Music

Cordae Takes A Shot At Capitalism And The Greedy People Of The World On ‘Taxes’

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After staying quiet for the better part of a year following the release of his Grammy-nominated debut album, The Lost Boy, Cordae has returned to active duty. Now we have his latest single, “Taxes,” a song that first appeared in the Barack and Michelle Obama-produced Netflix series We The People. The lyrics take direct aim at the capitalists in the world, questioning whether or not taxes are actually used towards improving communities.

The track comes after he dropped his EP Just Until earlier this year, which featured features from Young Thug and Q-Tip, as well as videos for “Wassup,” “Dream In Color,” and “More Life,” also from the same project. Prior to that, he dropped his single “Parables” and teamed up with Roddy Ricch for their collaboration”Gifted.”

On a more recent note, he stood beside Freddie Gibbs to guest appear on an official version of Nas’ “Life Is Like A Dice Game.” He also teamed with Common for “What’s Life” and funded scholarships for HBCU students in a partnership with Disney and ESPN.

You can listen to Cordae’s “Taxes” in the video above.

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

Cordae Takes A Shot At Capitalism And The Greedy People Of The World On ‘Taxes’

by

After staying quiet for the better part of a year following the release of his Grammy-nominated debut album, The Lost Boy, Cordae has returned to active duty. Now we have his latest single, “Taxes,” a song that first appeared in the Barack and Michelle Obama-produced Netflix series We The People. The lyrics take direct aim at the capitalists in the world, questioning whether or not taxes are actually used towards improving communities.

The track comes after he dropped his EP Just Until earlier this year, which featured features from Young Thug and Q-Tip, as well as videos for “Wassup,” “Dream In Color,” and “More Life,” also from the same project. Prior to that, he dropped his single “Parables” and teamed up with Roddy Ricch for their collaboration”Gifted.”

On a more recent note, he stood beside Freddie Gibbs to guest appear on an official version of Nas’ “Life Is Like A Dice Game.” He also teamed with Common for “What’s Life” and funded scholarships for HBCU students in a partnership with Disney and ESPN.

You can listen to Cordae’s “Taxes” in the video above.

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

Britney Spears’ Conservators Deny That They Forced The Singer To Do A European Tour Despite Her Claims

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A lot has come to light about Britney Spears’ conservatorship in the last couple of weeks. During a court hearing about the conservatorship on June 23, the singer called it “abusive” and asked a judge to end it altogether. “All I want is to own my money … and for this to end … and for my boyfriend to be able to f*cking drive me in his car,” she said. It was during that same hearing that she claimed conservators forced her to go on a European tour back in 2018.

“I was on tour in 2018. I was forced to do … my management said if I don’t do this tour, I will have to find an attorney and by contract, their own management could sue me if I didn’t follow through with a tour,” she said during the hearing, according to TMZ. “He handed me a sheet of paper as I got off the stage in Vegas and said I had to sign it. It was very threatening and scary. I couldn’t even get my own attorney, so out of fear, I went ahead and did the tour.”

However, the publication reports that sources “connected to the conservatorship” tell them Spears wanted to do the tour. They said that after her 2018 Vegas residency, she realized “she had nothing on her calendar for almost all of 2018. She then asked Management to find something for her to do so she wouldn’t be bored for a year.”

They added, “She literally begged to do the 2018 European Tour run. She was very excited about it and called repeatedly to ask to have it confirmed. There is a text message exchange between Management and Britney on December 16, 2017, where management provides her with the tour routing. She asks a few questions, and expresses how excited she is to do it.”

Taylor Swift And Adele Are Rumored To Have A Collaboration On The Way And Fans Are Beyond Excited

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Earlier this year, Taylor Swift earned her third No. 1 album in less than 12 months with the release of Fearless (Taylor’s Version), making her the first woman in music history to achieve this. It’s part of her latest project, which involves re-recording her older albums following a dispute with her former label, which resulted in her losing the masters of her first six albums. This fall, the singer will share her next one, which takes on her 2013 album Red. She also promised previously unheard music, and it may include a collaboration that will surely be one for the books.

As rumor has it, the album may include Taylor collaborating with Adele on “Broken Hearts,” which was registered online with both artists appearing as writers on the song. It reportedly appeared on the SESAC (Society of European Stage Authors and Composers) registry, one of the oldest performance rights organizations in the United States.

After the registry appeared on social media, fans of both singers began to share their theories about when the song would arrive and which album it would appear on. Most believed the song will land on Red (Taylor’s Version), which is due on November 19.

