Music

Wizkid And Buju Are In A Big ‘Mood’ In Their Colorful New Video

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Towards the end of 2020, Wizkid released Made In Lagos, his long-awaited fourth album, which produced “Essence,” his collaboration with Tems that went on to become one of the big songs of the summer of 2021. The track was later remixed with a verse from Justin Bieber, which further boosted the song’s appeal. That remix appeared on a deluxe reissue of the album, which also featured another fan-favorite record: “Mood,” with rising Nigerian singer Buju.

Months after sharing the deluxe album, Wizkid and Buju bring their talents together in a new video for “Mood.” It’s a vibrant effort that features Wizkid and Buju having a grand ol’ time together as they show off some dance moves. Wizkid also gets whisked away by a woman who does a great job of grabbing his attention.

Wizkid’s newest video comes after he and Burna Boy connected for one for the celebratory track “B. D’OR“. He’s also set to bring his talents to Puerto Rico’s 2022 Afro Nation festival, which is set to go down next month. Megan Thee Stallion, Burna Boy, Tems, Ckay, Koffee, Naira Marley, Rema, Tekno, and more are expected to perform.

You can watch the video for “Mood” above.

Made In Lagos (Deluxe) is out now via RCA Records. You can stream it here.

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

Nicki Minaj Doesn’t Want Her Son To Have A Music Career

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On Friday, Nicki Minaj released her first single of the year, “Do We Have A Problem?” with Lil Baby. The track arrived with quite the cinematic music video, which showed the rappers as criminals who trick their enemies to complete a crime. The video also featured an appearance from Joseph Sikora, who plays Tommy Egan on Power and Power Book IV: Force. Prior to the song’s release, Nicki was a guest on the DJ Buck & Friends podcast, where she spoke about her son and how motherhood has changed her life.

“When I look at my son, sometimes when I’m stressing about something, I look at my son and I realize, ‘What are you mad at? Look at what God blessed you with,” Nicki said. “This is the ultimate blessing of the universe. There’s no greater blessing. There’s none. You can’t think of one greater blessing that the universe gives us as human beings. So I will just say that it’s been a great experience.”

She later made note of one thing she won’t let her son do in the future. “I’m learning a lot, I’m laughing a lot,” she added. “He’s a show-off, but I’m not letting him rap. I’m not letting him do nothing about no music.”

Nicki’s comments come after she delivered a pretty impressive Adele impression during an appearance on The Late Late Show With James Corden

You can listen to the full episode of the here.

‘Rolling Stone’ Purchases A Majority Stake In Las Vegas’ Life is Beautiful Festival

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Rolling Stone is taking a step into the music festival world. The publication recently announced that it purchased a majority stake in Las Vegas’ Life Is Beautiful festival. The estate of Zappos’ ex-chief executive officer Tony Hsieh, who founded the Vegas festival, will retain a piece of the business and the terms of the deal have not yet been revealed. The publication’s CEO, Gus Wenner, made the purchase in order to curate an events business to complement the editorial side of the company. Wenner reached out to Hsieh in June 2020 and the two worked out a deal before Hsieh died later that year.

The festival will retain the name Life Is Beautiful, but Rolling Stone will look for ways to incorporate the company into the showcase. One example includes naming one of the festival stages after the publication. David Oehm, the new CEO of Life Is Beautiful, will continue to run the festival with his team. “Live events and experiential are so much a part of the future of publishing,” Wenner said in an interview, according to Bloomberg. He hopes to build the business in a way that will allow Rolling Stone to be as relevant to music fans today as it was in the past.

Life Is Beautiful was originally founded in 2013 as a part of Hsieh’s plan to revitalize downtown Las Vegas. The Killers and Kings of Leon headlined the first edition, and since then it’s grown to be a three-day event. The most recent edition of Life Is Beautiful was held in September of 2021.

Megan Thee Stallion Released A Song About Hot Cheetos And It’s Called ‘Flamin’ Hottie’

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Has a Super Bowl commercial ever been this built up? Once a week for the past three weeks, Megan Thee Stallion has shared a teaser for her Flamin’ Hot Cheetos and Doritos Super Bowl LVI commercial. First it was her checking into the studio backlot where a commercial featuring exotic animals is being filmed, then it was her getting locked out of her trailer by a sloth (?), and today we have the official song that goes with the campaign, “Flamin’ Hottie.” I guess this commercial is officially a highly anticipated one.

