Snoop Dogg’s been in the game for nearly 30 years and on Nov. 19th, he’ll unveil his 19th studio album, The Algorithm. Though he’s insisted that it’s more of a compilation project, it’s his first visible move as a senior strategic advisor for Def Jam. On his recent Breakfast Club appearance, Snoop explained that his intention was to “save New York first.” “It ain’t hip-hop like it used to be out here,” he explained. “I want hip-hop back in New York. I want that feelin’ back.”
Snoop’s latest single emphasizes the New York City energy that he misses so much in hip-hop. “Murder Music” ft. Jadakiss, Benny The Butcher, and Busta Rhymes bring that gritty production and bars to the fold, while Snoop holds down the hook. The music video dropped on Tuesday, opening up with Snoop Dogg sitting on top of a CGI recreation of the Empire State building while Jada, Busta, and Benny deliver their respective verses in front of grimey New York backdrops.
According to a press release from Ben Crump Law, nationally renowned personal injury attorney Ben Crump has “filed a lawsuit on behalf of the father of E.B., a 9-year-old child who was trampled and catastrophically injured at the Astroworld Festival.”
The lawsuit, filed by Crump and Alex and Bob Hilliard of Hilliard Martinez Gonzalez, “alleges negligence in a great number of aspects, including crowd control, failure to provide proper medical attention, hiring, training, supervision, and retention,” and names “Scoremore Mgmt, Live Nation Entertainment, Travis Scott, Cactus Jack Records, and others as defendants.”
Image via HNHH. Photo shot by @frankievergara_
Coming just a handful of days after eight people were killed and hundreds more were injured as a result of stampeding crowds at Scott’s Astroworld Festival in Houston, Texas, this lawsuit is the latest legal ramification aimed at the Astroworld rapper following the Astroworld tragedy. But while he, Live Nation and Drake have already been named in multiple lawsuits, the suit filed by Crump paints a most stark picture of what happened last Friday at NRG Park.
Explaining that E.B., a 9-year-old concertgoer, was “trampled and catastrophically injured” at Astroworld, Crump said both the child and his family have suffered serious trauma.
“This young child and his family will face life-altering trauma from this day forward, a reality that nobody expects when they buy concert tickets. Concerts and music festivals such as this are meant to be a safe place for people of all ages to enjoy music in a controlled environment. None of that was true about the Astroworld Festival,” Crump said in a press release. “This little boy is currently fighting for his life, and his parents will never know the same child they entered Astroworld with.”
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E.B., who suffered brain, liver and kidney trauma, “is currently hospitalized in a medically induced coma on life support.”
Over this past weekend, when Saweetie tweeted that she wanted to have babies, the internet at large was amused by one response in particular. After Nick Cannon posted a string of emojis in the replies, fans couldn’t help reacting as a result of the television host’s reputation as a “certified baby maker.” With seven children among four different women, it seems like Nick Cannon is shooting all silver bullets at a rate that would put Steph Curry to shame.
Of course, the hilarity of the situation wasn’t lost on Cannon, who turned the trend into one of the subjects of his show, The Nick Cannon Show, in a segment called “What’s Poppin.” “I guess I was all over The Shade Room this weekend,” he said. “Again, I think I’m very much understood. Saweetie tweeted she wanted some babies and I just replied with some emojis. As an expert on babies, anybody who can speak emoji knows what that says.”
Cannon joked that what he really meant was “Take time for making such a big decision.” He then had some fun with the responses, throwing up tweets reading such missives as “Here comes Fertile Myrtle” and “The celibacy clock is ticking.” He made sure to clarify though, that no harm was intended with his comment. “It was all in fun,” he assured the audience. “No disrespect. If she’s ready to have kids, get to it queen. We rockin’ with ya.”
Contrary to some of the chatter online surrounding the release of Netflix’s new movie, The Harder They Fall, multiple hip-hop generations have a strong affinity for the Western. Consider that one of rap’s earliest music videos, Juice Crew’s “The Symphony,” revolves around a Wild West theme. Another, Kool Moe Dee’s “Wild Wild West,” made the connection plain, as did Will Smith’s redux over a decade later on the soundtrack of the film of the same name.
