TikTok has become a platform for rappers to release new songs or have fans create a trend in order to increase their stream counts. J. Cole is a rap veteran from a generation that predates social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram, yet he doesn’t have an account on either. But, due to some inventive folks, he’s already experiencing some early success with one of them.
J. Cole raps on his adultery and problems with faithfulness on “She Knows,” which features Amber Coffman and Cults. The song was released as the third single from Cole’s Grammy-nominated album Born Sinner, and the accompanying video perfectly reflects the song’s emphasis. The song is eight years old, but TikTok has given it fresh life.
Fans are utilizing the song as the soundtrack to videos in which moms and girlfriends discover that someone close to them is lying, such as their children or significant others. The fad has taken on a life of its own, with the song spawning almost 197,000 creations and the majority of videos surpassing one million views.
J. Cole is getting set to hit the road for The Off-Season Tour as fans are reviving one of his previous songs. 21 Savage and Morray will join him on the tour, which will begin out on September 24 in Miami, Florida, before traveling across the country and finishing on October 24 in Los Angeles, California.
In 2021, Bruno Mars and Anderson.Paak released two tracks as Silk Sonic, but fans are clamoring for more from the soulful band. Bruno and Andy stated in the newest edition of Rolling Stone that their An Evening With Silk Sonic CD has been postponed.
Instead of being released this autumn, Silk Sonic has announced that their next album will be released at the beginning of next year, in January 2022.
“I don’t want [the album] to be binge-watched,” Bruno Mars added. “We’re really in touch-up mode now. We’ve got the bones of most of the album, so it’s really about touching up parts that need a little more grease.”
Aside from their entrance tune, the band has released two singles: the No. 1 Billboard Hot 100 smash “Leave the Door Open” and the more current “Skate.”
Kanye West is returning to his hometown. After reports of a third — or fourth, if you count Las Vegas — Donda listening party surfaced earlier this week, Kanye confirmed it on Wednesday (August 18), confirming plans for a third — or fourth, if you count Las Vegas — Donda listening party, this time in Chicago’s Soldier Field on August 26.
On Instagram, Kanye West disclosed his plans with a flier that says,
While some fans have lost trust in the project, others are excited to hear what other changes Kanye has made to the album’s 20+ tracks. JAY-Z, Travis Scott, Roddy Ricch, Lil Baby, Lil Durk, The Weeknd, Lil Yachty, Ty Dolla $ign, Jay Electronica, The LOX, Griselda, Playboi Carti, Baby Keem, Fivio Foreign, Vory, the late Pop Smoke, Pusha T, and others all appear on Donda, which is a star-studded effort in the style of a DJ Khaled album
Apple Music was the only streamer of Kanye West’s two Atlanta listening events, when he was cooped up temporarily inside Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
With over 5.4 million viewers, the second event became the most-watched Apple Music exclusive ever. Kanye West allegedly made $7 million in item sales at each of the in-person events, which drew over 40,000 people.
Fans should “expect a more detailed show on a whole other level,” according to Kanye’s confidant Ameer Sudan, who told Billboard.
With the Chicago listening scheduled for next Thursday (August 26), there’s renewed optimism that Donda may eventually drop in the hours after the event on Friday (August 27).
Abou “Bu” Thiam, Kanye’s manager and Akon’s brother, reacted to a fan by claiming the album will “100%” come after the Chicago listening.
Ludacris has a hard time parting with some possessions, but with 22 acres of land on his Georgia home, he has plenty of room. Luda acknowledged to being a hoarder of his belongings when he joined The Breakfast Club on Tuesday (August 17).
“My wife will tell you I am the worst when it comes to hoarding,” he explained. “My wife’s family, they still live in Africa, so everything I hoard we put on this container that goes across the water and I give it to everybody in Africa who’s going to appreciate it so much more than any family members or anybody I could give to in the United States of America. I am the worst hoarder of all, trust.”
DJ Envy started the debate by thanking Ludacris for bringing his vintage Acura Legend from the 1990s to his car show, which he still drives and has over 250,000 miles on. Since he got it before his popular rap career took off, the automobile has personal importance for the Atlanta legend.
“I’ve had that car now two decades,” Ludacris admitted. “There are things that you have for your whole life and that’s one of those things that’s a staple in my life. I had it before the deal and commercial success, so I’m gonna ride it literally until the wheels fall off.”
