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Eddie Murphy recently sat down with The New York Times for an episode of its podcast The Interview. During the conversation, host David Marchese pointed out that, early in his career, Murphy was at the same level of white-hot fame as Elvis Presley, Michael Jackson and Prince, all of whom died before their time and, in one way or another, from drug use.
“Those guys are all cautionary tales for me,” Murphy told Marchese. “I don’t drink. I smoked a joint for the first time when I was 30 years old — the extent of drugs is some weed. I remember I was 19, I went to the Blues Bar. It was me, [John] Belushi and Robin Williams. They start doing coke, and I was like, ‘No, I’m cool.’ I wasn’t taking some moral stance. I just wasn’t interested in it. To not have the desire or the curiosity, I’d say that’s providence. God was looking over me in that moment.”
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All four of these performers achieved superstardom at a young age. Jackson was just 11 in 1970 when The Jackson 5 landed their first No. 1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100, “I Want You Back.” He was only 14 in 1973 when he sang his solo hit “Ben” at the Academy Awards, where it was nominated for best original song. Presley was 21 in 1956 when he landed his first roof-rattling (and Billboard chart-topping) smash, “Heartbreak Hotel.” Prince was 21 in 1980 when he received his first platinum album for Prince and his first gold single for “I Wanna Be Your Lover.”
In similar fashion, Murphy was just 19 when he debuted on Saturday Night Live in December 1980. He was the standout cast member on a show that was rebuilding following the departure of the remaining original cast members at the end of the previous season.
Murphy’s fame quickly spread beyond the show. His first comedy album, Eddie Murphy, was released in August 1982. That December saw the release of his first film, 48 Hrs., in which he co-starred with Nick Nolte. Trading Places, in which he co-starred with SNL alum Dan Aykroyd, was released in June 1983. Beverly Hills Cop, which he carried by himself, was released in December 1984.
Murphy was just 21 in early 1983 when he received his first Grammy nominations – best comedy album for Eddie Murphy and best R&B instrumental performance for “Boogie in Your Butt,” a novelty track from the album. He won a Grammy the following year for his second album, Eddie Murphy: Comedian.
Murphy had turned 22 when, later in 1983, he received his first Primetime Emmy nomination for outstanding supporting actor in a comedy, variety or music series for SNL. He received two more Primetime Emmy nods – for both performance and writing – the following year. He finally won his first Emmy in 2020 for returning to SNL as a guest host. He received his first Oscar nomination in 2006 for best supporting actor in Dreamgirls.
Murphy, 63, has already lived longer than Presley, Jackson and Prince — Presley died at age 42 in 1977; Jackson at age 50 in 2009; and Prince at age 57 in 2016.
In the podcast, Murphy explained that getting famous at a young age, especially as a Black artist, can be like living in a minefield. “Now, at this age, I can look back and be like, ‘Wow, I came through a minefield for 35 years.’ How do you make it through a minefield for 35, 40 years? Something has to be looking over you,” he said. “This business, it’s not set up for a Black artist. It was a new thing: I’m doing this stuff that no one’s ever done, and it’s in a business that’s not set up for me. It’s set up for some white dude. So, you don’t have people watching your back, and you don’t have support groups.”
Murphy also discussed how his enormous success impacted how comedy performers, and Black performers, are seen. “The comic used to be the sidekick, the comic was the opening act, and I changed it to where the comic can be the main attraction,” he said. “They thought of comics one way, and it was like, no, a comic could sell out the arena, and a comic could be in hundred-million-dollar movies. All of that changed. And with Black actors, it was, like, the Black guy could be the star of the movie, and it doesn’t have to be a Black exploitation movie. It could be a movie that’s accessible to everyone all around the world.”
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On Monday (July 1), the internet reacted in all kinds of ways when a video of Rick Ross and his crew getting jumped in Vancouver, Canada, by Drake super fans hit the web, and now it seems like the King of the North is practicing a bit of trolling over the incident with his latest social media post.
Following the release of the video, Drake took to his IG page to post a pic and a video of himself and his crew enjoying some outside weather at his mansion as Drizzy raps along to “Northern Touch” by the Rascalz, who hail from Vancouver. Coincidence that Drake is listening to a rap group that represents the city where Ross and company got jumped? Maybe, but we doubt it.
