Hip-Hop Lives Here
Hip-Hop Lives Here
XXXTentacion‘s short stint in the creative circuit left quite the impression on his peers, most notably Kendrick Lamar.
When the late rapper released his debut album 17 back in 2017, K.Dot shared a link to it on social media and wrote: “listen to this album if you feel anything. raw thoughts.” Just minutes later, he revealed that he had already listened to the 11-track package five times.
This unsurprisingly gave the rising star a major boost at the time, and his father has now expressed his gratitude for the Compton rapper’s early support.
“My name is Dwayne Onfroy, father of rapper known as XXXTentacion,” he said in a brief Instagram clip posted on Tuesday (June 25). “I just want to say, first of all, thank you for giving my son a platform when he was an unknown artist […] he gave him a shoutout when his album was released.”
Back in 2018, Spotify introduced the Hate Content & Hateful Conduct Policy. Per the guidelines, XXXTentacion’s music was removed from their editorial and algorithmic playlists since the rapper had been charged with aggravated battery of a pregnant woman, domestic battery by strangulation, false imprisonment and witness-tampering by an ex-girlfriend.
The company went back on the move soon after as Kendrick’s team reached out to CEO Daniel Ek and head of artist relations Troy Carter, threatening to remove his music from their platform.
“I reached out to Troy over there, we had a conversation and I expressed how I felt about it, about censorship, how you can’t do artists that way,” Top Dawg Entertainment boss Anthony Tiffith told Billboard. “I don’t think it’s right for artists to be censored, especially in our culture. How did they just pick those [artists] out?
“How come they didn’t pick out any others from any other genres or any other different cultures? There [are] so many other artists that have different things going on, and they could’ve picked anybody. But it seems to me that they’re constantly picking on hip-hop culture.”
To that point, Onfroy added in the above video: “You stepped up to the plate for him when a lot of people just stood by and stood back [while] Spotify had him under pressure [and] wasn’t even attempting to play his songs. Real king — I’ve always respected you for that. Always.”
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Kanye West is a singular artist. No other rapper has been adamant about crediting others, then criticizing them later on. No rapper has revived so many careers, then went on derail his own. It's a fascinating, very unpredictable story. West's relationship with Nicki Minaj is a perfect encapsulation of these bizarre twists and turns. Minaj's verse on West's classic single "Monster" was a career-making turn, and West said as much during a resurfaced clip from 2015.
"One of the most memorable things about My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy was Nicki Minaj," he said during a lecture. "And the fact that she kicked my a*s on my song. On one of the best albums... the best album." The latter comments drew laughter from the audience, but this is a stance West held for years. He repeatedly gave Minaj her flowers for penning the best verse on the song. The praise took on a more complicated strain in 2023, however. West and Minaj, who had seemingly been cool before then, got into an online beef over clearance issues. West wanted Minaj to clear her verse for the song "New Body," and she refused.
Kanye West responded by bringing up the "Monster" verse. "I made that girl rewrite her verse 3 times for 'Monster,'" he claimed. "I supported her career. So I don't know what it is." The rapper did not attempt to hide his frustration with Minaj, either. He posted a screenshot of their text conversation on social media for the world to see. Presumably, in the hopes of bullying Nicki Minaj into clearing her vocals. She did not bend, however. The Young Money icon stuck by her guns, and "New Body" never saw an official release.
Nicki Minaj, did, however, explain why she didn't want "New Body" cleared. She addressed the matter on Instagram Live, and chalked the controversy over the song to it being multiple years old. “Now regarding Kanye, that train has left the station," she asserted. "No disrespect in any way, I just put out a brand new album. Why would I put out a song that’s been out for three years?" The song remains a cult favorite in its unreleased form.
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