Music

J. Cole Is Apparently Playing For Rwanda’s Basketball Africa League Team

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J. Cole may not have played himself onto the roster for the NBA’s Detroit Pistons but it appears his hoop dream isn’t done quite yet. It looks like he’s about to compete for a roster spot in the newly-created Basketball Africa League according to Rwanda’s English newspaper, The New Times Rwanda. The New Times‘ Twitter account posted a video of J. Cole apparently preparing to play for the country’s Patriots team. The newspaper confirmed that his name is listed on the roster.

If he makes the team, there’s no telling how it’ll affect the rollout for his new album, The Off-Season (aside from turning the title into the biggest misnomer in hip-hop), but it’ll be the culmination of a lifelong dream for him to play professional basketball — a dream that saw him taking advice from Master P, who once made it onto the Toronto Raptors’ preseason roster, and working with Puma on his own basketball shoe.

It’ll also make Cole a member of the BAL’s inaugural season, as well as one of the few Americans to play in the new league. The BAL is a joint effort between the NBA and FIBA (International Basketball Federation) to promote the sport on the continent, developing its talent for international competition. It consists of 12 teams and is scheduled to begin May 16, 2021, after being postponed from March of 2020.

According to Shams Charania, Cole is signing with the Patriots and will play three to six games, beginning with Sunday’s game against Nigeria.

Arlo Parks Delivered A Tender Piano Cover Of Frank Ocean’s ‘Ivy’ For BBC Radio 1

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It’s not every performer that has the audacity to cover Frank Ocean, because delivering a performance that’s at least comparable to his exemplary vocal abilities is a significant challenge. However, Arlo Parks has emerged as one of the finest new vocalists to emerge in a while, and she did just fine when she took a crack at Ocean’s “Ivy” for a new BBC Radio 1 Piano Sessions performance. Seated behind the keys, she also sang one of her own songs, “Hurt.”

She shared some photos from the session and wrote, “It was an honour to sing sum Frank Ocean and Hurt for @bbcradio1’s Chillest Show – there’s something so deep and soothing about the piano as an instrument.”

These performances don’t come too long after her last time in a Radio 1 Piano Session: Back in September 2020, she joined Phoebe Bridgers to help out with a rendition of Radiohead’s “Fake Plastic Trees.” Parks also played piano as Bridgers sang her single “Kyoto.”

This also arrived just days ahead of this year’s Brit Awards, which take place tomorrow, May 11. Parks is up for handful of big awards: Best British Female, Breakthrough Artist, and Best Album (for Collapsed In Sunbeams).

Watch Parks’ performances of “Ivy” and “Hurt” above.

Saweetie Shoots Down Rumors She Was Busking For Tips After Her Impromptu Santa Monica Pier Performance

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Big stars aren’t always known for busking after they blow up, but on Saturday, Saweetie was seen on the Santa Monica Pier, performing her hit song “My Type” and her new single “Fast (Motion).” The impromptu performance looked to be exciting for fans in attendance, but as usual, the Twitter peanut gallery found plenty of negatives to strike out at — mainly, the fact that Saweetie seemed to be collecting donations in a tip jar while rapping to her hits. Saweetie herself responded and explained why their jabs and jokes were out of pocket.

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During an Instagram Live stream with fans the next day, Saweetie explained that she saw one of the pier’s usual buskers singing and asked if she could take over temporarily. The tip jar belonged to the singer and after her performance, she left the jar and all the money that had accumulated during her spur-of-the-moment show.

“Was I asking money?” she joked as she confirmed a fan’s question. “No, girl, I wasn’t asking for no money yesterday. Actually, yesterday was a spur of the moment and it was fun. We were at the Santa Monica Pier and I saw this upcoming artist, he was singing with his microphone. I was like, you know what, I got a new single so I’m gonna just perform for my fans because I love them so much and a couple of people noticed me. All the proceeds and donations from that tip jar was given to him.”

You can watch Saweetie’s explanation video below.

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

Slowthai Is Launching His Own Happyland Festival With Idles, Beabadoobee, And Others

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Event organizers are confident that the pandemic is finally starting to see itself out, as they’ve been planning concerts and festivals, mostly for towards the end of 2021. Now Slowthai has decided to get into the festival game, as he is launching his own, Happyland.

