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Rick Ross has expanded his empire yet again. He has partnered up with Dr. Mario Montoya to open up a dental practice in Atlanta.

As spotted on HipHopDX, Rick Ross was showing all his teeth at the recent grand opening for Smiles By Mario Montoya office in Atlanta, GA. Back in January 2022 the “Money In The Grave” rapper flew to South America to get his dental work done by the famed dentist. He took to social media to unveil the new look. “The biggest bawse, Ricky Rozay,” he said. “I just finished getting my teeth done, so when you see me and I do this [flashes smile], that mean the wire just hit. Boom, that money hit the account.”

It seems Rick Ross and Dr. Mario stayed in touch after the procedure. Last week the two hosted the celebration for the first ever Smiles By Mario location in the United States. In footage captured at the event, Rick and the medical professional were clearly excited about the new venture. As expected Ross shared the announcement on his Instagram account. “We began discussing this plan three years ago in Cali, Colombia and now we’ve opened our first dentist office in the U.S.!! Everyone reading this, come get your billion dollar smile in Sandy Springs, Atlanta now. Grateful for the opportunity to play a part in this iconic move. Invest in your smile this year.”

Based in Colombia, Dr. Mario is known around the world for his veneer work. Some of his past clients include French Montana, Moneybagg Yo, Hitman Holla, Lil Twist, T-Pain, Rich The Kid, and more. You can learn more about the practice here. 

Love is a fickle thing, which is something Benny Blanco found out the hard way when he first met his now-fiancée, Selena Gomez. During his appearance with Gomez on the Jay Shetty Podcast on Monday (March 24), Blanco revealed that he was convinced that the “Lose You to Love Me” singer did not like him […]

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We’re still a long ways away from learning how Marvel Studios plans on introducing Robert Downey Jr.’s villainous Doctor Doom to an MCU that saw the same man heroically save the day multiple times as Iron Man and while there are many theories and rumors about how exactly this will pan out, we’re now getting information on how Marvel landed back on the man who helped jumpstart the MCU in the first place.

According to Deadline, the idea to bring back RDJ as arguably the most popular villain in Marvel Comics came from none other than Marvel Studios head honcho, Kevin Feige. While it had been rumored for a while that Marvel would be going the Doctor Doom direction following the fallout of Jonathan Majors domestic abuse allegations, no one knew who was going to be taking on the role and absolutely did not expect that it would be Tony Stark (RDJ) returning to play Victor Von Doom.

But according to one half of the Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars directors, Joe Russo, Kevin Feige wanted Robert to return to the MCU and apparently they felt it was a good idea given the storyline that had in mind.

Per Deadline:

“That was Kevin,” the younger Russo recently told the online outlet Omelete. “Interestingly enough about that, that conversation was had a while ago.”

Though Robert Downey Jr. is said to have agreed to return as Doctor Doom for quite some time, the Russo Brothers (Joe and Anthony) were hesitant to return to direct the next two Avengers films given the massive success they achieved with their two previous installments, Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame. It wasn’t until they felt they had the perfect idea in mind for the story and plot for Doomsday and Secret Wars that they decided to come back and give the MCU a new beginning after giving it a proper finish in Endgame.

“Robert tried to talk us into doing it and we said ‘no.’ We just didn’t have a story. We didn’t have a way in. We were resistant for a while.”

The brothers did eventually spark to a concept.

“One day Steve McFeely, one of our chief collaborators, said, ‘I have an idea.’ We went, ‘That’s the story!’ That story has to be told. It’s a really powerful story.”

What is that concept? Neither of the directors would divulge much until Joe offered, “The only thing I will say about the movie is this: We love villains who think they’re the hero of their own stories. That’s when they become three dimensional and they become more interesting. And when you have an actor like Robert Downey, you have to create a well shaped, three-dimensional character for the audience.”

We. Can’t. Wait.

