New Hip Hop News

Awkwafina responded to the criticism she has faced in the past for using a “blaccent,” in her films, during a recent interview while promoting her new Marvel movie, Shang-Chi. The most high-profile example of the accent she’s been called out for using is in 2018’s Crazy Rich Asians.

“Um, you know, I’m open to the conversation,” she said. “I think it, you know, it’s really something that is a little bit multi-faceted and layered, and so yeah.”

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Some fans were particularly annoyed when a 2017 interview with Vice recently resurfaced, in which, Awkwafina comments on offensive accents.

“I refuse to do accents,” she said at the time. “I’m not OK with someone writing the Asian experience for an Asian character. Like that’s annoying and I make it very clear, I don’t ever go out for auditions where I feel like I’m making a minstrel out of our people.”

Awkwafina broke through with her appearance on MTV’s Girl Code. She’s gone on to star in a number of popular films including Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising, Ocean’s 8, Crazy Rich Asians, Jumanji: The Next Level, The Farewell, and Raya and the Last Dragon.

Check out Awkwafina’s response to the controversy below.

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With the 73rd edition of the Emmys set to air Sunday night, late actor Michael K. Williams stands to win his first award from the ceremony for his performance in HBO’s Lovecraft Country. The Hollywood Reporter has learned that his nephew, Dominic Dupont, will accept the award in his place if Williams wins.

“Michael was instrumental in helping me get through the process of the prison experience,” Dupont recently told the New York Post.

He added that Williams “would work really hard to be a mentor to me and encourage me to stay focused on the important things” and was in the process of “helping me make a successful transition back into the community.”

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While he’s yet to win an Emmy award, he’s been nominated in the past for his work on The Night Of, Bessie, and When They See Us. He’s also received a nomination for his work as a producer on the Vice documentary Raised in the System.

Williams was best-known for his roles on HBO’s The Wire, which ran from 2002 to 2008, as well as HBO’s Boardwalk Empire, which ran from 2010 to 2014.

The legendary actor was found dead in his Brooklyn apartment on September 6, 2021.

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The Justice for J6 rally, a protest held at the U.S. Capitol showing support for those charged in connection with the infamous January 6th riot in D.C., drew only a small crowd of an estimated 300 to 350 people, Saturday.

“It is kind of sad, the small amount of people,” Casey Crawford, a protester from Alaska told WAMU. “I’m glad that there was a turnout but I think that a lot of people were scared away, saying it was gonna be a false flag.”

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The event was put together by a former campaign aide to former President Donald Trump.

Capitol Police reportedly made four arrests at the rally: One man was taken in for carrying a knife into the crowd, another was arrested for bringing a gun, and two people were arrested for pending arrest warrants from Texas.

“Take a look around. Do you see an insurrection?” Cara Castronuova, another protester at the rally told Politico. “Shame on the people the system that put fear in the hearts of American citizens to stay home, and to not come out. … What kind of America has this become where people are afraid to come out and protest?”

Check out photos from the rally below.

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Las Vegas Raiders star running back Josh Jacobs will be out with toe and ankle injuries for the team’s Sunday contest against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Backup running back Peyton Barber will fill in as the team’s lead back.

“We really like Barber. We think he’s a heck of a back,” head coach Jon Gruden said. “I like the way he runs and catches and picks up blitzes. We’re excited about this opportunity to see what we have.”

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In the Raiders’ 33-27 thrilling overtime win against the Baltimore Ravens, last Monday, Jacobs finished with two touchdowns and 34 yards on 10 carries.

Despite rushing for 1,000-yards in each of his first two seasons in the league, Jacobs has yet to play a full 16 games due to various injuries. In 2020, he rushed for 1,065 yards and 12 touchdowns. On the other hand, Barber rushed for 258 yards and four touchdowns last season.

Barber went undrafted in 2016 and has played for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Washington Football Team, and the Las Vegas Raiders.

Veteran back Kenyan Drake will also be involved in the Raiders’ game plan as an option in the passing game.

The Raiders and Steelers matchup will kickoff at 1:00 PM, ET on Sunday.

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Jay-Z has reportedly invested $110 million into the smart-home device maker, Wyze Labs, through his firm Marcy Venture Partners, which he co-founded with Larry Marcus, and Jay Brown. The company specializes in products such as digital thermostats, security cameras, and vacuum robots.

