Music

NLE Choppa Challenges His Fellow Rappers, Including Moneybagg Yo, To Give Up Lean For Chlorophyll

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NLE Choppa has been on a health kick recently, promoting plant-based diets and meditation. While the dark side of his newfound interest has meant surprising fans with vaccine conspiracy theories and snake-oil sales pitches for dubious cancer “cures,” for the most part, Choppa’s encouraged his followers to embrace self-improvement. His latest effort is an “anti-lean” challenge which he issued on social media, appealing to his fellow rappers to give up the purple drank by substituting chlorophyll.

““I Have A New Challenge For Rappers,” he wrote. “For Every Pint of Lean, Or Even Alcohol, Drink A Pint Of Chlorophyll. I Wanna Start By Challenging @MoneyBaggYo I’ll Bring This To You Personally Fam.” He also added a link to an online shop where he’s pitching bottles of the stuff, as well as some kind of “detox tea” and baggies of seamoss. Notably, he tagged fellow Memphian Moneybagg Yo in his challenge, perhaps prompted by Moneybagg’s recent post calling his single “Wockesha” “the official lean national anthem.”

Choppa isn’t the only rapper to give up lean in recent years. In 2019, Future, one of the drink’s biggest proponents over the past decade of rap, admitted that he quit but didn’t say anything publicly because he feared losing his fans, while Smokepurpp, Mustard, and more were inspired to quit by a rash of overdoses including Lil Peep’s and Mac Miller’s.

NLE Choppa is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Beyonce’s Fans Flood Trick Daddy’s Restaurant With One-Star Reviews After His Comments About Her

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If there’s anything active social media users know, it’s the powerful presence of Beyonce’s biggest fans. The Beyhive, as they’re known, will rush to the singer’s defense whenever they deem it’s been slandered. So it’s no surprise that Trick Daddy felt their wrath after he questioned her singing abilities. “Beyoncé ain’t trying to give back to music and Beyoncé don’t write music,” he said during a conversation on Clubhouse. “Beyoncé can’t sing.”

The Beyhive quickly pounced, but others chose to handle it a bit differently.

On Tuesday, Trick Daddy’s restaurant, Sunday’s Eatery, was hit with a number of one-star reviews that seemed to be written by Beyonce’s fans. “The food was appalling!!” one person named Corey Goodman wrote. He added, “I’ve never in my life tasted such filth. The Lemonade, on the other hand, was divine” — a reference to Beyonce’s 2016 album.

One person wrote, “Disgusting food. Seriously though. The service was so subpar. Definitely do not recommend this restaurant, they can’t even sing.” Another added, “The food was undercooked but tasted overcook the restaurant smelled like wet dog, but there was a delightful bee’s nest outside waiting.” The reviewers also made sure to show their allegiance to the singer by adding a bee emoji to the end of their comments. In the end, they brought the restaurant’s rating down to a 2.6 out of 5 on Google.

Jazz Cartier And Buddy Get Greedy In The Stylish Video For ‘Two Of Em’

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While we await his sophomore album, Buddy is deep into a strong guest feature run. The Compton-bred act continues his streak by standing alongside Toronto rapper Jazz Cartier in a video for their track “Two Of Em.” The stylish duo kicks things off with a game of chess before moving off to detail their greedy ways. From money to women, Jazz and Buddy insist on receiving double the normal amount for their favorite things.

On Jazz’s end, the video arrives after a two-year break, which he used to recenter himself after a move from his hometown of Toronto to Los Angeles. The new single also comes ahead of his upcoming project, Fleur Print Vol. 2, which is set to arrive on July 23. The full-length effort will also feature “Nothing 2 Me” with Cousin Stizz, a song he released earlier this year.

As for Buddy, the Compton rapper is hard at work on his sophomore album and follow-up to his 2018 effort Harlon & Alondra. Since then, the rapper has been consistent with periodic releases, most of them coming in the form of guest features. He teamed with Lucky Daye for “Faces” and Tinashe on two separate occasions for “Glitch” and “Pasadena.” He also appeared with Guapdad 4000 on “PlayStation” as well as D Smoke and Jac Ross for “It’s OK To Be Black 2.0.”

You can watch the video for “Two Of Em” above.

