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Juice WRLD’s Engineer Max Lord Accuses Grade A Productions Of Making Death Threats Against Him

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Juice WRLD Grade A
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Although late Chicago rapper Juice WRLD’s catalog has proven to be quite lucrative since his passing (two posthumous albums with another in the works), not everyone is satisfied with the handling of his unfinished recordings. After Juice’s former girlfriend Ally Lotti insinuated that his legacy is being mishandled by his label, Grade A Productions, Juice’s former engineer-producer Max Lord also chimed in on Twitter to back up to show support for her and offer context.

According to Lord, Grade A co-founder George “G Money” Dickinson and Juice WRLD manager Peter Jideonwo — although he took care to exclude Juice’s mentor Lil Bibby from his accusations — have resorted to some unsavory methods to gain control of Juice’s music, even resorting to death threats against Lord. He accused them of using a Twitter account (which has been locked) to disrupt Juice’s fan community on social media while trying to strong-arm him into handing over recording equipment.

Tweets from the @chasemasta account on Twitter accuse Lord of taking “all Juice’s studio equipment when he died” and using his possession of the equipment as leverage over Grade A. Meanwhile, Lord says that the person behind @chasemasta was trying to set him up at the behest of Dickinson and Jideonwo.

“This @chasemasta kid is a pawn they let come hang out for a couple weeks to help disrupt the juice fan community to ensure every time you listen to Juice Wrld they get paid,” he wrote. “They want me out of their way, discredited, so they can continue to have their way. These open threats of violence against me from Grade A, posted on Chase’s Twitter, this stuff is absurd. They’re openly threatening to kill me. They’ve stolen firearms from me. They’ve threatened me with them. We’ve gotten in physical altercations because Juice didn’t like beats G Money tried to have him record on the day before he passed away, that he would profit from. With Ally coming [out] about these sorts of things, I owe it to her and Jarad to back her up here and speak out on this.”

Both men have denied Lord’s claims in the comments of an Instagram post recounting the drama.

Meanwhile, leaks from the third posthumous Juice WRLD album, The Party Never Ends, have threatened to put the kibosh on the whole project.

21 Savage Knows The Three Things Jay-Z Spends His Money On And Is Following Suit

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While Jay-Z is quick to give financial advice — take the cash, not the dinner, kids — he’s not just bumping his gums. He actually practices what he preaches. During a recent interview with Math Hoffa’s podcast My Expert Opinion, one of Jay’s many, many mentees, 21 Savage, explained how Jay has not only shared his knowledge with younger peers but also puts his money where his mouth is, so to speak.

“We ain’t really have no financial conversation,’” Savage admitted. However, because Jay is Jay, their conversation naturally trended in that direction, with Jay revealing the top three things he spends his own money on. “He just was like, ‘chef,’ I went and got a chef. A doctor, I went and got a doctor. And he said a lawyer. I already had a lawyer at the time.”

Savage also explained how following Jay’s example improved his own life. “I eat cleaner,” he elaborated. “I don’t really gotta leave the house as much. And the doctor is convenient, too. I hate hospitals and shit. It’s just good to have on call. He got a different level of doctor, though… Not live-in, but they’ll come give you surgery at your house.”

In addition to leading by example, has launched a financial literacy academy in his old home, Marcy Houses in Brooklyn, alongside Jack Dorsey.

You can watch a clip from My Expert Opinion above.

Kyle Banks Delivers A Laid-Back Performance Of ‘Bogus’ For ‘UPROXX Sessions’

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For yesterday’s edition of UPROXX Sessions, I wrote about how much I love it when artists bring their own props. Truly, not enough of them do this and it’s always entertaining whether it’s something simple like a red cup, or something much more dramatic. Remember when Dana Dentata brought a whole fake murder scene? Good times.

But what I love even more than those are the ones where artists bring musicians with them, because it heightens the actual music as well as the performance. There’s just something about cramming extra people into the set along with their instruments that just livens things up. Kyle Banks apparently got the memo, bringing a keyboardist to his performance of “Bogus,” a groovy, laid-back rap&B cut that sounds perfect for two-stepping on an LA summer night. It fits because Banks is an LA-based artist who has worked with some of the city’s finest, including fellow Sessions alums Bino Rideaux, BlueBucksClan, and Kalan.FrFr.

Watch Kyle Banks’s UPROXX Sessions performance of “Bogus” above.

UPROXX Sessions is Uproxx’s performance show featuring the hottest up-and-coming acts you should keep an eye on. Featuring creative direction from LA promotion collective, Ham On Everything, and taking place on our “bathroom” set designed and painted by Julian Gross, UPROXX Sessions is a showcase of some of our favorite performers, who just might soon be yours, too.

