Earlier this month, Wade – who had been a longtime collaborator and producer for Outkast – died suddenly and unexpectedly at the age of 52. No cause of death has been revealed at the time of publishing.
Last week (April 27), Outkast – the duo of Big Boi and André 3000 – celebrated the 30th anniversary of their debut album, ‘Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik’. In honour of the album, which Wade had numerous writing and production credits on, the duo paid their respects to their late collaborator.
According to a Stereogum report, Wade was laid to rest on April 26, which marked the 30th anniversary of ‘Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik’. Outkast wrote on social media, reflecting on their relationship with Wade: “30 years of ‘Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik’. Without Rico Wade, there is no Outkast.”
In a separate post, André 3000 and Big Boi shared statements about Wade. André 3000 wrote: “The first time we met Rico [Wade] of Organized Noize, we had the ‘Scenario’ instrumental on and we just rapped damn near the whole song, non-stop.”
André recalled: “Big Gipp from Goodie Mob — it was his truck we were listening to it out of. We put it in his cassette. We didn’t know Gipp or Rico or none of them, but Rico knew people who did beats — Ray [Murray], and Sleepy Brown. He said, ‘Let me hear what you got,’ so we put in the ‘Scenario’ tape and started rhyming, non-stop, back-and-forth.
“That day, after we rhymed, Rico saw something in us. At that time we’d both shaven off all our hair. We’d dyed our hair blonde one time: We were young and in high school, we were outcasts, you know? Rico saw that, and he said, ‘These guys can really rhyme. They don’t really rhyme like people from the South.’ So he told us to come over to his house, and that’s where the dungeon is, in the basement,” André 3000 added.
Rapper Andre 3000 performs onstage at 2016 ONE Musicfest at Lakewood Amphitheatre on September 10, 2016 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Paras Griffin/Getty Images)
“From the beginning. Organized Noize signed us. They were our big brothers, and they did a production deal with LaFace records. They were the ones that gave us our first shot and we been doing music with them since the beginning.”
Big Boi added: “Without Rico Wade… there would be no Outkast.”
Outkast’s post also included a quote from Wade, which read: “We got with [Outkast] when they were young. They were like 16 or 17, and they were ready for some direction… I think timing is everything. It was time for a revolution.”
Producer Rico Wade of Organized Noize at The Dungeon II Studios in Atlanta, Georgia, on June 3, 2002. (Photo by Julia Beverly/Getty Images)
Born in East Point, Georgia on February 26, 1972, Wade founded Organized Noize in Atlanta in the early 1990s with Sleepy Brown and Ray Murray, going on to co-write and produce TLC’s ‘Waterfalls’, and produce En Vogue’s ‘Don’t Let Go’ and Ludacris’ ‘Saturday (Oooh! Ooooh!)’. They also helmed OutKast’s 1994 debut ‘Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik’, and contributed to the subsequent albums ‘ATLiens’, ‘Aquemini’ and ‘Stankonia’.
The three producers also founded the Dungeon Family collective in the same period, which would go on to include Big Boi, André 3000, CeeLo Green, Killer Mike, Big Rube, Big Gipp, Khujo and eventually Wade’s cousin Future.
Following the news of Rico Wade’s death, several musicians paid tribute to the late producer. Killer Mike wrote on Instagram: “I don’t have the words to express my deep and profound sense of loss. I am praying for your wife and children. I am praying for the Wade family. I am praying for us all. I deeply appreciate your acceptance into the Dungeon Family, mentorship, friendship and brotherhood. Idk where I would be without y’all.”
The legendary rapper – real name Marshall Mathers – took to his official social media on April 26 to share the new advert, which features a boxing training montage and Eminem providing a voiceover which includes crypto terms like “proof-of-work” and the phrase “Fortune favours the brave.”
In the caption, Eminem wrote: “You know what it’s always been”. According to a statement shared by Crypto.com, the ad is set to “Premiere Saturday during the Lakers NBA Playoff game held at the Crypto.com Arena.” The ad will also be shown at other high-profile sporting events, including the Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix and an upcoming UFC event.
