His ICEMAN sculpture in downtown Toronto was the perfect example of this. Fans gathered around the sculpture with mallets and blow torches so that they could get to the release date faster. It was an impressive showing, and it proves that despite everything that has happened, Drake remains someone who is adored.

With that being said, the man’s mere presence can apparently drive a grown man to tears. Case in point, a video hit social media on Monday evening, depicting a man driving his car down the street where Drake lives in Toronto.

In the clip, Drake’s envoy of black SUVs can be seen driving past at unusually fast speeds. From there, the man begins to cry, noting that Drake was in one of the vans. The artist’s presence makes him emotional, and it almost feels like some sort of parody.

Read More: Drake Dominated 2016 Ten Years Ago & Hasn’t Let Up

Drake Fans Are Something Else

Whether or not Drake ends up disappointing fans like the man above remains to be seen. There is still a lot that needs to be figured out about ICEMAN. We don’t have a lead single, and we don’t even have the cover art. At this point, the album is still shrouded in mystery despite all of the promotion we’ve seen over the past few months.

Whatever the case may be, this is going to be a fascinating rollout. Drake has not dropped a solo project since the release of For All The Dogs back in 2023. Fans are expecting him to drop something that showcases his hunger to be the best. The last few albums have shown artistic stagnation. Now, they want something a bit more creative and daring.

Read More: Beyoncé’s “Lemonade” Is 10 Years Old & Still Feels Like A Cultural Reset

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“It looks like Nicki Minaj dumped her husband, Kenneth Petty,” DJ Vlad captioned a screenshot of the sex offender registry. “According ot the sex offender registry, he’s now living in a tiny 800-square-foot house in Jamaica, Queens, instead of the $20M Hidden Hills mansion Nicki owns. The rumor is that he got another girl pregnant, but that’s not confirmed. Is this the greatest bag fumble of all time?”

In turn, fans online have been sharing plenty of jokes about the situation. “How she get cheated on by a man that wasn’t even allowed to leave his home, is she that bad??” one fan on X (formerly Twitter) wrote in response to the account, Red Media. Another asked: “Is that why she hasn’t commented on megan’s cheating man.” That remark refers to Megan Thee Stallion accusing Klay Thompson of cheating on her over the weekend.

Read More: Meek Mill Can’t Escape His Own Digital Footprint

Other fans of Minaj have come to the couple’s defense. When one argued that Petty could be stretching the truth about his current address to help hide the rapper’s home, Vlad fired back: “That’s not how the sex offender registry works, idiot. It’s where you’re physically located. You think Nicki and their son are living with him in that tiny house? Barbs are really the stupidest people on earth.” As of Tuesday morning, Vlad has deleted his posts.

Why Is Kenneth Petty On The Sex Offender Registry?

Kenneth Petty has been on the sex offender registry since 1995, when he was convicted of first-degree attempted rape. In 2021, authorities accused him of failing to update his most recent address with the registry.

Read More: Drake Dominated 2016 Ten Years Ago & Hasn’t Let Up

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“I knew a gun was going to be used to shoot Jason Mizell,” he told a federal magistrate, per NBC News. “I knew that what I was doing was wrong and a crime.”

Bryant’s role in the murder was first revealed in 2023 when he was charged in a superseding indictment. “More than two decades after the coldblooded, execution-style killing of Mr. Mizell, an exhaustive investigation revealed Bryant’s role,” US Attorney Joseph Nocella Jr. said in a statement.

Bryant did not name the other people he claims to have helped. In 2024, however, two other men were convicted in Jam Master Jay’s death: Ronald Washington and Karl Jordan Jr. Jordan’s conviction was overturned in December.

Read More: Meek Mill Can’t Escape His Own Digital Footprint

Who Killed Jam Master Jay?

