Rick Ross recently chopped it up with his good buddy Jay Leno, taking the trip down to Burbank to check out the late-night legend’s incredible garage. Based on the footage he uploaded to his Instagram page, Renzel appeared particularly taken with Leno’s F1 McLaren, valued at the staggering price of $15 million.
As it happens, Ross will be showcasing his own prized vehicular possession, the ’57 Renzel, during an upcoming episode of Leno’s Garage. “I got to ride thru Cali hills top down, windows up talking classic rides with the Legend today,” captioned Ross, alongside a BTS picture of their link-up. “Cool shit huh..episode coming stay tuned!!!”
Today, Rozay took a moment to double down on his Jay Leno bromance, once again taking to Instagram to show some love to his fellow automobile aficionado, sharing a bit of entrepreneurial advice in the process. “We both collect cars,” captions Rozay, alongside a picture of the unexpected pals. “We both love @officialbelaire …BELAIRE BLEU hand-delivered to my dear friend Jay Leno @jaylenosgarage. the power of networking and building new relationships is priceless.”
It’s unclear as to whether Leno and Renzel shared a drink following their recent link-up, but we can assume that at least some Belaire Bleu was consumed by the two heavyweight moguls. It should be interesting to see their dynamic in action when Leno’s Garage eventually airs. Check back for more news on that front, and stay tuned for Rozay’s upcoming studio album Richer Than I’ve Ever Been — the question is, will Leno come through to lay down a skit or two?
OVO Sound boss Drake’s former girlfriend and current baby mother is serious about the art world. Sophie Brussaux has shared a glimpse into her love for artwork. Drake’s Ex Sophie Brussaux Shows Her Artwork SB went to her Instagram page with a slideshow of must-see pics. The shots feature her flexing pure beauty while surrounded […]
Over the weekend, the Atlanta-based rapper revealed that after a few years, he’s still blocked from viewing Nicki’s page. He posted a screenshot of the blocking, apologizing to the Barbs and essentially begging for forgiveness. “Hey barbs, it’s boat… I just wanted to apologize,” he wrote in a tweet. “I love Cardi and nicki, big fan guys. I hope u guys can forgive me.”
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Almost instantly, fans replied to him with his comments from years prior, reminding the rapper that he clearly chose his side by repping Cardi over Nicki. He responded by retweeting many of the instances he’s shown love to Minaj, sharing posts from all the way back in 2011. “Yall toxic as hell, im scared of y’all,” he concluded.
Thus far, Nicki has not responded to Lil Yachty or his request for forgiveness. Do you think he can regain favor with the Barbs?
The concert and festival landscape has been bleak over the past year-plus for obvious reasons. Now, though, things seem to be slowly returning to normal (or something like what normal used to be, anyway). Artists are announcing tour dates for this summer and fall, and music festival organizers are also preparing to host events later this year. Now, one of the country’s most esteemed events is slated to make its return in 2021: Pitchfork Music Festival has announced its 2021 dates and lineup.
The fest is set to hit Chicago on the weekend of September 10 to 12. The headliners for Friday are Phoebe Bridgers, Big Thief, and Animal Collective. Saturday will be led by St. Vincent, Angel Olsen, and Kim Gorden. Capping things off on Sunday will be Erykah Badu, Flying Lotus, and Thundercat.
Elsewhere, performers will include Yaeji, Black Midi, Hop Along, Kelly Lee Owens, Dogleg, Armand Hammer, Ty Segall & Freedom Band, Waxahatchee, Jay Electronica, Jamila Woods, Faye Webster, Bartees Strange, Danny Brown, Cat Power, Andy Shauf, Caroline Polachek, and Yves Tumor.
Tickets are on sale now, so learn more about this year’s festival here.
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
In his first-ever professional basketball game, J. Cole looked like he belonged on the court, even though his stats were nothing to write home about. If anything, his debut ball game called to mind memories of his debut project: As long as he stuck to what he was good at and didn’t try too hard, he acquitted himself the way you’d expect from a self-proclaimed future superstar. That quality has held true over the course of the decade since, even up to his latest release, The Off-Season.
