Music

Post Malone Became A Key Investor In The Plant-Based Burger Company Actual Veggies

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Post Malone hasn’t been shy about partnering with brands he supports, from Crocs shoes to Monster Energy Drink, but today his management team’s venture arm, Electric Feel Ventures, has taken a major stake in a plant-based burger company, Actual Veggies. According to the Vegconomist, the veggie burger company has only been around since last March, but they’ve already raised $2.8 million including the previous round of funding and total contributions.

The brand differs from competitors in one key way — instead of trying to look like meat or imitate its flavor, their patties are designed to look and taste like the vegetables or other ingredients they’re made from. The four offerings so far include a black bean base, a sweet potato base, a beet base, and a “green” burger that features kale, spinach, and broccoli.

“Since we launched the company, it’s been an incredible whirlwind and despite the challenges of 2020, we made it a reality,” the co-founder and co-CEO of Actual Veggies, Hailey Swartz, told Vegconomist. “The growth we have seen over the past few months far exceeded our expectations as we expanded nationally with partners including Sprouts Farmers Market, HungryRoot, Imperfect Foods, Sunbasket, QVC, and FreshDirect. We are humbled by our new partners’ shared excitement and look forward to building off our success to further scale Actual Veggies.”

Maybe this means the plant-based offerings will be available on-site at Posty Fest this year!

Rico Nasty Is Ready To Let It ‘Buss’ On Her Animated New Banger

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At the end of May, Rico Nasty teased a possible project that fans could get their hands on by the end of the summer. In a post to Instagram, she shared an image of two glow-in-the-dark prescription bottles with the caption, “Rx . This summer.” Since Rico Nasty hasn’t shared much about the upcoming project, but she has given her supporters an ample supply of music to enjoy, a streak she extends with her latest single, “Buss.” The animated banger sees the rapper in an extremely confident state where she brags about the support of her team, her jewelry, and the inability of the competition to bring her down.

Rico Nasty’s new song comes more than a month after she delivered “Magic,” a track that stands on the opposite side of the spectrum from “Buss.” The June single found the rapper showing off her versatility with a more pop-friendly record that celebrates the success of romance. This year has also seen a string of guest appearances from the DMV rapper. Some of the efforts include Love Ghost’s “Wolfsbane,” Juicy J’s “Take It,” and Jasiah’s “Art Of War” which also features Denzel Curry.

Hit play on the video above to hear “Buss.”

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

Nas And Eminem’s ‘EPMD 2′ Is The Rappers’ First Collaboration In Their Careers

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More than 25 years after releasing his classic debut album, Illmatic, Nas finally earned his first Grammy award with a win in the Best Rap Album category at the 2021 award show. The honor was given to his twelfth album, King’s Disease in what ended a streak of 13 consecutive nominations without a win at the Grammys. Less than a year after he released that project, Nas is looking to extend the momentum towards his thirteenth album, King Disease II, which has officially arrived and is once again supported by executive production from Hit-Boy.

An immediate eye-catcher from King’s Disease is “EPMD 2” as it features Nas and Eminem rapping together for the first time in the over 20 years they’ve stood out as hip-hop notables. The track also comes with a feature from rap duo EPMD, who let their bars fly for the track’s first verse. Nas steps to the mic for the second, leaving Eminem to close things out with a lengthy collection of bars that ends with him positioning himself with a number of successful rappers like Jay-Z, Kanye West, Drake, and many more.

While this marks the first time Nas and Eminem have rapped together on the same track, the latter produced and co-wrote Nas’ 2002 track, “The Cross.” As for the remainder of King Disease II, the album presents 15 songs and additional guest appearances from A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie, YG, Lauryn Hill, Charlie Wilson, Blxst, and Hit-Boy.

You can listen to “EPMD 2” in the video above.

King Disease II is out now via Mass Appeal. Get it here.

