HotNewHipHop

Kanye West Earns His First Spotify Song With Over 2 Billion Streams

Aron A. — Fri, 22 May 2026 16:52:29 +0000

Kanye West can’t be cancelled. And while there have been many attempts, none of them have been particularly successful. Even as corporate America tried to get rid of him, his fanbase remained intact for the most part and that has undoubtedly been reflected in his numbers.

Ye probably is one of the few, if not the only, rappers from his era who can still deliver record-breaking numbers on par with some of the streaming era’s most successful exports. Case in point: his latest Spotify feat. According to BARS, Ye has a new milestone in his career as “Heartless” became the first song in his catalog to reach 2 billion streams on Spotify. The 808s & Heartbreak song served as the second single of the project, following “Love Lockdown” and reached #2 on the Billboard Hot 100.

It’s a moment that cements the influence and timelessness of 808s & Heartbreaks. Despite being polarizing upon its release, it opened the floodgates for a new era of hip-hop, including one where Drake claimed his stake as one of the genre’s frontrunners. The album often feels like it doesn’t get as many mentions as it should in broader hip-hop and pop culture discourse. However, it’s impossible to deny how it shifted music entirely and also allowed Kid Cudi to put his talents on full display in front of the world just as his career began bubbling up.

Kanye West Hits 2 Billion Streams On “Heartless”

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The new milestone comes as Ye plots his 2026 global tour, which has faced its own setbacks and hurdles. It comes on the heels of Bully, which debuted at #2 on the Billboard 200. Although he’s struggled to book venues in America, several European countries have been open to hosting him. The rapper recently shared a list of his upcoming performances in Europe this summer, which will see him on stages in Turkey, the Netherlands, Georgia, Albania, Italy, Spain, and Portugal. Will you be attending any of his upcoming shows? Let us know in the comments below.

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Jim Jones’ New Snippet Sparks 50 Cent & Dame Dash Diss Rumors

Gabriel Bras Nevares — Fri, 22 May 2026 15:56:53 +0000

Jim Jones continues to drop new music and collaborations amid his many other endeavors, and he’s not one to let beef slide. As such, when AllHipHop caught a snippet of a new track that seemed to diss 50 Cent and Dame Dash, no one expressed surprise at the continuation of this saga.

In the video of the snippet featuring NYC radio commentator Punch, you can hear Capo rap about beef, and there are specific references that are pointing some listeners to 50 and Dame. In the former’s case, it’s reportedly a Queens and Supreme flip referring to Kenneth “Supreme” McGriff and his history with Fif. As for the latter’s case, it’s a bar about complaining to Jay-Z about a lack of success, alluding to Dash’s Roc-A-Fella struggles.

We’ll see if this eventually comes out and if Jones will seek more beef with his rivals. He already has other spats to take care of, such as a recent fight with Kid Cudi over his “Day ‘N Nite” remix. But Jim always keeps his foot on the gas when it comes to smoke, and we doubt future releases will stray away from confrontation.

Jim Jones’ 50 Cent Beef

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For those unaware, Jim Jones’ beef with 50 Cent stems from tensions between G-Unit and Dipset back in the 2000s. Most recently, though, it ignited when Jones criticized 50 for his role in the Netflix Diddy documentary. He made those comments on the Let’s Rap About It podcast alongside Fabolous, Maino, and Dave East.

The G-Unit mogul went at all of them in response, but his online trolls mostly targeted Capo. They continue to send shots every now and then, but rarely are they musical. So maybe the release of this new snippet will start another chapter.

As for Jim Jones’ issues with Dame Dash, they are over a decade old. The former called the latter a “culture vulture” back in 2014, and face-to-face confrontations followed.

In both cases, this beef has so many years of history that a hatchet burial seems impossible. But maybe they can all continue to hash things out via music rather than social media trolling.

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Toronto Mayor Disappointed When Drake-Given Nickname Isn’t Used At Press Conference

Aron A. — Fri, 22 May 2026 15:55:36 +0000

The ICEMAN release not only served up three new albums but provided fans outside of Canada some real insight into Drake’s pull in the city. The Canadian rapper dropped off a pack of visuals as part of the livestream finale hours before the three albums dropped, which explored Toronto through his eyes. Of course, that included shooting parts of the music video inside City Hall as well as the Mayor’s office.

In the aftermath of the livestream, Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow sang Drake’s praises as an international ambassador for the city. Evidently, Drake expressed the same type of gratitude to her for allowing him to utilize Toronto as the backdrop for his new album. She later shared a photo of a note that Drake left her that dubbed her “Crolivia Chow.”

“Thank you my crodi, Crolivia Chow! Iceman 2026,” he wrote on a notepad, along with his signature.

That particular note went viral on social media, proving that Drake’s standing with local politicians hasn’t gone sideways. In fact, it feels like one of the few moments in his career where he’s integrated local politics into his career organically. And clearly, Olivia Chow takes much pride in that, as well.

Crolivia Chow’s Press Conference

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During a recent press conference in Toronto, Olivia Chow stepped to a podium after she was introduced, joking about the new nickname. “What do you mean you didn’t introduce me as Crolivia?” she said.

In an interview after the ICEMAN reveal, Chow confirmed that Drake used her office for his music video.

“It’s great because Drake has done so much for the city. The world was watching, and he’s making us proud,” Chow said. “He borrowed [my office] one evening, and we had an arrangement, and put it back in, and so all is good. But think about how many people outside Toronto are watching that, so it’s a promotion for the city, and his music, it’s not just Canadians, it’s worldwide.”

Check out Olivia Chow’s press conference above.

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Rihanna Shouts Out A$AP Rocky’s Upcoming Tour After Drake’s Disses

Gabriel Bras Nevares — Fri, 22 May 2026 15:26:05 +0000

Rihanna and A$AP Rocky have mostly focused on their family life in recent years, but at least one of them finally dropped an album. Rocky released Don’t Be Dumb earlier this year, and his tour for it begins in just a few days in Chicago. His boo recently showed support and love for the tour via a new TikTok, which made many fans bring up Drake and his recent disses toward the couple.

As caught by Kurrco on Twitter, RiRi shared a new TikTok video of a woman dance-walking to a smoke shop. “me pullin up to my man tour in flats cause now I gotta bring the kids,” the caption read.

In most other contexts, this would’ve been just a funny promotional video highlighting their high-profile relationship. But Drake’s recent disses towards Rihanna and A$AP Rocky gave fans another perspective.

The most notable of the purported disses towards them on his new album trilogy comes on ICEMAN, specifically the track “Burning Bridges.” “Your baby mama ain’t even post the single / Where she at?” is a set of bars many think is a shot at the couple. There are also other references on cuts like “Firm Friends” that are more about Rocky’s specific beef with Drizzy.

Drake’s A$AP Rocky & Rihanna Beef

Rihanna shows support for A$AP Rocky’s upcoming tour with a new TikTok

“me pullin up to my man tour in flats cause now I gotta bring the kids”

The DON'T BE DUMB Tour kicks off in less than a week pic.twitter.com/mPzDgqCqwS
— Kurrco (@Kurrco) May 22, 2026

For those unaware, Drake has beef with A$AP Rocky and Rihanna for reasons that remain kind of unclear for some. But fans have plenty of dots to connect. After all, Rocky has characterized their feud as mostly being over women.

The Toronto superstar has romantic history with the Barbadian singer, but this never manifested into a relationship. Many fans assume he’s jealous of the Harlem creative, who was also allegedly with the mother of the OVO mogul’s son Adonis.

Also, A$AP Rocky went against Drake back during the Kendrick Lamar battle, seemingly dissing him on Future and Metro Boomin’s WE STILL DON’T TRUST YOU album. So there are a few beef angles here to consider, which is sad for fans of all artists involved.

In the wake of these ICEMAN disses, many fans pointed out Rihanna’s past public, online, and promotional support of Rocky during the Don’t Be Dumb rollout.

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Akademiks Claps Back At Allegations He Accepts Payments To Push Artists

Aron A. — Fri, 22 May 2026 15:16:32 +0000

Making money in this business requires serious bread, and even then, there’s no guaranteed return on investments. For a lot of artists, paying for promotion is just part of the game. However, it clouds the audience’s perception when they trust certain voices as tastemakers. When Instagram and TikTok pages post new music because they got paid to, it makes you wonder just how reliable their taste in music really is.

In a recent interview with The Breakfast Club, TDE signee Trap Dickey detailed some of his come-up in the game before penning a deal with the label. He explained the lengths that he went through to get his music to the right audiences, including paying DJ Akademiks for a post.

