New Hip Hop News

Freddie Gibbs’ feature film debut is set to premiere on Sunday, July 11 at the Cannes Film Festival, and leading up to the movie’s screening this weekend, the acclaimed rapper chopped it up with Complex to share some insights into his first foray into acting. 

Apparently, Down With The King isn’t the first movie opportunity that has landed on Freddie Gibbs’ lap. However, most of the previous roles that he was offered were gangsta roles in “hood movies,” but the Alfredo rapper’s desire to do “avant-garde, artistic” movies led him to turn them all down. Eventually, Gibbs landed a lead role in the Diego Ongaro-directed film about a rapper seeking to make his departure from the music industry, and the rest is history.

Deeper into the interview, Complex’s Deputy Pop Culture Editor Khal asks the Grammy-nominated rapper into some of the wilder moments from the film, specifically mentioning a scene in which Gibbs’ character skins a pig. “The entire film has a looser vibe, and I know it’s a movie, but your character is skinning pigs and there are a lot of blunts being rolled in the film. What was real?” he asks the rapper.

“Man, I got to leave some of that to your imagination,” Gibbs replies while laughing at the question.  “I will say this: I was in the thick of it. If you want to call this sh*t Method acting, I definitely did that. I became that sh*t.”

Although he doesn’t exactly confirm whether or not he actually skinned a pig for his role as Mercury Maxwell in Down With The King, his use of the term “method acting” does imply that he fully immersed himself into the character’s life. With the film set to premiere on Sunday, no news has yet been revealed about any widespread theatrical releases for Down With The King, so stay tuned for more details regarding Freddie Gibbs’ new flick.

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Fans came to the defense of an angry Ari Lennox today on Twitter after a troll with fake accounts attacked her page– and apparently, it wasn’t the first time. In a string of tweets from just a few hours ago, Lennox lashed out at those who are harassing her– threatening them with violence in a fit of rage. She then clarified her stance and gave a statement about her social media accounts, which she sees as toxic because of “trolls” “wishing death upon her.”

“I love my truest supporters and I’m grateful for y’all. I should be able to enjoy online like everybody else without being harassed constantly by the same person. A person determined to spread false information and wishing death on me,” read her final tweet in the string of attacks on the account harassing her.

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“Infinite dreams. You parasitic evil bitch. When I find out who you are, I’m whopping your soulless diabolical vile decaying ass” and “I’ve been documenting you for over a year and I will beat your weak disgusting ass” were all heated predecessors to her more composed reactions to the troll. Lennox states that this account has been trolling her for over a year, and they keep making new accounts to continue their crusade against her. Tweets from the troll account could not be found, as they were inevitably deleted.

Fans flocked to her side and made sure the rapper had the support she needed. “Say the word, I’ll swing on them first,” said one fan, another   offering “Who we jumping?”

Check out Ari’s tweets as well as fan reactions below.

Joe Rogan is one of the biggest podcasters in the entire world although his show has certainly come with some controversy over the years. Rogan is constantly sitting down with politically charged guests, and sometimes, these guests get into conspiracy theory territory. While most of his viewers are interested in the conversations, there are some people out there who believe Rogan should be reprimanded for platforming the likes of Alex Jones.

While the higher-ups at Spotify have continued to support Rogan, there are some employees at Spotify who are disgusted by his presence on the platform. According to Business Insider, Spotify was even forced to hold a Town Hall with its employees, where some suggested that Rogan should receive more editorial oversight. Spotify refused to do this and since then, employees have gotten even more upset.

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Perhaps one of the more interesting elements of this story is that fellow podcaster Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are also against Rogan’s role on Spotify. They took particular offense to his comments about the Coronavirus and how younger people don’t need to get vaccinated. While Rogan retracted these claims, the royal couple was still appalled.

Despite all of this, Rogan is the biggest star on the Spotify platform and it doesn’t look like they will be doing anything to upset him, anytime soon. After all, he is making the company a whole lot of money right now.

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After two games in the NBA Finals, the Milwaukee Bucks find themselves in a 2-0 hole to the Phoenix Suns. While they have been in this position before, there is no denying that things are much different this time around. Throughout the first two games, Giannis Antetokounmpo has been nothing short of amazing, and in Game 2, he ended up scoring 42 points. Unfortunately, his two other stars, Khris Middleton and Jrue Holiday, have been nowhere to be found.

