New Hip Hop News

Kanye West’s Yeezy brand has been working overtime as of late and within the next few months, sneakerheads will be receiving a whole slew of new Yeezy models. One of the silhouettes that will see a lot of new colorways is the Adidas Yeezy Basketball QNTM which is a model that officially debuted back in 2020. Since that time, a plethora of new offerings have made their way to the market, and now, we are getting even more.

The latest of these colorways is the “Sea Teal” offering which can be found in the official images below. This colorway is mostly unique for the Primeknit upper which is covered in a mixture of grey, beige, and teal hues. From there, the shoe’s tongue and the back heel are black, which is a feature that is found on pretty well every single QNTM basketball colorway. It’s certainly a unique display and we’re sure some of you Yeezy stands will love them,

As for the release details, you can grab these through Adidas.com/Yeezy and Yeezy Supply as of Friday, March 19th for $250 USD. Let us know what you think of these, and be sure to stay tuned for more sneaker information.

Image via Adidas

Image via Adidas

Image via Adidas

Image via Adidas

Image via Adidas

Megan Thee Stallion’s evening at the Grammys was spectacular. The Houston Hottie took home Best Rap Song and Best Rap Performance for “Savage (Remix)” ft. Beyoncé, as well as Best New Artist. And, she teamed up with Cardi B for a jaw-dropping performance of “WAP.” However, her win comes in the midst of several high-profile artists announcing their boycott of the Grammys, specifically The Weeknd who said he wouldn’t be submitting music to the Grammys moving forward.

Last night, TMZ caught up with Meg after the Grammys took place where she reflected on Lizzo’s slip-up, the iconic wins, and all the women representing throughout the evening. “A lot of real Hot Girl shit,” said Megan to the paparazzi. She, Cardi B, and Doja Cat arguably had some of the best performances of the evening but she was also the only artist out of the three to take home any award.

Kevin Winter/Getty Images

“I didn’t know shit,” replied the rapper when asked if she expected to win. “The Grammys ain’t rigged. Bitch, you win some, you lose some,” said Meg after she was asked if there’s an unfair bias behind the Academy’s selection of the winner. One might look at that at a swipe at The Weeknd who said that there were “secret committees.” However, Meg insisted that she “stans” the Toronto crooner. “We love The Weeknd. We stan.”

Check out the clip below.

[Via]

On Friday morning, a tragic shootout occurred in Tennessee between Metro Nashville Police Officer Josh Baker and 31-year-old Nika N. Holbert. Holbert was pulled over when Officer Baker discovered that the owner of the black Chevrolet Camaro she was driving had multiple warrants out for his arrest. She was alone in the vehicle, however, and the owner, Demond M. Buchanan, was not present at the time of the stop. 

Bodycam footage captured the entire shooting, which is incredibly graphic and disturbing. After pulling Baker over and letting her know that the owner of the vehicle has arrest warrants out, he begins to go through her purse. Holber is on her phone, and eventually Baker comes across a little plastic baggy of what appears to be either marijuana or a white powder, which is seemingly what prompts him to try to put handcuffs on her. Baker tells Holbert, “do me a favour,” as he turns her around in an attempt to put Holbert in cuffs.

She immediately refuses and says, “I haven’t done anything wrong.” She runs from Baker while he points a taser at her, saying “You’re about to get tased.” Holbert, in a panic, runs around the vehicle and gets back into the car, where Baker tases her while she is sitting and screaming for help. Holbert continues to scream while Baker attempts to remove her from the vehicle. She then grabs a handgun out of the car and the two fire shots at one another.

Warning: Graphic video

Holbert was rushed to the hospital but was later pronounced dead. Baker sustained a gunshot wound under his bullet-resistant vest but is in stable condition.

Holbert’s mother does not believe that Nika shot the officer, telling WSMV News4 Nashville, “I don’t think my daughter shot him.” The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and prosecutors from the Davidson County District Attorney’s Office are reviewing the fatal shooting. 

[Via]

Coming into this season, the expectations were high for the Los Angeles Clippers, who went through a disappointing playoff campaign back in 2020. To start the year, Kawhi Leonard and the Clippers were looking like the best team in the West although things have dwindled over the past couple of weeks. The team has now lost six of their last nine games and even fell to the New Orleans Pelicans last night by 20 points.

