Category: News

The Miami Heat put together an impressive run in the NBA’s Orlando bubble, reaching the 2020 NBA Finals and performing at a competitive level against the Los Angeles Lakers despite some key injuries. As a result, the Heat faced substantially larger expectations as the 2020-21 season approached, especially when accounting for the return of the majority of the team’s core. As such, it was surprising to see Miami stumble out of the gate, posting a 7-14 record in the first 21 games. There were injury and COVID-19 protocol-related absences, however, and as the team rounds into form, the Heat are suddenly one of the hottest teams in the NBA.

Erik Spoelstra’s team is now 21-18 overall and in sole possession of the No. 4 seed in the East. While the middle portion of the conference is jumbled to the point of comedy, Miami’s recent play stands out in that they are 10-1 in the last 11 games. In fact, the only loss came without Jimmy Butler in the lineup and, while the offense has been merely solid, Miami’s defense has been lights-out in allowing only 104.4 points per 100 possessions.

Opponents are shooting just 42.7 percent from the floor during that run, the lowest mark in the NBA over that span, and the Heat are also forcing a turnover on 17.2 percent of defensive possessions. Those marks may be unsustainable but, in short, Miami has been unbelievably good when Butler plays, and much of that success arrives due to stingy defense.

The Heat are a blistering 17-8 when Butler suits up this season and, beyond that, Miami sports a +6.6 net rating in 834 minutes with their centerpiece on the floor. In direct contrast, the Heat have a dismal -7.2 net rating when Butler is off the court, either for in-game rest or injury, and the team’s success, or lack thereof, seems to be directly attributable to his presence. Granted, Miami does have another All-Star in Bam Adebayo, but the talented big man has missed the last four games and, with Butler available, the Heat continue to win.

It may be unwise to assume the Heat can continue at their 17-8 pace when Butler plays, if only because some of the team’s cast seems to be stalling on some level. Tyler Herro’s bubble breakout hasn’t continued, with a 53.3 percent true shooting clip this season. Duncan Robinson remains one of the league’s best marksman, but he has been more human this season (39 percent from three and 61 percent true shooting) after a ludicrous display of efficiency in 2019-20.

Overall, the Heat have still been outscored for the season (-0.9 points per 100 possessions), and that is at least mildly concerning. As noted, those numbers swing to the positive when Butler plays but, even when he is on the floor, Miami’s offensive rating of 111.4 would place the Heat directly in the middle of the league. The team’s overall recipe could be one that dictates a top-five defense carrying the water of a middling offense but, without more information, it is tough to say that in definitive terms. Regardless, the Heat seem to have found their stride and, with a total mess in the standings beyond the top there, Miami is now in the driver’s seat for the No. 4 seed and homecourt advantage in the first round.

Where does the uptick place the Heat in this week’s DIME power rankings? Let’s find out.

1. Brooklyn Nets (27-13, Last week — 1st)

The Nets assumed the top spot last week and did nothing to give it away. Brooklyn started the second half of the season with three straight wins, toppling the Celtics and Knicks in the process. At some point, Brooklyn is going to need Kevin Durant to return, but they are cruising without him.

2. Philadelphia 76ers (27-12, Last week — 4th)

Joel Embiid’s injury certainly casts a shadow over the proceedings in Philadelphia, but all indications are that it wasn’t as bad as it could’ve been. When he’s not playing, the 76ers aren’t the second-best team in the league, but they have a great profile right now and their offense is playing at perhaps its highest level of the season.

3. Phoenix Suns (26-12, Last week — 3rd)

It wasn’t a blemish-less week for the Suns, as they dropped a home game to the Pacers. Phoenix did recover from there to pound the Grizzlies on Monday, and their recent run is ridiculous. The Suns are 18-4 in the last 22 games and, since that blitz began on Jan. 28, they have both the best record and the best net rating (+10.2) in the NBA.

4. Milwaukee Bucks (25-14, Last week — 6th)

The Bucks are 9-1 in the last 10 games. Ho-hum. Giannis Antetokounmpo is averaging 29.0 points, 11.7 rebounds, 6.2 assists per game. Ho-hum. Milwaukee is second in net rating. Ho-hum.

