Category: Worldwide

The last month has been quite the time for Jeezy, with the Atlanta rapper dueling against Gucci Mane in a Verzuz battle, sharing his tenth album The Recession 2, and announcing plans for a new talk show on FOX Soul. He also has a podcast in the works. If that weren’t enough, now he has a video for “Almighty Black Dollar.”

It begins with Jeezy and Rick Ross arriving at the venue of a boxing match, rocking expensive furs and flashy diamonds. The rappers take their seats ringside, with Jeezy boastfully rapping and sharing a toast with Rick Ross before letting him take over. Jeezy’s fiance Jeannie Mai also appears in the video.

Jeezy’s video comes after the rapper recently spoke about his reconciliation with Gucci Mane. “For me to hear him say on a stage, ‘You extended the olive branch,’ let me know where we’re headed,” he said. “I would’ve never thought in a million years I would’ve heard that type of verbiage out of his mouth.”

You can watch the “Almighty Black Dollar” video above.

The Recession 2 is out now via Def Jam. Get it here.

Gucci Mane is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Acts of kindness and compassion are always inspiring. A veterinarian gave a different spin on the phrase “if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em”.

The poor little pup in this video walked into this shelter with a history of being abused. He was so traumatized that he wasn’t eating. The vet treating him wasn’t sure what to do, so he decided to book a table for two: a the dog’s place. It is not clear whether he got an official invite from the canine in question, but he felt pretty safe about showing up unannounced. He walked into the cage and sat down next to the dog. With his back up against the corner of his new (and hopefully temporary) domain, the rescue stared apprehensively at his human guest. The vet presented a dog dish with food and put it in front of the dog. The frightened pup just looked at the dish and made no attempt to eat. Then he broke out another dog dish identical to the one he just gave to his four-legged patient and started eating out of that bowl. And then came the turning point.

The man calmly took a bite to gain trust and develop a connection. Then he reached down and pulled a kibble out of the bowl in front of the dog and held the offering in his open hand. After a pause, the dog ate the nugget out of his hand. Then the vet did it again, and the dog ate that kibble, as well. The man then went back to eating out of his own bowl. That was when the pup looked at him, realized it was safe to eat and started to eat out of the dish given to him.

There is just something about the connection between humans and dogs. I have two. One of them is a rescue who bounced around from home to home because no one cold handle her so I took her when she was two years old. She was afraid of brooms which tells me it was probably the method with which someone saw fit to discipline her. She had no reason to trust me, but yet the moment I met her to take her to her new home, she jumped in my car with such joy. Yes, she was energetic, but it was because she was cheerful. Imagine getting in trouble for being too happy. I can safely say without bias that she is one of those dogs that everyone seems to love. And she loves them right back. In fact, I am pretty sure that girls I have dated have stayed with me a little longer than they would have just because they didn’t want to break up with my dogs, too.

My other dog is a beagle mix who I adopted at 8 weeks and has absolutely no idea how good he has it. I have cooked chicken and put it in his bowl for dinner. Yes, the same chicken you and I eat and he looks up at me as if disappointed that the balance of saffron and garlic was just a little off, and that makes him hysterical. They are family members and not pets, which is exactly the compassion that our hero in the video showed. My hope is that people can learn from his actions of kindness. Be the change. And you don’t even have to eat dog food to do it.

Do you know that guy who has never had an issue with his TV/internet provider? Neither do I. If you claim you have never had issues with your bill going up without warning, then you are either lying or you own the cable company. Jake Lawson apparently does not own a cable company, and was prepared to communicate his frustrations regarding his bill in a most creative way.

First off, Jake understands what everyone should realize. The customer service representative doesn’t own the cable company either, so yelling at someone who is just trying to make a living like all of us is not the answer. Their job is hard enough as it is so give them a break. Jake gave them more than a break. He gave them a song.

This video shows Jake calling AT&T and calmly questioning his rate increase. Anticipating that he was not going to get the answer he was looking for right off the bat, he came prepared. He asked if he could share a song he wrote about his thoughts on the matter. I must commend Jake on not phoning it in on the chord progression (excellent use of major to minor on the third and fourth chords in what I would have to deem as the verse). He starts off singing “This morning I woke up to an email, from AT&T that was bothering me.” He continues, “This happens every 12 months without fail, so I called up customer loyalty.” He goes on to sing that he is going to switch companies if he doesn’t get his old rate back. And Rebecca from AT&T made it happen.

The moral of the story is not that you need to write a song to get what you want, but as Jake will tell you, yelling and screaming isn’t the answer either. Just recently I was talked into bundling cable with my internet. They promised me I would get my same rate back if I didn’t want to keep the cable TV service. I called up to cancel two weeks later, and lo and behold my internet bill was $7 higher than it was just two weeks ago. I played the “I know you personally didn’t raise my rate, but I am sure you can understand how could feel a little wonky if you were in my shoes” card. I got my old rate back, although with not nearly the style that Jake flashed.

