Month: September 2021

We’re officially one week removed from the release of Kanye West’s 10th studio album, Donda which is also now his 10th number one album on the Billboard 200. The 27-song album is certainly winning over plenty of fans, many of whom have taken the tracklist and condensed it for their own personal playlist. However, it’s a solid effort from Kanye West following a few duds in the past few years, at least by his own standards.

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Much like many of Kanye’s recent releases in the past decade, there was no traditional route in its release. The album was publicly debuted in three variations over three listening parties before it dropped on a Sunday morning. No lead single was released prior to the album’s release but upon its debut in Atlanta, it was quite clear what the fan-favorite was. According to Hip-Hop-N-More, “Hurricane” ft. Lil Baby and The Weeknd will be serviced to radio as the first single off of Donda. The song is expected to head to radio stations on Sept. 13th. Chances are, the song will be drilled into everyone’s skulls by the time September ends.

“Hurricane” is the highest-charting song off of Donda so far. The single debuted at #6 on the Billboard Hot 100 upon its release. The boost from radio might help ‘Ye, The Weeknd, and Lil Baby secure another #1 single.

Check out our review of Donda here. 

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Though Mike Dean has been Kanye’s trusted producer and audio engineer for years now — a creative partnership that has been ongoing since the days of The College Dropout — reports surfaced that the DONDA sessions were taking a toll on his mental health. 

It got to the point where some were joking that Dean had been “kidnapped,” and while Dean initially maintained that was well, it was later reported that he had left the stadium over a “toxic environment.” He later maintained that he was still involved in the project, though he had decided to continue his work from his home.

 Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images 

Now, DONDA has finally arrived, as has Dean’s new album ECHOPLEX (LIVE 2021), a visual project with songs from his synth-fueled studio drop 4:22. In support of his recent run, Dean sat down with Zane Lowe on Apple Music 1 to discuss some of his recent endeavors. Naturally, his role on DONDA was addressed, and the producer slash multi-instrumentalist had much to say about the creative process.

“It was interesting,” says Dean. “It was grueling, lots of hours, lots of changes. Yeah. Came out great though. Kanye had three listening parties. So each listening party was like a test kind of. And after each one, I think he wanted… I can’t talk too much about his process. He took all the information he got from everyone, including online reviews, personal friends’ reviews, and he just kind of digest it all and adjust the album the way he wants.”

“I definitely looked at how the crowd moved to different songs, he explains, reflecting on his role during the big performances. “I was just up on a house, maybe four layers up, next to the top layer, running the songs off my computer.”

For more from Mike Dean, be sure to check out our own interview with the legendary producer right here. 

On Labor Day, tragic news surfaced which revealed that Michael K. Williams — the acclaimed actor who starred in The Wire, Lovecraft Country, Boardwalk Empire, and more — was found dead at the age of 54. Although a cause of death has not yet been determined, it was reported that Williams was found with drug paraphernalia near his body. In light of the beloved actor’s passing, several celebrities have come forward to publicly honor Michael K. Williams, from Lupe Fiasco and Stephen King to Mark Wahlberg and Wendell Pierce.

Another public figure who appears to be especially affected by the death of Michael K. Williams is Lil Mama, who recently took to social media to pen a heartbreaking post about the fallen actor and stress the importance of giving people their flowers while they can still smell them.

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After hearing about the news, Lil Mama shared a picture of the beloved actor on Instagram along with a lengthy, heartfelt caption.

“Waking up To This News is Heart Breaking. This is Why I Started Giving People Their FLOWERS Before it Became a TREND,” the VYP rapper wrote. “People kept asking me ‘Why You Keep posting People Making Me Think Their Dead’ WHY WAIT UNTIL PEOPLE LEAVE THE PHYSICAL REALM TO HONOR THEM MAN.”

See her full tribute post to Michael K. Williams below.

After posting her tribute to Michael K. Williams, Lil Mama then proceeded to criticize the tendency of popular culture to sensationalize a person’s life following their passing. In one Instagram story post, the multi-hyphenate reposts a photo from ItsBizkit that reads, “You die today 1000 plus people gone post you. You go to jail 1000 plus people gone post you. But while you out here doing your thing only 20 plus people gone post you.”

Lil Mama/Instagram

In addition to that repost, Lil Mama also shared a video of herself speaking on the matter. “All I’mma say is this,” she said while laying down in her bed. “If you die, and you don’t fuck with me — let me die in peace, please.”

“Don’t send me no love notes,” she continues. “Give as much of a fuck about me when I’m gone as you do when I’m here. Pay it. ‘Oh, Lil Mama died. Great, let’s go get ice cream.’ Do what you’ve been doing. Don’t fuck with me. Pay it.”

Check The Neighborhood Talk’s screengrab of Lil Mama’s video out below.

What do you think — should people refrain from doing tribute posts for others after they pass if they didn’t show them any love while they were alive?

Metro Boomin may not be releasing music at high frequency right now, but the Atlanta producer is currently in the midst of a creative surge. 

Recently, Metro teased that he was cooking up some of the best music of his career, though he neglected to specify his collaborators. Still, it has been documented that Metro has been cooking up with artists like Future, A$AP Rocky, Freddie Gibbs, J.I.D, Busta Rhymes, and more. Now, it looks like he’s added yet another artist to the mix in Don Toliver,  with whom he previously connected.

Tim Mosenfelder/Getty Images 

“Don T + Metro = too much heat otw,” writes Metro, sharing a picture of their recent session at the Avengers Headquarters. “Drop some [fire] if you ready.” In typical Metro fashion, however, he opts to keep the details close to his chest. Still, it wouldn’t be surprising to see he and Tolliver drop something sooner than later, as these “drop a ___” type of captions seem to suggest a quicker turnaround.

While some have speculated that the track — or tracks — might be for an upcoming Don Toliver project, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Metro putting pieces together for his own studio album. It has indeed been some time since he delivered his studio debut Not All Heroes Wear Capes, and given that Metro is allegedly making “the best music of his life, we can only go up from here. 

Check out the pictures of Don Toliver and Metro Boomin’s recent studio session and sound off if you’re looking forward to seeing what the pair have been cooking up.