Month: June 2023

Flau’jae Johnson recently opened up to Uproxx about winning LSU’s first NCAA Division I basketball championship this April and celebrating that win while her song, “Big 4,” filled the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas.

“The fact that I’m being recognized for my music as well as my basketball at the highest level, that was a breathtaking moment for me,” Johnson said. “Both of my lives crossed over how I wanted it to. It was an amazing feeling. It felt like a movie.”

Lil Wayne was among those impressed by Johnson. NLE Choppa featured Johnson and her LSU teammate Angel Reese in his star-studded “Champions” video just weeks ago. But Latto and Cardi B’s “Put It On Da Floor Again” video is the one that got away.

Johnson joined The Baller Alert Show for its June 10 episode and was asked around the 28-minute mark why she wasn’t in the video alongside Reese.

“Angel, she loves doing videos,” Johnson said. “She’s a cute girl. You know what I’m saying? Like, that’s her thing. … So, Latto, she hit me about it, like, the day before.”

Johnson explained that she told Latto she was in Los Angeles but could still “make it happen,” leading to confusion when the video came out without her involvement.

“Her people never hit my people,” she continued. “But I had seen — she had asked Angel like a week before. You feel me? I was like, OK, maybe she really ain’t want me in the video, for real, but she had to ask me because we had kind of a relationship before, and she put Angel in it. But I was like, I didn’t really care ’cause Angel was in it, and that was a big moment for women’s basketball.”

Still, Johnson can’t help but wonder “why wouldn’t you put me in it? It just makes sense.”

Watch Johnson’s full The Baller Alert Show episode above.

NLE Choppa is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Last year, Pete Davidson and Colin Jost bought a boat. It wasn’t just any boat: They bought a defunct Staten Island ferry. The former SNL colleagues — along with comedy club owner Paul Italia — reportedly bid $280,000 for the ferry, with plans to turn it into space for live entertainment. It sounds like the kind of lavish, creatively out-there purchase people make when they’re out of their heads. Sure enough, Davidson recently admitted he was “very stoned” when he agreed to do it. Jost does not have the same excuse.

“Is it worse that I was actually stone-cold sober when we bought the ferry?” Jost revealed in an Instagram post, as per Entertainment Weekly.

Jost then teased all the exciting things he, Davidson, and Italia have planned for their new ferry. “We’re excited to prove the non-believers wrong,” he wrote. “You’re going to be BEGGING to get on this ferry in two years. Mark my words.”

It’s possible the Davidson-Jost-Italia ferry will turn into a destination vessel, but that still night take some doing. The boat, former crew members revealed last year, was, at least then, still awash in rats and asbestos. Maybe they’ve cleared all that up in the meantime, but Davidson makes it sound like they probably haven’t.

“I have no idea what’s going on with that thing,” Davidson said when revealing how baked he was when he bought it. According to him, they were, as of last week, still “figuring it out.”

So what will come first: Will Pete Davidson, Colin Jost, and Paul Italia clean up their ferry and create NYC’s hippest aquatic vessel? Or will Davidson make amends with PETA?

(Via EW)

In January, Boldy James survived a terrifying car accident that left him in “critical condition, suffering from broken vertebrae in his neck and orthopedic injuries,” as confirmed in a statement at the time. Shortly after the crash, the burgeoning rapper still released his Indiana Jones album but still had a long road to recovery ahead of him.

James took a huge step toward functioning at full force last Saturday, June 12, when he started his six-date Back Outside Tour at The Shelter in his hometown Detroit, Michigan.

According to a show review by Eli Day of the Detroit Metro Times, James was in good spirits, saying, at separate points during his set, “Feels good to be back, man, I swear to God” and “I’m almost back, baby.”

“Throughout the show, Boldy takes time to thank those who never left his side and kept the hope of his full recovery alive when doing so himself perhaps felt like flying too close to the sun,” Day wrote.

James announced the Back Outside Tour on May 6. His next stop is June 22 at The Roxy in Los Angeles. The remaining four dates are June 29 at Racket NYC in New York, New York, July 18 at Antone’s Nightclub in Austin, Texas, July 19 at Warehouse Live in Houston, Texas, and July 21 at Ridglea Room in Fort Worth, Texas.

After this run, James will join The Alchemist for The Six Million Dollar Man Tour in Europe. See those dates below.

Gunna is slowly revealing his side of the YSL RICO trial story, even though some people, like Lil Durk, don’t want to hear it.

On Wednesday, June 14, which happens to be his 30th birthday, Gunna teased “A Gift And A Curse” as his next release, including a pre-save link. Complex and HotNewHipHop reported that it will arrive this Friday, June 16, but that was not officially announced by Gunna, 300 Entertainment, or YSL. It’s also unclear whether “A Gift And A Curse” is a single or a full-blown project.

Gunna was released from jail in mid-December after he “entered a negotiated plea, known as an Alford plea,” as relayed by WSB-TV at the time. The outlet additionally reported that Gunna had pled guilty to one charge of conspiracy to violate the RICO Act. This decision sparked overwhelming backlash, with innumerable people condemning Gunna as “snitching” on the remaining YSL defendants, including Young Thug.

Gunna’s first drop post-jail was a feature on German rapper Uof361’s “Brodies” in January, and his first solo single,”Bread & Butter” came at the beginning of this month.

In the latter, Gunna explicitly fired back at the snitching accusations. It begins with an audio compilation of reactions to his plea deal and subsequent release. “Kept it real with n****s, never lied and always stay honest / Love my bro so much, I’d never change on ’em,” he raps in the song co-produced by Turbo, Omar Grand, and Cam Griffin.

Get ready for “A Gift And A Curse,” in whatever form it arrives, by listening to “Bread & Butter” below.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Gangsta Boo (real name Lola Mitchell), a Memphis rap legend and former member of Three 6 Mafia, was found dead on New Year’s Day. Mitchell’s sudden passing at 43 years old was first reported by FOX13 Memphis but a cause of death was left ambiguous.

On Wednesday, June 14, FOX13 and NBC Actions News 5 relayed the result of Mitchell’s autopsy to be “an accidental overdose.”

“FOX13 dug through pages of that autopsy report to find out that Mitchell had fentanyl, cocaine and alcohol in her system at the time of her death,” FOX13’s report read.

NBC Action News 5 also confirmed Mitchell overdosed on a combination of “fentanyl, cocaine, and ethanol (alcohol).”

Upon Mitchell’s death, Uproxx‘s Aaron Williams contextualized her legacy.

“Although her output slowed in the years since, any number of true hip-hop heads could see her influence and impact growing in the rising importance of Southern rappers like Latto and GloRilla, even before their collaboration,” he wrote, in part. “However, the moment of her greatest resurgence came in 2020, when she was featured on Run The Jewels’ RTJ4 track ‘Walking In The Snow’ after her scene-stealing verse on the group’s 2016 track ‘Love Again?’ served as a reminder to rap fans just how influential she had always been.”

GloRilla attended Mitchell’s funeral in mid-January and spoke with reporters outside of Brown Missionary Church in Southaven, Mississippi about her intention to “keep representing her.”

There are reportedly tangible efforts to carry forward Mitchell’s spirit, as TMZ relayed in March that a posthumous album from Mitchell was in the works.

“Gangsta Boo’s estate is making sure her upcoming posthumous album is airtight with slaps … with Latto, Skepta, La Chat, Crunchy Black and Run The Jewels all pitching in for the late Three 6 Mafia rapstress,” TMZ relayed at the time. “Sources close to the project’s creation also tell TMZ Hip Hop they’ve locked in beat contributions from Drumma Boy, Nick Hook and RTJ’s El-P … and are planning for an August 7 release date, which would have been GB’s 44th birthday.”

This year’s BET Awards are scheduled for Sunday, June 25, though the ongoing Writer’s Guild Of America strike might impede the proceedings. For now, one can operate under the assumption that this year’s BET Awards will go on as scheduled, beginning at 8 p.m. EST.

BET announced on April 26 that the BET Awards 2023 would “return live from Los Angeles” to “celebrate five decades of hip-hop through the live telecast on BET.” The press release noted, “BET Awards has been the No. 1 cable award show among all adults 18-49 for two consecutive years, 2022 and 2021, and is the No. 1 cable award show among Black adults 18-49 for the 21st consecutive year.”

However, the Los Angeles location from which the BET Awards 2023 will broadcast live was not specified. Maybe it will be LA’s Microsoft Theater, considering that was the location for last year’s BET Awards.

In 2022, Taraji P. Henson hosted for a second-straight year, and the show generated plenty of buzz. Lil Nas X was noticeably snubbed from the nomination field, to which Jack Harlow drew attention on the red carpet. But the night’s apex was arguably the tribute to Diddy featuring Jodeci, Mary J. Blige, Bryson Tiller. Kanye West also delivered a peculiar speech.

This year’s BET Awards nomination field is led by Drake and GloRilla.

Jack Harlow and Mary J. Blige are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Demi Lovato publicly shared their non-binary identity around the launch of 4D With Demi Lovato in May 2021. Around the same time, she commented on the timing of their announcement while visiting Jane Fonda’s Fire Drill Fridays.

“After years of living my life for other people, trying to make myself smaller for the patriarchy, they run the industry, they are at the center of everything,” Lovato said then (as relayed by NME). “When I realized that, I thought, ‘What are the ways that the patriarchy has been holding me back?’ And for me, it was putting me in a box telling [me], ‘You are a female, this is what you’re supposed to like, this is what you’re supposed to do, don’t dream bigger and don’t speak louder.’”

Now, as the cover star for GQ Spain, Lovato is updating everyone on their position.

The accompanying story, when translated from Spanish to English, explains that Lovato “preferred that the feminine pronoun be used” for this interview.

“I constantly had to educate people and explain why I identified with those pronouns,” Lovato said, referring to they/them (as noted and translated by Consequence). “It was absolutely exhausting. And that is one of the reasons that have led me to also feel comfortable with the feminine pronoun.”

Lovato continued, “I just got tired. But for that very reason, I know that it is important to continue spreading the word.”

On Instagram, Lovato lists their pronouns as “they/them/she/her.” The pop-rocker posted about Pride Month on June 1.

“HAPPY PRIDE MONTH BB’S!!! I’m so happy to celebrate our LGBTQIA+ community, today and everyday!! As a nonbinary queer person, I couldn’t be more proud to be a part of this community that is the epitome of resilience, excellence and joy,” Lovato captioned their Instagram carousel led by a rainbow mirror selfie. “And for any and everyone navigating their sexual orientation and gender journey, know that you are all extraordinary and exactly who you’re supposed to be. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.”

Since 2021, Boosie Badazz has consistently made headlines for troubling reasons, including harmfully homophobic rhetoric aimed at Lil Nas X on more than one occasion, accusations of inciting a riot, and a reportedly contentious traffic arrest last summer. While relatively benign, he also questioned Jay-Z’s relevancy.

TMZ added to the pile on Wednesday, June 14.

“A spokesperson for the San Diego County District Attorney’s office tells us Boosie was in court Wednesday for an appearance in his ongoing gun case. The good news — the case was dismissed,” they reported. “The bad news — he still had another pending legal issue. We’re told Boosie was arrested by federal agents outside the courtroom as soon as his gun case hearing wrapped.”

TMZ did not specify what led to Boosie’s arrest or what charges he might be facing, noting, “We don’t currently know the circumstances that led up to the arrest.” However, the outlet did confirm why Boosie was in court in the first place: A traffic stop last month during which “officers discovered two handguns.”

Following TMZ‘s report, the Louisiana-bred rapper took to Twitter.

“I WANNA TAKE THIS TIME TO APOLOGIZE TO MY KIDS, IM SORRY AND I LOVE YALL FOREVER,” he wrote alongside a praying hands emoji.

After Donald Trump became the first U.S. president to be arraigned not once but twice, he did what anyone would do: He went to a bakery to hobnob with fans. The former president was warmly received, but they weren’t kind to everyone. Indeed after one journalist dared question their fearless leader, they responded by throwing her out and cursing at her.

As per HuffPost, reporter Sophie Alexander, of the British network Sky News, posted a video Tuesday showing what it’s like to have MAGA heads turn on you. Alexander was inside Versailles, an iconic Miami eatery that was packed silly with mostly Trump supporters. She loudly asked Trump if he was “ready to go to jail.” It’s a fair question. The charges against him are even worse than the others he’s faced so far — and perhaps more than the ones still en route.

In response, Trump’s fans did the inevitable. First they booed her. Then someone tried to block the camera on her phone. Much shaky-cam footage proceeds from there, with someone off-screen telling her to “get the f*ck out of here. Before she’s ejected from the building, someone screams that she’s a “stupid bitch.”

Alexander added that she “got our perfectly safely.”

Trump, of course, has a long history of whipping up his supporters, encouraging them to break the law, even cause violence. One time he did that, supporters actually stormed the U.S. Capital building in an attempt to overturn the election he lost. Crazy, huh?

More recent attempts to get his base to stop him from getting his comeuppance have been even less successful. Indeed, he was hoping for a mass protest during his Miami arraignment, but it only drew a modest crowd, probably because many were afraid of meeting the same fate as a certain Mr. Show alum.

Footage of MAGA heads turning on a journalist not even asking a controversial question plays a little different after Sarah Palin attempted to disprove that his supporters act like they’re in a cult — only to make a strong case that they are.

(Via HuffPost)

Italian food has been a staple of the American diet for the past 200 years. We eat pizza when we’re having a party. When it’s time for a romantic dinner, we break out the checkered tablecloth and sip some wine while enjoying a fine bolognese sauce. Heck, one of the best characters on “The Sopranos” was the food.

However, even though Italian food is such a big part of American culture, it appears as though it’s going to be taking a backseat to other ethnic foods in the near future.

According to Datassential, a Chicago-based market research firm, millennials (ages 27 to 42) rank Mexican food as their favorite ethnic cuisine over Italian, and Gen Z (8 to 23) agrees, with Chinese in second and Italian in third. Baby Boomers and Gen X still say that Italian is numero uno.

“This was the first time that we have ever seen, since we’ve been studying consumers, this change happen in a generation,” Mike Kostyo, associate director of Datassential, the Chicago-based market research firm that released the report, told VOA News. “I think the most surprising thing was just how passionate Gen Z’s affinity for Mexican cuisine was…and to see that happen in a relatively short amount of time. I mean, that was huge.”

A big reason for America’s sudden palette change is the country’s changing demographics. Latinos are among the fastest-growing population segments in the United States, having nearly doubled in size since 2000. So not only are more people eating Mexican food because of their culture of origin, but people who aren’t of Latino descent are being exposed to the cuisine and falling in love.

Another reason is social media, where younger people are exposed to different foods because people love sharing pictures of what they eat.

Chinese people are also well-represented in the U.S. and are the third largest origin group among U.S. immigrants, behind Mexico and India.

America’s growing love of Mexican and Chinese foods is another example of the beautiful benefit of living in a country where people are all about sharing their cultures.

Enjoying the tastes of other countries and regions is a lovely experience and it also opens the doors to greater cultural understanding. What starts with food can lead to an appreciation of language, music, fashion, and history. One of the biggest reasons why people travel to other countries is to enjoy their cuisine, and once their stomachs are full, appreciation of their culture is sure to follow.

“Where before maybe the go-to comfort food item, or classic traditional item, might have been a pizza, if you were opening a classic, everybody-loves-it restaurant…it would have been a pizza operation,” Kostyo says. “I think in the future, it’s going to be a taco operation. That will be the go-to.”

Italian food’s declining popularity in America isn’t a knock on the cuisine itself but more of a positive note in the history of American culture. As our population becomes more diverse, so do our food choices, leading to a broader tapestry of experiences for us all to enjoy.