What The Hell Just Happened in Music This Week?

Drake's annual OVO Festkicked off the week with a ton of surprises—The Weeknd, Diddy, Ma$e, TLC, Drake (of course) and, most amazingly of all, Kanye West shared the stage at the Molson Amphitheatre in Toronto Monday night.

After that, all hell broke loose.

We got a new song from Drizzy called "Hold On We're Going Home," and he talked about how he wants his forthcoming Nothing Was The Same to be played at weddings. (We're down.) Then Jay Z and Dame Dash pretended to be best friends again and posed for some photos together. We speculated about what they may have been talking about.

We met a new rapper named Alex Wiley, who made a super-weird but also fun video for his song "K Swiss," and watched Stephen Colbert dance to Daft Punk, too.

All that and more in What The Hell Just Happened in Music This Week?

RELATED: What The Hell Just Happened in Music During The First Quarter of 2013?

Date: August 5

The Jews have Passover. The Christians have Easter. The two holidays couldn't be more different. But on Monday, when Yeezus just rose again, he did so in a house with a giant fucking mezuzah on the door* that was nailed there by Rabbi Drake to welcome the congregation of Temple OVO Shalom. Yes: In what is easily the most "well, that just happened" moment of 2013 in rap-a year where Papoose was the most exciting and spontaneous thing to happen at Summer Jam, and Wale/J. Cole seriously share the name of their tour with a Robin Williams movie about being dead—Kanye went North (for the second time this year!) and appeared on stage with Drake at OVO Fest. Kanye showed up, performed three songs ("New Slaves," "Can't Tell Me Nothing," and "All of the Lights"), said some nice words about Drake inspiring him and challenging him, and then left the stage. Mind you, in a country where there are more moose than people, this is a very exciting thing.

But it's also (supposedly) exciting because of What It All Means, interpretations of which range from the casual to the Talmudic to the downright conspiratorial. Some people say it was a peace treaty-as if there was ever really a war. Some people say it was Kanye cedimg the crown to Drake-as if an appearance at a concert can do that. And some people just want it to mean that Drake is finally working up the courage to run away from Young Money and into the non-Birdman hands of someone else. Which, no. This writer (who thinks Yeezus is the best album of the year) wishes Kanye had never done it. Not because Canada doesn't deserve his glory, nor because of any belief in the idea that it means anything in terms of "Kanye vs. Drake." Nah. What's great about Kanye West in 2013 is that he made an album that separated him from the world of mainstream rap, and put him into the of great artists who transcend easy categorization.

Yeezus is Kanye's Dylan-Goes-Electric moment. And to dignify the rap world-to come to this earthly existence, and grace OVO Fest with his presence-just seems like he's caving in. It feels like he's second-guessing the most daring album of his career, and maybe, the most daring thing to happen to rap in way, way too long. And he shouldn't. As for Rabbi Drake? He smiled, and soaked up all the glory of appearing next to Kanye, and seemed genuinely appreciative for the experience. How can you not be? It's like having a World Series MVP-winning pitcher lob you slow pitches during your own record-setting Home Run Derby. A Jew has not killed Yeezus. But there's at least one half-Jew who isn't helping the gospel. -Foster Kamer [*The Mezuzah, in this case, is figurative. Though it wouldn't really surprise anyone if Drake actually had a Mezuzah nailed somewhere on Molson Ice Field, or wherever it was.]

RELATED: Drake Brings Out Kanye West at OVO Fest

Date: August 6

Kanye's OVO Fest appearance sparked discussion suggesting that there's a new king of rap. Drake's like "hahaha." To him, that's a foregone conclusion. In the old days, a confident rapper might make this point with a song that was all BARS and no hook. In Drake's rap monarchy, we see the low-key flex of not rapping at all. Of dropping what is essentially a deep house song, of choosing to make something that's just straight up pretty singing. Drake's not trying to impress you—he knows he already does.

His longstanding principle that dudes will buy his records and say they got them for their sisters remains intact. As does his baseline assumption that you're going to need a soundtrack for driving home late at night after getting rejected. (He remembers what that was like, from the time before he met his, umm, babysitter.) Drake knows you miss the old Drake, and he's happy to provide the sounds of melodic Thank Me Later-era songs like "Karaoke" and "Find Your Love." The difference is that these days Drake is probably listening to Disclosure instead of Alicia Keys, and he's even more comfortable making the rap world (or all of pop music, really) play by his rules. He's going to make pained sort-of-love songs that fit into disco playlists because that's what sounds good. This is a very sensitive monarchy.

