Pop Smoke was just getting a taste of stardom when it was all ripped away from him in early 2020. The Brooklyn rapper was tragically shot and killed during a home invasion in Los Angeles. While his musical talents and impact were undeniable, we recently learned that Pop had so much more he wanted to prove to his supporters. In just a week, the rapper will make his posthumous acting debut for Eddie Huang’s basketball film, Boogie. While fans will still have to wait for the arrival of that film, they can enjoy some new music from Pop thanks to his “AP” single.
The new track finds Pop Smoke thriving in the drill rap pocket that brought him a massive wave of supporters in his unfortunately brief career. Throughout the nearly three-minute song, the Brooklyn native flaunts his lavish lifestyle and raps about his jewelry, money, and more. The track is the also official lead single for the Boogie film. In it, Pop will play a character named Monk, one who rivals the movie’s main character Alfred “Boogie” Chin (played by Taylor Takahashi) on and off the basketball court.
“AP” may not be the only song fans hear from Pop Smoke this year. DMX and Meek Mill have both teased records that he is featured on.
Hear the new single in the video above.
Boogie is scheduled for release on March 5 through Focus Features.
Last night Chloe X Halle dropped the video for “Ungodly Hour,” the title track off their massive 2020 breakout album. But that wasn’t the only thing they had in store for fans. Since the pandemic has made it impossible for musicians to tour their work, plenty are opting to release a deluxe or revamped version of their records from last year. Chloe X Halle have dubbed theirs the “Chrome Edition” of Ungodly Hour, and dropped the new version tonight. This edition includes two new tracks from the sisters Bailey, and the songs hew a lot closer to gothic pop than the smoldering R&B of the rest of the album.
Not that there aren’t hints of this kind of power on “Tipsy,” but “Hazy” and “80/20” take on an even more confident, swaggering feel — there’s no shying, loved-up narrator on these tracks. Instead, braggadocio and dark beats pepper the new songs, which are ripe for remixes too. And though it’s not fair to constantly compare Chloe and Halle to their mentor, Beyonce, these two songs in particular are reminiscent of some of the more bossed up work she’s been drawn to, especially later in her career. For this duo to already be at that place of extreme confidence at this age? Now that’s the power of a mentor. Check out “Hazy” above and “80/20” below.
Stop the presses — two of music’s most legendary groovers are collaborating.
In an unexpected Instagram post from Bruno Mars — who has been relatively quiet on the new music front since his controversially won Album Of The Year at the 2018 Grammys — revealed that he and Anderson .Paak have teamed up for what is sure to be one of the funkiest supergroups around. Dubbing themselves Silk Sonic, Mars shared that the two have already made a whole album’s worth of material together, and the first new song will be dropping next week, March 5.
“We locked in and made an album,” Bruno wrote on Instagram. The band’s called Silk Sonic. First song drops next Friday 3/5.”
This isn’t the first time .Paak has worked with another artist for an entire album. His project NxWorries is a supergroup with LA legend Knxwledge, and their 2016 album Yes Lawd! is still a fan-favorite. Bruno isn’t a stranger to working with other big names, he infamously pulled Cardi B onto “Finesse” at the height of her career, and has worked with The Police (!) already. But he hasn’t gone as far as to create an entire album with another artist, so it will be fascinating to see how this plays out. In the meantime, check in next Friday to get the first taste of Silk Sonic.
Chicago rapper Femdot earned his first big moment in the spotlight in 2019 thanks to his album ’94 Camry Music. Soon enough, his name started to appear more often, appearing on collaborations with Taylor Bennet, Pivot Gang, and more. Femdot returned last November with the tracks “Back Home” and “Lifetime,” featuring Saba. More than three months after sharing the two songs, Femdot and Saba reconnect in a video for the latter.
The rappers’ “Lifetime” collaboration details their hope for career longevity. Together, the Chicago rappers make it clear that want more than fifteen minutes of fame, and in the video they come together in a quiet field to look out to the horizon with the hope that their wishes become a reality.
The new video is the latest piece of content to arrive from Saba in what we hope leads to a new album. After going more than a year without a solo release, the rapper returned towards the end of 2019 with “Mrs. Whoever” and “Something In The Water” alongside Denzel Curry. Two months later, he returned with more music thanks to “So And So” and “Areyoudown? Pt. 2.” So who knows, maybe there will be more.
After the live music industry shut down in 2020, The Flaming Lips’ vocalist Wayne Coyne thought up an inventive way to play live shows while keeping the audience safe: giant plastic bubbles. The band has already proved the method successful with a handful of in-person shows earlier this year. Now as schools across the country begin to reopen, one Washington public school is taking inspiration from Coyne’s plastic bubbles.
