Former UFC champion Ronda Rousey has been keeping a very low profile over the last several months while recovering from her loss to Holly Holm at UFC 193 in November.
It was her first defeat as a professional and Holm walked out of the ring as the new UFC Bantamweight Champion.
Rousey hostedSaturday Night Liveon January 23. During her monologue she addressed the loss publicly for the first time.
“I’m so excited to be here because it’s the first time I’ll be on live television without getting punched in the face. It’s also the first time that I’m talking to my fans since my loss to Holly Holm in November, which, by the way, was a fight that Holly sincerely deserved to win, and I just wanted to take a minute to sincerely congratulate her," Ronda told the SNL audience. “And all of those who were worried I’m not ready to host the show because I like, have brain damage, relax. I’m good. Besides, everything is on the cue cards. But, in all seriousness, I’m fine, and tonight, I’m ready to crush it.”
The feud between former boxing champions Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Oscar De La Hoya continues to roll on with no end in sight.
Their disdain for each other goes way back, but resurfaced publicly at the end of 2015.
In a December open letter that appeared inPlayboy, De La Hoya, addressed Mayweather's retirement from boxing by writing that the sport would be better off without his "boring" style of fighting.
"Let’s face it: You were boring. Just take a look at your most recent performance, your last hurrah in the ring, a 12-round decision against Andre Berto. How to describe it? A bust? A disaster? A snooze fest? An affair so one-sided that on one judge’s card Berto didn’t win a single round? Everyone in boxing knew Berto didn’t have a chance," De La Hoya wrote. "I think more people watched Family Guy reruns that night than tuned in to that pay-per-view bout. But I didn’t mind shelling out $75 for the HD broadcast. In fact it’s been a great investment. When my kids have trouble falling asleep, I don’t have to read to them anymore. I just play them your Berto fight. They don’t make it past round three. Another reason boxing is better off without you: You were afraid. Afraid of taking chances. Afraid of risk."
"I think he's jealous -- jealous," Floyd said. "The thing is this, I mean, you see Richard Schaefer is gone. Richard Schaefer built Golden Boy. Honestly, who wants to do business with Oscar De La Hoya? I really care about a fighter's well-being. I'm just saying if Miguel Cotto was my fighter, if Canelo was my fighter, they'd be a lot bigger than they are now."
Following Danny Garcia's win over Robert Guerrero on Saturday, January 24, Money May continued the verbal assault during an interview with FightHype.
"It's good to work with guys like Richard Schaefer and Al Haymon. Guys that's drug free," he said. "Guys that wear suits. Guys that dress like men. And of course, you know I'm sending shots at Oscar De La Hoya. 'Cause I'm always sending shots at him. 'Cause I don't respect a man that dress in drag."
The Mayweather Promotions boss was referring to De La Hoya's past drug problem and photos that surfaced on him wearing women's attire several years back.
UFC Featherweight ChampionConor McGregorhas also been a vocal critic of Mayweather because of comments he made attributing the Irish fighter's rapid rise to stardom as an example of racism in combat sports
Mayweather addressed that controversy as well.
"I never said that Conor McGregor was ... I didn't say I had anything against Caucasians or white America, or white people period, or Irish," he explained. "All I said is this. In this world racism still exists, but I'm not racist. That's all I said. And if he got offended, that's life."
Philadelphia rapper and Original Block Hustlaz recording artist, Dark Lo, recently sat down with Mikey T The Movie Star and Report Card Radio to chop it up about several subjects.
During the conversation he revealed that Peedi Crakk, The Notorious B.I.G, Tupac Shakur, Jay Z and Jadakiss are on his top five rapper's list, gave props to Drake and Kendrick Lamar and named his top 5 favorite guns.
Check out the video below and follow on Twitter: @OBHDarkLo @MTMOVIESTAR @1stClassFilms #ReportCardRadio
Trae Tha Truth releases an official music video for "Never Knew" featuring Snootie Wild and Que. This is off of the Houston rapper's album, "Tha Truth."
An overturned vehicle lies unattended in the median along Monacan Trail Road south of Charlottesville, Va., as snow falls on Friday, Jan. 22, 2016. (Photo Credit: Ryan M. Kelly/The Daily Progress via AP)
Video And Pics After The Jump
WASHINGTON (AP) — Millions of people awoke Saturday to heavy snow outside their doorsteps, strong winds that threatened to increase through the weekend, and largely empty roads as residents from the South to the Northeast heeded warnings to hunker down inside while a mammoth storm barreled across a large swath of the country.
