Hip Hop News

Months ago, Halsey took to Instagram to share her pronouns: she/they. The singer reportedly later explained the decision. “For those asking RE: my updated Instagram bio, I am happy with either pronouns,” she said at the time. “The inclusion of ‘they,’ in addition to ‘she,’ feels most authentic to me. If you know me at all you know what it means to me to express this outwardly. Thanks for being the best.”

While both “she” and “they” are acceptable to Halsey, an issue regarding pronouns arose following Allure‘s recent cover feature interview with the Popstar. After it was released, Halsey took to Twitter to call out the magazine for only using “she/her” pronouns throughout.

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“Hey @Allure_magazine. First your writer made a focal point in my cover story my pronouns and you guys deliberately disrespected them by not using them in the article,” Halsey wrote in a since-deleted tweet. During their interview, the singer also spoke about being a “White passing” biracial person. 

“A lot of people try to write off a lot of my experiences because I present white,” Halsey told Allure. “No matter how many tears I’ve shed because I’m not connecting with my family or my culture in a way that I would like too, or because the waitress thinks I’m the babysitter when I go out with my family, none of that would compare to the tears that I would shed for presenting phenotypically Black and the disadvantages and the violence that I would face because of that.”

However, Halsey didn’t appreciate how her comments about her background were presented in the article or on social media. “Then your admin bastardized a quote where I discuss the privilege of being the white child of a black parent,” they said. “[And] Intentionally used a portion that was the antithesis of the point I was trying to make. All of this ironically on the tails of an article where I give your author the intimate admission that I hate doing press because I get exploited and misquoted. Do f*cking better…?”

Later, Halsey tweeted that they would no longer do press because of this latest experience. Check it out below.

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A mystery has Staten Island investigators working overtime after an 80-year-old man was found dead. Robert Raynor lived in an apartment home in Tompkinsville and on Monday (July 19) morning, he was found deceased. While police are still waiting for the official medical examiner’s report to find out how he died, the state in which he was found suggested foul play.

The elderly man had the words “I touch little girls” written across his chest, but those weren’t the only words located on his body. It looked as if Raynor had been beaten as there were reported visible injuries to his face, including a broken nose and swollen eyes and cheeks, and there were “injuries to both arms,” reported the New York Daily News.

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The outlet also stated that Raynor’s stomach also had a message that read, “I take dolls in my room for girls age 1-5,” while “I touch” was also written on his foot. Investigators reportedly believe that Raynor was somehow taken from the back of his apartment and left in the first-floor hallway. When looking through the sex offender’s registry, Raynor’s name was not found. His neighbor, 40-year-old Isaac Williams, was the person who stumbled upon Raynor’s body.

“I saw him lying there. I didn’t get too close. The man was just dead,” said Williams. “What was written on his chest was just disrespectful… There was a banging around the night before, like someone throwing someone around. I can’t believe it. I can’t get my head right. I don’t believe it. He was an old man. He couldn’t even get around.”

Another neighbor, Monique Simon, defended Raynor and said he “didn’t seem capable” of harming anyone because “he was very much disabled” and “had to walk with a walker.” She believes that the words written on Raynor were “to throw the case off.”

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The hit 2006 documentary Cocaine Cowboys is finding a second wind with the upcoming Netflix series. The streaming platform released the trailer for the six-part series on Wednesday, two weeks ahead of the show’s premiere.

Cocaine Cowboys: The Kings of Miami continues to dive deep into the lives of the infamous childhood friends Augusto “Willy” Falcon and Salvador “Sal” Magluto. The Cuban exiles are suspected to have brought in more than 75 tons of cocaine into the states in the 80s.

The two “world champion powerboat racers managed to skillfully outrun and outmaneuver prosecution for decades before the chase finally came to an end,” according to the official Netflix release.

