New Hip Hop News

Over the past couple years, Matthew McConaughey has not only dipped his toes into the political pool, he has dove right in. Along with that decision, he has made to make some controversial political stances to establish his platform.

On Tuesday (Nov. 9), as a guest at New York Times’ DealBook Summit, McConaughey was asked if vaccine mandates should be placed on children now, and even though he said he would vax his kids, he would not mandate it: “I couldn’t mandate having to vaccinate the younger kids. I still want to find out more information. Right now I’m not vaccinating mine, I’ll tell you that.”

Although he does not support the child vax mandate, he did promote the idea of vaccination against COVID, as he and his wife are both vaccinated: “I’m vaccinated. My wife’s vaccinated. I didn’t do it because someone told me I had to — [I] chose to do it. Do I think that there’s any kind of scam or conspiracy theory? Hell no. We all got to get off that narrative. There’s not a conspiracy theory on the vaccines.”

Noam Galai/Getty Images 

He was likely asked this question because the FDA just approved the Pfizer COVID vaccine for children ages 5-11 in late October. So, a resulting topic of discussion for governments is whether or not children vaccination mandates will be put in place. 

This comes in the midst of McConaughey considering running for governor in his home state of Texas in this year’s 2022 election. To build his set of opinions and goals for a potential gubernatorial run, he has taken stances against Texas’ new abortion law, for wearing masks and has made the calls necessary to put together a campaign.

Whether or not his governor run comes to fruition is yet to be seen, but McConaughey has made taken a stance against vaccine mandates for children that he would likely maintain if he were elected.

[Via] 

Pressa is just starting to build a name for himself in the States but in Toronto, he’s already a legend. One of the most consistent forces coming out of Toronto’s celebrated hip-hop scene, Pressa has been around for years, telling tales from the streets of one of the most dangerous neighborhoods in the city: Jane & Finch. 

The corner of Jane & Finch in North York is infamous for gang activity, with some of the highest crime rates in all of Toronto. Pressa rose up from the neighborhood’s Driftwood community, spending some time in Vancouver before relocating to Los Angeles to continue pushing for superstardom in the American music industry. He’s gone on tour with Drake, and he’s one of the pioneers in the city’s rap output, making an introduction to the market down South through his romantic partnership with Coi Leray, which has also resulted in one of his biggest songs to date, “Attachments.” 

Photo provided to HNHH by SME Canada

As he pushes to become a household name internationally, Pressa has been thriving artistically, releasing Gardner Express, which is arguably his most cohesive effort yet. To celebrate his rise, we caught up with Pressa for the latest episode of On The Come Up.

Check out the new episode of On The Come Up with Pressa below, where he discusses his move from Toronto to the States, the new deluxe edition of Gardner Express, his relationship with Coi Leray, and much more. Check out the video below to see Coi make a cameo during the interview, as well!

Read the unabridged editorial version of the interview below, edited for clarity. 

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HNHH: Who is Pressa?

Pressa: My name is Pressa. I’m from Jane and Finch, Toronto, Canada. I’m half-Filipino, half-Jamaican, and I grew up in the roughest part of Canada.

What was life like back in the Driftwood neighborhood of Jane & Finch?

It’s just like every high-poverty neighborhood. You ain’t got no money, but you got the most love. You might not have more money than people out in the suburbs, in Brampton or anything, but you for sure got more love, people love you more, and it’s more genuine where you’re from, because people are sharing there. People are sharing bread.

Do you miss Toronto at all or do you prefer being in the States? You’re living in LA now, right?

I miss Toronto a lot, but I just want to [have] dual citizenship and be able to go back and forth.

What are your favorite things to do when you’re in Toronto?

I like to be in the hood outside of Driftwood, I go to get food at my childhood corner store. 

Where did you get your name?

I go by the name Pressa because my father, his name was Prestige. It’s short-form for him. He got life in prison and stuff like that. He was a big street guy coming out of the neighborhood, so a lot of people showed me love just for him. I dedicated my name to that. 

