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IDK Takes Advantage Of Pooh Shiesty’s Hit For His Devastating ‘Back In Blood (Freestyle)’

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Although IDK had a strong showing in 2020, the PG County-bred rapper has spent the last few months laying low until very recently, when he released the single “2 Cents” to break the relative silence since October’s “King Alfred.” It seems his warm-up period is going to continue for a bit, as he shares another new video, this time for a freestyle over the hit Pooh Shiesty song, “Back In Blood.”

On the original, Pooh Shiesty and Lil Durk recount tales of revenge. As IDK is a bit further removed from the troublemaking days he recalled on his breakout mixtape IWASVERYBAD, his freestyle focuses instead on the best kind of revenge: success. “I bought a chain and a crib in a pandemic,” he boasts. “Got a AMG and not a Panamera / Got a twin turbo in the hood like I’m in the trenches with Tia and Tamera.” It’s clear he’s sharpening his knives for whatever he’s cooking up to release in 2021, building on the growing success of his last year.

IDK’s solid 2020 included the release of his compilation album IDK & Friends 2, which doubled as the soundtrack to the Kevin Durant-produced basketball documentary Basketball County: Something In The Water, as well as making his television debut with the outspoken “No Cable” on The Late Show.

Meanwhile, the “Back In Blood (Freestyle)” video was also accompanied by IDK’s cover of Brent Faiyz’s song “Gravity” which originally featured Tyler The Creator. You can listen to that below.

Lil Baby And Lil Durk Promote Their Promised Joint Album

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Rappers are always promising joint albums — or just feeding existing rumors about them based on fan speculation — but Lil Baby and Lil Durk’s proposed collaborative tape appears to be more real than ever after both principals spent the weekend hyping its eventual release on social media. While Lil Durk tweeted about the album and posted on Instagram, Lil Baby was busy avoiding Twitter, so he instead shared his thoughts via Instagram Story.

“Aye y’all tell @lilbaby4PF let’s drop that tape,” Durk tweeted. “Streets need this.” He followed up with a post on Instagram promising fans that the two rappers would drop the tape provided the post received 100,000 comments.

Meanwhile, Lil Baby first shared a screenshot of a fan account’s post to his Story, adding the text, “Aye y’all, tell @LilDurk let’s drop the tape.” Then, after Durk posted about it on Instagram, Baby shared the post to his Story, wondering, “Bra, why the hell you playing?”

The clamor for their crossover has reached a fever pitch mainly because the duo’s last collaboration, “Finesse Out The Gang Way,” was well-received by fans of both artists. The newly resurgent Durk has been on a roll for the past two years, just as Lil Baby emerged as a force himself. As both rappers climb into the upper tier of rap stardom, it’s only natural that fans would want to see them work together — especially considering their chemistry on tracks like “Finesse” and “3 Headed Goat.” Plus, Baby has proven he can bring the best out of a collaborator on 2018’s Drip Harder with Gunna, so giving Durk the same foil may result in some spectacular contemporary rap.

Will they actually drop a full project? Who knows, but maybe Durk can give Baby some pointers on his jump shot after Saturday’s disastrous showing at the B/R Open Run two-on-two game with Jack Harlow and Quavo.

The Weeknd’s ‘Blinding Lights’ Is The First Song To Spend A Full Year In The Top 10 Of The Hot 100

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As it stands now, it seems to be Olivia Rodrigo’s world: It was just revealed that “Drivers License” is the No. 1 song on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for an eight consecutive week. Looking at the charts a different way, though, the world may actually belong to The Weeknd, as he just pulled off a spectacular feat that has never been done before.

“Blinding Lights” (which, as a reminder, was released as a single way back in November 2019), is No. 3 on the latest Hot 100, dated March 13. This is the song’s 52nd week in the top 10 of the chart, making it the first tune to ever spend a full year in the top 10. If the track can somehow remain in the top 5 spots for another 9 weeks (which doesn’t seem outlandish at this point), it’ll become the first song to spend a year in the top 5 as well. As of now, it has 43 top-5 weeks (which is a record), 52 weeks in the top 10, 58 weeks in the top 20 (which is second all-time), 61 weeks in the top 40 (tied for third all-time), and 65 weeks on the chart overall (tied for seventh-most all-time.)

