New Hip Hop News

A$AP Rocky graces the streets of a re-opened New York while teasing upcoming music in a new advertisement for Klarna. After starting off as an investor in the company, which specializes in financial technology and allows users to make post-purchase payments in online shopping, he took on the role of CEO for a day last week, speaking praises of its commitment to making fashion accessible to everyone. The streetwear icon took to Instagram today to post the ad, which has his AWGE-branded creative fingerprints all over it.

The Harlem rapper is hard at work on his upcoming All Smiles record, and has been tapped to perform in a slew of festival lineups as live performances begin to slowly make a return to the music world. In the brief advertisement, Rocky sneaks in a preview of new music that might appear on the album, to match the tone of the ad’s narrative, which follows a post-lockdown Rocky through the streets of New York in search of a new and fashionable fit. He interacts with citizens who comment on his lackluster lockdown garb, convincing him to get some new attire.

Theo Wargo/Getty Images

In the snippet, Rocky raps “Roll my blunt, fill my cup… They don’t know nun’,” all comfortable topics for the Testing rapper. At the end of the ad, UK grime legend Skepta steps into the New York bodega ready to get out of his lockdown robes, a short and sweet cameo for a friend of Rocky and his “Praise The Lord (Da Shine)” collaborator.

During his day-long stint as Klarna’s CEO, the A$AP Mob leader vowed to “renounce (the) global fashion hibernation” that took place in 2020 and sought to push people toward rediscovering “the joy of getting dressed” once again. Rocky is not foreign to the fashion world, making his sense of style a core component of his musical identity and garnering much deserved attention in both high fashion and streetwear realms, merging the two worlds together at many points.

With a recent GQ cover story, an album on the way, festival dates planned and the new ad giving fans a taste of upcominng music, A$AP Rocky is primed for an eventful second half of 2021.

Check out the advertisement below.

Kim Kardashian and Kanye West have filed for divorce after six years of marriage, but the two don’t hold any bad blood for one another. As Kanye celebrates his forty-fourth birthday today, for which he officially launched the first item from his YEEZY x GAP collection, his estranged wife has shared a message for his birthday, telling him that she’ll always love him.

Posting photos of her beautiful family, including children North, Saint, Chicago, and Psalm, Kim made sure to wish the love of her life a happy birthday. “Happy Birthday Love U for Life!” she wrote as her caption on Instagram.

Kim also posted a childhood photo of Kanye on Twitter, which was seemingly taken in 1987, adding a singular balloon emoji as her caption.

Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images

Her message comes just days after it was reported that she was “doing great” amid her split from Kanye. On a recent episode of Keeping Up with the Kardashians, the sisters spoke about their divorce. “I just honestly can’t do this anymore,” she said through tears. “Why am I still in this place where I’m stuck for years? He goes and moves to a different state every year. I have to be, like, together so I can raise the kids. I think he deserves someone that can go support his every move and go follow him all over the place and move to Wyoming. I can’t do that. He should have a wife that supports his every move and travels with him and does everything, and I can’t.”

Check out her birthday posts for Kanye below. Happy birthday, Mr. West!

Wedding Crashers, starring Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn and quickly became a cult classic– that is, after it already grossed a mild $300 million internationally when it first hit theatres back in 2005. The film still gets referenced to this day, almost two decades later. A sequel to the iconic film has been rumored for some time now, in fact, we have some reports that go as far back as 2016, and as recently as 2020. However, right now it’s the closest it’s ever been to actually become a reality.

Last week Production Weekly (via @Jasonosia) posted a screengrab of a listing that states David Dobkin, the director of the original Wedding Crashers, has been brought on, with a script written by Evan Susser, Van Robichaux, and Rob McKittrick, and that production is projected to start in August, in Puerto Rico. The listing also states the film will be produced for HBO Max.

