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Ab-Soul Shared The Tracklist For ‘Soul Burger,’ Which Features Doechii, Lupe Fiasco, Vince Staples, And More

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Ab-Soul’s new mixtape Soul Burger is dropping this Friday, November 8, and today, the Carson rapper has revealed the tracklist, which contains some real surprises and treats for rap fans. Soul — who’s been embroiled in some minor J. Cole-related controversy, but quickly dispelled rumors of any beef between the two — has already released two songs from the project. While “All That” sees Soul teaming up with a different Compton rapper from the one he’s usually associated with, “Crazier” further undermines the belief in friction between Dreamville and TDE.

While some of the guests on Soul Burger seem like no-brainers — specifically, labelmate and current heir apparent to rap’s women’s division crown, Doechii, and fellow West Coasters Blxst, Ty Dolla Sign, and Vince Staples — one that’s sure to raise a few eyebrows is Lupe Fiasco. Now, if there’s anyone rap fans think actually has a disagreement with Soul’s Black Hippy bandmate Kendrick Lamar, it’s Lupe, who notoriously shaded the Compton-bred Pulitzer winner on Twitter in 2018, apparently in a bout of jealousy over the attention K. Dot’s received for his pen in the past few years. Of course, from a “bars only” standpoint, the combo of Ab-Soul and Lupe Fiasco only makes sense, as very few rappers in the world can keep up with either of them when they start really digging into their wordplay bags (and/or conspiracy theories). TDE President Punch is also featured on that song, which should help balance things out (and continue to remind fans that Punch is a very, very skilled wordsmith in his own right).

You can see the tracklist below.

Soul Burger is out on 11/8 via Top Dawg Entertainment. You can find more info here.

Ab-Soul Was ‘A Little Upset’ With J. Cole Over ‘Pi,’ But Not For The Reason You Might Think

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A week after Top Dawg Entertainment President Punch Henderson debunked rumors of beef between rappers on his label and J. Cole, TDE’s Ab-Soul has admitted that he was upset with Cole over their collaboration “Pi“… but not for the reason fans might think.

“Pi,” which appeared on Cole’s April mixtape Might Delete Later, raised fans’ antennae for potential beef, as it appeared on the tape with “7 Minute Drill,” Cole’s response to Kendrick’s incendiary verse on Future and Metro Boomin’s “Like That.” After K. Dot called out J. Cole and Drake for supposedly “sneak dissing” him on their collab “First Person Shooter,” Cole was the first to accept the challenge. However, featuring K. Dot’s former labelmate and Black Hippy band member Ab-Soul on “Pi” had some listeners wondering if there was some petty gamesmanship on Cole’s part.

As it turns out, no, there wasn’t. Cole decided his heart wasn’t in it, deleted “7 Minute Drill” from streamers, and moved on eventually addressing things on “Port Antonio” early this month. However, at the same time, Soul dropped his own new song “Squeeze 1st 2,” with lyrics listeners believed were shots at Cole for involving him in the “beef” with Kendrick. However, Punch clarified on Twitter that all the involved verses and songs had been recorded before the “beef,” and that “Squeeze 1st 2” had little to do with “Port Antonio.”

Yesterday, Ab-Soul appeared on DJ Hed’s SiriusXM show, Effective Immediately, and reflected on his real issue with “Pi” — that he wasn’t informed by Daylyt, the third collaborator on the song, about Cole’s involvement until after the fact. “I’m lowkey hot,” he joked. “I’m like, ‘Lyt, bro, this is one of the best rappers in the world… I’m on his head like, ‘Bro, you have to let me know if you’re gonna send this shit off. He ate us up.’” Soul also made absolutely clear that “Cole is the homie, for real,” but that he was only upset because he wanted the North Carolina rapper to appear on his song “F*ck Out My Face [FOMF],” but rather than delivering the 12-bar verse that needed, issued 48 bars on “Pi.”

You can watch the full interview above to get Ab-Soul’s hilarious story.

