Yesterday was the annual MET Gala where celebrities pile onto the museum’s notorious steps in one of the biggest nights in the fashion calendar. As usual music was extremely well represented at the even. Pop in particular has nearly all of its biggest stars show out. Ariana Grande, Lana Del Rey, Camila Cabello, Sabrina Carpenter and more were all in attendance. Rap was also well represented with Jack Harlow, Lil Nas X, Doja Cat, Cardi B and many more showing up. But it’s one person who wasn’t there that is getting quite a bit of attention from fans.
Rihanna is a MET Gala regular and her 2015 dress is considered by many to be one of the most iconic in the event’s history. But this year she was absent from the festivities leading fans to ask why. She may very well have just been busy with one of her many business ventures, or as many fans are hoping, hard at work on a new album. But some online have brought up a different reason. Some are claiming she passed up the event because she’s once again pregnant. It wouldn’t be the first time she surprised fans with a pregnancy announcement while they were expecting something else. She made the revelation of her second pregnancy during her halftime performance at last year’s Super Bowl. Check out some of the speculation over her absence below.
Recently Rihanna has begun teasing her 9th album in a much more direct way than before. She spoke specifically on the impending release last month specifically saying that the project was “amazing.” While it’s not the first time she’s confirmed that there is a project in the works, the more direct route has fans excited speculating it could be here sooner rather than later.
What do you think the actual reason Rihanna skipped this year’s MET Gala is? Do you think she plans on having another child before the release of the new album she’s begun teasing? Let us know in the comment section below.
Megan Thee Stallion is only days away from embarking on her eagerly anticipated “Hot Girl Summer” tour, and to get fans even more hyped, she’ll be dropping a brand new single. She first teased the track, titled “BOA,” last week. She unveiled some fun video game-inspired artwork to accompany the project at the time, though fans were still uncertain whether it’d be a single or an album. Meg played into this at first but has since confirmed that it’s only a single. She’s also revealed exactly when listeners can expect to hear it, which is very soon.
“BOA” is scheduled to arrive on May 10, less than a week away from her first tour date in Minneapolis. Fans surely have some listening to do, and luckily, Meg’s also provided them with a fun way to do it. She’s selling various limited edition “BOA” CDs, which are available for purchase now on her official website.
Of course, this is far from the only thing fans have to look forward to. Meg is also gearing up to drop a new full-length album sometime soon. An official release date for the project has yet to be announced, but she has given supporters a few hints about what they can expect. “I was inspired to create this album about rebirth because I feel I am becoming a new person physically and mentally,” the Houston-born performer told Women’s Health last month.
“I’m getting into a better space with making music that is still true to myself but also true to my message,” she added. “I am very much a flower, but my flower has thorns.” Are you looking forward to hearing Megan Thee Stallion’s new single? What about her “Hot Girl Summer” tour? Share your thoughts in the comments section down below, and keep an eye on HNHH for more updates.
Have you ever thought we, as fans, were working for Kendrick Lamar and Drake? For many in the rap world, Drake and Kendrick’s place as leaders in hip-hop’s commercial space couldn’t be less different. The former is a reclusive and reluctant “savior” of the genre’s traditions with massive acclaim for his album output. In contrast, the latter is an inescapable juggernaut that pushed rap forward and offered some of the genre’s (and frankly, contemporary music’s) most accessible and successful hits. However, their differences don’t mean much when considering that they are playing the same game. It’s two different types of shots at the goal of rap’s throne in the commercial mainstream, two different headliners on the culture’s biggest stages, and two transcendent artistries that make record labels detached from the culture a whole lot of money.
However, perhaps the saddest similarity between Kendrick Lamar and Drake is that they’ve cultivated equally obsessive corners of their larger fanbases that made their current feud of mutually assured lyrical destruction a whole lot messier. We’re not talking about casual fans or fans of both or those who don’t care at all, and this isn’t (fully) an Animal Farm-core “it was impossible to say which was which” take. Stans of either MC are easily distinguishable if only going off of their taste; if they like one and dislike the other, that doesn’t define one’s character. We’re talking about these die-hards that are just as susceptible to spreading bot rumors, fake tweets, personal attacks, and dismissals void of earnestness against their fave’s opponent as they are to ignore these same claims against their champion blindly. They’re not the real problem in this beef, but they are exposing it.
