Music

Migos Reaffirms Their Position As Hip-Hop Stars On Their Assertive Banger, ‘Modern Day’

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This week, Migos released their first album in more than three years with Culture III. The project was spearheaded by a trio of strong singles — “Need It,” “Racks 2 Skinny,” and “Straightenin” — that sparked anticipation for a new project that might leave fans a lot more satisfied than they were after the group’s underwhelming 2018 album, Culture II. For the first time in a long time, all signs are pointing upward for the Atlanta rap group.

Quavo, Takeoff, and Offset head out to the island waters for their latest single, “Modern Day.” Migos grab their jetskis and speed through the waters on the confident new track, one that aims to remind listeners of their position as hip-hop stars. “Let’s take a modern-day stroll,” Quavo quips on the song. “This is the modern-day h*e / Last time I checked we was runnin’ the globe.” In the video, they illustrate their big-dollar lifestyle by showing off their luxury cars and throwing a packed house party.

The song arrives after the trio joined HER and DJ Khaled to perform “We Going Crazy” at the 2021 Billboard Music Awards. Prior to that, they announced a fall festival in Las Vegas to celebrate the release of Culture III.

Press play on “Modern Day” in the video above.

Culture III is out now on Quality Control Music.

Gucci Mane And Pooh Shiesty Aim For A Championship In Their ‘Like 34 & 8’ Video

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Gucci Mane is releasing his new album Ice Daddy next week and employs his 1017 Records artist Pooh Shiesty on the single, “Like 34 & 8,” as well as the accompanying music video. The video features the two rappers performing their verses wearing some of their chunkiest jewelry while surrounded by boisterous backup dancers dressed as cheerleaders. They also wear “New 1017” jerseys, paying homage to the inspirations behind the song: Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal, who famously wore the numbers when they won their three back-to-back NBA championships for the LA Lakers in 2000-02.

While Gucci and Pooh have indicated some powerful chemistry since the 2020 relaunch of 1017 Records as The New 1017, the last few weeks haven’t been kind to the label’s burgeoning roster of Southern rap stars. It has appeared that Pooh Shiesty really lived the lifestyle he rapped about on songs like “Ugly” and “Lifers,” when Pooh Shiesty was arrested on a charge of aggravated battery after a shooting at King Of Diamonds in Miami. Before that, 1017 artist Foogiano was sentenced to five years in prison after skipping house arrest for a friend’s funeral. It’s been a tough month for Gucci Mane, but overcoming adversity has been his brand for years. He could very well bounce back by Christmas, especially if Ice Daddy performs to the standards he’s set over a decade of consistently fire releases.

Watch Gucci Mane’s “Like 34 & 8” video above.

Pre-order Ice Daddy here.

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

Polo G Defiantly Proclaims There Is ‘No Return’ For Him, The Kid Laroi, Or Lil Durk

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Polo G has come a long way from the trenches of Chicago and now, he refuses to go back. That’s the legend behind his defiant Hall Of Fame single “No Return” which features The Kid Laroi and Lil Durk. The video, which centers on an armored truck heist and a chemical lab where Polo and his compatriots craft mysterious blue crystals, sees the three rappers counting stacks and battling their way out of a post-apocalyptic wasteland.

Polo’s new album, which dropped last night, finds him working with a variety of collaborators, including Lil Wayne on “Gang Gang” and Nicki Minaj on “For The Love Of New York,” arrived in the midst of a breakout year for Polo. Not only was he featured on XXL‘s 2020 Freshman cover, but he’s also become an in-demand guest artist as his talents were tapped on Lil Tjay’s “Headshot,” Rod Wave’s “Richer,” and the Boogie soundtrack alongside Pop Smoke on “Fashion.” He also secured his first career No. 1 with “Rapstar.” The success that’s come his way this year has him further than ever on the road to living up to his album’s title.

Watch Polo G’s “No Return” video featuring The Kid Laroi and Lil Durk above.

Hall Of Fame is out now on Columbia Records. Get it here.

Fans Oppose Lil Baby’s Inclusion In The Latest Mount Rushmore Meme Featuring Atlanta Rappers

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It seems that every so often, the “Mount Rushmore” conversation resurfaces on Twitter, bringing with it another round of debate. Over the past few weeks, Mount Rushmore memes have returned in a big way thanks to a Rap Caviar post about the Mount Rushmore of the 2010s. While that debate mainly revolved around the absence of Nicki Minaj, the latest iteration has inspired even more spirited debate thanks to a generational disconnect and the controversial inclusion of one much newer rapper, Lil Baby.

The new meme posits the “GOATs of Atlanta” — i.e. the “greatest of all time” rap acts from The Big Peach — as Jeezy, Future, Rich Homie Quan, and Lil Baby. Leaving aside the fact that no rapper who debuted before 2000 appears, fans opposed Lil Baby’s inclusion, as the younger rapper has only had two studio album releases since breaking out in 2018 with Harder Than Ever. While Lil Baby has expanded his catalog with joint albums like Voice Of The Heroes with Lil Durk and Drip Harder with Gunna.

Hip-hop fans were also put off by the omission of higher-profile faces like Gucci Mane, Ludacris, Outkast, and T.I. Some fans also questioned the inclusion of Rich Homie Quan, whose contributions, while notable, were also decidedly limited thanks to Quan’s relatively short run of impactful hits.

You can see some of the responses below.

Drake And Nicki Minaj Reunite In A Post Promoting The New Polo G Album

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Until very recently, it had been kind of a while since we last heard Drake and Nicki Minaj together on a song, or even seen them in the same place at the same time. A lot of that was probably due to the rigors of their individual schedules and some of it might have been residual resentment over Drake’s tiff with Meek Mill while the latter was dating Nicki and a bit of it could just have been the results of growing up and growing apart, which happens to a lot of people in life.

But fortunately for fans of their tag-team chemistry, the duo recently reunited — along with Young Money founder/mentor Lil Wayne — on “Seeing Green” from the DSP version of her seminal mixtape Beam Me Up, Scotty, which she finally got around to uploading a month ago. Despite Nicki admitting that her collaborators “washed” her on the track, the result was a satisfactory conclusion that seemed to also wash away the years of disconnect between the trio, as Nicki revealed in a behind-the-scenes clip from the making of the song.

It seems that Drake and Nicki also finally found time in their busy schedules to link up in real life, as Nicki posted the first photo of them together in years on her Instagram in a post hyping her newly released collaboration with Polo G, “For The Love Of New York.” “Oh, look who stopped by, ya’ll?” Nicki purrs as Drake poses and mugs in the background. It’s unsure whether they were working on new music or just finally sharing the playdate they previously penciled in for their kids. For some fans, it’s just enough to see two of the icons of the past decade still flourishing after all this time.

Quavo Says He Is Not Mad At Kendrick Perkins, And Actually, It’s All Funny To Him

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Quavo went on First Take on Thursday morning ahead of Migos’ newest release, Culture III, which dropped on Friday. Part of what made his cameo on the show so much fun was it gave him and Kendrick Perkins the chance to have a conversation — Quavo and Perk have been involved in a back-and-forth over the last few years ever since Perkins’ name came up on 2018’s Quavo Huncho.

The two seemed to really go at one another on the show, which raised the question: Do Quavo and Kendrick Perkins legitimately have beef with one another, or is this just two dudes having fun? In a new interview on Complex’s 360 With Speedy Morman, Quavo made clear that he’s mostly having fun.

Via Complex:

“I don’t give a damn about no Kendrick Perkins, man,” said Quavo with a smile. “He’s an analyst. He said his kids love my bars, his kids running around and teasing him. Matter fact, I’m gonna take the kids on a field trip and just leave pops at home. Settle the beef like that.” He made it clear that it’s mostly in jest, however, and that it’s just as “funny” to participate in the beef as it is to watch it all unfold.

It’s unclear whether Perkins views things the same way, but hey, at least Quavo’s having a good time with this whole thing.

Austin McBroom & Vinnie Hacker Share Fight Night Music Picks Ahead Of Their Social Gloves Boxing Match

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Getty Image/Paul Rosales

Some of the biggest names in YouTube and TikTok will be going pound-for-pound this Friday (June 12) at the Miami Hard Rock Stadium for the highly-anticipated event Social Gloves: Battle of the Platforms. Ahead of the massive showdown, a few of the fighters, including YouTube superstar Austin McBroom of the Ace Family as well as TikTok influencers Vinnie Hacker, Ryland Storms, shared with Uproxx the songs that get them amped up and ready to rumble.

For McBroom, who will go up against TikTok topliner Bryce Hall, it’s the vibey-yet-hard-hitting 24KGoldn cut “Company” by 24KGoldn featuring Future. “Makes me feel like I’m on top of the world,” he told us.

