Don’t cast your ballot for album of the year just yet. 2018 has definitely been a monumental year for music, especially in the hip-hop community with a cavalcade of the culture’s top tier titans dropping albums. Heavy hitters Eminem, J. Cole, Jay Z and Beyonce, Nas, Kanye West, Drake, Nicki Minaj, Migos, Travis Scott and most recently Lil Wayne, put out well received and commercially successful projects. And let’s not forget Pusha T, whose unapologetic lyrical onslaught was a critical and fan favorite. And ascending superstars have definitely had their say, as well, with Post Malone, controversy-king 6ix9ine,  Jay Rock, Nipsey Hussle, Lil Baby, and Gunna (collectively and individually) -- not to mention late-greats Mac Miller and XXXtentacion -- all releasing lauded projects this year.

And despite this onslaught of material, Tory Lanez is looking to annihilate all them. The Canadian juggernaut revealed exclusively to LiveXLive that his long awaited Love Me Now LP is coming in just a few weeks. 
 
“It’s about my n**** Uno who just Executive Produced the brand new album Love Me Now coming out October 26th," the multi-talented performer said last night outside of Miami’s Story nightclub, where Lil Baby and Gunna were having an album release party for their Drip Season joint project.
 
 “Y’all n**** is over,” Lanez added about the field of competition. “It’s too late for n****.”
 
At the top of the summer while on the Zane Lowe show for Apple Music, Lanez boasted about the large list of guest stars contributing to the album. 
 
“I got the illest features on there,” he said with a smile. “Chris Brown, 2 Chainz, I got Bryson Tiller on there. I got Lil Baby on there. I got a lot of people on there. A Boogie, PNB Rock, all fire songs.” “Keep in Touch” with the aforementioned Tiller and “Talk To Me” with Rich The Kid are Lanez’s latest singles. 
 
Tory also has an all-Spanish language called El Aqua coming down the turnpike soon as well.    Lanez, who has a residence in Miami, is just one of the plethora of MCs and singers in town as the 2018 BET Hip-Hop Awards touches down on the city. T.I., Yo Gotti, Cardi B, YG, A$AP Rocky, Lil Pump, Flipp Dinero, and the MIA's own Ball Greezy are some of the names locked in to perform today at the ceremony. The man with the number one album in the country, Lil Wayne, has been tapped to receive the “I Am Hip Hop” award that goes to rap’s biggest icons.  Be sure to tune in to the LiveXLive Facebook page for live hits from the BET red carpet today. And keep it locked to LiveXLive.com for more exclusives.

Shawn Mendes wants no girl left behind, and for once he’s not just talking about his fanbase. Shawn played last weekend’s Global Citizen Festival in New York, where he was joined by John Legend for his song Youth. Before they performed, Shawn spoke up about the alarming lack of access to education around the world, especially for female children.

Access to quality education was only one of the important messages from stressed at the festival – organizers also encouraged attendees to reduce their use of single-use plastic items and to rally for eliminating bail bond policies that unfairly target minorities. Several performers spoke up for victims of sexual violence, including Janelle Monae, who told the audience “this past week was a brutal, brutal week for a lot of us women. So today, I’m standing here with my sisters on this stage, and with you. And, we want to send a message loud and clear to survivors here and all over the world; let’s make sure that they know that these 60,000 global citizens right here in this audience have got your back.”

Find out more about the Global Citizen movement and their quest to end extreme poverty by the year 2030 at www.globalcitizen.org.

Watch right here.

In late August, while performing at the Starplex Pavilion in Dallas, Rae Sremmurd’s reigning hip-hop hook king, Swae Lee, was hit in the face when an overzealous fan threw her cell phone on stage at him. While the intent wasn’t malicious -- the fan just wanted him to take a selfie with her smart device -- her aim was off. The phone struck Swae in the face, busting open his lip, leaving him bloody and having to get stitches that night. 
 
He was irate immediately in the aftermath. 
 
“On my momma I’m finna sue you,” he said onstage after he got hit. “Why you throwing shit on the stage? You throwing shit like a muthafucka baseball.”
 
Recently however, at Rolling Loud in Oakland, Swae displayed a serious change of heart. After he and his brother Slim Jxmmi got off stage, Swae spoke exclusively to LiveXLive, revealing a new plan of action for the fan who struck him several weeks ago: no lawsuit. 
 
“The hoes say I’m beautiful with the scar,” Swae bragged. “It all worked out perfectly. Shout out to the girl that threw that the phone at me. Matter of fact, I want to reach out to the girl that threw the phone at me.  Matter of fact I wanna reach out to the girl. I think I scared her. I wanna apologize to her. I really want to invite her to like five shows for free. On me.”
 
Rae Sremmurd was a part of an all-star lineup that ignited the stage in the Bay. Young Thug, Lil Skies, Gucci Mane, Wiz Khalifa, E-40 and Travis Scott were just some of the names that gave frenzied performances. You can see more from Rolling Loud right here on LiveXLive.