Even though Iggy Azaela has carved out a pretty successful independent career after leaving Interscope, it’s fair to say that she’s received less attention now than at her height. Yet somehow, that still hasn’t stopped haters online from finding negative things to critique about her music, personality, and performances, even with her decreased visibility. The latest example came after Iggy performed at Long Beach Pride earlier this month when a fan posted a video of Iggy twerking during her set to Twitter.
It didn’t take long for the boo birds to find the video and decide what the world needed was their mean comments about her body. Quote-tweeting the original tweeter, who wrote, “iggy really be tossin that big mf,” Iggy shot back, “It’s a good thing I genuinely feel happy about myself & my body cause y’all stay in every comment section talking the most shit about me & it’s very mean spirited & ugly.” She also got in one last shot at her detractors: “Ps. your man 100% wants to f*ck me.” In a later tweet, she clarified that she was addressing the replies of the original tweet, where the negativity started, not the complimentary “tossin” caption.
It’s a good thing I genuinely feel happy about myself & my body cause y’all stay in every comment section talking the most shit about me & it’s very mean spirited & ugly. Ps. your man 100% wants to fuck me. https://t.co/O5h6WKKvum
Last year, Iggy said that her album, End Of An Era, would be her last, explaining, “I’m getting to a space where I feel that there’s not much new perspective I can bring to what I’m doing… at least not that I’d be comfortable with the world hearing.” While her fans will undoubtedly miss her, it looks like her haters will probably have to find a new target for their mean-spirited commentary.
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.
Flo Mill can really rap. That question was answered as soon as she drew breath on her debut project, Ho, Why Is You Here?, in 2020. As anticipation for its follow-up grew, the new question became whether or not she could expand her repertoire, find new topics to rap about, and layer in emotional depth – doing the things that separate good or even great rappers from recording artists with longevity in addition to short-term success.
A week ago, Flo Milli released her anticipated sophomore project, You Still Here, Ho?, to answer those questions. And while the answer may disappoint those who wanted to see artistic growth in the two years since the 22-year-old Mobile, Alabama rapper first captured all of our attention with her witty raps and bratty charms, the new release doubles down on those qualities to offer an entertaining entry to her growing catalog.
When I first heard Flo Milli, she reminded me of my younger sister and the rap battles we’d have with each other when we were both still in high school, four years apart. There was a juvenile, carefree quality to Milli’s raps, like a classroom roast session. The impression was helped along by her higher-pitched voice and bouncy, singsong rhyme cadence, which was buoyed by percussive, stripped-down, trap-lite production.
The whole package came together to present the persona of a snotty teenager rolling her neck and eyes while dismissively deriding your style, your presence, and your whole approach to life. The closest analog that jumps to mind at the moment is Kyla Pratt’s demeanor in those old WNBA commercials in which the then-child star confronted WNBA players to list in brutally accurate detail every flaw in their respective approaches to basketball.
On You Still Here, Ho? (even the title is haughty, and I really appreciate the commitment to the brand), Flo Milli maintains this cocky, Regina George-ish persona, but fine tunes around the edges to provide a fresh layer of glittery polish to the whole affair. Where the beats on her debut often sounded like first drafts, from the very first track here, the brash “Come Outside” (as in, “I just wanna talk” – as in, “we really gon’ beat yo’ ass”), it’s obvious that more time was spent on fleshing out the backdrops.
To be honest, this really props up Flo’s voice and taunting flow much better, allowing her tracks to sound like finished songs and not a kid’s first swing at recording at the local Boys & Girls Club. The addition of melodies – the sitar threaded throughout “Bed Time,” the ghostly loops on “Ice Baby” – buttress her raps, while the more regressive tracks come off distracting – the synthy percussions on “Big Steppa” – come off more distracting and eat her voice in the mix.
“On My Nerves” marks the slickest update to Flo’s original sound – sparse, but upbeat, giving space for her jabs to land squarely in the middle of their targets’ faces. “You think you street, but you sesame,” she sneers, a prime example of the understated wit of her one-two punchlines. It’s not exactly Shakespeare – and certainly no Jay-Z – but there’s something to the simple humor behind her boasts and jeers that makes them effective and relatable (remember when Lil Wayne said “I’m the bomb like tick-tick?” Yeah, it’s a little like that). The only missteps are when she tries to sing, as on “Tilted Halo.” That is not what we came for.
If Flo Milli’s music seems like it’s aimed more at appealing to middle schoolers than serious hip-hop heads, that’s because it probably is. At just 22 years old, she’s closer to that demographic than she is to Golden Era nostalgists who want to hear “real-life raps” from her. And truth be told, she hasn’t really lived enough life to merit trying to go deep on life lessons, while socio-political rap has always been a tough sell for anybody, let alone women just getting into the rap game. She’s young enough that she’s got time to get there – maybe in two or three projects down the line – but for now, she’s a girl who just wants to have fun.
And so are many of her listeners. As much fuss has been made on the internet about the contemporary class of female rappers’ lack of substance, they’re making the music people want to hear right now. The world is a disaster, women are losing their rights, and the two things it seems we all need are a confidence booster and a break from all the darkness. Sometimes, we just wanna feel like we did when we were kids: snotty, brash, and carefree. You Still Here Ho? lets the brat out.
