King Los has been widely hailed as one of the game’s best lyricists, though he doesn’t always get credit in the mainstream eye. And yet few can deny the elite nature of his pen game, to the point where emcees looking to collaborate already understand the stakes. Perhaps that’s why King Los opted to fly solo for his latest release, the brief but lyrically-focused EP Four Peace Nugget, a four-song freestyle pack that features beats from Mobb Deep, Busta Rhymes, and Drake.
We’ve already opted to spotlight the project’s closing track “Lemon Pepper Wings,” a five-minute clinic that finds Los addressing Tsu Surf following a heated Clubhouse debate among other topics; in fact, the jam-packed freestyle is so dense with meaning that it likely deserves a deeper analysis in its own right. Yet there’s more to Four Peace Nugget than its climactic chapter. For the remainder of the tape, Los opts to have a bit of fun over Mobb Deep’s “Survival Of The Fittest” and “Give Up The Goods,” as well as dexterous take on Busta Rhymes’ “Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Can See.”
It’s certainly refreshing to see a rapper who appreciates the golden era, and hearing Los body beats from the nineties will certainly be appreciated by hip-hop purists. Those who give this one a spin should share their favorite tracks — or otherwise bars — in the comments below. Do you think Four Peace Nugget solidifies King Los as one of today’s lyrical greats?
Gaining respect for her chilled-out relatable music, the rising star continues to shift the attention in her direction with eye-popping video uploads to social media. For the last few weeks, Coi has been teasing the release of her new single, which features Pooh Shiesty. The track is being hyped up to be even bigger than “No More Parties”, and the rapstress is making sure that people have her catchy flows stuck in their heads before the song is even out.
Posting a couple of new videos to TikTok on Monday, Coi Leray continued her campaign to build exposure for her next single, tentatively titled “Big Purr”. In the first video, she shakes her booty before twerking in rhythm with the song while wearing a pair of booty shorts that read “Hoes Mad”. Then, she shared another clip where she’s upside-down against the same wall, twerking again before hitting the splits to the same song.
Despite going through a highly publicized breakup with her ex Quavo, Saweetie is not letting the brief hiccup stop her bag. Similar to her Migos’ former beau who hit the studio right after their public split, the “Best Friend” rapper wasted no time getting back to work after the breakup. The newly single Icy Girl graced the cover of Cosmopolitan Magazine’s April issue, discussing things like her purpose, her brand, and her mission in her cover story interview.
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Sharing the photos of the shoot to her Instagram page, the 27-year-old California native gushed about her experience on set. “Had so much fun shooting this thank you,” she captioned the set. Scroll through some of the stunning shots below.
In the cover story interview, she spoke of her appreciation for making the mistakes she made at the time she made them. “I’m really grateful for my start,” said Saweetie. “Because the mistakes, the struggle, the grind—it allows me to appreciate the rewards that come now because I know what it feels like to sleep in motels, to drive and do promo, to be stressed out.”
On stepping into her purpose, she explained, “Last year was the year that I finally became comfortable in my own skin. I kind of figured out what my purpose was. I think it’s important to show little Black and brown girls that they can be successful in whatever they want to do. If I can do it, you can do it too.”
Speaking about her Icy Girl making, she explained the value of having a lot of green. “Money beats court cases, money buys medicine, money fixes potholes, money puts food on the counter, and money keeps the heat and electricity going,” she declared.
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“So if I can spread the wealth, that’s what I want to do.”
King Los tends to make the act of bodying instrumentals look like a relatively straightforward process, and his new four-track EP 4 Peace Nugget is no exception. Featuring a batch of freestyles over beloved instrumentals, including Mobb Deep’s “Survival Of The Fittest,” Busta Rhymes’ “Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Can See,” Mobb Deep’s “Give Up The Goods,” and Drake and Rick Ross’ recent duet “Lemon Pepper.” While there are plenty of bars to unpack throughout, as the longest track, King Los’ “Lemon Pepper Wings” feels worthy of spotlighting.