5. Utah Jazz (28-10, Last week — 2nd)

On the positive side, the Jazz continue to lead the NBA in both win-loss record and point differential. That’s not a bad place to be. Utah has been mortal recently, though, with a 4-5 mark in the last nine and three losses in the last four games. They were due for a downturn at some point, simply because of how dominant they were, but finding the true level will be interesting.

6. Denver Nuggets (23-16, Last week — 5th)

Denver had a hiccup at home against Dallas on a back-to-back this weekend, but they recovered well. The Nuggets took care of business in a 15-point win over the Pacers, and this is a team that is rounding into form at 6-1 in the last seven games. If they keep winning, Nikola Jokic could make a bigger impact on the MVP race because, well, he’s been incredible.

7. Los Angeles Lakers (26-13, Last week — 7th)

Despite a comical missed free throw from Kyle Kuzma, the Lakers made light work of the Warriors on Monday night. That doesn’t fix everything, but Los Angeles is just trying to hold the line until the return of Anthony Davis. Upcoming home games against Minnesota, Charlotte and Atlanta this week may help.

8. L.A. Clippers (26-15, Last week — 9th)

L.A. had an awful loss in New Orleans this weekend and they are just 5-7 in the last 12 games. The Clippers did bounce back by beating Dallas on the road, but it’s not as if this is a red-hot team at the moment. They are leaning on their full-season sample and frustrations are peeking out.

9. Miami Heat (21-18, Last week — 12th)

The Heat have five of the next six games at home, which provides a path to stay hot. We’ll see if they can replicate their recent play or whether the previous baseline will reemerge.

10. Boston Celtics (20-18, Last week — 8th)

Tuesday’s national TV tilt between Boston and Utah will be fascinating. The Celtics are playing much better basketball in recent days, and the Jazz will be looking to recapture their mojo.

11. Dallas Mavericks (20-18, Last week — 10th)

It’s pretty easy to believe in Dallas right now. They are 11-4 in the last 15 games and, after some struggles, the team’s vaunted offense is back. The Mavericks are scoring 1.18 points per possession during that run.

12. Atlanta Hawks (19-20, Last week — 17th)

Will the Hawks ever lose under Nate McMillan? They are 5-0 since he took over and, even when accounting for soft competition, Atlanta is now winning games they are supposed to win. That’s pretty much all they need to do in the East.13. Charlotte Hornets (20-18, Last week — 20th)

We’re giving the Hornets the bump that comes with four straight wins. It has to be noted that the Hornets beat the Pistons, short-handed Raptors and Kings this week, but every win counts in the standings.

14. Portland Trail Blazers (22-16, Last week — 11th)

Portland is 4-6 in the last 10 and just 1-2 after the All-Star break. The team’s only post-break win is over Minnesota, which they gave right back. It’s not problematic yet, but the Blazers aren’t playing at their top level. The return of CJ McCollum will definitely help, though, and he’s on track to play Tuesday.

15. San Antonio Spurs (20-16, Last week — 13th)

Since a stretch of four postponements in February, the Spurs are just 4-5. Most of that can be traced to a middling offense, and San Antonio has three more games left on a road trip. After that, San Antonio plays nine (!) straight at home, which is always nice from a scheduling standpoint.

16. Golden State Warriors (20-20, Last week — 16th)

It’s pretty weird right now for the Warriors. They just lost five out of six, but the only win came over the Jazz. Also, all five losses came to playoff teams from the West and four of them came on the road. Shrug.

17. New York Knicks (20-20, Last week — 14th)

The Knicks are the definition of average right now. They are 20-20 and they have outscored their opponents by exactly one point this season. Of course, that would’ve been seen as a huge win in the preseason, but they aren’t playing quite as well as they have at various stages of the season.

18. Chicago Bulls (17-20, Last week — 19th)

On the heels of two double-digit losses to start the second half, the Bulls were wavering a bit. They did respond by thumping a shorthanded Raptors team on Sunday, but Billy Donovan is still tinkering with lineups and there isn’t much stability at the moment. Alas, they’re hanging around the playoff mix.

19. Memphis Grizzlies (17-19, Last week — 18th)

Memphis went 1-3 this week and, really, things swung in OKC. They blew a double-digit lead in the fourth quarter to the Thunder, and that probably cost them a couple spots in the rankings. That’s a game that a team competing for the playoffs shouldn’t lose.