The worst of the blizzard was yet to come, with strong winds and heavy snow expected to produce "life-threatening blizzard conditions" throughout Saturday, according to the National Weather Service's website. Forecasters also predicted up to a half-inch of ice accumulation in the Carolinas, and potentially serious coastal flooding in the mid-Atlantic.
Snow had started falling Friday, and Kentucky felt quite a brunt from that, with 18 inches in some areas. Drivers who opted to take to the roads were stranded on a long stretch of Interstate 75 south of Lexington because of a string of crashes and blowing snow, state police and witnesses said. The road was closed overnight, but reopened early Saturday morning, with traffic moving slowly, said Buddy Rogers, spokesman for Kentucky Emergency Management. It was unclear how many were stuck. Crews had been making wellness checks; passing out snacks, fuel and water; and trying to move cars one by one. Some had been stranded since Friday afternoon, and emergency shelters had opened.
Motorists also were reported stranded along pockets of the Pennsylvania Turnpike near the Allegheny Mountain Tunnel in Somerset County. The National Guard was called to help. Some travelers were stuck overnight, said Pennsylvania Turnpike spokesman Carl DeFebo.
In the Washington, D.C., metro area, nearly two feet of snow was measured on the ground Saturday morning. In Silver Spring, Maryland, about 20 inches of snow was outside by daybreak. Lightning flashed, and thundersnow rumbled. Plows cleared a heavily traveled road; ambulances and trucks were able to get through, but few other vehicles were moving. A couple intrepid people walked along the cleared portion of the road, ducking into the deeper snow when vehicles approached.
According to the National Weather Service's website early Saturday, 18 inches of snow already had fallen on Ulysses in eastern Kentucky, while 16 inches fell in Beattyville. Between 14 inches to 15.5 inches had fallen in at other locations across Kentucky, including Frenchburg, Mount Vernon, Eglon and Lancer.
Other states that recorded snowfall amounts greater than 6 inches included Delaware, Georgia, North Carolina, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee and West Virginia. Various locations in Georgia and Alabama received between 1 and 3.5 inches of snow.
In New Jersey, 40,000 people were without power early Saturday, most of them along the coast.
Even before the snow began to fall Friday afternoon, states of emergency were declared, lawmakers went home, and schools, government offices and transit systems closed early from as far south as Georgia to as far north as New York City.
The ice and snow made travel treacherous, with thousands of accidents and at least nine deaths reported along the region's roadways. By late Friday, Virginia State Police had reported 989 car crashes statewide since the storm began, and had assisted nearly 800 disabled vehicles, said Ken Schrad, spokesman for the Virginia State Police Joint Information Center.
In Kentucky, on the closed section of I-75, photos from local media outlets showed a long line of trucks and other vehicles lined up along the snowy road. Among them was local TV reporter Caitlin Centner, who told her station, WKYT-TV (http://bit.ly/1PpjtXs), in a segment aired from her news van that it was a crazy experience, with wind and snow building as drivers turn off cars to save gas.
"Every time it looks like there's light at the end of the tunnel, more accidents and slide-offs are occurring," she said.
Centner interviewed Rebekah Sams, who was stranded making her way to a volleyball tournament. Sams described snow blowing amid a complete standstill and said, "You never imagine yourself being out here for five hours during a snowstorm."
In Washington, the federal government closed its offices at noon Friday, and all mass transit was shutting down through Sunday. President Barack Obama, hunkering down at the White House, was one of many who stayed home.
"Find a safe place and stay there," Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser implored residents and visitors alike.
About 7,600 flights were canceled Friday and Saturday — about 15 percent of the airlines' schedules, according to the flight tracking service FlightAware. They hope to be fully back in business by Sunday afternoon.
One of the unlucky travelers stranded by the storm was Jennifer Bremer of Raleigh, North Carolina. Bremer flew into Chicago on Thursday morning, carrying only a briefcase, for what she thought would be less than a day of meetings. Her flight home was canceled Thursday night, and then again Friday.
"I have my computer, my phone and a really good book, but no clothing," Bremer said as she eyed flight boards at O'Hare International Airport on Friday. "I have a travel agent right now trying to get creative. I'm waiting on a phone call from her. ... I'm trying to get somewhere near the East Coast where I can drive in tonight or early tomorrow morning."
