The ever-popular multiplayer shooter Fortnite got a new, rap-related facelift today, as Shark Island was turned into Ice Isle in celebration of the addition of rapper Ice Spice as a playable character. Two Rap Princess skins are now available for purchase in the game’s store, inspired by her looks in the videos for “Deli” and Cash Cobain’s “Fisherrr (Remix).” She’s also got a themed Grappler and Rifle.
In an interview with Billboard about the new additions, Ice said she earned some “big sister cool points” from her younger siblings who play the game and said she’s “grateful to stand next to icons,” including Eminem and Snoop Dogg, who are also in the game. Also included in Chapter 2 Remix is the long-awaited debut of Juice WRLD. The rappers were included as part of the Chapter 2 Remix rollout, which kicked off with an event in New York City earlier this month and the initiative will continue through the month of November. You can see a recap video of the performance below.
Earlier this year, the game partnered with Don Toliver for a game mode inspired by his new album HardStone Psycho.
You can check out the gameplay trailer for Ice Spice’s Fortnite takeover above.
Ice Spice is one of a couple of rappers joining Fortnite Battle Royale‘s Chapter 2 remix, with Eminem, Snoop Dogg, and Juice WRLD coming soon with their own playable skins, map zones, challenges, weapons, and much more. But the Bronx femcee is keeping things going as of Thursday (November 14) after Tha Doggfather kicked them off. The in-game location Shark Island is now Ice Isle, and its abandoned shopping mall is now covered in a Y2K! aesthetic. Her Grappler and Rifle are now available along with two skins based on her “Deli” and “Fisherrr (Remix)” music video outfits, respectively.
“I’m most excited to see how happy my fans are that they get to use my skins and just grateful to stand next to icons,” Ice Spice stated to Billboard. “I have a bunch of younger siblings that play the game and [I] also get to have big sister cool points.” “Not yet,” the “In Ha Mood” rapper answered when asked if she had the chance to try her in-game contributions out. “But I am excited to as soon as I wrap up tour. She’s super cute and I love her looks. […] I grew up playing on consoles like the Wii and Nintendo. I’m obviously a huge Super Mario fan.” Check out gameplay footage of these new drops down below.
Of course, we know that Ice Spice is a big media consumer and a fan of all things style, so this Fortnite collab and the skins for it should come as no surprise. In fact, she often fuses these interests in other ways that go beyond the video game world, showing love to an iconic ’90s movie for her Halloween costume.
As such, seeing Ice Spice switch things up for this Fortnite team-up is a treat, and we wonder what else she has in store. With evolving looks and new fashion choices, her closet and style repertoire could probably make for more than a few skins for the video game. But what players care about most is the actual in-game experience. Let’s see how Ice Isle and the other gameplay elements stack up.
Fortnite has plenty of music collabs under their belt, so it’s no surprise the Battle Royale video game sensation continues to go all out for its crossover of dedicated players and music fans. Moreover, they just announced the launch of their Chapter 2 Remix for their new season on Friday (November 1), in collaboration with Eminem, Snoop Dogg, Ice Spice, and presumably the late Juice WRLD’s estate, which reportedly went live today (Saturday, November 2). Each hip-hop artist will have themed gameplay locations, skins, and other gameplay elements. Overall, it seems like a pretty thorough and engaging effort that will surely make fans lock in even more.
In fact, Snoop Dogg and Ice Spice hit the New York City streets this week to promote this new Fortnite collab, fresh off the former announcing his Missionary album’s release date. In Times Square, they offered a surprise performance of their biggest hits individually, and then united onstage to reveal the Chapter 2 Remix trailer, which you can check out down below. It previewed the worlds that these artists will be a part of, and Tha Doggfather will kick off this first week as the game’s sixth season’s main face.
