Month: November 2020

One of the reasons rap fans are looking forward to the latest episode of Verzuz with both excitement and dread is the very real animosity between Gucci Mane and Jeezy. The former collaborators fell out after a dispute over their hit “Icy” led to a bitter feud — one with fatal implications for a member of Jeezy’s crew. When a group of men associated with Jeezy apparently attacked Gucci in 2005, Gucci’s return fire killed one of them. Gucci claimed that the killing was in self-defense and the resulting murder case was dropped due to a lack of evidence.

The feud between the two carried over into the next decade with the two rappers going back-and-forth on records and their crews entering various altercations afterward. However, in the years since, both have seemingly turned over new leaves; Gucci Mane has become a best-selling author and respected OG of the trap scene after a long stint in prison, even starring on a reality show revolving around his marriage to Keyshia Ka’oir in 2017, while Jeezy now has a talk show on Fox Soul and is dating fellow talk show host Jeannie Mai of The Real.

Their impending Verzuz battle, therefore, comes with some serious implications — although both seem to be changed me

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n who’ve matured a lot in the years since. That hasn’t stopped Gucci from sharing memes making light of their old beef in the week leading up to their confrontation. In one, a fan caption imagines an action movie-hero-like role for Gucci in the shootout that killed Jeezy’s friend Pookie Loc, while another theorizes Jeezy’s possible response should Gucci play “Truth,” a 2012 mixtape cut on which Gucci taunts Jeezy, “go dig ya partna up, n***a / I bet he can’t he say shit.”

Incidentally, Gucci wound up being a surprise, 11th-hour replacement for T.I., who dropped out of the battle due to unknown reasons. T.I. notoriously also had disagreements with the other two trap pioneers, although on a recent episode of his podcast, he invited Jeezy on the show and they pondered finally settling all their longstanding issues with Gucci behind closed doors. One thing is for sure: a great many eyes will be on Verzuz’s Apple Music and Instagram streams Thursday night at 5/8 pm PT/ET. The one exception: Freddie Gibbs, who seems no closer to resolving his own feud with Jeezy than he was when he departed Jeezy’s label in 2012.

Even Mafia dons think these voter fraud conspiracy theories from Trump and his followers are getting out of hand.

Former Philadelphia mafia boss “Skinny” Joey Merlino has been roped into the latest allegations of ballot tampering from Trump’s MAGA cronies. Merlino, an infamous member of Philly’s criminal underground in the ’90s, has been spending recent years down in Florida, trying to operate a restaurant before a racketeering case in 2018 shuttered his business. Merlino has since been on supervised release, after entering a plea deal for that case. But none of that seems to matter to conspiracy-fueling outlets like The Buffalo Chronicle because the mob kingpin has become the latest name implicated in some totally baseless accusations from right-wing conspiracy theorists, who are hoping to retroactively win the election for Trump.

The Buffalo Chronicle, an outlet with a history of twisting outrageous conspiracy theories into “breaking news,” claimed an anonymous source outed Merlino as the brains and muscle behind an election rigging scam in Philadelphia. This unnamed informant said Merlino “fabricated ballots” and delivered them to Philadelphia polling stations in “nondescript cardboard boxes.” They also alleged that Merlino might be willing to “flip” on President-elect Joe Biden to “expose” Democratic corruption in exchange for his record being expunged and immunity from these ballot tampering crimes because he wants … and this is a direct quote here … “to fish and hunt on federal lands. He’d really like a job with the National Parks Service.”

Of course, these claims aren’t backed up by any factual evidence, and Merlino, who’s apparently been fielding dozens of calls about this nonsense since the story first ran, has gotten his legal team to issue a statement.

“My client categorically denies all the allegations and Joey would rather die than ever be a snitch,” Merlino’s attorney John Meringolo told The New York Daily News after reportedly telling people his client responded to the claims by saying, “These people are crazy!”

That hasn’t stopped some within Trump’s circle from latching onto this wagon. Jordan Sekulow, the son of one of Trump’s top personal lawyers, Jay Sekulow, retweeted the article, urging people to “follow all leads.”

But you know a conspiracy theory is too outrageous to get behind when even Rudy Giuliani calls it far-fetched like he did during an interview on Fox Business yesterday. Still, this is one of the more laughable plots we’ve heard so far when it comes to Trump’s failed campaign to beat Biden after the fact so … there’s that.

Kevin Morby previously revealed that Katie Crutchfield (aka Waxahatchee) was a big part of his new album Sundowner. She has appeared in most of the album’s visuals, and sure enough, she co-stars in Morby’s latest video, this time for “Don’t Underestimate Midwest American Sun.”

Morby explains the clip:

“At the time of writing the album, it felt like Katie and I were the only two people on Earth — living out in suburban Kansas away from the chaos of our lives on the road and on the coasts and our days became very childlike and innocent: riding bikes, making up games, and singing songs. When we found ourselves back in a similar environment due to the lockdown, and it came time to make videos, I wanted to depict our lives in solitude from when I wrote the album.”

He also previously said of the song, “‘Don’t Underestimate Midwest American Sun’ is my favorite song off of the new album, and the one I’m most proud of. I consider space to be a prominent instrument on the song — and here it’s as important as anything else you hear on the track. It was my goal to capture the vast openness of the middle American landscape sonically. To this end — there is a whole track of nothing but Texas air, birds and wind chimes living beneath the song.”

Watch the “Don’t Underestimate Midwest American Sun” video above and revisit our recent interview with Morby here.

Sundowner is out now via Dead Oceans. Get it here.

Yves Tumor put forth their ambitious album Heaven To A Tortured Mind back in April as a determined follow-up to their acclaimed 2018 effort Safe In The Hands Of Love. Though the record has been out several months, the musician has only shared two visuals to accompanying the project. Aiming to change that fact, Tumor called on their contributor Diana Gordon to star alongside them in a mind-bending visual to their track “Kerosene!”

Directed by Cody Critecheloe, Diana Gordon stars as Tumor’s jealousy-fueled ex. Gordon spots Tumor with a new love interest, sparking a chain reaction of events involving a bougie lunch, an eye-catching whip, and a series of deadly golf balls which ultimately concludes with a fatal car crash.

Speaking to the visual’s concept in a statement, Critcheloe said, “We set out to create an epic rock-n-roll-swindled story around a motley crew of characters as they navigate a day in the life of what should be called the Hottest/Nastiest love-triangle in what’s left of Middle America… Yes, it’s all true: Yves Tumor, Diana Gordon, Bailey Stiles and Chris Greatti tear it crazy as they loosen a few notches on the Bible Belt in pursuit of glam-packed caloric excess all-across-the-bored.”

Watch Yves Tumor’s “Kerosene!” video above.

Heaven To A Tortured Mind is out now via Warp Records. Get it here.

It’s been a little over four months since Tory Lanez was first arrested in Hollywood for carrying a gun in his SUV. Since then, he was accused of shooting Megan Thee Stallion in the back of her feet and unleashing a smear campaign against her, and charged with felony assault with a semiautomatic firearm. Today, he was arraigned and, surprising no one, entered a plea of “not guilty” according to TMZ.

That means that the case will proceed to an actual court trial in which the State’s prosecution and Tory’s defense will present evidence to attempt to convince a jury of what happened on the night in question. If Tory is convicted, he faces up to 22 years and eight months in prison, as carrying a loaded gun in a vehicle is also a felony in the state of California. The next hearing in the case is scheduled for January 20, and during today’s hearing, the state advised that it’s still weighing whether or not it believes Tory violated a protective order against him with his social media posts and song lyrics.

Tory has maintained his innocence all along, going so far as to put out a whole album gaslighting Megan, although he notably has yet to offer an alternative explanation for how she ended up with two bullets in the back of her feet, which were removed by surgeons in the aftermath of the incident.

