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Welcome back to another edition of our Saturday Spotlight series. Each week we review submissions from all over the globe, picking the best out of the batch to highlight at the end of the week. Our passion lies in finding the talent that’ll reshape (or maybe bring back old memories) how we look at rap music. We want to be the start of a long journey towards immortality.

Whether you’re a singer, a rapper, or a producer, all upcoming artists can submit music to us for Saturday Spotlight on this link.

John Wick

Detroit is a beautiful scene. The music coming out of there makes your heart race. It’s heist music, it’s meant to feel like you’re running out of the bank with a cash-filled duffle bag. On “Alex Russo”, John Wick hops on the city’s signature sound, riding the beat with muffled vocals. He’s raw and uncut. He wields blunt lyricism and vivid imagery that puts you in the middle of extreme tension. Check out his latest track below:

Fatt Father

Fatt Father is a deity in the streets. On his new single, “Raging Angel” his presence is accompanied by a chopped and looped choir, with their vocals heightened enough to pierce the heavens. Father treats every bar as if they were written in scripture. Not a single word is wasted with a cadence of a rap heavyweight. The track doesn’t even reach a minute and a half in length, but the power behind the bars packs enough punch to cave in your chest. Check out his track below and the full album on his Bandcamp here.

– by Anthony Malone and Navjosh

Through our artist discovery platform Saturday Spotlight, we have discovered some amazing talent in the past including Russ, Ty Dolla Sign, Mez, IDK, Victoria Monét and Trap Beckham to name just a few. In most cases, coverage on HHNM was their first look among media outlets. Find the submission guidelines here.

Follow our Saturday Spotlight Spotify Playlist

The world has been waiting for the three rap superstars J. Cole, Drake and Kendrick Lamar to return to their album modes. J. Cole has struck first with new album The Off-Season which came out this Friday and has been receiving a lot of good response.

The rapper did not reveal the features when he put out the tracklist before the album’s release which resulted in in a lot of excitement when fans discovered guests like Cam’ron, 21 Savage, Lil Baby and more once it hit DSPs. As of writing this, all songs from the Fayetteville, North Carolina rapper’s latest set are predicted to debut in the top 40 on the Hot 100.

But how is it expected to do as an album in the first week? HDD projects that The Off-Season will enter the Billboard 200 chart at #1 with ease, with approximately 280-310k copies moved in the first week. 35-40k out of that will come from pure sales. This will mark his 6th straight number 1 album on the chart.

In comparison, Cole’s last outing KOD in April 2018 did 397k copies in the first week but that was an era of bundle sales so he managed to sell 174k pure copies as a result.

Nicki Minaj put up her 12 year mixtape Beam Me Up Scotty on streaming platforms for the first time on Friday, featuring a few new songs, including the standout ‘Seeing Green‘ with Drake and Lil Wayne. It is projected to move 65-75k copies in the first week (9-11k pure sales).

Voting Rights Champion and New York bestselling author: Stacy Abrams

Abrams dedicated efforts through her organizations New Georgia Project and Fair Fight have helped to restructure the political landscape by garnering awareness for heightened voter suppression efforts, protecting the votes of underrepresented communities, and successfully executing a grassroots movement focused on turning out Georgia voters in record numbers.

Investigative Journalism Crusader: Nikole Hannah-Jones

Jones is reframing the national conversation by covering the impediments and contributions made by Black Americans. Through her 1619 Project, published in the New York Times Magazine, Hannah-Jones continues to push past the obstacle of reframing the country’s history by placing the lasting impact of slavery and contributions of Black Americans at the center of the national conversation and educational curriculum.

Health Equality Advocate: Dr. Ala Stanford

Dr. Stanford is Founder of The Black Doctors COVID-19 Consortium, Dr. Ala Stanford, is a healthcare champion who answered the call to eliminate institutional barriers preventing healthcare to those in her community. She is a staunch advocate for healthcare equality. Her work to mobilize the Black community and help it understand the need and urgency to vaccinate against Covid-19 reaches beyond the U.S. to Haiti, which has not yet begun to vaccinate its population.

