This week in Hip Hop, JAY-Z’s 13th studio album, 4:44, was certified Platinum. Blac Chyna and Rob Kardashian’s family drama spilled over onto social media in the form of insults, nudes and exposed text messages. And as if that wasn’t enough, some hackers had some fun playing around on Cardi B and other celebs’ social media accounts.
JAY-Z’s “4:44” Already Platinum
JAY-Z’s TIDAL exclusive album 4:44 has officially been certified Platinum and rated a 4.4 out 5 by HipHopDX. Sprint, the cellular company that partnered with TIDAL for the release, purchased 1 million downloads, ensuring Mr. Carter’s success. It’s similar to the deal he inked with Samsung in 2013 when he released Magna Carta Holy Grail.
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The intimate project openly tackles a lot of familial issues and addresses several people either by name or subliminally. Future, Eric Benét, Rev. Al Sharpton, Boosie Badazz, and Prince’s former lawyer Londell McMillian have all responded publicly. Kanye West, who was on the receiving end of many of JAY’s disses, has yet to react to JAY’s reference (except to reportedly threaten TIDAL with a lawsuit).
Hov also unveiled three new bonus tracks to 4:44 this week — “Adnis,” “Blue’s Freestyle/We Family” and “ManyFacedGod.” The three songs are only available for listening pleasure by actually walking into a store and copping a physical copy, or buying the physical somewhere online and having it delivered to your front door.
Read more about 4:44 and some of JAY’s biggest bars here.
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Blac Chyna Finessed Rob Kardashian
Blac Chyna reportedly got $100,000 in surgery, $250,000 in jewelry, cars and a rent-free home thanks to ex-fiancé Rob Kardashian. Kardashian took to Instagram to lament about his grievances and ultimately exposed not only her genitals, but also how Chyna has been cheating on him with other men. One of the men shared a picture of himself laid up in Kardashian’s Versace robe and bed.
Needless to say, no one is shocked nor do they feel sorry for Kardashian, including T.I., who Kardashian accused of paying for a threesome with Chyna and his estranged wife Tiny.
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Read more about the Chyna & Kardashian saga here.
Hide Yo Instagram, Hide Yo Twitter …
School’s out, summer’s in and the kids are likely bored, so it’s no surprise one would find time to hack a few celebrity social media accounts for fun. Cardi B and Tyler The Creator were this week’s victims of social media hackings.
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A flurry of tweets attacking 21 Savage, Nicki Minaj and others came from Cardi’s social media. After apparently regaining control of her account, the “Bodak Yellow” rapper had this message for the hackers: “Whoever hacked my Instagram and my Twitter, suck my dick. You nerdy, geeky, virgin bitch.”
Tyler responded was more nonchalance and tweeted, “lowkey insta got hacked, idk whats next so yeah.”
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Read more about these celeb hackings here.
DXclusives: The Beat Junkies, Mega Ran & Kanye West
Beat Junkies DJ Rhettmatic and DJ Babu have officially opened the Beat Junkie Institute of Sound in Los Angeles to help spread the knowledge and techniques of turntablists. Speaking with HipHopDX’s Kyle Eustice, Rhettmatic explained why they decided to take the leap.
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“We come from a generation where you don’t really share your techniques or your secrets unless you’re in the same crew,” Rhettmatic explains to DX. “Once we hit our 20 year anniversary mark, which was in 2012, it was almost like a resurgence. From there, we realized we should take advantage of it, so eventually we got into having our own digital record pool. Once we got that going, we were thinking the next step. The idea of teaching came up, but we weren’t ready for it.”
On WWE Smackdown Tuesday (July 4), not only was rapper Wale in attendance, but the show decided to host a rap battle between The New Day and The Usos.
Mega Ran, the New Day’s Xavier Woods’ good friend, helped them prepare for the battle.
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“For everybody who’s asking me, I did not write rhymes,” Ran tells HipHopDX. “I just kinda sat and listened. I helped them with their deliveries and getting down the cadence and stuff.”
HipHopDX’s Editor-in-Chief Trent Clark thinks it’s time for Kanye West to defend his name lyrically. It’s something that West has yet to do: create a diss record aimed at someone specific.
“With all the glory found throughout his catalog, you won’t be able to find a singular diss record created by Kanye,” Clark writes. “Sure, he can snapback at a Bob Ezrin or Wiz Khalifa on Twitter, or waste My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy lyrics on the SNL and South Park casts, but he’s been above battling fellow and rival MCs for the duration of his career. Several artists, including former collaborators in Freeway and Kid Cudi have opened the door for such a possibility, but the bait was never taken.”
