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Earlier today TDE’s Reason, born Robert Lee Gill, Jr., dropped an extended remix of his song “Extinct” off his excellent 2020 album New Beginnings featuring lots of new guests — Joey Badass, Westside Boogie, Denzel Curry and Jack Harlow. He was excited to give fans a gift before the end of the year, especially since this version of the song is packed with high-profile guests. As chance would have it, the song also samples the song “Pennyroyal” by the producer Metal Fingers (MF), another alias of MF Doom, the man born Daniel Dumile Thompson.

But today has been a heavy day in hip-hop because news broke that legendary rapper had passed away earlier in the year. The hip-hop world has been reacting with grief and an outpouring of admiration for the producer, who died at just 49. One of Doom’s frequent collaborators, Flying Lotus, also told fans that he and Doom had been working on a collaborative EP together.

For his part, Reason was surprised by the coincidence, and said he had no idea he’d be dropping a song with a prominent sample from the producer with such surreal timing. He said he “didn’t plan to drop the day Doom left us,” although today is likely just the day the news was shared. In her post honoring her husband, the late producer’s wife Jasmine said he transitioned on October 31, 2020.

https://twitter.com/reasonTDE/status/1344812815245144064

Check out Reason’s song sampling “Pennyroyal” above, and listen to the original below.

The (expanded) playoffs are coming but, well, the end of the 2020 NFL regular season is here. The first 16 weeks were quite interesting, to say the least, but there are some intriguing match-ups to monitor in the season finale. Of course, there are also some hideous football game set to take place, with nothing on the line for one or both teams taking the field. As such, Week 17 is always a minefield, and you should consider that a disclaimer in this space.

With that said, Week 16 was a nice uptick for us and, before we dive into this week’s card, it is time to take stock of the full-season progress.

• Week 16: 4-1
• 2020 Season: 39-39-2

Come get these winners.

New York Giants (+1.5) over Dallas Cowboys

This is a somewhat rare must-win for both teams in Week 17, but it could also be completely irrelevant. Washington actually holds the keys to the NFC East title, but they won’t be playing until Sunday evening. As such, the winner of Giants-Cowboys will stay alive in pursuit of a playoff berth and, at least in my view, this line is silly. The Giants were as high as 3.5-point favorites on the look-ahead, but New York lost three games in a row, which took away some of the public steam. At the same time, Dallas showed life recently, but this is an overreaction of the highest order. Give me the G-Men at home getting the small number.

Pittsburgh Steelers (+9) over Cleveland Browns

Mason Rudolph is playing quarterback for Pittsburgh, and that is the biggest reason this number is nine. I get that it isn’t ideal to back Rudolph against a team that absolutely has to win, but this number is still inflated. Cleveland is dealing with COVID-related issues, and Pittsburgh isn’t resting everyone. They are planning to play their defensive strongholds by all accounts, and Mike Tomlin also has a tremendous track record of success when leading his team as an underdog. Oh, and the Browns just can’t be laying nine points against a real team in this spot. They should win, but no thanks.

Baltimore Ravens (-12) over Cincinnati Bengals

This is weird, and I know it. Our ethos does not usually align with laying double-digits on the road in the NFL, but this is an exception. Baltimore should be at least a 14-point favorite in my view, with Cincinnati receiving a bump in the market because of their performance last week. Let’s just say the Ravens, who need to win this game for their season, will not be deploying a defense similar to Houston’s from Week 16, and Baltimore has been lights-out in recent weeks.

Seattle Seahawks and San Francisco 49ers UNDER 46.5 points

The Niners don’t have anything to play for, but this is a real rivalry and San Francisco’s defense should show up in a spoiler role. From there, I don’t trust Kyle Shanahan’s crew to do all that much offensively and, for better or worse, Seattle has decided to really grind things out offensively again in the last several weeks. It’s not a massive edge, but this is my favorite total of the week. Root for punts and field goals.

Los Angeles Rams (+3.5) over Arizona Cardinals

This is hideous, but I secretly love it. This is a must-win on both sides, but Los Angeles doesn’t have its quarterback in Jared Goff or one of its best weapons in Cooper Kupp. The Kupp absence is a big one, but the line movement (from the Rams being a substantial favorite previously) is due to Goff. John Wolford is making his first start and, yes, the line should move when accounting for a virtual unknown. At the same time, this move is far too significant, especially if you believe that Goff is a product of the system, rather than a player that the Rams have built around specifically. Los Angeles has the (much) better defense and the better head coach. Kyler Murray is terrifying, but he’s not 100 percent healthy, and the opportunity to get more than a field goal at home with the Rams is too juicy to pass up.

