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Teyana Taylor’s Albums & Mixtapes, Ranked

September 22, 2023 by newhiphopnews

Teyana Taylor is supposedly retired but she is still active in the music world. The New York singer has performed at major festivals this year even after concluding her Last Rose Petal Tour in 2022. She has not released an album since 2020 and has since focused her attention on other endeavors. Taylor appeared in numerous films and TV shows, including Coming 2 America, White Men Can’t Jump, and Kid Cudi’s Entergalactic. She also notably won The Masked Singer last year.

Teyana Taylor’s name has also been in news headlines recently following confirmation of separating from her ex-husband, Iman Shumpert. In an Instagram post, she stated that she and the former NBA player are still on good terms despite being separated for a while. She even referred to Shumpert as her bestie. Teyana Taylor may have retired from music for now, but fans are still longing for new music from the multifaceted singer and dancer. Today, we are highlighting her music career with a ranking of her albums and mixtapes from least to greatest. Take a look at the list below.

Read More: Teyana Taylor’s 7 Biggest Hits

6. From A Planet Called Harlem (2009)

Teyana Taylor started her career under Pharrell’s tutelage in 2007 when he signed her to Star Trak Entertainment. Her 2009 debut mixtape, From A Planet Called Harlem is her first full-length project and her only release on the label. The mixtape notably included Taylor’s debut single, “Google Me.” Jazze Pha, Pharrell, Hit-Boy, and more contributed beats while Chris Brown, Eve, Keri Hilson, Keyshia Cole, and others featured on the mixtape. From A Planet Called Harlem certainly showcased Teyana Taylor’s talents, but she had not yet completely established her musical identity. For that reason, it sits at the bottom of her discography. It was not until her later work that she would find her sound as a singer and reinvent herself as an artist.

5. The Misunderstanding of Teyana Taylor (2012)

A fitting title for her second mixtape, The Misunderstanding of Teyana Taylor was the follow-up to From A Planet Called Harlem which marked a new phase in her career. Freshly released from her deal with Star Trak, Teyana Taylor’s first independent project was a promising effort. However, she still sounded as if she was developing her comfort zone as a singer, which we’d later see fully established in her studio albums. She made an admirable project that helped better reveal her growth. However, she grew both vocally and artistically on her albums, which her G.O.O.D. Music signing helped uncover.

4. The Cassette Tape 1994 (2015)

Just a year removed from her debut album, Teyana Taylor released The Cassette Tape 1994. The 5-track EP was inspired by ’90s R&B, sampling numerous throwbacks like K.P. & Envyi’s “Swing My Way” and Tony! Toni! Toné!’s “Anniversary.” Teyana Taylor put her own spin on these songs, repurposing old-school classics to make her very own cassette tape. While it is a brief and enjoyable listen, The Cassette Tape 1994 does not stack up to her polished and carefully crafted studio albums. Still, the project sits above Teyana’s mixtapes as her vocal range drastically grew and she skillfully reimagined older songs with her own flair.

3. The Album (2020)

Teyana Taylor’s most recent and supposedly final album fully delivered on its promises. Her highly anticipated third album satisfied her fanbase with its lengthy tracklist. While bloated, the 23-track album contains some of Teyana Taylor’s best material. It is both well-produced and varied in its musical stylings. There are ballads, bangers, afro-fusion and reggae-inspired songs, and of course, sensual R&B tracks. Her most personal release to date, The Album contains moments of reflection, celebration, and gratitude. It does not leave much to be desired because fans were given everything they wanted across the tracklist. In that regard, The Album’s length is justified but the extensive runtime and filler songs diminish its replay value. If it really is Teyana Taylor’s final album, she ended her music career on a solid note.

2. K.T.S.E. (2018)

The last album to be released in a series of short albums produced by Kanye West, K.T.S.E. stood out among a slew of hip-hop projects. The only release from the series to feature eight songs, as opposed to seven, Teyana Taylor’s second studio album contains a surprising amount of variety in such a short amount of time. K.T.S.E.’s brightest moments utilize chopped soul samples to make modern classics like “Gonna Love Me” and “Issues/Hold On.”

