Music

R. Kelly ‘Does Not Get Any Special Accommodations’ In Jail Despite His Celebrity Status

by
Getty Image

R. Kelly is currently behind bars as he continues his trail after being accused of grooming and sexually abusing several minors. The disgraced singer has been in jail since July 2019, but despite his fame and the high-profile nature of his case, the singer is reportedly not granted any special accommodations.

Kelly has spent his time at two federal prisons, the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Chicago and now the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn. A recent report from Billboard details the singer’s stay, with his former lawyer Michael Leonard claiming he only leaves his small cell for two hours a day. “Kelly has spent the majority of his time in the Chicago lock-up, where Leonard says he is only allowed out of his 8×10, two-person cell for a few hours day to check his email, talk to his lawyers, make phone calls, shower and eat, with no access to the rooftop basketball court that is typically available during non-COVID times,” Leonard says. The lawyer added that “every once in a blue moon” Kelly sings for his fellow inmates “and the place would go crazy.”

Other than being granted additional access to his lawyers via video calls due to his “limitations with reading and writing,” Kelly “does not get any special accommodations,” according to attorney Stacey Richman. “He will get the same food as everyone else,” Richman said. “He, like everyone else, will have commissary money so he can access more foods and sundries.” Richman added that he could potentially get the chance to trade his autograph for more commissary items items, which includes boxes of Ramen noodles, tuna pouches, and packets of cookies.

Kelly continues to attend court where some of his accusers have testified about they abuse they’ve faced. Most recently, a male victim claimed Kelly sexually exploited him when he was just 17-years-old.

Maxo Kream Continues His Comeback With Tyler The Creator And Their Boisterous ‘Big Persona’ Video

by

Houston rapper Maxo Kream recently announced his return to the rap game with “Local Joker,” ending a two-year hiatus that began shortly after the release of his second studio album, Brandon Banks. That album’s follow-up, Weight Of The World, is now on the way with an October due date and in the meantime, Maxo has offered up a preview in the form of the album’s latest single, “Big Persona” featuring Tyler The Creator, who also produced its boisterous beat.

Tyler and Maxo cruise in a Rolls-Royce truck in the video, which sees Tyler embracing his new bellhop persona, once again showing off his luxury luggage collection, while Maxo embraces his lady’s baby belly in anticipation of his impending fatherhood. Meanwhile, the title “Big Persona” does double duty, not only describing the rappers’ charismatic public images but also paying tribute to Maxo’s late brother. Persona is also the name of Maxo’s streetwear brand and label, further expanding on the creative play on words.

Weight Of The World will continue to honor Maxo’s brother, detailing his life and taking stock of the impact of his absence. Family has long figured into Maxo’s work; Brandon Banks similarly focused on the generational qualities he inherited from his father.

Check out Maxo Kream’s “Big Persona” video with Tyler The Creator above.

50 Cent Attributed Michael K. Williams’ Death To A Fentanyl Overdose And Fans Are Calling Him Out

by
Getty Image

We all react to bad news in different ways and while it’s generally acknowledged that folks are allowed to process grief anyway they can, some of those coping mechanisms just aren’t socially acceptable. Over the long weekend, fans of The Wire and Lovecraft Country were dismayed to learn that actor Michael K. Williams — who starred in both shows, as well as many more beloved films and television series — had passed away, found dead at home at the age of 54. While many shared their distress at the news, offering loving tributes to the well-respected actor, one celebrity’s post instantly sparked a backlash.

50 Cent, the former rapper and current Starz production powerhouse responsible for such series as Raising Kanan and BMF, is well-known for using his platform to troll his enemies (or just about anyone in the news, really) on social media, then use the attention to promote his various business endeavors. This time, however, his usual strategy backfired as he underestimated just how well-liked Michael K. Williams really was. “Damn if you didn’t see Raising Kanan check it out that fentanyl is no joke, killing the clientele,” he captioned the post. “RIP michael k. williams.” The accompanying photo was a screenshot of a New York Post headline — since-deleted — attributing Williams’ death to a suspected overdose.

Fans weren’t pleased with the post, using the opportunity to censure 50 for his near-relentless trolling and the tasteless decision to use someone’s death to advertise his show. Some attributed 50’s reaction to pettiness over a three-year-old disagreement between 50 and music executive James Rosemond, Jr., a.k.a. Jimmy Henchman, who is serving a life sentence for commissioning a hit on one of 50’s friends. When Williams shared a video defending Rosemond from a rumor that he was attacked in prison, 50 seemingly decided to add Wiliams to his long, long list of enemies.

50 has since deleted the offending posts, but screenshots are forever. Check out some of the responses to his petty post below.

A Detroit Mural Of Eminem Was Vandalized Less Than 24 Hours After It Was Finished

by
Getty Image

Eminem has always shown up for his Detroit hometown, consistently donating money to organizations in the city through his Marshall Mathers Foundation. But the same sentiment apparently isn’t shared by everyone in the city, as someone completely vandalized a new mural of Eminem in Detroit less than 24 hours after it was finished.

