New Hip Hop News

Not only has Dr. Dre appeared as a character on Grand Theft Auto Online: The Contract, but the West Coast icon has added six new tracks to the game. Last week, previews of songs began to surface including a brand new collaboration with Eminem, but fans were unsure where these would land. Rolling Stone caught up with DJ Pooh, the veteran producer responsible for hits like “New York, New York” by Tha Dogg Pound, and he explained how he was able to convince Dre to add his talents to the GTA universe.

Pooh revealed that he is an avid gamer and in order to get the Aftermath mogul on board, he visited Dre’s home with Playstations in hand.

Dimitrios Kambouris / Staff / Getty Images

“Dre is the person that says no to everything, we all know that,” said Pooh, adding that Dre was unfamiliar with GTAbefore the gaming experience. “He’s not a gamer at all. He never played them. But he was blown away [by] how deep you can get into the whole thing. He’s like, ‘Oh sh*t!’”

For fans who have been waiting on new Dr. Dre tunes, these six new songs—including “Gospel” with Eminem, “Diamond Mind” with Nipsey Hussle and Ty Dolla $ign, and “ETA” with Snoop Dogg and Anderson .Paak, reports Rolling Stone—are a godsend.

“We’ve wanted to do something with Dre for a while,” says Rob Nelson, the co-studio head of Rockstar North. “When he’s not releasing music that regularly, it’s a pretty special thing to be able to get music from him, never mind exclusive music. Once we started talking, he started firing demos over — ‘Check this out, check this out, I did this with so-and-so.’ That was a pretty surreal experience.”

Through GTA, gamers are able to “meet Dr. Dre, earn his trust through the work you do for him, and kind of become friends with him, be able to be in a recording session or in a car listening to something with him for the first time,” said Nelson. “That’s an experience that very few people in the real world will have. That’s only possible in our medium.”

Check out the songs below.

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We’re not sure when we will see another Verzuz, most likely after the holidays, but the Hip Hop series has been a hot topic online. Those potential Verzuz matchups can cause a ruckus on social media as fans debate who should take on who and which artist would trump another—and while these conversations are often pushed, Timbaland and Swizz Beatz always make it clear that Verzuz is a celebration of the culture.

This latest discussion was prompted by Rick Ross after his recent visit to The Real. Although he made an appearance on the series in August 2020 when he faced off against 2 Chainz, there is another potential opponent that he may share the stage with.

Rich Fury / Staff / Getty Images

Loni Love asked him what his favorite Verzuz would be. “Jay-Z… Yeah! Why not? To me, that’s what makes Verzuz special because it brings out the best in both parties.” Love questioned whether Rozay would appear with Hov. “That’s a possibility, but I gotta give my flowers to the big homie. I got to. My homie gave me my first opportunity, signing me to Def Jam Records, you know what I mean? And he’s one-of-one.”

Fans of both artists swiftly hopped online to give their thoughts on a Rick Ross and Jay-Z pairing and not everyone believed that it would be a perfect match. Check out a few reactions below and let us know if you believe these two catalogs are would balance on Verzuz.

The holiday season makes for Christmas light and family gatherings, but in Los Angeles, there has been an exponential increase in crime. We’ve previously reported on the massive flash mob-style robberies at high-end stores as well as people being followed home and robbed right at their doorsteps. Last month, Terrence J was making his way to his Sherman Oaks home when he found himself fleeing from thieves who chased him down and attempted to rob him.

“My message to anyone thinking about coming to Los Angeles, especially during the holiday season, is don’t,” Jamie McBride, the head of the Los Angeles Police Protective League, the union representing LAPD officers, said during a press conference. 

Killer Mike has often spoken about how to better the culture and its communities, and he recently revealed his solution for the rising crimes in L.A.

“People don’t have jobs, we’re in the middle of a worldwide plague, and generally, we just haven’t done a good job at making sure that young people have trade skills and things of that nature,” said Mike. “But we can fix it, you know, we all could use the next five years to improve education, use the next five years to improve the homeless population, making sure people have housing.”

He added that “idle hands is the devil’s playground” and stated that “if America twenty-five years ago had invested in the trades and infrastructure skills needed to hire people, you would have a shortage of that now.” Killer Mike wants to find a way to use the money that seems to keep bankrolling the elite for the betterment of people in need.

Check out his full thoughts on this below.

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One thing is for sure: we all need someone to support us the way Kodak Black rides for former President Donald Trump. The controversial ex-Commander-in-Chief may have been voted out of the Oval Office over a year ago, but in one of his final moves, Trump commuted the rapper’s conviction. Kodak was released from prison and quickly returned to his career, but since being set free back in January, the Florida rapper has repeatedly come forward with his praise of Trump.

Back in October, Kodak addressed those who criticize him for sporting MAGA gear and spouting compliments to the former president. “They f*cked up, homie. I’ll say some sh*t about Trump, like, what y’all expect me to do? I’m not gone be like, ‘Oh, f*ck Trump.’ Hell nah. Man, God bless that n*gga. I could have still been in prison right now. Facts, trust. Probably still getting into it with the police.”

Once again, Kodak is flexing on the ‘Gram, but this time, he’s not only showing off his jewelry. In a new photo uploaded to Instagram, Kodak puts his iced-out watch on full display next to his red MAGA that was autographed by Trump. In the images, he also tagged the former president as well as Eric Trump and wrote, “Forever Trump.”

Kodak has previously stated that he wishes Trump was still in office. Check it out below.

The internet was taken over by the Tory Lanez and Megan Thee Stallion case today and it has elicited passionate responses from the public. It was in July 2020 when Megan was reportedly shot in the foot during an altercation with Lanez, and almost immediately, the rapper stated on Instagram Live that Lanez was the person responsible. The case has been polarizing in Hip Hop and beyond, and as tweets regarding what’s going inside the courtroom made their way to social media, the divide widened.

Shawn Holley, Lanez’s attorney, released a statement about what occurred in court and clarified reports about the independent witness. 

According to reports, Megan allegedly got into an argument with another woman prior to the shooting, suggested to be her former best friend Kelsey Nicole.

“Today in court it was revealed that an independent witness reported to the LAPD that he observed a fight break out between the two women in the car, just prior to the shooting. Megan herself corroborated this account, telling officers shortly after the incident that the argument was between her and the other female passenger in the car. The independent witness also told officers that the muzzle flash was closest to the other female, which is corroborated by the gunshot residue found on the other female’s hands. It was further established that Megan gave several inconsistent accounts of what happened that night and that she omitted key information to the police. We look forward to the opportunity to cross examine her at trial about the numerous inconsistencies in her story.”

As headlines permeated social media, Megan lashed out at those who she believed were minimizing her experience. “I’ve been shot and the focus of some these headlines are dismissing that I was attacked with a weapon while I was unarmed and trying to paint it as a cat fight between friends,” she wrote.

TMZ returned with yet another update, this time adding a quote from Holley where the attorney claimed, “On cross-examination, Detective Stogner admitted that the bullet fragments allegedly removed from Ms. Pete’s ankles cannot be located.” This has caused a new wave of speculative reports and conspiracy theories. Meanwhile, Kelsey Nicole has called the allegations against her “all cap.”

Read through a few reactions below.

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He often arises with his “I was the first rapper” moments that solidify his icon status in Hip Hop, but Soulja Boy returned to social media today with a bone to pick with Twitch. Draco never hesitates to air out his grievances with his fellow rappers, famous figures, or companies that he believes have done him wrong. On Wednesday (December 15), things took a turn for Soulja when he revealed that he had been banned from the platform and demanded to get in contact with the owner of the company.

Soulja Boy’s time with Twitch began years ago and during his reign, he’s had his fair share of controversial moments. It is unclear what set off the Twitch powers that be this time around, but Soulja isn’t happy.

Rich Polk / Stringer / Getty Images

“Who is the CEO of twitch and where can I find this n*gga at,” the rapper tweeted. “BoycottTwitch #TwitchisRacist.” Elsewhere, he added, “I need the best lawyer money can buy dm me I got millions I wanna sue twitch I feel like they racist they ban me without no explanation I will not stand for this.”

Again, there were no hints given as to what caused the ban and why it would be associated with racism, but Soulja Boy is standing his ground. Check it out below.

Earl Sweatshirt and Action Bronson are headed out on tour.

The long-time friends and collaborators shared the news today, December 15th, that they’ll be hitting the road along with the Alchemist and Boldy James for 15 shows running from January to March.

Tickets for the event will go on sale on Friday, December 17th at local time. All dates take place in either the United States or Canada, with locations like San Diego, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Vancouver, Denver, Chicago, Minneapolis, Toronto, New York, Washington, Atlanta, New Orleans, Dallas, and Tempe all making the list.

As Complex reports, Earl also recently announced that he’s got a new project on the way soon, following up his 2019 album, FEET OF CLAY, which saw him collaborate with the likes of Liv.e, Mavi, and Mach-Hommy over the course of seven tracks. His forthcoming arrival is said to consist of 10 songs, and will be titled SICK!.

The good news came with the release of a new single called “Tabula Rasa,” which was assisted by Armand Hammer. SICK! was reportedly “influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic and its subsequent lockdowns.” The project is scheduled to hit streaming platforms on January 14th, 2022 – just two weeks before Earl heads out on tour.

Action Bronson’s latest drop-off was 2020’s Only For Dolphins, and as for the Alchemist and Boldy James, they’ve both had a booked and busy 2021. The former has shared countless projects, including Carry The Fire, Haram, and This Thing Of Ours over the past few months, while the latter has been hard at work on Bo Jackson in collaboration with Alc, which arrived back in August.

Get your tickets for Earl Sweatshirt and Action Bronson’s upcoming tour, on sale this Friday, here and let us know what show you plan to attend in the comment section.

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Just when you think DaniLeigh is done having to deal with the drama sparked by her feud with her baby daddy, DaBaby, the rapper finds herself addressing it all over again. Most recently, the 26-year-old had to air out an Instagram user speculating that she had malicious intent behind the photos she’s been posting as of late.

Dani shared a selection of sweet selfies with she and Baby’s young child, captioned, “my chunky butt.” The mother of one rocked tousled curls and a cropped, sheer white tank top while posing with her little bundle of joy. Over 550,000 people have double tapped the photo dump, with thousands leaving sweet replies in the comment section.

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“Bruhhh. God bless this child yo like wtf. She need a babysitter or what?” one person wrote, marvelling over the adorableness of the little girl. “That’s a cute little baby right there” and “baby got ocean eyes,” others added.

Screenshots nabbed by The Shade Room reveal a comment with completely different energy that earned one follower a swift block from DaniLeigh. “You showing this baby too much because you want [DaBaby] to see the child. [You] doing too much now,” they speculated.

“It’s my page. My child,” the Miami-born recording artist shot back. “I can do what I want. I’ll block you no worries.” In another comment she added, “and I blocked the 15 [people] liking a comment like that but wanna follow me.” 

Other followers were quick to swoop to Dani’s defense, writing things like, “how people going to tell people that they can’t post their child as much as they want. They should see the over 60k photos I have of my kids,” one highly-liked comment reads.

In case you missed it, you can catch up on all the drama from DaBaby and DaniLeigh’s public debacle here.

TikTok users all over the world will be happy to know that TJ, the man best known for conning the nickname “Joe Byron” while appearing on Side Talk NYC, is no longer homeless thanks to the over 2,300 people who donated to a GoFundMe campaign created in his honour.

“TJ is a homeless man trying to get his life together and off the streets,” the initial description explained, setting a goal of $5,000. “This will help him get inside and warm place to sleep at night and food to eat. He is sober he just needs a little push.” At the time of publication, more than $35,000 has been raised to help the comedian find a home.

An update video posted to TikTok shows the man saying, “because of you guys out there, my fellow fans and everything – God bless your heart – because TJ, aka Byron, is not on the street anymore! Thank you,” he happily said.

Back when the fundraiser was sitting at $10,000 TJ didn’t hesitate to express his gratitude, so we can only imagine how much it’s grown since then. “Hey, my people. Thank you so much. I love you guys. But remember, you do make a difference,” he said in a video uploaded earlier this month.

“I never thought a dumb idiot like me would be this popular. But, you know what, I’m not the popular one. You guys are. And thank you for the new pad I’m gonna get because of all your givings. All the givings you gave me overnight. I made over $10 million…$10,000, sorry. I got a little excited, I jumped the gun,” he said with a laugh.

Check out some of the best moments from Side Talk NYC in the clip below.