Earlier this year proceeding the outcome of the 59th annual Grammy awards, Solange’s took to Twitter to express her disdain towards the academy’s for album of the year.
They’ve since been deleted, but she express a critical issue with the academy regarding the history of winners in that category. She wrote:
“There have only been two black winners [at the Grammys] in the last 20 years for Album of the Year. There have been over 200 black artists who have performed.” She concluded: “Create your own committees, build your own institutions, give your friends awards, award yourself, and be the gold you wanna hold, my Gs.”
sad Solange deleted her apt Grammys criticism but here it is again: "create your own commitees… award yourself." pic.twitter.com/Dqm3cu6D83
Solange was not alone in her disgust. In fact, the backlash was so heavy the head of the Recording Academy Neil Portnow actually responded, denying that the awards has a “race problem.”
“I don’t think there’s a race problem at all… It’s always hard to create objectivity out of something that’s inherently subjective, which is what art and music is about. We do the best we can,” he said back in February.
Now, as of today, after releasing the complete nominations for 2018’s 60th Annual Grammy ceremony, for the first time in 19 years the album category has no white men.
Figure that. This happened last in 1999, when five women were nominated for the category.
Jay-Z leads all artist with eight nominations followed by Kendrick’s seven. If Jay were to win, it would make him the first non-white artist to win Album of the Year in over a decade, avenging his wife’s snob last year.
Many are feeling that Ed Sheeran, who’s album Divide is 2017’s second best-selling album, behind Taylor Swift’s Reputation, was snubbed by receiving no major awards noms, only earning two nods in the pop categories. Otherwise people were overall elated at the complete spread.
Never in a million years would I thought I’d be advocating for anything remotely associated to Halloween a week out from December, but got dammit Fabolous and Jadakiss’s Nightmare On Elm Street got makes it easy for Freddy and Jason to exist outside of October.
Released on Thanksgiving, the two clearly were not able to make the mark of getting the theme project out on the preferred holiday, but when you give the project a listen that becomes something you immediately forget.
With production from Swizz Beats and features the include the likes of Styles P, a Fabolous and Jadakiss collaboration album has no choice but to deliver exactly what you’re aspect: bars.
For fans of punchlines and multiple flows, this project will hit the sweet spot. The two go back and forth, playing well to their characters. Jadakiss even incorporates a cool “kill, kill, kill” ad lib to compliment his Jason persona.
Because the two are highly praised for their pen, as well due to the theme of the album, It’s only right to declare a victor.
Sorting through what I believe is the project’s hottest bars, we’ll see who comes out on top.
“Ground Up” / Fabolous
“Ayo, I built this from the ground up
That’s how I found patience
Came up from the mud and that’s how you foundation“
“F vs. Jason Intro” / Jadakiss
“I’m dead wrong; you wanna live, I can’t let you
You at full speed, I’m walking, I still catch you”
“Power from the hockey mask, James St. Patrick
Three bodies in one night, that’s a hat trick”
“Stand Up” / Fabolous
“Them people ran up on me
Asking me do I know something
Looked them in they eyes and said, “If I knew something
I wouldn’t know nothing”
“Stand Up” / Jadakiss
“What I look like being thirsty when when water is free?”
“Theme Music”/ Fabolous
“They wanna front ’til you jump in the back
Shawty named Rosa, jump in the back
House party days, you’d get jumped in the back
Nowadays the jump offs just jump in the back”
“Theme Music” / Fabolous
“Show and prove over the talking
They told me as a young G
Even when you hungry never move like you starving”
“Soul Food” / Fabolous
“Yeah, but it’s all for my family The goal wasn’t live middle class and buy Camrys I want us all to eat, even if from my pantry”
For as long as I can remember TIME Magazine’s Person of the Year has been just as an indicator of the year’s end as Christmas and New Year’s Eve.
The honor, which serves as a refresher to what figures has had the most influence the past year, is determined by the magazine’s unofficial public poll, where pretty much anyone is allowed to vote in who they believe is worthy.