20. Indiana Pacers (17-21, Last week — 21st)

This week was a mixed bag for Indiana. They are just 2-7 in the last nine games, and that isn’t inspiring confidence from anyone. In contrast, they looked very good in a road win over red-hot Phoenix on Saturday, so that helps to stabilize matters, and Caris LeVert’s return to the floor is a very welcome sight.

21. New Orleans Pelicans (17-22, Last week — 24th)

Overall, it was a good week for the Pelicans. With that said, they were absolutely horrendous in a 30-point loss to the Wolves coming out of the break, so it’s tough to get too excited. They did bounce back with two wins, though, and New Orleans is just 1.5 games out of the play-in.

22. Oklahoma City Thunder (17-22, Last week — 23rd)

Every time it feels like the Thunder are really leaning into the tank… they get another win. That happened with a home victory over Memphis on Sunday after a dreadful effort in a 22-point home loss on Saturday. The product the Thunder are putting on the floor right now does not lend itself to success, but they continue to overachieve and they are pretty fun.

23. Toronto Raptors (17-22, Last week — 15th)

The Raptors have lost five in a row dating back to the first half of the season. That is very bad for a team trying to make the playoffs. At the same time, they’ve been playing without three of their best four players, so it is tough to fault Toronto for their uneven performance.

24. Washington Wizards (14-24, Last week — 22nd)

It wasn’t a great week for the Wizards, with the team finishing 0-4. However, three of those losses came to Philadelphia and Milwaukee, and Russell Westbrook had a 42-point explosion over the weekend.

25. Cleveland Cavaliers (14-24, Last week — 25th)

Cleveland only played twice this week, and they scored 82 points in each game. That does track with the team’s league-worst offense, but it’s very difficult to win in the modern NBA when you can’t get to 90. Optimistically, Larry Nance’s return should help things, but Kevin Love came back and got injured again, pouring cold water on much optimism they’d soon be at full strength.

26. Sacramento Kings (15-24, Last week — 26th)

Let’s call this week a wash for the Kings. They did get a win, but it came over the hapless Rockets. From there, they lost two games in which they struggled to get stops against Atlanta and Charlotte. Sound familiar?

27. Detroit Pistons (10-29, Last week — 27th)

New week, same story. Detroit’s peripherals still don’t look as bad as you would think. Detroit is still losing over and over again. The Pistons are 0-3 since the break and they’ve dropped seven of the last eight. That includes a Monday night loss in which the team’s leading scorer posted only 15 points.

28. Minnesota Timberwolves (9-30, Last week — 30th)

The Wolves still have the NBA’s worst record, but they’ve won two out of the last three games. That is more than enough to earn a bump in the pecking order. The first win was a 30-point drubbing of New Orleans, then Minnesota used 34 points (!) from Anthony Edwards to defeat Portland on Sunday.

29. Orlando Magic (13-26, Last week — 28th)

Things aren’t quite as dire in Orlando as they are in Houston (see below), but it isn’t great. The Magic lost their final five games before the All-Star break and then lost three more in a row as they emerged from the hiatus. Nikola Vucevic has been brilliant, but an eight-game losing skid likely saw Orlando’s already faint playoff hopes evaporate.

30. Houston Rockets (11-26, Last week — 29th)

Remember when the Rockets were 11-10? Houston flashed just above the .500 mark with a win over Memphis on Feb. 4. Unfortunately, that is the last time the Rockets won a game. Losing 16 straight is grounds for alarm, even if the injury story is bleak and Houston is in a full-blown organizational transition.

Representative Lauren Boebert is starting to reach Ted Cruz levels of having tweets blow up in her face. The congresswoman from Colorado kicked off her Tuesday morning by asking people what they’re thankful for after a year of “draconian restrictions.” However, Boebert may or may not care that everyone can see her tweet, not only Republicans who would agree with her overly dramatic description of recommended measures that helped stem the spread of the coronavirus.

“Gratitude has been a difficulty in the last year,” Boebert tweeted. “All of us have faced challenges being limited by draconian restrictions. I am grateful for the chance to serve my nation & grateful in knowing strength is developed in adversity. What’s one thing you’re grateful for today?”

