20 years ago, Philadelphia singer Jaguar Wright was best known for features songs like The Roots’ “What You Want” from The Best Man soundtrack and as a backup vocalist for Jay-Z’s Unplugged special on MTV. However, lately, her name has been associated with Jay-Z for a different reason: namely, a recent appearance on Piers Morgan Uncensored for which the often contentious and controversial host actually apologized earlier this week. So, what did Jaguar Wright say about Jay-Z that prompted the show host’s apology?
During her interview with Morgan, she equated Jay-Z to the recently indicted music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs, claiming that Jay and his wife Beyoncé also participated in similar illicit and salacious activities to the ones Diddy is currently under investigation. Wright reportedly said that Jay is “worse than Diddy,” while admitting that she had no firsthand knowledge of the accused activities. “I have three victims right now who are willing to give testimony on not only what Mr. Carter has done to them, but his wife as well,” she said. “They’re a nasty little couple. They do nasty things… Keeping people against their will! Putting people on planes while they’re unconscious.”
This isn’t the first time Wright has trafficked in conspiracy theories, nor is it the first time Jay-Z has been linked to Diddy’s activities without evidence. In 2020, the singer trended for alleging that breakout R&B star Summer Walker had been sexually assaulted. Meanwhile, conspiracy theories surrounding Jay-Z — likely due to the mogul’s similar position to Combs in the public consciousnesses as a symbol of financial excess and “Black excellence” — encompassed a recent YouTube publishing dispute.
However, as of this writing, there’s no evidence that Jay-Z ever participated in one of Diddy’s illegal “freak offs.” Morgan, who appears to have done his guest vetting after the fact (and after receiving a sternly worded letter from Jay-Z’s lawyer), also seems to have distanced himself from the possibly specious claims. “The reality of the modern world is that pretty much everyone has a platform as long as they have something to say that other people want to hear,” he said. “That’s why we invited her on to be interviewed… But, like the proverbial cries of fire in a crowded theater, there are legal limits on us, too. And we apologize to Jay-Z and Beyoncé.”
As a kid, the author’s answer for the “scariest” movie was 1966’s The Haunting, which got a mostly terrible 1999 remake. Speaking of 1999 horror flicks, The Blair Witch Project was King’s favorite when he got older, but now, at 77 years old, it’s director George A. Romero’s Night of the Living Dead.
“This movie has lost its elemental power over the years — has become almost a Midnite Madness joke, like Rocky Horror — but I still remember the helpless terror I felt when I first saw it,” he wrote for Variety about the black-and-white zombie masterpiece. “And now that I think of it, there’s a real similarity to Blair Witch, both with minimal or no music, both cast with unknown actors who seem barely capable of summer stock in Paducahville, both with low-tech special effects. They work not in spite of those things, but because of them.”
You can stream Night of the Living Dead on Peacock.
King previously revealed his favorite adaptations of his own work. “I have a number that I like, but I love The Shawshank Redemption and I’ve always enjoyed working with Frank. He’s a sweet guy. Frank Darabont,” he told Deadline. “And I love the Rob Reiner thing, Stand by Me.” The Shawshank Redemption isn’t a horror movie, although crawling through a “river of “sh*t” is pretty terrifying.
Chicago-based visionary Cole Bennett started out shooting for up-and-coming teens and twenty-something blog favorites, but in the past five years, he has become one of rap’s foremost music video directors, working with top names like Eminem, J. Cole, Lil Durk, and more. He’s even shot for actor Jack Black, delivering a colorful video for Black’s Super Mario Bros. Movie crowd-pleaser, “Peaches.”
“I was a very visual person, but I never knew that I loved music videos,” Bennett said in a 2021 XXL interview. “I always had this idea since I was super young of what it would look like if I made a music video.” For nearly a decade, Bennett has been bringing these ideas to life to the praise of the artists he works with and his growing fan base.
With that being said, we decided to scour Bennett’s Lyrical Lemonade page for his best work. Here are the 10 best Cole Bennett-directed music videos.
Honorable Mention: JID & J. Cole — “Off Deez”
Okay, it’s a pretty basic concept with workmanlike execution, but it might be the best song Bennett’s ever done a video for. JID and J. Cole are left turns for Cole Bennett, if you take in the entirety of his filmography, so it was pretty meaningful that the Dreamville cohorts teamed up with him on this standout from JID’s DiCaprio 2. It’d be nice to see them do it again.
10. Ski Mask The Slump God — “Catch Me Outside”
An early standout from both Bennett and Ski Mask The Slump God, “Catch Me Outside” perfectly illustrates the possibilities of a limited budget when you’ve got unlimited imagination. Awash with eye-popping visual effects, “Catch Me Outside” offers a prime example of Cole’s early style; it’s raw, but flashes of his future brilliance shine throughout. Many of the techniques Bennett used here eventually became hallmarks of his style, and with polish, set off the concepts of his future videos with Cordae and Eminem.
9. Central Cee — “Doja”
As “Doja” is one of Bennett’s more recent videos, its simplicity might seem out of place in a list featuring so many brain-bending, colorful visuals. But it also marks Bennett’s transition from colorful collaborator to kingmaker; Central Cee is a star stateside after working with Bennett, making the most of essentially an indie budget to secure the coveted director’s services and show he belongs on the biggest stage.
8. Jack Harlow — “What’s Poppin”
While the visuals are pretty tame for a Cole Bennett production, Harlow’s “What’s Poppin” video is still representative of the elements that have made Bennett’s videos so eye-catching and amusing. Even the low-key imagery mirrors Jack’s tongue-in-cheek humor, highlighting and elevating it with some juxtaposed elements as bottle service and satin sheets at a late-night diner and a woman “smoking” a french fry like a cigarette. It’s also impossible to discount what the video did for Harlow’s career, taking him from an indie unknown to a potential chart-topper with 170 million views.
7. Drake — “Another Late Night” Feat. Lil Yachty
Say what you want about Drake, but “Another Late Night,” at least visually, has been the height of his last couple of rough years. Drake and Yachty have great chemistry, and despite the relatively straightforward treatment, the video manages to be eye-catching and stand out from the rest of Drake’s admittedly wonky catalog.
6. Lil Durk — “Kanye Krazy”
Bennett’s referential style comes to a head in Durk’s “Kanye Krazy” video. Pulling from infamous clips from the titular auteur’s oeuvre and public outbursts, Durk reimagines the videos for “Runaway,” “Bound 2,” and “I Love It” — specifically, the moments in which Kanye’s mental illness seems to have gotten the better of him, for better or worse. This was just after Drake’s “Laugh Now Cry Later” had put Durk back on the national map, so to speak, so the cheeky visuals helped aid in lending mainstream audiences a better sense of Durk’s personality outside his harrowing drill stories.
5. BabyTron — “100 Bars”
BabyTron, like Central Cee’s “Doja,” is a more recent addition to Bennett’s filmography, albeit one with a much higher concept. It’s executed deliriously well, with a new BabyTron outfit/persona for each of the titular “100 Bars” and seamless transitions between each. It’s a format that Bennett would return to with Eminem’s “Tobey,” but it’s impressive that the Detroit and Chicago natives were able to make this work without the benefit of a huge star (and the accompanying budget). BabyTron, for all the lethargy of his flow on the song, also appears to be having a ball, as does comedian Andy Milonakis in his cameo role.
4. Eminem — “Godzilla”
“Godzilla” is the moment Cole Bennett “made it,” in the sense that he began working with established megastars like Eminem in addition to the SoundCloud standouts in his own DIY cohort. Fittingly, the increased budget came along with some stunning visual effects to spice up the flow of the video’s narrative while enhancing Bennett’s trademark surrealism. Em gets punched in the face by Mike Tyson, breathes fire, vomits Legos, and performs surgery alongside longtime collaborator Dr. Dre. And speaking of collaborators, “Godzilla” is a hallmark moment for Marshall too; it’s the first time he really embraced the SoundCloud rappers he’d formerly spent huge segments of his albums belittling.
