Music

Lil Baby Is The Face Of Rap Snacks’ New Beverage Line, Oowee Lemonade

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Since they first launched in 1994, Rap Snacks have been giving nods to today’s biggest hip-hop artists on their chip bags. Rappers like Rick Ross, Cardi B, Migos, and Lil Yachty have their own flavors, but now, Rap Snacks is expanding their enterprise. For a new line of beverages, Rap Snacks tapped Lil Baby to be the face of their product.

Rap Snacks unveiled their line of Lil Baby Oowee Lemonade products Monday. The drink comes in five flavors: Fruit Punch, Strawberry Watermelon, Mango Pineapple, Blueberry, and Sweet Tea. Along with featuring Lil Baby on the wrapper, a portion of the proceeds from Oowee Lemonade will be donated to the organizations Atlanta Children’s Center and Covenant House in Atlanta.

About his endeavor, Lil Baby called the Rap Snacks partnership “life-changing.” “I know my fans are going to love this line of Oowee Lemonades,” he said. “Rap Snacks are about hip-hop culture, I’m about the culture, and I’m excited that proceeds from every purchase are a ‘give back’ to help our communities. It’s exciting to be a part of something that will lift people from my hometown and nationally through the BossUp Foundation. It’s life-changing—I’ve never been a part of anything like this before.”

Echoing the rapper’s statement, CEO of Rap Snacks James Lindsay said: “We’re so excited to make this announcement after Lil Baby’s show stopping appearance at the Grammys. This extension of his partnership with us will connect with his growing fanbase the world over. We are the only company to feature hip-hop icons in association with our products. Our lemonade is a great-tasting product. We’ve combined flavors that haven’t been done before, and we’re expanding our market.”

Check out the new products above.

Tiffany Haddish Took Aim At Nicki Minaj On Clubhouse And The Barbz Aren’t Having It

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It’s safe to say that Nicki Minaj hasn’t had the easiest start to 2021. Just last month, her father was tragically killed in a hit-and-run car accident in Long Island, New York. Now comedian Tiffany Haddish, who just one a Grammy for her comedy album Black Mitzvah, has taken aim at her for being, as she sees it, disrespectful.

Haddish was a speaker on the Clubhouse app when a fan applauded her for “killing the game,” naming her the “Nicki Minaj of comedy.” Someone chimed in by saying, “But unlike Nicki, she shows up on time.” Haddish responded: “Unlike Nicki, I treat everybody with respect and dignity.”

After the clip leaked, the Barbz, Minaj’s fandom, rushed to the rapper’s defense. They questioned Haddish’s comment while mostly saying that they don’t find the comedian funny.

This isn’t the first time Minaj and Haddish have exchanged jabs, as the Barbz were quick to point out. At the 2018 VMAs ceremony, Haddish made an on stage joke about Fifth Harmony shortly after the girl group had disbanded to focus on solo careers. While accepting her award, Minaj responded to Haddish’s comment and stood up for Normani, a former Fifth Harmony member. “Tif, don’t be coming for Fifth Harmony because Normani is that b*tch,” she had said.

See the Barbz respond to Haddish’s comment above.

Cardi B Claps Back After A Conservative Brought ‘WAP’ Into A Discussion About Dr. Seuss’ Book Ban

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Earlier this month, it was revealed that six of Dr. Seuss’ books will cease publishing due to racist imagery. The decision was made by Dr. Seuss Enterprises in order to ensure it “represents and supports all communities and families.” But even still, the news caused outrage among some pearl-clutching conservatives who were also shocked at the success of Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion’s song “WAP.” One conservative brought the song into a conversation about Dr. Seuss books, but Cardi wasn’t having it.

Comedian Tim Young offered his two cents about the Dr. Seuss book ban on Twitter. “The lyrics to ‘Wet Ass Pussy’ are more welcome in some schools than Dr. Seuss books… just let that sink in for a minute.” But Cardi, who infamously shields her daughter’s ears from the song’s lyrics, had the best response. “When has a school made kids read the lyrics to wap,” she wrote. “I get it wap might be a lil vulgar but stop comparing a sensual song to books that has RACIST content! How can ya not tell the difference?I see that common sense aint that common.”

