New Hip Hop News

For the past few weeks, Cardi B has been having an amazing internet back-and-forth with You star Penn Badgley. The actor praised the rapper for her authentic use of social media at a fan event, and after they formed a sweet friendship on Twitter the mother of two received a house warming present from her new friend.

Earlier this week, Cardi got to meet another teen heartthrob – Twilight star Robert Pattinson. “Look who I met the other day! I felt like a teen,” the “Thru Your Phone” vocalist captioned a video posted to her Twitter page early this morning.

In the clip, the New York native can be seen admiring her own appearance and fixing her gorgeous up-do before saying “come on, look at my friend guys!” The camera then pans over to Pattinson, who shares a cheeky smile while his new pal lets out a fangirl-esque scream. How does it feel to live our dream, Cardi?

Some followers took the opportunity to reference the starlet’s newfound friendship with Penn Badgley, sliding into the replies with a GIF of Joe Goldberg from You and a cleverly crafted response. “Is he the one? Tell me are you into him? But it’s okay. You probably don’t know all the things he has done. All the things he had done to his previous GF Bella. Yes, you don’t know. But I am gonna show you. I’m gonna fix YOU.”

It’s unclear exactly how Cardi B and R. Patts crossed paths, but the actor has been busy as of late promoting his upcoming film The Batman, in which he’ll be playing the lead alongside Zoe Kravitz’s Catwoman.

See more amazing fan responses to the sweet clip below.

Paul George has had a lot of responsibility this season as the leader of the Los Angeles Clippers. With Kawhi Leonard out for the season with an injury, George has to carry the team on his back, and it hasn’t always been easy. Last night, the Clippers were playing against the Minnesota Timberwolves, and at one point, they were losing by a whopping 20 points.

That’s when the Clippers mounted a massive a comeback and ended up winning by 20 points. It was a massive swing in momentum that was aided by George and some of the Clippers’ most beloved role players. With the win, the team ended up improving to 4-4 all while making some history in the process.

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According to the ESPN Stats counter, the Clippers became the fourth team in the last 25 years to be down by 20 and then come back to win by 20. That is a very difficult thing to accomplish, however, it also speaks to just how abysmal the T-Wolves have been over these last few seasons. They can never pull it together, and the Clippers exposed that reality.

With this win behind them, the Clippers can expect to see some momentum going forward. After all, they have the pieces in place to be successful, they just have to go out and execute now.

This past week, Kamaru Usman came out and said that he would like to someday fight against the likes of Canelo Alvarez. The UFC superstar says that they should do the fight while they are still in their primes, instead of doing it when they are much older. Of course, many boxing fans did not care for this as they know that Usman would get crushed by Canelo if they ever got into the ring.

As we reported yesterday, Alvarez was very dismissive of Usman saying that the UFC fighter was looking for a payday. A few hours later, Alvarez got to expand on his thoughts, where he noted that he doesn’t want to fight Usman because it would do nothing for the legacy he has already carved out for himself. 

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“I don’t see. It doesn’t make sense for me. I want to make history in boxing, and I don’t see anything right there,” Canelo said. UFC fighters have been trying to get into boxing over the past year, and in the case of Ben Askren and Tyron Woodley, it hasn’t yielded very much success. With that in mind, it should come as no surprise that Alvarez wants no parts in this.

Canelo remains one of the best pound-for-pound fighters of all time, and for now, only other boxers are in his crosshairs.

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Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors have struggled over the past two years in the absence of Klay Thompson. Now, however, things have changed as Curry and the Warriors are 7-1 to start the season. Many analysts believe the Warriors are going to win it all this year, especially now that they have Thompson coming back in time for the Holiday season. It’s a great time to be a Dubs fan, and last night proved to be quite fruitful for the team.

They blew out the New Orleans Pelicans by 40 points and once again, Curry was on fire. It was the type of game that had Warriors fans planning the parade, and Curry was just as excited. After the game, Curry told ESPN that the team is filled with amazing players and that at the end of the day, he’s not all that surprised by the team’s success.

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“We got guys that understand basketball, understand how to play,” Curry said. “There’s always good intentions with what we’re trying to do even if it doesn’t necessarily work out. … We’re all trying to do the right things and understand the philosophy of how we’ve got to create shots. And then obviously defensively, our principles that we need to rely on every night. So the record’s great. It’s eight games in, a lot of season left, but the way that we’re succeeding and the way that we’re kind of opening up games, just putting good stretches of basketball together, I’m not surprised at all.”

