Kanye West Joins Kid Cudi For Surprise Performance At NBA All-Star Weekend Event

Los Angeles, CA – Fans at Adidas’ 747 Warehouse event in Los Angeles got a huge surprise when Kanye West showed up for a quick performance. ‘Ye joined Kid Cudi on stage to perform “Father Stretch My Hands Pt. 1” during the NBA All-Star Weekend show on Saturday (February 17).

The appearance was West’s second public performance since his hospitalization in 2016. Last November, he similarily popped up at a Cudi show in Chicago.

West’s appearance during the NBA All-Star weekend event comes just a few days after he briefly returned to Instagram. Yeezy reemerged on social media on Valentine’s Day (February 14), sharing a post directed at his wife Kim Kardashian-West. The next day, he deactivated his account once again.Prior to his brief online comeback, West had been absent from social media since May 2017 when he deactivated his Twitter and Instagram accounts.

Although he’s been out of the public eye, the G.O.O.D. Music founder has reportedly been working on a new album for months. According to TMZ, West was actually seen leaving his Calabasas studio with A$AP Rocky before the surprise appearance at the Adidas event.

 

Article source: http://hiphopdx.com/news/id.46003/title.kanye-west-joins-kid-cudi-for-surprise-performance-at-nba-all-star-weekend-event

Nipsey Hussle Talks Sacrifice & Donald Trump During 1st Episode Of “Soulful Sundays”

Los Angeles, CA – HipHopDX kicked off its new Soulful Sundays series on Sunday (February 18). Hosted by DX Editor-In-Chief Trent Clark, the inaugural episode features Los Angeles-bred rapper Nipsey Hussle.

The two Hip Hop aficionados pull up a stool at the soul food restaurant Comfort LA where they discuss a bevy of topics, including Nipsey’s deal with Atlantic Records and the sacrifices he had to make in his personal life to get to where he is today.

“It’s a big sacrifice, truthfully,” Nipsey tells DX. “From your relationships, family life, how much time you get to spend with your people, your kids — you gotta really put work in. As a major label artist that has a full team, it’s a lot of work. Even more so, after you finish your songs, you gotta to the marketing side of it and work on marketing as well. You gotta go to the executive side and be an executive as well. so you gotta cut some corners in other places in order to fulfill all the roles.”

Nipsey, who just released his debut studio album Victory Lap, also touched on his 2016 single with YG, “FDT (Fuck Donald Trump).” He acknowledged YG for coming up with the idea.

“Conceptually, I gotta give credit to YG on that just because we really got on the phone to do a collab project,” he explains. “So, we got in. [DJ] Mustard was there. We did like four or five records. After the fourth or fifth record, he came in the studio and was like, ‘Hey man, whatchu think about a Donald Trump record?’ 

“He starting humming like ‘Fuck Donald Trump’ just right then and there in the studio. I’m like, ‘Yeah that sounds cool. Go lay it.’ He go to lay it, and we he come out the booth, we hear it back on the speakers and everybody in the studio looking around like, ‘Damn. Is this something right here?’ … Everybody kind of got like, ‘Damn that might be it.’ I’m really proud of that record. It was before it became cool to say, ‘Fuck Donald Trump.’”

Soulful Sundays airs every other Sunday at 9 a.m. PST.

Article source: http://hiphopdx.com/news/id.46004/title.nipsey-hussle-talks-sacrifice-fdt-during-1st-episode-of-soulful-sundays

Twista Gets Into Fight Outside NBA All-Star Weekend Party

Los Angeles, CA – Twista got into an altercation after leaving Michael Jordan’s party during NBA All-Star Weekend on Saturday (February 17). The veteran MC was caught on video putting a man in a headlock while another person repeatedly punched the restrained man.

The scuffle was allegedly prompted by the man heckling passengers on a shuttle and harassing women, according to TMZ. Twista was riding the shuttle from the party to a parking lot around 1:30 a.m. PST. and intervened on behalf of the women. The man reportedly responded by challenging the Chicago Hip Hop legend to a fight.

Although the altercation was relatively tame, at least from what was filmed, it was another example of violence breaking out in Los Angeles (host of the 2018 NBA All-Star Game) over the weekend.

As HipHopDX previously reported, gunfire broke out at Nipsey Hussle’s Victory Lap release party over the weekend. At least one man was injured in the shooting and taken to Cedar-Sinai Medical Center, according to police officers at the scene.

Article source: http://hiphopdx.com/news/id.46005/title.twista-gets-into-fight-outside-nba-all-star-weekend-party

Birdman Releases “Before Anythang: The Cash Money Story” Documentary

Birdman’s Cash Money Records documentary has been released. Before Anythang: The Cash Money Story is available now on Apple Music following months of delays.

The project was originally announced in August 2016 and was scheduled to drop in the fall. That release date was then pushed back to May 12, 2017, which also came to pass with no film. No updates about the documentary emerged until last week when a new trailer for the film was uploaded online.

#before anythang #out now?#cashmoney

A post shared by Birdman5star (@birdman5star) on Feb 17, 2018 at 5:26pm PST

Before Anythang is the first production by Cash Money Films, the film imprint of Cash Money Records. The movie, which is narrated by Birdman, documents his life and provides insight into how his powerhouse label was created.

