New Hip Hop News

The power of the media continues to work in Kanye West’s favor, no matter how good or bad the coverage is. The artist’s recent appearance on N.O.R.E.’s Drink Champs certainly left a foul taste in the mouth of plenty of his former friends and collaborators including Talib Kweli.

Kweli has now responded to Kanye’s comments on both social media and in an interview with TMZ. The Black Star rapper went to Instagram with some footage from his documentary where Ye had nothing but praise for him. Talib shared a few quotes, specifically, where ‘Ye said, “(Kweli) taught me the most about being an artist. More than anybody.”

Kweli later appeared on TMZ where he addressed Kanye’s comments directly. He suggested that Kanye isn’t being entirely truthful about the conversations they’ve had since many of the things he’s criticized ‘Ye for publicly have also been said in private conversations. “Kanye knows very well that the things I’ve said about him in public, I’ve also said to him in private,” Kweli said, adding that the MAGA support was where he drew the line. However, he admitted that it wouldn’t have impacted their friendship as a whole.

“I still consider him a good friend and I love him but because he’s my good friend, I told him privately,” he continued, referring to Ye’s overall support for the far-right including Candace Owens. “I think it’s dangerous. I think you’re putting targets on our backs and I still believe that.”

Kweli also spoke out about Common’s penmanship. He explained that he doesn’t think there’s anything wrong between Kanye choosing Common over him. “Common is quite a standard for me as an MC to even be compared to. So, I feel honored and blessed to be compared to Common in that way,” he said. “But Kanye’s having a popularity contest between myself and him. And clearly, he’s more popular but I never been into it for the popularity. I’m not here for a popularity contest. I’m here to tell the truth and the truth is often unpopular. I rhyme about the movement for Black lives in most of my rhymes. Kanye’s out here rhyming about bleached assholes and stuff like that. Obviously, he’s more popular.”

The comments in question were made during the Quicktime with Slime portion of Kanye’s interview on Drink Champs where N.O.R.E. and DJ EFN asked Ye to pick between Kweli and Common, who he’s worked closely with over the years.

“My opinion is that everybody knows that Common [is better],” Kanye said before elaborating about his issues with Talib. “Man, you can’t tell me what I’m going through in my life. … If you take the average 99 percent of people and say, ‘Do you wanna be Kweli or do you wanna be Ye?’ More people are gonna wanna be Ye, Kweli.”

Check out the full Drink Champs interview below. 

After testing positive for COVID-19 and lying about his vaccination status, Aaron Rodgers decided to clear the air on the Pat McAfee Show yesterday. It was a lengthy conversation in which Rodgers gave his thoughts on his health and how he would rather go the natural route. He went down a rabbit hole about cancel culture and the woke mob, before claiming that he was allergic to the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines.

“I’m not an anti-vaxx, flat-earther. I have an allergy to an ingredient that’s in the mRNA vaccines. I found a long-term immunization protocol to protect myself & I’m very proud of the research that went into that,” Rodgers said. “My desire to immunize myself was what was best for my body & that’s why this is so important to me. I made a decision that was in my best interest for my body. I’m not telling somebody to get vaccinated or not get vaccinated.”

Now, Rodgers is facing some consequences related to the interview as the medical company Prevea Health has terminated its partnership with him. Prevea has sponsored Rodgers since 2012 although now, they are saying that they mutually decided to part ways. The decision was ultimately announced in a Twitter post earlier this afternoon.

This is certainly bad news for the quarterback, however, he will certainly be just fine with his current contract from the Packers. As for his playing status, he should be back in time for the team’s next game on November 14th against the Seahawks.

If you’re a Kid Cudi fan, you may have already streamed the rapper’s new Amazon Prime documentary, A Man Named Scott. The film hit the platform on Friday, November 5th, and has been making waves across the internet since, with many viewers praising the 37-year-old for his vulnerability in the project.

Of course, Scott Mescudi himself gave some interviews for the doc, but other rap artists like Lil Yachty, Kanye West, ScHoolboy Q, and A$AP Rocky were also enlisted to provide some insight on the scope of Kid Cudi’s influence.

“Songs like ‘Pursuit of Happiness’ and shit, that’s basically saying ‘Ayy n*gga, you’re depressed. You can’t hide it. You’re trying to act like you don’t wanna hear this song, you’re constantly listening to it but trying to act like you’re not listening to it,’” Q told cameras, also noting that his friend’s work has always resonated with him deeply.

During his appearance on A Man Named Scott, Rocky shared that his favourite Cudi album is Speedin’ Bullet 2 Heaven. “Sometimes you make your dopest shit in the darkest place,” the “Sundress” rapper said.

The film also spends a lot of time focusing on the friendship between Honey Boy actor Shia LaBeouf and Mescudi. Apparently, the musician once kicked his former Disney star friend out for saying that he doesn’t like WZRD. At one point, LaBeouf even wrote and pitched an animated series to Adult Swim depicting the story of the rapper’s early life, although Cudi was reportedly angry after finding out some information that he hadn’t approved had been included.

Check out the trailer for the Amazon Prime documentary below, and squeeze a watch into your weekend plans if you’ve still got time.

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Dana White has been a busy man as of late as he continues to try and put the best fights together for the UFC. Tonight, UFC 268 will have a huge welterweight title fight between the likes of Kamaru Usman and Colby Covington. Usman won the first matchup and he is favored to come through and win the second one, as well. 

Leading up to the fight, White got to speak to TMZ Sports about Usman and what he foresees for the fighter’s career. As White explained, he believes an Usman win tonight will make him the GOAT welterweight, and he may very well become the GOAT of UFC if he continues to rack up wins.

Ethan Miller/Getty Images

“Usman is in a place right now where he’s the pound-for-pound best fighter in the world. He’s arguably right now the greatest welterweight of all time. He’s already lapping guys, he’s coming back and fighting guys for a second time,” White said. “Colby Covington is a badass. He’s very, very good. And, Usman beating him again will probably solidify him as the greatest welterweight ever, and yes, creeping up on G.O.A.T. status.”

If you’re a long-time UFC fan, this statement is going to sound very bold, although it is White’s job to hype up his fighters in such a significant way. Either way, it’s going to lead to a debate, which you can have in the comments down below.

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On Friday, the Boston Celtics announced on Twitter that forward Jaylen Brown would officially miss time with a hamstring injury. Unfortunate news for Celtics’ fans, as Brown will be sidelined for at least the team’s next game, when they travel to Dallas to take on the Mavericks tomorrow evening. 

Today, Celtics’ Head Coach Ime Udoka told reporters that Brown’s hamstring is, “still getting assessed,” and that, “we’ll know more tomorrow about the severity or length of time [he’ll miss].”

From what Coach Udoka is saying, it would be a surprise if the injury only held the All-Star wing out for just a single game. In his absence, the Celtics’ will need more from key players like Jayson Tatum and Marcus Smart, to pick-up some of the scoring slack.

Maddie Meyer/Getty Images

Brown had gotten off to a hot start for Boston this season, averaging nearly 25.6 points and 6.1 rebounds per game, before aggravating his hamstring in a 95-78 victory over the Miami Heat on Thursday night. Brown has had success this season, as the star wing scored an impressive 46 points in the Celtics’ season debut against the New York Knicks, however, his efforts haven’t necessarily resulted in overall team wins, as Boston has gotten out to a sluggish sub .500 start to begin their season. 

The Celtics (4-5) take on Luka Doncic and the Mavericks (5-3) on Sunday evening, as Boston looks to steady the ship as they await news on the significance of Jaylen Brown’s right hamstring. 

New Music Friday included some massive drops this week. As usual, we highlight all of it on our weekly Fire Emoji playlist. Without further adieu, here’s your breakdown:

Though tragedy struck Astroworld on Friday night, Travis Scott prepared for the return of his annual festival with the release of two new singles, “ESCAPE PLAN” and “MAFIA” ft. J. Cole. The two new singles from LaFlame appear to be the first official taste of what he has in store with his forthcoming mixtape, Dystopia. It was only right that both records found their way on this week’s playlist.

With Memphis holding it down these days, Key Glock has proven to be one of the leaders of the new generation of rappers in the city. This week, he shared the second installment in the Yellow Tape series. “Luv A Thug” and “Channel 5” were both necessary inclusions for the Fire Emoji playlist. 

Snoop Dogg recently announced his plans to bring New York back to the rap game. And it seems he made his intention clear with the release of his new single, “Murder Music.” With some help from East Coast heavyweights, Benny The Butcher, Busta Rhymes, and Jadakiss, Snoop blessed us with a more comprehensive look at what he has in store on The Algorithm. 

Finally, we got new music from Money Man. Hopefully, a new album is on the way.

Check out the Fire Emoji playlist below and subscribe to HNHH on Spotify.