It doesn’t take long for Los to get going, taking to the sparse instrumental with a focused flow. “Since you riding a wave and I’d rather own a ship,” he spits. “Why we even having these conversations? He gon think he gon want this smoke til we having complications / the last n***a that I coached, got a Grammy nomination.” Some were quick to speculate that Los was addressing a recent Clubhouse conversation with Tsu Surf, during which tempers proceeded to flare. In any case, Los clearly had more than a few thoughts to gather, continuing his lyrical onslaught for nearly five minutes straight.
Should you appreciate the art of lyricism in its truest form, be sure to check this one out, as well as the additional tracks off Los’ new 4 Peace Nugget EP. Seeing how hard he actually snapped, be sure to share your own favorite stanzas in the comments below.
QUOTABLE LYRICS
Since you riding a wave and I’d rather own a ship Why we even having these conversations? He gon think he gon want this smoke til we having complications The last n***a that I coached, got a Grammy nomination
Minnesota-based rapper BandUpSick sat down with Hyanken and ESSO to talk about the making of his biggest song to date, “Cap Life,” which reached 170k views on YouTube, rebranding himself, attempting to go mainstream, and more.
For the uninitiated, BandUpSick was born in Chicago, but moved to Minnesota at a young age and has since relocated to Los Angeles, where he currently resides, in pursuit of his rap career.
“I just felt like Minnesota just wasn’t the place for me no more. I wasn’t able to really see my kid the way I wanted to. So I was like I don’t want to look back at my life and wish I chased a dream,” BandUpSick said of his decision to move.
During the podcast interview, the artist on his grind spoke about the challenges he faced in L.A. and the mentality out there, revealing when he first moved he was working for PostMates and InstaCart, delivering food all over the map.
Speaking on his single, BandUpSick detailed, “‘Cap Life’ is a crazy record how it came about. It was basically supposed to be a record that tells about the industry and how a lot of people be cappin in they raps. You know everybody got the money, everybody got the cars, everybody got the jewelry and the b******. But when you see them in real life, you see all the things they doing its a lot of cap in they rap.”
BandUpSick also revealed that he initially rapping under the alias Sick Punchline, and “pushed the Chicago wave,” rapping with artists like King Louie, FBG, Billionaire Black, and Tay 600. However after the murder of ZackTV, BandUp decided to rebrand himself.
“It’s time to rebrand,” he said, recalling his change in mentality. “It’s time to get out of this era that ain’t got nothing but death, jail, or just a bunch of negative energy around it. All this is just for clout. Something that’s not even money. We ain’t making no money from it, we just losing each other. And we battling each other, we ain’t even doing it to battle a supposed enemy. So when I came to terms with that, I was like it’s time to really rebrand, then the come-up came all at the same time. So I was like you know what “BandUpSick”. Not only monetary but with my knowledge. I enriched my knowledge, so I banded up in a bunch of different aspects.”
When Esso asked if BandUp wanted to go mainstream, he replied, “I am actually trying to go mainstream. Me and my PR talk about that a lot. We don’t want to force it, while we got it all set up to do that, we really want to break a record on that, lower portion and then once it shoots up past the millions we think at that point, we might have one. We might go into that record to see if it’ll take to the mainstream audience.”
NBA YoungBoy is no stranger to legal troubles. He’s been involved in a string of run-ins with the law the past few years, which is likely the reason why he had “an outstanding federal warrant” against him. As reported by TMZ, this warrant is the reason why the LAPD and federal authorities pulled the rapper over and arrested him on Monday (March 22) while he attempted to flee on foot. He was eventually caught after a short pursuit, pushing numerous people like Yaya Mayweather, Kodak Black, Jackboy, and now his mother to weigh in on the situation.
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“Stop worrying about somebody down fall and pray for your own come up,” wrote Sherhonda Gaulden on her Instagram page. While she remained cryptic about what exactly she was referring to, her son’s recent run-in with federal officers seems very applicable to the situation she’s describing.
