GoneTrending

(WARNING: Spoilers for the most recent Power Book III: Raising Kanan episode will be found below.)

Season three of Power Book III: Raising Kanan picked up right where season two left off. Raq and Marvin are reeling from their gunshot injuries after the attack by the Mafia. The police have questions about the shooting, and to cover their tracks, Raq and Detective Howard concoct a story that places the blame on the now-deceased Crown Camacho, and for now, investigators seem to buy that story.

While Raq and Marvin suffered physical injuries, Kanan and Lou-Lou are dealing with emotional pain to start the season. Kanan no longer trusts his mother after he discovers she’s been lying to him his whole life about his father, who is Detective Howard and not Rondell “Def-Con” Stark. As for Lou-Lou, he’s dealing with guilt and frustration after Raq lets him know that Scrappy was wrongfully killed in season two as he did not snitch on them. Lou-Lou’s frustration is also tied to Raq’s refusal to let him walk away from the drug game in favor of pursuing his dreams of a record label. This frustration brings Lou-Lou to his lowest as he wallows in a bottle of bourbon in multiple scenes in “Home Sweet Home.”

Elsewhere, Detective Howard killed Detective Burke in what he felt was a necessary move to protect Raq and Kanan. Burke connected the dots about Howard’s past and that was all Howard to pull the trigger against her. Marvin and Jukebox continue to fix their relationship, and they must now do that while grieving the death of Kenya, Jukebox’s mother, from season two. We’re also introduced to Unique’s brother Ronnie was released from prison, and speaking of Unique, a sex scene between him and Raq served as a surprising end to the first episode in season three.

Here are some of the biggest questions we had after the first episode of season three:

Where Does Kanan Go From Here?

Raq and Kanan’s relationship is as good as dead at the start of season three. Season two confirmed that Detective Howard is Kanan’s father after Howard gave him a paternity test as proof following weeks of speculation. This reveal ruined the relationship between Kanan and his mother as he’s lost all trust in her. While Raq moves into a new house in “Home Sweet Home,” Kanan wants no part of the new house and decides to move in with Famous for now. He also pays a visit to Famous’ plug in hopes of being able to sell product for him, but is turned away. As a mere teenager, Kanan has limited options, and without protection from his family, heading into the streets on his own is risky. Yet, Kanan is a crafty kid and you can bet he has a trick up his sleeve.

Is Raq Really Done With The Drug Game?

In this episode, Raq announces that she’s leaving the drug game. Her decision comes as she heals from the gunshot wounds she suffered to conclude season two. In her opinion, the rewards of the drug game aren’t worth the risks it also pretends. However, knowing how dedicated she was to the game, the announcement of her departure sounded like my promise to “never drink again” after waking up with a bad hangover. I don’t need alcohol nearly as much as Raq needs the drug game — she’s quite literally built her life on it. It’s for that reason I doubt she’ll walk away from the game for good. Kanan isn’t buying her “retirement” either, but we’ll just have to see if she really sticks to her word.

Will Kenya’s Death Bring Marvin & Jukebox Back Together?

Raq and Kanan’s shattered relationship is the second instance of a broken parent-child connection in Power Book III: Raising Kanan. The first came in season two with Marvin and Jukebox. Marvin attacked Jukebox after he discovered her relationship with Nicole. Marvin eventually apologized for his actions and also put his words into action by attending anger management classes. Slowly but surely, Jukebox began to forgive Marvin as season two came to an end. In the season two finale, Jukebox’s biological mother Kenya is shot and killed during an ambush at Raq’s house. Kenya’s death hurt both Jukebox and Marvin despite their respective broken relationships with her. The two seem to lean on each other as they grieve Kenya’s death. They even share an emotional embrace during “Home Sweet Home.” It’s unfortunate that this had to be the catalyst for it, but Kenya’s death and healing from it could be the thing that fully brings Marvin and Jukebox back together.

Did Detective Howard Go Too Far?

