The biggest digital streaming platform is catching major heat right now. Spotify is under fire as organizations and artists unite to demand fair payouts for the featured acts on the billion dollar service. In 2020, less than 1,000 of the 7 million-plus active musicians received $1 million or more through streaming from the service which […]
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Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a rise in discrimination and racists attacks against Asian people worldwide. From the United States to England to Australia, people have been physically assaulted because of the racist “Wuhan Virus” narrative. The recent shooting in Atlanta that left eight people dead, six of whom were of Asian descent, has caused leaders to come forward with a “#StopAsianHate” campaign, and it seems it affected famed comedian Jay Leno to reflect on a few of his jokes from yesteryear.
For over a decade, civil rights groups have called out Leno and asked him to apologize for his language. Variety reports that even when he a judge on America’s Got Talent, he offended several people when he made a joke about Koreans using dog meat in their meals. “At the time I did those jokes, I genuinely thought them to be harmless,” reads a statement released by Leno and Guy Aoki, the leader of Media Action Network for Asian Americans. “I was making fun of our enemy North Korea, and like most jokes, there was a ring of truth to them.”
“At the time, there was a prevailing attitude that some group is always complaining about something, so don’t worry about it. Whenever we received a complaint, there would be two sides to the discussion: Either ‘We need to deal with this’ or ‘Screw ‘em if they can’t take a joke.’ Too many times I sided with the latter even when in my heart I knew it was wrong.”
“I am issuing this apology. I do not consider this particular case to be another example of cancel culture but a legitimate wrong that was done on my part. MANAA has been very gracious in accepting my apology. I hope that the Asian American community will be able to accept it as well, and I hope I can live up to their expectations in the future.”
In 2019, reports surfaced that Gabrielle Union had been dismissed from America’s Got Talent after complaining about Leno’s racist jokes.
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The demand is still high for Rihanna’s R9 but we’ve yet to hear any promising update on when to expect it. One might think that the pandemic played a role in its delay but it seems that she’s continuing to work on the project. If not that, then she’s certainly keeping busy with her many business endeavors.
Even if it’s been a few years since she’s dropped any solo music, she’s reached another milestone in her career on the Billboard 200. ANTI has spent five full years on the Billboard 200, making Rihanna the first Black female artist to reach this feat on the Billboard chart. “grateful to the most High for putting die hard supporters in my circle,” she wrote. “Congrats to everyone that contributed to this era, thank you team.”
It didn’t take long for fans to demand the release of R9 but one fan’s less abrasive approach proved successful. “Celebrate by releasing a song !!” the fan wrote. Rihanna replied, “I think I should.” However, she made it clear that it would be “just 1 tho.”
Last year, Rihanna made her sole appearance on wax when she connected with Toronto’s PartyNextDoor for his single, “BELIEVE IT” off of PartyMobile. Prior to that, she appeared on N.E.R.D.’s “Lemon” in 2019.
We’ll keep you posted on if, and when, Rihanna decides to drop new music. Are you still waiting on R9?
Megan Thee Stallion didn’t leave the Grammy awards empty-handed. The H-Town Hottie emerged victorious, even if it did spur a bit of controversy within the rap categories. Megan’s “Savage (Remix)” ft. Beyoncé took home the awards for Record Of The Year, Rap Performance Of The Year, and Rap Song Of The Year. Beyond a win for two incredibly talented women, it was a moment of celebration for the city of Houston.
A week and a half after Megan’s big evening at the award show, Paul Wall has slid through with his own version of the Grammy-award-winning single. The rapper came through with “Savage Flow.” The quick freestyle offers shout-outs to his friends in the rap game, as well as local heroes while declaring himself “the hood Ferris Bueller” and calling for Larry Hoover’s freedom within the same breath.
“Shoutout to Megan Thee Stallion for constantly destroying it out there,” he wrote in the comment section.
Check out the latest from Paul Wall below.
Quotable Lyrics
Who there got that good fired up? What you waitin’ up?
Acres on the Clayton homes, blazin’ on they Lakers home
That’s Los Angeles, top tier cannabis
If you not a smoker, odds are you can’t handle it
The VERZUZ franchise isn’t slowing down – at all. The popular face-off competition series has announced legendary R&B groups SWV and XSCAPE gearing up to put their classics on the line. VERZUZ Announces XSCAPE + SWV The series went to its social media pages to break the massive news to the world. Barring any setbacks, […]
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It’s unclear where this rumor began or how it circulated but allegedly Tekashi 6ix9ine told Bobby Shmurda that he was paid half a million dollars for his appearance on the Breakfast Club and continues to earn residuals. Charlamagne Tha God, DJ Envy, and Angela Yee dispelled these rumors on their morning radio show today.
As the trio discussed Bobby Shmurda’s parole conditions, Charlamagne brought up the rumor that an artist told Bobby Shmurda that they were still getting paid off of their interview. “Salute to Bobby Shmurda, too, man. Aye, Bobby, that artist lied to you. The Breakfast Club does not pay for interviews,” said Charlamagne before Envy told him that he had to explain the situation. “There’s an artist that told Bobby Shmurda that he got paid half a million dollars to do a Breakfast Club interview and that he gets residuals, royalties from the YouTube interview.”
“He’s a god damn liar,” declared Envy while Angela Yee pressed them to ID the rapper. “Tekashi 6ix9ine allegedly told Bobby Shmurda we paid him $300 thousand.” Charlamagne clarified that it’s unclear if 6ix9ine told Bobby personally. “First of all, I was like Bobby Shmurda talks to Tekashi?” asked Yee.
Charlamagne said that it was actually $500K and that never in the history of the Breakfast Club has an artist received payment for an interview, let alone residuals from YouTube views.
Check out the clip below with the 6ix9ine bit starting at the 19:45 min. mark.
Earl Sweatshirt’s career hasn’t been the most linear or typical journey for a rapper who was once touted as being the prodigal son of Hip-Hop. Rising to rap notoriety through the polarizing Los Angeles-based collective Odd Future, Earl was notoriously absent during the group’s meteoric rise. As a result, many Hip-Hop fans didn’t know what to expect from the young lyricist following his return to the states. His debut album Doris finally arrived in 2013 to widespread acclaim, years after his infamous mixtape Earl. Yet, it was his sophomore outing that shifted Earl’s trajectory in an entirely different direction.
I Don’t Like Sh*t, I Don’t Go Outside was almost entirely self-produced, and the album saw Earl dive deeper into the dark, harrowing, and lo-fil soundscapes that fans today celebrate him for. While less commercially successful, IDLSIDGO still received mass critical acclaim, and upon its six-year anniversary, there’s no better song to revisit than its lead single “Grief.”
Produced by Earl under the moniker of RandomBlackDude, “Grief” was initially described by the artist as a “final lament and monologue,” but it also ironically sparked the stark shift in Earl’s sonic direction moving forward. The grimy lo-fi production sports robust samples from Gary Wilson’s “You Were Too Good to Be True” and Erykah Badu’s “Fall in Love (Your Funeral),” but in contrast to its upbeat sources of inspiration, the song sounds rugged and bleak. With a vicious first verse and a spacy second verse representing a well-executed artistic idea, “Grief” was a truly impressive single that truly set the stage for the otherworldly I Don’t Like Sh*t, I Don’t Go Outside.
Quotable Lyrics
You circus n*ggas, you turning into tricks
I was making waves, you was surfing in ’em
Dealing with the stomach pains just from birthing n*ggas’ shit
Cut the grass off the surface
Pray the lawnmower blade catch the back of a serpent n*gga’s shit
Swizz Beatz and Timbaland’s Verzuz was a breakout hit last year, featuring performances from a plethora of big-name stars that made it must-see entertainment for folks stuck at home during the ongoing pandemic. The duo was even able to sell the show to Triller and offer their prior guests equity in the sale. However, despite scooping up some of hip-hop and R&B’s most iconic entertainers for the show, Swizz and Tim unfortunately missed out on securing one of their peers due to one of their shows turning out differently than expected.
Dropping by The Breakfast Club on Hot 97, Swizz and Tim revealed that Dr. Dre, who was in negotiations to participate in a Verzuz battle of his own, canceled on them after seeing the sound issues during the battle between Babyface and Teddy Riley. Swizz explained, “When Dr. Dre wasn’t feeling the sound from Teddy Riley and Babyface, that hurt our heart. I was like, ‘Oh my god.’ If you go back, Dr. Dre was at the Teddy Riley one. He came at the end, but he was supposed to come at the end and announce he was doing Verzuz that night.”
Unfortunately, seeing the shambles that became of the episode when the sound on Teddy’s elaborate at-home display cut-out, Dre decided that a similar fiasco would hurt him more than it helped. “He got on the phone and was like, ‘Man, I can’t be a part of nothing that look like or sound like that,’” Swizz explained. “‘My legacy is quality. My legacy is this, that.’ I was like, ‘Ohhhh we just lost Dre over that. That one felt pretty crazy but since then, the energy has been really good.”
Most recently, Wu-Tang Clan members Ghostface Killah and Raekwon The Chef engaged in a friendly tet-a-tet while the Verzuz heads announced Earth, Wind & Fire and The Isley Brothers would participate on Easter Sunday.
Watch the Verzuz collaborators’ interview with The Breakfast Club above.
In addition to being an art-rap pioneer and a fixture of the stand-up comedy circuit, Open Mike Eagle also records a podcast titled What Had Happened Was on his own podcast network. In its debut season last year, Mike interviewed guest Prince Paul for 12 episodes of the tales behind some of the legendary producers most storied works, including the Gravediggaz album, De La Soul’s Three Feet High And Rising, and more. Today, Mike announced that the show will return for a second season featuring another storied but sometimes overlooked producer: El-P.
While El-P has become something of an indie favorite in recent years due to his work with Adult Swim and Run The Jewels, his career spans all the way back to the mid-90s and includes underground rap staples like Company Flow’s debut album Funcrusher Plus, Cannibal Ox’s The Cold Vein, Cage’s Hell’s Winter, and his own string of widely-respected albums like Fantastic Damage and Cancer 4 Cure. El-P has plenty to talk about, and as Open Mike Eagle has proven to be an empathetic, enaging host, the second season of What Had Happened Was is sure to be a must-listen for indie rap fans.
The second season debuts 3/31 via Open Mike’s Stoney Island Audio network and continues weekly every Wednesday.
