You won’t have to go to Raleigh for one of the most promising hip-hop festivals of the year. J. Cole has partnered with Amazon Music’s Rotation to stream this weekend’s Dreamville Festival, returning to Dorothea Dix Park this weekend.
Boasting a lineup of acts like Blxst, Kehlani, Ari Lennox, and of course, Dreamville founder J. Cole, Dreamville Fest continues to bring some of the most acclaimed acts in hip-hop and R&B to Cole’s home state of North Carolina. As part of Cole’s partnership with Amazon Music’s Rotation, fans will be able to stream the festival, taking place Saturday, April 2, and Sunday, April 3, via the Amazon Music app, Amazon Music’s Twitch channel, and Amazon Prime Video.
“In just a few short years, J. Cole has made Dreamville Festival into one of the preeminent hip-hop moments of the year, hosting performances from the hottest up-and-coming artists and established talents,” said Tim Hinshaw, head of Hip-Hop and R&B for Amazon Music in a statement. “We at Rotation have worked to make Amazon Music the home for these kinds of activations and I can’t wait to bring Dreamville Festival into the homes of hip-hop and R&B fans around the globe.”
In addition to current acts, fans will be in for a throwback treat on Saturday with performances from Ja Rule and Ashanti, and on Sunday, with Wiz Khalifa performing his breakthrough mixtape Kush & OJ.
Check out the full line-up below.
Some of the artists mentioned are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
Coachella offers an abundance of entertainment options during its annual two-weekend event. The headliners are usually the primary focus, but this year, there’s going to be at least one compelling reason to spend some time away from the main stages: Thundercat and Flying Lotus are coming together for a joint performance set.
During Coachella’s first weekend (on April 16, specifically), the pair will take to the Heineken House venue on the Coachella festival grounds for the performance. Flying Lotus and Thundercat previously toured together in 2014 and they regularly collaborate on each other’s songs; For example, Thundercat has featured on every Flying Lotus album since 2010’s Cosmogramma.
Press materials describe the Heineken House experience, “Festival-goers are invited to focus on the present and notice the details unfolding around them with intentional reminders that ‘You Are Here.’ Music lovers will leave their texts on read in this immersive outdoor experience filled with eclectic beats and ice cold beverages April 15-17 and 22-24, 2022. The Heineken House is known for creating a dynamic music experience and will once again deliver an epic lineup of artists and DJs.
Christine Karimi, Senior Manager of Partnerships and Consumer Experience at Heineken USA, says, “This year’s festival is all about bringing people together for an experience unlike anything else. If we’ve learned anything over the past two years, it’s that spending time together is a gift we need to celebrate. Showing the importance of these unique and unforgettable moments through a creative lens was key to bringing festival-goers the most incredible Heineken House experience yet.”
Check out the full lineup for both weekends of Heineken House below.
Friday, April 15: Vegyn with additional performances from Acemo, Black Noise, American Dance Ghosts, Skinny Macho and others
Saturday, April 16: Flying Lotus and Thundercat performance set with additional performances from OG Ron C, Orion Sun, 454, and others
Sunday, April 17: Ms Nina with additional performances from Deej, Mia Carruci, Silent Addy, Bitter Babe, and others
Friday, April 22: Jacques Greene with additional performances from Acemo, Black Noise, Bae Bae, Alko, and others
Saturday, April 23: Shlohmo DJ set with additional performances from OG Ron C, Orion Sun, DJ Black Power, and others
Sunday, April 24: DBN Gogo with additional performances from Major League DJz, Pieri, Mawingo, TRYi, and others
Celebrity whisk(e)y is nothing new. There are tons of brands out there that borrow varying levels of influence from their heavy-hitting celebrity partners. Some bottles feel like a celeb simply slapped their names on a bottle (called white labeling) and cashed a check, while other famous folks really dive into the distilling and aging processes.
Unfortunately, A$AP Rocky’s new whisky brand falls squarely in the “cash grab” end of the spectrum. That’s not to say he’s totally hands off — it’s tough to discern exactly how involved he is — but it is to say that his new spirit… isn’t great.
Rocky’s new whisky — which dropped this week and is shipping out in April — is all about “disruptive packaging” and “contemporary consumer” vibes. You know, boilerplate PR messaging. While it’s never a good sign when those buzzwords are all over a press release for a whisky, there was some hope for this one. A$AP Rocky has a great eye for design, has been pushing hip-hop culture in new directions, and made a splash when he got behind Courvoisier Cognac a few years ago. He knows booze and the design of the bottle is eye-catching, which shows he’s thinking outside the box in a very standardized industry.
There are also two plastic cups attached to the bottle for easy drinking — which is also “disruptive.” Though, to be honest, probably not needed or as cool as someone at the brand seems to think they are. We digress! For now, let’s dive into what is actually in the bottle and see if it’s worth tracking down.
Also Read: The Top 5 UPROXX Bourbon Posts Of The Last Six Months
The juice in the bottle is a four-year-old Canadian whisky with an unpublished mash bill. The whisky, made in Ontario, rests in ex-bourbon barrels for those four years before it’s vatted and refilled into Mizunara casks from Japan for a final (short) maturation. That whisky is then proofed all the way down to 80 proof and bottled.
Tasting Notes:
There’s a hint of warm apple pie on the nose with a touch of brown spices and tart apple filling that gives way to a dark Caro Syrup. That ultra-sweet syrup drives the palate with the spice and apple disappearing from the taste, leaving you feeling like you just put a spoonful of brown sugar that was dipped in “whisky” in your mouth. There’s an echo of brown spice near the end and maybe a hint of green apple peels (I’m being super generous), but it’s the brown sugar/corn syrup that drives the short and watery finish towards a mostly blank conclusion.
The Bottle:
I’m not sure what to make of these plastic cups on the top and bottom of the bottle. It’s neat for about five seconds then you realize you’re drinking cheap and overly sweet whisky out of a plastic cup that’s not helping the flavor at all. Plus, you need to clean out the cups before you put them back on the bottle. Otherwise, there’ll be a sticky mess.
This really feels like it was a good idea when it came out of someone’s mouth and then not really thought all the way through. There’s no way these plastic cups aren’t going straight in the trash or, worse, just thrown on the street in the liquor store parking lot.
Bottom Line:
Between the overly sweet vibe of this whisky and the portable whisky cups, this really feels like it’s marketed towards high school kids. It’s so sweet that it’s hard to find any redeeming quality here. It’s the first bottle in years that I’ll likely just pour down the drain and then put in two different recycling garbage cans (thanks for the extra work, Rocky!). Then, to be honest, I’ll probably never think about this bottle again.
The monoculture is dead — or at least dying — so culture-spanning moments that unite the whole world in awe, outrage, or hilarity are rare. Will Smith slapping Chris Rock at the Oscars certainly qualifies; look at us, still discussing this thing two days later, even with our pandemic-shortened attention spans. And whenever there’s such a moment that demands our attention (and our takes), one question arises to loom over the proceedings, a question that demands an answer, no matter how solemn, silly, irreverent, or irrelevant.
“WHERE’S JA!?”
That’s right. Ever since the joke was first uttered by Dave Chappelle during his 2004 special For What It’s Worth, it has become inevitable that when a current event has the world’s attention, people want — nay, need — to know what rapper Ja Rule is thinking. The bit, centered around the absurdity of an MTV News segment that cut away from September 11 attack coverage to get Ja Rule’s take, has since become an ingrained meme on social media. So, when Will Smith stomped his way on stage and shocked the world, there was just one thing fans wanted to know.
Fortunately, we can all breathe easily again. Ja, who knows his role in all of this, was more than game to oblige our curiosity, joking on Twitter that “Slapping season is OFFICIALLY in session.” A day later, he followed up with a countdown to “All rappers wit the Will slap Rock bars.”
Summerfest will make its return this summer in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The first iteration of the festival since COVID, Summerfest’s 2022 line-up boasts over 100 headliners.
