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Roberta Flack, an award-winning R&B vocalist, and songwriter who topped the charts in her time, died on Monday (Feb. 24). Roberta Flack earned her first big break after actor and director Clint Eastwood used one of her songs in his films.
Roberta Flack was born on Feb. 10, 1937, in Black Mountain, N.C., and grew up in the Washington, D.C. suburb of Arlington, Va. As a child, Flack was inspired by the gospel singers of her local church and took an interest in learning the piano as an instrument. Flack’s skills as a pianist led to her earning a scholarship to attend Howard University at the age of 15. Upon graduating, the classically trained Flack worked as a student educator before returning to North Carolina to teach ahead of returning to the D.C. area to teach at several schools.
In 1968, at the urging of her vocal coach at the time, Flack became a professional singer and she became a regular performer at Mr. Henry’s restaurant, which still stands today in Washington’s Capitol Hill neighborhood. In the 1970s, jazz legend Les McCann discovered Flack singing at a D.C. nightclub leading to an audition and wrote inside the liner notes of her 1969 debut album, First Take for Atlantic Records.
Things took a turn for the better for Flack when the aforementioned Eastwood used the Grammy Award-winning song “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” from First Take in his 1971 film, Play Misty For Me, helping the album soar to the top of the Billboard charts and cementing Flack’s status as a star.
Other hits for Flack include “Where Is The Love” alongside Donny Hathaway, “Feel Like Making Love,” and perhaps Flack’s biggest hit, “Killing Me Softly With His Song,” another Grammy winner, which was remixed by The Fugees in 1996 en route to becoming a global smash.
On X, formerly Twitter, music fans are remembering Roberta Flack. Keep scrolling for more.
[h/t: The Guardian]
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Dan Bongino, a popular podcaster known for putting forth conspiracy theories, was appointed as the deputy director of the FBI over the weekend By President Donald Trump. Dan Bongino will be second in command to FBI chief Kash Patel, and many online have shared their thoughts.
President Trump took to his Truth Social platform to celebrate the addition of Dan Bongino to the FBI leadership role.
From Truth Social:
Great news for Law Enforcement and American Justice! Dan Bongino, a man of incredible love and passion for our Country, has just been named the next DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF THE FBI, by the man who will be the best ever Director, Kash Patel. Dan has a Masters Degree in Psychology from C.U.N.Y., and an MBA from Penn State. He was a member of the New York Police Department (New York’s Finest!), a highly respected Special Agent with the United States Secret Service, and is now one of the most successful Podcasters in the Country, something he is willing and prepared to give up in order to serve. Working with our great new United States Attorney General, Pam Bondi, and Director Patel, Fairness, Justice, Law and Order will be brought back to America, and quickly. Congratulations Dan!
As noted in Trump’s post, Bongino has worked in law enforcement but, similar to Kash Patel, has never headed an agency much less oversaw the headquarters of an office. Bongino has garnered attention in the past for making charged statements about the COVID-19 virus, and he’s also been public in saying that the 2020 election was rigged in favor of President Joe Biden.
On X, formerly Twitter, many are reacting to the news that Dan Bongino will be the FBI’s deputy director. Keep scrolling for more.
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Voletta Wallace, the mother of the late Christopher “The Notorious B.I.G.” Wallace, has died. According to still-developing reports, Voletta Wallace passed from natural causes.
TMZ was the first to report the news of Voletta Wallace’s passing, noting that the retired schoolteacher passed away in Stroudsburg, Penn. The outlet adds that Wallace was in hospice care in the Pennsylvania town according to Monroe County Coroner Thomas Yanac.
Wallace, a native of Jamaica, moved to Brooklyn N.Y. where she and George Latore welcomed their son, Christopher, who would later become known as rapper Biggie Smalls before taking on The Notorious B.I.G. stage name for legal purposes. Wallace raised her son as a single mom while working in education, and as Biggie’s star rose, she was a major fixture in his life.
After the tragic loss of her son, Wallace continued to uphold the legacy of The Notorious B.I.G. and oversaw his estate, including making certain that his daughter, T’yanna Wallace, and son, C.J. Wallace were taken care of. She also released the book Biggie: Voletta Wallace Remembers Her Son, Christopher Wallace, aka Notorious B.I.G in 2005.