“After a review of the trial record, the court finds that the government’s theories of Jordan’s drug-related motive to kill [Jay] or drug offense-related motive to use a firearm are impermissibly speculative and just conjecture,” Judge LaShann DeArcy Hall stated at the time. “Jordan has met the heavy burden [under federal rules] to be granted a judgment of acquittal.”

Earlier this month, Judge DeArcy Hall granted him a $1 million bond. For now, however, he remains behind bars on separate drug charges. “There’s a real chance, Mr. Jordan, that you may be released in the very near term,” U.S. District Judge LaShann DeArcy Hall told him in court. “I wish you luck. And you will stay out of trouble.”

Jordan could have been released shortly after that, but prosecutors ended up appealing his acquittal of two federal murder counts. As for Washington, his guilty ruling still stands.

Read More: Drake Dominated 2016 Ten Years Ago & Hasn’t Let Up

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Her father is one of the most talented producers of all-time, so it just makes sense that she would have some chops as well. With that being said, many have wondered whether or not North would ever drop a project.

Well, we now have our answer. On Friday, May 1, North West will be coming through with her debut EP N0rth4evr. This EP is going to come with six tracks, and it also comes with some black metal-inspired cover art. Clearly, North has a very distinct aesthetic in mind going into this.

Read More: Drake Dominated 2016 Ten Years Ago & Hasn’t Let Up

North West Set To Drop New EP

One has to wonder what kind of features North West will have on this album. Of course, there is always the possibility that she handles this album completely solo. After all, it is her debut, and there are only six tracks here. However, if she does decide to put some features on the album, then we will likely see some interesting names.

For instance, there is Lil Novi, Lil Wayne’s son, who is tapped into the underground scene. He has used North’s beats in the past, and these two would be natural collaborators. Meanwhile, there is always the possibility that North is able to get her father on the album.

Either way, the anticipation for this new project is mounting, and we are excited to see and hear what North comes up with. She is still young and has a long career ahead of her. No matter what, this is a big step for her, and there is no doubt that her debut is highly anticipated.

Read More: Beyoncé’s “Lemonade” Is 10 Years Old & Still Feels Like A Cultural Reset

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This isn’t just another bad Meek Mill tweet. It epitomizes why he can’t outrun this image of who he is. What’s worse is that it only reinforces Charlamagne’s recent comments about Meek Mill, how the Philadelphia rapper never managed to outlive the “Twitter fingers” allegations that Drake threw in his direction on “Back To Back.” But for Meek, one crash out shaped a public identity that he couldn’t shake, not because of Drake or their beef, but because of a consistent behavioral pattern that’s taken shape over the past decade. That one night didn’t define his reputation indefinitely, especially since people became aware of his substance abuse issues during that time. Fans have been forgiving of that moment, yet Meek has constantly proven, intentionally or otherwise, that social media is his biggest enemy.

The tweet about D4vd is emblematic of this issue. As many conspiracy theories have floated on the internet since the discovery of Celeste’s body, someone with Meek’s influence shouldn’t be amplifying those narratives. This habit of tweeting before thinking often leaves even his most loyal defenders cringing with second-hand embarrassment.

Meek’s only leaned further into this persona online, which makes Charlamagne’s criticism far more valid. According to the Breakfast Club host, Meek never recovered from that beef. Meek tends to use social media like someone twice his age. His response to Charlamagne reinforced it. He offered a long, incoherent rant built on deflection and conspiracy.

The Philly spitter urged his followers to validate what he framed as a grand conspiracy working against him while suggesting Charlamagne Tha God is an agent for these supposed forces, while also veering into homophobia.

With Diddy, a lot of what has been explored has showcased an alleged pattern of someone with power continuously using it to exploit others. That’s not to say he exploited Meek, but the dynamic they shared has undoubtedly raised a few eyebrows. His proximity to the rich and powerful has drawn an equal amount of criticism, too. He’s developed close relationships with people like Jay-Z, who was not only by his side during the #FreeMeek campaign but also helped establish the REFORM Alliance. In his efforts to bring justice and help others who’ve faced injustices within the incarceration system, it’s also brought him into close proximity with people like Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s son-in-law. Obviously, you have to reach across the aisle sometimes to get things done, especially as it relates to government and policy. 