While many fans are letdown that Jonathan Majors Kang The Conqueror’s storyline didn’t get any finality, it is rumored that he will return in Avengers: Doomsday to get killed off by Robert Downey Jr.’s Doctor Doom, thus solidifying Doom as the ultimate badass in the MCU. Whether or not that’s true remains to be seen but we wouldn’t mind seeing that play out on the big screen as the Russo brothers are looking to tie up all the loose ends they can in the next two Avengers films.

What do y’all expect from the next two Avengers films? Should Marvel have casted another actor other than Robert Downey Jr. to take on the role of Doctor Doom? Let us know in the comments section below.

The producers of four independent California festivals are offering a limited edition ticket that provides general admission access to the 2025 edition of each event.
Dubbed the “indepenDANCE Pass” the ticket is on offer for $599, approximately $1,400 less expensive than the cost of buying four separate tickets to each festival. A total of 100 indepenDANCE Passes are currently available, with profits split evenly between each event.

The passes are part of a campaign to bring attention to the state of independent music festivals, which have struggled following the pandemic due to rising costs of goods and services. The founders of each of the four festivals involved with the IndepenDANCE Pass recently gathered for a longform conversation about the state of the independent side of the festival industry.

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“Independent festivals have always been about community, and now we’re taking that to the next level,” Same Same But Different co-founder and CEO Brad Sweet says during the talk. “We pour everything we have into creating spaces where people can truly connect, dance freely, and experience something real, and now we’re uniting to create something bigger than any one festival, a collective that strengthens the entire scene and gives our community more access, more connection, and more unforgettable experiences across the festival season. By coming together, we’re making sure independent festivals don’t just survive, but evolve and flourish for years to come.”

Featuring dance, funk, global music and more, Joshua Tree Music Festival happens both this May 15-18 and October 9-12 (the pass is good for just one of the events) in Joshua Tree, Calif. Happening in Lake Perris, Calif. this Sept. 26-28, Same Same But Different has previously featured artists including Griz, Big Gigantic, Polo & Pan and Louis the Child, with the 2025 lineup to be announced in the coming months.

Meanwhile the longstanding house and techno festival Desert Hearts 2025 happens July 3-7 in Flagstaff, Ariz. The electronic-oriented Northern Nights, which has this year partnered with Dirtybird Campout, happens Cook’s Valley Campground in Northern California on July 18-20, with the lineup also to be announced in the coming months.

 

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Sexyy Red is back with a new anthem for the YN’s, and it’s already got the streets buzzing.

The St. Louis rapper gave fans a preview of her upcoming track “YN” during a live stream with PlaqueBoyMax, and from the sound of it, this one is about to go crazy. The song kicks off with Sexyy setting the tone, rapping, “That’s my evil twin, me and him got matching pipes / Don’t see him when I’m working, only see my boo at night.” Her signature raw energy is all over the track, making it clear this is one for the young crash-outs.

Chicago’s BabyChiefDoit slides in on the second verse with a playful nod to his and Sexyy’s age difference, spitting, “Me and Sexyy meant to be, I know she feel the same way / I’m finna take her to meet my momma even though they damn near the same age.” His delivery keeps it light, adding to the track’s wild, carefree vibe. 

Things really turn up when Atlanta’s Baby Kia hops on the third verse. Known for his chaotic, almost screaming flow, Kia brings that unfiltered energy that has the YN’s locked in. While his sound might not be for everyone, the young crowd eats it up every time. With Sexyy Red leading the charge and two rising stars backing her up, YN is shaping up to be another viral moment. Grab your Shiesty’s, it’s about to get active.

Check out the Sexyy Red and PlaqueboyMax stream below:

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Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders has been a fixture in the news recently, as he and fellow progressive, New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, have embarked on their “Fighting Oligarchy” tour of rallies in the Western United States. Sanders sat down with Jonathan Karl on ABC’s This Week on Sunday (March 23) for an interview. Karl asked about Sanders’ view of Ocasio-Cortez possibly joining him as a senator. “Would you like to see her join you in the Senate?” he queried.