Punch Dispelled Rumors Of Beef Between TDE And Dreamville Artists After A Viral Fan Theory About J. Cole’s ‘Pi’

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Ever since Future and Metro Boomin added Kendrick Lamar to their combative single “Like That,” the rap game has been in shambles, with bloodlust among rap fans fueling pernicious rumors of beef between their favorite entertainers. Case in point, the song “Pi” from J. Cole’s new mixtape, Might Delete Later, has been the center of rumored beef between rappers affiliated with Kendrick’s former label, TDE, and J. Cole’s label, Dreamville. However, TDE President Terrence Henderson — aka Punch — stepped in to dispel that myth before it spread any further.

After a rap fan on Twitter (never calling it “X”) wrote, “Ab-Soul threw jabs at J. Cole after Cole did him dirty by adding him & Daylyt to a song with a verse dissing Kendrick on ‘Pi’,” Punch did some fact-checking on the inaccurate speculation. “I hate to clear up rumors,” he wrote in response. “I usually let them fester and see how far they go, but ALL verses on ‘Pi’ were recorded long before ‘Like That.’”

It’s fair to say that fans have let their excitement get the best of them in the past. That, combined with the vagueness of some rappers’ battle raps, gives plenty of room for conspiratorial thinking and jumping to conclusions. However, there’s a big difference between fan theories on the internet and what really goes on behind the scenes — and Punch’s tweet is a reminder that many of those theories are usually missing key pieces of information. In this case, the fans in question appear to have overlooked the fact that Daylyt and J. Cole have collaborated since on “Plate Of Collard Greens,” and that even Ab-Soul appears to be rooting for Drake to have a soft landing.

TDE’s Punch Recalls the Infamous Diddy-J. Cole Fight During Podcast Appearance

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TDE's Punch Recalls the Infamous Diddy - J. Cole Fight During Podcast Appearance

TDE’s President Punch pulled up to Tank and J. Valentine’s R&B Money podcast, recalling the aftermath of Kendrick Lamar dropping “Control.”

In the past, stories about this infamous night seemed to allege that Lamar’s confrontation with Diddy started a fight between the embattled Bad Boy mogul and J. Cole.

Punch stated he and the unnamed artist, presumably Lamar, were confronted about the song, which had the King of New York claim at the time. Punch stated one of the homies was drunk and he and another homie got into an argument. The moment carried to a VIP section, where the “front row of the Grammys” was there.

The two who got into an altercation earlier, the drunk homie, presumably Diddy, and the other is reportedly J. Cole, began to heat up again in the section as Diddy threatened to cut Cole’s throat with a broken bottle, erupting into a scuffle of celebrities. The entire wild story can be heard below.

In 2021, J. Cole raised the eyebrows of many Hip-Hop fans when he addressed a rumored fight with Diddy on “l e t. g o. m y. h a n d” from The Off-Season album.

Diving into the story a bit more, J. Cole’s manager, Ibrahim “IB” Hamad, appeared on the Say Less podcast and added a couple of additional wrinkles to the story.

One of the key moments for “IB” was the star-studded list of names present, specifically remembering how he and JAY-Z reacted to the situation.

“It wasn’t like, ‘Don’t talk to Kendrick like that!’ Kendrick was there, Top was there, JAY was there, Beyoncé was there. Me and Cole. You know, grown men got a little heated. All I remember is, me and Jay looking at each other like, ‘Oh, these n-ggas ‘bout to fight.’ And then just being like, ‘Oh no this is ‘bout to happen.’ I’ll leave it at that.”

He added, “that was a VMA party, everyone was there. Angela Yee was literally at the table. I fuck with Yee, but she got Rumor Report and shit. Walking out of there I’m like, ‘Oh this about to be baaad.’ But for some reason no one had a camera out, a couple people was talking about it, but you know.”

He would go on to reveal that Diddy’s vocals for that single were recorded during the last week of the recording.

You can hear the full story below.

The post TDE’s Punch Recalls the Infamous Diddy-J. Cole Fight During Podcast Appearance first appeared on The Source.

The post TDE’s Punch Recalls the Infamous Diddy-J. Cole Fight During Podcast Appearance appeared first on The Source.

Punch Reveals Crucial Role In Making Kendrick Lamar’s “To Pimp A Butterfly”

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Punch is a talented wordsmith in his own right. The man born Terrence Henderson is best known for running Top Dawg Entertainment alongside Anthony “Top Dawg” Tiffith. That said, Punch has dropped guest verses on Kendrick Lamar and Ab-Soul albums in the past. Punch reflected on his musical output via Instagram on August 21. He not only revealed that he was involved in the making of Lamar’s seminal album To Pimp a Butterfly, but he was crucial in the resolution of its narrative concept. The way Punch tells it, the album would have been very different had he not been working alongside Dot.

