Category: Worldwide

R. Kelly has been in the midst of legal proceedings surrounding sexual misconduct allegations for months now, and the situation has just developed further: The New York Times notes that today, federal prosecutors in Brooklyn announced that three people — Donnell Russell, Michael Williams, and Richard Arline, Jr. — have been arrested over separate schemes to threaten and bribe Kelly’s accusers. One of those incidents includes setting a car, which belonged to a woman who has publicly accused Kelly, on fire.

The burning took place early in the morning on June 11 in Florida, when a potential witness in Kelly’s trial woke up and discovered that her vehicle was in her her driveway, engulfed in flames.

This is not the first time Kelly and/or his associates have stood accused of intimidation. In October 2019, he was accused of sending letters that threatened his alleged victims and their families. In one instance, he allegedly “sent a typewritten letter to a lawyer then representing Jane Doe #5, threatening to release compromising and potentially embarrassing photographs of Jane Doe #5 if she pursued her civil lawsuit against the defendant.” Prosecutors also claimed, ‘With respect to multiple women, he directed the women, prospective witnesses against him, to pick a side, and strongly implied that choosing the wrong side — i.e., not his side — would result in harm to them or their families.”

Summer 2020 belongs to the Air Jordan. All season long — and really since ESPN’s The Last Dance dropped — we’ve been treated to week after week of must-have Air Jordans. We got the metallic silver CP.JP AJ1s last week, and the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air inspired Ghost Green colorway Air Jordan 5s dropping this week. It’s a damn good time to be a Jordan fan, which means this week you’ll be faced with some tough decisions.

For all the non-Jordan heads, the pickings are a lot slimmer. There’s a single Adidas release that hit the list, a Patta collab, and a low key refresh of the Reebok Club C by Eric Emanuel. Not a ton to get you hyped.

On the apparel side, we have new releases from Palace and Adidas, a Futura COMME des GARÇONS collaborative capsule, and a new collection from Teddy Fresh. BAPE also took it upon themselves to drop a $35 face mask that looks almost identical to a plain white surgical face mask. Nice try, BAPE.

Here are the week’s best sneaker and apparel drops, let’s go!

Air Jordan 1 Zoom Zen Green

Nike went for a Japanese Zen garden look for this new iteration of the Air Jordan 1 Zoom. Sitting atop a modern Zoom Air cushion, this sneaker features a leather upper with soft green suede paneling and matching accents along the collar and stitching. Not everyone is going to be able to rock a pair of grass green sneakers but paired with the right outfit of contrasting colors, these kicks will stand out in the best way.

The Air Jordan 1 Zoom Zen Green is set to drop on August 14th for a retail price of $175. Pick up a pair at select Nike retailers or the Nike SNKRS app.

Air Jordan 5 Ghost Green/Alternate Bel-Air

Nike takes us back to Bel-Air with this alternate colorway of the sneaker made to pay tribute to the pair of Air Jordans Will Smith wore in the opening title sequence of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. Featuring an all-white leather upper, the AJV Ghost Green sports era-appropriate neon green and pink accents, a dark royal midsole, and a geometric collar pattern straight out of the ‘90s. Honestly, Fresh Prince connections aside it’s hard not to love this beautiful makeup of the Air Jordan V.

The Air Jordan 5 Ghost Green/Alternate Bel-Air is set to drop on August 15th at 7:00 AM PST for a retail price of $190. Pick up a pair through the Nike SNKRS app or at Foot Locker.

Adidas x size? Vintage Euros Gazelle “Dentist Chair”

You wouldn’t know it from all the constant Nike love shown on SNX DLX on a week-to-week basis (credit where credit is due), but one of my favorite sneaker silhouettes of all time is the Adidas Gazelle. It seems my love for this silhouette isn’t shared by the average American sneakerhead because all the best Gazelles come out of Europe, and this pair even features “Euros” in the name, just to mock me!

