Music
Drake Drama Unveiled, DJ Backtracks on Kendrick Lamar Ban in Texas Clubs
Drake’s reach in the music world is undeniable, with a particularly strong influence in Texas thanks to his ties with J Prince. So when rumors emerged that Drake and J Prince had banned Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us” from Texas clubs, it didn’t seem too far-fetched. The 6 God has a reputation for being petty behind the scenes, and J Prince has been linked to significant beefs, including the Pusha T feud in 2018. However, it turns out this latest rumor was a misunderstanding.
Ari the DJ, who initially sparked the Texas ban rumor, claimed on Twitter that she faced trouble multiple times for playing “Not Like Us.” This claim quickly spread, causing a stir. But Ari took to Instagram to clarify the situation. She posted a screenshot of her original tweet alongside a headline about the alleged ban, explaining that things were misconstrued. “Headlines can be misleading,” she wrote on her IG Story. “Drake nor J Prince never told me to not play the song.” Ari clarified that the orders came from individuals who respected Drake, not Drake or J Prince directly.
“Promoters and people that respect those guys told me not to and it was understood,” she explained. “That’s it, that’s all.” This isn’t the first time Drake has been accused of complicating matters for Kendrick Lamar and his TDE crew. ScHoolboy Q recently suggested Drake’s influence might have led to the cancelation of his concert in Toronto due to ongoing tensions.
While there’s no concrete evidence linking Drake to the concert cancellation, the venue did have connections to the 6 God and Live Nation. Drake has remained silent publicly about the Kendrick Lamar beef, but speculation about new music continues to swirl, fueled by Drake himself. On July 22, he posted a photo wearing a Tupac shirt that read, “Only God Can Judge Me,” suggesting the rivalry might still be alive.
Album Review
Cognitive Constellation Corps blurs humanity and technology on “Thank You for Your Feedback (I)” album
In a world of notifications and automated responses, algorithms, and feedback requests, Cognitive Constellation Corps finds something unexpectedly human inside the machinery. “Thank You for Your Feedback (I)” is an alt-pop exploration of connection, isolation, communication, and the increasingly complicated relationship between people and technology, transforming familiar procedural language into something else.
Created by Brooke Tamsin Clevenger, a Belfast-based artist, the project’s principal composer, lyricist, producer, and conceptual director, the album is deliberately constructed around what happens to human emotion when our lives are increasingly structured by systems that process information rather than necessarily understand feelings. The album opens with “Opening Loop (i),” which introduces that world through the idea of repetition, linking software loops to the habits we humans learn in modern life.
Followed by “Signal Received (i),” the track becomes more fragile, a mix of bubbling electronic movement and the promise of waiting for a response. It picks up the strange emotional weight that can be behind something as simple as a digital signal. “Thank You For Your Feedback (i)” examines the pressure to be constantly evaluated, and “Echo Chamber (i)” reflects on how digital interaction creates intimacy and amplifies alienation. “The Curve of Clarity (i)” is a road toward understanding where data and human realization begin to converge.
On the production side, the project explores electronic textures without allowing its technological concept to overwhelm its emotional core. “Threadbare, Threadshare (i)” turns the fatigue of constant communication into an interesting concept. “The Response Loop (You’re Still Talking)” injects a sense of urgency with a faster, more club-friendly beat that mixes early-80s electronic music with state-of-the-art sounds.
“Harmonic Distortion (i)” continues the album’s obsession with emotion that has been filtered, and “Always (i) [Sevahem]” is an appropriate closer, reflecting on organic feeling and ancient human knowledge through the prism of digital sound. “Thank you for Your Feedback” is a tech-driven concept that is always aware of the person behind the screen. Cognitive Constellation Corps is cerebral and electronic and conceptually ambitious while remaining emotionally accessible.
Artist Spotlight
Shawn Brown raises the volume on love, loss, and survival in “What a Way to Go”
Shawn Brown’s new single, “What a Way to Go,” is a guitar-heavy rock-pop anthem that makes doomed young love, instability, and survival something ferociously cathartic. The single, produced by celebrated musician and producer Grecco Buratto, fully embraces the scope of its story. Brown doesn’t turn heartbreak into a quiet, inward experience, but he energizes it, giving it drive and urgency.
“What a Way to Go” is a relationship against impossible odds, and the emotional tension is the clash between a world that feels like it’s falling apart and the stubbornness of two people who won’t let go of each other. That tension is what makes the song dramatic, but it also allows Brown to aim for a bigger, more explosive sound.
Recorded at The Trench in Portland with engineer Gregg Williams and the full Shawn Brown Band and trusted creative team, including Ben Landsverk, Jeff Langston, Ned Failing, Tiago Becker, and Juan Garcia Petri. Their combined presence adds to the muscular, expansive character of the single that one would expect from an anthem of this magnitude.
Brown handles the emotional commitment with confidence, true to its survivalist spirit, and pairs the guitars with a performance that feels immediate rather than remote. “What a Way to Go” is one of Shawn Brown’s most electrifying releases, blending raw rock power with the emotional openness of a love story that won’t go quietly. It’s raw, loud, passionate, and unapologetically alive.
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