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Kevin Gates Drops Nearly Featureless Record “The Ceremony”

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Kevin Gates is one of the more interesting characters in the rap game. He is unapologetically unfiltered in interviews and it usually leads to hilarious moments. Some are more questionable than others, though. However, he is also someone who cares a lot about being a role model for the younger generation. While “Thinking with My D***” might not be a glowing representation of him, Gates is a huminatarian at heart.

Which was why at the end of last year he received a prestigious award from the New Orleans mayor for his efforts. He addresses some of those topics on tracks like “Protect Children” off his brand-new album The Ceremony. However, the main themes are about the celebration of his career, hence the title. Interestingly this is only Gates’ fourth studio album out of the many projects he has dropped in his career.

Read More: Angel Reese’s Pep Talk For Hailey Van Lith Draws Draymond Green & Kevin Durant Comparisons

Listen To The Ceremony By Kevin Gates

Gates relentlessly teased this tape for months and even put together a listening party for it nearly a week ago. The rollout for the album began back in May of 2023 with “Do It Again.” After that point, Kevin would put out five more singles. That includes “Yonce Freestyle” with the only features, B.G. and an unhinged Sexyy Red. Check out the full-length above from the Baton Rouge, Louisiana native.

What are your thoughts on this brand-new album, The Ceremony, by Kevin Gates? What tracks are you gravitating toward the most so far and why? Who had the better feature, B.G. or Sexyy Red? Is this Gates best album in the last several years, why or why not? We would like to hear what you have to say about all of this. With that in mind, be sure to leave all of your hottest takes in the comments section below. Additionally, always keep it locked in with HNHH for all of the latest news surrounding Kevin Gates. Finally, stay with us for the most informative project posts throughout the week.

The Ceremony Tracklist:

  1. Ceremony
  2. Birds Calling
  3. Lil Yea
  4. Yonce Freestyle (feat. B.G. & Sexyy Red)
  5. Eater
  6. Speed Dial
  7. God Slippers
  8. It Won’t Happen
  9. Healing
  10. Letter 2 My Fans
  11. Protect Children
  12. Heal You
  13. Walmart
  14. Do It Again
  15. RUMORS
  16. I Don’t Apologize
  17. Broken Men

Read More: Lil Nas X Gets Introspective On “Where Do We Go Now?”

The post Kevin Gates Drops Nearly Featureless Record “The Ceremony” appeared first on HotNewHipHop.

Atlantic Records Announces 75th Anniversary Vinyl Reissues Of Albums From Cardi B, Led Zeppelin, And More

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While 2023 represents the 50th year of hip-hop, it’s also the 75th anniversary of one of the labels that has had a huge hand in making hip-hop the global phenomenon it is today. Today, Atlantic Records announced its plans to celebrate making it three-quarters of a century (especially in an industry that has seen so much upheaval almost from day one), which include a year’s worth of vinyl reissues of classic and contemporary albums that have defined its first 75 years.

The campaign will kick off in October and include 90 albums from the likes of Aretha Franklin, Bad Company, Booker T & The MGs, Bruno Mars, Cardi B, Christina Perri, Coldplay, Foreigner, Gucci Mane, Jack Harlow, Janelle Monáe, John Coltrane, Kehlani, Led Zeppelin, Lupe Fiasco, Matchbox Twenty, Otis Redding, Phil Collins, Ray Charles, Velvet Underground, Willie Nelson, and more. Some will be special pressings; others will be releases that have never been on vinyl before. There’s also exclusive, limited-edition merch, and partnerships with Vinyl Me, Please and Acoustic Sounds.

The collection will be curated by Atlantic Records chairman/CEO Craig Kallman, who’s been working on it for years. “It was stacks of paper making sure we didn’t miss anybody,” he said in a press release. “It was painstakingly done. There was a lot of internal debating… We tried to include records that were culturally significant, that were groundbreaking for the company, that were blowout sales successes. It was about records that defined the label and the culture of the company.”

