Guapdad 4000 has been filling a void in this post-quarantine world of ours, picking up where Funkmaster Flex and the LA Leakers left off as a key purveyor of BARS. For three weeks now, the Valentino Viper has been hosting the "Rona Raps" series, which finds he and his friends kicking bars Instagram. The first week featured he and Buddy ripping a J. Dilla banger. The second brought Chris Brown into the mix for a take on Q-Tip's "Vivrant Thing." Now, Guap has linked with Wiz Khalifa and Denzel Curry for his biggest installment yet.

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Over Luniz classic "I Got 5 On It," Guap sets it off with yet another fire verse, proving that even in a casual state he's deadly with the words. "Walls famous like the Chinese one that hold the greatest / came up from running with cons, we all gangest," he spits, keeping the bars coming. "I might call up Chance The Rapper ask him what the Lord do, cause my raps is getting acidy they hydrochlorical."

"With all this Rona shit I got the ski mask on," spits Denzel Curry, growing out a quarantine beard for the occasion. "I ain't rapping fast, this ain't a ski mask song." As his verse progresses, the commentary emerges. "Fuck, I tell em it's no love," he declares, a changed man. "I don't want to dap, clap you up, and there's no hugs / stay your ass home, dance around in your bitch Uggs."

Sliding in from Denzel's makeshift hook, Wiz closes things out with a veteran's swagger. "Roll the weed pass it, n***as taking pieces of styles I already mastered," he spits. "Kush tastes fresh I just busted it out the plastic / social detachment being practiced, just me and a bad bitch plus I'm still stackin'." Check out the full episode below, and sound off - has "Rona Raps" made you pledge your loyalty to Guapdad's cause? 

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@guapdad4000 @denzelcurryph & myself #taylorgang

A post shared by Wiz Khalifa (@wizkhalifa) on Apr 1, 2020 at 7:38pm PDT

As time progresses, Azriel Clary continues to come out of her shell. The former girlfriend to R. Kelly was once a fierce defender of the disgraced singer, but now that she’s separated herself from him and reconnected with her family, the 22-year-old is showing more sides of herself. One of her dreams is to become an accomplished singer and over the last few months, she’s shared her talents on social media. On Wednesday (April 1), she flexed her rapping skills, as well.

“You guys, I actually love rapping as much as I enjoy singing. it may be raunchy, but somehow it’s empowering to see my strength, and to know that NONE of us (all my beautiful queens) none of us need a man that isn’t helping us grow physically, mentally, financially, and spiritually,” Azriel wrote in a caption to her video. She noted that this was her remix to NLE Choppa and asked for her followers to tag him if they enjoyed her rhymes.

Lyrically, Azriel exudes confidence in herself, including her sexuality. Her name will continue to be linked to R. Kelly and we’re certain to hear more about her as information regarding his cases surface. For now, Azriel Clary is hoping to show what she’s made of separate from Kelly, so check out her bars and let us know if you think she has what it takes to become a star.

He’s always held down the West Coast and was praised as a rapper from Los Angeles, but Xzibit‘s roots didn’t begin there. Because of his ties to artists like Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Nate Dogg, and Ice Cube early on in his career—and because of his sound—Xzibit was assumed to have been born and bred in Southern California. In 2005, various artists joined together for the West Coast Peace Treaty, an event moderated by Steve Harvey. Xzibit gave a speech at the gathering about how they should come together in L.A., and in the middle of his discourse, someone stood up and tried to check him. The man yelled, “N*gga you from Albuquerque!”

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The Game recently recounted the funny story for HipHopDX, recalling that the moment was jarring for him. “It’s like finding out Santa Clause didn’t make these cookies,” The Game recently said. Xzibit has now addressed his 15-year-old West Coast Peace Treaty moment, clarifying his history with how he came to hold down Los Angeles.

“Here’s the thing, I’m not from New Mexico, I was born in Detroit,” Xzibit says with a smile. “I lived in New Mexico, but I was only there for seven years and then I cam here at 17 and then lived the rest of my life here. That being said, it’s very interesting the sh*t that people hold onto. You can easily pick up a phone and Google my name and see that I’m not from f*cking New Mexico! I love New Mexico. I loved Albuquerque, I got a lotta friends there, but I’m not from f*cking New Mexico.” He added that because of that story, some people think he’s from the country of Mexico.

After sharing a few laughs about the incident, Xzibit listed a few other rappers who are hailed as Los Angeles icons but were born in other states. “Kurupt is from Philly! Nate Dogg is from Mississippi. Tupac is from New York! Get the f*ck outta here!” Xzibit added. “It doesn’t f*cking matter. If you’re gonna throw the stone, n*gga, throw the stone at everybody… And even if I was from Albuquerque, you let an Albuquerque n*gga come here and take all of Los Angeles. Holla at me.” Check out the funny clip below. 