Past winners have ranged from groups of people to specific movements and is not exclusive to candidates who’ve only had a positive influence. In fact, Donald Trump won the award in 2016, but took exception after the issue went to publication with the unflattering cover title: “PRESIDENT OF THE DIVIDED STATES OF AMERICA.”
With Thanksgiving being over it seems that we’ve found ourselves at that time of year again. The Poll, which closes December 3rd, has had the web contemplating and debating who they believe should be voted in or who was left off as a candidate.
Ironically enough, just yesterday, Trump decided he wanted part of the conversation tweeting that he “took a pass” at the this years title after the magazine reached out to him, because he didn’t want to follow through with the process proceeding his victory.
Time Magazine called to say that I was PROBABLY going to be named “Man (Person) of the Year,” like last year, but I would have to agree to an interview and a major photo shoot. I said probably is no good and took a pass. Thanks anyway!
Of course this wasn’t true. Sadly, the President of the United States of America lying to the general public is sort of the norm now. TIME magazine swiftly came to correct the Head of State, stating that his claims were “incorrect.”
The President is incorrect about how we choose Person of the Year. TIME does not comment on our choice until publication, which is December 6.
What is true is that Trump currently tied for third place at 5% with “The Dreamers” and the hashtag “#MeToo,” but all three trail Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia, who is ranked No. 1 with 21% of the vote.
#MeToo
The viral hashtag that means so much more than a trend stems from the recent wave of sexual harassment allegations which surfaced in various industries following the fall of long-time Hollywood filmmaker Harvey Weinstein.
We’re talking names like Kevin Spacey and Louis C.K to Republican State Senate hopeful Roy Moore any many more who all have had allegations of sexual harassment brought up against them.
The more women came forward the more empowered woman across the world felt. In result, one by one, incidences from decades surfaced, shedding light on we learned has been a plight for women for years.
What became abundantly clear, is that there is an ugly issue of sexism and, like racism, must be addressed and uprooted.
Given that the voting is closing soon, I figured I take a stab at narrowing the open field down to the top five candidates of who I think is most deserving of TIME’s person of the year (spoiler alert: it won’t be Trump).
Jemele Hill
https://giphy.com/gifs/3ohs7T2drHyrBn9x96
Jemele Hill is an anchor who co-host ESPN’s six o’clock flagship program The Six.
Brought over with co-host Michael Smith from their very successful program on ESPN 2, His and Her’s, it was a big deal when both of the anchors got the promotion to take over the iconic news program’s hottest slot.
But earlier this year Jemele found herself in trouble when her tweets about Donald Trump gained some traction, even causing causing the President to call her out. Though mostly accurate and not at all inappropriate, ESPN suspended her for two weeks in response.
Donald Trump is a white supremacist who has largely surrounded himself w/ other white supremacists.
Jemele’s courage to stand for what’s right what matters in the midst of having a politically diverse viewership caused a massive stand of solidarity in her stead.
Even in her return, though mindful of her limitations, Jemele remains a voice for oppressed voices in a space where it’s not encouraged — a space that desperately needs it.
A post shared by Know Your Rights Camp (@yourrightscamp) on
Coloin Kaepernick ‘s planted seeds in 2016 have been prospering and disrupting all sorts of shit up in 2017.
His choice to kneel last year was done to peacefully bring attention to the killing of unarmed black men by police in America. This year, though he is not on an active roster, players on teams across the league — and even coaches at one point — put their knee on the ground.
Ultimately, this has caused choas in the league. With players saying Kaepernick deserves a roster spot, sponsors saying they’re losing money and the President calling for player’s ousting, Kaepernick has done more in one gesture than anyone in recent memory.
Now Colin has filed a grievance against NFL owners on accounts of collusion. Depending on the ruling and if he indeed gets back in the league and succeeds, it would be hard to argue who had a more impactful year.
Elon Musk
I would say that Elon Musk has had one of the quietest successful years in a while but you would have to had been under a rock not to at least tune in to one of his groundbreaking discoveries this year.
