G Herbo is releasing the sequel to his first mixtape, Strictly For My Fans. Strictly 4 My Fans 2 will drop Friday, April 28, through Machine Entertainment Group.
The project includes 12 new tracks, with only two having guest appearances. Drench will be heard on the intro, “No Limit,” while GloRilla and Mello Buckzz are on the third song, “Outside.”
Strictly 4 My Fans 2 comes nearly seven years after its original, which helped catapult him from a local star to more of a mainstream artist.
Tame Impala and Thundercat have released a collaborative single titled “No More Lies.”
As you might expect from the artists involved, “No More Lies” combines elements of funk and psychedelic music into a smooth, five-minute jam. Its accompanying visualizer also nods to both parties’ stage names with footage of an impala and a cheetah running.
You can listen to “No More Lies” now via digital outlets and watch its visualizer streaming now on YouTube.
Tame Impala released a new song in March called “Wings of Time” for the Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves movie, while Thundercat is featured on the title track off the new Gorillaz album, Cracker Island.
Kid Cudi continues to make headway in his acting career, securing yet another role in an upcoming film. Deadline reports Cudi, born Scott Mescudi, will star in Sony Pictures’ action horror-comedy Hell Naw.
The script, written by Judas and the Black Messiah screenwriters KeithLucas and Kenny Lucas, known collectively as The Lucas Brothers, is in early development, but it’s set during Paris Fashion Week and will include some zombies.
Cudi is producing Hell Naw with Mad Solar workers Karina Manashil and Dennis Cummings; Sam and AshleyLevinson and their Little Lamb company; Bron Studios; and H. Wood Films.
The rapper says the film “has been five years in the making” and “will f*** you up in all the best ways.”
“I have been a horror fan since I was 7 years old. The first horror movies I ever saw were Night of the Living Dead and Evil Dead. And from that point on, I was hooked on the feeling of being frightened,” he says. “Sam, The Lucas Brothers and myself have really crafted a tale we feel everyone who’s a fan of horror and comedy will enjoy. You will laugh, oh yes you will, but the horror aspect of this movie will really be something to see. You will be shook. I promise. Y’all know I don’t play around.”
Kid Cudi’s new role comes after he secured spots in the Sonic the Hedgehog spinoff series Knuckles and the John Woo action pic Silent Night. He plays a teen’s father in the Disney+ film Crater.
(ERIE, Pa.) — It’s been over a decade since researchers began looking into microplastics in the Great Lakes.
Now, the issue is getting renewed attention amid broader concerns about the potential effects of microplastics on the human body and a possible future link to the hydro-fracking boom currently happening in the region.
Microplastics form as plastic pieces in the environment erode into smaller and smaller pieces, eventually becoming so small that they can’t be seen with the naked eye, according to Sherri Mason, director of sustainability at Penn State University’s Barr Campus on Lake Erie, who’s spent years researching microplastics in waterways.
Unlike other types of litter, the plastic bits will take far longer to disappear.
“If you were to see a paper bag on the side of the road, it’s unsightly, but within weeks it has completely, what we call, mineralized. There are organisms in the soil that can use it as a food source,” Mason told ABC News’ Start Here podcast host Brad Mielke.
Mason’s research has focused on Lake Erie, which has a concentration of microplastic that rivals the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, a floating landfill that’s twice the size of Texas, according to multiple studies.
But the majority of plastic in Lake Erie is less than 5 millimeters in diameter, much of it approaching microscopic size “about the width of a human hair,” Mason said. She describes it as a “smog” of particles drifting around, which also makes it impossible to meaningfully clean up.
Mason and her students spent a year collecting samples of trash from Lake Erie and sorted them into different categories.
“Thousands of bottles is the No. 1 thing. Bottles and cups, and then a lot of chip bags. It’s mostly a lot of food packaging,” Mason said.
Before plastic gets pressed into a shape like a water bottle or bag, it starts off as plastic pellets that get fed into big machines.
The pellets, about the size of a grain of rice, are transported by millions on freight trains before being siphoned out onto trucks that take them to factories. Not far from the banks of Lake Erie, small piles of pellets litter the tracks where they’ve spilled out during this process, Mason said. When it rains, the pellets start making their way into nearby Mill Creek and later into lakes and oceans.
And it’s just one of the ways that plastic can end up in bodies of water, according to Mason.
