Current Events
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TikTok, the wildly popular social media app that has made stars among some of its users and exploded as a commerce hub, is under the threat of being banned or forced to sell off its assets. With the threat of TikTok going away, thousands of users are flocking to the Chinese social media app RedNote and discovering a new community in the process.
The United States Supreme Court is currently weighing a decision on a law that would ban TikTok in the country over national security concerns and the fact it is owned by a Chinese company. The proposed deadline is January 19, and the nation’s highest court has previously heard arguments from the social media brand’s parent company ByteDance and the incoming Trump administration’s position thus far is to keep access open to the app in the States.
RedNote, which is also known as Xiaohongshu, first launched in 2013 as a shopping destination but now has expanded into a full-on social media hub where users share various forms of content including the short-form video format TikTok is known for. According to a report from Reuters, over 700,000 users joined RedNote in the course of two days with a reported 50,000 Americans among that number but pales in comparison to the roughly 150 million American users of TikTok.
RedNote is currently the second most popular free app on Apple’s App Store. The outlet also added that Lemon8, which is a social media app owned by ByteDance, has seen increased user numbers as well.
On X, the massive social media defection is being documented with some revealing the language barriers users are facing and how some Americans are helping Chinese users improve their English. With some of the stringent laws in China, users have been careful in what they share and discuss on the app but the influx of users is seemingly welcomed.
We’ve got some reactions from X regarding the TikTok defection to RedNote below.
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Photo: Getty
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Source: James D. Morgan / Getty
What does it say about a person that attaching their name to a product instantly increases the likelihood that the product’s value and saleability will plummet?
Apparently, this is a question for Elon Musk.
Not only has the platform formerly known as Twitter done virtually nothing but tank in every possible sense of the word since Phony Stark took the reins, but a recent study has shown potential Tesla buyers are shopping elsewhere for their automotive needs ever since Musk outed himself as an enthusiastic MAGA cultist who wears Donald Trump’s hind parts as a hat.
According to a new study published by Clean Technica, an independent journalism site focused on green and clean energy, researchers for JW Surety Bonds found that approximately 1 in 4 Americans “avoid Tesla’s technology due to their opinions on Elon Musk.”
Imagine that: Tesla’s latest innovation, the Cybertruck, is an $80,000 vehicle (that’s the low-end price tag) that has been rife with malfunctions and subsequent recalls and looks like it was designed by Homer Simpson for children who still participate in soap boxcar racing — but that might not be why a consumer won’t buy it. Basically, a company could be selling an authentic spaceship for cheap and folks still might not shell out a dime for it because Musk’s name is on it. That’s a damn shame, especially for a CEO who is supposedly a tech genius. (I mean, we all know Elon is a tech pro like Ronald McDonald is a fry cook, but still.)
The only thing particularly surprising about the results of JW’s study is that it’s not young people who are likely to reject a product attached to Musk, it’s also the older generations that Trump has relied on for votes.
From Clean Technica:
Perhaps surprisingly when you consider values and norms they are known for, but perhaps unsurprisingly when you consider how popular Tesla has gotten among young people, the age group most likely to avoid Tesla technology due to Elon Musk is Baby Boomers (people born people 1946 and 1964). Despite stereotypes, though, Baby Boomers came of age in the massive cultural change era of the 1960s and 1970s. They were extremely involved in busting up conservative and closed-minded cultural norms and charting a new course forward for American culture and the world. So, it’s also not that surprising that many in the generation are offended by the strong push to “go backward” and be more closed minded and deeply traditional again. That generation also appreciates more the efforts required to change society, and are more aware of what life was like before those changes.
Tesla sales declined in 2024 compared to 2023. It was the first annual decline for the company since the Model S was launched in 2012. There are many reasons for that, but Tesla definitely took a sales hit in the key market of California, as well as elsewhere, because of Elon Musk’s more and more involved and more and more extreme political engagement. There was already strong research on that as well as a wicked drop in Tesla sales in California. However, the situation surely grew as the year went on and reached new heights in November when Donald Trump was elected president instead of Kamala Harris and Elon Musk was by Trump’s side along the way, during Thanksgiving, during Christmas, and on New Year’s Eve.
It’s almost as if no one really benefits from being a Trump supporter besides the orange man himself. (Just ask Rudy Giuliani.)
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Source: Courtesy of Billboard / Courtesy of Billboard
Billboard Magazine is looking at BigXthaPlug as Rap’s newest star. He has been chosen to grace the cover of their “Future Of Hip-Hop” issue.
