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Silk Sonic Brings Soulful Radio And Funky ‘Fits To ‘Fortnite’

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Over the years, Epic Games’ Fortnite has increasingly become a home not just for legions of gamers but also for musicians who enjoy the game’s combination of third-person shooter and building mechanics. Those musicians have also partnered with Epic Games for in-game appearances like Travis Scott’s 2020 concert, which broke the game’s streaming record, and Ariana Grande’s 2021 concert.

Today, Epic announced the game’s latest musical partners: Anderson .Paak and Bruno Mars — known collectively as Silk Sonic. Rather than playing an in-game concert, though, Silk Sonic will offer their music to gamers another way, via an in-game radio station that will play their hits like “Leave The Door Open.” Their debut hit previously featured in the game as an emote, or a dance that the player’s avatar can perform on command. Emotes have been a big part of the game’s success, as the game itself is free, but players can buy emotes via mini-transactions with real money.

The radio station can be accessed when a player uses one of the vehicles in the game and will be hosted by Bootsy Collins, who is featured on Silk Sonic’s debut album, An Evening With Silk Sonic. In addition, new skins will allow players to dress their avatars in funky, ’70s-style outfits inspired by Andy and Bruno.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

NLE Choppa Shows Off His Dance Skills And Charisma In His Video For ‘Trap Phone’

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NLE Choppa ended the first month of the new year by releasing his sophomore album Me Vs. Me. It arrives nearly a year and a half after his debut album Top Shotta. That same year he was given a spot on the 2020 XXL Freshman Class list with names like Jack Harlow, Rod Wave, Latto, and more. To continue the promotion behind his latest body of work, NLE Choppa returns with a video for “Trap Phone.” The visual finds him surrounded by his crew and a cast of women as he boasts about his street rap while showing off his charisma with a collection of energetic dance moves.

Me Vs. Me arrives with sixteen songs and features from Young Thug, Polo G, G Herbo, and Moneybagg Yo. The project dropped a week after its original release date after NLE Choppa delayed it out of respect for Long Live Young Dolph, the compilation album that was released in honor of Young Dolph who was shot and killed in November. “Trap Phone” joins songs like “Stompin,” “Mmm Hmm,” “Unapologetic,” and “Drop Sh*t” as records from Me Vs. Me to receive the visual treatment.

You can watch the video for “Trap Phone” above.

Me Vs. Me is out now via Warner Records. You can stream it here.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Rihanna Steps Into Black History Month With A New Photo Of Her Baby Bump

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Earlier this week, Rihanna shocked the world by revealing she and her boyfriend ASAP Rocky are expecting their first child together. The news arrived a little over a year after rumors surfaced about the pair’s romance. The couple shared pictures from a photoshoot they did together in New York, which features Rihanna rocking a pink Chanel jacket that was halfway unbuttoned to show her baby bump. Just a few days after those pictures arrived, Rihanna returns with another one to celebrate the start of Black History Month.

The new picture also showed Rihanna’s baby bump, which she captioned, “How the gang pulled up to black history month.” She also included a pair of pictures from her photoshoot in the Instagram post. Shortly after Rihanna shared the news about her pregnancy, her father Ronald Fenty gave his reaction to it during an interview with TMZ. “When I got the news, I was so excited and ecstatic,” he said. “And I’m just hoping it will have ten fingers and ten toes.” Ronald also revealed his hope for the baby’s gender. “I’m looking for a girl,” he said. “I already have two grandsons, so I’m looking for a daughter now.”

The announcement arrived after her Clara Lionel Foundation pledged $15 million for organizations that are fighting against climate change.

Gunna Opened A Free Grocery Store At His Former Middle School In Atlanta

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Gunna is off to a great start this year. He released his third album, DS4EVER, last month and it topped the Billboard 200, giving the rapper his second No. 1 album as a solo artist and his third altogether, thanks to YSL’s Slime Langauge 2. He’s also giving back to the community that helped him become the success he is today.

Gunna teamed up with Goodr, a sustainable food waste management and hunger relief company, to open a free grocery store in Atlanta’s Ronald E. McNair Middle School, which he attended as a teenager. Called Goodr Grocery Store, it will serve more than 900 students and allow them to pick from his favorite foods and snacks, as well as fresh produce and toiletries. There’s also a “Drip Closet” section that offers clothes and sneakers — even Nike Air Jordans.

