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A$AP Rocky fans will have to wait just a bit longer for the release of Don’t Be Dumb. The rapper has announced it is delayed to later this year.
As spotted on Hypebeast, the “Good for You” rapper recently responded to a post by NPR on X, formerly Twitter, where the publication reported the news. A$AP Rocky confirmed it saying, “LEAKS & SAMPLE CLEARANCES ARE DISRUPTING THE ALBUM. ITS BEEN 6 YEARS & I WANNA MAKE THE BEST ALBUM EVER. IM SORRY FOR THE WAIT.” Recently he spoke to Billboard, in an in depth interview where he revealed that he has been working on this project for the last couple of years. “At this point I’ve been working on music for six years, but they leak my music and I get over it and say, ‘F**k it,’ ” he explained. “They leak a lot of the music and it ruins it. Like my ‘Taylor Swift’ video. I was pissed off about it, so I never released it.”
Later on during the conversation he touches on his involvement in the Rap civil war that occurred earlier this year, specifically his back-and-forth with Drake. “You got to realize, certain ni***s was throwing shots for years. I ain’t in the middle of that sh*t,” he said. “That’s not how I retaliate right now. I got bigger fish to fry than some pu**y boys. It is real beef outside. It is real. Ni***s getting really clipped and blitzed every day. Ni***as sniping ni***s every day. That little kitty sh*t ain’t about nothing.”
You can watch A$AP Rocky’s newest video “HIGHJACK” below.
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Comedian Kenan Thomspon tore into Project 2025 with a skit at the Democratic National Convention highlighting its horrors.
On Wednesday (Aug. 21), the third night of the Democratic National Convention got a comedic boost with context as Saturday Night Live alum Kenan Thompson took the stage, carrying an oversized book under his arm, which he stated was a real document – Project 2025. “Y’all remember this big old book, from before?” he asked the crowd at the United Center, who burst into laughter. “You ever seen a document that can kill a small animal and democracy at the same time? Well, here it is,” he quipped.
“You know how when you download an app and there are hundreds of pages there that you don’t read, it’s just the terms and conditions, and you just click, agree, right?” Thompson said while slamming the book down on the lectern. “Well, these are the terms and conditions of a second Trump presidency. You vote for him. You vote for all of this. Let’s take a look.” He then engaged members of the public who appeared on screen behind him. After encountering technical difficulties with the first guest, he moved on to a woman named Becky who shared that she’s been married to her wife for eight years. “Oh, that’s amazing. Very, very cute,” Thompson replied. “But I have got some bad news for you on page 584, Project 2025 calls for the elimination of protections for LGBTQ+ Americans. Right back to the Stone Age, I’m afraid so.”
He moved on to the next guest, who shared that she was diabetic and thanked President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris for their work in cutting the price of insulin down to $35. “That is great,” said Thompson. “But! On page 465, Project 2025 calls for millions of people like yourself to pay more for prescription drugs like insulin. Why? Well I guess to help big pharma make more money to donate to Republican politicians, I assume.” Thompson then directed the crowd to look up the document on Harris’ campaign website.
Project 2025 has been under intense scrutiny since its online publication by the Heritage Foundation, thanks to Democrats along with other celebrities like Taraji P. Henson informing the public. Trump has denied any knowledge of Project 2025 via social media, but reports have tied numerous figures in his previous presidential administration to its creation.
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Source: Courtesy of Damon Dash / Damon Dash
It’s no secret that Dame Dash has been strapped for cash for a while now, and though he’s not bankrupt broke, the man certainly isn’t balling out of control like he was during Roc-A-Fella’s heyday.
With a court forcing him to sell his 33.3% share of Roc-A-Fella Records to satisfy his outstanding debt, Dame Dash decided to take the time to explain to everyone why he’s been hard on cash. Yesterday, Dame took to Instagram to inform everyone on how it’s gotten to this point, and truth be told, it’s pretty understandable. No, he didn’t blow all his dough on fancy cars, cribs or more jewelry, but he did blow a decent amount on his dreams.
In his IG Live, Dame explained that his pockets began thinning out when he started “investing” in ventures that he wanted to see grow into fruition. Though he didn’t specify what kind of investments he made, it’s obvious at this point that they just didn’t work out or give him a return on his investment.
“Somebody asked me how I got so broke. Um, investing in my dreams. You know, when you’re investing in your dreams and you dream big, you’re always gon’ be broke. You’ll have a lot of sh*t, but I don’t have no money for nobody else if that’s what you call broke. That’s what it is. Either way, I’ma get with y’all. Stay tuned. I’m curious to see how it all rolls out.”
Call us crazy, but we really hope things work out for Dame.
The post comes a day after Dame Dash took to Instagram to offer an OG iced out Roc-A-Fella chain to the first person to put down $10 million on his share of the iconic record label. With a judge ordering Dame to pay film director Josh Webber a cool $800,000, Dame has to part ways with the label he, Jay-Z and Kareem Burke founded in 1994.
While many would jump at the chance to purchase his stake in the label, Jay-Z put everyone on notice that the crown jewel of Roc-A-Fella Records’ catalogue, Reasonable Doubt, would ultimately be reverted to him in just seven years, 2031. With the starting bid of Dame’s share of the label beginning at $1.2 million, will anybody be willing to put much more than that on the label knowing its biggest asset will be gone in a matter of years? Guess we’re going to find out.
Check out Dame’s post below, and let us know your thoughts on his situation in the comments section.
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It seems Kanye West has one less legal issue to worry about. The rapper is no longer liable in a lawsuit over a Boogie Down Productions sample.
As spotted on Digital Music News, Kanye has apparently come to an agreement over his song “Life Of The Party.” The track, which was recorded for the original version of Donda but saw daylight on the deluxe version, featured what seemed to be elements from Boogie Down Productions’ classic single “South Bronx.” Back in 2022, Phase One Network claimed that “Life Of The Party” featured an “exact reproduction” of horn parts, drums and a melody from BDP’s 1987 anthem. “This appears to be an ongoing practice of Mr. West, using other people’s music without paying for it,” Phase One’s attorney Gary Adelman of Adelman Matz said at the time. “Using music without permission violates the copyright law and hurts artists.”
In June, Kanye West’s legal team requested the artist be removed from the lawsuit citing that Ye was “creating the track and experimenting with it, with the intent to contact the license holder for approval as evidence by such act, is undoubtedly fair use.” On Monday, Aug. 19, Reuters reported that Kanye West and Phase One Network had agreed to dismiss him from the filing but will still pursue Kano Computing, the maker of the Stem Player.
You can listen to “Life Of The Party” below.
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And just like that, Jennifer Lopez is a single woman… again.
Just two years after wedding her 2000s beau, Ben Affleck, Jennifer Lopez has filed for divorce from the Oscar-winning actor as their marriage has seemingly been struggling for quite some time. According to the Huffpost, Jenny from the block has officially taken steps to once again dissolve “Bennifer” after months of speculation that the two might very well be on their way to divorce court.
While Jennifer decided to file for divorce on Tuesday (Aug. 20), according to her legal filings, the two have been separated since April 26, 2024. To make matters even more complicated, there is no prenuptial agreement, and Lopez actually filed the divorce papers “pro per,” which means she didn’t use an attorney to file on her behalf. We guess after filing for divorce three times already, Jennifer Lopez seems to have learned a thing or two about how to get the job done without any legal assistance.
Still, it’s no surprise to many onlookers who have speculated for months that “Bennifer” was on the rocks as the two spent some meaningful days of the year apart from each other without any explanation.
The interesting aspect is that without a pre-nup in the picture, the money the two made since they tied the knot will now become “community property” including Ben’s films such as Air and The Accountant 2, along with Jennifer’s Atlas and Shotgun Wedding.
Huffpost reports:
Amid reports that the two were living separately, the “Hustlers” actor tried to put a damper on the breakup speculation.
When she was asked about the reported relationship strife during an event promoting her film “Atlas” in Mexico City on May 22, costar Simu Liu stepped in.
Chastising the journalist for the question, Liu said: “OK, we’re not doing that.” Lopez added: “You know better than that.”
Though the two appeared happy together at Affleck’s daughter’s high school graduation on May 30, questions about the marriage intensified when “Entertainment Tonight” reported that Affleck and Lopez had quietly put their $60.8 million Beverly Hills estate on the market in early June. The property hit public real estate listings in July.
We’re not gonna lie, we were low-key rooting for these two, but at the end of the day it’s better to be single than to feel alone in a relationship or marriage.
Regardless of the fact that Jennifer Lopez is 54 years old, you can bet your bottom dollar that many men will be sliding into her DMs to see if she needs a “friend” or “consoling” now that she’s going through some hard times.
It’s a cold game out there.
What do y’all think of Jennifer Lopez filing for divorce from Ben Affleck? Let us know in the comments section below.
