Greetings, loved ones. Much has happened in the last week in the music world, and no, we're not talking about a breakthrough in the monotony of party playlists over Paddy's weekend. In the hoopla that is the pre–summer, pre–festival season, artists are on their A games as they release teasers and full–on albums alike in order to generate as much buzz as they can. And generate buzz they did! Street has you covered on the news you may have missed in the post–darty shuffle.
1. Chance the Rapper cameos in Vic Mensa’s latest music video
For his latest track “Dim–Sum” with Valee, Vic and co. took Chicago’s Chinatown neighborhood by storm, hitting up high–end bars, kitschy souvenir shops, and even a high school friend’s family dim sum restaurant. And, oh, yeah, Chance the Rapper showed up (alongside fellow Savemoney crew members Smoko Ono and Ugly Eddie). Chano can be seen hanging out with the crew between rows of Hello Kitty plushies at around the 2:20 mark—but don’t get too excited, no verses here. Granted, this video is not a hit. Not even close. But ever since the Savemoney poster boys squashed the beef last Lollapalooza, Vic has been on a roll. Often overshadowed by the other Kanye prodigy, Vic’s album Autobiography was one of the most critically acclaimed rap albums of 2017, and the rapper also recently launched an outreach program and foundation called SaveMoneySaveLife.
2. BROCKHAMPTON announces Stereo Spirit tour
After a whirlwind winter tour and dropping a trilogy of hit records last year, America’s boyband has officially announced their upcoming live dates for the summer. The group will kick off the Spirit tour in New York, before hitting up Chicago, Montreal, London, Paris, and LA throughout the summer. BROCKHAMPTON will also be running the festival circuit—so far, they have announced appearances at Boston Calling, Soundset, Gov Ball, and Bonnaroo.
3. “Top Off” takes Jay–Z and Beyonce back to the Top 40
Yes, we all know that Jay–Z and Beyonce are the musical power couple that we all don’t deserve. They slay red carpets, are the only hip–hop duo who can somewhat realistically have resale tickets in the thousands–of–dollar–range for their second joint tour (and have people pay for them), and make us forgive Jay’s infidelity because at least it gave us Lemonade and 4:44 (but mainly, Lemonade). And now, for the first time since “Crazy in Love,” today’s Bonnie and Clyde now have a Top 40 hit together with “Top Off.” While the song, also a collab with DJ Khaled and Future, is definitely a banger, I wouldn’t say that this is the Carters’ best in their arsenal.
4. Rihanna calls out Snapchat. They lose 800 M.
Last week, a third party advertiser for a mobile Would You Rather game ran an ad on Snapchat with the options "would you rather 'Slap Rihanna' or 'Punch Chris Brown in the Face?'” I don’t need to remind you of 2009 for you to understand that jokes about domestic violence, however trivial, are never funny or appropriate, much less on a social media platform where billions of young people are constantly visually bombarded. And while Snapchat responded two days later, apologizing for and removing the ad, we all know the power of social media by now—Twitter was instantly ablaze with users blasting Snapchat for their lack of taste. But more important was Rih’s response herself. Rihanna took to Instagram to post a scathing message alleging that the ad shamed victims of domestic violence. In her post, she wrote, “This isn't about my personal feelings, cause I don't have much of them...but all the women, children, and men that have been victims of DV in the past and especially the ones who haven't made it out yet...You let us down! Shame on you. Throw the whole app–oligy away.” And while Snap has since issued a less generic apology, their stock has been down consistently over the past week, ultimately losing the company over 800 million dollars. Enough said.
5. Rick and Morty star in new vid from Run The Jewels
It’s been a big month for your favorite inter—dimensional traveling grandfather–grandson duo. After their musical debut on the first track of Logic’s newest release Bobby Tarantino II, Rick and Morty are now the stars of Run The Jewels’ latest music video, “Oh Mama.” The video—which promote’s RTJ’s upcoming Adult Swim Festival appearance—features Rick and Morty traveling through space in order to acquire an alien embryo (weirder things have happened on the show, trust me) in an equal parts Pulp Fiction, Star Wars, and bar crawl gone insanely wrong type of adventure. The clip, helmed by Rick and Morty director and storyboard artist Juan Meza-León, features trademark gore, alien madness, psychedelia, and confusion that we have come to expect from both the series and RTJ performances. One thing’s for sure; Morty has never looked so badass.
