Hip-hop rookie Coi Leray stays dripped out with the fashion. She’s always sure to go online with major outfit goals and show off her style. Most recently, Coi went total gangster mode per the series of Instagram photos. Here’s three shots of the New Jersey native looking suit and bowtie nice. 1. Squad Goals Squad […]
With each new week, it seems as if Lil Nas X has scored yet another magazine cover feature. People believed that the 22-year-old star would fade into entertainment oblivion following the viral success of “Old Town Road,” but he has managed to release hit after hit in the years that followed. As fans await more information regarding the release of his anticipated Montero album, Nas X chatted with Variety about coming into his own while the world watches attentively.
“I think I spent all of the pandemic making music and crying — no in-betweens,” he told the outlet. “For the first month or so, I did not leave my house, and once I did, I was super overly critical of everything I was making. I was letting everything online get to me and feeling like things were over for me.”
With each new release, Lil Nas X continues to live his truth, however, he hasn’t been widely accepted by everyone. His fans have helped him amass new successes at each turn while others like Boosie Badazz have complained about a “gay narrative” being pushed onto children. Critics seem to be the least of Lil Nas X’s worries.
“Honestly, I believe the pandemic helped me get out of the idea of trying to please everybody, and the idea of ‘He’s a cool gay person; he’s an acceptable gay person,’” he said. “I used to see things like that as a compliment, but it’s not. It just means you’re a people pleaser, and they never become legends. I wanted to be even more authentic in my music and let people into my life. I’m much more confident now — in my music, myself, my sexuality, the things that I believe that I stand for.”
Jack Harlow, who added his voice to Lil Nas X’s “Industry Baby,” commended his collaborator. “I think he’s giving a voice to a lot of people and kids who could use one,” Harlow told Variety. “I think the community he represents could use someone who’s succeeding on a mainstream level — where it can feel like, ‘Yo, you can be No. 1. You can be the greatest.’ I really recognize what he’s doing and I admire him. I admired him long before we met.”
Check out a few stills from Lil Nas X’s feature with Variety below.
View this post on Instagram
As the pandemic continues and different COVID-19 variants start to make headlines, there has been a continuous war of words between anti-vaxxers and those who are openly advocating for people to get vaccinated. It turns out, however, that there is a considerable subgroup in the anti-vaxx community that has cited the plot of I Am Legend as a significant reason why people should avoid getting vaccinated.
According to Complex, Time political correspondent Vera Bergengruen shared a screenshot of a New York Times article in which unvaccinated employees at an eyewear store in the Bronx were being interviewed about their decision to not get the COVID-19 vaccine. Surprisingly, they pointed to the Will Smith-starring film as an example of what happens when the masses consume a “bad vaccine.”
Unfortunately, they didn’t quite grasp the plot of I Am Legend, because in the movie, the zombie outbreak was actually caused by a devastating attempt at genetically re-engineering the measles virus in an effort to cure cancer. Apparently, this faulty theory has been going on for a while, as Will Smith jokingly addressed his role in spreading misinformation at the beginning of the pandemic last year.
Now, seemingly appalled by the deep rabbit hole that I Am Legend fans and anti-vaxxers have found themselves in, writer and producer Akiva Goldsman has responded to the absurdity of the entire situation. “Oh. My. God. It’s a movie,” Goldsman tweeted out. “I made that up. It’s. Not. Real.”
Regardless of whether Akiva Goldsman’s zombie film makes you more or less interested in getting a COVID-19 vaccine, you should definitely go to a medical or public health authority for accurate information on vaccines. And if all of this talk about I Am Legend has you dying to watch the 2007 post-apocalyptic thriller, you can currently stream it on HBO Max.
[via]
While it might seem a stretch to compare an imminent super hero blockbuster to a 90s cult-classic comedy, it’s exactly what Michael Keaton is doing. In an interview for the YouTube channel Jake’s Takes, Keaton revealed that working on the upcoming DC movie The Flash strangely reminded him of working on one of his former movies: Duplicity.
