Music

Russ’s Time Runs Out In His Metaphorical ‘Hard For Me’ Video

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Russ’s high-concept “Hard For Me” video looks like something out of a spy thriller. Directed by Joán, the video depicts Russ trying — and failing — to break the female lead out of a transparent cell as a computer screen on the glass warns that the oxygen within is depleting. After the first verse ends with Russ’s female interest lying on the floor after the oxygen runs out, the second verse reverses their roles; now, Russ is the one trapped. However, this time his coldhearted consort simply watches him struggle until his time runs out.

As a metaphor for a one-sided relationship, the video is a fitting reflection of the song’s lyrics, in which Russ recalls the dissolution of his relationship with a lover with whom he can’t see eye-to-eye. “Tired of goin’ hard for people who don’t go hard for me,” he croons on the hook. “If I go hard for you, please go hard for me.”

The video is Russ’s third of 2021, although the song itself dates back to December of 2020. It seems that after focusing on bars-first battle raps on his Chomp EP, he’s returning to emotionally vulnerable fare like “Hard For Me” and “Misunderstood,” as well as celebratory anthems such as “Ugly” with Lil Baby.

Watch the “Hard For Me” video above.

Rowdy Rebel Sharpens His Mic Skills In An Acapella Freestyle

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Now that Bobby Shmurda and Rowdy Rebel are both out of prison, fans are eagerly waiting to see what the reunited GS9 rappers have got up their respective sleeves. Until they do release new music, however, they’re content to tease the potential of that new release in their interviews. While Bobby appeared to support his Shmigo Gang partner-in-rhyme Quavo during Saturday’s B/R Open Run matchup, Rowdy showed off a time-tempered flow in an acapella freestyle on the Comeupshow with Philadelphia’s Cosmic Kev.

The video that was shared to Power 99 Philadelphia’s YouTube page picks up at the very end of Kev and Rowdy’s interview. Rowdy notes that Kev wants “some bars” and immediately obliges, foregoing the formality of a beat or any other preparation. From the sound of it, he couldn’t wait to showcase his sharpened skill for wordplay and rhyme schemes, which the time away put a fine point on. As he picks up momentum, he actually stands up off the couch where he’s sitting with Kev and gets animated, acting out some of his more visual punchlines.

Rowdy’s comeback so far has included the posthumous “Make It Rain” with Pop Smoke and “Jesse Owens” with Nav. It will also apparently include an appearance at Summer Jam, should the New York-based festival make a return this year.

Watch Rowdy Rebel’s off-the-cuff freestyle above.

Bruno Mars And Anderson .Paak Really Want Silk Sonic To Perform At The Grammys This Year

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Warner Records

Over the weekend, the Recording Academy announced its list of performers for this year’s Grammys ceremony, which includes Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish, and other big names. A pair of artists was excluded, though, and they’re not pleased about it: Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak, who are now collectively known as Silk Sonic. The two were so flabbergasted by their absence from the list that they took to Twitter to vent their frustrations and rally the Academy to give them a shot.

Yesterday afternoon, .Paak shared a graphic of the performers list and tweeted, “YO @BrunoMars WHAT THE F*CK?!? Did you see this?!?! Call me back!!” Mars replied, “Wait… are you sure this is even real? where did you find this?” That was the beginning of a playful back-and-forth, which .Paak continued, “Bro it says CBS right at the top! It’s legit. What the F*CK!!?! ANSWER YOUR PHONE!!”

Mars answered, “Are you sure these are performers and not just presenters,” to which .Paak replied, “FAM STOP!!! Did they even hear the song?!? They don’t love us??” Mars then shared a revised image of the list and wrote, “See @AndersonPaak You’ve been misinformed. This is the real real bill. we’re all good!” As .Paak quickly pointed out, though, “And we’re not on this either you PRICK!!!” That elicited a simple “Oh” from Mars.

This is when .Paak got the ball rolling, tweeting, “Do we need to get a hashtag going or something??” Presumably rubbing his eyes while tweeting his response, Mars wrote, “Andy just chill. i’m still waking up.” .Paak was unrelenting, responding, “Nah f*ck that! I haven’t seen my family in months!! I need this to work, You promised me!! Everybody join in!!! I need all of Twitter to help make this trend!! Come on @RecordingAcad #LetSilkSonicThrive.” Mars answered, “I don’t think this is how u get on a show @AndersonPaak, & that’s a pretty long hashtag but i’m rockin wit you. #LetSilkSonicThrive.”

