Current Events
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Source: @joolieanniemarie / Instagram
Social Media has the power to shift culture in just an instant. The latest example is the way that TikTok creator Jools Lebron catapulted the word “demure” into the online collective consciousness.
Lebron, who identifies as a transgender woman, created several videos where she talked about how she presents herself at work as “very demure, very mindful.” The initial video garnered more than 10 million views in the first week. Lebron went on to make more videos using the buzzword and how to achieve these qualities.
She recently told US Weekly that she was motivated to create the videos because there’s been a “lack of empathy and regard for people’s feelings” as well as how they “represent themselves” on social media.
The viral trend has done more than just make Lebron’s catchphrases a household name. According to Variety, she now has made enough money to complete her gender transition.
“One day, I was playing cashier and making videos on my break, and now I’m flying across countries to host events, and I’m gonna be able to finance the rest of my transition,” she said n a recent online post.
The trend jumped from TikTok to X (formerly Twitter) with millions making posts about being “demure.” Further, copycat videos from celebrities like Kim Kardashian and Jennifer Lopez made the trend explode even further.
“I grew up an influencer kid, like, I watched all YouTube and all kinds of stuff like that,” Lebron told US Weekly. “Seeing them do the trend, and just welcome in someone that has loved them, and follow me back and show me my flowers has been everything.”
The trend even made it to The White House.
“When I did start making TikToks, I found more girls like me. I found girls who are plus size who are trans, who are having the same experiences that come uniquely with that set of combinations,” she told CBS News.
Lebron said that she does receive some negative comments on her videos, saying, “I think that people get in survival mode and they forget how they’re also being perceived when they leave a nasty comment or when they’re being rude or whatever,” she noted. “Let’s be demure. Let’s be mindful of why we came. Let’s be mindful because we didn’t come to just be mean girls.”
She continued, “We didn’t come to be messy and this applies to everything: your appearance, your mindset. Be mindful of what you think. Be mindful of your actions, and be demure, modest and reserved. That doesn’t mean a race, a color, an ethnicity, a finance. ‘Demurity’ is being the most thoughtful, mindful version of yourself.”
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Source: @aydeethegreat / Instagram
HipHopWired got to interview Dr. A.D. Carson, the renowned University of Virginia professor and author who is building bridges between Hip-Hop culture and academia.
Hip-Hop has always been about education in various forms. It’s become a fixture on college campuses due in part to pioneering work done at The University of Virginia by Dr. Kyra Gaunt, and the establishment of the Hiphop Archive and Research Institute at Harvard University by Marcyliena Morgan in 2002. These days, artists such as 9th Wonder and Lupe Fiasco are among those teaching courses and seminars on Hip-Hop at institutions such as M.I.T., and adding to that legacy of work at UVA is A.D. Carson, Associate Professor of Hip Hop and the Global South.
Dr. Carson’s robust body of work began with his groundbreaking dissertation at Clemson University, a 34-track album entitled Owning My Masters: The Rhetorics of Rhymes and Revolutions. Since then, the Decatur, Illinois native has earned numerous achievements including having the first peer-reviewed rap album for publication by an academic press, i used to love to dream with the University of Michigan in 2020. His music is imbued with a vigorous dexterity and matter-of-fact perspective shining a light on multiple issues facing Black people and other people of color in America and abroad throughout history, demonstrating the true educational power of Hip-Hop culture. Dr. Carson has been a featured contributor to Rolling Stone, as well as having been interviewed by NPR, The Undefeated, and many other outlets.
We had the chance to interview Dr. Carson recently about his work. This interview has been edited for clarity.
HHW: The conceptualization behind Owning My Masters – what was the impetus behind making that decision?
Dr. A.D. Carson: It’s probably important that when I left Illinois to go get a PhD, I knew that it would be Hip-Hop related. The time that I left Illinois was around the time that Trayvon Martin was killed by George Zimmerman. I imagine that many people can like, look back on that, and then think “Wow, that was like 10-12 years ago.” But as that’s happening, I’m moving from Illinois to South Carolina. And Clemson is football country. I didn’t know all of the stuff about John Calhoun being Thomas Clemson’s father-in-law. I didn’t know that Clemson was a plantation. I get there and they’ve got a plantation house in the middle of campus. And then you walk out in front of the plantation house, you look to your left, and you can see the like the tiger eyes in the endzone. And it’s like, “Oh, they’re producing NFL football players and millions of dollars of revenue. And I don’t know if folks know that this place is a plantation.”
