Month: September 2021

As cannabis legalization spreads across the country and the conversation surrounding federal legalization heats up, it must not be forgotten that tens-of-thousands of people are behind bars for marijuana-related offenses. Despite the plant being legalized for recreational sale and consumption, there are so many people imprisoned for what people are now freely doing on the outside.

California, the United States’ quasi-guide on cannabis legalization, is taking steps to rectify that issue. 

Announcing that “roughly 60,000 marijuana convictions” were to be dismissed, the Los Angeles Times reported, Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón said this was part of the state’s continued effort to “undo what some reform advocates consider the damage caused by narcotics enforcement carried out before Californians voted to legalize marijuana.” 

David McNew/Getty Images

“Over 100,000 Angelenos have been impacted by this war on marijuana after the voters told us they overwhelmingly wanted to stop this,” Gascón continued. “We want to basically erase the harm.” 

This movement to dismiss nearly 60,000 marijuana convictions comes on the heels of District Attorney Jackie Lacey’s movement to dump 66,000 marijuana convictions in 2020. 

Gascón, who “sought the dismissal of nearly 9,000 felony and misdemeanor marijuana convictions,” while working as San Francisco’s top prosecutor, did not make clear how far back these dismissals reached, but it was reported that he had worked to dismiss cases dating back to the mid-70s also while working in the Bay Area. 

The Los Angeles Times also reported that 20,000 of these newly dismissed cases “under Gascón’s Monday order were for felony possession or cultivation of marijuana,” and that “the remainder were misdemeanors filed in jurisdictions that do not have their own city attorney’s offices.” 

A breakthrough announcement for the State of California, it will be interesting to see if this type of action takes place in any other states across the country. Legal in just under 20 states across the country, cannabis and the cannabis industry are growing in popularity and it is only right that those with felony or misdemeanor arrests for cannabis-related infractions see their records expunged for what is now legal.

What do you think of LA County’s move to expunge 60,000 marijuana convictions? Let us know in the comments. 

[Via]

As cannabis legalization spreads across the country and the conversation surrounding federal legalization heats up, it must not be forgotten that tens-of-thousands of people are behind bars for marijuana-related offenses. Despite the plant being legalized for recreational sale and consumption, there are so many people imprisoned for what people are now freely doing on the outside.

California, the United States’ quasi-guide on cannabis legalization, is taking steps to rectify that issue. 

Announcing that “roughly 60,000 marijuana convictions” were to be dismissed, the Los Angeles Times reported, Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón said this was part of the state’s continued effort to “undo what some reform advocates consider the damage caused by narcotics enforcement carried out before Californians voted to legalize marijuana.” 

David McNew/Getty Images

“Over 100,000 Angelenos have been impacted by this war on marijuana after the voters told us they overwhelmingly wanted to stop this,” Gascón continued. “We want to basically erase the harm.” 

This movement to dismiss nearly 60,000 marijuana convictions comes on the heels of District Attorney Jackie Lacey’s movement to dump 66,000 marijuana convictions in 2020. 

Gascón, who “sought the dismissal of nearly 9,000 felony and misdemeanor marijuana convictions,” while working as San Francisco’s top prosecutor, did not make clear how far back these dismissals reached, but it was reported that he had worked to dismiss cases dating back to the mid-70s also while working in the Bay Area. 

The Los Angeles Times also reported that 20,000 of these newly dismissed cases “under Gascón’s Monday order were for felony possession or cultivation of marijuana,” and that “the remainder were misdemeanors filed in jurisdictions that do not have their own city attorney’s offices.” 

A breakthrough announcement for the State of California, it will be interesting to see if this type of action takes place in any other states across the country. Legal in just under 20 states across the country, cannabis and the cannabis industry are growing in popularity and it is only right that those with felony or misdemeanor arrests for cannabis-related infractions see their records expunged for what is now legal.

What do you think of LA County’s move to expunge 60,000 marijuana convictions? Let us know in the comments. 

[Via]

Since Donald Glover brought the mainstream’s attention to the concept of “Florida Man,” it seems as if everything that happens below the panhandle turns into another viral episode of Florida Man doing Florida Man things.

