Month: February 2022

Both Mary J. Blige and Method Man are among Hip Hop and R&B’s most highly respected acts. Now, they’re gaining major notoriety in the television industry.

Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images for BET

Mary J and Method Man have been linked together since 1994. In that year, the duo created a remix to Method Man’s already popular track called “All I Need.” With Mary J. Blige’s additions and twist on it, the track became an instant classic. Shortly after, Diddy (or Puff Daddy as he was known at the time) incorporated new bits and pieces to enhance the track overall. He added some Biggie samples from the track “Me and My B*tch” and submitted the song for radio play. Those moves resulted in a track that ended up going platinum, a huge success for everyone involved.

Nearly 3 decades later, Mary J. Blige and Method Man’s collaborative efforts are being displayed in other ways. Both artists play pivotal roles in the supporting cast on one of the hottest shows on television. A spinoff installation from 50 Cent’s Power series, Power Book II: Ghost has continued the run the show created and has held viewership throughout its duration. Meth and Mary J’s characters serve a strong purpose in the show, and they were awared NAACP Image Awards for said performances.

Weeks ago, when the nominees for the award show were announced, 50 Cent took to his Instagram page tocelebrate the success of his friends and collaborators. Not only has Mary J been receiving appreciation for her acting chops, her music has seen a reignition in attention with her new album and major showing at the Super Bowl. All in all, every artist involved has been doing big things as of late, and only continue to grow.

We’ll keep you updated on Power related news, so stay tuned to HNHH for more information.

Kanye West’s recent Donda 2 has made way for the prevalence of his Stem Player device. The Stem Player, which allows users to isolate drum, vocal, instrumental and other steams of a song, has been out for a few months already, and is priced at $200. For the new Ye album Donda 2, which includes features from Future, Migos, Travis Scott, Jack Harlow Baby Keem, XXXTENTACION, Don Toliver, Fivio Foreign, Soulja Boy and more, West has only released it on Stem Player, and is continuously updating songs over time, approaching his album like software.

This device is meant to give more autonomy to Kanye when releasing music, so he can make more money than the cents per stream that digital streaming platforms offer. Perhaps this idea has caught on with other artists, particularly Rich The Kid. On Friday (Feb. 25), Rich The Kid posted a video of him using his Stem Player to play an unreleased song where he collaborates with Kanye West.

With electric trap drums, the snippet shows Rich The Kid sliding in his portion of the song that takes up half the 40 second video. Then, Kanye ushers in is verse with a show-stopping “Is it real? It can’t be real” bridge.

In the caption for the video, Rich asks his followers if he should drop the song exclusively on Stem Player, just like Ye did with the ever-evolving Donda 2: “Should I drop me & @kanyewest new song on the stem player !?!”

Kanye is potentially starting a new wave for his adjacent artists releasing music on his new device.

How do you feel about rappers dropping music solely on Stem Player?

As if word of what’s happening over in Ukraine wasn’t already bad enough, now, claims of racism against Africans attempting to leave the country have been pouring out online. 

According to TMZ, most of the alleged racism has been occurring at the Ukrainian-Polish border in the northwest region, “where many allege that border agents and local police are literally letting white Ukrainians hop on in while refusing access – or at the very least, limiting access – to Black people.”

Multiple clips have been popping up on platforms like Twitter, some of which show “scores of African migrants and/or expatriates being left behind at train stations,” and many Black people actually being pushed back as they attempt to enter and reach safety.

In one visual, we see a group of Africans who appear to have weapons drawn on them, sending tensions escalating quickly as they yell out in fear and explain that they’re unarmed students.

“Watch how they are threatening to shoot us!” one person in the country at the chaotic time shared. “We are currently at the Ukraine-Poland border. Their police and army refused to let Africans cross, they only allow Ukrainian. Some have slept here for two days under this scorching cold weather, while many have gone back to Lviv.”

In other news, earlier today, Elon Musk confirmed that his SpaceX organization will step in and save the day should Russia pull any stunts with the International Space Station, which they control the engine of – read more about that here, and check back in with HNHH later for any updates on the situation in Ukraine.

[Via]

You would be hardpressed to find a single individual more multi-faceted than the great Jamie Foxx. While it’s well known how gifted he is, it never ceases to amaze when he decides to put his skills on display.

Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images

Jamie Foxx has acted in meaningful and dramatic roles such as Django Unchained and Ray, caused hilarity in his own television series The Jamie Foxx Show, and sang on beautiful pieces and projects, which include classic albums like Unpredictable and The College Dropout. His body of work is heavily decorated, with accolades as far as the eye can see. Foxx is easily one of the most respected names in the industry, and a favorite among the Black community.

Not only is he skilled in professional settings and ventures that he takes serious, Jamie Foxx does excellent impressions of a wide range of known individuals. He has been casted and in the making of a Mike Tyson film for a while now, seemingly just waiting for things to align and for the timing to be right for it to actually happen. His voice morphs perfectly into the boxing legend’s tone, making for a potentially amazing role.

Recently, in a visit to the Full Send Podcast, he showed off a bit of his vocal talent in the imitations department. He elucidated upon one of his favorite tricks for doing sets of voices, which is the Kermit The Frog, Sammie Davis, and Jay-Z trio. Not only that, he is able to pull a spot on Donald Trump voice from out of his hat.

What is your favorite Jamie Foxx contribution to the art world? Let us know in the comment section below.