performance

Gorillaz Bring Out De La Soul At Coachella, Honor Trugoy The Dove

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This year’s Coachella isn’t even at its second weekend, and the festival already graced fans to many awesome moments. One of them certainly occurred during Gorillaz’s set, during which mastermind Damon Albarn brought out a slew of musical guests. Moreover, he brought out the iconic rap group De La Soul during the set, which was graced with incredible visuals from fellow Gorillaz mastermind Jamie Hewlett. During the concert, Maseo and Posdnuos (or rather, Plug Three and Plug One) came out to perform their legendary collaboration, “Feel Good Inc.” With Maseo’s monstrous laugh leading the way, everyone on stage and in the crowd had a fantastic time.

In addition, they took some time to honor the loss of Dave “Trugoy The Dove,” Jolicoeur also known as Plug Two, who tragically passed away earlier this year. Specifically, the three men locked arms and shoulders as a graphic honoring Trugoy displayed on stage. In a seeming moment of tribute, Albarn asked the crowd to be completely silent before entering their next number. Whether it was fans of Gorillaz or die-hard De La Soul listeners, everyone in the crowd seemed to communally mourn but also celebrate Plug Two’s life and legacy.

De La Soul Performing “Feel Good Inc.” With Gorillaz

Despite that, the tragedy also coincided with a lot of due respect and amazing opportunities for De La Soul. For example, they recently joined the lineup of the “N.Y. State Of Mind” tour, spearheaded by Nas and Wu-Tang Clan. With that addition, fans can now see three absolute titans of the hip-hop genre on the same night, which is exciting as it is historically special. Said news is especially great considering a whole new generation of fans can now listen to De La’s entire catalog on streaming services. Whether you like alternative hip-hop, classic boom-bap, or hardcore rap, there’s something for everyone on this nationwide trek.

Meanwhile, De La Soul, much like Gorillaz, is a classic group that will keep on giving. Moreover, DJ Drama recently announced a Gangsta Grillz mixtape with the hip-hop legends. As they remember and celebrate Trugoy’s life, the future is bright for a much-overlooked part of rap history. For the latest news and updates on Gorillaz and De La Soul, check back in with HNHH. Also, you can find more performance highlights below.

Coachella Showed The Gang A Lot Of Love

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Usher Lets 21 Savage Sing “My Boo” During Vegas Show

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Usher’s Las Vegas residency has brought forth plenty of memorable moments, but this has to take the cake. Moreover, the R&B superstar spotted 21 Savage in the crowd during his show, telling him, “You know you love singing R&B and s**t.” While the Atlanta MC hesitated at first, Usher approached him with a mic and invited him to let his heart fly over his Alicia Keys collab “My Boo,” an absolute classic. Although 21 doesn’t have the greatest vocal chops in the world, you got to give him some props for being passionate, brave, charismatic, and for performing for a whole arena of fans that paid for nothing but R&B greatness.

Of course, the “My Choppa Hate N***as” MC has often displayed his deep love of soulful rhythm and blues. Just this week, he went on Instagram Live and sang along to Beyoncé’s version of the song “I’d Rather Go Blind,” originally written by Ellington Jordan and first recorded by the one and only Etta James. 21 Savage’s fandom has also manifested into his songs’ sample choices, the melodies he chooses, and other factors. However, it wasn’t the only event that the 30-year-old popped out at recently.

21 Savage Sings “My Boo” To A Crowd Of Thousands

For Coachella’s first weekend, 21 Savage joined Metro Boomin on stage for the latter’s stage-closing (and stunning) performance. Alongside fellow Metro collaborators The Weeknd, Diddy, Future, and Don Toliver, the Slaughter Gang head honcho was an energetic and larger-than-life stage presence thanks to the elaborate set-up. Not only did he perform his tracks from the producer’s HEROES & VILLAINS, but classic cuts from the Savage Mode series and other Metro collaborations.

