As Nas noted in the post, I Am was initially intended to be a double album called I Am....The Autobiography but suffered a leak prior to its arrival, forcing Nas to whittle it down to one album. Subsequently, I Am...became one of the first major label releases to be widely leaked using MP3 technology, but several of the leaked songs ultimately showed up on Nas' 2002 release The Lost Tapes. 
Nipsey Hussle's life was cut short on March 31, 2019 when he was fatally shot outside of his Marathon Clothing store in South Central Los Angeles, bringing his ambitious career to a sudden halt. His 2018 studio album Victory Lap was nominated posthumously for a Grammy Award in the Best Rap Album category the following year.

Meanwhile, Nas went on to win his first-ever Grammy at the 2021 ceremony for his 2019 album King's Disease, beating out Jay Electronica's A Written Testimony, D Smoke's Black Habits, Freddie Gibbs and Alchemist's Alfredo and Royce Da 5'9's The Allegory. 
King's Disease arrived last August, serving as the follow-up to 2018's NASIR and Nas' 13th studio album with appearances from Charlie Wilson, Hit-Boy, Big Sean, Don Toliver, Lil Durk, Anderson .Paak, Brucie B, Nas's supergroup The Firm, Fivio Foreign and A$AP Ferg. The project debuted at No. 5 on the Billboard 200 with roughly 47,000 total album-equivalent units sold in its first week.
Nas celebrated the 22nd anniversary of his third studio effort I Am on Tuesday (April 6). The album was released on April 6, 1999 as the follow-up to his 1996 album It Was Written and debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, selling roughly 470,000 copies in its opening week.
While thanking his fans for the support on Instagram, the Illmatic legend revealed Nipsey Hussle had approached him about making a documentary about the project prior to his March 2019 murder.
"This album started out as a double album until half of it leaked," he wrote in the caption. "Our brother Nipsey met with me to discuss doing a documentary on it and i was beyond honored. Didn't get to happen. I Am, my 3rd Lp was released April 6 1999. Thank you all for the love."

Following the news that Cardi B's "Bodak Yellow" was officially certified diamond earlier today, many -- including Kodak Black -- were quick to congratulate her on the big accomplishment. Not only is achieving diamond certification a rare feat on its own, but Cardi's major milestone officially makes her the first female rapper to make it happen. With such a major cause for celebration, it's no surprise that Cardi took a moment to gather her thoughts on Instagram.

"How it started ,How’s its going," captions Cardi, sharing a throwback clip of her spitting some "Bodak" bars in the studio. "Thank you every1 that send me beautiful congrats on Bodak going Diamond. A couple of years ago I didn’t even understand what going diamond means or meant I just wanted to win and break-in . This record changed my life. Thank you to everyone who showed Bodak so much support and support and buy till THIS DAYY !! That’s why it went diamond cause of the support YOU still give."
She also took a moment to share a few words about her recent single "WAP," the first release from her forthcoming album -- and another song that seems to have a potential diamond plaque in its future. "Wap is a spicy one shorty 5X platinum in 7 months makes me really happy cause I put this song out when I was doubting myself then most," she muses. "With hardly any radio play cause of how nasty it was, but babyeeee it was a shocker !"
Curiously, she made no mention to "I Like It," which currently sits on the verge of diamond certification at nine-times platinum. At this rate, Cardi will run out of room on her walls, especially if she keeps the same momentum whenever her new album rolls around. We'd like to issue another round of congratulations to Cardi for her first -- and surely not her last -- diamond single. Do you still keep "Bodak Yellow" in rotation?

New bodycam footage shines a light on the 2019 robbery that left Iggy Azalea and Playboi Carti relieved of several valuables.In November of 2019, Iggy Azalea's Atlanta home was burglarized, with the thief ultimately making off with what was said to be approximately three-hundred-and-sixty-six thousand dollars worth of rings, chains, bracelets, watches, and more. The rapper was actually home at the time of the robbery, though Iggy did not actually cross paths with the thief; it was reported following the incident that she thought she heard footsteps and thought nothing of it. 



Now, bodycam footage has leaked revealing Iggy's interactions with the police following the robbery, where she shared her version of events. When asked about the value of the stolen goods, Iggy estimates that nearly one million dollars worth of jewelry was taken, reiterating that it was all ensured. Another clip finds her explaining the situation in-depth, stating that she and a friend were in the basement of the mansion while then-boyfriend Playboi Carti was recording music. Upon hearing footsteps, the pair went to investigate and assumed that Carti had returned for a forgotten laptop; "it happens all the time," says Iggy.
When he returned home a few days later, Carti found that his jewelry was no longer in the house. Upon realizing that the footsteps were not, in fact, those of Playboi Carti, they checked the security camera for clarification. "I saw a man, wearing a mask, black gloves, with a gun," says Iggy. "He's out here looking through all our windows for twenty minutes. It's all on the footage." She proceeds to point out the robber's route, and reasons that he had "been to the house before," given his knowledge of the valuables and their location. You can check out the footage for yourself below, as shared by Akademiks.

Rapsody has proven her rhyming prowess time and time again on albums such as 2012's The Idea Of Beautiful and the Grammy Award-nominated Laila's Wisdom, which arrived in 2017. But it was 2019's EVE that firmly solidified her place among Hip Hop's elite and established her fierce omni-presence in a historically male-dominated industry.
Charlamagne Tha God appears to appreciate the Snow Hill, North Carolina MC as much as her fans. During a recent episode of The Breakfast Club, Charlamagne, Angela Yee and DJ Envy were talking to author Sister Souljah about her latest book Life After Death: A Novel (The Coldest Winter Ever Book 2) when Yee asked what female rappers she likes.
As Sister Souljah explained how her young nieces turn her on to plenty of contemporary rappers like Young M.A, Charlamagne chimed in with, "I think you would really like Rapsody Sister Souljah. She's from North Carolina. I think you would really, really, really dig it. She's a huge, huge fan of the Coldest Winter Ever. True lyricist. I think she's the best rapper out — period."

