbed.”
A cousin of the rapper told the Evening Standard the 23-year-old was set upon by two men before being stabbed.
“Two people jumped him and knifed him as he got out of his car. He had just popped out. It’s a tragedy – we are all devastated. He was such a lovely person who will be sadly missed. This isn’t gang-related, as far as we know. He was doing so well with his music and going places.”
Fernando “FDot” Johnson was a member of the 12Anti drill collective and had racked up hundreds of thousands of YouTube views on his music videos.
“He was going to be a big name. He was so positive and a lovely person. No one can believe it,” the relative added.
Central Cee Pays Tribute To Fernando “FDot” Johnson
Fellow U.K. drill artist Central Cee was among the rappers who paid tribute to FDot on social media.
A family statement issued by the cousin said: “He was greatly loved by family and friends and well known to the community,” who “always had a smile on his face and greeted everyone with a big smile and hug.”
The cousin described FDot as a “passionate” and “loving family man” who “wanted the world to hear his story through his music.” The West London rapper was also a “talented soccer player who played for London club QPR in his youth.“He was very polite and brilliant with people of all ages. It’s a great loss to the family and community, we will make sure his memory lives on. His mother, father, grandmother and two elder brothers are devastated like all of us. He was the apple of their eye,” the statement concluded.
A Metropolitan Police spokesman confirmed a murder investigation has been launched.
“A crime scene remains in place at the location. Work is ongoing to identify and inform next of kin. A post-mortem examination will be scheduled in due course. No arrests; enquiries continue.”
Atlanta-bred rapper Latto is known to fire off at her detractors on social media. Over the weekend, the “Big Energy” hitmaker responded to one Twitter user’s attempt to shame her over clothes.
“Can’t afford new panties?” wrote the @extraathique account. The derogatory tweet included two photos of Latto apparently wearing the same pair of leopard-print underwear.
Latto saw the tweet about her panties and clapped back at the online troll. The 777 album creator responded with a quote-tweet that read, “Oh no, it’s the panty police.”
That tweet picked up more than 5,000 retweets and 76,000 likes off 7.9 million impressions. In addition, over 1,000 people commented about the exchange under her post.
The 65th Annual Grammy Awards takes place on February 5 from the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. Latto heads into the ceremony with two nominations – Best Melodic Rap Performance and Best New Artist.
Doting dad, Diddy returned to Instagram at the weekend to share a new series of photos of his adorable new arrival, Love, three months after her birth.
The proud father captured his seventh child smiling sweetly for the camera while sitting on a woman’s lap. In another photo, the baby girl can be seen wearing a patterned shirt and orange bib as she sits in a car seat.
The newest Coombs sibling is the apple of her father’s eye, with Diddy naming his daughter after himself. The Bad Boy Records mogul officially changed his middle name from “John” to “Love” in 2021. She also has Sean “Diddy” Combs’ first name as her middle name.
“IM BIG LOVE! She’s BABY LOVE!!!,” he captioned the post.
Diddy surprised his fans after he took to Twitter to announce baby Love’s arrival last month. The little girl was born in October, but Diddy didn’t publicly reveal her birth for another two months.
“I’m so blessed to welcome my baby girl Love Sean Combs to the world,’ he tweeted on Dec. 10. “Mama Combs, Quincy, Justin, Christian, Chance, D’Lila, Jessie and myself all love you so much! God is the Greatest!”
The mother was revealed to be a 28-year-old cybersecurity expert named Dana Tran.
Diddy treated fans to their first glimpse of Love last Christmas, unveiling his daughter in a family photo before showing her face days later.
While the public was surprised by the new arrival, Yung Miami – who is in a very public, open relationship with Diddy – admitted Diddy told her about baby Love before her birth in October.
“I think communication is the key,” she said during an episode of her show Caresha Please. “I feel like when you dealing with somebody, communication is the key. It wasn’t a surprise.”
The City Girls rapper opened up about their connection earlier this month. “He’s very honest,” Yung Miami told People. “He’s upfront about everything, ain’t no secrets with him. Nothing in my face, everything in one. I can talk to him about it.”
She also revealed her shared faith with Diddy strengthens their bond.
“He takes me to church,” Miami said before adding, “We pray together. We put God first, for real. We pray, talk to God, and go to church. I can talk to him about anything.”
Actor and comedian Rickey Smiley is mourning the loss of his son Brandon Smiley.
The star of “The Rickey Smiley Show” made the announcement in a video shared on social media Sunday (Jan. 29). He revealed he had some “bad news” to deliver to his followers before announcing the passing of his son, who was also an actor and comedian, at the age of 32.
“I just had bad news this morning,” Smiley began. “I’m on my way to the airport to get to Birmingham. I want everybody to pray for me, pray for our family. Our son Brandon Smiley has passed away this morning. Lord have mercy, Jesus.”
“I hate to announce this, but I just want to give it to you before you hear it in the streets,” he continued. “My son Brandon Smiley has passed away this morning.”
Smiley did not specify his son’s cause of death but asked people to pray for him and his loved ones.
“I just want all my cousins and different family members to pray, be strong, and I’m OK,” Smiley added. “Pray for my son’s mother and my son’s siblings, everybody that was raised with Brandon.”
He also reflected on the death of his own father as he spoke about his grief.
“Now I see what my granddaddy went through and why he felt the way he felt,” Smiley said. “My granddaddy went through this s### with my dad and somehow, here I am going through the same thing my grandparents went through. So just pray for our family.”
