Month: January 2025

In what should probably not come as a surprise to anyone who is aware of the history between these two, Shaquille O’Neal and Dwight Howard got into it with one another again on the internet. From what we can tell, this latest chapter began when Howard, during an interview with the podcast The GAUDs Show, spoke at length about his relationship with Shaq. It’s all pretty standard stuff — he never wanted to be Shaq, he did want to take stuff Shaq did and apply it to his life like he did with other basketball players, all these things.

“I tried to,” Howard said when he was asked if he’s ever spoken to Shaq about their relationship. “Literally, during Dancing with the Stars, somebody said they’re really close with Shaq, and they were working with me, and I said, hey, man, do you mind sending Shaq a message to try and figure out, like, yo, what’s up? Can we have a sitdown conversation? Cause every conversation, or every time I hear or see something about you, it’s you disrespecting me on some type of level.”

It got to the point, apparently, where Howard wondered if he and Shaq needed to get into a physical altercation over all of this. Anyway, you can watch the entire clip above, but word must have gotten back to Shaq, who tweeted at Howard on Monday night.

“the fact u think I care about u is funny, but I won’t ever bring your name up again sensitive big man, a jokester that can’t take a joke,” Shaq wrote. “Won’t ever say your name again ever again. Have a great day and now u have been deleted. Have a great day.”

About two hours later, Howard responded, repeatedly calling Shaq insecure, accusing him of being jealous of Kobe Bryant, Penny Hardaway, Dwyane Wade, and Charles Barkley, and saying that “I still have that long 5 Paragraph direct message you sent me a couple years ago telling me that I’m not that great to hate.” And on Tuesday morning, Howard sent out a tweet indicating that he doesn’t like how things have gone with Shaq, and expressed that he wants the two to hash things out on a podcast.

It has been nearly two years since the first murder trial against YNW Melly ended in a mistrial, restarting the proceedings from the beginning. The rapper was charged with murder in 2019; prosecutors allege that Melly shot and killed two members of his YNW collective, staging the crime scene to make himself look like the sole survivor of a drive-by shooting.

Today, proceedings for the second attempt at the trial were postponed, according to local news. Broward County Judge Martin Fein offered Melly the opportunity to reconsider his representation, as his defense attorney, Ravon Liberty, has come under investigation for potential witness tampering. Melly — whose real name is Jamell Demons — now has until February 18 to decide whether to continue with Liberty or find a new attorney. As Judge Fein pointed out, Melly has been in jail for 2,159 days, so finding a new lawyer could considerably extend his stay. “The only other question Mr. Demons has to decide does he want to go forward with her, or does he want conflict-free counsel which he is certainly entitled to,” he said. However, if it’s found Liberty is responsible for witness tampering, that could happen anyway. The trial is set to begin in September.

Earlier this week, Will Smith set the blogosphere buzzing with a post on social media about his famed misstep in choosing to star in Wild Wild West over The Matrix. While some sources speculated that he was in the process of promoting a new film project involving the mind-bending sci-fi franchise, other observers assumed that it was the beginning of a Super Bowl ad campaign.

Now, according to Deadline, there is a third possibility: A new album. According to Deadline‘s sources, Will’s been working on a new full-length musical project, which one assumes he’ll be announcing in full at some point in the near future.

There’s evidence to support this suggestion; Smith debuted a new song, “Bulletproof,” in a performance at the 2024 BET Awards, complete with Kanye West’s Sunday Service Choir. A month later, he shared another new single, “Work Of Art,” which features his son Jaden — an established musician in his own right — and indie rap stalwart Russ. Smith then ended the year releasing “Tantrum,” his second collaboration with Eminem’s favorite rapper, Joyner Lucas.

With all that in mind, it certainly does seem more likely that Smith is pushing his chips toward promoting a new album — although it isn’t out of the question that he’d announce it with a big-budget Super Bowl commercial, considering his resources and the increasingly crowded music space. He’s bet on himself before — and no matter what happens, there’s no way his next project is a bigger bomb than Wild Wild West.

By all accounts, it seems like Post Malone is a pretty solid dude. Now there’s a new story to back that up, of Posty leaving a $20,000 tip for a waitress on Christmas Eve.

In an interview with Music Mayhem (as People notes), the waitress — Renee Brown, a single mother — spoke about Malone’s visit to the Houston dive bar where she works, saying:

“I continued my close and collected all my checks and started to enter my tips. Then I got to his. It was a tip for 20,000 dollars. […] I immediately broke down crying. It was a very emotional night already being away from home, being swamped behind the bar, trying to process that they were even there and then the tip on top. […] I finally got a chance to stop cleaning and talk to him some more and thank him. I know I was crying and thanking him, but he has no ideas exactly how much this meant to me. […]

Things have been extremely difficult, and this was truly a blessing that I can’t fully put into words. The visit alone was absolutely amazing and something I could talk about and remember for the rest of my life.”

She also said, “Going into work Christmas Eve, I was so sad I had to leave my baby girl to go to work. Oblivious that God would send me a Christmas miracle. This is hands-down the most humble, personable celebrity I’ve had the pleasure of meeting. He changed my life on Christmas f*cking Eve, and will forever be grateful. Thank you so much, Austin.”

Read the full story here.

It was just yesterday that we named Japanese Breakfast as one of the 15 artists we hope release an album in 2025. Wish granted: Michelle Zauner & Co. have announced that Melancholy Brunettes (& Sad Women), the follow-up to 2021’s Jubilee, is coming out on March 21 via Dead Ocean Records.

Produced by Blake Mills, Melancholy Brunettes (& Sad Women) is the first time Japanese Breakfast have recorded in a proper studio, Sound City, the birthplace of classics like After The Gold Rush, Nevermind, and Punisher. Except those albums don’t have a feature from Jeff Bridges, like Melancholy Brunettes (& Sad Women). A press release describes the album as an examination of “the darker waves that roil within, the moody, fecund field of melancholy, long held to be the psychic state of poets on the verge of inspiration. The result is an artistic statement of purpose: a mature, intricate, contemplative work that conjures the romantic thrill of a gothic novel.”

Japanese Breakfast also announced The Melancholy Tour. Pre-sale tickets go on sale Wednesday, January 8, followed by a general on-sale on Friday, January 10, at 10 a.m. local time. More information is available on the Japanese Breakfast website.

You can listen to first single “Orlando In Love” above, and find the cover art and tracklist for For Melancholy Brunettes (& Sad Women) below, as well as Japanese Breakfast’s 2025 tour dates.

Japanese Breakfast’s For Melancholy Brunettes (& Sad Women) Album Cover Artwork

Japanese Breakfast’s For Melancholy Brunettes (& Sad Women) Tracklist

1. “Here Is Someone”
2. “Orlando In Love”
3. “Honey Water”
4. “Mega Circuit”
5. “Little Girl”
6. “Leda”
7. “Picture Window”
8. “Men In Bars” Feat. Jeff Bridges
9. “Winter In LA”
10. “Magic Mountain”

Japanese Breakfast’s 2025 Tour Dates: The Melancholy Tour

04/12 & 19 — Indio, CA @ Coachella Music and Arts Festival
04/23 — Austin, TX @ Moody Theater (ACL Live) *
04/24 — Dallas, TX @ South Side Ballroom *
04/26 — Atlanta, GA @ Tabernacle *
04/27 — Charlotte, NC @ The Fillmore *
04/28 — Nashville, TN @ Ryman Auditorium *
05/03 — Detroit, MI @ The Fillmore *
05/05 — Toronto, ON @ Massey Hall *
05/07 — Boston, MA @ MGM Music Hall at Fenway *
05/09 — Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Paramount *
05/16 — Philadelphia, PA @ The Met Philadelphia Presented by Highmark *
06/24 — Oslo, NO @ Rockefeller
06/25 — Stockholm, SE @ Filadelfia
06/26 — Copenhagen, DK @ VEGA
06/29 — Manchester, UK @ Academy 1
06/30 — Glasgow, UK @ Barrowland
07/03 — London, UK @ O2 Academy Brixton
07/04-06 — Ewijk, NL @ Down The Rabbit Hole 2025
07/08 — Paris, FR @ Le Trianon
07/10-12 — Bilbao, ES @ Bilbao BBK Live
08/20 — San Diego, CA @ Cal Coast Credit Union Open Air Theatre *
08/28 — San Francisco, CA @ The Masonic *
08/30 — Bend, OR @ Hayden Homes Amphitheater *
09/01 — Vancouver, BC @ Orpheum Theater *
09/09 — Minneapolis, MN @ The Armory *

* with Ginger Root

For Melancholy Brunettes (& Sad Women) is out 3/21 via Dead Ocean Records. Find more information here.

Busta Rhymes has been on a weight-loss journey. At one point, the rapper reportedly had a peak weight of 340 pounds, but he appears to have slimmed down significantly since then.

On Instagram yesterday (January 6), Busta shared a shirtless mirror selfie to show off his toned physique. In the caption, he wrote,

THE BLESSINGS DON’T STOP SO WE WON’T EVER STOP!! NEVVVVVERRRRR!!! GRAND RISING DON’T BLOCK YOUR BLESSINGS AND BE GREAT PEOPLE!!
“WENT TO THE BATHROOM TO WASH UP, PUT SOME SOAP ON MY FACE AND MY HAND UPON A CUP.
AND SAID A, MIRROR MIRROR IN THE WALL, WHO IS THE TOP CHOICE OF THEM ALL?!
IT WAS A RUBBLE DUBBLE 5 MINUTES IT LASTED, THE MOREOR SAID YOU ARE YOU CONCEITED BASTARD!!”

TMZ claims the rapper has lost 64 pounds since last fall, thanks in part to a dedicated gym regimen and hiring a person chef who travels with him.

In 2023, Busta explained what started him on his fitness journey, saying, “One night I was getting ready to have, make, you know… I was getting ready to have an intimate moment with my ex. I had a breathing issue after the intimate interaction. […] I was having a really difficult time breathing, so I got up and I walked out of the bedroom so she wouldn’t panic seeing me trying to keep myself calm. […] When I came back in the room once I got right, I laid back down next to her and she said something to me that really f*cked me up. She was like, ‘Yo, this is not who I fell in love with.’ She didn’t know what had happened outside, but she was looking at my body and the weight. She was like, ‘You gotta lose this weight. This breathing is scaring me. When I met you, you wasn’t like a musclehead, but you, you was slim, you was cut, you had your sh*t right. I need you to get back to who I fell in love with.’”

WWE Raw‘s Netflix debut on Monday was a star-studded affair. Macaulay and Kieran Culkin received huge pops from the crowd; The Rock and John Cena made special appearances; Travis Scott smoked a blunt; and Bill Simmons was a good husband.

This being a wrestling match, however, the spectators inside the Intuit Dome were ready to boo, too. Hulk Hogan was mercilessly (and gloriously) jeered, as was tag team duo The New Day after they called Kendrick Lamar a “trash rapper.” That might fly in Toronto, but not Los Angeles.

During Raw, The New Day, a.k.a. Xavier Woods and Kofi Kingston, told the crowd that they spent the past six months “elevating a trash rapper named Kendrick Lamar.” When they were met with boos, Kingston added, “Yeah, boo him. We think he sucks, too.” He then claimed that “Drake won the beef,” eliciting even more jeering from the audience.

The Kendrick Lamar subreddit is loving it:

“honestly didn’t buy their heel turn till this moment.”

“Dear god the sheer amount of people that people don’t know these guy’s are saying these thing’s IN Los Angeles to get “heal heat” is hilarious but sad at the same time.”

“As a lifelong die-hard fan of New Day AND K.Dot, that was funny as hell.”

You can watch that moment here.

Ice Spice ended 2024 on a bit of a sour note. She was one of the headliners of Australia’s Wildlands Festival on New Year’s Eve, and she was set to perform a 30-minute set. Unfortunately, by the time she took the stage, she was 25 minutes into her half-hour slot, and while festival organizers gave her an extra minute, Ice ultimately only ended up performing two songs over the course of six minutes.

At the time, festival organizers said in a statement, “We understand that Ice Spice’s delayed arrival caused some frustration. Managing a stacked festival means that we have to be extremely firm with scheduled set times. We had a strict curfew of 12:30 and needed to ensure that Chase & Status went on stage on time so you could all enjoy the NYE Countdown!”

Now, Ice Spice herself has addressed the situation.

As Billboard notes, while performing in Perth, Australia on January 4, Ice took a moment during her set to address the situation.

She said, “I’m sorry guys, surely y’all can forgive me. It was my birthday and it takes a long time to look like a Barbie.” She then performed her Nicki Minaj collaboration “Barbie World.”

This all comes after Ice delivered some new music on Y2K!: I’m Just A Girl (Deluxe).

Things over at WWE Monday Night Raw are changing. For starters, yesterday (January 6), the beloved wrestling program made its debut on Netflix. Secondly, the show rolled out its new roster, which features Roman Reigns, Rhea Ripley, CM Punk, and Jey Uso. But, music lovers were tuned in to witness Travis Scott’s in-ring skills.

However, the “Fe!n” rapper did one better–cause a commotion while serving as a ring escort. As Travis Scott walked Jey Uso from the Intuit Dome’s upper levels down to the ring, he appeared to enjoy a tightly rolled blunt.

Although those inside the Inglewood, California arena didn’t seem to mind, users across platforms such as Facebook and X (formerly Twitter) were not pleased. Many slammed Scott’s action citing WWE’s wellness (drug) policy. But once the clip was posted onto WWE’s official YouTube channel, Scott’s fan began to flood the comment section with shows of support.

“Travis smoking the za in the middle of a WWE crowd was not in my 2025 bingo card,” wrote one user.

“Travis Scott smoking a blunt is crazy. We are indeed on Netflix. YEET,” penned another.

“Travis Scott following in the footsteps of R Truth as one of the very few people ever to light a smoke during a live WWE show,” chimed another.

Travis Scott nor WWE have addressed the incident.

Watch Jey Uso’s entrance featuring Travis Scott above.

Back in July 2024, Karrahbooo abruptly left the Concrete Boys crew. In the weeks following, Karrahbooo and her former mentor and label head Lil Yachty were engaged in nasty mud slinging online.

When the tension began to die down, rumors began circulating that Karrahbooo had officially been dropped from Concrete Rekordz’s roster. However, today (January 6) Karrahbooo dispelled that claim and shared some of her own while promoting the new song, “Bossy Boo.”

In the video’s description box on YouTube, Karrahbooo denied she was ever dropped by Concrete Rekordz. She then went on to accuse the label of blocking her from releasing new music and interfering with other professional opportunities. “I didn’t get dropped,” she wrote. “I’m still signed hence the reason I have not been able to drop [new music].”

She continued: “I was advised not to drop this way [on my own] and do it through the ‘label’ (the one that said they dropped me but would not let me go because they wanted me to stay lol, the one that has repeatedly lied on my name to make me look bad in the media and has been pushing away bookings and deals I could keep going, but the point is this industry is weird and confusing and this is all messy [as f*ck] and taking up too much time. They dragging it, I tried to listen and do it the ‘right way’ but it’s been 6 months now so imma go ahead n try my way.”

With her friend and fellow rapper Anycia making a special cameo in the visual and the use of Kelis’ 2006 song “Bossy,” Karrahbooo appears to be ready to take control of her career despite behind-the-scenes obstacles.

Watch Karrahboo’s official video for “Bossy Booo” above.