Following the match, Leonard got to speak with the media where he was asked about the team’s problems. In a tweet posted by reporter Tomer Azarly, Leonard was brutally honest about what’s happening with the team right now, and that their consistency simply isn’t where it needs to be.

“I mean, it’s very concerning,” Leonard said. “If we want to have a chance at anything, you gotta be consistent. That’s what the great teams do, they’re consistent. You know, they have their nights when the energy’s not there, but it’s all about consistency, from teams, to players, to coaches. That’s what makes a team great: players great, coaches great. A consistency of being, wanting to win, and doing pretty much the same habits of winning.”

Mid-season slumps are common in the NBA, so the Clippers shouldn’t worry too much, just yet. Regardless, with last season still fresh in their minds, it’s clear the team is worried about missing expectations for a second-straight season.

Patrick Smith/Getty Images

Rise & Grind is a new editorial series, meant to introduce and dissect new, buzzing, or underground artists.

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From first showing up at the Grammys while in her mother’s womb, to participating in Dreamville’s legendary Revenge of the Dreamers III sessions in Atlanta in 2019, Yung Baby Tate’s essence is practically rooted in music. Yet having experienced enough iconic music industry experiences for a lifetime, Yung Baby Tate is nowhere near finished. Following the release of last December’s After The Rain, Tate is more focused than ever.

Image by Sarah Pardini

Recently, Yung Baby Tate’s After The Rain standout “I Am” became a viral sensation thanks to TikTok’s unyielding support of the positive, self-affirming track. The song features rising artist Flo Milli, and it has already garnered upwards of 1.8 million streams from YouTube alone, which has in turn, shone an even larger spotlight on Tate’s dynamic artistry.

The runaway success of “I Am” marks the latest entry in the artist’s storied musical journey, and ahead of the release of a highly-anticipated music video and deluxe follow-up to After The Rain, Yung Baby Tate linked up with HNHH for the latest edition of Rise & Grind. To learn more about the talented multihyphenate, check out her interview below.

Stay tuned for a new installment of Rise & Grind every Monday.

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Image by Munachi Osegbu

Stomping Grounds:

I grew up in Decatur, but when I first started putting music out, I was really kind of just in the city of Atlanta. Downtown, that’s where I first started doing shows, and around Edgewood is where I really kind of came up as an artist.

I know Childish Gambino went to my high school. I think 21 Savage is from the Eastside. JID is from East Atlanta. That’s not necessarily Decatur, but yeah… it was like growing up in Atlanta. A lot of culture, you know, the hip hop, the music scene, a lot of it came from Atlanta and from like the Eastside specifically, but Atlanta in general. So it was really like being in the coolest place in the world because everyone was super influenced.

Zodiac Sign:

I’m a Taurus sun, Aries moon, Capricorn rising, but that’s like my tropical sign. So it gets way deeper. Taurus, I can be stubborn. Aries, I can be aggressive sometimes, and Capricorn, I’m a hard worker.

Top 5 DOA:

Top five rappers: Nicki Minaj, Young Thug, Future, Drake, and me.

Biggest Accomplishment:

I think being nominated for a Grammy was pretty cool. I just got hella streams for “I Am.” This is the most streams I’ve ever gotten on a solo song of mine. So many, so many. I don’t like to choose one ’cause I’m honestly just grateful for it all.

Studio Habits & Essentials:

My weirdest studio habits. I don’t think I really have weird studio habits. I don’t have to have something specifically in there. I have to have a specific engineer, but I don’t think that’s weird. Shout out to Scotty.

Actually a very funny [studio] story, I mean, it wasn’t me, but at the Revenge Of The Dreamers sessions, Cozz was so drunk that he was recording, but he wasn’t, or he thought he was recording, but he wasn’t facing the microphone. And everybody in the room was like, “bro, the microphone is over here. Like, what are you doing?” The engineer’s like, “bro, what’s going on?” He was so drunk, and he did his whole verse and wasn’t facing the microphone the entire time.

