Black Immigrant Daily News

Popcaan says he will be an independent artist soon, dropping hints he will be parting ways with Drake’s OVO Sound.

The dancehall deejay and the Toronto rapper have been close friends for years leading to the Unruly Boss signing to OVO Sound, the label founded by Drake, Noah ’40’ Shebib, and Oliver El-Khatib. Drake announced the signing of Popcaan during his appearance at Unruly Fest in St. Thomas in December 2018.

“This is something we’ve been working on for a very long time, and I just wanna let everyone know that finally, officially 2019, Popcaan a sign to OVO label,” Drizzy told the crowd while on stage with Popcaan.

At the time, it was a major move for the dancehall star, who was long rumored to be a part of the Toronto-based label, but the ink didn’t dry until the top of 2019 when he announced that he had officially signed to OVO. The deal cemented an even tighter relationship with the two and spawned a few collaborations over the years, including a recent song, “We Caa Done,” that appears on Popcaan’s new album, Great Is He.

Fast forward to 2023, and it looks like that label deal is coming to an end. Popcaan has a cover story out for Crack magazine where he opened up about his music, career, label, and other things happening in the Unruly universe, and one thing was very clear; he will be independent sometime soon. Perhaps he just needs to fulfill some additional contractual agreements, and he is out.

“The label can be weird sometimes. I love the label but I don’t like them,” Poppy said in the interview. “But I’ll be independent soon.”

Drake and Popcaan

As it relates to his relationship with Drake, Popcaan did not comment on that, nor was he asked, but he recently assured fans that the link is still strong. Drizzy also gave the dancehall star a major boost to start the year with the release of “We Caa Done,” the first song to release by OVO Sound this year. Still, this latest admission by Popcaan will likely trigger more chatters of a rift between himself and Drake, the man from Toronto he often regarded as a brother.

Drake co-founded OVO Sound in 2012 with producer Noah’ 40′ Shebib and manager Oliver El-Khatib. Over the past decade, the trio grew the label’s roster to include Dvsn, PartyNextDoor, Plaza, Smiley, Baka Not Nice, Majid Jordan, and Roy Woods. Along with 40, there are also Nineteen85, Boi-1da, and other in-house producers.

Popcaan also has his own Unruly Entertainment label, although it’s unclear if any artists are currently signed to the imprint.

Popcaan’s announcement comes on the heels of other artists announcing their departure from major labels or seeking better deals from majors. Kranium recently announced he has departed Atlantic Records, and a few months back, Baton Rouge rapper NBA YoungBoy left the same label for a more lucrative deal with Motown.

Nevertheless, artists are still open to signing major label deals. Masicka was the latest dancehall artist to become a major label artist when he joined Def Jam on an album deal.

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Black Immigrant Daily News

Nicki Minaj took a few jabs at Megan Thee Stallion at Rolling Loud.

Many fans of Houston rapper Megan Thee Stallion feel that Nicki Minaj tried to diss the “WAP” rapper during her guest appearance at Rolling Loud on Saturday night. The rapper joined Young Money mogul and Rolling Loud headliner Lil Wayne on stage, where they performed several of their tracks. Minaj spent about 10 minutes on the stage with Lil Wayne, but the set was plagued by audio issues seconds into her solo performance.

The rapper performed “Super Freaky Girl” and then her new song “Red Ruby Da Sleeze.” There was a particular verse in the song that Minaj emphasized that has fans thinking that she was sending shots at Megan Thee Stallion.

“I just put out this song yesterday, so Imma just let it rock,” Minaj says. The rapper became annoyed halfway as audio issues developed. “Is the song offbeat?” Minaj asked as she stopped the music.

While waiting, she adds, “I said I don’t f**k with horses. I said ‘it’s 700 horses when we fixing to leave, but I don’t f**k with horses since Christopher Reeves,” the rapper singled out that particular line.

Shortly after, her setlist appeared to become corrupt as the DJ was unable to bring back up the song despite efforts by her people to reset the list.

