Nao Exudes Positivity On “And Then Life Was Beautiful”

Grammy nominated singer Nao holds all of the accolades of a seasoned R&B veteran at only 33 years old. Though she only began releasing solo music in 2014, the two albums she’s put out since then have received widespread critical acclaim and millions of streams. As her third album’s September 24th release date rounds the corner, Nao is spreading positivity on the album’s fourth single “And Then Life Was Beautiful”.

It’s clear that the COVID-19 pandemic was a tough time for the UK singer, and she’s hoping to help others who are struggling on this new release. The track opens with “Change came like a hurricane/ 2020 hit us differently/ And even though I didn’t want it/ This old life got a hold of me” as Nao describes the hopelessness brought on by quarantine. While the verses of the song act as darker descriptions of pandemic life, the chorus is truly an emergence of light. Complimented by a beat drop and soaring vocal harmonies, Nao refocuses on health and a post-pandemic world with repetition of “And Then Life Was Beautiful.”

Nao exudes further wisdom on the bridge of the song, which finds her advising listeners to stop and breathe once in a while and appreciate what you have.

And Then Life Was Beautiful is set to release on September 24th. 

Check out the track below:

Quotable Lyrics:

It’s the little things
I used to neglect you, used to runnin’ away
I never stopped to see them growin’ (Growin’)
I never stopped to see them grow, oh, oh, oh, (Growin’), growin’

Dwyane Wade Hits Someone’s House While Golfing With Tiger Woods

Dwyane Wade is an all-time great basketball player, and there is no doubt that he will be headed to the Hall Of Fame in short order. After winning three NBA titles with the Miami Heat, he is certainly going to get in on the first ballot, and we’re sure guys like LeBron James and Chris Bosh will be front and center to witness Wade’s ascension to basketball glory.

Throughout his retirement, Wade has been exploring various different hobbies, including golf. If you’ve ever played the game of golf, then you would know that it is extremely difficult and can be excruciatingly frustrating if you are having a bad day.

Dwyane Wade

Jason Koerner/Getty Images for LYFE Brand

Golf can be even harder when you’re trying to impress one of the best golfers of all time. Well, Wade felt that pressure a few months ago as he got to golf with Tiger Woods, prior to the latter’s car accident. In a new video posted to GOLFTV’s Twitter page, you can see Wade getting off a questionable swing that ends with a ball hitting someone’s house. Wade is clearly concerned about what he just did, all while Woods can be seen laughing about the entire ordeal.

Wade’s swing just goes to show that golf is an incredibly tough sport to play, even got legendary athletes like D-Wade. Hopefully, Woods was able to teach him a thing or two about teeing off so that next time, this doesn’t happen again.

Osama Bin Laden’s Family’s Bel Air Home For Sale After Being Used To Film Porn

Tucked away in the Santa Monica Mountains of Los Angeles County, just below the valley and right above the west side, is Bel Air. The expensive neighborhood boasts a ton of elite Hollywood names as residents, and also has the famed Hotel Bel-Air. Osama bin Laden’s brother, Ibrahim bin Laden, has owned an estate there since the early ’80s. However, according to The New York Post, bin Laden is now selling the home for $28 million.

Ibrahim purchased the Mediterranean-style estate for $1,653,000 in 1983, which would equate to about $5.5 million in 2021 after inflation. Now, he is selling the home for $28 million. Bin Laden has not lived in the mansion since 9/11. At the time, he was vacationing and was scared to return to Los Angeles after the attacks. “Ready for redoing, owner has not been here for over 20 years,” the listing states.

Ibrahim once occupied the property with his ex-wife Christine Hartunian Sinay, a Los Angeles socialite. Ibrahim and Osama are related through their father Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden, who had 56 children with 22 wives. The multi-millionaire family was a powerhouse when it came to business with Al Saud royalty.

Since abandoning the home, bin Laden has rented it out. Infamously, the pink-painted mansion has been used by the porn industry to shoot adult films. Although the home has been abandoned for decades, and only used as adult film rental space, the expensive price tag is said to be based on location and size.

The mansion goes on for a sprawling 7,100 square feet and sits on over 2 acres of land. There are seven bedrooms and five bathrooms with a pool outside. There are no pictures of the interior, because of the abandoned state, but the pool appears to be well kept.

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Drake Reveals ‘Certified Lover Boy’ Is ‘Ready’ And Finally On The Way

The wait for Drake’s highly-anticipated sixth album Certified Lover Boy is nearly over. The Toronto rapper has kept fans waiting for the project’s release for the better part of a year. It was originally set to arrive back in January after Drake shared a nostalgic trailer for the release. It was later delayed as a result of Drake rehabbing from knee surgery for than he expected. While a new date was never announced, many hopped that Certified Lover Boy would arrive by the end of the summer and now, it seems like that will be the case.

Drake hopped on Fri Yiy Friday, a show on Sirius XM’s Sound 42 station which is led by his OVO Sound team, to share a new update about Certified Lover Boy. “Album’s ready… album’s cooked, looking forward to delivering it to you” he told the show’s hosts, OVO Mark and OVO Noel. Drake then took a shot at the competition with his next statement. “Certified Lover Boy on the way and that’s for anyone in the way.”

This comes after Drake revealed the project was in the mixing stage earlier this month. “You know Uncle Drake’s on his way back home to mix the album,” he said on a July 9 edition of the Fri Yiy Friday show. Elsewhere, Drake recently teamed up with Smiley for “Over The Top” before signing on to executive produce a documentary about the experiences of Black hockey players with LeBron James, Maverick Carter, and Adel “Future” Nur

You can listen to Drake’s announcement in the video above.

Martine Moïse, Slain Haitian President’s Widow, Recounts Assassination

Giving her first interview since the assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moise, former first lady Martine Moise recently described the events that took place on July 7th at the couple’s private residence.

“The only thing that I saw before they killed him were their boots,” Moïse told the New York Times of the moment President Jovenel Moïse of Haiti was shot dead. “Then I closed my eyes, and I didn’t see anything else.”

Moïse’s elbow was shattered by gunfire and she described being unable to breathe with a mouth full of blood as assassins entered her room. She says she listened closely as the attackers ransacked the room, looking through President Moise’s documents.

“‘That’s not it. That’s not it,’” she says they repeatedly said in Spanish before finally saying: “‘That’s it.’”

Alex Wong/Getty Images

As they made their exits, she says, one of them stepped on her feet while another directed a flashlight in her eyes to ensure that she was not still alive.

“When they left, they thought I was dead,” she said.

In the interview, Moïse echoes the same suspicions that Haitians have been stating since the day of the assassination, expecting money paid to the troupe of Colombian mercenaries who carried out the plot to lead back to Haiti’s wealthy oligarchy.

Per certain theories, names like Reginald Boulos and Dimitri Vorbe have surfaced repeatedly with President Moïse’s disruption of their government contracts as a possible motive. While Martine Moïse did not explicitly accuse either man of the assassination, she did mention Boulos’ alleged intention to run for president. She also added that Mr. Boulos’ bank accounts were frozen before President Moïse’s death due to an ongoing investigation, probing whether or not Boulos obtained a preferential loan from the state pension fund. According to her, his bank accounts were immediately released following the assassination.

Since then, Haitian police have made many arrests, including 18 Colombians and several Haitians and Haitian-Americans connected to the plot. Their most recent arrest of Moïse’s head of security, however, continues to fan the flame of an inside job.

The surviving Moïse says that none of the 30-50 security guards typically posted at the home were harmed during the assassination.

“I would like people who did this to be caught, otherwise they will kill every single president who takes power,” she added. “They did it once. They will do it again.”

Currently, Moïse is expected to undergo additional surgery for her arm. Reportedly, she may never be able to use her right arm again. All the while, she has already informed the Times that she is considering a run for presidency to continue her husband’s work.

