Music

2 Chainz’s Fiery ‘Free B.G.’ Video Pays Homage To The Incarcerated Cash Money Rapper

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Dope Don’t Sell Itself, the new album from 2 Chainz and allegedly his final trap rap project, is out now via Def Jam. During its rollout, Chainz has kept up a steady stream of content, including a live television performance of “Lost Kings” with Lil Durk and Sleepy Rose, a fire LA Leakers freestyle over Pharcyde’s 1992 classic “Passin’ Me By,” and music videos for “Million Dollars Worth Of Game” with 42 Dugg, “Pop Music” with Beatking and Moneybagg Yo, and “Neighbors Know My Name.”

Adding to that latter category, yesterday, 2 Chainz shared the off-roading video for “Free B.G.” In it, Chainz and a crew of motorsports enthusiasts take over a vacant airplane hangar to do donuts and wheelies on ATVs and dirtbikes while a whole fleet of scantily-clad women twerks to the Mannie Fresh and Mondo-produced beat. The lyrics pay homage to Mannie’s former labelmate B.G., with Chainz calling himself a hot boy — borrowing from the name of the quartet which B.G. belonged to with Juvenile, Lil Wayne, and Turk — and chanting to free the incarcerated rapper, who was convicted of gun possession and witness tampering in 2012 and sentenced to 14 years in federal prison.

Watch 2 Chainz’s “Free B.G.” video above.

Dope Don’t Sell Itself is out now. You can stream it here.

ODB’s Widow Sues Wu-Tang Clan For $1 Million In Unpaid Royalties

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Icelene Jones, the widow of the late Ol’ Dirty Bastard, sued the rapper’s band, Wu-Tang Clan, on Tuesday, citing a decade’s worth of unpaid royalties, according to Variety. Jones is asking for at least $1 million, alleging that Wu-Tang Clan Productions paid no royalties to ODB’s estate from 2011 to July 2021. When royalties were paid out, it was only in the paltry sum (relatively speaking) of $130,000.

The basis for the suit is a 1992 recording agreement between ODB and Wu-Tang Clan Productions, which is owned and operated by Wu-Tang founder RZA, that promised 50% of net earnings on the publishing of his copyrighted songs as well as 50% of net earnings from the sound recordings — two very similar but slightly different subsets of income generated by artists’ music. Think of the first as all the money from the use of the songs in movies, TV shows, film trailers, and during sporting events, while the latter would be the actual sales of the songs via online and physical purchases, streaming, and radio play (not to mention, the auctioned, ultra-rare album, Once Upon A Time In Shaolin). The suit says that royalties from merchandise have been withheld, as well.

Although the estate has received some payments from Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp. in 2019 and 2020, the suit alleges that this is well short of the royalties actually owned. The estate has requested accounting from the time period in question but says it has not received it in all this time.

Even Kanye West Knows It’ll Take An Of God To Bring His Family Back Together

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Even though Kanye West has spent the past week (it’s only Wednesday, people) acting out against his ex-wife Kim Kardashian, the volatile producer/fashion mogul apparently still wants to reconcile with her — even if he also seems to realize that to do so would take an act of God. Kanye posted to Instagram yet again today, this time crafting a grid of photos from Kim’s new Vogue cover story, writing in the caption: “GOD PLEASE BRING OUR FAMILY BACK TOGETHER.”

Kanye certainly hasn’t been helping the supreme deity on that count. Early this week, he lashed out at Kim over managing a TikTok account for their daughter North against his wishes, and after she rightfully called him out for repeatedly making their private problems public, he doubled down, posting even more accusations that claimed she tried to bar him from spending time with their kids, forced him to take a drug test, and even put out a hit on him as if the Kardashians were a mob family rather than reality TV stars.

Meanwhile, in the Vogue cover story, Kardashian herself cast even more doubt over the potential for reconciliation, saying, “For so long, I did what made other people happy. And I think in the last two years I decided, I’m going to make myself happy. And that feels really good. And even if that created changes and caused my divorce, I think it’s important to be honest with yourself about what really makes you happy. I’ve chosen myself. I think it’s okay to choose you.”

She also not-so-subtly calls out Kanye’s passive-aggressive behavior. “You could be so hurt or angry at your ex, but I think in front of the kids, it always has to be ‘Your dad’s the best,’” she said. “Make sure you are your co-parent’s biggest cheerleader, no matter what you’re personally going through.”