Minaj eventually cut the performance short, but that has not stopped fans from calling her out for dissing Megan Thee Stallion, who was reportedly backstage at the event with Cardi B.

“Nicki Minaj tried to clock Megan Thee Stallion with that horse bar only for the crowd to stare back at her in silence. That’s definitely one way to be humbled,” one Megan fan wrote on Twitter.

“Or someone who has been in the industry so long that they are considered furniture; this is humiliating and goes to show @NICKIMINAJ just isn’t ready yet. Forgetting ghostwritten lyrics, no stage presence, dead crowd and hyping a one-sided beef? It’s just Embarrassing!” another said.

One Nicki Minaj fan also defended her on Twitter writing, “Megan Thee Stallion has a song called REALER. She was comfortably dissing Nicki Minaj and Cardi b in that song. That was way before Hot Girl Summer and Wap. Did a few interviews dissing Cardi? I say all this to say, ain’t NO FRIENDS in the female rap game. And nobody is innocent.”

Cardi B and Megan appear to share a close relationship, having collaborated on their Grammy-winning hit song, “WAP.” It was also recently revealed by movie director Robert Townsend that Megan and Cardi both wanted to do a B.A.P.S. movie remake.

The cult classic originally starred Halle Berry and the late Natalie Desselle-Reid.

“There’s people that love, love, love the film and some people that didn’t get it. And those that love it—like you love it and you get it—I’ve had people go, ‘Hey, we want to do a remake,’” he said. “Everybody from Megan Thee Stallion to Cardi B is like, ‘Could we do…’ I mean, it’s like, I don’t know,” Townsend said.

The rappers have never spoken about the film, but their onstage chemistry has certainly stirred excitement among fans.

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Black Immigrant Daily News

Bounty Killer and Shaggy working on new music together.

The Warlord has confirmed that the two music legends are working on new music together. On Saturday, Bounty Killer shared a photo of himself and the “It Wasn’t Me” artist together in what appears to be a studio. “Watch di hook up it’s a cook-up,” Killer captioned the Instagram post. Shaggy also confirmed the music announcement, writing, “Yup!!! Mad ting!!!”

An upcoming single between the two artists would mark a continued relationship between them as they previously worked together on several singles like “Raggamuffin Christmas,” also featuring Junior Reid and KSwaby, and “Reggae World” by Third World featuring the two of them.

In December, Bounty Killer shared that he rated Shaggy, who continues to spread Jamaican culture and influence abroad. Reposting a video of Shaggy in New Zealand, the deejay wrote, “The biggest deejay out of Jamaica same way. Diamond League. who nuh like it bite it and fight it.”

Beenie Man and Bounty Killer at Rebel Salute 2023

Bounty Killer has been on a roll as he recently joined Hood Celebrity’s remix, “I’m Back,” and several tracks while engaging in a feud with Mr. Vegas.

Bounty Killer eventually dropped out of the clash a week ago after weeks of him and Mr. Vegas going back and forth. The ‘clash’ got nasty between the artists, with each making separate criminal accusations against the other. With the dancehall legend dropping out of the clash, Mr. Vegas has continued his onslaught on social media as he calls out Killer and other artists that have aligned themselves with the Warlord.

As for Shaggy, the legendary artist recently featured on the Jeep Super Bowl ad remake “Electric Boogie” by Marcia Griffiths and featured dancehall artists, Moyann, Amber Lee, and Jamila Falak.

Excited fans reacted to the announcement of the two legends working together. “Higher levels mi General #dancehallkings #reggaebaddest, stay up,” one fan wrote. Another sad, “Cahboom. I’m excited and di tune nuh drop yet. Bumpijuice claaaat.”

Some also shared high hopes for the collaboration, “Sounds like another grammy on the way,” one fan wrote, while another said, “Mr Burrell and Mr Price its gonna be Hot and Spicy, Not for d faint hearted! Blessup every time Generals.”

In the meantime, Bounty Killer continues to be booked and busy as he prepares for BRT weekend coming up on March 10. The artist will hit the stage with Skeng, Valiant, Ding Dong Ravers, and several other artists.

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