Hip Hop News

Social media apps have often implemented strategies to combat cyber-bullying and hate speech, but with tens of millions of users, monitoring posts and comments can prove to be difficult. Celebrities are often easy targets as their lives are lived out loud, and Lizzo is an artist who has continuously been vocal about enduring harsh remarks from the public.

Recently, the “Rumors” singer shed tears on Livestream as she lamented over being bombarded with negativity. “For the most part, it doesn’t hurt my feelings. I don’t care,” she said at the time. “I just think when I’m working this hard, my tolerance gets lower, my patience is lower, I’m more sensitive and it gets to me.”

Lizzo’s “Rumors” collaborator Cardi B came in to defend her, and according to TMZ, it looks as if Facebook is taking measures to prevent Lizzo from dealing with hateful remarks. The outlet claims that Facebook has “removed a number of comments” on the singer’s recent posts on Facebook as well as Instagram. 

It is also reported that users who are found repeatedly making distasteful comments that include “hate speech, harassment, and bullying” risk their accounts being removed altogether.

“When you stand up for yourself they claim your problematic & sensitive,” said Cardi about Lizzo. “When you don’t they tear you apart until you crying like this. Whether you skinny, big, plastic, they going to always try to put their insecurities on you. Remember these are nerds looking at the popular table.”

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There have been several discussions about homophobia in Hip Hop for decades, but in recent years, the conversations have increased. We’re seeing more artists come forward as members of the LGBTQIA+ community, but the revelations are often met with levels of resistance. DaBaby’s recent Rolling Loud Miami scandal divided fans as people have debated being “canceled” for homophobic remarks, and Saweetie chatted with PEOPLE about her stance on the controversial topic.

Following the Bay Area rapper’s performance at Sprite’s Live from the Label virtual concert series, Saweetie spoke about LGBTQIA+ artists and fans being deserving of respect.

Rich Fury / Staff / Getty Images

“I think that it’s important that we all respect each other. We all bleed the same,” aid Saweetie. “We’re all human beings. I was raised in a household that believes in respecting everyone, no matter who they are, no matter what they do, because at the end of the day, we’re all equal.”

“We all need to call out what we’re uncomfortable with,” she added. “We need to call out what we stand for and what we believe is right.” Saweetie’s remarks are similar to those made by Megan Thee Stallion recently. “Representation is important, and it is really crucial for us all to have compassion and acceptance of every human,” said the Houston rapper.

Check out a few photos from Saweetie’s Sprite Live performance below.

Rich Fury / Staff / Getty Images

Rich Fury / Staff / Getty Images

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You never know what you may experience when going to a concert. Attendees often highlight unforgettable moments of their favorite artists on stage, but thousands of people are injured in audiences across the globe each year. While this may not always be at the fault of the artists themselves, a woman is reportedly suing Goldenvoice, accusing the company of facilitating a violent atmosphere at a Naughty By Nature concert.

Radar Online reports that a woman named Selene Ramirez attended a “special performance” back in February 2020 at the Novo venue in Los Angeles. 

John Sciulli / Stringer / Getty Images

Ramirez reportedly purchased “premium tickets” with the belief that she would have certain privileges, but when she arrived, she was told the venue was standing room only. “Approximately 23 minutes later, due to Defendants’ lax and inadequate security procedures, a fight broke out in the crowd around Plaintiff. After security failed to respond, the situation escalated,” reads court documents.

The lawsuit called the crowd “unruly” and as a result, Ramirez claims that someone “grabbed her by her hair and slammed her to the ground.” Ramirez alleges that her injuries included a severe “laceration to her head” and has a significant amount of medical issues resulting from the alleged altercation.

“Defendants, and each of them, breached their duty to Plaintiff by failing to reasonably managing, security, and/or control the subject event such that foreseeable criminal activity occurred against Plaintiff,” the lawsuit states. Ramirez claims that due to her injuries, she has been out of work and needs financial help paying for her medical bills. 

The legendary Hip Hop trio hasn’t been named alongside Goldenvoice. The concert production company has yet to respond to Ramirez’s lawsuit.

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We weren’t expecting to see these two together, but Brandy and Cam’ron brought jokes to social media. We’ve been seeing an influx of these artists for vastly different reasons: Brandy continues to plug her projects as well as highlight her beautiful teen daughter on her social media pages, and Cam’ron recently joined Dipset for the group’s iconic appearance on Verzuz alongside The LOX.

Both Brandy and Cam’ron uploaded their versions of their chuckle-worthy interaction as seen from their own perspectives. It looked as if they were on set and Brandy was filming herself as Cam could be heard chatting her up off-camera.

It seems that the rapper was trying to make a point about the way we say certain numbers. “You can sit there and ignore me all you want. You know it’s twenty-two, it’s thirty-three, forty-four, fifty-five. You know I’m right, that’s why you keep ignoring me,” said Cam. “It go to sixty-six, seventy-seven, eighty-eight, ninety-nine—you know damn well eleven should be onety-one!”

