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Country artist Shaboozey made history this week when his blockbuster crossover hit “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” spent a 19th week on top of the Billboard Hot 100. That tied the record for the most weeks at number-one in the history of the singles chart. His success helped fuel him to five Grammy nominations including Song of the Year and Best New Artist, but is he now too big to fail when it comes time to pick the winners?

SEEKendrick Lamar releases surprise new album ‘Gnx’ on the heels of his 7 Grammy noms

The only other song to spend 19 weeks atop the Hot 100 was “Old Town Road” by Lil Nas X featuring Billy Ray Cyrus in 2019. Like “A Bar Song,” which interpolates rapper J-Kwon‘s 2004 song “Tipsy,” it was a genre-bending country crossover smash (though “Old Town Road” was controversially banished from Billboard’s country charts). It helped Nas break through at...

Shaboozey made history on Monday as his smash hit “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” tied the record for most weeks atop Billboard’s Hot 100 Chart, with the song taking the Number One spot for 19 weeks this year.

Shaboozey now shares the record with Lil Nas X, whose country-rap hit “Old Town Road” was the Number One song in the country for 19 consecutive weeks back in 2019, bolstered in part by several remixes released near the end of that streak as Nas approached the record.

“A Bar Song (Tipsy)” finished out last week with about 19.6 million streams,...

After Kendrick Lamar commanded attention with the surprise release of his sixth album Gnx on Nov. 22, revered rapper Nas posted the album cover on his Instagram with a loving note to Lamar. “Always inspired by my brother Kl,” he wrote. “Keeping the essence of this shit alive and at the forefront. Salute King!”

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A post shared by Nasir Jones (@nas)

On the album, Lamar shines a light on Nas’ support for his career and influence on it. “Won the Super Bowl and Nas the only one congratulate me,...

Kendrick Lamar dropped surprise album Gnx on Friday, where he addresses being chosen for the Super Bowl Halftime show in New Orleans over hometown rapper Lil Wayne. And it appears Lil Wayne has responded.

On the song “Wacced Out Murals,” Lamar’s lyrics include: “Used to bump Tha Carter III, I held my Rollie chain proud/Irony, I think my hard work let Lil Wayne down.” Early in the morning on Saturday, Lil Wayne took to X, formerly Twitter, and appeared to respond, writing in part: “Man wtf I do?...

Kendrick Lamar has surprised fans with an early Christmas present: a new album.

The rap king released Gnx on Friday. It features 12 tracks, mainly produced by frequent collaborator Sounwave and hitmaker Jack Antonoff, while Sza appears on the soulful song “Luther.” The album comes months after his successful chart run with the Drake diss track, “Not Like Us,” which topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart and earned five Grammy nominations, including song and record of the year. He also topped the pop charts with “Like That,” his collaboration with Future and Metro Boomin.

Lamar’s last album was 2022’s Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers, which won multiple Grammys. His 2017 album, Damn, won the Pulitzer Prize for music, making him the first non-classical or jazz artist to win the prestigious honor. He has won 17 Grammys and was nominated for the best original song Oscar in 2019 for “All the Stars” from Black Panther.

Editor’s Note: This article is a sponsored post by viagogo.

November is Hip-Hop History Month, and as we mark 51 years of the genre’s legacy (revisit our extensive 50th anniversary celebration here), a new study from viagogo has arrived highlighting how hip-hop continues to elevate Black artists on a global scale.

According to ticket sales data collected by viagogo, 19 of the 25 highest-selling Black live performers of 2024 are either hip-hop or hip-hop-adjacent acts.

Travis Scott — whose record-breaking “Circus Maximus Tour” earned over $150 million before wrapping last month — tops the list as the Black artist with the most ticket sales of the year, with the top five rounded out by Usher, Akon, Bryson Tiller, and Ne-Yo. Also placing in the top 25 are Chris Brown, Nicki Minaj, PartyNextDoor, Childish Gambino, Nas, and more.

Minaj, who lands at No. 8 in the global ranking, leads the charge as the highest-selling Black female artist of...

Despite being 23 years his senior, prolific producer No ID has a much more childlike air than ­Chicago indie rapper Saba, who is quietly pensive, if not a tad guarded. When we meet at No ID’s Los Angeles studio in October, the pair sit next to each other at a long desk. No ID, 53, swivels toward us when he’s amused, making animated faces and cracking mischievous smiles. And even as the person who molded a young Kanye West and oversaw the production of Jay-Z’s most introspective album, 2017’s...