There is also “Rose in Harlem,” an album highlight that combines vintage with contemporary to forge one of Teyana Taylor’s best songs. The album’s closing track, “WTP” pays homage to the Harlem ballroom scene with Taylor’s signature style of sexual liberty. K.T.S.E. may not have been the final product she envisioned, but the Kanye West production was perfect for her voice. It made for a memorable second album even though she had already set the bar extremely high.

1. VII (2014)

Teyana Taylor unlocked her full potential on her debut album, VII. She had found her voice and signature sound in the album’s lush instrumentation. The music suits her voice and sexually descriptive lyrics. VII is Teyana Taylor’s most complete body of work from top to bottom, resulting in a tracklist without skips. Nothing on the album sounds forced and the songs transition seamlessly from one to the other. Songs like “Just Different,” “Request,” and “Broken Hearted Girl” are some of the sexiest tracks in her discography that display her unique vocal tone.

Many of VII’s highlights are its slow contemporary R&B jams, but its production is also varied in style. The reggae-fused “Put Your Love On” keeps the album unpredictable and the upbeat “Maybe” with Pusha T and Yo Gotti perfectly balances gentle emotions with playful flirting. Ultimately, Teyana Taylor perfected her sound with her debut album. VII is an unforgettable listening experience that proved extremely difficult to top.

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Drake Debuts His Country Accent While Touring Houston Home: Watch

September 22, 2023 by newhiphopnews

Drake always reps the city of Toronto to the fullest, but that doesn’t mean he can’t show love to other areas that raised him, in a way. Moreover, those familiar with his’s early career know that Houston played a large role in his come-up, not just regarding stylistic and artistic inspiration, but also in terms of some of his earliest mentors like Bun B being from there. Now, the 6 God found a home in the city to stay at when he’s not in Toronto, and recently showed it off. Not only that, but he also showed off his best “country” accent to really get into the Texas atmosphere.

“Me and my partner, we done gone country on ya’ll, mane,” Drake remarked in a video in what looks like a golf cart with a friend. “We said we was going to do it for a lot of years. We doing it today. The sale is made, for sure. They said 10 horses belong to the property and four of them are boarding horses. People need a nice place for their horse to stay. Yeah, buddy, yeah, buddy. You got to drop a new one for this. If you see your girl at the Lover Boy Lane, it’s over.”

Drake Goes Full “Country” While Showing Off New Houston Property

Of course, this voice harkens back to when Drake was fully in his Southern bag on projects like Thank Me Later. As such, maybe it’s not too surprising for hardcore fans to hear his drawl like this, and we can imagine it’ll only get stronger. In addition, let’s not forget that the 36-year-old is known for his many voices, for better or worse. From dancehall patois to U.K. drill “tings,” he’s drawn as much admiration and clowning for his “impressions.” We’ll see how many of those show up on For All The Dogs.

Meanwhile, it’s at least nice to see that the OVO mogul finally achieved a longtime goal. With the resources and finances at his disposal, we can assume that he wanted to find the perfect spot in the city to call his second home. Regardless, we’ll see how long it takes for Drizzy to say “Howdy” to no end. On that note, stick around on HNHH for the latest news and updates on Drake.

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Gardy St. Fleur On Revolutionizing The Fine Art World In The 21st Century w/ Laura Stylez

September 22, 2023 by newhiphopnews

Biden-Harris 2024 Releases ‘La Diferencia’ Ad Targeting Latino Voters

September 22, 2023 by newhiphopnews

Biden-Harris 2024 Releases 'La Diferencia' Targeting Latino Voters

In response to the second RNC debate in Simi Valley, CA, Biden-Harris 2024 unveiled its third campaign ad, “The Difference” or “La Diferencia,” focusing on the Democratic Party’s commitment to Latino Americans. This ad aims to highlight the contrast between Republicans’ promises and President Biden’s historic investments in improving the quality of life for Latinos.

The narrator in the ad emphasizes that actions speak louder than words, with some politicians merely talking while others, like President Biden, take concrete steps. During his first term, President Biden’s economic agenda achieved record-low Latino unemployment, supported Latino small businesses, and reduced costs for Latino families while increasing access to affordable health insurance.

While MAGA Republicans are portrayed as favoring the wealthy, President Biden’s approach prioritizes the middle class. It emphasizes rebuilding the economy from the bottom up and the middle out rather than the top down.

