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dave chappelle December 26, 2017
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Dave Chappelle is blessing with two new stand up specials on New Year’s Eve

This past Friday (Dec 22nd), Netflix announced that it would be premiering two new Dave Chappelle specials New Years Eve.

Equanimity and The Bird Revelation (which was filmed at The Comedy Store in LA last just last month) will be Chappelle’s second set of specials to premier on Netflix after making his big comeback with Deep in the Heart of Texas: Dave Chappelle Live at Austin City Limits and The Age of Spin: Dave Chappelle Live at the Hollywood Palladium this past March.

Now, to some it would seem to counter culture to premier a Netflix special on New Year’s Eve, but to those who are washed and who planed on staying in anyway ( liked myself) this is more than good news.

At a time that is fitting for nostalgia, hearing Chappelle take on the events that took place throughout the year, in his witty way, would be more than a fitting alternative to getting wasted.

In a preview from Equanimity Chappelle discusses 2016 voters, politics and of course race, and shows that he will be covering a lot of current events.

From his SNL skits to the previous specials that premiered on Netflix this year, its safe to say that to comedian still has his touch.

Even his appearance at “Def Comedy Jam” 25th anniversary special for Netflix earlier this year was an instant classic.

Say what you want, but after receiving a 91 percent approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes for his first two specials, counting down with Dave dosen’t sound bad at all.

dedication 6 December 25, 2017
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Lil Wayne’s ‘Dedication 6’ has finally arrived, peep it here

Dedication 6 is here.

The storied series, which dates back to 2005, is already permanently engrained in the corridors of hip-hop history. Dedication is where Wayne first proclaimed he was the best rapper alive, it’s where remixing the year’s biggest songs got hot, it’s where we first heard DJ Drama talk his shit. Dedication is more than a mixtape series, they’re staples in hip-hop.

The two singles Tunchi dropped prior — remixes to 21 Savage’s Bank Account and Jay Z’s The Story of Oj” —  already let us know that Wayne still has it. Now that the entire project is here, we’re get front row seats to the content Wayne is made a career off of: bars on drugs he partakes, the women he rotates, and clever wordplay.

Listen to Dedication 6 here

Seeing that the last installment to the Dedication series came about in 2013 it’s safe to say this one came with more anticipation. But according to the Weezy D6 will have two versions, meaning even more waiting.

He appeared on NFL GameDay Prime this week and broke the news to Deion Sanders:

“I got Dedication 6 dropping for Christmas,” he says at the 3:05 mark. “What we ended up doing, I ended up doing a whole bunch of songs so they wanna split it up. So they gonna drop one version for Christmas and drop the other songs after that.”

https://youtu.be/7-HymV3eze4

Either way It’s good to see Tunchi return to his old ways, especially after his health scare in this past September.

TMZ reported that Lil Wayne was found unconscious in his Chicago hotel room after suffering from a seizure, and was ordered that he couldn’t fly out due to his history with the ailment, forcing him to cancel his Las Vegas show.

Among health, Wayne has also been dealing with a nasty legal dispute between he and Cash Money records. He has yet to drop his $51 million lawsuit against Birdman and the label, which, according to Wayne, has been the main road block to his releasing his next  studio album, The Carter V. 

Yet, through it all, Wayne is still here.

With a 15-songs trackless that features the most of his Young Money team, is no doubt in my mind that this project will be laced with rhymes from top to bottom.

Though Lil Wayne has released music — T-Wayne (2017) and Collegrove (2016) — he has not released a solo effort in four almost four years.

Off the strength of the series and the artist, Dedication 6 shall be getting spins this way.

big baller league December 20, 2017
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LaVar Ball announces ‘Big Baller League’ for high school grads who want to get paid

After Lavar Ball revealed he would be taking both of his youngest sons — LiAngelo (19) and LaMelo (16) Ball — out of school last week to bring them to the Lithuanian league, it appears that was just phase one of an even bigger plan.

Today, Ball told ESPN that he’s launching a basketball league for nationally-ranked players — like his sons — who have graduated from high school but don’t want to go to college.

If you take a second and abstain from pointing and laughing like most of the media does at every move he LaVar makes, the Big Baller CEO might actually be on to something.

The current NBA rules mandate that players spend a year in college — or elsewhere — before becoming eligible for the NBA. The last time players went to the league straight out of high school was in 2005, but this rule has been under review since it went into place.

