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There’s been an undeniable uptick in violent crimes in the United States following the relaxation of many protective measures put in place to ease the spread of COVID-19. A recently published figure placed the number of mass shootings to occur in the country this year alone at a whopping 272. 

In another heinous act of senseless violence, authorities in Decatur, Georgia are reporting that a supermarket cashier is dead and 1 off-duty sheriff’s deputy is injured after gunfire erupted over a face mask dispute in a grocery store. Law enforcement officials say a male customer pulled out a gun after he “got into an argument with a cashier about his face mask.” 

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The incident is said to have occurred on Monday (June 14) around 1:10 pm at the Big Bear Supermarket in Decatur when a man identified by authorities as 30-year-old Victor Lee Tucker, Jr. was checking out items and got into an argument with a cashier who requested he put his mask on. 

Tucker then allegedly began firing at a DeKalb County Sheriff’s deputy “who was attempting to intervene while working off-duty at the supermarket,” officials said. The deputy then returned fire and both were injured in the shootout. 

Responding officers from the DeKalb County Police Department arrested Tucker while he was “attempting to crawl out the front door of the supermarket.” The unnamed cashier was transported to nearby Grady Memorial Hospital, where, according to local news sources, she was pronounced dead. Tucker was taken to the same hospital and remains in stable condition. 

According to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, the police will issue arrest warrants for Tucker. The investigation is still ongoing at this time 

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Following the release of Culture III, the Migos have taken a moment to hit up The Breakfast Club for a conversation with Charlamagne Tha God, Angela Yee, and DJ Envy. Fans of the group are certainly in for a treat, as there are plenty of topics covered ranging from making the album to COVID vaccines to Pop Smoke to Takeoff’s love life.

Off the bat, it’s clear that the Migos are in a celebratory mood, as their energy throughout the interview is jovial and good-humored. Understandable, given that the trio recently delivered their brand new album Culture III, a project that served as a reminder of everything the Migos are all about. It’s no wonder Charlamagne confidently declared them to be the most “impactful group of the past decade.”

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“Last summer, we were getting ready,” explains Quavo, reflecting on the creation of Culture III. “We stayed in this house together for six months. We had six or seven records from that time that’s still in that album. We went to Miami together, just taking little trips together.” After Takeoff reveals they recorded the entire album together, Quavo explains that the chemistry never faltered. “We grew up together,” he says. “We already know what each other thinking, each other doing. It’s magic when we get together.”

There are certainly plenty of gems found throughout. For one, the Migos offer a glowing review to DJ Khaled’s hospitality, with Quavo going so far as to say the mogul has “the best chef in the world.” They also reveal that Khaled flew them all out to Jamaica to film the video to “We Goin Crazy,” and they ultimately ended up staying there to shoot their own clip for “Why Not.” When Charlamagne asks if Khaled footed the entire bill, Offset shrugs. “Yeah!”

Charlamagne also asks Quavo how he’s managed to stay so tapped in with New York artists. “Shout out New York, man,” replies Huncho. “My second spot. It’s all love. Them boys one thousand. Pop Smoke one thousand. RIP, rest his soul. Always ready to learn, lock in, just soak it up. Every time, he just reacted fast, he knew what he wanted to do. And Bobby, he been our dawg since 2013. We just stayed locked in ever since.” He also teases that the Shmigo collaborative album isn’t entirely off the table. 

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As the interview wraps up, the Migos tease that they’ll be back with another new album at “the top of next year” before Charlamagne shifts the conversation and asks if the group has been vaccinated against COVID-19. Offset confirms that he’s not, Takeoff claims he doesn’t trust it, and Quavo confirms that he got the shot. “This the thing with me,” begins Offset, taking off his glasses. “You want us to take the shot, cool. But it’s good for twelve months. Every year you gotta take the shot, at this point…We take the vaccine, but we still gotta take COVID tests right now.”

When Angela points out that vaccinated people can still get COVID, Quavo appears aghast. ‘What going on with that? I can still get COVID?” Yee explains that the symptoms are severely lessened, promoting Quavo to sigh. “Somebody tricked me into that,” he claims, visibly crestfallen. “They told me it was over with.” He later notes how Charlamagne could be sitting beside him while sick, prompting the host to laugh and declare “I was in Miami this weekend!” 

Check out the full conversation on The Breakfast Club below, and sound off if you’ve been keeping Culture III on steady rotation. 

Kodak Black has added a flashy new car to his collection of luxury vehicles, wrapping his Tesla Model X in a custom Lakers paint job as a tribute to the late, great Kobe Bryant. He’s been showing off the vehicle on social media, proudly giving his fans a few different angles of the new whip and showing love to #24 by rocking his jersey during the reveal.

Sending love to the Bryant family in a video posted to his Instagram page, Kodak Black brought out his birthday gift to himself: a new Tesla Model X decked out in Lakers colors. He also had a custom helicopter designed, which seems borderline disrespectful given the circumstances behind Kobe’s death.

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He gave an intimate look at the details, showing off the messages on his seats, which pay tribute to Kobe Bryant, as well as Kodak’s friends that are locked up. With Kodak turning 24 this year, this was probably the flashiest gift he could have given himself. The ride is complete with gold rims, suicide doors, and more extravagant amenities to make this a prime part of Yak’s collection.

Take a look at Kodak’s new car below and let us know what you think of it.

