Author: Scarlett Pham

In early 2022, Snoop Dogg officially owns Death Row catalog and withdrew it from streaming services shortly after. As for the reasons, Snoop explained during an April appearance on Drink Champs:

"First thing I did snatch all the music off those platforms known to people, because those platforms don't pay." He then continued, "And those platforms get millions of streams, and nobody gets paid other than the record labels. So what I wanted to do is snatch my music off, create a platform similar to Amazon, Netflix, Hulu. It'll be a Death Row app, and the music, in the meantime, will live in the metaverse."

Recently, Snoop Dogg brought Death Row record's catalog to TikTok. According to a report by Billboard on February 14th, TikTok has announced a partnership with Snoop Dogg, bringing the music of Death Row to the app.

Death Row fits into TikTok's SoundOn distribution platform. However, they will only have the catalog - including 2Pac's "All Eyez On Me" and Snoop Dogg's "Doggystyle" before the catalog is released more widely.

In the announcement, Snoop Dogg said that the timing for this decision for Death Row's return was based on the Super Bowl.

"Since I took Death Row off streaming almost a year ago, not a day goes by without people asking me to put it back up," Snoop Dogg said. "As the Super Bowl rolled around, I knew fans would be looking for the music from our iconic performance in 2022, so I wanted to reintroduce the most historic catalog to the people."

Author: Scarlett Pham

Since the album "The Kinection" featuring T-Pain and Ghostface Killah released in October 2020, Omarion has not released any major music projects. A few days ago he took to his Instagram to post a clip with the caption "#BIGVIBEZ."

Omarion also announced that his sixth studio album "Full Circle: Sonic Book One" will be out on May 5th.

On March 2nd, Omarion released a five-part documentary called "OMEGA: The Gift & The Curse." Premieres on WE tv.

Omarion will return to the stage performing at the Lovers & Friends festival on May 6th in Las Vegas, a day after the release of his new album.

Author: Scarlett Pham

If you're a fan of 6LACK, you'll definitely notice that he's "cleaned up" his Instagram, leaving only a few important posts related to his previous albums. 6LACK's last post was a week ago.

The new post is a video to promote his new project possibly called "Mr. Valentine." In the video we have Atlanta Water Boys randomly giving roses to people. The ladies who received roses and messages from 6LACK were overjoyed.

6LACK has had a small number of releases over the years. His most recent album "East Atlanta Love Letter" was released in 2018, debuted at no.3 on the Billboard 200. The album received Gold certification by the RIAA in December 2020. His debut album "Free 6LACK" was released in 2016 and was nominated at the 60th Grammy Awards for Best Urban Contemporary Album.

We also believe 6LACK has just unofficially announced his next album, presumably titled "S.I.H.A.L.," which is scheduled to be released in March. This prediction comes from a photo posted on his Twitter on February 13th. Everything has not been officially confirmed by 6LACK, but it is a great sign for his big comeback.

A Florida judge approved a motion from Drake's attorney after he was asked to appear in court to answer questions related to XXXTentacion's murder in 2018.

In the trial on February 7th, prosecutors confirmed that XXXTentacion died because of an unsuccessful armed robbery, However, the lawyer for one of the suspects named Dedrick Williams questioned if Drake had a motive to kill XXXTentacion. The lawyer hypothesized based on XXXTentacion's Instagram post at the time there was a conflict between two artist: "If anyone tries to kill me it was @champagnepapi. I'm snitching right now." After the post, XXXTentacion claimed his account was hacked.

In response to the lawyer, the prosecutor stated there was no evidence that Drake was involved.

In his ruling on Tuesday (February 14th), Judge Michael Usan sided with the attorneys representing Drake, signing the male artist's motion to avoid that deposition following the court's previous order for him to obtain testimony from the court. It is known that after missing his first date on January 27th, Drake was once again asked to appear via Zoom on February 24th to clarify the allegation that he was involved in the death of XXXTentacion. 

Meanwhile, Drake's legal representative said it was "unreasonable and oppressive" to bring the male artist into the case without any clear evidence that he has "any involvement in this matter." Beside Drake, there are many artists are being dragged into this included Quavo, Offset, 6ix9ine, Joe Budden, or even the late rapper Takeoff.

Author: Scarlett Pham

Juice WRLD's sudden death in 2019 caused a lot of loss to the Hip-Hop industry. Before his death, he released multiple albums, "Goodbye & Good Riddance" in 2018, "Death Race To Love" in 2019, and a collaboration album with Future called "WRLD On Drugs." It is known that the amount of music work that Juice WRLD left for us is a lot, since his death two posthumous albums "Legends Never Die" and "Fighting Demons" have been released and have achieved great success.

