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Page: 7
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Source: YouTube / Youtube
Nicki Minaj is to this day one of the biggest artists in the Hip-Hop game, But can her sister follow in her footsteps and establish herself as a star in her own right, too?
We don’t know but she’s damn sure going to try as the Queens rapper’s sister, Ming Luanli, has just stepped into the music game by hopping on Rakeem Love’s “Do It Again.” She actually bares a resemblance to Nicki in both style, looks and even tone. Adding some rap bars to the R&B cut, Ming uses a slow flow to stand out on the song raping, “My condolences, we lost a real one to a poser/closing this door is the only way that I’m getting closure/must suck to lose the one you love to someone who barely knows ya, but I’m never going back-to-back change my contact to Rosaaaa.”
Whether or not the Barbz embrace Nicki’s little sis remains to be seen, but it’s obvious she’s going to be following her rap dreams regardless of how she’s received following this track.
Check out Ming Luanli do her thing in “Do It Again,” and let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
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Source: Stacy Revere / Getty
If we’ve learned anything about Jay-Z over the years it’s that he isn’t one to play about his family whether it be immediate or business related. So when Stephen A. Smith threw a tad bit of shade at Rihanna’s Super Bowl Performance, Hova had a little something to say.
Recently, during a sit-down interview on the Connect The Dots podcast, the sports journalist icon revealed that when he implied that Rihanna’s 2023 Super Bowl Halftime performance couldn’t measure up to that of Beyoncé’s in 2016, not only did some celebrities take issue with his comments, but Jay himself chimed in when the two spoke on the phone.
Saying “people who will remain nameless” and “Hollywood stars,” Smith said people were so mad at him that they never spoke to him again. And it had him wondering what was so taboo about his opinion. Ultimately, things came to a head when Stephen A. spoke to the GOAT himself, Jay-Z.
Recalling a conversation the two had some time later, Smith said, “Months later, Hov and I were on the phone. Hov was like – simple and plain, ‘My dawg, you family, that’s family. That’s too close to say that.’ I said, ‘I didn’t know.’ He said, ‘I know.’ Done! In other words, it’s a business, it’s a part of it, you don’t know how she’ll receive it, etc. etc. etc. That’s all he had to say. I appreciated that.”
We don’t know much, but what we do know is that you do not want Jay-Z in your ear telling you how you F’d up. Either personally or in a business sense. Good thing he didn’t say the opposite and imply that Rihanna was superior to Beyoncé. Things could’ve gotten hella ugly. Just sayin’.
Check out Stephen A. Smith tell his side of the story below, and let us know your thoughts on the situation in the comments section.
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Source: The Breakfast Club / The Breakfast Club
Eleven albums deep into the game, Dee-1’s been doing his thing in music biz for quite some time. While he may not be cracking any GOAT lists, the man is still living out his dream and is unapologetic about it.
Making his mark since 2009, Dee-1’s been doing his best to make Hip-Hop music that contains messages while trying to uplift listeners. Recently he swung by The Breakfast Club to talk about what inspired him to get in the game and how grateful he is to still be a part of the culture. Touching on his career as a teacher and even meeting Afeni Shakur, Dee-1’s come a long way from his days in homeroom telling his students about his Hip-Hop aspirations.
Here are the 8 things we learned from Dee-1 on The Breakfast Club.
Before entering the rap game, Dee told his class he was going to give up the teaching game to become a rapper and being that he’s been in the game as long as he has been, he knows he’s been “divinely guided” thus far in his career. Interestingly enough he was Fredo Bang’s middleschool teacher and says he was a funny kid but serious at the same time.
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Source: Allen Berezovsky / Getty
Jay-Z may not be rocking blocks of ice on his person as much as he used to back in the day, but the man is still stunting in subtle ways that many heads may not be aware of if they don’t know what to look for.
While many sneakerheads noticed that Jay-Z was rocking a pair of Off-White Chicago Air Jordan 1s when he attended the Lakers game last week, GQ is reporting that Hova was also sporting a Patek Philippe timepiece that cost more than most people will ever see in their lifetime. With two leather straps holding onto a rose gold dial, the watch boasts 36 baguette-cut diamonds along with 22 extra stones to give it a weight of 4.45 carats, which in turn, gives it a retail price of $161,000. Keep in mind, it’s not like the watch is completely iced out, it’s just a fancy piece of work, and if you know Jay, he likes his accessories to be as exclusive as they come, and this is just that.
Per GQ:
To be fair, Jay-Z owns more complicated watches and more expensive watches. (Not that the 5961R, which features both an annual calendar and a chronograph complication, isn’t expensive at $161,430. The Grandmaster Chime, however, will set you back a cool $2M.) But for whatever reason, the 5961R, sitting as it does at the confluence of haute horlogerie and precious materials, manages to cram an outsized amount of features and bling without feeling…well, blingy. Maybe it’s the baguette cut of the diamonds, which helps them circle the bezel with a higher degree of subtlety than round-cut stones. Or maybe it’s the rose gold, which flies under the radar better than its yellow-hued compatriot—or maybe it’s the soft, black dial. But the 5961R just feels—at least on Jay’s wrist—like it can work in any setting.
Still, we think many people would rather take the Off-White Air Jordan 1s over the watch. Just sayin’.
Check out Jay-Z’s timepiece, and let us know your thoughts on how Jigga man’s flossing game is these days in the comments section below.
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Source: WREG / WREG
The high-stakes sneaker robberies doesn’t seem to be slowing up as authorities continue to announce new busts on damn near a monthly basis.
This time around, police in Memphis (where Nike’s warehouse is based) busted nine people in connection with the robbery of a boxcar, where looters made off with $50,000 worth of Nike sneakers earlier this month. According to WKRN News 2, a “concerned citizen” tipped off police to what they said seemed like a gang of stolen Nike sneakers being stashed at a Frayser home in the 1400 block of Todds Creek Cove.
When police began surveilling the house in question, they observed a few men loading boxes of Nike sneakers into a Dodge Durango that was parked in front of the property. That was all the evidence they needed to move forward with the bust and put the cuffs on the nine-person operation.
WKRN News 2 reports:
Approximately 35 cases of Nike shoes were found inside the Dodge Durango, three boxes were found inside a Dodge Grand Caravan, and 30 cases were discovered inside the house, based on the reports.
Police confirmed the Nike shoes were stolen overnight from the CSX rail yard located in the 1400 block of North Holmes Street. The total value of the shoes was determined to be approximately $50,000.
Nine individuals were arrested but as of now, only the following five have been identified:
Tracy Fleming (46)
Rah’heem Tuggle (25)
Darren Stewart (28)
Troy Gaines (31)
Tray’Vion Smith (25)
Though police didn’t say which sneakers were amongst the stolen property (inquiring sneaker minds always wanna know), with the March lineup that Nike and Jordan Brand have coming up, it was more than likely a bunch of bricks that made those boxes that much heavier to carry. Just sayin’.
The five men identified were hit with burglary of a vehicle and theft of property worth $10,000 to $60,000 for their transgression.
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Source: Douglas Rissing / Getty
For years the general public have been calling for police reform as we’ve become all too familiar with police officers that walk around with itchy trigger fingers and practice very flawed judgement out on these streets, and it seems like a police deputy in Florida (of course) has made the case stronger for such an initiative.
According to TMZ, Okaloosa County deputy Jesse Hernandez might’ve found himself becoming the butt of many jokes back at his station after his body cam recorded him letting off a clip on his own patrol car after he thought a perp they had handcuffed in the back of the vehicle had somehow let off a shot towards them. He did not. What actually hit the car was Mother Nature as she viciously dropped an acorn on the patrol car which prompted Hernandez to overreact and begin shooting at his car.
Even Hernandez’ partner was confused as to what was happening but joined in on the “shootout” and miraculously didn’t harm the suspect, 22-year-old Marquis Jackson, who they thought shot at them from the backseat.
This was straight out of a Police Academy movie, man.
TMZ reports:
Over the course of the investigation … Hernandez was made aware that what he thought he heard was literally just an acorn falling on his car’s hood. Hernandez ended up resigning in the aftermath of all this … and was not criminally charged.
From what we can tell, Jackson hasn’t sued, yet, but has told local media outlets he was “damaged” from what he went through.
Once the dust settled, the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office said this … “We are very thankful Mr. Jackson wasn’t injured and we have no reason to think former Deputy Hernandez acted with any malice. We are limited in further response due to pending litigation. But let this be clear, we understand this situation was traumatic for Mr. Jackson and all involved and have incorporated this officer-involved shooting into our training to try to ensure nothing similar happens again.
“They finished with … “Though his actions were ultimately not warranted, we do believe he felt his life was in immediate peril and his response was based off the totality of circumstances surrounding this fear.”
After investigating the matter, Okaloosa officials felt Hernandez’s use of deadly force wasn’t reasonable but gave his partner a pass as he was just following his lead in the incident.
Don’t be surprised if Jackson decides to sue the heck out of them for damn near taking his life over an acorn.
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Source: Michele K. Short/HBO / Max
Looks like HBO has another hit on their hands in the fourth season of True Detective: Night Country. And given that most viewers thought it was a wrap after Colin Farrell and Vince Vaughn turned in a stinker of a second season, fans of the franchise are praising the show’s return to form and has HBO gearing up for a helluva season finale.
According to Deadline, this season of True Detective has become the most-watched entry in the series since the first back in 2014, which starred Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson. Already four episodes into the six-episode arc, Night Country is averaging 12.7 million viewers per episode (compared to 11.9 million during Season 1). With a highly positive critical response, the numbers can continue to grow with two episodes left to go.
Per Deadline:
The bulk of viewing at the time was done on linear/delayed viewing with the now defunct HBO GO as the only streaming option. (It crashed under demand the night of the season finale.) In Live+Same Day, that season drew 2.3M-3.5M viewers for the premiere telecast on HBO.
For Night Country, starring Jodie Foster and Kali Reis, most of the consumption is done on Max, with a fraction of the viewers, 0.6M-0.7M, coming from the original HBO telecast.
