Month: January 2022

Lil Durk’s 2021 saw him level up from well-known, mildly appreciated Chicago trap singer to bonafide superstar, coveted feature artist and automatic chart topper. This evolution came due to a combination of quality and quantity, as he dropped frequently throughout the year and delivered exceptional music each time.

As 2021 ended yesterday (Dec. 31), Lil Durk finally saw the fruits of his labor, as he racked up the most hits on the Billboard Hot 100 of any artist this year in any genre, tied with Taylor Swift. According to Chart Data, Durk and Swift each tallied 41 songs on the chart.

Songs of Durk’s that made the list included several from his January deluxe version of his The Voice album, as well as many from his collaborative album with Lil Baby, The Voice Of The Heroes. Along with this, his collaboration with Drake on “In The Bible,” Pooh Shiesty on “Back in Blood,” Coi Leray on “No More Parties” and many more landed on the Hot 100.

As for Swift, most of her placements came from her re-recorded “Taylor’s Versions” of her two earlier albums Fearless and Red. She released both of these revised versions in 2021, and added a few new original songs to the tracklists.

Other rappers to fall short of Lil Durk’s amount of Billboard hits were Drake and Lil Baby both with 33 respectively, Polo G with 30 and Kanye West with 25. Beating out legends like Drizzy and Ye shows how impressive this feat is by Durkio nd how much he has widened his fanbase in such a short amount of time.

Jake Paul has offered to retire from boxing and join the UFC if Dana White agrees to several demands that would improve the conditions for all UFC fighters. Paul says White has five days to respond to his terms.

The terms include increasing the minimum payout for all fighters, guaranteeing that fighters earn 50% of UFC annual revenues, and providing long-term healthcare to all fighters.

JC Olivera / Getty Images

For healthcare, Paul referenced a history of former UFC fighters suffering from brain damage as a result of participating in the sport.

Paul explained in his statement: “You have 5 days to accept and to implement the above by March 31, 2022. Once implemented, I will retire from boxing, enter USADA and agree to a 1 fight deal with UFC to fight weak chin Jorge.”

He continued: “To all UFC fighters – time to take a stand and create value for yourselves and peers. You deserve higher pay, you deserve long term healthcare and above all you deserve freedom. Support each other. I am not your enemy, I am your advocate…who selfishly wants to KO a few of you to make some big bank.”

Check out Paul’s offer to Dana White on Twitter below.

[Via]

Andy Cohen slammed New York City mayor Bill de Blasio during CNN’s New Year’s Eve Live on Friday night, calling him out for putting together the crappiest” four years in his position.

Cohen admitted that he had been “a bit overserved” in a tweet the following day.

Theo Wargo / Getty Images

At the time, he said he was “watching Mayor De Blasio doing his victory lap dance after four years of the crappiest job as the mayor of New York.”

“The only thing that the Democrats and the Republicans can agree on is what a horrible mayor he has been, so sayonara sucker! 2022!” Cohen continued during the broadcast. “It’s a new year, and guess what? I have a feeling that I am going to be standing right here next year, and you know what I’m not going to be looking at? Dancing as the city comes apart!”

Anderson Cooper did his best to reign in Cohen but couldn’t help but crack up.

Elsewhere in the broadcast, Eric Adams was sworn in as the new mayor of NYC. Adams defeated Republican Curtis Sliwa in the general election by a massive margin.

Check out Cohen’s drunken tirade below.

[Via]

Lil Xan called out fans who have accused him of snitching on an Instagram live stream, Friday. Xan had alleged that his former manager, Stat Quo, helped enable his drug addiction by providing him with drugs whenever he asked.

“It’s like half are saying, ‘Yo, thank God you are spreading the word.’ And the other half is, ‘Oh, you’re a snitch now, bro. He didn’t make you do that.’ All this stuff. Like, bro, I’m not a gang banger,” Xan said of his followers.

Theo Wargo / Getty Images

He continued: “I’m a civilian. How am I a snitch? Did I go to court and rat on my gang? I don’t have a gang. You can’t snitch if you’re not a fucking gang member, bro. Miss me with that. I’m trying to help other artists, particularly in my same similar situation, not die or go down the same path and get in bad deals.”

