Category: Viral

If you were under the impression that “Tweaker,” the throwback rap experiment from GELO — AKA basketball dynasty middle child LiAngelo Ball — was a novelty, prepare to be put into the spin cycle by the song’s crossover success. After weeks of halftime performances, viral playbacks in locker rooms across the NBA, and the sort of opportunities that most rappers aspire to for years, GELO has unveiled a remix featuring none other than one of the rap icons who pioneered the style the song apes so aptly: Lil Wayne.

And yes, Wayne sounds right at home on the knockoff Mannie Fresh beat, getting right into his groove and delivering a blistering verse that could have come from his Carter II-era stash. You could never reasonably accuse Wayne of not taking a guest verse seriously — he really doesn’t have a lower gear to shift into on most of his features — but he goes full throttle, delivering a professionally polished counterpoint to GELO’s admittedly fun neophyte bars. He also makes a hilarious basketball reference that may or may not be a triple entendre involving a very niche internet meme and Ray Allen’s longtime Spike Lee-bequeathed nickname. With Wayne confirming the impending release of The Carter VI earlier today, it’s nice to hear him sounding so energized.

You can listen to GELO’s “Tweaker” remix featuring Lil Wayne above.

Life Is Beautiful, the new joint album from Larry June, 2 Chainz, and The Alchemist, is out now, as is the focus track, “Munyon Canyon.” If you listened to either of the prior singles, “Bad Choices” and “I Been,” you know what to expect: laid-back flexes over typically soulful loops orchestrated by the Los Angeles beatmaker.

Although June hails from the Bay Area and 2 Chainz is from Atlanta, they have a sparkling chemistry, with The Alchemist’s production buoying their down-to-earth boasts to greater heights. It’s fairly familiar sonic territory for Larry, who sounds about as comfortable as the seats of the luxury cars the two rappers delight in discussing, but it’s a bit of a swerve for 2 Chainz, adding a compelling dimension to his recognizable, off-kilter wordplay. As unexpected as it is, something about it just feels right.

In addition to deepening 2 Chainz’s palette, the collaboration also gives Larry one of his highest-profile rhyme partners, which is raising his profile higher than it’s ever been; on February 12, he’ll be making his national late-night television debut with the unofficial group on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. Good job, Larry, indeed.

You can stream Larry June, 2 Chainz & The Alchemist’s “Munyon Canyon” up top.

Life Is Beautiful is out now via EMPIRE. You can find more information here.

Long Beach’s own R&B wunderkind Giveon is more than a decade removed from his days at Polytechnic High School, the alma mater he featured in his video for “The Beach.” But before he crosses the threshold of 30, he’s looking back on the time of his life that many folks say are for making mistakes. In the nostalgic video for “Twenties,” the baritone relives his mattress-on-the-floor era, half mourning the time he spent with a past paramour.

Two years removed from his last release, Give Or Take, Giveon’s had plenty of time to grow up and evolve his sound. On Twitter, he called “Twenties” the “first chapter from this book I can’t wait to share,” which sounds a lot like he’s ready to deliver a follow-up — just in time to celebrate his entry into the next decade of his charmed life.

That life has, so far, included once-in-a-lifetime moments like singing for SZA during a job interview at Bubba Gump Shrimp, donating a brand-new recording studio to one of the Beach’s local institutions, and participating in a No. 1 single release (Justin Bieber’s “Peaches”). If that’s what his twenties brought, we can’t wait to see what he does in his thirties.

Watch Giveon’s “Twenties” video up top.

Ava Max ended 2024 on a strong note with her festive single “1 Wish,” and now, begins her 2025 campaign with another solid entry to her discography, “Lost Your Faith.” The pop savant taps into the zeitgeist for a driving breakup (or maybe a “hold on”) song, featuring a 1980s rock-esque straight beat (similarly to her Bon Jovi-like 2020 single, “Kings & Queens“) that quickly morphs into a more electronic dance-pop instrumental for its chorus. Ava laments the slow disintegration of the relationship, noting that it feels like her lover’s devotion has waned.

At the same time, there’s a bit of a hopeful message for the times we’re living through, as well; as she says in a press release, “‘Lost Your Faith’ is a message of love and hope. Somewhere in the wreckage, you realize you’re still standing. You piece yourself back together-not into who you were, but someone stronger, someone more certain of their own light.”

