Kanye West didn’t hold back in his latest interview with Drink Champs’ NORE and DJ EFN on Thursday. In the interview, Kanye spoke on his beef with Drake, his regrets for signing Big Sean and his two cents on Kamala Harris. Kanye Regrets Signing Big Sean Kanye made an appearance on Drink Champs last night […]
The spooky season might be over, but that hasn’t stopped Drake from leaning heavily into some Hitchcockian slasher vibes in the video for “Knife Talk” featuring 21 Savage and Project Pat. Leave it to October’s Very Own to hang on to the last vestiges of Halloween with his latest Certified Lover Boy single. As the trio of rappers spit menacing, razor-tipped verses, the video splices in clips from various black-and-white thrillers, using technology to get the characters to lip-sync the rhymes.
The rappers also have some fun with their Ring cameras, evoking chilling flicks like The Strangers and The Purge as they stand outside with huge kitchen knives just… staring. The effect is probably a little less unnerving than it is in the films they evoke but mostly because we’ve all seen 21 Savage singing car karaoke to R&B classics and Drake is… well… Drake. It’s still a pretty cool and creative video, even if it is five days too late.
Fortunately, Drake’s tardiness doesn’t seem to be affecting the popularity of his new album. It recently went No. 1 on Billboard‘s album chart for the fifth non-consecutive week behind singles like the tongue-in-cheek “Way 2 Sexy.”
Watch Drake’s ‘Knife Talk’ Video featuring 21 Savage and Project Pat above.
If there are two things we know that Drake loves, it’s basketball and women. So it makes sense that he’d like to combine the two in his hometown with a franchise of the WNBA. Drake, who already has a role as ambassador for the NBA’s Toronto Raptors, made his case on Instagram in the wee hours of the night, posting a single-frame Instagram Story reading, simply, “@WNBA, I need a Toronto team.”
This poses all kinds of fascinating possibilities. Would Drake be the owner? Would he want an ambassador role like the one he has with the Raptors? What would the team’s name be? You have to hope it wouldn’t be dinosaur-themed, as the Raptors’ entire concept came from the popularity of the original Jurassic Park the year of the team’s inception.
Furthermore, how would this affect the league as a whole? You’d think adding just one team would unbalance the season schedule quite a lot, so how many teams would be created in an expansion? Would there be an expansion draft? How would the talent in the W, which just went through a dramatic upheaval after solidifying a new CBA, be redistributed to provide parity?
For now, this is all just speculation and spitballing, but it would sure be fun to find out that the (much-needed) expansion is actually in the works. It’d probably be even more fun to see the self-declared Certified Lover Boy sitting courtside, cheering on favorites like Candace Parker, Chiney Ogwumike, and Aja Wilson, bringing some well-deserved publicity to the WNBA.
Drake’s sixth album Certified Lover Boy has spent the second-most weeks at No. 1 in 2021. It trails Morgan Wallen’s Dangerous: The Double Album, as that project held on to the top spot for ten consecutive weeks. While Drake’s reign isn’t that impressive, it’s still noteworthy in its own right. The rapper has already collected four non-consecutive weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 which began with 631,000 units sold in its first week on the chart, the largest amount for any album released in 2021. Now, more than a month later, Certified Lover Boy is still holding on to the throne on the Billboard 200.
A week after Young Thug earned the second No. 1 album of his career with Punk, an album Drake appears on, Certified Lover Boy reclaimed the top spot on the Billboard 200 dated November 6. It took the No. 1 spot thanks to 74,000 units sold, a number comprised of 73,000 streaming equivalent album units while pure album sales accounted for less than 1,000 units. With its fifth week at No. 1, Certified Lover Boy ties Drake’s 2018 album Scorpion for the second-most weeks spent atop the charts. Both albums fall behind his 2016 effort Views, which posted 13 weeks at No. 1.
Other highlights on the chart this week include Moneybagg Yo’s A Gangsta’s Pain at No. 6, thanks to its newly-released deluxe reissue, and Lana Del Rey’s Blue Bannisters, which checks in at No. 8 to give Del Rey the eighth top-10 album of her career.
Revisit our review of Certified Lover Boy here.
Speculation about Grammy voting and nominations is at a all all-time high right now, as early ballots are being submitted and fans are left to wonder how the awards will shake out this year. Over the last decade or so, the backlash against seemingly-random nominations and wins that are completely out of step with critical and commercial success has grown. Artists like The Weeknd have opted not to submit their work to the Recording Academy at all, and one of the most popular rappers in the world, Drake, has also been vocal about his disappointment with the selections in the past. So fans were interested to see what, if anything, he would submit off this year’s Certified Lover Boy, and the answer is? None of the big categories for any single track, like Song Of The Year and Record Of The Year.
