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Kendrick Lamar and his current status in the industry is no longer a mystery after taking home several Grammy Awards trophies on the back of his smash “Not Like Us” single. While performing the hit at the halftime show during Super Bowl LIX, Kendrick Lamar’s grin and stare during the “Say Drake” line is currently getting the meme treatment on X.
The grand spectacle of the Super Bowl LIX halftime show is still front of mind for many some two days later. Featuring Samuel L. Jackson in the role of Uncle Sam, a C-walking Serena Williams, and vocal features from SZA, the production was amazing and Kendrick Lamar sounded in tip-top shape. During the set, Lamar teased “Not Like Us” and even mentioned Drake’s reported legal moves in getting the song shut down alleging baked numbers and other unfavorable maneuvers by UMG.
The next to last song in his set, “Not Like Us” got the requisite reaction from the crowd after it appeared it wouldn’t happen. With the crowd rapping almost in unison, Lamar rapped into the camera the lyrics that started the latest meme trend on X.
From “Not Like Us”:
Say, Drake, I hear you like ’em young
You better not ever go to cell block one
To any b*tch that talk to him and they in love
Just make sure you hide your lil sister from him
With the moment now frozen in time, fans on X are sharing gifs and memes captioned “Say Drake” along with taking other shots at the Canadian superstar, who is currently on his Anita Max tour in Australia and New Zealand.
During the tour, Drizzy seemingly acknowledged the aftermath of the beef, donning a hoodie riddled with bullet holes and engineered smoke coming from said holes to signify all the damage he took during the battle with Kendrick Lamar.
On X, Drake’s name is trending mentioning Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl jab and more. Check out those reactions below.
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LiAngelo Ball is enjoying plenty of success from his “Tweaker” single but it appears that the hooper-turned-rapper has been tweaking for another woman after he got exposed by his ex-girlfriend. Taking to social media, LiAngelo Balls’s ex and mother of his children claimed that GELO left her and their family while sharing he got another woman pregnant.
Nikki Mudarris, 34, also known as MissNikkiBaby on social media, took to her Instagram page in a now-deleted post and put LiAngelo Ball, 26, on complete blast.
“I see everyone has been sending me @gelo cheating on me. I want to clear this up and speak my truth. I am just as surprised as you are. We spent 3 ½ years together, and last week he decided to walk out on his kids and tell me he got someone else pregnant (allegedly) and now is creating a new life with her,” Mudarris wrote on her page last Saturday (Feb. 8).
She added, “The ultimate betrayal is not even the word. My daughter is not even 2 months old, and dealing with this and postpartum is very hard. Please pray for me and my healing because I will get through this. I have to be strong for my kids, but I have absolutely no words.”
Via her Instagram Story feed, Mudarris showed off a new fit and a hairdo, along with messages that make it clear she’s only focused on herself and the former couple’s young children, both of whom are under the age of 2. According to social media, Ball’s new girlfriend, Rashida Nicole, is all over social media addressing Mudarris while GELO has reportedly posted images of the pair online in a show of apparent defiance.
So far LiAngelo Ball, who is slated to perform at NBA All-Star Weekend, has yet to respond to Nikki Mudarris or her missives.
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Lil Wayne became a trending topic on social media in the wake of Kendrick Lamar’s grand Super Bowl LIX halftime show performance in New Orleans. Lil Wayne saw his name trending on X just mere moments after Kendrick Lamar concluded his set, with fans wondering how he would’ve fared in his hometown.
Much has been made of Lil Wayne’s public expressions of disappointment for not being selected as the chief act for the Super Bowl LIX halftime set considering its location. Naturally, the expectation that a hometown act should grace the world’s biggest stage makes sense and, to the planning committee’s credit, the inclusion of Grammy Award-winning native son Jon Batiste and his rendition of the National Anthem satisfied some of those concerns.
Still, Weezy F. Baby believed that the halftime show should have been his moment, expressing hurt for being passed over. That said, Kendrick Lamar’s Apple Music Super Bowl Halftime Show set was full of dazzling imagery, choreography, and surprises such as Samuel L. Jackson playing a very tongue-in-cheek version of Uncle Sam with some veiled messages as the state of the nation. Also, Serena Williams showed up and hit her steps during Lamar’s “Not Like Us” performance, and SZA provided some support by way of “Luther” and the crowd-pleasing “All The Stars.”
In an alarming bit of backlash, some fans are criticizing Lamar’s performance, with one X user calling the performance “Black Panther Raps” and other digs. Some other fans thought that Wayne’s big hits would’ve played well at the Caesars Superdome while plenty of others didn’t believe he would’ve had what it took to deliver.
On X, folks are taking shots at Lil Wayne and dressing down the Young Money honcho by speculating that he may not have measured up to what Lamar delivered. Weezy’s homeboy Skip Bayless, however, defended his friend on X. With the show in the rearview, there is no way to know how well Wayne would’ve done but fans on X have their strong opinions out front and center.
Check out the reactions below.
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Ye, largely known to most as Kanye West, made a bombastic return to social media recently and the barrage continues after giving a strong salute to the imprisoned Sean “Diddy” Combs. In his most recent rant, Kanye West asked President Donald Trump to free Diddy from jail and the pair also announced a merchandise line.
Kanye West has been on an hours-long rant that mentions his rifts with Jewish people, the styling choices of rappers, and any other thoughts he chooses to express. While we have no opinion to offer on his replies on X, plenty online are shocked at some of his word choices, including those seemingly favorable of Adolf Hitler, the infamous Nazi leader. At one point, Ye refers to Hitler as being “fresh.”
Over on Instagram, Ye shared a video of him FaceTiming Christian Combs, Diddy’s son with the caption of the post reading “A SON TO HIS DAD FOR EVERY SON WHO DAD IS LOCKED UP WRITE OR WRONG I WANT YALL TO LISTEN TO DAVE CHAPELLES JOKES VERY CLOSE THIS TIME LETS SEE HOW FUNNY IT GETS WHEN FAMILIES ARE SEPARATED ESPECIALLY BLACK FAMILIES.”
It appears that Ye FKA Kanye West has done a lot of posting and deleting so the train of thought was lost but he did announce a partnership with Sean John, even sharing some of the potential merch items on his Instagram page, writing in one caption, “YEEZY SEAN JOHN COLLAB AVAILABLE @ YEEZY.COM ME AND PUFF SPLITTING THIS 50/50 LIKE WE DISCUSSED BEFORE THEY LOCKED HIM UP.”
Combs, or someone manning his Instagram account, shared the same announcement and wrote in the caption, “Thank you to my brother @Ye” along with a link to Ye’s Yeezy website where fans can collect the fashion line. We weren’t able to locate the exact comment but many online say that he also asked President Trump to release his good friend, who is serving time in connection to an explosive sexual assault matter.
Ye continued to rail against broke people, defending his wife’s Grammy Awards nude pop-out, calling himself a Nazi, and much more. Ye is also addressing his critics on X, although he’s spent more time just shouting into the void and framing his words as channeling Andrew Tate. To capture the full scope of thoughts, swing by Ye’s X page.
On X, fans are reacting to Ye FKA Kanye West’s latest rant. We’ve got reactions from all sides below.
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Elon Musk and his alignment with President Donald Trump was under scrutiny long before the inauguration, and now, the DOGE chieftain is wielding seemingly unchecked power within the federal government despite not being elected. The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), an independent agency, has been ordered to shut down and possibly be moved under the direction of the U.S. Department of State under President Trump’s orders, and workers for the agency are speaking out.
To explain the function of USAID, the agency was established in 1961 under the guidance of President John F. Kennedy and provides funding for humanitarian efforts around the globe. Over 100 countries benefit from the agency’s billions and does not absorb a large portion of the federal budget. The agency employs over 10,000 people.
However, Trump has vehemently expressed that the agency is a tool of his political opponents and wants to stamp out what he feels is criminal activity and has employed Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to head the cleanup effort.
Trump ordered an end to foreign financial assistance with Musk taking a larger role in the handling of shutting down USAID despite not being an elected official and a foreign national. It has been an unprecedented takeover of the federal government that has largely been endorsed by the Republican Party, which has marched lockstep along party lines.
Surprisingly, some Democrats have warmly embraced the actions of Trump and Musk, and some Democratic Party senators have voted in favor of the president’s controversial cabinet. A coalition of Democratic Party has staged protests to halt the rapid nature of the Trump administration’s moves, which has run into a few legal snags yet not nearly enough to halt the carnage.
Of the damage left in the wake of Trump and Musk are USAID workers who have been cut off from their workstations and ripped away from assisting those in need. One worker shared details that Musk’s DOGE squad, a grouping of engineers largely new to the workforce and assumably not at the federal government level. One of the named DOGE engineers was a former software engineer for Twitter, now known as X.
In a small glimmer of hope for the agency, the AFL-CIO and other government unions have sued DOGE to protect the data of workers from Musk’s engineering team.
From the information and reactions we’ve gleaned on X and from government websites, we’re sharing thoughts from the public at the recent happenings between DOGE and USAID. Those responses can be viewed below.
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Trayvon Martin would be 30 years old today if not for the meddling of volunteer night watchman George Zimmerman. While sobering thoughts hang over the heads of many regarding the loss of Trayvon Martin, many are choosing to use this time to hold up his lasting memory.
Instead of writing my usual report regarding Trayvon Martin, I’m electing to speak as myself and completely from the heart. Martin’s death hit me particularly hard because I, like many Black men who grew up in the inner city, know full well what being Black in America means and how potentially dangerous it has largely always been.
When I was writing for NewsOne, I traveled to Sanford, the Florida town where young Trayvon was gunned down by Zimmerman. I spoke with town leaders and with Martin’s parents, trying to make sense of the pain while also doing my duty as a reporter. I can say with measurable confidence that it was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do. And yet, I was struck by the resilience of Sybrina Fulton and Tracy Martin, no longer romantically involved but unified in honor of their son.
Martin’s death was one of the many catalysts for the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement, which launched in earnest a year after Martin’s 2012 passing. Of course, several observers have their thoughts about BLM, some favorable and others unsavory, but the significance of that period will never be forgotten.
I’m just a writer. I’m not an activist nor do I know what to do in times like this beyond sharing my undying devotion to the elevation of my people and that those who have been killed unjustly are never a footnote but instead an inspiration.
If we can honor Trayvon Martin in one unifying way, it would be to keep his name alive and never let those in power forget that Black bodies are not targets. Black people are not automatic threats. Black people deserve to live on the same terms and with the same grace as all people should.
And with that, I pledge to live out loud for Trayon. May he rest powerfully in peace.
Keep scrolling to see thoughts from X, formerly Twitter.
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It’s been a long time since we’ve updated our Baes & Baddies segment but we promise to ramp up our efforts here as the year rolls on. In today’s update, we’re introducing Marie Assi, a curvy model of Ghanaian and Spanish descent currently residing in Spain.
From what we gathered online regarding Marie Assi, we can share that she was born in 2002 in Marbella in the South of Spain, a town that boasts famous residents over the years from both the sports and entertainment worlds.
Considering Ms. Assi’s prominent physical attributes, she has worked as an ambassador for the Fashion Nova Curve brand and can be seen on Instagram in various lavish locales showing off her stunning looks and alluring figure. And yes, she has one of “those pages” too if you inquire deeper.
For now, check out our latest Baes & Baddies starlet, Marie Assi, in the gallery below.
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Photo: Marie Assi / @missassi_
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Two of the so-called Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol insurrectionists who received a blanket pardon from President Donald Trump recently found themselves in the news for unfortunate reasons. One of the Jan. 6 participants was shot and killed during a traffic stop, while another is on the run for soliciting a minor.
As reported by local outlet Fox 59, Indiana man Matthew Huttle was one of the 1,500 individuals involved in storming the Capitol on January 6, 2021, and was given freedom by the newly-inaugurated President Trump who felt those insurrectionists were serving their duty as Americans despite their seditious aims.
