J Prince

Bun B and Friends Draws Crowd of 73,000+ For RodeoHouston H-Town Takeover Show

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Bun B Says Tory Lanez Shooting Megan Thee Stallion Was 'Some Whore Sh*t'

As Bun B concluded is performance for Black Heritage Night during RodeoHouston, he knew that he just did something that probably wouldn’t be duplicated. As he rode on the Ford F 150 exiting the NRG Stadium, tears shed as he thanked people for attending. He didn’t just thanked fans for coming out, he thanked them for being apart of this historical night. A night not only dedicated to him, but dedicated to Houston’s entire Hip Hop culture.

“Some artists, myself included, were brought to tears by this opportunity,” Bun told ABC 13. “For many years as an entertainer, I had high aspirations, but the rodeo was never on that list. I just didn’t think that was a place that would be accepting of me and 30 years later, boy was I wrong.”

The Trill OG, told Houston CultureMap that he “didn’t want to didn’t want anyone to have a good reason not to come to this show.” Despite temperatures being in the 40 with a 70 percent chance to rain on March 11, the day of Bun B’s H-Town Takeover concert, everybody still came. He pulled off record-breaking numbers in fact.

His concert drew in a crowd of 73,259 fans, and as of today, that’s the largest crowd of any 2022 rodeo concerts. Another historical milestone attendees witness at RodeoHouston was that Bun B became the first Black male headliner from Houston in Rodeo Houston’s history.

Bun added, “There was a concerted effort to include as many Houstonians in this show as possible.” Let’s just say mission accomplished. The H-Town Takeover concert included the heavy hitters of Houston Hip Hop. Bun brought out, That Girl Lay Lay, Z-Ro, Slim Thug, Paul Wall, Lil Ke Ke, Lil Flip, Tobe Nwigwe, LeToya Luckett, Devin the Dude, Baby Bash, Big Pokey, Frankie J, Willie D, J. Prince, ESG, and  H-Town.

Paul Wall, the People’s Champ, also felt emotional being apart of this.

“It was such a surreal moment,” he said. “Performing in my hometown, with my idols and mentors, at the biggest stage imaginable, and on my birthday at that.”

Wall and Luckett shared birthdays on this date and Bun asked fans to sing “Happy Birthday” to them.

“It’s been difficult to choose my favorite aspect of the show, but the birthday song really touched my heart. Behind my Versace shades, I was holding back a few tears of gratitude,” Wall added.

Along with the star-studded line up, Bun also brought the culture to the rodeo. He brought out all kinds of slabs, with elbows poking and pop trunk waving. Slabs, elbows and pop trunk are all H-town slang for the make up of your car. A slab is slang for your customized car. Elbows are swangers, the Texas Wide Wheel rims that make your car a slab, and pop trunk is the act of waving a trunk. This is accomplished by a a computerized mechanism that allows a driver to open their trunk without a key. This allows the driver to ride with the trunk as high or low as they want.

He also paid respect to the legendary lost rappers of the Houston culture. He paid special homage to Screwed Up Click founder “DJ Screw, the other half of UGK Pimp C, Fat Pat, Big Hawk, and Big Mello.

Bun B honored the legacy of Pimp C in another way as well. He not only recited verse from “Big Pimpin,” and the “International Players Anthem,” but he also made sure he got his own dressing room for RodeoHouston.

Bun B and Pimp C formed UGK – Underground Kingz – as teenagers growing up in Port Arthur and hit it big when their classic album Too Hard to Swallow dropped in 1992. They followed that up with more classic albums like Super Tight in 1994 and Ridin’ Dirty in 1996.

Pimp C died in a Los Angeles hotel room in 2007.

The post Bun B and Friends Draws Crowd of 73,000+ For RodeoHouston H-Town Takeover Show appeared first on The Source.

Inside Ye And Drake’s ‘Free Larry Hoover’ Concert

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Kanye West and Drake Larry Hoover Concert
Getty Image/Ralph Ordaz

2021 has been full of unexpected surprises and the reunion between Kanye West (or Ye, now) and Drake coordinated by Rap-A-Lot Records CEO J Prince will live in the hip-hop textbooks forever. On December 9, thousands of fans gathered at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum for the Free Larry Hoover Benefit concert to witness two of rap’s biggest stars perform in the name of criminal justice reform.

Alice Marie Johnson, the prison advocate who was freed by former President Donald Trump with the help of Ye and Kim Kardashian, was also there and she shared an enlightening speech amid fog and low-lighting about what this moment meant to her, why it was important to bring awareness to Larry Hoover, co-founder of the Chicago gang Gangster Disciples, and why he should be freed.

