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Missy Elliott Is Thrilled About A Street In Her Hometown Being Renamed After Her

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Missy Elliott Hollywood Walk of Fame 2021
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Missy Elliott is one of the most beloved and accomplished rappers of all time, and through it all, she has made her hometown of Portsmouth, Virginia proud. So proud, in fact, that yesterday, the Portsmouth city council unanimously voted to rename a portion of the city’s McLean Street to Missy Elliott Boulevard.

Elliott is pretty pumped about the news, as she reacted on Twitter, “I am forever GRATEFUL P-TOWN VA #757 LOVE.”

In another celebratory tweet, she wrote, “I am so Humbly Grateful #757 VA 2 up 2 down. i been through many ups & downs & times I wanted to give up but Gods plan was different! & all I can do is say Thank you & Thank you to everyone on the City Counsel I am so GRATEFUL for EVERYTHING.”

It is currently unclear when or if any sort of ceremony to mark the name change will be held.

According to WTKR, the name change was set in motion by Erin Carter, a friend of the Elliott family. They also note that Elliott has done plenty of good for the community, like donating $25,000 to Manor High School (then named Woodrow Wilson High School). Some of her 2005 reality show The Road To Stardom With Missy Elliott was filmed in nearby Norfolk.

Halle Bailey Recalls The ‘Agony’ Of Being Apart From Her Sister Chlöe While Filming ‘The Little Mermaid’

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For much of her life, singer and actress Halle Bailey has worked creatively alongside her older sister Chlöe. From making YouTube videos, to getting signed to Beyoncé’s Parkwood Entertainment label as Chloe x Halle, to acting on Freeform’s hit TV series, Grown-ish, the two have been a dynamic duo.

Over the past two years, the two have embarked on separate endeavors. They are both working on solo music and movies of their own. In 2019, Halle was announced to play Ariel in the live adaptation of Disney’s The Little Mermaid. Production was often delayed, but took place during late 2020 and early into 2021. When the film wrapped last summer, Halle immediately went to film her parts for a remake of The Color Purple, in which she will play Nettie.

The Color Purple contains darker themes than The Little Mermaid, however, Halle revealed to Variety that while filming The Color Purple, she drew from the pain of being in London filming The Little Mermaid, and not being able to see Chlöe, who was in the US for much of that time.

“She couldn’t visit me; everything was on lockdown,” Halle said, “and it was that agony, that pain of being pulled away from something that’s like your arm, so I was pulling from that.”

The Little Mermaid will arrive to theaters on May 23, 2023 and The Color Purple will premiere on December 20, 2023.

Post Malone Didn’t Know What To Say When He Met Ozzy Osbourne For The First Time

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With Post Malone’s Runaway Tour documentary, Runaway, set to premiere on Friday on Freevee, an exclusive clip of the film has dropped on YouTube to promote its release. In the clip, Post meets rock idol Ozzy Osbourne for the first time after securing a feature from Ozzy on his third studio album, Hollywood’s Bleeding. Although Osbourne appeared on the single “Take What You Want,” the two didn’t actually meet until Post’s Los Angeles tour stop at The Forum, where Ozzy made a surprise appearance, delighting fans as he emerged sitting on a throne to sing the song’s intro.

In the Runaway clip above, it is a few hours before that moment, when the two performers are introduced for the first time. “Good to see you,” Post says. “How are you? You look great. You excited? You ready to party?” Ozzy cackles a bit in return, obviously amused at the thought of the standout performance to come. The clip picks up after the performance with Post admitting, “I was nervous meeting him. Not as much performing, but meeting him is terrifying because what the f*ck do you say to Ozzy Osbourne, ‘I like your pants?’ I don’t know. You have no idea what the fuck to say to him.”

You can check out the clip above and catch Runaway in full on Freevee on 8/12.