T-Pain Says There’s Still ‘Love And Respect’ For Usher Despite His Comments About Auto-Tune

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Earlier this week, the internet was shocked by an anecdote T-Pain shared during an interview for the upcoming Netflix film This Is Pop. In it, he detailed a depression-sparking conversation he had with Usher during a flight together to the 2013 BET Awards. “I was like, ‘What’s good?’” T-Pain recalled. “I thought he was about to tell me something real. He sounded real concerned. He was like, ‘Man, you kind of… you kind of f*cked up music.’” He added, “I didn’t understand. Usher was my friend. He was like, ‘Yeah man, you really f*cked up music for real singers.’”

The news T-Pain fans to rush to social media to give Usher a piece of their minds. Less than 24 hours after the clip from the upcoming This Is Pop film arrived on social media, T-Pain returned to Twitter to clarify his feelings towards Usher. “I still love and respect @Usher telling that story was in no way meant to disrespect that man,” he wrote. “Ppl talk sh*t about me 24/7 but when it comes from someone you truly respect it hits very different. I never said f*ck Ursh it was a drop in the ocean of sh*t I was already goin through.”

The Gin Blossoms Are Savagely Trolling The Nuggets Ahead Of Their Concert During Game 2 Of The Western Conference Finals

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One fun element of the Phoenix Suns’ postseason run is the way that they’ve added in-arena entertainment when games have taken place in their building. Arizona’s very own Jimmy Eat World had a halftime concert during the conference semifinals, while Tag Team came to Phoenix Suns Arena to remind everyone of their favorite March Madness commercial during Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals.

For Game 2 on Tuesday night, the team extended an invitation to another band from the state: Gin Blossoms. The group best known for heat rocks such as “Follow You Down” and “Hey Jealousy” announced the news earlier in the day, and even made it a point to pay tribute to legendary Suns player Charles Barkley.

Then, I don’t know if you’ve ever had plans before, but you usually have some time to kill before you go do whatever that thing is. So Gin Blossoms used the time to get into it with a fan of the Denver Nuggets, the team that the Suns took down to make it to the conference finals, by repeatedly getting off jokes about the franchise.

Because most Suns things seem to come back to this dude at this point, we even got a “SUNS IN 4” reference out of the band, although this had a slightly tweaked version of the hashtag.

I will be honest: I did not anticipate, at any point in my life, witnessing Gin Blossoms talking trash on the internet because the Phoenix Suns just swept the Denver Nuggets in the NBA playoffs. But to the victor go the spoils, so go off, Gin Blossoms.

Lil Baby Crowned ASCAP’s 2021 Songwriter Of The Year

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Lil Baby was one of the most popular artists in 2020, and his work over that period is still being fêted. The Atlanta rapper was recently crowned Songwriter Of The Year during the 2021 ASCAP Rhythm & Soul Award ceremony. The show highlighted “Baby” with DaBaby, “Emotionally Scarred,” “For the Night” with Pop Smoke and DaBaby, and “The Bigger Picture,” which peaked at No. 3 on the singles chart last year, as some of the songs that best showcased his writing talents.

The win comes months after some felt he was snubbed at this year’s Grammys awards. While he was nominated in the Best Rap Song and Best Rap Performance categories for “The Bigger Picture,” many believed his 2020 album My Turn should have received a nomination as well. He failed to win in either of the aforementioned categories, but he did take home awards at other shows: My Turn won Hip-Hop Album of the Year at the 2021 iHeartRadio Music Awards and “The Bigger Picture” received an award at the BET Hip-Hop Awards.

According to Variety, the Atlanta rapper will also perform a new version of “The Bigger Picture” on Wednesday at 4 p.m. EST/1 p.m. PST on ASCAP’s official YouTube page.

In other news, Lil Baby and Lil Durk will hit the road starting this fall for their Back Outside tour. It begins September 1 in Mansfield, Massachusetts, and continues through October 15 in West Palm Beach, Florida.

Wale Announces ‘Folarin 2’ While Labeling Himself As ‘One Of The Greatest Of All Time’

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Back in 2012, Wale released his eighth mixtape, Folarin, which would go on to be one of the better releases from hip-hop’s mixtape era. It was also an impressive effort in the rapper’s discography and nearly a decade later, Wale has announced its sequel is on the way. He shared the news on Twitter, along with a pretty big boast. “I understand you may feel how you feel for whatever soembody told you…but I just wanna reiterate that I’m one of the greatest of all time,” he wrote. “Catalog. Consistency. Influence. Longevity. DMV. With that said “#Folarin2” this summer.”

