Category: News

Quincy Jones, producer and one of the most impactful figures in modern music history, is dead at 91 years old, the Associated Press reports. Arnold Robinson, Jones’ publicist, told the publication Jones died Sunday (November 3) night at his home in Bel Air, “surrounded by his family.”

Jones’ family said in a statement:

“Tonight, with full but broken hearts, we must share the news of our father and brother Quincy Jones’ passing. And although this is an incredible loss for our family, we celebrate the great life that he lived and know there will never be another like him.”

Jones’ early career in the 1950s was defined by his work as a jazz arranger and conductor, working with artists like Leslie Gore and Frank Sinatra. He later transitioned into working in film, television, and other types of music. In 1968, he became the first African American to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song (for “The Eyes Of Love” from the movie Banning).

He went on to produce three of Michael Jackson’s biggest albums: 1979’s Off The Wall, 1982’s Thriller, and 1987’s Bad. Ultimately, Quincy Jones won 28 Grammy Awards over the course of his career, which is currently the third most of all time.

Since before the release of her 2018 debut album, Ella Mai has maintained an elusive public persona. But after the “Not Another Love Song” singer shared her sophomore album, Heart On My Sleeve, Ella Mai slowly began to disappear from the public’s eye.

Today (November 3), Ella Mai reappeared online to announce her surprise EP, 3, to celebrate her birthday.

“AVAILABLE NOW EVERYWHERE! My 30th birthday gift to you all. 3 songs. November 3rd. one of my favorite numbers I’ve missed you all, three times over ,” she wrote in the Instagram post’s caption.

With striking photo of Ella’s profile against an emerald green backdrop, she also revealed some new ink. Behind Ella’s ear you can see her latest tattoo of the number 3. Immediately fans of Ella Mai’s NBA Champion boyfriend and father of her child, Jayson Tatum’s matching body art (viewable here).

After listening to the project, supporters believe 3 is a lover letter to Tatum. On the track “Little Things,” Ella sings: “Be right hеre when you’re wakin’ up / Breakfast on the table, know you like / Eggs, and they’re all scrambled up / Pancakes, bacon, OJ on the side / Packed your bag with extra clothes, your toothbrush in the Louis tote / Love notes for when you on the road / Cleaned your watch and Cuban links / Silk pillowcase for you to take / Boy, you deserve the little things.”

The line hints at Tatum’s demanding sports schedule with the Boston Celtics. This heartfelt fluttering can also be heard on “One Of Those,” where Ella sings: “Girl you better get you one of these / Wake up in the morning, he got flowers at my feet / Get one of these, yeah, I don’t wanna leave / Dancing ’round him got me like a puppet / I’ma let him pull my strings / Get you one of these / Kinda man that get you what you want, then he gon’ give you want you need / I’m just saying get you one of these.”

Continue below to view Ella Mai’s 3 tracklist and cover.

Tracklist

1. “Hearts On Deck”
2. “One Of These”
3. “Little Things”

Artwork

3 is out now via 10 Summers/Interscope. Find more information here.

Back in August, Chappell Roan’s manager revealed that she was “busy writing” new music. But, the “Good Luck, Babe!” singer wouldn’t share the work until it was absolutely ready. Well, Chappell Roan’s highly anticipated new song was shared during her Saturday Night Live debut.

Yesterday (November 2), Chappell Roan premiered a new song for the beloved night show studio audience. After Chappell performed her newly RIAA gold certified song, “Pinky Pony Club,” she treated SNL to “The Giver” (viewable here).

“All you country boys saying you know how to treat a woman right. Well, only a woman knows how to treat a woman right,” sang Chappell.

The uptempo country-leaning track is a sexy tale of the love life of lesbians. “You ain’t gotta tell me/ It’s just in my nature/ So take it like a taker/ ’cause baby I’m a giver,” sang Chappell.

In Chappell’s opinion, women intimate partners “get the job done” better than any man every could.

Back on October 25, Chappell Roan teased the record with a slide show of images (viewable here) that hinted at the record’s lyrics.

Although the track (“The Giver”) isn’t available on streaming platforms just yet and Chappell Roan hasn’t revealed its official release date, fans are prepared to support as soon as it is.

Hurdling an opponent is one of the great risk-reward moves a ball-carrier can make, as going airborne to avoid a tackle can lead to a huge play but also can result in a player getting absolutely blasted. Some players are much better at it than others, and Saquon Barkley is among the best in all of football at leaping defenders, going all the way back to his college days at Penn State.

On Sunday, the star running back decided to innovate on his trademark move one one of the greatest 14-yard runs you’ll ever see, where he broke out a spin move into what I can only describe as a reverse hurdle, as he leaped over a defender while facing the opposite direction.