Where do you even begin? Previewing models of SpaceX’s space suit, his research venture training an AI to teach itself and publishing his revised plans to colonize Mars don’t even scratch the surface the innovations he’s had his fingertips on this year.
https://kulturehub.com/elon-musk-spacex-mars/
Steve Jobs may be gone but there is every bit of genius in Musk that can provide innovation that matters still.
Cardi B
My vote for person of the year is Bronx rapper/actress Cardi B.
The former social media sensation has managed to move from a reality television star to having the highest-charting song by a solo female rapper since Nicki Minaj’s to getting engaged to Offset from Migos all in a years time.
She’s graced the cover of Rolling Stone, The New Yorker and has performed for Jimmy Kimmel — her accent to mainstream has been unparalleled.
The fact that she has done all this while being completely herself is a message to anyone who thinks what they have is “not enough” to make it.
I’m not sure who will win, but whoever does usually comes with a just reason. The poll ends Dec 3.
I assume it was pettiness at its finest and an unhealthy way of self-healing when Big Sean dropped his hit single “IDFWU” back in 2015.
During the time he had just divorced Glee star Naya Rivera, wherein which she turned around and married actor Ryan Dorsey three months later.My favorite line of the song goes as follows:
Typical. Call the chick you leave behind ‘nuts’ to publicly dismiss emotion.
But after this past Saturday night, when Rivera was arrested and charged with misdemeanor domestic battery after an alleged altercation with her husband Ryan Dorsey, he may have been telling the truth the whole time.
As reported by local news station WSAZ, on Saturday night in Kanawha County, West Virginia, police responded to a domestic violence complaint from Dorsey who claimed that Rivera struck him in the head and face.
According to the reports, his bruises were consistent with his claims, and further evidence was backed up by the video taken during the alleged incident.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMuAZd-vMOg
Rivera called off her divorce from Dorsey last month after a year-long separation, which is ironic, seeing that it was her father-in-law who paid her $1000 PR bond.
Shortly after the report came out, Big Sean took to his Twitter tweeting a video many are calling “shady.” The footage is of a little girl emphatically saying,
“I told y’all n—–. I told y’all n—–. Y’all thought I was playing, but I told y’all n—–.”
While we can chuckle now, seeing that Sean has found love and the presumed “bad guy” is in jail, we must overlook a blaring problem that exists: domestic violence against men.
Research conducted in an American Journal of Public Health report found that half of [violent relationships] were reciprocally violent.
In non-reciprocally violent relationships, women were the perpetrators in more than 70% of the cases. Meaning women initiate domestic violence more than men, men just under-report it.
If incidents such as Rivera’s are just laughed at and not addressed, men will continue to keep silent and women will continue to feel as if they can get away with putting their hands on men.
Solange attacked Hov in the elevator and got cheered on. Ray Rice attacked his girl back and got crucified. The rules not the same.
The short-lived spat between the two Harlem legends began a day after Thanksgiving when Ma$e dropped the scathing diss “Oracle“. Floating over Jay Z’s Blueprint 2 title track, Murda shed light on Cam’s past beefs, side-ways deals, and even makes incest claims against Killa.
Because of the personnel the beef felt nostalgic; and all of the internet felt the same way.
If you’re wondering what triggered the former Bad Boy member, it stems back from Cam’s relentless agitation.
This past March Cam aired Made out on Instagram Live about becoming a pastor and more recently on his latest projectThe Program, he came at Mase on “It’s Killa” where he shared a story about a situation that Mase got in years back and how he felt disrespected after helping out.
Got this ni**a home and he passed me a hundo ($100 dollars?!)
Told him straight up I ain’t feeling him
Let me curve this ni**a ‘fore I end up killing him
And he kept going in:
I watched him play Pop Lotti against Baby Maine
At this time I’m moving heroin in Maryland
They both died and this n***a turned reverend!
