Black Thought And Danger Mouse Tap Russ, Joey Badass, And Dylan Cartlidge For The Posse Cut ‘Because’

Posse cuts tend to come few and far between these days, but when they do, they’re always refreshing. Something about a simple drum pattern, vocal sample, and unbridled spitting just does the beloved Hip-Hop genre justice. Today, Black Thought and Danger Mouse unleashed their latest single “Because” featuring Joey Badass, Russ, and Dylan Cartlidge. Each rapper takes turns doing what they do best, seemingly unphased by the fact they are part of the single that is shorter than a typical song. Who could complain about more bars?

“Because” is the second release from Black Thought and Danger Mouse’s upcoming collaborative project Cheat Codes, a major moment for Danger Mouse who hasn’t maintained much of a presence in the rap space since his Dangerdoom project The Mouse & The Mask with the late MF DOOM from 2006. Mouse hasn’t completely been away from music though, joining up with Karen O for 2019’s Lux Prima. For Black Thought, this follows his Streams Of Thought trilogy which concluded in 2020.

Danger Mouse and Black Thought released their lead single “No Gold Teeth” back in May, kicking off the Cheat Codes rollout which is set to also feature Raekwon, Conway The Machine, A$AP Rocky, Run The Jewels, and more.

Listen to “Because” above.

Cheat Codes is out 08/12 via BMG. Pre-order it here.

The Music World Shares Their Condolences After The Tragic Shooting At Texas’ Robb Elementary School

On Tuesday, The United States was once again hit with news of a mass shooting, and this time, it sadly occurred at an elementary school. An 18-year-old gunman entered Texas’ Robb Elementary School and began shooting at students and teachers in the building. The suspect, Salvador Ramos, was eventually shot and killed during a stand-off with officers. According to AP, the incident is the deadliest shooting at a U.S. grade school since 20 students and six adults were killed at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Connecticut back in 2012.

The shooting at Robb Elementary School occurred just ten days after a racially-motivating shooting at a supermarket in Buffalo left ten dead. Unfortunately, both cases are examples of the mass shootings that occurred over and over again in the United States over the last decade. The shooting has left the music world to send condolences and extend a loving hand to a community, and a country, that could really use it.

Taylor Swift offered her words after she watched Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr speak passionately and criticize government leaders during a press conference. “Filled with rage and grief, and so broken by the murders in Uvalde,” Taylor wrote. “By Buffalo, Laguna Woods and so many others. By the ways in which we, as a nation, have become conditioned to unfathomable and unbearable heartbreak. Steve’s words ring so true and cut so deep.”

Missy Elliot also shared a message of her own on Twitter. “We living in some TRYING TIMES… It’s heavy,” she wrote. “I am praying for everyone that is struggling MENTALLY/FINANCIALLY/PHYSICALLY that some PEACE be RESTORED! So many in the world is dealing with pain & I don’t have the answers but I send you LOVE virtually.”

You can view more messages from artists in the posts below.

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

Joey Badass Keeps His Album Hype Going With A Tough Funk Flex Freestyle Over Mobb Deep

Joey Badass made his name with multisyllabic, throwback rhymes over ’90s rap instrumentals, so it’s only right that he utilizes one in a new freestyle for Funkmaster Flex. Stopping by the Hot 97 studio to promote his upcoming album, 2000, Joey taps into the classic rap vein that first got him so much attention over the beat from Mobb Deep’s 1995 track “Give Up the Goods (Just Step).”

“I’m back, I’m better than I ever been,” he boasts. “I took five years off, still somehow I’m relevant.”

Of course, he’s referring to the fact that his last full-length album, All-Amerikkan Badass, dropped in 2017. Since then, he has focused mainly on building his acting resume, taking roles in shows such as Mr. Robot, Grown-ish, Wu-Tang: An American Saga, and Power Book III: Raising Kanan. His most notable role to date, though, was his starring turn in the Netflix short film Two Distant Strangers, which won the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film.

However, also in 2020, he dipped his toe back into rap, releasing the three-track EP, The Light Pack, featuring on Russ’ Chomp 2 in 2021, and kicking off 2022 with “The Revenge” and an appearance on A Colors Show to debut “Head High.” On Wednesday this week, he announced the release date for 2000 as well as the tour dates.

Watch Joey Badass’ Funk Flex freestyle above.

