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."
NEWS
Oliver Tree’s team has provided a new update following the singer’s death in a helicopter crash on June 14, confirming that a new artist grant will soon be established in his memory to help creatives secure funding, a plan he had detailed in his will before his passing.
Accompanying a collection of photos highlighting Tree’s performances, travels and creative work through the years, a post shared Sunday (June 21) on his Instagram account revealed that the musician’s remains have been brought back to California, the state he called home and where he will be laid to rest. “His legacy will live on through his foundation/endowment named ‘Dr. Oliver Tree’s Extremely Epic Grant For Baby Geniuses’ coming soon,” the caption reads. “This is something that Oliver had put together before his passing.”
“We will make sure his wish comes to fruition so that more joy, love and art can be spread into the world, that was his final wish,” the statement continued, adding that “the constant love, support and positivity” shown by fans throughout the past week has helped his “family, friends and collaborators make it through these extremely difficult times.”
Tree was among six people who lost their lives in a helicopter collision in Rio de Janeiro. The musician was in Brazil for his The World’s First Tour run and had performed what would ultimately be his final concert on June 6 in São Paulo. The other victims of the crash were identified as passengers Lucas Vignale, Gaspar Prim and Lucas Brito Chaves, along with pilots Alexandre Souza and Charles Marsillac.
Just months before his death, Tree discussed his plans to direct his fortune and future earnings from his music toward a grant program for artists during an appearance on the Zach Sang Show. “I take no credit for anything I’ve ever done,” he said during the April interview. “Furthermore, I don’t believe that any of the wealth or things that get made from it is mine. So when I die … my will is set up so that when I pass, my family, nobody is going to get a penny.”
“If I have a wife or kids or anything, they’re not getting a penny,” he added at the time, explaining that the initiative would focus on helping artists create work rather than funding education. “I’ll get my kids through college, that’s the agreement, but there’s not gonna be a silver spoon. All the money is going to go back to artists.”
