Music

Doja Cat Responded To Charles Hamilton’s Criticism Of Her By Mistaking Him For Another Artist Entirely

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Way back before there was streaming but long after the rap game had gone digital, blogs ruled the music tastemaker scene. The right post on the right blog could garner an emerging artist a massive fanbase seemingly overnight and many of today’s biggest stars — Big Sean, Drake, J. Cole, Kendrick Lamar, Nicki Minaj, and Wale among them — owe their popularity at least partially to those posts.

However, for every success story, there were quite a few blog favorites who never quite panned out once they got broader exposure. Call it the “big fish, little pond” effect, but many eagerly anticipated newcomers often fell flat once they were called upon to repeat their successes on a larger scale. One of those rappers was Charles Hamilton, whose promising 2009 single “Brooklyn Girls” prompted an outsized buzz that he ultimately failed to capitalize on. When last we heard from Hamilton, he was the recipient of the punch heard ’round the net, and had quietly faded into quasi obscurity.

Recently, though, he experienced a renewed surge of attention on Twitter. Unfortunately for him, it wasn’t due to his music but once again due to his antics and his poorly timed comments to a woman who promptly put him in his place. His target? Doja Cat.

“Doja, you gotta chill,” he wrote. “The whole world is watching and, yes, judging you. Time to grow up. I know. Sucks. But… yeah.” Hamilton even had the audacity to tag the “Kiss Me More” performer in his tweet, which he followed up with another pointed missive undercutting Doja’s recently expressed desire to collaborate with well-respected producer 9th Wonder. “Also, @dojacat is talking about being on 9th beats,” he noted. “Meaning, she wants to be taken serious (as a spitter). I’m just saying she should take herself more serious. She, like I said, is already rockin’ the world.”
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The backhanded compliments went over poorly with fans, and trying to head off the backlash, he dug the hole deeper. “I wasn’t hating on Doja Cat,” he lied. “I’m just asking her to take herself serious. She’s already one of the elite females in music [editor’s note: If that ain’t a red flag]. I don’t want to hear her ridiculed for being silly. Like I was at one point. Y’all can chill out now.” While he might feel like he has a point, he wasn’t ridiculed for being silly so much as lying about collaborating with J Dilla and, again, getting punched in the face on camera for overstepping his bounds while addressing a woman. Sounds familiar, I don’t know.

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To her credit, Doja — who is no stranger to the criticism of contemporaries and elders, having taken flak from NORE and Nas for online scandals that were twisted by detractors — handled the situation perfectly, with her usual blend of poise and absurdist humor. “Bro i thought you were Anthony Hamilton,” she joked. “i was about to tell my whole family I was so excited.” She followed up by ridiculing Hamilton’s biggest hit, clowning that “u that one dude that was like “’ABADABADABA BROOKLYN GIRLS.’” Ouch. Well, at least Charles Hamilton can take solace in the fact that this time, he only got dunked on instead of punched in the face. Maybe this time, he’ll learn his lesson.

Russ Returns To The Weekly Grind With The Pining ‘Remember’

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Russ is only a month removed from the release of his new album, Chomp 2, and he’s already back to releasing new singles weekly. However you feel about the guy’s personality, you absolutely cannot knock his hustle. His first new single of 2022, “Remember,” sees him getting back to the lilting lo-fi R&B that defines the other half of his catalog — after all, Chomp 2 is chock-full of brazen bars and punishing punchlines –, crooning to a former paramour with a few reminders of his commitment to their relationship and mourning its end.

In addition to his weekly single releases over the last year, Russ’ many, many hustles also included a strand of weed — fittingly named Chomp as well — he developed in conjunction with the LA cannabis brand Wonderbrett. By diversifying his portfolio, so to speak, he was able to have a lucrative year even though profits were mostly shaky across the industry as live entertainment returned with plenty of restrictions.