Musicians from all backgrounds, worldwide, recognize the last name "Marsalis." Ellis Marsalis Jr. was an accomplished jazz pianist and musician who had four sons who followed in his footsteps—Wynton, Branford, Delfeayo and Jason—albeit, they chose varying instruments of their own liking. The Marsalises have toured the world, won awards, and have added their touches to the history of music, and now they mourn the death of their patriarch.

Variety reports that 85-year-old New Orleans legend Ellis Marsalis Jr. passed away from complications connected to his COVID-19 diagnosis. His son Brandford Marsalis issued a statement about his father's passing. “My dad was a giant of a musician and teacher, but an even greater father. He poured everything he had into making us the best of what we could be," Brandford said. "And to quote my friend and Harvard Law professor David Wilkins, who just sent me the following text, ‘We can all marvel at the sheer audacity of a man who believed he could teach his black boys to be excellent in a world that denied that very possibility, and then watch them go on to redefine what excellence means for all time.'"

The mayor of New Orleans, LaToya Cantrell, tweeted a tribute to the late music icon. "Ellis Marsalis was a legend. He was the prototype of what we mean when we talk about New Orleans jazz. The love and the prayers of all of our people go out to his family, and to all of those whose lives he touched," she wrote. "Ellis Marsalis was an icon — and words aren’t sufficient to describe the art, the joy & the wonder he showed the world. May we wrap his family in our love & our gratitude, & may we honor his memory by coming together in spirit— even as the outbreak keeps us apart, for a time." We send our condolences to the Marsalis family.

We were sitting on pins and needles waiting to see Scott Storch and T-Pain have their hits battle on Instagram Live, but plans were changed at the last minute. Swizz Beatz has become the Don King of these IG Live battles as he’s the one brokering, negotiating, and announcing the deals as soon as they’re made, and we don’t have any issues with that. On Wednesday (April 1), fans watched as Scott Storch and Mannie Fresh shared an Instagram Live screen and played some of their favorite hits. Swizz even shared the scorecard from the competition to show how the battle played out.

“Score card from the people !! Thank you @scottstorchofficial & @manniefresh for doing it for the people at home aka the culture !” Swizz wrote on Instagram. “We also hit 202k tonight VERZUZ !!! Scott won tonight but so did the culture ! @timbaland it’s a wrap ??.” Then, an hour later, Swizz returned with an announcement that T-Pain would be squaring off with Lil Jon on Saturday (April 4).

“New paper work just in for this Sat 9pm est @tpain VERZUZ @liljon it’s going to be a real showdown ???????@timbaland VERZUZ !!!!! Who you got winning ?” Swizz wrote in a caption to the IG Battle flyer. This is surely going to be one for the books, especially now that these battles are gaining major traction online. Each artist has 20 tracks to choose from, so what do you want to hear and who do you think will take the crown between T-Pain and Lil Jon?

We know that we told you the next Instagram Live battle was supposed to be between Scott Storch and T-Pain, but there was a last-minute change of plans. Instead, Cash Money's Mannie Fresh entered into the match-up, and if you're quick, you may still be able to catch the showdown. There are plenty of celebrities who are also streaming the battle including Timbaland, Swizz Beatz, Lala Anthony, Joe Budden, Lil Twist, Angie Martinez, Slim Thug, Zoey Dollaz, Russ, Keri Hilson, Noreaga, Mack Maine, Victor Cruz, Gashi, Wale, Normani, 50 Cent, Wiz Khalifa, Ebro Darden, Chance Tha Rapper, Lil Yachty, and more. Everyone has their own opinion about who's leading this battle, but we've snagged a few snippets so you can judge for yourself.

It comes to no surprise that Mannie Fresh is delivering some of our favorite Lil Wayne, Juvenile, Big Tymers, Cash Money-Young Money jams that can get the club turned up in less than a moment. He has a few T.I. and Jeezy tracks in the arsenal, as well. Storch, however, has a more eclectic mix of artists as he dropped tracks from The Roots, Beyoncé, Chris Brown, Busta Rhymes, and Justin Timberlake.

This is certainly a battle that shouldn't be missed by two icons in the music industry, so check out a few clips from Live below along with reactions from the public. Let us know who you think won this one.

She's a top-selling, award-winning, chart-topping artist, but at her core, Missy Elliott is a music fan just like the rest of us. If you've been hopping through artists' Instagram Lives during this COVID-19 quarantine, you'll find that celebrities are keeping themselves busy by entertaining the masses. If you check the stream of comments, there's a good chance you'll see Missy Elliott leaving a note or two as she encourages her fellow creatives.

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She was grooving to DJ D-Nice during his Quarantine Party and she showed up to support both Timbaland and Swizz Beatz when they were having they IG Live battle. People have been trying to get the rapper-singer-producer-songwriter-dancer to get in on the Live battle action, but don't hold your breath. Missy said she's more interested in being a spectator than a participator.

