New Hip Hop News

With the end of New York Fashion Week, the MTV VMAs and the 2021 Met Gala all taking place within days of each other, we are seeing what happens when you put all of the hottest names in music in fashion in New York City at the same time.

On Monday night, following the Met Gala, Off-White creator and Louis Vuitton menswear director Virgil Abloh hosted a jam session at Carbone with BadBadNotGood and two of the biggest names at the intersection of music and fashion — Kid Cudi and ASAP Nast — both came through fitted and got on the mic. 

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Nast, arguably hip-hop’s best dressed individual, got on the mic first. Rocking a bucket hat pulled down low, he rapped over jazzy drums and chords and also let everybody in the building know: “Virigl’s the biggest kid here. He’s just dreaming.” 

Kid Cudi, still dressed in his Met Gala fit (green hair, Louis Vuitton head-to-toe with a massive KAWS chain Ben Baller called “the most detailed and intricate piece of jewelry I’ve ever created), got on the mic next and did exactly what Kid Cudi does. With a drink in his hand, Cudi started out harmonizing and using melody to create the perfect environment for his sound and then broke into his raps which, despite being pretty muffled in the videos Abloh posted to his IG page, were powerful and focused on where he and Virgil were and what they had done to get there.

Abloh called the night “different, really different,” and it’s easy to see why. An opportunity to combine the musical and fashion pedigrees of Nast, Cudi and Virgil is something special and not something that happens every day. Cudi is firmly planting himself as a beacon for pushing the envelope in fashion while Nast and Virgil are already cemented as two figures that the entire fashion and streetwear worlds are looking to for inspiration and just as a bonus, all three are nice with music, too. 

What do you think? Did Nast and Cudi do their thing or is this just a case of too much hype in the moment? Let us know in the comments. 

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Playboi Carti had been hyping up September 13th as a possible release date for weeks, but it turned out that the 25-year-old rapper simply planned to dupe his fans once more with a false-alarm merch release, claiming that his website was hacked after it was updated with Narcissist-branded merchandise, including a $5,000 helmet.

Many of the Atlanta-based artist’s fans were expecting some new music for Carti’s birthday this week, but it turns out that the rapper was actually teasing his Narcissist merch launch — and even at that, it looks like his team hit the green button a little early because Carti is claiming that his website was hacked and he didn’t approve any of the releases.

After fans complained about the $5,000 motorcycle helmet that was added to his website, which some people found for $29 on a Chinese retailer’s shop, it looked as though Carti was truly flourishing in his new drop-shipping business, but it turns out that he was simply hacked. He spoke out and shared text messages with his team after fans also pointed out that he was selling ski masks and other merch as a significant upcharge from similar items on Alibaba.

“THE WEBSITE IS HACKED,” wrote Carti on Twitter. “THE REF FOLDER WAS POSTED LIVE. NEVER APPROVED ANY CLOTHING/ETC.”

This leaves many of his followers asking… what was supposed to happen on September 13? Was a merch drop planned, and then canceled? Was a new album set to be released? Or was the hack simply a coincidence on this exact date? 

Check out some reactions below.

On Tuesday, Gabrielle Union released her fourth book and second memoir, You Got Anything Stronger?, a spiritual successor to her 2017 New York Times bestseller We’re Going to Need More Wine. Union’s newly released book features more never-before-shared first-person narratives about the famous actress’ life, including stories about motherhood and supporting Dwyane Wade through his retirement.

Some of the stories recounted in You Got Anything Stronger? offer a much more intimate look at Gabrielle Union’s journey over the past years, and according to the L.A.’s Finest actress, she recently experienced a “heartbreaking and terrifying” racist encounter in Croatia.

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According to People, Gabrielle Union and a group of friends we visiting the European country in 2019 on a work trip, and in their free time, they collectively decided to go on a Game of Thrones-inspired trip to Dubrovnik, Croatia. “We wanted to recreate Cersei’s steps from Game of Thrones,” Union told People about their Croatian trip gone wrong.

In her new memoir, Union walks readers through the entire incident, which at one point found her and a group of friends entering a bar that was filled with racist Jim Cow and Neo Nazi memorabilia. Upon noticing this, the group got uncomfortable and decided to leave, but immediately after exiting the bar, they were closely followed by a menacing group of bar patrons.

“I’ve never experienced that level of hatred and the threat of physical violence,” Union states in You Got Anything Stronger?. “It was such a jolt. And the fear and adrenaline of what happened left us all numb.”

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Described as “heartbreaking and terrifying,” the frightening racist encounter in Croatia isn’t the only incident that Gabrielle Union discusses in her memoir. “To go through every instance is to take you through every day of my life,” she writes. “There are microaggressions and there are all out assaults. That’s what it is to be a person of color in this country.”

Union also criticizes popular culture’s belief in a prevailing post-racial world, saying, “We think we’re post racial but we’re not. And that is beyond disappointing. I don’t think people understand the violence that comes with racism, whether it’s if you’re being chased or you’re having to watch someone wear blackface to collect a paycheck. It’s violent.”

Does Gabrielle Union’s book sound intriguing to you? If so, you can look into it here.

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Lil Wayne is a special emcee, the likes of which is seldom seen in the rap game. While many OGs certainly are respected by hip-hop’s new generation, there are few who have proven as directly influential as Lil Wayne.

To this day, he remains an active collaborator with plenty of current-day stars, including Lil Baby, DaBaby, and Polo G; he even keeps active on the boom-bap circuit, having recently linked with Westside Gunn and Conway The Machine to flex his elite lyrical prowess. Suffice it to say, there’s a reason he remains so widely respected by such a wide variety of rappers, and it’s no wonder that many are keen to join his Young Money empire. 

