UTFO Rapper Kangol Kid Is Dead At 55 After A Battle With Colon Cancer

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Kangol Kid 2012 Red Tails premiere
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Rapper and producer Kangol Kid, who was also a member of Brooklyn’s Untouchable Force Organization (UTFO) trio, has passed away at the age of 55 following a battle with colon cancer, according to Rolling Stone. His death marks a sad ending to a brief bout with cancer; he announced his diagnosis earlier this year, in a post in February. Last month, Kangol, born Shaun Fequiere, shared a picture of fellow rapper LL Cool J visiting him at North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset, New York following a surgical procedure.

“Please forgive me for not returning calls and more,” Kangol wrote. “Things have become, and are becoming a little more difficult than imagined. I’ve been admitted again for complications related to my condition.” He added, “Thank you to those who have been instrumental in my latest ordeal. Your actions have been well received and greatly appreciated. I am blessed to have you by my side through this. I love you all.”

Kangol is best known for delivering the opening verse on UTFO’s 1984 single “Roxanne, Roxanne.” On the track, UTFO’s rappers, which also include Educated Rapper (Jeffrey Campbell) and Doctor Ice (Fred Reeves), repeatedly get denied by a “stuck-up” woman for a song that launched one of hip-hop’s first beefs. After UTFO canceled an appearance at a show, rapper Roxanne Shanté connected with one of the show’s promoters Marley Marl, who was also a producer, to release a diss track aimed at the group.

“Roxanne’s Revenge” launched the “The Roxanne Wars,” a rivalry that delivered between 30 and 100 answer records, according to different sources. These include UTFO’s own responses like 1995’s “The Real Roxanne” and “Roxanne, Roxanne, Pt. 2: Calling Her A Crab.”

After the news of his death arrived, LL Cool J’s Rock the Bells festival shared their condolences with a message on Twitter. “Hip-Hop lost a legend today with the transitioning of [Kangol Kid] but his legacy will forever serve as a source of inspiration, courage, and love,” they wrote. “Rock The Bells sends our deepest condolences to all of his family and loved ones.”

Derez De’Shon Raps About Feeling “Abandoned” On New Release

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In his usual style, Derez De’Shon gets in his feelings on his latest release, “Abandoned.” The track arrived on December 16th, and follows other 2021 efforts like “All Them Days,” “Eviction Notice,” “Residue,” “Lost In The Dark,” “In My Feelings,” and “Having My Way.”

“Thank you to everyone who commented earlier and is supporting the movement,” the rapper wrote to his Instagram followers earlier this week. “I love and appreciate you all. ENJOY!!!” His fans were elated to see his return, writing things like “the king of pain music is back,” and “you do it every time” followed by a trail of flame emojis.

“Abandoned” has been described as “an honest confessional about the feelings surrounding loss and mourning” by Dirty Glove, and truly conveys the deep feelings that the recording artist is striving to get across to his listeners. “Don’t say you love me now, been betrayed so many times,” he sombrely sings over the beat.

Stream Derez De’Shon’s newest arrival below.

Quotable Lyrics:

Ridin’ thru the city, mindin’ my own business

Vibe with my own bitches, get high with my own n*ggas

Don’t say you love me now, been betrayed so many times

I feel like love don’t let me down

[Via]

Juice WRLD’s “Fighting Demons” Debuts At #2, Other Major Releases Fall Short Of Top 20

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Last Friday (Dec. 10) featured a handful of new, standout hip-hop projects. Most notably, Juice WRLD’s second posthumous album Fighting Demons gave fans more unreleased Juice music, and featured artist like Justin Bieber, Polo G, Trippie Redd and a heartfelt interlude from Eminem.

Rick Ross’ eleventh studio album Richer Than I Ever Been also dropped, as the elegant rap icon welcomed marquee guests for the project like 21 Savage, Wale, Future, Benny the Butcher and more.NBA Youngboy also released his second project this fall, as he connected with his mentor Birdman for From The Bayou. New York autotune crooner A Boogie wit da Hoodie’s B4 AVA delivered seven songs in the for of an EP before his forthcoming studio album A Boogie vs. Artist.

Now, more than a week removed from all these notable releases, we can now see the immediate impact these projects had via the charts. Juice WRLD’s Fighting Demons ended up debuting at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 chart, selling 123,000 units, sandwiched by pop queens Adele at No. 1 and Taylor Swift at No. 3.

