NEW MUSIC: DJ Khaled - Shining Feat. Beyoncé & Jay Z

DJ Khaled - Shining Feat. Beyoncé & Jay Z

DJ Khaled drops "Shining" with Jay Z and Beyonce to make Grammy Night 2017 the biggest ever.

DJ Khaled has made Grammy night a movie for everybody, dropping a new track "Shining" as the awards closed out. Featuring Jay Z and Beyonce, "Shining" is already a historical moment.

Although Beyonce and DJ Khaled both didn't win the key awards they were gunning for tonight, it's clear that both are Grateful for what they have anyhow. Grateful is the name of DJ Khaled's next album. This is Beyonce's first collaboration with Khaled, and Jay Z's first since "I Got The Keys" off of Major Key.

GRAMMYS: Beyonce's Insanely Beautiful Grammys Performance

Beyonce's Insanely Beautiful Grammys Performance

Beyonce slays as always.

Beyonce has made the Grammys her safe space once again, putting on a showstopping performance despite her advanced stage of twins pregnancy. Clocking in around eight minutes, the Queen of Pop put on a highly theatrical and intricate show, one that no other artist will even nearly match. She performed two songs off her latest album Lemonade, “Love Drought” and “Sandcastles.”

Beyonce has already won two awards tonight, Best Urban Contemporary Album for Lemonade and Best Music Video for "Formation."

Check out Beyonce's incredible performance below, and let us know your thoughts in the comments section. Does the Queen need all these theatrics, or does the music itself carry the rest?

NEWS: Apple Reportedly Pulled Drake Away From Tidal

 Apple Reportedly Pulled Drake Away From Tidal

Looks like Drake was on board with Tidal until two days before the launch.

The first thought that went through many peoples minds when they saw the Tidal team standing on stage (after cracking an Illuminati joke, that is) was "where's Drake?". The rapper's absence was definitely noticed, but no direct explanation was ever given about whether or not he was approached to be a part of the project.

Turns out, Drizzy was on board to stand awkwardly among his peers that day, but according to Billboard, he dropped out a couple days before the announcement.

Now with news that the OVO rapper will be involved in Apple's upcoming streaming service, Drake's moves can be traced a little more clearly. Jay Zhad mentioned in an interview that Jimmy Iovine was approaching many of the same artists he was, and it seems Drake may have been swayed (not to mention, Pharrell). 

We'll keep you updated on what Drake will be doing as part of the service, but rumor has it he'll be contributing as an iTunes radio DJ.

NEWS: Jay Z Wants TIDAL To "Extend The Album Cycle" & Restore "Fair Trade" In Music

Jay Z Wants TIDAL To "Extend The Album Cycle" & Restore "Fair Trade" In Music

Jay Z shares some insight into the goals of his new streaming service, TIDAL.

There was no way the announcement of TIDAL was going to go down without a surprise, but while plenty of people thought they had it figured out (an album drop from Rihanna or Kanye West), no one predicted the actual unveiling -- the huge cast of musicians who co-own the service.

Despite sharing ownership with Kanye West, Rihanna, Madonna, and many more, Jay Z's name has been attached to the service for the last few weeks, and it was Hov who gave the first interview on the goals of the company with Billboard today.

Jay revealed in the sit-down that he's attempting to make sure that everyone involved in music (those behind the scenes moreso than the artists) gets their fair share, as well as his goal to maintain a consistent output from artists that isn't limited to an album cycle.

Check out some excerpts from Jay's #NewRules below. Read the full interview here.

On restoring "fair trade" in music:

Definitely. For someone like me, I can go on tour. But what about the people working on the record, the content creators and not just the artists? If they’re not being compensated properly, then I think we’ll lose some writers and producers and people like that who depend on fair trade. Some would probably have to take another job, and I think we’ll lose some great writers in the process. Is it fair? No. If you put in work, everyone else, you go to work you get paid. That’s fair trade. It’s what our country is built on.

On what he wants out of TIDAL:

Artists come here and start making songs 18 minutes long, or whatever. I know this is going to sound crazy, but maybe they start attempting to make a “Like a Rolling Stone,” you know, a song that doesn't have a recognizable hook, but is still considered one of the greatest songs of all time, the freedom that this platform will allow art to flourish here. And we’re encouraging people to put it in any format they like. It doesn't have to be three minutes and 30 seconds. What if it’s a minute and 17, what if it’s 11; you know, just break format. What if it’s just four minutes of just music and then you start rapping?

