Hip Hop News

Kodak Black has been working on his Sniper Gang roster of signed artists for the last few years, working closely with rising stars Jackboy, 22Gz, and more. The Florida-based rapper has seemingly been hard at work since his release from prison earlier this year, apparently completing upwards of a dozen albums worth of music. His career has been exciting for fans to follow and, in a parallel universe, his narrative could have had some added layers as Kodak revealed that he tried to sign a couple of notorious rappers to his label.

Taking to Twitter to show his love for Youngboy Never Broke Again and Tay-K, who are both currently incarcerated, Kodak said that he actually tried to get both of them on Sniper Gang.

“Free TayK I’m Finna Get Lil Bra Home,” wrote Yak, promising to get “The Race” rapper back to freedom. Tay-K was previously sentenced to 55-years for a capital murder charge. “Tayk And YB Posta Been On My Label Few Years Back Free Dem Boyz.”

On Monday morning, Kodak continued his social media activity by supporting the #StopAsianHate movement and more. He also posted some motivational words to get people’s week started on the right foot.

How do you think things would have changed with Youngboy Never Broke Again and Tay-K on Kodak’s label?

 
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Prominent conservative commentator Candace Owens has kept a watchful eye on pop culture and remains a vocal critic of many messages put forth in the mainstream music industry. Having frequently gone toe-to-toe with Cardi B, to the point where the pair feel like recurring archrivals, it was only a matter of time before Owens set her sights on a new target — the diamond-certified popstar Lil Nas X.

Lil Nas X, who many came to know through his genre-bending crossover hit “Old Town Road,” recently raised eyebrows with the provocative and controversial new video for “MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name).” For one, it drew heavily from Christian iconography, culminating in a scene during which Lil Nas X gives Lord Beelzebub himself a lap-dance. In addition, it also featured a heightened dose of sexually-charged imagery, signaling an alteration of Lil Nas X’s previously family-friendly image. 

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Following the release of “MONTERO,” Lil Nas X announced a shoe collaboration with art collective MSCHF — a Nike Air Max 97 released in a limited run of six-hundred-and-sixty-six, seeped in Satanic imagery and even containing a drop of human blood; following the announcement, Nike came forward to confirm that they had nothing to do with the sneaker’s creation nor any affiliation to Lil Nas X. It didn’t take long for the video and tie-in shoe to stir up controversy, and before long, Candace Owens was taking to Twitter to share her thoughts on the situation.

“We’ve turned George Floyd, a criminal drug addict, into an icon. We are promoting Satan shoes to wear on our feet. We’ve got Cardi B named as woman of the year,” she wrote, on her Twitter page. “But we’re convinced it’s white supremacy that’s keeping black America behind. How stupid can we be?” In response, Lil Nas X positioned her acknowledgment as validation of his message, though Candace was not convinced. 

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“You successfully got you used by corporations to help further destroy our youth,” she responded. “Congratulations on being a pawn in a game you likely don’t even understand. We can take cheap shots on Twitter or I can welcome you to have this discussion with me publicly because it matters.” At this time, Lil Nas X has yet to respond to her invitation — though it seems unlikely that he will take her up on it. At this current moment, the viral video for “MONTERO” is sitting at thirty-one million views.

Lil Nas X always seems to get a rise out of people although that has been multiplied by infinity as of late following the release of his music video for “MONTERO.” The track has a provocative music video in which Lil Nas X does a lap dance for the devil, before killing him. The religious right has been in an absolute state of disarray over this, and now, many more are offended due to the fact that Nas X has his own Nike Air Max 97 coming out, which contains blood and is called “Satan’s Shoe.”

People like Nick Young have come out against this, and now, projected number one overall pick in the NFL Draft, Trevor Lawrence, is doing the same. Upon seeing the shoes on Twitter, Lawrence gave his opinion, noting that this time around, the artist has gone way too far.

“Line has to be drawn somewhere. Smh,” he said. The pearl-clutching that has been done over these past few days has been truly bizarre to see. The religious angles that people are taking are akin to what happened in the 90s with Marilyn Manson, and it felt like we had gotten past this ages ago, but apparently not.

