Month: June 2021

The In The Heights hype has been intense over the last few months as fans counted down the days until the musical arrived. The acclaimed film starred Anthony Ramos, who also made a stellar appearance in Hamilton, Orange is the New Black‘s Dascha Polanco, legendary actor Jimmy Smits, Stephanie Beatriz, singer Marc Anthony, award-winning performer Lin-Manuel Miranda, and a slew of others as they shared a tale of life in New York City’s Washington Heights neighborhood.

Film critics quickly praised the production for its quality, applauding Quiara Alegría Hudes and Lin-Manuel Miranda for delivering a movie that breathed new life into mainstream musical theater. However, some people questioned why there was a lack of dark-skinned Afro-Latinos in roles that weren’t background dancers.

Actors and activists came forward with accusations of colorism and in interviews, the In The Heights performers were grilled about the trending topic. Earlier today, Miranda returned with a letter to the public where he apologized for the lack of representation.

“I started writing In The Heights because I didn’t feel seen,” he said. “And over the past 20 years all I wanted was for us—ALL of us—to feel seen. I’m seeing the discussion around Afro-Latino representation in our film this weekend and it is clear that many in our dark-skinned Afro-Latino community don’t feel sufficiently represented within it, particularly among the leading roles.”

“I hear that without sufficient dark-skinned Afro-Latino representation, the work feels extractive of the community we wanted so much to represent with pride and joy,” he added. “I’m truly sorry. I’m learning from the feedback, I thank you for raising it, and I’m listening.” He promised “to do better” in future projects.

Check out the trailer for In The Heights and read through Lin-Manuel Miranda’s response in full below.

Those hoping for their turn at fame often create content or any form of art in the hopes of grabbing attention from the masses. However, not all that glitters is gold and not everything ages well, and Lil Dicky learned the hard way that often, your art can come back to bite you in the butt. He’s known for his quirky raps and star-studded collaborations—music that includes the song “Freaky Friday” with Chris Brown. The music video rubbed a few people the wrong way as the pair swapped bodies as Brown sings about not being judged for his past while Dicky roamed around Brown’s home only to locate a gun.

Both Rihanna and Karrueche Tran received restraining orders against Brown in domestic violence-related cases, so some weren’t amused by the “Freaky Friday” take. However, Lil Dicky defended his friend in a recent interview with GQ.

Jamie McCarthy / Staff / Getty Images

“With Chris Brown, we can do one of two things: We can never hear from him again and say ‘I won’t accept any Chris Brown whatsoever,’ or I feel like we can allow him to use his talent for good,” said Dicky. “When I see people react to the song, I really think that it makes people laugh and it makes people happy. I don’t think it’s the type of thing that really is making the world a worse place, on a micro-specific, talking-about-the-song level.”

Dicky also addressed controversy over his video “White Dude” where he gleefully galavants as a White man who doesn’t have to worry about racism or sexism, and his Rap bars match that sentiment. Reflecting on “White Dude,” Dicky expressed regret.

“Even though I knew I was never serious with it and it was just a joke, it just didn’t feel like a joke I was proud of. And I don’t like making jokes I’m not proud of,” he said, adding that he realizes “how insensitive my art can be, but I’m a very sensitive person and I hate offending people. If I see anybody that’s offended by something I’m doing, it really hurts my heart, truly.”

Check out the music videos for “Freaky Friday” and “White Dude” below.

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They may have been spotted hanging out, but Malu Trevejo is clarifying reports that she’s romantically involved with Swae Lee. The 18-year-old social media star boasts over 10 million followers on her Instagram page and has a successful singing career, and after videos circulated online showing that she was spending time with the Rae Sremmurd rapper, she jumped on her Instagram Story to share that not all is what it seems.

“All these salty ass mfs [crying laughing emoji][exasperated emoji] I already said and would say it again any rapper tha hit to say itttt wwith prooffffff lmfaoaooa,” wrote Malu. “No basketball no singer no nun my friend.”

“I could walk in a room full of mfs tha y’all say ***** and I’ll ask them and they’ll say nooooo lmfaoaooaaoa,” she added. “Y’all just salty is ok if u ain’t got no haters u ain’t popping.”  While critics digested Trevejo’s explanation, Swae kept up his post showing the two together as he had his arm wrapped around her.

“Delicioso,” he penned in the caption. Trevejo reacted to the post in the comments, adding a smiling emoji. Fans were quick to react and soon, Swae was hit with accusations of being a “predator” or that he’s “grooming” the teen. Check it all out below.

As fans await any news regarding a possible Friday film, Ice Cube has set his sights on a new role. Cube has previously spoken out about the delays, setbacks, and run-arounds he’s been receiving in his quest to gift the world with another installment to the Friday franchise, but that hasn’t stopped his hustle. The gangster rapper-turned-actor is continuing on with his silver screen career and Deadline reports that he’s set to star in the Kitao Sakurai-directed film, Oh Hell No.

Although it doesn’t seem as if negotiations have been finalized, reports state that Cube may be starring in the film opposite music legend and comedic icon Jack Black. Cube is no stranger to tackling successful comedy roles himself, and fans are excited to see what these two can bring to the screen in the family-oriented film.

Deadline reports that the “story follows Sherman (Black), who falls in love with [Will’s] (Cube) mom, who has only one thing to say about that, ‘Oh hell no.'” Because both artists are represented by WME, this may be a pairing that works on and off-screen to both their teams’ advantages. Director Sakurai is a fixture in the comedy circuit, reportedly working as an executive producer for The Eric Andre Show as well as helming Bad Trip, Netflix’s No. 1 comedy.

Would you check out this movie?

David Becker / Stringer / Getty Images

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They’ve gone down in the music history books as a record-breaking, chart-topping, world touring, hitmaking trio that can never be duplicated, but fans are revisiting Destiny’s Child’s catalog with caution. Recently, social media lit up with jokes after people began criticizing some of our favorite R&B hits. Many people quipped that those tracks are the reason why some of them got into relationship trouble because the songs were dishing out bad advice, and a 17-year-old classic that received keen attention was Destiny’s Child’s “Cater 2 U.”

The lyrics go a little something like: “Let me help you / Take off your shoes / Untie your shoe strings / Take off your cufflinks (Yeah) / What you wanna eat, boo? (Yeah) / Let me feed you / Let me run your bathwater / Whatever you desire, I’ll supply ya / Sing you a song / Turn the game on / I’ll brush your hair / Help you put your do-rag on / Want a foot rub (Yeah) / Want a manicure / Baby I’m yours I wanna cater to you, boy.“

Soon, Gen Zers were calling for the “cancelation” of the song but it didn’t take long for “Black Twitter” to jump in and let them know that wouldn’t be happening. Soon, Michelle Williams hopped into the conversation and while donning a filter, she tapped into her acting bag and pretended to be a woman responding to the backlash.

“I just read that y’all just wanna cancel the song ‘Cater 2 U’ by Destiny’s Child,” she said with a Southern drawl. “Oh honey, you didn’t discern who you were catering to and gave your little pearls to swine, don’t be mad at Destiny’s Child.” Check out the post, as well as a few reactions, below.

In the entertainment industry, image is everything. Whether it’s adhering to a particular trend, style, or weight, the rich and famous often nip, tuck, and inject themselves in order to hold fast to a certain beauty standard. It isn’t just the women who have been undergoing surgery, as Funkmaster Flex recently revealed that he’d heard that artists like Drake and LL Cool J had liposuction, inspiring him to do so, as well.

While his cohorts have been hiring personal trainers and meeting with their cosmetic surgeons, CeeLo Green shared that he’d actually been advised to not lose any weight. The Goodie Mob legend uploaded a post to Instagram where he joked about dropping a few pounds.

Michael Loccisano / Staff / Getty Images

“When I lose my stomach, please don’t speak to me. I plan on acting funny,” the text image reads. In the caption, the Gnarls Barkley singer added, “#lol do y’all know my label and Mgt asked me not to loose weight? They said ‘ noooo it’s your look‘ what y’all think?” The overall consensus from fans was as long as he keeps making music, they didn’t care what he looks like. 

Green’s friend Kandi Burruss got a chuckle out of the post. “[Sideways crying laughing emojis] I don’t know what you’d look like skinny… [shrug emoji] some people just look good with a belly!” the Xscape icon commented. With or without the weight, CeeLo’s talents are unmatched. Check out the post below.

You miss all of the shots you never take, or so the saying goes, and Yung Bleu isn’t about to miss out on an opportunity. The Alabama hitmaker is hoping to be the next “it” rapper in the industry and he’s well on his way to achieving that goal. A DM conversation with Drake resulted in their “Your Mines Still” collaboration, and he’s hoping to take some of that magic over to Nicki Minaj.

Bleu recently linked up with Chris Brown and 2 Chainz to deliver their single “Baddest,” and while fans enjoy the R&B offering, Bleu Vandross wasted no time in firing off a tweet to the Queen rapper. “@NICKIMINAJ I fw u …I’m not just saying this cuz ww should do a song ….even tho we should lol,” he wrote.

Soon, fans were vying for the pair of artists to come together in the studio. Yet, there were those who came down on his just a bit, advising him that if Nicki reaches out in private, he shouldn’t post the DM exchange like he did when responding to Drake. Bleu laid the chatter to rest. “Drake told me to post when I posted,” Bleu revealed. “He said ‘post it so they can no it’s coming’ he hit me up some time before the world knew.”

Meanwhile, Bleu’s shot may have landed, because Nicki “liked” his tweet asking for a feature. “WTF ??? LET ME GET SOME SONGS READY IN CASE SHE REPLY TO MY DM.” Do you think Yung Bleu and Nicki Minaj should join forces? Check out a few tweets below.