Black Thought has dropped a captivating new freestyle titled “Love Letter To Hip Hop” in honor of the genre’s 50th anniversary this year.
Month: February 2023
French Montana Reacts to Being Called Most Streamed African-Born Artist
Latto Drops “Lottery” Single
You won.
Diddy Reveals The Impending Release Date For The First EP From His New R&B-Focused Love Records
Diddy may have built his empire on a variety of businesses including liquor companies, television shows, and apparel, but he’s finally returning to his music roots with the launch of his R&B-focused record label, Love Records. Today, Love Records revealed the release date for its first project, the debut EP from singer/songwriter Jozzy. Titled Songs For Women, Free Game For N****, the eight-track EP is due February 24.
In a statement, Diddy praised his new protege, saying, “Jozzy is a very special and dynamic talent that only comes around once in a generation, so I’m excited to see how her music sets a new standard for R&B. Her skills as a writer and performer, matched with her style and energy has the potential to make her one of the greats and I’m proud to play a part in shaping the next chapter of her career.”
Jozzy’s writing credits include hits from across the last several years such as DaniLeigh’s “Lil Bebe,” Internet Money’s “Lemonade,” and Metro Boomin & 21 Savage’s “Mr. Right Now.”
Diddy launched Love Records last year after claiming that “R&B is dead,” walking back that statement after a widespread backlash from fans. As he explained in a press release for the label, “I feel like R&B was abandoned and it’s a part of our African American culture.” He also said he wanted to try out a new business model, saying, “I’m not signing any artists. Because if you know better, you do better. I’m doing 50–50 partnerships with pure transparency.”
Beyoncé And Rihanna Took Home Trophies On The First Night Of The NAACP Image Awards 2023
This year’s Grammys isn’t the only award ceremony in which Beyoncé is pulling record numbers. NAACP’s annual Image Awards, held yesterday night (February 20), had a few trophies of its own to dish out to the singer.
The “Break My Soul” singer won the most awards, including Outstanding Female Artist, Outstanding Soul/R&B song for the single “Cuff It,” and Outstanding Album for Renaissance.
Rihanna also won for Outstanding Music Video/Visual Album for her song “Lift Me Up” from the film Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.
The next top winner was surprisingly Chris Brown, despite Kendrick Lamar being the second most-nominated act of the evening. Brown won two awards. The first was Outstanding Male Artist and Outstanding Duo, Group or Collaboration (Contemporary) alongside Wizkid for his song, “Call Me Every Day,” from his album Breezy.
Last night’s winners were part of the non-televised ceremony. The televised ceremony will be filmed on February 25th and air exclusively on BET on February 26. To watch the 54th annual NAACP Image Awards live, click here.
A complete list of the awards handed out the first night follows.
Outstanding International Song
Wizkid — “Bad To Me”
Fireboy DML & Chris Brown feat. Shenseea — “Diana”
Burna Boy — “Last Last”
Tems — “No Woman No Cry”
Davido feat. Sunday Service Choir — “Stand Strong”
Outstanding Jazz Album – Instrumental
Boney James — Detour
Henry Franklin, Ali Shaheed Muhammad, Adrian Younge — Henry Franklin: Jazz Is Dead 014
Kaelin Ellis — The Funk Will Prevail
Javon Jackson — The Gospel According to Nikki Giovanni
Ragan Whiteside — Thrill Ride
Outstanding Gospel/Christian Song
Marvin Sapp— “All in Your Hands”
Tennessee State University — “Fly (Y.M.M.F.)”
