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Nearly two months after the death of Memphis rapper Young Dolph, the late rapper’s fiancee Mia Jaye granted her first interview with ABC News Live Prime to talk about the effects his death has had on her and their family. Dolph and Mia have two children together, and Dolph often said that he wanted to retire from rap to spend more time with them. Mia explained how important the kids were to him in the interview.
“It’s been extremely difficult, just having to pick up the pieces and to find the strength for my children,” she said. That is the one thing: Adolph and myself felt we had a duty to them. To protect them, to raise them, to just do so much for them, and together. Now that he’s no longer here, it’s just very tough for me to be strong for them and also be strong for myself because Adolph was my soulmate when I say they stole my future, it has taken a long time to iron out the kinks.”
“It’s been extremely difficult, just having to pick up the pieces and to find the strength for my children…That was my soulmate.”
In her first interview since Young Dolph’s murder, his longtime partner Mia Jaye speaks about their relationship, family. https://t.co/KheeaV9q5l pic.twitter.com/8tDSLSGZWs
— ABC News Live (@ABCNewsLive) January 13, 2022
Dolph was shot to death outside a Memphis bakery while buying cookies. Police have made two arrests and indicted three suspects so far. A street in Memphis was renamed for the late rapper, nodding to his importance to his hometown, while collaborators like Gucci Mane and his own Paper Route Empire label have also paid musical tribute.
You can watch Mia Jaye’s interview above.
According to a report from The Oregonian, Nike will begin firing unvaccinated employees this weekend. The company has had a vaccine mandate in place since October. Those who have not received any sort of medical or religious exemption will be fired on Saturday, Jan. 15.
Nike’s approach to the vaccine mandate may be met with some resistance from employees and legal, but many legal scholars believe that private employers can adopt government mandates regardless of the court ruling.
Although the company is set to fire unvaccinated employees this upcoming weekend, Nike did send a warning email to those unvaccinated employees. “You failed to complete the verification process and our records show that you do not have an approved exemption. As a result, you are not in compliance with the policy, and your employment is scheduled to be terminated on Saturday, January 15, 2022,” reads an email sent to a Nike employee last week.
Originally, Nike expected to have employees back in the office on Jan. 10 on a hybrid schedule, but due to the rise in COVID-19 cases, those plans fell through. “We do believe over time that with innovation and a strong brand, we want to go to a hybrid model,” Nike CEO John Donahoe stated in a call last month. “As you know, in the United States, we have mandated vaccines and have a very high response rate to that. So we’re ready to come back in a hybrid work environment when that’s safe,” he continued.
Based on The Oregonian’s report, about 120 Nike employees have objected to the mandates, but it’s unclear how many of those employees are vaccinated.
Memphis rapper BlocBoy JB experienced somewhat of a fall-off following the release of his “Look Alive” collaboration with Drake in 2018. Aside from his feature appearance on “Camelot” with NLE Choppa, and “Peach Jam” with 88rising and Joji, the 25-year-old rapper has been looked over, for the most part, by much of the industry. However, he intends on making one of the biggest comebacks of the year, stepping back into the spotlight in the same manner that he walked in — with mega-producer Tay Keith.
Teaming back up with the producer that he rose up the rap ranks with, BlocBoy JB has announced his new project Bacc 2 Da Bloc, executive produced by Tay Keith. The tape will arrive alongside a new Blocumentary, which includes appearances from Yo Gotti and more.
“Applying Pressure All 2022,” wrote BlocBoy on Instagram. “I feel like this is me, back to the old me,” he said in the Blocumentary preview. “Back to the basics. The majority of the songs were done in Memphis and all of them were produced by Tay Keith.”
The new album will be released on January 26.
Considering how influential BlocBoy JB has been in a few short years, popularizing trending dances and dropping hit records, he definitely has a shot at coming through once again as a big stepper in the rap industry. Are you looking forward to his return?
As of now, three suspects are being held for the murder of a Memphis legend, Young Dolph. On November 17, 2021, rumours of Dolph’s murder began to flood our timelines, while we collectively held our breath, hoping these rumors would prove to be untrue. Alas, shortly after, photos and video evidence began to pour in, confirming that this was no longer just a rumor, but indeed, a fact.
Dolph’s death has left an immense hole in the hip-hop community, while his fans, friends, and family continue to grieve for him. His life partner, Mia Jaye, did her first interview since Dolph’s passing last night with ABC News Live where she shared what she’s been going through, stating “It’s been extremely difficult, just having to pick up the pieces and to find the strength for my children.” She continued later, “I’m turning this pain into purpose right now. And so I’m very thankful for the community starting the conversation of what can we do to lengthen the lives of Black men in America?”
Meanwhile, each day seems to bring a new update concerning the case. This week we’ve seen three suspects apprehended, with Justin Johnson, Cornelius Smith and Shundale Barnett all behind bars for their role in Dolph’s murder. This morning, TMZ revealed even more information concerning the series of events that led to Dolph’s tragic death.
According to legal documents, the white Mercedes Benz that was used as the getaway vehicle for Dolph’s killers was carjacked a week prior. The police report that a lady in a white Benz was approached by two men, both armed with “AR-style guns,” who forced her to give up her car– and then, when they had trouble figuring out how to start the car, they chased down the lady once again and forced her back into the vehicle, putting a gun to her head and slamming her in the back of the head, so that she would start the car for the thieves.
