Bone Thugs-N-Harmony have announced that they've supposedly changed their name to "Boneless Thugs-N-Harmony," as part of a promotional campaign for Buffalo Wild Wings' new boneless wings. The iconic rap group's shocking announcement will have you double-checking the calendar to make sure that April Fools' Day hasn't come early. A "Behind The Scenes" video shared on social media details how the name change came to be and shows the obstacles that the group faced in making the decision. They also made a statement on their official website, whose URL has been adjusted to indicate the name change.

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This would’ve been a good April fools joke ??? chicken wang chicken wang ???

A post shared by Bone Thugs-N-Harmony ™ (@btnhlive) on Feb 18, 2020 at 10:20pm PST

"For 25 years, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony have continually reinvented rap," says the narrator of the clip. "But today, a name change threatens to tear the group apart." The narrator explains that the boys' "new love for boneless wings lead to a new name." According to Krayzie "Boneless" (née Bone) in their statement, "we were sitting down having the new [boneless] wings and it just hit me all of a sudden–I was like, yo, it’s time for a change. We need to be Boneless Thugs now. Bottom line." However, not everyone was on board.

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"I ain’t changing sh*t!" declared Layzie Bone. "It's preposterous." Bones' manager, Stevel Lobel, explains to Lazyie that it's "always majority rules" with the group, and right now, he's outnumbered. Even after trying to boneless wings from Buffalo Wild Wings, Layzie doesn't budge, but the group makes the executive decision to go through with the name change regardless. The video ends on a cliffhanger, as the fate of the Bone(less) Thugs-N-Harmony is left undecided. Will the new Buffalo Wild Wings' boneless wings be the end of the Bone Thugs?

Likely, no. If you feel like you're stuck in a fever dream, worry not. The name change is almost certainly not permanent, but rather a temporary, satirical move to promote BWW's new boneless wings. Despite the lighthearted, comedic nature of the campaign, the group did actually launch some limited edition "Boneless Thugs-N-Harmony" merch, available for purchase on their online store while supplies last.

What do you think of Bone Thugs-N-Harmony's "new" name?

Kehlani and an unknown special guest will give a tribute performance at a benefit show for the late Lexii Alijah on Wednesday evening in Minneapolis. The R&B singer shared a poster for the event on Instagram Tuesday evening, featuring an image of her fallen friend.

"Minnesota I'm OMW," Kehlani wrote. "Love u @lexiialijaii." Lexii was a budding rapper from Minnesota, who tragically passed away on New Year's day this year at 21 years old. It was later revealed by the Hennepin County Medical Examiner that she died of an accidental overdose.

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Kehlani expressed how heartbroken she was over social media after the news broke that Lexii had passed away. "i’m angry i’m confused i’m heartbroken i’m angry i’m confused," Kehlani tweeted. "i love you lexii. my baby was 21!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Lexii first started making waves on the music scene when she was featured on Kehlani's track, "Jealous," back in 2015 at just 17 years old.

Following a standout collaboration on the gold-certified Music To Be Murdered By, Eminem and KXNG Crooked will be reuniting once again -- albeit in a different capacity together. This Friday Slim is set to sit down for a conversation on Crook's Corner, marking his first major interview since 2018's four-part Kamikaze talk with Sway Calloway and his lengthy conversation with LL Cool J on Rock The Bells Radio. 
 

In many ways, Crook's Corner is the perfect platform for Eminem. A place for two rap nerds to discuss the craft free from ulterior motives. It's clear that Crook holds Em in high regard, having defended his honor during the infamous Joe Budden beef, and the pair have been steadily building on their collaborations. Following "I Will," we've already seen songs like "Loud Noises," "Session One" "Psychopath Killer," and "Our House" showcase their chemistry on wax.

As of this moment it's unclear as to what the interview will cover, but fans of both artists and hip-hop as an artistic medium will likely want to catch this one on Friday. As far as technical ability is concerned, Eminem and Crook are elite in every category, ranging from flow to punchlines -- it should be interesting to hear their thoughts on the current state of the game. It's going to be a big day for Slaughterhouse fans, who can check this out before or after peeping that new Royce Da 5'9" album The Allegory, on which Crooked himself is set to appear. 

Pop Smoke, one of the rising stars in Brooklyn’s growing drill scene, was reportedly murdered after a home invasion in his Hollywood Hills home. As reported by TMZ, the recording artist was targeted in a home invasion robbery, being critically injured by two masked men wearing hoodies who broke into his house. The two men reportedly fled the scene on foot after firing multiple gunshots at Pop Smoke. 

