Earlier this week, it was reported that Tyga was arrested on felony domestic violence charges after the rapper’s now ex-girlfriend, fashion designer, and influencer Camaryn Swanson posted a video to her Instagram Story that showed injuries that she allegedly attained from him. TMZ reported that, on October 11, police officers were called to Tyga’s house around 3 a.m. Swanson accused Tyga of putting his hands on her. Authorities at the scene said they were able to see visible marks on her. But Tyga has denied the claims.
In a post to his Instagram Story on Friday, Tyga wrote, “I want everyone to know that the allegations against me are false. I was not arrested. I took myself into the police station and cooperated. I have not been charged with any crime.” However, a search of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department website shows he was indeed arrested on October 12 and posted a $50,000 bond. His next court date is set for February 8, 2022.
Tyga and Swanson began dating in early 2021 and they went official with their relationship in March. Swanson also shared details of the incident in additional posts to Instagram Story, writing that she was “emotionally, mentally, and physically abused.”
Some fathers don’t take too well to meeting their daughter’s boyfriends. One person is Jamie Foxx, who during a recent episode of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon told a story about how, when meeting his spawn’s paramour, sought a little help from no less than Snoop Dogg.
“My daughter, who didn’t know I had already run a background check on her boyfriend, he comes to the crib and Snoop happens to be there,” he told the crowd. “And I said, ‘Snoop, there he is right there. Shake him up.’ Snoop just walked over to my daughter’s boyfriend and just said ‘Hey, what’s up? What’s up cuz? You know. Hey, look here. You know. We her uncles, you know what I’m saying? So act accordingly, homie.’”
Foxx has two daughters, Corinne and Anelise, but he did not specify which one was subject to this episode. But since the latter is only 12 years old, it’s safe to say it’s Corrine.
For more with Snoop Dogg and Jamie Foxx, you can stay tuned for their upcoming film Day Shift. The movie is a vampire action thriller with a cast that includes Dave Franco, Eric Lange, Karla Souza, Meagan Good, and Zion Broadnax. A release date for the movie has not been revealed yet, but it is confirmed to arrive at some point in 2022.
You can watch the clip from The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon above.
At the end of August, Detroit native 42 Dugg shared the deluxe version of Free Dem Boyz, which he released earlier this year. Seven more songs were added to the record, with new features from Nardo Wick, Moneybagg Yo, and more. Lil Durk can also be found on the deluxe thanks to his appearance on “Free Ric.” Now, less than two months after the song’s release, Dugg calls on Durk to appear in a flashy video for the track, which finds the rappers showing off their large sums of money and expensive jewelry while delivering boastful raps as their respective crews stand behind them.
Free Dem Boyz, which also features Fivio Foreign, Roddy Ricch, EST Gee, Rylo Rodriguez, and Future, became Dugg’s high-charting album after it debuted at No. 8. The new video comes after Dugg shared ones for “Bestfriends,” Rose Gold,” “Turnest N**** In The City,” “Maybach,” and more.
As for Lil Durk, he just released his single “Pissed Me Off,” which comes as a response to unfortunate incidents that recently occurred in his life. He’s also going back to school to get his high school diploma.
You can watch the video above.
Freem Dem Boyz (Deluxe) is out now via CMG/4PF. Get it here.
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
On Friday, Young Thug released his second album, Punk, which arrives a little over two years after his official debut, So Much Fun. Punk is the more conceptual and introspective project, while So Much Fun showed off the rapper’s confident and high-spirited side. During a recent interview with Hot 97, Thug took a moment to speak about Punk, revealing his favorite songs from the album as well which songs he’s lyrically most proud of.
Thug named “Stupid/Asking” and “Drive Slow” as his favorites from the album. The former is produced by frequent collaborator Metro Boomin while the latter is the opener for Punk and features production from Charlie Handsome and a guest verse from fellow YSL act Strick. He later named “Road Rage” as the song he’s lyrically most proud of.
Punk checks in at 20 tracks and features guest appearances from Drake, Future, J. Cole, Travis Scott, Gunna, Doja Cat, T-Shyne, Bslime, Post Malone, ASAP Rocky, Lil Duble 0, Nate Ruess, and Jeff Bashker. The album also presented a pair of posthumous appearances from Mac Miller and Juice WRLD.
You can watch the full interview above.
Punk is out now via 300 Entertainment/Atlantic Records. Get it here.
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
Following a pandemic-addled year when Danny Brown’s annual celebration of the many sounds of Detroit had to resort to a livestream, Bruiser Thanksgiving 8 is back for 2021, live and direct. Taking place at the Russell Industrial Complex just south of Hamtramck, the new venue is a massive spot that sports “millions of square feet” on it’s website.