With it being virtually impossible to make money in college, even though the NCAA is a billion dollar industry, there aren’t many options for players with the talent to make money if it’s not overseas. The NCAA is thinking of modifying the rules so players can either enter the draft or spend two years in college — much like what the do in to college baseball.

So what’s LaVar Ball’s strategy?

Well, Ball already has a Junior Basketball Association which he says is fully funded by his Big Baller Brand. With a salary ranging from $3,000 – $10,000 a month for the lowest to highest ranked players, Ball’s plan is to fill 10 teams with 80 NBA hopefuls to play at NBA arenas in Los Angeles, Dallas, Brooklyn and Atlanta.

“Getting these players is going to be easy,” Ball told ESPN. “This is giving guys a chance to get a jump start on their career, to be seen by pro scouts, and we’re going to pay them because someone has to pay these kids.”

Ball says the league will have NBA and not NCAA rules, further preparing them for the pro game, citing his inspiration from NCAA president Mark Emmert, who was asked at a SportsBusiness Journal conference whether Ball was good or bad for the college game.

“Is this about someone being part of a university and playing basketball or any other sport with that school’s jersey on representing that institution, or is it about preparing me for my career, my professional career as a ballplayer,” Emmert responded. “If it’s the latter, you can do that inside a university and that might be a really good way to go. But if you don’t want to and you don’t think that it’s right for your family then don’t come.”

Ball agreed in his response to the NCAA president. “He was right,” Ball said.

“Those kids who are one and done, they shouldn’t be there with the NCAA trying to hold them hostage, not allowing them to keep the jersey they wear while selling replicas of them in stores. So our guy isn’t going to go to Florida State for a year. He’s going to come to our league.”

Though Ball admittedly has a lot of work to do — with no venues, set ticket prices or players yet — he confidently has the vision and the positioning to make it happen. If the one-and-done NBA rule does not change, LaVar will have a legitimate target audience of top tier talent that wants to get paid but wants to stay in the states.

We’ve already seen the success of Ice Cube’s Big 3 League, which had its first successful season this year, there’s no real reason why LaVar couldn’t start another league. If Ball is not successful, at the very least his venture will spark more ideas to avoid this particular issue.

Disrupt Lavar Ball GIF by Ball in the Family - Find & Share on GIPHY

college football December 20, 2017
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After a historic 2017, Kendrick Lamar closes it out by dropping new Nikes

Kendrick Lamar’s third studio album, DAMN was regarded a ‘classic’ seconds after its release back in April this year. Though we should be used to such claims — every studio album of Kendrick’s is arguably a classic — the project arriving within Trump’s first 100 days really made the premature declaration not so premature.

238,000 first week sales, two number one songs, five top tens, and seven Grammy nominations later, it’s safe to say that, yet again, early recognition of Kendrick’s greatness was warranted.

Most would be satisfied after releasing a body of work as praised as DAMN but the “Humble” rapper has been everything but still since.

Between pop-up shops and rocking the VMA’s, Kung Fu Kenny has has his fingerprint on the industry all year despite a first quarter album release.

Yesterday, he was at it again, taking to his Instagram to announce his new collaboration with Nike’s classic Cortez sneaker.

DON’T TRIP. CORTEZ KENNY

A post shared by Kendrick Lamar (@kendricklamar) on

The red and white take features the words “Don’t Trip” on the laces and plays to his karate alter-ego with Chinese symbols on the side of the shoe. This is Kendrick’s first signature show since collaborating with Reebok in 2014 and pays homage to the West Coast sneaker culture.

Before letting fans recover from the news of his signature shoe yesterday, ESPN announced that Kendrick is officially the halftime performer for the 2017 college football National Championship in Atlanta.

According to the sports network his performance ‘will be integrated” into ESPN’s broadcast, which possibly means but does not guarantee that they will be airing the concert. Kendrick spoke about the opportunity saying,

“Having the opportunity to perform at halftime of what will surely be the best game of the year between two deserving universities is truly an honor.”

“Thank you, ESPN, for having me be the first halftime performer ever at the College Football Playoff National Championship.”

Though the National Championship doesn’t kick off until Jan. 8, it just shows how thorough Kendrick’s 2017 has been. No wonder he’s number 14 on Forbes 2017 top earners list.

There hasn’t been an official release for Lamar’s Nike Cortez collaboration but if the announcement tells us anything, its that the hustle never ends, even when you’re ahead.