Although Ava released a couple of singles last year, “My Oh My” and “Spot A Fake,” she had a relatively quiet 2024 as she prepared her third studio album. A follow-up to her 2023 album, Diamonds & Dancefloors, is certainly expected sometime in the near future. If that’s the case, “Lost Your Faith” is the right way to start a rollout, as it does a lot of things Ava’s done well in the past, while also pushing her sound into its next phase.

You can listen to Ava Max’s “Lost Your Faith” above.

Earlier this week, alt-indie darling d4vd announced the release date of his debut album, Withered after previously releasing the singles “My House Is Not A Home,” “There Goes My Baby,” and “Where’d It Go Wrong?” Tonight, he shared the next single, “One More Dance,” along with a video featuring his now-signature dark comedic style.

In the video, which appears to pick up where the “Where’d It Go Wrong?” video left off, a bloodied, blindfolded d4vd is seen dragging what appears to be a dead body down a dirt track in the woods. It’s quickly revealed that the body belongs to d4vd himself, setting up an interesting dynamic. He’s helped by a young couple (Nicholas Paige and Lailah Gross) who stuffs the body in the trunk of their car, getting into all kinds of shenanigans before finally digging the hole and tossing d4vd in. They share a dance (ha!) as the camera fades to black.

In his announcement for the upcoming album, d4vd wrote on his Instagram, “Thank you all eternally for waiting on me. This album means SO much to me you have no idea the blood sweat and tears that came with trying to create this project over the past 2 years. Constantly starting over and over and over until there was nothing left on this audio landscape of a canvas than thoughts, melodies, and emotions that were unequivocally me.”

Watch the video for d4vd’s “One More Dance” up top.

Withered is out on 4/25 via Darkroom / Interscope Records. You can find more info here.

Rema is well on his way to becoming an African icon, but on his latest single, “Baby (Is It A Crime),” he channels another legend from the continent. As you have probably guessed from the title of the song, “Baby” samples Sade’s 1985 hit “Is It A Crime?” pairing a sample of singer Sade Adu’s instantly recognizable chorus with a scintillating, undeniable Afrobeat rhythm.

Rema initially teased the single back in November, playing fans a snippet on his social media accounts. In a sly bit of promotion, he later posted a photo of himself purchasing a copy of Sade’s 1985 album, Promise, from which “Is It A Crime?” was the second single.

The Afrobeats star hasn’t yet revealed whether the new single will appear as part of a larger project, but he’s only seven months removed from the release of his last album, Heis, which featured the singles “Benin Boys” and “HEHEHE.” Furthermore, a potential guest verse from British rapper J Hus which was teased last November appears to have been cut or reserved for a future remix. That means Rema’s 2025, already off to a hot start, could get very busy in the near future.

Listen to Rema’s new single “Baby (Is It A Crime)” up top.

Blackpink member Lisa is releasing her debut solo album, Alter Ego, soon, and today, shared the latest single, “Born Again,” featuring Doja Cat and Raye. A seductive disco-funk dance floor burner, “Born Again” finds the three divas-in-the-making taunting their ex-lovers, boasting their glow-ups since their relationships’ dissolutions. As Doja Cat says in her half-sung/half-rapped verse, “I hope you learned somethin’ from a lil’ fiasco / You played the game smart, lettin’ lil’ me pass go.”

“Born Again” is the fourth single from Alter Ego which drops on February 28. Prior to announcing the release date, Lisa shared “Rockstar” last June, “New Woman” with Rosalía in August, and the Sixpence None The Richer homage, “Moonlit Floor” in October. The album will find the K-pop star channeling five different characters (hence the title), allowing her to explore the wide range of sounds represented by those singles and still have a cohesive theme.

In addition to making her solo debut this year, Lisa will also make her US screen debut as part of the cast of White Lotus season three. In an interview about making the transition from recording music to acting, she said, “I’m super excited and nervous, but I feel like we’ve shot a lot of music videos. You’ve got to be expressive on camera. I just wanted to try something new that I never had a chance to do, because I’ve been singing for eight years, and sometimes you feel like you need something new to try.”

You can watch the video for “Born Again” above.

Alter Ego is out 2/28/2025 via LLOUD Co./RCA Records. Find more information here.

