Earthgang

Dreamville Brings A Mini-Festival To Red Rocks Amphitheatre In Colorado

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Although the pandemic forced the cancelation of numerous concerts, festivals, and tours, as live entertainment returns, fans who missed out on last year’s festivities are getting some consolation. One of the festivals that was canceled, the Dreamville Festival, is sort of coming back in a smaller capacity as Dreamville On The Rocks, a one-day mini-fest featuring nearly the entire roster at Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Morrison, Colorado. The label’s social accounts posted a motion flyer providing the details and revealing the lineup and date: October 23, 2021.

Although team captain J. Cole is notably absent — perhaps he’ll be participating in some NBA team’s fall training camp, hoping to continue his professional basketball career — all of the label’s other roster mainstays are accounted for. Ari Lennox, Bas, Cozz, Earthgang, JID, Lute, and Omen are all listed, which could also be a good sign for expected releases from each after a year of relative inactivity (although Earthgang and JID both participated in the Spillage Village album Spilligion in 2020).

Dreamville On The Rocks doesn’t appear to be as big of an event as the original Dreamville Festival was planned to be with no announced guests from outside the label and only one day, but perhaps the crew is using it as a dry-run to shake off the rust before announcing a larger event down the line. Tickets go on sale Friday at 10 am. You can find more information at Dreamville.com.

Earthgang And Wale Welcome Coi Leray For A Boastful Remix Of ‘Options’

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Earthgang has been patiently waiting for a while now to get the ball rolling for their upcoming sophomore album, Ghetto Gods. After a bit of a wait, it appears that the Dreamville duo is now in full rollout mode for the project. Their latest release isn’t a brand new single, but rather, a remix of a past track that definitely deserved more love than it got. Earthgang recruits Coi Leray for a fresh take of “Options,” a track that also carries a verse from Wale. The new version begins with Leray crooning through a verse focused on her options in the dating world while the rap duo provides new verses for listeners to enjoy.

Johnny Venus of Earthgang previously spoke about the underwhelming success of “Options” on their most recent track, “Aretha.” “‘Options‘ dropped, barely made a sound, damn / I guess we let Nas and Cole down,” he said. The new remix joins a string of recent releases that will hopefully bring us to the release of Ghetto Gods. In addition to the “Options” remix and “Aretha,” Earthgang also shared a remix of Drake’s “Lemon Pepper Freestyle.”

Coi Leray has also been active lately. She recently dropped her third single of the year with “Bout Me” and shortly after, she joined DDG and OG Parker for “Impatient.”

You can press play on the remix above.

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

Earthgang’s ‘Aretha’ Is A Soulful Account Of The Duo’s Highs And Lows Over The Last Year

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If you ask Earthgang about their upcoming sophomore album, Ghetto Gods, the Atlanta rap duo will tell you it’s ready to be released. In fact, they originally teased that it would arrive on the same day as J. Cole’s latest effort, The Off-Season, which dropped on May 14. Sadly hat day came and went without Ghetto Gods, for reasons unknown to fans as well as the rappers themselves. Luckily, it appears that it’s finally on its way, as the duo released one of its songs, “Aretha.”

It’s a soul-driven effort that sees the duo reflecting on the highs and lows that occurred during their journey as artists. Johnny Venus leads the way with a verse recounting a disappointing moment from his career. “‘Options‘ dropped, barely made a sound, damn / I guess we let Nas and Cole down,” he said, referencing Earthgang’s 2020 single with Wale. As for WowGr8, he brings a bit more optimism to the mix. “This what I’m addicted to, this all I’m committed to,” he declares. “Set my sights on bigger moves, feel like this is middle school.”

“Aretha” is Earthgang’s second track in a little over two weeks, as they teamed up earlier this month to remix Drake’s “Lemon Pepper Freestyle.”

You can listen to “Aretha” in the video above.

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

Earthgang’s Remix Of Drake’s ‘Lemon Pepper Freestyle’ Explains Why Their ‘Ghetto Gods’ Album Is Delayed

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This fall will mark two years since Earthgang dropped their debut album, Mirrorland. If the Atlanta rap duo had it their way, Earthgang’s sophomore album, titled Ghetto Gods, would already be in the hands of their awaiting supporters. Unfortunately for everyone involved, a bit more patience will need to be exercised, but in the meantime, supporters of the rap duo can enjoy Earthgang’s remix of Drake and Rick Ross’ “Lemon Pepper Freestyle” which they released on Saturday.

