Music

Baby Keem Explains Those Wild Kendrick Lamar Ad-Libs On His Album For ‘Desus And Mero’

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As one of the hottest emerging talents in hip-hop right now, Baby Keem is the perfect guest to appear on Desus & Mero, where the Bronx duo got in-depth on the 20-year-old Las Vegas rapper’s debut album, The Melodic Blue. One of the questions addressed to him by the hilarious hosts mentioned the wild ad-libs on his songs with Kendrick Lamar on the album, especially the head-turning “Range Brothers.” After becoming fodder for a plethora of memes, Kendrick’s repeated cries of “top o’ the morning” and “let’s get this sh*t” elicited chuckles from both the hosts and their guest as they asked where the two rappers’ energy comes from.

“I think in the booth is where I’m most myself,” Keem mused. “And I’m around the people that get the most out of me. I think that’s it. I’m just comfortable in my environment.” He also addresses the memes sparked by his album, saying his favorite is the dancing cowboy and expressing a wish to contact the creator.

Meanwhile, Desus & Mero is quickly becoming the go-to show for rap artists to promote their new work, as the laid-back vibe and insider perspective have proven to be perfect for drawing out gems from the likes of Lil Nas X, Bobby Shmurda, Chance The Rapper, and the original Nas in recent months. The Bodega Boys’ brand was always brolic but now, it’s becoming better defined — and helping to define the shape and direction of modern-day hip-hop.

You can watch the Baby Keem interview with Desus & Mero above.

The post Baby Keem Explains Those Wild Kendrick Lamar Ad-Libs On His Album For ‘Desus And Mero’ appeared first on UPROXX.

Wu-Tang Clan Is Reportedly Working With Xbox On The ‘Project Shaolin’ Video Game And Soundtrack

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Back in 1999, Wu-Tang Clan: Shaolin Style dropped on PlayStation and hip-hop heads were hyped to play a tournament kung-fu fighting style game with their favorite members of the Clan. Heck, ODB fought in a drunken fist style, while Ghostface and Raekwon were bare-knuckle boxers, and Method Man wielded a warhammer. While the game had its limitations, it was the first four-player fighting game on PlayStation, so you know it got wild when everybody had a controller.

But that was over 20 years ago (Supreme Clientele would be released the following year, for context) and now according to Windows Central and the GamesBeat Decides Podcast, Wu-Tang Clan is rumored to be working with Xbox and Brass Lion Entertainment on a new game, called Project Shaolin, that’s an action RPG style game. The story is set to be framed around Shaolin lore and while the role of Wu-Tang members within the game is still up in the air, Windows Central indicates that Wu-Tang will be at the helm of the soundtrack. They added more details on the gameplay:

“The campaign is planned to run for a couple of dozen hours, complete with a rich endgame comprised of seasonal content drops and other updates. You will be able to obtain loot, weapons, gear, and so on, in both procedural endgame dungeons and more tailor-made events. Also, it appears that legendary hip hop group Wu-Tang Clan themselves will be heading up the game’s sound track”

What’s cool about Brass Lion Entertainment, is that the Skyrim and Fallout vets dub themselves as “an entertainment studio focused on creating original fictional universes that center on Black, Brown, and other marginalized characters, cultures, and stories.”

Who better to keep pushing forward the legend of the Wu? More updates are sure to come on this one.

The post Wu-Tang Clan Is Reportedly Working With Xbox On The ‘Project Shaolin’ Video Game And Soundtrack appeared first on UPROXX.

Eminem And Ed Sheeran Forged A Pen Pal Relationship Over Their Shared Collecting Hobby

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Ed Sheeran and Eminem are familiar collaborators, as they’ve worked together on songs like “River,” “Those Kinda Nights,” and “Remember The Name.” Their relationship extends beyond their work together, though. The first time they met in the studio, they talked more about video games and movies than they did music. It turns out the two have a sort of pen pal relationship now, too, thanks to their mutual love of collecting cassette tapes.

On a recent episode of Later… With Jools Holland, Sheeran noted (via HipHopDX):

“I collect cassettes and I’ve got Ray Charles and Stevie Wonder, and they are quite difficult to find. The only person I know who collects the same is Eminem. He collects cassettes — that’s his thing. He loves collecting. He is avid at going to find them. We have started having this… it’s like a very cool pen pal thing. I got a message the other day about an LL Cool J cassette. He said, ‘This is the cassette which made me want to start rapping.’ I sent him Van Morrison and I will send him David Gray’s White Ladder next.”

Meanwhile, Ed Sheeran is fresh off receiving a positive COVID-19 test, meaning that his upcoming Saturday Night Live performance may be a no-go.

Ed Sheeran is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

The post Eminem And Ed Sheeran Forged A Pen Pal Relationship Over Their Shared Collecting Hobby appeared first on UPROXX.

Saweetie Shut Down Twitter Speculation That She’s Dating Roddy Ricch

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Saweetie wants to make it clear that she’s not dating a new rap suitor at the moment after fans on Twitter ran away speculating that she’s found her replacement for Quavo in Roddy Ricch. When the two California rappers were photographed together at a Lakers game, fans immediately jumped to conclusions but Saweetie was quick to shut down the rumors with a tweet of her own lamenting how quickly fans connected the “couple” over such minimal evidence as a photo or two.

The two rappers were seat neighbors courtside at Friday’s game between the Lakers and the Phoenix Suns at Staples Center, but it seems that it was more of a coincidence than a date. However, when The Shade Room posted about them on Instagram the implication was obvious. A similar post on the Female Rap Room Twitter account received similar responses from fans, and Twitter lit up with chatter about the potential pairing.

Saweetie herself, however, was less than amused. “So avoid sitting next to men in public places,” she wrote later. “Otherwise the world assumes y’all are dating.”

Something similar happened to another set of stars at another basketball game recently, when Chloe Bailey and Gunna were seen sitting together at the Hawks home opener in Atlanta. In that instance, though, some fans focused more on Chloe’s beverage than any possible coupling that might have been taking place. Incidentally, both Roddy and Saweetie are working on their albums, with Saweetie promising that Pretty Bitch Music is completed and Roddy aiming for a “full-blown masterpiece.”

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

Little Simz Confronts Her Father In The Heart-Torn ‘I Love You, I Hate You’ Video

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During the run-up to the release of her new album Sometimes I Might Be Introvert, Little Simz released the poignant single, “I Love You, Hate You,” addressing her conflicted feelings about her father. Now, she’s released an equally poignant video for the song, depicting visually the narrative of the growing distance between herself and her dad.

Simz’s album rollout also included videos for “Introvert,” “Woman,” and “Point And Kill” with Obongjayar, and recently announced her 2022 North American tour. You can see the dates for that below.

Aside from releasing the above-mentioned videos, Simz also raised her profile in a few other interesting ways. In August, she made her US television debut on The Tonight Show with a performance of “Woman” and gave a cozy Tiny Desk Concert performance. Most recently, she remixed her 2019 song “Venom” for the Sony/Marvel film of the same name.

05/01/2022 — Portland, OR @ Hawthorne Theatre
05/02/2022 — Seattle, WA @ The Crocodile
05/05/2022 — San Francisco, CA @ The Independent
05/11/2022 — Los Angeles, CA @ El Rey Theater
05/15/2022 — Chicago, IL @ Reggie’s
05/17/2022 — Toronto, ON @ The Axis Club
05/19/2022 — Boston, MA @ The Sinclair
05/21/2022 — Philadelphia, PA @ Foundry
05/23/2022 — Washington, DC @ Union Stage
05/25/2022 — New York, NY @ Webster Hall

Watch Little Simz’s “I Love You, I Hate You” video above.

Sometimes I Might Be Introvert is out now via Age 101. Listen to it here.

