Lloyd Banks has earned the right to be championed as the punchline king, a title he seems to embrace. Between his early work with G-Unit --including the star-making "Victory" freestyle-- and the classic Hunger For More, Banks' gruff brand of clever lyricism makes him a rare breed of emcee. One whose presence on a Funk Flex or LA Leakers would be elevated to an instant spectacle. As such, his fans are quick to pay homage when given the chance. It's gotten to the point where Banks is openly inviting smoke from any willing competitor.

Neilson Barnard/Getty Images

It started when one of his followers inquired about the possibility of a URL battle, provided the bag was enticing enough. Banks replied with the Drizzy special, which is to say, a diabolical emoji. Roughly translated to a) wait and see or b) bring it on. After one skeptic mused that Banks' publicized career will leave the door open for too many personal shots, Banks came through to shut it down with the quickness.

"Nobody on the [Earth] cooking the kid," he writes, a confident declaration of strength. In other words, Banks is accepting all challengers, whether Battle Rapper or overzealous claimant. The Punchline King is growing tired of sitting the throne, his dreams turning to open-field warfare once again. 

We thought we were getting an album titled Chapter VI for months after Toronto artist The Weeknd had been toying with the idea during his live show but, alas, an album announcement has come by way of the superstar hitmaker and we will all be heading into After Hours territory instead. 

With two new singles performing well on the radio, an album announcement was always in the cards for The Weeknd, who just came through by letting his fans know they could expect a full body of work soon. Sharing a trailer for the album on his social media pages, After Hours was announced as its title and, with no release date known to the public yet, your guess is as good as mine as to when it might be coming out. However, there have been rumors that it could come as soon as this weekend, with the artist’s birthday coming up on February 16.

Jean Baptiste Lacroix/Getty Images

After Hours will be The Weeknd’s first studio album since Starboy, which was released in 2016. It is set to include “Blinding Lights” and “Heartless.” Not much else is known yet about the upcoming body of work.

Watch the album teaser below and let us know if you’re excited about the new project.

The only thing that Cardi B is pregnant with right now are the hits that she keeps cranking out in the studio for her new album. After joking that everybody around her seems to be getting pregnant, the Bronx superstar responded to a fan's inquiry if that was her subtle way of letting them know that a baby was on the way with Offset. She shut down those rumors before they even had a chance to begin, noting that the only thing cooking inside of her are the fire ideas for her upcoming album, tentatively titled Tiger Woods. 

Theo Wargo/Getty Images

Interacting with her core fanbase on Twitter last night, Cardi B offered somewhat of an album update, letting everybody know how far along she's gotten since her last reveal. With a new album due out before the end of the year, the artist informed her fans that she's five hits deep, clearly confident about how things will turn out.

Cardi B had one of the most impressive debut albums of the last decade with Invasion of Privacy, an album that remains on the charts to this day. The rapper is looking to continue her tremendous success with the official follow-up and it's looking as though things are coming along quite nicely.

Fabolous and T.I. recently connected on the ExpediTIously podcast, where the two OGs shared a conversation on hip-hop, life, and the point where the two coalesce. With both rappers currently locked in long term relationships, it didn’t take long for them to connect over the unexpected challenges of having a steady girlfriend in hip-hop.

In the opening moments, Fab marvels at how much the game has changed. “Back when I was coming up at the same time as you, family life wasn’t at the forefront of your career,” he reflects. “You were even supposed to be projected as a single man for the public.” T.I. admits that Atlantic Records initially wanted to keep his relationship with Tiny a secret. “Of course!” marvels Fab. “I didn’t know DMX was married, or Ja Rule was married! You never knew them shits till this era. Them n***as was married for ten years or had a girl from their high school. That wasn’t the thing then. Those key figures, if we’d have seen them having families, we’d have known that’s cool.”

Astrid Stawiarz/Getty Images

T.I continues to reflect on his own early days as a married man. “I remember n***as looking at me like I had three heads when I used to show up with my old lady,” he says. “Back in 2003, 2004. I’d show up everywhere with my old lady, they was like ‘man why do you have your girl here?’ I was like man why you ain’t got yours?” 

On a more rap-focused note, T.I. asks the punchline-king contender about the hardest verse of his career. “It really now is something true to me,” reflects Fab, seemingly unable to single something out. “I remember when I first started rapping I was trying to be with the words and say something ill. More like how a poet is. Now it’s like, I’m making music that connects directly to me and my life. I’m able to put that in words and make it rhyme at the end and make it a good song.”  Check out the full episode right here, and show some love to Tip for living up to his Grand Hustle moniker.

Big Sean is set to be releasing his long-awaited album, though we have yet to receive a release date. Coming off a meeting of the minds with Jay-Z and Jay Brown at Roc Nation headquarters, Sean wasted little time in getting back on the grind. Taking to Instagram, he documented a recent studio session involving none other than the legendary Nas. 

Bennett Raglin/Getty Images

In visibly jol spirits, Sean made sure to drop a bomb on us, secrecy be damned. “By the way Nas gonna drop a new album,” laughs Sean, centering the camera on the Queensbridge legend. “I’m putting Nas on blast right now.” Nas, ever the good sport, continues to tease the announcement. “It be something like that,” he says. “It’s kinda hard to replace me, man.”

Though playing Instagram Detective is seldom wise, another piece of Sean Don’s story indicates that he just bodied a twelve-hour studio session. Given Nas’ involvement, it might be fair to surmise that the pair were cooking something up. Whether it’s for Big Sean’s upcoming album, or this recently unveiled Nasir follow-up remains to be seen. Check out the clip, as captured by HHNM, or check out Sean’s IG story while you still can. 