3. Polo G — “My All”
Of all Cole Bennett’s most frequent collaborators, he most frequently turns in his best work with hometown artists like Juice WRLD and Polo G. In the video for “My All,” the Chi-Town natives tone down the usual comedic elements of Cole’s catalog in favor of something more emotionally resonant. It looks simple, but it’s not; a seated Polo performs the lyrics as a montage of memories both celebratory and traumatic, scroll behind him. The fourth wall break at the end is a fun surprise.
2. Cordae & Juice WRLD — “Doomsday”
My personal favorite out of the videos presented here, “Doomsday” takes a simple concept and adds stupendous visual flair with the aid of facial overlay technology. This is how you pay homage to departed artists; Cordae puts on a clinic as both himself and his late friend Juice WRLD, while Cole puts deepfake algos to an actual artistic use that doesn’t require stealing the work of real artists.
1. Juice WRLD — “Lucid Dreams”
The video that put Bennett on my personal radar, “Lucid Dreams” is far from his most stunning. But it’s hard to argue with a billion views; “Lucid Dreams” is the song that made Juice a star, it’s still his biggest song to date, and the video displays Cole’s gift for dreamlike visuals, which also fits the theme of the song.
There’s probably at least some subset of Drake fans who are also passionate about fly fishing. For those select few, today is a massive day, as it has finally happened: Drake is on the cover of the Fall 2024 issue of The Drake, a long-running quarterly fly fishing magazine.
It appears this isn’t just Drake having fun with his and the magazine’s names, though, as the cover serves as some clever marketing.
On the cover, Drake is standing in the middle of a stream, fly fishing away. Notably, he’s wearing multiple pieces from his company Nocta’s new line with Nike, the “Opal” collection. It’s not available to buy yet, but the caption of a new promo video shared on Instagram today (October 9) explains, “The Opal Collection is a return to NOCTA’s core DNA- premium outerwear, vests and apparel inspired by sport and culture. Engineered for performance and crafted with intention, each piece is designed for seamless adaptability across diverse environments. Stay tuned for details and release info.”
For those who like looking for hidden meanings where there likely aren’t any: In August, ASAP Rocky said of his beef with Drake, “I got bigger fish to fry.” Do with that information what you will.
Speaking of Drake-related merch, OVO recently announced the “Hometown Heroes Collection,” which includes hoodies, t-shirts, and basketball and hockey jerseys featuring OVO branding, in partnership with the NBA’s Toronto Raptors and the NHL’s Toronto Maple Leafs.
Netflix’s ‘Starting 5’ series debuted on Wednesday, as fans were given a behind the scenes look at the lives and seasons of LeBron James, Anthony Edwards, Jayson Tatum, Domantas Sabonis, and Jimmy Butler. The series offers a unique look at how they all navigate the 2023-24 season both on the court and off of it.
For Anthony Edwards, that means becoming a father and figuring out what that means, but for Jimmy Butler, we learned it meant dealing with a tremendous loss. In episode 4 of the series, Butler reveals that his father died in early February, just before the All-Star break, and the series shows him trying to deal with the grief of that loss while still playing. In episode 5, which looks at All-Star and the start of the stretch run, Butler opens up about his struggles finding his typical mental edge as he works out, knowing the Heat need him to turn it on for the playoff push.
“Right after All-Star break, my teammates, they really need me to be a lot better. I want to always answer to that call,” Butler says. “But I could care less about basketball right now. I don’t care. Yeah I work out. Yes, I train. Because I love to do it and it takes my mind off of my dad. For that moment, I’m lost in the game and the art in getting better. But as soon as that ball’s done bouncing and I’m back home, it all settles in. Man, it sucks to hurt. It sucks to lose people. They expect you to be superhuman, which is it’s a thing in itself. But I’m very much human, and I’m hurting right now as we speak. And I hate talking about it. I hate it, but here we are.”
