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The Knowles-Carters may be international superstars, but they’re always standing on the side of justice when it comes to issues that pertain to marginalized communities. In the wake of America’s disruptive response to the police-involved murder of George Floyd, Beyoncé has released a public service announcement where she pleads with the public to show their support by signing one of four petitions.

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“We need justice for George Floyd,” Beyoncé said in the video. “We all witnessed his murder in broad daylight. We’re broken and we’re disgusted. We cannot normalize this pain. I’m not only speaking to people of color. If you’re white, black, brown, or anything in between, I’m sure you feel hopeless by the racism going on in America right now. No more senseless killings of human beings. No more seeing people of color as less than human. We can no longer look away. George is all of our family in humanity. He’s our family because he’s a fellow American. There have been too many times that we’ve seen these violent killings with no consequences. Yes, someone’s been charged, but justice is far from being achieved. Please sign the petition. Continue to pray for peace, compassion, and healing for our country.”

She advised viewers to click the link in her bio that takes them to her website where they can support the #WeCantBreathe movement by signing the petitions of Color of Change, Change.org, We Can’t Breath National, or the NAACP. Watch her video below.

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George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery are all people of color who were tragically taken from us way too soon. The most recent of these tragedies is Floyd who was killed by a police officer in Minneapolis, Minnesota this past week. Since his murder, there have been protests all across the country and people are rightfully demanding justice as the deaths of black people at the hands of the police have become all too common in our society. 

Many celebrities are speaking out on these atrocities and are urging fans to donate to various causes that will help those most affected by these atrocities. Today, Travis Scott used his voice, as well as his partnership with Nike to help speak out on what's happening. In the ad below, there are numerous pieces of text that urge people to not remain silent. Instead, the ad asks those with a voice to speak up and let it be known that as a society, we won't stand for these injustices any longer.

Steve Kerr has been one of those sports figures who isn't a afraid to speak up when they see injustice or feel strongly about a political opinion. As of right now, the entire country is looking at what is going on in Minneapolis and are trying to make sense of all the factors at play. For those who don't know, a man named George Floyd was murdered by a police officer and now, protests and riots are happening throughout Minnesota. 

President Donald Trump called out the protesters and called them "thugs" which got many upset. In a recent tweet, Kerr called out Trump's blatant hypocrisy and also called the commander in chief a racist. 

The murder of George Floyd has sparked debates, protests, and more across the country as we continue to hear and see disturbing instances of racism in the United States. Multiple protests are taking place today, including a large one in Atlanta, following the deaths of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and Breonna Taylor. 

Many celebrities have issued their thoughts on the killing of Floyd this week and Lil Wayne is the most recent person to speak his mind, explaining that if we want to place blame on anybody for what happened, it should be on ourselves.

Having a virtual chat with Fat Joe, Weezy noted that he thinks we could all be blamed for what happened to George Floyd.

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“I think when we see these situations, I think we also have to understand that we have to get very specific,” he said. “And what I mean by that is we have to stop viewing it with such a broad view, meaning we have to stop placing the blame on the whole force and the whole everybody or a certain race or everybody with a badge.”

He further explained his comments, which could be viewed as controversial.

“We have to actually get into who that person is. And if we want to place the blame on anybody, it should be ourselves for not doing more than what we think we’re doing,” said Wayne.

He also told Fat Joe about why he hasn’t made a public statement about this.

“What else am I gonna do after that?” he said. “Some people put a tweet out and they think they did something. Some people wear a shirt and they think they did something. What you gonna do after that? Did you actually help the person? Did you actually help the family? Did you actually go out there and do something? So, if I ain’t about to do all that, then I ain’t about to do nothing. I’ll pray for ya.”

What do you think of his view on this?  

A major plot twist has just been revealed following the murder of George Floyd. According to a former club owner in Minneapolis, both George Floyd and his killer, police officer Derek Chauvin, worked security at the El Nuevo Rodeo club.

As protests and riots continue to take place across the country, more information is coming out about the 46-year-old unarmed black man that was murdered this week. According to an ABC News affiliate, Floyd allegedly worked security at a nightclub and Derek Chauvin, the since-fired officer who kneeled on his neck, worked at the same club.

Maya Santamaria, former owner of the club, spoke:

“Chauvin was our off-duty police for almost the entirety of the 17 years that we were open,” said Santamaria. “They were working together at the same time, it’s just that Chauvin worked outside and the security guards were inside.”

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The two reportedly worked overlapping shifts but it’s unclear if they actually knew each other. There were reportedly a couple dozen security guards on the staff. At first, Santamaria did not recognize Floyd in the video.

“My friend sent me [the video] and said this is your guy who used to work for you and I said, ‘It’s not him.’ And then they did the closeup and that’s when I said, ‘Oh my God, that’s him,'” said Santamaria. “I didn’t recognize George as one of our security guys because he looked really different lying there like that.”

Rest in peace, George Floyd. Let’s all work together to seek justice for him.

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New York rapper Joey Bada$$ is currently working on new music, teasing the arrival of a brand new album sometime soon but, right now, he's more focused on restoring his previous releases on streaming services.

This week, he started receiving messages from fans that they were unable to listen to his ALL-AMERIKKKAN BADASS album on Apple Music, which led him to address his supporters Instagram Stories.

"If my music is blocked on your streaming channels plz screenshot and send to me," wrote Jozif Badmon. "Also let me know what country/city you're in. They will not censor my messages with no reprucussion." 

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Multiple people reported errors as they tried to listen to songs like "AMERIKKKAN IDOL" and "LAND OF THE FREE." The album is more relevant now after the killing of George Floyd than ever before, so it's confusing why Apple Music would decide to axe it from their library. The 25-year-old addressed the topic on his Twitter account.

"WOKE UP TO MFS CENSORING MY MUSIC," he wrote, urging people to continue sending him screenshots so that he could build a case with the streaming services.

Hopefully, this issue gets resolved soon. Have you been having problems playing ALL-AMERIKKKAN BADASS by Joey Bada$$ this week?

Police brutality has become all too common in the United States over the past few decades although now that we are in the internet age, the egregious acts of police officers have been put on full display. While many are still mourning the death of George Floyd, a brand new video has surfaced from Midland, Texas in which a man by the name of Tye Anders was arrested for allegedly rolling through a stop sign.

In the video below, you can see officers point their guns at Anders despite the fact that he is clearly surrendering himself with his hands up in front of his home. At one point, his 90-year-old grandmother came out to help calm everyone down but when the officers went to go arrest the 21-year-old, they ended up knocking the elderly woman to the ground. Justin Moore, Anders' attorney, is now speaking out on behalf of his client, noting that he did nothing wrong.

People around the world have been demanding justice for George Floyd who was murdered by police in Minnesota this past week. In a viral video posted to social media, Floyd can be seen on the ground with his neck being pressed down on by the knee of an officer. Despite his cries for help, the officer continued to apply pressure until Floyd eventually passed away. This egregious act of police brutality has led to large protests and riots around the city and some are calling for it to stop, while others are encouraging the fight for justice.

Colin Kaepernick has been fighting against injustice and inequality for years now and today, he took to social media where he gave his perspective on the protests. As he explains, peaceful protest has not worked in the past and that now, it is time for a revolution that brings real change to the country.

George Floyd, a 46-year-old man, was pinned down by police at the beginning of this week, restricting his airway for several minutes as he pleaded with them, saying that he could not breathe. A video has been circulating showing the incident, which is truly disturbing and disgusting. Floyd was later pronounced dead.

Four police officers have been fired following the death of George Floyd and Donald Trump has promised justice for the man’s family. Riots have been breaking out across the country as people are tired of hearing about racist police brutality incidents, with a Target store being looted last night and multiple surrounding buildings being set on fire.

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Doing his part in raising awareness for the continued problem, Juelz Santana has released a freestyle track dedicated to George Floyd, dropping bars about the situation and speaking out in his own way.

“All they wanna do is prosecute us, shoot us when they ain’t gotta shoot us,” he raps. “They kill us, turn around and then protect their own/Meanwhile, we can’t even protect our own.”

Like the rest of us, Juelz Santana is frustrated about constantly facing racial discrimination in the world. For now, this track is only available on the rapper’s IG page. Listen below.

The United States government and its priorities are things that we may never truly understand. As social distancing protocols continue to lax around the country despite the ongoing threat of COVID-19, the United States has taken a drastic move to ensure pro athletes are able to return to work.

The current acting Director of Homeland Security has signed an order making professional athletes essential workers. On Tuesday, Bill Daly, the deputy commissioner of the National Hockey League, told reporters in a conference call the order had been passed as the NHL moves to finish its season with a tournament slated to start in July.

In addition to declaring pro athletes essential workers, the US government previously lifted travel restrictions in place to prevent spreading COVID-19 for athletes abroad to be able to return home. 

While it's hard to imagine notorious tweeter Donald Trump moving to shut down Twitter, the man is nothing if not an ardent grudge-holder. Following Twitter's decision to hit Trump's complaints about mail order voting with an "unsubstantiated" warning -- essentially inviting viewers to get the actual facts on mail-order voting-- Trump took a page out of his favorite playbook and lashed out with threats of regulation and shutdown.  

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"Republicans feel that social media platforms totally silence conservative voices," he wrote, earlier this morning. "We will strongly regulate or close them down before we can ever allow this to happen." He proceeds to warn about the dangers of conducting a mail-order election cycle, doubling down on his concerns that such a practice would lead to an influx of cheating.

"We can’t let large scale Mail-In Ballots take root in our Country," he writes. "It would be a free for all on cheating, forgery and the theft of Ballots. Whoever cheated the most would win. Likewise, Social Media. Clean up your act, NOW!!!!" At this point, it's unclear as to whether Twitter, Facebook, or any social media platform will respond to Trump's warning. It is clear, however, that he did not take kindly to having his authority questioned so publically. Whether he actually intends on moving forward with his threats -- should he even possess that sort of power to begin with -- is anybody's guess. 

All Amy Cooper had to do was put her dog on a leash, but instead, she became a trending topic on Twitter. Known now as "Central Park Karen," Amy Cooper was walking her dog in the wooded area of Central Park called The Ramble. It's a place where people like Christian Cooper (no relation to Amy) likes to go to birdwatch. As a rule, in order to preserve the area and keep wildlife safe, dogs are required to be leashed in the Ramble area. When Christian saw Amy's pup unleashed, he asked her to comply with the rules. She refused, but he came prepared. He had dog treats with him to offer them to pups of people who didn't obey because no dog owner wants to see their pet running away from them toward a stranger.

This is Lil Uzi Vert's year. So far, the rapper has topped the charts with his critically-acclaimed album Eternal Atake, attracted all eyes with his confusing Playboi Carti feud, and charted every single one of his deluxe songs on the Billboard Hot 100. So far, Lil Uzi Vert is leading all artists with thirty-six entries on the chart, eclipsing anybody else and threatening to strike with even more fire.

Despite some non-essential businesses re-opening across the country, some people are still too uncomfortable to leave the house to get a haircut. After staying at home for two and a half months dodging the coronavirus, a large number of people have decided to wait until a vaccine is ready to continue life as it was prior. 

Although there are measures to remain safe outside, we are all still being advised to stay inside when we can. Not allowing his hair to get out of control — or more out of control than it already was, rather — during the pandemic, Post Malone decided to give himself a trim, showing off the end result.

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“I cut my own mullet today mom,” wrote the recording artist on Instagram, showing off his shortened hair.

In the same picture, some fans are taking notice of how faded his tattoos have gotten. Since he has an array of ink covering his face, it was only a matter of time before they started to fade and appear less prominent. That appears to be happening to the tats on his forehead and his “Always Tired” marking underneath his eyes. It might be time for a dreaded touch-up soon.

Did you take any drastic hair measures during the lockdown?

Memorial Day is a time to honor the lives of those who lost it fighting for the United States, and many celebrities took to social media this Memorial Day Weekend to share their tributes. Some shared shots of how they’re celebrating the holiday, while others dedicated posts in honor of the country’s fallen soldiers.

Barack Obama recognized veterans in a post and the impact COVID-19 has had, writing in the caption, “That takes different forms this year, but it’s even more vital with the loss of so many veterans to COVID-19.⁣ “

J. Lo shared a throwback shot of an American-flag studded performance to honor veterans. 

Ciara also paid tribute to veterans today, citing her military brat upbringing.

Sofia Vergara shared a poolside selfie captioned “Memorial day weekend” soaking up the sun.

LaLa wrote this sincere dedication honoring veterans.

Kerry Washington shared a short video to her page to honor soldiers, highlighting women who have died fighting for this country. 

Chance the Rapper and his wifey seem to be spending the holiday working on their dance routines.

Kelly Rowland is enjoying some fun in the sun.

With so many of us staying home during the pandemic, video games have been a natural source of entertainment for every one of us. Whether you’re spending your days playing 2K or hanging with your villagers on Animal Crossing, Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft have all been glad to see increases in their product sales. In fact, it’s become virtually impossible to purchase a Nintendo Switch in some parts of the country.

One game that people are really looking forward to playing is Grand Theft Auto 6. Every time a new GTA game is released or announced, fans can’t seem to contain their excitement for the new version, anticipating it heavily on social media. After an investor’s call by Rockstar Games, it looks like the timetable for the game’s release is a touch clearer than before.

Rockstar’s parent company Take-Two suggested in a recent call that the game would not be released before the end of this year, implying that 2021 or 2022 would be safe bets as it is still in its early development stages. 

According to OnSmash, the game’s delay likely comes as a result of COVID-19, which halted production on the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X. GTA 6 was allegedly intended to be a launch game for both devices.

For now, it looks like Fall 2021 is the nearest we’ll be getting GTA 6. Are you excited?

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NFL’s executive vice president of football operations, Troy Vincent, says the league is expecting the season to start with full attendance at stadiums.

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Vincent spoke about the upcoming season on The Team 980’s The Brian Mitchell Show. “We are planning to have full stadiums until the medical community tells us otherwise,” he said. “Now, remember when we’re talking—we’re talking about September, August, September. So there’s a lot that can happen here. So we’re planning for full stadiums.”

He goes on to say that the NFL is planning for all scenarios, just in case. “We also know that we have to plan for half stadiums. Three-quarters. So we’re planning for all of these different scenarios. But first and foremost, we’re making every effort, working with the medical community, if we can have those stadiums with all people until they tell us otherwise when that time comes, that’s our plan. That’s our plan of action.”

While the country is beginning to reopen in many states, experts suggest that the fall and winter months may see a rise in COVID-19 cases, which would coincide with the NFL season. 

The NBA, which has had its season delayed from the pandemic, is in talks to resume play in July.

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645AR burst onto the scene out of nowhere and, almost instantly, hip-hop took notice of him. Born in New York and raised in Atlanta, the young recording artist has been around two completely different ends of the table as far as rap’s approach goes. In New York, a focus is placed predominantly on bars and lyricism while, in Atlanta, trap beats and vibes are the top priority. Acknowledging that he would need to stand out from the pack if ever he wanted to live out his dream, 645AR developed a voice that we all know too well now.

The brain behind “4 Da Trap” and “Yoga,” and possibly Tik Tok’s biggest rap star of the year so far, 645AR is ready to tell his story. 

After struggling to gain attention with his music, 645AR decided that he needed to find something that would separate him from anybody else, officially giving birth to his squeaky-voiced delivery last year. 

Whether you love it or hate it, you’ve got to accept that 645AR is one of, if not the most unique rappers in the game right now. He has already left his mark on the industry and, with so much more to contribute, it’s time for us to take notice.

We hopped on a video call with the rising star to speak about everything that’s happening in his career right now, including “Yoga”, his future collaborations, and why he’s so much more than just a meme.

Read our interview below, edited for clarity and length.

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HotNewHipHop: Hey, what’s up!? How’s it going?

645AR: Hey everybody. Whew, I just woke up.

It really be like that. You’re loving this quarantine, huh?

Yeah. I was just tryna find weed yesterday and I couldn’t find any so I was just like up and I ended up falling asleep like really late.

You got the snacks on deck though so you good.

Yeah man, I was tryna pull some sour yesterday, I was hurt man. I got spoiled to the exotics.

I just wanted to start off by saying congratulations cause you’re blowing the fuck up, it’s crazy. What do you want the people to know about 645AR?

I’m not playing around. That’s my one. They just swear I’m playing around but I’m just not playing. I’m so serious.

There are a lot of people that write you off right off the bat because they hear the voice and they’re like, is he a meme rapper, does he have substance to him? What would you say to those people?

I would just tell people to stay tuned ’cause you know I already have so much in this project like, that’s what I do every single time. Every time I drop they just like, they just confused like they don’t fully understand it.  

Where’d you grow up?

I grew up in Atlanta for real. That’s really where I spent my teen years but I was born out here in New York. I had moved to Florida in ‘05 so after like ‘06 I spent most of my time in Atlanta and I basically grew up there, in a really small area.

What was your childhood like? Moving around can be tough sometimes.

Yeah, I started moving around when I was a young boy so it was just hard for me to adapt to things. I was like 10 years old when I first moved so it’s like, you know, I picked up so much stuff being out here and stuff, then I moved to Atlanta and it’s like completely different so I gotta adjust.

What do your parents do?

My mom is a nurse and my pops is a truck driver.

Image Publicist

Speaking about you as an artist, I would honestly go out and say you’re the most unique artist that’s out there right now, especially in rap. How would you describe your artistry? 

I would describe myself the same, most unique thing out right now. People gon’ take it how they wanna take it but I feel I’m the most unique person out.

How’d you come up with the squeaky voice delivery?

With delivery, I was just playing one time. I was just trying to find a new sound, I just felt like the current sound that I had wouldn’t take me as far as I wanted to go. The first time I did it, it was on a song called “Crack.” I said no cuss words and when I just did it, I was just trying something new. At that moment I knew I could do something with it, experiment with something. So I ended up doing that. And I just do a lot of thinking, I do a lot of analyzing so I just knew it was going to draw too much attention and stuff. I did it but like I tried perfecting my sound so like there are different frequencies. I tried perfecting my whole squeak ’cause there are levels, like I came in rapping then I came in with the “4 Da Trap” shit, so I perfected that sound.

It’s emotional too. I feel like a lot of people don’t realize. Like, they’re not listening to the lyrics, they’re not looking deep into that. They’re just hearing the squeak and they’re just like, shit, that’s crazy, they’re not reading into it. And a lot of what you’re saying is deep shit.

That’s another thing too. When I first started, I had said some real shit so like, I don’t know. I just knew people would think I was a gimmick if I was just saying a whole bunch of bullshit, like just a whole bunch of unimportant shit. I actually try to talk about deep shit, like shit that’s really going on. I don’t want people to be like ‘yo this n***a tweakin’, you just toyin’” cus like some people is hip to it, like they know what is going on.

What were peoples’ reactions to it the first time you did it? What did the engineers say, what did your manager say? Did people believe in it in the beginning?

No [laughing], hell no. Uh, when I first did it, there was a day we shot this video and we was just like recording, I had did it, there was two people, it was my boy Tony Shhnow and my boy Bag Ty and instantly Bag Ty was like ‘boy you a genius’ and he was like crazy. Tony Shhnow, on the other hand, was like ‘you trippin’ I’m not gettin’ on this [laughing]. You know, they knew I was with the song, like I knew what I was doing, they just follow my lead.

When did you realize that you had come up with something that was gonna be big? 

It was before I had dropped “4 Da Trap.” It was the month of December, I don’t know, I just felt like my presence on the internet was just like, strong, so. Actually, I’ll say with the first record, ’cause with the first record when I tried the squeaky like it started getting recognition in the city but like, people were just like, ‘what is he up to?’ Yeah, people was just like ‘what is he up to?’ I mean actually, cus when I started off, I started off at like, the lowest-highest frequency so I was going back to my regular voice then doing the squeak shit. So that was like the first record I ever did and then we had ended up shooting the music video to it six months later. So the song came out and people was like, okay, this is something they don’t really know. And then the video came out and they was like ‘okay, okay.’ They was just confused, they were just super confused. That was like the first video that came out. Lil Tecca is a person I really gotta give a shoutout to because he really got the ball rolling, he had posted that video and then that video just started taking off.

Tecca did that? That’s dope.

Yeah, so that got me the meeting and then once I got the meeting they was telling me like, what they had in mind for me and what they had planned out and I was just like, okay this is how I gotta push straight to the stuff that I do so people could grasp more into it. So I did “Crack” and then after the meeting I did “Bible and a K” and that was like the first whole sound ’cause the first song I did I was going back and forth, I was switching my cadences but when I did “Bible and a K,” I had high frequency the whole track, I just went in, so, yeah.

I read somewhere that you were hanging around Lil Yachty when he started blowing up? Did you learn anything from him?

I would probably say not being a follower for real, like he was tryna do his own thing. So not like following the trends and doing your own thing. There was an era of rap in like 2016, when Boat was coming up and he had took over ’cause he was so fresh, what he was doing was so fresh to people.

You used to play basketball too, right?

Yeah.

Did you ever think you could go pro? I read somewhere that you’re 6’5″?

I really did, I thought I was gonna go pro but it just didn’t work out and then I let it work itself out, and it ended up working. Yeah, I’m 6’5″ man, 230 man. You know, I don’t know why people be talking to me crazy ’cause like I’m really big. I don’t know, I think people be thinking I’m like 5’5″ or something.

You hear the voice and you’re like ‘this guy’s small’ but no, you a big dude.

Bro, they see me and they like, I’m not gon’ say what I say on the internet to him ’cause he big.

A lot of people are comparing you to Playboi Carti and rappers like that because of your voice. Are you influenced at all by him? Are you a fan?

I’m a fan, I wouldn’t say I’m influenced by him, though. I’m a fan though.

Image Publicist

You just dropped the video for “Yoga.” What do you aim to get out of that release?

You know what I aim for, I just want people to be like ‘Man, this dude’s not playing around,’ and you know we shot the whole video too. Shout out to BRTHR too ’cause they went too crazy.

So, you’re in the process of blowing up and there are gonna be tons of people reaching out to you. Has anybody big hit you up to collaborate yet?

Yeah, T-Raw, my boy Tyga. Yeah, I don’t know if I was supposed to tell you that but yeah, we got a record in the cut. Next record I’m dropping is the FKA twigs joint.

That’s a crazy collaboration!

People still think I’m playing though.

That’s unexpected.

I just gotta let ‘em see what’s in store.

You’re working on a mixtape right now, what’s the plan for that? Do you have a timetable for the release or anybody in particular that you want on it?

Umm nah, not necessarily, you know. I’d say it’s probably like 95% done and it’s sounding like literally the most perfect project to me. Just putting some finishing touches on it.

Every time I log onto Tik Tok, I’m seeing people making their own videos to “Yoga” and “4 Da Trap”. What do you think about the virality of those songs?

Yeah, I seen what people been doing with “Yoga” on Tik Tok, I see what’s going on, you know. It really don’t bother me ’cause it’s just like the kind of stuff I dealt with growing up, you know I’m already used to it, I just don’t pay stuff like that any mind.

I wanted to ask you about your Sink or Swim crew because there’s not a lot of information about everybody else in the crew out there. Can you talk a little bit about them?

So with the Sink or Swim crew it’s just like, if you could name a group other than Migos coming out the South, what group would you say? Who could you say is really coming out of Atlanta? Like you really gotta think about it, so I’m just tryna do that, and everybody’s going crazy. There was a point where everybody had their own single and we was just like, going crazy in the city so we just tryna take over the whole city. The whole gang is gonna go crazy like, we just put structure in everything that we do like, right now, we just getting all kinds of ready, we just reloading right now, we finna go crazy.

You’ve got an R&B side too that I feel like we haven’t really heard yet. Is that gonna be coming out on the next album?

Yeah, that’s what’s coming next. This is what people don’t know, “Yoga” came out last year so I dropped “4 Da Trap” and then nobody heard no new shit that I been working on. And then “In Love With a Stripper,” that’s one of the first songs I made on the autotune shit, I made that song like October. Nobody’s heard nothing new yet so that’s why I’m just like, you know. But I know what I got, I got some real art sitting in the cut.

