Music

Drake Announces Plans For ‘Highly Interactive’ Shows In New York And Toronto

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Despite being one of music’s biggest stars, Drake hasn’t done too many performances over the last couple of years. A big reason behind that is the pandemic, which wiped out numerous tours. Aside from the Larry Hoover benefit concert with Kanye West back in December, Drake’s last performances came during his 2019 Assassination Vacation Tour, which saw him bring his talents to the United Kingdom. Luckily, the Certified Lover Boy rapper is nearing a return to the stage thanks to an announcement he made during a recent radio broadcast.

Drake made an appearance on OVO Sound’s Sirius XM radio station Sound 42 to reveal his plans to host some shows in New York and Toronto in the near future. “I’m excited to let all my people know that we’re working on something really special for you guys,” he said on the show. “Putting together two shows, one in New York and a few in Toronto. They’re gonna be something different, something that I’ve never done before. Gonna be a highly interactive experience.” He added, “My brothers will be there, it’s gonna be great to see y’all, hopefully get a chance to speak with you, [and] hopefully learn a little more about each other. I’ll have the dates for that coming soon, I can’t wait.”

Drake will have plenty of music to perform at the performances, as he’s recently released his sixth album, Certified Lover Boy, which was the only rap album to go double Platinum in 2021.

You can listen to Drake’s announcement in the video above.

Traci Braxton, Sister Of Toni Braxton, Is Dead At 50 Following A Battle With Esophageal Cancer

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The entertainment world was hit with sad news today. It was revealed that singer and actress Traci Braxton passed away following a battle with esophageal cancer. The unfortunate news arrives after Traci spent the last year battling the cancer prior to her death. Her husband Kevin Surratt shared the news with TMZ and the publication was told that Traci spent her last moments with her sisters, mom, and friends. One of her sisters, singer Toni Braxton, shared a statement about Traci’s death.

“It is with the utmost regret that we inform you of the passing of our sister, Traci,” Toni wrote. “Needless to say, she was a bright light, a wonderful daughter, an amazing sister, a loving mother, wife, grandmother and a respected performer. We will miss her dearly.”

Traci Braxton appeared on the family’s reality TV show Braxton Family Values, but as an actress, she was best known for her role in the 2018 film Sinners Wanted. She also appeared in 2009’s There’s A Stranger In My House and was set to be seen in the upcoming film Chaaw which comes out in May. Traci also had some success as a singer. Her 2014 song “Last Call” rose to No. 16 on the Billboard singles chart. The track could be found on her 2014 debut album Crash & Burn. In 2018, she released her sophomore album On Earth.

You can view Toni’s tribute post to Traci above.

Drake Recently Got His Hair Braided And Fans Are Completely Confused About It

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Drake has donned many looks throughout his music career. Between the afro he rocked from his Take Care days to cutting it down and growing out his beard around If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late and Views, Drake has never been afraid to switch it up. In fact, it was just a year ago that he debuted the Certified Lover Boy heart in his haircut, one he would keep throughout the 2021 calendar year. That heart caused quite the reaction from fans, but Drizzy’s latest look has people just as, if not even more confused this time around.

In a series of pictures and videos that Drake shared on Instagram, he could be seen rocking a fresh set of braids. While this isn’t the most outlandish hairstyle, fans were confused as they didn’t think he had enough hair to have it braided. Some pointed out that just a few days ago, a picture with him and Jack Harlow made its rounds online, and it, Drake had rather short hair. As a result, some questioned how it was even possible that Drake could have braids while others made jokes about it like suggesting that Drake got extensions to make it work.

Speaking of Harlow, he and Drake were spotted on vacation together in Turks & Caicos. Hopefully, this means that the two are working on music that we’ll hear at some point in the future.

You can check out Drake’s braids in the post above and view reactions from fans below.

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

Pooh Shiesty Is Fighting Against His Recommended Eight-Year Prison Sentence

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Last year, Pooh Shiesty, born Lontrell Williams, was charged with discharging a firearm during a violent crime and robbery after he allegedly shot a man in the buttocks. During the incident, which occurred in October of 2020, the man, 28-year-old Brandon Cooper, was allegedly shot by Williams when they met up to exchange weed and sneakers. Cooper was later indicted with seven others for allegedly forging checks. After the indictment, Williams accepted a plea deal that helped the rapper avoid a life sentence, the prosecution and defense agreeing that eight years in jail would be a fitting sentence for Williams.

However, as per a new report from Rolling Stone, Williams’ lawyer Brad Cohen is now fighting against the recommended eight-year prison sentence. On Friday, Cohen filed paperwork that claimed “ballistics and forensic evidence” proved that Williams did not shoot Cooper in the buttocks. Cohen also argues that since his client pleaded guilty to only a single count of firearms conspiracy, it’s not fair that a pre-sentencing report submitted to the court suggests that he was involved in a “robbery/shooting.”