The song rides a sample of “Push It” by Salt N’ Pepa (a femme rap classic if there ever was one) and Megan isn’t short on the analogies between how hot she is and how hot these dang chips are! “Damn, I’m so hot, can’t touch me, just like Cheetos on your fingers, wanna suck me!” she says in the song’s opening verse. Then brings it home on the hook with “‘Cause I’m all that and a bag of flamin’ hot chips!”

The song was obviously co-signed by Cheetos mascot Chester Cheetah on Twitter:

Listen to “Flamin’ Hottie” above and join us on the edge of your seat for Meg’s Super Bowl LVI commercial sometime on Sunday, February 13.

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

Cordae Croons The Fan-Favorite ‘Chronicles’ In A Mellow ‘A Colors Show’ Performance

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When Cordae released his second album From A Bird’s Eye View a few weeks ago, one of the clear standout tracks was “Chronicles” featuring H.E.R. and Lil Durk. It became an instant favorite from the album and hopefully, he continues moving in that soulful direction on his future output. Until then, though, fans can be thankful that when the Maryland rapper agreed to appear on A Colors Show, the popular YouTube music channel, he brought a simmering solo rendition of “Chronicles” with him.

Of course, the running theme of A Colors Show stems from the vibrant backgrounds that artists perform before, and in Cordae’s, the cool, sky blue backdrop accents the mellow vibe of the song. Without his guest artists, it’s down to him to sing the chorus — a task he’s suited for, showing off his vocal range as he tunes in completely with his eyes closed, feeling the vibe.

Before the album’s release, Cordae also performed “Chronicles” as part of his stripped-down set for NPR’s Tiny Desk Concerts, while fans will be able to catch him performing it live on his From A Bird’s Eye View Tour which began last night in Dallas and runs through March 19.

Watch Cordae’s performance of “Chronicles” for A COLORS Show above.

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

2 Chainz’s ‘Lost Kings’ Performance On ‘Colbert’ Pays Homage To Nipsey Hussle, Pop Smoke, And Young Dolph

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With 2 Chainz dropping his new album, Dope Don’t Sell Itself, today, the Atlanta rapper dropped by The Late Show for a stirring performance of “Lost Kings” featuring Lil Durk and Sleepy Rose. The song addresses America’s prevalent problem with gun violence — particularly when the victims are young Black men — while the performance was offered as a tribute to several of the rappers who were slain in the past few years, including Nipsey Hussle, Pop Smoke, and Young Dolph, photos of whom are projected behind the performers.

Along with last night’s performance, the rollout for Dope Don’t Sell Itself included the release of videos for “Million Dollars Worth Of Game” featuring 42 Dugg, “Pop Music” with Beatking and Moneybagg Yo, and the “Laffy Taffy”-sampling “Neighbors Know My Name,” as well as an eyebrow-raising freestyle over Pharcyde’s “Passin’ Me By” on the LA Leakers radio show. The album itself has already received rave reviews on Twitter, and features guest appearances from Lil Baby, Roddy Ricch, Stove God Cooks, Symba, Swae Lee, and more. Before the album’s release, 2 Chainz claimed that it would be his last trap-focused album and if that’s true, he’s bowing out at the top of his game.

Watch 2 Chainz’s “Lost Kings” performance on The Late Show above.
Some artists mentioned here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Snot And ASAP Rocky’s Unruly ‘Doja’ Video Draws The Attention Of Doja Cat Herself

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Next week, rowdy punk rapper Snot will release his second album, Ethereal, via 300 Entertainment, following up his attention-grabbing 2020 debut, Beautiful Havoc. After building his buzz with splashy collaboration with Denzel Curry (“Sangria“), Iann Dior (“Like Me“), and Kevin Abstract (“Slugger,” also featuring Slowthai), Snot levels up on his new album, which features guest appearances from Joey Badass, Juicy J, Trippie Redd, and ASAP Rocky.

The latter appears on a rebellious party song called “Doja,” named for exactly who it sounds like it is. Today, a week before the album’s official release, Snot dropped the video for the song, which features some surreal imagery like bodies falling upward outside a project building in New York (which features a mural of Virgil Abloh with ASAP Yams’ recognizable birthmark) and Snot getting the word “Doja” tattooed on his arm as the two rappers’ crew stampedes their way through a subway station.

The song and the video are exactly what we’ve come to expect from these two, fusing the rampaging energy of punk rock show with braggadocious rap lyrics. However, one of those lyrics actually got the attention of Doja Cat herself on Twitter (which might have been the point all along), who seemed to take issue with Snot’s assertion that he “f*cked that bitch named Doja Cat.” She tweeted and deleted a reply to his tweet sharing the track, writing, “You f*cked who?”

