Music

Justin Bieber Names Fellow Canadian Drake Among His New Top Five Rappers

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Justin Bieber recently released his sixth studio album Justice, and while promoting the new project, he stopped by his friend and frequent collaborator DJ Khaled’s Amazon Music podcast, The First One. Over the course of their conversation, the discussion turned to that favorite topic of hip-hop heads everywhere: The top five rappers in hip-hop — namely, Justin’s personal list.

A fun thing about this topic is that someone’s list can change a lot over the years (contrary to some folks’ opinions) as they grow and learn or as new rappers enter the scene. Justin has answered this question in the past, offering an unusual mix of names that included Eminem, Mase, Nas, The Notorious B.I.G., and Tupac, mixing in some conventional favorites with a rapper few would expect (but don’t act like you don’t hit your two-step the instant “Feel So Good” comes on).

This time around, though, he shook things up almost completely. Although he retained Biggie and Eminem from his prior list, he now counts fellow Canadian Drake, Mase disciple Kanye West, and the seemingly immortal Lil Wayne among the best to ever grace the mic. Drake is the most recent addition to the rap game overall, but Bieber justifies his inclusion by pointing out his music is “constantly pushing culture and the needle forward”.

Watch Justin Bieber’s conversation with DJ Khaled above.

Ja Rule Sold A Painting Of The Fyre Festival Logo As An NFT For Over $120K

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Crypto-art is currently beyond big business as the non-fungible token trading craze continues. The latest high-profile celebrity to get in on the bubble before it bursts is Ja Rule, who bragged of recently selling a painting of the Fyre Festival logo for over $120,000 on the Flipkick market. It was painted by Tripp Derrick Barnes for the company’s New York office but Ja kept it after the disastrous festival weekend.

Although Fyre Festival creator Billy McFarland was sentenced to six years in prison for fraud, investor Ja Rule was cleared of similar charges after a judge determined he didn’t know about the behind-the-scenes logistical failures that turned the luxury festival into a documentary-worthy fiasco. In an interview with Forbes about selling the painting, Ja explained that he really wanted to get rid of the painting because he felt it brought him “bad luck.” Initially commissioning the painting for just $2,000, he originally thought about selling it on eBay but a friend convinced him to get in on the NFT trend.

And while $120,000 seems like a tremendous profit on the $2,000 painting, it’s a big step down from his original asking price of $600,000. I guess people weren’t willing to go in that deeply on something Ja Rule’s selling.

Bono Enlisted An All-Star Cast For The Animated Series ‘Pandemica’ In An Effort To Stop Vaccine Hoarding

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The last time a bunch of celebrities got together to try and “help” with the pandemic, it resulted in the dreaded “Imagine” video, which even its participants have admitted was probably not the best idea. We can safely say the new animated series, Pandemica, is definitely not that.

Produced by the Bono-founded ONE organization, which will stream the series for free across its social media channels, Pandemica boasts a stellar cast and centers on a fictional world that’s a “never-ending pandemic purgatory, where COVID-19 never goes away and no one is sure how long they will be stuck there or if they can ever leave.” The series aims to raise awareness about the importance of everyone in the world getting vaccinated to end the pandemic, and the dangers of wealthy nations hoarding the much-needed shots. Via THR:

“Pandemica’s animated world animates a simple truth — that where you live shouldn’t determine whether you get these life-saving shots,” said U2 frontman Bono, co-founder of ONE and (RED). “Even while many of us still wait our turn, we need to commit to making sure that billions of people around the world aren’t left at the back of the line. It’s the right thing to do, obviously, but it’s also the only way out of this pandemic for all of us. If the vaccine isn’t everywhere, this pandemic isn’t going anywhere.”

Here’s the full cast list: Patrick Adams, Samuel Arnold, Bono, Connie Britton, Penélope Cruz, Meg Donnelly, Danai Gurira, Nick Kroll, Laura Marano, Kumail Nanjiani, David Oyelowo, Phoebe Robinson, Michael Sheen, Wanda Sykes and Calum Worthy.