After practically rolling out the red carpet to her many detractors, the rootin’ tootin’ representative was quickly roasted as the replies brought up everything from her alleged involvement in the Capitol insurrection to her and her husband’s past run-ins with the law. There were also a few dunks reminding Boebert that Biden won despite her efforts to falsely claim the president election was “stolen.”

Of course, this latest social media blunder is mild compared to Boebert’s last scandal where she posted a video demanding that Nancy Pelosi tear down the fence protecting the Capitol and ended her argument with two gunshots. Invoking violence so soon after the January 6 attack led to numerous condemnations of Boebert’s video.

“What we have seen over the last three years, and certainly on January 6th, is that words have consequences, especially if you’re an elected official,” fellow Colorado Congressman Jason Crow said in a statement denouncing Boebert’s use of gun violence. “People listen to you and they act on what you say, and very real people are getting hurt and getting killed, because some people don’t understand that. That’s a leadership failure and we can’t tolerate it.”

(Via Lauren Boebert on Twitter)

In late 2020, Elliot Page, the Oscar-nominated Juno star and most powerful sibling on Netflix’s The Umbrella Academy, came out as transgender and non-binary to an outpouring of love. Both The Umbrella Academy and Netflix Twitter accounts joined the party with the latter confirming that Elliot would definitely return to play Vanya Hargreeves in Season 3 of the wildly popular apocalyptic-superhero series. Season 3 is currently in production with actor Justin L. Min recently revealing a first look at the Sparrow Academy, which should annoy the hell out of the O.G. Hargreeves siblings, and all hell will break loose again. Page, too, posted a set photo while expressing excitement from the set, but how is his career doing otherwise?

Fan-freaking-tastic. Page covers the new issue of TIME to reflect upon how things are going since publicly coming out as his authentic self. “With deep respect for those who came before me, gratitude for those who have supported me & great concern for the generation of trans youth we must all protect,” Page wrote on Twitter. “[P]lease join me and decry anti-trans legislation, hate & discrimination in all its forms.”

Within the expansive TIME cover article, this wonderful career nugget surfaces:

So what will it mean for Page’s career? While Page has appeared in many projects, he also faced challenges landing female leads because he didn’t fit Hollywood’s narrow mold. Since Page’s Instagram post, his team is seeing more activity than they have in years. Many of the offers coming in—to direct, to produce, to act—are trans-related, but there are also some “dude roles.”

The full article is well worth reading, including a look at how Page’s expectations of “both applause and vitriol” came to fruition after his statement:

“What I was anticipating was a lot of support and love and a massive amount of hatred and transphobia,” says Page. “That’s essentially what happened.” What he did not anticipate was just how big this story would be. Page’s announcement, which made him one of the most famous out trans people in the world, started trending on Twitter in more than 20 countries. He gained more than 400,000 new followers on Instagram on that day alone. Thousands of articles were published. Likes and shares reached the millions. Right-wing podcasters readied their rhetoric about “women in men’s locker rooms.” Casting directors reached out to Page’s manager saying it would be an honor to cast Page in their next big movie.

There’s also a special mention of how Netflix updated Page’s film credits and landing page, but the coolest thing of all is this: once an episode of The Umbrella Academy concludes, the words “Elliot Page” immediately flash onto the screen as the credits and “rock violin music” start to roll. Yes, this looks seriously rad.

Read the full TIME interview here.

(Via TIME)

It’s only been a few weeks since “NFT” became the new buzzword, and many people have already capitalized on them. These non-fungible tokens are being used to sell digital artwork at a steep price. Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey is selling the first-ever tweet as an NFT and Grimes made $6 million in one day by selling her artwork on an NFT marketplace. Now following in Grimes’ footsteps, Elon Musk is breaking into the NFT industry through music.

The Tesla CEO and billionaire released an EDM track this week about NFTs, which he’s selling as an NFT. It’s only fitting that the track is techno, as Musk recently officially dubbed himself the “Technoking of Tesla.” The song itself mostly instrumental, but it does have a few NFT-related lyrics: “NFT for your vanity / Computers never sleep / It’s verified / It’s guaranteed.” Just hours after the song was posted for sale on Valuables, a website hosted by Cent, the highest bid was already for $1.1 million.

