Music

Classic Eminem And Dr. Dre Albums Are Back In The Top 10 After The Super Bowl Halftime Show

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Eminem Dr Dre 2022 Super Bowl Haltime Show
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This year’s hip-hop-focused Super Bowl Halftime Show — featuring Dr. Dre, Eminem, Kendrick Lamar, Snoop Dogg, Mary J. Blige, and 50 Cent — was generally well-received. It also managed to renew interest in some of the performers’ music, as the new Billboard 200 chart indicates: On the chart dated February 26 (which accounts for listening activity from February 11 to 17, while the Super Bowl was on the 13th), albums by Eminem and Dr. Dre have returned to the top 10 for the first time in years.

Eminem’s Curtain Call: The Hits (a former No. 1 on the chart) had a major rise, as it ascended to No. 8 this week, up from No. 126 the previous week. That’s thanks to about 31,000 equivalent album units earned, an increase of 256 percent. Meanwhile, Dr. Dre’s 2001 rose from No. 108 to No. 9 with about 30,500 units (a 220-percent increase). Its previous peak was at No. 2 on the chart dated December 4, 1999.

This is the first time Curtain Call has found itself in the top 10 since the chart dated March 11, 2006, when it was No. 8. The last time 2001 was in the top 10 was on the May 13, 2000, when it ranked No. 9.

Those albums were well-represented during the halftime show: Eminem performed “Lose Yourself,” while three 2001 songs — “The Next Episode,” “Forgot About Dre,” and “Still D.R.E.,” made the setlist.

Elsewhere on the chart, the smash hit Encanto soundtrack is once again No. 1, for a sixth total week. That ties it with Adele’s 30 for the third-most weeks spent at No. 1 in the last five years (since January 2017). Ahead of those LPs are Morgan Wallen’s Dangerous: The Double Album (ten weeks) and Taylor Swift’s Folklore (eight weeks).

Kanye West Called Jack Harlow One Of Today’s Five Best Rappers And Harlow Is Thrilled: ‘I Could Cry’

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Jack Harlow 2021
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Jack Harlow had a huge weekend: He dropped a video for “Nail Tech,” he participated in NBA All-Star festivities, and he received high praise from one of his idols, Kanye West (aka Ye).

In a now-deleted Instagram post shared on Friday morning, West posted a thumbnail from Harlow’s “Nail Tech” video and wrote, “This n**** can raaaaaaap bro And I’m saying n**** as a compliment Top 5 out right now.” Harlow shared a screenshot of the post and expressed his excitement over the situation, writing, “This right here…is one of the greatest moments of my entire life…glad y’all all get front row seats to it…suddenly all the hate means nothing…imagine your hero saying this about you…I could cry.”

This is just the latest in a series of feel-good moments Harlow has had in recent months. On December 18, 2021, Louisville, Kentucky celebrated Jack Harlow Day. Also that month, Harlow visited his old school, and naturally, the students were pretty amped about it. Back in November, he reunited with one of the few fans who attended his first ever concert and showed gratitude.

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

What Songs Were In ‘Euphoria’ S2E7?

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Maddy Kat Euphoria season two
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(SPOILERS for this week’s Euphoria will be found below.)

This week on Euphoria, Lexi is at centerstage (quite literally) and she debuts her play, Oklahoma. She’s spent most of the season working on it, and this week marks the grand opening for it. Oklahoma is a direct reflection of Lexi’s life as it includes characters that play Rue, Maddy, Kat, Cassie, Nate, and more. In episode six, Lexi expresses concerns with Fez about how her friends would feel about the way they were depicted in the play. All in all, Oklahoma strikes as an honest tale of the world that is Euphoria and its respective dynamics from Lexi’s point of view.

Just like last week’s episode, which featured songs by Method Man, Mary J. Blige, Ben E. King, and more, this week on of Euphoria also featured a great selection of songs. The aforementioned events in this week’s episode are soundtracked by carefully curated songs that help to accentuate the emotions behind each scene.

