Music

Lil Durk Reveals Kanye West’s Plan For A Joint Project While Shutting Down A Pete Davidson Rumor

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When Lil Durk announced his original 7220 release date was the same as Kanye West’s projected release date for Donda 2, many fans took it as a sign that Durk was challenging his fellow Chicagoan in the same way Kanye once challenged 50 Cent over a shared release date. However, February 22 has come and gone without a new album from either rapper; Durk instead released his “AHHH HA” video and announced he’d pushed by his album’s release, while Kanye only put out the first four tracks from Donda 2 through his stem player site.

Still, once a rumor has begun to spread, it’s hard to stop fans from speculating over something they consider at least possible (Twitter is the ultimate game of Telephone), so it wasn’t long before they began to posit nefarious motives for Durk’s date change. When one fan account suggested that Durk had acquired a feature from Pete Davidson for his album — which would antagonize Kanye, as Davidson is dating the rapper’s ex-wife Kim Kardashian, something Kanye has repeatedly expressed his displeasure over — Durk stepped in to shut down the speculation.

“This a lie I don’t even play like that,” he wrote on Instagram, before revealing an even more intriguing proposition. “Plus Ye want to do a album together.”

The two Windy City rappers have certainly had opportunities to build chemistry. Durk, who recreated several of Kanye’s music videos in his own “Kanye Krazy” video last year, featured on the track “Jonah” from West’s original Donda with newcomer Vory after nearly missing out due to a missed flight. Meanwhile, both rappers are well-versed in the joint project format; Kanye famously helped kick off the trend with Watch The Throne with Jay-Z, while last year, Durk carried the torch alongside Lil Baby with Voice Of The Heroes.

The Weeknd Is Delaying An Announcement Due To The Conflict Between Ukraine And Russia

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The conflict between Ukraine and Russia finally escalated tonight. Reports that Russia has launched a “full-scale invasion” of Ukraine broke, and American celebrities are already being confronted with the need to speak out about the political event. Yesterday, Cardi B noted that she sides with the “citizens” who are impacted by the violence, but also understands how the sanctions that Biden has imposed, and the ramifications of the conflict, are going to further fracture the already damaged global economy.

The breaking news has also had an impact on another artist’s plans. After celebrating his birthday just a few days ago, The Weeknd has been teasing a big new announcement that was slated to come tomorrow, but after seeing the reports he’s decided to postpone on sharing his own news while the world focuses on something slightly more serious. “Unfortunately I’m just now seeing what’s happening with the conflict and will pause on tomorrow’s announcement,” he wrote on Twitter tonight. “I pray for everyone’s safety.”

Though fans don’t know what Abel had in store for them, speculation was rampant about either a tour, or a final third album for this new “trilogy” of releases. But postponing while such a tragic circumstance is unfolding feels like the right move, so we’ll just have to wait and see what Abel has up his sleeve.

Snoop Dogg Is Still Negotiating For Albums By Tupac And Dr. Dre Despite His Acquisition Of Death Row

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February has been an active month for Snoop Dogg. He released his 19th album, BODR (Bacc On Death Row), and he joined Dr. Dre, Eminem, Kendrick Lamar, 50 Cent, Mary J. Blige, and Anderson .Paak at the Super Bowl LVI Halftime Show. Before either of these events, Snoop acquired Death Row Records, a label that he was previously signed to and which was founded back in 1991 by a group that included Dr. Dre and Suge Knight. After the deal, Snoop shared his plans to make Death Row an NFT record label.

However, it seems there are more aspects of the acquisition that still need to be finalized. According to Billboard, it appears that albums by Tupac and Dr. Dre won’t be included in the deal. A pair of Tupac’s Death Row albums, All Eyez On Me and The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory, are “no longer on the label,” which means Snoop does not have access to them. Additionally, Dre’s 1992 debut album The Chronic, which was also released on Death Row, would not be returned to him until 2023. According to the report from Billboard, the specifics of the deal are still under negotiation, so until things are finalized, Death Row’s previous owners (MNRK Music Group and investment firm Blackstone) still have the rights to the label’s catalog entries.

“It feels good to have ownership of the label I was part of at the beginning of my career and as one of the founding members,” Snoop said after acquiring the label. “This is an extremely meaningful moment for me.”

