Music

Jack Harlow Shares His Newfound Wealth With Five Hometown Non-Profits

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Louisville’s Jack Harlow announced plans to donate to several hometown charities in a recent interview with Billboard, calling it “important to keep some positive energy flowing through the city.” The 23-year-old rapper’s career has been booming since releasing his 2020 single “What’s Poppin,” and it appears that rather than keep all that good energy to himself, he’d rather share the wealth and give back to Derby City.

He’ll do so by contributing to five local organizations: AMPED, Center for Women and Families, Grace M. James Academy of Excellence, Louisville Urban League, and Metro United Way. As he explained to Billboard:

I spent all my life fantasizing about being someone that could put Louisville on a pedestal. There’s a spirit and pride that runs deep, and it becomes more obvious to me when I travel to other cities and realize that that doesn’t exist everywhere. The city has always been special to me and I think we breed very unique, often laid-back people. It’s important to me to keep some positive energy flowing through the city. Everyone is living different lives and may be from different areas, but there’s still always a universal energy that everyone is aware of, and it’s important to me that there’s plenty of love in the mix. Things are not easy right now, I feel so privileged to be in the position I’m in and I feel a responsibility to give back and help pave a way for others. People need hope, they need love.

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

Wale And J Cole’s ‘Poke It Out’ Video Has Even More Q-Tip Homages

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Girls just want to have fun in Wale‘s colorful new video for “Poke It Out” featuring J. Cole. After dropping the latest single from his upcoming album, Folarin II, Wale furthers his Q-Tip homages by reproducing some of the Queens rapper’s iconic video moments. As “Poke It Out” samples Q-Tip’s J Dilla-produced debut solo single “Vivrant Thing,” it makes sense that Wale borrows and updates shots such as the infamous head bob as he cruises the streets in a jeep full of women.

Women are the primary focus of the video, as Wale and his female entourage end up at a lakeside campsite (reproducing the beach run from the “Vivrant Thing” video), where the ladies hike, play football, and have a late-night bonfire. Then, Wale and his running buddy J. Cole trade verses against a plain backdrop that lets Cole’s words take center stage as he praises women with bodies ranging from “Meg Thee Stallion” to “Coi Leray” — both of whom Wale’s worked with in the past (click those links).

So far, Wale’s released three singles from his upcoming Folarin sequel, including “Angles” and “Down South,” which features Maxo Kream and Yella Beezy. The classic hip-hop references have been in full effect, promising a rap album that pays even more homage to the past while advancing Wale’s sound and stature in the future.

Watch Wale’s “Poke It Out” video above.

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

Folarin II is due 10/22 via Warner Records.

Lizzo Called Chris Brown Her ‘Favorite Person In The Whole World’ And Fans Aren’t Happy About It

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Lizzo is no stranger to controversy, but her latest brush with the ire of social media was sparked by different circumstances than her usual experiences. Instead, she’s being questioned for her musical tastes — especially her love for the controversial Chris Brown. Backstage at Bow Wow and Omarion’s Millennium Tour kickoff at The Forum in Los Angeles, Lizzo encountered Brown and asked for a photo, gushing that “you’re my favorite person in the whole f*cking world.” Unfortunately for Lizzo, fans who observed the moment thanks to a video on Twitter didn’t share her enthusiasm

The sticking point was Brown’s problematic history with women. The most well-known incident was in 2009 when Brown pled guilty to abusing fellow singer Rihanna. Brown beat Rihanna during an incident early that year, punching her and allegedly threatening to kill her for reporting the incident to authorities. When images of the horrific damage he’d done to her face hit the internet, his then-family-friendly image crumbled and he was ostracized from many radio stations for a year. However, he’s since regained much of his popularity, charting again last year with “Go Crazy” from his collab album with Young Thug, despite most recently being accused of threatening his ex-girlfriend Karreuche Tran within the last four years.

Lizzo’s fans apparently disapproved of her loving embrace of Brown despite his history. However, she also had her fair share of defenders. Ultimately, the moment seemed to prove that even the biggest stars on the planet can’t help but keep some problematic faves. You can see more responses below.

