Beyoncé’s new IVY PARK collaboration is set to release this Saturday (January 18), but Cardi B was lucky enough to get the items early. Cardi shared a video of her coming home to discover a large orange box waiting for her. The ribbon wrapped around the box that had “IVY PARK” written along it gave away the container’s contents, but that clearly didn’t make Cardi any less excited. “Bitch, Beyoncé dead done gave me a closet,” she screeched while filming the unboxing. The transportable closet was opened to reveal that Cardi dead done got every piece from Bey’s collection, including all the colorways of the IVY PARK Ultra Boosts. 

Beyoncé announced IVY PARK’s new partnership with Adidas in December. This news was revealed through the Lemonade artist’s cover story for Elle. The profile in that issue focused on the return of her athleisure company that she became the sole owner of in 2018. It was heavily reported when Beyoncé bought out the company to nudge out a British billionaire partner, who faced accusations of sexual harassment. IVY PARK will feature gender-neutral styles going forward, a decision which resulted from Bey seeing so many men rocking her previous collections. 

Remember that the IVY PARK collection drops on Saturday so you can get to it before it sells out! You know the BeyHive will be prepared to attack. 

Last year, J. Cole and his Dreamville squadron set 2019 off with an ambitious goal: call the banners and craft in album in a two-week time frame. What followed was an instantly legendary recording session, which found rappers from across the country uniting at Tree Sound Studios in Atlanta. Everyone from Griselda to DJ Khaled, T.I. to Rick Ross and Wale came through to bear witness. Upon its release in April, Revenge Of The Dreamers 3 proved an instant success, going on to secure a Grammy Award nomination. And yet still, many were quick to lament what was left on the cutting room floor.

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Fair, considering the wealth of unreleased bangers previously teased in the official Dreamers 3 documentary. Especially that reflective final track from J.I.D; those who watched the short film already know. Perhaps there's hope for us yet, as the official Deluxe Edition has finally landed a release date -- January 16th, this Thursday. The news was confirmed the Ville's Twitter page, alongside the unveiling of two new tracks: one from Ari Lennox, and one from EarthGang and Reason. 

Though details surrounding length and guest appearances remain scarce, we don't exactly have to wait much longer to see for ourselves. Are you still excited for Revenge Of The Dreamers 3 Deluxe? 

Dating back to his tenure as a “Hot Boy,” Dwayne Carter went from Cash Money’s resident prodigy in 1996 to claiming to be the “Best Rapper Alive” within a dizzying ten-year period. From there, he resuscitated the genre at a time where many believed it to be DOA and even dramatized those life-preserving maneuvers on “Dr. Carter.” Undeterred, even as his own label seemed hellbent on derailing him. Closing in on his 25th year in the game, Tunechi aims to deliver a new project album Funeral this February. And if a September 2019 interview with Vibe is to be believed, he’s approaching the art form he’s long since perfected with a renewed zeal.

“It’s different now,” he explained. “I can’t wait to get in the studio now every night, just to see what I can come up with. [Before] it was just me going to the studio and saying, let me kill ten more songs and then I’m going to go home or do whatever I was doing. Now, it’s let me see what I come up with. Self-discovery, rebirth – call it whatever you want to call it but it feels awesome, I swear to God.” Creating with a clear-cut sense of purpose, Weezy F’s unwavering focus adds fuel to speculation over whether or not this album could serve as the perfect opportunity for the NOLA veteran’s fond farewell.

It wouldn’t be unreasonable to assume that Funeral has a symbolic meaning based on the title alone. But when you take both the stop-start nature of his past five years and the contradictory reports of impending retirement, it becomes not only a plausible but a potentially wise course of action. For Weezy, retirement is a subject on which he’s voiced some strong, albeit oxymoronic, feelings. Beginning a decade deep into his career, Wayne attempted to reconcile with the concept of eventually riding off into the sunset during a skit on 2006’s Dedication 2. In that era, he believed little would be gained from quitting when he’s always going to need a vehicle to express himself. “You retire out when you die out straight up, cause you never retire out what you do,” he explained. “Meaning, if you put so much into– if what you do is your life, like mine. You know what I mean like, my career is my life.”

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Incapable of fathoming a world without hip-hop, this stands at odds with a 2011 interview with GQ in which he formally flipped the hourglass towards his 35th year.“I have been doing this for eighteen years,” he reflects. “That’s reason number one. I have accomplished all that I have set out to accomplish and more. Also, I have a label, and I’ve only put out two artists [Drake and Nicki Minaj]. I have a lot more work to do, and it’d be selfish to not focus on being the boss and focus on their projects.” Supplemented by wishing to spend more time with his kids, Weezy would double down on these sweeping claims during an appearance on Katie Couric’s talk show, claiming that “I know I’ll be ready to retire at thirty-five because I am so ready to retire now!”

