Pop Smoke ended 2020 with one of his biggest records, “Dior,” landing a Grammy nomination for Best Rap Performance. While Megan Thee Stallion and Beyonce would eventually take home that award, the nomination was proof of the impact he made in his tragically short career. Another example can be seen in the success his posthumous debut album, Shoot For The Stars, Aim For The Moon, which recently broke a Billboard record Eminem held for the last decade.
The record in question is the longest-running No. 1 Rap Album, after it tallied its 20th non-consecutive week atop that chart. The previous record holder was Eminem’s seventh album, Recovery, which spent 19 weeks there between 2010 and 2011. On its way to the top, Pop’s posthumous debut also passed Drake’s Take Care (16 weeks), Macklemore and Ryan Lewis’ The Heist (13), and Kendrick Lamar’s DAMN. (11).
Should Shoot For The Stars, Aim For The Moon can keep up its chart-topping streak going, it will break another Billboard record. If it reaches 29 nonconsecutive weeks at No. 1, the album will break MC Hammer’s record for most weeks atop the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Album chart. It also recently passed Michael Jackson’s Bad and Prince’s Purple Rain for most weeks on the chart, which is cool, too.
In addition to being an art-rap pioneer and a fixture of the stand-up comedy circuit, Open Mike Eagle also records a podcast titled What Had Happened Was on his own podcast network. In its debut season last year, Mike interviewed guest Prince Paul for 12 episodes of the tales behind some of the legendary producers most storied works, including the Gravediggaz album, De La Soul’s Three Feet High And Rising, and more. Today, Mike announced that the show will return for a second season featuring another storied but sometimes overlooked producer: El-P.
While El-P has become something of an indie favorite in recent years due to his work with Adult Swim and Run The Jewels, his career spans all the way back to the mid-90s and includes underground rap staples like Company Flow’s debut album Funcrusher Plus, Cannibal Ox’s The Cold Vein, Cage’s Hell’s Winter, and his own string of widely-respected albums like Fantastic Damage and Cancer 4 Cure. El-P has plenty to talk about, and as Open Mike Eagle has proven to be an empathetic, enaging host, the second season of What Had Happened Was is sure to be a must-listen for indie rap fans.
The second season debuts 3/31 via Open Mike’s Stoney Island Audio network and continues weekly every Wednesday.
Swizz Beatz and Timbaland’s Verzuz was a breakout hit last year, featuring performances from a plethora of big-name stars that made it must-see entertainment for folks stuck at home during the ongoing pandemic. The duo was even able to sell the show to Triller and offer their prior guests equity in the sale. However, despite scooping up some of hip-hop and R&B’s most iconic entertainers for the show, Swizz and Tim unfortunately missed out on securing one of their peers due to one of their shows turning out differently than expected.
Dropping by The Breakfast Club on Hot 97, Swizz and Tim revealed that Dr. Dre, who was in negotiations to participate in a Verzuz battle of his own, canceled on them after seeing the sound issues during the battle between Babyface and Teddy Riley. Swizz explained, “When Dr. Dre wasn’t feeling the sound from Teddy Riley and Babyface, that hurt our heart. I was like, ‘Oh my god.’ If you go back, Dr. Dre was at the Teddy Riley one. He came at the end, but he was supposed to come at the end and announce he was doing Verzuz that night.”
Unfortunately, seeing the shambles that became of the episode when the sound on Teddy’s elaborate at-home display cut-out, Dre decided that a similar fiasco would hurt him more than it helped. “He got on the phone and was like, ‘Man, I can’t be a part of nothing that look like or sound like that,’” Swizz explained. “‘My legacy is quality. My legacy is this, that.’ I was like, ‘Ohhhh we just lost Dre over that. That one felt pretty crazy but since then, the energy has been really good.”
Most recently, Wu-Tang Clan members Ghostface Killah and Raekwon The Chef engaged in a friendly tet-a-tet while the Verzuz heads announced Earth, Wind & Fire and The Isley Brothers would participate on Easter Sunday.
Watch the Verzuz collaborators’ interview with The Breakfast Club above.
