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Veteran rappers Bun B and Raekwon get together at the behest of HipHopWired and they dropped all the triple OG knowledge you should have expected.
The acclaimed digital series I Got Questions returns to ensure that it’s the gift that keeps on giving, as this episode features two of Hip-Hop’s most official and highly respected MCs—UGK’s Bun B and Wu-Tang Clan’s Raekwon. The two veteran rappers and good friends sat down to talk about their careers, influences, and vital moments.
One of the conversation’s highlights was all about fashion and swagger, centered on the famous “Snow Beach” pullover jacket by Ralph Lauren that Raekwon wore in Wu-Tang Clan’s classic video “Can It All Be So Simple.” Bun B displayed his own “Snow Beach” jacket, telling the Staten Island, New York, native, “You created the most sought-after Polo piece ever.” Raekwon then shared that since the Clan didn’t have a budget, he went to find the most colorful shirt ever for the video, stumbling upon the jacket in a downtown Brooklyn store. “I had to look around, like no way that s—t is sitting in here.”
Another key moment highlighted a tough time that proved to be a bonding moment between Bun B and Raekwon is when the former was struggling with the loss of his UGK bandmate Pimp C, and the RZA reached out to him. “We just talked about grief and loss, and that was my first conversation with that brother,” the Port Arthur, Texas, native said. “It was such a blessing. It was words like that, that really gave me strength in the moment – eventually, I’m going to find a way to deal with this and move forward.”
The conversation also features Bun B talking about how he and Pimp C almost didn’t do their iconic collaboration “Big Pimpin’” with Jay-Z, and Raekwon sharing about the formation of the Wu-Tang Clan, particularly about him being one of the group’s artists chosen to get a solo deal with another label.
Check out the entire episode of I Got Questions featuring Bun B and Raekwon above.
Source: Hip-Hop Wired / iOne Digital
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Lil Durk will spend the holidays behind bars in California and it appears that his time in prison is already marred by reported infractions and rule-breaking. A new report breaks down why prosecutors want Lil Durk held in detention and also reveals that the Chicago artist is breaking prison rules connected to his phone privileges.
As seen on Law & Crime’s Sidebar with Jesse Weber YouTube program on Tuesday (Dec 17), an exhibit filed by prosecutors in Lil Durk’s murder-for-hire case pointed to the Only The Family (OTF) figure’s alleged criminal interference. That same brief also unveiled that Durk has been breaking the rules at Los Angeles’ Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC).
Despite clear instructions to not engage in three-way calls, defendant repeatedly abused the phone system at MDC to engage in such conduct,” Weber shares in his video report. This was used by the state to illustrate that Durk can’t be trusted to follow the rules if he’s released on bond if he can’t follow the rules while imprisoned.
Durk’s legal team attempted to gain bond for their client earlier this month, offering a bond package that included a pair of homes the rapper owns in Georgia along with $1 million from the Sony Music recording label.
Lil Durk was arrested in October while appearing to flee the country en route to a Florida airport, and was extradited to California to face charges in connection to the murder-for-hire plot originally meant to target Quando Rondo but resulted in the shooting death of Rondo’s cousin in Los Angeles instead.
Durk’s trial will take place on Jan. 7 of next year.
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Lil Wayne went public to voice his frustration and disappointment in not getting named as the halftime show performer for the upcoming Super Bowl in his hometown of New Orleans. Sitting with longtime friend Skip Bayless, Lil Wayne discusses the Super Bowl snub, Kendrick Lamar, and more.
Lil Wayne joined Bayless on the host’s eponymously named YouTube program to discuss the upcoming Super Bowl LVIII featuring Kendrick Lamar and expressed his thoughts once more at being passed over for the opportunity. Bayless, who shared his disappointment in the Young Money honcho not getting the look, opened the lane by asking Wayne his thoughts on the matter.
“So generally, I just believe that, for whatever reason, it’s over my head,” Lil Wayne begins, sharing why the NFL passed him over for the show. “Meaning, I don’t know why. Obviously, I believe it’s perfect but I do not know why.
Wayne continues, “Personally, the person I am, I straight look at it like ‘you ain’t there yet, you gotta get there.’”
Bayless doubled down on his disappointment, mentioning that Wayne should get the look to rock in front of the New Orleans crowd as a native son and mentioned there could be other politics and happenings at play.
Later in the conversation, Bayless shared K-Dot’s bars about Wayne in the track “wacced out murals” from the Compton rapper’s GNX album and asked Tunechi to react after he said this was his first time hearing the lyrics.
“I think he meant, I think he saw what everybody else saw, how much it meant to me,” Wayne answers. “He can’t control that. I’ve spoken to him and I wished him all the best.”
Check out the clip of Lil Wayne chatting with Skip Bayless below.