Mars then shared a letter that read:

“Dear Grammys,

If you can see it in your hearts to allow two out of work musicians to perform at your show, we would really appreciate it. We just released a song and could really use the promotion right now. We have a lot riding on this record (and the Pelicans game next week, but that’s another story). We haven’t been able to perform for a while and we just want to sing. We’ll send in an audition tape and take as many covid tests as we need to. I promise we won’t be extra. We just really want a gig again. I hope you’ll consider this request and give us the opportunity to shine. Love, Silk Sonic.”

.Paak added, “WHAT HE SAID! #LetSilkSonicThrive.” .Paak later noted that the hashtag had become a trending topic on Twitter, writing, “@RecordingAcad I know you see this!! We doing real numbers out here!! You can’t ignore the people!!!#LetSilkSonicThrive.” Mars responded, “Yo!!! @AndersonPaak It’s working! you’re a real twitter wizard! @RecordingAcad please log on and look at this!!! #LetSilkSonicThrive.” Mars added, “Wow this started with just us 2 and now we’re a whole army! There’s nothing we cant do. First the Grammys then the world! UNLIMITED POWERRR!”

Still, it would seem .Paak lost hope in the cause, as he was quick to attempt to hop on the BTS train, tweeting, “Bro the @RecordingAcad haven’t even responded… @bts_bighit do y’all need a drummer? #LetSilkSonicThrive.” Mars responded, “You’re right. I got excited we were trending for a while today. I’m sorry I let you down. I hope you & BTS go on to do great things,” to which .Paak replied, “You never let me down champ! Only disappointed me. But sh*t atleast it’s top trending! Don’t give up hope! Either The Grammys or BTS is gonna hit us Back I know it. thank you guys so much!!! #LetSilkSonicThrive.”

Mars and .Paak are certainly fit to appear on the Grammys stage, as they are both accomplished veterans of the awards: Mars has picked up 11 Grammy wins from 27 nominations, while .Paak has 3 wins from 7 nominations.

That’s where the situation stands now. It’s not clear if this is some sort of elaborate social media campaign leading up to an official announcement of Silk Sonic’s addition to the Grammy performance lineup, if this is actually how Mars and .Paak are trying to get involved, or if they’re just goofing around and getting some viral self-promotion in on Twitter. Either way, check out the tweets here or below.

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

Rod Wave Announces His ‘Soulfly’ Project And Shares A Tracklist And Release Date

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Following a rather short-lived beef with his label, Rod Wave is ready to release some new music to his fans. The Florida rapper took to Instagram to announce that his upcoming project, Soulfly, will arrive at the end of the month. He shared the news in a post that displayed the project’s tracklist, which presents 19 songs for listeners to enjoy, as well as newly-released merch and photos from what can be assumed is an upcoming music video. Soulfly will also be a predominantly solo effort outside of a lone guest appearance from Chicago rapper, Polo G.

It was just a little over a month ago that the Florida native put his label, Alamo Records, on blast for apparently not paying him. In a post to his Instagram story, he said, “P*ssy ass label playing wit a n**** sh*t I ain’t dropping sh*t f*ck ya pay me. Y’all wanna album ask @alamorecords.” Just a few days later he apologized for the post and revealed that everything was “cool” now with his label.

You can check out the announcement above and the tracklist below.

1. “Soul Fly (Intro)”
2. “Gone Till November”
3. “Blame On You”
4. “Don’t Forget”
5. “Tombstone”
6. “All I Got”
7. “Richer” Feat. Polo G
8. “Street Runner”
9. “Pillz & Billz”
10. “How The Game Do”
11. “Shock Da World”
12. “What’s Love?? (Interlude)”
13. “OMDB”
14. “Invisible Scar”
15. “Calling”
16. “Sneaky Links”
17. “Believe Me”
18. “Moving On”
19. “Changing (Outro)”

Soulfly is out 3/26 via Alamo Records.

Billie Eilish, Taylor Swift, Cardi B, Lil Baby, And More Will Perform At The 2021 Grammys

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This year is certainly an unconventional year for the Grammys. On top of working around the coronavirus pandemic, the show is holding the award ceremony much later in the year than normal. The Recording Academy was forced to delay the show from its original January 31 date following a spike in coronavirus cases in the Los Angeles area. It was rescheduled for March 14 and with just a week left until showtime, it appears things are going as planned as the Grammys have officially announced performers for the upcoming show.