He's also in a position where he can introducing new artists instead of looking for co-signs from old ones: By all appearances (i.e. the October's Very Own Soundcloud page, @majidjordan on Twitter), Majid Jordan are the latest OVO signees. Reportedly a production/singing duo from Toronto (their name's a combination of the first names of partners Jordan Ullman and Majid Al Maskati) these guys present further evidence that OVOSOUND is distinctly a sound. Distant backing vocals, nods to contemporary electronic trends, float-on-the-clouds synths with just a touch of distortion—this is the musical atmosphere of a Drake-influenced Toronto. It's starting to be the musical atmosphere of everywhere. It doesn't look to be going anywhere. —Kyle Kramer

RELATED: Listen to Drake's "Hold On We're Going Home

Date: August 6

Even if you have vowed to never again listen to Chris Brown, you should be aware of what he announced (via Twitter) on August 6, 2013: "Don't worry mainstream America. After this X album, it'll probably be my last album." Two things real quick, because no one should have to dedicate too much mental space to Chris Brown, who once "punched [Rihanna] in the left eye with his right hand. He then drove away in the vehicle and continued to punch her in the face with his right hand while steering the vehicle with his left hand. The assault caused [Rihanna's] mouth to fill with blood and blood to splatter all over her clothing and the interior of the vehicle."

1. Guess lots of us are finally going to embrace the mantle of "mainstream America." Because if that's the part of America that takes issue with a petulant child of a man who is now "cool" with the fact that he assaulted his girlfriend, then that's the part for me. If mainstream America is the part of town where those of us who continue to be disgusted by his violence and his piggish public behavior gather, then yes, let us claim it as our own.

2. If Chris Brown doesn't record any more music, we don't have to see his face in TV interviews and at award shows. We don't have to face the dilemma of whether to accept new music from him or not. Regardless of the stance you take on that issue, it won't matter anymore. He will not record new music. You'll only have to think about him when old hits pop up. (Admittedly, "Run It!" still goes.) Without his ego and his rabid fans to contend with, we can think longer and harder about how to change a culture that allows for too much institutional discrimination and violence against women to go unchecked. America, fuck yeah. —Ross Scarano

Ed. Note: The quoted text above comes from Brown's Twitter and a police report filed after Brown assaulted Rihanna on February 8, 2009.

RELATED: Chris Brown Says "X" May Be His Last Album

Date: August 7

The jury's still out on how this fiasco will end, but we know how it began: with a shared dance to Daft Punk's "Get Lucky" between two goofy talk-show hosts.

On July 29, Stephen Colbert (of Comedy Central's The Colbert Report) made an unannounced appearance on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon, shaking a tail feather with his host. It was surreal. As soon as he'd arrived, he was gone, and the next day many were left wondering what the hell had just happened. We soon found out that this was to mark a forthcoming appearance by Daft Punk on Colbert's program, for the 2013 edition of his annual "StePhest Colbchella" festival, which had previously seen acts like The Flaming Lips, Santigold, and fun. make appearances, and was scheduled to air on August 8.

So Daft Punk fans tuned in to Comedy Central this past Tuesday at 11:30 p.m. to see what their favorite androidian duo would be doing. Word has it that they're not planning on touring in 2013, so many were skeptical as to whether they'd actually be playing music at all. Well, we never did find out. Because Colbert announced that, while he'd received a lot of loot from Hyundai, he'd found out "two hours" before the show that Daft Punk had to cancel their appearance. The reason? An exclusive contract the band had with MTV (which is owned by Viacom, the company that also owns Comedy Central) to appear at the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards. That's right, while they share a parent company, one hand doesn't tell the other hand about a contract that must have been secured for some time. Instead, Colbert ranted on the situation, calling MTV head Van Toffler "Van Wilder," bringing out Ashton Kutcher to reflect on being "Daft Punk'D," and referring to the missing musicians as "Click and Clack." He played a video of himself dancing to "Get Lucky" with a huge cast of celebrities, including everyone from Jeff Bridges to Bryan Cranston. Robin Thicke came out to perform "Blurred Lines" in Daft Punk's place, and most people laughed at the ordeal.