For those curious, Snoop Dogg will be an in-game boss in Fortnite, complete with a unique weapon, and then Eminem (maybe Slim Shady?), Ice Spice, and Juice WRLD will follow. “My son Cordell’s a big Fortnite player with me, so when we had the opportunity we jumped on it as a new way to connect with my sound and style,” Snoop stated via a press release. “Anyone can be Snoop in Fortnite.” Juice will lead week four, and on November 30 at 2PM EST, the game will launch the Remix: The Finale live in-game event to celebrate his legacy, along with an exclusive skin for players that log in that day.
“You will see some really interesting ways of integrating music,” the director of strategic partnerships at Fortnite‘s Epic Games, Emily Levy, remarked to Billboard. “And we are debuting music at different points of the season in interesting places.” Where we dropping… Or is that meme dead already?
A Google search of Reddit posts mentioning both Nintendo and Spotify yields over 24 million results. On at least the first couple pages, many of the posts are by people wondering why the heck Nintendo hasn’t made its music library, its decades of classic video game soundtracks, available on Spotify or other streaming platforms: They already have the music, it’d be easy money!
Now, there’s a new option, and it’s direct from Nintendo: Last night (October 30), the company announced Nintendo Music, a new app for phones and smart devices that’s available right now. It’s cheap, too: It’s only available to users with a Nintendo Switch Online subscription, which might be Thwomp groan-inducing at first. But, that’s less than $2 a month if you’re on an annual plan, and anybody who would be interested in Nintendo Music likely already has NSO anyway.
Nintendo Music is what it sounds like: an app for listening to Nintendo music. At first glance, the user interface looks essentially like a direct copy of Spotify (albeit with more Yoshi). So, here’s a question: Why did Nintendo take the time to create their own Spotify, instead of just putting their music on existing streaming platforms? Instead of speculating about the thoughts of people I don’t know, here’s a better question: What are the evident appeals of each approach?
Let’s start with Nintendo just putting its years of Mario and Zelda music up on Spotify. That would have certainly been the easier, low-lift approach from Nintendo: Just click the “upload” button and wait for the pennies of royalties to start rolling in. From a user’s perspective, this would have meant one less app to juggle, and it would have been effortless to integrate the Splatoon soundtrack with their existing music library.
On top of that, having Nintendo music on Spotify would mean it’d be part of the platform’s ecosystem of intricacies. It could participate in the AI playlist feature, so users could find non-game music that’s similar in nature. Users could get game-inclusive “daylists.” Animal Crossing could dominate your Spotify Wrapped!
Now, onto the pros of Nintendo doing its own thing, and this is the time to highlight how Nintendo Music is setting itself apart from Spotify: with bespoke features that are specific to game music.
Perhaps the most notable feature is the ability to extend the length of some songs. It’s not just playing the same three-minute track on a loop, but it actually makes a longer version of the song, so it sounds like how it would if you just stayed in a game level for an extended time and just listened to the music. I know I’ve lingered on a game screen for an extra beat because I was digging the music, and this feature speaks to that part of me.
As I write this, I’m playing “Aquatic Ambiance” from Donkey Kong Country: not the default 3-minute-27-second version, but the hour-long version. A few minutes in, I forgot I was listening to it, which illustrates the value of video game music as background music. Especially in its extended form, these songs are perfect for setting a mood and keeping you in them without distraction, for essentially as long as you’d like, without moving on to a new song or the current song noticeably looping. It’s a seamless and unobtrusive experience.
(Important to note, though, is that not all songs have extended versions: I was really hoping the upbeat “Becoming Stronger” from Pokémon Scarlet and Violet did, but it sure doesn’t.)
Another unique, gamer-focused feature is spoiler prevention, which allows users to filter out music from certain games, such as ones they haven’t played yet and therefore don’t want to hear from. This and the extended songs are examples of things Nintendo couldn’t have done, or at least couldn’t have had as much control over as they’d like, had they gone the traditional streaming route.