Slowthai got a little too comfortable with one of the hosts at the NME Awards and got kicked out after confronting an audience member for booing his actions. After dropping his debut album, Nothing Great About Britain, last May, the U.K.-born rapper has become known for his outrageous antics. He's recently been gaining greater recognition in the United States after his ostentatious performance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon earlier this month.

Dr. Dre has been increasingly active of late, much to the delight of hip-hop fans worldwide. Not only did the Good Doctor reunite with his Relapse team to bless Eminem with four Music To Be Murdered By bangers, but he also linked up with Kanye Westto play a role on Jesus Is King 2. Prior to that, Dre served as a watchful guardian over Anderson .Paak‘s two-part epic Oxnard and Ventura. It would appear that inspiration has taken control once again, as Dre recently connected with Xzibit and Ice T for another studio session.

Frank Micelotta/ImageDirect/Getty Images

Xzibit, who worked closely with Dre on 2001, as well as his solo albums Restless and Man Vs. Machine, shared pictures of the sessions on his Instagram page. “You have no idea wtf we about to drop like a atom bomb on you.com,” he captions, alongside an image of himself, Dre, and Focus at the boards. Another image depicts X, Dre, Ice T, Focus, Fred Wreck, and Hen Gee mean-mugging the camera.

Given the link-up’s legendary pedigree, it’s no wonder the legendary Ice T also documented the moment. “We started this gangsta shit!” he declares, alongside a badass image of himself and Dre by the recording console. It’s unclear as to whether Ice is working on new music with the Aftermath mogul, but it’s still cool to see him involved in the process. Check out the pictures below, and sound off if you’re looking to hearing another collaboration from Xzibit and Dre. We’ll not soon forget “U Know,” “Best Of Things,” “X,” and “Losin Your Mind.”

Gang Starr fans have been in a good place of late. Last year saw the release of a fully-fleshed out album from the legendary duo, One Of The Best Yet, the first since Guru passed away on April 19th, 2010. Now, DJ Premier has come through with another piece of history, sharing a rare acapella Guru freestyle on his Instagram page. 

Martyn Goodacre/Getty Images

“Don’t base my whole life on loot,” raps Guru, the camera fixed on his focused face. “But money sure help, I keep it tight like army boots / to ensure wealth, used to hang with the older dudes / so I know the rules, notice how these fools hold mics but can’t hold the tool / my struggle is hard, the jungle is large, my man’s locked in the valley, probably walking the yard.” There’s a way about Guru’s delivery that speaks to self-assurance, a charm that speaks to his grounded nature; he told it like it is, never wasting words or Primo beats. 

Deemed a “natural talent” by his longtime friend and collaborator DJ Premier, it’s clear to see why Guru remains a respected figure long after his passing. Check out the raw and uncut bars below, and show some love one of hip-hop’s lost ones. Otherwise, run the risk of being stuck down right where you stand. 

It was a big moment for Jack Harlow as he made his television debut on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. On Wednesday (February 12), the rapper took to the stage to perform “What’s Poppin,” a song that Fallon called his “jam right now.” The 21-year-old Kentucky-bred emcee took to the stage with a pianist to accompany his look.

Jason Kempin / Staff / Getty Images

Jack Harlow delivered his single “What’s Poppin” just weeks ago, but the track is already being hailed as a reintroduction of the Generation Now rapper. There’s been a bit of s style change for the Harlow as fans await the release of his official debut project. In September 2019, Harlow released his acclaimed Confetti mixtape that kept the rapper’s name buzzing in the streets.

As much as Harlow may be an artist to watch, there’s still a shroud around his persona. He previously told XXL that he’s taking notes on how Travis Scott moves. “Soon I might have to implement that untouchable feeling. That’s what Travis [Scott] got,” he said. “If you really wanna take it there, you gotta have that superhero mystique. Muthaf*ckas are gonna have opinions and they’re not gonna feel the transition at first. I used to never use melodies as much as I do now. You can be what you wanna be, that’s the dopest part. I know I can be what Travis is. Not be Travis, but I was being genuine when I said maybe eventually I wanna evolve into that untouchable figure. If that’s what feels real to me at the time, then it’ll be real to everyone else.” Watch his The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon below.

If you take a glance at Lil Rel Howery’s IMDB page and see the list of projects he has lined up, it’ll become immediately clear that he’s one of the busiest actors in Hollywood at the moment. The next project we’ll have the opportunity to see him in is The Photograph, a romantic comedy/drama that arrives on Valentine’s Day. Issa Rae and Lakeith Stanfield star as the movie’s leads and it will not be their first times working alongside Lil Rel – they all appeared in the music video for Jay-Z’s 2017 song, “Moonlight”. 

Lil Rel served as the guest on the latest episode of Complex’s “Watch Less” podcast. He was asked about his experience shooting the “Moonlight” video and he revealed that Jay-Z could have gone with a more humorous alternative. The final product was a word-for-word reenactment of an actual Friends episode by a cast of black comedians. However, according to Lil Rey, before they shot this version, the cast – which consisted of Jerrod Carmichael, Issa Rae, Lil Rel Howery, Tiffany Haddish, Tessa Thompson and Lakeith Stanfield – had improvised their own sitcom skit. “There was one rehearsal where we all talked like how we wanted to talk,” Rel explained. “And it was funnier than that episode of Friends.” He also said that the actors had even requested to go with that idea for the official video, but they ultimately opted for the remake. 

When Stanfield spoke about the music video on The Tonight Show, he confessed that he had never seen an episode of Friends before participating in that project.