Category: News

Ari Lennox’s new album Age/Sex/Location is here, and though her labelmate J. Cole isn’t listed as an official feature, his voice is still present on the track “POF” as a background vocalist. Lennox rejects judgment of those around her in the soulful record, and Cole’s raspy yet emotive vocals are a nice touch.

“POF” arrives as part of Ari Lennox’s new album Age/Sex/Location. Age features Chloe, Lucky Daye, and Summer Walker and was led by the singles “Pressure” and “Hoodie.” The album was preceded by a surprise EP titled Away Message, labeled a truncated offering to tide fans over while Lennox took a social media hiatus until Age‘s release on Friday (September 9).

This is an exciting time for Ari Lennox fans as Age breaks an over three-year hiatus since her debut album Shea Butter Baby was released. In the interim, she appeared on the Dreamville compilation album Revenge Of The Dreamers III, Wale’s Wow…That’s Crazy, Summer Walker’s Still Over It, and the Dreamville and DJ Drama collaborative mixtape D-Day: A Gangsta Grillz Mixtape.

Age/Sex/Location is a meaningful release for the 31-year-old, shown in a long text message she sent to her J. Cole. “Transitional space. Very vulnerable codependent and validation seeking part of my life,” she wrote. “I remember the countless times I was kicked out of dating apps because they didn’t think I was really myself, it reminded me of those age/sex/location days where I actually wasn’t being myself in those chat rooms.”

Check out Ari Lennox’s “POF” above.

Age/Sex/Location is out now via Dreamville and Interscope. Listen here.

Weeks away from her upcoming album, CopingMechanism, Willow has shared the latest single, “Curious/Furious.” On the rock-influenced single, Willow expresses her multidimensionality, as she contemplates and embraces the fluctuating feelings of growing up, delivering soulful vocals over thumping basslines.

“I’m getting over it now / And I never wore a frown / Because life doesn’t choose / Either side, win or lose / right or wrong / It’s a battle that’s all in your mind,” she sings on a guitar-and-drum-driven beat.

In a recent interview with Glamour, Willow described the album’s rock-leaning sound, recalling how record labels had previously attempted to pigeonhole her as an R&B artist.

“I love all different kinds of music, I don’t like to box myself into anything,” she said. “I was trained to be an R&B singer so I went in that direction. But I’ve always had a huge affinity for rock music ever since I was just a wee bean…The most beautiful changes on earth don’t happen by being comfortable and expecting other people to change. You have to put yourself on the line sometimes. It’s not fair, but that’s how it is.”

Check out “Curious/Furious” above.

CopingMechanism is out 9/23 via MSFTSMusic and Roc Nation. Pre-save it here.

Coi Leray shows why she needs to be respected as a strong dual threat in her new single “Fly Sh!’t.” The multi-talent weaves in and out of rapping and singing over the flute-laced, mid-tempo beat. She makes a firm statement about her inability to be about anything besides fly sh*t and even makes a nod to the two-time NBA MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo and his current team with the line “Feeling like Giannis, I get bucks.”

“Fly Sh!t” arrives in what has been an active year for Coi Leray. Back in July, she joined CMG The Label’s 42 Dugg on “Hold Me Down” from their compilation album Gangsta Art. The month prior, she shared the singles “Involved” and “The One (Sprite Limelight)” in addition to appearing on B-Lovee’s “Demon.”

The biggest moment for the 25-year-old came in April when she released her debut album Trendsetter, highlighted by the singles “Twinnem,” “Anxiety,” “Big Purr (Prrd)” featuring Pooh Shiesty, “No More Parties (Remix)” featuring Lil Durk and “Blick Blick” featuring Nicki Minaj. The album also included appearances from Yung Bleu, Fivio Foreign, G Herbo, Young M.A, and HER.

With all of this considered, it is no surprise that she is confident as ever on this new record.

Check out Coi Leray’s “Fly Sh!t” above.

EST Gee and Future have linked up once again in 2022 for the menacing “Shoot It Myself.” Gee takes on the first verse and Future weaves in with ease. The two’s musical chemistry is uncanny, and with the years they are having, it makes perfect sense they declare “F*ck my shooter, I’ll shoot it myself” because who, if not them?

“Shoot It Myself” follows what has been active years for both EST Gee and Future. Gee shared the singles “Hell” and “Love Is Blind” in the last few months. Additionally, he appears several times on CMG The Label’s compilation album Gangsta Art in addition to the collaborative project with his labelmate 42 Dugg titled Last Ones Left.

