After returning from a 3-year hiatus, Sol Blume has grown into one of the largest annual R&B events in the country while also playing host to an all-female headlining lineup that included Jhené Aiko, Jazmine Sullivan, Summer Walker, and Jorja Smith. The 2 day Sacramento festival saw 40,000+ total guests this year.
Headlining acts on Saturday night featured Jorja Smith and Jazmine Sullivan, followed by Jhené Aiko and Summer Walker who helped close out the festival on Sunday night.
Additional performers included Thundercat, Alina Baraz, Syd, SiR, Lucky Daye, Smino, Blxst, Tinashe, Majid Jordan, and DVSN, among many others. This year’s lineup also feature several acts with local Sacramento roots including Victoria Monét and Yelly.
The Black-owned, Sol Blume Music Festival will return in 2023 with dates to be announced. For more info visit here.
Last night, Dave Chappelle’s onstage appearance last night (May 3) came to an immediate stop when someone rushed the stage and attacked Chappelle. Now, it’s been reported tht the individual had a gun and pulled it out on Chappelle during the performance.
During Dave’s “Netflix Is A Joke” Festival, a man managed to get onstage and tackle Chappelle, slamming him onto the stage. Authorities also say that the man had a gun in his hand as he rushed the comedian in stage, but the gun was not real.
A crowd of people ran after the assailant, who eventually caught up to him “and beat the crap out of him, stomping on him.” Eyewitnesses say Busta Rhymes and Jamie Foxx even got in a couple of blows on the assailant.
The attacker was taken away on a stretcher and charged with assault with a deadly weapon.
Dave continued with his act, telling the audience, “I don’t know if that was part of the show. I grabbed the back of that n***** head, his hair was spongy, absorbent.”
Chris Rock ironically was one of Chappelle’s guests, who after the attack, came on stage, hugged Chappelle and said, “Was that Will Smith?”
Grammy Award winner Rosalía wore Givenchy Haute Couture, designed by Matthew M. Williams, to the 2022 Costume Institute Benefit at The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
The 2022 Met Gala’s theme celebrated America: An Anthology of Fashion last night on May 2nd, in New York, NY.
Rosalía arrived in style donning an ivory long dress in silk tulle embellished with G signature jewelry, fully embroidered with crystals, beads and silk ruffles layered with standing tulle, worn with matching embroidered gloves, ivory embroidered Kenny bag, ivory leather platform high boots, silver G earrings inserted with crystals and black matte signature G sunglasses.
The WNBA is planning to honor Phoenix Mercury center Brittney Griner with a floor decal this season.
Griner has been detained in Russia since mid-February after customs officials say they found hashish oil in her luggage at an airport near Moscow. She has a hearing set for May 19. The charges Griner faces could carry a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.
The decal will feature Griner’s initials along with her number 42 and will appear on the home court of all 12 WNBA teams. Griner is coming off a season in which she led the Mercury to the WNBA Finals where they lost to the Chicago Sky.
WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert shared with the Associated Press,
“As we begin the 2022 season, we are keeping Brittney at the forefront of what we do through the game of basketball and in the community. We continue to work on bringing Brittney home and are appreciative of the support the community has shown BG and her family during this extraordinarily challenging time.”
The Mercury opens their season at home Friday night against the Las Vegas Aces. The center will still receive her full salary at almost $228,000.
Quavo assists single moms with a $150,000 donation to the Tender Foundation.
Migos’ Quavo and apparel brand, Legends presented their 2022 annual Huncho Day celebrity charity football games last Saturday April 30, at FCF Campus at Pullman Yards. Cam Newton, Quavo, Offset, 2 Chainz, Tyreek Hill, Mecole Hardman, Richie LeCounte, and more suited up. The games streamed live with play-by-play commentary courtesy of Greg Mescall and Ryan Shazier.
Huncho Day remains close to Quavo’s heart. “This is my favorite day of the year. There’s nothing better than getting together with friends and family and playing a little ball for the community.”