Of course, the key to his financial stability, as he’s so fond of pointing out, is passive income — much of which comes from the fact that he self-publishes most of his music and the major deal he did have licensed ownership of his masters rather than outright selling it. Russ continues to explain his business perspective in interviews, but it all starts with the music — and judging from how he’s kicking off the year, there will be plenty of it coming to help line his pockets.

Saba Channels One Of His Childhood Favorites On The Nostalgic ‘Come My Way’ With Krayzie Bone

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Growing up in Chicago, Saba had, as many Midwestern kids did, a fascination with the melodic double-time flow of the five-piece Cleveland rap band Bone Thugs-N-Harmony. Their relative proximity and mid-90s radio dominance would have contributed to that, but also, Saba just seems like exactly the kind of rapper to have rooted out every single example of the genre to absorb and learn from — you can occasionally hear the influence in his flows on projects like Care For Me and Pivot Gang’s You Can’t Sit With Us.

Now, with the release of his third album, Few Good Things, just over the horizon (it drops on February 4 on Saba’s own Pivot Gang imprint), the Windy City MC gets to link up with one of his musical heroes on his latest single from the album. “Come My Way,” produced (as usual) by Daoud and daedaePIVOT, features none other than Bone Thugs member Krayzie Bone, who once won a Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance with another disciple, Chamillionaire, and recently participated in his band’s Verzuz with Three Six Mafia.

In the press release for the single, Saba said, “When I think back on first discovering Bone Thugs-N-Harmony as a child, it immediately stood out to me as unique. I started paying attention and really learning how to rap from listening to them and trying to recite it. It felt honest and completely true to themselves — authentic in a way that doesn’t come around very often and in a way that will be impossible to recreate. Their mix of melody and rhythms that I had never heard is what connected with me in a way that other music just didn’t. It inspired me to be more creative.”

Meanwhile, the inspiration for the song itself is “nostalgia and growing up, and I think ‘hopeful’ and ‘soulful’ are accurate descriptions of the song… I’m describing many things that are normal on the westside of Chicago so that it plays like just any other day — pretty stagnant but having so much life. ‘We ain’t got no time to relax’ is a harsh reality for so many people experiencing this type of poverty where the focus is on work and survival.”

Listen to Saba’s new single “Come My Way” featuring Krayzie Bone above and check out the dates for his Back Home Tour here.

Few Good Things is due 2/4 via Pivot Gang, LLC. Pre-save here.

Cordae Celebrates His New Album’s Release With A Lighthearted Tiny Desk Concert

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Cordae’s new album, From A Bird’s Eye View, is out after an impressive rollout that included the singles “Gifted,” “Super,” and “Sinister,” a lively Tonight Show performance, and an eye-popping LA Leakers freestyle. Now, he puts the cherry on top with a mellow NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert covering both songs from the new album and some of the fan favorites that got him here in the first place.

Opening with “Coach Carter,” Cordae and his band smoothly transition from song to song, including a melodic performance of “Want From Me,” then his Lost Boy hit “RNP” and a loving medley of “Thousand Words/Thanksgiving.” He returns to the new project to close out the set with a three-piece sequence including the single “Sinister,” the nostalgic “Momma’s Hood,” and the vulnerable “Chronicles.” Throughout, he raps, sings, and speaks with an easygoing charisma that shows exactly why he was able to secure two Grammy nominations for his first album and such an enthusiastic fanbase that eagerly awaited his second.

Their patience was rewarded with a number of fun collaborations, which include “Today” with Gunna and “Parables” with Eminem. Stevie Wonder also appeared on the tracklist, with Cordae spilling a funny story about the musical icon to The Breakfast Club.

Watch Cordae’s Tiny Desk Concert above.

2021’s Highest-Paid Musicians Include Bruce Springsteen And Mostly Others Who Also Sold Their Catalogs

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2021 saw a lot of artists leave the year with a lot more money than they had at the start of it. Now, Rolling Stone has compiled a list of last year’s highest-earning musicians, and on top is Bruce Springsteen, who, largely to his massive catalog sale, brought in $590 million in 2021.