According to a report from The Detroit News, Chicago-based street artist Chris Devins spent all of last Saturday painting a giant mural of Eminem in Detroit’s Cass Corridor. Devins claimed passersby showed their support of his work by snapping photos and honking their car horn as he painted. However, Devins came to find out that someone had completely defaced the artwork less than a day after it was completed.

Devins said he was already back in Chicago by the time he heard the news of the mural’s vandalization. “I felt terrible,” Devins said, calling the graffiti “disrespectful.” He continued, “I was devastated. Who would do that? That’s against the rules of street art. […] I want to restore it to its original value. I would like to re-present it to the community in its unblemished form.”

Devins wasn’t commissioned by Eminem to paint the mural, but was visiting Detroit with his family for Labor Day Weekend and thought the empty wall could “use some beautification.” The painting is based on a photo of Eminem by photographer Nitin Vadukul.

The artist currently plans to return to Detroit to fix the mural soon. Even still, he’s offended that someone had the audacity to deface his artwork so soon after it’s completion. “You can’t give some people anything good,” he wrote on Instagram.

Janet Jackson Shares A First Look At Her ‘Janet’ Documentary’s Trailer In A New Teaser

by
Getty Image

Janet Jackson is getting ready to give her fans a behind-the-scenes look at her storied career and rise to fame. Her upcoming documentary Janet is set to feature archival and unseen personal footage, home videos, and exclusive celebrity interviews, which she has previewed in a teaser of the film’s new trailer.

Jackson debuted a one-minute teaser of her Ben Hirsh-directed documentary this week. Along with telling Jackson’s story, the film features some talking head commentary by friends and collaborators like Missy Elliott, Mariah Carey, Paula Abdul, and more.

“This is my story, told by me, not through someone else’s eyes,” Jackson says in the trailer. “This is the truth — take it or leave it. Love it or hate it. This is me.”

Janet is set to be released live on A&E and Lifetime in January 2022. The full documentary will be a two-part event, with the entire four-hour film premiering across two nights.

After sharing the trailer, fans showed an outpouring of support for the singer. That included Missy Elliott, who praised Jackson’s talent. “You are the BluePrint of what a SuperStar is,” she replied. “40 years in the game & still counting! You are UNBREAKABLE! I Love you Jj you already know.”

Watch the full Janet teaser above.

Some of the artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Wiley Has Been Charged With Burglary And Assault After Allegedly Attacking Another Man In London

by
Getty Image

British grime godfather Wiley has been charged with burglary and assault after allegedly attacking another man in London, according to BBC. Billboard also reports that Wiley will appear at Thames Magistrates’ Court next week after being arrested on Monday, September 3 in connection with the August 28 incident. Allegedly, Wiley broke into the home of kickboxer Ali Jacko, causing what BBC called “a minor injury” for which “paramedics had not been needed.” However, Wiley will be charged with assault by beating and burglary with intent to cause criminal damage for the incident.

Incidentally, the last time Wiley was in the headlines, he didn’t fare much better. He was banned from Facebook (and Facebook’s subsidiary Instagram) last summer for making anti-Semitic comments on the platform just days after receiving a similar suspension on Twitter. Wiley also got dropped by his management company, capping his fall from grace — which, ironically, came at just about the height of his recognition after a decades-long career spent pioneering the UK grime scene.

His position at the forefront of the scene initially lent at least a little credence to his accusations of cultural appropriation against dabblers in the scene like Drake and Ed Sheeran, but quickly swerved into salty old man-ism when he included new wave leader Stormzy in his tirades. After a back-and-forth battle between the two, Stormzy appeared to come out on top by default as Wiley self-destructed his public image.

Beyonce And Jay-Z’s Basquiat Tiffany Ad Gets Criticized By The Painter’s Collaborators And Friends

by
Getty Image

According to a new report at The Daily Beast, the new Tiffany & Co. ad campaign featuring Beyonce and Jay-Z posing alongside a rarely-seen canvas by Jean-Michel Basquiat has drawn the ire of the artist’s closest friends and collaborators, some of whom say they were “horrified” to see the ad. They maintain that Basquiat himself would not have approved of such commercial use of his work, calling it a “prop” to give the ad empty cultural clout.

Alexis Adler, who is described as a girlfriend of the late painter who lived with him during his early career, told The Beast, “I’d seen the ad a couple days ago and I was horrified… the commercialization and commodification of Jean and his art at this point—it’s really not what Jean was about.” Alder pointed out that while Basquiat certainly wanted to be commercially successful, he also wanted his art to be accessible. “Unfortunately, the museums came to Jean’s art late, so most of his art is in private hands and people don’t get to see that art except for the shows,” she notes. “Why show it as a prop to an ad? Loan it out to a museum. In a time where there were very few Black artists represented in Western museums, that was his goal: to get to a museum.”

