GRAMMYS

LL Cool J Speaks On Upcoming Album, Praises Q-Tip’s Production

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LL Cool J recently opened up about his forthcoming album and praised the legendary Q-Tip for his excellent executive production. While the rapper celebrated a big night at the 65th Grammy Awards red carpet, he’s got an even bigger year ahead. Moreover, this new LP from LL will be his first since 2013’s Authentic. “I know all the tricks. I got this covered,” he expressed to E! News. “Look, it was executive produced by Q-Tip. The album I think is really, really special. I think it’s something it’s modern without chasing. It’s a whole new thing. I can’t wait for the people to see it.

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – FEBRUARY 05: (FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY) (L-R) Melle Mel, LL Cool J and GloRilla performs during the 65th GRAMMY Awards at Crypto.com Arena on February 05, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Timothy Norris/FilmMagic)

“I think honestly and sincerely that Q-Tip as a producer is unbelievable and what he did on this record for me, I think is amazing,” he continued. “So the world will decide.” Shortly after the Grammys, the rap pioneer doubled down on his promo via Twitter. “My new album is coming this year,” he wrote earlier today (February 6). Also, he previously teased his next album on his 55th birthday. “I’m competing with myself on this new album. Wait til you hear this MF,” the MC tweeted. “This year B. It’s coming.” As he also celebrates hip-hop’s 50th anniversary, it’s going to be a big year for the Rock The Bells mogul.

On that note, he hosted a celebration for the genre at the Grammy awards ceremony. Alongside The Roots, with the occasion curated by their drummer and icon Questlove, he blended different eras of hip-hop together. While DJ Jazzy Jeff and DJ Drama controlled the mixers, hip-hop history unfolded on the Grammys stage. It began with performances from some of its pioneers: Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, Run-DMC, and LL Cool J himself. Then, the show moved through a barrage of rap icons playing some of their biggest hits.

Meanwhile, the newer generations also got their slice of the pie. Following Method Man, Queen Latifah, and Public Enemy, artists like Missy Elliott, Nelly, and Busta Rhymes kept the energy up. Finally, the show rounded out with some big current names like Lil Baby, GloRilla, and Lil Uzi Vert. Between this and more great music from some of the genre’s legends, all we can do is wait patiently and take it all in. As always, log back into HNHH for the latest on LL Cool J, upcoming albums, and the artistry of hip-hop.

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Diddy Allegedly Posts And Deletes Mysterious Diss Towards An Unnamed Artist

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The 65th Grammy Awards on Sunday (February 5) had a slew of highlights, whether for celebratory or disappointing reasons. However, Grammy season apparently sunk its teeth pretty hard into the competitive music landscape for some artists. Diddy posted a cryptic diss towards an unnamed artist on his Instagram story, and deleted it shortly after. Moreover, the scathing shot took aim at the mystery artist’s Grammys aspirations and previous success. “I helped you win your first and only grammy award which I did out of kindness,” Combs wrote. “And somehow you thought you could win another without my help ?? Oh okay..”

After the Bad Boy mogul’s post, many took to social media to take their guesses as to who he could be dissing. Before all that, though, some people noticed that the 53-year-old apparently helps people win awards. “The fact that Diddy is out there helping people win Grammies puts a lot of Grammy’s credibility into question. This is wild,” one Twitter user noted with a screenshot of the post. “Now I get why TAT won ahead of Antibals’s Fu Chronicles,” capping his message off with a facepalm emoji. In the replies, people speculated on who this could possibly refer to.

However, in the hours since this news broke, a few conflicting accounts made the waters murkier. When Onsite! reported the deleted post on Instagram, Diddy commented “This is fake.” Meanwhile, many others including TMZ came to the conclusion that Diddy dissed Burna Boy. Moreover, the Harlem native executive produced Burna’s 2020 album Twice As Tall, which won Best Global Music Album in 2021. Later, the Afrobeats star scored a nomination for his album Love, Damini in the same category this year.

HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA – JANUARY 23: Burna Boy performs onstage at the Warner Music Group Pre-Grammy Party at Hollywood Athletic Club on January 23, 2020 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Amy Sussman/Getty Images for Warner Music)

Still, people on either side of the fence are defending their side of the story, since apparently people saw Diddy’s post before deletion. “Knowing you it’s probably true lol look how many artists you ‘helped’ then dropped….” one user wrote under his clarifying comment. “Lol i seen when u posted it wtf why u get to lyin,” another posted. While that back-and-forth could go on forever, it’s also possible that someone hacked his account and did post the message. If you’re curious, you can check out the screenshots of the posted and deleted Diddy diss at an artist below for yourself. Regardless, come back to HNHH for more updates on this story and the latest on Diddy.