Sanders stood up, aiming to end the interview. “I said, just a whole lot of people in the Congress. OK, Jonathan, thanks,” he said. “Wait, I got one more – I got one more. This is an important – “Karl pleaded before Sanders swiftly cut him off. “No, you want to do nonsense. Do nonsense. I don’t want to talk about inside-the-beltway stuff.” With that, Sanders ended his talk with Karl. The 83-year-old had made it a point not to vigorously trash current Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer of New York when Karl asked about Sanders’ comments that the passage of the continuing resolution that prevented a government shutdown was an “absolute failure of Democratic leadership.” “Well, [Sen. Chuck] Schumer is the leader of the party, and it should not have happened, period. No question about it,” Sanders said before adding: “But the bottom line, it’s not just Chuck Schumer. It’s not just Chuck Schumer. It is, you’ve got a Democratic Party in general that is dominated by billionaires, just as the Republican Party is, that … operates under the leadership of a bunch of inside-the-Beltway consultants, very well paid, who are way out of touch with the 32,000 people who are here today.”Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez have drawn sizable numbers at their “Fighting Oligarchy” rallies. Ocasio-Cortez has not publicly discussed her plans, but has been consistently mentioned as someone who could take on Schumer as a primary candidate for his Senate seat. There have even been rumors of her being positioned as a presidential candidate for 2028. Despite calls for him to step down as Senate Minority Leader, Schumer has remained defiant and stated he has no plans to do so.

After their second go-round as a couple produced endless reams of tabloid press coverage, Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez have been relatively quiet about the dissolution of their marriage. The couple first began dating in 2002 and got engaged before calling it off in 2004 and famously reuniting in 2021 and getting married the following year.

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But, after less than two years, Lopez filed for divorce just months after the February 2024 release of her film This Is Me Now: A Love Story, a movie co-written by the couple that was loosely based on their love story. A surprisingly candid behind-the-scenes doc, The Greatest Love Story Never Told, was also released at the time, featuring a scene in which it was revealed that Affleck kept Lopez’s love letters even while he was married to his ex-wife, Jennifer Garner.

In a new GQ feature about Affleck’s plans to shake up Hollywood wit his artist-friendly Artists Equity company, the actor/director opens up for the first time about the couple’s split and makes it clear that despite the drama, he has a deep and abiding affection for his ex.

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“You asked me about Jen and the documentary and I talked about that and my sort of personal life a little bit, which I don’t mind doing as long as my actual feelings and intentions and beliefs are communicated, which I hope I was clear that really this is somebody I have a lot of respect for,” he said. “And I get wanting to divine or explore the kind of differences in perspective that we have in terms of how a person feels comfortable approaching the line between public and private life. But I really hope that whatever you use doesn’t suggest that I have any negativity or judgment or anything regarding that.”

Affleck also makes it clear that he has “nothing but respect” for Lopez, lamenting the need by some to dissect break-ups in search of the “root causes” of a split. “But honestly, like I said, the truth is much more quotidian than probably people would believe or would be interesting,” he said.

“There’s no scandal, no soap opera, no intrigue. The truth is, when you talk to somebody, ‘Hey, what happened?’ Well, there is no: ‘This is what happened,’” he added. “It’s just a story about people trying to figure out their lives and relationships in ways that we all sort of normally do. And as you get older, this is true for me, I assume it’s true for most people, there is no ‘So-and-so did this’ or ‘This was the big event.’ It’s really, it sounds more like a couple’s therapy session, which — you would tune out of someone else’s couple’s therapy after a while. For one thing, you start going, ‘Okay, clearly this person has got these issues. Clearly they have these issues.’ And the reason I don’t want to share that is just sort of embarrassing. It feels vulnerable.”

The piece delves into the fact that despite appearances, Affleck has a well-thought-out, nonchalant attitude about being pictured in public picking up his copious Dunkin’ order, or wearing an outfit a star might not want to be shot by paparazzi wearing. He talks about his strategies, such as wearing the same look every day so the pap pictures of him are indistinguishable, or looking “like a slob” on purpose and how he just doesn’t really care, or sweat it that much.

