The double-murder trial of rapper YNW Melly reached its 11th day with significant developments. Leondra Phillips, the mother of victim YNW Juvy, took the stand to testify while decisions were made regarding the presentation of evidence, including Snapchat videos and over 300 photographs. The viewing of the vehicle involved in the shooting was postponed, and […]
Lil Uzi Vert recently dropped his highly-anticipated new album, Pink Tape. The album features Nicki Minaj, who appears on the song “Endless Fashion.” During one of the verses, Natalie Nunn is mentioned by the artists. “Ayo, even if my name was Natalie, none these b*tches still couldn’t chin-check me,” they rap. Now, Nunn has taken to social media to respond to the shoutout.
“I LOVE YOU @nickiminaj,” Nunn wrote on Instagram alongside a screenshot of the song. “PLEASE COME HOST THE BADDIES REUNION NOW IM ASKING PLEASEEEEEEE NICKI I LOVE YOU,” she continued, adding a kissing emoji. It’s clear that Nunn would love to have Nicki make an appearance on Baddies, as she goes on to share a clip of herself previously calling for Nicki to host the reunion. Nunn also took to Twitter, telling Baddies fans, “make sure y’all stream it runs those numbers up for the queen like we do the 91 million streams on baddies!!”
Lil Uzi Vert finally dropped Pink Tape today, after teasing the new LP for months. Aside from Nicki Minaj, the album also features Don Toliver, Babymetal, and Bring Me The Horizon. Travis Scott also makes an appearance on the track “Aye,” which was revealed by DJ Akademiks earlier this month.
Recently, Nicki shared more about her verse on “Endless Fashion” on Twitter with Uzi’s girlfriend, City Girls’ JT. JT mentioned how quickly she was able to complete her verse for the song, claiming she “almost had a heart attack today!” JT told the rapper, “you really too real & raw I love you.” Nicki responded to her Tweet, writing, “Girl I started @ 8am & finished like 5pm. When I tell you I was exhausted by the time I was done. Lol. B/c I was rushing to get it in on time. I kept telling him ’30 mins’ then hitting him back 2 hours later TB 15-20 more minutes Uzi!!!!,” she explained. “I did that ALL DAY LONG YO,” she added with a laughing emoji.
It appears that the needle has swung back towards ” trade” in the James Harden saga. Furthermore, it appears that the Clippers are the primary landing spot for the 10-time all-star. Per Sam Amick and Kelly Iko of The Athletic, Harden has identified the Clippers as his preferred destination. Furthermore, trade talks between the two sides are already underway. Additionally, Paul George and Kawhi Leonard are both reportedly “on board” with the addition of Harden, per league sources.
With Harden essentially pushing for a trade, the Sixers can’t exactly push for a king’s ransom. However, the Clippers can’t exactly swindle the Sixers given the need to offset Harden’s $35.6 million salary. A package involving Norman Powell, another player with a big enough salary, and some picks would likely get the deal done. No formal trade has been agreed to yet, However, both sides will likely be eager to get the trade completed quickly so they can better focus on free agency. Now it appears that the Clippers are starting to make some moves to accommodate Harden.
Ivica Zubac Joins Trade Block
Our final pre-free agency notebook is live @YahooSports, featuring a full breakdown of what broke down between James Harden and the Sixers; plus details on Bruce Brown, Strus, Kuzma, Lakers, Suns and everything in between: https://t.co/d78WH4XLrH
According to Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports, the Clippers have added Ivica Zubac to the trade block. Zubac put up 10.8/9.9/1.0 in 76 starts for the Clippers last season, marking career highs in ppg and pg. His 9.9 rebounds per game were 11th-highest in the league and overall, he was a solid contributor for the team. Furthermore, he has been a top-tier interior defender in his five seasons with the Clips. Zubac has played at least 70 games in each of the last four seasons.
