Image via Complex Original
After seven years of waiting for a new Wu-Tang Clan album, fans will soon be able to hear the remaining members of the Clan spit together again on a full-length LP. But that's not all: This week, RZA announced that a second, secret, super-limited album will also be released. How limited? Only one copy of the album, The Wu - Once Upon a Time in Shaolin, will be released. A true one-of-one.
In other news, Chief Keef was taken into police custody after a shooting at his manager's home—the same place where the majority of his footage from Noisey's Chiraq documentary was filmed. Migos was another act caught up in gun violence this week, which, unfortunately, left a member of their entourage wounded.
You know who's not hurting this week, though? Kanye West. Check out why, along with more on What The Hell Just Happened In Music This Week?
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Puff Daddy is Puff Daddy Again
Diddy decided the best way to promote his new project was to change his name back to Puff Daddy. Good thing we never stopped calling him "Puffy."
Date: March 25
"Recently, Diddy announced (by way of the video trailer for his upcoming single "Big Homie") that he's now officially taking on the title of Puff Daddy. Again. If this is any indication of things to come, it's safe to assume that Puff is readying something big, (potentially: his upcoming MMM album)."—Brandon Jenkins
Wu-Tang Clan Secret Album
Good news: Wu-Tang Clan announced a second new album. Bad News: Only one copy exists and it's expected to cost millions of dollars.
Date: March 26
"While loyal Wu-Tang Clan fans patiently wait for the release of A Better Tomorrowthis summer, they'll also be happy to know that the East Coast crew have another secret album in the works. But there's a catch: Only one copy will be released, and its price tag will likely be 'in the millions.'
Partly inspired by Jay Z's deal with Samsung for Magna Carta Holy Grail and Nipsey Hussle's $100 mixtape Crenshaw, Wu-Tang seem to be offering up their own set of new rules for their album The Wu - Once Upon A Time In Shaolin. However, as de facto leader RZA explains it, their plan takes art to the next level. 'We're about to sell an album like nobody else sold it before,' RZA tells Forbes. 'We're about to put out a piece of art like nobody else has done in the history of [modern] music. We're making a single-sale collector's item. This is like somebody having the scepter of an Egyptian king.'"—Edwin Ortiz
Chief Keef Investaged For Shooting
Days after toting a gun on Instagram, Chief Keef was taken into police custody for a shooting at his manager's suburban home.
Date: March 26
"According to TMZ, a shooting took place in Northfield, Illinois this morning and Chicago rapper Chief Keef was present for the incident. One individual was shot, and taken to the ICU, according to the Northfield Police Department. His lawyer was reached for comment, who told TMZ Keef was only present when shots were fired, and did not actually shoot a gun himself.
Police have not confirmed that they picked up Keef, but COMPLEX has learned from a source close to Keef's camp that he is currently in custody."—Edwin Ortiz
Billboard and Twitter Real-Time Music Chart
Twitter and Billboard will release a real-time music chart. This will be the social network's second attempt at a music venture after their Music app was shuttered a year after it was launched.
Date: March 27
"Billboard and Twitter have announced a multi-year partnership to create music charts based off of trending conversations on Twitter. The partnership is fittingly titled 'Billboard Twitter Real-Time Charts,' and will be available for users in the U.S. in the coming weeks.
The charts will reflect what songs are being discussed on Twitter in real-time over an extended period, so when a new Kanye West song drops on one side of the Internet, you'll know about it almost instantaneously. Billboard and Twitter have also signed a Twitter Amplify deal, which will allow Billboard to share custom charts and video highlights inside its tweets."—Edwin Ortiz
"Tha Carter V" Will Not Be Released May 5
Drake lied to us: Lil Wayne's Tha Carter V will not drop on May 5.
Date: March 27
"Remember when Drake announced Lil Wayne's upcoming album Tha Carter Vwould be released May 5 during his performance in New Orleans last month? Evidently that date is not set in stone, so says Wayne's manager and close friend Cortez Bryant.
A video interview showed Bryant being asked about Weezy's impending release, which he describes as 'amazing' and better than Tha Carter III. However, he delivers a blunt 'no' when asked for confirmation that the project would be released May 5. 'You know I push dates back and shit, so I'm not going to release that date until I really know when it really is,' Bryant says."—Edwin Ortiz
Migos Involved in Shooting
Migos were involved in a Florida shootout that left one of the members of their entourage in the hospital and everyone else completely in the dark due to vague police reports.
Date: March 28
"Earlier this morning, Atlanta rap group Migos were involved in a highway shootout that took place in Miami-Dade County. According to reports, the group and their entourage were travelling in a van when another vehicle pulled up beside them and opened fire. An unidentified person in the van carrying Migos returned fire. One individual from Migos' camp was reportedly shot in the leg, though the identity of that person has not been revealed. The victim was taken to Jackson Memorial Hospital where they were treated for non life-threatening injuries."—Edwin Ortiz
Kanye West Spent Less Than an Hour In Jail
Kanye's "one day in jail" ended up being just 49 minutes and nobody—especially not Kanye—gave a second thought about the remaining 23 hours and 11 minutes of that sentence.
Date: March 28
"Kanye West turned himself in at the Hollywood LAPD station, where he was booked in connection of the battery case of photographer Daniel Ramos that took place at LAX last July. As reported last week, Kanye pleaded no contest in the case and was sentenced to two years probation and one day in jail. While West was in police custody, he got his mug shot taken and was also fingerprinted before being released. According to TMZ, the whole process took about 49 minutes."—Edwin Ortiz
Gucci Mane Reportedly Made $1.3 Million While In Jail
Gucci Mane supposedly made $1.3 million dollars last year through pre-recorded verses and studio sessions via phone calls. You know, while he was sitting in a jail cell and the rest of us were out here working.
Date: March 28
"Ever wonder how Gucci Mane stays releasing material even though he's currently sitting in a jail cell? Well, Noisey did too and they had writer Neil Martinez-Belkin get to the bottom of it. They reached out to Ronald 'Caveman' Rosario-who co-executive produced Gucci's The State vs. Radric Davis II: The Caged Bird Sings and is referred to as Gucci's 'money guy'-who revealed that Gucci has a wealth of material in the stash. So, Gucci just hops on the phone (from jail) with his engineer Sean Paine and together they basically cut and paste vocals Gucci recorded when he was free.
However, the most interesting part of the piece is how Caveman, who is the Director of Urban Music at 101 Distribution, convinced Gucci that he was giving money away to sites like LiveMixtapes and got him to start selling his projects online. Caveman goes on to claim that Gucci netted "about 1.3 million" by releasing nine Gucci Mane projects and three 1017 projects in 2013."—Insanul Ahmed