So it’s no surprise that The Harder They Fall — directed by Jeymes Samuel, aka The Bullitts, a musician and music video director for Jay-Z, one of the film’s producers who also appears on the excellent soundtrack — plays more like a long-form music video in the vein of Beyonce’s The Gift than it does genre staples like A Fistfull Of Dollars or The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly. Although it’s an important film in terms of representation of Black cowboys — who were actually just as prevalent as any other ethnicity — its true strength is as much in its soundtrack and visuals as its off-kilter storyline and mixed-bag performances.
Intriguingly enough, The Harder They Fall is far from the first movie to feature Black cowboys. In fact, it’s not the first one on Netflix this year, nor is it Samuel’s first effort. Those distinctions go to Concrete Cowboy and They Die By Dawn, respectively, although the former was a modern movie rather than a Western and the latter saw limited distribution (although, intriguingly, it also featured a strong emphasis on music, with Erykah Badu playing the same role as Zazie Beets, Stagecoach Mary, and featured another alumnus of The Wire in the late Michael K. Williams, playing Nat Love).
And while there has been much emphasis placed on the true-life inspirations of characters like Mary, Nat, Rufus Buck, Cherokee Bill, and Bass Reeves, the actual story of the films plays out more like the plot of Tombstone, with little of these real-life characters’ actual histories represented here. It’s not quite an affront to fictionalize real peoples’ lives to tell a historical fantasy, but it does feel a bit self-indulgent. The story, such as it is, doesn’t really need to use the names and likenesses of real people, and while it may generate interest in them, so too might have just playing their individual stories straight.
Meanwhile, the story itself is quite thin and feels almost like it was pulled together by committee, culling hot topics from Black Twitter without really putting much effort into making the pieces fit. Particularly, Rufus Buck’s motivations seem like a hazy reference to Greenwood in Tulsa, Oklahoma and Idris Elba’s performance is almost sublimated by the overall focus on Jonathan Majors’ Nat Love and his quest for revenge against Buck, and the film’s biggest emotional twist comes in way too late, after a set of diversions that add nothing to its forward momentum other than possibly providing a small bit of revenge fantasy. That’s fine, but if it detracts from the emotional story you want to tell, it’s really unnecessary.
But the story and the performances feel almost secondary to the visuals. They’re beside the point. The point appears to be to set right the erasure of Black people from the grandiose history of the American West. To that end, Samuels goes to lengths to portray his characters as intelligent, savvy, and beautiful, shooting them against picturesque tableaus of deserts, forests, and steppes. While things tend to get a little bland whenever the characters come to a town, a sequence featuring Stagecoach Mary’s saloon could almost fit in on MTV in its heyday.
Likewise, the film’s soundtrack peppers in classic and contemporary soul and reggae cuts to highlight the characters’ travels and the action scenes. Dennis Brown’s “Promised Land” blares over a scene of Rufus Buck’s gang riding into town, Seal’s “Ain’t No Better Love” soundtracks part of the climactic shootout, and Barrington Levy belts “Here I Come” and “Better Than Gold” as Samuels’ camera glides over twirling six-shooters, swirling gunsmoke, and galloping horses. It almost feels like the cursory storyline beats are just breaks between the bits that The Bullitts really wanted to get to: The musical set-pieces that nearly do enough to justify the film’s existence on their own.
I’d go so far as saying that they could have just been the movie without needing a story, like The Gift and other, similar films that have become almost de rigeur for a certain class of prestige artist — like Jay-Z, whose “Moonlight” video Samuels directed, likely leading to the mogul’s funding of this endeavor. I’m not the first to notice this; Okayplayer’s Latesha Harris noted as much in her own review. Films like The Harder They Fall are needed, but what’s needed more is to get beyond the need for surface representation and to actually tell stories worth telling. The movie can also be a guidepost as well, pointing out how to make those stories look and sound as pretty as possible.
