Though Joe Budden‘s breakout single “Pump It Up” has occasionally been used as ammunition against him, those who remember growing up in the early millennium still hold love for the Just Blaze-produced banger. It’s easy to forget that the single stemmed from his full-length eponymous debut album, released seven-years ago to this day.

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Boasting tracks like the Busta Rhymes-assisted “Fire,” the lengthy “10 Mins,” and another Just Blaze collaboration in “Give Me A Reason,” the project served as a reasonably decent showcase of Budden’s abilities — albeit tailored heavily toward the mainstream.  Though Budden would go on to shed some of those habits on his ensuing Mood Muzik mixtapes, it remains an interesting starting point for one of the game’s esteemed lyricists. One that Budden himself, currently enjoying his run as a reigning media mogul, took to Instagram to celebrate.

“It’s called a journey because you have no idea what you’ll embark on,” he captions, alongside the Joe Budden album cover. “But you’ll know what to do not only by what you find, but by what those findings do to you. Happy Anniversary to me.” All things considered, it has been one hell of a ride for Jumpoff Joey, who has since provided countless gems whether as an emcee or a podcast personality. When all is said and done, we can only hope that the game starts recognizing Joe Budden for everything he has brought to the table. Happy anniversary, Joe!

Ever since 6ix9ine came home from jail, legendary artist Akon has been going to bat for him. Akon defended why 6ix9ine ended up snitching on his fellow gang members and at one point, Akon seemed to be interested in doing a hit battle with Tekashi. Now, the two are going even farther with their newfound friendship as Akon has been hanging out at 6ix9ine’s house where the rainbow-haired rapper has his very own makeshift studio.

In the clip below, Tekashi and Akon are jamming out to a brand new track in which 6ix9ine speaks on being thrown in prison. Akon can be seen bobbing his head and eventually, we hear his hook from the classic track “Locked Up.” In 6ix9ine’s post, he refers to the song as “Locked Up Part 2” and that he is currently in album mode.

6ix9ine urged his fans to comment on the IG post and said that if he gets 100,000 comments, he will release the song. Tekashi has been teasing another track over the past few weeks and it was originally going to come out on June 5th but it got pushed back to June 12th.

With this latest collaboration in mind, perhaps there really is some steam to this whole 6ix9ine comeback tour.

Quando Rondo admitted that he actually isn’t that fond of his debut album, QPac, which dropped in January. He explained that the album was mostly just what his label, Atlantic Records, wanted him to put out, and that he didn’t, in fact, even contribute that much of the writing. 

“I’m not even going to lie to you, I didn’t really like QPac,” the rapper told HipHopDX. “That project was based on money because the label put so much money into that sh*t for no reason. Half of the songs I didn’t even write and I’m just being honest but don’t get me wrong. A lot of rappers won’t say that but I don’t give a f*ck because, at the end of the day, I’m a Crip. This is who I am. What am I going to fake for?”

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He goes on to name some of the songs he didn’t write, but recorded anyway because he was getting paid. “I feel like QPac didn’t really do what I wanted it to do because that sh*t wasn’t really me,” he explains. “Don’t get me wrong I wrote verses but like, that ‘Collect Calls’ sh*t, that was not my hook. I didn’t want to do that sh*t but I got paid to do it. I got like $75,000 to do that sh*t. The song ‘Bad Vibe’ I got with A Boogie and 2 Chainz, I didn’t write that hook either.”

It all came down to a lack of creative license and control from his label for Quando. “How do you invest in me if you took your money and did something that you guys wanted to do?” he stressed. “You are doing stuff for yourself and using me as a source. There’s nothing wrong with that because you’re not supposed to be around people for no reason, but I feel like the only way I’ll get a big song is if I have a real meeting with the label and use my ideas. Look how far I made it doing me!” A fair point.

Gunna‘s new album, Wunna, is reportedly likely to debut at No. 1 on next week’s Billboard 200 chart, according to HITS Daily Double. This would be Gunna’s first project to debut this high.

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Wunna is projected to reach between 110,000 to 130,000 equivalent album units. The full-length project features Travis Scott, Lil Baby, Young Thug, and Roddy Ricch as collaborators.

The ranking is no surprise to the rapper, who expected the project would land as high, in an interview with Complex before its release. “Album going No. 1, of course, and I’m going to have a few hits on here—a few, few,” he said. “This album right is going to set a tone.”

