Current Events
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Source: Redsummer TV / Tale of the Tape
HipHopWired got to exclusively chat with the director and producer of Tale Of The Tape, a new documentary detailing the creation and history of mixtapes in Hip-Hop culture.
The mixtape is a vital component of Hip-Hop culture, and as Hip-Hop has recently celebrated its 50th year of existence, the history of how mixtapes originated is getting its time in the spotlight thanks to a new documentary. Tale of The Tape is a new film that shows the rise of mixtapes and their impact, with Royce Da 5″9′ narrating the journey.
The film features appearances by DJ Drama, DJ Clue, the late Combat Jack, Kendrick Lamar and J. Cole along with DJ Envy, who serves as a producer. Tale of The Tape is directed by Malik K. Buie, the CEO of the film’s production company Red Summer TV. The veteran Hip-Hop journalist Kim Osorio is also a producer of the film and Red Summer’s chief content officer. The hour-long film gives viewers a look into these artists’ views on mixtapes and how greatly it affected their careers and perspectives.
Hip0Hop Wired had the chance to speak exclusively with Buie and Osorio about their passion for making the film and the journey it took to finish it and have it be part of the culture’s growing archives.
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HHW: So, to get started, I wanted to ask right off, how did the process begin to put this definitive documentary together?
Malik K. Buie: This began many years ago, over 10 years ago, to be honest. I was producing for Rap City and other platforms. Like any Hip-Hop head, mixtapes were an integral part of my youth. As I did a lot of interviews and traveled and documented things I always found that mixtapes were kind of like the common tissue to DJs, artists, everybody who was able to reach any sort of success. Or to be able to reach any sort of crowd. They all had a story of, “This mixtape inspired me, this mixtape influenced me, etc.”
And it’s funny because I remember thinking, “Well, I really want to do something based on mixtapes.” We posted about it the other day, a designer that I used to work with said to me, I remember, we sketched out the logo on a napkin, at work, for ‘Tale of The Tape.’” Again, well over 10 years ago. So that was a big part of why I wanted to do the film, I wanted to honor the DJ, I wanted to tell the story of—we see all these really large mainstream artists, whether it’s Drake, whether it’s Kendrick, whether it’s Nicki, whether it’s Cole, they all achieved their success based off their mixtape. But nobody really knew the story of how these mixtapes started with Brucie B and those guys. And of course, Hip-Hip aficionado Kim Osorio. She knows a lot about the subject, and it just made sense for us to partner up and do what we do.
Kim Osorio: I’m glad that he gave you some context as to when it started because I can’t remember. It’s been such a labor of love and a work in progress. We used to have a column when I worked at The Source called Hip Hop One-on-One. And that was a column where we felt like it was our responsibility to educate as well as you know, entertain. And so I think with this here, what we wanted to do was to make sure—it was a responsibility of ours, right?
Especially with where mixtapes are now, for us to be able to say, “Wait, we love the culture, we love mixtape culture, we want to report on it.” But more importantly, we want to make sure that people understand the history. And we want to document that because these days, you see how quickly everyone is just changing the narrative. So for us there, we were teaming up just as fans really. Mixtapes, because I collected them. I used to think I was a DJ. You know, I’m not gonna talk about my turntables and the mixtapes that I used to make. (Laughs) That was a shameless plug.
To this day, right, one of my favorite things to do is to be a DJ, like build playlists. And if you really know me, a lot of people don’t notice about me. I think I’m a DJ, I had [Technics]1200’s. Everything. If you really know me, you know that I love to sequence music, and I love to build playlists. And I send playlists to people that are close to me. It’s like a love language of mine. Everything with me comes from Hip-Hop, everything. That’s how I was taught how to consume music, through a mixtape. I wanted to pick the songs that I wanted to pick. Even to the point when blend tapes were big, right? We want to take these vocals and put it over this instrumental, we want to hear it the way we want to hear it, in the order that we want to hear it in. That sort of curation of music is something that has always fascinated me. So doing this was a no-brainer because a lot of people, a lot of kids coming up to date even listening to Hip-Hop, they just don’t have the same experience. It’s a whole different game. We have to document ours.