The ‘We Made You’ rapper took over as the celebrity spokesperson for the arena from actor Matt Damon who was previously featured in Crypto.com’s 2021 ad campaign.
Damon’s ad also used the slogan “Fortune favours the brave,” and was featured in an episode of South Park. Following the joke on the famous satirical animation show, Damon revealed that he did the ad in order to support a water charity.
On April 26, the rapper took to social media to make the announcement along with a trailer. In the trailer, a reporter ponders the death of Eminem’s alter-ego, Slim Shady and launches into an investigation.
The album has yet to receive a concrete release date but has been announced to releasing this summer. You can pre-save the album here.
He claims the artist subjected his Black employees to “less favourable treatment than their White counterparts”, and was fired for not shaving off his dreadlocks
The lawsuit has been brought forward by Benjamin Deshon Provo – who worked for the rapper (who now goes by Ye) at both his Donda Academy school and at a warehouse used as storage for the Yeezy brand of clothing.
In the filing, the former employee alleges that the artist subjected his Black employees to “less favourable treatment than their White counterparts”, and People reported that the lawsuit also claims that Ye “frequently screamed at and berated Black employees”, and ultimately fired Provo for refusing to cut his dreadlocks.
The former member of staff began working for the controversial rapper in August 2021, after six months at the Donda Academy. This, he alleges, is when the school relocated and “assigned additional job duties” to employees “as a result of a lack of staffing”.
In the lawsuit, he accuses Ye of demonstrating a “stark difference” in the way he treated his Black employees compared to other members of staff, and claims that the rapper was “always abrupt, abrasive, and demeaning of Plaintiff and his Black counterparts” (via Metro). Alongside this, he accuses West of making “anyone associated with Donda dispose of books related to Martin Luther King, Jr, Malcolm X, and other prominent figures in the Black community”, and paying him less than non-Black employees “for no discernible reason”.
Elsewhere, Provo alleges that he complained to his line manager about the pay disparity, and was told not to raise the topic with the rapper. Shortly thereafter, he reportedly saw a “decrease in his paychecks”, which his white colleagues didn’t experience. This was put down by the company to the rapper not being able to “afford security”.
Rapper Kanye West performs onstage during the “Vultures 1” playback concert during Rolling Loud 2024 the at Hollywood Park Grounds on March 14, 2024 in Inglewood. (Wally Skalij/Getty Images)
In the run-up to him being fired, the filing claims that it was around April last year that the ‘Vultures’ rapper “unjustifiably and unreasonably began demanding that Plaintiff and others shave their heads”, despite Benjamin having dreadlocks “as an exercise of his Muslim faith.”
He alleges he faced pressure to comply with Ye’s “ increasingly more aggressive, demanding” demands, and was fired directly because he refused to shave his head.
Provo is seeking damages for the alleged discrimination, retaliation, hostile work environment, labour code violations and for attorney fees. He is also aiming for a “preliminary and permanent injunction, and a public injunction, against all Defendants, prohibiting them from owning and operating any type of educational school for minor children under the age of 18 years in the state of California.”
NME has reached out to Ye’s representatives for comment.
This isn’t the first lawsuit that Ye has been faced with by a former Yeezy employee and Donda Academy student. Earlier this month, he was sued by another member of staff for allegedly threatening to “cage” his students. Trevor Phillips has accused the musician of a number of allegations including verbal abuse, threatening physical violence and comparing himself to Hitler.
While representatives have not yet responded to the allegations brought to light by Phillips, they have previously dismissed claims about the Donda Academy. In a past response from Ye’s lawyer, the former employees’ descriptions of the school were described as a “dystopian institution designed to satisfy Ye’s idiosyncrasies”.
“None of it is true and the allegations do a disservice to the Donda Academy’s current staff and students and their parents who will attest to their positive experience,” they said in a 2023 filing.
Kanye West is seen on January 19, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Bellocqimages/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images/Getty Images)
The polaroids were shared by the pop icon on Instagram last night (April 28), as she celebrated the new album debuting at Number One on the Billboard 200 chart, and selling over 2.6million units in America.
“My mind is blown. I’m completely floored by the love you’ve shown this album,” she began in the caption. “2.6million ARE YOU ACTUALLY SERIOUS?? Thank you for listening, streaming, and welcoming Tortured Poets into your life. Feeling completely overwhelmed.”
“I was already so fired up to get back to the tour but you doing THIS?? May 9th can’t come soon enough,” she added, referring to her upcoming ‘Eras Tour’ dates, which will resume in Paris next month.
In the post, a variety of photos are shown of the ‘Midnights’ singer during the recording sessions of ‘The Tortured Poets Department’, as well as two pictures of her with guest collaborators Post Malone and Florence Welch. The rapper starred on the opening track, ‘Fortnight’, while the Florence + The Machine frontwoman joined Swift on a song titled ‘Florida!!!’.
With ‘TTDP’ selling 2.61million units since its release on April 19, it has become the highest-selling album since Adele’s 2015 LP, ‘25’.
As highlighted by The Independent, traditional album sales – which include digital downloads, CDs, vinyl LPs and cassettes – accounted for just over 1.9million of the sales.
Other accolades include selling the most sales of a vinyl album in the modern era, racking up over 859,000 units, and surpassing Beyoncé’s ‘Cowboy Carter’ to become the top-selling album of 2024 so far.
In a three-star review of ‘The Tortured Poets Department’, NME said: “Swift seems to be in tireless pursuit for superstardom, yet the negative public opinion it can come with irks her, and it’s a tired theme now plaguing her discography and leaving little room for the poignant lyrical observations she excels at.
“It’s why the pitfalls that mire her 11th studio album are all the more disappointing — she’s proven time and time again she can do better. To a Melbourne audience of her ‘Eras Tour’, Swift said that ‘The Tortured Poets Department’ came from a “need” to write. It’s just that maybe we didn’t need to hear it.”
Taylor Swift ‘The Tortured Poets Department’ album artwork
The Dominican rapper is on this week’s (April 29) edition of The Cover, a renewal of NME’s commitment to supporting emerging talent across the globe on a weekly basis. Every week, a rising artist will feature on The Cover – you can read the profile of J Noa here, written by Fred Garratt-Stanley and featuring photography by Fiona Garden.
Accompanying the story is an exclusive playlist of songs J Noa has compiled under the title ‘Walking through the hood’, featuring 21 Savage, 2Pac, Flo Milli, Nathy Peluso, Tokischa and more. Listen to the full playlist on Spotify below and on Apple Music.
In her Cover story, 18-year-old J Noa expounds on her belief that rappers are “the journalists of the hood”. “Rap is history,” she explains. “History needs to be told, and where I come from, the hood, there was a lack of a voice. There were stories, but no one to tell those stories. I’m part of the hood that now has a voice, and I want to use that voice to tell those stories. With my genre, with my skills, I’m capable of bringing light to these narratives.”
Next month, J Noa will release her debut album, ‘Matanse Por La Corona’ (‘kill for the crown’). Paradoxically, it’s titled after an objective that J Noa has no interest in. “I’m working on my own agenda, with my own goals of growing as an artist. I’m telling everyone that they can kill for the crown, but that’s not my agenda, I will be here doing my own thing!”
J Noa talks almost as quickly as she raps. Words rattle off her tongue like machine gun fire; she peppers paragraphs together in seconds, her Dominican Spanish instilled with a rhythmic quality that keeps you gripped at all times. According to the 18-year-old Latin rap sensation — whose intricate lyrical flows and fierce self-confidence are attracting legions of fans worldwide — it’s a gift she’s always had.
“It wasn’t intentional,” she says, resting on an armchair in the reception area of a north London studio. “I’ve just always talked quickly. The first time I remember realising I could translate it to music, I was writing a lyric and I intentionally removed the gaps between the words to say it like a complete sentence. I released that and the fans seemed to really like it, so I started trying to use the skill more.”
