It isn’t often you get to write about watching a rap star literally eating ass in a new video without incurring a potential invasion of privacy lawsuit, but in the case of Tyga‘s new video for “Mrs. Bubblegum,” that’s exactly what happens. The… ahem… cheeky video finds the West Coast rap star surrounded by disembodied derrieres in a variety of hilarious situations including on a Mount Rushmore, as a member of Blue Man Group (the butts are drums, natch), dining on the aforementioned rump roast (served on a fancy plate!), and being swarmed by BUTTerflies. Sorry, I’ll stop now.
The song itself samples D4L’s snap-era ringtone classic “Laffy Taffy,” and if you listen closely, you can actually hear some of the vocals from that song’s inescapable hook. Tyga repurposes that hook, rewriting the lyrics from “shake that Laffy Taffy” to “shake that ass for me,” imploring listeners to imitate the gyrating, disembodied gluteuses that populate the video. Is it kind of crass? Absolutely. It’s also so irreverent and silly, it’s hard to get too mad at him. Meanwhile, his recent career resurgence has included a number of strip club anthems and an OnlyFans account. He’s certainly having himself a ride, at least he can laugh at himself along the way.
The last time rap fans heard from Houston rapper Maxo Kream was 2019, when he dropped his critically-acclaimed second album Brandon Banks, which I called a “masterful character study” in my review. Since then, he’s taken something of a hiatus as he mourned the death of his brother and regrouped for his eventual comeback. That comeback arrives today with the release of “Local Joker,” Maxo’s first solo single since early 2020, and its sentimental music video.
In the song, Maxo recounts his Houston upbringing, telling tall tales of his days doing knucklehead activities in the hood and taking stock of his experiences’ effect on the person he is today. In a press release announcing the new song, he provided a quote explaining his mindset in recording and sharing it. “‘Local Joker’ explains where I’m at in my life right now,’” he said. ” love Houston, I’m from Houston. My merch is Houston-focused. My music has a strong Houston influence — everything is Houston, it’s local. You can catch me in any part of Houston with the local jokers – but at the same time, I’m not a local joker because I’ve grown and expanded the territory that I touch. But home will always be home- and that’s Houston, Alief, fasho.”
Watch the “Local Joker” video above and stay tuned for more from the return of Maxo Kream.
Nicki Minaj may be working on a new album and a documentary about her career, but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t have time for some good, old-fashioned trash reality TV. By which I mean Andy Cohen has asked her to host the upcoming Real Housewives Of Potomac reunion special — according to a shared screenshot of her text conversation with the show’s publicist — an invitation she enthusiastically accepted.
She made the announcement in her usual fashion, by posting to her Instagram Story, then sharing a screenshot with her Twitter followers. “Who tf is ready?” she tweeted. On Instagram, she wrote, “Don’t move! Everyone binge-watch all the episodes cuz we finna get into some thangz hunty.” She also promised that “My questions will be well thought out, too. Mixed with funny & epic, of course.”
But, as is often the case, she had to include a quick disclaimer: “And Barbz, plz don’t send me a million comments about the album & doc chile just lemme have my moment.” She did toss her ravenous fans a bone, though, adding, “We almost there. Promise. Not lying this time. Love you.”
— BEAM ME UP SCOTTY MIXTAPE OUT NOW (@NICKIMINAJ) July 30, 2021
Naturally, the Barbz — who basically live for drama — were ecstatic to learn of this development. Get into their responses below, and follow along with the show’s cast Sundays on Bravo.
Jay-Z and Will Smith are the unofficial avatars of Black wealth, and with their latest venture, they hope to provide a means for building wealth for more people. Their investment funds, Roc Nation and Dreamers VC respectively, have joined a group of investors raising $165 million in housing startup Landis, which will rent homes to clients until they can afford to buy them.
According to Bloomberg, the company purchases a house, rents it to the client, and then sells it to them at a preset price (including a fee on top of its original value) up within two years from the initial purchase. Landis also provides financial coaching to clients to help them manage their budgets, build credit, and save the down payments they need to purchase their homes. After the first two years, the company may offer more time or sell the property.
The idea is, of course, to make it easier for aspiring homeowners to actually achieve their goal in a housing market that has become increasingly expensive and risky in the years since the Great Recession, which was in part caused by a housing market bubble bursting in the mid-2000s.
Bloomberg reports that the typical Landis client is a first-time buyer with a budget under $400,000. The $165 million investment will allow the company to buy around 1,000 homes with the hopes of following through on 80% of its initial customer base. That would be way more than traditional rent-to-own companies. The company’s founder, Cyril Berdugo, credits the business model, which would see Landis “make money when our client buys the house back.” “If we leave money on the table,” he says, “That’s our problem.”
