A little under two years removed from his surprise breakout with the original Yellow Tape, Memphis upstart Key Glock has returned to the project that made him one of hip-hop’s names to watch with Yellow Tape 2, which dropped today via Empire and Young Dolph’s Paper Route Empire. The project, which clocks in at 20 tracks — four more than its predecessor — contains no features but does have beats from notable producers like BandPlay, Buddah Bless, Juicy J, and Tay Keith.
In addition to dropping the album, Key Glock also shared the video for “Something Bout Me,” a rough-riding single produced by Tay Keith. In the video, KG runs several operations with the help of a squad of scantily clad companions. When business wraps up for the night, the women disrobe even further for an after-hours party where they twerk for the rapper as he relaxes and appreciates their talents. The single follows the video for “Ambition For Cash,” released a month ago to start the promo cycle for the new album.
Yellow Tape 2 brings Key Glock’s catalog of releases since 2020 to three projects, including his summer 2020 mixtape Son Of A Gun and his early 2021 joint album with Young Dolph, Dum And Dummer 2. He’s turning out to be quite the prolific creator, contributing to his growing profile as one of hip-hop’s hottest rising stars.
Watch Key Glock’s “Something Bout Me” video above and listen to his new project Yellow Tape 2here.
As of this writing, Travis Scott’s third Astroworld Festival is already underway, where he’s expected to preview at least one or two new songs from his upcoming album Utopia after releasing “Escape Plan” and “Mafia” earlier today. However, before then, he’s shared the video for “Escape Plan,” which finds him living like a boss, directing a team of brawny security guards, and running on a treadmill on a yacht.
For fans excited to see what Travis’ set will look like but are unable to attend the festival in person, he’ll be live-streaming the set exclusively on Apple Music later tonight, beginning at 7 pm PT/10 pm ET. You can watch a preview here.
Although it has been literal decades since Snoop Dogg was a legitimately menacing presence in hip-hop, that doesn’t mean he can’t occasionally tap into that mode when the mood calls for it. In the case of his new song “Murder Music,” it’s absolutely called for. However, just in case his Corona commercials softened up his image too much to be taken that seriously, he smartly calls on some of rap’s past and current prime purveyors of murder music — namely, Griselda’s Benny The Butcher, the resurgent Jadakiss, and the eternal Busta Rhymes.
Benny sets things off, declaring the ominous beat by Nottz “what they gone play when they wipe the prints off they hammers.” Then, Jadakiss reminds listeners that “it ain’t no reward for the streets.” Busta Rhymes bats cleanup, reminiscing on his rowdy battle rap past, recalling that “I don’t discriminate, I even bodied close peers.” Snoop holds down the hook, which is nice and simple, driving the “murder music” theme through repetition.
The song is set to appear on Snoop Dogg’s upcoming compilation album, Algorithm. At a recent listening session at his Compound in Los Angeles attended by Uproxx, Snoop said the project will operate as a showcase of the talent, past and present, on Def Jam, celebrating Snoop’s new position there as executive creative and strategic consultant. Algorithm is due November 19.
Adding Dolly Parton to any project is always a good idea, but it gets even better when it finally completes a long-awaited reunion with her 9 to 5 costars, which is exactly what’s happening on Netflix’s Grace and Frankie. According to a new report, Parton will guest star on the series’ seventh and final season, putting her back on screen with Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda. Via TVLine:
For the uninitiated: 9 to 5 was released in 1980, and starred Parton, Fonda and Tomlin as the above-mentioned Doralee, Judy and Violet, three working women who decide to get revenge on their sexist boss (played by Dabney Coleman). The movie went on to gross over $100 million at the box office.
At the moment, Parton’s role on Frankie and Grace is being kept under wraps, but she will appear in the show’s final 12 episodes that will drop sometime in 2022. (Four episodes were released early in August to tide over fans.)
When it wraps up its seven-season run next year, Grace and Frankie will have the distinct honor of having the most amount of episodes for a Netflix original series. While Orange Is the New Black is the current record holder at 91 episodes, Grace and Frankie will top that by streaming 94 episodes when the final season premieres. And, now, the show will get to say it had Dolly Parton stop by for a freaking 9 to 5 reunion, so yeah, try and top that, whichever Netflix series is still racking up episodes. (Narcos, maybe? — Nope, that’s not it. It’ll come to us.)
It can be hard to live up to the standard set by your parents, especially if one of them made their name in your industry. But up-and-coming New York rapper Turbeazy is both following in his father’s footsteps and blazing his own path.
Turbeazy remembers going to his father’s concerts as a kid; formative experiences that gave him his first exposure to hip-hop. When his dad became a DJ, Turbeazy took advantage of the moment, feasting on a fully fleshed-out collection of rap records that also helped to influence his career choice.
“At school, I used to freestyle,” Turbeazy says, “and one day somebody told me I should rap, so I ended up going to one of these kids that somebody put me on to that had a studio.”
Thanks to a laptop his mother gave him, Turbeazy kept recording, even while in the Army. When he got out, the education continued with classes that helped him forge a career as an audio engineer at Manhattan’s Fight Klub Studios.
When he records now, Turbeazy is sure to keep one foot in the past, allowing the influence from his father’s career and record collection to find its way into his music.
“In order to move forward, you gotta be able to know and acknowledge the past,” he says. “I still feel like that needs to be represented. It’s something that I was raised to appreciate, coming from a household of an artist and a person who was deep into hip-hop culture. I love and appreciate how far music has evolved.”
While Turbeazy is forging his way forward, his journey hasn’t been without challenges.
“When I was in the Army, nobody really wanted me to rap,” he says. “They thought it was funny. I had a few supporters, but when it was time for me to leave, they were saying, ‘You should re-up and stay in the Army. You can be a good soldier.’ I was like, ‘I want to go to school. I want to be a rapper.’ People were like, ‘That’s a stupid idea.’”
He also remembers being rejected when he tried to pass somebody in the industry a flash drive of his music. It’s something that could discourage someone, but Turbeazy turned it into fuel, telling us that it made him “want to go harder.” And so far, that persistence is paying off. Turbeazy’s profile is steadily increasing and he has songs racking up tens of thousands of plays on platforms like Spotify and SoundCloud. The way Turbeazy sees it, staying positive and dedicated, especially when the goal seems so far away, is the only way forward.
In hip-hop, it’s always been something of an accomplishment to reach double digits in your album catalog — something only a handful of well-established, super-successful rappers have accomplished in the forty or so years the genre’s been at the forefront of American pop culture. One of those artists is Rick Ross, who crossed that milestone two years ago with Port Of Miami 2. While absolutely no one would blame him for wanting to take a break, it’s clear Ross just flat-out loves to rap — a fact evidenced by today’s announcement that his 11th studio album, Richer Than I Ever Been, is coming next month.
Scheduled to release on December 10 through Maybach Music and Epic, the promo for Richer Than I Ever Been will kick off next Friday, November 12, with the lead single “Outlawz” featuring 21 Savage and Jazmine Sullivan. Ross shared the cover for Richer Than I Ever Been, which features photography by veteran hip-hop shooter Jonathan Mannion, on Instagram. Mannion himself also posted the cover, explaining the concept in his caption: “They can’t even see you, Rozay,” he wrote. “You are in a whole other stratosphere in this moment. Honored to sync up with you for this, our 5th, album campaign.”
Richer Than I Ever Been is due 12/10 via Maybach and Epic.
A week after Latto ran roughshod over an impressive LA Leakers freestyle, the Atlanta native returns to give a high-speed tour of her hometown in the patriotic “Soufside” video. Shouting out the streets, businesses, and landmarks she grew up around, Latto delivers a boastful, assertive, and lyrically dextrous verse, name-checking Southlake, Pointe South, Rex Road, Riverdale, Lovejoy, and more as she cruises through Atlanta in a convertible and posts up outside the Southside Discount Mall (we call ’em swap meets in LA) with a massive crew.
The new track marks a return to the trap-inspired, bass-heavy sounds that first helped Latto make her name — y’know, before she changed it — after her last single, “Big Energy,” threw longtime fans for a loop with its pop-friendly beat. While it’s nice when artists can show versatility, rap fans are often skeptical of big stylistic changes, and here, Latto shows a powerful understanding of how to switch lanes while remaining anchored to her signature sounds. This gives her room to evolve without losing touch with her day-one fanbase, which is often the first step on the road to rap royalty. Give her another couple of years, and Latto just might go from “Queen Of Da Souf” to the ruler of the rap game (pun intended).
“Soufside,” along with “Big Energy” and “The Biggest,” are all set to lead up to the rapper’s second full-length studio album, which is due in early 2022.
Over a sinister, piano-backed beat produced by Aloy and Danny Wolf, Bobby spits a tongue-twisting flow, cockily challenging foes with eye-popping taunts. His new, squelched delivery makes some of the bars harder to understand but “Splash” is much more about the vibe, creating the sensation of speeding down a highway so fast the tires of your vehicle leave the ground.
In addition to putting out new music, Bobby has also been on a philanthropic spree. In June, he arranged a “Father’s Day Give Back Brunch,” treating 200 families to a traditional Jamaican meal and giving out free haircuts for attendees. More recently, he sent 2,000 New York City students back to school with brand-new backpacks full of supplies, telling the kids at six schools “you guys are unstoppable.”
Listen to Bobby Shmurda’s new single “Splash” above.
Seven years ago, French Montana released “Don’t Panic,” warning listeners that “we just getting started.” Now that he’s nearly two decades deep in the game, it appears he’s giving us all the green light to lose it with his new single, aptly titled “Panicking.” It features Brooklyn rapper Fivio Foreign and a hook that boasts that now “we got ’em panicking.”
The song arrived with a tongue-in-cheek video that follows French and Fivey as they pull off a high-altitude heist, shoving a pallet of cash out of the back of a cargo plane and promptly following it down. However, it looks like their parachutes opened a little late; they crash into a fancy spa filled with gorgeous women, declaring “we in a buffet!” After a wardrobe change, we see the boys getting pampered by their new acquaintances wearing silk robes and boasting that they’ll have “your favorite rapper naked on that OnlyFans” (apparently they are assuming that your favorite rapper is either a beautiful woman or selling so poorly they need alternative income — they really should clarify these things). Unfortunately, our boys get caught at the end; as thieves, they should really have been observing Heat rules here: “Don’t let yourself get attached to anything you are not willing to walk out on in 30 seconds flat if you feel the heat around the corner.”
“Panicking” is the latest single from French’s upcoming fourth full-length studio album, They Got Amnesia, which drops on November 12 Epic Records/Bad Boy Entertainment. You can pre-order the project here.
Watch French Montana and Fivio Foreign’s “Panicking” video above.
We were promised a return to normal. Or, actually, we probably weren’t. But it sure felt like with the defeat of Donald Trump and the vaccine rollout and a stream of festival and tour announcements, that by the fall of 2021, we would be back to some version of normal. But that’s definitely not how it has felt. Instead, we keep redefining a new normal, adjusting our expectations to the reality that many people won’t be getting vaccinated, that indoor masks are here to stay, that safety from Covid is not a guarantee, regardless of the actions we take.
That’s all to say that the return of Outside Lands to Golden Gate Park in San Francisco wasn’t a one-for-one replica of the festival of old. After undergoing multiple postponements due to the pandemic, the fest finally returned to action more than two years after its 2019 installment, shifting from its typical mid-summer dates to Halloween weekend. Funny enough, the weather on the west side of San Francisco really isn’t that different any time of year, so aside from the costumes that grew denser as the weekend went on, the date switch had little effect on the actual feeling of the festival.
So what was different? There were vaccine/testing checks, all done efficiently using the Clear app, utilizing wristbands that made entry a breeze, even better than before the pandemic. There were mask requirements indoors, and despite general mask recommendations for the rest of the grounds, a good portion of the crowd opted to enjoy the crisp, cool air. There were also more lineup changes than usual, most notably Young Thug canceling a set Saturday evening on the main stage, which isn’t exactly uncommon in a normal year, and should only be more common as everything from supply chain issues to general health affect touring.
