This week in Hip Hop, Nipsey Hussle‘s Celebration of Life memorial took place at the Staples Center prior to a private funeral in Los Angeles. Also, Drake announced he’s working on his next album. Lastly, Kodak Black responded to T.I. removing his artwork from the Trap Music Museum in Atlanta.
Nipsey Hussle Laid To Rest
More than 20,000 mourners packed the Staples Center Thursday (April 11) to celebrate the life and legacy of the late Nipsey Hussle.
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His mother Angelique Smith, father Dawit Asghedom, older brother Samiel Asghedom, sister Samantha Smith and girlfriend Lauren London (who recently got a tattoo of his face on her arm) all gave heartfelt speeches at the ceremony.
Other highlights from the memorial included a performance by Stevie Wonder, Karen Civil reading a letter from former President Barack Obama and Snoop Dogg’s story of when he first met the slain rapper.
Following the ceremony, there was a 25-mile “victory lap” leading Nip to a Crenshaw funeral home.
Read more about Nipsey Hussle’s memorial service here.
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New Drake Music Is On The Way
It’s been just under a year since Drake‘s fifth studio album Scorpion was released, and its follow-up is already in the works. During one of the London concerts on his Assassination Vacation Tour, he told the crowd he’s in the beginning stages of his next album.
“I kinda actually started night last night to be honest with you,” Drizzy said. “But I think what I’ma do after this is go home, and I’ma make a new album so I can come back to London next year and we can do this again.”
Read more about Drake working on his sixth album here.
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Kodak Black Responds To T.I.
Kodak Black’s comments about Lauren London after the death of her boyfriend Nipsey Hussle were taken as disrespect by a lot of people, including her ATL co-star T.I.
T.I. went on record demanding Kodak apologize “expeditiously” and later removed an art installation dedicated to the Project Baby rapper from his Trap Music Museum in Atlanta.
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Kodak couldn’t care less though.
“Fuck that pussy ass museum,” Kodak said in response. “Bitch, I didn’t give you permission to put me up there anyways, bitch. Fuck that pussy ass museum.”
Read more about Kodak Black and T.I.’s ongoing spat here.
#DXCLUSIVES: Ayo & Keyz, Ice Tea & Caleb Steph
Why Cardi B Producers Ayo & Keyz Are Anticipating R&B’s Takeover
Producers Ayo & Keyz have made plenty of R&B hits and recently nabbed a Grammy for their work on Cardi B’s Invasion of Privacy. In a conversation with HipHopDX, Ayo explained why he feels R&B is making a grand return.
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“I think R&B is back,” Ayo said. “It is super exciting and refreshing. It’s always been around but now it has that light on it again. You can actually hear R&B on the radio or hear it being played in a club and people gravitate towards it rather than trying to be the cool guy waiting for the rap songs to come out.”
Read the full Ayo & Keyz interview here.
Ice-T Stresses Importance Of Rap & Song For “Hip Hop Alphabet 2” Book Release
The Hip Hop Alphabet 2 book is scheduled to drop in May. Ahead of its release, Ice T spoke to DX about rap’s usefulness as a tool for learning.
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“Although the masses have often tried to discredit rap, to do it well requires a vocabulary, knowledge and an understanding of poetry,” he noted.
Read the full Ice-T interview here.
Caleb Steph Channels The Experience In “Black Boy” Video
Virginia-bred artist Caleb Steph premiered his new video “Black Boy” on HipHopDX and shared how the visuals came together.
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“It was a beautiful experience for everyone involved in the video,” Steph said. “Doing something like that in Virginia is just unheard of a lot of the times. I’m glad I got to make that happen with the people I made it happen with.”
Watch Caleb Steph’s new video here.