One thing becomes abundantly clear just minutes into “Home Sweet Home”: Detective Shannon Burke is a problem for Detective Howard, Raq, and Kanan. Burke has successfully pieced together the story of Howard and Raq’s relationship, her pregnancy, and how they hid the truth from Kanan and others. She also knows that Kanan was the one who shot Detective Howard back in season one. Burke’s pursuit of Howard’s dirty background led to her being suspended from the police force as she also cut corners and broke rules to get answers. A frustrated Burke eventually meets with Howard who pretends to be interested in her well-being after her suspension. However, when Burke reveals that she’s connected the dots of Howard’s past, he fires a gunshot into her head and effectively kills her and her plans of exposing his past. Sure, Howard has to do what it takes to protect himself, Kanan, and Raq, but could the decision to kill Burke have been a bit too far? Is there a chance that her death could raise more questions about Howard than the ones that existed when Burke was alive?

New episodes of ‘Power Book III: Raising Kanan’ are available on the STARZ app on Fridays at 12:00 am ET/PT and on the STARZ TV channel at 8:00 pm ET/PT.

It seems like Lana Del Rey never takes a break. Tonight (December 1), the illustrious singer has shared a cover of a country classic. Taking on John Denver‘s “Take Me Home, Country Roads,” Del Rey gives the musical standard a charming, Americana-style update

Driven by old Western-style piano patterns, Del Rey’s cover of “Take Me Home, Country Roads” features the singer delivering her signature, sultry vocals, as her version feels not only like a cover, but rather, a companion to Denver’s original.

Del Rey has maintained a consistent output since releasing her major label debut Born To Die back in 2012. Nearly 12 years after the fact, Del Rey has nine full-length albums to her credit.

In a recent interview with Harper’s Bazaar, Del Rey credited her work ethic to bad reviews of Born To Die, which prompted her to keep making music to the best of her ability.

“I’m sure my intuition in my everyday life was still pretty strong,” she said. “But with the career, I think it was like ‘Let’s just try and see if we can make this work’ instead of having it come to a brutal end.”

You can listen to the cover of “Take Me Home, Country Roads” above.

The James family got some terrific news on Thursday. Bronny James, the eldest son of LeBron and Savannah James and a freshman with the USC Trojans basketball team, got fully cleared to return to basketball following an incident in July where he went into cardiac arrest. While all the updates that came out about Bronny indicated that he was doing well and his dad said he planned on playing for the Trojans this season, getting the all clear was still a gigantic bridge to cross, and fortunately, that day has come.

As you can guess, his old man is pretty excited about this development. In the aftermath of the Los Angeles Lakers’ 133-110 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Thursday, LeBron told the media that nothing will keep him from missing Bronny’s first game in a Trojans uniform, and if that means he has to leave his team on the day of a game, so be it.

“He loves playing it, he loves competing, he loves being out there just having a good time, having fun, been doing it for a long time, and he’s put the work in,” James told the press. “It’ll be exciting. Looking forward to his first game whenever he’s cleared and whenever he’s ready to have his first game. I already told my teammates that if they play on the same day we’re playing, then I’ma have to catch them next game, so.”

James went on to say that it’s “family over everything,” and stressed that he has to be in attendance when Bronny takes the floor for the first time in his collegiate career.

There’s still no word on when Bronny will make his debut, but as McMenamin mentioned in his tweet, there are a few possibilities for overlap between Lakers games and Trojans games. The first game to fit that bill comes on Dec. 28, when the Lakers host the Charlotte Hornets and the Trojans travel to Eugene to take on the Oregon Ducks.

Flo Milli continues to make a case for why you want her on your team. Tonight (December 1), the Alabama native has dropped her catchy new bop of a single, “Never Lose Me.”

On “Never Lose Me,” Flo reminds us that she’s hard to woo, and she’s even harder to keep.

“How you gon’ prove you could treat me right? / You stole my heart like a thief in the night / Yeah, he my man, he was never your type / If you try me, ho, it’s on sight,” she raps on one of the song’s verses.

On the chorus, she hammers home to a romantic interest, “Tell me you don’t ever wanna lose me.”

This particular single is one of Flo’s more melodic songs, as she showcases both her rap skills and her soft, R&B vocal stylings. In an interview with The Forty Five, which took place earlier this year, Flo said we can expect her upcoming second album, Fine Ho, Stay to demonstrate more rawness.