What’s more, one study suggests that the average person may be ingesting about 5 grams of plastic per week, or the equivalent to the mass of a credit card, according to a study commissioned by the World Wildlife Fund. Microplastics have even been found in the lungs of living people, according to recent research. Mason said that microplastics are getting so small that in some cases they are able to find their way beyond the digestive tract.
“When you get a piece that’s smaller than a hundred microns or the width of a human hair, they can migrate across the gastrointestinal tract. They get carried in the blood. We have found them in the blood, and they can make their way into certain organs. They can make their way across the placental boundary,” Mason said.
The World Health Organization says that although more research is needed, so far it has found no direct evidence that microplastics make people sick. The Plastic Industry Association, which represents plastic makers, said in a statement that claims about microplastics “lack sound data,” and that plastic is overwhelmingly safe. In fact, the association said, plastics are essential to hygiene, which is why it is in so many medical products.
But Mason is concerned that the use of plastics shows no signs of slowing down.
The Midwest is currently in the midst of a hydro-fracking boom, and half of the fracking wells in Pennsylvania produce ethane. Ethane can be turned into polyethylene, which is the most common type of plastic.
“So now there is a connection between basically hydro-fracking and the plastics industry,” Mason said.
Last year, a new plant opened just north of Pittsburgh that converts this material into plastic, and two more facilities are being proposed in Ohio.
According to the Center for International Environmental Law, the health of the fossil fuel industry is deeply reliant on plastics, and these investments could cause plastic production to spike.
Mason believes that the ultimate responsibility to curb plastic usage lies with the companies that make and use them.
“You’ve given your money to that corporation. You end up with their container, which you don’t want, but then you also have to pay to get rid of it. You have to pay to clean it out of the water,” Mason said.
Dustin Lynch is turning on Music City’s “party mode” with his country music-themed pool party, DUSTIN LYNCH POOL SITUATION: NASHVILLE.
The summery event will take place June 10 at Margaritaville Hotel Nashville during CMA Fest. It’ll feature longtime components of Dustin’s Pool Party bash during Luke Bryan’s annual Crash My Playa, as well as other live show essentials.
“I can’t believe I didn’t think to do this sooner,” Dustin tells The Tennessean in a recent interview. “Currently, I’m having the most fun I’ve ever had in my career. I’m in control of fun, interactive and pumped-up crowds. I’m ready to make memories with them at whatever heights I dream are possible.”
Dustin first launched his fan club pool party in Las Vegas in June 2021.
Members of Dustin’s Stay Country Club will get first access to the tickets. Limited event tickets will be allocated via a random lottery system, with the opt-in period for the drawing open now until Thursday, April 27, at 5 p.m. ET. Winners will be notified via email on Friday, April 28.
Little Feat is set to release remastered deluxe editions of two of their classic albums, 1972’s Sailin’ Shoes and 1973’s Dixie Chicken.
The deluxe edition of Sailin’ Shoes will include previously unreleased outtakes from the album’s recording session, including alternative versions of “Cold Cold Cold,” “Apolitical Blues” and “Willin’.” There’s also a previously unreleased concert recorded August 28, 1971, at the Palladium in Los Angeles.
The deluxe edition of Dixie Chicken also includes unreleased session recordings, including alternative versions of “Roll Um Easy,” “On Your Way Down” and “Juliette.” There’s also a live concert recorded on March 1, 1973, at Paul’s Mall in Boston.
The newly remastered deluxe editions of both albums will be released June 23. They will both be released as a two-CD and three-LP 180-gram vinyl set and are available for preorder now.
And Little Feat fans will be able to hear them play these albums live this fall when they kick off their The Albums Tour. The tour consists of the band playing each album in its entirety, one at each show. The Albums Tour kicks off September 29 at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville. A complete list of dates can be found at littlefeat.net.
(NEW YORK) — Musician Ed Sheeran was in Manhattan federal court Tuesday as opening statements began in a copyright infringement trial involving alleged similarities between his Grammy-winning song “Thinking Out Loud” and the Marvin Gaye classic “Let’s Get It On.”
Sheeran, seated in a dark suit and tie at the defense table, listened to the opening statements in the case, which was brought forth by the heirs to “Let’s Get It On” co-writer Ed Townsend.
“If you remember nothing else about this trial, about this case, simply remember it is about giving credit where credit is due,” said renowned civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump, who represents the heirs of Townsend.
