Author: djfrosty
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Dolly Parton has called on Indiana Governor Mike Braun to reconsider his decision to cut funding for her charitable Imagination Library initiative. “We are hopeful that Governor Braun and the Indiana Legislature will continue this vital investment by restoring the state’s funding match for local Imagination Library programs,“ Jeff Conyers, vice chair and president of […]
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Mixed martial arts, widely referred to as MMA, has its fair share of fans in the States and around the globe, and some viewers are reacting in shock over a recent bout in Romania. In this particular MMA match, two male fighters took on a trio of Instagram models and savagely unleashed blows upon them, prompting many fight fans to share their disgust at the display.
As seen via The Daily Mail, an MMA fight put on by the Real Xtreme Fighting organization, also known as RXF, featured two male fighters, Costica Prisecaru and Sebastian Rechinu. They were up against models Alicia Bonita, who also provides content on OnlyFans, Denisa Costea, and Maria Adriana. The models donned protective headgear and danced suggestively for the fans in attendance while the men came to the ring dressed in traditional MMA wear for male participants sans headgear.
Prisecaru, who is a content creator known for posting zany videos of himself in varying stages of undress, and Rechinu, an actual fighter, easily won their bout by unleashing heavy blows upon the women. According to the outlet, one approving voice among the negative chatter was media personality Andrew Tate, a former combat sports fighter himself.
RXF has put on an intergender bout previously featuring a man fighting two women and made its rounds on social media when it first aired. With this latest stunt from RXF, MMA fans are wondering aloud how the match was allowed to go forward at the great risk of injury for its participants.
We’re sharing a link to the video and electing not to share it in the body of the post. We do urge caution as the images may be disturbing to some.
Check out those reactions below.
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Photo: Screengrab/RXF
Belting out your favorite song in your car with the windows down is time-honored catharsis, a solitary moment that helps release tension and express emotion. Medical studies have shown that singing has both physical and psychological health benefits. Now, a new virtual reality app encourages users to experience those benefits with a headset strapped on, immersed in a gorgeous setting while crooning their favorite Chappell Roan song or rapping their Kendrick Lamar track of choice.
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Realize Music: Sing, which launched on Thursday (Feb. 20) exclusively on the Meta Quest in North America, is designed to promote relaxation through singing smash hits and unlocking achievements the more tunes they warble. The experience, from wellness-based entertainment venture Realize Music Inc., exists at the midsection between popular VR fitness apps like Beat Saber and Supernatural, and an uninhibited night at the karaoke bar with friends.
“This is very different than focusing on fitness, but similar in the way that this is something that you do by yourself, for yourself,” Mark Roemer, Realize Music co-founder and CEO, tells Billboard. “It’s not performative — this isn’t something that you’re doing to show off your skills in front of your friends at a party. It’s more singing just for you, and getting yourself into the zone with the music that you love.”
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Roemer says that Realize Music: Sing, the company’s first title, began its development process during the pandemic, as the music and wellness industry veteran was joined by longtime video game producer and publisher Mike Wilson at the new company. “Everyone was feeling the same levels of anxiety and stress and isolation,” Roemer says. “We knew that we had something that could help get people into flow state through pattern breathing and vagus nerve stimulation. If we were to do it through some sort of meditation app, it would be a lot less likely to reach the masses than if we did something incorporating popular music, which is what we’ve done.”
To do so, Realize Music: Sing launches with blanket licensing deals with Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group, which Roemer says took about a year to secure. When users select a song to sing, they are “transported into gorgeous, otherworldly landscapes,” says Roemer, and the lyrics are projected into the sky. As they sing their favorite Lady Gaga, Linkin Park or Tom Petty song, their voice emits stars, and their tone affects how the spherical landscape appears, with points earned less on performance than on movement and timing.
“We all have that music that changes our state,” Roemer notes. “And we wanted to have the widest variety of music in this app so that people could choose that which is appropriate for them in the moment, because that also changes.”
Realize Music: Sing launches at an introductory subscription price of $9.99 per month, or $99.99 for an annual subscription. While future releases are in development for Apple, Samsung and Sony PSVR2, Roemer also points out that new music will be added to the app on a weekly basis, as well as new, customized artist packs, similar to those in fitness VR apps.
“We’ve got stuff that ranges generations,” says Roemer. “In a household, maybe a 12-year-old owns the headset — but there’s something in there for the parents, there’s something in there for the older siblings. There’s something in there for literally everybody.”
Roemer also notes that Realize Music: Sing was built with Unreal Engine, the same technology used to power the visuals of the Sphere in Las Vegas — and that the VR app could eventually extend in live events as well. “I envision ticketed group singalongs in that venue,” he says. “I am imagining genre-specific singalong parties, with thousands of others singing their hearts out! I could easily see ’80s, Disney, pop and oldies being wildly popular regular events — with the graphics providing a shared experience, and the seats providing a haptic element.”
Following an extremely prolific 2024, Kendrick Lamar has dominated headlines into 2025. On Feb. 2, “Not Like Us” was a five-time winner at the Grammy Awards, becoming the second rap song to win record and song of the year. A week later, he headlined the Super Bowl LIX Halftime Show, spotlighting the smash, along with songs from his latest album, GNX, and more. It became the most-watched halftime show ever and resulted in some major chart moves: GNX returns to the top of the Billboard 200 and Lamar is the first rap artist to ever log three albums in the top 10 simultaneously. On the Billboard Hot 100, he reclaimed the top three spots, led by his Drake diss track “Not Like Us.”
Though football and the Super Bowl are American-based phenomena, the game is broadcast in more than 130 countries, yielding similarly huge boosts on the Billboard Global 200 and Billboard Global Excl. U.S. charts. On the former, “Not Like Us” has blasted from No. 45 to No. 20 to No. 1 (on the Feb. 8, 15, and 22 charts), returning for a third non-consecutive week atop the list since its release last May. On Global Excl. U.S, the song reaches a new No. 3 high (after debuting at No. 9, climbing to No. 7 the following week, and reaching a prior No. 5 best after the July 4 release of its official music video).
This week doesn’t just set a new high for the track itself, but for all rap songs on the global stage. “Not Like Us” jumped 188% to 65.7 million streams outside the U.S. in the week ending Feb. 13, according to Luminate. That’s the highest non-U.S. streaming total for a rap title since the global charts launched in September 2020. It surpasses Doja Cat’s “Paint the Town Red,” which drew 64.9 million in the week ending Sept. 28, 2023.
Including the U.S., “Not Like Us” is up 176% to 113.2 million streams globally. It falls short of Eminem’s “Houdini” for the most among rap hits since the Global 200 began: 121.4 million in the week ending June 6, 2024. Still, the latest boost for “Not Like Us” nine months after its arrival re-asserts its longevity. Since the Global 200, there have been only six instances of rap songs exceeding 100 million weekly worldwide streams and four of them belong to “Not Like Us.”
The international success of “Not Like Us” is rare. Hip-hop’s struggle to export globally has been documented, and it’d be reasonable to expect Lamar’s lyrically dense tracks to hit a wall, particularly in countries where English is not the primary language. But the song’s reach is wide, appearing on more than 30 of Billboard’s territory-specific Hits of the World charts this week, including tallies in Africa, Asia, Europe, North and South America and Oceania. It’s No. 1 on Australia Songs and Ireland Songs and ranks among the top 10 in 18 other territories.
While “Not Like Us” leads the charge, three other Lamar tracks – “Luther” and “All the Stars,” both with SZA, and “TV Off,” featuring Lefty Gunplay – score top 20 ranks on Global Excl. U.S. Altogether, he logs nine songs on this week’s chart and 13 on the Global 200.
Across Lamar’s charting entries, streaming gains are varied between the U.S. and beyond. “All the Stars,” “Humble.,” “Luther” and “Peekaboo” have bigger domestic lifts, while “Money Trees,” “Not Like Us,” “TV Off” and “Squabble Up” see sharper increases internationally.
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Source: Prince Williams/Paras Griffin / Prince Williams/Paras Griffin
In a recent interview on Hot 107.9’s “Hot at Nite” with FlyGuy DC & MiAsia Symone, Bow Wow revealed some exciting news for fans. He shared that he’s gearing up to release a new single featuring none other than Chris Brown, continuing their long history of hit collaborations like ‘Ain’t Thinkin’ Bout You’.
What really had listeners buzzing was Bow Wow’s reveal of an unreleased track featuring the late Rich Homie Quan.
Since Rich Homie Quan’s tragic passing, there hasn’t been much posthumous music released, making this announcement a huge deal. Bow Wow confirmed that he has a song in the vault with Rich Homie Quan, which includes an unheard verse from the late rapper. The track is set to drop soon, giving fans a final chance to hear Rich Homie Quan’s voice on a new record. It’s a powerful move, keeping his memory alive while giving listeners something special to look forward to.
This collaboration with Breezy and the posthumous track with Quan shows Bow Wow’s commitment to making music that honors his past while continuing to push the culture forward. With both of these tracks, Bow Wow is looking to make waves and give fans more than just nostalgia, but also fresh, new bangers. The anticipation for these releases is high, especially for Rich Homie Quan’s unreleased verse, making it one of the most anticipated drops of 2025.
Check out the full interview below:
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Source: Prince Williams/Paras Griffin / Prince Williams/Paras Griffin
In a recent interview on Hot 107.9’s “Hot at Nite” with FlyGuy DC & MiAsia Symone, Bow Wow revealed some exciting news for fans. He shared that he’s gearing up to release a new single featuring none other than Chris Brown, continuing their long history of hit collaborations like ‘Ain’t Thinkin’ Bout You’.
