Drake-Backed Online Brokerage App Valued At $4B: Report

Drake’s been getting to the bag lately, as fans eagerly await the release of a new album. The Canadian artist’s rollout for Certified Lover Boy has so far been accompanied by the launch of NOCTA, his official clothing line with Nike, and a new collection with Chrome Hearts that apparently includes a customized Rolls Royce that you can check out in Miami

Behind the scenes, he’s been putting his money into budding companies like sports media start-up Overtime. However, it turns out one company that he put his money behind has raised upwards of $4 billion in its latest round of fundraising. Per Business Insider, WealthSimple, a Canadian brokerage firm similar to Robinhood, has raised another $610M, bringing its valuation at roughly $4B. The Toronto-based financial app has tripled its $1.2B value since October with funding mainly coming from Meritech Capital and Greylock Partners.

Drake is among the other investors behind WealthSimple along with Ryan Reynolds, Michael J. Fox, and Dwight Powell, among many others. The company currently boasts 2M users with $8.4B in assets under its management.


Vaughn Ridley/Getty Images

“More than two million Canadians use Wealthsimple to grow their money, file their taxes, pay their friends, and make their financial lives better,” said Wealthsimple CEO Mike Katchen in a statement. “This investment will fuel our growth so we can reach millions more and ensure that everyone has access to the simplest, most powerful financial products and services, no matter who they are or where they are in their financial lives.”

[Via]

LVRN Label Drops New Cypher Featuring 6LACK, Westside Boogie, BRS Kash, OMB Bloodbath, & NoonieVsEverybody For “Spotify Singles”

There aren’t too many labels that have a stacked roster like Love Renaissance (LVRN). Over the years, the Atlanta-based label has signed talented acts including 6LACK, Westside Boogie, and more. They continue finding and developing the stars of tomorrow, working with artists like BRS Kash, OMB Bloodbath, and more. 

For the latest edition of Spotify Singles, LVRN has released a new rap cypher, featuring all of the aforementioned artists on the same beat produced by Kitty Ca$h. The release comes via the recent RapCaviar x Spotify Singles partnership, and this is the first-ever collaboration with artists from one collective. It starts off with Houston’s OMB Bloodbath, who is a standout from the cypher. Then, Cleveland’s NoonieVsEverybody makes his introduction before Atlanta’s BRS Kash does lightwork over the beat. Finally, Compton’s Westside Boogie and Atlanta’s 6LACK close out the cypher video with just under three minutes of ferocious rhyming.

“It was fun doing the cypher because I am competitive, and I wanted to body every rapper on LVRN even though I love them,” joked Westside Boogie about the release. “I like rapping with LVRN altogether, I loved the bank outfits, and the direction on set, plus the steak and potatoes on set was fire. If the song a hit, they need to just say that,” added OMB Bloodbath.

Watch the video below.

Quotable Lyrics:

Can’t do it quite like this, you like this
Ask why I just tell ’em I’m passionate
These rap n***as ain’t mad enough
R&B n***as ain’t sad enough
I’m equipped with a gift, when I speak I heal
Above it ’cause I love it and it pays my bills
Damn, I got a beautiful mind
Can’t parlay with n***as misusing they time
– 6LACK

NLE Choppa Laughs At Getting Caught In Fan’s Headlock During Viral Beach Fight

Earlier this week, NLE Choppa found himself trending on Twitter once again following a viral fight video that featured him and a group of people getting into a massive beachside brawl with one of NLE’s fans. As it was previously reported, the fight began because the fan allegedly started to get disrespectful after NLE Choppa declined to take a picture.

Unfortunately, the footage didn’t show him in the best light, because although the “Final Warning” artist and his crew drastically outnumbered the fan, NLE still got punched in his jaw and caught in a headlock throughout the course of the brawl.

NLE Choppa quickly responded to the situation on Twitter, writing, “Damn y’all never got hit in a fight before ?” In another tweet, the From Dark To Light artist doubled down on his fighting skills by saying, “And I eat punches ask bout me. Imma rush you take what you got to give and resume beating some. Honestly ain’t wanna fight I was just tryna walk the beach.

