Hip Hop Week In Review: Kanye West's Twitter Spree & J. Cole's "KOD" Album

This week in Hip Hop, Kanye West made his return to Twitter with a series of philosophical tweets and music release dates for himself, Kid Cudi, Pusha T and Teyana Taylor. Also, J. Cole dropped his fifth studio album KOD and Drake announced his new Scorpion LP.

Kanye West Announces Album Release Date

Kanye West disappeared from Twitter for a while, but now he’s back with a lot of energy. In usual Yeezy fashion, the G.O.O.D. Music boss unleashed a flurry of thought-provoking tweets sandwiched in between the release dates of his album (June 1), a collaborative LP with Kid Cudi called Kids See Ghost (June 8), Teyana Taylor’s next project (June 22) and Pusha T’s highly anticipated King Push (May 25.

Read more about what Kanye West has been tweeting here.)

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J. Cole Releases KOD

J. Cole treated fans to a surprise by releasing his KODalbum on Friday (April 20) and breaking Spotify‘s opening day record in doing so. There are no features except the mysterious Kill Edward, which many assume is J. Cole himself.

Cole seemed to take aim at Lil Pump (and other rising rappers like him) on the KOD song “1985,” which got a dismissive reply from the “Gucci Gang” rap star. The Dreamville boss also dropped a quirky music video for the album standout “ATM.”

Watch J. Cole’s video for “ATM” here.

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Drake Teases Scorpion LP

At the top of the week, Drake announced the title of his next album would be Scorpion. The release date will be in June, though Drizzy didn’t share a specific date.

Read more about Drake’s Scorpionhere.

DX Reviews

– Del The Funky Homosapien & Amp Live — Gate 13

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– Smokepurpp & Murda Beatz — Bless Yo Trap

– U-God — Venom

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DXClusives: Smoke DZA, Beat Junkies & Yo! MTV Raps

Smoke DZA On Why He Stays Independent & His “Not For Sale” LP

Smoke DZA is injecting his music with new flavor and spoke to HipHopDX about the process of making his latest album Not For Sale.

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“It’s a personal project to me,” DZA tells DX. “It’s a new bookmark in the chapter of Smoke … It’s new experiences, a new vibe and a new Smoke DZA. It’s a new sound, but it still stays true to what I believe in.”

Read the full interview with Smoke DZA here.

Beat Junkies Institute Of Sound Celebrated One-Year Anniversary With All-Star Bash

The Beat Junkies Institute of Sound held a celebration in Santa Monica. TBS Drop The Mic contributor and Jurassic 5 member DJ Nu-Mark shared how much the event left him feeling inspired.

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“After watching all these amazing homegrown talents perform, I realized as I was watching the Beat Junkies that they’ve built an amazing foundation/community for upcoming DJs,” he told DX. “The next generation owes the Junkies proper respect.”

Read about the full Beat Junkies celebration experience here.

Doctor Dre Talks “Yo! MTV Raps” 30th Anniversary Concert & Possible Reboot

MTV seems to be entertaining a possible reboot of their classic Hip Hop show Yo! MTV Raps. DX spoke to host Doctor Dre, who wonders how they’ll pull it off considering video isn’t as important as it was back in the 90s.

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“I don’t know how that’s going to work in today’s world,” he says. “The unique thing about Yo! MTV Raps was videos were very important back then. In today’s streaming world, not sure how that would work. I’m not sure what they plan on doing. All I know is on June 1, we’ll be at the Barclays Center to celebrate the show and its success — internationally, nationally and globally.”

Read the full Yo! MTV Raps interview here.

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