Courtesy of Starz; Quincy Brown as Crown Camacho and Natalee Lanez as Jessica Figueroa
Quincy Brown plays a local music producer named Crown Camacho in Starz’s Power prequel, Power Book III: Raising Kanan, which focuses on Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson’s character Kanan Stark.
Due to his background as an artist under his step-dad Diddy andBad Boy Records, the “Enough About Me” singer says his character is more relatable than he thought.
“The Power universe itself speaks volumes, and from the success of that, they started to now dive into the characters that people fell in love with their stories,” Brown tells POPSUGAR. “Crown Camacho is that ear to the streets, but also that plug to the music. I think in the lifestyle in which we’re surrounded by, the music speaks more than anything, and everybody wants to have the newest artist with the hottest song, and I’m the guy that that has to go through.”
“It’s definitely a great dive into a period of time, the birth of hip-hop. I was born in ’91, and that’s exactly where it takes place,” says the 30-year-old. “Having the family I have, I was actually around these times and even the areas the show represents. This is one of those projects that will live on forever.”
If you haven’t already, Brown says now is a “good time” to check out Raising Kanan, so you won’t be lost during season two, which was renewed before the first episode premiered on July 18.
(NEW YORK) — A rural schoolteacher and son of illiterate campesinos from the Andean highlands is poised to be sworn in as Peru’s president Wednesday, the same day the country will commemorate its 200th anniversary of independence from Spain. His inauguration comes after a fiercely contested presidential runoff last month.
The moonshot candidacy and ultimate victory of leftist Pedro Castillo, whose ascension from political oblivion as a fiery union leader, was announced last week after one of the most protracted political battles in Peru’s history. His far-right challenger, Keiko Fujimori, daughter of jailed former President Alberto Fujimori, refused to concede for over a month, alleging widespread voter fraud with sparse evidence.
Castillo’s win has rattled Peru’s coastal elites and electrified its marginalized peasant and Indigenous classes hailing from the Andes and Amazon regions, hundreds of whom have descended on the capital, Lima, to serve as ronderos, or peasant patrollers in support of the president-elect.
“Those with power in this country treat us like second-class citizens. We’re here to reclaim what is ours,” said Maruja Inquilla Sucasaca, a Quechua environmentalist from Puno in southeastern Peru.
The final tally hinged on just 44,000 votes. Castillo’s Marxist Leninist party, Peru Libre, clinched 50.1% of votes to Fujimori’s conservative Fuerza Popular party, which took 49.9%.
Backed by a battalion of lawyers, Fujimori delayed certification of Castillo’s victory for over 40 days, seeking to disqualify 200,000 votes in Indigenous and rural enclaves in which he drew overwhelming support.
In a speech last week, Fujimori maintained that thousands of votes were stolen from her. She decried the electoral commission’s results as “illegitimate” and encouraged supporters to continue to mobilize, while also signaling she would honor the results.
International observers, including the Organization of American States, have called the elections free and fair. In a statement last week, U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said the Biden Administration is “eager to work with President-Elect Castillo’s administration.”
“She undertook a Trump-like effort to delegitimize the election,” said Brian Winter, vice president of policy at Americas Society/Council of the Americas. “But under extreme pressure, the electoral authority managed to appear sober, even-handed and calm.”
Keiko Fujimori is heiress to a political dynasty forged by her father, Alberto Fujimori, a towering and deeply polarizing figure who ruled the Andean nation with an authoritarian grip from 1990-2000.
Despite suspending the constitution and sanctioning death-squads to suppress Maoist guerrilla insurgencies in the 1990s, many credit him for laying the foundation of Peru’s modern economy. Fujimori, 82, is currently serving a 25-year sentence for human rights violations.
“It’s almost impossible to separate her identity from the nostalgia a part of Peruvian society feels toward her father,” said Winter. “She has now twice come within a very close distance of the presidency. It’s premature to declare her career over.”
For weeks, Fujimori’s supporters have camped in front of Peru’s supreme court demanding an international audit of votes.
“In this election fraud and the scourge of communism won. We’re here to fight for our democracy,” said one supporter, Fredy Gonzales, 60.
Four blocks away, in front of the national electoral commision headquarters, rural supporters of Castillo said they were camped out to “defend” the electoral authority and safeguard their votes. Some carried traditional Andean whips known as chicotes in case of unrest.
“We’ll stay until his inauguration, but if the president of the people calls on us, we’ll return as many times as he needs us,” said Jaime Diaz, 49, another Quechua supporter.
The cornerstone of 51-year-old Pedro Castillo’s campaign, a slogan as well-worn as his straw hat: “No more poor people in a rich country.” The president-elect, who hails from Cajamarca in Peru’s rugged north, has promised to rewrite the country’s constitution and redistribute mineral wealth. Peru is the world’s second-largest copper producer.
Castillo’s victory comes amid ever-deepening political turmoil. Peru has endured four presidents and two congresses in the past five years.