What really had listeners buzzing was Bow Wow’s reveal of an unreleased track featuring the late Rich Homie Quan.
Since Rich Homie Quan’s tragic passing, there hasn’t been much posthumous music released, making this announcement a huge deal. Bow Wow confirmed that he has a song in the vault with Rich Homie Quan, which includes an unheard verse from the late rapper. The track is set to drop soon, giving fans a final chance to hear Rich Homie Quan’s voice on a new record. It’s a powerful move, keeping his memory alive while giving listeners something special to look forward to.
This collaboration with Breezy and the posthumous track with Quan shows Bow Wow’s commitment to making music that honors his past while continuing to push the culture forward. With both of these tracks, Bow Wow is looking to make waves and give fans more than just nostalgia, but also fresh, new bangers. The anticipation for these releases is high, especially for Rich Homie Quan’s unreleased verse, making it one of the most anticipated drops of 2025.
Check out the full interview below:
Dream Theater returns to No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Hard Rock Albums chart for the first time in almost a decade, debuting atop the Feb. 22-dated survey with Parasomnia. The set bows with 18,000 equivalent album units earned in the week ending Feb. 13, according to Luminate. The majority of the sum – 16,000 units […]
South Korean boy band PLAVE debut four songs on the Feb. 22-dated Billboard Global Excl. U.S. chart. And while K-pop acts regularly flood the global rankings with material from new EPs and albums, PLAVE sticks out by being a virtual group in its presentation.
PLAVE has five members — Bamby, Eunho, Hamin, Noah and Yejun — who sing, rap, write and choreograph. But for music videos, livestreams and performances, the collective uses motion capture technology to broadcast animated visuals.
Variations on this practice have been more common among Japanese artists, such as Ado, who reached No. 8 on Global Excl. U.S. in 2022 with “New Genesis,” among 12 entries on the chart to date. Plus, Korea’s K/DA hit No. 93 in 2020 with “More,” co-billed with a mix of American, Chinese and fellow Korean artists, both “real” (Madison Beer, [G]I-DLE, Lexie Liu and Jaira Burns) and virtual (Seraphine).
With this week’s debuts, PLAVE breaks new ground for Korean Vtubers (virtual YouTubers). “Dash” starts on Global Excl. U.S. at No. 89, while also hitting the Billboard Global 200 at No. 195. Plus, “Rizz,” “Chroma Drift” and “Island” debut on the former list at Nos. 111, 115 and 128, respectively.
All four tracks come from PLAVE’s third EP, Caligo Pt. 1, released Feb. 3. The group previously charted on Global Excl. U.S. with “Pump Up the Volume!” and “Way 4 Luv” last September.
“Dash” drew 11 million streams outside the U.S. in its first full tracking week (Feb. 7-13), according to Luminate, while PLAVE’s four chart entries combined for nearly 40 million in that span. Of those, 39.7 million, or 99.4%, were from outside the U.S. PLAVE’s home-country appeal is reflected on Billboard’s South Korea Songs chart. There, the group infuses the entire top five, led by “Dash” at No. 1 and rounded out by “12:32 (A T to T)” at No. 5.
Kacey Musgraves has forged a reputation as a fearless musical communicator, an an entertainer who focuses on making her shows engaging, visually impactful, and as creative as her songs. As an artist and songwriter has been lauded by the Grammys (she’s won eight trophies, most recently best country solo performance for “The Architect”), the CMAs, […]
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Source: Courtesy of Damon Dash / Damon Dash
It seems Dame Dash has another legal issue to deal with. A judge says he “repeatedly violated” court orders with regards to his defamation case.
As per HipHopDX a magistrate has ruled against Dame Dash on a defamation suit against him. Back in 2016 the Harlem native was slotted by film producer Josh Webber to direct an independent film titled Dear Frank. Production commenced but Dash was ultimately removed due to unprofessional behavior including allegations of being under the influence while shooting. Webber says that Dame Dash continued to promote the film as his but under under a new name The List.
Dame would say they shot the film with his equipment on his Sherman Oaks, CA property and stole it from him. Webber and his Muddy Waters company sued Dame Dash for copyright and defamation in 2019. Fast forward to 2022 they were awarded a judgement totaling $805K. On Tuesday, Feb. 18 Judge John F. Walter slammed Dame Dash for not following procedures and “repeatedly violating the court’s orders.”
As a result Walter has issued a default judgement in favor of Webber over an interview Dame Dash did with The Art Of Dialogue. During the interview the former Cakeaholic discussed the legal battle over Dear Frank. “I had a judgment. And I knew this d***head Chris Brown (pause) and Josh Webber (pause) and Muddy Waters…Chris Brown the lawyer. I went through four trials with the same lawyer…What I lost was defamation because these guys trigger me and steal my sh*t…you think there is freedom of speech, it’s really not…”
Webber has been given until March 3 to provide proof of the damages he has suffered.
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