For one, the only rappers truly capable of avoiding any opponent’s smoke are the top dogs, and Drake and Kendrick Lamar are unique in that regard. Sadly, many lyricists can continue a career with horrific allegations against them. But only a few across history have ever truly “survived” a rap beef loss against one of the greats, something that both K.Dot and Drizzy risked with their back-and-forth. As much as To Pimp A Butterfly and If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late operate on different realms, their alchemy produces the same potions. Hit records, cultural ubiquity, respect for their penmanship, brand partnerships, business ventures, and so much more through the capitalist structure of hip-hop’s kiosk in the cultural marketplace. Their acceptance in the culture is very different, but that hasn’t impacted their fanbases or success.
Drake faced a lot of unfair criticism in old-school hip-hop thought but persevered regardless to lead new generations. Kendrick Lamar is astonished on both sides but with lots of “overrated” shots at his rap style, deliveries, concepts, or less accessible material that doesn’t pass the car test. But every single metric can be levied at the opposing side’s fans. No Mr. Morale fan cared much about numbers in comparison to The Boy until these disses, and no OVO supporter believed still-present botting claims from unknown parties until they came against their captain’s rival. Everyone’s reaching for a sextuple entendre or clowning any attempts to do so for the other side. Kendrick fans are trying to beat him in a “Drake hating” competition, and Drake fans act like the support behind the biggest artist in the world is something that the world is always turning against.
That perspective quickly manifested in ugly ways. Now fans stood by fake Drake tweets, misreadings of “Mother I Sober” and “DUCKWORTH.,” presumptions about relationships with young women, and Instagram follows and real estate as hard evidence for cheating and fatherhood, all of which perpetuates female trauma as talking points to accuse. It’s a narrative war now, but we don’t have the luxury of foreseeing a future in which these claims don’t become a much darker foreshadowing or reckoning, and nobody wants to see another Black man fall to the prison system. After all, the 6ix God’s neighborhood was recently the victim of a reported shooting, in which an alleged security guard was struck. No rap beef should go this far, but fans unwittingly contribute to this warped misinterpretation that could lead to disaster.
That’s not to say that Kendrick Lamar or Drake shouldn’t be held accountable for these alleged crimes if true. But who wants rap beef to bring about violence or lawsuits as a “Gotcha”? Fans’ completely unabashed engagement with the ugly parts of these suppositions becomes moot when you consider that many of these skeletons were already out of the closet.
No tweet from Kendrick’s partner’s brother or testimony from an alleged Drake victim can change that we knew about Kendrick’s team threatening to pull music from Spotify in support of XXXTENTACION and other possibly removed artists (which the team called a double standard callout) or that we already saw that Denver concert video or heard the nature of Drake’s texts to Millie Bobby Brown, talking to her about boys and missing her. Either way, fans blindly stand behind an allegedly terrible person, which isn’t damnation until they engage in selective outrage.
Why Kendrick Lamar & Drake Are The Problem Fans Are Self-Exposing
But this celebrity culture trap refuses to distinguish art and character. Kendrick Lamar fans and Drake fans are one and the same because, when the other side argues against their fave’s opponent, it feels like they are talking to themselves instead of the music. They want validation in their righteousness because they connect with “Money Trees,” and they want to flaunt success against all opposition because they remember the “Marvin’s Room” days. Because victory would be saying something about themselves. There’s nothing wrong with art connecting to you despite its circumstances, but those circumstances are a much more important part of your life than the music itself is. As such, making that distinction and accepting that support of art doesn’t replace actual values would save many of these reaching fans from letting the art blind their hearts.
There can still be a “winner” if we fully embrace the kayfabe of it all, and in that art-driven regard, Kendrick seems to have taken the crown by rap’s metrics as a culture and art form. Like he said, he is not our savior. It’s also important to note that these two predominantly white fanbases on rap’s biggest stage represent the industry-wide problem of exploiting Black art, relationship issues, financial success, political strife, or cultural imposter syndrome for a sense of superiority. The artists are either “the villain” or “one of the good ones,” but neither take from this sub-sect of fans engages with more important issues at hand. Drake and Kendrick Lamar know this too well and effectively leveraged these statuses in this beef one way or another. They fed these specific, terminally online fans the information as master manipulators. They are not like us.