While Kanye West has been holed up in Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium finishing his album Donda, TMZ reports the extravagant producer may be planning to use the stadium once again for a listening event for the album. However, since he already did that to somewhat mixed reviews (without releasing the album, no less), TMZ’s sources say Kanye is working on ways to make the experience substantially different from that last one at the behest of Live Nation and Creative Artists Agency, which fear they won’t sell as many tickets to a redux.
Options on the table include a new stage or musical arrangement but because Kanye has been so mercurial, often changing critical details of his projects at the last minute — such as mixing his new reunion song with Jay-Z the day of the last Donda listening — no one knows quite what he’ll do. At the previous listening, he walked around the arena floor dressed in an all-crimson outfit wearing a stocking mask as the album played — something many fans both in attendance and online questioned.
Rexx Life Raj is back with another new entry into his weekly music releases, this time with the easygoing video for “Red Lobster Biscuits.” Opening with a cheeky disclaimer that the “the Runtz chain that Raj is wearing isn’t actually his,” the video sees Raj trying to “feel more like a real rapper” by wearing “shiny things that sparkle and glisten in the sun.” Shot at a recording session in the Hollywood Hills, the video is laid-back, while Raj’s lyrics reflect his business-first outlook and critique rapper with misleading images.
Veteran rap producer The Alchemist stoked the fires of anticipation in rap fans for his rumored joint project with Vince Staples after he tweeted his refutation of the Long Beach rapper’s claims that he takes “hella long” to complete work. Vince himself sparked the rumors when he appeared on Ebro’s Apple Music Radio show to make the claim that he recorded “30 verses on 30 beats” during a smoked-out session with Alchemist and Earl Sweatshirt. Vince said he got tired of waiting, so he recorded Vince Staples with Kenny Beats in the meantime.
However, Alchemist told fans Vince is “full of sh*t” today on Twitter. “I’ve had a finished 6 song EP with JUST HIM for over 3 months!!” he insisted. “MIXED! Plus mad songs with him and Thebe.” Alchemist has been known to send Rap Twitter into frenzies in the past, such as when he suggested he and Earl hid a joint album on YouTube under a fake name.
Vince is full of shit. Ive have a finished 6 song EP with JUST HIM for over 3 months!! MIXED! Plus mad songs with him and Thebe.
Of course, Vince was rumored to be releasing multiple projects this year, so it’s entirely possible that this was always going to be the second project and this back-and-forth is just their elaborate way of promoting it (weirder things have happened). Either way, rap fans who were already champing at the bit to hear more are now absolutely ecstatic to learn that the sessions Vince mentioned had possibly born fruit.
yo Al idk if you the man to tell but imma need that pronto
— Pablito (Fuck Da Police) (@DeadShogunn) July 30, 2021
Now that this tidbit has been revealed, I guess we’ll have to see if Earl chimes in to make his own outrageous claim, at which point Rap Twitter might simply implode. If nothing else, this whole episode proves that rap in 2021 has been more fun than ever.
In the spirit of that education, the latest voice to join the chorus belongs to another pop icon, Madonna, who posted her own response to Instagram in an effort to inform the North Carolina rapper why his remark about HIV/AIDS killing people in “two to three weeks” was wildly off the mark.
“A message to DaBaby,” she wrote. “If you’re going to make hateful remarks to the LGBTQ+ community about HIV/AIDS then know your facts.” She provided some of those facts, which you can read below.
After decades of hard won scientific research, there are life saving medicines available to children born with HIV, to people who contract HIV through blood transfusions, dirty needles, or exchange of bodily fluids.
These new [antiretroviral drugs] can keep a person with AIDS alive for the rest of their lives!!! AIDS is not transmitted by standing next to someone in a crowd. I want to put my cellphone lighter up and pray for your ignorance. No one dies of AIDS in 2 or 3 weeks anymore. Thank God.
And your sexist remarks about Ladies whose pussies need to smell like water only encourage more discrimination against women who fight daily against the oppression of living under the constraints of the Male Gaze.
People like you are the reason we are still living in a world divided by fear. All Human beings should be treated with dignity and respect regardless of race, gender, sexual preference or religious beliefs. AMEN.
While the odds DaBaby knows (or cares) who Madonna is are about the same as the ones for him knowing Elton John or Questlove, considering his adverse reaction to Quest’s message, he probably won’t take hers any better.
Miley Cyrus has gone through distinct stylistic phases in her career, trying on different musical identities with each album. The Bangerz era was pop/R&B/hip-hop, Miley Cyrus & Her Dead Petz was experimental/psychedelic, Younger Now was country/pop-rock, and now we’re at Plastic Hearts, which is rock/synth-pop. Here in the Plastic Hearts era, Cyrus has become known for her rock covers and reverence for previous generations of artists. That was on full display during her Lollapalooza set last night, which featured a bevy of covers and guest appearances.