According to Keaton, Duplicity’s story — which follows a father who creates clones of himself in order to keep up with his hectic life — shares a lot of similarities with 2022’s The Flash. The actor then went on to say he feels a lot of the challenges he faced while filming Duplicity, such as having to play different versions of himself, are seemingly the same ones Barry Allen star Ezra Miller has incurred while on set:
I mean just did The Flash and there’s a similarity in how – I don’t want to give too much away – but how he has to play against himself and with himself. And we were talking about the difficulty of making multiplicity and the challenge.
While it might seem a strange pull, what Keaton’s saying actually makes perfect sense considering everything we know about the upcoming DC film. It’s been confirmed for some time that The Flash will be the DCCU’s take on the iconic comic book series Flashpoint, a story in which Barry Allen must merge three separate timelines into one in order to save the universe… s.
Honestly, and Flashpoint plot aside, just Keaton’s involvement in the film alongside Ben Affleck’s Batman makes it seem as if there are going to be alternate realities and versions of other superheroes — heroes such as Miller’s Flash — aplenty. While the abundance of Batman movies makes for quite a few Batman variants to pepper in the film, it wouldn’t be shocking at all to hear that Miller will be playing his own counterparts in a very Duplicity-esque fashion seeing as The Flash has had much less prominence in the film. Only time will tell if our speculations are correct, but we’re pretty certain at least in some reality they are.
After years of delays, R. Kelly’s trial is finally happening, and before it officially gets underway next week, the anonymous jury that will eventually decide the disgraced entertainer‘s fate has officially been selected. According to Billboard, an anonymous jury made up of seven men and five women were sworn in on Wednesday, and come next week, R. Kelly will have to face them in his high-profile New York City sex trafficking case.
The twelve jurors were the final selections made after three days of a rigorous screening that was overseen by U.S. District Judge Ann Donnelly in federal court in Brooklyn.
The main concern during the three-day screening was reportedly deciding which prospective jurors could be impartial to R. Kelly’s musical celebrity and infamy. Some were reportedly familiar with the singer’s work on a surface level, citing “I Believe I Can Fly” as the song they’re most familiar with, and several others swore that they knew little to nothing about his long-publicized case. According to Billboard, the jury selection was streamed in an overflow courtroom due to the judge’s unusual decision to prohibit the press and public from watching the trial in person due to COVID-19 concerns.
Opening statements and testimonies in R. Kelly’s New York City sex trafficking trial will begin next week on August 18, so stay tuned for more updates on R. Kelly’s high-profile case.
[via]
YSL’s own Strick has been steadily putting in work, having contributed to his label’s recent compilation album Slime Language 2 on songs “WokStar” with Skepta and “Moon Man” with Kid Cudi. Now, he’s back with a single of his own, enlisting Kaash Paige for the strange, hypnotic, downright original “Bad Girl.”
In terms of tone, Strick and Paige’s duet manages to toe the line between eerie and romantic, an interesting aesthetic that isn’t always seen on songs like this. The instrumental is certainly fitting for a dancefloor with its pulsating beat, but the atmospheric synthesizers bring this one into darker territory. The accompanying video certainly enhances the vibe, beginning with an excellent long-take and featuring a stellar use of color and lighting. Overall, it’s clear that Strick has a vision he’s looking to convey, and “Bad Girl” is a promising glimpse at a potential album sound.
With strong performances from both Strick and Kaash Paige — who adds a new layer of character to the morally ambiguous love story — and a standout arrangement, “Bad Girl” may very well find a cult fanbase that welcomes it with open arms.
You got me on your wishlist
I know you want to rewind
Midnight mischief
Break the rules with me one more time
While next month will mark YNW Melly’s 18th month in jail, all it takes is a short Instagram post for the 22-year-old rapper to rally his fans around the release of his newest project. In an era where a significant number of young rappers are finding themselves with extensive criminal records, none seem to have made the most of it like YNW Melly, real name Jamell Demons. Despite having one of the most gruesome and despicable charges one can get, Melly, or rather his team, have made sure the past year and a half haven’t gone to waste.
