Nicki Minaj Announces Dates For Pink Friday 2 World Tour
It's now official – Gag City might be visiting a city near you on the Pink Friday 2 World Tour. We discuss it here!
LOS ANGELES - JUL 09: Nicki Minaj arrives for ‘Barbie’ World Premiere on July 09, 2023 in Los Angeles, CA
Credit: DFree
By: Sharmaine Johnson
On December 8th, the Queen of Rap captivated the world, plunging the internet into Gag City with the release of her highly anticipated album, Pink Friday 2. It's now official – Gag City might be visiting a city near you on the Pink Friday 2 World Tour. Pink Friday 2 has shattered records and achieved impressive numbers within a week of its debut. The head barb in charge unveiled the PF2 tour dates on her Instagram yesterday, again leaving the world in awe!
The tour is set to kick off on March 1st in Oakland, California, and will traverse the globe, reaching Berlin, offering barbs worldwide the chance to experience Gag City in real life. Along the journey, Minaj will grace the stage at arena shows in Atlanta, Las Vegas, Boston, Toronto, and Chicago. Two special shows in New York are also on the agenda – one at Madison Square Garden and the other at Barclays Center. The first leg of the tour will conclude on May 12 in Austin, Texas, with additional stops at J. Cole's Dreamville Festival and Rolling Loud in California.
Later in the tour, Minaj will take her talents to Europe, delivering concerts in the Netherlands, Germany, France, and the United Kingdom. Pre-sale tickets for the Pink Friday 2 tour will be available from December 12–14, and general sales will commence on Friday, December 15, at 9 a.m. local time. Let us know where your Gag City headquarters will be. Check out the complete itinerary of the tour below.
Pink Friday 2 World Tour Dates
March 1 - Oakland, CA - Oakland Arena
March 3 - Denver, CO - Ball Arena
March 8 - Las Vegas, NV - T-Mobile Arena
March 10 - Seattle, WA - Climate Pledge Arena
March 13 - Phoenix, AZ - Footprint Center
March 15 - Inglewood, CA - Rolling Loud California*
March 18 - New Orleans, LA - Smoothie King Center
March 20 - Atlanta, GA - State Farm Arena
March 22 - Orlando, FL - Amway Center
March 26 - Charlotte, NC - Spectrum Center
March 28 - Newark, NJ - Prudential Center
March 29 - Philadelphia, PA - Wells Fargo Center
March 30 - New York, NY - Madison Square Garden
April 1 - Washington, DC - Capital One Arena
April 2 - Baltimore, MD - CFG Bank Arena
April 4 - Brooklyn, NY - Barclays Center
April 5 - Hartford, CT - XL Center
April 7 - Raleigh, NC - Dreamville Festival*
April 10 - Boston, MA - TD Garden
April 12 - Columbus, OH - Schottenstein Center
April 13 - Milwaukee, WI - Fiserv Forum
April 17 - Montreal, QC - Bell Centre
April 19 - Toronto, ON - Scotiabank Arena
April 20 - Detroit, MI - Little Caesars Arena
April 24 - Chicago, IL - United Center
April 27 - Minneapolis, MN - Target Center
May 2 - Oklahoma City, OK - Paycom Center
May 9 - Houston, TX - Toyota Center
May 11 - Dallas, TX - American Airlines Center
May 12 - Austin, TX - Moody Center
May 25 - Manchester, UK - Co-Op Live
May 26 - Birmingham, UK - Resorts World Arena
May 28 - London, UK - The O2
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Hip-Hop's 50th Anniversary: The Gucci Mane Effect
Gucci Mane’s contributions to Hip-Hop have solidified his spot on Trap Mount Rushmore. We give Gucci his flowers as we celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Hip-Hop. We discuss it here!
On June 25, 2017, Gucci Mane was present at the BET Awards held at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles, California.
Credit: Jamie Lamor Thompson/Shutterstock
By: Vince Wilson
As the celebration of Hip Hop’s 50th Anniversary continues, there have been a lot of props paid to various pioneers of the culture. A pioneer I want to pay homage to is Gucci Mane. The East Atlanta native and self-proclaimed TrapGod is for sure an architect of the Trap Music genre. He has helped put on many of the artists in this generation of southern rappers. I look at Gucci Mane as the Red Auerbach of rap.
Dr. Dre is given a lot of credit for discovering talent, but Snoop Dogg is the only one he made an icon; you can throw Eminem in there, although he was already bubbling and self-made on the battle scene in Detroit. 50 cent was similarly brought to him. There are a lot of instances in Dre's case where young apprentices didn't work out, from Lady of Rage, Hittman, to Bishop Lamont leading to an endless list of promised albums and collabs that never came to fruition.
The complete opposite goes for Gucci Mane, who is not credited to be as influential to Hip Hop as Dr.Dre but is just as intricate in the growth of the culture, particularly in the South. The Lemonade rapper has been the epicenter of the rap game for the last 20 years.
Gucci Mane - Bricks (Official Video
To understand how and why Gucci is so great at recognizing and cultivating talent, you have to understand his journey. Not wanting to be an artist initally, a natural hustler, Gucci wanted to be like Jermaine Dupri, orchestrating things from behind the scenes. Unlike many label owners of his generation, Gucci Mane did not have to sign an artist to push and support them, which is understated in this industry full of Puff Daddy’s and Bird Mans. If he liked and believed in an artist’s talent he would throw them on a track amplifying their careers. The Gucci Mane effect includes, but is not limited to Young Thug, Waka Flocka Flame, OJ Da JuiceMan, Future, Zaytoven, Mike WIl Made It, Lex Luger, Southside, Nicki Minaj, The Migos, and Pooh Sheisty.
Legend has it that Gucci Mane signed Young Thug to a Bag of Money before ever hearing him rap. Thug was brought to Gucci by the late Atlanta legend, Pee Wee Longway, who told Gucci to sign him on the spot. Only needing Pee Wee's blessing, he signed Thugger that night. Young Thug slept in the studio that night, starting his journey to be the biggest rapper in the game through Gucci’s push. In the same year, the New York Times Best-Selling Author signed The Migos, making collaborative projects with both that helped blow them up.
The first time Future caught my ear was on a Gucci Mane track called ‘Sometimes,’ on the original TRAP GOD mixtape. A certified banger. Gucci Mane was the first artist to make a collab tape with Future in 2011 titled FREE Bricks. He recognized the potential in the multitalented artist before he started penning records for the biggest pop stars in the game like Beyoncé.
Gucci Mane and Future
Having difficulty blowing up in New York, Nicki Minaj was steered to Atlanta and Gucci Mane’s 1017 label, providing her opportunities through Waka Flocka’s Manager/Mom. Gucci then connected Nicki with the Trapaholics, who would be the vehicle for her legendary Beam Me Up Scotty Mixtape. This project got her snagged up by Young Money and the rest is history.
Gucci Mane’s ear for beats is also severely underrated. Zaytoven is Gucci’s first in-house producer, crafting the sound of countless mixtapes and his first two albums, Trap House and Hard 2 Kill. Zaytoven’s awkward piano-heavy sound would be synonymous with Gucci Mane’s awkward slow flow that would become one of the most prolific MC/Producer combos alongside The Guru and Premier. Since then, Zaytoven has become one of the most sought-after producers in the game, producing for The Migos, Drake, and Future’s most classic tape to date, Beast Mode.
Gucci Mane also discovered teenaged Mike Will Made It before he became the biggest producer in the world, producing billboard hits for Miley Cyrus during her urban radio phase. Mike Will produced various tracks for Gucci Mane before blowing up commercially, including the legendary Trap Back series. Featured in that Trap Back series were also Lex Luger and Southside, young producers signed to 1017 that crafted the sound of trap music for the rest of the decade. You can hear Lex Luger on two of Rick Ross’ biggest records BMF and MC Hammer (featuring Gucci Mane). Southside went on to become one of the most popular producers in rap. Producing the majority of Future’s classic mixtape Monster before becoming an integral part of the drill sound.
Despite his upward trajectory in the trap music genre, Gucci Mane was sentenced to three years in prison for a gun charge putting a halt on his fast progression. This was a time of transformation for the Bricks rapper coming to back society clean, sober, and in shape with chiseled abs. Some people believe the glow-up was too unreal and dubbed him a ‘clone’.
After Gucci Mane was released, the rest of Hip Hop immediately blessed and embraced him with opportunities like the ones he had provided for so many before. The fruits of his labor paid off from the seeds he helped water as the hottest artist in the game immediately paid their blessings to the Trap God upon his return. Drake gifted him a track for his album,’ Back on Road,’ and also hopped on Gucci’s track ‘Both’. Migos pulled in Gucci to be a part of their classic album, Culture for the track ‘Slippery’. Young Thug paid hommage and hopped in the video ‘Guwop’s Home,’ and Mike Will put Gucci on his first Billboard #1 with his group Rae Sremmurd’s smash ‘Black Beatles’.
Gucci continues to exhibit the work ethic that made him undeniable in the mid-2000s. He dropped 6 albums in 6 years and established a new wave of young artists with his new 1017 imprint, including the currently incarcerated Pooh Sheisty.
Gucci Mane is a legend who has cemented his place and legacy on the Mount Rushmore of trap music. A Rushmore that features Jeezy, TI, Gucci, and Future, respectively. Unlike TI and Jeezy, you can see the influence Gucci Mane has on the current artists. I can hear Gucci Mane in Young Thug, Young Nudy, and 21 Savage, as he has outlasted his peers on the Trap Rushmore, eclipsing Young Jeezy and TI in musical longevity and relevance. As we celebrate 50 years of Hip Hop and its remarkable and vast story; we must realize that this story could not be told, without Gucci Mane.
BRRR!
Gucci Mane - There I Go (feat. J. Cole & Mike WiLL Made-It) [Official Music Video]
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“New Music Friday”: 4 Hip Hop Projects To Look Out For
Summer is almost officially here, meaning that the perfectly curated summer playlists will soon be in full effect! Here are 4 highly anticipated hip hop projects to look out for on new music Friday!
J. Cole drops the “Off Season”
By: Cory Utsey
Summer is almost officially here, meaning that the perfectly curated summer playlists will soon be in full effect!
While 2021 has given us a few bangers here and there, there are a few artists who have been hinting at-- and in some cases confirming-- the release of some new projects, and a few of them happen to fall on May 14.
So let us take a quick look at four anticipated projects for this New Music Friday.
J. Cole - “The Off Season”
J. Cole and Dreamville have given us some amazing songs over the last two years with “Revenge of the Dreamers III” in 2019 and “Revenge of the Dreamers III: Director’s Cut” in 2020, but his last solo album was 2018’s “KOD”.
With that in mind, many were shocked to see that on May 4, he announced via Instagram that “The Off-Season” would be released on May 14.
Not only were fans given a sneak peak of how the album might sound with the May 6 release of “i n t e r l u d e”, but by May 10, the “Applying Pressure: The Off-Season Documentary” premiered on YouTube.
And by the looks of his L.A. Leakers Freestyle with Power 106 Los Angeles, which went viral on May 12, this album is about as highly anticipated as highly anticipated gets.
J. Cole - 9 5 . s o u t h (Official Audio)
Nicki Minaj - “Beam Me Up Scotty”
Not only is The Barbie back, but her comeback made the Crocs website crash!
Minaj, who had seemingly stepped away from social media for a couple of months, made a swift return (in pink Crocs) on May 10 to tell the world that we should be expecting something from her “F R I D A Y 🤞🏽”.
The Queen dropped Beam Me Up Scotty, which is the official release of her 2009 mixtape featuring 22 songs!
Nicki Minaj - Beam Me Up Scotty (Official Audio)
Jorja Smith - “Be Right Back”
Jorja Smith, who recently released “Nobody But You” with Sonder on April 9, might make the cut for your more relaxed summer playlists.
But the smooth and sultry songstress is releasing the eight-track project called “Be Right Back” both digitally and in vinyl, which comes three years after “Lost & Found”.
Smith has continued to experiment with new sounds and genres in the singles that she has dropped since her debut album, such as “Be Honest”, “By Any Means” and “Bussdown” (which was released on May 13 and comes right off of her new album).
Described as a sort of “sonic waiting-room” by Kyann-Sian Williams, this project should hold fans over until the official release of her sophomore album.
Jorja Smith - Time
Earthgang - “Ghetto Gods”
The details surrounding the release of Earthgang’s sophomore album “Ghetto Gods” are a bit sketchy, as the duo has been hinting at the album’s release yet had never confirmed a date.
However, by the looks of an ambiguous tweet made by the duo on May 6, as well as Hip Hop DX’s Album Release Dates, it is likely that we will be getting the album this New Music Friday.
Hopefully, we will be proven right.
With much to listen to on May 14, it is almost certain that at least one of these artists will come through with some amazing music to get us through the summer; let the listening begin!
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5 Tracks On Nicki Minaj's "Queen" Album Highlighting Girl Power
It's been nearly three years since Nicki Minaj released her highly anticipated fourth album titled Queen, and looking back, the album not only serves as a modern-day hip-hop feminist manifesto but showcases Minaj reasserting her status as hip-hop royalty. We discuss it here!
By: Alexis Oatman
It's been nearly three years since Nicki Minaj released her highly anticipated fourth album titled Queen.
Following its initial release back in August 2018, many barbs and music critics offered the project mixed reviews, noted the album had flashes of brilliance but mainly was "eclipsed in chaos," said one Fader magazine music critic.
The album comes almost four years after her critically acclaimed work, The Pinkprint.
However, looking back, the album not only serves as a modern-day hip-hop feminist manifesto but showcases Minaj reasserting her status as hip-hop royalty.
Minaj defends her crown with blaring beats and infectious samples, all while giving homage to her Trinidadian roots thanks to collaborations with a host of hot producers ranging from Boi-1-da to Mike Will Made It.
Concurrently, the rapper also launched her own radio show on Beats 1, appropriately titled Queen Radio. Minaj used the platform to dispel rumors surrounding her relationship with then-fiancé Kenneth Petty, her very public beef with Remy Ma, and her on-and-off-again beef Cardi B.
Never lacking charisma and attitude, Minaj's slick metaphors and wordplay are still heavily present throughout the 19-track project, featuring only a handful of features, including Eminem, Ariana Grande, The Weeknd, and more.
As a black woman in a male-dominated industry, Minaj has had to scrape her way to the top.
Queen showcases Minaj's raw nature through her toughness, menacing lyrics, and soft edges. Whether she's answering to the "bitches” who are her "sons" or dispelling rumors, Minaj takes listeners on an intense ride while she defends her royal status.
Her journey is most visible in five songs on Queen.
"Majesty"
Minaj kicked off the record dripping with a menacing swagger as she hoots, "Yo, I got the money and the power now/The G5'll get me out there in an hour now." Minaj made it clear that she worked hard for her spot and has earned everything she has gotten. Appropriately titled, “Majesty” guest singer Labrinth offers Minaj a beautiful yet chilling introduction as her highness during the song's chorus. This track even features the "Rap God” himself, Eminem, as he blasts off into a sneering, lighting quick verse speaking on everything from new hip-hop to sleeping with strangers.
Nicki Minaj - Majesty
"Barbie Dreams"
This hilarious rap attack is an homage to Notorious B.I.G.'s "Just Playing (Dreams)" and his rip on famous R&B singers at the time—except this time, Minaj serves a beat down for the men of the hip hop industry. "Drake worth a hundred milli, always buying me sh*t/But I don't know if the pussy wet or if he's crying and sh*t." The rapper even took a lighthearted jab at her ex-boyfriend, rapper Meek Mill. "Meek still be in my DMs/ I be having to duck him/'I use to pray for times like this' face ass when I f*ck him." The song showcased Minaj's upbeat and fun side, a side we haven't seen lately, barbs remember feeling this kind of energy from Nicki early on during her mixtape days.
Nicki Minaj - Barbie Dreams
"Hard White"
Minaj storms the track calling out her suspected haters once again, noting how she has to "work hard just to get half back." The albeit creeping hop shows Minaj enjoying herself while cementing her legacy as the top woman in rap. "My legacy could never be undone/I'm a prodigy, R.I.P Thun-Thun/Got these bitches shook, they shocked, no stun-gun." Minaj clarifies that she created the blueprint for a lot of female artists who followed her, but doesn’t get her proper credit, and she is right.
Nicki Minaj - Hard White
"Chun Li"
The first official single off the album, "Chun-Li," silenced anyone who thought the pop-crossover artist didn't still have bars. With a blaring saxophone and sporadic gong, Minaj reminded her "sons" that "Ayo, I been on, b*tch, you been corn" and fully embraced her new persona and the notion that some entities were "paintin’ me out to be the bad guy.” The song peaked at No.10 on the Billboard Hot 100, coming after her four-year hiatus working on The Pinkprint album.
Nicki Minaj - Chun-Li
“Good Form”
No Nicki record is complete without a twerk anthem, “Good Form” offers a needed break from the serious tone of the album. The track serves as subtle appreciation for big derrieres and is also accompanied by a bright and colorful visual featuring other popular women in the industry, including “New New” herself Lauren London, the Clermont twins, Instagram influencer Ari, and more. “Who on Barbie D? Who on Barbie D? Everybody (Go!),” Minaj yells, making it know that everyone’s gaze remains fixed on her and what she does next.
Nicki Minaj - Good Form ft. Lil Wayne
Meet Sharmaine Johnson, Media Correspondent for 247 Live Culture!
Email: Sharmaine@247LCTV.com