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Some Death Row Albums Including ‘Doggystyle’ And ‘The Chronic’ Were Removed From Streaming Services

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Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg Super Bowl 2022
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Following his purchase of Death Row Records last month, it appears Snoop Dogg has removed several of the label’s albums from digital streaming platforms. Upon purchasing the label, Snoop revealed plans to transform Death Row into an “NFT label” which will operate within the Metaverse.

Among the albums missing from streaming services are Snoop Dogg’s debut album Doggystyle, Dr. Dre’s debut album The Chronic, and Tha Dogg Pound’s Dogg Food. Still available from streaming are Tupac’s All Eyez On Me and The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory, as Death Row no longer owns the rights to Tupac’s master recordings.

While Snoop has not confirmed that he ordered these albums’ removal from streaming services, Dr. Dre’s attorney Howard King issued a statement to Complex earlier this month, following Snoop’s acquisition of Death Row. “There are false reports out regarding ownership by Death Row of Dr. Dre’s The Chronic,” King said. “Dr. Dre owns 100% of The Chronic.”

Over the past year, Snoop has built a large collection of NFTs, and even revealed himself as the owner of popular NFT Twitter account @CozomoMedici. Singer and prolific songwriter Sia also revealed herself as Cozomo de’ Medici’s “granddaughter” and the owner of the @BiancaMedici69 NFT Twitter account.

In addition to his venture into the NFT space, Snoop also joined FaZe Clan earlier this month as a member of the esports company’s board of directors and talent. He plans to launch a community outreach program through FaZe Clan.

Pusha T And His Brother No Malice Mourn The Death Of Their Father

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Pusha T is currently preparing to release his fourth solo album It’s Not Dry Yet. While things have been going smoothly for him so far, thanks to the project’s lead single “Diet Coke,” Pusha and his brother No Malice are now dealing with a heavy loss in their lives. The rappers, who were once united as the rap duo Clipse, took to their respective Instagram pages to announce that their father Gene Elliott Thornton Sr. passed away over the weekend.

“I love you Dad…you taught me to remain poised, to always be calculated, to be prideful, and to respect hustle and hard work but to know the difference between the two,” Pusha T wrote on his Instagram post. “I am who I am because of you and I’ve always been proud to be your son. We are all gonna miss you… R.I.P. Gene Elliott Thornton Sr. P.S. We all know what this is abt, kiss my mom for me…[heart emoji].”

No Malice’s message to his late father was just as touching as his brother’s own. “You told me Psalm 34:19 was your favorite verse,” he wrote. “Right now, I clutch it with both hands. We all love you dad. You were everything a father is supposed to be. ‘Many are the afflictions of the righteous: But the LORD delivereth him out of them ALL.’ Psalm‬ ‭34:19‬ ‭KJV‬‬ #TogetherAgain #Jesus #Salvation.”

Pusha T and No Malice’s messages come four months after their mother passed away. Pusha shared the news in a post back in November. “I love you Ma, thank you for sticking around to meet your grand baby,” he wrote at the time. “We all are gonna miss you. R.I.P.”

You can view the posts from Pusha T and No Malice above.

Rihanna Shares The Two Songs That She’s Proudest Of

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The start of 2022 marked six years since Rihanna released her last album Anti. The project is often heralded as a favorite among her fans, and it’s left them itching for more. However, Rihanna is quite a busy person these days. Most of her time is consumed by handling her Fenty empire and fulfilling a series of philanthropic efforts. She’s also expecting her first child with ASAP Rocky. As for that long-awaited ninth album, we’ll have to continue the wait for it. In the meantime, Rihanna took a moment to reflect on two songs that she’s proudest of from her career.

During an interview with social media influencer and make-up artist Mikayla Nogueira, Rihanna was asked which records from her career was she the proudest of. Before the singer revealed her answer, the two shared a laugh after Nogueira said her favorite song by Rihanna was “Unfaithful.” “I love ‘Needed Me’ and I also love ‘Diamonds,’” Rihanna said while showing off her diamond rings.

Despite her pregnancy, Rihanna promises that her first child will not stop her from making new music. She shared the comments during a recent interview with ET’s Rachel Smith. It’s there’s that she also spoke about how her pregnancy has been so far. “It’s all an exciting journey so far,” she said. “I’m just taking it as it comes every week. There’s always something new and I’m just taking it and I’m enjoying it.”

You can watch Rihanna’s response in the video above.

Lil Baby Is Excited About The Music That He Has On The Way: ‘The Summer Is Mines’

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It hasn’t been too long since we received new music from Lil Baby. Less than a year ago, he teamed up with Lil Durk for their joint album, Voice Of The Heroes. That project topped the albums chart and gave Lil Baby his second No. 1 album. His first was 2020’s My Turn, which stands as his most recent solo album. My Turn grew to be one of the most popular albums of 2020 and it helped to launch Lil Baby into a new tier within the rap game.