“I tried to do all that. I even paid Akademiks one time, so it’s like, I think I went through the little blueprint, but it just cost so damn much,” Dickey explained, revealing that he paid between $2000-$3000 for a post. “I was definitely paying promotion pages that I seen–that I feel like the labels were paying for these guys.”

DJ AKADEMIKS EXPOSED FOR TAKING MONEY FROM ARTIST TO POST THEIR
MUSIC

AS I’VE ALWAYS TOLD YOU
WHEN YOU SEE 95 % OF ARTIST
ON SPOTIFY PLAYLIST OR GETTING TALKED ABOUT BY DJ AK
OR SAY CHEESE ETC ETC
EVEN BREAKFAST CLUB
WITH LABELS

IT’S ALL PAYOLA

NOT TALENT BASED pic.twitter.com/vx6zo05LzW
— MASTER STUDENT (@MUSICANDBUILDS) May 21, 2026

The clip began gaining traction on X with some accusing Akademiks of taking payments from artists to post their music. Others argued that Ak has been open about his approach to managing his Instagram account and promoting music.

Akademiks Responds To Payola Allegations

Wait they thought they were revealing some new stuff?? I’m pretty transparent good or bad
— DJ Akademiks (@Akademiks) May 21, 2026

In response to an X post that argued the pay-for-post scheme was part of Akademiks’ business model, the media personality stated that he never tried to hide the fact that he accepted payment. “Wait they thought they were revealing some new stuff??” he tweeted. “I’m pretty transparent good or bad.”

What’s interesting is that these accusations surfaced the same week that Jeremy Hecht alleged that Akademiks takes payments from the head of Truth Social, as well as every major label.

Check out Akademiks’ post above and let us know your thoughts in the comments below. Do you think it’s fair for artists to pay for posts on pages like Akademiks?

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Sexyy Red Gushes About Working With Drake On His New Album Trilogy

Gabriel Bras Nevares — Fri, 22 May 2026 14:48:25 +0000

Sexyy Red has a long friendship and collaborative history with Drake, being one of his closest collaborators over the past few years. They already gave fans songs like “Rich Baby Daddy” and “U My Everything” in the past. Last week, they dropped off two new collabs as part of the ICEMAN‘s new album trilogy. She appears on “Cheetah Print” from MAID OF HONOUR and “Hurrr Nor Thurr” from HABIBTI.

The St. Louis femcee recently spoke to Complex about the process of working with the 6ix God for these new releases. She couldn’t be happier with how they turned out, and had a lot of praise for his studio talents.

“Working with Drake always fun as hell ’cause he really be in his bag,” Sexyy reportedly remarked. “And for real for real he got the best ear in music.”

She spoke further on their “Cheetah Print” collab in particular. That’s a pretty divisive cut from these new LPs, but it’s an undeniably fun song at the very least. “We was definitely on that ‘Cha Cha Slide’ type timing,” Sexyy Red expressed.

“I knew it was going up when I opened TikTok and everybody was using the sound,” she continued concerning “Cheetah Print.” “I ain’t even expect it to blow that fast. But seeing people shake a**, make videos, and really f**k with the song like that made me happy ’cause we had so much fun making [‘Cheetah Print’].”

Drake’s New ICEMAN Trilogy

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Elsewhere, other Drake collaborators on this new trilogy are speaking about their experience. Molly Santana wowed fans on ICEMAN‘s “Ran To Atlanta” alongside Future, and Complex‘s Jordan Rose talked to her about the link-up.

“Obviously, Drake hit me up and said, ‘Future said your name, we got to get you on this song,’” she recalled. “And I was like, ‘This has to be destiny.'”

Other artists are also talking about Drake’s trilogy, even if they weren’t involved in the process behind them. Jack Harlow revealed ICEMAN is his favorite of the three, praising The Boy’s writing. We’ll see if any other collaborators, friends, and fans chime in on this massive event.

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Body Dangerous – Song by Loe Shimmy

Gabriel Bras Nevares — Fri, 22 May 2026 14:22:25 +0000

Loe Shimmy wasted absolutely no time in capitalizing off of the hype of his “I’m Spent” feature on the new Drake album HABIBTI. He returned a week later to share his new single “Body Dangerous,” which represent many of the same strenghts he displayed on that first-time collab. The Florida artist’s new song, though, is even darker in its presentation. There’s little filling the space between sparse trap drums beyond ghostly chords, a wailing sample every now and then, and Shimmy’s nasal delivery. But the atmosphere and pocket his flow emphasizes is more than enough to make this lustful cut feel compelling.