Castillo’s rise from a cow and chicken-raising provincial school teacher came in 2017 when he gained national recognition as leader of a prolonged teachers strike. His victory has served as a blunt rebuke of Peru’s political and business class in Lima, many of whom fear the proposed economic policies of his Marxist party will plunge the country into a crisis the likes of neighboring Venezuela.
On Wednesday Castillo will take the helm of a nation reeling from economic and public health crises. Over 195,000 Peruvians have died from COVID-19, the highest per capita death rate in the world.
Addressing hundreds of supporters from a balcony in central Lima Friday, Castillo vowed to vaccinate all Peruvians and recharge a stagnant economy. He also sought to allay concern he will transform Peru into a socialist Venezuela or Cuba.
“I categorically reject the notion that we’re going to bring in models from other countries. We are not Chavistas, we are not communists or extremists, much less terrorists.”
Anne-Marie co-wrote her single “2002” with Ed Sheeran, and on her new album, Therapy, she’s teamed with him again on the song “Beautiful.” The British singer says not only did she get some great songs out of her friendship with Ed, but she also learned a valuable lesson.
Speaking to Music Week, Anne-Marie recalls the first time she and Ed got together to co-write. She remembers thinking, “If we get in the session and he thinks I’m crap, is he not going to be my friend?” But, she says, “How he was in the session was amazing to me, because he’s very much open to being crap. And I think that’s what I really am bad at.”
“For example, I would probably go through about 10 sentences in my head before I feel confident to see if one is O.K. with everyone in the room,” explains the “FRIENDS” singer. “Whereas he was just like, ‘What about this? What about this?’ and saying the first thing that came into his head.”
“He wasn’t scared to look like something was not good enough,” she notes. “I learned not to be scared but to be seen.”
In addition to getting help from Ed on Therapy, Anne-Marie also got help from, well, actual therapy.
“It changed my life,” she admits. “I can’t tell you how different I am just even speaking to you now. I feel different. I would have been, like, full of anxiety before…I was scared and terrified about people staring at me.”
Anne-Marie, whose latest hit is “Our Song,” with Niall Horan, will promote her new album with a livestream called Therapy: The Live Experience, on August 7. Tickets for the stream are on sale now.
Founding Styx singer/keyboardist Dennis DeYoung hasn’t played with the group since 1999, and although longtime members Tommy Shaw and James “JY” Young continue to insist they have no interest in reuniting with him, DeYoung says he’d like to tour with his ex-band mates one more time.
“I don’t want to beat a dead horse, but there should be one last Styx tour,” the 74-year-old musician tells ABC Audio. “You know, with Moe, Larry and Curly on the same stage, to wave goodbye to the fans…and tell them, ‘Hey, you made us wealthy people and you gave us incredible lives. Thanks. Bye.'”
Acknowledging that Shaw and Young don’t want to work with him again, DeYoung declares, “I don’t want to be in Styx anymore…Styx is Tommy and JY. [Founding bassist] Chuck [Panozzo] plays once in a while, but it’s Tommy that makes the decisions. It’s his band.”
Having said that, Dennis maintains that most Styx fans would love to see a reunion trek.
“Even if you’ve bought into Tommy’s new Styx with JY, and you love ’em and you think I’m a poop face, based on lies told about me, if you see the Styx reunion [is happening,] you’re coming,” DeYoung says.
Dennis says his feeling is based on Styx fans’ social media posts and the continuing popularity of the band’s music.
“[I]t does mean a great deal to them,” he declares, then quips, “And to see it one more time would be grand…and it would not be an illusion.”
Dennis also points out that next year marks the 50th anniversary of Styx’s debut album.
In June, DeYoung released what he says will be his final solo album, 26 East, Vol. 2, a collection of tunes that features multiple nods to Styx songs.
(NEW YORK) — Companies across the country are not letting American-made material go to waste.
The Ford auto plant in Dearborn, Michigan, is donating more than $100,000 worth of leather scraps discarded from car seats and giving them to local small businesses in Detroit.
Detroit non-profit Mend On The Move, which employs women survivors of abuse, is the recipient of some recycled leather and founder Joanne Ewald said it makes all the difference.
“Having this leather donated to us … it’s so huge,” Ewald said. “It is opening opportunities for us to create pieces that we have never done before.”
Mend On The Move empowers survivors of abuse to create and sell things like earrings, ornaments and more, all made from the used auto parts and salvaged car seat leather.
Since the pandemic began, the company said it has been able to hire two new employees. Employee Jessica Canupp said that when customers buy from Mend On The Move, they’re not only supporting small businesses, but also people.
“You are supporting people who are in need right now during the pandemic and local businesses,” Canupp told ABC News.
Another Detroit-based company, Pingree Detroit, also benefits from the recycled Ford leather. The team of eight co-owners transforms the leather into wallets, bags and more.