I really don’t know how you pull this off without injuring yourself or fumbling, but Barkley cleared the defender cleanly and landed on his feet — before taking a shot from another defender and needing to check out for a play or two. Tiki Barber in the FOX booth rightfully loses his mind over this move, and I really hope no young running backs look at this and decide they want to replicate it because it would go extremely poorly for anyone without Barkley’s insane athleticism.

Jeopardy is supposed to challenge your knowledge. But during a recent episode of the beloved quiz show, researchers decided to dial back the intensity or so they thought. Over on Jeopardy’s official TikTok page, they shared a clip (viewable here) where contestant’s hip-hop IQ was put to the test.

The category titled “Rap Genres,” was crafted to be soft balls for players to bring in quick cash. However, many contestants were left stumped as host Ken Jennings rattled off questions. Going for the gusto, one contestant (Greg) sets thing off with the $800 clue: “The name of this genre associated with Memphis may be a mix of ‘crazy’ & ‘drunk.’”

The contestant correctly answers with “crunk” but things quickly went down hill. Greg then circles back to the $1,200 question: “Billboard says, the album ‘Trap Muzic’ by this rapper and actor ‘introduced ‘Trap’ to the masses.’”

Despite T.I.’s face being plastered on the screen, no contestant took a swing at answering the prompt.

This was folded up by the $1,600 question about about Big Freedia, the Queen of New Orleans bounce, which sparked a look of confusion on every contestant’s face.

But don’t worry Greg was able to nail the $2,000 question about Shaboozey thanks to the “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” and Beyoncé hint. However, viewers at home aren’t pleasure with the sheer amount of fumbles. In the comment section of the post, they were sure to let the show know.

“Knowing who Shaboozey is but not knowing T.I. Is diabolical ,” wrote one user.

“Alex Trebek, would have lost it when they didn’t know T.I.,” penned another.

“Why would he keep picking this category if he clearly didn’t know it though ,” chimed another.

Well, this isn’t the first time Jeopardy contestants sparked outrage over their lacking music knowledge.

Cardi B is facing backlash after vowing not to vote in the 2024 presidential election then later publicly endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris. Although the “Bongos” rapper outlined her shift to supporters, Elon Musk isn’t quite sold.

Yesterday (November 2), Musk took to her personal X (formerly Twitter) page to call out Cardi B. In his post, he accused Cardi B of being a “puppet” for Kamala Harris’ 2024 presidential campaign. Never one to back down from a war of words, Cardi B clapped by at Musk’s remarks.

“I’m not a puppet Elon,” she wrote. I’m a daughter of two immigrant parents that had to work their ass off to provide for me! I’m a product of welfare, I’m a product of section 8, I’m a product of poverty, and I’m a product of what happens when the system is set up against you.”

But Cardi B didn’t stop. She went on to turn the pages on Musk, writing: “But you don’t know nothing about that. You don’t know not one thing about the American struggle.”

Cardi closed with “PS fix my algorithm,” a dig at the controversial way Musk has been running the platform since acquiring Twitter back in October 2022.

While Cardi has faced much harsher remarks in the past, Musk should be weary of his words considering he is already facing a cyberbullying lawsuit filed by boxer Imane Khelif.

The Phoenix Suns picked up their fourth straight win on Saturday night in Portland, improving to 5-1 on the young season to remain tied for second in the West with the Warriors, a game back of the NBA’s last remaining undefeated team, Oklahoma City.

It’s the second season for the Suns star trio being all together, and that has, historically, been when those teams take a leap if they ever do. The first year is figuring out how it all should work and learning how not to step on each other’s toes, and then the second year is when we find out if the ceiling really is as high as it appears on paper. For that reason, the strong start to this season is a very good sign for the Suns, even if there’s still a long way to go this season in confirming their status as a top threat in the West.

An additional subplot to this Suns season is that of Kevin Durant’s reputation, as the future Hall of Famer still gets nagged about whether he’s an effective leader, largely because his greatest team success came when he joined the Warriors where it was clearly Stephen Curry’s team. Charles Barkley has prodded at KD pretty consistently, calling him a follower and bus rider, while Stephen A. Smith regularly takes aim at Durant’s leadership as the thing he lacks compared to other top stars of his generation.

Durant and his Suns teammates and coaches have scoffed at that notion, and on Saturday night Durant was again asked the leadership question by Doug Haller of The Athletic and had some pointed words for Stephen A., calling him “a clown.”

“Yeah, Stephen A., I don’t understand how people even listen to Stephen A.,” he told The Athletic. “I’ve been in the league for 18 years. I’ve never seen Stephen A. at a practice, or a film session, or a shoot-around. I’ve never seen him anywhere but on TV talking s— about players. … He’s a clown to me. He’s always been a clown. You can write that, too.”

Durant went on to note that he isn’t taking a different approach or trying to be more vocal this year, insisting that he’s going about his business as always. He bristled, in particular, at commentary from the likes of Smith that he is aloof and distant from his teammates, which his Suns teammates push back on as well when asked by Haller.

“To say that I’m just sitting here, you paint this picture of me coming into the locker room, not talking to my teammates, quiet, not talking to my coaches,” Durant said. “Like, come on, man. It’s just ridiculous.”

Durant is far from the only NBA star who gets frustrated by Smith’s commentary and, particularly, when he offers up sourced reporting despite not being on the ground covering the league on the road regularly. Smith certainly knows a ton of people in and around the league, but players and fans are constantly skeptical of what he says, largely because it often feels his opinion and any reporting get blended together all into one. That makes it tough to separate the two, especially because he can’t help but go over the top with how he presents things. Durant has voiced his annoyance with Smith in the past, but this is some of his firmest criticism that hasn’t been levied on Twitter.

Similar to another musician (that won’t be named), Morrissey has built a reputation among fans for being a “chronic concert canceler.” In the past the “Something Is Squeezing My Skull” singer has cancelled gigs after he was actually scheduled to be onstage.

However, yesterday (November 2), Morrissey’s decision to abruptly end his show was completely justifiable. During Morrissey’s appearance at Fair Park Music Hall in Dallas, Texas, one concertgoer managed to slip on stage to embrace him. Although Morrissey kindly returned the favor before security intervened, it grew far beyond anyone’s control. Shortly after the unidentified woman was beginning to be escorted off the stage, other ticket holders jumped on the unsanctioned meet-and-greet.

In the video obtained by TMZ, another woman appears to have hoped the stage’s barrier to hug Morrissey. But as the venue’s security attempts to block the woman’s physical advances a man takes the stage. The spontaneous incident overwhelm the protective detail after one guard loses their balance.

TMZ claims one bodyguard injured their leg during the stage rush. Morrissey on the other hand was successful rushed off-stage without injury.

Morrissey has not released a statement regarding the incident. Although this matter isn’t ideal, this sure beats fans hurling objects at entertainers mid-show.

You may have moved past Kendrick Lamar’s chart-topping Drake diss, “Not Like Like Us.” But Drake surely hasn’t. After Akademiks dispelled rumors of a reconciliation between Drake and Future, the “First Person Shooter” rapper attempted to flex his star power against another foe.

Yesterday (November 2), Drake attended the Toronto Raptors and the Sacramento Kings game at Scotiabank Arena. Instead of focusing on the friendly matchup, Drake and his longtime friend Nessel “Chubbs” Beezer decided to laser in on former Raptors star DeMar DeRozan (now the the Kings). Throughout the game, Drake could be heard hurling remarks at DeRozan (supposedly including “p*ssy” and “goof“), and it doesn’t seem to be sports related tension.

At one point, Drake and Chubbs (both courtside) can be seen standing up and staring down DeRozan (viewable here). Well, just as viewers at home caught the suspenseful moment, so did DeRozan. Over on Instagram, DeMar DeRozan decided to troll Drake back by posting a video clip from Friday (viewable here).

In the scene, starring Ice Cube (playing Craig) and Chris Tucker (playing Smokey), Tucker’s character attempts to regain tough points after being punked by the neighborhood bully, Deebo (played by the late Tommy Lister). “I got mind control over Deebo,” says Tucker. “He be like shut the f*ck up. I be quiet. But when he leaves I be talking again.”

This comes after Drake vowed to “pull down” DeRozan’s number should the Raptors ever decide to retire it after Vincent Carter’s number retirement celebration.

DeRozan claimed that he and Drake were “still family” even after he appeared in the “Not Like Us” music video. However, it appears Drake doesn’t feel that same.

Like many hip-hop heads, Lil Wayne felt confident out his bid for the 2025 Apple Music Super Bowl Halftime show slot to Kendrick Lamar. However, home field advantage didn’t serve the “Bless” rapper any good in this instance. Yesterday (November 2), when he returned to New Orleans for Lil Weezyana Fest 2024 he was sure to air out his grievances.

In between songs, Lil Wayne addressed the matter with a passionate speech (viewable here). “When the first Super Bowl was here I made sure I bought tickets at the beginning of the season,” he said. “I did the same when I moved to Miami, and I was wishing my team made it again. I was able to give my momma that suite. She was able to bring my family and other people from New Orleans, and they had a f*cking ball.”

He continued: “That moment I said to myself, I wanna be on stage for the Super Bowl in front of my mom and I worked my ass off to get that f*cking position. And it was ripped away from me but this motherf*cking moment right here… they can’t take this from me.”

Although Lil Wayne couldn’t celebrate what he imagined was a sure thing at home, he was part of something else worth celebrating. After a failed attempted during Essence Fest 2024, every member of the Hot Boys (Lil Wayne, Juvenile, Turk, and B.G.) finally reunited onstage for the first time in 15 years. The group delivered a nostalgic set (viewable here) of their Southern classics “Get Your Roll On,” “Still Fly,” and more.