Travis Scott, Meek Mill & More Show Out For James Harden’s #JHtownWeekend

Houston, Texas – This past weekend (August 17 – 20) Houston Rockets Point Guard and current NBA MVP James Harden hosted the second annual #JHtownWeekend — a three-day charity event in Houston presented by his 3thehardway Foundation.

Kicking off with a comedy show on Friday (August 17), the weekend schedule included a celebrity softball game on Saturday, and basketball game on Sunday. Artists like Travis Scott, Meek Mill, Trae Tha Truth and Sevyn Streeter competed with — and against — NBA stars like Donovan Mitchell, Chris Paul, and John Wall.

One of the weekend’s most memorable moments came from hometown hero Travis Scott, who hit a home run during the Saturday’s softball game then proceeded to jump and cartwheel around the bases while chart-topping music from his latest LP Astroworld blasted.

“Last year was a success, so we wanted to run it back again this year,” Harden said during an interview with 93.7 The Beat in Houston. Money raised during last year’s event was used to give scholarships to 13 high school students — and this year will be no different.

Check out the highlights from the 2018 JhTown Weekend down below.

Day Ones ? @kennethwynn_

A post shared by James Harden (@jharden13) on Aug 17, 2018 at 6:48pm PDT

‪Meek Mill and Travis Scott really #ActingUp at James Harden’s charity game ??‬

A post shared by SLAM (@slamonline) on Aug 19, 2018 at 5:58pm PDT

Softball game was lit yesterday! But the weekend isn’t over yet. #JhTownWeekend 2018 See y’all later! Get there early ???? #Schwaaaaag

A post shared by James Harden (@jharden13) on Aug 19, 2018 at 10:50am PDT

still here with who we started with… #JHTownWeekend Year 1 2

A post shared by Rocket (@kennethwynn_) on Aug 19, 2018 at 5:38pm PDT

softball was a vibe to say the least… #JHTownWeekend

A post shared by Rocket (@kennethwynn_) on Aug 19, 2018 at 5:08pm PDT

“ Astro Boy “ La Flame brought the heat to U of H yesterday no cap…

A post shared by Rocket (@kennethwynn_) on Aug 19, 2018 at 2:44pm PDT

breaking bread for a cause JH-Town Brunch was a success softball about to be litty!

A post shared by Rocket (@kennethwynn_) on Aug 18, 2018 at 3:40pm PDT

Thank you to every woman we toasted celebrated at #JHTown18 Women’s Brunch loved honoring Ms. Monja Willis for all philanthropy endeavors. Powered by @ciroc| event coordinator @alyiv ?| Curated: @AlwaysCivil

A post shared by Karen Civil (@karencivil) on Aug 18, 2018 at 4:09pm PDT

This weekend will be remembered❗️ This SATURDAY , Pull up and enjoy the vibe ??. ?????? (? link in the bio) ⚾️

A post shared by James Harden (@jharden13) on Aug 15, 2018 at 4:09pm PDT

Article source: http://hiphopdx.com/news/id.48104/title.travis-scott-meek-mill-more-show-out-for-james-hardens-jhtownweekend

Birdman Accuses Lil Wayne & Cortez Bryant Of Drake Profits Scam

Los Angeles, CA – The ongoing legal saga between Lil Wayne and Birdman is just like the Law Order series: never-ending.

In the latest episode, Birdman is now countersuing Cortez Bryant’s Aspire Music Group with the fine print accusing the mogul, Lil Wayne and a lawyer named Roger Sweeney of conspiring together to cut Cash Money Records out the lion’s share of Drake profits, The Blast reports.

“Aspire was simply a shell company,” the countersuit reads adding, “There was no business purpose to forming Aspire, other than to siphon profits out of the joint venture and to divert those profits to Sweeney, Bryant, and Carter/ Young Money. Aspire never conducted any business other than getting Drake signed to a record label. Aspire has never signed, nor sought to sign, a single additional artist.”

Embed from Getty Images

The latest news arrives at a conspicuous time, seeing that Birdman recently agreed to settle with the Young Money boss for $10 million and release the stronghold on Tha Carter V among other things.

Article source: http://hiphopdx.com/news/id.48105/title.birdman-accuses-lil-wayne-cortez-bryant-of-drake-profits-scam

Twitter Drags Kanye West For Rocking Tiny Yeezy Slides To 2 Chainz’s Wedding

Miami Beach, FL – Twitter is always ranting and raving about something  — that’s kind of what makes it so appealing. Now that Tevin Campbell has been thoroughly defended on the social media platform, all eyes are on Kanye West and his slippers.

‘Ye showed up in Miami Beach on Saturday (August 18) for 2 Chainz’s lavish wedding wearing $436 Yeezy Slides, which are really nothing more than glorified house slippers. ‘Ye’s heels hung over the back of the sole and clearly didn’t fit.

Naturally, Twitter had a field day with this and roasted West over his choice in footwear. Some people even thought he borrowed them from his wife Kim Kardashian or JAY-Z and Beyoncé’s daughter Blue Ivy.

Check out some of the reactions below. 

