This week in Hip Hop, Rick Ross had many worried after he was hospitalized on Thursday (March 1). Meanwhile, Eminem broke another record when the RIAA named him as the second-highest selling singles artist of all time. Also, Forbes Magazine named JAY-Z as the richest rapper in the game, and Talib Kweli explained to HipHopDX how the reports of a new Black Star album were news to him.
Rick Ross Hospitalized
The Hip Hop community has been on high alert since reports emerged of Rick Ross being hospitalized. A report by TMZ made the situation sound dire with Ross supposedly being on life support, but Maybach Music Group artist Fat Trel refuted this notion in an Instagram post by claiming he spoke to Rozay directly about the situation.
“JUS TALKED 2 MY BIG HOMIE… HE GOOD,” Trel wrote. “HE IN DA HOSPITAL BUT HE IS NOT ON ‘LIFE SUPPORT’ … HE GOOD.”
AD LOADING...
Ross nor his family have publicly commented on his status at this time.
Eminem Crowned The Second-Highest Selling Singles Artist, Ever
According to the Recording Industry Association of America, Eminem is now the second-highest selling singles artist of all time. It’s an accomplishment recently attained due to new digital certifications issued by the RIAA, which gave Eminem a total of 107.5 million certified units (including streaming) in sales.
Rihanna is currently the #1 highest selling singles artists of all time with 121 million units sold.
AD LOADING...
Read about Eminem’s RIAA record here.
JAY-Z & Diddy’s Race To A Billion
JAY-Z is now the richest rapper in the world, according to Forbes’ 2018List Of Hip Hop’s Wealthiest Artists. He carries $900 million in assets, including his stakes in Roc Nation, TIDAL and his liquor brands — Armand de Brignac champagne and D’Usse cognac.
Diddy, who has held the #1 spot every year since the list started in 2011, isn’t too far behind Hovwith $825 million. Dr. Dre sits at #3 with $770 million.
AD LOADING...
See the full list here.
Talib Kweli Was Surprised By Yasiin Bey’s Black Star Announcement
Yasiin Bey announced a new Black Star project with Talib Kweli would be coming soon, which came as a surprise to Kweli since the two have been talking about making it happen for a long time.
“It looks like it might happen,” Kweli told HipHopDX. “I found out on the internet the same way y’all did. We’ve been talking about doing an album with Madlib for years. That’s been an idea we’ve had for so long, but for him to make that announcement … I didn’t know he was going to make the announcement.
AD LOADING...
Read the full interview with Talib Kweli here.
[apple_news_ad type=”any”]
DXclusives: Common & Art of Rap
How Kanye West’s Enthusiasm For “The College Dropout” Changed Common’s Life
Common spoke at the Cultural Events Board function hosted by The University of Colorado-Boulder this week, and DX was in the building for the event. During the talk, the veteran MC detailed how Kanye West’s undying belief in The College Dropout encouraged him to take that kind of approach with his own music.
AD LOADING...
“I started to believe and declare that I’mma believe in myself. Even before you know it wholeheartedly — say it,” he explained. “Continue to say it. At certain points, your self-consciousness will believe it. Your superior will believe it. And it will just moving forward for you. I started saying the things I wanted. I was studying acting. I had been on my auditions and not really getting the roles, but I started just continuing to say, ‘I believe.’ And I got this audition, and I got my first call back and eventually got the first movie. The same first call back became the first movie I did, a movie called Smokin’ Aces. This believin’ thing was working. It was working.”
Read more here.
Art Of Rap: 20 Black Artists Inspired By Hip Hop
DX Writer Riley Wallace compiled a list of 20 Black artists who have created pieces inspired by Hip Hop. Among them are U.K. graphic artist Madina and De La Soul cover artist Joseph Buckingham.
AD LOADING...
Check out the full list here.
[apple_news_ad type=”any”]
