Nicki Minaj is on a feature run at the moment. So far this year, the Hip Hop superstar showed up on songs by rappers YoungBoy Never Broke Again and Ice Spice. Minaj also teamed up with Pop performer Kim Petras.
“Alone” by Kim Petras arrived today (April 21). The German singer/songwriter recruited her Republic Records comrade Nicki Minaj to provide a verse for the Dr. Luke and Rocco Did It Again!-produced track.
Apple Music 1 host Zane Lowe spoke to Kim Petras about her latest release for New Music Daily Radio. The conversation included Petras reflecting on collaborating with Nicki Minaj for the first time.
“It doesn’t feel real still. Her singing, ‘It’s Barbie and it’s Kim Petras,’ I cried. I was on the floor and then she calls me Kim Petty in it, which all my friends are like, ‘How do we not come up with that our entire lives?'” said Petras.
The Grammy winner also expressed, “So she just changed my life in so many ways with that verse, and that verse rips. I love her and I’m so inspired by her always, it’s crazy to me. I don’t know how she does it, but she’s just the greatest ever. I’m so happy that she likes the song.”
An official music video for “Alone” appears to be on the way in the near future. Kim Petras teased the arrival of potential visuals co-starring Nicki Minaj during her interview with Zane Lowe.
“We shot the music video together and [Minaj] was like, ‘Ugh, when I heard the song, I just loved it.’ And that just made me so happy. I feel like I’ve learned so much. I feel like I love her more. When the camera’s on, it’s crazy. She just goes into full superstar,” stated Petras.
The Turn Off the Light album creator added, “Not that she’s ever not a superstar, but she just turns it on so effortlessly and it’s amazing to watch, and she was so nice to me and the dancers and everyone, and was just really inspiring to see and to watch, and she was super encouraging and we just had a blast, so it was the best thing ever.”
Kim Petras scored a huge hit in the United States last year. The “Unholy” duet with British singer Sam Smith peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The Recording Industry Association of America certified the collab as 2x-Platinum.
Nicki Minaj continues to earn Hot 100 placements. After over thirteen years as a mainstream artist, the Trinidadian-born emcee has 127 career entries on the chart. Three of those songs (“Say So,” “Trollz,” and “Super Freaky Girl”) made it to No. 1 for one week each.
New Jersey battle rap legend Shotgun Suge proved his exceptional talents extend far outside the battle rap sphere, writing, directing, and starring in his first movie, What Ya Life Like.
The film is a survival story that follows two childhood friends whose path leads them to a life on the streets but with very different destinations. While one ends up behind bars, Suge’s character finds a way out through music. The story follows him as he navigates jealousy, revenge, and deceit on the road to rap stardom.
“On the streets of Newark, New Jersey it’s hard to beat the odds and be successful. There’s always something or someone to pull you back,” the trailer begins.
As well as flexing his acting chops, Suge provided the soundtrack for the film he wrote and co-directed. Watch the thrilling teaser below and stream the Watch Ya Life Like Movie Deluxe edition project at the end of the page.
The battle rap community showed up to support Shotgun Suge at his Purple Carpet premiere in New Jersey Wednesday (Apr. 19).
Image courtesy of Nicole Duncan SmithImage courtesy of Nicole Duncan Smith
Smack And Beasley Celebrate Suge’s Success
Ultimate Rap League co-founders Smack White and Eric Beasley gave Suge his flowers during an interview with the gifted artist on 15MofFRadio.
Smack called the movie “amazing,” while Beasley said Shotgun Suge “showed excellence tonight,” before the iconic duo explained the importance of supporting independent artists.
After debuting the movie, titled after his famous battle rap slogan, What Ya Life Like, Shotgun Suge addressed the audience, explaining the project was years in the making. The gifted writer was at a music video shoot one day, when he realized he could make a movie out of a script he’d penned and set aside over a year before.
Suge is giving fans another chance to see What Ya Life Like before it’s available for wider release. He’s hosting a movie night at Taylor Peighton, New Jersey Friday night (Apr. 21).
For a song to achieve Diamond status, the track must sell more than 10 million RIAA units. Post Malone is the only act in history to collect over six Diamond Single Awards.
On April 20, the Recording Industry Association of America officially certified “Circles,” “Better Now,” and “I Fall Apart” as Diamond singles. Previously, Post Malone crossed the 10 million mark with “Sunflower,” “Congratulations,” “White Iverson,” “Psycho,” and “Rockstar.”
“Sunflower” with Swae Lee achieved 17x-Platinum certification in November 2022. That collaboration from Spider-Man: Into The Spiderverse became the highest-certified song of all time. “Old Town Road” by Lil Nas X and Billy Ray Cyrus also reached 17x-Platinum later in the same month.
Posty currently has eight Diamond-certified songs, the most ever. Bruno Mars previously held the record for the most Diamond singles with six in his catalog. Drake and The Weeknd both have five Diamond-certified songs.
