Swizz Beatz And More Pay Tribute To Slain South African Rapper AKA

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One of South Africa’s top rappers, known as AKA, was murdered outside a restaurant in the city of Durban.

Kiernan Forbes was killed along with his close friend, the chef and entrepreneur Tebello ‘Tibz’ Motsoane.The pair are thought to have been on their way to a nightclub for a performance as part of Forbes’ birthday celebrations when they were shot.

Forbes began his musical career as part of the rap group Entity before he launched his solo career, winning several awards in South Africa for his music.

He was also celebrated internationally, with several nominations for a Black Entertainment Television (BET) Award in the US and an MTV Europe Music Award.

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Police spokesperson Colonel Robert Netshiunda has told the BBC that the rapper and his friend were walking to their car when they were approached by two armed men who shot them at close range.

The assailants then fled the scene on foot. Hours before his death, the 35-year-old posted about his upcoming album, Mass Country, which is set for release later this month.

South Africa has one of the highest murder rates in the world and recent shootings have been happening more often.

Celebrities Somizi, Nandi Madida, Tbo Touch, Thando Thabethe – as well as United States producer Swizz Beatz – have all taken to social media on Saturday to pay tribute to Fela in Versace rapper AKA. Swizz took to his Instagram story to remember his South African friend.

He wrote: “Damn King, rest easy. One of South Africa’s greats.”

American rapper Bas also paid tribute to AKA: “Damn this fu**in tragic as hell. South Africa, I’m so sorry for your loss. @akaworldwide always showed me love and hospitality every time we crossed paths. Always welcomed me with open arms. Rest easy king.”

The World Is Yours rapper Kiernan ‘AKA’ Forbes’ death has sent shock waves through South Africa, who woke up to the news that he had been killed in cold blood in Durban on Friday evening.

The Megacy, as well as celebrities such as Nandi Madida, Donald, Da Les and Black Coffee, flooded Twitter with condolence messages.

Nandi Madida wrote: “Rest my brother … this hurts. Thinking about your beautiful daughter and loved ones in general. Thank you for the good times and laughs … I always enjoyed working with you.”

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[WATCH] Retired Football Vet Shannon Sharpe Confronts Paparazzi At LAX

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Former Denver Broncos tight end Shannon Sharpe recently snapped on paparazzi for recording him while he purchased a dog at the airport.

The 54-year-old Pro Football Hall of Famer was spotted at LAX receiving a puppy from a dog handler when he noticed he was being filmed.

Sharpe purchased the dog for $10,000, according to X17Online, whose cameraman watched the transaction unfold.

Shannon wasn’t happy with the outlet for filming the transaction. He looked at the camera and said, “Really? Why?” to which the paparazzi replied, “Why not?”

Sharpe then angrily stormed off with his pedigree dog.

Friday, Shannon quoted someone who tweeted the video of the transaction.

“F–k wrong wit dude just recording Unc Shannon sharpe like that?” the person tweeted, to which Sharpe replied: “SOME PPL have become really weird looking for paydays,” with a clown emoji.

Watch the video below.

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Nia Long Reveals Her Youngest Son Is Having A Hard Time Following Split

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In a sit-down interview with New York magazine’s The Cut, actress Nia Long revealed her recent breakup has been hard on her youngest son.

Nia admitted she is exhausted by the life change and assuming the roles of both parents to her youngest son. Long says it’s difficult raising her youngest son without his father, Ime Udoka. The 52-year-old actress split from Udoka after he cheated on her with a Boston Celtics employee. 
Udoka was suspended from his job as Celtics head coach for a year in 2022. Long packed her bags and relocated to the Los Angeles area with their 11-year-old son, Kez Udoka and her eldest son, Massai, 22.

“For the last 22 years, I’ve been pouring out. But at a certain point, you’re like, Woo, I’m looking a little tired,” she says. “Even if I can’t see it, I can feel it. So I try to pour into myself and let everyone know this is a ‘do not disturb’ period.”

“My only focus right now is my youngest son ’cause he’s having a really tough time. I’m sure I have some things that I’m suppressing, but I have to do that to take care of him first. That’s the giving. It’s natural. I’m sure I’ll have to circle back with myself several times to reconcile things. But the one thing I’m trying not to harbor is anger.”

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Charges Dropped Against Terrell Owens’ Racially Charged Neighbor

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Last year retired football player Terrell Owens went live on Instagram to detail his neighbor who policed his driving, cursed him out, and then burst into tears when the cops arrived. The neighbor was charged with filing a false police report for calling the cops on him after a racially charged incident. Now we find out the charges against her have been dropped.

TMZ Reports:

TMZ Sports has learned Caitlin Davis’ misdemeanor charge stemming from the incident has been dropped.

A spokesperson for the Broward State Attorney’s Office tells us the case was dismissed on Feb. 2 — after prosecutors said in documents they “would not be able to prove the elements of the charged crime with the facts that were presented.”

Davis had initially been charged with one count of misdemeanor false reports after Owens said she lied to cops following an Aug. 3 argument they had gotten into in a Deerfield Beach, Fla. neighborhood.

Watch the video below.

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[WATCH] Jay-Z Seen Trying To Calm Down Denzel Washington At Lakers Game

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At the game between the L.A. Lakers and the OKC Thunder, NBA living legend LeBron James broke Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s all-time leading scorer record in front of a host of celebrities, including Denzel Washington and Jay-Z.

