There’s always some sort beef brewing with reality stars, especially those that are known as VH1 Veterans. K. Michelle saw a resurgence in her popularity after joining the cast Love & Hip Hop Atlanta years ago, and since then she’s moved on to Love & Hip Hop Hollywood and had a few spin-f series her own. The accomplished singer is a fan favorite that viewers love to hate, and it seems as if that’s also a sentiment shared by many her fellow cast members.
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Millions watched as K. Michelle’s relationship with Joseline Hernandez went from friendly to downright nasty, and it doesn’t look like the former castmates are done taking verbal shots. Recently,Atlanta Black Star caught up with K. to discuss her forthcoming album All Monsters Are Human that’s slated for release at the end the month. While they had a few moments with the singer, they asked if she would be joining the cast Love & Hip Hop Miami now that she’s living in the home the Heat.
“Absolutely not,” K. Michelle said. “I just don’t do well with crackheads. I don’t. I don’t do well with drug addicts. I can’t… They don’t take no responsibility. I’m at a new place in life and I dont’ do it. If I know you on some stuff, I’m just gone leave you there with the stuff.” For years, K. has publicly accused Joseline Hernandez being a drug addict. Although this time around she didn’t name Joseline outright, fans assumed that’s who she was referring to now that the Puerto Rican PRincess has added her name to the Miami cast.
As everyone watches her get married to Safaree Samuels on the new episode Love & Hip-Hop: New York airing tonight on VH1, Erica Mena (Samuels!) took a quick moment before the hype to explain what it’s like becoming a new mom 13 years after giving birth to her first child. While many women dream the day they’ll have baby no. 2 — congrats again, Christina Milian! — for Erica, she simply didn’t think it was even possible.
“I never thought I would have another baby solely because I didn’t wanna do it all again alone,” Mena-Samuels wrote to her over four million Instagram followers. Of course, she later found out the good old saying that goes something like “what’s meant for you can’t be taken away,” finishing f her caption by writing, “God said YES thirteen years later.” Of course, we’re sure she wasn’t expecting The Most High to make that moment also come with a hit reality series and a whole wedding special broadcasted on nationwide primetime television, but what’s life without a few interesting surprises.
Congrats to the beautiful Erica Mena-Samuels and her hubby Safaree Samuels! Watch a preview the extravagant wedding ceremony that went down last October below, which ficially airs tonight in the new episode Love & Hip Hop: New York:
Social media thrives on lack context. The less research people do and the more quickly they react, the more entertaining content there is to be consumed. Due to this dynamic, a tweet about Tupac Shakur statue was able to go viral today. Someone shared a photo a statue that used to sit outside the Tupac Amaru Shakur Center for the Arts in Stone Mountain, Georgia. The photo was accompanied by the poorly-typed caption: “New Tupac statute in Dallas, what’s your thoughts.”
People’s thoughts were not good. The statue was unrecognizable. For some reason, Tupac was depicted in a suit, wearing a huge cross around his neck and holding what appears to be a Bible. The late rapper was rarely seen with this sort getup, which makes sense because he wasn’t a missionary. Twitter wondered why he would be immortalized in this manner… and in this location, since he didn’t have any strong ties to Dallas.
However, some users in the replies did a bit Googling and discovered that this statue is not new, nor is it in Detroit. As mentioned above, it used to be in Georgia, but was removed when Tupac’s mother, Assata Shakur, sold the arts center in 2015. The center’s new owner, Jim Burnett, wishes to keep Tupac’s spirit tied to the space by erecting a new statue him there. In 2017, it was reported that a $500,000 bronze statue was commissioned for artist Nijel Binns to complete. The final product has yet to be revealed, but with that kind budget and this much time to work on it, hopefully it will bear a stronger resemblance to the hip hop legend.
Read the disapproving reactions to the old Tupac statue below.
Drake shouted out some respected MCs and artists in a series of posts on Instagram Stories. The OVO boss showed love to Phonte, The Roots, MF DOOM, Elzhi and more while sharing his listening selections from Sunday night (January 19).
“Spent my night listening to some of the greatest ever,” Drake wrote before posting photos of the artists.
Drizzy’s social media homage saluted other notable Hip Hop figures such as MF DOOM and Slum Village along with singing great Dwele. The music superstar’s reflective mood also harkened back to earlier in his career when he collaborated with Phonte, Elzhi and Dwele on the Comeback Season mixtape.
Check out Drake’s recognition of “some of the greatest ever” below.
The Brooklyn Hip Hop scene got a little more unified as Casanova and Pop Smoke put an end to their beef.