While the billionaire is trying to capitalize on the NFT craze, some of his followers are joining him. “I’m selling this screenshot of Elon’s song he’s selling about NFTs as an NFT as an NFT,” one user jokingly wrote underneath the song.

Surprisingly, Musk is no stranger to music-making. Of course, it’d be hard not to be if your partner was Grimes. In early 2020, Musk made his EDM debut with the rhythmic track “Don’t Doubt Ur Vibe,” a follow-up to his heavily-AutoTuned rap single “RIP Harambe.”

Listen to Elon Musk’s NFT song above.

It has been a few years since Chicago rapper Mick Jenkins released a full-length project. Although he released an EP, The Circus, in January of last year, the critical and cult favorite has laid low since 2018, when he shared Pieces Of A Man. However, one exception to that trend was his appearance on Kaytranada‘s late 2019 album Bubba, on which Mick contributed a verse on the song “Gray Area.” Now, two days after that album won a Grammy for Best Dance/Electronic Album, the two iconoclastic artists reunite on “Designer Frames.”

Given dance music’s roots in 1980s Chicago House music and Mick’s deep ties to his hometown’s musical history, his chemistry with Kaytranada should come as no surprise and requires little adjustment from either artist to fit into an easygoing groove. The mid-tempo beat Kaytranada provides takes cues from traditional African drum rhythms with a mellow synthesizer rounding things out. Meanwhile, Mick boasts of his “$1,000 Cazals” and coolly delivers a trademark, dense-packed vocal performance with some truly impressive wordplay.

On Twitter, Mick was coy about whether or not the new track would preface a full collection of music in the near future, although he did that he was shooting a video. He’s also getting into the crypto art game as well, sharing a new song as an NFT. Listen to “Designer Frames” below.

Concrete Cowboy is a good movie title. It’s alliterative, catchy, and tells what you need to know: it’s about a city cowboy. That being said, I would have gone with Cowboy Idris Elba Riding a Horse. I know Netflix doesn’t release viewership numbers, but I can guarantee a movie with that title would be the biggest hit in the streamer’s history.

Based on Greg Neri’s novel Ghetto Cowboy, Concrete Cowboy follows Cole (played by Stranger Things star Caleb McLaughlin), a troubled teen who is sent to live with his estranged father in North Philadelphia. His dad, Harp (Elba), teaches him about the urban cowboy (not the Travolta movie) lifestyle. “Fifty percent of all cowboys were Black,” someone says in the trailer above. “Even the Lone Ranger was black.” (It’s true.)

“For a long time, there’s been a real sort of mistelling of history around Black people and horses and cowboys and whatnot,” Elba told Variety about Concrete Cowboy. “It feels really apt to be able to tell a part history that’s been definitely buried, and in the case of Concrete Cowboy, that history is right now. Those stables — they face being taken away forever and, part of what [director Ricky Staub] said to me was that, ‘I’m hoping that we made this movie and they keep the stables, based on the fact that people fall in love with the story and history and heritage of the stables.’”

Here’s the official plot synopsis:

While spending the summer in North Philadelphia, a troubled teen (Caleb McLaughlin) is caught between a life of crime and his estranged father’s (Idris Elba) vibrant urban-cowboy subculture. Inspired by the novel Ghetto Cowboy by G. Neri, Concrete Cowboy is directed by Ricky Staub and co-stars Jharrel Jerome, Byron Bowers, Lorraine Toussaint and Clifford “Method Man” Smith.

Concrete Cowboy premieres on Netflix on April 2.

When PGA Tour 2K21 came out a year ago, there was a lot of excitement about the return of a major golf video game franchise, the first since EA Sports pulled the plug on Rory McIlroy PGA Tour back in 2015. That McIlroy game was the pivot from the long-standing and wildly successful Tiger Woods PGA Tour game and only got one year before EA gave up on the franchise.

2K’s version of a PGA Tour video game tabbed HB Studios, the creators of The Golf Club, to effectively expand their golf gaming universe into a PGA franchise, and the first edition was a success, even if not a game on the scale of those old Tiger Woods games. Part of that was by design, as they put things together quickly and the lengthy course scanning process limited how many real courses they could get into the game. However, one would expect a rather large expansion for their next edition, particularly following the news that the franchise has inked an exclusive partnership deal with Woods — a deal that was agreed upon prior to his scary car accident.

