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People On Twitter Are Debating Whether Outkast Is Better Than The Beatles

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For the past several decades, The Beatles have been considered one of the greatest rock bands in existence and the measuring stick by which many other popular music acts are measured. In recent years, however, music fans on Twitter have taken to trolling The Beatles’ legacy (and fans) by suggesting that newer groups — particularly ones in hip-hop, such as Migos — are more impactful and popular. The latest group to receive this lofty assessment is Outkast, who for some reason have been injected into the debate on Twitter today, prompting a trending topic and a fiery debate between fans.

While one might expect the division to be intergenerational or split between fans of each genre, many of the most prominent tweets center on longstanding appropriation accusations against The Beatles, with commentators pointing out the influence the band gleaned from existing Black rock and blues artists who came before them. A common argument, the sentiment was even echoed a few years back by no less an authority than Quincy Jones, who called The Beatles “the worst musicians in the world” in an interview with Vulture. Even Eve 6 got involved, using the opportunity to take a wild shot at Radiohead.

Meanwhile, Outkast is being lauded for their innovations to hip-hop music (conveniently overlooking the stylistic quirks they inherited from funk fixtures like P-Funk) and their impact on younger artists (despite receiving a mostly confused reception when they played Coachella in 2014 and many younger music fans being completely unaware of their existence). These quibbles and facts aren’t getting in the way of the spirited, hilarious debate, which you can see more of below.

For His Birthday, Lil Nas X Wants Everybody In The World To Do One Thing For Him

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What do you get the person who has everything? Just a few years ago, Lil Nas X wouldn’t have categorized himself as fitting that description, but since then, he’s become an international star thanks to “Old Town Road” and now “Montero (Call Me By Your Name).” The rapper will turn 22 years old tomorrow (April 9), and for his birthday, he has asked his fans (and everybody else) for one simple thing.

Lil Nas X took to Twitter today to make a request of all citizens of Earth, declaring, “for my birthday tomorrow i want everybody on the planet to walk outside at 3pm est and twerk to montero simultaneously.”

Fans can get a head start on that task now with Lil Nas X’s new video game, Twerk Hero. It’s a Guitar Hero– or Dance Dance Revolution-style game in which fans drag the rapper’s rear end (which has some active jiggle physics, to say the least) around and hit the “incoming temptations,” as the game puts it.

“Montero” just recently became Lil Nas X’s first single to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and his second chart-topper overall after “Old Town Road.” He celebrated the feat by putting out a new “Montero” video, which shows off behind-the-scenes footage of making the song.

Post Malone Launches A Merch Line Based On His Rosé Brand, Masion No. 9

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Maison No. 9

In today’s cross-branded world of diversified revenue streams, it seems like every rapper is also an entrepreneur, pitching everything from cannabis to alcohol in addition to their usual array of album and tour merchandise. Post Malone, who has invested in all of the above, seems to have found yet another way to ensure maximum monetization of his ever-expanding portfolio.

Post loves taking an off-kilter approach to marketing himself and now, he’s applying that outlook to his non-music endeavors. Despite only launching his rosé line Maison No. 9 less than a year ago, he and business partners James Morrissey and Dre London have updated the wine’s logo and color scheme and created a Maison No. 9 merch line to draw attention to the young brand. The 2020 vintage of the wine will receive a new look, as well.

The merch is designed by Post himself and includes T-shirts, a hoodie, and a baseball cap. Post will also share seasonal cocktail recipes curated himself. You can check out images of the merch below.

In addition to selling fancy French wine, Post has also jumped into the world of crypto-products, producing an NFT experience for fans to play beer pong with him, and is pursuing acting. He appears as a bank robber in the trailer for Jason Statham’s upcoming action revenge thriller Wrath Of Man after playing an incarcerated criminal in Netflix’s Spencer Confidential.

Run The Jewels And Rage Against The Machine Will Finally Tour Together In 2022

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Run The Jewels and Rage Against The Machine were supposed to team up for the “Public Service Announcement Tour” in 2020, but naturally, that did not come to pass. Dates were later pushed back to 2021, and now, both groups are set to finally hit the road together in 2022.

The new set of dates begins in Texas in March and features a number of North American stops before wrapping up with a week of Madison Square Garden in August.

Check out the full list of tour dates below and get tickets here.

