MUSIC

Drake gave his many fans a glimpse into the struggles of his early career on Wednesday when he shared Instagram post that showed he was paid just $100 to open for Ice-Cube in 2006.The Toronto rapper shared an image of the receipt he was given for his performance as an opening act at an Ice-Cube concert in Toronto.The show was run at the since-closed Kool Haus venue in the Canadian capital in August 19 2006, when Drake was just starting out his hip-hop career.It was around that time that Drizzy was changing careers from acting to music.Up to that point, Drake had been known for his role as 'Wheelchair Jimmy,' in the popular high-school TV drama, 'Degrassi.'It was likely one of Drake's first ever gigs and in it he performed tracks off of his debut mixtape, titled 'room for improvement.'

50 Cent believes that Eminem does not get enough credit from the hip hop community, according to a new interview.Fifty was talking on 'Ebro In The Morning,' when he claimed that the Detroit rapper does not get kudos for the positive impact he had on hip hop culture and widening its reach across the globe.The interview, which took place on Tuesday, saw 50 cent drop in to promote his new TV show, 'Hip Hop Homicides.'During the chat with Ebro, the rapper claimed that the rap scene is a lot more violent now than when he was coming up in the game. “The violence has always been in those communities,” Fifty explained.“It’s just now, the visibility of it is there and it connects to Hip Hop culture,' he added, 'Because look, we the fastest growing genre of music. You can’t miss us.”

Rap superstar Nicki Minaj has indicated that her long-awaited new album will be released by the end of this year.Minaj was captured in conversation with one of her biggest idols, Jada Pinkett Smith, for an Interview Magazine feature that was published on Tuesday.The Queens hip hop icon hinted that her upcoming album would drop this year in the interview. Minaj said the success of her recent single, 'Super Freaky Girl,' encouraged her to release a new album.“I wasn’t sure how I was even feeling about having to put out an album this year, but that song happening and people liking it, that made me happy,” Minaj said in the spread.“People have gone through so much recently that they want to have fun. It’ll probably expedite the album to come out this year,” she then stated.

Top Dawg Entertainment singer, SZA, has recorded at least 100 songs yet to be released, according to a new report.Speaking to US entertainment site TMZ at LAX airport, former Grammy winner SZA told the camera that her new album would be dropping 'Any day now.'fans have been waiting a long time for SZA's new album, after she released her highly-popular album 'Ctrl,' in 2017.That album ranked as high as third in US charts and went platinum three times.It also featured five different platinum singles, including 'Drew Barrymore,' 'Love Galore,' featuring Travis Scott, and 'the Weekend,' with Calvin Harris.From that project 'Broken Clocks,' and 'Garden (Say It Like Dat),' also went platinum later on.

Kendrick Lamar's 2012 album, 'good kid m.A.A.d city,' has become the first Hip Hop studio album to spend a full 10 years on the Billboard 200 music charts.This news is according to 'Chart Data,' who say Kendrick's debut album has remained in the charts since its release ten years ago.The album currently occupies number 46 in the most up to date charts of the Billboard 200.The Cali rapper's has held the title of longest-charting Hip Hop album for two years after his debut surpassed Eminem's classic album, 'The Eminem Show,' in 2019.Another Eminem album is the only Hip Hop project to sustain a longer run in the charts. The Detroit native's 'Curtain Call,' has charted for over 11 and a half years, though it is regarded as a compilation album and not a studio album.Lamar's Pulitzer Prize winning album 'DAMN,' released in 2017, is also 63rd on the charts while this year's release, 'Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers,' sits in 26th spot.Lamar's project was first released in October of 2012 through TDE, Interscope and Aftermath.It garnered huge plaudits and popularity upon dropping, and featured a number of hit songs on its track list.'Swimming Pools (Drank),' Backseat Freestyle,' and 'B*, Don't Kill My Vibe,' all featured on the album, that received several nominations at the 2014 Grammy Awards.

Nicki Minaj's music may still feature in the Grammy's rap music awards category. according to a new article.Variety claimed that Nicki Minaj will appear in the rap category although her hit single 'Super Freaky Girl,' will not be included.The song will instead be in contention for the upcoming award's Pop categories.This news comes after Minaj created controversy on Twitter last week, voicing her frustration that 'super Freaky Girl,' would not be considered as a rap song by the Recording Academy, who nominate the songs for awards.“I have no prob being moved out [of] the RAP category as long as we [are] ALL being treated FAIRLY. If ‘Super Freaky Girl’ has [to be] moved out RAP then so does ‘Big Energy’!,” Minaj tweeted last Thursday.

Megan Thee Stallion’s house in Los Angeles was subject to a robbery on Saturday, where hundreds of thousands in valuables were stolen.According to a TMZ exclusive published today, the US rapper’s home was “ransacked,” by two thieves working together.The burglars, who were dressed in hoodies and gloves to conceal their identities, busted into the hip-hop star’s home by smashing through a glass door at the rear of the property.It was reported the thieves then proceeded straight to the master bedroom and took an estimated $300,000 - $400,000 in goods within the room.Among Megan Thee Stallion’s valuables was expensive jewellery, electronic devices and cash.

Drake’s streaming success will see his OVO Owl logo adorn the jerseys of FC Barcelona when they play arch-rivals Real Madrid in ‘El Clásico,’ Sunday night.Barcelona’s jersey sponsor, Spotify, have opted to reward Drake for achieving 50 billion streams across all his musical credits on the streaming platform by replacing their logo with his for tonight’s big fixture.Drake is the first ever artist to reach this milestone on Spotify and his logo appearing for tonight’s tie is a huge honour.

Hip-Hop artists Drake and the Weeknd have both opted out of the upcoming Grammy awards in 2023. According to Vibe, the pair have withdrawn all their music from consideration by the Recording Academy for the prestigious music awards.The Toronto0based stars, who have often collaborated on tracks, each have albums and songs that may well be awarded otherwise.Drake topped the music charts with his album ‘Honestly, Nevermind,’ while the Weeknd’s ‘Dawn FM,’ will also be out of contention.This year will be the second year running that the artists have boycotted the awards.They are not the only black artists to snub the show, with Bruno Mars and Anderson Paaak, known as Silk Sonic, announcing on Sunday that they will not submit their music for consideration of the Grammys.Mars told Rolling Stone that “Silk Sonic would like to gracefully, humbly and most importantly, sexually, bow out of submitting our album this year, we hope we can celebrate with everyone on a great year of music and partake in the party.”Female rapper Nicki Minaj voiced her discontent that her single, ‘Super Freaky Girl,’ was not submitted in any of the rap categories for the upcoming awards. She has not made her music ineligible as of yet though.

Kanye West has made more controversial comments, this time focusing on Drake, in his latest interview with ‘Drink Champs.’The popular podcast has seen West appear on the show a number of times, with his latest interview aired on Saturday.The rapper and producer, now known as ‘Ye,’ first said that Drake was the “greatest rapper of all time.”He was then asked by one of the co-hosts, N.O.R.E, about a recent post West had posted on Instagram, which stated that Drake would “f* ya baby mama’s mama.”In the interview, Ye made reference to an apparent hook up between Drake and his wife’s mother, Kris Jenner.

English rapper Stormzy announced that he would be releasing a new album titled ‘This Is What I Mean,’ next month on Wednesday evening.The Grime artist from South London made his long-awaited return to social media after a long hiatus to announce the project will drop on the 25th of November.A tweet with the announcement featured two images of the upcoming album.The first was presumably the cover art, which features a crisp image of a doorway with a letter with ‘This Is What I Mean,’ written on it.The second is the tracklist, which lists the titles of the 12 songs that will make up the project.

Lil Yachty has released a music video for his viral hit single titled ‘Poland’ on Wednesday. The rapper, also known as ‘Lil Boat,’ dropped the video at midnight following the song’s incredible popularity on streaming services online.The song features an iconic hook that goes, “I took the wok, to Poland,” in a catchy melody that only Yachty could produce in his trademark autotuned delivery.The artist announced he would release the video on Twitter hours before it was unveiled, and it has amassed over two and a half million views on YouTube since then.Funnily enough, the video sees Yachty literally taking a walk in a city that looks like its in the USA, likely New York, while also performing for the camera with his raps.The video is directed by superstar director Cole Bennett and also features Zack Bia.

Stormzy dropped the second single, titled ‘Hide & Seek,’ off of his upcoming third album at midnight on Friday.The South-London rapper released the song and accompanying music video two days after he announced his new project, which will be named ‘This Is What I Mean.’The single has a chill vibe which sees Stormzy reflect on the relationship he has with a girl.

Female rap artists Nicki Minaj and Latto engaged in a Twitter beef online on Thursday evening, in which the stars insulted each other and shared images of their private DMs on the social media platform.The beef appears to have started after Nicki Minaj voiced her frustration that her new song ‘Super Freaky Girl,’ was not categorised as a rap song for the upcoming 2023 Grammy Awards.

Cardi B celebrated her 30th birthday in glamorous fashion on Tuesday night with a cabaret-themed celebration in Los Angeles.The hugely successful female rapper and hip-hop star, originally from the Bronx, New York, wore an extravagant bejewelled red corset and a matching feathered headdress to the party at Poppy nightclub and cocktail bar in LA, California.The celebration was titled by the musician as “Cardi’s Dirty Thirty Cabaret,” with a host of famous guests attending the soiree.The stars in attendance included the likes of Chance the Rapper, YG and Karreuche Tran. Cardi B was accompanied by her husband Offset, of the hip-hop group Migos, who wore a fresh white suit, trimmed with a red-tie and red-tinted sunglasses to compliment his wife’s dress.Numerous videos of the party circulated on social media yesterday evening. One video published on Instagram saw Cardi B standing on stage next to an extravagantly tall birthday cake while everyone in attendance sang her happy birthday.Other footage captured the cabaret-styled dancers that were front and centre at the party, which Cardi B retweeted on her Twitter account.