Music

Former Wu-Tang Clan Studio Worker Grant Williams Will Receive $7 Million Following A Wrongful Conviction

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Ghostface Killah and Grant Williams
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Grant Williams, a former studio worker for Wu-Tang Clan, will be awarded $7 million from New York City. Williams served a 23-year prison sentence beginning in 1996 for the murder of Shdell Lewis — a murder he did not commit.

After being granted parole in 2019, Williams was cleared two years after. He then filed a notice of claim to sue the city and overturn the wrongful conviction. According to Associated Press, the comptroller’s office settled Willams’ claim, using their authority to do so without court action, and will pay Williams $7 million.

“This will assist him in going forward and trying to get back on his feet,” said Williams’ layer Irving Cohen.

When Wu-Tang member Ghostface Killah learned about Williams’ exoneration last year, he told Staten Island Advance that the news felt “like a ton of bricks being lifted.”

“I missed him,” Ghostface said. “When he left, part of me left.”

Ghostface was by Williams’ side when he shared the news that he will be receiving $7 million from New York City, according to Associated Press. Cohen also noted that while Williams was incarcerated, he received an associate’s degree and plans to help other wrongfully convicted people in the future.

Wu-Tang Clan is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Doja Cat Is Planning To Really Lean Into Rap For Her Next Album

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Doja Cat Lollapalooza Brazil 2022
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Doja Cat is a rapper but her music and singing have an undeniable pop appeal to them, too. Now, though, Doja is saying that when it comes to her impending fourth album, she wants to put a strong focus on rap.

A new Elle profile reports Doja noted her upcoming album will be “predominantly rap” and Doja said of it, “I haven’t started just because of all the rehearsal and touring. I’ve got a lot going on, but it’s coming up. I have been getting songs and things sent to me… Oh f*ck, I wish I could tell people! There’s some really cool stuff that I got sent from friends. They’re all working on beats, and I’m giving them notes and they know what I want, so I’m excited.”

Elsewhere, she said, “I want to finish this tour up, kill it, and see my fans happy. And then I want to start writing again. I’m going to finish this next album, and then I’m going to get the f*ck out for a second. I want to disappear for a little bit and just do things like wear slides and go to the farmers market. I don’t give a sh*t about vegetables, but how fun! And I want a dog, too. It’s f*cked up that I don’t have a dog. It’s not fair. I want to take care of a dog. I want to raise it and run around in the grass and touch it.”

This interview was conducted before Doja’s recent announcement that she’s canceling her upcoming shows due to tonsil surgery, so perhaps Doja will get to making new music sooner than expected.

Check out the full feature here.

Tekashi 69 Says Fat Joe Is ‘Jealous’ Of Him After The Bronx Rapper Called Him ‘P*ssy’ Among Other Things

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Despite reaping some pretty serious consequences for his trolling so far, Tekashi 69 hasn’t eased up on the antics one bit since being released from prison. He continues to antagonize any number of street rappers from Lil Durk to Meek Mill to Young Thug, more or less daring them to respond — something most of them have done in some respect, whether musically or in person. However, one veteran rapper foresees a more grisly end to the shenanigans and is convinced that the 26-year-old has a death wish.

Appearing on battle rapper Math Hoffa’s podcast, Fat Joe declared that he thinks very poorly of Tekashi, despite previously trying to help him out with words of wisdom. “I’m gonna just be honest with you,” he said. “This n****s a sucka. He’s pussy, a sucka, a bitch… This type of shit this n**** doing, I’m convinced he wanna die—and I don’t wish it on him or nothing like that but I’m convinced he’s miserable in his body. He can’t look in the mirror.” Joe was one of the many rappers who disapproved of Tekashi’s decision to testify against his gang-affiliated associates in 2018.