It’s not confirmed that Zubac would be part of the return for Harden. However, it’s hard to see the Sixers needing Zubac, given he plays the same position as reigning MVP Joel Embiid. It’s hard to see the Sixers agreeing to take on Zubac’s $22 million for essentially a backup center. However, Zubac’s trade availability may only be tangentially related to the Harden trade. The case could be that the Clippers want to build a superteam around Harden-George-Leonard and Zubac simply doesn’t fit into that idea. This is a developing story and we’ll have any updates here at HotNewHipHop.
Ice Cube has detailed the NBA’s alleged efforts to silence his BIG3 as he claimed they tried to have potential sponsors and networks not partner with them.
For months now, student loan borrowers have been holding onto hope that Joe Biden’s plan to forgive up to $20K in loans per borrower would come to pass. Now, though, we know that it won’t: Today (June 30), the Supreme Court voted 6-3 to overturn the Biden administration’s student loan debt cancellation plan.
Meek Mill had a quick reaction to that, comparing the situation to how much funding the government devotes to other areas. He tweeted, “why are we having a problem with money for education but giving money away for war?? I’ve been seeing this narrative on the news since a child I’ll never understand it!”
why are we having a problem with money for education but giving money away for war?? I’ve been seeing this narrative on the news since a child I’ll never understand it!
Biden is in the same camp as Meek: After the SCOTUS decision was revealed, Biden shared a statement that reads in part, “The hypocrisy of Republican elected officials is stunning. They had no problem with billions in pandemic-related loans to businesses – including hundreds of thousands and in some cases millions of dollars for their own businesses. And those loans were forgiven. But when it came to providing relief to millions of hard-working Americans, they did everything in their power to stop it. […] I believe that the Court’s decision to strike down our student debt relief plan is wrong. But I will stop at nothing to find other ways to deliver relief to hard-working middle-class families.”
Meek Mill is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
Drake and 21 Savage kicked off the It’s All A Blur Tour last night (June 29) in Memphis. It’ll go through Boston, New York City, Los Angeles, Houston, and more major cities over the next few months, bringing their collaborative 2022 album Her Loss to stages.
It looks like Drake teased some merchandise on his Instagram Story. The photo only partially shows two black and neon yellow T-shirts with the text “It’s All A Blur Tour” over the heart. It also bears his signature OVO owl.
Meanwhile, Drake just published his new book Titles Ruin Everything: A Stream Of Consciousness, co-authored with Kenza Samir. Its reception was not great, especially New York Times bestselling author Hanif Abdurraqib’s review. “Some of these are so absurd that they’re actually funny,” he wrote. “But it’s hard to tell if he also understands that they’re bending into absurdist humor, and understands that there will be people who find it profound. Or if he’s convinced himself of the profundity. Really, it’s kind of just a book of puns. Silly lil’ jokes. It is a struggle for me to tell how in on the joke he is… I’m not personally offended by anything that masquerades as poetry, because it happens so often in every possible arena of entertainment and consumption, but this is essentially a coffee table book of one-line jokes.”
Earning the title “Queen of Pop” is no easy feat. That’s why Madonna is a staple in the history of commercial music of the 20th century and beyond. She’s an incredible force with a career spanning four and half decades. Madonna is the best-selling female recording artist of all time. She has sold over 300 million records worldwide and is revered across the globe for her many contributions to music.
Madonna was set to embark on her twelfth concert tour, titled Madonna: The Celebration Tour, in July. However, she was admitted to ICU after a severe bacterial infection left her unresponsive. Thankfully, she’s been discharged and is recovering at home, but the tour has been postponed. The Celebration Tour was meant to kick off on July 15 in Canada and span 84 shows across several major cities. Nonetheless, Madonna has been an incomparable talent over the decades and remains one of the most influential artists of all time.
Early Success
American singer Madonna in New York, 1984. (Photo by Michael Putland/Getty Images)
After dropping out of college in 1978, Madonna relocated to the Big Apple to pursue dance professionally. A year later, she became involved with Dan Gilroy, which led to their formation of the band Breakfast Club. Madonna didn’t stay long with Breakfast Club, eventually starting another band, Emmy and the Emmys. Once again, she parted ways with the group, opting for a solo career.