In other developments, Ludacris has entered into a relationship with Jif. Luda uses Jif peanut butter as a hidden ingredient in the advertisement, which leads to him developing an Auto-Tuned flow to rap with and generating another smash single. Gunna also appears in the video and will be featured on the remix of his current single “Butter.Atl.”
Despite the easing of limitations, COVID-19 cases are on the rise in North America due to the infectious Delta form. Drake replied to the backlash over his heart-inscribed haircut in a recent shot of him in the studio by admitting he was fighting COVID-19 and couldn’t keep up with the upkeep due to quarantining.
“I had COVID that shit grew in weird I had to start again It’s coming back don’t diss,” After watching himself flamed, he commented in the comments.
Drizzy Drake Videos tcaptioned their post, “That heart is stressed,” prompting Drizzy’s response.
Drake’s current hiatus while he recovers from coronavirus might be one of the reasons why a release date has yet to be confirmed.
Drake appeared as a special guest on SiriusXM’s Sound 42’s Fri Yiy Friday radio show at the end of July, revealing that CLB is completely done.
“Album’s cooked,” Drake began. “Looking forward to delivering it to you. I hope everybody in the world is blessed. I hope everybody has their drinks, everyone’s locked in. Good vibes and good energy for this weekend.
“And for the rest of you heathens, I wanna tell you, ’cause I know you’re listening, don’t trouble people’s kids, don’t bother people’s soul. OVO, we aim for that head. We don’t aim to please. Certified Lover Boy on the way. And that’s for anyone in the way.”
Silento, real name Ricky Hawk, was arrested in February for the suspected murder of Frederick Rooks, his cousin. According to TMZ, a Georgia grand jury has indicted the rapper in the case on four crimes in all.
According to court documents, Silento was charged with one count of malice murder and another count of felony murder. He was also charged with aggravated assault and possessing a firearm while committing a felony
On January 21, Rooks was shot and murdered in Georgia, and DeKalb County authorities linked Silento to the crime. On February 1, he was arrested and remains in custody without bond.
“Today, Ricky Hawk, 23, was arrested for the murder of his cousin Frederick Rooks, 34. On January 21, the DeKalb County Police Department investigated Rooks’ death after he was found shot on Deep Shoals Circle. Hawk is in the DeKalb County Jail charged with Murder. #WeAreDKPD,” the DeKalb County Police Department said.
Today, Ricky Hawk, 23, was arrested for the murder of his cousin Frederick Rooks, 34. On January 21, the DeKalb County Police Department investigated Rooks' death after he was found shot on Deep Shoals Circle. Hawk is in the DeKalb County Jail charged with Murder. #WeAreDKPDpic.twitter.com/AfaA8CtXgx
— DeKalb County Police Department (@DeKalbCountyPD) February 1, 2021
“Please send my client Silento some positive vibrations,” she wrote. “Over the past several years, Ricky has been suffering immensely from a series of mental illnesses. We will continue in his efforts of treatment, but we ask in the meantime the public uplift him and his family in immediate prayer & positive energy!! Ricky is a beautiful soul, and we hope that the same people who came up whippin’ and nay naying with him, continue to support him and lifted in prayer. God bless.”
Silento was arrested twice in two days in 2020. During a domestic violence confrontation with his partner inside a California home, he reportedly brandished a hatchet.
Despite the fact that Lizzo has had a lot of success in recent years, some people can’t seem to get away from her appearance, as if her weight defines who she is. Last week, the Grammy Award-winning musician debuted her new video for “Rumors,” which features Cardi B, and was met with a barrage of nasty remarks directed at her physique.
Lizzo spoke up about her sadness on Instagram Live, confessing that occasionally the hate pierces her normal armor — and Sunday (August 15) was one of those days. Lizzo spoke out about how all the hatred has been hurting her while sitting in the bathroom with tears pouring down her face.
“On the days I feel I should be the happiest, I feel so down,” she said. “Like, I hurt so hard. I’ve been working triple time, quadruple time, doing like 12 hours a day of promos and interviews, doing interviews, going to the studio with a fucking root canal…rehearsal, then filming every single day, shooting a documentary and I’m still writing music.”
