Author: djfrosty
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Kendrick Lamar and Drake battle it out for No. 1 on the Hot 100. Tetris Kelly:The Drake versus Kendrick feud is back with some debuts and a new No. 1 on the chart. This is the Billboard Hot 100 top 10 for the week dated March 1. Starting at 10 is Drake with “Nokia.” “A […]
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Jaguar Wright was presented with an award at the Mar-a-Lago estate of President Donald Trump, raising numerous eyebrows.
On Tuesday, February 18, Jaguar Wright was honored with a special award from the nonprofit organization America’s Future, Inc. The award was presented by General Michael Flynn in a ceremony held at the Mar-a-Lago estate of President Donald Trump. The foundation announced the “Defender of Freedom” honor via social media.
The caption of the foundation’s post shows Wright standing to the left of Flynn with the award, with the caption reading: “Tonight, Jaguar Wright was honored with the Defender of Freedom award, presented by General Michael Flynn, in recognition of her fearless dedication to truth and justice. As a bold and unapologetic voice in the fight for transparency and accountability, Jaguar continues to shine a light where others fear to tread.”
News of the honor surprised many, given that Wright has been a constant voice of controversial allegations involving famous musicians, which have bordered on conspiracy and haven’t been proven as factual. The musicians she has mentioned in interviews with outlets include Beyoncé, Mary J. Blige, Meek Mill, and Sean “Diddy” Combs. Wright has also declared herself to be a supporter of Trump, saying that “God wanted Trump” in an interview last summer. She went further in attacking former Vice President Kamala Harris: “Considering on the other side, everybody that was endorsing that candidate is an alleged ‘freak off’ attendee, I don’t see how god was rocking with that.”
Recently, she attacked Jay-Z along with Diddy in an interview with Piers Morgan, calling them “monsters.” Morgan would disavow the R&B singer’s comments after receiving a “desist” letter from Jay-Z and Beyoncé: “Jaguar, unexpectedly, made several serious allegations about Jay-Z and Beyoncé during that interview. As I said in the moment, they were not present to respond or defend themselves, but now they have. Their lawyers contacted us to say that those claims were ‘totally false’ and have no basis in fact, and we’ve therefore complied with a legal request to cut them from the original interview.”
Also present at the ceremony to receive honors were rocker Ted Nugent, Lt. Col Carolyn Rocco, Lt. Col Theresa M. Long, Lt. Col Stuart Scheller, CDR Robert A. Green Jr., and Former Lt. Col Matthew Lohmeie. Former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson was also in attendance, being more visibly present at the poolside reception.
March 31 will mark six years since Nipsey Hussle was murdered in front of his Marathon Clothing store. The Marathon (Brand) is set to honor his legacy with the grand opening of Marathon Burger on Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles. The official grand opening of Marathon Burger is slated for March 1, with a ribbon-cutting […]
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Gen. CQ Brown Jr., the former Joint Chiefs of Staff, was fired from his position by President Donald Trump despite the general’s record as a decorated fighter pilot. Gen. CQ Brown Jr. was just the second Black chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and was replaced by an official that some say isn’t as qualified for the role.
As reported by the Associated Press, the firing of Gen. CQ Brown Jr. took place last Friday (Feb. 21), who had only been on the job for nearly a year and a half. Taking to his Truth Social platform, President Trump thanked Brown for his service.
“I want to thank General Charles ‘CQ’ Brown for his over 40 years of service to our country, including as our current Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He is a fine gentleman and an outstanding leader, and I wish a great future for him and his family, Trump wrote.
Brown’s political stances seemingly contrasted with that of the Trump administration, which appears to be on a crusade against all things DEI-related and the still-underbaked theory of “wokeness” taking over American institutions despite never explaining to the masses what that entails. Brown is also part of a sweeping firing spree that includes 5,400 probationary civilian employees and aims to cut up to $50 billion in programs the administration feels are wasteful.
In Brown’s place, Trump plans to insert retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Dan “Razin” Caine as chairman. Caine, an F-16 pilot and former associate director for military affairs at the CIA, has never held a qualifying position for the role he’s been suggested for but Trump has the right to waive the requirement.
There has been some response to Brown’s firing by Senate leadership.
“A professional, apolitical military that is subordinate to the civilian government and supportive of the Constitution rather than a political party is essential to the survival of our democracy,” Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island, ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, offered in a statement. “For the sake of our troops and the well-being of every American, elected leaders — especially Senate Republicans — must defend that enduring principle against corrosive attempts to remake the military into a partisan force.”
