Source: Aaron J. Thornton / Getty I ssa Rae has started the early stages of a remake for the 1996 classic film Set It Off. According to Variety , Issa will be producing the movie. She may even have a role in the film. Set It Off tells the story of four friends who end up robbing a series of different banks amid frustration over their low paying jobs. This was the film that would serve as the launching pad for director F. Gary Gray’s now illustrious career. Set It Off followed the hit movie Friday , which also was very well received at the time of its’ release. The four women who played in Set It Off — Jada Pinkett Smith, Queen Latifah, Vivica A. Fox, and Kimberly Elise — were essentially the first women in film to play a character that exhibited as much depth as male stars in similar films. Issa Rae, who served as co-creator and executive producer for Insecure , has familiarity acting in a role where a group of friends are required to navigate through the hardships of life. Positioned to make her presence felt on the big screen, HBO programming chief Casey Bloys tried to make it happen for Issa. “Issa became a big movie star,” Bloys explained. “We’re not the first place to deal with this, but when you’re in business with very creative and talented people, there’s a lot more opportunities for people to do things.”
Source: Allen Berezovsky / Getty Ever since getting out of prison for tax evasion and possession of a firearm, Ja Rule ‘s life has been, well, all kinds of struggle. From the now infamous Fyre “Hunger Games” Festival to epically failing to get a crowd reaction from basketball fans at a Milwaukee Bucks game , Ja Rule’s post-prison existence has become the proverbial punching bag for 50 Cent to train his social media troll game on. Looking to get out of the funk he’s been drenched in for the past few years, Ja Rule is looking to his past to help him achieve a brighter future a la Marty McFly. Taking to Twitter, Rule York announced his intentions of digging into his prolific catalogue (the man did make hits before 50 Cent blew up and tore him down), and has decided that he’ll be giving each of his countless cuts the visual treatment. “I will be making a video for every song I’ve ever made,” Ja stated in a tweet yesterday morning. I will be rereleasing ALL of my albums as visual albums… I will be making a video for every song I’ve ever made… what songs do y’all wanna see videos for??? — Ja Rule (@jarule) September 16, 2019 Music is timeless… my new album 12.Twelve.XII comes out dec. 12th… https://t.co/JQka4zgeqI — Ja Rule (@jarule) September 16, 2019 But fret not, Ja Rule loyalists, his old music videos will not be remade into anything new as he’s promised to leave the classics alone. Wait till I shoot if God were one of us… and I’m not shooting the songs that have vids already… https://t.co/YyHA3O6elJ — Ja Rule (@jarule) September 16, 2019 Whew! Dodged a bullet on that one. While we’re sure his fans will be watching every single one of his brand new videos, what we wanna see is Ja bring his OG Murder Inc. cuts with Jay-Z and DMX to life. “It’s Murda,” and “Murdergram” were ridiculously off the meat rack and us Hip-Hoppers are still mad we never got that once promised collaboration album from those three. We doubt we’ll get those long overdue visuals due to the epic falling out between the three rappers in the early 00’s but hey, hope springs eternal, right?
Irv Gotti is poised to possibly make the biggest executive comeback in recent history. The Murder Inc. founder is taking his talents to Tinseltown to tell the story of a good, but infamous friend. Hot New Hip Hop is reporting that Lorenzo is working on a film on the notorious Kenneth “Supreme” McGriff. He announced it during a recent interview with The Outlawz Radio Show . The move seems like a no brainer for the Murder Inc. CEO as he has a longstanding friendship with the convicted felon. So much so his record label suffered due to their alliance when the feds raided their offices for suspicion on money laundering. For those living under a rock Supreme was one of the most infamous drug traffickers in New York City during the 1980’s. View this post on Instagram Y’all probably think I’m bullshitting. I’m not. Hahaha. Another deal done. Another Visionary Ideas Production starting. Hahah. I swear. THANK YOU GOD!! Your Soldier. I’m riding!! A post shared by Irv “Gotti” Lorenzo (@irvgotti187) on Sep 4, 2019 at 5:11pm PDT His operation, aptly called The Supreme Team, owned a large share of the crack distribution in Queens. It is reported that his crew was responsible for over 1 billion in narcotics sales during the crack era. History has shown that with all that cold hard cash comes violence and his rise to power was no different. Police allege that several bodies fell at the request of McGriff. One person who is not fan of the project is none other than 50 Cent . To complicate his longstanding beef with Murder Inc. it has been rumored that ‘Preme order the hit on Curtis that left him shot nine times on May 24, 2000. Additionally he was also connected in having a hand in Jam Master Jay’s murder. As expected Fif took to social media to troll his Irv. “Y’all not even from South Side, get the f*** outta here. I’m doing that story with Bimmy at STARZ. LOL get ya weight up” he wrote. View this post on Instagram This shit isn’t even set up at a studio, stop using Jamie name.I talk to him already you can fucking forget about it Buck O. Y’all not even from South Side, get the fuck outta here. I’m doing that story with Bimmy at STARZ. LOL get ya weight up #lecheminduroi #bransoncognac A post shared by 50 Cent (@50cent) on Sep 16, 2019 at 9:17pm PDT Currently McGriff is serving a life sentence in high-security federal prison in Virginia for murder-for-hire. Photo: Nicky Nelson/WENN.com
Source: @JustInMyView / R1 Digital The trial for the two men accused of kidnapping superstar rap troll turned states evidence, Tekashi “Henry Hill” 6ix9ine if officially underway and though the “Gotti” rapper was relieved of hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of jewelry while sustaining some cuts and bruises, his captors allege it was all staged a la Jussie Smollett. Page Six is reporting that Anthony Ellison’s defense lawyer Devereaux Cannick told jurors “It’s a Jussie Smollett, if you will” referring to the kidnapping his client is accused of participating in. Cannick went on to tell jurors that Tekashi, whose real name is Daniel Hernandez, staged the kidnapping in order to hype the release of his then-forthcoming single “FEFE,” featuring Nicki Minaj. The lawyer claimed Hernandez posted a “diamond-encrusted pendant” to his Instagram account, along with the phrase “somebody come snatch my chain.” For fans who’ve been keeping up with rainbow haired rapper since he broke through with his smash single “Gummo,” part of Tekashi’s troll game was taking to social media and claiming that no one would be able to ever touch him or rob him because his crew was so thorough. In the end it turned out the wolves he boasted about having turned on him and got him themselves, but was it all an act? In today’s age of social media fame and peoples endless pursuit of “likes” we wouldn’t put anything past anybody. Tekashi for his part is set to take the stand as early as today (September 17) and being that he’s facing all kinds of charges of his own you can expect prosecutors to be standing by with a gang of coin roll wrappers for all the dimes he’s expected to drop. Heck, he might bless them with a few extra quarters while putting in his own two pennies.