Anytime I tried to say something about that, or about what was going on in the world, then there was this loud chorus of people who were like kind of politely saying “You shouldn’t say that.” Or like, very violently saying, “You need to go back to Illinois.” I don’t think that I would have even made the album if it wasn’t for people not just trying to tell me what I can’t say, but also telling me how to say whatever it is that I do get to say. Because as much as people claim to love Hip-Hop, as much as people claim to love the culture, I don’t think that people have like very high cultural literacy or cultural fluency.
And so that’s a way that you might be able to say the thing directly to folks’ faces while they smile and nod and be like, it’s so great that you did this, but like you’re saying directly to them, “I’m not f—–g with this.” the decision like had everything to do with being in Clemson at that time, and I don’t know that it would have even had the kind of like potency or resonance if I was in Chicago, or in LA or in New York because I imagine that like those are the kinds of places where the politics they express are like a little more receptive. At Clemson, they were trying to shut it down even at a university where you’re supposed to be able to have academic freedom. I’m saying it was a social response, not an academic response, And with the folks in Clemson’s administration on down to the undergraduate students, it was consistent. This is also like the ascent of Donald Trump. So as you’re trying to trace what’s going on in the world, it’s really easy to move from central Illinois to South Carolina and think “Oh, these people are living in the past.” And that was what I thought for a good portion of the time that I was there. But then Trump gets elected. And it’s like “The whole time they didn’t live in the past, they were in the future.”
So Owning My Masters was a way of trying to document that. The early songs that I’m recording are from my first week, being in town, all the way up through all of that stuff happening. The album moves chronologically. It just seems more despairing over the duration of it. It’s because that’s like literally what was happening. And maybe it’s not desperation, much more like defiance. But that was because people were asking, “So this music that you do, or this stuff that you’re studying, like, are you saying this stuff in front of everybody?” And I’m like, “Why wouldn’t I say it in front of everybody?” That means that they need to hear it as much as anybody. It’s really important that the people who are perpetuating the stuff and acting like we’ve progressed, those are the people who need to hear these messages, which also means that they need to have they need to be invited into ways of hearing that they’re actually going to tune into.
HipHopWired: In terms of comprehension, and having Hip-Hop be a way in academia to navigate, confront, and ultimately provide some answers, if not all to some of these questions within your role as Associate Professor of Hip-Hop at UVA, are there any set guidelines or curriculum that you use to those interested in navigating the same path?
Carson: I have to say, when I defended the dissertation I talked on the phone with Mickey Facts and Lupe Fiasco because they were working on what they call a “rapper guild”. I asked, “What are you trying to do, be affiliated with a university?” Part of it was to create the conditions for people who were really interested in emceeing to be better at emceeing and to have that connected to these volumes of scholarship that would be able to bear on it. And it might not be about rap, it could be about linguistics, or it could be about history, or it could be about other kinds of stuff like I was reading as a doctoral student, because, of course, I didn’t go to Clemson to learn how to rap. I think it’s important to say that because folks get that twisted as well, like no I didn’t start rapping when I got to Clemson. Rap was just a way to detail he findings in the research.
In the classes that I teach now, with undergraduates and graduate students in my brand, the graduate students I work with are the ones who are most likely to teach and become professors. I mentioned Lupe and Mickey Factz, because I think to a certain degree, both of them have been interested and engaged in some kinds of teaching appointments in their engagements at other universities or independently. So, in my writing rap class, I’m teaching techniques. Literally, what do you rely on to start a rap? And then, what techniques are you going to use to get from bar one to bar 16? At the same time, there’s some of the mundane like simile and metaphor to the more complicated ways that people might use structured rhyme schemes. But also in that class, I’m alternating between teaching those techniques and listening to people who have been doing this for a long time. So that’s the whole archive of rap music going back to the 70s, as well as reading about the context for those things being made. So it’s not trying to get like a grand narrative of the “capital T” history of Hip-Hop but the histories of Hip-Hop.
