Year: 2022

Jonathan “Hovain” Hylton, a veteran hip-hop artist manager, has died, according to a message from his representatives.

Hovain was well-respected in New York City’s hip-hop scene and known for managing artists like Cam’ron, Styles P, Lloyd Banks, and T-Pain.

The news arrives by way of his social media accounts, through which, his reps made the announcement.

“It is with deep regret that we message to all family, friends and colleagues that Jonathan “Hovain” Hylton passed away while at his home on Friday, November 25. He was a beloved and devoted father, husband, son, brother and a proud Brooklyn representative.

We’d like to thank all of his close friends for all of the love and support that you have shown during this difficult time. We ask that you all continue to keep his family in your prayers and respect their privacy at this time.”

After the news broke, several fans, musicians, and industry peers took to social media to pay tribute to Hovain.

“Love you brother 4 ever,” said Fat Joe in Hovain’s Instagram comments.

At the time of his death, Hovain seemed to have several projects in the works.

“Hovain had just hit me up about doing some music with lloyd banks,” wrote producer Hit-Boy on Twitter. “God bless his family.”

At the time of writing, a cause of death has not been confirmed.

Anyone who was a teen in the ’90s will remember the grunge era. Nirvana, Pearl Jam and Soundgarden were topping the charts with their gravely metaphorical lyrics, but they weren’t alone. Soul Asylum burst onto the scene with their solemn anthem “Runaway Train” complete with a video that showcased missing kids.

The video gave missing and exploited children a much bigger platform to be recognized on, because before the video was showcased on MTV, milk cartons were the common method to distribute these photos. In theory, milk cartons seem like a pretty effective way to highlight missing children, but in reality, eventually people would become blind to the photos.

The music video for “Runaway Train” was played all around the world and to the target audience that would most likely recognize the faces. It should come as no surprise, then, that the video helped to bring home 21 missing children. What is surprising, is that the band had to push to keep the pictures of the missing kids in the music video because people didn’t think it was working.

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David Pirner, the band’s lead singer, explained to The Guardian that the song was a metaphor for his depression and the line “call you up in the middle of the night” was actually about a friend that would answer his late-night calls no matter what time. He told the outlet that he had a fascination with trains from a young age, so he used the imagery of a runaway train as a metaphor for when his depression was out of control. As cliches would have it, the rest is history.

Well, that is, of course, until you realize that the song did more than give moody teens an anthem for their feelings. It actually brought them home.

When I watched the music video as a young teen, the gravity of the photos that flashed across my screen didn’t truly sink in. What Soul Asylum did in 1993 was the epitome of using your platform for a good cause and unbeknown to young teens like myself, it saved actual lives.

The producer, Tony Kaye, got the idea to put missing children in the video after seeing a billboard of a milk carton that displayed the face of a missing child. He told The Guardian that The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children sent them photos of the missing kids they wanted highlighted in the video and at the end of the video the text would instruct viewers to call a number if they had seen the children featured.

But the record company was fully prepared to pull the plug because it didn’t seem to be working. Kaye insisted on leaving the photos and before too long, the tactic started working. Child after child was returning home and when one was found, they’d replace the photo with a different child. They told The Guardian that 21 of the 36 kids featured were returned home.

That definitely seems like something to brag about and with the group’s 30-year anniversary album release and their upcoming tour, it’s something to highlight and attempt to repeat. In 2019, a different artist recorded their version of “Runaway Train” in partnership with the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children in hopes of bringing more missing children home using updated technology. The song is powerful on its own but coupling it with helping to locate missing and exploited children, elevates it to another level.

If you’re itching for a grunge fix like me, go reacquaint yourself with Soul Asylum’s songs and go catch them on tour with Everclear. The tour starts November 5 in Carrollton, Texas.

My heart dropped when I read the message from my friend. Normally the exchange is pleasant and I look forward to our conversations but before I even opened the message, the preview told me that something was wrong. All I could see was, “Did you hear about Edith’s son?”

I hesitated before opening the message because I knew it wouldn’t be good, and sadly, I was right. Our friend posted that she was planning funeral services for her 15-year-old son, explaining that he died by suicide. I didn’t have the words so I waited days to reach out to share condolences.

