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You never know who’s going to appear on the next episode of BagFuel. Co-hosts E$$O and Hynaken are extremely well-connected after having been around the music industry for years and they continue to invite some of the biggest up-and-coming stars, as well as established veterans, onto the show to chop it up about all kinds of topics spanning their careers. In the last few weeks, episodes featuring Sevyn Streeter and Neisha Neshae went live and today, we’ve got the one and only Juicy J on the latest episode of BagFuel.

Checking in for a twenty-minute conversation with E$$O and Hynaken, Juicy J spoke about cryptocurrency, which he believes is the future, meeting artists like Drake, The Weeknd, and other Grammy winners before they signed their first deals, and much more. He also talked about the differences between his old and new music, concluding that he still turns up in the club as he did a decade ago. 

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As far as his goals moving forward, Juicy J told the guys that he likens himself to Quincy Jones, noting that he’s happy in his current role. “I feel like I’m the Quincy Jones of rap music, I just can’t stop,” he said. “I love working with new artists. Big ups to Meg Thee Stallion, three Grammys. Everybody I work with… Young Dolph, Wiz Khalifa, anybody. I’ve got so much underneath my belt and I just love doing this. I don’t think I’ll ever stop. I’ll probably be like Tony Bennett, he’s probably pushing 80. I seen Tony Bennett at the Grammys with Lady GaGa, they were performing, and I was just like, damn, that’s so amazing to me. He a legend, a father, a grandfather, a cousin, a brother. He’s still going, dude been making music forever.”

Earlier this year, Juicy J said he felt like the Tom Brady of the rap game. It’s not entirely new for his confidence levels to be this high.

Watch the full episode of Juicy J on BagFuel above.

The hip-hop community continues to mourn the passing of King Von, who succumbed to gunshot wounds on November 6th, 2020 following an altercation with Quando Rondo outside of an Atlanta club. Members of the game and fans of his music alike grieved the loss of the young talent, but for Calboy, the loss of another family member was a feeling he knew all too well. 

In an interview last year, the “Miseducation” hitmaker revealed he and King Von were cousins. Before Von’s death, Calboy had suffered the loss of two of his other cousins to drug abuse and gun violence. While certainly traumatic experiences, the rapper explained in a new interview with HipHopDX how they fuel him to make songs that speak on the struggles of street life and being inspired by Von.

“That was a tough situation for me because even though I was successful, and I popped off before Von, I still looked up to him because of how he moved and how he just carried himself and the respect that he earned for himself,” Calboy said.

He went on to explain that while they were cousins, they were not as close as people might think. They began to connect in the same leading up to his murder. “We weren’t that close, we just cousins through family,” he explained to HipHopDX. “But his death definitely messed with my mental, especially after my cousin passed off popping an ecstasy pill and my other cousin got shot in the head.”

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Calboy continued, “Now you see Von with his viral moment and I see all the memes and the videos and everybody got their own depiction of what went on. It’s tough just to see everything so I had to turn my phone off for a while and just sit back.”

The deaths of his family members affected Calboy in a major way, partially being the reason he is taking a different, more positive approach with his new music. 

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Though many were holding out hope that Festival season would return to some semblance of pre-COVID normalcy, what with vaccination efforts ramping up in a variety of countries, it would appear that many are not quite out of the woods. In fact, the Danish Roskilde Festival, which was previously canceled in 2020 over coronavirus restrictions, has now been canceled for the second year in a row. 

In an official statement on their website, the festival shared a few words about the “devastating” decision. “As expected, we can’t conduct a Roskilde Festival this summer,” it begins. “Let us meet again in 2022. We are devastated by the fact that we can’t get together at our festival and contribute to recreating the communities that the corona crisis has destroyed for so many.”

“The cancellation is very serious for the festival, for the charity society behind it and for our community,” it continues. “And it is serious for the artistic environments and the growth segments of culture.” As expected, 2021 ticketholders can hold on to their purchases for next year’s edition of the festival, though it’s likely that the lineup will have altered significantly by that point. For some context, the 2020 lineup was originally set to include Kendrick Lamar, Taylor Swift, Thom Yorke, Tyler, The Creator, The Strokes, and many more.

“It will be an invaluable help for us if you choose to keep your ticket by transferring it to 2022,” continues the statement. “That way, you help us through this very difficult time.”

With select festivals like Rolling Loud Miami currently scheduled for this year, it’s sad to see a long-running institution like the Roskilde Festival suffering as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. Still, safety must be prioritized above all, and we can only hope that it’s able to bounce back in 2022 once restrictions (hopefully) ease up. Keep an eye out for further details on Roskilde’s triumphant return as they surface.   

Food shortage is not something many Americans would ever be able to predict in the cards for the country. With a nation that boasts an abundance of just about everything, buzz about a potential shortage of one of American’s most preferred foods is not something many would take lightly.

Unfortunately for Americans, the country is currently on the verge of a massive chicken crisis. According to agriculture professionals and fast-food executives, increased demand and decreased poultry supply during the pandemic have created this dire situation. 

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Fast-food executives specifically note the difficulty in stocking enough chicken in their facilities like nuggets, tenders, wings, patties, and all other shapes and sizes to appease the American hunger for chicken. “Demand for the new sandwich has been so strong that, coupled with general tightening in domestic chicken supply, our main challenge has been keeping up with that demand,” said David Gibbs, who is CEO of Yum Brands. 

The chairman and CEO of Wingstop said this week, “Suppliers are struggling, just as many in our industry are, to hire people to process chicken, thus placing unexpected pressure on the amount of birds that can be processed and negatively affecting supply of all parts of the chicken in the U.S., not just wings.”

Chicken has been the most in-demand meat in the United States for years, and the COVID-19 pandemic severely affected the poultry industry and is part of the reason for this deficit. Coronavirus restrictions caused poultry plants to reduce staff, although the demand for chicken increased as millions of Americans were forced to stay inside. Bad weather and power outrages in major chicken-producing areas like Texas and Arkansas also contributed to creating this crisis. 

One industry official in North Carolina even predicted the low supply might become worse as the weather gets warmer and people begin grilling more regularly. Right now, there’s no word on how the country plans to combat this. 

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Drake hasn’t provided many updates on the status of his upcoming studio album Certified Lover Boy, but he’s been providing his fans with a lot of content on social media. These days, we’re lucky to hear from the artist every other day as he seemingly ramps up his presence in advance of the album’s release. This morning, he was busy on Instagram, sharing a video of his three-year-son Adonis reacting to LeBron James highlights on YouTube. He also noticed a video from Moneybagg Yo that went viral on the blogs of the rapper reacting to his government name being broadcast by Music Choice.

The service was playing his hit record “Time Today” from his new #1 album A Gangsta’s Pain but the Memphis rapper wasn’t concerned about the promotion of his song. Instead, he was more worried about the possible implications of Music Choice giving away his government name as a fun fact.

“Did you know? Moneybagg Yo’s real name is Demario Dewayne White Jr.,” wrote Music Choice on the side of the screen to curious fans. “Police as hell… what the f*ck wrong with y’all, Music Choice? Appreciate the love but damn! Talking about, did y’all know his real name?”

Appearing in the comments, Drake decided to make fun of Moneybagg Yo for his government name, writing, “DD White mayne,” next to four laughing emojis.

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In other government name-related news, Diddy recently announced that he legally changed his name to Sean Love Combs. Read more about that here.

Check out our latest digital cover story with Moneybagg Yo here.