Drake also dropped another video in which he wished his fellow Canadians a “Happy Canada Day” before saying, “Cheers to the whole country” and taking a sip of some adult juice with a slice of lemon in it. Fancy!
50 Cent meanwhile didn’t miss the opportunity to continue to troll his former rival Rick Ross as well with a new video. While Fiddy called it a “very unfortunate situation that took place in Canada” and said, “I hope that brother made it home safely,” he ended his quick reaction by saying Ross should call on Meek Mill’s Dream Chasers crew or the “305 killers” before laughing it off as he’s known to do.
Man we hope this doesn’t lead to North vs. South Hip-Hop war like the East vs. West thing in the ’90s.
What are your thoughts on Rick Ross getting jumped in Canada for playing Kendrick Lamar’s Drake diss song “Not Like Us”? Fair or foul? Let us know in the comments section below.
It’s been more than a year since Jamie Foxx was hospitalized due to what has so far been an described as a “medical complication.” Though he spent nearly a month in the hospital, the Oscar-winning star has not revealed any details of what crisis he suffered to date.
But in an impromptu scrum outside a hotel in Phoenix recently, Foxx gave a group of fans a few details about how he ended up in the ER. In a clip posted to TikTok by motivational speaker Dr. Brenda Combs, Foxx revealed that he has almost no memory of that time.
“Look, April 11 last year — bad headache. I asked my boy for an Advil,” Foxx said, pausing and then snapping his fingers. “I was gone for 20 days. I don’t remember anything.” He explains that his sister, Diedra Dixon and daughter, Corinne Foxx, took him to a doctor’s office in Atlanta, where he got a cortisone shot. Pointing to his head, Foxx said the doctor told him, “There’s something going on up there.”
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Foxx then paused again and said cryptically, “I won’t say what on camera… I don’t want to say it on camera.”
In March, Foxx, 56, said he was getting ready to open up about the health crisis. “Everybody wants to know what happened, and I’m going to tell you what happened. But I’ve gotta do it in my way,” Foxx said at the time. “I’m gonna do it in a funny way. We’re gonna be on the stage. We’re gonna get back to the standup sort of roots.” Foxx teased that the show would be called “What Had Happened Was” and that it will feature “all the things that happened, especially on our side of our community.”
Last July, Foxx posted an emotional video update on his recovery. “I went through something that I thought I would never, ever go through. I know a lot of people were waiting or wanting to hear updates, but to be honest with you, I just didn’t want you to see me like that,” Foxx said. “I want you to see me laughing, having a good time partying, cracking a joke, doing a movie, television show. I didn’t want you to see me with tubes running out of me and trying to figure out if I was gonna make it through.”
Last April, daughter Corinne Foxx announced that her dad had been hospitalized for an undisclosed “medical complication” while filming the Netflix movie Back in Action in Atlanta with Cameron Diaz.
Check out the video below.
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2024 is proving to be the year of Killer Mike as the OG from the A continues to rack up awards to take home and stuff in his display case.
Just a week after receiving the inaugural Rico Wade Game Changer Award, Killer Mike got another big win last night when he took home Album of the Year honors at last night’s BET Awards. Edging out the likes of Gunna’s a Gift & a Curse, 21 Savage’s American Dream, Drake’s For All the Dogs (Scary Hours Edition) and Nicki Minaj’s Pink Friday 2, Killer Mike’s Michael continues to keep Mike’s trophy case busy as it garnered him the biggest award of the night.
Taking to the stage to thank his day-ones and the Black community specifically saying, “Thank you for seeing me Black people. Thank you for believing in me Black people. Thank you for honoring me in this way.”
He even touched on his post-Grammy awards arrest saying, “Technically, I was not supposed to be here. I was put in handcuffs and I was marched out of this building, but I want to tell you look at God ’cause I’m back, baby, I’m back and I’m winning.”
Mike is winning indeed, and we couldn’t be happier for him.
Check out Killer Mike accept his Album of the Year Award at the 2024 BET Awards below, and let us know your thoughts in the comments section.
