Month: September 2020

Despite finding himself in the crosshairs of criticism after the Milwaukee Bucks suffered a defeat at the hands of the Miami Heat in round two of the playoffs this week, head coach Mike Budenholzer’s job is not in jeopardy, according to a report from Shams Charania of The Athletic.

Rival executives expect guard Eric Bledsoe could become available as the Bucks retool their roster, but they are reportedly not willing to move on from Budenholzer yet.

From Charania:

As for head coach Mike Budenholzer, he is safe, according to sources. This much is certain, though: Across the Bucks‘ leadership group, there’s an understanding everyone must learn from this season and be better. They need to continue building a winning mentality, stocking the roster with key decision-makers.

Much of the criticism toward Budenholzer came because of his rotations and the restrictive minutes load he placed on his star players, especially Giannis Antetokounmpo and Khris Middleton, and yet the final straw for Milwaukee in the series was an injury to Antetkounmpo.

It seems that rather than being reactive toward a coach who has led Milwaukee to incredible regular-season success the past two years, the Bucks will aim to put together a roster better suited to compensate for the weaknesses that the team currently has.

Despite multiple crises happening in America and the release of damaging interviews with Bob Woodward (including details of him lying to the public about a deadly virus) for his new book, Rage, President Donald Trump fired off a celebratory tweet on Thursday morning praising the health of North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un.

“Kim Jong Un is in good health,” Trump tweeted. “Never underestimate him!”

Like many of the president’s tweets, the praise for Kim is spectacularly ill-timed. In addition to revealing that Trump was fully aware of the danger of COVID-19 and deliberately chose to downplay its severity to the public, Woodward’s book also portrayed a concerning relationship between Trump and Kim, which included at least 27 “love letters” between the two men. Via Washington Post:

Trump was taken with Kim’s flattery, Woodward writes, telling the author pridefully that Kim had addressed him as “Excellency.” Trump remarked that he was awestruck meeting Kim for the first time in 2018 in Singapore, thinking to himself, “Holy shi*t,” and finding Kim to be “far beyond smart.” Trump also boasted to Woodward that Kim “tells me everything,” including a graphic account of Kim having his uncle killed.

Trump did not share his letters to Kim — “Those are so top secret,” the president said — but Woodward obtained them independently. He writes that Trump sent Kim a copy of the New York Times featuring a picture of the two men on the front page. “Chairman, great picture of you, big time,” Trump wrote on the paper in marker. (Trump falsely boasted to Woodward: “He never smiled before. I’m the only one he smiles with.”)

With the revelations from Woodward’s book in the air, along with raging wild fires in California, the reactions to Trump praising Kim were swift and fierce.

(Via CNN & Washington Post)

Doja Cat‘s come a long way since “Mooo!” After the quirky star introduced herself to the world with the goofy, viral track, her second album, Hot Pink, received way more buzz than her equally excellent debut, Amala, spawning a No. 1 hit single and launching her into the upper echelon of pop-hip-hop stardom. She’s since been working on — and teasing tracks from — her third album, which she recently revealed in an interview with Fat Joe is complete. There is, however, a catch.

The “Say So” star dropped by Fat Joe’s livestream to reveal why she can’t just drop the follow-up to Hot Pink. “It’s all ready,” she said in the clip. “I hate that I’m holding onto it right now.” But she says she has a good reason for doing so. “Every time I go on Twitter or go on Instagram, I see everyone saying, ‘Put it out.’ You have to plan things accordingly and there’s a lot going on. So, to just drop everything tomorrow — yeah, I’d love for you to hear it, but you can’t just be doing stuff like that. It’s not the same that it used to be.”

As Doja notes, her fans, especially those who’ve been following her since her SoundCloud days or who have become accustomed to watching her oddball livestreams where she often previews new music long before it releases, are likely used to her usual M.O. of putting out new material on her own schedule. But she’s also right about having to make sure it’s truly ready and presented in a way that fans have also gotten used to. She does have an encouraging consolation for those impatient with the wait, though:

“They are gonna get an album that I 100 percent am ready to drop and am overly excited to put that out.”

Watch Fat Joe’s full interivew with Doja Cat above.

Though he’s admitted that he’s never voted because he didn’t think he could, Snoop Dogg isn’t afraid to speak out against the president. Last year in January, Snoop laid out his views about the partial government shutdown, calling Trump a “punk motherf*cker.” Now, Snoop is back at it again, this time detailing the long list of people the president has mocked, disrespected, or recently called “losers.”

In a video posted to Instagram, Snoop slammed Trump as “a racist” and called upon the next president to “show up and deliver.” The rapper said the president has been disrespectful towards transgender people, women, Black people, and now, veterans. “Who else is missing from the presidents list,” Snoop asked in the caption to which a fan replied: “U forgot Muslims & Arabs.”

“So me and my homeboys, we up here talking about all the people that Trump disrespected: women, gays, trangenders, Blacks, Mexicans, Asians, and now, veterans. Hm, seems like he disrespecting every color in the world and everything that ain’t what he is, which, is a racist. So, with that being said, people that voted for him got exactly what they wanted. He gave them what he said he was going to give them. So the next motherf*ckin’ president, tell us what we gon’ get for your vote and you better show up and deliver. Period. We just want some peace, love, equality, and tranquility for everybody. All lives.”

