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Today in Hip-Hop History: The Beastie Boys’ Dropped Their Sophomore LP ‘Licensed To Ill’ 37 Years Ago

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Screenshot 2023 11 15 at 6.06.01 AM

On this date 37 years ago, Adam Horowitz (Ad Rock), Adam Yauch (MCA), and Michael Diamond (Mike D) aka The Beastie Boys, dropped their sophomore LP Licensed To Ill on the Def Jam Imprint under Columbia Records.

On the heels of the successful LL Cool J Radio album and the cult classic flick Krush Groove, Def Jam head honcho Russell Simmons decided to head in the most unconventional direction with the quasi-punk rock/Hip-Hop trio for Def Jam’s follow up to those monumental releases. The original title of this release was Don’t Be A Faggot, but Columbia Records pushed Simmons to change the homophobic title.

Rated as one of The Source Magazine‘s Top 100 Best Albums, Licensed To Ill received the coveted five-mic status, a precedent for Jewish Hip Hop artists. In less than six months after its release, this critically acclaimed project earned the Beastie Boys a platinum plaque, lead by the singles “Brass Monkey,” “No Sleep Til Brooklyn,” “Hold It Now, Hit It” and the storytelling smash “Paul Revere.”

Unfortunately, crew member MCA lost his battle with cancer in 2012, which actually caused a resurgence in the album’s popularity and sales.

Salute to Def Jam, Russell Simmons, Ad Rock, Mike D and the continued legacy of MCA for creating such a timeless Hip Hop classic!

The post Today in Hip-Hop History: The Beastie Boys’ Dropped Their Sophomore LP ‘Licensed To Ill’ 37 Years Ago first appeared on The Source.

The post Today in Hip-Hop History: The Beastie Boys’ Dropped Their Sophomore LP ‘Licensed To Ill’ 37 Years Ago appeared first on The Source.

Bun B Offers Help to Get Druski’s Chain Back From Birdman: ‘Tried to Told Ya’

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Bun B Says Tory Lanez Shooting Megan Thee Stallion Was 'Some Whore Sh*t'

Over the weekend, Birdman pressed Druski and made off with his chain. TMZ dropped CCTV footage of the incident that left Druski jetting down a hallway to safety. After the incident, Druski stated he was running toward his trunk and would get the chain back. Bun B says he had previously warned him.

“Tried to told ya @druski but you can hit me up to get ya chain back bruh,” Bun B wrote.

video image 493489
video image 493489

You can see the message from Bun and Druski’s 40-yard dash below.

via

The post Bun B Offers Help to Get Druski’s Chain Back From Birdman: ‘Tried to Told Ya’ first appeared on The Source.

The post Bun B Offers Help to Get Druski’s Chain Back From Birdman: ‘Tried to Told Ya’ appeared first on The Source.

J. Cole’s Manager on Lack of Big Cities for Joint Tour with Drake: ‘Back to Markets We Use to Grind Through’

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Drake Announces 2024 U.S. 'It’s All A Blur Tour - Big As The What?' with Special Guest J. Cole

Drake and J. Cole are getting ready to hit the road together as an extension of the It’s All a Blur tour. Subtitled, “Big As the What?” a nod to the “First Person Shooter” single, the two will begin the run in Denver.

What’s odd about the dates, the tour won’t touch Los Angeles, New York City, Chicago or even some Drake’s favorite spots like Memphis and Houston.

Responding to a fan, Cole’s manager and close friend Ibrahim “IB” Hamad revealed that this isn’t a major city run.

“The run is for the secondary market we don’t get to go to as much and do shows like how we use to,” Ib wrote.

In a separate tweet, he wrote: “Gotta pull back up to some of those markets we use to grind through on the come up. Can’t wait to see those cities again, been a minute.”

Drake is set to embark on his 2024 U.S. It’s All A Blur Tour – Big As The What? presented by Cash App and Visa, featuring Grammy-winning producer J. Cole on various dates. Produced by Live Nation, the tour starts with two shows in Denver on January 18 and 19, followed by stops in cities like Oklahoma City, New Orleans, Nashville, and more, concluding in Birmingham on March 27.

Following the success of his 2023 It’s All A Blur Tour with 50 sold-out shows, Drake’s latest tour accompanies the release of his eighth studio album, “For All The Dogs.” Cash App Cardholders can access an exclusive presale starting Nov. 15, with general sales beginning Nov. 17 at 11 am local time on drakerelated.com. This tour promises an unforgettable experience for fans, building on Drake’s legacy of chart-topping success and dynamic live performances.