HHW: In terms of dealing with academia and trying to have this conversation through the culture and the machinations of Hip-Hop, has there been any kind of pushback that you’ve experienced on a social level, not necessarily administrative, in terms of trying to sanitize the work that you do?
Carson: I think that there’s been pressure – I don’t know if you’re familiar with the professor watch list that exists, basically unmasking radical professors?
HHW: I’m familiar with that, yes.
Carson: So that kind of thing – but what they call radical is the fact that I make music. (Laughs) They don’t even understand the content of the music, but on their websites, they’ve got screenshots of lyrics. I realized that this is a very real thing in these cases, where people are having their lyrics used against them in court. And people are explaining what the lyrics mean, like police officers. That definitely means the system is like gamed against you, because like the people who arrested me, and in the system that’s trying to use my lyrics, also illegally against me, to convict me, are having people who work for them, tell the jury what the lyrics mean? This is also why getting tenure is important, because then you have at least the supposed protections of job security and academic freedom
I did write one album where one of my colleagues was like “Yeah, it’s been good knowing you”, thinking I’d get fired. And my response to that was like, “if this is the kind of thing that gets me fired, then they’re not serious about what the professor of Hip-Hop, not in the way that I choose to do the work.” I’m not pulling punches, because how do they know what I shouldn’t be saying and how I should be saying it? They trusted me enough to put me in the position. Trust me to do my work, I’ll trust the people whom I trust in that regard. And then that means that I have to have mentorship, collaborators, and people whose opinions I trust. In a real way, some of this is supposed to make you uncomfortable, right? I mean, I’m not making this up. I am not creating controversy, when I talk about the fact that Black folks are being erased from history, and having our lives taken from us for that. People don’t believe that rappers deserve to be treated as human beings. I’m not making that s–t up.
HHW: In terms of being a notable figure, creating In this space within academia to have these conversations through the media and the culture of hip hop, and then confronting newer problems like AI and technology, has it posed any obstacles for you?
Carson: A part of it is – maybe the fancy word to say is legibility, but it’s like, “How do you get the message out?” I’ve talked to people at NPR, or writing for Rolling Stone or whoever else but that’s not really my target demographic. That’s not gonna get to the people at home in Decatur. So it’s, “How do I most effectively speak to black communities?”And this might also mean t places like The Breakfast Club, Sway in the Morning, or Black media where you don’t have to explain the concerns before you launch into ways we might think about them. But that means that you have to get past the hurdle of folks believing that because you work at a university, the thing that you’re doing is not for them or directed toward things that they might be interested in.
The thing about AI thinking about that – I’m not worried about somebody cloning Tupac’s voice or cloning Drake’s voice or Kendrick (Lamar’s) or Jay Z, because all of these people with their estates have the power to be able to be like, cease and desist with the s—s immediately. They can fight that because they got money, but what about like the dude like one of my cousins or anybody that you know from your hometown, who is incredibly gifted, but nobody knows them? And then they put their work online on SoundCloud, or Spotify or Bandcamp, something like that. And then one of these companies gets it. What I think we should be thinking about more is what happened to regular people in blues clubs, and juke joints across the country, whenever white folks were able to export Black music or cordon it off to these particular kinds of places, including academia, where working-class Black folks didn’t have any kind of access. So that’s not a problem where I need to say “Hey, white folks, make sure that whenever you decide to exploit us, that you have like some kind of ethics when you do it.”
This is why I appreciate you talking to me, because who are the people in HipHop media who talk to the people who are dealing heavily with Hip-Hop regularly to bring these issues to the fore, rather than only the things that are being puppeted by these media machines that are pushing out particular kinds of stories. The conversations about how rappers are being utilized in this particular election cycle is something that we absolutely need to be talking about, right? But who’s gonna host that conversation, Ari Melber? If we’re dependent on NBC, to like, talk about how Hip-Hop intersects with politics, then I think that we f——d up. I’m just saying it’s important to get the word out and to challenge us to think differently about all of these things that are going on. And part of my doing that is of course, making the music and teaching the classes, but the other component is commentary.
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Source: Adam Gray / Getty
A former writer for Politico has publicly wondered why their outlet and many others haven’t published leaked info from Donald Trump’s campaign.