As the prospect of The Carter V began to circulate in 2014, Wayne believed that the album, in its original incarnation, would represent his last standalone project (though he’d still pitch in when required by his labelmates). Pledging to “leave gracefully” on Twitter in 2016  amid the ensuing war with Cash Money, the constraints he was under made it possible that would Wayne end his career on an embittered note. Actively attacking his label, the eventual release of C5 was cathartic for both artist and his loyal fans. As such, the elation that he felt might have contributed to Weezy rescinding those previous remarks to Billboard in 2018, as he claimed, “I do think about retirement. I think about how I don’t think I ever will.”

Granted a new wave of enthusiasm at 37, it raises the question of whether his thoughts of bowing out were a by-product of the internal friction with Birdman. Now, he’s back to the heady days of “mixtape Wayne” where metaphors and exquisite wordplay rolled off the tongue at high volume. But no matter who you are, the law of diminishing returns is important to be mindful of. Among the elite-level wordsmiths that operate without pen or pad since he purged everything he’d written on “10,000 Bars”, Weezy’s skills have remained indisputable. Dropping 77 songs and two projects in 2018 alone, Wayne has always kept his nose to the grindstone and how this sets him apart is something he’s been cognizant of since The Carter 3. “I used to tell Cortez [Bryant, manager], ‘my work ethic is going to sell me,'” he told Rolling Stone in 2009. “Nobody ain’t doing what I’ve done. People will have to recognize that.”

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This has remained true to this day. Compounded by years of anticipation, The Carter V skyrocketed to the top of the charts upon arrival, racking up first-week sales of 480,000. Yet artistically, the record wasn’t without its sticking points. Which, aside from its oppressive length, centralized around the feeling that both he and audience had been there and done that. Save for a few moments of self-reflection on “Famous” or “Let It All Work Out” and the plaintive narration from his mother Jacinda, C5 is overrun with punchlines or puerile bars that fall on the wrong side of familiarity. Trapped between a rock and a hard place, it seems that the forthcoming Funeral will be a fork in the road for Wayne’s career. Either he sticks to his guns and potentially teeters towards stagnancy, or he overhauls his style and potentially faces the wrath of critics and fans. 

Infamously slaughtered for his attempt at reinvention on the rock-indebted Rebirth, any fretfulness he’d feel about switching up would be understandable. But that doesn’t make it any less of a necessity. As he’s proved at irregular intervals of his career, Weezy heading into a more demure, less youthfully brazen direction a la latter-day Jay-Z, could yield greatness. Case in point, his verse on Solange’s “Mad” from 2016’s A Seat At The Table. Not only rappelling him into the view of snobbier audiences that had likely expelled him from consideration years earlier, but the introspective look at his previous attempt at suicide also demonstrated an aptitude for soul-baring lyricism:

“Are you mad ’cause the judge ain’t give me more time?
And when I attempted suicide, I didn’t die
I remember how mad I was on that day
Man, you gotta let it go before it get up in the way”

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Similar to the Hurricane Katrina-inspired “Tie My Hands,” his feature on Nas & Damien Marley’s “My Generation Will Make The Change” or the touching ode to his father that is “Everything” from 2000’s Lights Out, Wayne has always been capable of appealing to the heart. Yet beyond emulating the change in tact that his own GOAT pick pulled off on 4:44, Weezy should perhaps consider a line uttered during Hov’s own retirement phase: “they say they never really miss you till you’re dead or you gone, so on that note I’m leaving after this song.”

These lines from The Black Album’s “December 4th” allude to something that’s been inapplicable to Weezy’s career. Between mixtapes, EPs, compilation projects, a collaborative album, his own solo studio album discography and his time with The Hot Boys, Dwayne Carter has released a grand total of 41 bodies of work. As a result, Wayne has been an omnipresence and aside from 1998 and 2001, has released something every single year that he’s been an artist. Therefore, there’s every chance that these prolific levels of productivity haven’t given us a chance to properly digest the scope of his influence.