After taking some time and reflecting on the situation further, NLE Choppa now appears to find the whole situation hilarious, as he recently brought the video back to his fans’ attention. Posting a still image from the fight video in which the fan somehow managed to catch NLE in a headlock, the rapper prefaced the funny moment by saying, “Y’all laughing bout me getting hit, I’m laughing at me being in the headlock.”

Check out NLE Choppa’s humorous take on the situation below.

ONE Championship Limited Edition Tokyo Time Caps Arrive

As someone who practically goes to bed rocking a hat – I’m obsessed with some major news of MMA series ONE Championship going all out with a new partnership. Turns out the organization – which saw our guy Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson go up for an epic championship bout last month – has teamed up […]

The post ONE Championship Limited Edition Tokyo Time Caps Arrive appeared first on SOHH.com.

Renni Rucci Calls Out Judge In Foogiano Case For Racial Prejudice

Rapper Foogiano was recently sentenced to five years in prison for burning off his ankle monitor, causing outrage among his fans. Many are complaining that his sentence is too harsh and will derail his chances of sustaining a career in the music industry. Prior to his sentencing, Foogiano was known as one of the brightest young stars on Gucci Mane’s The New 1017 label

Gucci has promised that he’s getting to work with his lawyers to help Foogiano get out of prison and the incarcerated rapper’s girlfriend, Renni Rucci, is bringing attention to his sentencing judge’s track record when it comes to allegedly handing out unfair sentences. Judge William A. Pryor has been called out online with many people saying that he’s unfit to rule, citing his record on cruel and unusual punishment. 

“Judge William A. Pryor of Greene County, GA called out for blatantly calling someone the N word in court.. returned from his suspension and is back as a senior judge sending more brothers and sisters to jail,” alleged Renni Rucci on Instagram. “This shouldn’t be allowed because it shows racial prejudice. Call the Georgia ACLU and get him out of there ASAP! 770-303-8111.”

The rapper followed up her message by claiming that she had been contacted by other families who have been affected by Judge Pryor’s unfair sentencing tactics. “So after yesterday we found out a lot of other families loved ones received the harshest sentencing possible in situations that have been handled differently when dealing with inmates of other ethnicities,” she said. “Let’s do what we can to make sure people line this [sic] don’t have the power to play with the lives of others.”

What do you think of Renni Rucci’s message? Free Foo.


Instagram

A Providence Rapper Is Going Viral After A DoorDash Driver Included His Album In Food Deliveries

DoorDash has pretty famously used rap to plug its service, hiring Blackalicious MC Gift Of Gab, Hamilton star Daveed Diggs, and hip-hop queen Rapsody to record rhyme-laden commercials for television, but someone decided that the equation could probably work the other way around. Providence, Rhode Island rapper Brendan Rush is going viral after a driver for DoorDash apparently shared his music info with customers’ deliveries, dropping off placards with his Spotify page along with the customary burgers and fries.

When one fan posted a picture of their Five Guys bag along with the info card to Twitter, the post went mega-viral within a matter of days, providing Rush with plenty of exposure and even drawing attention from Spotify’s account, which called the plan “next-level genius.” As it turns out though, Rush himself wasn’t the person including the card in deliveries; the rapper responded in the thread, confirming, “I don’t do deliveries.” That means the true culprit is either a fan or a friend who really wants folks to check out Rush’s music.

Rush himself retweeted the viral post on his own page, where he’s also contemplating making a run at TikTok fame and working on plugging his album Rush World through more traditional means. Meanwhile, whoever did drop off the Five Guys with Rush’s Spotify link may be the real MVP for not only bringing back the concept of a street team but also taking it to the next level.

You can check out Brendan Rush’s music here.

Saweetie Dismisses The Public Reaction To Her Breakup: ‘The World Doesn’t Stop For Anybody’

In March of this year, Saweetie shocked admirers of her relationship with Migos rapper Quavo when she announced that the two had broken up in a tweet that effectively turned every “goals” post about the couple into a grim reminder that social media only tells a fraction of the story. As it turned out, she sent that tweet from the set of W magazine cover shoot. That cover finally came out today and in the story that accompanies it, Saweetie addresses the controversy about her very public love affair and its equally public dissolution head-on.