Will Smith has been subject to a variety of stories both very good and very bad in the past few years, notably sometimes even on the same night. But he’s also subject to a bizarrely common problem for celebrities, trespassers. Stories of overzealous fans getting a bit too close to celebrity residences pop up with surprisingly often. In fact, this isn’t even the first time the Smith family has dealt with something similar recently. At a different house back in February two men allegedly climbed onto Jada Pinkett-Smith’s balcony which resulted in another phone call to police.
This time as TMZ reports, it was much less dramatic. Smith himself didn’t have to make the call as he reportedly wasn’t even at the residence at the time of this newest incident. Smith’s security team was forced to call the police twice for a man hovering around his premises. As TMZ reports, the man was reportedly asking for somebody who didn’t live at the residence in the first place. After he disappeared following the first call to the police he returned and somehow gained access to the premises before being detained and arrested. The scary incident reportedly ended in a misdemeanor trespassing charge for the man responsible.
Last month, Smith made a pretty surprising appearance. Him being at Coachella isn’t on its own that surprising, but fans watching J BALVIN’s set certainly weren’t expecting him. Even more surprising was that he brought out his Men In Black soundtrack song alongside a bizarre stage display with alien backup dancers. He’s been hard at work on Bad Boys 4 which is currently still in production.
What do you think of Smith’s security having to call the police on a trespasser just a few months after Jada experienced a similar incident? What did you think of his surprise appearance at this year’s Coachella alongside J BALVIN? Let us know in the comment section below.
Finesse2tymes’ 11-year-old artist King is currently in his custody, but according to him, he may not be for much longer. Earlier this week, the rapper took to social media to reveal that King could be taken from him soon, sharing a heartfelt message about their bond. According to him, the argument that King is in an inappropriate environment is invalid. He says that the boy was taking part in adult activities long before he came into the picture.
“I ain’t gone lie , tryna take king from me got me kinda emotional Knowing I don’t mean nothing but well , When I first meet him I could see he was different , and I just wanted to help him I seen the dark road he was goin down,” he wrote. “THE RAP SHYT MEANS NOTHING TO ME I HAVEN”T MADE 1 SINGLE DOLLER OFF KING. Far as shooting dice and cursing He was doing that 10 years before I ever meet him , I can’t just MAKE him stop he’ll rebel against me , all I can do is teach him that that’s not the way , To respect women and adults , It’s not gone happen overnight , But he will get better , Me and him both. @1finessegangking.”
Finesse2tymes also shared multiple clips and photos of King alongside him and his celebrity friends, enjoying their life together. His post comes after King’s mother called CPS on Finesse in March, claiming that she hadn’t seen him since getting out of jail. At the time, he argued that he was giving the child a better life than he would have otherwise. He also accused King’s mother of only wanting money “to support her habits.”
What do you think of Finesse2tymes’ heartfelt message about his artist King? What about him revealing that he may be taken from him soon? Share your thoughts in the comments section down below, and keep an eye on HNHH for more updates.
Last night’s Met Gala festivities served up some truly classic, head-turning, head-scratching, eyebrow-raising ensembles that will surely be remembered among some of the events most creative. Doja Cat took an interesting angle on the flowers theme, while Usher’s dramatic look inspired comparisons to all kinds of pop culture superheroes. Another star whose outfit generated a ton of buzz on social media was Lizzo, whose form-fitting brown dress and accompanying headdress had many users making arboreal observations, including “I Am Groot.”
— Randy Watson Reborn (@JoeThaPoliceman) May 7, 2024
The star recently drew plenty of social media attention after posting about being “tired of putting up with being dragged by everyone in my life and on the internet,” leading some to speculate that she was announcing her departure from the music business. However, she later clarified her statement in another post, “When I say I quit, I mean quit giving any negative energy attention. What I’m not gonna quit is the joy of my life, which is making music.”
