Hip Hop News

The late rapper Big L is getting a street named after him in his hometown of Harlem, New York. 140th and Lenox Avenue, will be renamed “Lamont “Big L” Coleman Way.”

The official Instagram page for the Big L documentary, Street Struck, announced the initiative on Friday.

“It took a whole lot of effort and Support to get to this great point but as an collective we made it happen, The Biggest Thank you’s go out to the Dope 500 plus people who signed and passed the petition around so we could get this street renamed,” the caption reads. “There are entirely tooo many good people that gave this their Support, so with all my Heart I personally want to say THANK YOU!!!! #biglrestinpeace #LamontBiglcolemanway #behindthelenstv.”

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A ceremony for the name change will be held on Saturday, May 28th, on 140th and Lennox Ave from 12:00 P.M. to 3:00 P.M., according to social media posts from the rapper’s family.

Widely considered one of the best lyricists of all time, his music went on to influence the careers of countless rappers. In 2019, Funkmaster Flex remarked, “People can get mad at me for saying this, but he was the best lyricist at the time. He was a better lyricist than Biggie and Jay-Z. He just didn’t have the marketing and promotion. Let me go on the record and say that. It’s the truth.”

Big L was shot and killed in 1999.

Check out the announcement below.

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Lil Baby premiered a new song titled “Dark Mode” during a commercial for Beats by Dre with Memphis Grizzlies star Ja Morant on Saturday night. The black and white, 90-second advertisement was directed by ILLIMITEWORLD.

“Put the whole team on my back, I play through injuries/I leave blood and sweat out on the court and get a victory […]” Baby raps on the track.

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“Ja has been one of my favorite players to watch. We’ve been locked in,” said Lil Baby in a press release. “This is not my first time partnering with Beats, but we took it up a notch with this original song. The world gets to experience ‘Dark Mode’ for the first time in a way that’s crazy!”

The Grizzlies are currently squaring off against the Golden State Warriors in the second round of the NBA Playoffs. The series is tied 1-1 with Game 3 scheduled for Saturday night.

Baby isn’t the only artist to debut new music through Beats by Dre in recent weeks. In April, Diddy showcased a new song off of his long-awaited fifth album, Off the Grid.

The newest track from Baby adds to the already sizable list of singles he’s released in 2022 including “Right On,” “In a Minute,” and “Frozen.”

Check out the new Beats by Dre commercial with “Dark Mode” below.

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Sir Mix-A-Lot celebrated the 30th anniversary of his iconic hit, “Baby Got Back,” on Saturday with a post on social media reflecting on the song’s success. The single was included on the rapper’s 1992 album, Mack Daddy.

“Today…… Baby Got Back turns 30! I’d definitely be lying my ass off if I told you I knew it the whole time,” Sir Mix-A-Lot wrote on Twitter, Saturday. “The song was intended to be a response to (what was then) the beauty standards in America & y’all made it into something far bigger. Thank you!”

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“Baby Got Back” finished as the second best-selling song in the US in 1992, and has remained relevant in the decades since. In 2008, VH1 ranked it 17th on its 100 Greatest Songs of Hip Hop.

For the 25th anniversary of the song in 2017, Sir Mix-A-Lot spoke with Rick Rubin about the making of the track.

“‘Baby Got Back’ was originally supposed to be a slow, serious song, and that sucked,” he said at the time. “That didn’t even raise Rick [Rubin]’s eyebrows. So I sped it up and did it again. When I sent it back to him, he put an exclamation point behind one of his comments and wanted me to take the music out [during] the punchlines, because that’s what was going to last forever. Boy, was he right.”

Check out Sir Mix-A-Lot’s tweet below.

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Sophie Turner revealed to Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show that she shot down Kendall Jenner’s invite to a Met Gala afterparty, after running into her at the star-studded event. The Game of Thrones actress appeared on the talk show on Friday.

“She was at the Met, and I love the Kardashians,” Turner explained. “But I think she’s, like, so gorgeous in real life, and I was so struck by her beauty, and she invited me to … this low-key afterparty. She went, like, ‘Do you want to come?’ And I just went, ‘No, no, I don’t.’ And I’m like, ‘Why? Why do I so this to myself?’”

Matt Winkelmeyer / Getty Images

As for how she ended up spending her night, Turner admitted she sat at home and ate pasta.

“I was like, ‘Could be somewhere else right now, but I’m not,’” she added.

“I can’t quite fathom that I’m actually invited to these things and I’m not, like, a competition winner, you know? So, I mean, every celebrity I come into contact with, I act up or say something stupid,” she explained. “And recently, if a celebrity interacts with me, I immediately shut them down and I’m like, ‘I don’t want anything to do with you.’ And secretly I’m like, ‘Oh, my God!’”

Back in January, Turner and her husband, Joe Jonas, posted a viral TikTok in which that reenacted a classic scene from Keeping Up With the Kardashians.

Turner and Jonas, who married in May 2019, are expecting their second child. Their daughter, Willa Jonas, was born in July 2020.

Check out Turner’s appearance on The Tonight Show below.

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WWE Hall of Famer Tammy “Sunny” Sytch has been arrested on nine charges stemming from a car accident in Florida that left one man dead. Sytch is being held for DUI Manslaughter amongst other chargers at Volusia County Jail in Daytona Beach.

Sytch was reportedly driving on a highway in Daytona Beach in March when she slammed her car into a stopped vehicle at a traffic light. 75-year-old Julian Lasseter, who was driving the parked car, was rushed to the hospital where he died of his injuries.

Sytch was driving on a suspended or revoked license at the time of the accident. She was taken to a local health center after the accident.

“The investigation may lead to criminal charges, which are pending toxicology results,” police said at the time. “OBPD has requested an expedited timeframe on the processing of these samples and the results will be made available as soon as the department receives them.”

The former WWE star has been arrested for drinking and driving at least six different times during his life. Earlier this year, she was reportedly arrested for threatening to kill her “intimate partner” with a pair of scissors.

Sytch was elected into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2011. 

Sytch is being held on a $220,000 bond. If convicted, she stands to face up to 30 years in prison.

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Benzino responded to his daughter, Coi Leray, on Twitter, Saturday, after she defended Eminem. Benzino had called out the Detroit rapper after he was announced as a member of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame’s class of 2022.

“As far as the lil [parrot emoji] who keeps talking about love and forgiveness. Well there’s this word called ‘loyalty’ and a commandment that says ‘Honor thy Mother and Father’ As far as burning bridges, there no bridge bigger than the one you burnt with your own blood,” Benzino wrote, referencing Leray’s tweet.

Jonathan Leibson / Getty Images

The Trendsetter artist had said she’s “about love, equality, respect and forgiveness,” adding “I have nothing against Eminem, 25 years of my life all I know is he a very talented artist and actor! (8 Mile was great) Let’s build bridges and get over them before you burn the bridge and burn with it.”

Benzino continued in another tweet: “One day you will realize that the people in these blogs comment section do not really care about you like I do & your label execs will have you sell your soul to make millions. I LOVE & ADORE my only daughter but I will just have to do it from a distance.”

In response to backlash about using the bird emoji, he retorted: “For all you fartherless half retarded commenters out there, there’s a saying caked ‘little birdie’ not ‘bird.’ I know half of y’all’s dads bounced for whatever reason but I was actually in my daughter life all the way. Go find out where your dad is and hug him & get off my.”

Benzino and Eminem have been at odds for nearly two decades; however, things seemed to be cooling off, earlier this year, when Benzino claimed: “the beef is officially over.”

Check out Benzino’s latest tweets on the matter below.

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