The closing track on To Pimp a Butterfly is “Mortal Man.” Kendrick Lamar reads a poem to Tupac, referring to said poem as something a “good friend had wrote.” Punch told Instagram followers that he was the “good friend in question.” The poem he wrote effectively lays out the thesis and title of To Pimp a Butterfly, which is something he claims Lamar struggled with. “I remember K. Dot was feeling a bit lost in the concept,” Punch recalled. “It happens sometimes when your in the thick of the battle. It’s easy to kind of lose sight of the original purpose as new ideas and thought enter in.” The TDE boss claims that Lamar asked him to write a poem that would help snap the narrative into place. He obliged.

Read More: TDE’s Punch Questions Elliott Wilson’s Edit Of Kendrick Lamar’s “Meet The Grahams”

Punch Helped K. Dot Complete The Album’s Concept

 
 
 
 
 
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A post shared by Punch (@iamstillpunch)

“I thought about it and wrote some words and sent it to him,” Punch added. “He said ‘thanks’ and we kept moving with business as usual.” The TDE boss noted that weeks went by with no mention of the poem. It wasn’t until Punch sat down to listen to “Mortal Man” that he discovered Lamar had used the poem as the album’s capper. “I realized these were the words that I sent Dot months before! I had no idea he was using it for the album,” he recalled. “Even when we played it back during the process he never played that section.”

Punch doesn’t have a credit on “Mortal Man.” However, he remains grateful to Lamar for involving him in such a notable piece of music. “This will always be a special moment for me,” he concluded on his IG post. “Because of our connection and understanding and also being apart of that masterpiece in that way.” It’s difficult to imagine the end of “Mortal Man,” and by extension, To Pimp a Butterfly, without Punch’s poem serving as the cherry on top.

Read More: Punch TDE Hilariously Responds To A Supposed Drake Fan’s Claims That His Label Is Full Of “Thugs”

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JID’s Manager Jokes His Album Is Never Coming Out After Getting Some Advice From TDE’s Punch

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Dreamville fans have been impatiently awaiting the release of JID’s fourth album, Forever & A Day, for almost two years now, after JID announced it in August 2022. Since then, he’s projected and missed at least one release window, fall 2023, after announcing a second project, a joint album with Metro Boomin, was also in the works. And although Metro pledged to release the album sometime this year, reassuring worried fans it was “still a thing” despite his busy schedule, Top Dawg Entertainment President Punch may have ruined fans hopes for a 2024 release after giving JID’s manager, Barry Hefner, his “secret” to success.

Replying to a SZA fan account’s celebratory post about the longevity of the singer’s last album SOS (80 weeks at No. 1 on the Top R&B Albums chart), Punch wrote simply, “Insane.” When Hefner wondered, “what’s your secret?” Punch replied with the strategy that vexed SZA fans (and the artist herself) for the five years between the release of her acclaimed debut CTRL and SOS: “The secret is… hold albums back.”

Hef, who was definitely in on the joke, promised to apply this strategy to the Since The ’80s management roster — which includes JID. “TDE always holding their artists back from being successful..” he responded, citing a common fan complaint about the California label’s unpredictable release schedule. “if this what holding the album back looks like ain’t sh*t coming out over here.” Punch jovially agreed. “JID fans finna get at now.”

So, there you have it, JID fans. Forever & A Day may take that long to come out, and really, you can blame SZA fans for keeping SOS in rotation so long — even as they await its promised follow-up, Lana. This is why they say patience is a virtue.

Kendrick Lamar Jokes About His Viral Photoshoot With Chanel

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Kendrick Lamar’s music is serious. He’s created some of the most sobering and grim hip-hop music in recent memory. It’s the reason he’s considered the scariest rapper on the planet. It’s also the reason he’s the only rapper with a Pulitzer Prize. The thing is, Lamar has a more of a sense of humor than his albums suggest. To Pump a Butterfly and DAMN. are not laugh-a-minute releases, but the rapper’s videos and his occasional public appearances prove that he doesn’t take himself too seriously. Case in point: his brand new Chanel photoshoot.