The rest of the list is mostly populated by artists who secured their bags with similar sales: Paul Simon is No. 3, Ryan Tedder is No. 5, Red Hot Chili Peppers is No. 6, Lindsey Buckingham is No. 7, Motley Crüe is No. 8, and Blake Shelton is No. 9. Meanwhile, Jay-Z is second on the list with $470 million and therefore No. 1 among artists whose 2021 earnings weren’t mostly thanks to catalog sales. Other big sales were involved, though: He sold half of his Armand de Brignac champagne for $300 million, and he and other Tidal co-owners sold 80 percent of the company for $302 million. The only other artists on the list who didn’t make bank from catalog sales are Ye (aka Kanye West) at No. 4 and Taylor Swift at No. 10. Swift is also the only woman on the list.

Zack O’Malley Greenburg, who penned the Rolling Stone post, also unveiled an extended version of the list in his newsletter, which includes Neil Young at No. 11 (the highest-ranking act not born in the US) and The Rolling Stones at No. 12.

As for the methodology used to compile the list, the publications notes, “The list measures pre-tax income for calendar year 2021 before deducting fees for agents, managers, lawyers, living expenses, etc. Estimates are generated by scouring public documents and interviewing individuals with direct knowledge of major deals.”

Check out the list here.

Eminem Dismisses Gen-Z’s Attempts To Cancel Him On Cordae’s ‘Parables (Remix)’

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Today marks the release of Cordae’s new album From A Birds Eye View, and the week leading up to it was an eventful one for the young rapper. On Monday, he stopped by The Tonight Show for an interview and performance of “Sinister/Chronicles,” and earlier that day, he unveiled the tracklist for his new project, which includes a feature from Eminem of “Parables (Remix),” a rework of his 2020 single. Now that the album is out, so too is the Em remix, which represents the rapper’s first new verse of 2022.

There are a few points of note in the verse, like when he addresses cancel culture: “Whipped Gen-Z into a frenzy, but no give is in me, I’m stingy / And that is the motherf*ckin’ difference between them and me.” He has a few name-drop moments as well, like, “So I treat a beat like it’s Tekashi, spit on that b*tch like Meek Mill,” and, “I was painfully shy, now I’m proud of myself / Like Obama’s kids, I came outta my shell (Michelle).”

This isn’t the first time Eminem and Cordae have linked up, as Cordae previously featured on Eminem’s 2021 remix of “Killer,” as did Jack Harlow.

Listen to “Parables (Remix)” above.

From A Birds Eye View is out now via Atlantic. Get it here.

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

Cordae And Gunna Capture The Youthful Motivation To Succeed In Their ‘Today’ Video

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Nearly three years after he released his debut album The Lost Boy, Cordae is finally back with a new body of work. The young rapper returns with his sophomore effort From A Birds Eye View and it comes complete with 14 songs including “Today” with Gunna which he just shared with a new music video. In it, Cordae transitions back and forth between the past and present as he reflects on his youthful determination to overcome struggles in his life in order to put himself and his family in a better place. It also captures him recording music with friends while Gunna joins him on the roof of a building to brag about their current successes.

From A Birds Eye View arrives with additional guest features from Lil Wayne, HER, Lil Durk, Freddie Gibbs, Stevie Wonder, Nas, Eminem, Roddy Ricch, and Ant Clemons. Cordae promoted the project with a fiery LA Leakers freestyle, a performance of “Sinister” and “Chronicles” on The Tonight Show, and a freestyle over Kendrick Lamar’s “The Heart Part 4.”

As for Gunna, the track arrives after he updated his DS4EVER album with “P Power,” his long-awaited collaboration with Drake.

You can watch the video for “Today” above.

From A Bird’s Eye View is out now via Atlantic. You can pre-save it here.