The investment from the New York rap legend brings Wyze Labs’ total funding to $146 million to date. It was founded in 2017 by Amazon veterans and now boasts over 300 employees.

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“We are doubling down and investing heavily to build world-class artificial intelligence into our camera products,” Wyze co-founder and Chief Marketing Officer Dave Crosby told GeekWire in a recent piece. “Just in the last year, our AI team has built person detection, vehicle detection, package detection and pet detection into our cameras. “Right now we have AI features in the works that we truly think will be game-changing for any camera, let alone one that costs less than $36.”

Jay and his venture capital firm have been active in 2021, putting money into NBA star Chris Paul’s vegan cheese brand and an NFT branding company, Bitski. Jay also recently opened the doors to his NYC club, 40/40, following its closure due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Detroit Lions running back Jamaal Williams, who was let go by the Green Bay Packers, says that he’s treating his old team like an ex-girlfriend after a breakup. The Lions are set to take on the Packers during Monday Night Football, on September 20th.

“It ain’t hard for them to say ‘bye,” Williams said during a press conference, Thursday. “They let me (go). Y’all act like I left on my own, golly. I didn’t do it. Shoot, if I could have stayed, I could have stayed. If I can’t, they didn’t want me.”

He continued: “Like that ex-girlfriend, shoot, I got to go. But I got a rebound, it was the Lions, they picked me up. Now they feeding me good, taking me to dinners. Another man’s trash is another man’s treasure.”

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Williams thrived in his Lions debut, last weekend, finishing with 17 touches and 110 yards from scrimmage while splitting snaps with DeAndre Swift.

Since joining the team, Lions coach Dan Campbell has sung Williams’ praises.

“He’s exactly what I thought he would be and the vision of what he would be,” Campbell recently said. “And that, man, there is true value in that because he was as steady and reliable a guy as you can have. He looked exactly like he did in camp. He ran hard, he was high-energy. He played smart. And he helped move the football for us.”

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Brockhampton has collaborated with designer Nick Holiday’s brand, Holiday, for a new merch collection which is available now on their website. The collection features sweatshirts, sweatpants, both long-sleeve and short-sleeve t-shirts, and more.

The new pieces are modeled by the group’s members Romil, Roberto, Kevin Abstract, and Matt Champion, in a series of photos.

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Nick Holiday has served as a key voice in the group’s creative team throughout their rise to fame. 

“I am not in charge of their individual style, and sometimes I get afraid of that word ‘stylist’ because these dudes are so creative and so good at their job,” Holiday said in an interview with Complex back in 2019. “They are fucking awesome. They show me new stuff every day, too.”

As for his own brand, Holiday, he says the style is very much inspired by nostalgia. 

“It’s all based on nostalgia,” he explained in a recent interview with Office. “Everything I do, it’s all based on emotion and it’s based on me seeing certain colors. Color is a very important way to express.”

He continued: “I like working with people that I’m really friends with, honesty. I love that. And music is one of my favorite things ever. So if I’m doing a brand, and an up-and-coming artist has a mixtape dropping, I want them to use my platform. If this helps them in any way, it’s going to help me too. We can all be honest about what helps us, instead of this cool, ‘Oh no, I’m doing you a favor.’”

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Lil Nas X says that working on his new album, Montero, was therapeutic for him and helped him to heal “many unchecked wounds.” Nas dropped the debut album, Friday, after an attention-grabbing build-up that included him participating in a fake pregnancy photoshoot.

“I love joking but on a serious note making this album was therapy for me,” he wrote on Twitter, Saturday morning. “I began healing many unchecked wounds, facing skeltons in my closet i never wanted to, fighting internally every day and crying persistently, MONTERO is truly my baby. Thanks for the love.”

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The project features collaborations with Doja Cat, Elton John, Megan Thee Stallion, and Miley Cyrus, but surprisingly to many, not Drake or Nicki Minaj. Nas explained their absence from the project, on Twitter, earlier this week.

“No reply from Nicki, Drake was still working on [Certified Lover Boy],” he wrote. “This was like a few weeks ago and I understood completely, and he said he’s down to do something but [it was] just not the right time. He was trying to get his own sh*t together.”

Check out Nas’ thoughts on the making of his new album below.

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