Image via Complex Original
After weeks of teasing us with tracks like "Lookin Ass" and "Chi-Raq" Nicki Minaj finally dropped the first single for her upcoming album The Pink Print. The new song, "Pills N Potions" has climbed to the Top 10 of the U.S. iTunes chart and is already dominating the rest of the charts worldwide. Lil Wayne has also kept up with the momentum for Tha Carter V with Weezy Wednesdays, which featured a snippet of him recording "Tina Turn Up Needs A Tune Up" in the studio.
The full lineups for the Budweiser Made In America festival, which will be held in Philadelphia and Los Angeles, were released this week and include stars like Kanye West, Pharrell, J.Cole in Philadelphia and Steve Aoki, ScHoolboy Q, and Cypress Hill in Los Angeles.
Ciara and Future welcomed a baby boy this week, which they named Future, Yasiin Bey is having problems getting back into the U.S. due to immigration problems, and Mariah Carey's new album is available to stream. Check out all that and more on What The Hell Just Happened In Music This Week?
Macklemore pissed a lot of people off by wearing an offensive costume during a secret show in Seattle.
Date: May 19
Macklemore was under fire this week after fans reacted to an outfit he wore at a secret concert in his hometown of Seattle. He was dressed in a wig, fake beard and a fake nose which caused some people on social media to suggest that he was making fun of Jewish stereotypes. Celebrities like Seth Rogen took the rapper to task for his confusing choice of outfits which caused Macklemore to go on Twitter to defend himself.
He then released an official statement on the costume on his blog, explaining that the incident caused a misunderstanding that he did not mean. He describes the process of finding the outfit:
As it turns out the fake noses they sell at the costume store are usually big (my nose didn't fit most of them). So I ended up with a big witch nose. I went with a black beard, because that's the furthest color from my natural hair. Disguise was the intention. I personally thought I looked very ambiguous in terms of any "type" of person. Some people there thought I looked like Ringo, some Abe Lincoln. If anything I thought I looked like Humpty Hump with a bowl cut.
He also states in the post that he does understand how the costume could have looked like a caricature, and offers a sincere apology as well. —Justin Davis
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Mariah Carey's new album Me. I Am Mariah... The Elusive Chanteuse is streaming a week before its release.
Date: May 19
Legendary songstress Mariah Carey has gone all in with her new album Me. I Am Mariah... The Elusive Chanteuse, announcing it out of nowhere earlier this month. Me. I Am, which is Mariah's 14th album, has features from Miguel, Wale and Fabolous and is now available to stream one week ahead of the May 27 release date. Check out the album's tracklist below and stream it on iTunes Radio here. —Justin Davis
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Ciara and Future welcomed a new baby boy, and named him Future.
Date: May 20
According to the New York Post's Page Six, Ciara and Future welcomed the birth of a baby boy early Monday morning in Los Angeles. Later that day, Ciara posted a discreet picture of the baby on Instagram and revealed his name, Future Zahir Wilburn, along with his height and weight. Ciara and Future got engaged last October and are expected to marry later this year in the fall. The new baby boy is Future's fourth child. —Edwin Ortiz
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Nicki Minaj dropped her highly anticipated single "Pills N Potions."
Date: May 21
Nicki Minaj has been steadily releasing new music for her fans as they patiently await her new album, The Pink Print. That wait is almost over. Nicki finally dropped the first official single from the album titled "Pills N Potions" early Wednesday morning before she went on a slew of radio stations interviews as promo.
She doesn't disappoint on the Dr. Luke-produced monster of a song, and after a few months of steadly dropping her more street singles, Nicki shows-once again-how she can delicately balance pop and hip-hop, while spitting true to her "real rap" promise to fans. This is also one of Nicki's more personal tracks, which she has told fans on Twitter is the general approach to the new album. With the first single now out, stay tuned for much more from Nicki, including details about the album. Expect this one to be heard all over the radio for the duration of the summer.
Listen to the song below and download the single on iTunes here. —Zach Frydenlund
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On this week's Weezy Wednesdays, Lil Wayne previewed his next song "Tina Turn Up Needs A Tune Up."
Date: May 21
After dropping a new song on last week's episode, Lil Wayne continues to tease his upcoming and possibly final album Tha Carter V through his vlog series, Weezy Wednesdays. His last two releases "D'usse" and "Believe Me" featuring Drake have fans hyped for his forthcoming project, and "Tina Turn Up" seems to do just the same.—Justin Davis
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Tickets prices for Jay Z and Beyoncé's On The Run tour declined following last week's elevator incident.
Date: May 21
Even though the Knowles/Carter family has clearly patched things up, tickets for Jay and Beyoncé's joint tour, "On The Run," have dropped quite a bit since last week's elevator event. For those living under a rock, leaked elevator footage made its way to TMZ which showed Solange throwing punches and kicking Jay Z after a Met Gala post-party.
