He discussed many topics with the SiriusXM host, most notably his daughter, fiancee, and what he does for fun, but was especially enthused to share this tidbit about his creative process. “No one wants to come and talk to you while you’re taking a sh*t,” the “White Iverson” artist stated while advocating for the solitude that is inherent in that environment. He actually provided numbers too, saying 30% of his albums and 60% of his lyrics have been completed while on the can.
The 26-year-old has multiple No. 1 albums and singles, so evidently, the stench isn’t turning listeners away. The latest, Twelve Carat Toothache, was released on June 3 with features from The Weeknd, Doja Cat, Roddy Ricch, Gunna, and more, selling 121,000 album-equivalent units in its first week.
Check out Post Malone’s conversation with Howard Stern in the snippet above.
Kid Cudi’s been promoting his cross-media projectEntergalactic for some time now. First announced in 2019, the title applies to both a Netflix animated series and an album that will accompany it. While he released the first single from the album, “Do What I Want,” a week ago, the trailer for the series dropped a few days before. Meanwhile, in all that, we still had no idea when either was actually coming out. But now we do.
Cudi announced the shared release date, September 30, with a tweet featuring a short clip showing off the series’ unique animation style, as his character lights up a joint and blows a cloud of smoke into the air in the shape of the project’s title. The clip also plays a snippet of one of the songs that will presumably appear on the album.
Gunna might be locked up while he awaits trial on racketeering charges along with Young Thug and YSL, but that isn’t stopping him from promoting his new album DS4EVER. While he may have been booed up with pop-R&B star Chloe Bailey in real life — no matter how much he tried to deny it — he still has an image to maintain as the primary pusher of P, and so in his new video for “Banking On Me,” he projects the consummate image of a coast-to-coast player, keeping a baddie in each major city as he jet sets around the country living that rapper lifestyle.
It helps that the video is self-directed; who wouldn’t want to cast himself as the centerpiece of a nationwide rotation of pretty women? However, the video also fits the song’s subject as well; Gunna has to keep swapping them out — after all, he doesn’t want to get bored.
Unfortunately, Gunna may not get the chance to enjoy the fruits of his labor for a while. In May, he and the rest of the YSL crew were arrested as part of a sweeping RICO case that alleged they were a hybrid gang responsible for dozens of violent acts in the Atlanta area. He goes on trial early next year.
It is bonkers to think that we’ve only gotten halfway through the year, yet we’ve already gotten an absolutely massive collection of new albums from some of the biggest names in hip-hop. Those names have included Gunna, Cordae, Earl Sweatshirt, Saba, Kanye West, Lil Durk, Denzel Curry, Latto, Vince Staples, Pusha T, Future, Black Star, Jack Harlow, Kendrick Lamar, and Post Malone… and I’ve skipped more than a few of our favorites.
With all that, you’d think we’d be all out of new music to discuss for at least the next six months, but you know what they say about hip-hop parties and stopping. As the weather heats up, you can expect the pace to pick up as well, with even more established stars and rising newcomers staking their claims on our cookouts, pool parties, picnics, and summer basketball leagues. With that said, here are our picks for the ones you should be keeping an ear out for this summer.
Mount Westmore — Bad MFs
Mount Westmore
Although technically, this album has already been released via the Gala Music platform, fans who aren’t sold on blockchain quite yet can still look forward to enjoying this album from the California supergroup on DSPs sometime soon. With Bay Area pioneers E-40 and Too Short teaming up with their SoCal counterparts Ice Cube and Snoop Dogg, this one is the latest proof in the growing body of evidence that California still knows how to party.
Erica Banks — Diary Of The Flow Queen — Due June 17
Erica Banks
Despite the obvious similarities between 1501 Certified’s more recent signing and her immediate predecessor, Erica Banks has managed to distinguish herself thanks to the viral TikTok trend based on her breakout hit “Buss It” and a string of strong performances that show she can more than hold her own and bring something new to the table. It should be fun to see how she continues to set herself apart on her debut project.
Logic — Vinyl Days — Due June 17
Logic
For a guy who’s two years past his “retirement,” Logic sure has been busy. His seventh studio album will be his last under his Def Jam contract, and he apparently wants to go out with a bang. Vinyl Days is expected to boast a 30-song tracklist with features from all corners of the hip-hop world. Action Bronson, Blu & Exile, Curren$y, Royce Da 5’9”, Russ, RZA, and more all contribute.
Kevin Gates — Khaza — Due June 17
Kevin Gates
Gates’ last album, I’m Him, dropped in 2019 — you know, a whole lifetime ago. The intervening years should have given the 36-year-old Baton Rouge rap vet plenty to talk about and lots of time to sharpen up his pen. Plenty of his peers had similar gaps before their 2022 releases and have impressed; can he keep up the trend?
Duke Deuce — Crunkstar — Due June 17
Duke Deuce
Regular Uproxx readers will know that this site has been following the Quality Control Music artist from Memphis since just about the beginning of his rise to stardom. His 2021 debut Duke Nukem certainly paid off that early support in quality, and we’re looking forward to seeing how he improves on the formula while capitalizing on his No. 3 Heatseekers chart placement with his sophomore effort.
Westside Boogie — More Black Superheroes — Due June 17
Westside Boogie
Boogie made an impressive entry to the rap game with his mixtapes Thirst 48, The Reach, and Thirst 48, Pt. II. Since then he seemingly slowed down the pace of his releases, taking another three years to drop his Shady Records debut Everythings For Sale. Three years later, he’s back with another serving of his unique, Compton-bred perspective. His low-and-slow approach to the last album paid off, and we fully expect it to do so again.
Joey Badass — 2000 — Due June 17
A rapper’s rapper, the 27-year-old Brooklynite has 10 years in the business, but only two full-length albums to his name. That should be enough to tell you why his new album is one of our more anticipated releases of the year; the quality with which he’s approached every project beginning with his breakthrough mixtape 1999 at just 17 years old bodes well — especially considering 2000‘s title appears very much to evoke a spiritual successor that exciting introduction.
Black Thought & Danger Mouse — Cheat Codes — Due August 12
Let’s keep it a buck. There are few rappers better at rapping than Black Thought. He’s hands-down one of the illest spitters to ever pick up a microphone, and three decades of releases are all the proof he needs to support this claim. Anyone who disagrees should get their ears examined. Meanwhile, Danger Mouse is one of indie music’s most respected producers, even though his output has slowed down a bunch in the last few years. However, during his most prolific era, he produced some of the most groundbreaking, genre-blurring projects in popular music, from the Gorillaz album Demon Days to the MF Doom Adult Swim experiment The Mouse and the Mask to projects with ASAP Rocky, Norah Jones, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Karen O. Basically, this one is as close to a must-listen as it gets.
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
You may remember that back in 2017, Joey Badass went viral for allegedly staring into a solar eclipse, incurring an eye injury that forced him to wear special eyewear and had to cancel his tour with Logic. And while he made light of the situation after the fact, fans couldn’t help but speculate about whether he’d really done it or was just finding an excuse to skive off the remainder of the Everybody Tour.
Well, those fans finally (belatedly) got their answer from Joey himself, who’s currently preparing to drop his third studio album 2000 this Friday. After a fan brought up the incident in response to his observation on Lizzo’s recent decision to re-release her new single “About Damn Time” due to a disability advocate’s gentle admonishment over an inadvertent ableist slur in the lyrics, Joey admitted(?) that he faked the injury just to get off the tour.
Lizzo getting flack for using spazz is crazy! Wypipo just be waiting for you to say anything remotely off I’ll be the first to tell y’all, y’all can SMD. I ain’t never apologizing to white America, hold my nuts.
“Speaking of solar eclipses, you know I never got any type of eye damage from that solar eclipse shit that ‘happened,’” he tweeted. “I just really wanted an excuse to be off the Logic tour. Blogs literally created a story and I went with it because it was convenient for me at the time. But it was also funny to see how gullible people are. It taught me a valuable lesson, whatever the media puts out in unison, people will simply believe. Even if the source isn’t validated. Scary world.”