What’s your relationship with your dad like now?

I love my dad. You would think that if your father got life, you wouldn’t know your dad or nothing like that, but my dad been in prison since I was 6 months old, so I grew up with my dad over the phone. I saw that was how my dad was there for me, just because that was all I knew. If you get a pup and you raise it this way… you know what I mean? I wasn’t mad at life. I actually did have a father telling me what to do and guiding me.

And what was life like with your mom and older brother? 

My mom worked a lot, 9 to 5, and then just left the boys at home, me and my brother, just trying to figure it out every day.

Photo provided to HNHH by SME Canada

You spent some time out in Vancouver facing your own legal issues. What was Vancouver like for you?

It’s dope. I had never been there before till I was like 13, and once I got up there– now that I’ve been to California, the weather is like the same. It doesn’t snow as hard out there. I would always just be out there, staying inside rooms. In houses, some people will just rent out their back house or their basement apartment. We would just take that for $700 a month, $1,000 a month. And then we just figured it out in Vancouver. That’s why I got a lot of people in Vancouver.

You said you were in a rough area growing up, and you’ve done some time yourself. A lot of your music deals with your experiences overcoming these obstacles. What kind of lessons have you learned from going through so much adversity early in your life?

Just morals, loyalty, and being genuine and organic.

How do you transfer your street experience into music?

I just rap about what I be going through, do it on the mic and paint a picture, tell my story– something that other people could relate to.

You talk about your childhood friend Wassi a lot in your music, and it was his death that ultimately led to you making music. What did he mean to you?

Wassi was my best friend before I was rapping. I ended up losing him, and I knew that I had to just start rapping. I made a song about him, and ever since that, it blew up. I just took it to the next level.

How did his passing influence you to pick up the mic?

Just by his death, and me wanting to make a song to show the world my friend is the biggest G in Canada.

Going back to when you were in school, were you a good or bad student?

I was a good-bad student. They would put me in gifted class because I was bad, but I knew how to manipulate all my friends and knew how to get what I wanted in school. I was smarter than everybody else life-wise. Survival skills, I was so advanced. Kids didn’t really understand. Kids are learning from me. I was just going back, trying to do other shit.

What was your favorite subject in school?

Math and geography, because I wanted to tour the world. I knew everywhere in Canada when I was like 13.

Did you have any extracurricular activities?

Basketball. I used to play a lot of basketball, and I would ride a lot of dirt bikes.

Your biggest song to date is “Attachments”. Originally, the song featured Taliban Glizzy. After it started to make some noise, Coi hopped on the song. Can you speak on that decision, the remix, and how Coi landed on there?

I recorded the song in Paramount, and then I put it out and it performed well. I wanted to get Coi on “Attachments,” so I reached out and got it done. The rest is history from there.

When did you first meet Coi? Was it around that song?

Yeah. I met her a long time ago when I was in the studio, but she didn’t remember me.

What initially drew you to her?

I thought she looked like me. I thought she was like me. We have the same birthday, basically.

True! You’re both Taurus, right?

Yeah. May 10 and 11.

Being that you’re both Taurus, what is the dynamic of your relationship like?

The relationship is awesome. It’s sweet. We don’t clash. No clashes over here.

Your celebrity status has elevated since you started dating her and moved to LA. A lot of people are getting to know you and your music, but at the same time, your comments are often filled with rude, hateful messages. Do those ever get to you?

Nah, man. We outside getting all this money. We ain’t worried about no motherfucking comments. It ain’t coming from nobody that ain’t got shit in life to do. We ain’t worried about no motherfucker that lives out their mama house, tweeting. They gotta figure out their life before they try to figure out our shit.

“We ain’t worried about no motherfucking comments. It ain’t coming from nobody that ain’t got shit in life to do. We ain’t worried about no motherfucker that lives out their mama house, tweeting.”