Sean ‘Diddy’ Comb, whose name became synonymous with success and luxury, turned his vision from Bad Boy Entertainment into a global powerhouse spanning music and fashion. But now, instead of basking in the limelight, the rapper, 55, is under a cloud of criminal charges that seem to undo everything he has worked to build.

Steve Stoute | Credit: Drink Champs/YouTube

But his troubled history with the law is not a new development. In fact, long before the current slew of lawsuits, Combs had already encountered legal issues. In the 1990s, he was involved in a violent altercation with music executive Steve Stoute, which resulted in Combs pleading guilty to harassment.

Sean Combs’ 1999 Clash With Steve Stoute: The Dispute Behind Hate Me Now Video

In 1999, at the pinnacle of his fame, hip-hop mogul Sean Combs found himself at the center of a violent confrontation with music executive Steve Stoute (via LA Times...

Sting ascended to the top of the Billboard charts as a songwriter in 2018 after Juice Wrld’s Lucid Dreams included a reworked sample of the classic 1993 track Shape of My Heart. After Juice’s untimely passing in 2019, Sting called Lucid Dreams his favorite among the many interpolations of his song.

The cover photo of Juice Wrld’s Lucid Dreams | Credits: Grade A/Interscope

The song was included in his debut album Goodbye & Good Riddance. He received Sting’s blessing to sample the song. However, in 2019, Jarad Anthony Higgins aka Juice died in a Chicago hospital with the autopsy determining that he died from a drug overdose.

Sting Gave His Blessing To Juice Wrld To Sample His Iconic Song For Lucid Dreams Juice Wrld in the music video of Lucid Dreams | Credits: Grade A/Interscope

Juice Wrld‘s Lucid Dreams was about his pain and feelings after going through a breakup.

Gang Starr have returned with a new single “Finishem,” featuring production from DJ Premier and verses from the late rapper, Guru.

Released ahead of the fifth anniversary of the duo’s most recent album, One of the Best Yet, “Finishem” was built around a vocal hook recorded by Guru prior to his passing in 2010. Speaking about the single in a statement, DJ Premier said, “As One of the Best Yet was approaching the five-year anniversary mark, that milestone moved me to create a new track to match the occasion.”

Continuing, Premier explained, “The album is special on so many different levels; what it meant to me, Guru’s family, and the fans, it warranted something new to honor the occasion. I started going through files, looking for something that stood out and fit; and as soon as I heard Guru’s hook — ‘Now I’m about to finishem/ My rep...

Keke Palmer and Sza are besties with a big problem: making the rent on time.

The duo star in buddy comedy “One of Them Days” which takes place over 24 hours where things go from bad to worse. The official synopsis reads: “Best friends and roommates Dreux (Palmer) and Alyssa (Sza) are about to have One of Them Days. When they discover Alyssa’s boyfriend has blown their rent money, the duo finds themselves going to extremes in a comical race against the clock to avoid eviction and keep their friendship intact.”

Maude Apatow, Lil Rel Howery, Janelle James, and Katt Williams co-star.

Issa Rae produces the film, which is written by “Rap Sh!t” showrunner Syreeta Singleton and directed by Lawrence Lamont.

The project hailed from the ColorCreative’s lab at Sony Pictures as part of a program between ColorCreative and Columbia Pictures to foster emerging diverse screenwriters’ first studio features,...

While the Grammys are often dunked on for being too predictable, the reality is that they usually come with their fair share of surprise nominations. After all, unlike the Oscars, the Grammys don’t really have direct precursors, especially for the general field categories, so figuring out how the industry feels about certain songs and artists involves some guesswork. And predictions end up concentrating around the biggest stars of the year, leaving out some equally impressive genre players who inevitably get in. So if you want to be above most pundits, you should probably consider the following potential dark horses.

SEEMariah Carey on those fickle Grammys: ‘They toy with me’

Black Pumas

This soul-rock duo aren’t strangers to the Grammys, and in particular Grammy surprises. At the 2020 awards, they received a surprising but well deserved nomination for Best New Artist, ahead of a lot of commercial favorites. Then the...