Slim Jxmmi’s Battery Charge Gets Dropped After His Girlfriend Reportedly Recanted Her Police Statement

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Late last month, Slim Jxmmi, who with Swae Lee makes up the rap duo Rae Sremmurd, was arrested for battery after a fight with his girlfriend in Miami. According to TMZ, the rapper allegedly attacked his girlfriend, with whom he has a child, and pulled out her hair extensions. The incident began after Slim Jxmmi, born Aaquil Brown, was confronted by his girlfriend about a woman he was following on Instagram. Brown is also accused of throwing his girlfriend’s phone over a balcony. Now, almost a month after he was arrested for battery, the charges against him have been dropped.

According to Billboard, Miami prosecutors will not pursue charges against Brown. Court proceedings in the case were closed on Tuesday due to an order from Judge Betsy Alvarez-Zane. While a spokeswoman for the Miami-Dade County Attorney’s Office did not return Billboard’s request for comment, Brown’s attorney Bradley Horenstein said prosecutors told the judge on Tuesday that the charges were dropped due to a lack of evidence. Prosecutors reportedly said that the rapper’s girlfriend recanted her initial police statement and that she also refused to cooperate with them.

Slim Jxmmi’s focus will likely return to music and his Rae Sremmurd duo has not dropped an album since 2018’s SR3MM. The duo teased the release of SremmLife 4 back in 2020, but nothing from that project has yet been released. They also made an appearance in season two of Lil Dicky’s FX show Dave.

Britney Spears Threatens To Sue Tri Star And Blasts Her Former Business Managers

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For quite some time, Britney Spears has used her Instagram account to air grievances. She’s used it to discuss her former conservatorship, which lasted 13 years, as well as her relationship with her sister Jamie Lynn. It’s become a diary of sorts for the singer, and in a recent post, she used her account to go after her former business management firm Tri Star Sports & Entertainment and her former business managers Lou Taylor and Robin Greenhill.

In an Instagram post she shared on Wednesday, Britney said that before “they sent me away” to a treatment facility, Tri Star brought her into their offices. “The swanky suited up b*tches … SO NICE with their ‘We are here to make you feel SPECIAL’ [thumbs up emoji],” she wrote, before specifically calling out her former business managers. “I had lunch with Lou Taylor and Robin Greenhill … they said ‘Britney, look at your picture on the wall!’ With a huge black and white framed picture in the hall of their office !!!!! Kate Beckinsale was there too !!!!! They sucked up to me and ‘made me feel special’ … RIGHT …. Ha those same b*tches killed me a week later !!!!”

Britney added that her father Jamie Spears “worshipped” Taylor and Greenhill and claimed he “would have done anything they asked of him.” She concluded, “Nobody else would have lived through what they did to me !!! I lived through all of if and I remember all of it !!!! I will sue the sh*t out of Tri Star !!!! Psss they got away with all of it and I’m here to warn them every day of my precious life !!!!”

Britney’s post comes after she reportedly signed one of the biggest book deals ever.

Megan Thee Stallion And DJ Akademiks’ War Of Words Continues After Tory Lanez Tried Clarifying His Text Message Apology

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Nearly two years after the incident that left her shot in the foot, Tory Lanez and Megan The Stallion’s felony assault case had a pre-trial hearing today. Tory is accused of shooting the rapper back in the summer of 2020 and he faces felony charges for assault with a semi-automatic firearm and carrying a loaded and unregistered firearm in his vehicle. Before the hearing began today, things took a turn when DJ Akademiks tweeted that Tory Lanez’s “DNA WAS NOT found on the weapon” that was used in the alleged crime. This sparked a war of words between the two, while Megan pointed out that the hearing had not begun at the time of Akademiks’ tweet.