“President Jovenel had a vision,” she said, “and we Haitians are not going to let that die.”

Stove God Cooks Gets Gritty On “Run It Up”

Syracuse, New York rapper Stove God Cooks’ career has been on the up and up the past two years. Though he only joined streaming services last year, his 2020 full-length debut Reasonable Drought received positive reviews from prominent music publications and has been circulating among underground circles. Through a number of more recent singles dropped this year, the rapper is attempting to extend the momentum 2020 afforded him. “Run It Up”, his most recent release, seems to be yet another helping of Stove God Cooks’ gritty and Pusha-T-reminiscent style. 

To classify Stove God Cooks’ style as “throwback: would be half-correct. While the instrumentation on “Run It Up” seems reminiscent of the pre-trap era (think Joey Bada$$’s 1999), the rapper brings a contemporary energy and approach to the beat. His flows are highly reminiscent of Pusha T’s signature cadences and often contain similar lyrical matter, though they’re complimented by Stove God Cook’s high pitched and often eccentric vocal inflections. In this style, the rapper dictates aggressively all of his accomplishments while sticking to a theme of producing/smuggling drugs. 

Check the track out here:

Quotable Lyrics:

Paper plate the Maserati for a butter run
If it’s what you say it is I’ll buy another one
One man’s trash is the reason why another one
It’s just a pot to you but that got me like 700 up

Cookiee Kawaii Comes Through With Healthy Dose Of Dance Anthems On “Vanice”

New Jersey artist Cookiee Kawaii has proven to be extremely eclectic over the past few years. She loves to play with her sound and while she operates within hip-hop, there is no denying that she loves to explore electronic music. Cookiee has been known to come through with some dance-infused bangers and with her latest project Vanice, the artist delivers a plethora of high-energy EDM-laced tracks that will have you wanting to get lit at a local rave.

With the opening track “Cookiee & The Monsters (Turn Me Up),” the artist sings over some thumping drums and breakbeats that are complemented with some airy synths. From there, the album progresses into a full-on party album as Cookiee delivers a relentless dose of exciting new tracks. Her voice works perfectly over these instrumentals, and if you’re a fan of SOPHIE, then you will certainly have an appreciation for this latest effort.

If you want to check out the album, you can do so below. Don’t forget to rate the album and let us know what you think in the comments section.

Instagram Head Doubles Down On Why Boosie Badazz Got Hit With The Lifetime Ban

The ongoing Instagram War continues when it comes to Boosie Badazz. Instagram head Adam Mosseri sat down with The Breakfast Club earlier this week, and explained why Boosie’s page got banned from the platform. “It’s a nudity policy. We try to be clear,” he claimed. “You can appeal but if you have too many strikes, something will happen.” 

Boosie wasn’t feeling that response, and struck back with some choice words of his own. “How the hell my Instagram was took cause of nudity? It was took cause of fucking racism,” he stated. However, Boosie later changed his tone a bit. “You done gave everybody they page back, give me another chance,” he pleaded. “Give me my official Boosie page back with my 10.5 million followers so I can help feed my family some more. Do y’all think about the hurt that you cause people’s families when y’all take they page?”

While on Instagram conversing with fans via the “Ask A Question” widget, Mosseri got hit with the question about Boosie’s ban yet again. He elected to answer that question out of a plethora of choices. The question stated, “why won’t you give Boosie another chance with his main account?”

“The only content we try to take off of Instagram is when there’s safety concerns,” explained Mosseri. “You don’t lose your account or get it suspended until you have a lot of strikes. And at some point, we have to draw the line.” 

Here’s 5 Of Soulja Boy’s Dopest Car Flexes

Big Draco stays flexing. From talking his talk to stunting in his videos, no matter where the Atlanta rapper finds himself, cameras are never too far away. With summertime still in full effect, check out these 5 Soulja Boy car flexes. 1. Lift, Not Pull Draco posted on the whip. Doors open, mane. 2. Hop […]