New Hip Hop News

Artists uniquely celebrate the anniversaries of their albums, and Solange Knowles has partnered with the Criterion Channel and BlackPlanet to mark two-years since the release of When I Get Home. The 2019 visual album was unlike any other project from the singer’s catalog and recently, Solange reflected on the near-death health struggles she faced while creating the album. It’s been reported that the singer lives with an autoimmune disease, although it hasn’t been specified to the public, and Solange reflected on being “in and out of hospitals” at the time.

“When I first started creating When I Get Home, I was quite literally fighting for my life…in and out of hospitals (s/out park plaza on Binz! 🙂 with depleting health and broken spirits asking God to send me a sign I would not only survive but that if he let me make it out alive, I would step into the light, whatever that meant,” Solange wrote.

“He began speaking to me. Half the time I didn’t know where it was coming from,” she added. “I only knew I had to open the door and honor it. I didn’t see naann a thing I imagined. I didn’t know who I was speaking to on ‘I am a witness.’ When I listen back, I hear a woman who had only an inkling of what the journey entailed, but didn’t have a clue of why or what the journey would look like.”

“I make work to answer questions within me, for survival. Sometimes I am asking myself that same questions many ways. Sometimes it takes me years. I have to honor that time. This Houston ting moves slow y’all.” Check out Solange’s posts, and a few more from fans who shared about the impact of When I Get Home, below.

If you didn’t know, Lil Durk is nice on the court. Some would regard it as a hidden skill but it’s not that much of a secret in the first place. He’s so nice with it that rumors floated around a few years ago that he signed a 10-day contract with the Chicago Bulls. As exciting as that would’ve been, that never came to be. Still, Durk’s continued to use his free time to shoot some hoops while his rap career has continued to blossom.

Every few months, the Internet discovers a new highlight reel of Durk on the court, showcasing that he’s equally as athletically as he is musically inclined. Most recently, a clip of Lil Durk in an intense game of basketball against Jack Harlow and Russ emerged, proving something that we assumed: Durk is a better ballplayer than most rappers. 

One person that Durk impressed after this clip emerged in Kevin Durant who had high praise for the Chicago rapper. Taking to Twitter, he quoted a tweet including a video of Durk’s game, writing, “Dog really out here lookin like golden state monta…. @lildurk been in that lab.” Durk acknowledged the shout out and retweeted KD’s post.

Back in 2018, Durk previously called out a bunch of rappers, including Tory Lanez, Quavo, and Chris Brown, to face him on the court. In an interview with HNHH, he said that he did hear back from all of them but he did say that he felt Quavo has the strongest game of any rappers who play basketball.

Check out KD’s tweet below. 

In the late-night hours of Tuesday (March 2), accusations against Fivio Foreign began to brew. A video of a woman describing an alleged encounter with the New York rapper began to circulate after she claimed that she was at a party with him and he locked her in a room. She alleges that he tried making sexual advances and when she told him to stop, he put his fingers in her vagina and threatened to rape her.

“I’m in the room he locks the door,” the woman said in the video. “Now, we laying down, he start touching me and I’m like, ‘Stop!’ I’m screaming but the music is so loud. I’m screaming my friend’s name to the ground. He’s sticking his fingers in me and I’m like, ‘Yo, this feel like rape,’ and he’s like, ‘B*tch, I will rape you right now.”

According to The Shade Room, Fivio Foreign’s team issued a statement to them regarding the recent allegations. The outlet claims that Fivio’s team “denies the accusations and alleges that the young woman in question is dating Fivio’s dancer.” The woman reportedly also stated that there were guns at the scene, and the rapper’s team added that Fivio doesn’t carry a firearm. 

Back in October, Fivio was accused of assaulting his pregnant girlfriend. He later came forward to deny those allegations. 

[via]

Kodak Black already dropped off a few tracks since he’s been home but it seems that he’ll be taking his time with his next project. The wait will likely be worth it, given that he has a lot to talk about these days. His stint behind bars continued to make headlines due to allegations of torture and abuse at the hands of C.O.’s. Plus, his ties to Trump will likely make a few mentions in his upcoming releases.