Does it ever bother you when you see haters making fun of Coi?

I don’t see nothing.

Let’s talk about your breakout song “Deadmihana.” How did you start getting traction with that song? 

Yeah. “Deadmihana” was my second song out. I was just rapping about crazy shit. People were fuckin’ with it so much, it just went crazy, and then I dropped “TBH” for the girls, on the pop side. Once I dropped “TBH”, I knew that I could rap about girls and still be certified in the streets.

How do you think your flow has evolved since those two songs?

It’s like basketball. The more you’re in the gym, the better you get. I be in the gym.

Things were much simpler when you dropped those songs. You were really just starting out and had so much to prove. Do you prefer working under pressure like that, or are you more comfortable now being in an elevated position?

I got a lot to prove. I still got so much to prove.

Do you like that? Does that make you work harder?

Yeah, I got so much to prove right now, because the bigger you get, the better you got to be, and the more you’ve got to deliver.

Your project Gardner Express saw you hit a brand new level. It’s debatably one of your most polished projects to date. What does that project mean to you?

My project is dope. It’s about my transition from Canada to America, Gardner Express, and it’s just a little EP on what I got going on in America.

What was the biggest difference between this project and your earlier catalog?

My earlier catalog, I ain’t never really had features. This catalog, I had features.

Considering the sound is so refined, did you work with any different producers or engineers?

Yeah, the producers and engineers are much more of a vibe over here [in Los Angeles.] They got their shit together. They’re like stars. Working with a producer or engineer, you’ve got to have star producers and star engineers to create a great song.

Do you have another album in the works?

I’ve got the Gardner Express deluxe coming out. You’ve got to check it out. Make sure you look out for it. [Ed. note: The deluxe edition was released last week. Check it out here.]

Where are you going sound-wise on the deluxe, or is it an extension on the project?

It’s just an extension of my project.

Let’s touch on Toronto. Toronto arguably has the most exciting music scene in Canada. What are your thoughts on the state of music, and especially hip-hop, in Toronto?

I think Toronto’s dope. They’re a lot different, and you can bring a lot of different sounds to America, just by being an original Toronto person. Smiley’s dope right now. He’s bringing America to that real Toronto culture.

Are there any other artists coming up from Toronto that have your co-sign?

Yeah, Burna Bandz. Houdini. J Neat. J Neat’s really dope. J Neat’s probably my favorite over there right now.

You have a solid relationship with Drake, having opened up for him a few years ago on tour. How did you end up linking up?

I just know him from back in the day when I was on tour with him. That’s how I linked up with Drake. He brought me out on tour.

Have you worked in the studio at all?

No, not really. I be around all the time.

Recently, you linked up with Post Malone for the “Motley Crew” video. How did that come together?

I fuck with Post. Post been fuckin’ with me from “Novacane”. Post fucked with “Novacane” back in the day, so that’s how I knew him. I knew Post for over 3 years now, 3 or 4 years.

“Post been fuckin’ with me from “Novacane”. Post fucked with “Novacane” back in the day, so that’s how I knew him.”

Can we expect any music from you two in the future?

I don’t know. You’ve got to just wait and see.

What’s next for you?

We’re ‘bout to go crazy. We’re ‘bout to drop my deluxe.

Coi Leray interjects: ‘Bout to drop this deluxe! Go over to Canada! Fuckin’ ’bout to go on tour, go crazy! That’s what we got to do!

She answered it for me. You heard her.

Photo provided to HNHH by SME Canada

Summer Walker is reveling in the success of her sophomore album, Still Over It. 

Walker’s follow up to 2019’s Over It, released last Friday, November 5, is a twenty-track exposé revealing a ton of emotional hardships and romantic turmoil resulting from her relationship with producer London On Da Track. With features from Pharrell, Lil Durk, SZA and Ari Lennox, as well as narration from Cardi B and Ciara, Walker’s second full-length effort is a star-studded event. And according to recent reports, Still Over It is projected to debut at #1 on the Billboard Top 200. 

