Music

Brent Faiyaz Holds A Potential Love At Arm’s Length In The Reluctant ‘Mercedes’

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Brent Faiyaz continues his mission to turn R&B into the most toxic genre with “Mercedes.” On the cool new single, Faiyaz tries to explain to a potential paramour the danger in pursuing him, claiming, “My block too hot to have a lady” because “If they can’t get to me, they’ll try my baby.” Okay, Batman.

Faiyaz has slowly but surely become a fixture of New Music Friday over the past 12 months, after being included on singles from the likes of Tyler The Creator (“Gravity“), Sonder (“Nobody But You” featuring Jorja Smith), Drake (“Wasting Time“), and Baby Keem (“Lost Souls” from the deluxe version of The Melodic Blue). On the solo tip, Brent also countered the perception of his toxicity with the prideful “Show You Off.”

As he grows in popularity, though, fans have gotten more and more anxious for the follow-up to his 2017 debut album Sonder Son. While his 2020 EP F*ck The World did a fine job of tiding some fans over as they waited, his buzz has only grown, leading to an equivalent increase in fan messages needling him to release a full project. With 2022 right around the corner, they’ll likely have to wait until next year… but that wait won’t be so long.

Listen to Brent Faiyaz’s “Mercedes” above.

Doja Cat Struts Her Femininity In The Aesthetically Striking ‘Woman’ Video

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Doja Cat’s Planet Her is one of 2021’s biggest albums and it all starts with the opener, “Woman.” The song quickly became one of the album’s favorites and now, Doja had gone ahead and made a video for it.

The Teyana Taylor-featuring video sees Doja flaunting her femininity on Planet Her as she dances to the Afrobeats track. At one point, she borrows a page out of the “WAP” playbook by dancing in a shallow pool of water. Overall, the clip is full of striking environments and costumes, making for an aesthetic visual to accompany the rhythmic song.

As for the song (which she co-wrote with Jidenna), it sees Doja offering praise of the fairer sex, as she kicks off the opening verse, “What you need? / She give tenfold, come here, papa, plant your seed / She can grow it from her womb, a family / Provide lovin’ overlooked and unappreciated, you see.” She later stands up for the roadblocks that women face: “Gotta face a lot of people of the opposite / ‘Cause the world told me, ‘We ain’t got the common sense’ / Gotta prove it to myself that I’m on top of sh*t / And you will never know a god without the goddesses.”

Watch the “Woman” video above.

Blxst Aims To Convince His New Lover That He’s All ‘About You’

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The success Blxst has attained this year began with the work he released to the world to close 2020. His No Love Lost project, and its deluxe reissue, put the West Coast singer on the map as one of the latest artists to catch the attention of R&B world. This would kick off a streak of impressive releases that continued all throughout 2021. Now, with just a few weeks left in the year, Blxst submits another track to appear on his portfolio for the year.

He returns with “About You,” his first solo track in over a year, and on it, he dedicates his time to a new love interest who seems to doubt his commitment to their growing love. Blxst promises that his focus is on her and her only, and while she may have had bad experiences with love in the past, he assures her that this time will be different.

Blxst’s latest release comes after he and fellow West Coaster Bino Rideaux reunited for Sixtape 2 earlier this year. The project came complete with 12 songs that showed how much the duo improved since dropping Sixtape in 2019. Blxst also teamed up with Snoop Dogg for “Go To War” and stopped by The Tonight Show With Starring Jimmy Fallon to play a high school chamber in his video for “Chosen” with Ty Dolla Sign and Tyga.

You can listen to “About You” in the video above.

Ty Dolla Sign is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Saweetie Reveals Her 2022 Will Begin With A New Project, ‘Icy Season’

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Saweetie has left her fans waiting for her anticipated debut album, Pretty B*tch Music, for the past six months as the Bay Area native delayed it from its original June release. For what it’s worth, Saweetie has continued to release plenty of music despite the delay. This includes her Pretty Summer Playlist: Season 1 project and her latest single, “Icy Chain.” With that being said, it looks like the wait for Pretty B*tch Music will continue as Saweetie announced a different project that’s set to arrive next month.

