Drake & His Brand Release the “OVO” Air Jordans

Seemingly out of nowhere, the “OVO” Air Jordans dropped yesterday. Only a couple of weeks after Drake and co. opened the special OVO pop-up store in LA, Drizzy’s brand freed the much talked-about sneaker without any preliminary announcement.

What turned out to be hell for the sneakerheads who were eagerly waiting for the exact release date, was heaven for the fans on the movement, who decided to visit the store on April 16th. Later, the lucky costumers took to Instagram to show off their pairs, which costed $225 each. Of course, some of them decided to seek profit and list them on eBay with  the most expensive offer so far being $13,999 (R169,194.35),

But there is a specific reason why the Beyoncé collaborator picked April 16th as the surprise release date for the shoe. Keeping in mind Toronto’s area code is 416, there is no way it is a coincidence the item was available only on 4/16.

Even though it is unlikely the pop-up store will release more pairs, we would strongly advice you to visit it on a daily basis until April 30th when it closes. It is located at 112 1/2 S. La Brea, Los Angeles.

Kanye West Publicly Served Legal Papers in Car Outside LAX

Kanye West and his family didn’t receive the best welcome as they arrived home from the Middle East into LAX airport yesterday afternoon. On top of the expected paparazzi stalking and excited fan madness, he also appeared to be served with legal papers from a relentless and determined man who got very close to the car. We’re yet to discover what they relate to.

This is the latest example of a rapper publicly being served with legal documents since the extraordinary moment Tyga was served during a sneaker release party. The artist soon to be honored with a doctorate, Kim Kardashian and North West were returning from Jerusalem, on a trip during which the rapper gave a surprise concert in Armenia, and sprinting to their mode of transport.

Unbeknownst to one of the key contenders for the Rap Genius  king throne, as you can watch in the video footage below, the man with the papers ghosted up close to the vehicle and somehow placed the papers beside one of TIME’s most influential people in the world. The fate of the document was somewhat predictable, as it was promptly thrown out of the vehicle, but it was a remarkable effort nonetheless.
Check out the video here

Jamie Foxx Announces Fifth Studio Album “Hollywood”

Jamie Foxx is determined to put an end to his nearly 5-year long musical hiatus and announced the impending release of his new album Hollywood. Serving as his fifth studio body of work, it is supposedly set to impacts stores on May 19th.

The follow-up to 2010’s Best Night of My Life, the LP already spawned its leading single, “You Changed Me” featuring Chris Brown, which was performed by Jamie and Breezy on Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Thursday evening.

Coinciding the announcement, the singer unveiled the cover artwork for the record on Instagram. Instead of simply publishing the image, he coined a bizarre Flipagram video where he poses on a motorcycle while his initials replace the iconic “Hollywood” sign in L.A. Watch it below.

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Drake Collaborates with Beyoncé on “Views From the 6” Album

Drake knows his next album Views From the 6 has to mark a change in is career or he risks to face severe criticism for not reinventing his style for the last couple of years. He also realizes the position he is in – admit it or not, Drizzy is the most popular rap artist in the world right now – and probably that’s why he was disappointed with his Coachella set last Sunday. Despite making out with Madonna on the stage, the Canadian is not satisfied with the show and promises to up the ante for Weekend 2 of the festival and bring out an even greater guest..

I took an L for the first time,” he admitted. “I just have to reassess what went wrong with my judgment.”

Writer Ernest Baker caught up with Drake in the week leading up to his Coachella 2015 headlining set and profiled the artist for Four Pins . In the story, he compared Views From the 6 to Kanye West’s 808s & Heartbreak.

It appears that Drake is ready to deviate from his winning formula and get a little weird,” he wrote. “His days of releasing lay-up bangers that everyone loves right away are over. For now, at least.”

During his encounter with the Toronto native, Baker learned that Drizzy feels like only two of the tracks he recorded for the album so far are worthy of landing on it. The first one is a song that he “expects to inspire a paradigm shift.” The other is a collaboration with Beyoncé, which will serve as a follow-up to “Mine” off her self-titled surprise album.

Before Drake kicks off the promo campaign in support of Views From the 6, he will release the physical version of If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late on April 21st and engage in a tour with Future on May 24th. Also, later this year he will host the 6th OVO Fest in Toronto without the usual help of the Canadian government .

Stream Young Thug’s “Barter 6” Album in Its Entirety

Barter 6 is now listed as Young Thug’s debut album, even though it is yet to be announced if physical copies of the record will become available in the coming weeks. Despite the initial confusion and early release, the LP is now available on iTunes and Spotify, and you can stream it further below.

The album brings along exactly 13 tracks. Birdman, T.I., Boosie BadAzz, Young Dolph, Yak Gotti, Duke and Jacquees are listed as guest artists, while the entire production is handled only by London on Da Track and Wheezy 5th.

The controversy surrounding the LP stems from Thugga’s initial plan to pay homage to his idol, Lil Wayne, and name the project Carter 6. Despite being respectful, he faced severe criticism from the Young Money CEO and both ended up exchanging shots onstage and online, respectively. We even suggested that Tunechi and his The Free Weezy Album are the reason why the Rich Gang rep pushed up the release of the full-length offering.

So far, the reactions to Barter 6 are generally warm, but of course, that’s not an unexpected feedback for Thug’s fans. As for his detesters, they were just given another reason to abhor him for his music.

Jay Z Drops the Music Video for “Glory” featuring Blue Ivy

Jay Z took it back to 2012 when he recorded “Glory” – an ode to his then newborn daughter Blue Ivy Carter, who is featured on the track and is credited as B.I.C. The track was premiered only two days after Beyoncé gave birth to their only heir. The song famously beings with Blue’s first heartbeat, and ends with a sample of her crying. The kid then became the youngest person ever to have a charted song on a Billboard chart.

As far as the video is concerned, you won’t be able to watch it anywhere else but on TIDAL . Are you surprised? Then obviously you are not following the power moves of the streaming service rookie, whose archenemy Spotify is now worth $8.4 Billions.  Good news for both platforms is digital music sales recently surpassed CD sales. Basically, that means money for Hov and co., and hopefully, more exclusive content for all TIDAL users.

Charlie Heat Confirms 2015 is G.O.O.D. Music’s Season to Shine

Charlie Heat is a young producer who received credit along with a deep pool of people including Paul McCartney, Theopilus London, Kendrick Lamar, Vic Mensa, and many others for helping Kanye West create “All Day.” The G.O.O.D. Music member predicts an important year ahead, and said:

The SZN is here. It’s a lot of stuff coming from everybody.”

Before this bold statement, he spoke about the sheer volume of material he has helped create, which leads us to believe that it won’t be long until we taste the fruits of his labor. It feels as though the G.O.O.D. Music artists are surely gearing up for their release cycle, which is enough to inspire excitement in any hip hop fan.

Charlie is bound to be a big part in it too. His production credits already include work for Pusha T, Two-9, Vic Mensa, and Kanye as we explained before. It’s clear though that the ambitious artists considers this as just the beginning of what will be a long career. Enjoy the full interview here.

Drake’s OVO Festival Denied Grant Money from Canadian Government

Drake’s OVO Festival gratefully received $300,000 from Canada’s Ontario government last year, but their grant application for help with the running costs for 2015 has been denied. Blane McPhail, who deals primarily with the press on behalf of Michael Coteau, the Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sport, explained:

Through the Celebrate Ontario 2015 program, the province is helping 270 festivals and events, the highest number in the history of the program, celebrate Ontario’s diversity, heritage and culture. This support will help organizers enhance programming and services, attract new audiences and create jobs in the tourism sector.”

We learn also in the full press announcement that the competitive funding program has eligibility requirements which the OVO Fest, which has tickets selling for thousands of dollars each on StubHub, simply didn’t pass this year. The event is due to take place August 2nd and 3rd at Molson Canadian Amphitheater.

The Coachella star and Rap Genius King has already been advised not to be deterred by this latest refusal and to apply again in 2016. Although this is something of a blow, we’re sure it won’t affect the quality of the festival, which must live up to its reputation and surprise the audience with the quality of guests to which they are accustomed, with previous prestigious attendees being Kanye West, Stevie Wonder, Jay Z, Eminem, and Snoop Dogg to name just a few.

Digital Music Surpasses Global Physical Sales

We’re sure that everyone was certain that it was only a matter of time before digital music sales surpassed CD sales, but now the time has come, and for the first time ever on a global scale. 2014 saw digital sales revenue grow seven percent to $6.85 billion and physical CDs fall eight percent to $6.82 billion.

In a report conducted by the International Federation of Music, on top of digital revenue funding, popular streaming services such as Spotify have steadily risen 40% to $1.57 billion. This is good news for the new TIDAL, and the threatening emergence of Apple’s steaming service.

Spotify is now worth $8.4 billion, which is $2.66 billion higher than it was this time last year. After the announcement of Jay Z’s TIDAL and what is sure to be heavy competition from Apple, Spotify could encounter difficult times ahead, but it is great news for streaming. Some are even claiming a victory for the music industry in general, with this being the first clear sign in a while that the turmoil was exaggerated and the future path for the industry is clear.

Zimbabwe Threatens Cassper Nyovest

Cassper Nyovest is set to perform in Zimbabwe on the 25th of April. Following the xenophobic attacks in Durban, which are now spreading across South Africa, many Zimbabweans are being affected by these attacks and some Zimbabweans have come forward and alerted the Platinum status rapper that if he doesn’t contribute to preventing the attacks, he should not go and perform in ZIM.

This is making its rounds on social media in Zimbabwe and people are advising me to cancel my show in Bulawayo next week and I am not budging. I do not support xenophobia therefore my show in Zimbabwe is still on for the 25th of April. My Zimbabwean fans are gonna come to my show. We are one AFRICA therefore we will dance together. I will come perform for my brothers. Thank you”

Cassper responses