DRAKE ‘IT’S ALL A BLUR TOUR – BIG AS THE WHAT?’ 2024 TOUR DATES:

Thu Jan 18 – Denver, CO – Ball Arena +

Fri Jan 19 – Denver, CO – Ball Arena

Mon Jan 22 – San Antonio, TX – Frost Bank Center

Thu Jan 25 – Oklahoma City, OK – Paycom Center

Mon Jan 29 – New Orleans, LA – Smoothie King Center +

Tue Jan 30 – New Orleans, LA – Smoothie King Center

Fri Feb 02 – Tampa, FL – Amalie Arena

Wed Feb 07 – Nashville, TN – Bridgestone Arena +

Thu Feb 08 – Nashville, TN – Bridgestone Arena +

Mon Feb 12 – St. Louis, MO – Enterprise Center

Fri Feb 16 – Pittsburgh, PA – PPG Paints Arena

Tue Feb 20 – Columbus, OH – Schottenstein Center +

Wed Feb 21 – Columbus, OH – Schottenstein Center

Sat Feb 24 – Cleveland, OH – Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse

Tue Feb 27 – Buffalo, NY – KeyBank Center

Sat Mar 02 – Kansas City, MO – T-Mobile Center

Tue Mar 05 – Memphis, TN – FedExForum

Sun Mar 10 – Lexington, KY – Rupp Arena

Thu Mar 14 – Belmont Park, NY – UBS Arena ~

Mon Mar 18 – State College, PA – Bryce Jordan Center ~

Sat Mar 23 – Sunrise, FL – Amerant Bank Arena ~

Wed Mar 27 – Birmingham, AL – The Legacy Arena at BJCC ~

+ Rescheduled dates

~ Without J. Cole

The post J. Cole’s Manager on Lack of Big Cities for Joint Tour with Drake: ‘Back to Markets We Use to Grind Through’ first appeared on The Source.

The post J. Cole’s Manager on Lack of Big Cities for Joint Tour with Drake: ‘Back to Markets We Use to Grind Through’ appeared first on The Source.

WATCH: Pardison Fontaine Twerks on New Boo Jada Kingdom During a Night Out

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KB COMP Pardison Fontaine

Pardison Fontaine is living his best life after rumors flew about cheating on Megan Thee Stallion. Pardi was spotted at the club with his new bae, Jada Kingdom, who twerked him down while he poured up the Casamigos.

Last month, Megan Thee Stallion returned with her new single “Cobra,” it was laced with a few bars about a past partner that fans attribute to Pardi.

“Pulled up, caught him cheatin’, gettin’ his dick sucked in the same spot I’m sleepin’
Lord, give me a break, I don’t know how much more of this shit I can take”

– Megan Thee Stallion

Guilty or not, Pardi turned his comments off and posted a Future meme. You can hear the single below and learn more about the single here.

Earlier this year, fans noticed that Thee Stallion no longer follows Pardison Fontaine on Instagram, which traditionally signals a break-up. Hollywood Unlocked captured the follower status below.

The post WATCH: Pardison Fontaine Twerks on New Boo Jada Kingdom During a Night Out first appeared on The Source.

The post WATCH: Pardison Fontaine Twerks on New Boo Jada Kingdom During a Night Out appeared first on The Source.

Kendrick Lamar’s Partner Shares New Images of Their Children on Instagram

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Kendrick Lamar Headlines Lollapalooza's 2023 Lineup

Kendrick Lamar’s children have made it to Instagram. K. Dot’s partner, Whitney Alford, gave a rare glimpse into their private life, sharing images of the two children, Uzi and Enoch.

“Me and them… Always, in all ways. The greatest and toughest job I’ve ever been tasked with. Love my babies,” Alford wrote.

Kendrick Lamar is bringing his talents to the East Coast. According to the New York Post, Kendrick Lamar is in the contract stages of a new penthouse at Pierhouse at Brooklyn Bridge Park.

Before venturing to Pierhouse, Lamar inquired about homes at Quay Tower in Brooklyn Heights and Olympia in Dumbo. His new home will be bought at $8.99 million.

The penthouse is a tri-level condo with four bedrooms and a den. In addition, the home has over 2,000 square feet of outdoor space across two levels, with a private rooftop overlooking the East River and Brooklyn Bridge Park.

Additional perks of the home are floor-to-ceiling windows, 18-foot ceilings, a chef’s kitchen, and pine floors.

The post Kendrick Lamar’s Partner Shares New Images of Their Children on Instagram first appeared on The Source.

The post Kendrick Lamar’s Partner Shares New Images of Their Children on Instagram appeared first on The Source.

Fetty Wap Drops New Close Up Prison Photo

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Fetty Wap's 4-Year-Old Daughter's Cause of Death Reportedly Revealed

Fetty Wap has dropped yet another new photo from prison. “King Zoovier,” Fetty captioned the image on Instagram.