Al Diaz, Basquiat’s partner in the duo SAMO, also criticized the ad for misappropriating Basquiat’s image and reputation as a “luxury” association. “People think that his association with luxury was because he was impressed with that shit, but he couldn’t care less,” he explains. “It’s not just about wearing an Armani suit. If he wore it, it’s because he could buy it and fuck it up, it wasn’t because the stitches were fabulous or well-made… People won’t see the depth. At this point, the only people that could afford a Basquiat are the people he was targeting. Like, you’re the oppressor. They buy it out so that it becomes meaningless.”

And an unnamed curator of Basquiat’s work takes issue with the company’s insistence that the distinctive blue tone used on Equals Pi would ever be a simple tribute to the remarkably similar “Tiffany blue” signature. “Let’s say he did reference that color on purpose — which seems out of character for him to do something that simple — I think it really flattens his artistic approach,” they said. “He was a really deep thinker. His work wasn’t like, this symbolizes this. Everything references something but then it tells a story of that thing. But let’s say he did though… to use it in an ad, it wouldn’t have been the context. It wouldn’t be used to sell Tiffany’s but to say something critical, maybe about blood diamond extraction or something. I just think it’s a reach.”

The full article can be read here.

Rico Nasty Updates Her SoundCloud With Five New Songs Out Of Nowhere

by
Getty Image

One of the more fun aspects of the way streaming and social media have upended the music business is how artists no longer have to rely on traditional releases to get their new material out. Where in the not-so-distant past, everything hung on a label’s release schedule and the need to manufacture the physical products to send to stores, now, rappers like Rico Nasty can simply upload a batch of new tracks to their SoundCloud pages and notify their fans via Instagram and Twitter, with no need to classify the release as a single or an EP or an album.

And that’s exactly what the elusive, genre-agnostic DMV rapper did over the long weekend, posting the cryptic photo below captioned “Secrets on SoundCloud.” A quick perusal of the SoundCloud bears five new discoveries of unknown origin, each reflecting a different sound from the grand Rico Nasty galaxy of sonic experimentation. There’s the puffy sugar trap of “Show Me Your Love,” the JetsonMade-produced banger “How Ya Feel,” the stripped-down “Switch Places,” the spacey “Cotton Candy,” and the surprisingly vulnerable “Grow Up.”

Meanwhile, Rico has more traditionally released another pair of singles, “Buss” and “Magic,” recently, complete with music videos. Whether all this is ramping up to the follow-up to her debut album Nightmare Vacation remains to be seen, but half the fun is not knowing what she’s got planned next.

You can hear Rico’s new songs here.

Rico Nasty is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Two Songs From Kanye West’s ‘Donda’ Debut In The Top 10 Of The Hot 100 Chart

by
Getty Image

So far, Kanye West’s new album Donda is an undeniable success. The project debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart, and its songs are also faring well on an individual basis. Billboard shared the top 10 spots of the Hot 100 chart dated September 11 today, and two of the songs come from Donda: “Hurricane,” which debuts at No. 6, and “Jail,” which comes in at No. 10. West now has 20 top-10 songs on the chart.

While “Hurricane” and “Jail” have guests on them, they aren’t credited as featured artists, so they do not appear on the chart; “Hurricane” includes contributions from The Weeknd and Lil Baby, while “Jail” has a verse from Jay-Z.

Elsewhere on the chart, BTS’ “Butter” returns to the No. 1 spot for a tenth week, making it just one of 40 songs to ever spend at least that long in the top spot. The song’s rise comes after the group released a new remix of it featuring Megan Thee Stallion, although that version of the song didn’t drive enough listening activity to give Megan a credit on the chart.

Meanwhile, Walker Hayes’ “Fancy Like” rises to No. 9 this week, making it just the second country song of the year to make the top 10, following Morgan Wallen’s “Wasted On You.”

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Drake Says His Giannis Antetokounmpo Lyric On ‘Certified Lover Boy’ Was Inspired By A Tweet

by
Getty Image

There are a lot of lyrics on Drake’s Certified Lover Boy, given that the album runs for nearly 90 minutes. One of the standout lines, though, is when he references Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo on “7am On Bridle Path”: “Could at least keep it a buck like Antetokounmpo.” The multi-syllabic name doesn’t exactly lend itself to being mentioned in a song, but Drake says he did it because he was challenged to on Twitter.

Over the weekend, ESPN re-shared a tweet on their Instagram that was originally posted after the Bucks won the NBA championship last season, a tweet that played off the fact that Drake has been known to name-drop athletes in his songs: “Drake working Antetokounmpo into a line is gonna be tricky but he’ll figure out something.” In the comments of ESPN’s post, Drake confirmed that this tweet was what inspired him to mention Antetokounmpo on “7am On Bridle Path,” writing, “Only did it cause of this tweet.”

@espn/@champagnepapi/Instagram

All that said, the song is perhaps most notable for who it doesn’t mention, at least not by name, as fans are convinced that throughout “7am On Bridle Path,” Drake takes jabs at Kanye West as the two rappers continue to feud.