“My client divorced her husband because he insisted on bringing his mother on their honeymoon. The reason? Because his mother was STILL breastfeeding him.”
After making a grand return to music and social media last week, Tekashi 69 was hoping to score the No. 1 spot on the Billboard singles charts thanks to his latest single, “Gooba.” However, a recent Billboard chart update has Tekashi upset, as it suggests he’s going to fall short of that goal.
On his Instagram page, Tekashi walked fans explained his new frustrations. “I want the whole world to see this, because what I’m about to show you is a forecast of what every label in the world gets: Atlantic, Interscope, Republic, Columbia, Sony, Universal Music, every label gets this,” he wrote.
Tekashi showed his fans a forecast for the singles charts that he received on Thursday, May 14, which predicted that Doja Cat and Nicki Minaj’s “Say So” sits at No. 1 with his song at No. 2. The rest of the top five is filled with The Weeknd’s “Blinding Lights” at No. 3, Megan Thee Savage and Beyonce’s “Savage (Remix)” at No. 4, and Ariana Grande and Justin Bieber’s “Stuck With U” at No. 5. Then Tekashi pointed out that at the last minute on Thursday night, Ariana and Justin’s “Stuck With U” gained 60,000 units, which he claimed was “completely illegal.” With those added units, the chart forecast now places “Stuck With U” at No. 1, “Gooba” at No. 2, and “Say So (Remix)” at No. 3.
For a very limited time, you can get a #STUCKWITHU CD signed by @ArianaGrande and @ justinbieber. https://t.co/jrEqMbQpGO
— billboard (@billboard) May 14, 2020
What was the illegal act, as per Tekashii? He pointed out that Billboard promoted an autographed CD bundle for “Stuck With U.” Moreover, he claimed that “Gooba” earned “double the streams” of any other song on the chart after it was played “200 million times.” He also claimed that Doja Cat’s label, Sony Music, filed an audit with Billboard due to their own suspicions over “Stuck With U”‘s massive jump.
Check out the video above to hear Tekashi’s complaints and the full breakdown.
When you sit down to watch an Overwatch League match there really doesn’t appear to be anything out of the sort. You have casters calling the action, two teams of some of the best Overwatch players in the world, and a YouTube stream full of fans cheering on their favorite squad. The action is quick, fierce, and — sometimes — a little hard to follow despite the camera team’s best attempts to keep pace with the action.
Overwatch is one of the most chaotic eSports games out there. Matches are incredibly fast-paced and games can flip on their head in a matter of seconds. Given what we’re dealing with in the real world, it feels perfect that one of the only sports you can watch right now is a chaotic video game. That’s not to say Overwatch League is immune to the struggles that come with online play in the age of social distancing. Put on a match and look closely and you’ll see it’s not quite the same game.
There are no raucous crowds cheering big plays, for starters. Sometimes matches pause for minutes because of an at-home technical problem. Overwatch League is in an online only environment and while it’s thriving it’s certainly not the same league. After two seasons in the Blizzard Arena, Overwatch League had big plans for its third season that saw teams host “homestand” matches all over the world. The COVID-19 pandemic ended that earlier in the year, however, opening the door for a return to online play with a retooled format.
“There’s been a real need to sort of develop a whole new set of processes and touchpoints.” said Jon Spector, Vice President of the Overwatch Leauge. “The plan for this season was that we would all be gathering at these big sold out events with thousands of fans and we designed the calendar and what does a weekend look like around that.”
The league opened in New York and then played in Philadelphia one week later. Crowds were electric and it felt like the idea of Overwatch League traveling around the globe could work. Unfortunately, like a team fight where you go in 6 to 5 with ultimate economy advantage, not everything goes to plan. The COVID-19 pandemic emerging in Asia caused homestand matches in that part of the world to be canceled, and teams like the Shanghai Dragons didn’t even make their season debut until Week 8 when the league had finally shifted online in full.
“Initially in those first two to three weeks it was really about who’s ready to compete.” said Spector. “Which teams in which cities, depending on different stay at home orders in different parts of the world and (lag) and things like that. Every single week we talk to each of the teams and said ‘What’s your status? Where are your players? Are you ready? And scheduled matchups on that basis.”
A sudden return to online play sparked reasonable concerns: How would players spread out all across the world play each other? Would they play at odd times? In one case, with the Vancouver Titans, the team tried to shift over to the Asian Division since all of its players were based in South Korea and they could play from home. But the experiment failed and eventually the team and roster mutually parted ways as Vancouver shifted back to the North American division.
It turned out that Vancouver was more of a blip than a foreshadowing of things to come. Other teams stayed together and adjusted to online play, and the league is back to playing on a weekly basis. And despite the odd setup, it’s led to some extremely high level play.
“One of the things I’ve been most proud of in the last month or two is that the matches have gone incredibly well in this online environment. We’ve had high quality competition and I’m probably jinxing us now but we really haven’t had major issues pop up in the online competition environment.” Spector said. “We have 200 or so players in the league and I think you’re seeing individual players respond differently to these challenges. In some cases, I hear from our players that I get to stay at my home and stream all day and practice and play Overwatch on the weekend and that’s great. A lot of players I hear miss the fans, (they) miss that energy and that atmosphere. There’s different types of issues. They’re also dealing with a lot of what the rest of us are.”
