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Westside Gunn may have teased his retirement one time or another, but it doesn’t appear that the Griselda visionary is neither ready nor willing to turn his back on the game. Not while it still needs him. Though last year’s prolific slate of three albums may have been a fitting conclusion for the Buffalo emcee, Westside Gunn has officially set a date for his next single, fueling speculation as to what he has cooking up.

 Scott Dudelson/Getty Images

Taking to Instagram, Gunn announced that he’ll be dropping off a new single early next week, teasing an imminent storm and a possible feature from his brother Conway. “Yea I’m on my Fashion Mogul and Design/ART shit but we about to fuck shit all the way up prepare for the [storm],” he writes, sharing a picture of himself and The Machine in the kitchen. “I’m dropping my new Single “TV BOY” prod by @daringer_ off #HWH8 top of the week.” 

Of course, Gunn has previously indicated that Hitler Wears Hermes 8: Sincerely Adolf would mark his final album, though there does remain a few projects unaccounted for; namely the Conway-assisted Hall & Nash 2, as well as the Madlib collaboration album Gunnlib. At this point, we’re simply better to hold tight and let Gunn move at his own pace, as he has never been one to stymie his artistic whims. Check out Gunn’s announcement below, and keep an eye out for the Daringer-produced “TV Boy,” set to land at some point early next week. 

Over the course of the Air Jordan 1s storied history, there have been some pretty incredible colorways to grace its upper. One of those colorways is the “Neutral Grey” offering which is set to return later this year thanks to the Air Jordan 1 Hi ’85. Sneakerheads have been excited about this new model, and rightfully so. Now, however, it seems like the “Neutral Grey” version will get another appearance, this time in the form of an Air Jordan 1 Low.

In the official images below, you can see the new Air Jordan 1 Low “Neutral Grey” which is just a few months away. The upper is covered in white leather, while the Nike swoosh and back heel are made with some grey suede. Overall, it’s a very clean colorway and it is something that will prove to be familiar to sneakerheads everywhere. Not to mention, if you can’t stand high-tops, this Jordan 1 Low is most certainly for you.

As for the release date, you can expect these to drop on June 24th later this year. While you wait for these to drop, let us know what you think, and be sure to stay tuned for more updates from the sneaker world.

Image via Nike

Image via Nike

Image via Nike

Image via Nike

Image via Nike

It’s a huge day for Clever, the music industry’s best-kept secret out of Alabama. The well-journeyed recording artist has written for a who’s who of legendary talent, sparked up friendships with Post Malone and the late Juice WRLD, and is gearing up for a bigger year than he’s ever had in his life. At this point, while he’s still breaking out of the cages that have limited him for decades, including record deals that didn’t have his best interest in mind, as well as trouble with the law, Clever is finally emerging as one of the most exciting artists in a minute, showcasing range, versatility, and raw emotion in his music.

On Friday, March 12, 2021, Clever released his official debut studio album, titled Crazy. The album follows the release of 2019’s Who Is Clever?, which served as an introduction to his vibrant vocals and vivid vibratos. The new album features a star-studded supporting cast, including Lil Baby, Chris Brown, Post Malone, the late Juice WRLD, and more. He’s even got a song on there with the legendary Lil Wayne and his son, Isaiah Lyric. 

“I was a big fan of Wayne growing up, but to have my son on there with him is really cool,” said Clever during our video call earlier this week. “And he’s already getting publishing deal offers and stuff for having a record with Lil Wayne.”

Clever has been open about the connection he shared with Juice WRLD, touring with the artist and witnessing his epic work ethic firsthand as they traveled together to different locations. His new album Crazy serves as somewhat of a love letter to Juice WRLD, containing plenty of hidden messages and Easter eggs for fans to constantly revisit and unpack. The calculated musician even hid a special message in the order of his tracklist, which fans correctly identified, spelling out “JUICE WRLD IS ALIVE” as a tribute to the prolific rapper’s legacy. 

No longer a secret, Clever is making waves all on his own, and he’s designing his destiny in his own crazy way. 

Read our interview with Clever, slightly edited for clarity and length, below.

Photo credit: CAMRAFACE

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HNHH: How’s it going, Clever?

Good. Good. You know, another day, another dollar, different toilets, same shit. I always say.

I love that. We actually spoke a year and a half ago so it’s nice to catch up again.

Yeah, you too. I was just thinking about that. I was getting my face tatted, wasn’t I?

Yup. You were getting the umbrella as a cover-up.