After tensions between the two began to publicly surface in recent weeks, Casanova revealed he’s on good terms with Pop on Sunday (January 19). The Roc Nation artist posted a photo of his friendly interaction with his short-lived rival on Instagram.
“BEFORE WE ATE WE GOT SOMETHING OFF OUR CHEST… WHO YALL THINK WON?” he wrote in the caption.
Issues between Casanova and Pop emerged earlier this month when the latter previewed a new song on Instagram. In the post, Pop labeled his fellow Brooklyn native “Trashanova.”
“YALL OLD NIGGAS BETTER PACK IT UP,” he wrote. “THIS AINT NO TRASHANOVA SHIT NO SCARY L SHIT YALL KNOW THE WOOS RUN THE CITY YALL NIGGAS COULD NEVER BE ME #straightshit #Wooshit #doublegshit #Ripclovergz #ripshyste #ripyola #riprohan #ripdonald.”
The brief beef prompted peacemaking efforts from Meek Mill, who tried to play mediator Twitter.
“Y’all Brooklyn niggas be beefing wit each other too much lol,” he wrote. “Stop pumping that shit too if you not involved ….. let them guys get they money and if you official and you around say something!”
Y’all Brooklyn niggas be beefing wit each other too much lol
While the beef with Casanova is in the rearview mirror, Pop still has some trouble brewing in his life. Last week, the up-and-coming artist was arrested for allegedly transporting a stolen 2019 Rolls-Royce Wraith from California to New York.
Pop, whose real name is Bashar Jackson, pleaded not guilty to interstate transport of a stolen vehicle. He was released on a $250,000 bond.
Last week, Pop Smoke and Casanova got caught up in a rather predictable beef. It seemed to have stemmed from Pop Smoke, a burgeoning Brooklyn rapper, declaring himself the “King New York”. Bestowing oneself with the title has been a recurrent trend throughout the history hip hop and every time a rapper does it, it incites dissenters. Considering Pop Smoke is still on the come up, fellow Brooklynite, Casanova, was not willing to let Pop Smoke’s bold claim slide.
On Pop Smoke’s newly-released song, “Christopher Walking”, he raps: “She know that Papi outside, she know I’m the King New York.” It wasn’t only the second half this bar that Casanova took issue with. After hearing a preview the track on Pop Smoke’s Instagram, Casanova responded, “STOP USING MY PHRASE ‘WE OUTSIDE’ YEA MY PHASE‼️CAUSE YALL NOT OUTSIDE WE KNOW WHO’S OUTSIDE.” He also tweeted that “NOBODY RUNS NEW YORK IT’S TOO MUCH OUTSIDE N****S TO FRONT LIKE ONE N**** HAS THOSE POWER TO CONTROL THE WHOLE BITY.”
Pop Smoke initially refused to retract his statement about being the “King Of New York”, but he and Casanova have found a way to put aside their differences. Casanova’s latest IG post shows him playfully wrestling with Pop Smoke with the following caption: “BEFORE WE ATE WE GOT SOMETHING OFF OUR CHEST… WHO YALL THINK WON?” Meek Mill was glad to see that the rappers’ heated standf turned into a friendly one, commenting “G shit” with a ton trophy emojis.
On Friday, Pop Smoke was arrested for stealing a Rolls-Royce, which was apparently borrowed for a music video. After news circulated that he was locked up, Casanova took to Instagram to advocate for his release. In retrospect, this was the first sign that their beef would be squashed. We will continue to provide updates on that case.
HipHopDX – This week in Hip Hop, Eminem dropped his surprise album Music To Be Murdered By. Also, Royce Da 5’9 unleashed his new single “Overcomer” featuring a diss aimed at Yelawolf, and 2 Chainz cut down his dreads.
Eminem Releases Music To Be Murdered By
Eminem surprised fans with a new album titled Music To Be Murdered By on Friday (January 17). The LP featured 20 tracks and guest appearances from Royce Da 5’9, Q-Tip, KXNG Crooked, Young M.A, Anderson .Paak, Black Thought and the late Juice Wrld.
Slim Shady also released a video for the single “Darkness” at the same time.
It didn’t take long for listeners to catch on to all the people Em disses on the album. Among them include Lord Jamar, Machine Gun Kelly, Joe Budden, Kanye West, Tyler, the Creator and Earl Sweatshirt, just to name a few.
However, there was no diss to be found for Nick Cannon.
Stream Eminem’s Music To Be Murdered By here.
Royce Da 5’9 Disses Yelawolf
Royce Da 5’9 shared the Westside Gunn-assisted track “Overcomer” off his forthcoming album The Allegory on Thursday (January 16). On it, Royce takes a clear shot at former Shady Records labelmate Yelawolf.
“Yelawolf this is your first and your last pass,” Royce spit. “I ain’t gon’ put it on blast, your punk ass know what this about/You think it’s ’bout being loud or tryna be hostile/Till you get found face down on the ground outside of Kid Rock house/Though you a vulture pundit, I hope you get sober from this/Men lie, women lie, so do numbers.”
In a since-deleted response, Yelawolf posted a pair of red boots on Instagram with the following caption: “YOU AND ME video dropping soon from the sold out Fillmore in Detroit .. but numbers do lie don’t they @royceda59. yo @eminem get your hype man before the wolves do … I ain’t worried.”
Royce caught the post before Yela deleted it and fired back.
“I can remove you quicker than you Deleted this post, David Duke and nobody can stop me,” he wrote. “See, you want it to be one way…But it’s the other way.”
Read more about Royce Da 5’9’s beef with Yelawolf here.
2 Chainz cut his dreads ahead of the release for his collaborative track “Dead Man Walking” with Future.
“This my second cut of the year,” he wrote in a caption on Instagram.
Listen to 2 Chainz’s “Dead Man Walking” featuring Future here.
Reviews
– Redman — 3 Joints
– Nick Cannon — The Miseducation Of The Negro You Love To Hate
– Stunna 4 Vegas — Rich Youngin
– 070 Shake — Modus Vivendi
– Mick Jenkins — The Circus
#DXCLUSIVES: Stretch & Bobbito, 30 Roc & S1
Stretch & Bobbito Conquered Radio, Now They Have An Album Called ‘No Requests’
Stretch and Bobbito spoke to HipHopDX about the making of their debut album No Requests and the origins of its title.
“I’ve done everything from the most underground music-centric to the most horrible Las Vegas mainstream with a line of hostile white women asking for bad music,” Stretch pointed out. “No Requests is kind of tongue-in-cheek. It’s not meant to be too serious, although we actually don’t take requests. With regards to the album, you don’t need to make requests because we got you.”
Read the full interview with Stretch and Bobbito here.
Producer 30 Roc Explains How Windshield Wiper Noise Ended Up On Roddy Ricch’s ‘The Box’
30 Roc detailed how he made Roddy Ricch’s No. 1 hit song “The Box” and where the “EEE-ERR” sound heard throughout the song came from in a conversation with DX.
“Anybody who listens to music knows it’s his voice,” 30 Roc explained. “That’s not possible. It’s possible for me to do that, but if I was to put that in the beat without him laying the vocals, I felt like it would throw the beat off.”
Check out the entire interview with 30 Roc here.
S1’s Memoir Reveals How Rhymefest Facilitated Life-Changing Kanye West Collaboration
S1 a.k.a. Symbolyc One dropped his new book titled Pray.Focus.Plan.Execute: A Memoir by S1 and shared an exclusive excerpt from it on DX. He also opened up about his intentions for the written work, which dropped on January 15.
“My purpose, not only for writing this book but also in life, is to impact, inspire, encourage and motivate others,” S1 told DX. “I’ve been blessed to accomplish so much in my life. So, I felt me sharing my personal life and career experiences of success and more importantly, my failures, would align with my purpose of achieving that.”
Michelle Obama has debuted a new workout playlist on Spotify, sharing a Hip Hop-heavy selection of songs on Sunday (January 19).
The former first lady’s collection includes tracks from The Carters (JAY-Z and Beyoncé), Cardi B, 2 Chainz, Lizzo, Anderson .Paak and the late Nipsey Hussle, among others.
Obama’s picks arrive a few weeks after her husband Barack unveiled his Best of 2019 playlist, which also featured multiple Hip Hop artists. Michelle’s song list features a portion of “cool down tracks” with cuts from Meek Mill, EarthGang and more.
Check out Obama’s Spotify workout playlist stream and tracklist below.
“A God Like You” – Kirk Franklin
“V.3005” – Childish Gambino
“Soulmate” – Lizzo
“My Money, My Baby” – Burna Boy
“Tints” – Anderson .Paak f. Kendrick Lamar
“Clique” – Kanye West, JAY-Z & Big Sean
“Come Down” – Anderson .Paak
“Drogba (Joanna)” – Afro B
“Feelin’ So Good – Remix” – Jennifer Lopez f. Big Pun & Fat Joe
“Press” – Cardi B
“APES**T” – The Carters
“Chuck Baby” – Chuck Brown
“Hussle & Motivate” – Nipsey Hussle
“Rule The World” – 2 Chainz f. Ariana Grande
“Feels Good” – Tony! Toni! Toné!
“Perm” – Bruno Mars
“One Kiss” – Calvin Harris, Dua Lipa
“Finesse – Remix” – Bruno Mars f. Cardi B
“Before I Let Go” – Beyoncé
“Tambourine” – Eve
“Toast” – Koffee
“Slide” – Calvin Harris f. Frank Ocean & Migos
“Cross Me” – Ed Sheeran f. Chance The Rapper & PnB Rock
“Turnin’ Me Up” – BJ The Chicago Kid
“South of the Border” – Ed Sheeran f. Camilla Cabello & Cardi B
“I’M DOPE” – Tobe Nwigwe f. David Michael Wyatt
Cool Down tracks
“24/7” – Meek Mill f. Ella Mai
“Automatic” – The Bonfyre
“Show Me Love” – Alicia Keys f. Miguel
“I Want You Around”- Snoh Aalegra
“Honesty” – Pink Sweat$
“Lay Me Down” – Sam Smith
“Blessed” – Daniel Caesar
“Godspeed” – Frank Ocean
“Collide” – Tiana Major9 f. EarthGang
Westside Gunn announced a new project on Instagram, Saturday, as noted by HipHopDX.
For a picture Gunn in a studio in Paris, the rapper explained that the city is inspiring him to record a new project within the next 48 hours that will be titled Pray for Paris.
“I’m INSPIRED!!!!! ,” he writes in the caption. “And with that being said I’m making my next project in the next 48hrs Hip Hop saves my life I owe so much to the CULTURE “Pray for Paris” coming Soon and this will be high level ART u have no idea wat your about to get🤯 #GXFR#FLYGOD#WSGPRAYFORPARIS#ParisFashionWeek#ICON#Rhude@ochinclovis#Culture.”
This is the second project that Gunn has confirmed on Instagram for 2020. In December, Gunn announced that 2020 would also bring a new collaborative project with Madlib. He wrote, “Well Since MADLIB told y’all, YES the WSG x MADLIB Project is dropping 2020, in 19’ I gave y’all Awesome GOD, HWH7, and WWCD soon as the ball drop I’m right back on the N…. necks #FLYGOD #LEGEND #THENEWKINGOFNY #BUFFALOKIDS #RocNation #Culture #GXFR.”
He was referring to an interview Madlib did with Gilles Peterson where he also confirmed the collaboration.
If Gunn does finish Pray for Paris within the next 48 hours, fans should be able to expect new music soon.
2 Chainz is a veteran in the rap game. While he experienced a rebirth and rise to stardom in the past decade, he has been making music since the 90s. Before there was the 2 Chainz we know and love today, there was Tity Boi, member the hip hop duo, Playaz Circle. He has been signed to Def Jam since those Playaz Circle days. Given that he is now 42-years-old and has built his name to be one the biggest in the game, it makes sense that he’s considering switching things up.
While speaking on the Apple Music radio show, 2 Chainz revealed that he’s hoping to be an independent artist by the end 2020. “Shortly after the release NO FACE NO CASE], I’m dropping my solo project, which will probably be my last solo on Def Jam,” the Atlanta rapper said. When Lowe probed him on why he would leave the label after developing such a fruitful relationship there over the years, 2 Chainz explained that the motivation behind this move concerns ownership. “The future’s unknown, but I been with Def Jam for a long time. That’s my home right there. It’s no bad blood over there. I’m just coming into another layer – another section in my life – to where it’s just about owning more. And that’s all that it is. And who knows? I might stick around. It just depends on how the negotiations go. But for now, I’m looking forward to possibly being independent by the end the year and rocking out with my guys.”
Vic Mensa has reportedly been arrested for a very unusual reason. According to TMZ, the punk-rock rapper allegedly discovered he was unknowingly breaking California law earlier this month, when he was charged with felony possession …brass knuckles? Vic was cruising around on his motorcycle in Glendale when a police ficer noticed him supposedly making an unsafe turn. According to law enforcement sources, the ficer pulled him over and proceeded to pat him down to inspect his person. The ficer then found the brass knuckles in Vic’s pants pocket.
It may seem unusual that these “fist-load weapons” are banned in California, considering they’re legal for self-defense circumstances in most states. While Vic managed to avoid getting ticketed for his alleged unsafe turn, he definitely got the short end the stick when he was booked under the felony charge possessing brass knuckles. He was later released after posting a $20,000 bond.
Westside Gunn’s trip to Paris has provided him with inspiration for his next project. The Griselda Records leader announced a new solo release titled Pray For Paris social media on Saturday (January 18).
“I’m INSPIRED!!!!!” he wrote on Instagram. “And with that being said I’m making my next project in the next 48hrs Hip Hop saves my life I owe so much to the CULTURE ‘Pray for Paris’ coming Soon and this will be high level ART u have no idea wat your about to get #GXFR #FLYGOD #WSGPRAYFORPARIS #ParisFashionWeek #ICON #Rhude @ochinclovis #Culture.”
Pray For Paris joins Westside’s previously announced Madlib collaborative album as his confirmed projects for 2020. The Buffalo-bred MC kicked off the year by re-releasing his Flyest Nig@@ In Charge Vol. 1 mixtape, which dates back to 2005.
Westside closed out 2019 by releasing his solo mixtape Hitler Wears Hermes 7 in October and the Griselda crew’s Shady Records debut WWCD in November. The latter project, which also featured Conway The Machine and Benny The Butcher, was named one of HipHopDX’s Best Albums of 2019.
Legendary rapper Chuck D has come out in support of suspended Recording Academy president and CEO Deborah Dugan.
Just prior to the 2020 Grammy Awards, the academy’s board of trustees decided to put Dugan on because of a “formal allegation of misconduct by a senior female member of the Recording Academy team.” This has angered the former frontman of Public Enemy, who issued a statement on the matter.
He said, “As always, a bunch of ignorant, testosterone-fueled, usually old white men stop progress and screw it up. Same old bullshit. They want to keep it status quo and make sure things like Hip Hop stay the poster child of their fuckery.”
He went on to say, “I’m not surprised that Deborah Dugan is out. I am appalled because it reeks of the same old jive, a New Whirl Odor that considers the masses simply as ‘them asses.’”
Interestingly, the rapper is attacking the organization only months prior to receiving a lifetime achievement award from it.
Though this is not the first time that Chuck D has criticized the Recording Academy. In 1989, he and the rest of Public Enemy boycotted the Grammy Awards because at that time they had not yet recognized hip-hop as a specific genre of popular music.
The band was even feuding a bit with the organization over the lifetime achievement award, as the academy at first did not want to honor DJ Lord, who joined the group in the late 1990s.
In regards to this feud, the rapper says, “We had to haggle, to educate, to justify why a core member of our group for the past 22 years, DJ Lord, should be part of this award. We had to question why our biggest UK hit and the theme to the global Paralympics Games, ‘Harder Than You Think,’ was left out. Maybe because it was released on my own independent label, SlamJamz, and not a major?”
A few months back, we started our R&B-centric Spotify playlist, “R&B Season”. HNHH curates a bunch playlists on various streaming platforms, but they are predominantly focused on hip hop. While it may appear that our expertise lies in hip hop, we are great admirers R&B. As the border between these two genres becomes increasingly porous, it’s hard to be a fan one without being a fan the other. However, the distinction remains important when deciding what vibe you’re going for when you turn to your preferred medium music consumption. R&B tends to be catered for your more mellow moments and there should be a place for you to comfortably retreat into to enjoy those sounds. That’s why we’ve been putting love and care into building up our “R&B Season” playlist.
While we try to highlight new releases in the thriving realm R&B, oldies aren’t f limits. That being said, don’t be too confused when you see that we snuck Aaliyah‘s “More Than A Woman” into our playlist this week. Aaliyah would have turned 41 this week, so we’re taking time to appreciate her legacy. Our playlist can serve as the perfect companion as you read about the mark that the Princess R&B left on music through her work with Timbaland and Missy Elliot.
In the lineage Aaliyah, we got new tunes from two women at the forefront R&B today, Ari Lennox and H.E.R. Lennox made some lovely contributions to the deluxe edition Dreamville’s Revenge Of The Dreams III and H.E.R. brought together an interesting cast for the remix “Slide” (Pop Smoke?!). Cozy up with “R&B Season”.
Madlib and his younger brother Oh No have joined forces for a new super duo called The Professionals.
On Friday (January 17), the seasoned Hip Hop artists dropped the inaugural self-titled album, which includes the previously released singles “Superhumans” and “Give N Take.” The project arrives The Beat Konducta’s own Madlib Invazion imprint and features additional contributions from Elzhi, Chino XL and Adub.
Naturally, Madlib and Oh No have collaborated before. In 2011’s, they teamed up on the Madlib Medicine Show #9: Nittyville project as well as the Gangster Doodles’ Gangster Music, Vol. 1 compilation last year.
Check out The Professionals album stream, cover art and tracklist below, and cop the vinyl here.
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