Year: 2022

This Friday, two years after the release of her debut album, Latto will release its follow-up, 777, which she’s spent the last few months hyping with singles like “Big Energy,” “Soufside,” and “Wheelie” featuring 21 Savage. With just a few days to go, the Atlanta rising star shared the tracklist for 777, which defies industry conventions by clocking in at a relatively trim 13 tracks. Features on the album include Childish Gambino(!), Kodak Black, Lil Durk, Lil Wayne, Nardo Wick, and a mystery feature on the remix of “Big Energy,” Latto’s most commercially successful single to date.

Now that the tracklist is out, though, fans can’t help but speculate which of Latto’s male guests was the one she called out during a recent interview for withholding clearance over a direct message. “It’s a feature on my album… it was difficult to clear,” she told LA radio personality Big Boy. “They tryna drop they nuts on me because I won’t respond to a DM.”

Due to his previous misogynistic behavior and comments, many fans are sure it was Kodak Black who stalled the process, with responses ranging from outrage on her behalf to shading her for featuring him after those comments were made in the first place. For his part, though, Kodak denied the accusations from fans on his own Twitter, leaving just a handful of names to choose from… and perhaps that mystery guest.

In any case, 777 is due 3/25 on RCA.

Xbox is no stranger to crossover promotions. This is one of the few consoles where someone could theoretically own a Spongebob, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle, and Garfield-themed box that plays current generation games. So when Xbox announced that it was doing a promotion with the upcoming movie, Sonic the Hedgehog 2, it didn’t come as a surprise.

What was surprising was the exact giveaway that Xbox is presenting this time. Previous sweepstakes involved a themed console, but this one is going to be focused on the controller. Players can get a Sonic or Knuckles themed controller for their Xbox, which on its face sounds like a completely normal thing. Until you look closer and realize the controllers are fuzzy.

A logical assumption would have been that this is just the artist having some fun with the design and the controllers themselves will be the same smooth design that every controller has, but no they are just as fuzzy as they look. A blog post on Xbox Wire explained a little more about what makes these custom controllers so special.

The customized black Xbox Series S console features a golden portal ring shining on its surface alongside an embossed Sonic the Hedgehog 2 logo. With textured coatings reminiscent of the “bristly” texture of hedgehogs in the wild, the new Xbox Wireless Controllers come in Sonic Blue and Knuckles Red.

Well, they are certainly unique but we’re not sure these are going to be the most practical controllers ever made. If you enter and win these maybe plan on leaving them as a display on the shelf.

The origin story of sleeping together = LOVE.

Troxel shares in an essay for the TED blog that until the sexual revolution, the term “sleeping together” had a much more literal meaning. And that shift in cultural attitudes still influences us to equate separate beds with a lack of passion.

But considering we spend more time sleeping than making love, perhaps it’s time to shift priorities and release ourselves from this society-prescribed torture. In my experience, love doesn’t thrive in obligation.

The science suggests that our relationships might be better after sleeping separately.

Troxel’s research indicates that being well rested helps improve communication and makes us happier, more empathetic, even more attractive and funnier—all skills that help contribute to a strong and lasting relationship.

Inversely, we all know how monstrous we can become after a sleepless night. I remember during one particularly rough morning I refused to kiss my boyfriend goodbye because I resented him and his snoring. It wasn’t my best moment.

Plus, finding a good sleep solution can be a majorly helpful exercise in problem-solving together, which is yet another cornerstone of relationship success.

Lots of couples (more than you may realize) are sleeping separately anyway.

According to a 2021 poll, around one-third of couples prefer solo sleep. This might have been a privilege previously only known to the wealthy few (not everyone could bed like kings and queens, after all) but it’s easier now more than ever to afford and fit in a second sleeping space.

I mean, my boyfriend and I live in L.A.—meaning a tiny apartment with a less-than-generous floor plan. But we purchased a cushy daybed for our living room, placed some plants around it and now call it the “Zen corner” when guests visit. So far, so good.

Plus, there are so many other ways to invite closeness other than sleeping together.

Working out, morning coffee cuddles, tucking each other in … the list goes on. And who knows? Maybe those new rituals will feel even better than sleeping together. Especially if you’re both in better moods.