“We’re also honored to work alongside Ford to give these underutilized materials new life,” co-owner Nathaniel Crawford II told ABC News.
Employee and lead sewer Rayne Rose said the business opens up opportunities in the community.
“We believe that anything is possible and if we see a better way, we’ll find a way to make it happen and to make our neighborhood stronger,” said Rose.
(OAKLAND, Calif.) — Former U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer was assaulted and robbed in Oakland Monday afternoon, her representatives tweeted.
“The assailant pushed her in the back, stole her cell phone and jumped in a waiting car. She is thankful that she was not seriously injured,” the tweet read.
The Oakland Police Department said in a statement to ABC News that it is investigating the incident, which took place around 1:15 p.m.
“The suspect forcefully took loss from the victim, and fled in a nearby waiting vehicle,” the police said in a statement.
Boxer, 80, served as California’s U.S. Senate representative from 1993 to 2017. She also served in the House of Representatives for a decade.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(NEW YORK) — American Katie Ledecky is looking to further cement her name in swim history with a race making its Olympic debut in Tokyo.
The 1,500-meter freestyle had previously only been available to men at the Olympics. But this year, as the Games became more gender-equal, the distance race was opened up to women.
Ledecky is a favorite to win the race. During qualifiers Monday, she set the official Olympic record at 15:35:35. That was about 15 seconds slower than the world record — which she set in 2018.
The 24-year-old has already medaled once in Tokyo, winning the silver in the 400-meter freestyle. Australian Ariarne Titmus took home that gold.
“I can’t be disappointed with that,” Ledecky said of that race, according to Team USA. “It was my second best swim ever, and I fought tooth and nail. That’s all you can ask for.”
As a distance freestyle swimmer, her bigger events are the 800- and 1,500-meter races.
The heavily decorated Olympian won one gold in 2012 and four golds and one silver in 2016 at the Games. In addition to the 1,500 and 400, she’ll look to add to her count with the 200-meter and 800-meter freestyle races.
The Olympics have made the competition more gender-equal by incorporating new events for women and more mixed-gender teams in various sports. This impacts athletes in sports like boxing, rowing and shooting, in addition to swim.
Tokyo marks a “turning point” for the elite international sporting competition as the most gender-equal Olympics in the Games’ history, organizers said, with women accounting for nearly 49% of the 11,090 athletes.
Foo Fighters have premiered the video for their cover of the Andy Gibb hit “Shadow Dancing.”
Much like the previously released clip for their version of the Bee Gees tune “You Should Be Dancing,” the “Shadow Dancing” visual finds Dave Grohl and company — here referred to as the Dee Gees — delivering a suitably funky version of the tune while surrounded by disco-era neon lights, as drummer Taylor Hawkins handles lead vocals.
You can watch the “Shadow Dancing” video streaming now on YouTube.
Both “Shadow Dancing” and “You Should Be Dancing” appear on the Foos’ new Dee Gees compilation Hail Satin, which was released on vinyl for this month’s Record Store Day. It’s also available via digital outlets.
David Bowie‘s estate has partnered with the LA Pop Art apparel company to launch a new collection of Bowie-themed shirts and other items featuring interesting hand-drawn “word art” designs.
The collection offers two different designs featured on long-sleeved and short-sleeved T-shirts, tank tops and sweatshirts for men, women and kids, as well as tote bags.
One design is Bowie’s classic lightning-bolt logo created by using titles of many of his best-known songs. The second design is based on the photo of David featured on his 1973 album Aladdin Sane, but with the image made up of the name Bowie written over and over again.
“There are Rock Stars, and there are Rock Gods — David Bowie is one of the few artists in history that’s both,” says LA Pop Art founder Joseph Leibovic. “We are so honored to put this collection out for his ever-growing fan base. The words that create our designs are used to add another layer of an emotional connection for the fans.”
The Bowie collection is available at LAPopArt.com, Macys.com, Amazon.com and other select retailers.
The LA Pop Art company previously has released apparel items with designs celebrating such other music artists as AC/DC and KISS.
Gabrielle Union is known to push the boundaries of fashion and beauty with her Flawless haircare brand and her jaw-dropping hairstyles on Instagram. And once again, the 48-year-old actress has proven she can rock any hairstyle — no matter how long or short.
Union debuted her latest hair transformation on Saturday, with a collage of photos revealing her empowering “Summer chop.”
“So, I did a thing. The movies always show women cutting their hair when all is lost, but I wanted to know the feeling of making a change when things are gravy,” Union wrote on Instagram. “It hits different, and it’s foreign to me, but I [love] this new new. #SummerChop #FlawlessChop #FlawlessCut.”
Union wore a bold red lipstick to model her new hairstyle and posed in a black and white polka dot dress, big hoop earrings, and a layer of two gold chains. Her hair was styled by her longtime stylist and friend, Larry Sims, who cut Union’s natural hair into a bob in 2018.
