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Saweetie Names Her Favorite J. Cole And Nicki Minaj Songs

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Saweetie is still aiming for a summertime release for her long-awaited debut album, Pretty B*tch Music, and continued her seemingly everlasting media tour with a cover story for Complex and an appearance on the outlet’s interview show GOAT Talk. In the latter, she named her favorite culinary concoctions (for which she’s garnered almost as much attention as her music), as well as her favorite songs from her prime influences, J. Cole and Nicki Minaj.

Long before she’d released her breakout single “ICY GRL” and become a household name, Saweetie rapped for J. Cole outside one of his shows, receiving a bit of encouragement from the older rapper. When asked which of his songs is his greatest of all time, Saweetie chose “Cost Me A Lot” from Cole’s 2010 mixtape Friday Night Lights. In the interview for the cover story, she’s asked whether she’d want to collaborate with her underground hero and replies in the affirmative… with one caveat. “On production, yes,” she says.

When it comes to her favorite Nicki Minaj song, Saweetie can’t settle on just one. “I feel like we have to go into two different libraries,” she argues. “There’s mixtape Nicki and mainstream Nicki… For mixtape Nicki, ‘Itty Bitty Piggy‘ [from 2009 mixtape Beam Me Up Scotty] is the obvious choice, but a song I just loved from the depths of my soul was [Lil Wayne-featuring 2008 Sucka Free cut] ‘Higher Than A Kite.’” Saweetie picks “I Wanna Be With You” from DJ Khaled’s 2013 album Suffering From Success because of the velocity Nicki’s flow reaches.

Watch Saweetie reveal her “GOATs” in the latest episode of GOAT Talk above.

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

ASAP Rocky Says Trump’s Efforts During His Swedish Assault Case ‘Made It A Little Worse’

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In ASAP Rocky’s documentary Stockholm Syndrome, the Harlem rapper reportedly addresses the efforts of Donald Trump to get him out of Swedish prison in a preview shared by Rolling Stone, saying that Trump’s efforts had the opposite effect of helping.

According to Rolling Stone‘s preview of the documentary, which premiered during the Tribeca Film Festival this weekend, Rocky talks about finding out about his unexpected supporter, “I’m sleeping in my halfway dream. I heard my name. I kind of opened my eyes and closed my eyes again and then they said my name again. And I opened my eyes and I’m like, ‘Yo, what the f*ck?’” At the time, Trump inserted himself in what was later revealed to be a PR bid to clean up his image among Black voters, cajoling the Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Löfven to intervene on Rocky’s behalf after the rapper was arrested for a fight on the streets of Stockholm and charged with assault.

“I said ‘Aw shit,” Rocky jokes. “Look like I might do a bid.”

Elaborating on his thoughts about the situation, Rocky explains, “I kinda was scared that Trump was going to f*ck it up. But then on the other hand, I’m just like, ‘That’s what’s up, man.’ You want the most support you could and it’s like, ‘Oh, the president supports you.’ That felt good. Cause for the most part, I don’t think he ever knows what’s going on in the urban communities … I was thankful for that, I can’t lie. I was also scared that it would jeopardize me being in [jail] longer.”

Rolling Stone reports that toward the end of the film, Rocky addresses the Trump administration’s insistence that he never “properly” thanked the man for his efforts. ““It was a chess move and they tried to strong-arm a lot,” he says. “In reality, I had no problem saying thank you to the man, especially if he helped me. That’s the narrative they pushin’: That he got me out. And he didn’t free me. If anything, he made it a little worse.“

Burna Boy Will Headline The Hollywood Bowl For The First Time On His 2021 Tour

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Burna Boy is picking up the celebration of his fifth album, Twice As Tall, where he left off when he triumphantly took home the 2021 Grammy Award for Best Global Music Album (we here at Uproxx thought he’d been royally snubbed the previous year). Coasting on that Grammy glory, the Nigerian afro-fusion rapper revealed new dates on his Space Drift Arena tour that winds through lots of festivals through 2022 and takes him from North America to Europe.

Burna announced that he will also perform his first headlining show at the Hollywood Bowl, on Friday, October 8th, 2021. Tickets will be available for the public to purchase on Friday, June 18 at 12 p.m. local time.