However, New Line Cinema has not green-lit the project yet, and there reportedly aren’t any actual contracts signed with the actors mentioned above. It is reported that Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn are in talks to reprise their roles, however, Rachel McAdams and Isla Fisher likely won’t be locked until both Vaughn and Wilson are a done deal, and that obviously will not be a cheap task. That being said, we’re still excited to hear about the possibility of a sequel happening, and we’ll be  curious as to how the story will play out. Stay tuned.

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2021 has been the biggest year of Freddie Gibbs’s career so far. Coming off of the success of Alfredo that earned him and The Alchemist a Grammy nomination for Best Rap Album, the Gary, IN native has been steadily teasing the release of his forthcoming album, SSS. Though no release date has been set, it appears that he has even bigger plans outside of music this year.

 Michael Bezjian/Getty Images 

Gangsta Gibbs revealed that he would be making his acting debut in the upcoming film Down With The King, directed by Diego Ongaro. The rapper takes on the leading role of Money Merc, a rapper seeking to make his departure from the music industry. Merc is sent to the Berkshires to record his next album when he forms a bond with a neighbor who leads him towards farming. 

Down With The King will be making its world premiere later at this year’s Cannes Film Festival as part of the ACID (Association For Independent Cinema and its Distribution) section. 

“Freddie Gibbs and I worked intimately together to craft Mercury’s character and backstory; some of it pulled from Freddie’s experiences and values, much of it invented,” Ongaro told Complex earlier this year. “It was an absolute thrill working with someone as sharp and multi-talented as Freddie in this collaborative way.”

We’ll keep you posted on more details surrounding Down With The King. Cannes Film Festival takes place from July 6th to 17th. 

Television and media personality Kim Kardashian and rapper-mogul Kanye West are in the midst of a dramatic divorce. Regardless, Khloe Kardashian sent her soon-to-be ex-brother-in-law well wishes for his 44th birthday on June 8th. Based on the post, it looks like the divorce has not severed the bond between West and the Kardashian family member, as she refers to him as her “brother for life.”

The Revenge Body star’s post included a throwback picture of herself along, with her older sister Kim, Kanye, and former partner Tristan Thompson, enjoying a day in the ocean. The reality TV star captioned the post: “Happy birthday to my brother for life!!! Have the best birthday Ye! Sending you love and endless blessings!!”

Kim Kardashian shared the news of her divorce from the “Fade” rapper on a June 3rd episode of Keeping Up With The Kardashians. While telling Khloe about her marital woes, the pop culture icon disclosed that she “felt like a failure.” The series finale of Keeping Up With The Kardashian will air on Thursday, June 10th. 

Kim Kardashian originally filed for divorce from West earlier this year, on February 19. 

Check out Khloe’s birthday tribute to Ye below. In related news, in tandem with his birthday, the rapper finally unveiled a first peak at his upcoming YEEZY collection with the Gap, check that out here.

Ice-T has always been incredibly proud of his now 21-year run as Detective Odafin Tutuola on NBC’s Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, and he’s never hesitated to defend it. Most notably, he’s stepped in to condemn former Presidents for misappropriating the name and advocated for black empowerment and black stories on the show. Fans know not to get in between the actor and his show, but one critic made that embarrassing mistake this week. After the critic, journalist Lauren Wolfe, tweeted: “how is it that Ice-T never gets any better on SVU?”, the actor quickly delivered a flaming response with “how is it that your **** smells worst every day?”

Ice-T has a history of beefing over the internet, though usually with higher-profile people on the other side. Of the few to name, the actor’s beef with Soulja Boy became pretty volatile as well as fellow rapper/actor LL Cool J. However, it’s clear that his stint at Law & Order is something he’s proud of and won’t let any haters get in his way. 

Ice-T has been nominated for four Image awards for his role in Law & Order and won once for “Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Role”. The 22nd season of the show premiered in November and the show has been cleared for another two seasons post-season finale.  

Though the tweets have been deleted, you can check them out down below. Do you think Ice-T deserves credit for his acting?