Continuing to make her point, Cardi said that Dr. Seuss Enterprises decided to stop printing specific books on their own. “By the way Dr Seuss publishing company made the decisions to remove those books on their own,” she wrote. “Black people are not the one telling these companies to do things that they think Is ‘progressive’ black only ask for equal justice.”

Parents who are concerned about some of the vulgar language in “WAP” got a taste of the clean version at Sunday night’s Grammys. Cardi teamed up with Megan to perform their No. 1 single at the 63rd annual ceremony. The version was heavily censored, bleeping out words like “bucket,” but surprisingly electing to keep the word Kegel.

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

Megan Thee Stallion Shuts Down Rumors That The Grammys Are ‘Rigged’

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Megan Thee Stallion — who came away with a Best New Artist win at last night’s Grammys ceremony — doesn’t believe that the awards show is inherently rigged. While some stars, like The Weeknd and Lil Wayne, spent the last several weeks railing against the Recording Academy’s “unfair” selection practices, Megan had a far more philosophical outlook on the results of the voting. Stopped by TMZ at some point over the course of the evening, Megan gave a straightforward response to their question about whether she had advanced awareness of the results.

“I didn’t know sh*t,” she replied. “Hell no, the Grammys ain’t rigged. Bitch, you win some, you lose some.” Asked about the importance of the wins for women, she just threw out her standard response: “Real Hot Girl Sh*t!”

The Grammys’ “snub” of artists like The Weeknd in multiple categories — and the singer’s reactive boycott of last night’s ceremony — have only contributed to the feeling that the Grammys have become more of a “popularity contest” in recent years, despite efforts to become more inclusive. However, as Cardi B pointed out, plenty of artists were nominated despite lack of mainstream recognition.

While it’s easy for artists who miss out to chalk their losses up to conspiracies and agendas, the truth is, a voting body comprised of such a broad variety of music industry professionals can hardly be expected to agree on anything, even if more efforts are made to include atypical entries on ballots and shortlists — and artists, who by nature are “sensitive about our sh*t,” to paraphrase Erykah Badu, are exactly the type of folks to take their ommissions personally and resort so using social media to publicize their sour grapes.

You can watch the video of Megan responding to the question of whether the Grammys are rigged here.

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

Southside Was Arrested For Gun Possession After Being Pulled Over In Miami

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808 Mafia producer Southside (real name Joshua Luellen) was arrested in Miami on firearms charges on Sunday, according to NBC Miami. He also received a charge of knowingly driving with a suspended license, which had been suspended since 2019.

Miami police reportedly noticed the “heavily tinted windshield” on his Mercedes-Benz SUV, pulling him over and discovering that the Georgia driver’s license he presented had been suspended for almost two years. The officers also saw two loaded handguns, for which he said he had a concealed carry license. However, concealed carry regulations require firearms to be inside the glovebox or a lockbox inside a vehicle, putting Southside in violation.

The arresting officer is noted as informing Southside of this, saying, “I advised Joshua that he was in violation of his CCW permit by having the firearms within reach and not secured in the glove box or encased in a box inside the vehicle.” A records check showed that this license was also suspended. Southside was booked into Miami-Dade Corrections Center and released on bond for $5,500.

Last week, Southside said that he was “throwing the towel in” on production after the next 808 Mafia project, saying that he wanted to focus on giving opportunities to young, up-and-coming producers instead.

Snoop Dogg Is Releasing Another 19 Crimes Wine, This Time A Rosé

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19 Crimes

It’s been nearly a year since Snoop Dogg first unveiled his years-in-the-making partnership with Australian winemakers 19 Crimes. He released his Snoop Cali Red bottle last summer, a wildly successful blend that Uproxx named “impeccably smooth.” Now, Snoop returned to announce he has another wine in the works.

The rapper once again teamed up with 19 Crimes wine, this time to create a fruity rosé. Named Snoop Cali Rosé, the new wine has tasting notes of fresh raspberry, strawberry and red cherry, and blends together Zinfandel, Grenache and Pinot Noir.

Speaking about the new bottle, Snoop said:

“We did it big with 19 Crimes Cali Red, so you know we had to do it again – and this time, I was thinking pink. I can’t wait for everyone to sip on my Snoop Cali Rosé and bring those fresh feels from spring into summer and beyond. I hope when you open a bottle of this wine you take a little mind trip to my Cali home. This is how we Rosé the Snoop Dogg way!”