“Republicans talk a lot of game, but Joe Biden actually delivers for Latinos,” said Maca Casado, Biden-Harris 2024 Hispanic Media Director. “That’s the difference and that’s the choice Latinos will face in November 2024: between an agenda that is lowering costs and investing in Latino communities and their businesses, and MAGA Republicans whose platform only serves the wealthy and powerful. President Biden’s campaign knows Latinos’ political power and is investing early and aggressively to make his case because we won’t take their votes for granted.”

“La Diferencia” is part of a $25 million ad campaign by Team Biden-Harris and will be broadcast in English and Spanish across battleground states: Arizona, Nevada, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina, and Wisconsin. The ad will also air in Spanish on a Univision simulcast of the Republican debate.

The post Biden-Harris 2024 Releases ‘La Diferencia’ Ad Targeting Latino Voters first appeared on The Source.

The post Biden-Harris 2024 Releases ‘La Diferencia’ Ad Targeting Latino Voters appeared first on The Source.

Fat Joe, Rick Ross, Chuck D and More team with Power to the Patients for PSA on Honest & Transparent Healthcare System

September 22, 2023 by newhiphopnews

A powerhouse lineup of hip-hop legends, including Fat Joe, Rick Ross, Busta Rhymes, Method Man, French Montana, and Chuck D, has teamed up with Power to the Patients to release a compelling public service announcement (PSA). Their collective voices demand transparency in the healthcare system, urging elected officials to create an equitable, affordable, and honest healthcare framework nationwide.

As Congress prepares to vote on healthcare transparency bills in Washington, D.C., these iconic artists advocate for more robust price transparency laws. They call for hospitals and insurance companies to publish actual prices for their services and procedures, a move that aims to rectify these institutions’ disregard for existing federal transparency rules.

The PSA highlights the prevalent practice of hospitals and insurers providing only “estimates” or “average prices,” which the hip-hop icons argue stifles competition and results in overcharges, debt, fear, and devastation for countless Americans. Chuck D, frontman of Public Enemy, describes the situation as “an American humanitarian crisis.”

This collective advocacy follows the persistent efforts of Power to the Patients and Grammy-nominated artist and philanthropist Fat Joe, who have engaged with lawmakers, visited The White House, and rallied on Capitol Hill. They aim to express frustration with the healthcare system and champion the rights of patients, families, communities, employees, employers, and unions nationwide.

Earlier this year, Fat Joe and Power To The Patients joined forces with New York City Council Members and various union groups, leading to Mayor Eric Adams signing the Healthcare Accountability and Consumer Protection Act in June 2023. This groundbreaking legislation established the nation’s first Office of Health Care Accountability, enabling New Yorkers to compare hospital costs for identical services.

As hip-hop celebrates its 50th anniversary, these artists confront a rigged healthcare system. They emphasize that hospitals often coerce patients into signing service contracts without revealing actual prices, resulting in widespread fear that deters millions from seeking necessary medical care, jeopardizing their health and lives.

Medical debt remains the leading cause of personal bankruptcy in America, and a recent study by Patient Rights Advocate revealed that only 36% of U.S. hospitals comply with the current Federal Price Transparency Rule.

The post Fat Joe, Rick Ross, Chuck D and More team with Power to the Patients for PSA on Honest & Transparent Healthcare System first appeared on The Source.

The post Fat Joe, Rick Ross, Chuck D and More team with Power to the Patients for PSA on Honest & Transparent Healthcare System appeared first on The Source.

Doja Cat Finds ‘True Love’ & Hints At Marriage On New Album ‘Scarlet’

September 22, 2023 by newhiphopnews

Doja Cat has just dropped her brand new album ‘Scarlet’ and it seems as if she wants to fall in love and get married in the near future.

Doja Cat Refuses To Be Boxed In On Her Combative New Album, ‘Scarlet’

September 22, 2023 by newhiphopnews

Doja Cat Scarlet Review — Doja Cat / Derrick Rossignol

On Scarlet, her fourth and latest full-length album, Doja Cat sounds both supremely self assured and extremely hacked off at the same damn time. Both states appear to be the result of the last two years worth of accolades and accomplishments and an overwhelming deluge of debates about whether any of it was deserved.

