All rappers have a story and a history of making music that precedes their fame since it takes a lot of time, hard work, and the right person hearing your talent before working your way up to success. There’s also a lot of growth between the time one rapper starts and is signed or makes his or her way onto the Hot 100 charts, and that is definitely noticeable in this video that has surfaced of a young, likely teenager Desiigner rapping before any of us knew him as the “Panda” shouting, “Tiimmy Turner” burning, G.O.O.D. Music artist we know today.
Wale got into a pretty random altercation outside of West Hollywood nightclub Bootsy Bellows Tuesday night. In a video captured by TMZ, Wale is seen following a woman outside the club. “Are you really following us?” she’s heard asking, before she blows a large cloud of cigarette smoke in his face. Naturally, Wale didn’t take too kindly to that, and dramatically smacks her plate of food out of her hand. The woman’s friend then separates the two as they continue to argue back and forth. It’s not clear exactly what they were fighting over, who started it or how things ended, but Wale looks very pissed, especially after getting a face full of cigarette smoke.
On Tuesday night, Kid Cudi posted on Facebook that he has checked himself into “rehab for depression and suicidal urges.”
He told fans that “anxiety and depression have ruled my life for as long as I can remember and I never leave the house because of it… I dont trust anyone because of it and Im tired of being held back in my life. I deserve to have peace. I deserve to be happy and smiling.”
Having become an entirely-free man within recent weeks, Gucci Mane is hitting the road to run the gauntlet of media outlets. Among a host of other high-profile interviews, Guwop sat down with XXL for a fall cover story. Speaking to XXL, the Atlanta legend revealed the unique process behind signing Young Thug to Brick Squad a few years ago. Recalling a particular studio session with fellow Atlanta champion Peewee Longway, Gucci shares:
When Pewee got to the studio, Peewee brought Thug and two other guys… Peewee is like ‘Gucci listen, they hard, they’re the ones who got me to start rapping, sign them!’ I had a bag with some money and got $25,000 out and I signed Thug right there. Never even heard a song from him … I value Peewee’s opinion so much … From that day on, Thug didn’t leave the studio, he spent the night there. He’d have 30 people in the studio, but he’d never leave … I already had Scooter and I was working with Dolph … I didn’t really know what I had with Thug, I was just taking a chance. A week later I was like ‘oh, he’s a star.’ Once we did [a] video, and I seen Thug doing the video, I’m like ‘he a star, he outta here,’ and I started putting more focus on him.'”
Gucci Mane also shared his thoughts regarding the modern rap game’s new wave, the latest trends in hip-hop’s sound and more. You can check out a video of Guwop’s XXL interview below.
Damian Marley is extending the Marley legacy and brand in new and creative ways with a series of cannabis-related ventures. According to a new article in Billboard, the youngest son of reggae superstar Bob Marley is eschewing the more traditional celebrity licensing deal, and instead is creating and investing in a series of pot-themed business ideas.
Among these are Stony Hill, a dispensary in Denver; and a proprietary strain of weed called Speak Life. But the most notable, ambitious, and thematically fitting of Marley’s plans is the project of turning a former California state prison into a cannabis cultivation facility.
As the host of Most Expensive Shit, 2 Chainz doesn’t have any time for cheap things. So when a paparazzi greeted him at LAX sporting an old-school, handheld camcorder he decided to have some fun. “Be real my nigga, you need to step your camera up,” he said upon seeing the camera. “I might do something for this one. That shit ain’t really showing how clear my shit shine.” The paparazzi then fumbled through an excuse before 2 Chainz cut him off again. “You gotta step your camera up. That shit like VCR or some shit,” he cracked. “If you a hustler, get you a real camera when you filming me.”
Considering 2 Chainz has recently been on video smoking out of a $50,000 bong, eating $1,000 ice cream, and even using a $4,000 toothbrush on his GQ show Most Expensive Shit, he’s certainly no stranger to the finer things in life. Still, you gotta feel a bit bad for the paparazzi, who probably gets mercilessly clowned on by his fellow paps after 2 Chainz leaves.
Before he gets into his car, 2 Chainz answers one question about the funeral of Shawty Lo. After Lo died, his casket made one final stop at his favorite strip club. When asked about his thoughts on it, 2 Chainz summed it up simply. “That’s legend,” he said. The paparazzis sounded surprised by the funeral plans, to which 2 Chainz replied “That’s cuz you not from Atlanta.”
You can check out the whole hilarious exchange below courtesy of TMZ.
Halle Berry cleared up rumors that she slept with Ric Flair by saying she’s never even heard of him.
J Cole’s Twitter account was hacked, and the person responsible tweeted about Kim Kardashian’s alleged robbery.
Rich the Kid’s wife, Lady Luscious, is calling out the rapper, claiming that domestic abuse and infidelity caused the pair to split.
In a sit down with The Shade Room, Luscious alleged that Rich had been physically and verbally abusive throughout their three-year relationship, and that was ultimately the reason she filed for divorce. She has since removed him from her LA home and moved back to Atlanta.
Luscious’ sister later posted graphic photos of the alleged abuse on Instagram with several pictures of Luscious looking visibly beaten. “I see so many people writing goals under other ppl relationship post/pictures but you never really know what goes on behind the scenes,” she captioned the photo. “My sister @realladyluscious is married to @richthekid a rapper who ppl look up to that degrades and disrespect her as if he doesn’t even know he’s married and has two kids (one on the way.)”
Rich went to Atlanta to get his family back, according to Luscious, but he has been publicly denying knowing Elle or abusing her. He posted a video claiming that she stole $2,500 from his bank account and that she’s now just lashing out since he won’t pay her car note. “I don’t know what the fuck they talking about,” he told his fans in a video where he denied every physically harming women. “Beat up, female, black what. No, I don’t do that. I would never put my hands on a female in my life.”
For her part, Luscious shot back by sharing the pair’s marriage license and a video of a message the rapper left on her voicemail while claiming that he has been calling her and her mom all morning. Someone from Rich’s Rich Forever Music team told Complex, “It is fake. He’s just got back from Paris,” while Rich the Kid explicitly told XXL in a statement that “This is a false allegation. I would never and have never hit a female.”
Dreamville rapper Bas quietly dropped one of the year’s most promising albums with Too High to Riot. With the project still resonating several months later, Bas returns with a set of visuals for his track “Dopamine” featuring Cozz. The video premiered exclusively on Tidal Monday.
“Dopamine” originally debuted on Bas’ Too High to Riot back in March. He discussed the inspiration behind the album with Complex earlier this year. “It’s really about just those sobering moments,” he said. “I think we live in almost a fantasy world. You’re traveling the world, getting all this love from your fans, getting all this support from people, making money. You’re living this fantasy lifestyle, and then you can get snapped out of it in a phone call. You know, just get some bad news you weren’t around for—-someone you care about passing away, someone going to jail, your girlfriend tripping. It’s about all of those things.”
Aside from his own work, Bas also made a big impression with his J. Cole collaboration “Night Job,” which first appeared on the Dreamville group project Revenge of the Dreamers II and later ended up on Too High to Riot as well.
As a Tidal Rising artist, Bas is actually getting supporting the second leg of his Too High to Riot Tour from Tidal. The tour is hitting a number of venues throughout France, Netherlands, Germany, and the UK in November.