Music

Kanye Joined Future For A Surprise Performance At Rolling Loud

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In the handful of years since its inception, Rolling Loud has accumulated an impressive number of memorable surprises, from Offset popping out during Cardi B’s headlining set with a big public apology to DaBaby bringing out Tory Lanez for his set in Miami. And while both of those examples land more on the “Facepalm” side of the spectrum, the final night of the festival in San Bernardino brought one that was much more exciting and positive.

During Future’s closing set, the Atlanta rapper brought out one of the biggest names in hip-hop: Kanye West, aka Ye, who joined Future to perform a freestyle to Future’s “F*ck Up Some Commas,” as well as his own monster hit, “Can’t Tell Me Nothing.”

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The surprise performance capped an impressive week for Ye, who also held his Free Larry Hoover concert in Los Angeles just a few days earlier. Unfortunately, in true Kanye fashion, that show now has as much potential for controversy as anything else he’s done in the past few years. A new report found that the merchandise profits from the show — which also featured Drake as a special guest, constituting a ceasefire between the two rappers — won’t be donated to any charities.

Lady Gaga, Alana Haim, Billie Eilish, And Other Music Stars Earned 2022 Golden Globes Nominations

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The Golden Globes celebrate the best in TV and movies, but the music world usually finds its way into the proceedings, too. The nominees for the 2022 event were announced this morning, and sure enough, some of the biggest names in music are on the list.

Lady Gaga scored a huge nomination thanks to her work on House Of Gucci, as she’s up for Best Performance By An Actress In A Motion Picture, Drama. On the flip side, Alana Haim got a nomination for Best Performance By An Actress In A Motion Picture, Musical Or Comedy for her breakout starring role in Licorice Pizza.

When it comes to music-specific awards, Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood locked up a nomination for Best Original Score for The Power Of The Dog. As for Best Original Song, Motion Picture, the field is packed with familiar names: Beyoncé (for “Be Alive” from King Richard), Lin-Manuel Miranda (“Dos Orugitas” from Encanto), Van Morrison (“Down To Joy” from Belfast), Jennifer Hudson (“Here I Am (Singing My Was Home)” from Respect), and Billie Eilish (“No Time To Die” from No Time To Die).

Meanwhile, a few music-adjacent projects are up for Best Motion Picture, Comedy Or Musical: Cyrano (Aaron and Bryce Dessner composed the film’s score), Don’t Look Up (Kid Cudi and Ariana Grande have roles in the movie), and Licorice Pizza.

Check out the full list of nominees here.

Kid Cudi Plans To Release Two New Albums In 2022

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Kid Cudi has been in a cinematic place lately: He’s fresh off a role in the Netflix movie Don’t Look Up and last month, he shared a documentary called A Man Named Scott. It looks like next year is going to be all about the music, though. He has been teasing an album called Entergalactic for some time now and plans to drop it next summer, and ahead of that, he wants to drop another new project.

During his set at the Rolling Loud festival yesterday, he told his audience, “I’m teasing all this stuff because as you know, I have Entergalactic coming in the summer, but I wanna drop another album before that. I got some tasty surprises and I really am excited about all this new sh*t, this new music to give to you guys. So that’s why I’m teasing this sh*t now, because it’s coming out soon. So tonight, record this sh*t.”

As for the teasing Cudi was referring to, during the set, he performed a new song called “Freshie.”

Cudi fans have been able to enjoy new music from the rapper in recent days, as he and Ariana Grande teamed up for a song from Don’t Look Up, “Just Look Up.”

Watch clips from Cudi’s Rolling Loud performance above.

Doja Cat Had To Cancel Some Jingle Ball Performances After Testing Positive For Covid-19

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Looks like Doja Cat will be spending at least some of her holiday in quarantine. Although she was slated to appear for some Jingle Ball performances during the annual iHeartRadio Christmas tour this December, the rapper-pop-star had to disappoint fans when she tested positive for coronavirus. Doja has been performing behind her new album, Planet Her at various award shows this year, like the VMAs, but has yet to announce a full tour. Probably a good thing considering she now has to cancel some slated appearances.