Tekashi, however, seems delighted to have a new playmate with whom to trade barbs and keep his name buzzing. After all, all publicity is good publicity in his mind, so he went to his favorite publicist, TMZ, to offer a response. “Fat Joe is jealous of 69,” he said. “69 has done more in his young career than Fat Joe has ever done in his long career…Fat Joe said I was miserable and want to die? Fat Joe is miserable and wants to die because Fat Joe doesn’t have half of what 69 has in money and cars. Fat Joe said I’m not a gangster, it was all for promotion? That’s fake news. What’s his proof that I ever said that? There is no proof. He’s lying.”

Considering that he literally got a reduced sentence on the racketeering charges against him by effectively saying exactly that as he turned over his cohorts in the Nine Trey gang (not that he needed to, considering the amount of evidence the gang had left behind), I’d say Fat Joe is at least telling a smidgeon of truth here.

You can check out the full clip above.

Jack Harlow Admires Pete Davidson’s Authenticity In An Essay For ‘Time’: ‘He Doesn’t Try To Hide’

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Jack Harlow and Pete on SNL 2021
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For Time’s annual 100 Most Influential People issue, rapper Jack Harlow penned an essay about his buddy Pete Davidson and his comedic craft. Though the two had been online friends for months before their official in-person meeting, the two officially linked up for the first time before Harlow’s appearance on Saturday Night Live last year.

Since then, the two have remained close, and Harlow considers Davidson one of his biggest inspirations.

“Pete’s appeal to the world has everything to do with his authenticity,” wrote Harlow. “He doesn’t try to hide the person that he is. It’s a classic recipe for success and connection. I would consider myself truthful, but being around Pete makes me want to continue to reach even further for the realest version of myself.”

Harlow’s essay coincides with the season finale of SNL‘s 47th season, which marked Davidson’s last show as an SNL cast member. Ahead of his SNL swan song, Davidson took to Instagram (by way of Dave Sirus), saying, “I got to share so much with this audience and literally grow up in front of your eyes. We were together through the good and the bad, the happiest and the darkest of times.”

Jack Harlow is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music.

City Girls Argue They ‘Could Do Conscious Rap’ If They Wanted To — They Just Don’t Want To

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If there is one thing a rap fan will do, it’s criticizing female rappers for outlandish standards they refuse to hold anyone else to. Case in point: City Girls, the fun-loving Miami duo whose music is all about living the high life on someone else’s dime and turning up in the streets, has gotten more than their fair share of criticism that their music isn’t deep enough. While this echoes complaints that other women in hip-hop have made that they aren’t taken seriously enough as artists, City Girls defended themselves in a new interview with Complex.

“I feel like a lot of times, people tend to forget and try to discredit us and say we make bad music,” JT told Complex’s Speedy Morman during their interview. “And I never, ever, ever feel like that. I feel like everything we put out is fun and is a bop.” She took it a step further, insisting that the duo could just as easily switch up for a more socially aware style, but that it wouldn’t suit their true musical philosophy. “It’s not conscious rap, but I could definitely do a conscious rap,” JT insisted. “I feel like our music is for freedom and fun and partying and to make women feel good and to pop they sh*t.”

For what it’s worth, their approach is much more lucrative, as Cardi B once pointed out, reminding fans that when she made emotional, vulnerable songs like “Be Careful” she was rejected, but when she made “WAP,” the song went No. 1 basically overnight. ““When I did ‘Be Careful,’ people was talking mad sh*t in the beginning,” she reminded her fans on Instagram. “So it’s like if that’s what people ain’t tryna hear, then, alright, I’mma start rapping about my p*ssy again.” Meanwhile, Rapsody had an even better take on the “conscious rap” argument, saying that “[artists like] Cardi B makes conscious music — that’s conscious to what she was doing.”