“I’m doing this to help people, but a lot of the haters don’t seem to get it,” he added.

Xan discussed his former manager, earlier this week, and claimed that when he went through withdrawals and it affected it performance, Stat Quo “would make calls” and produce drugs for Xan.

[Via]

The Colts activated quarterback Carson Wentz off of the reserve/COVID-19 list on Saturday, making him eligible for the team’s important matchup with the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday. Under prior COVID-19 rules, Wentz would have been unable to play.

Wentz, who is unvaccinated, tested positive for COVID-19 earlier this week and would have been forced to miss a mandatory ten days. However, as the NFL changed its protocol shortly afterward, the minimum time Wentz had to be held out for was reduced to just five days.

Andy Lyons / Getty Images

Before the team was confident they’d have Wentz back in time, Colts head coach Frank Reich admitted that he had called former NFL quarterback Philip Rivers to see if he’d be available to fill in.

“Yes, I have talked to Philip,” Reich told the Indianapolis Star. “You guys know that. I’m close to him. We’ve talked all year long. I’ve kind of followed his coaching career, talking about his high school team that he coached. I did talk to him fairly recently, and he was on a Christmas vacation with his family. I have talked to him about our situation here, but there’s nothing further to report.”

The Colts and Raiders kick off at 1:00 PM, ET on Sunday.

[Via]

Ben Simmons has been the talk of the town all season for the Philadelphia 76ers. After his shockingly disappointing performance in last year’s NBA playoff defeat to the Atlanta Hawks, Ben wanted out of Philly.

He has requested to be traded multiple times, and has been citing mental health issues as the reason he is away from the team. Sixers fans never want to see Ben represent their team ever again, and he gladly agrees. His fall from a promising young star that would lead Philly to postseason glory to an underwhelming, offensively-challenged player has burned bridges all throughout the organization.

However, as that saga continues to loom and the Sixers look for trade partners, Ben’s off-the-court life seems to be thriving. Over the summer, he was seen being lovey-dovey with British TV host Maya Jama (27) at the world-famous Wimbledon tennis tournament. That seems to have been around the time the couple began dating, and now they have taken the next step.

According to The Sun, Simmons proposed to Jama over the Christmas holiday, and she said yes, After less than a year of dating, the couple look to tie the knot soon.

Sources close to the situation say the proposal went swimmingly, and Ben and Maya are thrilled to start a life together: “Ben adores Maya and has fallen head over heels for her. He chose the ring himself and felt he knew exactly what she would want. Maya said yes and they’re both thrilled. He and Maya have been together for much less time but, thankfully, she said yes. Ben was so excited, but they’ve decided to keep the news low-key and tell only those closest to them.”

While they have not publicized their engagement, sources continued to say they are content with how everything played out: “News is going to get out eventually, but they’re keen to keep it under wraps until the new year. Ben fell for Maya almost immediately and was absolutely taken by her sheer beauty. He tells friends he loves the fact that she has her own career and he’s smitten by her British accent.”

How do you feel about Ben Simmons and Maya Jama getting engaged so soon after they started dating?

[Via]

Comedian Joe Gatto has announced that he is leaving the popular troupe, The Tenderloins, and their show, Impractical Jokers, to focus on his personal life and co-parenting his two children. Gatto is a founding member of the group.

“Alongside my friends, I’ve devoted a decade of my life to building this franchise and couldn’t be prouder of what has been accomplished,” Gatto wrote in an announcement on Instagram. “However, due to some issues in my personal life, I have to step away. Bessy and I have decided to amicably part ways, so now I need to focus on being the best father and co-parent to our two incredible kids.”

Jamie McCarthy / Getty Images

The remaining stars of Impractical Jokers, Sal Vulcano, Brian “Q” Quinn, and James “Murr” Murray, released a statement of their own expressing their support for Gatto’s decision.

“Hi everyone, so here we are,” the trio began. “After all these years together, we never imagined making ‘Impractical Jokers’ without Joe. While we are saddened to see him go, we want to keep making people laugh, keep our relationship working with the members of our team that we consider family. With the support of our fans, we’ll get back to making a new chapter of ‘Impractical Jokers’ in January,”

Impractical Jokers was renewed by truTV for a 10th season, last Feburary.

[Via]