HHW: What were the challenges in making the documentary? I noted how the process was, but what were the challenges that stuck out the most with documenting and telling the story?
Kim Osorio: Trying to be a perfectionist? (Laughs)
Malik: (Laughs) So, one, we’re both perfectionists. Look, this is a Red Summer TV, Buffalo Eight production, we’re pretty much self-funded for a lot of this. And, you know, that’s probably the main challenge. I want to have three cameras, I want to have jibs swinging in when we do these interviews, etc, etc. and the resources said different. We would’ve loved to speak to a few more folk. But sometimes that’s kind of what it is. The plan is, of course, to make this a series moving forward. Me and Kim joke a lot, because there were some things like I will write, she’s like, “Oh, I don’t like that, just throw it in the trash.” And she’d do her version of it. So I have to acquiesce because that’s what it is. But if there’s a certain look, a certain way. I’m gonna be like, “Nah, Kim, this is what I want.“ And so yeah, when starting this out years ago, I honestly thought it would take a year maybe, and we’d be done with it any day. And as the story kept changing for the mixtape DJ, it’s fine. We went right along with it as you can see, with what D’-Nice did with Club Quarantine. It’s a part of mixtape culture and history.
Kim: I think that when I talk about being perfectionists, I feel like anything that we approach, we’re always trying to do our best. But really, the challenge for us becomes just letting it go. Because the execution of producing this, that’s the hard part. We can ideate over it all day. We can talk about the things that we left out in the story, like the interviews that we couldn’t get, that was something even Malik and I went back and forth on for a while. I feel like, for years. We wanted to open up the doc and say, “Okay, let’s get more interviews in” and at a certain point, you just have to say, “No, we’ve got to get it done and get it out.”
So, the creating and putting it together when you know that the story is just so much more than just an hour. Right? You can’t squeeze everything into an hour. So for us, I think it was being able to stop and just say no, like, it’s time to let it go. And we can, you know, do more. Do a part two, and keep going.
HHW: And so, that takes me to my final question. And that is, how do you both feel about being able to have this documentary available as Hip-Hop celebrates 50 years?
Kim: I think we have a duty, now that we’ve reached Hip-Hop 50 to continue to do more of this type of content in these pockets of all of these different facets of Hip-Hop. I jokingly say all the time it’s “Hip-Hop 51” because I don’t want to lose the celebratory feeling that we had last year with everything we did for Hip-Hop 50. We can’t stop telling these stories just because we haven’t reached a milestone number. And I think we saw that with Hip-Hop 50 because we saw how great it was just to be able to celebrate the culture in that way, and to celebrate the history because you don’t get a lot of that. You know, when you said last question, I said, “if he asked about Kendrick and Drake, I’m gonna hang up this phone.” (Laughs) But seriously, when you asked the question about Hip-Hop 50, I felt like that was something that we talked about with Tale of The Tape. We’ve talked about how, “Is this something that we’ve considered as part of Hip-Hop 50 content? And that’s when I say it’s Hip-Hop 51.
Malik: I’m ecstatic that this project is available to the masses. As Kim said, we have a duty to tell our stories and dictate the correct narrative. I had an OG-slash-mentor tell me years ago about filmmaking. He’s like, “Look, you want to leave a legacy with what you’ve created.” And this is part of it to us. 100 years from now, I would love for a student of Hip-Hop to be able to watch this in whatever format, right? To see my name, see Kim’s name and the people that were a part of it. So they can be able to say, “Okay, this is what I’ve learned.” That’s super, super important. I feel extremely blessed to be able to have this out in the universe, extremely fortunate to be able to have partnered up with Kim to tell his story. And it’s here forever, period. I’m good with that.
Tale of The Tape is available to stream on Amazon Prime Video, and Verizon and Spectrum networks.
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Source: McDonald’s / McDonald’s
Burgers and fries may be your first thought when considering fast food, but the chicken sandwich got something to say. Case in point, McDonald’s recently dropped a new Bacon Cajun Ranch McCrispy Sandwich to keep your culinary options at the golden arches varied.