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Ever since her breakout role of starring role of Max Fox in FX’s comedy-drama series Better Things, we have all known that Mikey Madison is going to be a star and now with her film Anora winning Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival 2024 the young actress is well on her way to becoming an acting-powerhouse. Madison began her career at a very young age by starring in a couple of short films and then she starred in her first feature film Liza, Liza, Skies Are Grey in 2014 when she was 15-years-old but the film didn’t get released until 2017. Since then she has starred in many great films including a small role in Quentin Tarrantino‘s Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood and Tyler Gillett and Matt Bettinelli-Olpin‘s Scream. So, if you also enjoy...

Lin-Manuel Miranda and Eisa Davis sit down with Sway Calloway, Heather B, and Tracy G for an exclusive Town Hall during a recent episode of “Sway in the Morning” on SiriusXM’s Shade 45 (Ch. 45). Watch Lin-Manuel and Eisa discuss their new “The Warriors” concept album, collaborating with hip-hop great Nas, and much more on the SiriusXM app now.

Lin-Manuel & EisaFull video of their interviewWatch on the App

Watch on the App

“Maybe the most nervous I’ve ever been in my life was in a car with Nas, playing the verse I wrote for him,” Miranda says during the interview.

The album was inspired by the 1979 cult-classic movie “The Warriors.” Check out the tracklist for it below, as well as the video segments for the interview on the app below.

Lin-Manuel Miranda and Eisa Davis Interview Video Segments

:00 “Warriors” Concept Album

7:03 Nas, Lauryn Hill, & Mike Elizondo

14:13 Peace,...

Welcome to our weekly rundown of the best new music — featuring big singles, key tracks from our favorite albums, and more. This week, Kylie Minogue loses herself on the dancefloor, a hypnotic track from the new Bon Iver EP, and a searing bonus cut from the deluxe edition of Gracie Abrams The Secret of Us. Plus Wizkid with Brent Faiyaz, Midland, and Ringo Starr. and Check out the list, or cue it up on Spotify.

Kylie Minogue, “Taboo” (YouTube)

Bon Iver, “Things Behind Things Behind Things” (YouTube)

Lexa Gates feat.

At the end of Aaliyah’s life, she was romantically involved with Damon Dash. The couple had a relatively brief but reportedly intense relationship; Dash said that within six months they began discussing the possibility of marriage. When he was first pursuing her, though, he was in competition with Jay-Z. Dash said that both he and Jay-Z were working to impress Aaliyah at the same time.

Damon Dash said he and Jay-Z were both pursuing Aaliyah at the same time

According to Dash, he hadn’t thought much of Aaliyah when they first met. When he began to develop feelings for her, he tried his best to impress her. Unfortunately, he realized he was not the only one in pursuit of her affection. Jay-Z was also interested in Aaliyah.

“I just threw my A-game,” he said on the That’s F***ed Up podcast (via Vibe Magazine). “And then, you know,...

Riot Games has released the official anthem for the 2024 League of Legends World Championship, “Heavy Is the Crown,” by Linkin Park. One day away from the beginning of LoL Esports’ biggest event of the year, Riot has shared the anthem which will accompany the top 20 teams through the highest competition of the year.

The official confirmation that Linkin Park would perform the 2024 Worlds anthem arrived this Sunday, following speculation that began in early September when LoL Esports’ social media accounts interacted with the band’s comeback announcement. The news was...

This story is part of our Sondio Latino series for Hispanic Heritage Month.

Read more here.

When You Start playing Murio La Musica, a mixtape by Argentinian rappers AgusFortnite2008 and Stiffy, you hear an onslaught of crunchy 808s and incantation-­like chants that ascend through disorienting key changes. As soon as you can catch your breath, Cdj backspins and menacing laughter throw you into what feels like the world’s most sinister Shepard tone.

The mixtape’s opening song, “24/7,” is almost an entirely different form of music, beamed in from another dimension.

Kendrick Lamar doesn’t want to be a savior, but he’s certainly a spokesman on his latest track, released guerilla style just days after his Super Bowl Lix announcement. The song, where Kendrick raps about it being time to “let the party die,” doesn’t find him expressing much joy at being the first rap soloist to grace the Super Bowl stage. Instead, it sounds like there are more pressing things on his mind — he’s so fed up with the rap ecosystem that he uploaded the five-minute song without a title.

LL Cool J hit the MTV VMAs stage Wednesday night with a medley of his classic hits and new tunes to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Def Jam Records.