Article source: http://hiphopdx.com/news/id.48095/title.twitter-drags-kanye-west-for-rocking-tiny-yeezy-slides-to-2-chainzs-wedding

Nicki Minaj Blames Kylie Jenner & Spotify For "Queen’s" No. 2 Billboard 200 Debut

Another day, another Twitter rant. During this round, Nicki Minaj fired off tweet after tweet blaming Kylie Jenner, Travis Scott, their daughter Stormi and Spotify after Queen fell short of the No. 1 spot on the Billboard 200 chart.

On Sunday (August 19), Nicki clearly had some extra time on her hands to claim Queen — not Scott’s Astroworld — is the No. 1 album. She attributes Astroworld‘s success to bundles, which include meeting Jenner and Stormi.

It all started with a screenshot of Jenner’s Instagram post. In the caption, she says Scott told her he knows he doesn’t have the No. 1 album this week.

“Travis sold over 50K of these,” Nicki wrote. “With no requirement of redeeming the album! With no dates for a tour, etc. I spoke to him. He knows he doesn’t have the #1 album this week. I love my fans for the #1 album in AMERICA! I’ll explain on 4 albums in, #1 in 86 countries.”

Nicki then demands Billboard changes its criteria for counting album sales.

“I looked at the numbers the Carters, Kanye, Nas, etc recently did,” she wrote. “Travis sold 200K in his first week of clothes alone. I spoke to him last night he said he’s been selling clothes b4 the music. Billboard says they’ll change the rules cuz of this, so it should be changed now!”

From there, Nicki continued pointing the finger at Jenner and Stormi.

“I put my blood sweat tears in writing a dope album only for Travis Scott to have Kylie Jenner post a tour pass telling ppl to come see her Stormi,” she wrote. “lol. Im actually laughing. broke the record of being number 1 in 86 countries. Thank Jesus thank you to my fans.”

After a brief respite, the self-proclaimed Queen of Rap returned with more ammo, but this time it was aimed at Spotify. She explained that because she played material from Queen slightly early on Apple Music, Spotify punished her and caused her numbers to drop.

“Do you know how many women get systematically blackballed out of their positions in an office building can’t fight back?????” she continues. “Do you know how many people subscribe to my Spotify page?????

“Spotify put drake’s face on every playlist but told me they’d have to teach me a lesson for playing my music 10 mins early on #QueenRadio. Even tho they’ve been giving away my music for free for years I am one of the top Spotify artists of all time.”

She added, “My music went up on Apple so I played it. I assumed it was on Spotify Tidal at the same time. Spotify said that Apple tweeted fans advising #Queen was up therefore they had to teach me a lesson. But PRAISE BE TO GOD!!!!!!”

Nicki also dragged pop princess Ariana Grande into it but revealed she had Grande’s support.

“My label didn’t want to defend me for fear of Spotify trying to teach Ariana a ‘lesson’ too!” she said. “Ariana hit me said ‘FUCK EVERYONE, GO AWF SIS!” I love ha.”

Screen Shot 2018-08-19 at 4.11.54 PMScreen Shot 2018-08-19 at 4.11.54 PM

As Nicki’s rant came to a close, she seemingly backpedaled and tried to suggest she was just playing around.

“People are calling me thinking I’m huffing puffing,” she said. “Omg y’all this is sarcasm/dry humor. Yikes. I’m having the most iconNIC time. Come let me kiss you. ???? Who’s coming to the secret show? When people call me hear me crackin up laughing they seem so puzzled. Loosen up.”

Nicki promised she will address all of this on the next episode of the recently launched Queen Radio on Apple Music, which airs on Tuesday (August 21). 

“My first album sold 400K. No one is doing that with debut albums now,” she said. “So I’m so grateful. I lost out on 12 hours of sales and did 200K in one week after I was supposedly cancelled. I bit my tongue last #QueenRadio but I won’t On Tuesday. I love you guys so much.”

Article source: http://hiphopdx.com/news/id.48096/title.nicki-minaj-blames-kylie-jenner-spotify-for-queens-no-2-billboard-200-debut

Hip Hop Week In Review: Aretha Franklin, Nicki Minaj & XXXTENTACION

HipHopDX – This week in Hip Hop, Aretha Franklin, the Queen of Soul, passed away. Nicki Minaj was ever present in headlines this week thanks to the controversy surrounding the release of Queen and lastly, XXTENTACION’s alleged killer is begging to be let out of jail.

R.I.P. Aretha Franklin

Dear Queen Of Soul: Thank You for the impact you have left through your legacy. You music and spirit will always live on. Rest In Power #ArethaFranklin.

A post shared by HipHopDX (@hiphopdx) on Aug 16, 2018 at 7:05am PDT

Legendary singer Aretha Franklin passed away in her Detroit home Thursday (August 16) after a long battle with advanced pancreatic cancer. She was 76.

The Hip Hop community paid homage to the Queen of Soul via social media which include heartfelt messages from Talib Kweli, Nas, Snoop Dogg, Q-Tip, and Common among others. Franklin’s music has been sampled in a lot of Hip Hop music throughout the years, including tracks from Slum Village, Sean Price, and Styles P among others.