Burna Boy will also play New York’s Governor’s Ball festival on Sunday, September 26, and San Francisco’s Outside Lands festival on Sunday, October 31.

Below is the full list of dates for Burna Boy’s Space Drift Arena tour. Purchase tickets on his website here.

07/02/2021 – 07/03/2021 — Sumol Summer Festival 2021 @ Ericeira, Portugal
08/20/2021 – 08/21/2021 — Blockfest 2021 @ Tampere, Finland
08/27/2021 — The O2 @ London, UK
09/11/2021 – 09/12/2021 — Parklife Festival 2021 @ Manchester, UK
09/24/2021 – 09/26/2021 — The Governors Ball Music Festival 2021 @ Queens, NY
10/08/2021 — Hollywood Bowl @ Hollywood, CA
10/29/2021 – 10/31/2021 — Outside Lands Music & Arts Festival 2021 @ San Francisco, CA
11/10/2021 — Accorhotels Arena @ Paris, France
11/20/2021 — Arkéa Arena @ Floirac, France
11/21/2021 — Zénith Nantes Métropole @ Nantes, France
06/02/2022 – 06/03/2022 — Primavera Sound Festival Weekend 2 2022 @ Barcelona, Spain
08/11/2022 – 08/13/2022 — Way Out West Festival 2022 @ Gothenburg, Sweden

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

Kendrick Lamar, Travis Scott, And Tyler The Creator Are The Headliners For Day N Vegas 2021

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Festival season is all the way back. After Made In America revealed its rap-heavy lineup headlined by Justin Bieber and Lil Baby, Day N Vegas got in on the action, announcing its massive lineup just minutes later. Headlined by Kendrick Lamar, Travis Scott, and Tyler The Creator, Day N Vegas will return to Las Vegas Festival Grounds on November 12-14 with three days of new and rising stars building on the success of the first iteration of the festival in 2019.

On Friday, Kendrick Lamar is billed to play songs from Section.80 up to DAMN. (no Overly Dedicated?? I will FIGHT), with DaBaby, YG, Ari Lennox, and Polo G top-lining a lineup that includes Kendrick’s TDE compatriot Isaiah Rashad, Flatbush Zombies, D Smoke, IDK, Yung Baby Tate, and more. Then, on Saturday, Travis Scott leads a roster of Lil Baby, Doja Cat, Saweetie, and Baby Keem. Undercards on Saturday include Cordae, Joey Badass, Freddie Gibbs, BIA, Blxst, and Audrey Nuna. Sunday, Babyface Ray, Flo Milli, Rico Nasty, Snot, Kota The Friend, Earl Sweatshirt, and Griselda build up to the big-faced names: SZA, Lil Uzi Vert, Snoh Aalegra, and Don Toliver, with Tyler The Creator closing out the festival.

Tickets go on presale Friday, 6/18 at noon Pacific. Get more info at DayNVegas2021.com.

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

A Longtime ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’ And ‘Seinfeld’ Collaborator Says Lil Dicky Reminds Him Of Larry David

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Getting compared to Larry David is a great thing if you’re working in comedy, and perhaps not as great a thing if it’s in reference to your social skills. But for Lil Dicky, that kind of comparison is exactly what he’s been going for all along.

The rapper and brain behind the surprise hit Dave is known for a lot of things, all of them sort of referencing parts of his own life and the musical persona that first made him famous. His success with Dave only tightens the connections between his persona, his real life and the show’s plot points loosely including all of the above. And if that sounds a bit like David’s work on Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm, well, you’re not alone in thinking that.

In a GQ profile of Dicky, the Larry David connections are front and center in a very flattering way. Early in the piece his mother quite literally says “You’re no Jerry Seinfeld. But you’re funny” when describing Dicky (real name Dave Burd) and his big ambitions. Apparently he used to straight-up ask his parents if he was a comedic genius, though he didn’t like the answer he got:

His friend Benny, the producer and hitmaking songwriter Benny Blanco, remembers this too. “Oh my God,” he says. “He’d be like, ‘Mom, Dad, am I a genius?’ And they’d be like, ‘Eh.’”

