In the latest clip, Faizon Love offered his thoughts on Las Vegas Raiders coach Jon Gruden resigning after racist emails from a decade ago were exposed during the NFL’s investigation into the Washington Football Team’s work environment. The comedian questioned if the emails made Gruden racist, questioning if he himself would be considered racist if he made the exact same remarks. To hear more, view the clip above.
Famed photographer Chi Modu has died. The artist, who captured iconic shots of Tupac and many more, was 54.
Modu’s passing was confirmed on Monday by way of a post on his official Instagram account. “Our hearts are broken… We continue the fight,” the caption for the post read. “The family requests privacy at this time.”
While the cause of Modu’s death was not immediately made clear, sources told TMZ today that he passed following a battle with cancer.
Modu—who was born in Nigeria in 1966—broke out as a photographer in the 1990s, when he became director of photography for The Source magazine. There, he would shoot cover photography for 30 issues, documenting the entirety of hip hop’s golden age.
Wu-Tang Clan, Run-DMC, The Notorious B.I.G., Snoop Dogg, Nas, Ice Cube, Eminem and Mary J. Blige were just a few of the many iconic artists he photographed over the years.
According to TMZ, a memorial service for Modu is in the works. His family will offer additional information soon.
Source: Deadline Hollywood
McDonald’s New Zealand has unveiled a new outdoor campaign that uses lights reflecting on streets at night to bring its menu items to life.
Created together with DDB Aotearoa, the Reflections campaign aims to point late-night foodies in the direction of what they need, reminding them that McDonald’s is open late for supper cravings.
The campaign features fuzzy-looking McDonald’s menu items, such as the Big Mac, cheeseburger and fries, and coincide with the end-of-year celebration season.
Source: DesignTAXI
In this clip, Faizon Love and Vlad continued their discussion about Bruce Lee and Michael Jai White. Faizon reiterated that martial arts is more about skill and technique than brute strength, which he thinks would pose an impediment for Michael if he were to fight someone like Bruce Lee. Faizon also pointed out that Bruce Lee deserves his respect for teaching martial arts in Oakland during the height of the Black Power era which wasn’t the environment for someone who couldn’t hold their own.
The Notorious B.I.G. was made a member of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame tonight during an induction ceremony broadcast on HBO. Biggie Smalls was inducted by Diddy, who signed the rapper to the then-fledgling Bad Boy Records in 1993, and was also honored by JAY-Z, Nas, and Lin-Manuel Miranda, in addition to his family: his mother Voletta Wallace, daughter Tyanna Wallace, and son C.J. Wallace.
“Big just wanted to be biggest, he wanted to be the best, he wanted to have influence and impact people in a positive way, and that clearly has been done all over the world,” Diddy said. “Nobody has come close to the way Biggie sounds, to the way he raps, to the frequency that he hits. Tonight we are inducting the greatest rapper of all time into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the Notorious B.I.G. representing Brooklyn, New York, we up in here!”
Nas discussed how Biggie opened doors for New York rappers. “Rap music is all about who’s gonna be the king,” he said. “The West Coast, they was sellin’ millions of records, and before Big, I felt like there was only so far New York rap could go as far as sales. Biggie changed all of that.”
The segment closed with Biggie’s children—daughter Tyanna and son C.J. (who has previously worked as an actor and released his own music for the first time in August). “Our father was one of the founding fathers of hip-hop. He helped revolutionize what was a young art form for the Black community and the world,” C.J. said. “I’m honored to share his name and his dedication to Black music, creativity, self-expression, and Black freedom. I love you, Meemaw. Thanks for teaching us who Christopher Wallace was as a son, friend, poet, artist, and father. We love you Meemaw. We love you dad. Brooklyn, we did it!”
Biggie is joined in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Class of 2020 by Nine Inch Nails, Depeche Mode, Whitney Houston, T. Rex, the Doobie Brothers, and Ahmet Ertegun Award winners Jon Landau and Irving Azoff. The in-memoriam segment included a tribute to the late Eddie Van Halen.
Source: Pitchfork
Chris Rock sounded off on films that deal with Civil Rights struggles and said the issue with the majority of these films is that they “make racism look very fixable.” Rock said the stories his mother used to tell him about the Civil Rights Movement era make it clear these films should be “dirtier,” if they want to be accurate.
“I hate all Civil Rights movies,” Rock said. “Don’t get me wrong, I applaud the effort and they should exist. The problem is they only show the back of the bus and the lunch counter. They actually make racism look very fixable. They don’t get into how dysfunctional the relationships were in the ’40s and ’50s, white men would just walk in your house and take your food… it’s a predator-prey relationship. Do you think when it was time to rape, [white men] were raping white women? No. They would go and rape the women they could actually rape without going to jail for.”
“This shit is so much dirtier than any movie ever shows,” Rock continued. “My mother used to get her teeth taken out at the vet because you weren’t allowed to go to the dentist. No movie shows you that.”
Rock did not call out any Civil Rights movies by name, although his argument that such films “make racism look very fixable” were the same criticisms thrown at Best Picture winner “Green Book.”
Source: IndieWire
In this clip, Willie D shares his thoughts on the recent events in Minneapolis, which started after an officer named David Chauvin kneeled on George Floyd’s neck during an arrest, killing him. Chauvin has since been arrested and charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter for Floyd’s death, and Willie D believes that police officers like Chauvin are “the Boogeyman.” He went on to share what he thinks what people should do to protect citizens in their neightborhood, which you can hear more about above.
“I’m simply creating this GoFundMe as my commitment to my previous tweets. As of now 2625.8 BTC (bitcoin) is roughly equivalent to $24,632,630 USD (U.S. dollars). If we hit the target then I will allow the fan base to determine my next team decision and sign a one year contract at that destination. If we do not hit the target goal then I will be donating 100% of this campaign to charity. Fan engagement comes in all shapes and sizes, lets have fun folks!”
Source: USA Today
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