As you have likely caught wind of already, 2021 MVP Nikola Jokic will likely receive a fine or suspension from the NBA for his response to a foul in last night’s (Nov. 8) game between the Denver Nuggets and Miami Heat.
In the middle of the 4th quarter, with the Nuggets leading 111-94, Markieff Morris stopped Jokic in his tracks on a fast-break with a tough foul. Jokic did not respond well to it, charging at Morris and striking him to the ground with his shoulder.
This caused players of both teams to merge in a scuffle and exchange words, as Jokic was soon ejected from the game. Morris had to leave the game on a stretcher, likely due to whiplash from the hit.
Jokic soon regretted his actions, saying: “I don’t know who showed me the clip but [Morris’] head snapped back. I felt really bad.”
But, Heat players did not forgive Jokic as Jimmy Butler pleaded with Jokic to meet him in the tunnel after the game, presumably to fight.
In fact, most of the Heat team actually waited to confront Jokic in the locker room hallway after the game ended to defend their injured teammate.
Along with that, Morris’ twin brother Marcus, of the Los Angeles Clippers, launched a shot at Jokic through Twitter saying: “Waited till bro turned his back smh. NOTED.”
Nikola Jokic’s brothers then decided to return the favor, creating a Twitter account for the first time to respond to Marcus: “You should leave this the way it is instead of publicly threatening our brother!Your brother made a dirty play first . If you want to make a step further be sure we will be waiting for you !! Jokic Brothers.”
Nuggets reporter Mike Singer confirmed this account was run by the Jokic brothers.
The brothers have a documented history of defending Nikola, as they almost started a fight from the crowd during a scuffle between the Nuggets and Suns in last year’s 2021 playoffs.
Markieff later addressed the incident today on Twitter, by saying even though Jokic’s hit was a cheap shot, he still won that round over him: “I love to see the hate! No doubt I took a hard foul which I always do but I’ve never hit a man with his back turned! Luckily we built different over here. I can take my licks and keep pushing. Joker 1 smooth 0 lol.”
Fans were intrigued by the possibility of a Jokic brothers vs. Morris brothers beef, and predicted the outcome of a potential tag-team style fight between the two families.
While Jokic will likely face hefty consequences for his transgressions against Morris, the backlash and response by the players’ families and NBA fans have made this the most intriguing story of the young NBA season.
50 Cent wants answers, and he wants them now. The executive producer of BMF mouthed off against the STARZ network after the latest episode of the series, which was only scheduled to go live next week, was accidentally uploaded on Sunday. The episode, which marks 50’s directorial debut on the show and features a cameo from Eminem, was available for a few hours on the STARZ app before being removed, and Fiddy wants to know why this happened.
He continues to voice his frustration with STARZ, most recently demanding answers from them and asking, “Well who is responsible for the glitch? Tell them to pack their shit up and change the pass codes, Raising Kanan the streets need a body.”
He preceded his posts about BMF by sharing new photos from the set of Expendables 4. 50 was confirmed to be starring in the upcoming film a few months ago, and now we’re getting the first glimpse of him looking like a total badass, posing for photos on top of a military tank.
“WAR what is it good for, absolutely nothing but n!66a’s keep fronting, fuck it then live like solider and die like solider WAR,” captioned 50 on one of the posts. “Yo this is my Movie everybody else just in it. #expendables4,” he continued. “I’m from South Side we always got something to prove. a lot of people know i’m good at what i do. i’m disciplined, so everybody will know i’m great soon.”
Are you excited to watch 50 Cent in Expendables 4?
In 2023, hip-hop will celebrate its 50th birthday. 50 years since DJ Kool Herc’s groundbreaking block party at 1520 Sedgwick Avenue in the Bronx that’s been largely credited as the birthplace of hip-hop. In celebration of the milestone anniversary, Nas and Minya “Miss Info” Oh have formally announced their new podcast, The Bridge which focuses on the evolution of the culture in its 50 years. The first season is expected to launch on Nov. 16th with special guests including Jungle, DJ Jazzy Jeff, Cordae, Ice Cube, and more.
