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.

Claudio Lavenia/Getty Images

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. 

Nick Elgar / Staff / Getty Images

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. 

Theo Wargo/Getty Images

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.

Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images

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: 

There’s no telling when a rapper will blow up from up-and-comer to superstar, but there’s no denying DaBaby and Roddy Ricch have done exactly that. As of now, Ricch has been holding on to the number one album for a minute, and DaBaby recently linked up with Drake, Future, and Lil Baby for a stacked “Life Is Good” remix. Clearly, both rappers have solidified themselves as a force to be reckoned with — at least commercially speaking. All things considered, is it really a surprise to see the two hitmakers in the studio together? 

Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images, Roger Kisby/Getty Images 

Roddy Ricch took to Instagram to tease their upcoming collaboration, a brief clip you can catch by way of his IG story. Though he doesn’t preview any music, he does show DaBaby sitting in the driver’s seat and issuing a warning to the game at large. The confidence is contagious; Ricch’s own “caption” positions the pair as “two of the greatest,” complete with GOAT emoji for emphasis.

As of now, it’s unclear as to when the fruits of their labor will arrive in full. Given that Ricch’s Please Excuse Me For Being Antisocial is exhibiting no signs of slowing down, it’s entirely possible the song will be reserved for DaBaby’s eventual Kirk follow-up. Either way, we’re destined for a banger one way or another — which of these two do you prefer? 

After leaving his fans under the impression that his next album would be titled “Chapter VI” for some time, The Weeknd revealed last week that we actually have After Hours on the way. Regardless of what the project may be called, people were still left itching for a release date. There was speculation that it would drop shortly after that announcement to coincide with the Toronto crooner’s birthday on February 16. Well, it’s now the 18th and the album is still M.I.A. and its release window remains a mystery. 

Kevin Winter/Getty Images

We now have more reason to believe that After Hours is not too far away. The Weeknd just shared its cover art, which tends to be one of the final stages of a rollout. The cover is a headshot of the character that Abel has been embodying for the project’s promo so far, all bloodied as he has appeared in the manic music videos for its first two singles, “Heartless” and “Blinding Lights”. This reveal comes along with some more info: “Heartless” will serve as Track 7 and “Blinding Lights” will serve as Track 9. The total length of the tracklist is still unknown. 

We will also be getting Track 13 of After Hours tonight, which will be the album’s title track. We don’t know whether it will be a midnight release or earlier, but stay tuned. After Hours is on the horizon. What do you think of the cover?