In celebration of his record-breaking accomplishment, Post Malone dropped The Diamond Collection compilation on April 21. The 9-track project contains the Texan’s eight Diamond singles as well as his new track “Chemical.“
As Post Malone continues to rack up RIAA plaques for his songs, the 27-year-old rapper/singer also has multi-Platinum albums in his discography. 2016’s Stoney (5x-Platinum), 2018’s Beerbongs & Bentleys (5x-Platinum), and 2019’s Hollywood’s Bleeding (4x-Platinum) each moved more than four million units.
Beerbongs & Bentleys and Hollywood’s Bleeding both peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart. Malone also scored four Number Ones on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. “Rockstar” featuring 21 Savage remained in the Hot 100’s top position for eight weeks.
There appears to be a lot of friction brewing among female rappers at the moment. Perhaps in light of that recent strife, Iggy Azalea felt the need to clarify her Friday morning tweet.
“Sometimes the s### y’all fight about on here is so… ehhhhh? Tiresome,” tweeted Iggy Azalea around 1:30 am ET. Less than ten minutes earlier, Coi Leray called out Latto on Twitter over lyrics on the new song “Put It On Da Floor.”
Unsurprisingly, many Twitter users assumed Iggy Azalea posted her message in response to Leray’s tweet about Latto. One person pointed out the timing of the two posts which garnered a quote-tweet from Azalea.
“I’m talking about the [people] legit arguing online about trivial ass topics that can never have a clear answer and yet are argued about passionately for hours on end. Anyone who thinks I’m commenting on anything else only furthers my point that this cannot be reality,” Iggy Azalea responded.
The “Fancy” hitmaker went on to claim her “For You” section contained comments about Target secretly pushing a “gay agenda” to children. She also wrote, “Although I will add. The gender/clothing color children debate isn’t trivial. There is a right answer and that’s that clothing color doesn’t equate to sexual preference. Lol.”
Iggy Azalea has been involved in her fair share of celebrity feuds. Throughout her career, the Australian had public spats with her former mentor T.I., Azealia Banks, Nicki Minaj, Tyler, The Creator, Snoop Dogg, Q-Tip, Macklemore, and others.
“Smoking on that gas, blunt big as Coi Leray,” raps Latto on her new single “Put It On Da Floor” which dropped on April 21. Apparently, Coi Leray took issue with that bar.
“Latto bye. 😴 Here you go [talking] about my body. Please do not come on here and talk about nobody’s BODY. Lol like seriously. Out of all things. Lmaooo ya blunt my size? Lmaooo this s### is never-ending,” tweeted Leray on Friday morning.
The New Jersey-raised rapper added, “These b###### wanna be like the n##### so bad. Y’all wanna have rap beef SOOOOOO BADDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD 😂😂😂😅😅… Anybody that talk about my body wants MY BODY!!!!!!!!!!!! Like real badddddd.”
Coi Leray also expressed on Twitter, “If you don’t like me, support me, or [f### with me] don’t mention my name. Period. S### don’t make sense. I don’t know none of you b###### in real life. Stay in y’all lane and leave me outta the b#######. I be minding my business and showing real love offline.”
Some Fans Believe Latto Did Diss Nicki Minaj
Many social media users claimed Latto’s “Put It On Da Floor” lyrics were not a diss directed at Coir Leray. The two women do have an uneasy history. Both Latto and Leray got caught up in a ghostwriting scandal in November 2022.
While there is debate over whether the Coi Leray name-drop in “Put It On Da Floor” was a form of disrespect, Latto also sparked speculation that she took a shot at Nicki Minaj on the song. Latto performed the track over the weekend at the 2023 Coachella Festival before its release.
After Nicki Minaj may have shaded Latto on “Red Ruby Da Sleeze” and the two stars had a very public feud last year, Latto seemingly fired back at Minaj on “Put It On Da Floor.” The Atlanta native raps, “She thought I would kiss her ass, she must ain’t took her meds.”
Lil Durk has revealed a passing encounter with Jay-Z left such a profound impression on him that he forgot what happened next.
Despite being one of the biggest stars in the rap world right now, the Chicago native was “shocked” when Hov gave him his flowers. During a recent XXL cover story, Lil Durk recalled how a few words for Jay-Z left him so surprised he can’t even remember his response.
The rappers shared a brief conversation last year at one of Michel Rubin’s star-studded parties. As Jay-Z walked past him, he told Lil Durk, “Man, you motivate me.”
The “Laugh Now Cry Later” hitmaker shared, “Man, f### me up. I forgot my reply to him, ’cause it was on a walk-by. The reply ain’t make no damn sense ’cause it shocked me. I’m like, What the f###? Damn, that’s hard.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Lil Durk revealed that Hip-Hop’s lone billionaire inspires him to build an empire of his own.