According to reports, at least three major news outlets – the New York Times, the Washington Post, and Politico – all received leaked internal documents from Donald Trump’s presidential campaign earlier in the week. None of them have published information from them, which has former Politico senior writer Marc A. Caputo perplexed enough to question why. “It may be that the Times, the Post, and Politico are all working to ensure that no erroneous material was deliberately inserted,” he wrote in his Bulwark newsletter. “But that is not the explanation they have offered so far for why they are holding off.”
Caputo would write that the information contained in the 271 pages of leaked documents includes vetting information gathered for Ohio Senator JD Vance, which the Trump campaign team apparently used to determine whether to pick him to be the former president’s running mate. Caputo writes that it’s “baffling” that the outlets wouldn’t publish that information, as “what a campaign thought about its own vice presidential candidate is inherently newsworthy.”
Caputo would then cite the internal emails from Hilary Clinton’s presidential campaign spokesman John Podesta being hacked by someone named “Guccifer” in 2016, who then sent them to Wikileaks. That led to heavy coverage of the information in those emails, with the New York Times doing most of it in the lead-up to the 2016 presidential election. Caputo also spoke about the stories concerning Hunter Biden and the laptop he left behind in a computer-repair shop being part of the news landscape before the 2020 election. He noted the extreme caution by editors then, saying, “that episode showed that journalists had overlearned their lessons from four years prior.
“Maybe, in the wake of 2016, these outlets formulated a more stringent policy concerning the use of hacked materials,” Caputo writes. “But whatever the case, they ought to be transparent about their thinking. If the New York Times, Politico, and the Washington Post have decided that some considerations prevent them from publishing this authenticated and newsworthy information, then the least they could do is explain to the public what those considerations are.” He stressed that bringing the information in the leaks is important so people don’t feel there’s partisanship being practiced. “It’s important to start adopting clearer standards—because it’s easy to see this occurring over and over,” he concludes.
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Source: Pacific Press / Getty / Eric Adams
The federal investigation into NYC Mayor Eric Adam’s 2021 campaign continues to be a thorn in his side.
Raw Story reports that Mayor Mixxy was reportedly subpoenaed as part of the ongoing federal investigation into corruption and unlawful campaign donations.
Per Raw Story:
Three subpoenas were served in July, The New York Times reported. They seek an array of materials such as texts, documents and other communications, and reportedly seek information on the travel of Adams, his aides and others, as well as fundraising activities.
Specifically, the subpoenas were issued to Adams, City Hall and Adams’ mayoral campaign, according to CNN. The subpoena to City Hall seeks information including about his travel to Turkey.
According to the website, the feds are investigating whether Adams and his campaign were in cahoots with the Turkish government, allowing him to receive unlawful campaign donations and free flight upgrades from Turkish Airlines.
The New York Times also reports that the feds are investigating whether Mayor Adams pushed the fire department into giving the green light on a new skyscraper consulate for Turkey, raising safety concerns.
Fabien Levy, a spokesperson for Adams, spoke to CNN on the matter, saying that the NY Mayor expects everyone to cooperate and “swiftly bring this investigation to a close.”
Levy continued, “As a former member of law enforcement, the mayor has been clear over the last nine months that he will cooperate with any investigation underway. Nothing has changed.”
Welp.
This latest news comes after the feds seized two of Adams’s phones, and the homes of two of his raids were the subject of raids.
We shall see if this investigation has serious consequences for the NYC Mayor.
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Source: Alberto E. Rodriguez / Getty / Beau DeMayo
Marvel Studios is notoriously known for keeping things tight-lipped at the studio, but in a rare move, it clapped back at X-Men 97 creator Beau DeMayo following claims he made on social media.
After soaking in the epicness that was X-Men 97 on Disney+, many wanted to know why DeMayo, who, to his credit, delivered a flawless first season of television, was fired. Now, we have some answers.
The answer to the million-dollar question came after Beau DeMayo took to X, formerly Twitter, claiming he would no longer get a writing credit for the second season of X-Men 97.
DeMayo claimed that the decision was just one part of the “troubling pattern” of behavior he experienced while working for the multi-billion dollar studio.