Simply put, no song has ever dominated the Hot 100 quite like “Blinding Lights” has. On a bafflingly unrelated note, the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards ceremony is this weekend, where The Weeknd managed to secure exactly 0 nominations.

Kyle Catches A Case Of Puppy Love In His Colorful ‘But Cha’ Video

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Ventura, California rapper Kyle’s video for “But Cha” contains an adorable twist. In the first half of the video, he appears to be on a date, sitting at a dinner table and sharing a stimulating conversation with the diner across from him. He offers his “date” a present which, when opened, is revealed to be a bejeweled collar — his “date” is actually his puppy, who makes quizzical doggy faces for the rest of the video as Kyle exhibits infatuated pet owner behaviors like sharing a bath with the pup and dressing them up.

The video’s a classic example of the good-natured artist’s witty sense of humor. The second season of his hilarious animated variety show, Sugar & Toys, just concluded on Fuse, while Kyle himself is about eight months removed from the release of his second album, See You When I Am Famous!!!!!!!!!!!!, which similarly included tongue-in-cheek videos for singles like “Money Now,” in which he commandeers Tyga’s house for an episode of MTV’s Cribs, and the title song, where Kyle’s puppy gets a front-row seat to a stereotypical rap video pool party with scantily clad models and Too Short guest appearances.

Sharing his thoughts on making funny videos instead of serious ones with Uproxx in 2019, Kyle explained his humor. “I really like relating to the most innocent parts of people,” he said. “So, the morning cartoon is just such a nostalgic thing that every human, every race, ethnicity, rich, poor… we all experience the same thing. We all went through it, we all have those memories.”

Watch Kyle’s “But Cha” video.

Russ’s Time Runs Out In His Metaphorical ‘Hard For Me’ Video

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Russ’s high-concept “Hard For Me” video looks like something out of a spy thriller. Directed by Joán, the video depicts Russ trying — and failing — to break the female lead out of a transparent cell as a computer screen on the glass warns that the oxygen within is depleting. After the first verse ends with Russ’s female interest lying on the floor after the oxygen runs out, the second verse reverses their roles; now, Russ is the one trapped. However, this time his coldhearted consort simply watches him struggle until his time runs out.

As a metaphor for a one-sided relationship, the video is a fitting reflection of the song’s lyrics, in which Russ recalls the dissolution of his relationship with a lover with whom he can’t see eye-to-eye. “Tired of goin’ hard for people who don’t go hard for me,” he croons on the hook. “If I go hard for you, please go hard for me.”

The video is Russ’s third of 2021, although the song itself dates back to December of 2020. It seems that after focusing on bars-first battle raps on his Chomp EP, he’s returning to emotionally vulnerable fare like “Hard For Me” and “Misunderstood,” as well as celebratory anthems such as “Ugly” with Lil Baby.

Watch the “Hard For Me” video above.

Bruno Mars And Anderson .Paak Really Want Silk Sonic To Perform At The Grammys This Year

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Over the weekend, the Recording Academy announced its list of performers for this year’s Grammys ceremony, which includes Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish, and other big names. A pair of artists was excluded, though, and they’re not pleased about it: Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak, who are now collectively known as Silk Sonic. The two were so flabbergasted by their absence from the list that they took to Twitter to vent their frustrations and rally the Academy to give them a shot.

Yesterday afternoon, .Paak shared a graphic of the performers list and tweeted, “YO @BrunoMars WHAT THE F*CK?!? Did you see this?!?! Call me back!!” Mars replied, “Wait… are you sure this is even real? where did you find this?” That was the beginning of a playful back-and-forth, which .Paak continued, “Bro it says CBS right at the top! It’s legit. What the F*CK!!?! ANSWER YOUR PHONE!!”

Mars answered, “Are you sure these are performers and not just presenters,” to which .Paak replied, “FAM STOP!!! Did they even hear the song?!? They don’t love us??” Mars then shared a revised image of the list and wrote, “See @AndersonPaak You’ve been misinformed. This is the real real bill. we’re all good!” As .Paak quickly pointed out, though, “And we’re not on this either you PRICK!!!” That elicited a simple “Oh” from Mars.

This is when .Paak got the ball rolling, tweeting, “Do we need to get a hashtag going or something??” Presumably rubbing his eyes while tweeting his response, Mars wrote, “Andy just chill. i’m still waking up.” .Paak was unrelenting, responding, “Nah f*ck that! I haven’t seen my family in months!! I need this to work, You promised me!! Everybody join in!!! I need all of Twitter to help make this trend!! Come on @RecordingAcad #LetSilkSonicThrive.” Mars answered, “I don’t think this is how u get on a show @AndersonPaak, & that’s a pretty long hashtag but i’m rockin wit you. #LetSilkSonicThrive.”

Mars then shared a letter that read:

“Dear Grammys,

If you can see it in your hearts to allow two out of work musicians to perform at your show, we would really appreciate it. We just released a song and could really use the promotion right now. We have a lot riding on this record (and the Pelicans game next week, but that’s another story). We haven’t been able to perform for a while and we just want to sing. We’ll send in an audition tape and take as many covid tests as we need to. I promise we won’t be extra. We just really want a gig again. I hope you’ll consider this request and give us the opportunity to shine. Love, Silk Sonic.”

.Paak added, “WHAT HE SAID! #LetSilkSonicThrive.” .Paak later noted that the hashtag had become a trending topic on Twitter, writing, “@RecordingAcad I know you see this!! We doing real numbers out here!! You can’t ignore the people!!!#LetSilkSonicThrive.” Mars responded, “Yo!!! @AndersonPaak It’s working! you’re a real twitter wizard! @RecordingAcad please log on and look at this!!! #LetSilkSonicThrive.” Mars added, “Wow this started with just us 2 and now we’re a whole army! There’s nothing we cant do. First the Grammys then the world! UNLIMITED POWERRR!”

Still, it would seem .Paak lost hope in the cause, as he was quick to attempt to hop on the BTS train, tweeting, “Bro the @RecordingAcad haven’t even responded… @bts_bighit do y’all need a drummer? #LetSilkSonicThrive.” Mars responded, “You’re right. I got excited we were trending for a while today. I’m sorry I let you down. I hope you & BTS go on to do great things,” to which .Paak replied, “You never let me down champ! Only disappointed me. But sh*t atleast it’s top trending! Don’t give up hope! Either The Grammys or BTS is gonna hit us Back I know it. thank you guys so much!!! #LetSilkSonicThrive.”

Mars and .Paak are certainly fit to appear on the Grammys stage, as they are both accomplished veterans of the awards: Mars has picked up 11 Grammy wins from 27 nominations, while .Paak has 3 wins from 7 nominations.

That’s where the situation stands now. It’s not clear if this is some sort of elaborate social media campaign leading up to an official announcement of Silk Sonic’s addition to the Grammy performance lineup, if this is actually how Mars and .Paak are trying to get involved, or if they’re just goofing around and getting some viral self-promotion in on Twitter. Either way, check out the tweets here or below.

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

Rod Wave Announces His ‘Soulfly’ Project And Shares A Tracklist And Release Date

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Following a rather short-lived beef with his label, Rod Wave is ready to release some new music to his fans. The Florida rapper took to Instagram to announce that his upcoming project, Soulfly, will arrive at the end of the month. He shared the news in a post that displayed the project’s tracklist, which presents 19 songs for listeners to enjoy, as well as newly-released merch and photos from what can be assumed is an upcoming music video. Soulfly will also be a predominantly solo effort outside of a lone guest appearance from Chicago rapper, Polo G.

It was just a little over a month ago that the Florida native put his label, Alamo Records, on blast for apparently not paying him. In a post to his Instagram story, he said, “P*ssy ass label playing wit a n**** sh*t I ain’t dropping sh*t f*ck ya pay me. Y’all wanna album ask @alamorecords.” Just a few days later he apologized for the post and revealed that everything was “cool” now with his label.

You can check out the announcement above and the tracklist below.

1. “Soul Fly (Intro)”
2. “Gone Till November”
3. “Blame On You”
4. “Don’t Forget”
5. “Tombstone”
6. “All I Got”
7. “Richer” Feat. Polo G
8. “Street Runner”
9. “Pillz & Billz”
10. “How The Game Do”
11. “Shock Da World”
12. “What’s Love?? (Interlude)”
13. “OMDB”
14. “Invisible Scar”
15. “Calling”
16. “Sneaky Links”
17. “Believe Me”
18. “Moving On”
19. “Changing (Outro)”

Soulfly is out 3/26 via Alamo Records.

Billie Eilish, Taylor Swift, Cardi B, Lil Baby, And More Will Perform At The 2021 Grammys

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This year is certainly an unconventional year for the Grammys. On top of working around the coronavirus pandemic, the show is holding the award ceremony much later in the year than normal. The Recording Academy was forced to delay the show from its original January 31 date following a spike in coronavirus cases in the Los Angeles area. It was rescheduled for March 14 and with just a week left until showtime, it appears things are going as planned as the Grammys have officially announced performers for the upcoming show.

The Recording Academy announced the lineup for the 63rd Grammy Award show in a string of tweets. The resulting list displays Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish, Cardi B, DaBaby, Lil Baby, Roddy Ricch, Doja Cat, Bad Bunny, BTS, and Harry Styles as some of the chart-topping acts that will take the stage next Sunday. Chris Martin, Post Malone, Dua Lipa, HAIM, Mickey Guyton, Brittany Howard, Maren Morris, John Mayer, Miranda Lambert, and Black Pumas are also slated to perform.

On the awards side of things, Beyonce leads the way for the 2021 Grammys with nine nominations. She’s followed by Dua Lipa, Taylor Swift, and Roddy Ricch, who each tallied six nominations.

Scroll down to see the announcement for each artist performing at the show.

https://twitter.com/RecordingAcad/status/1368622222219350022?s=20

The 63rd Annual Grammy Awards will air on 3/14 at 8pm EST/ 5pm EST on CBS.

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

Kanye West’s Presidential Campaign Reportedly Violated Fundraising Practices

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Kanye West’s 2020 presidential campaign didn’t result in the win that he had hoped for. The rapper only tallied a few hundred votes from a handful of states around the country, and while the election is a thing of the past now, it looks like he’s in a bit of trouble as a result of it.

According to The Daily Beast the Federal Election Commission (FEC) has named several violations from the rapper’s campaign, all of which could lead to legal action pending an investigation. The report states that Kanye accepted multiple donations from minors as well as some from possible foreign officials. Contributions were also listed under fake names and addresses that traced back to drop-shipping facilities on the east and west coasts.

These unlawful fundraising practices accumulated nearly $100,000 in small donations this year. In an interview with the publication, 16-year-old West donor Ian Bloom revealed that he’s yet to receive $3,280 worth of Kanye 2020 gear that he ordered from the rapper’s campaign store in late January.

“I don’t know what’s happening there,” he said. “I ordered like 20 hoodies off his campaign website, along with a lot of other people that I know. They said it would be three weeks, and after that I emailed the support team, and the email just wasn’t a thing.” He shared a screenshot of the automated email response that revealed his address had been blocked. The Daily Beast adds that people under the age of 18 accounted for more than 1,200 of the reported 3,161 donations to Kanye’s campaign, making for a total of $349,160 with $26,540 of that arriving in 2021. It should be noted that it is illegal to seek and accept donations from anyone younger than 18 years old.

Bloom added that he’s in a Discord chat with other hopeful resellers of Kanye’s 2020 gear, many of whom are underage. “I can say with confidence that at least half of us in the group have to be still in high school,” he said.

Lizzo Trolls An Instagram User With A Taste Of Their Own Medicine After They Questioned Her Weight

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Despite all the awards and commercial success she’s attained in her career, Lizzo still faces harmful comments from fans throughout the music world. Unfortunately, another instance of this occurred this past weekend during an Instagram Live session. While chatting with her followers, the singer was asked how she deals “with being obese every day.” Upon reading the message, Lizzo cracked a smile and delivered a response that saw her get the last laugh.

“I wake up into my obese bed — I have to get a king bed because I’m so obese — and I put on my I put on my obese Louis Vuitton house slippers,” she said. “I walk into my massive, obese bathroom and I just stare into my wall-to-wall, obese mirror and lather myself in the most obese, expensive oils and creams, and — oh, god — I walk into my obese, gorgeous, mid-century modern kitchen, and by the time I’ve made it into my kitchen, I’ve already made another obese million dollars.”

She continued by shedding some fake tears and adding, “My bank account is so fat. My bank account is so obese, and, like, I tried to put it on a diet but she’s just so stubborn, like, she won’t listen.”

You can watch the video from the Instagram Live above.

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