The streets have been screaming “Free NBA Youngboy” ever since he was arrested earlier this month as part of a police sting. The rapper was arrested this past spring as part of a sting called “Operation Never Free Again.” Unfortunately, the rapper is being held in custody without bail and his latest effort to be released certainly didn’t work in his favor.
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According to AllHipHop, a judge has, once again, shut down NBA Youngboy’s attempt to be released from prison. This time, it comes off the heels of federal prosecutors presenting the court with unflattering photos of NBA Youngboy appearing to carry firearms on the set of a music video and in a photo with a 10-year-old fan.
The rapper’s legal team appealed the judge’s April decision to revoke his appeal. At the time, the judge said that Youngboy was a threat to society. United States Magistrate Judge Scott D. Johnson hasn’t budged on his stance, saying in his recent ruling that “no condition or combination of conditions would reasonably assure the safety of the community,” per AllHipHop.
The judge explained that the evidence to back the charges was enough to keep the rapper locked up and support the prosecutor’s argument. Additionally, Judge Scott D. Johnson also stated that Youngboy’s evading police makes him “inclined towards reckless illegal and dangerous behavior.”
At long last, the Ghostbusters: Afterlife trailer has arrived with a November release date in tow.
After numerous delays attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic, Sony Pictures has unveiled the first look at the film which will act as the official sequel to the franchise that ran from 1984 to 1989.
Director Jason Reitman sits at the helm with the series’ original director Ivan Reitman as a producer while McKenna Grace and Finn Wolfhard star in the new film.
“My father and I are extraordinarily close,” said Jason of working with his father on the piece. “It was the great bonding experience of my life with the director that I admire most, my father.”
Afterlife will mark a departure from the 2016 Ghostbusters reboot altogether and will likely appease fans who once voiced dissatisfaction with the remake at the time.
“From director Jason Reitman and producer Ivan Reitman, comes the next chapter in the original Ghostbusters universe,” reads the film’s official synopsis. “In Ghostbusters: Afterlife, when a single mom and her two kids arrive in a small town, they begin to discover their connection to the original ghostbusters and the secret legacy their grandfather left behind. The film is written by Jason Reitman & Gil Kenan.”
The movie will officially arrive in theaters on November 11th.
New York rapper Bobby Shmurda doesn’t know how to feel. In a new interview, he revealed freedom sometimes leaves him a little confused months after being released from prison. Bobby Shmurda Doesn’t Know What To Feel After spending over six years behind bars, Shmurda says he doesn’t know how to feel about freedom. While it’s […]
Now, Dua Lipa herself has weighed in on the situation, letting her fans know that she’s personally “surprised and horrified” by the rappers comments. “I’m surprised and horrified,” she wrote on her Instagram Stories today. “I know my fans know where my heart lies and that I stand 100 percent with the LGBTQ community. We need to come together to fight the stigma and ignorance around HIV/AIDS.”
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Listen, since there’s already been not one but two remixes of “Levitating” — the now defunct one with DaBaby, and the Club Future Nostalgia version with Madonna and Missy Elliott — it’s time to make a third. Give the fans what they want, replace DaBaby with a verse from Megan on a brand new version. And then all the proceeds to go the ACLU to help combat ignorance on the subject. It’s a perfect plan.
West coast rapper and weed legend Berner went from spitting on tracks with other California weed rap icons like Snoop Dogg, Wiz Khalifa, and B-Real to founding one of the world’s biggest cannabis brands and retail spaces, Cookies. Now, the rapper-turned-entrepreneur has his sights set on developing the best cannabis rolling papers that a stoner could ever long for. Developed over a three-year process, Berner “put a lot of shit in my lungs to find the right paper.” That dedication shows with his newly released VIBES.
Available in four varieties — including Organic Hemp, Hemp, Ultra-Thin, and Rice — VIBES presents different rolling papers geared towards specific needs. That level of care and attention to detail ensures your joint comes out a bit better than it would with your standard zags.
“It just compliments the herb,” Berner says, “and that’s what our whole mission is. We want to make the ultimate experience when it comes to blazing. We took our time to find the right resources, to find the right materials, to find the right paper… it’s stuff not in the market.”
You might not think all that’s totally necessary, and if you’re a casual smoker you’re unlikely to notice a major difference in the experience. But if your preferred smoking method is the classic joint, you’re going to want that fine attention to detail. I’ve tried out both the Rice and Organic Hemp VIBE papers and the Rice has quickly become my go-to, anytime I’m rolling a joint. I don’t use a roller, I grind up my weed and roll it myself and the texture of the Rice VIBE keeps the stickiest weed from becoming a hassle to roll. It’s a hack I didn’t know I needed!
