Ahead of his upcoming Vinyl Verse Tour with Wiz Khalifa, Logic will drop his seventh studio album, Vinyl Days next month. The album follows Logic’s January announcement of him coming out of his rap retirement.
Earlier this year, Logic teased the tracks “Breath Control,” along with Vinyl Days‘ title track. This month, he released “Therapy Music,” which features Russ. On “Therapy Music,” Logic raps, “I keep my ego in check, just me and this instrumental pumpin’ through this cassette deck / Money don’t represent my rank / Yeah, Logic rose from jack but even the Titanic sank / I seen cats with egos bigger than cruise ships lose it / Gain power and abuse it.”
Last month, he dropped a double single, comprised of the tracks “Tetris” and “Decades.” This came after a public dispute with Def Jam, who originally planned to release them as two standalone singles. “What the f*ck is going on, man? I told Def Jam that I wanted to release my sh*t as a two-pack,” Logic said in an Instagram video, “and I just found out that they’re releasing it as two singles at the same time. What kind of sh*t is that?… I care about my fans, man. I care about hip-hop. I care about music.”
Fortunately, it seems Logic got his way after all.
Check out the Vinyl Days artwork below.
Courtesy of Def Jam
Vinyl Days is out 6/17 via Def Jam. Pre-save it here.
Over the weekend, an 18-year-old white man walked into a market in Buffalo, New York, and began shooting people. He killed 10 and injured another three, motivated by bigotry and ignorance as evidenced by a 180-page manifesto he posted online. It was one of just four mass shootings that took place over the past weekend, and the latest example of how genuinely messed up the political and social climate has gotten. As the world reacted to the tragedy, Cardi B, who often has canny observations about current events, didn’t reserve any sympathy for the perpetrator.
“Mass shooters are not mentally ill,” she tweeted on Sunday in the wake of the attack. Oftentimes, in the wake of a mass shooting (the fact I have to write “often” in that sentence is pretty sick, right?), the discourse will turn into a debate about mental health. However, Cardi wasn’t having any of this distraction tactic this time around. “They have [an] evil mentality.”
Mass shooters are not mentally ill.They have a evil mentality.
As usual, Cardi might be onto something. It’s telling that there’s assumed victimhood for the people who perpetrate these terroristic acts, as though they can’t be held responsible for their actions. But I gotta say, a guy writes 180 pages about how much he hates people he’s never met, that tells me he’s perfectly functional, his thinking has just been warped.
Cardi B is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
The only thing worse than possibly taking an L and having the whole internet laugh at you over it is having video footage of said L pop up online. Freddie Gibbs, who recently performed in Buffalo, New York with what appeared to be a swollen eye, had been the subject of some nasty rumors that said he’d been jumped just hours before. Now, TMZ has the footage, which depicts Gibbs and a whole bunch of other men trading blows inside the Dinosaur Bar-B-Que restaurant.
While there’s still no official word on just what started the brawl, fans have been running with one theory in particular due to its location and the war of words Freddie has been waging on hometown hero Benny The Butcher. While he’d previously enjoyed a healthy working relationship with all the members of Griselda Records, a recent exchange between Gibbs and the notoriously outspoken Westside Gunn seemed to sour that connection.
Then, after Benny dismissed a rumor of a joint album between the two, saying their time “came and went,” the prickly Gibbs took his words as a challenge. They have been going back and forth on social media ever since. However, if recent events are connected to their tiff, perhaps cooler heads will prevail and they can talk out their differences like grownups.
Watch the video of Freddie Gibbs’ restaurant fight above.
Jack Harlow may have been the last person to know that Brandy and Ray J are siblings. This news made headlines last week following Harlow’s appearance on Hot 97, when he was played Brandy’s “Angel In Disguise.”
When played the sound clip, Harlow was instructed to guess the performing artist. Hosts Peter Rosenberg and Ebro Darden offered hints, saying, “Her brother is the reason a lot of people are famous,” and, “Her brother has an amazing sex tape.”
Harlow immediately caught on that the hosts were referring to Ray J, to which he responded, “Who is Ray J’s sister?”
“It’s Brandy,” shouted host Laura Stylez.
“Brandy and Ray J are siblings? Nobody’s ever told me that in my life,” replied Harlow.
Since Harlow’s appearance on Hot 97, neither Ray J or Brandy had responded until early this morning, when Brandy responded to a video clip shared by a fan account on Twitter.
