Music

Jill Scott Had The Absolute Best Response To Rumors That She Filmed A Sex Tape

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Jill Scott recently rang in the new year by “speaking specifics” about her resolutions and “manifesting like crazy.” But unless the famed R&B singer was manifesting a sex tape rumor, it looks like her manifestations may not have been specific enough. The internet’s rumor mill was working overtime this week when Twitter lit up with speculations that Scott had a NSFW video floating around somewhere. But even the best sleuths couldn’t come up with any evidence the video existed before Scott caught wind of the talk.

Hours after Twitter lit up with rumors of her sex tape, Scott herself took to the app to shut down the gossip — and she had the best response. Rather than getting mad at people for believing the lie, Scott said she expects her fans to bring the same energy to supporting her actual career. “Say word!?! I expect this energy when my new movies, albums and tv show drop,” she wrote. “Ya’ll too much. #headedbacktowork #hydrate”

Of course, her mention of “movies” caught the attention of some.

While the rumors aren’t at all true, it’s not the first time Scott broke the internet. Back in 2020, Scott’s Verzuz battle with Erykah Badu broke the show’s previously-held viewership record by raking in over 750k viewers and garnering one billion impressions across the internet.

Jim Jones Says His Mother Tongue-Kissed Him To Teach Him How And Fans Are Shocked

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Jim Jones, of the Harlem rap crew The Diplomats, is a couple of years removed from his last full-length project, 2019’s El Capo, and while he’s off album cycle, that hasn’t stopped him from making the usual media rounds for rappers trying to stay relevant in the fast-paced streaming era. His latest stop was Angela Yee‘s Lip Service podcast, where she talks about relationships and sex with hip-hop and R&B stars — the perfect venue for the sort of unusual, potentially viral quote that keeps one’s name in the headlines.

Jones, who recently ended his feud with French Montana, definitely delivered, offering up a semi-scandalous description of one of his earliest learning experiences in the arena of intimacy. When asked about his sex education, Jones shared that his mom was a big part of it — including teaching him how to kiss. When Yee asked what instructions he was given, she — and her listeners — were surprised to learn that this part of his education was (ahem) hands-on. “There wasn’t no instructions, she showed me with her mouth,” Jones said.

Naturally, plenty of fans had opinions, with the sentiment that Jones was taken advantage of prevailing. Many of the messages that popped up found fans calling Jones an unknowing victim of abuse, with more than a few chastening other commenters for cracking wise about his revelation. You can see more reactions below.

Jay Worthy Cruises Through His ‘Survivor Series 95’ Verse For ‘UPROXX Sessions’

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Last year, UPROXX Sessions ended on a West Coast favorite, and for the first UPROXX Sessions of 2022, another one comes through with his own take on that laid-back LA sound. Compton veteran Jay Worthy pulls up to perform his verse from Westside Gunn’s “Survivor Series 95,” which also features Bay Area stalwart Larry June on the album version.

For his Sessions set, though, Jay rolls solo, decked out in a Supreme hoodie and balaclava, which has the added benefit of adhering to COVID safety regulations while he cruises through his boastful, tough-guy rhymes. Jay, who dropped three projects in 2021 (No Sleep for the Wicked, No Sleep for the Wicked, and Two4Two), is managed by Griselda Records and recently told Complex he’s working on a joint project with LA producer Dâm-Funk. Thanks to his independent status and prolific grind, though, he could drop anything at any time.

Watch Jay Worthy perform his “Survivor Series 95” above.

UPROXX Sessions is Uproxx’s performance show featuring the hottest up-and-coming acts you should keep an eye on. Featuring creative direction from LA promotion collective, Ham On Everything, and taking place on our “bathroom” set designed and painted by Julian Gross, UPROXX Sessions is a showcase of some of our favorite performers, who just might soon be yours, too.

The Weeknd Doesn’t Care That First-Week ‘Dawn FM’ Sales Will Be Impacted By No Physical Editions

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First-week sales of a new album is a metric that most major artists place a lot of value on; Having a big debut is good for a project’s chart prospects and moving a lot of copies of an album early gives some major bragging rights. That doesn’t matter to The Weeknd, though, as he declared in a reply to a Twitter thread suggesting that the first-week sales of Dawn FM will be negatively impacted because no physical editions of the album will be available upon its release. (The Weeknd’s online store notes that CD editions of Dawn FM are set to ship on January 28, while vinyl and cassette versions will ship on April 29.)

The thread in question reads, “No physical copies (vinyls, CDs, cassettes) for @theweeknd’s ‘Dawn FM’ will be available in store during release week. Furthermore, no physical copies will be shipped the first week. This will obviously impact first week figures. The reason is likely that The Weeknd pushed the release up. Therefore, physicals aren’t ready for distribution.”

It then points to The Weeknd’s New Year’s Day Instagram post to back up its claim about the supposedly advanced release date. In that post, The Weeknd wrote, “Music can heal and that feels more important than another album rollout. Let’s just drop the whole thing and enjoy it with the people.”

The Weeknd caught wind of this thread and noted in response, “this doesn’t matter to me. what matters is getting to experience the album together with the fans during these times.”

All of that said, Dawn FM shouldn’t have a problem being the biggest new album of the week, as its primary competition for that title may be Gunna’s Drip Season 4.

Dawn FM is out 1/7 via Republic. Pre-order it here.

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

Dr. Dre Could Lose ‘Millions’ If The Super Bowl Halftime Show Gets Canceled By COVID

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As Super Bowl LVI, scheduled to be played February 13, inches nearer, the rise of COVID infections nationwide could endanger the whole event — which is extra bad news for Dr. Dre, who’s billed to play the heavily anticipated halftime show with his buddies Eminem, Kendrick Lamar, Mary J. Blige, and Snoop Dogg. According to TMZ, Dre stands to lose “millions” of dollars if the NFL pulls the plug on the event due to COVID concerns.

Unfortunately, that’s owed to an insurance provision that excludes outbreaks of sickness from policies. The Communicable Disease Exclusion — which dates back to the SARS outbreaks in the early 2000s — exempts insurance from paying out in the event of a cancelation resulting from a similar outbreak of a virus or bacteria. While it looks like the Super Bowl will be played as planned, there is an outside chance that with new variants of COVID circulating, things could go south. For now, the NFL is considering options for alternative venues in the works should the state of California or the city of LA decide to reinstitute lockdowns for safety.

Considering that just a year ago, Dre was hospitalized for a brain aneurysm, the fact that he has a chance to perform at all is miraculous by itself, but I’m sure that he won’t appreciate losing any more money in the wake of his recent contentious divorce.

Photos Of Young Dolph With His Alleged Killer Surface Online After Police Reveal Their Suspect

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Here’s a terrifying crime statistic: Over half of murder victims know their killer. That horrible fact apparently holds true when it comes to famous entertainers as well; consider that Nipsey Hussle was apparently on speaking terms with the man who allegedly shot him to death in front of this own store in 2019. It also appears to be true of the more recently deceased Young Dolph, who was killed in Memphis in front of a bakery by two men who opened fire from the parking lot.

Now that police have revealed a suspect in the murder, eagle-eyed Young Dolph fans have spotted him in multiple photos of the late rapper, often standing just beside him and in some cases wearing a chain reading “PRE” — the acronym for Dolph’s label, Paper Route Empire — around his waist. The suspect, 23-year-old Justin Johnson, is apparently also a rapper going by the name Straight Dropp; however, he was not listed as a Paper Route artist at the time of Dolph’s death.

The Memphis Police Department issued a warrant for Johnson’s arrest yesterday, while the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation has offered a $2,500 reward for information leading to his capture. A total reward of $15,000 has been offered by the MPD, TBI, and US Marshals, who have issued a second warrant for violation of federal supervised release due to a weapons charge. Johnson is wanted for First Degree Murder, Criminal Attempt-First Degree Murder, and Theft of Property $10,000-$60,000.

Nas Boards The NFT Train, Offering The Publishing Rights To Two Of His Songs

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It was probably only a matter of time before Nas jumped on the NFT trend. He’s invested heavily in blockchain before and has often been on the cutting edge when it comes to his investments in tech. Today, he announced his partnership with blockchain platform Royal to offer 50 percent of the streaming rights from two of his songs as NFTs. According to a press release, a limited number of tokens will be offered on January 11, granting holders a portion of the publishing rights to “Ultra Black” and “Rare” from King’s Disease I and II, respectively.