This week, I linked up with Berner to talk about VIBES’ new products, how bud-tending has changed for the worse, and his secrets to rolling a perfect joint.
Cookies
Why do we need a better rolling paper at all?
I’ve been smoking cannabis for over 22 years, maybe as long as 25 years. In that time, people like Raw came to the table and brought quality rolling papers and educated the market on the difference between materials in the paper, what makes paper special, and what compliments the flavor of herb. All that time, being a connoisseur, understanding what was in the market gave me a chance to understand what wasn’t in the market.
When we came out with the Ultra-Thin VIBES and now with the Organic Hemp VIBES, that quality of paper is just next level. How thin it is, how clean it is, how pure it is. We took our time to find the right resources, to find the right materials, to find the right paper, and also come up with some innovative SKUs like the Cubano; the Cali, which we are dropping soon — it’s stuff not in the market and that’s what we’re working focusing on right now.
What makes a rolling paper perfect?
My thinking is it all starts with what you’re smoking. What makes a perfect paper to me is pairing it with the perfect herb. Certain bud I’ll get that’s extremely flavorful, it’s perfectly cured, I’ll put it in a Hemp VIBE knowing it’s not tough to roll. That’s the biggest thing, how is your rolling experience going to be? That’s why we have our different SKUs.
For instance, our rice paper is for that stickier, thicker, crazier herb that’s just gonna be a problematic roll. The paper is just a little thicker, it burns a little better with a stickier bud. And Ultra-Thin and the Organic Hemp is perfect for that connoisseur head sesh that you tuck away and hide for yourself. For me, it’s all about pairing.
COOKIES
I know you have your history as a Bay Area bud tender. Has bud tending changed for the better or worse? These days there is a lot less interaction because of prepackaged products.
For the most part, it’s changed for the worse — because everything is on a screen. You wait in line, you look on a menu, and pick what you want. But at the Cookies store we tried to implement some of that old school 215 vibe, that’s why when you come into our stores you have a dedicated budtender that sits with you through the whole experience, helps you look at things, that’s why we have the jars on top of the table, we’ve designed those custom for you to pick up and smell the bud and look at it. Fully transparent, not like some of those square jars out there.
When you’re done with the experience they send you to the cashier, and the cashier’s sole purpose is to ring you up, but that personal experience with the budtender, we try and keep that there. And its cool to be able to implement that in all our stores around the world because we don’t want that shit to go away.
As a budtender, you use to be able to open up a jar, let people smell it, even give them a bong hit if they weren’t sure they wanted to buy it and that’s missing big time. It’s changed for the worse but we’re trying to keep that vibe alive.
Walk us through the steps for how to roll the perfect joint
First step is you need the best bud possible. You need something you like and enjoy, if you’re gonna smoke you might as well do it right, start off with the best bud you can find that fits you and your body.
Second, you’ll need a tool like our Santa Cruz Shredder — the teeth are designed by a NASA engineer, it’s next level, it’s produced here in the US. I’ve been using our hemp shredders and that gives you the perfect fluff. You need to grind it right, you don’t want to be left with chunks or dust, there is a fine balance. You get the perfect bud, shred it to give it the perfect fluff.
I take a tip and put it in a cylinder, I take an Ultra-Thin VIBE or my Organic Hemp VIBE and I roll that bitch nice and loose. I like it nice and loose for air flow, I hate a pregnant joint. A tight joint that you have to hit hella hard is a bad joint. I want to pull on it softly and get nice rips, so a perfect joint is all about airflow!
Waka Flocka, who was slated to perform in the village of Oka in Quebec, has decided to skip the party and cancel the show in order to stand in solidarity with the First Nations of Kanehsatake Indigenous people of Canada.
The Atlanta-bred rapper was originally set to perform at the Oka Kanehsatake Music and DJ Festival on July 31, but most recently revealed that he will choose to respect the Natives’ desire to keep non-natives off their land.
“Waka Flocka is canceled due to the Natives not wanting non-Natives on their territory because of the hurting they are going through. We decided to side with them in solidarity,” Waka’s team announced on Ricky D Event’s Instagram.
The decision came as First Nation people across Canada deal with newly-discovered atrocities suffered at the hands of settlers
Notably, the bodies of 1000 indigenous children have been found in mass grave sites on the grounds of former residential schools once funded by the federal government.
“The discovery of these types of graves was something my colleagues and I had talked about for years. But it was still a shock,” forensic pathologist, Kona Williams, said. “These are my people. Some of those children could be my relatives.”