“I’ve learned that the world doesn’t stop for anybody,” Saweetie said. “And it’s for sure not going to stop for me just because I got my heart broke. I was grateful to be doing the photoshoot. I was like, I can deal with all this later.” Although she doesn’t go into details about what led to her breakup with Quavo in the interview, she does discuss her plans for the future — and they involve a rather large sum of money. “I want 900 million dollars,” she said, elaborating, ““I look at Rihanna. I look at Kylie. I look at all the girls who are working in the worlds that I’m in. I kind of averaged out the money between all these women I admire, and 900 million is the number. So if I’m having a bad day, I’m just like, ‘900 million, girl! Go!’”

Saweetie declared that the two had split in a tweet declaring, “I’m single.” She elaborated, “I’ve endured too much betrayal and hurt behind the scenes for a false narrative to be circulating that degrades my character. Presents don’t band-aid scars and the love isn’t real when the intimacy is given to other women,” leading to speculation that Quavo had cheated on her. Later, a video surfaced of the couple having a physical altercation in an elevator at Saweetie’s apartment building, with both issuing statements dismissing the incident.

You can see the full pictorial here.

Saweetie is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Yelawolf Reflects On His Final Hip-Hop Album, His Favorite Era Of MCs & His Distaste For TikTok

Yelawolf’s April Onslaught has come to an end. In his wake are four projects. The RiFF RAFF-assisted TURQUOiSE TORNADO. The DJ Paul-assisted SlumafiaMile Zero, produced in its entirety by DJ Muggs. And lastly Mud Mouth, Yela’s seventh studio album and the closing chapter of this current phase of his career. 

While it’s evident that he holds each of his recent projects close to heart, there’s a notable fondness for Mile Zero, a homage to hip-hop’s golden era — an era that played a pivotal role in shaping his own artistry. “I’m the proudest of this project because it is a direct reflection of what I fell in love with in the first place,” he explains. “And I’ve never done an album so closely tied to that. This is me at 13 with fuc*ing headphones, a Discman, fuc*ing skating in San Francisco. This is me, that Krylon can in the backpack shit.”

Shortly before the release of Mile Zero, we had the chance of catching up for a conversation with the Alabama emcee, who opened up about his own prolific output, how TikTok has impacted the rap landscape, his own inspirations, and some of his notable collaborations — including Ed Sheeran, with whom he laced an entire EP in 2012.

Check it out for yourself below, edited for length and clarity.

 Yelawolf

Image via Artist

Yelawolf: Yo, what up?

HNHH: Hey, how you doing?

Good, man. How are you?

Not too bad. We meet again. Last time was over the phone. It’s good to have a face-to-face this time.

That’s what’s up. 

I’m wondering, given how much music you have released this past month, are you looking to get back into the live gigs soon?

I’m not really jumping out the window to do live shows. I mean– I’m comfortable getting into it in 2022 if it’s chill, but I’m not racing to do it. I was on tour when COVID hit. I was overseas when Trump made the call for everyone to come home or stay there. We caught the plane back and literally landed in New York hours before they started checking everybody at the gate. We just missed it. Then we landed back in Nashville, quarantined at the crib for a couple of weeks, and honestly I just got back to work. I started traveling as soon as those two weeks were up. We shook it during the pandemic man. [Laughs] We got busy.

Yeah man, I can see that. I saw that last year you were teasing the Mud Mouth album on Instagram. Did you record all this new material in the past year or so?

We did a lot. We did about six albums I think, something like that. Well, five that are legit coming out — done, mixed, mastered, and dropping. A sixth one is also in the works. So we’ve just been busy, man.

Did you always have that idea in mind, coming out with four albums in April?

