Alicia Keys Didn’t Know Lil Mama Was On Stage During VMA Moment With Jay-Z

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It has gone down as one of the most memorable moments in Hip Hop history, but the aftermath was a disaster for Lil Mama. Back in 2009, fans tuned in to the MTV Video Music Awards and watched several of their favorite artists take to the stage, including Jay-Z and Alicia Keys. The pair of hitmakers were all set to perform “Empire State of Mind,” however, during their set, a strange, unforgettable moment occurred.

Out of nowhere, Lil Mama slowly danced her way up the stairs and onstage, confusing Jay-Z who seemed to try to give her the nod to go away. As the song concluded, Lil Mama stayed alongside Jay and Keys, even posing with them at the end.

Lil Mama, Jay-Z, Alicia Keys
Kevin Mazur / Contributor / Getty Images

This incident has been the catalyst for several meme movements involving Lil Mama, and Alicia Keys addressed the controversy while visiting The Morning Hustle. The hosts jokingly asked her if she ever forgave Lil Mama for the 2009 moment and the singer delivered a gracious answer.

“Of course, of course. Listen, to this day, I truly never knew she was even on the stage,” Keys admitted. “That’s the craziest part of the whole thing for me. I was on that stage, Jay was in the middle, she was on the other side of Jay, and I never saw her. Never. So, that was wild to me.”

“But I absolutely…it’s not even a statement. That was then,” she continued. “You know, she’s from New York, too. You know, I think she really felt the energy of the record and she loved it and she couldn’t hold herself back. Look, this is what my music does to people. What can we say?” Watch below.

Netflix Employees Protesting Chappelle’s “The Closer” Receive Celebrity Support

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As promised, dozens of Netflix employees have walked out in protest. This controversy arose amid debates regarding Dave Chappelle’s The Closer standup special and the response to his jokes. The famed comedian has been met with backlash over his TERF admissions and transphobic remarks. His fans have argued that Chappelle was painting a bigger picture than what people are recognizing, while the comedian’s critics had rebutted that they understand what Chappelle was trying to communicate, however, they disagree with his methods.

Netflix has repeatedly stated that they stand by Chappelle and his jokes, arguing in a memo that what is said in entertainment does not translate to real-world violence against any community.

Netfix Protest
Al Seib / Contributor / Getty Images

Still, several Netflix employees staged a walkout in defiance and have been protesting throughout the day. Images and videos of the event have been shared throughout social media and have been met with support from several celebrities including Wanda Sykes, Elliot Page, Dan Levy, and more.

“Standing in solidarity with the Netflix employees speaking truth to power today and sending my full love and support,” said Sykes, a longtime friend and colleague of Chappelle. We previously reported that Ted Sarandos, the CEO of Netflix, has reemerged to say that he “screwed up” by not expressing more empathy toward his employees prior to their protest.

Protesters are finding themselves being heavily criticized online, as well. Check it out below.

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Boosie Badazz Says Claims That Yung Bleu Didn’t Re-Sign With Him Is “Not Accurate”

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Yung Bleu is fulfilling Boosie Badazz’ prediction that he was a superstar. This last year of Bleu’s career included his first Billboard Hot 100 entry, “You’re Mines Still,” released his debut album Moon Boy, and won the award for Best New Hip Hop Artist at the BET Hip Hop Awards this year. 


Paras Griffin/Getty Images 

The rapper came up under Boosie’s wing, signing to Bad Azz Music Syndicate a few years back. While his relationship with Boosie Badazz is deeper than the music industry, there’s been speculation that he’s no longer signed to the Baton Rouge legend. Yung Bleu said that he didn’t end up re-signing to Boosie after he fulfilled his contract with Bad Azz Music Syndicate.

“We really like family so it’s like, it’s more than the contract…. Whatever I said I’mma do, I’mma still do,” he explained. “A lot of people can’t relate to that because it’s strictly business with the people that they do business with. Me and Boosie… [he’s] like my big bruh.”

Boosie refused to speak on his business dealings with Yung Bleu during his latest appearance on VladTV but he did explain that there’s little truth to claims that Bleu is no longer signed to his label. “That’s not accurate. I don’t really wanna get into details on it but we gon’ make it work,” he said before clarifying that there are no hard feelings towards Bleu over the narrative.

“I don’t really blame Bleu for this shit. I feel like some people over — other people who bigger than Bleu made mistakes,” Boosie continued. “It ain’t no big deal but we gotta sit down and I gotta get compensated.”

During the latest episode of On The Come Up, Bleu elaborated on his connection to Boosie and how that’s much more than business. “The blogs will say that I left Boosie. Boosie’s still — it ain’t no leavin’ Boosie. We still tight, we still tying in. It’s just doing other business deals,” Bleu told HNHH. Read the full interview here. 

TyFontaine Delivers 12 New Songs For “Ascension (Deluxe)”

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TyFontaine’s consistency has made him one of the most exciting young artists right now. Back in 2019, he released his project, Waiting On Ascension. Shortly after, he joined the Internet Money collective where he released 1800 and We Ain’t The Same back-to-back in 2020. However, he announced his departure from Internet Money and came through with his latest project, Ascension independently.

Now, he’s back with the official deluxe edition of the project. Dubbed Ascension (Deluxe) – Virtual World 2, the rapper adds another 12 songs to the tracklist, making the album 25 tracks in total. The rapper enlists Trippie Redd and Lil Tecca for the deluxe, as well as appearances from Pasto Flocco, Cochise, summrs, and Joony.

Check out the deluxe edition of Ty Fontaine’s Ascension and share your thoughts in the comments below. 