Scheduled for Wednesday, November 24, the concert is curated entirely by Brown and features diverse artists from the vibrant Detroit creative scene and other up and coming acts from beyond. While this year’s lineup hasn’t been announced yet, previous editions of the event have featured artists like Joey Bada$$, Sada Baby, Lil B, ZelooperZ, TEKLIFE, JLin, JPEGMAFIA, Portage Garage Sounds, Valee and others.
A statement from the event said that “Bruiser Thanksgiving is, at its core, a celebration of multidisciplinary musicians from different generations for the fans that love them thoughtfully assembled in one space. The festival highlights the city of Detroit and the Detroit community as a creative and cultural hotspot.”
In keeping with that mindset, Bruiser Thanksgiving once again has a fundraising component to benefit InsideOut Detroit, which has helped over 65,000 young Detroiters build skills through creative writing. Always a man of the people, tickets to the Warp Records-signed left-of-center rapper’s Bruiser Thanksgiving are a very reasonably priced: $20 early bird and $25 general admission. Those are on sale no right here.
Squid Game is still one of the most talked-about shows in Netflix’s history (behind the controversial Chappelle specialThe Closer this week as the toxic fallout continues to settle across social media). Ever the opportunist, meme-making rapper Soulja Boy couldn’t help but capitalize on the show’s popularity, sampling its eerie theme music for a new single that turns its harrowing children’s game theme into fodder for another of Soulja’s call-and-response dance hooks. As he chants, “Red light, green light,” the haunting choral vocals offer a spine-tingling counterpoint to the hip-rocking 808s.
Soulja’s never one to miss an opportunity for a viral moment, as he recently spent a week trolling Kanye West after being left off the rapper’s new albumDonda. In addition to bringing up Kim Kardashian-West, Kanye’s soon-to-be ex-wife, Soulja Boy also demanded an apology on behalf of Taylor Swift, which suggests that he might not be experiencing time the same way the rest of us do. Soulja’s also no stranger to controversy himself; in July, Soulja was ordered to stay away from a former assistant who sued him in January claiming sexual assault, sexual battery, and false imprisonment during her time working for him. Meanwhile, in a separate lawsuit, Soulja Boy was accused by an ex-girlfriend of domestic abuse and sexual battery as well.
Following a 2020 year that proved to be monumental of the Chicago rapper, Lil Durk put his head down and kept things pushing into and throughout 2021. At the top of the year, he shared the deluxe version of his late-2020 project, The Voice. He later teamed up with Lil Baby for Voice Of The Heroes, a project that gave him his first chart-topping release. After a string of guest features, Durk returns to the solo route with “Pissed Me Off.” The new song is quite the vengeful effort as it finds the Chicago native speaking about the recent deaths of King Von and his brother DThang.
He also raps about the Atlanta home invasion that he and his girlfriend India Cox were victims of back in July. Durk and Cox were allegedly forced to exchange gunfire with the intruders, but luckily both escaped the situation without any injuries. Atlanta police officers listed the couple as victims in the police report for the shooting.
“Pissed Me Off” comes after Durk joined G Herbo and 21 Savage for a remix of Nardo Wick’s “Who Want Smoke??” Durk also collaborated with FaZe Kaysan on “Made A Way” as well as HER and Lil Baby for a remix of “Find A Way.” Furthermore, the Chicago native can be spotted in recent videos for EST Gee’s “In Town” and Rod Wave’s “Already Won.”
You can listen to “Pissed Me Off” in the video above.
Jamila Woods and Peter CottonTale are two of Chicago hip-hop’s most illustrious minds. Woods is a noted singer, poet, and activist whose 2019 album LEGACY! LEGACY! paid tribute to Black luminaries and rightfully cracked the top 25 of our Uproxx Music Critic’s Poll that year. CottonTale came up as a core producer for the breakthrough material of Chance The Rapper, Vic Mensa, and Woods, and has recently claimed credits with the likes of DJ Khaled and Justin Bieber.
Now the the pair have joined forces for the latest single “WYD (You Got Me)” and it manages to preserve the feeling of summer sunshine as winter starts to creep in. There’s a childlike melody to the tune, reminiscent of the innocence of summer cookouts and spending time with friends and family. There’s autotune vocals sprinkled throughout from both, but Woods’ voice is as sweet as peach pie. The hook is definitely something we’ll be repeating as she sings: “Good evenin’, I called you. I hope you will see that. So hit me as soon as you see this. I’ll be there in times when you need me… to be there, someone you can lean on. When I see ya. If it’s something you needed, believe me. If got it. If you got it. You got me.”
