Month: June 2022

Hitmaka Reveals EMPIRE Brought Him Out Atlantic Records Contract

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hitmaka

In the last decade, with countless #1s and over 10 billion streams, chart-topping recording artist/producer/songwriter Hitmaka has evolved into one of the industry’s most decorated executives. The current Vice President of A&R at the indie giant EMPIRE after parting ways from a previous two-year-long VP of A&R position with Atlantic Records in 2021, Hitmaka revealed on the new episode of the Black Effect/iHeart Radio’s R&B Money Podcast with Tank and J. Valentine that his resignation from Atlantic Records wasn’t as easy as people would believe as it took EMPIRE CEO and Founder Ghazi Shami to buy him out of his position with the home of Meek Mill, Cardi B and Jack Harlow.

MORE: Hitmaka and Mustard Get Into Internet Beef After Joe Budden Podcast Clip Resurfaces

Hitmaka began breaking down the EMPIRE/Atlantic situation with the hosts at the 1:31:55 minute mark. He reveals his frustration with Atlantic for only wanting him for the music, rather than grooming him to become a boss and offering unproven artists more money to align with the label. Hitmaka requested is resignation but was roadblocked with a bill by the label before departure. After taking a meeting with EMPIRE, the CEO saw Hitmaka’s vision and offered him a position with the company, moved him to the Bay Area, and paid remainder balance of his current contract at Atlantic Records.

Hitmaka was appointed Vice President of A&Rs at EMPIRE in September 2021. “We’re lucky to have him on the home team at EMPIRE – inspiring and creating with our artists and delivering top-quality music of his own,” said Ghazi Shami in a 2021 press release. “We’re already off to the races with several of Hit’s records charting and have more on the way.”

MORE: EMPIRE Appoints Hitmaka As Vice President Of A&R

Throughout the podcast, Hitmaka, who’s best known to fans as the mid-2000s controversial recording artist Yung Berg, spoke on his upbringing in Chicago, breaking into the music industry with DMX, reality television, transforming into Hitmaka, earning 227 song placements in 2021 and so much more. Hitmaka’s resume includes chart-topping collaborations with Nicki Minaj, Big Sean, Jeremih, Puff Daddy and, of course, Tank.

Hitmaka is currently promoting his new single “Down Bad” featuring Ivory Scott, Fabolous and Jeremih. A video for the new single was released last Friday (June 17), the song is available everywhere via MakaSound Records/EMPIRE. Watch it here.

The R&B Money Podcast is a new platform that praises the past, present and future of R&B. A podcast for the super dedicated R&B fans, covering everything in the genre from legends like Keith Sweat, Jodeci and Maxwell to today’s biggest names like Pink Sweat$, Chris Brown and Frank Ocean with compelling stories from artists and executives within the landscape.

Stream the R&B Money Podcast on iHeart and watch the complete episode featuring Hitmaka above. Check out Hitmaka’s new single, “Down Bad,” below.

The post Hitmaka Reveals EMPIRE Brought Him Out Atlantic Records Contract appeared first on The Source.

Video Goes Viral After Fans Mistake Content Creator Candice Craig For Toni Braxton

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Candice and toni

The Internet went into a frenzy on Thursday as fans mistake content creator and dance instructor Candice Craig for Toni Braxton while dancing to Beyonce’s ‘Break My Soul’ When Fan Jazmin reposted the video and commented “Not Toni Braxton enjoying and dancing to Break My Soul. 

As the tweet went viral  and the exchange went back and forth of “Girl That is Toni Braxton” and  other fans clarifying that that was not her, the exchange got so heated that ven Candace jumped in to confirm that the actuarial person in the video was her staying “Ummmmm it’s def me 😭😭😭”

Even then, some die-hards insisting that she was an imposter and the woman dancing in the video was definitely Toni Braxton.  Candice Craig is a singer, songwriter, model, actress, and dancer her clients include Nicki Minaj, Britney Spears, and Diddy  just to name a few.  Candace had the last word with  by reposting her dance on Twitter saying “Y’all 🤣🤣🤣 I love me some Toni Braxton ! I do however LOVE being CANDICE CRAIG so stop with all the mess . Go check the resume and stay woke 😘😘😘”

They are both beautiful women so we understand why there would be some confusion. But are so happy that this is all cleared up.

The post Video Goes Viral After Fans Mistake Content Creator Candice Craig For Toni Braxton appeared first on The Source.

Lil Wayne Added To List Of 2022 BET Award Performers

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lil wayne tha carter v

Lil Wayne, 39, is being added to the growing list of performers for this year’s BET Awards.

A press release on Thursday announced the “A Milli” rapper will join a star studded list of performers including Lizzo, Babyface, Chlöe, Jack Harlow, Chance The Rapper, Roddy Ricch, Fireboy DML and more.