Via her Instagram page, several images of her and her son adorn the pages along with a consistent celebration of Biggie’s achievements in the industry and how his name still lives on in the minds of many. Online, fans are showing their respect and mourning the loss.
Rest in peace to Voletta Wallace.
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Mixed martial arts, widely referred to as MMA, has its fair share of fans in the States and around the globe, and some viewers are reacting in shock over a recent bout in Romania. In this particular MMA match, two male fighters took on a trio of Instagram models and savagely unleashed blows upon them, prompting many fight fans to share their disgust at the display.
As seen via The Daily Mail, an MMA fight put on by the Real Xtreme Fighting organization, also known as RXF, featured two male fighters, Costica Prisecaru and Sebastian Rechinu. They were up against models Alicia Bonita, who also provides content on OnlyFans, Denisa Costea, and Maria Adriana. The models donned protective headgear and danced suggestively for the fans in attendance while the men came to the ring dressed in traditional MMA wear for male participants sans headgear.
Prisecaru, who is a content creator known for posting zany videos of himself in varying stages of undress, and Rechinu, an actual fighter, easily won their bout by unleashing heavy blows upon the women. According to the outlet, one approving voice among the negative chatter was media personality Andrew Tate, a former combat sports fighter himself.
RXF has put on an intergender bout previously featuring a man fighting two women and made its rounds on social media when it first aired. With this latest stunt from RXF, MMA fans are wondering aloud how the match was allowed to go forward at the great risk of injury for its participants.
We’re sharing a link to the video and electing not to share it in the body of the post. We do urge caution as the images may be disturbing to some.
Check out those reactions below.
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Photo: Screengrab/RXF
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Source: The Washington Post / Getty
President Donald Trump has sat just over a month in his second term. but already has transformed the fabric of the White House rapidly via several controversial moves and alignments with unelected officials. Taking to his Truth Social platform, President Donald Trump celebrated his move to end congestion pricing in New York and ended his salvo by framing himself a king which sparked some responses on X.
On Wednesday (Feb. 20), President Donald Trump wrote, “CONGESTION PRICING IS DEAD. Manhattan, and all of New York, is SAVED. LONG LIVE THE KING!” via Truth Social, sparking immediate backlash on the X platform and other social media spaces. Adding to this, the official Instagram account for the White House shared an AI-generated image of President Trump with a crown affixed to his head.
Trump continued to praise his plans to end the pricing hike for commuters while aboard Air Force 1.
“Congestion pricing is not a good situation. They’re treating the people of New York very badly,” Trump said. “Supposing you worked at a shoe shop or you worked in a restaurant as a waiter, and you have to come into Manhattan and they’re taking, you know, many, many dollars out of your pocket. You can’t afford to do it.”
Congestion pricing, also known as the Central Business District Tolling Program or CBDTP, was approved early last month ahead of Trump’s inauguration and was approved to slow the crush of traffic that slammed the Manhattan business district while promising an impressive influx of cash for the city and state. Further, it incentivized drivers to find alternate and often environmentally safer routes into the city.
New York’s Gov. Kathy Hochul and the Authority (MTA) dug their heels in with a pair of responses decrying Trump’s plans to end congestion pricing.
From Gov. Hochul:
“Since this first-in-the-nation program took effect last month, congestion has dropped dramatically and commuters are getting to work faster than ever. Broadway shows are selling out and foot traffic to local businesses is spiking. School buses are getting kids to class on time, and yellow cab trips increased by 10 percent. Transit ridership is up, drivers are having a better experience, and support for this program is growing every day.
“We are a nation of laws, not ruled by a king. The MTA has initiated legal proceedings in the Southern District of New York to preserve this critical program. We’ll see you in court.”
On X, many are reacting to President Donald Trump declaring himself a king for the move. We’ve got reactions to the moment below.
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Source: The Washington Post / Getty
President Donald Trump has sat just over a month in his second term. but already has transformed the fabric of the White House rapidly via several controversial moves and alignments with unelected officials. Taking to his Truth Social platform, President Donald Trump celebrated his move to end congestion pricing in New York and ended his salvo by framing himself a king which sparked some responses on X.
On Wednesday (Feb. 20), President Donald Trump wrote, “CONGESTION PRICING IS DEAD. Manhattan, and all of New York, is SAVED. LONG LIVE THE KING!” via Truth Social, sparking immediate backlash on the X platform and other social media spaces. Adding to this, the official Instagram account for the White House shared an AI-generated image of President Trump with a crown affixed to his head.
Trump continued to praise his plans to end the pricing hike for commuters while aboard Air Force 1.
“Congestion pricing is not a good situation. They’re treating the people of New York very badly,” Trump said. “Supposing you worked at a shoe shop or you worked in a restaurant as a waiter, and you have to come into Manhattan and they’re taking, you know, many, many dollars out of your pocket. You can’t afford to do it.”
Congestion pricing, also known as the Central Business District Tolling Program or CBDTP, was approved early last month ahead of Trump’s inauguration and was approved to slow the crush of traffic that slammed the Manhattan business district while promising an impressive influx of cash for the city and state. Further, it incentivized drivers to find alternate and often environmentally safer routes into the city.
New York’s Gov. Kathy Hochul and the Authority (MTA) dug their heels in with a pair of responses decrying Trump’s plans to end congestion pricing.
From Gov. Hochul:
“Since this first-in-the-nation program took effect last month, congestion has dropped dramatically and commuters are getting to work faster than ever. Broadway shows are selling out and foot traffic to local businesses is spiking. School buses are getting kids to class on time, and yellow cab trips increased by 10 percent. Transit ridership is up, drivers are having a better experience, and support for this program is growing every day.
“We are a nation of laws, not ruled by a king. The MTA has initiated legal proceedings in the Southern District of New York to preserve this critical program. We’ll see you in court.”
On X, many are reacting to President Donald Trump declaring himself a king for the move. We’ve got reactions to the moment below.
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Source: PATRICK T. FALLON / Getty
A$AP Rocky, born Rakim Athelaston Mayers, 36, was found not guilty. Pretty Flacko was charged with assault with a semiautomatic firearm aka firing a gun at his former friend and A$AP Mob member A$AP Relli.
https://x.com/meghanncuniff/status/1891895289201434700
The jury began deliberating on Tuesday (Feb. 18) morning and reached their verdict by late afternoon. The jury consisted of seven women and five men and their decision was reportedly unanimous.
The prosecution alleged that Rocky fired two shots at Relli during a dispute on a street in Hollywood back in 2021. The trial featured dramatic testimony from Relli (Rocky passed on testifying) and bitter arguing between the prosecution and the defense (each side accused the other of perjury). Rocky’s longtime girlfriend attending the trial and occasionally bringing along their two baby sons added to the audacity of the proceedings.
The dutiful reporting of legal journalist Meghann Cuniff has given outside observers a direct look into the happenings of the trial as they occurred. Below, we’re sharing Cuniff’s YouTube channel that featured the verdict reading.
Social media followed this trial closely and is reacting to the verdict. See what’s happening in the gallery.
This story is developing.
Additional reporting by D.L. Chandler.
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Chelsea Reject, a talented rapper out of New York who has worked alongside several underground acts such as the sprawling Beast Coast collective and others, has died. A GoFundMe for Chelsea Reject has been established by her partner to help with the costs of funeral services.
Chelsea Reject, real name Chelsea Alexander, as seen in The Express Tribune, worked alongside the likes of Mick Jenkins, Kota The Friend, Dirty Sanchez 47 of the Pro Era collective, CJ Fly, also of Pro Era fame, Joey BadA$$, AKTHESAVIOR of The Underachievers, and Raz Fresco among other underground notables.
Hip-Hop Wired has featured the Brooklyn native’s music in our CRT FRSH (Certified Fresh) playlist music roundup in times past. Reject’s last recorded project, Rogue alongside former Pro Era member T’Nah, was released in August of 2024. She also featured on Mahogany Jones’ “GO (Ma$terPiece Remix 2)” last year.
