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50 Cent, Drake, Nicki Minaj, And More Weigh In On Will Smith’s Wild Oscars Moment

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Good morning. So, last night, every ounce of West Philly jumped out of Safe Black Guy Will Smith, who left fresh prints (heyo) on Chris Rock’s face during the Academy Awards after Rock made an ill-considered joke at the expense of Smith’s wife Jada Pinkett Smith. In 2021, Jada revealed her ongoing struggle with alopecia, an autoimmune disorder that can make a person’s hair fall out. Rock, perhaps not realizing this, remarked that Jada’s freshly-shaved head could make her a candidate to star in a G.I. Jane remake (the titular character shaves her head upon joining the US Marines).

In a video taken from an international broadcast of the ceremony, Jada’s face says it all. For Will, who has had to put up with years of jokes about the couple’s marriage, this last straw broke the camel’s back, and he strode onto the stage to make an example of Rock, slapping him across the face. Although Rock tried to play the moment off, Will shouted from his seat: “Keep my wife’s name out of your mouth.” Fortunately, it seems Rock is taking things in stride, and according to Diddy, the two men had nothing but love afterward.

Obviously, those who saw the moment, whether live in person or watching at home, have thoughts about the possible overreaction, and the hot takes flew fast and furious on social media — including among Will Smith’s celebrity peers, including rappers like 50 Cent, Drake, Nicki Minaj, and more.

While 50, Drake, and others brought out the jokes, Nicki gave an empathetic — and vaguely threatening — take, expressing empathy for Jada Pinkett Smith. “Imagine what it must feel like to be losing your hair to the point where you have to shave it bald,” she wrote. “You think that’s easy to deal with for anyone? You don’t think she’s cried about that many times? 2022 y’all gon have to see these men about those jokes you made about their wives.”

Check out the responses, reactions, and hot takes below.

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Questlove Got Emotional Accepting His Best Documentary Oscar For ‘Summer Of Soul’

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Chris Rock was supposed to present the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature at the 94th Academy Awards last night. He did do that, but that wasn’t the takeaway from his time on stage, given that after Rock made a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith, Will Smith got on stage and slapped him.

After the incident, though, Rock did manage to present the award, giving it to Questlove’s film Summer Of Soul (…Or, When The Revolution Could Not Be Televised). In an already emotionally charged atmosphere, Questlove (who shook Smith’s hand and hugged him on his way to the stage) gave an acceptance speech, in which he too got emotional.

Pausing on multiple occasions, Questlove said:

“It’s not lost on me that the Harlem Cultural Festival should have been something that my beautiful mother… and my dad… should have taken me to when I was 5 years old, and… This is such a stunning moment for me right now. But this is not about me. This is about marginalized people in Harlem that needed to heal from pain. And just know that in 2022, this is not just a 1969 story about marginalized people in Harlem. This is a story of… I’m sorry, I’m just overwhelmed right now. I’m going to get myself together and thank everyone properly when I get off stage. […] I’m so happy right now, I could cry. Thank you.”

During a recent Late Night With Seth Meyers interview, Questlove noted the success of the movie has exceeded his expectations, saying, “At least I know with music what a goal is, but with the movie world, I just had no clue. I just wanted to make something really cool and hopefully they were gonna show it in a few classrooms, and then maybe discover it 20 years from now, like, ‘Yo, you know Questlove did this thing?’”

Watch Questlove’s acceptance speech above and find the full list of this year’s Academy Award winners here.

Vince Staples Gets Solemn In The Video For His New Single ‘Rose Street’

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A couple of weeks ago, rap prodigy Vince Staples released the music video for “Magic,” the first single from his forthcoming album Ramona Park Broke My Heart, which he first began teasing even before unveiling last year’s critically-acclaimed Vince Staples. Today, he’s back with a new single, “Rose Street,” and another music video.

The first 45 seconds of the song is a sample, leaving only a little over a minute for Staples to break into a flow. Against a trap beat and booming bass, he spews quips about his devotion to his friends over his romantic relationships: “I’m married to the gang, don’t be playing games / Only bringing flowers to the homie’s grave.” It ends abruptly.

