Music

Juvenile’s ‘Vax That Thang Up’ Turns His Biggest Hit Into A Pro-Vaccine PSA

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Who would have thought that 20 years after Cash Money Records took over for the 99 and the 2000, Juvenile’s raunchy introductory hit would form the basis for a wholesome (bit still playfully racy) public health PSA? The New Orleans rapper resurrected his biggest song, “Back That Thang Up,” turning it into “Vax That Thang Up” to encourage horny young singles to get their shots before returning to the dating scene, recruiting longtime collaborators Mannie Fresh and Mia X to reprise and remix the track’s most iconic moments.

“Girl, you look good, why don’t you vax that thang up?” Juvie joshes on the new, cheeky chorus. “You a handsome young brother, why don’t you vax that thang up?” Mannie, meanwhile, cleverly flips his anchor verse: “I know you can’t stand it / No holding hands, chick,” he smirks, turning his opening couplet into something a bit more friendly for radio. And that iconic Lil Wayne bridge? Well, it seemed unlikely they’d be able to hook the original into participating, considering some of his prior reactions to current events, so Mia X graciously steps it up to turn “drop it like it’s hot” into “go get the shot.”

Naturally, fans on Twitter have thoughts, but respect for these legends of the game — who have mostly stayed out of trouble and kept their legacies untarnished — has the jokes trending about as wholesome as the song itself. You love to see it.

Watch the “Vax That Thang Up” video above.

Lil Nas X Says Ripping His Pants On ‘SNL’ Wasn’t Even The Worst Thing That Happened To Him That Day

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Lil Nas X had one of the most memorable music moments of Saturday Night Live‘s most recent season when he accidentally tore his pants during his “Montero (Call Me By Your Name)” performance. While having that sort of gaffe on live national television might be embarrassing, as is noted in a new New York Times profile on Nas, his torn trousers “weren’t even the worst thing to happen to him that night.”

After the performance, Nas was feeling good, so while at the show’s after-party, he shot his shot with somebody he had been chatting with online. The rapper’s advances were shot down, though, as the person said they were flattered but had a boyfriend.

“I was like, ‘Damn, you’re that loyal,’” Nas said. “I love it. You forget sometimes that people are, like, really loyal, and it’s like, I want to do that.” The rejection was still hard to stomach though, but Nas reminded himself that “no matter what I do or accomplish in this life or whatever, I’m never going to get everything I want.”

Nas left the party to return to his hotel room and get a hold of himself. Once he got there, he gave himself a pep talk in the mirror and then fell asleep on the toilet.

Read the full feature here.

Nicki Minaj Rallies Her Fans To Prepare For A ‘Very Very Very Important’ Announcement

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Nicki Minaj has a big surprise for fans and she’s asking them all to meet her on an Instagram Livestream later this week. It’s the latest in what’s been a comeback year of sorts for the famed rapper. Her last album came in 2018 with Queen while, prior to May at least, her last solo single arrived in 2020 with “Yikes.” After a lengthy wait, Nicki returned with three new songs — one of them being “Seeing Green” with Lil Wayne and Drake — that came attached to a reuploaded version of her beloved mixtape, Beam Me Up Scotty. Now it appears Nicki has more on the way for fans.

“There’s something I URGENTLY need to share w you guys,” Nicki tweeted with a slew of siren emojis. “I’ll go LIVE on IG THURSDAY @ 10:30PM EST No, I won’t be late. In fact, I’ll be early. This is VERY VERY VERY IMPORTANT. Love you guys so much.”

The vague announcement left fans guessing what the “very very very important” news could. There’s a chance it’s regarding a new album from the rapper which would end her drought of three years without one. Other guesses have been that the livestream might be an update on her upcoming HBO Max docuseries. Nicki previously confirmed that the series will be made up of six half-hour episodes that dive into her professional and personal world while giving fans unique access to her life.

You can read the announcement from Nicki above.

South London Rapper Dave Announces His Second Album, ‘We’re All Alone In This Together’

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The last time South London rapper Dave released an album was back in 2019 with his debut effort, Psychodrama. The project won lots of awards in its native England. Finally he’s rearing his follow-up, We’re All Alone In This Together, which is set to arrive on July 23. He shared the news during an interview with Ciaran Thapar for GQ, which he described like this:

I feel like Psychodrama was me aged zero to 20. Now, I get to go from zero backwards in time and explore stories from before, stuff that led up to the events of the first album: heritage, history, culture, my family, the countries that we come from, the regressive state of humanity in where we are now. Migration is a massive thing for me – boats, freedom of movement. The artwork represents that – the journey – all at the same time, as delivering life from the perspective of someone who has just come off the back of all this… It’s a massive change in character.

