Eminem has been oddly more interactive with the world in recent times. Perhaps it's the need for change or management demanding that he hop on TikTok but either way, he's giving fans a bit more insight into his otherwise private life.
At the wee hours of the morning, the rapper seemingly stumbled upon a video from No Life Shaq where the YouTuber DM'd several rappers requesting their pick for the greatest rapper of all time. Among the rappers that he DM'd is 6ix9ine, Travis Scott, Lil Wayne, and more, as well as Eminem. No Life Shaq admitted that he didn't expect Eminem to respond, though he said that was the only rapper he was eager to hear a response from.
"I had to try with Em. I had to try with Em. Of course, Em not gonna respond," he said. "That one kinda hurt my heart a lil bit because I wanted Em to say himself."
Though he never got a response on Instagram, Eminem did issue a response on Twitter with a list of rappers he'd consider GOATs but suffice to say the inclusion of Redman twice probably confirms that his position on the Def Squad member hasn't changed.
"For me, in no particular order... Toss up between wayne, pac, royce, jay, redman, treach, g. rap, biggie & king crook....," he wrote in one tweet. "Plus redman, LL, nas, joyner, kendrick, cole, andre, rakim, kane..."
Check out the tweets below.
Ludacris Shares His List Of Top Five Rappers With The Best Flows
Ludacris shared which rappers he feels have “undeniable flows” in the music game, but it wasn’t an easy decision.
He’s a crossover artist who is hailed as hip hop royalty with a sound and a style all his own. Ludacris has enjoyed a successful career in both music and film that has spanned over two decades, and when it comes to lyricism, he knows the ins and outs of what makes a good flow. During his recent appearance on XXL’s Hip-Hop Moments of Clarity, the rapper was asked to give his top five rappers with the most “undeniable flows,” and Ludacris called it “one of the greatest questions” he’d “ever been asked.”
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His first pick shouldn’t come as a surprise to many. “So, top five flows, man. Andre 3000 is going to be in there. I feel like he always challenges, always challenges. Imma put Kendrick Lamar in there as No. 2. Imma put J. Cole in there as being, like—right now, I’m thinking of people that are versatile and constantly trying to think of different flows that don’t pretty much have a set flow that they always do,” Ludacris said. Those are three. Imma go ’head and put Jay-Z in there, man. Jay-Z, you know, he does different things and he does experiment with different flows. And mostly, his different subject matter and how he’s able to weave through and be on a track with anybody. So that’s No. 4. Damn, man, No. 5.”
For the final position, Luda struggled with choosing between Lil Wayne and Eminem. “I was honestly gonna put Lil Wayne. Damn, this is hard because it’s like you got Lil Wayne… You got Eminem, but Imma have to go with Lil Wayne because the body of work and his consistency and he’s been in the game almost 30 years, bruh.” It seems that he was paying attention to living rappers, so Ludacris added Tupac and Notorious B.I.G. and honorable mentions. Do you agree with his list?
J. Cole Moving To Bring "Be Free" To Streaming
According to Dreamville's Ibrahim, J. Cole is aiming to bring his powerful "Be Free" to streaming platforms.
As music listeners, we've grown so accustomed to the convenience of streaming platforms that those of us who use them run the risk of forgetting the songs that didn't make the transition. That's not to say the songs themselves go unappreciated, but they fall by the wayside all too often. For J. Cole, one of the songs that got away was "Be Free," a song Cole wrote following the death of Michael Brown in 2014.
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At the time of its SoundCloud release, Cole shared a message about the song: "Rest in Peace to Michael Brown and to every young black man murdered in America, whether by the hands of white or black. I pray that one day the world will be filled with peace and rid of injustice. Only then will we all Be Free." Given everything that is currently going on six years removed from Brown's killing, many listeners have taken to revisiting "Be Free."
Seeing as the track has yet to hit streaming platforms, many have taken to asking Dreamville's Ibrahim H with direct requests. As he explains, the pieces are already in place for the transition to happen. "I’ve def seen a bunch of y’all tweets and got a bunch of texts asking for “Be Free” on streaming services," he writes. "I spoke to Cole today though had to let him know about that and he with so let me work on getting up this week."
J. Cole Weighs In On Minneapolis Police Disbanding
Following the Minneapolis City Council's decision to disband the police force, J. Cole has offered up some thoughts.
Though nothing that can bring back the Black lives lost to police brutality, thousands upon thousands have rallied across the world to ensure that change can pave the way for improvement. Since the tragic death of George Floyd, which arrived in quick succession after those of Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor, among others, the streets have been lined with protestors standing up for the Black Lives Matter movement.
