Hip Hop News

She was once at the top of her game in the WNBA, but reports state that Shoni Schimmel was recently in trouble with the law. Back in 2014, Schimmel was bestowed All-Star Game MVP, but ESPN shared that she was taken into custody on Monday (June 14) after allegedly being involved in a violent altercation.

While details regarding what happened are scarce, it was reported that the former WNBA superstar was hit for several charges after being booked in an Oregon jail around 1:00 a.m.

Multiple reports state that the 29-year-old sports star caught a few felonies including assault and criminal mischief, and a handful of misdemeanors including recklessly endangering another, domestic abuse, menacing, and harassment. It’s unclear who the other person or persons involved in the case may have been.

Schimmel reportedly grew up in Oregon on the Umatilla Reservation and was ever featured in the Off The Rez documentary where she spoke openly about her upbringing and journey to professional basketball. Her career has been up in the air since she sustained a concussion 17 games in with the New York Liberty in 2016.

ESPN also reported that in 2017, Schimmel sat out “for personal reasons” before returning to her New York team the following year. Then, she went to the Las Vegas Aces where she is said to have played two games prior to the team releasing her. What she’s been up to since that time is unclear, as is her future in the WNBA.

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As debates about gun control continue at the legislative level, lives continue to be lost over senseless gun violence. This past weekend, at least four major United States cities suffered from mass shootings, which left six dead and thirty-eight injured.

Shootings in Austin, Cleveland, Chicago, and Savannah took place in a six-hour window from late Friday night to early Saturday morning. Police forces in these respective cities are investigating the nature of the shootings that occurred.

In a weekend news conference, Savannah Police Chief Roy Minter Jr. said that one person was killed and eight were wounded in a residential neighborhood shooting in east Savannah. An 18-month-old baby and two teenagers were wounded in the gunfire from a dark-colored sedan that shot into a group of people standing in front of a home.

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“It’s very disturbing what we’re seeing across the country and the level of gun violence that we’re seeing across the country. It’s disturbing and it’s senseless,” Police Chief Minter Jr. said.

Two adults who were hit in the Savannah shooting are in critical condition. Minter said sixty shell casings were collected from the scene, and three houses and several cars were struck by the gunfire.

Elsewhere in downtown Austin, Texas, a gunfire barrage left one dead, thirteen wounded, and one person in critical condition. This shooting occurred at 1:24 a.m. Saturday and was allegedly the result of a dispute between two groups, with most of the shooting victims being innocent bystanders from the situation.

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In Chicago, two suspects are sought by police after they opened fire on a gathered crowd in the city’s Chatham neighborhood shortly after 2 a.m. on Saturday morning. Nine individuals were wounded with non-life-threatening injuries, while one 29-year-old woman was killed in the shooting. This shooting was among multiple shootings that totaled forty-four individuals shot, including six deaths, since Friday in Chicago.

The Gun Violence Archive tracks shootings across the country, and at the time this article was written, they’ve reported that there have been 275 mass shootings so far in 2021.

Read up on the shootings at the link below.

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After two decades of silence, FreakNik (also spelled Freaknic) is back. There is an entire generation of people who aren’t familiar with those FreakNik heydays in Atlanta as tens of thousands of people swarmed the city to party during Spring Break. The event was first launched in the early 1980s in a public park, but as the years progressed, its popularity drew party-loving crowds that stopped traffic to twerk on cars, took over businesses with loud music, and engaged in all-out debauchery that “old heads” remember fondly.

After much talk and speculation regarding if FreakNik would make a return, the official lineup of performances has been shared as well as the dates for what’s expected to be an unforgettable, wild party.

According to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the 18+ festival will go down the weekend of October 8-10 at Morris Brown College, an HBCU. Tickets reportedly went on sale yesterday (June 14) and the event will also be available for streaming if people can’t make it to the ATL. The lineup is nothing to sneeze at as artists like Ray J, Paul Wall, 8Ball & MJG, Adina Howard, Lil Scrappy, Pastor Troy, Field Mob, Project Pat, JT Money, DJ Unk, and 95 South will all be gracing the stage.

While the event will take place at Morris Brown College, it’s expected that bars, lounges, nightclubs, and even restaurants will host their own star-studded FreakNik events over the weekend as well. Check out a video with homemade clips highlighting FreakNik back in the 1990s.

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The United States may have a new federal holiday on its hands. In June 2020, we reported that then-Senator Kamala Harris was making moves to hopefully turn Juneteenth into a national holiday. There hasn’t been much news regarding the progression until Tuesday (June 15) when it was shared that the U.S. Senate unanimously approved a bill that would confirm Juneteenth’s presence in holiday history.