“I Am” with Flo Milli:

So I was just, you know, in a place where I wanted to… I’m a very spiritual person, and I’m on a spiritual journey as I think we all are. But, I started to listen to affirmations, and a lot of the ones I was listening to were super humdrum and boring, and I wanted to create something for myself that I felt I could really relate to. And so I wrote these affirmations down kind of in like this poem rap type way. And, I ended up going into the studio and creating a song, and, uh, we thought Flo Milli would be really dope on it. So reached out and, yeah, that’s kind of how it came about.

We actually first recorded it on a house beat, and it just wasn’t it. So we ended up just switching the beat out that same night, and yeah, it just kind of fit a bit better.

I’ve just been extremely grateful, honestly, to be a part of a movement where people are really choosing to love themselves and choosing to speak to themselves positively, affirm their own lives, create their own reality.

First Bars:

The first song I released, I can’t fully remember. I know it was on SoundCloud. I do not remember what it was called, but I know it was on SoundCloud. The first time I was in the studio, I was a baby. I was with my mom.

First Show:

Yeah, well I’ve been performing for a long time, but my first performance as Yung Baby Tate or as my own artist was I think in 2015 or late ‘14. It was at this festival type thing. I don’t remember what it was called, but it was thrown by some of my college friends. And, yeah, that was my first show as like at the time my artist name was just Tate. But yeah, I remember that very distinctly. I even have some fans that have recently said, “it’s been such a pleasure to watch,” ’cause they remembered me at that show.

Clocking Out:

I think I like to do pretty normal stuff like everybody else. I like to watch Netflix right now. I am diving into Marvel and the Marvel timelines ‘cause I’ve started watching “WandaVision,” and I’m like, “Wait, I don’t know what’s going on.” So, I started looking into the Marvel timeline. I like to play the Sims. During the quarantine, I was really big on building houses on the Sims, which is so much fun. I played little video games. I play GTA. I like to paint as well, and play with my cat Toffee. And that’s about it.

Up Next:

Next, we have the “I Am” video coming out, which I’m really, really excited about. The treatment, I’m absolutely in love with. And I think that once we get it shot, everyone’s gonna love it as well. I think fans can expect some truth and something that they can relate to, but something that feels really good, you know. It’s gonna reflect the song very well.

Also “After The Rain” Deluxe is coming soon. We just finished up the last song really yesterday. So I’m super excited about that. Yeah, there’s going to be more than a few new songs. Some really, really dope stuff going here. Like I said, when I drop, “After The Rain” I will be singing a bit more and this was kind of like the calm before the storm, even though this is “After The Rain.”

But there’s definitely way more singing on this deluxe part, and, you know, just kind of introducing what is to come afterward. So I’m super excited about it. And I think that everyone’s gonna love it.

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Image by Munachi Osegbu 

HNHH: Your 2019 project Girls was entirely self-produced, so what inspired your decision to connect with other producers for After The Rain?

Yung Baby Tate: I just kinda wanted to step out of my comfort zone. This whole project is very different for me, even down to writing, you know. I can write 100% of my music, but for this, like I said, after the Dreamville sessions and everything else, I kinda realized that I work really well collaboratively. And I wanted to explore that for my own music and not just for other people’s soundtracks or other people’s albums. So, you know, it also just took a bit of the pressure off of me because producing a song takes a lot of work. Producing, writing, and recording, arranging all of those things take so much work, and I love to do it, but it’s also really fun to just be able to be the writer and be able to be the artist and flourish in those areas.

How did you link up with Issa Rae and become affiliated with her Raedio label?

It actually came about through the Insecure writing camp, I was invited out back in December of 2019. I went out there. I wrote for the soundtrack and, I think the whole Raedio team was just very in awe of my work ethic and the things that I can do in my talent and really wanted to work with me. And so we made it work, you know, and I’m very grateful to be in a partnership with Raedio.

I respect Issa so much as a businesswoman, as an actress, and I was just really grateful to be able to partner up with someone who I felt understood my visions. And, yeah, so that’s how it all came about.

What made you seek a partnership with Raedio rather than a full-on record deal?

My ownership of my masters is extremely important to me, and Raedio was super down for that. They just wanted to be a part of what my journey is, but you know, I’ve had plenty of offers from other labels and my deal-breaker is ownership of my masters. So the partnership kind of came about just because Raedio is underneath Atlantic. It’s like, “Well, we can’t do it that way. Let’s try to be creative with this.” And I’m really, really grateful that we were able to work something out creatively.

