Nicki Minaj Celebrates “Super Bass” Becoming RIAA Certified Diamond

It has been 10 years since the release of “Super Bass” and the megahit single has earned Nicki Minaj yet another accolade. The superstar rapper has long been declared a GOAT in the Rap game by both fans and peers, and now Minaj celebrates her Pink Friday (Deluxe) hit becoming RIAA certified Diamond.

“Super Bass” was the Pop-Rap crossover that peaked at the No. 3 position on the coveted Billboard Hot 100 chart and continues to be a fan favorite. On Instagram, Minaj showed off her new plaque and added a thankful message.

She wrote, ‘#SuperBassDiamond Thank you for over a decade of support. #Barbz (special thx to Ester Dean, Kane, Juice, Taylor Swift, Sofia Grace & Rosie, Ellen, Young Money/Cash Money & Republic.” Minaj reminded people that the release of “Super Bass” isn’t like it is today where artists can upload a track to DSPs and just count numbers.

“This one was released b4 the streaming era, so millions of fans actually purchased the song. [pink bow emoji] I’m so grateful for you guys. Sending love & blessings your way.” Thousands of Minaj’s fans have stormed social media to make the track a trending topic once again, so check out Nicki’s post and revisit “Super Bass” below.

Ed Sheeran Asks “What Would Rihanna Do?” When Writing Songs

He’s one of the most celebrated voices in the Pop sector but not many know of Ed Sheeran’s admiration of Rihanna. The Savage x Fenty mogul is an international superstar whose reach knows no bounds, and during his recent chat with The Breakfast Club, Sheeran shared that when he first attempts to write music, he keeps Rihanna in mind.

“So, Rihanna is always the benchmark,” said the singer. “Rihanna is always—when I go in, that’s how ‘Shape of You’ was created, ‘Love Yourself’ with Justin Bieber was created.”

Ed Sheeran, Rihanna
Lester Cohen / Contributor / Getty Images

“Rihanna is such a, she’s got such great taste in songs that a certain—you can’t say what Rihanna’s style is,” he continued. “It’s just good tunes. So, when you go in the studio to create a song, always we go, what would Rihanna do? [She’s someone] I would always, always love to work with and write with or for.”

Sheeran also admitted that he has submitted work to Rihanna and they were supposed to collaborate in the past, but it just never came to fruition. “It wasn’t the right tune.” Charlamagne questioned the award-winning singer about how it feels to submit to Rihanna and not get a response. “I’ve submitted to Beyoncé before and she hadn’t picked any, but then I did ‘Perfect’ and she wanted to sing on it.”

“I know people rate me, but sometimes the songs aren’t the right songs.” Watch Ed Sheeran explain Rihanna’s style influencing how he approaches writing music below.

Master P Says Everyone, Including Travis Scott, Was “Blindsided” By Astroworld Tragedy

He has been known to rock a festival stage or two throughout his career, so when it comes to addressing controversies involving live shows, Master P knows the inner workings of events like Astroworld. The Rap icon performed at the controversial event on Friday (November 5) during the day, and he chatted with TMZ about what his experience was like at the festival.

 “It was good, it was turnt up. It was a great show, it was like history in the making,” said P. “Travis Scott had all those people come out there and show up and then the tragedy happened. It was just blindsided to everybody.”

Master P
Rick Kern / Contributor / Getty Images

“My condolences goes out to the ones that lost they lives and to they families. It’s just a freak accident. To me, the barricades was a little smaller. Then you got younger kids, you know, they coming there just to turn up. I feel like it could have had a lot more police inside than they had outside.” Master P added that the energy was heightened because the crowd was excited.

“I had a kid jump on stage with me but I kinda knew that this was gonna be that type of day,” he added. “To be honest with you, it felt safe because when you do big concerts like that, you never expect nothing to happen, kids just to have fun, somebody might fall down or whatever. They have paramedics on the scene so it’s just, all I can say, it was crazy, ’cause you just don’t know.”

“When you get that many people in one place, you know something might happen… But you’re not expecting that.” Watch Master P explain his thoughts about the Astroworld tragedy before.

Summer Walker Jokes About Making OnlyFans In Twerk Video With Boyfriend

She has become more comfortable with sharing personal moments from her new relationship and fans are eating up whatever Summer Walker has to offer. The singer is slated to top the charts with Still Over It, her sophomore studio album that is on its way to debut in the No. 1 position. Walker has been diligently working on this labor of love for some time and she has put all of her feeling on wax, especially those emotions regarding her ex and father of her daughter, London On Da Track.

