Cardi B Shines A Light On The Independent Black Artists That Were Nominated For The 2021 Grammys

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There’s no question that this year’s Grammys are seeing a lot of criticism. Just like in past years, the Recording Academy received plenty of criticism about its nomination process after snubbing artists like The Weeknd and Lil Baby for this year’s show. In fact, the former announced that he would “no longer allow my label to submit my music to the Grammys,” as a result of their failure to nominate him. Other artists, however, have decided to shine a light on the positive things the Grammys did this year, like nominating some independent Black artists. And that’s something Cardi B decided to do in a recent post on Twitter.

The rapper posted a lengthy message that asked fans to recognize and show love to the smaller artists that were nominated this year.

“I do feel that there were some albums, and songs that should have been considered for nominations. Maybe by next year they will get it right,” she said. “However let’s not forget the Grammys nominated soo many independent black artists this year that don’t get the exposure by blogs, magazines and other awards shows like Chika, D Smoke, Royce 5’9, Freddie Gibbs, Jay Electronica, Kaytranada, Brittany Howard, Kykal Kilgore, Ledisi, Jean & Marcus Baylor, Like James, Gregory Porter, Giveon, Ant Clemons, Robert Glasper, Free Nationals & Thundercat, and so much more.”

“It’s frustrating sometimes to work and work on your craft and you feel overlooked because you might not look like others, are not mixxy so you not always around other artists, you rap or sing about different material, you stay out of drama and the media or yet still not as popular,” she added. “However you’re a talented-ass f*ck and one day you wake up and you find out you’re nominated and got a notice from one of the biggest awards show purely cause of your TALENT!”

Cardi concluded her message with a simple, yet very important point. “Soo besides all the bullsh*t let’s not forget to congratulate these artists. This is their moment too and they been working their ass off with no exposure and let’s not overshadow it with feelings cause your favorite might not be on the list. Congrats guys and good luck on the Grammys. You deserve it.”

You can find the post from Cardi above.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Lord Apex Delivers Triumphant New Track “Like You Know”

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Lord Apex is slowly cementing his name in the underground rap scene, all the way in the UK. His penchant for lo-fi sample-based production is a stark contrast from the current sound that’s dominating airwaves across the pond. However, he’s a student of artists like DOOM and Madlib, which is evident from his lyrical aptitude and his ear for production. 

2020’s Supply And Demand with V Don was a new height in his career but he’s keeping the ball rolling with new music this year. On Friday, the rapper returned with his latest single, “Like You Know.” Tackling Angus Luke’s crisp and triumphant production, Lord Apex flexes his lyrical abilities with malleable flows and off-kilter melodies.

Check out the latest offering from Lord Apex below.

Quotable Lyrics
Family, money, love
Little bit of drugs
Only what I know
Nature, water, weed
Only shit I need
When I’m on the go

James Harden Passed Larry Bird On This All-Time List

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James Harden is one of the best scorers in the NBA right now and in the eyes of some fans, he has the potential to become the greatest scorer of all-time. It remains to be seen whether or not this will be the case although, over the past few seasons, he has certainly made an interesting case for himself. Last night, Harden was able to etch himself deeper into the history books, after scoring 24 points in a win against the Detroit Pistons.

With the performance, Harden passed Larry Bird for 34th on the all-time NBA scorers list. While 34th may not seem like a big deal, passing a player like Larry Bird is huge and as it stands, some other big names aren’t very far away. These names include Gary Payton and Clyde Drexler.

Harden’s career total sits at 21,792 points and at 31 years old, he still has plenty of time to get into the top 10. For instance, Carmelo Anthony recently made it up to 11th all-time, and he is only 5,000 points ahead of Harden. With this in mind, it shouldn’t be too difficult for Harden to reach the upper echelon if he keeps up his production.

Harden and the Nets continue to show they are a great pairing and the superstar scorer seemingly has a chance to make it to the NBA Finals this year. If he wins a title, his legacy will only get that much better.