If a metaphor comparing the North Carolina native’s rap career to his sports one seems almost too easy, it’s only because Cole himself invited such comparisons with the new album’s title and rollout. Even the cover prominently features a flaming basketball hoop, reinforcing the symbolism of the “off-season” motif. Cole spoke at length in both interviews and his personal documentary about the mentality of drilling and training himself on his already virtuoso raps with the goal of improving to his satisfaction — much like a pro athlete would add new facets to his game between seasons.
Even with the coincidence of his first-ever game, which his longtime friend and manager Ibrahim Hamad even called something of an accident of timing due to the pandemic pushing back both the album’s release and the start of the newly created Basketball Africa League, the parallels practically write themselves. In his limited first-half minutes, Cole was able to score a bucket at the rim on a putback and was even given the honor of shooting the team’s technical free throw — a distinction that is usually only bestowed upon the team’s best shooter on the floor at the time of the foul.
In the second half, though, the team decided to reward Cole’s performance with more indulgences. He was allowed more touches, even bringing the ball up on a few possessions. This increased time brought increased exposure to the flaws in his game: whether because of first-game nerves or simply due to his trying too hard, he was responsible for three turnovers and an airball (as well as a couple of assists), and it was revealed that he either can’t or won’t go left in isolation.
Let’s compare this to his rap work. We know he can rhyme his ass off and he knows it too; this is the strongest facet of his music-making ability and he produces his best, most engaging material when this is what he focuses on. It’s when he overindulges or tries to do too much that his weaknesses as a songwriter get exposed. There’s a tendency to drone on at length about how good he is at rapping; the awkwardly framed, “relatable” songs about things like losing his virginity and folding clothes have drawn as much criticism as praise over the years. Being relatable is one thing; oversharing is another entirely.
On The Off-Season, Cole wisely mitigates most of his most glaring flaws. By keeping the runtime short, he keeps himself on topic and remains efficient in conceptualizing and executing the album’s 12 songs, without the tail-end drag he sometimes delivers on his longer projects. He also varies the production a lot more; rather than producing on every single track, he employs input from hitmakers like Boi 1da, DJ Dahi, Jake One, and T-Minus to set up the plays for him, letting him stick to the aforementioned rhyming without having to split his focus. This is especially useful on tracks like “Pride Is The Devil,” where the production — which samples Aminé’s “Can’t Decide” from the 2020 album Limbo — opens the floor for Cole and Lil Baby’s impressive two-man game on the lyrical end.
He also gets into more personal storytelling, such as on “Let Go My Hand,” where he finally confirms the long-rumored scuffle between himself and Sean Combs. Although the track is scant on details, it’s a far-sight more interesting than the stilted regular-guy raps he used to attempt. We want to hear about his life, not ours, and this is among one of the most up-to-date references he’s offered, even if the incident in question happened nearly five years before. By contrast, the other “relatable” songs he’s offered up over his career were either nostalgic recollections of his childhood in Fayetteville or the painfully earnest “Let Nas Down.”
Mercifully, Cole also cuts down on the attempted social commentary. After admitting that he’s no extensive reader during his 2020 dust-up with an unnamed Twitter user that many thought to be Noname, it seems he’s learned to stick to being more of a role player than aiming to be a do-it-all All-Star. That’s a smart move on his part; it gives critics less to pick at in his lyrical game and makes him look more like the fan-favorite he is. There’s nothing wrong with being a mid-level specialty player — they often get to star in their own right, eventually.
That just leaves the bars themselves as the primary point of contention and those are subjective. Cole’s fans will likely get as much of a kick out of double entendres like “I put an M on your head, you Luigi brother now” as his detractors will side-eye such missives as corny. Likewise, the subject matter — J. Cole’s technically proficient rhyming and wordplay — will get varying mileage depending on the listener’s preference. From the perspective of this writer, there have been many better bars and many worse ones. What Cole does well, he does really well, and it’s easy to appreciate the level of work that went into it without him reminding you once a verse.