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

Wale And Blxst Assist Murda Beatz For ‘One Shot’ On Their Confident Track

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Last year proved to be exciting and successful years for both Blxst and Wale. The former reaped the benefits of his No Love Lost project throughout 2021 in addition to teaming up with Bino Rideaux for Sixtape 2. Blxst also made appearances on The Tonight Show and on the 2021 XXL Freshman class list. As for Wale, he released his Folarin II album, one that proved to be a well-executed sequel to his 2012 mixtape. Now, for the first time ever, the two artists are bringing their talents together for a new song. Thanks to some help from producer Murda Beatz, the trio unite for “One Shot.”

On the new song, Wale and Blxst offer a woman one chance to join them and reap the benefits of their lavish lifestyles. While the duo extends a hand to the woman in question, they also note that they’ll be okay with or without her. The new track arrives after Murda Beatz teamed up with West Coast rapper Shordie Shordie for their Memory Lane project last year. It presented 12 songs with a lone feature from Trippie Redd.

As for what’s next, fans can expect more music from Murda Beatz who produced for Chloe Bailey, EST Gee, Nardo Wick, and more in 2021. Wale kicked off his Under A Blue Moon Tour earlier this week and he’ll continue to tour the country until early March. Lastly, Blxst will continue to release new music, with his last being the romantic “About You,” as he’ll hopefully have a new project to treat us with at some point this year.

You can listen to “One Shot” in the video above.

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

Raveena Adds A Bollywood Twist To The Silky, Acid Trip-Inspired ‘Rush’

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Raveena is a rare Indian-American voice that’s emerging in pop and R&B. Her heavenly delivery has helped her stand out since the release of her dashing 2019 debut, Lucid, and she’s beginning to unfold the next chapter in her career. Having just signed to Warner Records, Raveena’s latest single, “Rush” meets at the intersection of sweet, sensual R&B, with the sounds of her Indian roots.

The technicolor-soaked video for “Rush,” in fact opens with Bollywood-like choreography as Raveena muses in a song that came to her in an acid trip at a museum exhibition on Eastern sound. An Indian tabla drum steps into the middle of the song and carries the groove into a cinematic second movement. Raveena shed some light on what she’s beginning to build on this next step of her sound:

“I wrote ‘Rush’ a couple years back and the song was the genesis of me exploring a more intense marriage between Bollywood sounds and the pop/R&B music that I grew up on in America. The song and video are centered around a character I created named Asha, a Punjabi space princess who is transported to a distant planet and learns highly advanced spiritual intelligence from the beings that live there. In the video that I co-directed with Munachi, I wanted to create a campy ode to the colorful 80’s Bollywood movies and 70’s Western sci-fi movies that I’m obsessed with, complete with a choreographed dance sequence alongside Asha’s alien friends.”

Listen to and watch the video for “Rush” above.

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

NLE Choppa And Moneybagg Yo Are A Determined Duo On ‘Too Hot’

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NLE Choppa is just a week away from dropping his second album, Me Vs. Me. It’ll be the Memphis native’s first body of work since his 2020 mixtape, From Dark To Light, a project that followed his debut album Top Shotta which arrived earlier that year. So far, NLE Choppa has been releasing singles at a steady rate and his latest one pairs him with fellow Memphis rapper Moneybagg Yo. Together, the rapper bring their talents together for “Too Hot,” an determined single that showcases the focused energy the respective artists can bring to the table at a given moment.

“Too Hot” arrives after NLE Choppa teamed up with Polo G for a video to their “Unapologetic” track, a record that served as their second collaboration in as many months after they united for “Jumpin.” NLE Choppa also channeled his inner Santa for a holiday-themed video for “Drop Sh*t.”

As for Moneybagg Yo, the song arrives after he teased an upcoming collaboration with Kanye West. He also revealed his skin has been glowing ever since he quit drinking lean. Elsewhere, he granted the music world videos to “Scorpio” with Ja’niyah,” “Switches & Dracs” with Lil Durk and EST Gee, and “One Of Dem Nights” with Jhene Aiko.

You can listen to “Too Hot” in the video above.

Me Vs. Me is out 1/21 via Warner. Pre-save it here.

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