Her comments may have been spurred by having to deal with an ongoing lawsuit from some of her former dancers, who alleged that she created a hostile work environment. She has since requested a dismissal from the suit, as many of the complaints lodged within it pertain to Lizzo’s dance team captain, Shirlene Quigley, whom the plaintiffs say made inappropriate sexual comments.
Ghostface Killah has shared the star-studded tracklist for his upcoming album, Set the Tone. It features collaborations with Method Man, Nas, Kanye West, Jim Jones, Raekwon, Fat Joe, and several more high-profile artists. Sharing the details on his Instagram page on Tuesday, Ghostface wrote: “Thank you to everyone who helped put this project together and every talented artist that jump in the fire with me!!”
Several artists popped up in the comments section to share their excitement. Iceman, who appears on the fifth song, “Kilo in the Safe,” wrote: “Thank you for having me on this incredible album.” Conductor Williams added: “Woooooooooo- can’t wait to hear this,” while Cam’ron posted several fire emojis. Fans joined in the hype as well. “Generational music incoming!!!!” one user wrote.
GLASGOW, SCOTLAND – JUNE 12: Ghostface Killah of Wu-Tang Clan performs on stage at The OVO Hydro on June 12, 2023 in Glasgow, Scotland. (Photo by Roberto Ricciuti/Redferns)
Ghostface dropped the first single from the project, “Scar Tissue,” last week featuring Nas. “HOLD TIGHT THIS ALBUM HAS FIRE SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE,” he wrote on Instagram at the time. The new album will be dropping on Friday, May 10th through Nas’ Mass Appeal Records. Check out the full tracklist for Set the Tone below and be on the lookout for further updates on Ghostface Killah on HotNewHipHop.
Ghostface Killah’s “Set the Tone” Tracklist Revealed
1. 6 Minutes (feat. Jim Jones & Sheek Louch) 2. Pair of Hammers (feat. Method Man) 3. Skate Odyssey (feat. Raekwon & October London) 4. Scar Tissue (feat. Nas) 5. Kilo in the Safe (feat. Iceman) 6. No Face (feat. Kanye West) 7. Champion Sound (feat. Beniton) 8. Cape Fear (feat. Fat Joe) 9. Plan B 10. Bad Bitch (feat. Ja Rule & Trevor Jackson) 11. Locked In (feat. AZ & Bee-B) 12. Touch You (feat. Shaun Wiah) 13. Shots (feat. Busta Rhymes & Serani) 14. Trap Phone (feat. Chucky Hollywood) 15. Yupp! (feat. Remy Ma)
YNW Melly’s retrial has been on hold for around seven months now, leaving the 25-year-old rapper behind bars, waiting to learn his fate. He’s been in custody since February of 2019 when he was arrested and charged with two counts of first-degree murder. He’s accused of killing two of his associates, YNW Juvy and YNW Sakchaser, and staging a drive-by shooting. If convicted, he faces life in prison or the death penalty. Melly was first tried last summer, but after jurors were unable to reach a unanimous decision, a Broward County judge declared a mistrial.
His retrial was then scheduled for October of 2023, but the case has only become more complicated since, resulting in numerous delays. When October came around, Melly and his co-defendant YNW Bortlen were charged with witness tampering, and the retrial was pushed back. Authorities accused them of working together to prevent Melly’s ex-girlfriend Mariah Hamilton from taking the stand in the first trial. In December, the retrial was delayed once again when Melly’s team asked for an extension to depose more than a dozen new witnesses.
Later that month, prosecutors appealed Judge John Murphy III’s ruling to toss out multiple pieces of evidence. These included the rapper’s phone records, emails, and social media posts. They insist that the evidence is crucial in proving Melly’s alleged guilt. Prosecutors are also fighting to use a 20-minute documentary about Melly’s rise to fame as evidence. Allegedly, he’s seen holding a weapon multiple times in the doc, which briefly mentions Juvy and Sakchaser’s deaths towards the end.
The appeal could take months to go through the appellate courts, making further delays likely. In April, Melly was relocated to a new facility for the first time since 2019 in preparation for his retrial. He was moved from the Broward County Jail to the Paul Rein Detention Facility in Pompano Beach, FL. What do you think of YNW Melly’s retrial seeing multiple delays? Share your thoughts in the comments section down below, and keep an eye on HNHH for more updates.
