Last year, Boosie Badazz found himself facing backlash for some insensitive and transphobic comments he made about Dwyane Wade’s transgender daughter. Boosie’s remarks not only led to public scrutiny, but it also ended up getting him banned from his local Planet Fitness. Now, nearly a year later, Wade has directly responded to Boosie’s comments, saying that they were able to spark positive and necessary conversations about trans rights.
Wade recently sat down for a lengthy conversation on the I Am Athlete podcast. Throughout the interview, Wade opened up about the effects of toxic masculinity and the strength his daughter, Zaya, showed in coming out as transgender. Wade said that as soon as his daughter came out, he was committed to learning as much as possible about trans rights so that he could facilitate a happy and healthy life for her. The basketball player also addressed all the transphobic comments that were being thrown around after news broke of his daughter’s identity.
Name-dropping Boosie, Wade said the rapper’s comments were a way of bringing important conversations into the limelight: “Boosie, all the people who’ve got something to say about my kids, I thank you because you allow the conversation to keep going forward. You might not have the answer today, I don’t have all the answers, but we’re growing from all these conversations. I thank everybody for even hating and starting those conversations, because those conversations are starting other conversations that we need to have.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Wade described the moment he knew he needed to educate himself about trans rights in order to support his daughter:
“I’m looking at my child, scared to tell me, and I feel like I’m pretty open at this time. I realized that I need to do better, and I need to do more, and I need to educate myself. So what I did is I picked up the phone and I researched as much as I can because I needed to understand. I sat down with my child and I asked questions, because I didn’t know. It’s not our job and responsibility to tell you who you are. You are going to be who you’re going to be. It’s my job to put you in the best position to reach that goal of who you want to be. Right now, we’re experiencing that with Zaya. Last year, we came out and we spoke to the world that, hey, my 13-year-old came home and said, ‘Dad, this is who I am. I am a transgender child.’ We didn’t come out until she was 12, to the world. But the reason why we came out to the world was because I got tired of trying to hide my child. It came to the point where I said, am I hiding her from it, or I am hiding myself from it?”
Watch Wade’s full interview on the I Am Athlete podcast above.
21 Savage has joined a growing list of rappers who have decided to part ways with his permanent grills. The rapper opted to replace his signature gold smile with a new set of white teeth, and people had a lot to say about it. But rather than let the trolls knock his confidence, the rapper had the best response to quiet haters.
The rapper showed off his new smile in a series of beaming photos he posted to social media. Many were happy to see the rapper looking confident with his grin, but there were also a fair number of trolls in the comment section. “Very rare sell this as an NFT,” his frequent collaborator Metro Boomin wrote.
21 Savage wasn’t fazed by those who pointed out that he had some oral work done. Instead, he revealed just how much it cost to remove his gold grills and replace them with a pearly white smile. “I paid 75k I’ll be dammed if I let y’all say these teeth ain’t mine,” he wrote in response.
I paid 75k I’ll be dammed if I let y’all say these teeth ain’t mine
The rapper may have paid an eye-catching amount of money for his new teeth, but seeing as he accepts no less than six figures for a feature, he can clearly afford it. Along with spending money on his smile, 21 Savage has also been putting some of his cash into a charitable cause. Back in October, the rapper announced that he was committing $100,000 in scholarships to teach high school students about the importance of financial literacy.
In her new Cosmopolitan cover story, Saweetie comes clean about one of the formative incidents of her career. Addressing the infamous February 2018 Hot 97 interview in which host Ebro bullied her over her freestyle, calling it “basic” among other things, Saweetie says that the host’s insensitive comments left a lasting negative impression on her.
“It was a really dark point in my life,” she admits. ” went from being so loved so quickly because of ‘Icy Grl’ to, on my first promo run, well, you saw the interview. The script flipped really quick, like night and day. I was like, ‘Wait…’ I had PTSD from that.” She also notes that due to a lack of experience and artist development, which labels basically gave up on during the blog era ten years before “Icy Grl” blew up on Instagram, fans saw her as a bad performer, which further hurt her sense of self esteem.
“Because ‘Icy Grl’ was so popular, I was being booked at huge festivals,” she notes. “I was literally thrown into it.” However, she credits the experience with toughening her up and prepare her for success. “I’m really grateful for my start. Because the mistakes, the struggle, the grind—it allows me to appreciate the rewards that come now because I know what it feels like to sleep in motels, to drive and do promo, to be stressed out.”