Fashawn & Sir Veterano Team Up For “All Hail The King”

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Fashawn’s left his name across other people’s tracks in the past four years since releasing, Manna EP. His 2017 effort, which included a collaboration with Snoop Dogg, reminded everyone about his lyrical prowess.

The bars are still in tact, as is his excellent ear for production. Both of these aspects are highlighted on his latest body of work, All Hail The King in collaboration with Sir Veterano. Fashawn handles the bars on the project while Veterano holds down production over the course of 9 songs. 

Fashawn and Sir Veterano’s new project boasts features from Elzhi, DJ Revolution, Planet Asia, and Aloe Blacc who assisted on the previously released single, “Castle.”

Check out Fashawn and Sir Veterano’s All Hail The King below and sound off in the comments wit your favorite track. 

J. Balvin’s “Perra” Music Video Removed From YouTube After Misogynoir Accusations

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Prior to the release of J. Balvin’s sixth studio album Jose last month, the Columbian singer and rapper shared “Perra” with Dominican rapper Tokischa. “Perra” was followed with a vibrant and lively music video, but in the weeks since its release, both the song’s lyrics and its visuals have been met with backlash.

According to AllHipHop, the Raymi Paulus-directed music video — which features J. Balvin walking two Black women, with dog ears and makeup, on chained leashes as well as several other dark-skinned people depicted as dogs throughout the video’s runtime — was taken down on Sunday after Colombian Vice President Marta Lucia Ramirez spoke out against J. Balvin’s visuals.

Collage featuring J. Balvin & Tokischa
Bryan Bedder/Getty Images/Rodrigo Varela/Getty Images

“In his video, the artist uses images of women and people of Afro-descendants — population groups with special constitutional protection — whom he presents with dog ears,” Ramirez wrote in an open letter on Monday, October 11. “In addition, while walking, the singer carries two Afro-descendant women tied with neck chains and crawling on the floor like animals or slaves. As if this were not enough, the lyrics of the song have direct and openly sexist, racist, machista, and misogynistic expressions that violate the rights of women, comparing them to an animal that must be dominated and mistreated.”

It turns out that many people agreed with Colombian Vice President Marta Lucia Ramirez because the video is no longer accessible via YouTube. Per Billboard, it has not yet been confirmed whether YouTube or J. Balvin’s team were the ones to ultimately pull the plug on the official “Perra” music video, and both parties have also not publicly commented on the situation either.

Keep it locked to HNHH for more updates regarding J. Balvin and Tokischa’s “Perra” music video, and as a reference, you can listen to the song below.

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Halle Berry Dishes On Her Boyfriend, Van Hunt: “The Right One Finally Showed Up”

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Halle Berry is feeling lucky in love. After years in rocky romances, the 55-year-old has found her perfect match – or that’s what she told Entertainment Tonight, anyway. Last September, the Catwoman actress confirmed her relationship with “Down Here in Hell” singer, Van Hunt.

“It was finally my time and the right one finally showed up,” Berry gushed during Elle’s 2021 Women in Hollywood event last night.

The mother of two first broke the news via Instagram, posting a photo in her beau’s merch, captioned, “now ya know…” Hunt then posted the same picture to his page, with his caption reading, “there you go…”

As Page Six points out, the pair have often been heard singing one another’s praises. “The inspiration for our relationship goes across everything, even in my parenting,” the 51-year-old hitmaker said earlier this year. “I’m a completely different person, I can say it like that, and I think that it’s improved every aspect of my life.”

In her racy, pantsless birthday shoutout to Hunt, Berry didn’t hesitate to pour her heart out when she wrote, “a real woman can do it all by herself, but a real MAN won’t let her. Happy birthday VanO. I only wish I’d known you sooner so I could have loved you longer.”

Berry has two children from past relationships – 13-year-old Nahla, who she shares with Gabriel Aubrey, and 7-year-old Maceo, who she shares with Olivier Martinez. Before her current boyfriend, the actress was also married to David Justice and Eric Benet. Hunt, on the other hand, has just one child; an 18-year-old from one of his prior relationships.

See some of the couple’s sweetest social media moments below.

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Joell Ortiz Raps About What It’s Like To Be An “OG”

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Throughout 2021, Joell Ortiz has delivered on singles like “Black Rock,” and “Giant Killa,” featuring Theofficialod, Franco Anthony, and Ekko, but now, the Brooklyn native is back with some solo work to show off to his fans.

On October 20th, the 41-year-old dropped “OG,” on which he comes to terms with his age, address his hiatus, and provides further insight into his jam-packed career.

“‘I feel so lucky to be able to call myself an OG.’ Where I come from, adulthood isn’t always a guarantee,” Ortiz told his followers earlier today. “But here I am, alive and well still doing what I love to do.”

He continued, “Music. As life changes so does my story. Just happy to still be able to share it with you all the best way I know how. Over these beats! Yaowa. ‘AUTOGRAPH’ EVERYWHERE ON 11/12/21.”

On October 12th, the “Battle Cry” rapper shared the tracklist for his upcoming album, revealing that KXNG Crooked, Juliet, Marc Scibilia, Cyhi The Prynce, Sheek Louch, and Pastor LBs will all be assisting with features. Heatmakerz, Apollo Brown, Hesami, Remi, and Namir Blade have all been credited with production.

Listen to Joell Ortiz’s “OG” below and let us know which feature you’re most excited to hear on his upcoming album.

Quotable Lyrics:

A Young one in the slums

Where you ain’t posed to live beyond 21

They look at us as just numbers

On our way to being 6 feet under