In the first game back from the break, Butler led the Heat to a win in New Orleans, scoring 23 points in 27 minutes, but was ejected after an altercation with Naji Marshall. The episode shows all of that, with Butler talking about all the emotions he was dealing with at the time, and how rarely athletes get looked at on the human side of things.
“I don’t think you understand until you understand, but athletes are human, too. We hurt and we cry and we grieve and we’re angry when something is going on in our life,” Butler said. “And you can’t see it, just like we can’t see what’s going on in your life either. But that doesn’t make us a bad person for being human.”
That is, more than anything else, the benefit of a series like ‘Starting 5’, as it offers a chance to see players living their lives off the court and presenting a reminder that, like all of us, they are navigating the ups and downs of life while also playing professional basketball. Butler kept his father’s passing quiet publicly prior to the series, but being open about his grief and struggles with finding the same joy and purpose on the basketball court gives some perspective on his season and everything he was dealing with.
2025 has been a major year for K-pop favorites aespa. The group released their debut album, Armageddon, in May, they just finished performing across Asia on the SYNK: Parallel Line Tour, and they have an EP, Whiplash, on the way later this month.
On tour, aespa’s members — Karina, Giselle, Winter, and Ningning — have been performing some new solo songs, and now they’ve officially released them on a new EP, SYNK: Parallel Line – Special Digital Single. Includded are Karina’s “Up,” Giselle’s “Dopamine,” Ningning’s “Bored!,” and Winter’s “Spark.” It’s a pretty diverse set of tunes, too, from the hip-hop-leaning “Up” to the house-pop “Spark.”
Check out the new songs above and find the group’s upcoming tour dates below.
aespa’s 2025 Tour Dates: SYNK: Parallel Line
01/28/2025 — Seattle, WA @ ShoWare Center
01/30/2025 — Oakland, CA @ Oakland Arena
02/01/2025 — Los Angeles, CA @ The Kia Forum
02/04/2025 — Mexico City, MX @ Sports Palace
02/06/2025 — Orlando, FL @ Kia Center
02/08/2025 — Charlotte, NC @ Spectrum Center
02/11/2025 — Newark, NJ @ Prudential Center
02/13/2025 — Toronto, ON @ Scotiabank Arena
02/15/2025 — Chicago, IL @ United Center
03/02/2025 — London, UK @ OVO Arena, Wembley
03/04/2025 — Paris, FR @ Zenith
03/06/2025 — Amsterdam, NL @ AFAS Live
03/09/2025 — Frankfurt, DE @ myticket Jahrhunderthalle
03/12/2025 — Madrid, ES @ WiZink Center
Alien: Romulus, during pandemic times, was planned as a straight-to-Hulu film (much like Prey was to the Predator franchise) because as noted by director Fede Álvarez, theaters were not healthy when that call was made. However, the movie gods smiled upon the most recent Xenomorph to grace screens and decided to gamble on theatrical, which paid off to the tune of $350 million globally. Horror revival king Fede Álvarez isn’t (publicly) tied for a sequel to this interquel yet, but do not be surprised if that happens.
We will, of course, also soon see Noah Hawley’s Alien: Earth TV series that will stream on Hulu, but for the moment, let’s get back to where we can watch Romulus at home. The movie will hit VOD on Tuesday, October 15, but it will not stream on Hulu at that time, even if you did manage to score a themed bucket for your couch-bound viewing of Cailee Spaeny and friends dodging The Offspring. When can we expect this to happen?
Is Alien: Romulus Streaming On Hulu Soon?
Maybe. Surely, 20th Century Studios will want to pull in some more dollars on VOD before making Romulus part of the Hulu streaming package. Generally, that would happen anywhere between 90-120 days after theatrical release, but the VOD release will coincide with the 60 day mark, so the wait for Hulu could be as early as November or as long as January. Hopefully, that won’t be the case because who doesn’t want to cuddle up and watch some facehugging with the fam on Christmas Eve? This would be a fine tradition.
