Kanye West‘s most recent stop during his summer concert series was at Marlay Park in Dublin. The iconic rapper lived up to his name, putting on a flashy performance that was televised, but not streamed. Several social media outlets captured footage of the event. Pharrell also took the stage earlier that night and played a show backed by a live band. [Complex]
Eminem released an over-the-top, epic trailer for the forthcoming rap battle between Slaughterhouse rapper Joe Budden and legendary battle rapper Hollow Da Don. The event will be held at Hammerstein Ballroom in New York on July 12th and will be televised live on Pay-Per-View. Click here to watch the trailer for “the most anticipated rap battle in history.” [Spin]
Katy Perry and Kendrick Lamar are both currently facing lawsuits over alleged improper sampling. Christian rapper Flame and his producers are claiming that Perry’s hit single “Dark Horse” not only improperly sampled his 2008 gospel hip-hop song “Joyful Noise” but also “irreparably tarnished” the song “by its association with witchcraft, paganism, black magic, and Illuminati imagery…” Lamar is being sued by Eric Woolfson of The Alan Parsons Project for sampling one of his songs on his 2012 album Section 80. No settlement has been made in either case as of yet. [Billboard]
Prime Minister Pete Nice, who is one half of the rap duo 3rd Bass (the other half being MC Search) has pleaded guilty to charges of criminal tax fraud. According to the Albany County District Attorney’s Office, the rapper allegedly did not pay taxes from 2009-2011 and is now being fined $13,100. [HipHopDX]
Drake’s single “Worst Behavior,” off his most recent album Nothing Was The Same, gets a conscious twist from up-and-coming rapper Jasiri X. The rapper says he was inspired by the social activism group Dream Defenders. In the remix, Jasiri lists the agents of injustice that “never loved us” (America, the police, etc.). [YouTube]