Night Country‘s first two episodes continue to pace ahead of The White Lotus, Season 2 (8.6 million) and Succession, Season 4 (7.9 million). This week’s Episode 5 has totaled 5 million cross platform viewers since its early Max debut on Friday. Season 4 was created and executive produced by Issa López.
We can’t forget that Mahershala Ali and company did help steer the franchise back in the right direction with stellar performances in the third season of True Detective back in 2017. But the damage that the second season did to the crime drama proved too much to lure fans back to the series. Now that the series was given a breather and fresh new start with Jodie Foster and Kali Reis in the spotlight, fans are once again tuning in and enjoying what Issa López and her team have brought forth for consumption.
Have you been checking out True Detective: Night Country? Are you looking forward to the season finale? Let us know in the comments section below.
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Source: Dunkin’ / DUNKIN’
Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez’s Dunkin’ commercial for the Super Bowl was one of the funniest spots of the big night, but we didn’t think it would lead to the sales of the tracksuits that Ben and Matt Damon wore in the commercial.
According to TMZ, that’s exactly what happened. After the spot aired, people flocked to the Dunkin’ website to get double dipped and purchased the tracksuits that Ben Affleck, Matt Damon and “Touchdown” Tommy Brady hilariously wore in the commercial. And they sold out in just 19 minutes. While we doubt you’ll be seeing heads on the block rocking the orange, white and pink “DunKings” attire, you might see these pop up on the persons of people in suburbs or more residential areas.
Per TMZ:
In addition to the DunKings track jacket and track pants, the DunKings bucket hat was also in high demand … and is currently sold out on their site — with the sales marking a record-breaking milestone as the fastest collection to sell out in Dunkin’ history.
DD says they’re currently working on a restock of the sold-out merch … but for fans of the new boyband, hurry to stores cause The DunKings Iced Coffee, Munchkins Skewers, and more items are available for a limited time.
Those techno parties bout to look like a Dunkin’ company soiree or something. Just Dunkin’ tracksuits and Stanley cups as far as the eye can see.
Check out the commercial that started the craze below, and let us know if you’d rock the now exclusive Dunkin’ tracksuit in the comments section below.
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Source: Akai / Akai
If you’re an up and coming producer looking to create some new sounds but don’t have all the equipment necessary to do to, Akai might have something you can add to your arsenal as they’re dropping a new production keyboard with all kinds of fixins.
Source: Akai / Akai
Engadget is reporting that Akai has just announced their new MPC Key 37 production keyboard which allows users to craft and cook beats from scratch without having to use an actual computer, laptop or DAW. Of course with that being the case it will have some limitations, but the keyboard seems like a dream come true for many would-be producers looking to get into the game.
Engadget reports:
There are 37 full-size keys, complete with aftertouch. There aren’t that many standalone devices out there with a full keybed, so this should excite musicians who lack experience with Akai-style pads. This device does have 16 velocity-sensitive pads for laying down drum parts and triggering samples, so it’s a “best of both worlds” type situation.
The Key 37 ships with 32GB of on-board storage, though 10GB is used up by the OS and included sound packs. Thankfully, there’s a slot for an SD card to expand the storage — these standalone devices fill up fast.
You get the same color 7-inch multi-touch display and four assignable Q-Link knobs as the company’s Key 61 workstation. This is great for making system adjustments and for controlling effects plugins and the like. As a matter of fact, the entire layout recalls the Key 61, though this new release is slightly less powerful.
Though the Key 37 understandably lacks some of the key aspects of it’s Key 61 predecessor (such as 2GB of RAM, compared to the 61’s 4GB and a few microphone inputs), the keyboard does feature Bluetooth and WiFi connectivity for wireless streaming on platforms such as Ableton Link. That’s gotta count for something, right?
The MPC Key 37 is currently available for a cool $900 on inMusic and authorized retailers around town. Would you be interested in copping one? Check out the video for the keyboard below and let us know in the comments section.
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Source: Netflix / Netflix
Rejoice ’80s and ’90s babies for it seems like Netflix’s upcoming live-action iteration of Avatar: The Last Airbender will be as faithful to the 2000’s animated series as it can possibly get.
Netflix released its latest trailer for the highly anticipated series and even with fanfare already as high as can be, the fandom was kicked into overdrive as the series seems to encapsulate everything that made the original Nickelodeon series such a hit in the mid-2000s. Centering around the young boy known as Aang (Gordon Courmier) who’s tasked with taking down the oppressive Fire Nation, the trailer takes us back to the fantasy world where the four nations of the Air Nomads, the Earth Kingdom, the Fire Nation and the Water Tribes reign supreme.
With some superb CGI being used to create the likes of the beloved air bison Appa and adored winged lemur Momo, you’d think Avatar: The Last Airbender was some big budget Hollywood film set to release this summer. With some pretty cool action sequences showcasing how the four elements are manipulated during combat along with some witty dialogue between the characters in the story, it’s pretty safe to say that this series may very well redeem the reputation of Avatar that M. Night Shyamalan destroyed with his own film based on the series back in 2010. (That joint was hella struggle.)
Check out the latest trailer for Avatar: The Last Airbender below. Let us know if you’ll be checking for it when the series drops on Netflix Feb. 22.
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