“I will murk this dude in rap at 43 on his own beats and then sing [h]is ass to sleep,” said Brandy in a tweet.
I will murk this dude in rap at 43 on his own beats and then sing is ass to sleep.
As Spotify continues to add bells and whistles to the streaming service’s artist profiles like the ability to buy concert tickets and merch, they’re beginning to test out NFTs, too. As Music Ally and Billboard report, artists like Steve Aoki and The Wombats present two of the early test cases, where artists can promote their NFT’s on their profiles and people can click through to purchase them on NFT marketplaces. The test is currently available to select US users via Spotify’s the Android app.
At first glance, this does seem like a slippery slope of sorts, as artists have turned to NFTs as a way to control 100% of the net proceeds from the sale of their music and publishing rights. Considering Spotify pays artists a paltry sum that lies somewhere between $0.003 to $0.005 per stream, it’s understandable to think that there might be an ulterior motive at play from the Swedish streaming giant.
“Spotify is running a test in which it will help a small group of artists promote their existing third-party NFT offerings via their artist profiles,” a spokesperson from Spotify told Music Ally. “We routinely conduct a number of tests in an effort to improve artist and fan experiences. Some of those tests end up paving the way for a broader experience and others serve only as an important learning.”
Music Ally also reported that Spotify isn’t taking a cut of any NFT sales in this test. But one has to wonder if they’ll take a cut of whatever the NFT marketplace makes? Or if when the testing period is over and the feature is fully implemented, that they’ll indeed work their way into taking a cut of the direct sale of the NFT. Promoting an NFT on Spotify does not seem like a good proposition for smaller artists who count on the sale of their NFTs as a main source of income. But for artists like Aoki, or The Wombats, who have a comfortable pipeline of income sources and are looking to spread the word about their new blockchain ventures, then this might make sense.
The responses from people on social media have shown the inherent distrust that Spotify has built among users and non-users alike. “Just feels like they’ll find a way take the power from artist’s again,” one Twitter user said. “Work on your established problems first,” another user suggested, while another user issued the ultimatum that, “If Spotify goes in this direction im gonna cancel my subscription.”
Spotify testing NFT features sketches me out.
This is the same company that pays artists $0.004 per stream.
Just feels like they’ll find a way take the power from artist’s again.
not spotify checking to see how i feel about NFTs please do better and stop listening to the guys in the meetings that get No Bitches. work on your established problems first
Spotify has a survey up rn thats very NFT focused. some questions even FORCE YOU to answer positively to NFTs. disappointed af, if Spotify goes in this direction im gonna cancel my subscription.
For the most part, ceremonial first pitches are wholly uninteresting in the world of Major League Baseball. Honorees run the gamut from celebrities to local heroes to relatively anonymous people but, every once in a while, true magic occurs. One of those instances happened on Monday in Boston when Steve Aoki strolled to the mound to deliver the opening offering before a matchup between the Red Sox and the Houston Astros.
This is an immediate hall of fame entry in the worst first pitches of all-time, simply because of where the ball landed. Aoki never seemed particularly comfortable with where his setup began, for some reason starting on the upslope on the back of the mound, but, as soon as he begin his move to the plate, there was an elaborate wind-up which probably was not the best idea.
From there, the angle set Aoki up for a disaster, and the ball’s trajectory got out of control with haste. In the videos above, you can get a glimpse of the horror and/or amazement from the patrons in attendance at Fenway Park, but onlookers probably just cannot get enough of this video. The debate will rage as to whether this was truly the worst of all-time since, well, Aoki at least made it to the plate, but it was a sight to behold.
Of the many subplots of the Suns disastrous Game 7 performance against the Mavs on Sunday night, the one that has the most bearing on Phoenix’s future is that of Deandre Ayton’s standing with the team.
Ayton played just 17 minutes and when Monty Williams was asked why Ayton got benched after the game, he sternly replied “it’s internal” and moved on to other topics. On Monday, Williams and Ayton had still not sat down to discuss whatever happened 1-on-1, although Monty had spoken with the team and seemed ready to move on, but given Ayton’s status as a restricted free agent this summer set to command a max contract, that entire situation complicates the Suns’ summer plans.
There were rumblings on Twitter from some fans in the Footprint Center near the Suns bench of an argument in the second half between Ayton and Williams in a tunnel, but no visual confirmation from TV cameras or anything that was noticed by those covering the game live. As such, that hasn’t become the massive topic it would if there were such video evidence and mostly it’s been a lot of shrugging and speculating on Ayton’s future.