Source: Courtesy of Billboard / Courtesy of Billboard
This week the music industry trade publication released their first cover series of 2025. On the cover BigXthaPlug is featured and with a headline that reads “BREAKS THROUGH GENRE NOW”. In the exclusive interview he details his come up, his recent success and more. Early in the feature he explains that his father was the one who saw his musical talent early on. “The first time I remember having a mic in my face was when I was about 9 or 10 years old. My pops took me to this spot, and right in the middle of the room, there was a round wooden table with a mic…” he revealed. “Then they just put me on the mic, and I just started rapping. Afterwards, my dad told me, ‘You’re good—you need to rap for real.’ That was one of my earliest memories for sure.”
Later on BigXthaPlug explains his creative process and makes it clear that he makes music for everyone. “I’m talking about something,” he explains. “A lot of older people who love music—that’s what they grew up on: actual substance. Here’s this young dude that sounds old, but he’s on these young-old beats. I literally mixed everything up so everybody could love it.”
Billboard Magazine’s “Future Of Hip-Hop” issue is out now. You can view BigXthaPlug’s interview below.
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Source: The Washington Post / Getty
The report by Special Counsel Jack Smith on Donald Trump’s alleged interference in the 2020 presidential election was released, with many on social media outraged at the findings.
Early Tuesday morning (January 14), the report by Special Counsel Jack Smith on the alleged attempts by Donald Trump to interfere with the results of the 2020 presidential election was released, sending shockwaves as the report rebuked the president-elect for his efforts. “Indeed, but for Mr. Trump’s election and imminent return to the presidency, the office assessed that the admissible evidence was sufficient to obtain and sustain a conviction at trial,” Smith stated in the report.
Special Counsel Jack Smith’s report painfully reminds us of just how far the conservative justices were willing to go: pic.twitter.com/M6GwQw5Tlf
— Shanlon Wu (@shanlonwu) January 14, 2025
The damning 137-page report explicitly connected Trump to the insurrection at the Capitol on January 6, 2021, that left five dead and 140 police officers injured, having encouraged “violence against his perceived opponents” after losing the presidential election in 2020 to Joe Biden. Smith also highlighted how Trump and his accomplices, including Rudy Giuliani, attempted to overturn the results in Arizona and Michigan. The report also detailed racist threats made to District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan, and how Trump encouraged the isolation of his then-Vice President Mike Pence to compel him not to certify the 2020 results.
Smith wrote that he made the move to quickly indict Trump to not impact the 2024 presidential election. “Because of the Office’s deep familiarity and experience with these policies, it focused on completing both of its investigations promptly and making timely charging decisions, long before the election,” he wrote. Smith resigned as Special Counsel last week, and while the report has been sent to Congress, it’s assured there will be no further action since Republicans control both the House and the Senate. There is a second volume of the report related to the classified documents case against Trump. Still, Attorney General Merrick Garland has opted to wait until the legal proceedings against Trump’s co-defendants have ended.
The report has left many online upset at the evidence against the president-elect, seeing it as justice being denied. In a post on X, formerly Twitter, Denise Wheeler, a novelist, laid the blame squarely at Garland’s feet with her post: “Merrick Garland waited until late 2022 to appoint a special counsel to investigate the biggest & most treasonous criminal in our country’s history. Yet it wasn’t until after Trump announced his candidacy that Garland acted. This wasn’t weakness. It was flat-out intentional.”
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Source: Universal History Archive / Getty
Last September, the U.S. Department of Justice announced it would conduct its first federal review of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre. On Friday, the DOJ released the findings from its review — only about a century and three and a half years late.
As the Guardian noted, a June 1921 report on the race massacre by the Justice Department’s Bureau of Investigation, which preceded the FBI, blamed the attack that killed hundreds and leveled an entire affluent Black neighborhood on Black men and, alleging that the white perpetrators of one of the most notorious white supremacist attacks in American history did not violate any federal laws. (And people say objective journalism is dead. When was there ever objective journalism? Certainly not when white men were the only demographic allowed in the field.) The DOJ’s report, however, acknowledged who the true villains were during the massacre, and that the vicious attack on Black residents by the white mob “was so systematic and coordinated that it transcended mere mob violence.”
“The Tulsa race massacre stands out as a civil rights crime unique in its magnitude, barbarity, racist hostility and its utter annihilation of a thriving Black community,” Kristen Clarke, the assistant attorney general of the DOJ’s civil rights division, said in a statement. “In 1921, white Tulsans murdered hundreds of residents of Greenwood, burned their homes and churches, looted their belongings, and locked the survivors in internment camps.”
“Until this day, the justice department has not spoken publicly about this race massacre or officially accounted for the horrific events that transpired in Tulsa,” the 126-page report was conducted by a team of lawyers and investigators from the Emmett Till Cold Case Unit of the Criminal Section of the Civil Rights Division went on to say. “This report breaks that silence by rigorous examination and a full accounting of one of the darkest episodes of our nation’s past. This report lays bare new information and shows that the massacre was the result not of uncontrolled mob violence, but of a coordinated, military-style attack on Greenwood.”