On whether it will offer exclusives from artists:

Well, it’s up to the artist. You know, there’s a thing now, it’s called the album cycle. You put your single out, promote it, then another single -- I think that now for an artist an album cycle doesn’t have to end. They’re on Instagram and Twitter and all these things, so we’re just talking about ways of extending that album cycle, and it could be anything. What if it’s a video offering tickets to the next concert, or what if it’s audio or video of the recording process? It could be anything. It could be them at home listening to songs that inspire them. Anything they want to offer, you know; just be as creative as possible, that’s the only charge, really. Make it look really good and make everyone that consumes it think, “Man, I got something really great.” Treat the people with respect; make it memorable.

NEWS: Ranking Kanye West's 6 Albums From Worst To Best

Ranking Kanye West's 6 Albums From Worst To Best

We attempted the impossible task of ranking Kanye West's six solo albums.

This was hard. This was really hard. Mostly because we love all of Kanye West's albums. They've each played a unique role in the progression of hip-hop (and music in general), each pushing the boundaries of his sound and offering something new to the table.

However it's fun to really dissect a great artist's work, and Kanye's is no different. His music (and his antics) has been the subject of much conversation amongst music critics, news anchors, and even our president. So why not try and pick a first and worst when it comes to Mr. West's output?

That's just what we did, so feel free to agree/disagree in the comments, argue around with each other and embrace some good ol' fashioned musical debate.

Yeezus (2013)

Yeezus wasn't for everyone. It was raunchy, dirty, unique and thrilling, but it wasn't an inherently chill listen at all. Certain songs stick out by themselves and are hard, but as a whole it just isn't on par with the soulful sounds of his previous six efforts.

This isn't to say the album wasn't enjoyable at all, just not as much as the earlier works.

Graduation (2007)

Graduation ushered in a new era of Kanye and was the first glimpse we saw in to the ultra-modern aesthetic that he has been chasing ever since. Beginning with "Good Morning" and ending with "Big Brother" was a perfect move, no less impeccable than the 11 songs that fall in between them.

Where the album falls shorter than the next few is in it's ability to really push the envelope. Collaborating with Daft Punk was definitely a groundbreaking moment for electronica and hip-hop alike, but the rest of the album doesn't carry along the 'unprecedented' vibe. 

808s & Heartbreak (2008)

Departing from the style of his previous three LPs, Kanye West took auto-tune and synthy 80s influences to produce 808s & Heartbreak. The album met mixed reviews off the bat, but is largely considered a classic in 2015, to the point that Rolling Stone listed it as one of the 40 most influential albums of all time.

The album definitely ushered in a new era of hip-hop, and the game hasn't been the same since its release. Evidence of it's influence can be seen as early as Drake's similarly important mixtape, So Far Gone, where he takes on the "Say You Will" instrumental.

Late Registration (2005)

Every song on Late Registration is awesome and unique, but it comes together as a slightly more jumbled work than the next two on the list. Though it may lack cohesion, it still stands as a masterful set of songs.

"Touch The Sky" perfectly utilized a Curtis Mayfield sample, and everyone from Common to The Game added a meaningful feature. In the end, we're left with nineteen classic records, (or 21 on the special version), which is no small task, even for Yeezus.

My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (2010)

This album is nothing less than a movie. It's one of the most vivid hip-hop albums ever created, if not the most vivid. As soon as Nicki Minaj's opening spoken word leads way to "Can we get much higher?" which precedes a RZA-collaborated beat before Kanye chimes in:

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

I fantasized about this back in Chicago

Mercy, mercy me, that Murcielago

That's me, the first year that I blow

How you say broke in Spanish? Me no hablo

Me drown sorrow in that Diablo

Me found bravery in my bravado

D.J's need to listen to the model's

You ain't got no fuckin' Yeezy in your Serato?

(You ain't got no Yeezy, nigga?)

Stupid, but what the fuck do I know?

I'm just a Chi-town nigga with a Nas flow

And my bitch in that new Phoebe Philo

So much head, I woke up to Sleepy Hollow"

The rest of the album doesn't slow down for a second. Kid Cudi, Raekwon, Jay Z, Rick Ross, John Legend and Bon Iver's Justin Vernon go on to compliment Kanye in such a way that you can not simply dumb down their performances with the word "features." It was an incredible joint effort that truly put Kanye West on top of the music world.