What Songs Were In ‘Euphoria’ S2E7?

The songs that soundtracked the standout moments on this week’s episode of Euphoria are Captain & Tenille’s “Love Will Kep Us Together” and Bonnie Tyler’s “Holding Out For A Hero.” Captain & Tenille’s record plays in the background as Lexi reveals the cast to Oklahoma, and as Rue, Maddy, Kat, Cassie, Nate, and others sit in attendance, they quickly realize that the cast looks a lot like them. Bonnie Tyler’s song plays as Nate’s football team is emulated with a shirtless dance routine that’s set in the weight room. It’s one that causes Nate to walk out of the theater before the play concludes.

The soundtrack for this week’s episode also includes the following songs:
Piero Picconi — “Amore Mio Aiutami”
Ennio Morricone — “Uno Che Grida Amore”
Air — “The Word Hurricane”
Francis Lai — “Vivre Pour Vivre”
Activa — “Daydream (Original Mix)”
Bobby Darin — “More”
Alex North — “Spartacus Love Theme”
Tweet — “Oops (Oh My)”
Armando Trovajoli — “Surrender (From II Commissario Pepe)”
Labrinth — “What’s Up”
Riz Ortolani — “Cannibal Holocaust”

HBO’s ‘Euphoria’ airs on Sundays at 9:00pm EST.

Everything We Know About Frank Ocean’s Next Album

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Frank Ocean Panorama Music Festival
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Frank Ocean is one of those artists who immediately captured the world’s attention. As soon as Channel Orange was released, it catapulted Frank, born Christopher Breaux, into superstardom. Yes, his previous mixtape Nostalgia Ultra was a fan-favorite as well, but the co-sign of Def Jam and Channel Orange‘s high-profile guests like Earl Sweatshirt, Andre 3000, and John Mayer, made it clear that this was an artist’s artist. A few years later, his cleverness in pulling the wool over his label’s eyes with Endless, and immediately following it up with Blonde helped establish Ocean as a legacy artist following in the footsteps of fellow rebels like Prince. Now that it’s been almost six years, though, fans are hopeful that some of things Ocean has been teasing over the last few years will finally see the light of day. Here’s what we know so far about what might be next.

Everything We Know About Frank Ocean’s Next Album
One thing we do know is that Frank has been reportedly shopping a new record around to labels. It seemed like he was gearing up to head into album mode back in 2019 when he shared both “DHL” and “In My Room,” but it’s likely the pandemic got in the way of any planned releases in early 2020. Though, he did put out another pair of singles in March of 2020, releasing “Dear April” and “Cayendo.” During a recent Christmas episode of his Apple Music radio show, Blonded, he also shared another new nine-minute track. Still, the best timeline we have for his new album is pegged to his rumored headlining slot at Coachella 2023. So it makes the most sense that even if we get a few new singles this year and in early 2023, that the project would drop close to his appearance at the biggest festival in the world.

When Is Frank Ocean Releasing A New Album?

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The eternal question for music fans always looms large when artists take a few years off: When will they return? And since the back-to-back — or bait-and-switch — release of Endless and Blonde in 2016, Frank Ocean has been mostly off the grid. He did resurface to pay homage to his great friend Virgil Abloh after the fashion legend’s passing, but staying out of the spotlight is basically a full-time job for this R&B star. Still, it’s been close to six years since we got a full-length from Ocean and inquiring minds want to know, will we ever get another? And if so, when?

When Is Frank Ocean Releasing A New Album?
Unfortunately, if you came here looking for a definitive answer, that isn’t really in the cards at this time. Ocean has been slowly but steadily releasing songs here and there on his Apple Music radio show Blonded, including a pair of singles, “Dear April” and “Cayendo” back in 2020, but has spent the bulk of the pandemic canceling releases or working on secret side projects.