Earlier today (November 9), Summer and London were once again the talk of social media after he suggested he made money off of Still Over It. Summer quickly surfaced to say that he was not involved in the creation of her album at all, and after that clap back, she reemerged in a video where she twerks on her new beau, Lvrd Pharoah.

In the video, Walker is on all fours as she shakes her backside for her man as he sits in a chair and enjoys the show. At one point, he even rests his head on her…pillows…and it’s clear that these two are having a great time with one another. In another post on his Instagram page he wrote, “The Way You Look At Me , We Gone Last Forever I’m Proud Of You Lover And The Album Of The Decade Is Out Now.”

These two even teased launching an OnlyFans. Check it out below.

Toosii Addresses Receiving “Gay Jokes” For Stopping Fan From Groping Him

There have been several conversations in recent years regarding sexual assault, and while women’s stories are at the forefront, it is widely known that men endure abuse or inappropriate touching, as well. Entertainers, especially musicians who perform to a screaming audience of dedicated fans, are known to interact with concertgoers. However, some attendees use the opportunity to grope or grab artists, no matter their gender.

A clip of a Toosii concert has begun to circulate online and after the rapper was hit with jokes and backlash, he addressed the controversy head-on. Some people have been vocal in supporting the way he handled the situation.

The video is shown through the perspective of a person in the audience and Toosii is seen at the front of the stage performing. Then, a woman strokes Toosii’s body, including his private area, and without skipping a beat, the rapper continues to perform as he quickly brushes her hand away. Because he did not indulge the woman, Toosii was called names and subjected to homophobic jokes, but he took it all in stride.

“I see the video of me slapping the girl hand for trying to touch my private area surfacing,” he tweeted, also mentioning that he has respect for his lady. “I don’t know where the gay jokes started but i don’t feed into the internet. I’m a adult. I’m not into publicly embarrassing my girl.” Swipe below to check out the brief video for yourself.

Travis Scott Reportedly Went To Dave & Buster’s After His Astroworld Festival As He Was Unaware Of The Tragedy

Travis Scott was reportedly unaware that a tragedy took place in the crowd at the Astroworld Festival until quite a while it ended. A source connected to the rapper told TMZ that he was never notified about the deaths and injuries that occurred. As a result, Travis left the premises and headed to a nearby Dave & Buster’s for a party that was hosted by Drake. “Travis didn’t know the severity of the situation when he arrived at the party,” the source told TMZ. “As far as timing, this remains consistent with the fact that no one including the police had publicly confirmed the gravity of the events that had taken place.”

Travis brought out Drake as a surprise guest at the festival, and the two performed songs including “Sicko Mode” and “Way 2 Sexy.” The TMZ report comes after Travis’ partner Kylie Jenner, who is currently pregnant with her second child with him, came to his defense about the festival.

“Travis and I are broken and devastated,” she wrote in a post to her Instagram Story. “My thoughts and prayers are with all who lost their lives, were injured or affected in any way by yesterday’s events.” She added, “And also for Travis who I know cares deeply for his fans and the Houston community, I want to make it clear we weren’t aware of any fatalities until the news came out after the show, and in no world would have continued filming or performing.”

Juelz Santana, Kimbella, Erica Mena, Safaree, Stevie J To Appear On “Love & Hip Hop Family Reunion”

If there is one thing that VH1 will consistently have on television, it’s some form of the Love & Hip Hop franchise. At this point, it’s nearly impossible to keep the behind-the-scenes moments during filming from reaching social media, and for weeks fans have been talking about the rumored upcoming season of VH1 Family Reunion: Love & Hip Hop Edition.

This marks the second season of this series where notable personalities from Love & Hip Hop, regardless of which franchise they belong to, come together for a vacation where they are set to mend broken relationships. It all counteracts the criticisms that Love & Hip Hop producers have received over the years regarding their portrayal of Black culture.

Peter Gunz, Amina Buddafly
Bennett Raglin / Stringer / Getty Images

This time Around, the star-studded cast features leads from Atlanta, New York, Hollywood, and Miami, including Amina Buddafly, Bobby Lytes, Booby Gibson, Brooke Valentine, Cisco Rosado, Cyn Santana, Erica Mena, Jonathan Fernandez, Juelz Santana, Kimbella, Marcus Black, Mimi Faust, Peter Gunz, Rich Dollaz, Safaree, Shekinah Jo, Stevie J, Tara, Yo-Yo, and ZellSwag.

Some of these folks know each other intimately, like Erica and Safaree who are going through a divorce, while others have never met before. They’ll engage in discussions and exercises focused on community building, mental health awareness, and self-discovery. Of course, there will be plenty of fights and hookups.

Mimi Faust, Stevie J
Paras Griffin / Contributor / Getty Images

Tune in on December 13 at 8:00 p.m. PT/ET for the premiere.

Lil Duval Says “You Can’t Blame Travis Scott” For Astroworld Tragedy

Since the public learned of the Astroworld tragedy in the early morning hours of Saturday (November 6) morning, the ongoing news cycle regarding the event has been unending. Travis Scott is bearing the brunt of responsibility as it pertains to the reported lack of safety measures at his coveted festival, and not only has he been removed from Day N Vegas, but Coachella fans have petitioned for him to be axed from that event as well.

Scott as well as his Kardashian-Jenner family and friends have all issued statements regarding the eight deaths and hundreds of injuries sustained by fans. As they all receive backlash for a variety of reasons, people like Ireland Baldwin, Alec Baldwin’s daughter, as well as Lil Duval have come forward in the rapper’s defense.

Astroworld
Brandon Bell / Staff / Getty Images

Finding people in the industry willing to stand by Scott’s side during the scandal has been few and far between, but there are those like Duval who believe that this could have happened at any festival, anywhere in the world, at any time.

“You can’t blame Travis Scott for that astroworld sh*t,” tweeted the comedian. “That could’ve happened at any big event. I’m surprised it ain’t happened sooner. It’s damn near impossible to have that many people in one place with that much energy and nothing happens.” He later added, “Even if they would’ve stopped the event that would’ve made it that crowd stopped. It probably would’ve made it worse.”

Scott, Drake, and Live Nation have found themselves on the receiving end of lawsuits. Scott was recently named in yet another court case regarding nine-year-old Ezra Blount who is currently suffering organ failure and brain swelling after being trampled at the event.

TLC Singer Chilli Doesn’t Think Race Of Ahmaud Arbery Jurors Should Matter

It was a shocking case that stole the attention of all corners of the United States and the controversy surrounding Ahmaud Arbery’s slaying has only intensified in recent weeks. It was in February 2020 when the 25-year-old was jogging in his Georgia neighborhood and was chased by father and son Travis and Gregory McMichael in a pickup truck. Upon confronting Ahmaud, the McMichael’s, who were also joined by another acquaintance who followed in a separate vehicle, shot and killed the young man. They suspected that he was a thief stealing for homes in the neighborhood but Ahmaud was just out for a run.

The three suspects have remained incarcerated until the trial and it was recently shared that out of the 12 jurors selected, only one was Black. TMZ caught up with TLC singer Chilli, real name Rozanda Thomas, and asked her about the juror selection. To Chilli, the skin color or backgrounds of jurors shouldn’t make a difference.

Ahmaud Arbery
Sean Rayford / Stringer / Getty Images

“We have to believe that there are kind, good-hearted people out there no matter what color they are so I would say, let’s look at it like that,” she said. “Just because it’s not the same skin color doesn’t mean that they wouldn’t be fair because to me it’s pretty obvious what happened. We can just pray and hope that they would see the same thing.”

The backlash was heavy for the music icon because people began pointing out dozens upon dozens of documented cases such as this within American history. Watch her video with TMZ and check out footage from the McMichaels’ trial below.

Ireland Baldwin Defends Travis Scott Amid Astroworld Backlash: “It’s Not [His] Fault”

As Travis Scott remains on the receiving end of criticism over the tragedies that occurred at Astroworld, he has support from Ireland Baldwin. Recently, Ireland found her father, Alec Baldwin, at the center of controversy of his own. The acclaimed actor accidentally fired a prop gun loaded with real ammunition on set of Rust resulting in the death of a crew member, and immediately, people began calling him a murderer, killer, and pleading with authorities to make an arrest.

Unsurprisingly, Baldwin’s family, friends, and fans have stuck by his side and defended him publicly, including Ireland. This time, she lent her voice to Travis Scott’s scandal and called out those who have been vilifying the rapper.

“Y’all are really killing me these days. You believe everything that you see on Twitter and Tik Tok and completely bandwagon on spreading misinformation,” she wrote. “First you were armory/ stunt coordination pros when it came to the horrific tragedy involving my dad… and now Travis Scott is demonic because he ALLOWED people to die at his show?” Ireland was referencing the viral conspiracy theory videos that have circulated online.

She mentioned being “heartbroken for the families who lost a loved one” before adding that “it’s not Travis Scott’s fault.” Ireland said, “Any actual musician would validate that you can’t see or hear anyone up there. Especially when wearing in ear monitors.” She told people to “do a little research” before going after the rapper.

Read through her message below.

[via]