Release Date: May 22, 2026

Genre: Hip-Hop

Album: N/A

Quotable Lyrics from Body Dangerous

Come and tell me how you want it, different flavors my garage,
Pretty b***h like Nicki, say she wanna have ménage,
Making love in foreign cars,
Couple mil’ inside the mattress, thеy can’t f**k with me at all

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2POPS – Song by Tyga

Gabriel Bras Nevares — Fri, 22 May 2026 14:12:01 +0000

Tyga has been sharing a lot more new material via his livestreams and social media link-ups. He’s making sure to share his recent work with fans even outside of that context. The new single “2POPS” is an unsurprisingly sunny and upbeat West Coast cut led by slightly warbled string samples, light synths, and a bouncy percussive pattern. The Compton native comes through with some fun flows as well. Although he doesn’t venture far from what’s expected in the Cali style. Still, it’s exactly Tyga’s element, so it still makes for a fun record that might get stuck in your head.

Release Date: May 22, 2026

Genre: Hip-Hop

Album: N/A

Quotable Lyrics from 2POPS

Girls getting on when I pop in,
This is not a mixtapе, b***h, I’m locked in,
Hop the top on the drop with a top ten,
Water on my diamonds like Aquaman

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Floyd Mayweather Reportedly Hit With $1M Child Support Order Following Paternity Ruling

Aron A. — Fri, 22 May 2026 14:00:09 +0000

Floyd Mayweather is facing another blow to his finances after a court ordered him to pay nearly $1 million in retroactive child support. This comes after a Nevada court determined that he’s the father of a 4-year-old girl.

Per court documents obtained by TMZ Sports, Mayweather was recognized as the child’s father back in March. In the ruling, the judge ordered that he pay $32,850 per month in ongoing support, in addition to $933,050 in unpaid back support.

The case was initially filed in June 2023 when the child’s mother, Paige Moorehead, sought legal confirmation that Mayweather is the father of her daughter, born in December 2021. Moorehead claimed that she and Mayweather were involved in a long-term relationship for several years until they parted ways.

In her filing, Moorehead claimed the relationship ended after she informed Mayweather she was pregnant. She also alleged that he encouraged her to terminate the pregnancy and later dismissed her from her position at Girl Collection, the Las Vegas strip club owned by the retired fighter, where she had reportedly worked for several years.

Floyd Mayweather Enters Default Judgment

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Court records indicate that Mayweather failed to comply with multiple directives tied to the paternity proceedings, including requests related to DNA testing. As a result, the judge ultimately entered a default judgment establishing legal paternity.

The court further noted that only a fraction of the ordered support has been paid so far, with approximately $151,000 reportedly contributed toward the total amount owed. To secure future payments, the judge authorized Moorehead to pursue liens against certain California properties owned by Mayweather, reportedly totaling up to $2 million in value. The child is believed to be Mayweather’s fifth.

The recent headlines come after headlines earlier this month that Mayweather’s alleged tax debt could lead him to lose his passport. This is particularly problematic for Mayweather as he’s preparing for a fight against Manny Pacquiao overseas.

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Unlocked – Song by French Montana, Max B & Kanye West

Gabriel Bras Nevares — Fri, 22 May 2026 13:56:55 +0000

French Montana and Max B have been dropping a lot of music together since the latter’s release from prison, tapping collaborators like Kanye West for their new album Wave Gods 2: Cosmos Brothers. “Unlocked” is where the three meet up, and fans were excited to hear it based on previous teases. French, Max, and Ye all trade pretty solid verses, besides an ICE bar from Montana. The beat is pretty aggressive with heavy bass and trap-style drums, and a high-pitched synth tone provides minimal melody. Also, there are a lot of charismatic and clever bars throughout, and each artist stands out. This is an easy highlight from Wave Gods 2, but not the only track worth listening to.

Release Date: May 22, 2026

Genre: Hip-Hop

Album: Wave Gods 2: Cosmos Brothers

Quotable Lyrics from Unlocked

Got the flows, lots of clothes, private floor, smoke the O’s, poke the holes,
Now the cooking pots, put cocaine on the stove,
I ain’t tryning to stretch the eight, I’m just tryna test your fate,
Stretch your plate, take your head, my bread and butter, steak and eggs, see?

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