Customer service representatives can go above and beyond, too. Once I called up my TV provider to find out if the bouncing logo in the screen saver ever hits the bottom right corner. I kid you not, she put me on hold while she spent five minutes trying to find an answer for me. She came back on the line to inform me that while the logo has been known to hit the top right and left corners, she had no knowledge of it hitting either bottom corner, though it was unclear as to whether it was possible.

Jake, I tip my hat to you for spreading cheer even in times of frustration, and for popping out a pretty snappy tune. As for the logo in the screen saver, don’t ask me how I know it hits every corner (even bottom left) except for bottom right. And if you say you saw it happen, you are probably the same guy who says they called the Keyser Soze moment in the movie The Usual Suspects.

Gordon Hayward was set to become one of the most sought-after commodities during the free agency frenzy this year, as the Celtics forward had a $34.1 million player option with Boston for the coming season, but decided to opt out to become an unrestricted free agent.

He’s drawn interest from a number of teams in recent days, although the Knicks, one of the reported suitors, were said to be less likely of a destination after using their picks on Draft night. According to multiple reports, Hayward had indicated that he’d prefer to end up with the Pacers, which would require some finagling via a sign-and-trade to make the deal happen.

But ultimately, that plan did not come to fruition, because a surprising team dropped the whole bag, instead. According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, the Charlotte Hornets decided to give Hayward a four-year deal worth $120 million, and he’s decided to accept.

Teams like the Knicks and Hawks had the cap space to sign Hayward, but ultimately, it was the Hornets that swooped in and made a deal happen. Hayward has struggled to stay healthy during his time with the Celtics, and the hope is that a change of scenery might help rejuvenate a player who has yet to regain his former All-Star form.

The Milwaukee Bucks entered this offseason with one goal: Build a team that is able to compete for a championship and convince Giannis Antetokounmpo to stick around long-term. The team took a step in that direction when it traded for Jrue Holiday of the New Orleans Pelicans, and on Saturday morning, the team acquired a pair of players that should play a role in bolstering their rotation.

The first move, reported by Shams Charania, is the free agent signing of Bobby Portis, formerly of the New York Knicks. While the financials of the deal are unclear, Charania reports that Portis will head to Milwaukee on a two-year deal that features a player option for 2021-22.

Charania and Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN both reported the second deal. Now-former Orlando guard DJ Augustin will join the Bucks on a three-year deal that will pay him $21 million.

Neither of these signings will single-handedly make Milwaukee the title favorite, but both players should fill roles on the Bucks’ roster. Portis gives the team a solid frontcourt option off the bench, while Augustin is a very capable floor general who should slide into the hole left by George Hill’s departure in the Holiday trade nicely. Portis averaged 10.1 points and 5.1 rebounds in a largely reserve role for the Knicks last season, while Augustin wrapped up his four-year stint in Orlando by averaging 10.5 points and 4.6 assists a night.

One of the top guards on the free agent market is off the board. According to Shams Charania of The Athletic, Fred VanVleet of the Toronto Raptors — who was expected to garner plenty of interest as an unrestricted free agent for a team that needed someone to run their offense — will return to Tampa Toronto on a four-year deal that will pay him $85 million.

Charania added that the deal has a player option in it for the fourth year.

VanVleet is one of the best stories in the NBA. Once a decorated but undrafted guard out of Wichita State, VanVleet cut his teeth in the Raptors’ G League system and eventually made his way to the senior squad as a reserve guard. He kept on grinding and eventually became an invaluable member of their rotation, playing a major role in the team winning its first ever NBA championship in 2019.

Last season, VanVleet ascended to Toronto’s starting lineup, where he had an incredibly productive season — he averaged 17.6 points, 6.6 assists, 3.4 rebounds, and 1.9 steals in 35.7 minutes per game, all career-best marks, while providing tenacious defense on the other end of the floor. It’s unclear what the market was for his services, but regardless, VanVleet will continue to ply his trade up north.

This past Friday marked three weeks since King Von’s untimely death. The Chicago rapper was shot outside of an Atlanta nightclub on November 6 in an incident that left his peers and supporters extremely saddened. Since his passing, fans have shown strong support for King Von’s music, helping the rapper earn his highest debut on the Billboard albums charts. Now a popular name in hip-hop has taken things a step further.

21 Savage surprised King Von’s sister, Kayla B, with a brand new Range Rover this past week, prompting her to took to thank him over Instagram. “2021 PAID FA WITH 21 ROSES!” she wrote. “NOBODY EVA BOUGHT ME ROSES! I LOVE MY BIG BROTHER @21savage.” In another post, which she shared on her Instagram story, Kayla B revealed that her brother planned to buy her the vehicle prior to his death. “Von was about to sneak & buy me a car before he passed and look my brother still made sure I got it,” she said.

Early Saturday morning, 21 Savage posted a message on Twitter that explained why he bought the Range Rover for Kayla. “I never speak on stuff like this because I don’t do it for the internet but y’all being disrespectful,” he said before revealing that he knew Kayla prior to meeting King Von. “Von was already planning on purchasing the gift for her birthday and due to his untimely passing, he wasn’t able to finish so all i did was finish what he started because I told kayla when he passed I had her 4L and I meant it,” 21 said. He added, “All the immature comments and speculations surrounding this are very insensitive please keep them to yourself. Respect to his family, his children, O’Block, OTF, and anybody else I left out.”