What’s the plan for when quarantine ends? You gonna be touring, doing performances? What does a 645AR performance look like?

It looks wild, like shoot, I’m not even gon’ lie to you. The last shows I did were in Spain and they had both sold out. I’m out the country and the shows sold out. It was two shows: one was in Madrid, one in Barcelona. They both sold out. People be raging for real, like people be squeaking for real. I love my fanbase, man. I think I got one of the best fanbases in the game right now, they go crazy. Those are the last two shows I had and those are the only shows I did this year. The last show I did before that — I’d probably say like the beginning of December — I was doing underground shows. People was going crazy, like there’s a snippet on Twitter and like, he’s okay now, but somebody had a seizure. It really be that turnt, like no exaggeration.

Yeah, we don’t want nobody to have a seizure.

You see some crazy shit at a 645AR show.

Speaking of the music that’s coming out, what do you want to tell the people about the album?

When I drop this album, I’m just stamping everything I’m doing, you know. I feel like, after the “Yoga” video, there’s still gon’ be some people, they just not hip, they just can’t get hip. I don’t know, they probably just can’t process the high frequency. But after I drop this project, I feel like there’s not gon’ be anymore slander. It’s always gon’ be people hating but I feel like it’ll be to the very minimum after I drop my project.

People don’t realize that you have substance to you so I feel like, once they get into it, they’ll realize that 645AR is more than just an artist.

That’s true, I’m more than an artist. I’m ahead, people are gonna start feeling the vibes.

Do you wanna add anything?

Yeah, you know I just wanna add that I’m going too crazy right now, there are too many people hating on me. It’s too many people that got something negative to say, I just feel like there are more people saying negative things than positive things but you know, I’m just tryna say like my next drop, I think my next drop it’s gon’ touch a lot of people more than “4 Da Trap” did, so. I’m just saying my next drop, I’m not playing around.

When’s that coming?

We saying like next month. We gonna make a lot of noise. I’m doing something original. There’s no gimmicks. I’m excited for the future. I can’t wait ‘til they hear my new single.

I’m really excited about that, man. It’s been a pleasure talking to you.

I appreciate that, I appreciate y’all for having me too. I used to grow up in like middle school and high school watching y’all shit for real. It’s love.

Apple are among the businesses that are slowly re-opening their storefronts across the United States and outside of it. As of now, NPR reports that there are nearly 100 stores open, which only equates to a fifth of the Apple stores worldwide.

Some of the Apple stores that are open in the U.S. include locations in Florida, Alabama, California and Washington State, with 25 additional stores reportedly set to open soon. The re-opening of Apple stores though will come with a new set of Coronavirus-approved guidelines, such as the requirement of wearing a face mask while in the store– both customers and employees– as well as temperature checks for any customers entering the store. Equally, the store will limit the capacity of persons inside, and they will be doing deep cleanings through out the day.

A security guard takes the temperature of a customer at the Apple Store in Charleston, South Carolina on May 13 – Sean Rayford/Getty Images

As far as the decision-making that goes into re-opening Apple stores, the Senior Vice President for Retail + People Deirdre O’Brien stated, 

“We look at every available piece of data — including local cases, near and long‑term trends, and guidance from national and local health officials. These are not decisions we rush into — and a store opening in no way means that we won’t take the preventative step of closing it again should local conditions warrant.”

Customers will still be able to order online for curbside pick-up as well, and if they do choose to go to the store and shop in-person, expect a line–our new norm.

[]

Two of the most beloved child stars, Bow Wow and Omarion, set out to deliver a nostalgic evening to their fans across the nation. Unfortunately, because of the pandemic, their Millennium 2020 Tour was cut off with short notice. Right around now, they would be closing out the busy tour schedule with a big bash at The Forum in Los Angeles. However, both rappers are under strict quarantine rules, with no future in sight for live shows to resume.

Instead of bringing a night of old-school memories to millenials around the country, Bow Wow may have other plans to scratch the itch we've been feeling, suggesting that he and his brother have some more plans for this year.

Kevin Winter/Getty Images

At the top of 2020, Bow Wow and Omarion appeared together for their first interview together in years, hitting up Rap Radar on TIDAL. During the sit-down chat, they teased the eventual arrival of Face Off 2, and it looks like the duo of stars is nearing the official release. 

Taking to Twitter, Bow Wow hinted that, before the end of the year, he and Omarion would release another full-length collaborative project. Whether it will be the sequel to Face Off, or another album altogether, is yet to be detailed.

This has already been a memorable year for music -- both for great and horribly bad reasons. Could Bow Wow and Omarion contribute to even more of an impactful year?

The Matrix Co-Creator Lilly Wachowski responded to Elon Musk and Ivanka Trump's reference to her film, on Twitter, Sunday.

Frazer Harrison / Getty Images

Musk originally wrote "Take the red pill," to which Trump responded "Taken!" Both were referencing the reopening of America during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ludacris and Nelly went hit-for-hit on Saturday (May 16th), and while there were some technical difficulties that impacted the mood of the night a little, it was nonetheless a wonderful celebration of two of the best rappers to come out of that particular era. The evening got off to a rocky start, as Nelly's connectivity issues proved to be an obstacle. However, Luda managed to keep everyone entertained while he waited for his opponent to fix the problem. Looking for a way to stall, Luda asked Timbaland if he was permitted to play their unreleased song with Lil Wayne, "Silence of the Lambs." Timbo gave the go ahead, and Luda let the record play not once, not twice, but three times in a row.

“That violence, that poverty, that madness spawned a beautiful art form,” Mister Cartoon says in Netflix’s L.A. Originals. “Those guys sitting in cells that will never get out helped shape an art form. This rose out of the crack in the concrete.”

Estevan Oriol/Getty Images

Mister Cartoon and Estevan Oriol have captured the world of East Los Angeles and beyond for nearly 30 years. Cartoon’s stylistic choices merge the worlds of jail artwork and graffiti together while Estevan has captured still moments in some of the rawest and chaotic environments. Their work has influenced a generation of artists and photojournalists that followed but more importantly, it gave the world insight into East L.A. from their perspective. A world that balances the beauty and resilience of Chicano culture and the bleak reality of L.A.’s underworld.

The distinctive art style that comes from East L.A can be attributed to their work throughout the 90s and 2000s. Netflix’s L.A. Originals delivers a candid look into their illustrious careers with unreleased behind-the-scenes footage from their work with 50 Cent, Dr. Dre, and Eminem as well as glimpses from the S.A. Studios era in Los Angeles’ Skid Row area.

L.A. Originals has been in the making for a few years but its actual release arrived months after the tragic death of Kobe Bryant and days after the one-year anniversary of Nipsey Hussle’s murder. Kobe, who was interviewed for the documentary months before his passing, was tattooed by Mister Cartoon. A notable photo of a young baby faced Nipsey Hussle in the streets of Crenshaw has inspired murals across the globe. Estevan took that photo. 

Tattoos get carried to the grave while photos immortalize moments. And as much as Estevan and Cartoon carry on the legacies of others through their work, it’s their subjects that allow their artwork to live beyond the grave. 

“I’ll do like a back piece for my friend and you know, one of my buddies, he OD’d and they take your artwork into the box, you know what I’m saying? It lasts longer. They might have some jewelry on, they might have some other things — clothes or something to ‘em. But it’s a trip that your actual artwork is going to go back into the earth,” Toon told HNHH. “And you know, sometimes, Estevan captures these guys so we have their picture. It’s a little bit of our way of, kind of, putting our flag into the ground, you know what I mean? Kind of just saying, ‘we were here.’ This is tribal for us. Kind of like an Aztec Warrior carving on the side of a pyramid, you know? It’s our way of leaving our mark.”

Following the release of L.A. Originals, Estevan Oriol and Mister Cartoon chopped it up with us about the making of the documentary, Chicano artwork in the Trump era, and working with Kobe Bryant and Nipsey Hussle. 

This interview was lightly edited for clarity. 

HotNewHipHop: How’re you doing, man? How are you holding up in the midst of this craziness? 

Mister Cartoon: Well, I mean, I don’t wanna act like I’m having too much fun but if the government tells me to stay home and smoke weed again, I’m just gonna take orders from the government, you know? 

Bro, I feel that 100%. That’s exactly how I felt about this whole thing. 

MC: (Laughs) Nah I mean, what I do, my artwork, I’m in isolation. If I have my friends around, I can’t concentrate. They start telling stories. There’s time for that. And then there’s times for me to be in solitude and get work done. So, it’s actually a real positive thing in the midst of a lot of negatives for other people, you know. 

*Estevan Oriol joins call*

Hey, nice to talk to you, man. 

Estevan Oriol:Yeah, nice to talk to you too. 

Thank you guys so much. Estevan, how are you doing? 

EO: I’m doing pretty good. 

Excellent, so now that I have both of you here I just want to congratulate you guys on the documentary. It was really dope just to get an insight into the work you guys have done over the years. How’d you guys hook up with Netflix to bring this documentary to life? 

EO: We got signed to a production deal with Sebastian Ortega. He has a production company called Underground. He has one of the biggest running Netflix shows in Argentina. It’s called El Marginal, and he came up here to meet somebody and met with me along the way, and I took him over to meet Cartoon at this photoshoot we were doing. He has one of the only lowriders in Argentina. He might have the only lowrider in Argentina and he’s all sleeved down. He wears Dickies and a T-shirt and Chucks to work and he’s a film exec. I was like, “Man, this guy is perfect, he gets it.” There’s no pitch or anything like that. It’s more like he said, “Hey, whatever happened to that doc? You know, if you guys want, I’ll do it for you.” And he walked us into Netflix and you know, it got signed right then and there. 

That’s dope, especially since a lot of it is unreleased footage. How’d you guys, through all that 25 years of footage, skim through all that and decide what was going to be used and what wasn’t? 

EO: Well, that was probably the hardest part of making the film. To me, I think the hardest part of anything is the editing. And you know, because for me, I shoot so much, like, I don’t shoot a bunch of dead footage. I just shoot like selected good stuff. So, I had 25 years of good footage and you know, the same with the photos. Our original goal was to try to do something like The Defiant Ones. We wanted to do like a four-part docu-series cause we thought we had enough footage that big and that long. But, we got just the 90-minute deal, so we ran with that and we just had to pick the highlights of all the footage and all the photos throughout the years and that was one of the hardest parts. A lot of people didn’t make it and a lot of good footage didn’t make it, but you know that’s all we could do in those 90 minutes. 

Obviously this documentary goes through the highs and lows of your career, were there any scenes or footage that were particularly difficult to watch? 

EO: Hmm, not really. For me, I saw the movie about 20 times before it got to the point where it’s at, so I had seen that footage over and over and over again. Maybe, the first time watching something, you’re like, “Oh, whoa.” But after seeing it a bunch of times, you’re kind of numb to it. For me, we didn’t really put too much of the hardcore stuff in there. There was a lot of stuff we held back on for, you know, reasons of, like — if you put too much out there, then people are gonna be judging you and stuff like that. And we still have to work and we got families and all that so we didn’t want to just put it all out on the line and just be like, you know, “Here’s us, take it how you want.” There might be a repercussion of some kind of stuff like that if you’re planning to be out there in the workforce, getting work and stuff like that because might judge you and be like, “Oh you know, he’s the guy that was doing this or that.” So, there’s a lot of stuff, you know, [that] we just kept to ourselves. 

Fair enough. I guess my follow-up would be what was your favorite moment from the documentary that you were excited to have the world to see? 

MC: I think the type of footage backstage that, like, even my kids found out about me that they didn’t know. My friends probably thought they’d seen every picture of Estevan’s and they’d seen everything, [but] they hadn’t seen that footage. And one of the crazy parts to watch for me, too, was the part when Kobe came out. You know, it’s like fucking tragedy, you know. Tragedy in American royalty you know, in a way. It’s real personal to us and we’ve been sitting on that footage. It’s so hard with the days of social media where everybody just leaks everything, and you know what they ate and where they went on vacation, and that they bought a new house and all this s***. It’s important for us and that we drop this and didn’t tell anybody about Kobe, didn’t tell anyone about Em, like these newer interviews. We wanted to surprise people so it worked out good. 

When did the interview take place with Kobe? 

EO: That was about, I’d say, six months ago. What do you say, Toon?

MC: Yeah, around six months. It feels so recent, man, it goes by so fast. 

Damn. 

EO: Maybe it was eight months ago, cause he’s already passed away for a few months. 

Mr. Cartoon, you tattooed a Kobe Bryant piece and Estevan, you caught that iconic picture of Nipsey Hussle. Can you guys talk to me about what those respective pieces mean to you? What resonated with you the most about working with these individuals? 

EO: The fact that I even got to work with them is what resonates with me the most. The fact that I got to be in their presence and not only hear about them or read about ‘em but see them in person. Like, when you’re sitting there talking to Kobe, you’re kind of frozen. You’re kind of like, wow, you know. You feel the difference when you’re interviewing somebody that’s been interviewed thousands of times as opposed to someone who’s new at it. Every question, he hit us right on the head with the perfect answer and then he was just, you know, he was just dropping wisdom about success and everything else. And you’re like, man, this guy is like — you want to sit there for an hour and get like, a free motivational speech from Kobe. But you know, we got in there, we got our 20 minutes with him, and he said everything we wanted him to say. With Nipsey, I shot Nipsey in 2008. So, that was before he had come out with his first album when he had gotten his first record deal. I shot him for Rime Magazine, then I shot him for XXL, then I shot him for a foreign publication but the next thing was going to be his first album cover, and his deal didn’t go through. Something happened within him and the label, and we never got to do that but you know, I was fortunate to get a couple good early on photoshoots with him and hang out with him and see who he was. ‘Cause the way me and Toon think is pretty much right along the lines of the way he was thinking when he was doing his thing. It wasn’t about, you know, let’s get famous, let’s get rich, and buy a bunch of stuff for myself. It was like, let me use this platform to do something for my people, my community and my culture. And, to me he took that to the limit, you know. He went all out in the end. He signed a lot of people. He put a lot of people on. He bought property in his neighborhood. He opened his own business. He helped his homies open their own businesses within that property that he bought. To me, that’s like the ultimate good feeling to have. [When] you’re uplifting and empowering your community and then when that spreads out into the world the way it did. It can’t get no better than that. 

Definitely, is there anything you’d want to add to that Mr. Cartoon?

MC: These are guys, you know, we look up to. And you know, Nipsey’s younger but he had that old school soul. He grew up in a real hard neighborhood, so he had to grow up fast. But, just being able to talk to Kobe. Being around all those guys is just really inspiring. You just see that they’re human beings, but they just got that extra aura. They got some type of like — I guess any time you meet pro-athletes, man, they kind of look like they’re ready to spring up off the ground, you know? They’re like the closest to superheroes that we got. So, it’s an honor to work with those types of guys. 

Estevan, you were mentioning the parallels between what Nipsey did and what you guys do for the Chicano community. In these times of Trump, how important is it for Chicano artwork to be visible to the public eye?

MC: It’s really important for us. Like, Estevan and I, we did Anthony Bourdain’s [show] right before he passed away and he asked us a similar question. It was, you know, I was just able to say, well, you know, we had a great four years with Obama, you know what I mean? And even if he wasn’t a perfect man, he looked like it. He acted like it, you know what I’m saying? And now we have the orange racist in there. It sheds a big light on how a lot of people see us. Even some Latinos, family members I have, support this guy. I don’t know how anybody can look at him speak, step back, and be like, “yeah, that guy is the leader of our country.” I mean, he can’t even string a sentence together properly. You should have to take some type of high school entry history exam to become the president. Like, if you want to become a lawyer, you gotta do the Bar and it’s so hard. You can’t have the mouthpiece of a used car salesman, the best bullshitter in New York City, and be president. It’s disgusting. But, it’s important that we’re out there. When our president is calling our ancestors rapists. He’s calling our people rapists, right? It’s important that we stand up, like we’ve always done before this dude showed up as the president, and just help the community. We do free outreaches to the kids on how to become artists. We never charge for that shit. We never even post it. It’s just what we do. It balances out all that weirdo s*** and I’m not going to let that get into the way of what we do. 

EO: It’s very important. Because all he has to say is negative stuff, you know? So it’s important for somebody to have something positive out there for our community and our culture because this is something that’s happening on the ground on a daily basis, you know? The fact that we get to battle that with our artwork and using that as our voice. I’ve been out there when they’ve done those protests in the streets. I photograph all that. And it gets pretty heavy out there. There’s a lot of tension when you’re out there on both sides. And then, when the cops come, it gets pretty crazy. This is kind of like us doing that but without really going out there and getting maced by the cops and all that kind of s***. It’s kind of like a positive way to put our people and our community out there without getting zip-tied by the police and maced and shit like that. 

I wanted to bounce off of something Cartoon was saying earlier about hosting these workshops for kids in your neighborhoods. I know LA Originals starts off with your childhoods and how you guys developed your skills. How have your skills and talents have transcended generationally with your kids?

MC: Yeah, my kids grew up in an artistic household — classic soul music, classic rock, Mariachis, you know, my wife plays a lot of that. They’re all artistic in their own way. My son, little Estevan. He’s a carbon copy of me. He wants to do everything that I do. My girls, not so much. They like music, guitar. They can both draw but they don’t have the same fever my boy has but he’s a little bit older too. They’re all gonna shine in their own way, of course. I kind of make ‘em draw. I make ‘em sit there and do letters and s*** so that by the time they leave here, they’ll at least know how to write Script, Old English and they’ll know the basics. But hopefully, they carry this thing on. And you know, just seeing Estevan’s kids grow up, each one of them has their own thinI. It’s good to see these kids grow up in such a cool atmosphere and options to do whatever they want to do. 

Yeah definitely. Estevan, I know you mentioned in the documentary that you actually got introduced to photography through your father who is also a photographer. How have your kids carried on the legacy? 

EO: My son, he’s a sports type. He knows everything about sports that you could imagine. I could ask him about any player and how they do in their field and he knows. He’ll tell you the statistics, the games, and like, how many bats has he shot, how many touchdowns. He’s on it with that. So, to me, I look at that as kind of an art form. It’s in that same mindset. Like when you set goals and you go after them to achieve them. Depending on the level you take it to, that’s what I see as an art form. Like, you see a great athlete doing their sport, it looks like art. So for me, I feel like his art form is the whole sports world. I have one daughter she’s in school and the other one she just goes day by day on her daily life. I have another daughter who has kids and works in an office so they all do different things. They all took what we taught them and went in a different direction but nobody really sat down and is like you know, I’m gonna draw everyday or I’m gonna photograph every day.

For me, I didn’t even wanna do it either. I picked up the camera and was embarrassed to take pictures because I thought it was kind of goofy. The people that were taking pictures back then, if they weren’t all the way professional, it was like paparazzi and tourists. That’s what I thought were taking pictures — either the pros or the goofy tourists with the straw hats and glasses with the black socks or black penny loafers and plaid shorts out there. Or the paparazzi chasing people and running up in their face and being disrespectful of people’s lives to get a good picture so they can get a quick buck. That was kind of how I saw photography. For me, at first, I just was taking pictures here and there, little by little. And as people started responding to my pictures in a good way, that’s when I decided maybe I’m onto something and maybe I should take it more seriously and I did. I started doing magazines, art shows. Me and Cartoon did our first art show in Tokyo. A photo agent over there from a company called August organized an art show in Tokyo in an area called Roppongi. We had our first art show over there in 1997. For us, that was like crazy. Like, one, to do our first art show and to have it in Tokyo. That was mind boggling for us. And then we came home and did our second one at this place called George’s Gallery. That was co-owned by the Beastie Boys in East Hollywood. That was kind of how we started. It wasn’t in a traditional way but we felt like that was the direction to go into. Like, using our art to get into magazines and do art shows and go in that direction. Whereas a lot of people didn’t really go into that direction with photography back then like that. But we kind of thought we wanted to do it a little differently and do something that fit in our lane. 

Estevan Oriol/Getty Images

One thing that really stood out to me in the documentary was when you guys were talking about your friends who have passed away. In tattoo culture, a lot of people ink their friends or get portraits. But, Estevan for you, it’s like you’re immortalizing these moments when you go to these neighborhoods and photograph these people. Can you guys talk to me about that?

EO: Yeah, it’s kind of a given. They say in this lifestyle there’s kind of like three places you’ll end up — it’s jails, institutions or death. So, going into that environment and knowing that in the back of your head, you kind of are thinking like, yeah, I might take a picture of this guy and he might be in prison the next week or he might be in a rehab or killed. So it’s kind of like, you gotta go in there just thinking you’re just gonna take a picture. After that is when it’s when you start thinking, “Oh, that guy’s a hothead. Or he’s on a good one.” Or something like that. Or “he might not make it to next week.” And that’s what happens to some of the people. They end up passing away or getting life in prison or something like that. And you have photos of a time in their life that bring good memories to their families, which is a cool feeling. I always post people that have passed away and I put up, “RIP to my homie Trigs” or Spanky or these other guys. Their family and friends always comment and are in the DMs saying, “thank you man for never forgetting my loved one or my friend” or “thank you for keeping their name alive.” I think that’s one thing that’s important, they want to be remembered. A lot of people that I talk to, I’ve had friends that say, “Aye if something happens to me, just don’t let my daughter ever forget about me. Just keep me and my memory in my daughter’s life.” And you’re like, yeah, no problem. In the moment, you’re thinking, “Man, shut up Julio. You’re tripping nothing’s gonna happen to you.” Then when they pass away you’re like, “Damn, now I have that obligation because I gave my word.” Every time I talk to certain people’s kids, I’m like, “your dad was like this or your dad was like that.” Or tell them a good story about their family member or their friend to keep their legacy alive in their life. 

Cartoon, if you could elaborate on what Estevan said.

MC: I’ll do like a back piece for my friend and you know, one of my buddies, he OD’d and they take your artwork into the box, you know what I’m saying? It lasts longer. They might have some jewelry on, they might have some other things — clothes or something to ‘em. But it’s a trip that your actual artwork is going to go back into the earth. And you know, sometimes, Estevan captures these guys so we have their picture. It’s a little bit of our way of, kind of, putting our flag into the ground, you know what I mean? Kind of just saying “we were here.” This is tribal for us. Kind of like an Aztec Warrior carving on the side of a pyramid, you know? It’s our way of leaving our mark. We were a part of something. We added to our community. We love our community and we just draw this way and he shoots this culture and he shoots a certain way. So we’re not just that, cause we like other s*** like we like foreign movies. People would never picture me and Estevan in like a Bali, Indian restaurant ordering butter chicken. We might be in some crazy Thai restaurant in Thai town or we might be in East LA in a crazy taco spot. It’s having an open mind, it’s accepting all good things. All things that are quality in detail. To be able to go to other parts of the world, represent where you came from but also respect and take in people from other lands, other tattoo cultures, other car cultures, other people that are sickos like us you know what I mean? We’re everywhere. That’s one thing about being tattooed is your kinship with everyone else that has tattoos all over the world. We’re renegades in a way where we’re members of a society that is underground like for cars lowered. We used to be looked at as riff-raffs and low-lives and drug addicts. Now, it looks like NBA stars and professional artists that are in contemporary art museums. So it’s come a long way, you know? We did that art show in Tokyo that Estevan was talking about. We thought that was it. We made it. We got our lowrider art in a gallery in Harajuku. Can’t be better than that. And for that time, we maxed that time out. I don’t know anybody’s that’s done it since the way we’ve done it — out there at least. But we’re barely getting started, man. Me and E we’re fired up. We’re ready to take over the world, man. We’re ready to put our flag at the North Pole. We been to the South Pole now we’re going to the top so that’s it. We love to do it. 

That’s what’s up. Thank you guys so much, it has been an honor speaking to you legends. 

EO: Thank you, bro. 

MC: Appreciate you, man. 

LeBron James, Barack Obama, and more came together for Graduate Together: America Honors the High School Class of 2020, Saturday night, honoring graduating seniors across the country.