Due to their Robin Hood-like approach to the extreme profits from their drug business, Willy and Sal affectionately became known as “Los Muchachos” in the bustling city and became two of Miami’s biggest celebrities of the decade. 

Fifteen years after the original film, the project remains under the direction of Billy Corben. The series will include “interviews with people who were close to the two, their defense team, and the feds tasked with taking them down.”

Tap in on Netflix on August 4 and check out the trailer below.  

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He’s the second YBN member to officially drop the acronym from his name, and now Almighty Jay has more to celebrate. While it is true that there was a more peaceful transition when Cordae decided to be known as a mononymous rapper, things weren’t as smooth with Jay. He had public arguments with YBN Nahmir but his beef with his former friend wasn’t the only thing Jay was facing.

It was made clear months ago that Almighty Jay was upset with his label and he recently announced that he is officially an independent artist now that he has parted ways with Atlantic Records.

Carmen Mandato / Stringer / Getty Images

Jay pulled a post and delete, showing the official paperwork that made him a free man. “Thank you @atlanticrecords for everything,” he wrote in the caption. “As of July 19, 2021 I official became an 100% INDEPENDENT ARTIST!! TIME FOR ME TO BE MY OWN BOSS & STAND ON BUSINESS AS A CEO [black heart emoji].”

Then, Almighty Jay tagged his new label, N2L Records, where he will now be releasing his music. In other recent news about the rapper, he has been on social media at odds with Skinnyfromthe9, an artist who reportedly just signed a record deal with Soulja Boy. Check out Almighty Jay’s posts beelow.

Kanye West is allowing the music to speak for itself in his rollout for DONDA, even if he hasn’t dropped a single off of the project. He hasn’t made any wild tweets or any contentious statements on TMZ (at least not yet) while members of his inner circle have provided updates on DONDA to the outside world. ‘Ye hasn’t said a thing, in fact, nor has he really shown face. In the past few weeks, he’s worn a full mask to hide his face.

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Tomorrow, the album will make its debut at Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium, and as to be expected, the rapper’s still putting the final touches on the project. Earlier today, he unveiled part of the tracklist while locked in the studio with Playboi Carti who appeared to be laying down last-minute vocals for the album.

Prior to that, a snippet from a recent session including Mike Dean surfaced online. A$AP Bari shared a snippet of a song in the studio when Dean, along with three other people were in the studio getting hyped to the new record. The session reportedly took place backstage at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium. 

Last night, the rapper confirmed the album’s release in a commercial that aired during the NBA Finals for Beats headphones featuring Sha’Carri Richardson. The ad included a snippet of “No Child Left Behind” which is confirmed to be on DONDA.

Check the latest snippet below. 

The last thing Drake needs as he prepares for the release of Certified Lover Boy is a court case hanging over his head. An incident that allegedly occurred at a nightclub back in 2018 found the rapper along with Younes Bendjima, Kourtney Kardashian’s ex, and Odell Beckham on the receiving end of a lawsuit filed in 2019. Love Island reality star Bennett Sipes alleged that at the time, he was dating Instagram model Sommer Ray and he went to the Los Angeles celebrity favorite Delilah to meet up with her. 

Sipes claimed that when he arrived, he made his way to the VIP section and saw Sommer near Drake and Beckham, and somehow, a verbal altercation began.

He then stated that he walked away and went to the bathroom but before he was able to make it inside, Bendjima along with several other men assaulted him. According to Radar Online, Sipes accused Beckham and Drake’s security guards of executing the alleged attack. However, he later rescinded that statement and the case against Beckham was dismissed. 

Drake has continuously denied involvement in the altercation and has told the court that he, nor anyone that worked for him, did not physically assault Sipes. Meanwhile, Bendjima reportedly did admit to getting into a scuffle but stated that it was self-defense. 

Radar Online reports that they’ve looked through court documents and it seems that Drake, Bendjima, and Sipes reached an undisclosed settlement.

Gabriel Olsen / Stringer / Getty Images

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