Music

21 Savage Weighs In On The ‘Dinner With Jay-Z’ Meme And Reveals His Dream Feature

by
Getty Image

Twitter isn’t exactly the best place to get financial advice, but that doesn’t stop countless of users listing off their side hustle success stories, get-rich-quick schemes, and unsolicited house flipping suggestions. But one user’s recent assertion that a hypothetical dinner with Jay-Z would be a smarter financial move than taking $500,000 was so outrageous that it went instantly viral. Now, 21 Savage is aiming to turn the viral Twitter anecdote into a reality.

After 21 Savage was recently featured on Drake’s smash-hit Certified Lover Boy, the rapper took to social media to manifest his next career goal. 21 Savage shared on Twitter that his dream collaboration is with none other Jay-Z “Next Goal 21savage ft Jay Z,” he wrote.

Referencing the recurring “dinner with Jay-Z” meme, a listener responded to 21 Savage by advising him to instead “take the 500k.” But 21 Savage doesn’t see why he couldn’t have both. “I’ll get both,” he wrote. “I was blessed with the gift of gab.”

21 Savage having the opportunity to dine with Jay-Z isn’t too far from reality, as the two rappers have been in contact in the past. When 21 Savage was taken into ICE custody in 2019, Jay-Z was at the forefront of the fight to have the rapper released, calling 21 Savage’s arrest a “travesty” and enlisting various attorneys to sort out his legal situation.

After he was freed, 21 Savage even had the opportunity to meet Jay-Z at his house. “When I got out, I pulled up on Jay-Z at his house,” 21 said as a guest on the Big Facts podcast in 2020, according to Complex. “Him and Beyonce was in there. And we was kicking it. He a regular n****. I just was thanking him. When I first got out, I texted him like, ‘Imma pay you back.’ He was like, ‘I don’t want your money, pay me back by being great.’”

Young Thug, Kid Cudi, And Strick Share A Massive Stack Of Pancakes In Their Trippy ‘Moon Man’ Video

by

Who knew Kid Cudi, Young Thug, and Strick loved pancakes so much? A massive, syrup-covered plate of the starchy breakfast favorite features prominently in the trio’s new video for “Moon Man,” along with the usual assortment of YSL Records’ signature snakes, beautiful women, and one trippy camper van where they share the bountiful breakfast and perform their verses.

“Moon Man” appears on YSL Records’ April album release Slime Language 2, which showcases the non-Young Thug talent of Thug’s label. “Moon Man” is one of Strick’s standout tracks on the album, while the song takes its title from one of Kid Cudi’s nicknames. Among the tracks that appear on the project, singles included the Drake-featuring “Solid” with Thug and Gunna, the TikTok-favorite “Ski,” which spawned its own dance challenge, and “Real,” which saw Thug teaming up with his brother Unfoonk to show off the latter’s melodic gifts.

The group also used the album’s release as an opportunity to do some good in the hood, paying bail for 30 Fulton County Jail inmates and providing them a family dinner with their loved ones in the video for “Paid The Fine.” Looking to the future, Thug is set to release his next album Punk in the coming months, while Cudi features in the Netflix movie Don’t Look Up.

Watch Young Thug and Strick’s “Moon Man” video featuring Kid Cudi above.

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

Trippie Redd’s Tour Bus Was Reportedly Shot Near A Baltimore Airport

by
Getty Image

While COVID safety was the concern that kept artists off the road in 2020, Trippie Redd’s Trip At Knight tour faced an entirely different security scare last night. The Baltimore Sun newspaper reports that Trippie’s tour bus was shot by a passing car on the way to the Baltimore-Washington International Airport after his show at MECU Pavilion.

According to the Sun the bus was shot multiple times on the passenger side at around 2:45 am, wounding the driver, who was still able to pull the bus over at BWI. He was taken to a hospital for treatment. While officials wouldn’t say whether Trippie himself or any of the other performers were aboard, the report does confirm that crew members from venue were. None of the other passengers were injured and while police cordoned off the area and investigated, no arrests or charges have been announced as yet.

Trippie is currently touring to support his new album, Trip At Knight, which released August 20 via 10K Projects and contains features from Trippie’s fellow SoundCloud Rap contemporaries like Juice WRLD, Lil Uzi Vert, Playboi Carti, and Ski Mask The Slump God. It received additional attention, though, for the song “Betrayal” featuring Drake, on which the guest rapper apparently restarted his feud with Kanye West, to Trippie’s own surprise. The younger rapper admitted he had no idea Drake dissed Kanye on the song, but considering all the extra streams the moment probably brought him, he’s probably not all that perturbed by it.