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Jay-Z has responded to a Jane Doe who accused him and Sean “Diddy” Combs of raping her when she was 13 in 2000, this after the woman gave an exclusive interview acknowledging inconsistencies in her story. The woman contends that the assault did take place but said she made “mistakes” in delivering her account of the incident which prompted Jay-Z’s response.
NBC News exclusively spoke with Jane Doe, who now resides in Alabama, who retold her story regarding what she referred to as the “catastrophic event” that took place 24 years ago. Doe told the network that she “made some mistakes” and her attorney, Tony Buzbee, is attempting to vet her account via his resources.
Of note, Doe claimed that her father picked up up after the alleged assault that occurred after the 2000 MTV VMAs but the woman’s father says he has no recollection of doing so. The woman also said she spoke to a celebrity at the afterparty where the alleged assault took place but the celebrity revealed he was not in New York during the VMAs. Further, photos came forth showing Jay-Z and Diddy at a location that differed from the woman Doe detailed in her initial claim.|
In a statement from Jay-Z, the Brooklyn rapper and businessman continued his vocal critique of Buzbee, who he is accusing of treating the claim and lawsuit as a money grab.
“Today’s investigative report proves this ‘attorney’ Buzbee filed a false complaint against me in the pursuit of money and fame. This incident didn’t happen and yet he filed it in court and doubled down in the press. True justice is coming. We fight FROM victory, not FOR victory. This was over before it began. This 1-800 lawyer doesn’t realize it yet, but, soon,” the statement read.
Jay-Z’s attorney Alex Spiro added, “It is stunning that a lawyer would not only file such a serious complaint without proper vetting, but would make things worse by further peddling this false story in the press. We are asking the Court to dismiss this frivolous case today, and will take up the matter of additional discipline for Mr. Buzbee and all the lawyers that filed the complaint.”
Buzbee claims that Jane Doe’s case was a referral from another firm outside his own and said that Doe’s statements were vetted, according to an email he sent to NBC News.
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Source: Alex Livesey – Danehouse / Getty
Jay-Z has responded to a Jane Doe who accused him and Sean “Diddy” Combs of raping her when she was 13 in 2000, this after the woman gave an exclusive interview acknowledging inconsistencies in her story. The woman contends that the assault did take place but said she made “mistakes” in delivering her account of the incident which prompted Jay-Z’s response.
NBC News exclusively spoke with Jane Doe, who now resides in Alabama, who retold her story regarding what she referred to as the “catastrophic event” that took place 24 years ago. Doe told the network that she “made some mistakes” and her attorney, Tony Buzbee, is attempting to vet her account via his resources.
Of note, Doe claimed that her father picked up up after the alleged assault that occurred after the 2000 MTV VMAs but the woman’s father says he has no recollection of doing so. The woman also said she spoke to a celebrity at the afterparty where the alleged assault took place but the celebrity revealed he was not in New York during the VMAs. Further, photos came forth showing Jay-Z and Diddy at a location that differed from the woman Doe detailed in her initial claim.|
In a statement from Jay-Z, the Brooklyn rapper and businessman continued his vocal critique of Buzbee, who he is accusing of treating the claim and lawsuit as a money grab.
“Today’s investigative report proves this ‘attorney’ Buzbee filed a false complaint against me in the pursuit of money and fame. This incident didn’t happen and yet he filed it in court and doubled down in the press. True justice is coming. We fight FROM victory, not FOR victory. This was over before it began. This 1-800 lawyer doesn’t realize it yet, but, soon,” the statement read.
Jay-Z’s attorney Alex Spiro added, “It is stunning that a lawyer would not only file such a serious complaint without proper vetting, but would make things worse by further peddling this false story in the press. We are asking the Court to dismiss this frivolous case today, and will take up the matter of additional discipline for Mr. Buzbee and all the lawyers that filed the complaint.”
Buzbee claims that Jane Doe’s case was a referral from another firm outside his own and said that Doe’s statements were vetted, according to an email he sent to NBC News.
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Jaleel White found his footing as an actor in the early 1990s by way of his breakout role as Steve Urkel on the hit sitcom series, Family Matters. At a recent talk, Jaleel White shared his thoughts on why Family Matters isn’t mentioned as one of the top Black television series of its time, prompting fans on X to deliver what they felt were doses of reality.
Jaleel White, 48, is currently on a promotional tour for his memoir, Growing Up Urkel, and was at the Wilmington Public Library in Delaware recently to discuss the work and his time on television. During the chat, White shared that he believes Family Matters doesn’t get the same attention as other Black shows of his time for reasons he feels were connected to the fact it focused on a middle-class Black family.
