Rap music and artistic beef go together like peanut butter and jelly. Rappers often take sublet jabs with foes with throwaway lines in their tracks to win the public over. While some hip-hop beefs are warranted, like Drake vs. Meek Mill, others, like Drake vs. Megan Thee Stallion, were completely uncalled for.

Chance The Rapper questions whether or not he is the center of a brewing conflict. As budding Bronx rapper Ice Spice continues to promote her new single, “In Ha Mood,” Chance is unsure if one of the bars in the song is a shot at him. The line in question reads, “In the mirror, I’m doin’ my dance / And he packin’, I know by his pants / He a rapper, but don’t got a chance / Stuck in my ways so I’m lovin’ my bands.”

The Chicago native took to his Instagram stories, sharing the video clip with the caption, “Is this a diss or a shoutout,” then tagging Ice Spice before placing a poll for viewers to give their opinion.

Before the poll could expire, Ice Spice shut down the beef option, writing in her Instagram stories, “never.” Chance The Rapper then replied, “just double checking.”

As the newbie on the rap block Ice Spice has shared, she’s here to have fun, not issues, even brushing off rumors of a falling out with Drake.

Ice Spice’s EP Like…? is out now via Capitol and 10K Projects. Stream it here.

source https://uproxx.com/music/chance-the-rapper-ice-spice-beef/

source https://trapbeats2023.blogspot.com/2023/01/chance-rapper-questioned-ice-spice.html

The new Beyoncé wax figure at Madame Tussauds in Berlin was recently unveiled, and the hive doesn’t look too happy about it. But this wouldn’t be the first time, the famous wax museum has had several iterations of the Houston hitmaker throughout its several locations, and many of them have fallen flat. In 2017, fans accused the wax gallery of “whitewashing” Queen Bey and pointed out that figure looked more like Lindsey Lohan than the “Break My Soul” songstress.

Fast forward six years later. While things have gotten better, it looks like Madame Tussauds still has a ways to go, at least according to members of the hive.

While there were quite a few to agree that the figure did share some similarities to Bey, some folks weren’t sure if the figure was supposed to be a Black woman, let alone Beyoncé.

“Baby, that’s Keke Palmer,” one person hilariously wrote.

“At first, I thought it was Beyonce, then zooming, that’s a white woman,” another person tweeted.

One fan jokingly implied that Beyoncé had metamorphized into Shakira. Now that would be something to see, wouldn’t it?

While Beyoncé deserves wax figurines in honor, it would help if the ones created at least looked like her. Hopefully, we’ll see even more change in the future.

source https://uproxx.com/music/fans-hilarous-responses-beyonce-wax-figure/

source https://trapbeats2023.blogspot.com/2023/01/fans-offer-hilarious-responses-to.html

In his second performance of the night, Lil Baby brought an emotional performance of his song, “Forever,” to the Saturday Night Live stage.

During the performance, Lil Baby was dressed in all black, joined by a pianist, who played flawless notes while Lil Baby rapped the melodic It’s Only Me standout. Though the song’s collaborator, Fridayy, who sings on the chorus, wasn’t present during the performance, Lil Baby’s stage presence matched the energy of the hook.

Over the years, Baby’s sound has evolved greatly, and last year’s It’s Only Me cemented him as one of rap’s best acts in the game right now. Albeit a rap superstar, whose career trajectory is only proving that he’s destined for longevity, Baby revealed in a profile for New York Times that he will never forget who and what he’s doing it all for — his hometown of Atlanta.

“The main thing that I do still keep with me from Atlanta, when I go everywhere, is me,” he said. “My upbringing, my manners, my way of thinking, my way of living. Everything comes from Atlanta. No matter where I go, I’ll never be able to get distance from Atlanta.”

You can check out the performance above.

source https://uproxx.com/music/lil-baby-forever-saturday-night-live-snl/

source https://trapbeats2023.blogspot.com/2023/01/lil-baby-delivered-emotional.html

Tonight (January 28), rapper Lil Baby made his debut on Saturday Night Live. He took to the stage for a performance of “California Breeze” from his third studio album, It’s Only Me.

During his performance, Lil Baby was dressed in a luxurious green vest with matching pants. The rapper was joined by several instrumentalists, including a keyboardist and an electric guitarist, giving the song a rock-style sound. Colorful lights surrounding the stage added to the performance’s electrifying feel.

It’s Only Me reached No. 1 on the Billboard 200 upon its release last October, and was one of the most streamed albums of 2022. Even having accomplished these remarkable feats, making albums comes as second nature to Lil Baby.

In a recent interview with XXL, Baby revealed that he doesn’t see himself as competing with anyone in the rap game. He prefers to go with his own flow and let the music speak for itself.

“I’m the only person where I’m like I’m tryna outdo, ya feel me? he said. “..I just know to do what I suppose to do and it just like always happens for me that way, feel me? I’ll outdo myself with no problem.”

You can check out the performance above.

source https://uproxx.com/music/lil-baby-california-breeze-saturday-night-live-snl/

source https://trapbeats2023.blogspot.com/2023/01/lil-baby-rocked-out-in-performance-of.html

Lil Yachty‘s new album, Let’s Start Here is already proving to be a buzzy project. Yachty’s latest effort features him taking on a psychedelic rock sound, a departure from his signature rap sound. On the heels of Let’s Start Here, which was released yesterday (January 27), Lil Yachty has shared the trippy new visual for “Say Something.”

On the song, Yachty croons, reeling over an unrequited love.

“We can live the dream life, wild / Got me feeling like a teen again / It’s feeling like it’s teenage love / If you feel the same way, then say something,” he sings in the song’s chorus.

It’s hard to explain exactly what’s going on in the “Say Something” video. In the clip, Yachty is seen sitting in a diner with a woman played by model Anok Yai. He professes his love for her, then imagines driving away with her and having a baby. In other scenes, Yachty is seen in a hallway as people pop up and laugh at him, and the baby suddenly explodes. When Yachty drifts out of his bizarre fantasy, he is brutally rejected by the woman, then literally drags his heart across the parking lot.

You can check out the video for “Say Something” above.

Let’s Start Here is out now via Capitol and Motown. You can stream it here.

Warning: Lil Yachty’s video for “Say Something” contains depictions of suicidal ideation which some may find triggering. Viewer discretion is advised.

source https://uproxx.com/music/lil-yachty-say-something-video/

source https://trapbeats2023.blogspot.com/2023/01/lil-yachtys-new-video-for-say-something.html

Ice Spice‘s debut EP, Like…? has garnered much buzz since its surprise release last week. On the EP is the standout track “In Ha Mood,” which, like its predecessors “Munch (Feelin’ U)” and “Bikini Bottom” have become viral hits on TikTok.

On the track, Spice embraces her status as rap’s newest princess, saying, “I’m proud that I’m still gettin’ bigger / Goin’ viral is gettin’ ’em sicker / Let’s keep it a buck / B*tches too borin’, got ’em stuck in a rut.”

In the song’s accompanying video, Ice is seen looking fly while walking through a bodega, spitting rhymes surrounded by her clique, and getting styled up in a mirror.

The video was filmed earlier this month, on the day Ice was planning to shoot the video for her Lil Tjay-assisted track, “Gangsta Boo.” Tjay, however, was arrested that day, prompting Spice and her team to shoot the “In Ha Mood” video on the fly.

Over the past year, Ice has become one of the most recognizable names and faces in Bronx drill. In a recent interview with NME, she said she only anticipates for drill music to grow in popularity.

“I feel that it’s only gonna keep getting bigger and it’s just the start of a huge era,” Ice said. “You know when trap was really big and it became this movement? People thought it was gonna die down over time but it just became stronger and stronger. I feel like drill will become mainstream music at some point, and it won’t be so categorized. It’s already changing hip-hop, but we won’t notice until we look back.”

Check out the video for “In Ha Mood” video above.

source https://uproxx.com/music/ice-spice-in-ha-mood-video/

source https://trapbeats2023.blogspot.com/2023/01/ice-spice-is-running-new-york-in-style.html

It’s been nearly two weeks since news broke about Tyre Nichols’ death. The 29-year-old died after succumbing to his injuries after being severely beaten by five Memphis police officers at a traffic stop. Nichols’ death, similar to George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and countless others has enraged the nation, causing many discussions about state violence and the institutional racism embedded in police organizations. Several celebrities, artists, and athletes including, Memphis rappers Moneybagg Yo and GloRilla, have spoken about Nichols’ unjust death. More are sure to follow.

Moneybagg took to social media to offer a message to Nichols’ family and the city of Memphis. “Praying for the family of Tyre Nichols,” the rapper wrote on Instagram. “Also praying for our city. #JusticeForTyre.”

GloRilla, another Memphis native, reposted Moneybagg’s post on her Instagram story before making a post of her own. The “F.N.F” rapper posted a message that read “Justice For Tyre Nichols” with a caption containing a broken heart emoji with several prayer hands.

Ari Lennox shared a post on her Instagram story that read, “Justice for Tyre. Praying for his family and friends and the Memphis community.”

NBA stars like LeBron James and Chris Paul also chimed in with some thoughts about the unfortunate situation. “WE ARE OUR OWN WORSE ENEMY!!!” James tweeted regarding the five officers who attacked Nichols, all of which were Black.

Paul offered a heartfelt message to Nichols’ family and the Memphis community, writing, “Change is needed at all levels, and we all need to do our part.”

