Emerging on the scene wearing black pants, a black hat and white sneakers, Ice Cube let us know that he'd be stomping for years to come. The years of long hair now behind him, he's been able to traverse the field with a slew of other profitable endeavors from movies to endorsements. However, it's clear that Cube has never left the music world and he continues to work on new material. This July will see yet another Ice Cube release, one that he recently promoted while headlining Murs' Paid Dues Festival. Recently, he spoke with BallerStatus about the new album and two songs that may have fans excited for its release.

"Pretty soon, the machines are going to take over. That's just real. It's happening in all of our lives," he says of "Man Vs. Machine," a new cut off the album. He explained that the album deals with human dependence on technology. But, the topical rhymes don't end there.

"Robbin' Hoods" is another track he shared, which has a theme about the rich stealing from the poor. In the interview, he explained that making this song sets him apart from various other emcees who have other topical choices.

"Big corporations is now stealing from the poor and giving to the rich...It's everything people are going through. It's real shit that ain't got nothing to do with money, cars and all the shit most rappers talk about," he noted.

Another song off the album, "Drink the Kool-Aid," got some publicity when it seemed Cube was taking shots at former group member Dr. Dre. Recently, Cube addressed the lines in the song and added that he would like to assist with Detox, noting "I'd never diss the man that got me started," perhaps omitting mentions of their previous feuds.

Dame Dash had a lot to say in his latest The Art Of Dialogue interview, and it mostly concerns the Yankee Stadium shows from his former friend Jay-Z. He continues to hate on Hov's moves for all sorts of reasons, and one of the big ones is how the guests he invited to perform alongside him aren't his real friends at all. More specifically, Dame was referring to Fat Joe and Jadakiss popping out for the crowd, recalling their previous beef history when the interviewer brought it up.

"It's ironic. It's funny that the only people that will hang out with Jay now are his ex-enemies," he remarked. "Isn't that weird? But none of his friends. Does that make sense to you? Now, I'm dancing on stage with my enemies, with our nemesis, with our opps, and none of your friends are on stage with you? Except Memphis Bleek? That doesn't seem odd to you? [...] You guys are dumb, man... I'ma keep laughing at y'all."

Ironically, Dash said rap beef "wasn't real" and downplayed its effect, going onto criticize Jay-Z's freestyle.

Of course, there are some "real friends" fans can point to from the Yankee Stadium shows, namely Beyoncé and their daughter Blue Ivy Carter. But what Dame Dash referred to seemed to be more about the folks who have always been in his corner from day one, of which Bleek was the only one.

Still, bringing out Jaz-O, Nas, Joe, Jada, and others despite either previous grievances or not as long of a history together proved to be a compelling move for most fans out there.

Dame Dash's other recent disses towards Jay-Z include the claim that he's nowhere near the same level as Kanye West. That's another legend selling out stadium shows these days, and Ye actually showed love to Hov recently.

This also follows Dame Dash's bizarre AI video at Jay-Z's concert, which featured him getting on stage and then getting arrested by law enforcement for child support payments. Whoever Jay's "real friends" are these days, Dame will not show up anywhere near that list for seemingly the rest of time.

On the ICEMAN intro "Make Them Cry," its lead artist Drake takes aim at a former colleague who sold his OVO chain and claimed someone snatched it. It doesn't explicitly specify the chain as an OVO one, but the context is there. "To me, he sold the only thing that has ever mattered / I could never forgive such a nefarious action," he concludes his raps on the subject. Many folks pointed the finger at Top5 considering the rapper's recent beef with Drake, and one of these folks is Joe Budden.

Budden reacted to the new album on his podcast, overall praising the effort. When he and his cohosts discussed this OVO chain line, Joe assumed Top was the target, positing Drizzy would know he's the type to sell his owl chain. But Budden's cohosts pushed back, arguing that assumption doesn't explain why the 6ix God sounds so hurt over the sale. After all, he wouldn't have much good will towards Top, as the Toronto MC went against him after years of friendship.

"Top5 shouldn't have had an owl chain," Joe Budden expressed. Ice presumed this chain-seller isn't Top, and it seems like he himself agrees. As caught by No Jumper on Instagram, Top5 recently took to his Instagram Story to respond to this discussion, denying he ever had an OVO chain in the first place.

"I never owned a owl chain in my life you fool [five crying-laughing emojis] @joebudden I'LL BOOM IT ON YOU," he wrote. We'll see if this mystery ever gets resolved.

For those unaware, Top5 and Drake got into beef after years of camaraderie as Toronto artists. The latter even assisted the former with legal trouble, helping cover his legal fees in his first-degree murder case.