J Noa on The Cover of NME. Credit: Fiona Garden for NME
As the teenage rapper (born Nohelys Jiménez) explains the origins of her style to NME, her interpreter Marcelo keeps pace admirably. J Noa speaks limited English, which only makes her global reception to date even more impressive. Last autumn, a stunning contribution to NPR’s prestigious Tiny Desk Concert series (as part of Latinx Heritage Month) introduced hip-hop fans across the English-speaking world to the self-styled ‘la hija del rap’ (‘daughter of rap’). Aided by her smooth Latin jazz band, she transported the infectious energy of early singles like ‘No Me Pueden Para’ into a fresh live context and prompted viewers to dig back into her catalogue and get to grips with Latin Grammy-nominated debut EP ‘Autodidacta’.
Released in May 2023, ‘Autodidacta’ is defined by ferocious bars and thoughtful storytelling. Its title track is an onslaught of insanely rapid flows, beat switches, and sharp lyrics showcasing J Noa’s socio-political outlook, which is fleshed out in tracks like ‘Qué Fué’, a song “inspired by the injustices of the authorities and by the crime that plagues the entire Dominican territory.” As well as her rapping ability, there’s also an effortless melodicism imparted on tracks like ‘No Me Pueden Par’ and ‘La Niña’, and crucially, each harmony comes from Jiménez herself, with not a single feature on the whole EP.
“I’m part of the hood that now has a voice”
J Noa was only 15 years old when Sony Music first reached out to her; she signed with the major label soon after. In the years since, trips to the US for recording and promo events have become the norm, but she’s been determined not to let the hype get to her, and insists that her creative process has remained the same throughout.
“There hasn’t really been a change, because if you change the recipe you change the final product,” she says. “Since the beginning, this whole process has been really organic, I never try to force creativity. I put in the effort, the hours and the muscle when I go to the studio, and I always go to the studio prepared, but it still has to be an organic process. I leverage each moment where I get inspiration; it could be on the plane or while I’m getting ready, and I’ll stop everything and start making notes. For me, that’s the hack, leveraging each idea and then putting in the effort once I’m in the studio.”
Credit: Fiona Garden for NME
She recalls entering large recording studios for the first time and having to adapt to the new environment, from observing how different producers worked to learning how other artists worked on vocal melodies without having lyrics in place. But it’s worth noting that by this point, she had already been rapping for years.
Jiménez first started spitting bars at the age of eight, freestyling with local boys in the streets of her neighbourhood in San Cristóbal. Her hometown is located 30km west of Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic, and her local area — which she recently showed fans around in the video documentary ‘Mi Barrio’ — has greatly impacted her capacity for storytelling, the poverty and struggle she saw firsthand giving her a greater sense of perspective from an early age. As she raps on ‘Betty’, the heart-rending tale of a young, vulnerable teenage girl from the hood who unexpectedly winds up pregnant, “a ustedes le sorprende para mí es normal” (“You are surprised, for me it’s normal”).
Credit: Fiona Garden for NME
“I witnessed all of that in the flesh,” she tells NME. “I was just telling the story, so there wasn’t really pressure. But once it was out, I felt that feeling; I started seeing comments and seeing people realise what ‘Betty’ was about, and when I detect pressure I feel that I have to lead by example. If I’m going to tell these kinds of stories and bring light to these problems, I can be part of the problem. If I’m making a rap about being an educated person and here in the interview I portray myself as being an uneducated person, that’s not being consistent, so I need to be true and lead by example.”
This reflects Jiménez’s belief that rappers are “the journalists of the hood”. It’s a viewpoint she backs up consistently in her music, which explores a wide range of pertinent issues relating to social inequality, politics, relationships, and mental health, all of which she feels a responsibility to document. Her recent single ‘Era de Cristal’ is a good example. Its video displays Jiménez confined in a box bedroom, tossing, turning and visibly struggling to keep it together, these visuals reflecting lyrical content that centres around anxiety and insomnia, with lyrics like “mirando como cae la noche el cielo, una lágrima que adorna mi cara y rueda y mi cuello” (“watching the night fall into the sky, a tear adorns my face and rolls down my neck”).
“What I do, it comes out of my heart”
“I’m not afraid to touch any topic at all,” she explains. “But in previous songs, I had never been so open about mental health. I wanted to give something to my fans, giving another side of myself and being a little bit exposed in that sense.”