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Photo: Source: Tom Williams / Getty
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Sorry Spider-Man fans, but it looks like y’all will have to wait a bit longer to see the fourth installment of the MCU’s Spidey series, as Spider-Man 4 has been delayed to make room for another blockbuster film starring your friendly neighborhood wall crawler.
According to Hypebeast, Sony has moved the release date of the still untitled Spider-Man 4 from July 2026 to August 2026. They’re banking on Christopher Nolan’s epic The Odyssey to make huge waves as it also stars Tom Holland along with Matt Damon, Anne Hathaway, and Zendaya (she and Tom really do everything together) amongst many other stars. Based on Homer’s famous Greek poem, The Odyssey is a fantasy film centered around the Greek King of Ithaca and his return home from the Trojan War in which he crosses paths with all kinds of supernatural beings including a cyclops, sea sirens and even a witch.
Needless to say, that film is bound to make bank at the box office.
Per Hypebeast:
Both of Holland’s films will be coming out a week from one another and the schedule shift is said to give the actor some breathing room between both blockbuster premieres. Zendaya is rumored to also be in Spider-Man 4 and is currently confirmed to be in The Odyssey as well. Had Sony not changed the schedule, the newest Spider-Man film would come just a week after The Odyssey, which continues to be a nod to Nolan’s decades-long relationship with Imax. Nolan is said to be shooting with Imax’s powerful cameras and is negotiating a dedicated theatrical window that will show the film at Imax dedicated auditoriums. Sony is presumably also looking to show on Imax. similar to previous Marvel adaptations.
The Odyssey is set to drop July 31, 2026 with Spider-Man 4 following two weeks later. Unfortunately, not much is known about the fourth installment about Spider-Man other than rumors suggesting it will be set in Battle World following the events of Avengers: Doomsday. With word that Doctor Doom is set to merge all kinds of Marvel superheroes and villains in one set reality, rumors suggest that we’ll finally get to see Tom Hardy’s Venom and Tom Holland’s Spider-Man finally cross paths. Whether they’ll be friends or foes is anyone’s guess, but regardless to whom or what, we’ll definitely be checking it out.
Which film are you more excited for, The Odyssey or Spider-Man 4? Let us know in the comments section below.
Six powerhouse women – Doja Cat, Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, LISA of BLACKPINK, Queen Latifah and Raye – will perform at the 2025 Oscars on Sunday, March 2, at the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood. The show also will feature a special appearance by the Los Angeles Master Chorale.
Erivo and Grande are 2025 Oscar nominees for their roles in Wicked. Queen Latifah was nominated in 2003 for her role in Chicago.
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Erivo and Grande are expected to open the Oscar telecast with one or more songs from Wicked. All of the songs featured in Wicked were taken from the Broadway musical, so none were nominated for best original song, but the score by John Powell and Stephen Schwartz was nominated for best original score. Wicked received a total of 10 nominations.
The other women are expected to participate in “performances celebrating the filmmaking community and some of its legends.”
When the Oscars announced that this year’s nominees for best original song would not be performed on the telecast (but that there would instead be a single spot focused on the songwriters of those songs), some feared that music would get short shrift on the awards show. This announcement proves that that is not the case.
Oscar producers historically have focused on the best original song nominees, but they have been known to pivot when doing so would yield a prized booking. Three years ago, the Oscars featured a performance of the Encanto song “We Don’t Talk About Bruno,” which topped the Billboard Hot 100 for five weeks, even though that song had not been submitted for Oscar consideration and was not nominated.
Raye performed her song “Oscar Winning Tears,” from her album My 21st Century Blues, on the Grammy telecast on Feb. 2, where she was a best new artist nominee. Raj Kapoor, executive producer and showrunner of the 2025 Oscars, was an executive producer of this year’s Grammy telecast as well. These bookings constitute major coups for the British star, who swept the Brit Awards a year ago.
Kapoor and Oscars executive producer Katy Mullan will continue to announce talent joining the show leading up to the ceremony.
Hosted by Conan O’Brien, the 2025 Oscars will air live on ABC and stream live on Hulu on Sunday, March 2, at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT, with the official live red carpet show airing at 6:30 p.m. ET/3:30 p.m. PT.
