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Slick Rick will be honored by The Recording Academy with a Lifetime Achievement Award as part of the 2023 Grammy Awards celebration. Trophies will be presented to all recipients during the Special Merit Award Ceremony on February 4 in Los Angeles.

"The Academy is proud to celebrate this diverse slate of influential music people spanning numerous genres and crafts as our 2023 Special Merit Awards honorees,” Harvey Mason Jr., CEO of the Recording Academy, explained. “Each creator on this list has made an impact on our industry — from technical to creative achievements — representing the breadth of music’s diverse community. We’re excited to celebrate this group of legends next month that continues to inspire and shape the music world.”

The "Children's Story"

The Sugarhill Gang, a group conceived by Sugar Hill Records' founder Sylvia Robinson, released "Rapper's Delight" in September 1979. Four months later, the song cracked the Top 40 on the Billboard Hot 100, landing at No. 37. Subsequently, The Sugarhill Gang became the first rap group to have a Top 40 hit.

"I think we were in Europe when that happened," Wonder Mike tells RAPstation. "I flipped out. I didn’t know anything about charts, I just knew I loved music all my life. And I listened to everything from hard rock like Steppenwolf to the Temptations  to Iron Butterfly—everything.

"To be on the chart, I was like, 'Oh my god to be in the company of these people. At one point, it was us an

Black Sheep has reportedly filed a $750 million class action lawsuit against Universal Music Group over unpaid royalties. According to Rolling Stone, Dres and Mista Lawnge claim the label breached their contracts with a Spotify “sweetheart” deal. They say Universal accepted both cash and company stock from Spotify in exchange for music from Universal’s roster but then only counted the cash when it distributed royalty payments.

“In the mid-2000s, Universal struck an undisclosed, sweetheart deal with Spotify whereby Universal agreed to accept substantially lower royalty payments on artists’ behalf in exchange for equity stake in Spotify – then a fledgling streaming service," the docs read. "Yet rather than distribute to artists their 50 percent of Spotify stock

The Mount Westmore posse is continuing the rollout of their debut album—Snoop, Cube, 40, $hort—with new behind-the-scenes footage of the "Motto" video shoot. The clips arrived on Tuesday (January 3) and finds Snoop Dogg, Ice Cube, E-40 and Too $hort getting in character for the Marc Wood and Robert Redd-directed visual. 

Snoop, Cube, 40, $hort arrived on December 9, 2022 and served as the second iteration of Mount Westmore's debut. The first version of the album, Bad MFs, arrive last June, but it was only available in the metaverse. While not all the original songs made it to the final cut, several did, including "Activated," "Too Big" and "Big Subwoofer."

De La Soul—the legendary Hip Hop trio comprised of Posdnuos, Maseo and Trugoy the Dove—has been wrestling over their music with Tommy Boy Records for decades. After years of unsuccessful negotiations, they were deadlocked and it seemed they would never find a resolution. But in 2021, Reservoir Media acquired Tommy Boy's catalog for $100 million, which included De La Soul's first six albums. Suddenly, there was hope. 

On Tuesday (January 3), De La Soul announced all six albums—3 Feet High and Rising (1989), De La Soul Is Dead (1991), Buhloone Mindstate (1993), Stakes Is High (1996), Art Official Intelligence: Mosaic Thump (2000) and AOI: Bionix (2001) will finally be available on all DSPs beginning March 3. 

The group made

Gangsta Boo, pioneering Southern rapper and a member of Three 6 Mafia, died on Sunday (January 1). Fox13 Memphis reported her body was found on her front porch around 4 p.m. local time. The devastating news ripped through the Hip Hop community as many grappled with her unexpected passing. While no cause of death has been determined, sources close to the situation believe a "fentanyl-laced substance" played an integral role. 

Fellow Three 6 Mafia member DJ Paul was one of the first to post about her passing on social media. Although his Instagram post didn't provide any details, the photo of her appeared to confirm her death. An explosion of posts followed from many of her peers. Bun B, Chuck D, Freddie Gibbs, Rah Digga and DJ Premier were among those expressing their condolence