New Hip Hop News

Kanye West is allowing the music to speak for itself in his rollout for DONDA, even if he hasn’t dropped a single off of the project. He hasn’t made any wild tweets or any contentious statements on TMZ (at least not yet) while members of his inner circle have provided updates on DONDA to the outside world. ‘Ye hasn’t said a thing, in fact, nor has he really shown face. In the past few weeks, he’s worn a full mask to hide his face.

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Tomorrow, the album will make its debut at Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium, and as to be expected, the rapper’s still putting the final touches on the project. Earlier today, he unveiled part of the tracklist while locked in the studio with Playboi Carti who appeared to be laying down last-minute vocals for the album.

Prior to that, a snippet from a recent session including Mike Dean surfaced online. A$AP Bari shared a snippet of a song in the studio when Dean, along with three other people were in the studio getting hyped to the new record. The session reportedly took place backstage at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium. 

Last night, the rapper confirmed the album’s release in a commercial that aired during the NBA Finals for Beats headphones featuring Sha’Carri Richardson. The ad included a snippet of “No Child Left Behind” which is confirmed to be on DONDA.

Check the latest snippet below. 

The last thing Drake needs as he prepares for the release of Certified Lover Boy is a court case hanging over his head. An incident that allegedly occurred at a nightclub back in 2018 found the rapper along with Younes Bendjima, Kourtney Kardashian’s ex, and Odell Beckham on the receiving end of a lawsuit filed in 2019. Love Island reality star Bennett Sipes alleged that at the time, he was dating Instagram model Sommer Ray and he went to the Los Angeles celebrity favorite Delilah to meet up with her. 

Sipes claimed that when he arrived, he made his way to the VIP section and saw Sommer near Drake and Beckham, and somehow, a verbal altercation began.

He then stated that he walked away and went to the bathroom but before he was able to make it inside, Bendjima along with several other men assaulted him. According to Radar Online, Sipes accused Beckham and Drake’s security guards of executing the alleged attack. However, he later rescinded that statement and the case against Beckham was dismissed. 

Drake has continuously denied involvement in the altercation and has told the court that he, nor anyone that worked for him, did not physically assault Sipes. Meanwhile, Bendjima reportedly did admit to getting into a scuffle but stated that it was self-defense. 

Radar Online reports that they’ve looked through court documents and it seems that Drake, Bendjima, and Sipes reached an undisclosed settlement.

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There’s been a few delays but it appears that Kanye West will finally be releasing his long-awaited 10th studio album, DONDA. Named after his late mother, Kanye West has been hard at work in recent times putting the final touches on the album. A few of his close associates have offered updates while ‘Ye has maintained a relatively low profile ever since it was reported that he and Kim Kardashian were calling it quits.

Kevin Mazur/Getty Images 

Kanye West might have debuted the album to a small audience in Vegas over the weekend but it appears that he’s still working away until the last minute. On his newly relaunched Instagram page, the rapper shared a photo to his page revealing that he’s still locked in the studio. Kanye’s rocking a football jersey that reads “DONDA” with ’07 as the jersey number which could presumably be part of the album’s merch line.

Sitting behind a microphone is Playboi Carti who many assumed would be on the album anyway. It looks like the baby voice will actually be in full effect on DONDA.

However, the rapper also revealed part of the album’s tracklist which is written on a whiteboard. From an initial glance, it appears that the tracklist will likely hover around 16 songs in total. 

It’s Kanye West, so no tracklist is ever set in stone, per se, until it’s released but with song titles like “Pure Souls,” “Keep My Spirit High,” and a few titles that include either God or Lord, there’s a good chance we can expect some sort of gospel influence on DONDA.

Check out the photo below. 

While 2021 presented an opportunity for a fresh start for many people, this year has so far been tragic for Mobile, Alabama rapper HoneyKomb Brazy. This February, the Rap-A-Lot Records artist made headlines after both of his grandparents were killed after a drive-by shooting that caused their home to go up in flames. Days before his grandparents’ funeral, local authorities alleged that HoneyKomb Brazy had engaged in a shootout in Montgomery, and shortly after, the rising rapper was arrested and at risk of having his probation being revoked.

According to HipHopDX, HoneyKomb’s probation has officially been revoked by a judge in Mobile, and he has been ordered to serve out the rest of his original 15-year sentence behind in bars.

HoneyKomb was released on probation in November 2020 after serving a mere 18 months of his original 15-year sentence for felon possession of a firearm, but apparently, the judge felt it necessary to revoke the rapper’s probation altogether and send him back to prison.

According to HipHopDX, HoneyKomb’s alleged shootout in May was just the final straw. The rapper had also reportedly violated the terms of his probation by sharing music videos that depicted him in possession of drugs and guns, and prosecutors also claimed that HoneyKomb regularly blew off mandatory meetings with his probation officer.

Despite HoneyKomb’s lawyer arguing that he was in a paranoid state following the murder of his grandparents, the judge revoked the Rap-A-Lot Records rapper’s probation regardless. His attorney, Jeff Deen, remains optimistic despite the remaining 13.5 years in HoneyKomb’s sentence, and according to HipHopDX, their legal team plans to appeal the judge’s decision.

Stay tuned to see how HoneyKomb Brazy’s legal situation develops.

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After an unfortunate series of events, Maria Taylor and ESPN mutually cut ties.

Back in July, the New York Post reported Maria and the network were not seeing eye-to-eye while negotiating a raise for her salary. The network reportedly offered her a $4 million dollar raise and Maria declined, seeking to match the salaries of the highest-paid analysts who rack in about $8 million annually. 

On top of that, a few weeks ago the New York Times revealed a leaked audio clip of fellow analyst Rachel Nichols rudely suggesting she was not given the NBA Finals job because ESPN “was feeling pressure” about the network’s “crappy longtime record on diversity.” Maria Taylor didn’t stoop to her level in response and instead shared an empowering message on her Instagram. 

The joint statement released on Wednesday announced that the two parties ultimately could not come to agree on the terms of Maria’s contract extension, and thus would be going separate ways. 

ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro released a statement saying, “There is no doubt we will miss Maria, but we remain determined to continue to build a deep and skilled talent roster that thoroughly reflects the athletes we cover and the fans we serve. While she chose to pursue a new opportunity, we are proud of the work we’ve done together.”

Maria is rumored to already have a move to NBC in the works.

Check out some reactions to the news as soon as it began to trend below.

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