Month: December 2021

Although DMX’s final album was this year’s haunting Exodus, which featured appearances from Jay-Z and Nas, the Griselda crew, and more, it turns out that there’s another full album from the late, great rap pioneer floating around. Titled Walk With Me Now and You’ll Fly With Me Later, it was a double album recorded in 2008 while DMX lived in Arizona, with one side consisting of his usual gritty rap and the second consisting of profanity-free gospel rap. According to a new feature in Rolling Stone, the album was actually completed, but later shelved in the wake of a police raid of his home.

According to Rolling Stone, while living in Arizona, DMX was subject to a campaign of harassment by the then-Sheriff of Maricopa County. Subjects interviewed said that DMX lived under a state of constant surveillance and was arrested multiple times for relatively minor infractions, most related to traffic incidents or parole violations stemming from his 2007 arrest for animal cruelty. Unfortunately, a stint in prison for those charges left him unable to promote a release of the album, and by the time he was free to do so, the label that had bankrolled it, Bodog Music, had been shut down. A Canadian label called Her Royal Majesty’s Records wound up with the album rights to Walk With Me Now and You’ll Fly With Me Later, but due to DMX’s history, was unwilling to commit resources to a proper release.

Some of the songs have since leaked in low-quality YouTube uploads. The rights bounced around, from Seven Arts Entertainment, which released DMX’s album Undisputed in 2012, to a Canadian businessman named Howard Mann who won the rights at an auction when Seven Arts executives were convicted of tax fraud (maybe Issa Rae was right, after all). Meanwhile, DMX’s estate considers Mann pretty untrustworthy as well, saying through their attorney, “Howard Mann has no authority that we’re aware of and hasn’t shown us anything to reflect that he owns any music that DMX recorded. He has absolutely nothing to do with the estate and, to the extent that he has DMX’s music, the estate has not authorized the use of DMX’s name and likeness.”

You can read the full, long-form essay about DMX’s time in Arizona here.

What a difference a couple of decades—and one Big Lie—make. In 2001, Time Magazine named then-New York City Mayor its Person of the Year and declared him “Mayor of the World.” Today, he’s persona non grata pretty much everywhere, including at Fox News, and he is not happy about it.

As Raw Story reports, Giuliani appeared on Real America’s Voice (whatever that is) on Monday to bitch about having to appear on Real America’s Voice, as Fox News essentially banned him from its airwaves back in June—though Rudy didn’t even realize it until September, the night before he was supposed to appear on Fox & Friends to observe the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. More than three months later, he’s still not over it, and went off on a rant in which he claimed that Fox News is only on the air in New York City because of him, which he chose to do “against tremendous criticism.”

“So they forget their friends pretty fast,” Giuliani added. “But the thing I resent most is they won’t tell me why. I’m not being told why I’m not allowed on. I’d like to know what it is that I said that they regard as not being true. We take the same position in regard to Dominion [Voting Systems], we’re in the same lawsuit… But it leaves me completely in a quandary to know why they’re playing the kind of fascist game I’m used to with CNN and… I don’t even consider them news sources any longer. They’re basically organs of the Democrat party.”

That Rudy would mention Dominion in his woe-is-me, I-don’t-know-what-I-did complaint against Fox News seems to indicate that he knows exactly why they don’t want him clogging up their airwaves: In March 2021, Dominion Voting Systems—the company behind the voting technology that many of us used to cast our votes in the 2020 presidential election—filed a $1.6 billion defamation suit against Fox News for its insistence on repeatedly claiming, without a shred of evidence, that the 2020 presidential election had been rigged, and blaming that partly on Dominion’s voting technologies.

While Fox initially attempted to push the narrative that by regularly giving airtime to unhinged conspiracy theorists like Giuliani and MyPillow Man Mike Lindell, they were simply trying to tell “both sides” of the election story, they quickly realized how weak that argument was. So they stopped putting Rudy and his fellow Big Lie pushers on the air at all, apparently in the hope of restoring some of their credibility. But in mid-December, a Delaware Superior Court judge denied Fox News’s motion to dismiss the case against them, which legal experts like CNN’s Jeffrey Toobin said could portend that this lawsuit is likely to be a “nightmare” for Fox News.

For his part, Giuliani is also being sued by Dominion for $1.3 billion for aiding and abetting his former BFF Donald Trump is pushing the idea that the election was rigged. While, outwardly, Rudy doesn’t appear to be paying the lawsuit much mind, he and his team are in crisis mode—in part because of Trump’s refusal to pay Giuliani for the legal services he rendered that got him into this mess in the first place. (The former president was also mad at Rudy for his own impeachment… because nothing is ever Donald Trump’s fault.)

You can watch Rudy’s full rant below.

(Via Raw Story)

On last week’s Billboard Hot 100 chart, Mariah Carey’s enduring 1994 classic “All I Want For Christmas Is You” returned to No. 1 for the third holiday season, making it the first song to top the chart during three distinct runs. Now, “All I Want For Christmas Is You” is making even more history: The song is once again No. 1 on the new Hot 100 chart, and since the chart is dated January 1, 2022, it is the first No. 1 song of 2022 and the first song to be No. 1 in four separate years (2019 to 2022).

This marks the 50th week that “All I Want For Christmas Is You” has been on the Hot 100 and it’s the first song to ever be No. 1 in its 50th week. Furthermore, Carey herself has now been at No. 1 on the Hot 100 during a record-extending 18 years: 1990 to 2000, 2005 to 2006, 2008, and 2019 to 2022. Carey has now spent 86 total weeks at No. 1, which extends the all-time record.

Meanwhile, it’s also a huge week for The Ronettes, as their 1963 single “Sleigh Ride” is No. 10 on this week’s chart. This is the group’s first time in the top 10 in 58 years and two months, which is a record. Their last top ten came in 1963, when “Be My Baby” hit No. 2.

On December 9th, 2014, J. Cole’s monumental 2014 Forest Hills Drive was released and debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart. Suffice it to say, a lot has happened in the time since for Cole, who frequently finds himself in the mix of a lot of people’s contemporary rap Mt. Rushmore debates. Cole has claimed 15 Grammy nominations (yielding one win) and all six of his albums have hit No. 1 on the Billboard 200, but none can match the unfathomable success of 2014 Forest Hills Drive, which has now been on the charts for a whopping 367 straight weeks (as HipHopDX points out).

In fact, it’s actually still in the top 100, currently clocking in at No. 80, humorously down a spot from No. 79 last week. It’s a certified triple-Platinum album — with no features, naturally. Both “No Role Modelz” and “Wet Dreamz” are Platinum songs on their own and the album is Cole’s undisputed crown jewel. This all comes on the heels of Cole’s latest album, The Off-Season, getting Platinum status as of last week — with features from 21 Savage, 6lack, Lil Baby, Bas, and Morray.

When the 64th Grammy Awards ceremony takes place on January 31st, 2022, Cole will be in the running for four awards: Best Rap Album (for The Off-Season, of course), Best Rap Performance, and Best Rap Song (for “My Life” featuring 21 Savage and Morray), and Best Melodic Rap Performance (for “Pride Is The Devil” featuring Lil Baby). We’ll see if this time his Grammy success will stack up to his Billboard dominance.

With New Year’s Eve looming heavily over the end of the week, I thought it was time to call out my favorite champagne cocktail. In fact, I’d argue this is the best champagne cocktail, full stop. Yes, there are a lot of them out there, but the French 75 is a complex yet delicious cocktail in its own right, and the bubbly takes things to new heights.

The French 75 has a very long history in New Orleans. The original recipe calls for grenadine, which created a pink concoction that’s also pretty damn tasty. But around the 1920s, the recipe shifted from grenadine to powdered sugar — tying the drink more to a Tom Collins than the original version. By the 1970s, the drink was shifted from the usual Collins glass to a champagne flute and the (in my opinion) the lazy use of simple syrup.

We’re taking this back to the 1920s version but using the 1970s glass. It’s the best of both worlds in my estimation. So, let’s get shaking!

French 75

Ingredients:

• 1.5-oz. dry gin
• 0.5-oz. fresh lemon juice
• 1 barspoon superfine powdered sugar
• 3-oz. dry sparkling white wine/champagne
• Lemon peel
• Ice

A good gin and fresh lemon juice are a must. The juice has to be freshly squeezed. Don’t worry about straining it, that’ll happen when you strain the cocktail into the glass.

As for the powdered sugar, you usually have to powder granulated white sugar yourself in a pestle and mortar. That’s a real pain in the ass. So I recommend using a super fine powdered sugar that doesn’t clump like the traditional stuff. “Superfine sugar” is what you’re looking for since it has calcium phosphate added to stop it clumping. If that bothers you, then the pestle and mortar it is.

Lastly, the champagne is up to you. I had a bottle of Pol Roger in the fridge, so that’s what I used. I’d also recommend Bollinger.

What You’ll Need:

• Champagne flute or Coupe
• Cocktail shaker
• Cocktail strainer
• Fine-mesh strainer
• Barspoon
• Jigger
• Pairing knife

Method:

• Prechill the champagne flute in the freezer (preferably overnight).
• Add the lemon juice and superfine sugar to the cocktail shaker and stir until the sugar is completely dissolved.
• Add the gin and ice to the shaker, affix the lid, and shake vigorously for about 15 seconds to emulsify the base.
• Grab the glass from the freezer, fine strain the cocktail into the flute with both strainers, top with champagne, and gently stir once.
• Peel a long peel from the lemon and express the oils from the lemon peel over the glass.
• Slice the edges from the lemon to create a thin, long line of lemon peel, twist like a pig’s tail, and place on the rim of the glass. Serve.