Eastmont High School in Wenatchee, Washington has been open since the end of January. The school had to find ways to mitigate the risk of possible infections by staggering student’s class schedules and restricting cafeteria tables. But bringing back band indoor band practice was a bigger challenge — until they came up with a clever solution. According to a report from The Wenatchee World, the school’s band teacher has placed a number of bright green individual tents in their room for students to play their instruments in.
Some tents clearly worked better than others, however. The photos show a number of students able to comfortably play instruments within the cramped space. But for one tuba player, it seems like the tent was not quite big enough.
Even still, the school’s principle Eric Anderson is excited for the students to be back in the halls, and he says the kids are equally as happy. “It is amazing the level of energy in the building, having adults interacting with kids but also the conversations of adults to adults,” Anderson said. “You get kids back in the building, you get a lot of smiles even with masks on. You can tell people are happy.”
Check out photos of the COVID-safe band practice above.
The Flaming Lips is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
Bobby Shmurda was barely out of his teens when he was locked up for six years on conspiracy charges by New York prosecutors eager to connect him and fellow rapper Rowdy Rebel with a series of crimes supposedly committed by a Brooklyn-based gang. Now, he’s out and wants to be a better role model to young fans, citing one fan letter he received in prison that impressed on him the power of his position as a famous rapper.
In a new profile in GQ by veteran journalist Frazier Tharpe, Bobby explains how receiving the letter convinced him to change his mindset. “It was 2016, I was in the box,” he recalls. “A six-year-old girl wrote to me; she said I was her favorite rapper… That just let me know the kids are watching me, and I have to be a role model.” The experience, he says, prompted him to take music more seriously and commit to his career once he got out. “I didn’t really care too much for it until I went to jail and I seen how the fans were loyal,” he enthuses. “I can’t name a week that I didn’t see at least 10 [pieces] of fan mail, throughout the whole bid.”
After all, he says, the prisons are full of talented Black men from similar environments who weren’t given much to look forward to. “The streets are talented. I saw that shit in jail, all day. There’s basketball players, smart-ass motherf*ckers, n****s who know this or that but just don’t know how to apply their sh*t, or have behavior problems. But n****s not taught to apply their shit where we come from.”
Bobby counts the late, great Nipsey Hussle as one of the examples he intends to follow in the future. “His mind was different. He was saying all the things we were going to do when I got out.”
After Drakeo The Ruler and Almighty Suspect came through to tear it up in consecutive weeks, UPROXX Sessions keeps the West Coast party vibe alive with yet another alum of the City of Angels’ well-established underground scene, AzChike. The South Central native dropped by to perform his Cypress Moreno-produced, post-G-funk bop, “Amiri.”
Although the track’s namesake is best known as a brand of expensive, highly-detailed menswear, Chike makes his intentions clear from the get. “Amiri on my feet, I said, ‘F*ck the jeans,’” he crows in his signature swing-flow deadpan. “Need at least ten to f*ck with me.” The LA-based designer, best known for customizing denim for rock stars like Axl Rose and Steven Tyler, has also become popular with hip-hop artists, receiving shout-outs from A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie, Future, and more, but in typical Lotusland fashion, the LA-bred AzChike has no use for the existing trend, preferring instead to set his own.
Watch AzChike’s trailblazing performance of “Amiri” for UPROXX Sessions 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 Sessionsis a showcase of some of our favorite performers, who just might soon be yours, too.
R&B singer Ayanis is a walking ball of energy. It’s a quality that jumps out in her music as well as her overall personality. We spoke to the Texas-born, Atlanta-bred singer just months removed from her sophomore project, Yani, and this enthusiasm and exuberance flowed with ease throughout our half-hour phone call.
Despite all the hectic aspects of 2020, Yani stood as a bright spot for Ayanis. The 11-track project saw her working with some of today’s most recognizable names: Wiz Khalifa, Mulatto, A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie, Jack Harlow, and Queen Naija. Despite this, Ayanis doesn’t fade to the background because of her co-stars, instead, she shines just as bright beside them.
Coupled with the album’s most popular tracks “Ecstasy” and “Lil Boi (Big Talk),” there are many moments where Ayanis stands out on her own. “New ” is a sultry number that captures the renewed love with an old flame and “Good Music” a triumphant track that reaks of the New Orleans background her parents grew up in.
With a new year ahead of her plenty of opportunities to grow as well, we sat down with Ayanis to discuss Yani, her childhood, and what her ultimate goal in the industry is.
You ended 2020 on a high note with the release of your Yani project, what was your reaction to the way it was received and what are your goals musically for the new year?
Yani got a really great response and I took my time on it so I was proud to see that people are really supporting the record. People haven’t seen me with features before, so having features on the project — people being able to see me collaborate — sees me in a different light, and then my music has grown from my first project, Directions to Yani. So, you know it’s like me being grown, sexy, and very confident, but the response has been great, and as far as this year? I want to get my first plaque for sure — plaques with an s — I wanna go platinum. Billboard, that’s a goal for myself, top 40 — I really want to get the No. 1 on Billboard for real. Put out another project as well and just continue to grow.
What was the difference behind your intention in creating your 2018 project Directions compared to Yani?
So the intention of Direction was discovery. It was me figuring out, okay what do you like? What don’t you like? What do you sound really good on? It’s basically like an experiment in a way with Direction. It was me trying to figure out what works, okay let’s try this but I’m down to experiment with sounds and different types of production and when I got to Yani, I really found myself. I really put a stamp on it and said Yani is my alter ego. You know me as Ayanis, but Yani can be bold, she can be sensual, she can be confident, she can talk a lot of sh*t. Direction was like my younger self, it’s like an introduction basically. The intent was the introduction to let people know, she’s a singer, she’s a dancer, she’s an entertainer, and then when you get to Yani it’s like, “Oh! Alright!” You know what time it is. Just settling in myself as an artist and my confidence, I think the intent was there just because of me growing as a person and as an artist for Yani.
I know it might be too early to tell, but what do you think your intention will be with your next project?
I think I made it very clear that I call my genre “R&Bop.” I like to do uptempo, I like to do music that I can dance to and that people will feel good cause, that’s what I felt like, is missing a little bit R&B, like the music that people can dance to and be with their friends with and be with their family with and be hype on top of also having the vulnerability in the songs That’s why I call it “R&Bop” cause it just really pushed the rhythm and blues. So for my next project, I think it’s too early to say because it’s like I just start recording in the recording process and then I figure out where I want to take it, but it’s going to stay within the genre of “R&Bop.” It’s gonna have those records that you can dance and feel good to while also talking my sh*t for the ladies, I always have to do that. I have to speak for the ladies first and foremost.
Moving back to Yani, how would you describe this project to a listener who hasn’t discovered you yet? What experience do you think these 11 songs bring?
You’ll experience great energy, I want that first and foremost. The energy of being fun and exciting and feminine but also Southern. I have a certain twang when I talk, I have certain lingo because I was born in Texas and my family’s from New Orleans, and I lived in Atlanta, so everything is Southern. Yeah, it’s energy, we’ve got songs on there like “Ecstasy” that are sensual and “One Night” as well. Then you have me having fun like in “Gumbo” or “Good Music,” which is like something you can vibe out with your friends and your family. You also have a vulnerable side, a relatable side, which is me discussing being afraid of relationships or still dealing with the same person like with “New.” It’s just the energy of how you feel when you’re most confident and also when you’re sitting at home alone and you’re like, “Oh sh*t,” you know when you think about your life that night. It’s the energy first and foremost, I think it takes you through the experiences of every emotion really.
Let’s talk about some of the songs on the album, starting with “Drip,” what made that the perfect song to start the project with and how was the chemistry between you and Mulatto as you both worked on it?
I know that the project had to start with “Drip” because the production is so big and so triumphant, shoutout to the producer, [DJ] Hardwerk, he’s incredible, he also produced “Flex.” When I heard the production I was just like, “Woah.” If this was the first song on a project, you would keep listening to the next song and the next song and the next song. So I wanted to start it on such a high note, I think on my first project I started it with a slow tempo song and then I gradually went into more uptempo, but this project like I said, for me with the energy so I wanted to let people know I’m here, that was why it was first. Having Mulatto on the record, she’s also from Atlanta, we’re both from the southside of Atlanta, so it’s dope that she did the record with me. She’s so talented and she’s been working for such a long time, we actually met a long time ago when we were both younger and to see her now flourishing and doing her thing is amazing to me. I just want to have another triumphant boss-ass female on the song and she was perfect. We’re both from Atlanta, we’re both from the southside of Atlanta, it was dope having her on there.
One of my favorite songs on the project is “One Night,” the music video has 3.3 million views right now. How did the collab with Wiz Khalifa come about?
Shout out to the producer J. White, he’s incredible. He’s worked with Cardi B, did “Bodak Yellow,” he’s done a lot of amazing stuff. So, how the “One Night” with Wiz Khalifa came about was that I met him at the Christmas party that Atlantic [Records] has annually. He was in the section right next to me and I got his information and then he was like, “Hit me up if you ever hear a song idea,” and I was thinking to myself, oh yeah, I’m definitely gonna have something that I can hear you on. I want to say I already had the song, I’m pretty sure I already had cut at the time and I thought about it and I was like Wiz would actually be perfect for this because he’s so versatile and I’ve really been a fan of him since high school [too]. I sent him the record and literally, he sent it back. I wasn’t expecting to send it back so soon cause I’m a new artist and he’s probably really busy, so the fact that he sent it right back I just really appreciated that. But yeah, it was because of the Christmas party to make a long story short.
A track like “Lil Boi (Big Talk)” overflows with confidence, but so does the whole EP. What’s the source of this confidence for you?
I’ve always been a very confident person, I would say because I’ve always known what I wanted to do. I think knowing my purpose is what helps me be confident because I always feel like I’m doing what I’m supposed to be doing. I feel like I’m living my dreams out because it’s my purpose. So, I think that’s probably why I’m confident, on top of whenever I stay in certain situations, I always think in my head like, “I’m gonna bounce back from this, it’s all good.” If a guy tried to play me? Ha, he played himself cause now I’m on ten like now let’s go make a song about it. I just have that mentality to keep going and keep pushing the envelope and keep bettering yourself, that’s for sure what pushes my confidence just because I’m a super passionate person.
Was it hard creating a project in the midst of a pandemic? If so, how did you overcome some of these creative obstacles?
Well, some studios were closed at the beginning of the pandemic, but it didn’t stop anything because I’m always finding ways to be creative, no matter the situation. We already had some records, because I’m literally always recording. When we got back in it was like, I think I was just so excited and eager. I had ideas, I had things I wanted to talk about, I had time. To me, it was kind of a blessing, because you have time to think about what you want to do next. Usually, it’s go, go, go, go go, if you have a second to think like, alright, what’s your objective? What do you wanna leave the impression with for this next project? How do you want people to feel or? What do you want to experience? I think it was a blessing, in a way. In another way, I want to perform. In that aspect, I miss being able to perform and meeting people because I want to actually see people in real life. Do the interviews in real life, from that spectrum it’s like, damn. On the other hand, being able to record, that’s been great. I just missed real-life interactions as an artist, being able to meet people, see people and talk to them in person.
What’s a dream collaboration that you hope to make a reality in your career?
I have a few, but I’ll just give you like three. Drake, Missy Elliot, man I have so many, Beyonce and Rihanna [too].
Being that you were born in Texas and raised in Atlanta, what are some artists that had a huge impact on your artistry.
Oh man, being from the South, there’s so much influence, especially between Texas and Atlanta. As far as Texas goes, I was listening to Beyonce growing up — I love Beyonce. I lived in Texas until I was six and then I moved to Georgia, my dad’s in the military. It’s that and New Orleans influences too cause my family’s from there. Atlanta, so many [influences] too, there’s TLC, there was Monica, there’s Outkast. When I was in middle school, Travis Porter, they have such a fun, vibrant sound to their music. Then R&B, you have Ciara — there’s a lot of really amazing, talented people between Texas and Atlanta that influenced me. I got to work with Jermaine Dupri and he’s from Atlanta.
How was that?
Amazing! He really is hands-on and he can stay up. I know I could stay up, but he can stay up. He’ll be working on a beat and then we’ll be writing songs. He’s incredibly talented, very hands-on. He brings in the right people, he brought in Johnta Austin and Dallas Austin, it was incredible.
What was Ayanis like as a young girl?
Oh my gosh. She was not afraid to try anything, she’s really the same [now]. I think she still lives in me for sure that’s how I’m here. My mom used to always have this camera, this VHS, and she always used to put it in all of our faces and be like, say hi. I would sing or dance or [be] like, “Look at me!” I knew exactly what I wanted to do, even back then. My mom would tell me all the time, “She’s confident, the girl don’t sit down. She never sits down.” That’s what she always used to tell me. “Girl you always moving around, when are you gonna sit down?” I’m like, “Never!” I’ve been that way, fun, not afraid, and confident, a dreamer [too]. That’s how I got here. When I was younger, I used to always say, “I’m gonna be a singer when I grow up.”
What do you hope to be or become as you grow older in this industry?
I think just because of the way I was raised, I always want to be a good person and treat people the way that I want to be treated, as a person. No matter how big I become, I’m gonna always try to remain humble because I think that’s important. Things are given to you, that doesn’t mean that you get to be a d*ckhead. I know what happens. I definitely believe what I see for myself, I believe I’m gonna have a huge career. I’ve been working towards it and I’m gonna continue working towards it for years, so I’m definitely in it for longevity. I want to be a platinum-selling recording artist, I want to be able to travel the world when it opens back up, the world tours, give back, just [be] a big superstar. Touching people with my music, with my talents, and being able to give back to people and making them feel something and inspire other people to believe in their dreams.
