On Sunday (Jan. 21), Billboard announced the latest top 10 of the Billboard 200 chart, which revealed 21 Savage’s new American Dream album sits at the top spot. The Atlanta rapper’s third solo LP moved 133,00 equivalent album units in its first week. This is 21 Savage’s fourth top three solo debut. His freshman offering, Issa Album, debuted at No. 2 in 2017 with 77,000 units. 2018’s I Am > I Was moved 131,000 units on its way to the top spot on the chart. Savage Mode 2 with Metro Boom debuted at No. 1 in 2020. 21 also has another No. 1 album with his Her Loss joint project with Drake. 21 Savage’s latest LP features guest appearances from Doja Cat, Young Thug, Travis Scott, Metro Boomin and more.
Other rappers in the top 10 of this week’s Billboard 200 chart include Drake (For All the Dogs, No. 4) and Nicki Minaj (Pink Friday 2, No. 7), both of which were released in 2023.
21 Savage Preps New Biopic Film
21 Savage is currently prepping the release of his biopic film America Dream: The 21 Savage Story, which was announced earlier this month. The movie will star Childish Gambino and Stranger Things actor Caleb McLaughlin as the rapper at different points in his life. The movie is slated to be released on July 4, 2024.
21 Savage Moves to America
21 Savage, whose government name is Shéyaa Bin Abraham-Joseph, was born in London, England in 1992. At 7 years old, he, his mother and his siblings relocated to Atlanta where he was raised during his formative years. This is where his American dream begins.
Decides to Pursue a Rap Career
After dabbling with writing rhymes as a teen, 21 Savage realized a career in hip-hop was the lane for him in 2013. In the face of adversity, the Atlanta mainstay turned tragedy into triumph by pursuing his passion as a rapper after being shot six times. His dream certainly became a reality.
According to projections from Hits Daily Double, Minaj is headed for the No. 1 spot on the Billboard 200, with nearly 200,000 total album-equivalent units moved in its opening week. It serves as one of the largest debuts of Minaj’s career. The last time she did similar numbers was in 2014 upon the release of her fan-favorite album, The Pink Print.
PF2 has spent five days at the top spot on Apple Music’s worldwide albums chart and six of the songs from the set, including “Needle” featuring Drake and the J. Cole-assisted “Let Me Calm Down,” appeared on Spotify’s Top Songs Debut chart dated December 8-10.
Minaj has also egged on the hype surrounding the project by promising fans additional versions of PF2 in the coming weeks. In a tweet replying to a fan on Twitter (X), Minaj told the user there will be more than one “deluxe” version of the LP while hinting at yet another surprise guest feature.
“Y’all def getting 3 more don’t get on my nerves,” Minaj wrote in part. “And y’all will only get that final #GagCity complete package with y’all friend y’all been asking for IF & WHEN y’all gag the live chi. As for today & tmrw tho…We will certainly roll out the pink carpet for our visitors.”
Kanye West and Ty Dolla $ign are reportedly close to releasing a joint album together, and are looking to unveil it at a huge concert in Italy later this month.
According to Billboard, the Chicago rap icon and California crooner are planning to perform the as-yet-untitled project for the very first time at an undisclosed location on October 27.
Previous reports suggested that the event could be held at RCF Arena (formerly known as Campovolo), an outdoor music venue in the northern city of Reggio Emilia that can hold up to 100,000 people.
It’s also possible that tickets may go on sale in the coming days, although this has yet to be confirmed. When (or even if) the album will be released on streaming services is also unclear.
If it gets the go-ahead, the concert will continue Ye’s trend of stadium-status album rollouts following his The Life of Pablo premiere at NYC’s Madison Square Garden in 2016 and Donda listening parties at Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium and Chicago’s Soldier Field in 2021.
News of a Kanye West and Ty Dolla $ign album first surfaced earlier this month when new music from the duo was debuted during a “private listening party” in Italy. The latter also played an unreleased song at a nightclub in Geneva, Switzerland.
It was later reported that the collaborative project was due to be released on October 13, but it is now expected to arrive in the coming weeks. Ye and Ty are said to be currently shopping for a company to partner with to distribute the album.
After cryptically teasing “The Finale” last week, Nas has delivered his third and final album in the Hit-Boy-assisted trilogy with the arrival of Magic 3.
