New Hip Hop News

While artists presumably have their contemporaries blowing them at all hours of the day, a surprisingly reliable form of communication for them seems to be social media. There’s typically a good chance of collaboration if one musician reaches out to another through an app like Twitter.

That’s precisely the approach Moneybagg Yo took last night (Nov. 2), by tweeting his desire to collaborate with Nigerian singer Tems: “I need a song wit Tems ASAP she too raw.”

Both Moneybagg Yo and Tems have had wildly successful 2021 campaigns. Moneybagg Yo’s April album A Gangsta’s Pain became his first project to achieve No. 1 status on the Billboard 200 chart, with 11 of the songs from the album and subsequent deluxe landing on the Billboard Hot 100.

Tems, on the other hand, took a big leap forward in her career. Her 2020 single with fellow Nigerian Afrobeat star Wizkid exploded this year, peaking at No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100. She also scored to major collaborations with Drake on his Sept. 3 album Certified Lover Boy for the song “Fountains,” as well as adding R&B star Brent Faiyaz to her Sept. 14 EP If Orange Was A Place for the song “Found.” 

Now that Tems has bridged the gap between Nigeria and America for herself with these collaborations, that opens the door to potentially work with more American artists. So, this was the perfect time for Moneybagg Yo to inquire about linking up with Tems.

While we wait for Tems to get back to him about the tweet, we are left imagining the outcome of. potential Moneybagg Yo and Tems collaborative track.

What do you think that would sound like?

The 2021 BET Soul Train Awards are set to air on Sunday, Nov 28, as they just announced all their nominees yesterday (Nov. 2). H.E.R. led all musicians with eight nominations coming off her first official studio album Back of My Mind in June. Additionally, the show will present special honors to Maxwell and Ashanti for their lifetime achievements in R&B music.

H.E.R. was specifically nominated for Best R&B/Soul Female Artist, Song Of The Year, Album Of The Year, Video Of The Year, Best Collaboration (twice), and The Ashford and Simpson Songwriter’s Award (twice). It’s fair to say she will likely win one of these awards, if not, multiple.

Maxwell will be presented with the coveted Legend Award, as it was most recently given to Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis at the 2019 award show. Maxwell was flattered, as he responded to the announcement with a statement: “It’s an honor to be presented with the Legend award by a community that’s been growing with me throughout my career. I’m so grateful to be sharing this moment with everyone and returning to the Apollo for an evening of excellence.”

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Ashanti will be given the Lady of Soul Award, as last year’s recipient was Monica. She took to Instagram to show gratitude for the recognition saying: “Wow… I’m honored to be recognized as this year’s ‘Lady of Soul’ honoree. This is a full circle moment for me because I received the ‘Aretha Franklin Entertainer of the Year’ Award at the Lady of Soul Awards in 2002. As we commemorate 50 years of Soul Train, I’m proud to be a part of this legacy and to return to the Apollo to celebrate! I’m Super humbled.”

Overall, many great artists will be recognized for their outstanding achievements this year and in their entire career when the Soul Train Awards take place at the end of the month.

Do you think H.E.R.’s album deserves this much praise?

It was reported this weekend that viral sensation Nenobia Washington, known as the “Queen of Brooklyn” on social media, passed away. There was very little information available on what may have happened to the New York-based social media star, who first went viral in 2015 by mouthing off against Nicki Minaj, Rick Ross, Dame Dash, and ISIS in a HotNewHipHop interview. However, now that a few days have passed, investigators believe that Washington may have intentionally jumped to her death from the sixth story of a building.

According to a report from TMZ, Nenobia Washington reportedly fell to her death, and the police think that she may have committed suicide. The “Queen Of Brooklyn” was found unconscious in front of a New York City building on Saturday evening, and she was pronounced dead after being rushed to a nearby hospital. The medical examiner has not yet determined a cause of death, but it’s being presumed that she intentionally jumped from the sixth story of the building.

The father of Nenobia’s children, David Jackson, was reportedly informed that she fell from a window, but the family has received differing accounts from alleged witnesses. Jackson said that despite rumors that she had been missing, Nenobia had called their son the night before her death, and had not disappeared. 

A GoFundMe has been launched for the late 38-year-old influencer’s family, which has already raised over $31,000. The money will be used to organize a legendary send-off for BK TidalWave in Brooklyn, and any additional funds will be used for Jackson to raise their son Tyeleck.

Rest in peace to Nenobia Washington. Relive her 2015 HotNewHipHop interview, which made so many people fall in love with her, below.

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Fans of late hip-hop icons DMX and Juice WRLD will be excited to know that documentaries featuring both artists will be available to stream sooner rather than later.

In a new trailer for HBO’s upcoming series Music Box, created by The Ringer founder Bill Simmons, it was revealed that DMX: Don’t Try To Understand and Juice WRLD: Into The Abyss are completed and slated to come out within the next six weeks. 

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DMX: Don’t Try To Understand, features “unfettered access” into the life of DMX, and details his abusive upbringing, struggles with addiction, his faith, the rollercoaster ride that was his journey to becoming one of the biggest rappers in the world, and the subsequent consequences of his actions. The documentary is set to release on November 25 on HBO, as well as HBO Max. 

Three weeks later, on December 16, Juice WRLD: Into Abyss will provide an intimate look inside the “All Girls Are The Same” rapper’s meteoric rise to fame and superstardom before his tragic passing in December, 2019. Like DMX: Don’t Try To Understand, Into The Abyss will feature a ton of behind-the-scenes access to unreleased music and interviews with prominent figures within the music industry. The Tommy Oliver-directed film is said to chronicle Juice WRLD’s ascension to the top of the rap game, as well as his struggles with mental health and drug use.

Along with DMX and Juice WRLD, documentaries featuring Alanis Morissette, Kenny G and Robert Stigwood round out the Music Box slate, and are sure to provide some never-before-scene insight into some of the most interesting figures in music history.

Make sure to check out both DMX: Don’t Try To Understand and Juice WRLD: Into The Abyss when they drop in a couple of weeks, and let us know what you think of HBO’s Music Box official trailer down in the comments. 

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Boosie Badazz’s war against Lil Nas X has been raging on for months, yet the Louisiana rapper has continued to negatively address the Montero artist on several occasions. Just a couple of weeks ago, Boosie went even harder than usual, resorting to using a homophobic slur while responding to Lil Nas X’s joke about the two adversaries working together.

“STOP. TROLLING ME F*GGOT LOL !!,” Boosie told the “Industry Baby” rapper over Twitter. “U A WHOLE B*TCH PLAYING WITH A GANGSTA SMH U CAN KEEP SUCKING D*CK N GETTIN F*CKED N YOUR ASS N PEACE N #uhateyourself I WOULD TOO IF I WAS YOU LOL NAS IF YOU #commitsuicide YOU WOULD DO THIS WORLD A HUGE FAVOR ‘NOBODY WANTS U HERE.”

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While one would assume that Boosie would regroup and chill out for a while after firing off a homophobic slur and insensitive comments about suicide, the My Struggle star doubled down on his statements, and weeks later, he has now called out renowned radio host Charlamagne Tha God following TS Madison’s recent appearance on The Breakfast Club.

Replying to a rather random and unrelated tweet about the anniversary of Paid In Full, Boosie criticizes Charlamagne and questions his sexuality, saying, “THEY STILL GOT MY NAME N THEY MOUTH BOUT THAT GAY SH*T LOL @cthagod U PART OF THE PROBLEM KEEP EGGING THESE PEOPLE ON YOUR SHOW WITH THIS BRO. U USING YOUR PLATFORM TO SUPPORT NASxn his ANTICS ( I SEE WHAT SIDE U ON [Rainbow emoji]) HE SAID F*CK YALL KIDS SMH DUMMIES.”