As for the Ross, YB & Birdman and A Boogie, their efforts were not as fruitful, as all three projects failed to crack the Billboard 200 Top 20. Rick Ross’ Richer Than I Ever Been landed at No. 21 selling 30,000 units. Birdman & YoungBoy Never Broke Again’s From The Bayou debuted at No. 22 with 29,000 units. A Boogie wit da Hoodie’s B4 AVA EP landed at No. 24 with 27,000 units.

Which of these projects have you been streaming since last week?

[Via]

Kanye West Referred To As “GOP Plant” In New Report Alleging 2020 Campaign Was Linked To Republicans

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If we’re being honest, Kanye West’s attempted presidential run still feels like something of a fever dream, but it was, in fact, as pointed out by a new report, very real, and very messy.

On Friday, the Daily Beast unveiled a deep dive into Ye’s campaign for the White House, in which the “Yikes” rapper is described as a “GOP plant, whether he knew it or not” by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington communications director Jordan Libowitz.

As Complex notes, the father of four’s run “seemingly went to great lengths to hide ‘potentially millions of dollars’ in services it got from a network of GOP ‘operatives’.” The report states that “among these operatives were advisers who worked with individuals considered to be part of the Republican ‘elite’.”

Apparently, Ye and his team didn’t report having paid some of those GOP advisers, which means that it’s possible some federal laws could’ve been broken. Political watchdog associations and experts all contributed assessments to the report, including John Boyd, who’s been described as the recording artist’s “spiritual adviser.”

Pool/Getty Images

“He had companies, individuals working for him, I don’t even know if he knew what they were doing that deeply,” Boyd has explained. “That’s my personal view. There were definitely agendas out there that perhaps he didn’t have full control over.”

A firm called Holtzman Vogel, who are known for their work in campaign finance and election law, is also named frequently throughout the report. They reportedly have links to both former President Trump, as well as the Honest Elections Project, who have allegedly dumped “hundreds of thousands of dollars into an ad campaign against mail-in voting options.”

Check out the full, in-depth report about Yeezy’s failed presidential run here.

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Project Youngin Shares His “Letter From The Projects”

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After teasing us with a steady stream of singles, Project Youngin has unveiled his new 11-track album, Letter From The Projects. The recording artist takes eight of the songs on his own, and taps YNW Melly and Foolio for “Make You Sick,” and FCG Heem for “Mad That I’m Rich.”

“Replacing me is easy……….But getting them to do the same shit I did is damn near IMPOSSIBLE,” Youngin captioned his most recent photo dump, which shows him flexing a large stack of cash and posing with a friend in a restaurant.

Letter From The Projects is actually the Florida native’s second full-length arrival this year, with Bigger Blessings hitting DSPs back in January. The 14-song long album includes titles like “Doormat” featuring Pooh Shiesty, “Bodies” featuring Hotboii, and “Broke No More” featuring Trapboy Freddy.

Ahead of his latest arrival, the 27-year-old shared “Love Don’t Love Nobody” and “Underdawgs” as singles to give us a taste of what was to come. Check out Project Youngin’s latest efforts below and leave a comment to let us know what you think.

Tracklist:

1. Prophet

2. Long Days

3. Make You Sick (feat. YNW Melly & Foolio)

4. Money Callin

5. Underdawgs

6. Mad That I’m Rich (FCG Heem)

7. Last Forever

8. 32 Loads

9. Ride On Em

10. Anxiety

11. Love Don’t Love Nobody

Rick Ross Believes Meek Mill’s Label Issues Are With Atlantic Records And Not With Maybach Music Group

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Meek Mill Rick Ross 'Port Of Miami 2' album party
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For months now, many have believed that there have been tensions between Rick Ross and Meek Mill over a possible contract dispute with Ross’ Maybach Music Group, which Meek signed to in 2011. The rumors started after Meek blocked Ross from entering his birthday party for allegedly refusing to let him out of his MMG contract. Months later, Ross denied that there was any tension between the two.

In a new interview on The Morning Hustle, Ross elaborated on his and Meek’s relationship. “I feel like we’re both hustlers,” he said. “That’s one thing about life, you either grow together or grow apart. As a boss, you make that decision, because whatever it is you want to do, Ricky Rozay wants to see you do it.” He also suggested that if Meek has any label issues, it would be with Atlantic Records and not MMG.

“I’ma be honest, when Meek taking a jab at anybody, the only way I can assume is he’s doing that at Atlantic Records,” Ross said. “All we ever did was get paper and it’s real easy to say a n**** name. Ain’t nothing to — you feel me? I know what it is when me and Meek always got money. He a boss now. We done been down 10 years. Is he signed to Maybach Music? Yes, he is. But he’s also a boss and real bosses give other bosses opportunities to become bigger bosses.”