Not so unhappy to be stranded were passengers on a cruise ship that was supposed to return to the port of Baltimore from the Bahamas on Sunday. The arrival has now been delayed until at least Monday because of the storm.
"I was not totally surprised and, frankly, happy to be delayed," Meg Ryan, one of the passengers aboard the Royal Caribbean International's Grandeur of the Seas, wrote in an email to The Associated Press.
"First, it is an extra day of vacation, but more importantly, safety comes first and travel Sunday would be difficult, if not impossible."
Forecasters said as much as 2 feet or more of snowfall was forecast for Baltimore and Washington, and nearly as much for Philadelphia.
By Friday night, parts of Kentucky, the Virginias and North Carolina had already received well over a foot of snow, while more than a half a foot had fallen in some areas of Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Tennessee.
The snowstorm was greeted happily at Virginia's ski resorts.
"We're thrilled," said Hank Thiess, general manager at Wintergreen ski resort in central Virginia. "Going forward, we're set up to have just a terrific second half of the ski season."
He said he's expecting 40 inches of dry, powdery snow, perfect for skiing.
"We're going to have a packed snow surface that will just be outstanding," he said.
____
Borenstein reported from Kensington, Maryland. Associated Press writers Juliet Linderman in Baltimore; Adrian Sainz in Memphis, Tennessee; John Raby in Charleston, West Virginia; and AP Airlines Writer Scott Mayerowitz in New York contributed to this report.
Longtime comedian TK Kirkland sat down on the Vlad couch this week to give his take on #OscarsSoWhite...Again, Stacey Dash and everyone's favorite Black culture channel, B.E.T. Unlike other Black entertainers who've been vocal about Stacey Dash's recent comments, TK understands what's she was getting at perfectly. "The thing about being in those type of films is that they've been talking about trying to do the right thing since Eddie Murphy in [1988] at the Oscars and probably before then, too," he reasoned. "Hopefully with the new President she [Hilary Clinton] can make a change, but if they don't want you in the movies they don't care if you don't show up because obviously you're doing exactly what they want."
Like Stacey Dash the popular stand-up comedian also believes Black people shouldn't have their own channel (or month for that matter), especially since "no one really respects the B.E.T. Awards." "You know why?," TK asks. "Because look at the way we come there dressed."
Hear TK Kirkland's comments on the attire of B.E.T. Award-goers, why it negatively affects the network's image and more in our latest
Chingy announced via Twitter on Friday, January 22, that he's endorsing Republican Donald Trump for President in 2016.
"Politics vs society. People should innerstand that politics is a business jus like the job you work at. I vote for @realDonaldTrump "YEP" 3," he wrote. "@realDonaldTrump knows how to conduct business. This country is a business an needs to be ran by a businessman. It's not personal people!"
Politics vs society. People should innerstand that politics is a business jus like the job you work at. I vote for @realDonaldTrump "YEP" 3
The 35-year old"Right Thurr"rapper, real nameHoward Bailey Jr., immediately started trending on the social media site.
Many people didn't understand Chingy's reasoning, so he sat down with Vlad TV to explain his position.
"First off I'ma say we're entitled to our own opinion. Right or wrong?," Chingy told Vlad. "Maybe I could have worded it different. That's my mistake ... I'll take that. But initially I used Trump as an example. And what I was saying is, this country is in an $18 trillion debt, right? It was 12. It was 10, but it's $18 trillion now. And all I'm saying is we need somebody with a great business mind ... that's business savvy to uplift us out of that. If Donald Trump has the country's best interest and can uplift us out of that, and can get the economy back rolling in the right way. Yeah, I'll vote for him."
What's your take on Chingy endorsing Donald Trump?
Jordan Jordon Is Now Being Managed By Mike Ellis of Dbomb Networks
Memphis, TN January 15, 2015 – Tara Thomas Agency is pleased to announce that the talented and charismatic artist, Jordan Jordan is now being managed by Mike Ellis of Dbomb Networks. Jordan releases his much anticipated single “Exotic”, featuring Hip hop sensation Young Dolph, Bino and "Punch The Clock". Produced by Brian “O'Brian” Pittman. Exotic is a spontaneous musical thrust into a lifestyle only to be described by the song title. With Jordans’ catchy melodic lyrics followed by the strong street undertones from Dolph and Bino, It’s an obvious hit! "Punch The Clock" is a sexy, and smooth Ballad about women who may not feel appreciated by their lover. Jordan writes about these feelings in a metaphorical rhapsody about filling the position of the unappreciative men all over the world.
