The Game and Kendrick Lamar are both from Compton, and the comparisons and parallels between their careers continue to be a point of conversation. During a recent sit-down with Genius, Game talked about his track "Love It Or Hate It" from The Documentary III and explained his K.Dot reference on it, one of various on the LP.

"When the Doc came out, I brought my city a ring / Then Dot came out, 'Lil' homie, go do your thing' / 'Cause my Glock laid out for everything in between," the Compton MC rapped on the cut. Some people have theorized that The Game may have beef with Kendrick Lamar, but it's an idea he continues to shoot down.

"The first time I ever heard Kendrick rap, I knew two things," he said of the lyrical reference. "I knew that he would either rise to the occasion and be one of the greats, or that people would misunderstand his mission and his ability to be a super threat, as far as a lyricist and an MC was concerned. What I wanted was for him to get everything that he deserved. He knew what he wanted and, you know, he seized every opportunity."

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For those unaware, The Game's recent comments about Kendrick Lamar circle around the fan reception, criticism, and scrutiny he faced as a result of the Drake battle. Game is still cool with Drizzy, and won't turn his back on him just because of the Kendrick feud. This led to a lot of back-and-forth presumptions to emerge, whether it was related to the TDE camp or others in Los Angeles hip-hop.

Still, Game has consistently shut down any indication that he has a problem with Lamar, in the same way he's denied any assumptions that he's not riding behind his Toronto rival. There were many other references about this on The Documentary III, but they all lead to the same road.

Elsewhere, fans are wondering if Kendrick Lamar will drop soon, as some rumors continue to float the idea around. We'll just have to wait and see, and maybe he has something to say about all of this, too.

Rick Ross recently denied the domestic violence allegations against him after his release from jail. He was arrested earlier this week on misdemeanor battery and felony battery by strangulation charges, which he will reportedly not have to answer to in-person in court just yet. This follows earlier accusations from Jazzma Kendrick that still haven't been explicitly attributed to the criminal charges.

According to a court document from Thursday (October 1) reportedly obtained by Complex, the rapper provided a written waiver of his right to personally show up to pre-trial hearings in Florida over this battery case. As such, his legal team will represent him on his behalf during these conferences.

This follows a stay-away order in the case, which requires Ross to steer clear of the alleged victim for the duration of legal proceedings. The new waiver doesn't resolve the charges themselves, but it establishes defense attorney as the only ones on the defendant's side of the court who will hear about these matters in person, for now. We will see what the next steps are in establishing legal timelines.

Rick Ross was accused by his ex Jazzma Kendrick of physically abusing her last week. She posted a picture of her injured lip online along with her accusations. "I don't know a lot of things, but I do know that a man that puts his hands on me, is a man that never loved me and never will," Kendrick wrote on social media.

"It's always good until it isn't. If a man hits you one time, he will do it again. Don't give him the opportunity. Value your life and leave." Later, she thanked folks for their support.

However, it's important to note this criminal case against Ross does not explicitly name Kendrick as the alleged victim. The arrest affidavit identifies the alleged victim only as "JK," which led some fans to connect the dots. But this is not an outright confirmation yet.

The Maybach Music Group mogul's arraignment will reportedly take place on October 2, if everything goes according to the current schedule. He pleaded not guilty to the battery charges.

Drake has previously talked about his dislike of the term "tricking," which refers to someone buying another person gifts and spending a lot of money for the sake of companionship, attention, or compensation. Victoria Monét recently talked about this term during her interview with Complex amid her new album Frequency Of Love.

When interviewer Jillian Superstar called Drake a "professional trick," Monét laughed at the assessment but didn't comment on him specifically. In fact, the singer didn't mention his name. Still, the 6ix God responded to the debate about "tricking" between Victoria and Jillian in the comments section of Level Up Hip Hop's Instagram coverage of the interview moment.

"There's a return on investment in your soul for doing things for people who you feel deserve it," he wrote. "Whether you feel that way in the moment and they prove otherwise over time or it's a gesture to acknowledge consistent love and loyalty the difference is there isn't an expectation on the other side. It's self awareness that you have been blessed with an obscene amount of money and joy is the emotion that excites you the most. So once you have experience enough joy from material things for yourself sometimes the only way is to see the joy on faces after unexpected gestures for others. Transactional exchanges with the expectation of intimacy are a different frequency."

Now, it seems like Victoria Monét has allegedly responded to the situation. She reportedly commented under The Shade Room's post about Drizzy's response on Instagram, as caught by Night Owls on Twitter. However, the comment doesn't seem to be up on the page anymore if it was published in the first place.

"False news btw," Victoria allegedly wrote. "The interviewer mentioned his name. I did not. He also didn't respond. This is a comment from August that media is trying to run with."

It's unclear what she allegedly meant with the August comment. Some fans think it may have referred to the recording of the interview, while others pointed out the Toronto superstar spoke out against the "tricking" term in August of this year.

Maybe Monét realized her alleged comment was giving folks the wrong idea and deleted it. Either way, it's not like either artist necessarily disrespected or criticized the other. They were just talking about their thoughts on the term. Sadly, folks have misinterpreted and misrepresented the whole thing, leading to a barrage of social media attacks against both.

Victoria Monét previously said she hopes to work with Drake one day. It seems like this misunderstanding and subsequent backlash is diminishing those chances.

Joe Budden was not around for his podcast's latest episode, but fans didn't miss out on much. That's because its other hosts got into a heated argument about the "Not On Tor" tour, a series of live events organized by Tory Lanez while he serves his prison sentence for shooting Megan Thee Stallion.

For those unaware, this tour recently kicked off in New York City and will feature special guest performances, DJ sets, and an overall listening session for his material. While the JBP seems to agree that this is a creative idea for Tory to make the most out of his situation, they got into an argument over whether or not this warrants backlash against folks' support of the tour.

As caught by Restore World Order on Twitter, Marc Lamont Hill said he's all for prisoners making their due money, but can't condone Lanez's efforts without him accepting true accountability for his crimes. The rapper and his supporters continue to claim he is innocent and did not shoot Megan.

Marc compared this to his opposition to R. Kelly making money before being in prison when his allegations and crimes were ongoing, clarifying that he doesn't have a legally based issue with Tory's tour or with any incarcerated individual making money. Rather, his stance is more of a moral one concerning accountability. Lamont Hill said Lanez has a right to do this (and his fans have a right to support it), but he said he personally can't support it given the specific case.

Mona agreed, but took it a step further. She said there's a "type" of man that supports Tory Lanez's calls for freedom and reversal, being overly passionate and concerned over something that happened years ago. QueenzFlip pushed back on this assessment, saying he believes Tory's innocent and bringing up evidence allegedly supporting this.

From there, Ish asked Marc if he would feel differently if Lanez took accountability, and Lamont Hill said he would. However, things got heated when Flip said this conversation was unfair, arguing over the specific charges and convictions. It goes to show this is still a hot topic of debate in hip-hop.

The historic dynamic between Jay-Z and Kanye West is one of hip-hop's most consequential, turbulent, star-powered, and influential friendships in the culture. Even when they are at their lowest point, where Hov and Ye seemingly find themselves now, they still can't let go of all the great work they did together.

This was apparent during episode six of the JAŸ-Z In 8 docuseries with Rick Rubin as the host, during which Jay-Z praised Kanye West as an astounding creative. This quote went viral last week, but now we have the full context for it.

More specifically, the Roc Nation mogul spoke about his guest verse on Ye's 2021 Donda cut "Jail," on which he raps the following: "Donda, I’m with your baby when I touch back road / Told him, ‘Stop all of that red cap, we going home.’" Ye previously spoke on feeling angry with Jay-Z over this line, and during the latest episode of the docuseries, Jay reflected on this a little more.

He saw the line as a "blanket of protection" since Jay was also criticizing himself on the verse. "There was issues there and it was almost acknowledging the elephant [in the room]. I also know if it was switched, he would stand by the artistic integrity of what he created," Jay argued. He also said he told Kanye to take the verse off if he felt too uncomfortable with it.

These days, Kanye West and Jay-Z's dynamic is very complicated. That's apparent by the way in which the latter discussed their dynamic in this docuseries. While some folks believe social media activity indicates Ye might want to reconcile, it's clear Hov is not thinking about that as much. He dissed his Watch The Throne collaborator during his Roots Picnic freestyle, specifically over a disparaging rant Kanye targeted against Jay's kids with Beyoncé last year.

Regarding "Jail," though, all the arguments the duo had about it are ironic in hindsight. After all, it won Best Rap Song at the Grammys.

We will see if the Brooklyn MC ever truly speaks on his fallout with Ye in the near future. Kanye West has said a lot already, but not much since the aforementioned rant.

Papoose has been flaunting his relationship with Claressa Shields for a while now, but the drama with Remy Ma continues to get in the way. The former couple has launched cheating allegations against each other, and fans are debating over which one is holding up their ongoing divorce process. Now, with the release of Pap's new song and music video "Jezebel," things are heating up a little more.

On the song, he claims he treated her well, accused her of cheating (which he says he chose not to comment on publicly for the sake of their child), claimed she's lying about her cheating accusations against Papoose, and claimed he ghostwrote for her. Pap and Remy reportedly had a virtual divorce hearing yesterday (Friday, September 11), which is an important piece of context for what's been going on.