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DJ Vlad has another tofu beef on his hands. Hip-Hop’s most hated interviewe and Marlon Wayans had a heated exchange over the actor’s interview price demand.
As reported by Bossip, the media personality has another celebrity on his head. Last week, VladTV released a clip of a new Aries Spears interview. During the sit-down, Vlad revealed that he recently retracted his Marlon Wayans invite after the actor had asked for $40,000 dollars and 30% of the revenue earned from the content. “There’s no one on Earth that will pay you $40,000 for an interview much less 30% on top of that,” Vlad said. “At one point we got on the phone… I had to break it down to him. If you look at your recent interviews… you get around 300,000 views. That’s a few thousand dollars in YouTube revenue.”
As expected, this clip soon went viral and landed on Marlon’s radar. To which the White Chicks star took to X, formerly known as Twitter, and proceeded to slander the media personality. “You mad? You unprofessional my guy. If you don’t like the number keep it moving. You look BAD. You should fall back,” Marlon Wayans responded. “Mad at a Black man stating his number? And now you go public and use your platform to try to drag me. I never in my life dealt with this silly negotiating tactic.”
DJ Vlad continued on with his pettiness and shared more posts antagonizing the comedian. “Not mad at all. I find all this amusing because you really think that you’re worth $40K for an interview,” he retorted. “I said there’s nobody on Earth that will pay you that, and I have yet to be proven wrong. Throwing out a stupid ass number for an interview is unprofessional my guy – because your interviews don’t even make 5% of that on every platform you do. And bringing up race when there was no mention of it throughout all our discussions shows how weak of a man you really are.”
This is not the first time DJ Vlad has been called a culture vulture. The likes of Lil B, Lord Jamar, Tyrese, Slim Thug, and even New York Times bestselling author Morgan Jerkins have called him a culture vulture. You can view Vlad discuss the situation with Aries Spears below.
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A year ago, Jay-Z made the tough call of closing up shop of his original 40/40 Club in Midtown Manhattan. But it seems like that will not be the end of Hova’s fancy big boys club as he seems to be planning on popping up shop at a new location.
According to People, the certified billionaire has an eye on a few different spaces in New York City to bring back his adored establishment. Though nothing is set in concrete as of yet, his team is planning on breaking ground sometime in 2025. The news comes on the heels of Jay-Z’s weekend soiree at the Jacob Javitz Convention Center, where with the help of Fanatics Fest NYC, the Hip-Hop mogul held a 40/40-ish type of affair where he was joined by some of the biggest names in pop culture and a few of his Hip-Hop peers.
Though details are scarce about where they’ll be trying to land their new iteration of the 40/40 Club, the club’s Vice President of operations Sheldon Robinson revealed that they’re hoping to get things underway sooner than later.
People reports:
The new club, which will be located somewhere in New York City, has been a passion project for Jay-Z after the original Manhattan location closed in August 2023 following 20 years of operation.
“Jay definitely wants to keep it as part of his legacy,” Robinson said, confirming that the rapper has been “very involved” in the process. Robinson revealed Jay-Z has “been at site locations and in meetings” as the vision for the future takes place.
Calling Jay-Z “one of the smartest people I’ve ever worked for,” Robinson marveled at his ability to constantly turn his business ideas into reality.
Between a new 40/40 Club and the casino that Jay and his partners are trying to open up in Times Square, Hova seems like he’s once again trying to take over New York City but in a way that doesn’t involve rapping.
What do y’all think about Jay-Z bringing back the 40/40 Club? Would y’all check out his new remixed version of his old establishment? Let us know in the comments section below.
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Source: COACH / Coach
Jayson Tatum is extending his winning streak in a major way. He is now the face of the Coach For Men fragrance.
Source: COACH / Coach
As reported by High Snobiety, the Boston Celtics power forward has taken his talents to the men’s grooming category. This week, the apparel and leather goods brand launched their Coach For Men Eau De Toilette. Jayson Tatum stars in the advertisement proving he can use his star power off the court. Shot by Keizo Kitajuma, the still image campaign features the St. Louis Missouri native walking throughout downtown Manhattan. In a promotional trailer we see Tatum getting ready for his day with a couple of sprays of the fragrance.
In an exclusive interview with People magazine, he speaks on why Coach For Men made so much sense for him. “To me, the scent is all about confidence. I can wear it for any occasion, and it gives me that finishing touch, almost like a confidence boost. I know when I put it on, I’m ready to go out and feel my best,” he said. When asked about being chosen for the opportunity he made it clear he was excited. “It means a lot, I definitely don’t take it for granted,” Tatum explained. “I’m grateful to tell my story through the lens of the campaign.”