Erica Campbell — “Positive”
MAJOR. — “Whole World In His Hands”
Jonathan McReynolds — “Your World”
Outstanding Gospel/Christian Album
Tye Tribbett — All Things New
Tasha Cobbs Leonard — Hymns
Maverick City Music & Kirk Franklin — Kingdom Book One
James Fortune — My Life
Tennessee State University — The Urban Hymnal
Outstanding Duo, Group, or Collaboration (Traditional)
Kendrick Lamar feat. Blxst & Amanda Reifer — “Die Hard”
Mary J. Blige feat. H.E.R. — “Good Morning Gorgeous Remix”
PJ Morton feat. Alex Isley and Jill Scott — “Still Believe”
Silk Sonic — “Love’s Train”
Summer Walker, Cardi B, and SZA — “No Love”
Outstanding Duo, Group, or Collaboration (Contemporary)
Beyoncé feat. Grace Jones and Tems — “MOVE”
Chris Brown feat. Wizkid — “Call Me Every Day”
City Girls feat. Usher — “Good Love”
Future feat. Drake and Tems — “Wait For U”
Latto feat. Mariah Carey and DJ Khaled — “Big Energy (Remix)”
Outstanding Music Video/Visual Album
Lizzo — “About Damn Time”
Beyoncé — “Be Alive”
Rihanna — “Lift Me Up”
Tobe Nwigwe feat. FAT, Pharrell, and Olu of EarthGang — “Lord Forgive Me”
Kendrick Lamar — “The Heart Part 5”
Outstanding Soundtrack/Compilation Album
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever – Ryan Coogler, Ludwig Göransson, Archie Davis, and Dave Jordan
Bridgerton Season Two (Soundtrack from the Netflix Series) — Kris Bowers
Entergalactic — Kid Cudi
P-Valley: Season 2 (Music From the Original TV Series) — Various Artists
The Woman King — Terence Blanchard
Outstanding Male Artist
Brent Faiyaz — Wasteland
Burna Boy — Love, Damini
Chris Brown – Breezy (Deluxe)
Drake – Honestly, Nevermind
Kendrick Lamar – Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers
Outstanding Female Artist
Ari Lennox — age/sex/location
Beyoncé — Renaissance
Chlöe — Surprise
Jazmine Sullivan — Hurt Me So Good
SZA — SOS
Outstanding Soul/R&B Song
Lizzo — “About Damn Time”
Beyoncé — “Cuff It”
Mary J. Blige feat. H.E.R. — “Good Morning Gorgeous Remix”
Jazmine Sullivan — “Hurt Me So Good”
Rihanna — “Lift Me Up”
Outstanding Hip Hop/Rap Song
Armani White — “Billie Eilish”
Fivio Foreign — “City of Gods”
Quavo & Takeoff — “Hotel Lobby”
Kendrick Lamar — “The Heart Part 5”
Future feat. Drake and Tems — “Wait for U”
Outstanding Album
Ari Lennox — age/sex/location
Chris Brown — Breezy (Deluxe)
Kendrick Lamar — Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers
Beyoncé — Renaissance
PJ Morton — Watch the Sun
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
Bryan-Michael Cox Joins Love Renaissance (LVRN) As Their New Senior VP, A&R, And Executive Producer
Bryan-Michael Cox has a laundry list of accomplishments to his name, but the Grammy Award-winning producer and songwriter is far from done with his music career. Today, the hip-hop and R&B label Love Renaissance (LVRN) announced that Cox was appointed as the label’s Senior Vice President, A&R, and Executive Producer. The news comes after Cox collaborated with DVSN, who is signed to LVRN under a management deal, on their recent album Working on My Karma. Cox contributed to five of the album’s 12 songs.
In his role, Cox will focus on breaking new talent as well as furthering the label’s strong roster of artists that include Summer Walker, 6lack, and more. “A&R has become a lost art in this new generation of music because of the gap in relationship between A&R, the artist and the label,” LVRN co-founder Justice Baiden said in a press release. “Bryan-Michael Cox is a respected and accomplished producer and executive, and he’s the perfect addition to our team to help continue in bridging that gap. Bryan not only speaks the same language as the artist, but he also shares the same values as LVRN.” He later added, “When I think of someone who handles music with care, I think of Bryan and we’re excited to welcome him home to Atlanta and LVRN.”
Cox also shared his excitement about his new role in the press release. “The time is right for this union because what LVRN has been able to do culturally is incredible,” he said. “The commitment to the full picture of artist development is something that this business has been missing. From the single selections to album track listing to the rollouts, each artist has been launched uniquely with care.” He continued, “I have a great track record of being able to bond with artists, get the best out of them, and, of course, being able to create or identify hit records. This is a perfect fit.”
Cox’s addition to the LVRN team comes after the label was valued at over $100 million after Matt Pincus invested $25 million in the group. Pincus is the co-founder and CEO of MUSIC, a holding company he co-founded.
De La Soul’s Maseo Returned To Social Media After Trugoy’s Death With A Nostalgic Trip Down Memory Lane
The news of De La Soul member Trugoy The Dove’s death was met with a wave of appreciative and grief-stricken posts from all over hip-hop, but the voices of his bandmates were conspicuously (and understandably) absent. And although Posdnous — aka Plug One — has yet to return to social media, Maseo — aka Plug Three — returned to Instagram for the first time in almost a week to share a few nostalgic posts in a guided tour down memory lane.
One photo he shared featured the three Plugs and their then-producer Prince Paul as they signed their initial recording contract with Tommy Boy Records — the same contract that they only recently resolved to win back control of their publishing rights.
In another post, he revealed that he still has his leather medallion from the 3 Feet High And Rising era. The Afrocentric trappings of De La’s early output are still seen as an antidote to materialism and excess in hip-hop, and clearly, Maseo is still proud to have offered that alternative to rap fans.