You can read some thoughts about the rumored collaboration from fans below.

Report: Britney Spears Is So Tightly Controlled That She Secretly Borrows Phones From Strangers At Gyms And Grocery Stores To Contact People

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Britney Spears has been actively seeking to alter her conservatorship, a court-ordered arrangement that began 13 years ago. There have been multiple hearings about the matter, and on June 23 she finally got the chance to address the matter, calling the arrangement as “abusive” and describing the many ways it restricted her desired lifestyle. “I’ve been in denial,” she admitted. “I’ve been in shock. I am traumatized. I just want my life back.”

Nearly two weeks we learned more details in an article by The New Yorker. In it, the singer’s ex-manager, Sam Lufti, shared an example of the increased surveillance the singer allegedly endures under the conservatorship.

“I’ll go years without contact, and then I’ll get a call every once in a while from her in a closet,” Lufti said. He also suggested that the singer’s phone is monitored by her lawyers and that she calls and texts only when she gets another phone. “Last time she called me, she was at Ralphs, in Calabasas[…] After she hung up, I got a call from the same number — it’s an Asian doctor, who says, ‘Wow, this is surreal, Britney just borrowed my phone.’ Five years ago, she borrowed a phone at the gym and just made off with it.”

Lufti added that his last in-person meeting with Britney, which occurred back in 2015, left him concerned for the singer’s well-being. “My opinion is that this conservatorship has drastically affected her mind-set,” he said.

You can read the full piece on The New Yorker here.

Lil Uzi Vert Reportedly Flashed A Gun In An Altercation With Saint Jhn In West Hollywood

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Something went down in Hollywood today between Lil Uzi Vert and Saint Jhn.

According to a frequently updated report by TMZ, Saint Jhn and Lil Uzi Vert were involved in an altercation today at Dialog Cafe in West Hollywood. Uzi apparently came to the cafe because Saint Jhn was meeting with his ex-girlfriend Brittany Byrd. TMZ’s sources claim that Uzi and Jhn got into a physical altercation, and Uzi’s gun fell out onto the table when Uzi tried to land a punch and missed. Other reports claim that Uzi flashed the handle of his gun, causing everyone to flee the scene out of fear of a shooting.

According to Byrd, she was meeting with Jhn strictly for business purposes, but something about the two of them together set Uzi off. vByrd filed a police report later in the day at the West Hollywood Sheriff’s substation alleging that Uzi put a gun to her stomach and struck her during the altercation. Uzi and Saint Jhn have both yet to comment on the fight, though the artists never seemed to have beef before this and Uzi even featured on a song with Jhn, “High School Reunion, Prom” in 2020. You can hear that collab below.

Lil Uzi Vert Reportedly Flashed A Gun In An Altercation With Saint Jhn In West Hollywood

by
Getty Image

Something went down in Hollywood today between Lil Uzi Vert and Saint Jhn.

According to a frequently updated report by TMZ, Saint Jhn and Lil Uzi Vert were involved in an altercation today at Dialog Cafe in West Hollywood. Uzi apparently came to the cafe because Saint Jhn was meeting with his ex-girlfriend Brittany Byrd. TMZ’s sources claim that Uzi and Jhn got into a physical altercation, and Uzi’s gun fell out onto the table when Uzi tried to land a punch and missed. Other reports claim that Uzi flashed the handle of his gun, causing everyone to flee the scene out of fear of a shooting.

According to Byrd, she was meeting with Jhn strictly for business purposes, but something about the two of them together set Uzi off. vByrd filed a police report later in the day at the West Hollywood Sheriff’s substation alleging that Uzi put a gun to her stomach and struck her during the altercation. Uzi and Saint Jhn have both yet to comment on the fight, though the artists never seemed to have beef before this and Uzi even featured on a song with Jhn, “High School Reunion, Prom” in 2020. You can hear that collab below.

Janelle Monáe Unveils A Stirring New Song, ‘Stronger,’ From The Netflix Show ‘We The People’

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Janelle Monáe has released a brand-new song titled “Stronger,” taken from the soundtrack to the forthcoming Netflix show We The People.

Executive produced by Barack and Michelle Obama, the 10-part series features a number of big musical names, such as Monáe, HER, Lin-Manuel Miranda, and Adam Lambert, who teach viewers about civil rights movements. Meanwhile, Monáe’s “Stronger” rolls out with an up-stroked reggae rhythm, as the Dirty Computer singer waxes poetic about seeking solidarity in the face of adversity. “Some of the friends taught me how to dream / Some of the friends taught me how to fight,” Monáe sings. “Even those times when we don’t agree / We know we all tryna save the same day / We don’t want the life without the liberty.”