However, Skip Bayless had a man on the ground in Phoenix sitting across from the Suns bench, none other than Lil Wayne (who got roasted for his “Luka a ho” tweet from earlier in the series), and was willing to report that Williams and Ayton had a spat that led to them being separated after Williams, allegedly, told Ayton he “quit on us.”
“From what our man Lil Wayne told me, he was sitting across [from the Suns bench], Monty got so upset with Ayton that he said, ‘You freaking quit on us'”
Skip Bayless with some insight on what happened between Monty Williams & Deandre Aytonpic.twitter.com/SbtNojdheH
Now, this is a wild game of telephone going from Lil Wayne seated across the court and either hearing this or lip-reading it (Bayless wasn’t sure which) and then relaying it to his close personal friend Skip Bayless who brought this information to a national TV audience. At some point, especially if Ayton departs Phoenix this summer, we will likely get some stronger sourced reporting on what exactly happened that got Ayton benched, but this would certainly explain why Monty was clearly upset about it after the game and not willing to discuss the matter.
If it ends up being the case, then everyone better credit pre-eminent NBA newsbreaker Lil Wayne for having the scoop first.
49-year-old Stephen Walter, one of the men who sold Mac Miller the pills that caused the rapper’s fatal overdose in 2019, has been sentenced to 17 and a half years in prison after he pled guilty last year to the distribution of fentanyl. Water, who had continued to sell counterfeit oxycodone pills cut with Fentanyl even after Miller’s death, had previously made a plea deal for 17 years, but US District Judge Otis D. Wright, II rejected the deal, saying it was too lenient for the offense, according to Rolling Stone.
“The court has elected not to accept that plea agreement,” he said. “So, sir, if you want, at this point, you can withdraw your guilty plea and go to trial. I may as well lay it out. When you continue to engage in this activity even after your activities killed someone, I’m having a tough time not staying within the guidelines.”
Walter, however, decided not to argue after conferring with his lawyer. Although Walter contended with the characterization given, claiming he had no knowledge that Miller had died from drugs he supplied, he accepted the sentence. However, he did advise the court that he believed that another man charged in the case, Cameron Pettit, to whom he initially sold the pills, wanted them for personal use and Walter did not know Pettit wound up giving them to Miller.
Freddie Gibbs is well-known for being one of hip-hop’s top trolls, but it appears that his mischievous ways may have caught up to him recently. Fans on Twitter are convinced that Gibbs’ back-and-forth with Benny The Butcher escalated into a physical altercation ahead of Gibbs’ show Sunday night in Benny’s native Buffalo, New York. The evidence backing these claims is a series of photos posted to Twitter that seemingly depict Gibbs performing with swelling around his eyes — the type you might expect from someone who’d recently been in a fight (or stung by a bee, I suppose).
There have certainly been a number of tweets that purported to have seen the incident in question. One commenter claimed, “I just saw Freddie Gibbs get beat up and his chain took while I was eating in buffalo Ny.”
The feud appears to have begun — at least publicly — with Benny citing that the duo’s working relationship “came and went” during an interview with Spotify. Gibbs issued an ornery response on social media, saying, “Just keep my name out y’all mouth when y’all talking to people or doing interviews,” in a video on his oft-suspended Instagram. They have been trading barbs ever since. Incidentally, one of those barbs was Freddie inviting an unnamed critic to a “head-up fade.” If he really did have a run-in with Benny’s crew, it looks like that invite was officially turned down.
Freddie Gibbs raps dont hit the same when you know niggas really be running up on him in real life
freddie gibbs got shot at in new york, pressed in detroit, beat up by jim jones goons and now beat up by benny the butcher’s goons. madlib shoulda worked with roc marciano instead
Before this, though, they seemed to enjoy an amicable working relationship, with Benny appearing on Gibbs’ 2020 album Alfredo (on the song “Frank Lucas“) and Freddie returning the favor on Benny’s own 2020 project Burden Of Proof.
The RX is Uproxx Music’s stamp of approval for the best albums, songs, and music stories throughout the year. Inclusion in this category is the highest distinction we can bestow and signals the most important music being released throughout the year. The RX is the music you need, right now.
