Hip Hop News

With the Tokyo Olympics well underway, basketball fans have been tuning in religiously to see which countries are looking good throughout the round-robin tournament. As many of you already know, the United States lost its very first game today as the men’s team fell 83-76 to France in a shocking turn of events. Team USA ran out of gas in the fourth quarter and it was a pretty sad sight to see, especially since Team USA hasn’t lost an Olympic match since 2004.

Players like Kevin Durant struggled and it’s quite obvious to everyone watching that this Team USA squad simply doesn’t have the chemistry necessary to go far in the tournament. Unless things turn around quickly, there is a good shot this team is eliminated early on.

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As for the halftime entertainment, fans were greeted by a seven-foot robot that is programmed to take shots from the free-throw line, the three-point line, and even the halfcourt line. This robot originally made its debut back in 2019 and it has returned in time for the Tokyo Olympics. In the video clips below, you can see the robot makes each shot with ease and it always results in a swoosh. Needless to say, the programmers outdid themselves with this one.

This robot has a very uncanny feel to it and you can’t help but be just a bit terrified at how accurately it shoots the ball. As many fans pointed out, this thing needs to be destroyed, and we can’t help but agree with that sentiment.

You can see the reactions to the robot down below.

Kanye West’s DONDA listening party in Atlanta has proven to be a polarizing event in Ye’s career. Fans who attended the event had to wait two whole hours before he made his way to the floor, and in the end, the album was presented as an incomplete body of work. Verses and drums were missing from the project and fans immediately took notice of this. Regardless, there were plenty of interesting songs on the album and once Kanye delivers his final tweaks, there is no denying that DONDA will be a project for the ages.

For many, the features are what ultimately stole the show as artists like Pusha T, Travis Scott, Pop Smoke, Vory, Chris Brown, Playboi Carti, and even Baby Keem were heard throughout the project. Perhaps the most complete song on the entire album was “Praise God,” which is an effort that features both Travis and Keem.

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Baby Keem is an artist who is on the rise and there is no doubt that he has a ton of potential to become a superstar if he continues on this trajectory. Kanye has always had an ear for talent, and including Keem on the album is yet another example of Ye’s scouting ability. Not to mention, it just goes to show how talented Baby Keem is at such a young age.

In the tweet below, Keem thanked Kanye for the opportunity of a lifetime, while also praising the artist for his contributions to the rap world. “Ye an Idol, an Icon. Forever grateful for the experience of a lifetime,” Keem wrote.

With DONDA set to release on August 6th, fans are eager to hear the finished version of “Praise God,” although at least we have some snippets to go off of in the interim.

It looks like we could be getting a follow-up to Danny Brown’s Uknowhatimsayin? in the near future. The rapper has maintained a busy schedule throughout 2021, though largely as the head honcho of Bruiser Brigade. We’ve been receiving several projects from the camp over the course of the year and it looks like they could be leading up to Danny’s next studio album.

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Danny Brown was on Twitter at the wee hours of the morning when he dropped a major update on his next project. The rapper revealed that his new album is done but it won’t be dropping anytime in the next few months. “Done and waiting on the seasons to change cause this ain’t no summertime album,” he wrote along with a prayer hand emoji.

He’s been active on Twitch recently and he’s been dropping snippets of the project during his streams. He recently unveiled the whole thing on his stream but it seems that there’s still tinkering that needs to be done. Danny explained that he wrapped up his vocals for the project, though there’s still other work that needs to be done.

“Also when I say done I mean I’m wrapped on vocals but we still have post production, mixing, sample clearances and whole bunch of other shit,” he continued in a later tweet.

Who’s ready for a new album from Danny Brown?

Boosie Badazz is one of the most carefree and unapologetic rappers in Hip-Hop. Even though he’s a person who fought cancer for years and got shot in the leg less than a full year ago, Boosie isn’t someone that fans typically see in low spirits for long. In 2021 alone, the Hip-Hop community has witnessed the charismatic rapper joking with DJ Vlad for months, touching on everything from Saweetie and Quavo’s infamous breakup to interracial dating.

Well, it appears that something did put a serious damper on Boosie’s mood this weekend. The “Wipe Me Down” artist was in South Carolina on Saturday for a show with Moneybagg Yo at Bon Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville, and he was apparently in desperate need of a belt that matched his outfit before his set.

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Boosie resorted to his new Instagram account to ask his most dedicated fans to grab a green belt from a nearby mall and bring it to the stadium for him. “If u n greenville mall get me a green belt the color of the message sign on the Iphone,” Boosie wrote. “Bring it to tback gate at arena security will be waiting to let u n.”

Unfortunately for Boosie, his last-ditch effort for a green belt was ultimately unsuccessful, and after hitting the stage, he uploaded a video of himself moping. “No belt,” he wrote on top of the video, confirming that his inability to secure an iPhone message-colored belt was the root of his sadness.

See the screengrab of his pitiful-looking Instagram story below.

Miami is the place to be this weekend. Rolling Loud is back up and running, despite concerns over COVID-19. Friday boasted performances from Lil Baby, A$AP Rocky, and more while Saturday’s festivities closed out with a performance from Travis Scott who debuted brand new music off of Utopia.

@RollingLoud/@simonchasalow

Lil Durk also touched the stage last night where he delivered a stellar performance alongside a live band. The rapper ran through many of his hit records, both old and new, and brought out a few friends for the ride. First off, India Royale showed face during his set. Then, Durk invited Lil Baby on stage for a performance of their The Voice Of The Heroes cut, “Hat’s Off.”

For the first installment of Rolling Loud since the pandemic, Durk also made a concerted effort to pay his respects to King Von. During his show, he did a live rendition of “Took Her To The O.” 

@RollingLoud/@simonchasalow

Rolling Loud’s festivities conclude tonight with Post Malone serving as the headliner. Other performers on the docket include Gucci Mane, Lil Uzi Vert, DaBaby, Rick Ross, Hack Harlow, Rod Wave, and Yung Bleu. Pooh Shiesty still appears on the Rolling Loud schedule for 9:40 p.m. on the Monster Energy stage, though there’s likely a replacement since the 1017 rapper is still incarcerated.

Although everything now seems to be going smoothly at Rolling Loud this weekend, the insanely popular Hip-Hop music festival suffered a minor setback when one of their stages at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens was destroyed by a giant video wall that had fallen. Fortunately, the potentially fatal incident didn’t injure anyone, and everything was fixed before doors opened on Friday.

Upon hearing the news of the Rolling Loud stage collapse, however, No Jumper podcast host Adam22 appeared to comment on the situation, saying, “I blame Rod Wave.”

To some fans, Adam22’s comments were interpreted as a clear shot at the heavyset artist, but according to the podcaster, it was just a playful reference to his viral stage collapse last fall. In November, Morris Brown College made headlines after a massive stage collapse that endangered Rod Wave, Alexis Skyy, and the rest of their entourage. No one sustained any serious injuries during the viral incident, so there was nothing stopping fans from blaming it all on Rod Wave’s weight.

Apparently, Rod Wave became fed up with the rampant body shaming that he has experienced throughout his career so far, and after catching wind of Adam22’s comments about him, the “Tombstone” artist directly responded to the No Jumper host by issuing a staunch warning. “P*ssy a** cracker,” Rod Wave clapped back. “Watch yo mouth.”

After the tense and awkward exchange on Twitter, Adam22 subsequently went on Instagram live with Crip Mac to talk about the situation. Together, they joked about Rod Wave’s weight even more, and although Adam 22 attempted to downplay the situation as a misunderstood joke.

Upon digging further into the story, however, it turns out that the entire situation was doctored by Adam22 himself. The original exchange between him and Rod Wave was reportedly photoshopped, and Adam22 has admitted to creating and sharing the misinformation himself. Hours after sharing the tweet that caused platforms like Plug Talk to cover the heated Twitter interaction, the No Jumper tweeted, “I’m offended people think that Rod Wave called me a cracker even though I helped spread the disinformation and haven’t deleted the original tweet.”

The reason behind Adam22’s weekend trolling efforts is unknown, but at least Rod Wave fans can rest easy knowing that one of their favorite artists isn’t running around calling someone a cracker.