Rap Industry Recap: July 2015

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Your monthly recap of what went down in the hip-hop industry.

Business moves quick, and that's no exception for the rap world. From the hottest new signings to movie deals to album pushbacks, the industry is constantly in motion. It can be hard to keep up with at times, so we've consolidated all of the must-hear information from the past month, all in one place. Be on the look out for this monthly recap of news-worthy items you may have missed to stay afloat with the industry.

After spending some time in jail for allegedly pistol-whipping his groundskeeper, Rick Ross made bail by paying a hefty amount.

Dr. Dre, Drake, and Run The Jewels are amongst the artists with exclusive shows on Apple Music.

G-Unit member Kidd Kidd was arrested before the XXL Freshmen concert in New York City. 50 Cent filled in for his fellow MC.

Kendrick Lamar performed "Alright" on top of a vandalized cop car and a huge American flag, and (naturally) FOX News had something to say about it.

The Game punched an off-duty police officer during a pick-up basketball game. He is being charged with one felony count of making criminal threats and more...

Who's excited for some new Diddy music?

Ross celebrated making bail by announcing new album Black Dollar.

Fox drama "Empire" continued to make power moves by adding Kelly Rowland to the 2nd season cast.

The Underachievers are teaming up once more for their sophomore album, Evermore - The Art of Duality, along with tour dates of the U.S. and the U.K.

"If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all."

We've recently learned that Snoop Dogg is sitting on some unreleased vocals from his late Doggbrother Nate Dogg. Now it appears that he's not the only collaborator who's got some vocals in the vault, because Warren G is cooking up a new EP of material.  

The annual A3C Hip-Hop Festival is going down October 7-11 in the ATL and will feature performances from De La Soul, Rakim, Cam’ron, Dame Dash, Just Blaze, Curren$y & Jet Life, Jean Grae, Cyhi the Prynce, Pharoahe Monch, Soulection Executive Team, PNB Rock, The Difference Machine and Kool Keith.

The NBA 2K16 soundtrack will be curated by DJ Mustard, DJ Khaled, and DJ Premier. With 50+ tracks and six brand new exclusives, it will be the largest soundtrack in the history of the franchise. 

The Global Citizen Festival has tapped a Pearl Jam, Coldplay, Ed Sheeran, and the queen Beyonce to play their annual NYC festival in Central Park.

It is scheduled for an August 28 release date and we can't wait.

OG Maco took to Twitter this month to send shots in the direction of Travi$ Scott and Future. Ultimately, Maco wants rappers to be smarter and use their spotlight for good.

Just in case you (somehow) don't see enough of KimYe.

Fetty Wap, iLoveMakonnen, Main Attrakionz, Skrillex, and Justin Bieber will also appear at the Jones Beach, NY festival.

50, don't you have anything better to do?

The N.W.A. biopic, Straight Outta Compton, is highly anticipated not only for the film, but for the album as well. The Dr. Dre-helmed soundtrack is shaping up to be a success.

Action Bronson announced that he is skipping Blue Chips 3-6 and will release Blue Chips 7 soon. "IM PUTTING OUT BLUE CHIPS 7 SOON, FUCK IT," he wrote. "THIS WILL BE THE LAST PART OF THIS TRILOGY. ITS GONNA BE STUPID."

Although Birdman would later deny it, the video seems to prove that he was indeed heckling Lil Wayne during a performance at Club Liv in Miami. 

Is this just a ploy to get out of paying the sex-tape fines?

Azealia Banks is taking Broke with Expensive Taste on the road alongside K. Michelle. Dates are listed in the link above.

The lawsuit comes from a photographer who alleges Kendrick stole his image of a mother breastfeeding for the single art of his single.

Stay safe, Rih.

We can't wait to hear what's next from Top Dawg Entertainment.

Action Bronson, Travi$ Scott, A-Trak, Post Malone, Rome Fortune, Meek Mill, Skepta, Flatbush Zombies, and many more are slated to perform on various Day Off lineups.

This is cool and unexpected. Marvel has given a couple of hip hop album covers the comic book treatment.

The former Ruff Ryder has just started to serve a six-month prison stint in Buffalo, New York.

His mom suspects it was an inside job. Breezy suspects it was done by his close friends

The TGOD rapper has some new music on the horizon. 

Don't go around threatening to kill people. The law takes that kind of thing very seriously. 

Tyga is taking his celebrity to the next level with some acting.

For the sake of everybody involved, we hope that Young Thug and Birdman had nothing to do with Wayne's attempted murder.

September 4th is the new date. Hopefully he sticks to it!

Hip hop, indie, electronica...Gorillaz did it all. We can't wait to hear what they come up with next.

Back in 2013, Too $hort was arrested for a DUI in L.A., to which he plead guilty and was subsequently ordered to complete community service and three years on probation. Apparently that price was greater than the cost of his freedom.

Don’t these dudes ever get sick and tired of paying their lawyers?

Vic starts the tour on August 8 at the Mad Decent Block Party in Brooklyn.

Chinx posthumous album is due out August 14.

We can’t wait to hear what a collaboration between these two parties sounds like. Dre and Premier are legends of the west and east coast, respectively. Together, they should be able to create a truly unique sound. 

Action Bronson has been getting comparisons to Ghostface Killah since the beginning of his career, but it recently bubbled over. Ghostface lashed out at Bronson over a comment he made on ESPN. Bronson apologized, Ghostface rejected it. Azealia Banks, of course, chimed in to say she hopes Bronson gets hurt for it. Classy.

Lil Durk just released his debut album, Remember My Name, earlier this year. He'll hit the road to support it.

This year's MTV VMA award show is going down on Sunday, August 30th. Check out the nominees at the link above.

Where to begin? Meek Mill calls Drake out for having a ghostwriter, and the world hasn't been the same since.

Chance The Rapper? Or...Chance the Father? (Both)

Birdman finally spoke out.

You're not a ghostwriter if you're listed as a writer on the album credits...

Earl is heading back on the road. Peep the dates at the link above.

Snoop Dogg just had a terrible time in Sweden. After performing a show, Snoop was pulled over by police, and later arrested. 

Ice-T and Coco Austin have been married for 14 years, and they are now expecting a child together.

Will Smith and Jay Z teamed up for last year's "Annie" remake, and now they'll head to HBO for a mini-series.

Tons of tour dates just annnounced from Chance The Rapper. Take a look and see if he's hitting a city near you.

Upcoming Music Releases:

Warren G - Regulate...G-Funk Era Part II - August 6

Chevy WoodsThe 48 Hunnid Project - August 7

Casey VeggiesLive and Grow - August 7

Game - The Documentary 2 - August 7

Gangrene (The Alchemist & Oh No) - You Disgust Me - August 7

Chinx - Welcome to J.F.K. - August 14

Blackalicious - Imani, Vol. 1 - August 14

Method Man - The Meth Lab - August 21

k-os - Can't Fly Without Gravity - August 28

The Weeknd - Beauty Behind The Madness - August 28

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