Back in August, legendary R&B singers Brandy and Monica put their differences aside to go head-to-head with their hits in an edition of Verzuz. The battle broke records by having over a million viewers tuning in live, and Kamala Harris even made a quick appearance ahead of the performance. Now, the two have reunited once again to fuel their listeners’ nostalgia by recreating a part of their hit song “The Boy Is Mine.”
More than 23 years after Brandy and Monica first released the song, the two joined on screen for a TikTok. Each singer lip synced their lyrics over the part of “The Boy Is Mine” where the two debate who “the boy” actually belongs to. “Excuse me, can I please talk to you for a minute?” Brandy asks.
The duo did not say what inspired them to recreate the song so many years later, but it could have been sparked by a recent Jeopardy! question that referenced “The Boy Is Mine.”
In other Brandy news, the singer announced earlier this month that 1997 live action Cinderella remake is officially available to stream on Disney+. The film was originally made for TV and starred Brandy as Cinderella and Whitney Houston as the Fairy Godmother. At the time of its release, the musical was viewed by more than 60 million and ended up earning seven Emmy nominations.
Last year, Young Dolph made the shocking announcement that he was quitting music to focus on his family life. But like several recent retirement announcements (Nicki Minaj, anyone?), it didn’t last long. Young Dolph returned with a bang with his polished album Rich Slave. Now, Young Dolph teams up with Key Glock to turn out even more tunes with their joint track “Case Closed.”
The song opens with a low, measured beat before the two rappers reflect on their rise to success. “Went from sleeping on the floor / Now my jewelry box froze / F*ck a boat, f*ck a store / Counted millions in a coat,” Young Dolph raps in the hook.
Ahead of the song’s release, Young Dolph came up with a clever way to promote his 2020 Rich Slave LP. Rather than go down the typical route of releasing album-specific merch (which he still did), the rapper upped the ante by hosting a giveaway contest with a Lamborghini Aventador as the prize. “Last week i walked in the garage to get on my 4wheeler and i looked at my Lambo and said to myself ‘Dolph u should give someone your aventador and let them enjoy it, u not doin nothin wit it,’” he had said alongside the giveaway.
Last week, Meek Mill was leaving a club event and heading back to his car when he ran into Tekashi 69 and his crew. Upon seeing Meek, Tekashi began hurling insults and attempted to push past his security in order to start a fight with the rapper. The whole skirmish was caught on video and the footage went instantly viral, with Meek theorizing that the whole thing was just a publicity stunt. But Tekashi took things one step further with his new track “ZaZa.”
Tekashi debuted the track “ZaZa” Friday, which features a hard-hitting beat and the rapper’s boastful verses. But halfway through his song, Tekashi references his tiff with Meek. Instead of name-dropping the rapper through lyrics, Tekashi inserted a 10-second clip of the actual fight while the track’s video zooms in on Meek’s surprised face.
“ZaZa” arrives shortly after Meek revealed that he’s working on his own version of a diss track. The rapper shared a snippet of the upcoming song in a teaser posted to his social media. “You a b*tch, he a rat / You on the ‘Gram, like, who is that?” he raps in the preview.
Watch Tekashi 69’s “ZaZa” video above.
Meek Mill is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music group.
A bunch of new artists make debuts this week, while a pair of veterans continue to certify themselves within their given niches. Meanwhile, a fallen heroine makes a posthumous comeback, New York drill continues to establish its foothold, and the new wave of LA party rap favorites expands its influence.
Here is the best of hip-hop this week ending February 19, 2021.
Albums/EPs/Mixtapes
CJ — Loyalty Over Royalty
CJ
Staten Island drill newcomer CJ arrived with a splash last year thanks to his hit single “Whoopty.” He followed up earlier this year with “Bop,” proving he wasn’t just a one-hitter quitter. Now, he’s got a deal with Warner Records, and the eyes and ears of the world firmly focused on this debut EP to see if he can really stick.
Ghetts — Conflict Of Interest
Ghetts
UK grime mainstay Ghetts is on his third studio album, released under Warner Records. Featuring fellow British superstars Dave, Giggs, Skepta, Stormy, and Wretch 32 — talk about “star-studded” — his latest album is his most earnest and personal to date.
Lexii Alijai — Come Back Soon
Lexii Alijai
After passing away last year at just 21 years old, Lexii Alijai’s posthumous project arrives with much less fanfare than some other late, rising stars’ debut albums, but it’s just as appreciated by fans of her work, which included appearances on two Kehlani albums. Kyle Banks, P-Lo, and Wale make appearances to give a fond farewell to a powerful talent taken far too soon.
Lil Zay Osama — Trench Baby
Lil Zay Osama
Balancing tough trench talk and plainspoken vulnerability, Lil Zay Osama’s major-label debut (he signed to Warner in 2019) is replete with respected guest stars but offers a self-confident look at an artist who already has a strong sense of who he is and where he’s going. While Doe Boy, G Herbo, Jackboy, and Lil Tjay provide poignant counter perspectives to Osama’s, the story belongs to him alone.
Nef The Pharaoh — SINsational
Nef The Pharaoh
At this point, Nef The Pharaoh album releases have become an annual occurrence, as the Bay Area rapper maintains the consistency of his Vallejo mentor E-40. Here, he continues to walk the line between late-night function background music and truculent fight tunes.
Trippie Redd — Neon Shark vs Pegasus (Deluxe: Presented by Travis Barker)
Trippie Redd
Trippie wants to be a real rockstar and with the monstrous deluxe version of his already massive album Pegasus dropping today, he’s as close as he’s ever been. That’s thanks in part to Travis Barker, who produces the rock-heavy first half of the album, giving fans 14 all-new songs along with a pair of appearances from fellow Ohioan rapper turned rocker Machine Gun Kelly.