See a screenshot of Boosie Badazz’s homophobic tweet below.

The Shakur Estate has announced that a brand-new, fully-immersive museum experience based around the life and legacy of Tupac Shakur will be coming to Los Angeles in 2022. 

In a press release, The Shakur Estate revealed that Tupac Shakur. Wake Me When I’m Free, will open on January 21, 2022 in Los Angeles at The Canvas at L.A. Live. Pre-sale tickets for the event will be available on November 9, and general tickets will go on sale on November 12.

Tupac Shakur. Wake Me When I’m Free “will showcase Shakur’s music, poetry and never before seen artifacts in a 20,000 square foot curated space akin to a contemporary art museum.” Described the late rapper’s estate as “part museum, part art installation, part sensory experience,” the exhibit will be designed to usher guests “through a myriad of surround sound spaces, rich with rarities embedded in technology,” and will “delve into the greater meaning of his activism, music, and revolutionary art.” 

Jeffrey Newbury/The Shakur Estate

Curated by Nwaka Onwusa, the Chief Curator and Vice President of Curatorial Affairs at The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and Jeremy Hodges of the Project Art Collective, Tupac Shakur. Wake Me When I’m Free comes four years after Shakur was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, becoming the first solo hip-hop artist to be recognized for inclusion in his first eligible year. And 25 years after his death in 1996, the museum experience in honor of the “Changes” rapper is a testament to the impact he left on the world in a short period of time. 

According to the press release from The Shakur Estate, the exhibit will run for a limited time only, but is slated to visit a number of U.S. and international cities over the next couple of years. 

Will you be grabbing tickets for the upcoming Tupac Shakur museum experience? Let us know in the comments.

It’s instantly become clear which song will dominate the radio for the remainder of the year, and likely well into next. Post Malone’s manager has officially unveiled the rapper’s next single, and fans are already predicting that the record will be a sure-shot for #1 on the charts– and a large reason why is because it’s a collaboration with The Weeknd.

No strangers to cranking out #1 hits like it’s a sport, Post Malone and The Weeknd will be releasing their new song “One Right Now” on Friday. The news was revealed by Dre London, Post’s manager, who shared the first preview of the record.

“What I couldn’t wait to tell the [world] This Friday,” wrote Post’s manager on Instagram. “I’m excited for u to finally here what I been talking about!! @postmalone & @theweeknd ‘One Right Now’.”

The music video is arriving next week, and from the very short snippet shared by Dre London, it feels like this could easily become one of the most popular songs in the world upon its release on Friday.

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Both artists have been teasing new bodies of work for weeks. The Weeknd is presently working on his upcoming album Dawn, and Posty has been hinting at new music since the beginning of the quarantine. Do you think this one sounds like a hit?

The series is quickly becoming a favorite in R&B and Hip Hop circles and Queens is only in its first set of episodes. The show stars Brandy, Eve, Naturi Naughton, and Nadine Velazquez, and on the most recent episode, we see the ladies join together for a Rap battle. We previously reported on Brandy covering Miley Cyrus‘s megahit “Wrecking Ball” on the show, and this time around, Even and Brandy spit bars as they face off.

If this has a bit of a Verzuz feel to it, it may be because Swizz Beatz serves as the show’s executive producer. In this scene, Brandy’s and Eve’s characters go toe-to-toe as they go below the belt with their rhymes.

Those background beats will come as no surprise to Hip Hop fans as Queens gives a nod to beloved classic hits. They start things off with the help of the late-great Black Rob’s “Woah” before moving into Juelz Santana and Cam’Ron’s “Oh Boy.” Brandy and Eve’s characters were basically spitting lyrics that were close to being fighting words by the time they got to Mobb Deep and Lil Kim’s “Quiet Storm.”

The musical show has been compared to the likes of Empire and Star, so check out the Queens Rap battle from the ABC hit below.