Nah, we just recorded all this music and we went out to Mexico and shot a movie for Mud Mouth. Ideally, that would’ve been the time to start releasing music, but we were actually running out of time because they couldn’t come out after Mud Mouth. Mud Mouth is my studio album, and the other projects are albums in their own right but they’re also mixtape style. I didn’t want anything to come out after Mud Mouth. Mud Mouth is a different experience. It’s a studio album and I’ve always treated my records like that. I’ve tried to set up throughout the past ten years of releasing studio albums with freestyles or mixtapes. This collection of records I dropped in April is like a portfolio of my styles. It kinda goes in reverse, from TURQUOiSE TORNADO which is super playful and fun, fucking partying and broken down 808 shit, to the core southern street shit with Slumafia. Then Mile Zero is back to the roots of where I started writing on lo-fi beats, 93-95 era style beats with wordplay for wordplay’s sake. That’s why we called it Mile Zero because it’s back to the beginning. After Mile Zero, it’s Mud Mouth and that’ll be it — until the rock and roll album comes out.

Oh shit. So you’ve already been working on that?

The rock and roll album has been done since– shit when did we finish that — like a year ago something like that. We did Sometimes Why with Shooter Jennings literally on Sunset Boulevard, literally during the marches, the George Floyd marches. We actually marched with them, all of us. A few times. Just to put a time stamp on when that was recorded. It was literally the day after that happened. When the world was on fire, we already had a plane ticket booked to California. So we landed in downtown Los Angeles when it was going down and we were going back forth to the studio every day recording Sometimes Why. It was a heavy vibe. That’s when we did that record.

I wanted to do a lot for hip-hop for my own career, the fans, and to basically tip my hat. Because Mud Mouth is it for a long time. I don’t know when’s the next time I’m going to return to make another hip-hop record. So I just wanted to just give as much as I could before this next phase of my career starts. Hip-hop will always be a part of my life, one of my first loves, obviously, but I am excited about the next phase of my career and where it’s going to go. So, that’s what the April onslaught was about.

Yelawolf

Image via Artist

It’s interesting you say that, about wanting to pay homage to hip-hop because something that I think is pretty evident throughout all the projects so far — including the one you dropped with Caskey — I noticed you’re really spitting bars on these albums. There’s a lot of heavy rhyming, a lot of emphasis on flows, you can tell your appreciation for the craft is really coming through. So I guess that’s what lit that fire for you — wanting to pay homage?

So much has happened in the world– in 2019, 2020 — not just for me personally, but also socially, that it struck me to draw a proverbial line in the sand of who I am and what I do and where I come from. I think that there may have been some confusion about maybe where I was or possibly about where the culture is in the South because of the amount of carelessness that a large group of artists are giving to hip-hop from the South. Namely white boys, you know what I’m saying. Out here it’s like– there are so many artists, I ain’t even going to say artists. There are so many wannabe rappers that are tip-toeing in the culture that I wanted to draw the proverbial line in the sand between me and them. Because I was the first to bring it the way I bought it.

“There are so many artists, I ain’t even going to say artists. There are so many wannabe rappers that are tip-toeing in the culture that I wanted to draw the proverbial line in the sand between me and them. Because I was the first to bring it the way I bought it.”

Not to say that a white artist didn’t bring it before because Bubba Sparxxx certainly did, but not like I did it. Nowhere near it. There wasn’t the lyricism, there wasn’t the history, there wasn’t the skateboarding history, the graffiti history. There wasn’t the core hip-hop, the b-boy history. There wasn’t that core history with Bubba that I had. The rock and roll, the country, all those things that started to infuse came from a really real place and that wasn’t like a plan. That was just where I come from. Naturally, I feel like I was unique but I also opened up a door to a group of people and I felt like it was just time for me to set the record straight for myself, you know?

Although I think a song like “Til It’s Gone” is one of the most prolific records I’ve ever written. But because the music doesn’t necessarily provide a bed for an MC to appreciate the MC craft of it, sometimes you have to do it over 808s for people to hear. They don’t hear you rapping over a record like– “Punk” with Travis Barker. There are bars in there that are so fast, it’s some of the fastest shit I’ve ever spit and some of the cleanest shit. But I needed the music to reflect more of the story of hip-hip and my love for it, my appreciation for it. I think Mile Zero is the one that’s really, really going to permeate for a long time. DJ Muggs and I, we really went in.

I think what you’re saying about really wanting to showcase your appreciation for hip-hop and draw that line in the sand, I think it really comes across — especially in the technicality. It’s clear you’re a student of the game. Not every emcee is catching these pockets or thinking of these wild images you’re bringing to the table.