Halsey Uses A ‘Euphoria’ Scene To Joke About Dominic Fike’s Age Difference Mix-Up

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Dominic Fike is at an important point of his career, as he’s in the midst of his first major acting role as a cast member of hit HBO series Euphoria. He’s doing well in music, too, of course, and he’s rubbed shoulders with some major figures in the industry, including Halsey; Fike featured on “Dominic’s Interlude” from Manic. Now, Halsey has used a clip from Euphoria to share a story about the first time they met.

Halsey tweeted a clip from the show, in which Zendaya’s character hits Fike’s character in the head and says, “He’s a liar and a f*cking snake. F*ck you!” Halsey wrote alongside that, “me and dominic fike when we first met and he told me he thought i was 35 even though im only one year older than him.”

Indeed, Halsey is 27 years old and was born on September 29, 1994, while Fike is 26 and was born just over a year later on December 30, 1995.

Halsey added in another tweet, “ive been doin this so damn long every one is tryna put me in the grave today. y’all better be careful! im 27 the universe might be listening [skull emoji].” Some of their followers apparently weren’t too keen on Halsey’s reference to the infamous “27 Club,” which features a group of famous celebrities who died at 27 years old, as they followed up, “too early in the day for dark humor i see. im sorry im kidding ily!!!”

Hours later, she added, “‘why would u share this’ because it’s funny as hell. i have a kid and i’ve been making music for 10 years i don’t blame anyone who is surprised by my age [crying emoji] y’all suck the fun outta everything.”

Why Is Kanye West’s Documentary Called ‘Jeen-Yuhs?’

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Last fall, the entertainment world received the first preview of Jeen-Yuhs, the upcoming Netflix documentary that looks back on Kanye West’s near-20 year music career. It was a brief video of him and Mos Def rapping to their 2004 collaboration, “Two Words,” from the former’s debut album College Dropout. Since then, we’ve received two trailers from Jeen-Yuhs, which was made a reality thanks to directors Coodie Simmons and Chike Ozah (aka Coodie And Chike). The film is comprised of three parts and the first one will be available to watch on Netflix next week on February 16.

Why Is Kanye West’s Documentary Called ‘Jeen-Yuhs?’

Jeen-Yuhs is the phonetic spelling of the word “genius,” and that’s an adjective that’s often been used to describe Kanye West. Whether it be his vision in music through production, crafting full bodies of work, or spotting the next great talent, he’s earned that title in the realm. However, he’s also earned it in the fashion world through the work in his Yeezy brand whether it was during its time with Nike or now as a partner with Adidas. All in all, Jeen-Yuhs examines Kanye’s career from past to present and highlights the many ways he was ahead of his time, thus making him a genius — or a Jeen-Yuhs — that took people some time to realize.

You can watch the latest trailer for Jeen-Yuhs below and stay tuned for its release on Netflix on February 16.

Fana Hues Is All Vibes On ‘Wild Horses’ And Announces The ‘Flora + Fana’ Project

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We’ve had on our eyes and ears on Fana Hues for a minute. Since the rising R&B singers appeared on Tyler The Creator’s 10-minute opus “Sweet/I Thought You Wanted To Dance,” and especially since she dropped the single “Pieces” late last year. Now the Pasadena native has announced a new project cheekily entitled Flora + Fana, out March 25th, and dropped the lead single from it in the vibey “Wild Horses.”

Fana stands out over a hushed drum pattern that veers from what we’ve heard in the past, but is equally cinematic. It has that Frank Ocean melodrama to it that pulls you in. She’s continuing to make a name for herself as a singer who floats over unique tonalities that highlight her emotive vocals.

“Flora + fana represents my world and everything it encompasses, and right now, that’s growth, love, heartaches, and breaks,” she says of the upcoming release in a statement. “It’s also representative of how I cope with the state of the world. No matter what’s happening outside, my ecosystem is flourishing.”

Listen to “Wild Horses” above and check out the album artwork and tracklist for Flora + Fana below.

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Fana Hues

1. “Moscato”
2. “Breakfast”
3. “Pieces”
4. “BAD Bad”
5. “Rain”
6. “High Roller”
7. “Dayxday”
8. “Alibi”
9. “Wild Horses”
10. “Fall In Line”
11. “Wait”

Flora + Fana is out 3/25 via Bright Antenna. Pre-order/save it here.

Future Comes Clean About His Addiction To Beautiful Women In A Promotional Video With Kevin Samuels

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It’s been about two years since Future dropped a solo album, namely his eighth album, High Off Life. A few months later, he connected with Lil Uzi Vert for their joint album, Pluto X Baby Pluto. Since then, things have been rather low-key for Future, but 2022 appears to be the year that he returns with some new music. But before he does that, the musician had one thing to get off his chest: He sat down with Kevin Samuels to admit that he’s suffering from an addiction to beautiful women.