Every Song From Kendrick Lamar’s New Album Has Entered The ‘Billboard’ Hot 100

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Kendrick Lamar’s Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers was one of the year’s most anticipated albums. Now that it’s out, it has unsurprisingly dominated the charts, landing at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with the biggest streaming week of 2022. It’s Kendrick’s fourth No. 1 album — even more impressive when you consider that it was his first album in nearly five years, with DAMN. releasing in 2017. Perhaps just as impressive is the fact that every song on the 18-track album has entered the Billboard Hot 100, a feat last accomplished by Drake with Certified Lover Boy at 21 tracks and J. Cole’s The Off-Season — which only had 12 tracks.

Of those, four landed in the top 10, making him one of seven artists to accomplish this feat (including Bad Bunny, Drake, Future, J. Cole, Juice WRLD, and Lil Wayne). While Jack Harlow held down the No. 1 spot for the third week with the frothy “First Class,” Kendrick took No. 3 with “N95,” No. 5 with “Die Hard,” No. 7 with “Silent Hill,” and No. 8 with “United In Grief.”

Meanwhile, the only other artists to have charted more than 13 songs are Drake, with the aforementioned 2021 release and with 2018’s Scorpion; Post Malone, who landed 14 tracks with 2019’s Hollywood’s Bleeding and 2018’s Beerbongs & Bentleys; and Lil Uzi Vert, who got 13 Eternal Atake tracks on the list in 2020. For a full list of Kendrick’s Mr. Morale Hot 100 rankings, see below courtesy of Billboard.com.

Hot 100 Rank, Title:
No. 3, “N95”
No. 5, “Die Hard,” with Blxst & Amanda Reifer
No. 7, “Silent Hill,” with Kodak Black
No. 8, “United in Grief”
No. 11, “Father Time,” feat. Sampha
No. 13, “Rich Spirit”
No. 16, “We Cry Together,” with Taylour Paige
No. 19, “Worldwide Steppers”
No. 20, “Count Me Out”
No. 22, “Purple Hearts,” with Summer Walker & Ghostface Killah
No. 23, “Savior,” with Baby Keem & Sam Dew
No. 33, “Rich (Interlude)”
No. 40, “Mr. Morale,” with Tanna Leone
No. 41, “Crown”
No. 47, “Auntie Diaries”
No. 51, “Savior (Interlude)”
No. 55, “Mirror”
No. 59, “Mother I Sober,” feat. Beth Gibbons
No. 77, “The Heart Part 5” (down from its No. 15 debut)

Diddy Said He And Biggie First Tried Ecstasy During The ‘Hypnotize’ Video Shoot

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diddy biggie hypnotize video 1997
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On what would’ve been The Notorious B.I.G.’s 50th birthday, his friend and collaborator Diddy took to Twitter Spaces alongside Jay-Z and Fat Joe (per HipHopDX) and shared stories about the late rapper. Often known for their debauched, lavish music videos, Diddy recalled the shoot for “Hypnotize.” When speaking of the video, Diddy revealed the shooting of the video was the first time the two tried ecstasy.

“I mean, it was an experience, you know what I’m saying?,” said Diddy. “Ayo, Biggie’s 50. Check this out, we have nothing to hide. That was a long time ago… it was the first time. It was just a little nibble, it was all right. It was a little nibble. But we was in extra high, high spirits. Yeah, this breaking news and sh*t. F*ck it. On his 50th birthday, I wanna let y’all know that.”

During a special dinner on Biggie’s 50th birthday, his Junior M.A.F.I.A. collaborator Lil Kim told People she believes Biggie would still dominate hip-hop if he were alive today.

“It’s always important to honor the king. He’s the king. The king lives on,” Kim said. “He’s just an amazing person, amazing artist. […] His legacy. It’s just great. Like, I mean, look at the catalog. Look at everything that he’s accomplished, even at such a young age.”

Travis Scott Is Being Sued For Allegedly Causing A Stampede At Rolling Loud In 2019

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Travis Scott, already facing hundreds of lawsuits for the Astroworld Festival disaster in November 2021, now faces even more legal trouble over his wild performances. According to TMZ, the Houston rapper has been named in a new lawsuit accusing him of causing a stampede during his set at Rolling Loud Miami in 2019. Marchelle Love, the plaintiff, says that she was injured after Travis whipped up fans at his set into a frenzy despite the advice of the police, who spoke to him either before or during his set.