The album’s first tentative single is “Clash,” featuring Stormzy. As for what else to expect, fans will just have to wait a couple of weeks to see.

We’re All Alone In This Together is out 7/23 via Dave/Neighbourhood Recordings. Pre-order it here.

Wizkid Is Bringing His Beloved Album ‘Made In Lagos’ To A City Near You With An Upcoming Tour

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There are many albums released in 2020 that made it easier for music fans to push through the pandemic. One of those is Wizkid’s Made In Lagos. Now the Nigerian star is finally able to tour behind it. On Wednesday, he announced the Made In Lagos tour, the North American leg of which begins on September 10 with a stop in Boston, Massachusetts, and continues through October 16 in Miami, Florida. At that point the singer will begin a three-month break before picking things back up on January 21, 2022, with a stop in Toronto. According to the singer’s website, the tour will conclude on January 26, 2022 in Cancun, Mexico.

At each stop, fans can expect to hear Wizkid favorites like “Essence,” “Ginger,” and more, as well as older highlights like “Come Closer,” with Drake, and “Ojuelegba.”

You can check out the full dates below and click here to purchase tickets.

09/10/2021 — Boston, MA @ Orpheum Theatre
09/11/2021 — Brooklyn, NY @ Bric Celebrate Brooklyn!
09/13/2021 — Silver Springs, MD @ The Fillmore
09/17/2021 — Cleveland, OH @ House Of Blues Cleveland
09/18/2021 — Chicago, IL @ Riviera Theatre
09/19/2021 — Minneapolis, MN @ Filmore Minneapolis
09/22/2021 — Denver, CO @ Summit Music Hall
09/25/2021 — Los Angeles, CA @ The Wiltern
09/26/2021 — Las Vegas, NV @ Chop Las Vegas
09/28/2021 — Seattle, WA @ Neptune Theatre
10/02/2021 — Sacramento, CA @ TBA
10/09/2021 — Dallas, TX @ Southside Ballroom
10/10/2021 — Houston, TX @ Bayou Music Center
10/12/2021 — Atlanta, GA @ Tabernacle
10/16/2021 — Miami, FL @ The Oasis At Magic City Innovation District
01/21/2022 — Toronto, ON @ History
01/22/2022 — Montreal, QC @ Mtelus
01/26/2022 — Cancun, Mexico @ Suntown

Pop Smoke’s Alleged Murderer Will Not Face The Death Penalty In His Upcoming Trial

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A year and a half has gone by since the music world was stripped of one of its most promising rappers, Pop Smoke. The Brooklyn native was shot and killed during a home invasion in a Hollywood mansion he rented in an attempted robbery gone wrong. Four individuals were arrested for the tragic murder: Corey Walker and Keandre Rodgers, who were 19 and 17 respectively at the time of their arrest, as well as a 17-year-old and a 15-year-old whose names were not revealed, due to them being minors.

Almost a year after their arrests, Walker’s trial is underway, and on Tuesday a big decision was shared by the court. According to video provided by The Shaderoom, Deputy District Attorney Hilary Williams, the prosecutor for the case, said that the maximum sentence that Walker would face if he were convicted is life without parole, meaning that the now 20-year-old defendant will avoid the death penalty.

The reason could be that he was not the individual who pulled the trigger on Pop Smoke. The defendant who was 15 years old at the time allegedly confessed to being the triggerman in the murder during a recorded interview at a juvenile detention center in May 2020. “He admitted that he shot the victim three times with a Baretta 9 (mm.),” LAPD Detective Carlos Camacho said during a preliminary hearing for Walker. He added that the teenager “admitted they asked for the jewelry” from the rapper before ending up in a “confrontation” that led to shots being fired.

In other news related to Pop Smoke, the late rapper’s second posthumous album is set to arrive on July 16. The self-titled effort contains 17 songs and the already released track “Outro.”

G Herbo Says He And Polo G Will ‘Probably’ Make A Joint Album

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G Herbo is less than a week removed from dropping his fourth album, 25, which arrives a little over a year after his third full-length effort, PTSD. As the rapper continues to promote his newest release, he also has his eyes set on the future. That could include a joint album with fellow Chicagoan Polo G, as he revealed in a recent interview with Bootleg Kev.