A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

The Weeknd Suffers Defeat To A Daring Damsel In The Video For ‘Take My Breath’

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The Weeknd has been hitting fans with a wave of hints towards new music for the past few months. The teases include a tweet he shared last spring where he wrote, “made so much magic in the small quarantined room.” In addition to that, during an award acceptance speech at the 2021 Billboard Music Awards, the singer said, “The After Hours are done and the dawn is coming.” His messages remained vague to fans until he announced a new single earlier this week, thus launching a new era in his career.

Titled “Take My Breath,” the track is an electric and full-spirited release that sounds like a blend of The Weeknd’s Starboy and After Hours albums. The song also arrives with a video that sees the singer wandering through a dimly lit party. He soon lands upon a woman that draws him in and ends up being the person he spends the night with. Unfortunately, things take a turn for the worst when she quite literally takes his breath away to end the visual.

The new song was announced in a two-minute trailer earlier this week. Shortly after he shared the video, an ad for the 2020 Olympics was released which featured a new, yet short portion of “Take My Breath.” The visual for The Weeknd’s latest release was initially slated to premiere prior to screenings of The Suicide Squad in IMAX theaters this week, but the visual was pulled after health concerns for epilepsy were raised as the video features scenes with intense strobe lighting.

You can watch a video for “Take My Breath” above.

Megan Thee Stallion Offers A Lesson About Bitcoin In A Video With Cash App

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In addition to being a Grammy-winning rapper, Megan The Stallion is also trying her hand as a financial advisor of sorts. Back in June, she gave away $1 million to teach “Investing For Hotties” through a partnership with Cash App. In an accompanying video, she went over concepts that included fractional shares and diversification while reminding viewers that “buying stocks isn’t only for the big players.” Now, for the next installment in her series with Cash App, Megan has shifted her attention to Bitcoin thanks to a brand new video that aims to teach people about the digital currency.

“Bitcoin is a new kind of money,” the Houston rapper begins as a shirtless man pours her tea. “While the cash in your wallet is issued and regulated by governments, Bitcoin is a cryptocurrency. Like a wild stallion, it can’t be controlled by anyone.” She goes on to explain why Bitcoin is so valuable, why its price changes, and how to purchase Bitcoin during the two-minute video.

The video comes after she became the first rapper to cover the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue. She also earned her first platinum plaque, for her 2020 debut Good News.

Megan Thee Stallion is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Usher Says He’s ‘Happy’ T-Pain Spoke Out About Their Alleged Auto-Tune Conversation

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Toward the end of June, a clip from Netflix’s This Is Pop made its way to social media. in it, T-Pain detailed a past conversation he had with Usher where the Confessions singer allegedly told him that he “really f*cked up music for real singers” as a result of his auto-tune style.

T-Pain added that the conversation “started a four-year depression for me,” but he also insisted that he still has “love and respect” for Usher despite his comments. Nearly two months later, Usher offered a response to that conversation being made public during a profile with Billboard.

“I’m happy that T-Pain said something,” the singer said to Billboard’s Gail Mitchell. “I’m not sure if it was before or after our actual conversation, after I heard what was said. It was very hurtful to know that he had experienced that kind of hardship in life.” Responding to T-Pain’s claim that the conversation led to his depression, Usher said, “I wouldn’t wish that on any person.”

“Private conversations for me have always been intended to uplift,” Usher added. “But when or if people get pieces of it, they can always have some other interpretation. But we’ve spoken since and we’re good.”

The conversation with Billboard came after Usher launched his Las Vegas residency. He previously spoke about the string of shows and somewhat revealed what fans can expect when they attend.

“I want you to guess,” he said. “I want to keep you bubbling with anticipation until I have dropped the first record and you hear the first moment. When the lights go down and you feel the energy. I promise the classics and also new stuff.”

You can read Usher’s full profile with Billboard here.

Lil Durk Promises To No Longer Mention Dead Rappers In His Songs

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Lil Durk has faced a lot of turmoil in his career, especially in recent months. Last November, the Chicago native suffered the loss of rapper and close friend King Von who he affectionately referred to as “twin.” Months later, death would once again affect the rapper as his brother, DThang, was shot and killed outside a club in their hometown. While Durk was not directly involved in these situations, the rapper is taking steps to avoid conflict in the future as a result of his music.