The break-in took place at approximately 4:30 AM on Wednesday morning. Pop Smoke was rushed to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Thus far, the suspects have not been arrested and it is unclear if the rapper knew his shooters. One man was handcuffed but it was later determined that he had no connection to the crime.

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Pop Smoke was in the midst of a magnificent start to his music career, releasing his new studio album Meet The Woo 2 to tremendous first-week numbers. He will be missed dearly by the entire hip-hop community.

We would like to send our thoughts and prayers to the family of Pop Smoke, his friends, peers, and anybody that knew the 20-year-old. We will continue to keep you updated with any potential developments related to his murder. We’ve lost another artist far too soon. 

Do you remember Lil Zane? Twenty years ago, the rapper was a teenager who had just released his debut album Young World: The Future. His hit single “Callin Me” featuring 112 topped the charts, and his music industry future looked promising. He’d soon collaborate with the likes of Tank, Lil Scrappy, Jacob Latimore, Shawty Lo, and many others, but Zane mysteriously disappeared from the limelight. 

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Zane made waves when he appeared on 112’s “Anywhere” and received his first plaque for a hit song, but in his recent feature for BET’s Finding BET series, the rapper admitted to turning down a deal from Diddy. According to Zane, his manager was launching a label and because they had a close relationship, he decided to stick with the team he knew instead of inking a deal with Bad Boy Records. “I think that Diddy respected that,” Zane said, adding with a laugh, “Don’t make stupid decisions when you grow up, kids. Don’t make decisions with your heart, make them with your mind.”

The rapper also shared a story about collaborating with Bow Wow, Sammie, and Lil Wayne on the 2001 single “Hardball.” During the music video shoot, Zane and Bow Wow had a bit of a tiff when they both wanted to wear the same Atlanta jersey, but Zane explained that they were young with egos and now they’ve put the past behind them.

Ultimately, Zane accused his label of sabotaging his career. He said he would be at a record store for an album signing but there were no copies of his album at the location. He also reportedly worked on projects and songs but he claims the label wouldn’t release them. He ended up taking acting jobs just to earn money to live. Zane revealed that his biggest regret was not learning the business in the early days because he found out too late that he’d been taken advantage of at the beginning of his career. Watch his full episode below.

Just over a week since they released their joint single "Obama," Blueface and DaBaby share bits from the set of their music video. The track is set to be included on Blueface's anticipated release Find The Beat, a project that the "Thotiana" rapper has been teasing for a while now. The Cash Money West rapper had a huge year in 2019 as his viral track topped the charts, and many are waiting to see if he'll be able to follow in the footsteps of his own success with his official debut.

On Tuesday (February 18), both Blueface and DaBaby shared some behind-the-scenes clips of themselves filming the visual that nicely coincides with an election year. The video is complete with a mock Oval Office and a fake Barack Obama behind the Commander-in-Chief's desk. The two rappers show off their shining jewelry for the camera as they take orders from the director as to how the scene will play out.

Blueface also uploaded a video of himself alongside the Fake Obama as the rapper attempts to teach him how to do his signature dance move. Unfortunately, it didn't come out just right, but that's because Impostor Obama has hip-action all his own. Check out the clips below along with Blueface and DaBaby's new single "Obama."

Hip hop and R&B fans were floored on Tuesday (February 18) when a flyer for an upcoming concert began to circulate on social media. The Lovers & Friends Festival popped up on Instagram and for their first post, they uploaded a flyer that has caused quite a bit of controversy in less than 24 hours. According to the information provided, the Goldenvoice presented show will take place on May 9 in Los Angeles at "the grounds at Dignity Health Sports Park." However, there have been a few hiccups as both artists and fans have called out the alleged promoters for misinformation.

Artists reportedly performing at the one-day event include Lauryn Hill, Usher, Ludacris, Lil Jon, TLC, Jhené Aiko, Summer Walker, Megna Thee Stallion, Nelly, Sean Paul, T-Pain, Brandy, Monica, Ja Rule, Fat Joe, SWV, Saweetie, Lil Kim, Foxy Brown, Ginuwine, Dru Hill, Next, 112, Mario, Twista, Eve, Trina, Tweet, Amerie, Mase, Cam'ron, Mike Jones, Montell Jordan, Umi, Jon B, Baby Bash, Frankie J, and Nina Sky.

