Category: Viral

After snatching several major wins in court and dodging other cases, 50 Cent has seemingly become music’s “Teflon Don.” Now, the “In Da Club” rapper is putting his legal streak on the line. Yesterday (October 10), 50 Cent (real name Curtis Jackson) reportedly filed a new lawsuit.

According to TMZ, 50 Cent is suing TraxNYC (real name Maksud Trax Agadjani), a popular jeweler, for trademark infringement and violating his right of publicity. The suit, which could cost TraxNYC up to $5 million, isn’t about a purchase made by 50 Cent, but what the business owner is accused of doing to sell his glitzy inventory.

In the filing, 50 Cent alleged that Agadjani used his likeness to sell “knock-off” chains with pendants eerily similar to his famous cross piece. “Mr. Jackson takes the unauthorized use of his name and likeness for commercial purposes seriously,” said a representative for 50 Cent in a statement.

Across Agadjani’s Instagram page, he shared photos with 50 Cent and in other uploads tagging him, which the mogul’s legal team argued could lead potential patrons to assume he was connected to the brand.

In multiple posts, 50 Cent called out Agadjani. “Every now and then someone does something like this,” he wrote. “I don’t know why, but I do know I’m a need that by Monday.”

Then 50 Cent doubled down, writing: “This fool took my custom piece copied it, then posted this 7 hours ago using my likeness to sell them. He must don’t know how this works, if he talks to a lawyer they would tell him this is not good.”

Since the filing, Agadjani has attempted to make amends with 50 Cent. In a video uploaded to his Instagram page, he pleaded for 50 Cent to drop the suit. “Yo, 50, a cross is meant for forgiveness, redemption, forgiveness of sins,” he said. “Forgive, forget, let it go, brother.”

However, 50 Cent brushed it off, writing: “Let me think about it. Nah, you tried to play with me! You know the vibes by Monday.”

Last week saw Lil Durk announced Deep Thoughts, a new album that follows his 2023 LP Almost Healed. He shared the news alongside the new song “Monitoring Me,” and now he’s back with another. This time, he teams up with Hunxho on “Late Checkout.”

The tune sees Durk infatuated as he raps, “It ain’t nothin’ like the first day I put my lips on you / It ain’t nothin’ like the first date you let me kiss on you / Missionary is gettin’ scary when I lick on you / Strict the first night ’cause I tried to put the dick on you.”

Hunxho expresses a similar sentiment in his verse: “Oh, Lord, why it feel like I already know her? / Why it feel like she been ’round before I blowed up? / And I don’t fuck with n****s at all / So it’s like every time you roll up the only time I show love.”

This comes after Durk popped up on Hood Poet, the latest album from Polo G, this summer. Hunxho, meanwhile, embarked on The One Night Only Tour this past summer, which spanned from May to June.

Listen to “Late Checkout” above.

Deep Thoughts is out 10/18 via Alamo. Find more information here.

Scooter Braun has retired from music management, but Swifties aren’t ready to forgive him for acquiring the rights to Taylor Swift‘s first six studio records and later selling the masters. And he’s still hearing about it from them.

During a Bloomberg Screentime event in Los Angeles this week, Braun said, “Look. It’s five years later. I think, everyone, it’s time to move on.”

Braun watched the Taylor Swift Vs. Scooter Braun: Bad Blood documentary and has some issues with it, and with the way he’s presented in the media overall. “There were a lot of things that were misrepresented. I think that it’s important in any kind of conflict that people actually communicate directly with each other,” he said. “I think doing it out on social media and in front of the whole world is not the place. And I think when people actually take the time to stand in front of each other have a conversation, they usually find out the monster’s not real, and that hasn’t happened. And that has not happened.”

The joke he made about not being invited to a party thrown by Swift probably didn’t help things.