Despite an impressive breakout in the US, K-pop girl group NewJeans hit an unexpected roadblock in their path to stardom. Last November, the quintet declared their intention to end their contract with HYBE-backed label, Ador, due to “mistreatment.” The label denies the group’s accusations, and has filed a lawsuit to prevent them from breaking away and signing with another label.

Today, though, Haerin (Kang Haerin), Minji (Kim Minji), Hyein (Lee Hye-in), Danielle (Danielle Marsh), and Hanni (Pham Ngoc Han) >announced that they are reforming as a , NJZ. Their first gig will be at the ComplexCon Hong Kong festival in March, where they will debut a new song.

Hanni told CNN in an interview about the name change, “We are working a lot to resolve everything so that we can go… back to normal.” She said that the name change would help the group turn “this rough period of time into something more exciting.”

The group is creating new music, which Haerin says will have a “very unique and different sound.” As for why the new name sounds so similar to their old one, the Hanni said, “Even though we have to leave our previous name behind us for a bit, we’re not fully moving on from it. And we don’t want to either, because (being NewJeans) was still a very special period of time to us, and it’s something that our fans also probably hold really dear.”

While the focus of the NBA world on Thursday was trade deadline that featured a ton of star movement, 3.5 hours after the deadline, the Inside the NBA crew got together to draft the teams for this year’s NBA All-Star Game.

The new mini-tournament format meant there were three 8-man teams of All-Stars, with the fourth team being the winners of the Rising Stars challenge. Shaq, Charles Barkley, and Kenny Smith served as the captains for a draft that was, as predicted, off the rails. What was particularly funny was seeing each have a different strategy that featured some, well, we’ll call it interesting picks.

Shaq decided to go with the “old and legendary” and stayed true to his word with the youngest player on his team being 28-year-old Jaylen Brown. Kenny took all the young American players because he insisted international guys don’t play hard in the All-Star Game (???) and ended up with just two bigs. Chuck chose to lean on the international flair and ended up with just two guards, as he has the polar opposite roster from Kenny.

I have no idea how this will all look, but the three teams are all wildly different which might make this thing actually be pretty fun. The full team rosters are below.

Team Shaq

LeBron James
Stephen Curry
Anthony Davis
Jayson Tatum
Kevin Durant
Damian Lillard
James Harden
Jaylen Brown

Team Kenny

Anthony Edwards
Jalen Brunson
Jaren Jackson Jr.
Jalen Williams
Darius Garland
Evan Mobley
Cade Cunningham
Tyler Herro

Team Chuck

Nikola Jokic
Giannis Antetokounmpo
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
Victor Wembanyama
Pascal Siakam
Alperen Sengun
Karl-Anthony Towns
Donovan Mitchell

It’s been quite the week in the NBA. The most active NBA trade deadline in history is over, with 63 players changing teams, including a bunch of stars. Luka Doncic is a Laker, Anthony Davis is a Mav, De’Aaron Fox is a Spur, Zach LaVine is a King, Jimmy Butler is a Warrior, Brandon Ingram is a Raptor, among many others.

There were also some stars that got mentioned in trades that did not get moved, most notably Kevin Durant, who reportedly shut down trade talks between the Suns and Warriors after making clear he had no interest in going back to the Bay. With the Suns off and Durant coming up in rumors throughout the day until the very last minute of the deadline, we didn’t expect to hear much from KD, but something caught the eye of the future Hall of Famer on Twitter that he could not let slide without comment.

On ESPN’s NBA Today trade deadline special, they were talking about what the Suns needed to bring the team together and figure things out for the closing stretch of the season. Udonis Haslem and Kendrick Perkins were discussing the need for a team meeting, but questioned whether they had the kind of guy on that team that would be the vocal leader and command the respect to get guys in line. In that discussion, Perkins stated that in Oklahoma City it wasn’t KD, Russell Westbrook, or James Harden that took that role, but himself (and Nick Collison).

Durant got wind of that and had to shut it down, calling it “the craziest sh*t I’ve seen all week”, while admitting that is a high bar to clear.

KD has grown tired of the leadership questions in recent years, as he’s gotten into spats with Charles Barkley and Stephen A. Smith about their critiques of him as a leader. Now that his former teammate waded into those waters as well, KD wasn’t about to let it slide, and despite a pretty wild deadline week for himself personally, he wanted to make sure people knew Perk was exaggerating his role.