Music

The Weeknd Delivers His Video For ‘Try Me’ To Celebrate The Three-Year Anniversary Of ‘My Dear Melancholy’

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The Weeknd has spent much of March celebrating some big anniversaries. There was the ten-year of his debut mixtape, House Of Balloons, which helped him break into the R&B world. Last March, The Weeknd released his most recent album, After Hours, to widespread acclaim. Finally, back on this date in 2018, he dropped the only EP of his career, My Dear Melancholy. To celebrate the latter, The Weeknd dropped a new video for one of the EP’s tracks, “Try Me.” It’s a fairly simple one that finds the Canadian singer lip-synching the lyrics to the song into the front-facing camera of his phone while he sits in the backseat of a car.

The video comes after The Weeknd teased that new music would arrive soon, albeit in a unique way. “new song living in NFT space. coming soon…,” he wrote in a post on Twitter. Whenever it arrives, the singer will join the likes of Ja Rule and Grimes as artists who have taken advantage of the NFT space. He also hinted at more releases as a part of his After Hours era. This was news he also delivered on Twitter, where he wrote, “p.s. this chapter isn’t quite done yet,” adding, “still tying some loose ends.”

You can watch the “Try Me” video above.

Young Dolph Announces His Retirement Just Days After Releasing ‘Dum & Dummer 2’ With Key Glock

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Last summer, Young Dolph delivered his seventh album Rich Slave, a 16-track effort that increased to 24 when its deluxe reissue arrived at the beginning of 2021, and which bore contributions from Key Glock, Megan Thee Stallion, G Herbo, and Kenny Muney. The album debuted at No. 4 on the Billboard 200, making it the highest-charting release of his career. Dolph continued to impress with Dum & Dummer 2, his joint album with fellow Memphis rapper Key Glock, which dropped last week. Unfortunately for fans of Dolph, the new project marks an end to his career, as he took to Instagram to announce his retirement from hip-hop.

“I hope y’all enjoying the new mixtape, it’s my last project putting out,” he revealed in the post’s caption. “I wasn’t gonna tell y’all but i thought y’all should know im done with music. ENJOY.”

While the timing of the news may be unexpected, it’s not the first time that Dolph has announced his retirement. In March 2020, he called it quits from the rap game in order to spend more time with his family. “I’m done doing music so I can go kick it with my son,” he said at the time. “Key Glock is already poised to be the new torchbearer.” The retirement didn’t last long, as he quickly returned to begin the rollout for Rich Slave, which arrived five months later.

Dum & Dummer 2 is out now via Paper Route Empire. Get it here.

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

The Director Of FKA Twigs’ Video For ‘Cellophane’ Responds To Claims That Lil Nas X Ripped Them Off

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Lil Nas X has pretty much had the entertainment world in the palm of his hands since he released his video for “Montero (Call Me By Your Name)” last week. Think pieces from all over were written, but the singer is taking it all in stride, trolling his critics in response. Things worsened when he unveiled the footwear line “Satan Shoes” mere days after the song arrived, but even a lawsuit from Nike didn’t faze him.

There was one other piece of criticism: Some said the new video bore similarities to FKA Twigs’ 2019 video for “Cellophane,” namely the part where he descends to hell on a stripper pole. However, the director of FKA Twigs’ video, Andrew Thomas Huang, wasn’t so quick to accuse the “Old Town Road” singer of theft.

“I’m a fan of @LilNasX. “Old Town Road” is iconic,” Huang wrote over Twitter. “Sharing collaborators is common. Seeing the ‘Cellophane’ choreographer collab with Lil Nas X is awesome (love a Satan dance). Sharing aesthetics and paying homage is part of the creative process. Collective consciousness exists.” He added, “Images are also expensive to make. Years of work went into the creation of ‘Cellophane,’ from physical training to the emotional labor of unpacking Twigs’ life to construct images told her story of trauma and recovery. ‘Cellophane’ was a confession in the most vulnerable sense.”

Huang then discussed the work that was put into the “Cellophane” video. “Images are also expensive to make. Years of work went into the creation of ‘Cellophane,’ from physical training to the emotional labor of unpacking Twigs’ life to construct images told her story of trauma and recovery. ‘Cellophane’ was a confession in the most vulnerable sense,” he said. “When an artist is in a position of power (amplified with the help of major record labels, social media, PR, etc) and repurposes someone’s labor and ideas to serve their brand image, they cause harm by displacing the efforts of the artists who did the original leg work.”