“I’ve been [exploring that vulnerability] a little bit more,” said Flo. “But I’ve been exploring lots of different pockets. Y’all will see on the new album the versatility that I bring.”

You can listen to “Never Lose Me” above.

South African Afro-fusion singer Tyla has made quite the wave this year. The global sensation just reached the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 with her breakthrough single, “Water.” Tonight (December 1), Tyla followed up with an equally catchy and groovy single.

On her new song, “Truth Or Dare,” Tyla revisits a past lover, however, she is older, wiser, and more principled this time around. She lays down the law, and informs him that she won’t fall for his charm so easily again.

“So let’s play truth or dare / Dare you to forget that you used to treat me just like anyone / Truth or dare? Is it true you care? / Now that you can see the love from everyone,” she sings on the song’s chorus.

“Truth Of Dare” follows the announcement of Tyla’s self-titled debut album, which she announced via social media yesterday.

“Everything that’s happening has surpassed anything I could have dreamt of,” she said in the post’s caption. “African music is going global and I’m so blessed to be one of the artists pushing the culture. I’ve been working on my sound for 2 years now and I’m so ready for the world to hear it.”

You can listen to “Truth Or Dare” above.

Tyla is out 3/1/2024 via Epic. Find more information here.

South African Afro-fusion singer Tyla has made quite the wave this year. The global sensation just reached the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 with her breakthrough single, “Water.” Tonight (December 1), Tyla followed up with an equally catchy and groovy single.

On her new song, “Truth Or Dare,” Tyla revisits a past lover, however, she is older, wiser, and more principled this time around. She lays down the law, and informs him that she won’t fall for his charm so easily again.

“So let’s play truth or dare / Dare you to forget that you used to treat me just like anyone / Truth or dare? Is it true you care? / Now that you can see the love from everyone,” she sings on the song’s chorus.

“Truth Of Dare” follows the announcement of Tyla’s self-titled debut album, which she announced via social media yesterday.

“Everything that’s happening has surpassed anything I could have dreamt of,” she said in the post’s caption. “African music is going global and I’m so blessed to be one of the artists pushing the culture. I’ve been working on my sound for 2 years now and I’m so ready for the world to hear it.”

You can listen to “Truth Or Dare” above.

Tyla is out 3/1/2024 via Epic. Find more information here.

The Beyhive is losing it over Beyoncé‘s new concert film and documentary Renaissance: A Film By Beyoncé. Many fans have already gone out to early screenings of the film, which offers a look at her creative process in addition to her incredible performances throughout the Renaissance World Tour. And as she is known to do, Beyoncé included another surprise for the fans at the end of the movie.

During the end credits, fans can hear “My House,” a new song from Queen Bey, which features her going into full rap mode. Driven by triumphant horns, “My House” shows a new side of Beyoncé, as she turns up the heat by way of scorching bars.

“Me and my thug bae gon’ slide tonight / Paparazzi ain’t got clips to hide tonight / Cash out this plane jet, call Lorraine / And take the Tiffany, I want forty-four karats on my fangs / I want pink diamonds on my belly chains and my nipple rings,” Bey raps on the song’s opening verse.

At the time of writing, it is unknown if “My House” will appear on an upcoming Beyoncé album, if it is a standalone single, or a leftover track from the Renaissance sessions.

You can hear a clip of “My House” above.

Renaissance: A Film By Beyoncé is in theaters now.

Tried-and-true holiday traditions certainly have their merit, but there’s something quite special, magical even, about discovering personal rituals that commemorate one’s unique life. In my household, for instance, nothing quite rings in the Christmas spirit like sipping my partner’s delicious coquito and putting up a cardboard gingerbread house for my cats.

The beauty of creating customized holiday traditions is that they can be as festive, sentimental, or as silly as you want them to be. And you never know how one small moment can become the catalyst for a tradition that sparks joy year after year.

For Jess Lydon, that tradition is baking expletive-laden pies for Thanksgiving. (This is your profanity warning—the images below contain swear words.)

---

“What started as a means to get a rise out of my Grammy has snowballed into a weird family tradition. I bake one pie a year,” Lydon shared to the subreddit r/Baking.