According to the outlet, Huttle, 42, was stopped by a Jasper County Sheriff’s Department deputy this past Sunday (Jan. 26) for an unnamed violation. As the deputy attempted to arrest Huttle, a struggle ensued leading to the deputy using his service weapon as Huttle resisted. Indiana state police say Huttle had a firearm in his possession and it is still being unsaid why the deputy pulled him over.
Huttle and his uncle Dale Huttle were arrested for participating in the Jan. 6 standoff, with the uncle stating publicly that he had no regrets for the actions he and his nephew took in 2021.
As seen on Houston Public Media, Andrew Taake of Houston was released from a Colorado prison on Jan. 20 after the sweeping pardons of President Trump. However, Harris County District Attorney Sean Teare shared with the outlet that Taake, 36, is wanted under a pending state warrant for online solicitation of a minor in 2016. The Harris County DA’s office attempted to have Taake held in prison by showing a warrant to the Federal Bureau of Prisons five days ahead of his pardon.
Harris County authorities are currently searching for Taake to bring him to justice for the alleged crime.
“Re-arresting individuals, like Taake, who were released with pending state warrants, will require significant resources,” Teare said in a statement. “Know that we are already in the process of tracking Taake down, as he must answer for [the] 2016 charge of soliciting a minor online.”
It seems like President Donald Trump feels like the Jan. 6 domestic terrorists are “very fine people” because they did his bidding with murderous and treasonous intent.
On X, folks are taking note of the pardoned insurrectionists and their checkered trails since being cleared of their crimes. Check out the reactions below.
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Snoop Dogg lost a bit of goodwill with some of his fanbase after appearing in Washington, D.C. to appear at an event connected to President Donald Trump’s inauguration weekend. After catching the wrath of Hip-Hop fans and opponents of Trump, Snoop Dogg defended his appearance at the event and faced the criticism with love instead of the vitriol he’s faced online.
Taking to his Instagram account for a livestream, Snoop Dogg is seen driving in a vehicle and addressing his fans about the matter with his usual affable coolness and decided to combat the negative comments with positive vibes instead.
“Ya’ll can’t hate enough for me, I love too much,” Snoop says during his morning wake-and-bake drive. “Get your life right, stop worrying about mine, I’m cool. I’m together.”
Snoop continued with, “Still a Black man, still 100% Black. All out, ’til you ball out. Or until you fall out. I ain’t going nowhere. I’m right here.”
Many have speculated that Snoop’s alignment with Donald Trump is personal as the president pardoned Michael Harris, one of the co-founders of Death Row Records, a company Snoop is now the owner of. Harris, also known as Harry-O, was behind bars serving time for drug charges.
Check out the livestream of Snoop Dogg in the clip below courtesy of Livebitez.
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Source: Romain Maurice / Getty
Popeyes, the fried chicken fast food chain, and Don Julio, one of the top tequila brands in the world, aren’t exactly in the same wheelhouse on several fronts but it appears things are changing. Don Julio and Popeyes look to be hinting at an upcoming collaboration and those who make up Black Xitter on the X platform had some thoughts.
Last Thursday, Popeyes posted a video on its Instagram account that teases the Don Julio collaboration featuring a vibrant party scene and a woman DJ decked out in gear adorned with the chain’s namesake along with some fancy Black boxes featuring the tequila brand’s name as well.
The caption for the video read, “The kitchen is heating up for the big game. Party starts 1.31.25,” which we assume is meant to illustrate that the Super Bowl contest between the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs is happening soon on Feb. 9.
While we’ll have to wait until the end of the month to find out what exactly Popeyes and Don Julio are up to, fans on X, formerly Twitter, are chiming in with a wild variety of theories. Naturally, with the drop happening on the eve of Black History Month, some eyebrows were raised.
Will it be a new tequila-based glaze? Will there be Mexican-themed spices in a new drop? Is it a fashion collaboration considering the DJ’s outfit in the clip? It’s all over the place.
Check out the teaser clip below.
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