The event, presented with Goldenvoice (the folks behind big events like Coachella), will take place on September 25 at County Cricket Club in Northhampton, UK. Alongside Slowthai, the inaugural lineup also features Beabadoobee, Idles, Easy Life, Ethan P. Flynn, Greentea Peng, Izzie Gibbs, Pa Salieu, and Shygirl.

A statement accompanying the announcement reads, “Happyland with happy folk. The place where we can laugh and joke. The place you can be yourself without judgment, expectations and impressions of someone else. The space from the shackles of the everyday. The mountain where we climb to runaway. Imagine what you’ve never had when you come to Happyland… you will never be sad.”

He also wrote while sharing the news, “starting my own festival in my hometown!!! NN to the world… this has been a dream of mine forever. i’ll see you at the happyland.”

When it comes time for the festival, the rapper could have some new music out, as he said earlier this year he was making great progress on his next album.

Happyland tickets go on sale on May 14, so learn more about the festival here.

Questlove Explained Why He Helped A Baltimore Rapper Clear A Mariah Carey Sample

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Baltimore rapper YTK went viral on Saturday morning after he released his new single, “Let It Off,” which features a distinct sample of Mariah Carey’s 2005 track “Shake It Off.” After someone on Twitter reposted it with the caption, “Mariah Carey has 24 hours to respond,” Carey responded in a very light-hearted manner, writing “How about y’all have 24 hours to respond to my lawyers (purple heart).” It was later revealed that the singer’s reply was indeed a joke, but what some may not have realized is that Questlove also had a role in the ordeal.

The person who posting the inciting tweet reached out to Questlove to aid in clearing the sample for YTK’s track. Questlove then messaged Mariah and was able to put the Baltimore rapper in touch with the right people to begin the clearance process. He later explained on Twitter why he helped YTK get the sample cleared. “I’m DYIN,” The Roots drummer wrote in a tweet. “I helped w the Mariah sample cause 11 years ago we were in the same situation in which Erykah has 24 hours to clear “Gone Baby Don’t Be Long” w Paul McCartney & Lenny Kravitz saw the tweet & hit up Stella to hit her pops & the song was saved! #PayItForward.”

“Gone Baby Don’t Be Long” can be found on Erykah Badu’s 2010 album, New Amerykah Part Two (Return Of The Ankh), on which Questlove is credited on two songs. As for YTK, it remains to be seen if and when the rapper will land the sample clearance.

DJ Khaled Earns His Third No. 1 Album With ‘Khaled Khaled’

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Despite having 12 albums to his name, DJ Khaled hasn’t spent too much time atop the album charts. His first No. 1 was 2016’s Major Key, which came a decade after his debut Listen… The Album. Khaled earned his second chart-topper a year later with Grateful. He came up short in 2019 with Father Of Ashad, whose release was infamously bungled. This time around, Khaled has nothing to worry about, as Khaled Khaled debuted at the top of the Billboard 200.

The album debuted with a total of 93,000 units in its first week, a number comprised of 76,000 streaming equivalent album units and 14,000 pure album sales. Despite it topping the charts, the first-week total is the lowest amount for Khaled since his 2015 album, I Changed A Lot, which debuted with only 25,000 equivalent album units.

Looking further down the chart, the next four positions are occupied by former No. 1 albums. Moneybagg Yo’s first chart-topping album, A Gangsta’s Pain, clocks in at No. 2, while Morgan Wallen’s Dangerous: The Double Album holds still at No. 3. Justin Bieber’s Justice takes a step upward from No. 4 while Young Thug and YSL’s Slime Language 2 slipped down to No. 5

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

Drake Shows Love To The Mothers In His Life For Mother’s Day

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Drake has never been one to shy away from showing love to the mothers in his life. Examples of this come on songs like “Look What You’ve Done” and “You & The 6.” On the latter he raps, “You and the 6 raised me right, that sh*t saved my life” in reference to his mother Sandra while the former closed with a touching outro from his grandmother.

With that being said, it’s no surprise that the Toronto rapper used the Mother’s Day holiday to honor the moms around him, which includes Sophie Brussaux, the mother of his three-year-old son Adonis.

Screenshot From Rap-Up

The tributes came in the form of Instagram posts. Drake shared a pair of throwback photos that captured him close by his mother’s side with the caption, “Only look for sympathy inside my mothers eyes.” Elsewhere on his Instagram Story, the rapper posted pictures of Brussaux with Adonis and wrote “Happy Mother’s Day big mama @sophieknowsbetter.” She reposted the photo to her own Instagram Story and added three blue hearts to it.