It seems like every day brings another “BeatBox” freestyle, but Lil Yachty has arrived to shut it all down with his offering to the trend, “No More Beatboxing Freestyle.” As you may have guessed from the title, the first half of the song utilizes the beat from Coi Leray’s viral hit “No More Parties,” while the second half sees Boat taking a swing at SpotemGottem’s “BeatBox” instrumental.
In the accompanying visual, a solo Yachty roams his playhouse-like home, showing off his art collection. I use “art” here loosely, because the setup mostly consists of pop culture ephemera like life-size Batman and Ninja Turtle statues (shout out Leonardo), a clear-top piano, and a truly jaw-dropping collection of sneakers. In his rhymes, the former self-declared “king of the teens” recalls his explosive entry into the rap game and touches on his recent forays into Michigan’s underground rap scene with tracks like “Not Regular” and “Royal Rumble.”
Yachty, who is fresh off the dual releases of his tracks “Asshole” and “In My Stussy’s,” is the latest rapper to tackle the viral hit since DaBaby turned in a scene-stealing “Beat Box” freestyle of his own. Since then, Deante’ Hitchcock, Mulatto, and Polo G have all tried their hands, with Polo adding the twist of connecting the “No More Parties” beat, along with CJ’s “Whoopty.”
You should know better than to underestimate Cardi B. From her initial rise as a social media personality, to her status today as the reigning Queen of Rap, Cardi has shown herself to be an immensely durable and versatile figure within the popular imagination: a true renaissance (wo)man, capable of flitting between several different spheres while remaining completely and authentically herself.
This is no mean feat. Historically, the general public has reserved a great deal of suspicion for celebrities who have worn several hats. We’ve all sniggered at Gwyneth Paltrow’s transition from Hollywood actress to wellness guru under the banner of her tiresome lifestyle brand GOOP. We’ve all rolled our eyes at another Hollywood star flogging a vanity album of themselves crooning their way through an uninspiring selection of jazz or folk standards. Reality TV stars who have transitioned into music have an even more dubious track record. Who can forget Kim Kardashian’s first and last single, “Jam (Turn It Up)” (apart from almost everyone?)
Cardi B was born Belcalis Almanzar in 1992 in The Bronx, to a Trinidadian mother and a Dominican father. After being fired from several jobs (including working at a deli counter and as a cashier), in 2013 Cardi began to work as a stripper – a decision which she credits with “saving her,” giving her the ability to leave an abusive relationship and go back to school. It is during this period that Cardi first appeared in the public consciousness, when she began posting videos on Instagram and dearly-departed microblogging site, Vine.
Despite being several years away from starting her rap career, the star of these Vines is instantaneously recognizable as Cardi B. All the ingredients are there: the distinctive accent (part abrasive New Yawker, part melodious Spanish), the outrageous cackle, the outsized personality (part silly, part sexy, part campy), the filthy sense of humor and carnal preoccupation that, several years later, would result in endless criticism from conservative Americans. By 2013, the full range of Card B-isms were already in place: the trills and exclamations, the tongue-pop she uses like punctuation.
A 2017 cover story with The Fader describes the moment Cardi B’s manager encouraged her to “give rapping a try,” citing her distinctive accent as evidence that she’d do well as a rapper: “She had a natural ear for music. Her speaking style, in certain scenarios – like when she yelled at a dude on the phone – were proof of a unique voice.” While it’s true that Cardi raps how she speaks, she also raps what she speaks. Many of the snappy, vivid punchlines from Cardi’s Vines were recirculated, several years later, as rap verses. In one clip, Cardi B addresses the camera, faux-seriously: “People be asking me, like ‘what do you does? Are you a model? Are you like a comedian or something?” She smirks: “Nah, I ain’t none of that! I’m a hoe. I’m a stripper hoe. I’m about this shmoneyyyyy.” Two years later, Cardi would release “Stripper Hoe” and “What a Girl Likes” (the chorus of which goes, ‘gimme shmoney, gimme gimme shmoney’) – a crafty repurposing of comedic material which had been years in percolation.
