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Kid Rock, who has as much talent as most folks have in their left toenail, is still making headlines for reasons outside his make-believe music career. During a recent interview, the MAGA-loving former struggle rapper turned struggle rocker waved his gun at the journalist while dropping some racial slurs for good measure.
The career arc of Kid Rock was examined in a new interview from Rolling Stone in which journalist David Peisner looked deeper into the man, whose real name is Bob Ritchie, and how he became aligned with all things Donald Trump.
At one stretch of the interview, an intoxicated Kid Rock waved a gun along with other antics befitting a guy who seems to be nothing more than a raging clout demon. This came after Rock and Peisner were locked into a debate about Trump’s racist and xenophobic stances against immigrants, especially those hailing from Mexico.
From Rolling Stone:
By this time, I’ve long since quit drinking, but Ritchie has exchanged his white wine for Jim Beam and Diet Coke. He proceeds to drain at least three or four of them in pretty quick succession. He’s sitting in a dark leather chair, shouting at me about something or other, when he reaches behind the seat, pulls out a black handgun, and waves it around to make some sort of point.
“And I got a fucking goddamn gun right here if I need it!” he shouts. “I got them everywhere!”
This was the tenor of the next hour or so. We start talking about American history, and he rightfully brings up slavery and the genocide of Native Americans as stains on that history. I ask him if he worries that in the modern day he might be on the wrong side of history.
“No. It was the Republicans that freed the f*cking slaves!”
“Yes, but the Republicans were the progressive party back then.”
In this exact exchange, Rock refers to the infamous Trick Trick as “the hardest-hitting n*gger in Detroit” and claims that the legendary underground rapper and producer supported Rock’s embrace of Trump.
Kid Rock saw his name trending Monday (May 20) due to the Rolling Stone interview and people just generally kicking his back in. We’ve got reactions listed below.
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Clay Gravesande, one of the stars of the hit Netflix show Love Is Blind, is back in the public eye after introducing a new romance. The reality television star and former track athlete made things public with Celina Powell and fans on social media have thoughts.
On Tuesday (May 14), Celina Powell made things Instagram official with Clay Gravesande by sharing a video of the pair in a loving embrace, confirming at the very least the pair are together in some form or fashion.
This came as a shock to some observers, considering Gravesande was a contestant on the most recent season of Love Is Blind and made it to the end only to leave Amber “AD” Smith heartbroken at the altar.
Powell, who some might remember claimed Offset got her pregnant and even claimed she slept with Snoop Dogg four years ago, a claim that the veteran rapper debunked with some requisite vulgarity.
Fans of Love Is Blind will also recall that Gravesande’s parents spoke to him earnestly about his father’s failures as a husband and how he mistreated his spouse as something of a cautionary warning. In all, it seemed like Gravesande led Smith along while talking a good game.
Further, some fans noticed that Gravesande was spotted in photos with adult performer Willow Ryde, but it isn’t clear what the timeline is nor has Ryder confirmed or denied linking with Gravesande. However, Ryder did share an X reply from a fan praising her, ahem, “game tape” alongside images of her with Gravesande that were sexually suggestive.
Gravesande’s mother also joined the chorus of those online who do not approve of his actions with a scathing Instagram Stories post we’ve shared in the gallery of replies below.
As it stands. Clay Gravesande is getting a classic Black Xitter dragging for popping out with Celina Powell. Check out the replies from X below.
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Photo: @celinapowell/Instagram
The third annual Gold Gala event took over the Music Center in downtown Los Angeles on Saturday evening (May 11), celebrating the 2024 A100 list, which counts down the 100 most impactful Asian Pacific changemakers in culture and society over the past year. The night featured a performance from 2023 A100 honoree Saweetie, who received […]
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Childish Gambino, the musical persona of Donald Glover, released his last full-length project 3.15.20 in 2020 and a reimagined version of the album was released in Atavista. Glover also announced that a new Childish Gambino album will be released this summer along with the announcement of a world tour.
Taking to Twitter, Glover shared the news with his legion of fans that Atavista is now available and explained the scope of the project in plain terms.
