Lil Durk earned his musical nickname, “The Voice,” because of his vivid lyrical depictions of growing up in Chicago’s tumultuous South Side. His new single, “All My Life,” featuring J. Cole, shows he isn’t taking his platform for granted. The song marks the first release from his forthcoming album, Almost Healed, due out later this month.
Produced by Dr. Luke, the rapper detours from high-energy drill music sound for a more subdued production style. Trading in his over-the-top percussive elements for an angelic choir filled with local youth. As Durk raps, “I decided I had to finish, but the media called me a menace / I done sat with the mayor and politicians, I’m tryna change the image / You can’t blame my past no more, I come from the trenches,” it’s clear that he’s heard the criticism of his recent advocacy work.
In the accompanying visual directed by Steve Cannon, Lil Durk and J. Cole join in with the young people on the set to unify into one collective voice. The video serves as a touching reminder that while the youth are indeed the future, it takes efforts from their elders to clear the way for them.
Watch the full video above.
Almost Healed is out 5/26 via Alamo Records/Sony. Find more information here.
Earlier this month, it was revealed that Adidas has over $1.3 billion of unsold product from their partnership with Kanye West. In a conference, Adidas CEO Bjorn Gulden said that “options are narrowing,” but the company was “getting closer and closer to making a decision.”
Today (May 11), Gulden shared that they will sell the remaining product and a portion of proceeds will be donated to charity, according to Complex. The rapper will reportedly receive 15 percent of sales due to the contract. Gulden reasoned that “burning several million pairs [of shoes] does not make sense.”
“What we are trying to do now over time is sell parts of this inventory and donate money to the organizations that are helping us and that were also hurt by Kanye’s statements,” Gulden said.
Adidas severed their ties with West in October of last year. A statement at the time read: “Adidas does not tolerate antisemitism and any other sort of hate speech. Ye’s recent comments and actions have been unacceptable, hateful, and dangerous, and they violate the company’s values of diversity and inclusion, mutual respect, and fairness. After a thorough review, the company has taken the decision to terminate the partnership with Ye immediately, end production of Yeezy branded products, and stop all payments to Ye and his companies. Adidas will stop the Adidas Yeezy business with immediate effect.”
Janelle Monáe is ready to enter a new era with The Age Of Pleasure. That’s the name of her new album, her first in five years. Although she was already beginning to shed her prior black-and-white suits when she released Dirty Computer in 2018, she was still primarily known for her campy wardrobe and high-concept songwriting.
That might change this time around. From its suggestive cover to the sexually-charged video for “Lipstick Lover,” its second single after “Float,” The Age Of Pleasure appears to be a ground-up rebuild of Janelle’s entire image — and that goes along with the messaging she attached to the album’s announcement via press release.
“As we enter into The Age Of Pleasure, ‘Lipstick Lover’ is our freeassmothafucka anthem inspired by f.a.m. for f.a.m,” she wrote. “This is our oasis made with love, rooted in self-acceptance, throbbing in self-discovery, and signed with cherry-red kisses from me to you.” The album is due for release on June 9 (get it? 6/9? not very subtle, this one) via Wondaland Arts Society and Atlantic Records. You can check out the tracklist, courtesy of Apple Music, below.
The RX is Uproxx Music’s stamp of approval for the best albums, songs, and music stories throughout the year. Inclusion in this category is the highest distinction we can bestow and signals the most important music being released throughout the year. The RX is the music you need, right now.
IDK is one of the most creative rappers working today. But more importantly, he knows how to apply that creativity to his new album F65. The follow-up to 2022’s Simple expands the sonic palette but retains the incisive focus, pairing IDK’s unique outlooks with experimental production that pushes the boundaries of the familiar.
F65 feels like an evolution of IDK’s 2021 album USEE4YOURSELF, which now seems as though it was a dry run for the kind of eclecticism the Maryland rapper wanted to embrace then, but only recently mastered his impressive well of creativity enough to grasp. While he may never truly shake some of the most common criticisms against him (I mean, he can’t change his voice, but he can certainly use it better than his doppelganger Kanye), he certainly transcends them here.
The binding theme of F65, as you could probably guess from the cover, is Formula 1 racing. However, there’s also an unexpected thread throughout: IDK’s burgeoning appreciation for classic jazz. As he explains in the interlude “Champs-Élysées,” this stems from his grounding practice of “driving fast” playing jazz. The unusual pairing of energies is perfect for IDK, whose entire life and career have been shaped by the pairing of paradoxes.