03/31/2022 — El Paso, TX @ Don Haskins Center
04/02/2022 — Las Cruces, NM @ Pan American Center
04/04/2022 — Glendale, AZ @ Gila River Arena
04/06/2022 — Glendale, AZ @ Gila River Arena
04/26/2022 — Oakland, CA @ Oakland Arena
04/28/2022 — Oakland, CA @ Oakland Arena
04/30/2022 — Tacoma, WA @ Tacoma Dome
05/02/2022 — Portland, OR @ Moda Center
05/05/2022 — Vancouver, BC @ Pacific Coliseum
05/07/2022 — Edmonton, AB @ Rogers Place
05/09/2022 — Calgary, AB @ Scotiabank Saddledome
05/11/2022 — Winnipeg, MB @ Bell MTS Place
05/13/2022 — Sioux Falls, SD @ Denny Sanford Premier Center
05/15/2022 — Minneapolis, MN @ Target Center
05/16/2022 — Minneapolis, MN @ Target Center
05/18/2022 — Kansas City, MO @ T-Mobile Center
05/20/2022 — St Louis, MO @ Enterprise Center
05/22/2022 — Detroit, MI @ Little Caesars Arena
05/23/2022 — Detroit, MI @ Little Caesars Arena
07/09/2022 — East Troy, WI @ Alpine Valley Music Theatre
07/11/2022 — Chicago, IL @ United Center
07/12/2022 — Chicago, IL @ United Center
07/15/2022 — Ottawa, ON @ Ottawa Bluesfest
07/16/2022 — Quebec City, QC @ Festival D’ete de Quebec *
07/19/2022 — Hamilton, ON @ FirstOntario Centre
07/21/2022 — Toronto, ON @ Scotiabank Arena
07/23/2022 — Toronto, ON @ Scotiabank Arena
07/25/2022 — Buffalo, NY @ KeyBank Center
07/27/2022 — Cleveland, OH @ Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse
07/29/2022 — Pittsburgh, PA @ PPG Paints Arena
07/31/2022 — Raleigh, NC @ PNC Arena
08/02/2022 — Washington DC @ Capital One Arena
08/03/2022 — Washington DC @ Capital One Arena
08/08/2022 — New York, NY @ Madison Square Garden
08/09/2022 — New York, NY @ Madison Square Garden
08/11/2022 — New York, NY @ Madison Square Garden
08/12/2022 — New York, NY @ Madison Square Garden
08/14/2022 — New York, NY @ Madison Square Garden

* Run The Jewels not performing

Smrtdeath Is ‘Too Far Gone’ In A Somber ‘Uproxx Sessions’ Performance

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This week’s guest on Uproxx Sessions is Smrtdeath, a genre-bending rapper and singer from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, singing his defiant anthem, “Too Far Gone.” Mashing up emo and punk influences with hip-hop production sensibilities, Smrtdeath is part of an underground movement that doesn’t follow the conventional rules of popular music. Smrtdeath himself takes things a step further, refusing to abide by the conventions of fashion, as well, as seen on the cover of his November album, Somethjng’s Wrong (that’s not a typo).

On “Too Far Gone,” Smrtdeath addresses any potential criticisms of his lifestyle head-on: “Living on my time, give a fuck about what they say,” he snarls. “All of this advice but it’s coming from no pain.” On that same note, he’s previously spoken about the encouraging messaging behind his music. “You’ve got to remember that things can be better,” he said. “You will come out on the other side.”

UPROXX Sessions is Uproxx’s performance show featuring the hottest up-and-coming acts you should keep an eye on. Featuring creative direction from LA promotion collective, Ham On Everything, and taking place on our “bathroom” set designed and painted by Julian Gross, UPROXX Sessions is a showcase of some of our favorite performers, who just might soon be yours, too.

Lil Tjay Is A Jack Of All Trades On The Wide-Ranging ‘Destined 2 Win’

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Columbia Records

The RX is Uproxx Music’s stamp of approval for the best albums, songs, and music stories throughout the year. Inclusion in this category is the highest distinction we can bestow, and signals the most important music being released throughout the year. The RX is the music you need, right now.

There’s no shortage of confidence on Lil Tjay’s latest full-length album, Destined 2 Win. The 22-year-old Bronx, New York native arrived with the assurance of an upperclassman on his swaggering debut, True 2 Myself, in 2018 and the scuffs and scrapes he’s taken since have done little to dull the sparkle in his eye as he guides the listener through 21 tracks displaying his wide-ranging abilities. However, you know how the saying goes: a Jack of all trades is a master of none, and that aphorism holds true despite the poise with which Tjay bears himself on his shape-shifting sophomore album.

