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Kodak Black hunkered down and recorded approximately fifteen albums worth of new music since being released from prison two months ago, proving that his work ethic is unmatched.

Much like some of the greats that came before him, including Lil Wayne, Kodak Black knows that his life could bring legal challenges that make it hard for him to have access to a recording studio at all times. For his entire adult life, he’s been in-and-out of prison, fighting cases and being forced to interact with his fans from behind bars. In January, Kodak had his sentence commuted by President Trump, but he’s not off the hook yet. He’s still fighting a few other cases, namely sexual assault allegations, in different states across the nation. Knowing that his freedom can be taken away at any instant, Kodak made sure to record a bunch of material during the time that he is free in case anything happens to him.

According to somebody close to the Florida rapper, Yak has recorded 167 new songs since being released from prison two months ago. That means that he has about fifteen albums worth of new music to give to the fans at any given moment should he need something to drop. Not many artists can pull that off.

One of those tracks was previewed in recent weeks as Kodak name-dropped Megan Thee Stallion, who he has been beefing on-and-off with, for weeks. “Everything I say turn into a quote, boy, go ask Meg Thee Stallion/I ask her let me drive the boat they thought I was Lil Yachty,” raps the Project Baby on the song.

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Are you excited to hear some of Kodak Black’s new music?

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Ever since “Up” climbed to the top of the Billboard Hot 100, Cardi B‘s celebration has been cut short by haters and skeptics. On Tuesday, the Invasion of Privacy artist went off on social media users for diminishing her achievements, and now Cardi is setting the record straight on the success of “Up,” following rumors and allegations that she has been using payola to boost the single’s success.

Responding to the payola rumors, the “WAP” rapper chalked the payola rumors up to pure hate and speculation, saying, “It’s sad that when I win people gotta scramble with lies for my success. Like they ain’t saw everybody, people coming out Amazon trucks and ambulances dancing my shit.”

After adding a slew of laughing emojis, Cardi continued to deny the payola allegations against her, saying, “They love to run with that ‘Payola ‘ to make them feel better mind you I didn’t debute number 1 because of my low radio play and WAP barely made radio cause it was so explicit yet still made number 1.”

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Cardi also came with some receipts that showed that “Up” hasn’t even been getting a lot of airplay in comparison to the other hits hovering around the top of the Billboard 100. On the matter, she wrote, “Look at the second slide look at my AirPlay ( radio) compare to other artist radio spins.WHEN YOU START WINNING THE STORIES START SPINNING!!! Imma adress all the hate on my album tho wait on it !!!”

The recent surge for “Up” came quickly after Cardi B’s high energy performance at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards, so the boosts in streaming and purchases could very likely be attributed to that. Plus, it is exciting to see that she is once again teasing her follow-up to Invasion of Privacy, so perhaps fans will get to hear that sooner than they thought.

Check out her Grammy performance of “Up” and “WAP” below.

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The Joe Budden Podcast is easily one of hip-hop media’s most influential platforms, a testament to Joe Budden’s growth as a businessman and media personality alike. Yet longtime fans of Budden have come to expect a few speedbumps along the way, and a recent narrative has sprung suggesting that longtime co-hosts Rory and Mal are on the verge of an unceremonious departure from the Podcast. 

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After their absence on a recent JBP, and a subsequently canceled episode that many speculated revolved around Rory and Mal’s situation, Budden returned with a new update during today’s new episode “Tea Leaves.” Joined by interim co-hosts Ice and Savon, Budden addressed the elephant in the room, insinuating that the return of his longtime collaborators was not a matter of if, but when. 

“I’ll eliminate some of the suspense,” begins Joe, around this sixteen-minute mark. “This is Rory’s seat, and this is Mal’s seat. Whenever they feel like returning to their seats, then they’ll return to their seats. And then what will happen is the same thing when your star player comes back to the team.”

He also explains that he “loves when podcasts go through this type of turmoil,” elaborating that it “shapes character.” Still, he does admit that he was blindsided by the way things have unfolded, noting that he loves Rory and Mal like brothers. “Sometimes in friendship and business, everyone needs to take a step back and go to their respective corners,” he states. “Sometimes everyone’s perspective and perception on how to go about that and how it should be executed is different.” 

As the conversation unfolds, Parks steps in to offer his own perspective, noting how friendship and business can be difficult to balance, often requiring lawyers and management to mediate. “I been doing business with Joe Budden for a very long time,” he continues. “I don’t come to you with business shit, because we have to keep doing shit…Other people should probably have somebody else to talk to you, or one of your professionals.” Later, he claims that Rory and Mal’s “beef’ does not stem from a financial place, prompting Budden to jump in. “It’s not a beef,” he clarifies. “Nobody has communicated a beef. What they have communicated to me is something is wrong. Whether that be in our friendship, how we’re speaking to each other, the respect level.”

Though there is certainly much to unpack on the topic throughout Tea Leaves, Joe Budden doesn’t exactly speak as directly on the situation as some might like. As such, it’s likely that fans of the Podcast will continue to read between the lines, monitoring Budden, Rory, and Mal’s respective social media pages for further insight. Be sure to check out Joe’s side of the story, cryptic at times though it may be, below. 

Young Thug might be too cool to say his full name but we can all read between the lines. The Atlanta rapper wants to see Youngboy Never Broke Again back on the streets pronto, taking to social media to share a message with his millions of followers.

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The rapper has been hard at work on finishing his upcoming label’s compilation album Slime Language 2, which seemingly keeps getting pushed back. Despite the current uncertainty regarding the album’s release date, Thugger is focusing his energy on somebody who needs it right now, advocating for the freedom of 21-year-old Baton Rouge rapper Youngboy Never Broke Again, who was arrested on Monday evening by LAPD and the feds. 

As information is finally being released about Youngboy’s arrest, which was reportedly connected to his arrest in September 2020 for guns, Young Thug is sending a message to the 4KT general, telling him to get home safely soon. “Free Young,” said the rapper on Instagram Stories. Considering Youngboy’s arrest this week, there’s not much of a question about which “Young” Jeffery is referring to. The two rappers have worked together on several occasions, including on 2018’s “Permanent Scar”.

Everybody around Youngboy Never Broke Again has been sharing their thoughts on the 21-year-old’s arrest, including his mother, who took aim at Wendy Williams over her comments about the situation. Read more about that situation here.

Could Quavo’s petty Aries energy be coming out in his lyrics? It sure sounds like it in the latest preview to the Migos’ upcoming single release, which was previewed recently on social media.

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Over the weekend, Quavo and his girlfriend, rapper Saweetie, broke up on Twitter after the Icy Grl suggested the Migos frontman had been cheating on her with multiple other women. She called him out for buying so many lavish gifts to cover up his wrongdoings, reminding her fans that not everything is as it seems on the surface. There were rumors flying around that Quavo had even sent somebody to repossess the blue Bentley that he bought Saweetie for Christmas, but it appears as though he wasn’t that petty. Still, he seems to be letting out his frustration in other ways, possibly dissing his ex in a new song.

The new track was previewed this week and Quavo raps, “Young n***a burnt out, burnt out/12 pulling up so we burned out/Sweet little b*tch now she turnt out.”

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The line, while many are saying it could be a reach, could be referring to his ex-girlfriend. Given the obvious “sweet” reference, many of Quavo’s fans have been dragging Saweetie by saying she’s “for the streets”. This could be his way of backing them up as the ugly breakup continues.

Recently, Saweetie continued to promote her Tesla giveaway contest by sharing a video of her pulling up in a busted car, which some people joked she’s been driving after Quavo “repossessed” her Bentley. Read more about that here.

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