McDonald’s touts the southern-style sandwich, which features spicy Cajun Ranch sauce as, “soul food flavors of the South.” This version of the McCrispy Sandwich also includes applewood smoked bacon and crinkle cut pickles, in a toasted potato roll. You can also up the ante with the Bacon Cajun Ranch Deluxe McCrispy, which adds Roma tomatoes and shredded lettuce to the mix.
The Bacon Cajun Ranch McCrispy Sandwich is available at McDonald’s for a limited time.
But wait…
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Source: Jonny Birch / Getty / Cuba Gooding Jr.
Cuba Gooding Jr. is finally addressing those eyebrow-raising allegations of sexual assault by producer Rodney “Lil Rod” Smith.
Page Six reports that Cuba Gooding Jr. revealed he was stunned to learn that his name was pulled in the whirlwind of accusations currently swirling around Diddy, aka The Diddler.
The actor’s name was part of Lil Rod’s lawsuit, which he filed against the Bad Boy general in February. In it, he claimed that while he attended one of Diddy’s infamous parties, he was drugged and raped, and touched inappropriately by the music mogul, all claims Diddy has denied.
The producer who worked on Diddy’s latest album also claimed that Gooding Jr. groped him, and now the Hollywood actor is responding to those allegations, claiming Jones is looking for money and that he is an easy target because of past claims made against him.
Per Page Six:
In a new interview with Patrick Bet-David’s “The PBD Podcast,” Gooding revealed he was shocked to learn that he was named in Smith’s lawsuit against Combs.
“That’s the craziest thing,” he said. “I wake up in the morning. I turn on the ‘Today’ show [and hear] ‘Actor Cuba Gooding Jr. …’ Excuse me! You pull me into this?”
In fact, Gooding claims he’s only hung out with Diddy “two or three times,” including New Year’s Eve, when he listened to music on Diddy’s yacht with Smith.
“That was it, but this guy who’s suing him, is going after the money … I’m sure,” Gooding said. “And by the way, I don’t know P. Diddy’s life. I don’t know what he’s going through.
“We were acquaintances,” he insisted.
He said they first met in 2019 or 2020, when Gooding’s girlfriend, Claudine De Niro, introduced him to Diddy.
Gooding says he thinks Smith only dropped his name because of “the cases I’ve already went through.”
The Jerry Maguire star pleaded guilty to a forcible touching misdemeanor charge in 2022 for locking lips with a woman at a nightclub in 2018 without her consent.
As for Diddy, he’s been on the quiet front but most recently posted a video of himself on Instagram doing things like praying and standing on a beach with the wind whipping, insinuating that he is enduring the storm with one of Bishop T.D. Jakes’ sermons serving as the soundtrack.
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Source: Showtime / The Chi
Fans of The Chi rejoice—the show is not done yet. The hit Showtime original series is getting a seventh season.
Deadline reports that Paramont+ and Showtime have renewed The Chi for a seventh season before the second-half premiere of season six on May 10.
The decision is a no-brainer following the success of season six of The Chi, which became the streamer’s most-viewed season ever, increasing nearly 25 percent from season five.
The website reports production for season seven will begin later this month in Chicago.
Nina L. Diaz, President of Content and Chief Creative Officer, Showtime/MTV Entertainment Studios and Paramount Media Networks, spoke about the show’s renewal, adding, “Lena Waithe is a generational storyteller, whose authentic and unflinching narratives in The Chi resonate deeply, offering a powerful lens into both the complexities of life in Chicago as well as the Black experience in America. On the heels of a record-breaking season and ahead of this week’s return, we’re excited to provide fans with the promise of more – ensuring that they can continue to enjoy the raw, emotional stories and unforgettable characters that have made this seminal series a resounding success for Showtime.”
The Chi’s Journey To Season Seven Was A Rocky One
The series from Lena Waithe, under her Hillman Grad banner and executive produced by Common, tells the story of Southside Chicago residents whose lives become intertwined due to certain events that also bring them together and lead them to form bonds with each other.