According to the TMZ report on the rapper’s arrest, a search of the vehicle the rapper was cruising in uncovered a firearm that has yet to be identified as belonging to anyone. Last summer he was reportedly arrested while filming a video for allegedly being involved in an assault.
Yaya Mayweather expressed despair over the news that the rapper, whom she shares a child with, had been arrested. “day has been completely ruined,” she wrote with a heartbroken emoji.
Kodak Black, who has had previous beef with the rapper, wrote this shady message. “Ion Wish Jail On Nobody Tell Dem Send Me Dey Casy App Ima Buy Dey Whole Gang A Lil Sandwich While Bruh Gone.” In another slide, he added, “Or Ah Hot Dog Out Da Gas station N*ggas Ain’t Tripping Howeva.”
Charlotte-born rapper DaBaby has become quite the viral sensation since he emerged as the hottest new artist in the game a few years ago. After working hard for years on the underground, the 29-year-old’s unmistakeable flow was finally picked up by the mainstream, blowing up with the success of his single “Suge”. A superstar career followed and now, DaBaby can’t go anywhere without being recognized by his fans.
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The young rapper is beloved across the nation and, sometimes, he ends up becoming a trending topic on social media for no reason at all. Such was the case this week when “#DaBaby” started picking up attention on Twitter. Following a week’s worth of absurd videos being uploaded to TikTok about DaBaby, in which fans show off their iPhone screens, which have been customized to feature solely the Baby On Baby album cover as each app icon, the trend has seemingly moved over to other mediums. Picking up worldwide attention on Monday night, the hashtag was filled with nonsensical videos and photos– some of which are included below.
You should know better than to underestimate Cardi B. From her initial rise as a social media personality, to her status today as the reigning Queen of Rap, Cardi has shown herself to be an immensely durable and versatile figure within the popular imagination: a true renaissance (wo)man, capable of flitting between several different spheres while remaining completely and authentically herself.
This is no mean feat. Historically, the general public has reserved a great deal of suspicion for celebrities who have worn several hats. We’ve all sniggered at Gwyneth Paltrow’s transition from Hollywood actress to wellness guru under the banner of her tiresome lifestyle brand GOOP. We’ve all rolled our eyes at another Hollywood star flogging a vanity album of themselves crooning their way through an uninspiring selection of jazz or folk standards. Reality TV stars who have transitioned into music have an even more dubious track record. Who can forget Kim Kardashian’s first and last single, “Jam (Turn It Up)” (apart from almost everyone?)
Cardi B was born Belcalis Almanzar in 1992 in The Bronx, to a Trinidadian mother and a Dominican father. After being fired from several jobs (including working at a deli counter and as a cashier), in 2013 Cardi began to work as a stripper – a decision which she credits with “saving her,” giving her the ability to leave an abusive relationship and go back to school. It is during this period that Cardi first appeared in the public consciousness, when she began posting videos on Instagram and dearly-departed microblogging site, Vine.
Despite being several years away from starting her rap career, the star of these Vines is instantaneously recognizable as Cardi B. All the ingredients are there: the distinctive accent (part abrasive New Yawker, part melodious Spanish), the outrageous cackle, the outsized personality (part silly, part sexy, part campy), the filthy sense of humor and carnal preoccupation that, several years later, would result in endless criticism from conservative Americans. By 2013, the full range of Card B-isms were already in place: the trills and exclamations, the tongue-pop she uses like punctuation.
A 2017 cover story with The Fader describes the moment Cardi B’s manager encouraged her to “give rapping a try,” citing her distinctive accent as evidence that she’d do well as a rapper: “She had a natural ear for music. Her speaking style, in certain scenarios – like when she yelled at a dude on the phone – were proof of a unique voice.” While it’s true that Cardi raps how she speaks, she also raps what she speaks. Many of the snappy, vivid punchlines from Cardi’s Vines were recirculated, several years later, as rap verses. In one clip, Cardi B addresses the camera, faux-seriously: “People be asking me, like ‘what do you does? Are you a model? Are you like a comedian or something?” She smirks: “Nah, I ain’t none of that! I’m a hoe. I’m a stripper hoe. I’m about this shmoneyyyyy.” Two years later, Cardi would release “Stripper Hoe” and “What a Girl Likes” (the chorus of which goes, ‘gimme shmoney, gimme gimme shmoney’) – a crafty repurposing of comedic material which had been years in percolation.
