New Hip Hop News

It’s the year of Yeezy. While 2022 is set to include the upcoming “Dazzling Blue” and “Onyx” Yeezy Boost 350 V2, adidas is expected to add two new additions to the sneaker line. The Yeezy footwear line will be expanding to include two new Yeezy slides featuring those emblematic earth tones. 

Next year, the Yeezy slide is expected to arrive in a tonal black and multicolored “MX” colorway. Based on mockups provided by Yeezy Influence on Instagram, the first pair will be donned in solid black. The “MX” colorway will resemble previous colorways like the “MX Oat” and “MX Rock” Yeezy Boost 350 V2. The silhouette will keep the same materials, constructed of injected EVA foam from top to bottom.  

Nick Wilson/Getty Images

This year, the Yeezy slide was released in a handful of tonal colorways including “Ochre”, “Pure”, “Soot”, and “Core”. More favorable colorways were seen on the Yeezy Boost 350 V2, Yeezy 700 V3, and the Yeezy Boost 700. There haven’t been many deviations from the iconic nude colorways, so the “MX” treatment on the slides may be a new fan favorite. 

Kanye has an affinity for tonal attire, especially since the release of his 10th studio album Donda. Reminiscent of his own style, most of the releases expected next year will not stray from those earthy themes but sneakerheads can expect some new treatments for the YZY KNIT RNR and the Yeezy Boost 700 v2.

Current release dates are not concrete, but the rollout is expected to begin in Spring 2022. 

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Joe Francis, the founder of Girls Gone Wild, is in the middle of some pretty serious baby mama drama, TMZ reports. An anonymous source told the outlet that the 48-year-old’s ex, a model named Abbey Wilson, has been charged with the kidnapping of their twin 7-year-old daughters, Athena and Alexandria. 

Francis alleges that he was supposed to see the girls on Christmas, but that plans fell through as Wilson and their children have seemingly “fallen off the grid.” Court documents obtained by TMZ accuse the 33-year-old of family violence, noting that “authorities have tried to serve her with papers,” but haven’t been able to as she hasn’t been living at her listed residence for at least six months.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Abbey Wilson (@iamabbeywilson)

On Wednesday, Wilson’s lawyer, Ronald Richards provided a lengthy statement to Page Six, explaining his client’s whereabouts. “The Mexican court has her address,” he said, adding that Francis has been “physically and verbally abusive” to the mother of his children for “many years.”

“She categorically denies she has been charged with kidnapping. She has full temporary custody of her children. He only has limited supervised visitation. She has retained counsel and any court papers, like in the US, are served on counsel of record. There is no amber alert or any other bulletin looking for her.”

Richards mentioned that Wilson’s baby daddy has failed to provide any sort of financial support for “school, education, medical bills, food, etc,” and also brought up the time which the businessman “brutally attacked and beat Abbey up,” which the model had previously alleged in court documents. 

“He is angry and trying to make her look bad because he is angry he went to jail last year,” Richards speculated. “That is it. He is a violent human being and his track record proves that. He has a history of submitting false stories about our client. He should surrender to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department fugitive detail who has been looking to execute those outstanding bench warrants for over five years.”

Page Six notes that Francis and Wilson first met in 2012 when the latter won Girls Gone Wild’s “Search for the Hottest Girl in America”. They were never married but stayed together for nearly 12 years until the pandemic hit when Wilson shared stories about her ex’s drug use and abusive behaviour while they were at home together.

At the time, the father of two told the outlet, “My ex-girlfriend just keeps making up things and lying and lying and lying. I have to defend myself and publicly separate myself with her now.”

Despite Francis’ claims that his ex and their children are “off the grid,” she shared a photo of them on the beach just a few days ago. Check it out below. 

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Joe Francis, the founder of Girls Gone Wild, is in the middle of some pretty serious baby mama drama, TMZ reports. An anonymous source told the outlet that the 48-year-old’s ex, a model named Abbey Wilson, has been charged with the kidnapping of their twin 7-year-old daughters, Athena and Alexandria. 

Francis alleges that he was supposed to see the girls on Christmas, but that plans fell through as Wilson and their children have seemingly “fallen off the grid.” Court documents obtained by TMZ accuse the 33-year-old of family violence, noting that “authorities have tried to serve her with papers,” but haven’t been able to as she hasn’t been living at her listed residence for at least six months.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Abbey Wilson (@iamabbeywilson)

On Wednesday, Wilson’s lawyer, Ronald Richards provided a lengthy statement to Page Six, explaining his client’s whereabouts. “The Mexican court has her address,” he said, adding that Francis has been “physically and verbally abusive” to the mother of his children for “many years.”

“She categorically denies she has been charged with kidnapping. She has full temporary custody of her children. He only has limited supervised visitation. She has retained counsel and any court papers, like in the US, are served on counsel of record. There is no amber alert or any other bulletin looking for her.”

Richards mentioned that Wilson’s baby daddy has failed to provide any sort of financial support for “school, education, medical bills, food, etc,” and also brought up the time which the businessman “brutally attacked and beat Abbey up,” which the model had previously alleged in court documents. 

“He is angry and trying to make her look bad because he is angry he went to jail last year,” Richards speculated. “That is it. He is a violent human being and his track record proves that. He has a history of submitting false stories about our client. He should surrender to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department fugitive detail who has been looking to execute those outstanding bench warrants for over five years.”

Page Six notes that Francis and Wilson first met in 2012 when the latter won Girls Gone Wild’s “Search for the Hottest Girl in America”. They were never married but stayed together for nearly 12 years until the pandemic hit when Wilson shared stories about her ex’s drug use and abusive behaviour while they were at home together.

