Hip Hop News

Robert Griffin III has had an interesting career in the NFL. At the time of his draft, he was one of the best QBs in the country and when he got to the Washington Football Team, he was putting up some decent statistics. Unfortunately, poor injury management ruined his career as a starter, and since that time, he has become a journeyman backup who has proven to be a great mentor to up-and-coming talent.

In fact, Griffin recently stated that he would be the perfect man for the job in San Francisco, as he now wants to mentor the team’s new QB pick, Trey Lance. Griffin even noted that he has worked with the Shanahans before and that it would prove to be a solid partnership.

“To be honest, I don’t think they have a guy on the roster that would be better situated than myself to come in and mentor the kid,” Griffin said. “I remember one time Mike sat me down and had a 20-word play ready for me in the first practice. And they just sat there and wanted to see if I could spit put every single one of those words and then actually go run the play against a defense led by London Fletcher, one of the best linebackers ever.”

It remains to be seen whether or not the 49ers will do this as they already have a bit of a QB debacle to deal with. However, if the 49ers do add Griffin to the lineup, we’re sure he and Lance will get along just fine.

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Fat Joe has become a treasure trove of hip-hop history, having shared no shortage of incredible behind-the-scenes gems on his Instagram series The Fat Joe Show. Likewise has Talib Kweli done the same, using his own People’s Party platform to shine a light on the untold stories. Now, the pair of lyricists have decided to pool their resources, with Joe taking a moment to hit up Kweli’s show for a wide-ranging interview, shining an interesting light on Joe’s previous feud with 50 Cent.

“I never thought in my life I would squash the beef with 50 Cent,” reveals Joe. “I’m the real deal. If we would have bumped heads somewhere, it would have went down physically 100 percent. So when Chris Lighty died, I went to the funeral by myself. Where I come from, the morals I have, is I gotta pay respects and show love to the family. I show up, and 50 Cent is there. He’s on the other side, I don’t see him.” He explains that he received a phone call from Stephen Hill from BET as he was leaving, with an invitation to participate in a Chris Lighty tribute during the BET Awards — as it happens, 50 Cent would also be participating. 

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“When I show up to the BET Awards, we on point,” says Joe. “We super focused. That’s the only way I can explain it legally. They say rehearsal. I perform ‘Lean Back’ and then 50 Cent comes out. He ends up right by where I’m at. And when the music stops, he puts his hands out, and says ‘Peace for Chris Lighty.’ Chris Lighty wanted peace.”

“So I’m looking at him like peace?!” admits Joe. “All the shit this guy done said about me, it’s like a fuc*in movie going on right here…I shook his hand, and said peace. He said ‘peace man, Terror Squad G-Unit for Chris Lighty. That was it. I remember when I did that, people started dancing in the audience, people started running. There wasn’t Instagram in that time, but it went viral. When we did the actual performance, people went crazy.” 

“I think we have an obligation, a responsibility to show these young brothers that beefing over words can be squashed,” says Joe. “You can become friends. It doesn’t have to result in us killing each other. The rap beef doesn’t have to turn violent in the streets. I hope everybody sees that and says ‘the shit they were saying to each other, and now they’re friends? It can happen.” He cites a four-month stint in jail as having changed his outlook for the better. “I’ve been beefing with these people so long,” he reflects. “Why don’t I squash beef with all my enemies, and see what doors it opens.”

Check out Fat Joe’s appearance on Talib Kweli’s The People’s Party below.

WATCH: Fat Joe Talks 50 Cent Beef On Talib Kweli’s The People’s Party

Tom Brady’s decision to leave New England and go to Tampa Bay was one that many were skeptical of at first. However, it ended up working out for the quarterback as he had an amazing team behind him, which ultimately led to a Super Bowl victory. Now, Brady has seven championships to his name and if you ever doubted him before, well, you’ll probably never make that same mistake again.

According to Darren Rovell, Brady’s move to Tampa Bay even brought in some huge numbers when it comes to jersey sales. This season, Brady broke Patrick Mahomes’ record for most player jerseys sold in a single season. On top of that, the Buccaneers saw a 1200 percent increase in overall jersey sales, which is a monstrous improvement from the previous season.

While Brady made a huge impact on the field, he also helped out the Buccaneers from a marketing and financial standpoint, which makes his signing that much more of a unique investment. Prior to his stint in Tampa, the Buccaneers were a team that many fans even forgot existed but now, they are defending champs and one of the most relevant teams in the NFL.

Overall, we’re sure Brady believes he made the right choice.

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Rapper Quando Rondo and his entourage were reportedly shot at on Sunday morning in Georgia, according to TMZ. One man close to the rapper was reportedly wounded. 

According to the report, Quando and his entourage were caught in the middle of gunfire at a convenience store ten minutes away from where the rapper performed this weekend. Shots were reported at approximately 3:20 AM on Sunday morning. Law enforcement sources believe that somebody started shooting at them from across the street or on a nearby highway. Quando was reportedly not present at the crime scene when police arrived but the publication notes that he was at the convenience store when shots rang out. It’s unclear if he was wounded but he has been updating his social media on Monday morning.

