Earlier this week, a story broke that Boston Celtics head coach, Ime Udoka would face a possible suspension for a consensual, but “inappropriate” relationship with a woman in the Celtics organization. Word quickly spread across the news with many people, sports commentators, and social media voicing their opinions on the situation. However, pretty much everybody asked the same question: “Why would you cheat on Nia Long?”
Nia initially kept her silence on the situation, but earlier today she broke her silence in a statement to TMZ.
“The outpouring of love and support from family, friends and the community during this difficult time means so much to me,” Nia said. “I ask that my privacy be respected as I process the recent events. Above all, I am a mother and will continue to focus on my children.”
Sources close to the family told the news outlet that Nia and her 10 year old son had officially moved to Boston 2 weeks ago, when Udoka was fully aware his affair with the married front office staffer was going to blow up. In fact, Udoka knew as far back as July that the team knew of the affair, and was launching an investigation. Long apparently knew nothing of the affair until a few days before it made headlines.
Since news broke of the affair, Udoka has been suspended for the entire 2022-2023 basketball season and has become the butt of many jokes online, with people bashing him for cheating on Nia Long.
Music executive and manager of the rapper/actor Ludacris, Chaka Zulu, has been charged with murder in relation to a shooting that took place in a restaurant in Atlanta in June and resulted in the death of one person. Atlanta Police have charged Zulu with murder, aggravated assault, possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime, and simple violence despite the co-founder of Luda’s Disturbing Tha Peace imprint’s claims of self-defense.
In a new video obtained by TMZ, a group of men, including the now dead Artez Benton, entered Zulu’s Apt4B restaurant but would leave minutes later after a dispute. Zulu went back inside the restaurant and got into a heated argument with Tre’mon Robinson, who was a part of the group asked to leave.
Later in the video, another man, Corey Crawford, is seen grabbing an item from a car, which Zulu believed was a gun. Robinson would bump Zulu as his friends would come over. Zulu was jumped by all three men. A woman associate would attempt to help Chaka Zulu, but she was punched in the face. Crawford would duck behind a car, and shots are fired, seemingly coming from Zulu first. Shots are returned, hitting Zulu in the back. Benton sustained a shot to the chest, which would kill him.
Zulu turned himself in on Tuesday and was lodged at the Fulton County Jail. According to jail records, he was freed the same day after posting a $200,000 bond. Since the incident, only he has been accused of the crime.
Attorney Gabe Banks claims that Zulu only fired his weapon in self-defense and if he did not defend himself, he might have been the one who lost his life that night.
“Mr. Chaka Zulu, a beloved son of the City of Atlanta, is disappointed in the Atlanta Police Department’s decision to bring charges against him surrounding the shooting that occurred in June 2022. A close review of all the evidence, including the surveillance footage and eyewitness interviews, reveals that Mr. Zulu was attacked and jumped from behind by a gang of at least four individuals (sadly including the decedent) and was forced to defend himself after this gang repeatedly stomped, punched and kicked him while he was on the ground in a defenseless posture. Mr. Zulu was shot in the back during the shooting and nearly lost his life, and is still recovering from the nearly fatal injuries he sustained that evening. Mr. Zulu was at his place of business that might and had every reason to defend himself. In an attempt to save his life, Mr. Zulu lawfully discharged his weapon in self-defense, a weapon that he is licensed to carry. Mr. Zulu fully cooperated with law enforcement officials and their investigation, and voluntarily turned himself in once he teared of the arrest warrants. Mr. Zulu remains confident that his name will be cleared of all charges through the judicial process. It is not lost on Mr. Zulu that someone lost his life, but had Mr. Zulu not lawfully defended himself, Mr. Zulu would have been killed that night.”
It has been an ongoing conversation throughout hip hop about do the streets influence the art, or does the art influence the streets. Many believe that rappers glorify street culture which in turn makes a whole generation of rap listeners glorify that culture as well. On the other hand, many artists believe that lyrics do not glorify street culture, but that they are just a messenger, telling the listener about what goes on where they come from.
Charlamagne Tha God spoke on this topic during a recent episode of The Breakfast Club where he called out the hypocrisy of rapers who will say “rest in peace” but whos lyrics glorify murder.
Charlamagne began talking about the subject during the rumor report, using Tee Grizzley’s recent home break in and the murders of King Von and PnB Rock to prove his point.
“There is absolute power in the tongue which is why it does confuse me when I hear artists, you know send out rest in peace’s to people but then continue to glorify and celebrate the same lifestyle that ultimately led to these people that they’re saying R.I.P’s to demise … so it’s just interesting,” Charlamagne said.
This has been a frequent topic in hip hop especially as of recent, given the increase in murders among rappers and the recent R.I.C.O. charges brought against Young Thug, Gunna, and other YSL affiliates, where prosecutors are using rap lyrics as evidence against the group.
Los Angeles investigators are reportedly looking into the possiblity of PnB Rock’s “known enemies” as being responsible for his murder.