Then the speculation started. We heard reports on backstage beef between MTV and Comedy Central over the matter. MTV apparently stood their ground: they had exclusive rights to Daft Punk's first appearance. We heard that Columbia Records had pressured the duo to keep the VMAs booking in tact. We're told that Daft Punk contacted the Comedy Central producers from an airplane to inform them of the cancellation. That all makes sense, right? What doesn't make sense is the rumor that Robin Thicke taped his "Blurred Lines" performance way back on July 31. It was great timing for Robin, as Billboard reported that his new album, Blurred Lines, joined its namesake single at the top of the charts this week. But it makes you wonder: did we just get trolled by the Faux News guy?

Could both stories have some truth to them? It's not difficult to think that there would be some in-fighting over exclusive bookings, even on channels that share the same parent company. But what if the timeline was different? What if Colbert found out last week as opposed to Monday, and scrambled to gather celebrities to fill the void he knew was there? What if Viacom, wanting to make sure this year's VMAs was must-see TV, concocted an in-fight that looked real, but ended up being a giant prank? Did Viacom just go WWE on us? The fact of the matter is, this is either the biggest work that they played on fans of both The Colbert Report and Daft Punk, or Colbert really took it there and threw shots and came out (relatively) unscathed. Who can ever tell in this crazy world. —Khal

RELATED: Stephen Colbert May Have Just Ruined Daft Punk's Surprise Appearance at the VMAs

Date: August 7

Earlier this week, a strange YouTube artifact made its way to The Internet's collective conscious when Alex Wiley premiered his "K-Swiss" video. It appeared to utilize crowdsourced footage of various women singing along with its melodious R&B hook, while a husky gentlemen in sunglasses and a ballcap covering longer hair sang in particularly robotic autotune about wanting to freak you in every freaking way. The addictive chorus was lifted from an old Chicago juke track, appropriately titled "K-Swiss Juke." But who was the star of the video? Was it the return of the Egyptian Lover? Was it a chubby, lightskinned Eazy E? Perhaps Andy Milonakis has a black cousin? Who is this kid, anyway?

Alex Wiley is a rapper from Chicago who, along with rapper Kembe X, is a part of a crew called The Village. Both rappers are associated with Save Money, the crew that gave birth to buzzing Chicago MCs like Vic Mensa, Caleb James, and of course Chance The Rapper. In fact, Chance The Rapper's current DJ Oreo, and his manager ("Pat The Manager") both worked with Alex Wiley and Kembe X prior to jumping on Chance's team. Alex and Kembe were first profiled in the Chicago Reader a year and a half ago in an in-depth profile by Leor Galil. Although "K-Swiss" is pretty much centered around its titular chorus, Alex Wiley is a rapper's rapper, much like Chance. Worth hearing is last year's collaborative track with Chance and Kembe, entitled "#MoPurp," which flips a string loop that should be familiar to Busta Rhymes fans. His mixtape Club Wiley dropped in June; from that release, we previously premiered the rapper's "Creepin" alongside Freddie Gibbs, and he also dropped a single called "Earfucked," which included sequences in which he fills a supersoaker up with a 40 ounce. One suspects he's going places. —David Drake

RELATED: Watch Alex Wiley's Video for "K Swiss"

Date: August 7

My relationship to New York City's Bloombergian transition from a largely bike-free zone to a renown cyclists' haven has been a complicated one. I moved here in the '90s, when the sight of someone riding a bicycle was still a little strange. The bike messengers—with their sleek helmets, shoulder bags duct-taped to their chests for maximum aerodynamics, flying by in a blur, faster than anything else on the streets-those guys were the hardest—looking dudes in town. Mad-Max-style road warriors, their speed-machines tarred black, stripped of gears, they were awesome. Also, seemingly, suicidal. Other bicyclers—David Byrne, say, pedalling around the West Village on his vintage Schwinn, in a dapper suit—looked like anachronisms. Europeans, who got lost while out riding around the canals in Holland. Or jocko/hippie health nuts all full of Gu imported from Portland or Sante Fe. Definitely not New York. Over the past ten years, though, with the city getting cleaner and greener, with well-defined bike lanes showing up all over the place, something shifted. Bicycles, more and more of them, everywhere.