You’re a part of the inaugural class of YouTube Black Voices, so how did that come about?

YouTube has actually been a really big supporter of me for a while. I remember back in 2019 going out to their offices in LA and just getting familiar with their people. With the whole YouTube thing, I think they just really wanted to continue to support me in an even bigger way. They let us know what was going on. I think we did the application and they were like, “all right, bet. We got you.”

I’m just really honored. They gave me my first billboard. So with this, I’m just extremely grateful to be one of the first to be a part of it because a lot of times Black art is not as respected and revered as it should be. And so I’m grateful to be a part of the first class of people that YouTube is going to be giving a real big push to and making sure that we’re seeing how we’re supposed to be.

I think I also get free YouTube Music, so that’s cool. 

You’ve already worked with most of the female rappers who are buzzing right, so who is still on your checklist of women that you’d like to work with?

Nicki [Minaj]. Doja [Cat]. I think that will be really dope. Doja and I are very similar in the way that we approach music, and I think that would be super dope. I love to work with her. I think Tay Money will be dope as well, but, you know, moving forward, I’m looking forward to collaborating with more singers in the future.

Lastly, what are your final thoughts on positive affirmations?

They are really truly life-changing. You know, speaking to yourself positively, you can literally change your life. And I think that a lot of times people don’t realize that, and, a lot of times we speak to ourselves negatively. We think negatively, and when you start to do that, it really does affect your physical output and your mental being. And so if I can be the catalyst or just the person to tell somebody like, “Hey, just talk to yourself a little bit nicer,” and that might change your whole entire life just by changing your mindset. So it’s extremely important to affirm yourself and just be nice to yourself. People always say, “Do unto others as you would unto yourself,” but a lot of times people don’t do themselves right. So it’s like, do yourself right first. 

READ LAST WEEK’S INTERVIEW WITH LBS KEE’VIN HERE.

Klay Thompson is one of the best shooters in the history of the NBA and when paired with Steph Curry, the two make up the best backcourt in the league’s storied past. Unfortunately, Thompson has been plagued by injuries over the last few years and hasn’t played since Game 6 of the NBA Finals in 2019. From an ACL tear to a torn Achilles, Thompson has had some terrible luck when it comes to injuries. Thompson even recently said that 2020 was the worst year of his life.

Last night, before a Warriors win against the first place Jazz, Thompson decided to show people that he still has a lot left in the tank. In the clip below, Thompson can be seen getting up some shots although it’s clear that he is trying to avoid putting weight on his right leg, which still harbors his recent injury.

This should give Warriors fans some hope moving forward, even if Thompson will only be able to play next season. The Warriors are missing him greatly right now although when he comes back, there is no doubt that he will be more motivated than ever before.

As Thompson continues his rehab, keep it locked to HNHH as we will bring you all of the latest updates regarding his condition.

Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images

Another year has passed, and the Grammy Awards have come and gone. As is always the case, there were celebrations from the winners and displays of bitterness from the snubbed, including a recent Tweet from Lil Wayne declaring ‘Fuk The Grammys.’ Yet even amidst the negative energy, those honored by the prestigious ceremony were clearly humbled and grateful, and two-time winner SAINt JHN took a moment to reflect on his own big night at the Grammys.

Steven Ferdman/Getty Images

After his collaboration with Beyonce, Wizkid, and Blue Ivy — “Brown Skin Girl” from The Lion King OST — took home the prize for Best Music Video, JHN took to Twitter to celebrate with a few appropriate emojis. Shortly afterward, JHN secured another crucial victory for Best Remixed Recording, where his Iambek-assisted “Roses” was an easy heavyweight favorite. This time, he doubled up on both the trophies and the tears of joy.

 “Two songs I wrote won Grammys today in real life,” writes JHN, taking a moment to flex. “Imagine not believing in me a year ago.” Clearly, he hasn’t forgotten the doubters who shrouded him with negativity, using them as motivation to this day. Check out JHN’s triumphant post-Grammy messages below, and sound off if you were rooting for the young melodist during last night’s event.