Pandemica premieres March 25 on ONE.

(Via THR)

Rihanna Suggests She Might Release A New Song ‘Soon’ To Celebrate The Anniversary Of ‘Anti’

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Every so often over the past few years, Rihanna says something or writes something on social media that gets fans excited about the possibility of new music. Now she has made yet another comment that suggests new music could be on the way soon.

Rihanna’s most recent album, 2016’s Anti, recently celebrated its fifth anniversary, a milestone that Rihanna observed on social media. Rihanna shared a fan-made video that showed off some clips from the Anti era as well as a recent tweet from Chart Data, which notes, “@rihanna’s ‘ANTI’ has now spent 5 full years on the Billboard 200. First album by a black female artist to reach this milestone in the chart’s history.” In the comments, somebody suggested, “celebrate by releasing a song !!” Rihanna decided to get fans excited with her response: “I think I should [soon emoji].” She added, “just 1 tho lol.”

There’s hope for new Rihanna beyond this. Back in December, she suggested that she wanted to devote some serious energy to her music in 2021, saying, “2021 is a little unknown for everybody and nobody is sure what restrictions there are going to be. My creativity is within my control, though, and I want to take my music and my brands to a different level.”

Brockhampton Wreaks Havoc With Danny Brown In Their Trippy Video For ‘Buzzcut’

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It’s been almost two years since Brockhampton released their fifth album, Ginger, and since then the band has kept things fairly quiet outside of a remix of “Sugar” with Dua Lipa and a string of singles they released last spring, including “Things Can’t Stay The Same,” “Twisted,” and “Downside.” Now it looks like the group is ready to begin the rollout of their sixth album. On Wednesday night they dropped their new single, “Buzzkill,” featuring Danny Brown. The track arrived with a trippy video that finds the Brockhampton collective wreaking absolute havoc in a technicolor universe while Danny Brown joins in for an attention-grabbing verse.

Following the release of Ginger in 2019, Brockhampton kept the pedal to the floor for the next few months. They stopped by The Ellen DeGeneres Show to perform “Ginger” and “Sugar” before bringing their talents to The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon to perform the latter once again. They also released a pair of videos for “Sugar,” which later became the band’s most successful single to date.

While their upcoming sixth album remains untitled, Brockhampton’s head producer Romil Hemnani revealed in an interview with i-D that the initials for the upcoming project are “RR.” Some fans believed that its full title is Roadrunner after they noticed band members, including Jabari Manwa, wearing “Roadrunner” apparel. As for the upcoming album, Hemnani said, “I’m excited about it, it’s my favourite one yet.”

You can watch the video above.

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

Miley Cyrus Sent Flowers To Migos To Celebrate The 15th Anniversary Of Her ‘Hannah Montana’ TV Series

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Miley Cyrus’ climb to worldwide recognition began 15 years ago with the Disney Channel premiere of her TV show Hannah Montana. The series, aimed at young viewers, arrived on March 24, 2006 and continued for almost five years before ending in 2011. The show undoubtedly played a huge role in her career and she even admitted that she “would love to” bring it back in some way. But until that happens, a celebration of the anniversary is in order and the singer made sure to take a moment and reflect, but not without showing love to the Migos for their 2013 single “Hannah Montana.”

The rap trio took to Instagram to reveal that Miley sent them flowers as a thank you for the song. While the lyrics weren’t about the TV show or even Miley Cyrus herself, the singer still appreciated their decision to name the song after her character, which she shared in a message attached to the flowers. “I [love] your song about me! Keep rockin’!” she wrote before signing off on the note as Hannah Montana.

Cyrus also shared a lengthy statement that about Hannah Montana that reflected on the highs and lows of the show. She also discussed important life events that occurred while filming what she took away from it when it came to an end.