The NYC icon delivered the project on his 50th birthday, September 14. Magic 3 serves as a gift to Hip-Hop as the genre also celebrates its golden jubilee year in 2023.
The prolific duo shared the album less than two months after the second offering in the Magic series. The 15-track project clocks in at just over 45 minutes and includes only one feature. Lil Wayne makes a guest appearance on track No. 6, “Never Die.”
Nas And Hit-Boy’s Iconic Partnership
Magic 3 marks the end of one of the most prolific partnerships in Hip-Hop, with Nas and Hit-Boy leaving a legacy of two epic trilogies. The dynamic pairing launched their partnership with the Grammy-winning King’s Disease in 2021, with the second in the series arriving later that year. Kings Disease III concluded the series in November 2022.
Nas and Hit-Boy celebrated Christmas 2021 with the first Magic album to kick off their second trilogy series. They dropped the sequel earlier this summer before delivering Magic 3 this week, their sixth album in just three years.
Earlier this year, the Queen’s legend explained he’s returned to the studio with a consistency he hasn’t experienced in 20 years.
The annual awards show went down at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles, California on Sunday night (June 25), which proved to be another eventful night as cultural icons were celebrated, emerging legends were coronated and, in Quavo and Offset’s case, brotherhood was restored.
Beyoncé and SZA were this year’s biggest winners with three awards each. Queen Bey’s Renaissance was crowned Album of the Year, while her “Break My Soul” music video took home the Viewer’s Choice and BET Her awards.
SZA’s record-breaking SOS also won Album of the Year in a rare tie in the standout category, while her “Kill Bill” mini-movie claimed Video of the Year.
The TDE songstress was also crowned Best Female R&B/Pop Artist, fending off stiff competition from Beyoncé, Lizzo, Ari Lennox, Tems, H.E.R. and Coco Jones — the latter of whom was named Best New Artist.
As for Drake, the 6 God trailed closely behind with two wins: Best Group alongside his Her Loss cohort 21 Savage and Best Collaboration for his appearance on Future’s chart-topping hit “Wait For U,” which also featured Tems.
Elsewhere, Kendrick Lamar won Best Male Hip Hop Artist for a second year running, Chris Brown and Usher were jointly named Best Male R&B/Pop Artist and Latto beat out Nicki Minaj, Cardi B, Ice Spice, GloRilla, Megan Thee Stallion and Coi Leray to the Best Female Hip Hop Artist award.
During her televised acceptance speech, the “Big Energy” hitmaker saluted both her peers and the pioneers who paved the way, while also showing love to the female MCs who missed out on a nomination in the category.
“I’m not gon’ cry this year,” Latto began, referencing her tearful Best New Artist victory at last year’s BET Awards. “Shout out to God. He be doing his big one on me! Shout out to all the other women in the category, all the women who paved the way for this to be even be possible, this category is going crazy this year.
“Oh, shout out to some women who I think should have been in the category: Doechii — I love you, baby — Maiya The Don, Flo Milli, Mello Buckzz, TiaCorine. Shout out to all the women, we killin’ it. This is the year of the female, year of women. Hopefully we gon’ see an all-female tour very soon, you feel me?”
“Momma, I love you. And my man, thank you to my man,” she added with a wry smile and sexually suggestive gesture, referencing the long-running speculation surrounding her love life.
ALBUM OF THE YEAR
GloRilla — Anyways, Life’s Great
Chris Brown — Breezy
DJ Khaled — God Did
Drake & 21 Savage — Her Loss
Kendrick Lamar — Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers Beyoncé — Renaissance — WINNER (Tie) SZA — SOS — WINNER (Tie)
BEST FEMALE R&B/POP ARTIST
Ari Lennox
Beyoncé
Coco Jones
H.E.R.