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Very rarely do people elect to defend themselves in court in the United States. With a constitutional right to a lawyer during a trial–plus if you can’t afford one, one will be appointed to you, it’s a very specific strategic move to elect to represent yourself in court. To defend yourself on double murder charges is a decision many people would find hard to rationalize. 

Such is the case with Ronnie O’Neal, a Florida man who decided to represent himself while on trial for double murder. O’Neal is currently facing the death sentence after he’s been accused of killing his girlfriend and their daughter back in 2018. A viral clip of his outrageous opening statement has been making the rounds on social media, catching the eye of frequent pop culture commenter 50 Cent. 

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“The evidence is going to show,” says O’Neal loudly in the clip of his opening statement to a judge at a Tampa courthouse. “That law enforcement tampered with evidence to meet their such high burden of proof because originally, it wasn’t enough. So we had to tamper with evidence since it was such evident already but we still had to tamper with evidence.” 

In response to his nonsensical statements, resharing the video to his feed, Fif joked, “Damn I woulda just look at the judge and said can we work something out.” He added, “LOL WTF he watched to much For Life on ABC.” 

As for O’Neal’s case, he is accused of killing nearly his whole family back in 2018. He is alleged to have murdered both his girlfriend and their daughter, and attempting to murder his son. Barely surviving the attack, he is scheduled to testify. He was 8-years old at the time of the murders. 

O’Neal is facing two counts of murder and one count of attempted murder. 

Halfway through June, the NBA playoffs are heating up more and more every day. The Phoenix Suns have solidified their spot in the Western Conference Finals, but the remaining six teams — the Los Angeles Clippers, Utah Jazz, Atlanta Hawks, Philadephia 76ers, Milwaukee Bucks, and Brooklyn Nets — are still powering through some extremely competitive series. On Tuesday night, however, Kevin Durant delivered such an incredible playoff performance that it has convinced many NBA fans that he and his Brooklyn Nets are definitely headed to the Eastern Conference Finals, with or without the help of Kyrie Irving and James Harden.

Prior to Game 5 in Brooklyn, the Nets and the Bucks’ series was tied at 2-2, and with the Bucks leading the game by 16 points at halftime, it looked like Milwaukee was going to be able to steal an away game and finally take the series lead. But then Kevin Durant gave the Barclays Center and every NBA fan across the world a show for the ages, with a historic performance that pushed his team to a hard-fought and much-needed victory.

According to CNN, Kevin Durant scored 49 points, snatched 17 boards, and facilitated 10 assists, making KD the first player in NBA history to record at least 45 points, 15 rebounds, and 10 assists in a playoff game. What made Durant’s performance even more impressive is that the 32-year-old star power forward played throughout all 48 minutes of the game, which CNN reports is the first time an NBA player has done that since LeBron James did it in 2018 while playing with the Clevland Cavaliers. 

Kevin Durant and the Brooklyn Nets are currently up 3-2 in their 7 game series against the Milwaukee Bucks. Their Eastern Conference semifinals matchup continues in Milwaukee on Thursday, so while you patiently wait for the next game, check out some of the best Twitter reactions to KD’s mind-blowing performance below.

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Late last month marked the first anniversary of George Floyd’s death. After Derek Chauvin was formally convicted of Floyd’s murder in the high-profile case, the decision was a landmark one, marking one of the first times an officer has ever been convicted in a racially charged justice case.  

Floyd has been commemorated in numerous ways throughout the country. According to reports, 24 states and the District of Columbia enacted police reform legislation immediately following his passing. In New Jersey, Newark Mayor Ras Baraka is set to unveil an enormous statue of the late Minneapolis resident to be displayed outside of their City Hall for at least one year. 

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“The artwork honors the life of George Floyd, an African-American man who was brutally murdered by a white Minneapolis police officer,” the mayor’s office said in a statement.

They furthered, “Mr. Floyd’s death elevated the ‘Black Lives Matter’ movement which has resulted in an international response, including protests, police reform measures, and the removal of Confederate statues from public parks and racist names from organizations.” In addition to the statue, following Floyd’s death, New Jersey also prohibited the use of force by an officer towards a civilian unless it’s the last resort. 

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The Newark event honoring the life of George Floyd with a statue coincides with Juneteenth 2021. The statue was donated to the city this week as a part of an effort to develop a “world-class public art program.” 

The event is scheduled for 2:30 pm outside City Hall. It will also be streamed via the city’s Facebook page here. 

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Chicago rapper Polo G is setting himself up to become a Hall-of-Famer, establishing himself as one of Chicago’s strongest musical talents coming up. With his third album out now, the 22-year-old recording artist is setting out to reach a new level, following up Die A Legend and The GOAT with yet another solid body of work. Clearly, legacy is important for Capalot, dealing with this theme on all three of his major-label studio albums. 

With a #1 debut on the horizon for Polo G, the rapper spoke with one of the most prolific people in the city of Chicago: Scottie Pippen. Polo had a conversation with the two-time Hall-of-Famer about what makes for a legendary career, what advice he would give to his younger self, and more during the talk, also touching on his new music. Scottie seemed appreciative of the opportunity, thanking the rapper twice for name-dropping him on his song “33.” In fact, Pippen told Polo that he’s keeping him “relevant” with the younger crowd, which he’s grateful for.

“I appreciate you, appreciate you dropping my name and keeping me relevant so more power to you,” said Scottie Pippen to Polo G as they were closing out their discussion. 

During their chat, they spoke about Pippen’s incredible career with the Chicago Bulls, his rivalry with the Detroit Pistons, and more. Watch below.