That makes Meek Mill’s online tirades since linking up with people like Robert Kraft or Michael Rubin far more questionable. How does one end up a regular at Rubin’s 4th of July White Party and tweet like an unsigned artist hoping to find a record deal? His proximity to power doesn’t stabilize his image. It exposes how unstable it is. It’s apparent when he declares his intention to use LinkedIn more than X to expand his networking or trying to crowdsource funding for his next album. After leaving the major label system, Meek hasn’t necessarily figured out the type of business strategy to become self-sufficient. For those who look up to him, it almost feels helpless watching a beacon of hope express himself like someone who hasn’t figured out a way out, while simultaneously sharing aspirations to go corporate.

That’s a big part of the disconnect between Meek Mill and the rest of the world. He wants us to take him seriously as a voice for the streets and the impoverished while aligning himself with the country’s most powerful figures. He’s trying to represent one world while visibly operating in another. That detachment from reality is what made someone like Jay-Z and Kanye West as successful as they are today. And it’s important to acknowledge that dichotomy, if that’s what you’re aiming for in the first place. He wants power, but his most uncanny thoughts sound insecure. His proximity to power is closer than the majority of his peers, yet he acts as though he’s as powerless as the rest of us.

Ultimately, that’s the issue: like most rappers trying to stay afloat in the 2020s, Meek, regardless of his talent and status, comes across as an internet personality whenever his Twitter fingers start to itch. But the way it comes out often works against him. Perhaps, there’s no better example of this than when his relationship with Diddy was placed under a microscope following Lil Rod’s lawsuit against the Bad Boy mogul. In the suit, it was suggested that “a Philadelphia rapper who dated Nicki Minaj” and Diddy were involved in a physical relationship. His attempts to dispel the rumors quickly backfired. 

“When I got a girl around me I’m f#%king her twice a day lol ask some of ya favorites … pussy don’t control me but it’s like a high… one love to the gay people but that juicy p#%sy do it for meeeeee  I done ran red lights to get that feeling yall weird on here like devils lol,” he tweeted. 

It quickly became part of Andrew Schulz’s comedy bit, one that even Meek found hilarious. However, the ineffective attempts to address it quickly turned on him. By September 2025, he was declaring his willingness to put six figures behind an investigation into the matter. Maybe there is a higher power trying to destroy Meek’s influence, but so far, he’s only managed to reinforce the negativity and rumors every time he tries to respond to it. His denial ultimately turns into content, and the cycle from jokes to memes to allegations to perceived reality sustains itself.

And that’s really the issue here, too. The internet doesn’t forget, and Meek’s relationship with the internet isn’t great, either. Whenever he releases new music, he proves to be an undeniable force of an MC, whose skillset from street corners never disappeared. At the same time, there’s this constant attempt to try to remove accountability from the type of perception and narrative that, in part, he created. Most recently, he suggested some larger power of trying to kill his reputation after he went independent, partially based on an audit of his own streaming numbers. 

“They Let these companies put campaigns on me over money while I got reform uplifting my people  …. I did that because it was real not for a image or for money … it kinda killed my spirit from being around that stuff!   All my shit sold out they tried me tho!” He wrote.

Outside of Meek’s words, there has been little to prove that there’s a malicious campaign against him. Every time he logs on, he fuels this theory more than the accounts in his own comment section. Meek Mill’s online presence often feels chaotic, lacking the clarity and purpose that has existed in his music. Those flashes of brilliance have become increasingly sporadic. Meek has put himself in an awkward position in his hopes of following the footsteps of people like Jay-Z and Rick Ross, and even people like Michael Rubin. The difference is that they’ve exhibited elite levels of self-control on the internet. Meek isn’t being undone by scandal or failure. We’ve watched Meek Mill define a version of himself in real time and then publish it for the world to remember.

The post Meek Mill Can’t Escape His Own Digital Footprint appeared first on HotNewHipHop.

In fact, the music video is quite harrowing. It is told from a POV perspective, which is quite rare these days. Overall, this makes for a more realistic take on what these shootings can look like.

On Tuesday morning, Vince Staples came through with a major announcement. As you can see below, he revealed that his new album is coming out on June 5th. The album is called Cry Baby, and the cover art consists of a red backdrop and a baby wearing an American flag diaper. The baby even has a strand of blond colored hair on the top of its head, which immediately makes you think of Donald Trump.

Read More: Drake Dominated 2016 Ten Years Ago & Hasn’t Let Up

Vince Staples Has A New Album Coming

When you consider some of the imagery here, paired with the music video, it becomes clear what Staples is looking to convey on this next album. Themes of white supremacy and white entitlement are certainly going to be present. Staples has never shied away from being critical of political power structures. However, he has never gone this far with his imagery, which makes it clear that this album is going to be a powerful one.

There have been some big releases so far this year. We’ve gotten J. Cole and A$AP Rocky, and we will also be getting Drake in just a couple of weeks from now. Adding Vince Staples to the mix just proves that 2026 has been a great year for the genre.

Over the coming weeks, we hope to hear more singles from Staples, who clearly has some big plans for this upcoming body of work. His June release could be an early Album of the Year contender.

Read More: Beyoncé’s “Lemonade” Is 10 Years Old & Still Feels Like A Cultural Reset

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Ironically caught by No Jumper, the “Big Mama” hitmaker dropped a carousel showing off her baby bump in casual clothing among other things. That photo in particular had the 55 Neighborhood Crips member drooling and led to him to write in her comments, “BLUETIFUL.”

However, he also took the moment to drop an additional sweet comment. “Congratulations,” Crip Mac added.

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Folks got a good laugh out of this, “He just given her a compliment take it easy comments [100 emoji shrugging emoji laughing emoji].” Another writes, “He’s serious too [laughing emoji].”

Overall, Crip Mac is someone who knows how to get a rise out of people and make people giggle. This comment was no different.

Read More: Beyoncé’s “Lemonade” Is 10 Years Old & Still Feels Like A Cultural Reset

When Is Latto Giving Birth To Her Child?

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But as for Latto, she’s been hard at work despite her body doing it all can to support her baby to be. If you didn’t know, she’s got another new project coming out later this spring called Big Mama.

It hits streaming on May 29 and will feature 17 songs. Three of them are out already, those being “Business & Personal (Intro),” “Somebody,” and “GOMF” with GloRilla.

When she announced the record in late March, she revealed her pregnancy at the same time. Shortly after that is when we learned that 21 Savage was all but confirmed to be the father through some baby shower invitations.

It’s unclear how long the Columbus born femcee has been carrying the baby but from the looks of it, it’s been quite a while. At this rate, it looks like it may arrive before May 29, but that’s speculation and nothing more.

Read More: Drake Dominated 2016 Ten Years Ago & Hasn’t Let Up

The post Crip Mac Shoots His Shot At Latto Despite 21 Savage Pregnancy appeared first on HotNewHipHop.

For example, while he has an album on the way this year in ICEMAN, it still hasn’t dropped it. But even with that being the case, he’s still setting records on DSPs like Spotify.

As caught by Complex Music, on April 24, Drizzy set the record for the most streams in one day on the platform for a rapper in 2026. The number you ask? 57.8 million!

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That beats out numbers from the likes of J. Cole, Kanye West, Don Toliver, and A$AP Rocky. What all of these MCS have in common is that they all dropped very big records.

Drake is doing this on anticipation alone. However, that’s not the only record he’s shattering.

Read More: Drake Dominated 2016 Ten Years Ago & Hasn’t Let Up

When Is Drake Dropping ICEMAN?

