Hip Hop News

Two weeks ago, Shelley (formerly known as DRAM) treated fans with the sultry new single “Cooking With Grease” and announced the release date for his long-awaited follow-up to Big Baby DRAM. Aptly titled Shelley FKA DRAM to signify the change to his stage name, Shelley’s sophomore was set to arrive next weekend on Friday, April 16. However, due to recently revealed personal reasons, Shelley has decided to push the project’s release back a little bit.

According to Shelley’s latest Instagram post, his mother sadly passed away last year, and she apparently played a major role in helping DRAM get the album ready for release. As a result, he has decided to delay the album’s release so that it drops on his late mother’s birthday.  

“As some of you may know my mom passed away last year,” Shelley reveals in the Instagram post below. “Before she passed I played her my upcoming album and I begged her to promise she wouldn’t play it for anyone else.”

“She held her promise and took the music with her beyond this life,” he continues. “Her birthday is April 29th, so I’m pushing my album Shelley FKA DRAM’s release date to April 29th as not only my gift back to her, but my promise to play it for the world.”

In probably one of the most heartfelt reasons that an artist has decided to push an album back, Shelley’s forthcoming sophomore album Shelley FKA DRAM will arrive two weeks later than previously expected on Thursday, April 29, but at least the LVRN artist will be paying his respects to his mother in an incredible way.

Only a few days ago, Bobby Shmurda revealed his plans to release new music, signaling that his triumphant return would be arriving before the end of April. Now, the rapper has opted to double down, with a new Instagram post suggesting that he’s gearing up to stage a comeback sooner than later.

Shmurda used his caption to invoke a bit of nostalgia, evoking his classic single while teasing fans that “Ima be with y’all inna “HOT” Min.” Between that and the telling images of himself laying down vocals in the studio, it’s looking like we’ll be seeing what Shmurda has been cooking up in the imminent future. 

Bennett Raglin/BET/Getty Images  

As for what he’s got in the pipeline, it’s no secret that Shmurda has been active in the studio since his release from prison. A recent session found him connecting with Lil Durk and Rowdy Rebel; another found him linking up with producers Zaytoven and Mike WiLL Made-It in Atlanta. And though it doesn’t exactly point to collaboration, Shmurda’s latest announcement drew out quite the number of high-profile commenters — Busta Rhymes, Murda Beatz, Pooh Shiesty, and Popcaan among them.

Expect plenty of buzz when Bobby’s upcoming drop lands in full, in a “Hot” minute by his own admission. Stay tuned for further clarification on when exactly that might be, and sound off if you’re excited to see Bobby Shmurda back in the fold once again.  

Amid the heightened awareness surrounding anti-Asian racism in the wake of COVID-19, there have been many calls to address the underlying discrimination against people of Asian descent face in North America. In the midst of the controversy, Xzibit found himself receiving tons of backlash after he was accused of perpetrating an anti-Asian with the name of his cannabis line, Napalm.

X later addressed the situation and apologized for any sort of insensitivity that was perceived from the brand’s name. Additionally, he offered a more comprehensive explanation of the title and how it falls in line with the titles of his albums. “The word Napalm is definitely synonymous with war and being used as a weapon,” he explained. “If you know anything about me and my body of work, you know I got albums called Weapons Of Mass Destruction and Man Vs Machine.” He also released an album in 2021 called Napalm which is where the inspiration of the album came from.

TMZ’s report appeared to have got it wrong, though. It was reported that his products have been removed from the shelf of a dispensary after the accusations of anti-Asian racism. “As I look at this thing it breaks my heart to be dealing with these small groups of people attempting to paint me with a broad brush,” he explained, citing his work on Pimp My Ride made the term ‘pimp’ become synonymous to car restoration. Additionally, he said that the accusations of racism are a “reach” that contrasts and undermines his positive contributions to society, as well as his creative license. 

“I’ve been getting calls all morning and the tmz story is misleading at best,” he added. “To be clear 1 dispensary took our products off of their ‘digital shelf’ which means they probably still have it on the dispensary shelf. Either way this one sided bullshit is not who I am or who I ever will be.”

The cannabis industry and fellow rappers chimed in to show their support for Xzibit as he combatted these accusations. B-Real, both a pivotal member of the cannabis community and groundbreaking MC, chimed in the comment section, writing, “We support you brother. We know you don’t play part in that sort of fuckery. But you will come out on top regardless.”

All Money In’s J. Stone also commented where he pointed out the double standard in the situation. “Ok so now we gotta take all slavery movies down or any movie where they called us N***as. Straight the fucc up. They wanna nit pick at the small shit but everything they do is racist towards us. Smh,” he wrote.

Check out their comments below. 

Twenty-six years ago, Will Smith, Martin Lawrence, and director Martin Lawrence delivered their action classic Bad Boys. The blockbuster would go on to gross $141,407,024 worldwide at the box office, as well as spawning two sequels — Bad Boys II in 2003, and most recently Bad Boys For Life in 2020. 

Martin Lawrence and Will Smith in “Bad Boys.” Columbia Pictures/Getty Images

With today marking the official anniversary of Bad Boys, Will Smith took to Instagram to commemorate the occasion alongside his longtime co-star. Set to the dulcet tone of Simple Plan vocalist Pierre Bouvier, Smith and Lawrence take a step into the past as they recreate the film’s iconic poster. “When we say FOR LIFE we mean it,” captions Smith. Bad Boys came out 26 years ago today!”

It should be noted that for last year’s twenty-fifth anniversary, the Bad Boys film franchise received a clothing capsule, available for perusal right here. It’s not surprising to see Smith and Lawrence retain continued enthusiasm for Bad Boys, as fans have proven time and again that they’re ready and willing to follow the adventures of Mike Lowery and Marcus Burnett for as long as there are stories to be told. Though it’s uncertain whether or not Smith and Lawrence will ultimately reprise their roles as the beloved heroes, Will Smith’s latest celebratory status certainly suggests a willingness to do so — should the opportunity arise. 

Check out Smith and Lawrence’s recreation of the Bad Boys poster below. 

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