Angela Yee claimed Ma filed to dismiss the divorce, but a judge denied the request. However, the femcee seemed to deny these claims on Instagram, and fans are still debating over who is really dragging the court procedures out.

Also, Remy Ma's beef with Claressa Shields came up during all this. The root of their feud is the Papoose situation, but they allegedly messaged each other on IG before then in much more amicable and friendly ways, which Remy shared alleged receipts of online.

Not only that, but Remy's dropping a new song later in September with Keke Wyatt called "Why I Get Married?" She took to her Instagram page to share a teaser for the new track and music video, which will most likely be another chapter in this ongoing and contentious saga.

At the end of the day, what fans seem to be waiting on the most is a firm legal update concerning the two MCs' divorce. Until they get that, a lot of this back-and-forth between them and Claressa Shields is just messy fighting and allegations flying from one side to the other and back.

It's been a turbulent time, and some folks would rather see everyone involved here go their separate ways. But for now, they all seem committed to setting the record straight. We'll see how this concludes.

DJ Akademiks said he wouldn't be responding to Meek Mill, but their social media beef continues to rage on. After Meek ranted about Akademiks on Twitter and threatened to pull up to his house, Ak took to social media to show off his gun collection in response.

This follows the Philly MC blasting the commentator in new videos on social media. He also challenged him to go live together, which DJ Akademiks was not having at all.

Akademiks later posted a screenshot of Meek trying to get on a call with him via Instagram to no avail.

Also, he not only responded to the rapper on stream, but also in other social media videos. Meek Mill and DJ Akademiks have a long beef history, so this back-and-forth should come as no surprise.

For those unaware, the root of all this is how Meek blasted Akademiks for his Lil Durk trial coverage, accusing him of platforming detractors like 6ix9ine. Ironically, though, Tekashi had accused Ak of "going hard" for Durk. So all of this media debate and Internet speculation is having everyone face the scrutiny of both sides of the case, whether it's those supporting the Chicago rapper's not guilty verdict or condemning it.

Meek Mill previously commented on Lil Durk's trial and caused controversy for referring to him as an "innocent kid." Many folks thought the comment was tone-deaf and absolving Durk of any accountability, even if they didn't have to think he was guilty to reach this conclusion.

On the other hand, DJ Akademiks came up in the Lil Durk trial, specifically via his interview with the rapper. While prosecutors attempted to paint the conversation as an admission to murder-for-hire, jurors did not buy it. The judge in the case also expressed sympathy for Akademiks' anger at coming up in this way in court.

With all this in mind, we doubt Ak's conflict with Meek and their adjacent or direct debates about the Lil Durk situation will end anytime soon. It's an online war of words, and both men are happy to keep the animosity up until one, the other, or both call it quits.

Action Bronson just gave fans a detailed look at two upcoming colorways of his signature New Balance 2811. The photos show a light, off-white pair alongside a darker black and red option, side by side.

The off-white pair leans into a soft, mixed palette. Tan and white cover most of the upper, with light green, blue, and pink accents mixed throughout. It's a subtler build compared to some of Bronson's louder past releases.

The second pair flips that entirely. Black takes over the base, with a bold red "N" logo standing out on the side panel. Purple and white detailing runs through the mesh, giving the shoe a sharper, more aggressive look than its counterpart.

Both pairs sit on the same chunky sole built off the New Balance 2010's ABZORB cushioning. That foundation has carried the 2811 since its debut, giving Bronson room to experiment with upper materials and colors from there.

The consistency means each new colorway can push further with materials without changing how the shoe actually wears. It's the same approach New Balance has leaned on across other bulky lifestyle models in its current lineup.

The New Balance 2811 marks Bronson's first true signature silhouette with the brand. It officially launched earlier this year with the "Mikročpske" colorway, a pale green and teal build introduced through his own short film.

That release drew plenty of attention right out the gate. Since then, New Balance has kept rolling out new colorways to keep the model's momentum going.

Bronson's relationship with New Balance goes back to 2023, spanning more than a dozen collaborations across models like the 990v6, 1906R, and 1890. The 2811 represents the next step in that partnership, marking the first shoe built entirely around his own design input.

With 2 more colorways now previewed, the 2811 looks set to become a steady presence in Bronson's rotation. No release dates have been confirmed yet for either pair shown here.

BigXthaPlug has had a busy 2026 so far with the release of the 6WA project and fresh legal trouble he and his team must now continue to fight against. According to Fox 4, authorities in Collin County in Dallas, Texas arrested him yesterday (Friday, August 21) and booked into the county's prison. Per reported jail records, the rapper faces charges of unlawful possession of a firearm, possession of marijuana, and driving while intoxicated.

The Allen Police Department's actions led to him missing his scheduled slot at the Country Rising festival that day. Via social media, the festival announced the cancelation of BigX's set and called its context a "personal emergency."

