Image credit: Shake The World/Human Re Sources

It’s been four years since the release of August Alsina‘s sophomore album This Thing Called Life, and many have been wondering what’s next for the R&B star ever since. He did release a slew of singles (led by “Drugs“) over the past couple of years; unfortunately, an eventual album shelving, label release and numerous health issues left Alsina largely out of the spotlight.

This week, the New Orleans crooner makes a big return with a new EP titled Forever and a Day, which features 8 new songs for you and yours’ Valentine’s Day. Stream the project below…hopefully, we’ll be hearing more from August Alsina in the years to come.

Suggested Articles:

August Alsina Drops New Single, Visual for “Like You Love Me”

August Alsina is “Lonely” in New Visual [WATCH]

The post August Alsina Drops ‘Forever and a Day’ EP appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

Image credit: Shake The World/Human Re Sources

Gotta be honest: I wasn’t really expecting to hear anything new from August Alsina — much of his more recent appearances in the news have been for off-the-court moments (as well as his relationships to people like the Smiths). With that said, I’m very happy to check out the New Orleans artist’s new cut “Like You Love Me,” a for-adults vibe that also sees a D’Angelo-esque visual courtesy of Payne Lindsay. Check it out below.

Suggested Articles:

August Alsina is “Lonely” in New Visual [WATCH]

August Alsina Gets Deep With New Video For “Drugs” [Watch]

The post August Alsina Drops New Single, Visual for “Like You Love Me” appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

Twitter// @sevyn

After a long and highly anticipated wait, Sevyn Streeter‘s debut album Girl Disrupted is finally here.

Despite Girl Disrupted being the Florida native’s debut attempt, the singer/songwriter has been deeply rooted in the industry for quite some time now. Streeter has co-written hit tracks like “Yeah 3x” by Chris Brown and “My Way” by Ariana Grande. She even had her own Billboard Hot 100 hit with “It Won’t Stop” featuring Chris Brown back in 2013.

7•7•17 <G I R L D I S R U P T E D > LET THE COUNTDOWN BEGIN!!! To all of my ride or die azz fans, I love & appreciate all of your support and patience, so it’s only right to give you the album on my bday?. The last year & a half has been an emotion rollercoaster for me. Lots of ups & downs, but I poured every ounce of it into my album! I’ve loved, lost & tried to LOVE again! I’ve been loyal to people who said fuq me & didn’t return the LOYALTY! I’ve made the conscious choice to clear my life of anything that stood in the way of my LIBERATION and came out a better woman on the other side of it all! I’m freer than I’ve ever been! Happier than I’ve ever been! Wiser than I’ve ever been! Feel sexier than I’ve ever felt & give even less fuq’s than I ever thought I could??All of which I owe to this album! If you’ve ever been thru some shii, going thru some shii or just need to hear some good shii….allow me to pay it forward on my birthday, 7•7•17…..LETS DISRUPT SOME SHII?? #GIRLDISRUPTED

A post shared by 7ev (@sevyn) on Jun 7, 2017 at 12:00am PDT

It’s definitely been a long road for Sevyn but nonetheless, her album premiered strategically and appropriately on her 30th birthday (July 7th, 2017).

Girl Disrupted is laced with 13 tracks and has features from August Alsina, Jeremih, Dave East, Wiz Khalifa, Ty Dolla $ign and more.

Stream Girl Disrupted below.

Suggested Articles:

Is JAY-Z Coming for Kanye West On ‘4:44’? (And Other Memorable Quotes)

Jay-Z Series “Footnotes for ‘The Story of O.J.’” Is Released

The post Stream Sevyn Streeter’s Debut Album ‘Girl Disrupted’ appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

August Alsina has officially released the video for his new song “Drugs.” Besides dropping a new single, Alsina also decided to bless fans with accompanying visuals which show a different side of the New Orleans-bred singer.

In the video, a tribal painted Alsina pours his heart out while floating on a boat in the middle of the sea before diving in with several ladies surrounding him.

“Guess you can’t give me no answers/If I can’t give you no ransom/You rather take your chances/And do shit the hard way/When you left that door open/Girl, I got the notion/You still had emotions/Guess silence is golden/Baby, when I tell you I want you, I want you bad/If not more than before, I want you more than the time before that,” Alsina sings.

Alsina recently announced that “Drugs” will serve as the title track of his next album in an Instagram video posted to his account.