According to Love’s lawsuit, Travis could see people being hurt but continued his set as normal, ignoring warnings from security to slow things down. Love claims that her leg was broken during the mayhem — something that could have been avoided if the rapper had listened to security. Meanwhile, because his shows had previously resulted in injuries — such as a 2017 show in New York where a fan ended up paralyzed after being encouraged to jump from a balcony — Love argues that the rapper should know better than to goad fans the way he does.

A spokesperson for Travis Scott told TMZ, “This is another blatant, cynical attempt to attack Travis, in this instance for a 3-year-old incident that is deliberately misrepresented… This cheap opportunism is based on a blatant lie that’s easy to detect. And it is particularly telling that this plaintiff’s lawyer didn’t even assert a claim against Travis when he originally filed the complaint on behalf of his client more than two years ago or in four prior VERSIONS of that complaint.”

Unfortunately for Travis, the issue is a bit murkier when it comes to Astroworld Festival, where 10 people died and hundreds were injured. That case still has yet to proceed to trial but carries huge potential implications for the rapper — and others. Meanwhile, his return to performing at Primavera Sound in Brazil later this year will undoubtedly be under increased scrutiny as a result of all that attention.

Rico Nasty Confronts Her ‘Intrusive’ Thoughts On Her New Single

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Rico Nasty is not here for any intrusive thoughts. On her latest single, “Intrusive,” she calls out her haters, shouting, “you b*tches suck,” and proclaiming, “I’m your favorite rapper’s favorite rapper,” over a fast, drum-driven, punk-inspired beat.

The song’s video, directed by Marco Alexander, appears to have been made on the fly. The clip opens with a disclaimer, reading, “This music video was made with zero to no budget. Zero f*cks and zero expectation,” and thanks Alexander for “always being ready to shoot at any given moment, even if it’s one day before.”

In the video, Nasty sits in a chair, ready to be made-up by her glam team. As they are putting on make up, she runs out of her chair and into a neighborhood. One of the stops is a bodega, where she munches on Takis and a Spider-Man popsicle.

Nasty will play a series of festivals this summer and join Kehlani on the North America dates of their Blue Water Road Trip tour, which kicks off in July. During these slots, she expects the crowds to be rowdy, especially for the women in the mosh pits.

“[F]or the most part, I think my music is for the girls,” said Nasty in an interview with Billboard. “So a lot of times the guys kind of step back and are like, ‘Oh sh*t, look at these b*tches go!”

Check out “Intrusive” above.

Rico Nasty and Kehlani are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

The Kid Laroi Reveals The Financial Advice Elon Musk, The World’s Richest Person, Gave Him

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The Kid Laroi 2022
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Elon Musk has some notable connections to the music world, like his relationship with Grimes and that time he and Kanye West were palling around in 2020. Last year, he also got to know Miley Cyrus when the two were on Saturday Night Live together. That week, he also spent some time with The Kid Laroi, who joined Cyrus for a performance on the show. Naturally, given that Musk is the wealthiest person in the world, Laroi asked the billionaire for advice and he got some.

In an interview on Australia’s Nova radio network (as Billboard notes), Laroi said:

“He’s like, actually a really down-to-earth just he’s just like, hanging out. So I went up, and I asked him, and he basically, yeah, he told me to invest in something that I love. Which I thought I thought was great advice. You know, obviously, you like you expect someone to give you like an entire plan. All right, that’s what you do. But then I, I walked away realizing like, ‘Damn, that is probably the best financial advice you could give anyone,’ because I mean, if you don’t believe in something, then how is everybody else gonna believe in it? He could tell me something to invest in whatever. But if I don’t believe in it, then why would I do it, you know?”

Meanwhile, Laroi is ramping up a new era, as he released “Thousand Miles” last month.