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Another day another case for Kanye West as the “MAGA” rapper has just been slapped with a brand new lawsuit which accuses him and his former chief of staff Milo Yiannopoulos of some pretty wild stuff.
According to TMZ, former employees of Kanye West have filed a suit against the Donda rapper and Milo Yiannopoulos, claiming that they were subjected to a horrible work environment, which “forced labor and cruel inhuman, or degrading treatment.” In the suit they claim that not only were they referred to as “new slaves” but Yeezy’s wife, Bianca Censori, also sent porn to staff members which were accessible by minors.
Sounds like the kind of place hardcore MAGA enthusiasts would love to work in actually.
TMZ reports:
It all started in the Spring of 2024 when Ye decided to launch the YZYVSN streaming service app to rival Tidal, Spotify and Apple Music. The suit says Ye wanted to avoid paying those companies to promote his new albums, “Vultures” and “Vultures 2.”
So, he and Milo allegedly hired an international developer group comprised of several Black members, which also included underage teens as young as 14.
The docs say the employees mostly worked remotely, staying in constant communication with Ye, Milo and their team by using digital and online communication applications such as Discord, Zoom and Slack.
In April 2024, the docs say, Milo promised to pay $120,000 to the developer group after they completed the app if they agreed to the work conditions and didn’t complain.
While that sounded good and all, things apparently went left after everyone was forced to sign non-disclosure agreements under the threat of termination if they didn’t. Younger workers had to sign on as “volunteers” if they wanted to keep their jobs. Once they complied, the ugliness came out courtesy of Yeezy’s white management team.
In group chats, the Caucasian managers used harassing language toward the underlings in regards to their age, race, gender, sexual orientation and national origin. Some team members were called “slaves” while others were referred to as “new slaves.”The docs say Milo once sent a chat message with a Black/brown skin emoji to an African American team member, while calling a younger worker a school shooter. The employees were also bullied into working long hours through the night without pay or sleep.Then, in late April, Ye announced he was launching an adult film biz called “Yeezy Porn,” with his wife Bianca sending one worker a file-sharing link containing hardcore sexual activity, according to the docs. The minors were not shielded from viewing the smut videos as they developed Ye’s porn app. Bianca is not named as a defendant.
Ultimately, the team was able to finish an app and handed it over to Ye on May 1 of this year. Unfortunately, they weren’t paid what they were owed, which led to the lawsuit at hand.
The workers are seeking damages for unpaid wages and overtime pay, and of course, emotional distress.
Don’t be surprised if Kanye and Milo settle this one out of court.
What do y’all think of this latest lawsuit against Kanye West? Let us know in the comments section below.
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Just weeks after it was reported that Diddy returned to keys to New York to the offices of Mayor Eric Adams, it’s now being reported that Miami wants nothing to do with the embattled music mogul either as they’re canceling the one day they dedicated to the Bad Boy founder.
According to TMZ, the Miami Beach Commission has made the decision to cancel their annual “Sean Diddy Combs Day,” which has apparently been a thing since it was bestowed on him in 2016. (Who knew?) The Miami Beach Commission becomes the latest institution to publicly cut ties with Diddy as Howard University, Revolt, Capital Preparatory Schools and a few others have done the same since the video of Diddy assaulting his ex-girlfriend, Cassie, came to light.
TMZ reports:
In fact, Diddy received the proclamation in October 2016 … just 7 months after he was caught on surveillance video assaulting ex-GF inside an L.A. hotel. Of course, the general public — and certainly not the City of Miami Beach — knew that had happened until the video came out this year.
According to the Miami Herald, the MBC made the final decision this past Wednesday without any debate.
Miami Beach has long been Diddy’s home … his properties on Star Island were raided back in March and he’s since been spotted out and about.
Real talk, we didn’t even know Diddy had so many multi-city accolades until they began rescinding them after learning he was in fact a trash human being, allegedly.
What do y’all think about Miami canceling “Sean Diddy Combs Day”? Did y’all know that was a thing? Let us know in the comments section below.