“This in-depth documentary explores the journey of one of the most successful rap label owners and entrepreneurs in modern music history,” a press release for the film reads. “From the death of his mother when he was a small child to learning how to hustle at the feet of his father; from the streets of New Orleans to traveling the world, Bryan [Williams] created the world he envisioned as a boy. His is the great American success story. From humble beginnings emerges the legend, this is the story of how it all began.”

#before anythang #OUT NOW #cashmoney

A post shared by Birdman5star (@birdman5star) on Feb 16, 2018 at 11:28am PST

Watch Before Anythang exclusively on Apple Music here.

Article source: http://hiphopdx.com/news/id.46006/title.birdman-releases-before-anythang-the-cash-money-story-documentary

Hip Hop Week In Review: Marvel’s “Black Panther,” Drake & Black Star

HipHopDX – This week in Hip Hop, Marvel’s latest superhero film, Black Panther, made its theatrical debut to much fanfare. Also, Drake blessed some folks with nearly a million dollars while shooting his “God’s Plan” video in Miami and Yasiin Bey sparked talk of a Black Star reunion.

Marvel’s “Black Panther” Film Breaks Records

Marvel’s highly-anticipated Black Panther was released in theaters across America on Friday (February 16) and moviegoers (many of which were cosplaying) showed up in droves in to catch the movie. Since its debut, the Ryan Coogler-directed movie has received critical acclaim and set box office records, grossing $218 million in the U.S. and Canada over the weekend.

The film’s Kendrick Lamar and the TDE family’s executive produced soundtrack, Black Panther: The Album, has earned high marks, including a score of 4.5 in HipHopDX’s review.

Read more about Black Panther‘s mega debut here.

Drake’s Good Deeds

Drake is calling his “God’s Plan” video “the most important thing” he has ever done in his career. The visual for the popular single off Drizzy’s Scary Hours EP was first reported as being filmed at Miami Senior High School, followed by various blessings Drake bestowed upon some Floridians, including $50,000 to a student at the University of Miami and $10,000 shopping spree for a housekeeper.

The video for “God’s Plan” featured all of these good deeds, which ended up totaling nearly $ 1 million (the music video’s reported budget). The nice acts tugged at the heartstrings of everyone across social media and has inspired others to do some good deeds of their own.

Watch Drake’s “God’s Plan” video here.

A New Black Star Album Is In The Making

Black Star fans are excited about the news of Talib Kweli and Yasiin Bey possibly coming together for a new album. During a Madlib DJ set in Denver, Colorado, Bey announced that it’s in the works.

“New Black Star with Madlib, Talib Kweli, Yasiin, coming soon!” Bey said. “All Madlib, all day. 2018, Madlib, Black Star. Madlib Black Star.”

Bey, formerly known as Mos Def, was thought to be done with music, having announced his retirement in 2016. But, if history is any indication, most rap retirements don’t last very long.

A new Black Star project would be the follow-up to 1998’s  Mos Def Talib Kweli Are Black Star.

Read more about Black Star’s possible reunion here.

DX Reviews

Nipsey Hussle — Victory Lap

RiFF RaFF DJ Afterthoughts — Cool Blue Jewels

Cozz — Effected

Master P — Tony Montana

Mark Battles — Vasi World

Audio Push — Cloud 909

TDE — Black Panther: The Album

DXclusives: Evidence, Menace Handsome Boy Modeling School

Evidence Discusses Future Of Dilated Peoples Plans To Self-Produce His Next Album

Dilated Peoples’ Evidence spoke with DX Staff Writer Justin Ivey in a two-part series about his third solo album Weather Or Not and shared with him the biggest change he’s experienced since Dilated’s debut album, The Platform, was released in 2000.

“I think something as broad as just going from really wanting to be accepted to caring less about what the people who inspired me think about me, creatively,” Evidence said. “Moving out of that a little bit. Maybe moving out of the emulation and into the innovation a little bit more. That was a big lesson. ‘Cause when you start, you really just wanna be like whatever made you wanna do this in the first place. And then, as you move along, you start to form this set of rules about how I’m supposed to sound and what’s expected. And I think if you get out of that, it’ll probably lead to the healthiest place, creatively.”

Read the full interview with Evidence here.

#DXHitList: The Menace Session

For the latest edition of the #DXHitList Sessions series, UK producer Menace created a Spotify playlist for DX filled with music that he created along with some songs that have inspired him.  Speaking with DX’s Cherise Johnson, Menace shared what happened the day he created the beat to Desiigner’s breakout hit “Panda.”

“I had just come home from work and I was just really tired, you know…frustrated,” Menace recalled in our exclusive interview. “I had my boss yelling at me, telling me I was slacking at work. I was really tired that day. I came home and wanted to make music. Making music to me is like stress-relief. Then I just came out with ‘Panda.’”

Read more stories like these from Menace here.

Handsome Boy Modeling School Announces Reunion Forthcoming Album

Prince Paul and Dan The Automator are coming together as Handsome Boy Modeling School once again for a new project. During a conversation with DX’s Kyle Eustice, Prince Paul reveals they have plans on hitting the studio soon to make it happen.

“So far, the album is already recorded in our heads,” Prince Paul said. “Now, it’s just a matter of physically recording it. We’re trying to determine where we’re going to do it. We’re kind of thinking of going far away to record it, maybe fly to Europe. It has to be a handsome experience. You can’t get more handsome than that.”

Read more about Handsome Boy Modeling School’s reunion here.

Article source: http://hiphopdx.com/news/id.46007/title.hip-hop-week-in-review-marvels-black-panther-drake-black-star

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