It hit too close to home. I have a 14-year-old son. I’ve talked to my children about mental health and how it’s always OK to seek help, even when it feels hopeless. I’ve given tools to clients and friends who are struggling with their own child’s mental health diagnosis and the script remains the same, “I feel like it’s my fault.”

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Shortly after Orion’s funeral, one of my own children came to me expressing despair and with all of my training I immediately went to self-blame, still. Even though I know better. Even though my job as a therapist is to help others navigate these feelings. “It’s my fault” rang in my ears. But just like I tell other parents, your child’s mental health disorder is not a failure on your part as a parent. Some people are just depressed without real explanation. Some people’s brains are wired a little bit differently and that doesn’t mean that someone broke them or that they’re broken at all.

Getting a mental health diagnosis for a child can sometimes knock the wind out of people because as parents the single most important job we have is to get our children to adulthood with as little trauma as possible. We taxi them to different sports, sign ourselves up for field trips and make sure they make it to their well-child visits. We do all of the things to get them across the finish line of adulthood. A mental health diagnosis can feel like you’ve somehow dropped a very important ball and oftentimes, you didn’t.

Our kids live in a completely different world than we did growing up. They’re inundated with messaging on a constant basis, and even if you do your best to limit their screen time, it’s impossible to escape. Social media continues to be a big driver in declining mental health among teens.

While suicide rates briefly showed an overall decline a couple of years ago, rates of suicide are highest among teens and young adults ages 15 to 24. Mental health conditions in kids such as depression, which can sometimes lead to suicide, are a heavy burden on parents, even without the added burden of guilt. Parents can talk to their children often, check in on active coping skills they’re using and give them some if they don’t have any.

One of the most important things a parent can do is let go of the guilt. Nothing about your child’s mental health struggles says anything about you as a parent, especially If you’ve been doing the best you can. If you’re struggling with feelings around your child’s mental health disorder, you too should reach out to a therapist.

Not all mental health disorders result in a catastrophic loss through suicide, but it doesn’t hurt to make sure your children have suicide hotlines saved in their phones and posted on the fridge. While death by suicide is tragic, it’s also important to remember that it’s not anyone’s fault.

If you can look at all you’ve done and can say you’ve provided a safe and nourishing environment for your child, I invite you to lay down the self-blame. Parenting is hard enough without beating ourselves up over things outside of our control.

If you or someone you know are having thoughts of suicide or require mental health support, call or text 988 to talk to a trained counselor at the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, or visit 988lifeline.org to connect with a counselor and chat in real time. The Lifeline provides 24/7, free and confidential support for people in distress as well as prevention and crisis resources for healthcare professionals.

The Trevor Project provides 24/7 crisis counseling via phone, text or chat specifically for young LGBTQ people.

However tumultuous your Thanksgiving was, at you least you probably didn’t spend it treading water for hours. That’s what happened to someone who went on a cruise — only to find himself going overboard, not being rescued for some 15 hours.

As per 4WWL out of New Orleans, a 28-year-old man was reported missing Thursday morning after disappearing the night before. He had last been seen in a bar aboard a Carnival Cruise Line ship alongside his sister. He left around 11pm to use the bathroom. He did not return. Nor did he return to his stateroom that evening. By the morning, his sister alerted authorities that he’d gone missing.

Announcements and searches of the ship were in vain. By 2:30 Thanksgiving day, the United States Coast Guard sent out several ships. Six hours later, they found him floating in the water of the Gulf of Mexico, about 20 miles from land. He was alive but suffering from mild hypothermia, shock, and dehydration. He was hoisted out of the water and taken to awaiting medical personnel. As of Friday, his condition remained stable.

By the time he was found, the cruise ship had traveled some 200 miles into the Gulf of Mexico.

Details about how he survived — how he managed to stay afloat for 15 hours — have not yet been made public. But it has the makings of a good spiritual sequel of sorts to 127 Hours.

(Via 4WWL)

Irene Cara, actress, singer, songwriter, and producer, has reportedly died at 63.

The multihyphenate was largely known for singing the theme songs to hit musicals like Flashdance and Fame, in the lattermost, she played Coco Hernandez.

The news of Cara’s death arrived today (November 26) via a note from Cara’s publicist, seen below, shared to Cara’s personal social media accounts.

It is with profound sadness that on behalf of her family, I announce the passing of Irene Cara. The Academy Award-winning actress, singer, songwriter, and producer passed away in her Florida home. Her cause of death is currently unknown and will be released when information is available.

Irene’s family has requested privacy as they process their grief. She was a beautifully gifted soul whose legacy will live forever through her music and films. Funeral services are pending and a memorial for her fans will be planned at a future date. “

Upon the announcement of her death, several musicians and artists took to social media to express their sadness and speak to Cara’s influence.

“RIP Irene Cara! Such an amazing talent and sweet soul. Thanks for the music. Sing with the angels,” said singer and songwriter Stella Parton.

“We are so very sorry to hear of the passing of Irene Cara,” said Sister Sledge. “Her music has lifted the souls of so many, and as such her legacy is timeless! Our deepest condolences to Irene’s loved ones and to her many fans.”

“Very sad to hear that IRENE CARA has passed away,” said actor and musician Michael Imperioli. “I saw the fine FAME for the first time at the age of 13 and was completely captivated by her performance. I’ve seen the movie many times over the years and am forever inspired and haunted by her work. Her rendition of ‘Out Here On My Own’ is unforgettable. What a massive talent.”

The Nebraska Cornhuskers have filled their head coaching vacancy. Multiple media reports noted that former Carolina Panthers coach Matt Rhule, who had long been linked to the position, will return to the college ranks and take over the job that has been open ever since the university opted to fire Scott Frost.

Shortly after news of Rhule’s hiring got reported, the program announced that Rhule will make it so “the future is bright in Lincoln.”

Rhule will head to Nebraska on an 8-year contract. He’ll take over a revered program that has struggled mightily in recent year. After the decision to fire Bo Pelini in 2014, the Huskers have had one winning season and two bowl appearances, both of which came in the first two years of Pelini’s successor, Mike Riley. Between Riley, Frost, and this season’s interim head coach Mickey Joseph, Nebraska is 38-56 over the last eight seasons. Frost was fired on Sept. 11 in the aftermath of a home loss to Georgia Southern.

While Rhule’s tenure in the NFL did not go as planned — he went 11-27 in two years and five games as the coach of the Panthers — he is considered one of the best program builders in college football. His two head coaching jobs at that level were at Temple and Baylor, and while his 47-43 record might not be impressive on the surface, he navigated a pair of rapid turnarounds. His first team in Philadelphia went 2-10 and won 10 games in each of his third and fourth seasons, while the scandal-ridden Bears went 1-11 during his first year in charge, only to go 11-3 two years later.

It’s been only a few weeks since Elon Musk purchased a platform where lots of people make fun of him, and it’s not been going great. Bigoted slurs went up instantly. Advertisers are fleeing. There are fears it could go down any minute. Not even the former president who was booted from Twitter wants anything to do with it (though maybe for a pragmatic reason). What is Musk doing to save face (and his investors’ money)? Tweeting through it. Sometimes he even uses it to float wacky ideas that don’t seem prudent or even achievable. On Friday, he had another of his brilliant half-baked ideas.

Last week, Musk vowed to reinstate a mess of banned accounts, long as they don’t break the law. That could mean Twitter would be once again flooded with trolls, death threats, and other unsavory characters. It could also mean places like Google and Apple will ban it from their stores. But don’t worry, because if that happens, Musk has a Plan B.

As per Mediaite, right-wing podcaster Liz Wheeler advised Musk to simply “produce his own smartphone.” She claimed that half the country “would happily ditch the biased, snooping iPhone & Android.” After all, Musk, she claims, “ builds rockets to Mars, a silly little smartphone should be easy, right?”

Musk thought Wheeler was onto something. “I certainly hope it does not come to that,” Musk he wrote in a reply, “but, yes, if there is no other choice, I will make an alternative phone.”

The idea was warmly appreciated by Musk’s army of weird sycophants. Others, though, were less stoked. In fact, many made the same joke about Musk’s history of cars that catch fire and rockets that blow up on takeoff.

Some pointed out that it’s not entirely likely that Musk would follow through on an idea someone gave him on Twitter.

His investors, others pointed out, are probably even less happy than they. Have been.

But at least the Elon dorks came out in droves.

In the meantime, Twitter continues to bleed out users. But at least one of the finest Twitter accounts is planning to stay until Musk kills it.

(Via Mediaite)

Since kicking off their ‘At Their Very Best Tour,’ The 1975 and their lead vocalist Matty Healy have gone viral several times. During their Madison Square Garden show, Healy ate raw meat on stage, while shirtless. At their DC stop, Healy once again went viral after shouting out Gen-Z congressman Maxwell Alejandro Frost. And at several stops, Healy has kissed fans as the band performed “Robbers” from the self-titled debut album.

During their Phoenix show this past Wednesday (November 23), Healy called out security guards for apparently standing by as someone had fallen down.

The incident took place as the band was performing “I Like America & America Likes Me” from their 2018 album, A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships. For this particular song, Healy traditionally sings with a microphone programmed with Auto-Tune settings, to imitate a sound popularized by Roger Troutman, Cher, and T-Pain.

In the middle of the performance, someone had fallen down. Healy called for security to help the fan out, while the microphone still had the vocal effect settings in place.

“Someone’s fallen down over there, go and f*cking sort them out,” he said. “Stop standing there like a bunch of d*ckheads.”

A fan captured the moment and shared it to TikTok.

Check out the clip above.

A movie about Barbie, the long-running fashion doll, might not sound like a hot idea, but that all changed when it attracted some of the best talent in the business. Improbably enough, it wound up being Greta Gerwig’s directorial follow-up to her acclaimed hit take on Little Women, with an overqualified cast and some reportedly out-there ideas to match. Thing is, Gerwig was as worried as anyone else about her taking it on.

As per The Hollywood Reporter, Gerwig — who stars in her partner Noah Baumbach’s new film of Don DeLillo’s White Noise — recently appeared on Dua Lipa’s podcast At Your Service, where the conversation inevitably turned to one of the most anticipated films of next year.

“It was something that was exciting because it was terrifying,” Gerwig revealed. “It felt like vertigo, starting to write it, like: ‘Where do you even begin, and what would be the story?’ And I think it was that feeling I had was knowing that it would be really interesting terror. Usually that’s where the best stuff is, where you’re like, ‘I am terrified of that.’ Anything where you’re like, ‘This could be a career-ender’ — then you’re like, ‘I should probably do it.’”

It’s good advice, encouraging people to be bold and take chances, even if it’s in the form of a dodgy IP movie that could easily be awful. And that’s how the director of Lady Bird took a lazy film idea and turned it into something everyone, from plebeians to snoots, can’t wait to see.

Barbie hits theaters on July 21, 2023. White Noise is now playing in theaters in limited release; it hits Netflix on December 30.

(Via THR)

This Thanksgiving season, Chlöe has gifted fans with new music. Yesterday, she took to Soundcloud to share a new song called “Hidin’.”

On the dreamy track, she is fed up with a man not reciprocating her energy and warns him that she’s not going to continue to

“Stop hidin’ / What you gotta lose with me? / Don’t fight it / Drop all of your hoes for me / Don’t deny it / We got a lot of chemistry / Stop hidin’ / ‘Cause I just wanna love you, please,” she sings on the song’s chorus.

Chlöe revealed on Twitter that she first wrote the song in April of last year. She also noted that the song won’t be on her upcoming album.

“whew y’all had me scared, that leak is 2 years old,” she said. “I was scared thinking it was something that made the album.”

She decided to post the track after a version of the song had leaked onto the internet earIier in the week, though she was surprised by the leak, as she recorded and produced the track in her home studio.

“whoever leaked it though [four middle-finger emojis],” she said. “this is why i don’t send my music around. idk how because i cut the vox myself at home smh.”

Check out “Hidin’” above.