Alongside 2 Chainz’ remarks that he wouldn’t be here “if it wasn’t for Wayne,” 2013 saw ASAP Rocky rally against what he saw as a culture of negligence towards Tunechi’s contributions. “Are we forgetting that Wayne made everybody switch their flow up and start using the E’s and R’s, and “I’m ir-regul-ar, seg-ular”? he told Complex. “Are we forgetting that Wayne changed hip-hop, too? Are we forgetting that he made all these motherfuckers want to have tattoos? Are we forgetting that? It wasn’t Wiz, it was Wayne… This is a guy who went from being the youngest underdog in his crew to saving his company, and saving his “Daddy.” I’m not a fucking Lil Wayne dickrider, I’m just speaking facts.”

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Although Wayne has retained this status as a top-tier MC, there is something to Rocky’s suggestion that his tangible impact on the game has been overlooked on account of his continued presence. Consequently, this state of affairs takes us all the way back to his comments on Dedication 2. Ever the deep thinker, Wayne unknowingly foretold his own future on the skit and made the case as to why Funeral could be an appropriate time for him to call it a career: “Y’all gonna remember that that was a rapper. But hopefully, I’ll go down known for something different. Not different, but known for something else also, you know what I mean.”

Both gifted and afflicted with one of hip-hop’s greatest drives, Wayne’s influence— whether that be style or the careers of Young Money artists—often falls to the wayside as the hip-hop consumer focuses on what’s coming down the pipeline from “The Martian” himself. And by the looks of things, this can’t be righted while he’s still an active participant. With the world’s collective attention still in the palm of his hand, there’s a lot to be said for Funeral acting as Wayne’s offramp to the same high road that The Game and Fat Joe have recently claimed to be travelling on. Having given us more music than many record labels have ever produced, Lil Wayne deciding to draw a line under his career while at the top may be bittersweet, but no one would feel short-changed.

Yesterday, it was reported that the father of Meechy Darko (of Flatbush Zombies) was fatally shot by Miami police officers. The incident occurred this past weekend after Meechy’s father Ryan O. Simms allegedly attacked and stabbed an officer named Ricardo Castillo. XXL shared a press release from the Miami police department detailing their account.

Apparently, Castillo and several officers had received a call from Mango’s Cafe, after claims that Simms was threatening employees. Upon their arrival, Simms then proceeded to stab Castillo, prompting his fellow officers to open fire. Though Castillo was sent to the intensive care unit, his current condition is confirmed to be stable. Though Simms was also brought to the hospital, he did not survive. He did not have a local arrest record. 

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Last night, Meechy Darko shared an emotional message on Instagram in homage to his father. “My heart is shattered,” he begins. “Never ever in my life felt pain like this before. I’m trying to stay strong and be tough for him. I’m filled with so many emotions right now. I don’t want to come on here for any type of sympathy. I want to spread this message. To Any and everyone out there dealing with Mental illness. Please get help.”

“This has been a Battle that My Family and I have been dealing with for over a decade, suffering in silence,” he continues. “I used to think there was strength in that…I love my father. So Much. Never once was ever ashamed of him despite what may have been going through mentally or what he may have thought in his head.”

Our thoughts and prayers go out to Meechy Darko in this difficult time. 

Love & Hip Hop Atlanta star Yung Joc found himself the butt of social media jokes after someone shared a video of him driving for the new rideshare app Pull Up & Go. “He actually didn’t react how I thought he would he just basically was telling me that’s my problem if I feel he fell off for having multiple streams of income,” the passenger reportedly told The Shade Room. 

After he was shamed online, there were plenty of people who defended Joc. In an interview with TMZ, he explained why he decided to jump behind the wheel as a rideshare driver. He said he’s apart of the Big Brothers, Big Sisters organization and he wants to show young kids the value of hard work. “You gotta lead by example and sometimes you gotta show people you not too big,” the rapper said. “You’re not too big to do the right thing by making an honest living. I think a lot of times that kids and even adults go astray because they too ashamed. They too prideful.”

He goes on to say that he also wanted to challenge himself to do things that he’s never done before. Joc was also surprised about how many people reached out to support his Pull Up & Go driver job. “A lot of celebrities have reached out, people have hit my phone. I mean, Snoop said something. He’s like, ‘Hustlers hustle.’ I just realized that maybe people are beginning to be a little more mature.” Check out his clip with TMZ below.

It’s been a minute, but the Griselda movement has finally mobilized. Not long after Westside Gunn secured himself a shiny new passport, the Buffalo-bred trifecta officially announced a slew of North American tour dates. Spanning across ten stops and a variety of well-spaced out dates, the official What Would Chine Gun Do tour has all the makings of a lavish and exclusive affair. Check out the full list of dates below, beginning with a mid-February launch date in Atlanta.

