Category: News

For Lizzo, simply existing as a successful artist in the music industry is an act of self-empowerment. While strides have been made of late to stop the historic, disgusting fatphobia that’s permeated American culture — especially in the entertainment world — there’s still a long way to go. And never was that more clear than when this singing, rapping superstar made it big. As a Black woman in America, Lizzo is already held to an excruciating double standard, and as a woman of size, she’s constantly berated by those who think it’s their right to police her body.

But despite all this, she still remains positive, gracious, and keeps pushing against stereotypes, even if the release of her latest single, “Rumors” led to a deluge of hateful comments, she’s got people like Cardi B and T.I. in her corner, and she’s made it clear that no matter how hard the haters flex their muscles, she’s only going to emerge stronger.

“Just reminding myself that I’m the finest b*tch in the universe and can’t nobody convince me otherwise not even myself,” she wrote on Twitter today, along with a series of photos that confirm her caption a hundred times over. Keep shining Lizzo, the keyboard warriors have nothing on you.

Kanye West and Drake’s beef flared up last week after the former dissed him during a guest verse on Trippie Redd’s “Betrayal.” The act seemingly led to West posting and deleting Drake’s address to his Toronto mansion, which for the record was already public information. It’s no telling where the back and forth will head next, but the beef has now extended to the rappers’ fans as West’s South Shore Chicago childhood home was visited by Drake fans.

Three signs were left at the GOOD Music rapper’s former house that dissed him, promoted Drake’s upcoming album Certified Lover Boy, and took a shot at Justin LaBoy.

Each of the signs were placed against an individual step at West’s childhood home. Top to bottom they read: “45 44 burnt out,” referencing Drake’s lyrics from “Betrayal,” “F*ck Justin LaBoy,” who’s helped promote West’s upcoming album Donda, and “CLB coming soon.” For what it’s worth, it should be easy to repair this “vandalism” as throwing out the signs will return the home to its normal state.

Last year, West purchased the home for $225,000 and is currently in the process of renovating it. A replica of the house was also at the center of his most recent listening event for Donda. As for Drake, the rapper recently announced that Certified Lover Boy would arrive on September 3. On Friday morning, the rapper “hacked” an episode of SportsCenter on ESPN to share the news. It comes as Donda is rumored to finally drop alongside Certified Lover Boy on September 3.

You can take a look at the “vandalism” in the post above.

Baby Keem had the internet in a tizzy on Friday after sharing his latest single, “Family Ties” with Kendrick Lamar. The track gained a boatload of attention, mostly because it marked Kendrick’s official return to the game as it was his first musical contribution of 2021. It was yet another great single that brings fans closer to the release of Keem’s upcoming album, The Melodic Blue.

The Vegas rapper announced the project’s title in an April tweet and thanks to his latest post on Twitter, it appears that the album could arrive very soon.

In a tweet Keem shared on Friday night, the rapper outlined his plans for the future in a brief message. “No more singles,” he wrote. “Album time.”

It should be no surprise that Keem has deemed this as the time to take the next steps toward releasing the project. He’s already released five singles that could appear on the new effort. It began at the end of 2020 with the release of “Hooligan” and “Sons & Critics Freestyle,” then followed “No Sense,” and “Durag Activity” with Travis Scott. And of course, now “Family Ties” with Kendrick Lamar.

The Melodic Blue will be Baby Keem’s first project since his 2019 mixtape Die For My B*tch. During an interview between himself and Kendrick for i-D, Keem said the project gave him “a chance to play with my sounds and open up the lane to grow in confidence,” something that will hopefully be on full display with his upcoming project.

You can view Keem’s tweet above.

Perhaps it’s because her own music is so formal and classical, but when Adele gets down to another artist, fans love it. Of course, Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion’s “WAP” isn’t just any other artist, and the song’s rightful place in raunchy, X-rated rap song history has been established long before Adele hair-flipped to the track. But, it’s still another great co-sign to see another pop star acknowledging the song’s power while out and about at the function.

Multiple people caught videos of Adele getting down to “WAP” while attending a birthday party for Savannah Brinson, aka the wife of basketball legend LeBron James. While it’s not like she’s grinding or twerking to the song — she’s still seated in the videos captured — she’s definitely enjoying the song and singing along. Which lets us confirm, if nothing else, that she’s not team Tucker Carlson. If you remember correctly, Conservatives lost their minds when “WAP” came out last year. Instead, Adele is flipping her hair and enjoying the song, as it was intended. Check out clips below.

Of course, the British superstar has also been known to return the favor — a few years ago a couple danced so hard at her show that she reportedly decided to attend their wedding. Game recognize game.

Cardi B is already well-known and loved for doing things her own way, whether it’s making hit singles about the power of female sexuality, or lamenting the influence of Peppa Pig on her daughter, the Bronx rapper always keeps it as real as can be. That hasn’t changed at all as Cardi enters the world of fashion and brand collaborations, as she’s been promoting her line of classic Reebok sweatsuits.

The vintage-inspired suits are size-inclusive, something else that has been important to Cardi in the past, and is probably even more top of mind after her most recent collaboration with Lizzo on “Rumors” sparked a slew of hateful, fatphobic backlash. Cardi supported Lizzo through her tearful reaction to those hateful comments, and is letting women of all sizes know that

“If you got a fat ass p*ssy or you got a boney p*ssy with some grip DONT worry momma BARDI got you !!! I made this collection Witt everybody body shapes in mine !!!!!
@Reebok,” the rapper wrote on Twitter yesterday of the collection. Her hilariously raunchy description is actually addressing something important though. The “City Fierce” collection is available in both straight size and plus size, something that has finally become a priority in fashion over the last few years. Check out the full collection here.