Marvel Studios saw the claim and immediately said aht aht aht, revealing in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter that they gave DeMayo the boot in March following an extensive internal investigation that revealed “egregious” findings.
“Above is #XMen fan-art I posted on Instagram for Gay Pride in June. On June 13, #Marvel sent a letter notifying me that they’d stripped my Season 2 credits due to the post,” DeMayo wrote in a post on X while sharing a drawing of himself as a shirtless version of the X-Men’s team leader, Cyclops.
DeMayo, who also worked on a draft of Mahershela Ali’s stalled Blade movie and Moon Knight, continued, “Sadly, this is the latest in a troubling pattern I suffered through while working on #XMen97 and #Blade.”
Marvel Studios Said Hold Up, Wait A Minute Sir
In a rare move, Marvel Studios quickly rebuffed DeMayo, confirming what many speculated that DeMayo’s behavior was why he was fired.
“Mr. DeMayo was terminated in March 2024 following an internal investigation,” a Marvel spokesperson said in a statement. “Given the egregious nature of the findings, we severed ties with him immediately, and he has no further affiliation with Marvel.”
Sources revealed to THR that an agreement was reached between the two parties regarding tweeting about the show. DeMayo engaged with fans of the show frequently and shared insights into episodes after they aired.
Due to breaches in the agreement, Marvel Studios removed his name from the season two credits. No further details about his termination were shared, but THR reports it had something to do with “sexual misconduct.”
DeMyao did respond to THR’s reporting in a post on X, writing, “The truth will be revealed. After their Disney Plus disaster, Marvel wants to mislead with alleged contract breaches over tweets. It’s tragic it’s come to this, but unsurprising. Stay tuned.”
He added, “This is their Disney-Marvel’s usual playbook. Legal letters as well as other items to prove their long-standing pattern to follow . It’s about finding a safe outlet. Thanks for your faith and patience.”
Social media has been in a bind. They wanted to give DeMayo his flowers, some calling for his return to the show, while others were cautious because they were sensitive to the situation.
Now with this info out, they are reacting, you can see those thoughts in the gallery below.
2. Crazy, if these allegations are true
5. Accurate
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Source: Paras Griffin / Getty
On Thursday (August 15) during the evening hours, the Hip-Hop community was shocked and saddened to learn that legendary Texas artist BeatKing had suddenly passed away at the too young age of 39.
According to KHOU, BeatKing’s manager, Tasha Felder, took to Instagram to announce the sudden passing of the man born Justin Riley. Having been a part of the Texas music scene—he recently performed at Birthday Bash in Atlanta—for more than a decade, BeatKing carved a niche out for himself on the rap scene by producing some big club hits over the years before going viral with his breakout smash “Then Leave” in 2020.
Though no information is available as to his cause of death it is suspected that it was due to health issues we were not aware of. His manager took the time to give the man his flowers in the Instagram post that broke hearts all across the Hip-Hop board.
“BeatKing has been the best part of the club for over a decade,” read Felder’s caption. “He has produced and worked with so many artists, that his sound will forever live. He loved his daughters @clubgodparenting, his music and his fans. We will love him forever.”
R.I.P, Clubgodzilla.
What was your favorite BeatKing cut? Let us know in the comments section below.
This story is developing.
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Source: John Walton – PA Images / Getty
A petition calling for action against alleged misconduct by Paris Olympics breaker Raygun went viral with over 58,000 signatures.
The Paris Olympic Games have ended, but the controversy over Australian B-girl Raygun and her performance – which included a move some called a “kangaroo hop” – is ongoing. It led to an online petition that was created accusing her of “unethical conduct,” which has garnered thousands of signatures. The petition, which was created on Tuesday (Aug. 13) by an individual identifying themselves as “Someone Who hates corruption,” was on Change.org and at last report had over 58,000 signatures.
“We, the undersigned, call for immediate accountability and transparency in the recent actions of Rachel Gunn and Anna Mears in the selection process for Australia’s female breakdancer representative at the upcoming Olympics,” the petition begins. “Rachel Gunn, who set up her own governing body for breakdancing, has manipulated the selection process to her own advantage. Despite the clear talent and qualification of other outstanding female breakdancers like G Clef and Holy Molly, they were unfairly overlooked. The NT Youlong Boys, a group of incredibly talented and underprivileged youth from the Northern Territory, were denied crucial funding by Dr. Gunn to attend the qualifiers—a decision that directly impacted their chance to showcase their skills on a national stage.” The theory sprang up online after Raygun aka Rachel Gunn earned an astonishing score of zero through her three preliminary rounds of competition, which became viral across social media leading to a bevy of memes making fun of her.