Russ Explains How He Spent A Million Dollars On His Ed Sheeran Collab, ‘Are You Entertained’

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As long as he’s been in the rap business, Russ has been about sharing the secrets of his success with fans and other aspiring artists. While that sometimes takes the form of preachy-sounding lectures on social media or interviews that can rub his intended audience the right way, he’s been getting better at softening his delivery, making sure that the message isn’t getting lost in the tone. In addition to starting his own, artist-friendly label, he seems to have found his niche thanks to TikTok, where he can speak directly to his fans, answering their questions in videos that offer more context.

A great example recently found its way to Twitter. In the video, Russ responds to a fan’s comment in a previous video asking how and why he spent $1 million on his new single, “Are You Entertained” with Ed Sheeran. In typical Russ fashion, he goes into detail, but this time, he’s sure he’s giving the right information to the right people, sounding confident instead of condescending. Offering a disclaimer, he made sure to note that “I’ve had songs go multi-platinum that I’ve spent zero dollars on and I’ve had songs do nothing that I’ve spent hundreds of thousands on. It’s not as simple as, ‘Oh, if you just spend money, the song does well.’ If that was the case, then there would be no flops.”

But on to the nitty-gritty: “Basically, I spent about $300K on the music video,” he recalls. “We shot it in London, [so] it was a whole big production. Then, I spent a little over $700K on marketing, which is like: I did Spotify marquee campaigns, radio, social media ads, [and] billboards overseas.” So, there you have it, an explanation of how much it costs to promote a new song, and a warning: It takes a lot more than money. Russ knows this, but luckily for his fans, he wants them to know it too. Check out the video below.

Young Thug Was Charged With A Stack Of New Felonies In The RICO Case Against YSL

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Atlanta news station WSB-TV reports Young Thug, who is currently incarcerated in Fulton County Jail awaiting trial on racketeering charges, has been assessed a litany of new charges including drug, firearm possession, and robbery charges. According to a statement given to XXL by the Fulton County District Attorney’s office, “Charges were added for defendants via re-indictment based on evidence found at arrests. When Mr. Williams was arrested on May 9, evidence was recovered that resulted in the additional charges, including a charge of possession of a machine gun.”

Back in May, Thug, Gunna, Yak Gotti, and other members of a purported street gang going by Young Slime Life, or YSL, were indicted on 56 counts of murder, armed robbery, and conspiring to violate the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act (aka racketeering). Young Thug was initially indicted on the latter thanks to repeated mentions of YSL — also the acronym for his label, Young Stoner Life — in his lyrics. However, he was charged with seven additional felonies after police raided his home, including possession of marijuana with intent to distribute and possession of a dangerous weapon or silencer (which covers sawed-off-shotguns, sawed-off rifles, or machine guns). Many of the re-indictment charges are based on these.

Thug, Gotti, and Gunna have all pled “not guilty” and maintained their innocence, although they were also denied bail. Their trial was set for January 9, 2023.

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

Steve Lacy, Kanye West, And Lil Uzi Vert First Collaboration Together Was Getting Matching Tattoos

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A month ago, Kanye West anointed California crooner Steve Lacy “one of the most inspiring people on the planet,” bringing some much deserved attention and praise to Lacy’s new album, Gemini Rights. Obviously, Kanye’s blessing has been a godsend — no pun intended — for many younger artists on the come-up over the years, even if those artists are no longer on speaking terms with the mercurial producer. However, for now, at least, West and Lacy have sealed their bond — alongside Lil Uzi Vert, no less — by getting matching, mismatched tattoos. Lacy posted a pic on Instagram:

To save you the trouble of zooming in, the bicep tattoos all read, “We here forever technically.” The final word is in a different font, metaphorically marking all three artists’ quick-change tendencies; they’re never just one thing. The artist is Los Angeles-based tattooer Mez Afram, whose Instagram is full of straightforward, unadorned designs like butterflies, big cats, and scorpions. Meanwhile, the woman snapping the shot for the three artists is Lauren Pisciotta, a music manager who now works as Kanye’s assistant and has since made the jump to OnlyFans.