The lawsuit claims that Sheeran, without permission, took the rhythm, chord progression and other elements for his 2014 song “Thinking Out Loud” from “Let’s Get It On,” which Crump said has become a “cornerstone” in the American experience.
“It has been called the perfect song for ‘that moment,'” Crump said of Gaye’s 1973 soul classic. “Some of you may know what I mean by ‘that moment.'”
Crump said Sheeran “recognized the magic of ‘Let’s Get It On'” and infringed on its copyright for the tune that won him his first Grammy.
Sheeran’s attorney, Ilene Farkas, said Sheeran and co-writer Amy Wadge “independently created” the song “Thinking Out Loud.”
“Their song was born from an emotional conversation,” Farkas said. “It was their original creation.”
The defense referred to the chord progression and rhythm of “Thinking Out Loud” as “basic musical building blocks that no one can own” and said the rest of the alleged similarities “do not exist.”
Crump said the plaintiffs “have a smoking gun”: a videotape of Sheeran in concert merging “Thinking Out Loud” with “Let’s Get It On.”
“In that video you will see Mr. Ed Sheeran switching from ‘Thinking Out Loud’ and then to ‘Let’s Get It On’ and then he switches back to ‘Thinking Out Loud,'” Crump said, arguing that demonstrates the infringing similarities.
Farkas said Sheeran and Wadge were thinking about personal loss and the recording of “Thinking Out Loud” had nothing to do with Gaye and Townsend’s song.
“‘Thinking Out Loud’ is a song about finding everlasting, unconditional love,” Farkas said.
The trial comes after Townsend’s heirs sued Sheeran, Warner Music Group and Sony Music Publishing in 2017.
There is a keyboard set up near the witness stand for an expert musicologist who is expected to testify during the trial.
Sheeran previously won a 2022 copyright infringement case involving “Shape of You,” while Gaye’s heirs, who are not involved in this current lawsuit, won a case in 2015 against Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams involving “Got to Give it Up.”
(MIAMI) — As the Republican field for president takes shape around former President Donald Trump, with Gov. Ron DeSantis expected to launch his own campaign by the summer, a third Floridian is angling to possibly join the 2024 race.
Miami Mayor Francis Suarez is weighing a bid for the White House, recently telling ABC affiliate WMUR that he would be making a decision “shortly” on whether to run. Suarez has visited multiple early nominating states, including a visit last week to New Hampshire where he spoke at the Institute of Politics at Saint Anselm College, a staple venue for many mulling a presidential campaign.
There, Suarez highlighted his profile and backstory as the Hispanic son of a former Miami mayor and the Republican executive of a major American city, who was easily reelected in 2021. He touted his policy credentials on the economy and anti-crime measures and criticized the Biden administration for its Middle East and China policies.
As he takes some of the typical early steps before running for president, Suarez is previewing his case to occupy a potential third lane in a Republican primary that has so far largely featured Trump and DeSantis’ conservative styles. Amid a surge in Hispanic support for the GOP in some parts of the country, including Florida, Suarez offers a more centrist tone on migration and climate issues than his state’s governor and Trump, the party standard-bearer.
On climate change, he told CBS in July that “the problem for us is not theoretical … it’s real.”
He’s also made national headlines by inviting corporate heavyweights and startups alike, from asset managers to cryptocurrency traders, to make Miami their place of business.
In New Hampshire on April 18, Suarez said a relationship with the Hispanic community would be critical for the Republican nominee in 2024. More than 70% of the city of Miami is Hispanic, according to the latest census data.
Suarez suggested the GOP nominate “someone that can communicate and connect with Hispanics … [someone who can] help Republicans win elections for a generation, not just for one presidency.”
The nominee should have another quality, he said. “I’d want that person to have a positive — I’m going to stress that word — positive vision for the future. I think we’re getting a lot of negativity, a lot of divisiveness.”
Suarez won his second term as mayor with some 79% of the vote in Miami. A year later, DeSantis carried the Democratic stronghold of broader Miami-Dade County, becoming the first Republican gubernatorial candidate to win there in two decades. DeSantis had lost the county by about 20 points in 2018.
In New Hampshire, Suarez echoed other Republican criticism that DeSantis’ outreach in the party and initial public appearances across the country have been lackluster: “He seems to struggle with relationships, generally. I look people in the eye when I shake their hands.”
The mayor’s remarks came as a growing number of Florida congressional delegation members endorsed Trump for president, even before DeSantis has announced his own bid.