Of the partnership, Nas said, “I am always looking for new and unique ways to connect with the people. So I am excited to partner with Royal on their new endeavor in order for the world to connect with my music in a new way.” Meanwhile, Royal’s co-founder and CEO Justin “3LAU” Blau said, “Having Nas be the first artist to sell royalty rights through Royal is an incredible affirmation of our mission. It’s proof that artists across genres feel strongly about democratizing ownership of their music, and that they want to be connected to their listeners on a deeper level.”

Royal’s investors also include 3LAU’s fellow electronic artists The Chainsmokers, Disclosure, and Kygo, while hip-hop artists involved include Joyner Lucas, Logic, and Stefflon Don.

Vince Staples Posts A Subtle Signal That His New Album Is Complete

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On New Year’s Day, Long Beach rapper Vince Staples tweeted that he only needed one more thing to finish his upcoming follow-up to his acclaimed 2020 self-titled project — and it looks like he got it. Vince previously told Desus & Mero that he has a new album called Ramona Park Broke My Heart on the way and it looks like it’ll be out sooner rather than later.

That’s because the one remaining criteria he set has likely been fulfilled. When he tweeted, “This album is done if I can get @djquik,” no one could have predicted that he’d have made that particular meeting happen inside of a week. But that seems to be exactly what happened, thanks to an Instagram post from the Compton hitmaker himself featuring Quik, Vince, and Quik’s son David Blake Jr. at Westlake Studios in Hollywood.

Astonishingly, this might only be one of a pair of future projects for the fatalistic Long Beach rapper, who also revealed he’d recorded an album worth of material with The Alchemist last year. If he can find time to roll that one out, 2022 just might be the year Vince gets the recognition he’s been earning ever since he dropped his first mixtape, Shyne Coldchain Vol. 1, back in 2011.

Kanye West Will Reportedly Headline Coachella’s 2022 Festival With Billie Eilish

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Coachella’s 2022 festival is just three months away, and it seems like organizers have finalized their lineup. Those who were once supposed to headline —Travis Scott, Rage The Machine, and Frank Ocean — wound up not working out. But organizers appear to have found their replacements. Last fall, Swedish House Mafia already confirmed an appearance, reportedly as headliners. Earlier today, TMZ reported that Billie Eilish signed on to the festival to replace Travis Scott. This leaves one remaining open spot for a headliner and it’s reportedly being taken by Kanye West.

Variety reports that Kanye will serve as the headliner for the respective Sunday editions of the festival, which takes place on the weekends of April 15-17 and April 22-24. Billie Eilish will headline on Saturday for the respective weekends. Variety also reports that it’s unclear if Swedish House Mafia will serve as the festival’s third headliner, their traditional “throwback” slot which is often reserved for a veteran artist or group to reunite at the showcase.

While it will be Billie’s first time performing at Coachella since 2019, it would be Kanye’s first time headlining since 2011. The news comes after Kanye said he is planning another show, this one at New York’s Madison Square Garden. It would be his second show in as many months after he and Drake over the Los Angeles Coliseum for their Larry Hoover benefit concert.

Chloe And Gunna Were Seen Holding Hands Which Sparked Dating Rumors Once Again

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It was just a little over two months ago that dating rumors between Chloe Bailey and Gunna began. Back in October, the pair was spotted courtside together at an Atlanta Hawks basketball game against the Dallas Mavericks. As expected, images of thw two caused quite a storm on social media, but Gunna later denied that things were more than platonic between him and Chloe. “We’re not dating,” he said at the time. “That was just like a date, though, where you just go to the game and catch a vibe. But she’s my friend.”

However, that was in 2021. The pair was once again spotted together at a recent basketball game, this one between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Sacramento Kings. Once the game concluded, Chloe and Gunna were seen holding hands outside the arena. Many jumped on social media to share their thoughts about the video.

Gunna recently revealed the tracklist for his upcoming project Drip Season 4, which includes features from Chloe herself as well as Drake, Young Thug, and more.

You can view the video of Gunna and Chloe in the video above and reactions from fans below.

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