If you’re interested in copping tickets to any of the dates, head over to the official Griselda website and purchase to your heart’s content. While this is definitely a promising start, we can only hope a new batch of dates emerges in the near future. We already know Westside, Conway, and Benny are looking to solidify their chokehold on the game, and what better way than to shut shit down in a live capacity?

“I don’t even have to explain myself anymore get your fuckin tickets!!!!!! This is a Movie, This is an experience, This is HISTORY,” writes Gunn, in the official IG announcement. Is Griselda rolling through a city near you? If so, sound off in the comments. 

Feb 16th – Atlanta GA, Masquerade Heaven
Feb 20th – Boston MA, Paradise
Feb 21st – Hartford CT, The Webster
Feb 22nd – Providence, RI, The Strand
Feb 23rd – Baltimore MD – Soundstage
Feb 26th – Detroit MI, St. Andrews
Feb 28th – Chicago IL, Patio Theater 
Feb 29th – Minneapolis MN, Varsity
Mar 5th – Denver CO, Summit
Mar 6th – Los Angeles CA, The Novo

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Immediately after his mugshot went viral, Trick Daddy became the target of social media trolls. The rap icon was teased about his physical appearance and people altered the picture with various hairstyles, but Trick Daddy Dollars made it clear that what he’s going through is no laughing matter. 

John Sciulli / Stringer / Getty Images

Fans have known about Trick Daddy’s medical condition for years, but when it comes to the internet, it seems as if anything is fair game. The rapper took to his Facebook and Instagram accounts to address being teased. “Let me get this right .. you lie on me .. make fun of the fact that I Have lupus … and all this just for likes,” Trick said. “Thank god im strong .. everything is funny until it hits close to home .. my feelings don’t hurt easily I’m too worried about waking up tomorrow.”

Aside from the criticisms, there has been an outpouring of support from Trick’s friends and fans since the news of his arrest surfaced. We previously reported that Trick was taken into custody on charges of driving under the influence and cocaine possession. Police allege that the rapper “appeared to be asleep behind the wheel,” and “had a slurred speech, bloodshot, watery, glassy eyes, and the officer smelled alcohol on his breath.” 

With award show nominations comes great disappointment. The 2020 Oscars are no exception. The Academy revealed its nominations on Monday morning and people are sounding off with critiques. While Issa Rae was announcing the nominees on The Academy’s official livestream, she said “Congratulations to those men” to emphasize the absence of women in the Best Director category. The Best Original Song category also provided reason to be frustrated: Beyoncé and Pharrell were snubbed! 

When the Oscars shared its shortlist for Best Original Song back in December, both Beyoncé and Pharrell were recognized. Bey was included for “Spirit” from The Lion King, and Pharrell and Chad Hugo for “Letter to My Godfather” from The Black Godfather. However, their songs weren’t deemed strong enough to qualify for nods in the end. Instead, the award will go to either Randy Newman’s “I Can’t Let You Throw Yourself Away” (Toy Story 4), Elton John and Bernie Taupin’s “(I’m Gonna) Love Me Again” (Rocketman), Diane Warren’s “I’m Standing With You” (Breakthrough), Idina Menzel’s “Into The Unknown” (Frozen 2) or Cynthia Erivo’s “Stand Up” (Harriet). 

“Spirit” appeared on the companion album that Beyoncé curated for The Lion King remake. Lion King: The Gift featured Jay-Z, Kendrick Lamar, Childish Gambino, Tierra Whack and many more. 

No better way to start the decade than by breaking a Guinness World Record for your ability to rap. The latter happened to Pittsburgh based artist Harvey Daniels, known as Frzy, who broke the longest rap marathon ever done by an MC. According to the Post Gazette, Frzy rapped for 31 hours straight with five-minute breaks every hour. 

A doctor was on hand to assist in case of any vocal injuries, but Frzy made it through and all proceeds went to the MusiCares Foundation. “I feel surreal right now, like an out-of-body experience, kind of,” the new champ said after he broke the record. “I’m going to sleep standing up and probably still not fall. I got a negotiation with gravity.” Before the timer began, Frzy hugged his mother and finance at the Ross Township’s Northway Mall, where the record was broken.

“I practiced all week and I got into my zone,” he added of his preparation. “It was rough in the middle of the night and during bathroom breaks. Between 2 (a.m.) and 6 a.m. was really rough.” The last rapper to hold the title was Los Angeles act Pablo Alvarez who rapped for 25 hours, 56 minutes and 4 seconds.