Read more about Aretha Franklin’s music sampled in rap songs here.

Nicki Minaj Fights To Keep Her Top Spot

Does Nicki make a good point about Cardi?

A post shared by HipHopDX (@hiphopdx) on Aug 16, 2018 at 5:45pm PDT

Nicki Minaj has been making media rounds since Queen released on August 10, including appearances with Elliott Wilson for a CRWN conversation, an interview with Hot 97’s Funkmaster Flex and her own Queen Radio show on Apple Beats 1. All conversations surround her holding down the top female rapper spot unchallenged for years.

Minaj also took to Twitter to put her ex Safaree Samuels on blast for using her credit cards and having to pay over $10,000 to get his hairline restored (she also drags Tyga into the drama too). In the same exchange, Samuels says Nicki put him in the hospital after stabbing him with a knife.

On Queen Radio, Nicki addresses her issues with Cardi B and says she will not bite her tongue when it comes to her and also says she doesn’t have a problem with her.

However, Nicki does seem to have an issue with her sales being compared to Cardi and Travis Scott‘s. To help with sales, “FEFE” was added to Queen‘s tracklist.

Read more about what Nicki Minaj has to say about Cardi B here.

XXXTENTACION Murder Suspects Wants Bail

One of the suspected XXXTENTACION’s murders, Robert Allen, wants a Broward County, Florida judge to let him out on bail, TMZ reports.

The 22-year-old says there’s no proof he committed a crime. Allen believes he should be released so he can take care of his pregnant fiancée and promises he will go back to work at a Broward County, Florida lawn care business.

Read more about XXXTENTACION here.

DX Reviews

Nicki Minaj — Queen

Trippie Redd — Life’s A Trip

Aminé — ONEPOINTFIVE

Derek Minor — The Trap

OMB Peezy — Loyalty Over Love

Koran Streets — Late 20’s

Chief Keef — Mansion Musick

Andre Drummond — For Your Information

Termanology — Bad Decisions

DXclusives: Santigold, Chika, Sabrina Claudio Nicki Minaj

Santigold On How She Finished “I Don’t Want” At 9 Months Pregnant

??!!Studio day!!??

A post shared by @ santigold on Jul 27, 2018 at 2:21pm PDT

Santigold finished her latest project I Don’t Want: The Gold Fire Sessions right before she was about to give birth to twins. She found it she was pregnant when she moved to Los Angeles.

“That year, we moved like five times,” she tells HipHopDX’s Kyle Eustice. “We moved into a temporary rental and then we bought a new house and went from there. But then we had water damage, so we had to move out again and, at this point, I was about six weeks from delivery. I was so pregnant. So, we moved into a rental apartment.”

Read the full Santigold interview here.

Chika Calls Segregating Male Female Rappers “An Insult

2nd post, but idc. this turned into a look. ?

A post shared by CHIKA (@oranicuhh) on Jul 30, 2018 at 5:35pm PDT

Chika shares with HipHopDX why it’s insulting to separate male and female rappers.

“Separating them is almost as an insult to a lot of female rappers,” she says. “Not myself — I’m good. I don’t care what people do ’cause I know who I am. But there’s so many great MCs out there that are overlooked constantly because we’re separating categories instead of just making one. If we were to make them one, it would change a lot of people’s rankings to be honest. But that’s a scary thought for a male-dominated industry. So many have not been able to make it because of how the industry is set up.”

Inside Sabrina Claudio’s Road To Redemption

“no rain, no flowers” track list. Tomorrow ?

A post shared by SC (@sabrinaclaudio) on Aug 14, 2018 at 11:43am PDT

Sabrina Claudio has said some disparaging things about Black women on Twitter and ever since she got aired out, she’s been on a redemption tour, asking for forgiveness.

In an exclusive interview with HipHopDX, Claudio admits that she understands she will never live it down.

“I understand that people are never going to forget, I understand that this is something that will follow me for the rest of my career,” she admits to DX’s Daniela Evgenivna. “It’s not even a fear, I’ve accepted it. I don’t ever think about getting to stardom or a certain level — I wasn’t afraid of losing that because that isn’t something I ever thought about. I just put out music, and people happen to listen to it.”

Read the full Sabrina Claudio interview here.

5 Things We Learned From Nicki Minaj’s CRWN Interview

KNOCK IT AWFFFF!!!! #Queen is the #1 album in the world!!! I’m so grateful. Omg. Thank you!!!! S/o #Tidal #Sprint. Link in bio

A post shared by Barbie® (@nickiminaj) on Aug 15, 2018 at 3:57pm PDT

Nicki Minaj and Elliott Wilson got together for a CRWN conversation exclusively streamed on TIDAL and the Queen creator had a lot to say about the creation of her album, including what she believes to be the industry’s thirst to end her career.

Read all five things we learned from Nicki Minaj’s CRWN interview here.

Article source: http://hiphopdx.com/news/id.48097/title.hip-hop-week-in-review-aretha-franklin-nicki-minaj-xxxtentacion