SWV And Xscape Will Bring Their R&B Classics To The Table In An Upcoming ‘Verzuz’

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Verzuz

The past week has been a busy one for Verzuz, and it looks like the next couple of months will be just as active. Next month, SWV and Xscape will come together for a 20-song competition, bringing some of their best songs for another great showcase of R&B’s past. Surely we’ll be hearing SWV’s “Weak” and “Right Here” from their 1992 album, It’s About Time, and Xscape’s “Justin Kickin’ It” and “Understanding” from 1993’s Hummin’ Comin’ At ‘Cha, among others.

SWV and Xscape’s battle is the latest Verzuz duel announced within the past week. Earlier Timbaland and Swizz Beatz revealed the next battle will be between Earth, Wind & Free and The Isley Brothers on Easter Sunday. Less than three weeks later, Redman and Method Man will go head-to-head in a “How High” special on April 20. The platform also promoted three themed events: “Ladies Night,” “Mother’s Day Special,” and “Rematch,” as well as two additional untitled battles. The participants for these matchups have yet to be revealed.

But there’s one high-profile artist that Verzuz almost coaxed into a battle: Dr. Dre. During an episode of The Breakfast Club, Timbaland and Swizz Beatz revealed the rap legend backed out after Teddy Riley and Babyface’s heavy-flawed battle last April. “When Dr. Dre wasn’t feeling the sound from Teddy Riley and Babyface, that hurt our heart,” Swizz said. “I was like, ‘Oh my god.’”

You can read the announcement for SWV and Xscape’s Verzuz above.

Pop Smoke’s Debut Album Broke A ‘Billboard’ Chart Record That Eminem Held For A Decade

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Pop Smoke ended 2020 with one of his biggest records, “Dior,” landing a Grammy nomination for Best Rap Performance. While Megan Thee Stallion and Beyonce would eventually take home that award, the nomination was proof of the impact he made in his tragically short career. Another example can be seen in the success his posthumous debut album, Shoot For The Stars, Aim For The Moon, which recently broke a Billboard record Eminem held for the last decade.

The record in question is the longest-running No. 1 Rap Album, after it tallied its 20th non-consecutive week atop that chart. The previous record holder was Eminem’s seventh album, Recovery, which spent 19 weeks there between 2010 and 2011. On its way to the top, Pop’s posthumous debut also passed Drake’s Take Care (16 weeks), Macklemore and Ryan Lewis’ The Heist (13), and Kendrick Lamar’s DAMN. (11).

Should Shoot For The Stars, Aim For The Moon can keep up its chart-topping streak going, it will break another Billboard record. If it reaches 29 nonconsecutive weeks at No. 1, the album will break MC Hammer’s record for most weeks atop the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Album chart. It also recently passed Michael Jackson’s Bad and Prince’s Purple Rain for most weeks on the chart, which is cool, too.

Open Mike Eagle Will Collaborate With El-P On His ‘What Had Happened Was’ Podcast

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In addition to being an art-rap pioneer and a fixture of the stand-up comedy circuit, Open Mike Eagle also records a podcast titled What Had Happened Was on his own podcast network. In its debut season last year, Mike interviewed guest Prince Paul for 12 episodes of the tales behind some of the legendary producers most storied works, including the Gravediggaz album, De La Soul’s Three Feet High And Rising, and more. Today, Mike announced that the show will return for a second season featuring another storied but sometimes overlooked producer: El-P.

While El-P has become something of an indie favorite in recent years due to his work with Adult Swim and Run The Jewels, his career spans all the way back to the mid-90s and includes underground rap staples like Company Flow’s debut album Funcrusher Plus, Cannibal Ox’s The Cold Vein, Cage’s Hell’s Winter, and his own string of widely-respected albums like Fantastic Damage and Cancer 4 Cure. El-P has plenty to talk about, and as Open Mike Eagle has proven to be an empathetic, enaging host, the second season of What Had Happened Was is sure to be a must-listen for indie rap fans.

The second season debuts 3/31 via Open Mike’s Stoney Island Audio network and continues weekly every Wednesday.