Bruh December 19, 2017
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TV reporter gets flamed for saying Diddy looked like he ‘smoked a blunt and drank a 40’

Sunday, shortly after Jerry Richardson, owner of the Carolina Panthers, announced he was putting the team for sale at the end of the 2017 season, Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs let the world know he was interested in purchasing the team.

Granted, it’s an ambitious proposition (the Panthers are $120 million more than Diddy’s total net value), but it’s not farfetched for Diddy to find other rich friends to own an NFL team with. North Carolina native and Golden State Warriors All-Star point guard Stephen Curry said he wants to help.

Yet for some, it doesn’t matter what you’ve accomplished and how much you’re worth, such accomplishments are silly to even speak of attaining.

At least this was the case for Bay Area reporter Henry Wofford for KRON-TV’s who, this weekend during a sports segment called “The World According to Darya,” saying he didn’t believe Diddy’s offer. Wofford went on to suggest that the Bad Boy CEO was under the influence when he stated his plans to purchase the Panthers.

https://twitter.com/tommyrosiers/status/942849853809479680

“The guy looks high right there in this video,” Wofford said. “He looks like he smoked a blunt and drank a 40. Come on, I’m not taking him seriously.”

As you can imagine, once the segment aired people were irate with the ignorant and racist undertones to Wofford’s comments. Compton native Nipsey Hussle took to his Instagram to reprimand the reporter and to take up for his entrepreneurial buddy, saying he was “offended to his core.”

Wofford posted a full statement Monday apologizing for his words and stressing praise for the mogul.

Although it was said in an attempt to be funny, I realize insinuating a person may be drunk or on drugs is nothing to joke about. For that I sincerely apologize to Mr. Combs, his fans and everyone who was offended. Dozens of Diddy’s twitter followers have accused me of playing on racial stereotypes. That was not my goal. But I understand my comments had that impact and for that I sincerely apologize.

Sean Combs has a long history of success in the music industry and he has done a wonderful job investing millions of dollars in multiple businesses. He has a great reputation for making large donations to help the community. He’s a man who has worked from the bottom to the top and for that I respect his accomplishments. My comment was never intended to downplay what Diddy Combs has accomplished as an entrepreneur nor was it intended to question what he’s capable of accomplishing in the future. Sean Diddy Combs has the work ethic, wisdom, dedication and contacts to be a successful NFL owner.

You can read his entire apology here.

How anyone can find dismissing ambitions, especially when they’re with positive intent, funny is beyond my comprehension but Diddy took the high road.

https://twitter.com/Diddy/status/943142408161845248

I hope this fuels Mr. Combs to prove all the naysayers wrong.

Kulture December 19, 2017
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Why Lena Waithe’s ‘The Chi’ is the must-watch show of 2018

On December 19th, Lena Waithe released the first episode of her upcoming TV show The Chi, as a teaser for the full debut set for Jan 7, 2018.

Waithe, who you may recognize from Aziz Ansari’s Netflix series Master of None, is the creator and serves as one of the executive producers of the show, alongside Common and Aaron Kaplan from Kaplan entertainment.

Normally I cringe when I see a title referring to the Windy City. Despite the citizens’ fortitude against the abundance of odds the youth and people face in Chicago, most pop culture depictions are most concerned with the city’s negatives.

Even Spike Lee, who is regarded as a legendary influencer of the culture, has used his illustrious platform to perpetuate the stigma.

In 2015, the Do The Right Thing director decided to title his Lysistrata-in-Chicago film Chi-Raq — a term used to equate the murder rate in Chicago to the death toll of U.S. soldiers in Iraq — as the movie title for his musical about the city. Not only was the movie just bad, but that name normalizes a toxic state of life for people who live it everyday.

And as recent as January of this year, Trump threatened that he’d send in feds if Chicago doesn’t fix the ‘horrible carnage going on.’ The President of the free world saying that ‘carnage’ in going on in an American city is the very reason Chicago is the scapegoat when there is outcry in the African-American community.

Between Noisey documentaries, drill music, and the influence of media, the perspective of the disenfranchised has been blurred. Chicago rappers like Lupe Fiasco, Chance The Rapper, and Vic Mensa have done tremendous work to bring awareness to what needs to be done but they need help.

Luckily The Chi isn’t cringeworthy.

The Chi is a coming-of-age story of a group of Black students that, through shared circumstance, forges a bond of a lifetime. It’s a new lens into a city that for too long has had too many negative ones.

In January of this year, the project began to fast track when Showtime picked the drama up from Fox 21 TV Studios. A team consisting of Dope writer-director Rick Famuyiwa as director, Straight Outta Compton‘s Jason Mitchell as a lead, and Waithe — who is a native of the city — behind the series, it’s safe to say the stories from the South Side will be in good hands.

If Lena Waithe can do with The Chi what Donald Glover did with Atlanta and Issa Rae with Insecure (shot in L.A.) then there’s hope for how the world sees Chicago. By simply telling an authentic human story, the audience is forced into a new narrative as it pertains to the Windy City.

Beyond the opportunity of putting more African-American actors in a premier spotlight, The Chi should be on everyone’s watch list because Chicago’s story is still untold, and with the cultural influence the city brings, it’s time we hear it.

Watch the first episode of The Chi below.

https://youtu.be/EjVKsFVgvqY

george zimmerman December 18, 2017
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Snoop Dogg warns of revolution after George Zimmerman threatens Jay Z

The Blast reported today that George Zimmerman —  who was acquitted of murder and manslaughter charges in the killing of Trayvon Martin — has threatening to feed Jay Z to alligators if he proceeds with his documentary, which is based on the case.

It was announced earlier this year that Jay-Z would be partnering with The Weinstein Company to make a commemorative documentary called Rest in Power: The Trayvon Martin Story.

According to Zimmerman, Michael Gasparro, the executive producer of said documentary, made unannounced visits to his parents’ and uncle’s homes in Florida in an attempt to get them on camera.

Zimmerman was adamant that production “harassed,” his family, but never went into detail as to what exactly the harassment was. He also did not speak on whether they agreed to get on camera or not.

What’s worse in the report from the Blast, is his statement:

“I know how to handle people who f—k with me,” he reportedly told the site. “I have since February 2012.”

Following the report, Long Beach native and everyone’s favorite uncle, Snoop Dogg took to Instagram to warn Zimmerman, saying “If one hair on Jays hair is touched that’s when the revolution will b (sic) televised.”

Between scheduling a fight with DMX, attempting to sell the gun he shot Trayvon Martin with, and an unimaginable timeline of countless crude deeds, sad to say this is not even Zimmerman’s wildest statement. F*ck this dude forever and ever.

What is good to see is that hip-hop would come together, even if this was a reality.

black excellence December 18, 2017
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Black Excellence: Diddy copping the Panthers makes perfect sense

Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs is many things. He’s the richest man in music, a Grammy award-winning artist, part owner of both a liquor and water company, and he owns his television station.

Nowadays Diddy has his sights on being an NFL owner and, as of last night, he may legitimately have a chance.

Sunday, Carolina Panthers owner Jerry Richardson announced he’s going to put the team up for sale after the 2017 season in a letter on the team website.

The announcement came hours after the Sports Illustrated story reporting the Panthers settled with at least four former employees regarding inappropriate workplace behavior by Richardson.

“I believe that it is time to turn the franchise over to new ownership,” Richardson wrote. “Therefore, I will put the team up for sale at the conclusion of this NFL season. We will not begin the sale process, nor will we entertain any inquiries, until the very last game is played.”

Without missing a beat, Diddy made sure his interest was known, tweeting that he wanted to purchase the team and not forgetting to mention that it would be an historic feat if completed.

https://twitter.com/Diddy/status/942573108170543105

You may think Diddy is trolling — as he often does — but this is no gimmick. It’s an ambition that Combs is actually on record speaking about.

This past October, Diddy cosigned a tweet by Keith Boykin which read “Black players are 70% of the NFL. We have the power to defend Colin Kaepernick and Jemele Hill from the forces that would silence them.”

The statement must have triggered something in the Bad Boy CEO, because he then went on to describe what his league would look like.

https://twitter.com/Diddy/status/917903336464109568

https://twitter.com/Diddy/status/917903563527016448

Forget that Diddy is in the music industry, that he’s not shy of headlines, and that he would probably oppose most of the current owners’ viewpoints, the fact that the NFL has not had an African-American owner in the history of the league is why this would seem improbable.

Yet, ironically enough, it’s the exact reason why Diddy is the most formidable candidate.

Diddy — who was sued earlier this year for allegedly discriminating against ‘old and white’ employees at Revolt TV–  not only has the capital, business acumen, and passion for the job, but he has the influence of the culture.

A league that, just this year, had a former NFL player file a grievance for collusion against them, an owner start an uproar for comparing his players to inmates, and has seen a drop in ratings can use the hype Diddy brings.