“I realized how addicted to certain ways of living life I was, addicted to chaos, drama, confusion,” he said. “Lately, for me, it’s been about breaking the cycle and creating a new normal. That new normal is love. I have a newfound addiction. Through love and beautiful women, I’ve been able to find myself, reach higher places within myself.”

A video posted by Yungin’ (@augustalsina) on Jan 6, 2017 at 2:42pm PST

Alsina has not announced a release date for Drugs, but the project should make for a big return following a quiet 2016.

Check out the video below.

Suggested Articles:

Things Get Trippy In The Weeknd’s New Visual For “Party Monster”

Grime Legend Wiley Is Back With The New Album ‘Godfather’ [LISTEN]

The post August Alsina Gets Deep With New Video For “Drugs” [Watch] appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

With the victorious single, “Holy Key,” featuring Kendrick Lamar, Big Sean and the legendary Betty Wright, already under his Major Key belt, DJ Khaled has just premiered another star studded banger, “Do You Mind.” As if we weren’t already hype for this new album, which should be dropping tomorrow, now we have one more track to put in rotation.

DJ Khaled released a few teasers for the single on his social and it was no surprise that the single was trending not even an hour after. Although the album will be hitting iTunes at midnight tonight, you can listen to the single now on iheartradio. Make sure you check back here tomorrow to stream the single from Apple Music.

Check out the single here:

Suggested Articles: 

Curren$y Releases “Rolling Stoned”

Listen To Dave East’s Latest Tracks “Percocets” & “No Lights”

The post DJ Khaled Drops Newest Major Key “Do You Mind” appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

The other 75-80% of my theory lies in the current natural hair and social conscious movement that is gaining steam amongst black millennials. There’s been a rise in the social consciousness of the black community within the last 5 years or so and that’s mostly attributed to the blatant injustices that has faced the black community as of recent. From the deaths of Trayvon Martin, Mike Brown to the publicization of the corrupt justice system that is skewed towards imprisoning black men.  Basically African-Americans are paying attention and unifying as a result. One of the main concepts that  conscious African-Americans focus on is self-love. Throughout history Black features were thought to be distasteful. We were always programmed psychologically to think that having lighter skin and fairer hair makes you more attractive. For the Caribbean, it was and still is even worst; they’re still holding up certain flawed colonist ideologies. Blacks were psychologically programmed through every form of entertainment you could think of and despite the increase in diversity in entertainment throughout the years, they still carry the unhealed scars of self-hatred. We hear this in our parents’ voice when they tell us to not stay in the sun to long for fear of getting darker. We hear it when our peers and our elders call our hair nappy as an insult.

The current conscious movement tells us to love ourselves, our hair, and our flaws. I believe this is the majority reason why the drop-fade with the nappy top is popularized amongst black men. The trend caught fire to the point that individuals that are not “woke” are sporting this hairstyle and view their nappy hair as something tasteful. The feedback hasn’t all been positive though, recently NBA legend Charles Barkley made a negative comment about NBA player Derrick Rose‘s hair during a live televised game. He stated ” I don’t like nappy hair, it’s not a style.” Comedian Kevin Hart also made a few statements when he recorded a comedic video discussing the drop-fade style which was prevalent amongst black athletes in the NBA playoffs. In his defense he is a comedian, and I could take his statements as a joke, but the best jokes are based on people’s real thoughts, so I know there’s some truth to this video in terms of how people feel about the style.

Regardless, the drop-fade with the nappy top seems to be going strong. It’s a real positive thing for the youth to see. Our youth can have more confidence in their hair, both boys and girls. For women the hatred of black hair is even more of a pressing issue. I believe in this case the men are even inspiring the women to start going natural as well.  This trend is all positive and it’s increasing the self-love of the physical features of black people after centuries of the opposite.

We should support that!

Peace!

Suggested Articles:

Black Culture and Its need for Validation

RESPECT. Interview: Celebrity Hair Stylist, Sherdon Lavan

The post Black Men’s Natural hair movement: The Drop-fade appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

Dancing ballerinas, fire, blood tears- It was only a few seconds into this visual, where you realize how August Alsina forged his spot in R&B. This song is engineered for self-reflection. You’re easily overtaken by his introspection. His album This Thing Called Life was released earlier this week. Check out his new video below.

The post New Music: August Alsina-“Song Cry” appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.