He continued, “Go, man. Go buy the biggest sh*t in Dubai, man. Let’s go be billionaires. And if I’m only gonna get $7 billion and you get $20 billion, God is great! That’s all it is. Is it any pressure? It ain’t no pressure. And always remember, it’s real easy to make it clear when it’s pressure.”

You can watch Ross’ appearance on The Morning Hustle above.

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

New York Is Celebrating The First ‘DMX Day’ In Honor Of The Late Rapper

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DMX Day
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The world lost a legend earlier this year when Earl Simmons, better known as DMX, died at the age of 50. When he passed in April of this year, reports of a drug overdose were cited as the cause, a sad fact that was later confirmed by the coroner. Like plenty of people who survived childhood abuse and trauma, DMX struggled with substance abuse, but few survivors turned their pain into the kind of electrifying, undeniable music that Simmons produced in his career. And the impact of his art is why today, December 18, has been officially named DMX day in his native New York.

Today would’ve been his 51st birthday, and his home city is showing out for the legend. Namely, New York state senator Jamaal Bailey, who was at the forefront of passing a resolution honoring Simmons, shared an important monologue back in April when the day was declared. “Rest In Peace to the Earl of Westchester, rap royalty,” Bailey wrote in an Instagram post he shared of the comments he made on the senate floor about DMX. Check out the senator’s comments below, and honor DMX wherever you are today by blasting the “Ruff Ryders’ Anthem.” In case you don’t have it handy, I’ve included the video below, see if you can resist singing along once it’s going.

6ix9ine Performs “BEBE” To A Sold Out Crowd At Miami Bash

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While many people flocked to their homes to avoid the rapidly spreading Omicron variant this week, hundreds of 6ix9ine fans gathered at an arena in Miami, Florida to watch him perform live. A video uploaded to DJ Akademiks’ Instagram page shows a sold out crowd, loudly cheering the controversial hitmaker on as he performs.

The rapper reportedly popped by Miami Bash, also known as Miami’s biggest Latin concert, headlined by Ozuna, Prince Royce, Arcangel, Natti Natasha, and Nio Garcia, among others. He took the stage as a surprise, where he performed his DUMMY BOY hit, “BEBE.”

 

John Parra/Getty Images

While Ak’s clip shows the crowd feeling the show, several Twitter users have reported that the New Yorker was boo’d by the crowd. “6ix9ine is at Miami Bash and holy f*ck he’s so bad I have second hand embarrassment,” one person wrote. “[People] are walking out and using him as a bathroom break.”

“The crowd booing 6ix9ine when he got off the stage at Miami Bash,” someone else added. When someone questioned why their recounting was different from what video footage shows they responded, “I mean, idk I was at the concert and no one was excited [because] it was a ‘surprise.’” They later added, “as soon as the light turned off, everyone booed. And not a lot of people were singing lol.”

It remains unclear exactly what the conditions at Miami Bash were like during the “FEFE” rapper’s performance, but he seems to be slowly making his way back onto the stage following a messy few years in and out of the spotlight.

6ix9ine himself hasn’t posted anything about the show on his own Instagram page – in fact, he’s been seemingly off the grid since earlier this year, only occasionally showing up for special moments like his girlfriend’s birthday, during which he spoiled her with three gorgeous Birkin bags; read more about that here.

SpotemGottem Drops Off Eerie Banger “Deep Fried”

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Spotemgotem had the top of 2021 on lock. It was damn-near impossible to escape the rattling sounds of “Beat Box,” thanks to the TikTok challenge that propelled the song to virality. At the same time, he faced his own fair share of criticism after details about his past came to light. Surprisingly, he’s pushed through and remained consistent with his output this year, setting himself up for a strong year ahead.

Before the year comes to an immediate close, Spotemgotem slid through with some new heat. On Friday, he shared his latest single, “Deep Fried.” Produced by HoodRixh, Spotemgotem tackles the eerie beat with cut-throat bars. “I’m a Grinch, I’m the devil/ I play with mutherf**kin fye/ Send another f**kin steppa/ That last one he got deep fried,” he raps at the top of the record.

Peep the latest from Spotem below.

Quotable Lyrics
Dior kicks all on my feet, bitch, I stomp on steel toes
She a lil’ naught girrl, but she still gon’ get what she want
Louis V, Pucci, Prada, Gucci, baby, that’s the funk
Catch a f*ck n***a anywhere, stomp him out, he gettin’ stomped