24KGoldn Details His Rise To ‘The Top’ With A Melodic ‘UPROXX Sessions’ Performance

by

24KGoldn, the San Francisco-born hitmaker halfway responsible for the No. 1 single “Mood” (along with Iann Dior), dropped by Uproxx Studios recently to detail his rise to “The Top” with an upbeat, melodic performance for UPROXX Sessions. Bedecked in tie-dye and oozing youthful charm, the easygoing 20-year-old lays out a lighthearted performance of the opener from his March debut album El Dorado.

In 2020, 24KGoldn was selected to be one of XXL’s Freshman Class after fan voting helped him land the coveted 10th spot. That same month, “Mood” first charted before rising to the No. 1 position on the Hot 100, where it remained for eight non-consecutive weeks. 24KGoldn followed up in 2021 with the Columbia Records debut El Dorado, which peaked at No. 22 on the Billboard 200 and has to date racked up a gold certification from the RIAA (500,000 equivalent sales). He’s due to go on his tour for the album beginning in November.

Watch 24KGoldn’s melodic UPROXX Sessions performance of “The Top” 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 And Elton John Trade Iconic Looks In A New UberEats Campaign

by

Lil Nas X and Elton John have become quite the pair. The two performers are separated by decades of age and experience, but linked by their status as queer icons. That connection became more apparent when Lil Nas X revealed that the “Rocketman” singer will feature on his upcoming debut album but their collaborations apparently didn’t stop there. Both are featured together in a new campaign for Uber Eats, “Tonight I’ll Be Eating,” appearing in ads showing off their shared sense of flamboyant style.

In a press release, Nas said of the near-50-year industry veteran, “I’m so excited and honored to be working with the legendary Elton John on this Uber Eats campaign. We had so much fun on set deciding what’s for dinner and trying on each other’s most iconic looks. I can’t wait for everyone to see it!” John, meanwhile, was equally effusive in his praise for the younger artist, saying, “It’s been absolutely wonderful partnering with Lil Nas X, one of the most influential voices in pop culture, and with Uber Eats, my faithful favorite for everything delicious. From taking selfies to deciding to swap looks on set, working together has been a blast.”

Both artists have new projects in the offing; Nas, as previously mentioned, drops his much-hyped debut album Montero this Friday after a rollout that included everything from Lisa Frank-resembling cover art to pregnancy photos — complete with a gift registry where fans can donate to causes important to Nas. Elton’s new project, Lockdown Sessions, is due October 22 and sees him collaborating with contemporary artists like Young Thug and Nicki Minaj.

Watch Elton John and Lil Nas X trade looks above.

Baby Keem Details His ‘Issues’ In An Emotive ‘Tonight Show’ Debut Performance

by

Baby Keem’s meteoric rise continues. Last night, the Las Vegas rapper made his television debut on The Tonight Show, where he performed the new song “Issues.” Presumably, the song will appear on his debut album, The Melodic Blue, which is due to release this week. The performance is stripped-down and direct, with Keem sitting astride a bicycle in front of a screen displaying a desert tableau. He spends most of the performance with his eyes closed, projecting a sense of deep introspection.

Also featured on the debut album are the previously released singles “Durag Activity” featuring Travis Scott and “Family Ties” featuring Keem’s real-life cousin, Kendrick Lamar. Keem confirmed both tracks would be on the album when he announced that he’d turned the completed project in a few weeks ago. Shortly after that, he shared the cover and tracklist, which revealed that Houston rising star and Keem’s would-be fellow 2020 XXL Freshman Don Toliver would also appear on the album.

With The Melodic Blue dropping this Friday, 9/10 via PgLang/Columbia, Keem’s due for a huge breakout, the culmination of a climb he started in 2019 with the viral success of his single “Orange Soda.”

Watch Baby Keem perform “Issues” on The Tonight Show above.

Tame Impala Performed Their Travis Scott Collab ‘Skeletons’ For The First Time At Their Live Comeback

by
Getty Image

Tame Impala’s Kevin Parker has had the opportunity to collaborate with a handful of rappers over the years. A prominent and relatively recent example of that is “Skeletons,” a highlight from Travis Scott’s hit 2018 album Astroworld. Earlier this week, on September 7, Tame Impala kicked off their comeback tour at the United Center in Chicago, and during the set, the band decided to perform the Scott collaboration for the first time.

In a 2018 Billboard interview, Parker spoke about how “Skeletons” came to be, saying, “[Scott’s] manager got in touch and said he was a big fan [and suggested we] meet up if I was ever in LA, so I went to a few sessions with him. We hung out and played some stuff, and he really liked what ended up being ‘Skeletons.’ That definitely got the biggest reaction out of him. I could tell he liked it. I remember going through this stuff to play to Travis, and just thought, ‘Oh, this is actually really up his alley.’ I know Travis likes his psych-rock. He likes his crusty metal guitar sound. I was struck by how much I thought it would fit Travis’ thing even though it’s not hip-hop-sounding. So much hip-hop is cycled from music that sounds like that — crusty-sounding ’70s rock. There’s so much of that, that kind of King Crimson stuff.”