The video is much less chaotic than the one for “Magic”; instead of getting jumped at a house party, he’s sitting solemnly on graffiti-adorned rocks at a beach looking at the crashing waves introspectively.

Before releasing the song at midnight, Staples took to Twitter to generate some hype: “Will Smith inspired me man let me drop this video,” he wrote, referring, of course, to Smith smacking Chris Rock for making a joke about his wife Jada Pinkett Smith at the Oscars.

Watch the video for “Rose Street” above.

Diddy Claims That Will Smith And Chris Rock Settled Their Beef After The Oscars Ceremony: ‘It’s All Love… They’re Brothers’

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In case you haven’t been online for the past 12 hours, what will certainly go down as one of the year’s defining pop culture events happened last night. While on stage to present the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature at the 94th Academy Awards last night, Chris Rock made a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith. Will Smith, her husband, didn’t take kindly to the jab, so he got on stage, slapped Rock in the face pretty hard on live television, returned to his seat, and screamed twice, “Keep my wife’s name out of your f*cking mouth!”

It was a surreal moment and now we’re left with the aftermath. On that note, it appears Rock and Smith have settled their differences and moved on: Diddy, who was in attendance, told Page Six, “That’s not a problem. That’s over. I can confirm that.” The publication noted he did not elaborate on how the two had reconciled but continued, “It’s all love. They’re brothers.”

This comes after Page Six reported, citing “sources at the Academy Awards,” that Diddy talked to both Rock and Smith and that the two had “agreed to make amends later in the evening.” Later, Smith showed up to Vanity Fair‘s Oscars party, while Rock did not, as Page Six notes. They also said of the scene, “Smith arrived after midnight and headed to the dance floor. DJ D-Nice was spinning tunes and played a number of songs by Smith as a tribute when the star and his family arrived. Smith, 53, danced and rapped along to his ’90s hits ‘Summertime,’ Miami,’ and ‘Gettin’ Jiggy Wit It.’ Jada, 50, was by his side grooving on the dance floor, along with their kids Jaden, 23, and Willow, 21.”

Latto’s ‘Big Energy’ Remix With Mariah Carey And DJ Khaled Brings Mariah’s ‘Fantasy’ Into The Mix

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Since Latto released her hit single, “Big Energy,” she’s been steadily climbing the Billboard charts, and the song helped anchor her second album, 777, which officially dropped on Friday. And along with the album release, Latto has been teasing an updated remix to “Big Energy,” and with the promo around teasing the upcoming feature, Latto almost got sucked into drama between Nicki Minaj and Cardi B, but she skillfully sidestepped by letting everyone know she unequivocally supports both women.

Instead, she finally let fans know for sure on Friday that it was none other than Mariah Carey who had been tapped for the new version of the song, which just dropped and you can hear it above. The very prominent sample on this track is taken from Tom Tom Club’s 1981 single, “Genius Of Love,” and the sample was made incredibly popular by Mariah’s own hit, “Fantasy.” So it’s also not surprising that the “Big Energy” remix, which also features DJ Khaled, is the most logical interpolation of both hits. Mariah contributes lots of whistle notes to the intro of the song, while Latto raps her initial verse, and then Mariah launches into the first verse of “Fantasy.”

It’s kind of like the best of both worlds when it comes to the two hits, and probably destined for some chart success of its own.

Megan Thee Stallion Added A Fiery New Verse To ‘Encanto’s ‘We Don’t Talk About Bruno’ For The 2022 Oscars

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Insert a joke here about how “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” from Encanto has ended up being one of the most discussed songs of 2022 so far. The Lin-Manuel Miranda penned hit went all the way to No. 1 on the Billboard charts, and stayed there for weeks, breaking multiple records in its wake, so I guess that was enough to get Megan Thee Stallion’s attention.