Huang then shifted his attention to major records labels like Columbia, to which Lil Nas is signed, and asked that they do a better job of enforcing artistic integrity with their creatives. “I urge the music community, particularly major record labels like @ColumbiaRecords to respect directors, uphold artistic accountability and honor the ingenuity of artists dedicating their blood sweat and tears to imagine better futures amidst a broken industry,” he said, adding, “We can do better.”

Dionne Warwick Responds To Chet Hanks’ ‘White Boy Summer’ Campaign

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Ever since Megan Thee Stallion declared the warmer months of 2019 “Hot Girl Summer,” all sorts of public figures have rushed to lay claim to the beach season with their own campaigns — she even updated it to “quarantine summer” herself last year. Saweetie once declared December “Icy Girl Winter” and has already put in a bid to name summer 2021 “Pretty B*tch Summer” after her upcoming debut album, Pretty B*tch Music.

But one celebrity’s option has put off more people than its beguiled; Chet Hanks, of over-the-top patois and “being Tom Hanks’ son” fame, said he felt a “White Boy Summer” is in the works with him and Jack Harlow, and some folks on Twitter aren’t having it. Included among those opting out of Hanks’ fantasy summer is Dionne Warwick. The new queen of Black Twitter was mystified upon being informed of Chet Hanks’ crusade, wondering “What foolishness did I just see?” and predicting instead, “I will be having a Black Woman Summer.”

Ms. Warwick isn’t the only one who seems undone by Hanks’ tomfoolery. For the past few days, Twitter has been alight with posts roasting Tom’s offspring. The jokes range from imagining Jon B and Jack Harlow’s responses to being pulled into the discussion to wondering just how Chet Hanks turned out the way he has with an Oscar-winning father and all the privilege in the world (I think the answer’s in the question). In any case, it looks like “White Boy Summer” is probably not becoming a thing, insomuch as it already was for the last 400 summers or so, and it’s been terrible for everybody else.

Check out more responses to Chet Hanks below.

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

A Video Of Quavo And Saweetie Having A Fight In An Elevator Has Surfaced

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Last week, fans of the Quavo and Saweetie couple were devastated to learn that the pair had broken up. Although both artists shared claims that the other was at fault, many fans speculated that Quavo’s infidelity was the reason behind the split. However, today, TMZ surfaced a new video that shows the two had a lot more problems than it appeared on the surface.

In the video, Quavo and Saweetie have an altercation in an elevator, caught by the elevator’s security camera. Saweetie takes a swing at Quavo, and the two scuffle over an orange suitcase with Quavo ultimately grabbing Saweetie and flinging her to the floor of the elevator. There is no sound, so we can’t hear what the two say to each other, but there’s some discussion before Saweetie gets up and walks past Quavo, who stays behind after propping open the door with the suitcase.

The former couple was a fan favorite before their breakup, with the story of Quavo’s DM icebreaker becoming a meme and sweet, behind-the-scenes stories filtering into their interviews. Fans fawned over the couple’s luxurious gifts to each other, but in her tweet confirming their breakup, Saweetie admitted that gifts weren’t enough to “band aid scars.” While those scars were initially thought to be emotional, this new revelation prompts the question of whether some were physical as well.

You can watch the video on TMZ.

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

Hard Summer Festival’s 2021 Lineup Features Future, 2 Chainz, Lil Durk, And More

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It’s been over a year since the last in-person music festival took place in the US. However, with the roll-out of vaccines taking place across the country, festival organizers are confident that large-scale live music events will be able to return in the coming months. Hard Summer Music Festival is especially optimistic, as they’ve unveiled their lineup for this summer’s event.

The hip-hop focused festival has invited big-names to perform at their event. Headliners include Future, 2 Chainz, Lil Durk, Don Toliver, and Iann Dior. Other musicians have also been tapped to take the stage like Mario Judah, Snot, Rubi Rose, Dillon Francis, and Jauz.

The festival is usually held in Fontana, California, but this year, Hard Summer is headed to NOS Event Center in the city of San Bernardino the weekend of July 31 to August 1. The new location makes it possible to have a more spread-out event, taking place across five different stages. Organizers are making efforts to have COVID precautions in place for the event as well. In press materials, the festival claims, “Hard will be working closely with local officials to implement necessary safety precautions and will follow state and local health guidelines in place at the time of the event.”

Hard Summer tickets go on sale 4/2 at 10 am PST. Get them here.

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

Lil Nas X Is Trying To Will A ‘South Park’ Episode About His Satan Controversy Into Existence

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YouTube

Over the past few days, Lil Nas X has proven yet again that he knows how to get all sorts of reactions out of all sorts of people. With his “Montero (Call Me By Your Name)” video and his controversial sneakers (both of which are Satan-themed), he has delighted some onlookers while making others irate. Now, he is hoping that his story will inspire an episode from a show that gets similar reactions out of its fans and haters: South Park.

This afternoon, Nas seemingly tried to will an episode of the show into existence by tweeting, “this gone be a good ass south park episode lmao.”

A South Park episode about Nas’ new controversy certainly isn’t outside of the realm of possibility. The show is made quickly, which allows Trey Parker and Matt Stone to tackle specific contemporary topics: Just this month, they released a special episode about the coronavirus vaccine. Meanwhile, Satan is actually a recurring character on South Park, so it’s not like an appearance from the devil would be out of the ordinary.

There’s certainly a lot of source material to work with: The maker of the “Satan shoes” is reportedly being sued by Nike and the Church Of Satan is on board with what Nas has been up to.

Snot Is Not Okay In His Contemplative ‘Life’ Video

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Snot’s streaming of videos from Beautiful Havoc continues with one of his most personal tracks from the Florida rapper’s sophomore album, “Life.” Contemplating the difficulties of living with himself, Snot admits, “I just wanna chill by myself ’cause I’m not okay.”

In the video, Snot stares out a bedroom window during a storm, watching his child doppelganger drive off in a station wagon. Elsewhere, Snot wanders through a field alone holding a pistol, which he points at another double of himself in a surreal, self-destructive murder-suicide. At the end of the video, though, his dark thoughts are interrupted by his child self embracing him, prompting a smile and a friendly wave out the window.

“Life” brings the total of videos from the project to seven. Snot kicked off the deluge in September with “Revenge,” then followed up a month later with the Flo Milli-featuring “Mean.” Although his next single, “Sangria” featuring Denzel Curry, was released ahead of the album drop, Snot’s frantic video for the track didn’t arrive until February this year.

Between then and now, Snot pushed out three more videos: The violent “Who Do I Trust,” the antisocial “Watch Out,” and the Iann Dior-featuring romp, “Like Me.”

Watch Snot’s ‘Life’ video above.

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

Cardi B Wants To Launch A Haircare Brand To Educate People About Different Types Of Afro-Latina Hair

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Cardi B gets pulled into conversations about cultural appropriation so often, that she feels as though she has to give a history lesson every few months. The rapper is Dominican and has long embraced her Afro-Latina roots, continually noting that nationality is different from race. Now, the singer aims to take the conversation off Twitter and into the beauty market with her own line of hair products that will educate consumers on various hair types.

Cardi has long been open about her hair care methods, which oftentimes involve natural DIY hair masks. But after being pulled into yet another Twitter conversation about race and nationality, Cardi wants to take her beauty secrets to the public while also educating people about Afro-Latina culture. “Hair texture def don’t make you a race however I am Afro Latina,” she responded to someone on Twitter earlier this week.

Detailing her new endeavor in an Instagram post, the rapper wrote that she has been working on at-home haircare for her and her daughter for some time now:

“This year I will be coming out with a hairline that I been working on at home for my hair and my daughters however,I think is time for people to educate themselves on nationality,race and ethnicity.Being Hispanic/Latina don’t make your hair long , don’t make your skin light or don’t make your face features slim specially Latin countries from the Caribbean islands. Dna have something to do with your hair not your nationality but guess what you can always maintain your hair …..and one more things not everyone that speaks Spanish is Mexican.”

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

Vince Staples Returns With An Emotive Verse On Tiana Major9’s ‘Real Affair’ Remix

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British R&B singer-songwriter Tiana Major9 is currently working on the follow-up to her 2020 Motown debut At Sixes And Sevens, but while fans await more information on its impending release, Major9 has been sharing a string of acoustic performances and remixes of fan favorites from the confessional full-length, including today’s drop, the “Real Affair” remix featuring Vince Staples.

Although the song’s theme would appear to be outside of Vince’s usual wheelhouse — it’s a song about smoking away the breakup blues, and Vince is notoriously straight-edge — he acquits himself well, choosing to focus on the breakup blues part more than the smoking one. “If anything, I know we got through whatever roadblocks,” he muses. “I ain’t gotta feel on the flame to know the stove hot.”

Tiana’s remix EP is set for an April 2 release date and features her recently released collaboration with Lucky Daye, “On Read,” as well as an appearance from SiR of Top Dawg Entertainment. She recently revealed that she’s in “album mode,” teasing the phrase with a game of hangman on her Twitter. Meanwhile, Vince most recently popped up on Lil Yachty’s “In My Stussy’s,” but has otherwise been laying low, leaving fans to wonder when his FM! follow-up for Motown Records will arrive.

Listen to Tiana Major9’s “Real Affair” remix featuring Vince Staples above.