Don’t cross Ella Mai, or she and her associates will make you regret it. That’s the basic premise of the London-bred, LA-based singer’s new, retro-styled video for “How” featuring Roddy Ricch and Mustard. In it, Ella is stuck in an unfulfilling relationship with a very wealthy man, and with the help of her comrades Mustard and Roddy, plots an escape that leaves her beau breathless — literally and permanently. In the final shots, she hits the road with a car full of luggage, presumably to get her groove back.
“How” is the third single from Ella Mai’s second album, Heart On My Sleeve, which also features the singles “Not Another Love Song” and “DFMU” and appearances from Latto, Roddy, and Lucky Daye. The album was once again executive produced by Mustard and released through 10 Summers and Interscope Records on May 6, debuting at No. 15 on the US Billboard 200 with 20,000 album-equivalent units — the majority in pure album sales. If there’s truly an R&B renaissance taking place, Ella Mai is certainly at its forefront; Heart On My Sleeve landed at No. 2 on Billboard‘s Top R&B Albums chart.
Meanwhile, “How” co-star Roddy Ricch has been enjoying a bounce-back summer behind his new EP, The Big 3, which made up for the disappointing reception for his own sophomore album Live Life Fast.
Beyoncé’s highly anticipated album Renaissance, arriving tomorrow, is full of sampled artists, including Donna Summer, Big Freedia, and Kelis. Kelis, though, is not happy about it. On an Instagram post made by the account @kelistrends about Kelis being sampled on Renaissance, Kelis shared her frustrations in the comments.
“My mind is blown too because the level of disrespect and utter ignorance of all 3 parties involved is astounding,” she wrote. “I heard about this the same way everyone else did . Nothing is ever as it seems , some of the people in this business have no soul or integrity and they have everyone fooled.”
She argued with fans in the comments, replying to those excited about the collaboration: “it’s not a collab it’s theft,” she wrote. People pointed out that her beef is not with Beyoncé but instead with Pharrell, who she accused of stealing profits from her after she worked with him on her first two records. She opened up about the feud in an interview last year: “Their argument is: ‘Well, you signed it,’” she told the journalist. “I’m like: ‘Yeah, I signed what I was told, and I was too young and too stupid to double-check it.’”
Last month, Zambian-Australian rapper Sampa The Great announced her upcoming sophomore album, As Above, So Below after releasing two singles, “Lane” and “Never Forget” featuring Denzel Curry. Today, she has released the album’s third single, the bass-heavy “Bona.” According to its press release, it’s influenced by the music Sampa heard as a child in Botswana, borrowing the genres that originated in neighboring South Africa such as kwaito and amapiano.
In a statement, Sampa described the meaning of “Bona,” saying, “I haven’t yet shown the influence Botswana has had on me musically; this is the style, language, and swag of Botswana youth. ‘Bona’ is a chance for me to shine light on other elements of music that I was influenced by when growing up, outside of Zambian music. I want to bring a Southern African anthem to the mix and DJ desks, and show that there’s an array of music coming out of Africa, on top of Afrobeats.”
In a roundabout way, the track represents Sampa joining a growing trend of artists reclaiming dance music, especially through genres originated by Black artists, such as house and techno. In her case, though, she’s an African artist introducing African genres to wider audiences, showing that the continent has more to offer outside of Nigerian Afrobeats.
Listen to “Bona” by Sampa The Great above.
As Above, So Below is due on 9/9 on Vista Loma. Pre-order it here.
When Beyonce’s house-influenced new single “Break My Soul” first dropped, there were naturally a few fans put off by the pop-R&B queen’s shift into dance music styles. It didn’t take long for folks to jump aboard though, leading to a renaissance (sorry) of interest in Black-led dance music. Even Robin S. started to receive some belated and much-deserved accolades for her role in pioneering house music in the ’90s.
However, while Beyonce’s genre experimentation is part of a larger movement to reclaim traditionally Black music, that doesn’t mean that fans can appreciate further attempts to transform her work. Enter Ali Spagnola, a social media personality who has made kind of a name for herself with attention-grabbing stunts. Along with her band, she has reinterpreted the song as a pop-punk track in a video titled, “What if Beyonce’s ‘Break My Soul’ was by MGK?”