Summerfest spans three weekends in June and July, with festivities taking place over the course of nine non-consecutive days. Among the headliners during the June 23-25 run are Gabby Barrett, Justin Bieber, Lil Wayne, and Wu-Tang Clan. Willow, GAYLE, 2 Chainz, Machine Gun Kelly, and Halsey will headline the weekend of June 30-July 2. During the final weekend, July 7-9. Charli XCX, Cordae, Portugal The Man, and Jojo will headline.
“It feels great to announce our highly anticipated lineup and have the festival back in its regular summer timeframe for 2022,” said Don Smiley, the president and CEO of Milwaukee World Festival, in a statement. “From Justin Bieber, Halsey, Backstreet Boys, and a special Summerfest co-headlining show with Lil Wayne, Wiz Khalifa, and Wu-Tang Clan, to John Fogerty, Steve Aoki, Halestorm, and others, it would be difficult to find a more diverse lineup anywhere. Make plans to join us for Summerfest this June, one of the most affordable music festivals in the world, and home to over 1,000 artists performing live over the nine-day run.”
Fans can currently purchase “Level Up” tickets, allowing them access to the Level Up Deck located in the Miller Lite Oasis, overlooking the stage. General on-sale for the festival begins Friday, April 8.
Check out the full line-up below.
Courtesy of Summerfest
Some of the artists mentioned are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
Compton rapper Buddy’s new album, Superghetto, is out now. To celebrate and promote its release, he and fellow SoCal artist Blxst stopped by The Late Show to perform their standout from the new project, “Wait Too Long,” looking cooler than a fan in matching black-on-black ensembles.
Buddy opens the performance lounging on an armchair with a telephone — a nifty callback to the song’s music video — as Blxst croons the catchy chorus backed by a mellow groove from the duo’s band.
Superghetto is Buddy’s first new album since his 2018 debut, Harlan & Alondra. The album, which features Ari Lennox, Blxst, Tinashe, and T-Pain, clocks in at a smooth 10 tracks and features “Black 2,” “Hoochie Mama,” and “Wait Too Long” as singles.
As fans awaited the new album, Buddy delivered a string of solid guest appearances on projects like Dreamville’s Revenge Of The Dreamers III, which landed him his first platinum plaque, and Guapdad 4000’s debut album, Dior Deposits, as well as Tinashe’s latest on the single “Pasadena.” Buddy also teamed up with fellow LA area artist Kent Jamz to release a joint mixtape, Janktape, Vol. 1, spawning the single “Bad Boys.”
Watch Buddy and Blxst perform “Wait Too Long” on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon above.
It’s hard to believe that Bobby Shmurda has been a fixture in hip-hop for nearly eight years and still has yet to release his debut album, but it’s true. Sure, at least part of that is due to his extended stint at New York’s Clinton Correctional Facility after being convicted of conspiracy to murder, weapons possession, and reckless endangerment in 2014, but he was released from prison in February 2021. The flurry of positive press he received should have been the launching point for at least an EP or a mixtape, but the moment came and went without much new music.
Bobby may soon get the chance to begin releasing music again, though, as Bobby announced his departure from Epic Records on Instagram over the weekend. Bobby signed to Epic in 2014 at the height of the mania for his viral single “Hot N****,” but had expressed his frustration with the imprint since being released from prison. In a prior post on Instagram, explained, “I ain’t been in charge of my music since I was 19 years old and I just turned 27 and honestly idk when sh*t dropping. So don’t ask me shit go ask them mf’s since they wanna control everything!!!!!!!”
However, his more recent post was much more upbeat. “I just sign my release papers,” he wrote. “Also jus made ah milly today I can’t wait to drop.” He noted that he was shooting his first video as an independent artist and would be celebrating his newfound freedom into the week. With control over his music regained, perhaps the comeback we’ve all been waiting for can finally take place.
At this year’s Academy Awards, Questlove got the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature, for Summer Of Soul (…Or, When The Revolution Could Not Be Televised). That was the biggest moment of his night, but the main takeaway of the event more broadly happened immediately before, when Chris Rock, who was on stage to present the documentary award, got slapped by Will Smith. Now, it seems Questlove confirmed that while giving his acceptance speech, he was (understandably) thrown off by what happened just moments earlier.