The hip-hop world is still reeling over the unexpected news that legendary rapper MF Doom died this year. His wife shared a message on Instagram letting fans know that he “transitioned” back in October of this year, and his death was also confirmed to HipHopDX in a statement. The outpouring of sadness and admiration from the hip-hop community in the wake of his passing has been overwhelming, as rappers and producers of all ages and from all over the country have taken to social media to mourn the loss.

One of Doom’s frequent collaborators, Flying Lotus, shared some even more sad news when a fan mentioned the dreams many fans had that the two would work on a full-length project together. “Lots of us always dreamed of a long-length project between you and MF DOOM,” the fan wrote in a response to a tweet FlyLo posted of the Doom song “Lunch Break,” which he produced.. “Now that hits differently. But I’m glad to know that both of you collaborated from time to time,” the fan continued. In response, Flying Lotus shared that he and the late rapper were in the middle of working on an EP together. “I hate to say this but we were actually working on an EP. There were more songs that I haven’t even heard.”

Maybe those collaborations will the see the light some day in the future. Rest in peace to an artist who touched many lives.

The Indiana Pacers cruised to a win on Thursday afternoon as they capped of 2020 with a 119-99 win over the Cavaliers, but after the game they got some unfortunate news.

T.J. Warren was not active for Thursday’s game as he was officially listed as dealing with a sore foot coming off of Indiana’s loss on Tuesday to Boston, but it appears the injury is worse than just discomfort. According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, Warren has a fractured left foot that will require surgery and keep him out indefinitely.

Warren was one of the stars of the NBA Bubble and after a quiet opener against New York seemed to be finding his stride once again with outings of 23, 17, and 17 points in the next three games. Now, the Pacers will have to turn elsewhere for scoring punch from their small forward spot. Against the Cavaliers, they turned to Aaron Holiday to step into the starting lineup and Doug McDermott found himself with a major role, and the two combined for 30 points in Warren’s absence.

They’ll need McDermott to continue his strong play to start the season, as well as both of the Holiday brothers, Aaron and Justin, who both figure to take on larger roles as the rotation for Nate Bjorkgren will shuffle. Hopefully Warren will make a full and speedy recovery and can pick back up where he left off to end 2020 whenever he returns, as his presence is important for the Pacers balanced scoring attack.

According to an interview with UK-based paper The Independent, a beloved Paula Cole track is being reinstated as the introduction and theme song to the teen drama Dawson’s Creek on streaming services. “I had no idea it was going to be such a smash, totally eclipsing my own career,” Cole told The Independent about the hit song “I Don’t Want To Wait,” which became so connected to the show that it has moved beyond just theme song.

Apparently though, a recent resurgence of fans watching old episodes of the show — possibly due to being stuck inside because of the pandemic — had been complaining that Cole’s hit had been replaced. Back in the day, when Dawson Creek showrunner Kevin Williamson heard “I Don’t Want To Wait,” he called Cole and asked to use it for his pilot. Williamson also had Alanis Morissette’s “Hand In Pocket” in mind, but that song was too expensive to license, so the network had also commissioned Canadian singer Jann Arden to write “Run Like Mad” as an option.

On the DVDs and streaming services, Sony executives opted to swap in Arden’s song instead of Cole’s, basically because it was a cheaper option. “It was really just a financial decision that was made precipitously by one executive at Sony,” Cole said. “If you start doing that with a network and with large companies, you’re throwing every artist under the bus.” But fan desire for the original theme song has been so strong that Cole and Sony are now in discussions to reinstate “I Don’t Want To Wait.”

“We’re in discussions now,” Cole said. “The main thing about it all is that it was due to fan reaction. It was due to all of their posts and their tweets and their fabulous feedback. Sony finally noticed and wanted to please their fans. I’m just really happy about that. I’m really happy that they listen and they care.”

Cole said she recorded a newer version of the song that she owns the masters to, and that will be the version that’s reinstated in the show. In that case, maybe I’ll wait to binge it until they fix the theme song.