LAPD sources told TMZ that the case is moving in “several concurrent directions” with one involving investigators digging into PnB Rock’s past to see if the murder/robbery was spurred by a previous beef. Detectives working the case are especially interested in his ties to Atlanta, where he spent some years, and in his hometown of Philadelphia.
If this new theory proves to be true, it would debunk investigators original idea that Rock’s murder was at the hands of random robbers who found his location through his Instagram. His girlfriend Stephanie was originally blamed for his death after she shared their location on her Instagram, suggesting that she might have set him up. However, investigators revealed that PnB Rock had added his location to an Instagram story too.
Investigators are still in the process of identifying the get away car used in the murder. TMZ says that they are tracking the car down using video feeds and are getting a lot of tips on the whereabouts and owners of the vehicle.
It has been over a week since PnB Rock’s tragic passing. Many artists and fans have come out with tributes for the late rapper. PnB Rock’s death has also sparked a conversation on the senseless killings of rappers and entertainers, leading some, such as Fat Joe, to believe that rappers are an “endangered species.”
According to HipHopDX, while walking on a ramp, Malone stepped into a hole in the floor that is used to lower his guitar. The hole was not properly covered, leading to his fall.
In a video shared online, Malone was unable to brace for his fall and remained on the floor for minutes until he was assisted by staff. Post Malone would return to the stage after 15 minutes but had an abbreviated set.
“Thank you for the patience,” Post Malone said online. “Thank you for putting up with my dumb ass. Whenever we do the acoustic part of the show, the guitar is on a guitar stand, and it goes down, and it’s this big ass hole. I go around, step through there, and I bust my ass.”
You can see the moment below.
Post Malone took a fall on stage and cracked 3 ribs. Medics took him away, but he still managed to return to the stage and finish the show. pic.twitter.com/goAx40GfxU
Moments got heated between Tory Lanez and August Alsina backstage at a concert in Chicago. Alsina hit Instagram and revealed that he was on the receiving end of a beat down by Lanez and his bodyguards.
In the early parts of Sunday, rumors floated that Lanez knocked out the singer. By the afternoon, it was officially confirmed as Alsina wrote a message to his fans.
“As I’m exiting the building after the show last night, A 4’11 sized leprechaun ran down on me w/ 8 oversized security nigxas, who I greeted each individually upon their walk up as they tried to press me,” Alsina wrote. “Whole time, I’m one deep, No security.”
He added, “Tory continues to ask w/ a broken ego why I didn’t dap him up, I go on to tell him.. I was a fan of him and didn’t understand him speaking on my business publicly In the past, because I don’t know him or ever met him until last night. So when he spoke it caught me off guard because of his past actions, i assumed he didn’t like me, that’s all.”
Alsina states he was sucker punched by Lanez. “There was never a ‘fight’! Simply an Assault. Dude has no real friends, an is on a crash out mission.”
During the Instagram post, Alsina also accused Lanez of smoking a cocaine-laced blunt.
Earlier this week, footage appeared to show the aftermath of Blueface punching Chrisean Rock’s dad. While this appeared to cast the “Thotiana” rapper in a negative light, newly released surveillance footage shows that Blueface did not throw the first punch, as had been earlier speculated.
The altercation took place outside of the Four Seasons in Baltimore on Friday evening. It appeared that a large number of Blueface and Rock’s families and entourages were meeting in front of a video crew.
Newly released video footage from a nearby surveillance camera shows a male (reportedly Rock’s father, whose name is unclear) in a tense conversation with Blueface. The man then sucker punches Blueface, who then stumbles backwards. The video shows Blueface swinging and missing at first, but then punching the man, knocking him down.
Rock has cast her father in a negative light on social media in the past, calling him “absent” and “abusive” in now-deleted tweets.
By the time the police arrived, the situation appears to have de-escalated with Baltimore PD stating that they responded to a disturbance call, but no official report was filed.
The event comes just days after Blueface and Rock appeared together walking the runway at NYFW. However, the couple has a long and public history of fighting.
While PnB Rock‘s untimely death took a toll on the music industry and hip-hop community, his family is naturally grieving even more- and apparently, after many struggles, will soon get the late artist’s body from Los Angeles back to his hometown of Philadelphia.
PnB Rock’s family reportedly wanted the late artist’s body immediately because of religious reasons, but the Los Angeles medical examiner declined to release the body immediately since PnB Rock’s death is part of a larger homicide investigation. Islamic customs generally forbid autopsies, but the Los Angeles Country medical examiner’s official position was that an autopsy is required by law in certain situations, including a homicide investigation.
PnB Rock’s younger brother, PnB Meen, has spent the last week expressing his grief and sharing posts showing love for his late brother. However, it appeared that he and his family are struggling to get PnB’s body released to them. Early Saturday, he uploaded (and deleted shortly after) a picture of his late brother with a caption:
“We been Having trouble getting My brothers back to Philadelphia”…”the state of Los Angeles Claiming they Have some type of Law, goin against ours As Muslims. Now I have no clue when his Janazah”…” It’s not right yo it’s goin on a week”…”prayers Up I got you big Bro and ya Daughters.”
PnB Rock’s family reportedly showed up at the medical examiner’s office and LAPD was called to diffuse the situation.