Fortunately, that’s not a bad thing all.

Every video that comes out of Florida features something you’ve never seen (unless you’re from Florida) and leaves your jaw pretty close to the floor.

The latest instance of Florida Man doing his Florida thing came via Twitter and a video of a man, rocking Adidas slides, going toe-to-toe with an alligator in front of his garage. 

Bruce Bennett/Getty Images

The Florida Man, equipped with just a tipped-over trash can, inches towards the gator until the animal’s head is inside the can and that’s where the mayhem ensued. Upon trying to lift the trash can to capture the gator, the lid falls and hits the gator in the head. The gator lurches forward towards Florida Man but ends up all the way in the trash can. 

Using an Adidas slide as a sort-of lever, the man lifts the trash can, leaving the gator’s tail trashing about until finally slipping all the way into the darkness. 

A daring alligator capture, it looked like this guy had done this before. A three-pronged thought process including deciding to capture a gator, deciding to use a trash can to capture the gator and actually capturing the prehistoric beast seemed like it was second nature for him and he executed the plan to perfection. 

The only complaint here is that it looks a little like this Floridian was rocking Nike socks with those Adidas slides but when an alligator comes knocking, you gotta do what you gotta do. 

Check out how Twitter felt about this Florida man’s daring alligator capture and let us know what you think in the comments below. 

Lil Nas X has been turning heads and sparking debates all year long with his sexually charged music videos, and like them or not, they have been bringing an unapologetic homosexual perspective to a cishet male-dominated field. The public discourse around Lil Nas X’s lead-up to MONTERO has been so intense that it’s easy to forget that the “Industry Baby” artist has only publicly expressed his sexuality for just two years.

According to Complex, the artist behind one of the year’s biggest singles, “MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name),” recently caught up with XXL to discuss his recent commercial and critical success as well as his responsibility to bring LGBQT+ representation to Hip-Hop.

Cindy Ord/Getty Images

Lil Nas X reveals that “Old Town Road” is what actually inspired him to come out during the summer of 2019, while his country-rap single still had a chokehold on the music industry.

“I don’t think I would have ever came out,” the Georgia-bred artist explained. “I honestly felt like it was kind of my duty. Especially if I wanted to move forward. And [with] what I was doing, because authenticity is very real, and I feel like people can see right through that. And that’s a part of me.”

“I used to ‘like’ comments where people were like, ‘Oh, I like him, because he’s not all in your face about it.’ And then I realized kind of what that was,” Lil Nas X continued. “It’s kind of like when people say, ‘Oh, I have a Black friend,’ and that kind of sits on everything that have to do with their Black history and culture, whatnot. I’m kind of like, I’m not that person, you know?” 

In other Lil Nas X news, the first-week sales numbers for MONTERO are officially in, and you can also check out HNHH‘s review of his debut album here.

[via]

50 Cent’s television empire recently expanded to include the recently-premiered BMF, a series documenting the rise of the Black Mafia Family founded by Demetrius “Big Meech” Flenory and Terry “Southwest T” Flenory.

Billed as his most ambitious endeavor yet, Fif previously claimed that BMF would surpass Power in scope and reach. With early reviews of the premiere already looking positive, Fif took a moment to reflect on the successful groundwork he’s laid so far.

 Prince Williams/FilmMagic/Getty Images

Citing an article titled “50 Cent’s Promising TV Empire Shouldn’t Be Overlooked,” with artwork that seemingly draws parallels between BMF and The Godfather, Fif added his two cents in the accompanying caption. “It’s just diversity, My projects will be #1 before we can change the hearts and minds of people who are set in their ways,” he notes, likely alluding to his apparent inability to receive proper recognition from The Emmy Awards and similar establishments. 

Despite the Power was never nominated for an Emmy Award, a Screen Actors Guild award, or a Golden Globe, Fif has seemingly gained further inspiration from the snubs and channeled his defiance into motivation. It’s certainly not the first time Fif has been overlooked — lest we forget the time he lost “Best New Artist” at the 2004 Grammy Awards after blessing the game with Get Rich Or Die Tryin, a pain he still carries to this day.