The car was used in more than one crime leading up to Dolph’s death, according to these police documents. They also state they dusted the car for fingerprints, which is how they came across one of their suspects, Cornelius Smith.
We’ll keep you posted as more details come to light. Check out everything that’s happened since Dolph’s death here.
YoungBoy Never Broke Again has shaken things up among rappers this week, seemingly referencing the murder of rapper King Von in his new song and explicitly dissing O-Block, a stretch of Chicago-located apartment buildings that is very relevant in hip-hop. After YB said he was rolling up “O-Block pack” in the latest release from his upcoming mixtape, Colors, the Baton Rouge-based rapper seemingly earned responses from Lil Durk, King Von’s sister, and more.
“Don’t claim it if you ain’t do it you still a b*tch,” said Durk on Instagram.
Other rappers have also responded to YoungBoy dissing O-Block, including Chicago native Lil Reese, who responded to DJ Akademiks calling YB a “demon”.
“That ain’t no demon time he just rapping like the rest of these rappers all rap,” tweeted Lil Reese, the self-proclaimed Grim Reaper.
Despite previously supporting YoungBoy, Memphis rapper NLE Choppa seemingly took issue with the artist dissing O-Block too, quote-tweeting Lil Reese and adding, “I stamp that.”
Many fans also believe that Fredo Bang, a fellow Baton Rouge-based rapper who has a history of feuding with YoungBoy, also apparently took some shots following the song’s release, posting, “Safe ass.”
See how everyone is responding to the song below.
It looks like Kanye West is about to have a firm grip on the rap game in 2022. Steven Victor recently announced that Donda 2 is on the way, and in recent days, we’ve seen Kanye link up with a slew of artists, from The Game to Antonio Brown, as he hinted at the release of new music. It looks like on Friday, we might get the first glimpse of what he’s been cooking up.
A video emerged online this morning of Kanye West the studio with Pusha T and The Game while on a FaceTime call with DJ Premier and his son. “Your father’s my inspiration,” Kanye told Premier’s son.
“He’s buggin’ out right now. You got me buggin’ out right now,” Premier responded.
As the two continued to chat it up, Kanye puts The Game and Push on FaceTime with Premier, stating that they’re going to start a new wave with their future releases. “We’re starting a whole…we about to just control the sound of music, it’s up to us now, period,” Kanye said before revealing that he has a new song that’s supposed to drop this Friday.
“We got a song we’re releasing Friday that we wanted you to do a scratch on, if possible,” Ye requested.
Kanye’s music plans aside, he’s also been quite social in recent times. Of course, he’s been frequently spotted out with his new lady Julia Fox. Last night, Evan Ross shared a video of a rather confusing link up including Kanye and Fox, along with Madonna, Floyd Mayweather, Antonio Brown, and Jason Lee. Check that out below.
YoungBoy Never Broke Again stoked the fire with the release of his new single, “Bring The Hook,” on Wednesday (January 12). On the same day, affiliated rapper Quando Rondo also shared a new song, called “Dead Wrong.”
While “Dead Wrong” may not be as explicit as “Bring The Hook,” Quando Rondo gets menacing and offers up thousands of dollars for somebody’s dreadlocks on the record. Many of his lyrics directly reference violent activity, including shootings, murders, and similar crimes. He does not mention O-Block, contrary to YoungBoy’s approach on “Bring The Hook.”
Quando has remained consistent over the last few months, continually sharing new music videos for his fans to enjoy. Check out “Dead Wrong” below.
Quotable Lyrics:
They say, “You dead wrong”
I just left the grave from seeing Ralphie, kissed his headstone
I be in a rush, call me blue monster, Sonic Hedgehog
I just got a Glock, came in from Russia, need a red dot
Put him to sleep just like some Wock’ or Robitussin, need his dreadlocks
Azealia Banks claims that she turned down two separate requests to collaborate with Kanye West this week, telling her followers what she really thinks about the multidisciplinary artist without holding back.
Previously, Azealia Banks has used Kanye’s likeness to promote her 2021 single, “F*ck Him All Night.” She seemingly had a crush on the music legend but she has since turned around on that stance, tearing him to shreds in her latest Instagram Stories.
“Just turned down a Kanye collab request twice in one week,” said Azealia on Instagram. “He’s like officially useless garbage on his own,” she said of the artist, who has recently been working with The Game, Antonio Brown, MoneyBagg Yo, and others. “If he can stop being corny and make amends with Jay for watch the throne 2 (which prob won’t happen, Jay doesn’t play that dirty dope head sh*t) I *might* consider… But Id rather collab with Doja Cat than Kanye at this point. She’s making better music than him.”
This stance is surprising from Azealia, who previously said that Doja Cat “makes music for ten-year-olds.” She has also gone viral for her body-shaming comments targeted at Doja, calling the rapper “fat” and incessantly cyberbullying her at times.
Do you think Doja Cat would collaborate with Azealia Banks after all she’s said about her? And what do you think about Azealia calling Ye “useless garbage”?