Watch Snoop’s full message above.

Tom Hanks has been clear enough after his COVID-19 experience. America’s dad came for people who refuse to wear masks before declaring that he’s got zero patience left on the subject and questions the patriotism of anti-maskers. A lot of people are onboard with his stance, but it’s also apparent that a lot of people don’t feel the same way. That latter group tends to be highly vocal and (from my experience, at least) even pushes back, publicly, while somehow feeling offended by seeing people wearing masks. And that’s what Kaley Cuoco, TV’s Harley Quinn voice, is dealing with, bizarrely enough, simply for posting a video of herself wearing one in an enclosed setting: the gym.

Here’s the video (and the comments section is a nightmare). I already respect that she’s able to jump rope for 20 minutes because, let’s face it, that’s always a demanding (and arguably miserable) workout. Adding a mask makes things even more difficult, but Cuoco doesn’t seem fazed to the slightest degree.

Plenty of commenters are very here for her masked efforts and called Cuoco both “responsible” as well as a “great example and role model.” However, there’s a vocal contingent that’s rage-typing that she should “Take off the mask !!” It’s a strange statement to toss at someone who’s simply doing their thing and not hurting anyone, but “[w]ith mask workout is very dangerous” or something. Never mind that athletes often wear masks for other reasons, like while they’re outside in cold climates or attempting to simulate altitude training effects. Cuoco ended up stepping into the comments with a self-defense, as quoted by People:

“For everyone and their mask comments. I wear a mask when I’m in an enclosed space around others, which I was. I also wear a mask when I’m outside around others. I’m protecting myself and everyone around me That’s why I choose to wear a mask. Thanks for playing.”

Enough said.

(Via People)

Spillage Village recently announced their upcoming album, Spilligion, would be dropping later this month and today, they’ve followed up the news with the video for the album’s second single, “Baptize” featuring singers Ant Clemons, Gallant, and Luke James. Each of the group’s members take turns rapping electric verses in an empty church and at an outdoor gathering over a snaky, downtempo beat that gives them plenty of room to flex their lyrical skills — even if WowGr8 admits in his verse that he’s over his “lyrical phase.”

The Atlanta-based, Dreamville-signed rap crew kicked off the new album’s promo run with the video for “End Of Daze” in June, sparking speculation that they’d reunited ahead of the official announcement. Fans were naturally excited by the possibility of a comeback full-length album after four years had passed since 2016’s Bears Like This Too Much, especially after the crew’s core members, 6lack, Earthgang, and JID, had broken out and become household names in that time.

While fellow members Jurdan Bryant and Hollywood JB have yet to release projects since then, they are sure to benefit from the halo effect of the group project, while fans may also want to go back and check out Mereba’s The Jungle Is The Only Way Out, as well as the group’s various appearances on Dreamville’s Revenge Of The Dreamers III as a primer.

Watch Spillage Village’s “Baptize” video above.

One of the underrated aspects of 2020, overshadowed by the pandemic, apocalyptic fires, and militias murdering people in the streets, is the gradual mainstreaming of the idea that virtually all of Donald Trump’s enemies are pedophiles. The TrueAnon podcast has been doing some excellent work on these theories, and specifically on the proliferation of “Save the Children” rallies and their dubious origins. Others have noted the theory taking root amongst Mommy bloggers and influencers. Meanwhile, the AP reported today that VP Mike Pence will attend a fundraiser hosted by QAnon believers, as will RNC chairwoman Ronna McDaniel — showing the extent to which the mainstream Republican party has embraced these ideas.

While believing in the existence of a ring of elite pedophiles doesn’t seem all that crazy in the wake of Jeffrey Epstein (who clearly enjoyed some high-level protection and special treatment), the kind of mental gymnastics required to believe that Epstein’s old acquaintance, Donald Trump, is somehow the guy who’s going to protect us from it all are hard to fathom. This is the same guy who once described Epstein on the record as “a terrific guy. He’s a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side.”

Yes, that was in 2002, but it was 2020 when Trump said “I wish her well” of Epstein’s fixer/girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell on camera. But yeah, sure, the born-rich Casino owner/pageant magnate is definitely our best defense against pedophiles.

On that note, Once Upon A Time In The Valley, a wonderful new podcast about 1980s underage porn star Traci Lords, recently made some interesting connections in a discussion of porn, celebrity, the sex tape as a path to stardom. They referenced a 2019 Vanessa Grigoriadis profile of Ivanka Trump from The Cut, which noted, according to Ivanka’s friends, Trump’s obsession with Paris Hilton’s sex tape stardom.

In 2003, when Paris Hilton’s sex tape was leaked on the internet, Donald wouldn’t stop talking about it, saying, “Paris is laughing all the way to the bank, she’s got the last laugh, she’s marvelous.” Ivanka could not believe her father was not only idolizing an airhead heiress caught blowing a guy on a night-vision video but encouraging her to follow Paris’s lead. (Speaking from the White House, [White House press secretary from June-April Stephanie] Grisham says, “This is untrue and is disgusting.”)

