Hip-Hop Lives Here
Hip-Hop Lives Here
Drake is paying tribute to late fashion icon Virgil Abloh with a permanent heartfelt gesture.
The 35-year-old superstar rapper commemorated the former Louis Vuitton and Off-White designer, who died in late November following a battle with cancer, with a special new tattoo on his forearm. Los Angeles-based tattoo artist Joaquin Ganga took to Instagram on Wednesday (Dec. 22) to share a photo of Drake’s latest ink, a realistic design of Abloh launching a kite during the Louis Vuitton menswear show at Paris Fashion Week in 2018.
“A remembrance of the great Virgil Abloh done on Drake @champagnepapi @virgilabloh,” Ganga captioned the black-and-white snapshot.
Abloh passed away on Nov. 28 after a private two-year battle with cardiac angiosarcoma, a rare and aggressive form of cancer. Following his death, Drake was among numerous musical acts to honor the designer for his artistic contributions.
“My plan is to touch the sky 1000 more times for you…love you eternally brother thank you for everything,” the Toronto MC captioned an Instagram photo gallery of himself with Abloh.
In addition to his contributions in fashion, Abloh was a DJ and served as Kanye West’s longtime creative director. He also helped design iconic album covers by West, A$AP Rocky, Lil Uzi Vert and Pop Smoke, and teamed up with Kid Cudi on the Kurt Cobain-inspired floral print dress worn by the rapper during Saturday Night Live appearance earlier in the year.
See Drake’s new tattoo in honor of Abloh below.
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Justin Bieber’s $10 million payday for Coachella this year makes him the highest paid out of the three headliners. With that kind of deal in place, it always felt unlikely that he would step away from the festival. Even so, having a backup option is part of the industry since nothing is ever completely certain.
There was still some hesitation surrounding Bieber, especially because of the health struggles he has dealt with recently, both physically and mentally. Because of that, people online started speculating about who could potentially step in for the Canadian star.
SZA’s name quickly became part of that conversation, with rumors claiming she had been chosen as his backup. Some of those reports even suggested she was being offered a large amount of money to take on that role.
More specifically, the claim was that she would receive a six figure payment to act as his emergency replacement.
But according to the SOS artist herself, none of that is true.
As noted by Buzzing Pop and Bossip, the TDE signee responded directly under a post spreading the rumor and shut it down. “Lmao who made this up? I've seen this 4 times now. I'm in New York no one paid me a dime. Wishing everyone the best [red heart emoji],” she wrote.
It is possible she is currently in New York working on her next album, which she has been teasing in recent weeks.
Overall, it does not seem like SZA took any offense to the situation. She simply wanted to clear things up and stop the rumor from spreading further.
It also appears she is showing support for Justin Bieber, whose first of two Coachella performances has sparked mixed reactions.
If you missed it, midway through his set, the hitmaker pulled out his MacBook and played a series of music videos from his earlier catalog.
Some viewers criticized the moment, calling it unprofessional and lacking effort, while others saw it as something more personal and nostalgic. Many longtime fans have followed Bieber since his early years, so watching him revisit that era felt meaningful for those who have stayed with him.
Even with the divided opinions, there is still a lot of curiosity around what he will bring to the stage for his next performance this coming Saturday.
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