It has been an eventful week in Hip-Hop. Kanye West paid a visit to Ellen to release his new music video “Bound 2." Meanwhile, Drake gave us a look into his southern roots in his new video, “Worst Behavior." Kendrick Lamar will be on a GQ cover and we may have an Outkast reunion to look forward too!
Kanye West’s Yeezus tour is back in session! After many mishaps and postponements Rolling Stone reports that West has resumed his tour in Philadelphia. Just days later, he appeared on the Ellen DeGeneres Show to talk about his art and his video for the Yeezus track, "Bound 2."
Unlike West’s other recent interviews, his appearance on Ellen was much more relaxed and focused on his art. Kanye spoke about his creative process in DONDA plus his plans for breaking into the fashion & film industries. When asked about his relationship with fiancée Kim Kardashian, he said, “I don’t know if I can express it enough." Later West mentioned that he was trying to avoid the “jumping up on the couch moment," referencing Tom Cruise’s interview with Oprah back in 2005.
Earlier this week Drake released the music video for his single "Worst Behavior," set in Memphis. The video features Drake’s father, Dennis Graham lip syncing the lyrics to the track – plus a hilarious skit from friends OB O’Brien, Ryan Silverstein, Juicy J and Project Pat. Drake offers a comical yet powerful look into his father’s hometown despite his apprehension to returning to the Memphis.
In an interview with VIBE Magazine, Drake spoke about his disconnection with his Memphis family. “My family is like two different worlds and I feel like people only acknowledge one half of it,” said Drake.
“I kind of refused to address my real thing that I have there, which is vast family… Instead of running from it, I just embraced it and shot this incredible, beautiful video with my beautiful family and helped out as many people as I could while I was there," he said. "Now I can’t wait to go back.”
This December, Kendrick Lamar will be gracing the one of the covers of the GQ Man of the Year issue. The magazine named Lamar the Rapper of the Year and ranked him among hip-hop veterans Jay-Z, Kanye West, Eminem & Drake.
Unfortunately, what was supposed to be an exciting moment quickly turned sour when Top Dawg Entertainment CEO, Anthony “Top Dawg” Tiffith accused the article of having racial overtones. As a result, Tiffith released a statement about the matter & pulled Lamar from his performance at the GQ Man of the Year Party.
According to MTV, GQ editor Jim Nelson responded to Tiffiths accusations by saying, “We were mystified and sorely disappointed by Top Dawg's decision to pull him at the last minute from the performance he had promised to give. The real shame is that people were deprived of the joy of seeing Kendrick perform live. I'm still a huge fan."
Lastly, there are reunion rumors looming in the air! According to Billboard, there have been “some conversations” that 2014 will mark the end of Outkast’s 7 year hiatus. Some sources told Billboard that the duo will definitely reunite at the Coachella Valley Music & Arts festival. The reunion is said to be followed by additional tour dates.
