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CJ Dances And Dazzles In His Fiery ‘Set’ Video

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Staten Island rapper CJ continues his quest to dominate pop culture with the video for “Set” from his debut EP Loyalty Over Royalty. This brings the total number of music videos from that project to five of eight, including “Whoopty,” his original breakout hit, “Bop,” its first follow-up, and “Real One,” which he released in the final week of March to extend his run.

In addition to the aforementioned videos from the EP, he’s also released multiple remixes of “Whoopty” to ensure maximum saturation. On the “NYC Remix,” he recruits French Montana, his vocal doppelganger, and Rowdy Rebel, the GS9 New York drill forebear who recently ended a six-year stint in prison, to hype up the Big Apple aspect of the standout hit. Then, he got in touch with his roots via the “Latin Mix,” which features Reggaeton/Latin trap stars Anuel AA and Ozuna to talk smack in Spanish.

To date, “Whoopty” by far remains CJ’s most popular track thanks to an infectious beat that even other rappers find irresistable. So far, Tierra Whack, Westside Boogie, Polo G, and Young M.A have all gone in with freestyles over the melodic loop, with more sure to come.

Watch CJ’s “Set” video above.

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

Yung Baby Tate Announces The Deluxe Version Of ‘After The Rain’ And A New Single

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Atlanta rapper Yung Baby Tate is currently a hot commodity after releasing her album After The Rain and the breakout success of its single “I Am” with Flo Milli. Striking while the iron is white-hot, YBT told Fox Soul’s The Mix that a deluxe version is in the works and coming “very soon.” She promised “five or six” new songs, as well as a new single, before she begins work on a follow-up.

Elsewhere in the interview, Tate shares the inspiration behind her breakout hit “I Am,” and recalls how she was signed to Issa Rae’s Raedio record label. She also insists that the XXL Freshman cover should be all women, and talks relationships, including one she recently ended as a result of inconsistent communication.

Tate, whose rise to stardom included a standout appearance among the boys’ club on Dreamville’s Revenge Of The Dreamers III track “Don’t Hit Me Right Now,” also recently appeared on Australian rapper Tkay Maidza’s 2000s pop culture-inspired “Kim” video as a gigantic version of Kim Possible villain Shego.

You can watch the full episode of The Mix with Yung Baby Tate here.

Yung Baby Tate is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Demi Lovato Says She Was ‘Scared’ After Hearing About DMX’s Reported Overdose

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It was reported a few days ago that DMX experienced a drug overdose. The latest reports indicate that he is still in the hospital. The rapper has received an outpouring of support from his musical peers since the news broke, and now Demi Lovato, who has been open about her own overdose, has shared her thoughts about the situation.

In an interview with TMZ, Lovato was asked if she was scared by the DMX news and she replied:

“Yeah, of course. Any time that I see somebody OD or even pass away that’s in the public eye, I immediately think, ‘That could have been you had you not been putting all this work in for the last couple years of your life.’ There are times where I’ve talked about feeling survivor’s guilt, because you do ask yourself, ‘Why am I still here? Why are others not?’ It’s a challenging thing to get over, but ultimately, I had to realize every day is a day that someone else doesn’t get, you know? Every day that I’m here on this Earth is a day that I need to be counting my blessings and just be appreciative and grateful for. It makes me want to live the best life I can possibly live, knowing that others didn’t get the same chance that I did.”

Check out more from the interview here.

Iggy Azalea Exposed The Thirsty DMs She Gets From Famous Followers On TikTok

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It goes down in the DMs. Just weeks after Lil Nas X made a TikTok using a screenshot of his Instagram DMs to put Tekashi 69 on blast after Tekashi tried to troll Nas with homophobic jokes, another artist has adopted the format to take her own thirsty messengers to task.

Apparently, ever since she broke up with Playboi Carti, Iggy Azalea‘s inbox has been flooded with direct messages from famous followers shooting their shots. However, from the screenshots she uses in her TikTok video, in which she dances in the foreground while the screenshots appear behind her, plenty of these famous followers could use some game lessons.

@thenewclassic

ha ha ha as if!?!?! 🙃 stay outta my DMs uglies.

♬ Sip It – Iggy Azalea & Tyga

Among them are men who go way too graphic way too quickly, while others offer money for Iggy’s company. One takes a day’s worth of silence from the Australian rapper as license to start insulting her, and another simply obsessively repeats “I love you” over and over again. Take notes, gentlemen: These are all what not to do — not just to famous women, but to anyone online. There’s shooting your shot, then there’s lobbing the ball toward the gym from the parking lot and expecting it to fall in the hoop through the skylight. Just don’t do it.

Meanwhile, Iggy herself has been promoting a new single, “Sip It,” her second collaboration with Tyga after “Kream,” and has been on an anti-music industry campaign, claming she’s been blackballed. You can check out the new single here.

Duckwrth Debuted New Music In His Groovy NPR Tiny Desk Concert

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Back in August, LA-based singer Duckwrth leaned into his funk-forward sound though his anticipated debut album SuperGood, which saw a handful of soulful collaborations with the likes of Earthgang and Jean Deaux. Though its been less than a year since his full length LP, Duckwrth has already been hard at work on new music. Taking his tunes to an NPR Tiny Desk performance, Duckwrth premiered two new upbeat songs.

Backed by a full band and a pair of backup singers, Duckwrth kicked off the set with a rendition of his SuperGood track
“Kiss U Right Now.” He then moved into one of his unreleased song titled “Make U Go,” which he said was written “for the lovers and the freaks.” Next, Duckwrth delivered another new sultry tune, “Birthday Suit,” before closing out the performance with his debut album’s title track “Super Good.”

Ahead of his Tiny Desk concert, Duckwrth sat down with Uproxx to talk about his debut album SuperGood and how rhythm is central to his sound:

“I think that for me, it was proving to myself who I am and what sound I like the most for myself, what space I want to be in, and it’s something about soul and more specifically rhythm. Rhythm is my sh*t. When I perform, I don’t stop moving. Unless it’s just one of those moments I have to sit still, but further than that rhythm is my shit. So I think SuperGood solidified it for me. Like, “N****, this is you, so kick it here for a bit,” but I’m still going to play with different genres.”

Watch Duckwrth’s Tiny Desk concert above.

SuperGood is out now via Republic. Get it here.

Ja Rule Is Selling An NFT Of A Viral Fyre Festival Cheese Sandwich Tweet

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As NFT-mania maintains its vice grip on the public consciousness, early adopter Ja Rule continues to capitalize on the craze by once again returning to the scene of one of his biggest business failures: Fyre Festival. After selling a massive painting of the Fyre Festival logo as an NFT for over $120,000, the latest Fyre-related NFT to appear on his Flipkick platform is a viral tweet about the “gourmet” dinner provided to attendees, which turned out to be a sad cheese sandwhich.

The 2017 tweet was one of the wider world’s first indications of trouble in paradise, as influencer attendee Trevor DeHaas alerted his Twitter followers to the logistical shortcomings that would soon become a full-blown disaster and the subject of competing documentaries on Netflix and Hulu. DeHaas seems to have developed a sense of humor about the whole thing because he has partnered with Flipkick to sell the rights to the now infamous tweet. They’ve valued those rights at $80,000, which will go toward DeHaas’ medical expenses — he needs a kidney transplant and is currently on dialysis.

There’s precedent for selling tweets as NFTs, with Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey’s first tweet going for $2.9 million, but it’s unclear just what happens once the non-fungible token trades digital hands. Plenty of investors are betting big that other rich folks will want to “own” a digital code that says they have the rights to a piece of artwork most people can just right-click/save as on their desktops. But at least the money in that case went to a good cause; Dorsey donated the money to GiveDirectly, which works with US families affected by COVID.

Meanwhile, Ja’s other big investment this year, into inflated GameStop stock, isn’t quite showing the payouts that enthusiastic investors promised when they made a run on the stock in January. Maybe this isn’t the guy to take your financial advice from, just a thought.

A Career-Spanning Kanye West Documentary Is Reportedly Heading To Netflix

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The tale of Kanye West has taken a bunch of turns over the past couple years, but even before that, his story was one of music’s more fascinating. Now that journey will reportedly be chronicled in a new documentary series that is coming to Netflix.

According to Billboard, Netflix reportedly acquired the currently untitled project from TIME Studios and Coodie & Chike (the duo of Clarence “Coodie” Simmons and Chike Ozah) for $30 million, and it is apparently set to debut on Netflix later in 2021.

Coodie & Chike directed two early West videos, for “Through The Wire” and “Jesus Walks,” and have since made some notable documentaries. Those include the 30 For 30 film Benji (a 2012 documentary about the death of promising basketball player Ben Wilson) and the 2019 Netflix documentary A Kid From Coney Island (about former NBA star Stephon Marbury). The duo has apparently been filming West since the ’90s, meaning the duo is working with plenty of footage from the past two decades.