Things cooled down for a bit, but picked back up after Tory Lanez himself jumped into the mix. Megan shared a screenshot of Tory apologizing to her the morning after he allegedly shot her. In response to the screenshot, Tory tweeted, “Good D*ick had me f*cking 2 best friends …. and I got caught [shrug emoji] … that’s what I apologized 4 . … it’s sick how u Spun it tho.” This sparked a brief back and forth between Tory and rapper and Megan’s boyfriend Pardi who wrote, “put the phone dwn let’s link .. you n me .. ain’t nothin to talk about.” Megan also responded to Tory’s tweet. “F*cking two best friends… n**** you SHOT ME YOU KNOW WHATS WHAT YOU WERE APOLOGIZING FOR,” she wrote on her Instagram Story. “YOU KEEP PUTTING A NARRATIVE OUT THAT ME AND MY FRIEND FELL OUT ABT YOU AND THATS NOT TRUE! WHY ARE YOU SKIPPING OVER THE SHOOTING JUST ADMIT YOU SHOT ME! BC SHE DEFINITELY AINT DO IT AND I AINT SHOOT MY DAMN SELF.”

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Megan The Stallion Tory Lanez
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Megan The Stallion Akademiks
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Megan continued, “YOU THINK ITS OKAY TO SHOOT ME THEN HARASS ME ONLINE AND MAKE IT LIKE THIS WAS SOME WEIRD CAT FIGHT WHAT THE ACTUAL F*CK IS WRONG WITH YOU.” She also took a moment to address Akademik’s response after she called him at for falsely reporting things. “Big AKKKK??? LITTLE
Boy please,” she wrote on her Instagram Story. “Why would you post there was no DNA FOUND but now saying it’s inconclusive ?? How are YOU Specifically able to see documents before they come out in court?”

Akademiks jumped in with a message of his own on Twitter. “Aye.. i dont give a f*ck bout what u got with tory,” he wrote. “Yall can play yall PR games.. we kno what u n roc nation is doing. i dont care. Just dont try to bring in my brand in there. U literally a Peon in the game. 1501 OWNS u and u beg them everytime to drop a song.” He continued, “U so bothered over my TWEETING out FACTS about tory case. GO ASK THE DA… DNA RESULTS WAS SUBMITTED in discovery… why u care so much what the internet says? OH i know.. U been living off a narrative and its sad u made it where if tory dont go to jail u dont win.”

“WHERE ALL MY HOT GIRLS AT?????” Akademiks continued in another tweet. “Meg.. idc what u n tory had. but dont address big ak unless u talking what the DNA report said. Holla at the DA and figure out what they said and if i Lied. If i Lied.. File the lawsuit babe.”

Megan Thee Stallion is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Pete Davidson Seems To Have Deleted His New Instagram Account Hours After Using It To Troll Kanye

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In today’s Pete Davidson news, we are saddened to report that his Instagram has, once again, gone dark. The circumstances surrounding the deactivation are a little murky, so here is a very important timeline of events.

Davidson was pretty active on Instagram pre-2018, when he would post various SNL clips and pictures of sunsets, you know, normal Instagram stuff. Then, when he became “official” with Ariana Grande, Davidson soon became an internet celebrity, which he famously did not like. He deleted the app after their very public breakup.

Fast forward to February 2022, when Davidson reactivated his account, shocking the internet once again. Instead of posting anything, he instead linked a YouTube video in his bio, to a 10-second clip of Rupert Pupkin’s stand-up. In the clip, Pupkin says, “Better to be king for a night than schmuck for a lifetime.”

This isn’t the first time Davidson has referred to himself as a king. But, the seemingly harmless clip was interpreted as a dig at Kanye West, who has been publically mocking Davidson for the past few months. West also followed the comedian last week on the app, but Davidson didn’t follow back, only following two users: his girlfriend Kim Kardashian and Sebastian Stan, for some reason.

The comedian then began posting a clip to his story, seemingly of his latest horror movie The Home with director James DiMonaco, director of The Purge.

Then, mere hours later, the clip was gone, as was Davidson’s whole account, like a comet burning bright for a night, then deactivating itself. Fan update accounts everywhere were left distraught. Comedy is dead, once again.

While this doesn’t confirm much (maybe the director simply didn’t want behind-the-scenes footage online) the timing is interesting, as Kanye has been doubling down on his Instagram posts over the last few days.

Cypress Hill Has Been Banned From ‘SNL’ For 30 Years, According To Cypress Hill

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It takes a lot to get banned from Saturday Night Live. Sinead O’Connor ripped up a photo of the Pope. Kanye West ranted pro-Trump nonsense. Martin Lawrence ranted about feminine hygiene. The Replacements got too drunk. The hardcore band Fear destroyed the stage. Elvis Costello played the wrong song (then later got un-banned, because he’s Elvis Costello).