This is also just a very Nintendo thing to do: Fans have been clamoring for news of a Switch successor, so naturally, Nintendo… released an alarm clock and then a music app. It’s another classic example of Nintendo’s signature unpredictability and whimsy.
Nintendo is keen on keeping tight control over its intellectual property. Never again would they be burned by third parties after the questionable live-action Mario movie from 1993, or the laughable Zelda CD-i games, which also first arrived in 1993. So, if Nintendo was going to officially release its music, it was inevitable that it would be via a mechanism like this. There are some drawbacks to the walled garden approach, yes, but ultimately, Nintendo Music is a perfect fit for its target audience.
Black Business Month is inextricably tied to the concept of “paying dues.” Nothing comes without first putting in some time and consistent effort to ensure not just the success of any given endeavor, but to build the trust that ensures that partners, customers, and investors will have confidence in offering their custom.
Like fellow Vallejo native E-40, LaRussell has built an enthusiastically engaged following outside the confines of the traditional major label system through his brand, Good Compenny. However, he’s taken it a step further, monetizing endeavors far beyond the established revenue streams we’ve come to expect from independent rappers, fueled by a Field Of Dreams-inspired philosophy: If you build it, they will come. But first, LaRussell had to build the trust among fans that would give them the confidence in supporting left-field strategies like backyard shows, sharing stock in music releases, and a lifetime membership to all of LaRussell’s shows. He has built a business from the ground up by being himself, taking chances, and paying dues.
“That’s just part of the process,” he explains of how he built that trust. “You start with one, one turn to two, two turn to four, four turn to eight, eight turn to 16, 16 turn to 32, 32 turn 64. And we just embraced that process the entire time. I’m never really trying to win people who don’t f*ck with me. I over-deliver to the people who love me, and they go tell everybody else.”
That’s how the Bay Area rapper gets fans to buy into each new product he rolls out, by paying his dues. Naturally, this means being great at the core skill at the heart of his entire business plan: Rapping. He’s not just great at the craft, either. He’s also hella productive. According to Genius.com, LaRussell has released 18 albums since 2018. Per Tidal, that number is closer to 33. The point is, he puts out so much music at such a rapid pace, that it’s hard to consistently keep track. This is a benefit of his indie status, but it’s also by design — and because he has so many revenue streams, LaRussell doesn’t worry about oversaturating the market.
“I make good dope,” he chuckles at the thought that he might be overdoing it. “I make good dope, and as long as you do dope, you’re going to come to me for it. Some n****s eat McDonald’s every day because that’s what they love, and that’s our focus. I’m not really focused on the people who don’t want to be here no more. I focus on the people who want to come to my crib, the people who love what I do, and I keep supplying it.”
That consistency and productivity not only cements fans’ willingness to stream his musical output, but also their belief in each new product he offers. For instance, although backyard shows — concerts he literally holds in fans’ backyards — and selling stock in his streams are at least based on his core work, he’s since been successful in offering experiences that don’t have anything to do with music in the first place.
“We got so many different ways to get paper off this music sh*t,” he enthuses. “It don’t even make sense. I be trying to put the OGs on all the different ways because it’s endless now. It goes beyond masters and publishing and live performances now.” For example: “I go straight to the people and I let them make offers on everything. I get paid to go hang out with fans. I opened it up to where you could book me to come play pickleball and come chill. We’ve just made every aspect of being an artist monetizable.” Just imagine being able to hoop with Tupac, or shoot pool with Jay-Z. Fans often dream of just being around their favorite rappers, sharing space and time with them… LaRussell has made this a reality while turning it into a business opportunity.
However, despite doing this interview for Black Business Month, LaRussell scoffs at the idea of BEING a Black business himself. “I just define myself as a business. I’m just in the business of humanity. I like to do dope sh*t and meet dope humans and share dope sh*t and just try to make people smile and cultivate through what we do. And I like to make paper. I don’t really look at it as this is a Black business or separate from anything. I got a bunch of different races and ethnicities just within my network and in my group. We just building big business in general.”
