Month: July 2021

21 Savage and Metro Boomin made fans wait more than four years to get a sequel to their Savage Mode project. The effort finally came in October 2020 and as opposed to the first installment which was a mere mixtape, the second edition came as a full-length album, one that was met with acclaim and positive reviews from fans and critics alike. Nearly a full year after Savage Mode II was released, 21 Savage and Metro Boomin continue their promotion of the project with a video for “Brand New Draco.”

The new visual hones in on 21 Savage’s humor while keeping his menacing raps, which often cross into dark territories, intact. The Atlanta rapper steps into the role of a financial advisor who promotes his new $DRCO stock. Promises of monetary success are made with the help of testimonies from DJ Khaled, Bow Wow, Shaquille O’Neal, and more. However, it’s all a facade as the company 21 Savage and Metro Boomin built together is forced to quickly disband before law enforcement raids their office to arrest them for an unknown crime.

The video joins “Glock In My Lap,” “My Dawg,” and “Runnin” as other songs from Savage Mode II to receive the visual treatment. On a more recent note, 21 recently signed as a headlining act, along with North Carolina rapper Morray, for J. Cole’s The Off-Season tour.

You can watch the video for “Brand New Draco” above.

Savage Mode II is out now via Epic Records and Republic Records. Get it here.

Ruby Rose only briefly held the mantle of Batwoman on the CW, and apparently the reason first given for her abrupt departure didn’t tell the whole story. Rose made headlines in 2020 by leaving Batwoman after its first season, citing some difficulties that soon spawned rumors things did not exactly end amicably.

A year later, though, Rose has slightly changed her tune as to why she left the show. As the New York Daily News shared on Thursday, Rose spoke to an Australian program called the Kyle And Jackie O Show where she gave a new reason for her abrupt departure from the DC Universe show: an allergy that impacted her ability to wear the costume required for the part.

“I did find out that I was allergic to latex … unfortunately, my mask is latex,” the 35-year-old beauty said during an interview on Australia’s “The Kyle and Jackie O Show.” “I was getting worse and worse, because as you get more contact with it, I guess you get more reactions. I took off the [mask] at the end, and my face was just hives. My throat was all messed up.”

“It was like it was out of a scary movie,” the “Orange is the New Black” alum added.

That’s certainly a new one in the list of reasons to walk away, and it seems like it certainly was a factor regardless of all the other interpersonal drama that may have played a part as well. Considering how integral a costume is to a superhero role, not being able to get through taping without medical side effects would make it tough continue with a second season. But given all the other smoke around her departure here, it seems likely it’s just a new wrinkle in a story that only keeps growing more complex.

[via NY Daily News]

With EA Play quickly approaching there is growing anticipation about what kind of video games everyone will get to see. While rumors persist of a new Dead Space and maybe a new college football game announcement we’re also, unfortunately, hearing about what will not be there. We already know that Bioware is skipping out, which means no new information about Mass Effect and Dragon Age, but it looks like another major franchise will also be missing from EA Play 2021.

Star Wars, which until recently was an EA exclusive, is not going to be making an appearance at EA Play. However, for fans of the Star Wars video games from EA they can rest assured that there will be more to see in 2022. EA teased that while they don’t have anything Star Wars to show this year they will be showing off some stuff next year. Maybe a sequel to Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order?

This is admittedly a little bit of a disappointment, but at least we know that some new Stars Wars games are in development and on the way. Star Wars has one of the best universes in fiction and that has managed to give us some really great games. What’s more concerning is that EA keeps announcing that major names will not be a part of their upcoming EA Play, which creates questions about what it is they plan to show during the upcoming event.

Hopefully, this just means that without Bioware or Star Wars that EA is going to come through with tons of new games to show. A new IP announcement would be very cool, for example. We’ll just have to wait and see!

Lil Durk has unfortunately experienced an unusual amount of tragedies over the last year and he was nearly involved in another one as a report from TMZ revealed on Thursday. The rapper’s Georgia home, which he resides in with his girlfriend India Cox, was reportedly broken into by multiple unidentified individuals early Sunday morning.

According to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, the break-in quickly led to a shootout that saw the intruders as well as Durk and Cox exchange gunfire. Officials were unable to determine how many people broke into the rapper’s home and they’re seeking help from the public to investigate the home invasion.