The College Dropout (2004)

It was really hard to rank The College Dropout first, but it's kind of hard not to rank Kanye West's first album as his best. Introducing the best 'best producer on the mic' since J Dilla, Kanye West took the world by storm with singles like "All Falls Down," "The New Workout Plan," "Jesus Walks," and "Slow Jamz." They acted as an incredibly diverse quartet of singles that may have made Kanye the most versatile MC right off the bat.

It also was the debut of a man who could make his own music to rap on. This was at a time where hip-hop had gotten a little stale, and most singles were cookie-cutter tracks that rapped about money or bad-mouthing women. Kanye didn't completely disregard those themes, but was able to focus largely on more relatable topics through the concept of college registration.

The LP also wasn't short...not by a long shot. Twenty-one songs is a lot, even if a good handful were skits. The breadth of the album was probably the best since Jay Z did The Blueprint, of which Kanye had his hands in as well. It was clear that hip-hop was getting a new king, a new GOAT, a new legend in Mr. Kanye West. And nothing has been quite the same ever since.

INTERVIEWS: Young Thug: What Drugs Sound Like

Young Thug: What Drugs Sound Like

Image from [via]

 This emerging Atlanta rap weirdo's first hit was called "Stoner" for a reason. And his ecstatic singsong raps have only gotten trippier on two must-download mixtapes: Black Portland and Rich Gang: Tha Tour Part 1

GQ: Are you a music lifer?

Young Thug: Yeah, I'ma be here forever. I don't want to rap forever. But I want to be rich forever.

Why not rap forever?

I don't want to be 50 years old and rapping, man. I'm pretty sure nobody wants to do that. I'm pretty sure Jay Z don't wanna rap right now.

Why is it such a young man's game?

If you're 30, 40 years old, you're not getting listened to by minors. Like, Jay Z has some of the sickest lyrics ever, but I would never buy his CD, just because of my age and because of his age. By the time I turn that old, I ain't gonna be doing what he's doing.

What is the next step for you?

I hope to be like Bill Gates, bro. With all the money in the world. Like Wayne, someday I want one of those kind of careers. Or Michael Jackson.

At what age do you drop the "Young" from your name?

I don't think I'm gonna drop it, 'cause I want to be forever young. But if I had to...

What would you change it to?

My little niece always calls me Jeff the Rapper, so I might change it to that.

[VIA]

NEWS: Jay Z Calls New York Governor's Police Reform Plan "A Huge Step Forward"

Jay Z Calls New York Governor's Police Reform Plan "A Huge Step Forward"

Jay Z releases a statement responding to NY governor Andrew Cuomo's plan for police reform.

As New York state governor Andrew Cuomo called upon Jay Z and Russell Simmons to consult him on matters related to the criminal justice system last month, he's probably pleased to hear that Jay has come out in support of his reform plan. Among the changes proposed by Cuomo are recruiting more minority officers, funding body cameras and bulletproof vests and forming a statewide commission on police-community relations.  Following Cuomo's words about the plan during his State of the State speech last week, Jay has offered up a statement in support of the reform package:

"The criminal justice reform package proposed by Governor Cuomo today is a huge step forward in restoring fairness, protection, sensitivity and accountability for all under our justice system. I commend Governor Cuomo for his bold leadership in taking this issue head on at this critical time. This package presents comprehensive steps to protect and improve relations amongst all citizens. We cannot be divided, as every single human being matters. Together, we can move forward as a community, with mutual respect for each other and continue to make this great state stronger than ever before."

Hopefully, this plan will diminish police brutality in the State of New York.

[via]

NEWS: Funkmaster Flex Trashes Jay Z In Yet Another Rant

Funkmaster Flex Trashes Jay Z In Yet Another Rant

Funkmaster Flex decided to go at Jay Z once again on HOT 97 today.

Just when you thought you'd heard as many bomb drops as your brain could possibly process, Funkmaster Flex is back with another rant, and he's not done with Jay Z. As we saw earlier today, Hov allegedly texted Flex, with the DJ pulling a reverse Macklemore and Instagramming the message.

Apparently Flex was none to impressed with the fact that Jay capitalized his name when he reached out, addressing this in the rant multiple times with quotables such as "you should've lower-cased it, bruh" and "don't talk to me with capital letters".

The DJ then goes on to call Hov a "a corporate commercial rapper that drops a little catch phrase every three months", and adds that the rapper should give J. Cole his props publically. "Why don't you at some point congratulate [him] on that 300,000 he shot out, and stop acting like that album don't exist."

There plenty more shade, cut with plenty Flex bombs in the 18 minute speech. Listen to the full thing below.

[via]

NEWS: Funkmaster Flex Goes On Rant Calling Jay Z's "Life + Times" Blog "Trash" [Update: Flex Instagrams Text From Jay]

Funkmaster Flex Goes On Rant Calling Jay Z's "Life + Times" Blog "Trash" [Update: Flex Instagrams Text From Jay]

Funk Flex does not fuck with Jay Z's site "Life + Times" as he made abundantly clear during a radio rant last night.

If you weren't aware how Funk Flex felt about Jay Z's website, well, you are about to be made acutely aware. The Hot 97 radio DJ went on a rant against Jay Z, more specifically, his "Life + Times" website, while doing his nightly thing on Hot 97 last night. This morning he's made the rant available to stream via his Soundcloud.

If you are able to make it through the entire rant, which is punctuated with an incessant amount of bombs, you can listen to it in full below. If you don't want to wade through all the bombs, we'll break it down for you.

In leading up to what sparked this rant, Flex details that a couple of years ago he was interviewed about his DJ Funk Flex app by Life + Times, and while they asked a lot of questions about the creation of the app, these questions didn't end up in the final interview, instead, they used that information to create their own app (according to Flex). He took this in stride. Kinda.

Fast forward to present day, and Funk gets another e-mail from L+T to do an interview about his involvement in the upcoming Dipset mixtape (p.s. in addition to using bombs as punctuation throughout the rant, he also punctuates with saying that their site is "trash"). He says, "you KNOW my involvement." He added, "I don't understand how someone from that site can ask me my involvement in the Dipset reunion, but when I used to go out to the 40/40 I was told not to play any Dipset records. I'm so confused."

He also says, "The site is trash, a bunch of dumb big pictures and no numbers. Y'all can't move with me in this digital space." And later, "You wanna know how we movin', and what's the next move, I know it, I'm not stupid. Y'all played me with the app already and I figured that out. But I let y'all slide and you took what I said for 'I'm soft', that's why I'm dealing with you today."

Full rant can be streamed below, and it starts at the 10:27 mark.

[Update: Flex Instagrams Text From Jay]

After Funkmaster Flex let loose both this extended rant and a Jay Z-dissing Dipset freestyle yesterday, it appears that Jay was not happy about all of it. Flex has Instagrammed a picture of a text (allegedly from Jay) saying "This is HOV." Also alleging that Jay had been calling him on private for hours beforehand, Flex could be messing with us to drum up more drama, but the jury's out on that for the moment. Jay does seem like the type to go direct to the source of the beef rather than slandering Flex over social media though. 

Really? After calling private for hours you texting with CAPITAL letters????? This guy thinks it 1997 ???? Tomorrow 7pm I got this???? I see you need a tune up and lesson in respect!!!!!

A photo posted by DjFunkFlex (@djfunkflex) on Jan 16, 2015 at 7:17pm PST

NEWS: Funkmaster Flex Goes On A Rant Dissing Jay Z Because His Staff Reached Out To Him About Dipset! "Don't Think I Can't Ruin You"

Funkmaster Flex Goes On A Rant Dissing Jay Z Because His Staff Reached Out To Him About Dipset! "Don't Think I Can't Ruin You"

NEWS: Did Beyonce Just Announce She's Pregnant On Instagram?

Did Beyonce Just Announce She's Pregnant On Instagram?

Beyoncé may have just announced her pregnancy indirectly on Instagram.

Beyoncé certainly has some inventive ways of announcing things. From her surprise self-titled album to her award show baby bump-unveiling, Bey has always found new means of making big statements. 

Her latest may be her most mysterious yet -- if it even is an announcement, that is. Today Bey posted a photo of herself lounging on the beach, buried in the sand. While this may not sound all that out of the ordinary, it's the strangely protruding belly of her sand body that raises speculation. We know that Bey is always in tip-top shape, so why would Jay and Blue give her a big round belly? Unless, of course, she's expecting her second baby.

Instagram commenters seem to agree that this may be Yonce's way of telling us there's another Carter on the way. What do you think? Let us know in the comments below.

A photo posted by Beyoncé (@beyonce) on Jan 11, 2015 at 9:49am PST

NEWS: Jay Z Celebrates His 45th Birthday In Iceland With Beyonce

 Jay Z Celebrates His 45th Birthday In Iceland With Beyonce

Check out some pictures of Hov & Bey playing in the snow in Iceland.