“The government wants this court to believe Mr. Williams, with a net worth of $3,449,446, planned a robbery, then committed a robbery, and then shot a known drug dealer who knew him well and could easily identify him,” court documents read. “All over a few hundred-dollar drug deal for personal use, while he was driving a lime green McLaren that he rented from the alleged victim.” It adds:

Mr. Williams possessed over $40,000 in cash and was driving a vehicle valued at over $200,000. It would be illogical for Mr. Williams to stage a robbery by two other individuals over something so minuscule as a bottle of liquid codeine with a retail value of a few hundred dollars, at most, when any damage done to the McLaren in the process would have cost thousands of dollars to repair.

Cohen notes that medical records show the bullet that struck Cooper “entered the left buttocks near the top of the muscle and exited at the lower part of the muscle” with “the angle being that of a downward slope.” As a result, Cooper believes that it “simply would have been impossible for the wound to occur with Mr. Williams being the shooter.”

Williams’ sentencing date is set for April 20.

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

Quavo Wants To Take On Wesley Snipes’ Role In The Upcoming ‘White Men Can’t Jump’ Reboot With Jack Harlow

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Quavo’s basketball skills are undeniable and he’s certainly one of the better ballers when compared to the musicians around him. During last year’s, NBA All-Star Weekend, Quavo absolutely showed out during a pickup game with Jack Harlow against 2 Chainz and Lil Baby. More recently, Quavo became a playable character on NBA2K22, which was certainly a cool moment despite him not being happy with his player rating. Now, Quavo wants to show his basketball skills on the big screen and he’s hoping to do so through an upcoming film with Jack Harlow.

During a recent run-in with TMZ, Quavo made it clear that he wants a role in the upcoming White Men Can’t Jump reboot, which Jack Harlow is set to star in. While Harlow is set to play the role of Billy Hoyle (originally played by Woody Harrelson), Quavo wants a shot at playing Sidney Deane who was originally played by none other than Wesley Snipes. “I think they need to call me, so me and Jack Harlow can do it,” Quavo said. “I need to play Wesley Snipes’ role.”

Quavo also took a moment to show support for Harlow’s upcoming role by calling him “amazing,” and saying that “he can do everything.”

You can hear Quavo’s comments about the White Men Can’t Jump reboot via TMZ here.

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

Kanye West Enlists Hollywood Unlocked’s Jason Lee As His Head Of Media And Partnerships

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Kanye West has been making some moves lately. He recently released a pair of music videos for “Eazy” and “Hurricane,” with the former taking aim at Pete Davidson once again. He’s been promoting his Stem Player, which he exclusively released Donda 2 on. Additionally, he and NFL wide receiver Antonio Brown are “extremely serious” about buying the Denver Broncos. Long story short, there’s a lot on his plate and now, he’s bringing in some help to make sure his visions become reality. According to Variety, West has hired Jason Lee, owner of the pop culture website Hollywood Unlocked, as his head of media and partnerships.

The move comes after West and Lee sat down for an extensive interview earlier this year. During their conversation, West spoke about getting divorced from his ex-wife Kim Kardashian, punching a fan, why he bought a house near Kim, and more. “I think after the interview on Hollywood Unlocked, it was clear that we had an aligned vision for leveling the playing field in media,” Lee said about his new position. “Ye voiced a vision for a company he was building, and that media was an arm of that, and he felt I could be an asset.”

He later added, “Ye is a genius — in tech with Stem Player, in product and fashion with Yeezy, Gap, and Balenciaga, with Donda Academy and Donda Sports, and in all things culture. My goal is to amplify those stories and inspire the next generation with all that amazing work.”

The move comes after Jason Lee found himself in some controversy last month when he incorrectly reported through Hollywood Unlocked that Queen Elizabeth II had died. Despite clarifications that she was still alive, he doubled down on the report before later apologizing. “Although I’ve never been wrong when breaking a story because this involves The Queen this is one time I would want to be,” a statement from Hollywood Unlocked read. “And based on Wednesday’s report from the Palace, I can say my sources got this wrong and I sincerely apologize to The Queen and the Royal Family.”

You can view a post from Jason Lee about his new position above.

Megan Thee Stallion Highlights The ‘Crazy Double Standards’ For Women In Music

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Megan Thee Stallion just released “Sweetest Pie,” her anticipated collaboration with Dua Lipa. It comes after she released “Flamin Hottie” and teamed up with Shenseea for “Lick.” The combination of Megan and Lipa is just the latest example of some of the most popular women in music joining forces for a new song. Both Megan and Lipa have held top-2 positions on the singles chart and top-5 positions on the albums chart. Furthermore, they both have Grammy awards to their name. Despite this, there are still double standards that they face in the industry and it’s something they spoke about recently.

On a recent episode of Dua Lipa’s At Your Service podcast, which Megan guest-appeared on, Lipa agreed with Megan’s previous comments where she spoke about “rap being a male-dominated ecosystem.” “I feel like that about the music industry in general,” Lipa said. She later added, “There’s this beautiful moment coming into music – as a whole – where female musicians are seen to lift each other up. And I think that’s really beautiful and important.”

Next, Lipa asked Megan if she thinks this “reflects the different standards men and women are held to in this industry.” Megan replied, “I feel like when you think about women doing anything – in general – you think about ‘catty.” [If] it’s five girls in a room, what is the ‘catty’ factor of it all? But that’s what we’ve been taught for so long.” She added, “I feel like boys definitely play a big part in that… in the industry, too.” Both Megan and Lipa pointed out the differences in how men and women are judged when they do live performances with Megan calling it a “crazy double standard.”

“But I feel like we are girls, right, and sometimes I just have to take it as everybody knows that we are superior,” Megan said. “So they expect us to arrive as the superior beings that we are. I feel like we get critiqued so heavy because everybody just knows that women are the shit. So they are looking for us to be the shit all the time.”

You can listen to the At Your Service episode with Megan above and check out other episodes from the podcast here.

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

Omar Apollo Is A Bilingual Crooner In His Retro ‘Killing Me’ Performance On ‘The Tonight Show’

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Bilingual crooner Omar Apollo is gearing up to release his sophomore album, Ivory, and he recently appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon to give fans a taste of what’s to come. Following up his major label debut, Apolonio, Omar is back already with a brand new song cycle. This isn’t his first time appearing on Jimmy Fallon either, he performed “Go Away” back in 2021, and now he’s back with an even more clear picture of his next project.

The Mexican-American singer-songwriter premiered the new track with his live performance on late night TV, and also shared a studio version of the song as well, which you can check out below. “Killing Me” is the fourth single Apollo has shared off his upcoming album, following “Invincible,” which features Daniel Caesar, a previously released single called “Bad Life,” which is his second collaboration with Kali Uchis, following up their past song together, “Hey Boy” off Apolonio, and finally, the album’s first single, “Go Away.”

It’s really quite compelling to listen to Omar’s music, because aside from his beautiful vocals, the effortless way he switches between English and Spanish is even more impressive. And with Latin pop and reggaeton making a huge impact on mainstream pop music, it couldn’t be a better time for his breakout. Watch the live, retro performance of “Killing Me” up top, and look out for Ivory coming out April 8 via Warner Records.

Ava Max And Tiësto Shared Another Visual For ‘The Motto,’ And This One Is Another Epic Dance Party

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Back when Ava Max and Tiësto dropped their dark, clubby anthem, “The Motto,” the producer and pop star pair shared a pretty luxurious video to go along with it. The vibe made sense for Ava, who was fresh off a stint of stadium shows opening up for Maroon 5, but now she and Tiesto have released another visual to go along with the track.

Directed and choreographed by Charm LaDonna — who previously worked on Ava own “My Head & My Heart” video, along with the Weeknd’s Super Bowl halftime show last year — the video was shot in LA and features a number of dancers. Filling out the cast are Darrion Gallegos, Caho Kitaori, Joseph John Perez, Gato Waddell, Maggie Anne Wade, Cache Melvin, Candice Savage & Honey Balenciaga. As the third single off TIesto’s next album, “The Motto” has become a streaming hit since it was released last November. It was the first time Ava and Tiësto had worked together, and he was really excited to work with her on the song.

“Ava is such an exciting young talent and her beautiful voice adds such depth to the song,” the producer said of their collaboration. “I cannot wait for the world to hear our collaboration. ‘The Motto’ is the party anthem keeping us dancing into 2022 as we close out a crazy year!” Guess his prediction came true — and manifested in an even dancier video to go along with the song. Check it out above.

Jay Worthy And Larry June Are Pure Swag On ‘Leave It Up To Me’ From Their Upcoming Album

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NorCal and SoCal unite. LA’s Jay Worthy and San Francisco’s Larry June have not only just released the new track entitled “Leave it Up To Me,” but they’ve also announced a collaboration album. Dubbed 2 P’s In A Pod, it arrives on March 25, and for anyone who’s heard numerous collab tracks from the pair in the past, this is a long time coming.

“That’s really my brother u don’t meet many people in this industry that are solid and genuine like that,” Worthy said in a statement. “We really a team and it’s deeper then than rap with us, it’s family! Larry the only person who truly understood the Lndn Drgs sound. If you notice, Larry June the only other rapper other than myself who receives production from Sean House.”

June, who is coming off of last year’s album, Orange Print — which might very well be the best installment in his prolific catalog thus far — is a fluid foil to Worthy — who did the first Uproxx Sessions performance of 2022 — on “Leave It Up To Me.” Sean House’s soul sample-soaked production lets the pair flourish on a track that’s tailor-made for cruisin’. This is the vintage sound of West Coast rap and when two pillars from each end of the state can link up with such lyrical harmony, it’s a real smooth proposition.

Watch the video for “Leave It Up To Me” above.

2 P’s In A Pod is out on 03/25 via GDF Records/EMPIRE