RAYE is riding high off the release of 21st Century Blues, her debut album from earlier this month. The 25-year-old British songstress achieved two debuts this week: Her first-ever US television performance and her first-ever New York Fashion Week.

RAYE belted out “Escapism” with 070 Shake on last night’s (February 15) The Late Show With Stephen Colbert. She opened the performance with a perfectly classic, almost nostalgic vibe — delivering her distinctly evocative vocals while sat at the piano and backed with the show’s horn section.

RAYE stepped out from behind the keys for an emphatic second verse: “Been some dark days lately and I’m findin’ it cripplin’ / Excuse my state, I’m as high as your hopes / That you’ll make it to my bed, get me hot and sizzlin’ / If I take a step back to see the glass half-full / At least it’s the Prada two-piece that I’m trippin’ in.”

The set steadily gained momentum and peaked just as 070 Shake sauntered on to the stage to scale it back down to the simmering pace RAYE began with.

“Escapism” became RAYE’s first career No. 1 on the UK charts in January, which she reflected on with Uproxx around 21st Century Blues‘ arrival last week.

“It’s so exciting as an artist to have chart success or mainstream success, but that was never my main goal,” RAYE said. “My main goal is artistic integrity and just loving wholeheartedly what I share with the world and having some time to reassess that and make that the primary. It’s been a really beautiful, ugly, gorgeous, terrible, fun, and liberating process.”

RAYE also shared the inspiration behind the track’s messaging: “I think, as a woman, when you’re processing such things in life, there are not really any healthy outlets for it. I think women do stereotypically face a lot of pressure to seem like they’ve got everything together — to be polite, to be smiley, to be kind, and grateful, and all of this stuff. So I wanted to create a story that was very blunt and honest about that time in my life.”

RAYE enjoyed unabashed expression in a different medium at New York Fashion Week, where she caught up with the likes of Ice Spice and Lil Nas X. Check out RAYE’s snaps from NYFW below, or watch her “Escapism” performance above.

source https://uproxx.com/music/raye-070-shake-escapism-colbert/

source https://trapbeats2023.blogspot.com/2023/02/raye-and-070-shake-brought-escapism-to.html

There’s nothing Mary J. Blige can’t do, and there’s very little she hasn’t done over the last two years.

In June 2021, her My Life documentary hit Amazon Prime Video. Last year involved an Emmy-winning Super Bowl LVI halftime show and the release of her album Good Morning Gorgeous, which generated six nominations at this month’s 2023 Grammys, where she performed the title track.

And so far, 2023 is shaping up to be another epic year in Blige’s decades-long iconic career. In December, Deadline reported Blige’s Blue Butterfly production company was partnering with BET on a “first-look non-scripted deal and a second-look scripted deal,” including a forthcoming talk show billed as The Wine Down.

We now have the official Wine Down trailer:

The caption teases, “The Queen of Hip Hop Soul, @therealmaryjblige invites you to her brand new raw and unfiltered series. Join Mary and some of her close friends for intimate conversations about life. Grab a glass and get ready for #TheWineDownBET. See you March 1st 10/9c!”

In the clip, Blige says, “Make some room ’cause something big is happening. You all know me as Mary, the entertainer, but I can’t wait for you to get to know Mary, the friend. This is what I always wanted to do. It’s a show that’s about me hanging out with people who I love, respect and admire. This is what conversations like this are for. It’s for people to hear us.”

The teaser features Blige sitting down with 50 Cent, Taraji P. Henson, and Yung Miami.

If The Wine Down isn’t enough to satisfy fans, Blige also has a children’s book due out next month. Pre-order Mary Can! here.

source https://uproxx.com/music/mary-j-blige-wine-down-trailer-bet/

source https://trapbeats2023.blogspot.com/2023/02/mary-j-bliges-new-trailer-for-her-talk.html

The mid-2000s were a different time. Hoobastank had a hit in 2003 with “The Reason,” and the band would follow The Reason the album by getting to work on Every Man For Himself, which came out in 2006. Around this same time, Rihanna was on her way to becoming a star, as her 2005 debut single “Pon De Replay” was a major success. Believe it or not, in this era, Hoobastank and Rihanna’s paths crossed when the two collaborated.