Cypress Hill also got banned — or so they claim. Their crime? On a 1993 episode alongside host Shannen Doherty, one member of the legendary hip-hop group, DJ Muggs, smoked a joint onstage. According to The Wrap, the group talked about the incident at a TCA panel for the forthcoming doc Cypress Hill: Insane in the Brain.

“I kind of like the fact that we’re banned,” said member Sen Dog. “The whole thing about being banned, it’s punk rock in itself. I would like to leave it like that. If the guys wanted to do it, then that’d be something we could talk about or whatever, but I kind of like that idea of being the outlaws that are not allowed around town.”

B Real, another bandmate, agreed. “I don’t mind the ban aspect of it,” he said, “because, you know, we’re in the company of some greats that have been banned, and that’s OK with us.”

Thing is, they might be banned. An SNL insider told The Wrap that there’s actually no ban on any act, including Cypress Hill (or, for that matter, Kanye).

Still, if Cypress Hill — who, in the ‘90s, became the first hip-hop act sell multi-platinum albums — know what they’ll do if they ever return to 30 Rock.

“We had a plan that we were going to do that would have just blown their goddamn minds if we had done it,” said B Real. “But it turned out the way it turned out. So, if we were to get unbanned and do it again, probably the plan we had set in the first place will initially take off and we’ll get banned again.”

At least they didn’t get banned from The Simpsons.

(Via The Wrap)

Kanye West Has Released The First Four Songs From ‘Donda 2’

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As the build-up for the full release of Kanye West’s Donda 2 album continues, the first four tracks from it have been officially released. Out now exclusively on Ye’s stem player streaming platform/device, the first four songs are entitled “Pablo” featuring Travis Scott and Future, “We Did It Kid” featuring Baby Keem and Migos, “Broken Road” featuring Don Tolliver, and “Security.”

This past weekend, West posted on his Instagram page that Donda 2 would only be available via the stem player, saying that: “Donda 2 will only be streaming on my own platform, the stem player. You can download new music from stemplayer.com. You can play 4 different elements of the track: vocals, drums, bass, and music. It also has an MP3 player available. We currently have 67,000 available and are making 3,000 a day. Go click the link in my bio to purchase.”

According to Music Business Worldwide, the $200 midi controller style player has reportedly clocked in over $2 million in sales since the Donda 2 streaming announcement, which amounts to more than 10,000 units sold and counting. Before the tracks were released on the Stem Player today, fans were none too pleased that the whole album didn’t arrive in full on the 02/22 stated release date. This seems par for the course for West, who held a livestreamed listening event yesterday from a Miami Stadium.

Doja Cat Has Mixed Feelings About Possibly Hosting ‘SNL’ One Day

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Doja Cat is one of the most entertaining personalities in music, so naturally, fans and friends would love to see more of her outside of singles and albums. She’s a hoot on social media, but some have wondered how she’d fare on the Saturday Night Live stage as a host. It turns out that’s something Doja has given some thought to, and the prospect both excited and intimidates her.

In a new Billboard interview, Doja was asked if she’d want an SNL hosting gig and she replied, “I like the idea of doing that because I love, obviously, to tell jokes. But it’s a little nerve-racking because it’s something friends have suggested to me, [doing] stand-up or comedy. That would kind of be my first gig. Just the thought of that terrifies me a little bit.”

Speaking of SNL, one of the show’s icons is somebody Doja would like to meet, as she said, “I really want to meet Tracee Ellis Ross — and at the same time, I’m terrified because, to me, she’s the boss at the end of the game of life that I’m living. Her and Maya Rudolph.”

She also discussed her relationship with social media, saying, “People are always like, ‘What’s your Finsta,’ and I don’t want one. I don’t like the idea of having to juggle social media, which already sucks as it is. Not to say it hasn’t helped me so f*cking much, but the way I feel about Instagram is: I go on, look at pictures of makeup and fashion and cats, and that’s pretty much it. I’ve unfollowed everyone who is a person that I know.”

Check out the full interview here.