Welcome to a new era of streamers and rappers
Central Cee drops album of the year contender and Toosii destroys Jace on PlaqueBoyMax's Song Wars.
THE BEAT DROP
A pulse of the culture
If you’re reading this, it’s another Saturday at the crib and I still cannot get over how Toosii did Jace on PlaqueBoyMax’s Song Wars. Central Cee also made an appearance on Max’s stream following the release of his latest project Can’t Rush Greatness — and the UK rapper also made sure to ask permission before he smoked. Meanwhile, Kendrick Lamar and SZA are preparing for the Super Bowl halftime show.
THIS WEEK’S TRACKLIST
The most important news items of the week.
Kendrick Lamar shared a Super Bowl halftime clip of SZA sneakily dumping Gatorade on him. “Luther” performance confirmed? I hope so.
“Walk It Out” and “2 Step” icon DJ Unk passed away this week. He was 43.
SZA and Keke Palmer’s buddy comedy One Of Them Days landed at No. 2 at the box office while also breaking some records.
Future donated money to D.A.R.E. in conjunction with the release of the music video to “Lost My Dog” in honor of his late friend.
Yo Gotti signed up-and-coming Dallas rapper Zillionaire Doe to CMG.
Universal Music Group requested for the dismissal of Drake’s petition in a Texas court out of Bexar County and challenged him with a 144-page motion.
Diddy filed defamation suit for $50M in the Southern District of New York against News Nation and a man who claimed to be in possession of the alleged sex tapes.
Lil Wayne accused Travis Kelce’s team of cheating and Kelce responded on his podcast.
Chris Brown filed a defamation suit for $500M against Warner Bros. Discovery over their 2024 docuseries Chris Brown: A History Of Violence.
Bernice King called out Sexyy Red after she posted an AI-generated photo of herself with MLK Jr. and rapper gracefully apologized after deleting the image.
BARS OF THE WEEK
Notable quotes or lyrics that made waves.
“I took an L then I got back on my grind, I need more hours in a day I ain’t got enough time.” — Central Cee on “24 Hours” produced and engineered by PlaqueBoyMax live on Twitch.
“You can compare me to Max, but I’m not PlaqueBoyMax, I’m Max Payne.” — A tame bar from Toosii on the first song from PlaqueBoyMax’s Song Wars versus Jace, who lost terribly 3-0.
“Niggas Wit Attitude mad I'm bigging up my city, that's something I had to do.” — Joey Badass standing on business on the Conductor Williams-produced “Sorry Not Sorry.”
“Think I'm Yatta, I'ma hit it off the D'ussé, whatever you say, now we wearin’ Dolce.” — Lefty Gunplay on the Jason Martin-produced banger “Can’t Get Right.”
“You know these bars is hard like some dang oysters, Oyster perpetual face match the Air Forces.” 2 Chainz on Larry June’s “Bad Choices” produced by The Alchemist.
“I got a lot of breesh, meet a streamer and make him hot as me. That's why I gotta leave, I smoke a blunt and went viral for the week.” — Fivio Foreign on “PLAQUEBOYMAX,” detailing what happened when the streamer kicked him out his Airbnb for smoking.
“They got some weird sh*t going on.” — Fat Joe on the new YNs.
“You think I ain’t gon’ sue Amazon if I get a chance to?” — Jim Jones on Drake’s defamation lawsuit against UMG.
“Calling on God, it get dangerous.” — North West on something we’ve never heard before.
SOUND WATCH
Upcoming releases and recent drops worth noting.
Central Cee’s album Can’t Rush Greatness finally dropped with features from 21 Savage, Lil Durk and Dave. I suggest turning the volume all the way up on the one with Skepta called “Ten.”
Chicago’s own Star Bandz released the visual to her Estrella cut “Can’t Tell Me Nothing.”
Bruno Mars and Sexyy Red linked up for the banger “Fat, Juicy and Wet” with fun guest appearances from Lady Gaga and ROSÉ.
Kodak Black hopped on fellow Florida rapper 1900Rugrat’s “One Take Freestyle,” which flips Rocko’s 2013 hit “U.O.E.N.O.”
Fivio Foreign really thinks he’s the real “PLAQUEBOYMAX.” Here’s proof.
Jason Martin had Lefty Gunplay going crazy on “Can’t Get Right.”
OsamaSon’s Jump Out dropped to much fanfare.
Sailorr tapped in with Summer Walker for the official remix and music video for “Pookie’s Requiem.” Then, Halle Bailey pulled out her electric guitar for her own rocking rendition.
Joey Badass tapped in with Conductor for “Sorry Not Sorry” and released a music video for it.
Future released a music video “Lost My Dogs” dedicated to his late friend who passed away from an overdose.
Travis Scott dropped a new one with “4x4.”
A music video to the Larry June, 2 Chainz and Alchemist track “Bad Choices” was also released.
