Blxst

Blxst Breaks Down His ‘How I Blew Up’ Story From Humble Beginnings To Stardom

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In the latest episode of Uproxx’s newest show, How I Blew Up narrated by Cherise Johnson, LA native and XXL Freshman Blxst breaks down his rise to stardom, from humble beginnings as just another aspiring artist tweeting links at stars to receiving comparisons to late West Coast great Nate Dogg thanks to his smooth vocal ability. “Early on I was really rapping,” he recalls. “Until I really got comfortable with my singing voice, I was kinda insecure back then.” However, he says, he eventually grew into his talent, ending up on many other rappers’ hooks, including YG and Mozzy’s “Perfect Timing.”

He also explains how one of his greatest struggles, fatherhood, helped make him “more purposeful.” The tumultuous period immediately after his son was born “made me realize that it’s not all about me — it just put extra pressure that I needed.” The video traces the growth in Blxst’s career from his start releasing music while attending Upland High School to working on his next collaborative mixtape with frequent collaborator Bino Rideaux (recently releasing the video for the lead single “Movie“), as well as his upcoming debut full-length album, riding the success of his 2020 EP No Love Lost.

Check out Blxst’s episode of How I Blew Up above.

Blxst And Bino Rideaux Employ Themselves At A Dysfunctional Car Wash In Their ‘Movie’ Video

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Last year proved to be a big year for Blxst and Bino Rideaux. The West Coast acts’ stocks saw a nice boost after they dropped their respective projects, No Love Lost and Outside. Both efforts arrived after they came together for their Sixtape EP in 2019. Now, Blxst and Bino are preparing to release a sequel, but before doing so, they return with a video for the upcoming project’s lead single, “Movie.” The visual finds the rappers employing themselves at a dysfunctional car wash headed by an equally dysfunctional manager. After pushing through the chaos, Blxst and Bino take over the property to throw a feel-good party in the warm West Coast sun.

The new video comes with news that the duo’s upcoming project, Sixtape 2 will arrive on July 16. The effort will hopefully continue the streak both rappers have been on while adding to strong collaborations they’ve already presented in their respective catalogs. Their recent songs together include “Wrong Or Right (Remix)” from Blxst’s No Love Lost and “Brand New” from Bino’s Outside.

Outside of their collaborations, the newly-crowned XXL Freshman Blxst announced his No Love Lost tour and recently teamed up with YG and Mozzy for their “Perfect Timing” video while Bino dropped his first solo single of the year last month with “Got To Know It.”

You can check out the video to Blxst and Bino’s “Movie” above.

Sixtape 2 is out 7/16 via Red Bull Records.

Fabolous’ ‘So Into You’ Video Makes DDG, Yung Baby Tate, And More Nostalgic For Better Times

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React Like You Know is back! This time around we’ve got some new faces mixed in with the familiar favorites from our panel, including Beanz, Blxst, Snow The Product, and Yung Baby Tate. After enjoying a trip down Nostalgia Road with Missy Elliott last time around, we stuck with the 106 & Park classics yet again with Fabolous’ 2003 Street Dreams single “So Into You” featuring Tamia.

It was a simpler time; the pants were baggy, the caps were fitted, and music video countdowns dominated our after-school television viewing. Back then, the “Holla Back” rapper was a sex symbol — a fact that leaves Yung Baby Tate bemused. “I’m screaming at the fact that anybody ever found him attractive,” she admits, although she’s definitely exaggerating on the “screaming.”

A few of the panel artists also notice the presence of actress K.D. Aubert, who did indeed get her start appearing in music videos before landing roles in Friday After Next, Soul Plane, and most recently, Nick Cannon’s streetball drama She Ball. YBT’s got some thoughts here too, but I’ll let you catch those for yourself. There are also some fun stories about ringtones, throwbacks, and having crushes that have them relating to the song’s lovesick chorus.

Watch the latest episode of React Like You Know above.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

HER’s 2021 Lights On Festival Is Led By Erykah Badu, Bryson Tiller, And Ari Lennox

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In addition to winning Grammy and Oscar awards, HER also has her very own music festival. She first premiered the Lights On Festival back in 2019 with help from Summer Walker, Jhene Aiko, and Daniel Caesar. While there might’ve been plans to have the festival again in 2020, the coronavirus pandemic forced the singer to delay the show for the forseeable future. Now that things are reopening for the most part, HER used the 2021 BET Award stage to announce that the Lights On Festival would return this fall. Moments later, the official lineup for the show was revealed.

This year’s Lights On Festival will return the Concord Pavilion on the weekend of September 18-19. The show is led by Erkyah Badu, Bryson Tiller, and Ari Lennox as well HER who will appear with “friends” that have yet to be mentioned. Other performers for the Lights On Festival include Ty Dolla Sign, Keyshia Cole, Masego, Lucky Daye, Kiana Lede, Foushee, Blxst, VanJess, Arin Ray, Tone Stith, Tiana Major9, Maeta, Brianna Castilo, Samaria, Maxx Moore, Lorea, and more names to be announced.

In addition to announcing the festival at the BET Awards, HER also performed “We Made It” and won the Best Female R&B/Pop Artist award.

You can view the full lineup above.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.