In that same conversation, he talked about what it was like working with Scott, saying, “What’s cool about people like Travis is that they’re just getting a bunch of people in the room and seeing what happens. For a lot of it, I was just a team player. At some points, there were 10, 20 people in the room. You could just be there and hang out and not do anything for like an hour. And then something perks your ears up, and you can be like, ‘Oh yeah yeah, plug me in, I’ve got an idea.’ We’d go for hours, until three in the morning.”

Watch a clip of the “Skeletons” performance above.

The NFL Is Releasing A Bunch Of Ed Sheeran Merch Ahead Of Its Season Opener

by
Getty Image

The 2021-22 NFL season officially kicks off on Thursday evening. The defending Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers will get the chance to celebrate their title by playing hosts to the first game of the year. On the other side of the field will be the Dallas Cowboys, which had a rough season last year but, with Dak Prescott returning from injury and a division that might be the weakest in the league, there are reasons to believe Dallas will be able to make its way back to the playoffs.

Because this is the NFL we’re talking about here, the league can’t just make the first game of the season a football game that is on our televisions. It has to make this an all-out event, including a pregame concert by Ed Sheeran. You have possibly seen this graphic by now…

Pretty good! Well it turns out the NFL has come down with a pretty bad case of Sheeranmania, because the league has decided to make a bunch of gear that has his name on it to celebrate his pregame performance.

Unfortunately, it appears there has never been a player with the last name Sheeran in the history of the league, which ruins any and all hopes I had with ending this post with a joke saying this gear paid reference to some random player from the 1930s.

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

Nicki Minaj Seeks Help From Kehlani, Jhene Aiko, Summer Walker, And More For An Upcoming Track

by
Getty Image

Earlier this year, Nicki Minaj made it clear that she was working on music thanks to the re-release of her beloved mixtape, Beam Me Up Scotty. Three new songs were attached to the re-uploaded project, with one of them being “Seeing Green” with Drake and Lil Wayne. From that moment on, new releases from the Minaj arrived at a consistent rate. She teamed with Polo G for their first collaboration before remixing BIA’s hit record, “Whole Lotta Money.” Nowadays, the Pink Friday rapper is hard at work on what appears to be her next album, and as she progresses with it, Nicki took to Twitter to put out a special request.

After sharing a sultry snippet that features her repeatedly singing, “yeah,” Nicki revealed she needed help from a crew of singers to complete the song. “Barbz: ask Keke, Tamar & Brandy to redo this,” she wrote in a tweet. “That’s what I sound like in my head. Would love to hear ppl who can rlly do it.” In a second post, she added, “Summer, Jhené & Kehlani can be good in the blend as well with their harmonies.” Kehlani caught wind of the tweet and asked Nicki to be a bit more specific with her request. “Just challenging 6 gurls to redo that lil thing I sang,” Nicki replied. “It’s on my story. Then I’ll take the a cappella & put together a lil Smthn,” she wrote, adding, “no big zeal zo.”

Summer Walker also responded to Nicki and wrote, “I’d love that [black heart emoji].” Nicki replied, “Okay puddin pop. Love you. Dm it or post it when u want. No big zeal.”

It’s unclear when the record Nicki has in mind will arrive, but fans sure are excited for its release in the future.

You can view Nicki’s tweets above.

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

Gunna’s Latest Instagram Post Brought Nothing But Jokes And Memes From Fans

by
Getty Image

Tuesday marks the start of this year’s New York Fashion Week, and people can expect celebrities to step out with their best outfits. One example came from Gunna. In a recent Instagram post, the rapper shared a picture of his own NYFW outfit, wearing what appeared to be a sheer long sleeve sweater covered by a leather vest. The rapper also rocked some above-the-knee shorts and tall leather Rick Owen boots.

Gunna captioned the photo “D . S . 4 (mask emoji),” which is the abbreviation of his upcoming album, Drip Season 4. The rapper previously released the project’s lead single, “9 Times Outta 10.” As for the rapper’s interesting outfit choice, once fans caught a glimpse of it they jumped on social media to share their thoughts. One wrote, “Every time I see Gunna he’s dressed like an evil Mary J. Blige,” while another said, “Gunna really put this sh*t on and said to himself ‘yeah this the fit.’”

You can check out the post above and read some more comments from fans below.

Despite the jokes and the memes Gunna received about his NYFW outfit, the rapper seemed unbothered by the comments, as he’s yet to respond to the boatload of criticism.

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