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Jack Harlow Delivers A Soulful Tiny Desk Concert From His Living Room

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Jack Harlow’s busy March continues. After the Louisville, Kentucky rapper was announced as the performer on an upcoming episode of Saturday Night Live and promoted his participation in Bleacher Report’s B/R: Open Run NBA All-Star event with 2 Chainz, Lil Baby, and Quavo, it turned out that Jack also had one more ace up his sleeve: An NPR Tiny Desk Concert.

Harlow performs from what appears to be his living room, which gets packed with his band and backup singers as they perform his songs “Rendezvous,” “21C / Delta,” and “Funny Seeing You Here.” Sadly, no one plays the piano that already appears to be part of the room’s decor, but the live band does give Harlow’s familiar songs an even more soulful flair.

The last year has been bad for live shows, but great for Tiny Desk Concerts. Since shifting to the “At Home” format to accommodate COVID-19 safety precautions, the show has been able to bypass the logistical constraints that limited some of the biggest stars from appearing. This has led to not only plenty of bigger guests performing but also to even more memorable performances themselves. 2 Chainz got a pedicure during his, while Polo G took over a local basketball court and Spillage Village went to church and Conway ordered up at Nas’s Sweet Chick restaurant in Queens. While we’re all hoping for a return to live music… NPR should really keep this format, at least part-time. It’s a lot of fun.

Watch Jack Harlow’s Tiny Desk Concert above.

Jack Harlow is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

50 Cent Says He’s ‘Headed’ To Texas After The Governor Ended All Mask Mandates

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When cities across the country began lockdowns last March, many average Americans were under the impression that things would go back to “normal” in just a few short weeks. But a year and 28 million confirmed cases later, the US is still struggling to contain the virus. While the vaccine rollout is going better than planned, states like Texas are fed up with restrictions. Going against the advice of nearly all medical professionals, Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced Tuesday that the state would be lifting all lockdowns and restrictions put in place, including all mask mandates.

50 Cent is apparently happy about the news, and he’s ready to take advantage of the state’s reopening. 50 Cent shared a screenshot of the news on Instagram Tuesday night and expressed his wish to visit the state. “i’m headed to Texas f*ck this,” he wrote.

This isn’t the first time 50 Cent tried to skirt around mask rules. During Super Bowl weekend last month, 50 Cent threw a massive, maskless party indoors. The event was held at a private air hanger in St. Petersburg, FL, and Mayor Rick Kriseman wasn’t happy with the rapper’s blatant disregard for COVID restrictions. “This isn’t how we should be celebrating the Super Bowl. It’s not safe or smart. It’s stupid,” Mayor Kriseman wrote in response. “We’re going to take a very close look at this, and it may end up costing someone a lot more than 50 cent.”

Gunna, Wale, And Trae Tha Truth Feed 2,000 Families In Houston

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With thousands of people in the South still struggling in the aftermath of a winter storm that knocked out power in Texas and froze pipes in Jackson, Mississippi (folks there haven’t had clean water for two weeks), the hip-hop community continues to pitch in to help out. After Travis Scott partnered with the city of Houston to deliver food to 50,000 residents, another hometown hero, Trae Tha Truth, recruited some assistance from friends Gunna and Wale to hand out food, water, and household supplies at a giveaway in the parking lot of Sunnyside’s Worthing High School, helping feed 2,000 families with Goodr.

Houston and hip-hop have long gone together thanks to personalities like Megan Thee Stallion and Travis Scott putting on for the city, but this year, it seemed rappers were more intent on exploiting Texas’ lax COVID safety laws, drawing the ire of Houston’s mayor and residents. Bow Wow held a huge, unmasked concert there in January just after an event featuring Fabolous and Trey Songz was shut down over capacity issues. With so many outsiders taking advantage of the city, it’s a relief to see some banding together with locals to help each other out of the crisis situation.

Gunna and Wale recently collaborated on the song “Flawed,” for which the two rappers released a video in November.

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

Chance The Rapper Teases The Release Date Of His First New Single Since ‘The Big Day’

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It’s been almost two years since the release of Chance The Rapper’s debut album The Big Day and he hasn’t released a new single since then — “The Return” doesn’t count, that was for a re-release of his and Jeremih’s Christmas album, and we’re not entirely sure it was all-new, to begin with. Since then, Chance has spent more time with his family while the dust settles, bringing with it a lawsuit from his former manager, a countersuit from Chance, and a whole host of quarantine movie opinion tweets from the Windy City rapper.

However, it looks like he may finally be hopping back on that horse this year, as he recently tweeted a short clip of what looks like a new music video with the caption, “The Heart & The Tongue.” Today, he confirmed that the video will be dropping on Friday with a separate tweet replying to the first, prompting an excited reaction from fans, praising the serpentine rhymes on the new track, as well as the stripped-down beat.