To celebrate Jay Z’s 45th birthday earlier this month, Beyonce & Hov decided to cross the pond and takeover Iceland for some fun in the sun snow.

Barring the freezing cold, hip-hop’s most powerful couple rode snowmobiles through the artic, jumped in a helicopter, and then later warmed up with a dip in the Hot Springs. Amongst all their fun though, the couple made time to pay tribute to Mike Brown and pose for a picture with their hands up on the snowmobiles.

The Carters' are currently overseas still celebrating the holidays in Phuket, Thailand. It must be nice to just go where ever you want whenever you want.

Check out some photos from The Carters’ Iceland trip in the gallery above.

NEWS: Beyoncé, Jay Z & Timbaland Sued Over Sample Used In "Drunk In Love"

Beyoncé, Jay Z & Timbaland Sued Over Sample Used In "Drunk In Love"

An artist sampled in "Drunk In Love" is suing Beyoncé, Jay Z & Timbaland.

Beyoncé's hit single "Drunk In Love" already faced a bit of controversy earlier this year when Future voiced his confusion for not being credited as one of the song's writers, and now a bit of legal drama has emerged around a sample used within. Hungarian singer Monika Miczura Juhasz, known as Mitsou, says she was "sampled and digitally manipulated without her permission” on the track. 

According to Page Six, a new lawsuit says Mitsou's voice was used “to evoke foreign eroticism alongside the sexually intense lyrics performed by Beyoncé and Jay Z in ‘Drunk in Love.'"

Watch the video below and stay tuned for updates.

INTERVIEW: J. Cole Lists Top 5 Rappers, Recalls "Worshipping" Eminem

 J. Cole Lists Top 5 Rappers, Recalls "Worshipping" Eminem

J. Cole spoke with Angie Martinez about his five favorite rappers of all time, and how influential Eminem has been on his music.

J. Cole's address of white privilege on "Fire Squad" has consistently been misconstrued as an Eminem diss by fans and media alike. Cole has always been pretty vocal about his admiration for Shady, but he nevertheless took the chance to set the record straight in his recent interview with Angie Martinez.

As an artist who's always been pretty obsessed with being mentioned among the greats, Cole got the chance to list his personal top five rappers of all time, starting things off with a pretty conventional list of Tupac, Biggie, Nas, and Jay Z, but struggling with who would take the final slot.  "I wanna say [André] so bad, but Eminem is like solo dolo,” he said. “Andre’s incredible, but he’ll tell you himself, he was in a duo so his workload was a little less, but creatively he’s miles beyond.”

As far as his feeling towards Eminem, nothing has changed. “It’s silly how big of an Eminem fan I am,” he said, stressing that his namedrop on the record was in no way a sign of disrespect. “It was a very select group of top notch people that I worship, and Eminem was literally at the top of that list. My first song sounded like an Eminem bite. If you think I’m dissing Eminem, I know you just read the headline, or you’re listening to the song with the headline in mind.”

You can listen to Cole's full interview below. 2014 Forest Hills Drive is available now.

Jay Z Named Third Most Searched Celebrity In 2014

Jay Z Named Third Most Searched Celebrity In 2014

Robin Williams, Kim Kardashian and Ray Rice also feature on the list.

Jay Z has been named the third-most searched celebrity on the Internet of 2014, according to research conducted by Ask.com.

The search engine observed the queries from its 100 million global users between January 1 and November 15 to compile the list.

The only people to come above Jay Z were Robin Williams at #1, most likely due to his suicide on August 9, and Jennifer Lawrence at #2. She was involved in a nude photo hacking scandal earlier this year.

To view the Top 8 most searched celebrities of 2014, check out the chart below:

Every "Fashion Reference" From Jay Z In One T-Shirt

Every "Fashion Reference" From Jay Z In One T-Shirt

Fashion and culture journalist Katherine Bernard from Vogue and Dazed & Confused, came up with a great concept for a set of T-shirts inspired by Jay Z.

Bernard went through the entire catalogue of Jay Z albums in chronological order and pulled every single fashion brand S.Carter mentions in his songs and made a unique tee out of it. Every single fashion brand is covered in this project starting from Jay’s classic debut album, Reasonable Doubt in 1996 to his latest release Magna Carta Holy Grail in 2013.

Bernard entitled the project “Art As Wrench: A Rapper’s Fashion Timeline,” and in support of the project has launched a kickstarter which you can check out HERE.

Check out the video below with some well-known fashion designers commenting on the project.

http://vimeo.com/111984044