New Hip Hop News

Houston Police Chief Troy Finner reportedly visited Travis Scott in his trailer to warn him of the dangers of continuing with the show, prior to his set at the 2021 Astroworld Festival, according to the New York Times. Scott continued with the festival and a crowd surge ensued, resulting in the deaths of eight concertgoers. Among those who died were two teenagers, ages 14 and 16.

Pending investigations, Finner declined to confirm whether the private conversation took place.

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Fire Chief Samuel Peña said that a degree of the onus is on Scott, as the performer, for not pausing the show.

“The one person who can really call for and get a tactical pause when something goes wrong is that performer. They have that bully pulpit and they have a responsibility,” Peña told the Times in a telephone interview on Sunday. “If somebody would have said, ‘Hey, shut this thing down and turn on the lights until this thing gets corrected’ — and that coming from the person with the mic — I think could have been very helpful.”

The Houston Police and Fire Departments are investigating the festival, something Scott said he is cooperating with in a statement over the weekend.

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Tyrone Blackburn, the attorney representing Jennifer Hough for her witness intimidation lawsuit, claims that both Kenneth Petty and Nicki Minaj are affiliated with the Makk Balla Brims gang based in Queens, New York. Blackburn made his accusation in court to Judge Eric Vitaliano.

To prove his case, Blackburn showed the court footage of the couple in Jamaica, Queens.

“[Kenneth] Petty and Maraj were both in this district, in Jamaica, Queens, New York. As seen on an Instagram live video currently up on Maraj’s Instagram page, both Maraj and Petty were seen associating with members of the Makk Ballers set of the Bloods Gang. Petty and Maraj are both members of this gang,” Tyrone Blackburn told the Judge.

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Connecting his allegation to the lawsuit, Blackburn explained that members of this gang have harrassed Hough online.

He said: “Shortly after Petty and Maraj are spotted with their gangster colleagues, a member of the gang posted a death threat to Ms. Hough on Twitter, stating: ‘Jennifer if you see this, the Makks are coming to get you.’”

Hough is suing Minaj and Petty, claiming that they attempted to bribe her to recant her accusation that Petty raped her at knife-point in 1994. Petty was sentenced to four years in prison at the time.

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The Las Vegas Raiders will reportedly sign wide receiver DeSean Jackson, who is being released from the Los Angeles Rams, according to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler. The three-time Pro Bowler is hoping for more playing time with his next team.

The Rams attempted to trade Jackson prior to the Nov. 2 deadline but were unsuccessful.

“I think what it boils down to is opportunities that I think he’s deserving of and the situation and some of the circumstances that surround him,” Rams head coach Sean McVay told reporters.

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Jackson signed a one-year deal to join the Rams before the 2021 season began hoping to add a much-needed deep threat to the roster. Van Jefferson, who was taken in the second round of the 2020 NFL Draft, has since emerged as that option.

The Raiders are in need of a receiving option after losing Henry Ruggs, who is being hit with several legal charges for his involvement in a car crash that left a 23-year-old woman and her dog dead. The former first-round pick could face a maximum of 46 years in prison.

Jackson has played for the Eagles, Washington Football Team, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and Rams throughout his tenured career.

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A fan who was paralyzed at a Travis Scott concert in 2017 says that he’s “devastated” by what happened at Astroworld on Friday night. Following a crowd surge during Scott’s performance, eight attendees were killed and hundreds more were injured.

The fan, Kyle Green, was injured after being pushed off of a balcony at Terminal 5 in Manhattan. Scott had encouraged a separate fan to jump down from the second-floor earlier in the concert.

“I see you, but are you gonna do it?” the rapper said to the fan he neared the edge of the railing. “They gonna catch you. Don’t be scared. Don’t be scared!”

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Green filed a lawsuit against Scott and other organizers of the event claiming that he was dragged off the floor by show staff “without a cervical collar, backboard, and other safety precautions,” according to his lawyer, Howard Hershenhorn.

“He’s devastated and heartbroken for the families of those who were killed and for those individuals who were severely injured. He’s even more incensed by the fact that it could have been avoided had Travis learned his lesson in the past and changed his attitude about inciting people to behave in such a reckless manner,” Hershenhorn said in an interview Saturday.

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Dwayne Johnson says that his production company, Seven Bucks Productions, will no longer use real guns on set following the tragic shooting on the set of “Rust.” Alec Baldwin shot and killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins after mistakenly firing a live round from a gun that was being used as a prop.

Johnson spoke about the tragedy with Variety, last week: “First of all, I was heartbroken. We lost a life. My heart goes out to her family and everybody on set. I’ve known Alec, too, for a very long time.”