Investigators for the review “spoke with survivors and with descendants of survivors, examined firsthand accounts of the massacre given by individuals who are now deceased, studied primary source materials, spoke to scholars of the massacre and reviewed legal pleadings, books, and scholarly articles relating to the massacre,” the report says. And yet, the living survivors of Tulsa and their descendants have repeatedly been denied reparations for all that they suffered and lost by the state of Oklahoma. They wanted long-overdue restitution, and all they got was a lousy review of what we already knew about the event.
Clarke noted in the review that “there is no living perpetrator for the justice department to prosecute.” So, basically, no reparations, no justice, only a century-late document confirming that what happened actually happened.
But that’s America for ya.
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Source: Kevin Mazur / Getty / Grammy Awards
The 67th Annual Grammy Awards will be held on Sunday, February 2, at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.
Deadline confirmed the biggest night in music would not move its date, following in the steps of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which also said it would be sticking by its March 2 Oscar ceremony date after having to move the nomination announcement twice, January 19 to now Thursday, January 23, due to ongoing L.A. wildfires.
A note from the Recording Academy revealed that this year’s awards show will raise additional funds to support wildfire relief efforts, honor the first responders battling the fires, and help those in need.
Here is the complete note from Harvey Mason Jr. and Tammy Hurt:
Dear Recording Academy Members,
Our hearts go out to everyone affected by the devastating wildfires in Los Angeles. This city is our home, and we mourn the loss of life and destruction that have come to it in recent days.
In response to this crisis, the Recording Academy and MusiCares launched the Los Angeles Fire Relief Effort last week with an initial $1 million donation to support music creatives and professionals. Thanks to additional contributions, we have already distributed over $2 million in emergency aid to those most in need – and we remain steadfast in our commitment to providing ongoing assistance.
In close coordination with local authorities to ensure public safety and responsible use of area resources, the 67th GRAMMY Awards telecast on CBS on February 2nd will proceed as planned. This year’s show, however, will carry a renewed sense of purpose: raising additional funds to support wildfire relief efforts and honoring the bravery and dedication of first responders who risk their lives to protect ours.
In challenging times, music has the power to heal, comfort, and unite like nothing else. The GRAMMYs will not only honor the artistry and achievements of our music community but also serve as a platform to amplify the spirit of resilience that defines this great city of Los Angeles.
With heartfelt concern,
Harvey Mason jr.
Recording Academy & MusiCares CEO
Tammy Hurt
Chair, Board of Trustees
The Grammys recently reached a new 10-year deal to stream with Disney streaming the award’s show on ABC, Hulu, and Disney+ from 2027 to 2036., ending the 50-year run on CBS.
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Source: Cindy Ord / Getty
2024 was a helluva year for the Hip-Hop culture as we all witnessed the downfalls of The Diddler, the King of The North, Drake, and surprise breakup of Remy Ma and Papoose.
Naturally all of these things ended up juicy material for Uncle Murda’s visuals to his “Rap Up 2024” in which he used footage of everything that went down last year while spitting his bars about the eventful year that was 2024 which will more than likely all kinds of ripple effects for years to come.
Keeping the vibe in Brooklyn, Hip-Hop OG’s Smif-N-Wessun are still repping Buck Town down to their Timbs and in their clip for “Infinity,” we’re treated to pics and footage of the Boot Camp Click representatives showing their growth and ascension throughout the decades.
Check out the rest of today’s drops and some joints you might’ve missed over the weekend including work from Bay Swag featuring 42 Dugg, El Snappo, and more.
UNCLE MURDA – “RAP UP 2024”
SMIF-N-WESSUN – “INFINITY”
BAY SWAG FT. 42 DUGG – “DRANK”
EL SNAPPO – “MO PROBLEMS”
DAX – “FROM A MAN’S PERSPECTIVE”
BIG OPP – “I DON’T GOT TIME”
CARTIER & PEEZY – “BAG ON ME”
VULTURE MAN – “DOGGY”
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Source: ADAM GRAY / Getty / Steve Bannon
There is some MAGA infighting going on. Steve Bannon, one of Donald Trump’s most loyal allies, is letting it be known he is no fan of Trump’s new homie, Elon Musk.
Spotted on The Hill, two shirt-wearing former adviser to President-Elect Donald Trump, Steve Bannon, vows to “take down” Tesla chief Elon Musk, and, in a classic pot calling the kettle black moment, describing Trump’s pick to run DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency) as “truly evil.”
Per Mediaite, Bannon expressed his disdain for Musk in an interview with Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera. Musk’s support of H-1B visas is fueling this MAGA feud.
Per The Hill:
“I will have Elon Musk run out of here by Inauguration Day,” Bannon said. “He is a truly evil guy, a very bad guy. I made it my personal thing to take this guy down.”
With Trump set to take office for the second time shortly, Musk’s influence in the next administration remains unclear.
Bannon criticized Musk over the continued debate over H-1B visas. Musk is supportive of the work program that allows the U.S. to attract international talent. Trump’s base, however, is not supportive of the program, fueling a fight over the topic.
“This thing of the H-1B visas, it’s about the entire immigration system is gamed by the tech overlords, they use it to their advantage, the people are furious,” Bannon said.
Steve Bannon Calls Elon Musk A Racist
What’s even more hilarious is that Bannon, who has been accused of being a racist, slammed Musk’s heritage, calling South Africans the most racist people on Earth.
“He should go back to South Africa,” Bannon continued. “Why do we have South Africans, the most racist people on Earth, white South Africans, we have them making any comments at all on what goes on in the United States?”
Bannon didn’t stop there, adding that Musk has the maturity of a “little boy” and is only trying to add to his ridiculous wealth.
We don’t agree with Bannon on anything, but he’s not lying there.
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Source: Axelle/Bauer-Griffin / Getty /Beyoncé
Beyoncé is putting her money where her mouth is and is lending a financial hand to those in need who were directly impacted by the Los Angeles wildfires.
Spotted on Variety through her BeyGOOD charity foundation, the Houston singer is donating $2.5 million to help those families who have suffered tremendous losses during the Los Angeles wildfires rebuild, specifically the Altadena and Pasadena, both of which have a high concentration of Black residents.
BeyGOOD joins the still-growing list of organizations, such as The Walt Disney Company, which pledged $15 million to relief and rebuilding efforts, and Paramount and Fox Corp., which donated $1 million to the American Red Cross and Los Angeles Fire Department.
Per Variety:
BeyGOOD, which was established in 2013, will provide the funds to families in Altadena and Pasadena, two areas that were devastated by wildfires that broke out on Tuesday. In addition to helping those who lost their homes and possessions, BeyGOOD will also assist churches and community centers in other impacted areas to address the immediate needs of people affected by the fires.
Despite all of the misinformation out there and blame incorrectly being thrown at L.A. Mayor Karen Bass and Governor Gavin Newsom by GOP officials and the President-Elect, the wildfires, which were wildly unpredictable thanks to the powerful Santa Ana winds stoking the flames, continue to ravage the city.
Eleven people are dead as a result of the wildfires, with the toll expected to rise as the search effort for missing people and survivors currently happening.
It’s good to see celebs like Beyoncé being active instead of on social media placing blame on people like Khloe Kardashian, who faced the wrath of Black women after she decided to slam Karen Bass on Instagram.
Shoutout to Beyoncé!
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Source: MSNBC / Youtube
MSNBC host Michael Steele called out Attorney General Merrick Garland for his lack of holding Donald Trump accountable.
Outgoing Attorney General Merrick Garland has been attacked for his reluctance to fully hold Donald Trump accountable, and an MSNBC host raked him over the coals for it. Former Republican National Committee chairman and co-host of The Weekend Michael Steele began a segment blasting U.S. District Court Judge Aileen Cannon on Sunday (Jan. 12), for her attempts to help the president-elect ward off investigations by former Special Counsel Jack Smith as he sat with former lawyer Kathy Greenberg. He would veer off to address Garland’s apparent delay in releasing the final report of Special Counsel Jack Smith after Greenberg characterized Cannon’s previous rulings as “lawless.”
“I’m of the view I don’t care how you release it, just get the damn thing released because we have nickel and dimed around this. Merrick Garland has been wholly useless in this process, completely useless,” Steele thundered. “The most timid person at justice, period, in the history of the organization. Even in this hour, in the face of everything else, knowing what happens on January 20th: ‘Well, I don’t know if we should put this out because something may come,’” he continued, referring to the date that Trump is set to be sworn in for his second presidential term.
“Nothing’s coming of this because it’s all gone at 12:01 next Tuesday, next Monday!” he exclaimed. “So what’s the point, Kristy? I mean, citizens look at this and they go, this has been a complete cluster for the American people relative to our judicial process. How do you restore that faith? Where do we begin to get back this idea that our judiciary, particularly since Donald Trump is going to stack it with more Judge Cannons, is impartial and a place where you can go and have those scales balanced in a way in which you can receive some justice, or that we can at least see it working.”
Steele’s comments echoed those of many observers and experts who agreed about Garland’s lack of urgency. In a surprise move, however, Judge Cannon denied a motion from Trump’s co-defendants Walt Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira to block the release of Smith’s report on the classified documents case on Monday (Jan. 13). Barring an appeal, the decision means that after the temporary injunction expires on Tuesday, the report will be released to the public.