Hip Hop News

The upcoming murder trial of Derek Chauvin in connection to his role in the death of George Floyd is set to begin no later than March. The trial will undoubtedly go down as one of the most talked-about cases in the last decade, and Minneapolis has been preparing for possible civil unrest once it’s underway. In an effort to keep everyone across the city updated on the high-profile case, Minneapolis officials will reportedly hire a team of social media influencers to send “approved messages” during the upcoming trial. 

City officials are allegedly planning to pay six influencers $2,000 each to relay important approved messages from the potentially volatile trial once it begins. The move comes as part of a $1 million plan approved by the City Council on Friday (February 26) to help the city brace for possible social disruption.  

“The goal is to increase access to information to communities that do not typically follow mainstream news sources or city communications channels and/or who do not consume information in English,” the council said in a statement reported by a local news source. 

“It’s also an opportunity to create more two-way communication between the city and communities.”

Jury selection in the case is set to begin on March 8th, while opening arguments are due to begin no earlier than March 29. The other ex-cops in the case J. Alexander Kueng, Thomas Lane, and Tou Thao are due to be tried separately for their aid in the murder.  

The city has not identified which influencers will be selected, but some city activists were not too thrilled about the idea of “city-approved” messages from the social media users. 

“The key word here is ‘city approved,’” said community activist Toussaint Morrison, who has more than 11,000 Instagram, to a local news source. “What do you think the message is going to be? It’s going to be pro-city. It’s going to be anti-protest.”

We’ll keep you updated on further developments in the upcoming trial. 

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There have been plenty of Air Jordan 6 models teased for 2021, and it only makes sense that this would be the case when you consider how this year is the shoe’s 30th birthday. Just a couple of weeks ago, the Jordan 6 “Carmine” made its return and as the year marches on, we are supposed to be seeing a whole plethora of new models. If you’re a fan of the silhouette, this is a great year, and even in February, more teasers continue to come to light.

One of the latest Jordan 6 models to be shown off is the Air Jordan 6 “Midnight Navy” which is a model that originated all the way back in 2000. Now, the shoe is set to be released again and in the photoshop rendering below, you can see how the 2021 model stays true to the OG. The upper is covered in white leather, all while navy blue is sprinkled throughout. Overall, it’s a dope offering and one that will certainly look good in your collection.

As for the release, you can expect these to drop on November 26th which just so happens to be Black Friday. More details surrounding these will surface over the coming months so keep it locked to HNHH for all of the latest information.

DaniLeigh has been a frequent presence in the headlines recently, and more often than not for some generally disagreeable behavior. Most notoriously, she came under fire at the tail-end of last month after she previewed a new track “Yellow Bone,” with many accusing her of colorism. She’s since issued various apologies, but it seems like people aren’t done with the Miami-native. As she continues to attempt some damage control, the “Easy” artist ran into more backlash after she claimed to be of considerable West African descent.

Amy Sussman/Getty Images for Universal Music Group

Contradicting previous claims she’s made regarding her ethnicity, the 26-year-old responded to a critic who asked if she was even Black considering her usage of the n-word. “is dani leigh afro-latino? that’s my question, cause she says n*gga so freely, but being dominican doesn’t mean she’s black. & that’s been my gripe wit her from jump street,” asked the Twitter user. 

She responded, “I’m 39% west African .. Those were wrong . Thanks,” referring to the previous ethnicity test results she had originally tweeted out last year. In a second, now-deleted tweet, she once again claimed to have “40% west African blood in my system.”

Comparatively, in the test results DaniLeigh claims are “wrong,” they reveal she only possesses a total of 17% combined West African ancestry. Of course, Twitter had a field day with her mutating story. Check out some reactions to the fiasco below. 

Which iteration do you think is the truth regarding her ethnicity? Drop a comment letting us know! 

As the pandemic roars on into its second year, more and more people are ending up in increasingly dire economic situations. While everyday, blue-collar workers bear the brunt of the burden brought on by COVID-19, some of your favorite celebrities and rappers seem to also be stretching themselves thin to hold onto the glamorous life. For a lot of young rappers coming into the hip-hop realm, an opportunity to work with one of the artists you admire the most is something many would quickly jump at the opportunity to do. The Game is accused of using this guiding theory to scam aspiring artists out of thousands.    

Araya Diaz/Getty Images for BET

According to a revealing long-form Instagram exposé post, the former G-Unit member is alleged to have been DMing rappers on Instagram expressing interest in working with them. According to exposé, the 41-year-old artist would then have then pay $1000 or more for a feature appearance or a spot on a mixtape. Apparently, The Game has a secondary Soundcloud account aside from his verified one that he then uses to then share the tracks. This severely limits the audiences the artists’ are exposed to, only being heard by hundreds versus the thousands that could’ve been reached on his main account.  

He then released 7 mixtape compilations on the account in December of 2020 with 34+ songs each, a majority of them only receiving 5-250 views each. The Soundcloud itself only has 256 followers. Rappers who worked with The Game are upset because they had taken the opportunity as possibly being their big-break, and are instead short thousands of dollars.  

Of course, at this time, the details regarding the situation are all purely speculatory. If you recall, The Game lost the rights to his entire musical catalog after losing a sexual assault case. He was also ordered to pay a $7 million judgment fee. 

At the time of this article’s publication, The Game has yet to comment on the matter. What do you make of these very specific allegations? Let us know down in the comments.

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We’re about to enter the month of March in a matter of hours. 2021 is moving at lightspeed and it’s still not entirely safe to go outside these days. Thankfully, there’s a surplus of music that’s being released regularly and this week’s edition of our R&B Season playlist offers you a few highlights to vibe out to for the weekend. Without further ado, here are this week’s picks for our R&B Season playlist.

Chloe x Halle’s growth over the past few years has been fascinating to watch. From their early YouTube covers to the release of 2020’s Ungodly Hour that cemented the duo as the future of pop and R&B. Their profile has only grown with time since the album’s release but on Friday, they capitalized off of the recent hype with the Chrome Edition with an additional two songs. Both “Hazy” and “80/20” were necessary additions for this week’s R&B Season playlist.

Along with the new records from Chloe X Halle, we received some new heat from Jorja Smith who teamed up with OBOY for the “Come Over” remix. Additionally, THEY. let off a brand new single with some assistance from Kiana Ledé titled, “Count Me In” that you should definitely have on rotation.

Check out this week’s R&B Season playlist below and subscribe to HNHH on Spotify. 

Sad news is coming out of the football world today as it has been reported that former Notre Dame star and former NFL player Louis Nix III has passed away at the age of 29. According to People, Nix was found by police in Jacksonville who had been looking for him for three days ever since a missing person’s report was filed. Near the scene of Nix’s body, police also found his vehicle which was near a pond in Florida. As it stands, the cause of death is unknown.

This news was also shared by Notre Dame football, who took to Twitter with a tribute for the young football player, saying “We are saddened by the loss of one of our own, Louis Nix III. We send our deepest condolences and love to his family, friends and football brotherhood.”

Fighting Irish head coach also sent out a tribute for the star. “Louis Nix, “Irish Chocolate,” we carry these memories until we see you again,” Kelly wrote. Many others in the football community commented on the news and it’s clear that Nix was a beloved player who touched a lot of people throughout his career.

We send our condolences to Nix’s family during these difficult times.

Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images