Juice WRLD has continued to make history with the release of Legends Never Die. The album is the best selling record of 2020. It also has 5 songs sitting in the top 10, which makes him the third artist to ever accomplish such feat. Drake and The Beatles are the other 2 acts to accomplish this achievement.
That’s right, half of the top 10 songs in the nation belong to Juice WRLD at the moment. It seems like he’s right, legends never die after all. The posthumous release comes in the wake of the Chicago’ artist’s tragic, untimely death late last year.
Cardi B’s acting skills are up to par in ‘Hustlers’ film
Jennifer Lopez brought together an all-star cast for her 2019 drama Hustlers. Cardi B played a dancer named Diamond. She didn’t climb the pole for her role but she did perform in other ways. Constance Wu, Keke Palmer, Julia Stiles, Lili Reinhart, and singer Lizzo also star.
The movie was based on an article in New York Magazine that went viral. Hustlers is a film about a strip club and a group of past employees who used devious methods to rob the club’s Wall Street clientele. Cardi B has stated to VOX in the past that she regretted this past behavior while she was a real exotic dancer.
Philadelphia’s ‘The Roots’ were originally called ‘The Square Roots’.
If you’ve dug deep enough into the Legendary Roots Crew’s discography, you would’ve discovered their first release titled Organix when they were performing as The Square Roots. Originally a duo consisting of Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson and Tariq “Black Thought” Trotter. They broke ground as one of the first live hip hop bands to records albums and tour extensively.
The band expanded to include Scott Storch (later replaced by Kamal Gray), Leonard Hubbard, Malik B., Scratch, and Rahzel the Godfather of Noise. They changed their name to the shortened version for their major-label debut Do You Want More?! in 1994. In the years that have followed, several other band members have changed but the name has remained the same.
Kendrick Lamar appeared on season 5 of Power as Laces, a crack head that helps 50’s character Kanan. The cameo was in the works for years before hitting the small screen in 2018. He is in a couple of scenes and his character is responsible for a minor plot point that helps solve some messy problems for the antagonist.
The episode is called “Happy Birthday” and aired on the Starz Network. The character was Lamar’s idea when the show requested that he play someone that was the opposite of his real-life personality. It looks like Dr. Dre’s protege is following in his mentor’s rapper-turned-actor footsteps. We hope to see more of his acting skills in the future because he did so well.
Africa has influenced Black music since the beginning of humanity and it’s no different when it comes to rap music. Nigeria is Africa’s most populated country and there are many Nigerian American artists that contribute to Hip Hop culture. Here are 5 in no particular order.
Wale
DC’s own Wale is a Nigerian-American. His full name is Olubowale Victor Akintimehin and his parents are Yoruba. He mentioned his motherland connection to OkayAfrica.
“I look at myself as a black man in America, but as a Nigerian first.”
Jidenna
Jidenna Mobisson is the son of an Igbo academic from Nigeria. He was born in Wisconsin Rapids and he grew up partially in Nigeria.
The King of the South has transformed himself from rapper T.I. to TIP on record. Born Clifford Harris, he has reimagined himself several more times on the movie screen. He goes by Tip “TI” Harris when credited as an actor so in a way he has found a way to combine all the sides of his personality as an actor. Here are 5 of his top movie roles.
5. Ant Man
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tqNTlcnFjsc
T.I. played Dave, an ex-con sidekick to Paul Rudd’s Ant Man. His one liners added to the funnier side of the super hero movie.
4. Takers
This action heist flick had an ensemble cast including Idris Elba, Chris Brown and the late Paul Walker. He played Ghost, a convicted bank robber.
3. Dolemite Is My Name
Eddie Murphy’s Netflix biopic about Rudy Ray Moore’s blaxploitation film Dolemite. In this movie Tip played studio head Walter Crane. Snoop Dogg also co-starred.
2. ATL
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q50zl5st-a4
In this classic rap flick, T.I. played Rashad in a story loosely based on TLC T-boz’s and Dallas Austin’s youth in Atlanta.
1. American Gangster
Denzel Washington’s Frank Lucas epic co-starred T.I as Stevie Lucas, the main character’s nephew. Common also co-starred.
When Englewood’s D Smoke won Netflix’s Rhythm + Flow, not everybody knew he was the brother of TDE’s SiR. Since then, the brothers have collaborated and aside from the obvious resemblance, the relationship has been publicized everywhere from local LA news to Oprah. Its apparent talent runs in the family.
Brothers with History
They’ve worked and performed together at the Soul Train Awards in 2019. This past May, they collaborated on the song “Let Go” and before that on “Lights On” from D Smoke’s debut album Black Habits, which dropped back in February of this year.
George Floyd was a rapper known as “Big Floyd” and a memeber of H-Town’s Screwed Up Click.
The Houston Chronicle revealed that George Floyd was once a member of DJ Screw’s Houston-based rap collective known as the Screwed Up Click. The signature slowed down, “screwed and chopped” sound defined the region in the 1990s until DJ Screw’s untimely demise in 2000. He went by the name “Big Floyd” and some of his music is available on YouTube.
Floyd grew up in Houston’s Third Ward and after leaving for Florida to chase hoop dreams in college, he returned to try his hand at music. Later, he moved to Minneapolis where he was murdered by four MPD officers on Memorial Day. Check out Big Floyd for yourself, sippin’ lean is optional.
