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DDG Journeys To Outer Scape With Gunna In Their Galactic Video For ‘Elon Musk’

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DDG kicked off 2021 by releasing his third project Die 4 Respect, an 11-track effort that arrived with contributions from Lil Yatchy, Coi Leray, Pnb Rock, 42 Dugg, and more. For the remainder of the year, DDG worked on promoting the project and helping it reach new corners, and as a result, it helped him land a spot in the 2021 XXL Freshman Class. There, he found himself besides names like Blxst, Pooh Shiesty, Morray, and more. Fast forward to 2022, and DDG is back to work with new music and an example of that comes with his new video for “Elon Musk” with Gunna.

In the new visual, DDG decides to take his talents to outer space. He plays the role of an astronaut who hops in a rocket ship and journeys to space complete with a blunt in hand and a woman beside him. Elsewhere in the video, Gunna stands beside him strapped a weapon of his own to deliver his verse on the song.

The new visual comes a month after DDG and Gunna dropped their “Elon Musk” collaboration. Prior to that, DDG concluded his 2021 year with the celebratory “Rucci” while Gunna kicked off his 2022 year with his stellar No. 1 album DS4EVER.

You can watch the video for the new track above.

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

Cardi B Will Make For One Adorable Fish In Her Guest-Starring Role On ‘Baby Shark’s Big Show’

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Anyone raising small kids — or who has been in their immediate vicinity in the last five years — knows (and is likely sick to death) of South Korean entertainment company Pinkfong’s near-ubiquitous and insanely popular version of the song “Baby Shark.” Originally a campfire song inspired by Jaws (the ’80s were a weird time, man), the Pinkfong version has become one of the most-played videos on YouTube (10 billion views and counting, as of this January) and was spun off into a Nick Jr. animated series, Baby Shark’s Big Show!

As a mom herself, Cardi B has likely contributed .01 percent of those view totals herself (that’s a million, folks) but being Cardi B, she’s found a way to turn what may have been a frustrating parental imperative into a potentially lucrative opportunity: Billboard reports the “Up” rapper will guest star on Baby Shark’s Big Show! alongside her husband Offset and three-year-old Kulture. Cardi will portray an animated version of herself called Sharki B, while Offset will be Offshark, and she’ll perform a new song called “The Seaweed Sway.”

Cardi is actually a big fan of “Baby Shark,” as you can see from the video she posted back in 2019, while she also tweeted that Kulture is a big fan of the “whole Baby Shark mixtape.” While this is almost certainly a dream come true for Kulture, Cardi’s beef with Peppa Pig remains unresolved. Maybe she can turn that into a guest-starring role too.

Cardi’s guest-starring episode of Baby Shark’s Big Show! will air 04/15 on Nickelodeon/Nick Jr.

Kehlani Reveals The Album Art And Release Date For ‘Blue Water Road’: ‘I’m Giving Everyone Access’

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Kehlani 2021 Governors Ball
Getty Image / Jason Mendez

Kehlani has revealed the artwork and release date for their much-anticipated third studio album, Blue Water Road. The album, executive-produced by Pop Wansel, arrives next month.

“Blue Water Road is a destination in my mind,” Kehlani says in a statement. “I’m giving everyone access. It’s an emotional journey, a sexual journey, and a spiritual journey. To me, the album is like a glass house. It’s light, transparent, and the sun is shining right through it.”

Kehlani began writing the album in September of 2020 while renting an Airbnb in Malibu with close friends and collaborators. After their vacation, they rented another home with Wansel to experiment with new sounds for the record. In an interview with Rolling Stone, the “Altar” singer revealed that the songs they wrote were originally planned for a deluxe edition of their sophomore album, It Was Good Until It Wasn’t.

“We just made so much cool sh*t, and it was so different from what I would consider to be able to be on the deluxe because it didn’t sound anything like it,” they said “I just was like, ‘F*ck it, this is a whole new project.’”

Blue Water Road is out 4/29 via Atlantic. Pre-save it here.

