This week in Hip Hop, Aretha Franklin, the Queen of Soul, passed away. Nicki MinajĀ was ever present in headlines this week thanks to the controversy surrounding the release of Queen and lastly, XXTENTACIONās alleged killer is begging to be let out of jail.
R.I.P. Aretha Franklin
Legendary singer Aretha Franklin passed away in her Detroit home Thursday (August 16) after a long battle withĀ advanced pancreatic cancer. She was 76.
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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. Franklinās 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 Franklinās music sampled in rap songsĀ here.
Nicki Minaj FightsĀ To Keep Her TopĀ Spot
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 97ās Funkmaster Flex and her own Queen Radio show on Apple Beats 1.Ā All conversations surround her holding down the top female rapper spot unchallenged for years.
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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 restoredĀ (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 doesnāt have a problem with her.
However, Nicki does seem to have an issue with her sales being compared to Cardi and Travis Scottās.Ā To help with sales, āFEFEā was added toĀ Queenās tracklist.
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Read more about what Nicki Minaj has to say about Cardi B here.
XXXTENTACION Murder Suspects Wants Bail
One of the suspected XXXTENTACIONās murders, Robert Allen, wants aĀ Broward County, Florida judge to let him out on bail, TMZ reports.
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The 22-year-old says thereās no proof he committed a crime. Allen believes he should be released so he can take care of his pregnant fiancĆ©e and promises he will go back to work at a Broward County, Florida lawn care business.
Read more about XXXTENTACION here.
DX Reviews
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Trippie Redd ā Lifeās A Trip
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OMB Peezy ā Loyalty Over Love
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Andre Drummond ā For Your Information
DXclusives: Santigold, Chika, Sabrina Claudio & Nicki Minaj
Santigold On How She Finished āI Donāt Wantā At 9 Months Pregnant
Santigold finished her latest projectĀ I Donāt Want: The Gold Fire SessionsĀ right before she was about to give birth to twins. She found it she was pregnant when she moved to Los Angeles.
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āThat year, we moved like five times,ā she tells HipHopDXās Kyle Eustice.Ā āWe moved into a temporary rental and then we bought a new house and went from there. But then weĀ 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.ā
Read the full Santigold interview here.
Chika Calls Segregating Male & Female Rappers āAn Insult
Chika shares with HipHopDX why itās insulting to separate male and female rappers.
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āSeparating them is almost as an insult to a lot of female rappers,ā she says. āNot myself ā Iām good. I donāt care what people do ācause I know who I am. But thereās so many great MCs out there that are overlooked constantly because weāre separating categories instead of just making one. If we were to make them one, it would change a lot of peopleās rankings to be honest. But thatās 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.ā
Inside Sabrina Claudioās Road To Redemption
Sabrina Claudio has said some disparaging things about Black women on Twitter and ever since she got aired out, sheās been on a redemption tour, asking for forgiveness.
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In an exclusive interview with HipHopDX, Claudio admits that she understands she will never live it down.
āI understand that people are never going to forget, I understand that this is something that will follow me for the rest of my career,ā she admits to DXāsĀ Daniela Evgenivna. āItās not even a fear, Iāve accepted it. I donāt ever think about gettingĀ to stardom orĀ a certain level ā I wasnāt afraid of losing that because that isnāt something I ever thought about. I just put out music, and people happen to listen to it.ā
Read the full Sabrina Claudio interview here.
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5 Things We Learned From Nicki Minajās CRWN Interview
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 industryās thirst to end her career.
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Read all five things we learned from Nicki Minajās CRWN interview here.