Aside from what his son, Larry Hoover Jr., said on Donda (not being around growing up, not being able to see his grandchildren), Johnson noted that Hoover was sentenced to serve over 100 years in prison. They’re calling it unjust because he’s mostly been in isolation his entire sentence. Though rumors swirled around on this dark, cold, night, that proceeds from the show would not go to charity, representatives confirmed that ticket sales from the evening (including a portion of the merch) were set to go to not-for-profit entities Ex-Cons for Community and Social Change, Hustle 2.0, and Uptown People’s Law Center.

The show was put together in just 18 days and according to Ye’s production lead for the event and founder of PHNTM, Gabe Fraboni, the large slab of concrete build centered in the middle of the stadium that everyone was buzzing about days before the show was made from something called shotcrete, he told Uproxx over the phone, with dirt at the bottom and a layer of concrete on top.

After Johnson spoke, the night grew longer and colder as the stadium filled up — even past start time. There was a lot of traffic on the way to the Coliseum — so even though viewers at home (especially the east coast) watching on Amazon Prime were deprived of their sleep, I know it made a lot of attendees happy to find the show hadn’t started when they arrived and there was time to stand around in line for a drink.

First to make an appearance on the night was the Sunday Service choir, donned in all black, descending upon the Coliseum stairs while anointing the show with their spirit and robust harmonies. Fog and the winter chill swirled the concrete mesa below the stairs when two illuminated figures arose from the gloom. The entire stadium stood up and cheered. There was so much to celebrate at that moment.

@uproxx

kinda wanna hear ye do more drake covers! 🤩 #fyp #drake #kanye #ovo #kanyetok #concerts #popculture

♬ original sound – UPROXX Music

As Drake took to the sidelines, Ye kicked things off with his Donda cut “Praise God” then went into a fury of his hits such as “Jesus Walks,” “All Falls Down,” and “Gold Digger.” The last time I saw Kanye live was in Dallas during his Touch The Sky Tour, so seeing him perform that exact track brought back warm memories and was a gentle reminder of why I became a fan in the first place. And Ye kept the classics coming. He kept the energy high with his peculiar dance moves that whirled in between a billowing fog and colorful lights. Those two elements were brewed together to create what Fraboni described as an “atmospheric” vibe.

By the way, there were no projectors — just Ye appearing mythical while dancing under the moonlight. With “Find Your Love” for instance, I thought Drake sounded a little strange. Nope. It was Mr. West doing his own rendition, only he was eclipsed by an abundance of fog. And it would make sense that Ye would cover Drake. Earlier that day, there was a video circulating of Drizzy practicing “24.”

When it was The Boy’s turn to perform on the mystic mesa, “24” is the first song he did and it sounded glorious. Aubrey didn’t take us back as Ye did by performing his classics. Instead, Drake opted to perform his more recent hits such as “Way 2 Sexy” and “God’s Plan.” Throughout Drake’s set, Ye’s influence was evident. From the way he hyped the crowd to his quirky way of moving across the stage, anyone watching could tell that Drake is a student of Kanye. You’ll be lucky to find Drake’s full performance of the show, however. Apparently, the new edit on Amazon only features the pair performing “Forever” as the finale. Drake’s entire 12-song set is gone.

Nevertheless, December 9 is a day that will go down in history when two of the music industry’s most illustrious acts, Ye and Drake, set aside their years-long beef to bring awareness to what’s going on with Larry Hoover in hopes of having him freed under Trump’s First Step Act. It’s too early to tell if the concert will actually help with that cause, but at least a few criminal justice reform organizations are getting some shine.

J Prince Says He Believes Drake Reconciled With Ye Because He Saw ‘The Bigger Picture’

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Tomorrow night, Ye and Drake will take over the Los Angeles Coliseum for their benefit concert for Larry Hoover, a Chicago gang founder currently serving a 150-200 year sentence for a 1973 murder. The show will be available on Amazon platforms and in IMAX theaters. However, it wouldn’t be happening without the rappers’ decision to set aside their differences, ending the beef they’ve had for the past three years. Rap-A-Lot Records CEO J Prince had a huge hand in helping Ye and Drake patch things up, but in a new interview with Billboard, he sets the record straight on how it went down.

“I painted the bigger picture to Drake,” Prince explained when he was asked why he thinks the two rappers met at Drake’s Toronto mansion late last month. “I let him know that this is a moment and movement that can save lives. I believe by Drake and Kanye being an example, as two of hip-hop’s top artists, that lives would be saved.” He continued, “I believe this is going to be imitated and it’s important to be an example to those that look up to you and that meant something to Drake — just the life-saving event wrapped around putting the spotlight on injustice, prison reform, and my brother Larry Hoover. Everything is icing on the cake after that, because he never envisioned things like that.”

Prince also made sure to note that he did not pressure or “force” Ye into setting aside his differences with Drake for the benefit concert. “It was an interesting conversation, but the furthest thing from the truth regarding any kind of force,” he said. “I heard all kinds of rumors, and that was the furthest thing from the truth To me, that moment was what I called an ‘anointing moment’ — because none of it was planned. It wasn’t planned where we had that meeting in that particular church, but me being a man of God, I couldn’t deny the invitation to actually meet him.”