Lizzo continued, “Sometimes I feel like the world just don’t love me back. It’s like it doesn’t matter how much positive energy you put into the world, you’re still going to have people who have something mean to say about you. And for the most part it doesn’t hurt my feelings; I don’t care. I just think when I’m working this hard, my tolerance gets lower. My patience is lower. I’m more sensitive and it gets to me.”
Lizzo didn’t say what the texts stated specifically, but she did say, “I’m not even going to say them, to give them power.”
She added, “People saying shit about me that just doesn’t even make sense. It’s fat-phobic, and it’s racist and it’s hurtful. If you don’t like my music, cool. If you don’t like ‘Rumors’ the song, cool. But a lot of people don’t like me because of the way I look.”
Lizzo has dealt with her detractors before, and she usually does it with reasonable ease and a good dose of sarcasm. She began to gather herself at the conclusion of the video and return to the strong, confident lady she had repeatedly shown to the public.
“For the people that just always have something negative to say about me, that has nothing to do with music, or the content of my character, or me as an artist, and just has everything to do with my body or whatever trope you think I fall into… suck my pussy from behind,” she said. “‘Cause y’all muthafuckas gonna be the ones that’s catching up.
“I strive for joy every single day… but on the way to joy you get sadness, you get exhaustion, you get anger, you get annoyed, you get tired and insecure. On the road to joy there’s all these pit stops, and right now I’m just over it. I’m over it.”
The 33-year-old then made a promise to herself with, “I’m only going to focus on positive comments from here on out. I don’t have time for your negativity, your internalized self-hatred that you protect onto me with your racism and your fat phobia. I don’t have time for it. Anyways, I’m going to continue to be me. I’m going to be continue to be a bad bitch. ”
Lizzo praised her fans for streaming “Rumors” and increasing her YouTube views as she closed up her video, but she made it clear what she will not accept.
“What I won’t accept is y’all doing this to Black women over and over and over again — especially us big Black girls,” she said. “When we don’t fit into the box you want to put us in, you just unleash hatred on us. It’s not cool.
“I’m doing this shit for the big Black women of the future who just want to live their lives without being scrutinized or put into boxes. I’m not going to do what y’all want me to do ever, so get used to it.”
She concluded, “I was overwhelmed today. I saw a lot of things I didn’t want to see today. I read a lot of hurtful words that triggered a lot of deep feelings today. And I’m not even going to say them, to give them power. But what I will say is: Thank you. I love you as much as you love yourself. And I hope that you love yourself a lot. I’m gonna keep on bringing this music out, and I’m gonna keep on doing what I want to do.”
Lizzo addressed the issue on Twitter as well, acknowledging that it’s a never-ending struggle.
“Loving yourself in a world that don’t love u back takes an incredible amount of self awareness & a bullshit detector that can see through ass backwards societal standards. If u managed to love yourself today I’m proud of u. If u haven’t, I’m still proud of u. This shits hard.”
Loving yourself in a world that don’t love u back takes an incredible amount of self awareness & a bullshit detector that can see through ass backwards societal standards…
if u managed to love yourself today I’m proud of u.
If u haven’t, I’m still proud of u. This shits hard
On August 6, Nas released King’s Disease II, the follow-up to the Grammy Award-winning original. The album’s 15 tracks included the album’s highlight, “Death Row East,” which saw the Queensbridge-bred superstar reminiscing about his spat with Tupac Shakur.
Nasir Jones uploaded two flashback photographs of himself and 2Pac on Instagram on Thursday (August 12), revealing that they were both taken on the night that inspired the song.
“The night of DEATH ROW EAST,” he wrote. “When you got a story real as mine you can’t leave nothin out. King’s Disease II Out Now. RIP KING 2PAC. Love To The Outlawz. @hitboy KD2.”
Nas raps about bumping with former Death Row Records CEO Suge Knight, what occurred when his brother Jungle bumped into 2Pac, and debunks a story concerning 2Pac’s 1994 Quad Studios shoot, saying, “There’s a myth that circulated I’d want to address/Pac was never set up by Stretch (Let it rest).”
In another part of the song, he raps about travelling to Las Vegas in 1996 to film the “Street Dreams” video and meet up with ‘Pac in an attempt to put an end to the East Coast/West Coast feud that was raging at the time. However, it was too late: 2Pac died on September 13, 1996.