Contrasting truths and the tension between them are the core of IDK’s personality. He’s a self-declared middle-class kid who embraced the streets in an effort to live up to social expectations of Black masculinity. While he details that experience on his debut album IWasVeryBad, he reiterates and distills those motivations here in the thundering “Paperchaser.”
He also attacks the question of the friction between the above-mentioned expectations of Black masculinity and the fear of femininity on “Pinot Noir,” ceding his spotlight to Saucy Santana and Jucee Froot. This is a duo I’d love to hear more of; Santana defies conventions by being a loudly-out gay man while embracing many of the dynamics of gangsta rap. Yes, he carries a purse, but he also carries a gun in that purse. Watch your tone.
While IDK is far from what you’d consider a “conscious” rapper, he shows his awareness of systemic and social problems in far subtler ways. The F1-themed interludes focus on commentary revolving around Lewis Hamilton, a champion driver who nonetheless feels the strain of being one of the only Black drivers on the circuit. He’s faced discrimination in spite – or perhaps because of – his success, while carrying the weight common to all pioneers in traditionally white spaces.
That isn’t to say that IDK doesn’t address the tribulations of Black life head-on when he needs to, though. “Mr. Police” is a prime example, borrowing the familiar refrain coined by NWA decades ago; in typical IDK fashion, however, he turns the song into a jazzy deflection of the more casual racism involved in his interactions with the law – the most common kind, the ones that don’t end in bloodshed, but cost Black folks in other ways.
If there’s a thesis here, it’s in IDK’s love of his Blackness. From dipping his toes into a dizzying variety of Black musical genres – Afrobeats, Jersey club, the aforementioned jazz – to sampling a cluster of classics from Black canon – Michael Jackson’s “Can’t Help It,” Carl Thomas’ “I Wish” – IDK gives a musical lesson in Black history. He talks up his love for Black women on “Still Your Man” and “Superwoman,” receiving advice on life and love from no less an authority than Snoop Dogg. By the final song, “Freetown,” a four-minute jazz instrumental, the message is clear: It’s all Black, and we shouldn’t be limiting ourselves to any one genre or interest. We are many things.
F65 is out now on Clue No Clue / Warner Records.
IDK is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
The Donald Glover-produced Amazon show Swarm was one of the most talked-about television/streaming events of the year so far. Fans were blown away by the Black woman anti-hero tale, from its controversial opening sex scene with Chloe Bailey to its guest starring turns from Billie Eilish and Paris Jackson to its mind-bending ending. But because it was so closely associated with Beyoncé, even the show’s creators were worried about its reception from the real-life Swarm analog, Beyoncé’s infamous fanbase, the Beyhive.
Beyoncé’s Renaissance World Tour just had its first show, and fans can’t help but wonder whether the queen herself responded to Swarm during the concert. Dressed as a bee and posted up next to one of those “on air” signs you see at movie studios and radio stations, Beyoncé seemingly shouts into the mic, “Swarm on these hands, n****!” — which is one of the top ten funniest things anyone has ever said. What does that even mean!?
Fans can’t help but wonder the same thing. The short, elusive clip above doesn’t really offer much context for the statement, and there appears to be some disagreement on just what Beyoncé is actually saying in it. For instance, she could be saying “Swarm on these Ms,” as in, millions, which would probably make more sense. But the Hive is feisty and loves a good internet fight, even if they have to reach and contort reality to get it — I mean, that’s what the show was about in the first place!
So, no, Beyoncé probably wasn’t shading Swarm or its creators, Donald Glover and Janine Nabers, but hey, if they need inspiration for season two, I’m sure they can wrangle something out of this. Now, that’s entertainment.
You can check out more about the Renaissance World Tour opener here, from the custom wardrobe to the setlist to the merch.
Concertgoers are having a tough time this year. Last month, Morgan Wallen fans were sitting at the Vaught-Hemingway Stadium in Oxford, Mississippi waiting for him to perform after all the openers went on. Then, he ended up canceling the show. At an Anita Baker concert in Newark, New Jersey left attendees similarly upset last night (May 10).
The audience waited two hours and were told it was due to a technical glitch. Babyface did not perform at all. However, he took to Instagram to share that it was because Baker apparently didn’t want him to.