Coach For Men symbolizes “the spirit of the brand” and is inspired by “mavericks, rebels and all-American dreamers.” Coach For Men features notes of citrus and pear on the opening and settles with a base of suede and ambergris. You can shop it here.
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Days ago it was reported that The Fugees had suddenly canceled their U.S. tour dates just days before they were set to hit the road. Now, it seems like one of their members has something to say to his fellow Fugees bandmate.
According to TMZ, Pras has just released a new record in which he takes direct aim at Lauryn Hill for who he feels is the reason The Fugees continue to be dysfunctional in the eyes of their fans. Dubbed “Bar Mitzfa,” the new song finds Pras immediately airing out his grievances about The Fugees situation spitting, “Still waiting for me to lose, don’t hold ya breath/They took a bite out of his ambizzy, I control the rest/Don’t blame me, blame her she made the mess/Not another f*ckin’ penny is what I told Clef [Wyclef Jean]…”
With word that the cancellation of the tour was due to lack of ticket sales, it seems like Pras isn’t too happy with the reputation that Lauryn Hill built for herself over the years such as arriving hours late to her own shows and canceling performances out of the blue.
TMZ reports:
We’re told the song was recorded sometime last week, when Pras needed to blow off steam … on the heels of low ticket sales shutting down the legendary hip hop trio’s reunion plans.
Remember, Pras agreed with fed-up fans that Lauryn’s reputation for being late and missing shows justified them boycotting the concerts.
You gotta think, Lauryn’s lateness also jams up his and the band’s schedule … not to mention any invited celebrity guests at the shows!!! After a while, everyone starts to treat the tour like a big joke.
As much as we love The Fugees, we know that copping a ticket to their shows is basically a 50/50 gamble on whether or not it will start on time or even happen at all. And we all know why that is (no shots).
That being said, Pras has skipped his own share of Fugees performances, but with all the legal setbacks he’s faced over the years, y’all know he might’ve needed this tour paper more than his fellow “Fugee-La” members. Just sayin’.
How or even if Lauryn Hill (or Wyclef) will respond to this cut is anyone’s guess, but had this been 1999, it would’ve been the talk of the town. Now, in 2024? Meh.
What do y’all think of Pras taking shots at Lauryn Hill? Sound off in the comments section below.
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Jay-Z and Drake ended their intense dispute in the 2010s with the help of Elliott Wilson, as he revealed in a recent interview.
The back-and-forth between Jay-Z and Drake was one of Hip-Hop’s most notable scenarios for close to a decade, and veteran journalist Elliott Wilson revealed he helped squash their beef. “I got them back together, I got them to talk,” Wilson said during a recent appearance on The Bigger Picture podcast. “Around the time when Drake was doing the tour with Lil Wayne and they had a show in Queens, Drake came backstage and hugged me and was like, ‘I spoke to Hov. We’re figuring it out.’ He was excited that they had finally talked.”
The two superstar rappers had collaborated to great appeal, with Jay-Z appearing on “Light Up” on Drake’s 2010 album Thank Me Later after Drake teamed up with Jay-Z on “Off That” from The Blueprint 3, a year before. But on DJ Khaled’s “I’m On One” a year later, Drake threw out the line “I’m just feeling like the throne is for the taking / Watch me take it,” which many saw as a challenge to both Jay-Z and Kanye West.
The Canadian rapper quickly dismissed that idea, and the two would team up for the 2013 hit “Pound Cake.” But comments that Drake made about Jay-Z’s foray into the art world in a Rolling Stone interview (which Wilson stated Drake felt were off the record when he made them) rubbed Jay-Z the wrong way, causing the Roc Nation founder to deliver some heated bars directed at Drake on Jay Electronica’s “We Made It” remix. Drake would fire back on “Draft Day,” which led to the Reasonable Doubt MC delivering his own barbs on DJ Khaled’s “They Don’t Love You No’ More”: “N-ggas talking down on the crown / Watch them n-ggas you ‘round got you wound / Haters wanna ball, let me tighten up my drawstring / Wrong sport, boy, you know you’re as soft as a lacrosse team.”
The two would eventually settle their differences, reuniting on 2018’s “Talk Up.” When asked how he was able to help mend the dispute, with co-host Jeremy Hecht joking that he created a text messaging thread, Wilson replied, “No, just encouraging them to talk to each other, that’s all. I’m not Farrakhan. I didn’t put the play together [laughs].”
Check out the entire episode above.