However, later on Saturday, TMZ reported that the medical examiner’s office was ready to release the body to the family.
Janazah is part of the traditional Islamic funeral ritual. The Islamic faith has a series of preparations that they undertake within 72 hours of death to prepare the deceased’s body for burial. The Janazah is the funeral prayer that requests the deceased’s forgiveness.
The medical examiner released the autopsy findings Friday, saying PnB Rock died from a gunshot wound to his back/chest, classifying his death as a homicide.
Anthony Fantano refers to himself the internet’s busiest music nerd as he puts out music reviews from all genres daily. Fantano is well known for his scathing reviews and for albums that he thinks are in-between ratings, giving them a “light” rating. He has been hyper critical of every Drake album since Views and his reviews of Drake albums tend to include some of his most scathing criticisms and are some of his most watched videos.
Yesterday, Drake finally responded to Fantano, posting Instagram DM’s that he had sent him on his own story. “Your existence is a light 1. And the 1 is cause you are alive,” Drake DM’d Fantano. In the next message, Drake said: “And cause you somehow wifed a Black girl. I’m feeling a light to decent 1 on your existence.”
The two have never exchanged messages with each other before, however, prior to Drake actually DM’ing Fantano, the YouTuber had posted a video on his second account entitled “Drake Slid Into My DM’s.” In the video he shows fabricated messages between him and Drake where Drizzy sends him a vegan cookie recipe.
Fantano seemed ecstatic at the fact he was able to garner a response out of Drake. He hopped on Instagram live shortly after to share his thoughts on why Drake DM’d him and even gave a critique of the insult.
“Essentially what happened is that for reasons unknown to me, Drake was in his feelings, as he does tend to be.” He then described the shade as “a bit of a diss… a salty little DM. It was quite sad and unfortunate.”
Fantano then called the diss weak, saying how a diss like that comes from somebody who uses ghostwriters. “This is why he has ghost writers. Because this is the quality of insult when you get when that man is working solo dolo. If I wanted a good insult in my inbox, he would have had to have paid somebody else to come in and do it.”
“C’mon dude, you leaked your own DMs onto the internet. That’s sad. That’s pathetic. I don’t even have a million followers. How do you let me get under your skin like that?”
Fantano ended by saying that there are no hard feelings towards Drake, and that he thinks that Drake has made some good songs. “No hard feelings against Drake. I think Drake for the most part is an artist who has made some great tracks. He’s had some great records drop… He’s got a lot of fantastic hits… He’s got a lot of tracks and records that I don’t care for and that I don’t like. It’s a range.”
When you think of great weed flicks, you think of Cheech and Chong, Half Baked, Pineapple Express, and one could even argue Friday should be on that list. Now it seems as if another film, Stoned, is trying to make its way to that list, and it’s made by no other than Dame Dash.
Stoned stars Lucien Watson, a former member of “State Of Mind”, the first group that Kanye West was a part of in the 90’s. The film tells the story of two friends from different worlds, Joel and Marquis, who met up at a summer camp as kids and decide to meet up in Wyoming at Marquis’ uncle’s ranch. However, things go awry after Marquis loses his luggage with his weed in it and the two go on a journey to find weed.
The movie was filmed in 8 days in 2020 on Kanye’s ranch in Wyoming. Lucien got the role as he was entertaining Kanye, Dame, and the others on the ranch. In a statement from Lucien, he explained Dame Dash’s involvement in the film and how he got the part.
“Dame Dash was the foundation of the project in terms of acting, producing, writing as well as bringing the vibe for the film,” Lucien said. He added that he got the role while he, Kanye, Dame, and other celebrities were at dinner, “in true Lucien fashion [he] had everybody laughing.” How I even got the role was because one night at Kanye’s ranch in Wyoming, Dame, Kanye, myself, and other celebs were at dinner and in true “Lucien fashion I had everyone laughing. Dame looked at Kanye and said, “I’m putting him in a movie tomorrow” and the rest was history.”
In the same statement, Lucien said that Stoned is inspired by other great weed flicks including How High, Half Baked, and Cheech and Chong, but is made for today’s audience, given that in 2022, weed is legal for recreational use in many states and the stigma of it has changed since those movies were made almost two decades ago.
Given the change in perception of weed over the last two decades, the rate of “stoner” movies in the last decade has slowed down. When asked why he wanted to star in a movie based around weed given the change in perception, Lucien said that the perception of weed has never changed for him.
“Within the Hip Hop community and my circle of friends, weed has always had a positive perception so it has never changed for me,” Lucien said. “It’s cool that the world sees all the positive effects that weed has in people’s lives from the health benefits to the financial aspect of it. The connection between this film and myself is that I come from the legacy market within the cannabis industry where the oppressed have been jailed for doing what companies are getting millions for today. In my younger days, I made money in the streets because of weed just like so many others within this culture. This film is a comedy, but it really gives great insight to cannabis culture and where we are today in terms of the perception of it.”
You can check out Stoned when it premieres next month on Tubi, Peacock, and the Dame Dash Network.
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