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As caught by Bars, The Boy is already at six million Spotify streams across all credits for this year. According to the outlet, he’s on a record-breaking pace. It’s unclear what the number is, but if he hits it, he will have the best year for a rapper ever.

Overall, it speaks to just how many people, haters or fans alike, are waiting for ICEMAN. The OVO boss has had a lot of important years in his career. However, 2026 may be the most vital as he’s coming off his loss against Kendrick Lamar and a drawn-out lawsuit over one of his diss tracks.

Pair that with a lot of people believing he hasn’t dropped a really great album since Views and you have what’s not only one of his most awaited releases, but maybe a project that could make or break his future album cycles.

There’s no doubt that Drake can still make hits. But the question is, with the whole world watching, can he deliver a banger project front to back? We will find out that answer on May 15.

Read More: Beyoncé’s “Lemonade” Is 10 Years Old & Still Feels Like A Cultural Reset

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Issues in Megan Thee Stallion’s relationship with Klay Thompson became public knowledge, over the weekend, when she accused him of cheating in a post on Instagram. She claimed that he was hesitant to be monogamous in their relationship and went through “mood swings” during the NBA season. “Cheating, had me around your whole family playing house… got ‘cold feet.’ Holding you down through all your HORRIBLE mood swings and treatment towards me during your basketball season now you don’t know if you can be ‘monogamous’???? B*tch I need a REAL break after this one .. bye yall,” she wrote over a black screen.

Read More: The Top 50 Best Drake Songs Of All-Time

Megan Thee Stallion & Klay Thompson’s Breakup

As that post went viral on social media, Megan confirmed their breakup in an official statement provided to TMZ. “I’ve made the decision to end my relationship with Klay,” she said. “Trust, fidelity and respect are non-negotiable for me in a relationship, and when those values are compromised, there’s no real path forward. I’m taking this time to prioritize myself and move ahead with peace and clarity.”

As for Klay Thompson, he has yet to address the situation. The two went public with their relationship back in July 2025, making several appearances with one another in the time since.

Thompson joined the Dallas Mavericks as part of a trade with the Golden State Warriors in 2024. Angel Reese, on a similar note, plays for the Atlanta Dream after the Chicago Sky traded her for the first-round picks in 2027 and 2028.

Read More: D4vd Charged With First-Degree Murder In Celeste Rivas Hernandez Case: Everything We Know

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“He dad may pull a– what’s the dude? Ksoo? This might be Ksoo’s dad part two. This dude be 50 years old in December,” he said. “He turns 50 this year. So, you know, 20 or 30 to him is a death sentence. And, he already knows there’s no more Pooh Shiesty run as an artist. That’s over… I wouldn’t be surprised. The dad is already telling on himself. He got in the back of the squad car and started telling the feds, ‘Yeah, I knew y’all was coming. My inside people already told me y’all was on us. So, I kind of expected y’all. I knew this was coming.’ So, when he went for his bail hearing, they used that against him.”

Williams Sr. argued in favor of his release on bond in a brief filed last week. He claimed that the government cannot provide “clear and convincing evidence” that he needs to remain behind bars.

Read More: The Top 50 Best Drake Songs Of All-Time

Pooh Shiesty’s Arrest

Authorities originally arrested Pooh Shiesty and his father, along with several other co-conspirators, for the alleged kidnapping and robbing of Gucci Mane, earlier this month. They claimed that the group organized a “coordinated takeover” of a Dallas music studio on January 10, 2026. There, they forced Gucci to release Shiesty from a contract with 1017 Records.

Gucci made his first public appearance since the arrest to perform at the halftime show of the UFL Birmingham Stallions’ home opener, earlier this month. At the event, fans in attendance yelled out “rat,” as seen in a viral video on social media. Pooh Shiesty still doesn’t have a trial date. His next hearing is scheduled for May.

Read More: D4vd Charged With First-Degree Murder In Celeste Rivas Hernandez Case: Everything We Know

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