So if anything, “Oracle” was well-deserved. That didn’t stop Cam from responding though. After previewing this diss on his Instagram he dropped “Dinner Time” on Black Friday, but didn’t quite garner the response that Ma$e did.
But between sub-par production value, played-out homophobia and simply weak ass bars, to say the response was disappointing would be an understatement and the internet is letting him hear about it.
In particular people pointed out how terrible the sound quality, giving internet trolls far too much material for a holiday weekend.
Seeing at how fast the whole back and forth ended it’s possible the situation could have been promo fort the follow up of The Program, The Program 2, set to release on New Years Day.
We may never know, but for now Mase got one over Cam. It will be interesting to see if this is yet another comeback for the one of hip-hop’s legends.
Over the past couple of days you might have caught wind of the term ‘Net Neutrality’ going around.
Whether on Twitter or frantically spammed onto you by your conspiracy theorist friend, the buzzword seems to have come up out of nowhere. That’s because this past Tuesday the Federal Communications Commission announced they were planning to scrap it.
F.C.C. chairman Ajit Pai spoke to the New York Timesabout doing away with the 2015 Obama regulation and his reasoning behind it saying:
“Under my proposal, the federal government will stop micromanaging the internet, instead, the F.C.C. would simply require internet service providers to be transparent about their practices so that consumers can buy the service plan that’s best for them and entrepreneurs and other small businesses can have the technical information they need to innovate.”
Yet, judging by the sense of urgency in people’s response to the FCC’s proposal, it seems to be deeper than simply buying a service plan for the internet.
That’s because it is.
Once again, the Trump administration sides with big money and against democracy. If this passes, the internet and its free exchange of information as we have come to know it will cease to exist. #NetNeutralityhttps://t.co/1oKLkWOpYn
Net neutrality prohibits internet providers from blocking or slowing down access to certain content and mandates internet service providers like Comcast and Verizon to provide equal access to the internet. When all data has to be created equally, it ensures that everyone can load their content at the same speed.
So when you switch from binge watching Curb Your Enthusiasm on HBO Go to catching the game on NBA League Pass the stream works just as quickly. One does not compromise the other.
What the FCC is proposing is an “open market” approach which allows competitive pricing for internet services. In a market unregulated by net neutrality, providers can charge tech companies a premium to send content to consumers more quickly.
For example, with how much Netflix is pulling in, Verizon could easily up the price on them and they’d have no choice but to comply simply because they rely on networks like AT&T and Verizon to carry their content to users. Or Comcast may see a company like Facebook — which has a billion plus subscribers — and decide to make them pay a premium simply because they could.
Netflix supports strong #NetNeutrality. We oppose the FCC's proposal to roll back these core protections.
It’s no coincidence that the only people advocating overturning net neutrality are the established ISP’s — the one’s who govern the internet’s point of entry.
The FCC’s push has inspired tech giants like Amazon, Facebook, Google, Mozilla, and Netflix to join together in opposition of the the new proposal. Their efforts are supported by The Internet Association as well, who says that dismantling the rules,
“will create significant uncertainty in the market and upset the careful balance that has led to the current virtuous circle of innovation in the broadband ecosystem.”
While Pai is correct in that net neutrality stifles the sector’s economic possibilities — total investment in broadband fell 5.6% between 2014 and 2016. The reality of startups surviving in this sector this late in the game is unrealistic. Doing away with net neutrality is capitalism 101 but that’s the issue.
If these regulations were dismantled, service providers would succumb to competition, making non-partnered websites or data that’s not advantageous to their agenda difficult—or impossible—to access.
The internet is a service, a commonplace for information, not a taxed good.
The Verge makes a great point, stating that “roughly 78 percent of Americans have either no high-speed access or just one provider.” So if your provider decides not to give full capabilities to your favorite site, you’re caught in the crossfire.
The internet should not be another case of ‘let the best man win’. Like education, there are certain services where the highest quality should be made available to all and access to the internet and information is one of them.