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

Emily Ratajkowski Alleges Robin Thicke Groped Her On The ‘Blurred Lines’ Set

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In Emily Ratajkowski’s upcoming memoir, the actress/model accuses singer Robin Thicke of groping her on the music video set of his controversial 2013 hit single, “Blurred Lines.” The video, of which two versions were released, one for broadcast and the other “unrated,” features Ratajkowski and other models dancing around Thicke and the song’s co-producer Pharrell Williams with various props. In the broadcast version, the women are scantily clad in short shorts and crop tops, while the “unrated” version has them topless in underwear. Apparently, Thicke took advantage of this situation to make unwanted advances toward the women.

In an excerpt published by The Daily Beast from the memoir, titled My Body, Ratajkowski describes the incident in question. “Suddenly, out of nowhere, I felt the coolness and foreignness of a stranger’s hands cupping my bare breasts from behind,” she writes. “I instinctively moved away, looking back at Robin Thicke.” As noted by Consequence Of Sound, this squares with the video director Diane Martel’s account to The Sunday Times Of London. “I remember the moment that he grabbed her breasts,” she recalled. One in each hand. He was standing behind her as they were both in profile. I screamed in my very aggressive Brooklyn voice, ‘What the f*ck are you doing, that’s it!! The shoot is over!!”

Previously, the song was subject to a lawsuit filed by the family of R&B singer Marvin Gaye, who said that the song blatantly copied Gaye’s 1977 hit “Got To Give It Up.” The Gaye estate won the case, with a judge granting the family $7.4 million in damages for copyright infringement and adding Gaye’s songwriting credits to “Blurred Lines.”

NBC Used Adele’s ‘Hello’ Ahead Of Tom Brady’s Return To Foxboro For The First Time With The Bucs

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A moment that seemed unfathomable as recently as two years ago has come to fruition. For the first time in his 22-year NFL career, Tom Brady headed to Gillette Stadium in Foxboro as a member of a team that wasn’t the New England Patriots. Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers squared off against his old squad on Sunday Night Football this week, and even if it wasn’t the only game on television in that window, the eyes of every football fan would be locked onto the matchup between Brady and Bill Belichick.

It’s seemingly been the only football game that anyone has talked about for the last week or so, and unsurprisingly, NBC decided to go all-out for the occasion. In addition to its aforementioned time slot and the amount of discourse there’s been around the game, the network enlisted the help of Adele in its pregame promo, as it used the song “Hello” to welcome Brady back to his old stomping ground.

Brady’s laundry list of accomplishments from his time with the Patriots has been listed out a million times, but most famously, he and Belichick combined to win six Super Bowl in New England. He’s gotten one sixth of the way to matching that in Tampa, as the Bucs lifted the Lombardi Trophy last season.

Noname Opened The Radical Hood Library In Los Angeles And Revealed Her Favorite Sections

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Back in the summer of 2019, Noname launched her popular book club and more than two years later, the rapper has now opened a central location for the group. It took months of planning and construction, but now, the Radical Hood Library is open in Los Angeles. “We are so excited to finally open our Radical Hood Library!” a Twitter post from the Noname Book Club account read. “This is a black led organization that was created to service black/brown folks and the RSVP prioritization will reflect that. There will be music, free food, and more! Please bring a new or used book. See you there!!!”

According to Noname herself, the library includes books from a wide array of categories. The readings are organized by prison writings, the global Black resistance, imperialism, revolution, a section for kids called the “young homies” books, and more. The rapper even revealed that her favorite sections are F*ck The Police (abolish text) and the Black Capitalism Won’t Save Us. “More sections will be added as we grow,” she tweeted. “This is just the beginning.”

Smino, who has often collaborated with Noname, celebrated the opening in a tweet writing, “NONAME JUST OPENED A BOOK STORE INNA HOOD.” In response, Noname wrote, “even better, we a library so everything FREE.”

J Prince Revealed Kanye West And Drake Have Joined The Fight For Larry Hoover’s Freedom

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Drake and Kanye West have not seen eye to eye over the past couple of months. The latest chapter in their long-standing beef saw them trade disses over songs from their albums Certified Lover Boy and Donda. West also doxxed the address to Drake’s mansion in Toronto while the Canadian rapper leaked one of West’s unreleased collaborations with Andre 3000. But now, according to Rap-A-Lot CEO J. Prince, they have come together for a specific reason.

