Category: Worldwide

One could make a strong argument that Hit-Boy deserves to be named 2020’s producer of the year thanks to his placements on a number of strong albums, including Jay Electronica’s A Written Testimony, Polo G’s The Goat, Nas’ King’s Disease, and Big Sean’s Detroit 2. But he’s still aiming to reach new heights in his career, and Hit-Boy revealed what other artists he wants to work with on a recent interview on The Bootleg Kev Podcast.

“I’ve already worked with these people, but if I can get an album with Kendrick or get an album with Jay-Z that would be lovely,” Hit-Boy said on the podcast. His past work with Kendrick Lamar includes “Backstreet Freestyle” and his “Wow Freestyle” with Jay Rock. On the other hand, Hit-Boy has produced “Somewhereinamerica” and “N****s In Paris” for Jay-Z.

Chances for a fully-produced Kendrick Lamar album may have to wait a few years as the TDE rapper is finishing up his fifth album and has been seen reportedly shooting a music video for the upcoming release. A collaboration with Jay-Z may be possible if he decides to release another solo full-length album, which would be his first since 2017’s 4:44. Hit-Boy also released his City On Lock EP earlier this year which boasted features from Nas and Dom Kennedy.

It’s a good day to be a running back who wants to get paid. The New Orleans Saints came to terms on a contract extension with standout back Alvin Kamara on Saturday after several days of talks, giving the Pro Bowl back a deal that will give him the second-most money on an annual basis among everyone at his position. Elsewhere in the NFC, the Minnesota Vikings made it a point to make sure their star ball carrier went into the 2020 season with financial peace of mind.

According to multiple reports, Dalvin Cook and the Vikings came to terms on a five-year deal that will pay him $63 million, with $28.2 million of that being guaranteed money. Soon after, the team announced the news on its Twitter account and posted a video in which Cook signed his deal before addressing Vikings fans.

Adam Schefter of ESPN brings word that one of Cook’s teammates, linebacker Eric Kendricks, had his deal restructured by turning $6 million in base salary into a signing bonus.

Cook, a Pro Bowl selection in 2019, ran for 1,135 yards and 13 touchdown last season. He was also an effective option in the passing game, catching 53 balls for 519 yards. The news comes one day before the Vikings kick off the 2020 season with an NFC North matchup against one of their rivals, the Green Bay Packers.

The news has been pretty grim of late, and lord knows everyone could use some much-needed comic relief. Luckily, on Saturday, the same day the president was trying to spread misinformation about voter fraud, we were given one: While recording a video on Instagram, Chris Evans accidentally shared some photos he didn’t mean to make public. Lo and behold, one of them featured his trouser snake. And of course, on social media, the big news was well received.

As per Page Six, the erstwhile Captain America was innocently playing a game of “Heads Up” with his 5.7 million followers. But he failed to trim a clip from a video he uploaded, revealing a gallery of private photos. And wouldn’t you know his own head really did pop up. Evans was quick to delete the video, but not quick enough: Numerous people screengrabbed the salacious pic.

Those that didn’t grab it at least caught wind of the fracas, and promptly flooded the internet not with images of Evans’ Steve Rogers, but with the next best thing: d*ck jokes.

Some people expressed concern for Evans’ publicist.

Or for his former Marvel castmates.

We leave you with another, much more family-friendly piece of Chris Evans content: him meeting a nice dog.

(Via Page Six)

The news has been pretty grim of late, and lord knows everyone could use some much-needed comic relief. Luckily, on Saturday, the same day the president was trying to spread misinformation about voter fraud, we were given one: While recording a video on Instagram, Chris Evans accidentally shared some photos he didn’t mean to make public. Lo and behold, one of them featured his trouser snake. And of course, on social media, the big news was well received.

As per Page Six, the erstwhile Captain America was innocently playing a game of “Heads Up” with his 5.7 million followers. But he failed to trim a clip from a video he uploaded, revealing a gallery of private photos. And wouldn’t you know his own head really did pop up. Evans was quick to delete the video, but not quick enough: Numerous people screengrabbed the salacious pic.

Those that didn’t grab it at least caught wind of the fracas, and promptly flooded the internet not with images of Evans’ Steve Rogers, but with the next best thing: d*ck jokes.

Some people expressed concern for Evans’ publicist.

Or for his former Marvel castmates.

We leave you with another, much more family-friendly piece of Chris Evans content: him meeting a nice dog.

(Via Page Six)

The biggest apparel free agent in the world of sports has decided to join Puma. In a video he posted to his Twitter account on Saturday, Paris Saint-Germain star Neymar announced that he’s heading to the company that was famous for being the brand that sponsored iconic names in the football like Pele and Diego Maradona.

In the video, Neymar harkened back to those and other legends who have previously worn Puma as the inspiration for his decision, saying that “I wish to bring back the legacy that those athletes created on the pitch. I want the KING to reign on the pitch again, and inspire generations as it has inspired mine.”

Neymar was previously a longtime member of Nike’s roster of athletes, having signed with the company back when he was 13. However, that deal ended last month, and from the time that he became a free agent, rumors began swirling that he would hop on board with Puma, whose roster of footballers includes big names like Barcelona’s Antoine Griezmann and Manchester City’s Sergio Aguero. According to ESPN, only four Puma executives knew about the deal to sign Neymar as to keep this a secret.

There is no word on how much money is headed Neymar’s way, or if something like a signature boot is in his future. He will, however, have ties to his former sponsor, as both Brazil and PSG wear kits made by Nike.