Obviously, it didn’t take long for the video to get negative attention from Beyonce fans for a variety of reasons, not the least of which being that it’s kind of … not good. It’s also problematic thanks to some of the reasons stated above, which makes it a bad look in the eyes of many fans who are left to wonder if Spagnola just didn’t get the cultural subtext or got it and just didn’t care (both options sap the intended humor of the situation, given the historical context here). But attention seems to have been the goal all along, and Spagnola hasn’t had any problem with retweeting the criticism as well as the sporadic praise. She even doubled down, posting a video about “How we turned Beyonce’s ‘Break My Soul’ to MGK punk pop.”
Even before they landed the lead roles on Issa Rae’s new HBO Max series, Aida Osman and KaMillion have been living and breathing this rap sh*t. The new show, appropriately titled Rap Sh!t, tells the story of two estranged high school friends – the poetic, lyric-focused Shawna Clark (Osman) and the confident, sexually liberated Mia Knight (KaMillion) – reuniting to form a rap duo. While this is both actors’ first times starring in a lead role, their TV counterparts are entities the two have been manifesting for years.
Before Rap Sh!t, KaMillion had been putting out independent mixtapes and singles for eight years. Osman had worked as a writer and producer on shows like Big Mouth and Betty, and was initially hired to be a writer for Rap Sh!t. With Rap Sh!t, the two are at the forefront of their own sharp pen game after years of putting in work behind the scenes.
“It’s so complicated and scary and weird to actualize,” Osman says of being a lead on television. “Every time I see the photo of me and Milly in the car that they’re using for the Rap Sh!t art, I’m like, ‘Oh, that’s somebody else. That’s not me and her’ But like, that is me and her. That’s me and my friend. When I drive by the billboard now, it’s so weird to see that that’s us. It’s surreal.”
Alicia Vera/HBO Max
Aida Osman plays the lyric-focused Shawna Clark. She is also a writer on the show.
Osman’s affinity for hip-hop began as a secret love affair. Having grown up in a Muslim household in Lincoln, Nebraska, she was not allowed to watch TV or listen to hip-hop, which the TV writer and actress on a hip-hop-centered show admits is “crazy… because look at me now.” As a teenager, she would often take her computer and sit in her room, watching Nicki Minaj videos in secret. She played drums and performed in her school’s choir throughout high school, and by college, she was quietly writing her own rhymes and exploring beatmaking.
Today, Osman’s mother is more than supportive of her work, even if she doesn’t quite get it.
“[My mom] hates Big Mouth so much,” Osman says. “She’s always like, ‘What is this? They’re ugly.’ She thinks it’s all ugly, and she thinks the concept is so stupid. But she always pauses at the credits like, ‘That’s my baby.’ And I’m like, ‘Which is it? Which is it?’ I don’t even know if my mom understands the concept of Rap Sh!t, but we’ll see.”
KaMillion, on the other hand, has always been immersed in the world of hip-hop, having grown up in Jacksonville, Florida, and hearing music constantly playing outside. “I started writing poetry at first,” says KaMillion, “just looking at the community that I was raised in, and everything I was going through. Everything started out as poetry, and then I just put a beat to it. When I felt like I could do it, I started rapping and getting with different producers. Hip-hop has just always been in me just because of how I was raised in the neighborhoods where I came from.”
When we first meet Osman’s Shawna on the show, she is working the front desk at a Miami hotel. She is recognized for one of her viral freestyles, however, it is revealed that she now wears a mask when she records her rap videos, that way people can focus on her lyrics instead of her appearance. She is critical of the hypersexual nature of women rappers and is fed up with being slept on and wants very badly for industry professionals to take her seriously.
KaMillion’s Mia, on the other hand, strives to be a woman’s fantasy in regards to sexual liberation – a la Lil Kim in the ’90s. As an aspiring rapper single mother, a make-up artist, and an OnlyFans model, Mia wears many hats throughout the series.
Sex work is a big component of the Rap Sh!t universe. In the first episode, we see Mia live streaming on OnlyFans, taking requests and tips from men. In real life, KaMillion briefly dipped her toes in the OnlyFans waters during the early phases of the COVID-19 pandemic, though not for what she considers sex work, but rather to share intimate pictures that wouldn’t make it past the Instagram censors. “We’ve all done odd jobs to come up,” KaMillion says. “I danced briefly to make ends meet, so I understood that aspect when it came to my character, because I’ve experienced it.”
While she became well-versed on the platform of her own accord, bringing the OnlyFans action to the screen was an entirely new challenge for KaMillion.
Alicia Vera/HBO Max
KaMillion plays the ambitious, sexually-liberated Mia Knight.