Screenshot via Instagram @its_onsite

Ice-T Says He Almost Turned Down Grammys Appearance

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Ice-T says that he nearly turned down Questlove’s request to have him perform at the 2023 Grammy Awards. Ice-T was among the dozens of artists to take the stage during the hip-hop 50 tribute performance. He reflected on the show during an interview with ET beforehand. He says that it’s good “to see all these legends together and you’re not here for a funeral.”

“Questlove calls me up and he says, ‘All right, you gotta come to L.A. this weekend… It’s a big performance, I got you in the lineup,’” he recalled. “And I was still hesitant ’cause it’s a long travel, But then he says, ‘You don’t want to be sitting at home watching this show, saying you should’ve been there.”

Ice-T at the 65th Annual GRAMMY Awards held at Crypto.com Arena on February 5, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Christopher Polk/Variety via Getty Images)

“Real talk, unfortunately, that’s usually the only time we all get together and see each other,” Ice-T shared. “So the Grammys brought us together.” He then reflected on days when there was no representation for hip-hop at the Grammys. “I got one of the early GRAMMYs with Quincy Jones, you know, but I felt Quincy kinda snuck us in the backdoor.”

From there, he compared the experience to that of last year’s Super Bowl. Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Mary J. Blige, 50 Cent, and Kendrick Lamar all performed at the event. Ice-T continued: “They got everybody, they got all the hoodlums in here. We don’t get invited to this type of party! The people that were raised by us are now the people making the decisions, and so what a difference a day makes. You see Dr. Dre doing the Super Bowl with 50 Cent, Eminem, all the outlaws. That means that the culture has really broadened to where the people in power are our children.”

In addition to Ice-T, Run-D.M.C., Rakim, Public Enemy, and many more legends made appearances on Sunday night. Younger artists such as Lil Baby and Lil Uzi Vert also took the stage. LL Cool J hosted the tribute while Questlove directed and co-produced it.

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Why Wasn’t Your Favorite Rapper In The Grammys’ Hip-Hop Tribute? Questlove Has A Thorough Explanation

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Questlove 2023 Grammys
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At the Grammys last night (February 5), the Recording Academy paid tribute to 50 years of hip-hop history with a 10-minute, all-star performance from a number of the most important rappers ever. With anything of this sort that attempts to be all-encompassing, though, some people are bound to be upset. It’s impossible to include every rapper, and as for why some didn’t make the cut, Questlove, who put the whole thing together, offered a lengthy explanation.

He began by generally breaking it down on Twitter today, tweeting, “general ?s answered about last night: (some are asking if we are playing erasure games so uh….yeah I don’t play that so—in answering the questions of ‘why wasn’t dada there?) 1. already booked 2. declined our offer straight up 3. or a third option im not gonna get into.”

He then teased a bigger endeavor in this realm coming up: “or we made a decision to wait for the 2 hour August taping.”

After going into more depth, he addressed questions some Twitter users had. One person asked, “Why was there no representation of talent from the 2010’s,” and Questlove replied, “because they said ‘no’, or they walked out.” Another said, “I’m sure there were all types of circumstances, but Ice-T as the Only LA representative, in Staples Center, in Los Angeles… is WILD!! Great performance otherwise.” Questlove answered, “welp: I asked like 10 legends so….sometimes you gotta go with the one who wants you. again might not be your preference but most of hip hop has side gigs. Acting was the main issue. lotta movies being shot.”

Meanwhile, in an interview, he explained Will Smith’s absence specifically, saying, “They started shooting Bad Boys 4 this week, so he couldn’t make rehearsals. He wanted to do it.”

Find Questlove’s original thread below.

“general ?s answered about last night: (some are asking if we are playing erasure games so uh….yeah I don’t play that so—in answering the questions of ‘why wasn’t dada there?)

1. already booked
2. declined our offer straight up
3. or a third option im not gonna get into

or we made a decision to wait for the 2 hour August taping

—we decided to eschew those who passed away, & give flowers to the living —for starters I learned with VH1 Honors not all rappers are good MCs and bad karaoke is a danger slope. And WAY too many legends passed so someone’s estate was gonna be heated.

this went through a crazy evolution. all my suggestions were 20 min presentations with Breakbeats/Graf Legends/Dancers/DJ/Beatboxers—-you’ll be shocked how fast 25-40 secs goes by and you don’t even get the halfway mark of 1995l remember 1973 to 2023 was the goal

we were aware of playing our biases out (if it were me alone? idda just skewered to my teenyears). at one point I said ‘we should do ALL women!!’ —that idea didn’t get too …..far (we didnt have time to do a ‘Some Kind Of Monster’/Kumbya thing to make that a reality)

& this is NOT leading to a tired narrative that women don’t get along because there MORE concerns on the men side of things too (happiest moment seeing LL & Ice T just chillin—)—but yeah the most asked question was ‘who all gone be there?’ which is understandable.

we had a criteria we wanted to follow: alive? harmonizing? turntablism? fighting shape? NYC? LA? BAY? ATL? NAWLINS? HOUSTON? MIDWEST? born before 1960? born after 1995? Superlyrical? Stylistic? Original? generally known by at least 2 generations?

now granted they might not be your favorite (and there were 2 crucial 11th hour (more like 10 mins before taping) cancellations that mighta made it look like we were biased in our choices. but just understand we literally tried to SQUEEEEEEEZE everyone in.”