Her 26-song set (as setlist.fm notes) began with “We Can’t Stop” before moving into a cover of Pixies’ “Where Is My Mind?.” From there, she sprinkled other covers throughout the set, including Blondie’s “Heart Of Glass,” Cher’s “Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down),” Temple Of The Dog’s “Say Hello 2 Heaven,” and Sinéad O’Connor’s “Nothing Compares 2 U.” Most notable, she was joined by Billy Idol and they performed a couple of his songs together, “Night Crawling” and “White Wedding.”
Speaking of guests, aside from Idol, Cyrus also at various points had on stage G Herbo (to perform “Love Money Party”), Wiz Khalifa and Juicy J (“32”), and The Kid Laroi (“Without You”).
Cyrus posted some clips and photos from the performance and from around the festival, so check those out below, as well as some other videos from the show.
Anybody who thought the vinyl resurgence was just a fad was mistaken: The industry has experienced a legitimate revival. As a result, music fans are interested in physical media in ways they may not have if the decades-old medium hasn’t made a comeback. That doesn’t mean everybody is listening to just their parents’ old music, though. That’s part of it, sure, thanks to rereleases that present classic albums in new ways. A vital part of the renewed vinyl wave, though, is new projects being released as records, of which there are plenty.
Whatever you might be into, each month brings a new slew of vinyl releases that has something for everybody. Some stand out above the rest, naturally, so check out some of our favorite vinyl releases of July below.
Various Artists — Bills & Aches & Blues
4AD
To celebrate 40 years of being fine music purveyors, 4AD has put out a compilation featuring artists covering songs from throughout their history. They secured quite the roster, too, as the album includes Big Thief, Future Islands, Deerhunter’s Bradford Cox, US Girls, Aldous Harding, Tine-Yards, Jenny Hval, and Helado Negro, among others.
2Pac — Until The End Of Time (20th Anniversary Reissue)
2Pac
For the first time in 20 years, Tupac’s multi-Platinum album Until The End Of Time is available on high-quality, 180-gram audiophile vinyl. This 4-LP release is pressed on bone-colored vinyl and it comes with a four-page folio book that features previously unseen photos and a handwritten tracklist from Tupac himself.
The Mars Volta — De-Loused In The Comatorium (Reissue)
GSL/Universal
The Mars Volta dropped their expansive, career-spanning La Realidad De Los Sueños box set earlier this year, but now they’re offering an option for folks who want to pick up albums from their discography individually. They started the rerelease series with a reissue of Tremulant in June, and July brought De-Loused In The Comatorium, and subsequent months will bring subsequent albums.
Various Artists — Almost Famous: Music From The Motion Picture (Reissue)
UMe
Almost Famous is one of the more memorable music movies of the past few decades, and now the music that inspired it (as well as the original songs from the movie) are available on a gigantic vinyl collection. Aside from some classic tunes, among the 103 total tracks are dozens of unreleased songs and exclusive new versions of songs you already know.
Bryan Ferry — These Foolish Things, Another Time, Another Place, Let’s Stick Together, In Your Mind, The Bride Stripped Bare, and Boys And Girls (Reissues)
Island
As Roxy Music was enjoying its generation-defining success, Bryan Ferry went ahead and launched a vaunted solo career of his own. Now the first six of those albums have been re-pressed on 180-gram black vinyl and come with enhanced versions of the original artwork, overseen by Ferry himself.
Abbey Lincoln carved out a major place in pop culture in the ’50s and ’60s, and now one of her defining albums has gotten a shiny new rerelease via the folks at Vinyl Me, Please. This edition of the 1958 album was newly remastered and it comes with a booklet of listening notes to help you fully immerse in the record. To celebrate this album, the 50th of VMPs Classics track, they held an essay contest to win every Classics album they’ve put out.
Dolly Parton remains a pop culture icon today, and now one of her classic releases has been given new life with a Vinyl Me, Please reissue. It’s a lovely-looking vinyl pressing as well with its rainbow splatter coloring, and to top it off, the album has been freshly remastered, meaning this should be the best this album has ever sounded on vinyl.
Vince Staples fans wanted a vinyl edition of his new self-titled album, and thankfully, the rapper delivered. What wasn’t so fortunate was how limited the available quantities were, as many fans on Twitter lamented their missed opportunity to pick up the album. As for the music itself, Uproxx’s Aaron Williams said of it, “Clocking in at a truly breezy 22 minutes and with two interludes among its 10 tracks, it’s an even quicker listen than FM! — yet, due to its comforting sonic palette, it feels more cozy than disappointing, prompting repeat playthroughs to try and catch the witty wordplay and cushy vibes of Kenny Beats’ production.”
Stone Temple Pilots — Tiny Music… From The Vatican Gift Shop (Super Deluxe Edition)
Rhino
Stone Temple Pilots’ adventurous third album is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, so the band has re-issued it with a bunch of goodies. Aside from the remastered original album, it has been expanded with unreleased studio and live recordings, which include early versions, instrumentals, and alternate takes.
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