As Little Monsters everywhere gear up for the release of Lady Gaga’s hotly anticipated new album Mayhem, Mother Monster herself is giving them a glimpse of what they can expect from the new LP.
In a new interview for InStyle, Gaga spoke with Spotify’s head of global editorial Sulinna Ong ahead of her Little Monster Press Conference for the streamer. During their conversation, the “Abracadabra” singer shared a sneak preview of two songs — “The Beast” and “Perfect Celebrity,” respectively — that are featured on her new album.
Speaking about “The Beast,” Gaga revealed that the lyrics of the song see her “singing to a werewolf” that represents her. “The lyrics are: ‘You can’t hide who you are, 11:59, your heart’s racin’, you’re growling, and we both know why,’” Gaga revealed. “And somehow that gothic dream is not just about me in a relationship with this person that’s about to turn, but what if I was to just sing it to myself and the beast is Gaga?”
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When talking about “Perfect Celebrity,” Gaga mentioned that the concept of “duality” present in both her videos for “Disease” and “Abracadabra” continue in the new track’s lyrics. “The lyric is: ‘I’ve become a notorious being, find my clone, she’s asleep on the ceiling,” she said. “It’s this idea that we all, in a way, have our real selves and then our clone version that we project to the world. So there’s a lot in Mayhem about multiple yous or multiple mes and what it’s like to have those things be at odds with each other all the time.”
As for the inspiration behind her new project, the singer pointed directly to ballroom culture as a driving force that found its way into the album’s music and lyrics. “I grew up in New York City and I also was a student of Paris Is Burning when I was really, really young. And I was always inspired by the tremendous amount of grace, freedom, expression and joy of ballroom culture,” she said. I was lucky enough to be around some dancers that were a part of that life.”
Gaga continued, adding that she felt it is a “privilege” to be a member of the dance community, and to be embraced by those who have built such lasting institutions. “There are these spaces in the world where there’s an ability for the community to express and experience joy, even when life is not treating them that way,” she explained. “And I am still so inspired by it and to this day, it felt like a relevant thing to bring up in the [“Abracadabra”] video because it’s about resilience. I can’t think of a place where I’ve seen more resilience than in a ballroom.”
The news comes just one week after Gaga unveiled the tracklist for Mayhem (due out March 7 via Interscope), including singles “Disease,” “Abracadabra” and “Die With a Smile,” as well as the two new tracks she teased. Spotify’s Little Monster Press Conference — during which Gaga’s fans will have the opportunity to ask Mother Monster their own questions — is set to take place Thursday, March 6, at 6 p.m. ET, simulcast across Spotify’s social media accounts.
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The Harlem home of the iconic New York Amsterdam News will soon become a museum as well as a community space.
For over a century, the New York Amsterdam News has been one of the staunchest voices of the Black community.
A new project will take its Harlem newsroom into a new phase, converting it and other floors in the 115-year-old location on Frederick Douglass Boulevard into a historic museum and community space. The paper is still in operation, in a digital format that reaches 135,000 monthly visitors on average, and runs a print edition of 40 pages that’s released on Thursdays and available for $1.
The project was conceived and is being carried out by the Amsterdam News Educational Foundation, the nonprofit organization that currently owns the building. The first floor is set to be a community cafe and lounge, and the newsroom would move to the second floor, being leased out to the publication. The third and fourth floors of the building will compose the museum and gallery space, with part of the fourth floor to be renovated to look like a newsroom in the 1930s. There will also be an archival room set up for visitors and researchers. The foundation currently has raised $450,000 to plan and design the museum project.
“We want to celebrate the pivotal role both The New York Amsterdam News, and the Black press writ large, have played in advancing civil rights in our country,” Editor-In-Chief and publisher Elinor Tatum said in an interview from the newsroom space where she still works from on the second floor. She took over the reins from her father, Wilbert Tatum in the 1990s. The newspaper’s nine editors and reporters are currently spread out in different cities, having worked remotely since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The publication is still beloved in the community, particularly due to Blacklight, the first investigative unit at a Black legacy newspaper. Blacklight is overseen by executive editor Damaso Reyes with two grant-funded reporters assigned to it. For Reyes, it’s a platform to build on a legacy that includes Malcolm X’s first published opinions and its claim of coining the phrase “Hip-Hop” in the 1980s. “I want to give opportunities to young journalists of color that I didn’t have,” he said of the unit.
