Music

DVSN, Ty Dolla Sign, And Mac Miller’s ‘I Believed It’ Reflects On A Past Lover Who Broke Their Promise

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Every now and then we receive an unexpected collaboration from two or more artists and this new track seems to be one of those. DVSN, Ty Dolla Sign, and the late Mac Miller bring their talents together for their new song, “I Believe It.” It’s a reflective effort that finds the trio looking back on their past with a former lover who broke all the promises they once hoped to keep. Along with the song, DVSN announced a joint project with Ty Dolla Sign is “on the way” in a post to Twitter.

While the song marks the first time the three artists have collaborated on a song, it’s not the first time the individual acts have worked with one of the names on the song. Last year, DVSN recruited Ty Dolla Sign for “Dangerous City” off their third album, A Muse In Their Feelings while Mac Miller worked with Ty Dolla Sign back in 2016 on “Cinderella” from the late rapper’s album, The Divine Feminine. Prior to the song’s release, DVSN and Ty Dolla Sign both shared videos of them working on “I Believed It” with Mac Miller in the studio, confirming that the song was worked on and finished before Mac’s tragic death.

The song comes after DVSN shared a deluxe reissue of A Muse In Their Feelings and weeks after Ty Dolla Sign joined YG and Mozzy in the video for “Vibe With You.” As for Mac Miller, the late rapper has a book on the way comprised of stories from his friends and collaborators.

You can press play on “I Believe It” in the video above.

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

Nas, Freddie Gibbs, And Cordae Reflect On How ‘Life Is Like A Dice Game’

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Three generations of hip-hop’s top technicians come together on “Life Is Like A Dice Game,” a new Nas release from Spotify’s Spotify Singles program in conjunction with the RapCaviar playlist. A&Red by Carl Chery of Spotify and produced by Hit-Boy, the single spawned from Nas’ 1993 sessions for his canon classic debut album Illmatic, where he freestyled the verse but never finished a song for it.

Now, nearly 30 years later, Spotify has completed the song, adding a beat from Hit-Boy and verses from two of Nas’s most clear-cut successors in Freddie Gibbs and Cordae, both elite MCs in their own rights, to finally put the freestyle’s portentous final line — “When I finish the sh*t, it’s going to be a hit” — to the test.

Nas explained how the track came together in a press release, saying, “Spotify pulled out a leak from the 90s that I did eons ago, and asked if I could resurrect it. I can’t remember where I recorded it, or who produced it – maybe Easy Moe Bee, he was killin’ the game at the time! Carl Chery from Spotify suggested we connect with Freddie & Cordae to bring the song new life and I loved it.”

July also marks the 25th anniversary of Nas’ follow-up to Illmatic, the criminally underrated It Was Written, which dropped on July 2 in 1996, as well as the 30th anniversary of Nas’ universally lauded breakout verse on Main Source’s “Live At The Barbecue,” which changed the rap landscape on July 23, 1991.

Listen to Nas’ “Life Is Like A Dice Game” featuring Cordae and Freddie Gibbs below.

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

Brent Faiyaz And Drake Hope The Love Of Their Lives Will Enjoy ‘Wasting Time’ With Them

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From the early moments of his career to today, Drake has always offered a hand in spotlighting acts within the newer generation of both hip-hop and R&B. This includes ASAP Rocky and Kendrick Lamar, who he brought on to headline his 2012 Club Paradise tour before they earned their respective mainstream breakouts within the year that followed. Other names include Jhene Aiko, Migos, Lil Baby, and most recently Yung Bleu. The Toronto rapper’s streak continues with “Wasting Time,” his latest track alongside Brent Faiyaz.

He guests on The Neptunes-produced song that finds the pair pouring out their hearts to a special woman in their lives. While there might be issues in their growing relationship, Brent and Drake still desire to spend their free time with the respective women they have so much love for.

This song arrives after Brent grew to be one of 2020’s most popular R&B acts thanks to his F*ck The World project. The ten-track effort showed a more narcissistic side of the singer, one that often dipped into toxic habits within love. Recently, he’s kept fans happy with singles that include “Gravity” with Tyler The Creator and “Show U Off“.

As for Drake, the rapper continues to make his supporters wait for his upcoming sixth album, Certified Lover Boy. The project was supposed to arrive at the top of the year, but multiple delays have left fans with nothing but its lead single, “Laugh Now Cry Later” with Lil Durk, and hope that it arrives sooner than later.

You can press play on “Wasting Time” in the video above.

Britney Spears’ Request To Have Her Father Removed As Her Co-Conservator Was Denied

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Last month, Britney Spears reportedly had plans to speak with a judge about removing her father as co-conservator. But now, a week after she made her first testimony about her situation, a judge denied her request.

According to TMZ, Britney was not looking to push her other co-conservator, Jodi Montgomery, out of their role as she was satisfied with their work. However, her displeasure with the way her father has handled the conservatorship pushed her to request his removal. Unfortunately for the singer, her father will retain his position, but Bessemer Trust, a financial planning company from Boston, will step in as co-conservator of her finances with Jamie for the time being.

This comes after the singer’s father reportedly said he is not the one restricting her freedoms. According to TMZ, Jamie said he is not in control of things like Britney’s birth control usage and how much time she spends with her boyfriend. He adds that “he has been cut off from communicating with her.” Jamie noted that while he’s in charge of her finances, co-conservator Jodi Montgomery is in charge of her day-to-day decisions and has been for the last two years.

The judge’s denial comes a week after Britney called the conservatorship “abusive” during a hearing about the court-ordered arrangement. “I’ve been in denial,” she admitted. “I’ve been in shock. I am traumatized. I just want my life back.”

G Herbo Recruits 21 Savage, Polo G, Gunna, And More For His Upcoming Album ’25’

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G Herbo is just days away from dropping his second album in as many years. Titled 25, it follows PTSD, released last spring, and he just dropped the tracklist.

Across the project’s 16 songs, which extends to 19 with its bonus tracks, G Herbo calls on Polo G, Lil Tjay, 21 Savage, The Kid Laroi, Gunna, Yosohn, and Rowdy Rebel to assist him. The Chicago rapper first announced the project last week through a video trailer.

In addition to revealing the album’s tracklist, Herbo also sharing a lengthy message on Instagram about the road that led to 25. “I LOST MORE THAN I EVER GAINED BEING IN THE STREETS & STILL NEVER COMPLAINED,” he wrote in part. “NOW THAT I TURNED #25 I JUST GREW A LIL WISER BUT IM STILL JUST AS PASSIONATE ABOUT THIS SH*T & EVERYTHING I BELIEVE IN! I COULD GO ON & ON ABOUT THIS SH*T BUT IM NOT!

You can view the artwork for 25 above and its tracklist below.

1. “I Don’t Wanna Die”
2. “Cry No More” Feat. Polo G & Lil TJay
3. “Stand The Rain”
4. “T.O.P.” Feat. 21 Savage
5. “You Can’t” Feat. Kid Laroi & Gunna
6. “No Jail Time”
7. “Cold World” Feat. Yosohn
8. “Whole Hearts”
9. “2 Chains”
10. “Drill” Feat. Rowdy Rebel
11. “Trenches Know My Name”
12. “Doughboy”
13. “Demands”
14. “Loyalty”
15. “Pray 4 My Enemies”
16. “Turning 25”

BONUS:
17. “Statement”
18. “Really Like That”
19. “Break Yo’self”

25 is out 7/2 via Machine/Epic. Pre-order it here.

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

Drake Teams Up With A Climate-Focused Firm To Reduce His Carbon Footprint

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With much of the country in the midst of an insufferable heatwave, it’s no surprise that the conversation around global warming has returned to the forefront. Many people are doing their best to live as efficiently and cleanly as possible. Among them is Drake, who just teamed up with the climate-focused startup Aspiration in order to reduce and offset his carbon footprint.

“It’s exciting to partner with a company that’s found an easy way to offer everyone the ability to reduce their carbon footprint,” Drake said on Wednesday, according to Complex. “Aspiration’s innovative approach to combating climate change is really inspiring and I hope together we can help to motivate and create awareness.”

The rapper’s manager, Future The Prince, also chimed in with comments of his own. “Drake is a visionary with big ideas,” he said. “I was incredibly fortunate to find him a partner to not only help him realize his personal goals but to inspire others along the way. Drake, Dreamcrew, and I are all super excited about what Aspiration is doing and the possibilities and the road ahead.”

The company announced that through the partnership, they will calculate the carbon footprint of the rapper’s travel and other events — like tours — and use the resulting figure to offset the impact through its reforestation program. Their partnership is also focused on the firm’s Sustainable Impact Services, which uses Aspiration’s proprietary tools and tech in order to help offset carbon footprints.

Lil Nas X Wants His Fans To Stop Trolling Madonna Over Her Reaction To His BET Awards Performance Kiss

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On Sunday, Lil Nas X’s BET Awards performance of his recent hit “Montero (Call Me By Your Name)” set social media abuzz with its racy final shot, which evoked comparisons to Madonna’s similar act at the 2003 MTV VMAs from many sources — including Madonna herself. However, Madonna’s lighthearted reminder to fans about Nas’ inspiration wasn’t taken in the spirit in which it was intended by many fans, prompting Nas to put in his two cents on the situation.