In addition to that star-studded display this weekend, 21 Savage previously popped out at the Dreamville Festival during the first weekend of April. In addition, acts like Lil Wayne, GloRilla, and Lil Uzi Vert were surprise additions to the stacked North Carolina festival roster. With all this in mind, it makes so much sense that a few years ago, 21 built (and, to this day, maintained) a reputation as a cold-blooded feature killer. Now that his appearances always seem to excite, entertain, and exceed expectations, that unique artistic ability is clearer than ever. Regardless, come back to HNHH for the latest news and updates on 21 Savage and Usher. Also, check out another angle of the R&B team-up down below.

Usher Invites Him To Let His R&B Flag Fly

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Jai Paul Performs Live For 1st Time Ever At Coachella

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Jai Paul performed live for the first time in his career at Coachella on Saturday night. The elusive pop artist took over the Mojave Stage to perform several fan-favorites, including “Genevieve” and “100,000.” The only videos from the event to be found online come from fans on the ground, as the performance wasn’t featured on the live stream on YouTube for Coachella.

Ahead of his appearance at the iconic music festival, Jai Paul shared a statement admitting he was nervous about the show. “Yoo it’s Jai… this weekend I’m gonna be playing my first ever live show,” he began in the note for his fans. “I always wanted to do something like this but yeah Im not gonna lie I am absolutely shitting it. Anyway, I just wanted to let u lot know how much I appreciate all you staying with me for all this time. Hopefully it’s gonna be worth it. Rehearsals been going good so far i reckon… Not long to go innit. For those of you able to make to make it out there, i will see you in a few day.”

The Crowd At Coachella

Coachella Valley, CA – April 15: People walk out from Sofi Tukker’s performance on day two of the first weekend at Coachella on Saturday, April 15, 2023 in Coachella Valley, CA. (Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images).

On stage, Jai Paul brought out no guests and provided fans with absolutely no between-songs banter, according to Pitchfork. While many fans on social media were excited about witnessing Jai Paul’s “legendary” performance, others were unhappy about there not being any livestream for the fans at home. “how i’m going to bed tonight that coachella pulled jai paul set from livestream…,” one wrote with a Wolverine meme. Another wrote, “aaaaaaand jai paul coachella stream replaced with a rerun of snail mail. incredible consistency from jai paul on the world stage. i love him so much.”

Jai Paul released his last project, Leak 04-13 (Bait Ones), back in 2019. The album consisted primarily of official versions of leaks from 2013. Check out some clips from Jai Paul’s Coachella appearance below.

Jai Paul At Coachella

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Pusha T Welcomed Fans To “Cokechella” On Festival’s First Day

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I mean, would you expect anything less from the Cocaine Cowboy? Pusha T just wowed audiences with his set on Coachella 2023‘s first day on Friday (April 14). Not only did he welcome them to “Cokechella” via a massive sign on stage, but played a lot of his modern hits. For example, he opened with “Let The Smokers Shine The Coupes,” went to “Neck & Wrist,” “If You Know You Know,” “Mercy,” and many more. Furthermore, he donned an all-white ensemble to fit the occasion and emphatically rapped through his many quotables on albums like DAYTONA and, most recently, It’s Almost Dry. If that’s his quality standard, who knows what he could bring us next?

However, not everyone is a huge fan of King Push for some reason, which recently became a hot topic of debate. Moreover, Dipset legend Jim Jones recently appeared on the Rap Caviar podcast, where they debated Billboard and VIBE‘s list of the 50 greatest rappers of all time (Push landed at No. 29). While not everyone agreed with his take, he stood by the former G.O.O.D. Music president not deserving a spot on there.

Pusha T Makes It Snow In The Desert At Coachella

“What has he done that puts him in the greatest rappers of all time besides talk about coke that he probably didn’t get himself?” Jim Jones challenged. “He’s nice as s**t. He could rap his a** off, but what has he done? Nobody has dressed like him. Nobody wants to be like Pusha T. I don’t remember nothing. And let’s not be evil, but we don’t talk about rap where the n***a that’s popping, the bitches wanna f**k and the n***as wanna be like. I don’t know too many n***as in this game that was leaning towards being like Pusha T.”

