Month: June 2022

Our favorites are switching things up for Summer 2022 and reactions are wide-ranging. Drake delivered his surprise album Honestly, Nevermind, and to say the OVO hitmaker faced a barrage of pushback is an understatement. There were those who defended the project by giving musical takes and citing Drizzy’s inspiration as well as offering that this is a new era for the rapper, and fans are now drawing sonic similarities to Beyoncé’s new single, “Break My Soul.”

The track arrived ahead of its expected midnight release and has been on heavy rotation ever since. Unsurprisingly, the BeyHive has embraced the disco-house jam will open arms, causing some to remind social media users about just how hard they went at Drake for his similar vibe.

Bey’s latest soon-to-be-hit reportedly hosts writing credits that include her husband Jay-Z, famed songwriter Adam Pigott, Big Freedia, “and the writers of Robin S’s 1993 hit ‘Show Me Love,’ which is prominently sampled in the song,” states Variety. Freedia reunites with Bey on the track after the two took over the world with their smash hit, “Formation.”

“Break My Soul” is a power anthem that has already been given meme takes, especially the line about quitting one’s job. People have joked that they’re ready to leave their places of employment because Beyoncé said so, but let’s all hope no one is quite that dedicated to the singer’s lyrics. 

It’s obvious that Beyoncé’s “Break My Soul” will not receive the same treatment as Honestly, Nevermind, but that won’t stop both hitmakers’ latest records from being spun all across the globe nonstop. The singer’s forthcoming album, Renaissance, is slated for arrival on July 29.

Check out Bey’s latest and a few reactions below.

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Feathers have been ruffled in the ongoing discussion regarding Russell Wilson and Ciara. Former NFL star turned podcast host Channing Crowder recently doubled down on his comments about Wilson being a “square” because of how the superstar quarterback presents himself. Crowder also drew comparisons to Ciara’s ex Future, who is also the father of her eldest child, suggesting that it would be impossible for a woman to move on from the rapper to a man like Wilson.

Crowder faced an onslaught of backlash but stood ten toes down on his statements, and now, Claudia Jordan is adding her two cents. “Russell Wilson to me is a throwback to how Black men used to carry themselves before we got ratchet,” she said. “Before we started praising the lowest of the low. Before we started like, thinking it was cool to be dumb and ignorant and purposefully misspeaking, misspelling, sounding ignorant and dumb.”

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“Before we started praising the lowest of the low. It reeks of low self-esteem as a culture,” she continued. “To say, ‘Oh, this is Black if you’re ignorant.’ But when you’re not, we equate that with being white? So, we’re gonna give that to the white man? Like they have the exclusivity rights on intelligence and class?… You ain’t Black enough ’cause you use proper English?”

Jordan questioned why this is permeating the culture only for Black men to “want to be referred to as a king.” She referenced Wilson once again, saying he’s acting like a king and treating Ciara like a queen, but admonished those who “want to take his Black card from him because he’s not actin’ up, wilin’ out.”

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“Stop doing this to other Black people. Stop making Black people feel guilty for being classy and intelligent, and carrying themselves in a way that we should all be trying to aspire to be.” She also mentioned the “hate” Ciara receives from “Future F boys” who deep down know that their “girl deserves better.”

“We need to stop embracing that.” This one has definitely caused a divide. Watch Claudia Jordan’s clip below.

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There have been major changes in Post Malone’s life and they are all celebratory. The singer-rapper not only release his latest album Twelve Carat Toothache but welcomed his firstborn with his newly-revealed fiancée. Malone recently went on a wide-ranging promotional tour to hype his record and not long ago, he stopped by The Howard Stern Show to discuss both his career and personal life, including his struggles.

Posty spoke about reaching a low point and detailed how his drinking became so severe that he didn’t think he would live through it.

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“It was to a really rough point, and I couldn’t get up off the floor for weeks, ” he said. “It was screwdrivers, it was vodka and it was bodying fifths and trying to hang in there and talking to people who weren’t f*cking there.” Malone added that he’s “responsible now” when it comes to his drinking and said that he received “so much guidance” from famous friends like Justin Bieber.

Post admitted that he was “trapped” in his own destructive cycle, but learned that in order for there to be real change in his life, he needed “to do a lot less talking and a lot more listening.” His fiancée became a guiding light of sorts.

“I met a really beautiful person that made me feel like a human being again,” he said. “It’s the guidance out of the dark into the light. She saved my f*cking life—it’s pretty epic.”

Watch Post Malone detail his story below.

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A ceremony at Duke Ellington School of the Arts in Washington D.C. was held this evening (June 20) in honor of Dave Chappelle, but things didn’t go as most had expected. The controversial comedian was all set for the theater building at the school he once attended to be named after him, but instead, Chappelle announced that the location would don another title: Theater for Artistic Freedom and Expression.

There were several reporters in attendance, including Josh Rogin from The Washington Post, and according to him, Chappelle explained his decision. It seems that an event at the Lourve, as well as his recent Netflix comedy special The Closer, inspired him to make the change.

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Rogin tweeted quotes from Chappelle at the event.

“I saw in the newspaper that a man who was dressed in women’s clothing threw a pie at the Mona Lisa and tried to deface it. And it made me laugh and I thought, ‘It’s like The Closer,'” the comedian reportedly stated. Chappelle previously held an event at the school and was met with pushback over his remarks during the special. Students protested his appearance, and now, the actor said he didn’t want students to look at his name on the building and feel bad.

“The idea that my name will be turned into an instrument of someone else’s perceived oppression is untenable to me.” However, he stands on The Closer. “When you say I can’t say something, the more urgent is it for me to say it. It has nothing to do with what you are saying I can’t say. It has everything to do with my freedom of artistic expression.”

Check it out below. 

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There remains a civil lawsuit against Shia LaBeouf, filed by his ex-girlfriend FKA Twigs, that has caused both entertainers to become hot topics of conversation. The singer previously surfaced with allegations of domestic abuse against the award-winning actor—and she has repeatedly detailed her alleged experiences in several interviews. Twigs has sued the Hollywood star and has cited abuse and sexual battery, causing LaBeouf to respond by saying that “many of the allegations are not true.”

In a new sitdown with GQ, Twigs shares why she decided to go public with her story. “I just didn’t want anyone else to get hurt, and that trumped any way that I felt about what people may think about me now, positively or negatively.”

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It was a time that was difficult for the musician, and she gives herself praise for staying sane through it all.

“One of the greatest achievements of the whole of my life was keeping my sh*t together. It was one of the things that I’m most proud of, that I was able to go on tour and do interviews and stay graceful and keep that calmness,” she says. “I don’t even know if it’s right or wrong that I was able to do that. I look at that as a testament to my upbringing and a testament to how much I love my art and a testament to how much I want to show up for people that bought tickets to my gig, because sometimes it was so difficult.”

“If I ever have children, I want them to know that I stood up for myself, and that’s important. And sometimes, standing up for yourself is messy. Sometimes it can cause more trauma, and sometimes it can be dividing. People don’t expect you to stand up for yourself, but I did and I’m proud of it, and what happened to me wasn’t right.”

FKA Twigs’s full interview with GQ is available now. 

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