the shop

Rick Ross’ Classic Verse On ‘Devil In A New Dress’ Came After Constructive Criticism From Kanye West

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Rick Ross 2022 'The Shop'
Akilah Townsend

If you ask fans of Rick Ross to list their favorite verses from the Maybach Music Group leader, most of them will mention his guest appearance on Kanye West’s “Devil In A New Dress.” The track, which appears on West’s 2010 album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, was a standout on the album and it’s one that arrived months after Ross dropped one of his best albums, Teflon Don. During a recent appearance on LeBron James and Uninterrupted’s The Shop, which also featured Gunna, Las Vegas Aces player A’ja Wilson, and United Master CEO Steve Stoute, Ross was asked about that verse and how it came together, and his answer is one you might not expect.

“Soon as I heard to beat, I wrote a verse right there,” Ross said. “The verse you heard ain’t what it was [in the end]. I wrote two to three verses right then just to let Kanye hear the vibe and I was like ‘This my verse right here. This the verse I want.’ He listened to it, walked off, came back an hour later like, ‘Rozay I know you…’”

Ross continued, “This the first time somebody ever said Rozay, ‘I know you, you could go harder.’ Woah… Rozay ain’t used to that. This feeling like confusion.” Ross added that it was a shock to essentially hear that his verse wasn’t good enough for the song. “He comes back like, ‘Rozay, you know I know you. This verse right here you could –‘ and I looked at him [like] what? I could what?” The comment seemed to light a fire under Ross. “Don’t even finish that,” he says he told Kanye. “Just chill, come back and holla at me. He closed the room, I said this n**** crazy, and I went back in immediately.”

Ross says the moment is proof that Kanye is a great producer. “Without a doubt, he’s most definitely gonna challenge you,” he said. “To me, to be great and make sure that everybody that’s in the room with you [is] great, you have to make sure that you challenge and not just accept.”

You can watch the full episode of The Shop in the video above.

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

Gunna Gives His Best Explanation For ‘Pushin P’ While Defending The Criticism He Got For It

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Gunna 2022 The Shop
YouTube

It only took Gunna a week to take over 2022 at the top of the year. The Atlanta native released his third album DS4EVER and it arguably became his biggest release to date. DS4EVER debuted at No. 1 on the albums chart, beating out The Weeknd’s Dawn FM, and while the project was statistically impactful, but was equally so on a cultural level. The project produced the term “Pushin P,” thanks to Gunna’s song with Young Thug and Future, and it took the world by storm. Fellow rappers and celebrities started using it and big-time corporations joined in on the fun. Through it all, Gunna’s definition of the term wasn’t the clearest, but at long last, we’ve received a more straightforward explanation.

During a recent episode of LeBron James and Uninterrupted’s The Shop — which also featured Rick Ross, Las Vegas Aces player A’ja Wilson, and United Master CEO Steve Stoute — Gunna took his time to explain the phrase.

“Pushin P really started at first as me just pulling up on some player, might got me a vibe with me,” he said. “My homies are like ‘Okay!’ You might come back around [later] and I’m doing the same one with a different type of vibe [and it’s like], ‘You’re still going? You Pushin P, now you pushing it! You pushin this player sh*t.’ Now I’m tryna make sure that I’m capitalizing on the P like, y’all Pushin P or what?”

Gunna then explained what inspired his player mentality. “Really all the dope boys,” he said. “Like our OG dope boys, man they was P, they was pulling up. When Boosie and them was riding DUBs, floaters, and Chargers, we had some OGs in our hood riding them too, telling us like, ‘This how you pull up.’ I looked up to them, got my game, and ran with it. Kept it P.”

Stoute chimed in with his point of view on “Pushin P,” and recalled that many people from Oakland accused Gunna of stealing their lingo. “Come to find out,” Gunna said in response, “they just come from player sh*t, too. That’s all that means. That’s what I took from it like bro, everybody been player. Your uncles, your aunties? They was player.”

You can watch the full episode of The Shop in the video above.

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

Donald Glover Reveals The ‘Extremely Petty’ Reason That Pushed Him To Make ‘Awaken, My Love!’

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Donald Glover 2018 iHeartRadio fest
Getty Image

After the success of his second album Because The Internet, Donald Glover, aka Childish Gambino, reached new heights in 2016 with the release of his third album Awaken, My Love! The project was a large shift in the sound that was present on Because The Internet, as Glover had songs that featured him singing as opposed to rapping along with production that combined psychedelic soul, funk, and R&B. As of today, Awaken, My Love! is Glover’s most successful album and during a recent appearance on LeBron James’ HBO show The Shop, he explained what inspired him to create the album.

“Did you ever tap into something that is in you that you feel is kind of bad to win?” Childish Gambino asked the group that included Lebron and Abbott Elementary creator Quinta Brunson. “Because I struggle with that. I am naturally petty. Like, extremely petty” He revealed that he made Awaken, My Love! to prove an unnamed critic wrong. “Awaken, My Love was literally because somebody said, ‘Oh, he can’t make a hit.’ And I was like, ‘Oh, not only will I make a hit, I won’t make a single video for it.’”

After its release in December 2016, Awaken, My Love became his highest-charting release after it debuted at No. 5 on the albums chart. The project also birthed Glover’s most successful single with “Redbone” which peaked at No. 12 on the singles chart and is currently 5X Platinum.

You can view the clip from the upcoming episode above. The full episode airs on March 4 at 9 am PST exclusively on UNINTERRUPTED’s YouTube channel.

Jay-Z Admits He Used To Forget His Lyrics When He Performed On LeBron James’ ‘The Shop’

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LeBron James‘ HBO Show The Shop returns for its fourth season this Friday, bringing with it an impressive list of guests including Puerto Rican star Bad Bunny, WNBA champion Nneka Ogwumike, and Bron’s big homie Jay-Z. In a new clip previewing the season premiere airing this Friday, the latter makes an admission that might surprise a few fans of the 30-year rap veteran: He wasn’t always as cool, calm, and collected as his rap persona might have you believe.

When LeBron asks whether his guests ever got “so zoned out they couldn’t see anything,” Jay confesses, “In the beginning, I used to get on the stage and just forget all my lyrics.” Of course, Jay is far from the only rapper ever to forget his own lyrics — on stage or otherwise. Both Eminem and Lil Wayne have copped to having to Google their rhymes to ensure they don’t repeat themselves, while current hitmaker Lil Baby was stumped by a TikTokers lyrics quiz when he couldn’t complete his own bars. Among them, it’s probably easiest to forgive Jay and Wayne, who’ve both embraced a style of songwriting heavy on mental formulation without writing anything down.

The Shop airs 5/28 at 9 pm ET on HBO. Watch the promo above.