Regardless of your take on that assessment, if the Clipse member heard about it, he must’ve arrived at “Cokechella” with a vengeance. As far as pure hip-hop, it’s hard to think of other sets during the festival that will match that energy. That being said, amazing acts like Metro Boomin (and his high-profile guests), Doechii, Saba, and more also performed on Friday. As far as the rest of the weekend in hip-hop, we have Flo Milli, Kenny Beats, $UICIDEBOY$, GloRilla, Rae Sremmurd, Paris Texas, and many more to look forward to. Regardless, stick around on HNHH for the latest news and updates on Coachella and, of course, Pusha T. Also, click the link below to see the MC’s full tracklist at “Cokechella.”

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Bad Bunny’s Headlining Coachella Set Brings Out Post Malone, But Faces Tech Issues

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Bad Bunny is sure to be one of the highlights of this year’s iteration of Coachella, even though this weekend’s set had some small issues. Moreover, the Boricua superstar gave fans a lengthy and expansive collection of some of his greatest hits, as he tends to do. However, for his performance’s acoustic portion, he was joined in stage by none other than Post Malone, who played “LA CANCIÓN” and “Yonaguni” on his guitar. Despite crowd excitement, it slightly put a damper on the show’s momentum and mood because the guitar and microphone weren’t working properly.

Regardless, the two seemed to have a great time on stage together, despite neither of them being able to understand each other well. In fact, when Bunny first saw Post, he asked him what he was doing here, as he forgot Malone got called to perform. Overall, it was slightly frustrating because there were a lot more songs to go, and the delay with tech issues wasn’t helping. Even though that was a hiccup, it was still a strangely cool moment to see Benito and the “rockstar” artist link up, and for the crowd to sing a cappella to them. Also, the show went on with no further pauses or issues, and was already going great for the “Bichiyal” MC.

Post Malone Pops Out

Another curious moment during the show was Bad Bunny’s speech on people not really knowing famous celebrities. To sum it up, he basically said that he saw something online that really riled him up that, while he didn’t give any details, apparently has to do with him regretting something. Given Bad’s tabloid presence due to his relationship with Kendall Jenner, fans wondered whether that was a factor. No matter what he talked about, the takeaway for fans was to only believe something when they hear it out of his mouth.

Meanwhile, his words could also have to do with the $40 million lawsuit his ex girlfriend brought forth against him. According to the legal motion, Bad Bunny used a voice recording of hers as an ad-lib without permission. He’s an absolute superstar, and while that comes with more accountability and scrutiny, he takes it in stride for the most part. Check out more clips of his Coachella set below and return to HNHH for the latest on Bad Bunny and Post Malone.

Bad Bunny At Coachella

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Metro Boomin Shocks Coachella Crowd With Special Guests & Unreleased Music

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Metro Boomin’s Coachella set might go down as one of the festival’s very best this year, and for good reason. Moreover, the star producer brought on Mike Dean to play keys, John Legend to sing, and a whole host of musicians to play the trumpets, strings, or other instruments to embellish his excellent performances of tracks from his latest acclaimed album HEROES & VILLAINS. However, don’t think that he just played the songs for a crowd; he actually brought out almost all his album’s guests. Future graced the stage first, followed by great moments from Don Toliver, 21 Savage, The Weeknd, and even Diddy for the “Creepin” remix.

Also, given how well put-together that album already is, the transitions in between songs fit seamlessly even if they weren’t album tracks. Of course, Metro’s talent came through in his great mixing to take fans from cut to cut. In addition to his guests, he also played the song “Metro Spider” to call once again for Young Thug’s freedom. Overall, it was an incredible set. With high energy, classics galore, a refreshing and engaging visual component with comic books and dramatic art, and a spoken Coachella-specific intro from Morgan Freeman to boot, Metro Boomin did not play around.