At the time, the father of two told the outlet, “My ex-girlfriend just keeps making up things and lying and lying and lying. I have to defend myself and publicly separate myself with her now.”

Despite Francis’ claims that his ex and their children are “off the grid,” she shared a photo of them on the beach just a few days ago. Check it out below. 

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At a time, the only people who cared about first-week album sales were working in the music industry. In this current musical climate, though, it feels like everybody has an opinion about first-week sales, tallying up their favorite artist’s numbers and using them to calculate how impactful the release was. Some critics have said that, because of the emphasis from fans on first-week sales, there has been a shift in the way that we listen to music, reducing replays after that all-important first week. 

It doesn’t feel like that trend will end either, with media personalities including DJ Akademiks sharing first-week sales projections on a weekly basis, earning some of his highest engagement rates on those posts. As the year comes to a close, a list has started to circulate showing hip-hop’s biggest first weeks this year. As expected, Drake holds the top spot with 613,000 units moved in Week One with Certified Lover Boy. Kanye West was the runner-up with 309,000 units sold for DONDA in the first week. Surprisingly enough, despite not releasing any new projects this year, Nicki Minaj could also be found toward the lower end of the list with her twelve-year-old mixtape, Beam Me Up Scotty, which was re-issued in 2021 with a handful of new records, including “Seeing Green” with Drake and Lil Wayne.

Bryan Bedder/Getty Images — Nicki Minaj in 2010

Minaj herself is surprised to see the mixtape make the cut with 80,000 first-week sales on the re-issue, sharing a post on Instagram Stories and saying, “My 12 year old re-released mixtape made the list. Barbz!!!!!! Love you so much. Let’s go!”

Take a look at the list below and let us know if you’re surprised about any of the albums on there.

Screenshot via @nickiminaj on Instagram

Cardi B just keeps on winning. Her latest sneaker collab with Reebok has sold out. The capsule, titled “Let Me Be…In My World Nighttime,” was inspired by her hometown, New York, and featured a line of metallic sneakers and apparel. Reebok released two colorways of her sneakers this morning, featuring two monochromatic colors in rose gold and black, which both sold out rapidly. 

After selling out, the rapper went to Twitter to express her shock. “WELL THAT WAS FAST”, she quoted in response to the release. 

Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images

Cardi’s latest collaboration with Reebok includes five new metallic leather colorways. The uppers feature a smooth metallic overlay and a rugged outer sole. Ahead of the release, she gave some insight on her latest endeavor, “Nighttime in my hometown of New York is such a beautiful, magical experience, and I’m happy to see this magic come to life with my latest Reebok collection,” said Cardi B in a release. “These pieces are easy to wear from the street to the club while still letting you feel comfortable, confident, and unique. I promise you’ll be feeling like the best version of yourself when you have these pieces on!”

Cardi B continues to see much success from her fashion collaborations. Back in August, she debuted her second Reebok collection “City Fierce” inspired by her childhood memories in NYC. Combining her dramatic style with comfortable threads, the capsule was a hit. And of course, she focuses heavily on inclusion, providing a wide range of sizes for fans. 

The “Let Me Be…In My World Nighttime” capsule sale started Wednesday, Dec. 29th at 10 a.m. on Reebok’s site and with select retailers. 

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Angela “Angie” Kukawski, a business manager that worked with Nicki Minaj, the Kardashians, and more, was reportedly murdered last week in Los Angeles. Kukawski worked at Boulevard Management in Woodland Hills, working with Kanye West, Offset, Tupac Shakur’s estate, and more over the years. She was fifty-five at the time of her death.

According to a report from Variety, an arrest was made following Kukawski’s murder on December 22. A forty-nine-year-old man, named Jason Barker, is being held on a $2 million bond. Kukawski’s deceased body was reportedly found in a car trunk north of LA in Simi Valley. The suspect allegedly transported the body from Van Nuys on December 23.

Kukawski was a mother-of-five. She was known among industry professionals as a “hard-working straight shooter.” 

“We are saddened and heartbroken by the loss of our colleague, Angie Kukawski,” said Boulevard’s Todd Bozick and Lester Knispel in a joint statement. “Angie was a kind, wonderful person, and she will be greatly missed by all who knew her. Our deepest condolences go out to all of Angie’s family and friends.”

Not much else is known about the circumstances surrounding her death. We will keep you updated as more information is released to the public. We send our deepest condolences to Angie’s family, her friends, loved ones, and anybody who worked with her.

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“You cannot shake me,” is what Iggy Azalea told people accusing her of “blackfishing” following the release of her music video for “I Am The Stripclub” this summer. In the visual, the mother of one opted to switch out her signature blonde hair for a sleek, dark black style and some viewers suspect her different look is no coincidence.

“Two pictures of Iggy Azalea from her new music video and she is blackfishing,” one person wrote on Twitter at the time. “The white woman is about 14 shades darker than her natural skin tone and her whole face structure looks different. She’s got long black hair and hoops,” they continued, sparking an online debate along with many other concerned viewers.

Azalea defended herself, saying, “f*ck those ppl babe lol,” referring to her haters. The phrase “those people” caused even more outrage, with people saying that the 31-year-old’s wording was racially insensitive. “The internet stay trying to read into shit that’s really not that deep,” she responded. 

“Those people is anyone that has a problem with the fact that I wore a black wig and performed in a dimly lit room but have nothing to say about the same makeup in other scenes… not hard to understand.”

Recently, a fan asked Azalea if we would ever see her with black hair again, to which she replied, “I’m not signing up for that chaos again lmao,” referring to the hate she received in July and beyond. 

Check out the “I Am The Stripclub” music video below and tell us if you think Iggy Azalea was blackfishing or not.