This year, J. Cole gave rap fans the opportunity to wade into nostalgia. His new podcast series, Inevitable, recollects the first chapter of his career, and he’s spent the past few weeks re-releasing his early mixtapes to DSPs. Later this month, he’ll take the stage at Madison Square Garden for …
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As J. Cole put a bow on this year’s Dreamville Festival, he worked an apology heard-’round-hip-hop into the introduction to one of his biggest and most sentimental songs, “Love Yourz.” “The past two days have felt terrible,” he said, earnestly admitting he’s lost sleep over “7 Minute Drill,” his nuanced …
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Metro Boomin warned us before he and Future dropped We Don’t Trust You: “Pick a side.” As J. Cole has learned over the past 12 hours, anyone not firmly on one side of the Drake and Kendrick Lamar divide is liable to get caught in the crossfire. Last night, he …
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Kendrick Lamar‘s scorching diss aimed at J. Cole and Drake has pushed “Like That,” the single from Metro Future and Metro Boomin‘s We Don’t Trust You, atop Billboard’s Hot 100 chart, the publication announced on Monday. We Don’t Trust You takes four of the Top 10 for its opening week, …
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Nicki Minaj has dropped her long-awaited new album, Pink Friday 2. Something of a follow-up to 2010’s Pink Friday, the album has a whopping 22 tracks and offers fans plenty to dig into. From big-budget samples like Cyndi Lauper’s “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” to features including Drake, Lil Wayne, …
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It doesn’t seem that long ago that Game sniped at Jay-Z with the line: “You 38 and still rappin’? Ugh!” from his 2006 track “It’s Okay (One Blood).” Yet some of this era’s biggest rap heroes are nearing — and above — forty. A “Tale Of The Tape” scene in …
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“I’m a real soulful nigga, collard greens inside your speakers,” Smino rapped when he accompanied J. Cole and EarthGang on “Sacrifices” over three years ago. Both Smino and Cole have a penchant for unearthing the intertwined roots of hip-hop and the blues with tender melodies and concerns (Smino is particularly …
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