Due to delays and cancellations related to the pandemic, Frank won’t be headlining Coachella this year — though he was slated to in 2020 — but the festival’s co-founder claims he will in 2023. So maybe we’ll finally get an album before that massive appearance? Which means there’s a potential singles could start rolling out in late 2022… so that’s what we’ll go with for now. Give it six months and check back in. Rumors that he’s been shopping an album around to labels are persistent, so it could be a matter of timeline, and Coachella makes the most sense so far.

The Game Isn’t Upset About Not Performing At The Super Bowl: ‘I Don’t Feel No Way About Not Being Included’

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Shortly after this month’s Super Bowl Halftime Show, The Game hinted that he was a bit upset that he was left out of the lineup for the performance. The rapper, just like Snoop Dogg, Eminem, 50 Cent, Kendrick Lamar, and Anderson .Paak who all performed at the show, is a prodigy of Dr. Dre’s, which may have been why he hoped he’d be invited to perform. Days later, The Game’s longtime manager Wack 100 said that his client wasn’t invited to the halftime show because he “told that n**** [JAY-Z] to suck his d*ck like 18 albums ago.” This caused The Game to step forward and set everything straight.

“Don’t nobody speak for ‘The Game’ except ‘THE GAME,” he wrote in an image he posted on Instagram. “I ain’t had no conversation with nobody regarding Jay-Z and the Super Bowl he put together. I don’t feel no way about no being included. It was a GREAT SHOW featuring iconic artists. It was a WIN for the culture.” He continued:

“I control my own narrative. Do not be fooled by the internet, blogs, podcasts or anyone speaking on my name that is not me. My life & new album are both amazing & I’m in a great space creatively & artistically. I’m in Miami to help Ye’ finish Donda 2 & support my friend in one of the most pivotal times of his life/career. Leave me & my name out of any NEGATIVE conversations unless I have given you a REAL reason to include me !!! Hov’ continues to break down doors for the culture & I am in full support of anything & anyone who is on the help side of urban greatness.”

Conway The Machine Drops A Surprise Mixtape, ‘Greetings Earthlings,’ Days Before His Next Album

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Conway The Machine 2022 'God Don't Make Mistakes' listening party
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Later this week, Conway The Machine will release his new album, God Don’t Make Mistakes, which will be his official debut on Eminem’s Shady Records, which he signed to back in 2017. Last summer, the rapper revealed that it would include contributions from Lil Wayne, Rick Ross, Benny The Butcher, Westside Gunn, Jill Scott, T.I., and more. Six days before the release of God Don’t Make Mistakes, which arrives on February 25, Conway decided to surprise his fans with a special treat: He released his latest mixtape, Greetings Earthlings.

“I spent my birthday Cooking up a plate for y’all and it’s All star weekend too so I’m in a good mood,” Conway said in a post on Instagram. “Here’s Something to hold y’all over until the 25th.” Greetings Earthlings is set to arrive with 14 songs and it’s mostly composed of freestyles and remixes of songs by Kanye West (“Jail Freestyle”), J. Cole (“Greetings”), Big Sean (“Moments”), Baby Keem (“Family Ties), and Nicki Minaj (“Seeing Green”). Greetings Earthlings features Conway’s latest single, “John Woo Flick” with Benny The Butcher and Westside Gunn. He also included “TRU Bethel,” his collaboration with 2 Chainz, on the new mixtape.

Greetings Earthlings and God Don’t Make Mistakes will be Conway’s first full-length releases since last year’s If It Bleeds It Can Be Killed with Big Ghost and La Maquina.

You can listen to Greetings Earthlings on DatPiff here.

God Don’t Make Mistakes is out 2/25 via Shady Records/Interscope.

