Coke Boys emcee and Bronx New York native, Droop Pop connects with Dark Lo and Lace for a new single and accompanying music video titled "Place Da Odds."
DaBaby is A-OK to hit live stages again, because he's come a long way since his homophobic rants ... so says one LGBTQ org which is OK with his performing, but NOT Dave Chappelle.
The CEO for Relationship Unleashed, Gwendolyn D. Clemons, tells TMZ ... she and her cohorts at the nonprofit approve of DB's appearance at Rolling Loud NY last week -- and any future concerts -- as they feel he's learned a lot over the past few months.
Clemons says DaBaby met with them as well as 100+ other orgs that advocate for the LGBTQ community -- and insists they got through to him on why his diatribe about AIDS was hurtful and harmful.
RU gave DB a history lesson of sorts and educated the guy ... including how HIV/AIDS affects people in his native Charlotte, NC -- something Clemons thinks resonated with DaBaby, whom she believes did not understand what he was saying.
Clemons says DaBaby was coming from a place of ignorance, but she says now he gets it ... and that's why Relationship Unleashed can cosign his latest Rolling Loud cameo, and others to come.
As for Mr. Chappelle -- she's not forgiving, telling us the comedian has not shown any empathy or remorse ... adding Dave knows exactly what he's doing. BTW, Dave would agree he knows exactly what he's doing, which is not to apologize because he says he is in no way shape or form transphobic.
Relationship Unleashed thinks Dave's words from 'The Closer' are hate speech disguised as comedy ... and he was gaslighting audiences into bigoted POVs. It's interesting ... Dave used DaBaby's predicament to make one of his points.
Justin Gaethje trains for a fan-pleaser. Champ Rose Namajunas makes it to NYC. Michael Chandler readies for zombies. Champ Kamaru Usman gets laser-focused, as does opponent Colby Covington. Khabib Nurmagomedov calls to show his support. Presented by Gopuff, the Official On-Demand Delivery Partner of UFC 268. Order now:https://bit.ly/3EsDfwm
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Former Raiders wide receiver Henry Ruggs III was driving at more than 150 mph with a blood-alcohol content twice Nevada’s legal limit before his sports car slammed into the rear of a vehicle that burned, killing a 23-year-old woman, a prosecutor said Wednesday.
The Raiders released Ruggs late Tuesday, just hours after the crash, his hospitalization & his booking into a Las Vegas jail. He had his initial court appearance Wednesday on felony charges of driving under the influence of alcohol resulting in death & reckless driving that could get him up to 26 years in state prison if he is convicted.
Ruggs, 22, appearing with his attorneys, David Chesnoff & Richard Schonfeld, was not asked to enter a plea to the charges, pending the formal filing of charges by Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson.
The name of the Las Vegas woman who died in the wrecked and burned Toyota Rav4 with her dog was not immediately made public.
Las Vegas police have identified Ruggs’ passenger as Kiara Je’nai Kilgo-Washington, 22, of Las Vegas.
Ruggs and Kilgo-Washington were hospitalized with unspecified injuries that police said did not appear life-threatening after the Chevrolet Corvette he was driving slammed into the Toyota at about 3:40 a.m. Tuesday.
Ruggs owns a $1.1 million home not far from where the crash occurred, according to property records.
Prosecutor Eric Bauman said air bag computer records showed the Corvette decelerated from 156 mph to 127 mph before it struck the Toyota.
Judge Joe M. Bonaventure said moments later he could not recall a speed that high involved in a crash case since he became a judge. Nevertheless, the judge rejected Bauman’s request for $1 million bail & set bail, at Chesnoff’s request, at $150,000 with strict conditions, including home confinement, electronic monitoring, no alcohol, no driving and surrender of Ruggs’ passport.
Bauman said Ruggs’ blood-alcohol level was 0.16%. Police said previously in a statement that Ruggs “showed signs of impairment.”
Bauman also said a loaded firearm was found on the floor of the car.
Wolfson said outside court he may file a weapon charge & expects to file a second DUI charge against Ruggs based on the serious arm injuries that he said Kilgo-Washington suffered.
The judge set Ruggs’ next court appearance for Nov. 10.
Probation is not an option in Nevada for a conviction on a charge of DUI causing death, which carries a possible sentence of two to 20 years in state prison. The possible sentence for reckless driving is one to six years in prison, with probation available.
The Raiders didn’t wait for courts to act, sending out a brief statement Tuesday night announcing Ruggs’ release.
A Washington state father killed his daughter's 19-year-old boyfriend for selling her into a sex trafficking ring for one thousand dollars, police said.
The boyfriend's remains were discovered in the trunk of an abandoned car on East Everett Avenue in Spokane last month, police said in a press release Monday. Investigators believe the victim, identified as Andrew Sorensen, was killed in November 2020.
The girl's father, John Eisenman, 60, was charged with first-degree murder & is being held on a $1 million bond.
Police said Eisenman learned in October 2020 that his juvenile daughter had been sex trafficked in the Seattle area & "obtained information" that her boyfriend was responsible.
Eisenman was able to rescue his daughter & get her back to Spokane that same month, police said.
When the father learned that his daughter's boyfriend was going to be at a location in Airway Heights, Eisenman drove there & waited for the 19-year-old to arrive.
"During that encounter Eisenman abducted the victim, tying him up & placing him in the trunk of a vehicle. Eisenman subsequently assaulted the victim by hitting him in the head with a cinder block & then stabbed him repeatedly, causing his death," police said. "After the homicide, Eisenman drove the vehicle to a remote area in North Spokane County & abandoned the car with the body still inside."
Alec Baldwin’s fatal shooting of his cinematographer may have been the deadly result of a “disgruntled” crew member “sabotaging” the set, an attorney for the movie’s rookie armorer alleged Wednesday.
Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, 24, loaded the gun Baldwin used on the set of “Rust” from a box of ammo that should have been only dummy rounds, her attorney, Jason Bowles, told the “Today” show.
“We know there was a live round in a box of dummy rounds that shouldn’t have been there — at least one live round,” said Bowles, a former federal prosecutor.
“We’re assuming somebody put the live round in that box — which, if you think about that, the person who put the live round in the box of dummy rounds had to have the purpose of sabotaging the set,” he claimed in the sensational interview.
“There’s no other reason that you would do that — that you would mix that live round in with a dummy round,” he said.
“I believe that somebody who would do that would want to sabotage the set, want to prove a point, want to say that they’re disgruntled, they’re unhappy.
“And we know that people had already walked up to set the day before, and they had been and then they’re unhappy,” he said of the Western that had faced calls for strike action and a walkout by the camera crew.
“That is the central question to this case … how did a live round get on set, and who put that live round on the set?” Bowles said.
“You can’t rule anybody out at this point,” he insisted.
Bowles also said there was at least two hours “in which the firearms at times were unattended” before Baldwin accidentally shot dead cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, a 42-year-old mom.
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — Facebook said it will shut down its face-recognition system & delete the faceprints of more than 1 billion people amid growing concerns about the technology & its misuse by governments, police & others.
“This change will represent one of the largest shifts in facial recognition usage in the technology’s history,” Jerome Pesenti, vice president of artificial intelligence for Facebook’s new parent company, Meta, wrote in a blog post on Tuesday.
He said the company was trying to weigh the positive use cases for the technology “against growing societal concerns, especially as regulators have yet to provide clear rules.” The company in the coming weeks will delete “more than a billion people’s individual facial recognition templates,” he said.
More than a third of Facebook’s daily active users have opted in to have their faces recognized by the social network’s system. That’s about 640 million people. Facebook introduced facial recognition more than a decade ago but gradually made it easier to opt out of the feature as it faced scrutiny from courts & regulators.
Facebook in 2019 stopped automatically recognizing people in photos and suggesting people “tag” them & instead of making that the default, asked users to choose if they wanted to use its facial recognition feature.
Meta Platforms Inc., Facebook’s parent company, appears to be looking at new forms of identifying people. Pesenti said Tuesday’s announcement involves a “company-wide move away from this kind of broad identification & toward narrower forms of personal authentication.”
Flint, Michigan emcee and A.M.I. (Above My Influences) co-CEO, REIN, presents his new EP titled "The Quill." The eight-song project features RJ Payne, J. Arrr, Mickey Factz and Leland.
The lead visual off of the project is the Jerrod Hinton-produced "Obituaries."
Shot by Flick'Em Films
"I made this album in under 24hrs. Travis aka 88BlessedBeat sent me an instrumental he was just working on while we were on the phone (Maxell Tapes) and 20minutes later the song was done. I called back and told him to send another beat over (Mirrors) and the outcome was the same. After listening back to both of the songs I told Trav he sparked my creative flame and I wanted to drop a small 5 track EP. After looking at the Calendar I decided on Halloween which at the time was about a month away. I contacted every producer I wanted to work with for this project and then all sent me beats back the same night. I recorded Every song in the track listing in linear fashion except Maxell Tapes and Mirrors. Working non-stop from 11pm to 7am, taking a power nap for a couple hours before completing my vocal performances. Once I was happy with my portion I contacted all My Featured Artists and They All Got Their Verses Back To Me ASAP!!" - REIN
"The Quill" available now on all streaming platforms:
1. Obituaries (Prod. by Jerrod Hinton) 2. Mirrors Ft. Mickey Factz (Prod. by 88BlessedBeats) 3. Maxell Tapes (Prod. by 88BlessedBeats) 4. Writer's Block Ft. Mickey Factz x J. Arrr 5. Open Canvas (Prod. by Prentis Brown) 6. The Quill feat. Mickey Factz x RJ Payne x Leland (Prod. by PA Dre) 7. Success Ft. Leland (Prod. by No Mass) 8. Obituaries II (Prod. by Jerrod Hinton)
Michael Chandler embraces the Florida heat, then packs for his trip. Justin Gaethje gets competitive in golf; teammate and champ Kamaru Usman takes Uno seriously. Champion Rose Namajunas reaps what she sows. Colby Covington hits Central Park. Presented by Gopuff, the Official On-Demand Delivery Partner of UFC 268. Order now:https://bit.ly/3EsDfwm
Las Vegas Raiders receiver Henry Ruggs III was involved in a fiery car crash early Tuesday morning that killed one person and will lead to Ruggs being charged with DUI resulting in death.