And it’s not like there has to be 100% commitment to either strategy. My boyfriend and I still share the bed every once in a while. And now it feels extra special, rather than an obligation.

Of course, the caveat to this is why you’re choosing to sleep in different spots in the first place. But if the intention is to take care of the relationship—rather than avoid it—then taking care of yourself, as we are learning more and more, is one of the first steps.

Bottom line: Rest is a necessity, not a luxury.

A healthy relationship is composed of two healthy people. And sleep absolutely affects our health. If it means doing so separately, who cares? What’s most important is that both partners are fulfilled, nourished and energized by more than caffeine.

Sleeping habits, like life, can be more of a choose-your-own-adventure, rather than a set of rules. Choose what feels best, and you often can’t go wrong.

Parents in Wales can no longer spank, slap, hit or shake kids, according to a new law outlawing all physical punishments for children. According to The Guardian, corporal punishment had been included as “reasonable punishment” in England and Wales since Victorian times, but that defense no longer applies.

“Until now, children were the only group in our society who it was acceptable to strike in certain circumstances,” Viv Laing, the policy and public affairs manager at the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) Cymru Wales, told The Guardian. “We don’t allow the physical punishment of adults or animals, so it is absurd that we have for so long with children.”

But not everyone is happy with the law.

Some conservatives expressed concern that the law would lead to a “Stasi culture” in which citizens become informants and turn in their neighbors to law enforcement for parenting choices. But Deputy Minister for Social Services Julie Morgan rejected the notion. “We don’t want people spying,” she said, before adding, “Looking after children is the responsibility of the whole community.”

The law, which applies to both residents of and visitors to Wales, is being hailed as “historic” by the Welsh government. But Wales is hardly the first country to outlaw corporal punishment. In 1979, Sweden became the first nation to make striking a child illegal, and since then, more than 60 other countries have followed suit.

The countries that banned spanking first are regularly rated among the happiest on Earth.

Any time the topic of spanking comes up in the U.S., some people defend the practice as being not only acceptable, but preferable. The adage “spare the rod, spoil the child” (which many people think comes from the Bible—it doesn’t) is still alive and well in certain circles, and advocates of corporal punishment claim it’s necessary for children to learn what’s right and wrong and to exercise self-control. Some are quick to blame everything from disrespect to disobedience to criminal behavior on society’s move away from spanking.

But if we look at the countries that outlawed corporal punishment decades ago, those fears of bad behavior and criminality run amok appear comically unfounded. The Nordic countries of Sweden, Finland, Norway and Denmark are pretty much always in the Top 10 lists of happiest nations, and they were four of the first countries to outlaw corporal punishment. They are also in the Top 10 list of safest nations ranked by perception in U.S. News and World Report, so clearly a lack of striking children for misbehaving has not led to some kind of mass societal downfall in those nations.

(For comparison, the U.S. ranked No. 38 on the safest nations by perception list and No. 19 on the happiest nations list. According to the nationwide American Family Survey, nearly half of Americans believe that “it is sometimes necessary to discipline a child with a good, hard spanking.” Correlation isn’t causation, of course, but these numbers indicate that spanking kids is not the key to a happy, safe society.)

Research shows that spanking affects the brain in the same way as more severe forms of abuse.

It was one thing to spank kids when people didn’t know better and just followed whatever they’d been taught, but we now have the ability to study and research the effects of parenting choices. The research has repeatedly led to the same conclusion: Spanking isn’t good for kids.

For instance, a 2021 Harvard study found that spanking can alter a child’s brain development in the same way that more severe forms of abuse do.

“We know that children whose families use corporal punishment are more likely to develop anxiety, depression, behavior problems, and other mental health problems, but many people don’t think about spanking as a form of violence,” said senior researcher on the study, Katie A. McLaughlin. “While we might not conceptualize corporal punishment to be a form of violence, in terms of how a child’s brain responds, it’s not all that different than abuse. It’s more a difference of degree than of type.”

On top of that, spanking doesn’t even appear to work as intended. In the majority of studies analyzed in a review, children’s behavior actually worsened after physical punishment with external negative behaviors including aggression, antisocial behavior and disruptive behavior at school increasing over time.

We need to make sure parents are educated about parenting methods other than spanking.