Gunna’s previous effort, 2019’s Drip Or Drown 2, debuted at No. 2 with 90,000 equivalent album units.

“Wunna is the other side of me that I don’t really be showing,” Gunna told High Snobiety regarding Wunna. “I want people to know that I really took my time and I really put heart into this album. I made more than an album, I made a series with it. Even with the cover, the videos, with the merch and everything, it goes together. I want people to understand that I’m a real artist.”

[Via]

Future spoke with Zane Lowe, Saturday, about working with Young Thug, Future, and his new album, High Off Life, for Apple Music's Beats 1.

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"That's my twin," Future says about Thug during the interview. "There's me and then there's him. ... When you mention Thug you mention me. It's like one."

Young Thug is featured on "Harlem Shake" off of Future's new album.

Petunia SZN is upon us. Teyana Taylor recently announced that her forthcoming album, The Album, drops next month, and now she’s giving fans a sneak peek into what she’s been working on. On Thursday (May 14), Teyana shared a clip of the music video for what is shaping up to be her next hit single, “Bare Wit Me.” Her dancing skills are undeniable, so it’s unsurprising to see Teyana Taylor showcasing her fancy footwork for the visual.

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We may not know what the “Bare Wit Me” video will look like in its entirety, but in the clip that Teyana shared to social media, she’s giving an obvious nod to Michael Jackson. She shares the stage with four other dancers as they’re all dressed in artwork-come-to- life garb that mirrors looks from the King of Pop. The look also pays homage to Janet Jackson who dressed in a similar vintage zoot suit for her music video to “Alright” from her 1989 album, Janet Jackson’s Rhythm Nation 1814.

Teyana Taylor recently conducted a Q&A session where she spoke about what listeners can expect from The Album.  “We’ve been working on the album. The album is done – that’s why I look crazy right now,” she said. “Before I got on with y’all, we literally just did the listening of the album. Y’all gonna be so happy… This album is definitely more of a vibe. I don’t really do fast songs like that. There are some head-boppers. It’s not super-fast—you can dance and you can cry and you can ride.”

Watch her clip of “Bare Wit Me” below.

Tekashi 6ix9ine has been a polarizing figure in the music industry ever since he came out with his track "GUMMO" in 2017. Ever since he was arrested, thrown in jail, and subsequently released for snitching, people's feelings towards 6ix9ine have become even more divided. Some people don't care that he's a snitch while others are outraged that he still has a career and can still get coverage. Either way, he's a prominent figure right now and his new song "GOOBA" appears to be a huge hit amongst his closest supporters.

According to Chart Data on Twitter, 6ix9ine's catalog has taken a huge boost thanks to his new track. In fact, his 2018 album "DUMMY BOY" recently passed two billion streams on Spotify's platform. Clearly, fans are in the mood for 6ix9ine's music and he's reaping the benefits of it all.

It turns out that Kehlani owes Drake huge for coming up with the unique title for her new album, It Was Good Until It Wasn’t. The R&B songstress is prepping to drop the new project on Friday (May 8th), but in the meantime, she’s giving credit where credit is due. During an interview for the inaugural episode of Apple Music’s new R&B Now Radio, Kehlani opened up about the process of making the album, including how she came up with the title—or, better yet, how she and Drake came up with it. On the last day of her trip to Canada where she was busy finishing off the album with Boi-1da, the singer paid a visit to the 6 God’s Toronto mansion.

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During the visit, Kehlani and Drake were simply having a “life conversation” and reminiscing on their old music, when the former described her personal life using the phrase.  “I was just like, ‘Man, yeah, it was good until it wasn’t,'” she recalls. “And he was like, ‘Say that shit again.’”

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“He was like, ‘That’s your album,'” Kehlani continues. “And I was like, ‘You might be f*cking right,’ because that just summed up everything when I try to have this really long-winded explanation to you about the project…So shout out to that guy for catching that one, ’cause that would’ve been just something that I said.” It Was Good Until It Wasn’t drops tonight at midnight, with features from Tory Lanez, Jhené Aiko, James Blake, Lucky Daye, and more. Kehlani’s full interview on R&B Now Radio airs Friday at 11:00am EST on Apple Music.