Business titan, Diddy is set to be honored with BET’s “Lifetime Achievement Award.“ Oscar-nominated actor, Taraji P. Henson will be hosting this year, making it her second time doing so. The 2022 BET Awards will air on June 26 on BET at 8 pm ET/ PT from the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles.

READ MORE: Taraji P. Henson Says “Pressures of Being Black” Have Her Considering Leaving America

 Doechii, Ella Mai, GIVĒON, Joey Bada$$, Maverick City Music x Kirk Franklin, Latto and Muni Long are set to grace the stage. In addition to the announced performers Idris Elba, Irv Gotti, Janelle Monáe, Keke Palmer, Daniel Kaluuya and Sanaa Lathan will be presenting amongst others.

For the complete list of this year’s nominees, performers and presenters visit bet.com.

Share your comments with us on social media. 

The post Lil Wayne Added To List Of 2022 BET Award Performers appeared first on The Source.

Money Man Is Back At It With “Big Money”

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Money Man has returned to the fold with his second project of the year, and also, his second within the span of three months’ time– so it’s safe to say it’s Money Man Season. This all comes after the rapper was somewhat silent (at least when it comes to our Money Man release expectations) for most of the year– he only delivered one project in 2021, the album Blockchain.

That being said, Big Money is a succinct album, giving fans 12 songs with an unusual amount of features for the Atlanta native– G Herbo, Nardo Wick, Benny the Butcher, Peezy and more appear across the tracklist, compared to Money Man’s typically sparse guest list. The album was preceded with singles “Big Money” and “New York.”

As Money Man tends to do, this new album also comes alongside the EMPIRE & Big Money Commemorative NFT– despite the crypto market crashing at the moment, you can still get some exclusive access when you do purchase the NFT, such as meet and greets with the rapper himself (more info on that here).

Check out the tracklist below and hit play. Let us know what you think of the latest Money Man release. 

Big Money Tracklist: 

  1. Cowboy 

  2. Corrupted 

  3. Big Money 

  4. Streets Cold featuring G Herbo 

  5. Undertaker featuring Nardo Wick 

  6. Body Rock 

  7. Stompers featuring BC Jroc 

  8. Overload featuring Benny the Butcher 

  9. Ali Baba featuring Prezzy 

  10. Escape featuring Juney Knotzz 

  11. New York 

  12. Roar 

Scottie Pippen Jr. Signs With The Lakers

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Last night, the NBA Draft went down which means numerous teams got some young talent to add to their rosters. The number one overall pick went to the Orlando Magic who ended up getting Paolo Banchero from Duke University. From there, Chet Holmgren went to the Oklahoma City Thunder with the second overall pick.

As many Lakers fans already know, they did not have very much in the way of draft picks, which meant they had to rely on undrafted free agents. Perhaps the biggest name as far as undrafted players were concerned was none other than Scottie Pippen Jr. who is the son of the Chicago Bulls legend.

Scottie Pippen Jr

Danielle Del Valle/Getty Images for E3 Chophouse Nashville

According to Shams Charania of The Athletic, the Los Angeles Lakers decided to sign Pippen Jr. to a two-way contract which means they can bring him up from the G-League as they please. This is a huge opportunity for Pippen Jr. who will be given an opportunity to prove himself during Summer League action and perhaps even the NBA preseason.

Following the news, Pippen Jr. took to his Twitter where he wrote “Dreams come true. Let’s get to work.”

Making the NBA is always a huge accomplishment and just because you go undrafted, doesn’t mean you won’t find success. Ben Wallace and Fred VanVleet are shining examples of that.

J. Cole & Cam’ron Tease New Collab While In The Studio

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J. Cole has been an extremely busy man as of late. The artist has been spending some time in Canada playing for the Scarborough Shooting Stars of the Candian Elite Basketball League, and now, he is embarking on a tour that will certainly take up the vast majority of his time. Cole’s work ethic is simply superb and he is always working on new projects to satisfy his fans.

Now that he has officially left the Shooting Stars, he has a bit more time to work on music and collaborate with various other artists. As it turns out, he might even be looking to release music with Dipset legend Cam’ron. The two were in the studio recently, and they did a great job of making it seem like something new was on the way.

J. Cole

Ethan Miller/Getty Images

In the video below which was shared by DJ Akademiks, Cole and Cam’ron could be seen standing right next to each other around recording equipment. The two seemed to be in great spirits and Cam’ron continuously said “almost time” which got a big approval from Cole himself. Given this footage and the context we’ve been given, it is only natural to assume that these two are about to drop a track.

Details surrounding a potential collab are scarce right now, so stay tuned to HNHH as we will be sure to bring you all of the latest news and updates from around the music world.