New Hip Hop News

It’s not uncommon to hear the term “your favorite rapper’s favorite rapper” used to describe a certain breed of emcee. Evidently, Big Daddy Kane may very well epitomize it. Easily one of the most influential voices in hip-hop history, having inspired the likes of Eminem, Nas, Kendrick Lamar, and many more, Kane’s run in the late eighties and early nineties came to pave the way for lyricism as we know it. 

Having earned respect from his peers on such a universal level, Charlamagne inquires as to whether or not he feels as if he’s gotten the most out of hip-hop, especially upon seeing how the rap landscape has shifted. “I’m not getting these bags like Lil Uzi Vert and these young cats,” he reflects. “But from a cultural standpoint, yeah. I got a whole lot. I had the opportunity to dominate my era. From a cultural aspect, I got a whole lot of it. From the financial topic, nah.”

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Despite the financial disparity that exists between hip-hop generations, Kane remains pleased to see young artists thriving. “I’m happy to see it,” he says. “You have to keep in mind that during our era, we weren’t even accepted a lot of places. I remember Prince had me do a rhyme on the Bat Dance song, for that Batman movie with Michael Keaton. Warner Bros. Records is happy, loving it. Warner Bros. Films said nah, and took me off. It was like that back then.”

Kane also opens up about the rappers he deemed to be lyrical equals during his era. “The top three at that time were me, [KRS], and Rakim,” he explains. “I hate leaving G Rap out, but by public opinion. Me personally, G Rap one of my favorites.” He laughs, reflecting on how Swizz Beatz has been trying to get him to do a Verzuz with Rakim. “I would love to do it, but I can’t make nobody battle me.” Charlamagne reflects on how the public has been wanting that battle for years, prompting Kane to dive deeper down memory lane.”

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“One night, Bobby Brown did a show at the Garden,” he recalls. “He had all of us on stage, letting everybody spit while the band playing. Kool Moe D trying to push it, cause me and Rakim on stage rhyming. It wasn’t a battle, we were just rhyming. But he wanted us to rhyme back to back. Just to show you how deep people wanted it to happen, when Rakim rhymed, Moe D gave me a microphone and was trying to edge me next to him so I can go after him. Just-Ice snatched the mic from Heavy D and said ‘I go after the God!'”

“As soon as Rakim finished, Just-Ice jumped in front of him and started rhyming,” he continues. “The whole crowd started booing. They never gave him a chance. They was just mad I didn’t go after Rakim. They just started booing. That’s how bad they wanted it.”

When Charlamagne asks whether he had any bars for Rakim tucked away in case of emergency, Kane lets out a knowing chuckle. “I might have.”

WATCH: Big Daddy Kane on The Breakfast Club

One of the first posthumous records we got to hear from the late King Von was through Funk Flex when he released “Lurkin.” The track spans just under two minutes and it brings Von’s gritty storytelling to the forefront over a beat produced by BMC Beats, Grant Gardner, and Funk Flex. During Flex’s latest interview with HotNewHipHop’s Aron A., the famed radio host and well-respected New Yorker explained that King Von genuinely wasn’t a fan of the instrumental before hopping on it.

“King Von, I sent him the instrumental which he wasn’t a big fan of,” said Flex about “Lurkin.” “I asked him to trust me, and he was coming to New York, but I couldn’t get a good response out of him. At first, he’s like, ‘yes, I’ll shoot the video,’ but we didn’t have a time set. So somebody said ‘Yo, he likes Hellcats and he likes Red Eyes.’ Cool. I think I might have texted him. I don’t know. I think I said, ‘Hey, I got the Hellcat,’ and he responded right away. And I could tell he was into cars. So, we didn’t really drive anywhere that day but we kind of just hung out. 

That was really my first time meeting him face-to-face. Before that, it was FaceTime. I liked his energy, you know? Him and Pop Smoke… the violence. I don’t think there’s more violence now than it was when I was young. I just think with social media it gets amplified more. I think, with social media, it gets hard for people to back down or to change or not go as hard. I think a person — if they make a strong or a tough statement, they now have to back it up in person and social media. So I think it’s become a tougher thing. Rest in Peace to him.”

Our extensive interview with Funk Flex is available here, where he also gives credit to Drake for fathering the sing-rap style and names his favorite freestyle of all time.

Gucci Mane remains one of the most active OGs in the rap game, never letting more than a few months pass by without releasing new music. These days, the 41-year-old rapper has been championing his label’s buzzing new artists, including Pooh Shiesty, Foogiano, Big Scarr, and more. However, he’s still been getting work done in the studio by himself, announcing the release of his new surprise album Ice Daddy, which comes out tonight.

After stunting his massive “Ice Daddy” chain a few months ago, Gucci Mane has followed up on his new moniker by converting it into his latest studio album’s title, celebrating his son Ice Davis’ four-month birthday and giving the newborn an executive production credit early on in his life.

“PRE-SAVE My new album #ICEDADDY available at midnight everywhere,” announced Guwop on social media Thursday morning. “Executive produced by my son @icedavis1017.”

Early commenters have been critiquing the album cover, which feels like it was spontaneously put together. It features a photo of Gucci and Keyshia’s baby rocking a bunch of expensive jewelry and Gucci garments with artist branding on the sides. Despite the cover’s criticism, producers Zaytoven, Mike Will Made-It, and music executive Pierre Thomas are all hyping up the release in the comments.

The new album from Gucci Mane comes out at midnight. It follows the multiple compilation albums that Wop released last year, as well as his most recent studio album, 2019’s Woptober II. Will you be pressing play on this one?

There are few people more respected in the streets than Eugene “Big U” Henley. The influential former leader of the Rollin 60 Neighborhood Crips recently appeared during an episode of The Breakfast Club where he touched on a phone call he received from Quando Rondo, which he declined. At the time, Big U believed Quando, who reps the same set, was calling him for protection after fans turned on him because of his altercation with King Von, which ended in the rapper being killed. “You can’t call me now. You can’t call me when the fire hot,” he explained.

Quando Rondo addressed the situation, explaining that he was not calling the OG for protection with a long-winded video on social media. Their differences dissipated after the two met up, posed for some pictures, and supported one another publicly. During the latest portion of Quando’s interview with Angela Yee, he speaks about what happened and why the whole situation was taken out of context.

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“The little situation or whatever. That happened six months ago. If I was calling for protection, I would’ve called then,” he said, responding to Big U’s initial claims. “We good. It’s love with me and Unc. To be honest, fans took that and said that. [Big U] never said that I called him for protection on that show. He never technically said that. But the way Unc put it, that’s how fans would’ve took it in.”

Quando says that after their little tiff, Big U called him and clarified that he doesn’t have any issues with the young rapper. In fact, they even discussed the possibility of having Big U sit in on the Angela Yee interview, but the OG was a little busy.

Watch the latest part of Quando Rondo’s interview with Angela Yee below.