Music

Lil Nas X Twerks Nude In Jail And Brings The Chaos In His ‘Industry Baby’ Video With Jack Harlow

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Lil Nas X should release his official debut album Montero at any point now, but in the meantime, the singer has graced the world with enough singles to make the wait bearable for now. There was of course the album’s lead single, “Montero (Call Me By Your Name),” which set the internet ablaze thanks to its music video, Satan Shoes, and the strong opinions some had to it all. Next came “Sun Goes Down,” a much more relaxed release that dove a bit into Lil Nas’ life, and now, the singer returns with “Industry Baby,” a track that features a guest appearance from Jack Harlow.

The new track is a boastful one that’s carried by production filled with trumpets and a hard-hitting bass supplied by Lil Nas’ frequent collaborator Take A Daytrip as well as Kanye West. Jack Harlow arrives with a verse of his own to bring the song to an end boastful bars centered on his fame and success and how some have a hard time seeing him thrive in it all. Its accompanying video sees Lil Nas staying true to himself with scenes of twerking nude in jail while he raises a bit of hell with help from Jack Harlow.

Lil Nas shared the new song days after announcing the track with a video that parodies his impending Nike lawsuit trail. The singer himself played the judge, prosecutor, defendant, and a member of the juror in the effort that proved he isn’t too worried about the result of the real-life trial.

Press play on the new track in the video above.

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

Jay-Z’s Appearance On Kanye West’s ‘Donda’ May Signal That The Two Rappers Are Finally Back On Good Terms

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Earlier this week, the hip-hop world celebrated the ten-year anniversary of Funk Flex’s memorable radio premiere of Jay-Z and Kanye West’s “Otis.” At that moment, the track was the second single from their soon-to-be-released joint album, Watch The Throne. That moment proved to be a huge one as it built up anticipation at an exponential rate for the project. Fast-forward to the present and many shared where they were during Funk Flex’s radio premiere of “Otis,” but it all came with the reminder that in today’s world, Jay-Z and Kanye West haven’t been on the best of terms. However, it turns out that the Watch The Throne duo may have fixed the issues in their palace.

During Kanye West’s listening event for his upcoming album, Donda, the Chicago rapper premiered a track with Jay-Z for the thousands of fans in attendance at Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium. The song, which has an unknown title at the moment, saw Jay-Z show a lot of love to Kanye.

“Donda, I’m with your baby when I touch back road,” Jay raps on the song, later adding, “This might be the return of the throne / Hova and Yeezy like Moses and Jesus / You’re not in control of my thesis / You already know what I think about think pieces.”

The track comes after a few moments that showed the two could end up on better terms. At the end of 2019, Jay-Z named Kanye’s “Follow God” as one of his favorite songs of the year, which came shortly after they reportedly ended all legal feuds. Last summer, Kanye spoke publicly about Jay, saying, “Miss my bro … real talk” in a Twitter post that showed the two acts performing together.

You can listen to a snippet of the track in the video above.

Kanye West’s Listening Event For ‘Donda’ Is Finally Underway After A Lengthy Delay

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More than a year after he first announced the project, Kanye West finally revealed when the world would receive his tenth album, Donda. The rapper announced the project would arrive this Friday, July 23. As expected, fans all over the world quickly built up their excitement for its release. To build up the anticipation for Donda, Kanye also announced a huge listening event for the project set to take place at Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium, the 75,000-capacity venue that’s home to the NFL’s Atlanta Falcons.

The event was slated for an 8 p.m. kick-off time, but to the surprise of no one, the event did not start at its intended time.

Thankfully, nearly two hours later, Kanye kicked things off for the night. The show began with what seemed to be a recording of Kanye repeatedly singing, “We gonna be okay,” as an organ played loudly in the background. The camera panned out to show him rocking a red bubble jacket while moving all across the stage, which was essentially the full stadium floor covered in some type of white material.

Prior to the show, Kanye was spotted backstage at the stadium putting the final touches on the album. This includes sequencing the project’s presumed tracklist, making last-second tweaks with producer and engineer Mike Dean, and apparently inviting acts like Playboi Carti and 2 Chainz to record additional verses for Donda.

Rumors of the arrival of Donda first began when Kanye and Tyler The Creator were spotted in the studio together, presumable working on the album together. Shortly afterward, the album was confirmed for a release through a Beats By Dre commercial featuring track and field star Sha’Carri Richardson that also featured his currently unreleased track, “No Child Left Behind.”

You can watch a livestream of the listening event for Donda here.

Chloe Bailey Has Been Cast In The Creator+ Psychological Thriller ‘Jane’

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Chloe and Halle Bailey of R&B duo Chloe X Halle have proven to be a multitalented pair. Not only are they one of music’s most sought-after new acts, performing on awards shows, sporting events, and corporate livestreams throughout the pandemic in lieu of touring, but they are also both accomplished actresses. While they both appear on Black-ish spinoff Grown-ish as the athletic Forster twins (in reality, Chloe is two years older), Halle is headed to the big screen in Disney’s live-action remake of The Little Mermaid in the title role.

While Chloe has seemingly been content to work on solo music while the sisters are separated by Halle’s shooting schedule, it appears the elder sister is ready to pursue her own movie career. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Chloe has been cast in Jane, the debut feature film from Creator+, an upstart movie studio/streaming platform aimed toward Zoomers and digital creators — two categories Chloe X Halle clearly fall under and appeal to greatly. Produced by and starring Riverdale‘s Madelaine Petsch, Jane is described as a psychological thriller exploring “social media anxiety and mental health from the perspective of a high school student.”

The film will also feature model Chloe Yu, Shrill actor Ian Owens, and Oscar-winner Melissa Leo, most recently of Netflix’s Thunder Force. Creator+, founded by former YouTube executive Benjamin Grubbs, is set to launch in the first quarter of 2022.

A New Orleans Mansion Reportedly Owned By Beyonce And Jay-Z Caught On Fire

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When you’re rich enough to commission a $28 million Rolls Royce like Jay-Z and Beyonce, you’re most definitely rich enough to own multiple properties. The music industry’s favorite power have opulent homes across the country, owning houses in areas like Los Angeles, New York City, and the Hamptons. But one of their reported homes seems to have quite a big emergency this week as fire fighters responded to the scene of a New Orleans mansion on fire.

According to a report from TMZ, Beyonce and Jay-Z’s reported home in New Orleans caught ablaze in the early evening on Wednesday. The fire was reported in the 1500 block of Harmony Street at around 6:15 pm.

The fire was apparently classified as a one-alarm fire, meaning it was relatively low in severity. Even still, twenty-two firefighters reportedly responded to the fire, and they were able to contain in just before 7 p.m. Thankfully, no one was injured during the fire. Per TMZ’s report, the owners as of 2015 were Sugarcane Park LLC, which had their primary address listed as Beyonce’s Parkwood Entertainment management company.

“If they hadn’t gotten it under control, it could have been worse,” a spokesperson said, according to New Orleans news outlet Nola. Nola’s report notes the building was nearly 100 years old. It was built in 1926 by the Westminster Presbyterian Church and was later converted into a ballet studio.

Roddy Rackzz Preaches Perseverance In His ‘Head Up’ Performance On ‘UPROXX Sessions’

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Today’s episode of UPROXX Sessions features another LA transplant, the Baltimore-born Def Jam rapper Roddy Rackzz, who gives a melodic performance of his trenches-to-penthouse anthem “Head Up.” Appearing in a red Supreme motocross vest and crooning over his Deeboy/JishBeatz-produced, guitar-looping track, Roddy makes a case for perseverance and determination in the face of adversity.

Roddy’s wardrobe choice isn’t just a fanciful affectation. He’s also an actual rider, who has shot commercials for Reebok and showing his dirt bike skills in the official video for “Head Up”… which I suppose would be a bit like Dame D.O.L.L.A. coming through to perform rocking his Portland Trail Blazers jersey. Among Roddy’s most popular tracks are the wistful trap banger “Never Enough” from his 2020 debut mixtape F*ck Rap and the money-hungry “Addict” featuring the DMV’s own Shy Glizzy.

Watch Roddy Rackzz’s “Head Up” performance above.

UPROXX Sessions is Uproxx’s performance show featuring the hottest up-and-coming acts you should keep an eye on. Featuring creative direction from LA promotion collective, Ham On Everything, and taking place on our “bathroom” set designed and painted by Julian Gross, UPROXX Sessions is a showcase of some of our favorite performers, who just might soon be yours, too.

Lil Nas X Pens A Touching Letter To His Younger ‘Old Town Road’-Era Self

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Lil Nas X is dropping his latest single, “Industry Baby,” tomorrow, and ahead of then, the rapper shared a letter he wrote to his 20-year-old self (he’s 22 now).

In the note, he seems to reference the COVID-19 pandemic and shelter-in-place orders, so specifically, in a super-literal sense, it appears he’s addressing himself in March and April 2020 (he turned 21 years old in the latter month), at which point his only singles were “Old Town Road,” “Panini,” and “Rodeo.” The letter reads:

“dear 20 year old montero

i wrote a song for us. i know sometimes you feel like it’s all downhill from here. i know your sexuality has made you feel like an outcast amongst your peers. i know going from having the biggest song in the world to being trapped in your apartment is weighing heavy on you. and i know if you hear the phrase ‘one hit wonder’ one more time you might combust. but i need you to keep going. i need you to realize that you have the opportunity to be the person that you needed growing up. i need you to stop feeling sorry for yourself. and i need you to remember that the only person who has to believe in YOU is YOU.

-lnx”

Check out the tweet below.

Yasiin Bey Pulls Out Of The Announced Thelonius Monk Film After Monk’s Estate Condemns It

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Just 24 hours ago, fans of Yasiin Bey’s film work were excited to learn he’d be returning to the screen in the fascinating role of jazz legend Thelonius Monk. However, it took less than a day for those hopes to be dashed, as Bey revealed he’d been advised to join the project under false pretexts on social media. In a rare video posted to Instagram, Bey says that he was originally informed that the project had the Monk estate’s approval, however, after the project was announced, the estate made a statement condemning it.

As he says in the video, “Let me be clear. If the Monk estate is not happy with it, if Mr. Monk III is not happy with it, then neither am I.” He goes on to explain, “I was given every indication by the production company that the family was on board, one of my primary questions. Just as important as the music, if not more important, is that the family supported the project. I took them at their word and clearly that wasn’t the case.”

The rapper/actor also expresses his disappointment at the project not receiving the go-ahead, as he was eager to begin acting again. “I’m tight,” he says. “I haven’t done a film in a while. I haven’t had a great yearning to do one but this one, I was really excited about. Perhaps another time under better auspices. C’est la vie.”

Watch Yasiin Bey’s explanation video above.

Ski Mask The Slump God’s Bloody ‘Dr. Suess’ Video Concludes His ‘Sin City’ Revenge Tale

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Florida rapper Ski Mask The Slump God continues the bloody revenge tale from his Sin City-themed “Admit It” video in his new video for “Dr. Suess,” delivering martial-arts hijinks, shootouts galore, and a final, satisfactory conclusion. As in the previous video, he uses the CGI coloring techniques from the Sin City films, resulting in some truly stunning imagery, including a shot inspired by Marv’s contrast bandages using Ski Mask’s tattoos and grill.

Ski Mask’s latest project — the aptly titled Sin City The Mixtape — dropped at the end of June, nearly three years after his debut album Stokeley. Intriguingly enough, it became his second-highest charting project after Stokeley, peaking at No. 39 on the Billboard 200 albums chart despite minimal promotion. That indicates a growing interest in the amped-up rapper, who only released one single, “Burn The Hoods,” in 2020. He also featured on DJ Scheme’s “Soda” with Cordae, likely contributing to his increasing popularity.

After announcing the release date for Sin City The Mixtape, Ski Mask promised his fans that the next album wouldn’t take nearly as long. We’ll see if he can stick to that promise and maintain the momentum he’s built.

Watch Ski Mask The Slump God’s ultraviolent “Dr. Suess” video above.