Regardless of Lawrence’s opinion, these shoes are still set to come out, and it seems like there is enough interest to sell out all 666 pairs.

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Lil Nas X obviously knew what he was doing with the release of his new music video for “MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name)”. Effectively kickstarting his latest era, the former country-rapper embraced his sexual identity fully with the visuals to the single, pole-dancing all the way down to hell and giving the devil a lapdance. In addition to the video’s release, Lil Nas X also started promoting his new sneakers in collaboration with MSCHF. The kicks, affectionately dubbed the “Satan Shoes” on social media, have caused quite a stir, pissing off thousands of people across the nation for satanic imagery, as well as the inclusion of a single drop of human blood in the design.

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The pop star has been criticized by all of the same people who lashed out at Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion for “WAP”, trending for the entire weekend on Twitter. He’s been at odds with Candace Owens and plenty of other conservative political commentators because of his latest move and he’s officially hearing it from Joyner Lucas, who understands why Nas X is selling the shoes but isn’t a fan of the way he went about this career shift.

“That @LilNasX video is wild but as a artist he doing everything he supposed to do. Creating viral moments, making people talk, & creating content he already knew you was going to react to,” said Joyner, giving the artist his praise before offering a word of critique. “It’s a formula guaranteed to work. I doubt he actually worships the devil. I think the biggest problem for me is the fact he dont understand ‘old town road’ is every kids anthem. Children love him for that record. They tuned in and subscribed to his channels. So with no disclaimer he just dropped some left field ish & all our kids seen it. Smh.”

At this point in the controversy, Lil Nas X has continually proven that he doesn’t care about how negatively people are reacting to his video and sneakers. He said that he’s “proud” of himself, as he should be got releasing such a ground-breaking piece of media. LNX knew what he was doing. Check out his “apology” video below.

This year’s NBA trade deadline was full of movement and it was also filled with a whole lot of contract buyouts for some key players. Among them was Andre Drummond, who was fully expecting his release from the Cleveland Cavaliers. After news of the buyout broke, rumors began to circulate that he would most likely be joining the Los Angeles Lakers, who were heavily recruiting him throughout the process. On Sunday, those rumors became reality as he officially signed with the team.

While speaking to reporter Michael Corvo of Clutch Points, Kyle Kuzma spoke about just how excited he is to have Drummond on the roster. He even explained how the team’s rebounding is insanely competitive and that teams are going to have a hard time winning boards. “I got somebody to battle with on the boards,” he noted.

Without LeBron James and Anthony Davis in the lineup, the Lakers needed some sort of spark, and Drummond should prove to be that player. He is a big man who can do big things in the paint, and there is no doubt that he will be of use throughout this key stretch of the season. Once the Lakers’ superstars come back, Drummond will be some much-needed depth for the playoffs.

With teams like the Nets loading up on players, the Lakers needed to keep up and so far, Drummond is their way of doing so.

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Charlamagne tha God is partnering with Audible and James Altucher for a new series titled We’ve Got Answers: Honest Conversation on Race in America. The series will feature Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, activist Tamika D. Mallory and more.

“I just want people to learn from this project. This Black brain trust that I curated consists of individuals that I learn from directly and indirectly. I know that other races will learn from them, too. I want this project to serve as a road map for all white people in regard to matters dealing with Black people,” Charlamagne exclusively told The Hollywood Reporter. “There are so many assumptions being made and rarely have I witnessed assumptions turn into facts. The only dumb question is the one not asked, so for all the questions you’ve ever wanted to ask Black people, you can trust and believe that ‘We’ve Got Answers.'”

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Systemic racism, racial profiling, reparations, the judicial system, health care, and much more will all be discussed on the show.

Audible’s executive vp and head of U.S. content, Rachel Ghiazza, explained the company’s vision for We’ve Got Answers in a statement:

Audible is committed to bringing together diverse storytellers from all paths of life, furthering our mission to bring unmatched value for our listeners. We’ve Got Answers aims to give people of all backgrounds a place to learn and to start their own conversations about important social issues and thought-provoking topics. It is a significant addition to Audible’s vast library of content that we are proud to bring to our audience.

We’ve Got Answers: Honest Conversation on Race in America will debut on March 31st.

[Via]