Dr. Dre And Snoop Dogg’s ‘Still D.R.E.’ Becomes Their First Video To Reach A Billion Views

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Dr. Dre Snoop Dogg 2022 Super Bowl show
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This month’s Super Bowl Halftime Show turned out to be very beneficial for the artists that took the stage. Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Kendrick Lamar, and Mary J. Blige, all saw an increase in their streams after their performance. On Spotify, Dre’s numbers went up 185 percent, Mary J. Blige’s “No More Drama” saw an increase of 520 percent, and Kendrick Lamar’s “Alright” went up 250 percent. Additionally, Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg’s “Still D.R.E.” saw its streams go up 245 percent. But that wasn’t all.

“Still D.R.E.” also became Dre and Snoop’s first video to reach a billion views on YouTube. While the video for the song, which appears on Dre’s second album, 1999’s 2001, was released on the week ending October 3, 1999, the video was uploaded to YouTube on October 2011. In addition to Dre and Snoop themselves, the video, which was directed by Hype Williams, also features cameos from Eminem, Xzibit, Funkmaster Flex, and Warren G. As for the song itself, Dre and Snoop have been very open over the years about the fact that it was completely written by Jay-Z.

The new milestone comes after Dre revealed what words the NFL made him remove from the entire Super Bowl performance. The opening lines for Kendrick Lamar’s “M.A.A.D. City” (“If Pirus and Crips could all get along / They’d probably gun me down by the end of this song”) did not fly with the NFL, according to Dre. “They had a problem with that, so we had to take that out,” he said. “No big deal, we get it. But, all in all, everybody came in, we were professional, everybody was on time.”

TDE’s Punch Says Kendrick Lamar Is ‘Ready To Build His Own Thing’ Ahead Of His Departure From The Label

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Kendrick Lamar Austin City Limits
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Last summer, Kendrick Lamar made a rare appearance on social media, where he delivered a shocking announcement: He revealed that his upcoming fifth album would be his last under Top Dawg Entertainment. “As I produce my final TDE album, I feel joy to have been a part of such a cultural imprint after 17 years. The Struggles. The Success. And most importantly, the Brotherhood,” he wrote. “May the Most High continue to use Top Dawg as a vessel for candid creators.” During a recent interview with Mic, TDE’s president Terrence “Punch” Henderson spoke about Kendrick’s upcoming departure and what it means to him.

“I don’t even know if I would describe it that way as ready to leave, as more so ready to build his own thing,” Punch said. “That’s a grown man right now. We watched him grow from a teenager up into an established grown man, a businessman, and one of the greatest artists of all time. So how long do you actually be signed up under somebody? It’s been almost 20 years. So it’s time to move on and try new things and venture out.”

He continued, “He’s doing a great job developing Baby Keem. It’s always been there, but now it’s just time and space where he can actually do it. It’s a beautiful thing to watch because that’s something that started with what we built in the beginning. To see it blossom, it’s a full-circle moment.”

You can read Punch’s full interview with Mic, where he also discusses SZA, TDE as a whole, and more, here.

Watch The Superstar Crew Of Lil Wayne, Gunna, Lil Baby And Even Mary J. Blige Perform At NBA All-Star

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Following up the hip-hop extravaganza that was this year’s Super Bowl halftime show, another superstar crew got together for a second major sports event. Basketball fans don’t have to wait long after the biggest football game of the year is over to get their own fix, as the NBA’s annual All-Star weekend usually comes right after. And though this might be the first time the Super Bowl has ever fully embraced rap, that’s not the case for the NBA at all. The league has a much better relationship with hip-hop artists than the NFL has in recent history, so it’s no surprise that they booked a packed stage for 2022.

DJ Khaled returned for a third time to orchestrate the whole medley of performers, occasionally overstepping his bounds as an overeager hype man, and helped ring in sets from Lil Wayne, Lil Baby, Gunna, Ludacris, Migos, and even Mary J. Blige herself, who was the only performer involved in both of these massive sporting events. If that doesn’t cement her legendary status, at this point, I don’t know what will. Check out the whole performance above and get more of Uproxx’s NBA All-Star weekend coverage by following along with Dime Magazine.