“Being a part of the TGIF brand sometimes makes you feel like you don’t completely belong in the pantheon of Blackness,” White said earlier in the chat regarding Family Matters and its place in Black culture. Blackness has been treated as a very monolithic experience in entertainment. If it’s not a hood story, it’s not a Black story. And you know, sometimes I feel left out of that.”
TGIF was first established as a programming block on the ABC network in 1989 meant to bring attention to several family-friendly television shows, typically sitcoms, that can be viewed by all on Friday evenings. During its height, TGIF was home to some of network television’s top-rated shows of which Family Matters was a part.
White continued in the chat to add while Family Matters isn’t viewed as the Blackest show among the other greats, it is viewed well as a family show.
“If there’s ever a poll, and they say what are your favorite black shows, Martin is in there, Living Single. I already know we [Family Matters] coming in last,” White added. “But if there’s ever a poll and it’s just your favorite family shows, suddenly Martin is not in there [and] we rank really high. So it’s kind of interesting in how we look at ourselves, to be quite honest, as Black folks.”
White’s quip about the perceived Blackness or lack thereof caught the ears and eyes of those who saw or heard the chat, and were especially bothered by the “hood” jab despite Living Single and Martin focusing on middle-class Black characters as well.
On X, formerly Twitter, Jaleel White had his name dragged through the virtual dirt. Just for reporting purposes, we’ll share some of those reactions.
Hop to the 7:30-minute mark on the video below to hear White’s quip in question.
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Severance, a critically acclaimed series that netted several awards along with prominent nominations, made its debut on the Apple TV+ streaming service in 2022. After a lengthy hiatus, Severance returns to the streamer next month, and a new trailer was unveiled that surely drummed up excitement.
Starring Adam Scott, Zach Cherry, and Britt Lower, Severance follows the life of Mark Scout and the split between himself and his severed persona. Cherry plays the role of Dylan George, another severed worker for Lumon Industries in the Macrodata Refinement division who is deeply committed to the job. Lower plays Helly Riggs, a recently severed Lumon employee.
For those who haven’t seen the first season, we won’t reveal too much of the plot but the show benefits from strong performances by a variety of fantastic actors including Tramell Tillman, John Turturro, and Patricia Arquette among others.
Source: Severance / Apple TV+
Ben Stiller and Aoife McArdle split directing duties for the first season with Stiller returning to direct five more episodes in season 2 according to reports. The main cast members are returning to their roles and with the first season ending explosively, fans are clamoring to see what happens for the rest of the severed workers and their “outies” in the coming season.
Severance returns on Jan. 17, 2025. Check out the trailer below.
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Photo: Apple TV+
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Donald Trump appeared on Meet The Press Sunday morning (Dec. 8), marking his first televised interview since becoming the president-elect in November after a tight race with Vice President Kamala Harris. Sitting down with Meet The Press moderator Kristen Welker, Donald Trump was measured at times but also slippery on some of his positions as observers on the X social media platform pointed out contradictions and flat-out lies in his statements where he received little pushback.
President-elect Donald Trump, 78, spoke in a conversational tone as he sat across from Kristen Welker, displaying a muted version of expressing himself in comparison to some of his fiery and off-the-rails campaign speeches. With the presidential victory in hand and emboldened by officially winning the Republican Party majority of both the House and Senate, Trump toned down the rhetoric but also said that he would carry out unpopular policies despite growing murmurs of discontent among his base and those far outside of it.
Trump spoke to Welker’s inquiry about his plans for the first 100 days in the White House, a longstanding marker of the president making his intentions known and setting a tone for the government as his leadership continues to come into view over the next four years.
After a rambling answer that covered everything from tackling crime in major cities and extending the so-called “Trump tax cuts,” Trump defended his nominee for Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth despite the mounting allegations against him. Trump’s answer was a masterclass of avoiding the actual question by using filler words and highlighting how much Fox News supported Hegseth, once more ignoring the fact that some of the allegations against his nominee originated within the network.
Early in the chat, Welker lobbed a question regarding tariffs, which some felt was one of several softballs tossed at Trump. Instead of getting Trump to explain how he’ll attack inflation and lower prices, since it was a key campaign point and why many voters pulled the lever for him, he elected not to offer a guarantee on one of his top promises.
“I can’t guarantee anything. I can’t guarantee tomorrow. But I can say that if you look at my — just pre-Covid, we had the greatest economy in the history of our country. And I had a lot of tariffs on a lot of different countries, but in particular China,” Trump said before meandering and calling the tariffs “beautiful,” but Welker did remind Trump that those “beautiful” tariffs cost Americans billions.
In other portions of the conversation, Trump still refused to concede the 2020 election results despite overwhelming evidence that the presidency was not stolen from him. He also doubled down on false claims that he improved the Affordable Care Act (ACA), which he continues to refer to as “Obamacare,” a law that took cues from Sen. Mitt Romney when he was governor of Massachusetts and the state’s health care reform law.