Juneteenth has been commemorated by communities all around America for decades as people celebrate enslaved peoples in Texas learning on June 19, 1985, that they were now free thanks to the Emancipation Proclamation, an executive order issued by Abraham Lincoln in 1862 that went into effect in 1863.

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“Making Juneteenth a federal holiday is a major step forward to recognize the wrongs of the past,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said. “But we must continue to work to ensure equal justice and fulfill the promise of the Emancipation Proclamation and our Constitution.”

This decision still needs to be confirmed with the House of Representatives and comes during a time when America is under heated debate regarding whether or not Critical Race Theory should be taught in schools. Some have argued that students need to closely examine how political approaches to race have affected our justice system and even economic disparities. Critics claim that such a course would vilify White people and their contributions to society under the guise of racism.

It’s unclear how the U.S. plans to further recognize Juneteenth, but those who have been waiting for political recognition are excited at the prospects. Check out a clip below.

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Pop Smoke was well on his way to stardom before his tragic death in 2020. The rapper was fresh off of the release of Meet The Woo Vol. 2 which was stacked with star-studded features. Perhaps, the biggest being Quavo. The two rappers teamed up on “Shake The Room” then again. on Shoot For The Stars Aim For The Moon on “Aim For The Moon” and “Snitching” alongside Future. Their relationship was deeper than just music as Quavo began to take the budding Brooklyn star under his wing.

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During a recent interview with Angie Martinez, Quavo shared details on his relationship with Pop Smoke. The Migos rapper first explained how he and Bobby Shmurda locked in, opening the doors for the anticipation of a Shmigo project. Quavo explained that Pop Smoke was always attentive to whatever knowledge he dropped, even when it comes to fashion.

“I actually made him put on a suit to go to Diddy’s party, too,” Quavo said. “He was just, ‘I don’t wear no suits.’ I was like, ‘Man get a suit, man. Meet me right here tonight. We gon’ gotdamn link.’”

Quavo actually had a hand in Pop Smoke’s attire for his first fashion week in London. Takeoff and Quavo reminisced on Pop looking for reassurance in the blue Louis Vuitton jacket.

“It’s your first fashion week, you know. They’ll put anything on us. So he text my phone like, ‘Yo, I’m supposed to wear this shit like this?’” Quavo continued, adding that Pop even told him, “Don’t lie to me.”  “I woulda told him if he was f**ked up, but he was fresh,” Quavo said.

Peep the full interview below. 

Tyler, The Creator is taking a different approach with the release of his next studio album. Last week, fans quickly spotted mysterious billboards from Colombia Records reading, “Call Me If You Get Lost” popping up across Los Angeles with a phone number across it. When you called the number, a recorded conversation between Tyler and his mom was played where she expressed how much she loved her son over Tyler’s signature production.

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Over the past few days, Tyler’s continued to keep up the rollout for his forthcoming project, starting with a new snippet that he shared on social media. The accompanying video shows Tyler making out with a girl and driving off before it’s revealed that she’s Taco’s girlfriend. 

A brand new snippet has popped up after Tyler, The Creator shared the exact same name that was on the billboard. If you call 1 (855) 444-8888, you can hear a smooth preview of an upcoming record from Tyler’s forthcoming effort. The rapper tweeted the number out on Twityter earlier today. 

The rapper’s recent rollout effort coincided with the announcement of his headlining set at Day N Vegas festival 2021. Tyler, The Creator will also be performing at other major festivals this year including Bonnaroo and Lollapalooza. 

Check out Tyler’s tweet below and let us know what you think of the new snippet if you happen to dial in.  

Paris Jackson has been among the most visible of Michael Jackson’s children in the spotlight. Since she was a child, she’s been a fixture in tabloid publications that have attempted to pry into her personal life, even when she was a minor. In recent years, she’s detailed the impact this has had on her life including during her recent appearance on Red Table Talk.

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Jackson sat down with Willow Smith for an upcoming episode of the Facebook Watch exclusive. She detailed her experiences with the paparazzi as a child, explaining that the barrage of cameras she’d constantly face as a child has led to long-term trauma. “I experience auditory hallucinations sometimes with camera clicks and severe paranoia and have been going to therapy for a lot of things but that included,” she said, per Billboard.

“I’ll hear a trash bag rustling and flinch in panic,” she continued. “I think it’s standard PTSD.”

Elsewhere in the episode, Jackson explained how members of her family weren’t always accepting over her sexuality, but she’s had her siblings to lean on. “They’ve always been super-supportive,” she said of Prince and Prince Michael II. She added that Prince Jackson also joined a student-run club that brings together LGBTQ+ members and allies in order to better connect with her.

Paris Jackson’s episode of Red Table Talk airs Wednesday. 

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