While in some places it has lead to heightened tension between police and civilians, other places have embraced the idea of change -- in Minneapolis, the City Council recently announced plans to "disband" the police force, explaining their decision following a City Council meeting. Council Member Jeremiah Ellison announced the decision on June 4th, writing "We are going to dismantle the Minneapolis Police Department. And when we’re done, we’re not simply gonna glue it back together. We are going to dramatically rethink how we approach public safety and emergency response. It’s really past due."
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With the City Council believing that the Minneapolis Police Force has been failing to adequately protect the city, with City Council members citing a fifty-six percent murder solve rate in 2019, and a twenty-two percent rape solve rate in 2018 among other statistics. The inaction, paired with growing discontent with the all-too-often violent nature of American police tactics, has led to Minneapolis' decision to look toward alternative solutions. As presented, one potential option is to allocate police budget funds toward social services like education and public housing.
While it's likely that changes of this magnitude will take time, that hasn't stopped J. Cole from recognizing the impact of the movement. In a rare Tweet, the Dreamville rapper deemed the movement "Powerful powerful," sharing an article about the disbanding process. It should be noted that Cole was actively protesting in the streets of North Carolina, showing up as a man of the people and inspiring confidence in his fans. Clearly, he's pleased with some of the changes set to be implemented, and we can only hope that further moves are taken to ensure an end to systemic racism within the police force.
Wale Shades J. Cole Following George Floyd Protest
Wale deleted a post shading J. Cole after this weekend’s protests.
The world is hurting. For the duration of the last week, protests have been aplenty as we fight back against racial injustice. The public is having their voice be heard and, in Fayetteville, North Carolina, the famed rapper J. Cole joined along to march and chant for the equal treatment of people of color in America.
Photos circulated on social media, showing the rapper participating in one of the organized protests in his city. While his efforts were being praised by the majority of his fans, one person took the opportunity to throw a shot at Wale, asking him what he was doing to support Black Likes Matter at this time. The rapper has been using his platform to spread awareness but he was clearly pissed at the remark, deciding to shade Cole in his response.
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“I’m sick of a lot of u acting like y’all messiah was the only one outside suck my dick,” wrote Wale on Twitter. The controversial message has since been removed from his feed.
Wale is seemingly angry that people are only paying attention to J. Cole’s efforts at this needy time, failing to recognize all that he has done to raise awareness and fight back himself.
Do you think he was wrong in snapping like this?
J. Cole Joins Protesters In Fayetteville, NC After Death Of George Floyd
J. Cole is taking a stand with protesters in Fayetteville, North Carolina, after the death of George Floyd.
J. Cole is joining protesters in downtown Fayetteville, NC marching towards the Fayetteville Police Department in response to the death of George Floyd.
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Various photos of Cole on the streets of Fayetteville have surfaced on social media.
Cole has been active in protests before, having taken to the streets following the deaths of Michael Brown and Eric Garner. In 2014, he performed the song “Be Free” on Letterman and was met with wide-spread praise.
“When I made the song, it came from a crazy place,” Cole told Angie Martinez. “And I was like, I don’t know if I can go back to that place, but … when we got to rehearsal, I started reading articles, and I saw the video again to put myself back in the mainframe. It’s the most important thing I’ve ever done on stage.”
The protests throughout the country are in response to the death of George Floyd. Floyd died on May 25 after being pinned down on the neck by a police officer. Floyd repeatedly told the officer he could not breathe. The officer in question has been charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter. Protests and riots have since erupted in cities across the United States.
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J. Cole Spit Bars For Inmates After Visiting Prison
J. Cole visited San Quentin State Prison in 2017, uplifting incarcerated inmates and spitting some bars.
J. Cole enjoys uplifting people in his music and in real life, often taking time out of his busy schedule to interact with people who have been dealt a bad hand in this game of life. Three years ago, he took a trip to one of San Francisco's most famous prisons and one of the inmates is shining a light on how life-changing his visit was.
"We got the opportunity to spend the day at San Quentin State Prison talking and meeting inmates who will never see the outside again," wrote Cole's manager, Ibrahim "Ib" Hamad at the time. It turns out that Cole did more than just talk -- he actually spit some bars for about forty inmates facing life in prison.
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Replying to a post asking about experiences seeing big artists perform in small rooms, former incarcerated lifer Adnan Khan spoke about his experience hearing the rapper spit bars during his visit to San Quentin.