At first, I was opposed. If people want to ride a bike, I thought, they should live someplace else. Someplace more spread out. New York's too crowded for bicycling. There were already all the taxi cabs, little old ladies, and delivery guys to watch out for. Already enough different things moving at different speeds to try to keep track of. And I hated the way these rude new vehiculists would yell at you—startling you as you stepped off the sidewalk. "Hey!" they'd bark. Or "Watch it!" Or even a command to "Move!" ("Move?!" You move!) Eventually, though, my positioned softened. I started to get used to it. I mean, I know that it's better for the environment, and probably a good thing, overall, for the world and everything, if more people biked. I could see which direction the wind is blowing. Change is inevitable. You can't fight progress. All these bikers will live longer than me. They're clearly in much better shape than I am. No sense trying to fight. I resigned myself to it. Like the Disneyfication of Times Square. New York would become bike-friendly.

Until this week. Now I'm all mad again. Bikes are RUINING EVERYTHING THAT'S GOOD AND RIGHT AND HOLY ABOUT THIS CITY. I'm sorry, but I can not abide. Jay Z and Beyonce should not ride bicycles. It's just not glamorous enough for Beyonce. Her toes, which are surely the most beautiful toes on the planet, should not be so close to the pavement. They could get scraped. And Jay? Bikes are nowhere near cool enough for Jay Z. I mean, look at that picture. He looks like Jonah Hill in 21 Jump Street.

Make it stop. —Dave Bry

RELATED: Jay Z Looks Like a Dork on His Bike

Date: August 7

Earlier this week, a TMZ paparazzi approached Nicki Minaj on camera and asked her about a rapper named Ransom's claims that he used to ghostwrite for her. In response, Nicki was rough on him "I'm not even a man and niggas got my dick in they mouth," she said. "I'm undisputed because I'm the only female rap that—day one—I don't need no motherfucking ghostwriter."

There's one problem with the story: Ransom's didn't explicitly say that he ghostwrote for her. The lyric, from the song "Man Alone," is: "Before Nicki was wearing those crazy wigs/I was doing verses for her just hoping she made it big."

Now, Ransom wants an apology. And maybe he deserves one. (But really, more from TMZ, who misrepresented his words.) But there's a bigger problem with this: remember how badly everyone freaked out when it was reported that Nas used ghostwriters? Remember how Nas stans' dreams were crushed and everyone was like, 'I can't believe it!? Why do we have a different response when it comes to Nicki?

Because, you know, most of your favorite rappers have—at one point—used a ghostwriter.

Why are there responses from commenters like this here at Complex: "Um am I the only one who would pay to choke this bitch? That attitude makes me want to smack the fuck out of that cunt. Wouldn't be surprised one bit if she has a ghostwriter."

Since when does a rapper having an attitude (a rapper! imagine!) make it less surprising that he or she has a ghostwriter? Oh right, because the rapper in question is a female rapper.

Whatever. The entire story is sad. Ransom sent some helpless tweets back to Nicki, and she responded that the line was taken out of context and she wished him the best. But she added she has to protect her credibility which is hard when the world just wants to see you fail, all the time. —Lauren Nostro

RELATED: Nicki Minaj Respond to Allegations That She Used a Ghostwriter

Date: August 8

A few weeks back, in an interview with Elliot Wilson, Jay Z responded to Harry Belafonte's criticism of his lack of charitable donations saying, "My presence is charity." It was a rare misstep for Jay, a callous remark for someone who has done an impeccable job managing his narrative—of somehow, magically, convincing people that his success was somehow theirsuccess. (Even though he was the one with the millions of dollars.) And he did all that despite doing some fairly shady things over the years. Cutting his former business partners Dame Dash and Kareem "Biggs" Burke out his empire, for example—one of the saddest breakups in rap history.

The public never knew all the particulars until we read Dan Charnas' The Big Payback which paints a cold-hearted Jay putting money over friendship. In the years since, of course, Jay has kept on winning and every news item about Dame Dash seems to be about how he's gone broke.

So seeing pictures of the two together this week was discomfitting. Here's the thing: Seeing them together just made us think about how far Dame has fallen. It did look like someone offering charity with his presence. And that's kind of gross. Truth is, though, the picture helped Jay more than it helped Dame. It served to make Jay look less ruthless, it made Dame look defeated. And most of all, it reminded us of this photo.

Oof. —Insanul Ahmed

RELATED: What Were Jay Z and Dame Dash Really Talking About Last Night?