“I am truly sorry to my fans who have been waiting for us to hit the stage this evening at the Prudential Center,” he wrote. “I was asked not to perform in order to give Ms. Baker her space and time to perform her show in its entirety. My band and I are extremely saddened we didn’t get to perform for y’all tonight.”
Babyface apologizes after he’s asked not to perform on Anita Baker’s tour in Newark pic.twitter.com/nhnxdClfKJ
Beyoncé opened her Renaissance World Tour at Friends Arena in Stockholm, Sweden on Wednesday, May 10, and suddenly, the Beyhive had plenty of reasons to forget their collective displeasure over Beyoncé holding back the Renaissance visuals since the album’s July 2022 release.
The Renaissance World Tour featured Beyoncé in all her glory, and one person on Twitter did the Lord’s work by documenting every single outfit Queen Bey wore on stage throughout her all-encompassing set.
every custom outfit worn by beyoncé for renaissance world tour in stockholm last night, styled by shiona turini (thread): pic.twitter.com/hJd6SuLkfv
second custom mugler by casey cadwallader, referencing another one of manfred’s collections, thierry mugler spring 1997 ‘les insectes’ haute couture pic.twitter.com/BVJs5bdVTB
ending the thread with her second custom loewe by jonathan anderson bejeweled look featuring the signature loewe breast plate, shiona turini and bey did the thing with this styling everything is impeccable pic.twitter.com/yKnnKtrVuL
Vogue relayed that Beyoncé’s custom looks were designed by Anrealage, Jonathan Anderson, Olivier Rousteing for Balmain, David Koma, and more.
“Overall, the tour feels like a fabulous embodiment of the techno and ballroom-infused sound of Renaissance, which Beyoncé has described as an ode to dance music and queer culture,” Vogue‘s André-Naquian Wheeler wrote. “They also continue the singer’s streak of ostentatiously avant-garde couture fashion for the album’s innovative visual campaigns. A teaser for ‘I’m That Girl,’ which runs a little under two minutes, featured a chaotic flurry of over a dozen custom looks by Schiaparelli, Balenciaga, and others. Beyoncé is well and truly in her fashion girl era.”
Members of the Beyhive who weren’t present for opening night in Sweden have another chance at Friends Arena tonight, May 11, before the Renaissance World Tour moves to Brussels, Belgium on May 14. See all of the dates here.
Rihanna kicked off this year with a colossal Super Bowl halftime performance packed with hits and a pregnancy announcement. However, the name of her son who she had with her boyfriend ASAP Rocky (real name Rakim Athelston Mayers) last year has remained unknown… until now.
According to The Daily Mail, who obtained the birth certificate, the name is RZA Athelston Mayers. Since Rihanna has been spotted in Wu-Tang Clan merch, it’s safe to assume it’s a reference to the member of the group.
The “Diamonds” singer was also turning heads at the Met Gala earlier this month. She was fashionably late and discussed how her second pregnancy has been. “It’s so different from the first one! Just everything,” she said. “All of my… no cravings, tons of nausea, everything’s different. But I’m enjoying it, I’m enjoying it. I feel good. I feel energetic.”
In December of last year, Rocky talked about being a father. “Honestly, I think fatherhood gives me more time to do exactly what I want,” he said. “I don’t have time for anything that isn’t priorities. It helps you prioritize, honestly. I love it. Everything is just based around my newfound love for being a dad and a family man. It’s lit right now. I can’t even describe it. Yo, you see this smile! I’m all smiles right now, man.”
At last, Beyoncé’sRenaissance tour kicked off in Sweden yesterday (May 10), and the show has her father, Mathew Knowles, in a reflective mood.
Yesterday, he tweeted, “I’m just looking at a video from Beyoncé’s first show in Stockholm. Amazing! Just amazing! I remember when Beyoncé was a little girl and all she wanted to be was an entertainer. She has worked so very hard to be the best entertainer in the world, and I am so immensely proud.”
I’m just looking at a video from Beyoncé’s first show in Stockholm. Amazing! Just amazing!
I remember when Beyoncé was a little girl and all she wanted to be was an entertainer.
She has worked so very hard to be the best entertainer in the world, and I am so immensely proud. pic.twitter.com/BKmR8Yc2i8
This comes after a series of tweets shared on May 9, in which Knowles wrote more about his daughter’s childhood and how driven she was:
“Beyoncé kicks off The Renaissance World Tour this week. Believe it or not, I’m often still in awe as I watch her continue to soar to heights that few in history have ever been able to. […] If it’s a passion, you won’t need to tell them to go to practice, pick up the instrument, or show up to class. They’ll want to show up naturally and immerse themselves in it. […] We never once during her childhood had to tell her to show up when it came to music. She was never distracted from her inner drive. She knew what she wanted and she went after it. As parents, we didn’t need for her to be an expert or passionate about everything. She faced challenges in math, for example, but as long as she did her best and focused on her musical passion–we were happy.
For me, the start of Beyoncé’s tour this week isn’t just an addition to an already historic year where she now holds the most Grammy award wins ever. It’s a symbol of human achievement and possibility. It’s a mark of what’s possible when a child is encouraged to chase after their dream. And above all else, it hopefully serves as a beacon of light for young people and dreamers of all shapes and sizes to believe in themselves.
Find Knowles’ tweets above and below.
Beyoncé kicks off The Renaissance World Tour this week.
Believe it or not, I’m often still in awe as I watch her continue to soar to heights that few in history have ever been able to…. pic.twitter.com/Ad2Ons6jHy
Many memories of her childhood flooded to me when I sat down recently with @Vishen of @Mindvalley as we discussed the importance of providing our children with the tools and positive thinking needed to succeed.
As I shared with Vishen; there’s a very simple way to identify if your child is passionate about something, or if it’s merely a general interest or a hobby.
If it’s a passion, you won’t need to tell them to go to practice, pick up the instrument, or show up to class. They’ll want to show up naturally and immerse themselves in it.
I told Vishen the very thing I want to share with you as Beyoncé embarks on her historic tour this week; we never once during her childhood had to tell her to show up when it came to music.
As parents, we didn’t need for her to be an expert or passionate about everything. She faced challenges in math, for example, but as long as she did her best and focused on her musical passion—we were happy.
For those interested in learning more about inspiring their own young ones, give a listen to my recent interview with Vishen of Mindvalley. Watch it here: https://t.co/G5lrydFPIc
MIAMI – will.i.am needs to eat. He’s been pulled into TV live hits, quick meetings, meet and greets, and plenty of selfies, and he hasn’t had time to sit down to collect his thoughts. He puts an order in at the Mercedes compound in the team village and should have just enough time to enjoy that before heading out to the track for driver intros and a chance to showcase his new track, “The Formula” with Lil Wayne, marking a pivot for F1 that feels almost two decades coming.
While those driver intros — much more NBA All-Star Weekend than traditional motorsports — still are taking a little bit of getting used to, it’s the culmination of something will.i.am has seen as the future of F1 since his first in-person race experience in Singapore in 2008. F1 is hitting its stride in the States, which means more American-style pageantry and a general shift toward personalities that took a huge step forward in large part thanks to Netflix’s Drive To Survive series. As Max Verstappen (who ran a perfect race, starting near the back due to a fluky qualifying session on Saturday, but still managed to pass fellow Red Bull driver Sergio Pérez to win the Miami GP) mentioned during a short Q+A in Heineken’s Paddock Club, he often can’t do much more than go from training or track to hotel and back. Going out to dinner is a challenge now.
But all the drivers, despite the frustration, would agree this is ultimately good for the sport, and the opportunities to do more and more off-track have them reaching superstar status usually reserved for Oscar winners and first-name footballers.
There’s still more room for F1 to enter and disrupt the zeitgeist, and that’s where will.i.am comes in. As artist in residence for the sport, “The Formula” is just one component, and he sees chances to drop not just more songs into the mix, but add his cultural expertise and futurist perspective. It’s a project that seems uniquely suited for will, who has made his career on being not just in the moment, but creating the next moment in the studio, in business, in AI, and elsewhere.
UPROXX Sports had a chance to speak with will.i.am about the road to working with F1, where the sport can go moving forward, and what’s next.
Martin Rickman: How did the F1 opportunity come about for you?
will.i.am: There’s some opportunities that come to you, and then there’s opportunities that you materialize. So I had the idea to connect dots that people didn’t see, and those dots that people didn’t see are that F1 has amazing events that happen before the race. Friday’s crazy and the night is amazing, no matter what city you go to. Friday is the practice run. The party on Friday night is always the best. Saturday is qualifying. The party on Saturday is insane. Sunday is the race, and it’s like a moving freaking festival circus in the form of a race. But what the people see when it’s broadcast is just the race.
Just the race.
They don’t see the arts and the culture that’s happening in and around the races. And they fly artists out to perform at these parties, the local promoters. But that’s not captured in the broadcast.
No. That’s just for the people who are able to be at those.
Right. So I was like, “Hey, why don’t we do like an artist residency concept where one of the artists gets selected, they make an album, they release singles around key locations and videos?” In this case, me and Lil Wayne for the Formula. Me and J Balvin for a song that’s going to come out in the next couple of months. And then an album right around the end of the season in Vegas. And then the last song and video for Abu Dhabi in the race. And you repeat next year. And I pitched this concept to F1 CEO Stefano [Domenicali]. I attend the Harvard Business School. He was speaking. So I flew out to Mexico. He’s like, “Oh, I have to go to Boston and I’m speaking at Harvard.” I’m like, “I go to Harvard.”
You’re here right now.
And so he’s like, “Well, let’s meet up.” I was like, “Okay.” So from Mexico flying back to Boston is when I was like, “Whoa, I’m going to pitch him an amazing idea. Let me get this idea in order.” So I pitched him the vision at Harvard Business School.
Amazing. And so obviously he was into it, and then it led to it actually happening. Because nothing happens overnight. You work on things for years sometimes to make these things happen.
So it took from November the second until — here we are, May 5, May 8 — to get everything and the deal done, make the songs, shoot the video, record the orchestra, film the orchestra, film the video, film the part of this video for “The Formula” on the Saudi track. And all the activities, all the organizing strategy, finalizing on notes and edits all happened on FYI.
And for people who aren’t familiar yet with FYI, the app that you’ve been developing for the past three years, was this a good pilot opportunity for you to utilize the project, kind of in real-time, and then be able to continue to test everything that you had been working on?
So the first pilot, we knew the power of it by working with ITV, to do The Voice this year. And Mercedes, I worked with Mercedes very closely, the car that I made last year that I launched here [in Miami], we used the product for that. So we’ve stress-tested it and put it to work. But this is the first time it’s at this scale, though.
For F1 specifically for you, what was your introduction to the sport, and what is it about that sport that is so interesting? Is it that connective tissue between art, culture, music, fashion, sport, and all that? Because you live at that nexus, but you’ve always also lived at the nexus of the future of all of these things. And I feel you’re constantly thinking about that stuff before anyone else is.
The first race I’ve been to was 2008. So I went to Singapore. Black Eyed Peas did the show there. And then from there I was like, “Whoa, this is something else. What is this? This is not like any other sport.” And I knew about it even before then because I introduced Lewis [Hamilton] to Nicole [Scherzingerback] in 2007. That’s like a year. So 2007 when I introduced Lewis to Nicole, and 2008 we played Singapore and then, boom, we were rocking from there.
In terms of the future of sport and of this sport specifically, where do you see it heading? And do you think that the progress that’s been made, not just with Drive To Survive, with the opportunities you have for artists in residence, the parties, all those other things that are coming through, where can it go from here? Because it still feels like there’s an opportunity to kind of open the door up to more people, but also collaboration and creativity in those things.
Let’s take basketball as an example. Basketball in the 80s was not fashion and culture. It was just a sport. But Jordan and Nike brought a whole new vibrancy to wearing basketball shoes out in the world. Right?
It’s not just performance. It becomes something else.
Yeah. Lifestyle and culture. So I think F1 is on its route to that because, if you think of fashion, I wouldn’t say that this sport has done that crossover of that yet but it’s on its way to do that. It’s on its way to impact that level of culture. I think Lewis is a big major factor on how it crosses over to the world of fashion like basketball has.
How important has it been to be able to sit at these tables with other people that maybe you haven’t had the chance to talk to yet, but you wanted to, whether it is Sergio or someone like that to work towards those next things you want to do?
Networking is great, but I don’t want to be that. You want to be careful that you’re not that guy. I don’t want to be that guy where it’s like going to tables because people, they want their space. They’re here with their folks. So it’s a balance. Taking the opportunity when people want to introduce you to people, but I also want to give people their space.
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