Indeed, it is very easy to imagine a reality in which Cardi is a model or a comedian. A VP of a New York celebrity talent agency described her as “A TV personality – she was born to be famous.” Unsurprising then, that Cardi excelled when she was cast on VH1 reality show Love & Hip-Hop, quickly becoming the show’s break-out star. One standout moment from the show went viral: while discussing an ex-friend, Cardi declares “if a girl has beef with me, she gon have beef with me -” a loaded pause, a pirouette – “forevah.” Again, a year later the zinger would reappear, as the chorus of excoriating single, “Forever.”
This phenomenon has begun happening without Cardi B’s input. In the first few months of the pandemic, Cardi posted an impassioned monologue imploring her followers to take the virus seriously, which resulted in several, ahem, viral remixes.
If you are a martian who somehow hasn’t heard a single Cardi B song, you would be forgiven for thinking, from these accounts, that Cardi makes novelty music. That her music is an extended joke, an overplayed meme, the commercially-driven over-extension of a social media personality. This isn’t the case, at all – Cardi B’s rhymes may be superficially amusing, but her songs frequently have great soul and depth. In this instance, the things that make her great at social media – her charm, her scrutiny, her self-awareness – translate into being great at making music.
Something particularly notable about Cardi’s debut album, Invasion Of Privacy, is that it feels retro – oddly so, for a star who has built their career through social media. In an age where albums are frequently formatted to appease Spotify algorithms (see: Drake’s Scorpion, which stretched to a whopping 25 tracks, presumably to wring as many streams out of each user as possible), Cardi’s debut is a very reasonable 13 songs.
It would have been easy for Cardi to pack Invasion Of Privacy full of racy raps and crowd-pleasing braggadocio, but instead, the album is nuanced, an emotionally varied piece of work. One example of this is “Be Careful,” a bruised ode to a cheating lover. Here, Cardi is measured and beneficent, rather than vengeful: “Do you know what you’re doing? Whose feelings that you’re hurting and bruising? You gonna gain the whole world, but is it worth the girl that you’re losing?”
In a 2019 article for The Guardian, Jia Tolentino described social media as humans “reproducing the lessons of the marketplace.” In many ways, Cardi has done this throughout her entire career – she’s just been one step ahead of the marketplace the entire time. Rather than waiting for the internet to make memes out of her, Cardi memes herself, exhaustively mining her own back catalogue and reprocessing her best bits. Rather than working with a label A&R department to form her image and to grow her fanbase, like a rapping Venus, Cardi arrived fully-formed. Watching back over her old Vines, we see a fully-fledged star, a totally cohesive media personality with a distinct vocabulary and a ready-made fanbase of millions of followers. All Atlantic had to do was ink the contract and send over the songwriters.
As streaming and social media has complicated the business of being a pop star, a new term has emerged in A&R circles. The ‘artist-brand’ – a marketing construct which presents the idealized pop star as a global media personality, who can command several streams of revenue, and who are able to communicate and promote themselves effectively across cultural contexts, and within many different forms of media. Cardi has intuitively taken to the spheres of social media, television, and music – what comes next? Interestingly, Cardi has proven herself to be a skilled political commentator. She was a valuable asset to the Bernie Sanders campaign, hosting a charming interview with the senator. Her presence loomed large during the New York Women’s March, with her tweets and song lyrics appearing on several signs held by attendees.
While Americans may be finished with reality TV stars becoming president, it isn’t difficult to imagine Cardi establishing herself as a maverick political influencer. Personally, I can’t wait for the next installment of The Cardi B Show.
Cardi B is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
Today, Michelle Obama and her When We All Vote organization dropped an open letter in support of the For The People Act, which the Congress website says is intended “to expand Americans’ access to the ballot box, reduce the influence of big money in politics, strengthen ethics rules for public servants, and implement other anti-corruption measures for the purpose of fortifying our democracy, and for other purposes.”
A lot of famous people showed their support for Obama’s letter by signing it, and musicians whose names appear on the letter include organization co-chairs Faith Hill, Janelle Monáe, Lin-Manuel Miranda, and Selena Gomez; as well as Alicia Keys, Ariana Grande, Billie Eilish, Common, DJ Khaled, Fat Joe, Finneas, Jennifer Lopez, Joe Jonas, John Legend, Kevin Jonas, LL Cool J, Nick Jonas, and The Roots.
The letter begins, “We write to you today as citizens who love this country and care deeply about its future. And right now, the most important thing we can do to protect that future is to rise together in support of the For the People Act currently before the Senate — the most significant piece of legislation to strengthen our democracy since the Civil Rights movement.
We write to you today as citizens who love this country and care deeply about its future. And right now, the most important thing we can do to protect that future is to rise together in support of the For the People Act currently before the Senate–the most significant piece of legislation to strengthen our democracy since the Civil Rights movement.
On January 6th, a violent mob laid siege to our nation’s Capitol, determined to overturn the results of a presidential election that their preferred candidate lost. It was a shocking and outrageous assault on our democracy–and a sobering reminder that we can no longer take our system of self-government for granted. In the months since, a new president and vice president were sworn in and some insurrectionists are now facing justice for their roles in that historic day of shame.
Yet we cannot act as if the threat to American democracy has passed.
Already this year, in state houses across the country, more than 250 bills spread across 43 states have been introduced to further weaken our democracy and make it more difficult for Americans to vote. These bills seek to make it harder to register to vote and cast a ballot by limiting early and mail-in voting and setting up more barriers that particularly impact Black, Brown, and young people. Some of these undemocratic measures have already become law, with others surely to follow.
What’s happening is this: After more Americans than ever voted in the last presidential election, some state leaders believe that silencing them is the only way to maintain their grip on power. They’re hoping to choose their voters, rather than the other way around. And if we as Americans stand idly by–if we wait for others to act or we refuse to do so with anything other than clear purpose and full-hearted patriotism–they will succeed.
Our nation was founded on the idea that as citizens, we should be able to determine our nation’s destiny. Generations of Americans have rightly organized, marched, and died to defend that ideal and expand voting and civil rights to women and minorities–a story that continues to this day. Today, the moment calls for us to take up that patriotic call to protect and expand those rights once again. And that’s why we must rally behind the passage of the For the People Act.
This bill is not about choosing one party or one issue over another. It is about commonsense reforms and best practices that make our democracy more open, more fair, and more inclusive. It is about reaffirming our founding principle that we can chart our own course as a nation.
The For the People Act is about moving closer to the America we aspire to be–a land of opportunity where every voice is heard and valued. Among the tremendous progress it promises, this bill will
Expand automatic voter registration, adding as many as 50 million people to voter rolls;
Expand same-day and online voter registration for federal elections, which are especially important for young people and first-time voters;
Allow for pre-registration for 16- and 17-year-olds, so that when they get their driver’s license, they are also registered and ready to vote when they turn 18;
Require two weeks of early voting for federal elections, including on the weekends and after work, and increased access to vote-by-mail, so no American has to decide between making their voice heard and earning a living, taking care of their family, or staying safe during a pandemic;
Make Election Day a national holiday, making it easier for more Americans to cast a ballot;
Restore the right to vote for people with felony convictions, which disproportionately impacts minority communities;
Strengthen federal criminal penalties for those who misinform and intimidate people at the polls;
Overhaul our campaign finance system to give ordinary Americans a greater voice in the political process and afford a more diverse array of people the opportunity to run; and
Ban partisan gerrymandering and discriminatory voter purges.
We applaud the House for passing this bill, and now we urge the Senate to follow suit and do its part to protect our democracy. And if that means eliminating or instituting meaningful reform to the filibuster–a relic of Jim Crow and an arcane chamber rule increasingly abused to create gridlock and forestall progress–the Senate should act. We cannot continue to allow the will of the majority of Americans to be overshadowed by an oppositional few fixated on maintaining power. Because make no mistake, as a recent poll showed, large majorities of Americans support this bill across party lines–including more than half of Republican voters.
So today we call on Americans of conscience and goodwill to join us in taking a stand for voting rights and to put the power more firmly in the hands of the people. We urge every American to remember how it felt to watch as our Capitol was desecrated earlier this year–and to channel that outrage into patriotic duty.
We are asking you to join us by calling on your Senators to pass the For the People Act immediately–you can join our efforts right now at http://www.WhenWeAllVote.org.
Just as those who came before us turned the crack of a baton or the spray of a firehose into a Voting Rights Act; just as those who turned literacy tests, poll taxes, and other forms of discrimination into organized, concrete, and hopeful action on behalf of their votes, we too can make our mark on history. We too can right wrongs in our time and pave the way for those who come after us.
We can do so much better as a country. But we’ll never be able to do it alone. Now is our best chance to protect and strengthen our democracy and put power back where it belongs–with the people. We ask you to stand with us.
With hope,
When We All Vote Co-Chairs, Ambassadors and Supporters.”
Back in February, it was reported that NBA Youngboy was under federal investigation. The rapper had been arrested in Baton Rouge back in September at a video shoot alongside 16 others for guns and weapons charges, and the FBI was looking into his involvement. Apparently, NBA Youngboy was issued a warrant but had never appeared in court. However, all that changed Monday when police were finally able to catch up with him.
According to a report from CBS Los Angeles, Youngboy was driving in the Tarzana neighborhood of LA when police noticed he had an outstanding warrant. They attempted to pull him over, but he refused and prompted a short pursuit. Once the car was finally stopped, police say he fled the scene on foot. Officers set up a perimeter and brought in a K-9 to help track him down. TMZ claims that the K-9 did not bite the rapper, just sniffed him out.
It’s unclear why police had initially issued a warrant against NBA Youngboy. After he was arrested in September on firearm charges, he was released the next day on bail and his representative proclaimed he was “innocent of the crimes he was arrested for.”
Youngboy Never Broke Again is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
Speaking directly to fans in a video posted to social media, Cardi detailed how critics only give her motivation to keep up the hard work:
“Y’all be claiming that, yeah, you want females to strive and all that, but that’s a lie — y’all be hating. Y’all keep asking how I do this, how I do that, blah, blah, blah. Let me tell you something because y’all like to bring all these excuses for my success. […] A b*tch is winning, get over with it. The more hate y’all think, the more harder I get, the more sh*t I have to talk about for my album. Stop hating. When I win, it doesn’t take away from other women’s success, neither. When another female wins, it doesn’t take away from nobody’s success so stop crying.”
Cardi then proceeded to read off the accolades that her single earned this week. Along with extending her record for the most No. 1 singles by a female rapper, “Up” earned 26.5 million streams last week alone. That makes it the most-streamed song of the week, and it also reportedly raked in $18,300 in sales.
Cardi B is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
Ever since Anderson .Paak and Bruno Mars released their side project Silk Sonic‘s debut single “Leave The Door Open,” the track has been everywhere. The duo even brought the sultry single to the Grammys stage for a groovy performance. Now, Chloe Bailey, one half of R&B sister duo Chloe x Halle, has put her own spin on the song.
Chloe x Halle are usually joined at the hip, but Halle is currently in the UK while filming a live action version of Disney’s The Little Mermaid. Because of their distance, the two formed separate social media accounts in recent weeks, and Chloe has been enjoying her independence. The singer even broke the internet after participating in a viral “Buss It” challenge.
This time, Chloe opted to showcase her talent by taking on a cover of “Leave The Door Open.” Sharing her version on TikTok, Chloe stripped back the lush single into a piano ballad. The singer took the opportunity to display her powerhouse vocals, hitting high notes during the song’s chorus.
Ahead of Chloe’s cover, the singer was able to virtually attend the 63rd Grammy Awards last week. She and her sister were nominated for three Grammy Awards, including Best Traditional R&B Performance, Best Progressive R&B Album, and Best R&B Song. Even though Chloe x Halle didn’t end up winning in any category, Chloe said she’s “grateful to be on this journey” with her sister.
Watch Chloe Bailey’s “Leave The Door Open” cover above.
Bruno Mars is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
Despite an unprecedented year, Jay-Z has been doing very well for himself. The rapper has secured a number of business deals in the last year, including his Tidal deal with Jack Dorsey’s Square. And while Jay-Z’s endeavors have made him a good amount of money, apparently his signature alone is worth a hefty sum as well. A Jay-Z trading card that was signed by the rapper himself just sold for a record-breaking amount of money at an auction.
An autographed Jay-Z “Signs Of Stardom” Topps trading card from 2005 was recently posted for sale on the online auction platform Goldin Auctions. While the card had some initial bids hovering around the $2,000 mark, one buyer was able to up the ante. Closing out the sale, Jay-Z’s trading card was purchased by a fan for a whopping $105,780. The six-figure sale means that it was sold for more money than any other non-sports trading card ever.
Online sports card platform SlabStox first picked up the exciting news on social media. “This is a public service announcement… a Jay-Z Topps Chrome Superfractor RC Auto 1/1 just sold for $105,780 via @goldinauctions. That marks the all-time record for a non-sports/TCG card,” they wrote.
(@1DJFirstClass) 
