Month: May 2022

Since then, Smith has apologized to Rock, resigned from The Academy and been banned from the attending the Oscars or any Oscars-related events for 10 years. But people are more anxious to hear what Chris Rock has to say about the incident, though by the sound of it, it will be awhile before he addresses the slap publicly.

On Thursday (May 12), Chris Rock briefly touched on the subject during a show at the Royal Albert Hall in London.

“I’m OK, if anybody was wondering,” he said. “I got most of my hearing back. People expect me to talk about the bullshit, I’m not going to talk about it right now, I’ll get to it eventually, on Netflix.”

Rock has already made it clear he wants a nice payday to talk about the infamous smack. During a sold-out show at the Fantasy Springs Resort Casino in Indio, California on April 8, Rock said he’d only discuss it in detail if he was getting a bag.

“I’m OK, I have a whole show, and I’m not talking about that until I get paid,” he said during his set. “Life is good. I got my hearing back.”

He did make a small joke about itshortly after Dave Chappelle was attacked mid-set at The Hollywood Bowl earlier this month. Rock, who was in attendance along with Jamie Foxx and several other celebrities, returned to the stage after the chaos had subsided and asked, “Was that Will Smith?”

The closet Rock got to seriously discussing the slap was at a show in Boston just a few days after it happened: “I don’t have a bunch of shit about what happened, so if you came to hear that, I have a whole show I wrote before this weekend. I’m still kind of processing what happened. So, at some point I’ll talk about that shit. And it will be serious and funny.”

Harlow’s album, jam-packed with guest appearances from the likes of Drake,Pharrell Williams, Lil Wayne and Justin Timberlake, was originally projected to debut at the No. 2 spot behind Latin superstar Bad Bunny’s new album, Un Verano Sin Ti. However, the strength of Future’s former No. 1 album I NEVER LIKED YOU pushed Harlow from the second slot.

After Future’s I NEVER LIKED YOU debuted at No. 1 last week with the biggest opening week for an album in 2022, it managed to pull in an estimated 116,00 total album-equivalent units earned in its second week, a 47 percent drop. Future celebrated a rare rap milestone when I NEVER LIKED YOU hit No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart and his “WAIT FOR U” collaboration featuring Drake andTems debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. The achievement made Future only the second rapper to ever have an album and single debut simultaneously atop the charts, following Drake who achieved the feat in 2021 with Certified Lover Boy and“Way 2 Sexy.”

Harlow isn’t slowing down on the momentum generated by Come Home The Kids Miss You, even if he may not know how close Brandy and Ray J’s relationship goes. On May 9, he announced a tour in support of the album along with City Girls.

The trek is set to kick off on September 6 in Nashville, Tennessee with additional stops in Houston, Los Angeles, Seattle, Chicago, Toronto, Boston, Philadelphia and Miami. The tour wraps up in Atlanta with a show at the State Farm Arena on October 16.

On Sunday (May 15), Slim Shady came through with a tweet shouting out Dr. Dre and K. Dot’s latest studio effort, writing, “Yo @DrDre this Kendrick album is f****** ridiculous. I’m speechless.”

Within minutes, the tweet received over 16,000 likes and 500 comments with some agreeing with Em’s take and other beginning him to take it back.

While Dr. Dre doesn’t have any production credits on the album, he’s the founder of Aftermath Entertainment and has long been affiliated with Interscope Records. Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers was released via pgLang, Top Dawg Entertainment, Aftermath and Interscope. It serves as both the follow-up to 2017’s DAMN. and Kendrick’slast album for TDE. 

K. Dot made the announcement last August, writing in part, “As I produce my final TDE album, I feel joy to have been a part of such a cultural imprint after 17 years. The Struggles. The Success. And most importantly, the Brotherhood. May the Most High continue to use Top Dawg as a vessel for candid creators. As I continue to pursue my life’s calling. There’s beauty in completion. And always faith in the unknown. Thank you for keeping me in your thoughts. I’ve prayed for you all. See you soon enough.”

Nine months later, Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers arrived with features from Ghostface Killah, Kodak Black, Blxst, Summer Walker and Sampha, among others. The project is expected to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with over 300,000 total album-equivalent units sold in its opening week. It already smashed the Apple Music record for most first-day streamsin 2022.

While crafting shrimp fried rice with Trick Daddy for Trick Daddy Dollars’ I Got My Pots YouTube series on YouTube Thursday (May 12), Khaled laid down the gauntlet and boldly proclaimed no one could see him in a Verzuz type event.

“To answer your question, I really don’t see nobody” Khaled began. “My catalog is super strong … I’m from Miami so if you expect me to be like … I don’t see nobody, and I mean that with love. My catalog is strong. You might wanna Google it and go check out my catalog, I been doing this shit for two decades! And I been putting hit records out for damn near 15 years! So really think about what you thinking and what you saying because Khaled got hits! A lot of hits!”

Despite the bravado, Khaled did reveal he would want to do a Verzuz after he felt his career was hitting the sunset.

“For me, I wouldn’t do a Verzuz right now but if I ever did one, I would want to do it when I decide to not wanna make music no more,” Khaled said. “That’s when I want my catalog to be praised, but right now, I’m just getting started.”

A number of artists have previously proclaimed they were untouchable when you examined their catalog and history in music, including Diddy who feels he has only one worthy opponent in Dr. Dre and JAY-Z who during a Twitter Spaces in 2021 brushed off any competition.

In April, Metro Boomin became the latest producer to preemptively call off a potential Verzuz, telling a fan he needed at least 20 more years in Hip Hop before he felt his catalog was right, even after a 13-year run which saw him release four collaborative albums, three mixtapes, one studio album and a countless number of hits.

After holding a gospel-themed Verzuz for Easter, the event is back to toasting Hip Hop with a clash between Onyxand Cypress Hill set for Saturday (May 14).