Lizzo SZA — WINNER
Tems
BEST MALE R&B/POP ARTIST
Blxst
Brent Faiyaz
Burna Boy Chris Brown — WINNER (Tie)
Drake
The Weeknd Usher — WINNER (Tie)
BEST GROUP
City Girls Drake & 21 Savage — WINNER
Dvsn
FLO
Maverick City Music & Kirk Franklin
Quavo & TakeOff
Wanmor
BEST COLLABORATION
Latto & Mariah Carey f. DJ Khaled — “Big Energy (Remix)”
Pinkpantheress & Ice Spice — “Boy’s A Liar Pt. 2”
Chris Brown f. Wizkid — “Call Me Every Day”
King Combs f. Kodak Black — “Can’t Stop Won’t Stop”
Metro Boomin, The Weeknd & 21 Savage — “Creepin’”
Hitkidd & GloRilla — “F.N.F. (Let’s Go)”
GloRilla & Cardi B — “Tomorrow 2” Future f. Drake & Tems — “Wait For U” — WINNER
BEST FEMALE HIP HOP ARTIST
Cardi B
Coi Leray
GloRilla
Ice Spice Latto — WINNER
Megan Thee Stallion
Nicki Minaj
BEST MALE HIP HOP ARTIST
21 Savage
Drake
Future
J. Cole
Jack Harlow Kendrick Lamar — WINNER
Lil Baby
VIDEO OF THE YEAR
Chris Brown — “We (Warm Embrace)”
Peezy, Jeezy & Real Boston Richey f. Rob49 — “2 Million Up”
Lizzo — “About Damn Time”
Steve Lacy — “Bad Habit”
Jack Harlow — “First Class” SZA — “Kill Bill” — WINNER
GloRilla & Cardi B — “Tomorrow 2”
VIDEO DIRECTOR OF THE YEAR
A$AP Rocky for AWGE
Benny Boom
Burna Boy
Cole Bennett
Dave Free & Kendrick Lamar
Director X Teyana “Spike Tey” Taylor — WINNER
BEST NEW ARTIST
Ambré Coco Jones — WINNER
Doechii
FLO
GloRilla
Ice Spice
Lola Brooke
DR. BOBBY JONES BEST GOSPEL/INSPIRATIONAL AWARD Maverick City Music & Kirk Franklin — “Bless Me” — WINNER
Tamela Mann — “Finished (Live)”
CeCe Winans — “I’ve Got Joy”
Maverick City Music & Kirk Franklin f. Naomi Raine & Chandler Moore — “Kingdom”
Tye Tribbett — “New”
Yolanda Adams — “One Moment From Glory”
PJ Morton f. Lisa Knowles-Smith, Le’andria Johnson, Keke Wyatt, Kierra Sheard & Tasha Cobbs Leonard — “The Better Benediction (Pt. 2)”
VIEWER’S CHOICE AWARD
Lizzo — “About Damn Time” Beyoncé — “Break My Soul” — WINNER
Jack Harlow — “First Class”
Drake f. 21 Savage — “Jimmy Cooks”
SZA — “Kill Bill”
Burna Boy — “Last Last”
Nicki Minaj — “Super Freaky Girl”
Future f. Drake & Tems — “Wait For U”
BEST INTERNATIONAL ACT
Aya Nakamura (France)
Ayra Starr (Nigeria) Burna Boy (Nigeria) — WINNER
Central Cee (UK)
Ella Mai (UK)
Ko (South Africa)
L7nnon (Brazil)
Stormzy (UK)
Tiakola (France)
Uncle Waffles (Swaziland)
VIEWER’S CHOICE: BEST NEW INTERNATIONAL ACT
Asake (Nigeria)
Camidoh (Ghana)
Flo (UK) Libianca (Cameroon) — WINNER
Maureen (France)
MC Ryan SP (Brazil)
Pabi Cooper (South Africa)
Raye (UK)
Werenoi (France)
BET HER
Lizzo — “About Damn Time”
Pinkpantheress & Ice Spice — “Boy’s A Liar Pt. 2” Beyoncé — “Break My Soul” — WINNER
Megan Thee Stallion — “Her”
Rihanna & Ludwig Göransson — “Lift Me Up”
Coi Leray — “Players”
Lizzo — “Special”
BEST MOVIE Black Panther: Wakanda Forever — WINNER
Creed III
Emancipation
Nope
The Woman King
Till
Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance With Somebody
BEST ACTOR
Amin Joseph
Brian Tyree Henry Damson Idris — WINNER
Daniel Kaluuya
Demetrius “Lil Meech” Flenory Jr.
