Music

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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The Game 2016 SiriusXM Studios
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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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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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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.

What Role Does Jeremih Have On ‘Power?’

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Jeremih Power Force
STARZ

(SPOILERS for this week’s Power Book IV: Force will be found below.)

As a fan of his music, it’s been good seeing Jeremih on the small screen these past few weeks. It’s been more than six years since we received an album from Jeremih, which his last project being 2015’s Late Night. However, he’s still active in the music world as he appears on the theme song for Power Book IV: Force. “Power Powder Respect” also features 50 Cent, who created the Power series, and Lil Durk, who along with Jeremih, hails from Chicago where the show is based in. However, there’s more to Jeremih’s involvement in Power Book IV: Force.

What Role Does Jeremih Have On ‘Power?’

Jeremih also plays Elijah who is the right-hand man to Jenard, the younger brother of Diamond who currently runs the CBI gang. Jenard was previously in charge of CBI while Diamond was in jail, but following his release, Jenard reluctantly surrendered the throne. Elijah makes his first impression in Power Book IV: Force nearly coming to blows with Tommy during their first meeting. Just like Jenard, Elijah is not too fond of Tommy and seeks to get rid of him in the most efficient or quickest way possible, whichever comes first.

New episodes of STARZ’s ‘Power Book IV: Force’ are available to watch on Sunday at 12:00am EST.

Kanye West Shares A Lengthy List Of People He’s Had Beef With

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Earlier this month, Kanye West revealed that Kid Cudi would not appear on his upcoming album Donda 2 due to his friendship with Pete Davidson (or “Skete,” as Kanye calls him). Just like that, Cudi joined a long list of people with whom Kanye has had issues. In case you forget everyone who’s gotten on Kanye’s bad side, the HipHopNumbers’ Twitter account jotted down a list, though they clearly forgot some names.

HipHopNumbers’ initial list included names like Taylor Swift, Wiz Khalifa, Billie Eilish, Pete Davidson, Drake, Ray J, South Park, Harriet Tubman, Bruno Mars, Louis Vuitton, Amber Rose, TMZ, the American Music Awards, 50 Cent, and more. However, today, just a few days after the initial list was shared, Kanye took to Instagram to add more names to it.

“Come on guys… This list is twice as long,” Kanye wrote. “You gotta put Apple, Spotify, Vivendi, Universal, [Lucian Grainge], Tik Tok, Black History Month, Obama, the whole cast of SNL, Hillary Clinton, the Devil himself, Corey Gamble, [Jeff] Bezos, Charlamagne [Tha God], Disney, [Liberals], and of course Skete and any and all corny sh*t in general.” He added, “Can somebody from Chicago let these people know what Skete meant when we was growing up? It’s up for everybody!!!!!” before concluding with, “Wow. Being rich is fun!!!!”

Nicki Minaj Claps Back At Philadelphia Public Health’s Twitter Account For Bringing Up Her Old Vaccine Tweets

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We’re a few months removed from Nicki Minaj’s bizarre string of tweets regarding the COVID-19 vaccine. Back then the musician infamously claimed that her cousin’s friend became impotent as a result of the vaccine. “His testicles became swollen,” she added. “His friend was weeks away from getting married, now the girl called off the wedding. So just pray on it & make sure you’re comfortable with ur decision, not bullied.” Fast forward to the present, and Nicki sent out a casual tweet that read, “Nothing like watching someone speak confidently about something they know nothing about.” The irony huh?

https://twitter.com/NICKIMINAJ/status/1494825259580608514

In response, Philadelphia Public Health’s Twitter account responded with a screenshot of Nicki’s “testicles” tweet, and while many got a good laugh out of the response, Nicki herself did not find it funny. “Philadelphia’s public health account is posting Nicki Minaj tweets for engagement,” she wrote in response. “They are attempting to shame ppl for advising others to PRAY, be COMFORTABLE & NOT BE BULLIED. I’ve never seen a vaccine trigger this amount of shaming & fear tactics have you? #DoWeHaveAProblem.”

While Philadelphia Public Health’s Twitter account did not directly respond to Nicki, they did reply to a fan who replied to them. “PDPH love y’all but coming for b a r b z is a bad move,” the fan wrote to which PPH replied, “It’s all love” with two laughing emojis.

You can view the exchange between Nicki and PPH above.

Queen Naija And Big Sean Stand In Solidarity For Each Other In Their Video For ‘Hate Our Love’

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Queen Naija and Big Sean have plenty in store for their fan in 2022. Last year, Naija dropped a deluxe reissue of her debut Missunderstood, which added seven songs and featured guest appearances from Ari Lennox, Wale, and J.I. The Prince Of NY. Big Sean, meanwhile, teamed up with Hit-Boy for What You Expect, which boasted contributions from Bryson Tiller, Lil Durk, Babyface Ray, and 42 Dugg. Earlier this month, Queen Naija and Big Sean teamed up for their first collaboration with “Hate Our Love” and they recently delivered a music video.

Its set in New York City during its autumn months and begins with an intro from DJ Envy from The Breakfast Club. After spending time apart, Naija and Sean eventually reunite to stand together and dismiss those who hope their love will fall apart. The video arrives after Sean used an Instagram livestream with Naija to reveal some news about upcoming music.

“I’m here working on [a] new album and new TWENTY88, me and Jhené,” Sean said during the livestream. “Sh*t, we’ve been working on it for a little bit… It’s coming along good, though.”

You can watch the video for “Hate Our Love” above.

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

Fivio Foreign, Kanye West, And Alicia Keys Stand Tall And Plead For Grace In Their ‘City Of Gods’ Video

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Since earning his spotlight moment back in 2019 thanks to his breakout hit “Big Drip,” Fivio Foreign has stayed relevant in the drill rap scene thanks to strong singles and guest features. However, one thing the rapper has not yet done is release an album. At long last, Fivio will do so when he drops B.I.B.L.E. next month and it’s a project that’s set to be executive produced by Kanye West. Ahead of the album’s arrival, Fivio, Kanye, and Alicia Keys join forces in the video for their recent collaboration, “City Of Gods.”

The visual is shot in black and white and it finds Fivio and Kanye feeding off each other’s energy and they dance enthusiastically beside each other. Elsewhere, Alicia Keys stands in the spotlight to deliver her attention-grabbing hook. The trio’s track marks Kanye and Fivio’s second song together after they united for “Off The Grid” from Kanye’s 2021 album Donda.

Fivio’s video comes after he pushed back against claims that drill rap is responsible for the spike in murders and shootings in New York City. “This the drill community, and I know like, the police and everybody be looking at n****s like n****s is starting trouble, but n****s ain’t really starting trouble,” he told TMZ. “They tryna feed they kids.”

You can watch the video for “City Of Gods” above.