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The man that was brought to the hospital was reportedly shot in the hand. The group was reportedly not at the convenience store for long before the shooting happened. 

Back in November 2020, Quando Rondo was involved in a physical altercation with rapper King Von outside of a nightclub in Atlanta. Von allegedly threw a punch at Quando, which prompted a gunfight to break out, killing the 26-year-old Von. Since then, there has been a heightened sense of danger for Quando, who continues to try and move past the tragic incident. This weekend, he performed at his first concert since Von’s death, rapping for a crowd of only fifty people.

We will keep you posted with further updates regarding this incident. 

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When it comes to the music industry, secrecy has never been easy to maintain. Those who can remember the days where piracy ran rampant have likely seen more than a fair number of albums derailed by a premature leak. Tracklists were often leaked in their entirety weeks before the scheduled release date, with the music itself following shortly thereafter. It’s likely part of why the surprise, short-notice album drop was so widely accepted today, and as a result, there has been a noted decrease in mysterious album teasers. 

Yet ahead of their first release in 2021, Top Dawg Entertainment opted to go old school with it, having recently confirmed an unidentified album would be landing this coming Friday, May 7th. Given the vast amount of talent currently due for a drop — Ab-Soul, SZA, ScHoolboy Q, Isaiah Rashad, Jay Rock, and Kendrick Lamar all come to mind — many of the internet’s finest sleuths pounced on the opportunity to engage in a bit of good old fashioned detective work.

According to a new report from OnSmash, it would appear that the Twitter gumshoe gang has cracked the case. Of course, it’s purely speculative, though it wouldn’t be entirely surprising to see this one manifesting as reality. One particular user seemed to reach the conclusion that Isaiah Rashad would be delivering his long-awaited follow-up to The Sun’s Tirade, pointing to a previous message from Rashad that the album would be dropping on his grandma’s birthday. In the same tweet, the user dug up evidence actually pointing to Zay’s grandma’s birthday being May 7th, which would certainly indicate that he’s a likely candidate for TDE’s first release of the year.

Check out the case below, and sound off if you’re excited to see a potential new album from Isaiah Rashad. As fans know, the wait has been a lengthy one, as his last album, The Sun’s Tirade, arrived in September of 2016. The delay between drops has been among the label’s longest, but this crafty detective work appears to point to a payoff sooner than later. Do you think the code has been cracked?

NLE Choppa just wanted to walk on the beach with his friends during a recent trip to Los Angeles but when a fan allegedly wanted to take a picture with the rapper, he declined. According to the 18-year-old artist, the fan started disrespecting him once he was denied a photo, which prompted a physical fight to break out.

A video of NLE Choppa and his crew beating down a man in Venice Beach took social media by storm as many were surprised to see the rapper in such a predicament. At the time, it was unclear why Choppa and his team were so violent with the man, knocking him down in the sand and repeatedly throwing punches. It didn’t take long for the rapper to explain his side of the story.

“Damn y’all never got hit in a fight before?” asked NLE Choppa on Twitter. “Bruh asked for picture I said no I’m enjoying my self and I get called scary and a b*tch. I make sure I take pictures with every fan but some days I just be trying to chill and get disrespected in the process. And I eat punches ask bout me. Imma rush you take what you got to give and resume beating some. Honestly ain’t wanna fight I was just tryna walk the beach.”

Check out NLE Choppa’s response below and watch the fight video above.

Despite being one of the most revered honors an artist can receive, the Recording Committee has frequently faced backlash for never getting it right. We’ve seen plenty of artists voice their disapproval but it was The Weeknd who made the biggest statement. The Toronto singer vowed to boycott the award show due to the secret committees that decide the final ballot. After Hours was among the biggest albums of 2020 but still, The Weeknd wasn’t included in any of the categories.

Kevin Winter/Getty Images

The Grammys stated that they’d be eliminating secret committees last week in an attempt to provide artists more transparency during the voting process. However, The Weeknd still won’t be participating in the award show. In a statement to the New York Times, The Weeknd said, “Even though I won’t be submitting my music, the Grammys’ recent admission of corruption will hopefully be a positive move for the future of this plagued award and give the artist community the respect it deserves with a transparent voting process.”

He elaborated even further in a statement to Variety where he commended the move as an “important start” but he added that it’s too early to celebrate. “The trust has been broken for so long between the Grammy organization and artists that it would be unwise to raise a victory flag,” he said.

Kevin Winter/Getty Images

“I think the industry and public alike need to see the transparent system truly at play for the win to be celebrated, but it’s an important start,” he added. “I remain uninterested in being a part of the Grammys, especially with their own admission of corruption for all these decades. I will not be submitting in the future.”

Can the Grammys earn the trust of artists back with the elimination of secret committees? Sound off in the comments. 

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