Indeed, it is very easy to imagine a reality in which Cardi is a model or a comedian. A VP of a New York celebrity talent agency described her as “A TV personality – she was born to be famous.” Unsurprising then, that Cardi excelled when she was cast on VH1 reality show Love & Hip-Hop, quickly becoming the show’s break-out star. One standout moment from the show went viral: while discussing an ex-friend, Cardi declares “if a girl has beef with me, she gon have beef with me -” a loaded pause, a pirouette – “forevah.” Again, a year later the zinger would reappear, as the chorus of excoriating single, “Forever.”
This phenomenon has begun happening without Cardi B’s input. In the first few months of the pandemic, Cardi posted an impassioned monologue imploring her followers to take the virus seriously, which resulted in several, ahem, viral remixes.
If you are a martian who somehow hasn’t heard a single Cardi B song, you would be forgiven for thinking, from these accounts, that Cardi makes novelty music. That her music is an extended joke, an overplayed meme, the commercially-driven over-extension of a social media personality. This isn’t the case, at all – Cardi B’s rhymes may be superficially amusing, but her songs frequently have great soul and depth. In this instance, the things that make her great at social media – her charm, her scrutiny, her self-awareness – translate into being great at making music.
Something particularly notable about Cardi’s debut album, Invasion Of Privacy, is that it feels retro – oddly so, for a star who has built their career through social media. In an age where albums are frequently formatted to appease Spotify algorithms (see: Drake’s Scorpion, which stretched to a whopping 25 tracks, presumably to wring as many streams out of each user as possible), Cardi’s debut is a very reasonable 13 songs.
It would have been easy for Cardi to pack Invasion Of Privacy full of racy raps and crowd-pleasing braggadocio, but instead, the album is nuanced, an emotionally varied piece of work. One example of this is “Be Careful,” a bruised ode to a cheating lover. Here, Cardi is measured and beneficent, rather than vengeful: “Do you know what you’re doing? Whose feelings that you’re hurting and bruising? You gonna gain the whole world, but is it worth the girl that you’re losing?”
In a 2019 article for The Guardian, Jia Tolentino described social media as humans “reproducing the lessons of the marketplace.” In many ways, Cardi has done this throughout her entire career – she’s just been one step ahead of the marketplace the entire time. Rather than waiting for the internet to make memes out of her, Cardi memes herself, exhaustively mining her own back catalogue and reprocessing her best bits. Rather than working with a label A&R department to form her image and to grow her fanbase, like a rapping Venus, Cardi arrived fully-formed. Watching back over her old Vines, we see a fully-fledged star, a totally cohesive media personality with a distinct vocabulary and a ready-made fanbase of millions of followers. All Atlantic had to do was ink the contract and send over the songwriters.
As streaming and social media has complicated the business of being a pop star, a new term has emerged in A&R circles. The ‘artist-brand’ – a marketing construct which presents the idealized pop star as a global media personality, who can command several streams of revenue, and who are able to communicate and promote themselves effectively across cultural contexts, and within many different forms of media. Cardi has intuitively taken to the spheres of social media, television, and music – what comes next? Interestingly, Cardi has proven herself to be a skilled political commentator. She was a valuable asset to the Bernie Sanders campaign, hosting a charming interview with the senator. Her presence loomed large during the New York Women’s March, with her tweets and song lyrics appearing on several signs held by attendees.
While Americans may be finished with reality TV stars becoming president, it isn’t difficult to imagine Cardi establishing herself as a maverick political influencer. Personally, I can’t wait for the next installment of The Cardi B Show.
Cardi B is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