Speaking of solar eclipses, you know I never got any type of eye damage from that solar eclipse shit that “happened”. I just really wanted an excuse to be off the Logic tour. Blogs literally created a story and I went with it because it was convenient for me at the time. (Cont)
(Cont.) But it was also funny to see how gullible people are. It taught me a valuable lesson, whatever the media puts out in unison, people will simply believe. Even if the source isn’t validated. Scary world.
He took care to point out that “logic is my n****,” though, avoiding any more Logic beef speculation. “The tour just wasn’t serving me well at the time,” he explained.”
And logic is my nigga btw. I ain’t with no logic slander. The tour just wasn’t serving me well at the time.
Now, could this be a lie to cover up an embarrassing faux pas from his wild younger days too? Possibly. But you know what they say in Texas: “Fool me once…”
Anyway, Joey’s new album is due on 6/17 via Columbia Records.
New York drill rap — and the larger, global scene of which it is just a small part — has come under fire since its inception for the violent lifestyles allegedly promoted and propagated by its practitioners. And while many drill rappers have pushed back against this characterization, there’s no denying that their raps and their realities do reflect each other. In the latest case, Brooklyn rapper 22Gz (pronounced “Two-two jeez” — real name Jeffrey Mark Alexander) was arrested Sunday and charged with attempted murder for a March shooting in which three people were injured, according to Billboard. The 24-year-old was reportedly arrested at JFK Airport after a flight from Atlanta to perform at Hot 97 Summer Jam.
According to Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez, “This shooting not only wounded the victim but endangered the lives of everyone in a crowded club. Senseless gang rivalries fuel much of the gun violence in our communities and I remain committed to vigorously prosecuting anyone who engages in this criminal conduct.” The shooting in question took place on March 6 during a party in Brooklyn. One of the victims identified 22Gz as the shooter. According to the NYC Department of Corrections, his bail was set at $500,000, but it’s unconfirmed whether or not he bailed out of Rikers Island. His court hearing on charges of second-degree assault, second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, and first-degree reckless endangerment, in addition to the primary attempted murder in the second-degree charge, is set for July 19.
This shooting not only wounded the victim, but endangered the lives of everyone in a crowded club. Senseless gang rivalries fuel much of the gun violence in our communities and I remain committed to vigorously prosecuting anyone who engages in this criminal conduct. https://t.co/lTBfXKkugx
In September, Megan Thee Stallion and Tory Lanez will find themselves in court over Lanez allegedly shooting Megan. When all that is said and done, Meg knows exactly what she wants the outcome to look like.
In a new Rolling Stone feature, Meg said, “I want him to go to jail. I want him to go under the jail.”
Speaking about she and Lanez initially bonding over the mutual loss of their mothers, Meg also noted, “I thought we had a real connection. I thought he knew me. And I never would’ve thought he would’ve shot at me at all.”
Who better for Rolling Stone’s July/August Hot Issue cover than the Hot Girl Coach herself: Megan @theestallion
Reigning over rap while reeling from loss, violence, and a feeling of betrayal, the superstar opens up like never before.
Elsewhere, she said, “What nobody knows is, I had to get the surgery the same night. I stayed in the hospital in California for maybe four days, then I was in New York for a while. Both of my legs wrapped up. I could not walk. I still have bullet fragments in my feet right now. I was very scared that I was not able to be Megan Thee Stallion no more. And I was f*cked up.”
Of her detractors, Meg noted, “I’m trying every day to get through it and be good. I feel so bad because I don’t feel like anybody’s taking me seriously, but I don’t want them to see me cry. I don’t want them to know that I feel like this, because I don’t want them to feel like, ‘Oh, I got you. I’m breaking you.’”
As Amber Heard speaks out for the first time following the crushing verdict in Johnny Depp’s lawsuit against her, the actress revealed that she lives in fear of facing even more litigation from her ex-husband. While speaking to NBC News’ Savannah Guthrie in Part Two of their lengthy interview, Heard opened up about how she’s afraid that anything she says now can be used as fodder for Depp to take her back to court where she could, once again, be subject to a potential jury full of Jack Sparrow fans.