According to the formerly incarcerated man, Cole's visit didn't include a performance of sorts. However, he did sit down in a circle before spitting some bars without instrumental backing.
According to Khan, Cole's visit was deep. "He knew how fucked up the system is & wanted to learn more from us living in the fire-to use his platform to educate fans & bring actual change," he writes.
Take a look at some pictures below.
Bas Reflects On Sessions With J. Cole & Kendrick Lamar
Bas reveals one key piece of advice he got from Kendrick Lamar during the “Milky Way” sessions.
Bas has earned his position as one of the most talented emcees on J. Cole‘s roster, a fact made wholly evident by his effortless flows on Revenge Of The Dreamers 3. But before he was snapping on “Down Bad,” Bas was putting in work on his highly underrated Milky Way album, a project that featured singles like “Boca Raton,” “Tribe,” and the bar-heavy “Purge.” Today, Bas took a moment to reflect on the final stages of the album, which included a productive listening session with none other than J. Cole and Kendrick Lamar.
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“That time Cole and Kendrick pulled up to my crib to hear Milky Way when I was still working on it,” writes Bas, alongside a throwback picture from his personal archives. “At the time me and Cole were at peace with leaving Purge off the album and leaning more into the melodic records. Dot said we were buggin so I put it back on the album. When the [goats] talk you gotta listen!”
Given that “Purge” has become somewhat of a fan favorite, clocking in an impressive six million views on YouTube, it’s clear that Kendrick made the right call. One has to wonder if Bas was able to convince his label boss to commit to that anticipated Kendrick Lamar collaboration album, or if it even came up at all. Either way, it’s cool to see Cole and Kendrick holding it down for Bas — check out the picture and anecdote below.
Big Sean Tells DJ Khaled He Sent New Album Cover To Kendrick Lamar & J. Cole
Big Sean offers an update on the completion of his new album "Detroit 2."
Big Sean has been working hard on his new full-length musical release, Detroit 2. Announcing the new album several months ago, the rapper told fans that he was back in the right headspace, ready to finally unleash some fresh music on us. This weekend, he posted up on Instagram Live with DJ Khaled, who played the role of an investigative music journalist, trying to uncover all the secrets hiding out about the new album.
Asking Big Sean how many songs were on the tracklist, if the cover artwork was finished, and more important queries about Detroit 2, he got some telling answers from the man of the hour.
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When asked if the album would be longer than usual or if it will contain the "right amount of songs," Big Sean confirmed that the latter is more of the case this time around. DJ Khaled also asked him if the cover artwork was finished yet, to which Sean replied in the affirmative.
"Cover is done," he confirmed before noting that he sent the art to a few of rap's heavy hitters to get their thoughts on it. He says that he texted it to Kendrick Lamar and J. Cole, teasing their possible involvement in the project in doing so. On the other hand though, he likely just respects their opinion so much that he wanted to see what they thought of the vibe.
Are you looking forward to Big Sean's new album Detroit 2?
J. Cole’s "Immortal" Goes Platinum With No Features
J. Cole’s “Immortal” is the latest of his feature-free tracks to secure a platinum plaque.
At this point, it feels redundant to say that J. Cole has gone platinum, once again, with no features. Yet the Dreamville rapper continues to do exactly that, proving yet again that he’s one of the most commercially ble rappers in the game — by far. Having twenty-two solo gold and platinum plaques to his name, the proof is in the pudding. Now, Cole has officially upgraded an existing gold into a platinum, this time with his 4 Your Eyez Only single “Immortal.”
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Originally released in December of 2016, Cole’s Cardiak and Frank Dukes-produced track found him striking vivid and evocative imagery, covering themes of his come-up and mortality. “N***a I can tell you things that you probably shouldn’t know, have you ever heard the screams when the body hit the floor?” he rapped. “Flashbacks to the pain, wakin’ up, cold sweats / six o’clock in the mornin’, gotta hit the BowFlex.” By the track’s conclusion, he’s vowing to go out like Scarface, an ominous fate for one of the game’s wisest lyricist.
Lined with powerful reflections and typically thought-provoking bars, Cole’s “Immortal” proved to resonate with the masses. Even though 4 Your Eyez Only was somewhat of a slow-burner, the rapper’s presence alone kept it engaging in the long run. Congratulations to the Dreamville movement for another platinum plaque, and keep an eye out for new music from J. Cole whenever it ends up surfacing.
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