Music

Blxst And Bino Rideaux Are Just A Pair Of Money-Making Gentlemen In Their ‘One Of Them Ones’ Video

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Two years ago, Blxst and Bino Rideaux shared their debut joint project, Sixtape. The 2019 6-track EP helped bring the West Coast rappers to a new level in their careers and it’s one they would surpass the following year with their respective solo efforts. Blxst brought himself to XXL Freshman status thanks to his No Love Lost project while Bino Rideaux solidified his artistry with his own project, Outside. Now, the duo is back together and reunion brings the release Sixtape 2 and a new video for “One Of The Ones.”

The visual is introduced with a motivating narration from DJ Drama, who provides a boost in energy to the effort just like he did during his appearances on Tyler The Creator’s album, Call Me If You Get Lost. Blxst and Bino gamble the night away, enjoying their riches and celebrating the success they’ve attained in their respective careers.

Sixtape 2 is an entirely solo effort with the two rappers handling all of the vocal responsibilities. The project arrives with 12 tracks, double the amount that the duo delivered on Sixtape. The video also arrives after Blxst delivered his XXL Freshman Freestyle alongside Toosii.

You can watch the visual for “One Of The Ones” above.

Sixtape 2 is out now Red Bull Records. Get it here.

Pop Smoke Aims To ‘Tell The Vision’ With Pusha T And Kanye West

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Just a little over a year after his posthumous debut album, Shoot For The Stars, Aim For The Moon, was released, Pop Smoke’s management shares the rapper’s second posthumous effort, Faith. The new release is presented with 20 songs and a large number of guest appearances that include Pusha T and Kanye West who join Pop Smoke for “Tell The Vision.” The track fits right in the drill rap pocket that Pop thrived in before his tragic death as he raps about the struggles he faced growing up. As for the song’s guests, Pusha pays respects to Pop and shouts out Tyler The Creator while Kanye looks to turn up the energy with an adlib-filled intro.

In addition to the aforementioned named, Faith also sports features from Rick Ross, The-Dream, 42 Dugg, 21 Savage, Rah Swish, Travi, Beam, Bizzy Banks, Takeoff, Lil Tjay, Swae Lee, Future, Chris Brown, Dua Lipa, Pharrell, Kid Cudi, Quavo, and Kodak Black. It’s a lengthy affair that invites even more individuals to the party than Shoot For The Stars, Aim For The Moon did.

Faith was announced at the end of the last month with an album trailer that presented encouraging words from the late rapper. “Never let anybody get in between you and your creations,” he says in the video. “Why you just trying to be cool? You gotta make history.”

You can listen to “Tell The Vision” in the video above.

Faith is out now via Victor Victor Worldwide/Republic. Pre-order it here.

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

Normani Flaunts Her ‘Wild Side’ With Cardi B To Begin A New Era In Her Career

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Normani’s last single came back in 2019 with “Motivation.” It’s an uptempo effort that was released with an eye-popping visual that made references to Ciara’s “Goodies,” Beyoncé’s “Crazy in Love,” and Britney Spears’ “…Baby One More Time” videos among others. However, after its release, Normani took a big step out of the spotlight and stayed out of it for nearly two years until, finally, she returned with her first single in nearly two years. “Wild Side” arrives today with help from Cardi B who steps up to provide a guest verse on the bass-driven track.

The track also comes with a video that sees Normani showing off her impressive dance moves while beckoning for the special man in her life to step up to the plate and enjoy a sultry night with her. Cardi later accompanies Normani for her guest verse where both artists appear discreetly nude from head to toe.

The singer originally previewed the song in an Instagram video she posted back in February. She captioned it, “Know it’s been a while,” an obvious tease towards new music on the way and while it took five months for it to land in the hands of fans, late is far better than never. As for Normani and Cardi’s connection, some may remember that Normani appeared in Cardi and Megan Thee Stallion’s video for “WAP” last fall. On a more recent note, Cardi B recently revealed that she’s pregnant with her and Offset’s second child. She broke the news during a performance at the 2021 BET Awards.

You can check out the new song in the video.

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

21 Savage And Metro Boomin Run A Risky Business In Their Video For ‘Brand New Draco’

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21 Savage and Metro Boomin made fans wait more than four years to get a sequel to their Savage Mode project. The effort finally came in October 2020 and as opposed to the first installment which was a mere mixtape, the second edition came as a full-length album, one that was met with acclaim and positive reviews from fans and critics alike. Nearly a full year after Savage Mode II was released, 21 Savage and Metro Boomin continue their promotion of the project with a video for “Brand New Draco.”

The new visual hones in on 21 Savage’s humor while keeping his menacing raps, which often cross into dark territories, intact. The Atlanta rapper steps into the role of a financial advisor who promotes his new $DRCO stock. Promises of monetary success are made with the help of testimonies from DJ Khaled, Bow Wow, Shaquille O’Neal, and more. However, it’s all a facade as the company 21 Savage and Metro Boomin built together is forced to quickly disband before law enforcement raids their office to arrest them for an unknown crime.

The video joins “Glock In My Lap,” “My Dawg,” and “Runnin” as other songs from Savage Mode II to receive the visual treatment. On a more recent note, 21 recently signed as a headlining act, along with North Carolina rapper Morray, for J. Cole’s The Off-Season tour.

You can watch the video for “Brand New Draco” above.

Savage Mode II is out now via Epic Records and Republic Records. Get it here.

Lil Durk And His Girlfriend Reportedly Exchanged Gunfire With Intruders Who Broke Into Their Atlanta Home

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Lil Durk has unfortunately experienced an unusual amount of tragedies over the last year and he was nearly involved in another one as a report from TMZ revealed on Thursday. The rapper’s Georgia home, which he resides in with his girlfriend India Cox, was reportedly broken into by multiple unidentified individuals early Sunday morning.