XXL was also able to obtain documents that confirm Durk and Cox were listed as victims in the incident and were not injured in the matter. The home invasion and shooting occurred a month after Durk’s brother, DThang, was shot and killed outside of Club O, a strip club in Harvey, Illinois, a city south of their hometown of Chicago. This came after King Von, a rapper Durk often referred to as has “twin,” died as a result of a club shooting in Atlanta back in November 2020.

In more positive news, Durk received his first No. 1 album last month thanks to the release of Voice Of The Heroes, his joint album with Lil Baby. The 18-track effort came attached with guest appearances from Travis Scott, Young Thug, Meek Mill, and Rod Wave.

This story was originally published on The Mighty and originally appeared here on 07.21.17

Most people imagine depression equals “really sad,” and unless you’ve experienced depression yourself, you might not know it goes so much deeper than that. Depression expresses itself in many different ways, some more obvious than others. While some people have a hard time getting out of bed, others might get to work just fine — it’s different for everyone.

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To find out how depression shows itself in ways other people can’t see, we asked The Mighty mental health community to share one thing people don’t realize they’re doing because they have depression.

Here’s what they had to say:

1. “In social situations, some people don’t realize I withdraw or don’t speak much because of depression. Instead, they think I’m being rude or purposefully antisocial.” — Laura B.

2. “I struggle to get out of bed, sometimes for hours. Then just the thought of taking a shower is exhausting. If I manage to do that, I am ready for a nap. People don’t understand, but anxiety and depression is exhausting, much like an actual physical fight with a professional boxer.” — Juli J.

3. “Agreeing to social plans but canceling last minute. Using an excuse but really you just chickened out. It makes you think your friends don’t actually want to see you, they just feel bad. Obligation.” — Brynne L.

4. “Hiding in my phone. Yes, I am addicted to it, but not like other people. I don’t socialize, I play games or browse online stores to distract myself from my negative thoughts. It’s my safe bubble.” — Eveline L.

5. “Going to bed at 9 p.m. and sleeping throughout the night until 10 or 11 a.m.” — Karissa D.

6. “Isolating myself, not living up to my potential at work due to lack of interest in anything, making self-deprecating jokes. I’ve said many times before, ‘I laugh, so that I don’t cry.’ Unfortunately, it’s all too true.” — Kelly K.

7. “When I reach out when I’m depressed it’s ’cause I am wanting to have someone to tell me I’m not alone. Not because I want attention.” — Tina B.

8. “I don’t like talking on the phone. I prefer to text. Less pressure there. Also being anti-social. Not because I don’t like being around people, but because I’m pretty sure everyone can’t stand me.” — Meghan B.

9. “I overcompensate in my work environment… and I work front line at a Fitness Centre, so I feel the need to portray an ‘extra happy, bubbly personality.’ As soon as I walk out the doors at the end of the day, I feel myself ‘fall.’ It’s exhausting… I am a professional at hiding it.” — Lynda H.

10. “The excessive drinking. Most people assume I’m trying to be the ‘life of the party’ or just like drinking in general. I often get praised for it. But my issues are much deeper than that.” — Teresa A.

11. “Hiding out in my room for hours at a time watching Netflix or Hulu to distract my mind or taking frequent trips to the bathroom or into another room at social gatherings because social situations sometimes get to me.” — Kelci F.

12. “Saying I’m tired or don’t feel good… they don’t realize how much depression can affect you physically as well as emotionally.” — Lauren G.

13. “Answering slowly. It makes my brain run slower, and I can’t think of the answers to the questions as quickly. Especially when someone is asking what I want to do — I don’t really want anything. I isolate myself so I don’t have to be forced into a situation where I have to respond because it’s exhausting.” — Erin W.

14. “Sometimes I’ll forget to eat all day. I can feel my stomach growling but don’t have the willpower to get up and make something to eat.” — Kenzi I.

15. “I don’t talk much in large groups of people, especially when I first meet them. I withdraw because of my anxiety and depression. People think I’m ‘stuck up.’ I’m actually scared out of my mind worrying they don’t like me, or that they think I’m ‘crazy’ by just looking at me…” — Hanni W.

16. “Not keeping in touch with anyone, bad personal hygiene and extremely bad reactions to seemingly trivial things.” — Jenny B.

17. “Being angry, mean or rude to people I love without realizing it in the moment. I realize my actions and words later and feel awful I had taken out my anger on people who don’t deserve it.” — Christie C.