Fetty Wap is getting all the pictures off in prison, following up on some previously dropped images from August. In the new set, Fetty is shown to have found some friends, posing with a crew of guys while wearing a crew neck and skully.

Fetty Wap is currently serving six years in prison for his role in a multi-million-dollar drug trafficking ring.

Earlier this month, Fetty Wap returned triumphantly with his latest single, “1738,” featuring Coi Leray. The track is out now via 300 Entertainment and signals the impending release of his long-awaited sophomore album, KING ZOO, scheduled for Nov. 24th, this Black Friday.

Fetty Wap chose this date, Nov. 18, 2023, as it marks the anniversary of his viral hit “Sweet Yamz.” Fans can anticipate a thrilling new chapter in the artist’s career as he gears up for the album’s drop after years of anticipation.

The post Fetty Wap Drops New Close Up Prison Photo first appeared on The Source.

The post Fetty Wap Drops New Close Up Prison Photo appeared first on The Source.

Trippie Redd Revealed He Postponed His Tour Because Due to the Birth of His Child

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Trippie Redd Reveals His Music Was Hacked & Held For Ransom For $1 Million

Trippie Redd is postponing his 2023 Take Me Away tour because he recently became a father. The tour was set to kick off this past August and wrap in October before it was nixed, but fans did not know why. Trippie Redd revealed the reason: he was becoming a father.

Hitting social media, Trippie Redd revealed: “You want an explanation, so boom, I’m dropping a project named Saint Michael, right? What if I was to tell you that’s my son’s name and I canceled tour because I had to deliver my son?”

Saint Michael dropped this past Friday and packs seven songs into the release. You can hear it below.

The post Trippie Redd Revealed He Postponed His Tour Because Due to the Birth of His Child first appeared on The Source.

The post Trippie Redd Revealed He Postponed His Tour Because Due to the Birth of His Child appeared first on The Source.

Nicki Minaj Says She Realized Her Body Was ‘Fine’ Before Plastic Surgery

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Nicki Minaj Accounces her own record label

Nicki Minaj reveals that she regrets her plastic surgery. Speaking on The Run-Through with Vogue after the release of her cover story, Minaj revealed she was fine as she was.

“I guarantee you, if you change anything on your body and do anything surgical and all this, you’re going to more than likely, not definitely, more than likely look back one day and say, ‘I was fine just the way I was,” Minaj said. “And that’s what happened to me.”

She added, “Seeing my son did remind me of myself so much. My real self. And it made me think, ‘Why didn’t I like this?’ So weird.”

You can hear the full interview below.

Ahead of the Pink Friday 2 album release, Nicki Minaj covered the new edition of Vogue magazine. Inside, she details how her world changed with the arrival of her son, affectionately known as Papa Bear.

Nicki Minaj has updated the release date for Pink Friday 2, making it available to fans on her birthday. Minaj shared the details in an Instagram Live session, setting the release date for Dec. 8.

“This entire album will be the biggest gift I’ve ever given humanity thus far,” Minaj said. “I can stand by that. I will bet any amount of money that Pink Friday 2, the album, is going to make people fall in love immediately.”

Nicki Minaj fans have been waiting for quite some time for the release of her highly-anticipated project, Pink Friday 2. Most recently, Queen Barbie herself went Live to her 227 million followers on Instagram to talk about the new project and its coinciding tour. Not only does she let fans into a little bit of her creative process behind her new release, she always explains that this Pink Friday 2 tour will be “greater than every other tour combined.” 

Nicki states, “Even though this album is called Pink Friday 2, even though we love the nostalgia, this will not remind you of another tour. That’s how I’ll say it. I mean, it’s gonna be greater than every other tour combined — like this album. This will be a very different feeling tour, even if you’ve been to every Nicki Minaj tour that’s ever existed. Because there are certain things that I always do similar in all my tours. This time, it’s going to be a completely different perspective.”

We can’t help but wonder exactly what this means, whether she’s talking about her performance style or her set design. But one thing’s for sure: it sounds like she’s putting a lot of time and effort into giving fans an unforgettable show!

“In addition to it being, of course, a whole new album, the approach to the tour will be very different and the feel of the tour will be very different. We still gon’ cover all the ground that is required to cover in order for y’all to know that you fucking with the best, but it won’t remind you of another tour.”

The Pink Friday 2 Tour dates have yet to be announced, but Nicki has previously revealed it should start somewhere in the first quarter of next year. In the meantime, we wait patiently for the arrival of Pink Friday 2 on Nov. 17th, marking her first album in five years.

Fans can pre-save the album here.

