This week, Hip Hop featured new performances, new music, and old beefs. Nicki Minaj made Lil Wayne (and everyone watching) feel the heat as she worked her assets on Lil Wayne at the Billboard Music Awards. Just about 13 years to the day since Marshall Mathers LP dropped, DJ Jazzy Jeff explained why Eminem dissed Will Smith on “The Real Slim Shady.” Finally, French Montana’s Excuse My French drops to mixed reviews.
Nicki Minaj Twerks On Lil Wayne During Billboard Music Awards Performance
Nicki Minaj was a big winner at the Billboard Music Awards on Sunday (May 19), taking home three awards, but some would argue Lil Wayne was the biggest winner of all.
The duo’s performance of “High School” culminated in Nicki twerking and grinding on Weezy, who sat in the center of the stage.
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“I am the luckiest guy in the world,” said a grinning Wayne after the dance.
MInaj’s awards included Top Rap Artist and Top Rap Album for Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded.
Watch the performance below:
DJ Jazzy Jeff Explains Why Eminem Dissed Will Smith
It’s difficult to forget Eminem’s famous words on perhaps his most well-known song, “The Real Slim Shady,” when the Detroit spitter rhymed, “Will Smith doesn’t have to cuss to sell records / Well, I do / So fuck him. And fuck you too.”
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Eminem would go on to reveal that the lyrics were a response to a speech Smith made at the 1998 Grammy Awards, where Smith said cursing was unnecessary to succeed in music.
However, DJ Jazzy Jeff revealed that there may have been more to it.“I was a big fan of Eminem’s—you know, especially of his super early stuff,” said Jeff to Montreality. “I just kinda reached out to him, ‘Yo man, big fan. Would love to do some stuff.’ And he ended up comin’ to Philly and we went in the studio, and just knocked out some stuff. It was crazy, because that was one of the times that Will [Smith] was in town. Will walked into the room, and I think I played Will ‘Just The Two Of Us.'”
“Will listened to it, and Will looked at him and said, ‘You’re either gonna be the biggest flop in Hip Hop, or you’re gonna be the biggest thing that we’ve ever seen in Hip Hop. And [Eminem] never forgot that.”
Watch the interview below:
French Montana’s Excuse My French “Repetitive,” “Lacks An Overall Direction”
French Montana’s Excuse My French may have been highly-anticipated, but club bangers won’t save if from mediocrity, says HipHopDX.
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“If affiliations and features could make an album,Excuse My Frenchwould be near classic,” says our review of the album. “However, the results of the excessive collaborations, along with French’s limited subject matter, and lack of lyrical ability or overall direction make for a very bad introduction.”
Noting the the album feels “like more of a compilation than a solo project,”the review goes on to say that “French fails to stand out” on the few tracks that are solo affairs.
Ultimately, DX came away underwhelmed with French’s studio debut. “Excuse My Frenchcomes off as extremely formulaic. The use of recognizable samples, the go-to features of the day (Nicki Minaj, The Weeknd, two Lil Wayne features, three Rick Ross features), the attempts to cover all markets and demographics, give the album a forced feel.”
Other items of note:
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– Young Guru Explains Why New York Hip Hop Is Coming Back
– Born Sinner: Predictions On J. Cole’s Sophomore Album
– Chung King Studios Founder Recalls Ol’ Dirty Bastard Urinating On LL Cool J’s Plaque
– Will Smith Recording Music With Kanye West
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