Jordan Adetunji shared his debut project A Jaguar’s Dream with features from Lil Baby and Bryson Tiller.
SAINt JHN announced the title of his upcoming project, Festival Season, and shared his Tay Keith-produced track “Poppin” as an appetizer of what’s to come.
Dumar 1k linked with Real Boston Richey for “Ls and Ps.”
Hunxho dropped his new album For Us with a feature from Lil Yachty on “Big Body.”
NLE Choppa followed up with his Imagine Dragons-featured single “Dare U” with “444”
Ohgeesy announced next project Paid N Full is on the way with a music video for the project’s title track. Paid N Full will be follow up to 2023’s GEEZYWORLD 2.
Chance the Rapper shared a new one on Inauguration Day called “Quiet Storm.”
North West made an appearance on FKA Twigs’ song “Childlike Things” off her latest album EUSEXUA.
Boldy James delivered a set of 13 new songs in the form of Permanent Ink.
BEHIND THE MUSIC
Industry news.
Rolling Loud’s LoudAid show that took place in Florida to assist those affected by the California wildfires raised over $25,000.
STEAK REPORT
Feuds, diss tracks and social media spats.
PlaqueBoyMax is doing something incredible with his platform on Twitch, which is bringing rappers together and pushing them to rap with a series I have become fond of called Song Wars. This week, Toosii went up against Jace and won 3-0 to everyone’s shock. This is the same man who released the melodic, yet treacherous “Red Lights” and “Opps,” where he boasts about “opp shopping,” by the way. It’s a learning lesson for all, I suppose.
Watch Toosii vs. Jace in full here.
TOUR BUS
Concert and festival announcements, tour updates and live performance highlights.
Lil Wayne announced dates for Lil Weezyana Fest with the Hot Boys as special guests (it’s true), It is set to hit Tampa on Feb. 21 Charlotte Feb. 23 and St. Louis on Feb. 28. Tickets are on sale now.
Ian announced dates for US Tour Part 2, which is set to kick off Feb. 6 in Tucson
Members of the legendary underground collective GothBoiClique performed three sold-out shows at The Roxy in Los Angeles recently and are headed to the UK for a performance on Jan. 31 followed by a stop in Brooklyn at Warsaw. Long Live Lil Peep.
Anderson .Paak, Peso Pluma and Stevie Wonder, among others, were added to the FireAid Benefit show on Jan. 30.
Karol G and her Con Cora Foundation announced that their inaugural benefit charity gala "Con Cora Land" is set to take place on Saturday, Feb. 22, in Miami.
FREESTYLE
Memes and viral moments.
same vibe.
RAP HILL
Legal matters affecting the music industry.
A$AP Rocky declined a plea deal offer to do 180 days in jail in exchange for a guilty plea. The trial started on Jan. 24 with opening statements. He is facing 24 years in prison if convicted.
There are three legal actions Drake has taken against Universal Music Group. One in New York that included Spotify, which was recently pulled by Drake, the one he just filed for defamation in New York and lastly, the one UMG is requesting to be dismissed in Texas due to lack of evidence. Drake has yet to respond.
TRENDSETTERS
Updates on key figures who are driving the culture.
Rodney “Darkchild” Jerkins was inducted into the 2025 Songwriters Hall of Fame. From Mary J. Blige’s “I Can’t Love You” to Beyoncé’s “Deja Vu” and “The Boy Is Mine” by Brandy and Monica, plus plenty more, the recognition is deserved because Rodney has been blessing to us for years.
OUTSIDE
Sightings and appearances.
Kanye West was found teaching North West the importance of inflections when rapping in a newly surfaced behind the scene clip shared to his Instagram. Mind you, this is what a real producer does.
Jacquees and Dej Loaf were spotted in the studio cooking something up.
Is Wiz Khalifa working on Kush & OJ 2?
BIRTHDAYS
Celebrating artists and industry figures born this week.
Lil Mosey, Alicia Keys, Lil Scrappy, Mac Miller, Logic, XXXtentacion, Blueface, Daveed Diggs
OUTRO
A final thought.
Hate him or love him, DDG has knocked down a lot of doors for this new era of rap that is upon us. With the growing popularity of Kai Cenat (who openly gave DDG credit for inspiring his career) as well as PlaqueBoyMax, who recently whipped up a song with him called “Pink Dreads,” the streamers (though DDG’s roots are YouTube) have been slowly taking over.
Needless to say, Max’s Song Wars is just the beginning of what’s to come. It’s the most interactive way to experience music-making (as he recently had Cash Cobain whip something up with Bay Swag and more on the track), so-called “beef,” as with Toosii and Jace and BenjiBlueBills’ “Aye Rage.” It also shows how artists make music, as evidenced by the song he and Central Cee created the same day his project came out called “24 hours.” And yeah, Cench is really like that.
I have never seen anything like it. It’s a new era and I am so here for it.