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6LACK Covers Mos Def’s ‘Umi Says’ As Part Of Apple Music’s 2022 Freedom Songs

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6lack holds nothing back in his music or real life, especially when speaking on the plight of Black people in this country. For Apple Music’s Freedom Songs 2022 celebrating Juneteenth through covers and original music, the East Atlanta Love Letter artist covered Mos Def’s powerful 1999 record “Umi Says.” The low tempo beat loaded with instruments is right in 6lack’s pocket as he used his signature croak to speak about what he wants to see for his people. Though the fight extends well beyond music, he deems it important to use his platform for causes such as these.

Though 6lack has maintained his presence through a number of features over the years, listeners haven’t received a project since 2020’s 6 Pc Hot, let alone a full album since 2018’s East Atlanta Love Letter. The 29-year-old has been alluding to the third chapter of his career for quite some time, and gave fans a taste back in December with the 1-2 punch of “Rent Free” and “By Any Means.” His management team Love Renaissance always has a master plan prepared, and the addition of OVO’s dvsn just makes their next move with 6lack all the more intriguing. Until then, he will surely provide more to hold listeners over.

Listen to 6lack’s Apple Music exclusive “Umi Says ” above.

Kendrick Lamar’s ‘Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers’ Earned The Most First-Day Streams For A 2022 Album On Apple Music

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Kendrick Lamar’s Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers arrived as expected on Friday, and to the surprise of no one, the album was one of the most-talked-about things within the first 24 hours of its availability. Topics ranged from Kodak Black’s surprise appearances on the album to Kendrick’s comments about Drake and Kanye’s past beef, as well as his support for the transgender community. Additionally, Kendrick announced The Big Steppers Tour with Baby Keem and Tanna Leone, a string of shows set to kick off later this year. All that together seemed to be enough to help Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers set a new record on Apple Music.

According to a post from the streaming platform, Kendrick Lamar’s Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers earned the most first-day streams for a 2022 album on Apple Music. While the platform did not provide exact numbers for Kendrick’s new record, it still speaks to the anticipation and focused that was placed on the rapper’s long-awaited fifth album. With Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers headed for a probable debut at No. 1 on the charts, it’s expected that the project will set more records

You can view the announcement from Apple Music in the post above.

Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers is out now via PgLang/TDE/Aftermath/Interscope. You can stream it here.

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

Someone Put A Fake Version Of Kanye West’s ‘Donda 2’ On iTunes, Fooling Enough People To Chart

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Whether you think Kanye West’s decision to make access to his new album Donda 2 exclusive to his stem player is a genius idea or a massive grift, it looks like someone out there has found a way to (temporarily) capitalize on it with a scam of their own. A fake version of Donda 2 is reportedly charting on iTunes after being uploaded under the misleading — but not that misleading — name “Wanye Kest,” according to Complex.

The facts that the name is obviously wrong, the tracklist is too short, and that Kanye vowed not to release his album to DSPs haven’t deterred fans from streaming the fake album; according to Complex, Donda 2 by Wanye Kest has reached No. 40 on the Top Hip-Hop Albums chart.

Incidentally, this isn’t the first time someone uploaded a fake album purported to be a highly anticipated one from a big-name superstar to Apple Music. In 2018, fake albums made up of leaked material supposedly from Beyonce and SZA popped up, while in 2019, even Rihanna had to react after an “unofficial” version of her ninth album found its way online. Meanwhile, in 2020, Mario Judah used the hype around Playboi Carti’s forthcoming album Whole Lotta Red to release his own version and hijack some of its buzz — at least until Carti actually dropped his album.

All those fake albums — save for Mario Judah’s, because it actually had his name on it — were eventually taken down, so unfortunately for Wanye Kest, their ill-gotten gains likely won’t last. For now, the only way to get Donda 2 for real remains shelling out $200 for a stem player — or using the slightly shadier method some of his fans cooked up to avoid such a fee.

Migos’ ‘Culture’ Disappears From Streaming On Its Fifth Anniversary

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While progressive Atlanta trap trio Migos had plenty of hits in their early career — the biggest being “Versace” thanks to its remix from Drake — it was their 2017 album Culture that turned them into a national phenomenon. It was the band’s first album to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and launched their chart-topping single “Bad And Boujee” with Lil Uzi Vert, making Migos a household name. Today is its fifth anniversary, but fans looking to give it a nostalgic spin the commemorate the occasion are out of luck as the album has mysteriously disappeared from streaming platforms.

Neither the band nor their label, Quality Control Music, have offered any explanations for the takedown. In fact, the social media for both only contain posts celebrating the Culture sequel, Culture II, on its fourth anniversary. Meanwhile, fans on Twitter have been posting screenshots of the greyed-out song titles in their playlists and saved albums folders, wondering where the album went — and whether there will be some sort of update in the near future.

So far, Culture appears to be the only album affected, with longtime favorites like Young Rich N*ggas, YRN 2, and both Culture follow-ups remaining intact. It also appears that whatever is happening here hasn’t affected the album on Tidal, so perhaps it’s just temporary. Meanwhile, Quavo’s promotional post for his own new single releasing tonight has been bombarded with requests from fans to bring back Culture. Whether or not Quavo has the pull to make it happen remains to be seen. Stay tuned.

SZA’s ‘I Hate U’ Breaks A Significant Apple Music R&B Streaming Record

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The road to SZA’s follow-up to 2017’s Ctrl has been anything but straightforward. But 2021 has seen her dropping new music consistently in a wave of singles that began at the tail end of 2020 with the release of “Hit Different” with Ty Dolla Sign and then “Good Days” in December. As soon as the new year turned, she said in an interview with Cosmopolitan that “This album is going to be the sh*t that made me feel something in my… here and in here. That’s what’s going to go on the album. I’m making all different types of sh*t every day from different places in my spirit.”

The groundwork has been laid, and SZA has been active this year, dropping tracks with Doja Cat, Kali Uchis and her latest single, “I Hate U.” “Honestly this started out as an exercise, she said on Instagram when the latter was released for streaming. “I jus wanted somewhere to dump my thoughts w out pressure..y’all made it a thing and I’m not mad lmao. ask and u shall receive. I HATE YOU OUT ON ALL PLATFORMS.”

“I Hate U” has clearly been on steady rotation for a lot of people since its release. Billboard just reported that it has broken the record for the most-streamed song by a female R&B artist in its first week. It debuted at No. 7 on the Hot 100 this week and still has a ways to go before it can topple Adele’s seven-week reign at the top with “Easy On Me.” But even that track didn’t reach No. 1 until it’s a third week out. Until then, here’s another feather in SZA’s cap.