Echoing Snoops statement, Treasury Wine Estates marketing vice president John Wardley said: “Snoop has been a dream collaborator that has taken 19 Crimes Snoop Cali Red to the top of the charts as the no. 1 Wine Innovation of 2020. We can’t wait for this second release to hit our loyal 19 Crimes fan base and see how they Rosé with Snoop Cali Rosé. This is 19 Crimes’ first California rosé and we are already seeing high demand from our retail partners to get it in store as soon as we possibly can.”

Snoop Cali Rosé is available now in the US. Get it here.

Elton John Blasts The Catholic Church For Being Against Gay Marriage While Simultaneously Raking In Cash From Its Investment In ‘Rocketman’

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Elton John warned that he would “hit someone” if Phoebe Bridgers didn’t win a Grammy, and now it appears that “someone” was the Holy See. The musician and biopic-haver very publicly called out the Catholic Church on Monday in a tweet that included some expertly-crafted screenshots that detailed the relationship the church has with his own life.

Namely, John is mad that the Catholic Church is staunchly against gay marriage but is more than willing to profit off of his story by investing in Rocketman, the 2019 film based on his life.

“How can the Vatican refuse to bless gay marriages because they ‘are sin’, yet happily make a profit from investing millions in ‘Rocketman’ – a film which celebrates my finding happiness from my marriage to David??” John wrote in the tweet, which included the #hypocrisy hashtag.

The screenshots in the tweet show headlines from representative stories on the topic, starting with a decree from Monday that reaffirmed the Church’s stance against gay marriage. That was apparently enough for John to remind the Vatican that its finances are, well, complicated. And as the Daily Beast reported, and John pointed out via screenshot, that includes funding the film Rocketman.

But the most curious item on the report to come out so far is a $4.5 million expenditure recorded in February of this year related to finance for the 2019 films Men in Black: International and Elton John’s rather steamy biopic Rocketman, which portrays the entertainer’s drug problems and is the first studio movie to portray gay sex between men in an authentic way.

While investing in mainstream entertainment is hardly sinful, the great contradiction is that the Catholic Church preaches to the devout that homosexuality is a sin.

You could argue, if you really wanted to stretch yourself here, that the church is also supporting extraterrestrial life. But unlike Men in Black, Rocketman was very much based on real life and a very real gay love story. And the connection John is making here is clear: gay marriage is more than okay for the church as long as it’s part of an investment that makes them a bunch of money to continue saying gay marriage is not morally okay.

The Daily Beast story is from 2019, so this has been public knowledge for a while now, but John is highlighting again today because of the re-affirmation of the stance against gay marriage. He has pretty clearly had it with the Church’s ongoing position on an issue that’s very important to him. John fittingly tagged @VaticanNews in the tweet, so hopefully, the Roman city will get the memo that he’s not happy.

The 2021 Grammys Had Less Than Half As Many Viewers As Last Year’s Ceremony

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Between the pandemic and the barrage of artists criticizing them, the past few months have presented challenges to the Recording Academy. Despite all the hurdles they faced, though, they managed to put on a Grammys broadcast this year that was imperfect but still quite entertaining and about as good as could be done given the circumstances.

As was probably expected, the broadcast had fewer viewers than usual, as has been typical with big events during the pandemic; This year’s Super Bowl had its lowest ratings in over a decade. The Grammys also experienced a drop-off and it was significant.

Variety reports that per Nielsen Live+Same Day fast-affiliate numbers, the show had an average of 7.88 million viewers, earning a 1.9 rating with adults 18 to 49. That makes this year’s show the lowest-rated in Grammy history. For reference, last year’s Grammys managed to draw 18.7 million viewers and achieve a 5.4 rating in the aforementioned demographic.

The publication also notes that these numbers are not final and that final figures that take into account live West Coast viewing will be available soon. With that in mind, the final figure is expected to rise by about 15 to 20 percent in the official national ratings. That said, even if the 7.88 million viewer count rises by 20 percent (the generous end of the estimate), that would elevate it to about 9.46 million viewers, which is still around half of the count of 2020 Grammy viewers.