More than two years later, Lil Baby is ready to give us his third album and the music on it has him very excited to share it with the world. In a series of posts that he shared on Monday, Baby shared his excitement with the world. “It’s Gone Be A Nastyyyyy Summer,” he wrote in one tweet, before adding in another, “My turn again” with fire emojis. In a third tweet, he continued, “Drop a video every few weeks until [exploding head emojis].” As if the tweets weren’t enough to bring more anticipation towards his upcoming album, Baby took to his Instagram Story to share a short message. “The summers mine,” he wrote in a post.

Lil Baby’s posts come after he delivered collaborations with Nicki Minaj (“Do We Have A Problem?” and “Bussin“), 2 Chainz, and Polo G.

You can view the posts from Baby above.

Rick Ross Believes ‘Hip-Hop Has Already Embraced’ LGBTQ Artists And Fans

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Rick Ross can probably be forgiven for not knowing who Saucy Santana is. After all, the fast-rising rap newcomer’s largest audience remains on TikTok, where Saucy’s song “Material Girl” has completely taken over, appearing in well over 27 million views since its release in 2020. However, Ric — who is no stranger to making the jump from underground sensation to mainstream superstar — isn’t surprised by Santana’s success and says hip-hop undoubtedly has space for more queer artists to make similar leaps.

Ross learned about Saucy Santana — a fellow native of Miami — during an interview with YouTube gossip vlogger Funky Dineva, who asked for his take on gay rappers coming into the rap game. “I’m not familiar with the name Santana, but live your life, chase your dreams, and go hard, man,” Ross replies smoothly, meeting Dineva’s follow-up question — “Do you think hip-hop will ever embrace the LGBT community fully?” — with an equally unfazed response. “I believe hip-hop has already embraced it. Without a doubt.”

“Material Girl” isn’t the only Saucy Santana song fans have received warmly, nor is Rick Ross the first rapper to co-sign the burgeoning star. His 2020 single, “Walk,” is also a viral favorite on TikTok, with 516 million views on the #WalkChallenge and related hashtags. Santana has worked with LightSkinKeisha on “Back It Up,” Sukihana on “Food Stamp H*e,” Latto on “Up & Down,” and “Shisha” with City Girls, for whom he once worked as a makeup artist. His debut album, Keep It Playa, dropped in December of 2021.

As far as Rick Ross’ claim that hip-hop has embraced queer artists goes, he might be a little optimistic in that respect. Last year, Lil Nas X had one of the best-performing debut albums in recent memory but still had to field homophobic comments from rappers like Boosie and fans who questioned him for not working with any other Black men on the album, something he pointed out had more to do with those he asked than with his own preferences.

Fans Spotted Pete Davidson’s New ‘Kim’ Tattoo In The Photo He Texted To Kanye West

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Pete Davidson has made some random tattoo choices in the past. The SNL star has a “Shaolin” emblazoned across his abs and both Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Hillary Clinton profiles inked on his body. Now, it seems as though the budding astronaut can add a tribute to his girlfriend Kim Kardashian to the list.

In a recent flurry of texts that Davidson sent to Kardashian’s ex-husband Kanye West, the proverbial “shot heard round the world,” was Davidson’s photo reply to West’s “Where are you right now?” question. “In bed with your wife,” Davidson replied, with a selfie of his bare-chested self laying in bed.

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Surely this image had Kanye fuming, but he might’ve been even angrier had he noticed what appears to be a new tattoo on Davidson’s right shoulder that says “KIM.” For all of the Pete Davidson tattoo enthusiasts, the placement is directly below the RBG tat and the ink looks especially dark (aka fresh) in the image.

The Davidson vs Kanye feud continues to show signs of boiling over after Kanye and The Game made another video for ‘Eazy’ where a CGI Davidson gets beat up. Davidson and Kardashian have only been dating since October of last year, but tattoo indicates that he is clearly committed to the relationship long-term, just as much as he is still committed to Hilary Clinton…

Lil Durk’s Label Gave Him $40 Million After The Success Of ‘7220’ And He Wants To Talk About It

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The release of Chicago rapper Lil Durk’s seventh studio album 7220 was no casual affair. He released a slew of dates for his spring tour; he engaged in as many collaborations as possible, including 50 Cent’s “Power Powder Respect,” Cordae’s “Chronicles,” Gucci Mane’s “Rumors,” and 2 Chainz’s “Lost Kings”; he challenged Kanye by announcing that the record would drop the same day as his (both albums ended up being delayed).

7220, which was finally released a few days ago, was reported to have earned an estimated 120,000 to 130,000 total album-equivalent units in its opening week. To celebrate his success, he took to Twitter to flex: “My label gave me 40million let’s talk bout it.”