The rapper — whose performance featured an appearance by Public Enemy’s Flavor Flav and Chuck D, who are two of LL’s original Def Jam labelmates — took to the stage toward the end of the three-hour show.

LL kicked off the high-energy performance with “Headsprung,” with audience members wearing the rapper’s signature Kangol hats, all in red. The cameras then cut to several people in the audience holding signs of goats, with LL rapping his song “The G.O.A.T.,” when Flavor Flav and Chuck D joined him onstage for a performance of their own “Bring the Noise.”

LL then segued briefly into his hits “Mama Said Knock You Out,” “Rock the Bells,” “Around the Way Girl” and “Goin’ Back to Cali.

LL Cool J’s “Murdergram Deux,” a bass-heavy track off of his latest album The Force, marked the rapper’s first collaboration with Eminem. The rap legends have now teamed up again for the single’s music video, which incorporates LL Cool J’s and Big Daddy Kane’s iconic album art into the backdrop.

The music video pans into the cover art for LL Cool J’s sophomore album Bigger and Deffer, which featured hits like “I’m Bad” and “I Need Love,” before transitioning to Big Daddy Kane...

LL Cool J spent nearly three decades in pursuit of commercial success, which included a series of forgettable and ill-advised junctures where hip-hop’s first superstar forced himself into stylistic niches that never quite suited him. This makes his 14th studio album, The Force, feel like a breath of fresh air, driven by a clear sense of personal and artistic vision.

The album’s lack of interest in courting contemporary trends is a feature, not a flaw. But the songs aren’t too nostalgic either, and the ever-charismatic LL, per usual, doesn’t take his brand of boisterous smack talk too seriously. Songs like “Runnit Back” are filled with affirmations aimed at all walks of life, and the inclusion of three up-and-coming rappers on closer “The Vow,” recreating the youthful posse cut vibe of “Farmers Blvd. (Our Anthem),” suggests an openness to a younger generation that traditionalist projects of this ilk rarely ever court.

Scant months after Q-Tip publicly debated the dubiousness of an “adult-contemporary hip-hop” category on social media comes a completely Tip-produced new album by his Queens neighbor LL Cool J — the 56-year-old rapper-actor’s 14th since his 1984 debut as a teenager. In a year when both Rakim and Masta Ace released new projects, when Common teamed with producer Pete Rock for a stellar throwback album of Nineties-spirited hip-hop, LL’s new effort joins a trend. “Call it traditional hip-hop,” Q-Tip tweeted.

The Force doesn’t nod to modern drill or trap,...

LL Cool J talked about his new album, “The Force,” collaborating with Eminem on the track “Murdergram Deux,” crediting Michael Jackson as a writer on the song “The Force,” learning to rap again, and much more during a track-by-track album special on his new SiriusXM channel, LL Cool J’s The Force Channel.

The Force ChannelAvailable until 10/3 at 3am ETListen on the App

Listen on the App

Featuring LL Cool J’s Rock the Bells Radio host Roxanne Shanté and a live audience, “LL Cool J ‘The Force’ Track-By-Track Album Special” premieres on LL Cool J’s The Force Channel on Friday, September 6, at noon Et and will be available to stream on the SiriusXM app (see more details below). During the show, LL went through his process working with Eminem.

“Me and Em actually went to Dr. Dre’s studio and recorded it out in LA,” LL Cool J said.

The “Made in NY” Awards ceremony will return this fall after a decade of handing out the honors behind the scenes.

Created in 2006 by the Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment, the “Made in NY” Awards celebrate excellence in New York City’s creative community and recognize the achievements of individuals and organizations that have made significant contributions to NYC’s entertainment and digital media industries.

Prior recipients of the “Made in NY” award include 2024 Academy Award nominees Noah Baumbach, Danielle Brooks, Robert De Niro and Jeffrey Wright, as well as Awkwafina, Alex Borstein, Tina Fey, Caroline Hirsch, “Late Night with Seth Meyers,” Spike Lee, Audra McDonald, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Nas, Rosie Perez and “Sesame Street.”

From 2014 until earlier in 2024, no ceremony was held, and instead individual “Made in NY” Awards were presented to winners at various entertainment events throughout the city including the Gotham Awards and the Nywift Muse Awards.

