Soulja Boy Starts and Quickly Ends Beef With J. Cole

Soulja Boy set a record this week for the shortest rap beef in history, and J. Cole might even be unaware that it happened 😂 In other news today:

• Billboard Hot 100 📈 

• Listen to a new snippet of unreleased Kanye x Ty Dolla $ign 🔥 

• Soulja Boy starts and quickly ends beef with J. Cole 🥩 

• This artist fumbled a feature with Kendrick Lamar 😳 

• Discover new music with The Rap Index 🎵 

• Industry Insights 🔎 

The Billboard Hot 100

The above chart shows Billboard’s Hot 100 ranking for this week. The Hot 100 ranks songs based on a combination of streaming activity, radio airplay audience impressions, and sales data—all measured by Luminate.

When Taylor Swift releases a new album, every other artist on the Hot 100 gets obliterated. Only Doja Cat managed to stay in the Top 10, dropping to #4. Drake’s “IDGAF” went from #8 last week to #23, with “Rich Baby Daddy” not far behind at #25.

Fred Again Previews Unreleased Kanye x Ty Dolla $ign

Kanye and Ty Dolla $ign ghosted fans last week after announcing a listening event for November 3rd that never transpired nor was acknowledged beyond the initial IG post. But like all toxic relationships, there are just enough breadcrumbs (in the form of new music snippets) to keep fans wanting more.

Unreleased Kanye x Ty Dolla was previewed by the DJ and producer Fred Again, during one of his recent shows in LA, and fans are losing it over the almost 2-minute snippet. 

“I made this with my brother Ty,” Fred Again tells the crowd in the clip below. “Baby girl, all she ever do is take selfies,” Ty’s smooth voice sings through the speakers. Kanye cuts in at the 1:04 mark, rapping, “She know what I like,” for the rest of the clip.

@mightrave

Fred Again previewing new Kanye West Ty Dolla song at his surprise DJ set in LA #fredagain #kanye #kanyewest #tydollasign #fredagainKanye ... See more

In other news, Kanye’s on daddy duty with his mini-me, North West, in Dubai. Footage surfaced of the rapper and his daughter greeting fans in Saudi Arabia’s capital, Riyadh, this week, and they appeared alone without his wife or other children. ICYMI, North channeled her father by saying 6 Kanye-isms during her interview with i-D magazine for her cover debut.

Soulja Boy Starts & Quickly Ends Beef With J. Cole

This week, Soulja Boy became the first rapper to start and end a beef all on his own. In less than 24 hours, he took shots at J. Cole on X (formerly Twitter), hopped on IG live with Nicki Minaj for a communication lesson, issued a retraction, and apologized to J. Cole.

How did the one-sided beef begin? When J. Cole’s episode on Lil Yachty’s A Safe Place podcast aired last week. In a clip from the interview, J. Cole admits he hated the new generation of rappers at one point in time, using Soulja Boy as an example, and he humbly had to reflect on his resistance.

“I was like, ‘bruh, you’re a hater, you’re literally hating, you know you like this shit actually. You be with your friends, and you know you done did a ‘youuuu’ so why would you front?” J. Cole said, referencing Soulja Boy’s infamous “Crank That” line.

Soulja Boy misunderstood the comments and went on a Blueface and Chrisean-level rant. He called J. Cole a bitch and compared their accolades in what has to be an unserious attempt to prove he’s the more successful rapper.

Nicki Minaj decided to step in to be the “he’s a good man, Savannah” voice of reason. “Babe, he never said that. He said that he had to keep it real with himself and admit that people like you are what was really keeping the wave going and bringing the energy. He basically gave you props,” she told Soulja Boy on IG live.

“So what the fuck was you on when you misinterpreted it, and now you sitting here doing the most again,” she continued. Shortly after the live session ended, Soulja Boy issued a formal apology to J. Cole, who hasn’t acknowledged any of the comments.

This Artist Fumbled a Kendrick Lamar Feature

Consider this a cautionary tale for those who keep their phone on DND at all times. UK artist PinkPantheress missed the opportunity to be featured on a Kendrick Lamar song because her phone was on silent.

Speaking to i-D magazine, she revealed that she was once at the movies, watching Nightcrawler, and her date asked her to put her phone on silent. This led to her missing the call for the studio session with Kendrick, and by the time she realized it was too late.

What song was the feature for?

She didn’t divulge any other information that would help piece together the timeline of the fumble and what Kendrick was working on. An educated guess would be Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers since PinkPantheress gained notoriety in 2021, almost a year before Kendrick released that album.

If you’re unfamiliar with the bedroom pop and alt-garage artist, she’s an in-demand collaborator among US rappers, and it’s no surprise that K. Dot was tapped in. Her most viral song, “Boys a liar Pt. 2,” features Ice Spice, but she’s appeared on Baby Keem’s “killstreaks” with Don Toliver, Mura Masa’s “bbycakes” with Lil Uzi Vert, and Destroy Lonely’s “Turn Your Phone Off.”

The Rap Index ft. Gunna, Jeezy, 21 Savage, Tee Grizzley & More

The Rap Index is a way to follow and discover new music. Divided into 4 categories describing rap subgenres, songs are placed according to their style and sound—giving you a better idea of what songs will appeal to your musical taste. Only releases from the previous New Music Friday are included to help keep you up to date.

RapTV’s Ranking of NMF Songs Featured in the Rap Index

1. “Never Had A Bad Day In My Life” by Jeezy (Listen on Apple Music & Spotify)

2. “Bachelor” by Gunna, Turbo (Listen on Apple Music & Spotify)

3. “Loop Hole” by Tee Grizzley, 21 Savage (Listen on Apple Music & Spotify)

4. “Baller” by Nav (Listen on Apple Music & Spotify)

5. “Hop In The Whip” by Cochise (Listen on Apple Music & Spotify)

6. “Cobra” by Megan Thee Stallion (Listen on Apple Music & Spotify)

7. “1738” by Fetty Wap, Coi Leray (Listen on Apple Music & Spotify)

8. “Fuck Tryin” by Ryan Trey (Listen on Apple Music & Spotify)

• Lauryn Hill controversially addresses her late appearances at her live shows. The singer told attendees that they should consider themselves “lucky” she even showed up at all.

• Drake taps Kevin Durant for clever NOCTA basketball campaign. The images play on Durant’s “easy money sniper” nickname, placing him among stacks of cash decked out in NOCTA.

• YouTube is testing out an AI chatbot that will appear under videos. The conversational AI tool aims to answer questions about a video, recommend related content, and provide quizzes for academic videos.

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