Month: June 2024

There are few things that feel more awful than being stranded at the altar by your spouse-to-be. That’s why people are cheering on Kayley Stead, 27, from the U.K. for turning a day of extreme disappointment into a party for her friends, family and most importantly, herself.

According to a report in The Metro, on Thursday, September 15, Stead woke up in an Airbnb with her bridemaids, having no idea that her fiance, Kallum Norton, 24, had run off early that morning. The word got to Stead’s bridesmaids at around 7 a.m. the day of the wedding.

“[A groomsman] called one of the maids of honor to explain that the groom had ‘gone.’ We were told he had left the caravan they were staying at in Oxwich Bay (the venue) at 12:30 a.m. to visit his family, who were staying in another caravan nearby and hadn’t returned. When they woke in the morning, he was not there and his car had gone,” Jordie Cullen wrote on a GoFundMe page.

u201cDevastated bride goes ahead with party after groom stood her up on their wedding day ud83dudc4fnn[THREAD] ud83euddf5u201d

— Manchester News MEN (@Manchester News MEN)
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Stead spoke with the groom at 4 p.m. the previous day, but they stayed the night with their respective parties to save some mystery before the big day. “The groom and I had already agreed not to speak the night before the wedding anyway, so I didn’t know what was happening on his end, I didn’t have a clue,” Stead told The Metro.

Stead was in absolute shock after hearing the news. She had paid for nearly the entire wedding herself, using up all of her life savings on the £12,000 ($13,000) affair. “As a joke, the videographer said ‘Why don’t you carry on, girls? You’ve spent all this money, you’re not getting it back, all your guests are there, why don’t you just go?’” Stead told The Metro.

So, she did just that. Stead decided that the wedding would go on without her fiance.

u201cKayley Stead made the brave decision to carry on with the celebrations without her partner of four years Kallum Norton after he ditched her before the ceremonynnhttps://t.co/BoBM7KUSOhu201d

— The Daily Record (@The Daily Record)
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“That’s when I was like, I’m going to do it,” she said. “I’d spent all this money, I’d been looking forward to the food, a dance with my dad, spending time with my family, so why not?”

Stead, her friends, family and even the groomsmen didn’t let things go to waste and they enjoyed her wedding entrance, food, speeches, dances and even posed for photos. “I didn’t want to remember the day as complete sadness,” she said.

“She was the most beautiful bride we had ever seen,” Cullen added.

The good news is that after the party, Cullen set up a GoFundMe page to help Stead recoup her losses and it has already reached its goal of £10,000 ($10,830). Almost two weeks after the event, Stead still doesn’t know why she was stood her up on her wedding day.

u201c”There were so many special moments, like my wedding entrance, the sparkler walk, the first dance and punching the wedding cake, so there was still happiness in the day. I’d spent all this money.” – Kayley Steadu201d

— Birmingham Live (@Birmingham Live)
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The Sun caught up with Norton and he refused to apologize. The only thing he had to say was, “I don’t want to talk about the article.”

While it’s terrible that Stead was stood up on her wedding day, she should be applauded for making the best of the worst day ever. It’s also wonderful that her bridesmaids and family stood by her side and supported her as she dealt with a serious blow. Let’s hope she finds someone better soon. It shouldn’t be too hard—standing someone up at the altar and then not even explaining yourself is a pretty low move.

This article originally appeared on 09.29.22

Kendrick Lamar concluded his sensational The Pop Out — Ken & Friends Juneteenth concert at Kia Forum in Los Angeles on Wednesday night, June 19, by welcoming all of the night’s surprise performers — the “friends” in the billing — to dance while he ran through “Not Like Us,” his masterclass Drake diss track that hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, five times in a row.

Below, check out all of those surprise performers from DJ Hed, Mustard, and Kendrick Lamar’s respective sets.