So funny. Yeah, I was in New York doing Rolling Loud, and I was in a freaking hotel room and I had a tattoo artist– I got a buddy from Canada and he wasn’t far from New York. He was like, you know, I want to come do a tattoo. And I’m sitting here getting a tattoo on my face talking to you on the phone.

Very uncomfortable. I can’t imagine the pain.

It was great.

That’s multitasking at its finest. It’s a big week for you, Clever. You got the new album Crazy coming out. How are you feeling?

I’m good. I’m good. I’m excited. The monthly listeners on Spotify are going up. We’re at 2.5 million monthly listeners coming off of the Chris Brown record [“Rolls Royce Umbrella”]. It’s doing really well at radio too. We’re number one on ads for rhythmic radio this week with that record, and then to drop a record with Juice WRLD and Post Malone together and being signed to both of them. It’s huge, dude. So this album, you know, with Lil Baby, Lil Wayne to follow up, it’s gonna be dope, dude.

There are crazy features on the album. What’s the main point you’re trying to get across with Crazy?

I think with the tape being Who Is Clever?, my idea in this is, I haven’t really told a lot of people this but I do a lot of hidden messages. With the tracklist itself, having the first letters spell out different things. For my albums, I want to do titles that represented who is Clever, you know, to kind of follow up the Who Is Clever? take. And so, lots of adjectives, but I think I also wanted to line them up, you know, and then spell out “CLEVER”. So we’re starting with Crazy. The next one is going to be an L word. I’m not going to give it away just yet, but I’ve already got the handle and so forth. And it’s gonna be dope. So, you know, I always change my Instagram handle to kind of match what the title is. And I think people are, they’ve already kind of caught on to it, but more people will catch on to that part, and build some anticipation of when we’re ready to drop the second one. Yeah, crazy. You know, it’s just one of the many words I think, to describe who is Clever.

That’s awesome, honestly. I was actually about to ask you why you changed your Instagram handle to @crazy…

Yeah. That’s it, basically, just to match the title. The @whoisclever Instagram went with the Who is Clever? tape. This one’s the Crazy album, I still have the @whoisclever handle. It’s just kind of promoting the old tape and I’m going to do the same with the @crazy handle once I’m done with it, and kind of move to the next one. 

That’s pretty cool.

Yeah, it’s a little different. You know, we try to change it up a little bit, do some sh*t that nobody’s doing.

A lot of people have caught on to the double meaning behind the tracklist order. Moving down the order, each letter spells out “JUICE WRLD IS ALIVE”.

Yeah.

Was that a conscious decision?

Well, yeah, you know, it kind of leaves you open, you’re kind of vulnerable to taking criticism. It’s built some conspiracy theories around it, and so forth. But Juice, man, you know that was my brother. And I felt like, I’ve kind of waited my whole life to have this debut project at Republic. And I could make it about anything, but I made it about Juice. It’s kind of a tribute. He opened a lot of doors for me and I wouldn’t be here without him. I don’t even know that I’d be on this call. HotNewHipHop supported me for a long time. But you know, Juice definitely opened a lot of doors, including this one. And, I’m trying to give it back to him.

 “I’ve kind of waited my whole life to have this debut project at Republic. And I could make it about anything, but I made it about Juice. It’s kind of a tribute.”

So in one of the records that I have on the album, it’s called, “It’s All Bad.” I wrote that particular record after I called G-Money the day that I found out Juice had passed. I called just to see if it was a rumor. In the music business, you always hear rumors about different artists. You’ll always hear, you know, so and so died, so and so this, and a lot of times it’s a rumor so when I woke up the morning that he was gone, I called G-Money to get the scoop to see if it was just a rumor, praying to God it was, and when he answered the phone, he was just saying, ‘It’s all bad. It’s all bad.’ He said it three or four times and I wrote a song about that specific incident and called it “It’s All Bad” for that reason. In that particular song, it starts off by saying, ‘Alive in my heart’. That’s basically where I was going with the titles lining up.

I think it goes without saying at this point that Juice is going to live forever. He’s a legend and people are going to bump his stuff for a good long while but, you know, since I still have some time on this earth, I felt like, over the course of the next 10 years or so, I’m going to continue to, you know, God forbid I don’t leave this world behind anytime soon, I feel like I’m going to continue to build some fans and some fans of mine are not going to be Juice WRLD fans and vice versa. And I just wanted to let those people know, in the future, that the new generations that might come on to my music that Juice is the reason that I was here and still give it to him in a sense. I definitely took some time and it was a risky move to do some stuff like that, but at the end of the day, I think it’s about what you want to portray, and I definitely wanted to give it to him. I’ll take it however it comes. It came from a good place, and I’m excited to let it go. There’s a lot of hidden messages in the album, a lot of little easter eggs that are kind of geared towards that same thing. And I think it’s gonna be really cool once people– I think a lot of the Juice WRLD fans will see it for what it is and relate to it.