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This past Saturday, June 22, 2024, Atlanta celebrated its 29th annual Birthday Bash, making history with its first female headliner, hometown hero Latto. Latto, who has spent the better half of her career working Atlanta’s underground scene before becoming a household name in 2021, gave fans the show they asked for, bringing out guests such as Usher, Flo Milli, Mariah the Scientist, Summer Walker, Roscoe Dash, Rasheeda, Princess of Crime Mob, and 21 Savage.
Her emphasis on honoring the pioneers from the city’s various eras of trap and swag who came before her put the perfect cherry on top of Latto’s high-energy set and left the memorable impression she was aiming for. Everything from Swag-era songs like “No Hands”, “Whoop Rico”, “Crank Dat Yank” and “Crank That Batman” to old-era Atlanta cuts like “Freak It” and Crime Mob song “Stilletos” helped bridge the generational gap and engaged the audience all night. Performing her hit songs “Sunday Service”, “Put it on the Floor”, “MuWop” and “Queen of the South” to an audience of over 16,000 fans, the show’s response added another milestone to her career and its ascent.
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In addition to Latto’s set, Atlanta collective Dungeon Family took the stage, giving a touching tribute to their comrade and legendary producer, Rico Wade. Performing a mix of posse cuts from “Dirty South”, “Cell Therapy” and “Kryptonite” as well as songs from Killer Mike’s Grammy award-winning Michael album (Killer Mike was also honored with the inaugural Rico Wade Game Changer Award), their set went hand in hand with another Atlanta staple, Big Oomp Records.
Recognized as Atlanta’s first independent record label, they performed “Eastside vs Westside” by Baby D and Atlanta’s unofficial anthem, “ATL Hoe”. Hot 107.9 also started a new tradition by awarding Killer Mike the Rico Wade Game Changer Award to commemorate Atlantans who helped change the city with their music.
Other notable acts included Key Glock, Boosie Badazz, Tee Grizzley, Skilla Baby, Hunxho, Rob49, Dess Dior, Famous YB and Sally and Bossman DLow, whose hit songs, “Mr Pot Scraper” and “Get in With Me” have rap fans across the country clamoring for more.
Forever acting as a platform for indie artists as well, Birthday Bash conducted the Who’s Hot Competition to give several of the city’s independent artists a stage to perform. Hot 107.9’s Birthday Bash, which features some of the rap’s biggest artists from T.I. and Jeezy to OutKast and more, has given fans and artists alike the stage they needed to make it big since its start in 1995.
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It feels like just a few months ago that Nelly and Ashanti announced their engagement along with Ashanti’s pregnancy—and that’s because it was, in fact, just a few months ago. The “Hot In Here” rapper and the “Rock Wit U” singer announced their engagement in April of this year, which is why some might find it surprising that the celebrity couple was actually married—in December of last year.
That’s right, documents obtained by PEOPLE show Nelly and Ashanti actually jumped the broom on Dec. 27, 2023.
Yeah—y’all got some ‘splaining to do.
Nah, it makes sense that the couple might have wanted to keep their marriage out of the public eye while it was happening. Even iconic R&B and rap artists have a right to privacy when they really need to exercise it. And considering that the 49-year-old and the 43-year-old first started dating in the early 2000s before breaking up in 2013 and rekindling that flame a full decade later, it would make sense if they just wanted to sit back and enjoy their union post-limelight.
Anyway, when Ashanti recently sat down for an interview with Entertainment Tonight, she still didn’t talk about her marriage that already happened, but she did discuss the “beautiful, intimate moment” when Nelly proposed to her, and she talked a lot about celebrating Mother’s Day for the first time.
From PEOPLE:
In May, Ashanti celebrated her first Mother’s Day as an expecting mother, sharing the festivities on Instagram. In the photos, she posed with Nelly and other family members cradling her bump and smiling.
“This Mother’s Day was so special,” Ashanti captioned the post. “Having our families together as we are about to embark on such an incredible journey was amazing. Wishing all of the amazing Moms and Moms to be a beautiful Mother’s Day…!!!! 😆😆😆😆❤️🙏🏽🥳 #grateful 🙏🏽🥰”
She added: “Yeah yeah I know I’m late… it was so much food I got distracted 🤣🤣 Ps… I only had 1 plate tho 🤣🤣👀”
Congratulations to Nelly and Ashanti on your marriage and your soon-to-come bundle of joy! We wish you continued happiness.