As of this writing, it’s been two weeks since Joe Biden was declared the winner of the 2020 presidential election. Not only has his predecessor, Donald J. Trump, yet to concede, but he’s launched dozens of frivolous lawsuits, baselessly alleging voter fraud. That’s put a hold on some of the Biden team’s transitional efforts, but there’s one place that’s fully committed to a change in power: As per Deadline, Twitter is ready to switch the official presidential account to the incoming 46th president on January 20.

Mind you, the account — @POTUS — isn’t much used by the current commander-in-chief, who’s always manned his personal account instead, spending much of his days, and nights, tweeting and re-tweeting, sometimes from suspect accounts. The official presidential account does re-tweet Trump’s own tweets, but that’s pretty much it.

That said, Trump’s personal account, the infamous @RealDonaldTrump, may not be with us that much longer. During his presidency, he’s repeatedly broken Twitter rules that have gotten other accounts suspended, sometimes permanently. Twitter top brass has been censoring them recently, as he’s been spreading misinformation about the election, but they’ve said they can’t delete them or ban him because, in essence, he’s the president. But on Inauguration Day, when he not longer is, that will no longer be the case, and Trump will be subject to the same rules as anyone else. Surely many are placing bets on how long he’ll last in the Twitter wild.

(Via Deadline)

One of the biggest hip-hop moments this year occurred on Thursday when Jeezy and Gucci Mane squared off in a much-anticipated Verzuz battle. The two rappers, who have been sworn enemies the last 15 years, ultimately put their differences aside, closing the duel by performing “So Icy” together. It was a satisfying end to the battle, as the bulk of the night was filled with tense moments between. One of those was when the 1017 rapper played his scathing Jeezy diss track “Truth” while taunting his opponent. The following morning, Jeezy stopped by The Breakfast Club to explain why he reconciled with Gucci.

“I just had to make a decision,” Jeezy said. “It’s going to be about what I see going on and how I can contribute and let people understand it’s bigger than us. For all the things you see, that King Von thing really touched me. I know [Lil] Durk well and it was surreal to get that call. Them kids. It ain’t gotta be that way.” He added, “It was a lot of that. What happened to Mo3, what happened to Boosie. It was a crazy weekend.”

The Recession 2 rapper also said he would be down to make music or tour with Gucci at some point in the future.

For me to hear him say on a stage, “You extended the olive branch,” let me know where we’re headed. I would’ve never thought in a million years I would’ve heard that type of verbiage out of his mouth. Look how many times we went out in the world, to come back where we started and see that. What can you say? Even for the people that support us, it’s divided. Shit, that’s the first time in a while I heard “Icy” and thought, “Cool, I can listen to ‘Icy’ again.”

You can watch Jeezy’s full interview on The Breakfast Club above.

Gucci Mane is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Donald Trump has hated the media since Day 1 of his presidency, but it can be argued that if anything they’ve gone easy on him, not saying the things they really want to say. But ever since he lost the 2020 presidential election to Joe Biden, the gloves have been slowly coming off. CNN’s Anderson Cooper is no longer trying to hide his contempt for him and his cronies. And now even Brian Williams, MSNBC’s most staid and old school anchor, is offering a deeply and witheringly sarcastic take on the outgoing president.

Williams was responding to a suggestion made by old Trump pal Geraldo Rivera, who’s been among the too few in his circle to call bull on 45’s baseless claims of voter fraud. But that hasn’t stopped Rivera from offering a bizarre and pointless olive branch to Trump, in an attempt to make him finally concede the election: Why not name the COVID-19 vaccine after him? Well, for one reason, it would be an insult to Dolly Parton. But Williams thought that thinly veiled sarcasm was the real way to put out this fire.

“You know, Geraldo raises a good point there,” Williams began. “It’s possible we don’t give the president enough credit for his FDR-like devotion to tackling this virus — his laser-like focus, his daily devotion, the sympathy he’s always expressing to the families of the quarter-million dead.”

He continued:

“Even the way the president lectures us in that way to ‘please wear a mask and stop the spread.’ And he’s always advocated injections. Geraldo may be onto something. What Trump Steaks did for the hungry, what Trump Water did for the thirsty in our nation, what Trump University did to lift up the uneducated in our country. Well, along comes Trump: The Vaccine. Possibilities, I think you’ll agree, are endless.”

On their face, Williams words may seem indistinguishable from the kind of fulsome and dubious praise that make Trump happy. But as Williams spoke, the screen was filled with ironic images: of Trump playing golf, of him posing for his propaganda videos made to make him look stronger than he is, of him generally being a useless buffoon who’s done next-to-nothing as the people who voted for him died en masse. It’s the kind of reverence Trump deserves after four long years and for however long it takes for him to publicly admit he’s a loser.