In the previous seasons, we’ve seen the characters have to come together to deal with Douda (Curtis Cook), a local gangster who is making life miserable in all aspects for the Southside residents.
While The Chi has been fortunate to see a seventh season, the on-set drama surrounding former cast member Jason Mitchell almost derailed the show.
The powers that be decided to kill off Mitchell’s character in season three, and the show has thrived since then.
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Source: Alvaro Keding / AMNH
Hip-Hop is at the American Museum Of Natural History. Ice Cold: An Exhibition of Hip-Hop Jewelry opened at the famed New York City museum on Thursday, May 9 and it is must attend for any proper Rap fans.
The special exhibition features an impressive collection of custom-made jewelry from fashionable current and old-school Hip-Hop stars including Nicki Minaj, A$AP Rocky, Slick Rick and Jay-Z. There are also cherished pieces from artists the culture has lost including the Notorious B.I.G., Biz Markie and Young Dolph.
Source: Alvaro Keding / AMNH
The exhibit is a continuance of the celebration of Hip-Hop’s 50th anniversary and its aim is to highlight Hip-Hop’s cultural influence and its indelible impact on fashion and the globe in general. The pieces, which include watches, chains, rings and more, is being held in the Melissa and Keith Meister Gallery in the Museum’s Allison and Roberto Mignone Halls of Gems and Minerals.
“Bringing the Ice Cold exhibit to the American Museum of Natural History is a testament to the cultural significance of this art form and culture,” said Ice Cold guest curator Vikki Tobak in a statement. “It’s time to celebrate the artists, jewelers, craftsmen, and everyday people who contributed to the storied history of hip-hop jewelry. This exhibit not only pays homage to hip-hop’s roots with pieces from Biz Markie and Jam Master Jay for example but also highlights its enduring impact on style and society with pieces from contemporary artists like Tyler, the Creator, A$AP Rocky, and FERG.”
Ice Cold follows Hip-Hop jewelry’s evolution over its 50 years, from gold rope chains to iced-out necklaces and watches. Besides Tobak, who authored Ice Cold: A Hip-Hop Jewelry History, the guest curators are Kevin “Coach K” Lee of Quality Control Music, and Karam Gill, the filmmaker behind the 2021 doc series ICE COLD.
And for any haters saying the jewels were just money poorly spent, Roxanne Shante dropped some knowledge at a preview of the exhibit. “If you wanted to think of it in a negative way, it made people think we took all our money and we spent it on jewelry,” said Shante, whose Juice Crew ring is part of the exhibit. “In all reality, we didn’t. Because some of those pieces were acquired after we purchased homes. You didn’t want to have that type of jewelry, and didn’t have a safe place to go put it in.”
Other advisors involved in putting the exhibit together include familiar names like Slick Rick (who is a senior advisor, naturally), Lenny S. of Roc Nation and jewelry designer Alex Moss.
Source: aqua / hiphopwired
This writer’s favorite piece, of many, had to be Ghostface Killah’s eagle bracelet aka The Wings of the Wu. Bong bong.
Source: aqua / hiphopwired
You can see Ice Cold: An Exhibition of Hip-Hop Jewelry, which runs through January 5, 2025, at the cost of general admission, which for NYC residents is “pay what you wish.” Check out some detailed photos of the exhibit below.
Source: Alvaro Keding / AMNH
Source: Alvaro Keding / AMNH
Source: Alvaro Keding / AMNH
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Source: Derek White / Getty
50 Cent is now suing his ex, Daphne Joy claiming that she defamed him with comments made in a post on social media.
According to reports, 50 Cent has filed a defamation lawsuit against his ex-girlfriend, Daphne Joy. In the documents of the filing, the rapper and entertainment mogul said that Joy “falsely and publicly” accused him of “rape and physical abuse” during their relationship. 50 Cent also claims that she made a “purposeful attempt to, on information and belief, destroy his personal and business reputation, harm Jackson’s commercial and business interests, negatively affect his custody case, and prevent him from seeing his minor son.”