During a conversation led by journalist Gerrick Kennedy on Thursday, Saweetie said she plans to release a new project, Icy Season, next month on January 7. Tomás Mier, a music writer at People confirmed the news in a tweet, adding that Saweetie “promises collabs galore and considers the new record to be the ‘pretty b*tch bible.’”

The news comes after she contributed “Get It Girl,” a bouncy record that finds her comfortable in her confident pocket, to the soundtrack for the fifth season of Issa Rae’s Insecure. She also made her debut on Saturday Night Live where she performed “Icy Chain” and a medley of “Tap In” and “Best Friend.”

You can hear Saweetie talk about Icy Season in the video above.

Icy Season is out 1/7 via ICY/Warner Records.

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

Cordae And Lil Wayne Lead Well-Orchestrated Revolution In Their Video For ‘Sinister’

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While it’s been two years since Cordae released an album, the DMV rapper has made the wait for his next full-length release more than bearable. Between a collection of strong singles and guest features, Cordae has supplied his fans with plenty of music to ease the wait for his second album, From A Birds Eye View. That streak continues with his latest single, “Sinister.” The track pairs the young spitter with a hip-hop veteran, Lil Wayne, as the two strike fire for an impressive lyrical onslaught.

The new track arrives with a matching visual that sees Cordae and Wayne lead a well-orchestrated revolution. Similar to what the likes of Malcolm X and Fred Hampton might have done back in the back, the two rappers stand in front of fellow group members to lead a charge against the oppressor. Through it all, Cordae and Wayne deliver very sharp verses that only build anticipation for what will appear on From A Birds Eye View.

“Sinister” arrives after Cordae lent a verse to Nas’ “Life Is Like A Dice Game” and a remix of Eminem’s “Killer” with Jack Harlow. Cordae also dropped off his Just Until EP with Young Thug and Q-Tip earlier this year.

You can listen to “Sinister” in the video above.

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

Khalid Embarks On A ‘Scenic Drive’ With Smino And Ari Lennox

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It’s been a couple of years since Khalid delivered a project to the world. His last release, his sophomore project Free Spirit, arrived in the spring of 2019, and since then, the Forth Worth singer has released a bunch of singles while he continues to craft his third album. That upcoming project, Everything Is Changing isn’t ready for a release yet, but to feed his patiently waiting fans, Khalid returns with his latest tape, Scenic Drive. “Been waiting for this one and I can’t wait for you guys to hear it,” he wrote in a tweet to announce the project last month and now it’s finally here.

The project is highlighted by its lead single which also features Smino and Ari Lennox. The trio brings their talents together for an enticing record focused on escaping to a better place with your partner. Khalid, Ari, Smino each detail the best aspects of their respective partners that they love to run away to. Elsewhere on the project, Lucky Daye, 6lack, Kiana Lede, JID, Majid Jordan, Quin, and Alicia Keys all make appearances throughout the nine songs that appear on Scenic Drive.

Prior to releasing Scenic Drive, Khalid spoke about the struggles and pressures behind making a new body of work. “I only wanna be the artist I want to be, because creating is what keeps me from losing my mind but my passion goes away a little more every day, he wrote on Twitter. “I just want to finish this album and it’s really driving me crazy at this point.” He concluded, “I’m gonna refocus, finish this album without stress, and put out something that I truthfully believe in.”

You can listen to “Scenic Drive” in the video above.

Scenic Drive is out now via RCA Records. Get it here.

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

Juice WLRD ‘Wandered To LA’ With Justin Bieber In Search Of More On His Latest Posthumous Track

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The music world is just a week away from the release of Juice WRLD’s second posthumous album, Fighting Demons. It’s a project that was announced by the late rapper’s mother Ms. Carmela Wallace and his estate last month. “He left behind an astonishingly deep catalog of music that will ensure his fans will have new songs to listen to for years to come,” Wallace wrote in a statement. “Jarad was always searingly honest about his struggles and through his musical genius he articulated what was on his heart and mind vividly through his art.”

