Hip Hop News

An overjoyed Ne-Yo and Crystal Smith welcomed their new daughter, Isabelle Rose Smith, on Instagram yesterday. The announcement featured a picture of the couple at the hospital smiling cheek to cheek while holding the newborn Isabella. This is the couple’s third child together- Isabelle joins 3-year-old Roman and 5-year-old Shaffer, as well as Ne-Yo’s two other children with ex Monyetta Shaw.

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The heartwarming caption reads: “ISABELLA ROSE SMITH! God said don’t make plans honey! She came 4 weeks early but right on time for mommy! Born at 11:11 am ( lucky lil lady) 5 lbs 7 oz of perfection. My world is finally complete.” Family, friends, and fans filled the comment section with congratulations- even Shaw, Ne-Yo’s ex, congratulated them. 

Ne-Yo announced that Crystal was pregnant in February with an endearing Instagram post captioned “Overjoyed to announce…the family is expanding…,” adding that it may be his last with the hashtag “5thandFinal”.

The couple was set to get divorced late last year, but eventually settled their issues. The couple cited quarantine as a saving grace for their relationship. During an episode on The Talk, the singer admitted: “Before the quarantine happened, we were definitely talking divorce, and the quarantine kind of forced us to sit still, block out the noise from the world, you know the world can get very, very loud, and we tend to let the world’s opinion mean more in certain situations than it should.” 

Though the singer had filed the divorce papers, they were quickly rescinded.

Congratulations Ne-Yo and Crystal! Check out the announcement below.

For music fans, the summer is a wonderful time as it means an abundance of new tracks and albums are upon us. There is no better feeling than driving with your windows down in the summertime, blasting some new music. The same can be said of walking down a sandy beach as some summer bops play in your headphones. Luckily, our “Fire Emoji” playlist is updated weekly in order to provide you with some of the best songs of the week, regardless of the season.

This week, there are a plethora of new additions to the playlist including a couple of tracks from Doja Cat who just came through with her project, Planet Her. “Options” with J.I.D and “Get Into It” are the two songs featured here and they are certainly standouts from the new album. Meanwhile, we also have “JUGGERNAUT” by Tyler, the Creator, Lil Uzi Vert, and Pharrell Williams. Tyler’s new album Call Me If You Get Lost has been receiving rave reviews and there was never a doubt that he would get some shine on the playlist.

There are a plethora of other great tracks to be found here as well, including “Money On The Table” by Belly and Benny the Butcher, “Bio” by HoodRich Pablo Juan and Peewee Longway, “Oh Well” by Lil Tjay, and “Red Light Green Light” by DaBaby.

Check out the playlist below and let us know some of your favorite songs, in the comments section.

Earlier this week, disaster struck in Miami-Dade County after a 12-story beachfront condominium partially collapsed. The terrifying incident has resulted in the deaths of at least four people, with a whopping 159 individuals still missing. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has reportedly issued a state of emergency in the county. 

As officials in Miami work tirelessly to try and recover the remaining individuals, theories as to what caused the fatal collapse have been swirling around. Atorod Azizinamini, Chair of the FIU College of Engineering and Computing’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, explained to NBC Miami that experts are searching for signs of corrosion, unusual events, and more. According to a 2018 report obtained by TMZ, however, the building was an accident waiting to happen. 

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The city of Surfside, which is where the tragic incident occurred, recently released a number of documents related to the building and its architectural history. One report included in the documents from engineering firm Morabito Consultants found “major structural damage” to a concrete structural slab below the building’s pool deck. The waterproofing had been laid flat as opposed to being laid at an angle, which would help drain water from the building. 

Morabito Consultants thought this needed to be addressed, something that would require costly and extensive repairs. The engineers predicted that if this issue wasn’t resolved, bad things could come. “The failed waterproofing is causing major structural damage to the concrete structural slab below these areas,” they wrote.

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They added, “Failure to replace the waterproofing in the near future will cause the extent of the concrete deterioration to expand exponentially.” Elsewhere, the report also found “abundant cracking and spalling” in the concrete columns, beams, and walls in the parking garage. Additionally, the cracks had allegedly been repaired pretty carelessly. 

While there’s no clear correlation as to whether this is what caused the building to collapse, residents may very well feel that way. Biden has already pledged federal help to aid in recovering the remaining victims. 

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After two nights of peaceful protests, the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division has been asked to conduct an official investigation into the Wednesday arrests of Ricky and Travis Price. The arrests were streamed on Facebook Live by a nearby onlooker, which shows police punching the brothers repeatedly while they are on the ground. An internal investigation is currently being conducted by the Rock Hill Police Department.

Ricky Price was pulled over by Homeland Security officers and Rock Hill Police officers for an illegal turn and lane change. Ricky called his brother from inside the car while police searched it, finding two bags of marijuana, a handgun, and crack cocaine. The altercation started when Travis Price arrived and allegedly bumped into the officers while trying to grab items from the car. Travis was then also put under arrest, but refused until officers shoved him into a gas tank, claiming Travis had pushed them. At this point, Travis and Ricky Price engaged with officers while on the ground, though it’s unclear to see what exactly was happening. 

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The abuse continued as the officers removed Ricky’s handcuffs to take his jewelry off, but was knocked to the ground and punched in the face after he punched an officer. Ricky was denied bond for a number of crimes including drug and gun possession, and sits in a local jail in a wheelchair with two black eyes and a broken nose. The use of force that we see in the video is a perfect example of why African Americans today in certain parts of America are afraid of police,” Price family attorney told CNN, “There’s no justification for doing that to anybody.”