Let’s get one thing out of the way right here and now; absolutely, every damn bit of it was deserved and earned by Doja, by virtue of both her talent and her hard work. But so much success these days comes with caveats; if you’re the best pop star of the nascent 2020s, you simply CAN’T be a rapper. Pretty privilege plays a part, of course. Then there is that forever looming shadow of sexism, the one that says the men in the audience are owed ownership of your sexuality (even though you never made the art for them in the first place).

Doja Cat has spent the last year systematically dismantling every one of these arguments and the majority of Scarlet is directed toward that end, as well.

I already wrote about how Doja has always been a stylistic chameleon, but since then, the wildly eclectic star has revealed more of just how trying the last few years of judgment and scrutiny have been. She has railed against so-called “stan culture,” in which obsessive followers of various pop stars wage never ending and increasingly nasty wars of words on social media on behalf of performers who rarely ask them to.

On Scarlet, she hammers home the point that this is not normal. The parasocial relationship that exists between artists and their listeners has always had ominous implications but they’ve always been sublimated, hazy, just out of sight. On social media, they’ve become unavoidable, and Doja Cat is fed up. She repeatedly lashes out at the speculators and skeptics, offering them several seats to watch the show while simultaneously shushing both their toxic banter and overfamiliarity. “Stop-callin’-me-sis body bitch, we not a kin,” she snarls on “Shutcho.” “You do not exist to me, miss, I’m not your friend.”

Meanwhile, Doja also pushed back at her own public image during this album’s rollout. While the pristine presentation is polished pop perfection has served her well in climbing her way to a successful career, she’s vented many times that it hasn’t been creatively fulfilling. I keep coming back to this point again and again in writing about this artist, but Doja is at heart a backpack rap kid. She was raised by musical influences like Little Brother and Erykah Badu. And while even the staunchest of underground rappers had been unafraid to sonically experiment, for Doja, churning out disco-pop confections like “Kiss Me More” and “Say So” must have eventually worn like an itchy Christmas sweater in early autumn.

Doja wears her influences on her sleeve here; “Often” sounds straight-up like old-school Baduizm. She tried this sort of hazy, incense-tinged thing before,way back when on 2012’s “So High,” but where she didn’t quite have the poise to make it stick then, she sounds much more natural and comfortable here. Meanwhile, songs like “Paint The Town Red” and “97” track like brighter, more futuristic versions of the murky underground rap Doja was surrounded by in the orbit of early aughts Project Blowed spin-offs created by veterans of the renowned open mic.

Scarlet is clearly the album that the snarky battle rapper inside her has wanted to make since the beginning. Her pen game has always been ferocious but here, she elevates barbed wit with specific targets in mind. On the dramatically titled “Balut,” she sneers, “You are fleeting, so you can’t copy this” – a subtle jab at haters recalling the short-lived and ill-advised Twitter feature that sought to force a Xeroxed version of competitors’ products onto its own reticent user base.

Certainly, she’s had enough speculation from concern trolls in her Instagram comments calling her tattoos demonic and theorizing about things she considers nobody’s business but her own. “Skull And Bones” addresses the rumormongers directly; “Y’all been pushin’ ‘Satan this’ and ‘Satan that,’” she mocks. “My fans is yellin’, ‘Least she rich,’ you need that pact / Lookin’ like I got some things you hate I have / And trust me, baby, God don’t play with hate like that.”

On “Agoura Hills,” Doja offers her own theory about the scandals and backlashes that have followed her since she blew up – and those who start the drama. “Boys be mad that I don’t fuck incels,” she muses. “Girls hate too, gun to their pigtail.” In Doja’s mind, it’s all the same thing: Social pressure to conform directed at someone who’s accomplished so much because she refuses to do so. “Agoura Hills” also best encapsulates where Doja is on Scarlet – it’s a love song to her man, it’s a withering diss to her haters, it’s a trolling response to critics of her identity (including herself; her white girl voice on verse one is a thing of comedic beauty).

Doja said during the rollout of the album that it was written over the course of two very different periods in her life. That’s evident in the latter half of the album, when it sounds like Doja is very much in her soft girl era. But Scarlet itself is a rejoinder to the idea that artists must be only one or two things or that their entire existences belong to the fans. They often say “I wouldn’t be here without you,” and to a certain extent, that’s true. But they also wouldn’t be where they are without the quirks and individuality that make them who they are, that draw us to them. They own that part themselves and owe it to absolutely no one else. Scarlet’s as much a reminder of that to Doja Cat as it is to us.