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

Foo Fighters, Nas, And More Were Added To The List Of 2022 Grammys Performers

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Last week, The Recording Academy and CBS revealed the first set of artists set to perform at this year’s Grammy Awards: BTS, Billie Eilish, Olivia Rodrigo, Lil Nas X with Jack Harlow, Brandi Carlile, and Brothers Osbourne. Now, they’ve added onto that list with another set of artist reveals today. So, also performing at this year’s show (on April 3 at 8 p.m. ET) are Foo Fighters, Nas, HER, Jon Batiste, Chris Stapleton, Ben Platt, Cynthia Erivo, Leslie Odom Jr., and Rachel Zegler.

Batiste was a no-brainer selection, as he has a whopping 11 nominations this year, which is the most this year and the second-most in a single year of all time: Record Of The Year, Album Of The Year, Best Traditional R&B Performance, Best R&B Album, Best Improvised Jazz Solo, Best Jazz Instrumental Album, Best American Roots Performance, Best American Roots Song, Best Score Soundtrack For Visual Media, Best Contemporary Classical Composition, and Best Music Video.

Foo Fighters is a headlining act in the rock categories, as they’re up for Best Rock Performance (for “Making A Fire”), Best Rock Song (“Waiting On A War”), and Best Rock Album (Medicine At Midnight). As for Nas, King’s Disease II is up for Best Rap Album and DMX’s “Bath Salts” (featuring Jay-Z and Nas) is nominated for Best Rap Song.

Find the full list of 2022 Grammy nominations here.

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

Roc Nation Is Partnering With Time Studios On A Multi-Part Documentary About Megan Thee Stallion

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Megan Thee Stallion Roc Nation Documentary
Marcello Cantu

Megan Thee Stallion never stops. The rapper is coming off the success of her new collaboration with Dua Lipa, “Sweetest Pie,” which made a pretty significant chart debut at No. 15. Though she’s still dealing with embarrassingly misogynistic fallout from Tory Lanez shooting her, Thee Stallion is still steady rising.

On that note, today Roc Nation and Time Studios announced they’ve partnered on a documentary telling Megan’s story. The upcoming multi-part documentary will be directed by Nneka Onuorah, and includes a mix of archival footage and new material. A press release stated that “beyond amplifying the Houston native’s journey to success, the project will also touch on how Megan overcame various personal hurdles to thrive in her professional career.”

“We are thrilled to be able to work with Roc Nation to share Megan’s story with the world,” said Loren Hammonds, the Co-Head of Documentary at Time Studios, in a press release. “Millions of people are familiar with her as an entertainer, but this series will give her a chance to share her truth as never before. Her story is a powerful one, and the accomplishments that she continues to achieve are remarkable. We feel lucky to have this opportunity to capture her at a crucial moment in her life and career, as she continues to grow exponentially in both her artistry and global impact.”

Roc Nation echoed those sentiments, specifically noting this artist’s resilience. “Megan has quickly blossomed into one of the pre-eminent entertainers in the world and it’s a testament to her perseverance, resilience and professionalism,” said Desiree Perez, the CEO of Roc Nation, in a press release. “Her journey is inspirational and we’re proud to have partnered with Time Studios to highlight her personal and professional trajectory over the years. Our hope is that this documentary will inspire viewers to stay the course and pursue their passions through the ups and downs.”

Executive producers on the project include Time Studios’ Ian Orefice, Loren Hammonds, Alexa Conway and Mike Beck, and Roc Nation’s Desiree Perez and Lori York, along with the director Nneka Onuorah. No release date for the project has been shared yet, but keep an eye out for more information.

Pusha T Explains Why He Thinks Rap Beef Has Changed Over Time On ‘Hot Ones’

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“[Rap beef] is really corporate now,” Pusha T says in between bites of hot sauced-covered chicken wings during his appearance on the popular interview show Hot Ones. The question he’s been asked by unflappable host Sean Evans is, “What would you say is the biggest difference between how diss tracks were exchanged 20 years ago versus today and why is still important who wins?”

Pusha would know; he’s been keeping a running feud going with Lil Wayne for nearly 20 years himself (over a hoodie, no less), pulling in Wayne’s protege Drake and outing the latter as the father of a secret child in 2018. Continuing to share his thoughts, he elaborates that “Now, you’ll have a rap beef and the record label gets involved. The CEOs are like, ‘Whoa! You can’t do this to my artist!’ I don’t think they end careers anymore, because people don’t have the same pride level about the art.”

He also thinks it’s less important who wins, because “Back in the day it was career-ending… Nowadays, people don’t care. They’re like, ‘Oh well, they lost today. No big deal.’”

And okay, I’m sorry, all due respect to Push but as the resident hip-hop historian, I gotta say GTFOHWTBS. 20 years ago, Jay-Z and Nas held a knock-down, drag-out rhyme fight over the King Of New York title that fans still debate about and neither’s career suffered over it. In fact, both became more popular, with Nas’ “Ether” arguably revitalizing his standing with fans after a pair of lukewarm releases to close out the ’90s. And if my man is talking about the 50 Cent/Ja Rule thing, it’s important to remember that Ja Rule’s label was shut down by the freaking FBI.

No one’s career was ever buried by a rap beef. Since the beginning, battle was an integral part of the genre; if there’s any culprit to blame for rappers’ short-lived careers, it’s fickle fans and quickly evolving musical tastes. Of course, the highest-profile rap beef with the highest stakes wasn’t even about rap, which explains why it came to such a tragic end — which, contrary to conspiracy theories that float around the internet to this day, had little to do with the rules of engagement in hip-hop.

Pusha’s entitled to his opinion but at the end of the day, the narrative of rap beefs ending careers is just that: a narrative. As a matter of course, these things are always much more nuanced than we tend to idealize them as with our nostalgia glasses on. Anyway, for Pusha’s latest beef, check out his McDonald’s diss track “Spicy Fish Diss,” which he made in conjuction with Arby’s. How’s that for corporate?

Watch Pusha T’s full Hot Ones interview above

Ice-T Says He Got Robbed At A Gas Station — By The Pump (And He’s Got People Rolling)

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Ice-T had people rolling on the floor after the rapper/actor dropped a humorous tweet lamenting gas prices. In the anecdote, which initially starts out with a somber admission that Ice-T was “robbed at a gas station last night,” the Law and Order star proceeds to break down the aftermath of the “robbery.” Of course, the first red flag that something was amiss is Ice-T said his hands were “trembling,” which seems out of character for the badass rapper, and that’s because it never happened. The whole thing was a setup for his gas price punchline.

“I was robbed at a gas station in NJ last night,” Ice-T tweeted. “After my hands stopped trembling.. I managed to call the cops and they were quick to respond and calmed me down….. My money is gone.. the police asked me if I knew who did it.. I said yes.. it was pump number 9…”

Within hours, Ice-T’s tweet went viral as it racked up almost 100,000 likes at the time of this writing and instantly made the rapper trend on Twitter as the reactions started pouring in. People were either dying with laughter at the joke or feeling Ice-T’s pain at the cost of gas.

You can see some of the reactions below:

Of course, the gas prices are market forces reacting to the Russia invasion of Ukraine, but if you think Ice-T is pushing for a quick end to that problem, think again. The rapper/actor is fully aware of the gravity of the situation and is all for avoiding a global conflict.

“Here’s the Situation: As soon as the US fires ONE bullet at a Russian solider. From the Ground or Air…. WE are at War with Russia,” Ice-T tweeted at the beginning of March. “Not good.”

(Via Ice-T on Twitter)

Juice WRLD’s Manager Wants To Get The Rapper Into ‘Fortnite’ As A Playable Character

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Juice WRLD was a well-known gamer in his life; fans know he was tapped in with Faze Clan, regularly expressed his love for games, and even paid homage to classic games with his music throughout his career, including on the Twisted Metal-inspired cover of his Death Race For Love album. Likewise, the gaming community reciprocated his love, with streamers regularly playing his music and expressing their grief for his death in 2018. Now, it appears the late rapper could receive one of the ultimate honors, being put into one of the most popular modern games as a player skin.