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“I can’t speak for anyone else, but I can tell you, without an absence of clarity here, that any movie that we have moving forward with Seven Bucks Productions — any movie, any television show, or anything we do or produce — we won’t use real guns at all,” Johnson shared.

Rather than use real guns, Johnson says the company will be switching to rubber guns.

“We’re going to switch over to rubber guns, and we’re going to take care of it in post,” he went on. “We’re not going to worry about the dollars, we won’t worry about what it costs.”

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Kanye West is reportedly dating the 22-year-old model named Vinetria, according to Page Six. The two attended Donda Academy’s debut basketball game in Minneapolis together, Sunday.

Sources tell Page Six that the Donda rapper has been “hooking up with” Vinetria “for a while now.”

West has also been rumored to have briefly dated Irina Shayk following his split from Kardashian. 

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West’s ex, Kim Kardashian, has recently been linked to Saturday Night Live star Pete Davidson, a relationship West is reportedly unhappy with.

Page Six reports that sources close to the Kardashian’s say the family is worried about him.

“Everybody in the family is worried about how Kanye will react to Kim spending so much time with Pete,” one source reportedly said. “Kanye recently said he still wants to be with her, so he can’t be taking this well.”

Despite seeing Vinetria, West has said that he wants to get back together with Kardashian.

“SNL making my wife say I divorced her on TV, ’cause they just wanted to get that bar off,” he said during his appearance on Drink Champs, referring to Kardashian’s SNL monologue. “And I ain’t ever seen the papers. We’re not even divorced. ‘Cause that ain’t no joke to me.”

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Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield discussed overcoming the departure of Odell Becklham Jr. and beating the Cincinnati Bengals 41-16, Sunday. Mayfield says that he wishes Beckham the best.

“I wish him well, I really do,” Mayfield told reporters, according to Bleacher Report.

“I trust the guys in this locker room,” Mayfield continued. “I’ve said it over and over again, and I truly mean it. When adversity hits, nobody flinched. “It was a long week. I’d be lying if I said otherwise. Proud of these guys and how they were able to focus and do their jobs. We’ve got a good group. We really do.”

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Mayfield put on a show during his first game without having Beckham on the roster, completing 14 of 21 passes for 218 yards and two touchdowns. He finished with a passer rating of 132.6.

It’s unclear where Beckham will finish his 2021 campaign, but recent reports say he intends to sign with a playoff competitor. With his current contract, he will be owed $7.25 million, meaning only nine teams have the space to claim him off of waivers as it stands now. This includes the Jaguars, Eagles, Broncos, Seahawks, Panthers, Chargers, Steelers, Bengals, and the Washington Football Team.

If he clears waivers, he will have to ability to sign with a team of his choosing.

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Ed Sheeran knocked Drake off of the number one spot on the Billboard albums chart, Sunday, with his new album, =. Drake’s Certified Lover Boy locked down the top spot, last week, for the fifth time since its release. 

The new project is Sheeran’s fourth No. 1 on the Billboard 200. = has sold 118,000 equivalent album units since its release on October 29.

Drake’s popular Certified Lover Boy, which was released back in August, still hung on to the No. 2 spot with 67,000 equivalent album units sold last week.

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Other projects to chart include Morgan Wallen’s Dangerous: The Double Album, Megan Thee Stallion’s Something for the Hotties, YoungBoy Never Broke Again’s Sincerely, Kentrell, amongst others.

Earlier this year, Sheeran spoke with the BBC about his friendship with Eminem, explaining that they bond over their mutual love for collecting cassettes.

“I collect cassettes and I’ve got Ray Charles and Stevie Wonder and they are quite difficult to find,” he said. “The only person I know who collects the same is Eminem. He collects cassettes – that’s his thing. He loves collecting. He is avid at going to find them. We have started having this, it’s like a very cool pen-pal thing.”

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Katt Williams stopped his show at the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Ky., Saturday night, after a fan passed out in the audience. Williams remarked that he can’t continue performing in a similar situation after the Astroworld tragedy, in which eight people were killed during a crowd surge at Travis Scott’s festival.

Shortly into his set, a fan yelled out “Stop the show!” to which Williams obliged, according to TMZ.

“I’m sorry if I won’t move on but that Astroworld shit, I mean we can’t never continue till we know somebody motherfucking good … I’m not goin’ to be leaving with that on my conscious … just take five minutes … thank you, sir … I hope she’s just having a baby. That’s all.”

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Paramedics rushed in to help the audience member and Williams said he was glad to have made the right choice.

“We made the right decision,” he said. “Alright, come back from a commercial break.”

Travis Scott and the organizations of his Astroworld Festival have already been hit with one lawsuit after eight fans were killed and hundreds more were injured at Scott’s set, Friday night. Concertgoers cried out for help from Scott as the crowd of 50,000 fans rushed the stage during his performance.

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