Forbes reported that ticket sales—which were at crazy sales after the tour's announcement—have dropped 13.5%. Before the footage leaked, the average price across all dates was $306.22, but that's now dropped to $264.73. Basically, go grab your tickets now while they're still low because with all of the posi-promo and this star-studded trailer video for, ticket prices are probably going to go back up soon.
There is now a "Never Coming" website. Check it out here. —Lauren Nostro
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Budweiser Made In America announced the full lineups for this summer's festivals, which go down in Los Angeles and Philadelphia.
Date: May 22
Jay Z is set to make history this year for his "Made In America" festival. This year, there will be six stages of multi-genre music in two cities on opposite coasts, Philadelphia and Los Angeles on August 30th and August 31st. Budweiser has teamed up with Rizon, who has developed the lineup posters and the photorealistic 3D renderings.
Budweiser has announced the full line-up for Philadelphia and Los Angeles, which you can check out below.
Philadelphia
Kanye West
Kings of Leon
Tiesto
The National
Steve Aoki
Pharrell
Girl Talk
J. Cole
Spoon
Chromeo
City and Colour
Grimes
AwolNation
R3hab
Gareth Emery
De La Soul
Tommy Trash
Mayer Hawthorne
Baauer
Kongos
3lau
The Neighbourhood
Danny Brown
YG
Holy Ghost
Penguin Prison
Destructo
Bleachers
DJ Cassidy Cherub
Will Sparks
Young & Sick
Vacationer
Cut Snake
Kaneholler
Los Angeles
Imagine Dragons
John Mayer
Steve Aoki
Juanes
Afrojack
Kendrick Lamar
Rise Against
Weezer
Sublime with Rome
Metric
Capital Cities
Chance the Rapper
Cypress Hill
Gareth Emery
R3hab
Schoolboy Q
Wolfgang Gartner
Borgore
DVBBS
12th Planet
YG
MUTEMATH
Rita Ora
Nipsey Hussle
Dr. Dog
Terraplane Sun
ZZ Ward
Classixx
Hit-Boy
DJ Mustard
Ab-Soul
Isaiah Rashad
Jay Rock
SZA
Yellow Claw
Grits and Biscuits
Will Sparks
Cut Snake
A Tribe Called Red
Tickets are still available for both of the locations and can be purchased for both shows here. —Lauren Nostro
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Yasiin Bey allegedly has a ton of issues with his immigration status right now, which may or may not have forced him to cancel a tour.
Date: May 22
Yasiin Bey, more commonly known by Mos Def, has cancelled his upcoming tour reportedly because of immigration issues. The tour was set to kick off in Boston, but the promoters of the show put this message on their website announcing the cancellation:
"We regret to inform you that due to immigration/legal issues Yasiin Bey is unable to enter back into the United States and his upcoming US tour has been canceled."
Mos Def has been living in South Africa since 2009, and though some reports have stated that he was denied entry into the U.S. for the tour, it isn't exactly clear that this is the reason. The Guardian made note that Mos Def had decided to not return to the U.S. due to legal and immigration issues, which refutes the idea that he was actually denied entry.
It has been a rumor that he is an official citizen of South Africa, though it is not known if he still holds his citizenship in the U.S.—Zach Frydenlund
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Lana Del Rey performed at Kim Kardashian and Kanye West's rehearsal dinner in Versailles this weekend.
Date: May 23
Kanye West and Kim Kardashian will be married in less than a day, but their pre-wedding celebration was nearly as glamorous as the day ahead. Taking place at the Hall of Mirrors in the Palace of Versailles, the celebration featured a special performance from Lana Del Rey. Lana serenaded the couple with Kim's favorite song, "Young And Beautiful." The song was performed by an orchestra for the couple's engagement in San Francisco last year.
There were a lot of celebrities in attendance for the wedding rehearsal. Guests reportedly included Big Sean, Tyga, NeNe Leakes, Alexander Wang, Steve McQueen, Valentino, and of course, the rest of Kim's family. With all eyes on tomorrow's monumental wedding, an Instagram video from Big Sean reveals the type of media scrutiny is following all of the celebrity guests while in Paris. —Dharmic X
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adidas released a brand new Kanye West song as part of their 2014 World Cup "The Dream" campaign.
Date: May 24
adidas has released a new commercial for "The Dream: all in or nothing" campaign, and the song featured in it is a new song from Kanye West. The title is unclear—although we have high hopes it's called "God Level" by the number of times it's said—the percussion and heavy hitting production sounds similar to some of the songs found on his last album, Yeezus. Towards the end of the song, Kanye says, "You see sharks in the water and they try to do nothing but put cocks in your daughter," a line as jarring as the production itself.
This marks Kanye's first official collaboration with adidas since announcing his decision to sign with the sneaker brand last fall. His first adidas collection is expected to drop in September.
You can stream the full song right here. —Dharmic X
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