Music

Rico Nasty Is Teasing A New Project Dropping This Summer

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The rise of Rico Nasty has been one of the most interesting happenings in rap over the last few years, and the screamo rapper is by no means done breaking down barriers. Covering everything from pop-punk to trap on her debut album, last year’s Nightmare Vacation, Rico let fans know this weekend that they could expect something new by summer of 2021. With a cryptic Instagram post of two prescription bottles in a glowing hand, with the RX made out to Rico herself with “unlimited refills,” the rapper captioned the image: “Rx . This summer 🎀🧚🏾” and tagged the artist, Karli Fetz.

For her part, the artist re-shared the post on Instagram with the following caption: “Dream come true for me. this summer, @riconasty x karlifetz,” they wrote on Instagram. “I can’t tell you much but just know we haven’t even started.” When a fan commented asking it his meant an album was on the way, the artist responded with the eyes emoji, an indication that Fetz knows more than they can say right now.

Via Instagram

If you’re still unfamiliar with exactly who Rico Nasty is and what she has up her sleeve as an artist and performer, check out our mini-doc on Rico right here. And keep an ear out for more music coming this summer, which is just around the corner.

Lil Baby And Lil Durk Reflect On Their Journeys To Prosperity On ‘Voice Of The Heroes’

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Last week was supposed to bring a new joint project from Lil Baby and Lil Durk, Voice Of The Heroes. Instead, the release was pushed back, and for good reason: The rappers decided to delay the album out of respect for DMX and his posthumous album Exodus, which was released last week. Now, the project is set for release this Friday, and ahead of them, the duo has shared the title track and a video for it.

On the track, the rappers tell stories about their paths to the top of the rap world and how they’ve become role models. For example, Durk expresses the importance of looking out for those close to you, rapping, “Take care of your family and them kids, ’cause I’m too big on family / F*ck them fast cars, before that shawty ‘nem gon’ slide in Camrys.” Elsewhere, Baby raps about leading by example: “I showed all my n****s in the trenches it’s a better life / Never get too big for me to listen, I’ll take your advice.”

Lil Baby previously said of the album, “We coming. Me and Durk dropping an album, fa sho. When it comes to that street sh*t, the streets is like, we the voices and the heroes of this sh*t. You know what I’m saying? Kids look at us like heroes. I know they look at me like one and [Lil] Durk, too. That n**** been holding it down for a minute.”

Voice Of The Heroes is out 6/4 via Quality Control Music/Wolfpack Global Music/Motown Records/Alamo Records.

Megan Fox Joined Machine Gun Kelly On Stage And Shared A Smoke At An Indy 500 Concert

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It was around this time last year that Machine Gun Kelly and Megan Fox publicly declared that they were dating. Since then, the twists and turns of their relationship have formed quite the story, with the occasional headlines showing observers that their romance isn’t like most others.

Now, the story continues: Over the weekend, Fox joined Kelly on stage at a concert. Kelly was performing at a Barstool Sports Indy 500 party at Grand Park in Westfield, Indiana on Friday. As E! notes, the crowd chanted for Fox, and eventually, she took the stage. Standing with Kelly, the musician puffed on “what appeared to be a cigarette,” then he passed it to Fox, who also took a puff. Then, Kelly performed “I Think I’m Okay,” with Fox hanging out towards the back of the stage during the song. Later, the pair was apparently seen cuddling backstage.

Before this, the couple’s most recent public appearance of note came at the 2021 Billboard Music Awards a week ago. For the occasion, Kelly decided to paint his tongue black, and ahead of the ceremony, he showed off his oral modification by engaging in some PDA with Fox on the red carpet. Kelly also left the show with two awards: Top Rock Artist and Top Rock Album (for Tickets To My Downfall).

Jay-Z Says There’s A Version Of ‘Still D.R.E.’ With Him Doing Both Dr. Dre And Snoop Dogg’s Verses

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Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg’s “Still D.R.E.” is an all-time hip-hop classic, and last year, Snoop dropped a major knowledge bomb about it: Jay-Z wrote the whole song. It was known previously that he had worked on the track, but it was a surprise to learn that Jay was behind all the lyrics. Now, Jay has spoken about the song and the reference track he made for it, on which he raps both Dre and Snoop’s parts.