Logistically this can work, too. Although the Panthers are $120 million more than Diddy’s total net value (the Panthers were valued at $2.3 billion in the last Forbes NFL valuations) North Carolina native and Golden State Warriors All-Star point guard Stephen Curry says he wants to help.

Yes, math dictates that they both still don’t have enough loot to buy the team, but it shows that Diddy is an attractive business partner who can attract the Currys of the world to jump on board.

Imagine an NFL team led by an ownership group of your favorite celebrities. When Black money is put together, these are the type of possibilities that can be achieved.

It’s definitely an exciting possibility to discuss. A simple change in the systems in place could potentially save the league.

Diddy posted a video voicing his bid for owner of the Panthers. Between putting Kaepernick against Cam for QB1 and putting up the most lit halftime shows, he makes a strong case. We can only hope for such a shake up.

chinx drugz December 14, 2017
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The NYPD finally charged the coward who shot and killed Chinx Drugz

Two men have been arrested in connection to the 2015 murder of rapper Chinx Drugz, TMZ reported today.

Born Lionel Pickens, the New York City rapper was gunned down at a red light in Queens last year, sending shockwaves through the hip-hop community.

NYPD Commissioner James O’Neill believes Chinx was stalked after leaving a Brooklyn nightclub and was crossing into Queens.

Pickens was shot multiple times in the chest and was pronounced dead when he got to the hospital. The other passenger in the car suffered gunshot wounds to his back but survived.

Under the mentorship of Coke Boyz founder French Montana, Chinx was slowly building a following and was projected to be one of the next to blow out of New York.

The alleged assailants, 32-year-old Quincy Homere and 26-year-old Jamar Hill, were arrested on counts of murder, assault, and criminal possession of a weapon and both were serving time in jail on unrelated charges when they were arrested in connection to the 2015 drive-by shooting. If convicted, they each face up to 25 years to life in prison.

Chinx was working on his debut studio album — Welcome to JFK — at the time of his death. That album was posthumously released in August of 2015 and the follow up Legends Never Die, dropped the following year.

If these are indeed the men who murdered Chinx then it brings resolution to his fans, friends, and family. Until then, here check out seven of his best songs to keep his legacy alive.

Kulture December 13, 2017
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How Michael Che defied the odds and became the first Black head writer of SNL

NBC promotions announced Tuesday that theWeekend Update co-host Michael Che was promoted as a new head writer at SNL, according to Deadline.

Not only is this great for Che, given the prestige of the position, but more notably, it makes him the first Black head writer in the show’s history.

The move comes after a successful year for the sketch show, which, to their fortune, has had the folly of this administration for endless material.

While some critics of the move say Che and Jost’s absence from the news desk would be going counter to the momentum they built last season, it can also mean new opportunities for talent.

Che being the first black head writer at SNL is a major accomplishment but it wasn’t a position simply handed to him.

The New York native spent years hustling as a stand-up comedian, performing in comedy clubs seven nights a week, often in multiple venues each night until getting his first big break doing a set on The David Letterman Show in 2012.

After his bit on David Letterman, Che’s hard work now had the spotlight to match and as a result, Variety named him top 10 comic in New York and Rolling Stone top 50 funniest people in 2013.

That success led to landing a couple of guest appearances on The Daily Show, which had the legendary John Stewart at its helm at the time.

 

Though his late night appearances were still few and far between, Che’s performances were enough to land him a guest writing gig at SNL in 2013, which, as we now know, later led to the role he became renowned for on Weekend Update.

To the naked eye this promotion may seem heady and surprising but if you’ve followed Che’s story you’d see that it was the role that he was destined for and deserves to have.

In 2016, he solidified himself as a name to be reckoned when his Netflix stand-up special Michael Che Matters dropped on Netflix.

Che tackled everything from Black Lives Matter, pot legalization, and gun rights in what can be argued as one of that year’s best specials. He had a poised, cool stage presence and a delivery that made you eager for the punchline… sometimes it never came.

Besides being an instrumental part of why SNL nabbed nine statues at the 2017 Emmys, Che’s brilliance as a writer is evident and makes him more than the right choice to be at the head of the SNL writing team.

The diversity Che immediately brings will inevitably influence the culture of the show and will have his ideas at the top of the food chain.

According to Deadline, season 43 of SNL is the second most-watched season in nine years. With Che as a head writer, it will be interesting to see what new heights the show can reach next season.