“I have the highest regard for Gunna’s dedication to giving back to the community that raised him,” Goodr founder and CEO Jasmine Crowe said in a statement. “Goodr and Gunna have teamed for the greater good several times in the past couple years. His commitment is inspiring.”

The company plans to launch more free grocery stores in schools and community centers across the country.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Nicki Minaj And Kevin Samuels Were On Instagram Live Together And Her Fans Were A Bit Confused About It

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It’s been nearly three years since Nicki Minaj dropped her last album, Queen. Since then, she got married, had her first child, and found herself in a fair amount of controversy. The singer is about to release her upcoming single, “Do We Want A Problem?” with Lil Baby, which she’s currently promoting.

In addition to riding the interview circuit, Nicki also went on Instagram Live with Kevin Samuels, a former consultant who has repeatedly sparked controversy on social media for his dating advice. His comments are often condescending, especially towards women, but Samuels’ conversation with Nicki was, for the most part, smooth-sailing.

At one point, Samuels asked Nicki to rate herself on a scale of 1-10 and the rapper chose 7, but Samuels was not satisfied with her answer. “It’s the default answer for most people because they don’t want to go too high, they don’t want to go too low,” he said. Instead, he gave the singer a 9 and said she “gets additional points for eyes.”

Despite their rather calm conversation, many fans were a bit confused as to why Nicki hopped on Instagram Live with Samuels and they took to Twitter to share their reactions.

You can view a clip from the Instagram Live above and read reactions from fans below.

Normani Wanted To Hang From The Ceiling And Have Alligators At The ‘Wild Side’ Video Until She Found Out Cardi B Was Pregnant

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Hailey Bieber might be leaning into her role as the wife of superstar Justin Bieber, but that hasn’t stopped her from doing plenty of things on her own, either. Most recently, she launched a mini show interviewing some of her famous friends in her own bathroom, complete with a dining table and prepared snacks of the visitor’s choice. Past guests on Who’s In My Bathroom have included fellow model Kendall Jenner, and rising pop star The Kid Laroi, and today’s guest was none other than Normani.

After Normani taught her proper technique for eating crab legs, Hailey called the rising pop star a once in a generation talent, and heard a little bit more about her experience moving to Houston after her family was displaced from New Orleans by Hurricane Katrina. Eventually, the conversation naturally turned to Normani’s latest single, “Wild Side,” which features none other than Cardi B — who rather infamously starred in the video while she was pregnant. Normani admits she had higher expectations for the clip before learning Cardi’s movements would necessarily be limited. “Cardi, she was pregnant while we shot the music video,” Normani begins around the 5:30 mark. “I initially had the idea of us like hanging from the ceiling wrapped in chains, and like, I think really really big. I wanted there to be like, alligators swarming around us in the water, you know the scene we had together. And they’re like, ‘you know, she’s pregnant.’ And I’m like ohhhhh.”

So chains and alligators were off the menu for the moment! Obviously the “Wild Side” video still came out great though. Check out the full interview above.

J. Cole Will Continue His Latest Feature Run With A Track Beside YG And Moneybagg Yo

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Back at the start of 2019, J. Cole announced that “Family And Loyalty,” his collaboration with Gang Starr, would be the “last feature you’ll hear from me.” That claim turned out to be short-lived, as Cole, who typically isolates himself from other artists, is currently in the midst of another feature run. This Friday, YG, J. Cole, and Moneybagg Yo will team up for their new song “Scared Money,” which seems to be the latest single from YG’s upcoming album, following last spring’s “Sign Language.”

J. Cole’s decision comes after he did some self-reflecting around the release of his sixth album, The Off-Season. “Do you really want to look back and be like, ‘You didn’t work with nobody?” Cole said in a documentary that arrived shortly before the release. “You didn’t have no songs with nobody?’ You just cool with that?’ No, OK! So start saying yes to some features.” Thankfully, Cole did just that.

In the past few months, Cole has released songs with Wale (“Poke It Out“), Young Thug (“Stressed Out“), “Joyner Lucas (“Your Heart“), and Benny The Butcher (“Johnny P’s Caddy“). While “Scared Money” will be Cole and YG’s first song together, it will be Cole’s second with Moneybagg Yo, as they worked together back in 2018 on “Say Dat.”

