Music

The fallout continues for DaBaby, who was dropped by three additional music festivals on Tuesday in response to the remarks about HIV/AIDS that he made during his Rolling Loud performance in Miami last month.

Austin City Limits and the Music Midtown Festivals announced Tuesday that DaBaby, born Jonathan Kirk, has been removed from their rosters.  In total, six music festivals have pulled him from their lineups, including New York’s Governors Ball, the Day N Vegas, and Lollapalooza.  

Lollapalooza announced Sunday, the day he was set to perform, that he would not be welcome on stage, with Billboard reporting that his appearance was contingent on a promised video apology video that never appeared.

Sources tell Billboard that DaBaby’s team promised several venues the “Masterpiece” rapper would issue a sincere apology to the LGBT community for the hurtful remarks he made, but when he missed the deadline, the venues went ahead and pulled the plug on his performances. 

The 29-year-old rapper issued a lengthy apology on social media Monday, saying in part, “I want to apologize to the LGBTQ+ community for the hurtful and triggering comments I made. Again, I apologize for my misinformed comments about HIV/Aids, and I know education on this is important.”

DaBaby has twice apologized for the controversial statement he made on July 25, where he told the Rolling Loud crowd, “If you didn’t show up today with HIV, AIDS, any of them deadly sexually transmitted diseases that’ll make you die in two or three weeks, put your cellphone light in the air.”  The remarks were widely considered homophobic.

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Selena Gomez said she’s disappointed that yet another television show mocked her kidney transplant.

Paramount+’s The Good Fight found itself in hot water when a recent episode contained a scene where several characters bemoaned cancel culture and said people now “need a permission slip to tell a joke.”

When the characters discuss what jokes are definitely considered off-limits, Ifádansi Rashad‘s Jim queries if “Selena Gomez’s kidney transplant” makes the cut. Other topics floated by other characters include autism and necrophilia.

“I am not sure how writing jokes about organ transplants for television shows has become a thing but sadly it has apparently,” Selena said Tuesday on Twitter.  “I hope in the next writer’s room when one of these tasteless jokes are presented it’s called out immediately and doesn’t make it on air.”

The “Lose You to Love Me” singer also shouted out her fans for “always [having] my back” in a follow-up post, and encouraged those who “are able” to register to become an organ donor.

Paramount and The Good Fight showrunners have yet to publicly respond to Selena’s comments.  The show had tweeted about cancel culture to tease the upcoming episode.

Previously, the Peacock Saved By the Bell revival and the Chinese variety show Who’s the Murderer? came under fire for joking about Gomez’s health.  Both shows apologized and removed the problematic content.

Selena revealed in 2017 that she’d needed a kidney transplant as a result of her struggle with the autoimmune disease lupus.  The Grammy nominee shared a photo of her and her donor, friend Francia Raisa, lying side-by-side in the hospital.

 

 

 

 

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After Simone Biles took home the bronze medal in the individual balance beam competition at the Tokyo Olympics, she celebrated with none other than pop star Taylor Swift.

Biles, who previously withdrew from several gymnastic events due to mental health reasons, reacted to the meaningful video Swift voiced in support of her return to the Games.

Taylor calls the gymnast a “hero” in the promo that was aired on NBC and lauded her decision to put her mental health first, saying it sets a great example for generations to come.

“She’s perfectly human,” the Grammy winner expressed in the emotional clip.  “And that’s why it makes it so easy to call her a hero.”

Biles retweeted the video and revealed just how much Swift’s words meant to her.

“I’m crying,” she gushed. “How special.  I love you @taylorswift13.”

Taylor was quick to reach out to the gymnast and let her know that she wasn’t the only one shedding a few happy tears that evening.

“I cried watching YOU. I feel so lucky to have gotten to watch you all these years, but this week was a lesson in emotional intelligence and resilience,” the “willow” singer expressed. “We all learned from you. Thank you.”

Now that Biles has won the bronze, she is officially tied with gymnast Shannon Miller as the most decorated U.S. Olympic gymnast.  Miller, a 90s phenomenon, won seven Olympic medals during her career.

Prior to her dramatic comeback, Biles had withdrawn from competing on the vault, uneven bars and floor events. The 24-year-old gymnast admitted Tuesday she “wasn’t expecting to medal” but was “pretty happy” by the result.

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Legendary rap groups The Lox and Dipset faced off in an epic Verzuz battle at Madison Square Garden in New York City on Tuesday night. 

After being introduced by legendary wrestling announcer Michael Buffer, each crew took the stage. Hailing from Yonkers, The Lox members Jadakiss, Styles P and Sheek Louch were all present, while Dipset’s Cam’ron, Jim Jones, Juelz Santana and Freekey Zeekey represented Harlem. 

After the two exchanged insults in a way that only New Yorkers can, they got to the music. 

The first few rounds went off without a hitch, until Jadakiss called out Dipset for “lip-syncing” and not knowing the words to their own songs. This went on throughout the entire Verzuz, with the two groups slinging jabs at each other, but they each claimed it was “all love” and ended the night with a message of unity. 

And it wasn’t just talk. The Lox and Dipset announced that they will be going on The Rap Superheroes Tour together. State Property, which consists of Beanie Sigel, Freeway, Peedi Peedi, Oschino and Omillio Sparks, and the duo Young Gunz, will also be joining them on tour.

Here are The Rap Superheroes Tour dates: 

September 16 Atlanta, Georgia (Gas South District)
September 17 Orlando, Florida (Addition Financial Arena)
September 21 Baton Rouge, Louisiana (Baton Rouge River Center)
September 23 Austin, Texas (HEB Center)
September 25 Houston, Texas (NRG Arena)
September 30 Chicago, Illinois (Credit Union 1 Arena)
October 1 Milwaukee, Wisconsin (Miller High Life Theater)

Fans can visit TheRapSuperHeroes.com for more information. 

 

 

 

 

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Music mogul Sean Combs has reinvented himself and his name numerous times since the 1990s. The artist went from Puff Daddy to P. Diddy and now he’s embracing his new middle name “Love.”

In the September cover story for Vanity Fair, Combs describes the Puff Daddy era as “this young, brash, bold hip-hop, unapologetic swagger on a million and just fearlessness and really doing it for the art and rooted.” He adds, “When I changed names, I put periods on those eras.”

The 51-year-old is predominately known for launching his legendary label Bad Boy Records and signing artists such as The Notorius B.I.G., Junior M.A.F.I.A., Lil’ Kim, Faith Evans and 112, among others. Although the Bad Boy era brought him Grammys and plenty of hit records, it also led to a beef between Biggie and Tupac and the latter’s L.A.-based label, Death Row Records.

“Puff Daddy had just got through East-West war,” Combs says. “Nobody wanted to get in the room with me. They thought they was going to get shot.”

After that period, Combs notes about how his Diddy era began, “I wanted to get into other businesses. And so Biggie had called me Diddy because of my bop, the way I walk, my swagger, and they got something called the diddy bop that…was something before me. That’s the diddy bop. It’s the way a brother would walk around, walk down the street.”

Since those days, Combs has expanded his empire and influence over music and culture with his Sean John fashion brand, branding partnerships with liquor companies, and his “all R&B label.”

“I am the happiest I’ve ever been in life,” Combs says. “I laugh the most, I smile the most, I breathe the most.”

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Rise Against‘s “Nowhere Generation” has found a home at the top of the charts.

The lead single and title track off the punk outfit’s new album has hit number one on Billboard‘s Mainstream Rock Airplay tally, the first Rise Against tune to ever achieve that feat. In addition to boasting a rousing, instantly singalong-able chorus, “Nowhere Generation” the single gives Nowhere Generation the album one of its central themes with the line, “We are not the names that we’ve been given.”

“They were talking about resisting the urge to let somebody else define you, and define who you are,” frontman Tim McIlrath tells ABC Audio of the “Nowhere Generation” lyrics.

“Where you fit into the world, what the world looks like, what the world’s going to look like, whether you like it or not, the rules you have to play by to be a part of it,” he continues. “You know, ‘These are the things that we’ve done, so therefore these are the things you have to do to get where we are.'”

McIlrath wanted the song to reflect the real-world “rejection” of the idea of “letting previous generations define you, to name you.”

“When you take back your own definition and your own route to success, you kind of rename yourself, in a way,” he says. “You don’t let somebody else name you.”

Interestingly, the word “name” pops up in four other Nowhere Generation songs. Specifically with the song “Nowhere Generation,” McIlrath wanted the message to feel “a little more dangerous.”

“Like, ‘You keep calling me that, but that’s not who I am,'” he says.

Nowhere Generation the album is out now.

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