Hip Hop News

Lil Nas X always seems to get a rise out of people although that has been multiplied by infinity as of late following the release of his music video for “MONTERO.” The track has a provocative music video in which Lil Nas X does a lap dance for the devil, before killing him. The religious right has been in an absolute state of disarray over this, and now, many more are offended due to the fact that Nas X has his own Nike Air Max 97 coming out, which contains blood and is called “Satan’s Shoe.”

People like Nick Young have come out against this, and now, projected number one overall pick in the NFL Draft, Trevor Lawrence, is doing the same. Upon seeing the shoes on Twitter, Lawrence gave his opinion, noting that this time around, the artist has gone way too far.

“Line has to be drawn somewhere. Smh,” he said. The pearl-clutching that has been done over these past few days has been truly bizarre to see. The religious angles that people are taking are akin to what happened in the 90s with Marilyn Manson, and it felt like we had gotten past this ages ago, but apparently not.

Regardless of Lawrence’s opinion, these shoes are still set to come out, and it seems like there is enough interest to sell out all 666 pairs.

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Lil Nas X obviously knew what he was doing with the release of his new music video for “MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name)”. Effectively kickstarting his latest era, the former country-rapper embraced his sexual identity fully with the visuals to the single, pole-dancing all the way down to hell and giving the devil a lapdance. In addition to the video’s release, Lil Nas X also started promoting his new sneakers in collaboration with MSCHF. The kicks, affectionately dubbed the “Satan Shoes” on social media, have caused quite a stir, pissing off thousands of people across the nation for satanic imagery, as well as the inclusion of a single drop of human blood in the design.

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The pop star has been criticized by all of the same people who lashed out at Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion for “WAP”, trending for the entire weekend on Twitter. He’s been at odds with Candace Owens and plenty of other conservative political commentators because of his latest move and he’s officially hearing it from Joyner Lucas, who understands why Nas X is selling the shoes but isn’t a fan of the way he went about this career shift.

“That @LilNasX video is wild but as a artist he doing everything he supposed to do. Creating viral moments, making people talk, & creating content he already knew you was going to react to,” said Joyner, giving the artist his praise before offering a word of critique. “It’s a formula guaranteed to work. I doubt he actually worships the devil. I think the biggest problem for me is the fact he dont understand ‘old town road’ is every kids anthem. Children love him for that record. They tuned in and subscribed to his channels. So with no disclaimer he just dropped some left field ish & all our kids seen it. Smh.”

At this point in the controversy, Lil Nas X has continually proven that he doesn’t care about how negatively people are reacting to his video and sneakers. He said that he’s “proud” of himself, as he should be got releasing such a ground-breaking piece of media. LNX knew what he was doing. Check out his “apology” video below.

This year’s NBA trade deadline was full of movement and it was also filled with a whole lot of contract buyouts for some key players. Among them was Andre Drummond, who was fully expecting his release from the Cleveland Cavaliers. After news of the buyout broke, rumors began to circulate that he would most likely be joining the Los Angeles Lakers, who were heavily recruiting him throughout the process. On Sunday, those rumors became reality as he officially signed with the team.

While speaking to reporter Michael Corvo of Clutch Points, Kyle Kuzma spoke about just how excited he is to have Drummond on the roster. He even explained how the team’s rebounding is insanely competitive and that teams are going to have a hard time winning boards. “I got somebody to battle with on the boards,” he noted.

Without LeBron James and Anthony Davis in the lineup, the Lakers needed some sort of spark, and Drummond should prove to be that player. He is a big man who can do big things in the paint, and there is no doubt that he will be of use throughout this key stretch of the season. Once the Lakers’ superstars come back, Drummond will be some much-needed depth for the playoffs.

With teams like the Nets loading up on players, the Lakers needed to keep up and so far, Drummond is their way of doing so.

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Charlamagne tha God is partnering with Audible and James Altucher for a new series titled We’ve Got Answers: Honest Conversation on Race in America. The series will feature Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, activist Tamika D. Mallory and more.

“I just want people to learn from this project. This Black brain trust that I curated consists of individuals that I learn from directly and indirectly. I know that other races will learn from them, too. I want this project to serve as a road map for all white people in regard to matters dealing with Black people,” Charlamagne exclusively told The Hollywood Reporter. “There are so many assumptions being made and rarely have I witnessed assumptions turn into facts. The only dumb question is the one not asked, so for all the questions you’ve ever wanted to ask Black people, you can trust and believe that ‘We’ve Got Answers.'”

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Systemic racism, racial profiling, reparations, the judicial system, health care, and much more will all be discussed on the show.

Audible’s executive vp and head of U.S. content, Rachel Ghiazza, explained the company’s vision for We’ve Got Answers in a statement:

Audible is committed to bringing together diverse storytellers from all paths of life, furthering our mission to bring unmatched value for our listeners. We’ve Got Answers aims to give people of all backgrounds a place to learn and to start their own conversations about important social issues and thought-provoking topics. It is a significant addition to Audible’s vast library of content that we are proud to bring to our audience.

We’ve Got Answers: Honest Conversation on Race in America will debut on March 31st.

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Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has revealed the official release date of his highly anticipated debut in the DC Universe with Black Adam. Fans will first be able to see the movie on July 29th, 2020.

“A disruptive and unstoppable global force of a message from the man in black himself. BLACK ADAM is coming July 29, 2022,” he wrote in an Instagram post, Sunday. “The hierarchy of power in the DC Universe is about to change.”

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Black Adam was first announced by Johnson back in 2019. The movie will be directed by Jaume Collet-Serra and star Johnson in the titular role. Other members of the cast include Aldis Hodge as Hawkman, Noah Centineo as Atom Smasher, and Quintessa Swindell as Cyclone. 

Earlier this week, Johnson also revealed that Pierce Brosnan will play Dr. Fate.

“Such a pleasure to announce the final member of our #JusticeSociety, the bad ass statesman, Mr @PierceBrosnanOfficial as the iconic and all knowing, DR. FATE,” he wrote in another Instagram post. “I’m grateful to have such a talented, diverse and hungry cast. The hierarchy of power in the DC Universe is about to change…”

He added that production is set to begin in three weeks.

Be on the lookout for more information on the film as production begins.

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Two-time NBA All-Star Andre Drummond confirmed that he has officially signed with the Los Angeles Lakers with a new post on Instagram. The organization’s general manager, Rob Pelinka, also commented on how the addition of Drummond will help the team.

“Back to work,” the new Lakers center wrote on social media with a picture of himself rocking the purple and gold. He also updated his Twitter bio to reflect his new team. 

“Andre Drummond gives us powerful, anchor-point skills on both ends of the court,” Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka said in a statement according to ESPN. “We feel extremely fortunate to add a player of his caliber and magnitude to our core group at this stage of our journey to defend the NBA title.”

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Drummond was bought out of his contract with the Cleveland Cavaliers, Friday, after over a month of not playing with the team. His last start came on February 12th.

In 25 games with the Cavs this season, Drummond has averaged 17.5 points and 13.5 rebounds.

With LeBron James and Anthony Davis out with injury for the foreseeable future, Drummond will play a key role in helping the team maintain a strong seed in the Western Conference standings as the playoffs approach.

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Saturday Night Live comedian Bowen Yang spoke about the recent rise in violence against Asian-Americans during the show’s “Weekend Update” segment. Yang was the first Chinese-American to join the on-air cast of SNL. 

“Things for Asians in this country have been bleak for the past two weeks and all the weeks before that since forever. There’s a lot of work to do and I found some posts online with action items everyone can take to help,” he said.

From there, he joked about six ways to check in on your AAPI friends “and tell them they’re so hot.”

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He continued by joking about how bad things have gotten: 

What can I say to help how insanely bad things are? If someone’s personality is ‘punch an Asian grandma,’ it’s not a dialogue. I have an Asian grandma, you want to punch her, there ain’t no common ground mama. I see my friends donating and I tell them, that’s great, but I also tell them ‘do more.’ You’re ordering from Chinese restaurants? Great. Do more. Let me know when you feed your white kids chicken feet. You cried during ‘Minari’? Congrats. I was sobbing into my boner for Steven Yeun. Do more! Why are you telling me that you tipped your manicurist? Let me know when you get on your knees and scrub her feet while she looks at your phone. Do more!

Yang also gave a shout-out to a GoFundMe for an Asian woman in San Francisco who was recently attacked. The page has raised more than $900,000.

“I can’t address any of this without bringing up class or gender or imperialism,” he added. “I don’t even want to be doing this update piece. I wanted to do my character, Gay Passover Bunny, but it’s too smart for the show. I’m just a comedian, I don’t have the answers, but I’m not just looking for them online: I am looking around me.”

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Boosie Badazz says he’s back on Instagram with a new username after being kicked off the platform, Sunday. Earlier in the day, he called Mark Zuckerberg racist for the ban.

“My New Ig @HesBackAgain2021 I’m Live Now,” he announced Sunday night.

“@zuck u just a racist,” he tweeted earlier.

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The IG ban came after a video surfaced of Badazz paying a man $554 for slapping him during a music video shoot.

“You one of these punk ass rappers. You can’t rap. How you gonna tell me you’re a god damn rapper?” the man says in the clip.

Back in December, Badazz spoke with VladTV about the frequency of his Instagram account getting shut down. During the interview, he called Zuckerberg racist:

This is discrimination. Something is wrong, somebody must be mad because I said their name wrong and they chastise me. […] And my Black people are starting to tell me that ‘Boosie, this man is a racist. He knows you affect the Black community and make them smile every morning.

An explanation has yet to be given by Instagram for exactly why the account was shut down. Previously, he’s had it shut down for explicit content such as making transphobic comments regarding Dwayne Wade’s daughter, Zaya.

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