I was 20 years old when I first heard the word “bipolar.” I was in a sterile, white room: a room with stained walls and cold, metal chairs. There were marks on the floor. Scuffs and crumbs and wisps of unswept hair. But that didn’t bother me. Not really. What bothered me was my new diagnosis.

Bipolar.

I wasn’t sad or depressed, I was bipolar.

I’d be lying if I said I accepted my new label with grace. I mean, I started taking medication. Depakote. I went to therapy, as my psychiatrist suggested, and I attempted to make progress. I really, really tried. But I didn’t believe I was sick, or at least not as sick as they were telling me, and after a few months, I stopped taking my meds — something which, over the last 16 years, I have done time and time again. But it didn’t end well. It never ends well. And during my “withdrawal,” my body began reacting.

Within days, I was exuberant, elated, and happy. I was working more and sleeping less. I was talkative. Very talkative. I text dozens of friends, friends who I hadn’t spoken to in years, and I was confident. Hypomania was setting in. I also pitched hundreds of story ideas. I wrote more articles than I can count. Oh, and I dyed my hair. Over the span of a week, I sported three different shades. But I was seeing things. Hearing voices. The walls had eyes. My world was closing in. And I was drinking to manage. To deal. To cope.

I was also suicidal. When I am manic, I am always suicidal.

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But why then did I stop my pills? Why did I put myself and my wellbeing at risk? Because I have a mental health disorder. Specifically, I live with bipolar disorder, and one of the symptoms of my illness is impulsivity. Mania and hypomania is marked by reckless decisions. And stopping my pills? That was brash and careless. It was negligent and thoughtless, and it was reckless. It was textbook bipolar behavior.

But mania and hypomania aren’t the only manifestations of my illness. Bipolar disorder is a serious mental health disorder, one that affects 2.3 million Americans, and in order to be diagnosed with this condition, one must experience elation and sadness. Those with bipolar experience manic highs and depressive lows—and I would know.

While my most recent swing was up, I have spent many days down. My depressive episodes are frequent, dark and morose.

You see, when I am depressed, I am discouraged and despondent, helpless and hopeless, and I feel numb. I am suffocated by a curtain I cannot see. I am stuck behind a wall which does not exist, and I am tethered to a pole by an imaginary rope.

I run laps like a caged animal. I beg for someone—anyone—to throw me a bone.

When I am depressed, I miss deadlines and lack motivation: To work. To parent. To run, read, or shower.

When I am depressed, I want to be alone. I need to be alone. Seeing people being and breathing is too painful. Watching others live their life hurts. And when I am depressed I feel guilty for thinking these things. For feeling these things. Everything becomes a chore.

“Bipolar disorder (formerly called manic-depressive illness or manic depression) is a mental disorder that causes unusual shifts in mood, energy, activity levels, concentration, and the ability to carry out day-to-day tasks,” the National Institute of Mental Health writes. Those living with bipolar “experience periods of unusually intense emotion, changes in sleep patterns and activity levels, and uncharacteristic behaviors — often without recognizing their likely harmful or undesirable effects.”

Of course, as with any illness, the symptoms of bipolar vary from person to person and patient to patient; however, those living with bipolar will experience periods of depression, mania and/or hypomania.

“Mania and hypomania are two distinct types of episodes,” the Mayo Clinic explains, “but they have the same symptoms, [including but not limited to feeling] abnormally upbeat, jumpy or wired; [having] increased activity, energy or agitation [and/or an] exaggerated sense of well-being and self-confidence (euphoria); [experiencing a] decreased need for sleep… [and engaging in] poor decision-making.”

Those with depression will experience feelings of numbness, sadness, tearfulness, hopelessness, and helplessness. They may experience weight loss or weight gain, and depression can exacerbate feelings of worthlessness and guilt. Fatigue and a general loss of motivation and energy can also occur.

