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Kendrick Lamar’s First Liked Tweet In Over Two Years Is A Video Of Jack Harlow Rapping As A Kid

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Philip Cosores

Kendrick Lamar isn’t a musician who spends much time on social media. The Good Kid M.A.A.D. City rapper usually hops on to make announcements or share new releases from fellow TDE acts and other artists. But on Wednesday, Kendrick made a rare appearance on Twitter to show some love to a video Jack Harlow posted of himself rapping as a kid.

A fan of Harlow recently discovered the video of the young Louisville rapper spitting some bars with friends by his side. It may not be the finest display of rap skills but it does show that he’s come a long way. Harlow himself reposted the video on Twitter and wrote, “Still some of the realest sh*t I ever wrote.” It was this tweet that Kendrick Lamar liked — a simple act that the rapper had not done in over two years.

A Twitter user took note of this and tweeted a screenshot of Kendrick’s “likes” section on his Twitter profile. “Kendrick Lamar hasn’t liked a single tweet in 2 years and he came back to twitter just to like the video of Jack Harlow rapping as a kid???????” the person wrote.

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

Barack Obama’s Shower Playlist Features Kendrick Lamar, Beyonce, The Roots, And More

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Barack Obama has never been one to keep his music interests a secret. The former president has shared numerous playlists over the years, and on Wednesday he delivered another one. After a recent episode of his and Bruce Springsteen’s Renegades: Born In The USA podcast, Barack dropped his shower playlist — all 44 tracks of it — after speaking about one of his favorite habits. “I sing in the shower, I sing outside of the shower. I am unembarrassed about singing,” he said during the episode. “My daughters and my wife sometimes roll their eyes.”

The playlist finds notable contributions from Kendrick Lamar and Beyonce (“Freedom”), The Roots (“You Got Me”), Stevie Wonder (“Living For The City”), Billie Holiday (“Strange Fruit”), and more. Bruce Springsteen himself makes nine appearances on it, including “My Hometown,” “American Skin (41 Shots),” and two versions of “Born In The U.S.A.”

The playlist arrives after Barack and Bruce launched their podcast at the end of last month. So far, the duo has shared three full-length episodes, where they’ve discussed their respective lives, the U.S., and, of course, their love for music.

Two months ago, Barack showed off his wide-ranging music taste with his favorite songs of 2020 playlist. Megan The Stallion, Travis Scott, Dua Lipa, Lil Baby, and J. Cole were among the many names that appeared on it.

You can access Barack’s playlist on Spotify here.

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

Barack Obama’s Shower Playlist Features Kendrick Lamar, Beyonce, The Roots, And More

by
Getty Image

Barack Obama has never been one to keep his music interests a secret. The former president has shared numerous playlists over the years, and on Wednesday he delivered another one. After a recent episode of his and Bruce Springsteen’s Renegades: Born In The USA podcast, Barack dropped his shower playlist — all 44 tracks of it — after speaking about one of his favorite habits. “I sing in the shower, I sing outside of the shower. I am unembarrassed about singing,” he said during the episode. “My daughters and my wife sometimes roll their eyes.”

The playlist finds notable contributions from Kendrick Lamar and Beyonce (“Freedom”), The Roots (“You Got Me”), Stevie Wonder (“Living For The City”), Billie Holiday (“Strange Fruit”), and more. Bruce Springsteen himself makes nine appearances on it, including “My Hometown,” “American Skin (41 Shots),” and two versions of “Born In The U.S.A.”

The playlist arrives after Barack and Bruce launched their podcast at the end of last month. So far, the duo has shared three full-length episodes, where they’ve discussed their respective lives, the U.S., and, of course, their love for music.

Two months ago, Barack showed off his wide-ranging music taste with his favorite songs of 2020 playlist. Megan The Stallion, Travis Scott, Dua Lipa, Lil Baby, and J. Cole were among the many names that appeared on it.

You can access Barack’s playlist on Spotify here.

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

Director Eddie Huang Reveals Pop Smoke’s ‘Special’ Quality As An Actor

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In just a few days, people will be able to see Pop Smoke in his posthumous acting debut in Boogie, a basketball film directed by Eddie Huang. The movie is a coming-of-age story about a Chinese high school basketball player, portrayed by actor Taylor Takahashi, which finds Pop playing his rival, Alfred “Boogie” Chin. During a recent interview with High Snobiety, Huang spoke about the upcoming film and working with Pop.