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Rudy Giuliani Improbably Popped Up On ‘The Masked Singer,’ Causing Judges Ken Jeong And Robin Thicke To Storm Off In Protest

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Warning: This post contains spoilers for Wednesday night’s episode of The Masked Singer.

If you ever find yourself working directly for a disgraced leader who’s been accused of corruption and fascism and are worried about your future, fret not! You can always find a second life on some trash game show. Sean Spicer, who bullied and lied to journalists as Donald Trump’s first White House press secretary, improbably wound up on Dancing with the Stars. Sarah Palin, recently seen jeopardizing the health of New Yorkers by dining out after testing positive for COVID, was among the unmasked (in more ways than one) on The Masked Singer.

Speaking of, as per Deadline, on Wednesday’s episode of the singing-themed reality show, the big reveal was so shocking it reportedly prompted two of the judges to storm off in protest. Who could be that polarizing? Why, it’s Trump’s cash-strapped, legally doomed, accident-prone personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani.

When one of the masked singers was revealed to be one of the key players in Trump’s failed attempts to overturn democracy, judges Ken Jeong and Robin Thicke furiously fled the scene. The other two judges, Nicole Scherzinger and Jenny McCarthy, who was anti-vaxx before everyone else, remained and engaged in some banter with the guy responsible for such classics as “Four Seasons Total Landscaping” and “Mystery Black Goo Pouring Down Head.” Jeong and Thicke eventually returned.

In any case, it’s probably a bit too early to be normalizing alleged crooks who have yet to have been punished. But then, Rudy probably needs the dough.

(Via Deadline)

Nicki Minaj Seems To Have Resolved Her Differences With City Girls: ‘Let’s Move On & Make New Memories’

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Nicki Minaj is gearing up to release her fifth album at some point this year. While her fas will have to wait for a title and a release date, they’ll be able to listen to the album’s first single, “Do We Have A Problem?” with Lil Baby, on February 4. It remains to be seen what other collaborations will appear on it, but one possibility is City Girls, now that the rap stars seem to have resolved their differences.

In a tweet on Wednesday, Nicki Minaj wrote, “Just had a great convo with @ThegirlJT & @YungMiami305. Let’s move on & make new memories y’all [unicorn emoji].” The hope is that the “new memories” will be new music between Nicki and City Girls, who have yet to ever collaborate. Nicki’s comments come shortly after she initially shut down the idea of working with the rap duo. “It’s let go,” she said during an interview on The Morning Hustle, “But why would I work with someone who doesn’t like me?”

On top of this, there’s also the chance that Nicki and City Girls’ first song together could appear on the latter’s upcoming fourth album. That project, which may feature the duo’s viral 2021 track, “Twerkulator,” would be the City Girls’ first full-length release since their 2020 effort, City On Lock.

Two New Juice WRLD Singles, ‘Cigarettes’ And ‘Go Hard 2.0.’ Get The Anime Video Treatment

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It’s almost astonishing to think of how much material the late Juice WRLD recorded before his death in December of 2019. The prolific Chicago rapper left behind plenty of material to be turned into awesome visuals like the ones for his new singles “Cigarettes” and Go Hard 2.0,” which both tap into Juice’s love for Japanese animation, or anime.

The video for “Cigarettes,” which you can watch above, takes a CGI approach, creating a colorful digital avatar of Juice that dances and emotes over the new track, which features a somber guitar riff backing Juice’s compliments toward a paramour who uplifts him in the midst of his addictions. The track was originally leaked in 2018 before being re-released today. It’s expected to appear the deluxe version of Juice’s new album Fighting Demons.

Meanwhile, below, you can check out the traditionally animated video for “Go Hard 2.0.” This dynamic, sci-fi accented short sees representations of some of Juice’s closest friends in the rap game working in a lab as he floats in a tube (some of their faces are blurred, suggesting that Juice’s label couldn’t get likeness clearances for them, but Lil Uzi Vert and Polo G are visible). When news of a meteor approaching the planet sounds an alarm, Uzi releases Juice to destroy the cosmic threat with some very Dragon Ball-ish powers. However, he also unleashes a musclebound alien with whom he engages in a battle royale. This song appears on the original version of Fighting Demons, which is out now via Grade A Productions and Interscope.