Chairman Pai first unveiled his plan to industry lobbyists in April 2017 and was approved to have the proposal moved forward in May, but received tens of millions of comments from internet users who want to keep the protections in place.
The FCC will vote on his Net Neutrality-killing plan on Dec. 14.
Click here to voice your complaint and to speak against this plan and don’t forget to tell your members of Congress to condemn Pai’s attack on the open internet.
Gold chain. Gold teeth. Gold scalp. Just as the slow-motion figure begins to gain focus, the lens snaps to a man sitting in a Tesla Model X, falcon doors ajar, casually talking on a phone one can only assume is not available to everyday people like you and me.
The word ICON flashes across the screen, heavy subwoofers and intricate hi-hats flood your ears complimented by the cry of a soul sample.
At this point, you have no choice, he has your attention.
“Icon” was the single picked to drop alongside Jaden Smith’s debut studio album, SYRE released November 16th and it’s clear why.
Much like the title of the song, the video is a proclamation. Calling yourself a living icon stems from a confidence that doesn’t develop overnight. It’s unapologetic, raw, and self-aggrandizing.
The person you see in the video — decked out in gold, sporting his own clothing line, and rapping his ass off — is not who we were introduced to in the Pursuit of Happiness, The Karate Kid or who rapped alongside Justin Bieber. This may explain why Smith elected to go with his middle name Sryre as the album title instead of Jaden.
When you watch the video for “Icon” you’re looking at someone who has come into their own. While I’m nose-to-the-screen in awe at the development, he’s delivering bars in a manner that suggests I shouldn’t be surprised at all.
As if we should have known this was coming. It’s that confidence, even more so than his rapping ability, that stands out.
Being the son of Will and Jada Smith, a child actor, and coming from money can get you almost anywhere in life, except hip-hop. Privilege doesn’t bode over well in rap. Drake still catches heat for being on a television show in his adolescence. This is why props must be given to Jaden and his freshman effort.
The 17-track, 70 minute-long offering, which took him three years to complete, has already received high praise. Besides cosigns from A$AP Rocky, Logic, Kendrick, and others in the industry, as of yesterday it debuted at number one on iTunes.
Even his contributions on other artist’s work like Post Malone’s “Lonely” and Rich the Kid’s “Like This” helped lay groundwork to cementing his place in the industry.
From top to bottom the album leaves no stone unturned, Jaden enlists his sister for harmonizations and even inserts spoken word poetry to help convey his emotions.
While he’s till figuring it out — conceptually this body of work was a bit all over the place — what Jaden has done was demand the attention of the hip-hop community. Jaden could easily be dismissed.
While his dad is beloved and has even won a Grammy, Will was never seen as a lyricist enough to be looking for it in Jaden.
There are no certainties in life. Will Smith’s money can only go so far. There are only so many strings to be pulled, eventually you’re going to have to show and prove. Jaden did more than that with SYRE. He’s achieved success not because of his parents, but in spiteof them.
Yesterday, Russell Simmons, mogul, entrepreneur, philanthropist, and founder of Def Jam, became the latest name added to that list.
This past Sunday, model Keri Claussen Khalighi came forward, telling the Los Angeles Times that Simmons allegedly raped her in 1991 when she was 17 years old while Brett Ratner, Hollywood director and a long-time business of partner of Simmons, watched.
In one claimed situation, Simmons is alleged to have assaulted model Keri Claussen Khalighi, then 17, while Ratner watched and did not intervene. Both men denied this occurred. pic.twitter.com/d861glSlJm
According to Khalighi, she met Simmons and Ratner at a casting call in New York. After agreeing to go to dinner with Simmons, he invited her to his apartment to watch a music video. But upon arrival, Simmons started ripping off the models clothes. When she wanted Ratner to help her, she realized they were “in it together.”
“I looked over at Brett and said ‘help me’ and I’ll never forget the look on his face,” she told the LA Times.
Simmons, who was double the model’s age at the time, allegedly made her perform oral sex as Ratner watched. Afterwards she said she went to take a shower because she felt “disgusting.” Then Simmons allegedly penetrated her without consent.
