From his appearance on Lil Durk’s uplifting anthem “All My Life” to his thoughtful lyrics on Summer Walker’s “To Summer, From Cole – Audio Hug,” the North Carolina rhymer always seems to remind us why he’s one of the best in the game.
Arguably, J. Cole’s most talked-about verse was on Drake’s abrasive track “First Person Shooter” on his For All the Dogs album. On the song, Cole addresses rumors that he has beef with YoungBoy Never Broke Again. During his verse, the Dreamville leader tells his fans not to believe everything they read online. He seems to be addressing recent rumors that he dissed NBA YoungBoy on Lil Yachty’s “The Secret Recipe,” which he is featured on.
“I still wanna get me a song with YB, can’t trust everything that you saw on IG,” he spits. “Just know if I diss you I make sure you know that I hit you like I’m on your caller I.D.”
Near the end of the song, J. Cole boasts that he’s the greatest, rapping, “When I show up, it’s motion picture blockbuster/The G.O.A.T. with the golden pen, the top toucher/The spot rusher/Sprayed his whole s**t up, the crop duster/Not Russia, but apply pressure.”
So with J. Cole having a phenomenal year with his lyrical appearances, XXL decided to rank his feature verses this year. Check it out below.
9
“Let Me Calm Down”
Nicki Minaj featuring J. Cole
Nicki Minaj – Let Me Calm Down (feat. J. Cole) [Official Audio]
8
“There I Go”
Gucci Mane featuring J. Cole and Mike WiLL Made-It
Gucci Mane – There I Go (feat. J. Cole & Mike WiLL Made-It) [Official Music Video]
7
“Passport Bros”
Bas featuring J. Cole
Bas – Passport Bros (with J. Cole) (Official Music Video) ft. J. Cole
6
“To Summer, From Cole – Audio Hug”
Summer Walker featuring J. Cole
To Summer, From Cole – Audio Hug [Lyric Video]
5
“On the Street”
J-Hope featuring J. Cole
j-hope ‘on the street (with J. Cole)’ Official MV
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
On Thursday (June 8), the official nomination list was released to the public. The 6 God’s nods include Best Male Hip Hop artist, Best Male R&B/Pop Artist, Best Group with 21 Savage, and Album of the Year for Her Loss with 21 Savage.
Similarly, Big Glo nominations include Best Female Hip Hop Artist, Best New Artist, and Album of the Year for Anyways, Life’s Great…, Video of the Year for “Tomorrow 2” with Cardi B, and two nominations for best collaboration (“F.N.F. Let’s Go” and “Tomorrow 2”).
Last year, GloRilla took home the award for Best Breakthrough Hip Hop Artist Of The Year at BET’s Hip Hop Awards.
Check out the complete nomination list below:
Album of the Year
Anyways, Life’s Great – GloRilla
Breezy – Chris Brown
GOD DID – DJ Khaled
Her Loss – Drake & 21 Savage
Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers – Kendrick Lamar
Renaissance – Beyoncé
SOS – SZA
Best Female R&B/Pop Artist
Ari Lennox
Beyoncé
Coco Jones
H.E.R.
Lizzo
SZA
Tems
Best Male R&B/Pop Artist
Blxst
Brent Faiyaz
Burna Boy
Chris Brown
Drake
The Weeknd
Usher
Best Group
City Girls
Drake & 21 Savage
DVSN
FLO
Maverick City Music & Kirk Franklin
Quavo & Takeoff
Wanmor
Best Collaboration
“Big Energy (Remix)” – Latto & Mariah Carey feat. DJ Khaled
“Boy’s A Liar Pt. 2” – Pinkpantheress & Ice Spice
“Call Me Every Day” – Chris Brown feat. Wizkid
“Can’t Stop Won’t Stop” – King Combs feat. Kodak Black
“Creepin’” – Metro Boomin, The Weeknd & 21 Savage
“F.N.F. (Let’s Go)” – Hitkidd & GloRilla
“Tomorrow 2” – GloRilla & Cardi B
“Wait For U” – Future feat. Drake & Tems
Best Female Hip Hop Artist
Cardi B
Coi Leray
GloRilla
Ice Spice
Latto
Megan Thee Stallion
Nicki Minaj
Best Male Hip Hop Artist
21 Savage
Drake
Future
J. Cole
Jack Harlow
Kendrick Lamar
Lil Baby
While AI-generated songs are all the rage on social media, streaming services and other platforms are heeding the call from artists and record labels to block artificial intelligence from accessing copyrighted works.
On Sunday, an AI-voiced song that uses technology to replicate Drake and The Weeknd’s voices went viral. An anonymous creator who uses the name ghostwriter shared “heart on my sleeve,” which features vocals that sound like the Canadian artists. It also includes Metro Boomin’s signature producer tag.
The song was widely shared across social media and streaming platforms, racking up millions of plays. One clip uploaded to Twitter that has since been disabled after garnering over 20 million views. “heart on my sleeve,” was reportedly also streamed 600,000 times on Spotify before removal.
LISTEN NOW:
However, multiple streamers have removed the AI track following a complaint from Universal Music Group (UMG).
Spotify, Apple Music, SoundCloud, Amazon, YouTube, and Tidal all removed “heart on my sleeve” as of Tuesday.
Many of the links now come with the message: “This video is no longer available due to a copyright claim by Universal Music Group.” Some versions are still available online.
Ghostwriter claims he wrote the fake Drake and The Weeknd AI song after penning for industry artists while getting paid peanuts.
“i was a ghostwriter for years and got paid close to nothing just for major labels to profit,” the artist, who appears as a cloaked ghost, wrote on TikTok.
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.
During a recent appearance on Fox 5 New York, his first television interview since the whole ordeal began, the R&B singer talked about the two-month coma that had him fighting for his life.
Al B. Sure! has been struggling with health issues for months but continues to update fans on his progress via social media. On Saturday (December 17), the R&B legend shared an Instagram video to his account and revealed the hole in his neck from a tracheotomy had closed.
“That moment when I get home and look into the mirror for the 1st time minus the bandages to discover that the massive hole in my neck from the #tracheostomy has completely closed,” he wrote. “Finally. Not too long ago I can remember simply attempting to speak and only the sound of ‘gurgling air pockets’ would come through! Dr. @djeddief for the save!”
Although noticeably gaunt, Al B. Sure! has come a long way since May when news of his hospitalization first started to spread. During a recent appearance on Fox 5 New York, his first television interview since the whole ordeal began, Al B. Sure! talked about the two-month coma that had him fighting for his life.
“I feel amazing,” he said. “I feel fantastic. But within amazing and fantastic, it has its challenges because I’m also healing physically. There’s a time period when you really have to heal. I have what’s called ‘Chevron.’ That’s when they cut your chest open […] I’m the recipient of an amazing, blessed new liver, and I’m going to treat it well.”
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.