Chance The Rapper‘s latest rollout has taken advantage of his big house and comedic chops to turn in some pretty clever promotional materials for his new singles. The latest is “1-800-STUNT,” Chance’s take on ’90s infomercials, which is connected to his next track, known for the moment as “House Of Kicks Theme Song.” The spoof infomercial sees Chance take on the role of stuntman, Jump Dustumba, as he stumps for his agency while wearing an arm sling.
However, rather than appearing in movies and TV shows, they’re available to stand in for customers doing regular tasks like working out, taking out the trash, or making a sandwich. Unfortunately, one customer finds out that having an “identical” person around the house has its drawbacks, as he catches Dustumba making out with his wife. It’s a cheeky little distraction of a video but I’m intrigued to see how it plays into the release of Chance’s next single.
Chance’s most recent single, “The Heart & The Tongue,” also came out after a week of social media teasing, so while it’s unclear just what he’s building up to, it seems clear that it’ll be something that he’s crafted with care putting all the free time afforded by pandemic lockdowns — and probably a little bit of boredom, as well — to good use.
“Diamonds” has proven to be one of the biggest hits of Rihanna’s career, but it almost wasn’t her song at all. In fact, Eminem actually recorded a version of it before she did, according to the song’s co-producer, Benny Blanco.
Speaking about the track with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe, Blanco revealed that he originally intended the song to be for Kanye West or Lana Del Rey:
“We wanted it to be a Kanye song or a Lana Del Ray song, I remember, at first. And we were like, ‘OK, yeah, cool, let’s do that.’ And then, I remember [song co-writer] Sia, just writing. Sia, being Sia, she can write like 700 songs in one second. This was before Uber and she was like, ‘ I just called the car. It says it’s going to be 15 minutes. Pull up a beat.’ Pull up a beat…. melody, lyrics, everything. Done, OK. Then, we’re listening to it a few days later, and [song co-producer] Stargate’s like, ‘Yo, we’re giving this song to Rihanna. It’s going to go.’ And I was like, ‘I don’t know, man. Should we keep the beat for Kanye? I don’t know about it. I don’t know if it’s… I don’t know.’
He then went on to discuss how he learned that Eminem had actually recorded a version of the track before Rihanna did:
“Then I remember I had given a beat CD like a month earlier to Paul Rosenberg to give to Eminem. And apparently, Eminem had done a song to it, too, and I didn’t even know. […] Paul was like, ‘Man, Em had that beat on hold.’ I was like, ‘What? I didn’t even know.’ So, I’m sitting there, and then I finally am like, ‘You know what, Stargate?’ I let go. I said, ‘You guys know better. Let’s do it.’ She cut the song. First of all, the second she cut the song, they were completely right. I was like, ‘This is the best song I’ve ever done.’ And then, this is how life works, full circle: Kanye West does a remix to the song.”
Check out more from Blanco’s interview with Lowe below.
Throughout his 2014 breakout hit “Hot N****,” Brooklyn rapper Bobby Shmurda paints a picture of his experiences with street life, from guns to drugs and everything in between. “Run up on that n****, get to squeezing, hoe,” the piercing lyrics go. “Everybody catching bullet holes, n****s got me on my bully, yo.” The beat, produced by Pennsylvania beat maker Jahlil Beats, is a Chex Mix bag of sonic stylings, from Dirty South trap to the aggressive, then-burgeoning sound of New York drill music, which is a direct look into Jahlil’s regional production influences. (He cites Swizz Beatz and Mannie Fresh as some of his major inspirations.)
The platinum-selling song hit No. 1 on Billboard’s Hip-Hop/R&B charts, and peaked No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2014. The official remix — one of many — features Fabolous, Chris Brown, Jadakiss, and Bobby’s fellow GS9 crew member Rowdy Rebel. Coupled with a stand-in-place groove now called the “Shmoney Dance,” the track took the internet and the country (especially New York City) on a viral trip. Artists from Lil Kim to French Montana freestyled over the beat, while Beyoncé hit the Shmoney during the On The Run concert tour with Jay-Z.
“I reached out to [Bobby] and I was just like, ‘Yo, you got my blessings, man, rock out with it,” Jahlil smiles. “[The beat and song] took legs of their own, and I was just grateful. I like to live a normal life, so a lot of things just don’t seem like they could reach that level [for me]. I was like, ‘We got one.’ I didn’t think I was going to catch [a hit] like that — I was just making street music. We ended up going number one, and it didn’t even have a chorus on it. That was the most unique thing about it for me.”