The song is part of the new film Summertime. Directed by Blindspotting‘s Carlos López Estrada, it weaves the tale of 27 different youth spoken poets throughout the streets of Los Angeles.
Watch the video for “WYD (You Got Me)” above and watch the very cool trailer for Summertime below.
When scanning the music industry for the best teams and rosters, it’s hard to leave Love Renaissance out of the conversation. More commonly known as LVRN, the label is responsible for big-name artists like 6lack, Summer Walker, Shelley FKA DRAM, and Westside Boogie as well as growing acts like BRS Kash, Cruel Santino (fka Santi), Young Rog, OMB Bloodbath, and more. With that being said, there’s also a new name on the roster that’s worth paying attention to.
Eli Derby, an 18-year-old singer from Maryland, is carving out his own lane on the LVRN team. For those who follow the label close, you’ll most likely recognize his name from LVRN’s 2020 Christmas album, Home For The Holidays where Derby delivered a pristine cover of “This Christmas.” His rendition, which featured background vocals from Summer Walker, was gentle and filled with youthful spirit as he also pushed the limits for what proved to be a personal standout on Home For The Holidays.
That cover birthed an interest in Eli Derby, and from that moment on, the wait to hear what else the young singer had to offer began. Eight months later and a slight step out of a once-in-a-lifetime pandemic later, Derby returned with his official debut single, “Gaslight.”
Uproxx caught up with Derby over a Zoom call for an interview where we learned more about the young singer. Where did his musical journey begin? How did it elevate? What’s next? All while learning his personal goals for the future.
I read that you used to be in your church choir when you were younger. What experiences from your time there do you feel contributed to the artist you are today?
It started off with my grandfather, whose actually a pastor. So just being in the church, I was forced to either be an usher, or play, or sing. I had to do something, they would not let me just chill or sit down, so I got active. My uncle was a drummer, so I saw him and I was like, “Wow, I want to do this.” He taught me a few things and then a couple of years later, I wanted to sing. I kind of felt like I had a voice, you know, you sing in the shower all the time and you just feel like you have a voice and if the church likes it, everybody will like it. Then my dad was like, I want you to be better than me so either you’re gonna be a singer full-time, you just can’t play drums and that be it, cause I kind of stopped wanting to sing, so he was like play piano or guitar, so I chose piano. I started playing keys in the church, singing, and drums, I was on all that.
Later, I saw Ed Sheeran performing on YouTube just watching and researching his stuff. Growing up during that time, I don’t know, for some reason I didn’t really see a lot of Black people playing guitar. So I was like, that’s how I could be different a little bit. I decided, hey, I’ll pick up the guitar and learn how to play all these instruments. So [I was playing] guitar, piano, drums, bass, and singing in church. That’s how I started making and producing my own music, playing my own stuff, and just making my own sounds and creating my own world is just me who I am, as Eli.
When does the point of focus shift from investing your time in the choir to working on your YouTube covers?
So I’ll say around 12 or 13 I really like started to take this seriously. My dad was just very, very supportive, shout out to my dad and my mom. They were very supportive of me. As a matter of fact, my mom is a singer and my dad was an actor, so they really understood what I was trying to do and saw the passion that I have for music, so it was a no-brainer. Around 12 or 13, I started performing. My dad knew a couple of people in the DMV area, which is where I’m from. So I’d perform at the late-night shows, around the clubs out there, he would sneak me in, get me out there to perform, and get me comfortable on-stage performance in general.
Speaking of your dad, at just eight years old, he would sneak you into bars to perform for people there. I imagine this helped with spotlight moments, do nerves throw you off guard nowadays and how do you stay ready for these opportunities?
Yeah, I mean there are definitely moments where the nerves kick in. I had a performance at a show like two weeks ago in DC with a couple of hundred people, the nerves definitely kicking in. I have to remember though, we all eat the same, we all sleep the same, we all look at the same sun, the same moon, the same sky. We all are human, so why would I be nervous? I’m ready for this, it’s my time. That’s all I think about.
When did you feel like things were changing for you?
Yeah, it was two moments. The first one was when I put out the Frank Ocean cover for “Close To You.” I did that one and then the next one was when I put on my original song “Love Song.” I did the studio version of it, and I mean, the girls went crazy. I just got mad DMs telling me to drop the song, drop the song. I did not think it was gonna be that crazy, it’s different when people really like your music. That’s your goal, right? But it’s just crazy to me that people actually listen to what I’m saying.
Fast-forward a bit and now LVRN is home for you. What made them the ideal place for you to start your career?