Rajon Rondo appears set to return to the Los Angeles Lakers. After a busy offseason in which Rondo was traded from the Los Angeles Clippers to the Memphis Grizzlies, the NBA champion point guard was expected to receive a buy out and have the flexibility to pick wherever he’s going to play next.

According to Shams Charania of The Athletic and Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, the buy out has happened, and as a result, the Lakers have moved into pole position to acquire their former point guard’s services.

Rondo originally joined the Lakers ahead of the 2018-19 season, then played a major role in their run to a championship during the NBA’s Orlando Bubble a year later. He ended up leaving the team in free agency before the 2020-21 campaign when he opted to join the Atlanta Hawks, but returned to L.A. ahead of the trade deadline as a member of the Clippers.

His time with the team didn’t reach the highs they did during his first stint in the City of Angels, and he was eventually part of the trade that saw the Clippers reunite with Eric Bledsoe. Now, he’s headed back to Los Angeles, presumably with an eye on adding some depth to the team’s backcourt behind new point guard Russell Westbrook.

Kanye West’s premiered his upcoming tenth album Donda for the third time this past Thursday. The rapper brought the long-overdue unreleased project to his hometown for a performance at Chicago’s Soldier Field. The listening event did not require attendees to be vaccinated or present a negative COVID-19 test, but instead, they offered vaccinations against the virus for those who arrived to hear the latest version of Donda.

But according to reports, that effort wasn’t nearly as successful as many hoping to help end the pandemic would have hoped. According to TMZ, a representative for the stadium said that 1,500 doses would be available. And the publication has shared the official count for vaccination given at the venue and it’s quite low.

TMZ reported that a spokesperson from the Illinois Department of Public Health told them that just 13 vaccinations were given out at the rapper’s event on Thursday. Since a vaccination or negative COVID-19 test was not required to attend the event, there’s no telling how many of the 38,000 people that were present at Soldier Field were actually vaccinated. However, with 65% of Illinois residents confirmed to have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccination, it’s hard to not imagine that a decent amount of the Soldier Field attendees were not vaccinated.

While the 13 vaccinations may seem like a low number, it’s a bit of a jump than the number that was given at the rapper’s second listening event for Donda, which concluded with just 4 vaccinations for the 40,000 people in attendance.

Jack Harlow’s rise to fame seemed to happen in a matter of weeks, as the rapper’s “What’s Poppin” single, pushed him from an underground act at the end of 2019 to one of rap’s biggest names in 2020. Despite this, the Lousiville rapper’s rise came after years of hard work and consistent mixtape releases that captured his improving artistry.

During a recent episode of HBO’s The Shop: Uninterrupted, Harlow shared a conversation he had with his idol — a name he refrained from revealed while noting that they are a fellow musician — that was centered on the importance of self-awareness.

“I was talking to one of my idols that I won’t name, but somebody that I grew up idolizing in the same genre, and I asked him you know, ‘What do you attribute your success to? How have you stayed refreshed and why do you think you’re on this run?’” Harlow said during the episode. “He said, ‘You know one thing about most of these rappers when they’re hot, they can tell you everything about what’s going on, they’re tastemakers right? But the one thing most of these guys can’t do is hear themselves. They don’t have the self-awareness to say, ‘Mmm… that’s it or that isn’t it.’”

He added, “So for me it hasn’t always been so much about every shot has to go in. It’s discerning when I missed. I know when I make a record, I know when I sound compelling and I know when I don’t. There’s ego involved in that but I can look at myself, I can hear myself, I’m in the studio, I know when something’s special, and I know when it isn’t.”

You can watch the clip in the video above.

Jack Harlow is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

The college football season kicked off on Saturday afternoon, and the Big Ten decided to get in on the fun. The Illinois Fighting Illini played host to the Nebraska Cornhuskers in a matchup of programs that are looking to build towards being contenders in the Big Ten West.

Unfortunately the game featured a pair of rather unique injuries, although it’s fair to wonder why this does not happen more often. On a pair of occasions, the Huskers called plays that involved their receivers running crossing routes, and on both of those occasions, someone on the Illini defense flattened the referee standing in the middle of the field.

Having to stand in the middle of a football field is certainly not an enviable task, because in addition to all the stuff you have to be on the lookout for — namely when the big fellas on the opposing lines are battling with one another — you have to make sure you do not get obliterated by everyone who goes flying in the middle of the field. It was unclear if either of the officials were seriously injured, but as a result, the game had to go with any officials in that part of the field for a brief period.

Earlier this month, Nas and Hit-Boy reconnected for King’s Disease 2, the follow-up to their 2020 effort, which earned the former his first-ever Grammy award. The new project is packed with guest appearances from Eminem, Lauryn Hill, A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie, EMPD, YG, Blxst, and Charlie Wilson. Some argued that it was even better than the first. During a recent interview with Apple Music’s Ebro Darden, Nas spoke about his chemistry with Hit-Boy, who executive produced both King’s Disease and King’s Disease 2.

“He’s like my Quincy [Jones], you know what I mean?” the rapper said. “So I feel like the next thing I do, if I was to work with Hit-Boy on the next thing I do, I think that we might do something that is going to be magical.”

Considering how successful the series has been so far, it’s no surprise that talk about a King’s Disease 3 came up. “I think what we have is magic,” Nas added. “I think if we do another one, I’m excited about that idea, but you know, we’re celebrating this one now.”

Nas’ comments come after he joined Belly and The Weeknd in a video for their collaboration, “Die For It.”

You can watch the full interview on Apple Music here.

King’s Disease 2 is out now via Mass Appeal. Get it here.

A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.