“We can’t lose our humanity as a society,” he continued. “To the Nichols family and Memphis community, my heart is with you tonight.”

Since Nichols’ death, the five officers involved have been fired from the Memphis Police Department and are facing impending charges. Footage of the horrific incident was recently released, where Nichols can be seen fleeing from the police before they eventually caught up with him.

source https://uproxx.com/music/moneybagg-glorilla-and-more-react-tyre-nichols-death/

source https://trapbeats2023.blogspot.com/2023/01/moneybagg-yo-glorilla-and-more-react-to.html

It seems like Lil Tjay can’t catch a break: The New York City rapper has been arrested for the second time this month. Just two weeks ago, the “Resume” rapper was detained for gun possession while on his way to film a music video with Ice Spice. The video was presumably for their recent collaboration on the “Munch” rapper’s EP Like..?, on a track titled “Gangsta Boo,” which dropped on January 6.

Reports show that Tjay was with several other people inside a vehicle in a “no-idling zone” before the police searched the car. It’s alleged that the authorities then located a firearm, and despite the rapper not being the driver, he was still arrested.

Tjay’s attorney, Dawn Florio, gave a statement in a recent interview with XXL regarding the rapper’s current situation. According to his attorney, the rapper was not arrested on another gun charge but for missing court.

“Lil Tjay was not rearrested for another gun charge,” she told XXL. “He was excused from appearing in court last Friday by the arraignment Judge. Another Judge revoked his bond and put him back in jail for missing court on Friday even though he was told by the first Judge that he did not have [to] appear.”

Florio also revealed that Tjay’s family has posted bail for the rapper and that he is free.

“It is so unfortunate that he had to be jailed for something that was not his fault,” she said.

source https://uproxx.com/music/lil-tjay-arrested-for-the-second-time-this-month/

source https://trapbeats2023.blogspot.com/2023/01/lil-tjay-arrested-for-second-time-this.html

Vic Mensa teams up with jazz-soul superproducer Thundercat on his latest single, the spaced-out “Strawberry Louis Vuitton.” Thundercat offers a cotton candy backdrop for Mensa to pen a lyrical love letter to a woman who’s got a hold on him.

Singer Maeta provides backing vocals, bolstering Vic’s own sung chorus, and as the song progresses, the instrumentation grows more and more elaborate, culminating in Thundercat’s falsetto bridge and a crunchy bass breakdown. Check it out below.

Mensa is fresh off the success of his and Chance The Rapper’s Ghana-based music festival, Black Star Line Festival, which also created the opportunity for Vic to build water boreholes that will provide clean water to over 200,000 Ghanaians. Over the holidays, Vic also gave away $10,000 of gas money in his hometown, Chicago, continuing the streak of philanthropy and activism which has defined his career so far. Musically, his last collab was with Chance on The Rapper’s “Wraith (Writing Exercise #3),” the latest in a string of new collaborations they’ve created since reuniting a few years ago.

Thundercat, meanwhile, has been working on some interesting projects of his own, including a contribution to a tribute album for Japanese jazz great Ryuichi Sakamoto and an upcoming tour with the Red Hot Chili Peppers (Flea called ‘Cat his favorite modern bassist). He also popped up on the title track for Gorillaz’s upcoming project Cracker Island, kicking off his 2023 with plenty of high-profile appearances.

source https://uproxx.com/music/vic-mensa-thundercat-strawberry-louis-vuitton/

source https://trapbeats2023.blogspot.com/2023/01/vic-mensa-and-thundercat-team-up-on.html

Last night (January 26), Jimmy Kimmel Live! celebrated its 20th anniversary with a special episode looking back at the show’s two-decade run. They even got the celebrity guests from the debut episode back: Snoop Dogg (who served as co-host on the 2003 episode) and George Clooney. The two had a retrospective conversation, in which they discussed how at the time back then, Snoop had apparently just quit smoking weed… or so he told Kimmel.

Kimmel brought that up and followed up, “How is that going?” Snoop, who is of course one of pop culture’s most famous marijuana connoisseurs, gave a fake sigh and replied, “Well, I guess I’ve relapsed.”

From there, Kimmel revealed he has hung on to Snoop’s 2003 rider (a list of things he wanted in his dressing room) for all these years and rattled off the items, which were mostly junk food. He then compared it to Snoop’s current rider, which is essentially the same but just a lot longer. Snoop laughed as he read the newer rider and then explained, “You got to look at it like this: Every opportunity to go on a television show is like a shopping spree. I get a chance to get some free groceries.”

Check out the clip above. Snoop also sat in on Kimmel’s conversation with Clooney, so find that below.

source https://uproxx.com/music/snoop-dogg-quit-smoking-weed-kimmel/

source https://trapbeats2023.blogspot.com/2023/01/snoop-dogg-reminisced-about-quitting.html