Rapsody released EVE to rave reviews in August 2019 with HipHopDX granting it a rare, perfect 5.0 rating. The 16-track project beautifully paid tribute to 15 powerful Black women who played some kind of role in Rapsody's life, including Tupac Shakur's mother Afeni, Nina Simone, Aaliyah and Oprah Winfrey.
The project was so potent, it was turned into an English course at both Ohio State University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In April 2019, Rap shared an Instagram photo from UNC grad student Tyler Bunzey who revealed he was helming a course called "Black Womanist Criticism and Rapsody's EVE."

"When I was around 18-years-old, there was a crazy story that took place where I was in the bank getting some cash for a weekend vacation and the bank got robbed," explained the singer. So, these two guys came in with masks, automatic weapons, and told everyone to get down on the ground. And so, I ended up writing this whole song about my experience going through a live bank robbery, and years later, Lil Wayne ended up doing a verse on it and put it on his album, and he won a Grammy on that album, actually."

Clarkson couldn't get over how Thicke relayed his story with ease. "It was a little traumatizing, however, once it was over, I was okay with it," he said. "It reminded me of the movies. It seemed kind of surreal at the time. I didn't really feel threatened as much as I did, like, 'Wow this really does look like a movie.'" Thicke believes he has figured out why he wasn't as affected as some think he should have been.
"It was probably because [the theives] were very young. They seemed like they were 19, 18-years-old kids," said Thicke. "They looked just like my friends, dressed up in masks, you know what I mean? I didn't see these big muscular, adult men. I saw like, two slim teenage men come in and they looked like my buddies."
Check out his clip, and the music video for "Shooter," below.

It's been three years since J.I.D dropped his second studio album DiCaprio 2, and since then, he's been working on other projects with his Dreamville family and Spillage Village crew. Fans have been patiently waiting for a solo effort from J.I.D, and their wish was granted in January when the Atlanta-born rapper announced his third studio album, The Forever Story. 
J.I.D hasn't said much on the upcoming album but a few rumblings on Twitter provided some insight on The Forever Story. On Monday (March 1), J.I.D took some time to shout out his fellow Atlanta native Metro Boomin for his contributions to Hip Hop music. 
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"Dis man @MetroBoomin one da most talented and realest innnit," J.I.D wrote with a goat emoji attached. 
Metro saw the tweet and replied with mutual praise, saying, "Likewise my boy it takes 1 to know 1 4sho we applying PRESSURE." 

What turned out to be a simple interaction on Twitter between two friends turned into a revelation that will have fans of both artists talking. Spillage Village affiliate Lou Spill sent a tweet about an hour later revealing J.I.D and Metro were working on something in the studio. 
"@JIDsv & @MetroBoomin makin some of the craziest shit I’ve heard in a minute," Spill tweeted. "Watchin em work it's like they both respect each other’s craft so much they both goin crazy to make sure they do each other justice."

If this collaboration comes to light, it will be the first time J.I.D and Metro have worked with each other, and it couldn’t come at a better time. J.I.D is fresh off Spillage Village’s debut Spilligion, while Metro is on a monster run following Savage Mode II, his collaborative album with 21 Savage. 

f you've noticed billboards around Buffalo teasing something called "Buffalo Kids," this weekend you'll actually be able to go see what all the hype is about.
Westside Gunn, the Buffalo-native rapper and member of hip-hop group Griselda, is opening a brick and mortar store for his lifestyle brand, named Buffalo Kids. The brand features, as the name implies, apparel inspired by the Queen City.


Buffalo Kids will open in the Walden Galleria on the ground floor near Starbucks on Saturday, March 6 at 9 a.m. The store will have specific rules to help with social distancing, such as time limits for groups in the store, cash won't be accepted, and masks will be required. 

“I’m excited to bring my vision to the City of Buffalo, this was a dream of mine and I’m trying to lead by example to show every Buffalo Kid with hard work, anything is possible,” says Gunn.
Westside Gunn will sell his merch, the Buffalo Kids brand, his wrestling company’s clothing line Fourth Rope, and Griselda merch by Fashion Rebels. 
The rapper hopes to host future meet and greets with celebrities in the store. The store also says customers are allowed to take photos in the store.
Buffalo Kids says they strive to create apparel of high quality and claim that their online offerings are always in high demand. As of Tuesday, it appears most of the Buffalo Kids website is sold out. The store will have a limit of one of each item per customer. 

Morray already made a stamp with the release of his "Quicksand" single and was named a HipHopDX Rising Star 2021 earlier this month. With more cosigns coming his way, the North Carolina native is making it work in the studio as well.
The burgeoning rapper spent time in the studio in Los Angeles working on new material Friday (February 26) and happened to run into fellow Carolina Tar Heel Cordae. Although the former YBN member has yet to detail when the follow-up to his Grammy Award-nominated album The Lost Boy will arrive, he did show love to Morray.

The cosign from Cordae isn't the only Carolina love Morray's felt since his arrival on the scene. DaBaby also showered him with praise along with one of the state's most successful acts J. Cole
Since its November 2020 release, "Quicksand" has not only vaulted Morray's name into the ranks of the up and coming, but it's also made him a major player on the charts. With over 30 million YouTube views, the single officially cracked the Billboard Hot 100 on February 16.