Yesterday, a Twitter user wrote, “I think the whole Will Smith assault rattled @questlove who had to give a speech like 90 seconds later. He couldn’t even remember the names of his co-winners. #Oscars.” Questlove responded with just an emoji of a fax machine. Emojipedia notes the fax machine emoji is “sometimes used in emoji form as an alternative to the words ‘facts,’ due to the similarity of pronunciation.” So, based on Questlove’s usage of it, it looks like he’s confirming he was indeed rattled while giving his speech.
Meanwhile, before sending that tweet, Questlove talked about the win on The Tonight Show, with neither him nor Jimmy Fallon directly mentioning Smith or Rock. Questlove told Fallon he was meditating during the commercial break before the award was presented. He also noted, “I realized that that was a real moment, like, maybe three seconds before I spoke words. In my mind, they’re just doing a sketch or whatever and I’m just like, ‘OK Ahmir, remember to thank your mom, your dad, thank Tariq [Trotter, aka Black Thought of The Roots]…’ So I was not present at all. I was just in a blank slate.”
These days, everyone from brands, to massive events, to Roc Nation themselves are hoping Megan Thee Stallion will come through for them. The ever-popular, overly-sexual female rapper has been making a name for herself not just in hip-hop, but as a cultural force, and nothing could’ve made that more clear than her surprise performance at the Oscars last night. As more predictable, previously announced performers like Beyonce and Billie Eilish were already on the docket, viewers were definitely surprised when Megan joined in with the Encanto performance of “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” for the evening, adding an Oscar-ready rap verse to the already cultish hit.
But her verse at the Academy Awards annual gala was important and historical for a completely different reason, too. Apparently, it was the first time a female rapper has ever performed at the event. Taken in that context, Megan’s invitation to spice up “Bruno” hits on a whole new level. Megan was reflecting on the milestone last night after the show, and though plenty of people were lost in the drama of Will Smith and Chris Rock, the Hotties were definitely celebrating Megan’s success with her. “I literally was just in Puerto Rico less than 24 hrs ago performing, my dress had just came in last night from India, and that was thee FIRST FEMALE RAP PERFORMANCE at the OSCARS ever ! Im definitely in grind mode,” she wrote, and I’d have to agree.
I literally was just in Puerto Rico less than 24 hrs ago performing, my dress had just came in last night from India, and that was thee FIRST FEMALE RAP PERFORMANCE at the OSCARS ever ! Im definitely in grind mode
It’s Latto’s world, we’re just living in it. What could make a hyperbolic statement like that more true than working with a legend like Mariah Carey? Ever since she released “Big Energy,” Latto has had a kind of energy behind her that far outpaces her popularity with the hip-hop crowd — this is a bonafide R&B/pop hit. So it only makes sense that after a few weeks of teasing the “Big Energy” remix feature, it’d turn out to be none other than Mimi herself.
Since Latto’s fans are just as thrilled about her working with an icon as she is, a mini Q&A about the process erupted on Twitter last night when the song was released at midnight. Sure, plenty of people were still focused on Will Smith’s altercation with Chris Rock at the Oscars, but Latto had fans had their priorities right: Asking the Atlanta rapper what the best part of working with Mimi herself was.
I was sooooo nervous I was like what do I say y’all lol but the conversation just floweddd she was so genuine and I definitely was overthinking. We was sipping on her liquor Black Irish & just kicking it fr #BigEnergyRemixhttps://t.co/7dVRmadaCJ
The best part? Latto’s all caps response: “HEARING HER HIT THAT HIGH NOTE IN PERSON!!!!”
As far as how the session went down, and what it was like meeting Mariah, Latto said she eventually got over her nerves because Mariah was “so genuine.” “I was sooooo nervous I was like what I say y’all lol but the conversation just floweddd she was so genuine and I definitely was overthinking,” the rapper wrote on Twitter. “We was sipping on her liquor Black Irish & just kicking it fr.”
(@Latto)