That latter aspect tends to detract from just being able to appreciate his talent as it is; it’s a little like those players who have a bad game and conspicuously spend hours in the gym afterward getting up shots. We already know that Cole has had a hit-or-miss career buttressed mostly by the strident insistence of his most outspoken fans. Telling us about how much work he puts in isn’t going to sway listeners who don’t prefer his music. For what it’s worth, many of hip-hop’s most appreciated artists throughout its history have been those who make it look easy and effortless, whose practice stayed behind closed doors and revealed itself under the bright lights in their high-level songwriting, catchy hooks, or intimate storytelling.
Cole’s dedication to the craft, to getting better at it every day, is commendable. Whether that commitment leads to a more entertaining product is debatable. Given The Off-Season’s status as an ostensible set-up for whatever “The Fall-Off” portion of J. Cole’s career will be, it’s possible that he’s just giving us a rare glimpse into the amount of forethought and skill polishing that goes into setting up a 20+year career. That’s pretty cool, but some of us will be looking forward to watching the actual game footage, not just the practice highlights.
The Off-Season is out now via Dreamville. Get it here.
Before his death last month, DMX gave his final interview for the TV One special Uncensored: DMX, the first part of which aired last night. Within the episode, he covered stories we know, such as how he was tricked into smoking crack at just 14 years old, and ones that he hasn’t shared as often, like the time he says he met an angel when he was hit by a car as a child. He also discussed his love for dogs, comparing them to God, and how he used perspective shifting to handle some of his deepest woes.
DMX’s angel encounter, which happened when he was four years old, was the result of typical childhood inattention. While visiting a friend of his mother’s, young DMX was told to watch his sister outside but was distracted when he found a dime and went to buy candy. “As soon as I stepped off the curb coming down from the store, a car hit me (and) knocked me way over on the other side of the street up under another car,” he remembers. When he tried to get up, he says a white woman with a clipboard told him to lie back down.
“You’d think that she would’ve stuck around because she saw the whole thing,” he reasons. “I don’t know, I felt like it was an angel. She got no business being in the ‘hood with a f*cking clipboard.” The woman disappeared once his mom and emergency services arrived.
Elsewhere in the episode, DMX calls his dog Boomer one of his closest friends, saying, “Two things capable of unconditional love: a dog [and] God. Same word spelled backward. I really feel like dogs are close to God.”
The second and final part of Uncensored: DMX airs tonight at 7 pm PT/10 pm ET on TV One.
Last week belonged to two of Hip-Hop’s favorite emcees: J. Cole and Nicki Minaj. The release of The Off-Seasonand the surprise re-release of Beam Me Up Scotty both commanded everyone’s attention, but considering that Nicki Minaj essentially just added a free mixtape to DSPs, the hype for the Queen rapper was insane.
Apparently, Coi Leray isn’t just impressed with Nicki’s rare pink Richard Mille. Following the re-release of Beam Me Up Scotty, Coi Leray has started to vocalize her desire to work with the Young Money femcee, particularly on a remix of her breakout record “No More Parties.”
Whether or not Coi Leray has actually reached out to Nicki Minaj to get the “Seeing Green” rapper on an official “No More Parties” remix is unknown, but her recent tweet definitely shows that she has been thinking a lot about it.
“If @nickiminaj remixed No More Parties,” Coi Leray says, “just imagine bruh.”
Fans will have to wait and see if the Queen rapper feels compelled to respond to Coi Leray’s tweet, but would you be interested in hearing Nicki Minaj on a “No More Parties” remix?
Last night, Sunday May 16th, the first part of DMX’s final recorded interview aired on TV One series Uncensored. The interview was filmed three weeks prior to his tragic passing on April 9th and will be aired in two separate installments — the second of which is set to air later tonight at 10 p.m. ET.
The late legend reflects frequently on his youth, speaking on how he found solace in God amidst recurring hardship. In one emotional moment, the highly spiritual emcee recalls an early childhood memory from four years old, claiming to have met an angel following a car accident.