The rapper took to Twitter to share an announcement with fans on Thursday.

“I’m not mentioning the dead in my songs no more or performing songs with they name in it,” he wrote before signing off on the message as Big Smurk. It arrives two days after Durk shared a couple of tweets that reflected on the people he recently lost in his life. “Why every time somebody die they love you but when you here they don’t care …… love me now not later,” he wrote in the first post. In a second tweet, he added, “Von left us Dthang left us and I was lost.”

His messages come after Durk and his girlfriend, India Cox, reportedly exchanged gunfire with an unspecified amount of individuals who broke into their Atlanta home. While Durk and Cox were listed as victims on a police report for the incident, neither were injured in the matter.

You can read his tweets in the posts above.

Kanye West’s Long-Rumored Giant Dong Made A Cameo On His Livestream And People Can’t Stop Talking About It

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While Kanye West has had his fair share of headline-making antics over the years, the rapper now has the internet talking for a very different reason. Kanye has been holed up in Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz stadium for some time in order to complete his long-awaited LP Donda. To celebrate the album’s impending release, Kanye began a 24-hour livestream from his tiny room. He appeared in his underwear at one point, confirming to the world a rumor that has been circulating for years: The rapper is quite endowed.

Talk of Kanye’s massive member has been floating around for a few years now. The rumor actually goes all the way back to the MySpace days, according to Jezebel, when the rapper allegedly had no problem sending a NSFW photo to any woman who inquired. Of course, a few of the photos circulated the internet like wildfire, where they were gawked at for weeks before eventually being deleted.

Kim Kardashian wasn’t shy in speaking about Kanye’s sizeable schlong, either. The rapper’s now-ex addressed Kanye’s anatomy on an episode of Keeping Up With The Kardashians, which went relatively under the radar at the time. A pregnant Kim had been undergoing an ultrasound to reveal the gender of her baby. The doctor mentioned they were trying to look to see if Kim’s child had a penis, to which she cheekily responded: “It would definitely take after the father, so you would see it.”

Little, errr, Big Kanye’s cameo may have been brief, but the internet definitely noticed — and definitely had a lot to say about it. People flocked to Twitter to discuss the dong, with some saying they were more impressed than others.

Blackground Records Make Aaliyah And JoJo’s Music Available To Stream — But The Artists Won’t See Profits

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For years, fans have been begging for Aaliyah’s music to be released on streaming services. The late singer’s label, Blackground Records, finally announced that many of their artists’ music, including Aaliyah’s, will be made available to stream. While fans may be rejoicing about their ability to rock out to their favorite Aaliyah classics, not everyone can share the same excitement as several of the artists won’t see the profits.

Blackground Records announced on Thursday that they have officially inked a new deal with Empire, per a report from Billboard. The deal allows their artists’ music to hit streaming services for the first time ever. Aaliyah’s Estate, however, wasn’t happy with the decision. Hours before the news was announced, Aaliyah’s Estate issued a lengthy statement criticizing unnamed executives for coming forward to “leech off” the singer’s career. They called the deal an “unscrupulous endeavor to release Aaliyah’s music” without transparency or their approval.

R&B singer JoJo now finds herself in a similar position. The singer signed to Blackground Records when she was still a preteen. As explained in a recent Honda Backstage interview, JoJo says the label refused to release her music for years. Because of that, JoJo’s career fell off and she ended up taking matters into her own hands by suing Blackground Records and eventually re-recording her early albums.

JoJo reacted to the Blackground Records news shortly after it was announced. The singer took to social media to express her surprise about new deal. “Who would’ve thought…,” she tweeted.

Replying to a fans’ tweet, JoJo claimed she will not be awarded any profits from the streaming sales of her early albums. “never telling you what to do, but just so you know – a stream of the re-recorded 2018 version supports me and helps me continue to do what I love,” she wrote. “streaming the original unfortunately does not.”

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