Swift previously acknowledged “the Scooter thing” in an interview with Time. “My masters were being sold to someone who actively wanted them for nefarious reasons, in my opinion,” she said. “I was so knocked on my ass by the sale of my music, and to whom it was sold. I was like, oh, they got me beat now. This is it. I don’t know what to do.” The answer: Taylor’s Version.

GloRilla’s hotly anticipated new album Glorious is out today (October 11), and the project sees her teaming up with buddy Megan Thee Stallion on “How I Look.” The hard-hitting track sees the two continuing to foster the collaborative energy they established on “Wanna Be” earlier this year.

Last month, Glo and Megan expressed interest in making a joint album. In an interview, Meg said, “I think that would be very fire. I ain’t gon’ say too much, but it feels like it’s going to get done.” Glo added, “Megan is a real rapper, and I’m also a real rapper. We actually be talking and coming with bars on some down South gangsta sh*t. [It would be] some down South, real turnt, real rap [sh*t].”

This comes after GloRilla admitting she wasn’t sure about Megan when they first met, saying, “I first met you at your Hottieween party last year, and I ain’t gonna lie, I was kinda shy. You were just acting like you weren’t drinking that night. I was like… in my head, I’m like, ‘This b*tch ain’t acting like she ain’t drinking,’ like, ‘What’s up with this b*tch?’”

Listen to “How I Look” above.

Glorious is out now via CMG/Interscope. Find more information here.

Steven welcomes Ian back to America after his trip to London. Ian regales us with tales of fish and chips-eating and musicals-watching, and then Steven lurches into a quick Sportscast about annoying NFL teams from New York City. (Sorry, New Jersey!) The guys also discuss their plans to see Foxing (Ian) and MJ Lenderman (Steven) this weekend, and the latest status of Ian’s Fantasy Albums Draft.

In the mailbag, the guys answer questions about the current state of Bandcamp, the best musical guests on The Simpsons, the best decade for music, and the artists the guys can’t believe they haven’t seen live yet.

In Recommendation Corner, Ian stumps for veteran singer-songwriter Fred Thomas and Steven recommends the latest from the shape-shifting LA band Peel Dream Magazine.

New episodes of Indiecast drop every Friday. Listen to Episode 210 here and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. You can submit questions for Steve and Ian at [email protected], and make sure to follow us on Instagram and X (formerly Twitter) for all the latest news. We also recently launched a visualizer for our favorite Indiecast moments. Check those out here.

Seven months from the release of her breakout self-titled debut album, Tyla has delivered on her promise of an expanded deluxe edition with three new songs to extend the Afrobeats party offered on the original.

The one currently drawing the most attention is the yearning “Push 2 Start,” which you can play above. With production from Ari PenSmith, Mocha Bands, Rayo, and Sammy Soso, the songs finds the South African siren imploring the object of her affection to “tell me where we goin’, pick a destination / Gas me up, give me motivation.”

Meanwhile, on “Back To You,” Tyla relaxes into a laid-back R&B vibe, promising a lover, “But every time, I’ll always come back to you / No matter where you go, no matter what you do.” You can check it out below.

Finally, “Shake Ah” returns to the native Amapiano sounds the Johannesburg native grew up on, with appearances from fellow SA performers Ez Maestro, Optimist Music ZA, and Tony Duardo, who join her in reciting the lyrics in Zulu, one of the 12 official languages of South Africa out of the thirty-five languages spoken in the country. Tyla is, of course, of partial Zulu ancestry, along with Indian, Irish, and Mauritian descent.

Ever since Tyler The Creator first showed up on the scene, the influence he took from Pharrell was both obvious and undeniable. It didn’t take long for the two to connect in real life, and ever since, they’ve shared a fruitful creative chemistry, with Pharrell playing mentor and Tyler the eager protégé. They’ve made music together, teamed up on a Louis Vuitton capsule collection, and now, Tyler plays a role in Pharrell’s upcoming Lego animation biopic, Piece By Piece, dropping in to release a verse on the song “Virginia Boy Remix.”