Two legendary rappers have come together for a song. On Friday, LL Cool J released his collaboration with Eminem, “Murdergram Deux,” ahead of the release of his album The Force, which drops next Friday.

“Unapologetic and we’re gonna cause a headache. Me and L about to set it, we about to murdergram it/Anyone of y’all can get it,” raps Eminem on the bridge before LL Cool J comes in: “So you might as well forget it/Either way you will regret it, cemetery’s where you’re headed.

Wayne Brady debuted his reality TV show several weeks ago, mainly receiving positive reactions.

The series Wayne Brady: The Family Remix features Wayne with his ex-wife, Mandie Taketa, their daughter, Maile Brady, and Mandie’s boyfriend, Jason Fordham.

The group is known as the Core Four, and the episodes focus on the everyday lives of the unique blended family.

One of the topics examined in the episodes included the revelation that Wayne has a baby son, whom he shares with another woman who few knew about until the premiere episode.

Family Remix also covers Wayne’s coming out as pansexual, which he officially did in 2023.

However, while many viewers love the new show, others complained about the Freeform network and its reality TV series for some key reasons.

Viewers said they ‘couldn’t watch’ and called out network after Family Remix

Freeform network, Wayne Brady, and the various Family Remix...

Winsome Sinclair, the casting director who helped bring in actors for Waiting to Exhale, Amistad, Precious, The Best Man and a dozen films directed by Spike Lee, has died. She was 58.

Sinclair died Monday in hospice care on Long Island after a long battle with colon cancer, publicist Clorissa Wright-Thomas told The Hollywood Reporter. Her family was at her bedside.

The New York native launched the global casting agency Winsome Sinclair and Associates in New York in 1996, then relocated the business to Atlanta in 2014 amid that city’s production boom.

Sinclair also cast extras for the John Singleton-directed features Higher Learning (1995), 2 Fast 2 Furious (2003) and Abduction (2011), for the Malcolm D. Lee-helmed The Best Man (1999) and Barbershop: The Next Cut (2016) and for the Dee Rees-directed Pariah (2011) and Bessie (2015).

She handled similar duties on the Hughes brothers’ Dead Presidents (1995), Forest Whitaker’s Waiting to Exhale (1995), Steven Spielberg’s...

Perennial pioneers De La Soul will play a special show in New York City early next year where tickets will be available on a pay-what-you-want basis.

The gig will take place on Jan. 17, 2025, at the Wu Tsai Theater, David Geffen Hall, located in NYC’s historic Lincoln Center performing arts complex (the Wu Tsai is typically home to the New York Philharmonic). An on-sale date for tickets hasn’t been announced yet, but the suggested price per ticket is $35.

The Choose-What-You-Pay ticketing model is an ongoing Lincoln Center series designed...

Lin-Manuel Miranda and Eisa Davis have teamed up with Nas and producer Mike Elizondo for Warriors, a new hip-hop concept album based on the 1979 film The Warriors. The album will be out everywhere on October 18th via Atlantic Records.

The original film The Warriors was adapted from Sol Yurick’s 1965 novel of the same name, and follows a New York City street gang as they travel from Coney Island to the Bronx and back when they are framed for the murder of a respected gang leader, Cyrus. Now, Lin-Manuel Miranda and playwright and actress Eisa Davis have taken the gang’s multi-hour, 30 mile journey and adapted it into a musical score.

Nas serves as executive producer with Mike Elizondo assuming duties behind the boards. The project promises an “immersive” listening experience, as well as “star-studded cast of voices” lending their talents to Warriors, but no names have been revealed yet.

Lin-Manuel Miranda and Eisa Davis have teamed up with Nas and producer Mike Elizondo for Warriors, a new hip-hop concept album based on the 1979 film The Warriors. The album will be out everywhere on October 18th via Atlantic Records.

The original film The Warriors was adapted from Sol Yurick’s 1965 novel of the same name, and follows a New York City street gang as they travel from Coney Island to the Bronx and back when they are framed for the murder of a respected gang leader, Cyrus. Now, Lin-Manuel Miranda and playwright and actress Eisa Davis have taken the gang’s multi-hour, 30 mile journey and adapted it into a musical score.

Nas serves as executive producer with Mike Elizondo assuming duties behind the boards. The project promises an “immersive” listening experience, as well as “star-studded cast of voices” lending their talents to Warriors, but no names have been revealed yet.