Which is, perhaps, the core of why historian John William Templeton and engineer Frederick E. Jordan Sr. founded this admittedly esoteric agenda 20 years ago: to show that a Black-owned business could and should be considered as innovative and profitable as any other. It highlights the possibilities, just as LaRussell’s own successes paint a broader picture of success for hip-hop artists. Even when an idea seems less viable on paper — or even in practice — LaRussell understands that paying dues is all part of the process.
“Everything works for me,” he says. “Everything works as long as I do the work. Only things don’t work is the things that I don’t do the work for, but everything work. Gold cards, stock, the residency shows, the offer-based systems, the Proud To Pay, merch, everything works. Some things take a little bit longer to develop, but everything works… You just got to build every day. You just got to get in there and do your work, and you never know what’s going to come from that work. Something might pop up that alters everything that you have planned to do in the next five because it happened tomorrow… I announce shows and I don’t even put the address until close to the date. So people just buy tickets based on trusting me. They don’t give a f*ck where it is. I could be in the middle of anywhere and they going to come because they just trust me. When I put out new technology, they just trust LaRussell because I built a trustworthy brand and I haven’t steered the people wrong.”
Apparently, no owls were harmed in the making of Kendrick Lamar’s hilarious video game version of “Not Like Us,” but fans are having a blast bopping the birds in the Whac-A-Mole-esque browser game for the past few days. For what it’s worth, the little “Wop”s that pop out when you make contact is an adorable touch.
Kendrick isn’t the only rapper whose had their music turned into a memorable digital mayhem, though; he’s actually the latest in a long line of rappers with games tied to their songs — a list that includes superstars like Future, Kanye West, and more. Sadly, some of the simple, browser-based games have gone offline after their initial releases, since they were timed to help promote specific projects.
But over the years, there have been big studio-produced games that put fans in the shoes of their favorite MCs to do everything from shooting hoops to brawling in the streets. Here’s a list of 10 more rapper-approved video games to feed your fix for beats, rhyme, and extra lives.
50 Cent: Bulletproof
A third-person action shooter in the vein of genre classics like Max Payne, this PlayStation 2-era revenge story was widely panned for having bad gameplay. While it proved 50’s early interest in expanding his G-Unit empire, it also betrayed a lack of care in how it did so.
Chance The Rapper: SuperMe
The story behind this game’s creation is more endearing than the game itself, thanks to its simple gameplay. However basic it is, though, it’s cool that Chance worked with Chicago’s public school system to encourage kids to learn to code.
Doja Cat Website for Planet Her
Excited to finally reveal that I created all the pixel art with RCA Records to revamp @dojacat ‘s website into a whole top-down pixel adventure. It was a lot of fun and I had lots of freedom in creating the city and the style. (1/3)#dojacat#rcarecords#pixelartpic.twitter.com/aFtxZNjDvJ
While not technically a game, per se, the 16-bit pixel art style for the interactive redesign of Doja’s website circa Planet Her made it very game-like. That you also navigated a tiny avatar of Doja through the titular world makes it all the more a shame it’s not accessible anymore.
Earthgang: Mirrorland
Pixel artist Ali Graham has had a lot of fun turning popular hip-hop moments into cute, 8- and 16-bit animations on Instagram. Atlanta rap duo Earthgang tapped him to make a full-blown side-scrolling adventure platformer for the release of their 2019 album, Mirrorland.
Future: I Won
Probably the grossest game on the list (although its attitude toward women isn’t exactly an outlier in either games design or hip-hop), this basic game is a bit like a ring toss, only the targets are scantily clad digital women, and the rings are chain necklaces. Yeesh.
Kanye West: Lil Ye Adventures
Although technically not officially endorsed by Kanye himself, this one’s almost too good not to include. Another of Graham’s creations, this one is based on Graham’s first cartoon avatar, a child-like version of Kanye from when he was way less problematic.
Aside from the games no longer in circulation, this one may very well be one of the hardest to obtain. A promotional product hyping his 2022 album Heroes & Villains, this dungeon crawler was released in limited quantities as a physical Game Boy game. I can’t exactly speak to its quality — despite having a copy, I haven’t actually owned a Game Boy since like 2003.
Nicki Minaj: The Empire
A lifestyle simulator might have seemed like a home run for Ms. Minaj’s first foray into mobile gaming, but its dated format is a relic of several outdated ideas about women in gaming (and its developers’ lazy assumptions that Nicki’s audience would be primarily women).
Def Jam Vendetta, Fight For NY, and Icon
Like a video game version of a posse cut, these games collect a roster of rapper to beat the hell out of each other in martial competition. The first one was a groundbreaking delight, the second is a damn classic, and the third tossed out a winning formula, effectively killing interest in the format. This is my semi-annual request for someone to figure out a way to do a new one of these with contemporary rappers (in the style of Fight for NY, not Icon).
Rap Jam Volume One
An utterly legendary release, likely thrown together to compete with the popularity of the NBA Jam franchise, Rap Jam has the distinction of being the first game to bring together a collective of real-life rappers — ’90s staples like Coolio, House of Pain, LL Cool J, Queen Latifah, and Yo-Yo — for an unhinged basketball game that flouted the rules. It was developed by Motown during another one of the label’s ill-fated attempts at branching out, and while its name might suggest that there were more of these, its unimpressive quality meant that it was also the last of its kind.
Bronny James won a Call of Duty tournament over the weekend during the NBA’s Summer League in Las Vegas. The tournament appeared to feature NBA players and NBA hopefuls, as Charlotte Hornets player Grant Williams placed second overall. For his win in the Modern Warfare III tournament, he received a Call of Duty championship belt and a $10,000 prize.
Bronny James is no stranger to the gaming industry. He previously livestreamed on Twitch, and though his account has been dormant for years, he still has over 600 thousand followers. James was also previously a member of esports organization FaZe Clan’s celebrity wing, joining in 2020. FaZe Clan came into popularity over a decade ago because of their ability to hit “trick shots” on the popular Call of Duty games of the time. He made the cover of Sports Illustrated with the team in 2021 with other members of the team, becoming one of the youngest athletes to grace the cover of the magazine.
Bronny James Wins Call Of Duty Tournament During Summer League
Call of Duty is famously very popular among athletes, so Bronny James being good at and enjoying playing the game is not surprising. Many NBA players have spoken about being avid gamers, as it provides them with something to do in their downtime, away from the daily grind that comes with being a professional athlete. His father LeBron Jamesrecently previewed the upcoming EA Sports College Football 25 game on a livestream with longtime friend Frankie Walker, blowing him out while controlling Ohio State University. LeBron is also a longtime Madden player, beating his Lakers teammates in tournaments during the NBA bubble, so he and his son are both good at their video games of choice.
In a recent interview with ESPN, LeBron stated that he would have supported Bronny in any endeavor he chose to embark on and mentioned gaming as one of those endeavors. Gaming is clearly big in the James household, and in Bronny’s case, it became an important part of his public identity long before he even knew he’d be playing in the NBA. As most rookies do, Bronny has struggled in the Summer League so far, though his defensive instincts and playmaking have received early praise from his peers and pundits alike. Hopefully, he gets it going on the court in the same way that he has off the court.
Fortnite‘s grip on popular culture is honestly pretty impressive. From stealing popular dances for in-game emotes to featuring some of the biggest stars in entertainment as character skins and even hosting virtual concerts from the likes of Billie Eilish and The Weeknd, the game has ingrained itself into music — especially hip-hop — as both a valuable tool for reaching a young audience and a favored pastime of the artists themselves — albeit, a sometimes frustrating one.