Co-produced by both artists — so you should have a pretty good idea of how it sounds even before pressing “play” — “Virginia Boy Remix” features smooth-flowing, freestyle storytelling, relating the two iconoclasts’ experiences growing up so similarly on opposite coasts. The vibe resembles nothing so much as Golden Era A Tribe Called Quest, and if these two decided they want to do a whole project in this style… I’m in. One hundred percent.

For what it’s worth, Pharrell could use a new musical partner, as he is currently embroiled in a legal dispute with former The Neptunes bandmate Chad Hugo over the production duo’s name. Maybe give us some hope that things will turn out a little better for our heroes.

You can listen to the “Virginia Boy” remix above.

Charli XCX isn’t impressed by sympathy from supporters who she knows will just as quickly turn on her the second it’s beneficial. That’s the basis of “Sympath Is A Knife,” the standout track from her remixed album, Brat And It’s Completely Different But Also Still Brat. And no one knows what she means more than Ariana Grande, who has seen all the ups and downs that come with being pretty, popular, talented, and rich. The long-awaited collaboration between the two was the most anticipated track from the remix project and it more than lives up to expectations.

Brat And It’s Completely Different But Also Still Brat has been the worst-kept secret in the music industry, as fans figured out the remix album was coming, even despite Charli’s admitted penchant for lying. She began teasing the album with a slew of billboards strategically placed in the hometowns of the artists featured on the project, which included Bon Iver, Tinashe, and more. Now that the remixed album is officially out, fans will have the chance to find out how these reimagined tracks stack up to the originals. You can listen to “Sympathy Is A Knife” with Ariana Grande above, and find more info about Brat And It’s Completely Different But Also Still Brat here.

Just a year after GloRilla really blew up in 2022, some rap fans were already writing her off. The main impetus for this hasty conclusion was the appearance of Sexyy Red, who blew up in 2023 thanks to “Pound Town.” According to those fans, Sexyy “took Glo’s spot,” as if that’s a thing that has ever happened in the history of rap music.

Well, both of the ratchet rap faves get to have the last laugh, thanks to their new collaboration “Whatchu Kno About Me.” While proving that there’s more solidarity than discord among the current sisterhood of rap, the Memphis and St. Louis natives make one tough tag team on the song, and in its glamorous music video. Donning matching bikinis, fuzzy boots, and fur coats, they rap in their usual, shared, boisterous, unapologetic style, while getting done up at the salon with a full crew of baddies.

“Whatchu Kno About Me” is the focus track from GloRilla’s newly released album, Glorious, out today, a month after lead single, “Hollon.” Both tracks go a long way toward proving that GloRilla ain’t going anywhere anytime soon.

You can watch the video for GloRilla’s “Whatchu Know About Me” featuring Sexyy Red above.

Glorious is out now via CMG/Interscope. Find more information here.

Being famous always seemed like more trouble than it’s worth. Sure, there are upsides, but as many a rap act will point out, they rarely outweigh all the extras that come along with them. Just ask Cordae, whose new single “Mad As F*ck” certainly spends some time counting up the curses alongside the blessings. While he brags about his new Ferrari, new chick, and “black diamonds, straight from Africa,” he also worries about “bills on bills coming in” and dudes he doesn’t mess with trying to dap him up. So, you win some, you lose some, I guess.

It hasn’t all been bad for the DMV area native, though. This summer, he announced his “crossroads era,” following up with the video for “Saturday Mornings” with Lil Wayne, then another video with Anderson .Paak, “Summer Drop.” It certainly seems as though he’s close to releasing his long-awaited follow-up to From A Birds Eye View.

Earlier this year, he also made a cameo in Lyrical Lemonade’s “Doomsday 2” video featuring Eminem, which riffed on his and Juice WRLD’s 2023 track “Doomsday.” If Crossroads is indeed the title for Cordae’s third album, he’s teed up the release nicely.

You can watch the video for “Mad As F*ck” by Cordae above.