“ATAVISTA is streaming now. [T]his album is the finished version of “3.15.20”, the album i put out 4 years ago. [T]here’s a special vinyl coming soon w/ visuals for each song. [T]he all new childish gambino album comes out in the summer, read Glover’s tweet on Monday (May 13).
Glover also announced the release of a new video for “Little Foot Big Foot” directed by longtime collaborator Hiro Murai and features Young Nudy.
Keeping with the Childish Gambino news, Glover will be taking the show on the road after announcing a world tour that kicks off on August 11 of this year and ends on February 11, 2025. WILLOW will join Glover on the United States leg of the tour and Aamarae will serve as tour support for the world tour segment.
Considering it has been just over four years since the release of 3.15.20, fans of Childish Gambino have been clamoring for new music especially after Glover announced the release of Atavista earlier this year. The title of the final album under Glover’s stage name is Bando Stone & the New World and is said to be a soundtrack for a movie of the same name.
Tickets for the Childish Gambino world tour can be obtained earlier by American Express Card members for North American, Australian, and some United Kingdom dates. The general sale will go live on Friday, May 17. Learn more here.
Check out the album below and the “Little Foot Big Foot” video along with reactions from fans.
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13. That’s hate (c)
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Shaquille O’Neal and Shannon Sharpe are legends of their respective sports and men of strong opinions as evidenced by their ongoing broadcast careers. After the legendary NBA big man seemingly stepped on Nikola Jokic‘s MVP nod, the former tight end shared some thoughts that sparked a spicy response from The Big Aristotle.
During a segment on Inside The NBA this past Wednesday (May 8), Shaquille O’Neal said to Denver Nuggets superstar Nikola Jokick that he didn’t deserve to win his third Most Valuable Player, which Jokic graciously sidestepped without pushback. Shaq’s favorite for the award, along with several other analysts, was Oklahoma City Thunder superstar guard, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
Shannon Sharpe and Chad OchoCinco joined together for their Nightcap broadcast where Sharpe, who is a three-time Super Bowl champion with the Denver Broncos and Baltimore Ravens and a Football Hall of Fame inductee, pushed back at Shaq speaking ill of another player’s greatness. During the segment on Jokic, Sharpe suggested that Shaq didn’t want to praise the Serbian big man as he’s won the MVP title three times out of the past four years, with the Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid winning in that timespan.
Shaq caught wind of Sharpe’s words and went a fiery Instagram rant that some felt went overboard.
From IG:
you took me sticking up @shai ask jealousy of joker. shows how smart you are and how you say anything to get clicks. so here’s some click bait for you. if you ain’t ranked in the top ten in your profession , then you can’t speak on Me. don’t forget i know what you did to get were you at. me jealous, sounds like you jealous. i kno you tryna stay relevant by gossiping on your podcast. we don’t believe you. you need more people and in case you forgot. 4 rings three finals Mvp top 50 and top 75. google me. and to b quite frank all this new success you got, you still under me. u don’t kno my work ethic. but according i work less than you but im worth more than you. make it make sense. love you to. if you need help making money it’s better ways than gossiping. i’m to old for this shit love always the most dominant big man ever who never took it serious. remember i don’t know you. and in the words of @skipbayless im better than you. #g14classification i have it, you don’t, not in my profession. and your goat debate , never wanted to be the goat i wanted to be who you should greet me as THE MOST DOMINANT EVER. #theapexpredator
Sharpe, never one to back away from anyone, fired back at Shaq but didn’t return the vitriol. Instead, Unc Shannon spoke in a measured tone, expressed humility, and explained that he’s never declared himself the best in his position despite the accolades and honors he’s earned. He even deferred to other tight ends in the league.
Keep scrolling to see Shannon Sharpe replying to Shaquille O’Neal and reactions from X, formerly Twitter, below.
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Questlove opined on the ongoing beef between Drake and Kendrick Lamar but some fans called his statements dramatic after the war of words largely concluded. The veteran drummer from The Roots band believed that the battle between the two titans took nasty turns, thus signaling a death knell for Hip-Hop.
Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson, 53, took to social media to issue one of the loudest detracting statements yet to emerge against what is one of the biggest Hip-Hop beef battles in the history of the genre.
“Nobody won the war,” Questlove opened his statement with. “This wasn’t about skill. This was a wrestling match level mudslinging and takedown by any means necessary — women & children (& actual facts) be damned.”
The statement continued with “Same audience wanting blood will soon put up ‘rip’ posts like they weren’t part of the problem. Hip Hop truly is dead.”
The caption of the Instagram post with the statement read “Here We Are Now…Entertain us?,” which seems to be aimed at Drake and Kendrick Lamar.
As it stands, K-Dot doesn’t seem to want any manner of reconciliation with Drizzy and said as much on the track “euphoria” where the Compton lyricist rapped, “Whoever that’s f*ckin’ with him, f*ck you n*ggas, and f*ck the industry too” and once more on “Not Like Us” with the lines, “The industry can hate me, f*ck ’em all and they mama.”
As far as responses go, Drake’s last missive was “The Heart Part 6” and the two have left it at that. The Canadian superstar is contending with other issues after a security guard was shot outside his home in a drive-by shooting along with another incident in which a man was arrested for trying to break into the the massive mansion.
On X, formerly Twitter, the comments from Questlove garnered some sharp responses. However, we’ve got reactions from all sides below.
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Future and Metro Boomin set off an explosive back-and-forth war via their recent collaborative album, WE DON’T TRUST YOU and he’s coming back this weekend with more heat. With the announcement of a new mixtape dropping on the same day, Gunna plans to drop an album some fans believe the Freebandz honcho dissed the former YSL affiliate.
Gunna, who is currently on his “Bittersweet” tour and prepping for the release of his new album, ONE OF WUN, slated to drop this Friday (May 10). The Young Stoner Life X account tweeted the news of the ew album, which the “pushin P” rapper reshared on his timeline.
Eagle-eyed fans took notice of Future tweeting about his upcoming untitled mixtape and some believe it’s an attempt to step on Wunna’s release date.
“F*ck yo album Sh*t ain’t slappin like my MIXTAPE, read the first of a series of tweets. He followed with replies that read “MAY TENTH” and “MIXTAPE PLUTO” before ending his salvo.
Gunna, perhaps in response to those lines, wrote, “F*c What These boys talkin bout” and left the cryptic message at that.
We haven’t been able to determine if a connection between the replies on X is inspired by beef but considering Hip-Hop’s current climate, fans are making up their theories. We’ve got reactions from all sides below.
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Russell Simmons has not made many public statements after being accused of sexual assault and other crimes during his time as a record company executive. Now residing in Bali, Indonesia, the former Def Jam Recordings mogul took to social media to defend Sean “Diddy” Combs, who is also facing a bevy of sexual assault charges, and urged fans to “see the good in things.”
Taking to Instagram, Russell Simmons, 66, opened up his video by mentioning that there have always been issues in rap but likened the skirmishes to pro wrestling. However, Simmons notes that the way that Kendrick Lamar and Drake are going after each other, while exciting, could eventually lead to gunplay.
“When you tear someone down or you watch someone tear someone down, try not to get so excited. I know it’s fun to watch for some people,” Simmons says, warning that the cycle isn’t healthy over time.
He added, “If I had a nickel for every nasty meme sent to me by people whose lives were enhanced and built by Sean Combs, it’s like, it seems a bit hypocritical since the only reason you have a life is because you worked for him, or he gave you a job or lifted you up somehow.”
The overarching message from Simmons is that the current state of beef and the tearing down of Diddy has created a situation where fans are more invested in the downfall of entertainers than in bettering themselves.
“You may think it’s, you know, entertaining. Some of the memes are funny, right? But, we gotta look up, train our minds to see the good in things and not the negative,” Simmons shared.
On X, fans are naturally blasting Russell Simmons for defending Diddy and for speaking on the beef when he has a mountain of legal issues to face himself, all of which the mogul vehemently denies. Check out the reactions below.
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Metro Boomin is currently in hot water after old tweets from the producer surfaced that some fans believe showcase signs of grooming young women. This comes amid the ongoing beef and allegations Kendrick Lamar aimed in the direction of Drake.
As most recall, Metro Boomin, 30, is seen as part of the genesis of the current iteration of the beef between Drake and Kendrick Lamar after the Compton star dropped his blistering “Like That” verse on the WE DON’T TRUST YOU album with Future and the producer. In. the weeks since the track’s release where shots were taken at Drake and J. Cole, several songs have been exchanged but none more explosive than “Euphoria.”
On “Euphoria,” K-Dot alleges that Drake has a propensity for dating younger women and doubles down on these claims on the following songs, the spooky “Meet The Grahams,” and the catchy “Not Like Us.”
Metro Boomin has been somewhat cheering for K-Dot (and Drizzy’s demise) from the sidelines, especially any bars taking digs at Drake’s character. However, tweets from the producer seem to put him in the same alleged boat with fans accusing him of grooming.
That was just one of several tweets that fans online found and in fairness of reporting, many of the users are in clear support of Drake. Still, a tweet from 2014 from Metro reads “She might be but she ready” so he would’ve been 20 years old at the time.
On a now-deleted tweet that Metro posted just today (May 7), he mistakenly said that he would have been 15 when he made one of those tweets and that was perhaps true but it seems like his team is going on a wild deleting spree to clean up his timeline.
As it stands, fans online are blown away by the tweets from Metro Boomin. Check out the reactions below.
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Vince Staples has always presented himself as a principled individual and remains one of the greatest minds in Hip-Hop, even if his observations rankle some. The Long Beach, Calif. native recently spoke at an event in his hometown and was asked about the ongoing Drake and Kendrick Lamar but his answer was directly aimed on critiquing the music industry.
Vince Staples, 30, was a guest at the first annual Youth Day in the LBC event over the weekend which also featured a town hall with Long Beach Mayor Rex Richard alongside the rapper and actor. Fans in attendance were allowed to ask questions and the fan wanted Staples’ opinion regarding Hip-Hop’s hottest feud.
In his signature deadpan fashion, Staples harkened back to similar thoughts he shared on The Joe Budden Podcast where he tried to explain to the cast why the war between Kendrick Lamar, Drake, and J. Cole was largely pointless and the only ones to benefit are the labels. Staples’ point was largely dismissed as he refused to engage in zeroing in on the beef and instead sticking to his morals that the industry is in literal shambles.
“That record label just folded all of its independent labels and subsidiaries into each other,” Staples shared of his current record label, Universal Music Group, which he’s been signed to since he was 17. Staples explained that the label hasn’t paid him since 2018.
Staples then explained that the dissolving of the independent labels and subsidiaries also meant that Black folks who have been invested in growing the Hip-Hop and R&B sectors of their labels are either without a job or moved into positions outside their wheelhouse.
“None of them [labels] exist no more. They fired all the heads of the labels and if they didn’t, they turn them into glorified A&Rs. They cut off 50 percent of the people who work in all these departments, most of those people is us, people of color, that come from hip-hop and R&B and these other things, right?” Staples continued.
In a somewhat somber fashion, Staples essentially said that a Hip-Hop beef is the least of his concerns while the industry he’s been a part of as a teenager is crumbling before his eyes.
“So then we getting priced out of our contracts, we getting priced out of our imprints. There are no labels, basically, that are incentivized to sign Black music and it’s happening in front of our eyes,” Staples shared. “While Taylor Swift is fighting for people to be able to have streaming money, n*ggas is on the internet arguing with each other about some rap sh*t. So that’s how I feel about it, honestly.”
Much like his comments on the JBP, Staples’ comments found their way online and fans have reacted to portions of his answer. Some fans also took aim at Staples for, in their view, evoking respectability politics. Staples also caught wind of those who didn’t enjoy his commentary.
We’ve got comments from all sides below.
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