Kallman had a personal investment in much of that history, joining Atlantic in 1991 after his dance label, Big Beat Records, was acquired by Atlantic. And although he said he thought it’d be cool to limit the run to 75 titles, he found he just couldn’t, resulting in the 90 planned releases (might as well up it to 100, Craig!). From the names of the albums included, it looks like a worthwhile endeavor and we can’t wait for the year ahead.

Atlantic Records and Uproxx are both independent subsidiaries of Warner Music Group.

Missy Elliott Honored By National Museum Of African American Music

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Singer, rapper, songwriter, and producer Missy Elliott will be honored at an upcoming event at the National Museum of African American Music. The event, called the “Celebration of Legends,” is set to take place on June 2, 2023, at the Nashville Museum. Atlantic Records will also be honored at the event, represented by Sylvia Rhone, chairwoman/CEO of Epic Records. In response to the news that she’ll be honored at the event, Elliott wrote on Twitter, “Lord Thank you for BLESSING after BLESSING.” She went on to share that she doesn’t “take any of it for granted.” The artist says, “You seen when I almost gave up but you showed me that you WASN’T DONE WITH ME YET.” Adding, “I am GRATEFUL.”

Missy Elliott also became the first female rapper to be inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. In 2023, she was also the first female hip-hop artist to be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame called Elliott “a true pathbreaker in a male-dominated genre.” Elliott was also the first female rapper to receive MTV’s Video Vanguard award and an honorary Doctorate degree from Berklee.

Elliott Is Honored For Her Hard Work

In a post about all of her accomplishments, she wrote “I am So Humbly Grateful for those ones before me.” She added, “because no roof on a house can stand without a FOUNDATION!!!!” Elliott went on to say “Those before me REPRESENT Every BRICK on that house to keep it STANDING.” She also shared that she “would dream [she] would write & produce for big stars.” Elliott called her induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame a blessing.

Earlier this month, Elliott shared another Tweet revealing that the gibberish in her song “Work It” is actually just the previous line said backwards. The revelation shocked fans who had been long-time listeners of the track. Elliott also recently premiered her new track, “The Greatest,” at Usher’s Lovers & Friends music festival. She shared a clip of her performing the song, which features HaSizzle The Voice, on Twitter. The clip was Elliott’s first reveal of new music since her 2020 single, “Cool Off.”

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Fat Joe Called The Major Label System A Ponzi Scheme

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Fat Joe thinks major labels are a scam. Recently, the rapper made an appearance at The Future of Everything Festival by the Wall Street Journal on May 4th, where he criticized the major label system and described it as a “Ponzi scheme.” Although he was previously signed to Atlantic Records, he is now an independent artist. During the festival, Fat Joe reflected on his past experience in the industry and how it led him down his current path. In fact, he has been independent for quite some time. He left Atlantic in the mid-2000s before the release of his 2006 album, Me, Myself & I.

To begin with, Fat Joe expressed his skepticism towards the major label system, stating “I don’t believe in these people.” He then elaborated, saying “For one, I feel like the major label system is a Ponzi scheme and they do funny math.” This is not a rare opinion of the major label system, as many artists have called them out for their 360 deals and other shady business practices. Fat Joe continued, emphasizing the issue with their accounting methods: “Whenever you try to see something in life, they say numbers don’t lie. If you look at a chart and the numbers are so clear where you could say, ‘The price of this is this, the price of this is this…’” Joe continued, “And then when you look at [their] chart and they say 62.1%, 1.2… it’s funny math.”

Fat Joe Recalls Being Pitted Against T.I.

At the festival, Fat Joe continued to share more stories about his time with major labels. He even brought up how other artists had told him they had the same issues. “I was talking to [Jennifer Lopez] about it and you know, J. Lo is a megastar and she was like, ‘Man, you know these guys, they only give you this. You never recoup, you know,’” Joe said. Even a megastar like Jennifer Lopez can’t seem to escape the shady dealings of major labels.

At one point, a label executive even insulted Fat Joe to his face. The rapper was outsold by T.I., and the label took it as an opportunity to tell Joe that he was nothing in comparison. “[Atlantic’s president] tells me in my face, ‘Man, you’re a failure. You only sold a half-a-million. Look at this guy.’ And it was T.I. ‘He sold two million records. He’s the guy.’ Bro, they changed the six-story poster to T.I. so fast,” Joe said. What do you think of Fat Joe’s opinion of major labels? Sound off in the comments below!

