Top 10 viral hip-hop news of 2020: Kanye West presidential run to Cardi B ‘WAP’ row, here’s who broke the Internet
2020 will, of course, be remembered for the global pandemic, however, there were other pieces of news as well that caught everybody’s attention around the world. If we look at the year 2020 in hip-hop, there were a lot of “eyebrows-raising” moments – some for the right reasons and some for “not-so” right reasons.
We take a look back at the top viral hip-hop news that took the Internet by storm:
Tyler The Creator slams Grammy category after winning Best Rap Album
Tyler The Creator, whose real name is Tyler Gregory Okonma, has been in the hip-hop game for more than a decade and is usually known for his experimental melodies in his work. The 29-year-old hip-hop entrepreneur is also infamous for his use of homophobic and misogynistic slurs in his lyrics. Tyler scored his first number-one album on the Billboard 200 chart with his fifth album ‘Igor’ (2019) which ended up winning a Brit Award, MTV Video Music Award and the coveted Grammy as well.
All was going well at the Grammy Awards in January 2020 until he slammed the “urban category” of the prestigious award show backstage when asked about the voting process for the awards.
The news caught like a wildfire after he asserted, “It sucks that whenever we and I mean guys that look like me- do anything that's genre-bending or that's anything they always put it in a rap or urban category. I don't like that “urban” word. It's just a politically correct way to say the n-word to me,” as reported by the CNN. Stream ‘Igor’ here.
Verzuz Battle: DMX vs Snoop Dogg
When renowned producers Timbaland and Swizz Beats created the concept of Instagram Live battle in partnership with Apple Music called Verzuz during the lockdown in March 2020, nobody expected it to become real big. The world saw Verzuz battle of artists like T-Pain vs Lil Jon, RZA vs DJ Premier, Nelly vs Ludacris, but it was the Verzuz battle of DMX vs Snoop Dogg that made all the noise on social media. The battle against the hip-hop legends went down on July 22, 2020, and the Verzuz battles were never the same again. Though it was a friendly and “only songs” battle the entire world had their eyes on these two. According to the Highsnobeity website, more than 500,000 enthusiasts tuned in to witness Snoop and DMX go head-to-head, as the rap veterans unleashed hit after hit. All in all, both the hip-hop legends made sure, the virtual audience gets entertained thoroughly. DMX vs Snoop Dogg is hands down the best Verzuz battle yet.
Kanye West’s US Presidential Campaign
Multiple award-winning musician Kanye West had been passing hints to run for the US President for the last few years but in 2020 he finally made his dream come true when he first announced his 2020 United States presidential election campaign as an independent candidate from Illinois, Chicago in July.
But as luck had it, Kanye had to get out of the race in August after the election officials in different US states came to the conclusion that the 43-year-old rapper was not eligible to appear on their state ballots. From going on Twitter rants to sharing fake poll data, Kanye did it all to stay in the news. According to TMZ, Kanye apparently took advantage of his presidential campaign stunt and was trying to make money off it by introducing brand new merchandise. Kanye had earlier introduced a section on his official website where he unveiled a collection that included $60 hats and $160 hoodies with messages like, “Vote Kanye” and “God Save America.”
Rapper Pop Smoke’s murder
American rapper Pop Smoke, who began his music career in 2018, first rose to prominence with his breakout single ‘Welcome to the Party’ in April 2019. However, his bright career was cut short after he was murdered in February 2020 at the age of 20. It created shockwaves across the hip-hop industry. Pop Smoke, whose real name is Bashar Barakah Jackson, was shot twice during a robbery at the Hollywood Hills home where he was staying in February. According to authorities, four men were arrested in July 2020, as reported by the BBC. Pop Smoke got his first US top 10 albums in the week of his death. Pop Smoke’s debut studio album, ‘Shoot for the Stars, Aim for the Moon,’ was released posthumously in July 2020 and debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, with all 19 tracks from the album grabbing different spots on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
Stream his album here.
Tory Lanez and Megan Thee Stallion shooting incident
Rapper Tory Lanez, whose real name is Daystar Peterson, has been in news since July 2020 after it was reported that he allegedly shot his then rapper friend Megan Thee Stallion in the foot. Lanez appeared live on Instagram and spoke to his fans about what went down the day the alleged shooting took place. According to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office, the gunfire shooting happened after the pair got into an argument while riding in an SUV in the Hollywood Hills on July 12, 2020, as reported by the BBC. The 28-year-old Canadian rapper then completely vanished from social media only to come out after three months with an album titled ‘Daystar’ where he dissed Megan and other artists who dropped him from their respective projects following the incident. He also explained in a few tracks what really happened during the incident.
In the song ‘Money Over Fallouts’ he goes like, “How you get shot in the foot and it ain’t hit no bones or tendons?” In early October, Tory was charged with carrying a loaded, unregistered firearm in a vehicle concerned with the same case and if convicted the Canadian artist could face up to 23 years in prison.
Logic retires from hip-hop
California based rapper Logic shocked the hip-hop industry and his fans around the world when he announced his retirement via a tweet from his decade long mainstream rap career after dropping his sixth and final studio album titled ‘No Pressure’ on July 24, 2020. The 30-year-old cited personal reasons for the retirement from the rap game as he revealed that now he had a son and he wanted to experience the joy of fatherhood. The rapper’s biggest hit came in 2017 in the form of a song about suicide called ‘1-800-273-8255’ which is named after a prevention hotline in the United States. Logic even scored two Grammy nominations for the same. In his decade-long career, Logic also collaborated with the hip-hop legend Eminem as he had earlier mentioned on several occasions how big influence the latter had in his life.
His other notable collaborations include Childish Gambino, Will Smith, Wiz Khalifa, Joyner Lucas, and Hailee Steinfeld. The title of his final album, ‘No Pressure,’ is a throwback to the title of his debut studio album ‘Under Pressure.’ Stream the album here.
Cardi B, Megan Thee Stallion ‘WAP’ controversy
Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion (Getty Images)
One of the biggest female emcees of hip-hop, Cardi B always stays in the limelight for some or other reason, and in August 2020, the American rapper again made headlines when her song ‘WAP’ featuring another female emcee Megan Thee Stallion got slammed for showing too much explicit content in the music video. ‘WAP’ is an acronym for Wet-A**-Pu**y which samples Frank Ski's 1993 Baltimore club single ‘Wh***s in This House’- yes, the catchy phrase which got stuck in everybody’s head. Thanks to its sexually explicit video, Cardi B and Megan did garner a lot of attention but also divided the Internet. While some praised the ladies for the confident display of women who demonstrate their sexual prowess, others pointed them out for too much nudity in the video.
But that did not stop Cardi B’s track to break several records on the leading digital platforms. Since the release, the official audio of the hit single has got 117million views on YouTube whereas, the official video stands strong with 258million views.
Rapper 6ix9ine hospitalized due to caffeine overdose
Another news from the world of hip-hop which took the Internet by storm was when American rapper 6ix9ine, also stylized as Tekashi69, got hospitalized in Florida in early October 2020 after overdosing on a combination of caffeine and a weight loss supplement. The ‘Trollz’ hit-maker had earlier confirmed to the Instagram gossip page The Shade Room shortly after the incident that he was fine and was trying to lose weight when he overdosed on diet pills and caffeine.
The Shade Room had reported that Tekashi told them he was only taking Hydroxycut and not drugs not just because he doesn’t do drugs but because of his strict probation that would send him right back to jail. He additionally told the gossip site, he had gained a lot of weight after he left prison and was over 200 lbs at one point.
The publication Vulture had also reported that Tekashi 69’s lawyer denied the overdose reports. “He did not overdose. He was treated and released on the same day. And when asked if he could confirm if 6ix9ine’s treatment was for mixing Hydroxycut with caffeine, Lazzaro asserted, “That I cannot.”
Rick Ross squashes long-standing beef with 50 Cent
Hip-hop has witnessed some of the biggest feuds between some of the biggest artists over the years and one of the fights which have been making a lot of noise from the last few years is between rappers Rick Ross and 50 Cent. The bad air between the two started roughly a decade ago when Ross first dissed 50 Cent in his 2009 song titled ‘Mafia Music’ to which the latter had reverted with his track called ‘Officer Ricky (Go Ahead Try Me),’ and the beef has continued ever since, as reported by Highsnobeity website.
Published by Hot97, when 50 Cent first sat for an interview with Billboard in July he said that he loved Ross’ song ‘BMF’ (Blowin’ Money Fast) and would love to use it in his then-new crime drama series ‘Black Mafia Family’ which came as a shocker for who those who have been following their beef all along. Now, when Rick Ross sat for an interview with Billboard in August, he said that he will let 50 Cent use his song if he would support his Wingstop business. He then added that he making business moves with 50 Cent will be way more beneficial than having beef. The Internet then took it as the ending of a decade long beef.
Silento’s arrest for domestic violence and deadly weapon
Best known for his viral song ‘Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae),’ Silento made headlines in the month of September 2020 when he got arrested for alleged assault with a deadly weapon and domestic violence in two separate incidents. According to the publication abc7, the 22-year-old American rapper and singer, whose real name is Richard Lamar Hawk, was first arrested for the charge of inflicting corporal injury on a spouse or cohabitant, as confirmed by the authorities. However, he was released on the same day. But looks like he never learned from the previous incident as the very next day, he allegedly went to a random home in the 12700 block of Burbank Boulevard in Valley Village while holding a hatchet.
According to the LAPD, the rapper entered the strangers’ residence while searching for his girlfriend. The owners and their children were home at the time and were shaken by the intrusion but remained unharmed, investigators said as reported by abc7. Silento was then again arrested and later charged by the Los Angeles County district attorney's office with two counts of assault with a deadly weapon. The news of him getting arrested caused quite a stir on the Internet.
Silento’s hit single Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae) has topped many charts in 2015 and it even inspired a viral dance move. The song currently stands strong on YouTube with 1.7 billion views.