video
Page: 28
HipHopWired Featured Video
CLOSE
Trontavious Stephens, a co-founder of YSL, took the stand in the ongoing RICO trial where Young Thug and his co-defendants hope to disassociate themselves from alleged ties to criminal activity. During the 20th day of the trial, Stephens explained Young Thug’s name, gang signs, and more.
As reported by local outlet Fox 5 Atlanta, Trontavious Stephens, 30, was questioned at length by prosecutors looking to land a big win in taking down Thug and his co-defendants over their alleged criminal acts. During the series of cross-examinations spanning days, Stephens, also known as Tick or Slug, discussed his YSL connection, alleged gang connections, and his plea deal.
On Monday (Jan. 22), LeBron James, Snoop Dogg, and other known figures were mentioned for their use of alleged gang signs. The defense raised a counter by saying that the insinuation that these figures are members of gangs or promoting gang culture can be proven.
The defense also played a clip of Snoop Dogg taking the stage at the 2022 Super Bowl Halftime Show where the Long Beach rapper wore a blue bandana, assumed to be a reference to the Crips gang, along with the rapper’s signature “crip walk” and their side says that does not prove true affiliation. The defense showed Serena Williams doing the same dance in an earlier portion of the trial.
Stephens also hammered home to the prosecution that the “Thug” in Young Thug’s stage name stands for “Truly Humble Under God,” a point raised earlier in the trial. The trial was to resume on Wednesday (Jan. 24) but as Fox 5 Atlanta reports, the trial was halted for reasons not known to the public.
A recording of the trial can be seen below, along with reactions from X, formerly Twitter.
[embedded content]
—
Photo: Liudmila Chernetska / Getty
Trace Adkins appeared on Bill Maher’s Club Random podcast this week for a wide-ranging interview, one in which the four-time Billboard Country Airplay chart-topper offered up his opinions on topics including music, how his voice has improved over the years, his smoking habit, his past struggles with drinking, Elvis Presley’s death and his desire to make an album of classic “crooner” songs made famous by artists such as Frank Sinatra.
Louisiana native Adkins, who has never been shy about offering his views on hot topics and who previously released the 2007 book A Personal Stand: Observations and Opinions from a Freethinking Roughneck, also gave his perspectives on the backlash Morgan Wallen and Jason Aldean both faced in recent years. Maher brought up the controversy that surrounded Aldean’s song “Try That in a Small Town” and its music video, which included scenes filmed at Tennessee’s Maury County Courthouse, where a Black man named Henry Choate was lynched in 1927.
Maher said Aldean likely did not know the history of the music video location when filming the video there.
“He had no idea,” Adkins agreed, later adding, “The grievance junkies turn on somebody and they try to cancel them, and all it’s going to do, he’s going to sell more records than he ever has and it’s going to make him bigger than he’s ever been. … He had no idea, man. Do you know how many music videos I’ve done that I’ve called up the director and went, ‘Hey, man, now what about this location where we’re shooting this thing?’ And if I did do that, it’s only because I didn’t know where I was going. He [Aldean] had no idea. That director picked that location because it had the look they wanted. It was just a small-town courthouse, that’s all it was. And it happened to be close.”
Maher also brought up Wallen, who garnered backlash after he was filmed using a racial slur outside his Nashville home in 2021. Though Wallen was dropped by his booking agency at the time and briefly suspended from his label and had his music pulled from radio and streaming platforms, he has since seen his music dominate music charts and his tours swell from arenas to stadium dates.
“He sold out two nights in a row, 55,000-plus tickets each night,” Adkins said. “God…cancel me,” he added with a laugh. When Maher stated that he didn’t feel that either Wallen nor Aldean was racist, Adkins answered, “I’ve been around both of those guys. They’re good guys. There’s no… they’re not racist.”
Earlier in the conversation, Adkins also recalled that his mother beat COVID “three times, and she’s 81. … The first time she got it was pretty rough, but then the next two times it wasn’t very bad. She had built up a natural immunity, I suppose.”
Adkins noted that he got COVID-19 twice, but added that he did receive the COVID-19 vaccine.
“So you didn’t think the vaccine had a chip in it to track you?” Maher asked, addressing a conspiracy theory, with Adkins replying, “You know what? I just, I don’t buy all of that crap, you know? I’m like, give me a vaccine for everything that you’ve got one for. I’ll take them. I’m not scared of that. … I don’t think they’re trying to put something in the vaccines to control us.”
Adkins also noted his love of comedy and his respect for comedians, given that that each night, a comedian’s success or failure onstage relies solely on themselves.
“I’ve got such respect for what you guys do, because you’re working without a net. I’ve got those five or six guys standing up there onstage with me. I got my gang, I got my muscle. You don’t like what I’m doing? You’re gonna have to deal with these guys. But you’re up there by yourself. I’ve got just crazy respect for what you guys do.”
Watch the full podcast interview below:
[embedded content]
HipHopWired Featured Video
Quavo made his mark as a rapper as part of the Migos collective and also as an in-demand soloist. The Atlanta rapper was on hand to assist in the debut of 1989 STUDIO’s FW24 collection with designs from the talented Chaz Jordan.
1989 STUDIO, founded by Chaz Jordan, is a luxury lifestyle founded in 2021 in Los Angeles informed by the Chicago native’s design education in Paris, France.
Earlier this week, Quavo joined the festivities during Milan Fashion Week for the unveiling of a new brand showroom that highlights Jordan’s FW24 designs.
From the images of the event, fans of luxury fashion and journalists were on hand to capture the event in full with Quavo hitting the stage and making the rounds in a full 1989 STUDIO fit.
1989 STUDIO’s latest drop takes the already stellar work from Jordan and his team while introducing new silhouettes and design styles, including denim adorned with a three-dimensional pattern.
The new showroom will also serve as an office space and design studio for Jordan along with its aforementioned showroom designation. As of now, those who wish to see new 1989 STUDIO pieces can do so via appointment.
“To coincide with the opening of our new space, the goal this FW24 season was to emphasize quality and precision through simplicity. This shared ethos can be seen in the architecture and material choices throughout our design studio as well as in the collection. The new space serves as the perfect backdrop and supporting character for a collection that expresses its sophistication and silent opulence in the smallest of details,” said brand founder and designer, Chaz Jordan.
Quavo surprised attendees with a special performance and plenty of photo ops. Check out the images below.
Learn more about 1989 STUDIO here.
Source: 1989 STUDIO / 1989 STUDIO
Source: 1989 STUDIO / 1989 STUDIO
Source: 1989 STUDIO / 1989 STUDIO
—
Photo: 1989 STUDIO
HipHopWired Featured Video
CLOSE
Roda Osman, a Texas woman largely referred to as “Brick Lady” on social media, has been charged with making a false assault claim where she said she was hit in the face with a brick. Osman went viral after sharing a video of injuries that were linked to the assault, raising over $40,000 on GoFundMe in the process.
Local outlet KPRC 2 reports that Roda Osman, 33, was charged with felony theft by deception after investigators discovered that Osman’s story didn’t add up. According to the report, Houston police responded to the scene of the alleged assault on Sept. 3 of last year, meeting with Osman and another woman. According to the officers, Osman was reportedly under the influence and hostile.
Osman told police that she was walking in the city when a man threw a brick at her for not giving up her phone number, according to findings from the court documents. Adding to this, Osman claimed that the driver of an Uber car service she ordered was the man who assaulted her and said that the man was part of a human trafficking scheme.
Almost two weeks later on Sept. 15, detectives attempted to contact Osman by phone but the number belonged to the woman that was on the scene of the alleged assault. The woman said she was not a native of Houston and went out drinking with Osman that night and added that Osman called male friends to provide transportation.
The woman said that when the pair entered the vehicle, Osman yelled out “why you hit me” but said she didn’t hear any sort of argument or discussion beforehand. Off the record, the woman said she didn’t think Osman was hit by a brick. The woman then said that the man suspected of hitting Osman exited the car and entered another vehicle before driving off. It was then that Osman decided to go live on Instagram with the woman suggesting she contact the authorities.
Days later on Sept. 20, Houston detectives obtained surveillance video footage and located Olan Douglas, the man Osman claimed hit her. Charging documents say that Douglas and Osman were arguing with Douglas reportedly swinging his right hand and striking Osman in the face with what appeared to be a plastic water bottle. This information has some supporters of Osman saying she was indeed assaulted but there was also an alleged account that Osman struck Douglas first.
As it stands, the issue is that the story Osman gave police neglected to reveal that she knew the man who allegedly struck her instead of it being a random person who was harassing her during her night out. This prompted Daphne Sutton, a popular TikTok user, to call Houston police and suggest that Osman made everything up because of an incident that allegedly place in Minnesota in 2020.
Sutton gave Houston police the GoFundMe link from 2020 that shared a similar bent to the Houston attack story and also obtained statements from Osman’s former roommate and friends. Minneapolis police said to Houston officials that Osman never reported the alleged assault despite launching the GoFundMe page. The roommate that Sutton spoke with also reached out to Houston police and said that Osman was scamming people out of money.
Roda Osman, who had prior criminal charges in the Virgin Islands, Minnesota, and across Texas, is currently out on bail for felony assault and domestic violence connected to an incident in Minnesota.
On X, formerly Twitter, many are reacting to the news. We’ve captured comments from all sides below.
—
Photo: Getty
HipHopWired Featured Video
Katt Williams shook up the entire interview space via an explosive chat with Shannon Sharpe that people are still discussing some two weeks later. Among those to respond to the comedian’s claims was Ludacris with a clever freestyle but Katt Williams fired back with one of his own and shared the track with Suge Knight.
Knight, as most know, is currently incarcerated but launched a podcast with The Source founder Dave Mays, Collect Calls with Suge Knight and the series is now several episodes deep. The concept is rather simple, with a computer-generated version of Knight, Mays, and their guests giving visual weight to the show.
Katt Williams is still very much a topic of discussion after his all-out barrage on the Club Shay Shay podcast where comedians such as Rickey Smiley, Kevin Hart, Cedric The Entertainer, and more caught strays.
What caught the attention of Ludacris was Williams saying that the popular rapper and actor joined the so-called Illuminati and has a carbon copy wife of other celebrities in the elite cabal. Luda’s jab was considered solid, if light, by most standards and it didn’t seem like he took things too seriously.
Enter Williams, who previewed a diss track going directly at Ludacris and while it’s clear in the clip that he’s not a professional rapper, it was a game effort. Williams told Knight that he would soon refine the track and put it out to the world.
Check out Katt Williams firing shots at Ludacris on Collect Calls with Suge Knight below. Hop to the 20:00-minute mark to hear the track in question.
[embedded content]
—
Photo: Getty
HipHopWired Featured Video
Vince Staples shouldn’t need an introduction to most readers of this space, considering the potency and ingenuity of his musical career. The Long Beach, Calif. native is now entering a new phase via a new television series, The Vince Staples Show, which will debut next month.
On Wednesday (Jan. 17), Netflix shared the official trailer for The Vince Staples Show, starring Staples in the lead role with Kenya Barris (Black-ish, Girls Trip) as an executive producer.
According to Netflix, the show centers on Staples but it isn’t clear from the early synopsis which version of the rapper and now actor we’re witnessing. What viewers should expect is Staples’ usual deadpan and biting humor and intelligent writing.
In the clip, Staples returns to his home and romantic partner to unwind after a long day. When asked about his travels, Staples neglects to share all of the several zany things that happened to him, including being involved in the middle of a bank robbery and duking it out at the carnival.
Created by Staples, Ian Edelman, and Maurice Williams, the show is said to be a “limited series of satirical tales” so we can expect some over-the-top visuals and storytelling for sure. If you’ve bore witness to a Staples interview, you’ll understand what we mean.
The Vince Staples Show is executive produced by Staples, Kenya Barris for Khalabo Ink Society, Ian Edelman, Maurice Williams, Corey Smyth, and William Stefan Smith.
The show makes its official debut on Feb. 14, 2024. Check out the trailer below.
[embedded content]
—
Photo: Netflix
HipHopWired Featured Video
Roy Wood Jr. made his mark on The Daily Show as its resident correspondent, using his journalism background coupled with expert comedic timing that translated well in his other endeavors. In connection to those comedic chops, Roy Wood Jr. had a hilarious moment during the 2024 Primetime Emmy Awards that can’t be missed.
Roy Wood Jr., 45, joined Trevor Noah and others from The Daily Show cast to accept the Emmy for Outstanding Talk Series. As Noah was delivering his thanks to the audience, Wood could be seen standing behind him mouthing the words “Please hire a host.”
As fans of The Daily Show might know, the show has employed a rotating schedule of hosts to fill the seat vacated by Noah back in the fall of 2022. Throughout 2023, names such as Desus Nice, Chelsea Handler, Charlamagne Tha God, and Sarah Silverman all took temporary turns as hosts, among other notables.
On X, formerly Twitter, one user captured the viral moment and Wood responded as only he could. You can check out that video below.
According to reports, a permanent host may be announced this year but those whispers have not been widely confirmed.
—
Photo: Getty
HipHopWired Featured Video
Drake was a hot topic of discussion during the MLK holiday weekend after a new interview featured Yasiin Bey sharing his thoughts on the Canadian superstar’s music. In the debates that cropped up since the clip went viral, Drake has responded in a way befitting of the “Petty King” moniker he gave himself.