After Rihanna’s recent Super Bowl Halftime Show performance, Hoobastank singer Doug Robb tweeted, “True story. There is a version of a @Hoobastank song featuring @rihanna when she was a ‘newer’ artist. Displaying a total lack of foresight, we didn’t use that version of the song for the album. We also didn’t think The Reason was a single though either so… Oops.”

Robb later expanded on that story, telling Consequence:

“Back when we were recording our third album, Every Man For Himself, we were approached by someone at our label, Island Def Jam, about potentially featuring a ‘new artist’ on one of the songs. This kind of stuff happens all the time. We said, ‘Sure. Who do you have in mind?’ It was Rihanna. I had never heard of her. I don’t think anyone else in the band had, either, at the time.

We gave her camp a song called ‘Inside Of You.’ I think they rearranged some of the music to create a pre-chorus section, that wasn’t originally part of the arrangement, for her to sing a small part on. We heard it and didn’t really love it so we passed on using it. It’s really just that simple. I think we had already gotten used to hearing the song as it was written so it just felt weird to us. […]

I think if we had done a proper collaboration with her, writing the song knowing there was gonna be another artist on it and making space for it, we probably would have felt differently and used it. I think the way we did it was just wrong. The paint had already dried so to speak. Well, it was that, plus a stunning lack of vision to see what a star Rihanna was going to be. […]

We’d run into her at various award shows after and she was always very sweet and super cool. I think everything worked out ok for her in the end. [crying laughing emoji].”

As Robb famously sang on “The Reason,” “I’m not a perfect person / There’s many things I wish I didn’t do.” For example: turn down a Rihanna collab.

Listen to the Rihanna-less “Inside Of You” below.

source https://uproxx.com/music/rihanna-hoobastank-collaboration-inside-of-you/

source https://trapbeats2023.blogspot.com/2023/02/rihanna-and-hoobastank-once.html

While Rihanna is one of the most prolific pop icons of our time, she prefers to keep her personal life private. This past weekend, during her Super Bowl halftime performance, she revealed she is expecting her second child. As of now, we don’t even know much about her firstborn child, other than a TikTok she shared last year.

In a recent interview with British Vogue, she revealed that she shared that TikTok specifically so she could beat the paparazzi to the punch, as they were waiting to capture a photo of her son when Rihanna, ASAP Rocky, and their baby were about to get out of a limo.

“It’s the thing you never want to happen,” she said “We get to decide as parents when and how we do that. End of story. Throw me to the wolves. Do what you want with me. But he doesn’t have a say in any of this. We’ve been protecting him thus far and you don’t have any consent to be posting photos or selling photos of my child, a minor. Get the hell out of here with that.”

She continued, saying, “I just went straight into protective mode. Like there wasn’t even time for rage. [Rocky and me] drove up to the trailer area and we sat in the car chatting and working out how we move forward. As parents, it just feels so icky, like a violation.”

As of now, its safe to say she’s keeping details about her family as air-tight as she is details about her upcoming ninth album.

source https://uproxx.com/music/rihanna-tiktok-son-paparazzi-run-in/

source https://trapbeats2023.blogspot.com/2023/02/rihanna-shared-adorable-first-tiktok-of.html

The NBA likes to find ways for people outside of the world of basketball to get involved in its All-Star festivities. The obvious way is for folks to participate in the Celebrity Game on Friday, but over the years, the league has made the entire weekend into a larger and larger event, with some of the biggest names in the world of entertainment playing prominent roles.

On Wednesday, the NBA announced the various celebrities and artists who will participate in All-Star weekend this time around. Things will begin on Friday night, when Ben Affleck will hop on the mic for the Celebrity Game to announce the participants — you can see who is playing in this year’s game right here.

Sunday’s game will be a star-studded affair right from the jump. Jewel and Jully Black will sing the national anthems of the United States and Canada, respectively, while Post Malone will put on a pregame show after the All-Star Draft. And before things tip off, Vin Diesel is slated to do the intros for this year’s game.