Bottom Line:

This is one of the brightest “winter” cocktails you can drink. It’s so full of luminous lemon vibes while the bubbly keeps it almost alive with texture and flavor. Yes, it’s delicious, but it’s also refreshing and complex.

The sweetness is just there while the gin provides a very subtle botanical counterpoint to all the fruitiness and yeasty aspects of the champers. This truly goes down too easily and will be the perfect cocktail to ring in the new year. Cheers!

In his new memoir, In Trump Time: My Journal of America’s Plague Year, former Donald Trump advisor Peter Navarro spells out a detailed plan that he concocted with Steve Bannon to stop the certification of the 2020 presidential election in an effort to get Republican states to reverse votes. According to Navarro, the plan, which he refers to as the “Green Bay Sweep,” was working “perfectly,” thanks to the cooperation of Senator Ted Cruz and Congressman Paul Gosar. There was no sign of violence, and if things continued on track, Mike Pence would have an opportunity to flip the election for Trump. Via The Daily Beast:

This last-minute maneuvering never had any chance of actually decertifying the election results on its own, a point that Navarro quickly acknowledges. But their hope was to run the clock as long as possible to increase public pressure on then-Vice President Mike Pence to send the electoral votes back to six contested states, where Republican-led legislatures could try to overturn the results. And in their mind, ramping up pressure on Pence would require media coverage. While most respected news organizations refused to regurgitate unproven conspiracy theories about widespread election fraud, this plan hoped to force journalists to cover the allegations by creating a historic delay to the certification process.

Naturally, this seems like a whole lot of information that the Jan. 6 House select committee would be very interested in knowing, but according to Navarro, “They don’t want any part of me. I exonerate Trump and Bannon.”

Of course, Navarro also seems to be adamant that the process was going to be “very peaceful,” and that definitely was not the case as the U.S. Capitol building was ultimately breached by MAGA rioters. So he might not be the most credible person in this situation right now. However, it is fascinating to see him openly admit that there was a coordinated effort to overturn the will of the American people, and it would be very strange if the Jan. 6 committee simply overlooked that.

(Via The Daily Beast)

Jeopardy! has been roaring back into regular-play action following the two-week professor tournament, but Monday night’s episode got a little strange. Don’t worry, Amy Schneider kicked overall ass again (she’s up to over $700,000 in winnings, and she’s the current top-earning woman in the show’s history and fourth overall champ), but one question stumped everyone while amusing the hell out of the audience.

Here’s what happened: Ken Jennings was doing his co-hosting thing when he dropped this question: “The stage name of this rapper and actor gets shortened to MGK.” Even Amy drew a total blank, which led Jennings to declare, “Not fans of Machine Gun Kelly, apparently.” This was the case despite the face of MGK (real name Colson Baker) flashing onto the screen, and still, no dice.

Yep, there was “[n]o love” for MGK, and “Ken was livid” is way too funny.

There’s been no word yet from the Blonde Don on the subject, but surely, he will recover from this slight. Heck, not even prolific tweeter Amy has addressed the matter, but hey, you can’t win all the questions. She will return to defend her champ status on Wednesday night. In the meantime, the floodgates have opened over the MGK slight (although some dads and moms out there apparently know the drill).

And here’s a future Jeopardy! champ to help us roll outta here.

Over the course of its 11 seasons, Curb Your Enthusiasm has featured roles for nearly 1,500 actors. While many of them make one-off appearances—often as foils for creator/star Larry David—a handful have become a part of the small but mighty cast of regulars. Yet few have made as lasting an impact as Bob Einstein, who passed away on January 2, 2019, shortly after being diagnosed with cancer.

As The Daily Beast reports, friends and colleagues of Einstein—the brother of legendary filmmaker/comedian Albert Brooks (born Albert Einstein)—have repeatedly described him as the funniest person they’ve ever known, and David is no exception. In anticipation of HBO’s The Super Bob Einstein Movie, a new documentary that premieres today, The Daily Beast is sharing an exclusive clip of David and other comedians sharing their memories of Einstein. David could barely contain his laughter just thinking about Einstein, whom he described as “hilarious.”

“He really made me laugh,” David said. “I’m laughing just thinking about it.”

It was David Letterman who first helped Einstein find fame with the character of Super Dave Osborne, an enthusiastic but terrible stuntman who regularly injured himself—and eventually landed his own Showtime series, which ran from 1987 to 1991. But, as Matt Wilstein writes for The Daily Beast, “David is responsible for introducing the comedian to an entirely new generation as the straight-faced Marty Funkhouser on Curb.”