Megan Thee Stallion’s Visit To The F1 Grand Prix Resulted In A Seriously Awkward Interview

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As much as hip-hop collectively loves mentioning Nascar (mostly because it rhymes with a lot of things, especially “fast car”), there’s another form of racing sport about which most rappers seem frighteningly uninformed: Formula 1. Part of that has to do with the fact that it just hasn’t caught on here the way it has in Europe; this resulted in a hilarious case of culture clash this past weekend as Houston rapper Megan Thee Stallion visited the F1 US Grand Prix this weekend in neighboring Austin and the world discovered that the unawareness can go both ways.

As she strutted the track with her entourage, Megan was approached by Sky News reporter and former driver Martin Brundle for an interview but as the rapper seemed to be in hurry, things got off to a bad start. Brundle was very nearly pushed away by Meg’s massive bodyguard (an absolute unit, that one), then, when addressing her, he noted that she is a “freestyle rapper” and wondered whether she had any “rap on F1.” Bursting into laughter, Megan politely declined to rap for the reporter as she kept it moving and he was left in the dust.

For what it’s worth, the awkwardness was probably a result of the generation gap as much as anything, as the older British reporter was clearly trying to turn a phrase and show off his own witty wordplay, which they’re quite fond of across the pond. However, nobody has used the term “rap” to mean “discuss” or “chat” in at least forty years. Sometimes you can get a little too clever, especially when it comes to so many degrees of separation (old, white, British man, meet 20-something, Black woman from Houston). Of course, some folks gave their own impressions of the hilarious incident on Twitter:

Seriously, though, people should stop asking Megan Thee Stallion about sports. It should be very clear by now that she is a big nerd and should only ever be asked about anime, video games, and hottie sauce. Check out Uproxx’s interview with Megan Thee Stallion about her iconic Mileena cosplay for Mortal Kombat 11.

Fans At Playboi Carti’s Houston Show Went Ballistic After It Was Canceled, Forcing Police To Respond

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This past weekend turned out to be a big one for fans behaving badly at arenas. The Brooklyn Nets’ home season opener was disrupted by anti-vaccine advocates, forcing the arena to be temporarily locked down when some of them tried to force their way inside. However, that somehow wasn’t the only incident of totally batsh*t behavior inspired by a cult-like figure at an arena, with another example taking place thousands of miles away in a completely different context on Saturday night.

As noted by HipHopDX and documented by a slew of fan videos, the Playboi Carti Narcissist Tour stop at Houston’s NRG Park was canceled after fans raged out outside the arena, pushing over metal detectors, throwing down barricades, and trying to force their way inside after waiting hours for the concert to begin. According to Click2Houston, the show was canceled without warning after fans waited hours in the rain. According to one fan, when Houston police were called to the scene, some fans even kicked the police horses (these people should be flogged to within an inch of their lives).

Another fan, quoted by Houston’s ABC affiliate, tried to explain the chaos. “It’s a really intense, aggressive album,” they said. “People came to the concert really amped up and ready to go crazy. Maybe the people at NRG weren’t prepared for that.” NRG Park released a statement as well, explaining that, “Last night in the interest of public safety and on the advice from the Houston Police Department, the Playboi Carti concert scheduled for NRG Arena was canceled. The safety of all guests, staff, and artists is our highest priority.”

There is still no official word on why the concert was canceled, nor has Carti himself responded, although his Sunday tweet of “Cult” could be considered an apt description of the events to follow. Check out more videos below.

Drake Was Gifted A Rolls Royce He Used To Rent To ‘Keep Up Appearances’ As A Young Rapper

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Everyone knows Scorpio season kicks off with Drake’s birthday. As the mogul rapper turns 35 today, his longtime friends had to come through with a gift that fit the occasion. Obviously, the celebration kicked off with a massive, themed party, this year it was a Narcos theme and guests like Future, YG and Offset all stopped by to celebrate.

But one friend, Future The Prince, had an extra special gift for The Boy, a Rolls Royce Phantom like the one a young Drake used to rent in order to keep up appearances. He even paid $5,000 a month just to rent the thing! Check out his heartfelt gratitude and reflection on the gift below, he explains it better than I ever could.

“Back in 2007 we used to finesse this Rolls Royce Phantom rental to convince people in the city we were destined to make it. I used to scrape together 5k a month somehow to keep up appearances. We whipped this to Ottawa to see @belly and @cashxo and to Montreal for my first show ever. I used to pick up @ovoniko and roll every day or wait outside @nebzilla class for her. Park outside 15 Fort York while me and @ovo40 and @oliverelkhatib would be upstairs cooking what would eventually become So Far Gone. Even though I don’t recommend putting yourself in financial trouble for material things I realize now that this was just my way of extreme manifesting. I needed to see it and feel it and have it to believe that I could see and feel and have anything I wanted. Today in 2021 my brother @futuretheprince tracked down the exact car I use to stress over and gifted it to me…it’s mine now. Manifestation complete. Thank you for all the love and appreciation and gifts and texts and dm’s…more than just loved I feel truly appreciated and that is the only gift I ever needed. TREY FIVE EASY MONEY DRIZZY 😈 let’s get this shit. BLICK EMMMMMM 🤞🏽”

That plus a No. 1 single with “Way 2 Sexy” off his new album Certified Lover Boy should make 2021 a pretty good year for Drake.

J Balvin Apologizes For His ‘Perra’ Video After He Received Criticism Over Its Portrayal Of Black Women

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J Balvin released his sixth album Jose last month, but its promotional rollout did not come without some controversy. Earlier this month, the singer released a video for “Perra,” with Dominican rapper Tokischa, and he was quickly hit with criticism over the way the visual portrayed Black women. In the video, Balvin is seen walking Black women around on leashes while they wore dog ears. Among its critics was the singer’s own mother, who spoke to Cosmovisión, a Colombian news station, about it. “When I found out [about “Perra”], I called him … [and asked], “Where is the Josésito that I know?” she said. “That song is not … I don’t even know what to say. I did not see my José anywhere.”

Weeks after the controversy, J Balvin has issued an apology on his Instagram story. “I want to say sorry to whomever felt offended, especially to the Black community,” he wrote. “That’s not who I am. I’m about tolerance, love, and inclusivity. I also like to support new artists, in this case Tokischa, a woman who supports her people, her community and also empowers women.”

Balvin added, “As a form of respect, I removed the video eight days ago. But because the criticism continued, I’m here making a statement.” He concluded with an apology to his mother. “Mom, I’m sorry too,” he said. “Life gets better each day. Thank you for listening to me.”

You can watch Balvin’s full apology video here.

Jose is out now via Universal Latin. Get it here.

ASAP Rocky Will Put ‘Live.Love.ASAP’ On Streaming Platforms In Time For Its Tenth Anniversary

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ASAP Rocky’s rap career received a huge boost in 2011 when he released his debut mixtape Live.Love.ASAP. It was celebrated as one of the best mixtapes from that time period, boasting fan favorites like “Peso” and “Purple Swag.” It also helped him secure a record deal with RCA and Polo Grounds, leading to his debut album, entitled Long.Live.ASAP, which he released two years later and which spawned hits like “F*ckin’ Problems,” with Drake, 2 Chainz, and Kendrick Lamar. Nearly ten years later, Rocky announced something big for its upcoming anniversary.

HighSnobreity reports that the mixtape will hit platforms like Apple Music, Spotify, and Tidal on October 29, just two days before its tenth anniversary. Rocky joins a cadre of artists who have uploaded their old mixtapes or unofficial releases to streaming platforms years after they were released. The most recent example is Mac Miller’s Faces, which debuted at No. 3 on the albums chart nearly two weeks after it was re-released. Others include Drake, who added his mixtape So Far Gone to DSPs. Joey Badass (1999), Chance The Rapper (Acid Rap), Wiz Khalifa (Kush & OJ), The Weeknd (House Of Balloons), and more have also done similar things.

The news comes after Rocky connected with Houston rapper Maxo Kream for “Streets Alone.”

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