Selena Gomez is giving the glory of the Only Murders in the Building cast’s 2025 Screen Actors Guild award to costars Steve Martin and Martin Short. The day after their murder-mystery Hulu series took home outstanding performance by an ensemble at this year’s SAG honors Sunday (Feb. 23), the singer-actress shared a couple older photos […]
Neil Young and the Chrome Hearts will hit the road this summer for the Love Earth European/North American world tour. The first leg of the tour will kick off in Europe on June 18 at Dalhalla in Rättvik, Sweden before moving on to gigs in Norway, Denmark, Ireland, Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany.
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The outing will then jump to the U.S., beginning with an August 8 show at the PNC Music Pavilion in Charlotte, N.C., hitting Detroit, Cleveland, Toronto, New York, Chicago, Denver and Vancouver before winding down on Sept. 15 at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, with more dates to be added at a later time.
Young, 79, will be accompanied by the Chrome Hearts band, featuring his longtime collaborator keyboardist Spooner Oldham, as well as Promise of the Real members Micah Nelson on guitar/vocals, Corey McCormick on bass and Anthony LoGerfo on drums. The group released the noisy anthem “Big Change” in January, a grungy warning shot about a major revolution whose outcome is a jagged question mark.
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“Might be a politician/ Tryna say something new/ Might be your decision/ Now you’ve got to see it through/ Looks like a collision,” Young hollers in the tune whose video features the outspoken singer marching through the woods wielding an American flag and a giant boom box. “Ain’t the worst that you could do/ Might be bad, might be good/ Big change is coming to you,” Young warns.
Young debuted the Chrome Hearts band during a show last year and has said an album from the group is tentatively slated for release in April.
Tickets for the tour will go on sale on Tuesday (Feb. 25) via an exclusive pre-sale for Neil Young Archives members, followed by a general on-sale that launches on Friday (Feb. 28). To protect the prices set by Young, a release said that the tour will use Ticketmaster’s Face Value Exchange for all resales and make tickets mobile only and restricted from transfer. According to the release, this will mean that if fans buy tickets and cannot attend they will have the option to re-sell them to other fans at the original price using TM’s Face Value tool; this applies to all shows except those in Illinois, New York, Utah, Virginia and Canada.
Young has also partnered with Farm Aid — which he co-founded in 1985 with Willie Nelson and John Mellencamp — to bring HOMEGROWN Concessions to the summer tour, which will bring sustainably produced, fair-priced family farm food served on compostable serviceware to venues.
After a lifetime of regular touring, Young took a break from the road during the COVID-19 pandemic and had planned to be back on stages for a huge tour with his long-running Crazy Horse compatriots in summer 2024 before cancelling the dates a few weeks in due to an unspecified health issue.
Check out the dates for the Young and the Chrome Hearts’s 2025 summer tour below.
June 18 – Rättvik, Sweden @ Dalhalla
June 20 – Bergen, Norway @ Bergenhus Fortress
June 22 – Copenhagen, Denmark @ Tiøren
June 26 – Dublin, Ireland @ Malahide Castle
June 30 – Brussels, Belgium @ Brussels Palace Open Air, Palace Square
July 1 – Groningen, Netherlands @ Drafbaan Stedpark
July 3 – Berlin, Germany @ Waldbühne
July 4 – Mönchengladbach, Germany @ Sparkassenpark
July 8 – Stuttgart, Germany @ Cannstatter Wasen
Aug. 8. – Charlotte, NC @ PNC Music Pavilion
Aug. 10 – Richmond, VA @ Allianz Amphitheater at Riverfront
Aug. 13 – Detroit, MI @ Pine Knob Music Theatre
Aug. 15 – Cleveland, OH @ Blossom Music Center
Aug. 17 – Toronto, ON @ Budweiser Stage
Aug. 21 – Gilford, NH @ BankNH Pavilion
Aug. 23 – New York, NY @ Northwell at Jones Beach
Aug. 24 – Bethel, NY @ Bethel Center for the Arts
Aug. 27 – Chicago, IL @ Huntington Bank Pavilion at Northerly Island
Sept. 1 – Denver, CO @ Fiddler’s Green Amphitheatre
Sept. 5 – George, WA @ The Gorge
Sept. 6 – Vancouver, BC @ Deer Lake Park
Sept. 10 – Bend, OR @ Hayden Homes Amphitheater
Sept. 12 – Mountain View, CA @ Shoreline Amphitheater
Sept. 15 – Los Angeles, CA @ Hollywood Bowl