It’s taken a year since it was announced, but Lin-Manuel Miranda and Eisa Davis’ adaptation of The Warriors is finally headed to Coney Island. But instead of stopping at Broadway — like you might expect from the Hamilton creator and Davis, who was a Pulitzer finalist for her play Bulrusher — the duo’s Warriors are going wide with a 26-track concept album, executive produced by Nas and produced by Mike Elizondo (50 Cent, Twenty-One Pilots). The record, which is based on the cult 1979 gangsploitation flick and Sol Yurick’s 1965 novel of the same name,...

Lin-Manuel Miranda and playwright-composer Eisa Davis announced today that their long-rumored Warriors musical adaptation is moving forward, with a concept album to be released October 18 on Atlantic Records.

The album will be executive produced by Grammy-winning rapper Nas and produced by Grammy winning musician Mike Elizondo.

“We’ve spent the past three years musicalizing the Warriors’ journey home, from the South Bronx to Coney Island,” Miranda and Davis said in a statement. “Along the way we’ve gotten to work with a lot of our favorite artists, and we’ll be announcing their roles on the album in the weeks ahead. We can’t wait to share these songs with you on October 18th.”

No word yet on the rumored stage musical.

The album will feature 26 songs inspired by the 1979 Paramount Pictures film The Warriors, based on the Sol Yurick novel.

Today’s announcement did not disclose who performs on...

Celebrity Family Feud fans want an investigation launched into the surveys. One of the surveys left them in disbelief. The survey asked people about the eight greatest rappers of all time. No one could guess who was on the list. The results baffled everybody. Keep on reading to learn more.

‘Jeopardy!’ Former Champ Isaac Hirsch Claps Back After Show Diss View Story The Top 8 Greatest Rappers Of All Time

Celebrity Family Feud featured guest stars Meghan Trainor and Tori Kelly. The singers competed for charity during the recent episode.

They had to ask several survey questions, most which centered around music and pop culture topics. Sounds simple at first. That is until they had to name the greatest rappers of all time.

Even host Steve Harvey was stumped. Both contestants and viewers at home couldn’t guess who was on the list. The question was, “Who is the greatest rapper of all time?...

Jennifer Lopez said she first discovered rap music while she was still in elementary school. She said the discovery made her almost giddy with excitement and she developed a lifelong love of the genre. While listing some of her favorite rappers, Lopez said she collaborated with one person she found “so cute.”

Jennifer Lopez said she found 1 famous rapper cute

Lopez grew up in the Bronx, and she said her favorite rapper is from a different New York City borough. She said that in her mind, few people could beat Nas.

“Nas is one of my favorite rappers of all time,” she said in a 2019 conversation with #Crwn’s Elliott Wilson (via Billboard). “Probably number one. No, he’s my number one. I haven’t heard anyone rap who hits me in that same way. That New York sensibility that he has, he sounds like the guys I grew up...

A recent survey on Celebrity Family Feud sent fans reeling. The survey asked for the top 8 greatest rappers of all time. Neither the contestants nor the viewers at home could believe who was on the list. Fans began to question who was polled.

Who Is The Greatest Rapper Of All Time?

Meghan Trainor and Tori Kelly went head-to-head during the July 16 episode of Celebrity Family Feud. Their teams were tasked with answering a number of survey questions and whatever they won would go to charity.

YouTube/Family Feud

One survey question left everyone stumped, including host Steve Harvey. Fans at home thought the survey results were absolutely ridiculous.

The question was, “Who is the greatest rapper of all time?” Meghan’s husband Daryl Sabara, and Tori’s husband Andre Murillo, both stood at the podium ready to answer. However, everyone was shocked when neither of their answers was on the board.

O.A.R. are geeking out over the fact that they got to work with producers Brady Watt and DJ Premier. On Friday, the rock band released their self-reflective “Gonna Be Me (the friendship song),” their first single of the year.

“The first time we played Madison Square Garden, we walked out to ‘Work’ by Gang Starr,” said vocalist and guitarist Marc Roberge in a press release, referring to the Premier-produced track. “DJ Premier is such a giant in music, but also in the world of O.A.R. To...

Tensions have been running high in hip-hop over the last few months since Kendrick Lamar unofficially declared 2024 the Year of the Hater. This hunger for confrontation has spilled over the edge so much that rappers are now finding themselves at odds not with another rapper but with that artist’s fanbase. Big Sean is the latest musician to get caught in a battle of pettiness and disrespect, with his opponent being Kanye West’s fanbase — a member of which allegedly leaked the Detroit rapper’s upcoming album.