50 Cent and Daphne Joy were together from 2011 to 2013, and their son Sire is now 12. The 48-year-old rapper referred to Daphne Joy’s Instagram post on March 28, where she scolded 50 Cent over his joking about her being mentioned in a lawsuit against Diddy as a “sex worker” and said, “Let’s put the real focus on your true evil actions of raping me and physically abusing me.” 50 Cent, aka Curtis Jackson, said the post has attained over 22,000 likes and threatened to harm his reputation and business. “The Defamatory Post contains false and malicious statements of fact that expose Jackson to hatred, contempt, or aversion, or induce an evil or unsavory opinion of Jackson, in the minds of the public,” the court documents continue, referring to the post’s intent to ”impact the custody case”. 50 Cent is also seeking monetary damages of $1 million.
He also attached a letter that was previously sent on April 2 to Daphne Joy, whose last name is Narvaez, demanding she remove the post. He claims that in response, her lawyers submitted a request from Daphne Joy for millions of dollars in addition to dropping his petition for sole custody of their son, Sire. The documents call the move “clearly extortive.”. Neither party has responded to press inquiries about the lawsuit.
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Source: KENA BETANCUR / Getty / Megan Thee Stallion
The girls are rapping, specifically Megan Thee Stallion. While the Hip-Hop community is still in an uproar because of Kendrick Lamar and Drake’s back and forth, the Houston rapper is getting us ready for the real HOT GIRL SUMMER.
Megan Thee Stallion is in her bag and shows no signs of letting up. On Monday, she started her #MeganMondays freestyle series by dropping a new freestyle to remind us what the Hotties always know: She’s got bars.
Thee Stallion flexed her lyrical muscle, flipping Gucci Mane’s “I Think I Love Her Freestyle” and incorporating her unique rapping flavor throughout the beat.
On the track, Thee Stallion touches on the thirsties living in her DMs, the men acting really feminine at the moment, and the rap girlies using her blueprint to get on.
“Show a new bitch that ain’t Megan coded/ Show a beat I was on and ain’t rode it/ If she think she the shit, I’m the colon/ My pen gets gutter, I’m bowling,” she rapped.
It’s Megan May
Megan Thee Stallion is not just taking over Mondays; she is gunning for the entire month, labeling it Megan May.
On Tuesday, she announced her next single, “Boa,” continuing the snake narrative from her previous singles, “Hiss” and “Cobra.”
Later this month, Megan Thee Stallion will kick off her nationwide Hot Girl Summer tour featuring GloRilla in Minneapolis on May 14 and eventually head overseas in July.
It’s Thee Stallion’s world, and we are just living in it. She has gained her freedom from 1501 Certified Entertainment, dropped collaborations with Nike and Flamin’ Hot Cheetos, as well as other philanthropic endeavors like “Hotties Helping” and a mental health website Bad Bitches Have Bad Days Too.
You can see reactions to the “I Think I Love Her Freestyle” in the gallery below.
4. This actually slaps
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Source: Kitsawet Saethao / Getty
The first patient to undergo a new and innovative treatment for sickle cell disease is a 12-year-old Black child from Washington D.C.
A new commercially approved gene therapy designed to treat and possibly cure sickle therapy had its first patient last Wednesday (May 1). Kendric Cromer, a Black 12-year-old who is from a suburb of Washington, D.C., began his first treatment administered by the Bluebird Bio company at Children’s National Hospital in the D.C. metro area. The treatment is significant as Black people make up the majority of the 100,000 people in the United States that are dealing with the affliction passed on through genetics from both parents that can cause debilitating and constant pain in addition to other problems such as low oxygen and jaundice.
The new treatment, known as Lyfgenia, is an exhausting one, requiring Kendric to remain in the hospital for a month afterward just to recover from the extraction component of the treatment. He became the first to qualify after meeting the two major requirements – who was the sickest and whose insurance came through. “We always prayed this day would come,” Kendric’s mother, Deborah Cromer, said during the interview with the New York Times.
“We’re nervous reading through the consents and what he will have to go through.” But for Kendric who has suffered with the affliction since he was 3 years old resulting in five-day crises and multiple emergency room visits, he was ready to undergo the rigorous procedure. “Sickle cell always steals my dreams and interrupts all the things I want to do,” he said. “I want to be cured.”
The first step involved doctors removing Kendric’s bone marrow stem cells after administering a drug to pry them loose known as plerixafor. The extraction’s desired objective is to obtain millions of stem cells over a six to eight-hour period then transport them to a laboratory in Allendale, New Jersey, to have a healthy hemoglobin gene added to them to correct the mutation causing the sickle cell disease. The modified cells would then be sent back and reintroduced into Kendric’s bone marrow three months later.
The Lyfgenia gene therapy treatment has been touted as a revolutionary procedure and ranks near the top of the most costly treatments in healthcare at $3.1 million. Bluebird Bio has said that due to the amount of time that’s needed for the entirety of the treatment, it can only treat 85 to 100 patients a year.
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Source: Matthew Stockman / Getty / LeBron James
LeBron James continues to make sure life after basketball is very prosperous.
Variety exclusively reports that Vice TV has picked up a new unscripted basketball series produced by LeBron James and Maverick Carter’s athlete storytelling brand, Uninterrupted.
The website reports that the series will be called Uninterrupted: The Real Stories of Basketball and will “explore iconic moments, players, and stories from inside basketball.”
In a statement, the Los Angeles Lakers superstar and future first-ballot Hall-of-Famer said, “As a lifelong student of the game and all of its iconic history and culture, I’m excited about this series that relives some of basketball’s biggest moments and the stories behind them for a whole new generation to experience.”
James’ best friend and business partner, Maverick Carter and Chief Executive Officer of The SpringHill Company, adds, “At the SpringHill Company, we are always looking to take our storytelling to the next level, and ‘Uninterrupted: Real Stories of Basketball’ allows us to do just that. This project offers us a chance to shine a light on the real, unfiltered, hoop stories, giving athletes a platform to share their voices and empower through content.”
Per Variety, the series will focus on stories from pro basketball Hall-of-Famers, getting firsthand accounts from the likes of Jason Kidd, Bill Laimbeer, Gary Payton, Bill Walton, Shawn Kemp, Richard Jefferson, Kenyon Martin, Detlef Schrempf and Spud Webb.
All The Smoke podcast co-host and former NBA hooper turned analyst Matt Barnes will be the series narrator.
LeBron James, Maverick Carter, Jamal Henderson, Phillip Byron, Bryan Terry, Joe Townley, and Michael Yudin serve as executive producers on the series.
Dan Levin will serve as showrunner and director on the series coming June 4.
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Source: Burak Cingi / Getty
Mariah The Scientist can sing but apparently, she can also throw hands. She is alleged to put the beats on a woman in Atlanta.
As reported on TMZ a woman named Cleopatra Dues filed a police report at Zone 2 precinct that the “Stone Cold” performer assaulted her on Monday, April 29. She alleges Mariah The Scientist ran up on her, attacked her, dragged her on the floor and ripped her wig off in the process. The “female grabbed her by her wig and pulled the wig off her head,” then “proceeded to drag her on the table and floor” the police report read. Dues claims she suffered injuries at the hands of the singer; specifically “bruises and cuts” and “visible bodily harm.” The incident took place at Cavo Kitchen and Cocktail Lounge; a restaurant located in the Buckhead section of Atlanta.
Customers at the venue took video of a woman snatching someone’s wig off but it is unclear if it was indeed Mariah The Scientist. The singer songwriter was arrested on Wednesday, May 1 on misdemeanor battery and simple battery charges. According to Fulton County Sheriff’s Office she posted a $5,000 bond and has since been released. Mariah The Scientist has been ordered to have no contact with the victim and not patronize Cavo Kitchen and Cocktail Lounge.
Mariah The Scientist is believed to be the girlfriend of Young Thug. You can see footage of the alleged incident below.