While contemporaries who are serving or who have served similar amounts of time– think Tay K, Bobby Shmurda— remain largely off the grid musically when behind bars, Melly has had some of the most successful moments of his career behind bars due to post-arrest releases. The release of Melly vs. Melvin, his debut studio album in late 2019, his viral “Suicidal” collaboration with Juice Wrld, and the TikTok hit “223’s” with 9lokkNine were all career peaks that happened while Melly was behind bars.
Continuing with his determined work ethic, YNW Melly’s upcoming project, Just A Matter Of Slime, will be released this Friday, just a week after the album was officially announced. The project has been teased with prominent singles, though doubts have been cast over its creative legitimacy. After all, five of the twelve tracks have already been released, only two of the tracks are solely YNW Melly, and one track is a remix of one of Melly’s old songs (but more on that below). With no end in sight to Melly’s legal issues, will Just A Matter Of Slime be enough to interest new listeners and keep old fans hooked?
Let’s take a dive into what we know about the project already.
Fans were pleasantly surprised in early February when YNW Melly returned to Instagram after months of silence. His return came with pictures and footage from the set of Melly’s “Thugged Out” video with Kodak Black. By the time the end of the month rolled around, it seemed Melly was itching to put out more music as he posted several pictures of himself with the caption “Y’all miss me??? Who wants a new Melly album??” He seemingly had enough material at this point, but needed some more features to complete the songs, as he ended the caption with: “drop what collabs yall want to see in the comments n Ima get to it.”
“Thugged Out” thus became the first single from Just A Matter Of Slime.
Just weeks after “Thugged Out” and its music video dropped, Melly dropped the eccentric “Na Na Na Boo Boo.” Though the song’s title invites a playful and childlike energy, besides its bouncy instrumental, the song has more to do with violence than fun. The song received virtually no promotion on Melly’s social media but may still shape out to be the most popular single off of Just A Matter Of Slime, with a burst of TikTok fame. When the tracklist was eventually released in August, “Na Na Na Boo Boo” was confirmed to be only one of three solo songs on the project.
Melly took another small break from social media after all the promo for “Thugged Out” died down. However, the Florida rapper hadn’t forgotten about March’s announcement, and finally returned to Instagram in June to further tease a new “surprise.”
“I got a surprise for everyone but I’m not telling what it is. In just a matter of slime,” Melly captioned the post. Alas, finally the album title arrived– though it wasn’t properly revealed to us at the time. Some disappointed fans rushed to the comments thinking the surprise was Melly’s release from jail, though the album announcement came instead.
Just days after YNW Melly announced the “surprise” he had coming on Instagram, Melly was brought up in conversation during an interview with Fredo Bang on VladTV. The pair were friends before Melly got locked up and Fredo Bang still speaks to Melly on occasion on a jail phone. “He in good spirits, he working on his album right now, tryna put an album together and put it out” Fredo Bang told VladTV at the time. And thus, the “surprise” was confirmed. Apparently, Just A Matter Of Slime was supposed to include a song featuring Fredo Bang and the late King Von, though Von’s death occurred before the collaboration could come about. Von was a friend of Melly’s 14-year old brother, YNW BSLime, who saw Von as a mentor. However, Melly was still able to work with the late rapper before his death, with a feature on his Levon James album.
On July 2nd, Melly released the third single from the album, “Pieces” featuring Queen Naija. The track, which was dropped out of the blue, finds Melly distancing himself yet again from the more cutthroat material of the past, and instead, embracing love. The song received its own music video.
Just two weeks later, another single from the album was released, this time featuring YNW Gunna and Hotboii. “Young N**** S***” also received its own music video, though the song itself was met with mixed reviews from fans. The track stays true to Melly’s more trap-heavy and gang-inspired performances.
