Rihanna was recognized for her philanthropy and charitable work, honored with the Peter J. Gomes Humanitarian of the Year award at Howard University on Tuesday (Feb. 28). The pop superstar was present at the ceremony on the Cambridge, Massachusetts institute, as she was presented the prestigious award by the Harvard Foundation for Intercultural and Race Relations. “So I made it to Harvard,” a smiling Rihanna jokingly started her speech before playfully flipping her long ponytail hair. “Never thought I’d be able to say that in my life, but it feels good.”

During her inspiring speech, the 28-year-old touched on always wanting to help others in need since she was a small girl. After praising the various charities and organizations she’s partnered with over the years, RiRi encouraged those in attendance to follow her lead in helping others.

“All you need to do is help one person, expecting nothing in return. To me, that is a humanitarian,” she said. “What that little girl watching those commercials didn’t know is that you don’t have to be rich to be a humanitarian, you don’t have to be rich to help somebody. You don’t have to be famous, you don’t even have to be college educated. But it starts with your neighbor… you just do whatever you can to help in any way that you can.”

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Chopsquad DJ handles the instrumentation for Young Nero’s Lil Bibby assisted leak “We Be On It.” The hard hitting collaboration comes complete with an A Zae Productions visual. Peep both the song and video after the break.

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Thundercat’s new album Drunk dropped last week featuring appearances by Pharrell, Kendrick Lamar, Wiz Khalifa and more. Since its release, the studio LP is getting a lot of praise for being a well-rounded and sonically smooth project from front to back.

The Los Angeles-based bass guitarist/vocalist also put out a slightly different version of the album in Japan, which features a bonus cut with Mac Miller titled “Hi.” Miller, who aimed for a groovy sounding album on last year’s The Divine Feminine, meshes perfectly over Thundercat’s production.

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Just three months after releasing the project They Forgot, Lil’ Durk returns with the mixtape Love Songs For The Streets. Hosted by DJ Drama and DJ Bandz, the 9-track offering features contributions by Young Thug, YFN Lucci, Chopsquad DJs, Will-A-Fool and more.

Available now, stream and download Love Songs For The Streets below.

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This might be my favorite podcast in a minute. For the latest episode of A Waste of Time With ItsTheReal, Eric and Jeff Rosenthal sat down with the legendary Charlie Wilson for a fascinating conversation about his rise to fame with The Gap Band, co-writing “Computer Love” with Zapp, and his struggles with drug addiction and homelessness in the early ’90s.

Charlie also shared a bunch of great stories about his hip-hop collaborators, like how Snoop found him on the street and put him in the studio, the time 2Pac lost his shit when they first met, and how his wife convinced Kanye West to put Rihanna on “All of the Lights.” Listen to the full episode and check out a few of the best quotes below.

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Lady Gaga will replace Beyoncé at this year’s Coachella Music & Arts Festival taking place this spring. Billboard has confirmed the pop superstar is taking over Queen Bey’s headlining slot after the singer had to pull out due to her doctor’s advice as Beyoncé is pregnant with twins.

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The Ruff Ryders are rolling through a city near you this year. The iconic rap label announced the “Past, Present And Future” reunion tour on Tuesday afternoon (Feb. 28), in celebration of their 20th anniversary. DMX, Eve, The LOX, Swizz Beatz and Drag-On lead the bill, as special guests will be joining the collective when they embark on the road show this spring.

UPDATE (6/20): Ruff Ryders have announced a new batch of dates for their 20th anniversary reunion tour. DMX and co. will kick things off in Miami on September 7 before wrapping things up in Las Vegas on September. Tickets go on sale this Friday (June 23).

Check out the full schedule below.

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With a title like “Kanye, Beyonce” no one would fault you for clicking play on it. Rome Fortune actually flips anything you’d expect to hear because instead of hearing some trap beats and ignorant raps, he takes things the acoustic route and spits about looking in the mirror for some help. Stay tuned for Beautiful Pimp 3 to drop later this year.

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It’s been a minute since we heard some music from Brother Ali, but the brother is still releasing that good good. He’s actually keeping things positive and uplifting on “Own Light,” as he talks about some of the ills of today and why he’s using his light to inspire. Fans can expect his upcoming album All the Beauty in This Whole Life to drop on May 5.

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You haven’t forgotten about French Montana’s MC4 album did you? This is where the A$AP Rocky-assisted “Said N Done” single lived on and now the track gets a proper visual in case you were sleepy on the project. In the video, both French and Rocky kick it with some shortys and enjoy their company throughout. You know how the Coke Boyz and A$AP Mob do.

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