In the wake of the awards show kerfuffle, Madonna chimed in on Instagram to post a side-by-side photo comparison of her three-way kiss with Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera and Nas’ make-out session with one of his backup dancers, including the tongue-in-cheek caption #diditfirst. Naturally, fans on social media came to Nas’ defense, trolling Madonna for what they saw as stepping on Nas’ moment.

However, Nas, replying to PopCrave’s post about Madonna’s seemingly petty reaction, subtly reminded fans that there’s often more going on behind-the-scenes than they know. “Me and Madonna are friends,” he wrote. “It’s just a joke.”

Meanwhile, much like the song itself (as well as its accompanying music video), the kiss continues to be controversial on social media, with some seeing it as a watershed moment for queer representation in mainstream media and others contending that it represented society’s decaying morals. For his part, Nas has handled the attention with his usual panache, wittily trolling his critics and threatening to up the ante the next time around — time will tell whether that prediction will end up being a joke or not.

Kodak Black Threw Thousands Of Dollars In The Ocean And Down A Toilet

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“Throwing your money away” is a common expression that means somebody is wasting their funds on useless things or are otherwise living with a lack of financial smarts. Kodak Black, however, decided to take that statement literally by actually getting rid of stacks of hundred dollar bills.

In a video shared on Instagram last night, the rapper is on a boat, grabbing stacks of hundreds and throwing them overboard into the water. He captioned the post, “I Broke You Off When Dem F*ck N****s Wouldn’t Give You A Dime !!! I Ain’t Owe You Sh*t N**** I Just Wanted To See You Shine !!! Yeen Never Gave Me Sh*t N**** I Had My Own Grind !!!!”

Then, in a tweet from earlier today, he tweeted a video of himself trying (and failing) to flush more $100s down a toilet.

Notably, this comes after the rapper tweeted that he would donate $1 million to charity if he received a pardon from Donald Trump in his final days in office. Sure enough, Black got the pardon he was looking for, but the tweet in which Kodak made his philanthropic promise was deleted. At the time, his lawyer said in a statement, “A statement promising something for something in exchange is not appropriate and although Kodak has always given to charity his whole career and will continue to do charity, not in exchange for anything. Some think this is a story. It isn’t.”

Vince Staples Reflects On His Humble Beginning On The Anniversary Of ‘Summertime ’06’

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Summertime ’06 was a huge release for Vince Staples. Following a handful of mixtapes in the years prior, the rapper’s 2015 debut album was the first time a lot of fans were exposed to him. Additionally, the album remains Staples’ one of his biggest chart successes, at is has his highest peak on the Billboard Hot Rap Albums chart at No. 2. That album came out six years ago today, and Staples’ celebration on Twitter made him a trending topic.

This afternoon, he tweeted, “Summertime ’06 was 6 years ago. Thank you to everyone who listened. [heart emoji] N.I.P. TSkrap.” He then added a couple hours later, “Favorite song from Summertime ’06?” Sure enough, he got his answer, as “Norf Norf” started trending.

He went on to describe his humble housing arrangement while making the album: “When Summertime ’06 was being made we stayed off 7th & Temple four deep in a one bedroom apartment with one 380. Life change fast lol.”

Back when Staples first announced the album, he wrote of it on Instagram (as Stereogum notes), “Love tore us all apart. Love for self, love for separation, love for the little we all had, love for each other, where we came from… Summer of 2006, the beginning of the end of everything I though I knew. Youth was stolen from my city that Summer and Im left alone to tell the story. This might not make sense but that’s because none of it does, we’re stuck. Love tore us all apart.”

A Tribe Called Quest Is Selling A Portion Of Their Royalties As An NFT

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While it shouldn’t be a surprise to see hip-hop acts getting in on the NFT craze at this point, the latest rappers to announce their non-fungible product have attached some real value to it. A Tribe Called Quest is selling an NFT through Royalty Exchange which will grant holders access to a 1.5% share of the royalties from the iconic rap group’s first five albums: People’s Instinctive Travels And The Paths Of Rhythm, The Low End Theory, Midnight Marauders, Beats, Rhymes And Life, and The Love Movement.

The NFT is being auctioned on the Royalty Exchange website using Ethereum, beginning today and running through the next 27 hours as of press time. The starting price was 16.500 ETH (or $35,000) and so far, that number has gone up to 16.659 ETH ($35,921), with just two bids. Expect that number to jump as the deadline nears You can watch the bids in real-time, and the winner can expect a biannual distribution of around $3,000, provided that CDs, vinyl, streams, and sync licensing hold steady.

The site describes Tribe’s catalog as “celebrated by critics and fans alike as the most intelligent, artistic rap group of the 1990s.” Some of the places their music has appeared include the 2021 live-action Tom And Jerry film, the 2020 Pixar film Soul, the fan-favorite Apple+ series Ted Lasso, and tons of video games, movies, shows, and advertisements.