On Instagram, Prince revealed that West and Drake have joined the fight for the freedom of Larry Hoover, the co-founder of Chicago’s Gangsta Disciples. “IF YOU FAIL TO PLAN YOU PLAN TO FAIL,” Prince wrote under a picture of himself standing with West, Hoover’s wife Winndye Jenkins, and their son Larry Hoover Jr. “Good plans in the making to free our brother Larry Hoover with the support of @champagnepapi and @kanyewest.”

West previously showed support for Hoover through “Jesus Lord,” off of Donda. At the end of the song, a voicemail from Hoover Jr. can be heard, where he says, “My father has not called any shots from one of the most secure and segregated prisons in the world / And will not, once released, call any shots for the Gangster Disciples.” He adds, “If my father’s intentions were to lead us to death, destruction / Into the Hell that he has had to live in for the past twenty-six years / Man, he would be dead to me.”

Kanye West Reportedly Filed A Trademark For ‘Donda’ In Order To Launch A Line Of Tech Products

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It looks like Kanye West still isn’t done with Donda. The rapper has been continuously making changes to the album he released at the end of August, including removing Chris Brown from “New Again.” He’s also looking to use the name for an upcoming tech line. According to legal documents that were obtained by TMZ, West filed a trademark application on September 21 that would allow him to use the album title on a wide array of tech products.

Some potential products that West would include in the line are tablet computers, audio speakers, surround sound systems, smartwatches, smart glasses, wearable activity trackers, protective flip cover for tablets, earbuds, headphones, and wireless headsets for both computers and mobile devices. If things go as planned, West may also look to add wireless receivers that come on jewelry and smart rings, as well as downloadable electronic publications that include books, magazines, journals, brochures, leaflets, pamphlets, and newsletters.

There’s no telling when this tech line would launch, but if it does, it could prove to be a big success. Until then, fans can stay tuned for a possible upcoming collaboration between West, Post Malone, and Fleet Foxes’ Robin Pecknold, as the trio was captured in the studio together. West will also join Mike Dean on the production team for Ghostface Killah’s upcoming album, Supreme Clientele 2, which the Wu-Tang rapper says will arrive in February 2022.

Tinashe Jokingly Reacts To A Fight That Broke Out At One Of Her Concerts

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The return of concerts over the last couple of months has been a great thing for fans. After going more than a year without the chance to see their favorite artists live, music lovers from all over had that opportunity given back to them, one that also grants artists a chance to meet their many supporters from all over the world. For the most part, the return of concerts has been normal which means there have been equally good and bad events. An example of the latter came at a recent Tinashe concert and after a video of the incident surfaced on social media, the singer had some light-hearted comments to share about it.

During the singer’s recent concert in New York, a fight between two women broke out and a good portion of the incident was caught on camera. While the reason for the fight is unknown, the video shows the ladies throwing a fair amount of punches before fellow concertgoers step in to break things up. Once the video reached social media, Tinashe caught wind of it and shared her response. “This is NOT what I meant when I said bad b*tches link up,” she wrote in reply to the video.

The singer’s comment comes after she released her fifth album 333, a project she is currently on tour for. The 333 Tour began last month in Houston and will continue through this month before coming to an end on October 21 in Seattle, Washington

You can view the fight and Tinashe’s response above.

Drake Shows Love To Meek And His New Album ‘Expensive Pain’

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Drake and Meek Mill’s have had a turbulent relationship, but in recent years, the pair have been on much better terms. After they reconciled following a beef that was sparked by their 2015 collaboration “R.I.C.O.,” the rappers reconnected for “Going Bad,” off Meek’s 2018 album, Championships. Three years later, Meek returned with his fifth album Expensive Pain and while it didn’t feature them teaming up again, it’s clear they still love each other, as evidenced by a recent Instagram Stories post by Drake.

“Pain gets expensive at midnight!!” Drake wrote over an image of the Expensive Pain cover art. “[Meek Mill] proud of u boy since the Bahamas cook up we were plotting on the next chapter time to eat.”

Expensive Pain arrives with 18 songs, including the previously-released singles “Flamerz Flow,” “Blue Notes 2,” and “Sharing Locations.” The album is also laced with guest appearances from Lil Baby, Lil Durk, Kehlani, ASAP Ferg, Moneybagg Yo, Giggs, Young Thug, Vory, Lil Uzi Vert, and Brent Faiyaz. Hours after it was released, Meek shared videos for “On My Soul” and “Intro (Hate On Me).”

Expensive Pain is out now via Maybach Music Group/Atlantic Records. Get it here.

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