Madonna’s Grammys Appearance Confuses Fan On Social Media

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Madonna’s appearance at the 2023 Grammy Awards on Sunday night left many fans online confused. Madonna was present at the ceremony to introduce Kim Petras and Sam Smith. However, many fans on Twitter took note of her face looking different than usual.

“This legit looks like a Madonna impersonator with pics of rhe [sic] real Madonna in the background. She really f–ked up her face,” one person wrote. Another further said, quite cruelly: “Madonna looks good for her age … if her age is 2,700 year old vampire who eats babies and small animals alive.”

Madonna at the 65th Annual GRAMMY Awards held at Crypto.com Arena on February 5, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Christopher Polk/Variety via Getty Images)

As for her introduction of Smith and Petras, Madonna remarked: “Here’s what I’ve learned after four decades in music. If they call you shocking, scandalous, troublesome, problematic, provocative or dangerous, you’re definitely onto something.” Later in the night, Petras became the first openly transgender woman to win a Grammy award. Her collaboration with Sam Smith, “Unholy,” notched them the award for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance. During her acceptance speech, Petras took the time to thank Madonna for fighting for LGBTQ rights. She also gave a shoutout to the late musician Sophie.

“I just thank all the incredible transgender legends before me, who kicked these doors open for me so I could be here tonight: Sophie, especially, my friend who passed away two years ago, who told me this would happen and always believed in me. Thank you so much for your inspiration, Sophie. I adore you and your inspiration will forever be in my music. Madonna, for fighting for LGBTQ rights, so much. I don’t think I could be here without Madonna,” Petras said on stage.

Madonna’s appearance at the 2023 Grammy Awards comes ahead of her 35-city tour, later this year. She first announced The Celebration Tour with a video featuring Lil Wayne, Eric Andre, and more in January. “I am excited to explore as many songs as possible in hopes to give my fans the show they have been waiting for,” Madonna said in a statement.

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Kendrick Lamar’s Kids React To Grammy Win For “Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers”: Watch

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Kendrick Lamar might not have won AOTY at the Grammys but he didn’t leave empty-handed. K. Dot had a phenomenal evening that saw him win three out of eight of the categories he was nominated in. As he won the Best Rap Album category, he thanked his family their support to create the album.

“First and foremost, I want to thank my family for giving me the courage, you know, and the vulnerability to share these stories and share my truth with this album,” he said. “I want to thank my fans for trusting me with these words. As artists, we all entertainers.. we say things to provoke thoughts and feelings and emotions,” he continued. “Making this record was one of my toughest albums to make,” he added. “I would like to thank the culture for allowing me to evolve in order to make a song like ‘Mother I Sober.’ That’s special to me. All we wanted was to be the biggest underground artist of all time and I finally found imperfection with this album.” 

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – FEBRUARY 05: Kendrick Lamar accepts the Best Rap Album award for “Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers” onstage during the 65th GRAMMY Awards at Crypto.com Arena on February 05, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Johnny Nunez/Getty Images for The Recording Academy)

Alford Whitney, Kendrick Lamar’s fiancée, later shared an adorable video of their two kids reacting to the news. His daughter and son, who graced the cover of Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers alongside Whitney, dressed up for the occasion as they witnessed their father make history. “He’s talking about us,” Lamar’s daughter said in the clip, “He’s talking about us! He’s talking about his family! Uzi and Enoch and mommy. Whitney congratulated Kendrick in the caption, writing, “Congrats on 3 more @kendricklamar we [white heart emoji] and appreciate you!”

Though Kendrick Lamar’s kept his family out of the spotlight, he opened up a lot more on his album. However, the album almost didn’t see the light of day. During an interview with W Magazine, he explained that he was hesitant to drop Mr. Morale after completing it.

“When I got to completion and I said, ‘I may or may not put this out; I’m not going to put this out; it’s way too much.’ I thought about my children,” he says, a grin spreading across his face. “I thought about when they turn 21, or they’re older in life, and when I got grandchildren, or if I’m long gone—this can be a prerequisite of how to cope. That’s the beauty of it for me.”

Check out the reaction from Kendrick’s children below.