“We just became fast friends,” Huang said. “And when it came time for the audition, Pop knew his line, but I could tell he got nervous for one second. It’s the only time I’ve ever seen him nervous, he kept holding his phone real tight. He kept looking down at it and putting it in his pocket and taking it out again. And I said to him ‘Yo, just put it in your pocket, bro. Don’t worry about it. You know these lines.’ And he was like, ‘Are you sure?’ I was like, ‘You know these lines, bro. Just be the character. It’s not about the work. It’s about being the person.’ And he’s like, ‘Oh, I got you.’”

Huang also shared what he believed was Pop’s “special” quality as an actor:

We had a lot of first-time actors, but Pop just had it. And what is special about him that’s different from a lot of actors, is that Pop has no fear. He’s been through a lot in his life. Zero fear. You never get the same take with Pop, but you get something spicier and something different. On days that he was there, I would tell everybody, ‘Just get ready. It’s showtime. Catch this lightning in a bottle. I don’t care if he’s not on his mark. I don’t care if we’ve got to throw three cameras at it. But he’s going to do stuff.

You can revisit the trailer for Boogie here.

Westside Boogie’s Confidence Is At An All-Time High On His Freestyle Over CJ’s ‘Whoopty’

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We’re still waiting for Westside Boogie’s next album, but at least he’s making it as enjoyable as possible. The rapper has spent much of 2021 blessing listeners with great freestyles. On Wednesday, he returned with another. He chose fellow rapper CJ’s viral track “Whoopty” as the foundation, flinging off lines like, “If you ain’t lеt me hit then you really shouldn’t carе If I get at your friend / The more I get curved, the thicker my skin.”

Westside shared the track on Twitter, hinting that it may be his last for the time being. “Aight this my last week being a hood rat fr,” he wrote in the video’s caption. The latest freestyle is the rapper’s fourth of 2021. He kept things cocky at the start of the year with “Joe Exotic Freestyle,” whose video found him and some friends also adding some more bars to Moneybagg Yo’s track “Said Sum“. He also did one over Tupac Shakur’s “Do For Love.”

Prior to his freestyle run, Westside joined Reason, Joey Badass, Denzel Curry, and Jack Harlow to remix “Extinct” and later connected with Badass again for their collaboration “Outside.”

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

Davido Delivers A Vibrant Medley Of ‘Assurance’ And ‘Jowo’ On ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’

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It was just last week that Davido impressed viewers with a breezy appearance on NPR’s Tiny Desk. Now, the afro-fusion star can be found doing the same on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, where he shared a vibrant medley of two of his songs It began with Davido seated on a gold throne by candles while his band and an array of colorful flowers surrounded him. He only sang the first verse and chorus of “Assurance” before transitioning into “Jowo.”

The latter was one of four tracks Davido performed during his Tiny Desk set. He also played “Gobe,” Aye,” and “Risky,” which were released between 2013 and 2019, making for a good trip through his discography. His Jimmy Kimmel Live! performance also promotes his last two albums, with “Assurance” coming from 2019’s A Good Time and “Jowo” appearing on 2020’s A Better Time. The latter album saw appearances from Nicki Minaj, Tiwa Savage, Lil Baby, Nas, Hit-Boy, Sauti Sol, Mayorkun, and more.

While it may be a while before Davido drops another album, fans will be able to hear him alongside Megan Thee Stallion and Idris Elba on an upcoming song, which the duo revealed during a recent interview on CapitalFM’s The All-New Capital Weekender.

You can watch his set in the video above.

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

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo Will Allow Music Venues To Reopen In April

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New York Governor Andrew Cuomo had some measured good news for the state’s music fans: arts, entertainment, and events venues will be allowed to reopen in April, according to The New York Times. However, there will be limitations, of course, in the interest of public safety. Venues will be capped at 33% capacity, with a maximum of 100 people for indoor and 200 people for outdoor venues. Venues that can administer COVID-19 tests to all attendees can increase that number to 150 people indoors and 500 outdoors. The new rules are set to go into effect on April 2.

However, the Times does note that the limits won’t make it feasible for many venues to open; unless attendees get absolutely loaded, venues likely won’t be able to cover the costs of re-opening, keeping some — or most — effectively closed down until restrictions are lifted further. For instance, Broadway shows won’t be coming back until Labor Day, considering how much cost goes into production — shows that only get 33% attendance generally close within a season. Further complicating the issue is social distancing; many venues would require even lower numbers than that to accommodate six feet of distance between attendees.