Alternately known as the “Dentist Chair,” this sneaker colorway has a long and storied history that is chronicled on size?’s webstore and has something to do with international football. It’s worth a read but it isn’t the history of the sneaker that makes this such a fire drop. Featuring a crisp white leather upper, a dual-toned three-stripe, premium stitching, yellow tongue tab, all atop a gum sole, the Dentist Chair is a near-perfect colorway. Don’t think I didn’t consider conveniently not mentioning this release!

The Adidas x size? Vintage Euros Gazelle Dentist Chair is set to drop on August 14th for an unannounced price exclusively at size?.

Patta x Mizuno Sky Medal

This Patta and Mizuno collaboration is simply beautiful. Inspired by the roadrunner bird, this running sneaker borrows Mizuno’s Runbird logo, and features a mesh upper with black and white paneling and tan and orange detailing. All the design lines give the Sky Medal a very aerodynamic look, resulting in one of the most stylish pairs of running-focused sneakers released all year.

The Patta x Mizuno Sky Medal is set to drop on August 15th for an unannounced retail price. Pick up a pair at the Patta webstore.

Eric Emanuel x Reebok Club C

Eric Emanuel has been cranking out solid Reebok collabs all year and this week’s release of his take on the Reebok Club C continues that trend. While not a flashy take on the Club C by any means, Eric Emanuel’s newest iteration features a crisp all-white leather upper with a fuzzy fleece collar with a matching heel tab in your choice of blue, purple or orange. Like we said, it isn’t flashy but we appreciate Eric Emanuel’s decision to get out of the way and let the Club C silhouette do all the heavy lifting. Altogether it feels like a worthy tribute to an iconic sneaker.

The Eric Emanuel Reebok Club C is set to drop on August 14th for a retail price of $110. Pick up a pair exclusively at the Eric Emanuel webstore.

Palace x Adidas SunPal Summer 2020 Capsule

A late summer collaboration between Palace and Adidas has left us scratching our heads. Don’t get us wrong, we welcome the collaboration, but a collection inspired by summer while the season comes to a close? All right, whatever! This latest collection is inspired by the feel of a Balearic summer and features beach essentials, shorts, jerseys, long sleeves, sun visors, and even goggles and water shoes (we didn’t include these), all dressed in your choice of bright orange or black.

We dig it — probably because its the only apparel collection all year to actually make us feel like we’ve hit the summer season since quarantine has put us in a perpetual winter of indoor living.

The Palace Adidas SunPal Summer 2020 capsule is set to drop on August 14th. Shop the collection at the Palace webstore.

Teddy Fresh August Collection

Teddy Fresh is adding new pieces to their August apparel collection beginning at 10am PST on Thursday. The drop consists of short and long sleeve t-shirts, hoodies, shorts, and hats all dressed up in Teddy Fresh’s signature playful pastel aesthetic. This feels like a significant year for the label. It’s remained remarkably consistent throughout the year, dropping some of the best pieces in the label’s short history.

Shop the Teddy Fresh August Collection this Thursday at the Teddy Fresh webstore.

Futura x COMME des GARÇONS F/W 2020 Shirt Collection

We stay watching what famed graffiti artist Futura does in the streetwear space in part because we dig the dude, but mostly because his art makes for seriously sick t-shirt designs. This latest collaboration between the street artist and COMME des GARÇONS consists of two long-sleeve shirts, four t-shirts, a few bags, and two coach jackets all adorned with four different pieces of Futura’s vivid artwork and reimaged by Rei Kawakubo.

The Futura x COMME des GARÇONS F/W 2020 Collection is available now. Shop the looks at the Dover Street Market.

After getting a huge boost in exposure thanks to her appearance in Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion’s “WAP” video last week, emerging star Rubi Rose capitalizes on the extra attention with the video for her latest single “He In His Feelings.”

Strutting through an extravagant garden in a luxurious ensemble that includes a bodysuit, baggy chaps, and a beaded veil, Rubi holds court as attendants watch her perform her verses. Later shots find Rubi inside of a mansion in posing in lingerie and sitting in the back seat of a Rolls Royce as she spits her fierce boasts and dismisses the song’s thirsty subject.

Rubi Rose’s profile has risen considerably over the past several months after her self-released viral hit “Big Mouth” went viral and led to a deal with LA Reid’s HitCo Entertainment. Since then, Rubi has collaborated with another pair of rising stars, NLE Choppa and Yella Beezy, on her Birdman-sampling “Hit Yo Dance,” showed off her self-confidence with “Pretty MF,” and teamed up with fellow burgeoning rapper Day Sulan for the runaway viral hit, “Big.”

The Lexington, Kentucky model-turned-rapper has come a long way since appearing in Migos’ “Bad And Boujee” video in 2016. Now, thanks to Cardi B, she’s in the perfect position to be one of rap’s next big-name stars.

Watch Rubi Rose’s “He In His Feelings” video above.

Kids say the darnedest things and, if you’re a parent, you know that can make for some embarrassing situations. Every parent has had a moment when their child has said something unintentionally inappropriate to a stranger and they prayed they wouldn’t take it the wrong way.

Cassie, the mother of 4-year-old Camryn, had one of the those moments when her child yelled, “Black lives matter” to a Black woman at a Colorado Home Depot.

But the awkward interaction quickly turned sweet when the Black woman, Sherri Gonzales, appreciated the comment and thanked the young girl.

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“I went back to say thank you for recognizing that my life matters,” Sherri Gonzales told CBS4. “Her mom was not expecting her to say that and did not know what to say,” Sherri said.

Sherri was moved because Camryn “said it with strength like she was making a point.”

The three talked for a few minutes and during the conversation, Camryn noticed that Sherri was wearing a Denver Broncos necklace. Cassie told Sherri she wanted to be a Broncos cheerleader one day.

Sherri shared with the family that her son, linebacker D.J. Williams was a first round pick for the Broncos back in 2004. Williams would go on to have a ten-year career in the league, paying for the Broncos and Chicago Bears.

Then Camryn asked her a question.

“[She] asked me if I would like to come over for a sleepover,” Sherri said.

Later, on an Instagram post, Sherri said the interaction gave her hope for the future. “Today was a good day,” she wrote. “The youth is going to change the world.”

Sherri exchanged numbers with the mother and daughter and they took a photo together. A few days later, she received a call from Cassie. The family was having a garage sale and wanted to donate all of the proceeds to Sherri’s organization, Sherri’s Girls Empowerment International.

Her small non-profit aims to make “big changes in the world” and has opened up a school and daycare center in Naivasha, Kenya, provided clean drinking water for tribes in Suswa County, and sponsored various small business owners.

The two-day garage sale raised $2,070.

“[They] donated every penny to my school in Kenya,” Sherri said. “All of this happens because of a sweet little 4 year old recognized that my life matters.”

The story shines a light on how important it is for children to grow up understanding that all people deserve to be treated equally. Children are not immune to the racist messages that are sent to them through media, politics, and institutions, but we can fight back by proving them with an age-appropriate understanding of how racism works.

Somewhere someone taught Camryn that black lives matter and that led to learning valuable lesson she will keep with her for a lifetime.

Since rising to international fame, Billie Eilish has used her large platform to be a vocal advocate for climate reform. Not only did the singer say her track “All The Good Girls Go To Hell” is about climate change, but Eilish encouraged her listeners to eat less meat after going vegan, and even offered free concert tickets to environmentally friendly fans. Now, Eilish has teamed up with Telekom, the parent company of T-Mobile, to inspire future activism.

In a new ad campaign, Eilish addresses the societal critique of Gen-Z’s reliance on technology. The singer flips the criticism, displaying how young people use technology to connect with each other, inspire grassroots activism, and pressure large corporations to be more sustainable. “We all have the potential to make a positive impact on our planet, and I’m hopeful our generation will use their platforms to collaborate and communicate and make a difference,” Eilish said in the video’s voice-over.

The awe-inspiring visual was directed by Emmy-nominated Vincent Haycock, who said they aimed to represent the “spirit” of the younger generation: “We wanted to capture the spirit of this generation and show their collective voice harnessed by their use of social media. They are a generation that uses technology and social media to raise awareness and create communities.”

Watch Eilish’s ad campaign above.

As we all know, Mr. Peanut — the long-running, monocle-wearing mascot for Planters — died earlier this year in a heroic attempt to save his best friends and travel companions, Wesley Snipes and Veep’s Matt Walsh. Some week’s later, at the funeral, during a eulogy given by Wesley Snipes, the Kool-Aid Man’s tears spilled onto the dirt grave where the deceased legume had been buried, and Mr. Peanut was resurrected as a Baby Nut who, for reasons that were unexplained because they are presumably unexplainable, made dolphin noises. I will discuss all of this a bit more momentarily, but I point it out now, right up front, for three equally important reasons:

• It is really just the most powerfully weird and nonsensical ad campaign I’ve seen maybe ever
• It has now gotten even weirder, thanks to recent developments that I will also discuss momentarily
• Despite these first two things, it is still somehow, against truly staggering odds, not even a top-100 weirdest thing of 2020, to the degree that all of it barely registered with me until I really sat down and tried to grasp it, which really says a lot about where our brains are at right now

Let’s back up to the genesis of this madness. The beginning is always a decent place to start. Here is the commercial where Mr. Peanut dies.

This all raises a number of questions, including but not limited to:

— Where were Mr. Peanut, Wesley Snipes, and Matt Walsh going?

— Were they just on a cross-country road trip in the Peanut Mobile?

— How do they know each other?

— How does Mr. Peanut drive?

— Do his feet even reach the pedals?

— What would you do if you pulled up to a stoplight and the car next to you was a giant peanut driven by a smaller sentient peanut that had human limbs and a top hat and was sitting next to the star of Blade?

— Why does the Peanut Mobile have an escape hatch in the back?

— Is this some sort of crime-fighting vehicle?

— Were they solving crimes on their road trip?

— Who saved Wesley Snipes and Matt Walsh after Mr. Peanut sacrificed himself?

— If you were on a road trip with a large sentient peanut with human limbs and a top hat, would you consider eating it if you were out of snacks?

All fair, all as pointless as any of this. And this commercial was just the prelude to the main event, the Super Bowl commercial, featuring the funeral and the necromancy and the Kool-Aid Man.

This also raises a few questions, including but not limited to:

— Why did Wesley Snipes get to give the eulogy?

— How close were they?

— Were… were they brothers?

— If you could have any castmember from the 1993 film Demolition Man deliver your eulogy, who would it be and why?

— What exactly is the chemical makeup of the Kool-Aid Man’s tears?

— Shouldn’t that be the bigger takeaway from these commercials, that the Kool-Aid man can reanimate the dead as infants?

— Did the Kool-Aid Man know he had this power before the funeral or is he just discovering it, too?

— Does this, in a way, kind of make the Kool-Aid Man one of the X-Men?

— Do you think we should harness this power through science to bring back other deceased historical figures?

— What deceased person or peanut would you want to reanimate if you had a vile of the Kool-Aid Man’s tears?

— Have you considered all the ethical quandaries of this endeavor?

— What if the power fell into the wrong hands?

— What if we bring back, like, Benjamin Franklin, with the hopes of cultivating his sharp and inventive mind to help us with a series of present-day conundrums, but he just gets way into memes instead?

— If you were at a funeral for a dead legume and the Kool-Aid Man’s tears brought it back to life as a baby that makes dolphin noises, what would you do?

— Would you judge me if I panicked and shouted “KILL IT AGAIN BEFORE IT KILLS US ALL!” almost involuntarily as soon as I saw it?

— Since this commercial aired in early February, do you think it is possible that bringing back Mr. Peanut as a baby in defiance of God and science shifted the course of the universe and was therefore responsible for everything that has happened in the following six months?

— Can’t rule it out, right?

Again, all fair, all completely pointless. Also, unbelievable that it happened in February of this year. It feels like 20 years ago. Which, conveniently, I guess, brings us to the latest development in this cursed nut universe: Mr. Peanut, who died seven months ago and was resurrected as a baby six months ago, is now apparently 21 years old.

As you can imagine, this raises yet another set of questions, including but not limited to:

— How?

— Why?

— What is going on?

— What are any of us doing?

— How did he age 21 years in six months?

— Does this mean he’ll be 42 by February?

— Is this rapid aging part of the deal with the reanimation, like one of those wishes that is secretly a curse?

— Is the Kool-Aid Man a witch?

— When you die, would you want to be reanimated as an infant that ages about three years every month?

— How would you live your life if you knew you were packing 80 years worth of aging into about 24 months?

— Why does Mr. Peanut look like Eggsy from the Kingsman movies?

— How funny would it be if the next commercial is Mr. Peanut dying again, but at 21 years old this time, right in his prime?

— Like if he stumbles out of this bar later that day and promptly gets walloped by a speeding Chevy Tahoe?

— Or mowed down with an AK-47 by a pistachio assassin on a motorcycle as part of an ongoing but previously unexplained blood feud between nuts and legumes?

— What if this turns into a Groundhog Day situation and they keep killing Mr. Peanut in different ways every year and resurrecting him during the Super Bowl?

— Would that be any weirder than what has happened so far?

— Wait, does his driver’s license say he is 5’8”?

— Isn’t that significantly taller than he was way back in the first commercial?

— What if he keeps growing?

— What if he just ages and grows at exponential rates now, continuously, until he’s bigger than a double-decker bus?

— What if he’s become an immortal demon sent from hell to destroy us all?

— You’ll probably wish you had listened to me when I yelled about killing it when it was small and vulnerable, huh?

Told you.

Anjimile (full name Anjimile Chithambo) earned some buzz locally in Massachusetts for their Tiny Desk Contest entry in 2018, and now they are ready for the national stage. Anjimile has a new album, Giver Taker, on the way this fall, and today, they’ve released a new preview of it, “Baby No More.”

Anjimile says the groove-driven single is about unsuccessfully trying to maintain a relationship while dealing with personal demons:

“I wrote ‘Baby No More’ about a month or two before I got sober. I was in a romantic relationship but I was not taking care of myself in any sense of the phrase, and thus, the relationship was suffering as a result. At the time I quite literally felt like I was losing my mind vis-a-vis alcoholism: ‘I can’t be your baby no more/ cause I done gone crazy’. Active alcoholism and committed romantic relationships generally do not mix well, and ‘Baby No More’ is more or less what happens when you’re not a good boyfriend. Although it’s got a very groovy and relatively light-hearted musical vibe, some of the lyrics are quite dark.”

They also say the album was written while in treatment for drug and alcohol abuse, and during the process of “living more fully as a nonbinary trans person.” They said, “A lot of the album was written when I was literally in the process of improving my mental health, so there’s a lot of hopefulness and wonder at the fact that I was able to survive. Not only survive but restart my life and work towards becoming the person I was meant to be.”

Listen to “Baby No More” above, and find the Giver Taker art and tracklist below.

1. “Your Tree”
2. “Baby No More”
3. “In Your Eyes”
4. “1978”
5. “Not Another Word”
6. “Maker”
7. “Ndimakukonda”
8. “Giver Taker”
9. “To Meet You There”

Giver Taker is out 9/18 via Father/Daughter Records. Pre-order it here.

For the second year in a row, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is officially the highest-paid actor in Hollywood. The constantly working actor and tequila mogul crushed the competition, which includes his old nemesis Vin Diesel.

Thanks to an influx of cash from Netflix, The Rock won the top spot on Forbes‘ list of The Highest-Paid Actors of 2020. The actor scored a $23.5 million payday for Red Notice, which along with his Under Armour line Project Rock, put The Rock in first with a grand total of $87.5 million in earnings. However, his Red Notice co-star Ryan Reynolds wasn’t far behind in second. The Deadpool star was also rolling in Netflix dough thanks to 6 Underground, and he has a third blockbuster in the works with the streaming service, which could make Reynolds a threat to The Rock for Forbes’ 2021 list.