Juice’s former manager, Peter Jideonwo, posted a video to social media that has since circulated on Twitter via hip-hop-focused accounts saying that he is currently in talks with Epic Games, the publisher of the popular shooter game Fortnite, to get the rapper into the game. “(We) really need Juice WRLD in Fortnite,” he said. “We’ve been trying our hardest, and that’s also a work in progress… It would be cool because everyone in Fortnite loves Juice and ‘Come And Go’ was a huge hit in Fortnite. I think it fits. So if y’all wanna go hit up Epic Games and Fortnite, y’all should definitely do that too.”

A photo of a purported player skin representing Juice WRLD has been circulating since, with fans speculating that the rapper could be joining the game soon, but apparently, the photo in question is just fan-made concept art. Should Juice join the game, he’ll be the third rapper after Travis Scott and Anderson .Paak, who was added as part of the duo Silk Sonic alongside his groupmate Bruno Mars. Last year, the game also added LeBron James as a playable skin.

Meanwhile, another rapper was recently added to a different popular shooter; Snoop Dogg, who previously collaborated with Call Of Duty to provide his voice, will be added to three of the franchise’s current games as an operator with special equipment.

Pusha T Explains Why He Shared That Bizarre Picture Of Lana Del Rey

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Back in January, rapper Pusha T shared a picture of Lana Del Rey, with her face obscured by what appeared to be cocaine. Fans in the Instagram comments assumed he was beginning to tease new music. Weeks later, he would release “Diet Coke” ahead of his upcoming fourth album, reportedly titled It’s Not Dry Yet.

While fans were elated to get some new music from King Push, many were still perplexed at the bizarre photo.

In an interview with Rolling Stone, Push clarified that he posted the picture as he believes he and Del Rey talk about similar subjects in her music.

“You can hear remnants of drug indulgence and addiction [in Del Rey’s music],” Push said. “So it’s like, ‘Man, why not?’ I thought it made sense.”

Push continued, saying a collaboration with the “Yayo” singer isn’t completely out of the question.

“One of the heads of Interscope called right after the picture came out and asked me to get on a remix,” he said. “I forgot which song, but I’m still waiting for them to send it over.”

Half of Push’s upcoming album is produced by Pharrell Williams, who decided to contribute to the album after hearing “Hear Me Clearly” from Nigo’s upcoming mixtape, I Know Nigo. “Fun Fact: @pharrell heard this song and told me ‘it’s cool, but I don’t want you to be a mixtape rapper for the rest of your life,’” said Push in an Instagram post. “I was devastated. He then flew me to Miami and proceeded to produce the first half of the best album of the year.”

Joyner Lucas Blames That Anti-MGK Lollapalooza Rant On Russian Hackers

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After going on an anti-MGK rant against Lollapalooza for putting his name in the small print, Massachusetts rapper Joyner Lucas is now blaming the tweetstorm on outside influences, claiming that his account was taken over by Russian hackers after deleting the tweets in question. Lucas’ tweets mystified, befuddled, or outright amused fans yesterday when he unexpectedly burst out with slams against the Chicago-based festival.

“These festivals is gon stop playing with me like I ain’t that n****,” he wrote. Putting my name next to the names of a bunch of random n****z that nobody heard of and offering me a weak ass 💰. Then I say no to the offer and these hoe ass n****z put me on the flier anyways. @lollapalooza.” Later in the rant in question, he took a jab at one of Lollapalooza’s headliners, Cleveland rapper-turned-punk-rocker Machine Gun Kelly, posting a photo of Kelly and writing, “Then you got this goofy ass nigga headlining? Smh how sway?”

Today, though, all of those tweets disappeared, replaced by a new one. “Them Damn Russian hackers dun hacked my phone yesterday smh,” Joyner claimed.

Look, we’re not totally sure why Russian hackers would want to hack Joyner Lucas’ phone, of all people, just to diss Lollapalooza and MGK. It doesn’t look like fans are buying it either, finding it more likely that Lucas’ tweets got a different reception than perhaps he was expecting — or that the Lollapalooza bag is indeed undeniable. As an independent rapper, Joyner has fewer bridges to burn so maybe this is a way for him to save face — either that or those Russian hackers are getting really good at doing pissed-off rapper impressions.

In any event, it appears both MGK and Joyner Lucas will be performing at Lollapalooza July 28-31 at Chicago’s Grant Park.