Author: chatmanjay

"I love the game...I love the hustle...."

Kendrick Lamar and Nas Discuss the Swizz Beatz-Timbaland Beat Battle

Kendrick Lamar and Nas Discuss the Swizz Beatz-Timbaland Beat Battle. Between the two producer giants, who do y’all think is #WithTheSmoke?

At its forefront, not only is hip-hop a young man’s game, it’s also a competitive sport in which rap adversaries go head to head with bars—the end result guiding us (the fans) to determine which is the best emcee.

Although emcees fighting for “the throne” in rap is nothing new, a beat battle between producers is something worth the surrounding hype. I’m not necessarily certain if beat battles have been around; however, a match-up between the legendary Swizz Beatz and Timbaland will definitely go down in the rap history books.

Swizz-Beatz-827x620
Photo by Frazier Harrison/Getty Images for Bacardi

Just a couple weeks ago (July 14), Swizz challenged Timbo the King to a beat battle. The challenge was offered during a Hot 97 promo run for the upcoming Mayweather-McGregor fight. 

Timbaland has since accepted the battle leaving both producers to prep for the epic battle via their Instagram accounts.

Both super producers have campaigned the hottest names in rap— such as Kendrick Lamar, Ab-Soul, and Nas— about the outcome of the epic battle. Swizz caught up with Nas in a studio somewhere in which the Queensbridge legend calls Swizz and Timbo, “two top tier n-ggas going at it.” Nas didn’t give a clear answer on whose side he’s reppin’ but he encouraged the beat battle as “what the game needs.”

“Y’all both my brothers, so I just want to watch it go down,” he continues.

On the other side of the scale, Timbaland posted a video of Swizz chopping it up with Kendrick and Soulo. While Kendrick almost speaks a victory for Swizz into existence, he bounces back quickly by changing the subject. Watch what Kendrick says to Swizz regarding the battle and determine for yourself who Kendrick’s rollin’ with.

Swizz and Timbo just need to give us a date for this battle already. Both super producers are in it to win, no doubt. Whose everyone rooting for in the battle?

Source(s): HipHopDX

PARTYNEXTDOOR Reveals Insane Collabs via Twitter

PARTYNEXTDOOR Reveals Insane Collabs via Twitter

PARTYNEXTDOOR practically does it all when it comes to music.

The OVO singer has penned hits for huge names such as DJ Khaled and Rihanna, meanwhile collaborating with everyone from Travis Scott to his frequent collaborator and OVO boss, Drake.

In case you missed it, on Thursday (July 20th), PND shook up the Twittersphere when he revealed three artists we’ve never seen him align with. The artists in question are Ne-Yo and T-Pain. Although trailblazers in their own right, I think the biggest name drop of them all is a future collab with Yeezy aka Kanye West. It’s been reported all over the Internet that Kanye is secretly working on a new album; however, no word on the street has popped out for a release date.

PARTYNEXTDOOR
Image via PartyNextDoor’s Twitter (@partynextdoor)

Without a doubt, Party and Kanye’s song (whenever the two stars decide to drop it) will be a hit in the making. Check out PND’s tweetstorm below.

Besides the release of Colours 2 earlier this year, PND  has remained quiet dropping his own music. Once the new stuff drops, he’ll for sure be back to being the talk of the town.

 

Beyonce’s Wax Figure Still Has People Pressed!

Beyonce’s Wax Figure Still Has People Pressed!

Happy Saturday everyone!

It’s no secret that Beyoncé is pretty much a big deal. She sneezes and literally the whole world will bless her. No shade.

https://giphy.com/gifs/xTiN0vyCvNjFJbApc4/html5

However, the shade was thrown heavily on the Internet on Wednesday (July 19th) when photos of a wax figure of Queen Bey was revealed. The wax figure, located in Madame Tussaud’s New York museum, received a slew of social media criticism after saying the statue looked whitewashed and didn’t capture the essence of the Queen.

Within the next day, Madame Tussaud’s removed the original statue claiming the issue was due to “the styling and lighting of her figure.”

On a personal note, I remember going to Madame Tussaud’s in Orlando a year ago, and the wax statue I saw definitely had zero resemblance to Beyoncé. Unlike the Beyhive, I wasn’t particularly offended; however, the power of her fans is TOO REAL. Madame Tussaud’s New York has since replace the criticized wax figure and updated it with a better one.

Peep the new statue here.

Source(s): HipHopDX, The New York Times

Wiz Khalifa now has the most watched YouTube video of all time!

Wiz Khalifa’s “See You Again” has beat PSY’s “Gangnam Style” as the most watched YouTube video EVER with 2.8 BILLION views!

Wiz Khalifa‘s video for “See You Again”—which was dubbed as a moving tribute to the untimely death of actor Paul Walker—now has the most watched YouTube video of all time.

If you may recall, Paul Walker died in a deadly car crash as the filming of Furious 7 was wrapping up back in 2015.

According to The Verge via BBC News, Khalifa’s tribute song knocked PSY’s 2012 world-wide hit “Gangnam Style” out its title. “See You Again” has currently raked in more than 2,895,915,000 views!

Read more about it here at The Verge.

 

Marvel’s ‘Black Panther’ cast lands on Entertainment Weekly!

I don’t know about the rest of y’all, but I’m hype about a particular superhero film coming out in February! For those of us not living under a rock, I’m referring to Marvel’s Black Panther! No lie, as I’m writing this I’m realizing that Black Panther will ironically happen to sliiiiide its way into one of Black America’s biggest celebration of our people— Black History Month. We see you outchea Marvel, doin’ it for the culture!