Yeah, definitely. I’m excited to unpack the album and see what kind of stuff you’ve hidden in there. You’ve also got a big portrait of Juice WRLD tattooed on your arm. What made you want to tribute him in that way?

I actually have a sleeve that I started a long time ago, I’ve got Bob Marley, I’ve got Marilyn Monroe, Kurt Cobain. And you know, this sleeve is just artists and entertainers that had an impact on my life that are no longer with us. And I felt like, you know, him being somebody that was really close to me, it might have been a little odd to get a portrait of him in that light. But at the same time, he was such a huge entertainer. He had such a huge impact on my life that it always felt right. It’s an even better reason to get one of him because of the fact that we were close. I couldn’t leave Juice out of it, for sure.

So we’ve been talking about Crazy. Who Is Clever? came out in 2019. What do you consider to be your official debut album?

This is the official debut. Yeah, Who is Clever? was a mixtape. We did it through DatPiff. It’s been a long time coming. I’ve been a part of a lot of albums. I’ve put out independent releases before in the past that I took down but it all was leading to this moment and I think, yeah, this is what I would consider my official debut for sure.

That’s dope. Congratulations on that, man.

Thank you, bro. Thank you.

Did you have a different approach going into both of them? What’s the difference between a mixtape and an album for you?

Well, I don’t know that there’s a difference with Who Is Clever? I had been recording and recording and recording. We had a gang of songs. And for me, I was just listening. I listen to my own music a lot. So a lot of Who Is Clever? was just my favorite songs of mine at the time, and a lot of songs like “Loyalty”, “When Only You Will Do” and stuff like that were songs that I listened to for maybe six, seven months and they never got old to me. There’s always those that you can listen to again, you’re like, ‘Damn, I love this record’, you know what I mean? Even 6, 7, 8 months later. And for me, as critical as I am of my own music, that’s saying something. With Who Is Clever?, it was really just a gang of songs, it wasn’t a whole lot of thought put into the tape. And with the album, I want it to be more of an experience. It’s got a moment of silence in there for Juice. It’s got some acapella stuff that doesn’t have a beat to it. It’s got some secret songs, it’s got sound effects from front to finish that synced up with a film, The Nightmare Before Christmas. And it’s just, you know, a lot of little things. For me, a tape is a tape. It’s got a bunch of cool songs, you throw it out there. But with an album, I really wanted it to be something that had a little more longevity and was more of an experience.

That sounds really sick. You just released “Life’s A Mess II” with Juice WRLD and Post Malone [ahead of the album]. What was it like collaborating on a record with two of the artists that have been the most generous in sharing their platform with you?

Yeah, not only just sharing their platform, but signing me too. To be signed to Posty Co. under Republic, and Grade A, it was really fitting to have Post and Juice on the same record. You know, to have not only the biggest artists on the planet, but to have the artists that gave me the biggest amount of support over time, it was definitely something special to me. And dropping a record with Juice, well, it’s easy for people to say, ‘oh, you’re trying to do it for the wrong reasons.’ But this record to me, it meant so much that it didn’t matter what they were going to say, it didn’t matter that there was already a “Life’s A Mess” that come out. To me, this is the original version. I had a verse on this song before Halsey did, way before Halsey ever did. And I felt like I just kind of got plucked out of it. For Spotify streams and other reasons, you know what I’m saying? For me, it was about making the song that Juice wanted it to be. Juice didn’t want the beat [on the Legends Never Die version]. The beat was added later on, but he specifically didn’t want drums. He didn’t want bass on it, it was more of an acoustic-sounding song. And when I heard the new version, I was more excited to release this version. Because in my opinion, it’s the version, you know. It’s the one that he wanted.

“To be signed to Posty Co. under Republic, and Grade A, it was really fitting to have Post [Malone] and Juice [WRLD] on the same record. You know, to have not only the biggest artists on the planet, but to have the artists that gave me the biggest amount of support over time, it was definitely something special to me.”

Were you in contact with Halsey at all? Did you try and get her on the second version?

No disrespect to Halsey, I just– I was a little hurt by the fact that I was taken off the record and replaced. I felt like I still had the rights to that song and was still very much a part of that song. So I wanted to push it and get Post to jump on it and get it all cleared. But no, I never spoke to Halsey about it. You know, all respect to her. She went and got it tattooed on her and all this other different stuff. The song just, you know, it meant a lot to me. And I’ve got mixed emotions about it.

I think it’s really special that you get to release it the way that Juice intended it. It’s cool that you get to have that on your album. Before that, you had the single we were talking about earlier, “Rolls Royce Umbrella” with Chris Brown. It’s beautifully written. What was the process of working with Chris? Were you guys in the studio together?

No, you know, with COVID stuff that’s been an issue with a lot of people. Like, we’re doing Zooms today instead of meeting in person. I sent a lot of emails back and forth and Chris, just like a lot of the artists that have come in contact with me– Juice was sharing my stuff before I ever met him and Post Malone was sharing my stuff before I met him. Same for Justin Bieber. He was like, you know, in my DMs and in all my messages, or my comments section before we ever actually met. Chris was no different. He was sharing some songs like “Loyalty” and “When Only You Will Do” from the Who Is Clever? tape era to his Instagram stories. I’m getting a lot of people that came in from his channel, just saying, ‘Hey, Chris Brown shared your stuff’, and eventually, I just hit him up like, ‘Hey, I see you sharing my stuff. Let’s do a record’.

When I first did “Rolls Royce Umbrella”, I was considering 42 Dugg for the song and I thought that was gonna be hard. Me and Dugg are cool. We’ve been in contact about doing some records and ultimately, we got Chris Brown. I wrote Chris Brown’s verse, and I’ve written a lot of songs for other people. I had some songwriting days. I just felt like I could really speak on the concepts because I wrote the initial song and sent it to him. And he was down to lay it down and kind of made some tweaks to it, but, you know, he did his thing on it. It was a really cool record. His day-to-day engineer is also a friend of mine. I went to his studio to do the mixing and stuff like that, linked with him a couple of times out in LA, but Chris was moving around everywhere. He was in Miami one day and Mexico the next day, but he FaceTimed me once he finished his verse, and I was on a plane actually. He was playing me his verse for the first time and it just sounded amazing. He was really supportive of the record. We were in talks about doing a video. We never quite linked up to do the video, but he wanted to direct it and wanted to be a part of it. It was really cool to see him from a humble state.

“When I first did “Rolls Royce Umbrella”, I was considering 42 Dugg for the song and I thought that was gonna be hard. Me and Dugg are cool. We’ve been in contact about doing some records and ultimately, we got Chris Brown. I wrote Chris Brown’s verse.”

Chris Brown’s videos are insane too.

I know.

You’ve got a bunch of other features on the project. Juice WRLD, Posty… We got Lil Baby on there… That’s crazy.

Yeah. Yeah, that’s crazy.

Lil Wayne is on a song with your son! How crazy is that to you?

Yeah, that’s cool, right? We’ve got a little animated visual for that. You know, “Call Me Nobody” is a cool record, probably my favorite record on the album. Not just because my son is on it, but my performance, the lyrics on it, I think it’s really dope. And, just to have Lil Wayne on a song is really cool. I was a big fan of Wayne growing up, but to have my son on there with him is really cool. And he’s already getting publishing deal offers and stuff for having a record with Lil Wayne. I’m trying to prepare him mentally for stuff like that. But, he– it’s definitely cool, dude. It’s probably my favorite record on the album. 

So basically, you know, my son was in the studio– he’s been raised in a studio. He can play piano better than me, and I feel like I’m a pretty good piano player. But, he’s only six and he can really wear one out. He loves to record stuff like that, I’ve got him a computer setup with GarageBand and he’s like, making his own beats and recording and writing his own lyrics and stuff. And he just blows you away at six years old, you know. I always tell him, I’m like, ‘Michael Jackson was great as a kid, but I don’t think he was writing his own songs.’ And, ‘Justin Bieber was great as a kid but I don’t think he was writing his own records.’ And for him to sit and just, like, produce a whole song and freestyle record his own stuff, he’s just insane. But, he was sitting next to me in the studio and he likes to put on headphones and sit there, you know, with you while you’re recording. At the end of the song, I’m doing like this ‘lalalalala’ thing to finish the song, and he was sitting there, I guess just hearing the melodies over and over and felt the need to sing along with it. When he did it, he just stuck his mouth to the mic and did it. That’s not something that he typically does. He knows, when I’m on the microphone, he’s gotta be quiet. But he just, I don’t know, felt the urge to stick his mouth to the microphone and start doing it. I didn’t ask him to do it or nothin’ like that. And I almost looked like, ‘What are you doing?’ you know? But once I heard it, I was like, ‘It kinda sounds cool like that, I wanna keep it.’ So I told the engineer, I was like, ‘Yeah, no, just keep it.’ So he has a very small little section of it, but I was like, ‘Nope, I’m putting his name on it, I’m gonna slap it right next to Lil Wayne’s, and it’s gonna be all over WorldStar and iTunes and Spotify and all that mess.’

As it should be!

Yeah, I think that’s just cool, you know. It’ll be cool for him to say when he’s older.

Has he ever expressed an interest in becoming an artist?

Yeah, he definitely wants to be an artist. It’s funny because we live in a very small town. I mean, I’m like the mayor here, so that’s kinda why I stay here. But, you know, he gets a lot of attention too. A lot of people know him from my Instagram. I think he already sees himself as this popular figure that does music. He records, like I said, he plays the piano better than I do, and he freestyle records songs that, I know for a fact he may not be feeling those feelings, but he gets emotional on his songs. He listens to a lot of Juice WRLD and he listens to a lot of my stuff, so I feel like he’s definitely into this emo-rap music, you know what I’m saying? But he’s a killer dude. No doubt. 

I love that. Isaiah Lyric next up.

Yeah, next up. His first name is Cobain, his name is Cobain Isaiah Lyric Huie. I was a big Kurt Cobain fan. He goes by Lyric, which is also a very musical term. He likes just Isaiah Lyric as a music name, so that’s his artist name. 

You said you’re living in a small town, are you still in Alabama?

I’m still in Alabama, Sweet Home, baby.

Since we last spoke, Alabama’s rap scene has been going crazy.

Absolutely.

Between you, Flo Milli, Yung Bleu, NoCap, Rylo Rodriguez… all of these cats are going nuts. What are your thoughts on the current state of hip-hop in Alabama?

I feel like everybody’s kinda had their moment, you know. Atlanta had their thing, LA, of course, New York, of course, and then Texas even had some stuff, Florida, and different parts have had their shine here and there, and it’s time, finally, for Alabama. You know, we’ve had some artists over the last ten, fifteen years to do some stuff, but never just a whole group of artists from Alabama doing something at the same time. And to have, you know, OMB Peezy and even some of the other ones we haven’t mentioned like TLE Cinco and Lil Bam, it’s like, there are so many artists really making some noise, Rylo, NoCap, you know, Yung Bleu doing his thing, Flo Milli. 

There are so many Alabama artists getting that love, and to me, it’s just a beautiful thing. We’re all really close, too. I haven’t gotten to speak with Flo Milli, but, for everybody else that I mentioned, I’ve either got songs with them already out, or we have some in the pipeline, or we’ve just, you know, been discussing it, but, trying to stay really close. I feel like Alabama tries to stick together in a sense. So, it’s definitely cool that we’re finally getting some love. 

Fans particularly love your collaborations with NoCap. At one point, you guys were said to be working on a collaborative mixtape. Do you have an update on that?

Free NoCap. He’s back in the joint and we actually spoke the other day, on Instagram he was hitting me. I think he can get on Google Duo. I was in Mobile trying to see if he could get a visitation. We’re gonna Google Duo each other, I think. I guess that’s like the Android version of FaceTime.

A lot of it was the label– his label was kind of holding up the tape. They wanted us to release a few of the records as singles and play it like that before we dropped the tape. A lot of it was just pushing it back so far that it was gonna interfere with my album, plus, he was dropping an album, he had just got out this last go-around. Him going in-and-out has slowed it down tremendously. But, we have a gang of songs just chilling. I really want to put them out there. It just hasn’t gotten to see the light of day yet. 

How’s he doing?

He’s good. Yeah, he’s cool. You know, of course he’s got money on his books and stuff like that. He ain’t hurting, but it’s definitely, you know, Free Cap ‘til it’s backward. He’s gotta get out and get his head right. Straighten the f*ck up. But he seems to be in good spirits. It weighs heavy on you when you’re locked up. I did plenty of time myself. It weighs heavy on you to not be in circulation, you know what I’m saying. For your name to just be at risk of being forgotten. You see a lot of artists that get locked up, you know, like Bobby Shmurda, and people like that, Kodak… they come back out and there’s this big reception, a lot of ‘We missed you and we’re ready.’ Melly’s gonna have the same thing when he comes out. It’s gonna be a huge deal, but I feel like you have to be at a certain point to receive that, and I think NoCap is worried that he’s gonna come out and not get that same welcome. I’ve seen some Instagram posts of him saying, you know, ‘Don’t forget about me,’ and stuff like that. But I wouldn’t be surprised to see his numbers go through the roof when he comes back out. And I know damn well he’s in there probably writing up a storm and sh*t like that, preparing for what’s to come. So I’m hoping that when he gets out we can drop our tape and really run it up, and I know he’s gonna be eager to get back to it. 