The concert will kick-off at 11pm EST / 8pm PST on Thursday and stream on Prime Video, the Amazon Music app, and the Amazon Music Twitch channel in addition to IMAX theaters.

You can read J Prince’s full sit-down with Billboard here.

5 Rap Beefs That J Prince Should Fix Next

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J. Prince Assisting With Other Rap Beefs

Recently, Kanye West and Drake squashed their beef completely thanks to J. Prince and now the two are planning on having a Larry Hoover benefit concert in support of efforts to free the notorious gang leader. Here are some other notorious rap beefs that J. Prince should intervene in. Azealia Banks vs Everybody  Everywhere Azealia […]

Drake And Ye Have Reconciled According To A Picture They Took Together With J Prince

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After more than three years, it seems like Drake and Ye have ended their beef thanks to some help from J Prince. Ye posted a picture of himself, Drake, and J Prince after the trio met at Drake’s house. Drake also posted a video of himself and Ye turning up together at a party that featured an appearance from Dave Chappelle, who was also seen in the video. The rappers have J Prince to thank, as the Rap-A-Lot record label founder was set on bringing them back together so as to use their star power for a better cause.

It all started when Ye and J Prince met at the Rothko Chapel in Houston. Their discussion eventually led to the idea of Ye and Drake ending their beef so that both rappers could hold a benefit show advocating for the release of Chicago gang founder Larry Hoover. Ye initiated the reconciliation with a lengthy message he shared on Instagram. “I’m making this video to address the ongoing back-and-forth between myself and Drake,” he said. “Both me and Drake have taken shots at each other and it’s time to put it to rest. I’m asking Drake on December 7 to join me as a special guest to share the two biggest albums of the year live in Los Angeles with the ultimate purpose being to free Larry Hoover.”

Ye added, “I believe this event will not only bring awareness to our cause but prove to people everywhere how much more we can accomplish when we lay our pride to the side and come together.”

After the rappers spent years trading shots in their music and over social media, it’s good to see them on good terms. Now, all we can do is wait for more information on the December 7 benefit concert in Los Angeles.

Kanye West Wants To Squash Beef With Drake In Church At The Request Of Former Crime Boss, Larry Hoover

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Kanye West x J. Prince

Ye is ready to put his beef with Drake behind him. On Monday, J Prince shared a video to social media in which Kanye reads a statement addressing his beef with Drake. Kanye Seeks To End Beef In the video, Kanye is seen in Rothco Chapel in Houston flanked by hip-hop legend and icon J. […]

J Prince Somehow Convinced Ye To Post A Video Asking Drake To Settle Their Beef With A Benefit Performance In LA

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kanye west
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After several years of back-and-forth between the two collaborators turned rivals, the feud between Drake and Ye may soon come to an end, apparently thanks to Houston hip-hop impresario J Prince. Prince posted a video on Instagram of himself and Ye at Rothko Chapel in Houston in which Kanye reads a prepared statement on his phone requesting for Drake to join him onstage in Los Angeles at a benefit show advocating for the release of Chicago gang founder Larry Hoover.

“I’m making this video to address the ongoing back-and-forth between myself and Drake,” Kanye explains. “Both me and Drake have taken shots at each other and it’s time to put it to rest. I’m asking Drake on December 7 to join me as a special guest to share the two biggest albums of the year live in Los Angeles with the ultimate purpose being to free Larry Hoover. I believe this event will not only bring awareness to our cause but prove to people everywhere how much more we can accomplish when we lay our pride to the side and come together.”

According to Prince’s caption, he didn’t “plan” to meet Kanye at Rothko Chapel but did so at the behest of Hoover, who apparently wanted to see the two rappers bury the hatchet. Prince wrote, “Ye received this well and said thanks because he never had anyone that sat him down and explained things to him the way I did,” noting that he is “looking forward to all of us working together in unison to elevate our communities around the world.” Hoover was the co-founder of the Chicago Gangster Disciples gang and was sentenced in 1997 to a seriously unrealistic 150–200 years in prison for a laundry list of charges including drug conspiracy, extortion, and murder. He has since reportedly turned over a new leaf, advocating community charity and criminal justice reform.

As of press time, there has not been a response from Drake, but fans on social media have already begun speculating about the possibility of an end to the feud, as well as wondering how much J Prince’s menacing reputation factored into Ye’s low-key demeanor in the video compared to his most recent boisterous appearance on Drink Champs.

In any event, we’ll see if Drake plays ball and what ultimately comes of it. Worst case, Ye and Drake will put their petty disagreements to rest — even if one of them had to be forced into it by one of the most fearsome figures in rap history.