Month: March 2023

Fans of New York drill rapper Fivio Foreign were surprised to find that he did not show for his Rolling Loud set today (March 4). Understanding their frustrations, Fivio took to Twitter to apologize for his absence.

“Apologize to @RollingLoud & everybody who came out to see me I ain’t make it,” said Fivio. “My first time missing a show and I feel so crazy about it but my body dealing w some real issues.. Juss keep me in yah prayers.”

While he wasn’t specific about his health issues, he noted last month in a series of tweets that he had been dealing with depression.

But even though he has been dealing with mental health and emotional health issues, he remains true to his passion. During the Grammys last month, he spoke with The Source.

“Hip-Hop means everything,” said Fivio. “When I was growing up and coming outside, it molded me. Taught me how to move and live, dress and feel. It almost means everything to me.”

Hopefully, Fivio gets well soon, as he teased new music shortly after the time planned for his Rolling Loud slot. After rapper Meek Mill tweeted that there hasn’t been “a lot of flame to listen to” lately, Fivio revealed that he has new music on the way.

“Don’t worry gangsta I’m dropping in April,” he said.

Could Adam Silver have a new job in the not-too-distant future? According to multiple media reports, Silver, who has served as the NBA’s commissioner ever since he followed David Stern in 2014, is on The Walt Disney Company’s shortlist as it looks to find a successor for its current Chief Executive Officer, Bob Iger.

The news was first reported by Charles Gasparino of Fox Business Network, and was subsequently confirmed by both Doug Greenberg of Front Office Sports and Jess Golden of CNBC.

Both Golden and Front Office Sports reported that Silver’s current contract to lead the NBA runs through 2024, while FOS added that there’s both no guarantee Silver gets the job and a unique situation that would prevent him from sitting on Disney’s board.

While FOS’ source was unable to speak to the other names on the reported shortlist —which includes Candle Media co-founder and co-CEO Kevin Mayer, and Disney co-chairman Dana Walden — they clarified that Silver is only being considered for the top position, and cannot serve on Disney’s board due to the NBA’s broadcast partnership with the media giant causing a conflict of interest.

Iger previously led Disney from 2005-20, but returned in Nov. 2022 after the dismissal of his successor, Bob Chapek. The NBA currently has a television rights deal with Disney, which bring in about $2.5 million for the league. Prior to Chapek’s tenure coming to an end, he expressed interest in renewing its deal with the NBA before it expires at the conclusion of the 2024-25 campaign.

Ja Morant will leave the Memphis Grizzlies and miss at least the next two games. Morant is currently the subject of an NBA investigation due to an Instagram video in which he appeared to brandish a gun in a nightclub during the early hours of Saturday morning, and in a statement he released in the aftermath of the Grizzlies announcing his leave of absence, Morant said that “I’m going to take some time away to get help and work on learning better methods of dealing with stress and my overall well-being.”

Unsurprisingly, there have been numerous reactions to the news, which extended to ABC’s pregame show on Saturday night before the Milwaukee Bucks hosted the Philadelphia 76ers. After Stephen A. Smith and Michael Wilbon commented on the situation, Jalen Rose spoke about being in the situation where Morant currently finds himself during his own basketball playing career.

“I am Ja Morant,” Rose said. “You guys got a chance to see me grow up for public consumption since 1991. I’ve been involved in drug raids, I’ve survived assassination attempts. I’ve been that undisciplined young person that was trying to figure out how to be famous, how to be successful, how to change the dynamics of my family.”

Rose went on to say that Morant now finds himself in a position where he’s gone from “a member of the family, a member of the crew, to being the leader,” and as a result, things fall on him. He also shared his belief that “people come into your life for four reasons: to add, subtract, multiple, or divide — you have to choose wisely.”

“He has way too much to lose,” Rose said. “Trust me, I’ve been that young player carrying a gun, and Wilbon alluded to this: When you start waving it, that can get you killed. That’s an entirely different thing than we’re talking about a superstar athlete should be putting themself in position. And as Stephen A mentioned, that’s him on the video, on his IG Live. Ain’t nobody coaxing him, ain’t nobody egging him on to do that, that’s a personal choice.”

Rose called fame a drug, then commended Morant for saying that he owned up to his mistakes and said making changes for himself was part of the reason why he is taking this leave. And after talking about the responsibility that a person has to “uplift” when they achieve the level of success Morant has already achieved, Rose ended with an optimistic message where he explained why he’s glad Morant is going through this.

“He’s a 23-year-old young man, nobody got arrested, nobody got injured, and I’m hearing too many stories about pistols, ok?” Rose said. “Allegedly with the 17-year-old kid, allegedly with the Indiana Pacers staff, last night on IG Live, I saw the video like you guys did brandishing the gun. The next step to that is now recovery, and I believe he’s on that path, I’m happy that he’s on that path.

“He’s gonna return, and he’s gonna be a better person, and because of all of this taking place, he’s gonna be able to live his full potential.”

Hot off the release of her new single, “16,” BIA took to the Rolling Loud stage in California today (March 4) to perform it live for the first time.

Over a blazing beat, BIA recalls leaving home when she was younger, on a mission to pursue her dreams.

“Take me back to when I lost my job, I told ’em, ‘F*ck you’ / I came from a place where there’s nobody to look up to / We weren’t broke together, tell me how the f*ck I trust you? / I left mama house, b*tch, I ain’t have nowhere to run to,” she raps on the song’s chorus.

During her performance, she maintained an energy of perseverance throughout, remembering everything that she’s been through has led her here.

At the moment, BIA is hard at work on her upcoming album. In an interview with Variety last year, she noted how Epic Records has been instrumental in helping her manifest her dreams.

“They’re super hands-on with me, even down to my product managers and digital team,” she said. “You gotta really know an artist if you’re trying to market them. They know me and really allow me to be my best, most authentic self.”

You can see a clip of the performance of “16” above.

(SPOILERS for this week’s BMF episode will be found below.)

In episode eight of season two of BMF, “Push It To The Limit,” Meech and Terry are ready to begin their new era as bosses in Detroit and elsewhere. After a brief celebration, the Flenory boys get right to work. Meech heads to Cleveland to establish a connection and hub with a man named Bleek while Terry stays in Detroit to find and instruct drivers for BMF so that they can avoid another Denise situation. Elsewhere, Charles faces some trouble after Lucille suspects that he’s being unfaithful, Wanda has to make a big decision that could impact her, Terry, and BMF, and Terry makes some long-awaited progress with Markeisha, but we’ll just have to wait and see how long that lasts

The aforementioned events in the eighth episode of BMF season two, titled ““Push It To The Limit”,” are soundtracked by songs that help to accentuate the emotions behind each scene. You can find a list of them belong as well as details about the scenes that the records soundtracked.

The following records were provided thanks to the Starz Public Relations team.

Run-D.M.C. — “Hard Times”

Run-D.M.C.’s “Hard Times” plays to start “Push It To The Limit” as Meech and Terry are looking proudly over their new batch of cocaine. Meech is much more excited than Terry who wants Meech to realize that the work is just getting started for them.

Bud — “Chicago House Mix”

We hear this record 1:17 mark as Meech and Terry arrive at a car wash in Detroit. It’s here that Meech says that BMF will use the car wash to secretly load vehicles with drugs.

50 Cent — “Wish Me Luck” Feat. Charlie Wilson

This is the theme song of BMF. It plays at the 3:10 mark in “Both Sides Of The Fence.” While it’s only 50 Cent and Charlie Wilson’s voices that are heard at this moment, the song also features Snoop Dogg and Moneybagg Yo.

Michael — “Hard Crew”

Around the 4:40 mark, Meech meets with the PA Boys who have also heard about K-9’s arrest. Meech pulls Sterling aside for a conversation. A short time later, Meech informs Terry that he’s going to Cleveland to establish a base there.

Marlon Coles — “Kind Of Vibe”

Marlon Coles’ “Kind Of Vibe” checks in around the 08:36 mark as Terry pulls up to a club to meet with Boom. He spots Markeisha and lets her know that he got a new plug in Colombia. He flexes some muscle to her and returns the money he owed him.

Dre and Arnie Woods — “Betcha Get Yours”

This song plays around the 09:40 mark as Meech arrives to meet with Bleek and proposes doing business with him. Despite his promise to make Bleek more money than ever, Meech is unable to get Bleek on board.

Taequan Black x Osi — “Don’t Even Try”

We hear this record around the 13:57 mark as Bleek’s crew arrives to confront Meech and Stone’s crew. Bleek’s crew attacks Meech and Stone’s crew, but Meech makes it clear that he gave Bleek the opportunity to cash in on what he’s doing, so it’s his fault he’s missing out.

Tucka Da Huntaman x Francion — “Let Me Find Out”

Around the 17:44 mark, Bleek returns to Meech to admit that he believes Meech’s offer is true. He asks if it’s still on the table and Meech confirms that the offer is available to him as long as Terrell and Meech’s cousin James are left out of it.

King Kahlo — “Never Too Far”

This song plays around the 18:56 mark as Monique and Lamar lay in bed together high on cocaine. This is all a part of Monique and Meech’s plan to kill Lamar, and though Monique has the opportunity to do it, she’s unable to gather herself to complete the mission.

Extreme — “Bills Theme”

We hear this song around the 23:18 mark as Markeisha walks into an empty restaurant for dinner with Terry. She stuns Terry with her dress, and the two don’t eat much of anything, as they head to a back room for some fun to start their night.

BChe — “Temporary”

Around the 25:48 mark, this song plays as Terry and Markeisha are doing some shopping at a luxury shop. Their time together ends with them going to another location to have sex once again. Markeisha is also able to convince Terry to cut off the rat tail on the back of his head.

Yellow Magic Orchestra — “Firecracker”

Yellow Magic Orchestra’s “Firecracker” plays around the 27:31 mark as the rollerskating night begins. At this moment, we see Meech express his displeasure for Terry cutting off his rat tail, which Meech suspects is connected to Markeisha. Lucille also arrives in the dress Meech bought her.

Solo D — “Come Party Wit Us”

This song plays around the 30:18 mark as Terry and Markeisha are talking to each other at the roller rink. As they’re talking, Wanda spots them and starts walking over to Terry to confront him about being with Markeisha, but Meech successfully talks her out of it.

Anita Baker — “Will You Be Mine”

Anita Baker’s “Will You Be Mine” plays around the 31:12 mark as a couples dance begins at the roller rink. Meech initially grabs Lucille to dance, but Charles arrives to take over. Meech and Monique also share a cute moment which is interrupted by Meech’s request for her to complete the mission they have to take down Lamar.

Erin n Franc — “Sexuality”

We hear this record around the 39:09 mark during a sex scene between Detective Bryant and Detective Jin. It comes after they both decided to let off some steam after Wanda decided not to give them information on Meech and Terry.

Cicero — “80s Rap 4”

Around the 44:03 mark, this song plays in Detective Bryant’s son Kevin’s headphones as B-Mickie steps into the house to find the gun he used to kill Jay Mo and Kato. Before he begins the frantic search, B-Mickie puts a bag over Kevin’s head and traps him in a closet.

Extreme — “Gang With No Name”

Around the 45:40 mark, B-Mickie begins the frantic search for the gun, but he’s unable to retrieve the weapon because he hears Detective Bryant return which gives him no time to get the gun.

Koron x Osinachi — “Not Making It Out”

The episode closes with this record playing around the 48:15 mark. It comes after a conversation between Meech and B-Mickie where the former promises to always have B-Mickie’s back despite his past actions.

New episodes of ‘BMF’ are available on the STARZ app on Fridays at 12:00 am EST and on the STARZ TV channel at 8:00 pm EST.

It looks like new music from EST Gee is coming sooner than we thought. On Friday (March 3), the Louisville rapper shared a trailer on Instagram for his upcoming project, Mad.

The trailer seems to tease that Mad will offer a more personal look into EST Gee’s life, as he shares stories of the trauma he’s been forced to deal with. In the short clip, viewers see a 2017 phone call between EST Gee and his friend Red, who was killed shortly after returning from prison.

In a voiceover, EST Gee shares some words, as he fights through the pain.

“You gonna look at me and tell me it ain’t that bad,” EST Gee says in the clip. “Let them bang on my past. Bet you don’t feel nothing, you can’t be mad. You cannot be mad… Ain’t no tragedy in life like the death of a child, they say.”

Mad marks EST Gee’s second project in six months, his previous being I Never Felt Nun. In an interview for Rolling Stone conducted around that time, EST Gee shared that he hopes his success motivates other rappers from Louisville.

“They know me,” said EST Gee. “So, where I was standing at, a lot of people standing at [now], so they know they can get on. That was important to see. Because Jack [Harlow], yeah, he from Louisville, but he from a different place, different demographic. So people just like me, [my success] motivates them. They created a scene where there wasn’t no scene before and there’s a scene now.”

You can check out the trailer above.

Mad is out 3/17 via CMG and Interscope.

(WARNING: Spoilers for this week’s BMF episode will be found below.)

Each week for the ‘BMF’ To Blowin’ Money Fast series, we’ll recap the episode by looking at a few key things to see how they hurt Meech and Terry’s money-making goals and overall well-being. Each item will be marked as a profit or a loss, the former keeping them in the black and the latter pushing them into the red. Throughout the season, something that was once unprofitable could turn profitable, and vice versa, but we’ll have to wait and see what that might be.

Meech and Terry have taken big steps to put themselves in the position to be bosses in season two of BMF. Last week in episode seven “Both Sides Of The Fence,” we watched the Flenory boys make their way to St. Martin to strike up a deal with the Colombians to get 100 bricks of cocaine to sell in Detroit and beyond. That mission turned out to be more successful than they imagined as they ended up leaving the island with 300 bricks of cocaine on consignment.

In this week’s episode, “Push It To The Limit,” Meech and Terry are back in Detroit ready to live and move as the bosses they always dreamed of being. While Meech is in a celebratory mood, Terry reminds him that the true work for them is just starting, and soon enough, they get right to it. Meech heads to Cleveland to establish a new hub there now that he’s in the position to be a connect for other dealers. Terry stays in Detroit and looks for drivers to help him move the new product out of the city while instructing them on the ways that they can avoid being stopped and searched by the police. Elsewhere, Lucille catches on to Charles’ infidelity, Terry seems to make progress in his relationship with Markeisha, and sparks fly for Detectives Bryant and Jin, but their police work isn’t as magical.

Meech

PROFIT

Meech continues to be one step ahead of everyone in this week’s episode. After returning to Detroit and retrieving the cocaine that was left for him by the Colombians, Meech decides that his next move is to head out to Cleveland to establish a hub of sorts over there through a man named Bleek. Initially, things don’t go as smoothly as Meech would’ve liked with Bleek but that’s no worry to him. He’s quickly able to make some noise in Cleveland, and despite some pushback from Bleek’s crew, Meech is not only able to get them out of his way, but he’s also able to get Bleek on his side. Elsewhere, Meech is also able to finally track B-Mickie who explains why he’s been missing for some time. B-Mickie also tells Meech that Detective Bryant has the gun that he used to kill Jay Mo and Kato. Despite his moment of betrayal, Meech tries to help Mickie get the gun and later says that he’ll always have B-Mickie’s back — something that could be genuine or because getting rid of the gun would be beneficial to them both.

Charles

LOSS

Charles can’t catch a break, but if we’re being honest, he’s brought it upon himself. In “Push It To The Limit,” Mabel ends up cutting things off with Charles after their time in a hotel room proved to be far less intimate than they imagined. Charles returns to Lucille at the roller rink, all for her to discover that he was at the hotel after a receipt fell out of his jacket. For what it’s worth, it’s kind of crazy that Charles wasted money on a hotel room with Mabel when the Flenory family certainly doesn’t have money to waste. Nonetheless, Lucille tells him off in front of everyone at the rink in what was an extremely embarrassing moment for him and the family. It’s more stress for the Flenorys that Meech and Terry don’t need to deal with, yet here we are.

Terry

PROFIT

Just like Meech, Terry was very sharp in this episode. While Meech was in Cleveland making moves with Bleek, Terry stayed put to find and instruct new drivers for BMF. Even through his instruction to the drivers, it was clear that he was, is, and will be an essential aspect of BMF going forward. Outside of the group, things seem to be going well with Markeisha nowadays. Her main concern with Terry was whether or not he’d be able to provide for her and her kids, and now that he’s in the position to be a connect and a boss, she’s sold on his ability to do so. They go shopping together, have dinner, and more. In Terry’s world, all is going well which makes it easier for him to be on his A-game and get things done for BMF.

Detectives Bryant & Jin

LOSS

Detectives Bryant & Jin are more dead set than ever on taking down the Flenory brothers. Their previous attempts haven’t worked so well, so they’ve now resorted to attacking the brothers from the inside. After photographing Markeisha and Terry having sex, Bryant and Jin took the photos to Wanda with the hope that it would frustrate her so much into ratting the duo out. Unfortunately, that didn’t work out too well for them as Wanda told them to stay away from her family going forward. Though this is an early win for BMF, it’s proof that Bryant and Jin will go to whatever lengths necessary to take down Meech and Terry. Now, that Meech is aware that Bryant has the gun B-Mickie used to kill Jay Mo and Kato, he and Terry will have to be more careful than they’ve already been

K-9

PROFIT

At the beginning of “Push It To The Limit,” Meech and Terry are informed that K-9 was arrested by the feds in Los Angeles. This news seemed to be too good to be true, but sure enough, it got confirmed when Detectives Bryant and Jin’s new boss announced it to them and the rest of the force. This is a big win for Meech and Terry. While K-9 wasn’t going to interfere with their work, it removes another competitor for the Flenory brothers in the local market. That means K-9’s former consumer base will now look to BMF to buy their drugs from. Sure, that puts a new target on their back, but it isn’t something that Meech and Terry can’t handle, especially 300 bricks of cocaine to their name now. Meech and Terry always wanted to be the top dogs, and now they can be, we’ll just have to see how it plays out in the last two episodes of season two.

New episodes of ‘BMF’ are available on the STARZ app on Fridays at 12:00 am EST and on the STARZ TV channel at 8:00 pm EST.

Last month, Key Glock released his much-anticipated album, Glockoma 2, which featured some acclaimed new tracks. One of the fan favorites was one named after wrestler Randy Orton, appropriately titled, “Randy Orton.”

On the song, he alludes to the wrestler, rapping on the chorus, “I’m savage, but don’t call me Randy, yeah / I’m slammin’ these bitches like Randy Orton.”

Tomorrow (March 6), Key will kick off the Glockoma tour, however, it appears he’s still finalizing the setlist. Today (March 4), Key took to Twitter to ask fans for help selecting songs.

“I need y’all help on my set list,” said Key.

It appears Orton himself has caught wind of the song. Making a rare appearance on Twitter, Orton responded to Key’s inquiry with a thinking emoji. This marks Orton’s first time tweeting in nearly four months.

At the time of writing, Key did not confirm if he was including it on his set list, however, judging by an Instagram post in which he shared a screenshot of Orton’s quoted reply, it’s safe to assume he’ll perform it.

“What other songs y’all wanna hear on tour ??,” asked Key in the post’s caption.

You can find a list of dates for the Glockoma tour here.

This weekend brings the long-awaited threequel in the Creed series, which is itself the ninth movie in the Rocky-verse. (It’s also the first without the guy who started it all, Sylvester Stallone.) There have only been three films in this wing of the franchise, which began back in 2015 with the original Creed. That’s not a lot. In fact, is it possible to watch this new one without having seen the first two?

The answer is: It’s up to you! The Creed films, like the Rockys before them, have a continuing story. It’s probably in your best interest to see how Michael B. Jordan’s Adonis a) rose the ranks of the boxing world and b) met the love of his life, Tessa Thompson’s Bianca. Also the first is a very good movie! And the Ryan Coogler-less first sequel ain’t bad either!

That said, it’s not like these are Marvel movies, where you have to at least read up on a bunch of shows you might not have seen to understand the basic plot. Each Creed film is simple: Adonis faces off against some opponent. Again, there’s an ongoing story about Adonis’ personal life and him battling demons. But the tale isn’t so complex that you probably can’t pick it up as the threequel chugs along.

Besides, there’s always Wikipedia if you need to catch up before the movie. But it’s a lot more fun to watch Creed and Creed II than do that, even if it takes exponentially longer.

There may not be another player in the 2023 NFL Draft who generated more buzz than Florida signal caller Anthony Richardson. While there has been a top-3 on most quarterback big boards for months — some order of Will Levis, C.J. Stroud, and Bryce Young — the thought is that Richardson is the kind of once-in-a-generation athletic freak who could crash that party.

The quarterbacks got their day in Indianapolis on Saturday, and Richardson put on a show for the ages. Richardson set a pair of Combine records on both of his jumps, as his 10’9 broad jump and his 40.5″ vertical jump were the two best that we’ve ever seen.

His 40-yard dash didn’t quite set a record, but considering he is a hair over 6’4 and weighs 244 pounds, it is terrifying. Richardson ran the fourth-fasted 40-yard dash in Combine history at 4.44 seconds — the only quarterbacks to get the better of him in history are Michael Vick, Reggie McNeal, and Robert Griffin III.

NFL Network lined up Richardson’s 40 with those of Cam Newton and Tim Tebow, and it is pretty incredible to watch him leave both of them in the dust.

Now, there are questions about Richardson as a prospect. His ability to steamroll defenses with his legs is special, and his arm strength to take the top off of a defense very well be the best in this class. There are accuracy concerns — he completed 53.8 percent of his passes as a junior in Gainesville last season — but if a team believes that can get ironed out, it’s not hard to see why Richardson could go very, very high in a few weeks.