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He sets the stage by explaining that he, his mother, and his little sister were visiting a family friend in Yonkers. While he and his sister were waiting outside, X found a dime on the ground and decided to head to the store to buy a lollipop and a ball. As he was crossing the street, he was struck by a car. “As soon as I stepped off the curb coming down from the store, a car hit me, knocked me way over on the other side of the street up under another car,” recalls X.
He explains that a white woman carrying a clipboard told him to lie down until his mother was able to reach the scene. After emergency vehicles arrived, X explains that she simply disappeared. “You’d think that she would’ve stuck around because she saw the whole thing,” he muses. “I don’t know, I felt like it was an angel. She got no business being in the hood with a clipboard.”
For much more from DMX, be sure to check out some footage from the Uncensored interview right here, bittersweet though it may be. In addition, X’s first posthumous album Exodus, recorded and finished prior to his passing, is set to arrive on May 28th; guest appearances include JAY-Z, Nas, The LOX, Snoop Dogg, Griselda, Lil Wayne, Infrared & Cross, Alicia Keys, Mr. Porter and more.
The YSL Records family is unstoppable. Every year, it seems as though there’s a new star being molded from within the Atlanta-based crew, which is headed by Young Thug. Gunna has grown to become a superstar in his own right. Lil Keed has achieved massive amounts of success on his own. And with the recent release of Slime Language 2, upcoming stars like Unfoonk, YTB Trench, Karlae, and Yung Kayo are coming to the forefront. The entire team was present during Thugger’s latest appearance on the Million Dollaz Worth Of Game podcast with Gillie Da Kid and Wallo267.
Young Thug’s most recent appearance on the podcast came with several talking points– including the controversial comments the rapper made about JAY-Z. During the sitdown conversation, Thug’s words were misconstrued and many believed he was being disrespectful toward the legendary emcee. At the time, he insinuated that he has more arena-worthy songs than Hov, which angered thousands of rap fans. “I was talking to [sic] fast but y’all know what I meant,” he later clarified. On the new episode, which was published on Monday, Thug further elaborated on what he meant.
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“You were basically saying you got a lot of f*cking records,” said Gillie about the comments from last year. “Basically that’s all I was saying, I just used his name because he the biggest n***a in the world to me,” confirmed Thug. “I just used his name, to let the world know, like, ‘Yo, I got just as many hits as the biggest n***a in the world.’ I’m doing two hours on stage, for real. I don’t remember my last hour show… and I don’t do too much talking.”
The rapper also revealed his current picks for his top five rappers. He gave the first position to his YSL group before listing off Lil Baby, Lil Uzi Vert, and Drake. Unsure of who to name for his final pick, Thug chose both Future and 21 Savage. He went on to explain that his list wasn’t all-encompassing though, elaborating that if the list was based on lyricism, he’d have added Kendrick Lamar, J. Cole, and Bas from Dreamville Records.
“It’s about everything. Everybody who I named got everything,” added Thug.
Watch the full interview below and let us know what you think of it.
Last December, popular New York rapper Casanova turned himself in after being hit with racketeering conspiracy, drug trafficking, and other charges during the takedown of the Untouchable Gorilla Stone Nation gang. Prior to surrendering, he posted a video that maintained his innocence and ensured that he’d fight the case and be back out soon.
Weeks after sharing a sweet video of his wife performing a heartfelt freestyle that advocates for his release, Casanova has returned to Twitter to give his fans an update. According to the “So Brooklyn” rapper, however, things haven’t been looking too good in regard to support from his allies.
“SOME PEOPLE THAT I THOUGHT LOVED ME, ONLY NEEDED ME,” Casanova writes, touching on his epiphany that some of his closest friends only aligned themselves with the New York rapper for their own benefit. He then continues by revealing that he has taken note, saying, “I GET IT NOW. I WON”T LET THAT GO OVER MY HEAD.”
Stay tuned for more updates regarding Casanova’s legal battle.