“As most of you probably heard earlier, a few members on my production team tested positive for Covid-19 and I had to cancel a couple of my upcoming performances as a safety precaution,” she wrote on Twitter. “Unfortunately, I’m sad to share that I just tested positive as well and will no longer be able to perform on the rest of the iHeartRadio Jingle Ball Tour. While my spirits are down since I can’t be there to celebrate the holiday with my fans in Philly, DC, Atlanta and Miami, I’m doing ok and look forward to recovering and getting back out there as soon as I can! The rest of the tour stops have some really great lineups, wish I could be there. Much love xo.”

Get well soon Doja! And everyone else, please remember to wear masks and social distance, we’re not out of the woods yet.

Ye And Drake’s Merchandise Profits From Their Benefit Concert Will Reportedly Not Be Donated To Charity

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On Thursday, Ye and Drake’s Larry Hoover benefit concert finally went down, to great acclaim. Ye performed a number of tracks from throughout his catalog while Drake stuck to songs from Certified Lover Boy. The concert also offered some merchandise for attendees and viewers at home to purchase, ranging from hoodies, jeans, and t-shirts. As the show was a benefit concert for Larry Hoover, the incarcerated founder of Chicago’s Gangster Disciples gang, many wondered where the profits from the show would go. Just a couple of days after the concert, we have an answer (sort of).

According to GQ, a representative confirmed that the sales made from the merchandise sold with the concert will not be donated to charity. It’s unknown where the money will go, but the representative confirmed the funds will not be given to organizations like criminal justice reform groups. However, that is not the case for the ticket sales from the concert. Those will reportedly be donated to those groups, leaving them to receive a sizeable amount of money as a result of the benefit show.

This comes after a report revealed that federal officials were “surprised” and upset about Drake and Ye’s support towards Larry Hoover. They struggled to understand why they would vouch for Hoover’s release, a man they called “the worst of the worst.”

Rod Wave Denies That His Latest Single Was A Suicide Letter: ‘That’s Not How That Works’

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Rod Wave is known for wearing his heart on his sleeve. It’s what that’s made him appealing to his fanbase, who gave the Florida rapper his first No. 1 album with Soulfly earlier this year. Despite this, Rod Wave’s last single “Nirvana,” which he shared and quickly deleted on Saturday, left many concerned, as people felt it sounded like a suicide letter.

The lyrics left people worried. “If you’re hearin’ this, it’s too late / I’ve been writin’ this since Tuesday, today Friday / That mean tomorrow’s doomsday / Tried to fight the pain, but it ate me alive,” he sings. However, according to Rod Wave himself, there’s nothing to worry about.

The Florida native hopped on Instagram Live to set the record straight. “Why the f*ck people take that sh*t and just say that was my suicide letter?” he said. “That’s not how that works. That’s not how suicide letters work. You don’t go to a studio and record a suicide letter. Real fans of me, people that listen to my music and f*ck with me, they know what my music be like, feel what I’m saying?” He added, “So, sh*t, they should already…But all the blogs and sh*t posting…just like cooking up sh*t saying, ‘Rod posting a suicide letter,’ that’s not true, bro.”

Rod also addressed critics who believed the song was an odd way for him to get people’s attention. “F*ck niggas hating, talking ’bout I’m looking for attention. Bitch, who the f*ck needs attention?” he said in the video. “You forgot who the f*ck I was? I don’t need new attention. Did you not see my tour? Did you not see my album sales? I don’t need no extra attention. I had already deleted my Insta and my Twitter and all that shit because of the extra attention. I don’t need no extra attention from nobody, I’m good.”

You can listen to a clip from his livestream and hear some of “Nirvana” above.

Rick Ross Gives A Nod To The ‘Outlawz’ Of The World In His Video With 21 Savage And Jazmine Sullivan

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More than two years after releasing his last body of work, Rick Ross returned this past weekend with his eleventh album Richer Than I Ever Been. It’s a rather short project, with just 12 songs and guest appearances from Wale, Future, Benny The Butcher, and more. To celebrate, Ross returns with a video for the album’s lead single, “Outlawz” with 21 Savage and Jazmine Sullivan. It finds Ross driving around town, with appearances from his two collaborators.