T’Nah shared a loving post in honor of CR via Instagram that we’ll share below in the gallery:
Haha we were so enthused and ready and everything was gonna change this year. She was my battery pack – we were JUST about to get back in the gym next this week. She would love that some of yall been in the gym on her behalf. Keep going. It’ll help.
Gon be so hard. To muster up the energy without you Chelsea. But yea. Not gonna take anything you taught me for granted!!!!
As seen in the Tribute piece, CR’s partner, Brian Harris, established a GoFundMe that, of this writing, has raised over 85% of its $15,000 goal.
To show your support for Chelsea Reject’s family, please follow this link. Keep scrolling to see some of CR’s past collaborators and recording partners share their condolences.
May Chelsea Reject rest powerfully in peace.
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A lawsuit filed by Jane Doe represented by Texas attorney Tony Buzbee against Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter and Sean “Diddy” Combs alleging rape and assault has been dismissed. Jay-Z, via his Roc Nation outfit, issued a statement after the lawsuit was dismissed with prejudice.
As seen on Variety, the lawsuit, filed Friday (Feb. 14) by Tony Buzbee and Antigone Curis on behalf of Jane Doe, was reviewed by the outlet in full. As the outlet notes, a portion of the dismissal stated that the new filing, “hereby gives notice that the above-captioned Action is voluntarily dismissed, with prejudice.” In essence, this case cannot be entered again as it stands currently.
A statement was posted on Roc Nation’s social media pages. We’ve shared a portion below:
Today is a victory. The frivolous, fictitious and appalling allegations have been dismissed. This civil suit was without merit and never going anywhere. The fictional tale they created was laughable, if not for the seriousness of the claims. I would not wish this experience on anyone. The trauma that my wife, my children, loved ones and I have endured can never be dismissed.
This 1-800 lawyer gets to file a suit hiding behind Jane Doe, and when they quickly realize that the money grab is going to fail, they get to walk away with no repercussions. The system has failed.
Jane Doe initially filed the claim last October against Sean “Diddy” Combs, alleging that when she was 13 in the year 2000, the record label mogul raped her during a MTV Music Video Awards afterparty. In December of 2024, Jay-Z was added to the lawsuit.
Jay-Z immediately addressed the lawsuit in a series of public statements and legal maneuvers, aiming much of his vitriol toward Buzbee and calling the claims against him an elaborate scheme to pilfer money out of him.
On X, formerly Twitter, fans are reacting to the news and Jay-Z’s statements. No word yet has emerged from Diddy’s camp.
Keep scrolling to see the reactions on X.
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Drake dropped off his highly anticipated collaborative album with PARTYNEXTDOOR, $ome $exy $ongs 4 U, and the early returns are in on X and other social media platforms. However, fans are zeroing in on one track, “GIMME A HUG” which sees Drake addressing the Kendrick Lamar feud and throwing a shot at Joe Budden.
Drake, currently on tour in Australia and New Zealand, has largely brushed off the attacks on his name from Kendrick Lamar with some believing he gracefully bowed out. With his focus solely on playing his shows and the new $ome $exy $ongs 4 U project, fans were certain to scour the new project for clues into his current mindset.
Much of the album is solely focused on setting the mood considering the project dropped on Valentine’s Day, but “GIMME A HUG” is the clearest response fans have had in weeks from the Canadian superstar regarding all the chatter around his name and in the wake of Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl LIX halftime show that featured the scathing diss track, “Not Like Us.”
From “GIMME A HUG”:
Savage, you the only n*gga checkin’ on me when we really in some sh*t, brother
Melyssa Ford, you a legend from the 6, hate to see you with a d*ck sucker
Joe Budden recently had words for Drizzy after the rapper allegedly took shots at the podcaster on his Finsta account. Ford, the former video vixen and current co-host of The Joe Budden Podcast, received a favorable nod on the track.
Later in the verse, Drake raps, They be droppin’ sh*t, but we be droppin’ harder sh*t (Droppin’ harder sh*t)/F*ck a rap beef, I’m tryna get the party lit” which seems to be the clearest indication that he’s finally moving on from the beef.
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