Justin Bieber began the year with his comeback album, Changes — his first full-length release since 2015. Bieber kept fans satisfied with a few guest appearances and a slew of music videos, and while many assumed it would be another good while till his next full-length project, it appears that may not be the case. On Friday, Bieber jumped on Twitter and posted a pre-order link for an as-yet-untitled single with a caption that simply read “ONE WEEK,” confirming the single would arrive next Friday, September 18.

After Bieber’s news, his manager, Scooter Braun, went one further, teasing a new chapter in the singer’s career by quoting Bieber’s tweet and adding the hashtag, “#newerabegins???” with an eye emoji. What exactly this new era will entail remains to be seen, but at least they won’t have to wait too long to find out.

The announcement comes after Bieber starred in DJ Khaled and Drake’s “Popstar” video, where he served as a replacement for Drake after DJ Khaled drove the Toronto rapper from the shoot. Bieber also joined Jaden for their collaboration “Falling For You,” which appeared on Jaden’s CTV3: Cool Tape Vol. 3 album.

Check out the tweets from Justin Bieber and Scooter Braun above.

Here’s a thing to always keep in mind with sports, something that every fan (myself included!) forgets pretty frequently: Playing them at the level you need to be able to reach if you play professionally is hard. The times that they mess up and struggle to do something that they normally make look easy are still, somehow, more athletic than anything that any of us schmucks would do if we were put into the exact same position.

I say all of that as a precursor to this clip out of Belgium, where KV Mechelen and KV Oostende squared off in a Jupiler Pro League tilt on Saturday. It was a meeting between two mid-table sides, and in the 67th minute of action, 17-year-old Mechelen midfielder Aster Vranckx had the chance to break a 0-0 deadlock.

Please look at the image at the top of this post. Ok? We’re good? Alright, here’s how that went.

I have watched this a good 20 times and I still cannot believe he missed. Vranckx played the ball off of his chest, and normally when guys scuff these, it’s because they take their eyes off of the ball and start thinking of how they’re going to celebrate before it goes in. That doesn’t appear to happen here, and instead, he maybe expects the ball to bounce after it hits the ground and he rolls his foot over the top of it.

Vranckx is a youngster who made his first-team debut last year, and he already has two goals in his account, so fortunately, this wasn’t him missing a sitter to miss out on one of the biggest moments of a youngster’s career. Still, this could have gone better, both for him and his club — Mechelen lost, 1-0, after Oostende’s Jack Hendry scored in injury time.

Rihanna has been teasing what will be her ninth album for three years now, and now she returns with some comforting news for those who wait. “I’m always working on new music. Just because I haven’t released an album in a few years doesn’t mean I haven’t been working on it,” she said in an interview with New! Magazine. “I’m not just going to put music out because people are craving it. I’m going to make it worth the wait – and it will be worth the wait.”

Rihanna also went on to say that her endeavors, whether it be in music or through her Fenty brand, are all “about achieving excellence,” adding, “That’s why I will never put an album out for the sake of it or do a movie for the sake of it or a fashion collaboration for the sake of it. I have to believe in it.”

Throughout the year, Rihanna has repeatedly talked up the album that still has no release date, from trolling a Rihanna lookalike to telling fans it would live to expectations. “You’re not going to be disappointed when it happens. It’s going to be worth it,” she told ET. “I’m not just gonna put it out just because people are waiting.” This came after Rihanna revealed in March she was “very aggressively working on music” in a profile with British Vogue.

(via New! Magazine)

DC hasn’t always had the best luck with movies, but their TV shows have been both solid and diverse. Their slate is wide enough to include the acclaimed Harley Quinn animated show as well as Doom Patrol, a kooky, live-action program centered on a team of superheroes arguably even more screwed-up than that eternally grieving billionaire who dressed up like a bat. While something like the 2017 film Justice League needed to get a mulligan, Doom Patrol is doing just fine, so well, in fact, that it’s been greenlit for a third season.

Doom Patrol’s second season bowed on HBO Max back in July, bringing back such characters as Diane Guerrero’s Crazy Jane, Brendan Fraser’s Robotman, Matt Bomer’s Negative Man, April Bowlby’s Elasti-Woman, and Jovian Wade’s Cyborg. Lorded over them all is The Chief, played by no less than former James Bond Timothy Daulton — a character who, it was revealed, is responsible for turning them into unwitting superheroes. Season 2 found the team protecting The Chief’s daughter, Dorothy (Abigail Shapiro), whose own mysterious powers make her a potential threat to the world.

Doom Patrol began its life back in 2018, streaming on the DC Universe streaming service. It migrated to HBO Max during its second season, as parent company WarnerMedia owns DC films and TV.

(Via Deadline)

For a moment, it appeared that the New Orleans Saints and Alvin Kamara could be on the verge of a breakup. Kamara wanted to get paid by the Saints, and an unexcused absence from camp at the end of August mixed with a report that the team was “open to trading” him made it seem like something could be on the horizon.

However, cooler heads ended up prevailing between the team and the player, and as a result, a report on Tuesday from ESPN’s Adam Schefter indicated that a deal to keep Kamara in The Big Easy was coming. Fast forward to Saturday afternoon and the deal was finished, one that will compensate the Pro Bowl back handsomely.

According to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, Kamara and the Saints agreed to a five-year extension that will give him $75 million and $15 million in guaranteed money. ESPN confirmed the particulars of this deal, which is tied for the second-highest average annual value for a running back behind only Christian McCaffrey of the Carolina Panthers.

Kamara’s ability to do a little bit of everything for the Saints is a huge piece to their puzzle. Last season, the former University of Tennessee standout ran for 797 yards with five touchdowns and caught 81 balls for 533 yards and a score.