The arrival of Folarin 2 should be no more than a couple of months away. Recently he’s shared several singles, including “Good Vibes,” “Flawed” with Gunna, and “Lions, Bengals, & Bears” with DJ Money. Folarin 2 would also be his first project since his 2020 EP, The Imperfect Storm, and his first full-length effort since 2019’s Wow… That’s Crazy, an album that posted highlight tracks like “On Chill,” “Sue Me,” and “Love (Her Fault)” with Bryson Tiller. Prior to the announcement, Wale joined Coi Leray for a remix of Earthgang’s “Options.”

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

Tyler The Creator Road Trips In His Flirtatious ‘Wusyaname’ Video

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Tyler The Creator’s Call Me If You Get Lost rollout continues with the retro-styled, flirtatious video for its latest single “Wusyaname.” As with previous videos, the narrative revolves around Tyler’s pursuit (in character as Tyler Baudelaire) of actress Helena Howard, who appears to be in a relationship with Odd Future’s Taco. Tyler teased the storyline with his “Side Street” album trailer, while the opening monologue in “Wusyaname” mirrors a similar speech in the video for “Lumberjack.” Also as in “Lumberjack,” “Wusyaname” features shouted ad-libs from DJ Drama.

The lyrics to the new track find Tyler making a play on an unknown woman over a sample of ’90s R&B group H-Town’s “Back Seat (Wit No Sheets).” “You pick a spot, I’ll pick a tail number, we can be tourists,” he beckons. “Let’s go to Cannes and watch a couple indie movies that you never heard of.” The video ends once again with a title card featuring the new aesthetic for the Call Me If You Get Lost era, as well as its unofficial, sitcom-esque theme song.

In addition to putting out the album in just three days, on June 25, Tyler is set to perform at the 2021 BET Awards this weekend.

Watch the video for “Wusyaname” above.

Call Me If You Get Lost is out 6/25 via Columbia Records. Get it here.

Killer Mike Is Making A Cameo In The Fourth Season Of ‘Ozark’

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According to a new feature on Billboard, Atlanta rapper Killer Mike has been cast in a cameo role in the fourth-and-final season of Netflix’s award-winning crime drama Ozark. Mike has apparently been a fan of the show for some time, remarking, “I went from waiting to find out what happens next to being part of it … I’m excited.” Although details about the role are sparse, according to Billboard, Mike’s character will meet teen criminal Ruth Langmore “at her lowest point.”

Emmy Award winner Julia Garner, who portrays Ruth, recently joked that she wanted to tell off anti-maskers at the real-life Lake of the Ozarks in-character on social media. The show recently wrapped up a production that was hampered by COVID-19 safety protocols which changed the way the show was shot, so her reaction is understandable. Co-star Jason Bateman remarked that it broke his heart to break the tradition of directing an episode or two himself, but he was willing to make the sacrifice to get the supersized season completed on-scheduled.

Meanwhile, Killer Mike had to make some similar tough business decisions regarding his barbershop, which he didn’t reopen during Georgia’s first wave of attempts to get back to normal last spring. Now that live entertainment is slowly coming back, though, he’ll be on tour with Run The Jewels and Rage Against The Machine next year.

Snoop Dogg And 50 Cent Headline The ‘Once Upon A Time In LA’ Festival Lineup

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As live music returns in 2021, the growing list of festivals and tours being announced has a new entry from a dark horse: A new festival called Once Upon A Time In LA is gaining attention for its impressive, diverse lineup, which includes headliners 50 Cent, Al Green, The Game, Ice Cube, Snoop Dogg, and YG. The festival is billed for December 18 at Banc Of California Stadium in Los Angeles, as well as the surrounding Exposition Park area.

Further down the list, the lineup appears to be a similar mix of (mostly) LA rap favorites spanning the last three decades of hip-hop and the funk and soul bands that inspired the original G-Funk sound that put the West Coast on the rap map in the early ’90s. While names like Cypress Hill, DJ Quik, Mack 10, Warren G, and WC should satisfy old-school hip-hop fans, their soulful counterparts include The Delfonics, George Clinton, The Isley Brothers, Lisa Lisa, Morris Day, Rose Royce, War, and Zapp.

Meanwhile, younger fans — and those older fans who are young at heart, I guess — can enjoy newer acts like Blueface, Drakeo The Ruler, OhGeesy, and RJMrLA. Out-of-towners range from Bay Area legends like E-40 and Too Short to Clevelanders Bone Thugs N Harmony and Memphis’ own Three Six Mafia.

Presale begins this Friday, June 25 at 10 AM PT, with payment plans available. You can find more info at onceuponatimeinlafest.com.