"Nah i I like watching the battles?? but I don’t got enough hits to battle??‍♀️ I rather be a judge," she commented on Twitter. She also joked, "Kirk Franklin vs Donnie Mcclurkin!!!! That’s it??????????." Someone suggested that she go up against music legend Teddy Riley. "Heck nah Teddy Riley got Classic Hits that date back to the beginning of time," she said. There were other suggestions like Doja Cat and Ester Dean, but Missy still wouldn't bite. Who do you think should have a friendly IG Live music battle with Missy Elliott?

It might be a lonely Aries season but for those of you who just so happen to be celebrating their birthday tomorrow, you might be in for a special treat. Quavo will be turning 29-years-old tomorrow but unfortunately, there will be no clubbing or strip club visits to commemorate the day. That being said, Quavo won’t be allowing social distancing to prevent him from turning up with his fans.

Quavo announced that he’d be taking his birthday bash to Instagram Live tomorrow night and he appears more than excited for the occasion. With an actual flyer to make the event official, the rapper revealed that he’ll be having a little Instagram Live party where he’ll be playing some classic records from the Migos as well as some unreleased cuts.

“Aye, shout out to all my Aries, man. Tomorrow’s my birthday. April 2nd. We will be goin’ up live with the gang. Me and my brothers,” he announced. “Quarantine party. Stay safe, everybody. Make sure y’all practice social distancing. We playin’ all the Migos classics and you know we havin’ alone. We ain’t battlin’. We just vibin’.”

He didn’t specify whether any of these songs are from Culture III. However, he did recently say that Migos have been working on Culture IIIduring this time of social distancing but fans will likely have to wait until the Coronavirus pandemic dies down for a release date to be set.

Coronavirus has quickly become the worst on a variety of levels, having a profound impact on everything from health to the economy to our day to day life. While millions are left contending with the changes wrought by the ongoing pandemic, the music festival industry has been halted in its tracks. Rolling Loud is no exception, and while they initially hoped to weather the storm, the organizational team have officially decided to postpone the sixth installment until next year. 

“Since our last update, we have been monitoring the spread of COVID-19, hopeful that it would slow and allow us to proceed with producing the festival in May,” reads the official statement from Rolling Loud. “At the same time, we were working around the clock on a contingency plan in case we had to postpone. It was important for us to not make the decision too soon, without having all of the facts. We wanted nothing more than to turn up with you all at the 6th year of our sold-out show. However, as the spread of COVID-19 increased to tragic levels, it became clear that we cannot proceed with the May 8-10 dates.”

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“To make sure that fans get the same experience that they signed up for in May, we’ve worked extremely hard with all of the artists, vendors, city and county officials, and the venue to make that happen. Rolling Loud Miami 2020 will be postponed to President’s Day Weekend (3 days), February 12-14, 2021 at Hard Rock Stadium. Same lineup. Same rage. Ain’t nothin’ changed but the dates. All purchased tickets will be honored for the rescheduled dates. If you need a refund, don’t worry, we got you.” 

For those curious, the 2020 lineup originally included A$AP Rocky, Travis Scott, and Post Malone as the headliners. Gucci Mane, Lil Uzi Vert, 21 Savage, Playboi Carti, Lil Yachty, Young Thug, Rick Ross, Big Sean, Tyga, Gunna, Roddy Ricch, YG, and many more. For now, the lineup is set to remain the same, though one has to wonder if new releases will play a role in altering that — especially if a few key heavy hitters drop as expected. 

The Coronavirus pandemic has turned into quite the marketing opportunity for entertainers. In hip-hop, specifically, the lockdown has resulted in artists sharing more music since no one’s really leaving the house and jumping on IG Live to substitute live concerts. Tory Lanez, for example, used his passion project Quarantine Radio to build the hype for his most recent single, “Do The Most” that he released last week. Boosie also used the IG Live infamy to release his single, “Pussy Lips On Live.”

Young Thug and Gunna will also be capitalizing off of self-isolation alongside Turbo for a new single that they have dropping tomorrow. The YSL Records Twitter page announced that the three artist will be teaming up for a new single titled, “Quarantine Clean.” The cover art promotes the maintaining cleanliness with animated versions of Turbo, Gunna, and Young Thug dressed in hazmat suits and equipped with a disinfectant in their hands.

While we could only imagine that all three artists have been keeping themselves busy by recording even more music, Thugger did hop on Quarantine Radio yesterday to chat with Tory Lanez very briefly where he revealed that he was also getting in a lot of physical activity, so to speak. 

Anyhow, we’re excited to hear new music from Thugger, Gunna, and Turbo tomorrow. We hope you’re keeping “Quarantine Clean.”