“I ain’t gon’ lie,” Herbo said. “To be honest, I’m working on some joint albums already. I wanna do a joint with Polo. Me and Polo [will] probably do a joint.” For what’s it worth the two rappers have slowly built up a collection of collaborations over the years. Their first came last year when Polo G joined Herbo for “Lawyer Fees” on PTSD. The next two arrived on the duo’s respective 2021 albums. Polo G called on Herbo for “Go Part 1” off Hall Of Fame before the two joined forces again for “Cry No More” with Lil Tjay, off 25.

Elsewhere in the Bootleg Kev interview, Herbo expressed an interest in making joint albums with Tee Grizzley and Lil Bibby.

You can watch the full Bootleg Kev interview in the video above.

25 is out now via Machine/Epic. Get it here.

G Herbo Says He And Polo G Will ‘Probably’ Make A Joint Album

by
Getty Image

G Herbo is less than a week removed from dropping his fourth album, 25, which arrives a little over a year after his third full-length effort, PTSD. As the rapper continues to promote his newest release, he also has his eyes set on the future. That could include a joint album with fellow Chicagoan Polo G, as he revealed in a recent interview with Bootleg Kev.

“I ain’t gon’ lie,” Herbo said. “To be honest, I’m working on some joint albums already. I wanna do a joint with Polo. Me and Polo [will] probably do a joint.” For what’s it worth the two rappers have slowly built up a collection of collaborations over the years. Their first came last year when Polo G joined Herbo for “Lawyer Fees” on PTSD. The next two arrived on the duo’s respective 2021 albums. Polo G called on Herbo for “Go Part 1” off Hall Of Fame before the two joined forces again for “Cry No More” with Lil Tjay, off 25.

Elsewhere in the Bootleg Kev interview, Herbo expressed an interest in making joint albums with Tee Grizzley and Lil Bibby.

You can watch the full Bootleg Kev interview in the video above.

25 is out now via Machine/Epic. Get it here.

G Herbo Says He And Polo G Will ‘Probably’ Make A Joint Album

by
Getty Image

G Herbo is less than a week removed from dropping his fourth album, 25, which arrives a little over a year after his third full-length effort, PTSD. As the rapper continues to promote his newest release, he also has his eyes set on the future. That could include a joint album with fellow Chicagoan Polo G, as he revealed in a recent interview with Bootleg Kev.

“I ain’t gon’ lie,” Herbo said. “To be honest, I’m working on some joint albums already. I wanna do a joint with Polo. Me and Polo [will] probably do a joint.” For what’s it worth the two rappers have slowly built up a collection of collaborations over the years. Their first came last year when Polo G joined Herbo for “Lawyer Fees” on PTSD. The next two arrived on the duo’s respective 2021 albums. Polo G called on Herbo for “Go Part 1” off Hall Of Fame before the two joined forces again for “Cry No More” with Lil Tjay, off 25.

Elsewhere in the Bootleg Kev interview, Herbo expressed an interest in making joint albums with Tee Grizzley and Lil Bibby.

You can watch the full Bootleg Kev interview in the video above.

25 is out now via Machine/Epic. Get it here.

G Herbo Says He And Polo G Will ‘Probably’ Make A Joint Album

by
Getty Image

G Herbo is less than a week removed from dropping his fourth album, 25, which arrives a little over a year after his third full-length effort, PTSD. As the rapper continues to promote his newest release, he also has his eyes set on the future. That could include a joint album with fellow Chicagoan Polo G, as he revealed in a recent interview with Bootleg Kev.

“I ain’t gon’ lie,” Herbo said. “To be honest, I’m working on some joint albums already. I wanna do a joint with Polo. Me and Polo [will] probably do a joint.” For what’s it worth the two rappers have slowly built up a collection of collaborations over the years. Their first came last year when Polo G joined Herbo for “Lawyer Fees” on PTSD. The next two arrived on the duo’s respective 2021 albums. Polo G called on Herbo for “Go Part 1” off Hall Of Fame before the two joined forces again for “Cry No More” with Lil Tjay, off 25.

Elsewhere in the Bootleg Kev interview, Herbo expressed an interest in making joint albums with Tee Grizzley and Lil Bibby.

You can watch the full Bootleg Kev interview in the video above.

25 is out now via Machine/Epic. Get it here.