The timing of Trugoy’s death was especially tragic, as De La Soul had just announced that their catalog would finally be available to stream in just a few weeks. They should finally get some of the flowers they always deserved — no pun intended — but one of their number won’t be around to enjoy it.
Rihanna’s 35th Birthday Saw Her Celebrating With A$AP Rocky & Other Close Friends
With the beginning of Pisces season comes a particularly important moment that deserves celebration – Rihanna’s birthday. On Monday (February 20), the ANTI hitmaker celebrated her 35th trip around the Sun, fresh off her legendary headlining performance at the Super Bowl Halftime show. Many in the crowd were simply excited to see the starlets return to the stage, but in her usual fashion, she shocked them all by revealing her second pregnancy as she sang.
The news was undeniably shocking, though it drummed up serious excitement regarding her upcoming outfits. In the past, we’ve seen Rihanna take some bold style risks, mixing sexy, feminine pieces with oversized masculine garments. For her birthday, she appears to have taken a refined approach, stepping out in a little white dress with an oversized coat dropped over her shoulders.
RiRi’s Big Birthday Bash
Rihanna arriving at Giorgio Baldi for her birthday party last night
pic.twitter.com/1zz9O1DjbO
— FentyStats (@FentyStats) February 21, 2023
To celebrate her 35th, the expecting mother took a trip to her favourite Santa Monica eatery, Giorgio Baldi. She was obviously joined by her beau, A$AP Rocky, and other friends like Melissa Forde and Rorrey Fenty were also in attendance. As TMZ notes, the restaurant showed out for Rihanna the same way she does for them, covering the venue in balloons to help set the party mood.
She looked as glamorous as ever while blowing out the candles on her decadent cake. At the top of the black and white dessert was a stick figure recreation of her infamous cartoon Instagram profile photo, earning a laugh from plenty of fans. This new chapter of her life has only just begun, but so far, it sounds like 35 will be a big one for Rihanna. Not only will we meet her and Rocky’s new baby, but she’s also hinted at the possibility of a new album landing before 2023 is up.
Rihanna’s Maternity Style Serves
During her first pregnancy, Rihanna put her “Fashion Killa” skills on full display. Even as her bump grew bigger and bigger, the Fenty Beauty founder continued to show out in sexy, skin-barring looks that live rent-free in our heads to this day. Specifically, Fashion Week in various European countries saw some of her most captivating looks.
Since announcing her second baby at the Super Bowl earlier this month, we’ve begun to see a preview of what the Barbadian beauty is planning to serve up this time around. Just a few days ago, she gave fans a small peek at her belly while sporting a Godzilla graphic tee and an oversized fur coat. See that stylish moment for yourself here, and check back later for more pop culture news updates.
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DDG Calls Blueface & Chrisean Rock “Relationship Goals”
Blueface and Chrisean Rock have been the talk of the town in the past few months. Despite the toxic nature of their relationship, it seems that people can’t get their names out of their mouths. Between their show Crazy In Love and their frequent outbursts on social media (including a recent spat with Chris Brown), they’ve provided an abundance of viral content that we can’t stop watching. Some feel as though they need to split immediately, while others consider the two to be a match made in heaven.
In the last week, Blueface and Chrisean Rock’s relationship led to feuds with Lil Baby, as well as Akademiks. The former slid into Rock’s DMs on a supposed “big brother” vibe, which Blueface later exposed on Twitter. Meanwhile, Akademiks used the moment as an opportunity to further antagonize the couple on his live stream. Blueface lashed out on Twitter, calling out the Quality Control rapper and the media personality during an house-long tirade on the Elon Musk-owned platform. Blue ultimately stated that he looks at himself as a manager rather than a boyfriend. But despite the amount of backlash the couple faced, some still feel as though they’re an ideal image of a relationship.
Blueface & Chrisean Rock Are “Relationship Goals,” DDG Says
Blueface and DDG have formed a bond deeper than rap, which became quite evident during the YouTuber’s spat with his ex, Rubi Rose. Apparently, Rock influenced Rubi to expose DDG’s DMs in the midst of his issues with Halle Bailey. Blueface called out Rock for interfering in their spat when she previously hung out with Halle in the past. However, DDG didn’t appear to have anything to say about Rock afterward.
During Blueface and Chrisean Rock’s recent Instagram Live where they addressed Blueface and Akademiks, DDG slid through with a glowing endorsement for the couple. He slid into the comment section of the IG live, writing, “Relationship goals [100 emoji].” Though his support for Blueface is an indication of his loyalty, not everyone would agree with his assessment of their relationship. Plus, it’s hard to imagine that the star of Disney’s Little Mermaid remake would be willing to participate in reckless online antics. Check out what DDG had to say above and sound off with your thoughts in the comment section.