The post Nicki Minaj Says She Realized Her Body Was ‘Fine’ Before Plastic Surgery first appeared on The Source.

The post Nicki Minaj Says She Realized Her Body Was ‘Fine’ Before Plastic Surgery appeared first on The Source.

Today In Hip Hop History: Jay-Z’s ‘The Black Album’ Turns 20 Years Old!

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TodayinHip HopHistory:JAY ZDropped'TheBlackAlbum'YearsAgo

On this day in Hip-Hop history, Brooklyn’s own Jay-Z released he would-be retirement album The Black Album. Although there was virtually no pause between The Black Album and new Jay-Z music (collaboration albums with both R. Kelly and Linkin Park were released the following year), this album is easily the greatest retirement project of all time.

In its entirety, this album sounds more like a greatest hits album than the eighth project of an illustrious career. Starting with the first track, “December 4th”, this album takes the listener on a nostalgic journey. This opening tale of Hov’s origin sets the tone of the album and properly introduces Jay to an industry that he feels has taken him for granted. This album is an opus to Jay’s distaste with the rap game as a whole. On numerous tracks, specifically “Encore” and “What More Can I Say”, Hov can be heard stating his frustration with being the one punch man (a fictional superhero who can defeat any opponent with merely one punch causing him to become bored with superhero work) of Hip Hop.

Aside from staking his claim as the greatest, Hov spent this album perfectly juggling his unique brand of bragging with the dropping of street knowledge you couldn’t pay for. Singles “Change Clothes” and “Dirt Off Your Shoulder” are perfect examples of the particular swagger Jay-Z brought to rap. His mature yet flamboyant lyricism is on par with the life described by Robin Leach. As the album progresses, Jay begins more and more to put his would-be competition in its place with sheer willpower. From “Threats” to “Lucifer” it seems Jay is directly challenging the rest of the rap world to get on his level before they never again get the chance.

The album ends with two songs that could interchangeably be used as an outro. Both “Allure” and “My 1st Song” show Jay-Z coming to terms with the final chapter of his career coming to a close, even if he was planning a comeback.

Featuring production from Kanye West, Just Blaze, The Neptunes, Timbaland, 9th Wonder, Rick Rubin, DJ Quik, and even Eminem, it’s easy to see why this album is as amazing as it is. Aside from the prolific production team, Jay-Z put together one of his most successful albums without any features (aside from a hook sung by Pharrell). Commercially, the album peaked at #1 on both the Top R&B/Hip-Hop chart and the Billboard 200 chart (where it appeared twice, each for a week). The album also went triple platinum in the United States and made appearances on music charts of eight different countries.

The post Today In Hip Hop History: Jay-Z’s ‘The Black Album’ Turns 20 Years Old! first appeared on The Source.

The post Today In Hip Hop History: Jay-Z’s ‘The Black Album’ Turns 20 Years Old! appeared first on The Source.

Andre 3000 Says He Played His New Album for Tyler, the Creator and Frank Ocean to Test a Younger Audience

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AndreAdmitshe'sNotMotivatedtoCompletea'Serious'Project

Andre 3000 pulled up to NPR to speak with Rodney Carmichael about his forthcoming album. One of the interesting pieces from the interview is he gave an exclusive listen to Tyler, the Creator and Frank Ocean.

I wanted to see how a younger audience would perceive it. I live in Cali now, so I reached out to Tyler for him to check it out and I went to his house.

So we’re sitting there and Frank [Ocean] just happened to drop by. So it’s us three sitting there listening to these three songs and I just kind of wanted to get an opinion. And it was just good for me to hear with somebody else. Because sometimes you can be in your own thing and think it’s a certain thing and you just want to have some outside… not that it really matters, because once you believe in it enough — I mean, I take criticism all the time, but it’s not like, ‘Hey, do you like it or not?’ It’s ‘How can we help it?’ So at that point, I felt like we had something because we had a nice day just enjoying it in a way. And I started just playing it for friends and playing it for artists and playing it for people I respect or people who I felt would get it.

– Andre 3000 on playing his new album for Tyler, the Creator and Frank Ocean

You can read about the feedback he received from the two legends here.

On Tuesday morning, Andre 3000 announced a solo album. You read that right: Andre 3000 is preparing to deliver a solo album. Hitting Instagram, the Outkast legend announced New Blue Sun for release this Friday (Nov. 17).

Additional details are short. However, NPR Podcast has unearthed a tracklist, which you can see below.

The post Andre 3000 Says He Played His New Album for Tyler, the Creator and Frank Ocean to Test a Younger Audience first appeared on The Source.

The post Andre 3000 Says He Played His New Album for Tyler, the Creator and Frank Ocean to Test a Younger Audience appeared first on The Source.