Jay Z doesn’t have anything to do with the Nets anymore. After he decided to start Roc Nation Sports and begin representing pro athletes, the NBA told him he needed to sell off his minority stake in the Nets, which severed his ties with the organization. But it seems he still has a soft spot for his hometown team as well as their crosstown rival.
It looks like Young Thug might not be the only one in his family with a prolific rap career ahead of him, because as it turns out, his daughter can definitely hold her own when it comes to rapping, too. Just take a look at the freestyle she just dropped.
Mobb Deep’s own Havoc is the latest guest on the weekly Drink Champs podcast and he dropped a bomb on hosts N.O.R.E. and DJ EFN on an upcoming episode. It turns out Prince actually worked on Mobb Deep’s song “Thou Shall Not Kill” that featured none other than Snoop Dogg.
They were in the studio recording when someone notice Prince was also in the building. “I was making the beat, and then I was like ‘Holy shit, Prince.’ Then, I was like ‘Is there anything I need to do to the beat?’ He was like ‘Hold on’ and then he got on the keyboard and just started…He was that cool,” Havoc said. Of course, the only thing left to do was for Snoop to rap over the Prince-assisted beat. After everything, “Prince walked out and didn’t even say bye.”
It sounds like Havoc has a lot more to share about all of his time in the studio. The full interview doesn’t arrive until Friday, but watch Havoc tell the whole story in the clip above and listen for Prince’s keys on the song below.
Larry Wilmore hosted a roundtable discussion on his show yesterday about the controversy surrounding Justin Timberlake’s response to Jesse Williams’ speech at the BET Awards. During the segment, Vic Mensa explained that the reason the tweets felt so disengenuous was due to Timberlake’s selective engagement with black culture.
“Our problem here is that Justin Timberlake himself–you know–is definitely benefiting from using black culture for his sound, his dance moves, his dancers, and blowing up off of it,” Vic said. “But if you roll down Justin Timberlake’s Twitter for the past two years, which I just did, you see nothing that supports black people when it’s more difficult, when there’s a struggle.”
Vic went on to list several major incidents that affect the black community, including the water crisis in Flint, the BlackLivesMatter movement, and the riots in Baltimore. He noted that while Timberlake claimed to be “inspired” by Williams’ speech, he wasn’t doing enough to engage the community he was benefiting from. “That’s a dangerous subject for him to touch,” Vic said. “We’re not feeling him being down when it’s beneficial to him, and turning a blind eye when it could be dangerous.” He finished out the discussion by saying “Sit down until you show us you care. Don’t tell us shit unless you show us you care.”
Mensa later tweeted a clarification to his comments, saying that he wasn’t trying to bash Timberlake specifically, but rather to explain why many black people had a problem with cultural appropriation issues.
My statements on @TheNightlyShow were not to bash Justin timberlake. I was just shedding some light on the idea of cultural appropriation
— still alive (@VicMensa) June 30, 2016
Why did Iggy Azalea end her engagement to Nick Young recently? That’s the question everyone has been trying to answer ever since she announced she had broken up with Young early last week.
Initially, the thought was that she did it as a result of the D’Angelo Russell scandal. The Instagram message that she sent out announcing the breakup—“Although I love Nick and have tried to rebuild my trust in him,” she wrote, “it’s become apparent in the last few weeks I am unable to”—seemed to indicate that there were still trust issues between Iggy and Young in light of the Russell situation. But on Wednesday, an explosive Life & Style report suggested there might be a different reason for the split. According to the report, Iggy decided to break up with Young after he got his ex-girlfriend Keonna Green, the mother of his 4-year-old son Nick Jr., pregnant. Young reportedly told Iggy he “was drunk and had a lapse in judgement,” and Iggy ended their relationship a short time later.
In a new interview, Ghostface Killah claims he will be the guiding force behind an upcoming Wu-Tang Clan album. While speaking with HipHopDX, the Staten Island rapper revealed how RZA agreed to give him control over the new project.
“RZA put the ball in my hand,” he explained. “He said ‘Yo, I want you to do it,’ and I been wanting to do it, and that’s a big test for me right there.”
Ghost went on to say that he would begin work on the album himself before bringing in the rest of the group.
“I’m going to do my part first and let them know what I did and then have them listen to that and follow my lead,” he elaborated. “It’s like how they do in sports with athletes. It’s like alright, just follow my lead.”
In addition to the Wu album, the rapper also talked about how he was planning a sequel to his classic 2000 solo album, Supreme Clientele. He mentioned Rick Ross and Mobb Deep as potential features, but did not let any other details loose.
In addition to talking about music, Ghost discussed a number of other topics during the wide-ranging interview. He had some choice words for infamous “pharma-bro” Martin Shkreli, with whom he traded shots earlier this year. “If I ever would’ve seen that dude, I might’ve literally smacked his f*****g head off,” he said.
Ghost also discussed new rappers he’s feeling, including Drake, Uncle Murda, and ScHoolboy Q, the last of whom he met for the first time only a few days ago.
On Monday, in response to stylist/model Ian Connor’s fight with rappers A$AP Bari and Theophilus London in Paris and the flurry of bitter social media accusations that followed, Complex published a timeline of the L.A.-based 23-year-old’s rise and fall in the fashion and music industries. The timeline was based on major milestones in Connor’s career that have been documented online and in the fashion press, from his start on Tumblr to the recent allegations of rape made by six women to last week’s fight, and his apparent falling out with London and Bari. Connor’s association with celebrities like Kanye West, Wiz Khalifa, and A$AP Rocky meant that other bold-faced names were also mentioned within the recap; London, 29—who initially supported Connor with a tweet that said “Ian Connor Innocent,” then later accused him of sexual assault—featured prominently.
The Kanye West x adidas line is here to stay. On Wednesday morning, the brand went public with details of a long-term relationship with West that will include the creation of sneakers, apparel, gear, and retail stores for his Yeezy line. The new partnership between the two will form an entity called “adidas + KANYE WEST.”
Kid Cudi has been on a hot streak with his recent music releases, winning over fans with his songs “Goodbye,” “All In,” and “The Frequency.” Now, ahead of the upcoming release of his new album Passion, Pain, & Demon Slayin, Cudi took to Twitter to reveal that he has new music in the works with none other than Pharrell. “Got some magic from Pharrell last nite,” he wrote. “New collabs, new energy, new frequency.”
On Tuesday afternoon, Cash Money boss Birdman appeared on ESPN’s Highly Questionable to talk about sleeping on a million dollars and playing Madden with Lil Wayne. The entire interview was pretty entertaining, especially the part about sleeping on that much money, because who does that? Well, Birdman does. However, most of the reaction to the interview is coming from Lil Wayne’s end when he tweeted shortly after it aired that the entire episode was “Hiiiiiighly questionable.”