Joey Badass Reveals His New Album’s Title And Release Date In A Nostalgic Skate Video

It has been a good five years since we last got a full-length project from Brooklyn rapper Joey Badass — not including, of course, the long-awaited addition of his breakthrough mixtape 1999 to DSPs in 2018. In the years since, he’s ghostwritten for Post Malone; become a father; built an impressive filmography with roles on Mr. Robot, Boomerang, Wu-Tang: An American Saga, and Power Book III: Raising Kanan (although he did turn down a role in The Harder They Fall); and dropped a three-song EP, but fans naturally have wondered all along whether (or rather when) he’d ever make a return to rap full-time.

He may have given the answer today on Twitter. He posted a video of him cruising at a skate park, soundtracked by what sounds like an all-new track. Backed by the sort of nostalgic, throwback beat he used to make his debut in rap back in 2012, he rhymes, “Back on the set like I never left / I’m taking steps to be the best ’til they lay me to rest.” At the end of the 30-second clip, the number 2000 appears — an obvious but still oblique reference to his debut mixtape — and the date June 17 flashes across the screen.

While it’s possible that this could just be a track announcement, the date being so far out plus the tie-in to his fan-favorite full-length suggest that it’s more likely to be an LP. We’re sure to receive more details as June 17 nears, and for those of us who’ve been impatiently waiting, the next month might well be the hardest part of them all.

Update: A press release confirms Joey Badass’ new album is called 2000 and is due June 17 via Columbia Records. In addition, he’s also announced his upcoming tour dates to promote the new album, which you can see below.

7/01/22 — Boston, MA @ Big Night Live
7/02/22 — Montreal, QC @ MTELUS
7/03/22 — Toronto, ON @ Rebel
7/06/22 — Philadelphia, PA @ Theatre of Living Arts
07/07/22 — New York, NY @ Terminal 5
07/08/22 — Silver Spring, MD @ The Fillmore
07/09/22 — Norfolk, VA @ The Norva
07/10/22 — Atlanta, GA @ Masquerade – Heaven Stage
07/12/22 — Chicago, IL @ House of Blues
07/13/22 — Minneapolis, MN @ The Fillmore
07/15/22 — Denver, CO @ Mission Ballroom
07/17/22 — Salt Lake City, UT @ The Complex – Rockwell
07/19/22 — Portland, OR @ Roseland Theater
07/20/22 — Vancouver, BC @ Vogue Theatre
07/21/22 — Seattle, WA @ Showbox SoDo
07/23/22 — San Francisco, CA @ The Regency Ballroom
07/24/22 — Sacramento, CA @ Ace of Spades
07/26/22 — San Diego, CA @ House of Blues
07/27/22 — Santa Ana, CA @ Observatory
07/28/22 — Los Angeles, CA @ The Novo

Joey Badass Explains Why He Turned Down A Role In The Jay-Z Produced Western, ‘The Harder They Fall’

In addition to being a rap star with beloved mixtapes like 1999 and party-starting singles such as “The Revenge” to his name, Joey Badass has been building out his acting resume, adding roles in Hulu’s Wu-Tang: An American Saga and Grown-ish to his ever-expanding list of accomplishments. However, he recently missed out on a highly coveted role in the Jay-Z-produced, Jeymes Samuel-directed Western, The Harder They Fall, as he revealed in a new interview with Ebro Darden for Apple Music. Originally, the role of cocky quickdraw gunslinger Jim Beckwourth, played in the film by RJ Cyler, was meant for Joey.

After meeting Samuel at the Roc Nation Brunch in 2020, Joey says Samuel first pitched him the role of Beckwourth. “He said he was working on this crazy film, which was The Harder They Fall,” Joey recalled. “He had this role for me. Like, you see dude with the pistols and sh*t? That’s supposed to be me. Shout to my man RJ [Cyler] though, who actually got the role. The young dude with the two pistols and everything. Jeymes wanted me to play that role.”

Unfortunately, it turned out Joey’s success in securing new acting roles actually prevented him from accepting this one. “[Samuel] called me a few months later, it was like March,” he continued. “He was like, ‘Yo, I need you to come to Arizona,’ I think that’s where they were shooting it, or New Mexico, something like that, so I could do this role. I had just accepted the role on Power for Unique, so now it was like a conflict. We were still trying to make it work, but unfortunately, it didn’t work.”

Eventually, though, Samuel helped Joey land the role in the Oscar-winning short film Two Distant Strangers, so things weren’t all that bad. You can check out the video of the full interview below.

Best New Music This Week: King Von, Joey Badass, Pusha-T, NIGO, and More

via Complex Original

  • King Von, “War” 


  • Pusha-T & NIGO, “Hear Me Clearly”


  • Joey Badass, “Head High”


  • DaBaby & YoungBoy Never Broke Again, “Head Off” 


  • Morray f/ Cordae, “Still Here” 


  • Blxst & Zacari, “Sometimes”