“Rap is history,” she continues. “History needs to be told, and where I come from, the hood, there was a lack of a voice. There were stories, but no one to tell those stories. I’m part of the hood that now has a voice, and I want to use that voice to tell those stories. With my genre, with my skills, I’m capable of bringing light to these narratives.”
This attitude is a central facet of her forthcoming debut album (due out May 23), ‘Matanse Por La Corona’ (‘kill for the crown’). Produced largely by Honduran-born, LA-based producer Trooko – “he’s a master,” says Jiménez – the album leans heavily on recrafted jazz and soul melodies, from the neat double bass riff that opens ‘Cenicienta’ to the coarse Chubby Checker vocal sample that’s chopped-up and scattered across the tough hip-hop track ‘Arrogante’. Mirroring the figurative violence of its title, ‘Matanse Por La Corona’ sees her spit rapidly against an intense, jumpy beat centred on tight, triumphant bursts of horns that evoke the open credits of a 1960s detective drama (they’re sampled from Canadian composer Dennis Farnon’s 1974 track ‘Snowmobile’). What was the intention behind that evocative album title?
Credit: Fiona Garden for NME
“The point is to acknowledge that I’m not working towards this objective [of ‘killing for the crown’]. It’s not something that matters to me, having that recognition or fame,” she says. “I’m doing this because it’s what I like, I’m working on my own agenda, with my own goals of growing as an artist. I’m telling everyone that they can kill for the crown, but that’s not my agenda, I will be here doing my own thing!”
Perhaps it’s this singularity, this lack of regard for petty beef, commercial success or the trappings of fame, that makes J Noa such a likely candidate to rise to the top. Posing for her NME shoot against a deep red backdrop, her hair braided and fashioned into a majestic floral shape above her head, she exudes the energy of a star. She seems comfortable, staring down the camera, and shuffling with ease to the light reggaeton beats that blast from a speaker by the side of the studio.
The following day, she jumps onstage at renowned Camden venue Electric Ballroom to support Venezuelan funk/soul four-piece Rawayana, and stomps around with the same assured self-confidence. For an 18-year-old, Jiménez has a formidable stage presence and command of the room; she strides around with purpose, and the mostly Spanish-speaking crowd respond fervently to bold lyrics like “Piden guerra, pero vienen sin bala no hay quien resista / A una barra que te deja en coma el tiempo que tú exista” (“They ask for war, but they come without bullets, there is no one to resist / To a bar that leaves you in a coma for as long as you live”). You get the feeling she was built for this.
“Rap is a lifestyle,” she says. “I’m pure hip-hop. There are many ways to do hip-hop, but for me it’s about focusing on the lyrics while also being a bit aggressive. It comes from my personality; I’m bold, I’m aggressive, and I want to represent that I am a strong Black woman. What I do, it comes out of my heart.”
J Noa’s debut album ‘Matanse Por La Corona’ is released May 23
Listen to J Noa’s exclusive playlist to accompany The Cover below on Spotify and here on Apple Music
Words: Fred Garratt-Stanley
Photography: Fiona Garden
Hair: Shamara Roper
Stylist: Vivian Nwonka
Assistant Stylist: Christel Kwapong
MUA: Hila Karmand
Assistant MUA: Cassandra Scalia
Label: Sony Music
The Iranian dissident rapper Toomaj Salehi has been condemned to death for participating in anti-government protests in 2022, says his lawyer, sparking outcry from human rights organisations.
Salehi’s music has been critical of the Iranian regime, while he has also been particularly outspoken about the government on social media. He was involved in weeks-long protests that swept the country after the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, which occurred under suspicious circumstances while in police custody, and resulted in a brutal crackdown on protests by the Iranian authorities.
His lawyer confirmed via X/Twitter that an order for his execution had been issued on Wednesday (April 24) after he had been detained, held in solitary confinement and allegedly tortured following his arrest.
In an unprecedented decision, a court in Isfahan overturned the higher Supreme Court’s decision on Saleh’s case on Tuesday (April 23), upholding the original verdict of “corruption on earth”. As such, he was issued the maximum punishment of death, according to Iranian pro-reform outlets Shargh and Entekhab.
State media reported that his sentence could be reduced by a pardoning committee if he appeals again.
Salehi had spent time in prison last year and was briefly released, but according to witness testimonies, he was violently rearrested and sent him to prison in Isfahan. This happened after he revealed that he was tortured and placed in solitary confinement for 252 days following his arrest in October 2022, UN experts said in a statement published by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).
Salehi isn’t the only artist to have been targeted for showing opposition to the government. The Kurdish-Iranian rapper Saman Yasin, who was also arrested at the height of 2022’s protests in Iran, was taken to a psychiatric hospital twice in less than a year, per pro-reform news outlet IranWire. A court in Tehran sentenced Yasin to five years in prison, according to Kurdish human rights group Hengaw.
“We strongly condemn Toomaj Salehi’s death sentence and the five-year sentence for Kurdish-Iranian rapper Saman Yasin. We call for their immediate release,” the United States’ Office of the Special Envoy for Iran tweeted. “These are the latest examples of the regime’s brutal abuse of its own citizens, disregard for human rights, and fear of the democratic change the Iranian people seek.”
We strongly condemn Toomaj Salehi’s death sentence and the five-year sentence for Kurdish-Iranian rapper Saman Yasin. We call for their immediate release. These are the latest examples of the regime’s brutal abuse of its own citizens, disregard for human rights, and fear of the…
— Office of the Special Envoy for Iran (@USEnvoyIran) April 24, 2024
UN experts also called for Salehi’s release, urging Iranian authorities to reverse the death sentence.
“We are alarmed by the imposition of the death sentence and the alleged ill-treatment of Mr. Salehi which appears to be related solely to the exercise of his right to freedom of artistic expression and creativity,” the experts said.
Iranians have now taken to the streets to demand the rapper’s freedom.
Iranians worldwide have once again taken to the streets in protest against the death sentence issued for Toomaj Salehi. They’re also protesting against the gender apartheid imposed by Khamenei’s regime, which ordered the morality police force to return to the streets to wage war… pic.twitter.com/15ERHeWlIR
Meanwhile, Salehi’s political sponsor in Europe, German Member of Parliament Ye-One Rhie, described the death sentence as “absurd and inhumane.”
“It is still completely unclear how this verdict came about,” she said. “It is unbelievable how irresponsibly and arbitrarily the Iranian regime treats defendants. It is impossible to recognize the rule of law in the chaos of the courts in charge.”
The Recording Academy also released a statement on the case, saying they were “deeply troubled” by the sentencing.
“No artist should have to fear for their life or livelihood when expressing themselves through their art. Music is a powerful force for good in the world and is needed today more than ever. We stand with music creators across the globe who use their gifts to shed light on the human condition and will continue to work tirelessly to protect artistic freedom.”
The Recording Academy @RecordingAcad calls for the release of Iranian rapper #ToomajSalehi — who the regime in Iran has sentenced to death; charging him with “corrupting the earth.”
Meek Mill was among the artists condemning the Iranian authorities, writing on X/Twitter, “Got sentenced to death over a song free that man wtf” on Thursday, followed by “Free toomaj!”
The singer and rapper, who is known for her x-rated content, took to her X account on Friday (April 26) to call out parents who bring their kids along to see her.
“idk what the fuck you think this is but i don’t make music for children so leave your kids at home motherfucker,” she wrote.
“im rapping about cum why are you bringing your offspring to my show.”
idk what the fuck you think this is but i don't make music for children so leave your kids at home motherfucker
In a five-star review of her set, NME wrote: “For the rapper, expressing herself often means doing things others might not – either because her form of expression is too off-the-wall for the rest of the world or too controversial. Tonight, she proves the former spirit is well and truly alive, bringing a touch of brilliant weirdness to the desert.”
The British-Zimbabwe social media star is known for his viral musical skits (as either himself or as “posh driller” Unknown P) that provide satirical commentary on pop culture and public affairs. Now, he has waded in on the current conflict between Drake and Lamar and released what he thinks the latter’s diss track would sound like.