“Then you become the sad Affleck meme spilling the coffee. Which I have to say I think is kind of funny,” he said. “So I think it’s just a function of the fact that I’ve spent time thinking about really trying to figure it out.”

Affleck was also asked about some moments in the widely panned Greatest Love Story Never Told doc, in which the now ex-couple repeatedly claimed they were private people, even as Lopez revealed some intimate moments and aspects of their relationship via the letters and footage of them at home. In those scenes, the writer suggests that Affleck seems to both be taking a deep “here we go again” breath, even as he’s clearly expressing his love and support for Lopez.

“Part of it was, ‘Okay, if I’m going to participate in this, I want to try to do it in an honest way and in a way that’s interesting,’” Affleck said. “Because I thought it was an interesting examination. Like I mentioned to you before, there are a lot of people who I think have handled celebrity more adeptly and more adroitly than I have, Jennifer among them. My temperament is to be a little bit more reserved and private than hers. As happens in relationships, you don’t always have the same attitude towards these things. And so I thought, ‘Oh, this is interesting because how do you reconcile that?’ Because exactly what you said is true. I love and support this person. I believe in them. They’re great. I want people to see that.”

Affleck recalled that the doc used his line “You don’t marry a ship captain and then say, ‘Well, I don’t like going out in the water,’” saying that you have to “own what you knew going into any relationship.” And, for the record, Affleck assures readers that the movie wasn’t the cause of “some major fracture. It’s not like you can watch that documentary and go, ‘Oh, now I understand the issues that these two had.’”

Affleck will next be seen in The Accountant 2, which will hit theaters on April 25.

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Detroit Pistons star combo guard Cade Cunningham is having himself quite the season and while most basketball players of his caliber tend to protest their bodies at all costs to avoid injuries, Cunningham seems willing to put his on the line to live a life-long dream.

In a recent interview with Landon Buford, Cade Cunningham is one of the many wrestling fans that play in the NBA, but Cade doesn’t want to just watch his favorite wrestlers duke it out in the squared ring, he also wants to partake in laying the smacketh down on someone. After seeing the likes of Dennis Rodman, Shaquille O’Neal and even Jalen Brunson pop up and get involved in some scuffles in the ring, Cade is hoping to follow suit at some point in the future as he’s been a fan of the sport for quite some time.

When asked about his love of wrestling and if he would like to one day partake in some ring action, Cade didn’t hesitate to respond. “Yeah it’s possible. For sure. I think WWE is fire. I grew up loving WWE… but yeah. I’d be down to do it for sure,” he said.

While we’re sure Cade would love to get his hands on an opponent at some live WWE event, we’re not sure management over at the Detroit Pistons front office would co-sign seeing their start guard put himself in harms way as we’ve seen many professional wrestlers suffer all kinds of injuries over the decades. Heck, when Jalen Brunson appeared to hurt himself during his quick WWE appearance last year, Knicks nation collectively held their breath as we couldn’t bare the thought of losing our superstar point guard in such a way.

What do y’all think about Cade Cunningham wanting to take part in a WWE event? Should he risk it for fun or play it safe and just watch from the sidelines? Let us know in the comments section below.

https://twitter.com/LandonBuford/status/1903266933484687550

Between her starring role in The White Lotus and her new solo album earning a top 10 debut on the Billboard 200, one could argue that LISA from BLACKPINK is currently enjoying the “Best of Both Worlds.” In an interview with The Guardian published March 24, the K-pop star revealed that’s not the only thing […]

Prompted by Chappell Roan’s comments about health insurance from the Grammy stage on Feb. 2, over the last several weeks an important conversation has been taking place about financial stability and health among those who work in music. At MusiCares, we celebrate this conversation and want to collectively seize this moment for real change. To do this, we need to go deeper than just a conversation. It is important to understand and focus solutions on data-backed, long-standing issues around fair pay and health in the music community.
In fact, MusiCares was founded with this mission in mind. The Recording Academy formed MusiCares as an independent 501c3 charity in 1989 to be a shared service for the larger music industry because even back then, it was difficult to ensure fair pay across all sectors. As a result, many music people were falling on hard times.  Health and welfare problems are exacerbated in low-income environments.  This problem continues in music today, even after MusiCares has provided over $118 million in direct assistance to people from every music profession, genre and U.S. state.