18. “Purposely working on the holidays so I can avoid spending time with family. It’s overwhelming to be around them and to talk about the future and life so I avoid it.” — Aislinn G.

19. “My house is a huge mess.” — Cynthia H.

20. “I volunteer for everything, from going to PTO meetings to babysitting to cleaning someone else’s house for them. I surround myself with situations and obligations that force me to get out of bed and get out of the house because if I’m not needed, I won’t be wanted.” — Carleigh W.

21. “Overthinking everything and over-planning. The need to make everything perfect and everyone happy, even if it’s taking all my energy. As if validation from someone else will make it all better. Sometimes I start out on high power, then just crash and don’t even enjoy what I’ve spent weeks/months planning. And no one will see me for months after, as I retreat into my safe bubble.” — Vicki G.

22. “I smile all the time even though I don’t really want to, but I do it because I don’t feel like I’m allowed to be sad when I’m with other people. I also do whatever it takes to make someone else happy because since I don’t feel happy most of the time, it just makes me feel a little better seeing someone else happy. I also isolate myself even though sometimes I really just want someone around.” — Wendy E.

23. “People don’t realize I say sorry before I even think about expressing any opinions because that’s how worthless I feel. I’m apologizing for feeling anything about anything because that’s how little I feel I matter. They don’t just know I feel like apologizing for even breathing in their general direction. I even say I’m sorry before asking to use the bathroom no matter how long I’ve held it. I feel like a burden for biological needs I have no control over.” — Amy Y.

24. “Neglecting to do basic things like laundry, not wanting to cook a meal or eat. They think I’m being lazy.” — Rebecca R.

25. “Sometimes I’ll go days without speaking to anybody. People tend to believe I’m ignoring them on purpose when really I am just lost within myself. I don’t mean to seem like I’m pushing people away. Some days it’s hard when my thoughts consume me and when I can’t find the motivation to do simple things that others do on a daily basis.” — Alyssa A.

26. “People don’t realize I can’t say no without feeling guilty. I have to have a good enough reason for everything I do. I guess it’s customary to try and convince someone to change their answer, but people have no idea how much it takes for me to say no in the first place. I feel worthless so much that I feel guilty for even thinking of putting my needs or wants first. Then I just feel like a doormat when I cave into the pressure. It’s a never-ending cycle.” — Amy Y.

27. “I push away/cut off everyone who I care about because I can’t bear to be hurt by them! Everyone just thinks I’m mean and anti-social.” — Tina R.

28. “Going for late night walks by myself. My depression keeps me awake at night and my thoughts can get so overwhelming I feel physically crowded inside. Late night walks help me quiet the screaming in my head.” — Lynnie L.

29. “I have often been accused of having ‘no sense of humor.’ So wrong. Before depression took over my life, I smiled and laughed as much as the next person. Now, having lived with depression for over 15 years, the humor I find in a joke or situation is rarely visible on my face or heard in my laugh. I feel humor, but it’s just too much effort to express it. I don’t have the energy.” — Martha W.

30. “Keeping the house dark is a comfort thing for me. People always point it out, like, ‘No wonder you’re so depressed. You need to let some light in.’ Darkness in my living space makes me feel comfortable, almost like I’m not alone. Good days, I’m all about the sunshine!” — Michelle T.

This article originally appeared on 12.06.16

When the attack on Pearl Harbor began, Doris “Dorie” Miller was working laundry duty on the USS West Virginia.

He’d enlisted in the Navy at age 19 to explore life outside of Waco, Texas, and to make some extra money for his family. But the Navy was segregated at the time, so Miller, an African-American, and other sailors of color like him weren’t allowed to serve in combat positions. Instead, they worked as cooks, stewards, cabin boys, and mess attendants. They received no weapons training and were prohibited from firing guns.

As the first torpedoes fell, Dorie Miller had an impossible choice: follow the rules or help defend the ship?

For Miller, the choice was obvious.

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First, he reportedly carried wounded sailors to safety, including his own captain. But there was more to be done.

In the heat of the aerial attack, Miller saw an abandoned Browning .50 caliber anti-aircraft machine gun on deck and immediately decided to fly in the face of segregation and military rules to help defend his ship and country.

Though he had no training, he manned the weapon and shot at the enemy aircraft until his gun ran out of ammunition, potentially downing as many as six Japanese planes. In the melee, even Miller himself didn’t know his effort was successful.