Bill Pugliano / Getty Images

“You should’ve had a real graduation, I know. You should’ve had an incredible senior year, I know that as well. But you made a sacrifice, and you did it to keep your community safe and healthy,” James told graduates. “On behalf of all us, thank you!”

Obama also joined in, preparing students for the real world. Here is an expert from his speech:

Now, graduating is a big achievement under any circumstances. Some of you have had to overcome serious obstacles along the way. Whether it was an illness, or a parent losing a job, or living in a neighborhood where people too often count you out. Along with the usual challenges of growing up, all of you have had to deal with the added pressures of social media, reports of school shootings, and the specter of climate change. And then, just as you’re about to celebrate having made it through, just as you’ve been looking forward to proms and senior nights, graduation ceremonies, and — let’s face it — a whole bunch of parties, the world has turned upside down by a global pandemic. And as much as I’m sure you love your parents, I’ll bet that being stuck at home with them and playing board games or watching Tiger King on TV is not exactly how you envisioned the last few months of your senior year.

…

Second, do what you think is right. Doing what feels good — what’s convenient, what’s easy — that’s how little kids think. Unfortunately a lot of so-called grownups — including some with fancy titles and important jobs — still think that way, which is why things are so screwed up. I hope that instead, you decide to ground yourself in values that last. Like honesty, hard work, responsibility, fairness, generosity, respect for others. You won’t get it right every time, you’ll make mistakes like we all do. But if you listen to the truth that’s inside yourself — even when it’s hard, even when it’s inconvenient — people will notice. They’ll gravitate towards you, and you’ll be part of the solution instead of part of the problem.

Other speakers included Gal Gadot, Alex Rodriguez and more. Check out more highlights from the night here.

[Via]

Trump’s facing his biggest test yet as president with the coronavirus pandemic. Over the course of the past few months, he’s faced severe criticism for the ways he’s decided to handle the pandemic as well as his recent efforts to reopen the economy. He’s praised the protestors who’ve been pressing their state’s governor to open the country back up, despite health officials claiming that it is an unwise decision.

Win McNamee/Getty Images

According to White House sources that spoke to the Daily Beast, Trump has reportedly been applying pressure on the Centres of Disease Control and Prevention to work out a new method to tallying the COVID-19 death tolls. The U.S. coronavirus death toll is upwards of 82,300 currently, Dr. Deborah Birx, a member of the COVID-19 task force, reportedly wanted to remove two categories that would ultimately lower the death toll — those who presumably died from coronavirus without taking a test and those who’ve had the virus but died due to other causes.

There has been worries that the numbers haven’t accurately reflected the situation from Birx who reportedly said that she thinks there’s a possibility they could be inflated. Trump has, however, supported the CDC’s numbers publicly, though there’s apparently skepticism among his team from behind closed doors.

CDC’s Bob Anderson defended the way the CDC is handling the situation as well as the death counts. Anderson said the doctors had specific instructions to say whether coronavirus was the cause of the death.

Rihanna hauled her wealthy self across the pond about a year ago, and this relocation means that she can officially be regarded—and evaluated—as a UK musician. Although Ms. Fenty has released little to no music in the past few years, she is still, first and foremost, a musical artist, and it turns out, one of the richest in the country. According to Britain’s Sunday Times, Rihanna sits in the third spot on the UK’s annual list of its wealthiest music stars, her first inclusion in the rankings since this move to London last year.

Rich Fury/Getty Images

Beat only by two knighted gentlemen—Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber and Sir Paul McCartney, tied at No. 1 each with a net worth of £800 million, or approximately $985 million USD—Rihanna nabbed the third spot with a a net worth of £468 million, or approximately $576 million USD. Although the list recognizes the richest musicians, Rihanna’s wealth largely stems from the sales from her Fenty fashion and lingerie brands and her Fenty Beauty line. 

Gustavo Caballero/Getty Images

Robert Watts, the man who compiled the list, points out how Rihanna’s position on the list reflects a “seismic change” occurring among the wealthy, as younger performers continue to rank higher and higher. “If you look through the yellowing pages of the first list in 1989, it looks like a rogues’ gallery of middle-aged and elderly white men,” Watts notes. “It was earls, dukes and figures from manufacturing and finance. Now money is being made in different ways, and by all sorts of different people – like Rihanna.”

Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for Bergdorf Goodman

Watts speculates that next year, though, the list will look a little different due to the current state of the music industry as a result of the pandemic. “The cancellations of tours and the pulling of albums mean it will be a thin year,” he said. “We expect most artists’ earnings to flatline but not for them to necessarily lose money, because the bulk of their wealth is already earned and safely in their bank accounts.” Check out the full list of the UK’s Wealthiest Music Stars below:

1. Lord Lloyd-Webber — £800m
1. Sir Paul McCartney — £800m
3. Rihanna — £800m
4. Sir Elton John — £360m
5. Sir Mick Jagger — £285m
6. Oli and Dhani Harrison — £270m
6. Keith Richards £270m
8. Sir Ringo Starr — £260m
9. Michael Flatley — £206m
10.Ed Sheeran — £200m
10. Sir Rod Stewart — £200m
10. Sting— £200m

Lil Nas X is seemingly having trouble coming to terms with who he is. The viral superstar came out as a gay man last year, making the announcement on Twitter. 

"Some of y’all already know, some of y’all don’t care, some of y’all not gone fwm no more," he wrote before revealing his sexuality. 

Well, it turns out that he may no longer identify as homosexual. This week, he took to social media to revert back to his old ways, revealing that he is giving heterosexuality a chance.

Some things in life are inevitable -- death, taxes, and the animosity between President Donald Trump and media journalists. Unfortunately, there appears to be a masochistic back-and-forth that never ceases, as both parties are frequently positioned to square off during press conferences and briefings. And while Donald Trump has never been shy to put a reporter on blast, yesterday found him opting for a different maneuver altogether. Taking his ball and going home.

Andrew Harrer-Pool/Getty Images

It began when a CBS White House correspondent named Weijia Jiang asked Donald Trump the following question: "You've said many times that the U.S. is doing better than any other country when it comes to testing. Why does that matter? Why is this a global competition to you if every day Americans are still losing their lives and we're still seeing more cases every day?"

Donald Trump responded by saying "maybe that's a question you should ask China," an answer that drew confusion from the Asian-American reporter. "Sir, why are you saying that to me, specifically?" she questions, the implication being that Trump's line of questioning was racially motivated. Stonefaced, Trump invites another reporter to ask a question, though he changes his mind the moment before she's able to speak. Clearly perturbed by what he feels to be "nasty" questions, Trump calls the press conference to a premature close and walks off-stage.

While it's clear that both sides will spin the events however they see fit, the fact remains that Trump's relationship with the media is only getting more volatile by the day. Following the exchange, Trump's former political rival Senator Bernie Sanders weighed in, describing the President's behavior as "pathetic." The cycle continues. 

Three children died of a “COVID-19 related illness” this week, as announced by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo.

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“Three young New Yorkers have died of what may be a COVID-related illness in children,”  Cuomo said during a press conference Saturday.”We thought initially that young people were not affected by COVID-19. We’re not so sure that that is the fact anymore.”

So far, Hospitals have found 73 cases of the newly-identified condition among toddlers and elementary-school-age children in New York state. It is being called pediatric multisymptom inflammatory syndrome.

The New York State Department of Health is investigating the rise in new cases. They are also working on national guidelines for hospitals across the rest of the country that may find similar cases. 

“This is an extremely rare and previously unknown presentation of COVID-19 in children,” the Mount Sinai Health System said in a statement Friday. The statement was made in response to the death of a 5-year-old boy. His passing marks the first known death from the condition in the United States.

NY Health officials list possible symptoms as follows:

– Prolonged fever
– Difficulty feeding (infants) or is too sick to drink fluids
– Severe abdominal pain, diarrhea or vomiting
– Change in skin color – becoming pale, patchy and/or blue
– Trouble breathing or is breathing very quickly
– Racing heart or chest pain
– Decreased amount of frequency in urine
– Lethargy, irritability or confusion

[Via]

The death of Ahmaud Arbery has sparked outrage across the country in the past few days, prompting the arrests of Gregory McMichael and his son Travis McMichael. For over two months, the suspects have been roaming the streets freely with no arrests actually being made on the case until recently.

Glynn County Sheriff’s Office Getty Images

According to AJC, Waycross Judicial Circuit District Attorney George Barnhill wrote a letter of recusal that revealed his son, a former prosecutor at the Brunswick DA’s office, and Gregory McMichaels, who served as an investigator at the same office, revealing that “both helped with the previous prosecution of (Ahmaud) Arbery.” Adding he learned about McMichael’s history with Arbery “three or four weeks ago.”

McMichael was noted to be a former Glynn County cop once news of Arbery’s murder began to gain traction. He claimed that he was making a citizen’s arrest after a string of robberies in the neighborhood, though no evidence suggested Arbery was responsible for this. Barnhill did not specify the exact prosecution. Arbery was sentenced to five years probation in high school for charges of carrying a weapon on school grounds and obstructing a law enforcement officer. He was later convicted of a probation violation in 2018 after he was charged for shoplifting.

Family attorney Lee Merritt did acknowledge the charges but said that references to “alleged conduct from high school or shoplifting is absurd and has nothing to do with his murder.”

“We’ve been here before whether it’s Tamir Rice or Trayvon Martin,” said Benjamin Crump, an attorney for Arbery’s father. “When they kill our children, they then try to assassinate their character and I know they’re going to do that with Ahmaud Arbery.”

Amid the coronavirus pandemic, the economy has continued to take hits, with the U.S. unemployment rate jumping to 14.7 percent in April, a new record high, unseen since the Great Depression. Our last report on unemployment, just one week ago, showed 30 million job losses in the span of six weeks. This job loss has pushed the economy into a recession worse than 2007-09 era, and what’s more, it’s the worst job decline since the 1930s. 

These latest stats come from the U.S. Department of Labor in a report on how stay-at-home orders have impacted the economy. Now, jumping from 30 million, there is an estimated 33.5 million Americans without jobs. 

The report also reveals that women and minorities have been the hardest hit, with about 16.95% of women in the labor force being jobless since February, and about 16.7% of Black Americans becoming unemployed. These groups make up a large part of the service sector, which has been hit particularly hard. Specific industries that have lost a significant amount of jobs include the leisure and hospitality industry, which lost 7.6 million jobs in April alone, over half of which were from eating and drinking establishments that remain closed across the country due to the outbreak.  

The unemployment rate is expected to rise even more in May, and the year is expected to conclude with an unemployment rate of 11.4 percent; and then remain around 10 percent through 2021, according to the Congressional Budget Office. 

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Tekashi 6ix9ine is officially back and he’s still doing crazy numbers. His live-stream was delayed by a half-hour but once he logged on, he shattered the record for most viewers on Instagram Live, getting 2 million people on the same page. Calling himself a legend at the age of 24, 6ix9ine clearly never lost his confidence. 

While the comments have been moving like crazy, one stood out in particular. As Tekashi showed off his brand new jewelry and his old chains, Lil Nas X slid in to give the man a compliment and possibly shoot his shot.

“No homo he looking kinda cute,” wrote the country-rapper.

A troll himself, it’s not all too surprising to see Lil Nas X pop up in the comments. Maybe the two will be collaborating sometime in the future?

Today is a huge day for 6ix9ine, who released his return single “GOOBA” alongside an accompanying video. He has already broken records with his return, hitting over five million views on YouTube in under an hour and completely destroying the previous IG Live record set by Tory Lanez.

Are you happy that he’s back? Check out Lil Nas X’s comment below and let us know what you think.

50 Cent had a busy week on social media, making it his personal mission to get everybody connected with BMF co-founder Southwest T after he was released early from prison. The brother of Big Meech, Southwest T was one of the leaders in their major drug operation, which took over several different states across the country and raked in hundreds of millions of dollars. 50 Cent has been playing nice with T, calling out several different characters and telling them that it’s time to pay up, including Diddy, Irv Gotti, and Jeezy.

So far, Diddy has already made good on his debt, getting in contact with Southwest T earlier this week. Irv Gotti has allegedly not been compliant and, as far as Jeezy is concerned, he wasn’t about to get in trouble with Fiddy or BMF. He made sure to connect with the newly-free man.

“THE NIGHT IS JUST ABOUT OVER AND I HAD A CHANCE TO TAKE IT ALL ON,” wrote Terry “Southwest T” Flenory on Instagram, sharing a photo with Jeezy. “ITS ALWAYS GOOD TO CONVERSE RESPECT BRO #BMF.”

Many believe that Jeezy would have checked in with Southwest T, even without being pushed to do so by 50 Cent. At the end of the day, that’s family for the Atlanta rapper. 

Still, it’s nice to see that he took time out to make the call.

Roddy Ricch has cemented his position in the rap game, and we don’t expect he’ll be going anywhere any time soon. The young artist is not only talented, creating insanely catchy melodies out strange noises, he’s also got a good head on his shoulders– he’s mature for his young age, as he’s continuously proven both in his reflective lyrics and in interviews. Perhaps it’s the Nipsey Hussle influence, but perhaps it’s also just who Roddy is.

The artist was already bubbling when he delivered his Feed the Streets 2 mixtape in 2018, and by 2019, with the release of “Racks in the Middle,” his clout began to reach new heights. He capped off the year by delivering his debut album Please Excuse Me for Being Anti-Social, which shattered expectations, led by the phenomenal success of “The Box”– apparently, no one was expecting the lurching record to take off as it did, because the label hadn’t even shot a music video for the song at the time.

Prince Williams/Wireimage/Getty Images

Now that Roddy is a certified super-star-in-the-making, we’re taking a look at some of the best songs he’s released in his short career so far, while we anticipate new music from the rapper. If you’re new to Roddy Ricch’s catalogue, let this list be your guide for essential listening.

Let us know your favorite Roddy Ricch songs in the comments.

Fucc It Up

Roddy Ricch’s kicks off his debut mixtape, Feed The Streets, with the unrelenting “Fucc It Up” and he doesn’t slow down from there, setting the melodic, charismatic tone for the rest of the mixtape (not to mention his entire career). Despite the fact that Roddy Ricch may not sound like where he’s from– Compton– what he does sound like is himself. Since day one, Roddy Ricch has had a distinct sound and he hasn’t strayed from it, he’s remained true to himself.

A few electronic keys signal the start of “Fucc It Up,” before Roddy Ricch proceeds to go in, weaving his way through the keys while the boom of the bass contrasts the natural pitch of his vocals. Not only does the record set the tone for the project in terms of style and sound, it paints the scene– a man who is used to the streets but is acclimating to a life of luxury. 

LISTEN.

Position

It just so happens that the first three songs on Feed the Streets are back-to-back-to-back fire. We can assume this is by design, as it ensures you are immediately hooked. “Position” has one of the hooks that will be stuck in your head, with Roddy’s voice auto-tuned slightly to create an even more pitched up feeling, as the rapper elongates his words, creating melodies with each bar. In fact, each bar seems to try out a new type of flow, some more passionate than others, showing the breadth of Roddy’s abilities (yet, he’s explored even more since). Roddy has an uncanny ability to make his vocals feel intrinsically entangled with the beat. 

The record is another reminder of where Roddy came from and where he’s heading– frequent themes in his music, as a young artist who is still getting comfortable with his success. One thing is for sure though, he won’t be heading back to any type of broke boy circumstance. 

LISTEN.

Sak Passe

“Sak Passe” rounds out the trio of opening records found on Roddy Ricch’s very first mixtape, and insanely strong introduction to the rap game, Feed the Streets. Clearly, Roddy was hungry. Not just that, but he was hungry to share with his friends and family– one of the most prominent themes within Roddy’s music is taking care of his own and spreading the wealth. 

“Sake Passe,” produced by Joey Trife and CashMoneyAP, begins with classical-sounding piano keys before a burst of bass breaks through the beat, taking over and pushing the piano keys to the background. Roddy delivers one of his most heartfelt hooks on the record: “We fed the streets, I had to flood it,” he raps, his voice aching with melody. “I wanna fuck with my niggas / Then take my niggas to the top of the world,” he says later, making a promise he’s probably keeping as we speak.

LISTEN.

HoodRicch

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“HoodRicch” helped cap off the first Feed the Streets mixtape, as Roddy Ricch envisions what his life would look like after coming up out of the streets. “I came from the bottom lil nigga / All I ever dreamt about was being hood ricchhhhh,” he croons. The beat is cinematic, adding to the dream-like quality of the record. It also has a bit of a West Coast flare to it thanks to hints of a wobbly synths that bubble below the drums, which isn’t the norm for Roddy, who tends to lean more into Atlanta’s melodic trap style. Nonetheless it’s a stand-out from the rapper’s young career.

LISTEN.

Quality

A melodic howl signals the start of “Quality,” and are littered throughout the beat, showcasing Roddy’s penchant for unique, earworm-type ad-libs that become an integral part of the record– think “The Box.” A few piano keys then set the tone for the smooth record that finds Roddy name-dropping artists he’s looking to emulate, including Kanye West, Meek Mill, and DJ Drama. Of course, he would eventually connect with Meek Mill directly, leading to collaborations between the two on top of a relationship. As Roddy’s revealed in interviews since, he was in the process of working on Feed the Streets 2 at a studio in Atlanta when he first met Meek Mill.

LISTEN.

Blue Streak

Yep, this song is another one that finds Roddy crooning effortlessly over a piano-laden beat. Roddy definitely loves his piano as a musical backdrop, however it somehow doesn’t become repetitive because the style and type of keys is often changing. Here, it’s something a bit more mellow and minimal from producer Pinnacle, who even puts a pause on the drums from time to time, making Roddy’s lyrics and voice the main focus. 

LISTEN.

Boom Boom Room

“Boom Boom Room” became a low-key fan-favorite off Roddy Ricch’s debut album, Please Excuse Me for Being Anti-Social. He would go on to drop off a visual for the song, which begins eerily enough, with the rapper climbing out of a car post-accident. With a bleeding head and a limp, he follows a girl slyly inviting him into a backdoor alley with a glowing neon sign that reads: The Boom Boom Room. Inside, the dimly-lit club is shadowed in hues of red and blue, while glowing-eyed strippers and cash circulate the rooms. It’s strange, yet it works–  the dark, spooky vibe matches that of the song. “Boom Boom Room” is another example of Roddy’s vocal acrobatics, where he provides squeaking “ah ah” ad-libs that once again permeate the piano-driven beat, becoming a part of it, while constantly looping in your head. 

The Box

“The Box” is the record that propelled Roddy Ricch’s already-buzzing career into another stratosphere. It’s the song that helped his name break out beyond just hip-hop circles, and into the pop culture dialogue. It was also the immediate stand-out on Roddy’s debut album, for basically everyone– the first time you played Please Excuse Me for Being Anti-Social, chances are you fucked with “The Box” heavily. 

While the rapper found viral success with records like “Die Young” and “Every Season,” neither charted in the way that “The Box” did– it hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming his first song to do so, while also keeping the spot on lock for 11 straight weeks. Enough about the stats, though, it’s the song itself that’s a masterpiece, from 30 Roc’s production to Roddy’s lyrics. The inventive “eee errr” ad-lib was just the icing on the cake– although really, it’s hard to say if the song would have taken off without it– given how perfectly it meshes in the age of the short sound-bite (aka TikTok).

The record feels like a hit from the minute you press play and the cinematic sounds of an orchestra swells, giving the record an ominous, yet important feeling. That feeling proved correct, as the song has not only defined Roddy Ricch’s success but acts as a warning sign for the young artist’s endless creative energy and talent. 

LISTEN.

Nascar

“Nascar” is exactly how it sounds– it’s a fast-paced record, perfect for cruising. The production from Richie Souf and Southside, two ATL mainstays, is atmospheric and light, yet it’s all wrapped up in a sense of urgency. This is echoed by Roddy who raps passionately over the course of the three-minute record, reflecting on how his life has been zooming on by– and equally, how he himself is dashing past his fellow artists.

LISTEN.

Faces

“Faces” is the second track off Roddy’s second mixtape, Feed the Streets 2. His vocals feel particularly pitched up on the song, creating a cadence that’s a bit squeakier than usual, but proves a thrilling listen. Roddy feels like he’s full-out whining on the hook, as he admits how much his life has changed: “Nigga I can’t lie, shit changed / When I start countin’ the faces / Soon as I bust my face down / All these niggas wanna hate me now.” As much as Roddy can brag on a record, he tends to balance it out with a mature perspective–  “I just wanna make sure I got enough saved for the kids / I just wanna make sure my habits ain’t affectin’ the way I live I came up out the streets, nigga I can’t lie that’s how I live,” he ruminates. 

The Sonic-produced beat is another one that counts piano as part of its melodic nature, with skittering hi-hats and 808s rounding it out as a few of Roddy’s preferred sounds. 

LISTEN.

Down Below

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Roddy Ricch tends to have a mix of producers, some West Coast staples while others are ATLiens, thus helping curate his unique blend of trap. On “Down Below,” he has an OG behind the boards, Scott Storch, with co-production from Avedon. It’s a song that basks in its forlornness. Roddy uses this feeling of loneliness to help propel his lyrics, as he reflects on trials and tribulations of his past life. “’Member I was in the project walls, couldn’t even get a loan / Now these niggas got they hands out, if I ain’t give it, I’d be wrong / ‘Member I was in the county jail none of these bitches wasn’t pickin’ up the phone,” he raps over the simple twang of the beat.

“Down Below” acts as a reminder of where Roddy Ricch came from, or perhaps better put, it’s an ode to it– it’s as though he’s serenading his past life as he looks forward to what the future now holds, an entirely different way of life.

LISTEN.

Every Season

“Every Season” is one of Roddy Ricch’s biggest songs, at least, that was before “The Box” came along and claimed the top spot. Nonetheless, it was one of Roddy’s early viral successes, released as a single ahead of Feed the Streets 2. The production, helmed by Cassius Jay and Beezo, has the type of country-trap vibe that’s become popular this past year, while Roddy uses the instrumental to simply show off his flows. He packs quite a few different flows into this record, proving his versatility since the beat itself is rather repetitive– yet somehow, Roddy finds the pocket of the beat for every flow, making it seem all too easy. 

LISTEN.

Die Young

No Roddy Ricch best-of list would be complete without “Die Young.” The song was another in his early viral successes, and of course, production from London on da Track helped. The single dropped ahead of Feed the Streets 2, and alongside “Every Season,” it created anticipation for this up-and-coming rapper’s project to arrive. The song also came with a heavy concept, one that is easily relatable even if you’re not deep in the rap game– but the meaning behind the record became even more impactful and monumental when Roddy explained that he created the song the same day XXXTentacion died.

He told RapGenius, “The thing that inspired me making “Die Young” was that X had died that day. It was the night he passed away, I was just in the mood where, ya know, a lot of young people dying, legends, and I wanted to make something to Speaker Knockerz, Lil Snoop. It’s a lot of people that was great that died at a young age, so I wanted to make something in remembrance of them but at the same time just making people well aware of what’s been going on. I just felt some type of way about it. It wasn’t a lot of people in the studio that night either, it was just me and the gang. We was in there, just me in there going crazy.”

That spontaneous spark and heartfelt inspiration is what helped Roddy create a trap record that is for all intents and purposes– beautiful.

AI

In between dropping Feed the Streets in 2017, and Feed the Streets 2 in 2018, Roddy Ricch blessed his growing fanbase with a short little EP. The EP, titled B4 The Fame, is a collection of four songs, including one feature from West Coast rapper Skeme. It’s not necessarily his best work, but “AI” is worth inclusion here. It wouldn’t sound out of place on either FTS instalments, and it even looks to his future music with an early reference to the infamous “boom boom room” (!).

LISTEN.

Cream 

Stephen Maturen/Getty Images

“Cream” here stands for the old hip-hop adage, Cash Rules Everything Around Me. The song feels light and airy, but the subject matter is actually quite the opposite– the rapper admits to coping by way of codeine, as he laments on the hook, “I spent my whole life chasin’ the bag and runnin’ from coppers / And a nigga been drownin’ myself in these codeine problems.” Roddy Ricch doesn’t sugar coat things, he just tells it like is, which is part of his appeal– whether it’s an old vice or a new-found luxury. He stretches his voice to the whiniest corners possible as he confesses, “Cash rules everything around meeee.”

LISTEN.

Can’t Express

“Can’t Express” finds Roddy Ricch struggling– “I can’t express myself, don’t know how to start,” he begins the record, but before long, he’s weaving with the beat. Still, the song feels like a double-edged sword — he can’t express himself, so he turns to drugs dropping in one of many references to lean: “That’s why I’m double cupped up, I go to Mars.” 

LISTEN.

Project Dreams

“Project Dreams” was a pretty big look for the rapper at the time it dropped, one month after his Feed the Streets 2 mixtape. Thus the song helped the rapper capitalize off the success of FTS 2, and pushed him even further into the mainstream thanks to production from electronic producer Marshmello. Marshmallo manages to cook up a beat that’s perfect for Roddy’s slick flow, opting for something a bit more modern in it’s glitchy electronic noises, but still maintaining an easy rhythm. Roddy Ricch’s sing-song flow is in plain view, while he muses about his come-up. While the song hasn’t found a home on a formal album, it’s remained a fan-favorite.

LISTEN.

Baccseat

Jerritt Clark/Getty Images

“Baccseat” is found in the second half of Roddy’s debut album tracklist, making it an easy record to overlook. The low-key song features Ty Dolla $ign, and despite its placement, shouldn’t be missed. A few simple keys and guitar strings create the base of the production from Yung Lan, and while Ty contributes a “nice enough” verse, Roddy is the memorable part of the song– once again the song contains some ad-libs embedded into the beat, with a few wailing noises (that sound like ‘wa dee wa dee’, for lack of a better description), echoing behind Roddy’s verses.

LISTEN.

Big Stepper

“Big Stepper” has that country-trap twang with a guitar lick on repeat, while Roddy himself adopts a short yet inescapably melodic “mm-hmm” in his hook. The brevity of the line makes it all that more intriguing that he pulls it off as a lyric, one that will be stuck in your head the more you listen. “Big Stepper” is one of those slow-building records, where, the more you play it, the more replay value you find out of it. The two go up hand-in-hand. 

The song was released ahead of PEMFBA, with Roddy carrying it solo dolo, as he does much of the album– even when Roddy enlists a featured guest, it’s more complementary to his work than spotlight-stealing.

LISTEN.

Brand New

“Brand New” begins with a cinematic howling from Roddy and an elegant piano arrangement. It’s another piano-friendly record from Roddy, appearing on his Feed the Streets 2 mixtape. The howling becomes a frequent occurrence throughout the song, popping out every few seconds, while Roddy wails up and down about how his life is changing, as he navigates the aftereffects of attaining both fame and riches.

It’s a frequent topic for Roddy, the Compton native is trying to stay true to himself, but at the same time, it’s difficult not to change when your lifestyle is changing so drastically: “Gotta get this money, you can’t let it change you / But I can’t lie, all these hunnids got a nigga feelin’ brand new.” Roddy’s music is often littered with this type of observation of both himself and the world around him.

LISTEN.

Racks in the Middle

We had to include “Racks in the Middle” as a bonus cut. It’s technically a Nipsey Hussle song, with a feature from Roddy Ricch, however it’s become an important marker in both artists’ careers, especially because it was released right before Nipsey’s death. The song was a passing-of-the-torch moment, with a West Coast OG co-signing the youngest up and comer. 

There’s also a story behind the song, as Roddy has revealed that it was originally his song– but Nipsey heard it, and wanted it. “Nipsey just, he just hopped on all the verses. He took my shit off,” said Ricch. “The way he worked was like, he’s so particular. Everybody was so surprised how fast he did the video and how fast he did the turn-around of the verses because, like, even his verses, they take forever. That’s not even no shade. He was just a real perfectionist when it came to whatever he did.”

Hit-Boy cooked up the beat, Roddy Ricch was moved to hook duties, while Nipsey laid down reflective bars on both business and personal aspects of his life. The result was a 2020 Grammy award for Best Rap Performance, and equally, Nipsey’s first Grammy, received posthumously.

Doja Cat is one of the most popular female rappers in the country right now, going absolutely viral with a few of her Hot Pink songs. She is damn-near unavoidable on social media, completely taking over Tik Tok with her viral hit "Say So." The song has done wonders to her career, becoming her first-ever Top 10 record on the charts. It continues to inch toward the top and, last week, the rapper released a remix with Nicki Minaj. Surely, that will boost her streams a little higher and there is a good chance that it ends up creeping closer to #1. If the song does reach that stage, Doja Cat has made her fans a pretty lofty promise.

"If say so hits #1 I’ll show you guys my boobs really hard," wrote the Los Angeles native on Twitter. 

In the same way that we might only be able to tell if we’ve flattened the curve in hindsight, we will also have to look back in retrospect to find out if Drake’s already reached the peak of his career. There are arguments to be made about when exactly he reached that point musically. Was it on 2016’s Views?Nothing Was The Same? IYRTITL? Because it certainly wasn’t Scorpion. In the minds of some, Drake will, if he isn’t already, become the cultural and musical archetype of what a rapper can be in the fabric of American culture. He reached pop stardom with hip-hop as the vehicle. That’s not a jab or even an insinuation that Drake’s a culture vulture because, frankly, Drake’s dictated popular culture for the better part of the last 10 years. Lil Wayne, Kanye West, and Jay-Z laid down the foundation for Drake to reach the type of mainstream success that he’s been able to attain. But as Drake reaches a point in his career where he’s broken records, collected plaques, and has dozens of trophies to his name, we’re left wondering what Dark Lane Demo Tapes actually contributes to his illustrious career. 

Entering the 2020s, Drake already had the bragging rights of claiming he has more hits than the Beatles and soon enough, he’ll have either tied or exceeded Madonna for most top 10 singles on the Billboard Hot 100. But what does that truly mean at the end of the day when the music that’s being released is, at best, mid? Drake’s set a bar for himself over the years as both an artist and a brand. A consistent one, at that. His most recent efforts have thrived off of nostalgia. Care Package was exactly that — arriving just days before OVO Fest, he took the year off to celebrate the Toronto Raptors first Championship trophy and to bank off of previously released singles that were only available on YouTube or Soundcloud. And the people ate it up. A compilation album of loose songs sold more records in its first week than the majority of rappers sell in a month. But in an opinion-based sport where album sales and Billboard charts carry more weight than the music itself, Care Package marked Drake’s ninth consecutive number one album on the Billboard 200.

For Drake, it’s effortless. He drops music, the people, including his haters, find something to appreciate about it. Dark Lane Demo Tapes surely has the same effect on people. The “surprise” factor though seems more tactful than the OVO team leads on. Not necessarily because of the three-hour notice we all received, but simply based on the fact that there isn’t another rapper in the game, aside from Jay-Z, who is as calculated as Drake. There’s intention behind every step, every move, every word he raps in his music. So when he mentions that Noel and Oliver put together the project in a matter of days, it feels a little hard to believe. 

“War” closed out an otherwise quiet year from Drake as he dove into a new buzzing sound that had yet to seep into mainstream hip-hop, marking a stylistic shift. Then, he delivered one of the “time-stamp” type joints with the double-hitter of “When To Say When/Chicago Freestyle” that showcased his lyrical weight with nods to both Jay-Z and Eminem. But the loose records and leaks that formed Dark Lane Demo Tapes were lackluster, especially for Drake’s standards. Sure, there are notable moments, but just how memorable are they when a large portion of the project was comprised of leaks? Drake immortalizes pivotal moments of his life with his pen while scoring the soundtrack to ours. But in the wake of a global pandemic that’s claiming thousands of lives, will we look back with glee that, at the very least, we got a new album from Drake? Probably not. In all actuality, it wouldn’t be shocking if “Toosie Slide” triggers PTSD after the global pandemic ends. 

That’s the problem with Dark Lane Demo Tapes, though. Even a song like “Toosie Slide,” that’s essentially been constructed to have the same type of success as “God’s Plan,” isn’t firmly propped up atop the Billboard Hot 100. It’s a hit, and not even French Montana can take that away from him but this week, “Toosie Slide” slid down to number 3 on the charts with Travis Scott and Kid Cudi’s “The Scotts” claiming the top spot and fellow Torontonian The Weeknd’s “Blinding Lights” sitting at #2. Despite everything that has haunted his career from physical confrontations to getting exposed for keeping a ghostwriter on deck, the one thing that truly no other artist could hold against him was his numbers. There isn’t a single one of Drake’s contemporaries — whether in hip-hop or not — who can compete in terms of his Billboard numbers or album sales. “Toosie Slide,” specifically, felt far more contrived than any other Drake song. He’s typically creating the waves, or if he is riding it, it’s before the rest of the world catches up. But Drake is a 33-year-old father — TikTok isn’t supposed to be his main audience unless he recently decided to cater his music to Adonis’ play group. 

If numbers are truly an indication of anything in the rap game, it reflects the public’s general curiosity rather than their approval. However, there’s been a dip in streaming in the past few weeks, in spite of the global pandemic. By the end of March, the U.S. music industry hit a new all-time low in album sales with 1.52M album-equivalent units sold in the week ending on March 19th. Tory Lanez even admitted his “low” sales for New Toronto 3 was due to the decline in music consumption. However, the Drake brand is meant to be pandemic-proof. Solid enough to weather any economic, social or political storm. Dark Lane Tape Demos is expected to move 230K to 255K, but it’s in a tight race for the #1 spot on the Billboard 200 against country star Kenny Chesney’s new album who’s expected to move 220K to 235K– with nearly the entirety of those numbers coming from pure album sales. A country star ending Drake’s streak with nine consecutive #1 wouldn’t be the most unimaginable thing to happen in 2020 but if it were to happen, would that be a sign that Drake’s status as a chart-topping behemoth is beginning to deteriorate? 

With a vault that’s guarded by the precious lives of OVO shooters and engineers, the string of leaks over the past year took part of Drake’s artistic and entrepreneurial control away from him. He had his B-Rabbit moment when he turned weaknesses into strengths by adding “(LEAK 2020)” to the titles of Soundcloud drops. The highly-anticipated release of “Pain 1993” with Playboi Carti, the song that forever found itself surfacing on the web through low-quality recordings and short snippets, fell short of expectations in its final outcome even though the demand was high. Drake gave the people what they wanted. Still, regardless of how Drake plans on identifying this project, collaborations with artists like Young Thug, Future and Chris Brown will still resonate in some fashion with the public, even if it’s based on Spotify algorithms.

The lion’s share of the album is familiar ground for Drake — reminiscing on old flings from Houston, grandiose flexes that only he can relate to etc. Even so, there are flashes where he foreshadows the next move. Songs like “Deep Pockets,” “Landed” and “From Florida With Love” dive into this muddy, foggy whirlwind of production that takes animated derivatives of Soundcloud, lo-fi production while refining it for radio play. Largely due to 40’s trusted ear and Turkish-Swiss producer Oz’s contributions, there’s clearly parts of Drake that’s yearning to tread new grounds. Even on a song like “Landed,” Drake’s flow seemingly takes note from some of the young boys, namely OVO affiliate and possible signee, Smiley, though he’d argue that it was because of his Cartier pen. 

This project ultimately marks a chess move on Drake’s part. Dark Lane Demo Tapes is, after all, an easy money grab. Call me a conspiracy theorist if you will but given Drake’s meticulous nature, Dark Lane Demo Tapes feels like a way to lower expectations ahead of his next album. I mean, even as television production halts and touring plans put on hold, Dark Lane Demo Tapes is likely a means of generating income with B-Sides that demonstrate just how easily he makes a hit record. Quotable bars for days and earworms for hooks that I’ve only grown more fond of as the days pass.

Let’s not forget that the last time he graced fans with a surprise body of work, it was If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late. Shifting the trajectory of Drake’s career and his sound as a whole, it further pushed him closer to the realms of the GOATs. And there’s an argument to be made that the initial response to Views didn’t meet expectations because of how If You’re Reading This was received. Dark Lane Demo Tapes seemingly plots on a reverse effect; delivering mediocrity to hold fans over while safely locking away the gems for his next album.

Pockets of growth are scattered throughout a project that can otherwise be compared to the hip-hop equivalent of NBA Playoff reruns in the COVID-19 era. Drake pushed the boundaries of hip-hop as far as he can and those he’s influenced are still trying to find their foot in the game. Can anyone knock Drake from the top? Maybe not, but that’s with all things considered — he’s taken hip-hop to new heights, for better or for worse. Dark Lane Demo Tapes has a purpose in his catalog, though not in the way that it’s been sold. It moved 100K units within its first four days of its release which is expected of Drake. At the end of the day, the real accomplishment doesn’t necessarily trickle down to numbers. The world evolves, as does the game, and to keep up, one has to adapt. Drake’s done that over the past few years more so than he’s birthed any new style. He’s relied on others to help him accomplish that. The follow-up to Scorpion will ultimately dictate whether Drake remains a musical and cultural powerhouse in the decade to come.

As we all figure out how to adjust to our new normal in these strange times, there are many different artists and brands starting up new initiatives to help get us through the COVID-19 pandemic. Considering just how far-reaching the pandemic is, and how deeply it affects day-to-day society, from jobs to daycare, it’s a given that many people are struggling. Still, there is hope, and there are certain figures that are instilling optimism across the country– and among those joining the fold, we can now count 1800 Tequila.

Just in time for Cinco de Mayo tomorrow, 1800 Tequila is kicking off a brand new live stream series, titled “Live From Inside,” that’s hosted by artists you know and love– Lauren Jauregui, Boogie, Chika and Kiane Lede are a few of the artists that 1800 Tequila is partnering with for this new digital series. 

The idea is, that you’ll not only get to have an artist host a live stream with the fans, but you’ll also get a new performance each time, alongside a guest mixologist who will be showing you how to create a few simple cocktails using 1800 Tequila liquor. Essentially, you’ll get all the trapping of a night out from the comfort of your couch. 

Before the digital event series kicks off tomorrow night with Lauren Jauregui, we hopped on the phone with Boogie to find out more about it, and his current quarantine situation. He tells us how he’s been keeping busy during quarantine– including making music and even learning a new instrument. We also touch on Eminem, Boogie’s label boss and collaborator, to find out more about their relationship, too, and Boogie’s recent string of collabs with TDE.

Check out our interview below, edited for clarity.

Robin L Marshall/Getty Images

HotNewHipHop: Hey Boogie

Boogie: Roseee, I miss you. How’re you?

Yeahhh, it’s been a minute, I wanted to do this myself cause I  haven’t talked to you in a while thought this would be fun.

Ye, once they told me it was you I got so excited.

How’re you doing out in L.A. right now?

I’m good, tryna keep myself busy.

So I guess this 1800 Tequila initiative will keep you busy?

Yeah for sure. I’m glad they hit me up about this. 

So can you tell me exactly what it is and what you’re going to be doing and what fans can expect?

Yeah, so basically what it is it’s a new live stream series of performances from different artists. It’s encouraging people to stay they a** at home and not go outside to be ignorant like everybody else. You can enjoy some 1800 cause that’s what we gone be drinking while we doing this. All the money is going directly to the people that’s affected by COVID-19, that’s what makes it so amazing because we just tryna reap the benefits of the situation. We know people affected by it. Hopefully it’ll cushion people a little bit. 

Cool. How have you been entertaining yourself during quarantine? What do you do day to day?

I have a kid who irritates me but keeps me busy, a lot. Besides that, I’m just tryna work. I’m not saying it’s a good situation but I’m tryna make the best out of it cause it forces me to actually sit inside and I get to know sh*t I’m lacking on, and face reality, so I’m kind of glad it happened in a way. 

Yeah for sure, I’ve been thinking about that too, you can use this time to build a new habit or just get something done that you’ve been putting off. 

Exactly. I picked up a piano. I’ve been playing the piano. I’m trying to learn how to play the piano. It’s kind of frustrating but I’m trying to embrace the challenge.

It’s going to stimulate your mind. You mentioned taking advantage of this down time, and it’s been a minute since you dropped your album on Shady. Is that in the works, like another album?

Yeah. Anybody who knows me, knows how much I overthink my projects. I always wanna make sure I improve from the last project ‘cause I feel that’s what’s keeping me alive as an artist. I keep getting better. I feel like my last project was so good, I kind of got to this point where I was like nothing is good enough and now I’m finally free. My thoughts just finally more free, and I just feel that’s how my life and my music work, it depends on where I’m at and that’s where I make the best music. 

I really loved your last album, the more I play it, the more replay value I get out of it. It just consistently goes up and up. I like that kind of album, it gets better with time.

Yeah, I wanted something that aged well. Our attention span is so short these days cause we get so much music everyday and every week, it’s hard to pick out songs and make sure I had something that did that. 

It’s rare just to find an album like that where it’s even better now from the first time I heard it. How has life been like since you’ve signed to Shady? Has anything changed for you?

What changed is it’s a lot of Eminem fans. They are probably one of the toughest fan bases in the world. If I’m not rapping fast sometimes, they get mad but then if I start rapping fast I disappoint my other fans [Laughs]. I’m tryna have a balance with my fans and all these new fans and make everybody happy. 

That’s so funny, I mean I don’t necessarily think of you as a fast rapper but you’re definitely lyrical, like low-key lyrical stuff that might impress the Eminem fans?

I put a lot of pride into my lyrics so…and my lisp is too big. I got a lisp, to be rapping all fast and sh*t, it’ll start sounding like I’m spitting. 

Do you talk to Eminem? Would you talk to him over the phone or text message? What’s a normal relationship, conversation for you guys?

When we talk it’s regular, he’s like a regular person. But when he calls, somebody else calls first and then they’ll be like ‘Marshall’s on the phone,’  and I feel like I’m about to talk to my teacher or something. 

Have you ever been to Detroit to visit him in the studio at all?

Yeah I have. When I first signed to him he flew me out. I been out there a couple times. 

As you work on the new album, is he involved or is he more hands-off?

What makes it great about him is he just lets me grow as an artist and let me do what I gotta do. If I need something from him I can always reach out. As far as my work I don’t really want other people influencing my ideas, I wanna get my own thoughts off, I don’t really involve too many people honestly.

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You haven’t put out anything yourself but you’ve been featured on a couple of songs recently, all with the TDE camp. You have “Trapped In” with Reason, I think it was released before the pandemic but it’s also kinda timely with the title.

It’s crazy how that hook is about being inside. We did that about a year and a half ago.

That’s so crazy. And then you have the one with SIR— have you been spending a lot of time with TDE camp in general? How did that relationship develop with the whole crew?

The thing with TDE, I think it’s a relationship that’s grown over the past few years. Me and Reason was friends before he got signed, I been watching him grow and helping him when I could. Me and SIR been homies for a minute. Of course Kendrick [Lamar] is from my neighborhood, I text him like a month ago. I’m just cool with all of them. We all from LA so it’s close-knit city, as far as the industry goes. 

Do you have any other records in the stash with TDE rappers? Is there something with Kendrick or ScHoolboy Q?

No, I wish. I would’ve been exposed that. No Kendrick record right now, just the Reason and SIR record. Me and Isaiah [Rashad] are actually finna work on something soon.

Once quarantine is over, who are you most excited to get back in the studio with?

When I get out of quarantine, I wanna work with… uhh. I don’t really be thinking about chasing features cause everybody I’m cool with I still be texting ‘em. Me and Jack Harlow have been working on some stuff, so that’s about it. 

What’s the first thing you wanna do when you can leave your house, not studio-related?

I wanna go to the spa. I want a facial, full body massage while I’m butt naked.

That would be sick. Okay cool, thanks so much for talking to me. We’re excited to check out the 1800 Tequila Live sessions.

Yeah make sure everybody know!

You’ll be able to catch Lauren Jauregui tomorrow on IG Live with 1800 Tequila at 9 pm EST/6 pm PST. Boogie will be hosting “Live From Inside” on May 11th, Kiana is following suit on the 17th, and Chika will be capping it off as the host on the 21st.

Azealia Banks is one of the most talented female rappers in the country but, unfortunately, she’s been on a downward spiral in the media for the last five years. The New York native is known more for her mouth than for her rhymes these days, spewing all sorts of controversial opinions on social media and drawing a major disconnect between herself and potential fans. She continues to release music but, because of her previous actions online, she earns barely any nationwide attention. 

This week, she decided to attract people to her page by showing off her body in a miniature pink bikini, barely covering her femininity and giving people a full view.

Shifting the camera down to reveal her flat stomach and her bent legs in a bikini bottom just as small as the top, the rapper said that “crazy girls need love too.” Clearly, Azealia felt like trapping a few of her fans for their thirst. Maybe this is bait so she can call people out on her story?

In a second post, Banks shared a snippet of a demo she recently recorded, unleashing her anger on wax, which we love to hear. She goes through a verse before cutting off the track and inviting us to stay tuned for its eventual release.

Are you still rocking with Azealia?

Anti-viral drug remdesivir will be available for coronavirus patients as early as this week. The drug was approved for emergency use by the Food and Drug Administration, Friday.

Christopher Furlong / Getty Images

CEO of Gilead Sciences, which is making the drug, Dan O’Day announced the time estimate on CBS’ Face of the Nation.

“We intend to get that to patients in the early part of this next week,” O’Day said. 

O’Day continued to say that Gilead Sciences plans to donate 1.5 million ls, which is its entire supply, to the United States government. “We did that because we acknowledge and recognize the human suffering, the human need here and want to make sure that nothing gets in the way of this getting to patients,” he explained.

The government will determine which states will have first access to the drug. O’Day explains the government “will determine which cities are most vulnerable and where the patients are that need this medicine.”

The drug has seen encouraging results in a recent clinical trial.

In the United States, there have been over 1 million confirmed cases of COVID-19. There have also been over 60,000 deaths related to complications from the coronavirus.

New York leads the country in total cases with over 300,000. 

[Via]

Canada is banning assault weapons, following the deadliest mass shooting in the country’s history.

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“These weapons were designed for one purpose and one purpose only: to kill the largest number of people in the shortest amount of time,” Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said. “There is no use and no place for such weapons in Canada.”

The new policy forbids the use, purchase, sale, transportation, and import of 1,500 different assault weapon models.

“Their families deserve more than thoughts and prayers,” Trudeau continued “Canadians deserve more than thoughts and prayers.”

22 people were murdered in Nova Scotia on April 18 and 19 by a gunman equipped with semi-automatic rifles and handguns.

Opponents of the decision cite the illegality of means by which weapons used in mass shootings are acquired. Andrew Scheer, the leader of the Conservative Party, reacted in a statement, explaining his position that this will not stop criminals from accessing guns: “Taking firearms away from law-abiding citizens does nothing to stop dangerous criminals who obtain their guns illegally. The reality is, the vast majority of gun crimes are committed with illegally obtained firearms.”

Politico reports that over 72,000 gun-owning Canadians will be affected by the new assault weapon policy.

[Via] 

Reports of Kim Jong Un's demise have been greatly exaggerated over the last few weeks. It all started when a report surfaced that the North Korean leader had been rendered brain dead following unsuccessful heart surgery. A week later, it was reported that Kim Jong Un had passed away and that his sister would be taking over the country. Now, reports have suggested that Kim Jong Un is actually alive and has escaped to a resort in North Korea that allows him to escape the threat of the Coronavirus.

According to UK paper The Sun, Kim Jong Un has brought his 2,000-woman pleasure squad with him. For those who don't know, the pleasure squad is comprised of women who were allegedly taken from school at a young age and led into a life of sex work. This 2,000-woman squad engages in performances for North Korean officials and it is rumored they also partake in sex orgies with the country's leader.

These past couple of months have proven to be some of the most challenging in our lifetime. The Coronavirus has claimed the lives of over 200,000 people while over three million people have been diagnosed with the virus, worldwide. There doesn’t appear to be any sort of end in sight and hospitals are struggling to cope with the increase in demand. Charitable contributions are needed now more than ever and numerous athletes and celebrities are doing their best to make sure everyone has what they need to make it through this crisis.

UFC superstar Conor McGregor has been taking this crisis seriously from the start and now, he is making sure hospitals get what they so desperately need. In fact, McGregor made a personal delivery to the Crumlin Children’s Hospital in Dublin where he dropped off medical supplies such as masks.

In total, McGregor has donated over 1 million euros of medical supplies to hospitals throughout Ireland. These contributions are huge and will certainly go a long way in helping a country that has been hit hard by the virus.

McGregor’s visit to the hospital also appeared to be a morale boost for the staff who have been affected the most by this ordeal.

42 Dugg is ready for his spotlight.

For much of his life, things have been uncertain. The rapper has had difficulty staying out of trouble, getting locked up for six years early in his life and being forced to grow up in the hole. Beginning to take rap seriously when he was in solitary confinement, 42 Dugg realized that he could make a career out of this, which would prevent him from needing to hustle to come up with money.

Signing a combination deal with Yo Gotti’s Collective Music Group and Lil Baby’s 4PF, 42 Dugg is easily one of the highest touted rappers in the country right now. He is in high demand and, after hearing his music, you’ll know exactly why.

Dugg brings a certain vulnerability to his sound that hasn’t been heard since Lil Baby came up. There’s a pain in his voice after having had to endure so much in his early days. When he gets in the studio, he taps in with his struggle to deliver some of the rawest and most emotive tracks in modern hip-hop.

Following the recent release of Young And Turnt 2, we hopped on a video call with 42 Dugg to speak about his newfound success.

Read our interview below, edited for clarity and length.

Prince Williams/Wireimage/Getty Images

HotNewHipHop: What’s up, Dugg? How’s it going?

42 Dugg: What’s good, my G. What you got going on?

Not much, man. I wanted to start off by congratulating you on the success of Young And Turnt 2.

Appreciate you.

What does it mean to be young and turnt? 

To me, it just means having fun and living your life how it’s supposed to be lived. Turnt, going crazy in yo bag.

A lot of your music pertains to your experience in prison. You spent 6 years in jail. What for?

Carjacking. 

And you started rapping when you were in solitary confinement?

Yeah.

What was that like? Right now we’re all in quarantine and, just recently, Ellen DeGeneres got in trouble for saying that quarantine is like jail. What would you say to something like that?

Ain’t too far from it. We still get to do whatever we want, they ain’t on our ass. You get to move freely but you still got rules. You still gotta be somewhere at a certain time. In a sense, it is.

What are you doing to stay busy right now?

I’m doing everything. I ain’t tryna hear it.

Prince Williams/Wireimage/Getty Images

It’s a really distinctive sound coming out of Detroit right now. Who do you think is running the city?

Me.

Is there anybody in the city that you’re trying to work with on the next project?

I wanna work with Baby Money, my youngin’. We fuckin’ with him on my next tape. I fuck with Big Sean, I really fuck with everybody. If I don’t fuck with you then you know, but other than that, I fuck with you.

Speaking of Big Sean, he’s working on the new Detroit project right now. Is that something you’d be down to get on?

He hit me up, hell yeah I’d get on that bitch. I’m Detroit. He hit me on DM and said we could kick it. He posted my project.

You’re signed to 4PF and to CMG, Lil Baby and Yo Gotti. What are the differences in working with them and what came together from that partnership?

It came together two different ways but it’s real organic. I met Baby kicking it on some other shit. We formed a little close relationship. He asked to listen to my music and everything was history from there. With Gotti, somebody put Gotti on my music. He was like, “sh*t, what do we gotta do to make it happen?”

Somebody like Lil Baby, he’s only 25 himself. Do you consider him a mentor?

I consider him like a brother.

Do you have anything in the works with Baby as well?

You know he’s about to put the deluxe out, I might be on there. I don’t know. Gotta wait and see but I’m telling you, we going crazy.

What happened after your feature on “Grace?”

Wait till you hear this new shit. We vibe in the studio. I already know how he gon’ come, he already know how I’m gon’ come. Ain’t nobody slacking when they get on that. I know when the beat go on, me and him know you gotta come with that shit or you’ll get fucked over on this muhfucka.

It’s like a competition every time?

Yeah. Fasho. It’s like a friendly competition. Ain’t even gotta be nothing said. He know what it is, I know what it is. Let’s get it soon as the beat come on. Come with that shit. That’s the only way the song gon’ be right.

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In almost every song, you shout out your homies Nell, Reese, and others. What do they mean to you?

Them my uncles, you know? Nell got life, Reese died. They brothers. Nell, he still listen to the music. He still get to listen in jail. I just wanna let him know, I ain’t forgot about you bro. If there’s anything I can do, I’ma do it.

What was it like spending such a long time in jail? What’s your mentality in a situation like that?

Being safe. Getting home. That’s all you thinking about in that bitch. Just making it out how you came in that muhfucka. Muhfuckas will fuck you over in that bitch if you moving the wrong way, that’s why I just mind my business and get home.

After you got signed, once you got all that money, what was your first big purchase? 

Man, I been turnt. That shit just joined what I had. I already had my deal money, I was just gambling and losing that shit. I bought a few watches. I had cash before that shit though. I just bought a few watches and kept it going really.

Who’s been the most surprising co-sign in this last year?

Tyler, the Creator. I was a little surprised when he hit me. But I’m hard, can’t nobody fuck with me. 

On a song like “Been Turnt,” you’re communicating the prison experience with such anger and vulnerability. You can hear the emotion in your voice. How do you get back to that zone when you’re in the studio?

I really just trying to be very energetic. I was just tryna let you know, “bitch, I been on that shit. My n***as in jail still on this shit.” That’s the message I was tryna get across. 

When you’re able to perform again after the quarantine, how crazy do you think that’s gonna be?

It’s gonna be crazy. I can’t wait for the reaction. Obviously, my Detroit show got rescheduled to May, so hopefully it’s that one. You know we ’bout to go crazy.

Do you have any dream collaborations?

I ain’t gonna say no dream collaborations because I ain’t really dreaming about no shit like that. I fuck with everybody, you know? Thug, Roddy [Ricch], but these muhfuckas I done kicked it with before. Thug is who I’m looking forward to, I ain’t gonna say I dreamed about that shit though.

What do you have coming next this year?

I’ma try to go deluxe. I just wanna keep this shit going. Gotta keep the wave up. I know summertime we gon’ come with something crazy. We gon’ pipe this bitch up.

Absolutely, man. Thanks for taking the time to talk, Dugg.

I appreciate you having me.

If there's one reality that we can all agree on, it's that those Tesla Trucks aren't going to buy themselves, people. Especially not when a coronavirus-related recession continues to wreak havoc on the American economy. Unfortunately, many health experts are wary about fully committing to a full-scale "reopening" of the country, putting them at odds with several gung-ho individuals seeking to salvage what remains of business normalcy. Of course, such is a gross oversimplification of a complicated socio-political-economic discourse -- suffice it to say, people are growing increasingly divided on what America's best move should be.

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Now, Elon Musk has emerged to lend his resonant voice to the choir. Taking to Twitter, Musk slammed down on the all-caps button and let fly a passionate cry of "FREE AMERICA NOW." The decisive tone and message was enough to incite both ends of the political spectrum, and before long "Elon" was among the trending topics -- this time, no "RIP Harambe" anthem in sight. Given that many hold Musk in high esteem, be it for his intelligence or his influence, it's no wonder his message elicited such passionate responses.

At this point, the widespread debate only promises to get more vitriolic, with the likes of Tomi Lahren already likening social distancing measures to willful slavery. It's unclear as to what prompted Elon Musk to take such a firm stance, but we can already guarantee that this one is all but tailor-made for a Donald Trump retweet. Where do you stand on Elon's "FREE AMERICA" movement? 

In the wise words of Yo Gotti: Rake it up. Back in November 2018, Michelle Obama released her best-selling memoir, Becoming. The former First Lady embarked on a 34-city book tour where she met with her admirers at her open discussions and intimate gatherings with a film crew by her side. The Becoming documentary is set to premiere on Netflix next week, making the book and feature lucrative money-making deals. How much money are we talking? Somewhere around $36 million for the book deal alone, according to Forbes.

Paul Morigi / Stringer / Getty Images

The business news outlet shared the surprising number on their Instagram page in a caption to a photo of Michelle Obama. They wrote, “$36 million. That is how much Michelle Obama made from her memoir, ‘Becoming,’ after selling 10 million copies in 2019, making her the third-highest-paid author of last year.”

They also gave a bit more information about Michelle’s Becoming documentary. “Now for the first time since launching a production company, the former first lady will star in a documentary named after her memoir. The film is set to debut on Netflix on May 6 and will follow her as she toured the country promoting her blockbuster book. It will focus on the group discussions she had on the road with fans and give a behind-the-scenes peek at her life.” A number like $36 million is enough to make anyone want to start writing down their life story. Check out the trailer to Becoming here.

The coronavirus pandemic hasn’t been getting any better in the United States. Even though it was reported that the U.S. has reached over a million cases of coronavirus, the president is adamant about reopening the economy and getting the country back on its feet again. Most recently, Trump hopped on a call to urge the governors in the nation to “seriously consider” starting schools up again, CNN reports.

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According to a phone call, Trump reportedly has pushed for schools to reopen for the remainder of the school year. “Some of you might start thinking about school openings because a lot of people are wanting to have school openings. It’s not a big subject, young children have done very well in this disaster that we’ve all gone through,” Trump reportedly told governors.

“So a lot of people are thinking about the school openings. And I think it’s something, Mike (Pence), they can seriously consider and maybe get going on it,” Trump said.

Trump has been pushing for the reopening of the economy over the past few weeks, even if the situation in the nation hasn’t died down. For those who’ve been longing for the return of sports, Trump held a conference with sports commissioners to try and figure out a proper timeline for sports leagues to make their return. 

This weekend, Canadians tuned in to watch a televised sing-a-long from some of the country's biggest stars, including Alessia Cara, Justin Bieber, Michael Bublé, and more. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke at the end of the show to instill hope in his country before Canada's real MVP, Drake, closed out Stronger Together, Tous Ensemble with a thoughtful address.

Speaking to millions of Canadians from his home, Drake talked about the gratitude he has for all the frontline caregivers working hard and risking their own lives to keep us safe. He had a first-hand experience last week as he revealed that he was admitted to the hospital because of an ankle injury, noticing all of the love and care that nurses, doctors, and other medical workers were showing.

Kevin Winter/Getty Images

Drake tipped his hat, saying that the "moral, the smiles, the high spirits" at the hospital were "incredible," noting that essential workers are the "glue holding us all together."

He went on to encourage everybody to keep working on themselves and their craft during this hard time.

"I want to urge everybody, in their own space to find the silver lining," said Drake. "What I mean when I say that is if you have a craft that can be worked on from home, it is an amazing thing to keep on working, keep your mind stimulated."

Drake has been finishing up his new album during quarantine, which does not yet have a release date.

The coronavirus has already affected millions of people worldwide, and even some world leaders have been hit by the potentially deadly virus. On March 27th, United Kingdom Prime Minister Boris Johnson was diagnosed with COVID-19; at the time, many weren’t entirely surprised, given that Johnson previously admitted to shaking hands with several coronavirus patients. Things took an alarming turn when reports indicated that Johnson had been placed in the ICU, leaving Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab to take over in his stead.

 Chris J Ratcliffe/Getty Image

Three weeks removed from his hospital stay, Johnson has officially returned to work. Standing outside of 10 Downing Street, Johnson gave a full address, beginning with an apology for lost time. “I’m sorry I’ve been away from my desk much longer than I would have liked,” he says, in a near-ten minute speech. “Every day I know this virus brings new sadness and mourning to households across the land. And it is still true that this is the biggest single challenge this country has faced since the war.”

“It is also true we are making progress, with fewer hospital admissions,” he continues. “Fewer COVID patients in ICU, and real signs now that we are passing through the peak. Thanks to your forbearance, your good sense, your altruism, your spirit of community, thanks to our collective national resolve, we are on the brink of achieving that first clear mission: to prevent our national health service from being overwhelmed in a way we have tragically seen elsewhere.”

Should you be interested in following the impact COVID-19 on a global scale, check out Boris Johnson’s first address since being admitted to the hospital right here.

It appears NBA Youngboy is on his way to having the #1 album in the country next week. According to early projections from HDD, the newly-released 38 Baby 2 album is projected to move 70-75k copies in the first week with about 1-2k coming from pure sales. That should be enough to debut number one on the Billboard 200 next week.

Erika Goldring/ Getty Images

In comparison, NBA’s most recent project, Still Flexin, Still Steppin’, which dropped last month, sold 98,000 equivalent album units, making for another little drop off. Prior to that, NBA released his first #1 album with AI Youngboy 2 back in the Fall of 2019, which sold 110,000 equivalent album units in its first week. So for two projects in a row, NBA has seen a decrease in first week numbers, but don’t think that’s going to bother him all that much.

Out now, 38 Baby 2 features a lone appearance from DaBaby who appears on the song “Thug of Spades,” which is reportedly the highest performing track off the album on streaming services. Be sure to stream the project right here if you haven’t done so already.

United States President Donald Trump has said a lot of weird things during his first term in the Oval Office. Perhaps his worst moments have come during the Coronavirus pandemic. Over 50,000 people have died in the country and a lot of those deaths could have been avoided had officials listened to health experts sooner. Regardless, Trump is trying to clean up the mess and reassure the public that everything is going to be okay.

Yesterday, Trump tried to do just that as he claimed that injecting yourself with disinfectants could kill the virus. Experts in the health community immediately condemned this position and today, the President backtracked saying he only meant to be sarcastic.

Now, Portland Trail Blazers star CJ McCollum is speaking out about the President's blunder, asking how have we come to such a place in society.

Kanye West and Kim Kardashian have been having a hard time managing their four kids, North, Saint, Chicago, and Psalm, during quarantine, so as a gift to his wife, Kanye took the little youngsters to his Wyoming ranch to give Kim “a break.” Ever since the coronavirus pandemic caused schools to shut down all over the country, many parents have been struggling to look after their kids 24/7, some even attempting to home-school them in the meantime until schools open back up.

Rich Fury/Forum Photos Getty Images

The responsibility is even taking a toll on world-famous superstars like Kim and Kanye. According to a source at PEOPLE, “it’s a huge chaos with all the kids at home,” so the celebrity couple have taken to “alternating family responsibilities” for their four children, all under the age of 7. “They have been taking turns caring for the kids,” the source says. “Kanye escapes to his office for a work break.” However, the source also says he gave Kim a parenting break recently “when he took some of the kids to Wyoming.” Kimye have famously purchased two ranch properties near Cody, Wyoming, and it looks like Kanye’s been going back and forth between the mainland state and their family home in Calabasas, California.

Kim has previously opened up about the stress of taking care of all their kids 24/7, even confessing that this period of isolation has confirmed for her that she definitely does not want to have any more children.

Pop Smoke was the heartbeat of Brooklyn for a year before he was fatally shot in Los Angeles. The rapper was breathing hope into the drill scene of the city, allowing it to reach new heights as he personally made a name for himself around the country. Unfortunately, his story came to an abrupt end several months ago but his legacy will never fade away. 

One of Pop Smoke's most impactful songs ever, "Dior," has officially surpassed one million units moved in the United States and, thus, has become the rapper's first-ever platinum record.

Ronald Reagan entered the presidential office in 1981. In response to the economic, political and cultural difficulties that went on during Jimmy Carter’s presidency, Reagan, an actor-turned-politician, entered the Oval Office. A cultural shift was happening in America following the rise of the hippie movement in the 1970s and Ronald Reagan pushed back against it. Reagan brought hope to disaffected liberals across America, emphasizing a tough-on-crime stance– just as the crime rate was also beginning to rise. Conservatism was embraced, once again. As Reagan doubled down on Nixon’s War On Drugs, he also cut funding for Great Society programs meant to benefit disenfranchised groups, and more ambitiously, eradicate poverty and racial inequity. And this remains one of the most impactful moves in Reagan’s career. To this day, we’ve seen how his effort to combat drug use in general led to increased incarceration rates of Black and Brown people. Blacks and Latin communities were targets in the eyes of mainstream America who had already associated the “evils” of society with marginalized communities. The stigma from the War on Drugs still lingers today, and it’s not limited to crack, cocaine, or heroin — it’s reflected in day-to-day life for many such as NYC’s controversial stop-and-frisk practice. 

A portrait of President Ronald Reagan in 1985 – Hulton Archive/Getty Images

In 1973, the same year DJ Kool Herc hosted hip-hop’s first block party, President Nixon launched the DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration) replacing the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs. Mandatory sentencing and no-knock warrants became the norm as Nixon attempted to combat the rise of crime and heroin. But even something like cannabis possession was being harshly penalized. A simple possession charge, under Nixon’s newly devised plan, could land someone in jail for 2-10 years. During this time, cannabis was categorized as a Schedule I drug, thus rubbing shoulders with cocaine, heroin, and other hard drugs. Even with several states, most recently Virginia, legalizing cannabis, it is still considered a drug with no medical benefit to it, per the federal government’s classification.

A Schedule I drug is classified as a substance with little-to-no medicinal value– despite the fact that cannabis has proven to have medical value and aids in treatment of many conditions from physical body pains to mental health problems such as PTSD, depression and anxiety. 

America soon declared the use of illicit substances as public enemy number one, although the undertones would suggest otherwise.

“The Nixon campaign in 1968, and the Nixon White House after that, had two enemies: the antiwar left and black people. You understand what I’m saying? We knew we couldn’t make it illegal to be either against the war or black, but by getting the public to associate the hippies with marijuana and blacks with heroin, and then criminalizing both heavily, we could disrupt those communities. We could arrest their leaders, raid their homes, break up their meetings, and vilify them night after night on the evening news,” revealed John Ehrlichman, Nixon’s top aide on domestic affairs.

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A  2018 report from American Progress discovered that by 2015, drug possession arrests went up three times as much than the rate in 1980, averaging 1.3M arrests per year. This is six times as high as the average rate of drug trafficking arrests. When you focus on the numbers, the racial disparity in the war on drugs policy becomes clear. Roughly 80 percent of those incarcerated on federal drug convictions are Black or Latino. This study also points out the inequity when it comes to sentencing. The average sentencing for a non-violent drug offense among Black Americans is nearly the same amount as a white defendant would get for a violent crime. On an economic standpoint, the same study reveals that an estimated $1 trillion was spent on the war on drugs. 

Snoop Dogg arrested on charges of suspicion of marijuana possession, circa 1995 – Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Drugs that were defined as Schedule I with no medicinal value were, at one point, used for medicinal purposes in other countries and introduced to the U.S. by American doctors. Cannabis had already been introduced to America by the time the 20th Century rolled around, while opiates were being frequently prescribed throughout the 1800s. Cocaine was introduced to the States by American doctors who learned from the European explorers, who saw how Indiginous communities in South America used it. It was considered a quick pick-me-up for workers, but it’s association with the Black community in the South marked a shift in narrative. The New York Times published an article headlined “Negro Cocaine ‘Fiends’ Are A New Southern Menace” on Feb. 8th. 1914, which helped sparked this myth surrounding cocaine and Black Americans in the South. This particular article written by Edward Huntington Williams, M.D. described the “effects” that cocaine had on Black Americans. “[The Negro fiend] imagines that he hears people taunting and abusing him, and this often incites homicidal attacks upon innocent and unsuspecting victims,” the article reads. It sounds absurd, but these headlines weren’t uncommon. Williams added that cocaine essentially gave Black men Superman-like abilities such as “a resistance to the ‘knock down’ effects of fatal wounds. Bullets fired into vital parts that would drop a sane man in his tracks, fail to check the ‘fiend.’” Spurred by these types of reports, in 1914 a new law emerged, the Harrison Narcotics Tax Act, that regulated and taxed all coca products.

The prohibition of cannabis followed a similar path as cocaine and heroin and it’s mostly due to Harry J. Anslinger, the man who vehemently campaigned to criminalize cannabis. Anslinger is to blame for the high levels of incarceration surrounding cannabis-related offenses, even today. He helped create the narrative that cannabis was a drug used by Black musicians to lure White women. Just as cocaine was used to paint Black men as a threat to white women in the South, the perception of weed was that it made people of color violent and sexually aggressive towards white women after consumption. 

There’s a history of Black musicians becoming public targets in the eyes of the government. In the last 30 years since the War On Drugs began, hip-hop artists have become the newest target. This unjust tradition has been passed down through generations, dating back to jazz music. In fact, if you look at some of the earliest references of cannabis in music, they come from jazz artists. Jazz music was bringing the world together ahead of Anslinger’s induction as the head of the Bureau Of Narcotics. As more reports emerged of Black and Latin communities consuming cannabis in areas like El Paso, TX and New Orleans, as well as the migrations of African-Americans into Northern states, xenophobia became stronger and stronger. African-Americans, Mexicans and jazz culture as a whole became the main targets, because, while segregation was still the norm in the South, jazz music was beginning to break down these racial barriers. Men and women, both Black and White, occupied jazz clubs in harmony, where they would enjoy music, dance, and partake in the consumption of cannabis. Much like cocaine, the use of cannabis in these jazz clubs struck a chord among middle Americans and politicians alike. A growing fear that Black men would use this “mysterious” plant to seduce and “prey” on white teenagers ran rampant due to propaganda, such as Reefer Madness. The 1936 film meant to warn people about the effects of cannabis spewed nonsensical dangers of the plant.

A “Reefer Madness” poster, 1936 – Hulton Archive/Getty Images

“Marijuana is the most violence-causing drug in the history of mankind. Most marijuana smokers are Negroes, Hispanics, Filipinos and entertainers. Their satanic music, jazz and swing, results from marijuana usage,” Anslinger said.

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Jazz musicians became the cultural targets of this xenophobia on a wider scale as many of them also became vocal advocates for cannabis. Louis Armstrong, for instance, can be regarded as one of the pioneers of cannabis culture in music. Outside of Culver City, CA’s Cotton Club in 1930, Louis Armstrong was arrested after police spotted him smoking a joint during breaks before a set, making him the first celebrity to ever get arrested for the use of cannabis. Armstrong was sentenced to six months in prison and forced to pay a $1000 fine, but even after his release, he demanded that he have a permit to smoke cannabis anywhere he went. Armstrong was far from the last to get arrested, though. Anslinger directed authorities to keep a close eye on acts like Ella Fitzgerald, Cab Calloway — credited for being the first to reference cannabis in music on “Reefer Man” — Duke Ellington, Charlie Parker, and more based on the belief they were converting young White kids into budsmokers. 

The Cotton Club in Harlem, 1925 – Hulton Archive/Getty Images

The rebellious nature of the youth prevailed, with cannabis becoming far more popular in the decades to come, largely due to jazz. One major player in the scene was Mezz Mezzrow, a Jewish Harlem jazz musician hailing from Chicago who became the number one cannabis supplier to jazz musicians–  he was known to have that jive– better known in 2020 as the “loud pack.”The Mighty Mezz was the name of the strain that all the jazz musicians were smoking at the time, named after the man himself. 

He immersed himself in Black culture, inspired by the likes of Louis Armstrong and Sidney Bechet, even considering himself black. “In his belief that through his immersion in African American musical culture and his participation in the life of the black community in Harlem, he had definitively ‘crossed the line’ that divided white and black identities,” according to Gayle Ward, author of Crossing the Line: Racial Passing in Twentieth- Century U.S. Literature and Culture. Eventually, he ended up in jail for selling cannabis. Apparently, he was so convinced that he was Black, he demanded that the warden place him in the section for Black inmates because he feared being attacked by White inmates. Mezz Mezzrow’s arrest and stature in cannabis and jazz culture planted a bigger cultural seed than anyone could imagine, inspiring the generations to come.

Cannabis culture would not have been able to thrive without the help of great musicians like Mezz. Hip-hop, similar to Jazz, found certain artists leading the charge in normalizing marijuana use and advocating for it, perhaps beginning with Cypress Hill in the ‘90s. In the past decade, Wiz Khalifa has emerged as the new-age poster child for legalization. 

“I think for every generation you have your trailblazers and your people who kinda set the standard for what pot is for people that age,” Wiz Khalifa told us. Wiz set a standard for the generation of smokers that followed. Kush & Orange Juice marked a shift in hip-hop and cannabis culture as a whole, as well as fusing the two tighter together than ever before.

“For me, it was like Snoop, Cypress Hill, Method Man and Redman. Even seeing people like Cam’ron smoke weed and rap about it, it just inspired me to be my own,” Wiz said. Along with Curren$y, the two intertwined their love for music and cannabis to become one of the most notable stoner duos in the last decade. “Me and Curren$y linked up just by being homies and being into the same things,” he added. “I think our genuine love for art and music as well as pot, it kinda just tied everything together and made it kinda clear that that was the norm. I mean it still is, it’s just creative people love to smoke, get together, and dress well.” 

A portrait of Jazz musician Mezz Mezrow, circa 1940 – William Gottlieb/Redferns/Getty Images

The idea of having a personal strain, pioneered by Mezz’s The Mighty Mezz, set the precedent for artists like Wiz Khalifa to follow. And again, in the same way Jazz musicians came up with slang words to refer to cannabis, so too has the hip-hop community. In the mid-aughts, it was damn-near impossible to hear a rapper who doesn’t talk about smoking “Kush” or “Purpp.” Groups like Bone Thugs-N-Harmony and Cypress Hill as well as artists like Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, Devin The Dude, and countless others had popularized terms like Indo and Hydro, referencing the method used to grow the plants. Strains and nicknames that came from the streets would eventually make their way into every smoker’s vernacular. Dr. Dre’s The Chronic introduced the world to a common term for cannabis sativa in the West Coast. Nearly a decade and a half later, Cam’ron would title his magnum opus, Purple Haze, because, admittedly that’s what was fueling those studio sessions. 

Mario Guzman, better known as Mr. Sherbinski is the man behind a few popular strains that are heavily referenced throughout rap music. His proprietary genetics have created sought-after strains like Sunset Sherbet and Gelato.

“I got into the game by growing really good flowers and being known by developing Sunset Sherbert and the Gelato strains in San Francisco in the early days of legalization,” he told us over the phone. Guzman was working as a real estate broker until the market was beginning to “take a turn for the worst in California.” A friend told him to start growing cannabis as a way to supplement the loss of income, and that marked the beginning of his journey into the cannabis industry. “Starting a little hobby, I quickly realized that I had a greenthumb. And I developed this connection with the cannabis plant,” he added.

Just as he forayed into the cannabis industry, the Bay Area was witnessing the birth of the Hyphy movement and the demand for quality cannabis was high.

“By putting them into the right influencers’ hands– local rappers in San Francisco and people that we knew that just wanted the flower, to help when they’re in the studio or for them to ‘catch a vibe.’ That was sort of the beginning and how I transitioned from, getting that flower to the rapper’s hands, but also into the guys that would sell on the streets, which would make it popular,” he said. 

“When there’s good flower, we say it takes them to a place where we believe all creative energy comes from. If it’s not good flower, you don’t get to that point. You’re not able to tap into that energy so that’s what we’ve become known for. That’s why artists fuck with us, that’s why they want our flower because if they have it, they’re able to reach this place where you can tap in creatively,” Guzman explained of the SHERBINSKIS brand. 

But it’s the streets, ultimately, that dictate what’s cool and what isn’t. Maybe that’s why rappers– despite spearheading legalization through normalization– are often being used by Big Weed companies to target the urban community and beyond. “That’s the unique connection– with making [any strain] popular with the people that are rapping about it, and [then] how that affects the young people that are listening to this music, and also affects the product that they buy. I think that also speaks to a lot of these corporate companies that look to the hip hop culture, [to] the urban communities, [to] Black and Latino culture that [really] influences what people are going to buy.”

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Drug culture of the 80s was defined by cocaine, while the inner-cities were riddled with the effects of the crack epidemic. Reagan took away social programs, like Medicaid, food stamps, social security and federal education programs, that would’ve helped vulnerable communities deal with the epidemic while the Wolf Of Wall Street could rail lines of cocaine all day. Crack was harshly penalized in comparison to powdered cocaine. Given the crack epidemic disproportionately affected Black communities, the late 80s found many rappers, such as Ice-T on “You Played Yourself” (1989), pushing an anti-drug message, to prevent the youth from getting trapped as either a user or a dealer.  Only a few years before dropping The Chronic, Dr. Dre famously said he doesn’t “smoke weed or sess ‘cause it’s known to give a brother brain damage” on N.W.A’s. “Express Yourself.” Hell, even in Jay-Z’s “22 Twos” off of his 1996 debut Reasonable Doubt, there’s a part in the outro where Maria Davis condemns the use of cannabis. Yet, in 2019, Jay-Z was announced as the chief brand strategist for cannabis company Caliva.

The emergence of Cypress Hill shook up the world in the early 90s. A Latino “pot-smoking” group coming out of Los Angeles, embodying gangsta rap with an emphasis on spreading the benefits of cannabis. In 1991, five years before Prop 215,  the group dropped their self-titled debut album. Their cannabis references weren’t exactly slick, either. They were letting you know exactly what they were doing on songs like “Light Another” and “Stoned Is The Way Of The Walk.” On a song like “How To Kill A Man,” despite what its title may suggest, B-Real and Sen Dog were simply explaining how things were in their community, ravaged by the crack epidemic and gang warfare.

“For them, it was easy to point the finger and to say, ‘Hey, this is the wrong example. This is not what our kids should be listening to,’ and you know trying to create these obstacles for artists like us,” B-Real said. “We were speaking our mind about what was going on in our communities and what was going on in society and in our neighborhood, you know, and we were taking big chances with some of the titles of the songs and some of the content and how we were making it. But we felt that, you know, artistically, what we had was so different and out of the box that, you know, we had to stick by what we were talking about and how we were doing it no matter what.”

“We didn’t expect that people would connect to it on the cannabis level that it did, because like you said, there was a lot of anti-drug messages in hip hop right at that point, because a lot of the labels didn’t want to take chances,” B-Real added. “Fortunately, in spite of some of the blowback of some of the songs, you know, it resonated more with people than any of us expected.” 

Cypress Hill’s 1998 single “Dr. Greenthumb” planted a seed both metaphorically and literally for the artist. “Dr. Greenthumb” served as an exploration into B-Real’s alter ego as a grower and eventually, it would serve as the name of his cannabis company. B-Real and Sen Dog’s entry into growing and cultivating cannabis began long before their days as luminary smokers, when they would be smoking out in Sen Dog’s backyard. Seeds that were found in the buds were tossed to the side, but a few of them grew into 13-feet plants. B-Real explains it was this that sparked his interest in growing. Researching constantly, some disposable income, and trial-and-error over the years finally led to the launch of Dr. Green Thumb Farms and B-Real’s foray into the world of legal cannabis. Meanwhile, lessons learned from the music industry became applicable on the business side of the cannabis industry.

“When you go into music, when you start a group and get signed by a label, you gotta trademark your name. Copyright, all of that. And you learn all these things,” he said. “I came with some knowledge on how you market in brand products and how you own it, and then how you push it out. So I took that and applied that to this, so when I decided to come into the cannabis industry, I trademarked my name under Dr. Green Thumb [in] various ways.” Cypress Hill, already an established “brand” at the time, played in his favor. “I started my trademark with Dr. Green Thumb, the music and the events and then transitioned that trademark into cannabis and people were already familiar with it so that gave me steps ahead.”

Wiz Khalifa blows out smoke – Rick Kern/WireImage/Getty Images

It can be argued that Wiz Khalifa has benefited from the Cypress Hill template, as both an artist and a brand. Wiz’s name has been synonymous with cannabis for over a decade. Though known solely as a smoker in his early career, he’s now established as a cannabis entrepreneur, working the Khalifa Kush strain into the market and even teaming up with Supreme (not the streetwear brand) to launch a line of oils, along with ventures in the cannabis tech world such as the Weed Farms app. His entrance into the legal market was, like B-Real, a natural process. 

Wiz’s KK strain is fine-tuned specifically for Wiz himself, he tells us. “I just wanted to create something that I was into. As far as taste and smell. You know what I mean? Just something I was personally into,” he explained. Described as a phenotype of OG Kush, Wiz Khalifa’s exploration into genetics and cultivation began with his relationship with Taylor Gang signee and fellow hip-hop cannabis king, Berner.

“I got into the genetics of it just by being down with Berner. Traveling and meeting up with him on the road, he just really put me onto some different strains and some different types. He was in the middle of cultivating and coming up with some new strains himself, so he kind of just sent me through the same process that he was doing. Looking at different strains and really being picky, tryna get it right. In that process, he was able to find a few strains that he held onto like Cookies, Brunch, and stuff like that while I was able to walk away with KK.”

Cookies is one of today’s most-referenced strains of cannabis in hip-hop, just like The Mighty Mezz was in jazz’s hey-day. Though the scope of the cannabis industry has vastly expanded and new methods of consumption have grown in popularity, Berner’s beginnings in the cannabis industry started when he was a budtender, just as the Compassionate Use Act of 1996 was passed. Prop 215, as it’s frequently referred to, marked a milestone in cannabis culture, especially in California where the effects of the War On Drugs and the crack epidemic were still lingering. The stepping stones of his success with Cookies lie in his early adult years when he went from budtender to running a cannabis store, from the age 18 to 25. The industry was different back then. 

“It was heaven. It was the best process in the world. I wish we could bring it back to that process. It was a lot more pure and genuine. You know people just come in with their turkey bags full of good herbs and you would smell it. If you liked it, you’d buy it and negotiate the price right there,” Berner explained. He shared how, these days, it takes nearly three months to actually get products on the shelf after they go through testing. Nonetheless, these are changes he expected with the cannabis industry shifting. Berner dedicated his entire adult life to the cannabis industry, before there was a legal weed industry. Though it started off on a grassroots level, he’ll even admit that his position as hip-hop’s de-facto weed guy certainly didn’t hurt his cause.

“Having that cannabis club I was running back in the days, [helped] build my name up. When I got the brand, being able to push it on the internet and show it off, and being aware of how important branding is to what you’re doing…The music helped a lot though, I mean, I’m in the studio this week. I ran into a lot of artists, not gonna say who, but really, really, really big artists and I’ve been able to put stuff that’s not even out yet, in their hands,” Berner revealed.

One of those artists was fellow connoisseur B-Real. The two just dropped off their second joint project, Los Meros on April 17th. There’s a mutual love between the two, as both growers and MCs, but just because Berner has access to some of hip-hop’s elite doesn’t mean he uses his flowers as leverage. He’s worked on projects with Styles P and Cam’ron in the past, and the week we spoke, he had run into Dave East, A$AP Rocky, and Dr. Dre. However, it’s the organic relationships that he’s built and continues to build that have cemented his lofty position in the cannabis industry. “I almost get a kick out of not doing music with people I run into and trying to leverage the weed,” he explains, in part due to his shyness. “I just like people to acknowledge what I get done and whatever happens naturally or organically, it happens. That’s what’s dope.”

These organic relationships extend into his work as an entrepreneur in San Francisco, including a recent partnership with Shawn Richards. Under San Francisco’s Social Equity Program, Berner and Shawn Richards partnered with Cole Ashbury Group to launch Berner’s On Haight. Richards is now the first equity partner under the program that’s been approved by the city and county of San Francisco. The program is meant to create fair opportunities for Black and Brown entrepreneurs that have been affected by the War on Drugs. Berner’s On Haight marks San Francisco’s first black-owned dispensary but the rapper did face a bit of backlash upon opening it. A Vice article read, “White Weed Entrepreneurs Gaming Programs Meant To Help People Of Color” emerged just as Berner celebrated his launch. The article also happened to come out just a few days before he spoke to me.

“They put a ridiculous article out claiming that’s not the case and the headline of the article stated that rich white businessmen are taking advantage of minorities’ equity program deals. Published one of the worst articles I’ve ever seen and it really f*ckin’ upset me because the amount of energy I put into partnering with Shawn outside of the partnership itself on teaching him what I’ve learned the past 20 years, it’s crazy,” Berner, who’s Mexican, said in response to the article. “We’re so happy with what we’re doing, and it is the first black-owned dispensary in San Francisco, and it’s the first equity applicant store opened in San Francisco, the second in the nation and it’s majority is owned by him. And he’s the CEO. He’s on salary and he’s learning the business from me which I don’t give this kind of game to anyone.”

San Francisco isn’t the only place that’s taking steps to create a more inclusive industry. These equity programs are popping up a lot more across the nation. Nearly all states, with the exception of three, allow medical marijuana. Though only 13 of those states have fully legalized cannabis, certain states like California, Illinois, and Michigan have launched equity initiatives to support ownership and employment in the industry. Los Angeles, specifically, offers “individuals who are low income, have past cannabis arrests and or convictions and those that live in Disproportionately Impacted Areas may qualify to participate in the City’s Social Equity Program. This Program aims to support people impacted by the War on Drugs and seeks to reduce barriers to entering the legal cannabis industry by providing a number of programs to support business ownership and employment opportunities.” 

Berner holds up a big bag of weed – Tim Mosenfelder/Getty Images

The complications surrounding the cannabis business involve money and the lingering socio-economic impacts of the war on drugs. The economics of the legalization of cannabis presents issues to, not only disenfranchised communities targeted by cannabis prohibition, but independent growers who lack the reach of major corporations. Like Big Pharma and Big Tobacco, cannabis, too, now has Big Weed companies infiltrating the market. Launching a cannabis business requires big bucks for licenses, permits, and cultivation, among the various other expenses. Though fees vary state-to-state, according to Cova Software’s website, a company that produces POS systems for dispensaries and the cannabis industry at large, the initial costs for opening a dispensary start anywhere from $150K to $2M, including staffing and rent. They state that the licensing application alone, on average, is $5K, while the annual license itself, if accepted, is anywhere from $1K to $10K. An applicant’s net worth, however, makes all the difference in certain states. Pensylvannia, for example, expects owners to have enough capital leftover to maintain their company expenses which typically means assets amounting to $2M and $500K in liquid cash.

Government initiatives aside, there are people on the inside of these Big Weed corporations looking to bring inclusivity and equality to the game. Take Jason White, for example. He’s one of the leading African-American executives in the cannabis industry serving Curaleaf as its Chief Marketing Officer and overseeing the Select oil brand, which Curaleaf acquired earlier in the year. Previously working as the former global head of marketing for Beats By Dre and and Global Account Director of Nike while at Widen + Kennedy, his foray into cannabis quickly transformed him into a leading figure in bringing social equity to the cannabis industry. He’s also behind The Possible Plan that aims to bring equitable access and reparatory justice to those affected by the War On Drugs such as expunging records for those convicted of cannabis charges before legalization began. The Possible Plan recently expunged more than 400 records in Baltimore. Bringing social equity is not solely about ownership but about diversifying the industry as a whole whether it’s in sourcing the products, marketing or even the tech side of things. 

“I still think that the industry is very, very young and you still have a small handful of financial and business leaders that have the greatest amount of benefit,” he explained when asked who is benefiting the most from the cannabis industry right now. “Those that are contributing the capital are the ones that are, right now, poised to benefit.”

Though it’s white-collar businessmen reaping the benefits of the cannabis industry, White’s work could be the template for bringing inclusivity and social equity to the game. He explains that right now there’s a large amount of growth to do, both socially and fiscally, while important decisions are made behind the scenes that can ultimately dictate all of this.

“I think Big Cannabis can mean big good,” he explained. “If the right people make the decision to build this industry the way it should be built, I think you can see in Big Cannabis something very different from what we’ve seen in the past and that is an industry that thinks about its heritage, that contributes toward the livelihood of those that have been that have been damaged in the past by prohibition and thinks about how to grow as an industry in a way that is inclusive and in a way that is equitable. I think where we are at a crossroads right now, where we can still make those decisions and we can still build an industry that’s more inclusive.”

To that effect, White is keeping a close eye on the MORE Act. Standing for Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement act, the MORE Act of 2019 is meant to decriminalize cannabis on a federal level, thus removing it as a Schedule I drug. But it also includes a social equity provision in the act that would help minorities, specifically those impacted by the War On Drugs, to face less barriers in entering the legal weed game.

“What we’re seeing in social equity laws — in the upcoming legislation for states that are going legal — are there very specifically-focused on how they’re giving access to the cannabis industry, to those that have either personally been affected by prohibition or those communities that have been disproportionately affected by prohibition. They’re getting a favor in license applications. They’re getting access to training in other areas through privately funded organizations. You’re starting to finally see a movement that is thinking about those people that have been not just ignored, but really disproportionately affected by the war on drugs,” White explained to us. 

Though the fight to create more diverse spaces and opportunities in the cannabis industry continues, it’s not limited to owning a dispensary or cultivating the plant. The cannabis industry, as Leafly put it in their 2019 Job Count, is “America’s hidden job boom.” 

211,000 Americans found employment in the ever-expanding field, and the number grows to 296,000 when you consider those who are working tangentially, such as marketing firms and legal aid. The stigma surrounding cannabis hasn’t been eradicated entirely but it’s putting food on many tables across the country.

Yet, even with these promising advances, it’s going to be extremely difficult for the small guys to succeed in the Big Weed industry. The fact of the matter is, anyone who wasn’t fully invested in the industry before the legal market was established will find it difficult to compete. It’s expensive– from getting started to maintaining cultivation, as well as the taxes that come along with it. Starting on January 1st, 2020,California raised taxes on vertically integrated cannabis companies from 30% to 80%. These large corporations feeding dollars to launch cannabis brands are able to afford it, certainly, but local growers and mom-and-pop shops might have to eventually close because of the margins and competition.

“I believe that they’ve pumped these taxes up to wash out small businesses and make room for big business, and those of us that have a big enough brand to survive will be like the craft brewers and, you know, independent like that. Those of us with a big enough brand to withstand what’s coming,” B-Real explained. “I know it sounds crazy, but you know, we saw this coming the minute they say they passed Prop 64. My group of people, some of us were saying it like, ‘you know, this is great. Legalization is great but some of this shit is off because it’s going to affect the small businesses.’ It’s not going to affect someone like me, you know, because I did building my brand before I got into the cannabis industry through music, being an advocate and activist. It’s going to affect the people that maybe, they don’t have a brand that is well-known. They don’t have the financial backing to compete with the marketing of some of the giants that are going to come in, because that’s the part of it. You can have the best cannabis in the world in your shop, but if you don’t have the money to promote, publicize and market that particular place, you’re going to fall victim to the one with the bigger name.”

Cypress Hill attend the first-ever Budtender Awards, October, 2019 – Denise Truscello/WireImage/Getty Images

The advocacy and work people like B-Real, Berner, Jason White and Mario Guzman put in before legalization happened is why they’ve been able to succeed. They perfected their craft and established trusted brands with quality products over the years. B-Real and Berner, for example, have lived this life, both on and off wax, for the world to see. Guzman might not be a rapper but there’s a reason that artists like Travis Scott and Migos have given him shout outs. Not many rappers can successfully get into the industry on their own unless they’ve been putting in the work for years. At this point, we will see more musicians get into the industry but through partnerships and sponsorships because they have the leverage of their brand. 

“Groups like The Black Crowes in the 90s that were advocates and that were totally out there, up front about it. But it’s because rock, that genre, it’s about the music first, cannabis later, if cannabis at all. Some of those fans just ain’t into it but some of them are. That’s the commonality that we have.” B-Real explained. “Cannabis activists loved them. But like, let’s just say, music fans, not all of them embraced their politics. Whereas in hip hop, that’s just a given. It comes with every fuckin’ rapper. It’s like if you had a Star Wars vinyl toy with Luke Skywalker, what does he come with every time? A fucking lightsaber. If you were to put out a fucking rapper vinyl, you know, collectible, they should be having a bag of weed [come with it], because that’s what it is these days.”

Bob Odenkirk, star of AMC’s Better Call Saul, detailed his experience with his son testing positive for COVID-19, in an interview with James Corden for The Late Late Show with James Corden.

Matt Winkelmeyer / Getty Images

“In the end, it was pretty bad and it was worse than the flu,” the Breaking Bad actor said. “According to him, the pain in his throat was the worst thing of all, but I think also the fatigue. And it lasted longer than the flu.”

He added, “It got scarier the longer it went and the further we got from it, I became aware that we got very lucky.”

Odenkirk also praised the country’s adherence to social distancing: “It’s really stunning to me. I’m a cynic, I think, and that’s one of the reasons I like comedy, but I’m just stunned at the cooperation from people and the community,” he said. “You know they’re caring for each other really by doing this and so it’s been heartening, I’d say.”

The fifth season finale of Better Call Saul will air on Monday, April 20. The Breaking Bad spin-off is a much-watch for fans of the original series.

There are over 700,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the United States and over 38,000 deaths as of Saturday.

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El Chapo is known to be one of the most ruthless drug kingpins the world has ever seen. He is currently serving jail time although his influence and menacing presence are still felt in his native Mexico. Despite this, it looks like his daughter, Alejandrina Guzman, is doing her best to help out the people of Mexico during the Coronavirus crisis.

As of right now, cases are starting to skyrocket in the country and people are dying at an alarming rate. In order to create some relief, Guzman has begun putting together aid packages called “Chapo’s Provisions.” The packages even have El Chapo’s face on them and inside, people can find medical masks, food, hand soap, and some other goods that will keep them safe during this trying time.

Needless to say, anyone can do a good deed during these uncertain times and it appears as though Guzman is about to save lives while also bringing some smiles to people’s faces. Numerous celebrities have been contributing some relief efforts of their own and these initiatives have certainly gone a long way.

Perhaps Guzman will inspire other people in Mexico to come through with their own relief initiatives. At this point, every little bit helps.

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Ever since the NBA was shut down on March 11th, players have been worried about what would happen to their paychecks. Of course, most people don't get paid when they don't show up to work, however, NBA players have their own union which allows them to be protected in extreme circumstances such as a pandemic. 

It remains to be seen whether or not the season will have to be canceled but in the interim, the NBA and NBPA have been looking to strike a deal in regards to wages. According to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, both sides have reached a compromise. This deal will see players receive 25 percent less per paycheck, starting on May 15th.

Anybody familiar with the legendary Seth Rogen, widely considered a Canadian National treasure at this point, knows that the man consumes weed like the rest of us consume water. It’s easy to assume he’s high twenty-four hours of the day, especially given that the world has been on a self-imposed lockdown for the past month or so — a month that happens to include thirty-days of four-twenty, at that. As Rogen explained during his recent appearance on Jimmy Kimmel’s “Live From His House” segment, the isolation period actually hasn’t been quite so bad…for obvious reasons.

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“We are not all in this together, because this has not been that bad for me,” Rogen explained, donning an Alanis Morissette sweater for the occasion. “I’ll be totally honest. This has been fine. I am built for this. I’ve kinda been self-isolating since 2009.” When Kimmel inquires as to how he’s been passing the time, Rogen reveals that he’s been smoking “a truly ungodly amount of weed. More than normal. Thank God it’s been declared an essential service. For me it’s essential. I don’t think I’ve ever willed a law into existence more than that one.”

“The fact I have no kids is making this a truly not that bad experience,” he admits, uttering his iconic laugh. “I will be lying alone on my death bed after not having talked to anybody for fifteen years, and I’ll be like ‘it was worth it for that coronavirus shit.’ Me and my wife had a lovely time.” Rogen also confirms that his parents have been safe in Canada, which he describes as a “slightly better functioning country at the moment.” “That’s their slogan, actually,” quips Kimmel. 

Check out the full interview below. 

Over 22 million Americans have had to file for unemployment benefits in the last month as the coronavirus pandemic causes tons of folks to lose their jobs. Recent federal data shows that more than 5.2 million people in the United States made unemployment claims last week, putting the total number in the last 30 days over 22 million, which is more than the entire population of Florida. This number is also greater than the amount of jobs that have been created since the end of the last downturn of the economy a decade ago, which is 21.5 million. These statistics indicate that 13.5% of the American workforce has been sacrificed “as efforts to stem the pandemic have forced businesses to close their doors and lay off workers across the country.”

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“It is shocking to see this level of unemployment claims because the scale is comparable to the entire recovery over a decade following the Great Recession,” said Glassdoor senior economist, Daniel Zhao. Prior to the coronavirus pandemic, the highest number of unemployment claims filed in a single week was 695,000 in October of 1982. “Some of the job losses are temporary. But there’s no doubt that some companies of all sizes will fail,” said Mark Hamrick, senior economic analyst at financial-services firm, Bankrate.

It was just a week ago that R. Kelly‘s request to be released from prison during the Coronavirus pandemic was denied. The r’n’b singer’s dark past finally caught up with him this past year, with a history of sexual abuse and underage girls coming to light. Now, he’s currently locked up at the Chicago Metropolitan Correctional Center, awaiting trial.

On Thursday, Kelly’s lawyer renewed the singer’s request to be released from prison, citing six inmates and seven staff members who’ve tested positive for Coronavirus in the same facility he’s in. U.S. District Judge Ann Donnelly originally denied the request, saying that Kelly posed a flight risk, on top of her concern that he may intimidate witnesses, considering his past efforts to do just that.

Per Variety, Kelly’s lawyer, Michael I. Leonard, wrote in his request, “Inmates are reportedly banging on doors, walls, and windows begging for help. The only thing the MCC has done is lock things down, making conditions feel more like solitary confinement; and possibly, because of the nature of this virus, locking in healthy inmates with those who already have the virus but who may not yet be symptomatic.”

Leonard went on to cite that nationwide, 500 inmates have tested positive– “Based on all of the above, that Mr. Kelly will be infected with this deadly disease, is now unfortunately an absolute probability,” he stated.

Finally, he attempted to make a case for Kelly not being able to flee the country if he were released. Kelly’s attorney said that he “would be perhaps the most obvious and recognizable person on the streets of Chicago, or anywhere else in the country, in light of the severe stay-at-home restrictions that are and will continue to be in place and enforced.”

We’ll keep you updated on this latest request.

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Donald Trump plans on putting a halt to funding to the World Health Organization (WHO).

“I am directing my administration to halt funding while a review is conducted to assess the World Health Organization’s role in severely mismanaging and covering up the spread of the coronavirus,” Trump told a news conference at the White House on Tuesday.

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According to BBC, Trump accused the UN of covering up and mishandling the spread of the virus after it emerged in China. The UN’s chief responded that this was not the time to cut funds to WHO.

Bill Gates weighed in on Trump’s decision on Twitter, criticizing the decision. “Halting funding for the World Health Organization during a world health crisis is as dangerous as it sounds,” he wrote. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation provides the second largest amount of funds for the WHO.

Trump believes that the the outbreak could have been contained if WHO had done their job properly, and allowed medical experts to assess the situation in China as it was unfolding. Trump told reporters, 

“Had the WHO done its job to get medical experts into China to objectively assess the situation on the ground and to call out China’s lack of transparency, the outbreak could have been contained at its source with very little death,” he told reporters. “This would have saved thousands of lives and avoided worldwide economic damage. Instead, the WHO willingly took China’s assurances to face value… and defended the actions of the Chinese government.”

WHO experts were reportedly only allowed to visit China once, February 10, to investigate and by that time the country had more than 40,000 cases. 

On January 14, WHO tweeted that Chinese investigations found “no clear evidence of human-to-human transmission” of the new virus. A week after that tweet, WHO released a public statement that human-to-human transmission did appear to be taking place in Wuhan. Administrative officials have been aggressively accusing WHO did not take the proper steps in handling this pandemic, stating WHO was biased towards China. 

Despite the WHO’s potential malfunctions in the early days of the pandemic, public health experts feel defunding the organization in the middle of a pandemic is far from a smart move.

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Like many other states, Florida has implemented its own strategy to deal with its inmate population during the COVID-19 pandemic. Outside of prison walls, people are being told to stay home, social distance, rigorously wash their hands, and wear face masks if they interact with the public. Inside, precautions are reportedly being taken, but a few inmates are finding themselves with early release dates. Some, like Tekashi 6ix9ine, have been allowed to serve out their sentences at home. Others, like YNW Melly who also reported contracted COVID-19, are forced to remain behind bars.

Tons of famous folks from New Jersey including SZA, Halsey, Bruce Springsteen, Charlie Puth, and more are partaking in a live-streamed benefit event to raise money for the state that's been deeply impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. Apart from its neighbouring state of New York, New Jersey has been hit hardest by COVID-19, with over 64,000 cases reported by the CDC. As a result, a benefit live stream event will be held on April 22nd at 7:00 pm EST/4:00pm PST in an effort to raise money for the newly formed New Jersey Pandemic Relief Fund. “Jersey 4 Jersey" boasts an impressive lineup of celebrities hailing from the Garden State that will be in attendance. The event will see performances from SZA, Halsey, Charlie Puth, Bruce Springsteen, Jon Bon Jovi, and Tony Bennett, as well as appearances from non-musical talent like Jon Stewart, Chelsea Handler, Danny DeVito, Whoopi Goldberg, Kelly Ripa, and Saquon Barkley.

Brian Ach/Getty Images for Something in the Water

Springsteen announced the event during his appearance on Good Morning America  video chat on Tuesday. “New Jersey has been hit especially hard by the coronavirus pandemic, and the people of New Jersey have always stepped up during difficult times," The Boss explained. "That’s why I’m pleased to announce that on April 22nd, I hope you’ll join me, Jon Bon Jovi, Tony Bennett, Jon Stewart, Whoopi Goldberg, Charlie Puth, SZA, Saquon Barkley, Danny DeVito, Chelsea Handler, and many more for this special event."

Quarantine got everyone going a little bit stir-crazy, especially since most major sporting events have been put on hold for the time being. Re-runs of classic games have brought a bit of nostalgia into every sports fan but even Trump was adamant about bringing sports back to the world of entertainment. Though many of Trump’s claims since the pandemic began came across as ambitious, this one might not be as far fetched as some would think.

Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images

Dr. Fauci confirmed this in a recent interview on Snapchat. Speaking to Peter Hamby, Fauci explained that sporting events would return but they’d have to be vigilant in hosting these events. Essentially, spectators wouldn’t be allowed inside of the stadium and each sporting league would have to make sure each player and staff member would have to undergo frequent testing.

“Nobody comes to the stadium. Put them in big hotels, wherever you want to play. Keep them very well surveilled — have them tested like every week and make sure they don’t wind up infecting each other or their family and just let them play the season out,” he said. “People say, ‘Well you cant play without spectators.’ I think you’ll probably get enough buy-in from people who are dying to see a baseball game, particularly me!”

With the WWE considered an “essential service” in the state of Florida, Trump recently put together a sports advisory group to help open up the country’s economy. NBA’s Adam Silver, MLB’s Rob Manfred, NFL’s Roger Goodell, and UFC’s Dana White, as well as the WWE’s Vine McMahon, are among the 16 sports figure included in the White House’s Great American Economic Revival Industry Group.

Now that we’re several months deep into the coronavirus pandemic, hindsight has once again proven to be twenty-twenty, especially when it comes to the initial outbreak stages. It’s been widely argued that the United States was late to the party on this one, with prominent news outlets and even President Donald Trump himself initially suggesting that the virus was nothing more than a Democrat-fueled hoax. At this point, the grim reality has since set in, with COVID-fatalities climbing and the economy at risk of collapse.

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So what, if anything, could have been done to prevent this? It’s been a question on many-a-mind, from the laypeople holed up in a quarantined state to the experts working in consultary roles. Today, The Washington Post reported that Donald Trump even contemplated allowing the coronavirus to spread across the United States so that a herd-immunity could be developed at a faster rate. 

Apparently, the suggestion arose during a March 14th Situation Room meeting. “Why don’t we let this wash over the country?” asked Trump, according to the testimony of two sources reportedly present. As it happens, the person he asked was Dr. Anthony Fauci, who has since become one of the leading public experts during this ongoing crisis. Upon understanding exactly what Trump was suggesting, Fauci countered that “many” lives would be lost as a result of such a strategy. It would appear that Trump indeed decided to heed Fauci’s counsel, though given that he has since retweeted a veiled threat to can the doctor, perhaps that relationship has since eroded further.

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Diddy is bringing the good vibes to Instagram live on this fine Easter Sunday with a Team Love Dance-A-Thon featuring Drake, Megan Thee Stallion, Chris Brown, and more. The whole world is invited to the blowout event, which will serve as a fundraiser for a good cause. Diddy has been stressing the importance of supporting those on the frontline during this global health crisis, which is why he is "raising much needed money for our healthcare workers in the underserved communities around the country⁣" by hosting "The World's Biggest Dance-A-Thon." 

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We hope everyone is practicing for the TEAM LOVE DANCE-A-THON this Sunday on my Instagram Live 3PM est!!! This is for our healthcare workers, let’s show them how much we appreciate them!!!!!! @combscartel

A post shared by Diddy (@diddy) on Apr 11, 2020 at 10:56am PDT

Mr. Combs and the rest of the Combs Cartel have been hard at work practicing their moves for the star-studded affair, which will also feature appearances by Diddy's ex, Jennifer Lopez, and her fiancé, Alex Rodriguez, Oprah Winfrey, Snoop Dogg, Lil Uzi Vert, and more.

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Tomorrow we will all dance together for our healthcare workers! Let’s spread some positive vibes and let them know how much we appreciate them! Tomorrow at 3PM EST on my Instagram Live Team Love Dance-A-Thon. THE WHOLE WORLD IS INVITED!!!!!!

A post shared by Diddy (@diddy) on Apr 11, 2020 at 5:04pm PDT

Diddy also got in touch with the CEO of Instagram, Adam Mosseri, to make sure that everything runs smoothly. “I need you to make sure nothing breaks down,” Diddy told him. “It’s my responsibility to warn you that when I throw a Diddy party, everybody shows up.”

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Had to check in with @mosseri to make sure everything is all set for tomorrow!!!! TEAM LOVE DANCE-A-THON FOR OUR HEALTHCARE WORKERS 3PM EST TOMORROW MY IG LIVE.

A post shared by Diddy (@diddy) on Apr 11, 2020 at 6:43pm PDT

The Team Love Dance-A-Thon will be taking place today (April 12th), at 3:00pm EST/12:00pm PST on Diddy's Instagram account. Additional appearances include Will Smith, Alicia Keys, DJ Khaled, Kevin Hart, Lizzo, Usher, Justin Bieber, Ciara, Shaquille O'Neal, Janelle Monae, French Montana, and many, many more. Check out the video below for the full list of attendees, and get ready for some surprise guests.

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A party with a purpose! The Team Love Dance-A-Thon starts Sunday at 3PM EST! Let’s show out for our front line healthcare workers!!!! More names dropping tomorrow, stay tuned!!

A post shared by Diddy (@diddy) on Apr 11, 2020 at 9:43pm PDT

One of Flavor Flav’s baby mothers, Kate Gammell, fired back at Wendy Williams‘ accusations that the Flavor Flav merch she’s been selling to help take care of their son is not authentic. Earlier this week, Kate, who is the mother of Flav’s nine-month-old baby, Jordan, announced that she’ll be selling T-shirts, hats, and various other items with Flav’s name on them in order to cover the cost of her son’s “everyday needs” since she is “not getting any child support.” Kate filed a paternity lawsuit against Flav back in October and had a DNA test to determine if he was in fact Jordan’s father, which came back positive. However, since Flav hasn’t been supporting her financially, she decided to sell his merch that she acquired back when she was his manager.

Wendy Williams addressed the situation on her at-home edition of The Wendy Williams Show on Thursday (April 9th). Wendy asserted that the merchandise was not authentic and claimed that Kate was “taking advantage of someone who was less smart at the time.” 

Kate proceeded to call out Wendy on Instagram for lying about her on her show. She disputed Wendy’s remarks and explained why she’s selling the merch at a discounted rate and where all the proceeds will be going.

“@wendyshow, on today’s show you brought up that the Flavor Flav merchandise I am selling is not authentic,” Kate wrote. “I have no idea where you came up with this. Flavor was very much involved in the choice of the colors and designs. See the above screenshot posts from @flavorflavoffical where he is promoting the merchandise. The merch was produced and is now being sold under a licensing agreement between Flavor and me. Under the agreement, he is to receive a percentage of sales, but because he owes me money, to reduce his debt to me, I am withholding his share which will go to Jordan with a percentage to Children’s Hospital.”

Frazer Harrison/Getty Images for The Recording Academy

“I am selling the merch at a reduced price because of the country’s current crisis and many people are out of work,” she continued. “Another reason is that I need to recoup some of my costs for Jordan’s care since I am not receiving child support. I will not even break even for the money I put into his merch as some of the hoodies cost almost $30 wholesale. I just hope now that your comments do not sabotage my efforts to provide for my son and give to Children’s Hospital.”

“Also, regarding Jordan, @wendyshow you said I took advantage of Flavor ‘who was less than smart at the time.’ Where on earth did you come up with that?” she asked. “Flavor is very aware of everything he does. Anyone that knows Flavor and me would find this to be absurd. You should have mentioned, as @hiphopdx reported, that Flavor owes me $50,000, which he refuses to pay and that he is fighting having to pay child support. So, who is taking advantage of who? So, @wendyshow, I am just trying to provide for my son where his father refuses to step up to the plate.”

During this quarantine, Rihanna has stepped up to help her home country of Barbados. The Caribbean island has logged a handful of coronavirus cases, but considering its population, authorities want to control the spread of COVID-19 as quickly as possible. It’s been reported that over the last few weeks, Rihanna has made generous donations to Barbados and New York, helping to supply healthcare workers with ventilators to treat patients. Now, Rihanna’s father Ronald Fenty has told The Sun that his famous daughter sent a ventilator to his home after he contracted COVID-19.

“My daughter Robyn was checking in on me every day,” Ronald told the publication. “I thought I was going to die to be honest. I have to say, I love you so much, Robyn.” He also stated that Rihanna went above and beyond to make sure he recovered. “She did so much for me. I appreciate everything she has done.”

Ronald Fenty also shared what it was like while he was ill. “I got a fever up inside of my nose. I had a fever across my lips. It was just a lot of fever,” he added. “I feared the worst. I thought I was going to die, honestly.” Ronald eventually spent 14 days under strict supervision at the Paragon Isolation Center. “I want everybody to stay home. This is a serious situation,” he said. “More serious than people realize. Please stay home.”

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Dana White has been adamant that UFC 249 and every other UFC event would go on as planned, despite the Coronavirus. In fact, White was planning on purchasing a private island so he could host all of his events during the pandemic. Well, none of those plans are going to come to fruition as it has been reported by Brett Okamoto of ESPN that UFC 249 is canceled and all other events are indefinitely being put on hold.

This news shouldn't be shocking to anyone especially when you consider how it was a pipe dream for the events to go on, in the first place. The headline fight was supposed to be Tony Ferguson and Khabib Nurmagomedov but because of the laws in Russia, Khabib couldn't leave the country. They replaced him with Justin Gaethje but fans weren't very excited about it.

The Coronavirus pandemic has led to shutdowns across the world, especially in the U.S. and Canada as numbers continue to spike. Wuhan, the center of the pandemic, recently lifted the ban after 72 days but as COVID-19 continued to impact the world economically, a group of small businesses in the U.S. is taking the People’s Republic of China to court on claims they tried to cover up the severity of the illness.

Rich Fury/Getty Images

A group of small businesses in California that includes Cardiff Prestige Property, Little Saigon Chamber of Commerce, First Premier X and others have filed an $8 trillion lawsuit against the People’s Republic of China, the City of Wuhan, and China’s Health Commission. In documents obtained by TMZ, the group of businesses accuses the Chinese government of trying to cover up the pandemic. They said that the government in China knew about this “new” disease but didn’t say anything and attempted to cover it up.

In addition, they accuse the city of Wuhan of having a bio-weapons laboratory near the city that might be behind the infected bat that ended up in the wet market. Essentially, the group of businesses is accusing China of failing to uphold its duty to inform WHO of the possible pandemic before February. 

As non-essential businesses have closed because of the pandemic, the group is demanding $8 trillion in damages for the forced closures and losses.

Slim Thug and his relief team, Smoke Shield, are making sure that the essential workers and residents of Houston are protected from coronavirus, by donating tons of hand sanitizer to the METRO police department and METRO bus drivers. Slim donated 1,000 bottles of the much-needed product, which has been in high-demand ever since shortages of necessary protective supplies have been plaguing the country amid the coronavirus pandemic.

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“I want our police officers and bus drivers to know that we appreciate their service during this tough time,” Slim said. “They have always been a huge part of keeping Houston going.” Slim is currently in recovery after testing positive for the respiratory virus a few weeks ago. He broke the news in an Instagram video on March 24th, stressing that regardless of how careful he’d been, he still managed to contract the virus.

“I got tested for Coronavirus yesterday and it came back positive,” he explained. “As careful as I’ve been, self-quarantine and staying home, I might’ve went to get something to eat or something or did some stuff like that. Simple stuff like that. Nothing crazy. Stayed in my truck, had masks, gloves, everything on and my test came back positive. Y’all gotta take this stuff serious.” However, he gave fans an update on his condition a few days later, ensuring everyone that he was alright and telling them to be careful and not to worry about him. Since then, he’s given further updates, and it looks like he’s feeling better since receiving his diagnosis.

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Along with his generous donation, Slim, Smoke Shield, and Slim’s “Swanananana” collaborator Baby Bash plan to donate an additional 1,000 bottles by next Wednesday (April 15th). They will also be providing health care workers in the city with enough hand sanitizer to last throughout the rest of the month of April.

Kodak Black believes he is being set up for an even longer prison sentence. 

The Florida rapper has been experiencing legal trouble for years but his most recent stint in prison has arguably been the most difficult one yet. The Dying To Live artist has already been moved to two different prisons and he theorizes that it’s all so that he could stack on additional time in the box by forcing him out of his element.

In a new post on Instagram, Kodak Black shared a photo of himself (and his very long hair) with a message attached.

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“Man These Ppl Stay Trynna Fuck Me Ova, All This #Coronavirus Shit And Yall Talkin Bout Trynna Charge A N***a For A Bogus Fight,” wrote Yak about the most recent charges against him. “Y’all Send Me Way to Kentucky USP Big Sandy 1,023 miles Away From My Family After Donald Trump Passed The First Step Act Stating That The BOP is Supposed To Keep You Within 500 Miles Of Your Family,” he added, noting that the law was broken in order to get him further from his people.

“Y’all Sent T.I. to A Low and Sent Gucci Mane to Terre Haut So Why The Fuck Y’all Send Kodak Black to Big Sandy?” asks the rapper about his transfer to one of the most dangerous prisons in the country. “Cuz The Ppl Kno How I’m Rocking They Know I Ain’t No Bitch and I’ll Blow Me Some Shit Up So They Send Me To The Compound Where It’s Only 3 Niggaz From Florida There, So Regardless Of Who Talkin Like They Got My Back Imma Need Me A Fuckin KNIFE bcuz I Don’t Know Nobody.”

In the same message, Kodak Black states that he has been restricted from using the phone, email, or commissary for six months. He was also forced to spend five months in solitary.

Read his address below.

With the Coronavirus running rampant across the globe, it is becoming increasingly apparent that sports aren’t coming back for a long time. However, if you’re Dana White of the UFC, a pandemic doesn’t matter. White has been adamant that fights will still go on and has plans for UFC 249 to carry on as normal on Saturday, April 18th. While the show will still go on, White has been open about not knowing where the fight will take place.

During a recent interview with TMZ, White admitted that he has been looking into purchasing a private island and that he would be flying fighters in privately. In fact, his plan is to have fights every single week. Since many countries are shutting down, a private island would help White bypass all of the bureaucracy that a country would hit him with.

It remains to be seen if this plan will ever come to fruition but White seems confident that this is going to become a reality, sooner rather than later. The UFC has always done things differently and a private island would be no exception.

With the lack of sports content on TV right now, these UFC fights would be a welcomed diversion. If White can secure that island, we guarantee we will be watching with a curious eye.

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Khabib Nurmagomedov is one of the best fighters in the UFC right now and everyone wants a shot at him. His latest challenger for the belt was supposed to be Tony Ferguson although those plans have now been canceled. UFC 249 is set to go down on April 18th but Khabib can’t make it because he is stuck in Russia due to the Coronavirus. He isn’t allowed to leave the country which makes his appearance at UFC 249 impossible.

Ferguson has been upset by this and has been asking for Khabib to be stripped of his title. Of course, Dana White isn’t ready to do this although he has decided on Khabib’s replacement. As some fans expected, Justin Gaethje will be Ferguson’s challenger at UFC 249.

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Ferguson had been calling for Conor McGregor to do it but that was never in the cards. Ferguson will have to go against a fighter who has been eager to make their way up the ranks and get some big-time fights in. As for Khabib, he will have to watch from his native Russia while under quarantine.

For now, the event doesn’t have a venue as many places in the United States are completely shutting down. Regardless, White remains committed to putting on a great show.

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Queen Elizabeth addressed the United Kingdom, Sunday, with a rare TV appearance to speak about the coronavirus pandemic sweeping the world.

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“I am speaking to you at what I know is an increasingly challenging time. A time of disruption in the life of our country: a disruption that has brought grief to some, financial difficulties to many, and enormous changes to the daily lives of us all.

“I want to thank everyone on the NHS frontline as well as care workers and those carrying out essential roles, who selflessly carry out day-to-day duties outside the home in support of us all. What you do is appreciated and every hour of your hard work brings us closer to a return to normal times.”

Her rally was recorded at Windsor Castle and filmed by one cameraman who wore full protective gear. Sunday’s message is only the fifth time the Queen has delivered a non-regularly scheduled speech during a time of crisis.

The Queen promoted social distancing: “Together we are tackling this disease. If we remain united and resolute, we will overcome it.”

U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson was hospitalized, Sunday, after testing positive for COVID-19 over a week ago.

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An Italian nurse murdered his girlfriend, a doctor, after believing she gave him the coronavirus. 

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“I killed her because she gave me coronavirus,” De Pace bluntly told investigators after being brought in for strangling Lorena Quaranta.

Police who arrived at the scene were met with Quaranta, 27, dead and De Pace on the floor with his wrists cut. De Pace was raced to the Sicilian hospital where the couple worked and was saved by their coworkers. 

Both De Pace and Quaranta had tested negative for the virus. Prosecutors say De Pace’s reasoning is “nonsense.”

“She was a doctor who was working hard to save others. It’s such a tragedy,” a source told The Sun.

Before her death, Quaranta wrote about the difficulty of battling the virus on Facebook: “Now more than ever we need to demonstrate responsibility and love for life. You must show respect for yourselves, your families and the country.

”You must think and remember those that dedicate their lives daily to looking after our sick.”

Italy is one of the worst-hit countries from the coronavirus. Over 13,000 people have died due to COVID-19 and there have been 128,948 confirmed cases.

Worldwide, there have been over 1.2 million confirmed cases and over 69,000 deaths.

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With the Coronavirus making its way throughout the United States, in unprecedented numbers, every single sports league in the country has been shut down. The NBA is one of the biggest leagues to be affected by the shut down as they were nearing the end of their regular season. There have been reports about what the league intends to do if and when they come back although the latest news is concerning. Brian Windhorst of ESPN reported that the league is angling themselves to cancel the season.

Jared Dudley of the Los Angeles Lakers was one of the first players to speak out on Windhorst's report. In the tweet below, Dudley notes that there is too much money at stake and that the NBA won't be making a real decision on this until after June 1st. Essentially, Dudley seems to be skeptical that the league would make any sort of impulsive decision.

Atlanta rapper Playboi Carti was reportedly arrested on Thursday (April 2) after he was pulled over by the police in his Lamborghini. Officials found a multitude of firearms and drugs in the vehicle, resulting in his arrest.

Carti was reportedly in the car with another man, Jaylon Tucker, who was also taken into police custody. Cops found three unspecified firearms in the car, as well as twelve bags of marijuana, Xanax, oxycodone, and codeine. The two men were taken to Clayton County Jail.