The 31-year-old raps in a squeaky voice: “And your last track was average / Fell off like Cinderella’s shoe on the way to the carriage / Off with his head like the Queen said to Alice / Drake only go for girls under 21, Yo! I’m a savage.”
Beneath the post, rapper Professor Green commented: “Money on this being the best diss in the whole beef”. Grime star Novelist also chimed in under the video, asking, “Why are you better than everyone at rapping?”
The inspiration behind Chawawa’s recent skit is the fact that it is now Lamar’s turn to respond to Drake in their current rap battle.
On the 2023 single ‘First Person Shooter’, Drake compared himself to Michael Jackson, after tying with the King of Pop for the most Number One singles on the Billboard charts.
Last week, Drake officially replied with the diss track, ‘Push Ups (Drop And Give Me 50)’ after it surfaced online the week before. “This the bark with the bite, nigga, what’s up? / How the fuck you been steppin’ with a size seven mens on?” he rapped, alluding to Lamar’s fifth studio album ‘Mr Morale & The Big Steppers’. The Californian has yet to drop a rebuttal to ‘Push Ups’.
Fans thought Lamar had responded to Drake when a song called ‘One Shot’ leaked online. The track turned out to be fake as TikTok rapper-producer SyTheRapper revealed he created it using AI. “I shocked myself,” he said. “I thought people were going to be able to tell it was fake, but people did actually think it was real.”
The letter – penned by King – read: “The Estate is deeply dismayed and disappointed by your unauthorized use of Tupac’s voice and personality. Not only is the record a flagrant violation of Tupac’s publicity and the estate’s legal rights, it is also a blatant abuse of the legacy of one of the greatest hip-hop artists of all time. The Estate would never have given its approval for this use.”
It continued, taking issue with the rappers use of Tupac’s vocals to diss Kendrick Lamar: “The unauthorized, equally dismaying use of Tupac’s voice against Kendrick Lamar, a good friend to the Estate who has given nothing but respect to Tupac and his legacy publicly and privately, compounds the insult.”
Drake performs during Wicked (Spelhouse Homecoming Concert) Featuring 21 Savage at Forbes Arena at Morehouse College on October 19, 2022 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Prince Williams/Wireimage)
Now, ‘Taylor Made Freestyle’ has been taken down from all streaming platforms as well as all of Drake’s social media accounts following lawsuit threat from the estate of the late West Coast rapper.
The first verse on the track has been manipulated to sound like 2Pac, with lines including: “Kendrick, we need ya, the West Coast savior / Engraving your name in some hip-hop history / Fuck this Canadian light-skin, Dot / We need a no-debated West Coast victory, man”.
The issue between the two artists began on the 2023 single ‘First Person Shooter’, when Drake compared himself to Michael Jackson, after tying him for the most Number One singles on the Billboard charts.
Rapper Drake performs onstage during “Lil Baby & Friends Birthday Celebration Concert” at State Farm Arena on December 9, 2022 in Atlanta, Georgia. CREDIT: Prince Williams/Wireimage/Getty Images
On April 13, Drake seemingly replied on the diss track, ‘Push Ups (Drop And Give Me 50)’. “This the bark with the bite, nigga, what’s up? / How the fuck you been steppin’ with a size seven mens on?” he rapped, alluding to Lamar’s fifth studio album ‘Mr Morale & The Big Steppers’. The Californian has yet to drop a rebuttal to ‘Push Ups’.
Fans thought Lamar had responded to Drake when a song called ‘One Shot’ leaked online. The track turned out to be fake, though, as TikTok rapper-producer SyTheRapper revealed he created it using AI. “I shocked myself,” he said. “I thought people were going to be able to tell it was fake, but people did actually think it was real.”
However, Rick Ross legitimately replied to ‘Push Ups’ with the equally venomous ‘Champagne Moments’. On the song, he accused Drake of getting a nose job and sending a cease-and-desist to French Montana. The latter was later confirmed by their label owner, Gamma CEO Larry Jackson.
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This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance".
viewed_cookie_policy
11 months
The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.
Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.