We’re long past the era of expecting rappers to “keep it real” in their songs, so it’s likely Snot was just doing some youthful boasting but maybe next time, he should clear the reference with its subject before just throwing it out there.

Watch the “Doja” video above. Ethereal is due 2/11 via 300 Entertainment.

Kanye West Accuses Kim Kardashian Of Trying To ‘Kidnap’ Their Daughter And Forcing Him Into A Drug Test

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The Kanye West and Kim Kardashian drama continued after he criticized her for allowing their daughter North on TikTok and she responded by calling out his relentless attacks on social media. West doubled down after his ex-wife’s response, again accusing her of sicking security on him at their daughter’s birthday party and of making him take a drug test. He also claims she accused him of stealing from her home, which, again, is across the street from his, and questioned her assertion that she is the main care provider for the children.

“What do you mean by ‘main provider?’” he wrote in a post on Instagram with a screenshot of Kim’s earlier post. “America saw you try to kidnap my daughter on her birthday by not providing the address You put security on me inside of the house to play with my son then accused me of stealing I had to take a drug test after Chicago’s party cause you accused me of being on drugs Tracy Romulus stop manipulating Kim to be this way…”

Tracy Romulus is Chief Marketing Officer of KKW Brands, the corporate entity through which Kardashian manages her beauty, clothing, and fragrance lines. While Romulus obviously has Kim’s ear as her business partner, Kanye’s comments overlook a lot of facts over the last few years, mainly in the area of his own erratic behavior. While he’s pushed back on characterizations that he’s “crazy,” it doesn’t seem that anyone has ever called him that other than himself.

In Kim’s earlier statement, she wrote, “I wish to handle all matters regarding our children privately and hopefully, he can finally respond to the third attorney he has had in the last year to resolve any issues amicably.” If anything, it seems the only thing she wants from Kanye is to behave like an adult.

A New ‘Jeen-Yuhs’ Trailer Teases An Exploration Of Kanye West’s Journey So Far

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Ye (aka Kanye West) is on a lot of people’s minds right now, for reasons including Kim Kardashian drama, Julia Fox, and the upcoming Donda 2. On top of that, there’s also the upcoming Jeen-Yuhs documentary series, which is set to premiere on Netflix on February 16. Ahead of that, Netflix has shared a new trailer.

The trailer features a voiceover from co-director Clarence “Coodie” Simmons, in which he says, “When I first put the camera on this up-and-coming producer in ’98, I knew he was destined for greatness. The goal was to see how far his dreams would take him, but I had no idea where life would take us next. It felt like the bigger Kanye got, the farther we grew apart, but there was more to Kanye’s story that I needed to tell.”

There’s also a quote from West in which he explains what he thinks are the reasons behind his success, saying “I just think it was in God’s plan. I think He just has me here for a reason and I have something to say. There’s people that might be better programmers, better rappers. The way I think I really won is I had the heart. If I do what I’m supposed to do, people gonna look back like, ‘Man, remember dude used to just make beats for people?”

Watch the Jeen-Yuhs trailer above.

Q-Tip Wishes One Thing About A Tribe Called Quest’s Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame Nomination Was Different

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On Wednesday, the nominees for the 2022 Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame induction class were announced and some hip-hop icons made the cut, including Eminem, Rage Against The Machine, and A Tribe Called Quest. Now, Tribe’s Q-Tip has spoken about the nomination, revealing that he’s happy about it but indicating that it’s a bittersweet moment for him.

In an interview with Billboard the day after the nominations were revealed, Q-Tip said, “I was pleased, [but] I wish my man [Phife Dawg] was here.”

Phife Dawg, a founding member of A Tribe Called Quest, died in 2016 at 45 years old.

Elsewhere during the conversation, Q-Tip spoke about how he believes A Tribe Called Quest helped bridge the gap between rock and hip-hop for many people, especially white listeners. He said, “I was just saying to LL Cool J the thing about Tribe is we played in front of more rock audiences than rap audiences. Just being on tour with Smashing Pumpkins, Hole, Green Day, Beastie Boys, and our first show we opened for Big Audio Dynamite — at our time, we kinda helped bring white audiences to hip-hop. So it’s overall good. I feel like the story of music and music’s evolution can’t happen without hip-hop artists.”

Check out the full interview here.