There’s a lot to be said for the sort of confidence Tjay projects here. Some of us go 30 years or more without ever finding the level of intoxicating self-belief that allows him to write song titles like “Born 2 Be Great” without a hint of irony. Of course, self-belief and self-awareness seldom go hand-in-hand; whether that’s a boon to this album or a drawback depends on your point of view. I’m ambivalent; on one hand, I’m impressed by how deftly he dips into each stylistic tureen from which he draws his inspiration. On the other hand, I really wish that his own artistic voice would cut through the noise more distinctly, showing us who he is both as an artist and a person.

For instance, as Tjay metamorphoses, chameleonlike, between hood motivational speaker on propulsive tracks like “Hood Rich” and “Run It Up” and heartbroken, crooning lothario on “Irregular Love” and “Calling My Phone,” it gets increasingly difficult to pin down a unique worldview or dodge the sense that we’ve heard all this before. However, there’s an undeniable polish and panache to the proceedings that lends the sense that Tjay really put a lot of thought and effort into these songs to make them sound as catchy and captivating as possible.

When Tjay wants to party, “Move” and “Oh Well” provide plenty of the body-first, brain-second energy that makes such tracks work at their highest levels, then, when he tells us “Love Hurts,” he makes us believe him, worrying such juicy lyrical bones as “I see you postin’, that just put me on alert.” He’s certainly a product of his generation, pain-watching an ex’s social media and reacting in real-time, even as he admits “I know you feedin’ off of what I started first.”

Wearing his inspirations on his sleeve can bite him at times; his outright Drake impression on “Born 2 Be Great” is a microcosm of how much his flow treads in the footsteps of his forebears — ones who still have firm grasps on the pop culture zeitgeist. It also highlights just how little actual innovation he’s doing here. The singsong delivery he uses for most of the project has more-or-less been done to death and the beats, with their church bell chimes and menacing major chords, provide suitably ominous backdrops for his middling boasts and vague threats.

Through it all, his confidence carries, though. There’s a plainspoken earnestness that comes with that lack of self-critique or self-doubt. Few lines will stand out, but he sticks the landing on every one of them. By not taking huge swings, he rarely misses, offering a satisfying listen that doesn’t overstay its welcome, even if the back half of the album tends to drone. At 21 tracks, things could really drag, but instead, he brings the overall run time in at a crisp hour and five minutes, owing most of the dead weight to bonus tracks, which consist of older releases such as the Justin Bieber-sampling “None Of Your Love,” which was likely tacked-on to improve streaming metrics.

Although Destined 2 Win doesn’t offer many surprises or tremendous strides in character development for the burgeoning star, it does its job as a showcase for his burnished songwriting well enough to justify its existence. Eventually, Tjay’s young fan base will want more from him than empty flexes and generic “made it out the struggle” rhymes, and Destined doesn’t do quite enough to convince that he’ll be able to deliver when that time comes. His swagger is enough to coast on for now, with his charm as an artist and gift for imitation giving him a smooth surface to glide on while he figures himself out. Hopefully, no one scratches that surface before he does.

Destined 2 Win is out now on Columbia Records. Get it here.

Somebody Played The ‘Montero’ Video On A Game Boy Advance And Lil Nas X Is Blown Away

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Wikimedia Commons / Lil Nas X / Derrick Rossignol

Lil Nas X and “Montero (Call Me By Your Name)” have been everywhere lately, and now, that includes the Game Boy Advance, Nintendo’s handheld video game console that was discontinued over a decade ago.

A Twitter user known as pynnion shared a 36-second video of some of the “Montero” video playing on a Game Boy Advance system and wrote, “My mom took my phone so I’m watching the call me by your name music video on my gameboy @LilNasX.” The rapper was amazed by what he saw, as he shared the post and tweeted, “how is this real.”

As pynnion noted, this was achieved by using specialized software to convert the original video into a file format the Game Boy Advance can read and then putting the converted file on a “flash cart,” which is essentially a blank Game Boy Advance game cartridge that users can load their own game files onto. Presumably, the video format used is the same one Nintendo used back when they used to make Game Boy Advance Video cartridges that contained movies and episodes of TV shows. Somebody else did this recently when they converted Tenet for Game Boy Advance playback.

Watch “Montero (Call Me By Your Name)” playing on a Game Boy Advance above.

Fans Slam Diddy For Hypocrisy After He Penned An Open Letter Saying GM Exploits Black Artists

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Diddy, the founder of the network Revolt TV, has penned an open letter to General Motors to call them out for their performative activism. According to Diddy, GM claims they support Revolt while simultaneously making them fight for advertising money. Diddy ended his letter by demanding that corporate America “reinvest an equitable percentage of what you take from our community back into our community.” However, since Diddy himself has a history of underpaying smaller artists, many saw his words as hypocritical.

Sharing an open letter to GM on Revolt’s website, Diddy wrote:

“When confronted by the leaders of several Black-owned media companies, General Motors (GM) listed my network, REVOLT, as an example of the Black-owned media it supports. While REVOLT does receive advertising revenue from GM, our relationship is not an example of success. Instead, REVOLT, just like other Black-owned media companies, fights for crumbs while GM makes billions of dollars every year from the Black community. Exposing GM’s historic refusal to fairly invest in Black-owned media is not an assassination of character, it’s exposing the way GM and many other advertisers have always treated us. No longer can Corporate America manipulate our community into believing that incremental progress is acceptable action.

Corporations like General Motors have exploited our culture, undermined our power, and excluded Black entrepreneurs from participating in the value created by Black consumers. In 2019, brands spent $239 billion on advertising. Less than 1% of that was invested in Black-owned media companies. Out of the roughly $3 billion General Motors spent on advertising, we estimate only $10 million was invested in Black-owned media. Only $10 million out of $3 billion! Like the rest of Corporate America, General Motors is telling us to sit down, shut up and be happy with what we get.”

After Diddy shared his open letter, though, many called him out for doing the same thing.

Chicago rapper and activist Noname agreed with critics, pointing out that Diddy is close to being a billionaire. “diddy… about a 150 million away from being a BILLIONAIRE diddy is shaming white corporations for a capitalist business model he almost completely replicated,” she wrote. “abolish the black capitalist industrial complex.”

Another woman shared her own story, claiming Revolt approached her and asked her to make content without pay. “Diddy, it starts with us,” she wrote. “I was recently approached to host a show for Revolt and it came without pay. We cannot keep knocking white folks for their disrespect towards minority creators while doing the same thing to each other.”

Read Diddy’s full open letter here.

Ari Lennox And Queen Naija Are Out For Revenge On ‘Set Him Up’

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Dreamville singer Ari Lennox links up with YouTuber-turned-R&B-ambassador Queen Naija on her latest single, “Set Him Up.” In somewhat of a thematic 180 from her last all-female duet with Jazmine Sullivan, “On It,” Ari and Naija take unfaithful men to task on their unconventional crossover. The track follows a loose storyline of two friends catching up on their racy escapades with their new lovers — only to realize that their new “lovers” are the same man.

This leads to the duo forming a plot to “set him up” with a dinner invite with an extra plus-one. The two share their delight at the prospect of playing out their revenge fantasy, which involves bringing the philandering fiend to his favorite restaurant, only for both women to confront him; “Ooh, girl, I cannot wait to see the look upon his face,” smirks Naija.

The collaboration is the latest in a string of duets featuring Lennox, including the aforementioned “On It” and Lucky Daye’s “Access Denied.” The increasing frequency of releases suggests that Lennox might be working on a follow-up to her fan-favorite 2019 debut album Shea Butter Baby.

Meanwhile, Queen Naija has been prepping the deluxe edition of her debut album, Missunderstood…Still, with an expected release on April 16.

Listen to Ari Lennox and Queen Naija’s “Set Him Up” above.

Shelley Explains The Touching Reason For His Album’s Release Date

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Shelley — FKA DRAM — has a new album dropping in April, his first in over four years. Since then, he’s gone through a musical reinvention, a physical transformation, and a couple of name changes, but the biggest change to his life was the passing of his mother last year. The duo was close; in 2017, they released a holiday EP together, dueting on the Christmas classics “Silver Bells.” According to Shelley, she’s also the reason for his upcoming album’s release date, April 29.

Posting a photo of the pair on Instagram, Shelley explained that he pushed back the release date of his album to his mother’s birthday in honor of a favor she did for him before her death. As he expands in the caption, “Before she passed I played her my upcoming album and I begged her to promise she wouldn’t play it for anyone else. She held her promise and took the music with her beyond this life.”

For Shelley, the new release date is his way of paying her back. “Her birthday is April 29th, so I’m pushing my album Shelley FKA DRAM’s release date to April 29th as not only my gift back to her, but my promise to play it for the world.”

To promote the upcoming album, fittingly titled Shelley FKA DRAM, Shelly has presented the rollout in the form of a mock late-night talk show, which provided a smooth framing device for the videos for singles “Exposure” and “Cooking With Grease.”

Shelley FKA DRAM is due 4/29 on Atlantic Records.