Metro Boomin has somewhat flown under the radar when it comes to fueling the Drake/Kendrick Lamar beef. He can only contribute so much since he is a producer. But he did give one of the biggest rappers a platform to send some missiles at Drizzy. “Like That” has become one of the most impactful songs in the genre as it has seemingly reignited the competition and pure hatred the two icons have for each other. The blows have increased in severity, as Kendrick has focused heavily on allegations that Drake is a sexual predator. Those exact same claims are now being thrusted upon Metro Boomin, or should we say Metro Groomin.
Earlier today, the beat crafter had old tweets resurfacing left and right from the early 2010s, that were disturbing, frankly. You can see some of them below, and yeah, they are not a good look for him. Many people were telling Metro to butt out, especially since he is not a rapper. That tone became even more popular after Drake said on “Push Ups,” “Metro shut yo a** up and make some drums n****.” That bar is now resurfacing, especially when Metro was saying things like, “She gon suck me whether she like it or not. That’s what the molly for.” Or, “I’m tryna tell #oomf that “age aint nothin but a number” lol.”
These are just a couple, but we think you get the point. Because of this revelation, #MetroGroomin is now trending on X. Hilarious memes are perfectly encapsulating how Drake, Future, and Kendrick must be feeling. One person writes, “Metro Boomin deleting his weird tweets is crazy. So, I guess Kendrick is working with a pedophile to diss another pedophile#MetroGroomin.” However, there are few stragglers that are excusing his behavior. “This is a reach. Metro was a kid then that man is like almost 31? Either way. Drake team need to stop the mindless smear campaign before someone dig up more stuff on him and drop the reference tracks to back 2 back.” It is safe to say that Metro definitely has some explaining to do.
What are your thoughts on Metro Boomin being referred to as Metro Groomin on Twitter? Are you shocked that he was saying these things back in the day? How do you see him addressing these creepy statements? Is this especially bad after the X rant he went on about Drake the other day? We would like to hear what you have to say, so be sure to leave your takes in the comments section. Additionally, always keep it locked in with HNHH for all of the latest news surrounding Metro Boomin and Metro Groomin. Finally, stay with us for everything else going on in the music world.
Wack 100 has accused Jim Jones of snitching on the two men he got in a fight with at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport over the weekend. In a post on Instagram, Sunday, he remarked that Kendrick Lamar should rope the Dipset rapper into his next diss track in his feud with Drake.
“@kendricklamar might as well add this to the next song ‘Telling is Telling,’” he wrote. “YALL GONE REALLY ACT LIKE YALL DONT HEAR THIS MAN @jimjonescapo [rat]’n . Under No circumstances do we identify or give statement out our mouth. Let the cameras do there jobs. Y’all will get mad cause it’s me but facts is facts this is telling his name will be in a police report with a VERBAL STATEMENT!!”
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – MARCH 18: Jim Jones attends the Hot 97 Summer Jam 2024 Announcement Party on March 18, 2024, in New York City. (Photo by Johnny Nunez/WireImage)
TMZ published video of the altercation on Saturday, showing Jones fighting off two men while on an escalator. He confirmed that he made it out okay in a statement to the outlet. “I was minding my business and defended myself. They got what they were looking for,” he said. He remarked that he was moving on in a video on social media after the fact.
Wack 100 isn’t the only voice in hip-hop to speak out on Jones’ incident. 50 Cent was ready to troll him as soon as videos of the fight hit the internet. In a post on Instagram, Sunday, 50 shared a clip of a 78-year-old boxer training for a fight with the caption: “Yo the old man from the airport said he gonna see you jimmy. Stop thinking sh*t Sweet! LOL.” Be on the lookout for further updates on Wack 100 on HotNewHipHop.
Knowing I don’t mean nothing but well , When I first meet him I could see he was different , and 
@1finessegangking.”
#MetroGroomin.” However, there are few stragglers that are excusing his behavior. “This is a reach. Metro was a kid then that man is like almost 31? Either way. Drake team need to stop the mindless smear campaign before someone dig up more stuff on him and drop the reference tracks to back 2 back.” It is safe to say that Metro definitely has some explaining to do. 