During his recent freestyle on On the Radar,...

Contestants were tested on their knowledge of rap’s fiercest battles during Tuesday’s episode of Jeopardy! Listed under the category “Diss-Track-Tions,” Drake and Kendrick Lamar’s beef got shout-outs during the broadcast.

“In May 2024, these 2 competitors went back and forth with tracks like ‘Family Matters’ and ‘Meet the Grahams,'” read the $800 prompt, to which contestant Isaac responded: “Who are Kendrick Lamar and Drake?”

Elsewhere in the column, Jay-Z and Nas’ yearslong beef received a shout-out with a $2,000 prompt that read, “The title of this hate letter from Nas...

LL Cool J has announced his first album in 11 years, with the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee assembling an impressive guest list for new LP The Force.

Eminem, Nas, Snoop Dogg, Rick Ross, Fat Joe, Saweetie, and Busta Rhymes are just some of the talents that grace LL’s 14th studio album and first since 2013’s Authentic, with Q-Tip serving as producer on the entire project.

“We’re talking 14 tracks of straight fire, all crafted by myself and the one and only Q-Tip,” LL said in a statement.

LL Cool J has announced The Force (Frequencies of Real Creative Energy), his first new album in 11 years. It’s out in full on September 6th via Def Jam Recordings/Virgin Music Group, but you can hear the second single “Passion” below.

The 14-track project was entirely produced by A Tribe Called Quest’s Q-Tip and is packed with all-star features from Eminem, Nas, Snoop Dogg, Rick Ross, Busta Rhymes, Saweetie, and more. In a recent interview with the Associated Press, LL Cool J described the process of recording the album as relearning his craft.

“[I was] going back to the drawing board and learning how to rap again,” he said. “The LeBrons, the Stephs, the Jordans and the Kobes, they all go back to the drawing board, they always try to make themselves better. I wasn’t trying to do trendy, and I wasn’t trying to recapture anything I did before.

After a prolonged wait, The Death of Slim Shady has finally hit the radio, and it’s safe to say that it lives up to fans’ expectations of the potential swansong of Slim Shady. Set to serve as a goodbye to Eminem’s breakout character, the acclaimed rapper hasn’t held back with it, especially with some of the darker songs in the tracklist, such as Antichrist.

It’s not uncommon for the Rap God artist to take digs at viral sensations, whether it be Michael Jackson or Britney Spears back in the day. And with Antichrist, The Marshall Mathers LP artist took shots at Nicki Minaj and Megan Thee Stallion’s ugly beef, which hasn’t sat well with everyone.

Eminem References Megan Thee Stallion and Nicki Minaj’s Beef in Antichrist Eminem in Houdini Music Video | The Dead of Slim Shady (EminemMusic/YouTube.)

Despite collaborating on Hot Girl...

Get your Fourth of July festivities started with these sun-soaked soundtracks perfect for grilling, chilling, and everything in between.

July 4th SoundtracksThemed mixes, countdowns & moreListen on the App

Listen on the App

Explore star-spangled Independence Day specials spanning genres and decades, jam out to all-American country hits and classic rock anthems, and light up the night with mixes from hip-hop’s hottest DJs, killer pop and R&b “Song of the Summer” countdowns, and more.

No need to wait for fireworks; unlock sparks of summer joy in the SiriusXM app anytime.

Fourth of July music specials on SiriusXM 90s on 9

Phat 9 Summer Edition: Spyder Harrison counts down the top nine summer songs of the 1990s.

90s on 9Phat 9 Summer EditionListen on the App

Listen on the App

Bpm

Palm Tree Festival: July 4 starting at 10am Et, hear sets from Swedish House Mafia, Kygo, Sofi Tukker, and more — recorded live...

Nowadays, Shaquille O’Neal is best known for his work on Inside the NBA and as an Icy Hot pitchman, but he made his name as one of the most dominant basketball players of all time. This gave Shaq a leg up in pursuing rapping, and he released four albums in the 1990s. His third effort, You Can’t Stop the Reign, is now on streaming, and it notably features Jay-Z and Nas’ first collaboration.

