NEWS
RJMrLA says he was hesitant to appear to Kendrick Lamar's music video for his GNX song, "Squabble Up," because the rapper's team wouldn't tell him which artist and which song the video was for. He explained how he was offered a role in the project during a recent livestream, which is circulating on social media.
When The Neighborhood Talk shared a clip of the stream on Instagram, fans in the comments section struggled to understand why it was done that way. "I need more context like how could he not know?" one user wrote. Others tried to break it down. "The majority of the people in that video didn’t know who they were doing the video for. They either had to say yes or no. Kendrick was not there when the scenes were shot," one user wrote. Another added: "A lot of videos and movies are made by editing and mixing filmed scenes together. So I can understand how he didn’t know."
RJMrLA previously told TMZ that he only learned it was a Kendrick Lamar music video when it released publicly on November 25, 2024. RJ previously worked with Lamar by performing his song "Get Rich," during The Pop Out: Ken & Friends concert in Inglewood, last year.
RJMrLA's comments on working on the "Squabble Up" music video come as he prepares for the release of his new album, OMMIO 4. The project is dropping on Friday, June 20th. He already released the singles "Baby," and "Ramen."
As for Kendrick Lamar, he's been traveling on the Grand National Tour alongside SZA in recent months. The two made headlines for performing in Drake's hometown of Toronto, Canada, last week. Drake addressed the concerts by calling out the former leader of the NDP, Jagmeet Singh, for attending one of the shows. "You're a goof," he wrote in a direct message to him on social media.
Singh ended up putting out a statement to apologize for the move. "I went for SZA, not Kendrick," he wrote. "I was born in this city, I love this city. But real talk, I get it. I shouldn't have gone at all. OVO and Drake have lifted up this city and Canada. For me it'll always be Drake over Kendrick."
Fontaines D.C. have teamed up with Rosalía for their new collaboration, Where Is Gone?.
The song features on the Irish rock band's forthcoming album, Dopamine Chamber, which arrives on Friday (16.10.26). For guitarist Carlos O’Connell, working with the Spanish superstar is particularly special because of his own Spanish roots.
He explained: “I’ve admired Rosalía ever since her debut album, which I thought was absolutely beautiful.
“What excited me most was the way she continued to preserve Spain's musical traditions, something that felt spiritually connected to what we've been trying to achieve with Irish music. Having roots in both countries, it's been really special to witness. "She's an artist who has continued to amaze me at every point in her career.”
Frontman Grian Chatten has also described the collaboration with Rosalía as one of the most memorable achievements of his career.
He revealed that he felt "humbled" when she agreed to lend her voice to the band's album.
Speaking to NPR, Grian said: “I've always felt there's something almost like a single big idea that I'm personally trying to communicate to the world before I get old and die, if that makes sense. There's one thing I think I'll spend my life trying to express. I have a feeling she has a similar outlook. … I mean, she's an amazing arranger, composer and lyricist. It means so much that she wanted to sing on something we'd put together. It's definitely one of the highlights of my career.”
Rosalía's links to Irish rock music extend beyond Fontaines D.C. She also offered inspiration and helped develop the Spanish lyrics for U2's The Mirror Maker (Rosalía), a track from their forthcoming album, Carnaval de Luz.
During an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon last week, she spoke about frontman Bono, saying: “I don't know him personally, but he sent me a text explaining that he was working on a new project and had written a song called The Mirror Maker."
Rosalía joked that Bono had invented a few words of his own.
She recalled telling him: “I wasn't sure what to make of it, but I told him he could create his own language if he wanted to.”
She described the opportunity to collaborate with the 66 year old music veteran as a real privilege.
She added: “Bono is a legend.
“It's amazing.”
Bono recently revealed that he was worried about seeming like a stalker when he reached out to Rosalía to ask whether he could name the song after her.