“Look what he did,” Durkio declared. “Résumé speak for itself. He used to be in this position. He used to be the underdog. The streets used to take him under. And he bossed up, nah’m sayin’? You ain’t see him post pictures every day tryna fit in.”
While the Roc Nation honcho isn’t in his current Top. 5, Lil Durk does consider himself Chicago’s Jay-Z.
“My top five right now is Baby, Future, Drake, King Von and Chief Wuk,” he revealed. “They got the culture going crazy, just turning up in they own way,” Lil Durk explained before adding, “And everybody I named just like got they own typa style. Everybody don’t sound alike.”
Martin Lawrence received his flowers for a distinguished career with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Fellow actor-comedians Steve Harvey and Tracy Morgan, and actress Lynn Whitfield paid tribute to their colleague during a series of emotional speeches at Thursday’s ceremony (Apr. 20).
Whitfield heaped praise on her A Thin Line Between Love and Hate co-star, crediting him with presenting Black people “as we know ourselves.” She also declared Martin Lawrence “changed the fabric of American culture.”
Huge congrats to Martin Lawrence for receiving his Star on The Hollywood Walk of Fame!!! I literally just watched “A Thin Line Between Love & Hate” last night. To see The Beautiful Lynn Whitfield Honor his career & their friendship 27 years later is Incredible! Well Deserved! ⭐️ pic.twitter.com/jU00P79pld
During his acceptance speech, the Bad Boys and Martin star paid homage to his late mother and his “three beautiful daughters as he received the coveted award. He also thanked the cast and Martin cast and crew, “especially Tisha, Tichina, Carl, and Tommie. We made a great team, and a true testament to teamwork makes the dream work,” he added.
As he closed his speech, Martin Lawrence thanked his fans for supporting him “Without wavering.” He shared his honor at having a flourishing career despite persevering “through many adversities.”
“And here I still stand,’ he said before passing on some gems to the next generation of Hollywood stars.
“Board your dream bus with confidence, grace, and humility and ride it ‘til the wheels fall off. Let the doubters Runteldat,” he quipped, in reference to his 2002 stand-up comedy special. Check out some clips and watch the ceremony at here.
Martin Lawrence has received a much-deserved star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame today!! pic.twitter.com/8AF7J8fBk8
During an interview after the Walk of Fame ceremony, Martin Lawrence teased that the upcoming Bad Boys 4 movie could be the biggest and best of the franchise.
“It has the chance to be the best one of them all and everybody’s doing their thing. We got a lot of the team back from the last one,” he explained to Entertainment Tonight. “Big Willie’s doing his thing as always and so focused and, yeah, it has the chance to be the biggest one.”
IDK returns with a poignant and very timely new single “Mr. Police” via Clue/Warner Records.
The thought-provoking track is the lead up to the breakout artist’s forthcoming ‘F65’ album, arriving May 5.
The powerful music video chronicles the jeopardy of driving while Black. The bold and insightful video was also featured on MSNBC’s “The Beat with Ari Melber.”
“Mr. Police, how are you? You say I sped right past you,” the 30-year-old croons over a jazzy piano melody, adding later, “Hope I don’t go to jail.”
‘F65’ will definitely display musicality, Jazz and instrumentation as the backdrop to raw lyrics and storytelling.
The video is another important display of the truth of the interactions of people of color with the police.
The video ends with a statement from IDK, which reads:
“We want to create awareness in order to prompt dialogue and potentially change the narrative around law enforcement misconduct. Not all police officers are bad. This is to shine a light on the ones that are.”
IDK has certainly been busyas heowned the Mojave stage at Coachella. His road to Coachella even featured an envoy of Maybach’s accompanying his custom Lanvin Mercedes Benz AMG race car, matching race suit and helmet, and his limited-edition Nike Air Max Pro 97 collab sneaker.
Racing and the human race are themes of his highly-anticipated album, ‘F65.’
Although Twitter began removing legacy blue checks this week, Elon Musk is paying the $8 tab for a few notable critics of the new subscription-based verification.
While many high-profile celebrities, including Beyoncé, Nicki Minaj, Kim Kardashian, and Oprah Winfrey, have fallen victim to Elon’s legacy checkmarks purge, a few of the scheme’s most famous critics still have their blue checks intact, despite previously insisting they would never pay for verification.
“Welp guess my blue ✔️ will be gone soon cause if you know me I ain’t paying the 5. 🤷🏾♂️,” LeBron James tweeted last month.
Welp guess my blue ✔️ will be gone soon cause if you know me I ain’t paying the 5. 🤷🏾♂️
Nonetheless, speculation that the superstar athlete made a U-turn began after fans discovered a change in his account status.
According to LeBron’s official Twitter page, he still has the check because he’s “subscribed to Twitter Blue and verified their phone number.” However, after a spokesperson for LeBron James confirmed that the Lakers star did not pay to be verified, the platform’s billionaire CEO confirmed he’s covered “a few” subscriptions “personally.”
As well as LeBron James, Elon Musk is also paying the subscription fees for Stephen King and William Shatner. All three have publicly questioned the change or outright refused to stump up for a checkmark.
On Thursday, the famed author confirmed he has not backtracked on his decision. “My Twitter account says I’ve subscribed to Twitter Blue. I haven’t,’ he penned before adding, “My Twitter account says I’ve given a phone number. I haven’t.”
My Twitter account says I’ve subscribed to Twitter Blue. I haven’t. My Twitter account says I’ve given a phone number. I haven’t.
King also shared a post from Ice-T questioning what all the fuss is about. “The fact that we’re even discussing Blue Check marks is a Sad moment in society. Smh lol.”
Desiigner has revealed he’s struggling with his mental health and has put his career on hold to seek treatment after allegedly exposing himself on a flight.
The Brooklyn native was returning to the United States after performing at Rolling Loud over the weekend when the alleged incident occurred. He was reportedly on a flight with stops in Thailand and Tokyo. Sources told TMZ Desiigner exposed himself during the trip and was reprimanded by a flight attendant.
Desiigner shared a statement on Thursday evening admitting he was “ashamed” over the plane incident, although he did not state what occurred. He also shared that he was prescribed medication while hospitalized overseas.
“For the past few months I have not been OK, and I have been struggling to come to terms with what is going on,” Desiigner explained on his Instagram Stories. “While overseas for a concert I performed at, I had to be admitted in to a hospital, I was not thinking clearly. They gave me meds, and I had to hop on a plane home. I am ashamed of my actions that happened on that plane.”
Law enforcement reportedly questioned the “Panda” hitmaker on arrival in Minneapolis on Monday. He was reportedly briefly detained, although it’s unclear if he faces any criminal charges.
Desiigner announced he is seeking treatment and asked his followers to pray for him.
“I landed back to the states, and am admitting my self in a facility to help me,” he added. “I will be cancelling all of my shows and any obligations until further notice. Mental health is real guys, please pray for me. If your not feeling like yourself please get help.”
By now you probably heard Lil Uzi Vert has an alias called “Leslie.” The character, who’s whole name is Leslie Chow, was inspired by the Ken Jeong character in The Hangover series. This guy:
Uzi introduced this character to the world at Rolling Loud Thailand, and immediately people began to buck back. He showed a bunch of pictures him looking emo and what not. Some said this was him identifying as a teen girl. I can’t call it.
Most people really weren’t feeling it. Some people did say that his unconventional new look was attractive. Others went further, and said he was the greatest of all time. That’s funny. Anyway, Lil Uzi Vert saw the comments and BUCKED back and said the following:
“Chow understand people always don’t like ways of Chow. But Chow don’t give af Chow rich and never look back ….. Suck my monkey tail LESLIE OUT,” he said.
But, things got a little bit ugly when his girlfriend JT got involved. As you know, JT is one of two women in The City Girls. And she has vigorously defended her man at every turn, even when it seems like they are a complete mismatch. Personally, I wonder how it works because he is so androgynous and “groundbreaking” – if you will – and she seems to be one hell of a sexy woman. But that’s not my business.
She went renegade when she decided to defend him to somebody taking slick. She proceeded to bash the person’s baby. You can see how it played out here.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CrRiPixgD2m/?
So someone commented about JT being the weak link in the City Girls and then she started to go in on the girl’s innocent baby, calling the child “ugly.” And then she talked about the father being dead, because she saw a tat that said as much. That was tough. She even went further seeing the baby looks like Finesse2tymes! Now why did she go and say that?
I just don’t think that it’s right to go at people like that, when you’re a star…you are public. Anyway, I think she’s probably secretly upset about this Leslie thing but that’s none of my business.
Last year, Uzi changed his pronouns to “They/Them” so you know where he stands.
OK, I guess we are in a space where people can’t say anything. Like, even when you are saying nothing, you are getting dragged Reginald Denny style. So, there was a new report after the reports that there are more women coming after the alleged New York assault. Well, there was a counter narrative put out by Majors’ team showing the alleged victim partying and other things. Their argument is that she was out there having fun and not being mentally messed up by the infraction. Well?
Her partying does not mean she was not assaulted. I do not get why people cannot simply let the process LEGALLY work its way out. Why not let the justice system work? Tiffany Haddish and most others have no reason to comment, because none of us know what is what at the moment. BUT, if you are going to imply support of the alleged abuser, you are going to have to suffer the repercussions and that is exactly what is happening now.
So, they are eating her UP! ON EVERY LEVEL! By the way, she deleted it almost immediately! But the internet is unforgiving!
Tiffany Haddish is a mess.
Let’s not forget she and her friends bullied a Black woman doctor into a suicide attempt because she was trying to give them factual information about COVID. pic.twitter.com/SNxWfaOsYz
— Steve Perkel, Stefan Perquelle aka Joe Lean (@StacksBreadup) April 20, 2023
Somebody dug up “Rihanna’s Revenge!”
I remember seeing this video on YouTube YEARS AGO & it was always so damn gross. & I’m just now finding out that this was Tiffany Haddish in this video mocking Rihanna experiencing abuse… 😵💫😵💫😵💫 pic.twitter.com/K8SFdMDxCb
Twitch allowed Soulja Boy to return to the popular streaming platform on Thursday (April 20).
Soulja Boy regained access to his Twitch account after being banned for well over a year. The 32-year-old rapper reacted to his ban ending in a Twitter post.
Twitch briefly suspended Soulja Boy before banning him in December 2021. He threatened to sue the Amazon-owned streaming service if the ban wasn’t lifted.
“If y’all don’t give me my account back I’m taking y’all to court @Twitch @TwitchSupport,” he wrote in a since-deleted tweet.
Soulja Boy suggested Twitch was racist for banning him. He encouraged other users to boycott the platform.
“I need the best lawyer money can buy dm me I got millions,” he wrote in another since-deleted tweet. “I wanna sue twitch I feel like they racist they ban me without no explanation I will not stand for this.”
A day later, Soulja Boy apologized for calling out Twitch.
“Just spoke with Twitch I would like to send an apology to the entire staff and community,” he wrote. “It’s their decision, let’s just see what happens. Thanks for your support.”
Blueface and his mother are parting ways forever. Blueface said that he has disowned his own mother because of her “odd behavior.” They have never had the best relationship and it has metastasized into something completely cancerous and destructive. But, it is only getting worse now, shockingly. In a recent interview, he is asked about his relationship with his girlfriend, who is pregnant, and how the mom fits in. And then he responds About his mother. He says that he’s no longer got a mom and he is less stressed knowing that she is nowhere near him.
“F##k that lady”, I don’t have a mom, she’s weird she’s strange, I don’t know what her motive is, her angle,” he says to the woman that gave him life. At least he called her a lady.
You might recall last year Blueface’s sister and his mother claimed that the rapper assaulted them. This was at his own house and it was a huge mess. The rapper’s mother said she would never forgive him because he put hands on her. Well, apparently she did forgive him in time even though at the time she threatened him with the court system.
Now, she is actually responding to his “disowned” claims. She kept it curt, but said she’s not even praying for him anymore. She also suggested that he needs to disown the people leeching off of him. She continued on. It must be a tough time for this family, but it appears that the mother is moving on with the other members of the family but it’s pretty sad.
“He said F his own son birthday and I’m strange. Boy I’m not even praying for you no more. Get someone else to do it,” she put in her stories.
“This ninja said F everyone but the people leaching off him. You’re the world’s biggest weirdo. When they done with you I pray you ask God for forgiveness.”
“He don’t have a dad. He don’t have a BM. He don’t have a brother. He don’t have a sister. He don’t have a granny. He don’t have a friend. He don’t have God. But I’m weird. Everyone else is the problem but you. I’m done with you. I wash my hands.”
Cardi B moved one step closer to seizing the assets of vlogger Tasha K, who owes the rapper more than $4 million.
According to documents obtained by AllHipHop, a writ of execution was filed against Tasha K and Kebe Studios LLC in Georgia on Thursday (April 20). The court order cleared the way for Cardi B to collect the judgment awarded to her in a defamation lawsuit.
The Atlantic Records rapper sued Tasha K, whose real name is Latasha Kebe, in 2019. A jury found Tasha K liable for defamation, invasion of privacy and intentional infliction of emotional distress in 2022.
Tasha K was ordered to pay roughly $4 million to Cardi B. The vlogger asked for a new trial, but an appeals court upheld the verdict in March.
“There are two issues here,” the appeals court explained. “One is whether the jury had sufficient evidence to hold appellants—Latasha Kebe and others—liable for defamation (and other privacy torts) against appellee Belcalis Almanzar (better known as ‘Cardi B’). The other is whether the district court erred by excluding evidence. We hold that Kebe hasn’t preserved either issue for appeal.”
Tasha K apologized to Cardi B via social media after the appeal failed.
The American Civil Liberties Union stepped up to advocate for Afroman, who was sued by the law enforcement officers who raided his Ohio home in 2022.
Last month, officers sued Afroman for using footage of the raid for music videos and merchandise. The ACLU urged an Ohio court to dismiss the lawsuit, filing an amicus brief in support of the rapper on Wednesday (April 19).
“It’s high time for police to stop suing citizens for unflattering commentary about them,” the ACLU declared on social media. “Our First Amendment rights and Afroman free to make his music — your honor, that’s all we need.”
Several officers claimed Afroman caused them emotional distress, embarrassment, ridicule, loss of reputation and humiliation. The rapper turned the raid footage into the “Will You Help Me Repair My Door” music video. His video currently racked up 5 million views on YouTube.
Afroman defended his use of the raid footage in response to the lawsuit.
“Essentially a racist judge signed a fictitious false warrant, lying on the warrant, accusing me of kidnapping and drug trafficking,” he wrote on Instagram. “The warrant put the Adams county sheriff in a position to attempt to kill me. After the Adams County Sheriff. Burglarized vandalized and destroyed my property. They became thieves and stole my money. After they stole my money they became criminals. After they became criminals they lost their right of privacy.”
He added, “My house is my property, my video camera films, everything on my property as they begin, stealing my money, disconnecting plus destroying my video camera system, they became my property! Criminals caught in the act, of vandalizing and stealing money. My video footage is my property.”
Afroman continued to promote his video and merch despite the lawsuit.
Every year, April rolls around and music-lovers from all over the world conjoin in California for one thing: Coachella. This year however, the vibes are immaculate, and it seems people are looking more forward to the activities happening outside of the festival than anything.
Insert Earry Hall, the sonic healer disguised as a DJ. Hailing from Southside Chicago, Hall always knew there was a bigger purpose for him, one he steps into proudly as he continues to naturally make long-lasting impressions and all those he crosses paths with.
In describing himself, Hall states, “I’m a friend, I’m a social scientist. Super obsessed with the mental and physical health benefits of friendship.”
Hall is also the brainchild behind SEE YOU SOON, a brand that hosts the most epic, turnt up parties all around the world, including FIND YOUR FRIENDS and THANK GOD IT’S MONDAY (which sell out in less 24 hours everytime). And while the turn up is always fun, Hall prides himself in the safe environment he creates, for others to create, connect, bond, and make long-lasting memories.
This year for Coachella, SEE YOU SOON hosted their highly-anticipated, three-day pop-up in the desert, titled See You Soon Presents: See You in the Desert. The micro DJ festival reels in the hottest collective of Black DJs, taking place at The Good House — a Black-owned hot spring on an energy vortex. The only one in the country.
AllHipHop spoke with Earry Hall to discuss his roots, how he started DJing, starting See You Soon, the epic 3-day pop-up for Coachella weekend, and more!
AllHipHop: Being from Southside Chicago, what was that like growing up?
Earry Hall: It’s interesting, because Chicago is such a beautiful place, but also very segregated. As I got older, I realized the environments were engineered for segregation. Coming into the space that I’m in now, understanding that if we’re intentional enough with the moments that we’re designing, they can really be engineered for connectivity and friendship. Chicago is the beginning of that learning, and also understanding what my calling is.
AllHipHop: What is your calling?
Earry Hall: For sure to make it easy and fun for people to find each other, In a really cool way. Living in New York, moving here. I moved here for Nike, doing sportswear packaging. I was designing for 11 years with Nike, also Beats by Dre as their global product collaboration designer. Having trouble finding community. Because I’d go out to clubs where my friends are DJing, in those spaces, bottle service at those clubs, they’re built for social segregation.
At the time, I was having trouble finding my friends. So I went to therapy, understanding that I wanted to pay closer attention to my mental health, especially during that time. My therapist suggested that I need to concentrate on my tribe, on building my tribe. She sent me a TED Talk talking about the people that live the longest on the planet. How it’s not about what they eat or how they exercise, it’s really about who’s in their lives.
AllHipHop: I realized that recently, your whole life is built off connections.
Earry Hall: Absolutely. That’s how we’re designed as humans, biologically. One of the things I study is the chemicals that our bodies generate, because of each other.For example, if you’re at a concert singing one of your favorite songs, somebody that knows that song too with a stranger. Or at a party, singing that song that you never hear out, with somebody you don’t know.
In that moment, what our bodies are doing is remarkable. We’re exercising our lungs in a way that we usually don’t. We’re putting oxygen into our bodies, which makes it difficult for disease to live. We’re strengthening our immune system, because our bodies create this chemical called immunoglobulins. When we sing together, it’s wild. It’s crazy. But I realized there’s all this medicine and all these benefits of friendship that’s triggered through community really. Figuring out how to be really intentional about spaces, so we can access all the healthy things that live inside of our community.
Credit: Ryan Malcolm-Campbell [MR.KOA]
AllHipHop: How’d you get into DJing?
Earry Hall: I started See You Soon as a mental and physical health initiative, disguised as a party. That concept even started as a case study. Coming from the design world, I love color theory. What the mind and the body does, you see certain colors. I’d strategically light the room in certain colors, changing colors, choosing to be really intentional about the aesthetics of the room. I’ll book the DJ, and the DJs usually would be more interested in what they wanted to hear. Not what would connect everybody. It was very much about them, to them.
