Wacko, Rapper Whose ‘Nolia Clap’ Became a New Orleans Anthem, Dies

The cover of UTP's 2004 “Nolia Clap” release. The title track, co-written by Damon “Wacko” Grison, Juvenile, Skip and producer Donald “XL” Robertson, reached No. 31 on the Billboard Hot 100. (Rap-A-Lot Records)

Damon “Wacko” Grison, the New Orleans rapper whose work with Juvenile and Skip helped turn “Nolia Clap” into a national hit and an enduring piece of the city's hip-hop history, has died.

News of Grison's death was announced by New Orleans Room on Instagram, followed by a remembrance from Mia X and condolences from Young Buck, DJ Paul and Big Freedia. His age and cause of death have not been publicly confirmed.

For listeners who encountered UTP during its national breakthrough in the mid-2000s, Wacko was one of the three rappers behind “Nolia Clap.”

His connection to the record ran considerably deeper than that.

Juvenile said so himself.

“That's really more like Wacko's song,” Juvenile told Complex in 2013 while breaking down the most important records of his career.

According to Juvenile, Wacko had been singing the “Nolia Clap” hook around the studio before the group traveled to the West Coast and connected with producer Donald “XL” Robertson. They began building the track around Wacko's idea, with Juvenile saying Mannie Fresh and producer Slice T later added touches to the record.

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The songwriting credits support Wacko's creative role.

Grison shares credit on “Nolia Clap” with Terius Gray, better known as Juvenile; Clifford Nicholas, better known as Skip; and Robertson.

The record became UTP's biggest national hit, reaching No. 31 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 9 on Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks chart.

That success arrived after UTP had undergone considerable change.

Juvenile formed the Uptown Project Playas as he was separating from Cash Money Records. The early collective had fluid membership and included appearances from Wacko, Skip, Soulja Slim, Corey Cee and Young Buck. After Young Buck left for G-Unit and Soulja Slim was killed in 2003, UTP narrowed into the Juvenile-Wacko-Skip trio most listeners came to know.

Their album “The Beginning of the End...” arrived in May 2004 through Rap-A-Lot Records, with “Nolia Clap” opening the record.

The “Nolia” referred to the Magnolia Projects, officially the C.J. Peete Public Housing Development, in New Orleans' Central City neighborhood. The complex became an important incubator of the city's music across generations and was home to artists including Juvenile and Soulja Slim.

A Closer Walk, the New Orleans music-history project presented by WWOZ, includes “Nolia Clap” among the recordings tied to the Magnolia and traces the development's role in the rise of New Orleans hip-hop.

Wacko and Skip remained part of Juvenile's musical orbit after UTP's breakthrough. Both appeared on Juvenile's 2006 album “Reality Check,” including Wacko's appearances on “Sets Go Up” and “Way I Be Leanin'.”

By 2007, Juvenile was out of UTP and Wacko and Skip continued the group without him, releasing “Back Like We Left Something” through Rap-A-Lot.

Mia X said in her remembrance that Wacko had continued creating music before his death, praising his wordplay and distinctive cadence and saying he had been working on material she considered special.

Wacko's national profile may have been tied most closely to one record. But the history of that record gives him a larger role than the shorthand of “UTP member” suggests.

Years before there was any reason to argue about Wacko's legacy, Juvenile had already made the most important point about the song.

It was, he said, “more like Wacko's song.”

Kehlani Says Hospital Visit Forced Two Tour Postponements

Kehlani appears in a promotional image released in connection with the singer’s 2024 single “After Hours.” Kehlani postponed two stops on the Kehlani World Tour this week after a hospital visit and said they were not medically cleared to sing. (Courtesy Warner Music/Atlantic Records)

Kehlani has postponed two stops on the Kehlani World Tour after a sudden illness sent the R&B singer to the hospital.

Kehlani said Wednesday that they had felt normal during two days off before developing severe pain and difficulty swallowing overnight.

“I just left the hospital & am not cleared to sing for the next two shows,” Kehlani wrote on Instagram.

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The affected concerts were Wednesday at Freedom Mortgage Pavilion in Camden, New Jersey, and Thursday at Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, Maryland. Kehlani referred to the latter as the Washington, D.C., stop in the announcement.

Both concerts are now officially listed as postponed.

Ticketmaster says tickets for the Camden show will remain valid once a new date is announced. Merriweather Post Pavilion similarly says tickets for Thursday’s show will be honored when the concert is rescheduled.

Kehlani said the tour is expected to resume in Virginia. The next scheduled performance remains Saturday at Allianz Amphitheater at Riverfront in Richmond, according to Live Nation and Ticketmaster.

No diagnosis or cause for the sudden symptoms has been announced.

The interruption comes during the North American leg of Kehlani’s world tour, which began earlier this month. The singer entered the tour as a two-time Grammy winner after “Folded” won best R&B performance and best R&B song at the 2026 Grammy Awards.

Latimore, ‘Let’s Straighten It Out’ Singer and Blues Hall of Famer, Dies at 86

Latimore performs at the Nancy Jazz Pulsations festival in Nancy, France, on Oct. 22, 1983. The blues and R&B singer, songwriter and pianist, best known for the 1974 hit “Let’s Straighten It Out,” died Aug. 22, 2026, at 86. (Lioneldecoster/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0)

Latimore, the singer, songwriter and pianist whose conversational baritone turned a relationship talk into the 1974 R&B classic “Let’s Straighten It Out,” died Aug. 22 at 86.

Malaco Records, his longtime label, confirmed his death in a social-media statement.

“We are deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Benjamin ‘Benny’ Latimore,” the Jackson, Mississippi-based label wrote, offering condolences to his family and loved ones.

A cause of death has not been publicly disclosed.

Born Benjamin William Lattimore in Charleston, Tennessee, Latimore grew up listening to gospel, blues and country music. He began playing his family’s piano as a child and sang his first solo in a Baptist church at 13, according to Malaco’s biography of the singer. He eventually moved to Miami and began recording for music entrepreneur Henry Stone’s Dade label before moving to Stone’s Glades imprint.

His version of T-Bone Walker’s “Stormy Monday” reached No. 27 on Billboard’s R&B chart in 1973. A year later came the record that would define his career.

Written by Latimore, “Let’s Straighten It Out” reached No. 1 on the R&B chart and crossed over to No. 31 on the Billboard Hot 100. He followed it with more R&B hits, including “Keep the Home Fire Burnin’” and “Somethin’ ’Bout ’Cha.”

Latimore signed with Malaco in 1982, beginning another substantial chapter of his career.

The move also placed him in the middle of an important shift in Black music. As major labels increasingly moved away from veteran soul performers, Malaco built a durable business recording artists whose audiences had not disappeared, including Z.Z. Hill, Denise LaSalle, Johnnie Taylor, Little Milton and Latimore.

Latimore remained active well beyond his 1970s chart run. He played piano on Joss Stone’s 2003 debut, The Soul Sessions, and her 2004 follow-up, Mind Body & Soul. In 2014, he sat in with the Roots on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.”

The Blues Foundation inducted Latimore into the Blues Hall of Fame in 2017, recognizing a career that resisted an easy genre label.

Latimore himself put it more simply in a 2017 interview with Blues Blast Magazine.

“I can’t say that I’m a blues singer, but I’m a singer who can sing the blues.”