It would seem obvious that the song would be nominated by the 2022 Oscars for Best Original Song, but instead, “Dos Oruguitas,” another track from Encanto, had the honor. But since no one really ever talks (heh) about that song, it’s “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” that got the superstar treatment for the show, with Megan Thee Stallion joining Luis Fonsi and Becky G for a rendition of the hit that might as well count as a full-on remix. Megan did her thing, adding a signature fast-paced rap verse to the song, that was tailored specifically to highlight the Oscars connection, so we’ll see if it sticks.

Check out the performance above, and for more Oscars 2022 performances you can find Beyonce’s rendition of “Be Alive” right here, and Billie Eilish and Finneas doing “No Time To Die” here.

Beyonce Kicked Off The 2022 Oscars By Performing ‘Be Alive’ From ‘King Richard’ At The Compton Tennis Courts

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Even before the trailer for King Richard dropped, the Beyhive was buzzing about a potential new Beyonce song in the Venus and Serena Williams biopic. “Be Alive” ended up being pretty much the only new music we got from Bey last year, but it did not disappoint. Like the title suggests, the powerful track glories in the simple pleasure of being alive, and how satisfying it feels to confound expectations when the world is against you.

The song picked up a 2022 nomination from the Oscars for Best Original Song after initially being shortlisted by the selection committee, and rumors were swirling last week that Bey would actually perform the song during the awards show tonight, but would do so from the Compton tennis courts named after the Williams sisters.

And that’s exactly how the show’s planners chose to open tonight, with a glowing Beyonce clad all in yellow, surrounded by plenty of other dancers — some even rocking the signature hair beads that defined Venus and Serena’s early looks as players. Blue Ivy showed up to perform alongside her mother too, making this moment feel very full circle. This is the first time Beyonce has performed at an awards show in almost five years, and she nailed it with an over-the-top spectacle as she always does. Check out clips from her performance below.

Freddie Gibbs And Benny The Butcher Spar Over Comments About Their Possible Joint Album

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A year and a half ago, Freddie Gibbs and Benny The Butcher shared a video for their “Frank Lucas” collaboration. The song appeared on Freddie’s Alfredo project with The Alchemist, and just a month later, the rappers reconnected for “One Way Flight” from Benny’s Burden Of Proof album. Both projects were held in high regard that year, and furthermore, both Freddie and Benny expressed interest in doing a joint album the following year. However, things have soured between the rappers and it seemed to boil over this weekend.

It seems to date back to last fall when Freddie shared a pair of tweets that reference an attempted robbery in Houston that resulted in Benny being shot in the leg. “It be hard for me to listen to n****z after they get robbed,” Freddie wrote in one tweet. “They be rapping so gangster after the fact.” In the other, he wrote, “N****z don’t put the cities they get robbed in on the tour dates.” Some months later, when rumors claimed that Jim Jones punched Freddie in the face, Benny tweeted some laughing emojis. Earlier this year, during an interview with Ebro, Benny was asked if the joint album with Freddie would ever be released, and he replied bluntly, “probably won’t.”

More recently, during an appearance on B. Dot’s Most Necessary: Live Spotify show, Benny was once again asked about the joint album. In response, he said working with Gibbs “came and went, to be honest with you.” Freddie laughed at the response on Twitter and later shared some more thoughts about it on Instagram. “I know some other sh*t that came and went too, n****” he wrote. “Just keep my name out y’all mouth… just say next question, man.”

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Benny wasn’t prepared to back down as he later tweeted, “How can u hate on a n**** u begged to do an album with…” This comment caused Freddie to unload on Benny through a string of posts on Instagram. “N****z whole marketing plan for they album is to beef with Freddie Gibbs,” he said referencing his spat with Gunna earlier this year. “That’s cute.” He continued, “If U opened up for me.” Freddie shared a meme of his character from Power Book IV: Force with the caption, “Sh*t bout to get ugly,” before returning to his message.

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“Why would I beg a n**** to work with me when he do less than me?” Freddie wrote in another Instagram Story post. “Next time just get the Drake verse cleared and u ain’t gotta do all this for promo [rabbit emoji] I’m out [peace sign emoji].” He concluded his message by adding, “Head up fade solve everything. But y’all n****z ain’t got the nuts to sit in a room alone with me for 5 min.”