Trump continues to claim he “saved Obamacare” despite his many attempts to repeal the Affordable Care Act and insert a law of his own, even though it could harm those who voted for Trump in the long run. Trump also stuck to his incorrect statement that 13,099 murders in the past three years were allegedly committed by illegal immigrants. Welker attempted to get Trump to understand the number includes four decades of data but Trump insisted this exaggerated number came under President Joe Biden’s tenure.
On X, formerly Twitter, Donald Trump’s Meet The Press interview found its way onto the timeline with many pointing out how it missed several marks. Check out the replies below.
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President Joe Biden is nearing the end of his term, and as that time nears, he has just weeks to make any sweeping orders before he leaves office at the top of next year. Hunter Biden, the first child of a sitting United States president to be convicted of a crime, was pardoned by President Joe Biden over the weekend, sparking critique from lawmakers and other figures on both sides of the aisle.
President Joe Biden issued the pardon of Hunter Biden on December 1 and the flurry of comments since the news broke have ranged from understanding a father’s position to protect their children to those bashing Biden for reneging on a promise to not grant his son’s clemency.
Not surprisingly, many of Biden’s opponents from the Republican Party had plenty to say, including President-elect Donald Trump. Trump took to his TruthSocial platform and called the pardon “an abuse and miscarriage of Justice” while calling for the pardon of 29 inmates at the District of Columbia Jail, who he referred to as “J-6 hostages.”
For comparison purposes, Biden has granted just 26 pardons in his time in office while Trump pardoned 143 individuals during his time, some of which were questioned.
Beyond Trump, House Committee on Oversight and Accountability Chairman James Comer spoke on the pardon and did not mince words.
“Joe Biden has lied from start to finish about his family’s corrupt influence peddling activities. Not only has he falsely claimed that he never met with his son’s foreign business associates and that his son did nothing wrong, but he also lied when he said he would not pardon Hunter Biden,” Comer wrote.
Rep. Greg Stanton, a Democrat representing Arizona’s 4th Congressional District, took to X to blast the pardon.
“I respect President Biden, but I think he got this one wrong. This wasn’t a politically-motivated prosecution. Hunter committed felonies, and was convicted by a jury of his peers,” Stanton said.
Adding to the criticism from members of Biden’s party, Rep. Greg Landsman of Ohio wrote on X, “As a father, I get it. But as someone who wants people to believe in public service again, it’s a setback.”
Rep. Jasmine Crockett of Texas appeared on MSNBC and pushed back on the comments made by her colleagues on both sides and spoke in her usual direct fashion.
“So, for anyone that wants to clutch their pearls now because he decided that he was going to pardon his son, I would say take a look in the mirror because we also know that when it comes to this cabinet, this cabinet has more people accused of sexual assault than any incoming cabinet probably ever in the history of America,” Crockett said. “So we are living in unprecedented times, and we know that this was completely political.”
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Joe Budden has made a career out of dissecting music and Hip-Hop culture with his popular eponymously named podcast, and the latest episode found him aiming his sights at Drake. After the news went wide that Drake launched a pair of lawsuits against Universal Music Group, Joe Budden proceeded to heave heavy critique upon the Canadian superstar, which has social media reacting.
On episode 779 of The Joe Budden Podcast, Budden and his cohosts bumped into a conversation regarding Drake’s lawsuits against UMG, the label he’s currently signed to and accusing of boosting Kendrick Lamar’s scathing “Not Like Us” single. Since this episode exists on a Patreon subscription service, we’ve only seen clips that surfaced online, which we’ll share from X below.
Joe Budden telling the unfiltered truth about Aubrey Drake Graham. pic.twitter.com/K2hMLZFuII
— Busby 🏁 (@MrBusby4o8) November 27, 2024
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The Joe Budden Podcast cooking again sheesh
🦉 “was disrespecting someone’s dead mom” “ idc about his dead mom tell him send a beat”
( I wonder if this why metro booming got upset)
🦉 “is more scared of Not Like Us being played at the SuperBowl”
Kendrick Lamar GNX out now pic.twitter.com/GsQ7fU141K
— Whooping feet (@WhoopingFeet) November 27, 2024
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As the clips highlight, Budden believes the industry has conspired in some regard against Drake due to alleged shady dealings with the personal affairs of his foes up to the business side of things. Fans online are taking note of Budden’s jabs as he’s been known to be friendly with Drake over the years but fell out of favor with the entertainer after Budden was critical of his musical direction For All The Dogs.
On X, formerly Twitter, the JBTV community space and others are sharing their thoughts about Joe Budden using the pod to air out his grievances against Drake. We’ve got the reactions listed below.
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