The Memphis -born artist, Jordan Elliott Williams starred in musicals such as The Wizard of Oz, The Lion King, Chicago and a lead role in A Christi Chandler play titled “A Day After Christmas.” The talented artist would also be part of troupe he performed with for three years in the Orpheum Theatre known as “Echoes of Truth” which would be taking part in a summer performance.
Jordan had been in several talent shows around Memphis, but won his first talent show when he performed his first studio recorded single “Angel”, produced by Robert “Vinyl” Harris. By then he was working with writers such as Keelyn Ellis (“Exclusive” from Making the Band 3/ EMG), and Leslie Topps who introduced him to the studio. Jordan met Tone Yates through mutual friends and recorded "Angel." The song was promoted successfully through a few radio campaigns (K97.1, Beat 94.7) and mixtape placements (DJ Jtorcher Slow Ride Vol.5 and Grown and Sexy Vol.2).
Jordan is the creative artist behind the single "Debo DAT" featuring 2Fingaz, the song which became a Top 8 choice for K97 Memphis Next Big Thing Competition. After a collaboration with CMG Artist, Snootie Wild (Want U 2 Know), Jordan is now being managed by Mike Ellis of Dbomb Networks as he gains worldwide notoriety with the released of this latest single “Exotic”.
About Jordan Jordan Jordan Elliott Williams, AKA Jordan Jordan is a Hip-Hop Artist from Memphis, TN. Jordan began his career as he joined numerous choirs and gained many accolades up until high school. During that time, he found himself acting more often than singing at Yo! Academy, School of the Visual & Performing Arts (his high school). Jordan has worked with many known artists, as well as local talent in Memphis.
For Interviews Contact Tara Thomas at Tarathomas@Tarathomasagency.com Or His Manager Mike Ellis at dbombnet@gmail.com
(Thump) 2015 marked the first time in history that current music releases were outsold by "catalogue album sales"—a term that refers to any release that is at least 18 months old. To put this in context, just ten years ago current music sales outpaced catalogue music by over 150 million albums.
That information, reported by Music Business Worldwide, comes from a year-end report by Nielsen, the data company most famous for their SoundScan music-sales statistics that inform the Billboard charts. However, this data pertains solely to albums—either physical or digital—and does not include streaming. So, whether the Nielsen report shows a real declining sales trend for new artists, or merely that we've shifted away from albums entirely (the argument that young people are more inclined to stream rather than purchase music seems plausible), is shocking, though perhaps not entirely unexpected.
As most of you know by now pharmaceutical executive, Martin Shkreli, bought the only copy of Wu Tang Clan's $2 million album titled "Once Upon a Time Shaolin" last year.
There have been rumblings that members of the group were not happy Shkreli was the one who purchased the CD when they found out about him skyrocketing the price of Daraprim, an essential antiparasitic drug for AIDS patients and pregnant mothers.
TMZ caught up with Ghostface Killah to get his opinion.
Ghost referred to Shkreli as "shithead" and criticized his business practices.
"You don't take an AIDS pill that you have for like $7 and make it like $800. You don't do that like that. I don't care if he bought the Wu Tang whatever, whatever, whatever," Ghost said. "I don't even know him, but when I heard what he did with the AIDS [medication] that's not right."
The rapper said it would be his preference for "Once Upon a Time in Shaolin" to be available to the public instead of in Shkreli's possession.
Shkreli, who could spend 20 years in jail, after being charged by U.S. prosecutors in December with securities fraud conspiracy, securities fraud and wire fraud conspiracy, took to Twitter to offer Ghostface a response.
"Ghost mad that Shaolin outsold his last 5 albums… dude’s a non-profit rapper. Calls himself ironman, but sounds rusty AF," he wrote.
Ghost mad that Shaolin outsold his last 5 albums… dude’s a non-profit rapper. Calls himself ironman, but sounds rusty AF @GhostfaceKillah
Macklemore just released a song titled "White Privilege 2." In it, there's a line that mentions Iggy Azalea.
“You’ve exploited and stolen the music, the moment, the magic, the passion the fashion, you toy with / The culture was never, yours to make better / You’re Miley, you’re Elvis, you’re Iggy Azalea / Fake and so plastic, you've heisted the magic / You've taken the drums and the accent you rapped and you ran to hip hop / It's so fascist and backwards that Grand Master Flash will go slapping you bastards," the Seattle native raps.