Metro Boomin Gives A Stunning Coachella Show

On top of all of that, he also played some unreleased material with The Weeknd, who was by far the most surprising guest. After all, he could’ve easily been the headlining slot himself at the festival, and to see such a huge star show love during a producer set is a testament to Metro Boomin’s status, respect, and sheer talent in the game. If you’re interested in his setlist, check out the full breakdown below plus some performance highlights. Also, stick around on HNHH for the latest news and updates on the one and only Metro Boomin.

Setlist & Highlights

  1. On Time ft. John Legend
  2. Superhero (Heroes & Villains) ft. Future
  3. Thought It Was a Drought ft. Future
  4. Serve the Base ft. Future
  5. Wicked ft. Future
  6. Digital Dash ft. Future
  7. Mask Off ft. Future
  8. Metro Spider
  9. Can’t Save You ft. Future & Don Toliver
  10. Too Many Nights ft. Don Toliver
  11. Around Me ft. Don Toliver
  12. Runnin ft. 21 Savage
  13. Bank Account ft. 21 Savage
  14. No Heart ft. 21 Savage
  15. 10 Freaky Girls ft. 21 Savage
  16. Umbrella ft. 21 Savage
  17. Knife Talk ft. 21 Savage
  18. Faith / Escape From LA ft. The Weeknd
  19. Heartless ft. The Weeknd
  20. Low Life ft. The Weeknd & Future
  21. Double Fantasy ft. The Weeknd (Unreleased)
  22. Creepin Remix ft. The Weeknd, 21 Savage, & P. Diddy

Jay-Z Performs “N***as In Paris” In Paris To A Wild Crowd

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Jay-Z’s surprise concert with Louis Vuitton in Paris to celebrate the work of Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat just wrapped up, and the clips look absolutely insane. With just two days of anticipation, Hov let fans know that he was returning to the stage, and brought an insane tracklist to boot. Not only did it span his entire catalog (shout out to the fellow “Can I Live” fans out there), but it made for meta gold. Of course “N***as In Paris” in Paris was an absolute smasher, with the crowd screaming every lyric back at the New York legend.

The auditorium presumably fits up to 1,000 people, but the energy might as well have come from a whole stadium of fans. Also, he played tracks like “Can’t Knock The Hustle,” “Heart of the City (Ain’t No Love),” “Oceans,” and “Encore.” Last we heard from Jay on the stage was at this year’s Grammys, where he performed the track “GOD DID,” and his fantastic verse on it wowed audiences. “I thought about it, I was in my head and I just broke down and said, ‘You know, it’s a four-minute verse.’ Again, for the culture, for Hip Hop, we got to do that,” he said in a TIDAL interview.

Jay-Z Gives The Crowd In Paris A Fantastic Show

“This ain’t your traditional song,” the 53-year-old continued. “It’s not your traditional structure of what you think a song that would be nominated for Song of the Year would sound like. It’s not what you expect. And for the culture and for Hip Hop, we got to do that. We owe that. This thing that changed our lives. We got to do that. A four-minute verse performed at the Grammys. We owe it to the culture, and it ain’t even a burden. It’s a blessing. It’s easy and fun.” Check out the tracklist from Jay’s Paris performance down below, plus some other clips. As always, stick around on HNHH for the latest news and updates from Jay-Z.

Setlist
1. “Diamonds from Sierra Leone”
2. “Roc Boys (And The Winner Is…)”
3. “Can’t Knock The Hustle”
4. “Never Change”
5. “Allure”
6. “Empire State of Mind”
7. “Heart of the City (Ain’t No Love)”
8. “GOD DID”
9. “No Church In The Wild”
10. “Family Feud”
11. “Excuse Me Miss”
12. “Can I Live”
13. “Hovi Baby”
14. “Sweet”
15. “American Dreamin’”
16. “Oceans”
17. “FuckwithmeyouknowIgotit”
18. “N-ggas in Paris”
19. “U Don’t Know”
20. “Thank You”
21. “Encore”

Concert Highlights

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Lil Baby’s Team Clears The Air Over Booking For D.C. Pride Event Performance

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Lil Baby and his team recently responded to a bizarre incident involving his “booking” for a performance at a Pride event in late May in the District of Columbia. Moreover, the whole situation seems to have resulted from a scammer pretending to be the Atlanta rapper’s booking agent. Furthermore, they apparently booked him for a May 28 event at a local D.C. nightclub, but his team told The Neighborhood Talk that they not only hadn’t been notified of the booking, but that they never even heard of the event in the first place. Unfortunately, the initial confusion meant that many thought Baby was backtracking on the LBGTQIA+ community.

“He never even knew of this event and none of his team or agents were ever in contact with Pride In the District [the event in question],” his representative stated. “A scammer must have posed as a rep of his. Lil Baby never pulled out of anything with this as he was never booked or contacted in the first place.” In addition to this clarification, the organizers responded to the situation in an Instagram post on Wednesday (April 12).

Lil Baby Never Heard About Booking To Perform At D.C. Pride Event, His Team Says

“We have finally reached someone from [Lil Baby’s] camp and his agency WME were not aware of the PITD booking and have come to the conclusion that we were in fact scammed by someone posing to be a booking agent,” the statement read. “We would appreciate it if the individuals calling Lil Baby homophobic would stop immediately because that is simply a personal opinion and simply put, tasteless. Hopefully, one day we will be able to secure Lil Baby the correct way when his schedule permits. Furthermore, we would like to apologize to Lil Baby, his team, our customers, and anyone else for any inconvenience this may have caused.”

Meanwhile, at least fans in D.C. will get to see the “California Breeze” MC on tour in the summer. Recently, he announced that he’ll hit the road on his “It’s Only Us” tour alongside GloRilla, The Kid LAROI, Rylo Rodriguez, Gloss Up, and Hunxho. With that in mind, hopefully this situation doesn’t blow back too hard on Baby, as it’s really the scammer who’s to blame in the first place. Regardless, come back to HNHH for the latest news and updates on Lil Baby.

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Frank Ocean Rehearses For Coachella Performance

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Frank Ocean was heard rehearsing for his upcoming Coachella performance in Indio, California on Sunday. The moment was caught in a clip that’s since been circulating on social media. In the video, Ocean performs his Blonde hit, “Nights,” in the distance. The Reddit user who uploaded the original video also mentioned hearing what he describes as “the most immaculate techno club music with Frank vocals.” Ocean reportedly also performed “Biking,” “White Ferrari” and “Nikes.”

News of the rehearsal comes after BMW has been teasing Ocean’s set throughout the week. In doing so, the company shared a video of the car featured on the cover of Ocean’s 2011 mixtape nostalgia, ULTRA. “The past meets the future this week,” one post’s caption reads. “As far as what comes next, we’ll let you guys prophesy.”

Frank Ocean At Coachella In 2012

INDIO, CA – APRIL 13: Singer Frank Ocean performs onstage at the 2012 Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival held at The Empire Polo Field on April 13, 2012 in Indio, California. (Photo by Karl Walter/Getty Images for Coachella)

As for the alleged new music, Ocean previously mentioned being interested in EDM during a 2019 interview with W Magazine. “I’ve been interested in club, and the many different iterations of nightlife for music and songs,” he said at the time. “And so the things I look at now have a lot to do with those scenes: Detroit, Chicago, techno, house, French electronic.”

Additionally, Ocean confirmed he’s working on a new album during a statement shared with the rerelease of his Blonde vinyl. He mentioned preferring “the singles distribution model” in recent years, remarking that the albums model is “outdated, and that releasing singles is more suited to modern consumption habits where people curate their own playlists which are then shared within private circles.” He concluded, however, that he “changed his mind about the singles model.” Instead, he “is again interested in more durational bodies of work.” Ocean will hit the stage at Coachella on Sunday, April 23. The performance will also be streamed live on YouTube. Check out the clip of Frank Ocean’s rehearsal for Coachella below.

Frank Ocean’s Rehearsal

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