The “Flip The Switch” rapper played quarterback in high school and has found a way to give back to the youth in Atlanta. This year, Quavo upped the ante and donated $150,000 to the Tender Foundation in support of single moms.
Jaycina Almond, Founder of Tender Foundation said, “At Tender, we’re bridging the financial gap and providing a safety net for single moms living on the margins here in Atlanta. Our core programming consists of emergency bill pay assistance with rent, utilities, and childcare; providing Grocery store gift cards and operating a diaper bank. Now, with Quavo’s help, we’re able to pilot a new initiative called The Bridge.”
The Bridge is a guaranteed income program founded on the premise that every mother deserves the opportunity to parent without the stress of survival. The Bridge is a step toward establishing equity and disrupting generational poverty for Black women and their families.
Megan Thee Stallion is celebrating an honor in Houston, Texas.
Yesterday was “Megan Thee Stallion Day” in Houston. The rap star received a key to the city from Mayor Sylvester Turner, who thanked her for her philanthropic efforts. “She assisted people after the 2021 winter storm, during the pandemic, and helped those struggling with homelessness.”
Mayor Turner also praised the ‘Big Ole Freak” rapper for using her talents to help the community while living life on her own terms. “I look forward to watching her grow as an artist and humanitarian.”
Megan says the “Megan Thee Stallion Day” honor is awesome because May 2nd is the birthdays of her late mother and grandmother.
In February, Meg launched the Pete and Thomas Foundation in honor of her late parents on her birthday. For more info visit here.
Congratulations to our Founder, @theestallion , on receiving the Key to the City of Houston on Sunday, May 1, 2022 .
Rolling Stone reports that after ten hours of deliberations, Blac Chyna lost her $100 million defamation case against the Kardashian clan just days after her case against Kim Kardashian was dropped.
Chyna filed her case against the Kardashians back in 2017 when she claimed the family made defamatory remarks about her and conspired to get her and Rob Kardashian’s reality show canceled. The trial lasted several weeks, with Kylie Jenner taking the stand and testifying about Chyna’s violent tendencies towards her brother.
Chyna denied the accusations, even alleged she was playing when a situation was brought up about her wrapping a phone cord around Rob’s neck and pointing a gun at his head. Tokyo Toni, Blac Chyna’s mother, was thrown out of the courtroom for her statements about the Kardashian family. Kris, Khloe, Kim, Kylie, Rob, and Kris’s boyfriend, Corey Gamble, testified during the trial.
Ultimately, the jury decided to rule in favor of the Kardashian-Jenners, and Blac Chyna will not receive any damages due to the case.
A foundation formed by the mother of late rapper Juice WRLD is launching a mental health campaign. Carmela Wallace created the Live Free 999 Foundation in the rapper’s honor, after he passed away in late 2019.
With Mental Health Awareness kicking off, the nonprofit launched an initiative called the 999 Stories of Mental Health campaign, encouraging those affected to share stories via social media.
A merchandise collection will also be dropping, with all the proceeds going towards organizations treating mental health.
Live Free 999 Foundation’s mission is to support programs that provide preventative measures and positive avenues to address mental health challenges and substance dependency. For more info visit here.
According to several news reports, Florida rapper Rod Wave was arrested and taken into custody based on a warrant from Osceola County on charges of “battery by strangulation”.
Wave, whose real name is Rodarius Marcell Green, was detained yesterday (May 2) by St. Petersburg Police and the entire ordeal with the cops was captured on video, which has circulated on the internet. Wave can be heard saying, “This is lame, this is why I don’t even come here,” before the end of the video.
The arrest record states that Wave is currently awaiting trial, but it does not indicate whether he’s still in custody.
TheSource.com will update this story as more details develop.
The pandemic hit at an unfortunate time for the Compton leg of the Black Ink Crew franchise. As viewers were able to get introduced to the cast of Compcon artists, a halt in production, and the entire world, delayed more of the stories the shop led by iamCompton.
Now, Black Ink Crew: Compton is back in season two, allowing us to learn more about the hottest Black artists on the nation’s west coast. iamCompton led that group to Atlanta to take on their counterparts from the Chicago and New York Shops.
While on hand in Atlanta, iamCompton spoke with The SOURCE about owning the first tattoo shop in Compton, gearing up for the “Battle of the Tattoo Titans,” and more.
As a fan of Black Ink, I feel like the pandemic screwed me over. Just as we got introduced to you all, the story got cut short. How was it being a shop owner and continuing business right after the initial stages of opening the shop and then the pandemic?
Honestly, it was a struggle as a first-time shop owner. Trying to do something in Compton, being the first tattoo shop ever in Compton. It was a lot of pressure on me. And then when the pandemic hit, it was like, oh man, I got this far and now I got to somehow keep it above water. I just took it one day at a time and thank God that I’m here now.
Do you feel there is a never-ending set of roadblocks and challenges?
Oh for sure. Obstacles come left and right through life it’s it is a rollercoaster, but I’ll never stop. Might ease out for a while but that’s, that’s part of life going through those hurdles.
What have you learned about yourself as a person, but also a business owner, and then a tattoo artist?
Don’t take nothing personal. It’s just business. Don’t mix emotions with business.
When you got here to Atlanta and saw the setup for the competition. How did you feel?
That was exciting. I was like, oh, hold up. We important [laughs]. Y’all took the time out to do something for us. You get kind of numb when you been working for a long time and tattooing a lot of people or to see somebody spend $1,500 on a pair of shoes or $5,000 on a bag, but they didn’t want to pay for $500 tattoo at the most. It throws you off and you feel like you are not doing enough and it’s a difficult job. Now, everything changed and now people appreciate it a little more for art. And even the things like the NFTs and stuff, the artists being more appreciated, more valuable. And that’s what I felt walking out like, oh, y’all value us. So it was excitement, a good feeling.
When you first heard about this battle and everything coming together for it, placing you in the same arena with the other two shops and on this grand stage, what was your initial thoughts?
I thought it was dope. I thought it was a great idea. I’ve been waiting to be a part of something cool like that. I didn’t know what it was, but that was it. You can take this all over the world and have fun with it. It’s the culture and it’s a part of my brand. I done dreamed about this environment, not knowing it, you know what I’m saying? I can do what I love.
This is a family environment, but at the same time, there’s a level of competitiveness that comes into it. How did you prepare yourself and your team for this?
I think they got a lot of competitive nature. I wasn’t concerned about them competing, but as far as coming and being prepared and having everything you need on a spot and then like do this right now and figure it out. You got this amount of time with the pressure for cameras and, and stuff like that. It’s difficult. But we deal with that anyway. So I think it’s dope. It’s all fun. It’s all up. At the same time, you can display your talent. They get to show their skills under pressure and see what obstacles they overcome at the end of the day. We all get a chance to use the platform to show people what we do.
Reflecting back on season one, was there a big lesson you would take a way from it?
I think I would have did the tattoo shop thing a couple of years before the show. It’s still cool that I did it the way I did it. Cause I showed the process of starting and building it from scratch. You got to see the struggles and then there you gonna be at two years from now.
You’re competing against Ryan and Ceasar. You are a boss in your own right. How do you feel coming into it? Do you look at yourself as the underdog or the upstart that is taking on the guys who have had more TV time?
Honestly, when I played football I learned to focus on your assignment and what you are supposed to do. Now me, one on one, I play receiver I’m on that island. It’s a DB trying to stop me. I’m not even worried about you. I’m calm. I know my assignment. I know what I need to do. As long as I can get to the zone, I’m good. Take your time. Be patient, keep calm. Do the assignment, get in the zone. Once you in that zone, your talent going to speak. Your art is going to speak. And this is what we do.
You art ranges from tattooing to music. Where do you draw the inspiration for your music?
I’m speaking on situations that I’m been through. I seen my life flash before my eyes and I’ve been robbed and woke up to some gun in my face. I done seen life from a different perspective. So all of this is fun. I just take it one day at a time.
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