When he announced 7220 in November 2021, he promised it would contain “anthems and no skips.” It follows last year’s joint project Voice Of The Heroes with Lil Baby, as well as a string of well-received features with artists such as Latto, Moneybagg Yo, Nardo Wick, Polo G, Pooh Shiesty, Tee Grizzley, and more. After the rapper challenged Kanye in February, fans speculated that Durk had acquired a feature from Pete Davidson for his album to antagonize Kanye, and Durk had to take to Instagram to shut down the rumors, stating: “Plus Ye want to do a album together.”

7220 is out now via Alamo/OTF.

Lizzo Speaks Up Against Recent Texas Laws: ‘Trans Rights Are Human Rights’

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Famous singer Lizzo has to spend a lot of time advocating for herself, and she does for others, too. Most recently, she took the stage at the Austin Convention Center for SXSW to talk with radio host Angela Yee. The focus was mainly on her forthcoming Amazon Prime streaming series Lizzo’s Watch Out for the Big Grrrls, but she, being an international star, had a lot to discuss, and she used her platform to bring up the pressing issues that have been going on in Texas, both where SXSW is and where she grew up.

According to Rolling Stone, Lizzo spoke on Texas governor Greg Abbott’s decision to treat gender-affirmative childcare as child abuse: “I’m proud to rep Houston but I’m not proud to rep Texan politics right now. There are very regressive laws being passed. They’re taking away the right for young children to have a chance to live authentically as themselves. It’s a violation of human rights. Trans rights are human rights.” She also weighed in on the restrictive abortion law: “We got a lotta ugly babies y’all need to be handling instead of y’all being in people’s homes and telling them what to do with their bodies and being all up in their uteruses. The abortion ban is atrocious as well. Mind your business. Stay out of my body.”

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

George Michael’s Estate Wants A ‘Careless Whisper’ Sample Removed From Tory Lanez’s Album ‘Alone At Prom’

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Tory Lanez is once again under fire for unauthorized sample use on his ’80s-themed album Alone At Prom. This time, it’s the estate of George Michael who wants a song removed, saying “Enchanted Waterfall” uses part of “Careless Whisper,” arguably Michael’s signature hit. Even worse, the estate claims that they already rejected his request to use the sample flouting the estate’s wishes in releasing the song anyway.

“It was brought to our attention that the song ‘Enchanted Waterfall’ by the artist Tory Lanez incorporated an unauthorized sample of ‘Careless Whisper’ written by George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley,” reads a statement given to Variety. “Requested permission for this use had been declined in June 2021 so we took immediate action on behalf of the writers, in collaboration with our publishers Warner Chappell Music, to prevent further exploitation as we will not tolerate any unauthorized use of any songs within the catalogs of George Michael and/or Andrew Ridgeley.”

The song has since been removed from Spotify but is still up on Apple Music, Tidal, and YouTube. It’s the second time Lanez has been taken to task over this album after Madonna called him out via Instagram for sampling her song “Into The Groove” on “Pluto’s Last Comet.” While Variety‘s report doesn’t cite a lawsuit being filed just yet, it certainly wouldn’t help the embattled Canadian singer to receive another suit, as he’s already being sued for foreclosure on a Miami condo and facing criminal charges for allegedly shooting Megan Thee Stallion in 2020.

DL Hughley Laughs Off Kanye West’s Threats With Some Mental Health Jokes

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DL Hughley isn’t bothered by Kanye West’s threats against him. Instead, the stand-up comedian had nothing but jokes for the musician after West claimed “I can afford to hurt u” on Instagram. Kanye, who almost assuredly has no clue what the term “leftist” even means, also posted questioning Hughley’s residency in Calabasas, suggesting that he’s willing to confront the comic at home. However, Hughley’s responses asserted his disdain for the idea while also taking shots at Kanye’s mental health.

“Ain’t no way in hell I’d ever be scared of a dude who wears #IKnowWhatDidLastSummerBoots!!” Hughley jabbed, referring to the knee-high quasi-galoshes that Kanye has been making most of his public appearances in lately. The comedian also taunted West for lashing out at Pete Davidson, joking, “It’s just too bad that you acting like a nut won’t stop #Pete from bustin one!!”

However, some fans thought Hughley went too far when he mocked Kanye’s mental health. Kanye previously revealed a bipolar diagnosis and has deplored commenters blaming his unusual behaviors on his disorder, which is exactly what Hughley did. “Ain’t it weird that #Kanye supposedly has all these goons who will kill for him, but not one of them will get his prescriptions filled?” he wondered. “Here’s a thought while you’re on your way to kill me in Calabasas, how about somebody drop by CVS and pick up his Xanax!”

While it’s true that DL likely crossed a line taking those digs at Kanye’s condition, Kanye threatening the comedian is certainly no better — nor has Kanye’s behavior over the past couple of months been acceptable. But getting him to see reason will be that much harder if he’s on the defensive about his diagnosis rather than understanding that people are actually worried about him. Hopefully, he can get the help he needs and understand that having bipolar disorder is no excuse to lash out the way he has.