This lineup is every 1990s and 2000s hip hop and R&B fans' dream, but all may not be what it seems. Initially, Twista insinuated that he hadn't been paid for the show, but later he confirmed that he'd be playing all of his hits. Lil Kim reposted the flyer on her Instagram Story with a message written over it that read, “This is SO FAKE! I am not a part of this.” Mase simply commented, “Best of wishes on this show but pls take my name off this flyer.”

Fans have been voicing their confusion in the comment section as they've stated that although T-Pain is scheduled for Lovers & Friends Festival, he's reportedly also supposed to perform at Rolling Loud the same day. Some also stated that Megan Thee Stallion is supposed to be performing at another event in Washington, D.C. that day, as well, but Broccolli Festival shared that she's scheduled for both events.

Some people have expressed that they're feeling "Fyre Fest vibes," but all id legit, according to Snoop Dogg. The rapper made a brief video where he shared that he was one of the booking agents for the concert and verified that everyone is confirmed. He stated that he thought he was speaking with Lil Kim's representatives when booking her, but if not, he told the Queen Bee to DM him so they could officially add her to the roster.

Snoh Aalegra is one of the most angelic voices gracing R&B at the moment. I’m sure the Swedish-Iranian singer was on many people’s wishlist of artists to appear on NPR Tiny Desk and that dream has now become a reality. Her songs conjure the kind of intimate atmosphere that would obviously translate well to the series’ stripped-back performances. 

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Watching her perform her velvety tracks, her singing appears just as effortless as it sounds. Her Tiny Desk setlist mostly consisted of cuts from her 2019 sophomore album, – Ugh, those feels again, which propelled her closer to stardom and earned her Swedish Grammy nominations. From that project, she performed “Love Like That”, “I Want You Around”, “Find Someone Like You” and “Woah”, which received a remixing by Pharrell last week. She dove further back into her catalog for “Fool For You” from her 2017 debut. This song attracted much love through her appearance on the “COLORS” web series. 

Snoh Aalegra remains a favorite on our R&B-centric Spotify playlist, “R&B Season”, which is updated weekly with new releases and throwbacks that fit the calming vibe. You can listen and subscribe to that here. 

Setlist

• “Love Like That”
• “I Want You Around”
• “Whoa”
• “Fool For You”
• “Find Someone Like You”

Rick Ross and Dwyane Wade have stepped into the booth to do it for Miami one time. Rozay, a.k.a the Biggest Boss, hit Instagram to share the official cover art for his new single, “Season Ticket Holder,” a collaboration with Dwyane Wade as well as Raphael Saadiq and Udonis Haslem. The song is set to arrive this Friday, serving as one of Ross’ first singles since the release of Port Of Miami II this past summer.

This marks another huge stride in a big week for Dwyane Wade. Fresh off of his controversial job as the judge at the NBA All-Star dunk contest this past weekend, he’s been promoting his upcoming documentary, D. Wade: Life Unexpected which is set to premiere on ESPN just two days after his new single with Ross, on Feb 23rd. The documentary is set to detail the highs and lows of his career from personal aspects of his family life to his journey in the NBA.

“I’m looking forward to sharing this very personal documentary that peels back the layers of my emotional sixteen season journey with all of its twists and turns, and peaks and valleys,” he said of the documentary. It has been a roller coaster ride and the never-before seen footage will show my fans how I’ve made my own way throughout this incredible adventure.”

There’s nothing quite like flexing on your haters, especially when you can do it while accepting one of the top honors of the night at a prestigious awards ceremony. For Tyler, The Creator, he got the chance to do just that by accepting his trophy for “International Male Solo Artist” at the 2020 BRIT Awards in the most Tyler way possible.

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For those that don’t remember, Tyler was actually banned from the UK for a couple of years back in 2015 by then-prime minister Theresa May, citing his controversially violent and at times homophobic lyrics as a reason for her decision. Fans of the IGOR rapper suffered right along with him being that he had to cancel many European tour dates in promotion of his 2015 album Cherry Bomb. While closing out his speech at the BRIT Awards today, airing live from the 02 Arena in London, Tyler said, “I want to give a special shoutout to someone who I hold dear to my heart, who made it where I couldn’t come to this country five years ago — I know she’s at home pissed off. Thank you, Theresa May!” Now that’s how you make a memorable comeback!

Watch the clip from Tyler, The Creator’s speech at the 2020 BRIT Awards below The Independent: