Very rarely do aspiring artists get a chance to soak up game from established artists in the music industry. Some opportunities have been presented to up-and-coming musicians through apps like Clubhouse, which removes a degree of separation from our favorite celebrities. Other events, including Instagram and Facebook’s Inaugural Creator Week with stars like Saweetie, Olivia Rodrigo, 50 Cent, and more, should be a must-watch for artists seeking advice on how to make it big in the music business.
The multiple-day event featured rappers Saweetie and 50 Cent, who both use Instagram and Facebook strongly to their advantage. Fiddy spoke to Sylvia Obell about how social media can be used to elevate your music platform. “Social media allows the artist to meet the audience before they meet the record label,” said the iconic rapper before offering another solid piece of advice. “Let the music speak for itself, the audience gets to choose who makes it.”
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Saweetie was another guest for Creator Week, speaking about how she’s used her social media platform to further herself in other areas. “I’ve always been a girl of aesthetics, I’ve always been someone of purposeful content,” she said. “If I’m posting something to promote my business, the lighting is right, the colors are coordinated, and it means something.”
She also said that she always does her research on people reaching out to collaborate, making her final decision based on energy. “No matter how many followers someone has, I always do background research on that person,” she said. “Protect your energy. Protect your brand. Protect your business. When someone wants to collaborate with you make sure that it makes sense and that they’re good people to do business with.”
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Polo G is set to drop off his brand new album Hall Of Fame tomorrow, featuring guest appearances from Lil Wayne, Nicki Minaj, DaBaby, Young Thug, and more — check out the full tracklist right here. While his “Gang Gang” single with Weezy has been driving hype for the upcoming release, Polo has taken it even further by hitting the radio circuit for some bars. Following an L.A. Leakers freestyle over DMX’s “Ruff Ryders Anthem,” Polo G hit up Funk Flex to hold it down accordingly.
Though his style may differ from Flex’s typical preferences, Polo holds it down with a melodically-driven freestyle, a development that will surely delight his fans. “Twenty-two up in the clip, gon blow till I get rid of it,” he raps, taking to a laid-back guitar instrumental. “Start it we gon finish it, I grew up with menaces / ni**a what, we get so belligerent / once I’m charged up there’s no controlling my adrenaline.”
There’s plenty more where that came from — check out Polo G’s Funk Flex freestyle now, and look for Hall Of Fame to land at the stroke of midnight.
QUOTABLE LYRICS
Twenty-two up in the clip, gon blow till I get rid of it Start it we gon finish it, I grew up with menaces N**a what, we get so belligerent Once I’m charged up there’s no controlling my adrenaline
Justin Bieber may very well have one of the coolest cars in the entire world, showing off his wildly futuristic custom Rolls-Royce on the streets of Beverly Hills for date night on Wednesday.
The pop star waited three years for his dream car to land in his garage, bursting into tears when he saw the finished product for the first time. The 2018 Rolls-Royce Wraith has been decked out with all sorts of customizations, pimping the exterior to resemble a spaceship. Last night, he took the car out for a spin as he and his wife, Hailey Bieber, enjoyed dinner at Matsuhisa. They were spotted on the way back home, pulling out of the parking lot in their extremely flashy whip, showing off the car in public for one of the first times.
The jaw-dropping ride was captured on video as Bieber carefully waited for traffic to pass before getting onto the road and driving off in style. The unique vehicle is truly one-of-a-kind and you can’t blame the artist for being a little over the top. This is sincerely one of the slickest cars on the road.
Check out a video of Bieber driving off in his custom Rolls-Royce at the link below and let us know what you think. Does he have one of the best car collections in Hollywood?
Mac Miller spewed plenty of wisdom throughout his lifetime, and on the GO:OD AM standout cut “Ascension,” he said, “I saw a mountain across the horizon, and I got there and realized it was just a pile of rocks.”
Mac’s precautionary tale of thinking that something is more exciting or worthwhile than it actually is was hilariously flipped on its head for a few Texas police officers earlier this week. In a now-viral video, three police officers are seen chasing a man up a hill by a highway ramp, and the officers and the suspect all quickly realized that the hill was bigger and more demanding than they initially thought.
What started off as a fast-paced on-foot pursuit quickly devolved into a slow-speed chase as all three of the officers got so winded from running up the hill that they took a break mid-chase. After noticing that the officers following him had resorted to a half-hearted walk, even the suspect started walking as well.
With enough distance behind him, the suspect easily makes his way onto the highway, but unfortunately, the video cuts off as soon as he does. No further details are currently available as to whether the suspect was able to successfully get away or not, but given people’s tendency to capitalize on viral moments, more information should be coming soon.