The tragedy comes nearly three years after Rickey Smiley’s daughter Aaryn was shot multiple times while celebrating her 19th birthday in Houston, Texas. She survived the random act of gun violence, saying, “I’m happy to be alive.”
Nearly 25 years after its release, Cam’ron and Ma$e performed their classic collaboration, “Horse & Carriage,” at the Apollo Theater in New York City at the weekend.
The multi-platinum-selling artists teamed up with fellow NYC icon Jadakiss for a one-night-only concert at the iconic Harlem venue on Saturday, Jan. 28.
Jada introduced “Horse & Carriage,” directing the crowd to take themselves back to 1998 when the song came out.
“Listen Harlem: when SNS drop this s###, act like wherever you was at when you first heard this s### when it came out,” he instructed.
“Don’t go over the balcony but f###### go crazy,” he added. “This has never been seen before. This s### right here is a NFT. Whatever a NFT is, when y’all do this song, it’s a NFT!”
However, Cam’ron needed a little help from the audience, admitting he might forget the words.
“Imma keep it a hundred: I ain’t do this song in so long,” Cam’ron said on stage. “So Imma just act like y’all know it and do a little bit of this [dance].”
Meanwhile, Ma$e revealed it would be the first time he and Cam’ron would perform the track together live.
“Yo, we never got to perform this song,” Ma$e explained. We never got to perform this.”
Last week, Drake welcomed Cam’ron and the entire Diplomats crew onstage at the historic Harlem theatre. Drizzy donned Cam’ron’s iconic pink mink jacket and matching headband while giving the legendary New York artists their flowers. “These guys right here from Harlem made us dress different, talk different, walk different, rap different — all the way in Canada,” he told the audience.
An ecstatic Meek Mill is celebrating after his beloved Philadelphia Eagles beat the San Francisco 49ers, 31-7, to win the N.F.C. championship and a trip to the Super Bowl.
Meek took in Sunday night’s (Jan. 29) game from the Eagles suite, hobnobbing with the likes of Lil Baby, James Harden, Kevin Hart, and Michael Rubin. Fellow Philly Native Lil Uzi Vert escorted the Eagles out onto Lincoln Financial Field and to eventual victory.
As the clock turned to zero and the green confetti rained down over the stadium, the speakers blared out Meek Mill’s “Dreams and Nightmares,” which has become an anthem for the city of Philadelphia.
After the Eagles earned their win and a trip to Glendale, Arizona for their fourth Super Bowl, Meek Mill dropped a few bars over Tupac’s “Hit Em UP,” flipping the lyrics and encouraging other Eagles fans to do the same.
The Kansas City Chiefs will go up against the Eagles for the Vince Lombardi Trophy at Super Bowl LVII, their third in four years, after a thrilling 23-20 win over the Cincinnati Bengals.
The 2023 Super Bowl kickoffs at 6:30 P.M. ET on Sunday, Feb. 12 from State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.
I do not know what, but they are up to something big. So, you know a lot of people feel like Verzuz was dead or dying. In the pandemic, it was one of the biggest online events that we had. And we are still talking about their incredible battles like Dipset vs The Lox, KRS-1 and Big Daddy Kane, Three 6 Mafia vs Bone Thugs. Regardless, it was a great run. And then it seemed to slow down drastically…then Reggaeton-type battles and then…….NOW.
Again, I do not know what Verzuz is up to, but I can speculate confidently that it will have something to do with Hip-Hop turning 50. To me, that just seems to make sense and the timing is right. Battle were Hip-Hop and so is Verzuz. What do you think? Perhaps they have some classic match-ups for us.
And, on that note, I got nothing else to report.
Don’t ask why Tip is in the picture…he never did a Verzuz.
Chance The Rapper had a legitimate question for Ice Spice following the release of her new video, “In Ha Mood.” Arriving on Saturday (January 28), the visual finds the burgeoning Bronx artist spitting, “He a rapper/But don’t got a chance.”
Lil Chano responded with a Twitter post, asking “Is this a diss or a shoutout” along with a poll for fans to vote “Diss” or “Shoutout.” He also tagged Ice Spice in the post.
Ice Spice ultimately caught wind of Chance The Rapper’s poll and shared a screenshot of it on her own Instagram Story. She wrote, “Never” at the bottom alongside a crying emoji.
Chance The Rapper quickly replied to the Capitol/10K rapper with another Instagram Story, “Just double checking. LOL.”
Ice Spice—widely recognized by her short, curly fire orange hair, has been making waves in recent months. Her breakout single, “Munch (Feelin’ U),” arrived last August. The track peaked at No. 34 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart and No. 5 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles.
“In Ha Mood” dropped earlier this month and is included on her Like…? EP along with “Munch,” “Gangsta Boo” featuring Lil Tjay and “Bikini Bottom.”
As for Chance The Rapper, his latest album The Big Day arrived in 2019. Since then, he’s appeared on a several singles, including 2022’s “Wraith” with Vic Mensa. The two Chi-Town natives later created the Black Star Line Festival in Ghana, which took place on January 6. Performers included Erykah Badu, Dave Chappelle, T-Pain, Jeremih, Sarkodie, Tobe Nwigwe, Asakaa Boys and M.anifest. Chance The Rapper and Vic Mensa’s inaugural effort proved to be a success, drawing more than 52,000 people.