The Sydney Morning Herald began their investigation into Gunn, a lecturer at the Department of Media, Communications, Creative Arts, Language and Literature at Macquarie University in Sydney. They found that the claim behind the online petition wasn’t true and that Gunn advanced due to coming in first in one of three regional competitions. The Change.org petition has since been taken down after requests from the Australian Olympic Committee on Thursday (Aug. 15). AOC spokesman said in a statement that Gunn was “selected through a transparent and independent qualification event and nomination process.”
Gunn, however, is still dealing with the international response to her Olympic showing calling it “pretty devastating” but remaining positive. “I went out there, and I had fun. I did take it very seriously. I worked my butt off preparing for the Olympics, and I gave my all. Truly,” she said in an ESPN interview.
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Source: Kent Nishimura / Getty / Kanye West / Sunday Service
This is more bad news for Ye, the artist formerly known as Kanye West, and Jesus won’t be able to save him.
Spotted on the U.S. Sun, Kanye West’s Sunday Service has been stripped of its charity status because the troubled rapper failed to file his tax returns with Uncle Sam, aka the IRS.
According to the publication, the popular choir gained its charity status on December 12, 2021.
West introduced the choir to the masses in January 2019 through invite-only musical events that also served as “inspirational” promotional concerts for his gospel album “Jesus Is King.”
The group, led by choir director Jason White, became a hit with fans and eventually performed at one of the biggest music festivals in the world, Coachella, as well as at the Hollywood Bowl and other events.
Speaking with Nick Cannon, the often boastful West claimed he spent $50 million on Sunday Service in his first year.
“I spent every dime that I have for marketing from Yeezy on Sunday Service. Every dollar I had,” Ye claimed.
He continued, “I spent $50 million last year on Sunday Service if you add up the operas if you add up the flights. It was 120 people going to Jamaica.”
“The Yeezys, they were selling themselves. So, instead of paying for ads, I invested it in the church. I invested in spreading [the] gospel. I invested in saying Jesus’ name on high.”
West’s involvement with the choir would become nonexistent in recent months, with the IRS sharing the bad news about the choir on its website.
Per The U.S. Sun:
But it appears he’s had little to do with the choir in recent months, and a revocation date on the IRS website is listed as May 15, 2024, confirming it has lost its charity status.
It was posted for the first time on August 12, showing it is still current.
Welp.
Kanye West has been in the news lately, but not for anything good. Whether it’s because he dresses his wife, Bianca Censori, in what he thinks are clothes or the numerous lawsuits, like the most recent one for his unauthorized use of some photos featuring him and Censori.
If there is any good news about Mr. West, his new album featuring Ty Dolla $ign is out. We don’t know how long it will be available because he can pull it at any moment.
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Source: Charley Gallay / Getty
Taraji P. Henson’s recent visit to Russell Simmons in Bali has raised the ire of social media users, who pointed out other celebs who’ve done the same.On Monday (August 12), former Def Jam founder Russell Simmons shared a photo of himself and Taraji P. Henson in a post on social media, thanking her for her friendship and for visiting his resort complex in Bali, Indonesia. “People when you have friends like this, you are truly blessed!!!! Everyone comes to Gdas for healing, some people exude healing energy. You are one of those,” Simmons wrote in the caption of the Instagram post. “You make everyone happy just with your presence. Love you baby girl, you are back home safe now and are already missed. Until we meet again darling, only love. PS, you mean so much to so many people, keep inspiring us all.”
A few who saw the post had mistakenly thought that Henson had passed, but other commenters quickly corrected them. But many more were upset that the actress was chummy with Simmons, venting their frustration in posts on X, formerly Twitter. One user, Kelezy Kae Graham wrote, “Yuh know they could take the picture and not post it? Like everything is not for the media.” Others were incredulous that she went there, and livid at other celebrities such as Snoop Dogg, MC Lyte, and Usher also making visits to Simmons at the Gdas resort.