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Welp, apparently, Stephen A. Smith isn’t the only one who is still salty about Will Smith slapping Chris Rock and having the audacity to still be enjoying a successful acting career two years later.
Actor Rob Schneider is also really upset about Smith and his return to Hollywood glory, which came with his massively successful latest addition to the Bad Boys franchise with Martin Lawrence. Schneider—who is best known for being the guy literally no one would know if Adam Sandler hadn’t kept putting him in movies—recently made an appearance on the Kyle & Jackie O morning show where he had some choice words for the Fresh Prince, who was probably somewhere minding his own business, or joining much of the rest of the world in asking, “Who TF is Rob Schneider?”
“Will Smith is a twat,” Schneider said. “Will Smith has been hiding the fact of who he really is and it was exposed that night — that he’s really an a*shole.” (Side note: For those who were wondering, “twat” is one of those words Black people don’t really get offended by because only white people use the term. See also the C-word. These are just words we don’t say or come across often, which makes them pretty corny. Maye this is why they’d rather just call us the N-word.)
“Will is a douchebag,” Schneider went on to say. (Also, “douchebag.” That’s another one we just don’t use.) “The thing is, that’s how politically correct that Academy is, that they were so cowardly — because if I would’ve done that, they would’ve hauled me out to prison. They were so worried about being racist, they were like, ‘We can’t be.’”
“It’s violence, is what it is,” he continued. “The color of your skin, or your religion, doesn’t matter — if you commit a crime in front of other people, you get hauled out of there.”
Apparently, the Deuce Bigalow actor (oh yeah—he was in that movie) is another aggrieved and delusional white man who thinks being Black is an advantage for people accused of violence. This shouldn’t be a surprise considering Schneider is an anti-woke conservative who likely has a larger issue with a Black actor slapping another Black actor and bouncing back from it than he does a demonstrably bigoted presidential candidate who is looking for a second term after he caused a riot at the U.S. Capitol after trying to cancel democracy through provably false voter fraud propaganda.
It’s unclear what kind of response Schneider was hoping for by force-feeding us his opinion on Will Smith, but all he succeeded in doing was getting the whole internet to tell him he’s a talentless has-been who is jealous of Will because he’s never been anywhere near the vicinity of his relevance and would have never been relevant at all if Sandler hadn’t carried him on his back for his entire career.
Let’s take a look at some of these brutal reactions on X:
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Yeah, Schneider should have just sat there and ate his food. Like—who even are you, bro?
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Going from flying first class, or even on a private jet, back to economy can be a shock, so maybe Kanye West can provide insight? The “Power” rapper was recently spotted flying commercial with his wife, Bianca Sensori, for a trip to Japan.
It seems like Ye can still get his sleep on with little legroom, though, as he was seen napping during the flight when a fellow passenger, or stalker—just saying, snapped a shot of the couple in economy class.
Per Page Six:
TikTok user Brandon Doggett posted a clip last week of the “Gold Digger” rapper and the Yeezy architect crammed into two seats in the first row of a small plane.
Although the seats were at the very front, the couple did not appear to be in business class.
Of course, social media has jokes considering that Yeezy was allegedly a billionaire before he decided to go full antisemite, which caused him to lose his lucrative deal with adidas, which meant a massive hit to his bank account and net worth.
As for the quick clip, it aligns with what the couple was wearing when they arrived at Narita International Airport in Japan slate last week (June 9), which included a personalized “Ye” robe. Reportedly, rather than kicking it in a mansion or that insanely large ranch in Montana (that he’s trying to sell), West has been laying his head at a two-bedroom, two-and-a-half-bathroom penthouse in West Hollywood, CA that costs him a cool $20,000 a month.
But hey, the guy might be just like all of us, or not.
Hey, ain’t nothing wrong with saving a buck, right? Check out some of the reactions in the gallery.
2. Struggle couture?
4. This ain’t new.
5. Alrighty then…