Maybach Music Group’s Meek Mill is doing the most to get fans excited for new tunes. The hip-hop star has shared an epic-looking shot of himself appearing bossed up with Bad Boy Records’ French Montana, Diddy and Puff Daddy’s son Justin Combs. Meek Mill looks like he’s up to something The Philadelphia hero hit up […]
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Russell Westbrook made history earlier this week when he broke the all time triple-double record that was previously held by NBA legend Oscar Robertson. Russ ended the evening with a stat line of 28 points, 21 assists, and 13 rebounds, marking it the 182 triple-double of his career. The record, 181, had previously been held by Robertson for the past 47 years.
“It’s just a blessing,” said Westbrook, who singled out his first triple-double against Dallas as the one that stands out the most to him. “You put so much into the game, so much time, you sacrifice so much, to be able to just be mentioned with guys like Oscar, Magic [Johnson] and Jason Kidd, those guys, is something I never dreamed about as a young kid growing up in L.A. Truly grateful for moments like this.
“Normally I don’t like to pat myself on the back but tonight I will. Just because I am so grateful for the ones before me and so blessed.”
The Washington Wizards then released a video featuring reaction and congratulations from some of the greatest to ever play the game, starting with Oscar Robertson himself. “I’m very happy for you,” Robertson said in the video. “Your family is very proud of you. And I salute you for all your accomplishments in the game of basketball.”
Congrats to Russ on the new NBA record.
Mulatto has been widely regarded as one of the most exciting new artists in the game right now, and many have been eager to see how she transitions into the next phase of her career. Evidently, that phase happens to include a new name change, with Big Latto seemingly a likely candidate given its presence on her social pages.
Now, the artist-soon-to-be-formerly-known-as-Mulatto has come through to preview an upcoming banger, one that will be presumably included on her upcoming studio album. In the clip, it’s clear that she’s got a few things to say. “The blogs want to know who I’m fuckin‘,” she begins, over a hard-hitting build-up. “Rap bitches ain’t talkin’ bout nothin, fuck it / I changed my name but I bet they still gon’ find something / try to bully me out my shit? / drop hits, I still ain’t miss.”
“New money, new crib, new whip, new name,” she lists off. “I’m still that bitch!” Alas, the clip ends before the beat can truly explode, but it’s likely that Mulatto will continue to bring that defiant energy to the table.
Clearly, there are a few things she’s looking to get off her chest, and it should be exciting to see how her next musical endeavor plays out. Whether she opts to move forward as Big Latto, Latto, Mule, Lil Latto, Big Mule, or a different direction altogether, rest assured that she’ll be coming out swinging. Especially if she actually secures that Nicki Minaj collaboration she really imagined.
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J. Cole might have one of the most interesting roll-outs of any rapper in the past few years. The upcoming release of The Off-Seasonwill be followed by his debut in the Basketball Africa League where he will be playing for Rwanda’s Patriots B.B.C. Over the past few days, there have been candid glimpses of the rapper’s preparation for his first game.
On Saturday, J. Cole will make his first appearance in the league against Nigeria. A photo of the rapper emerged on the timeline, masked up in a selfie with a Patriots long-sleeve on. There’s been other footage of the rapper on the court that surfaced this week.
Cementing his status as a now-pro basketball player, the rapper graced the cover of SLAM as the first artist to ever have a solo feature. In the cover, he explained that his new album was a way for him to challenge himself by using the discipline of basketball. “The Off-Season symbolizes the work that it takes to get to the highest height,” he said. “The Off-Season represents the many hours and months and years it took to get to top form.”
Ahead of the release of J. Cole’s upcoming album, he offered a teaser with the release of “interlude.” He has yet to drop the full tracklist but we’ll keep you updated when he does.
Early on Wednesday morning, the seemingly reinvigorated The Joe Budden Podcast took a steep nosedive as audio from the show’s 437th episode hit the internet, and it featured Joe Budden ripping his co-hosts Rory and Mal to shreds. Earlier this year, the longtime JBP co-hosts noticeably vanished from the podcast, prompting Joe Budden to address the rumors that they had left permanently and offer insight into the tension that had been recently been growing between him and Rory.
Following roughly a full month of Mal and Rory’s absence and the contentious appearances of their fill-ins Ice and Ish, the JBP seemed to finally be back in order when Rory and Mal returned to the podcast for Episode 435: “Shaking the Tree.” Although the episode featured one of the most awkward conversations from the trio in a long time, fans were still hopeful that Joe, Rory, and Mal would move on from all of the drama that has plagued them throughout 2021.
Today, however, that all took a dark turn, as the aforementioned audio featured Joe Budden slamming Mal and full-on firing Rory from The Joe Budden Podcast. Joe Budden has since taken to Twitter to field off his critics and defend his position, yet his co-hosts have mostly remained quiet on the matter, with Rory saying nothing and Mal simply tweeting, “Good morning.”
Of course, fans of the show as well as Twitter users, in general, are shocked by this new development, so as well all wait for more information regarding the latest JBP fallout, check out some of the best Twitter reactions below.
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The 2021 Brit Awards were eventful, especially for The Weeknd, as he managed to pick up a win in his sole nomination, for International Male Solo Artist. Elsehwere during the broadcast, he also gave a performance of his latest No. 1 single, “Save Your Tears.”
Ariana Grande, whose appearance on the song’s newest version helped propel it to the top of the charts, did not join The Weeknd. Instead, he was accompanied by After Hours collaborator Oneohtrix Point Never (aka Daniel Lopatin), who joined him in a small half room, which was revealed to be in a stormy outdoor environment.
He also gave a pre-taped acceptance speech. Standing in the rain on the same set as his performance, he said, “Thank you, BRIT Awards! I wish I was there to accept the award. I want to shout out my UK fans for helping me break out into the world. If it wasn’t for you guys, I would not be standing here right now, so thank you, I love you. To my people in Ethiopia who are suffering: You are deep in my heart. For everyone watching, please help where you can. Thank you, bye.”
Watch The Weeknd’s performance of “Save Your Tears” and his acceptance speech at the Brits above.
J. Cole’s new documentary, Applying Pressure, tells us a lot we already know about the making of his new album The Off-Season. The difference is that much of it is now in his own words and voice, instead of relayed through a proxy and edited for clarity. The result is an insight into his process and his philosophy while crafting the long-awaited follow-up to his 2018 album, KOD. Specifically, we hear how his goal was to elevate his craft, and how in pursuing that goal, he approached improvement in rap the same way a basketball player might strive for improvement through strenuous exercise and targeted drills.
The comparison between sports and hip-hop has been drawn before; hip-hop is often outright described as a sport in itself, drawing parallels between the competitive aspect of battle rap and combat sports like boxing. But hip-hop is perhaps more closely tied to basketball than any other sport, in large part due to their commensurate rise in popularity in the decades since the 1970s. That rise is echoed not just in Cole’s current outlook, but also in his career trajectory overall. In Applying Pressure, he even points out how his failure to dedicate himself to working harder to earn minutes on the court mirrored an early self-made obstacle to his rap goals.
Cole describes putting himself through writing drills in much the same way a pro basketball player — or even an aspiring pro — would run dribbling, passing, and shooting drills while training to increase their agility, endurance, speed, stamina, and strength, focusing on exercises that build and protect the muscle groups and joints that players use most often. It’s not quite the same with rap; as often as basketball analogies are applied to the skills required to excel (I’ve been accused of overusing them myself a few times over the years), rap is one of those things that isn’t dulled with age. If anything, one’s rap skills should increase with experience — the bars get wittier, the range of true-life stories expands, the resources available for production and collaboration deepen.
This would appear to be Cole’s approach as well. In his cover profile in the latest issue of Slam magazine, he makes the distinction himself: “In basketball, you have no choice, your body tells you when,” he acknowledges. “In this sh*t, I’ve got a choice. It was a decision. It was, ‘If it happens, it’s because you allowed it to happen. This is the point where it takes place, where the n****s that you love [just don’t] hit the same. So you could fall victim to that right now and accept that and just keep either making music for the f*ck of it or just because it’s a business opportunity there, or you could really put in the hours and the months and the years it’s going to take to max out on your skill level and to max out on your ability so that when you look back you’re like, ‘Damn, I really did check all the boxes. I really did push myself as hard as I could go.’”
Rather than following in the footsteps of some of his forebears who grew lax in their own approach and let the game pass them by, Cole dedicated himself to this process of improvement with the same level of commitment with which he re-dedicated himself to pursuing his basketball dreams. The same day the documentary premiered on YouTube, just one day before appearing on the cover of a magazine best-known for its profiles of pro athletes (and potential pros), J. Cole joined the ranks of those pros by signing a contract to play for the Rwandan national team in the newly established Basketball Africa League. That feat also highlighted how the diligence to chase athletic goals can be applied to any other. It’s about the hours put in away from the spotlight, breaking through the pain and frustration of pushing yourself and of falling short, and it’s about never losing the desire to be the best of the best and knowing that the only person who controls that destiny is yourself.
Fans of the team chemistry between the rappers of Maybach Music Group were distraught when a rumor surfaced on social media that two of the label’s flagship artists, Meek Mill and Rick Ross, might be on bad terms. The rumor postulates that Meek denied Ross entry to his birthday party (or his VIP section) over the weekend due to a disagreement stemming from Meek’s request to prematurely end his contract with MMG. Now fans are worried that the two longtime partners-in-rhyme have serious beef over the incident.
Meek not letting Ross into the party is petty. Must want out that contract.
— . (@CAWBBBB) May 11, 2021
However, some digging revealed that the only source for this information comes from known rabble-rouser/video game streamer DJ Akademiks, who described the event during a recent stream but didn’t mention any names. Because of Akademiks’s tension with Meek Mill, fans naturally reached the conclusion that Akademiks was talking about Meek and Ross. It should be noted, however, that as Akademiks was not in attendance at the party in question, his reliability as a source is shaky at best, and given his relationship with one of the artists subject to the rumor, has to be taken with a brick-sized grain of salt.
So…according to Akademiks. A certain rapper who is signed to another rapper has internal conflict within the label and wants off.
Even went as far as to not allowing the rapper that signed him into an event he hosted.
Word on the streets say it’s Ross and Meek… pic.twitter.com/PkMji5F0p0
— Aaron Busby
(@MrBusby4o8) May 12, 2021
wasn’t Ross just at Meek’s bday party this past weekend?
— Low (@LowKeyUHTN) May 12, 2021
Of course, a little thing like basic journalistic principle will never stop the Twitter rumor mill from churning. Once Akademiks’s video was aggregated into a Bossip tweet, the buzz began in earnest. We’ll have to see how this “story” develops, but for now, you can see some of the fan reactions below.
Meek Mill and Rick Ross having issues, I guess the prison reform stance that Meek took affected Ross personally.
— Quake (@QuakeGW) May 12, 2021
Akademiks was saying Meek didn’t let Ross into his section at Liv for his birthday. Of course it’s rumors for now but Ak was like Meek been trying to get out his MMG contract for months but Ross won’t let em.
— Beek (@_oGbeeK) May 12, 2021
Meek Mill beefing with Rick Ross !?? man MMG brothers not in good terms
!!
— Albie
Meek & Ross beefing ?
— B$B Big Yola (@YolaFranklin) May 12, 2021
Rick Ross and meek beefin
— PayThatsTheName
(@Paviaa18) May 12, 2021
damn Meek and Ross beefing?
— devonta smith hive
6⃣ (@coldgamesixx) May 12, 2021
Meek and Ross beefing is sick.
— wee bay (@OhThatMarco) May 12, 2021
Meek been hanging with and doing business with Jigga Man more than he has with Ross. Meek hasn’t seemed like a MMG artist since 2014 tbh
— Good Upstanding Brotha (@ProblematicTrey) May 12, 2021
I hope Meek knows that we as a collective are gonna take Rick Ross side if they start beefing lol https://t.co/frQVo5UCQc
— 𝕽. 𝕽𝖔𝖘𝖊 (@raphaelsrose) May 12, 2021
Meek Mill is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
Fans of The Joe Budden Podcast are currently in the midst of mourning the end of an era. Two weeks removed from Rory and Mal’s return to the Joe Budden Podcast after a self-imposed hiatus, leaked audio from the 437th episode marks the proverbial nail in the coffin for the long-running and beloved series.
“Since Rory feels like he has so many options here, somehow he still feels like he’s running the show,” states an incensed Joe. “He feels like he’s entitled to more. Rory, you are in breach of your contract. And from this point forward, you are fired, and you are not welcome back.” In subsequent tweets, Budden confirmed that he would no longer be working with Rory, and has since offered further clarification on his position.
“Friend or not, I’m NEVER funding someone’s sabotage of me, that will NEVER happen,” writes Joe, alluding to something deeper behind-the-scenes. “I get far away from the threat…. You can think piece until your face turns blue.”
A fair prediction, as many blue-faced fans are currently in the midst of trying to unpack the internal turmoil that brought The Joe Budden Podcast to an unceremonious end. Some have invoked Akademiks, with predictions that Joe will be quickly mobilizing to reunite with his longtime Everyday Struggle co-host — who happens to be engaged in a disrespectful feud with both Rory and Mal. Others have even drawn comparisons to an old Budden classic “Three Sides To A Story,” noting that situations are seldom as clear-cut as they appear to be.
Depending on who is asked, Joe has done himself a favor by cutting ties with negative associates or doomed himself to go out in a similar fashion to Alonzo from Training Day. It’s a testament to the passion that The JBP has elicited from its fanbase, and it should be interesting to see if and when details of the implosion come to light. As of now, only Joe has publically commented on the fallout, while Mal and Rory have opted to remain silent.
Things keep getting worse and worse for T.I. and Tiny. In the recent weeks, a mounting number of women have come forward and accused the ATL couple of sexually assaulting them over the years, with most ladies already having retained lawyers for legal action. Well, now there’s a woman who’s coming out and saying she was not only forced to engage in sexual acts with the couple, but also with another rapper, Nelly.
“Jane Doe” says that she was hired as Tiny’s assistant as a teenager. While she was never paid or compensated, T.I and Tiny forced her to do drugs and forced her to have sex. She alleges that back in 2014 the couple made her have sex with another rapper, that being Nelly.
“Throughout the duration of her time with T.I. and Tiny, the duo forced her to engage in sexual acts with different woman against her will. In 2014, T.I. and Tiny forced her to have sexual intercourse with rapper Nelly against her will,” the narration alleges in the clip at the 3:00 minute mark.
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Unfortunately, this isn’t Nelly’s first run in with the law for sexual assault. Back in 2017, he was charged with raping a woman on his tour bus, which was eventually settled out of court. Then later that same year a British woman sued the St. Louis rapper for forcing her into oral sex after a show in England.
Well continue to keep you posted on these developing and ongoing stories with Tip and Tiny moving forward.