I appreciate it, man. I’m definitely a student and I’ll always be. I feel like the era of MCs that I grew up on has never been superseded. Kendrick is the closest, and I say that with all due respect. There’s a lot of talent out here man, a lot. I’m not going to go down the list of people that I listen to currently, but it’s long. There’s a lot of new talent that I’m into, but I’ve learned to appreciate it in a different way. I’m not looking for their lyrical capabilities, I’m more vibing with the music for vibe’s sake and appreciating what they’re doing. I’m a huge fan of Future, but then again, Future is a son of Organized Noize — that’s Atlanta. I didn’t know that before I loved it so much, but then I was like aww that makes sense, the cleverness of it. How clever it is musically, how clever it is melodically, how clever it is lyrically.

“I feel like the era of MCs that I grew up on has never been superseded. Kendrick is the closest, and I say that with all due respect. There’s a lot of talent out here man, a lot. I’m not going to go down the list of people that I listen to currently, but it’s long. There’s a lot of new talent that I’m into, but I’ve learned to appreciate it in a different way. I’m not looking for their lyrical capabilities, I’m more vibing with the music for vibe’s sake and appreciating what they’re doing. I’m a huge fan of Future, but then again, Future is a son of Organized Noize — that’s Atlanta.”

I’ve always had an appreciation for the more simple style of music. I mean you always crave what you don’t have yourself. So like it’s easy for me to be complex, that’s why I appreciate listening to Crunchy Black from Three 6 Mafia. I was a huge fan of Group Home and the Nutcracker when I was coming up. People didn’t understand why. I was like “Damn, it’s hard to be that simple and dope.” My style is what it is and I enjoy crawling through records, finding cadences, the subjects that can go on and on as far as what I talk about. But yeah man. I think April is an important month in my career. People may think I’m nuts for dropping this many projects, but then again, they had to f*ckin come out. I was literally like these are coming out or they’re not coming out at all. You can put them on the X-Files because nothing’s coming out after Mud Mouth. My manager, my whole team they were like, “Alright, f*ck it let’s go!” 

So many artists are dropping at such a rapid pace, but you’re coming with such a concentrated dose that feels like you’re making a statement. 

The album is still important to me. I had a discussion with another band last month about that. Let’s not forget the album, let’s not forget the concept project. I’ll always be the one to champion a project. Just for the sake of saving the art of doing it, because we’re going to be in a content cage if we’re not careful. It’s not about content, content, content. That’s not what makes the artist, but somehow it’s really shifting to that really quickly. It’s like I got a single but I also have 17 vlogs that just dropped or some sh*t. So I think dropping a project is important.

I also went quiet, on Instagram this month and online period. Dude, I’m dropping an album every week I’m not putting anything else out. What the f*ck else am I going to say. Here’s an album every Friday, f*ck off. I don’t need to tell you where I’m eating dinner tonight. That’s another thing I wanted to say without saying it — even though I just did — but it was a statement I wanted to make. Put records out, man. All you really have to do is music. Everything else will fall in place.

I fear for the album as an art form. I hope that a lot of people share that philosophy. It’s like you said, there’s so much content that comes out. That start-to-finish listen, I don’t want to say it’s an endangered species, but it feels like that sometimes.

No, it is. It is. What artists have to do is take control, and remember that they’re in control. The labels are always going to push for the most lucrative, fastest way to get a turnaround. And right now, that’s probably TikTok. A big TikTok song. That’s the most lucrative piece of content there is. Other than an NFT. It’s either a hot single on TikTok or an NFT piece of art. And let me tell you, both of those things came across my table. Do you want to do an NFT? Would you consider a TikTok single? And you gotta be like ehhhh, maybe, maybe not.

“What artists have to do is take control, and remember that they’re in control. The labels are always going to push for the most lucrative, fastest way to get a turnaround. And right now, that’s probably TikTok. A big TikTok song. That’s the most lucrative piece of content there is. Other than an NFT. It’s either a hot single on TikTok or an NFT piece of art. And let me tell you, both of those things came across my table. Do you want to do an NFT? Would you consider a TikTok single?”

I feel like, in another universe, Pop The Trunk could have had some TikTok momentum.

[Laughs] Yeah right!

People popping trunks, I don’t know.

Maybe popping fuckin’ corn pops. Poppin’ the top on some cracker jacks. Nobody’s popping the trunk on TikTok.

I don’t know man, I saw somebody trying to start a TikTok challenge to Griselda, so you never know.

First of all, it’s a lot of work. I do have a TikTok account. It’s funny actually, cause I had like a thousand followers, I had just started. I was like, what do I do with this? I played with it a couple of days, and I was like, fuck, it’s too much. I’m already doing Instagram, doing music, what am I supposed to do? This is like thirty more minutes to an hour of my day trying to create new content. It was driving me nuts, man. So my manager was like hey man, feed everything you do on Instagram to TikTok. I’ll hit the send button, but I ain’t bout to curate a TikTok page at this point of my career.

Yelawolf

Image via Artist

It’s hard enough to keep track of all the social media platforms at this point. I find it pretty difficult, to be honest.

Everybody’s getting exhausted, and are going to become more and more exhausted with it. It’ll die down. Something’s always going to pop up for children, but we adults have to make choices. I never made music for children. Not since day one. So I can’t cater my way of putting art out there to children, I can’t do it. Kids are always going to have something new, something fresh, something driving their generation. TikTok is that. A lot of adults do play around with it, but for the most part, you have to be careful where you place yourself as an artist. TikTok I found quickly to be too much work and too playful.

Fair enough. On the playful note, you did a collaboration project with RiFF RAFF recently. How did that come about, and what was it like working with him on TUQQUOiSE TORNADO?

We did a record called “Million Dollar Mullet,” and of course, he was like we have to do a video for it. I had time to do the video. I refused to cut a mullet by the way. I was like, muthafu*ker I had a mullet during “Pop The Trunk.” I was one of the first to bring it. He tried to get me to cut a mullet in the trailer. Dude, he’s just a fun person to be around. He’s super, super, super fuckin’ smart. He knows exactly what he’s doing. I respect that, I respect that about an artist that understands their spot in music. No matter what genre. An artist that understands their place and what to do with themselves. You either got it or you don’t as far as that goes, and RiFF’s got it.

I always appreciated somebody who can be simple and fun. He even said in the video, ‘this is the first time you ever smiled in a music video.’ I was like, you might be right, man [Laughs]. We had a lot of fun out there vibing. Of course, he’s like, yo, you should come to the crib, come party, and we’ll jump in the studio. I was like, Oh shit, here we go. And by the end of that night, we had the whole fuc*ng record recorded. So we just jumped in there and vibed — drinking Creekwater and making records. He was like, I’m gonna turn this shit into a project. So that’s how it happened. It’s really that easy, really that simple. It happened one night with Ed Sheeran that way too. I did an EP with Ed Sheeran back in the day, and pretty much the same exact thing. We just vibed one night, did the album in one night, and that was it.

Man, that’s crazy. He’s like a global superstar now, one of the biggest artists in the world. How did that collaboration come together in the first place?

At the time no one knew who Ed Sheeran was — including me. I had no clue who he was, and my manager was just like, yo, there’s a new kid who signed and they really believe in this kid. He wants to meet you, he’s trying to do a record. The label offered him to do a song with a rapper, his favorite rapper or whatever, and it was me at the time. He was a big fan of Trunk Muzik. He loved that record, and he loved “Daddy’s Lambo” and “I Just Wanna Party” and “Pop The Trunk.” So he wanted to do a record with me. I think part of that at the time was to get some credibility in hip-hop because you know, there’s a part of Ed that’s a rapper. He’s really part rapper, and back then he would do bars. He would sing a little bit and he would spit bars — it was like atmosphere.

“I had no clue who [Ed Sheeran] was, and my manager was just like, yo, there’s a new kid who signed and they really believe in this kid. He wants to meet you, he’s trying to do a record. The label offered him to do a song with a rapper, his favorite rapper or whatever, and it was me at the time. He was a big fan of Trunk Muzik. He loved that record, and he loved “Daddy’s Lambo” and “I Just Wanna Party” and “Pop The Trunk.” So he wanted to do a record with me. I think part of that at the time was to get some credibility in hip-hop because you know, there’s a part of Ed that’s a rapper. He’s really part rapper, and back then he would do bars. He would sing a little bit and he would spit bars — it was like atmosphere.”

He was like hippie hip-hop, you know, hippie-hop or whatever. He was a super nice kid, man. I couldn’t do anything but respect him. He’s super talented. He wrote quickly and could sing really well and we just vibed and made it happen. I’ll tell you, though, I didn’t hear from him for six years pretty much after that day. [Laughs] It was like, Oh, shit. And then next thing I knew, it was like, fuc*ing three nights at Wembley Stadium. He’s the man, though!

I think it’s interesting what you mentioned about these two collab projects, how you did them in a whirlwind session of heightened creativity. Compared to an album, which might be a little bit more meticulous, with more thought placed on the structure. I think that there’s something interesting to unpack there, between those two approaches. 

Some songs come really easy. Some projects come easy and some don’t. Some are really hard. And neither one of those are definitive of the success or the appreciation of a song. None of them. Some you know, you spend fuc*ing three days on one song and everybody loves it. You spend ten minutes on a song and everybody loves it, or you spend ten minutes on a song and everybody’s like ehh it’s alright. You never really, really know. You never know. You think you know, but no one really knows. No one has a crystal ball on what is an actual big record or what’s a classic — you just kind of fish for it, man. It’s fucking trying to catch that magic, man, it’s like a second. That’s what keeps you going. It’s like this neverending search for just that next fuc*ing record, I guess. I don’t know.

It’s funny too, cause man — I remember when the internet was first coming together and people were sharing music forums and shit. I was pretty in tune with album reviews and stuff, and people used to be so critical back in the day. And now these projects that were panned then are beloved today, because the sound has changed so much and people are nostalgic for it. So you could drop something that people aren’t feeling now, but then in 10 years, they might look back on it and be like, this is a classic record. And it’s like revisionist history. 

That’s true. This is just the end, dude. It’s a fucking tough time to put music and art out to be honest, because it’s like the whole world’s getting shit out of their system. It’s been a fucked up couple of years, man. I mean, it really has. If you’re lucky enough to catch someone’s attention just for a little bit, you got to be grateful. You know, you definitely can’t ask for or pry for someone’s attention. Everybody’s so torn apart from every angle. So you just throw your music out there and let it do what it does. Because you’re right. I mean, if they miss it now, they’ll catch it. It will come around, you know what I’m saying? It will.

So many times in my career– basically, every five years — there’s the opportunity to completely catch a new wave of fans because that 15-year-old is now 20. And he’s 21. And he’s drinking — or her — and they’re starting to make their minds up of what they really, really like, and the shit that they liked, from 10 years old to 15 they don’t like anymore. Nine times out of 10. So they’re starting to gravitate towards something that’s real to them. And there’s always a slew of kids at my shows, you know, brand new. There’s always a group of 20-year-olds at the shows that I’ve never seen before because that’s just how it is, man. I mean, it’s rare that a kid likes what they like forever when they’re super young. I was one of those kids, but I fucking hung out. When I was 15, I was hanging out with 20-year-olds. I wasn’t like other 12-year-old, 15-year-old kids. All my friends were older. So I was different in that way. Yeah, but most kids are not that way.

I think something that could maybe be factored in there is like…I was listening to hip-hop albums when I was pretty young. Maybe even eight or nine, just through my friend’s older siblings. So we kind of got their records and it became a very cerebral process. You had the headphones and you had to listen to all the lyrics, you really got to unpack it. Whereas some younger people today, they’re getting a lot of music through, like you said, Tik Tok. It’s very social, you know. It’s like this big shared experience. So you kind of lose a little bit of that attachment.

I can’t even wrap my head around it, dude. I still buy records on iTunes, man. Like, pay for it, buy it, download it, listen to it. That’s it. I’ve never used Spotify. I’ve never used anything. If there’s something that catches my ear somewhere, I go to iTunes and buy it. I do that for two reasons. One for the support, you know, so that the artist is getting money. And two is that I get to buy it and listen to it — go workout, go do something, go ride. Front to back, listen to the album, what are they doing? You know, what are they thinking? Where were they at? But you know, I’m an artist. I’m not a passive fan. I don’t casually listen to music. I fuc*ing listen to music. So that’s it.