Rapper Lil Tjay was arrested today according to a report from TMZ. The Bronx rapper was stopped and searched by the police during a music video shoot last week, and he captured the interaction on video, noting that the search and seizure was illegal. During that interaction, on December 27th, the cops didn’t find anything and Lil Tjay was free to go.

Today, however, the NYPD reportedly pulled the rapper over again, and this time he was booked for “criminal possession of a weapon, marijuana possession and grand larceny,” according to TMZ sources. The weapon and marijuana charges make more sense, but the grand larceny charge remains unclear. The rapper was apparently pulled over for switching lanes without signaling, and when officers smelled marijuana they searched the car and found four loaded handguns and large quantities of weed. Tjay was in a vehicle with four other people, and since no one took responsibility for the weed and guns, all five were charged.

In many different areas of the country, using marijuana has become legal, or at least possession and use of the drug has been decriminalized. In New York, however, it remains an illegal substance. Hopefully that’s something that will be changed in the future so cops can no longer use it as an excuse to target rappers.

Legendary rapper MF Doom has reportedly died. News broke today with a statement from his wife, Jasmine, on Instagram, and HipHopDX also reports they got a statement confirming his passing. No cause of death has been released yet, but the post from his wife stated that he transitioned in October of this year. The hip-hop community is mourning the loss of a iconic figure, especially so suddenly and at such a young age.

Artists from all over the country and of all ages loved and admired the underground rapper, and took to Twitter to express their gratitude and admiration right alongside their sadness at his passing. Many fans have been commenting that in such a tough year, this is a very difficult final blow. It’s unclear why his death was revealed for the first time today, on New Year’s Eve, but it’s definitely become a day of mourning for the rap community at large.

From El-P, Phonte and Q-Tip to a younger generation of artists like Tyler The Creator, Jay Electronica, and IDK — who shared information about a track he was working on with Doom — the influence that the late rapper had is obvious. Some of the loving tributes from his peers are below.

The year 2020 is finally coming to a close, but not without one last weird thing trending on social media: Ben Affleck struggling to juggle some iced coffees and grab the mail at the same time.

If that sounds like the product of a slow news day, well, that’s kind of to be expected on December 31 of one of the worst years in recent memory. Times are tough, people are weary and there’s likely a long road ahead in 2021 that isn’t all that great, either.

Which perhaps is why people delighted so much in photos taken of Affleck outside of his home that continued a recent trend of him photographed with Dunkin drinks in varying states of stress and existence.

The photos, which show a somewhat beleaguered-looking Affleck struggling with a few drinks from the Boston-based coffee chain, are instantly endearing. And somehow mesmerizing, which is why several places like Page Six actually wrote about them. It seemed like all of social media was giving their takes on what was going on and what the images represented, too.

Like all great works of art, the photos seemed to represent something different in everyone.

Some people celebrated it like a rare shoe drop.

And as many pointed out, this running genre of photographs has caused a stir on social media before for one reason or another.

It immediately got added to an impressive collection of exhausted candids.

No team in the NBA has looked as self-assured and solidified through one week of the regular season as the Brooklyn Nets despite the fact that they entered the year with major health concerns, a new head coach, and two superstars who’d never taken the court together. The symphony thus far has been orchestrated beautifully by first-time head coach Steve Nash and their depth has shown to be a unique advantage already, but the biggest factor in the Nets’ promising start to the season is the promising return of Kevin Durant.

Since Durant went out with a ruptured Achilles’ tendon in Game 5 of the 2019 NBA Finals, it became an immediate debate among hoops fans whether and how effectively Durant could return. Sure, his game has never been overly dependent on bursts of athleticism, and medical developments seem to have lessened the challenges of recovery from what used to be seen as a career-ending injury. But at the same time, Durant is on the wrong side of 30 and uses his left foot more than most righties, a blessing considering he tore his right Achilles. The Nets also paid him and built a team around him as if he was among the elite class of players capable of leading a team to a title.

Through four games, those debates over the past 18-plus months have been answered with little fanfare. Durant looks, well, like Durant, except seemingly even more polished and patient than when we last saw him. The two-time NBA champion is averaging over 28 points per game on 52 percent shooting from the field, leading the Nets to the seventh-best offense in the NBA.

Never overly reliant on explosive dunks or a lightning first step, Durant has always had a way of gliding across the court. Nobody occupies space on a basketball court like Durant, and that’s still there when you watch him now at age 32 and coming off the injury.