You can view the posts from Benny and Freddie above.

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

Chika Confirms That She’s Okay After Saying She Planned To End Her Life

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Last spring, Chika revealed that she tried to end her life. At the time, she announced her retirement from music but later clarified that she was not bidding farewell to the music industry, but to life itself. “I have been working through a rough patch in life that trolls did not cause,” she wrote, alluding to some online bullying she was enduring. “However, in one of my most vulnerable moments, i was submerged in messages encouraging me to take my life.” Nearly a year later, Chika revealed that she attempted suicide but confirmed that she is now okay.

In a message she shared on Sunday, Chika simply wrote, “alive. wanna go home.” Previously she shared a lengthy post to her Instagram Story where she discussed plans to end her life. “I went to the top of the intercontinental, but could not jump. Not because I don’t want to, but because the metal stairs were scary,” she wrote. “That’s the thing about having a f*cked up brain. No matter how much pain you’re in, there will always be something holding you back. It’s draining & sad. It looks like crying wolf, but it’s not. It’s just difficult to find the right way. The quickest way. the painless way. I am tired of myself too.”

She continued, “I don’t need anyone feeling bad or worried bc I failed the last time I tried. save your emotions for when I succeed.” She concluded her lengthy message by writing, “No more typing. I’m going to finish my drink and find a way that works. Thanks for the ride, I hated it.”

Chika initial note earned many responses from fellow musicians. “Praying for Chika,” Latto wrote with prayer hands and heart emojis. “Praying that Chika is safe rn,” Chicago rapper Tobi Lou tweeted.

Houston rapper Monaleo, who has had her own struggles with suicide, also shared a warm message to Chika. “Chika we love you so much !” she wrote. “We would miss you tremendously. We need you here . You deserve to see the fruits of your labor and you deserve to live to see a happier version of yourself.” She added, “I know how you’re feeling right now sweet girl but you are a bright star. I love u.”

Chika is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Nicki Minaj Denies Remy Ma’s Claim That They Agreed To Not Speak About Each Other

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Nicki Minaj and Remy Ma have not seen eye-to-eye for the better part of a half-decade and through their beef, we’ve seen them take aim at each other on a number of rap records. Remy has dissed Nicki on songs like “SHEther” and “Another One” while Nicki took aim at her rival on tracks like “No Frauds” and verses on DJ Khaled’s “Nobody” and “I Can’t Even Lie.” Things have been a bit quiet between the two over the last few years, and during a recent interview on the Drink Champs podcast, Remy Ma claimed it was because of an agreement that she and Nicki arrived at.

“We had conversations, regular conversations,” Remy said on the podcast. “I never saw that one coming, because I felt like we had a conversation with her, because I’ve been in this predicament before, where I was the girl just coming in…” She added, “I just always felt like anything I say, people are gonna say I’m talking about her, anything she say, people are gonna say she’s talking about me, so let’s make an agreement that we never talk about each other.”

Remy continued, “Conversations. This is not even telling her. It’s like a conversation—a back-and-forth. I feel like any woman, you’re supposed to feel like you’re the sh*t. What you’re supposed to do? Get on a song and be, like, ‘Yeah, I’m number 2, or I’m number 3?’ No. You’re supposed to talk like you’re that b*tch and you’re the sh*t. Just never let it get there. And it was just certain sh*t that transpired behind the scenes, messages that I seen, that I know wasn’t fabricated. And I was just like, ‘Nah.’”

Despite this, Nicki chimed in to say that Remy’s claims were not true. “He must be misunderstanding what she saying to him,” she wrote in an Instagram comment. “Did he say? ‘This is you telling her that?’ For the record, I’ve never had this conversation with her or anyone.”

Remy has yet to respond to Nicki’s comment, so we’ll just have to wait and see where this goes — if anywhere at all.

You can view the Drink Champs episode and Nicki’s comment above.