A Twitter fan asked Azalea if she had heard Macklemore dissing her in the song. The Australian artist responded by saying he shouldn't have pretended to be her friend over the last several years if that's the way he felt.
Brooklyn rapper Talib Kweli soon jumped in, saying Macklemore was his friend and that the song was great. He then tore into Azalea.
"The fact @iggyazalea thinks Macklemore song was a diss to her, instead of actually listening, is proof of her privilege. Fuck Iggy Azalea," Talib wrote on his Twitter page. "True story. I actually rooted for Iggy when she first came out. But she's disrespected hip hop culture one too many times. @IGGYAZALEA years ago, Macklemore did a song called White Privilege saying ppl compared him to Eminem. Did Eminem take it as a diss? No. @IGGYAZALEA The reason Eminem didn't take it as a diss is cuz, unlike you, he is not a cultural appropriator. He respects hiphop."
That turned into an argument between Kweli and Iggy fans.
What's your take on this debate? Was Macklemore dissing Iggy? Should she have responded to the fan's question? Was Talib right to attack her?
Brooklyn, New York rapper Papoose is back with a new song titled "Sugar Honey Ice Tea (I'm With The Shits)." The track was produced by Ron Browz a.k.a. Ether Boy. Be on the lookout for Papoose's new mixtape, "Hoodie Season 3," dropping soon.
BJ the Chicago Kid releases an official music video for "Love Inside." This is off of his forthcoming album entitled "In My Mind." The project will be released on February 19.
Earlier this week she appeared on Fox News' "Outnumbered" where she was asked how she felt about Spike Lee and Jada Pinkett-Smith's decision to not attend this year's Oscar Awards.
Part of Dash's answer included calling for Black Entertainment Television to be abolished.
"I think it's ridiculous," she said. "Because we have to make up our minds, either we want to have segregation or integration. If we don’t want segregation then we need to get rid of channels like BET and the BET Awards and the [NAACP] Image Awards, where you are only awarded if you are black. If it were the other way around, we would be up in arms, its a double standard. Just like there shouldn't be a Black History Month. We're Americans, period. That's it"
Dash has responded in a post on her blog Thursday, January 21. She accuses the network of purposely misleadingAfrican Americansto create a racial divide.
Ever since I said THIS on Fox yesterday, Black Entertainment Television has been throwing shade.
They reminded me — and the rest of America — that I appeared on a show called The Game, which appeared on BET.
Well, here’s the thing. Thank you for reminding me, since most people have never heard of that show.
Why? It’s on BET.
Quick. Name the top shows on BET.
Drawing a blank?
I think I’ve made my point.
I’m thankful for all of the acting jobs I’ve had. But I look forward to the day when people don’t self-segregate based on skin color, while loudly complaining about a segregated society.
That might be hard for the people at BET to understand, especially after I read this quote from a BET exec about the Oscars:
“It would be great if the Oscar nominees represented even closely the percentage of moviegoers who are of different ethnicities, but they don’t,” said Stephen Hill.
Wow. Apparently, Mr. Hill doesn’t understand what an Oscar is.
Oscars are awarded to the actors and actresses who excel… not the audience.
What’s next? Awarding $1 million to the guy sitting in his pajamas on the couch watching Survivor? Giving a blue ribbon to the kid who stayed home from field day? Giving a Nobel Peace Prize to a President who escalated wars in Iraq and Afghanistan?
No, that would be unreasonable.
My problem goes back to the notion that every area of life needs to break down exactly according to demographic ratios except in those areas in which black people have decided they want to have their own space. I don’t have a problem with black people having their own space. I have a problem with the folks at BET absolutely freaking out when other institutions don’t match up to what they think is best. At National Review, they put it this way:
From their undisputed cultural heights, progressives have sold the American people on a fantasy that says America is racist unless every demographic group enjoys the benefits of its life and shares its burdens in exact proportion to their numbers — except, of course, when it comes to areas of the culture dominated by African-Americans.
The article goes on to say that “It’s perfectly fine for hip-hop or jazz to be overwhelmingly black, but…” Lord help the institution that doesn’t measure up to the standards of “diversity” they deem is acceptable.
BET lies to American black people by telling them that the rest of America is racist, so stick close to your own kind. Anything that promotes segregation is bad!
And they’re absolutely mortified that someone like me — an independent-thinking black woman — dares call their bluff.
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