With two seasons of Dave now under his belt, though, the comparison isn’t nearly as absurd. And one longtime David collaborator is willing to broach the subject. The piece discusses Burd’s creative process and OCD tendencies at length, exploring how he first learned he could make people laugh and the stress that introduced into his life. The juxtaposition between attempted genius and the mental strain of actually realizing that makes him a difficult person to work with at times:

At work, the neurosis has a name: The No Stone Unturned Method. This means he must try out every single possible version of something, whether it’s a lyric or a joke, before he’s satisfied. “He’s the worst person I’ve ever been in the studio with,” Benny Blanco tells me. “But also the best person.”

The flipside of his neurosis is stratospheric confidence. The co-creator of Dave, Jeff Schaffer, remembers the first time he met Burd: “He’s talking to me, a stranger, about how he’s going to be so huge. He’s telling me he’s going to be the biggest entertainer in the history of entertaining. And I’m like, Oh, he’s delusional. This is great. I love this.” Schaffer, who’s also worked on Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm, adds that he sees “a lot of Larry” (that would be David) in Burd.

That’s high praise for a guy many know from funny rap songs, though the perception of Burd is certainly changing with Dave. The show is funny, and very successful, and as we see more of Burd’s work, it makes all of his talk about a wildly successful career not just more reasonable, but an actual reality.

(Via GQ)

Amazon Teases A Cinematic ‘Prime Day Show’ With Billie Eilish, Kid Cudi, And HER

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A couple weeks ago, Amazon announced that they had recruited Billie Eilish, Kid Cudi, and HER for their “Prime Day Show,” a trio of exclusive performances set to drop on Prime Video on June 17. That’s just a few days away, and now, Amazon has shared a trailer for the program. Included in the video are snippets of each performance, all of which look more cinematic and narrative-based than most livestream or online-only concerts.

Amazon previously offered descriptions of each performance, saying of Eilish’s, “Billie brings a timeless, Parisian neighborhood to life with a series of cinematic performances. Set in the city known as the birthplace of cinema, it was directed by Billie Eilish and Sam Wrench, and features new music from Billie’s upcoming album, Happier Than Ever. This breathtaking musical tribute was inspired by Billie’s long-time admiration of a long gone era.”

They noted of Cudi’s show, “As he embarks on his biggest mission to date, Kid Cudi departs Earth to establish a new community on the moon in this intercosmic performance. Featuring music from his album Man On The Moon III, Cudi collaborates with the International Space Orchestra, the world’s first orchestra composed of space scientists from NASA Ames Research Center, the SETI Institute, and the International Space University as his backing band, in a musical collision defying sight, sound, and space.”

They also said of HER’s performance, “Once known as the hub of Los Angeles Black culture in the 1930’s and ’40s, the iconic Dunbar Hotel hosted some of the most prominent figures of its time, including musicians Duke Ellington, Lena Horne, Billie Holiday, and many more. In a modern day musical tribute to this legendary and important piece of history and culture, HER imagines what The Dunbar Hotel would be like if it existed in 2021 featuring new music from her album, Back Of My Mind.”

Watch the trailer above.

Tyler The Creator Teases His Pastel-Colored Post-‘Igor’ Era WIth A Preview Video

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Last week, a mysterious billboard in Hollywood bearing the phone number to a cryptic audio message featuring Tyler The Creator and his mom led to speculation that he was rolling out the follow-up to his last, Grammy-winning album, Igor. Today, those rumors seem to be much more solid, as Tyler himself posted a new preview of… something… to his Twitter.

The post reads simply, “SIDE STREET,” and includes a short, hypersaturated video clip in which Tyler makes out with actress Helena Howard of Madeline’s Madeline before driving off in a hot pink sports car. Former Odd Future member and current Dave cast member Taco walks up and asks the actress, “Baby, who was that?” She dismisses his question before expressing excitement for some event, but the final part of her statement is overridden by a blast of sitcom-ish music and a title card reading “Call me if you get lost” — the same message from Tyler’s billboard.

It seems as though Tyler is gearing up for a big reveal, which might mean new music or another big project from the multihyphenate, who has his fingers in endeavors like fashion, television, and even ice cream. If he is releasing a new album, it’ll be just in time for the return of live music festivals, as he’s booked to appear at Bonnaroo, Lollapalooza, and Primavera Sound. Check out his teaser video above and stay tuned.