By the start of the 2010s, Jahlil Beats was steadily making a name for himself in the hip-hop world. The music maker (born Orlando Tucker) worked closely with fellow Penn State native Meek Mill on a number of tracks, including the standout 2011 single “Ima Boss” featuring Rick Ross. The infectiousness of the song, which gently steels video game sounds with bass-filled hip-hop, resulted in a six-label bidding war for the producer that same year. (He ended up signing with Roc Nation, and you may recognize his work from the tag “Jahlil Beats, holla at me.”)
From then on, Jahlil provided production assists for Rihanna and J. Cole, and released his Legends Era and Crack Music mixtape series featuring Lil Wayne, Big Sean, and many more. However, no one could have predicted the unparalleled success coming to the then-26-year-old, generated by a young Brooklynite who borrowed one of Beats’ tracks for the score to a growing phenomenon.
“People kept tagging me in clips of [Bobby Shmurda] throwing his hat up in the air, I didn’t really pay it no mind, I didn’t hear the song,” Jahlil, now 33, tells Uproxx via Zoom of his initial response to Bobby’s monster hit “Hot N****.” “I think Kevin Durant tweeted me and he was like, ‘yo, you hear this joint? This joint crazy.’”
For “Hot N****,” then-19-year-old East Flatbush-bred Bobby (born Ackquille Pollard) rapped over the beat to Lloyd Banks’ “Jackpot,” produced by Jahlil and originally released in 2012. Bobby had discovered the beat on YouTube and decided “it was the one.” Jahlil says the track was initially intended for Meek Mill to use, but the rapper thought it sounded too much like his song “Burn.”
A few weeks later, Epic Records’ executive vice president Sha Money XL reached out to Jahlil to inform him the label wanted to buy the beat, and that they were working to sign Bobby. The producer confirms Epic bought both “Hot N****” and Rowdy Rebel’s song “Shmoney Dance,” which Bobby is featured on. Jahlil was optimistic about taking his working relationship with Bobby to the next level by producing his debut album under Epic Records. However, a major blindside truncated the project during its developmental stages.
In December 2014, one month after the release of his EP Shmurda She Wrote, Bobby and 14 other members of his crew GS9, including Rowdy Rebel, were arrested. Bobby was charged with conspiracy to commit murder, reckless endangerment, drug possession, and gun possession. According to reports, the NYPD had been investigating GS9 (which stands for a plethora of things, including “Grimey Shooters,” “Gun Squad” and “G-Stone Crips,” according to the NYPD’s reports) for felonies and deadly altercations with rival gangs in the Brooklyn borough since before “Hot N****” became a hit. Former police commissioner Bill Bratton called GS9 “mindless thugs” at a press conference regarding the investigation. Held on $2 million bail, Bobby’s sentence carried a potential length of eight to 25 years.
“The last session I had [with Bobby and Rowdy] was for Juelz [Santana’s] ‘Time Ticking,’ and then a day or two later, they got locked up,” Jahlil recalls. He was at his house when his manager called with the news, which he “couldn’t believe.” “We were just making music. It was just us having fun, and then, that happened. It’s wild. [I felt like] I put all my eggs in the basket for them and Meek Mill, and the same thing happened.” Since the arrest happened in the early stages of working on Bobby’s album, it wasn’t even given a title yet. “I knew the impact these dudes [were] going to have,” Jahlil says. “I was really behind them a thousand percent, so it was kind of tough to deal with.”
Although additional criminal charges were dropped against Bobby in 2015, he still faced sentencing for drug and gun possession. In 2016, as part of a plea deal, Bobby was sentenced to seven years behind bars. He was first incarcerated at Rikers Island, and was subject to solitary confinement at one point; in 2017, he transferred to Clinton Correctional Facility in Upstate New York. He was denied parole in August 2020, but his credit for good behavior was restored last December. Bobby Shmurda was officially released on Feb. 23, 2021, and he will be under parole for the remainder of his sentence, which ends on Feb. 23, 2026.
“I think that once you go through stuff like that, all you [have] is time to think,” Jahlil says of what Bobby may have learned during his time away. While the producer admits he didn’t communicate too often with his collaborator while he was behind bars, he spoke frequently with the “high-spirited” Rowdy Rebel, who was released in December 2020 after serving a six-year sentence of his own. Rowdy reportedly kept him updated on Bobby, who “sent love.”
