Is A$AP Rocky changing men’s fashion with his Christian Louboutin-collaborated Mary Janes?

Did Machine Gun Kelly really refuse to audition for Sinners because he would have to say the N-word?

Producer ShunGu makes his video debut with “Talk To the Mass,” featuring Fly Anakin, Goya Gumbani, and Fatima. Anakin and Gumbani flow with ShunGu’s jazzy orchestral beat that gets a lift of R&B from Fatima. The single is from his forthcoming project that will be released on Lex Records in the fall. He made a statement about Mackai Sharp directing the video: “This was the first time I ever made a proper music video for one of my tracks, so it felt like a special moment for me, especially since I’m not at the beginning of my career. I fully trusted Mackai to bring the vision of this first single to life.” ShunGu appears at the beginning and end of the video with his collaborators during a video shoot that seemed destined considering that Fatima and Gumbani were there in the studio unexpectedly. Watch the video for “Talk To The Mass,” and stay tuned for ShunGu’s fall release. 

Freddie Gibbs and The Alchemist are following up their Alfredo album with Alfredo 2. Today they share “1995” from the project and Alfredo: The Movie. A select group of fans attended a screening of the film yesterday at Brain Dead Studios in Los Angeles. Nick Walker directed the movie, which takes place in Japan and sees the rapper and producer playing the roles of noodle masters and underworld bad guys. Gibbs has been comfortable in front of the camera since his critically acclaimed performance in Down With The King. Alfredo 2 will be released this Friday, five years after they debuted Alfredo. One hundred fans were able to procure signed vinyl copies of the album last weekend during an event at HVW8 Gallery in Los Angeles that was sponsored by Rotation, a Black music brand with Amazon. Gibbs raps about his steady come-up that moved him from being a grinding underground rapper to a presence on Netflix in “1995.” The Alchemist has been busy working on an album with Erykah Badu, which shows three decades of relevance as a producer. Alfredo II promises to be as rugged as the Grammy-nominated initial release and “1995” delivers on Gibbs’ brand of no-nonsense, but at times humorous, street-inspired rhymes. 

Slick Rick the Ruler has reemerged with his Victory album after an almost three-decade hiatus. Clocking in at 27 minutes, Rick gives a condensed version of the storytelling that made him a legend in the ’80s. The guest list includes British rapper Giggs, who makes an appearance on the smooth but frantic “Stress.” Nas fulfills a personal dream and joins Rick on the album standout, “Documents.” Rick’s “Landlord” lists some of the headaches of being a New York City property owner with humor, frustration, and resilience. Q-Tip, who had an amazing 2024 producing LL Cool J’s F.O.R.C.E., creates another Gen X moment as the producer of “Another Great Adventure,” which taps the nostalgia of Rick’s 1988 classic debut album.

Idris Elba is an executive producer and his 7Wallace label with Mass Appeal partnered to release Victory. The visual component is a continuous play of vignettes for each song. Victory feels brief and at times thin but legends are always given grace, especially when they are a foundational artist in the genre. The album is another sign along with MC Lyte, LL Cool J, Ice Cube, Kwamé, Public Enemy, The Roots, Snoop Dogg, and Dr. Dre, Generation X is not done expressing themselves with hip-hop. In the case of Slick Rick, he triumphs by staying true to his muse instead of pandering to a new generation. He managed to release an album in his sixth decade that still sounds like home.