“I am looking forward to making my return to the video game landscape, and with 2K and HB Studios, I’ve found the right partners to make it happen,” said Tiger Woods in January. “I’m honored to take part in this opportunity and look forward to sharing my expertise and insights as we build the future of golf video games together.”

2K is also acquiring HB Studios, rather than simply partnering with them, which hopefully means more resources and the ability to really expand the game, particularly on the PGA career mode side, to bring in additional courses, golfers, and, most importantly, customization and swings. The initial game had just one swing and didn’t scan in any players beyond their faces, making for a pretty stock experience. Given the 2K games will always be compared to the old Tiger games, it was in the career mode where it fell short the most, with a very lackluster rivals mode and sponsorships.

With Woods on board, one would expect a lot more investment into that area, as well as an easier sell to get other partnerships into the game — particularly with licensing major championships, which weren’t in 2K21, and getting even more players and courses on board. We’ll see what all that means in the coming months, but for now, Tiger Woods is back in video game golf and that’s a good thing.

Following Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s interview with Oprah where the Duchess of Sussex discussed the racism she faced from the royal family, a resurfaced clip of John Oliver on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert went viral. In it, the Last Week Tonight host expressed concern for Markle. “I don’t think you need to have just seen the pilot episode of The Crown to get a basic sense of, she might be marrying into a family that could cause her some emotional complications.” His prediction, unfortunately, came true.

On Monday’s episode of The Tonight Show, Oliver was asked for his thoughts on Meghan and Harry’s interview by host Jimmy Fallon. “I didn’t find any of it surprising. That is kind of what I felt like, sadly, her experience was going to be going in,” he said. “I know the royal family from a distance and they seem like flawed people. That’s literally the kindest way I could possibly put it.” Oliver was “shocked” by one revelation, though.

“The only thing that shocked me after was that Oprah, the next day, saying, ‘Harry wants to make clear it wasn’t Prince Philip being racist.’ Which made me think, ‘Really? OK, that is actually surprising.’ I think it was assumed and I guess people just didn’t hear him,” he said. Oliver later joked that “the one person who I think has been really happy about all this has been Prince Andrew,” who had numerous links with Jeffrey Epstein. “I’m guessing that he has been nudging the royal family. ‘Can you believe what Meghan did, huh? Can you believe it? Dragging this family’s name into disrepute, shaming us… She has ruined our reputation, she has, right guys?’” You can watch the clip above.

Mike Milosh, a Canadian musician best known for his work as Rhye, has been accused of sexual assault, physical abuse, grooming, and financial manipulation by his ex-wife, actress Alexa Nikolas.

Nikolas made the allegations in a series of Instagram posts titled “Groomed By The Groom,” which began, “This is an open letter about an older male ephebophile musician that groomed a teenager for a green card, success, and sex. Before I begin, I would like to take a bow to each and every human being that stood up to tell their story, even with the fear of judgement and/or persecution. I take a bow to every human being that has had to stay silent for whatever reason they felt had outweighed speaking up. Each of us heal in our own ways. We have the right to do so. As a mother I could not let my story go unheard any longer.”

She said she initiated contact with Milos in 2008 after taking LSD in an Iowa cornfield while working on the TV movie Children Of The Corn, at which point she was 16 years old. She wrote, “After my acid trip, or actually during it, I looked Milosh up and decided to send him a message. The message read ‘Hi my name is Alexa. I like your music. If you’re ever in Los Angeles, I’d love to see you play.’ Two minutes later he responds ‘what’s your phone number’ and within a minute of responding I get a call from him.”

A relationship bloomed from there and Nikolas went on to discuss a time Milosh allegedly raped her while she visited him in Germany. She wrote, “My first sexual experience with Milosh was the first night I arrived in Berlin. I was 18 years old and he was 35 years old. I took a shower and was on my period, which I remember feeling good about because I didn’t want to sleep with him right away. I wanted to postpone sleeping together so we could get to know one another.” Milosh apparently asked her to take off her clothes. “I told him no, I’m on my period, and I don’t feel comfortable,” Nikolas wrote. “He responded saying he doesn’t care about having sex while a girl is on her period. He also said he likes the taste of blood. I remember feeling very uncomfortable but I was attracted to him and I did not want our first sexual experience to be spoiled. I did not respect my no and neither did he.”