These shooting woes have come at the absolute worst time, and now, there is a real chance that the Bucks could get swept if they don’t get their act together. While speaking to ESPN, Giannis explained how he isn’t worried right now although he understands that his teammates just need to keep a cool head and continue shooting, even if things get rough.

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“No matter what’s going on, you’ve got to stay aggressive and you cannot get in your feelings. It’s hard not to. You know, NBA Finals, 20,000 people booing you and all that, it’s kind of hard,” Giannis said. “But at the end of the day, it’s not about me. It’s not about him. It’s not about Khris [Middleton]. It’s not about Coach. It’s about all of us. … If there’s a game that you’re 3-for-12 or whatever the case might be and you can rebound the ball or get a steal or do something else to help the team win, that’s what it’s all about right now. I think he understands that.”

With the series headed back to Milwaukee, the Bucks have a real opportunity to get back into the series, especially if Holiday and Middleton can find their stride again. The pressure is now on the Suns to finish this off, and perhaps the lack of pressure will allow the Bucks to play a more loose style of basketball that fits their style a lot more.

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Michael Avenatti may have become a household name thanks to his work as Stormy Daniels’ attorney in lawsuits against former President Donald Trump, but the past couple of years haven’t been too kind to the celebrity lawyer. In March 2019, Avenatti was arrested and charged with extorting Nike after he allegedly demanded between $15 million and $25 million from them.

According to TMZ, the prosecution argued that the infamous lawyer told Nike’s legal team that if they didn’t pay him between $15 million and $25 million he would hold a news conference and allege misconduct by employees at the shoe company, and in 2020, Avenatti was ultimately found guilty of the charges brought against him.

Well over a year since receiving his guilty conviction, Michael Avenatti has finally been sentenced for his reported crimes this week. On Thursday, the disgraced lawyer and former presidential hopeful was sentenced to 30 months in prison and three years of supervision following his release. Although Avenatti’s lawyer described the sentence as “draconian” in a press conference, the presiding judge actually forwent the recommended sentence of 108-135 months.

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According to TMZ, Michael Avenatti reportedly got emotional during the sentencing hearing while addressing the court, at one point even full-out weeping.

“I betrayed my profession,” he said while during his address. “I became driven by the things that don’t matter in life. Over the last 2 years, I have often thought to myself, why did this need to happen? What lessons am I supposed to learn from this experience, from what I’ve done?”

“Your honor, I’ve learned that all the fame, notoriety, and money in the world is meaningless,” Avenatti continued. “TV & Twitter mean nothing. Everyone wants to ride in a limo with you but very few are willing to sit next to you on the bus.”

Despite his touching final statement, Avenatti was still sentenced to 2.5 years in prison. Check out Avenatti’s press conference following his sentencing below;

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Action Bronson is a beloved artist and over the last couple of years, he has dedicated himself to getting healthy. After years of struggling with his weight, Bronson is now trimming down and looks a lot different than he used to. If you take just one look at his Instagram page, you can immediately tell that he is taking fitness extremely seriously and that he wants to become the best version of himself possible.

The rapper has always been a big fan of MMA, and now, he is living out a dream as a real-life character model of himself has made its way into the video game UFC 4. As Bronson explains in the IG post below, you can now download his character and play as him in the game.

“I’VE BEEN TRAINING FOR MONTHS FOR A VERY SPECIAL EVENT AND ITS FINALLY HERE,” Bronson said. “I MAKE MY DEBUT IN THE @ufc #UFC4 VIDEO GAME TODAY IM READY FOR ALL CHALLENGERS I’LL NEVER TURN DOWN A FIGHT. I’VE TRAINED WITH KILLLLERS NOW IT’S TIME. HERE’S A LITTLE TASTE. YOU CAN DOWNLOAD AND PLAY AS ME RIGHT NOW.”

In the YouTube clip down below, you can see Bronson’s character in action, and as you can tell, the video game representation stays true to what Bronson looks like in the real world, even down to the tattoos. If you’re a fan of the artist and you just so happen to own the game, perhaps now is the time to get over to your console and pick up the game again.