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NoCap Releases New Mixtape, “The Main Bird”

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Even when industry business gets in the way, it’s always great to see an artist deliver to fans despite the hiccups. NoCap did just that and released The Main Bird, a seven-track mixtape. Moreover, it was originally going to contain 16 songs, but ran into sample clearance issues. While those get sorted out, the Alabama rapper’s dropped more introspective melodic cuts and a few bangers to even his style out. Also, the track comes just days after his melodic feature on Monaleo’s “Miss U Already.”

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – MAY 26: Rapper NoCap performs onstage during the ‘Mr. Crawford Tour’ at Club Novo on May 26, 2022 in Los Angeles, Chile. (Photo by Scott Dudelson/Getty Images)

While the 24-year-old is known to often get into those tuneful styles, he balances it out with some heat. Moreover, he recruited Rob49 and Rylo Rodriguez for some guest verses on the album. Rob delivers some aggressive energy over the Wheezy-produced “How It’s Going.” Meanwhile, Rylo dials things back on “Tight End” with some auto-tuned croons. However, NoCap remains the star of the show, and he kept up fast momentum after this year’s Mr. Crawford with the single “DNA.”

Although NoCap’s continued to build that success, it’s also resulted in some cut ties. He beefed with NBA YoungBoy recently via Instagram shots after YoungBoy wrote he doesn’t mess with him anymore. Later, NoCap called YB a “hater.”

“Let me know what I owe you,” he wrote in a message to the Louisiana rapper. “I don’t recall you giving s**t. I took the blame for why we don’t do music because I was trying to keep your hater card clean. But nah we really don’t do music because he probably scared I’ll be bigger on some baby s**t.” If The Main Bird and KnowCap are any indication, it looks like he’ll continue to make his own mark.

What did you think of this mixtape? Are you looking forward to KnowCap? Let us know in the comments. If you still haven’t tuned in, you can find The Main Bird by NoCap on your preferred streaming service. Also, check out the tracklist below and stay tuned to HNHH for the latest releases in the rap game.

Tracklist

  1. Rich And Dangerous 
  2. How It’s Going (Ft. Rob49)
  3. Back To Basics
  4. Standing On Lies
  5. Ain’t Right
  6. Tight End (Ft. Rylo Rodriguez)
  7. No Other Way

Roddy Ricch Hit With Lawsuit Over “The Box”: Report

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Roddy Ricch is facing a lawsuit for his 2019 hit “The Box.” His label, Atlantic Records, and producer 30 Roc are also named in the legal documents. Per TMZ, singer Greg Perry filed the suit. In it, he claimed that the Compton native used “key elements” from his 1975 song “Come On Down (Get Your Head Out Of The Clouds)” without asking his permission.

Perry is reportedly seeking damages in the lawsuit, saying that an expert “clearly and convincingly” found similarities between the songs. He’s also hoping the court will see that they purposely committed copyright infringement.

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – MAY 06: Roddy Ricch performs onstage during Roddy Ricch Headlines SECRET SESH X SAC NFT Event on May 06, 2022 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)

Ricch recently celebrated the third anniversary of the song yesterday (Dec. 6). Shortly following the song’s release in 2019, both the single and the 24-year-old’s debut album, Please Excuse Me for Being Antisocial, quickly climbed the music charts.

“The Box” went on to take the number one spot on the Hot 100 Billboard chart. It also took off on TikTok and other social media, with users adding the song to various videos.

READ MORE: Roddy Ricch’s “Live Life Fast” Receives Incredibly Mixed Reactions From Listeners

Ricch later enjoyed a rise to stardom following the viral hit, going on to release a string of notable singles and collaborations. In December 2021, he shared his second studio album Live Life Fast featuring 21 Savage, Kodak Black, and Future.

The “Stop Breathing” rapper and his team have not responded publicly to Perry’s copyright lawsuit.

Check out both songs above and below, and let us know in the comment section if you hear any similarities. Check back in with HNHH for any new updates on the suit.

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