Month: November 2021

Burna Boy, Megan Thee Stallion, And Wizkid Will Headline Afro Nation 2022

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Afro Nation, the biggest afrobeats festival in the world, is returning in 2022 after a two-year hiatus with a star-studded lineup including Burna Boy, Megan Thee Stallion, and Wizkid. Taking place in Portugal on July 1-3, the festival took two years off as a result of the global COVID-19 population but is returning next year with what the organizers call a “landmark” iteration.

In addition to the above headliners, the festival is bringing more big names from multiple genres across the diaspora, including Beenie Man, Ckay, Diamond Platnumz, Koffee, Naira Marley, Rema, Tekno, Tems, Wande Coal, and more. While most of the names are obviously big in the afrobeats world, Megan Thee Stallion’s presence expands the purview of the festival to include an even broader perspective of the diaspora.

These are just the first wave, though, with more names to be announced in the future, so expect to see some more surprises down the line. With the festival taking place on the sand at Praia De Rocha Beach, there will certainly be more artists excited to join the fun. Pre-sale tickets will go on sale starting at 9 am on Friday, November 5, with general release tickets going on sale starting at noon.

You can find out more at the official website.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Mariah Carey Smashes Pumpkins To Welcome Christmas Season In Hilarious IG Video

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Mariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas Is You” is one of the most famous Christmas songs of all-time. And where many Christmas songs are known for their various renditions by various artists, “All I Want For Christmas Is You” is Carey’s own song. She co-wrote it, she performed it first, she owns “All I Want For Christmas Is You.”

So it only makes sense that, as Halloweekend came to a close and the air changes from crisp to frigid, Carey was ready to welcome the holiday season. 

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In an Instagram video posted exactly at midnight on November 1, Carey, dressed in a shimmering, red Christmas gown, walks out of her front door and to a trifecta of Halloween pumpkins reading, “It’s Not Time.” As church bells ring to mark midnight, she smashes the pumpkins with a candy-cane painted baseball bat and those famous first “All I Want For Christmas Is You” notes play and we are fully immersed into a Mariah Carey Christmas morning. 

Included within the presents and ornaments and fake snow is a subtle hint that Carey will be releasing something on November 5, and the warning that we have to make it through Thanksgiving before we make it to Christmas. But we all know that there’s a faction of people out there who are already buzzing with the Christmas spirit, including a couple A-listers in Carey’s comment section. 

“Obsessed!!!!!,” Kriss Jenner said. “Genius,” added Blake Lively. 

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Kerry Washington noted that Carey, “STAYS READY,” and she is not lying. Carey dropping a video to promote “All I Want For Christmas” and mark the official beginning of Christmastime is perfect and a hilarious acknowledgement of those people already looking forward to December 25. 

What do you think of Mariah Carey closing the book on Halloween and opening it for Christmas? Let us know in the comments. 

Quality Control’s CEO Pee Offers To Buy 300 Entertainment Label

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Since its inception in 2013, Quality Control Music has hosted many of hip-hop’s hottest stars and even represented prominent football players.

Quality Control’s co-founder and CEO Pierre Thomas, or “Pee” as he is commonly referred to as, made a pivotal move by luring Migos away from rival label 300 Entertainment when the Atlanta rap group was rising to fame. He later helped to advance the company by moving to the famed Motown Records for distribution in 2015. It is fair to say QC has since conjured an empire relative to other current rap labels.

Now, Pee has his sights set on owning the very same label he snatched artists from in the past.

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This maneuver seems to be premeditated, as he explains he has his “bankers on deck.” With that said, Quality Control’s financial standing seems to be in order, and they put forth a unified front, evident in the two renditions of their Control The Streets compilation projects that boast songs from all their signed artists.

300 Entertainment is no slouch when it comes to the artists they represent, however. The entire Young Stoner Life roster, including Young Thug and Gunna, as well as other strong acts like Megan Thee Stallion and Fetty Wap fall under 300 representation.

So, while Pee claims to be able to put his money where his mouth is, as he hosts big names like Lil Baby and Lil Yachty at QC, he has yet to receive a response from 300 Entertainment about this transaction. It remains to be seen if Pee can make another career-defining move in the near future, adding numerous other marquee rappers to his collection.

Stay tuned to see if 300 Entertainment gets back to Pee and Quality Control about their intriguing offer.

Rihanna, The Weeknd, And Cardi B Had Some Of Music’s Best Halloween Costumes For 2021

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Musicians are creative folks who have costume budgets that let them go beyond Spirit Halloween’s offerings, so they tend to really show up with killer looks during spooky season. This year was more of the same on that front, as a lot of the world’s favorite artists delivered some Halloween costume excellence in 2021.

The Weeknd is no stranger to prosthetic make-up, as he proved in his “Save Your Tears” video, and he was at it again this weekend with an impressive Don Corleone from The Godfather look.

Meanwhile, Rihanna absolutely nailed her Gunna outfit by emulating a classic fit.

The newly engaged Travis Barker and Kourtney Kardashian also came through with a couple of couples looks. Over the weekend, they paid tribute to the movie True Romance and a few days ago, they dressed up as Sid Vicious and Nancy Spungen.

Anderson .Paak went hard, too, sharing photos of himself as Silk Sonic cohort Bruno Mars, Prince, and Stevie Wonder.

Meanwhile, Taylor Swift has puts Cats behind her and has moved on to being a squirrel.

Charli XCX and Cardi B were on the same page, as they both embodied Morticia Addams from The Addams Family.

Finally, this one doesn’t really count, but Phoebe Bridgers has been dressing as a skeleton for well over a year.