Philip Cosores
But mostly, Outside Lands 2021 felt like the return to normal we’ve been craving, the type of place you can go and temporarily forget about the horrid previous 18 months. Sunday closer Tame Impala exemplified that with their multisensory experience around their pre-pandemic offering, The Slow Rush. Seeing the fans in the front row absolutely lose their shit with the faux commercial for the drug Rushium — some clearly questioning whether the psychedelic video was druggy in production or just druggy because they were, in fact, on drugs — was equally hilarious and endearing. The band’s decision to announce that Tame Impala had been replaced by The Wiggles, and then showing up dressed like the kids’ entertainers for their Halloween set, only added to the joyous insanity of it all. But frills aside, Tame Impala was the act of the weekend that best bridged the fest’s dueling demographics, where OSL veterans and the next generation of Zoomers could enjoy one of contemporary rock’s best bands together.
Lizzo’s infectious personality also managed to unite the OSL audience; she’s the kind of pop star that can attract a crowd out of sheer curiosity as much as because of actual attachment to the music. And it’s a good thing, because witnessing a Lizzo concert is to become a fan, with the catchy tunes joining forces with a captivating stage presence that just screams stardom. Her rise from daytime small stages at festivals to the marquee act has been a pretty wonderful storyline over the last half-decade, and if she can continue to turn out hits, she’ll be doing the same for a long time.
Philip Cosores
In fact, of the headliners, only The Strokes that disappointed. It’s tough to say what’s going on there, but it’s easy to say that the responsibility falls solely on leader Julian Casablancas. His interest in his main band has seemed slight for literally decades, with him much more artistically and, seemingly, emotionally invested in his side work with The Voidz. On this night (and, through conversations, other nights of the current run), Casablancas seemed to hold his audience in contempt, baffled by why anyone would care about his music and giving them little reason to while on stage. It says something about the undeniability of their catalog that even with a lead singer phoning it in, they still entertained and showed flashes of greatness. Still, it was clearly the least attended headlining set of the weekend.
Philip Cosores
Outside of the headliners, the highlights were many. Vampire Weekend might as well have been a closer, as few bands that are still at their creative peak can fill a festival set with more recognizable tunes. Angel Olsen and Sharon Van Etten got together to play their great recent single “Like I Used To,” while also offering career-spanning sets that presented versions of themselves less tied to particular album cycles. More in the hip-hop lane, Rico Nasty and Nelly both showed off polar-opposite appeals, one with inviting abrasiveness, the other with a stream of tunes deeply ingrained in the public consciousness. And then there’s Khruangbin, the ideal festival band for 2021 that can tap into decades of hits from other artists as well as their own hyper-vibey psych-funk, becoming the ultimate communal band.
Outside Lands also remembers that festivals should be about music discovery. That’s why getting there early is essential, to make sure you take in people like Bartees Strange, whose anthemic indie rock is on a trajectory for bigger rooms as soon as next year. Or people like Dijon, whose silky voice is buoyed by a stage persona that’s hard to take your eyes off, his face contorting and eyebrows furrowing to exemplify the passion of his music. And then there’s my beloved Petey, who opened the Twin Peaks stage on Sunday to a small but mighty crowd, showing off his unique blend of clever songwriting and absurdist humor. He’s the absolute best.
Philip Cosores
Of course, there were all the rest of the activations and eats that make Outside Lands one of the best live events in the world. Maybe most notable is Grasslands, which thanks to California’s legalized weed laws, actually has areas now designated for consumption. Pair that with the self-explanatory Beerlands and Winelands, and well, you have yourself a nice time in the park. The cuisine was expertly curated with some of the best of the Bay, with a special shoutout needing to go to both the wonderful sticky buns from The Chairman and the delicious BBQ from Vegan Mob. But the overall sense of Outside Lands 2021 wasn’t a band or a song or a bite, it was being among tens of thousands of people and losing sight of the greater world narrative for a moment. Live music is a place to lose yourself and find it again. It felt more essential than ever this year.
