Knowledge Drop: Zaytoven Recalls Getting $25,000 For Producing Gucci Mane’s “Icy”

This month's Ultra Music Festival in Miami has reportedly been canceled due to concerns over the coronavirus. According to the Miami Herald, Miami Commissioner Manolo Reyes has confirmed that the three-day electronic music fest will not take place from March 20-22.

This month's Ultra Music Festival in Miami has reportedly been canceled due to concerns over the coronavirus. According to the Miami Herald, Miami Commissioner Manolo Rey

50 Cent’s sophomore album, The Massacre, celebrates its 15th anniversary on March 3. But according to producer Scott Storch, the instrumental for the album’s biggest single almost went to one of 50’s biggest rivals.

Today marks the eighth anniversary of pop rock band ​fun.’s second studio album, Some Nights. The lead single, “We Are Young,” became the group’s career-defining hit, reaching No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and netting fun. a Grammy for Song of the Year. According to producer Jeff Bhasker, however, the beat was “an inch” away from being on JAY-Z and Kanye West’s joint album, 2011’s Watch the Throne.

Becky G, Carlos Rivera and Pedro Capó brought the fun to 2020 Premio Lo Nuestro.

If you were on the internet during the last stretches of 2018, you might remember the frenzy surrounding Tumblr’s “adult content” ban. Netizens collectively bemoaned the supposed end of the site, and The Verge later reported that it lost 30 percent of its traffic by early 2019. Naturally, Tumblr regulars had a meme to send off the porn-friendly version of Tumblr: “Fingers in His Ass.”

Kanye West’s seminal album, The College Dropout, turned 16 years old last week. The rapper was already well-known in the music industry for his work with rappers like JAY-Z, but the album marked Kanye’s first true artistic statement as a solo artist. The College Dropout went through several iterations before its 2004 release, and back in 2016, his frequent collaborator Consequence shared an early, handwritten version of the tracklist:

While Frank Ocean’s debut mixtape nostalgia, ULTRA, has played a central role in the mythmaking of his career, it turns out the project’s title came to the New Orleans-born singer in five minutes. Back in 2011, he delved into the backstory behind the 14-track work in an interview with Complex.

Kanye West released his seventh studio album, The Life of Pablo, four years ago today. One of the featured artists is Post Malone, a relative newcomer at the time who was best known for his breakout hit, “White Iverson.” In a 2016 verified annotation, the Texas-raised musician shared how he linked up with Kanye on “Fade,” which also features Ty Dolla $ign.

A Boogie Wit da Hoodie pays tribute to Gucci Mane on his new album, Artist 2.0, by borrowing from one of the Atlanta rapper’s classic tracks. The Bronx MC flips a portion of Gucci’s 2009 hit, “Wasted,” on the Young Thug collaboration “Might Not Give Up,” over production from Nick Mira.

Anderson .Paak recently visited the Billboard office to reflect upon his most memorable Billboard moment, noting that the first time he ever really paid attention to the charts was after his third studio album Oxnard hit No. 1 on the Independent Albums chart and Top Rap Albums chart.

Today is the 11th anniversary of Drake’s career-defining mixtape, So Far Gone. The Toronto rapper’s close collaborator, Noah “40” Shebib, served as the co-executive producer of the project (along with Boi-1da), using Kanye West’s recently released 808s & Heartbreak as one of his blueprints to craft its moody, atmospheric sound. In a 2010 Vibe interview, 40 revealed that Kanye took notice of his influence on SFG.

Drake’s influential If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late, which celebrates its fifth anniversary on February 13, was notable at the time for being billed as a “commercial mixtape.” But according to a 2015 story on HipHopDX, it was almost a part of DJ Drama’s storied free Gangsta Grillz mixtape series.

2Pac’s double album, All Eyez on Me, celebrates its 24th anniversary on February 13 and remains one of the best-selling rap records ever, having been certified Diamond. The hugely popular album has also proved lucrative for frequent 2Pac collaborator Daz Dillinger.

Happy birthday, Gucci!

J. Cole’s Truly Yours EP, which celebrates its seventh anniversary on February 12, closes out with “Stay.” Although it’s best known as Cole’s take on the Nas song of the same name, Cole revealed in an interview with MTV News that he could’ve been the first one to rap on the beat if it weren’t for a costly mistake he made.

Kanye West’s The College Dropout, which celebrates its 16th anniversary on February 10, was acclaimed for its soulful production and for West’s raw, refreshing personality. In a 2014 Billboard oral history of the album, producer No I.D. described the moment when West figured out his identity as a rapper.

50 Cent’s Get Rich or Die Tryin', which celebrates its 17th anniversary on February 6, cemented the New York MC as a hip-hop A-lister. In a 2010 interview with SiriusXM’s Hip-Hop Nation, longtime 50 collaborator Tony Yayo described one day the studio where a future superstar, Kanye West, witnessed 50 record the tracks “P.I.M.P.” and “Heat.”

Fall Out Boy swung a heavy-hitter for “Thriller,” the first track off their sophomore album Infinity On High, which turns 13 on February 6. The intro and outro of the song are handled by JAY-Z, and in an interview with MTV News, FOB’s Pete Wentz explained how they got Hov on the track.