But having outdoor shows back could be a good look, especially for indie performers and smaller, lower-production shows. Meanwhile, with something like an average of 65,500 new cases per week and over 517,000 deaths since the beginning of the pandemic, it might be better to be safe than sorry. With the vaccine rollout expected to allow more venues to reopen in the fall according to Presidential chief medical advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci, fans may appreciate waiting just a few more months.

D Smoke Details The Highs Of ‘Basketball’ On His ‘Last Chance U’ Theme Song

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Despite its title, D Smoke‘s new theme song for the latest season of Netflix’s Last Chance U is not a remake of the 1984 Kurtis Blow classic “Basketball.” While that’s slightly disappointing, the song itself is a success, thanks largely to the Inglewood native’s natural charisma, deft lyricism, and self-assured musicality. Starting with a basketball court sound effects-riddled intro and building to a lush orchestral crescendo, the new track conveys all the emotion of a championship game in progress, from warm-ups to heart-filling finale (although, the fake-out of not using the court sound as a beat a straight-up, a la Reebok ads from the 2000s, hurts a little too).

The placement is another victory for D Smoke, who launched his career as the winner of Netflix’s Rhythm + Flow contest show and is currently up for a Best Rap Album Grammy at this year’s Awards ceremony later this month. Although his debut album, Black Habits, flew a bit under the radar for folks who didn’t catch his heartfelt performances on Netflix, the intervening year certainly helped him make a mark on the rap game as he performed a virtuoso Tiny Desk Concert, lit up the BET Hip-Hop Awards alongside his family, and linked up with well-respected peers throughout the year, including Rexx Life Raj, Rapsody, and Tobe Nwigwe. Coming back to Netflix with “Basketball” is a full-circle moment for him, but it’s also only a waypoint on his journey to even bigger things.

Listen to “Basketball” above.

OMB Peezy Was Reportedly Arrested In Connection With The Roddy Ricch And 42 Dugg Video Shooting

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Sacramento rapper OMB Peezy has been arrested in connection with the shooting on an Atlanta music video set two weeks ago, according to XXL. The well-established hip-hop magazine confirmed via Fulton County court records that Paris LeDade — better known as OMB Peezy — was arrested Monday, March 1 for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony for an incident on February 21, the day of the shooting. Peezy’s bond is set at $40,000 — $30,000 for the assault and the rest for possession of a firearm.

Born in Mobile, Alabama, Peezy relocated to California before high school and has since shuttled back and forth between the two cities, maintaining roots to both the Bay Area post-hyphy and Southern trap sounds. He most recently released the mixtape In The Meantime while working on his next album, the follow-up to 2019’s Preacher To The Streets, dropping the “Dope Boys” video with Rylo Rodriguez in early February. Unfortunately, it seems art imitated life in this situation, leading to the arrest and fans’ concern that 42 Dugg and Roddy Ricch, the two rappers whose video set the shooting occurred, were injured or worse.

However, Roddy and Dugg very quickly allayed those concerns, confirming that they were not among the three people injured in the shooting. No motive for the shooting has been reported as yet.

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

Nick Jonas Reckons He Might Start Charging Athletes For The ‘Jonas Blessing’

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Last year, Nick Jonas pointed out that while Drake has the “Drake curse,” which apparently causes teams and athletes that associate with him to do poorly, Jonas has an opposite sort of thing going on. He noticed what he dubbed the “Jonas blessing,” a trend of athletes — Patrick Mahomes, Cody Bellinger, and Lewis Hamilton — going on to have great success after having some sort of involvement with him and the Jonas Brothers.

He spoke about that on The Tonight Show yesterday, joking with Jimmy Fallon that he’s thinking about charging athletes to get blessed:

“It’s quite simple, you know? In reality, what happened is when the brothers back together — we went on tour, the Happiness Begins tour, back in 2019 — we had a number of athletes, high-performing athletes, come out to some shows. So the first was Cody Bellinger, who then went on to win the World Series with the Dodgers, right? We had Patrick Mahomes, who in the 2020 Super Bowl won the Super Bowl with the Kansas City Chiefs. He came to a show in KC. And then Lewis Hamilton, who surpassed the all-time record, he went on to, after he came to a show, to do that. So basically, we established, and I think it was really me more than the brothers that… I saw the trend, I was saying, ‘We’re going to have to start charging these athletes.’ If they want the ‘Jonas blessing,’ to come to a show and then go on to win a championship, they’re going to have to pay up, you know?”

He then added, “Little-known fact, too, Jimmy, is that Tom Brady, we actually did a private COVID-safe show for Tom Brady before the Super Bowl and that’s why [he won].”

Watch the interview above.