After sharing other stories about her relationship with Milosh and its eventual end, she concluded, “To this day I think he was grooming me since I was 16 years old and I think he got everything he wanted out of that situation, he got financial support as a struggling artist, a green card to continue his career, notoriety, and sex. To this day I still suffer PTSD from that relationship, even doubting my own sanity on some days. Creating this open letter has shown me that I’m not insane. My wish to Milosh is for him to experience a profound metanoia and renounce all of his disturbing ways.”

Find Nikolas’s posts below.

Charm La’Donna is a woman of many talents and she’s ready to let them all unleash. She’s an all-in-one creative outfit who can write a good song and a choreographed routine to go with it. Looking for visual creative direction? Charm can handle that too.

In fact, some of the biggest names in the industry have put their faith in her abilities such as Selena Gomez, Rosalía, Madonna, and even once opened up for fellow Compton native Kendrick Lamar. The greatness only gets greater, though. More recently, Charm choreographed Dua Lipa’s electrifying Grammy performance with DaBaby and she also was the woman behind The Weeknd’s prodigious half-time performance at this year’s Super Bowl.

In between all of that, somehow she also has found time to create for herself in the midst of the pandemic. Her track “So & So” is one of the first songs she’s released and the video features cameos from some of her closest friends including Selena Gomez (of course), Meghan Trainor, and Fulani, among others, lip-syncing the words to the catchy number.

Following the release of her track “Queen” and its captivating video, Charm talks to Uproxx about her barrier-breaking music career and what it was like once being a dancer during a Super Bowl half-time show with Black Eyed Peas to choreographing The Weeknd’s for this year’s performance.

Tell me about the single and the creativity behind your video for “Queen.”

“Queen” stems from me wanting to have a song that felt empowering, that embodied strength and everything of where I’m from. The visuals as well. It’s literally being taken a journey through all of my endeavors, everything that I love. I threw it all in “Queen.” The culture, my culture, where I’m from, how I feel now, how I felt growing up, it’s all in there.

What are some things to you that maybe you included in the video that represents being a queen? What’s a queen to you?

A queen is someone who is powerful in their own right, who is strong, who is also vulnerable, who exudes greatness and follows whatever that is for themselves. One thing for me, I could even say in the video, I love gold. I’ve always loved gold and I love bamboo. So I decided to do something and play with that in the visual and the video. It’s how I rock my bamboos in a way. You see the gold on the dresses and the bamboo and how I rock them and just me being in a swap meet top type of situation. It shows where I’m from and how I grew up, to how I live now. Also, getting my hair braided is very important.

How would you say a queen moves in life and in this industry?

A queen… It’s about being yourself. Being yourself and not compromising your morale and who you are and going after everything you want. Going out to everything you want and people say wearing many hats, I just say wearing many crowns.

That’s kind of my next question because you do so many things. I know you did the Super Bowl choreography for The Weeknd. You’ve done choreography for so many people. You’ve opened up for Kendrick Lamar and all of that. I noticed this industry is dominated by men. It’s so much testosterone. How do you maintain your crown in a room full of men?

Myself, knowing where I come from, knowing who I am as a woman and not compromising that and believing that I can do anything that anyone else can do.

Do you ever feel intimidated or were there ever times where you did feel intimidated and had to make yourself come out of that or evolve out of that?

I don’t think I’ve ever felt intimidated. I felt more-so nervous. When you embark on something new or you try something that people are not known, they don’t know you for trying. You get a sense of maybe nervousness. There was never any form of intimidation though because I come through. I feel like I’m a strong woman and I’m raised by a bunch of women. I don’t think I’ve ever felt intimidated.

How involved are you with your visuals and the creative?

I’m heavily involved in my business. I do my creative. I do my choreography. I’m hands-on with styling. I’m hands-on.

How do you find time? How do you balance it all?

Oh, with a great team. Very great. To be honest, as I am now putting out music I’m still choreographing, I’m still creative directing for different artists as well as myself. It’s just balance; it’s just balance and structure in the best way, but my team has been amazing in helping me do that.

Now, how many more singles do you have coming before you drop a full-length project?