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We know this because we research it. Financial instability is a major concern for people in music, affecting their household economics, physical well-being and mental health. Our Wellness in Music survey, open to anyone in the U.S. working in music, shows that 69% of respondents cannot comfortably cover their expenses through work in music alone and 47% attribute their stress to financial instability. Furthermore, 65% of respondents are not confident about the trajectory of the industry. These are major red flags for both the well-being of our music community and the sustainability of this industry in its current form.

MusiCares provides customized care, often with substantial financial assistance to cover basic living needs and other expenses, when music people face economic hardship. Many people in music never get guidance on how to manage their money. For this reason, we also focus on the preventive side of financial health, including  financial management services and tax support. The tragic fires in Los Angeles and hurricanes in the Southeast demonstrate how perilously close so many people in our community are to financial ruin. While some music people had substantial loss, many of the 5,000+ individuals we supported through our recent disaster relief efforts needed support simply because they lost a gig or two: $200 or $300 in income was often what separated them from security and an inability to pay their basic living costs. Higher wages are essential, but we also need to grow financial safety nets, which include funding and resources to support music professionals through hard times.  This requires substantial and ongoing investments from the industry to ensure qualified non-profit organizations can meet the need.

Health insurance has also been a major topic in recent weeks, and it’s an important one. But health insurance alone is not enough. Our Wellness in Music survey consistently shows that 87-90% of music professionals have health insurance, just slightly the below US national coverage. While universal coverage is the goal, the barrier many people in music face is an inability to use the insurance they have. Most MusiCares clients have health insurance but may not use it because they can’t afford the deductible, their provider doesn’t take insurance, or the provider is out of network. Overwhelmingly, music people are not accessing preventive care services, like mammograms, dental cleanings and hearing screenings, at healthy rates. For this reason, we work with a carefully vetted network of hundreds of licensed health providers across the United States and have provided over 45,000 free preventive clinic visits. We need to keep closing the gap in economic and logistical access to essential medical care. This includes access to quality health insurance, additional funding to cover out of pocket costs and dedicated providers who can work with music professionals on their unique needs.

Inability to use insurance affects mental health too. The American Psychological Association estimates that about one in three therapists do not take insurance. Access to care is further complicated because people in music are highly mobile. Licensing regulations may mean people can’t work with their mental health provider or worse, end up receiving care from unlicensed providers. In the absence of access to licensed, affordable care, many music people are vulnerable to unregulated initiatives that have no grounding in science.

Music people in need of substance use treatment often face similar challenges. In-network treatment centers may have no space or it’s not the right fit for their needs. For single parents, highly mobile workers or those who need to keep working, in-patient treatment may not be an option. To get people the care they deserve, we need to expand access to substantial financial assistance for addiction recovery, in addition to tailored and long-term care options, referrals, and placement.

At MusiCares, we’ve provided over $25 million in direct assistance to music people and placed them in therapy and substance use treatment. Currently, MusiCares is the only philanthropic organization that covers the full costs of substance use treatment for music people. While financial support is essential, we find it is only effective because we have specialized providers o meet the needs of music people as well as follow-up care, like sober living, accountability coaching and support for basic living needs during key recovery junctures.

Finally, we need better coordination to create comprehensive support for everyone who works in music. At MusiCares, we have never gone at it alone and have no interest in trying. We need to work in tandem with health care providers, music industry companies and non-profit partners to ensure no one slips through the cracks. Those of us who work in this space have an opportunity for stronger coordination, including sharing our data and best practices, so that we are all making evidence-based investments that address the very real challenges within our community.

We all need music. Music needs a safety net.

Laura Segura is executive director and Theresa Wolters is vice president of health & human services at MusiCares.