In fairness, it’s a fairly gossipy article, sourced mainly to named and unnamed “friends” of Ivanka’s, and it’s slightly hard to tell from the way it’s written whether Trump encouraging Ivanka to follow Paris Hilton’s lead extended specifically to making a sex tape. My guess is he probably said it at some point and probably wasn’t entirely serious, if he ever is, rambling and riffing and forgetting most of it 15 seconds later like an overconfident goldfish.

Despite the abundance of rape and sexual assault allegations against Trump, I’m not convinced Donald Trump is an actual pedophile. Still, he seems like a pretty weird guy to turn into the secret savior of the global anti-pedophilia movement. It’d be like trying to position Steven Seagal as the world’s foremost opponent of hoagies. Somehow Tom Hanks is a part of a pedophile ring but the model for Biff in Back to the Future 2 is our savior? Okay, sure man whatever.

Much of Anjimile’s debut album Giver/Taker is about variations of loss, written during a time of personal rehabilitation and reprioritization. Interestingly, the album never gets weighed down by the seriousness of its lyrics, with many of the songs instead taking on a more danceable vibe featuring hip-hop beats and funky bass lines. Anjimile’s songwriting process is very freewheeling, with most of the melodies popping into their head on a whim that forces them to pick up their phone and record a voice memo to reference later.

After receiving the Live Arts Boston Grant to fund the recording of Giver/Taker, Anjimile and their collaborators spent a few days at a time over the course of eleven months crafting and re-working the effort. The fragmented recording process allowed them the space and reflection to decide what each song really did and didn’t need, and to focus in on creating a product of which they could all be proud.

The result is an album that sounds quite unlike anything else in recent memory, channeling elements of Sufjan Stevens and more into something unique and truly special. Ahead of the new album, I chatted with Anjimile on Instagram Live to talk about the songwriting process, our mutual lack of knowledge of musical theory, and Elizabeth Holmes, as part of our Fall Music Preview. Check out the full interview below.

Giver/Taker is out September 18 on Father/Daughter Records. Pre-order it here.

Travis Scott’s partnership with McDonalds is confusing elderly employees and exciting fans, leading massive hoards of Gen-Z fans to show up to the fast food restaurant to buy his branded Happy Meal. But 50 Cent has decided to one-up the rapper. 50 and entrepreneur Jay Manzini were feeling generous this week and decided to give back to the rapper’s Queens, New York hometown. The two pulled up to a Burger King on the Southside of Queens on Thursday and surprised employees with stacks of cash.

50 and Manzini rolled through a drive-up Burger King window and urged and employee to call over all of her coworkers. “I’m just trying to pull up and show love to you guys. I know you guys work hard,” Manzini said. He then began pulling cash out of his pocket totaling $30,000, but that’s not all. 50 then came around the corner and employees were beside themselves.

“Me & @50cent had to shut Burger King down in Southside Queens. Passed over 30k me and @50cent to these hard workers, during this pandemic,” Manzini wrote on Instagram. “Fif told me I really like what you’re doing, I told him it’s good karma at the end of the day big bro!!! Change lives & connect with real ones.. Southside Queens stand up!! Ya deserve it.”

50 also shared the clip to Instagram, writing: “@jaymazini is the real deal,he saw me in the hood yesterday so we went tonight and showed everybody some love.”

Watch 50 Cent and Jay Manzini hand out $30,000 to fast food employees above.

Michael Porter Jr. ruffled some feathers on Wednesday evening following Denver’s 96-85 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers in the Western Conference Semifinals. The Nuggets’ offense was, as you can tell by the final score, not good, and as a result, the team is facing its second-consecutive 3-1 series deficit this postseason. Unlike last round, the Clippers are a much taller mountain to scale than the Utah Jazz, and it’s hard to see a path that involves Denver winning three in a row.

Porter, out of an apparent sense of frustration with how things went on Wednesday, called out head coach Michael Malone’s play calling in his postgame press conference. He took two shots in the second half after scoring 15 points in the first, and told the media that it wasn’t because of anything L.A. was doing.

Malone, when asked, disagreed with this assessment.

Anyone publicly going after a coach like this is eyebrow-raising, particularly when it’s a young player whose gripe seems to be “the offense was too centered around Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray.” His frustration is understandable, but there are plenty of ways to handle said frustration that is not this.

In the aftermath, plenty of individuals opined on how Porter aired this dirty laundry. One such person was Damian Lillard, who was not a fan of Porter’s tactics.

Lillard is no stranger to commenting on what he sees in the world of basketball, and while there could have been some ambiguity about what he did not like here — perhaps he agreed with Porter and was shaking his damn head at the Nuggets’ coaching staff — he clarified in his following tweets that he believed the youngster was in the wrong here.

Porter said that he’s going to speak with his coaches about all of this, so it’ll be worth keeping an eye on what his role is during a must-win Game 5 on Friday. Regardless, it’s not hard to guess what Lillard hopes they tell him as they discuss how he’ll be used for the remainder of this playoff run.