But things took a turn when the OVO mogul promoted new music from fellow Toronto artist Pressa on social media. Pressa and Top have beef, and the latter felt betrayed by Aubrey Graham not sticking by him in it.

Since then, Top5 has continued to diss Drake, although Drizzy hasn't responded to any of it publicly or explicitly. Except, perhaps, for this alleged "Make Them Cry" reference.

Rick Ross was seemingly ready to mend things with Drake, but the ICEMAN disses got in the way. However, a surprising result of that trade was Ross scathingly dissing podcast hosts Rory and Mal for "glazing" the Toronto superstar. But he also threw some shade at Mal's brother Kareem "Biggs" Burke, the cofounder of Roc-A-Fella.

"Rory and Mally, I see why Joe Budden fired you losers," Rozay remarked online, as caught by Ahmed/The Ears on Twitter. "Let Biggs Burke know the boss is waiting for him to come kiss the ring... I want to talk about Biggs Burke. That n***a ain't pay his taxes. How he went broke? What he was doing? He got caught with 20 bags of weed... None of the royalties, none of the business, none of the money. Man, I'll make Dame [Dash] go in on y'all n***as. You glazers, d**k-sucking little peons."

However, Ross seemed to backtrack this in a social media video caught by @TheRocSupremacy on Twitter. "Biggs Burke, you got somebody that loves you," he expressed. "You got somebody that really loves you. I'ma leave it at that. I love that person too. But you other d**k-sucking minis, you other glazers, don't nobody love y'all."

On the New Rory & Mal podcast, Rory Farrell and his partner didn't respond much to the Maybach Music Group mogul, at least directly. But their cohost Zip certainly did, going off on him during the show.

"Yo, Ross... If you ever say some s**t like that again about some d**k-sucking s**t, we gon' talk about how many d**ks you saw as a correctional officer," he remarked, as caught by 2Cool2Blog on Twitter. "Don't never say no s**t like that to none of my n***as again...

This was a very interesting development to see given that it started with the "Lord Knows" duo feuding. For those unaware, Rick Ross' beef with Drake emerged during the Kendrick Lamar battle of 2024. The former collaborators went at each other for an alleged cease and desist to French Montana in Ross' case and jealous betrayal from Drake's perspective. While a hatchet burial seemed to be on the cards, it seems completely out of the question now.

Lil Wayne is and always will be a hip-hop legend. Still, the rapper's felt his heyday's passing stronger than he might have expected. Via Twitter, he complained in today's wee hours (Saturday, April 18) about institutions and events like the Grammys and Coachella not involving him in recent years. The 43-year-old thanked his fans for being the ones to hold him up.

"It’s truly a humbling experience when events like Coachella & the Grammys come around & like clockwork,I’m uninvited & uninvolved," Weezy wrote. "I appreciate my position or space I hold in ya heart & mind if so. bc you’re the humbling experience that’s timeless & 4dat I thk u. Iaints**twithoutu."

The message is kind of random and a bit unclear, but Lil Wayne has complained about the Grammys before. So a lack of nominations for projects like Tha Carter VI is understandably frustrating for its artist, even if that record was panned in addition to being a legacy piece. He most recently performed at the 2023 ceremony.

Coachella-wise, Tunechi performed at Indio's affiliated Revolve Festival during its first weekend in 2025. Wayne also joined G-Eazy's set for a guest performance in 2016. But he's never headlined or had his own set at the music festivities, something that makes him feel left out.

Still, calling this a "truly humbling experience" suggests Wayne might feel a bit more reflective, understanding, or determined than the tweet suggests. But he's complained about his place in the industry these days plenty of times before. So this doesn't seem very different at face value.

The most notable example of this is Lil Wayne's Super Bowl situation from the past two years. When Jay-Z announced Kendrick Lamar as the halftime show's headliner in New Orleans, many fans thought the Young Money boss deserved the spot instead.

He spoke on that disappointment, but he eventually moved onto bigger things. It seems like the New Orleans MC still feels some bad blood over his status and the flowers the music world gives him. Hopefully he can either get his wishes through hard work or secure other satisfying achievements, whether it's awards or performances. In the former category, Lil Wayne has five Grammy wins from 28 nominations.

Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, is dealing with a lot of ups and downs following the release of his new album BULLY. While hardcore fans seemed pleased with the project, many folks continue to condemn his various performances all over the world, whether they already happened or were on the schedule. Following other concert cancelations, show postponements, and travel bans, Switzerland and specifically its soccer club FC Basel are the latest to pull the plug on a Kanye performance.

According to Reuters, the club made the announcement about canceling the June show today (Saturday, April 18) as event coordinators for the St. Jakob-Park venue. "FCB received an enquiry and considered it," the statement reportedly read. "However, after thorough review, we have decided ​not to proceed with the project, as ​we cannot, in accordance with our values, provide a platform ‌for ⁠the artist in question within this context."

"In principle, FC Basel is very keen to make greater use of St. Jakob-Park for concerts and events in the future, and we consider such enquiries carefully," a spokesperson for the club reportedly told The Athletic. As for the "values" the statement referred to, this is over Kanye West's antisemitic rhetoric and backlash to it.

Ye still has concerts scheduled this year in Turkey, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, India, and Portugal, according to his website. In fact, more specifically, Kanye West's Netherlands show recently got an update. The city of Arnhem's mayor Ahmed Marcouch spoke on hosting two shows there, positing that there might not be a legal basis to deny him his performances despite his "disgusting" remarks.

With all this in mind, it seems like there's more and more pressure for venues and organizers overseas to retract their bookings. This follows the Yeezy mogul's sold-out shows in Los Angeles earlier this month. As such, there's still a big disconnect when it comes to landing on a common response to his behavior.

Still, we will see what happens with those other performances soon while the discourse evolves. There's a clear line between redemption and accountability, and we will see if future developments impact Ye's cultural staying power.

J. Cole surprised his fans a couple of weeks ago when he revealed that he would be going to China to play professional basketball. It was announced that he would play for the Nanjing Monkey Kings of the Chinese Basketball Association.

Overall, there was quite a bit of hype surrounding this. Following brief stings in the BAL and the CEBL, fans were hopeful that Cole could have himself a good time. Over the weekend, he made his debut, registering eight minutes of playing time. While he failed to score a point, he was given an ovation by the crowd, which must have felt really good.

Unfortunately, on Monday, Cole announced that his stint in China was officially over. It was a surprising announcement given the fact that Cole's stint in China had just started. Some assumed it was due to his performance. However, it turns out it was a VISA issue.

"Initially I was scheduled to play in at least 3 games for the Nanjing Monkey Kings of the CBA," Cole explained. "The work visa process took way longer than expected, so I was only able to play in one before heading back.:

Regardless, Cole seems to be very thankful for the experiene. In his blog post, he noted that he had himself a good time, and that the franchise was very welcoming to him.

"I want to say thank you to the Nanjing club and to the CBA for allowing me to have that incredible experience," Cole wrote. "Also to my teammates who were mad cool, and who really wanted me to get a bucket! I got to play 8 minutes in one of the top leagues in the world, got a few good looks but wasn't able to hit one. A couple more games and maybe those shots would have started to fall! Either way I'm fulfilled and grateful! Shit, I feel like I dropped 20 !!!"

While things didn't end the way Cole hoped, he still got the experience of a lifetime. The CBA is easily the best league he has played in so far, and it seems like he cherished the opportunity. Realistically, that is all that matters.

It's no secret that Drake and Kendrick Lamar traded some serious allegations amid their viral rap beef. According to Gillie Da Kid, however, there may not have been much truth to any of them. During a recent episode of the Million Dollaz Worth Of Game podcast, he discussed Kendrick's infamous allegation that Drake is a sexual predator. He claims that people went along with that narrative simply because they wanted to see the Toronto MC fall from grace once and for all.

"As Black people, we was dying to see Drake f*cking lose a battle," he claimed. "Think about that. Not me personally, but as Black people, look how many people jumped on board. [...] Ain't nothing came out about that n***a f*cking with no kids or nothing, man. But you can have a whole arena singing that sh*t. 'And it's probably a minor.'"

"Ain't none of that came out," Gillie continued. "Supposed to have a fake baby on the side, ain't none of that came out. So Black people run with a lie faster than they'll run with the truth as long as it's bringing a n***a down."

"That's just the reality of it," he concluded. "Motherf*ckers will put smut on your name whether it's right, wrong, indifferent. It don't matter. People on social media love a beautiful lie. They love a beautiful lie. I could make up some sh*t right now, and it'll have no truth to it, and it don't matter. 'Gillie said it, it's got to be somewhat true.' N****s don't give a f*ck, man."

Gillie's latest remarks come as Drake continues to tease his long-awaited ninth studio album, ICEMAN. The project still doesn't have an official release date at the time of writing, but it's expected to drop sometime this year.

The bar is set high, and it looks like the Grammy winner doesn't plan on disappointing. "This comeback is personal," he wrote on his Instagram Story last week. "It's an apology to myself."

Trap Dickey has signed with Top Dawg Entertainment, the record label announced exclusively to Variety on Tuesday. In doing so, he is joining a roster that includes SZA, ScHoolboy Q, and Doechii, among other artists. Kendrick Lamar famously spent the majority of his career there as well.

Anthony “Top Dawg” Tiffith, founder and CEO of Top Dawg Entertainment, said to the outlet: “Trap Dickey has a real story that comes straight from his life. That kind of authenticity is exactly what we look for at TDE. We’re excited to welcome him to our roster.”

Trap Dickey used a basketball comparison to describe the move. “Being signed to TDE feels like joining the Golden State Warriors or the Lakers,” he said. “I’m looking forward to a winning season with TDE.”

Trap Dickey hails from Hartsville, South Carolina, and earned his mainstream breakthrough with the release of “Blue Devils" in 2023. He teamed up with DaBaby for a remix of the song. He's since collaborated with Boosie Badazz and BigXthaPlug. He also made an appearance at the 12th Annual TDE Christmas Concert and Toy Drive in Los Angeles in December. He previously discussed his relationship with TDE during an interview with Bootleg Kev. “You on TDE would be crazy,” Kev said during the interview, to which Dickey responded, “Trap Dickey, TDE, that’d be really nice.” Last year, he appeared on Kai Cenat's “Mafiathon 3” livestream series and performed his own “On The Radar” freestyle.

Fans on social media appear to be loving the signing. "I’ve been slapping Trap Dickey for the past 2 years and he’s coming to the home label? Magic right here," one user wrote on X (formerly Twitter). Another added: "Trap Dickey been working for a long time. Hope he continues to win."

2 Chainz recently reflected on his collaborative relationship with Drake, explaining to Cam Newton on his show, Funky Friday, how their hit song with A$AP Rocky, "F**kin' Problems," came together. He explained that he originally sent his contribution to the song as a full verse, which Drake and 40 changed into the hook.

"What y'all heard, the final thing was probably due to Drake's genius," he said. "I did a song with Drake. the hook that y'all hear was a verse. It was a part of my verse. This is only my second or third time even telling this story. I wrote a verse for Drake, I never heard the song. He reconstructed that song, took that part out of my verse, made it a hook. Him and 40, his producer, made the beat, and they put the whole song together. By the time I heard it, I was more confused than anything, but it did have all those people on it." Overall, the song features A$AP Rocky, Drake, 2 Chainz, and Kendrick Lamar.

From there, he explained that he was hesitant about the song at first, admitting he might've wanted to have a verse on it. "It ended up working out for everybody," he concluded.

In addition to "F**kin' Problems," Drake and 2 Chainz have worked together on several other occasions over the years. They teamed up for the 2012 hit "No Lie" as well as "Big Amount," "Sacrifices," and more.

In other news, Drake is currently working on his next studio album, Iceman. He has already shared several singles from the project, including "What Did I Miss?", "Which One" featuring Central Cee, and "Dog House" featuring Yeat and Julia Wolf. It's unclear who else he'll be collaborating with on the project. While he hasn't confirmed a release date yet, he has said it'll be dropping at some point in 2026.

Recently, Dr. Dre decided to part ways with his luxurious Malibu beach house and made a nice chunk of change in the process. A Zillow listing shows that the property was sold on March 3 for a whopping $16.5 million. The mogul purchased it back in 2000 for $4.8 million. Reportedly, he listed it for sale at $20 million in 2022.

It boasts three levels, a private gym, studio, deck, and more. Other amenities include a wood-burning fireplace, gorgeous ocean views, a home office, a sauna, and an entertainment area. It has six bedrooms and seven bathrooms. It's located at Carbon Beach, which is nicknamed Billionaire’s Beach thanks to the wealthy people who inhabit it.

News of Dr. Dre's home sale comes right after it was revealed that he hit a major financial milestone.

Forbes updated its list of the richest people in the world yesterday (March 10), and he made the cut for the first time ever. According to the outlet, his net worth is a staggering $1 billion, putting him at No. 3,332 on the list.

This makes him the second-richest hip-hop artist on the list, following none other than Jay-Z. It also makes him the sixth musical artist on the list, and ties him with Beyoncé. This is all due to his highly successful music career, headphone brand, investments, and real estate.

Dr. Dre's riches are far from all he has going for him these days, however. He also has some new music on the way, including a collab with T.I. The Atlanta rapper shared the big news during a conversation with AllHipHop over the weekend. “Dr. Dre blessed me with a record,” he explained. “It happens to have Anderson .Paak on it and a young lady by the name of Stallone. It’s a dope record. It’s called ‘Where I’m From.’ Dope record.”