“It wasn’t hard,” he said after the battle. “I just pulled the trigger and she worked fine. I had watched the others with these guns. I guess I fired her for about 15 minutes. I think I got one of those [Japanese] planes. They were diving pretty close to us.”

Original newspaper reports heralded a hero “Negro messman” at Pearl Harbor, but no one knew who Miller was.

The Pittsburgh Courier, an African-American paper in wide circulation, sent a reporter to track down and identify the brave sailor, but it took months of digging to uncover the messman’s identity.

Eventually, Miller was identified. He was called a hero by Americans of all stripes and colors. He appeared on radio shows and became a celebrity in his own right.

Miller’s heroism and bravery didn’t go unnoticed in Washington, D.C., either.

In March 1942, Rep. John Dingell, a Democrat from Michigan, introduced a bill authorizing the president to present Miller with the Congressional Medal of Honor. Sen. James Mead introduced a similar measure in the Senate. While Miller did not receive the Congressional Medal of Honor, he became the first African-American sailor to receive the Navy Cross.

“This marks the first time in this conflict that such high tribute has been made in the Pacific Fleet to a member of his race, and I’m sure that the future will see others similarly honored for brave acts,” said Pacific Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz following Miller’s pinning ceremony.

Following a brief tour of the country, giving speeches and pushing war bonds, Miller returned to Navy life.

In May 1943, Miller reported for duty on the Liscome Bay, an escort carrier.

On Nov. 24, during Operation Galvanic, a Japanese torpedo struck the Liscome Bay, sinking the ship. 644 men were presumed dead. 272 survived. Miller did not.

On Dec. 7, 1943, two years after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Millers’ parents received word of their son’s death.

Doris “Dorie” Miller gave his life for a country that didn’t always love him back.

Miller posthumously received a Purple Heart, the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, the American Defense Service Medal, Fleet Clasp, and the World War II Victory Medal. There is also a frigate and a neighborhood on the U.S. Naval Base in Pearl Harbor named in his honor.

Though his Navy Cross was never elevated to a Congressional Medal of Honor, as recently as 2014, the Congressional Black Caucus moved to waive the statute of limitations to make it possible.

While there are medals, movies, and statues celebrating Miller, it’s important to remember and honor the man himself — a 22-year-old black sailor who set aside the rules to do what’s right.

Poet Gwendolyn Brooks wrote a poem from Miller’s perspective, the conclusion of which perfectly captures the young hero’s courage in the face of bigotry and uncertainty:

Naturally, the important thing is, I helped to save them,
them and a part of their democracy,
Even if I had to kick their law into their teeth in order to do that for them.
And I am feeling well and settled in myself because I believe it was a good job,
Despite this possible horror: that they might prefer the
Preservation of their law in all its sick dignity and their knives
To the continuation of their creed
And their lives.

There is no library of games out there larger than what Steam offers. Valve’s PC game store and launcher features almost any game someone can imagine including AAA’s, indies, and retros. It is a must-have for any PC gamer out there, but it has one major barrier to entry. Not everyone has PCs capable of downloading and playing games off of Steam. For many people, their home computer is simply something they check social media or work on, and gaming doesn’t come to mind to them — particularly those whose home computer is a laptop.

However, these same people may soon have access to Steam’s extensive library of games. Valve has announced the “Steam Deck” a portable gaming console that will bring PC gaming to a handheld device. Anyone with a Steam account will be able to log in and play games in their Steam library on the Steam Deck. This is huge. Not only does this mean that PC players can now take some of their favorite games on the go, but it means a whole new group of people have access to the Steam library.

One look at the Steam Deck and their inspiration for it becomes very clear. This is a clone of the Nintendo Switch and a pretty blatant one at that. It even features a dock for players to connect to external displays. The overall design of the console looks almost exactly the same as a Switch. The only major difference seems to be the placement of the buttons d-pad, which are admittedly in an awkward place. Early pictures don’t make the Steam Deck look particularly comfortable to play on the go, but that may be something that feels more natural once it’s actually in our hands.

This may be a bit of a surprise to some, but it’s not a completely out of nowhere announcement. Rumors of Valve trying to make a console version of Steam have been persisting for some time. Why they decided now was the time to finally pull the trigger on that is anybody’s guess, but it’s going to be fun to see Steam enter the console market against giants like Nintendo, Xbox, and PlayStation. What will separate this console from those however is that Valve is advertising it like a PC. That means it will have an operating system with third party downloads available. Just like a normal PC.