Einstein was known as someone who could surprise even the most seasoned comedians, and make them break, as seen in the clip below (Jerry Seinfeld really didn’t know what was coming, and the laughter was genuine):

You can watch the full clip at The Daily Beast here.

The Super Bob Einstein Movie premieres on HBO tonight at 9 p.m.

(Via The Daily Beast)

As if Alex Jones’s life as a batsh*t conspiracy theorist wasn’t wild enough, it turns out that his domestic life may be just as unruly. Earlier this week, we learned that Erika Wulff Jones, a.k.a. Mrs. Alex Jones, was arrested in Austin, Texas on Christmas Eve on a domestic violence charge. While the details were a bit fuzzy at first, when Jones told the AP that the incident was “a private family matter” and that “I love my wife and care about her and it appears to be some kind of medication imbalance,” it seemed to indicate that the InfoWars founder was the victim of Erika’s outburst. And now, The Daily Beast has gotten a hold of the police report that details just what went down between the couple.

According to The Daily Beast’s Zachary Petrizzo, Erika struck her husband more than 20 times, once with either a shampoo or soap bottle, then threatened to hit him in the head with a 5-pound stone ball, which the police report indicates left Jones “fearing for his life.” Petrizoo writes:

According to the Travis County arrest affidavit, during an initial 911 phone call with police, Jones told an emergency operator that his wife had struck him over the head multiple times and was “holding a polished club in her hand” and attempting to “hit him with it.”

When police arrived at the house, Jones further claimed Wulff Jones had struck him “several times,” while an officer observed the far-right radio host’s hair as “red” and “wet.” Jones later told police that “Erika had hit him with both closed fists and open hands on his head in front of their child,” the affidavit stated.

The incident apparently began while the couple was bathing their child, and Erika accused Alex of cheating on her. From there, things got heated as Erika hit Alex more than 20 times, including once over the head with what was assumed to be a shampoo bottle, as some of the product ended up on his face and caused “burning to his eyes,” according to the report.

“[Jones] stated he tried to get away from her in the master bedroom, and she followed him with a stone ball trying to strike him,” which is when Jones admitted to being “in fear for his life.”

Mrs. Jones was reportedly still pretty worked up by the time police arrived. One officer noted that there was “a strong odor of alcohol” on her breath, and once she was arrested she somehow managed to break free of her handcuffs and began “swing[ing] her fists and kicking” police officers, with at least one of her blows connecting with an officer.

Jones almost seemed proud of the Christmas Eve calamity when he spoke about it on InfoWars on Monday, which he described as “cuckoo.” Several times. As The Daily Beast reports:

Jones addressed the incident Monday afternoon on his InfoWars program, claiming his wife went to “cuckoo world” after mixing up medication she was prescribed following a recent surgery. Jones insisted that she took down two police officers at their Austin home on Friday night after striking him “30 times,” mostly in the back of the head.

“So that’s what happens when someone has a chemical imbalance after surgery and the medication they had mixes together,” Jones said, “and they literally go to cuckoo world, cloud cuckoo.”

“Cuckoo” is indeed one way of putting it. Mrs. Jones was released on bond on Sunday morning. Surely that’s one bath time the Jones’ child will never forget.

(Via The Daily Beast)

In the wake of the tragedy at the Astroworld Festival this past November, Travis Scott, the face of the fest, has come under scrutiny for his role in the deaths of ten people during and following a crowd crush during his headlining set. As a result, a number of his business partnerships have come to an end, including his Cactus Jack seltzer collaboration with Anheuser-Busch, while he’s been dropped from festivals like Coachella in the weeks since. Today, Travis’ brand was dealt another blow, according to Women’s Wear Daily.

In a statement to WWD, luxury fashion house Dior, which had planned a capsule collection collaboration with Travis’ Cactus Jack label, announced that the collaboration has been put on hold for the foreseeable future. “Out of respect for everyone affected by the tragic events at Astroworld, Dior has decided to postpone indefinitely the launch of products from the Cactus Jack collaboration originally intended to be included in its summer 2022 collection,” the statement reads. According to WWD, the collection would have been the brand’s first with a musician, as well as the first time it would allow its logo to be altered. From the looks of things, the brand will likely think twice before signing on for another collaboration, no matter how big the artist’s footprint happens to be.

Until Astroworld, Travis had one of the biggest footprints in music, with partnerships with McDonald’s, Nike, Sony PlayStation, and more elevating a personal brand that was rapidly becoming inescapable. However, with the deaths at Astroworld Fest still fresh in the minds of both businesses and fans, Travis’ immediate future has become uncertain, and a slew of lawsuits could change his fortunes in a hurry.