Chatting on an episode of HBO’s The Shop, Jay said, “On that reference track, I’m doing Dre and Snoop, both of them. […] The reference track, it sounds like them.” He added with laughter, “I’m glad nobody can find that one.”

He continued, “But yeah, you gotta have like somewhat of a reverence for them. The music they were making and The Chronic and all of that. In order for me to really nail the essence of Dre and Snoop, it had to be like a studied reverence of what they were doing.”

Snoop previously said of Jay’s work on the song, “Jay-Z is a great writer to begin with for himself, so imagine him striking it for someone he truly loves and appreciates,” Snoop said. “He loves Dr. Dre and that’s what his pen showed you, that I can’t write for you if I don’t love you.”

Watch Jay talk about the song above.

Nicki Minaj’s Adorable Son Is Already Trying To Stand And Walk By Himself

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Late last year, Nicki Minaj and her husband Kenneth Perry had their first child. The duo has kept their son away from the public eye as they’ve only shared few images of him with the world. Furthermore, they’ve yet to reveal his legal name, with Minaj only calling him Papa Bear when sharing pictures or videos. That includes a new video of the eight-month-old attempting to walk and stand on his own.

“You trying to do all of that today?” Minaj affectionately says in the video. “You’re not trying to do all of that today?” she added. “Am I bothering you? You had it?” The rapper then pretends to speak for Papa Bear in the video. “Mama I had it, leave me alone already please,” she says in the video. “I don’t got time for all of that mama.”

The post arrives after a streak of good moments for Minaj. She recently released her 2009 mixtape, Beam Me Up Scotty, to streaming services, adding three new songs. It eventually debuted at No. 2 on the album charts, becoming the highest-charting re-released mixtape by a rapper and the highest-debuting female rap mixtape in history.

You can watch the video of Papa Bear above.

Swizz Beatz Explained Why Pop Smoke Did Not Appear On DMX’s Posthumous Album

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DMX’s posthumous album, Exodus, arrived more than a month after the rapper’s tragic death. It was his most collaborative effort to date, featuring some of the most popular names from past and present, including Jay-Z, Nas, Usher, The Lox, and Griselda. One person missing was Pop Smoke. But in a recent interview with The Breakfast Club, Swizz Beatz, who executive produced the album, explained why was the late rapper was not featured on Exodus.

“They used the verse already. I know X wouldn’t want an old verse,” Swizz said. “We fought for it,” adding that the verse was “out of nowhere.” Pop Smoke was set to appear on “Money Money Money” but Memphis rapper Moneybagg Yo eventually replaced him. Swizz continued, “It was two verses and both of them was used. We went to get another verse and it was used.” The famed producer then explained why he selected the Memphis native for the song.

“I just put Moneybagg on the song,” he said. “Not that they the same energy, but they the same demographic. X wanted to touch that part too.” He added, “I’m not mad at it. I like Moneybagg verse better anyway.”

You can watch the full interview in the video above.

Exodus is out now via Def Jam. Get it here.

A Shooting At Boosie Badazz’s Music Video Set Left One Man Dead

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For the second time in a year, Boosie Badazz was caught in the midst of gunfire. According to TMZ, shots rang out while the rapper and his crew were filming a music video in Hunstville, Alabama. Footage captured the ordeal, showing Boosie and company standing comfortably beside each other on the 200-block of Binford Drive when the gunfire breaks out. People in the crowd immediately scatter and make a break for it in search of safety. TMZ added that Huntsville police told the publication that they responded to the call about gunshots around 4:30 PM on Saturday, and upon their arrival, officers said they saw between 50 and 100 people running from the scene.

Unfortunately, the shooting killed one man. Randall Strong, Jr., 20, was transported to the hospital. While he was originally listed in critical condition, CBS News19 later reported that he died from his injuries. Police said Christopher Kwan Freeman, 22, turned himself in early Sunday morning. He was charged with murder and booked into the Madison County Jail on a $75,000 bond.