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Nas, who will be teaching a Masterclass on storytelling in hip-hop, explained that the Spotify podcast will detail the rich history that took hip-hop from block parties to the biggest genre in the world. “This is our opportunity to go deep and explore how hip-hop went from the microphones, turntables, and sound systems to big business and a worldwide cultural phenomenon,” Nas said in the trailer for the podcast.
“Of course, The Bridge brings our paths full circle as friends and colleagues, but the most special thing about this podcast are the conversations that listeners will get to sit in on,” Miss Info told Complex. “Our guests open up to Nas and I, about the way they approach life, the way they reconcile their pasts, and in many cases, the shared history between Nas and these fellow artists. We’re having a blast and I think it shows.”
The Bridge will debut new episodes weekly for free on Spotify. Check the trailer out below.
On Tuesday morning, London On Da Track gloated about the project’s success, joking that he’s the first person that will get paid off their own diss album. It was revealed that on ten of the songs from the new album, London has either a production or writing credit. While he did executive produce the entirety of Summer’s first album Over It, the LVRN-signed singer says he was barely involved in the new release, claiming that he simply stamped his name on some of the songs and called it a day.
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“He didn’t WRITE sh*t and he didn’t PRODUCE sh*t either,” commented Summer after London’s post about the album gained attention. “He just handpicked the n***as he wanted to do all the work and attached his name to it while he was out screwin hoes while I was PREGNANT. The most he did was sprinkle a wind chime effect on a song that was already done then put his name on it, the last album he actually did the work, and it was great project. He super talented, but for this album, lol no sir, but I guess guess the city boys is up, taking credit for ish you ain’t do and not actually having to take care of the kids you made. Lol ima go back to minding my business, this just triggered the hell out me [sad face emoji].”
Check out Summer’s response below, as well as London’s post underneath. What do you think about this? Listen to Still Over It here.
Longtime Wu-Tang Clan affiliate, Remedy, has announced his new album will hit digital streaming platforms on November 26.
Remedy Meets Wu-Tang, Remedy’s first solo album, boasts features from Wu-Tang members on nearly every track. And in following up the Inspectah Deck-assisted “Death Defying,” the first single off Remedy Meets Wu-Tang, the “Never Again” rapper is back with another album cut, this time dropping off “The Pulpit.”
With feature verses from Cappadonna and Ghostface Killah, as well as Conway the Machine, “The Pulpit” is a dark, grimy track reminiscent of hip-hop’s golden age. Connecting Buffalo to Staten Island, “The Pulpit” is another “Griselda-Wu” crossover for fans of New York hip-hop to hang over their mantle.
At just over three minutes, the record is a bar-spitting clinic, and a preview of what’s to come on Remedy’s Remedy Meets Wu-Tang.
Quotable Lyrics Hip-hop’s holiest gunning soloist Sun unloading clips The remedy you’re left with sudden loneliness My condolences
Check out “The Pulpit” below and let us know what you think in the comments.
Lizzo and SZA are undoubtably two of the most exciting pop/R&B stars in today’s music landscape. They have each maintained a fruitful friendship with each other, and Lizzo revealed they go back several years.
On Wednesday morning (Nov. 8), Lizzo took to Twitter to post a side-by-side comparison of a years-old selfie of her and SZA, next to recent picture of them, joining in on the “How it started/How it’s going” trend.
The first photo looks like it is taken off an early smartphone based on its grainy quality, and it is easy to see how much younger Lizzo and SZA are based on their hairstyles and fashion. Fans were stunned at how long they had been acquainted.
Lizzo posted this photo on SZA’s 32nd birthday yesterday, as she also got her a year of free jet ski rides as a gift. SZA tweeted how appreciative she was of the gift, and Lizzo responded by saying she loved her.
Lizzo and SZA friendship as always been strong and healthy, it was just such a surprise that they had been hanging out way efore being public about it.
