New Hip Hop News

Almost two weeks ago, Dylan Gonzalez ushered in the new year with eye-widening claims about Trey Songz. According to the former University of Nevada, Las Vegas basketball star publicly accused the singer of rape, and her allegations came amid news that Songz was being investigated by Las Vegas authorities in connection to a sexual assault.

For years there have been several lawsuits and allegations of sexual assault from different women. On Tuesday (January 11), Gonzalez returned to double down on her allegations while revealing that she has hired a lawyer.

 
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“With what seems like endlessly reoccurring news of the alleged sexual assaults committed by Trey Songz, I am forced to repeatedly relive in my mind and suffer ane, the long-suppressed horror and unbearable PTSD of my rape by his very hands at a well known Las Vegas hotel,” Gonzalez wrote. She added that she supports others who come forward about what they have endured.

Although she was the person to spark the interest in the allegations she made against Songz, Gonzalez has requested for people to grant her “privacy, consideration and compassion” while she figures out “the best course of action.” 

She also advised anyone with questions to speak directly with her attorney. Read through her message in full below.

Since Young Dolph’s murder on Nov. 17, police and fans have been hoping to figure out who could have killed him, and why they would want to. Soon after the death, the getaway car of the suspects was found, and three primary suspects were arrested by the police after they had committed a similar crime nearby, but were not found to be involved in Young Dolph’s case.

Young Dolph was laid to rest in late November, and the search for Dolph’s murderers had since been ongoing for nearly two months. Last week, Justin Johnson had been identified as a new suspect in the murder, and a warrant was issued for his arrest. Old photos of him with Dolph surfaced soon after, confirming a relationship between the two.

Today (Jan. 11), Johnson was captured and arrested by U.S. Marshals around 3 p.m. local time in Indiana. The U.S. Marshals had announced a $15,000 reward for information that would lead to the arrest when he was identified as a suspect. Now, Johnson faces charges of first-degree murder and theft of property between $10,000 and $60,000.

Next, Cornelius Smith, the second suspect in Dolph’s murder case, was arrested and indicted later today in Shelby County, TN, where Memphis is located and where Young Dolph was killed. Smith faces charges for first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, convicted felon in possession of a firearm, employment of a firearm in the commission of a dangerous felony, and theft of property over $10,000. 

Last week, Justin Johnson had claimed he was going to turn himself in after it was announced he was a suspect. Johnson is a rapper that goes by “Straight Drop,” and he posted on his Instagram story declaring his innocence. His Instagram account has since been deleted.

Via Instagram

Police consider this a major victory, as their suspects for the high-profile case of Young Dolph’s murder are now in custody.

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Future is indisputably one of the most important and notable figures in the history of trap music. In the 2010s, he pioneered a new evolution of the sound and inspired many subsequent artists to continue his legacy, including artists like Young Thug and Migos.

However, the Atlanta rapper’s impact spans far beyond the trap sub-genre of hip-hop, as projects like DS2 and Monster, as well as hits like “March Madness” and “Mask Off,” have made him one of the most celebrated rappers of the last decade. For this, Joe Budden believe he belongs in the highest tier of all rappers in today’s landscape.

On his “Joe Budden Podcast,” Budden explained how he believes Future rightfully belongs in rap’s current upper echelon, where it typically only includes artists like Drake, Kanye West, Kendrick Lamar, J. Cole and Lil Wayne: “So, I was trying to think of the last and it shocked me to learn that we don’t talk about Future enough on that list and he’s there. But he’s been there and we don’t discuss it. We just say Drake, Ye, Cole, Kendrick, Wayne — Hov is already goated — but Future is there.”

As Budden mentioned, Future should be considered in this elite category that is also occupied by JAY-Z, or Hov as he called him. Future is in agreement with that, as he claimed he was bigger than JAY-Z last month: “In the streets im bigger then jigga. Ima run me a B up easy. 100M’s not the goal anymore.”

As this fueled discourse, Future would double down by sharing a post on Instagram that claimed he would beat JAY-Z in a Verzuz battle.

Joe Budden and Future are clearly confident in his ability to stand alongside the hip-hop greats of this generation. Do you agree?

Maya Jama and Ben Simmons are living their best lives. On Monday, January 11th, the recently engaged duo were spotted on a coffee date in the NBA star’s home state, and photos snapped by the paparazzi show the English TV host casually flexing her massive ring.

Daily Mail reports that Jama and her fiance were grabbing drinks following a couple’s gym session when they were spotted. The 27-year-old can be seen wearing a black mask, an oversized hoodie, leggings, and sneakers – all also dark in colour – while carrying a boxy Louis Vuitton bag and casually flashing her sparkly rock.

Simmons, also sporting some athleisure, was photographed in a grey Nike hoodie layered over a grey shirt, blue sweatpants, and high white crew socks worn in a pair of camoflauge Crocs.

According to the outlet, Jama’s engagement ring has been valued at $800,000 by experts. “It looks to be an emerald cut diamond set on a white gold or platinum band. The centre stone is around 10 carats, which is huge, and will no doubt be of the highest quality,” managing director of Steven Stone, Zack Stone revealed.

Karwai Tang/Getty Images

In case you missed it, the Philadelphia 76ers player popped the question over the recent holiday season. “Ben adores Maya and has fallen head over heels for her,” a source told The Sun after the news went public.

“He chose the ring himself and felt he knew exactly what she would want. Maya said yes and they’re both thrilled. Ben was so excited, but they’ve decided to keep the news low-key and tell only those closest to them.”

Read more about the happy couple’s engagement here, and check back in with HNHH later for more updates. 

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Cancel the 10 Year Challenge, because Lil Mama just won. If you’ve been on Instagram over the past few days, you may have seen some of your friends and favourite celebrities partaking in a new internet trend where they upload a photo from 2012 and one from 2022 to see how much they’ve changed and grown over the last decade.

The concept is not exacly anything new, but it’s always fun to see what pictures people chose to share of themselves, and it’s particularly interesting when users put a fun twist on the assignment, like the New York-born “Lip Gloss” hitmaker decided to.

Johnny Nunez/Getty Images

Earlier this week, Lil Mama shared her snapshot from 10 years ago to her Instagram story, but instead of using an actual portrait of herself, she grabbed one of “Like You” singer Bow Wow, who she’s frequently been reminded how much she looks like throughout her career.

“2012 #10yearchallenge,” she captioned it. On her next post, Mama shared a red carpet picture that sees her wearing an elegant strapless black gown, her hair in a high blonde bun and a gold clutch in her hands. “Was [and] still [am] getting my shit together,” she wrote alongside a crying laughing emoji.

As you could’ve guessed, the internet absolutely loved the hilarious joke; @theneighborhoodtalk shared it to Instagram, and hundreds of people have flocked to the comments to express their joy.

“I knew it was coming sooner or later,” one viewer wrote. Others added “she embraced what y’all used to try and hurt her [for]. I love this for her,” and “if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em was a person.”

“Cravin” singer DaniLeigh is another one of the stars who’s shared throwback photos in honour of the ongoing 10 Year Challenge – read more about that here, and let us know what you think of Lil Mama’s antics in the comments.

Chance the Rapper has been pretty quiet musically since his polarizing The Big Day debut album in 2019. Perhaps him staying out of the public eye has led to fans forgetting what he looks, evident in a new video Chance posted to his Instagram story this week.

On vacation, Chance the Rapper was stoped by a server who mistook him for Migos front Quavo. Chance decided to capture a video with the man for a hilarious video where he pretends to be Quavo and sings 2015 Miogs hit “Pipe It Up”: Bro a n***a just thought I was Quavo (with) no glasses, G wtf.”

It appears Chance is vacationing in Ghana right now, as videos has surfaced of him living it up in the African country with fellow Chicagoan Vic Mensa.

He also posted a photo dump on Instagram of photos of him in Ghana with friends.

While Chance the Rapper and Quavo are surely two different people, they have collaborated together on two separate tracks with DJ Khaled, with the first being Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 hit “I’m The One,” also featuring Justin Bieber and Lil Wayne from 2017.

The next summer in 2018, the group linked again, minus Lil Wayne, to craft the follow-up titled “No Brainer,” which was received with more mixed reviews than “I’m The One.”

Since they are friend and collaborators, surely Chance was not too offended by the fan mistaking him for Quavo, even if they look nothing alike.

Check out the hysterical video posted by Chance below.