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Now, Mellow Rackz has officially been welcomed on the Young Money team, an occasion commemorated Sunday night with a lavish signing party at LIV Miami. Mellow Rackz shared a video on her Instagram page, in which she receives an iced-out Young Money chain from Weezy himself. Earlier, both Wayne and label president Mack Maine met their new signee at the airport, where they gifted her a duffel bag filled with $100k in cash.

“Dreams really do come true,” captions Rackz, alongside the video. “I really hustled this is no luck. @livmiami ON A SUNDAY. it’s @mackmaine4president & @zoeydollaz in the Dj booth 4 me. that’s the love u can’t buy. Mula Gang.” 

WATCH: Mellow Rackz receives 100k from Lil Wayne and Mack Maine

She also shared a series of pictures from the event, which finds her posted up with Weezy and Mack Maine. “This sh** saved me !!” she writes. “I escape death made it through hell now I’m living heaven on earth ! ITZ RACKZ yung Mula baybee!! Thank you God.” It will certainly be interesting to see how Mellow Rackz proceeds from here — might we expect a new release to capitalize on the momentum?

Check out some of the pictures and footage from Mellow Rackz’ Young Money signing party below. Do you think she’s a good fit on Weezy’s team?

Kid Cudi has not been shy about taking fashion risks in 2021. 

With his SNL outfit change from a Chris Farley tee and jeans to a long, floral dress designed by Virgil Abloh (a tribute to the late Kurt Cobain) and his NYFW fit — a Nirvana tee (another not to Cobain) with a long, floor-length, black skirt underneath, the Indicud rapper has certainly shifted from big glasses and a Cleveland fitted to elevated, higher-fashion looks. 

And at Monday night’s Met Gala, Cudi continued his run of looks that push the envelope. Wearing a blue Louis Vuitton sweater, with a graphic-covered LV skirt and LV sneakers, along with fluorescent green hair, dark eye makeup and jewels to accent it, he pulled off what is probably his most daring look yet. To many, Cudi was simply expressing himself through fashion on a night where the world’s biggest A-listers get together to do the same thing, but to others, Cudi was doing too much. 

Rappers Waka Flocka Flame and Soulja Boy both took to the Instagram comment section and let it be known that they were not down with Cudi’s fit, makeup or anything he had going on. “Blood Burnt Out,” Waka Flocka said of the 37-year-old Cudi. Soulja Boy, not known as one to ever mince words, was surprisingly more succinct, but made his feelings clear. “SMH,” Soulja commented, along with a facepalm emoji. 

Despite the comments, however, Cudi’s recent willingness to dress exactly how he wants comes from a place of both honor and inspiration. Along with the obvious nods to Cobain, Cudi has said that Kanye West would “respect him” for wearing a dress on SNL and on an episode of HBO’s The Shop, Cudder said that him dresssing exactly how he wants gives “confidence to the kids and (tells) them to be themselves and do what they want to do.” 

Nicki Minaj got a little spicy this week, telling the world of her COVID vaccination status and revealing that she’s hesitant to take the vaccine because of multiple factors. Telling her fans that she wants to do more research on the available jabs before deciding on one (despite the fact that thousands of scientists and world-leading health officials have already done all of that research), Nicki proceeded to warn her followers about potential side effects to the vaccine, claiming that one of her cousin’s friends in Trinidad experienced swollen testicles after getting the shot. As you can probably have predicted, her comments have caused a shift on social media, and now they’re being dissected by major news networks. Even Dr. Fauci is chiming in.

Appearing on CNN on Tuesday evening, Dr. Anthony Fauci denied that the COVID vaccine can cause any reproductive issues in men or women.

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When asked about Nicki’s comments and if they’re legitimate concerns, Fauci said, “The answer to that is a resounding no. There’s no evidence that it happens, nor is there any mechanistic reason to imagine that it would happen. So the answer to your question is no.”

Thousands of people have responded to Nicki’s tweet about her cousin’s friend’s problem down there, suggesting that he might have caught a sexually transmitted disease and incorrectly blamed the vaccine for his issue.

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While some of Nicki’s comments have been taken out of context, the one about her cousin’s friend was seriously perplexing, and it’s reassuring that Dr. Fauci came through to share his expert opinion on the matter.

It was only a matter of time before we heard from 50 Cent regarding the exciting Verzuz battle between Fat Joe and Ja Rule on Tuesday night. Given all of the differences that Fiddy has had with Joey Crack and Ja Rule, many expected the executive producer of Power to talk his shit last night, but he was rather silent… until Irv Gotti made some comments in the chat.

After everybody started talking about 50 Cent and whether he would make an appearance, Irv Gotti chimed in and said, “All y’all talking that 50 shit. All good. He got beat up stabbed up. Shot up. And sued us. That’s all I’m gonna say. Your hero ain’t what you think he is. Period. And Facts.”

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Instead of aiming for the higher ground and ignoring the taunts, Fif played into Irv’s hand and fought back, dedicating a couple of Instagram posts to him.

Sharing a triplet of images of him bossed up, wearing a designer suit, and smoking a cigar, Fif wrote, “Wtf am i trending for, I said i ain’t doing whatever that shit is they doing. I put they whole label out of business, f*ck with me if you want to. I would stay out of my way if i wasn’t me. LOL.”

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Thus far, Irv Gotti has not responded to 50’s latest posts. Neither has Ja Rule. We will keep you posted on how this progresses in the coming days.