Eight individuals were taken into custody Thursday night while protesting the violent arrest in Rock Hill. Rock Hill NAACP leader Norma Gray cautioned protesters to remain peaceful: “again we’re asking for calm as you protest. Use your civil rights but do it in calm.”

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With the Nike Dunk Low seeing a huge resurgence this year, it should be no surprise that Nike has been releasing a plethora of new colorways for the shoe. The SB version has also been getting some love, and this summer, Nike is promising some new offerings that can be added to your respective collections. One of the latest colorways to be shown off is the vibrant “Red Plum” model which can be found thanks to the official photos below.

As you can see, this shoe has black nubuck on the toe box and side panels, all while the overlays have this reddish-purple hue to them. From there, the Nike swoosh on the side is light green, which adds an extra bit of vibrancy to the overall look of the shoe. All-in-all, this is a great colorway for the summer and if you are a fan of the classic Nike SB Dunk Low look, then these are a must-cop.

There is no release date for the shoe as of right now, although you can expect them to drop in the not-so-distant future, in the middle of the summer. As always, let us know what you think of this new model, in the comments section below.

Image via Nike

Image via Nike

Image via Nike

Image via Nike

Image via Nike

Jennifer Lopez split from her former fiancé Alex Rodriguez back in May of 2021. The split seemed pretty amicable, as the two announced their split in a joint statement. “We have realized we are better as friends and look forward to remaining so. We will continue to work together and support each other on our shared businesses and projects,” wrote the couple.

Shortly thereafter, Lopez was spotted out with Ben Affleck, whom the actress dated for a couple of years in the early 00s. The two have been spending time together in Los Angeles, and J. Lo has been rumored to be looking for schools in the area to potentially move in with the movie star. On Friday night (June 25), the fresh couple had a date night in Beverly Hills, looking completely smitten with all smiles as they departed the restaurant. 

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The Hustler’s actress wore her hair in a high ponytail she was seen exiting the Avra restaurant. She rocked a beige overcoat with tan shorts and a white tank underneath, showing off her signature-toned legs. She paired the look with a brown purse to match, and black heels. 

Affleck was more casual, rocking a black coat, jeans, and sneaks with a green button-up underneath. Lopez cheesed wide as the pair cuddled in the back seat of their chauffeur-driven Rolls-Royce on their way home from the romantic outing. 

Ben and J. Lo have been switching between coasts for the last few months after rekindling their romance. Their relationship does seem to be moving pretty fast, but given they were once engaged, they are likely just picking up exactly where they left off. 

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Tom Brady is the greatest football player of all time, however, there are many fans out there who believe the distinction should go to guys like Jerry Rice or some of the more defensive stars from the game’s past. While Brady is the winningest player in league history, he is by no means the most dominant when it comes to his athleticism. In fact, LeBron James recently came out and said that while he believes Brady is the GOAT of football, he doesn’t think Brady is the GOAT athlete.

Brady was recently on an episode of The Shop where he got to comment on LeBron’s remarks. As Brady explained, he understands why someone would think that way and in his heart, he knows there are a lot of factors that keep him from being the greatest athlete ever.

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“I’m not a big comparison thing like that and it’s because really it just depends what style you like,” Brady said. “You could say, well, you’re maybe the most accomplished. I would say, OK, yeah, I’ve won a lot of games, Super Bowls and so forth. But my style of play might not fit everybody else’s, what their view of what that position should be. I can really just be the best with the body that I was given. There’s certain things that I certainly cannot do. And I have the awareness to realize, OK, I can’t do those things.”

Despite his greatness, Brady has always been humble throughout his career. While there have been times where he flaunts his success, he has never made it all about himself, which is rare for a player of his caliber.

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“Latinx”, a term coined to avoid the gendered inferences of “Latino” and “Latina”, has received growing criticism since its inception from those who identify as Latin or Central American. This criticism came to fruition on Thursday when President Joe Biden used the term to describe the Latino populations of America who have been statistically more hesitant to receive the vaccine. Twitter users of Latin descent and not have all taken to criticize the President for using the term, which Latino Americans rarely use themselves and see as an American colonization of their language.

“If an American comes up to me and calls me by latinx i am f****** sueing,” said one Twitter user in response to Biden’s speech. Others voiced similar disdain for the word: “Speaking as someone that’s 1/4 Dominican, and married to a Latina, can say with the utmost sincerity that I don’t know a single person of Hispanic heritage that considers themselves ‘Latinx’. The woke crowd needs to let that one go. It really does just sound silly.”

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Other users were more focused on Biden’s controversial remarks, which read “It’s awful hard, as well, to get Latinx vaccinated as well. Why? They’re worried that they’ll be vaccinated and deported,” which many read as racially charged and stereotypical: “Latinos are more offended that Biden called us ‘ Latinx ‘ than they are about his assumption that we are all illegal.” Another user had a similar stance: “this is such a democrat quote because he used ‘Latinx’ and then was just straight up racist lmao.”

A Pew Research Center Poll conducted last year found that only 3% of Latino Americans used the term “Latinx” and 76% had never even heard of the term. 

Do you think the term is useful or necessary? Let us know and check out some reactions below: