New Hip Hop News

Days ago, controversial remarks were made by radio host Rob Lederman after he took to the Morning Bull Show and compared women’s skin tones to toaster settings. “I would never go to a Serena Williams level, but I’m very comfortable with a Halle Berry level,” said Lederman. Soon, he was fired from his job and he later issued an apology, but Berry wouldn’t let it slide. She publicly condemned him, but LisaRaye McCoy doesn’t understand why people are making a big deal out of Lederman’s preferences.

Alberto E. Rodriguez / Staff / Getty Images

“He’s just saying he doesn’t go as far as a dark-skinned Black woman,” said McCoy while chatting with her Cocktails with Queens co-hosts. “He’s comfortable with the color of a Halle Berry. What’s wrong with that?” Syleena Johnson jumped in to disagree, noting that it wasn’t necessary for Lederman to have a conversation about the skin tones of Black women.

“That’s colorism! He could have said that differently in this climate,” added Johnson. Still, McCoy was unmoved and attempted to counter her co-host. “I always say I either wanna get a latte or I’ll say I wanna caramel latte or a mocha,” said McCoy, But Johnson told her that she’s a Black woman, not a White man making those statements.

Back in January, McCoy was criticized after she defended DaniLeigh following the singer’s “Yellow Bone” controversy, saying she should be able to “celebrate her skin.”

Check out the clip and a few responses below.

Georgia is catching a lot of flack this week after the state implemented new voting laws that would act as a suppression for those looking to cast their ballots. During the Presidential and Senate elections in Georgia, the state saw record turnout and it led to a big win for the Democrats. Now, this progress is being impeded, and many are upset with the new legislation.

In fact, Major League Baseball is pulling their All-Star Game out of Atlanta as they feel like what Georgia is doing, is heinous. LeBron James, who now has ownership in the Boston Red Sox, agrees with the decision and took to Twitter with his thoughts.

Following the decision, the Atlanta Braves took to Twitter with a statement of their own, where they expressed disappointment in the league’s course of action.

“This was neither our decision, nor our recommendation and we are saddened that fans will not be able to see the event in our city,” the Braves statement said. “The Braves organization will continue to stress the importance of equal voting opportunities and we had hoped our city could use this event as a platform to enhance the discussion. Our city has always been known as a uniter in divided times and we will miss the opportunity to address issues that are important to our community.”

For now, voter rights continue to be a hot-button issue and it’s one that LeBron has committed a lot of time to. Having said that, it’s easy to see why LeBron is siding with MLB on this one.

Harry How/Getty Images

Stefon Diggs is one of the best wide receivers in the NFL right now and he is known for producing plenty of flashy plays and big moments. He had a huge year with the Buffalo Bills in 2020 and moving forward, things can only go up from here. Diggs is one of those players who is amassing a ton of fame and he is the perfect player to align with if you are a brand that wants to do big things in the NFL world.

Well, Jordan Brand has taken full notice of what Diggs is up to. In fact, they recently announced that they have signed Diggs to an endorsement deal, which means you will see him in plenty of Jordan Brand clothes, very soon.

Image via Jordan Brand

“It’s a little bit unreal, coming from where I come from—​​​​​​​where people have been lining up for Jordans or camping out for them overnight…I even did it myself when I was younger,” Diggs said. “This is both unreal and surreal, to be a part of a successful brand that everybody knows and respects. Jordan Brand has an elite group of athletes. Everyone plays at a high level…I’ll never forget the moment I got the call.”

Jordan Brand has been making a push for the NFL as of late and Diggs is an example of that. While no one knows for sure what this new endorsement will entail, it’s clear that Diggs is getting paid handsomely.

Christian Petersen/Getty Images

It’s no secret that Donald Trump loves his McDonald’s, especially if it comes alongside a Diet Coke. In a very strange update from one of former President Donald Trump’s ex-bodyguards, he claims that the since-departed Commander-In-Chief owes him $130 for a McDonald’s bill that he was asked to front the money for. 

Oliver Contreras-Pool/Getty Images

Kevin McKay supposedly worked for Donald Trump for about 5 years as a bodyguard, and he specifically recalls one time in 2008 when he and Trump were visiting a golf course in Scotland. McKay said that before flying home, their convoy of 6 Range Rovers went through the McDonald’s drive-thru. According to McKay, Trump didn’t have any UK currency at the time, “so he asked me if I could front him the cash,” which he did, ordering 20 cheeseburgers and fries and between 10 and 15 Cokes, which cost $130.

Scott Olson/Getty Images

Trump enjoyed his usual meal of 2 cheeseburgers, fries, and a Diet Coke, but McKay found himself stressing about the money. He claims that he only made $2,700 a month when he worked for Trump, so spending $130 wasn’t chump change. 

While McKay says he could have asked for the money back, he kept blowing it off, and there was likely a kind of power dynamic at play working for Donald Trump. He was fired from Trump’s bodyguard service in 2012, but the stress of working for the reality television star cost him his 23-year-marriage. Ouch. 