Wowgr8 and Johnny Venus depart from their usual soulful spirits as the former dives deep into introspection while the latter reflects on the past years of his life. Venus’ verse seemingly addresses the delayed album.

“Release date is what I’m waiting on / Interscope gotta crunch the numbers,” he raps. “This industry is flooded with mindless muddles cause lies sell / The ugly truth might not bring in the money / Don’t they know it’s real sh*t the people want? / A pause from the pill-pop subscription joint.”

Back in February, the rappers revealed the project would arrive the same day as J. Cole’s next full-length effort. That turned out to be Cole’s The Off-Season which dropped on Friday. That day came and went, however, without Earthgang’s new album. As a result, they opted to share their “truth” through the new freestyle “for those asking why Ghetto Gods didn’t drop.”

You can press play on the remix in the video above.

Earthgang Are Trying To Fund A Community Garden At An Atlanta Middle School

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Photo by Grizz

Thursday marks Earth Day 2021 and, true to their name, rap duo Earthgang are aiming to make the planet a little healthier. That’s why they’ve teamed up with Atlanta’s Young Middle School to launch a fundraising to build a community food garden at the school.

Earthgang created the initiative on GoFundMe, noting that students at the Young Middle School “reported food insecurity to be one of the biggest barriers to their success in a 2019 student survey.” The fundraiser has a monetary goal of $200,000, and it’s already raised over $10,000. The GoFundMe description states, “Earthgang hopes to inspire healthy eating and activity, lifelong learning and address food insecurity in the community by restoring a plot of donated land and establishing a robust community garden that will seek to strengthen the local community and provide learning to Young Middle School students and their families.”

Earthgang’s Olu offered a reason behind their charitable project, saying they hope the garden will impact children for years to come. “It’s nearly impossible to focus on education, mental health and financial stability when you don’t have the basic necessities of proper food, shelter and protection,” he said. “This project is a gift to future generations.”

WowGr8 echoed Olu’s statement, saying, “Sustainable living grows more important with each new generation. Promoting agriculture to youth is essential for changing the scope of what our community considers acceptable nourishment.”

Young Middle School’s Principal Ronald Garlington thanked the rap duo for their support in a statement. “Young Middle School is grateful to Earthgang for their commitment to making the Young Middle School Community Garden a reality,” Garlington said. “Via this garden, students will be provided hands-on learning and problem-solving opportunities, increased environmental awareness and frequent occasions to build strong connections to their community!”

Check out the Young Middle School community garden GoFundMe page here.

Spillage Village’s ‘Baptized’ Remix Adds Fiery Verses From Deante’ Hitchcock, IDK, And Flatbush Zombies

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Atlanta rap supergroup Spillage Village had one of the best albums of 2020 in Spilligion, and today, they took a huge step in extending its shelf life, releasing a remixed version of the album’s second single “Baptize.” The new version adds a who’s-who of the group members’ favorite collaborators, including Deante’ Hitchcock, who contributes the verse from his #NewAtlantaTuesdays freestyle over the beat, IDK, and Flatbush Zombies to turn the introspective track into a full-blown posse cut of cerebral rhymes and complex cadences. Group member Hollywood JB also makes an appearance to help keep the Spillage crew’s presence strong.

While the original version of the song focuses heavily on religious imagery as a lens through which to make sense of the global turmoil at the time of the album’s creation, the new version mostly does away with the framing devices, allowing the guest rappers to right down to the nitty-gritty. While Hitchcock spits socio-political commentary, IDK boasts of his off-season accomplishments and wonders if he should forego meetings with Netflix to work with HBO. Juice and Erick of Flatbush Zombies bat cleanup, preaching self-reliance and optimism to cope with the issues plaguing the world.

Listen to Spillage Village’s “Baptized” remix featuring Deante Hitchcock’, IDK, and Flatbush Zombies above.

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