This past weekend, Drake decided to use the Mother’s Day holiday to deliver a limited number of his own candles to fellow Canadians through Uber Eats and Postmates. Customers who ordered $50 or more worth of food through the food delivery service platforms could receive a free candle from the rapper’s Better World Fragrance House brand as long as supplies last. He also teased the brand’s “first scent series,” which debuted today and is available for purchase through the Better World Fragrance House website.

You can view the posts above.

Taylor Swift Was Mentioned In An AP US History Exam Question About Voter Turnout

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Taylor Swift has done a number of remarkable things in her career. Records have been broken and new levels of pop stardom have been reached, but her latest feat is quite the unique one.

According to TMZ, Swift appeared on an AP US Government And Politics exam for high school students this year. The test-takers are, of course, not allowed to use their phones during the exam, so pictures of the exact question are nowhere to be found but it’s reported that it used the singer to ask how voter registration laws affect citizen participation.

Prior to last year’s election, Swift ramped up her political involvement in a number of ways, mostly in an attempt to convince voters to stop Donald Trump from attaining a second term in office. One example came last summer when she slammed the then-president’s decision to hold billions of dollars from and place restrictions on the USPS, which some believed was an attempt to hurt the postal services’ attempt to handle mail-in ballots prior to the election.

“Trump’s calculated dismantling of USPS proves one thing clearly: He is WELL AWARE that we do not want him as our president,” she wrote on Twitter. “He’s chosen to blatantly cheat and put millions of Americans’ lives at risk in an effort to hold on to power.”

In another instance, Swift tried to rally Tennessee voters to select democrat Phil Bredesen — rather than the republican Rep. Marsha Blackburn — for the open U.S. Senate seat in the state.

J. Cole Will Release A Documentary For His Upcoming Album, ‘The Off-Season’

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After three long years, J. Cole will finally release a new album on Friday. The Off-Season arrives after quite the wait following his last solo full-length effort, 2018’s KOD. Fans of the Dreamville rapper haven’t been exactly deprived of music from him since the 2018 effort as they received an impressive guest feature run from Cole as well as Revenge Of The Dreamers III which he appeared on multiple times. Nonetheless, just five days remain until The Off-Season drops and now, the project will be preceded by a documentary as Cole revealed in a tweet on Sunday.

Cole shared a trailer for the documentary on his Twitter page, one he recently reactivated, with the announcement. In it, he speaks about the current stage of his career over videos of him in the studio and shooting some hoops at a basketball court.

“This is the moment that a lot of your favorite rappers hit a crossroad,” he says. “Are you okay with getting comfortable? Did you leave no stone unturned creatively? And when I thought about that feeling, I was like ‘Nah, I’m not cool with that.’” The upcoming documentary will be released on Monday at 1 p.m.

The trailer arrives after Cole shared the first single, simply titled “Interlude,” from the upcoming album. Fellow Dreamville rappers Cozz recently shared his thoughts on The Off-Season, calling it Cole’s “best sh*t to date.”

You can watch a trailer for the documentary in the post above.

Trey Songz Is Reportedly Accused Of Hitting A Woman With His Car

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The legal troubles are mounting for Trey Songz. According to TMZ, the singer was recently accused of striking a woman with his car earlier this month. The publication says Trey and the unnamed woman got into an argument on May 6 while they were in each other’s cars.

A police report that was filed afterward alleges the singer hit the woman’s car as she stepped out of her vehicle to confront him, and when he sped off from the scene, his vehicle also struck her hand in the process. The woman eventually called the police, but by the time they arrived, Songz had already fled the scene. The woman reportedly suffered injuries to her hand but refused medical attention. Police are calling the incident a hit-and-run and a representative for the singer has denied the allegations.

This is the latest in a string of accusations against Trey Songz. A little over a week ago, the singer was sued for punching a bartender at a Hollywood concert. In that matter, Songz allegedly jumped on the venue’s bar to sit during the show. He was then asked to get off the bar — a request which he ignored — and when a male bartender approached him to get his attention, the singer reportedly punched him in the head. He then looked at the other bartenders at the bar and went back to watching the concert. The bartender is seeking unspecified damages, citing physical and psychological injury.

Trey was also involved in a fighting a police officer during an NFL game, an altercation that, fortunately for him, resulted in no charges.

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