After moderate success with her solo demos, Madonna began to work hard on self-promotion. She frequented nightclubs and gigs to get her music out into the world. This led to a signed deal with Sire Records. Her first two solo singles, “Everybody” and “Burning Up,” garnered significant buzz her way, spurring talks of an album incoming. Her debut album Madonna was released in 1983 and featured the now-timeless single “Holiday.”
Madonna’s Major Breakthrough
Madonna had already cemented herself as a major star by the mid-80s. She was a guitarist, dancer, drummer, singer, and trendsetter. However, by 1984, her second album, Like a Virgin, propelled her to superstardom. The album was a commercial triumph and is one of the most acclaimed and revered musical albums of the 20th century.
In addition to this, she enjoyed a seamless transition into film. Furthermore, Madonna established herself as a phenomenal live performer. Throughout the ’80s and ’90s, she quickly rose to icon status after a series of commercial successes. Albums like Who’s That Girl, Like A Prayer, and Confessions on a Dance Floor further proved her relevance each decade. On the flip side, appearances in the movies Dick Tracy, A League of Their Own, and Evita showed her versatility as an actress.
Since then, and up until the present day, Madonna has remained on the lips of millions. Although predominantly a pop artist, she has accommodated several genres into her sound. Her skills as a musical chameleon are also noteworthy because she continues to work with numerous artists of today. She has also earned widespread acclaim for her music videos, which feature captivating storytelling.
Collaboration With Hip Hop & R&B Artists
It’s been common knowledge for decades that Madonna can blend genres. As a legacy act, she has worked with many older and newer Hip Hop and R&B acts. She recently worked with The Weeknd and Playboi Carti on the single “Popular.” However, her catalog is filled with many more notable collaborations.
Madonna has worked with Babyface, Lil Wayne, Missy Elliott, Quavo, Swae Lee, Nas, Kanye West, and Nicki Minaj, among many others. Her interest in the genre has been long recorded. The Beastie Boys were the opening act on her first-ever global tour and she sampled Public Enemy early in her career.
Fat Joe appeared as a guest on ESPN recently, weighing in on the 2023 NBA draft. He unfortunately garnered some attention for claiming to like “Dick from Kansas,” meaning the Kansas Jayhawks’ Gradey Dick. The rapper was immediately clowned online for the comment, and now he’s taken to social media to respond.
“Shoutout to Cam’ron and Ma$e for not roasting me yet,” he said during a recent Instagram Live. “Everywhere I been going, they been like, ‘Yo, you like Dick from Kansas?’ His name is Gradey Dick, a white boy who’s dead nice in Kansas. But it’s okay,” Fat Joe continued. The artist insists that the jokes don’t bother him, as he’s confident in himself.
Fat Joe continued, “And I’m too old to play the pause game. I’m for everybody. Hey, you take it how you want to. I’m very confident in who I am. I’m Joe Crack Da Don. I don’t play the pause game. That’s years ago. And aye, I don’t think nothing of it.” He then revealed that he didn’t even question the comment before he said it, claiming that he doesn’t have a problem with the ongoing jokes. “When I say stuff, I mean it,” he described, “I don’t know how to explain it to you. I don’t have a problem. He continued, “I didn’t think twice when I was talking to Stephen A. [Smith] at the draft. I didn’t think twice of what I said.” He went on, “People were like, ‘Yo, you’re trending right now.’ ‘Yo, you said Dick from Kansas.’ Yo bro, we go viral and we don’t even try.”
The NBA draft comment isn’t the only thing Fat Joe has defended recently. Earlier this week, he defended his use of the n-word during a podcast, calling controversy surrounding the use “mind-boggling.” He went on to say, “You obviously know I’m wit Black people all day. I fight for Black people, I fight for Latinos every day of my life.”