“A lot of artists that get locked up, you know, like Bobby Shmurda, and people like that, Kodak… they come back out and there’s this big reception, a lot of ‘We missed you and we’re ready.’ Melly’s gonna have the same thing when he comes out. It’s gonna be a huge deal, but I feel like you have to be at a certain point to receive that, and I think NoCap is worried that he’s gonna come out and not get that same welcome.”

He’s a special songwriter. I think we’re all excited for him to get back.

Absolutely.

Back in September, you also announced that you had a feature with Lil Uzi Vert in the works. What happened with that? Is that still coming?

Well, you know, we got a lot of the same ties. We had discussed it– we got a lot of money in the album budget from Republic to put together some records. With Lil Uzi, it was around the time that we were pushing for Wayne. I think we just ended up holding off on Uzi for now, but I definitely could see us dropping a record in the future. 

The album was initially supposed to release on December 8th, which is the anniversary of Juice WRLD’s passing. Why was it delayed?

A lot of it was just clearances. When you have that many A-list artists on an album– a lot of people don’t see that side. If Lil Baby’s dropping an album that month, or if he’s dropping a couple of big singles, they may not necessarily want another record coming out on a different album or they wanna give it it’s time to shine first, and then, you know, let’s clear it for this couple of months. And then, to line up Lil Baby and Lil Wayne and Chris Brown and Post and Juice all at the same time, it’s just a nightmare honestly.

But you know, we definitely got support from all of them. It just took a little longer than I thought it was going to to get that settled.

You said previously that you think you have one of the best pens in hip-hop. 

Absolutely.

What do you want people to know about you as a songwriter?

I want them to know that, when I approach music, I look at it from a Shakespeare or from an Edgar Allen Poe standpoint. I wanna be looked at like the Jay-Z’s, like the Nas’, the Wayne’s of the world where, you know, ten years from now, you can see a quote from my lyrics where you just wanna quote it. I’ve got fans that tattoo some of my words and a lot of people focus on the vocals, and it being this distinct thing and this big sound with this big vibrato and all this different stuff, but my main focus is to put words out there in ways that only I can say them and to really stretch, you know, the meaning of a word when it comes to double entendres and innuendos and metaphors and similes and– you name it. I like to take idioms and just break them down and bend them and make them my own, and really say some sh*t that not only hits home, but it– you’re almost like, blown away by the way that I could twist it and turn it. 

“I wanna be looked at like the Jay-Z’s, like the Nas’, the Wayne’s of the world where, you know, ten years from now, you can see a quote from my lyrics where you just wanna quote it.”

Who are your favorite songwriters of all-time? 

Oh, man. I gotta say Jay-Z, just because I was inspired by him growing up. Lyrically, his delivery, his bars were just insane, effortlessly, just incredible. Wayne is definitely one of those. Biggie, Tupac, of course. But I gotta just stick with Jay. Jay was one of my biggest influences without a doubt.

Dope. Where would you place yourself among those guys?

Well, you know, I’m not close to them in terms of money (laughs). But that’s the goal. You know, and not in terms of what I have done for music as of yet either. The impact that I’ve made on music is not in the same ballpark as of yet. Now, that’s not to say that I can’t or I won’t get there. But now, lyrically, I wouldn’t say that anybody in the game is better than me. I feel like, bar-for-bar, and I don’t wanna sound cocky, like, even the greats, even Jay-Z, even Eminem or whoever it is, I feel like my skill when it comes to writing is unmatched. I feel like yes, you know, they’ve put out some dope sh*t with dope lyrics, and on a song, there may be some songs where this guy got me, or this guy got me if we did records together, but I’m nothing to sleep on. I feel like if you’re gonna do a feature with me and the idea is to see who can have the better bars, that– not to sleep on me, that’s for sure.

I love that. I see you wearing the Clever merch, too.

Oh, yeah. Yeah, it’s flames.

Did you design the merch yourself?

I got a great merch team that’s just steady cooking some stuff up and running it by me and this is definitely one of my favorites so far.

I love the umbrella. I need to get one of those.

Yeah, that’s gonna be dope. Yeah, I gotta get me one, I don’t even have one. They’ll send me a lot of the merch, you know, hoping that I’ll post it, I’m guessing, and stuff like that. But I don’t do a really good job about it. I’m like, ‘Look, I’m not a t-shirt company, I’m not here to sell f*cking t-shirts.’ You know what I’m saying? Let’s put some music out and those shirts will sell themselves, you know. 

I’ve definitely been blessed with a great merch team and we got some more cool stuff coming around the corner that I think’s gonna be really dope.