Paras Griffin/Getty Images

Unfortunately for Walker, that success hasn’t derailed London On Da Track from trying to steal the limelight. 

The “Sneakin” producer is credited multiple times on Still Over It, meaning that he will profit off a project aimed directly at him. London has made it very clear that he’ll be making money off Still Over It, and with the help of Young Thug, launched a full offensive against Walker on social media. Walker explained why he was credited, and accused him of forcing his way onto the album, and in embracing the toxic nature of her current relationship with him, embraced her inner Future with an iconic Instagram post. 

Future, rap’s brightest beacon of toxicity, has been the subject of countless memes, but the meme Walker stole for herself is arguably his most iconic. The ‘staring in the mirror, preparing to do something he shouldn’t’ Future meme is objectively hilarious, and Walker’s face photoshopped onto the HNDRXX rapper’s shoulders is even more funny. 

Whether or not Walker is about to go on a world-changing, three mixtape run like Pluto did after separating from Ciara in 2014 is yet to be seen, but for the time being, she’s on her toxic Future wave and we just have to sit back and watch. 

What do you think of the Summer Walker x Future crossover meme? Let us know in the comments.

Will Smith just dropped off his new memoir, Will, offering an unadulterated glimpse into his life and career with stories that have yet to surface. We’ve heard a few tales about his relationship woes including a deep attraction to his Six Degrees Of Separation co-star Stockard Channing. 

One of the latest excerpts that have gained attention since its release is an anecdote of Will’s time on The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air. As we all know, it was his first leap into the world of acting following a successful stint as part of the Grammy-award-winning rap duo, DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince. As he successfully made the transition into television, he explained how he ended up getting into a shouting match with an executive at NBC who seemingly threatened his career for a bit of improv on set.

Vivien Killilea/Getty Images 

Per Page Six, Will explained how he, his producing partner James Lassiter, and two of the show’s producers, Benny Medina and Jeff Pollack, were called into the unnamed executive’s office who gave the actor an earful. “I’ve seen this happen a thousand f–king times,” Will recounted the exec saying. “You can be gone just as fast as you got here.”

The executive continued to berate Will Smith and co. but Lassiter eventually started to feel threatened, picking up a snowglobe as a weapon in case things went left. “So you can unilaterally change any of the words you want on a network sitcom, huh?” the exec continued. “Hundreds of millions of dollars, multiple partners, a s–t-ton of f–king veterans of the business … and you get to decide what the words are?”

“What the f–k you wanna do, bitch?” Smith recalled telling the executive. “Who the f–k is you talkin’ to?” he continued before demanding that the executive sit down. “Sit down when you talk to me,” Smith said. “SIT. THE. F–K DOWN.”

Ultimately, the executive laid off Will Smith, saying that he had just gone through surgery that prevented him from sitting down. And while the message came across loud and clear, Smith said that he immediately started to go into a state of panic and called Quincy Jones who told him it was nothing more than an exchange of “creative differences,” as long as things didn’t get physical. 

“We were coming from violent homes and violent neighborhoods and the violent music world,” Smith explained of the kerfuffle. “It was not unreasonable to think that an executive might get violent. We felt cornered and vulnerable.”

[Via]

As Travis Scott continues to maintain that he was not aware of the multiple cries for help during his fatal Astroworld festival last Friday (Nov. 5), more damning news has surfaced about his response in the show’s aftermath.

TMZ has reported that Scott allegedly met Drake at a Houston Dave & Buster’s for an afterparty once day one of the fest had ended. He was apparently unaware of the devastating results of the crowd surge, and immediately left the party once he was notified, sources told TMZ: “Travis didn’t know the severity of the situation when he arrived at the party, as far as timing, this remains consistent with the fact that no one including the police had publicly confirmed the gravity of the events that had taken place.”