She was a teenager who had just left a farm town in Nebraska with the hope of breaking into the modeling industry. pic.twitter.com/ctOHIOdTF7
Both Simmons and Rater deny the claims. In a statement, Simmons said he recalled a weekend with Khalighi when she 26 years ago, but says what she described as assault was “completely consensual and with Keri’s full participation.”
And Ratner has stated he has “no recollection” of Khalighi asking him for help and denied witnessing her “protest,” according to his attorney Martin Singer.
But the credibility of both Simmons and Ratner has already started to crumble.
Yesterday, in seeming impeccable timing, almost simultaneously as the story about Simmons broke, Terry Crews tweeted an email exchange between he and Russell which revealed further disturbing actions of the Def Jam founder.
Russell Simmons is an endorser of meditation, positivity, and was fundamental to helping hip-hop get to where it is today, which makes these allegations especially tough to swallow. Yet, just like Louis C.K., Kevin Spacey, and others, it’s a reality we cannot shy away from.
In moments like these we must believe and help the accusers, their stories, and sympathize with how difficult going public with their past is.
As our heroes fall one by one, one can only hope that this sparks a culture shift to bringing awareness to the prevalent sexual misconduct that happens everyday.
Russell Simmons let the hip-hop community and all the urban youth who look up to him down.
Chick-Fil-A and their over-the-top commitment to customer service has been an ongoing joke on the internet for a while now.
The chicken chain has clearly set a bar when it comes fast food restaurants setting off reaction tweets, threads and videos, parodying the unbelievable service.
The latest comes from Jaron Meyers, a comedian/worship leader from Kansas City who, after performing his first show just two years ago, has managed to perfect his act enough to perform at colleges, churches, comedy clubs, and corporate events across the country.
The song is called “My Pleasure” and features Jaron playing off of the stellar customer service that Chick-Fil-A is known for.
In the video, Jaron plays a Chick-Fil-A employee who goes as far as saving customers from burning cars to helping them reach hard-to-grab items in the grocery store.
I wouldn’t call it rap, really. If anything, it’s in the same vein as a Weird Al Yankovic or The Lonely Island in that it uses rap to drive home a comedic concept.
If you need a laugh this is the perfect remedy for you and if you really like what you hear Jaron is also on iTunes. Of course Twitter has spoken and the reviews are mixed.
Michael Vick quickly fell out of the graces of the general public (again) earlier this summer after, on the Fox program Speak ForYourself,Vick suggested that Colin Kaepernick was not being blackballed by the NFL but, instead, is out of the league because he needs a haircut.
The backlash was swift and valid, but since then Vick has been winning.
A month following the potential PR nightmare in August, the four-time pro bowler signed as a studio analyst for FOX NFL Kickoff as well as being designated to make regular appearances on FS1 studio shows as part of his new gig.
For someone who spent 18 months behind bars for fighting dogs, becoming a pariah and the subject of protests when reinstated to the NFL, it’s a pretty wild feat for Vick to land a broadcasting gig on a conservative network, even if he’s just talking sports.
Now, according to Darren Rovell of ESPN, in an effort to put his bid in for best 2017, Vick has reportedly paid the final $1.5 million to creditors Thursday, paying back $17.4 million of the $17.6 million owed from a July 2008 bankruptcy filing.
Joseph Luzinski, senior vice president of Development Specialists Inc., a management consultancy firm and liquidating trustee in Vick’s bankruptcy case, spoke to Rovell to provide some context to just how difficult this is, saying: “Paying 99 cents on the dollar, which he did, is remarkable. It happens in maybe one out of 100 cases.”
The $50 million Vick made between 2010-2014 with the Eagles and the Jets sure helped a lot. He had a restrictive budget to pay back creditors designating future income to pay off creditors.
I may not agree with everything that comes out of his mouth, his past, or decision-making on third down, but I gotta respect someone who can climb from a hole like that.
