Current Events
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“Retirements” in Rap have a history of not lasting very long, but this one nevertheless will up the anxiety of true Hip-Hop heads. North Carolina duo Little Brother have announced that their last tour, Curtain Call, will be its last, and that “their work as Little Brother is done.”
On Monday (April 7), current members Phonte and Big Pooh revealed they would be going on a final tour later this year called Curtain Call. LB told AllHipHop that despite tour being their last, they’re still on the best of terms.
“I wante [sic] to let people know, me and Phonte, we super good,” Pooh told AllHipHop. “We had a chance to reconcile, come back and, I believe, put Little Brother to bed the proper way. We was able to do it the right way and I believe that’s one of the things we both thought was important—not that when we knew when that day would be, but it was still important to have that moment and allow our fans to have that moment, too.”
Added Phonte, “We came back after a decade and got our first No. 1 record, we did our own movie, we did our own block party and regained control of our catalog. Our work is complete. Our mission as Little Brother is complete. Pooh and I were really able to not just rebuild but also cement our brotherhood. That was the most important. That was the God of it. Our work as Little Brother is done. Our lives as Phonte and Thomas will go on forever.”
When Little Brother first arrived to critical renown, they were a trio that included producer 9th Wonder. The group’s 2003 debut, The Listening, on indie label ABB Records, was not a commercial behemoth. But the critical acclaim the project received earned them a record deal with Atlantic Records, which dropped their sophomore album, The Minstrel Show, to more praise in 2005, yet it also lacked commercial success. With 9th Wonder basically departing the group as his highly sought production talents kept him busy, LB would drop Getback and Leftback in 2007 and 2010, respectively. It would be another 9 years before their latest album, May The Lord Watch, was released, with the consensus being LB was back in vintage but progressive form.
In late 2023, the group released the documentary May The Lord Watch: The Little Brother Story which chronicled the group’s creation and path in the industry that almost saw the ruin of their friendship before Pooh and Phonte were able to reconcile (9th Wonder did not participate in the doc).
The Curtain Call tour kicks off May 24 in Baltimore and will hit cities including Atlanta, Chicago and Los Angeles before closing out on the Rock The Bells cruise from October 27 – October 31.
We’re hoping the historical failure of rap retirements eventually applies in this case. Peep more reactions to the news in the gallery.
5.
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Harriet Tubman stands as one of the most important figures of the abolitionist movement, and her role as a conductor on the Underground Railroad cemented her in history. As part of President Donald Trump’s sweeping executive order that seeks to rewrite history, information on Harriet Tubman was edited on the National Park Service’s website, but was later restored.
As observed by many online, the National Park Service removed information about the Underground Railroad, replacing language about the movement to free slaves from the southern states and taking down a photo and quote from Tubman.
“I was the conductor of the Underground Railroad for eight years, and I can say what most conductors can’t say — I never ran my train off the track and I never lost a passenger,” was the quote that appeared on the website segment under a photo of Tubman. According to a Washington Post report and other accounts, the photo was removed and then replaced with a smaller photo alongside white abolitionists.
The New York Times reports that the changes appeared to have happened back in February after President Trump’s sweeping order, which seeks to do away with DEI initiatives. With historians, educators, and readers all providing intense pushback on the deleting and editing of Tubman’s historic contributions from the NPS website, the segment was restored to its original state.
CNN followed up with the NPS and obtained a quote from an NPS spokesperson.“Changes to the Underground Railroad page on the National Park Service’s website were made without approval from NPS leadership nor Department leadership. The webpage was immediately restored to its original content,” the statement read.
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Photo: Source: Universal History Archive / Getty
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Wake County Mugshots / Dylan Dilinjah
Someone made the mistake of getting too close to Dylan Dilinjah.
Making The Band 2 cast member Dylan Dilinjah was pinched by law enforcement for assaulting a man in North Carolina, an arrest warrant obtained by TMZ revealed.
According to the warrant, Dilinja, born Dylan John, was apprehended by the police in connection to an alleged altercation that took place Thursday in Wake County.
