Hip Hop News

For quite a while now, The Weeknd has notably approached his artistry as if each of his major studio albums marked a unique chapter in his career. Throughout the first half of this year, Abel has been reaping the rewards from his previous chapter, the After Hours era. The Weeknd’s success of that two-year period has been irrefutable, as he has made history with Billboard Hot 100 records and even became the first solo Canadian artist to headline the Super Bowl.

A handful of months ago, however, the Trilogy artist appeared to tease the next chapter in his career by posting a now-deleted close-up photo of him in a dark fisherman-esque costume with the caption “the dawn is coming….” The Weeknd has since wiped his Instagram clean and started over completely, and he also recently hit Twitter and incited pure chaos by tweeting, “f*ck it … IT STARTS TONIGHT.”

This has led many of his fans to assume that “The Dawn Era” would officially be in full swing soon, and to fuel hype even more, The Weeknd shared a one-minute and forty-one-second teaser for an untitled track. Stylistically, it remains similar to the nostalgic synth-pop that he previously experimented with on Starboy and deeply explored on After Hours, but it also appears to be longer and more free-form like his early output on his Trilogy mixtapes.

Naturally, The Weeknd’s fans are currently losing their minds, so check out some of their reactions on Twitter below.

Just a few days ago, Kyle Kuzma was traded to the Washington Wizards in a blockbuster deal that sent Russell Westbrook to the Los Angeles Lakers. Kuzma will be joined by Montrezl Harrell and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope in Washington, as they are now linking up with the likes of Bradley Beal who is one of the best shooting guards in the entire NBA. It is going to be an interesting pairing and fans are excited to see how it all goes down next season.

Of the three players sent to the Wizards, Kuzma is easily the most polarizing. There are numerous fans out there who have slandered Kuzma into oblivion over the past year or so, and it has all culminated into this trade. Regardless, he was still well-liked by his teammates, including veterans LeBron James and Jared Dudley.

Harry How/Getty Images

In fact, LeBron and Dudley held a nice going-away dinner for Kuzma over the weekend as they linked up at a local L.A. grill. The three took a picture together and it’s clear that there are no hard feelings over Kuzma’s exodus from the team.

After the trade, Kuzma took to Instagram where he wrote a letter to the Lakers saying: “Man oh man where do I begin??? Lakeshow we’ve had a journey,” Kuzma wrote. “I was 21 and just a young pup coming here and you guys opened up your arms openly and accepted me into the LA community! Coming into to this league I told Robby, Jeanie and Magic that all I wanted to do here is help be apart of something special and help be apart one of those banners (now) 17 banners and dammit we did it! I wouldn’t change anything about my journey everything has been a lesson to me! Ive learned the game of basketball from some of the best players to ever do it on earth while being in LA and now it’s time for me to get out there and really spread my wings and be who I say I am. LUV LA I’m a laker for life.”

Kuzma seems to be excited for his new opportunity, which is great to see, especially after a difficult year in Los Angeles.

Kanye West is currently busy as he prepares to release his album DONDA this week. The project is supposed to come out on Friday, August 6th and fans are excited to hear what the artist has in store. Of course, there is always a possibility that the album gets delayed again, although at this point, it seems likely that we will get the album sooner rather than later.

As for Kanye’s business ventures, his Yeezy brand is performing extremely well this year and his shoes are still at the top of sneaker culture. There is no slowing down the brand, and to celebrate Yeezys success, Kanye West is celebrating August 2nd as Yeezy Day. Sneakerheads have been excited for this day as it means numerous dope Yeezy models will be restocked on various different platforms.

Brad Barket/Getty Images for Fast Company

Yeezy Day actually started bright and early at about 7 AM EST and with it came three sneaker drops in the Yeezy Foam Runner MX Cream Clay, the Adidas Yeezy 700 V3 Azael, and the Adidas Yeezy Boost 350 V2 Tail Light. Since that time, the Adidas Yeezy Boost 700 “Mauve” and the Adidas Yeezy Boost 350 V2 “Synth” have also dropped. In the midst of writing this, the infamous 350 V2 “Zebra” also dropped.

The shoes are being released on a multitude of platforms including Yeezy Supply, Yeezy.com, and adidas CONFIRMED. Each sneaker is going to be extremely limited, so you’re going to have to be on the ball if you want to cop any pairs.

Let us know which shoes you want to see restocked, in the comments below.

The Weeknd sent fans into a frenzy on Twitter, Sunday night, after revealing a new track on social media. Earlier in the night, he teased that something would start tonight.

“fuck it … IT STARTS TONIGHT,” he tweeted before midnight.

 The Weeknd dropped a one-minute and forty-one-second teaser for the track afterward. The short clip cuts out just after the vocals start coming in.

Michael Buckner / Getty Images

The After Hours singer has been teasing new music for months now. Back in May, he hinted that a new album was on the way during the 2021 Billboard Music Awards.

“You guys make me want to do this forever. I love you so much,” he said during his acceptance speech after being awarded the honor of Top Hot 100 Song for “Blinding Lights.” “I just want to say, the After Hours are done, and the dawn is coming.”

More recently, he warned fans to “say your final goodbyes” on July 29th.

Fans were losing it in the replies to The Weeknd’s reveal.

“I KNEW IT I FUCKING KNEW IT. TOU WOULDNT PLAY US LIKE THAT,” one fan wrote.

Another wrote: “ABEL COMING TO SAVE MUSIC AGAIN.”

Check out the preview for The Weeknd’s next song below.

Jonah Hill showed off a new tattoo on Instagram, Sunday, which shows a “rock on” logo reworked to have a body-positive theme.

“BODY LOVE,” the tattoo reads.

Hill has opened about about his past insecurities regarding his weight and called out media outlets for body-shaming. Earlier this year, he took particular issue with a headline in the Daily Mail.

Andreas Rentz / Getty Images

“I don’t think I ever took my shirt off in a pool until I was in my mid 30s even in front of family and friends,” he wrote on Instagram in response. “Probably would have happened sooner if my childhood insecurities weren’t exacerbated by years of public mockery about my body by press and interviewers. So the idea that the media tries to play me by stalking me while surfing and printing photos like this and it can’t phase me anymore is dope. I’m 37 and finally love and accept myself.”

He continued, “This isn’t a ‘good for me’ post. And it’s definitely not a ‘feel bad for me post’. It’s for the kids who don’t take their shirt off at the pool. Have fun. You’re wonderful and awesome and perfect. All my love.”

Hill’s is set to star in Adam McKay’s next film, Don’t Look Up, which is slated to release on Netflix, later this year.

Check out Hill’s new tattoo below.

[Via]

Lizzo hinted at dropping new music, on Instagram Sunday, which some of her fans have theorized will be a collaborative effort with Harry Styles.

“Don’t even like this post cus you REALLY gon like my post tomorrow,” she captioned a post with several “shhh” emojis.

Lizzo’s last release, her hit album, Cuz I Love You, arrived in 2019, but she’s been mostly quiet on the music front in the years since. She has, however, been quite busy on social media. From building an Internet friendship with Chris Evans to dealing with trolls, she’d made headlines for her posting.

Emma McIntyre / Getty Images

Earlier this week, Lizzo had to shut down rumors that she killed someone during a stage dive.

“So, I’ve seen a lot of annoying things about me on the internet but the thing that bothers me the most is this rumor that I stage-dived at a concert and killed somebody,” said Lizzo on TikTok. “Like, that rumor, it’s a lie, first of all. I’ve never stage dived in my life and bitch, how, like– killed somebody!? Y’all really gon’ put that on my motherfuckin’ name? Like, I know I’m big but bitch, I’m not that fuckin’ big.”

Check out Lizzo’s Instagram post below.

[Via]

Roddy Ricch’s “Late at Night” has reached number one on Billboard’s Rhythmic Airplay chart, marking his fifth number one on the chart to date. The single saw a 17% bump in plays, last week.

In total, Ricch’s five songs to hit number one on Rhythmic Airplay are “Ballin,” with Mustard, “The Box,” “High Fashion,”  DaBaby’s “Rockstar,” featuring Ricch, and lastly “Late at Night.”

The song also cracked the R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay top 10, landing at number 6 on that chart.

Jerritt Clark / Getty Images

Prior to the song’s release, Ricch teased “Late at Night” while speaking with Nick Cannon, earlier this year.

“Me and X went in on it, I got to co-direct with him and you know, just set a whole vibe, tell a whole story through the music video,” he said. “Couple special guests on there, so I just wanna see how they gon’ react to this and then let it continue.”

Ricch’s last album, Please Excuse Me for Being Antisocial, was released in 2019. Later that year, he earned a Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance for Nipsey Hussle’s single “Racks in the Middle.”

Check out the Michael Jackson-inspired music video for “Late at Night” below.

[Via]