The next artist to team up with Epic Games is Don Toliver, who will be the focus of the special game Hardstone. Toliver teased the game/event with a trailer showing off some of the game’s environments, skins, and weapons, which will all revolve around the biker gang theme of his upcoming album, Hardstone Psycho. The collaboration is fitting, considering it was Toliver’s mentor Travis Scott who performed one of Fortnite‘s first-ever virtual concerts, breaking streaming records for the game in the process.
Hardstone will be a “8v8 turf war between two rival biker gangs (Hardstone & Wolves M.C.)… featuring music from Don Toliver’s new album, a fully custom map, immersive gameplay, & more.” You can play the game free on June 10th in Fortnite, by logging onto Fortnite and searching for “Hardstone” from the main menu.
Don Toliver is an artist who has proven to be one of the best in his lane. Overall, he has some great projects and some singles that have stayed in our rotations for months and years on end. With each new album, Toliver is constantly giving us new concepts. For instance, his new album Hardstone Psycho is supposed to bring forth the biker gang vibes. There are some hard rock elements to his latest singles, and we cannot wait to hear the finished product.
In fact, the album is going to be coming out on June 14th, which is next Friday. Before that, on June 10th, the world of Hardstone Psycho will be coming to Fortnite. We know this because of a new trailer that was put out earlier today. In the tweet below, you can see some gameplay footage which showcases a whole new map that was made just for the album. Furthermore, it appears as though some unique Hardstone Psycho skins will be made available to gamers. It’s a cool addition that Toliver fans will definitely appreciate.
Fortnite has been having a resurgence over the last year or so, with much of that stemming from the recent OG season. That said, Fortnite collaborations seem to be the move for a lot of new artists. If Toliver gets a song in the new Festival mode, then it will truly elevate this new partnership. Hopefully, this new project is able to live up to the hype created by the three singles.
Let us know what you think about this new collaboration, in the comments section down below. Do you believe that this is going to be a fun new map to play? Do you still play Fortnite and if so, will you be checking out this new game mode? Additionally, stay tuned to HNHH for the latest news and updates from around the music world. We will keep you informed on all of your favorite artists and their upcoming projects.
Kai Cenat called out IGN in a post on Twitter, Saturday, after the outlet covered his Elden Ring marathon stream by bringing up his arrest for inciting a riot in New York City in 2023. He remarked, “F*ck IGN,” in the post, which prompted an apology from the outlet. In the original tweet, IGN wrote: “Kai Cenat, the popular Twitch streamer who once incited a riot in New York with a giveaway event, has officially finished Elden Ring after a more than 160 hour marathon that at one point included throwing his controller out the window..”
They eventually deleted the post and published the following statement: “We messed up that Kai Cenat story by couching it in something that has nothing to do with Elden Ring or his playthrough of it. We apologize to @KaiCenat, who we’re big fans of, and his followers, and we promise to do better in the future.”
SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA – OCTOBER 07: Kai Cenat attends TwitchCon 2022 on October 07, 2022 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Robin L Marshall/Getty Images)
Cenat finally finished his Elden Ring stream on Friday after a week of playing the critically acclaimed game. “To the people who watch on the regular, thank you. Because y’all gave me a chance to explore a new game that is not in our category that we don’t normally play and we had a great time…gaming is really huge and I really respect Elden Ring,” Cenat said afterward. “[T]o the Souls community, y’all are some gamers. Second of all, this game is a masterpiece. Does it deserve game of the year? Yes. I love God of War. I love it. This game is cinema…I literally enjoyed every boss battle…I don’t know what game compares to this now. This is absolute cinema.”
We messed up that Kai Cenat story by couching it in something that has nothing to do with Elden Ring or his playthrough of it. We apologize to @KaiCenat, who we’re big fans of, and his followers, and we promise to do better in the future.
Cenat’s playthrough comes ahead of the release of the game’s first DLC expansion, Shadow of the Erdtree. Be on the lookout for further updates on Kai Cenat on HotNewHipHop.
… June 10th 