Scarlet is out now Kemosabe and RCA Records.

Doja Cat’s ‘97’ Comments On Her Losing Thousands Of Followers Across Social Media

September 22, 2023 by newhiphopnews

Doja Cat 2023 TIME100 Gala — Getty Image

After months of teasing tracks, several name changes, and a record-setting single, Doja Cat’s latest album, Scarlet, is finally here. Given the pure hellfire, the “Attention” rapper has found herself at the center of her choice in body art, her rumored relationship, and more Doja was sure to address most of it on the project.

While the song “Skull And Bones” addresses fans’ theory that the entertainer is a satanist, on “97,” Doja shares her comments on the massive social media unfollow spree led by former fan pages. In July, she took a jab at supporters that crowned themselves “Kittenz” for the juvenile name choice. Then, she doubled down on the social media app Threads, calling out fan pages for their unhealthy, obsessive behavior. This online rant resulted in over 250,000 users unfollowing the musician on Instagram.

On “97,” which was co-written by Doja Cat, Jay Versace, and Sam Barsh and produced by Barsh and Versace, Doja confesses that she has no regrets. In fact, she encourages more to follow suit to help boost her social media analytics.

“Pull up and they smiley instead (actin’ stupid) / Like they wasn’t tryna fight me in Threads (’bout some music) / In a tweet that I’ma probably still stand by (I’m ruthless) / Keep your money, funky b*tch, ’cause I don’t play about (the rumors) / They gon’ buy it, they gon’ pirate, they gon’ play it, they consume it/ If you’re scootin’ let me know, ’cause that’s a comment, that’s a view / And that’s a rating, that’s some hating, that’s engagement I could use / And I could teach y’all how to do this, but I’d much rather be cruisin’,” rapped Doja on the track’s second verse.

Doja Cat’s relationship with supporters and social media has been extreme over the years. But based on “97,” she has realized that it’s all smoke and mirrors. Her happiness is the most important.

Listen to Doja Cat’s “97” below.

Scarlet is out now via RCA. Find more information here.

Stephen A. Smith Defends Terrible First Pitch With Warm-Up Video

September 22, 2023 by newhiphopnews

Stephen A. Smith has attempted to deflect criticism of his terrible first pitch at last night’s Yankees game in a video posted this morning. In the video, Smith is seen to a child in catcher’s gear near the dugout. This was presumably the warm up for his first pitch. However, there are just a few problems with the video. Firstly, Smith’s form is just terrible for a pitcher. Secondly, he appears to be much closer to his catcher than the pitcher’s mound is to home plate. Thirdly, and most importantly, just because you through some strikes beforehand doesn’t mean your first pitch didn’t suck.

Smith’s pitch barely made it to the dirt in front of home plate, let alone anywhere resembling the strike zone. What has made this incident all the more funny is just how confident Smith has previously been about acing his first pitch. Earlier this year, Smith went on a mini-rant on First Take in which he extolled the perceived excellence of his hypothetical first pitch. “I would throw a strike,” Smith told his co-hosts back in July. However, no amount of practice throws is going to make up for the fact that Smith choked about as hard as the Yankees have this year.

Stephen A. Happy To Be Single

pic.twitter.com/0MReqjWdtJ

— Stephen A Smith (@stephenasmith) September 22, 2023

In non-failure news, Smith also recently boasted about how he’s happy to be single. “I’m 55 years old. I’ve never been married and I’m happy about it. Now, one could easily surmise that a past rife with some degree of promiscuity might, dare I say, contribute to my desire to be single. But that’s not the reason. I am not upset about being single. Jeezy, how he filed for divorce from his wife, Jeannie Mai, after only two years, former friends are saying she’s after his money. If Kevin Costner’s monthly child support entitles the children to maintain their quality of life, why should he have to pay to maintain the quality of life for the wife that’s no longer with him?” Smith recently said on his podcast.

In classic Stephen A. fashion, he kind of loses his point towards the end of the rant. However, as best we can tell, Stephen is happy to be single. Furthermore, part of that is because he doesn’t want to get his bank account drained if things end in divorce. Smith has two daughters and was once engaged but things “didn’t work out”.

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