You Still Here Ho? is out now on RCA Records. Get it here.
Fivio Foreign has become one of this year’s buzziest rappers. He first came to fame about three years ago, when his song, “Blixky Inna Box” became an underground hit. The song caught the attention of Mase, who immediately presented Fivio with the paperwork to sign to his RichFish label.
In an episode of the Million Dollaz Worth of Game podcast, Fivio revealed that he signed the deal without hesitation and was granted a $5,000 advance.
“[Mase] was like, ‘Yo, man. Just sign that shit, You buggin,’ I’m like, ‘Yeah, read it.’ He’s like, ‘Alright, just sign it. It’s good.’ So, I just signed it.” Fivio, at the time, didn’t have an understanding of major label politics and anticipated that his advance would last him much longer than it actually did.
“That sh*t hit,” he said. “I thought that sh*t was going to last until whenever it was going to last. That sh*t ain’t last two weeks.”
The podcast host, Wallo267, was visibly disheartened by the little amount Mase gave Fivio, probably because Diddy gave Mase a similar deal in which he purchased the publishing rights to his music for only $20,000 in 1996. Mase has since voiced his disdain toward Diddy through a diss track called “Oracle 2: Standing on Bodies.”
Fivio assured the host that he wasn’t upset by the deal.
“I don’t really be complaining or crying over spilled milk,” Fivio said. “I already made this decision. For me, I’m in a better situation now. He get what he get… But I control my money.”
There’s little that Bad Bunny has accomplished in 2022. He body-slammed Brock Lesnar at the 2022 WWE Royal Rumble. He landed the role of a wrestling superhero in El Muerto, a new Spider-Man spinoff movie. He turn up in the New York City streets and somewhat had a wedding of his own. He even broke a Spotify record along the way. Altogether, it has made for a pretty impressive year that also featured the release of his fourth album Un Verano Sin Ti, which has absolutely dominated the album charts. For a fourth consecutive and sixth overall week, Un Verano Sin Ti is No. 1 on the Billboard 200.
For the July 30, 2022-dated Billboard 200, Un Verano Sin Ti reclaims its No. 1 crown thanks to 103,000 copies sold in the past week. That number is heavily comprised of streams thanks to 143.15 million on-demand official streams of the album’s tracks. With another week of 100,000 or more album sales (11 in total), Bad Bunny becomes the first to reach that number for this feat since Adele made it to 14 weeks six years ago with 25. Un Verano Sin Ti is also the first album to spend its first 11 weeks within the top two positions of the Billboard 200 since Drake’s Views did so for 17 weeks between May 21 — September 10, 2016.
Additionally, Bad Bunny’s fourth album could surpass the Encanto soundtrack for most weeks at No. 1 in 2022. The Encanto soundtrack spent nine weeks in total atop the Billboard 200 while Un Verano Sin Ti has registered six weeks in total.
The first day of Rolling Loud’s 2022 Miami Festival was a bit rocky for a couple of reasons. First, Kanye West, who was supposed to headline the first day but canceled at the last second, still appeared at the show as a guest during Lil Durk’s set. Elsewhere, Kid Cudi made an early exit from his headlining slot after fans refused to stop throwing objects at him. Day two proved to be a bit better, and the highlight of the day came when Future brought out Travis Scott to perform some songs during his headlining slot.
— TRAVIS SCOTT FANPAGE (@dailytrvisxx) July 24, 2022
Future and Travis Scott performing ‘March Madness’ at Rolling Loud Miami 2022 pic.twitter.com/aE50rct0sv
— TRAVIS SCOTT FANPAGE (@dailytrvisxx) July 24, 2022
The two kicked things off with a performance of “Hold That Heat,” a record by producer Southside that both Future and Travis guest featured on. Elsewhere, Travis also performed “Goosebumps,” and he seemed extremely happy to be back performing on the big stage during it. Travis even lent some vocals to Future as he performed “March Madness.”
Travis’ surprise Rolling Loud appearance comes after the festival denied that he was banned from the Miami show. Furthermore, a spokesperson for Rolling Loud said that the festival even tried to have Travis headline the show, but it proved to be too difficult to do with too little time. “We reached out to Travis to headline Rolling Loud, but it couldn’t work in such a short time,” the spokesperson said. “This had nothing to do with any restrictions from the hosting venue Hard Rock Stadium.”
You can watch videos from Travis’ surprise appearance above.
A prevailing narrative, that has often been proven true, is that good music will successfully “un-cancel” an artist. Anyone can make a problematic statement or do something off-putting, but as long as the hits keep rolling in, they can continue on a somewhat normal path to stardom. DaBaby learned in 2021 that that may not be the case in his situation. The rapper was set to debut his own Burger King meal collaboration but revealed in a recent trip to Full Send Podcastthat the fast food powerhouse halted the effort after his homophobic comments at Rolling Loud Miami 2021.
— Full Send Podcast (@fullsendpodcast) July 22, 2022
In a clip posted to Twitter, the “Suge” artist shares that the “Jonathan Kirk Meal,” titled after his real name to push forward the authenticity of Burger King’s ingredients, was well underway. “I shot a commercial for it and everything,” he told the Kyle Forgeard Full Send co-hosts. However, the planning for it occurred right around the controversial Rolling Loud set that turned many against him and Burger King pulled the plug.
Though the rapper appeared to have come to terms with it, speaking on the matter a year later, there was an air of dismissiveness in his tone that matches the many defenses he made for his actions following the festival. For those curious about the meal itself, DaBaby shared that he insisted the burger had no mayonnaise to which a few of the Full Send co-hosts enthusiastically added their disdain for the condiment.
Check out the clip of DaBaby’s Full Send Podcast interview above.
DaBaby was deemed charismatic and personable at the onset of his mainstream consciousness. His fun rap songs matched his silly demeanor and southern drawl. Most of all, he simply didn’t say anything off-putting that would offend a large community of people. That changed last year at Rolling Loud 2021, when he made multiple homophobic comments and surprised attendees by bringing out Tory Lanez, who has been all but blackballed after his ongoing legal battle with Megan Thee Stallion. DaBaby’s reputation continually soured as he double down on both actions and his recent comments about Donald Trump in his July 22 appearance on Full Send Podcast may not help his case.
— Full Send Podcast (@fullsendpodcast) July 22, 2022
The show’s host Kyle Forgeard asked the “Rockstar” rapper how he feels about the former United States President, to which DaBaby emphatically replied “Do I f*** with Trump? Now, hell yeah.” Forgeard followed up by asking “What made you f*** with him?” and the North Carolina artist answered with “Trump is a gangsta. N**** let Kodak out,” in reference to Trump pardoning Florida rapper Kodak Black on his final day in office.
Forgeard and his co-host added how Trump also pardoned Lil Wayne, to which DaBaby expressed relief. He pivoted his commentary to the media, saying “Media make an ant look like a f***** dinosaur.” The Full Send hosts then asked if he saw their interview with Donald Trump on the show which was deleted just 12 hours after its release.
Image repair doesn’t seem to be on DaBaby’s agenda, so time will tell what these comments add to his currently negative perception.
Check out the clip of DaBaby’s interview with Full Send Podcast above.
These days, bold predictions and music releases go hand in hand. Bold predictions about music the world has yet to receive also go hand in hand, and heighten the excitement and anticipation for what has not yet been released. Now, is the prediction really that bold if it has to do with Beyonce? Well, take that up with Nathan Hubbard, the former Ticketmaster CEO, who is planting his “album of the year” flag firmly on the forthcoming Renaissance for 2022.
In a tweet yesterday, Hubbard said “I’ve heard enough. Album of the year:” and listed his choices in order. The Lemonade artist’s upcoming album coming July 29 was deemed the winner, followed by Kendrick Lamar for May’s Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers, The 1975 for their forthcoming October album Being Funny In A Foreign Language and Brent Faiyaz for his July release Wasteland.
In a follow-up tweet, he listed the number five but instead of offering a name or album, Hubbard simply said “Yes *she* is releasing something.” It is unclear who the mystery woman is, but clearly her project is good enough for Nathan Hubbard to also stamp her release as top five among a strong slate of music in 2022, both what has already been released or is set to come out.
As if anticipation isn’t already high enough for Queen Bee and The 1975, now, those who take Hubbard’s word at face value, will have a guessing game to play for another potentially groundbreaking 2022 album.
Check out Nathan Hubbard’s 2022 album rankings tweet above.
The TikTok, posted to Twitter, shows the security guard standing to the side of the stage Lamar is performing atop. As the video zooms, the guard can be seen wiping tears from his eyes and joining the “Silent Hill” artist in singing the line “I’m like a exit away” from “Love” featuring Zacari. The song, one of the more endearing records from the Pulitzer Prize-winning album Damnfrom 2017, understandably has that effect on those who hear it but the conviction in which the security guard sang it shows there may have been a deeper effect on him than most.
Music is beautiful, after all, and no one should run from the emotions it evokes. Obviously, the security guard was on the job and could not run, but the sentiment remains the same.
Check out the video of the security guard crying during Kendrick Lamar’s performance above.
The project’s announcement comes along with the reveal of the 27-year-old’s new label GS9 Records, operating in partnership with ONErpm. The Brooklyn rapper is taking full control over his future, and Bodboy could be the start of his music career’s second wind after jail derailed his white hot momentum. In the time since Bobby left Epic he has released tracks such as “Getting Em Back,” “They Don’t Know,” “Cartier Lens,” “No Time For Sleep,” and “Shmoney” featuring Quavo and Rowdy Rebel in addition to appearing on Funk Flex’s “Hitta.”
With the announcements for GS9 Records and Bodboy comes official confirmation that last week’s “Hoochie Daddy,” a play on Uncle Luke’s “Hoochie Mama,” is the EP’s lead single. The EP is nine songs total and will feature Fat Tony and Shmurda’s longtime collaborator Rowdy Rebel.
Listen to “Hoochie Daddy” here. Below, find the Bodboy tracklist.