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Fans have been clamoring for the Die Lit follow-up for months and, for obvious reasons, this has the potential to push the project back even further. Hopefully, Playboi Carti is able to get this sorted out quickly with his lawyers so we can get a proper roll-out for Whole Lotta Red.

There is currently no information available on what the rapper was charged with. It is also unclear if he is still in jail or if he has been released on bond.

Playboi Carti has become somewhat of a cult hero in the hip-hop world. Misunderstood by many, he is beloved by even more, marking him as one of the most favorable rappers in the country.

As further details are reported, we will continue to keep you updated.

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At least we can rely on our favorite TV shows right now. And among those shows, TLC’s increasingly-popular reality T.V. series 90 Day Fiance is quickly hopping on the COVID-19 pandemic to bring us a much-needed break from our own realities. If you’re not familiar with the reality TV series, it follows couples who have met over the internet, and make the move (literal move) to be together in real life, which involves leaving their own country and moving to America with their fiance. Then, of course, they have 90 days to get married so they are allowed to stay in the States. There is a lot of drama, cultural boundaries to cross, and generally hilarious shenanigans making this series and its many spin-off iterations all too engaging.

As announced today by way of Variety, TLC has confirmed they will be doing a five-episode limited series for the 90 Day Fiance franchise with forty former cast members taking part. The spin-off, aptly titled Self-Quarantined, will premiere on April 20th, and has already begun production. Production essentially means that the cast members have begun shooting themselves and one another, with confessionals being recorded video chat. “Our crew is not near them physically at all,” Howard Lee, the president and general manager of TLC confirmed. “They will be helping them remotely.” Lee also explains not to expect anything too fancy when it comes to visual production– “This series will look very hot-off-the-press — it will look like the paint has not dried.” Lee said. “I think our audience is incredibly forgiving right now, and I’m hoping that they accept the way it looks. It will be messy!”

As far as which of these lovable90 Day Fiance cast members we can expect to see, Darcey and Jesse will both be making a return appearance, as well as recent couple Pedro and Chantel, among others.

The episodes for this mini-series are expected to run until May, and right now, Lee is stating it will be a one-time only event. Will you be watching? What TV shows have you been consuming on lockdown?

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"Social Distancing" has become the new thing everyone is talking about and rightfully so. We are currently going through a horrible pandemic and we are all being told to isolate ourselves as a means to slow down the spread of the Coronavirus. When we do have to leave the house, we must remain at least two meters apart from everyone as a means to make sure we don't come in contact with germs and potentially, the virus.

Stephen A. Smith and numerous ESPN reporters came through with a PSA the other day about staying home and helping to flatten the curve. Now, Smith is giving a PSA all on his own where he angrily ripped those who are still leaving their houses despite being told to do otherwise. You can tell Smith is passionate about this and doesn't seem impressed that after all this time, he still has to give such lofty warnings.

The United States saw a 55% surge in liquor sales in the week ending on March 21st, as Americans across the country stock up on the “essentials” during self-isolation amid the coronavirus pandemic. According to research done by Nielsen, the type of booze that saw the greatest increase in purchases were spirits, which rose by 75% in sales compared to last year around the same time. Wine sales went up by 66%, while beer sales saw a 42% boost. Presumably in an effort to social distance as thoroughly as possible, folks leaned considerably more toward making liquor purchases online, dominating in-store sales with a 243% increase.

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Danelle Kosmal, vice president of beverage alcohol practice at Nielsen, predicts that this time period will mark the peak of the alcohol surge. “I suspect that the week ending March 21st will feature the strongest growth rates that we will see during this consumer pantry-loading time,” he said. “Data for the week ending 28 March will be very telling, and I think it will be a better indicator of the new normal in how consumers are responding to the crisis and their new normal, centred around the home.” Considering most bars, clubs, and restaurants have been shut down as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, it makes sense that liquor sales have increased, as folks have had to resort to buying their own alcohol and making their own drinks. There’s also the tendency to “plan ahead” and stock up on certain items in an effort to cut down the frequency of one’s outings and help flatten the curve.

He’s always held down the West Coast and was praised as a rapper from Los Angeles, but Xzibit‘s roots didn’t begin there. Because of his ties to artists like Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Nate Dogg, and Ice Cube early on in his career—and because of his sound—Xzibit was assumed to have been born and bred in Southern California. In 2005, various artists joined together for the West Coast Peace Treaty, an event moderated by Steve Harvey. Xzibit gave a speech at the gathering about how they should come together in L.A., and in the middle of his discourse, someone stood up and tried to check him. The man yelled, “N*gga you from Albuquerque!”

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The Game recently recounted the funny story for HipHopDX, recalling that the moment was jarring for him. “It’s like finding out Santa Clause didn’t make these cookies,” The Game recently said. Xzibit has now addressed his 15-year-old West Coast Peace Treaty moment, clarifying his history with how he came to hold down Los Angeles.

“Here’s the thing, I’m not from New Mexico, I was born in Detroit,” Xzibit says with a smile. “I lived in New Mexico, but I was only there for seven years and then I cam here at 17 and then lived the rest of my life here. That being said, it’s very interesting the sh*t that people hold onto. You can easily pick up a phone and Google my name and see that I’m not from f*cking New Mexico! I love New Mexico. I loved Albuquerque, I got a lotta friends there, but I’m not from f*cking New Mexico.” He added that because of that story, some people think he’s from the country of Mexico.

After sharing a few laughs about the incident, Xzibit listed a few other rappers who are hailed as Los Angeles icons but were born in other states. “Kurupt is from Philly! Nate Dogg is from Mississippi. Tupac is from New York! Get the f*ck outta here!” Xzibit added. “It doesn’t f*cking matter. If you’re gonna throw the stone, n*gga, throw the stone at everybody… And even if I was from Albuquerque, you let an Albuquerque n*gga come here and take all of Los Angeles. Holla at me.” Check out the funny clip below. 

Medical and healthcare workers are putting in overtime. As many people complain about being "bored in the house and in the house bored" while stuck at home during this quarantine, hospital staff and emergency responders aren't taking days off. Some are risking their lives as they as understaffed and overworked helping patients who have been diagnosed with COVID-19, so pop star Lizzo wanted to give back and say thank you with free lunches.

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Lizzo shared a video on Instagram that showed healthcare hospital staff receiving boxes of food. "We wanted to send lunches to hospitals across the country to show our appreciation for the medical workers," she wrote in the caption of the clip while including a link for the public to donate. She also recently gave a shout out to Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit.

"You guys are putting yourselves on the frontline, so because of that, I wanted to treat y'all to a meal," she tweeted. "Lunch on me! I love you guys. Thank you so much for being the heroes in this story." Check out videos from Lizzo as she praises healthcare workers and check out a few thank you messages from hospital staffers who received free meals from the singer.

The Coronavirus pandemic is striking North America hard but the United States is facing far more cases currently in comparison to the rest of the world. It was reported this week that the United States has the highest amount of cases as it recently reached 81,378. This means that it’s surpassed both China and Italy but unfortunately, it looks like the numbers will keep climbing.

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Dr. Anthony Fauci, who serves as the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, went on CNN where he revealed that the United States is expecting millions of cases but what’s scarier is that the death toll will likely hit six-figures. He said that there’s anywhere from 100K to 200K Coronavirus deaths expected from Coronavirus currently. The millions who will contract the disease aren’t even part of the worst-case scenario which he describes as a model that estimates the impact of the virus.

I would say between 100,000 and 200,000 cases,” he said before correcting himself and adding that’s the estimated death roll. “We’re going to have millions of cases.” He did add, “I don’t want to be held to that” because the pandemic is volatile. 

The number of deaths in the United States doubled in the past twenty-four hours, bringing the toll up to over 2,000. It appears to be extremely unlikely that it would be safe for the country to reopen by Easter as the president previously suggested would happen. Given the fact that Fauci’s been heavily involved with the developments in the COVID-19 pandemic, it would be wise to listen to him in this situation. 

Donald Trump contacted former-Yankee Alex Rodriquez, earlier this week, regarding the Coronavirus response, according to ABC's John Santucci and John Santucci.

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"During marathon day of meetings earlier this week, President Trump continued outreach across the country regarding coronavirus & phoned former Yankees baseball player Alex Rodriguez," ABC senior editorial producer John Santucci tweeted Friday. "Multiple sources tell ABC, the president spoke to ARod from the Oval Office.

"A source close to Rodriguez told @ABC the call with Trump was 'pleasant' adding that Trump was seeking thoughts from ARod about the coronavirus response. Sources say there was no discussion of AROD or his fiancé Jennifer Lopez taking on any official effort," he continued.

Chrissy Teigen and John Legend were so desperate for romaine lettuce following the panic shopping caused by the coronavirus outbreak, that she offered to bake a loaf of homemade banana bread for anyone with the desired goods. As the coronavirus pandemic causes most of the world to stay indoors as much as they can, plenty of people have taken to stocking up their food supply. It's unknown at the moment how long this situation will last, particularly in the United States where Chrissy and her family live, since the country just surpassed both China and Italy for the highest total amount of confirmed cases of COVID-19. As a result of the uncertainty and subsequent panic that the pandemic has caused, many grocery store shelves have been cleared out, causing shortages of tons of necessities, including romaine lettuce, apparently.

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Among her many skills like modelling, hosting television shows, and being heavily "online," Chrissy fancies herself quite the awesome chef, even curating her own cookbook. However, while she and her husband, John Legend, and their two young children, Luna and Miles, are stuck in quarantine, Chrissy is finding herself without some of the key ingredients to make her meals. The Internet personality tweeted out on Monday offering anyone who has romaine lettuce a loaf of homemade banana bread in exchange, specifying that the trade would be made "6 feet apart."

President Donald Trump was told by New York Governor, Andrew Cuomo, that the state needed 30,000 ventilators, but Trump (literally) isn’t buying it. The U.S. president spoke to Fox News’s Sean Hannity over the phone on Thursday, where he addressed the shortages of medical supplies in New York amid the coronavirus pandemic. Trump was not shy about voicing his doubts on New York’s demand for equipment. “I have a feeling that a lot of the numbers that are being said in some areas are just bigger than they’re going to be,” he told Hannity. “I don’t believe you need 40,000 or 30,000 ventilators.”

“You know you go into major hospitals sometimes they’ll have two ventilators,” he continued. “Now, all of a sudden, they’re saying, ‘Can we order 30,000 ventilators?’” The statement comes after Governor Andrew Cuomo had requested exactly 30,000 ventilators for New York State—which has been hit hardest by the pandemic—and subsequently blasted the government for only sending a mere fraction of that number. “You want a pat on the back for sending 400 ventilators?” Cuomo said in a press conference, enraged. He added that tens of thousands of New Yorkers are “going to die” as a result of Trump’s neglect, unless he really steps up and provides the supplies that the state needs. Trump told Hannity, however, that purchasing a ventilator is like buying a car—a “very expensive” and “very intricate” process. “And you know they’d say, like Governor Cuomo and others, they’d say ‘We want 30,000 of them’” Trump recounted. “Thirty thousand? Think of this, you know you go to hospitals that have one in a hospital and now all of a sudden everyone’s asking for these vast numbers.”

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“Look, it’s a very bad situation,” Trump concluded. “We haven’t seen anything like it, but the end result is we gotta get back to work, and I think we can start by opening up some parts of the country.” Trump is already hoping that some Americans will be returning to work as early as Easter (April 12th), a decision that has been widely criticized as premature and irresponsible. Watch the full conversation with Trump on Fox News below:

The Prime Minister of the U.K., Boris Johnson, has tested positive for coronavirus, along with the country's Health Secretary, Matt Hancock. More and more public figures have been coming forward recently to announce that they've contracted coronavirus, and it looks like the leader of the United Kingdom is among them. Johnson addressed his diagnosis in a tweet on Friday, revealing that he has mild symptoms and is currently self-isolating.

The United States is on its way to amassing more cases of coronavirus than either China or Italy in total , as the number of confirmed cases and deaths continues to rise across America. Just yesterday (March 25th), the World Health Organization warned that the U.S. could become the new centre of disease. As of today (March 26th), according to Worldometer, the U.S. is only 428 infections behind China’s overall total: China has reported a total of 81,285 infections throughout its outbreak, while the US has 80,857. Among China’s 81,285 cases, 74,051 people have recovered, while 3,287 have died. There are only 3,947 active cases in China at the moment, a starkly low number compared to the U.S.’s 77,830 active cases. In the U.S., only 1,864 patients have recovered, and 1,163 have died.

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Italy, which was hit hardest by the pandemic, has recently begun to stabilize. Italy has had a total of 80,589 cases at the time of writing, only 35 more than the U.S. The European country, however, has seen the number of new cases decline or remain flat for several days. They currently have 62,013 active cases, with 10,361 recovered and 8,215 dead.

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A major key difference between these countries’ approaches is that China and Italy have imposed nationwide lockdowns in order to “flatten the curve.” However, Trump has yet to invoke such a measure throughout the U.S., instead making highly unlikely promises about reopening businesses and relaxing quarantine practices around Easter (April 12th). Lockdowns could take two to six weeks to take noticeable effect, so if drastic measures aren’t taken soon, the U.S. will be on course to surpass China and Italy’s numbers of cases and deaths.

Kathy Griffin is among the growing list of celebrities that have either tested positive for Coronavirus, are showing symptoms and awaiting a test, or else, are simply speaking out about the matter. It sounds like Kathy Griffin is doing all three of these things, actually.

The comedian who has a long-standing gripe with President Donald Trump, stemming back to when she showcased his severed head, is coming for Trump once again amid her own battle with what is possibly COVID-19. Griffin shared a photo of herself, partially visible with a ventilator mask on, sided with a photo of her view in a hospital bed. Underneath, she shared a screenshot of Trump’s tweet, where he proclaimed that “the United States has done far more “testing” than any other nation, by far!” In fact, this is actually untrue, with the United States lagging behind other countries when it comes to the amount of testing in direct correlation to the amount of people populating the country. 

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Griffin’s issue is the fact that despite she is in an isolation ward for Coronavirus, she is somehow unable to get tested for the deadly virus due to unexplained (to us) rules from the CDC. She writes on her Instagram caption, “He’s lying. I was sent to the #COVID19 isolation ward room in a major hospital ER from a separate urgent care facility after showing UNBEARABLY PAINFUL symptoms. The hospital couldn’t test me for #coronavirus because of CDC (Pence task force) restrictions.”

Pretty scary times. Be safe.

The Coronavirus pandemic is wide-reaching and the effects are devastating, whether it be on people or on our economy. As we all acclimate to our “new normal” many are facing serious questions right now, like: how will the rent get paid this month? As it turns out for the restaurant chain The Cheesecake Factory, it won’t be. If only it was that easy for everyone else.

The Cheesecake Factory’s CEO and chairman, David Overton, penned a letter on March 18 detailing that the popular sit-down restaurant won’t be able to pay their landlords this month, due to closed dining rooms across the country. It’s not only The Cheesecake Factory, but their affiliated restaurants Rock Sugar and North Italia that will not be paying rent come April 1st.

Overton wrote, “Due to these extraordinary events, I am asking for your patience, and frankly, your help. We appreciate our landlords’ understanding given the exigency of the current situation.” 

The Cheesecake Factory employs 38,000 people across the country, while it’s had to close 27 restaurants since the outbreak, and others are limited to delivery and takeout options only. Meanwhile, the company’s stock price has fallen by more than 50% this month.

The Cheesecake Factory issued a statement following the chairman’s letter, which you can read below.

Wild times.

“In these unprecedented times, there are many factors that are changing on a daily basis given governmental regulations and landlord decisions to close properties. We have to take both into consideration in terms of understanding the nature of our rent obligations and with respect to managing our financial position. We have very strong, longstanding relationships with our landlords. We are certain that with their partnership, we will be able to work together to weather this storm in the appropriate manner.”

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As the global economy suffers the impact of this worldwide quarantine, companies and wealthy private citizens are stepping forward to help donate to relief efforts. Days ago, we reported on the news that Rihanna not only provided ventilators to her home country of Barbados, but the generous singer also planned on giving $5 million toward COVID-19 relief efforts. Forbes now reports that Kylie Jenner has followed in Rihanna’s footsteps and has given $1 million to a hospital.

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Dr. Thaïs Aliabadi, an OB-GYN at Cedars Sinai Medical Center who reportedly delivered Kylie and Travis Scott’s daughter Stormi Webster, shared a lengthy post on Instagram thanking the Keeping Up With the Kardashians star for her charitable gift. “I am speechless, my eyes are filled with tears of joy and my heart is overwhelmed with gratitude,” Dr. Aliabadi wrote in the caption of a photo of herself, Kylie, and Stormi. “I made a wish to the Universe to gather protective masks for our brave healthcare workers and today my dream came true.”

She called Kylie Jenner a “Living Angel” and said the million-dollar donation will “buy hundreds of thousands of masks, face shields, and other protective gear which we will have delivered directly to our first responders, as too many masks at hospitals are disappearing before making their way onto the faces of our front line heroes.” Dr. Thaïs Aliabadi then said Kylie was her “hero” and gave her heartfelt thanks. Read the full message below.

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You've been scrolling through endless pages of videos on Pornhub, trying to find that right flick to enjoy for your quarantine self-love session but you keep on getting hit with advertisements promoting how much better the Premium service is. In your head, you're thinking: "Why does Italy get free Premium porn but I don't???" Well, fret no longer. The adult entertainment website has just announced that Pornhub Premium is officially free for all.

"Pornhub is encouraging people around the world to stay home to help flatten the Coronavirus curve by self-isolating with FREE Premium," writes the company on their website. With high-definition videos and an exclusive selection of content for your viewing pleasure, this should simplify your need for superior pornography as we prepare to spend a hot minute in self-isolation.

It all started when Cardi B offered up a heated take on the coronavirus pandemic, theorizing that celebrities have been muddying the waters vis-a-vis proper testing protocol. Especially those who got tested despite feeling relatively healthy, only to discover they've been carriers on the low. After spitballing that some stars might even be paid to make coronavirus announcements, Idris Elba sounded off in defiant retaliation. Despite neglecting to name names, it was clear who his ire was directed to. 

Today, Cardi took to IG to offer a rebuttal. "Sometimes I get on my Live and I be talking my crazy shit entertaining my fans, and people take what I say and run with it," she declares, before clarifying her position. Essentially, she feels as if the public are receiving mixed messages from President Trump and the celebrities who have tested positive for COVID-19, which thus creates further confusion about the proper course of action. "If a celebrity is saying 'I don't have no symptoms I'm feeling good, healthy, but I went and got tested and I'm positive for the coronavirus. That causes confusion!" 

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"People be like, 'I don't know, I don't have no symptoms but I went out this and that day, shit I might have it,'" she continues. "I'm scared because I'm around my kid, I'm around my grandparent. What do I do?" She explains that people who work regular jobs, the middle class, and the poor are simply not getting treated like the ones up here, celebrities. "They're not getting their coronavirus results the next day, that's one."

She then pivots to some of the inherent flaws within the testing symptom, explaining that not everyone has the luxury of self-quarantining in complete isolation -- especially if they test positive. "A lot of people live in small-ass apartments with multiple people," she continues, detailing how easy it would spread to spouses and children in certain scenarios. "On top of that, a lot of celebrities have the luxury to pay thirty-four thousand dollars or whatever the fuck it cost to get tested and treated. A lot of these people don't have that money! Some people don't even have enough money to fucking afford health care!"

"I feel like all this shit, for coronavirus treatments and testing, all that shit, the government should take that and charge that shit to the game," she concludes. "This could have been prevented months ago when they found out the shit it was doing in China. They shouldn't be charging Medicaid, health insurance, none of that shit. This is ya'll fault it got in the muthafucking country." Ever defiant, Cardi sums up her breakdown with a succinct yet evocative caption: I said what I said. 

View this post on Instagram

I said what I said

A post shared by Cardi B (@iamcardib) on Mar 24, 2020 at 4:42pm PDT

NBA Youngboy has often been prohibited to travel or move state-to-state (let alone leave the country) because of his complicated history with the police. The young Baton Rouge native has had his fair share of arrests, which has led to both jail time and probation time. It's hard to keep track of his current situation, although it would seem he's off probation (or at least now has some flexibility) as an hour ago, he shared a video clip of himself touching down in Chicago.

This just begs a bigger question, and that is to say, where is Youngboy going? Why is he travelling to Chicago at a time when the world is essentially entirely shut down? Surely he's not performing. Is it an important studio session? Before the world went into full quarantine/"are we in a movie"-mode, the rapper was spotted in the studio with DaBaby, so he's definitely got collaborations cooking up.

Fans seemed to be equally curious as to why Youngboy was hitting Chi-town amid a pandemic. There were countless replies to his video post encouraging the rapper to "stay safe," and be weary of the Corona. 

As the quarantine continues, Americans may have an end in sight. President Donald Trump wants the quarantine lockdown on the United States to be lifted by Easter, and he chatted with Fox News and stated that if citizens aren't out and about soon, there will be "suicides by the thousands." He added, "We have to put the country to work. You are going to lose a number of people to the flu, but you are going to lose more people by putting the country in a massive recession or depression."

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"You are going to lose people. You are going to have suicides by the thousands," he continued. "You can't just come in and say, 'Let's close up the United States of America.'" It's Trump's goal to get the economy back up and running instead of having people quarantined in their homes. "There are people, they wanna save their business. They don't want to be locked up in some room or some apartment or house and in the meantime, their restaurant's closed, their business is closed," he said. "They wanna be saving their business. I believe very strongly, you're gonna lose far more people by going that way than you are if we kept this thing going."

Easter is about three weeks away, and while April 12 is the target, Trump added that people will still have to exercise precautions like avoiding physical contact and continuously washing their hands. “People get tremendous anxiety and depression, and you have suicides over things like this when you have terrible economies. You have death. Probably and — I mean, definitely — would be in far greater numbers than the numbers that we’re talking about with regard to the virus.” Check out clips of Trump answering questions about the pandemic below

Before being known as a TV exec, actor and one of the most successful businessmen in hip-hop, 50 Cent was surely a controversial figure of his time. References to his past as a drug dealer and the violence that he witnessed became a talking point among politicians globally -- some of which tried to ban him from entering their country. The lyrics that helped him become one of the most successful recording artists of all time also were used against him.

In a recent Instagram post, the rapper advised the young guys in the game from refraining from using gang-related lyrics in their music. As he cited the lyrics off of Get Rich Or Die Tryin' cut "Heat," he explained that the feds are always watching.

"if you say crazy shit on these records they are gonna use it. if you in a gang on the song," he wrote. "When you in the gang when the indictment come fool. LOL."

The caption was written alongside a screenshot of an article from The Conversation that discusses lyrics being used as evidence in lieu of Drakeo The Ruler's case. The Los Angeles rapper is behind bars after the D.A.'s office refiled charges against him for criminal conspiracy and shooting from a motor vehicle even though he was acquitted of murder and attempted murder charges last summer stemming from the same incident. Drakeo's lyrics were used against him for the refiled case against him as well as the first charges. 

The Canadian Olympic Committee says the country will not be sending any athletes to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics unless the event is postponed for one year, as a result of the Coronavirus, according to ESPN.

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“While we recognize the inherent complexities around a postponement, nothing is more important than the health and safety of our athletes and the world community,” the Canadian Olympic Committee said in a statement. “This is not solely about athlete health — it is about public health.”

On Sunday, the International Olympic Committee announced that the organization would decide whether to postpone the 2020 Olympics within the next four weeks.

“We are working very hard, and we are confident that we will have finalized these discussions within the next four weeks,” says IOC president Thomas Bach in a letter sent to athletes. “These scenarios relate to modifying existing operational plans for the Games to go ahead on 24 July 2020, and also for changes to the start date of the Games. This step will allow better visibility of the rapidly changing development of the health situation around the world and in Japan. It will serve as the basis for the best decision in the interest of the athletes and everyone else involved.”

The 2020 Tokyo Olympics are scheduled to begin on July 24.