However, if parents who feel that spanking is necessary are to be convinced otherwise, they need to be given tools for parenting. Too many people see spanking as discipline and everything else as permissiveness, which simply isn’t the case. There are plenty of ways to raise respectful, contributing humans without hitting them. (For those who don’t consider spanking as “hitting,” try articulating the difference. Is it not hitting if you’re hitting a child on the bottom? Why does that part of the body count any less than their arms or legs or backs or heads?)

There are plenty of alternatives to spanking, but parents may not have the knowledge, experience or support they need to figure out other methods of discipline. Outlawing corporal punishment might be a good way to get parents to stop striking their children, but we need to make sure parents are educated about what to do instead. Perhaps providing parents with free parenting classes throughout their children’s childhoods would go just as far, if not further, than merely outlawing spanking and slapping children as a form of punishment.

Writing it into law, however, is a good way for a society to express the importance of children’s rights and to impress upon parents the need to find nonviolent ways to interact with and teach their kids.

For the first time since 2017, the 2022 Oscars will have a host. For the first time since 2011, there will be multiple hosts. Hopefully Regina Hall, Amy Schumer, and Wanda Sykes, who will reportedly each emcee one hour of a three-hour (hopefully) telecast, have a better time than Anne Hathaway did with her co-host, James Franco.

Hosting the Oscars seems like a lot of work, especially considering how little (relatively speaking) they’re getting paid. “I was really excited about [the Oscars gig], but then I realized that out of all the jobs that I have, this one is actually gonna cost me money,” Sykes told two-time Oscar host Jimmy Kimmel on Monday’s episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live. The comedian wouldn’t say exactly how much she’s getting paid (“It’s like scale, probably”), but Kimmel revealed his salary: $15,000. But, as he pointed out, there was “only one of me. You guys will probably have to split all that… It sounds like a lot for one night, but it’s months of work leading up to it. You’re getting robbed.”

You’re not helping, Jimmy.

Sykes has a plan to get back at the Academy, though. “I’ve already decided I’m just gonna steal an Oscar,” she joked (?). Maybe she can “borrow” one of the Oscars that went to La La Land instead of Moonlight from the first time Kimmel hosted.

You can watch the Jimmy Kimmy Live interview with Sykes above.

Last night, 2022 Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame nominee Beck was in Nashville, playing an intimate show at Basement East. Jack White was there, too, and to fans’ surprise, White briefly took the stage before Beck for a bit of fun.

White’s Third Man Records shared footage of the moment on Instagram, which starts with White getting the stage and declaring, “Hello ladies and gentlemen, I’m Beck. I’m gonna play you one of my favorite songs from the 1990s that I wrote.” White doesn’t particularly look like Beck, especially with his new blue hair, so his lie wasn’t a convincing one.

As for the ’90s song, White, wielding an acoustic guitar, started with Chumbawamba’s “Tubthumping” (aka the “I get knocked down” song), a 1997 single that Beck most certainly did not write (at least, he’s not officially credited for writing it). He then transitioned into “I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles)” by The Proclaimers (another song not penned by Beck).

Beck (the real Beck) then got on stage and asked, “What are you doing, Jack?” White feebly responded he was tuning Beck’s guitar and that pretty much concluded the bit, which was surely a delightful diversion for those in attendance.

Watch the video above.

CMG rappers 42 Dugg and EST Gee have demonstrated natural, fan-pleasing chemistry numerous times over the last couple of years, so why not a full album? After sharing the tracks “Rose Gold,” “Cold Gangsta,” and “5500 Degrees” in the past few months, the two Midwesterners announced their joint project, Last Ones Left, at a CMG press conference last month. While they overshot their initial projected release date, they offered a promising sign of the album’s impending release today with the high-flying video for “Free The Shiners.”

The first inkling of the duo’s scintillating chemistry came on EST Gee’s I Still Don’t Feel Nun single “Members Only,” on which 42 Dugg contributed a verse to the Louisvillian’s breakout 2020 mixtape. That was also the tape that attracted the attention of CMG founder Yo Gotti, who scooped both rappers for his label. Gee then returned the favor on the Detroiter’s Free Dem Boyz mixtape in May of 2021. The duo went on to share the mic another two times, which helped spark the idea of putting both together as their waves crested at the same time, a la Lil Baby and Gunna in 2018. It sounds like a solid strategy, too; if it works out as well as it did for the two aforementioned Atlantans, EST Gee and 42 Dugg could end up being the next big names in rap.

Watch the “Free The Shiners” video above.

Less than a week after Young Dolph’s autopsy results showed that the Memphis rapper was shot 22 times with a Draco AK-47 assault-style machine pistol, one of his murder suspects has been attacked in jail. According to a TMZ report, alleged shooter Justin “Straight Drop” Johnson was on the phone in the visitation room of Tennessee’s Shelby County Jail when a fellow inmate walked past him and punched him in the head.

Johnson and Cornelius Smith are both in custody as the alleged shooters in the case who drove past the Makeda’s Cookies shop that Young Dolph was at and opened fire from their Mercedes Benz. Another suspect, Shundale Barnett, was mistakenly released from police custody and is still at large. While there are also two other “persons of interest” in the case, Johnson claims he’s innocent and has been behind bars for the November 17th murder since his arrest in January.

The lawyer for Justin Johnson got in touch with TMZ to outline the incident, and the report says that no motive is known. Considering what Johnson is in jail for to begin with, it’s an easy guess that he is not a well-liked figure in the jail. Photos linking Johnson to Dolph surfaced shortly before his arrest in January and Johnson apparently shot a music video in the past at the house where the murder getaway card was found. The latter seems like very circumstantial evidence, but for now Johnson remains at Shelby County Jail.

Hours after posting a 10-minute-long YouTube video dedicated to her son, Kylie Jenner announced that her son’s name has been changed.

The baby formerly known as Wolf Jacques Webster was born on February 2nd, one day after Jenner’s daughter Stormi’s fourth birthday. Wolf is the second child Jenner has with rapper Travis Scott. Yesterday, Jenner announced on an Instagram story that she and Scott had decided to change the newborn’s name. “FYI our son’s name isn’t Wolf anymore,” she posted on her story.

“We just really didn’t feel like it was him.” Jenner didn’t reveal what his new name would be. “Just wanted to share because I keep seeing Wolf everywhere,” she added. Though, it makes sense that she would see that name everywhere…since she was the one who announced it.

Either way, many fans had criticized the name in the last month, making funny but harmless memes about the peculiar name choice.

It seems like Kylie didn’t like that! And now, Wolf is no more. Honestly, it’s better to change his name now than to wait until he can actually understand words. Notably, Stormi was born days after the Stormy Daniels/Trump scandal, and yet she still kept that name, and it’s probably too late to change it anyway.

Following Arby’s and Pusha T’s scathing diss track toward McDonald’s Filet O’ Fish sandwich, fans are questioning a line from Jay-Z’s Blueprint cut “U Don’t Know.” On “Spicy Fish Diss Track,” Push proclaims, “I could sell water to a whale,” directly referencing “U Don’t Know.” Although the song’s lyric video confirms Push says “whale,” the clip has left fans asking if Jay originally says “I’m a hustler baby, I sell water to a whale,” or “sell water to a well.”

Hip-hop journalist Sowmya Krishnamurthy reached out to Just Blaze, who produced “U Don’t Know,” for clarification. Blaze asked Jay, who kept it open to interpretation, saying it could be either “well” or “whale.”

“Haaaa!!!! Well/whale,” said Jay, by way of a text message from Blaze. “It’s never a coincidence when these things happen. I try to make things work on multiple levels every time I sit down to create. It keeps me engaged.”

Push and Arby’s diss track follows the “Diet Coke” rapper’s claims that he wrote McDonald’s iconic “I’m Lovin’ It” jingle, alongside his brother and fellow Clipse member No Malice, Justin Timberlake, and Pharrell Williams. Push was apparently paid a one-time fee for his contributions and has not been paid any royalties for the almost two decades McDonald’s has been using the jingle.

“I did it at a very young age at a very young time in my career where I wasn’t asking for as much money and ownership,” Push told Rolling Stone. “It’s something that’s always dug at me later in life like, ‘Dammit, I was a part of this and I should have more stake.’ It was like half a million or a million dollars for me and my brother — but that’s peanuts for as long as that’s been running.”