Last week, according to Billboard, late rapper Juice WRLD's music catalog is sold to Opus Music Group. The purchased catalog includes all of Juice's previously released albums, mixtapes, singles and EPs, as well as many unreleased songs. According to a source obtained by Billboard, Opus currently owns 90% of Juice's interest in master recording income and 90% of his share of publishing ownership.

Juice WRLD's label Grade A Productions and Interscope Records still own his master recordings.

Opus said to Billboard, "To represent the body of work of Juice WRLD - whose cultural significance and generational influence can't be overstated - is an honor and a responsibility."

Regardless, on February 6th, Lil Bibby who is one of the owners of Grade A Productions, took to Twitter to deny that Juice WRLD's catalog had been sold. Earlier, Lil Bibby also announced that Juice WRLD's final album is in the works.

It is currently unknown whether Juice WRLD's catalog is or will be sold to Opus Music Group at a very high price, but one thing that we are all hope for is Juice WRLD's new album will be released in the near future.

Author: Scarlett Pham

Kendrick Lamar's talent has long been confirmed with prestigious music awards and his streams/sales achievements for many years now. For an artist, nothing is more precious than recognition from the audience.

On January 31st, Kendrick surpassed Radiohead's "OK Computer" to become the artist with the highest-rated album of all time on Rate Your Music with the album "To Pimp A Butterfly."

Rate Your Music is one of the most popular review sites for the music audience. The site posted the announcement on Twitter and also let everyone know that this is the first time in almost ten years that the site has is new #1 for the album category.

"To Pimp A Butterfly" achieved a score of 4.34/5 with 58,322 ratings and 491 reviews. Previous #1 "OK Computer" is closely following with a score of 4.26.

In addition to Rate Your Music, "To Pimp A Butterfly" is also highly recognized in other prestigious review sites. Specifically, the album is the fifth highest-rated on Metacritic with a score of 96/100, No.8 on DAMN with a score of 95.

The album was debuted in March 2015 at No.1 on the Billboard 200 with over 324,000 units sold in the first week. "To Pimp A Butterfly" has a unique music color inspired by Kendrick's trip to South Africa.

You can listen to "To Pimp A Butterfly" again below:

​Author: Scarlett Pham

KiNg EmErY is a talented young artist. In 2022, he has been diligently releasing many catchy music projects. Now it's just over two weeks in the new year, but KiNg EmErY has been working hard so that today he can launch a new project called "M.I.A. & AntiSocial." Learn more about this great project below through the interview KiNg EmErY has with Clonefluence.

What is the meaning behind it?
​"'M.I.A. & AntiSocial' is a project that explores depression and heartbreak from every spectrum. From failed romantic relationships to failed friendships and betrayal. This project takes a front seat view through an isolated mind battling the extremes of human emotion. On the surface, this project at first listen sounds like a "ghetto gospel" inspired compilation. Upon more listens, the project is deeper than what sits on the surface. The project tells a story of one who's experienced pain and trauma but is presented as a digestible body of work that has non-skippable tracks that one can choose from in any setting."

What does this project say about you?
"'M.I.A. & AntiSocial' showcases the versatility of me as the artist KiNg EmErY. This project explores the darker psychology in a person's mentality after faced with personal trauma and betrayal. With this project, I explore the side of people that they don't want to talk about. I would consider this my darkest project. I think my fans are going to love this piece of art."

What are your plans next?
​"My plan is to now focus on releasing visuals. I didn't want to roll out with the visuals to lead into the project because previous projects took away from the initial listening experience. Most of my listeners would navigate to the more familiar songs without giving the new songs a chance. With this one, I wanted the listener to let me know what they like, and we'll work with the most engaging tracks as far as shooting the music videos."

What does your project aim to say?
​"My album aims to explore the honesty and raw emotion of the human psyche that like-minded individuals face with similar upbringings and backgrounds. Enjoy taking a listen to 'M.I.A. & AntiSocial.'"

Check "M.I.A. & AntiSocial" by KiNg EmErY out now:

Author: Scarlett Pham

On Monday, Trippie Redd announced his comeback on Instagram. Specifically, he announced his fifth studio album "Mansion Musik" produced by Chief Keef. He also revealed the album's 25 track list.

As promised, on Thursday January 19th, Trippie Redd surprisingly dropped "Mansion Musik." The album featuring famous hip hop artists such as Future, Kodak Black, Chief Keef, Lil Baby, Travis Scott, Juice WRLD, Lil Durk, Nardo Wick, Ski Mask, and G Herbo.