Do I need a Steam account to use Steam Deck?

The default Steam Deck experience requires a Steam account (it’s free!). Games are purchased and downloaded using the Steam Store. That said, Steam Deck is a PC so you can install third party software and operating systems.

Until we know how the console actually performs we can’t say for certain how great this is, but the concept alone is a good thing for gaming. The barrier to entry to PC gaming can be fairly high sometimes and that’s unfortunate because there are so many fantastic games that are only on Steam. Great games should be available to everyone that wants to play them and this is going to get more people playing fun video games, and that’s awesome.

With Bradley Beal off of the Olympic team due to COVID-19 protocols, and Jerami Grant perhaps set to join him, USA Basketball is on the lookout for late roster replacements. And, based on a tweet, it doesn’t seem like Trae Young will be heading to Tokyo.

Using the Isiah Thomas ‘I met the criteria’ meme from “The Last Dance”, Young seemed to indicate that he was not asked to join Team USA. There’s not really another way to read this tweet, right?

Young isn’t the only young star guard who has seemingly tweeted about a Team USA non-invite today, with Ja Morant seemingly tweeting about his own non-invite on Thursday, although he denied it. He also retweeted Young after Young’s tweet, for whatever that’s worth:

And Thomas himself seems to appreciate the use of the video.

Young has a case to feel like he’s been snubbed for Team USA. He’s an All-Star level player who led his team on a deep playoff run and plays the same position as Beal. But he also has not been with Team USA Select a la Cavs guard Darius Garland. It seems like that might matter to the USA Basketball brass, not to mention COVID-19 concerns heading into the Olympics.

That said: This is great posting from Young. It’s an elite pull to express exactly what he’s feeling right now, even if that criteria isn’t enough to actually get him a spot on the team.

Jeff Bezos, the richest man on the planet thanks to Amazon, technically lost the (edges of) space race to another billionaire. But now it seems he’s hoping to make a different bit of history with his rocket launch.

As the New York Times detailed on Thursday, Bezos had sold off a seat on his spaceship to a man who somehow now has plans instead of being one of the few people in the history of humanity to reach the edges of Earth’s atmosphere. And so, a Dutch teen will go in his stead.

More than 7,600 people from 159 countries participated in the monthlong auction, which concluded on June 12. The winning bid was $28 million, and Blue Origin said it would reveal the bidder at a later date.

On Thursday, just five days before the flight, Blue Origin still did not reveal the winning bidder, but said in a news release that this person decided to defer his trip to a future New Shepard launch “due to scheduling conflicts.”

Instead, Mr. Daemen, the son of the chief executive of a private equity investment firm and one of the runners-up in the auction, will take the seat.

The teen, Oliver Daemen, is now set to be the youngest person to ever reach the edges of space. As Blue Origin PR explained, the also-wealthy teen was simply next in line for the seat and took over once it became clear that the first winner would not be able to make the flight 62 miles up to the edges of Earth’s atmosphere inside New Shepard.

In any case we wish everyone luck here, including whoever had a scheduling conflict on Earth simply too important not to escape the planet over.

[via NY Times]

Tom Brady’s Super Bowl 55 win with the Buccaneers already added to his legend. At 43, he won a Super Bowl in his first year with a new team, throwing for 201 yards and 3 touchdown in Tampa Bay’s 31-9 win against Kansas City. It was Brady’s sixth Super Bowl win and, several months later, new details make it look to be all the more impressive.

NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, himself following up on a report from the Tampa Bay Times‘ Rick Stroud, reported on Thursday that Brady won the Super Bowl while playing on a fully torn MCL. After the Super Bowl, he had surgery in February to repair the injury which he apparently first suffered during his last season with the Patriots and was only made worse with the Bucs. It was also the same knee he had a torn ACL in 2018.

This is frankly crazy to consider. At his age, Brady already isn’t moving all that well beyond some movement in the pocket. A torn MCL only limits him further and almost certainly took away any scrambling ability he had. It’s also an injury that usually takes players out for several weeks, so whatever Brady did to make the injury tenable must have been intense and also kept under wraps since this never really leaked. It also makes his boat parade performance even more legendary, as it’s hard enough to stay on your feet while hammered on a boat, much less when one of your knees has a torn ligament.

Since the injury is now healed, he and Tampa Bay have to be feeling good about him continuing to play well next season and perhaps beyond with two fully functional knees instead of just one.