Simmons is currently facing several lawsuits for sexual abuse, and the public perception that his living in Bali since 2018 is to avoid prosecution. He was “caught off guard” when served with papers relating to a defamation lawsuit from former Def Jam executive Drew Dixon in February. The 61-year-old has firmly denied that he’s hiding out, recently doing so in a statement in May. “People saying that I somehow can’t come home when I’m there all the time wears on you,” Simmons said. “It wears on me after a while to keep hearing the same narrative, which is false. I’m always in L.A., I’m always in New York and Miami. And I’ve never had any reason to feel unsafe in America.”
Check out the reactions to the latest Simmons post below.
1. Ishmael Mayhew
2. KeesSweat
4. Crooker T. Watchingthem
5. dejnextdoor
6. ChalibooYahh
7. HeyyDiva
8.
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Source: Carl Court / Getty
Fall is almost here thus it is time for Barack Obama’s 2024 summer playlist. The likes of 2Pac, GloRilla and Beyoncé are some of the artists who made the cut.
As reported by HipHopNMore, the 44th president of the United States has shared his yearly drop of tracks that he has been grooving to the last couple of months. On Monday, Aug. 12, he took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to do the unveiling. “With summer winding down, I wanted to share some songs that I’ve been listening to lately – and it wouldn’t be my playlist if it didn’t include an eclectic mix. I hope you find something new to listen to!” his post read.
Barack Obama’s summer 2024 playlist is as follows:
Shaboozey: “A Bar Song (Tipsy)”
Charli XCX: “365”
Billie Eilish: “Chihiro”
Tems: “Love Me Jeje”
Artemas: “I Like the Way You Kiss Me”
Tommy Richman: “Million Dollar Baby”
Hope Tala: “I Can’t Even Cry”
Blackstreet: “No Diggity” [ft. Dr. Dre and Queen Pen]
Enny: “Charge It”
Carminho: “O Quarto (Soundtrack Version)”
Calimossa: “What’s in the Tea?”
Hubert Sumlin & Keith Richards: “I Love the Life I Live, I Live the Life I Love”
PJ Morton: “Say So” [ft. Jojo]
Cleo Sol: “Why Don’t You”
The Miracles: “You’ve Really Got a Hold on Me”
H.E.R.: “Process”
2Pac: “How Do U Want It” [ft. K-Ci and Jojo]
Sting: “If You Love Somebody Set Them Free”
Lucinda Williams: “Unsuffer Me”
Jill Scott: “Golden”
The Rolling Stones: “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction”
Saweetie: “My Best”
Charles Mingus: “Wednesday Night Prayer Meeting”
Norah Jones: “Come Away With Me”
Common: “The People”
Etta James: “Don’t Cry Baby”
Chris Jedi, Gaby Music, & Dei V: “Bad Boy” [ft. Anuel AA and Ozuna]
Rema: “Yayo”
Bonny Light Horseman: “Old Dutch”
Willow: “Symptom of Life”
Moneybagg Yo: “Whiskey Whiskey” [ft. Morgan Wallen]
Myles Smith: “Stargazing”
GloRilla & Megan Thee Stallion: “Wanna Be”
Tyla, Gunna, & Skillibeng: “Jump”
Bad Bunny & Feid: “Perro Negro”
Paul Russell: “Lil Boo Thang”
Digable Planets: “Rebirth of Slick (Cool Like Dat)”
Bob Marley & the Wailers: “Them Belly Full (But We Hungry)”
Nick Drake: “One of These Things First”
Bob Dylan: “Silvio”
Pharoah Sanders: “Love Is Everywhere”
The Supremes: “Where Did Our Love Go”
Beyoncé: “Texas Hold ‘Em”
Samara Joy: “Someone to Watch Over Me” [ft. Pasquale Grasso]
For years it has been speculated that Barack Obama’s staff chooses the songs, but in an interview with Hasan Minhaj the former POTUS made it clear he is the one making the selections. “People seem to think, ‘Well, he must’ve had some 20-year-old intern who was figuring out this latest cut,’” Barack said. “No, man! It’s on my iPad right now!” You can listen to the playlist here.