“When you’re recording kinky little videos on your phone, no one’s in there watching you,” KaMillion says, “but now, you’ve got to perform in front of the camera guy and the director. Like they’re up in your coochie, and I’m like ‘Did I shave good enough?’ ‘How’s every angle looking?’”
Although Shawna hasn’t done any sex work in the series, Osman, similarly to KaMillion, said one of her most challenging scenes to shoot was a virtual sex scene in the first episode, in which she is having FaceTime sex with her long-distance boyfriend, Cliff (Devon Terrell).
“There will be a closed set for things like this, so it’s just you, the cameraman, the producer, the main writer, and the showrunner,” Osman says. “But every time that we film a scene, we do a practice round before, where the necessary crew comes in and maps out what the scene is going to look like. So to lay in a bed while Issa Rae is just watching me masturbate is the goofiest thing. I felt funny and stupid, and I couldn’t take that scene seriously. I kept cackling mid-orgasm.”
Throughout the series, the promising rappers navigate the treacherous music industry as their single, “Seduce And Scheme,” continues to go viral. They face challenges like handling personal relationships as artists, remaining couth at industry functions, and the pressures of viral fame. All the while, the two channel the spirit of women in rap to help them get through the titular rap sh*t, both on-and-off screen.
Viewers with a keen ear will catch the characters referencing iconic quotes by female rappers in casual conversation. In the second episode, when Mia and Shawna are brainstorming ideas for songs, Mia says she wants to make “something fun, something for the summertime, something for the girls to get ready and party to,” referring to Saweetie’s 2019 interview for Amazon Music’s Rap Rotation. In a later episode, where the ladies head to New York City, Mia recreates Nicki Minaj’s 2017 viral “you b*tches can’t even spell Prague” video, recording a clip in front of a black Cadillac Escalade, saying, “Attention, this is how a bad b*tch leaves Miami and arrives in Queens. You b*tches can’t even spell Queens.”
Like the hidden Drake-lyrics in the dialogue of the first season of Rae’s breakout series, Insecure, and the Frank Ocean-lyrics in the second, this was something the writers did on purpose.
“It’s definitely about paying homage, and we love that,” Osman says. “It always feels amazing to catch a little easter egg like that. So with our show, it only made sense for the writers to be like, ‘Let’s put in our favorite moments from Black women in rap.’”
As Mia and Shawna become stars on Rap Sh!t, both Osman and KaMillion are becoming stars in real life, alongside their breakout characters. According to Osman, Rae first commissioned her to write “a month’s worth of television” when she was hired onto the show’s staff. She was comfortable working as a writer “for the rest of [her] life,” and even assumed that someone else had landed the role of Shawna before she was asked to do a chemistry read with KaMillion.
KaMillion had been working toward her breakthrough moment in music for nearly a decade, and now, with Rap Sh!t, she feels like the stars are all aligning.
“I think it’s a blessing for me to be able to make a living in hip-hop,” KaMillion says. “And, ultimately, to be on a show like this – that I feel is about to be culture.”
Bad Bunny has rapidly risen from relative obscurity to become one of the biggest artists in the world, accumulating multiple No. 1s, selling millions of records, and making history in the short amount of time he’s been in the spotlight. His latest impressive accomplishment comes courtesy of Billboard, which reports that BB’s new album Un Verano Sin Ti has become the most popular album of 2022 — even surpassing the inescapable Encanto soundtrack.
Un Verano Sin Ti, which was also the second all-Spanish-language album to reach No. 1 on the Billboard 200 (the first being its immediate predecessor, El Último Tour del Mundo, in 2020), has earned 1.606 million equivalent album units in the US. Encanto, which featured the immensely popular “We Don’t Talk About Bruno,” had 1.565 million units. For those who don’t know, equivalent album units are a combination of straight album sales, 10 individual tracks sold from an album (track equivalent units), or 1,250 streams via a subscription — or 3,750 ad-supported streams (streaming equivalent units). While Billboard’s data doesn’t break down how BB reached his impressive 1.6 million EAUs, previous reports noted his totals were being driven mostly by streams, which kept the album at No. 1 for five consecutive weeks, then reclaimed its spot earlier this month, breaking a record previously set by Adele in the process.
Over the past few months, rap fans have placed more and more scrutiny on prosecutors who use rap lyrics as evidence in criminal trials against hip-hop artists. While “hip-hop cops” have long been rumored as a fixture of the justice system, cases involving popular rappers such as Young Thug and YoungBoy Never Broke Again have highlighted how that system tries to turn rappers’ creative expression against them. Using literal interpretations of violent lyrics or shout-outs to alleged criminal groups as evidence is increasingly seen as a violation of artists’ freedom of speech; fortunately, a new development may help to protect that right in the future.