James Harden

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Lil Baby Is All Smiles As He Poses With His Son Jason Ahead Of The Grammys

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The 63rd Annual Grammy Awards ceremony is set to take place tonight (March 14) at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Much of the conversation surrounding the event thus far has been regarding Beyoncé’s decision to opt-out of performing at the event even though she leads the nominations, as well as Justin Bieber possibly skipping out on the event due to this album Changes being nominated as a Pop project and not in the R&B categories. While the former have mixed feelings about the awards show, Lil Baby seems to be in great spirits ahead of tonight’s events, cheesing wide as he posed with his son Jason.  


Cindy Ord/Getty Images

“Meeting with the boss before Grammy day!” wrote the 26-year-old Atlanta rapper under the post. In the photo, he flashes a smile as he embraced his oldest son Jason, whom he shares with his ex-girlfriend Ayesha Howard, as he sits in the offices of his label Quality Control. He also rocked a pair of UGG sandals in the photo, tagging the American footwear company in the snaps. 

The rapper received two nominations at this year’s ceremony for his song “The Bigger Picture” in the Best Rap Song and Best Rap Performance categories, which many people interpreted as a slight snub considering the massive commercial success his album My Turn experienced. 

He’s also set to hit the stage sometime tonight at the ceremony. Congrats to Lil Baby again on the nominations and best of luck to him at the ceremony. 

Rupert Grint Explains Why He Won’t Watch The Harry Potter Movies

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Harry Potter is one of the most beloved franchises in the world, even if JK Rowling has fallen out of favor due to her unsavory opinions. Regardless, the books are massive and the films are even bigger. Despite this, one of the Harry Potter actors, Rupert Grint – who played Ronald Weasley – hasn’t actually watched the vast majority of the movies. While speaking to the Armchair Expert podcast, Grint noted that he’s only seen the first movie, and won’t be watching the others anytime soon.

“I don’t watch them. I’ve seen the first one maybe twice now and once quite recently. But I haven’t really watched any of the others,” Grint said. “It still feels too soon. I can’t really detach myself fully. I can’t face it.”

Rupert Grint

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The actor went on to explain why he won’t watch the films, noting that he is very self-conscious, and seeing himself act can be a horrible experience at times. Clearly, he is one of those actors who can be quite hard on himself.

“It made me so conscious of my face, of like what I’m doing. And I can almost feel myself doing things and from then I kinda stopped doing it,” he said. “I like being in the moment and creating it and just leaving it.”

Ron Weasley was a beloved character in the franchise and Grint’s performance will always be heralded as one of the best in the series. Unfortunately, Grint will mostly likely never know this to be the case.

Rupert Grint

Jeff Spicer/Getty Images

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Instagram Gallery: City Girls’ JT’s Most Notable Fashion Moments

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One-half of the City Girls, JT, has been all over social media with her seemingly complicated-but-now-uncomplicated boo, Lil Uzi Vert. Over the last three weeks, the pair has been parading around on Twitter, sharing their shopping trips, painfully sweet screenshots of text messages, and occasional beef with anyone who has anything negative to say about their unique relationship. 

Nonetheless, JT seems to have no problem lighting these fires on her own. In December, the rapper has been under major scrutiny for problematic comments she made in the past, although she seems to have moved on to fighting battles for her man instead. Uzi posted a screenshot asking his love to fight somebody for him on Twitter to which she responded, “Who? Send her @,” within seconds. The couple is dedicated for sure, and their connection can even be sourced in Lil Uzi’s lyrics; on “Lo Mein” he says “Took JT out the city.” There’s no telling when they officially had their start, but it’s obvious they have lots of love for each other. 

city girls performing

Jeff Hahne/Getty Images

Meanwhile, JT has still been hard at work with music. The member of the City Girls recently hopped on a remix of the viral hit “Throat Baby (Go Baby)” by BRS Kash and teased being in the studio awhile back, and to top it all off, she always looks good while doing it. The rapper does not miss with her fashion statements on Instagram, and we can’t help but admire from afar.

Here are all of JT’s notable fashion moments while we revel in her pop culture status.

Fashion Killa

JT steps out flexing her Birkin bag and diamond chain.

Barbie Doll

Forever serving face.

Hot Girl 

JT knew she was serving body-ody-ody.

Effortless Beauty

Nothing says classic like a little black dress.