The streaming version of “No Love Lost” marks the first time we’re officially hearing the original track. Apparently, Nas didn’t clear his verse for the album’s 1996 release.

Though Shaq had become a capable Mc three albums into his career and Lord Tariq is talented in his own right, Jay and Nas are obviously the main attractions on “No Love Lost.”

Both in their mafioso eras, neither artist disappoints, with Jay rapping, “We stepped it up,...

Jay-Z and Nas’ earliest collaboration has finally gotten an official release on the reissue of — seriously — Shaquille O’Neal’s 1996 album, You Can’t Stop the Reign.

The song is called “No Love Lost,” and it features Shaq alongside Jay, Nas, and fellow New York City Mc Lord Tariq. But when the track was first released in the mid-90s, only Jay-Z and Lord Tariq appeared alongside the NBA star. Nas had written and recorded a verse for the song, but as O’Neal explained during a 2022 appearance on Drink Champs,...

Hip-hop duo Clipse are set to cement their reunion with a new album coming sometime in the “next year” produced entirely by Pharrell Williams.

Shortly after their new song titled “Birds Don’t Sing” was played in the background at Louis Vuitton’s Spring 2025 Menswear show on Tuesday (June 18th), brothers Pusha T and Malice (who has officially dropped the “No” from his name) spoke with Vulture about their first album in 15 years.

“The next year is going to be filled with appearances, touring, and a rap album of the year,” Push pronounced, before describing the project as “curated,” “a high taste-level piece of work,” and the “supreme maturation of a rap duo.”

He continued, “You can only have that level of taste when you have the fundamentals down to a science.” Malice added, “It’s what rap should look like if you’re real about your craft, real about your experience,...

The actor and director came together for a Mean Streets reunion at Tribeca film festival, with superfan Nas asking the questions

On paper, it had a certain Mad Libs quality to it: the Tribeca film festival programmed a fiftieth anniversary screening of downtown classic Mean Streets, with star and festival co-founder Robert De Niro on hand for a Q&a along with director Martin Scorsese – the curveball being that those questions were asked by none other than rapper, lifelong New Yorker, and evident film buff Nas.

The seeming incongruence faded away pretty quickly, and not just when Nas recalled shooting his Street Dreams music video as scrupulous homage to the Scorsese/De Niro joint Casino. He set the stage for the event by expressing everything Mean Streets means and has meant to him, part of the longstanding mutual admiration between gangster cinema and hip-hop. As a restless young man in...

Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro presented their first collaboration, the 1973 crime drama “Mean Streets,” and then discussed the film during a De Niro Con presentation at the Tribeca Film Festival.

The celebration of the film’s 50th anniversary took place Saturday at the Beacon Theatre, where the screening was followed by a conversation between Scorsese and De Niro, moderated by legendary rapper Nas.

While “Mean Streets” was the beginning of their 10-film, 50-plus year creative journey together, Scorsese said their introduction first came at a Christmas dinner, where they were urged into conversation by another to-be-legendary filmmaker: Brian De Palma. Although the pair grew up just two blocks away and heard talk of each other in the neighborhood, they had never been properly introduced until that fateful night.

“Bob was sitting there after dinner and then he looked at me and they had gone inside or something,” Scorsese said.

Robert De Niro feels he’s been extremely “fortunate to wind up with Marty” for all these years, and Martin Scorsese returned the compliment as the actor and director sat down after a screening of Mean Streets, the 1973 film that marked their first collaboration, and Scorsese’s breakout. They went on to make nine more features together.

The two grew up together in Manhattan’s Lower East Side, an Italian enclave populated with low level mafiosi. De Niro’s “Johnny Boy” Civello in Mean Streets, a reckless but charming small-time gambler deeply in debt to loan sharks, was based on people they both knew, the duo told a Q&a with rapper Nas after the packed screening at the Beacon Theater. The climatic final scene, a car chase, shooting and crash, was inspired by a trauma Scorsese said he barely escaped – getting out of a car only a few minutes before it smashed.

Camila Cabello and Lil Nas X are fighting over a man. Well, at least in their new “He Knows” video, which dropped Wednesday.

“I’ve just never seen that in a video before,” Cabello tells Rolling Stone about seeing a guy and a girl fight over a love interest. “I just loved the idea of us fighting over this fluid guy, who we don’t know which way he’s leaning. We both would have so much fun with this and have so much fun with the video, so we...