“We didn’t talk, but he was still alive in the hospital,” he spits. “And it rained that day in Vegas. Rest In Power.”
Former Yo! MTV Raps co-host Ed Lover announces 2Pac’s death at the end of the song.
“This brother was good enough to stop his show,” he says. “And I want everybody in here, everybody stand up on their feet. First and foremost, please. At 7:03 p.m. New York time; 4:03 p.m. Las Vegas time, Tupac Shakur passed away, y’all. Give me a moment of silence.”
Nas’ unreleased diss track about 2Pac, titled “Real N-ggas,” emerged online in July. At the moment, he rapped, “From tube-socks in Timbs to blue rocks and Benz/Who got the ends, the type of n-gga 2Pac pretends/To all n-ggas who shine, guess who got revenge.”
It was preceded by a sample of Nas’ opening words from 1996’s “The Message,” the It Was Written tune that sparked the whole thing in the first place. But it turned out to be a mistake, and they were able to patch things up backstage at the MTV Video Music Awards in 1996.
“We had a great convo, man,” he told Beats 1 about the run-in. “He explained he thought I was dissing him on the song ‘The Message.’ He thought I was dissing him and I heard he was dissing me at clubs. [‘Pac was the] last person I was even thinking about when I wrote that record. I was just going at everybody. So, he thought that.
“He was like, ‘Yo Nas, we brothers, man. We not supposed to go through this’ and I was like, ‘That’s what I’m saying.’ We had a plan to squash it in Vegas, so I was out there when he was in the hospital and praying for him to come through. Rest in peace to ‘Pac.”
According to the Miami Dade Correctional Center, Fredo Bang contracted COVID-19 while incarcerated after being detained on July 21 in Miami.
Bang was set to perform at Rolling Loud Miami on July 22 when he was apprehended by authorities for a parole violation in his native state of Louisiana. Once he tests negative for COVID-19, the rapper from Baton Rouge is anticipated to be extradited to Louisiana.
Fredo Bang, born Fredrick Givens II, was jailed with Lit Yoshi, a fellow rapper from Miami Lakes. Yoshi and the Def Jam Records signee are said to be part of Top Boy Gorilla, which has been feuding with NBA YoungBoy’s gang.
In 2021, Fredo Bang has remained active in the music industry. While he remains in jail at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center, his most recent effort, Murder Made Me, was released on August 6.
According to Vegconimist, Post Malone is going into the healthy eating market by investing in plant-based burger startup Actual Veggies.
The Hollywood’s Bleeding rapper contributed to the newest $2.3 million seeding round for the New York City-based firm, which started in March 2020, through his management team Electric Feel Ventures. Kieran Gibbs of Inter Miami MLS, Big Idea Ventures, and Rose Street Capital are among the other noteworthy investors.
Instead of imitating meat, Actual Veggies makes whole-food patties for customers who want fewer processed foods and want to “letting the natural flavors and nutritional value of real, actual vegetables and legumes speak for themselves.”
“Since we launched the company, it’s been an incredible whirlwind and despite the challenges of 2020, we made it a reality,” Actual Veggies co-founder and co-CEO Hailey Swartz said. “The growth we have seen over the past few months far exceeded our expectations as we expanded nationally with partners including Sprouts Farmers Market, HungryRoot, Imperfect Foods, Sunbasket, QVC, and FreshDirect.”
She added, “We are humbled by our new partners’ shared excitement and look forward to building off our success to further scale Actual Veggies.”
It’s no secret that Post Malone is a foodie. In only one year, he spent over $40,000 on fast food delivery through Postmates, according to TMZ. Posty allegedly purchased 3,000 things from Chick-fil-A, Burger King, KFC, Panda Express, and Popeyes over 660 delivery in 52 locations throughout the country, spending his hard-earned money at restaurants like Chick-fil-A, Burger King, KFC, Panda Express, and Popeyes.
Post Malone’s latest single, “Motley Crew,” was released on July 9 and is titled after the Los Angeles heavy metal band Mötley Crüe. After peaking at No. 13, the song is presently No. 33 on the Billboard Hot 100 list, with 64 million Spotify streams and 15 million views on its music video.
Check out the video below, directed by Cole Bennett.