And for this year’s All-Star halftime show, the league will turn to Burna Boy, Tems, and Rema.

The festivities on Sunday are slated to begin with the All-Star Draft at 7:30 p.m. EST on TNT.

source https://uproxx.com/dimemag/nba-all-star-game-2023-performers-vin-diesel-ben-affleck-burna-boy-rema-tems/

source https://trapbeats2023.blogspot.com/2023/02/vin-diesel-will-perform-introductions.html

It’s no secret that Cardi B and her husband Offset are one of rap’s more touchy-feely couples — and that’s kind of an understatement. In reality, the couple can’t keep their hands off of each other, putting on public displays of affection anywhere the mood strikes. That even includes the Grammys red carpet and Super Bowl commercial for their joint meal at McDonald’s.

So of course, Valentine’s Day is more or less their unofficial holiday. And while Cardi’s timeline for the majority of the day was made up of promotional retweets for the aforementioned McDonald’s meal, she made sure to get a few fit pics up ahead of the holiday with a special request for her hubby. “Excuse me …..can I sit on top of you?” she captioned the photos, which captured her arrival at their hotel, the spectacular view, and her glistening jewelry.

And although she hasn’t quite shared the couple’s plans, apparently, things went well:

The couple had been keeping things low-key for the last couple of months as Cardi comforted Offset in the wake of the death of his bandmate and family member Takeoff. However, that hasn’t stopped Cardi from teasing fans with her first album in five years. That’ll be one gift we can all appreciate.

Cardi B is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

source https://uproxx.com/music/cardi-b-valentines-day-pics/

source https://trapbeats2023.blogspot.com/2023/02/cardi-b-makes-request-that-only-offset.html

Lil Yachty’s song “Poland” proved to be one of the biggest viral hits of 2022. Though it didn’t appear on his 2023 album Let’s Start Here, which features Yachty experimenting with more psychedelic sounds, he revealed “Poland” was made during downtime in the album’s studio sessions.

In an interview with Apple Music 1’s Zane Lowe, he said he was initially frustrated after the song leaked.

“That was irritating,” he said. “I was pissed because I made ‘Poland’ while making this album on a day when they were mixing sh*t in the other room and I was just bored with the homies, and I would’ve never dropped ‘Poland,’ ever, because I was trying to pivot myself into this. So I was really irritated when it dropped, but I’m so grateful it did. And like I said, I really don’t know what I do next. I don’t know if I’m going to do this again or do more rap sh*t… I’ll figure it out.”

Last month, Yachty announced he was assembling an all-woman band. Elsewhere in the interview with Lowe, he revealed his inspiration behind the idea.

“I just wanted to show how sick women can rap,” said Yachty. “I feel like… I was just in rehearsal yesterday. I just feel like women don’t get as much respect as men when it comes to the music industry. So I was like, ‘These songs are pretty badass, and I want to show women playing them.’ They didn’t make it, but I want to show they can do it, not better. So that was my vision.”

Find the full interview above.

source https://uproxx.com/music/lil-yachty-irritated-poland-leaked/

source https://trapbeats2023.blogspot.com/2023/02/lil-yachty-was-intially-irritated-when.html

50 Cent (Curtis Jackson) has made an immensely successful crossover to television in recent years, as he made both the Power franchise and Black Mafia Family shows at Starz before leaving his deal last September. While he’s produced projects here and there since 2003, according to his IMDb, his Starz creations have had a massive impact — even if his relationship with the network grew rocky.

“09-17-22 official day of really owning my content and deciding where and how I do it moving forward,” he shared on Instagram at the time.

Now, Jackson has his sights on another network in a newly-announced non-exclusive deal with Fox. Jackson and his G-Unit Film & Television production company will develop “scripted dramas, live-action comedies, and animated series,” according to Variety.

“I am excited to formalize a partnership with Michael Thorn and Fox that will allow G-Unit Film & Television to focus on putting multiple series on Fox, a perfect broadcast destination for G-Unit Film & Television content while our premium, streaming, scripted, and non-scripted slates continue to grow in all directions,” Jackson shared in a statement.