According to a report from Variety, Drizzy submitted “Way 2 Sexy” for best rap performance, “Girls Want Girls” for best melodic rap performance, and “No Friends in the Industry” for best rap song. He also submitted Certified Lover Boy for Album Of The Year, so he’s still in the game for that big award, just not the song ones. Check out more of Variety‘s unpacking of Grammy submissions process here.
The 2021 American Music Awards aren’t that far away, as the AMAs are set to go down on November 21 on ABC. The nominees weren’t known before today, but the full list was revealed this morning.
Artist Of The Year is a crowded field, as it features Ariana Grande, BTS, Drake, Olivia Rodrigo, Taylor Swift, and The Weeknd. Rodrigo is also up for New Artist Of The Year, alongside The Kid Laroi, 24kGoldn, Giveon, and Masked Wolf. There’s also a lot going on in the Favorite Male Pop Artist field, as nominated there are Drake, Ed Sheeran, Justin Bieber, Lil Nas X, and The Weeknd. Meanwhile, up for Favorite Female Pop Artist are Grande, Doja Cat, Dua Lipa, Rodrigo, and Swift.
As for rap, up for Favorite Male Hip-Hop Artist are Drake, Lil Baby, Moneybagg Yo, Polo G, and Pop Smoke, while nominated in the female category are Cardi B, Coi Leray, Erica Banks, Megan Thee Stallion, and Saweetie. On a related note, Ye (formerly Kanye West) is up for Favorite Gospel Artist, competing against Kirk Franklin, Koryn Hawthorne, Maverick City Music, and Tasha Cobbs Leonard.
Voting for this year’s awards is set to open at 9:30 a.m. ET, and fans can vote today through November 16 by searching for “AMAs” on TikTok.
Check out the full list of nominees below.
Artist Of The Year
Taylor Swift
Ariana Grande
BTS
Drake
Olivia Rodrigo
The Weeknd
Favorite Trending Song
Erica Banks — “Buss It”
Måneskin — “Beggin”
Megan Thee Stallion — “Body”
Olivia Rodrigo — “Drivers License”
Popp Hunna — “Adderall (Corvette Corvette)”
New Artist Of The Year
24kGoldn
Giveon
Masked Wolf
Olivia Rodrigo
The Kid Laroi
Collaboration Of The Year
24kGoldn Feat. Iann Dior — “Mood”
Bad Bunny and Jhay Cortez — “Dákiti”
Chris Brown and Young Thug — “Go Crazy”
Doja Cat Feat. SZA — “Kiss Me More”
Justin Bieber Feat. Daniel Caesar and Giveon — “Peaches”
Favorite Music Video
Silk Sonic (Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak) — “Leave The Door Open”
Cardi B — “Up”
Lil Nas X — “Montero (Call Me By Your Name)”
Olivia Rodrigo — “Drivers License”
The Weeknd — “Save Your Tears”
Favorite Male Pop Artist
Drake
Ed Sheeran
Justin Bieber
Lil Nas X
The Weeknd
Favorite Female Pop Artist
Ariana Grande
Doja Cat
Dua Lipa
Olivia Rodrigo
Taylor Swift
Favorite Pop Duo or Group
AJR
BTS
Glass Animals
Maroon 5
Silk Sonic (Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak)
Favorite Pop Album
Ariana Grande — Positions
Dua Lipa — Future Nostalgia
Olivia Rodrigo — Sour
Taylor Swift — Evermore
The Kid Laroi — F*ck Love
Favorite Pop Song
BTS — “Butter”
Doja Cat Feat. SZA — “Kiss Me More”
Dua Lipa — “Levitating”
Olivia Rodrigo — “Drivers License”
The Weeknd and Ariana Grande — “Save Your Tears (Remix)”
Favorite Male Country Artist
Chris Stapleton
Jason Aldean
Luke Bryan
Luke Combs
Morgan Wallen
Favorite Female Country Artist
Carrie Underwood
Gabby Barrett
Kacey Musgraves
Maren Morris
Miranda Lambert
Favorite Country Duo or Group
Dan + Shay
Florida Georgia Line
Lady A
Old Dominion
Zac Brown Band
Favorite Country Album
Chris Stapleton — Starting Over
Gabby Barrett — Goldmine
Lee Brice — Hey World
Luke Bryan — Born Here Live Here Die Here
Morgan Wallen — Dangerous: The Double Album
Favorite Country Song
Chris Stapleton — “Starting Over”
Chris Young and Kane Brown — “Famous Friends”
Gabby Barrett — “The Good Ones”
Luke Combs — “Forever After All”
Walker Hayes — “Fancy Like”
Favorite Male Hip-Hop Artist
Drake
Lil Baby
Moneybagg Yo
Polo G
Pop Smoke
Favorite Female Hip-Hop Artist
Cardi B
Coi Leray
Erica Banks