Jumping back to Steve Lacy for a moment, the newly-minted star-in-the-making recently announced his upcoming Give You The World Tour, which starts in October, hits 27 cities, and concludes in his hometown on November 11 at the Greek Theatre.

Nicki Minaj Hints That Drake Is Secretly A Billionaire

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Young Money Cash Money Billionaires may in fact be true for one of the members of the YMCMB collective: According to Nicki Minaj, who reunited with her Young Money labelmates Lil Wayne and Drake during the latter’s October World Festival in Toronto last weekend, the “Way 2 Sexy” hitmaker may be a billionaire.

In a video shared to Minaj’s Instagram Story yesterday, she is seen boarding a private jet. In the clip, she says, “This is what happens when you got a rich — I’m sorry, a very rich, rich, rich, rich — Canadian friend… who is the only billionaire that I know that don’t want people to know he a billionaire.”

While she didn’t refer to anyone by name, fans immediately assumed the “Canadian friend” was Drake. Later that day, fans immediately caught wind of Minaj liking a tweet reading, “Shoutout to @Drake for being a billionaire too, even though you ain’t want no one to know.”

If this is true, Drake is among one of very few rappers in the coveted billionaires club, alongside Jay-Z, who reached billionaire status in 2019 by way of his $75 million catalog, as well as his stakes in Tidal, Uber, Armand de Brignac, and D’Usse. Kanye West attained billionaire status in 2020, mostly in part to his Yeezy fashion empire. He even surpassed Jay and has reached a net worth of $2 billion.

Minaj is set to drop her much anticipated new single, “Super Freaky Girl,” this Friday.

Megan Thee Stallion Says ‘Certain Things’ She’s ‘Never Said Out Loud Before’ On Her New Album

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At some point in the not-so-distant future, Megan Thee Stallion is set to release a new album (which appears to be called Traumazine). Ahead of then, Meg has gone ahead and pulled back the curtain on the upcoming project a little bit via Twitter.

Last night, Megan started responding to fan tweets, with one fan asking, “You said the album was a lot of self-reflection. What inspired you to take this route for the album?” She replied, “I wrote this album for myself… I wanted to start writing in a journal but I said f*ck it I’ll put it in a song.”

Somebody else asked how long the tracklist is and Meg noted it’ll have 18 tracks. Another user wondered, “Was it hard for you to write songs for this project.” Meg answered, “Yes very [pleading face emoji] saying certain things you’ve never said out loud before is hard.”

A user asked if any songs on the album are going to be longer than two minutes and Meg said, “Now y’all know ima 3 verse type of girl so yes lol.”

Shortly after that, Megan decided she had spilled enough tea, tweeting, “Ok wait actually let’s not talk abt this tonight lol.”

Check out the tweets below.

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

Beyoncé Sent Madonna A Thankful Note After Their ‘Break My Soul’ Remix

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So far, Beyoncé has offered plenty of ways to enjoy “Break My Soul,” whether it’s via the original version, one of the four remixes from the EP, or the Madonna-featuring “Queens Remix” of the song. After the latter version came out, Madonna got a nice gift from Beyoncé.

Yesterday, Madonna took to her Instagram Story to show off a note from Beyoncé, accompanied by some flowers. The message reads, “Thank you, Queen. I’m so grateful for you. You have opened so many doors for so many women. You are masterpiece genius. Thank you for allowing me to sing in your song and thank you for naming the remix!!!! Love always and forever, B.”

Madonna wrote on the post, “thank you!! from one [queen] to another [queen]. I love the Re-Mix! @beyonce.” She also shared another photo showing off the massive bouquet of white flowers.

As for the part of Beyoncé’s message about “allowing me to sing in your song” despite this being a remix of her own song, that’s a nod to the remix sampling Madonna’s “Vogue.”

The “Queens Remix,” true to its name, shouts out a number of prominent female musicians past and present, some of whom offered reactions to the nods.

Check out Madonna’s posts below.

Madonna Beyonce Instagram Story
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Madonna Beyonce Instagram Story
@madonna/Instagram