Singles/Videos
24kGoldn — “3, 2, 1”
After going to No. 1 on the Hot 100 with “Mood” in 2020, San Francisco sing-rapper 24kGoldn sets his sight on the chart once again with another bouncy, catchy, borderline schmaltzy tune designed to appeal to teenage emotions everywhere. Personally, I like a little schmaltz, and what 24k may lack in lyrical depth, he makes up in a gift for melody and genre-blending with a cross-demographic appeal.
BlueBucksClan — “Horace Grant”
Los Angeles party rap at its disrespectful, conversational, beat-jumping finest. The duo has rapidly developed up a reputation for turning things up and they live up to it here.
CJ — “Politics”
Smartly dropping another new single on the same day as his debut EP, Staten Island’s newest star continues to excavate new pockets for drill, filling them up with his slickly-worded boasts and distinctive, perfectly modulated voice.
Dusty Locane — “Intro 2 Me, Pt. 1”
If CJ is competing for drill’s still-vacant throne, Dusty might be his number-one rival, thanks to his polished storytelling and his voice, which is frighteningly similar to the throne’s former occupant’s. That voice is the primary draw on this drumless production, that lets him introduce himself clearly and concisely.
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
Ever since fans noticed that Megan Thee Stallion and Pardison Fontaine were commenting on each other’s Instagram posts, rumors began bubbling up about their suspected relationship. People were initially excited for the rapper and glad to see how happy he seemed to make her. But their opinions shifted when a video surfaced of Pardi drunkenly banging on Megan’s bathroom door. However, Megan recently cleared the air on social media and officially confirmed their relationship.
Megan took to Instagram Live to clarify the situation. Talking to her fans while blushing, Megan confirmed that Pardi was her “boyfriend” and told people to leave him alone:
“I don’t be liking some of the stuff on the internet. Like I did not like how everybody, not even everybody, people don’t know what the hell they talking about. They just be saying anything. I didn’t like what they were trying to say about Pardi because he’s so calm and so sweet. That’s my boo and I really like him. […] Ya’ll not about to play with my man. He not doing nothing to nobody. […] Yeah, he my boyfriend. He’s probably on the Live blushing. But yeah, stop playing with him. Ya’ll never been turnt up with your boyfriend before?”
Shortly after Megan came clean about their relationship, Pardi shared a handful of adorable photos of the two on Valentine’s Day.
Watch a clip Megan’s Instagram Live above.
Megan Thee Stallion is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
Questlove, The Roots’ drummer and bandleader on The Tonight Show, cut his teeth as a director earlier this year with his Summer Of Soul documentary and now, he’s been given the opportunity to use that experience to pay homage to one of music’s great pioneers and legends. Quest is set to direct a documentary about funk icon Sly Stone, exploring his work with Sly And The Family Stone and recent fight for royalties on his old music. The film also counts Common as an executive producer but doesn’t have a title or release date yet.
“It goes beyond saying that Sly’s creative legacy is in my DNA,” Questlove explained in a statement. “It’s a Black musician’s blueprint. To be given the honor to explore his history and legacy is beyond a dream for me.”
In recent months, it has been rumored that Kanye West and Kim Kardashian’s relationship is on the rocks, and there has been speculation that the two were heading towards divorce. Now, it looks like the divorce is actually happening: Variety reports that according to a “court source,” divorce paperwork was filed today.
TMZ first reported the news and they described the split as “as amicable as a divorce can be.” The TMZ report also notes that Kardashian is asking for joint custody of her and Kanye’s four children, which Kanye is apparently fine with. The pair are also apparently committed to co-parenting their kids. There is also a prenuptial agreement involved in the marriage, and apparently neither Kanye nor Kardashian are contesting it and “are already far along in reaching a property settlement agreement.”
This update follows reports from January that the two were working on the terms of their divorce. Following that were reports earlier this month that Kanye and Kardashian were “completely done” with their marriage and are “moving on.”
Sisters Chloe and Halle Bailey may have gotten their start in television before eventually forming their acclaimed music group Chloe x Halle, but their musical success has earned them the opportunity to take on more creative projects. The two are now in front of the camera once again, but this time it’s not for television. Rather, the two appear in a short film that visualizes a Nigerian folktale.
The project was shot as part of their cover story for the March 2021 issue of Vogue. The short is filmed on a rocky beach, depicting the two sisters frolicking in the sand and wearing elegant gowns. Chloe provides a narration of the fable titled “Why The Sun And The Moon Live In The Sky,” which describes origins of the sun, moon, and water.
The story begins by Chloe introducing the characters of water and sun, detailing how they came to meet:
“It is said many, many years ago, the sun and the water were great friends and both live on the earth together. The sun would often visit water, but water never visits sun. The curious sun asked, ‘Why?’ The sun replied, ‘If I visit you, my friend, I will drive you out of your house because I go everywhere with my large family.’ But sun insisted that water should visit, and water therefore warned sun to build a very large house to accommodate his enormous family.”
.@ChloeXHalle narrate the Nigerian Folktale, “Why the Sun and the Moon Live in the Sky” in a short film directed by Julie Dash for their March 2021 Vogue appearance. pic.twitter.com/Tt1PSM35K7
The short film was directed by Julie Dash, who noted that the two singers were up for anything. “The filming was physically grueling,” Dash said. “Chloe and Halle had to walk half a mile across a stoney beach, wearing long gowns, in the cold morning and later in the heat. I don’t think they knew they were going to get wet, too. They never complained. I was very familiar with the sisters, but did not know how sweet they were!”
Watch a clip of “Why The Sun And The Moon Live In The Sky” above.
This was fun. #theboyismine @syraismith got me together.
pic.twitter.com/T5lTCt2pBn