Yasiin Bey was a guest on The Cutting Room Floor podcast and a segment of the chat was shared online regarding Drake and his musical output. The Brooklyn veteran expressed that Drizzy’s music is what you’d hear while out shopping at Target, signaling that he views the OVO Sound honcho as a popular or mainstream act.
Drake took to his Instagram Stories feed and shared a clip of Method Man discussing the finer points of Hip-Hop culture with an interviewer. True to his nickname, the Take Care star wrote in the captions, “What umi say again? Lemme shine my light king don’t change up now” referencing Bey’s classic “Umi Says” track.
While Bey’s observation might ring true considering where Drake stands in the greater conversation surrounding the culture, Hip-Hop has undergone a series of transformations since Bey’s initial start in the 1990s, and artists of that ilk undoubtedly influenced Drake. As it stands, The Boy has previously demanded respect from rappers for his pen work and even hopped into a strictly Hip-Hop bag on the deluxe version of his last studio album, For All The Dogs.
Naturally, Bey’s comments woke up the hives of both artists, pitting them against each other with fans using silly potshots, with some referring to Bey’s music as “Peace God Raps” and other related jabs. Others are defending Bey’s right to his comments and have taken swipes at Drake’s authenticity as a rapper while firmly placing him in the “pop Rap” world.
Hopefully, a conversation can happen between the pair to clear the air.
—
Photo: Getty
HipHopWired Featured Video
Source: Gado / Getty
Martin Luther King, Jr. ‘I Have A Dream’ Speech [VIDEO]
The late, great Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his famed “I Have A Dream” speech on August 28, 1963 at the Lincoln Memorial. READ his words (or watch the video) below.
—
“I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.
Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.
But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languished in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. And so we’ve come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.
In a sense we’ve come to our nation’s capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the “unalienable Rights” of “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note, insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked “insufficient funds.”
But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. And so, we’ve come to cash this check, a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice.
We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of Now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God’s children.
It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the Negro’s legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. And those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. And there will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.
But there is something that I must say to my people, who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice: In the process of gaining our rightful place, we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again, we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force.
The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. And they have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom.
We cannot walk alone.
And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead.
We cannot turn back.
Source: Bob Parent / Getty
There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, “When will you be satisfied?” We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the negro’s basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their self-hood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating: “For Whites Only.” We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until “justice rolls down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream.”¹
I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. And some of you have come from areas where your quest — quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive. Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed.
Let us not wallow in the valley of despair, I say to you today, my friends.
And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.
I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.”
I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.
I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.
I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.
I have a dream today!
I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of “interposition” and “nullification” — one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.
I have a dream today!
I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight; “and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together.”2
This is our hope, and this is the faith that I go back to the South with.
With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith, we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith, we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.
And this will be the day — this will be the day when all of God’s children will be able to sing with new meaning:
My country ’tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing.
Land where my fathers died, land of the Pilgrim’s pride,
From every mountainside, let freedom ring!
And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true.
And so let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire.
Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York.
Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania.
Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado.
Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California.
But not only that:
Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia.
Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee.
Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi.
From every mountainside, let freedom ring.
And when this happens, when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual:
Free at last! Free at last!
Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!”
[embedded content]
HipHopWired Featured Video
CLOSE
Yasiin Bey doesn’t pop out too often but when he does, it will always get attention from the Hip-Hop masses. In a new viral clip making the rounds, the former Mos Def likened the music of Drake to what one would hear while shopping at Target; the reactions are priceless.
Yasiin Bey was a guest on The Cutting Room Floor podcast and a clip from the conversation made it onto Twitter and spread widely. During the discussion about Drake, Bey said that Drake’s music was “likable” after the host said they found the Canadian superstar’s music to be good mainstream fun.
As the conversation progressed, it was clear that Yasiin Bey was trying to be diplomatic and the pair decided to advance the conversation to another topic. What might be getting people talking the most online is that when the host elected to move on, the pair seemed to smirk at one another.
Drizzy fans are rallying together to question Bey’s pedigree as a rapper but the Brooklyn MC has a sizeable share of defenders schooling the youngins on the fact that he’s one of them ones on the microphone.
Hopefully, Drake doesn’t take this personally and it all blows over by the end of the weekend.
Check out the clip of Yasiin Bey speaking on the sound of Drake’s music below.
—
Photo: Getty