Check out 50’s latest TV flex below, spurred on by the recent release of BMF, which airs new episodes every Sunday on Starz. Have you checked it out? 

21 Savage nearly humbled himself during the latest stop of J. Cole’s The Off-Season tour, catching himself from what would have been a hard fall as he performed “a lot” with the North Carolina-based rapper. 

The Atlanta resident posted a video of himself performing on J. Cole’s tour, joining the rapper on stage for their collaborative song “a lot.” When he ran near the front of the stage though, Savage lost his footing and nearly wiped out, sharing the moment on Instagram.

Steve Granitz/Getty Images

“This the closest I’ll ever be to falling off,” joked Savage, posting the video of him tripping over some wiring and catching himself a couple of times before regaining his balance. 

Rappers and producers have been reacting to the near wipe-out moment, with Drake leading the charge, complimenting Savage on his form. “Agile,” he simply wrote in the comments. Pi’erre Bourne and G Herbo also chimed in, leaving laughing emojis in the forum. SG Tip, one of Savage’s close friends, wrote, “Man you slow as hell.” And YNW Bortlen, who is YNW Melly’s co-defendant in his double murder case, commented, “Boa yo ass almost ate soo much paint.”

Thankfully, Savage didn’t hit the floor because at the speed he was going, he could have lost some teeth had he fallen flat on his face. Check out his save below.

In other news, the rapper will be on the upcoming episode of DJ Akademiks’ new podcast Off The Record, where he has already gone viral for his comments about Drake and Future, as well as Kanye West’s DONDA.

Instagram

The last month has been a rollercoaster for Wendy Williams. 

Starting with the initial announcement that The Wendy Williams Show would return for its 13th season on September 20, Williams almost immediately cancelled all promotional activities for the show, citing “ongoing health issues,” as the reason for the cancellation. Days later, it was announced things had taken another turn for the worst. 

Ilya S. Savenok/Getty Images

Williams, despite previous, public criticism of the COVID-19 vaccine, was reportedly suffering from a breakthrough COVID case and was forced to move her show’s Season 13 premiere date from the 20th to October 4. That same day, however, it was revealed that Williams had been hospitalized and was undergoing voluntary psych evaluations.

The talk show host has been open and honest about her struggles with alcoholism and addiction in the past and it was rumored that Williams was relying heavily on alcohol. Calling Williams “an alcoholic,” a source close to the situation told The Sun that “Wendy drinks every day,” and that “she doesn’t need a talk show, she needs help.” 

Yesterday, however, The Wendy Williams Show official Instagram page announced that Williams would be back in her customary purple chair on Monday, October 4 to kick off the show’s new season. 

Whether or not the daytime talk show host will address anything that has happened in the last couple of weeks is yet to be seen but, knowing Wendy Williams, there will be an acknowledgement of her battle with COVID and subsequent hospitalization.

Will you be tuned in when Wendy kicks off Season 13 next Monday? Let us know in the comments. 

[Via]

Meek Mill is set to drop off his brand new album Expensive Pain on Friday, October 1st — his first full-length release since delivering Championships in 2018.

A few weeks back, the Philadelphia rapper slash activist revealed the project’s NSFW artwork – painted by artist Nina Chanel Abney — which ultimately led to the post being “age-restricted” by Instagram. Still, Meek’s colorful cover choice was certainly striking, and today it has been reported that a variant of the artwork has been popping up in several different United States cities.

Taylor Hill/WireImage/Getty Images

A recent post from Meek Mill details the sudden emergence of Expensive Pain marketing showcases them lining buses, boats, billboards, trains, murals, and more. Locations named are, at this moment, Miami, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, New York, and Atlanta — you can check them out for yourself below, as per Meek’s page.

As for Expensive Pain, billed by Meek himself as for “motivational purposes only,” it would appear that we’ve already heard a few tracks from the upcoming project — namely “Sharing Locations” with Lil Baby and Lil Durk and “Blue Notes 2” with Lil Uzi Vert. It will be interesting to see what Meek has been cooking up, as his previous effort was arguably his most critically acclaimed album yet.  

Check out some glimpses at Meek’s pre-release album campaign below, and sound off in the comments if you’re excited to hear Expensive Pain in full.