Check out some other costumes from across the music world below.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Donald Glover Released The First Cryptic Teaser For ‘Atlanta’ Season 3

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The last new episode of Atlanta aired in May 2018. Since then, Donald Glover has played Lando Calrissian and voiced Simba; Brian Tyree Henry joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe; Lakeith Stanfield has been nominated for an Oscar; and Zazie Beetz has excelled in everything from Deadpool 2 to Joker to The Harder They Fall. A third season of Atlanta (Uproxx‘s best show of 2018) was not guaranteed with the cast’s busy schedule, but it’s happening — and there’s a teaser to prove it.

On Halloween, Glover tweeted a link to a site called Gilga, which features a clock, the user’s location, and a link to the teaser. It can be only viewed at certain times (“WHILE UNDER CONSTRUCTION, GILGA IS A ‘NITE-SITE’ OPERATIONAL HOURS ARE 8PM-3AM,” it currently reads), but the footage can be viewed elsewhere. Earn, Darius, and Vanessa are nowhere to be seen and there’s no dialogue (Sun Ra’s “It’s After the End of the World” provides the score), but Paper Boi appears at the end sitting at a table. That’s… basically it, and I couldn’t be more excited. Atlanta is almost back!

“I align the seasons I think, to me, like Kanye records,” Glover said back in 2019. “I feel like this is our Graduation. This is probably our most accessible but also the realest — an honest version of it — and I feel like the most enjoyable, like the third album. We were all on iMessage together and kind of talking about it, and I think people were really hungry to like beat ourselves, which is great.”

Atlanta, which filmed in Europe for seasons 3 and 4, will premiere in 2022.

Flo Milli’s ‘Ice Baby’ Video Recreates An Iconic ‘Flavor’ Of Love’ Scene

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Mobile rapper Flo Milli pulls out all the stops in her “Ice Baby” video, recreating an iconic scene from the early 2000s reality show pioneer Flavor Of Love. Recruiting the 2006 season’s original winner Deelishis to reprise her role, Milli casts Compton rapper Buddy as Flavor Flav and herself as Tiffany Pollard, aka New York, and completely reproduces the reality maven’s viral meltdown after being rejected for the second time. The rest of the video finds Flo Milli rapping to the camera as she flexes her newfound wealth.

“Ice Baby” is presumably the first single from Flo Mili’s upcoming debut album, which she previously called “different from [her 2020 mixtape] Ho, Why Is You Here? because of the versatility,” saying, “I’ve been trying new things but you guys have got to stay tuned to see!” Milli debuted “Ice Baby” on the popular YouTube performance channel A COLORS Show, marking her return after a relatively quiet 2021 compared to the year before. In 2020, the newcomer made noise with a string of hits, including her appearance on Baby Tate’s “I Am,” as well as a strong BET Hip-Hop Awards Cypher performance. Earlier this year, those efforts rewarded her with placement on XXL‘s 2021 Freshman class. Now, fans can’t wait to see what she drops next.

Watch Flo Milli’s “Ice Baby” video above.

Master P Gives An Update On Zaire Wade’s NBA Dreams

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Recently, Dwyane Wade’s son Zaire was drafted into the G-League by the Salt Lake City Stars. This is the G-League affiliate for the Jazz, which D-Wade is a part-owner of. Many have said that this is pure nepotism although others believe that Zaire is just using his connections to make the most of his basketball potential.

One person who feels that way is none other than Master P, who recently told TMZ that he completely understands what Zaire and D-Wade are doing. In fact, Master P believes more players should take advantage of their situation as it could eventually lead to an NBA career. 

“When you look at it, it’s a blessing,” P said. “His dad knows the business. He played in the game. […] He taking advantage of an opportunity. He knows he wants to be a pro player.”

Zaire Wade

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Master P is actually locked into the situation right now as he gave a quick update on Zaire’s progress. As Master P says, Zaire is getting better every single day and the Stars are already seeing some success right now in training camp.

“You know what, he’s working hard,” he exlained. “He just played last night. He had a great game. They won. That’s what life is about. Just getting better and better.”

There is no guarantee that Zaire will make the final roster in Salt Lake City, however, this is a great first step for his professional career. Stay tuned to HNHH for all of the latest from the basketball world.

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Cardi B Jokes That She Is Dropping Her Own “Island Boy” Song For The Bardi Gang

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Cardi B has jumped on the Island Boy wave. 

This past Saturday, the “Up” rapper took to Twitter with an exciting announcement about some upcoming music. 

“SURPRISE!!!!!! I’m dropping a song on Monday on SoundCloud!!!,” she tweeted. “Nothing serious just something special for BARDIGANG…..Here’s a lil taste.” 

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Cardi included an 18-second voice tweet and for a split-second, fans were excited that Queen Cardi was dropping something just for the most dedicated faction of her massive fanbase. Unfortunately, those fans were disappointed when the “lil taste” Cardi promised was not at all what it seemed. Fortunately, what Cardi did deliver was so much better. 

Crooning “I’m an island boy … I’m an island boy,” Cardi echoed the musical stylings of flyysoulja and kodiyakredd, the identical twins that have been taking the rap meme world by storm. 

Born Frank and Alex Venegas, flyysoulja and kodiyakredd don’t occupy a specific lane, or boast any specific talents, but in billing themselves as rappers with their now-famed “Island Boy” freestyle, the pair has achieved Instagram fame and are constantly encouraging fans to purchase their services on Cameo. 

Whether or not flyysoulja and kodiyakredd, now known as The Island Boys, find any sustained fame is yet to be seen, especially seeing as how the “island” they constantly mention is actually Florida, but it’s clear their meme-ability is far reaching. And even though it seems unlikely Cardi B is actually going to drop a SoundCloud single sampling their raps, she just gave them another huge boost just by giving them attention and such a huge platform. 

What do you think of The Island Boys and Cardi’s rendition of their biggest song yet? Let us know in the comments.