Chris Brown Apologized To Robert Glasper While Suggesting A Change That Could Make The Grammys Better

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chris brown grammys apology
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Robert Glasper may not be a household name — something the producer has jokingly alluded to while promoting his own music — but he certainly gets his due from the recording industry establishment (i.e. those in the know). However, one of the artists he defeated in the category for Best R&B Album at last night’s Grammys wasn’t joking when he blew up at Glasper over the win.

Chris Brown, whose album Breezy was nominated against Glasper’s Black Radio III, threw a bit of a hissy fit on Instagram, wondering “who da f*ck is this?” and joking that he would “start playing the harmonica” to get recognition from the Recording Academy. (Truthfully, he’s lucky they’re still considering him at all after being basically persona non grata for upwards of a decade after assaulting Rihanna.)

Glasper acknowledged Brown’s meltdown, posting a graphic on his own Instagram that read “Who the f*ck is Robert Glasper?” “If y’all have questions, I have answers,” he captioned the post, smoothly highlighting his impressive resume which includes production for Kendrick Lamar, Mac Miller, and a who’s-who of Black music royalty in addition to composing the score for The Photograph starring Issa Rae.

Fans on Twitter seemed to align more with Glasper than with Brown’s outlook, censuring the more popular artist for not doing his research. Since then, he apparently has, as he sent Glasper a DM on Instagram apologizing for his outburst, according to a screenshot he shared on his Story.

“Congratulations my brother,” he wrote. “I would like to apologize if you took offense to my reaction at the Grammys.. you were not the Intended target and I know I came off really rude and mean. After doing my research I actually think your amazing.”

However, he didn’t stop there. While acknowledging how his tantrum came off, he recommended a change to the Grammys’ format which actually might make things better for R&B artists in the future. “THE ORGANIZATION ISNT DOING US BLACKS OUR DUE DILIGENCE,” he wrote. “YOU AND I SHOULD never be in the Same category… two totally different vibes and genres. So from one black man to another.. CONGRATULATIONS.. HOPE YOU ARE ABLE TO FEED YOUR FAMILY FOR LIFE.”

Interestingly enough, R&B has had a fraught history at the Grammys — after all, what Black genre hasn’t? From 2003 to 2011, it was split into separate categories, Best R&B Album and Best Contemporary R&B album, to allow for the differences in production between those albums styled after the genre’s roots and those with more hip-hop influence and electronic production. After the categories were re-merged, a Best Progressive R&B Album award was introduced in 2020. Glasper’s Dinner Party bandmate Terrace Martin was nominated in that category this year, although Steve Lacy’s Gemini Rights took the award.

For what it’s worth, pitting Brown’s much more pop-influenced album against a field that included more soulful entries like Mary J. Blige’s Good Morning Gorgeous, Lucky Daye’s Candydrip, and PJ Morton’s Watch the Sun does make it stick out like a sore thumb. Perhaps the Grammys could figure out another category for more uptempo, dance-centric R&B records in the future.

Doja Cat Debuted Her ‘First Tattoos’ At The 2023 Grammys And It Seems Legitimate This Time

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Doja Cat Grammys 2023
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Doja Cat is in an experimental mood. Isn’t she always? Recently, she was a lightning rod for attention in Paris with outfits hinged on fake eyelashes and 30,000 Swarovski crystals. Doja attended the 2023 Grammys in Versace on Sunday, February 5, but she raised eyebrows with a tweet before the event.

“Got my first tattoos today,” she tweeted in the early hours of February 5.

Some fans might recall Doja Cat claiming she’d gotten her “first tattoo ever” on July 23, 2022. It was actually just a temporary tattoo. This time, though, the ink seems real.

One of Doja Cat’s Grammys looks came from KNWLS. She posed for various photos in the custom tarnished leather gown, and if you zoom in, you can see delicate tattoos of a cat holding a pitchfork and a spider. The tattoos were previously covered up by her Versace black latex elbow gloves.

Doja Cat was nominated five awards at the 2023 Grammys: Best Music Video (“Woman”), Best Pop Duo/Group Performance (“I Like You [A Happier Song]”), Best Pop Solo Performance (“Woman”), Best Rap Performance (“Vegas”), and Record Of The Year (“Woman”).

She didn’t emerge victorious in any category, unfortunately, but we’ll always have her Best Pop Duo/Group Performance acceptance speech for “Kiss Me More” from last year’s Grammys. Plus, more music is on the way.

“I know that I’ve done a lot of pink and soft things, a lot of pop and glittery sounds,” Doja told Variety as their latest cover star. “But for this next era, I’m going in a more masculine direction.”

She added, “I feel like we have enough pop-punk artists right now. And if there needs to be more, then let there be more, but I don’t think I’m the one to do it. I want to explore more of a raw, unfiltered, hardcore punk sort of thing. It’s just something that I’m doing for my own personal fun — getting some drummers and guitarists together. And I don’t even know if that’s gonna make it out there.”