Kendrick Lamar is still basking in the glow of having beat Drake in a rap battle. He’s also coming off his second solo number one, “Not Like Us.” A photoshoot with one of the most prestigious fashion brands in the world was not expected, but it makes sense given his currently elevated profile. The photos dropped on May 28, and while the images were generally well-received, the rapper’s close friends couldn’t resist poking fun. Punch, Dot’s former executive producer at TDE, texted the rapper and asked him “What you doing dawg” with a laughing emoji. Lamar didn’t miss a beat. He sent back crying emojis before writing: “I think I’m cute on there man. Couldn’t resist.”

Read More: Kendrick Lamar Breaks Yet Another Drake Spotify Streaming Record With “Not Like Us”

Kendrick Lamar Claimed He Looked “Cute” In His Shoot

Punch doubled down on the jokes. He clowned Lamar for the contemplative look he has during the photoshoot. “What are you doing with them dreamy eyes n**ga?” he asked. Lamar, once again, found the humor in what was seemingly a very serious and artsy shoot. “I’m crying dawg,” he added. Punch then asked the “Euphoria” rapper if he could post their text conversation on social media for fans. We don’t see the response in the screenshot, but based on the fact that we’re seeing the screenshot, it’s safe to assume that he gave approval.

Kendrick Lamar has been quiet since the release of his last Drake diss. There were rumors that the rapper was gearing up to release an album in May, but the month came and went without a formal announcement. Dot generally takes a long time between albums. This is what made the rollout of multiple diss songs in the span of a couple weeks such a shock to the music world. All we can do is hope that the rapper decides to keep the momentum going and bless fans with a release sooner rather than later.

Read More: Drake Vs. Kendrick Lamar: DJ Akademiks’ Hate-Botting Theory Trashed By Fans

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Kendrick Lamar Copyright Strikes Edited Version Of “Meet The Grahams”

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Kendrick Lamar is standing by what he said. “Meet the Grahams” was one of the most devastating diss songs ever put out. Over a haunting Alchemist beat, Lamar laid into his opponent, Drake, and laid out all the reasons why the Toronto rapper is a phony. He addressed Drake’s son and both his parents, but the biggest revelation came in the song’s third verse. Lamar addressed an unnamed daughter, claiming the rapper has an 11-year-old that he has neglected to raise since rising to fame. It was a shocking moment, and one that’s been examined with a lot of scrutiny.

Many claim Lamar is making the daughter up. Some have even posited that Drake fed the rapper’s camp bad information in an attempt to bait him. There’s been no evidence to prove either theory. Fans have to decide what the truth is for themselves.

Some are so put off by the so-called “lie” Lamar told that they went the extra mile and took the third verse out of “Meet the Grahams.” Rap Radar‘s Elliot Wilson posted an edited version of the song on May 8. Lamar was not a fan of this change, however.

Read More: Naomi Osaka Picks Kendrick Lamar Over Drake And Wants Another Diss Track From the LA Rapper

Kendrick Lamar Removed A Version With Omitted Lyrics

The rapper filed a copyright violation against the edited version of “Meet the Grahams.” It was quickly taken down from social media platforms. Punch, Lamar’s former label mate at Top Dawg Entertainment, criticized the very concept of the edited version. He reposted Wilson’s tweet with a rhetorical question for the journalist. “Why would you request for it to be edited anyway,” he asked. “Did you ask for edits on anything else?”

Kendrick Lamar’s decision to take down the edited “Meet the Grahams” was no accident. The rapper has been very hands-on with song rollout over the last few months. He removed the copyrights for his Drake disses, meaning content creators who review “Meet the Grahams” or “Not Like Us” can profit from their videos. This was an unprecedented move, and one that earned Lamar lots of praise from online creators. It’s obvious the censoring of his work is not something he’s willing to tolerate, however.

The version of “Meet the Grahams” without mention of Drake’s daughter is no more. All that remains is the rapper’s original, brutal version.