Adhering to social distancing guidelines and self isolation can be tough for anyone, but some Overwatch players are enduring this is new cities in different time zones and away from friends and family, adding a unique challenge to the work at hand.
“In some cases they’re home sick if they’re far away from home during this.” Spector said. “In some cases, they’re stressed out, they want to go outside, they’re getting a little bit stir crazy. But I also think they’ve been great partners and awesome to their teams about being flexible and adaptable and putting on a great entertaining show for fans all over the world.”
As the weeks pass and things get ironed out with online play, Overwatch League and its pros settle into what’s become the new normal. And as technical challenges are overcome and broadcasts settle into a rhythm, more and more of the old Overwatch League comes back.
“We’ve continued to add back in different features from the broadcast.” Spector said. “More content, post match interviews with the players started back up recently. And we’re working on getting player cameras back in the show in a meaningful way soon.”
While everything around them might feel chaotic, the Overwatch League is starting to feel like some calm among all the noise. They’re one of the few options we have for live sports at the moment and they’re handling it about as best as one could expect. Considering the chaos that takes place in the digital realm, it’s fitting Overwatch League is able to find success in times like these.
The coronavirus has practically wiped out music festivals for the time being, as many of the more popular festivals opted to cancel their 2020 iterations. On the other hand, some chose to postpone till later in the year, hoping the virus would become less of a problem. Despite this, the folks at Dreamville have decided it’s much better to cancel their 2020 festival altogether.
The fest was originally scheduled for April 4, but in March the North Carolina-based label announced they would postpone the festival to August 29. Since then they had stayed optimistic that that date could hold, but now they’ve changed their minds. Their statement can be read in full below:
Dear Dreamville Family:
After much deliberation and careful monitoring of the current situation, we have decided to cancel Dreamville Festival 2020. Although we originally hoped it would be possible to bring you the festival this August, the ongoing uncertainty regarding the COVID-19 pandemic has made this timeline no longer possible. This decision has been extremely difficult to make, but the safety of our fans, artists, and staff is always our top priority, and nothing will ever take precedence over your well-being.
All 2020 event ticket holders, including those that previously requested a refund, will be automatically refunded on, or before May 22nd, and it will take 7-10 days for the funds to be returned to your original method of payment if you purchased your tickets through Front Gate Tickets. We understand that this is a difficult time for many and sincerely apologize to those who were waiting on their refund as we worked through unforeseen delays in processing due to the pandemic.
If you purchased a physical ticket through an official street team member, retail outlet, or military sale, you must request a refund by filling out the form at dreavillefest.com
Thank you for your patience and understanding as we navigate this. Please stay safe, healthy, and sane so we can reunite with you in 2021. Follow dreamvillefest.com for updates in the meantime.
Spencer Dinwiddie seems determined to disrupt the way the NBA conducts business around its player salaries and contracts. Last year, the Brooklyn Nets star devised a scheme that would allow fans to essentially purchase shares of his contract and theoretically earn percentage points on his future earning potential if/when the size of his salary increases.
The league shut that down last fall, however, claiming that it violates the terms of the collective bargaining agreement, which prohibits transferring rights to a third party to receive compensation from an NBA contract. But that hasn’t stopped Dinwiddie from hatching yet another unorthodox idea that would change the whole paradigm of how NBA players get paid and where they decide to play.
This week in a series of tweets, Dinwiddie laid out a plan to start a GoFundMe that would allow fans to decide where he signs his next contract if they can raise a certain amount of cryptocurrency. Here is Dinwiddie’s language from the campaign page:
I’m simply creating this GoFundMe as my commitment to my previous tweets. As of now 2625.8 BTC is roughly equivalent to $24,632,630 USD. If we hit the target then I will allow the fan base to determine my next team decision and sign a one year contract at that destination. If we do not hit the target goal then I will be donating 100% of this campaign to charity. Fan engagement comes in all shapes and sizes, lets have fun folks!
The general idea is that if the campaign reaches its target goal, he’ll let the fans decide which team he signs with after his current deal is up. Dinwiddie is under contract with the Nets through next season, but has a player option for the season after that. Hypothetically, he would sign with the team of the fans’ choosing for the league minimum, and presumably use the campaign money to recoup what he believes he would’ve earned on the open market in free agency.
If it sounds a little far-fetched and convoluted, well. then you’re not alone. Given the way the league reacted to his previous idea, he can surely anticipate more than a few roadblocks from all interested parties. For starters, it would have massive salary cap implications, which again, player contracts are a portion of the larger pie shared with the owners under the CBA, and getting the two sides to budge on even a couple of percentage is what led to the last lockout.
Dinwiddie is apparently proceeding under the rather idealistic notion that it would help “democratize” fandom by reducing the leverage of the individual franchises and transfer some of that power over to the people. Viewed through a particular lens, it’s the latest bold move by one of the league’s renegade thinkers. The NBA will likely see it another way, given the ripple effects it could cause across their various revenue streams.
And that’s not even taking into consideration that, if he presumably plans to pocket the $24 million from the campaign, which to be fair remains unclear if that indeed is the plan, that he’s essentially asking fans to foot the bill for his contract. It’s probably more than a little telling that he’s currently raised just $469 as of Friday night. America is currently experiencing its highest unemployment rate since the Great Depression, and many are struggling just to make ends meet. Funding a players’ salary is pretty low on the list of priorities right now.