A new bill modeled after New York’s “Rap On Trial” law proposal has been introduced in the US House Of Representatives by Congressmen Hank Johnson (D-GA) and Jamaal Bowman (D-NY). The New York version, which passed the state senate in May, still hasn’t passed the state assembly or been ratified by the governor yet, but its creation turned out to be instructive on the new federal bill, called the Restoring Artistic Protection (RAP) Act (get it?). The RAP Act would change the Federal Rules of Evidence to limit the use of lyrics as evidence.
In a statement, Rep. Bowman said, “Rap, Hip Hop, and every lyrical musical piece is a beautiful form of art and expression that must be protected. Our judicial system disparately criminalizes Black and brown lives, including Black and brown creativity. Evidence shows when juries believe lyrics to be rap lyrics, there’s a tendency to presume it’s a confession, whereas lyrics for other genres of music are understood to be art, not factual reporting. This act would ensure that our evidentiary standards protect the First Amendment right to freedom of expression. We cannot imprison our talented artists for expressing their experiences nor will we let their creativity be suppressed.”
If passed, the RAP Act could protect artists like Young Thug and Gunna, who are accused of alleged ties to a violent street gang. In the racketeering indictment, both are charged with violations of the RICO Act, but the only evidence tying them to the supposed gang is cherry-picked lyrics. Likewise, NBA YoungBoy was given a reprieve from using lyrics to prove he had knowledge of guns when nothing in those lyrics could tie him to the gun found in his car. The burden of evidence should absolutely be higher than “this guy rapped about this thing on a song once, so obviously he did the crime we’re accusing him of.” Thanks to the RAP Act, it could be.
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.
We’re at the point where it’s both reductive and inadequate to call Rico Nasty just a rapper. And Rico’s new mixtape, Las Ruinas, is exhibit A in the argument that what the Maryland artist does is way too expansive, creative, and intriguing to be constrained to the labels it has been given so far. Some of those labels include punk-rap, emo-trap, scream-rap, and sugar trap – the last term Rico’s own, coined on one of her first mixtapes. Las Ruinas explodes those paradigms, throwing Paramore, Run-DMC, Lil Uzi Vert, and Nicki Minaj into a blender and letting it rip, creating something entirely different from any of its influences.
In the run-up to the release, Rico insinuated that the tape would show a softer side of the brash, ‘80s-inspired artist than her debut album, Nightmare Vacation. Insomuch as it accomplishes this mission, there’s still a lot of yelling – which is actually a good thing. When artists try to get confessional, they can sometimes lean too heavily into the emotion, making for a mawkish, melodramatic affair. Rather than getting bogged down by maudlin ballads, Las Ruinas opts to expand the sonic palette of its predecessor, which in turn allows Rico to try new things without really leaving her lane. It’s a neat trick.
Part of it is that Rico’s lane is really wide. She’s already established herself in the hyperpop lane, where plenty of these new tracks reside. The album opens with “Intrusive,” all warped-synths and overblown bass kicks, with Rico rasping her way through the uptempo track, occasionally embellished with spacey vocal effects. “Black Punk,” meanwhile, takes the tempo down a tick and adds some Korn-ish guitar – it’s not exactly punk, or nu-metal, but it’s clearly influenced by both. The flavor of Rico’s own secret sauce is what ties it all together and keeps any single element from dominating the mix.
The closest she comes to a recognizable, single genre effort is the emphatic “Blow Me,” which borrows the thumping drums of Memphis trap with a hypnotic instrumental loop from the Atlanta strain, then finds Rico splitting the difference between her “Own It” flow and the one from “Fashion Week” for a cavalier call-out to challengers. It’s an impressive show of her improvement since Nightmare Vacation, as she mocks, “Your bitch ain’t bad, she a eyesore / Truth hurts, baby, you should lie more.” It’s just one of a litany of guffaw-worthy rhymes on the album, and you can almost hear her snickering as she says them.
Rico even manages to put her own specific twist on a rising trend with “Jungle,” Rico’s remix of Fred Again..’s pulse-pounding house jam. Remember when I said Black people were coming back to reclaim dance music? Rico definitely got the memo. What’s truly awesome about the confidence and comfort she displays on this track is that she appears just as cozy on Nirvana-esque ballad “Easy,” the dreamy “Focus On Me,” and the album’s closer, “Chicken Nugget.”