“Admitting you have an addiction is never easy, especially when you do it publicly,” Samuels tells Future in the video. “So Chanel, Birkin, Dior, APs, five-star hotels, vacations. Now last year, how much would you say that you spend on women.”

Future then admitted that he’s spent between two or three million dollars on women in 2021, which leaves Samuels completely surprised. “Every time I see a beautiful woman, I have to splurge, I have to spoil her,” Future confesses. “I realize that I have a problem right now. I need help.”

Then again, the conversation could simply.be a promotional effort, as it doubles as a promotional video announcing Future’s upcoming single “Worst Day.” He did not reveal an official release date for the song, but he confirmed that it is “coming soon.“”

You can watch the promotional video above.

Lil Uzi Vert is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Willow May Be Pulling Out Of Billie Eilish’s Happier Than Ever Tour Due To ‘Production Limitations’

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Billie Eilish kicked off her Happier Than Ever world tour earlier this month, in support of her chart-topping sophomore album Happier Than Ever, which was nominated for seven Grammy awards. Billie announced plans to bring quite the cast of supporting acts for dates throughout the dates. The list of names included Willow, Duckwrth, Arlo Parks, Jessie Reyez, Girl In Red, and Jungle. Unfortunately, one of those acts seems to have dropped out.

In a post on Twitter, Willow revealed that she may step away from the tour. “Due to production limitations, I am unable to put on the show that I believe you all deserve,” she wrote. “Stay safe, I love you all and I will see you soon!” She did not specify which show or shows she would be unable to attend. Willow was set to begin the first of eleven shows on Billie’s world tour starting on February 9 in Washington D.C. This would make it more than likely that her tweet is in reference to the Happier Than Ever Tour.

The upcoming performances would’ve kicked off the second half of Willo’s Lately I Feel Everything Tour, which began back in September after the release of her fourth album Lately I Feel Everything.

Snot Clarifies A Line About Doja Cat After She And Others Misunderstood

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Up-and-coming New York-born and Florida-bred rapper Snot is gearing up to release his second album Ethereal at the end of the week. It comes after his 2020 debut Beautiful Havoc, which earned him plenty of attention. So far, Snot has released two singles from the album, “Go” and “Doja” with ASAP Rocky. The latter, which is of course named after Doja Cat, is his latest single and it caused a bit of controversy as many, including Doja Cat herself, misunderstood a line from the song. As a result, Snot took a moment to clear the air.

On “Doja,” many believe Snot said, “I f*cked that b*tch named Doja Cat.” This caused Doja to post and quickly delete a response, writing, “You f*cked who?” However, it turns out that Snot actually said, “I’ll f*ck that b*tch named Doja Cat,” as he explained in a pair of tweets. “Y’all got it misconstrued,” he wrote, adding, “Im talkin my recklessness with no cognizance. It’s no disrespect to Doja. she a queen fr. I made this song to get lit in a moshpit typesh*t.”

As for Ethereal, the album is locked in at 14 songs and features additional guest appearances from Teddi Jones, Trippie Redd, Kevin Abstract, Juicy J, and Joey Badass.

Ethereal is due 2/11 via 300 Entertainment. You can pre-save it here.

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

Nelly Apologizes For Accidentally Sharing A Video Of Him Receiving Oral Sex

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Today started out as any other for Nelly, but things took a sharp left after the “Hot In Herre” rapper accidentally posted a video of himself receiving oral sex to his Instagram page. While he quickly deleted the post, the damage was already done, with social media doing its job. Some of Nelly’s 3.3 million Instagram followers caught a glimpse of the video and quickly shared their thoughts about it. Hours after Nelly made the mistake, he released a statement on the matter to TMZ.

“I sincerely apologize to the young lady and her family, this is unwanted publicity for her/them,” he told the publication. “This was an old video that was private and never meant to go public.” Nelly did not share how the video ended up on his Instagram page, but according to TMZ, it appears that he could have been hacked. The publication says his team is investigating a breach and they’re concerned that some more private content that belongs to Nelly could end up online. This includes financial information, personal documents, and passwords.

Nelly’s apology comes after he was slaughtered online, with many taking to Twitter to comment on a small observation they noticed. Comments included “I saw Nelly’s d*ck and I’m very disappointed” and “Nelly’s d*ck is super regular.”