Hacker, who will see YouTuber Deji, chose “Young, Wild and Free” by Wiz Khalifa. “I first heard this song when I was filling up my car with E10 and it stuck with me,” he said about his choice.

Popular TikTok star Michael Le, who is expected to face off with YouTuber Faze Jarvis, uses J. Cole’s “95 South” to get pumped. “’95 south’ is a raw, dope ass song,” he told us. “The energy I get when I listen to it is the exact vibe I want people to feel when they see me Saturday night. I’m goin’ in with a beast mentality, ain’t nothin shakin’ that off me.”

Storms, who will fight YouTuber Tanner Fox, happens to get his adrenaline going with Giorono’s Theme from anime series JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, whereas Deji prefers to get hype off his own song “The Truth.” YouTube star AnesonGib on the other hand, who will fight TikTok’s Tayler Holder, likes to get in the zone by listening to the rambunctious “Original Nuttah 25” by UK Apache with Shy FX, which he described as “A song fit for a mad man!”

Fans can livestream the PPV fight on the LiveXLive.com Platform. If you want to catch it in person tickets are available over at Ticketmaster. Lil Baby, Migos, Trippie Redd and DJ Khaled are all expected to grace the stage with fire performances.

“It’s going down at Social Gloves on June 12, and I’m excited to be a part of it,” Lil Baby said in a press release. “It’s great to see all these YouTubers and TikTokers putting in the hard work to prepare for these fights. We are bringing big energy to Social Gloves. I’m looking forward to this day, and I’m sure fans won’t be disappointed.”

Social Gloves: Battle of the Platforms is the first in a series of events planned in partnership with LiveXLive.

Check out the Social Gloves: Fight Night playlist below featuring picks from Austin McBroom, Vinnie Hacker, Ryland Storms, and more!

Guapdad 4000 And Rick Ross’s ‘How Many’ Remix Video Is Filled With Bel Aire And Beauties

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For my money, one of the best albums of 2021 so far is Guapdad 4000’s Illmind-produced, autobiographical 1176 on which the Bay Area rapper exorcises the demons of his youth and cleverly flips an Alice Deejay sample to reflect on his life of crime on “How Many.” Today, Guapdad dropped the deluxe version of 1176, revealing the big-name guest who was initially left off the tracklist: Rick Ross, who appears on the “How Many” remix.

That’s not where the connection stops, by any means. After the deluxe version’s release, Guapdad shared the video for “How Many (Remix),” which sees the two rappers throwing a private house party with a bevy of beauties bouncing their booties and bottles of Ross’s Bel Aire champagne providing the refreshments. There’s also a fun bit where the emblem on a Rolls Royce Phantom slides out of its concealed compartment, only instead of a little angel, it’s a tiny Rick Ross.

Aside from sober reminders of Guapdad’s rough and tumble upbringing 1176 also found the rapper celebrating his Filipino roots with the tender “Chicken Adobo,” which has since become something of an anthem.

Watch Guapdad 4000 and Rick Ross’s “How Many (Remix)” video above.

1176 Deluxe Edition is out now via PARADISE RISING/88rising Records/12Tone Music. Get it here.

Guapdad 4000 is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Russ Rolls The Dice, Hoping To Get ‘Lucky’ In Love

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Russ takes a hard right turn on his latest loose single, “Lucky,” moving away from the moody sounds of his prior efforts this year like “Bankrupt,” “Private,” and “Status,” and even departing from more braggadocious fare like “Ugly” and “Small Talk.” Instead, he picks an uptempo, dancey instrumental with a four-on-the-floor beat to sing the praises of his latest paramour. He opens the track crooning about just how lucky he is, before switching to a quick-step rap cadence suggesting all the thrills he has planned for his romantic partner.

Commenting on the track’s YouTube stream, Russ thanked fans for supporting him, even on left-field departures like “Lucky.” “Thank you to all of you forreal!” he wrote. “I just like making whatever I’m feeling at the moment..it’s therapeutic for me so for y’all to get somethin from the music too means a lot.”

The New Jersey rapper-singer’s near-constant stream of new music is one of the reasons he called his career “pandemic-proof” last year as he continued to advocate for artist ownership. Of course, it probably helps that in addition to his music, he’s got multiple other streams of revenue, including his recently launched strain of cannabis, which he called the “best studio weed.”

Listen to “Lucky” above.