By the time August 5th came around, it seems Melly had his mind set on a release date. The Florida rapper kicked off his last round of promotion the night of, asking his fans to drop comments if they wanted the fifth single from the album. “Best Friends 4L” featuring Lil Tjay was promptly released the next day, alongside its own music video, which finds Melly tapping into the same romantic energy he displayed on “Pieces.” This marks the second collaboration between the duo, the first being 2018’s “Ready For War.”
With the release of “Best Friends 4L,” almost half of the album was already out, and so perhaps it seemed like the perfect opportunity to drop the tracklist. Just A Matter Of Slime boasts 12 tracks– five of the singles already released, as we’ve just ran through, a remix to Melly’s 2018 track “Freddy Krueger,” two new solo songs in the form of “Loving My Life” and “Greensight,” and a few new collaborations. “Mind of Melvin” featuring Lil Uzi Vert, the intro song to the album, was apparently leaked in 2018 and is well-known among fans. However, new high-profile features like Lil Baby and Lil Durk on “Take Kare” and Young Thug on “Caprisun Fun” are doing their part to build album hype.
Melly captioned an announcement of the tracklist on Instagram “Friday The 13th Melvin coming out to play,” pointing towards a release date of this Friday. Still, many fans took to the comments to criticize the album for lack of new content with many comments along the lines of “Half of the songs already got leaked” and “soundcloud users already got ‘Mind of Melvin.'”
Whether or not Just A Matter of Slime will be enough for fans truly depends on the strength of the album’s remaining unreleased songs.
As YNW Melly would say, only ‘slime’ will tell.
Let us know if you’re excited for YNW Melly’s upcoming album in the comment section below.
Despite what some people might have you believe, the new generation of rappers actually holds the OGs in high esteem. At least, some do — and here, the combined forces of EST Gee, Lil Baby, Rylo Rodriguez, and 42 Dugg pay homage to Juvenile and the Cash Money movement with “5500 Degrees.” A highlight posse cut off EST Gee’s recent album Bigger Than Life Or Death, it was only a matter of time before the track received the visual treatment.
Now, the time has come. Gee has officially dropped off the official video for “5500 Degrees,” directed by Diesel Filmz and edited by Jay Kastle. While it’s not the most conceptually charged clip, there’s plenty of energy derived from the presence and chemistry of all four performers, all of whom appear to be engaged in an unspoken flex-off. Though Lil Baby certainly has the edge in that department being a superstar and all, that doesn’t stop the other three from bringing their A-game.
It’s a solid choice for a single, and it’s generally refreshing to see a street-oriented posse cut gaining new momentum with a reasonably budgeted music video. Any Cash Money homage is good in our books, and while it’s not easy to live up to Juve’s classic, EST and his pals certainly hold it down admirably. Check out the video now, and sound off if you’ve been keeping Bigger Than Life Or Death on steady rotation.
Despite what some people might have you believe, the new generation of rappers actually holds the OGs in high esteem. At least, some do — and here, the combined forces of EST Gee, Lil Baby, Rylo Rodriguez, and 42 Dugg pay homage to Juvenile and the Cash Money movement with “5500 Degrees.” A highlight posse cut off EST Gee’s recent album Bigger Than Life Or Death, it was only a matter of time before the track received the visual treatment.
Now, the time has come. Gee has officially dropped off the official video for “5500 Degrees,” directed by Diesel Filmz and edited by Jay Kastle. While it’s not the most conceptually charged clip, there’s plenty of energy derived from the presence and chemistry of all four performers, all of whom appear to be engaged in an unspoken flex-off. Though Lil Baby certainly has the edge in that department being a superstar and all, that doesn’t stop the other three from bringing their A-game.
It’s a solid choice for a single, and it’s generally refreshing to see a street-oriented posse cut gaining new momentum with a reasonably budgeted music video. Any Cash Money homage is good in our books, and while it’s not easy to live up to Juve’s classic, EST and his pals certainly hold it down admirably. Check out the video now, and sound off if you’ve been keeping Bigger Than Life Or Death on steady rotation.