Questlove’s Documentary, ‘Summer Of Soul,’ Wins A Peabody Award

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Questlove 2022 TIME Gala
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Questlove’s documentary, Summer Of Soul (…Or When The Revolution Could Not Be Televised) was one of two music documentaries that received Peabody Awards this year. In Summer Of Soul, Questlove details the events of the 1969 Harlem Cultural festival, which has gone largely overlooked in history.

“It was an honor to do this film and it’s an honor to receive this accolade,” said Quest during his acceptance speech (per Billboard), “and not just for my ego or for my personal achievement, but it was an honor to serve history.”

The award was presented to Questlove by Alicia Keys. Melissa Haizlip, who directed the PBS documentary Mr. Soul — which recounts the life of her uncle, Ellis Haizlip — also won a Peabody Award for her music documentary, and was presented with her award by Morgan Freeman. Ellis Haizlip was the creator, producer and host of the 1968-73 TV series Soul, which was known for showcasing Black music, dance, and culture.

“Whether exposing injustice, detailing uncomfortable truths, or making us laugh uncontrollably, all of the winners demonstrated how to tell a compelling story,” said Jeffrey Jones, executive director of Peabody, in a statement. “With an ongoing pandemic, political obstructionism, and senseless wars continuing to take and disrupt lives, these programs pushed past many obstacles to tell important stories that will stand the test of time. Peabody is proud to honor their incredible work.”

Culture Quick Bites Previews An Epic Summer Of Entertainment And Events

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Summer is officially here and we hope you haven’t made too many plans yet. Why? Because after you hear about all of the music festivals, blockbuster movies, streaming TV shows, and Pride celebrations, you’re going to want to update that social calendar.

Culture Quick Bites host Irene Walton is here to break down the biggest headliners, series, parades, and vacation destinations that should be on your radar this season. So yes, that means we’re still hyped over the latest installment of Stranger Things and the newest drop from Amazon Prime Video’s superhero drama, The Boys. We’re also looking forward to a slate of Summer movies set to rock the box office, one that includes the final entry in the Jurassic World trilogy, a Buzz Lightyear flick, and that wild Elvis biopic from Baz Luhrmann.

But, if your goal is to enjoy the warmer weather this summer by spending some more time outdoors we’ve got something for that too. From music festival headlined by artists like Halsey, Justin Bieber, and Kid Cudi to Pride celebrations happening in Vegas and the return of Summer travel, there’s a lot to be excited for this month.

Check out the full video above for more.

070 Shake On Living A Minimalistic Life: ‘Bro, Why The F*ck Do I Need A Billion Dollars?’

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070 Shake Outsidelands 2021
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Earlier this month, 070 Shake dropped her much-anticipated album, You Can’t Kill Me. She recorded a portion of the album in Arizona over the course of six months, which she felt was a nice break from LA. In an interview with Rolling Stone, Shake detailed the process of making the album and distancing herself from social media.

When making this record, Shake kept the music in mind, as opposed to the sales and streaming numbers.

“I’m fine living how I live,” she said, “being minimal, not living above my means… I come from a place where I didn’t even know that Hollywood was a real place. I’m very grateful, and I don’t need too much. I want exactly what I need. With that, I’ma always be good. I’ll never fail.”

Additionally, Shake shared a story from tour that further reinforced her minimalistic principles.

“I just went to Brazil [for the South American leg of the tour] and gave a kid $100 and he threw everything he was selling that day, hugged his dad, and they jumped around,” Shake said. “We were watching them, literally crying, like, ‘Bro, why the f*ck do I need a billion dollars?’ That shit is crazy. I would never want a billion dollars to myself. Never. If I got a billion dollars, I’m not doing enough. I’m not giving enough in my life.”

You Can’t Kill Me is out now via Def Jam. Stream it here.

Jay-Z And Jack Dorsey Start A Financial Literacy Academy For Residents Of Jay’s Old Home

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Jay-Z, who became hip-hop’s first legit billionaire after making a decade’s worth of shrewd business decisions, has long advocated for financial literacy as a pathway out of the impoverished situations he grew up in. This week, he went a step further, offering a financial literacy program for residents of the Marcy Houses, the public housing complex where he grew up in Brooklyn, New York. The Bitcoin Academy, which Jay launched in partnership with frequent business partner Jack Dorsey, former Twitter CEO and the founder of Block, which includes Square, will offer classes to Marcy Residents both online and in person.