Justin Bieber And Lil Baby Headline Made In America’s Rap-Heavy 2021 Lineup

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Jay-Z’s Made In America Festival is returning in September after taking a year off due to the coronavirus pandemic and the resulting shutdown of live entertainment, and today, the festival’s organizers revealed the rap-heavy lineup, headlined by Justin Bieber and 2020 MVP, Lil Baby.

Further down the lineup are Doja Cat, Megan Thee Stallion, Roddy Ricch, Bobby Shmurda, Baby Keem, Lil Durk, ASAP Ferg, Moneybagg Yo, Freddie Gibbs, Tinashe, Morray, 42 Dugg, and EST Gee, as well as the ever-enticing “and more.” Of note is the fact that nearly all the names listed are in the midst of huge career years marked by either breakouts as in the case of 42 Dugg, EST Gee, Baby Keem, and Morray, or resurgences, which came about for the recently-released-from-prison Bobby Shmurda, Freddie Gibbs, and Tinashe.

Then, of course, there are the huge favorites, Doja Cat, Megan Thee Stallion, and Roddy Ricch, who all had dominating performances throughout the year — each of them had at least one single go No. 1.

Made In America is celebrating its 10th year, and returns to Benjamin Franklin Parkway in Philadelphia, PA Saturday, September 4, and Sunday, September 5, with a portion of proceeds going to ACLU of Pennsylvania and The REFORM Alliance. You can find more information here.

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

Famous Dex Got Arrested During A Court Hearing For Violating A Protective Order

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Famous Dex was reportedly arrested for violating an October protective order against him on domestic violence charges on Thursday, June 10, during his arraignment hearing for 19 other charges accumulated this March, according to TMZ. The Chicago-born rapper was in court to plead not guilty to 19 charges — including domestic violence and gun possession — when it was revealed he’d allegedly violated the protective order, which was put in place after another instance of domestic violence last year. Dex was taken into custody with a bond set at $200,000.

In November, Dex’s home was raided by SWAT over concerns that he’d barricaded himself inside with a TEC-9 after a neighbor reported a domestic disturbance between Dex and his girlfriend. When police arrived, they determined the woman had injuries consistent with abuse and called for backup from SWAT, who were unable to locate Dex in the house. Then, in March, he was pulled over in North Hollywood for not having a rear license plate, and searched the vehicle when he tried to escape. Police say they found a loaded firearm under the seat and arrested him on the spot.

He was later charged with 19 charges, including domestic violence, weapon possession, dissuading a victim from reporting a crime, and defacing property, from three different incidents. The restraining order against him restricted him from possession of a firearm, which is likely what led to his latest arrest, and that firearm had been defaced to remove its serial number — a felony in California. Dex faces up to 18 years in prison as a result of these charges.

Nicki Minaj Apologized To T-Pain For Ghosting On His 2007 Collaboration Request

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Last month, T-Pain posted a video to TikTok apologizing to all the stars he’d accidentally ghosted by not checking his Instagram DM request folder, saying he had no idea that verified accounts were also sorted into requests. It seems he knows how it feels to be metaphorically “left on read,” revealing on the 85 South Show that he’d once been on the receiving end when he reached out to Nicki Minaj to collaborate early in the Queens, New York star’s career.

T-Pain recalled that in 2007, he’d reached out to collaborate, but eventually got curved by Nicki, who was busy working on her breakout tape, Beam Me Up Scotty.”We was about to work together and she stopped responding and I was like, ‘Nick, let me know what’s going on,’” he said. “She was like, ‘Hey, I’m an artist too and I’m working on my shit so ya know. Baby, chill.’ And I was like, ‘Oh… My heart.’”

When a clip of the interview made its way onto Shade Room’s account, Nicki couldn’t help responding in the comments. “I don’t remember this AT ALL but it DEF sound like smthn I would say,” she admitted. “Omg what was I thinking? He was already a rlly big artist. I was still underground. Chileeee I used to b buggin yo. My bad babe, all love. I have nthn but respect for your talent and thank you & Kanye for clearing ‘Go Hard’ for Beam Me Up Scotty last month.”

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When Beam Me Up Scotty finally did hit DSPs last month, it marked a watershed moment for Nicki, bringing her full circle with her Young Money compatriots Lil Wayne and Drake on “Seeing Green.” Meanwhile, T-Pain used the attention from his TikTok video to debut his new single with Kehlani, “I Like Dat.”