As for Future, he is riding high off of the momentum of his latest album I Never Liked You, highlighted by “Wait For U” featuring Drake and Tems in addition to appearances from Kanye West, Kodak Black, Gunna, Young Thug, and more. The “March Madness” artist also collaborated with Megan Thee Stallion on “Pressurelicious” from her recent album Traumazine. Amidst all of these releases, Future achieved a major milestone in being noted as one of the top-achieving rappers of all-time by the RIAA. He has had over 95 million units certified Gold, Platinum, or higher over the course of his career.

Check out EST Gee and Future’s new single “Shoot It Myself” here.

Today, Drake paid a visit to the Nike campus for the company’s annual Just Do It Day. In a video shared to social media by Olympic gold medalist and WNBA champion Sheryl Swoopes, Drizzy is seen shooting hoops in the gym, greeting fans, and rocking some stylish athleticwear.

Drake and Swoopes hug as they face the camera, which is streaming them live on Instagram. Though Drake’s words aren’t entirely audible, he appears to be in good spirits.

Swoopes then brings the camera around, revealing that Basketball legends Carmelo Anthony and Lisa Leslie have also made an appearance at JDI Day.

Before she signs off, Swoopes reveals that Drake will perform later in the day.

It’s no secret that Drake is a big basketball fan. In addition to the several basketball references he makes in his music, he is active in the Sanctuary Basketball League. This past June, his team, comprised of himself, Chubbs, and OVO Mark took home the championship trophy for the third time in a row.

“I did what Kobe did in Game 7 against the Celtics,” Drake said in a post-game interview with Firsty4hiphop. “Shots not falling, play f*cking defense.”

Check out the JDI Day video above.

According to Deadline, showrunner Peter Morgan has announced that The Crown will take a brief pause from filming to show respect for Queen Elizabeth II following her death.

“The Crown is a love letter to her and I’ve nothing to add for now, just silence and respect. I expect we will stop filming out of respect too,” Morgan said. Series originator Stephen Daldry had previously stated that the show would do just that if they were in the middle of production when she died.

With a fifth season set for November, the Netflix series has chronicled Queen Elizabeth’s life since she was Princess Elizabeth through the Thatcher years (so far). Over the years, the monarch has been portrayed by Claire Foy and Olivia Colman, but Imelda Staunton has taken over the role for the upcoming seasons. They’ve already revealed plans to cover Prince William’s courtship of Kate Middleton in season 6, but since Morgan had announced the fifth as their last before a surprising continuation, it’s unclear where they will end their story of Queen Elizabeth’s life. Without a 7th season, they may end in the mid-2010s, or, easy to imagine, they may speed up the timeline in the latter half of the final season to cover some of the final chapters. For now, they’ll take a break out of respect.

(via Deadline)

The Buffalo Bills enter the 2022 NFL season as the favorites to win the Super Bowl for the first time since 1992, and started their quest for the franchise’s first NFL championship with a visit to the reigning champs on Thursday night in Los Angeles.

The biggest reason for optimism in Buffalo is their star quarterback Josh Allen, who has gone from a wild card to an MVP frontrunner in his time in the league, making an astronomical leap from his rookie season to now. As Allen enters his fifth season under center in Buffalo, he has a new offensive coordinator in Ken Dorsey (who was elevated from QB coach after Brian Daboll took the Giants job), but little is changing for Allen in what he’s being asked to do.

That continuity despite a big departure like Daboll was on display in L.A. as the Bills marched down the field on their opening drive for an impressive touchdown to take an early lead. The Rams would tie things up at the half though at 10-10 after three turnovers by the Bills — two on Allen interceptions although one was certainly not his fault. As such, the Bills needed a response out of halftime and did so in decisive fashion, forcing a three-and-out and driving for another touchdown.

On that drive, the Bills faced a third and long just across midfield and when the Rams blanketed the Bills receivers, Allen tucked the ball and showed off his running ability, discarding a Rams defender in the process as he galloped for a first down.

That’s a Derrick Henry quality stiff arm, not one you’d expect to see from a quarterback. That said, Allen isn’t like most quarterbacks as his physicality in the run game is part of what sets him apart. He’s become more selective in when he throws that weight around, trying to take fewer hits, but picking up a key third down in a tie game met that criteria and the Bills paid it off with a touchdown a few plays later.

“Set in the future when technology has subtly altered society, a woman discovers a secret connection to an alternate reality as well as a dark future of her own.”

That’s the official synopsis for Prime Video’s The Peripheral, which is a little like saying that Flamin’ Hot Cheetos are “a corn puff snack.”

The series stars Chloe Grace Moretz as Flynne Fisher, a young woman grinding out her days at a server farm in a dystopian-tinged United States whose Marine brother (Jack Reynor) lets her use a headset that connects the user to what seems like cyberspace. Obviously, it goes a lot deeper than that. The novel was a return to sci-fi futurecasting by William Gibson, and it’s great to see a real production budget behind this adaptation. It’s even more exciting to see that Lisa Joy and Jonathan Nolan are lending their tech-and-philosophy-warping Westworld prestige to the proceedings.