[Via]

Recently, former United States President Barack Obama joined singer Bruce Springsteen to create a new, unlikely podcast called Renegades: Born in the USA. The two have been making weekly episodes since the end of February discussing their lives, traveling, money, family, and race relations in the US. During the podcast, Obama talked about how music has been an integral element in his life since day one, specifically citing one Jay-Z song. 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Barack Obama (@barackobama)

His comment about Jay-Z’s “My 1st Song” was prompted by a question from Complex when they asked if there was any rap verse that he could recite by heart. “First of all, Complex, you do not know want to hear me rap,” Obama answered.

“When I have tried to rap, my daughters have rolled their eyes, covered their ears. They think it’s painful. They even think my dancing is better than my rapping. Now, having said that, I’ve mentioned a couple of songs that even when I was running for president came up a lot on my iPod. One of them was ‘My 1st Song’ by Jay-Z, which is a song that I love because it talks about the struggle of just trying to make it. And sometimes you have to resort to false bravado and hustle and tamping down your insecurities and when I was running for president, obviously, at that point I didn’t know whether I was gonna make it.”

Obama got even more personal when talking about a specific line in the chorus. “There’s a line in there, ‘Treat my first as my last and my last as my first and my thirst is the same as when I came,’” Obama said. “And I actually kept on listening to that song during the presidency because it was a reminder that—even when you do make it—having a little bit of that sense of still being hungry, still having to work hard, still having to prove something, that’s what keeps propelling you forward. But I’m still not gonna rap it.”

Watch his full response on Complex’s Instagram below. 

[Via]

Steven Yeun and Jordan Peele are two wildly successful men in Hollywood at the moment. Yeun was just nominated for an Oscar for his most recent film Minari and was made famous through his role as Glenn on AMC’s The Walking Dead. 

Peele won an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay for his 2017 film Get Out, which received seemingly endless critical praise. He then followed it up with his 2019 film Us, which was met with similar acclaim. Jordan Peele also wrote and produced the upcoming remake of Candyman, which was supposed to release during 2020 but was pushed back due to coronavirus concerns. 

Now, it seems Steven Yeun is being eyed to star in Jordan Peele’s next film, the premise and genre of which is being kept completely secret. What isn’t a secret is the cast, however, which is said to include Keke Palmer and Daniel Kaluuya, who starred in Get Out. Peele is both writing and directing the film, as he’s done for his other two, and it is currently slated to release on July 22nd, 2022. 

The film is being produced alongside Ian Cooper of Monkeypaw Productions, as he has worked alongside Peele as a producing partner for his last few movies. Monkeypaw Productions is currently under a five-year contract with Universal, and this upcoming mystery film will be Peele’s third collaboration with Universal within this contract. While there’s no way to know what the film will be about yet, if Jordan Peele is behind it, it’s sure to be a winner. 

[Via]

Justin Bieber has been receiving a lot of attention, both good and bad, since the release of his newest album Justice last week. Some criticized Bieber for using speeches from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on the album, but he attempted to set the record straight: “What I wanted to do with this was amplify [Dr.] Martin Luther King Jr’s voice to this generation,” he told Rolling Stone. 

While some may have thought that Bieber’s activism on his latest release was performative, it seems as though he is committed to making change after he visited the California State Prison of L.A. County alongside his pastor last week. He didn’t just perform, however, also appearing to be sitting, listening, and praying with prisoners in photos obtained by TMZ. Allegedly, Bieber visited prisoners who were working with the prison’s Urban Ministry Institute, which is a seminary program run by Prison Fellowship. 

Reportedly, Justin also visited the Paws for Life K9 Rescue program, which is a dog rehab program for those in a maximum-security men’s prison. The goal of the program is for the inmates to train dogs to become anything from a service animal to a military vet. According to an inside report, Justin has also promised to personally charter buses for families to visit their loved ones in remote prisons. Hopefully, he keeps up this exciting and valuable work. 

Check out some of the photos of Justin at the prison below. 

Will and Jada Pinkett Smith have remained wildly successful for the last few decades, in part because of their ability to stay ahead of the entertainment game. Their most recent venture includes signing 7-year-old YouTube Anastasia Radzinskaya to their film and television studio, Westbrook Studios. The multimedia conglomerate was only launched in 2019, but it seems that Will and Jada are currently scouting new talent.

Anastasia Radzinskaya, who goes by the name Like Nastya on YouTube, was born in Russia but currently resides with family in Florida. The tiny star has amassed more than 200 million subscribers across 14 different YouTube channels and reportedly has a net worth of $20 million. Kid YouTubers are one of the website’s biggest earners, as parents can often leave educational, humorous, or sensory content running for their children while they perform other tasks. Last year, Nastya earned $18.5 million through her YouTube revenue, making her the seventh highest-earning YouTuber of 2020. She also has nearly 4 million followers on TikTok. 

Reportedly, Westbrook Studios has teamed up with Nastya to create a series of new animated projects, which will be aimed at both preschool-aged kids and adults. The new deal is being organized by both the studio’s co-president and head of TV, Terence Carter, and senior vice president and head of scripted TV development, David Boorstein.

[Via]