Hip Hop News

Concerns regarding artists’ and drug addiction have existed since the inception of the industry, but as our society has grown more technologically advanced, things have taken a more grave turn. Street drugs were once seen as the worst possible addictions that could plague families, but prescription pills have edged them out of the top spot. We’ve lost several artists in Hip Hop in recent years, and of those who are still with us, many know all too well how difficult it can be to shake the urge to abuse medications.

Lil Xan has frequently made headlines over his addiction issues as he’s spoken candidly about his recovery, and recently, he sat down with 60 Minutes+ to talk about his struggles. 

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Lil Xan, real name Nicholas Diego Leanos, talked about having “intense anxiety” and being prescribed a benzodiazepine—those include the likes of Klonopin, Ativan, and Valium—when he was 18-years-old. Soon, he’d developed a tolerance to Ativan so he left that behind and moved on to Xanax. Before long, he was steadily increasing his dosage.

“[My anxiety would] jump out at the weirdest points in life,” Xan said. “I can do a show for thousands of people and I won’t have a drop of anxiety. But the minute I’m in, like, a closed environment, it could just be the most random thing will just set me off.” The rapper added that he would buy prescription drugs from street dealers.

“I was probably taking…12 two milligrams to 14 two milligrams a day,” the 24-year-old said. “I was really bad. It was really bad… I was taking enough benzos to take down an elephant.” He finally realized that it was time to make a change. “I looked in the mirror and I’m, like, it was just that moment you know, like, if I keep doing this, I’m gonna die soon. So I just quit, cold turkey. And I actually ended up having a few seizures. And I landed in the hospital.”

Now, he’s turned his life around and uses his time educating his fans and followers about the dangers of addiction, as well as the steps to recovery. “I get that my name, in itself, is popularizing it,” Xan said. “I always made that known that I didn’t like that my name was popularizing it. But it’s what worked for me.”

Watch Lil Xan’s clip with 60 minutes+ below.

[via]

Jay-Z’s cousin is at the center of a new lawsuit alleging that he scammed a Roc Nation Gaming investor. According to the Daily News, a new lawsuit alleges that Briant Biggs duped an investor of Unanimous Games, a subsidiary of Roc Nation Gaming, of over a million dollars.

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The lawsuit filed by Blueprint Capital Holdings claims Biggs was part of a group that was raising $1.5M for Unanimous Games. President of Blueprint Ryan Collision claims Biggs told him the business plan was to “bridge the gap” between eSports and the entertainment world. Biggs allegedly claimed Roc Nation artists such as Meek Mill and Yo Gotti were expected to invest in Unanimous.

Collision says Blueprint Holding Group put down a $250K investment in the company in 2018 with a promise that it would be paid off with interest by March 2021. Blueprint claims that they never received any repayment from Unanimous. Collision added that he offered more time so Biggs could repay him.

The lawsuit claims there was a request made on behalf of Blueprint to receive tax returns and other financial information from Unanimous, though that was never honored. It also claims that Biggs spoke to a rep from Blueprint, claiming that Unanimous was to receive a $5M investment. Biggs allegedly promised to pay Blueprint back with that money. 

The financial statements were later released to Blueprint but the findings did not reveal any $5M investment. However, the lawsuit claims that the records showed Biggs paid himself tens of thousands of dollars after Blueprint’s initial investment. 

“Notably, Unanimous Games did not provide any tax returns, income statements, general ledgers, profit and loss statements, or any documents relating to the alleged $5,000,000.00 investment,” the lawsuit reads.

The lawsuit also disputes Biggs claim that Roc Nation artists were on board for Unanimous as a meeting between Blueprint and Roc Nation only took place months after the claim.

Collision is seeking unspecified damages and accuse Roc Nation of breach of contract and fraud. 

[Via]

Chucky Thompson was a vital member to Diddy’s Hitmen team as an in-house producer at Bad Boy Records. As we reported, producer Young Guru initially confirmed his passing on August 9 on Instagram. Thompson is credited with producing some of the biggest songs ever made, such as Biggie’s “Big Poppa” and Mary J. Blige’s “My Life.”

Young Guru shared his own sentimental statement on Monday, calling Chucky “my mentor, my big brother, the man who changed my life forever.”

WATCH: The Notorious B.I.G. “Big Poppa”

Chucky’s cause of death has not been confirmed at this time, but Detroit radio personality Donnie Simpson seems to have an idea. On Monday, he tweeted that he personally received word Chucky’s death was due to complications from COVID-19. Stay tuned for updates on that, though.

Diddy shared his condolences on Monday with a heartfelt message for his old friend. 

He shared, “I’ve been in shock most of the day. Chucky Thompson was not just someone that I made Mary J Blige’s My Life with and a part of the legendary Hitmen, he was also one of the greatest humans that I’ve ever met. He always kept you laughing, always kept you smiling and he always let you know that he loved you. I love you Chucky. One of the greatest of all time. You will be truly missed. Love, Puff.”

Our hearts continue to be with Chucky’s family and friends during this difficult time.

Just two weeks after Rihanna announced her new Fenty perfume, her Tuesday drop for early-access customers sold out. 

Rihanna only needed her promo photoshoot and one short video ad to convince fans to try her first scent, which is expanding the Fenty name. And try they did, as it reportedly sold out in a matter of mere hours.

The star took to Instagram to share the fruits of her labor, captioning the pic, “how I woke up after #FENTYPARFUM sold out this morning!!!” 

In the photo, Rihanna posed on her bed, casually decked out in a pair of rectangular-shaped black shades, and an over-sized, cozy black hoodie– while enjoying some morning caviar on a silver platter, with what appears to be a plastic spoon. Because, RiRi.

The official Fenty Beauty Instagram account cheered her on, commenting, “IKDRRRRRR.”

The success of the perfume only adds to this month’s accomplishments for the musician turned entrepreneur. The 33-year-old just reached billionaire status last week, impressively joining the ranks of Jay-Z and Kanye West. 

Rihanna’s Fenty empire first started in 2017 with her Fenty x Puma collaboration, and then went on to expand to lingerie in 2018. She really rocked the fashion beauty industries with the foundation of her beauty line in 2019, soaring past the competition and proving the singer was set for success in this new category.

Fenty is expected to embark into the hair category next, indicated by the brand filing trademark applications a few months ago. As we reported, the vertical included “non-medicated hair care preparations, hair-styling preparations, hair-straightening preparations,…” and much more.

We can’t wait to see what Rihanna does next.

Check out the new flick below.

The “Playing Games” singer has never been quiet about her personal opinion, even if it rubs the general public the wrong way, and her her thoughts on the current state of hip-hop are no exception.

Summer took to her Instagram Story to low-key rant about the good ol’ days of hip-hop, saying, “N**** was so cool back in then like literally player af… Pimp C, Andre 3000, Big Boy, Common, Pharell, Snoop, Tupac, B.I.G., Ice Cube, lol what happen. I mean I know what happen but I can’t say haha.”

She then edited her statement saying, “My bad Nas too, at least we have Anderson Paak for this generation.”

The posts were shared on Summer’s unfiltered personal Instagram account, @galactawhore, where she shares memes, text posts, outfit photos and her favorite black female IG models.

Many of the TheShadeRoom commenters weighed on what they think Summer may have been hinting at, one user suggesting, ‘ppl started supporting bullshit music and made ppl think they’re actually talented.” One user turned the tables, asking “Could the same question be asked about women?” Another also brought drugs into the conversation stating, “They stopped selling drugs and started doing them.”

What do you think about Summer’s comments? Let us know below.

Artists are consistently looking for new ways to innovate, and for many, the rise of Non Fungible Tokens opened the door to a variety of exciting opportunities. Today, Benny The Butcher has confirmed that he’ll be launching his first-ever NFT collection commemorating two years of The Plugs I Met, originally released on June 21st, 2019.

For the occasion, The Butcher will be delivering The Plugs I Met – 2nd Anniversary Edition, available exclusively at the UREEQA Marketplace. The auction is set to take place on Thursday, August 12th, granting fans the opportunity to personally connect with The Butcher and more.

Rich Fury/Getty Images

The official UREEQA posting details the available content, which includes a making-of video, an autographed CD with a personal message, a live stream during an upcoming Burden Of Plugs concert, a one-on-one Zoom call with Benny, and the grand prize — an all-access pass during one of the final Burden Of Plugs tour (selected by The Butcher’s team), which includes a personal meeting with The Butcher. 

“This NFT collection is a chance to give back to the fans that have been down with me since day one,” explains Benny the Butcher, speaking on his motivation behind launching his first NFT. “I wanted to do something that would be exclusive to my core fans and connect with them in a way that hasn’t been possible until now.”

For more details on The Butcher’s upcoming NFT drop, head over to the UREEQA Marketplace when the auction kicks off on August 12th. What do you think about the ongoing embrace of Non Fungible Tokens within the rap game?