“[R]etail politics matters. The ability to go in particular places like Iowa, New Hampshire … is at times [about] meeting with just a handful of voters at once,” Matt Terrill, the managing partner at Firehouse Strategies, told ABC News.
Terrill said Trump was skilled in that art. “Trump, when he was the president at the time, would be inviting congressional members on Air Force One — many of those members from Florida — he’d be calling up members constantly playing golf with them.”
Appearing on Fox News on Thursday, Suarez declined any invitations to criticize Trump.
(ATLANTA) — On Jan. 2, 2021, former President Donald Trump asked Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to “find” the votes needed to win the state in the 2020 election.
The now-infamous phone call helped spark a criminal investigation launched the following month by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis looking into the efforts by Trump and his allies to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
Here’s a look at how the probe — one of several investigations involving the former president — has unfolded so far:
Nov. 3, 2020
Voters head to the polls in the 2020 general election.
Nov. 7, 2020
Multiple media organizations, including ABC News, call the election for Joe Biden based on the projected electoral vote count, as several states, including Georgia, have yet to be projected.
Nov. 10, 2020
The Trump campaign requests a hand recount in Georgia, where Biden leads by about 14,000 votes out of nearly 5 million cast in the presidential race.
Nov. 11, 2020
Raffensperger, a Republican, announces that due to how slim the vote margin is between Biden and Trump, the state’s planned audit will trigger a “full by-hand recount in each county” of the presidential race.
Nov. 19, 2020
The results of Georgia’s statewide audit, which entailed that counties recount by hand every vote cast in the presidential race, reaffirm Biden as the winner — by a margin of 12,284 votes. It’s the first time since 1992 that a Democrat will win the state.
Nov. 20, 2020
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and Raffensperger certify the results of the general election, making it official that Biden won the state’s 16 electoral votes.
Nov. 24, 2020
Georgia’s 159 counties start counting the votes cast in the presidential race for a third time, after the Trump campaign requests a machine recount.
Dec. 6, 2020
Raffensperger defends the integrity of the general election, telling ABC News Chief Anchor George Stephanopoulos during an interview on “This Week” that his office has yet to find evidence supporting “systemic fraud” that would change the outcome.
Dec. 7, 2020
Raffensperger and Kemp recertify the state’s election results after a recount requested by Trump confirms once again that Biden won the state. The audit found that Biden won by a margin of 11,779 votes.
Dec. 22, 2020
Mark Meadows, the White House chief of staff at the time, visits Georgia’s Cobb County to observe a signature match audit.
Dec. 23, 2020
Amid the signature match audit in Cobb County, Trump phones a chief investigator in Raffensperger’s office to discuss the audit, telling the investigator they would be praised for finding errors in the vote count, according to an individual familiar with the call.
Jan. 2, 2021
In an hourlong phone call obtained by ABC News, Trump calls Raffensperger and falsely claims that it was “not possible” for him to have lost and asks the secretary to “find 11,780 votes” — the exact number Trump needed to win Georgia.
“The people of Georgia are angry. The people of the country are angry, and there’s nothing wrong with saying that, you know, that you’ve recalculated,” Trump says on the call. “All I want to do is this: I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have. … Fellas, I need 11,000 votes, give me a break.”
Meadows was also heard speaking on the call.
Raffensperger challenged the president’s allegations, saying the data Trump is citing about tens of thousands of illegal votes “is wrong.”
Feb. 10, 2021
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis notifies Kemp that her office has launched an investigation into efforts by Trump and his allies to overturn the results of the 2020 election, according to a letter obtained by ABC News.
The letter asked state officials to preserve any documents potentially related to the 2020 general election, “with particular care given to set aside and preserve those that may be evidence of attempts to influence the actions of persons who were administering” it, which would include Trump’s phone call with Raffensperger.
Jan. 20, 2022
Willis requests to seat a special grand jury in her probe, according to a letter obtained by ABC News. In the letter to Fulton County Chief Judge Christopher Brasher, Willis wrote that the move is needed because “a significant number of witnesses and prospective witnesses have refused to cooperate with the investigation absent a subpoena requiring their testimony.”
May 2, 2022
Twenty-six jurors are selected for a special grand jury in Willis’ investigation.
The special grand jury does not have the ability to return an indictment and can only make recommendations concerning criminal prosecution. Should charges be recommended, it would then be up to Willis to determine whether or not to pursue them.
