This article summarizes the events, album releases, and album release dates in hip hop music for the year 2014.
On January 8, it was revealed that DJ Drama was given a job as the new A&R for Atlantic Records.
On January 15, the duo Outkast composed of rappers Big Boi and Andre 3000, announced a reunion tour of over 40 festival dates during 2014.
On January 26, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis won four Grammy Awards at 56th Annual Grammy Awards, including Best New Artist and Best Rap Album for The Heist. Jay-Z won two Grammys for his two collaborations with Justin Timberlake "Holy Grail" and "Suit & Tie".
On January 28, J. Cole announced that his record label Dreamville Records had signed a distribution deal with Interscope Records. Later that day Jay-Z gave him his original Roc-A-Fella Records chain.
On February 1, five rappers; French Montana, Jadakiss, Chinx Drugz, Smoke DZA and Buckshot were all arrested on warrants, while leaving B.B. King Blues Club in New York City, where they were attending Funkmaster Flex's Tunnel Party. They would all be released by the next day.
On February 10, it was revealed that Dr. Dre was suing his former record label Death Row Records for 3 million dollars, due to unpaid royalties.
On February 20, it was revealed that 50 Cent had officially left Shady Records, Aftermath Entertainment and Interscope Records, also announcing that he was now signed to Caroline Records, an independent sister-label of Capitol Records.
On March 5, Lil Boosie was released from the Louisiana State Penitentiary where he has been incarcerated since 2009 on drug charges.
On March 11, it was revealed that Diddy had bid 200 million dollars on the Madison Square Garden Company-owned Fuse television channel. However, he would be outbid by Jennifer Lopez's NuvoTV.
On March 12, Freddie Gibbs released "Real", his first diss record towards former boss Young Jeezy.
On March 13, Petey Pablo was released from prison after serving 35 months in prison after being arrested for gun smuggling.
On March 14, Chris Brown was arrested and taken to jail until at least April 23, 2014, due to him being kicked out of rehab after he refused to take a drug test, made disturbing comments about his use of weapons, and disobeyed an order placed on him in the facility to remain at least two feet away from all women.
On March 18, Derek Minor announced that he has left Reach Records, as his two-album contract with the label is now complete.
On March 23, Jay-Z addressed Drake's recent comments in a Rolling Stone interview regarding Jay-Z's references to art, during Jay Electronica's remix to Soulja Boy's "We Made It". In the song Jay-Z says, "Sorry Mrs. Drizzy for so much art talk / Silly me, rappin' 'bout shit that I really bought / While these rappers rap about guns that they ain't shot / And a bunch of other silly shit that they ain't got."
On March 25, Diddy changed his stage name back to Puff Daddy for his next studio album MMM.
On March 28, Migos were involved in a Florida shootout that left one of the members of their entourage in the hospital.
On March 29, former co-owner of The Source, Benzino, was shot multiple times during his mother's funeral procession.
On April 3, Tray Deee of Tha Eastsidaz was released from California Men's Colony, where he had been incarcerated since 2005 on attempted murder charges.
On April 9, Chief Keef's cousin and Glory Boyz Entertainment signee Blood Money was shot and killed in Chicago. Blood Money had been signed to Interscope Records just two weeks prior to his death.
On April 18, the NYPD thwarted an alleged multimillion-dollar extortion plot by producer Chauncey Mahan against Jay-Z. Mahan who worked with Jay Z from 1998 and 2002, was in possession of a number of Jay-Z master recordings that Jay-Z and his associates assumed were lost. They were estimated to be between $15 million and $20 million.
On April 27, DJ E-Z Rock of duo Rob Base and DJ E-Z Rock died from unknown cases. The duo was best known for the single "It Takes Two" and its respective album.
On May 1, it was reported Dominican hip hop recording artist Monkey Black, real name Leonardo Ozuna, was fatally stabbed outside a bar in Barcelona, while he was residing in Spain.
On May 5, XXL revealed their annual freshman class to include Chance the Rapper, Isaiah Rashad, Ty Dolla $ign, Rich Homie Quan, Vic Mensa, August Alsina, Troy Ave, Kevin Gates, Lil Bibby, Jon Connor, Lil Durk and Jarren Benton. The list had previously been rappers only, but this opened it to two R&B artists, namely August Alsina and Ty$.
On May 6, Tyga released the song "Chi-Raq to LA" with fellow California based rapper The Game where they diss rival rappers Lil Durk and 40 Glocc, respectively.