Last night, it was confirmed that Eve and Trina, representing for the Ruff Ryders and Slip-N-Slide respectively, have been selected to face-off in an upcoming Verzuz battle. Set to take place on Wednesday, June 16th, the match-up is set to put a spotlight on two of the game’s most respected female emcees, both of whom have built up strong catalogs lined with classic records.
Lyrically, both parties certainly tend to cover different subject matter, and it will certainly be interesting to hear how Trina’s bawdy, sexually charged bars pair up against Eve’s “pitbull in a dress” energy. Expect the former to fire off with bangers like the Kanye West-produced “B R Right,” the Trick Daddy-assisted “Shut Up,” and “Da Baddest Bitch.”
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As for Eve, she’s got no shortage of counterattacks, with the Dr. Dre produced classic singles “Let Me Blow Ya Mind” and “Satisfaction,” as well as her many Ruff Ryders posse cuts — including a classic remix of DMX’s “Ruff Ryders Anthem,” which finds her trading bars alongside Drag-On, X, and the LOX.
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Given the stylistic difference between the two artists, the early reactions to the upcoming Verzuz battle have been interesting to say the least. Many fans took to Twitter to voice their predictions, and while some were uncertain about the match-up, the engagement and excitement was generally high. Check out some of the reactions from social media below, and be sure to sound off with your own prediction on the big winner in the comments section.
In 2018, Migos, the pioneering trap trio from North Atlanta, were everywhere. After opening the year with the release of the hotly anticipated follow-up to their debut album Culture, they became an omnipresent force in pop culture. They featured in ads for everything from sneakers to video games, they performed at NBA All-Star Weekend, they even got their own potato chips.
They released their respective solo albums over the course of that year, then, in 2019, they announced a year-long delay on the third iteration of their Culture series — a delay which became longer than expected as a global pandemic shut down the entertainment industry. And now, after an unintended hiatus, they are set to finally release Culture III this week.
As they’ve rolled out the release over the last month, though, a frisson of concern has shot through the social media chatter surrounding the release. Its lead single, “Straightenin,” was buried in its release week by an avalanche of content from the likes of 21 Savage, J. Cole, and Nicki Minaj. Their Michael Jordan-parodying release date announcement made barely a splash.
When they revealed the album’s cover art, the overwhelming reaction on social media was negative and responses to the 18-song tracklist released a day later expressed more excitement for the featured artists than the fact that Migos was returning. When the album drops, it’ll have to directly compete for ears with Chicago upstart Polo G, whose reception and buzz have been much warmer over the past several months.
All of which begs the question: Do Migos still represent the culture? In the three years since they last released a Culture album, the pop culture landscape has seen multiple massive shifts, but the group itself has been buffeted by the winds of change since then, as well. Aside from the lukewarm critical reaction seen toward their solo efforts, Migos have been largely absent from playlists and radio, supplanted by a new crop of artists who do many of the same things.
While Offset, Quavo, and Takeoff often credit themselves with creating — or at least popularizing — the “triplet” flow, North Carolina rapper DaBaby has taken the baton and dashed away with it over the past two years. In that time, he’s received backlash for never changing his cadence and adjusted accordingly. If a newer artist is already facing criticism for never switching it up, how will an 18-song project from the flow’s foremost purveyors hold up under scrutiny?
Meanwhile, the members’ respective personal lives have dominated headlines as much as their business moves and new music has. Offset married Cardi B, then nearly divorced her twice. Public opinion seemed to sway to Cardi’s side both times, with rumors swirling that Offset was unfaithful and his rapper wife was fed up.
Quavo, meanwhile, had a high-profile romance of his own with Bay Area rising star Saweetie. They too had a very public falling out, with Saweetie tweeting, “I’m single. I’ve endured too much betrayal and hurt behind the scenes for a false narrative to be circulating that degrades my character. Presents don’t band-aid scars and the love isn’t real when the intimacy is given to other women.”
Quavo tried to defend himself by tweeting, “You are not the woman I thought you were. I wish you nothing but the best.” However, when a video of the couple having a violent altercation in the elevator at Saweetie’s North Hollywood apartment surfaced, the footage painted him in a less-than-positive light. The couple didn’t face charges for the fight, but seeing the cracks in the facade the two had put up in public didn’t do either of them any favors.
Takeoff got it the worst of all. Rather than be romantically linked to another rapper, he was accused of sexual battery and sued by the alleged victim. He denied the accusation through his attorney, calling the allegations a “money grab,” and has since remained mum on the incident, although he’s always been the least public of the three Migos, to the point he didn’t even have a separate Wikipedia page until recently.
Now, we know that mistreatment of women has never seemed to stop rap fans from consuming their faves’ new music (if anything, it’s starting to feel like a prerequisite for cultivating an intensely loyal fan base). But with all three members of the band landing in varying degrees of hot water over the past three years, it’s fair to question whether their brand has been irreparably tarnished.
And competing for listeners with Polo G — pretty much the paragon for the modern hitmaking style of melodic, traumatized rap dominating playlists lately — puts Migos in a precarious position. If the album fails to connect with listeners or appears to underperform, it could signal that their moment is over, leading to a domino effect of reduced returns on future projects. Lord knows hip-hop fans’ attention spans have gotten shorter than ever, so one slip could be all it takes for the masses to move on.
But, even with all that, Migos have one thing on their side: An established, successful brand in a rap landscape where branding often seems paramount to the music or even to fans’ receptions. Drake fatigue appeared to be setting in, then he sold out multiple Nike collaborations and took over the summer with “Laugh Now Cry Later.” Nicki appeared to be done after Queen but finally put Beam Me Up Scotty on DSPs and reclaimed her crown.
Even Cardi B has been the subject of near nonstop backlash, commenting that fans turned on her in the year since releasing her paradigm-shiftingdebut album, only to drop “WAP” and “Up” to remind them that she can make a hit practically in her sleep. Migos may be a bit further removed from “Stir Fry” and “Walk It Talk It,” but as we’ve seen several times over the years, if one miss can break you, then one hit revitalize a flagging career.
Though it remains to be seen if there’s a “Bad And Boujee” redux among the tracks on Culture III, the tracklist does show that they’re still in tune with the culture. Late rappers Juice WRLD and Pop Smoke both appear, courting their outspoken fanbases, Cardi B and Drake are always good for a hit, and Polo G, Migos’ most apparent competition on Friday, appears as well, proving the trio at least knows what they’re getting into.
The culture is always moving forward; the challenge any artist has is to evolve and grow with it. With a year off to work on their latest project, Migos had a chance to slow down and take in the changes, while figuring out how best to adjust to them. Now, all that remains to be seen is if they can continue to lead or if the culture has passed them by.
Grammy-winning rapper Kanye West isn’t wasting time staying holed up and crying the blues over his pending divorce from longtime ride or die Kim Kardashian. The estranged husband has turned any possible frown upside down courtesy of hooking up with his past music video vixen/model Irina Shayk. As we await more details on their brewing […]
Speaking out for the first time since his most recent incarceration, YFN Lucci assured his fans that he’s in good spirits, maintaining his innocence as he sets out to beat this charge. He uploaded a text message to Instagram, thanking his supporters for holding him down.
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“Thank you all for your prayers and continued support,” wrote the 30-year-old rapper, whose real name is Rayshawn Bennett. “I am still incarcerated right now but am maintaining my innocence. To all my fans who have continued to show love and support, I’ll have some new music and content on the way!”
The Atlanta native also shared a picture with his child, promising to come home soon. “Tough times dont last my n***a tough n***as do #FREEME #BEHOMESOONKID,” he wrote.
Grammy-winning rapper Kanye West and model Irina Shayk didn’t just hook up overnight. The duo have reportedly dated for months but kept their romance super low-key. Kanye West + Irina Shayk Have Dated For Months According to reports, the duo linked up well before getting spotted this week in France for Ye’s 44th birthday. One […]
“I’m so excited that I’m going to be having a song on the album with Avril Lavigne. She is so iconic,” the Ardipithecus artist tells the magazine. “From 13 to 16, she was my idol. It’s really nice to be able to have a quintessential pop-punk record with the pop-punk queen.”
However, Willow’s teenage love for genres like punk, rock, and metal also had its negatives aspects as well. According to Complex, Willow reveals that she was bullied in school for her alternative musical tastes.
“Being a Black woman in the metal crowd is very, very different on top of the pressures that the music industry puts on you,” Willow says. “Now, it’s like an added pressure of the metal culture, the metal world, and just rock in general. I used to get bullied in school for listening to Paramore and My Chemical Romance.”
“Just through the music that I’m putting out right now and the representation that I can bring to the mix,” she continues, “I just hope that the Black girls who are listening to my music and listening to this album see that there’s more of us out there. It’s a real thing, you’re not alone. You’re not the only Black girl who wishes she could flip her hair to the side, and wear black eyeliner, you know what I mean?”
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