Especially this album pays homage to Keef's 2018 Mansion Musik mixtape.

Stream Trippie Redd's "Mansion Musik" below:

​Author: Scarlett Pham

Cruzz - a hardworking young Hip-Hop artist who has released a lot of music works since 2021. Today, January 6th, Cruzz drops the project "Blood On The Leaves" marking the beginning of his 2023. Join Clonefluence to learn more about Cruzz and his project.

What is the meaning behind it?
​"Blood on the Leaves" has a very dark meaning behind it. Billie Holiday, a famous American singer, released a song in 1927 called "Strange Fruit." That song encompassed the horrific truth on how Black people were treated in this country and continue to suffer even though we are 'free.' A hundred years later, I am giving my own take as a mixed American man. This album takes that one song and expands heavily on what it means to me and what I experience on a day to day basis. My meaning behind the album is society is blind to what is really going on and things need to change. Violence is deeply rooted in this album as it is in the real world. I've also twisted the theme to match my own vision, which is coming together as people so we can fight for what's right and stop the senseless violence in all communities. Some of my songs convey another side of that too. The other side shows what it's like to be hungry and not know where you're going to sleep tonight. Drugs, racism, and violence continue to plague America and that is the meaning behind my album, to shed light on what's really going on as well as portraying my own thoughts through those times."

What does this project say about you?
"​This project defines the dark side of my mind and the dark side of reality. My mind is constantly fighting to overcome the darkness inside me. This project aims to show that and showcase my lyricism. I want to come across as an artist who can do everything when it comes to Hip-Hop. My last release was a drill album and although some songs have that vibe most of the album is conscious rap music. I wanted to switch it up after my drill album, every album has a different meaning or emotion behind it and the emotional in this album portray a different sound than my last. This album is a part of me and you are hearing that part of me when you listen."

What are your plans next?
"​I have a show planned on February 19th to open for one of the dopest artist in the Bronx - Miah Kenzo. I'm planning shows for every month after that. I will be hosting my own show in Connecticut in 2023 the dates for those will be released in February. Merchandise is available now for the CruzZ clothing line and a 'Blood on the Leaves' catalogue will be released with the album. I plan to have over 50 different CruzZ products for sale by March. I'm also working on my next album too and aim to release my next project in May. Music videos are currently being set up for 'Blood on the Leaves' and they will also release in the next couple months. A podcast is in the works as well and I'd like to start live streaming more for my fans. I'm working on several different things right now and I'm hoping this will take my music career to the next level."

What does your project aim to say?
​"We need to break the cycles that are breaking this country. We are so divided as people in the USA. We all have more in common than we notice and violence will continue unless we all change the way we think. 'Blood on the Leaves' is saying although we all live in the world's corruptness there is a light at the end of the tunnel if we can come together."

Stream "Blood On The Leaves" by Cruzz below:

​Author: Scarlett Pham

Koh-Dee is a promising young artist. On December 22nd, 2022 he released a 5-track EP called "The Lil Mustard - EP." Let's learn more about Koh-Dee and this project through his talk with Clonefluence.

What is the meaning behind it?
​"The Lil Mustard EP was a gift that I created for my girlfriend as a Christmas present one year. The songs incorporate recordings I made alongside her, including the first track "Bubble Bath Beat" - where I brought my mic into our bubble bath session; "alright I'll make the beat, and you make the rap" I beatboxed and Kai freestyled. Malachi is a very dear friend of mine, and I hope that wherever they are in the world - that they've having a fantastic journey!"

What does this project say about you?
​"Concerning the completion of this project, I'm happy to have come as far as I have in terms of adapting to connection. I want to appreciate and be grateful for my previous partners, instead of being neglectful towards them. In the past I've been too scared to become close with ex's or previous partners, now I'm much happier being around them - without expectation. No matter how short, how long, or how passionate; I want to appreciate a person for the time that we can spend together."

What are your plans next?
​"My next plans are to continue pursuing music, love, and finding new experiences for myself. That's all I really want. I like living in the moment, I'm enjoying creating music alongside new friends and not thinking about what's going to happen next. I do want to travel to America at some stage though, to places like Detroit, Chicago, California and Los Angeles."

What does your project aim to say?
​"The Lil Mustard EP is a homage to my love with Malachi. It doesn't have an aim, just self-expression. I suppose, I want to be able to feel more comfortable with releasing the music that I have created, regardless of how that may make me look."

Check "The Lil Mustard EP" below: