Music

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Prior to her dramatic comeback, Biles had withdrawn from competing on the vault, uneven bars and floor events.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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It’s about to go down tonight in New York City for the highly anticipated Verzuz battle between legendary rap groups The Lox and Dipset.

Jadakiss, Styles P and Sheek Louch of The Lox and Dipset members Cam’ron, Jim Jones and Juelz Santana will face off live from the Hulu Theatre at Madison Square Garden.

Since the Verzuz battle was announced last month, The Lox and Dipset have kept fans entertained by engaging in a comical back-and-forth session on Instagram. 

“The eagles basically are sitting ducks tomorrow. @jimjonescapo @mr_camron @thejuelzsantanta,” Styles P wrote on Monday, taunting the Harlem squad. “I ain’t plant based tomorrow. I’m eating birds with my brothers.” The Instagram post also features a video of Styles P feeding bread to a bunch of ducks whle mocking Dipset.

The Verzuz battle begins tonight at 9:30 p.m. ET. Viewers at home can still watch the battle on the @verzuztv IG account, the Triller app and on the FITE TV app.

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Luke Bryan and his wife Caroline look back fondly on the night they first met in a clip from the upcoming documentary, My Dirt Road Diary. 

The couple met as college students at a local bar, Dingus, while attending Georgia Southern University. “I saw this character sitting across the bar. All I could see was white teeth,” Caroline remarks of her first reaction of Luke in a sit-down interview.

On the other end, Luke recalls seeing Caroline and her friends walk into the bar when his future wife immediately caught his eye. “I was just like, ‘who is that?’ I got to figure out a way to strike up a conversation, do something cheesy or whatever,” the country superstar says. 

Too sheepish to approach her, Caroline says Luke sent one of his friends over to introduce them. “It was just like love at first sight, college magic. It was pretty awesome,” Luke says. 

Luke and Caroline married in 2006 and share two sons, 13-year-old Bo and 10-year-old Tate. 

My Dirt Road Diary is a five-part docuseries chronicling the American Idol judge’s life through interviews, home videos and other footage. It premieres on August 6 on IMDb TV.

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Bazzi gets the world dancing along to his music in the new video for his single, “I Like That.“

Bazzi is shown performing the song on top of a roof beneath a radio towe with flowers blooming everywhere as he sings.  We see multi-colored waves — representing the song’s feel-good vibes — spreading out all over the city and, eventually, the world.  Bazzi then jumps in a multi-colored bus with a bunch of hippie girls and guys and drives out to a radio tower cluster in the desert, where he and hundreds of people all start grooving to the song

The clip features some of Bazzi’s friends, including influencers Charlotte D’Alessio, Luca Sabbat, Scarlett Rose Leithold, Chandler Lovelle and more.

“’I Like That’ is the start of a new era for me. I’m exploring new things sonically and just having more fun making music,” Bazzi explains. “This song signifies a feeling of gratitude coming back into a new world and atmosphere.”

(Video contains uncensored profanity.)

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