The latest track to get pulled from that “astonishingly deep catalog of music” is Juice’s “Wandered To LA” with Justin Bieber. The new song sees both artists wide-eyed and curious for the good and bad things that await them in the future. “Wandered To LA” is the second single from Fighting Demons as Juice’s team released “Already Dead,” an eerie single, to kick off the project’s promotional campaign last month.

“Wandered To LA” comes after Ms. Carmela Wallace shared a heartbreaking birthday letter to the late rapper who would have turned 23 years old on December 2. “If you were here, I am sure that I would have said something like how it seemed like just yesterday that you were born,” she wrote in part. ” I know that I would have told you how proud I was of the man you became and your commitment to changing lives. I miss celebrating your birthday and all the good times that we shared. I have so many wonderful memories of you that will live in my heart forever.”

You can listen to Juice and Bieber’s “Wandered To LA” above.

Fighting Demons is out 12/10 via Interscope. Pre-order it here.

Ariana Grande And Kid Cudi Are Majestic And Captivating On ‘Just Look Up’

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Ariana Grande and Kid Cudi are more or less a year removed from the release of their most recent albums, those being Positions and Man On The Moon III: The Chosen. In the months that have followed, both artists have contributed to a collection of songs, and now, Grande and Cudi connect for their first collaboration. The track is titled “Just Look Up” and it appears in the newly-released Netflix film, ironically titled Don’t Look Up. The track is quite the majestic and captivating release that makes for an very satisfying combination from two artists who are quite different.

Don’t Look Up arrives on Netflix complete with an A-list cast that includes Grande, Cudi, Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Lawrence, Meryl Streep, Jonah Hill, and more. Lawrence spoke about meeting Grande while shooting the film during a conversation with Vanity Fair. Lawrence said Grande “plays a pop star named Riley Bina And that was, like, one of the coolest days of my life. I took a picture with her—I looked like a radio contest winner. She couldn’t be nicer.”

Elsewhere, Grande also delivered a great cover of Britney Spears’ “Oops I Did It Again.” As for Cudi, he recently honored the late Virgil Abloh with a touching Instagram post. He also teamed up with Willow and Travis Barker for a remix of their “Transparent” collaboration.

You can listen to “Just Look Up” in the video above

The Verzuz Battle Between Three 6 Mafia And Bone Thugs-N-Harmony Nearly Devolved Into An Actual Brawl

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For the past year and a half, Swizz Beatz and Timbaland’s Verzuz hits battle series has been more of a celebration of rap’s classic artists and songs than an actual head-to-head competition. However, tonight’s battle between Cleveland’s Bone Thugs-N-Harmony and Memphis’ Three 6 Mafia in Los Angeles quickly turned from a metaphorical matchup into a physical brawl that threatened to derail the whole event.

Apparently, some trash talk between the two groups escalated when Bone Thugs member Bizzy Bone took some of the slights personally (you can see a heated Instagram post he dropped earlier today below). He stopped the show to tell Three 6, “You ugly motherf*ckers ain’t finna be mockin’ me while I’m on stage.” When Juicy J told him to “shut the f*ck up,” Bizzy lost his cool, slinging what looked like a water bottle at him and prompting the Memphis crew to rush to Bone’s side of the stage (if you look carefully, even the DJs nearly got involved.

However, it appears cooler heads prevailed and the groups were separated. Eventually, Bizzy returned to the stage and apologized, shaking hands with Juicy J before the show resumed.

The show is currently in full swing, with Three 6 Mafia bringing out strippers and offering attendees lap dances, while it appears that both crews are once again having fun and proving that hip-hop in the ’90s was way more than just New York and LA, with guests including Lil Jon and Lil Wayne popping out to perform some of their more recent hits.