For me, we should be using music as a tool to connect everybody in the room. To convince people that they’re with family, not strangers, by the end of the night. One of my best friends, DJ M.O.S who’s also a legendary DJ, one day him and his wife, DJ Kiss who’s also a legendary DJ, they suggested I start DJing. Because of my music taste. They were at my place, listening to music. They suggested, “hey, why don’t you start DJing?” That put the bug in my ear. One of my really good friends, my brother La’Tron, he brought up all about all this DJ equipment over. Showed me how to use it, operate it. One of my other brothers, my good friend Derrick Jones, he’d come over and help me practice. Show me things. Even in that was a community activity, I access my community to learn a new skill that’d ultimately connect more people with each other.
From there, I was really interested in making everybody sing together. For three hours, after I realized all the health benefits. That’s really how I started. The goal was never to DJ though, it was always about social science. My experience in brands, as a designer, as a marketer, as an advertiser, I know how to build a world around a brand. For the first time, I did it for something that I care about independently. For myself as a DJ, whose goal is really to help people access all these healing properties.
AllHipHop: What does it mean to be a sonic healer?
Earry Hall: It’s all about intention. It’s also about the knowledge we have around what certain soundwaves do, what frequencies do, what certain parts do. Using those things intentionally to heal, to help people.
AllHipHop: Talk about starting See You Soon, and growing it to what it is now.How has that journey been?
Earry Hall: So beautiful. We haven’t spent a dollar on advertising. It started from the intention of knowing that there weren’t many spaces that were welcoming for people of color. That felt safe, that felt cool. There has never been any incident in any of my events in five years, which is so beautiful. One of my favorite things about what we’re doing. Usually having a thousand people in one space, sometimes there’s this awareness that something could happen.
But in our spaces, there’s an ease. There’s a relaxness that gives us the opportunity to really enjoy ourselves, not really feel like we have to concentrate on being safe. There are rules we enforce for every person who attends comfort, it started in the basement of Hotel Figueroa. One of my good friends Louis Kaino, he owns a fashion PR company. At the time, he was trying to figure out how to activate his network. I had this concept. We partnered for the first one., and it took off from there.
AllHipHop: You’re known for your mashups. What‘s your favorite one?
Earry Hall: I do the mashup through songs. So “Knuck If You Buck” on top of the “Prototype” by Andre 3000 with the drums and percussion of “Some Cut,” which is the craziest combination because the drums are so crazy. Making something that doesn’t exist with something that exists is the most interesting thing about doing mashups. Also the nostalgia of those three songs being combined into a completely new experience.
Credit: Ryan Malcolm-Campbell [MR.KOA]
AllHipHop: Let’s talk about the three day pop up. What’re you most excited for?
Earry Hall: There’s so much, really all of it honestly. The space is so beautiful, very intentional. Us choosing that space, it’s a minority-owned, black-owned hot spring. In the middle of the Palm desert, on top of the energy vortex. So much of what we’re doing is shaping energies. I do believe in energy having a physical experience. If we put ourselves in environments that are conducive to our energy, feeling safe, feeling welcome, I think our bodies will follow. Choosing that place was very intentional, shout out to The Good House. The lineup is so good.
AllHipHop: What’s the lineup again?
Earry Hall: The concept is we’re bringing the best parties in LA to the desert. In a way to where Coachella is such a massive machine, they don’t necessarily really know what’s happening on the ground. It’s so close to LA. As a community member, I asked my friends that are killing it as well to do this with me and come out to the desert with us. The lineup is so crazy: B-Hen, he does a block party that’s upwards of 3K people every year. My friends at All Summa, Chicago guys. They do a party that they tour, it’s so cool. I have this amazing DJ duo, one is Honeybee and one is Honeycut.
AllHipHop: I know Honeycut!
Earry Hall: That’s my sister. We’re doing a party concept shaped around them, which is so exciting. Then my thing, Find Your Friends. We usually do around 1500 people every time. We do it twice a month, so around 96 times a year. [this math makes no sense lmao] The space is so intimate that we’re really excited about that part too, because it’s a large format party in an intimate space that we ask everyone to connect. We’ll be in an environment that’s so beautiful, in the midst of so much foliage, mineral water, all these healthy things. It’s going to be the perfect environment for people to meet each other and find each other, celebrate life together. From the energy, to the music, the security and the intentional mocktail strategy we choose, comfort and ease is everything. We partnered with a minority female owned mocktail company, Coyote Eight, who has created an absolute “Free Spirit” experience. We want people to be able to have a good time without the pressure of drinking if that’s not their bag. That’s the goal.
Credit: Ryan Malcolm-Campbell [MR.KOA]
AllHipHop: How do you prepare for something like that?