It was just six months ago that Boosie was wounded in a Dallas shooting. He was seated in a sprinter van at a strip mall called Big T’s Plaza when someone opened fire on the van. Boosie suffered a gunshot wound to the leg and was quickly taken to a hospital to be treated for his injury.

You can watch the video captured during Boosie’s video shoot above.

Meek Mill Slams ‘Blogs’ And Accuses Them Of Only Covering The ‘Goofy Sh*t’ He Does

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Meek Mill often finds himself trending on social media for questionable things. One example came earlier this year, when he mentioned Kobe Bryant in a tasteless manner on a song with Lil Baby. Prior to that, there was his and Tekashi 69’s parking lot spat in Miami. Despite these instances, it’d be wrong to say Meek hasn’t done anything positive, or at least not embarrassing, over the past few months. But the way the Philly rapper sees it, the coverage he gets has only focused on the bad he does.

“Yesterday I help a innocent man gain his freedom back he had life in prison,” he wrote on Twitter in reference to Eric Riddick, a 51-year-old man who was recently released from prison, thanks to help from Meek and others, after he was wrongfully convicted of murder and spent 29 years locked up for it as a result. He added, “On the net I was trending for a pause basically lol them blogs got y’all… Go check blogs pages …don’t post positive post just the goofy sh*t… y’all sheep and be serious lol.”

An example of “goofy sh*t” Meek refers to is a past tweet where he oddly asked his followers, “I need vibrating panties with the remote lol they on Amazon? Lol.” The post caused him to trend on Twitter.

As for Riddick, he was freed after he agreed to plead no contest to third-degree murder with time served. A Court of Common Pleas Judge previously reviewed Riddick’s case after his defense attorneys claimed evidence was withheld from the defense team during the trial.

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

Swizz Beatz Discusses The Possibility Of A Second Posthumous DMX Album

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DMX’s Exodus, arrived on Friday. It’s the final album the rapper completed before his death, minus some last-minute loose ends that were tied up posthumously. Swizz Beatz executive produced the album and he’s also taken charge of promoting it, including an appearance on The Breakfast Club, in which he spoke about the possibility of a second posthumous DMX album.

“He’s got a lot of music,” Swizz says around the 23:00 mark of the interview. “But, for me it’s like, he just worked so hard on this record that I don’t really want to tamper with things unless it can be better than this record. I don’t want to just put things out, and even with the footage, we recorded the whole process of the album, and we could’ve been putting that footage out right now leading up to the album.”

He added, “But I’m like, ‘let’s do something masterful with it. Let’s treat it as art and curate it to where it adds to his legacy and is not just a blip of a moment that seems like it works, but you still don’t understand the whole story.’” So this almost certainly isn’t the last you’ll hear from DMX.

You can watch the full The Breakfast Club interview above.

Lil Yachty, Icewear Vezzo, And Rio Da Yung OG Serve Up A Greyscale Video For The Hard-Hitting ‘Plastic’

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Lil Yachty has been extremely busy for well over a year now and all that’s added up to the strong comeback he’s made since the release of Lil Boat 3 last spring. More than a year later, Yachty returned with a brand new project, Michigan Boy Boat, an effort that saw him working with some of the best rising and established rappers from the state’s Detroit and Flint areas. A month removed from the mixtape’s release, Yachty continues its promotional run with a brand new video for “Plastic.”

In it, Yachty is accompanied by Icewear Vezzo and Rio Da Yung OG, rappers who both appear on the song, as well as members of his decently-sized crew. The greyscale visual features the group in a fairly laid-back state as they lounge and kick it in a room together. Clips of them recording music and spending time at a strip club also appear throughout the video.

Prior to dropping Michigan Boy Boat, Yachty extended his Lil Boat 3 project with new songs and later shared videos for tracks like “In My Stussy’s” and “Asshole.” He also flexed some freestyle skills in a visual for “Cortex” which came after he was confirmed to appear in the upcoming season of Lil Dicky’s show, Dave which premieres next month on June 16.

You can watch the “Plastic” video above.