Curry seems to be a real MVP candidate this year, and if the Warriors keep up this pace, there is no reason why they can’t contend for a championship at the end of the year.

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Eight people have died and hundreds of others injured following a chaotic launch of Travis Scott’s Astroworld Fest, police said. Per CNN and other outlets, the annual festival hosted by Travis Scott saw a crowd surge that led to numerous injuries and at least eight confirmed deaths. “We had scores of individuals that were injured,” Sam Peña, Houston Fire Chief, said.

“The crowd for whatever reason began to push and surge towards the front of the stage, which caused the people in the front to be compressed — they were unable to escape that situation,” continued Peña. 50,000 people were in attendance at the festival hosted at NRG Stadium. Police said the incident occurred roughly around 9 p.m.

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More than 300 people were treated at a field hospital while 33 others were taken to hospitals, 11 of which were in critical condition. A 10-year-old boy is reportedly among those in the hospital and remains in critical condition. 11 people reportedly went into cardiac arrest, according to authorities. 

Concertgoers shared horror stories of their experiences at the event, with one fan describing it as a “concert in hell.” Security and medical personnel became immediately overwhelmed by the crowd surge that prompted attendees to perform CPR on those who were injured. A reunification was set up shortly after for people who have not heard from a loved one. 

At one point during the concert, Travis Scott did stop the show to ask security to help out a fan who passed out. Police said that Scott ended the show “as soon as the situation got to the point where it was overwhelming the resources there.” However, Peña said that “the damage had been done” at that point.

“Our hearts are with the Astroworld Festival family tonight — especially those we lost and their loved ones. We are focused on supporting local officials however we can,” the organizers of Astroworld Festival said in a statement. 

“As authorities mentioned in their press conference earlier, they are looking into a series of cardiac arrests that took place. If you have any relevant information on this, please reach out to @houstonpolice,” the statement continued. 

Travis Scott brought out multiple guests on Friday night before the chaos erupted including Drake, Lil Baby, Roddy Ricch, and more. 

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Throughout the genre of Hip-Hip, there is an endless array of sub-genres and creative pockets, but there is one form of rap that encompasses styles as dissimilar as the dreamlike aesthetic of Kid Cudi’s “Day ‘N’ Nite” and the detailed storytelling on Kendrick Lamar’s “DUCKWORTH.”: Truth-telling. To weave honest emotion and ideas into music is a skill that most, if not all, of Hip-Hop’s greats have exemplified at some point throughout their career, and Mick Jenkins is an artist who does it with ease.

The Chicago emcee’s third studio album, Elephant In The Room, arrived on Friday, October 29, three years after his sophomore LP, Pieces of A Man, and seven years following his breakout mixtape, The Water[s]. On tracks such as “Contacts,” “D.U.I.,” “Truffles,” and “Reflections,” it’s clear that the lyrical consistency that Mick Jenkins’ longtime fans expect is present on his new record, yet beyond the expertly penned bars, the exploration of Mick’s “unspoken personal and/or general truths” makes it a crucial listening experience, even for fans unfamiliar with his revered catalog.

As its name suggests, the album finds Mick Jenkins primarily concerned with the metaphorical “elephant in the room,” and the Chicago poet has the following to say about his third full-length:

This album is an attempt to address various unspoken personal and/or general truths. And how they have affected me and can affect those around me. From my estranged relationship with my father to friendships that don’t feel the same anymore to the even more basic idea of acknowledging that I need help. We become accustomed to allowing none progressive qualities and truths to occupy so much space in our lives simply by ignoring them, or ignoring them despite them being right in our faces! I intend to face several of those dormant issues/topics head-ons in the hopes that others can, at the very least, identify with the spaces I’ve grown from.

Given that description, a listener might expect a lyrically intense record that’s packed with verbose social critique and in-depth introspection, but rather than adhering to the idiom alluded to in its title, Mick Jenkin’s new album addresses multiple “elephants in the room” in a rather indirect way.

On “Things You Could Die For If Doing While Black,” for example, Mick skates over eerily upbeat production from Renzell, all while remarking about a legion of activities that he would like to do. Lyrics like “I just wanna smoke my weed/I just wanna love my girl/I just wanna praise my God/I just wanna sell my loose cigarettes, nigga/I just wanna do my job” read as a desire to live a carefree lifestyle on the surface, but underneath Mick’s breezy diction lies a much darker subtext. The long list that the Chicago wordsmith rattles off throughout the track are documented things Black people have actually been killed for in America, and while easily recognizable names and places like Philando Castille, Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, and Eric Garner aren’t explicitly mentioned, Mick social commentary is both effective and somehow a vibe.

“Things You Could Die For If Doing While Black” features the saying “Let me stay Black and die,” a sentiment that countless Black children across America have likely grown up hearing, and elsewhere throughout Elephant In The Room, Mick also touches on the inward struggles that come with being a Black person in today’s society. And similar to the approach that he took with the topic of racism and police brutality, the THC emcee addresses another “elephant” on “Scottie Pippen” with impressive pop culture nuance.

Having already admitted in his album notes that he has difficulty asking for help, “Scottie Pippen” brings that idea front and center. For starters, the track, which was shared a week prior to Elephant In The Room’s full release, has one of the best hooks on the entire project, as Mick croons, “I was trippin’/I was definitely trippin’ now that I think about it/Number two, I was Pippen.” Beyond the well-performed hook and enthralling background vocal contributions from R&B’s underground MVP serpentwithfeet, “Scottie Pippen” shows Mick’s newfound willingness to ask for help and allow himself to rely on someone else’s love, which is an attitude that many young Black men are often afraid to adopt. However, by comparing himself to Scottie Pippen — who was superb as Michael Jordan’s famed #2 option but struggled to lead the 1994–95 Chicago Bulls without MJ’s help — Mick demystifies the notion of asking for help in a meaningful and relatable way that doesn’t require him to go into too much detail.

Whether it’s a sign of the public’s collective exhaustion from having to speak on racism and its lingering effects or a testament to Mick’s penchant for metaphors, there are seldom any songs that spend a significant amount of time directly addressing the “various unspoken personal and/or general truths” that the Chicago artist alluded to in his album notes. In fact, one of the only explicit references to the album’s “elephant in the room” concept arrives during the outro of “Stiff Arm.” The project’s third track concludes with a moving spoken word performance by ​​Ayinde Cartman that tackles the push against critical race theory and likens the Black community’s presence as America’s oft-ignored “elephant.” 

Cartman delivers a raw and unapologetic performance that definitely stands out as one of the most memorable moments on the album, but with everything considered, Elephant In The Room is truly at its best when Mick Jenkins is holding the reins and mixing the medicine in with the sugar. The byproduct of that approach is that Mick’s latest album feels more like a person you didn’t expect to have that much in common with, one who understands the complex issues that Black people face without needing you to explain it to them. Elephant In The Room doesn’t feel preachy or overly political; it just feels honest and delightfully familiar. 

Given its late fourth-quarter release, Mick Jenkin’s third studio album may not get the recognition that it deserves on all of the forthcoming year-end lists, but make no mistake — Elephant In The Room is one of the most well-written and well-executed albums of 2021.

According to TMZ, the ongoing romance between Pete Davidson and Kim Kardashian is “more than a weeklong fling.” The two stars were spotted out together on multiple date nights around New York this week, and witnesses at both Zero Bond and Campania say that they looked “very comfortable with each other.”

Apparently the Saturday Night Live cast member has been a perfect gentleman, even charming KKW‘s friends on their evenings out together. On Tuesday, they headed to Staten Island where they enjoyed a secluded rooftop dinner at Campina. Rumour has it that the owner of the establishment is a friend of the actor’s, and personally took care of them all night. Staff members reportedly weren’t allowed upstairs, where the stars were allegedly packing on the PDA.

On Wednesday evening, the SKIMS CEO and her new beau went to Zero Bond (an exclusive NYC club), and Davidson even called ahead with his credit card to ensure that no one else would end up footing the bill at the end of the night.

As the gossip site notes, several people have shared their doubts about KKW and the King of Staten Island star, but after seeing how well he blends in with some of the socialite’s best friends, more and more people are becoming sold on the idea of Kim and Pete seriously pairing up.

The mother of four is reportedly “excited about dating again,” but will take her time before jumping into anything. Davidson was apparently very professional while working with her on SNL, and waited until the episode had wrapped before making his move.

Do you think that Pete Davidson and Kim Kardashian are in it for the long haul? Let us know below.

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