Our 10 Favorite Things in Rap This Week: Instagram Beat Battles and More

Working from home just got a bit more groovy. While many of Us have ditched our everyday attire for leisurewear now that we’re stuck at home due to the coronavirus pandemic, celebrities are using the quarantine to still stay fashionable.

Sibling of the year award! Kourtney Kardashian recently celebrated her 41st birthday in quarantine from the coronavirus, but the reality star still got lots of love from her famous family. 

Two legendary producers go at it and everyone wins.

Rob Kardashian's birthday present to Kourtney Kardashian might just be the sweetest gift ever.  To celebrate his big sister's 41st birthday, the Keeping Up With the Kardashians star gifted her something that also paid tribute to their late father Robert Kardashian: His old record collection.

After the highly anticipated Instagram Live battle between Teddy Riley and Kenny "Babyface" Edmonds didn't go as planned over the weekend, the duo are going to give it another shot.

In the middle of the coronavirus pandemic, Tainy (real name: Marco Masís) and Luny (real name: Francisco Saldaña) from Luny Tunes brought the party home, connecting on Instagram Live for a historic beat battle.

When pioneering producers like DJ Premier and RZA, Ne-Yo and Johnta Austin, and Lil Jon and T-Pain went head-to-head in recent days by playing some of their most impactful songs in battles on social media, in more normal times, it may have answered the hypothetical question many music fans have asked throughout the years: Who is the better beat-maker?

When pioneering producers like DJ Premier and RZA, Ne-Yo and Johnta Austin, and Lil Jon and T-Pain went head-to-head in recent days by playing some of their most impactful songs in battles on social media, in more normal times, it may have answered the hypothetical question many music fans have asked throughout the years: Who is the better beat-maker?But for Swizz Beatz and Timbaland -- Grammy-winning legends in their own rights -- hosting a friendly competition while fans and artists are

Pitchfork’s new weekly column covers songs, mixtapes, albums, Instagram freestyles, memes, dances, weird tweets, fashion trends—and anything else that catches our attention in the world of hip-hop.

In March, many of us entered self-isolation with deluded hopes about how we’d fill our days. I was determined to limit social media use, conscious of both the anxiety that logging on can exacerbate and the relative privilege of having untold amounts of free time.

Swizz Beats and Timbaland’s Verzuz series has drawn some of hip-hop’s biggest names into head-to-head battles, and the latest participants are RZA and DJ Premier. Two of rap’s most accomplished producers, the artists are facing off with the production from some of their biggest hits.

One of the few bright spots during the COVID-19 pandemic has been watching the rise of Verzuz, the series of battles that started on March 24 when Swizz Beatz and Timbaland had an impromptu beat contest on Instagram Live. Since then, the superproducers have been hard at work pitting more producers and songwriters against each other in matchups that have delighted thousands of fans.

Ariana Grande's "7 Rings" may have put a rich girl's twist on Oscar Hammerstein II and Richard Rodgers' "My Favorite Things," but her latest take on the classic follows a social distancing theme amid the coronavirus crisis."hair masks and hot baths and exfoliation / zoom chats and board games, guided meditations," she wrote in a screenshotted note on Thursday (April 9).

Mariah Carey took to social media on Thursday (April 9) to celebrate the 15th anniversary of her smash comeback album The Emancipation of Mimi with an impromptu rendition of fan-favorite deep cut "Your Girl.""Throwing it back with one of my favorite album cuts from the Mimi album - YOUR GIRL! Hope everybody is staying safe," the superstar captioned the video using the hashtag #TEOMAnniversary.Clad in a blue kimono-style robe emblazoned with peacocks, Carey delivers vocals fit for the gods as she

After a couple weeks of steadily building momentum -- a crescendo that hit an early peak with Saturday night's Lil Jon vs. T-Pain battle, watched simultaneously by over a quarter-million viewers on Instagram Live -- the Timbaland- and Swizz Beatz-curated "Verzuz" battle series finally hit a snag.

By Shirley Ju

Instagram Live turned down for Lil Jon and T-Pain on Saturday night (April 4) when they co-hosted a virtual club night from the comfort of their own homes -- and dropped some yet-to-be-released music in the process, too.