Business Alchemist -CEO of Walgreens Boots Alliance: Rosalind Brewer 

Brewer is the third African American female executive selected to lead a Fortune 500 company. She has successfully broken the “glass ceiling” to blaze trails in corporate America at companies like Starbucks and Sam’s Club. Brewer is a distinguished and experienced executive who has led organizations globally through periods of changing consumer behavior by applying innovation that elevates customer experiences – ultimately driving significant and sustainable growth and value creation.

Family Needs Ambassador, President and CEO of Martha’s Table: Kim R. Ford

Ford leads the organization in its mission to support strong children, strong families, and strong communities in Washington D.C. Ford previously served in the Obama Administration’s Recovery Implementation Office, where she helped lead efforts to implement the $350 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to ignite the economy.

Reparations Ambassador: Robin Rue Simmons

Rue Simmons as a civic entrepreneur and alderman of Evanston’s 5th Ward, is working to break down systemic racism and barriers that hold the Black community back. Rue Simmons brought to the table the item “A Resolution Establishing a City of Evanston Funding Source Devoted to Local Reparation.” Its central provision diverts tax revenue from cannabis sales for local reparations. Her nimble political maneuvering and effort to get people to rethink what reparations mean can serve as a lesson on how to succeed in the long fight for reparations.

Urban One Honors will also pay a special homage to the International Sweethearts of Rhythm, the boundary-breaking, all-female jazz band. Helen Jones Woods, the mother of Urban One Founder, Cathy Hughes, was a founding member of the group. The Sweethearts band comprised 18 ethnically diverse members who overcame discrimination, racism, and sexism to become symbols of success in the face of adversity.

In commemoration of Urban One Honors, Radio One will promote its “Hometown Sheroes” initiative, honoring women of distinction in all 13 of its urban markets.

CONGRATULATIONS and a big THANK YOU to these phenomenal pioneering women for the great work and positive impact they are making.

Watch the “Urban One Honors” teaser trailer Here and be sure to tune in on May 16, TV One. 9pm/ET 8C

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Nicki Minaj is setting the record straight when it comes to her drug use.

Fresh off the re-release of her Beam Me Up Scotty mixtape, the Queen went on Instagram Live Friday afternoon to discuss the “topic of the day,” her sniffling. On her IG Live the day before, viewers took notice of her runny nose and frequent sniffling, sending social media into a frenzy. There was speculation that she was sniffling because she was on drugs, specifically cocaine.

But Nicki put the rumors to rest. “You would know, if you’re a fan of mine, that all you gotta do if you wanna know my drug of choice or my drugs of choice, just listen to my music, chile, ’cause it’s all right there,” said Nicki, who continued to sniffle while getting her hair done.

“I wouldn’t be embarrassed about any fu**in’ drug I did, that’s why I talk about the motherfu**in’ drugs I do in my music, always have, always fu**in’ will,” she added.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvQYZfg91nc

However, she made it clear that she has never used cocaine in her life. “I have never, ever in my life, with my hand to Jesus Christ…Never in my life, ever, not even once, sniffed coke—ever!” she said. “That’s just never been my drug of choice.”

She said that the sniffling comes from her ongoing allergies, which are sometimes triggered by wearing contacts. She also feels cold regularly because her “natural body temperature is just lower than the average person.”

She takes Allegra at least once a day to relieve her allergy symptoms. “This is me all day, runny sniffly all the time.”

She has friends who do coke, but she’s never done it personally. “I’ve never tried it, never wanted to, never asked them to—especially in the fashion world, that’s so common and normal.”

Nicki has shared her preference for pills on songs including “Pills N Potions” and “Miami,” on which she raps about Percs, Xannies, and Addies.

Later on, she revealed that she enjoys the smell of rubbing alcohol and bleach. “I love sniffing rubbing alcohol and I love sniffing bleach,” she admitted. “I started sniffing bleach a little bit when I was pregnant.”

On Friday, Minaj celebrated the 12th anniversary of her mixtape Beam Me Up Scotty by releasing it to streaming services for the first time featuring three new tracks including “Seeing Green” with Drake and Lil Wayne.