Donald Glover
Michael B. Jordan
BEST ACTRESS Angela Bassett — WINNER
Coco Jones
Janelle James
Janelle Monáe
Keke Palmer
Viola Davis
Zendaya
YOUNGSTARS AWARD
Akira Akbar
Alaya High
Demi Singleton
Genesis Denise Marsai Martin — WINNER
Thaddeus J. Mixson
Young Dylan
SPORTSWOMAN OF THE YEAR AWARD
Alexis Morris
Allyson Felix Angel Reese — WINNER
Candace Parker
Naomi Osaka
Serena Williams
Sha’Carri Richardson
SPORTSMAN OF THE YEAR AWARD
Aaron Judge
Bubba Wallace
Gervonta Davis Jalen Hurts — WINNER
LeBron James
Patrick Mahomes
Steph Curry
Recently one of Hip-Hop’s most iconic rappers and actors, Ice-T took the time to speak with AllHipHop in an exclusive interview while promoting his new iHeartPodcast, Ice-T’s Daily Game.
Speaking candidly on a host of topics ranging from his new iHeartPodcast to his acting roles on Dick Wolf’s shows like Law and Order SVU and New York Undercover, Ice-T opened up and shared information for the first time on his new album, The Legend of ICE-T “Crime Stories” Vol 1 & 2.
The compilation project will feature six new storytelling songs to add to his iconic catalog of music, while also throwing in some classics from back in the day.
“I got a rap project coming out and it’s called…First, I’ve never spoken on it yet… It’s called, The Legend of ICE-T “Crime Stories” Vol 1 & 2” Ice-T explained to AllHipHop.
“It’s a compilation of all my story rhymes from all eight albums and about six new songs that are all story-based. You know, they say Slick Rick is the king of stories. I’m coming for that throne. Wait till you hear this. These are all my story records from ‘6 ’N the Mornin’’ to ‘Midnight’ and all these adventures put into one album. It’s a double vinyl release, it has two vinyls and it’s gonna be like a classic collector’s piece. The reason it’s titled The Legend of ICE-T is because a lot of things people believe about me are legend.”
Continuing to fan the flames of his own legendary status Ice-T elaborated on what motivated him to release his crime stories compilation.
“Legend is part false. You know, it’s like the night I got in the squabble in the club and I knocked one dude out, where a legend says it was three dudes.” Ice-T said laughing.
“A lot of this stuff that people believe about me are lyrics that aren’t necessarily true, but we’ll let the legend continue. So that’s what The Legend of ICE-T: Crime Stories is about, be on the lookout for that, that should be coming out within the next two to three months.”
According to Billboard, the legendary producer is closing in on two separate deals to offload a share of music income streams and other assets to Shamrock Holdings and Universal Music Group.
The deals, which were shopped by Dre’s longtime attorney Peter Paterno, were being pitched for a combined sum of $250 million. While the final sale price won’t quite be that high, a source close to the rap mogul said the figure will still be “well above $200 million.”
The assets, which net almost $10 million in annual income, include artist royalties from two of Dr. Dre’s solo albums and his share of N.W.A artist royalties; his producer royalties; and the songwriter’s share of his song catalog where he doesn’t own publishing, which may include tracks from blockbuster 1992 debut LP The Chronic.
These account for between 75 and 90 percent of the package’s revenue and is likely being acquired by Shamrock. UMG is said to be purchasing the remaining 10 to 25 percent generated by owned assets, including the master recording of The Chronic, which is due to be transferred from Death Row Records to Dre in August.
UMG’s portion also includes Dre’s share of Kendrick Lamar’s releases through Aftermath’s joint deal with Interscope and Top Dawg Entertainment, and possibly some publishing, although it’s unclear which portion of his catalog that would include.
The bundle of assets doesn’t, however, include his ownership stake in Aftermath, which he founded in 1996 and co-owns with UMG’s Interscope.
The deal continues a recent trend of Hip Hop stars making major bank from their music rights. Last year, Future sold his publishing catalog between 2004 and 2020 to Influence Media Partners for an eight-figure sum.
That deal included 612 songs in total, including hits like “Life Is Good” and “Jumpman” with Drake, “King’s Dead” with Kendrick Lamar, “Selfish” with Rihanna, “Low Life” with The Weeknd and “Mask Off.”
Before that, Public Enemy’s Chuck D sold his full songwriter’s share of royalties and half of his “copyright interest” as the publisher to Reach Music.
“Doing this deal was the right timing for a forward and logical evolution of [their] business together in an ever-changing industry,” Chuck told Rolling Stone of the deal.