According to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, the break-in quickly led to a shootout that saw the intruders as well as Durk and Cox exchange gunfire. Officials were unable to determine how many people broke into the rapper’s home and they’re seeking help from the public to investigate the home invasion.

XXL was also able to obtain documents that confirm Durk and Cox were listed as victims in the incident and were not injured in the matter. The home invasion and shooting occurred a month after Durk’s brother, DThang, was shot and killed outside of Club O, a strip club in Harvey, Illinois, a city south of their hometown of Chicago. This came after King Von, a rapper Durk often referred to as has “twin,” died as a result of a club shooting in Atlanta back in November 2020.

In more positive news, Durk received his first No. 1 album last month thanks to the release of Voice Of The Heroes, his joint album with Lil Baby. The 18-track effort came attached with guest appearances from Travis Scott, Young Thug, Meek Mill, and Rod Wave.

EST Gee Announces The Release Date Of His ‘Bigger Than Life Or Death’ Mixtape

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Memphis rap don Yo Gotti’s Collective Music Group (CMG) is set for a rap takeover this year. Not only has the label’s other Memphis artist Moneybagg Yo dominated the Billboard albums chart (A Gangsta’s Pain went No. 1 for two weeks upon release and is currently outpacing both mainstays like J. Cole and upstart fan favorites like Rod Wave and Pooh Shiesty) but its rising stars 42 Dugg and EST Gee are receiving increased attention for their work with hitmakers like Roddy Ricch and Jack Harlow.

While Dugg’s Free Dem Boyz tape earned him a top 10 debut and presaged his appearance in the 2021 XXL Freshman class, EST Gee — who signed in January this year, just announced his own highly anticipated mixtape Bigger Than Life Or Death, sharing its tracklist and release date (July 20) on social media, a little over a month after releasing the title track.

The tape is a clear bid for greater mainstream recognition, boasting feature appearances from big-name artists like Future, Lil Baby (who helped spotlight both Dugg and Gee on his last album), Lil Durk, Pooh Shiesty, and Young Thug. Naturally, fellow CMG-ers Dugg and Gotti also appear on multiple tracks, as well. Provided the tape receives the level of response it’s primed to, EST Gee could very well be the next member of the fast-rising rap crew to see his name near the top of the charts and one step closer to claiming a Freshman spot of his own.

Bigger Than Life Or Death is due 7/20 via CMG and Interscope. Pre-save it here.

Doja Cat Finds Out She’s Paul Rudd’s Soulmate In A Behind-The-Scenes ‘You Right’ Video

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It’s been about two weeks since Doja Cat dropped her astrology-inspired “You Right” video featuring The Weeknd, a track off her otherwordly Planet Her album. The singer has now shared some behind-the-scenes footage of the shoot where, true to the video’s theme, Doja researches her astrology sign. In doing so, Doja finds out that she’s apparently very comparable with Paul Rudd.

The behind-the-scenes footage opens with Doja calling up her mom to find out the exact time she was born, a crucial piece of information needed for finding out an astrology birth chart. Doja’s birth chart describes her as “committed and assertive,” to which she responds, “Oh. This is about me being a b*tch.”

Using the same app, Doja looks up Paul Rudd’s birth chart to see if they are compatible. Doja reads off the results: “Right away, Paul might have seemed familiar, like you two were close friends or family in a past life. This sense of shared history creates an ease of comfort between you and a deep sense of immediate trust. It’s like Paul’s the kind of friend you can let down you guard with, you can be yourself with.” The singer then mentions, “I’ve never met this guy, but that’s very weird because his demeanor is very much like my family, which is very strange.”

Doja then checks her compatibility with Beyonce, which is apparently her “strongest connection.” The app says the two musicians would make “incredible allies,” and Doja seems to agree.

Watch Doja’s “You Right” behind-the-scenes above.

Planet Her is out now via RCA. Get it here.

Machine Gun Kelly Had A Poster Of Megan Fox In His Bedroom Before They Started Dating

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Machine Gun Kelly and Megan Fox are far from shy about their relationship. The two made out on the red carpet, recently had less-than-glamorous ayahuasca trip, and Fox even had some choice words for those criticizing their age gap: “Go f*ck yourself.” Though the two officially met on set of a film, Kelly recently admitted that he had been crushing on Fox for several years.

In a cover interview with GQ, Kelly sat down with a writer who published his first-ever profile in their high school newspaper. During their conversation, Kelly talked about his rise to fame, his decision to pivot to pop-punk, and, of course, his headline-making relationship with Fox. Kelly even admitted that he had a poster of Fox plastered on his teenage bedroom wall, and someone from their high school remembers him vowing to marry her one day. “It was from her GQ shoot,” he said after confirming the details with Fox. “So that’s some full-circle sh*t.”

Kelly is now known for his eccentric style, but when he was growing up, he took inspiration from any and all media he consumed. “My guidance came from who was talking to me in my headphones and who I was watching on TV. The neighborhoods I was hanging in, the people I was around, those were my influences, those were my parents, those were my guidances,” he continued in the GQ interview. “I had to be whatever I was seeing on TV. I will never forget when I saw American Gangster in theaters, with Denzel Washington. I immediately went to my boss.… I borrowed his fur coat and I borrowed his suit…and swore to God that I was Frank Lucas. A week later I would see Travis Barker in a music video and I would be in a T-shirt with a purple tie over it and some baggy JNCO jeans.”

Read GQ‘s full profile on Kelly here.