The report claims that Dylan slapped a man named Joseph Galullo across the face twice. Police officers showed up shortly after to arrest the struggle rapper, charging him with assault.
Dilinjah was released after posting a $500 bond and is due in court on July 1.
This incident is the latest moment that Dylan Dilinjah has returned to the news. During a recent We Are Flatbush podcast interview, Dilinjah claimed that the Chappelle Show skit making fun of Making The Band 2, where he also mocked himself, ruined his “rap career.”
“Any time I send my music to DJs, they say, ‘Oh, that’s the n***a that Dave Chappelle made fun of. Nah, I’m good on that,’” said Dilinjah. “Not only that, but now, every promoter says, ‘Nah, we’re not booking him.’ So now I have a newborn, and the fridge is empty in 2005, and no one is calling me. Everyone is laughing.”
He continued, “At that time, no one picking up they phone.Not one label. You had to sign to a record label. And I called all of them direct. And they said, ‘I can’t help you.’ That joke took over. That joke burned [my career].”
Yeah, sure, whatever you say, bro.
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A new report by two witnesses sheds more light on an incident in late March where Israeli soldiers reportedly attacked rescue workers in Gaza. Saeed al-Bardawil, a doctor, and Red Crescent volunteer paramedic Munther Abed were detained by the Israeli Defense Forces earlier. Abed said that he was captured while surviving an assault on his ambulance, which killed the other members of his crew, and al-Bardawil was captured while venturing out to go fishing with his son.
The two men alleged that the soldiers attacked another ambulance and fire truck in the city of Rafah in southern Gaza, claiming the workers were members of the Hamas organization. The vehicles and crew were sent out to investigate what happened to Abed’s ambulance, which had their headlights and emergency signals on when attacked. “I wasn’t blindfolded — I saw everything clearly,” Dr. al-Bardawil said to the New York Times. “The medics got out to inspect the damaged ambulance. That’s when the soldiers opened heavy fire.”The United Nations would find a mass grave containing 15 rescue workers – eight from the Palestine Red Crescent Society, one from the United Nations, and from Gaza’s Civil Defense – along with their half-crushed vehicles in a separate grave, leading them to accuse the Israeli Defense Forces of targeting the workers “one by one.” The IDF would deny the claims until a seven-minute video retrieved from the phone of one of the victims showed the moments leading up to soldiers confronting the medics and opening fire. An official would then backtrack in a statement, saying: “What we understand currently is the person who gives the initial account is mistaken. We’re trying to understand why.”Abed described the attack on his ambulance, and how he was confronted by Israeli soldiers who told him to strip naked and kneel. “You’re a terrorist — why are you here?” he recalled a soldier shouting at him. He then detailed how when he asked about his colleagues, another soldier told him in Arabic that “those terrorists” had been taken to hell by God. He and Dr. al-Bardawil would be released after telling others to evacuate.
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Source: Getty Images / Donald Trump / Barack Obama
Barack Obama didn’t bite his tongue when speaking about the blatant double standards when it comes to the lack of outrage towards Donald Trump’s reckless policies and behavior.
Our forever President, Barack Obama, stated the very obvious during an on-stage interview at Hamilton College while speaking on what Trump is currently doing in their first 100 days as President.
“Imagine if I had done any of this,” Obama said Thursday during the interview, where attendees were not allowed to record, according to CNN. “It’s unimaginable that the same parties that are silent now would have tolerated behavior like that from me or a whole bunch of my predecessors.”
The gloves were off when Obama spoke explicitly about Trump using the presidency to bully private institutions to bend to his ridiculous will.
“Imagine if I had said to law firms that were representing parties that were upset with policies my administration had initiated that you will not be allowed into government buildings,” Obama continued. “We will punish you economically for dissenting from the [Obamacare] or the Iran Deal.”
He continued, “The idea that a White House can say to law firms, if you represent parties that we don’t like, we’re going to pull all our business or bar you from representing people effectively…that kind of behavior is contrary to the basic compact we have as Americans.”
Obama also revealed that he is more deeply concerned” about the Trump administration’s threats to American universities “if they don’t give up students who are exercising their right to free speech.
Obama Touched On The Stupid Tariffs
He also touched on Trump’s stupid implementation of sweeping tariffs on countries, mainly our trading partners, adding he doesn’t believe it “is going to be good for America.”
Well, he couldn’t be more correct.
Since Trump rolled his orange behind out into the Rose Garden with that board with all of the “reciprocal tariffs” in response to “trade barriers,” most economists couldn’t figure out what his administration came up with, the global stock market has been in free fall, the US economy is tanking, and talks of a worldwide recession have reached an all-time high.
But what seems to be keeping Obama up at night is the Trump administration’s continued attack on Americans’ rights.
We hope Obama continues to speak about what’s going on; his voice is always needed.
You can see more reactions to his comments in the gallery below.
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In the vast world of edible cannabis, few companies are making them with the level of dedication to quality quite like Betty’s Eddies. As one of our favorite brands to feature on these pages, we’re happy to introduce our readers to Betty’s Eddies’ new Betty’s Caramelt Away cannabis confection just in time for National Caramel Day (April 5).
If you’ve been reading any of my cannabis roundups on this page, you should know how I feel about MariMed’s Betty’s Eddies. Without any kind of insider prompting or elbow jabs from the brand, they truly are among the best edibles I’ve ever had in my time with edible cannabis. What I also love about the brand is that, beyond their precise dosages, fantastic flavor, and functional expressions for all kinds of moods, you can tell the care that goes into the product, so it is no wonder that the brand is a favorite of consumers.For National Caramel Day, which I am just learning is a thing, Betty’s Eddies is rolling out its new Betty’s Caramelt Away expression. Before BE became the giant it is now, the founders of the brand started with creating caramel chews and perfecting that particular sweet, later taking that approach to its lineup today.
Coupled with full-spectrum hash and the cannabinoid CBG, which is reported to have anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and other positive health effects, Caramelt Aways is poised to be another big hit with fans of Betty’s Eddies.
“At Betty’s Eddies, we take pride in our legacy as a top-selling brand while continuously evolving to meet the ever-changing tastes of our consumers. We’re always researching and creating new trends in the edible category to ensure our products not only resonate with our loyal customers but also introduce new consumers to our delicious and trusted edibles,” said Sara Rosenfield, brand director for MariMeds on behalf of Betty’s Eddies.She continued, “Staying at the forefront of innovation means never stopping the learning process – because delivering high-quality, efficacious, flavorful products under a brand people love and trust is what we do best.”
Just don’t take Ms. Rosenfield’s or my word for it. If your local dispensary carries Betty’s Eddies, any of the options within their lineup are worth it, but if you’re like me and really into a good caramel chew, we think the smart choice would be to go for Betty’s Caramelt Away.
Learn more here.
Also, we will be publishing our annual 420 roundup soon. Look for this brand and other great selections then!
—Photo: MariMed/Betty’s Eddies
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President Donald Trump announced a sweeping tariffs policy this week as part of the administration’s “Liberation Day” initiative, which kept with one of his top campaign aims. The tariffs will be set at 10% across the board as several nations, including allies, will face varying percentages of tariffs on imports.
As seen in outlets such as CNBC and CNN, President Donald Trump’s new reciprocal tariff would levy a 10% tariff on all global imports, with China, the EU, Vietnam, and Taiwan paying far larger tariffs. Sparking concerns among economic experts is how the White House has come up with its percentages, as some are saying the math doesn’t add up. Further, according to swirling reports and social media accounts, Trump has called for tariffs against remote unoccupied lands, one of which houses penguins, according to reports.
As seen on CNN, Trump intends to impose a 54% tariff on China, the second largest importer to the United States after Mexico, with the Asian superpower promising to respond with tariffs of their own. The network has also tallied several comments from other nation leaders who are all pushing back against the aggressive measures that have caused global markets to stumble in rapid succession.
As Trump spoke from the Rose Garden on Wednesday, the reciprocal tariffs will be calculated by putting together tariff rates and other economic factors that have impacted trade numbers, then dividing that number in half. Canada and Mexico will face 25 percent tariffs, which Trump says are centered around pushing back against the supposed flood of fentanyl across the northern and southern borders, with some exemptions on products under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement.
“The tariffs will be not a full reciprocal. I could have done that, I guess. But it would have been tough for a lot of countries,” Trump said.
The AP reports that the United States and global markets are in a tumble and not expected to recover by close today. S&P 500 Futures dipped 3.4%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 2.8%; Nasdaq fell 3.8%.
President Trump’s larger aim is to return manufacturing to America and end the nation’s reliance on global goods. The trade-off is that average American consumers and businesses will feel the pinch of costs being passed to them to make up for losses in what is already an economic storm underfoot.
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Photo: Source: The Washington Post / Getty
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Source: Anadolu / Getty
As promised, the Trump administration is making the deportations of immigrants their main priority, and though they stated they would only deport the criminals and lawbreaking non-citizens living in the United States, they’ve accidentally detained and deported law abiding migrants who’ve done nothing wrong other than being a shade too dark for MAGA’s comfort.
According to Raw Story, the Trump administration recently admitted that they “accidentally” deported Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia of Beltsville, Maryland, to El Salvador’s infamous super prison, Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo, after he was granted protection status in the United States in 2019, because a judge found it “likely than not that he would be persecuted by gangs in El Salvador.” Still, Garcia was rounded up by Ice earlier last month and on March 15, he was placed on one of the deportation flights to El Salvador even though he was to remain in the United States. It wasn’t until his wife recognized him in a photo, which featured prisoners being shaven and shackled at the prison in El Salvador that his family realized what had happened.
After his initial arrest, ICE called his wife, Jennifer Vasquez Sura, and instructed her to pick up their her 5-year old son, A.A.V. within 10 minutes and even threatened that the child would be handed over to Child Protective Services if she didn’t show up. As time went by, his wife didn’t know what happened to Garcia until she saw him locked up in El Salvador and decided to get a lawyer for the situation.
Once the family lawyered up and took the Trump administration to court over the matter, ICE admitted in a court filing that the deportation of Garcia was an “administrative error” as Garcia was once considered a member of the infamous MS-13. While the Trump administration did own up to their mistake, they are saying there is no way for them to retrieve Garcia from Salvadorian authorities as it is now out of their hands.
Still, the Trump administration is defending their decision to deport Garcia as he was once a high-ranking member of what is considered the most dangerous gang in the world.
Per Raw Story:
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt Tuesday said that Abrego Garcia was a leader of the MS-13 gang, despite his deportation being “a clerical error.”
“The administration maintains the position that this individual who was deported to El Salvador and will not be returning to our country was a member of the brutal and vicious MS-13 gang,” she said.
She said the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has evidence of his gang activity that she has seen and she also alleged that Abrego Garcia was involved in human trafficking.
If anyone knows anything about MS-13 it’s that when a member walks away from the gang in pursuit of an honest life, that usually means his or her death; the gang doesn’t take too lightly to quitters. That would explain why Garcia was granted protection in the U.S. out of fear of retaliation if he was to return to El Salvador.
With a wife (who is a U.S. citizen) and a 5-year-old son with whom he had built a life with, Garcia seemed well on his way to redemption until Donald Trump once again unleashed ICE on the Black and Brown immigrant community. Now that he’s gotten swooped up in the deportations, it’s anyone’s guess if he’ll ever find his way back to Baltimore, Maryland, where his family anxiously awaits.
On the bright side, officials for the White House are confident that Garcia will be okay locked up with other gang members who might feel a way about him walking away from the life.
“While there may be allegations of abuses in other Salvadoran prisons—very few in relation to the large number of detainees—there is no clear showing that Abrego Garcia himself is likely to be tortured or killed in CECOT,” according to DOJ.
Pray for that man, b.
What do y’all think about Trump accidentally deporting a man who was living in the U.S. under protected status and not attempting to get him back? Let us know in the comments section below.
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Source: Getty Images / Susan Crawford / Elon Musk
Republicans had a bad night on Tuesday, but Elon Musk had an even worse night after failing to convince Wisconsin voters not to elect Judge Susan Crawford.
Elon Musk poured millions, $20 million to be exact, into the Wisconsin Supreme Court race, even going as far as to bribe voters by handing out $1 million checks to people. One of them leads the state’s College Republicans, and many say the handout was no coincidence.
Regardless of trying to throw money at the issue, Wisconsin voters rejected Musk and the Donald Trump-backed candidate, Brad Schimel. They voted for Judge Susan Crawford, dealing a significant blow to Trump and his buddy Musk, telling Phony Stark their votes can’t be bought.
Musk held a rally in Wisconsin ahead of Tuesday night’s pivotal election. He even wore a cheesehead, his of way of pandering to the Wisconsin natives, but it was all for naught.
After the results, Musk hopped on the platform he basically sold to himself to b*tch and moan about the results writing in a post, “The long con of the left is corruption of the judiciary.”
https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1907302751698084068
Social Media Lets Elon Musk Know He Lost
Musk’s post on X led to him being dragged onto the platform he reluctantly bought for $44 billion and subsequently ran into the ground, turning it into a hot mess.
“Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha Apartheid South African Nazi who spent tens of millions of dollars on the Wisconsin Supreme Court MAGA candidate loses. Suck on that, you fucking cheesehead,” one post on X read.
Another post read, “Dear Elon, Clearly, the people of Wisconsin think you are full of shit. But thanks for depositing $20 million in our economy and losing. Did I mention you lost? And people really really don’t like you? I mean really.”
We love it when Musk gets clowned, especially on his platform.
You can see more reactions in the gallery below.
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Sen. Cory Booker wrote himself in the U.S. Senate history books by delivering the longest speech in the chamber on record, eclipsing the record of Sen. Strom Thurmond’s filibuster by a good measure. As Sen. Cory Booker concluded his marathon speech, many on social media, especially X, are showing high approval for the New Jersey politician’s herculean effort.
Sen. Cory Booker, 55, took to the U.S. Senate floor on Monday (March 31) at 7 PM local time and begin his blistering marathon speech, using the time to voice the concerns of the American public who feel betrayed by the machinations of President Donald Trump, Elon Musk and the DOGE bros, and the gutting of longstanding federally funded government establishments and programs.
Booker’s time at the podium was partly a reading of letters from not only constituents he represents, but others on the other side of the aisle who have been casualties in President Trump and the GOP’s culture war. Speaking frequently in impassioned tones, Booker appeared weary at moments and used the podium to support himself. When he was alerted that he was nearing Sen. Strom Thurmond’s 1957 filibuster record of 24 hours and 18 minutes, Booker quipped that he was near and kept going despite the obvious fatigue present.
Thurmond, the senator from South Carolina, used the filibuster to protest the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1957, which would give Black Americans certain protections and access to the democratic process. Thurmond, holding fast to antiquated views of Black Americans and an obvious allegiance to the memory of the Confederacy, represented a far different Democratic Party than we see today. Adding to this, Thurmond was dogged by rumors that he secretly fathered a daughter with a Black woman whom he allegedly helped by financing her education.
The late senator also voted against the Voting Rights Act of 1964 and 1965 and was a staunch segregationist who pushed for a ban on school integration. Thurmond’s resistance to granting equal access to Black citizens would follow him to the bitter end of his career as he cemented his legacy by being a raging racist.
What Sen. Cory Booker has done in contrast has been deemed symbolic by many, but it isn’t quite a criticism; instead, it is a fact. The United States is splitting apart on party line allegiance and the ever-present reality that this country still has yet to reckon with its past. This is happening at the Trump administration is attempting to sanitize history, do away with DEI, and eliminate social programs that benefited poor, working-class white Americans more than any other group in the nation.
On X, Sen. Booker’s historic feat is all the rage, and we’ve got reactions below.
Americans aren’t a line item in a budget to cut. Your story matters, your voice matters, this fight matters. pic.twitter.com/cDpXIZMtRe
— Sen. Cory Booker (@SenBooker) April 1, 2025
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Photo: Getty