Still crazy after all these days. Perhaps you were thinking things couldn't get any weirder than last week, that the strangeness would naturally wane. In case you missed anything (because you have an interesting life of your own or something) the rap-and-pop world didn't disappoint. Take Chief Keef, who will hopefully have a number of reflective, Auto-croon masterpieces written in his head after going through his state-ordered punishment of shoveling horse manure. Or maybe he'll just make a sequel to "Now It's Over."
If the image of Keef in waders and a nose-plug isn't enough, Rick Ross appointed some new MMG signees (none of which were Hervis or Clevis), Lady Gaga announced the news that she would be performing in space, and the Wu-Tang Clan heartily welcomed New York's new mayor-elect. Oh, and Eminem's album came out and a bunch of people bought it.
Honestly, though, What the Hell Just Happened in Music This Week?
RELATED: Chief Keef's Community Service Duties Include Cleaning Up Horse Manure and That's Some S**t He Don't Like
RELATED: Rick Ross Has Officially Signed Fat Trel and Tracy T to MMG
RELATED: Lady Gaga Will Reportedly Be Headlining the Zero G Colony Jamboree in Outerspace
Both "Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)" and "Midnight Marauders" turned 20 years old.
Date: November 9
"Today, November 9, marks the 20th anniversary of the release of A Tribe Called Quest’s classic third album, Midnight Marauders. Always ahead of the game when it came to cover art, Q-Tip, Phife Dawg and Ali Shaheed Muhammad pulled out all the stops for this one, making three different album covers, each one featuring an array of photos of their favorite faces. The faces of their friends and peers in hip-hop."—Complex Magazine
"It was twenty years ago today... when the Wu-Tang Clan dropped their seminal debut, Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers). One of the best rap albums ever, it laid the foundation for an empire. In the years since, the original nonet (now an octet, following the 2004 death of Ol' Dirty Bastard) has released four more official albums, while each individual member gone on to their own solo career and side projects—and a number of Wu-Tang affiliates have sprouted forth beneath the Staten Island group's banner."—Paul Cantor
Eminem's album came out, his childhood home caught on fire, and Hotstylz released a diss record aimed at him.
Date: November 8
"Eminem's childhood home at 19946 Dresden Street in Detroit was damaged in a fire last night. Firefighters responded to the blaze at around 6:20PM. The fire was coming from the top floor, which sustained some damage. Firefighters were able to put out the flames upon responding to scene, and no injuries have been reported.
It is a bizarre coincidence that the house would be on fire this week, as two days prior, Eminem released his most recent album, The Marshall Mathers LP 2. His childhood home is featured prominently on the album artwork for the new album, just as it was on the original album's cover back in 2000." —Dharmic X
"Well this was certainly unexpected. After Eminem lifted their flow from 2008's 'Lookin Boy' for a few bars on his dizzying 'Rap God' track, Chicago based group Hotstylz have returned to get the credit they feel they rightfully deserve on this new diss song.
After threatening to take him back to rehab and taking potshots at his name the three members of Hotstylz freestyle over Eminem's old beats and even use his own voice against him. The trio claim that they should probably sue Em or gotten a phone call before he decided to 'take their one hit from them,' but this song will probably put an end to any type of burying of the hatchet in the foreseeable future." —Justin Davis
Justin Bieber invested over a million dollars in a media start-up, visited a brothel in Brazil, and spray-painted something wildly inappropriate.
Date: November 7
"Yesterday, the Brazilian news outlet G1 reported that police were questioning Justin Bieber for graffiti writing on the Hotel Nacional in Rio de Janeiro. On Monday, Bieber made headlines for investing 1.1 million in a social media start-up, which comes on the heels of news that Bieber was seen sneaking out of a Brazilian brothel on Friday night with two women. For a star that was once seen as a wholesome young man with a big career ahead of him, it seems that Bieber, like many 19-year-olds, is struggling to figure out who he is.
Most recently, Bieber's latest hobby is graffiti writing. Today, he posted photos on his Instagram of the new works in Brazil. One of his captions reads, 'Every place I have tagged has been approved I do not suggest tagging private property.. I still suck but i have fun doing it ;),' a response to G1's story.
However, it is not the alleged illegal activity that is disconcerting about Bieber's graffiti but rather what he chose to draw with his spray can. One of his images is a black figure that looks alarmingly like a Sambo portrait, painted with a gold chain, a gold tooth, gold earrings, a gold nose ring, and a crown that looks like Jean-Michel Basquiat's signature motif. Bieber's caption reads, 'This is my escape'."—Leigh Silver
Wu-Tang Clan co-signed New York's new mayor, who is a fan of the group. Look out for a collaboration album entitled "36 Chambers of Commerce."
Date: November 6
"Bill de Blasio 'ain't nothin to fuck with.' One day after winning the election and becoming New York City's newest mayor, de Blasio has received a stunning endorsement from Wu-Tang Clan. The Clan took to Twitter welcoming him to his new position. The kind words from the Clan are likely encouraging to the Mayor-elect; de Blasio has previously spoken to Hot 97 about his family's love for the legendary hip-hop group.
With the group set to celebrate the 20th anniversary of their debut album, Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers), it looks like they now have the mayor on their side, something they couldn't say back in the 90s." —Dharmic X
Rick Ross signed Fat Trel and Tracy T to MMG. The jury's still out on whether Rick Ross has thereby become an honorary Slutty Boy.
Date: November 6
"Today Rick Ross announced that he would be signing two new artists to his Maybach Music Group label. The first announced signee is Fat Trel. While Ross makes it official today, it was pretty much already known that the Washington, D.C. was with MMG a few months back. Fat Trel's label deal formally comes through WaleMusic/MMG/Atlantic Records.
In the second of the two announcements, Rick Ross's label has added Atlanta rapper Tracy T to the roster. Tracy is perhaps best known for the Zaytoven-produced collaboration with Que, "Same Bitch" and the C4-produced "Real Money," featuring Yung Fresh." —Edwin Ortiz
Chief Keef was sentenced to the cleaning up of horse manure—the antithesis of "Macaroni Time."
Date: November 8
"Chief Keef has been ordered to serve 60 hours of community service at the Horsefeathers Therapeutic Riding esquestrian center. His duties for the not-for-profit organization in Lake Forest, Illinois include feeding and grooming the horses, as well as cleaning up their manure.
This comes after the 18-year-old rapper was sentenced to 90 days in rehab for failing two drug tests, both times testing positive for marijuana. Keef was arrested in June for speeding and failed his first drug test shortly after. He was then sentenced to jail for 20 days, but was let free in October after just 10 days for good behavior. Earlier this week he failed the second drug test." —Edwin Ortiz
It was revealed that Lady Gaga will perform in space. Look out for rappers saying "high as Lady Gaga" in 2015.
Date: November 6
"America has a history of sending hilariously chosen things out to space. Consider the Voyager, for which we sent a number of 'representative' records out into the great unknown. On it were works by Mozart and Stravinsky—as if aliens would give a fuck. In all seriousness, it is a well-documented fact that aliens listen to Future exclusively.
This time, though, we've outdone ourselves in terms of ridiculousness—Lady Gaga is going to be a passenger on one of Richard Branson's (Virgin Group's blonde-haired billionaire) commercial flights. The countdown might as well start now, though she isn't scheduled to leave the earth until 2015. As if just her presence wasn't enough, she will also be performing. Presumably, she hasn't decided on her space repertoire yet, but maybe (ideally) she'll just do covers of David Bowie songs." —Alexander Gleckman