Sources also claim Travis’ distance from the camera operators who had been pleaded with to stop the show did not allow for him to be notified of the horror. 

While Scott has vowed to pay for the funeral costs of all the victims involved and help provide resources for therapy for survivors, he has still been hit with numerous lawsuits for his negligence and, ultimately, being at fault for the loss of lives.

Drake has also been implicated in the lawsuits, as he was the surprise performer Travis Scott brought out during his headlining set as the chaos of death and injury occurred in the crowd they were performing for. Drake continued to play songs such as “SICKO MODE” and “TSU” while fans begged for the show to be stopped.

Image via HNHH. Photo shot by @frankievergara_ 

Travis Scott and Drake have both issued statements where they allude to having no knowledge of what was happening in the crowd. As they partied it up together once the show ended, several victims of the out-of-control crowd were seeking medical attention.

[Via]

 

Back on October 8, Seattle Seahawks star quarterback Russell Wilson suffered a gruesome finger injury on his throwing hand. Tests revealed that he had ruptured a tendon in his right middle finger, and Wilson was placed on injured reserve. 

However, just two days ago, Wilson posted a Succession-style hype video to announce his return to the gridiron.

Seahawks fans were understandably excited (especially considering recent reports that Odell Beckham Jr. is interested with signing with the team), but no fan was more excited that Wilson’s wife and number-one fan, Ciara. 

Frazer Harrison/Getty Images

In a tweet featuring multiple photos of her husband and children, Ciara revealed just how hard Wilson worked to get back on the field, and how inspired she was by his efforts.

“Watching you go on this journey these past weeks has been inspiring. Your hard work, drive, and dedication never ceases to amaze me!,” the “Body Party” singer wrote. “You’re the Best leader I know. The true definition of a Champion. Proud of you baby @DangeRussWilson #3 Let’s Go!’ 

And because of their status as one of the greatest, modern celebrity couples, Wilson responded to Ciara in an even more heartfelt manner. 

“I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!,” Russ wrote in a quote tweet. “You are Heaven Sent! Thanks for always loving & supporting me. I love doing life with you. @Ciara.” 

This is just the most recent example of Seattle’s first couple putting their love on full display. Just a couple of weeks ago, Wilson penned a beautiful birthday message for Ciara’s 36th, and despite Future’s best attempts to poison their relationship, the pair always presents the most united front. 

What do you think of Russ and Ciara showing their love on Twitter? Let us know in the comments. 

R. Kelly will be behind bars for the foreseeable future but it seems that he’s made a few friends with some of his fellow inmates while he awaited trial. According to The Daily News, Brendan Hunt, who shared a cell with R. Kelly at Brooklyn’s federal jail, apparently penned a comic book that illustrated the unlikely friendship he had with the singer.

Nuccio DiNuzzo/Getty Images

37-year-old Brendan Hunt was charged for posting a video after the Capitol riots on Jan. 6th where he encouraged insurrectionists to return to Washington to “kill your senators.” Hunt’s spent the past 10 months in prison but his lawyers are trying to get him out on time served.

As part of his request to be released, the comic book was filed to court to showcase Hunt’s artistic talents, as well as the “lasting friendships” he created “with some of the most unlikely characters.” Hunt’s attorney explained that the two “found a lot of common ground between musicians and artists.”

The comic book opens up with Hunt claiming that he’s never heard singles like “I Believe I Can Fly” before Kelly replies, “I’m the greatest R&B star in human history! How can you not know of R. Kelly?” He continues, “I’m the greatest R&B star in human history! Millions of babies have been conceived to my records!”

The comic book also showcases the two doing yoga together in their cell, which gives them superhuman abilities, while discussing their preferred genres of music.

Hunt is expected to be sentenced on Nov. 22nd, though his family has attempted to convince the court he’s a changed man since the insurrection. 

[Via]