Megan Thee Stallion
Saweetie
Favorite Hip-Hop Album
Drake — Certified Lover Boy
Juice WRLD — Legends Never Die
Megan Thee Stallion — Good News
Pop Smoke — Shoot For The Stars Aim For The Moon
Rod Wave — SoulFly
Favorite Hip-Hop Song
Cardi B — “Up”
Internet Money Feat. Gunna, Don Toliver, and Nav — “Lemonade”
Lil Tjay Feat. 6lack — “Calling My Phone”
Polo G — “Rapstar”
Pop Smoke — “What You Know Bout Love”
Favorite Male R&B Artist
Chris Brown
Giveon
Tank
The Weeknd
Usher
Favorite Female R&B Artist
Doja Cat
HER
Jazmine Sullivan
Jhené Aiko
SZA
Favorite R&B Album
Doja Cat — Planet Her
Giveon — When It’s All Said And Done… Take Time
HER — Back Of My Mind
Jazmine Sullivan — Heaux Tales
Queen Naija — Missunderstood
Favorite R&B Song
Silk Sonic (Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak) — “Leave The Door Open”
Chris Brown and Young Thug — “Go Crazy”
Giveon — “Heartbreak Anniversary”
HER — “Damage”
Jazmine Sullivan — “Pick Up Your Feelings”
Favorite Male Latin Artist
Bad Bunny
J Balvin
Maluma
Ozuna
Rauw Alejandro
Favorite Female Latin Artist
Becky G
Kali Uchis
Karol G
Natti Natasha
Rosalía
Favorite Latin Duo or Group
Banda MS de Sergio Lizárraga
Calibre 50
Eslabon Armado
La Arrolladora Banda El Limón De Rene Camacho
Los Dos Carnales
Favorite Latin Album
Bad Bunny — El Último Tour Del Mundo
Kali Uchis — Sin Miedo (del Amor y Otros Demonios)
Karol G — KG0516
Maluma — Papi Juancho
Rauw Alejandro — Afrodisíaco
Favorite Latin Song
Bad Bunny and Jhay Cortez — “Dákiti”
Bad Bunny and Rosalía — “La Noche De Anoche”
Farruko — “Pepas”
Kali Uchis — “Telepatía”
Maluma and The Weeknd — “Hawái (Remix)”
Favorite Rock Artist
AJR
All Time Low
Foo Fighters
Glass Animals
Machine Gun Kelly
Favorite Inspirational Artist
Cain
Carrie Underwood
Elevation Worship
Lauren Daigle
Zach Williams
Favorite Gospel Artist
Kanye West
Kirk Franklin
Koryn Hawthorne
Maverick City Music
Tasha Cobbs Leonard
Favorite Dance/Electronic Artist
David Guetta
Illenium
Marshmello
Regard
Tiësto
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
As the basketball and music worlds continue to crossover in entertaining and unexpected ways — think Damian Lillard’s rap career, Kawhi Leonard curating a rap compilation, or 2 Chainz, Jack Harlow, Lil Baby, and Quavo participating in a 2-on-2 during NBA All-Star Weekend — one of the more welcome surprises has been Kevin Durant’s podcast, The ETCs. The well-noted Drake stan and his co-host Eddie Gonzalez not only talk music and sports, but they also occasionally bring on interesting guests from both worlds, including TDE engineer Derek Ali, Roc-A-Fella Records founder Kareem Burke, and in today’s episode, Insecure creator Issa Rae.
While discussing Issa’s role in curating music for the popular dramedy and running her own label, Raedio, in conjunction with Atlantic Records, Issa wonders what the two hosts have been listening to lately. While there seems to be agreement around the table that Drake’s new album Certified Lover Boy is worth revisiting, Issa stops cold when the fellas mention Meek Mill. “I have not listened to Meek Mill,” she admits. “Y’all forgave him?”
“For the Drake thing?” Durant asks. “You didn’t forgive him.” Eddie points out that Drake forgave Meek, which Issa acknowledges but refutes, saying, “I’m the girlfriend that’s like, ‘He asked for no onions!’ So that’s like, I just felt protective of him — with him and Pusha T.”
I guess that means we’re not going to hear any Pusha T music on the final season of Insecure. Check out a video clip of the conversation below.
To kick off season 2 of #TheETCs, KD + @bansky sit down w/ award-winning writer, director, producer, actress, & NYT best-seller @IssaRae.
Issa talks Insecure’s final season, their love of Drake, privacy within superstardom, and what’s next for her.
: https://t.co/bLTzVezGlP pic.twitter.com/1bINn7yWDT
— Boardroom (@boardroom) October 27, 2021