For 2023, Lydon chose the word “D—wad,” an homage to her favorite word to hurl in a fit of road rage, topped onto a decadent rosette-filled apple pie.

“Asshat,” apparently her second favorite word, was used in 2016.

Lydon also added a litany of pies from former years— “F—wit,” “Penis,”“B—-,” “F— Off”…you get the idea.

Gotta say, watching Lydon’s baking skills progress over the years (thanks in large part to using the correct tools, she notes) to something worthy of a Paul Hollywood handshake on “British Bake-off” makes this even more enjoyable.

Folks on Reddit seemed to enjoy it too. If for nothing else, to add their own profanity-themed jokes.

“A culinary and visual delight! This is the best thing I’ve seen all day,” one person wrote.

Meanwhile, another quipped, “Your growth in pastry work is quite touching, c—,” to which Lydon replied, “Thank you, t—. I’m pretty proud of the progress. And grateful to my family for putting up with The Early Years. The first few pies were rough looking.”

Others had suggestions for next year’s pies, including “prick,” “nimrod,” “bollocks,” and “bastard.” All solid choices.

As Lydon explained to TODAY.com, the tradition came about from trying to get a “giggle” out of her “sweet little Japanese” grandma. After seeing that first pie, which read “F— Off,” Lydon recalled that her grandmother gave a lighthearted “double edged compliment” by saying, “Oh my, well, I can see that you’ve tried really hard. And you put a lot of effort into it.”

Sadly, Lydon’s grandmother passed away a few years after the first pie, but the cheeky tradition lived on. And in its own quirky way, it brings Lydon’s family together.

As for her Reddit popularity, Lydon told TODAY.com that she’s thrilled others shared her love of vulgar pastry making, and is happy to see that some folks might start their own version of the tradition.

“If we can make a few more people laugh because of rude words looking pretty, then I’m all for it.”

Whether it’s curse-word pies, funny sweaters, DIY decorations, or something else altogether, maybe this is a sign to create your own unique holiday tradition, however big or small.

Getting engaged at a sporting event is a bit of a touchy subject. Some folks are into the idea, while others believe that it’s not the time or the place for what is legitimately one of the most important moments of a person’s life. During Thursday night’s New York Knicks game at Madison Square Garden, one person decided it was, indeed, the right place to do it, and as a result, this beautiful thing had a unique twist: Julius Randle and a referee having a lengthy conversation about something that happened during the Knicks’ game against the Detroit Pistons.

League Pass caught the in-arena moment where two Knicks fans were given tickets to see a show at Radio City Music Hall this holiday season, but as it turns out, it was all a setup so that the dude could drop down on one knee and pop the question. And then, as you can see on the left of the screen, Randle shows up and starts talking to the referee about something that appeared to have him pretty upset. You keep waiting for Randle to walk away while the proposal is happening, but it just keeps going.

The most important thing here is to say congratulations to the happy couple. I will now, as a person who became an ordained minister on the internet to perform wedding ceremonies in the pass, volunteer to do their ceremony on the condition that both Julius Randle and this referee also attend.

King Isis continues to show us why they’re one of the most exciting act in the indie landscape right now. Earlier this week, the queer-led, Afro-futuristic artist from Oakland shared a trippy cover of Sexyy Red‘s “Pound Town.”

Driven by hypnotic guitars and clashing drums, Isis transformed the viral hip-hop hit into a moody, alternative banger. In a video shared to Isis’ YouTube channel, they are accompanied by a backing band, as they perform in a grungy, garage-like setting.

Throughout their discography, Isis has experimented with rock, hip-hop, R&B, and jazz sounds. In an interview with DIY Magazine, Isis explained that they don’t like to be kept inside a box, nor do they care for their music to be palatable or accessible to everyone. Rather, they make music that reflects what’s happening inside their mind at the moment, not sticking to any set routine for making music.

“I feel like it’s more palatable for songs to have a bright-sounding instrumental, and then dark lyrics. But that’s not the intention of how I write, to be accessible,” they said. “In my head it all goes together, but an outside perspective might be like, ‘What the f*ck is going on?’”

You can see the cover of “Pound Town” above.