It’s also great to see Moretz return to sci-fi after the gremlin-fighting Shadow in the Cloud and the only-watchable-because-of-her-performance Mother/Android. It’s high time she put those action star bonafides back to the test, and if some brain cells get warped in the process, then all the better. Hopefully, she doesn’t have to fight a weird Mark Zuckerberg pixel puppet.

The Peripheral hits Prime Video October 21st.

On Tuesday evening, the Las Vegas Aces punched a ticket to the 2022 WNBA Finals with a Game 4 victory over the Seattle Storm. Earlier that night, the Connecticut Sun evened a semifinal series against the Chicago Sky with a Game 4 win of their own, setting up a winner-take-all scenario on Thursday in Chicago. With both teams winning road games already in the series, anything could seemingly happen in Game 5, and it was a back-and-forth contest. In the end, it was the Sun using a massive fourth-quarter run to emerge with the 72-63 victory and a berth in the finals.

Near the outset, the Sun used a 12-4 run to take control. That push featured an explosion from Natisha Hiedeman, who scored eight of the first 16 points, and Connecticut appeared comfortable.

Connecticut led by a 24-16 margin after the first quarter, and the Sun shot 53 percent from the floor with eight assists. On the other side, the Sky scuffled to 5-of-14 shooting with four turnovers, allowing the visitors to operate with the lead.

In the second quarter, Chicago found its stride with an extended push. The Sky outscored the Sun by a 16-6 margin over approximately six minutes, taking the lead at 38-36 and imposing their will on defense.

By the halftime break, it was a new game with a 40-40 score, but the Sky seemingly had more juice. Connecticut shot 50 percent and assisted on 15 of 16 field goals in the first half, but the Sun committed ten turnovers, including six in the second quarter alone. Chicago’s offense picked up a bit with the help of transition, and Kahleah Copper scored 14 points before halftime.

The start of the second half was more of the same for Chicago, with the Sky using an 8-2 run to open the third period. Connecticut didn’t score for almost three minutes, and Chicago continued to create effective havoc.

The Sky led by a ten-point margin as the fourth quarter arrived, and Chicago held Connecticut to only eight points in the third quarter. Chicago shot only 7-of-21 from the floor in the period, but the Sky took care of the ball and made a trio of three-pointers, while the Sun committed eight turnovers in the ten-minute period and shot just 3-of-12 from the floor.

Connecticut began to chip away in the closing period, and the team’s biggest push was coming. The Sun scored a whopping 18 consecutive points, turning a nine-point deficit into a nine-point win at the final buzzer. All told, Chicago failed to score for more than four minutes of clock time, and that scoring drought cost the Sky in a season-ending way.

After the way the middle of the game went, the fourth quarter swing was wild in favor of the Sun, and that was reflected on the stat sheet. Broadly, Connecticut outscored Chicago by a 24-5 margin in the ten-minute period, which speaks for itself. Taking things a step further, the Sky shot just 2-of-15 from the floor with four turnovers in the fourth quarter, and Connecticut’s balanced offense (all five starters in double figures) and timely defense keyed the victory. The 18-0 closing run also set a new record for the WNBA Playoffs.

With the Game 5 win, the Sun clinched their fourth all-time berth in the WNBA Finals, though Connecticut will be looking for its first title. The Sun will visit the Las Vegas Aces for Game 1 on Sunday afternoon at Michelob Ultra Arena in Las Vegas, with the eyes of the basketball world on what should be a fun series.

Queen Elizabeth II’s death was announced early on Thursday (September 8) and social media responded to it in a multitude of ways. Many laughed, celebrated, and trolled the 96-year-old. In one of the most humorous acts, the queen’s Wikipedia page was given a unique edit.

In a tweet shared on Thursday afternoon, a user said “Someone already griefed the Queen Elizabeth II Wikipedia page lmaooo.” The tweet is accompanied by a screenshot of Queen Elizabeth II’s Wikipedia page with the “Article” tab highlighted. What is found on the page is the cover art for Chief Keef’s 2012 album Finally Rich and “RIP Bozo” in all caps, in reference to the infamous Instagram post where a man attended his enemy’s funeral just to ensure he was dead.

A unique detail found on the Finally Rich cover art is Chief Keef blowing smoke out of his mouth, a reference to the popular colloquial phrase where someone’s “pack is in the air.” The phrase is used when someone that many people dislike either passes away or takes a bad loss publicly. While many native to Queen Elizabeth II’s home country may be mourning, those within the United States are clearly amused by her demise.

Check out a screenshot of Queen Elizabeth II’s edited Wikipedia page above.