The video comes after Ross responded to rumors that he and Meek Mill, who is signed to his Maybach Music Group label, were not on good terms. “I feel like we’re both hustlers,” he said during an interview at the Grammy Museum. “That’s one thing about life, you either grow together or grow apart. As a boss, you make that decision, because whatever it is you want to do, Ricky Rozay wants to see you do it. There’s a lot of people that didn’t last or was still down with me the way Meek is — so I want to see the homie shine regardless.”

You can watch the video for “Outlawz” in the video above.

Richer Than I Ever Been is out now via Maybach Music Group/Epic Records. Get it here.

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

Billie Eilish Leads A Twerk-Filled Update To The Story Of Jesus’ Birth In A ‘SNL’ Sketch

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Last night, for the second time in her career, Billie Eilish brought her talents to Saturday Night Live. The last time she appeared, back in 2019, she defied gravity with a performance of “Bad Guy.” This time around, the singer signed on as both musical guest and host. In one sketch, the singer and cast member Heidi Gardner joined forces to update the story of Jesus’ birth.

The sketch was entitled “Hip-Hop Nativity,” and it found the two recruiting a group of actors to play many of the characters from the biblical story. They taught them how to twerk, strut, and pole dance. The actors initially raises issues over the biblical update, but they eventually went along with it. The closing bit also jokingly revealed that Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda will direct a full-length film version of Billie and Gardner’s updated nativity story.

In addition to the “Hip-Hop Nativity” skit, Billie also performed “Happier Than Ever” and “Male Fantasy” on SNL. The former made for an epic performance while the latter was a bit darker and relaxed.

In non-Eilish SNL news, the episode also featured Kate McKinnon returning as Dr. Fauci while Weekend Update skewered Jussie Smollett and the torching of the Fox News Christmas tree.

You can watch Billie’s Hip-Hop Nativity sketch in the video above.

Cardi B Shows Love To Megan Thee Stallion For Graduating From Texas Southern University

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On Saturday, all corners of the music world applauded Megan Thee Stallion after she graduated from college. The Houston rapper earned her Bachelor’s degree in Health Administration from Texas Southern University and she was all smiles about her new accomplishment. On Instagram, she shared some pictures from the day and thanked everyone for their support. “Meg Thee Graduate [female graduate emoji] I know my parents are looking down on me so proud,” she wrote. “Thank you everyone for all the love today.”

One notable congratulation that Megan Thee Stallion received came from Cardi B, who showed a lot of love to her “WAP” collaborator on Twitter. “Congrats @theestallion all of your hard work paid of!!!” Cardi wrote in her message. “I know your Parents are super proud of you.” Megan replied to Cardi’s message, writing, “Thank you bardi” with three heart eyes emoji.

Megan previously spoke about the importance of finishing school during a 2018 interview with People. “I want to get my degree because I really want my mom to be proud,” she said. “I want my big mama to be proud. She saw me going to school before she passed. My grandmother that’s still alive used to be a teacher, so she’s on my butt about finishing school.” She added, “I’m doing it for me, but I’m also doing it for the women in my family who made me who I am today.”

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

Megan Thee Stallion Was All Smiles After Graduating From Texas Southern University

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Today was an important day for Megan Thee Stallion as she graduated from Texas Southern University. She left the HBCU with a Bachelor’s degree in Health Administration and was one of the school’s 843 graduates who received their degrees on Saturday. Megan even invited her fans to tune in to the school’s livestream of the commencement ceremony to watch her cross the stage. Her infectious energy was on full display as she was all smiles while interacting with TSU’s faculty and fellow graduates. TSU even shared an image of Megan with the school’s 13th President Dr. Lesia Crumpton-Young to their Instagram account.

With her graduation from TSU becoming official today, Megan fulfills a promise she made to the women in her life, including her late mother, to finish school. “I want to get my degree because I really want my mom to be proud,” she said during an interview with People last year. “I want my big mama to be proud. She saw me going to school before she passed. My grandmother that’s still alive used to be a teacher, so she’s on my butt about finishing school.” She added, “I’m doing it for me, but I’m also doing it for the women in my family who made me who I am today.”

As for what’s next, Megan may get started on the health facility she wants to build in her hometown of Houston, which she spoke about during a 2018 Billboard interview. “That’s still the plan,” she said. “And you know how it’s so hard to get a job after college? So I thought it would be super easy for my classmates if I just opened up something that they could go get a job at.”

You can check out some pictures and videos from Megan’s graduation day above.

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