Today, Entertainment Weekly previewed the front issue of their annual Comic-Con issue. According to Anthony Breznican, senior writer for Entertainment Weekly, it was practically a no-brainer for the Black Panther cast to appear on this special issue. Watch how Breznican and EW came to the decision here.

In this screen grab from Entertainment Weekly‘s Instagram, we see (l-r) Michael B. Jordan, Chadwick Boseman, and Lupita N’yongo in full costume promoting the film.

Entertainment Weekly‘s annual Comic-Con issue lands on stands this Friday.

Source(s): Entertainment Weekly

Netflix’s “Dear White People” Has Scored A Second Season!

Netflix’s “Dear White People” Has Scored A Second Season!

Remember back in February when people were cancelling their Netflix subscriptions because they believed the show was promoting “white genocide”?

I know. Sounds crazy right!?

Those who cancelled their subscriptions are clearly clueless. The show and it’s title are meant to make us uncomfortable in an effort to address race relations in America—something that will always be the center of conversation.

Well apparently the cancelled subscriptions haven’t stopped anything because Dear White People has been renewed for a second season!

If you haven’t watched the show, it’s highly suggested you give it a watch. Although most Netflix originals are hour-long thirteen episode narratives, Dear White People will follow the first season’s format of ten 30 minute episodes.

Yvette Lee Bowser will return as showrunner for the Justin Simien created series.

The original cast is slated to return for the 2018 sophomore season.

Source(s): The Independent, Vix

 

Joey Badass Dropped 3 New Songs Out of Nowhere!

Joey Badass Dropped 3 New Tracks Out of Nowhere!

While the rest of the world was grabbing their popcorn (and tea) trying to defuse the Rob Kardashian and Blacc Chyna beef (which oddly involved T.I.) which unfolded over Instagram and Snapchat, some really dope music from a respected emcee also dropped over the holiday weekend.

Joey Badass released the heat (July 5th) on his Soundcloud. “Love Is Only A Feeling”, “Too Lit”, and “500 Benz” are all produced by Statik Selektah. Recently, Joey and the Pro Era crew announced the third annual Steez Day festival which takes place in New York this year. Listen to the new Joey bangers and tell me how you feel about them in the comments section.

Facebook Has Drones Successfully Deliver A Vision of Worldwide Internet Access

Facebook Has Drones Successfully Deliver A Vision of Worldwide Internet Access

Just last week, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced to the world that the social media networking site has 2 billion users. In addition to the 2 billion Facebook users, Zuckerberg also revealed aspirations to give 4 billion people— more than half the world’s population— something we all take granted for on a daily basis— internet access.

The internet access will be provided via drones. Sources from The Yuma Sun  reveal that Facebook successfully completed a drone flight in Arizona. The first test run ended in a crash a year ago.

In a Facebook post Zuckerberg wrote, “No one has ever built an unmanned airplane that will fly for months at a time, so we need to tune every detail to get this right.” According to Complex , Aquila roughly weighs 1,000 pounds with a wingspan wider than a Boeing 747.

https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fzuck%2Fvideos%2F10103841456831511%2F&show_text=1&width=560

No word yet as to when Zuckerberg and Facebook plan on actually accomplishing their goal of worldwide internet access.

Source(s): Complex, The Yuma Sun

 

Elysium Records is Logic’s New Music Venture

Logic’s next album might be his last; however, his departure from music isn’t here just yet. The 27-year-old emcee launched his own label called Elysium Records.

Dreamville. OVO Sound. MMG. G.O.O.D. Music.

What do these labels have in common? They’re all artist-owned music labels that are established enough to help other artists pursue their music careers. Although not a new concept, artist-owned music labels have been on the rise as of late.

We can now add Elysium Records to that list. Elysium Records is a new music venture for 27-year-old emcee Logic. This past Friday (May 30), Logic revealed and celebrated the launch of the new label. The Everybody rapper took to Instagram to share the news with fans saying, “This label is everything I’ve ever stood for.” Check out the full Instagram post here.

In a video from the Team Elysium YouTube channel, Logic shares his aspirations for Elysium. His artists—which he emphasizes are really like his family— include his wife Jessica Andrea, Big Lenbo, Damian Leman Hudson (whom appeared on Everybody‘s “Black Spiderman) and John Lihndal. The video detailing Logic’s new venture can be checked out below.

Are yall excited for Logic’s new label? Let me know how y’all feeling in the comments section.

[WATCH]: “ELEMENT.” by Kendrick Lamar

Kendrick Lamar drops off another powerful visual from his fourth studio album, Damn. What do y’all think of the video?

Kendrick Lamar encapsulates art with every video. I’m not saying that as a fan of his work. I’m saying it because I believe it to be true.

The Damn.  rapper just released a video for “ELEMENT.” (*sings hook as I write this*) directed by Jonas Lindstroem and co-directed by The Little Homies. I literally just found via Google search that the group Little Homies consists of Kendrick and Top Dawg Entertainment president Dave Free!

With almost every Kendrick video, you have to pay attention and don’t blink..because you might miss something; however, I blame myself for gassing Kendrick and tricking myself into believing the visual was so abstract I missed something upon the first viewing of the video. 

Not gon lie though, I had to watch it again cuz you know! This particular visual may catch some of you off guard due to the slow-motion pace of the video. In the video, the balance between violence and inner-peace is contrasted as father teaches son how to fight, and Kendrick shhhhmacks the shit out a poor guy’s mouth, meanwhile he chases someone with a pool cue.

That’s pretty much how I interpret the visual. If yall have any other opinions, feel free to show some love to my comment section! Check the visual for “ELEMENT.” below.