Coming in third is Mark Wahlberg, who’s also sitting on some Netflix green thanks to Spenser Confidential. (Producing HBO’s McMillion$ didn’t hurt either.) Fourth place is surprisingly Ben Affleck, again with a pocketful of Netflix cash for The Last Thing That He Wanted. And coming in fifth is Diesel who’s producing a Fast & Furious animated series for, you guessed it, Netflix.

Of course, The Rock dominating Diesel shouldn’t be a total shock. While The Rock has successfully branched out to several films and TV shows, Diesel has found little success outside of the Fast & Furious franchise and voicing Groot for Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy. As for whether this latest development will exacerbate their long-running feud remains to be seen. Diesel and Johnson started butting heads back in 2016 when The Rock basically called Diesel a “candy ass” on Instagram. From that point on, the two began trading words back and forth over interviews and social media. The chest-thumping grew even more intense when The Rock and Jason Statham signed on to the Fast & Furious spinoff Hobbs & Shaw, which prompted Tyrese to pour more fuel on the Rock/Diesel beef.

While hostilities have seemingly cooled between the two action stars, the Forbes ranking is exactly the kind of spark that can fire up another battle of the egos.

(Via Forbes)

Beck’s music career has spanned over 30 years and it’s not coming to a halt any time soon. Back in November, Beck debuted his 14th studio album, Hyperspace, and at the time shared a handful of videos alongside popular singles. But Beck has now created something different. The singer teamed up with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory to craft a stunning visual Hyperspace album complete with footage of space.

Each song on the visual record revolves around a different part of our solar system and combines NASA images with animation and data from AI technology to craft stunning graphics. For each video, scientists trained a special AI program to analyze NASA’s wide catalog of space images to extrapolate on a new vision of the universe.

About the project, Beck said the space visuals are fitting for the record because each song lends itself to escaping reality: “I think each song is kind of a different way that different people ‘Hyperspace’ — We escape from the reality that we’re all dealing with.”

Watch Beck’s “Die Waiting” video above, see the Hyperspace: A.I. Exploration tracklist below, and explore the entirety of Beck’s project here.

1. “Hyperlife” Feat. Landsat 8 and the International Space Station
2. “Uneventful Days” Feat. Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) and Apollo 12
3. “Saw Lightning” Feat. Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO), Curiosity Rover, and the Viking 1 Orbiter
4. “Die Waiting” Feat. Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO)
5. “Chemical” Feat. Cassini-Huygens
6. “See Through” Feat. Juno
7. “Hyperspace” Feat. Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS)
8. “Stratosphere” Feat. Spitzer Space Telescope
9. “Dark Places” Feat. Hubble Space Telescope (HST)
10. “Star” Feat. Hubble Space Telescope (HST), Swift, and the Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope
11. “Everlasting Nothing” Feat. Hubble Space Telescope (HST)

Hyperspace is out now via Fonograf. Get it here.

Back in 2018, Netflix announced a “reimagined live-action” Avatar: The Last Airbender, despite the original series being perfect as is. “We’re thrilled for the opportunity to helm this live-action adaptation of Avatar: The Last Airbender,” showrunners Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, who created the animated show (which has seen a resurgence in popularity since being added to the streaming service), said at the time.

But on Wednesday, the pair revealed that they have departed the project.

“When Bryan and I signed on to the project in 2018, we were hired as executive producers and showrunners,” DiMartino wrote on his website. “In a joint announcement for the series, Netflix said that it was committed to honoring our vision for this retelling and to supporting us on creating the series. And we expressed how excited we were for the opportunity to be at the helm. Unfortunately, things did not go as we had hoped.”

DiMartino said that he “couldn’t control the creative direction of the series, but I could control how I responded,” so he, along with Konietzko exited. They’re not ready to write off the live-action series, however. “And who knows? Netflix’s live-action adaptation of Avatar has the potential to be good. It might turn out to be a show many of you end up enjoying. But what I can be certain about is that whatever version ends up on-screen, it will not be what Bryan and I had envisioned or intended to make,” he wrote.

You can read the entire letter here. Also, watch Avatar: The Last Airbender. The show, not the movie. NEVER the movie.

(Via Entertainment Weekly)