Sharing the news on Instagram, 50 also wrote, “How’s your day going, mine is going good. Happy Valentine’s Day GLG GreenLightGang i don’t miss.”

“Whether it’s music, film, or television, Curtis always delivers premium entertainment that captivates millions of fans across the globe,” Fox Entertainment president Michael Thorn added. “He is the rare multi-hyphenate with a deft hand at storytelling, no matter the format or medium, and we’re looking forward to developing new and exciting series for Fox with him and his team.”

In addition to Jackson’s credits, G-Unit (not to be confused with his former hip-hop collective) is still in development on Fightland and Queen Nzinga at Starz. The company also produced ABC’s For Life and WeTV’s Hip Hop Homicides.

source https://uproxx.com/music/50-cent-fox-tv-deal/

source https://trapbeats2023.blogspot.com/2023/02/50-cent-signed-new-tv-deal-with-fox-and.html

Shortly before 2022 wrapped up, Seth Meyers and Lizzo spent some time together day-drinking for a Late Night segment. One of the many fun moments from that was when Lizzo saw Late Night writer Seth Reiss in a mask and thought he was Paul Rudd. Once he took his mask off, though, Lizzo exploded into laughter before changing her position and declaring the two don’t look anything alike.

Fast-forward to last night (February 14): Rudd was a guest on Late Night and he and Meyers discussed the Lizzo segment.

Rudd noted, “When I heard Lizzo say my name, I was like, ‘Ooh!’ I got all excited [laughs]. By the way, it’s a weird thing when you’re not expecting to hear that and you hear it.” He went on to call her “so funny” and “so charming.”

Meyers then cut to a clip of Lizzo confusing Reiss for Rudd, and when that ended, Rudd was wearing a mask, as Reiss was in the video. A masked Reiss then emerged to pose next to Rudd, and indeed, there was some definite similarity there.

“You know what? Not as bad as I thought,” Meyers proclaimed. “I owe an apology to Lizzo.”

Watch the Rudd interview above and revisit the original Lizzo segment below.

Lizzo is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

source https://uproxx.com/music/paul-rudd-lizzo-late-night-writer-day-drinking-seth-meyers/

source https://trapbeats2023.blogspot.com/2023/02/paul-rudd-was-delighted-by-lizzo.html

Drake has been in the headlines quite a bit recently, given his ties to XXXTentacion’s murder trial. Some might be wondering: what exactly is the Canadian rapper’s connection to it all?

One of the suspect’s lawyers, Mauricio Padilla, tried to subpoena Drake in January before a judge gave a mandatory order that he has to appear for a deposition by February 24 — or he will be held in contempt of court.

Drake’s lawyer, Bradford M. Cohen, has since responded to the deposition filing, according to Rolling Stone.

“No evidence has been provided to substantiate the assertion that [Drake] in any way contributed to, had knowledge of, or participated in the alleged incident, and to mandate that he appear for deposition for something that he very clearly has no relevant knowledge of is unreasonable,” he shared.

Padilla had previously included Drake on a potential witness list, despite the four men already being charged in connection with XXXTentacion’s 2018 death. Earlier this month, the lawyer also alluded to a social media post that supposedly proved Drake’s involvement in the murder.

“If anyone tries to kill me it was @champagnepapi,” XXXTentacion reportedly wrote in an eventually-deleted Instagram Story. “I’m snitching right now.”

However, he later denied the post, writing online, “Please stop entertaining that bullsh*t on Twitter. My accounts were previously hacked.” Padilla did not reference this retraction from XXXTentacion in court.

In addition, back in December, one of the suspects, Robert Allen, allegedly denied Drake’s involvement. Allen testified that he had never met Drake, nor received money from him or any associates. He also was unaware who XXXTentacion was at the time of the murder.

source https://uproxx.com/music/is-drake-connected-to-xxxtentacion-murder-case/

source https://trapbeats2023.blogspot.com/2023/02/is-drake-connected-to-xxxtentacions.html