What do you want your legacy to end up as an artist?

I think the idea a lot of people get focused on, they kind of change their style, they change their sound to fit what they think does well for them or, you know, if you get tied up wanting to be on the radio, you start making stuff radio-like. And, for me, it’s not about streams, I know the record company doesn’t wanna hear that. But it’s not about streams and radio play and achievements. I wanna be proud of my body of work. I think if you just continuously put out dope records, that the streams and all the followers and all the achievements just come with it. And if it don’t, it don’t. But, at the end of the day, I want my core following to look at me as one of the greatest of all time, and whether I’m underrated or overrated or whatever, you know what I’m saying. As far as the streams and views go, I just wanna be able to look back and say that my body of work, lyrically, vocally, can match up with anybody. 

Clever, is there anything that I didn’t ask that you want to touch on today? 

I think you pretty much covered it, dude. You always do a great job. And I wanna say thank you, bro, you have always supported me and it’s a great look. So, I appreciate you very much. 

Of course, man. I appreciate you too and I appreciate the good music. 

Yeah, absolutely.

I’m very excited to listen to Crazy.

Yeah, thank you, bro. Thank you. I’m already working on the second one. And the second album, the features are even crazier, I think. If I can even say that. It’s kinda hard to say that. We’ve been blessed with stamps, that’s for sure. At some point, I want some big records solo, I don’t want people saying, you know, I can’t have a big record without all these fools on it. But when you have the number of artists at those levels coming at you, it’s hard to turn them down. It’s definitely working in my favor, but, yeah, I think the second album’s gonna be just as crazy.

What’s the timetable like for the second one?

I’m already halfway done with it, so I’m impatient and I feel the waiting game, you know, to get it cleared. I had my fans kinda cold for some months, not putting out stuff, and I feel like, you know, it was already go-time. I wanted to have this out, the second one done before the first one came out. But we’ve kinda been slow about it on the production side and some other sides. But I’m itching, dude. I wanna keep it consistent and keep it going. I don’t know when we’d be able to drop it, but it’s gonna be ready this year. It’ll be ready by summer. 

Okay!

I don’t know that we’ll be dropping it in the summertime, but it’ll be ready by then, for sure.

That’s exciting. Clever, you’re one of my favorite people to interview. I’m really happy that I got a chance to talk to you today. Enjoy the rest of your day, man.

Thank you. Yeah, you too, dude. Thank you so much, bro.

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READ OUR 2019 INTERVIEW WITH CLEVER HERE.

It’s fair to say that receiving a comparison to a member of the legendary Wu-Tang Clan is enough to humble even the most confident rapper. After all, the Wu are among the most respected hip-hop crews of all time — especially in their home turf of New York City. It’s no surprise that many rappers understand and appreciate the Wu’s impact to this day, and an endearing new clip shared on A$AP Ferg’s Instagram page highlights exactly that. 

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As it happens, A$AP Ferg recently met up with the legendary Tracy Morgan while out and about in New York, and the actor rolled up to show some love to the charismatic “Floor Seats” emcee. Though respect was certainly mutual, Morgan made sure to hit Ferg with a massive compliment, comparing him to the late, great Wu-Tang Clan icon Ol’ Dirty Bastard. 

“Can I tell you something?” says Morgan, hanging out the window with an easygoing swagger. “You the ODB of that group. You’re the soul, man. You know how I feel about you. Spit your bars, I love you man.” Ferg laughs, clearly flattered by Morgan’s sincere assessment; from the sound of it, the pair have had similar exchanges in the past. Not to mention the fact that Morgan actually knew Ol’ Dirty, having previously partied with the late rapper back in the day. 

Unsurprisingly, many of Ferg’s fans hit the comments to co-sign the ODB comparison, a testament to Ferg’s charisma and character behind the mic. Check out the clip below, and sound off if you agree that A$AP Ferg is the Ol’ Dirty Bastard of the A$AP Mob. 

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In just about a month from now, Jake Paul will fight Ben Askren in Atlanta. This boxing match will be Paul’s toughest test yet as he is going up against an actual trained fighter. No one knows for sure whether or not Paul will be up to the task although the likes of Mike Tyson and Zab Judah seem to be on his side. Of course, UFC president Dana White is very much against Paul and even wants to bet $1 million against him.

While Paul has already asked White to double down, Snoop Dogg is doing the same. Snoop will be one of the commentators for the fight and it just so happens that he is a big fan of Jake Paul. As a result, Snoop recently challenged Dana White, calling for him to bet him some big money.