“I still buy records on iTunes, man. Like, pay for it, buy it, download it, listen to it. That’s it. I’ve never used Spotify. I’ve never used anything. If there’s something that catches my ear somewhere, I go to iTunes and buy it. I do that for two reasons. One for the support, you know, so that the artist is getting money. “

Before we part ways, anything you’d like to say, any last type of statements you want to make about Mile Zero and Mud Mouth?

Well, I would say that the record would DJ Muggs is like a milestone in my career for hip hop records. I’m the proudest of this project because it is a direct reflection of what I fell in love with in the first place. And I’ve never done an album so closely tied to that. This is me at 13 with fucking headphones, a Discman, fucking skating in San Francisco. This is me, that Krylon can in the backpack shit. This is that era — being really excited to find art of emceeing and rhyming. Dude, that’s it. The features are insane. I just can’t believe it. 

Was there significance to working with Muggs to capture such impactful nostalgia?

Esteban, the photographer from World Famous Esteban, he and I became friends. Over the past 10 years, he’s shot my career. So every time I’m out there, we hang out, he and Muggs and all of Cypress Hill. He started as their security, you know, and then he started shooting, photography through that opportunity. So he had known Muggs for a long time, and I had been saying, Man, I’d love to meet Muggs one day. I’d love to meet Muggs one day. Finally, it just came up where Muggs was available. I was there and I told him before I went there, I was like, man, I’d really love to work. I hope something happens. So we went to the studio. There was nothing laid out, there were no ideas. But within about 30 minutes Muggs and I had an idea and it flourished quickly. We just knew this was the way to do it. We just we figured something special out and I’m proud of it. Muggs is proud of it. We’re excited. 

It’s something you gotta celebrate right?

Me and my friend are gonna go bomb a train. That means graffiti for all you nerds out there. We’re not actually bombing a train, it just means to write on it. We gotta do something man, but you know I’m excited. Enjoy the rest of 2021. I will say before we go, thank you and I appreciate your time. I haven’t done an interview in fuc*ing forever dude, and I’m happy to be talking about stuff again. I’m stoked everybody is getting this music.

Yelawolf

Image via Artist

The Game Remembers Having $26 To His Name

Around the same time his former G-Unit associate took a stroll down memory lane, Compton rapper The Game took a moment to look back on his own formative years, framed as an inspirational message for those feeling down on their luck. 

“I remember a time when I had $26 to my name & was scared to spend it,” he writes. “Didn’t know where the next meal was coming from. Slept in my car in Hollywood just to wake up in the action & pass out my demo…. never give up, your dreams live around the corner from your struggle!!”

The Game

Getty Images/Getty Images 

It’s hard not to remember his classic line from Nas’ “Hustlers,” a Dr. Dre-produced highlight off Hip-Hop Is Dead: “1995, eleven years from today / I’m in the record shop with choices to make / Illmatic on the top shelf, The Chronic on the left, homie / Wanna cop both but only got a 20 on me / So fuck it, I stole both, spent the 20 on a dub sack.” Perhaps then, we have an answer as to what The Game ultimately spent his money on. 

In all seriousness, it’s inspiring to see Game reflecting on his rags-to-riches trajectory, which emerged as a result of hard work, dedication, and a sharp mind for bars. By now, it’s no secret that Game’s early mixtape catalog ultimately caught the ear of Dr. Dre, and now, The Documentary is widely hailed as an undeniable hip-hop classic. To think that there was once a time when Game was living in such an uncertain state is certainly hard to believe, but clearly, he still remembers where he came from. Check out his reflective words below, and sound off if you would appreciate some new music from The Game. 

Tekashi 6ix9ine Names Best Performer In Rap

New York rapper Tekashi 6ix9ine thinks he’s just different. The hip-hop star has stepped up to reflect on his unforgettable Miami concert and crown himself the best rap performer in the music biz. Tekashi 6ix9ine Names Best Rap Performer The Brooklyn native hit up Instagram to share a flashback to last Saturday’s concert. Along with […]

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