The new track doesn’t exactly mark a reinvention for The Rapper, but it does seem like he’s getting back to basics after blowing out the production budget on his last two projects. The time away seems to have done him some good; earlier this year, he reunited with Vic Mensa on a track for the first time since they were teenagers on “Shelter” and his verse on Justin Bieber’s “Holy” seemed well-received as well. I won’t say “the old Chance” is back because he never left — I’ll die on my “The Big Day was good” hill — but the older, wiser Chance is getting back in touch with the version that made us all fall in love with him in the first place and that can only be a good thing.

Chance’s new track releases in full this Friday. Check out the snippet above.

Solange Reveals She Was ‘Quite Literally Fighting For’ Her Life While Making ‘When I Get Home’

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This Monday marked exactly two years since Solange surprise-released her acclaimed LP When I Get Home alongside a cinematic short film, which she is sharing a remastered director’s cut of through The Criterion Channel. Both the film and the LP are very personal to Solange, as the singer was undergoing health issues at the time. Her health situation was apparently much more serious than she had previously let on, as the singer has now revealed that she was “quite literally” fighting for her life.

Reflecting on When I Get Home‘s two-year anniversary, Solange took to Instagram to share a lengthy statement about how the project “changed” her life:

“When I first started creating ‘When I Get Home’ I was quite literally fighting for my life…in and out of hospitals (s/out park plaza on Binz! 🙂 with depleting health and broken spirits asking God to send me a sign I would not only survive, but that if he let me make it out alive, I would step into the light whatever that meant. He begin speaking to me. Half the time I didn’t know where it was coming from. I only knew I had to open the door and honor it. I didn’t see naann a thing I imagined. I didn’t know who I was speaking to on ‘I am a witness’. When I listen back, I hear a woman who had only an inkling of what the journey entailed, but didn’t have a clue of why or what the journey would look like. This project has shown me, once you open that door, you can’t go backwards. Believe me I’ve tried saying ‘nah I’m just playing’ so many times, ha. I’m not a big fan of talking about sh*t I don’t know yet. I didn’t do much talking during this time because of that. I’m really down for showing the process, and staying quiet when it hasn’t all yet being revealed. I make work to answer questions within me, for survival. Sometimes I am asking myself that same question many ways. Sometimes it takes me years. I have to honor that time. This Houston ting moves slow y’all. One day, I’ll tell y’all about the days I’ve had since I opened this door. The things I’ve uncovered. The life long healing I’ve begin. The great divine joy and love I’ve experienced. The stories of my past I’ve survived that I had stored all up in my body…. till it said…. no more. The re-learning. The reckoning. This album led me to all of it. Life has now become before WIGH and after WIGH. I’m so grateful for you guys allowing me the space and time.”

This isn’t the first time Solange has addressed her health problems. Back in January 2020, the singer announced she would be canceling a handful of tour dates at the Sydney Opera House due to “the physical demands of the shows.”

Find Solange’s Instagram post below.

Flo Milli Is ‘Flora The Explorer’ In Her Colorful ‘Back Pack’ Video

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Flo Milli keeps on rolling in 2021, maintaining the momentum of her breakout 2020 and debut mixtape, Ho, Why Is You Here? Today, she shares the video for her new song “Back Pack (Flora The Explorer).” Normally, when you hear the terms “backpack” and “rap” together, it means something else entirely (shout out to MC Jin), but Milli takes her cues from the Nick Jr. family fave Dora The Explorer for her new single, sampling the theme song the title character sings every episode about her magical, talking storage accessory.

In the video, “Flora” explores her new environs on the West Coast with a pink Jeep and wardrobe imitating the song’s inspiration. Content-wise, though, it’s still a Flo Milli classic — boastful, playful, and bold, Milli taunts haters with a sing-song flow and dances alongside a pink, animated monkey (that doesn’t look anything like Boots, to keep it a hundred, but nobody wants Nickelodeon sending C&Ds, right?).

Following the breakout success of Ho, Why Is You Here?, Flo Milli started the new year with the release of her song “Roaring 20s,” celebrating both the calendar year and her lifespan so far over another unusual sample, this time from the musical Fiddler On The Roof. She followed up with a flapper-inspired video for her own single, as well as an appearance alongside Mulatto and Rubi Rose on Rich The Kid’s new video “Nasty” as a burlesque dancer.

Watch Flo Milli’s “Back Pack” video above.

Megan Thee Stallion Is One Of The New Faces Of Calvin Klein’s 2021 Campaign

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Megan Thee Stallion is one of the new faces of Calvin Klein. The staple fashion brand recruits the Houston Hottie, along with other stars like actor Anthony Ramos, reggae star Koffee, and singer/songwriter Rina Sawayama, for its new 2021 campaign. Along with the usual print images, the campaign includes an enigmatic short film featuring the campaign’s stars asking viewers, “What makes you vulnerable?”

The campaign is just the latest high-profile brand sponsorship for Thee Stallion this year. Last month, she spoofed the 2004 teen comedy classic Mean Girls in a separate campaign for luxury brand Coach after being featured on the cover of Harper’s Bazaar. Unfortunately, fans weren’t happy about the Harper’s shots, even after it was revealed that Megan herself got approval over the photos.