“Hey Dana White, I see you got faith in your boy right? Going up against my guy Jake,” Snoop said. “You say you got a million? You’re the CEO of UFC. You got more than a million. Put up TWO. Put up $2 million and we’ll match it.”

It remains to be seen whether or not Dana will want to take this bet although, at this point, it seems like everyone wants his money. However, if Askren wins, White stands to make a whole lot of money, and add to his already loaded net worth.

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Diddy is one of the biggest moguls in hip-hop. The man has surpassed all of the expectations, stacking up millions and millions on his way to becoming one of the richest rappers to have ever lived. At this point in his life, Diddy can comfortably live every day of his life as though it’s a Saturday.

He’s still working hard though, ensuring that his generational wealth continues far past the time he’s gone. Diddy must have had a pretty stressful week, closing deals and counting M’s because, on Instagram, he posted a new video for “F*CK IT FRIDAY” and he’s seriously living the life in it.

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Sparking up a joint, Diddy looked at the camera and preached his motivational words, saying, “Check it out, it’s f*ck it Friday. F*ck all the bullsh*t the week gave you. F*ck all the negativity and anxiety. The negative energy– we’re going to a higher frequency. It’s f*ck it Friday. I love you. Enjoy.” In the video, a masseuse is working on Diddy’s calves.

Who else is going into the weekend like Diddy? The man is truly living like a king, and you can’t tell him any different either.

Recently, Diddy has been linking with DJ Khaled and others, even sparking dating rumors with Miracle Watts. Read more about that here.

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Anderson .Paak is one of the most well-connected artists in the music industry. That much was solidified once again after he announced one of the most exciting collaborative projects in years, telling the world that he and Bruno Mars had formed a band named Silk Sonic and releasing their first single “Leave The Door Open”.

Throughout his career, Anderson .Paak has built strong relationships with Dr. Dre, Kendrick Lamar, H.E.R., and many others. In a new interview with Esquire, the Ventura-based artist issued updates on some of his closest collaborators, including Dr. Dre and Kendrick, who the world rarely hears from.

“We talk just through texts and just off and on,” said Andy about Kendrick Lamar. “I always check on him and the family and make sure he’s good. He’s always responsive, and just like, just let me know he’s hanging in there just like everybody else.”

As for Dr. Dre, Paak says that the legend is doing pretty well right now, despite his personal life seemingly crumbling before our very eyes. “Dre’s having a good-ass time,” he said about his mentor. “That’s already his life—isolation, working all the time. I think he was probably used to it. But he’s having fun now because a lot of people have more time on their hands, so they can come visit him and make music with big Uncle Dre.”

Paak says that Dre is letting the artist go off and do his own thing, but he will always go to Dre for advice. “His ear is his ear, man, he be hearing sh*t and it’s like if he ain’t feeling it, he’ll let you know right away, man,” he said. “It hardly ever has to grow on him, he knows right away. I like that about him though, sometimes I’m a little indecisive, so it really helps me. It’s like, ‘Okay, well Dre ain’t feeling this, so maybe this ain’t the one, or I’m going to take a chance on this.'”

Anderson .Paak will perform this weekend at the GRAMMY Awards with Bruno Mars as Silk Sonic. Read his full interview with Esquire at the link below and be sure to watch Silk Sonic’s TV debut this weekend.

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Israel Adesanya is highly-regarded in the UFC world as one of the most exciting fighters out there. While he is the Middleweight champion, Adesanya decided to go up to the Light Heavyweight class just this past weekend, where he lost to the likes of Jan Blachowicz. This means that Adesanya will probably have to go back down to his current class for a while, just to get warmed back up for the heavier weights again.

While his goal has always been to fight Jon Jones, it seems like Adesanya’s coach Eugene Bareman doesn’t think too highly of the legend. During a conversation with Submission Radio, Bareman dissed Jones for taking PEDs while also claiming that the fighter is irrelevant all while comparing him to TJ Dillashaw.

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“Once you cheat, Jon Jones is about as irrelevant as TJ Dillashaw,” Bareman said. “It’s like, to me they don’t exist. Like, yeah, is anything that TJ Dillashaw did in the past relevant now that he’s cheated? No. It’s not any different for Jon Jones. So, you can’t talk to me about Jon Jones. I have a particular opinion, and that isn’t shared by the rest of the world. So, at the moment the greatest 205-er is Jan Błachowicz. There’s no one else. There’s no one else as great as him.”

Bareman went on to say that Blachowicz is the best Light Heavyweight and that Jones shouldn’t even be in the discussion. These words are certainly harsh although they certainly help promote a potential matchup if such a thing were to ever happen.

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