Read More: Kendrick Lamar Continues To Out-Stream Drake With “Not Like Us” Diss Track

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TDE President Punch Jumped Headfirst Into The Debate Over Kendrick Lamar’s ‘To Pimp A Butterfly’ After J. Cole Dissed It

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Rap Twitter is in a frenzy after J. Cole dropped his surprise mixtape Might Delete Later with its Kendrick Lamar response “7 Minute Drill.” Clapping back on K. Dot after he called out Cole and Drake on “Like That,” the North Carolina rapper asserts “Your first sh*t was classic, your last sh*t was tragic / Your second sh*t put n****s to sleep but they gassed it.”

Putting aside debate about which of Kendrick’s albums counts as his second, the discourse was quickly joined by Top Dawg Entertainment President Terrance “Punch” Henderson, who defended To Pimp A Butterfly and Kendrick as the opinions flew. Unfortunately, even making as innocuous a statement as “I thought to pimp a butterfly was pretty good” opened the industry vet up to a deluge of responses — which, to be fair, he’s pretty much used to after SZA fans used him as their personal punching bag all through the wait for SOS.

His follow-up tweet also garnered a huge response. “The current rap climate got me realizing a lot of you music industry ppl are Kdot haters,” he asserted. “lol you telling me you n****s been secretly hating ALL this time!” He later clarified that “industry ppl” refers to “the folks that work in music,” rather than the rappers currently trading shots on records.

The responses largely fall into two categories. One: People who agree with Punch, and two: people who REALLY disagree with Punch. “There’s more Kdot dick riders on Twitter than you’ll ever find in real life lmfao,” read one quote. Another contended, “That privilege people say Drake has is actually Kendrick ten-fold. Drake would drop a pack of ass & go platinum because of who he is, but that’s where it ends. But you see Kendrick? He’ll drop the most unlistenable sh*t, probably poo on a track & be gifted awards.” YIKES.

While many of Punch’s detractors rightly point out that Kendrick has 17 Grammys and a Pulitzer to his name despite the lukewarm reaction to his last album and that it’s not “hate” to simply dislike one of his five (or four, depending on how you count) albums (and many, many side projects), the defenders were more apt to put down any criticism with ad hominem attacks on straw men. Hmmmmm.

As the debate rages on, I feel it’s important to note that it’s all subjective and personal. None of should really be worrying what anyone else thinks, especially if it’s going to result in anger at people you don’t know and will never meet. Let’s all be a little nicer about this, yeah?

SZA Delivers Label Executives Top Dawg & Punch The Billboard Visionary Award

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There’s every indication that 2024 will be a huge year for Top Dawg Entertainment. Despite Kendrick Lamar moving on from the label after releasing all of his studio albums on it, they still have a stacked roster of talent. Earlier this week during a special 10th anniversary show for Isaiah Rashad’s Cilvia Demo a document they passed out made the rounds online. The document claimed that new projects were coming out from nearly every single artist on the label. It even included projects from three brand-new artists, though their names were blacked out.

Only two of the albums they’ve confirmed are currently known about. The first is SZA’s which many fans suspect is her previously announced SOS deluxe edition LANA. Earlier this week, Schoolboy Q announced his new album Blue Lips which drops in early March. It’s his first studio album since 2019’s Crash Talk. Other big TDE artists like Doechii, Jay Rock, Ab-Soul, and more are also expected to drop new projects this year. During a ceremony earlier this week, SZA paid tribute to the label’s founders who set up the potential for all of this in the first place.

Read More: SZA’s “SOS” Becomes Longest Running #1 R&B Album

SZA Gives Top Dawg And Punch A Visionary Award

Top Dawg and Punch, who founded Top Dawg Entertainment in 2004, are the newest recipients of the Billboard Visionary Award. For the presentation they got one of the label’s defining artists, SZA, to give a speech and she didn’t disappoint. “I was just talking to Punch the other day about how much vision he had to have to see what he saw in me with no credentials,” she began.

“I really was looking insane and behaving insane and refused writers and all these things, and he believed in me. People would come to him and tell him he should change how I look, or I should be doing these kind of beats or working with these writers, and he didn’t change a single thing about me,” her speech continued. What do you think of SZA’s speech while giving an award to Punch and Top Dawg? What new TDE release are you most excited for this year? Let us know in the comment section below.

Read More: What Is SZA’s Best-Selling Album?

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