On May 6, Rich Homie Quan suffered two seizures and a head injury from a fall, during a music video shoot for his single "Walk Thru" in Atlanta and had to be rushed to the hospital.
On May 13, Gucci Mane plead guilty to possession of a firearm by a convicted felon in connection with a case during September 2013. He was sentenced to three years and three months in prison. He is scheduled for a late 2016 release.
On May 18, at the 2014 Billboard Music Awards, Eminem won the awards for Top Rap Artist and the Top Rap Album for his eighth studio album The Marshall Mathers LP 2. Macklemore & Ryan Lewis won Top Rap Song for "Can't Hold Us". Drake, Jay-Z, J. Cole and Pitbull were also nominated in various categories.
On May 28, the sale of Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine's Beats Electronics to Apple Inc. was finalized. The deal for 3 billion dollars, earned Dr. Dre hundreds of millions of dollars, making him the richest rapper in the game.
On May 31, OTF NuNu, a member of Lil Durk's OTF crew, was shot and killed in Chicago. He was sitting in a parked SUV at the Chatham Village Square Mall on the city's South Side when the shooter walked up to the vehicle and fired several rounds at NuNu. He was struck multiple times and tried to escape the scene in the SUV before crashing into a nearby store.
On June 1, 50 Cent, Nas, Nicki Minaj, Lil Wayne, Young Money, Wiz Khalifa, Trey Songz, DJ Mustard, YG, Ty Dolla Sign, Kid Ink, Sevyn Streeter, Bunji Garlin, Action Bronson, and Troy Ave performed on the main stage during 2014's Hot 97 Summer Jam. Most notably, the hip hop group G-Unit including 50 Cent, Lloyd Banks, Young Buck and Tony Yayo reunited.
On June 6, JayAre of Cali Swag District died of sickle cell anemia.
On June 9, in an interview with Bootleg Kev, B.o.B announced his new record label imprint, No Genre, named after his 2010 mixtape.
On June 10, Eminem became the first recording artist to receive two Digital Single Diamond Awards from the RIAA. They were for his singles "Not Afraid" and "Love The Way You Lie" singles, which both surpassed the 10 million threshold for a combination of sales and streams.
On June 18, a release date of August 14, 2015 was announced for the N.W.A biopic Straight Outta Compton.
On June 29, at the BET Awards 2014, Drake won Best Male Hip-Hop Artist, Nicki Minaj won Best Female Hip-Hop Artist and Young Money won Best Group.
On June 29, a rap battle turned physical at King of the Dot's Battle of Los Angeles when Dizaster punched Math Hoffa in the face. Which resulted in Dizaster's conditional ban from King of the Dot.
On July 11, Eminem became the first rapper to headline London's Wembley Stadium, which can hold up to 90,000 people. Fellow Detroit-based rapper Danny Brown and alternative hip hop group Odd Future, led by Tyler, The Creator, served as Eminem's opening acts for the shows, respectively.
On July 11, Meek Mill was sentenced to three to six months in jail for probation violations.
On July 23, Busta Rhymes announced his departure from Cash Money Records.
On August 1, Remy Ma was released from prison after more than six years behind bars.
On August 24, Suge Knight and two others were shot multiple times during a Chris Brown-hosted event at a West Hollywood nightclub. Knight was taken to an area hospital.
On August 24, Young Jeezy was arrested before performing at the Irvine, California stop on the Under The Influence Tour. This was in connection with the deadly shooting in the backstage area, two days prior on another stop of the tour in Mountain View, California. When the police raided his tour bus, they found an assault rifle assumed to belong to Jeezy as well guns on several members of his entourage. His bail was set at one million dollars.
On October 28, Juvenile re-signed with Cash Money Records.
On November 4, two members of Freddie Gibbs entourage were shot multiple times in Brooklyn after a performance at Rough Trade in Williamsburg, NY, both men were taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
On December 2, Meek Mill was released from prison after serving nearly four months for probation violation.
On December 16, Bobby Shmurda was arrested for alleged involvement in multiple shootings and drug trafficking in New York.
‡ By the time 2014 Forest Hills Drive and The Pinkprint were released, Billboard had started counting total consumption (sales + streaming + track equivalent units) for the Billboard 200 chart. In pure album sales, 2014 Forest Hills Drive debuted with 354,000 copies, while The Pinkprint debuted with 198,000.