Back in 2019, the fourth episode of the second season of the Black-ish spinoff Grown-ish featured the debut of Leikeli47’s video for “Tic Boom.” The lead-up to the video throughout the episode found the show’s cast preparing a watch party for a mystery artist’s video premiere, with the cast debating what makes a musical genius. The episode was an obvious reference to then-recent album premieres from the likes of Frank Ocean and Kanye West, who both got name-checked, along with Chief Keef, Drake, and Young Thug.
Then, one character makes an observation that seems obvious in hindsight but highlights an ongoing problem in pop culture – especially when it comes to hip-hop. Why are all the so-called “geniuses” men? Even now, in an era with more female rappers charting than ever before – from Cardi B and Doja Cat to Latto and Saweetie – somehow, female artists still seem to receive less attention and respect than their male counterparts. I was reminded of this over the past weekend, as my social feeds buzzed over Kendrick Lamar’s new album.
Less pronounced was the buzz for Leikeli47’s new album, Shape Up. The culmination of a beauty shop-themed trilogy including 2017’s Wash & Set and 2018’s Acrylic, on the surface, Shape Up also bears all the hallmarks of a work of rap genius. As part of a trilogy, the 14-track project comes with rich mythology of its own built by the masked rapper’s prior works. Leikeli has always defied convention, eschewing both contemporary and traditional hip-hop sounds to craft her own unique, dancefloor-ready take on the genre. She’s as informed by the drag ballroom scene as she is the trap house, with beats featuring influences from house, techno, and dancehall.
She’s also a superb rapper with one hell of a hook; taking a page from the book of the late, great MF DOOM, she has yet to make a public appearance without one of her signature face masks. She makes them herself out of bandanas and balaclavas, occasionally bedazzling or otherwise embellishing them. We don’t even know her real name; she’s like a modern-day hip-hop superhero, using her anonymity to put the focus squarely on the boundary-pushing, eclectic style she’s pioneering.
It’s hard to hear booming, confident jams like “Chitty Bang” and “LL Cool J” without wondering how they aren’t as ubiquitous as those of her female peers – let alone the breezy No. 1s accumulated by men like Drake, Future, and Jack Harlow. They’re every bit as catchy and transportive, every bit as relevant to the times, every bit as quotable and cocksure, with lines like “It’s all checks and balances, baby, the world is mine,” feeling just as much like potential Instagram captions as any of the catchphrases the above-mentioned names have offered recently.
And Leikeli can sing, too. I mean, legitimately sing, not that weird, atonal humming thing a lot of rappers have been doing in recent years. On “Done Right” and “Hold My Hand,” she switches to full-on R&B, offering tender reflections on romance and relationships minus the toxicity that’s marked the genre lately. Meanwhile, “BITM” and “Jay Walk” practically beg the listener to catwalk, strut, and vogue like it was the ball culture heyday of the late 1980s. And lest anyone doubt her rap skills, her storytelling takes the fore on “Free To Love,” while her wordplay shines on “Instant Classic.”
If this album — this consistency and cohesion in eclecticism, this total commitment to the presentation, is not the work of a genius, then the list of who all deserves such a title needs to get several dozen names shorter. If anything, the muted buzz of excitement leading up to this project’s release just proves that in hip-hop, eclecticism can be a disadvantage as much as a strength. Pushing the genre’s boundaries can earn an artist a lot of love from critics and fans, but it can just as easily take them too far beyond the margins for rap centrists who want the genre to remain the same as much as they want it to grow.
It also proves that hip-hop still has a long way to go in terms of truly including women in the conversation. Just recently, both Lil Wayne and Ja Rule admonished their peers and successors to acknowledge the contributions of women in hip-hop, with Wayne singling out Missy Elliott for her own innovative catalog. Incidentally, one of the names Leikeli47 is most often compared to is Missy (both are from Virginia, which may explain their sympathetic resonance with one another). Sometimes, it feels very much like we’ve failed the latter, who only recently began to receive flowers in the form of lifetime achievement awards and belated shout-outs from the rappers she’s inspired. The same can’t happen for Leikeli47. They say genius is never appreciated in its time, but today, we certainly have the opportunity to acknowledge her as the genius she’s already proven herself to be.
hehe…all love
(@RatKingNFT) 
please do better and stop listening to the guys in the meetings that get No Bitches. work on your established problems first
Carina Daydream
(@daydreamSereia) 
(@valxxen9) 
Skip Bayless with some insight on what happened between Monty Williams & Deandre Ayton
/Kendrick Lamar’s Publicist (@big_business_) 