Sometime after the game, Hov is seen attempting to gain the attention of Denzel, who seemed to be engaged in an argument with someone else, ignoring Jay-Z’s attempts to get Washington to calm down. From there, Washington doubled back to Jay-Z, and the two began to laugh.

See the entire exchange below.

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DJ Twitch Died Without a Will: Wife Files For Control Of All Assets

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Last year, mental health was a major topic when Stephen “DJ Witch” Boss from The Ellen Degeneres Show died by suicide. Now reports are saying that the multi-talented exec passed without a will.

OK Magazine reports:

Allison Holker has filed for half of her late husband Stephen ‘tWitch’ Boss’ estate after he devastatingly died by suicide — without a will — on December 13, 2022, at the young age of 40.

The mother-of-three has asked for a Spousal Property Petition at the Superior Court of California in an effort to formally request that all of Boss’ assets be put in her name.

Holker is looking to obtain “confirmation of property belonging to the surviving spouse” and “determination of property passing to the surviving spouse,” according to documents obtained by a news publication on Thursday, February 9.

Thoughts?

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Today In Hip Hop History: Remembering J Dilla 17 Years After His Passing

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On this date in 2006, James Dewitt Yancey better known as J Dilla lost his battle with Lupus and died from cardiac arrest in his home in Los Angeles. The Detroit beatmaker extraordinaire was only 32 years old.

He passed away just three days after his 32nd born day, but managed to release his final album, Donuts, to the public, which received its name because of Dilla’s love for the sugar-saturated pastries.

Dilla has produced classic tracks for several Hip Hop legends including A Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul, Common, MF Doom and a host of others.

J Dilla will forever be etched in the history of Hip Hop, with the unofficial “Dilla Day” holiday that is celebrated on his birthday every year in his honor for his contributions to Hip Hop.

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[WATCH] Common Revisits “The Light” Video For Vevo Footnotes

Common Denies Jaguar Wright's Sexual Allegations: 'I Don’t Know What She’s Going Through'

Academy Award, Grammy and Emmy-winning artist Common takes fans behind the scenes of the official music video for “The Light,” in the latest installment of Vevo Footnotes, premiering today. The exclusive content is part of Vevo’s celebration to honor the historic 50th Anniversary of Hip-Hop – more details here.

“Thank you Vevo for always supporting my work, this is dope to be a part of Vevo Footnotes. This is the 50th anniversary of hip-hop, and man…hip-hop has changed my life in ways that I can’t even fathom. I thank God for hip-hop, and thank y’all for celebrating ‘The Light’ and including it in Footnotes for the celebration of hip-hop’s 50th anniversary. Peace.” – Common

In the episode, Common pays tribute to J Dilla, delves into how Erykah Badu influenced the song’s message about the different dimensions of love and shares how, as a Southside Chicago dude, he initially felt uncomfortable about not wearing socks during the music video shoot. Additionally, Common discusses “The Light” being one of his greatest videos, his favorite line in the song and how proud he is that so many people have told him they’ve played the song at their weddings. 

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Today in Hip-Hop History: Kanye West Released His ‘College Dropout’ Debut LP 19 Years Ago

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On this date in 2004, Def Jam Records through the Roc-A-Fella imprint dropped the debut album of the uber-talented producer/emcee Kanye West properly entitled College Dropout.

The LP debuted at number two on the US Billboard 200 chart, selling 441,000 copies during its first week. The five singles that achieved chart success and got him a Grammy award at the 47th Grammy Awards include “Through the Wire” and “Jesus Walks”. The singles “All Falls Down” and “Slow Jamz” charted within the top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100, while the Jamie Foxx and Twista feature also charted number one.

It is West’s best-selling album in the United States, with domestic sales of 3.4 million and worldwide over 4 million copies. It’s been listed among the greatest debut albums of all time and by Time and Rolling Stone as one of the greatest albums of all time.

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Dee Barnes On Dr. Dre’s Grammys Honor: “They Named This Award After An Abuser”

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Days after the Recording Industry honored West Coast Hip Hop pioneer Dr. Dre. former host of Fox’s Pump It Up Dee Barnes condemns the Grammys’ choice to honor Dr.Dre.

Barnes slammed the decision to honor the N.W.A. co-founder with the inaugural “Dr. Dre Global Impact Award” at the Black Music Collective honors ceremony. Barnes spoke to Rolling Stone about the decision saying, “Everybody wants to separate the art from the artist, and sometimes that’s just not possible…They named this award after an abuser.”

Shecontinued, “It wasn’t just a one or two-time thing; these are choices. The first time, it’s maybe a mistake. The second time, okay. The third time, it’s a choice. I’m not saying he is the same person now, though. I don’t know. I’m not around him anymore. I haven’t talked to him.” She even said, “They might as well call [the honor] the ‘Ike Turner Award.’”

Barnes’ gripe comes from an alleged assault by Dr. Dre back on January 27, 1991 when Dre encountered Barnes at a record release party in Hollywood. According to Barnes, he picked her up by her hair and “began slamming her head and the right side of her body repeatedly against a brick wall near the stairway” as his bodyguard held off the crowd with a gun. After Dre tried to throw her down the stairs and failed, he began kicking her in the ribs and hands. She escaped and ran into the women’s restroom.

Dre pleaded no contest to the assault. He was fined $2,500, placed on two years’ probation, and ordered to perform 240 hours of community service and produce an anti-violence public service announcement. The lawsuit was settled out of court.

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