According to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, officers "responded to a traffic collision near the intersection of South Rainbow Boulevard and South Spring Valley Parkway, involving a Chevrolet Corvette and a Toyota Rav4. Responding officers located the Toyota on fire. Fire department personnel responded and located a deceased victim inside the Toyota. The preliminary investigation indicates the front of the Chevrolet collided with the rear of the Toyota.
"The driver of the Chevrolet, identified as 22-year-old Henry Rugs (sic) III, remained on scene and showed signs of impairment. He was transported to UMC hospital to be treated for non-life-threatening injuries. Ruggs will be charged with DUI resulting in death. This is an on-going investigation," the Las Vegas Metro PD said in their statement.
If convicted, Ruggs would face two to 20 years in prison.
The Raiders (5-2) were on their bye week but reported back to team headquarters on Monday before having an off day on Tuesday. They were scheduled to begin practicing Wednesday before Sunday's game at the New York Giants (2-6).
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Tupac Shakur’s handwritten lyrics from classic songs such as “California Love” & “Dear Momma” along with galleries that pay homage to his upbringing and late mother are among the features in a massive touring museum exhibit.
The Shakur Estate announced Tuesday that the “Tupac Shakur. Wake Me When I’m Free” will open Jan. 21 in Los Angeles. The exhibit is described as a fully immersive, thought-provoking museum experience that explores the life and legacy of the late rapper.
Shakur, one of the most prolific figures in hip-hop, died in 1996 from gunshot wounds. He was 25.
The exhibit is expected to spend six months in Los Angeles with the hopes of touring other cities.
“There are thousands of pieces of paper, handwritten pieces of paper – which is everything from his lyrics to all of the songs & poetry that you know down to a grocery list for a birthday party,” said Arron Saxe, president of Kinfolk Management + Media, who is working with Shakur’s estate. Saxe has worked with estates for other iconic music artists including Otis Redding & Donny Hathaway.
“The whole point of this exhibit was to not only show the kaleidoscopic nature of Tupac, but also show how he is relatable,” Saxe continued. “There are incredible pieces of clothing. This exhibit is also a mix of contemporary art and technology too. Many of the artifacts have never been seen before.”
The 20,000-square foot exhibit will showcase Shakur’s music, poetry, wardrobe, activism journey & other items in galleries.
One of the galleries will be dedicated to the rapper’s late mother, Afeni Shakur, the former Black Panther who inspired the work of her son. She died in 2016.
Details of Alberto “Alpo” Martinez’s frantic final moments are coming into focus — as the investigation continues into the drug kingpin’s drive-by shooting death.
The notorious drug dealer, who was shot five times & killed early Sunday in Harlem, was throwing baggies of drugs out his truck’s window as he tried to drive away from the scene, a police source said Monday.
About a dozen of the baggies were found on the street spaced a few feet apart near West 147th Street & Frederick Douglass Boulevard after Martinez was shot in his 2017 Dodge Ram.
The source said it looks like he was “throwing them out the window” because he knew police would be arriving.
Martinez, who had been in a federal witness protection program, apparently wanted to evade capture.
A video of the crime scene watched by a reporter depicts baggies that contain a brown substance strewn on the street. The drug appeared to be heroin.
He was rushed to Harlem Hospital following the shooting but couldn’t be saved.
It wasn’t clear if Martinez had been released from witness protection or if he was just visiting his old stomping grounds when he was killed, the source said. Photos show bullet holes in his truck’s driver’s window.
He was in possession of identification with the name Abraham Rodriguez of Lewiston, Maine, when police arrived, according to cops.
Martinez was immortalized in hip-hop songs & the movie “Paid in Full,” which centered around his childhood friend Richard Porter. Martinez admitted to killing him in 1990 because he believed Porter was stealing drug profits.
Martinez spent decades behind bars before being released in 2015.
"Breakfast At Sues" is a stellar new collaborative album from Rochester, New York emcee MAV and producer Spanish Ran. Today, the duo drop off the project's third official music video. The Tree Mason-assisted heater, "Carhartts & Cocaine."
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