The latter, an ode to her son Cameron, is a true triumph; in it, Rico opens up about how Cam opened up her own world. “Now I see why my mama yelled at me,” she reflects. “I can see how she was obsessed with me.” It’s exactly the sort of vulnerability peeking out of the thrash-rapper facade that strengthens her image as a badass. There’s real passion and heartache – the kind born of the implied and well-known struggles of motherhood, highlighted by the usual teenage angst – fueling her outbursts. At the same time, by pulling off the mask, even slightly, Rico makes herself more relatable, more endearing, and more human than many of her peers in the SoundCloud-bred, screamo-rap scene, whose “rage” has always struck me as at least a little bit manufactured.
The eclecticism displayed on Las Ruinas might leech some of its replay value or turn off listeners looking for a more consistent listening experience. It’s cohesive but chaotic, so throwing it on when you’re in one mood might mean you have to skip around to find the tracks that suit that mood. While it’s far from a road trip staple or a surefire party starter, there’s lots here to love – most of all, its star, who proudly made this album for herself, doing exactly what she wanted to do. Its real value might be in once again pushing open the boundaries for the next weird little kid who doesn’t want to stick to one thing but take up every available inch of whatever lane they drive in.
Las Ruinas is out now on Atlantic Records. Get it here.
Rico Nasty is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
Back in May, Cara Delevingne stole the show at the 2022 Billboard Music Awards, whether she was taking not-so-great photos of Doja Cat or having enthusiastic interactions with Megan Thee Stallion, which led to accusations of her “fetishizing Black women” and just being a bit too much. Now, Delevingne has spoken about that fateful night on The Tonight Show.
During an interview yesterday, Jimmy Fallon showed a photo of the Only Murders In The Building actor holding the train of Megan’s dress on the BBMAs red carpet and asked for the story there. Delevingne noted Megan invited her to join her at the show and help her memorize an acceptance speech, but Delevingne didn’t think she’d end up being a noticeable part of the proceedings. On the red carpet, Delevingne noticed Megan struggling with her train, so she helped out by moving it around for her.
She then spoke about that aforementioned Doja photo (not directly but seemingly so based on context), saying, “I walked in and I had a seat in the front row. I’m like, ‘I’m not meant to be here.’ So I was like, ‘Hi!’ And then I was getting on the floor, taking pictures. That’s what what I do because I’m like, I don’t know, I was just really excited. I was like, ‘Let me get my angle, guys, I’m a photographer!’”
She added, “I was living my best life, but people found it a bit odd, which… people find me odd, but that’s me. No shame!”
Check out the interview above.
Megan Thee Stallion is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
Usually, when the current rap hierarchy is discussed, the same three names come up as the best: Drake, Kendrick Lamar, and J. Cole. Things get a bit murky when it comes to the next spot, with names like Kanye West and Nicki Minaj often coming up. However, there is a strong hive that advocates for Future deserving a spot in the conversation, and his latest achievement certainly adds to their argument. On July 27, the DS2 artist was recognized by the RIAA for over 95 million units certified Gold, Platinum, or more over the course of his career.
The Grammy award-winning rapper was honored in a private event at Soho House Miami Beach where RIAA COO Michele Ballantyne and Epic Records Chairwoman and CEO Sylvia Rhone were both in the building. They gifted him with special plaques commemorating this unprecedented milestone.
That many platinum albums. Wow I’m overwhelmed with excitement
Future’s career spans of nine albums and 68 songs, placing him in rarified air with one of the highest totals in history throughout RIAA’s 65-year-old existence. It comes on the heels of his latest album, I Never Liked You, reaching Gold status in under three months, with the standout record “Wait For U” featuring Drake and Tems already double Platinum and “Puffin On Zootiez” certified Gold.
Ballantyne had this to say about the major moment: “We’re thrilled to celebrate that Future now has 95 million RIAA certified units spanning 9 albums and 68 separate singles! He’s in an elite group – very few artists have achieved this level of success in the history of our nearly 65 year old program. Congratulations to Future and his incredible Epic Records and Freebandz teams!”
That number four spot in the rap hierarchy might have just been officially claimed.
Check out Future’s reaction to the moment via Twitter above.
(@southernfleaux) 
(@zkdlinswh0re) 
(@unde4demily) 
(@El_Negro_VI) 