Kendrick Lamar wears many crowns and his comeback album Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers has taken home the trophy for Spotify’s most streamed rap album of 2022.
According to Chart Data, the former TDE rapper’s latest effort earned the top spot in the rap category with 1.4 billion streams on Spotify.
Not far behind was NAV’s Demons Protected by Angels, Jack Harlow’s Come Home The Kids Miss You, Drake and 21 Savage’s Her Loss and Future’s I NEVER LIKED YOU to reportedly round out the Top 5.
Chart Data confirmed to HipHopDX that the streams are “not guaranteed 2022 streams.” The rankings include lifetime streams for projects with a 2022 release date. Therefore, although Nav’s “Lemonade” collaboration with Internet Money, Gunna and Don Toliver was released as a single in 2020, because it features on Nav’s 2022 album Demons Protected by Angels, all of its streams since its original release count towards its final total.
.@kendricklamar's 'Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers' was the #1 most streamed rap album of 2022 on Spotify.
Back in August, Kendrick’s Big Steppers album became the first rap project to cross the billion stream mark; so him lifting up the championship belt at the end of 2022 doesn’t come as much of a surprise.
K. Dot’s Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers arrived in May to end the Compton rapper’s drought as fans welcomed his first solo LP in five years. He ended up earning the seventh most first-week sales in 2022, notching just shy of 300,000 with a first week of 296,000 units.
The legendary Gangsta Grillz DJ shared several photos on Instagram on Thursday (November 10) showing him putting in work on the album in the studio. In his caption, Drama hinted at the project arriving sooner rather than later.
“ALBUM MODE IM REALLY LIKE THAT COMING SOON GEN•NOW,” he wrote.
DJ Drama’s slideshow included photos of a heavily redacted tracklist on a whiteboard. A close examination, however, reveals a slew of potential A-list features including Lil Uzi Vert, Lil Baby, Gucci Mane, Offset, Lil Durk, Roddy Ricch, Jack Harlow, Freddie Gibbs and Doe Boy.
While further details surrounding the project remain scarce, I’m Really Like That will serve as DJ Drama’s first solo album since 2016’s Quality Street Music 2, which boasted appearances from Lil Wayne, T.I., Young Thug and others.
The album announcement comes at a busy time for Drama. Over the last few years, the Philadelphia native has resurrected his beloved Gangsta Grillz series with several high-profile releases from the likes of Tyler, The Creator, J. Cole and Dreamville, Snoop Dogg, Jim Jones, Symba and more.
His latest offering came with longtime collaborator Jeezy in the form of Snofall, which dropped last month.
Snofall was a long time coming for the duo, especially considering their past issues. During a recent appearance on The Breakfast Club, Jeezy spoke about his beef with DJ Drama and how they ultimately resolved it.
On Saturday (Oct. 22), Drake released the music video for the fan-favorite track “Jimmy Cooks” featuring 21 Savage, and at the end of the visual, revealed in typographic letters, “HER LOSS – ALBUM BY DRAKE AND 21 SAVAGE – OCTOBER 28, 2022.” Subsequently, Republic Records, Drizzy’s distribution label, shared a screenshot of the announcement on their Twitter account.
Drake and 21 Savage’s song “Jimmy Crooks” is the last track featured on Drake’s latest album, Honestly, Nevermind, which dropped in June. The 14-song collection arrived following reports that the OVO head honcho signed a $400 million deal earlier this year. Initially, Drake generated some backlash for the album’s predominantly house and Baltimore club music sound, with “Jimmy Crooks” being the standalone hip-hop-sounding track.
Drake addressed the bad reviews and memes that were being made in response to Honestly, Nevermind on his Instagram account. “It’s all good if you don’t get it yet. It’s all good,” said 6 God in his IG video. “That’s what we do. We wait for you to catch up. We’re in here, though. We’re caught up already. On to the next. My goodness.”
This isn’t the first time Drizzy has teamed up with another big-name rap star. In 2015, Drake paired up with Future on their collaborative mixtape, What a Time to Be Alive.
Meanwhile, 21 Savage has a few collab albums under his belt. The Atlanta rapper partnered with producer Metro Boomin on two projects: 2016’s Savage Mode and 2020’s Savage Mode II. 21 also collaborated with both Offset and Metro Boomin on 2017’s Without Warning project.