Pretty In Pink 

“I got your bm wanna put on amiri’s.”

The Baddest

JT does not miss in monochrome fits.

Bumblebee

Street style is on lock for the City Girl.

All Black Everything 

“Pretty & fine like the bitches I run with.”

Female GOAT 

JT lets everyone know she’s dangerous cause she’s a boss too.

Dior All Over

Dior Babe JT came to slay.

Halsey Quietly Changes Pronouns To “She/They” On Social Media, Thanks Fans For Support

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Halsey has been staying relatively low in the music sphere, in part due to her being a couple of months pregnant. The pop star sparked buzz across social media after they quietly changed the pronouns in their biography on their respective social media channels to she/they. Fans sent the songstress a wave of support, prompting the “Without Me” singer to thank them for all the love they have been sending her way.

 
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She became a trending topic on Twitter on Saturday (March 13) following the updated social media bio. “I’m so happy for Halsey [because] some of their poems were about struggling w gender and identity and they have talked about it before too and I’m glad they feel comfortable to express themselves how they want to now despite what others or the media might think :,),” penned one fan on social media, detailing the previous struggles Halsey had experienced about their gender identity. 

Another fan took the opportunity to detail the proper usage of pronouns, explaining… “that you DONT just use one of them (i.e only using she/her) you use BOTH e.g. “I love halsey, they inspire me and she means a lot to me.” 

 

Some noted more previous discussions of gender fluidity Halsey had vocalized before. “halsey discussed gender expression and fluidity in her interview w the advocate, saying they didn’t feel they were ready to ID a certain way. they mentioned some of the most difficult poems to write for iwlmiic were the ones about gender identity. and now she uses she/they. :’),” wrote the user. 

The 26-year-old pregnant star wrote “thank you,” along with a red heart in an Instagram story on Saturday evening after fans showed the massive support. 

Halsey announced in January of this year that she was expecting her first child with boyfriend Alev Aydin, sharing pics of her growing baby bump with the reveal. 

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Clever Pours His Heart Out On “Everything Beautiful”

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Alabama artist Clever is someone who has written for some of the biggest artists in the world. With songwriting credits on tracks from the likes of Post Malone, it’s clear that Clever has a knack for writing catchy tracks that can become mainstream. On his new album Crazy, Clever puts his abilities on full display, and one of the best examples of this is the track “Everything Beautiful.”

With this song, Clever dedicates the lyrics to a partner who is keeping him grounded despite all of the demons he is battling. Clever finds himself wanting to go off the deep end but every time he contemplates doing so, he is reeled in by the one who makes him see the beauty in life. The artist offers some expressive vocal ranges and overall, it’s one of his more emotional performances yet.

You can read HNHH’s latest interview with Clever, right here.

Quotable Lyrics:

When the night falls, it’s your hand in mine on the sidewalk
You’re just an angel, yeah
Tryna find chaos, I’m the devil, wantin’ peace
I may never take a day off

Drake & Davido Get Fans Hyped For Possible Collab

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Drake’s upcoming album Certified Lover Boy is supposed to be out this spring. That’s what Akademiks said a few weeks ago before Drake unveiled Scary Hours 2. So, he could be accurate with his claim, though there’s always a chance that it could get pushed back. CLB will likely produce several hit records that will live through the rest of the year but it could also produce a hit record to define summer 2021.

It seems like that record could be a collaboration between Davido and Drake. The Nigerian star took to Instagram yesterday where he shared a video of himself and Drake lounging out. It’s unclear whether the video was taken yesterday or from another time but both artists seemed quite excited to be in each other’s presence. Davido even got Drake to get in on the “E Choke” wave. Hopefully, there’s a record that comes out of this link-up.

Drake’s no stranger to the afrobeats genre. He’s certainly become close with several prominent figures in the scene in the past. There’ve been rumors that collaboration with Tekno was on the way, though that never came into fruition. And of course, his 2016 Views single “One Dance” ft. WizKid and Kyla became one of his biggest singles, and arguably, brought a wider Western audience into the world of Afrobeats.

Are you excited about Drake and Davido’s possible collaboration? Sound off below.