Monáe has woven civil rights issues into her music over the last few years, such as when she released “Turntables,” for the 2020 documentary about Stacey Abrams, All In: The Fight For Democracy. Of writing music to inspire change, Monáe told Rolling Stone: “What is a revolution without a song? I started thinking about all the people on the front line. What could be my gift to them? It was this song to remind them that the tables are turning. We’re seeing that progress is being made, even in the midst of dealing with such traumatic events. We have figured out a way to be the solution. I wanted this to be my gift because revolutionaries need love too. They need inspiration, and they need an anthem. This is my stab at that.”

Listen to “Stronger” above, and check out We The People when it hits Netflix on July 4. Ahead of them, watch a trailer below.

Lil Kim Responds To 50 Cent’s Instagram Shade, Wondering If He’s Still Salty Over A Date She Turned Down

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Never one to spare anyone’s feelings, this week 50 Cent decided to get a joke off at Lil Kim’s expense. The rapper shared a side-by-side comparison of Lil Kim’s look from the BET Awards and an owl to his Instagram, clowning on her in his caption, then using the virality of the meme to plug his own projects. A little corny, anyone would admit. “Who did this sh*t,” he wrote. “This ain’t right. LOL catch FOR LIFE on IMDb Tv now !”

Well, Kim’s husband, Jeremy Neil aka Mr. Papers didn’t take kindly to the rapper bullying his wife and went in on the comments: “Leave my wife out the jokes ya heard,” he wrote.

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But once Kim herself jumped in, the joke was definitely on 50. She brought up a date she curved him on and was able to laugh at herself at the same time. Oh and the date incident? It’s all laid out in her forthcoming book, in stores this November. Check out her response below.

The accuracy. Hilarious. I ain’t bothered not one bit. My family & friends more mad than me. Sh*t like this don’t move me one way or another cause I’m still a bad *itch that n—–, b*tches, mommies, daughters, and aunties still want to be till this day and I love it!! @50cent I see u still in ur feels about that dinner date u asked me on that I had to turn down. Let it go u have a beautiful girlfriend, I have a loving husband. Let it go. And for those of u coming at my husband, Mr. Papers, he did real n—- sh*t. What a husband is suppose to do. 💪🏾💯All y’all can go to hell. Not Respectfully. 50cent, I address that situation all in my book coming in November. Make sure you go get it. Pre-orders available now. Be Blessed every one, stay positive.✨

Meanwhile, we’d all still love that Verzuz battle, Kim.

Iggy Azalea Debuts A Controversial New Look In Her ‘I Am The Strip Club’ Video

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Iggy Azalea is gearing up for her third album, End Of An Era. She previously shared the Tyga-featuring single “Sip It,” and now she’s back with another preview, the fun and bouncy single “I Am The Strip Club.” She also shared a video for the track, which features the rapper dancing and having fun on the road, in the back of an 18-wheeler and an ATV.

She says on the hook, “Don’t need dark rooms / I am the strip club / Don’t need red lights / I am the strip club / I do the lap dance / I ride the pole up / I am the, the strip club.” That lines up with how Azalea explained the song back in April, writing on Twitter, “The concept of the song ‘iam the strip club’ is basically about the fact that YOU ARE the good time. You don’t need to be in a club to be that lit.”

More recently, she wrote of the track on Instagram, “This song is really special to me – Seriously! […] This is my art, it makes me happy creating it and gives me purpose – So I hope someone is out this weekend dancing to this song! Your support matters to me so much I hope I can make everyone proud!”

For part of the video, Azalea is seen sporting black hair and skin that some people on Twitter think was intentionally made to look darker than her natural skin tone. After the video was released, in response to a compliment about her hair, Azalea noted that she’s retiring the black wig.

Azalea also thanked the people involved in making the video, saying, “I wanted to give a big Thankyou to @yeah_thas_me for bringing my music to life with his choreography as well as to all the dancers in this video… You guys made the video next level! I also want to give a giant Thankyou to @smashstunts for bringing together a group of amazing female riders for this video! Watching you guys handle those bikes with Eaze on those dark winding roads really blew my mind. You girls are amazing!”

Watch the “I Am The Strip Club’ video above.