This week, Beyoncé dropped an album (with an accompanying video for every song) out of nowhere. But it may very well be remembered as the time a phone call from Wale briefly took attention away from King B's big surprise.
A lot of big music releases happened this week, actually. Q-Tip and Busta Rhymes released their golden age wet dream album, R. Kelly dropped Black Panties, and Snoop Dogg, aka Snoop Lion and, now, Snoopzilla's Stones Throw project with Dam-Funk 7 Days of Funk came out, too.
South Park grasped at the low-hanging fruit that is making fun of Kanye West. While taking on the brutal beauty standards young women face, the show's writers asserted that Yeezy's wife-to-be Kim Kardashian is a hobbit. It was, perhaps, even less funny than Jimmy Kimmel's leather jogging pants jokes.
What the hell happened in music this week?
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And we heard albums from Childish Gambino, Snoopzilla, and R. Kelly.
Date: December 11
"This week, R. Kelly's newest album Black Panties finally hit stores. It's been twenty years now since he dropped his debut album, 12 Play. In that time, we've learned a lot about the guy. Based on most everything you hear, he a very different type of person. He is, for starters, more expressive of his interest in sex than most other people. We have heard about allegations that have been made against him that we wish we had not heard about: sex with minors, child pornography. But he has never been convicted of those crimes. So basically, the only things that we can be absolutely sure of is that he was born and raised in Chicago, he likes leather, and he is a musical genius, the writer of songs like 'I Believe I Can Fly' and 'Down Low' and 'Ignition (Remix)' and 'Trapped in the Closet'." —Elva Aguilar
Justin Bieber released a song with Chance The Rapper.
Date: December 8
"The latest installment of Justin Bieber's Music Monday series has been released. The song is called 'Confident,' and it has an appearance from Chance The Rapper. For Chance, this marks yet another milestone in his incredible 2013 run that began with the release of Acid Rap and has resulted in a collaboration with Lil Wayne and tour dates with Eminem and Kendrick Lamar.
As we reported, there is one more collaboration on the way between Bieber and Chance, and this one will also include Wayne, Big Sean, R. Kelly, and Diplo. The song is called 'Journals.' Bieber's second documentary film, Believe, will be coming out Christmas day." —Dharmic X
Wale gave us a call.
Date: December 11
"On Wednesday afternoon, Complex received a phone call from Wale. He was upset about the fact that his most recent album, The Gifted, was not included on The 50 Best Albums of 2013 list we posted earlier this week. I took the call, and spoke to him for less than three minutes. In those three minutes (which can be heard in the video above), Wale claimed that staff members at Complex had a personal bias against him, then started shouting and making threats.
'At this point, you know it’s got to be personal,' he said. 'You telling me it’s not personal. It's like a bold face lie. To be omitted from every type of list that y’all do or be at the bottom of it or every type of way that y’all can omit me, ya will'." —Insanul Ahmed
Busta Rhymes and Q-Tip released their collaborative album.
Date: December 12
"It's a moment that some hip-hop heads have fantasized about for more than 20 years. The long-awaited question to what, in fact, is the scenario. The ultimate 'Oh My God.' A collaboration between two of New York's most revered rappers, announced suddenly just a few weeks ago, as many fans were no doubt mourning the end of A Tribe Called Quest.
Its cover references the 1991 classic that set so much of it in motion, Tribe's The Low End Theory. Its single makes a nod to the artists' current labels, YMCMB and G.O.O.D. Music, with a video that features cameos from Kanye West and Lil Wayne. Its vibe is, as the second leaked track suggests, a camaraderie on par with Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Its pedigree is unfuckwithable." —Kyle Kramer
Beyoncé dropped an album out of nowhere.
Date: December 13
"King Bey just made this Friday the 13th a lucky one for her fans. Even with a successful tour going on this season, many of Beyoncè's fans have been clamoring for a new project from her. Tonight Bey dropped a new self titled fifth album out of no where on iTunes. Cue the meltdown from the Bey Hive.
A multimedia project featuring 14 songs and an astonishing 17 videos, appearances from Jay-Z, Drake and Frank Ocean and appeared silently at 12 a.m. on iTunes, has already caused a commotion everywhere..." —Justin Davis
South Park made another Kanye West episode.
Date: December 11
"The final episode of the 17th season of South Park, entitled 'The Hobbit,' tried to feature a positive message about body image and superficiality, but it will be remembered for the return of Kanye West. Fake Kanye West, of course.
When Wendy tries to convince Butters that his celebrity crush, Kim Kardashian, would be nothing but a short, hairy hobbit without the help of Photoshop, West shows up to South Park Elementary to dispel the rumors that his fiancée is, in fact, a hobbit. He also tries to squash the rumors that he’s Aquaman, which is hard to do when he’s dressed exactly like DC’s nautical hero." —Ross Scarano, Jason Serafino
