Hip-Hop News Roundup — August 12, 2026
- Daniel Rasul
- 20 hours ago
- 5 min read
Introduction
It has been a loud few days in hip-hop. A diamond-certified rapper picked up the lowest score Pitchfork has handed out since 2007, an incarcerated Memphis star topped Apple Music without doing a single interview, Roc Nation had to publicly kill a Jay-Z album rumour, and one of the genre's most prolific voices announced he has left the country for good. Here is everything that mattered between August 9 and August 12, 2026.
Contents
Pitchfork Hands Tyga a 0.0 — Its First in 19 Years
Pitchfork gave Tyga's new album $TARFACE a 0.0 out of 10 on August 12 — the publication's first zero in 19 years. Critic Drew Millard called the 10-track project a “slop-pop concept album” that is “smug and complacent and depressing,” and closed with the line that has been screenshotted across every timeline since: “Its very existence has made the world a worse place.”
The score is inseparable from how the record was made. Tyga has confirmed he used the AI music generator Suno on the project, and he has shrugged off the backlash by comparing the moment to the early resistance to Auto-Tune. Whatever you make of the album itself, it is now the flashpoint for hip-hop's argument about generative AI — and the first time a major outlet has effectively used a review score to plant a flag on the issue.
Pooh Shiesty Tops Apple Music From Behind Bars
Pooh Shiesty released All Eyes On Shiest on August 7 and watched it climb to No. 1 on the all-genre US Apple Music chart by August 10, edging out recent heavyweight releases from Ariana Grande and Karol G. The album carries features from GloRilla, Sexyy Red and others, and Shiesty pulled the whole thing off without a single interview, appearance or performance — he remains incarcerated.
The legal backdrop is still unresolved. Shiesty, born Lontrell Williams, faces charges over the alleged kidnapping and robbery of Gucci Mane at a Dallas studio in January. That trial, once slated for the summer of 2026, has been pushed to February 22, 2027 after his attorneys received roughly 96GB of discovery — about 14,000 pages — and successfully argued they needed more time.
Roc Nation Shuts Down the Jay-Z “Album Is Done” Report
Music executive Ray Daniels said on his podcast this week that Jay-Z's next LP is “completely done” and is only waiting on the right partner to put it out. Roc Nation responded fast and bluntly, posting to its Instagram Story: “‘Album done’… Fake news.”
The denial did not end the news cycle. Daniels caught a “Donkey of the Day” from Charlamagne Tha God and fired back publicly, while Dame Dash used the moment to take his own swings at the idea of a Hov comeback. It all lands during Jay's most visible year in a decade, following his Roots Picnic set and a three-night Yankee Stadium run in July.
Biggie's Former Manager Wins Catalog Fight Against Faith Evans
A Delaware Chancery Court judge sided with Wayne Barrow, The Notorious B.I.G.'s former manager, in a ruling issued August 7. The court found that Faith Evans had no right to withhold payments owed to the trust established by Voletta Wallace, Biggie's mother, who died in February 2025 at 78.
Barrow — sole trustee of that trust and executor of Voletta's estate — is entitled to her 25% share of profits from the Primary Wave catalog partnership struck in March 2025. It is not the end of the story: a separate suit filed in Pennsylvania in February 2026 challenges Barrow's underlying authority as trustee and executor, and that case remains pending.
NBA YoungBoy Says He Is Living in South Korea for Good
In a sit-down with Funny Marco on Open Thoughts, NBA YoungBoy revealed he is living in South Korea and has no intention of coming back to the United States. Asked whether he would ever return, his answer was immediate: “Never in life.” He described Korea as “out the way,” and said it is “very safe here and very clean.”
He also said he has only one or two albums left in him, and spoke about recent health issues after a doctor found he had a swollen heart. For an artist whose release pace helped define the streaming era, that is a heavy thing to say out loud.
Rod Wave Hit With a 90GB Evidence Dump in Georgia Case
Prosecutors have handed Rod Wave's defense team more than 90GB of material in his Georgia case, including roughly 1,900 photos and 111 videos. The disclosure was filed on July 31 and made the rounds across hip-hop media this week.
Rod faces 14 charges tied to an April 2025 incident outside his Milton, Georgia home — among them aggravated assault, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, and criminal damage to property. His attorney maintains there is “no truth to these charges” and that Rod was the victim of a burglary. His next court date is September 28.
Photographer Cuffed at Cardi B's Brooklyn Video Shoot
Cardi B's video shoot for “AH HA” in Sunset Park, Brooklyn briefly became a scene on August 11 when 70-year-old veteran photographer Steven Sands crossed police barriers around the closed set. After ignoring repeated instructions from production staff and officers, Sands was handcuffed, issued a criminal court summons for disorderly conduct, and released without an arrest.
Accounts of what happened differ. Sands told TMZ that he arrived before Cardi and that a security guard positioned him behind equipment, blocking any clear shot. Cardi and her representatives have not commented, and production reportedly carried on without further disruption.
On the Calendar: Trippie Redd, Rapsody, Cam'ron and ScHoolboy Q
The August calendar stays stacked. Trippie Redd's sixth studio album NDA arrives August 14 behind a cinematic trailer rollout promising a return to the melodic emo-rap energy of his SoundCloud run. Rapsody and Cam'ron both land on August 21, and August 28 brings new material from Rod Wave, E-40 and Czarface. Don Toliver, meanwhile, has quietly started the rollout for Nitrous — no date yet, just a renamed alt Instagram account and a tour sharing the name.
On the road, ScHoolboy Q announced a 10-date run celebrating ten years of Blank Face LP, opening October 1 at Atlanta's Tabernacle and closing October 17 at Brooklyn Bowl in Las Vegas. The LA Palladium date sold out quickly enough that a second Los Angeles show was added at the Novo.
The Bottom Line
That is the cycle. NDA lands Friday, Rod Wave is back in court September 28, Pooh Shiesty's trial now sits in February 2027 — and hip-hop's AI reckoning just got its first 0.0. We are back Friday with the next roundup.
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