The Recording Academy announced the lineup for the 63rd Grammy Award show in a string of tweets. The resulting list displays Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish, Cardi B, DaBaby, Lil Baby, Roddy Ricch, Doja Cat, Bad Bunny, BTS, and Harry Styles as some of the chart-topping acts that will take the stage next Sunday. Chris Martin, Post Malone, Dua Lipa, HAIM, Mickey Guyton, Brittany Howard, Maren Morris, John Mayer, Miranda Lambert, and Black Pumas are also slated to perform.

On the awards side of things, Beyonce leads the way for the 2021 Grammys with nine nominations. She’s followed by Dua Lipa, Taylor Swift, and Roddy Ricch, who each tallied six nominations.

Scroll down to see the announcement for each artist performing at the show.

https://twitter.com/RecordingAcad/status/1368622222219350022?s=20

The 63rd Annual Grammy Awards will air on 3/14 at 8pm EST/ 5pm EST on CBS.

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

Kanye West’s Presidential Campaign Reportedly Violated Fundraising Practices

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Kanye West’s 2020 presidential campaign didn’t result in the win that he had hoped for. The rapper only tallied a few hundred votes from a handful of states around the country, and while the election is a thing of the past now, it looks like he’s in a bit of trouble as a result of it.

According to The Daily Beast the Federal Election Commission (FEC) has named several violations from the rapper’s campaign, all of which could lead to legal action pending an investigation. The report states that Kanye accepted multiple donations from minors as well as some from possible foreign officials. Contributions were also listed under fake names and addresses that traced back to drop-shipping facilities on the east and west coasts.

These unlawful fundraising practices accumulated nearly $100,000 in small donations this year. In an interview with the publication, 16-year-old West donor Ian Bloom revealed that he’s yet to receive $3,280 worth of Kanye 2020 gear that he ordered from the rapper’s campaign store in late January.

“I don’t know what’s happening there,” he said. “I ordered like 20 hoodies off his campaign website, along with a lot of other people that I know. They said it would be three weeks, and after that I emailed the support team, and the email just wasn’t a thing.” He shared a screenshot of the automated email response that revealed his address had been blocked. The Daily Beast adds that people under the age of 18 accounted for more than 1,200 of the reported 3,161 donations to Kanye’s campaign, making for a total of $349,160 with $26,540 of that arriving in 2021. It should be noted that it is illegal to seek and accept donations from anyone younger than 18 years old.

Bloom added that he’s in a Discord chat with other hopeful resellers of Kanye’s 2020 gear, many of whom are underage. “I can say with confidence that at least half of us in the group have to be still in high school,” he said.

Lizzo Trolls An Instagram User With A Taste Of Their Own Medicine After They Questioned Her Weight

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Despite all the awards and commercial success she’s attained in her career, Lizzo still faces harmful comments from fans throughout the music world. Unfortunately, another instance of this occurred this past weekend during an Instagram Live session. While chatting with her followers, the singer was asked how she deals “with being obese every day.” Upon reading the message, Lizzo cracked a smile and delivered a response that saw her get the last laugh.

“I wake up into my obese bed — I have to get a king bed because I’m so obese — and I put on my I put on my obese Louis Vuitton house slippers,” she said. “I walk into my massive, obese bathroom and I just stare into my wall-to-wall, obese mirror and lather myself in the most obese, expensive oils and creams, and — oh, god — I walk into my obese, gorgeous, mid-century modern kitchen, and by the time I’ve made it into my kitchen, I’ve already made another obese million dollars.”

She continued by shedding some fake tears and adding, “My bank account is so fat. My bank account is so obese, and, like, I tried to put it on a diet but she’s just so stubborn, like, she won’t listen.”

You can watch the video from the Instagram Live above.

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

Jack Harlow And Quavo’s Pickup Game Against 2 Chainz And Lil Baby Produced A Lot Of Reactions

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Bleacher Report joined forces with Modelo to put on a two-on-two game that would benefit Black colleges and universities on Saturday. Dubbed the Open Run, the matchup for the night was set to be Jack Harlow and Quavo vs. 2 Chainz and Lil Baby. After a week of promotion, the pairs finally battled it out with the winner being the first team to 21 points, Harlow and Quavo took home the win with a score of 21-7. The Migos rapper was undoubtedly the star of the show as he put up 17 points, 14 rebounds, and 4 blocks. It was just two years ago that he took home the MVP trophy at the 2018 Celebrity All-Star Game, and it’s clear a few years later he still has what it takes to dominate.

In an interview with Uproxx last week, Harlow shared his excitement about playing alongside Quavo.

“I’m very happy with who I got,” he said. “Out of the three other players, that would be my number one choice because he brings something to the game, based on everything I’ve seen on YouTube, that I don’t bring to the game.”

As a result of winning the came, Harlow and Quavo each received a cash prize of $500,000 while Bleacher Report pledged to donate $500,000 to HBCUs that the rappers chose. Harlow picked Simmons College of Kentucky and Kentucky State while Quavo went with Clark Atlanta University and Spellman College.

From Quavo’s stellar game to a pretty bad free throw attempt from Lil Baby, viewers seemed to be fairly entertained by the matchup and they took to Twitter to share their thoughts.

You can read the reactions below.

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

Lil Durk Performs A ‘Stay Down/Still Trappin’ Medley With Help From 6lack On ‘The Tonight Show’

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There’s something to be said for the hot streak Lil Durk is currently working on right now. It dates back to his May 2020 album, Just Cause Y’all Waited 2 and thanks to his succeeding releases, the Chicago rapper recently earned a chance to perform on a recent episode of The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon. On his appearance, he performed a medley of “Stay Down” and “Still Trappin,” which can both be found on the deluxe release of The Voice.

Beginning with “Stay Down,” Durk delivers his verse on the song before 6lack steps on stage to sing the song’s hook as well as his verse. Once he finishes, Durk returns to centerstage and transitions into a performance of “Still Trappin.” The song features a guest verse from King Von, recorded before he was tragically killed in an Atlanta shooting back in November. Continuing to honor the rapper who he referred to as his “twin,” Durk performed the song and let Von’s verse play.

The performance after Durk released his Loyal Bros compilation with his Only The Family crew. The 23-track effort includes features from Tee Grizzley, EST Gee, Foogiano, Booka600, Memo600, and others. It also comes after he joined Coi Leray for a “No More Parties” remix and hinted at a possible joint album with Lil Baby.

You can watch the performance above.

City Girls’ JT Faces Heavy Backlash After She Apparently Blocked A Fan On Twitter With Cancer

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City Girls’ JT hasn’t had the best of experiences on Twitter over the past few months. On Saturday, she once again found herself in some controversy on the social media app. It came as a result of an interaction with a fan, Shaddai Randolph, who reach out to the rapper in hopes of speaking with her as she continues her fight against cancer.

“Hey JT sorry to bother u I know I’ve said this b4 but I’m a fan of urs & I think ur amazing & funny,” Randolph said. “Seeing u help me keeps my spirits up when I’m in pain. Im dying & have cancer. You said u would DM me but never did. I still would like facetime u for 5mins if possible Luv u.”

Some people on Twitter caught wind of Randolph’s tweet and tried to boost it in hopes that it would catch JT’s attention. Unfortunately, that was not the case. The fan revealed soon after that the City Girls rapper had blocked her instead. “She blocked me y’all won,” she said. “Y’all [keep sending] me death messages and [sending] me emails to die on my go fund me or to my mother. Y’all won I get it.”

Afterward, many began to question JT’s decision to block Randolph, but according to the rapper, it was all a misunderstanding.

“Omg y’all lie too bad on here & it gotta be a spam account,” she said to begin a string of now-deleted tweets. “ima call now to really find out cause ughn ughn.” After one of her followers said they also believed Randolph was a bot, JT added, “Me too. Ima just pray for her that’s stronger than a phone call.” Despite this, the attacks against her continued to rain in, causing her to return shots against her critics in a string of tweets before deciding to delete her Twitter page.

“THAT WAS A MISUNDERSTANDING BUT FOREAL NOW ITS F*CK YALL,” she said. “I almost went live to explain myself & I remembered I don’t owe y’all sh*t I didn’t even do sh*t just making up sh*t Go ahead. I followed her back & everything wtf …. before I could actually get to call she was spamming me I went through her page & thought it was fake!” She added, I gotta be getting bigger the hate coming from all angles no matter how it all goes down I’ll always win!!!!!”

You can check out screenshots of the tweets above.