The good news is most days I am stable. I am balanced. Thanks to therapy and medication, I am living somewhere “in between.” Most days I wake feeling fine. I am able to parent. To work. To function. I am a good employee. A caring wife. A loving mother, and an (overly invested) friend. I can also roll with the punches. I don’t cry over cold coffee or breakdown when I spill milk. I also don’t drink. I am able to keep the manic demons at bay. Plus, I know how to manage my illness when I am not. I run. I rest. I speak with my therapist more frequently. If necessary, I ask my psychiatrist to adjust my meds, and I implement my crisis intervention plan, a document which includes tangible steps I can take if and when I am feeling manic or depressed.

But being well isn’t easy. It takes patience and hard work. It also takes a little faith and a whole lot of luck, but it is worth it.

I am worth it.

If you or someone you know is struggling, know this: You are not alone. There is help. There is hope. For more information about bipolar disorder and/or resources about substance abuse or other mental health disorders, call the visit SAMHSA’s website or call the National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).

It’s been more than a year since any of us have seen James Wiseman play in a competitive basketball game. After a 14-point, 12-rebound performance against Oregon on Nov. 12, 2019, the former No. 1 recruit in the nation’s collegiate career at the University of Memphis came to an abrupt end after three games due to an NCAA suspension led to his decision to focus on the NBA Draft.

Wiseman’s been spending plenty of time in the gym over the last year. It’s been a lengthy process, but it’s coming to a head on Wednesday night, when he’s expected to go in the top-3 of the 2020 NBA Draft. Before that happens, Wiseman hopped on a call with Dime to give us an update on what he’s been doing to stay busy on and off the court, give some book recommendations as he’s working to become more of a leader, and discuss his partnership with Mountain Dew, which will include him making a cameo on their Instagram account as part of Dew’s Virtual Green Carpet on Wednesday evening.

How have you been keeping yourself occupied over the last couple of months?

I’m really just doing a lot of film study, a lot of basketball film, and just trying to stay mentally tough throughout this process. I know this process has been long and it’s been a marathon for all of us athletes. I make sure that I just do stuff off the court, read a variety of books, in terms of business and doing a lot of meditation and stuff like that, but really just playing the video game and just enjoying life outside of basketball and staying mentally tough.

So what’s going through your mind right now? I mean, you have been mentioned as a top pick from the moment people started talking about this Draft class and now, that day is finally here.

My mind has been kind of, very calm, because that’s just my demeanor, I’m a very calm person. But I ain’t gonna lie, I’ve been getting kind of anxious a little bit, because it’s been hitting me this morning when I woke up. The last weekend, or three days ago before I came home to see my mom, I really wasn’t … it didn’t hit me that much, but now it’s starting to hit me. So it’s really very exciting. It’s very exciting for me and my family, it’s a very exciting moment, and I can’t wait to just enjoy the moment.

So what’s the draft plan? What will you be doing? Who will you be doing it with? Do you have a special suit or anything going on this year?

Yeah, my suit is going to be very subtle. I’m going to spice it up a little bit, but it’s going to be very subtle. It’s going to be simple. But I’m just enjoying my time with my family. I’m still gonna work out after I get drafted and I’m gonna still be in the gym and stuff because I just love being in there so much. But just let my hair down and just relax and just enjoy this moment is what I’m really thinking about, just living in the moment, and staying in the present moment.

I’ve spoken to enough draft prospects over the years to know that you guys are always working on everything in the lead up to the draft. But what is the one specific area where you think you’ve grown the most as a basketball player in this entire process?

I’ll say being a leader. I’ve always been a leader on my team since my eleventh grade year, really since my first year of high school. But just being more of a vocal leader, if that makes sense, making sure that I just keep my teammates involved and just give my teammates courage, make sure I uplift my teammates.

I’ll say in terms of me individually, I say my ball-handling and my shooting has done way better. Just throughout this training process, I’ve been working on that for several months. I feel very confident and very prepared in my versatility.

Yeah, you just mentioned leadership and a little earlier, you mentioned some books that you’ve been reading. Are there any books on leadership that you feel have really helped you grow into more of a leadership role?