Earry Hall: Man, meditate a lot. [laughs] Find a bunch of music. Honestly, my team is so brilliant that it’s an adventure more than a challenge. My colleague and our, COO Indigo Charles, such an amazing person. My business partner, Ryan Sauter. My chosen family, just happened to be so good at what they do that we’re preparing together. When you’re building things that your friends and people you admire, it’s exciting. People leave their ego, that’s a big thing. All of us are brilliant in our own right and we respect each other so much that it’s such a beautiful exercise putting these things together.
AllHipHop: Do you guys party party?
Earry Hall: Absolutely. Our team has a team, so there’s a point in our activations where we’re allowed to let loose. Me being the creative and the DJ, I have a bit more liberty to do that. But Ryan is my business partner, he’s very buttoned up though. It takes a minute for him to feel like he can let loose, but we definitely do. Building this thing, I’m as much a part of the community as everybody else in there. It’d be a shame if we’re building this thing and these moments together, and we’re not enjoying the environment.
AllHipHop: You will be sharing your music mashups this year via SoundCloud. How and why did that come about?
Earry Hall: Realizing that in LA, you have to be here to experience what we’re doing, I wanted to create a digital footprint that was highly shareable and music is such a shareable thing. I’ll be dropping mashups every other week, sometimes every week. The priority is to consistently share, helping people reimagine the songs that we fell in love with and experienced in a new way. It’s also for the DJ community, as well. A lot of my mashups and remixes that I’ve already shared end up on DJ record pools, and I’m not sharing them with record pools. Which is such a dope stamp of approval from a community that can be like music snobs at times. It’s proof of barrier to entry, in the DJ community sometimes with the music. Looking forward to sharing more, and being a vessel for all the stuff.
An attorney for one of Young Thug’s co-defendants was arrested at the Fulton County courthouse in Georgia on Thursday (April 20).
According to multiplereports, sheriff’s deputies arrested Anastasios Manettas for allegedly carrying prescription pills into court and throwing a phone at a sheriff’s office captain. Manettas represents Miles Farley, who was scheduled to be tried alongside Young Thug in the YSL RICO trial.
Manettas was charged with possession of pills not in the original container, simple battery on a law enforcement officer, obstruction and disrupting court proceedings. The lawyer’s colleague Chadha Jimenez claimed Manettas accidentally hit an officer with a phone.
Jimenez said he told Manettas to toss the phone amid the chaos of the attorney’s arrest. Manettas allegedly tried to throw the phone to Jimenez.
Jimenez didn’t want officers to search the phone. He raised concerns about the justification for arresting Manettas for bringing pills to court.
“They’re not m############ doctors,” Jimenez told Rolling Stone. “They didn’t have a warrant. They don’t have a right to know about his m############ conditions.”
Judge Ural Glanville severed Farley’s case from the RICO trial against Young Thug and other YSL members after Manettas’ arrest. The judge’s decision left Young Thug as one of 13 defendants in the trial.
Angela Simmons, one of the princesses of Hip-Hop’s royal rap family, is passing on a legacy to her son that has nothing to do with her Rock and Roll Hall of Fame father.
Simmons took to social media to share the amazing gift her child’s father Sutton Tennyson left their Sutton Joseph Jr. before he was shot and killed in 2018.
On Instagram, she announced, “My baby is a young CEO.”
The footage shows the two of them meeting up at the Little Giants Giant Shorties clothing store with Tennyson’s partner to sign a contract making him a boss.
“His father was sure to leave him behind something he can grow with,” she wrote, adding, “My son loves making money (hustling). It’s in his blood. It’s time to finally give him what’s his!”
She then writes to Tennyson, “Your son gets the torch now. Though you are not here with us your legacy lives on ❤️ Go time baby boy 🚀.”
In a video of the presentation, she asks her son, “How does it feel that your dad left you behind this legacy of a company?”
Sutton Joseph Jr said, “It feels super great!”
The youngster is clear about his father’s transition.
Rapper Fat Joe is far more than just an emcee, a businessman, a podcaster, a fashion plate, and an influencer, he is also a healthcare advocate, fighting for the civil rights of others.
According to The Hill’s In The Know (ITK), the Terror Squad leader, whose real name is Joseph Cartagena, will appear on Capitol Hill in the upcoming week to lobby on behalf of Power to the Patients, a nonprofit that advocates for healthcare price transparency.
His plans are to meet with lawmakers in America’s bicameral legislature (The Senate and House of Representatives) and at the White House to talk about the need for medical professionals to be upfront with how much they charge people who are sick and in need of care.
“Our healthcare system needs comprehensive reform and I remain committed to using my platform to work alongside Power to the Patients and give a voice to the voiceless,” Fat Joe explained.
“We must demand accountability from hospitals and insurers, so people can get a transparent understanding of the cost of their medical bills and make more informed financial decisions on healthcare services,” the 52-year-old said.
Adding, “With prices hidden, oftentimes, the bills are not even consistent at the same hospital. It’s tearing families apart.”
In addition to his lobbying, Fat Joe will also perform at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner in Washington D.C. on Thursday, April 27.
