Earlier tonight, Rihanna hosted an exclusive and private get together at MAMA art gallery in downtown Los Angeles. According to Fader, there were Braille translations throughout of the interior artwork for her 8th studio album packaging, which will be titled ANTI.
One painting was covered by a black sheet. Once unveiled, it revealed the album cover for Ri Ri’s album. It was painted by artist Roy Nachum who also confirmed the title on his Instagram. Rihanna also took to her IG by posting a definition of the word ‘anti’ with a description about her album and its art.
The cover is of Rihanna as a child and on her first day of daycare. The back of the cover features the same photo but shot from the back. According to RapUp, Rihanna was quoted saying at the exhibit, “I fell in love with it because I felt like there was another spirit, another layer to the art. This is my favorite album cover I’ve ever done.”
I must agree with her. I am digging this album art and just artwork in general! To me it also has this Kendrick-Yeezus look to it. She also announced to the crowd that the album is done, but she didn’t say a release date. Peep the video below to get the inside scoop. Literally.
So for some unspeakable reason I was awake at about 5:15am this morning (PST). I had my alarm set for 6:30am, but let’s be serious – I don’t physically get up until around 7:00am or later.
Since I couldn’t fall back asleep, I obviously reached for my phone to see that Mr. Kanye West was being interviewed live by SHOW Studio. During this interview, West was answering fan-submitted questions. When I tuned in, he was being asked about his upcoming album’s release date and if music is still a priority for him or if his priority is fashion. He tends to stray from the real question in interviews, so he also went on about inspiration and the creative process. One quote he said which really stuck out to me was:
“Asking to be controlled by public opinion would be like having to sit in traffic for the rest of your life.”
I have to agree with this one. And living in LA for 4+ years now, traffic is the worst. There is just so much more to life than going by the book. I mean, if that’s what kind of life you want to lead, then go for it… 100%. But I know for me, personally, I’m going to do what makes me the happiest even if it’s out of the ordinary or not what the ‘normal’ steps of life are. And I for sure will always be having my own opinion and taking a stand on it.
The interview is around two hours long, but if you want to be inspired, get that creative push you need, or want to understand why Ye is the way he is, I recommend you watch it. He’s really not all bad. And if you watch the interview with an open mind and not the “oh this tool” mentality, I think you might learn a little something.
He also ranked his albums saying that both 808s & Heartbreak and Yeezus are better than My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. I definitely don’t think Yeezus was better, but any who. Do you agree with him?
And today McDonald’s launched their ‘ALL DAY’ breakfast.
If you’re a Yeezus fan, you’ll understand the ‘all day’ reference.
The dates and locations for Kendrick’s ‘Kunta’s Groove Sessions’ tour have just been released! Tickets are available at Top Dawg Entertainment’s website. The dates are as follows:
October 20 – Washington, D.C. – Kennedy Center
October 22 – Brooklyn, NY – Barclays Center
October 24 – Columbus, OH – LC Pavilion
October 25 – Chicago, IL – United Center
October 27 – Atlanta, GA – The Tabernacle (with Jay Rock and The Wesley Theory)
October 29 – Dallas, TX – South Side Music Hall (with Jay Rock and The Wesley Theory)
November 1 – Washington, D.C. – Lincoln Theatre (with Jay Rock and The Wesley Theory)
November 8 – Los Angeles, CA – The Forum (Real 92.3’s The Real Show – sort of bummed Kendrick isn’t doing a separate, solo performance)
November 10 – Oakland, CA – Fox Theater (with Jay Rock and The Wesley Theory)
[Article originally published on October 5]
While there’s not really any clear information about this yet, Kendrick Lamar took to Instagram about 30 minutes ago with the following post and caption. It’s billed as the ‘1st annual’ Kunta’s Groove Sessions tour. I have a pretty strong feeling one of the cities will be Los Angeles (insert praying hands emoji).
Many thanks to the ‘fan club’ (@parkercole12 & @sneaky_neek) for alerting me of this! Updates to come as more info is released.
You can say that again. I purchased the Drake-Future mixtape as soon as it was available on iTunes. Speaking of iTunes, What a Time To Be Alive was no. 1 after only three hours of being released. Incredible. And an update as of yesterday (via RapUp), the mixtape debuts at no. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart – congrats!
I turned on Beats 1 Radio at 4:00 PM PST on Emmy Sunday and anxiously awaited the stream. Shortly after about a 30-minute curated mix, Drake hopped on and premiered the much-anticipated tape. Below is my first attempt at an album/mixtape review. I’ve broken it down by song – hope you enjoy!
Digital Dash – Definitely a good start to the mixtape. The song is split perfectly between Future (first half) and Drake (second half) and gives you a good feel of the rest of the album.
Big Rings – This song can (and will) bump! ‘You and yours vs. me and mine.’ I would love to be at a club or let’s be serious in my car listening to this. And I like how this second track is the reverse from ‘Digital Dash’ – starts with Drake and then goes into Future. This type of song motivates me for sure – primarily the beat.
Live From the Gutter – This is a good long-drive song. ‘This for my dawgs that go Karrueche with the chopsticks.’ I cannot with that. I must admit, I also had to look up the definition of ‘live from the gutter.’ Thanks to RapGenius, I learned that ‘the gutter’ is the slang term for ‘the ghetto,’ extremely low income areas, where Future came from but now is quite wealthy.
Diamonds Dancing – And finally, Drake serenades us with his angelic voice on this track. This is definitely one of the more chill songs, but I’m not mad about it. It’s one of those songs you can vibe to at the end of the night. I like this song more and more each time I listen to it.
Scholarships – I wish I had received more of these in college. Okay, the song. ‘All this passion I got, all I ever needed.’ Again, one of the main reasons why I love these rap and hip-hop artists so much is because of their passion, and it so clearly stands out in their music. ‘I need acknowledgement, if I got it then tell me I got it then.’ This Drizzy verse couldn’t be any more aligned with my personality.
Plastic Bag – Ah, yes. The ‘plastic bag’ phrase and even what we all thought was the official countdown for this mixtape (putitallinaplasticbag.com). It sounds like both Drake and Future are all for the strippers taking home the cash that’s been thrown to them. ‘Get a plastic bag, go ahead and pick up all the cash. You danced all night, you deserve it.’ Fair enough!
I’m the Plug – Woah. Love the beat of this track. And Drake’s lyric ‘This that OVO Halloween gang.’ If I liked Halloween enough to dress up for it, I would somehow incorporate OVO into my costume. And Drake goes in on this one at the end. #lit
Change Locations – ‘Me and my friends, we got money to spend.’ Let’s remix to match my lifestyle, ‘Me and my friends, we don’t got no money to spend.’ Definitely a more chill beat compared to the other tracks. Listen to Drake’s first couple lines in his verse when he joins – dead.
Jumpman – This is definitely one of my favorite songs on WATTBA. Holy smokes. I picture myself being at a club, preferably at Greystone in Hollywood, and jumping up and down like a lunatic. To the beat of the song, obviously. ‘You don’t have to call I hit my dance like Usher (woo!).’ My favorite artist rapping about my other favorite artist. Great stuff.
Jersey– ‘You do what you want when you poppin’, yeah.’ This line rapped multiple times throughout is referring to Future telling his fans and listeners to make the best out of your life. Preach! This song isn’t one of my favorites, but I can vibe with the ‘poppin’ lyric for sure.
30 for 30 Freestyle – The project ends with a 4-minute freestyle of Drake and Drake only. The lyric that 100 percent stuck out to me in this track was, ‘but just know it’ll be January in no time and your absence is very concerning.’ Okay, so two things with this one: 1. My birthday is in January, soooo need I say more and 2. He’s concerned about my absence. I took this one too far, but just let me have my moments.
And that’s it! Overall, I dig this project. While I’ve listened to it MULTIPLE times since its release just two Sunday’s ago, I’m not sick of it… just yet :). I definitely have my favorites – ‘Big Rings,’ ‘Diamonds Dancing,’ ‘I’m the Plug,’ and ‘Jumpman,’ whereas other Drake projects, I literally love every single song. On a scale of 1 to 10, I give it a 7.5. It’s missing the complete ‘wow’ factor to me. Not sure what that is exactly, but something isn’t there. Regardless, the 6IX God compiled another very successful project with Future who I have been listening to a lot more now.
And for those of you readers (mom and Uncle Freddie who straight up told me he doesn’t read my posts when they feature the music I listen to – tough love) who really don’t know or care about these posts, I think you’ll be able to relate to the grandma in the video below. Truly hilarious. Thanks to @mtvhiphop for sharing!
And it’s National Coffee Day – hope yinz are all celebrating.
You know that 15 second clip Drake and Future put out of them in the studio leading up to the drop of WATTBA? Well, here is the extended version! There’s some conversation between the two rappers, bumping ‘Digital Dash’ with DJ Esco.
I’m really hoping more of these come out! Love seeing the behind the scenes of this stuff.
Don’t say I never gave you anything! While the offical drop date isn’t until Friday, you can listen to Fetty Wap’s debut self-titled album Fetty Wap now.
The stream is available thanks to NPR. Many of the tracks may be familiar to you, but he’s still making a big statement with this one. And, there are no big name features on it.
So, stream it here for 24 hours, and then be sure to support Fetty by purchasing the album on iTunes this Friday.
It’s been a minute since I wrote a ‘Wrap-Up,’ but I’m back! And this post isn’t actually a wrap-up but really just about my excitement for Chris Brown’s One Hell of a Nite Tour tonight!
CB will be stopping in Anaheim this evening at the Honda Center, and I’ll be going with my two frans Sydney and Jimmy – can’t wait!
From reviews of the tour I’ve read, Chris puts on a two-hour set (!!!), which to me is completely worth the money. Also on this tour is Fetty Wap, French Montana, Omarion, Kid Ink, and Teyana Taylor. Pretty pumped about it all!
So now I’ll leave you with a Chris Brown playlist. It’s what I’ve been listening to all week – enjoy, and happy Friday! And make sure you follow me on Instagram (@serge19) to see posts from the night and Snapchat (@ergense) for live updates!
Oh, and do know I’ll find a way to post about the Drake-Future mixtape should that drop tonight during the concert.
If Twitter rumors a week or two ago weren’t in our faces enough about the possibility of a joint Future-Drake mixtape, there’s even more to hopefully prove that this is really happening!
The mysterious website (putitallinaplasticbag.com) that popped up today with a countdown of when the supposed mixtape will drop. Pictured below.
And actually in two days (Sept. 18) when the countdown will reach 0:0, Drake will be performing at the Music Midtown Festival in Atlanta, which also happens to be where Future is from. Hmmm…
Recent Instagram posts from TODAY from both Future and Drake.
4. And just because I have a feeling this will happen.
5. UPDATE! And Revolt TV shared this photo about an hour ago of what looks like a pretty legit tracklisting! Holy smokes.
Now whether this is a joint mixtape or Future is playing a major role on Views from the 6, I really don’t care what comes out. As long as it’s something, I’ll listen to it on repeat.
I’ll be sure to keep yinz updated on anymore #FBGOVO happenings!
Major congratulations to The Weeknd (@theweeknd)! He is the first solo male artist to top the Artist 100, Hot 100, and Billboard 200 in the same week.
Artist 100 | The Weeknd
Billboard Hot 100 | ‘Can’t Feel My Face’
Billboard 200 | Beauty Behind the Madness
I mean. I’m not lying when I tell you guys he’s talented, and I cannot wait to see him live in December at The Forum! It’s just so wonderful to me that this artist who never liked being in the spotlight, played his deep and dark music, is now holding records with artists like Taylor Swift (she’s the only other act with this same hat trick accomplishment) and who loves being in the public eye.
From billboard.com, here is a breakdown of what each accomplishment means:
“The Artist 100 measures artist activity across Billboard‘s most influential charts, including the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart, Top Album Sales and the Social 50. The Artist 100 blends data measuring album and track sales, radio airplay, streaming and social media fan interaction to provide a weekly multi-dimensional ranking of artist popularity.”
And the ‘Hat Trick’ title of this post is quite fitting since he’s from Canada, the birthplace of hockey. 🙂 Speaking of, I cannot wait for hockey season!
Californyinz 