In both clips, Brandy had enough and can be seen walking away from the rapper as he follows close behind, trying to prove his point. It was all for laughs, but fans questioned whether or not they would collaborate in the future. Check out both of their videos below.

As some celebrities opt to have their handlers, social media managers, or even record labels take control of their online presence, Jack Harlow has full control of his Twitter account. The rapper has been interacting with fans throughout his career as much as he can, but obviously, Harlow can’t respond to every single person who drops his name in a mention.

A fan has been reportedly tweeting Harlow with questions about when he would be making an appearance in New York, and she got a tad impatient after he didn’t reply to her inquiries.

“@jackharlow there’s no way you don’t see my tweets about shows in new york. you see all of milan’s tweets that means you see mine. you’re so ??????” she wrote the Kentucky native. Harlow took a minute to quip back, “I wasn’t ignoring you I just was following the instructions in your bio. New York soon [purple heart emojis].”

What was in her bio, you ask? “Don’t interact if you’re white,” the fan had written on her Twitter account. Unsurprisingly, the fan continued to tweet out to Harlow but it seems that was as much interaction with her that he could take for the time being. Check out a few tweets below.

Her “Whole Lotta Money” hit continues to make waves, even more so after Nicki Minaj jumped on the remix, and the song has caused a luxury brand to run out of shoes. Bia’s fan-favorite first began climbing the charts after turning into a viral hit and her partnership with Minaj only intensified the hype. This isn’t the first time Bia has had a track that captured the attention of the masses, as her “Best on Earth” collaboration with Russ was promoted by none other than Rihanna. 

On “Whole Lotta Money,” Bia rhymes: “I put on my jewelry just to go to the bodega / And I keep it with me just so that I’m feeling safer / Fendi on my body, but my feet is in Bottega / B*tch, I’m getting money, give a f*ck about a hater.” According to Bia, she had trouble finding a certain style of Bottega Venetas when shopping and it may have been her own fault.

“Not the store clerk at Bottega saying the heels are sold out bc of the song [crying laughing emoji][orange heart emoji],” she tweeted. It’s a good problem to have and it goes to show just how influential a hit song can be. Bia recently caught up with Harper’s Bazaar to chat about her hit single and how “Whole Lotta Money” became popular months after it was released last December.

“I stopped having expectations, because I’ve been making music for a long time, and I’ve realized that I want the best for my music,” she shared with the outlet. “I just hope people love it. And I think that that’s allowed me to be grateful, whatever the outcome is, because I’m not expecting anything.”

Check out a few hot shots of Bia below.

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Former K-pop band member Kris Wu was arrested on August 16 for suspicion of rape.

The thirty-year-old star faces allegations from a 17-year-old girl who first shared her story on social media. She claims she was coerced into drinking, and was then taken advantage of, by Wu. She also stated after sharing her story, she was contacted by seven other girls who said EXO members had tried to seduce them with offers of job opportunities. 

The former Travis Scott and Jhene Aiko collaborator denied the claims, receiving harsh backlash online and losing endorsement deals from at least 10 brands including Louis Vuitton and Porsche. 

Kris Wu at the Louis Vuitton fashion show in 2020 – Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images

Wu was first detained on August 1 while police investigated the authenticity of social media posts describing Wu’s alleged assaults.

According to reports obtained by the Associated Press from the Beijing district of Chaoyang, Wu’s arrest was formally approved on August 16, but no further details about his arrest were revealed. 

We will keep you updated as the story continues to develop.

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The violence in Chicago has continued to cause concern after two young girls were reportedly shot this past weekend. According to reports, six and seven-year-old sisters, Aubrey and Serenity Broughton, respectively, were with their family on Sunday after enjoying a morning at church. The family stopped by a relative’s home and around 3:00 p.m., they were saying their goodbyes. The girls were inside the family’s vehicle when someone drove by and opened fire.

“Like a machine gun going off, like, you know what I mean, like two people shooting at each other or something,” a neighbor told reporters.

Six-year-old Aubrey is recovering in the hospital, however, her seven-year-old sister Serenity was killed in the tragic incident. Police have reached out to the public for help. “I’m not no gangbanger. I’m not out here doing the wrong thing. I’m a CTA worker. I’m a bus driver,” said the girls’ father, Michael.

Lil Durk took to his Instagram Story to share a screenshot about the Broughton sisters as well as the ongoing gun violence in his hometown. “I be willing to help the best way I can but some higher power act as if they don’t care,” Durk wrote on Instagram. “This need to change and ASAP.”

Durk was applauded by his fans for calling for an end to street violence involving innocent children, but others believe that the rapper’s lyrical content only perpetuates violence. In recent months, several Chicago rappers have been gunned down, along with Durk’s brother,  Dontay “DThang” Banks.

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