Of course, the Hotties were quickly appeased by an anime voice actor’s shout out to the “Body” rapper, and she got approving co-signs from both Congressperson Maxine Waters and actor Idris Elba. She’s also on-track to graduate this year and follow through on her plan to open an assisted-living facility with her classmates. It’s safe to say that after 2019’s Hot Girl Summer and 2020’s Good News, Megan Thee Stallion isn’t going anywhere in 2021.

See Megan Thee Stallion in Calvin Klein’s latest campaign above.

Megan Thee Stallion is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

BRS Kash, DDG, And Toosii React To Adina Howard’s ‘Freak Like Me’ Video

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This week on React Like You Know, we’re switching things up. We’ve touched on all the party classics like Lil Kim’s “Crush On You,” Busta Rhymes’ “Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Could See,” Trick Daddy and Trina’s “Nann,” and Mark Morrison’s “Return Of The Mack,” but this week, we’re slowing things down and pulling out a body-rolling R&B classic.

Mid-’90s staple singer Adina Howard — who is finally releasing her shelved 1997 album Welcome To Fantasy Island to streaming this week — debuted in 1995 with “Freak Like Me,” well before some members of our panel were even born.

So, it’s a blast to watch BRS Kash, DaniLeigh, DDG, and Toosii’s minds get blown by the laid-back G-funk stylings of the singer’s sexy debut single, which sounds little like the trap-heavy production of today. Wait for the moment BRS Kash finally realizes what the song is; he lights up like a Christmas tree. Meanwhile, Bobby Sessions makes this astute observation: “If your mom her hair like this, you was for sure getting your ass whipped.” Almighty Suspect also mishears a lyric, leading to one of the best facial reactions we’ve seen.

Watch the latest episode of React Like You Know above.

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

Playboi Carti Tells Kid Cudi His Style Is Inspired By Vampire Movies

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When it comes to audacious looks and styles, the biggest boundary pusher in hip-hop right now is arguably Playboi Carti. The Atlantan ad-lib master has delighted fans and befuddled foes with his unconventional looks, the inspirations of which he detailed to Kid Cudi in a conversation for Interview Magazine. While the punk-rock influences are pretty obvious, he says he gets inspiration from another unusual source, as well: Vampire movies.

“I’m a big, big, fan of punk artists like Sid Vicious,” he tells the elder rapper. “I just feel like my lifestyle is so rocked out. This is the lifestyle I live, and I ain’t no damn poser.” Prompted to elaborate on his fashion choices by Cudi, Carti explains, “This shit that I do is not just for the ’gram. It’s not just to make people think I’m weird. This is really me. I get a lot of my inspiration from vampire movies because when you see a vampire, he always looks good. He don’t age. He can’t die. He’s beautiful. I won Best Dressed in high school. That’s what I was on. I did the streetwear sh*t. Now let’s see if I can pop this sh*t that they’re wearing on the runway. If it’s a challenge, I’m doing it.”

He also explains how he comes up with his unorthodox raps on albums like Whole Lotta Red: “Everything is freestyle,” he says. “Shout out Lil Wayne. I use whatever I bring with me that day. If something is stressing me out, I’ll come to dish that. If I’ve been hanging around my street, I’ll make street sh*t that day. No matter the vibe of that day, that’s how I come.”

You can read the full interview here.

Reggae Legend Bunny Wailer Has Died At 73

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Rolling Stone reports that Bunny Wailer, the last surviving founding member of The Wailers, has died at age 73, as confirmed by his manager Maxine Stowe. He died earlier today at the Medical Associates Hospital in Kingston, Jamaica according to Jamaica Observer, and no cause of death has been released yet. He’d been in failing health since 2020 when he suffered his second stroke.

Born Neville Livingstone in the Nine Mile district of Jamaica’s St. Ann Parish, Bunny became a musical icon revered the world over for his work with The Wailers, which included childhood friend Bob Marley and later addition, Peter Tosh. The then-trio soon added singer Junior Braithwaite and backup vocalists Beverley Kelso and Cherry and began releasing a string of international hits, which included “Simmer Down,” “Stir It Up,” “Is This Love,” “Jamming,” “Could You Be Loved,” “Buffalo Soldier,” “Get Up, Stand Up,” and “Redemption Song.”

Rolling Stone notes that while Marley and Tosh were the group’s principal songwriters, it was Wailer who provided the band with not just its name but also its unforgettable harmonies. The group was instrumental in bringing Jamaican music to the world, touring the UK with Johnny Cash in the early 1970s. Wailer left the group in 1973 after the group’s new producer Chris Blackwell sought to rebrand them as “Bob Marley’s backup singers.” Wailer embarked on his own successful solo career with Blackheart Man. Wailer eventually won three Best Reggae Album Grammys, in 1991, 1995, and 1997.