All Three Songs From Drake’s ‘Scary Hours 2’ EP Debut In The Top Three Spots On The Hot 100 Chart

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The Grammys were just last night, so that’s still fresh on the minds of music fans today. That said, Drake just pulled off a feat that’s arguably more impressive than anything anybody did at the Grammys yesterday (except perhaps for Beyonce’s big record): Drake had three songs debut on the new Billboard Hot 100 chart dated March 20, which are the entirety of his recent After Hours 2 EP: “What’s Next,” “Wants And Needs” featuring Lil Baby, and “Lemon Pepper Freestyle” with Rick Ross. That’s nice, but the impressive part is the fact that those songs debuted at Nos. 1, 2, and 3, meaning that Drake currently has the top three songs in the country.

This is the first time an artist has ever had three songs debut in the top three spots of the Hot 100 chart in the same week. Drake is also just the third artist to have three songs simultaneously in the top 3 spots debut or otherwise, following Ariana Grande and The Beatles.

This ends the eight-week reign that Olivia Rodrigo’s “Drivers License” spent atop the chart. That hit has fallen down to No. 5, as Silk Sonic (aka Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak) debuts at No. 4 with “Leave The Door Open.” This is .Paak’s first song to ever chart on the Hot 100. It’s also Mars’ first top-5 hit since his Cardi B collaboration “Please Me” peaked at No. 3 in 2019.

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

All The Best New R&B From This Week That You Need To Hear

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Sometimes the best new R&B can be hard to find, but there are plenty of great rhythm and blues tunes to get into if you have the time to sift through the hundreds of newly released songs every week. So that R&B heads can focus on listening to what they really love in its true form, we’ll be offering a digest of the best new R&B jams that fans of the genre should hear every Friday.

Brent Faiyaz — “Show U Off”

Brent Faiyaz has taken a step back from his usual toxic R&B slow jams this week to celebrate women with his newly released cut “Show U Off.” Its the latest in a string of singles the singer has unleashed this year, so hopefully that means a follow-up to 2019’s F*ck The World is coming soon.

Giveon — “All To Me”

Giveon delivered Take Time in 2020 and When It’s All Said And Done in 2021. This week, he combined the two into one and offered an extra song to go with it titled “All To Me.” The song is so good its a wonder why it wasn’t included on either projects originally, or perhaps Giveon just never misses.

Jacquees — “Freaky As Me” Feat. Mulatto

Jacquees and Mulatto connect for the R&B singer’s sensual slow jam “Freaky As Me.” The song is set to appear on his upcoming project P.T.O.F: Vol. 1 and is the follow-up to his previously released cut “Put In Work,” from last year.

Fousheé — “Sing About Love”

Following the release of “Single Af,” rising R&B star Fousheé offers another lively cut in the form of “Sing About Love.” Fousheé is on a streak, proving she’s more than her popular TikTok song “Deep End” and absolutely here to stay.

SZA — “Good Days”

The video for SZA‘s “Good Days” is here. She teased the number at the end of her song “Hit Different” with Ty Dolla Sign and now she offers a music video for the magical song which takes place in a psychedelic rain forest filled with mushrooms as well as a library that sees SZA showing off her pole dancing skills. At the end of “Good Days” is a special treat for all the fans who are waiting for the TDE princess to release her yet-to-be-officially-named song “Shirt,” which has essentially blown up on TikTok. Now we can hear what she’s saying in 4K.

Jhene Aiko — Sailing Soul(s)

When Jhene Aiko released her debut mixtape Sailing Soul(s), fans had to download a zip file to hear it or head to DatPiff. 10 years later, the singer has it officially placed on streaming services. Listen to good vibes such as the famed “stranger,” “hoe” featuring Miguel and Future (which was repurposed for her 2020 album Chilomobo), as well as a few SoundCloud loosies like “2 Seconds.”

Feather — “Juke”

Shortly after sharing her new single “Juke,” Feather has dropped off its accompanying video directed by Noyze. A clear ode to Chicago style of music, the visual features the ultimate footwork battle in an underground basement as Feather croons “let’s juke” in between a smooth sample of DJ Rashad’s “Juke.”

Trevor Jackson — “Get To You”

As Trevor Jackson gets ready for the release of his debut album, The Love Language, he shares “Get To You.” The rising singer’s raw voice sings of missing his ex and things he’d do to get to her. “Love is the universal language of all things and I hope this album gives people more confidence to understand their own love languages and how to communicate them,” he said in a statement. “The power of this music will not only bring people together but it’ll also bring people closer to themselves.”

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