Yes, Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill, and then there’s another book called How to Be a Power Connector and there’s another book called 48 Laws of Power that I’ve been reading so far. Those three books are great, but one book in particular, Kobe Bryant made, called the Wizenard series. He talks about sacrifices, dedication, and how to be a leader and how when adversity hits, you still have to have that courage and that perseverance to keep going. So those books became the main components of my development.

I got a Kobe question for you in a second, but before we get to that, who were the players whose games you enjoy studying the most, both as you were growing up and as you look at what you need to do to succeed in the modern NBA?

I’ll say Anthony Davis, Chris Bosh, Karl-Anthony Towns, and I’ll also say David Robinson and Kevin Garnett. Those players I admire a lot, just because how they can be able to space out the floor and use their versatility to be 7’1.

In today’s generation, in today’s NBA, it’s all about versatility as a big man. Can you play-make, and can you put the ball on the floor and shoot the ball? So I’ve been working on all three of those aspects of my game and I’m fully prepared and ready to be able to showcase it. But yeah, that’s the only thing I’ve been doing, just staying humble and just working hard and just studying those guys right there, because they’re great players.

So I know you have big, big plans for yourself off the court. I spoke to you about a year ago and you spoke a lot about how much you care about giving back. And you mentioned Kobe as a guy who inspired you as an athlete who helps people off the floor. How do you plan on continuing his legacy now that Kobe is no longer with us?

I feel like the main objective in life, in terms of us as humans, we have to give back. We have to help each other. We have to give each other advice and information to help each other grow. So I feel that what Kobe did, and what he did on this earth, really impacted a lot of people, even people that’s not even athletes and just having that mindset to where, why you should be tenacious and just master your craft, just work hard at everything you do.

Off the court, make sure you give back to the people that helped you throughout your journey, but also help people that are trying to become great in their position, but also trying to help people who’s trying to get to your position, as well. So, I feel like it’s great to give back, to give a lot of advice to young kids, just to give them a lot of information on how to be successful.

And do you have any specific stuff that you’re doing right now? Or are you looking into doing once you get settled into the league? Or is it just, if a young person reaches out to you and wants to talk to James Wiseman, you’re going to be there to chat with them?

Yes, I have a lot of young kids that hit me up everyday on all social media platforms that I have — Twitter, Instagram, so I text back, get to it ASAP. I’ve barely been on social media like that, about all I do on social media is just check my DMs and stuff, but so if I see somebody that texts me, I’ll quickly text them back, especially if it’s a kid that wants any information about the league or any information about how to get better as a athlete. So, I feel that it’s great to give back. And once I get to the league, I’m going to have a lot of opportunities and I want to create a lot of opportunities that I did to give back to my community and just to help out.

What do you have going on with Mountain Dew?

It’s really just a great sponsorship just to talk about my life, talk about my platform, talk about where I came from, and also just really talk about me as a person, and just talk about the different, interesting things that I like to do outside of basketball. So, just more of a defining moment to where I could be able to talk about myself as a person, outside of basketball, and just talk about those things and just spread it to people that’s interested in terms of my personality and stuff.

I saw the video you did with them, and I have to ask about the love of making beats. When did that start?

https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1328170929076178944

That’s a great question. I started making beats three years ago and Kanye West is one of my favorite artists of all time. So, to just watch him make beats and music is what I like to do outside of basketball. So, just making beats is a very great thing for me to do outside of basketball, just to get my mind off basketball in my off time. So, yeah, Kanye West is one of my favorite people, in terms of music.

Two final questions to end. One, what’s your favorite Kanye album?

College Dropout, most definitely, that’s the best album of all time.

And two, any guys in the league who sing or who rap that you’d love to make beats for one of these days?

Shout out to Damian Lillard. Hopefully, if we can get a track one day, I’ll most definitely make a fire beat and he can have the fire lyrics that he got and we can just rap. Just create it, hopefully create a hit.