July 19, 2022
New court documents reveal that 16 people identified as “fake electors” have been notified that they are targets of the Fulton County district attorney’s criminal investigation, new court documents reveal.
Aug. 15, 2022
Trump’s personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, is informed he is considered a “target” of the Fulton County district attorney’s probe, according to sources familiar with the matter.
Nov. 1, 2022
The U.S. Supreme Court rejects Sen. Lindsey Graham bid to block a subpoena for testimony before the special grand jury. Graham, in the aftermath of the 2020 election, called Georgia election officials to discuss the election.
Nov. 8, 2022
Voters head to the polls in Georgia for a primary election where Raffensperger is up for reelection for his secretary of state seat. Trump supports Rep. Jody Hice in the primary.
Nov. 18, 2022
A hand count of random batches of votes confirms Raffensperger has won reelection, state election officials announce.
Jan. 9, 2023
A new filing indicates that the special grand jury has finished its work and submitted its final report following months of closed-door testimony.
The jurors heard testimony from some of Trump’s closest allies and supporters, including lawyers Rudy Giuliani and John Eastman, and Sen. Graham.
Jan. 24, 2023
Willis says during a hearing that charging decisions in the case are “imminent.”
Feb. 13, 2023
Fulton County Judge Robert McBurney rules that portions of the special grand jury’s report can be released in the coming days, though the majority of the report will remain sealed. Willis had argued for the report to remain sealed, saying that it was important to “be mindful of protecting future defendants’ rights.”
Feb. 16, 2023
Excerpts from the special grand jury’s report are released, revealing that the jury has recommended to prosecutors that they seek indictments against witnesses who they believe may have lied during their testimony.
“A majority of the grand jury believes that perjury may have been committed by one or more witnesses testifying before it,” the grand jury wrote in the report. “The Grand Jury recommends that the District Attorney seek appropriate indictments for such crimes where the evidence is compelling.”
The excerpts from the report do not list any names of those who grand jury members believe may have committed perjury nor offer any rationale for its allegations of perjury.
There are also no details revealed regarding whether or not the grand jury recommended changes for anyone related to efforts to overturn the election. The excerpts do not identify any of the 75 witnesses interviewed and do not mention Trump by name.
Following their release, a spokesperson for Trump said the excerpts “have nothing to do with the President because President Trump did absolutely nothing wrong.”
“The President participated in two perfect phone calls regarding election integrity in Georgia, which he is entitled to do — in fact, as President, it was President Trump’s Constitutional duty to ensure election safety, security, and integrity,” the spokesperson said.
Feb. 21, 2023
In a series of print and television interviews, Emily Kohrs, the foreperson of the special grand jury, reveals that jurors recommended charges for several individuals, without naming any of them — and intimated that the former president is among them.
“You’re not going to be shocked,” Kohrs told The New York Times about whether her panel recommended charges against Trump. “It’s not rocket science.”
March 20, 2023
Trump’s attorneys file a motion seeking to throw out the special grand jury report and remove the district attorney’s office leading the investigation.
March 27, 2023
McBurney gives Willis’ office until May 1 to respond to Trump’s motion to quash the special grand jury report.
April 24, 2023
Willis indicates her office will announce any charging decisions sometime between July 11 and Sept. 1, 2023, in a letter to law enforcement.
Grammy-winning songwriter/producer Desmond Child is ready to tell his story. Child, who has written hits for artists like Bon Jovi, KISS, Aerosmith,Katy Perry and Ricky Martin, is set to release his memoir, Livin’ On A Prayer: Big Songs Big Life, on September 19, featuring a forward by KISS’ Paul Stanley.
“The process of writing the book has been more than cathartic. It has been revelatory,” Child shares. “Not until I went through the deep and sometimes painful experience of writing this book did I realize the great adventure I’d been living … an adventure I’m thrilled to share with the world.”
Child, who was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2008, has been responsible for more than 80 Billboard Top 40 singles, with his hits having sold more than 500 million records worldwide. Some of the hits he’s had a hand in include Bon Jovi classics “Livin’ On A Prayer” and “You Give Love A Bad Name,” KISS’ “I Was Made For Lovin’ You,” Aerosmith’s “Dude (Looks Like A Lady),” Martin’s “Livin’ La Vida Loca,” Joan Jett and theBlackhearts‘ “I Hate Myself For Lovin’ You” and Perry’s “Wakin’ Up In Vegas.”