Those classes will not only include lessons like “What is Money?,” “What Is Cryptocurrency?,” “What is Blockchain?” and “How to Keep Yourself Safe from Scammers,” but they will also have dinners served at each class, with attendees receiving smartphones with data plans to help with the lessons. In a statement, Jay’s mom, Gloria Carter, said:

“The Shawn Carter Foundation has always been about providing educational access and opening doors of opportunity to underserved communities. No one should be left out or behind. We truly appreciate the partnership with Block and Jack Dorsey to bring financial, specifically bitcoin education to the Marcy residents, where I spent many years raising my family. Everyone should be empowered to make informed financial decisions in order to take care of themselves and their families”

Tyler The Creator’s Latest Golf Le Fleur Converse Are Out Now — And They Look Amazing

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The partnership between Tyler The Creator and Converse has proven to be quite fruitful. In addition to the Golf Wang Chucks that sold out nearly instantly the day they dropped — and the customizable re-release from earlier this year — as well as the hilarious “Really Cool Converse Club” commercial that Tyler directed, the partnership has now spawned an entirely new shoe, the GLF 2.0, designed by Tyler. Rather than being an athletic shoe like the ones borne from other artist/brand collaborations, it’s a casual sneaker that’ll likely look just as good dressed up and dressed down.

There are currently two colorways of the new sneaker: Oil Green and Bison, and Curry and Copper Tan. The upper is canvas and suede, with fat laces, and a classic overall silhouette that gives off the same retro vibe Tyler’s been embracing since his Flower Boy era. They’re priced at just $110 and odds are, they’ll be gone before the day is out, but you can still try your luck at Converse.com. There’s almost no way there’s not a restock at some point.

Tyler’s Golf Le Fleur label has flourished this year, with the immensely busy rapper-producer-designer introducing both a line of nail polish and a line of luggage, which he introduced with a cheeky short film.

Pharrell’s Something In The Water Festival Special Guests Include Clipse, Justin Timberlake, And More

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When Pharrell Williams announced the lineup for his upcoming Something In The Water Festival back in April, the flyer touted that he’d be joined by some “phriends” and “some people we can’t announce.” Now, with the festival’s Juneteenth weekend dates looming on the calendar, Pharrell apparently can announce just who his “phriends” are — and while they’re certainly exciting, they’re hardly surprising. Pharrell will be joined by a who’s-who of his former (and current) collaborators, including Clipse, Justin Timberlake, NORE, Q-Tip, SZA, and more.

Of course, Clipse, JT, and NORE are obvious picks. As part of The Neptunes with Chad Hugo, Pharrell had a hand in some of those acts’ biggest hits of the 2000s, including Clipse’s breakout single “Grindin’” and their first album, Lord Willin’, Justin Timberlake’s solo debut Justified, which included bangers like “Senorita,” “Rock Your Body” and “Like I Love You,” and NORE’s “Superthug” and “Nothin’.” Meanwhile, Q-Tip was always a production mentor of Pharrell’s, and Pharrell was even in an A Tribe Called Quest-inspired rap trio with Timbaland and Magoo in 1991 called Surrounded By Idiots (some of their demos are floating around the internet to this day and are worth a listen). And of course, Pharrell produced SZA’s fan-favorite CTRL cut “Supermodel.”

The rest of the festival’s roster is absolutely stacked as well; you can check that out below and get more info on Something In The Water here.

R. Kelly Case Prosecutors Want The Singer To Get Over 25 Years In Prison

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Federal prosecutors have recommended more than 25 years in prison for disgraced singer R. Kelly, according to legal filings obtained by The New York Post. In September 2021, Kelly was convicted of racketeering and eight violations of the Mann Act, which prohibits transporting people across state lines for the purpose of prostitution. He’s scheduled to be sentenced on June 29, and the US Attorney’s Office said that the harsh sentence was needed to “protect the public” from Kelly, who has been accused of around 30 years’ worth of sexual misbehavior, much of it involving minors.

“In light of the seriousness of the offenses, the need for specific deterrence and the need to protect the public from further crimes of the defendant… the government respectfully submits that a sentence in excess of 25 years is warranted,” read the filing. “He continued his crimes and avoided punishment for them for almost 30 years and must now be held to account.”

Kelly’s trial in New York didn’t go well for the singer, as multiple witnesses described horrible abuse of both male and female victims, while Kelly’s defense was reportedly unable to produce one of its own witnesses. Meanwhile, he still faces a separate trial for child pornography in his hometown, Chicago, later this year. Kelly plans to appeal his New York conviction with the help of Bill Cosby’s former lawyer, who will also defend him in the Chicago trial.