“I think that [their sentences] were a gift and a curse,” he continues. “Bobby went in and he lost some years, but that might’ve saved his life, you know? Now he can go and take care of his family and do better.” Since his release, he’s voiced his support for the #FreeHaiti movement and performed during events at NBA All-Star Weekend in early-March.
Despite the stalls in production with two of his most notorious collaborators, Jahlil kept busy during these last few years. He has notably produced for Busta Rhymes’ latest album, Extinction Level Event 2: The Wrath Of God, and he divulged an as-yet-unreleased Justin Bieber/DaBaby collab to Uproxx. He’s also focused his attention on giving back to his hometown of Chester, Pennsylvania, namely by helping underserved residents of the area find affordable housing, developing properties, and running a sneaker store. “We really cracked down on a lot of our business, especially during this time,” he notes of working through the pandemic. “I’m doing stuff for my community and trying to balance that with music and family.”
However, he’s never forgotten about the unfinished business he has with Bobby Shmurda in the studio. The producer says that the sound they were going for during the planning process for his debut album was whatever fit Bobby’s interests, especially since his EP was a mix of several different sounds from different producers — “Wipe The Case Away” features a chorus sung by Ty Real and a subtle R&B vibe, while “Living Life” with Rowdy Rebel takes fans to the trap.
“He was just trying to figure it out,” Jahlil explains of Bobby’s musical direction. “But he ended up having a classic rap record stemming from him just doing him.” He notes he’s “been in touch” with Bobby’s camp and has sent over potential tracks to get their working relationship back in order. He’s also finished “three joints” with Rowdy Rebel.
Regardless of whether they end up cutting that highly-anticipated debut, Jahlil Beats is optimistic about the lessons Bobby Shmurda, his fans, and musical contemporaries can take from the saga. While GS9’s incarceration “stems from many things,” he hopes Bobby can use the incident as fuel to become the best version of himself.
“We all go through roadblocks, that’s just how life is,” Jahlil proclaims. “I think that it might have had to happen this way… Sometimes, you make mistakes, and some mistakes are a lot more drastic than others. Take something from it.”
It’s been a little over a month since Pink Sweats released his euphoric album Pink Planet, which aptly arrived just in time for Valentine’s Day. Following it’s release, Pink Sweats tapped the venerable musician Kehlani to join him on a remix of the fan-favorite track “At My Worst.” Now, the two have teamed up to share a lighthearted video to their romantic track.
The colorful visual, directed by David Karp and Courtney Loo, shows Kehlani and Pink Sweats courting each other at a retro gas station. Using flowers as a symbol of their love, they turn a simple bouquet into a lush garden.
Speaking about his Pink Planet LP in an interview with Uproxx, Pink Sweats said it was a way of offering fans a unique glimpse into his world:
“It was letting people into my world, the creative space that I made for myself to escape, I want to share that with everybody else. It’s like being a kid, but we’re grown. It’s like where you’re a child, some people at least have grand imaginations, but nobody can come to that place in your head. For me, I get to live out my childhood through music where it’s like I’ve created this place in my head and now I’ve been able to share with the world. Like some Bridge To Terabithia type stuff. You’re just bringing your friends on the rise, everybody wants to listen and give me a shot. So it’s like come on, let me show you.”
Watch Pink Sweats and Kehlani’s “At My Worst” video above.
Nick Cannon has more lives than a cat — and just about as many jobs as that. One of those jobs seemed threatened last year when the multihyphenate rapper-actor-tv-host made some comments on his podcast that were perceived as anti-Semitic, prompting ViacomCBS to sever ties with him. That left the future of his trademark show, Wild ‘N Out, in doubt as not was he on the outs with the owners of MTV and VH1, but production on the show was also shut down due to the pandemic.
However, it appears that his efforts to make amends have not gone unnoticed as a new promo teases the show’s return in April. According to Deadline, the new episodes were filmed before the coronavirus outbreak here in the States and will constitute the second half of the 15th (!) season of the popular improv comedy show. Guests set to appear include rappers 24kGolden, Ambjaay, Cuban Doll, Da Brat, MC Lyte, OMB Peezy, and Rapsody, along with Cannon’s show-hosting brethren Big Tigger, Donnell Rawlings, and Trinidad James. The Black Ink Crew: Compton cast will also appear, as will YouTuber-turned-R&B star Queen Najia.
The show will return on VH1 after Diddy hoped to bring Nick and his most popular creation to Revolt TV. The new episodes will air April 6 at 8 pm ET. You can watch the promo above.
As the months closed in on the two-year anniversary of his debut Grammy-nominated album, Painted, Lucky Daye returned to the music world with the third EP of his career, Table For Two. The project arrived with seven tracks and six duets with each featuring a vocal contribution from a female artist. Looking to bring some new life into the project, Lucky returns with a new visual for “How Much Can A Heart Take” with Yebba. It doubles as a lyric video for the song, but in it, viewers see the two singers switch roles as Lucky sings Yebba’s part on the song and attempts to sing and act like she would while Yebba flips the script to play the “Roll Some Mo” singer’s role.
Lucky’s return began with his “On Read” single alongside Tiana Major9. The song was his first single since 2020’s “Shoulda” with Babyface, which landed on the deluxe reissue of Painted. As for Table For Two, the project also saw contributions from Ari Lennox, Mahalia, Joyce Wrice, and Queen Naija. Prior the EP’s release, Lucky could be found working alongside Buddy, Kaytranada, Leon Bridges, Kiana Lede, Spillage Village, Kehlani, and others in what was a feature-heavy 2020 for him.
Press play on the “How Much Can A Heart Take” video above.
Table For Two is out now via Keep Cool/RCA. Get it here.
Whenever the internet latches onto a strange moment, it tends to get even stranger as more details emerge (and more racist, i.e. the “milkshake duck” effect, but thankfully, this isn’t about that). Case in point, the man who kidnapped the internet’s attention yesterday by tweeting about a bizarre discovery in his breakfast cereal turned out to have a truly fascinating past as a battle rapper — one that resulted in plenty of success outside of the music industry.
I was convinced to go back through the bag, since when I first noticed the shrimp tails, I freaked out and closed the box. Here’s all my findings, which also now includes a weird little string? pic.twitter.com/mRDUhqG3I8
Jensen Karp, aka Hot Karl, may not be a household name to most, but in the LA battle rap scene — and in certain Hollywood television production circles — he’s kind of an underground legend. As Hot Karl, he was signed to Ice-T’s Rhyme Syndicate at just 11 years old, he entered Power 106’s Roll Call freestyle competition and held the title for 45 weeks while in college, and he signed to Interscope Records in the early 2000s, recording a debut with features from DJ Quik, Kanye West, Redman, and more which was never released. He wrote a memoir about it and shares his hip-hop knowledge as part of a trivia game. Oh, and he paid Chance The Rapper $5,000 to shoot a music video back in 2013.
UPDATE: my wife has a stronger stomach than me and checked the OTHER bag in the family pack. This one seems taped up (?) and also appears to include…(I don’t even want to say it)…dental floss. pic.twitter.com/yKPkpx7PWq
Those experiences served him well in Hollywood, where after several gigs writing for WWE and VH1 and a truly fated radio hosting gig, he became executive producer of the short-lived celebrity rap battle show Drop The Mic, which famously featured battles between The Muppets’ Kermit and Miss Piggy, Randall Park and James Van Der Beek, and more, and helped launch the career of the white half of Blimes And Gab.
Users on Twitter were delighted to learn this info, but the “Hot Karl” trend was quickly taken over by teen fans of a gaming YouTuber named Karl Jacobs, who is apparently bad at taking selfies. I kid, teen girls, please do not murder me or perform witchcraft at me.
I like how the hot karl was trending for someone else but we made about KARL MOTHER FUCKING JACOBS pic.twitter.com/64qHKW1aBJ
Knowing Karp, he’s likely enjoying all the shenanigans his tweets have caused because he’s a pretty funny guy, but hopefully, this thing doesn’t flatten his hard-won legacy down to just being “Cinnamon Toast Crunch Shrimp Guy” or “Danielle Fishel’s husband.” Oh yeah, that’s right: He’s also married to Boy Meets World‘s Topanga. I guess you could say he’s the real winner here.
︎ɞ (@BassicLove) 