The film will reportedly use previously unseen footage and home videos and will “deal with the death of West’s mother, Donda West, and the impact it had on the rapper; his personal evolution in recent years; his successful move into fashion design and his unsuccessful run for President in 2020.” West is not involved in the production in a creative capacity.

T.I. And Tiny Challenge Their Sexual Assault Accusers To ‘Reveal Themselves Publicly’

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T.I. and Tiny Harris, who were recently accused of sexual assault by a lawyer seeking criminal charges on behalf of a group of women who say the couple drugged them on separate occasions, fired back in a statement shared with Billboard after a new group of women made accusations via claims made in a statement to Page Six.

The three women joined the “dozens” of women currently employing Tyrone A. Blackburn as he urges authorities in multiple jurisdictions to pursue criminal charges against the couple. One of the women recounted a 2010 incident in Miami in which she says she was forced to swallow a pill, taken to a hotel in South Beach and forced to engage in sex with the couple, despite being unable to consent. The other two describe similar accounts of being drugged, with one claiming she was “sex trafficked in Nevada, California, and Florida.”

T.I. and Tiny previously denied the accusations, calling them a “shakedown” by Blackburn and blaming the slew of new allegations on one initial accuser, Sabrina Peterson, who they say they “have had difficulty with” for “well over a decade.” In response to the new spate of accusations, they doubled down, telling Billboard: “The Harrises are still waiting for the accusers to reveal themselves publicly. By continuing to hide behind anonymous allegations, the unnamed accusers effectively render themselves not credible and unworthy of belief. We say: Let the light shine on their identities so we can go about disproving these scurrilous accusations.”

Cardi B Says She’s ‘Going Away For A Very Long Time’ To Finish Her Album

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When Cardi B released her No. 1 single “Up” in February, fans were convinced it meant her sophomore album was right around the corner. However, Cardi is still a ways away from dropping the LP as she’s got a lot on her plate, including a new haircare line. That’s why she says she’s planning on taking a break in order to focus all of her energy on putting the finishing touches on her anticipated album.

In an interview with XXL for their Spring 2021 cover, Cardi talked fame, the “WAP” controversy, and what’s in store for her next album. The rapper revealed that she put her sophomore album on hold during the pandemic because she was having difficulty staying creative, but she plans on “going away for a very long time” in order to hunker down and finish the LP:

“I feel like at this point, it’s like a timeline that I created. Because last year, I was like, I gotta put out my album this year. But, then I just stopped working on my album out of nowhere because I feel like the whole COVID thing discouraged me to put out my album. Because I want to put out an album, and I want to tour. […] I got like, a week of making sure I handle all my business, making sure everything is good, go to meetings. And then, I’m going away for a very long time to finish my album.”

Elsewhere in the conversation, Cardi said that it disappointing her when people assume she talks politics only for clout. The rapper reminded haters that she’s been interested in politics for as long as she can remember, and she now has a responsibility to use her voice. “But when it comes to things that’s going on in the environment and government, I like to say what’s on my mind,” she said. “And, sometimes I hate it because I’m not saying it to get attention. I always feel like if God gave you a voice, use it. And people who say that I’m doing it for attention, it’s like, attention my ass. I really like to get to the bottom of sh*t. I don’t need attention.”

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

Lil Tjay Throws A Parking Lot Party In The Jaunty ‘Oh Well’ Video

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On Friday, Lil Tjay released his new album Destined 2 Win, following up his well-received debut True 2 Myself and his 2020 mixtape State Of Emergency. Over the weekend, he shared the latest video from the new project, “Oh Well,” which finds Tjay and his friends posted up at a gas station for a jaunty parking lot party. The New York native shows off his footwork over a beefy beat while Tjay reflects on his newly luxurious circumstances.

“Oh Well” arrives on the heels of singles “Run It Up,” “Born 2 Be Great,” “Headshot,” and “Calling My Phone,” the first four singles from Destined 2 Win. The album itself features 21 tracks and includes guest appearances from 6lack, Fivio Foreign, Moneybagg Yo, Offset, Polo G, Saweetie, Toosii, and Tyga, while running the gamut from celebratory anthems to introspective ballads.

Tweeting about the album a week before its release, Tjay explained the album’s title, writing,” I named the album Destined 2 Win cause I always felt like something in me was meant to be great. Even when sh*t tried stop me it never did and I kept getting up!!” A day before its release, Tjay also shared the first episode of a documentary detailing the album’s creation.

Watch Lil Tjay’s “Oh Well” video above.