According to Fox 4, the exact circumstances of his arrest and what led to it remains unclear. We will see if any more information about that emerges.

Elsewhere, KCCI reported that, according to fair officials, the Dallas MC is still slated to perform at the Iowa State Fair Grandstand show today (Saturday, August 22). "We are aware of reports regarding BigXthaPlug. We are in communication with his agent and at this time, we have been told he will still be performing," they reportedly stated.

This follows BigXthaPlug's previous legal trouble. This recent arrest was while he was out on bond for an arrest almost exactly a year ago on similar charges. BigX also faced an arrest in February of last year, but a court reportedly dismissed those charges. It's unclear how this most recent arrest will play into the active 2025 case, if at all.

He spoke out about the legal scrutiny he faced, claiming prosecutors tried to stick other charges to him. BigXthaPlug's other reflections on this situation indicate he and his legal team are confident they will emerge victorious in court.

However, this new arrest might complicate things moving forward. But there is still a lot of information fans don't have about its circumstances. Hopefully that changes in the near future.

In the meantime, folks will just have to wait and see if the Iowa State Fair Grandstand performance pulls through. If not, BigX might be in deeper trouble.

Duane "Keefe D" Davis is currently facing trial for the murder of Tupac Shakur, which he has pleaded not guilty to. However, amid both sides of the court's efforts to make their cases, there has been a lot of speculation about where things might go next. One of these claims is from Gene Deal, the former bodyguard of Diddy who recently spoke to The Art Of Dialogue in a new interview.

In it, he claimed he's facing pressure to testify in the Keefe D trial and speak on Diddy's alleged involvement in Tupac's murder. Furthermore, Deal alleged prosecutors want him to take the stand and speak on Eric "Von Zip" Martin being the alleged middleman between Keefe and Sean Combs.

"They want to put an association with Keefe D and Diddy," he alleged. "What they wanted Diddy at that time for is, Diddy would be the scapegoat of why there was such a thing called the East Coast and West Coast war. If he had Tupac killed, if he put up the money for Tupac to be killed, then it's easier for them to say the gangbangers and somebody associated with Death Row killed Biggie. So now, we got to keep this going. We got to use Keefe D and his association with Diddy.

"We got to keep their association going along with each other," Gene Deal continued. "So that's why he was saying that they wanted Diddy. [Biggie Smalls' mother] had that $400 million lawsuit against the LAPD. So they wanted to implicate Diddy in that whole stuff with Keefe D so they can get out of that whole situation of that lawsuit. They want me to show that Keefe D and Diddy had a relationship [and] establish what I know about Keefe D and Puff with each other, when they're around each other, gambling, laughing, drinking... The whole nine yards... The lawyers' job is to get up there and make his client as innocent as he possibly can... Keefe D wasn't never no crip. Keefe D stopped cripping when he was 17 years old."

Gene Deal has criticized Diddy's misconduct before. But these comments suggest he doesn't think Combs had anything to do with 'Pac's murder, and it seems like he has an issue with how this trial has been going so far. We will see how arguments on both sides continue to evolve.

The Roots are the hip-hop band of note, and founding members Black Thought and Questlove have more greatness to share with fans. In a new interview with Billboard, they reportedly announced they have almost completed the group's next album Endgame, which will be their first studio full-length in over a decade.

Reportedly, this process has been under Live Nation Urban president and longtime manager Shawn Gee, and returns to the "free-flowing jam sessions" the collective is so celebrated for. While we don't have any release date information or other details about Endgame, this seems much more surefire than The Roots' previous comeback teases.

Fans can't wait to see how this turns out, especially after such a long time away from the group and their hardships. The same year they dropped their last album, 2014's ...And Then You Shoot Your Cousin, their longtime co-manager and producer Richard Nichols passed away.

With that in mind, the band has a lot to dive into, and it's been a long journey to get to this renewed place of inspired creativity. It's been a very busy year for them so far, and things could get even more hectic.

This interview with Billboard celebrates The Roots' induction into the publication's Hip-Hop Hall Of Fame.

Elsewhere during this interview, Black Thought and Questlove also spoke on their Roots Picnic festival, which caused a lot of commotion this year. Jay-Z headlined the festival and had more than a few disses to let off against his opposition via an a cappella freestyle. The band performed with him, and they killed it.

Meanwhile, they had other successes this year, such as Questlove's Earth, Wind & Fire documentary and the band performing at the Obama Presidential Center's opening in Chicago. Black Thought has more music on the way, whether it's with Danger Mouse or with Mach-Hommy. So fans will be eating good in the future.

Hopefully we find out soon when The Roots' Endgame is coming out, as well as features and the like. Whether it drops this year or the next, it will likely be a stellar LP once it arrives.

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.