Watch all of part two of @SavannahGuthrie‘s exclusive interview with Amber Heard, in which Heard discusses her future, fears about new defamation lawsuits and whether she still “has love” for Johnny Depp: pic.twitter.com/xr3EX9se6K
Asked if she felt “nervous” about what she can say following the trial’s outcome, she said: “Of course. I took for granted what I assumed was my right to speak.”
“I’m scared that no matter what I do, no matter what I say, or how I say it — every step that I take will present another opportunity for this sort of — silencing, which is what, I guess, a defamation lawsuit is meant to do,” she said, after being asked whether she feared she could be sued by Depp again.
“It’s meant to — meant to take your voice,” she said.
As Heard further explained to Guthrie, the verdict caught the actress and several legal experts off guard because her op-ed in the Washington Post was vetted by a “team of lawyers” specifically to avoid defaming her ex-husband. Heard also said that she had no intentions of “canceling” Depp, and she was simply supporting the growing #MeToo moment.
“The op-ed wasn’t about my relationship with Johnny,” Heard said. “What the op-ed was about was … me loaning my voice to a bigger cultural conversation that we were having at the time.”
Earlier this month, Heard’s legal team told Guthrie that the actress “absolutely” wants to appeal the verdict.
It’s been over two years since Brent Faiyaz released an album, with his last effort being 2020’s F*ck The World. While the project only peaked at No. 20 on the Billboard 200, it would go down to be one of the more celebrated R&B projects of that year. Since then, fans have been patiently waiting for the singer’s third album, and luckily enough for them, the wait for the upcoming project hasn’t been too grueling. He’s released records like “Mercedes,” “Wasting Time,” “Show U Off,” and “Gravity.” Thankfully, at long last, Brent arrived with the news that we’d been waiting for.
Brent announced the title for his third project and revealed its collaborators as well. Wasteland is set to arrive sooner than later, and in a trailer for the album, Brent revealed who helped him craft his next body of work. In total, the list of collaborators reads as follows: Drake, Raphael Saadiq, Alicia Keys, The-Dream, Tyler, The Creator, Nascent, No I.D., Paperboy Fabe, Mike Dean, Jorja Smith, Lil Rece, The Neptunes, Jonathan “Freeze” Wells, Mikeblud, OG Che’ The Sensei, Joony, DJ Dahi, Beat Butcha, Steve Lacy, Itai Schwartz, Jayne Andrew, Coop The Truth, Sam Wish, Malcolm Mays, and Jimi Cravity.
The records with Drake and Tyler The Creator have already been released, those being “Wasting Time” (prod. The Neptunes) and “Gravity” (prod. DJ Dahi) respectively. Jorja’s contribution could be the previously released record “Nobody But You” with Sonder, Brent’s group with producers Dpat and Atu.
As for an official released date, we’ll have to wait a bit longer to
You can view the album trailer in the video above.
One of the more popular R&B records from 2021 came from SZA with “I Hate U.” The song stood as her third release in a little over a year, a spike in activity for the singer who was quieter than expected after her 2017 debut Ctrl. In addition to the song breaking records on Apple Music, it’s also been remixed by a few artists, two of those being 6lack and Phabo. There’s a new entry to that list and it comes from Atlanta rapper Deante Hitchcock who offers his take on the track for the latest entry in his New Atlanta Tuesdays freestyle series.
The Atlanta native released the freestyle with an accompanying video that sees him walk up to his former lover’s home with a boombox in hand. As the song’s instrumental begins, Hitchcock unloads a freestyle that details his struggle of watching his ex move on to someone new. In the end, he leaves her with a very salty and spiteful message: “You hate me but I still love you / But if anyone asks I hate you too b*tch / I hate you too b*tch / Yes it’s true, yes it’s true, yeah it’s true b*tch.”
Hitchcock’s new freestyle arrives after he released “Alone,” “Callin‘” with Big KRIT and Westside Boogie, and “All My Children” as singles off his upcoming album, one that would be his first full-length effort since 2020’s Better.
You can watch Deante Hitchcock’s freestyle over “I Hate U” in the video above.
I’ll be the first to tell y’all, y’all can SMD. I ain’t never apologizing to white America, hold my nuts.