However, every other movie in the Alien franchise is on Hulu right now, so have at it. Remember, no one can hear you [EEK].
The video starts with an establishing shot of a building before cutting to Grande, saying to people off-camera, “Guys, I’m so excited to be hosting this week, but before we start, I just want to say, I would really prefer to not to anything Wicked– or Wizard Of Oz-related. The video then cuts to a shot of four SNL cast members, dressed as the Cowardly Lion, Dorothy, the Scarecrow, and the Tin Man. After an awkward pause, Andrew Dismukes (in Tin Man garb) asks, “May we come back in one hour?” Grande approves and the four cast members awkwardly shuffle out of the room.
Grande has a rich history with SNL. She made her first appearance almost exactly ten years ago, as a musical guest on the September 27, 2014 episode. She was then both host and musical guest on March 12, 2016. Grande returned as a musical guest earlier this year, on March 9.
Six months after sharing his Nasarati 2 mixtape on SoundCloud, Lil Nas X appears ready to begin his next era of new music. While he’s made appearances on other artists’ songs throughout the year, such as Camila Cabello’s “He Knows” and Kevin Abstract’s “Tennessee,” his only new solo music has come in the form of his Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F soundtrack contribution, “Here We Go!”
But, thanks to an exuberant, topless dance video Nas posted on Twitter, we now know when he’s dropping some new music: sometime in November. In the video, Nas employs what sounds very much like a beat from Pharrell Williams (and what sounds like a Pharrell hook too!) to rap coquettishly about — what else? — stealing your man. The caption reads: “GUESS WHOS FINALLY DROPPING NEW MUSIC NEXT MONTH ?!!”
The throwback vibe of the instrumental is matched by what little wardrobe he rocks in the video — extremely baggy jean shorts and a fitted cap cocked to the side, very 106 & Park, very Rap City, very 2006 — while even the dances he does give hilariously tongue-in-cheek millennial vibes (the Harlem Shake?!? the REAL Harlem Shake?? Yaaasss). Judging from the snippet, it seems as though Lil Nas X might just be leaning more hip-hop than pop for his next project, despite the success of songs like “Montero (Call Me By Your Name)” and “Old Town Road.” However, he appears to have sharpened those rap skills, so that could be a very good thing. You can check out the video here.
The 2024 WNBA Finals will feature the two best teams in the league during the regular season, as the 1-seed New York Liberty will face the 2-seed Minnesota Lynx in what figures to be a fantastic series. The Liberty are in the Finals for the second straight season, and avenged last year’s Finals loss to the Aces in the semis to get here. The Lynx, meanwhile, took down the Sun in the semis behind a phenomenal series from Napheesa Collier, as the MVP runner-up and DPOY continues her career-year with designs on winning a championship.
Both teams excel on both ends of the floor, led by their star bigs in Collier and Breanna Stewart, and mirror each other in some fascinating ways. They are first and second in opposing field goal percentage allowed this season, indicating their tremendous ability to force opponents into tough shots and their ability to contest all over the floor. On offense, the Lynx were the best three-point shooting team in the league, while the Liberty took the most threes in the W this season. This series will come down to which team can most consistently create good offense against the best defenses in the league, and watching the cat and mouse game on both sides will be exceptionally fun to watch.
The best-of-5 Finals will begin on Thursday night (10/10) in New York, and run through October 20 if it goes the distance, with all five games being played on ESPN or ABC.
2024 WNBA Finals TV Schedule
Game 1: Thursday, 10/10 (8:00 p.m. ET, ESPN)
Game 2: Sunday, 10/13 (3:00 p.m. ET, ABC)
Game 3: Wednesday, 10/16 (8:00 p.m. ET, ESPN)
Game 4: Friday, 10/18 (8:00 p.m. ET, ESPN)
Game 5: Sunday, 10/20 (8:00 p.m. ET, ESPN)
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