Here Are All Of The Surprise Performers From Kendrick Lamar’s ‘The Pop Out’ Concert

DJ Hed

Remble (“Touchable”)
Ray Vaughn (“Problems”)
Cuzzos (“Goldmembers”)
Rucci & AzChike (“Light It Up”)
Meet The Whoops (“Meet The Whoops”)
Wallie The Sensei (“03 Flow”)
Westside Boogie (“Silent Ride”)
Zoe Osama (“Underrated”)
Kalan.FrFr & G Perico (“Right Wit It”)
Bino Rideaux (“Bozo”)
BlueBucksClan (“Walkin’ In”)
RJMrLA (“Get Rich”)
OhGeesy (“Geekaleek”)
Jason Martin (“Like Whaaat”)
Tommy The Clown

Mustard

310babii (“Soak City [Do It]”)
Blxst (“Overrated” & “Chosen”)
Ty Dolla Sign (“Paranoid”)
Dom Kennedy (“My Type Of Party” & “When I Come Around”)
Steve Lacy (“Static” & “Bad Habit”)
Tyler The Creator (“WusYaName” & “Earfquake”)
Roddy Ricch (“Racks In The Middle,” “Die Young,” “The Box,” “Ballin’”)
YG (“BPT,” “My N****,” “You Broke,” “Toot It And Boot It,” “Who Do You Love?” & “Big Bank”)

Kendrick Lamar

Jay Rock (“Money Trees,” “Win,” “King’s Dead”)
Ab-Soul (“6:16 In LA”)
Schoolboy Q (“Collard Greens” & “THat Part”)
Dr. Dre (“Still D.R.E.” & “California Love”)

Kendrick Lamar was a man on a mission tonight (June 19). His The Pop Out — Ken & Friends concert at Los Angeles’ Kia Forum featured DJ Hed and Mustard as openers, and their sets were each stacked with guest appearances, but Lamar exceeded all expectations once his set began. The bar was set extremely high from the jump, as Lamar opened with the live debut of “Euphoria,” one of his recent Drake diss tracks, but he cleared it with ease by punctuating the night with “Not Like Us” five times in a row. Five!

Check out Lamar’s full The Pop Out setlist below.

Kendrick Lamar’s ‘The Pop Out — Ken & Friends’ Concert Setlist

1. “Euphoria” (Live debut)
2. “DNA.”
3. “ELEMENT.”
4. “Alright”
5. “Swimming Pools (Drank)”
6. “Money Trees” (With Jay Rock)
7. “Win” (Jay Rock cover) (With Jay Rock)
8. “King’s Dead” (Kendrick Lamar, Jay Rock, Future, James Blake cover) (With Jay Rock)
9. “6:16 In LA” (With Ab-Soul) (Live debut)
10. “Collard Greens (Schoolboy Q cover) (With Schoolboy Q, Ab-Soul, and Jay Rock)
11. “THat Part” (Schoolboy Q cover) (with Schoolboy Q)
12. “King Kunta”
13. “m.A.A.d city”
14. “HUMBLE.”
15. “Like That” (Future and Metro Boomin cover) (Live debut)
16. “Still D.R.E.” (Dr. Dre cover) (With Dr. Dre)
17. “California Love” (2Pac cover) (With Dr. Dre)
18. “Not Like Us” (Live debut)
19. “Not Like Us”
20. “Not Like Us”
21. “Not Like Us”
22. “Not Like Us”
23. “Not Like Us” (Instrumental)

It was already a consensus opinion that Kendrick Lamar obliterated Drake when they exchanged diss tracks this spring. But just in case there were any doubt, Lamar delivered an epic knockout punch during his set at his The Pop Out — Ken & Friends Juneteenth concert at Los Angeles’ Kia Forum on Wednesday, June 19. First, Lamar opened his set by performing “Euphoria” live for the first time — adding a Tupac-related bar, to boot — but that paled in comparison to Lamar’s grand finale.

The Pulitzer Prize-winning Compton rapper welcomed Dr. Dre to the stage. They performed “Still D.R.E.” and “California Love,” and that seemed to be that before Lamar stopped him from walking off the stage. “You ain’t gonna say nothin’ else before we continue to party?” Lamar asked. Dre said, “Psst, I see dead people,” thus beginning a relentless medley of Lamar performing “Not Like Us” five times in a row.

Eventually, Lamar was joined on stage by the guest performers from the night — plus DeMar DeRozan and Russell Westbrook — and they all metaphorically danced on Drake’s grave. Still, Lamar paused between the fourth and fifth run through “Not Like Us” to emphasize that this Juneteenth concert was meant “for all of us to be together on stage” and display “united at its finest.” Lamar shouted out the late Nipsey Hussle and Kobe Bryant and acknowledged, “We lost a lot of homies to this music sh*t, to this street sh*t.”

Lamar dropped “Not Like Us” in early May, and it became his fourth-career No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.

For a few hours on Wednesday night, Kendrick Lamar was the most powerful man on earth as he held The Pop Out in Los Angeles. The whole thing was quite the spectacle, as it turned into one of the biggest nights in music even before Kendrick got on stage and started his performance.

And then, Kendrick tore the house down at The Forum in Los Angeles, which included Black Hippy reuniting and running through a medley of songs. The high point of the performance came at the very end, when he performed his Drake diss “Not Like Us.” Then he did it again, and then he did it again … and then, for good measure, he did it a fourth time, with the crowd losing its mind the entire time. During his final performance, a number of people joined him on stage, which included two of L.A.’s most beloved basketball players, Russell Westbrook and DeMar DeRozan.

They weren’t the only NBA players who made it out on Wednesday night, as a collection of players that included LeBron James were in attendance. And as he ran through “Not Like Us,” Donovan Mitchell was like many of us who sat at home and watched

Anyway, after Kendrick did his fourth performance of “Not Like Us,” he took a picture with the huge group that popped up on stage … before doing “Not Like Us” for a fifth time.

Kendrick Lamar opened his The Pop Out — Ken & Friends Juneteenth concert at LA’s Kia Forum by delivering the live debut of “Euphoria,” one of his Drake diss tracks from this spring, and adding another ruthless bar to it.

Somehow, The Pop Out got better from there.

Lamar staged a long-awaited Black Hippy reunion. One by one, he was joined on stage by Jay Rock, Ab-Soul, and Schoolboy Q. They performed a medley of songs, including “Money Trees,” “Win,” “King’s Dead,” “6:16 In LA,” “Collard Greens,” “That Part,” and “King Kunta.”

Black Hippy, a Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE) supergroup formed in the late 2000s, never released a full group LP, though it remained a vague possibility as of March 2023.

In February 2022, Terrance Louis “Punch” Henderson discussed Black Hippy never releasing an album during an interview with Mic.

“We definitely wanted to do a Black Hippy album,” Punch said. “But it was such a learning experience for us, everything was new. The timing never really panned out. When one guy would be recording his album, another guy would be on tour. Everybody was never in the same timeframe. So we didn’t want to hold back; we wanted to keep going and just push further into their individual careers. In hindsight, I wish I would’ve pushed the Black Hippy album more. That was always my goal, personally. You would have to ask everybody individually to see if that’s what their goal was.”

Kendrick Lamar has dominated the year in music, as he turned his beef with Drake into chart-topping tracks and a wave of momentum that has been nothing short of incredible.

His final Drake diss, “Not Like Us” produced by Mustard, became an instant L.A. anthem, and gave way to the idea to put on a show in L.A. called The Pop Out, referencing a line from the track. On Wednesday night at the Kia Forum, Kendrick, Mustard, and DJ Hed took the stage with various friends, bringing a ton of stars out both on stage and in the crowd.

Among those were a number of NBA stars with L.A. ties, as some of the biggest names in basketball weren’t going to miss this moment. LeBron James, Russell Westbrook, James Harden, and DeMar DeRozan were all on hand, with DeRozan arriving early to support his fellow Compton native.

The livestream showed LeBron and Westbrook vibing during Mustard’s set, as he brought out Tyler the Creator, YG, and more to the Forum stage.

Harden was also in the building with another beard enthusiast, Rick Ross, who had more fun dissing Drake than anyone else and wasn’t going to miss a chance to be at Kendrick’s show.

As plenty of people noted, James’ presence had to have hurt Drake a bit, as the two have been tight in the past, but there LeBron was on the Forum floor as Kendrick performed his “Euphoria” diss in its entirety — with some new lyrics — and the crowd went crazy.

Kendrick Lamar’s The Pop Out — Ken & Friends Juneteenth concert marks his first public appearance since he and Drake exchanged several vicious diss tracks. DJ Hed and Mustard delivered stacked opening sets featuring guest performances from the likes of Westside Boogie, BlueBucksClan, Tommy The Clown, Blxst, Ty Dolla Sign, Dom Kennedy, Steve Lacy, Tyler The Creator, Roddy Ricch, and YG.

Lamar immediately reminded everyone that he is and forever will be the main attraction when he began his set with the live debut of “Euphoria,” one of the aforementioned Drake diss tracks.

Lamar additionally proved that he still disdains Drake by adding a new bar to “Euphoria,” according to various publications like Complex and XXL Magazine. The line is, “Give me Tupac’s ring back, and I might give you a little respect.”

To make matters worse for Drake, the Kia Forum crowd chanted “OV-Hoe” before Lamar took the stage for his set.

Lamar released “Euphoria” on April 30. The six-plus-minute diss track is a total evisceration. “Don’t tell no lies about me, and I won’t tell no truths ’bout you” is a self-explanatory bar, but Lamar’s attacks throughout the song are nuanced — the embodiment of “it’s levels to this,” as explained by Uproxx’s Wongo Okon.

As of this writing, Kendrick Lamar has yet to take the stage for his The Pop Out — Ken & Friends set at Kia Forum in Los Angeles on Wednesday, June 19, but the Juneteenth celebration has already been a star-studded event. DJ Hed opened the show and welcomed out a slew of guests, including Ray Vaughn, Westside Boogie, Bino Rideaux, and BlueBucksClan. Mustard was up next and took it to another level.

The acclaimed DJ & producer brought out Blxst (“Overrated,” “Chosen”), Ty Dolla Sign (“Paranoid”), Dom Kennedy (“My Type Of Party,” “When I Come Around”), Steve Lacy (“Static,” “Bad Habit”), and Tyler The Creator (“WusYaName,” “Earfquake”) before taking a moment to honor the late Nipsey Hussle. The Jumbotron displayed a photo of the beloved rapper alongside “RIP NIP: THE MARATHON CONTINUES.” Mustard played “Perfect Ten,” the title track from his platinum-certified 2019 album. The song featured Hussle. The crowd predictably erupted, and Mustard said, “Make some noise so loud that Nipsey Hussle can hear you” before playing Hussle’s “Last Time That I Checc’d” featuring YG.

Kia Forum got even louder when Roddy Ricch joined Mustard on stage to perform “Racks In The Middle,” Hussle’s 2019 song featuring Ricch and Hit-Boy.

Hussle was fatally shot on March 31, 2019, while visiting his Marathon Clothing store in South LA. He was 33.

Ricch stayed around to additionally perform “Die Young,” “The Box,” and “Ballin’,” before the grand finale of YG running through “BPT,” “My N****,” “Toot It And Boot It,” “Who Do You Love?,” and “Big Bank.”

Watch clip from Mustard’s set below.

In late February, Hinds released “Coffee” as their first song in four years. The Madrid, Spain-bred duo of Ana Perrote and Carlotta Cosials last released The Prettiest Curse in June 2020, and their next album, Viva Hinds, is due out on September 6. After “Coffee,” Hinds shared “Boom Boom Back” featuring Beck from the album’s tracklist. On Wednesday, June 19, Hinds dropped “En Forma,” which stands apart from previous Viva Hinds singles simply because it is their first-ever entirely Spanish-language song release.

“This was the first song I could write after months of feeling absolutely devastated, immobile and pathetic,” Cosials said in a statement, according to NME. “I just wanted to get better, but I just couldn’t. I couldn’t cope with this eternal race of being happier and better and cleaner and healthier.”

Perrote added, “When I talk with my girlfriends, in the same afternoon we can chat about wars, philosophy, love, and clothes. I tried to reflect on this song the chaos and huge spectrum of what it’s like to be a young woman these days. How overwhelming it can be to juggle the news, politics, our bodies, relationships and laundry.”

The accompanying “En Forma” video illustrates Cosials and Perrote’s sentiments. Watch it above, and learn more about their Viva Hinds album below.

Hinds’ Viva Hinds Tracklist

1. “Hi, How Are You”
2. “The Bed, The Room, The Rain and You”
3. “Boom Boom Back” Feat. Beck
4. “Stranger” Feat. Grian Chatten
5. “Superstar”
6. “Mala Vista”
7. “On My Own”
8. “Coffee”
9. “En Forma”
10. “Bon Voyage”

Hinds’ Viva Hinds Album Cover Artwork

Viva Hinds is out 9/6 via Lucky Number. Find more information here.