I think I have one more single coming and then I’m going to drop a project.

During this journey of you creating your project, creating the visuals for it, and also in between doing choreography for other people, how has that been while making it a priority because I’m pretty sure you have had to do some readjusting, right?

It organically happened for me in the past year. Due to staying at home and with COVID, I kind of took a pause with the world as well. Then when I took that fall, I had my music. It was a time for me to continue being creative and put my stuff out. To not be nervous, not be afraid, even in a time of the unsure, put my stuff out. That was the beginning of the push. As of right now, I have a great balance. I’m able to help others when I can, and there hasn’t been any controversy or any stipulations with it. It’s been cool.

What artists did you grow up listening to that inspire you?

My inspiration of course are a lot of the artists I work with and I’ve been able to collaborate with. I also find inspiration like my mom and my family, friends. I’m inspired… It sounds super cliche to say but I’m inspired by literally just… I intake a lot of energy from different places. I’m inspired by multiple things.

You said that you were raised by mostly women. Who were those women?

My mom, my god-mom my aunt, my grandma, women, all my past teachers, my mentor Fatima Robinson. All these women have played a role in my life.

What could you say is something that… In what way do they support you? Maybe when you need encouragement or if you need somebody to talk to. In what way and how do they support you?

My mom has encouraged me always to follow and follow my dreams. Hard work, push yourself and you’ll be able to conquer whatever it is that you want. Each woman, I think, played a different role. I’ve learned in the industry from Fatima Robinson. My aunt has always been there to encourage me to continue on because I’ve missed growing up, so many family things.

They never made me feel as if though one thing was more important than the other. They were always supportive of me and my dreams and what I wanted. I think that’s important because my grandma is just always been my rock, always been my rock. Even hearing stories of how she grew up and my grandmother’s 95. Those stories have also inspired me and pushed me to be the best I can be.

Is anybody in your family into music, that you looked up to as well?

My brother, he was a writer and a rapper back in the day. That’s where I kind of got my music. That’s where I got the itch to start rapping and getting in the studio with him when I was younger.

What was that like? Were you like little sister following big brother around or just watching him?

Yeah, it really was. Exactly. He would pick me up from school because my mom was working and I would go to the studio with him before dance class or after dance class until it was time for me to go home. It started off just me doing my homework in the studio and then me getting in the booth and rapping. Now here we are.

I did kind of want to talk about just Super Bowl a little bit, because that’s huge. You choreographed The Weeknd’s half-time performance.

Well, that, from that experience, if you want me to be honest, what I don’t think people know is that we did this literally in the middle of the pandemic. I don’t think people know that. So I say this to say, it’s like the journey, and what it took for us to get this was beyond. I was having Zoom rehearsals because safety is always a priority. I’m trying to keep people away for as long as possible, but the overall experience, I wouldn’t change for anything. I got to choreograph the Super Bowl with amazing people.

It’s crazy, because for me, I danced at a Super Bowl. Fatima choreographed it and I was a dancer, so then you fast forward now I’m choreographing.

Wow, that’s huge. Which Super Bowl was that?

I danced with the Black Eyed Peas at their Super Bowl. I danced at that Super Bowl and then I choreographed this one. It was just a surreal situation. Even with everything going on, all the preparation we had to do. It still is an amazing accomplishment, I think for everybody. I think we delivered a great show in the time and the space that we were allowed to.

Then also I want to talk about the “So & So” video. I thought it was so cute. I know you had some of your friends in there. Tell me how you put that video together.

I dropped something, actually on my birthday last year and at the beginning of a pandemic. They’re trying to figure out what was going on. What I did was I’m calling all my friends asking can you guys sing some of the lyrics to my song, I want to put it in a video. I thought about doing it with my friends because of the songs, a lot of them… actually everybody in the video had already heard it and they loved it anyway.

It was such a girl-empowering kind of a song. It just made sense. Everyone was still everywhere and was trying to adjust to what’s happening in the world. I was very grateful that they, still came through and did it for me because it just was such a difficult time for everyone.

What is it that you love the most about being a music artist?

I think what I love the most is the different form of expression. Me being able to tell my story with words. Me being able to create visuals to go along with my story. Me being… I basically perform this music. I think that’s what means the most to me.