LVRN, they’re the best really. I’m 15/16 at the time I met them and I see these five successful Black guys, and it felt right. It felt like a place where I could be myself. The energy was very genuine and their taste in music and how they just operate as a tempo is not just n****s guessing, they know what they’re doing. So I think that’s made me say yeah, they’re the ones.
With the release of “Gaslight,” your first single on LVRN, what made this the perfect single to release to the world as your debut solo single?
So I wrote this song during the COVID quarantine. I definitely wanted to put out a song during that time, because then I was in and out of the studio making music. I’m seeing no touring, no performances, I’m like bet this is my time to really just hone in on this project, at the time it was like okay, we’re gonna do an EP. So I wrote a song about being gaslighted because that was a situation that happened at that time. I’m writing the song and DJ Dahi, one of the producers, sent me a sample. I go into Logic, I flip it, I put some drums to it, add a little guitar, and I’m just writing to the sh*t. The situation is about a girl I was in a relationship with, she was my best friend for years, and problems occurred and she tried to pin me against the wall as if I was in the wrong, but really she was in the wrong. So, I was researching what that really meant and I saw “gaslighting” and then a friend told me what it meant and I was like, “Oh sh*t! Gaslight!” and that’s how it came to be.
With that being said, what can you tell us about your next project?
So I got a lot of cool stuff coming out, super excited. The next single is coming out pretty soon, I’m excited about that. The third single is with a feature, but I can’t say who yet, but y’all really gonna like it. It’s a fucking vibe, it’s a vibe, it’s some R&B to the core. It’s crazy, I’m super excited.
What’s your favorite 2021 album?
Imma go with Tyler’s album, I like that one. It’s been playing on my playlist the most, I don’t know why, I think that Kanye’s was good, Drake’s album was good, but what I keep playing to is definitely Tyler. I will say, Summer Walker’s coming out with the album and I’ve heard a couple of tracks, it’s looking close.
Is there anything you’re nervous about going forward? Confidence is key, but I would assume some fears exist somewhere.
Yeah, definitely. I feel like all artists go through it whether they want to admit it or not, cause I have nothing to lose. It’s like will I be successful? Will I be big? You always have doubts in your head as an artist, will people give a f*ck? Will people listen? Will people pay attention? Will people care? A wise man said those are things you definitely want to ask yourself. It would be foolish not to ask those questions because what I’m doing is so important to me, it’s my life.
On the flip side, what are you most excited to show or do as a new and growing artist?
I want to go on tour, I want to be a touring artist. That’s a flex because to say I wake up every morning, go to a different city for n****s to scream my music that I make is a fucking flex. So I feel like once it gets to that, it’s gonna be over. I’m a performer to the core, it all stems from church, right? If you can get people in church to get up off their feet, clap their hands, and sing with you? Church is very cut-throat, they won’t tell you this, but church is cut-throat. If you’re not good, they will boot you off, they will take the mic from you, they will give it to somebody who’s better. I’m a performer to the core, I dance, sing, play piano, guitar, all that sh*t, I just entertain. I think when I go on tour it’s gonna be crazy.
With less than two months left in 2021, what are your remaining goals for the year?
I want to get a couple more performances in. I may be going to London next month to do a show out there, that would be dope hopefully I’ll get to do that. Just really perform like, I know when the music sh*t goes crazy, I want it to be like, I’ve been doing so it’s nothing new.
As new fans discover your music and join you on this journey, what’s one thing you want them to know?
Everything I write is from me, the music you hear I produce or helped produce. It’s all from me as a person. I don’t cap about what I talk about, and it’s soulful. With this generation it’s good, but I feel like there’s missing something. I feel like that’s what I bring to the table.
“I was tired of getting bullied by the republicans and also getting bashed by the same people I was standing up for,” she replied, referring to the outsized backlash she received for many of her political statements. By aligning herself with Bernie Sanders, she became a favored target for conservative commentators, who also took to criticizing her music and performances, even as they ignored plenty of other rappers whose music was even raunchier than hers. However, also receiving criticism on her opinions from the other side of the aisle seemingly took its toll, as well.
I was tired of getting bullied by the republicans and also getting bashed by the same people I was standing up for. https://t.co/Vhgsm9kvzS
As if to prove the point, one commenter posited their own cruel reasoning behind the two-sided backlash: “cus you sound like you’re slow when you talk and it was ruining everything.” Cardi had the perfect response, though, pointing out that “It was the only way YOU would of understand me.” Cardi’s down-to-earth explanations, which always came from her, may have been unpolished, but by no means is she out of her depth; Cardi’s AP History teacher pointed out that the rapper was an A-student, despite her freewheeling approach to grammar on Twitter.