CBS All Access’ adaptation of Stephen King’s The Stand arrives in less than month, and yet the show is still pulling casting surprises out of its hat. Case in point: the showrunners have revealed that Ezra Miller was secretly cast as Trashcan Man, an unstable pyromaniac who has a key role in King’s classic novel after joining forces with the villainous Randall Flagg, played by Alexander Skarsgard in the new miniseries.

In a statement to Entertainment Weekly, Miller shares what drew him to the role, “Trash is the underestimated and misinterpreted amongst us,” and how he had a very specific demand from the costuming department on Day 1:

“‘Fireproof underwear’ were two of the first words out of my mouth in the first conceptual meeting,” Miller wrote. “I was very interested in working directly with the wardrobe department in creating a look based entirely on the practical demands of the characters pyromania. Trash wears nothing but what is necessary to craft incendiaries, ignite them, and get as close to the flames as possible — in order to revel in the fire.”

Miller’s casting is also unexpected due to persistent online rumors that Marilyn Manson would be playing Trashcan Man in the updated adaptation. However, that rumor isn’t entirely without basis. According to the showrunners, Manson was in talks for the CBS All Access miniseries, but for the character of The Kid. Much like King’s original version of The Stand, The Kid’s story didn’t really fit the show’s narrative, and the Manson casting never came to pass.

The Stand arrives December 17 under the direction of Josh Boone, who describes the King masterpiece as “one of the great American novels. I think it’s sort of The Lord of the Rings, but in America,”

(Via Entertainment Weekly)

Tierra Whack’s latest single, “Feel Good,” finds the undefinable Philadelphia artist in an introspective mood, admitting that fame isn’t always what it’s cracked up to be. Over a dreamy but melancholy backdrop, Whack wonders, “Why would I lie and say I feel good when I don’t feel good?” Although the track is short — clocking in at around 100 seconds — Tierra proved she can pack a lot of emotional content into a relatively short space with her breakout project Whack World two years ago and it looks like that gift hasn’t dulled with her time away.

Whack also released the song “Peppers And Onions” today, addressing “the pros and the cons of bein’ the bomb.” Despite being more upbeat than “Feel Good,” with a bouncy beat full of perky whistling and tongue-clicks, it’s a subtle commentary on the imperfections of being human and especially a celebrity. “Even though we buy chains, we just wanna be free,” she raps. “I don’t wanna be judged, I just wanna be me.”

Premiering the songs on Apple Music today, she told Zane Lowe, “All these good things were happening for me, but at the same time it was happening so fast I wasn’t able to take it all in. So I feel like everything is like a gift and a curse”

She continued, “I got to just reflect on everything that I had did prior, and I just was like, wow, I really need to be happier. I deserve to be happy. I should be happy. There’s no reason I should not be happy. Because for a minute I was feeling like I just didn’t know what to feel. I was confused. I’m seeing everybody around me was excited and happy for me, but I didn’t feel happy inside, and I didn’t know why.”

Listen to “Feel Good” and “Peppers And Onions” above.

A few days ago, photos of Harry Styles wearing a dress and other traditionally female-oriented articles of clothing were published as part of a new Vogue profile, and since then, it’s been all anybody on the internet can talk about. Conservative commentators Candace Owens and Ben Shapiro weren’t the biggest fans of the photos, but the majority of people who have weighed in on the situation supported Styles.

In a recent conversation with his podcast co-host, internet personality Logan Paul came to Styles’ defense, saying, “What is ‘manly’ to you? What does it mean? Is manly being comfortable in your own skin and being comfortable with who you are, regardless of what you’re wearing?” Now one of Styles’ musical peers, Machine Gun Kelly, has also shows his support for Styles wearing whatever he pleases, doing so indirectly but pretty clearly.

MGK is the cover star of the latest issue of Nylon, and in one of the photos, he pulls a Styles and wears a skirt. Although he didn’t address the Styles situation directly, he indicated that he shares a similar mindset with the former One Direction member, tweeting, “wore a skirt. hope you’re pissed [halo emoji].”

Check out the full Nylon Machine Gun Kelly cover story here.