The history of these gravesites is traced back to the forced assimilation of at least 150,000 Indigenous children who were sent to residential schools to be stripped of their identities. While the existence of these graves has long been known within Indigenous communities, these discoveries this summer have introduced many more to the harsh history of The First Nations.
When it comes to quote-unquote new rappers, there are several names that continuously earn praise as key innovators in the culture. Denzel Curry and Cordae are both widely regarded in that esteemed group, and today, the pair of talented rappers took a moment to celebrate a few milestone anniversaries.
For Denzel, today marks three years of TA13OO, a three-part project that many still consider to be his magnum opus — at least, so far. Boasting songs like “Clout Cobain,” “Sirens” with J.I.D. and Billie Eilish, the GoldLink-assisted “Black Balloons,” and many more, Denzel’s conceptual voyage through Lights, Gray, and Dark featured some of his most impressive songwriting to date. “Happy birthday to my 3-year-old,” captions Zel, alongside the project’s cover art. “Album I was going say child but a ni**a don’t got kids. Happy birthday TA13OO.”
Yesterday, Cordae’s The Lost Boy also gained a year of experience, officially turning two. It’s no secret that the project was a major success for the young lyricist, who earned himself a Best Rap Album Grammy nomination shortly after its release. Like Denzel, he also spoke of his album as if a child, beaming with pride as a proud father would.
“My first born turns 2 today,” he captions. “Oh how the time flys. I always knew The Lost Boy would be special. More importantly I knew the lives it would touch, and how many people it would help through dark times. Oh, and new music is OTW!” By that, he’s of course referring to the upcoming From A Bird’s Eye View, presumably dropping later this year.
Congratulations to both Denzel Curry and Cordae on their latest anniversaries — two albums that are certainly worthy of a spin or two.
DaBaby‘s controversial comments during his set in Miami for Rolling Loud continues to make headlines. Everyone from T.I., Amber Rose, to Lil Nas X’s father has weighed in on the matter. While celebrity opinion remains divided on the embattled rapper’s performance, Ts Madison, who is openly transgender, also weighed in to make her stance on the subject known.
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If you’re not up to speed on the drama that has been following DaBaby (drama of his own making, mind you), the rapper has been heavily criticized after he decided to banter on the RL stage about HIV/AIDS, resulting in homophobic comments.
In response to DaBaby’s problematic statements, Ts Madison tweeted “What was the Reason???? Do you kno how many Gays truly BUY and stream your Music &do you the amount of people who are living with HIV/AIDS that you attacked for nothing ?” She continued to say, “Then The Gays break they necks to be at events like that to be completely disrespected.”
Ts Madison did not stop there. In a following tweet, she referenced a Cardi B meme and said “I asked simply WHAT WAS THE REASON…….” Madison ended the tweet by comparing DaBaby’s homophobic remarks to the public’s reaction of the newest details behind R.Kelly’s pedophilia related crimes. “You found so many reasons to show your nasty rhetoric and justify so much stuff from #DaBaby I honestly expected nothing different, a lot of you are the same ones that loved R KELLY and was on his side till A BOY came forward,” Madison concluded.
NBA legend Charles Barkley spoke his mind recently, against those who refuse to take the COVID-19 vaccine, an increasingly controversial topic, so it seems. After clarifying that he is in fact vaccinated, Barkley reportedly stated to CNBC, “everybody should be vaccinated. Period.” He went on to say, “The only people who are not vaccinated are just assholes.”
Charles Barkley’s comments were made in response to the reports of the climbing COVID-19 infections, due to the Delta variant. While making his concerns known, the Hall of Famer went on to speak about the guidelines that professional sports leagues have put in place to ensure a safe and responsible season.
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The former Houston Rockets player remained vocal that sports leagues are professional workplaces as well, which is why the COVID-19 vaccines should be mandatory. “There’s sh-t you can’t do at work and there’s sh-t that you have to do at work,” Barkley said. “So every workplace has rules and I think one of the rules [should be] that guys have to be vaccinated,” he stated.
Presently, each sports association has different rules when it comes to COVID-19 safety measures. The NFL’s regulations required vaccination for all Tier 1 staff, including coaches, front-office executives, equipment managers, and scouts. The NFL players are exempt from those rules, while the MLB and NBA have not made Coronavirus vaccines mandatory either.
Charles Barkley concluded his statements with saying, “Can you imagine if one of these guys that are not vaccinated, if they get one of these players’ kids, wives, girlfriends, moms and dads sick and they die over some unnecessary conspiracy bulls–t? I think that would be tragic.”
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