Yet there are also flashes that show you that it’s not just an old man outthinking the youths. When Durant accelerates or sees an opening developing in the defense, he can still get there. The unguardable hang dribble, the smooth crossover, the occasional spin move, and the skyscraping release didn’t go anywhere. The scoring champion inside him is still there, it just roars less often than it used to.

Durant is also following a trend early this season in which he’s involved in the offense more as a jump shooter and passer than as an attacker. After peaking with 42 percent of his shots coming at the rim for the historically great 2016-17 Warriors, Durant has taken fewer than a quarter of his shots inside over his past three healthy seasons. The main difference in how Durant has functioned in Nash’s offense is that Brooklyn is playing faster than the Warriors did.

Nearly one-fifth of the Nets’ possessions already have come in transition, and finishing possessions in the third-fewest seconds in the NBA. When Durant is out and running, it becomes rather simple — with the amount of shooting Brooklyn can put out in just about every lineup — for Durant to create for his teammates.

On this fast break dish, all Durant has to do is jog the ball toward the teeth of the defense to force an overreaction from the young, defensively challenged Hawks.

Nash is also smartly not afraid to put the ball in Durant’s hands in the halfcourt as a play-maker. With this skill as well as his unparalleled scoring ability, watching Durant heading into 2021 is like watching some sort of medieval adventurer who’s collected trinkets and tools over years trekking with different partners and challenges. Playing without much spacing in Oklahoma City, Durant learned how to get his shot off against punishing NBA defenses. With the Warriors, he grew as a passer and decision-maker. This version of him feels and operates more like LeBron James or Kawhi Leonard, guys who have seen every coverage and are content to wait out the defense before dissecting it. While Kyrie Irving — who, it must be said, has been magnificent this season — effectively closed a high-scoring win over Atlanta out, the Nets rotate around Durant as their axis.

After seeing Breanna Stewart blitz the WNBA this season and earn her second Finals MVP trophy after her own Achilles injury last spring, maybe it shouldn’t have been such a surprise to see Durant dominate right away. They’re similar players in that they’re both jumbo guards blessed with skill that is breathtaking for players of their size, and the two discussed how they’d been in contact during their respective recoveries.

Durant could be in for a more sound return to the court than even Stewart due to his game relying even less on jumping to gain separation, as Mike Prada broke down nicely in his newsletter. However, Stewart being younger theoretically could have helped her regain her full mobility and athleticism, while Durant doesn’t yet look like himself on defense.

Nash has helped in this area by often playing Durant at center alongside another versatile big in Jeff Green or Jarrett Allen, but Durant is either saving energy early on or may not have the same ability to move his feet or help at the rim as he did before his injury. There have been several times this season when more athletic players have blown by Durant or he’s simply avoided rotating to help at the rim.

The Nets have dozens of games to figure that out though, and they’ve already demonstrated they will take things pragmatically with both Irving and Durant this year to keep them healthy. Brooklyn entered the season as a fringe championship contender in large part because of questions about how good Durant could be, so this early-season success is already exceeding expectations.

If Durant can get even more comfortable and the Nets keep finding ways to maximize him in all areas of the game, they will be a nightmare to deal with come postseason time.

Rapper MF Doom is reportedly dead at age 49. An Instagram post from his account shared today stated that the rapper had “transitioned” on October 31, 2020 and was signed by his wife, Jasmine.

Begin all things by giving thanks to THE ALL!

To Dumile

The greatest husband, father, teacher, student, business partner, lover and friend I could ever ask for. Thank you for all the things you have shown, taught and given to me, our children and our family. Thank you for teaching me how to forgive beings and give another chance, not to be so quick to judge and write off. Thank you for showing how not to be afraid to love and be the best person I could ever be. My world will never be the same without you. Words will never express what you and Malachi mean to me, I love both and adore you always. May THE ALL continue to bless you, our family and the planet.

All my Love
Jasmine

Transitioned October 31,2020

HipHopDX reported earlier today that they obtained a statement confirming t he passed. The Instagram post from Jasmine was also shared on the rapper’s Twitter channel, though no cause of death has been reported yet.

The legendary rapper frequently worked with the Rhymesayers label to release his music, and they also shared the news on Instagram:

This is a developing story and will be updated with new information.