Hip Hop News

Vaccination numbers are high but not everyone has been sold on the idea of getting jabbed. Though the vaccine has been deemed safe by medical professionals, there’s still a growing concern over its long-term effects by many people. Unfortunately, even the hesitancy of receiving the vaccine might not be enough for a few employers who will require their employees to return to work fully vaccinated.

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Per TMZ, three of the biggest tech giants are aiming to have all of their employees’ double dosed up before getting back into the swing of being in office. Facebook, Google, and Netflix are now enforcing a rule that all of their employees must have received the COVID-19 vaccine. For Netflix, this also means that actors on their shows must be protected from COVID-19 in order to return to set.

Google CEO Sundar Pichai is reported to have sent a letter to employees saying that they’ve postponed the full office return to October 18th in the wake of the Delta variant. However, there was another part of the email that read that Google would only let employees who were inoculated actually work from the office. There’s a possibility they can work from home part-time, though that wasn’t addressed in the email.

Facebook is also taking a similar route for their American offices. However, they did address that there would be some wiggle room for those who can’t be vaccinated for medical reasons.

Netflix, too, will make enforcements towards having vaccinated employees work on the sets. The streaming company reportedly told their in-house production teams who work closely with actors and their teams that they would require full inoculation. 

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It was a frightening scene at a Southern California movie theater yesterday (July 27) after a gunman opened fire. Details regarding the incident are scarce, but it has been reported that an arrest has been made. At The Crossings mall in Corona, California, six tickets were purchased for a showing of The Forever Purge. TikTok star Anthony Barajas, who boasts nearly 1 million followers on the platform, was reportedly with Rylee Goodrich when someone came inside the theater, shot them both, and fled the scene.

It is unclear if there was anyone else inside of that particular theater at the time and investigators are questioning patrons who may have been in neighboring theaters. Barajas and Goodrich were reportedly discovered by an employee who came to check on the theater after the movie ended.

Sadly, 18-year-old Rylee was killed in the shooting while the 19-year-old internet star is currently being cared for round the clock as he remains on life support. Police later arrested 20-year-old Joseph Jimenez, and while it is unknown how police were able to track down the suspect, it is reported that Jimenez has been booked on “suspicion of murder, attempted murder, and robbery.” His bond has been set at $2 million and the attack was reportedly unprovoked.

Investigators continue to search for a motive, but right now they state that there doesn’t seem to be one.

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Netflix released a trailer for an upcoming sports docuseries titled Untold. It is set to go behind the scenes on pivotal and controversial sports history moments in a manner which hasn’t been explored before. NBA fans will be excited to see that an episode will be dedicated to exploring the events of the “Malice at the Palace,” a controversial but memorable fight that unfolded between the Indiana Pacers and Detroit Pistons during a regular season game in 2004.

Ron Artest, one of the main individuals involved in the fight, is shown to be an integral part of the episode about the “Malice at the Palace,” being interviewed and sharing his perspective on the situation. In the trailer, he says “I want the story out there, like, what happened, go frame-by-frame.” Other featured stories in the five-part docuseries include Caitlyn Jenner’s career as an Olympic gold medal-winning decathlete, a professional hockey team with mob ties and a supposed tennis match with tennis legend Roger Federer.

Fans will remember that a fight broke out between Artest, Ben Wallace, and players from both teams. As the energy from that fight began to simmer down, a fan in the stands threw a drink at Artest, which prompted him to charge at an individual whom he believed to have thrown the drink at him, which wound up sparking an even larger brawl between players and fans alike for several minutes. Following the incident, several players were fined and suspended as a result of their actions – some were even charged with assault due to the extremism of their actions during the brawl.

Untold is directed by the Way brothers, the same duo responsible for the viral Wild Wild Country Netflix docuseries that released in 2018. They will be taking their talents to the sports world, telling five individual stories when the show begins airing in a couple weeks, on August 10th.

Check out the trailer for the series below and let us know what you think in the comments.

Since the inception of this controversy, T.I. has been lending his thoughts. The rapper has often come forward with arguable takes on divisive discussions in pop culture, and once DaBaby became a pariah over his Rolling Loud Miami remarks regarding HIV/AIDS and gay men, T.I. hopped online. 

Although this scandal has nothing to do with Lil Nas X, T.I. initially stated that if the “Industry Baby” rapper could do as he pleases and live his truth, then DaBaby should be able to do the same. He was soon hit with backlash, including blistering responses from Amber Rose, Bobby Lytes, Pose actress Indya Moore, and his legal foe, Sabrina Peterson.

On Wednesday (July 28), T.I. returned once again with a few more comments, this time accusing the gay community of harassing rappers. “Everyone up in arms and upset about what DaBaby said. I understand people saying that they feel that it’s insensitive,” said T.I. “I think you guys have to understand that on stage, that’s not the place that rappers go to be sensitive and soothe everybody’s feelings. It’s a place to go to have a good time.”

He added that live concerts seem like a safe space and it’s “all done in fun.” So, “if that is the case, why do words cause such a visceral reaction that will lead to someone trying to attack, villainize, demonize, crucify, condemn and like, it’s, that sh*t is like, now you bullying. We all stood up on behalf of gays and lesbians and people in the gay community because we thought it was some bullsh*t for y’all to have to be bullied.”

“But I don’t think any of us did that to feel like you would now have the authority to come and bully us.” The comments didn’t go over well and people made sure to let their voices be heard. Check it out below.

Festival season has officially returned. For most music lovers, being ripped away from summer festivals and concerts was one of the worst parts of the pandemic’s effects. Everyone was stuck inside in 2021 with little to do but as the vaccination numbers increase, it’s looking like most summer festivals will be brought back to life this year.

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Last year, Post Malone was forced to hold off from hosting his annual music festival Posty Fest in Arlington, Texas. The rapper made the announcement on Instagram today, revealing that tickets will be on sale by July 30th with the festival to take place on Halloween weekend, October 30th and 31st.

At this point, Post Malone hasn’t announced any of the guests who will appear at the show but a press release did drop a clue. Apparently, we’ll be seeing a few familiar faces from the “Motley Crew” music video deliver performances. Some of the people in the video included Big Sean, Pressa, French Montana, Tyga, SAINt JHN, Tyla Yaweh, and more. Tommy Lee also appears in the video so it wouldn’t be a shock if he popped up on stage.

Fans can get pre-sale tickets on Thursday, July 29th at 10 a.m.

With the announcement of Posty Fest’s return and his latest single, perhaps Posty Fest will launch alongside a new album from Post Malone. 

With a promise of receiving a new album from Kanye West last week, it should’ve come as no surprise that DONDA did not hit streaming services. The rapper played his new album from top to bottom at the Mercedes Benz Stadium in Atlanta, GA before deciding that he needed more time. Fans waited all day on Friday only to learn from Justin LaBoy that the album was pushed back to the first week of August.

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The good thing is Kanye is hard at work. The rapper was reported to have moved into the Mercedes-Benz Stadium temporarily where he and his crew have set up their studio in a dressing room. It’s an unorthodox method, for sure but Kanye is never the one to take a traditional route. Last night, he shared a photo of his “bedroom” which primarily consists of a mattress and a closet with a few pieces of clothing. 

What seemingly confirmed ‘Ye’s residence inside of the stadium was his brief appearance in the crowd during the Atlanta United Soccer Match. The rapper had pulled up in the exact same outfit that he donned at the listening party so fans were at least aware that he was working laboriously on DONDA.

Mercedez Benz Stadium has embraced Kanye’s presence in its facilities. For a brief moment on Twitter, they changed their name to “DONDA STUDIO At Mercedes-Benz Stadium.” It has since been changed but there are door signs that read “DONDA Studio.” Clearly, the good folks at the Mercedez-Benz Stadium have no problem with Kanye living in their venue for a few more weeks.

It has been a busy day for Hip Hop on social media as artists have continued to weigh in about DaBaby’s heated controversy. Last weekend’s Rolling Loud Miami moment has spelled chaos for the North Carolina-bred rapper as just about everyone has added their two cents. Unfortunately for DaBaby, brands are beginning to distance themselves from him, including BoohooMAN, and adding fuel to the fire is Boosie Badazz who included Lil Nas X’s name in the conversations.

Although Lil Nas X has been pelted with insults and threats over his music videos, Boosie doesn’t believe that he has received the same level of criticism as DaBaby. “Lil Nas X said he wanna perform naked on stage for charity. You don’t f*ck with him like you f*ck with DaBaby,” said Boosie. Then, he issued a threat of his own. “If I’m at an awards and he go up there naked, I’m gonna drag his ass off stage and beat his ass.”

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The remarks weren’t lost on Lil Nas X who took to Twitter to address this unraveling debacle. “I’m starting to think you n*ggas gay too cuz yall stay on my d*ck,” he tweeted. “Some of y’all not even mad that i’m gay, some of y’all mad that i’m gay and still succeeding.” This controversy has seemingly divided the industry as people like Anitta, Elton John, Dua Lipa, Demi Lovato, and others have stepped forward to denounce DaBaby’s comments, while Boosie and T.I. have stood up for the rapper.

Check it out below.