It appears that Kodak Black might be aiming to release his most commercially-appealing album to date. Though he’s already a chart-topping, platinum-selling artist, he called on Justin Bieber for a collaboration during a recent Instagram Live. A fan asked him to collaborate with the Canadian pop sensation on the live stream which Kodak agreed to do. However, he needs Biebs to tap in with him. “Man, tell that boy to holla at me. I got some shit for that boy, too. See Justin Bieber ain’t do no song with a real gangsta yet. He need that wave and shit,” Kodak Black said. “He did shit with Black people but he need to tap in with a real gangsta.”

Maybe Bieber does need a collaboration with Kodak in the future but Yak has visions bigger than the Billboard charts or RIAA certifications. Just like how Snoop Dogg and Wiz Khalifa can smoke weed to Seth Rogan, Kodak Black said that racial harmony is something he envisions which he hopes this song can bring a bit more of. “I be seeing like, Seth Rogan and Wiz Khalifa and Snoop Dogg hanging out and shit. I be likin’ that shit,” he said. “I like Black and White people be together. That shit lit, for real.”

What does a Kodak Black x Justin Bieber collab sound like? Sound off in the comments. 

The YBN crew has been under the microscope as the status of their collective remains unclear. Cordae dropped the YBN from his name and now operates independently of the group he came up with, while YBN Nahmir and YBN Almighty Jay have both admitted that the three rappers haven’t been as close as they once were. In his recent interview with VladTV, Nahmir spoke about the older generation of music executives taking advantage of them when they should have been offering guidance, and on Wednesday (March 3), Jay woke up and chose verbal violence against “brand builder” James McMillan.

Astrid Stawiarz / Stringer / Getty Images

“This n*gga James McMillan is a fraud. He sign n*ggas to janky deals and f*ck em over,” wrote Jay. “Nobody knows NOTHING about the sh*t we go through on the daily basis being signed to this n*gga cause we cover for this n*ggas ass. I’m done with this sh*t.” He may be “done” with the behind-the-scenes drama, but he wasn’t finished with his tirade. On his Instagram Story, Almighty Jay suggested that there are details about the dissolution of YBN that people aren’t privy to.

“Trademarking the YBN name behind n*ggas back,” Jay added. “Assigned me a lawyer he used to be engaged to without telling me. SMH. Took advantage of some kids bro. If y’all really wanna know why YBN broke up…” McMillan has yet to respond to Jay’s allegations. Check out his posts below.

Instagram Story

Instagram

The death of Pop Smoke marked yet another talented young soul taken from us too soon. He was just on the cusp of becoming an international superstar. Meet The Woo 2 just came out and fans had anticipated his major breakout moment for some time. He had plans for his debut album that Steven Victor and 50 Cent were left to carry out in Pop’s honor. Eddie Huang seemingly got the only glimpse we’ve ever seen of Pop Smoke in the acting world.

Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images

A new clip from the movie has emerged, giving us an even more in-depth look into Pop Smoke’s acting debut. TheShadeRoom got an exclusive look into Pop Smoke’s role in the film where he acts across Taylor Takahashi as the antagonist. The rapper shows promising signs of his acting skills and how they would’ve developed, even in this small glimpse.

During a recent interview with High Snobiety, Eddie Huang revealed that the role was actually meant for Dave East whose threesome debacle resulted in a recast. Pop’s natural skillset at basketball made him a promising candidate to fill the role. Eddie explained that Pop showed up at his place where they ran through a few drills ahead of the audition. 

“We just became fast friends. And when it came time for the audition, Pop knew his line, but I could tell he got nervous for one second. It’s the only time I’ve ever seen him nervous, he kept holding his phone real tight. He kept looking down at it and putting it in his pocket and taking it out again. And I said to him ‘Yo, just put it in your pocket, bro. Don’t worry about it. You know these lines.’ And he was like, ‘Are you sure?; I was like, ‘You know these lines, bro. Just be the character. It’s not about the work. It’s about being the person.’ And he’s like, ‘Oh, I got you.’

And from that moment, Pop figured out acting. He’s really that good. We had a lot of first-time actors, but Pop just had it. And what is special about him that’s different from a lot of actors, is that Pop has no fear. He’s been through a lot in his life. Zero fear. You never get the same take with Pop, but you get something spicier and something different. On days that he was there, I would tell everybody, ‘Just get ready. It’s showtime. Catch this lightning in a bottle. I don’t care if he’s not on his mark. I don’t care if we’ve got to throw three cameras at it. But he’s going to do stuff.'”

Are you excited to see Pop Smoke’s posthumous acting debut in Boogie? Check the clip out below and let us know what you think in the comment section.

[Via]