Source: DJDM/WENN.com / WENN 32 Models Win $900K In Lawsuit Against ‘Miami Velvet’ Swingers Club One Miami swingers club is nearly a million dollars poorer after a judge ruled it owed almost three dozen models some major COIN for using their photos to advertise sex parties . Real Housewives of Miami star Joanna Krupa is among the 32 women who will be paid. From Daily Mail : “A Miami swingers club has been ordered to pay nearly $900,000 after it used photos of models clad in bikinis and lingerie without permission to advertise sex parties and partner-swapping. A jury in Florida federal court agreed Monday that Miami Velvet must pay a total of $892,500 to the 32 professional models whose images were used in the exclusive club’s fliers, social media accounts and on its website, according to the Miami Herald. Miami Velvet is one of the city’s most famous swingers clubs, and allows group sex to occur on its premises. Several of the models who featured in their ads are well known, including Joanna Krupa, who appeared on ‘Dancing with the Stars’ and ‘The Real Housewives of Miami’.” According to the site, Krupa was awarded $65,000 in the case. “…while jurors sided with the models, the money awarded to them was far lower than the collective sum of $5.3million which the models were seeking,” Daily Mail continues. “The lawyer for Miami Velvet acknowledged that his clients were responsible for stealing the photographs but argued that the models were demanding too much money.” While it isn’t the sum they were all looking for, Krupa has a baby on the way and an extra $65K can’t hurt!
Source: Europa Press News / Getty 7th Vape-Related Death In California Vaping is killing people and the death toll is now up to seven according to a new CNN article. An unidentified California man has died and the state and the Center for Disease Control (CDC) is making a major push to warn society of the dangers of this newfound past time. California will launch a $20 million ad campaign to warn against the dangers of vaping, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Monday, the same day health officials said a 40-year-old had died over the weekend from complications related to using e-cigarettes. The CDC’s Emergency Operations Center is investigating over 380 cases of lung disease related to e-cigarettes in order to determine how these products are affecting people’s health. Governor Gavin Newsom is looking to put a cramp in vaping’s potentially fatal style via taxes and other policies that protect children from malignant marketing. As for flavored e-cigarettes, “they should be banned,” Newsom said, adding he could not add that parameter to his order, though he didn’t explain why. “Let’s just dispense with any niceties,” he said. “You don’t have any bubblegum-flavored, mango-flavored tobacco products unless you’re trying to target an audience that you were losing — that’s young people.” What do you think? Are you a vaper? Are you worried about your health?
Source: screen gems / Screen Gems When it comes to the complex relationship between law enforcement and Black people , the discomfort and disconnect seemed to heighten over the last ten years with technology being so advanced. Thanks to cell phones, the world gets to a real-live police brutality incident go down right before their eyes— causing an even deeper distance between those in Blue and folks with Black skin. But what if you happen to be both; Black And Blue . Deon Taylor ‘s new action flick tells the story of just that. Rookie cop, played by Oscar nominated actress Naomie Harris , inadvertently captures the murder of a young drug dealer on her body cam. After realizing that the murder was committed by corrupt cops, she teams up with the one person from her community who is willing to help her ( Tyrese Gibson ) as she tries to escape both the criminals out for revenge and the police who are desperate to destroy the incriminating footage. I visited the set of the the thriller flick on day 28 of their 30th day of shooting and watched on as they filmed one of the more emotionally intense scenes of the film. Naomi’s character visits her mother’s grave accompanied by an old childhood friend (Tyrese) as she enlists his help to bust the corrupt officers. Their fellow cast members Mike Colter , Frank Grillo and Beau Knapp were also on set filming on that misty, New Orleans afternoon in Lafayette Cemetery. I caught up with director Taylor, Harris and Tyrese and more of the cast as they dished on all things Black and Blue. And one thing that every actor in the film had in common is their love and respect for their director, Deon. When asked what drew him to this particular film, Mr. Taylor shared with the panel of journalists: “I’m an independent filmmaker first. I’ve been doing this by myself for so long that I didn’t want to do anything studio wise. But when this script came to me, I just went crazy because I had never seen a film based around a female, Black police officer. And that’s just everything that I wanted to do.” On preparing for her role as a police office, Naomi told us: “I was able to draw on a lot of stuff that I did before because when I did Miami Vice, I did lots of undercover work, so I was out with the police and doing raids–I actually did a real drug sting. It was really exciting and terrifying.” Tyrese added that taking on such a gritty role in Black and Blue definitely challenged him as an actor. “First thing was me and Deon go back like six years. So once I got that call, my ears literally lit up. And on that call. I was saying to Deon, when you’re apart of these big franchised, it’s a gift and sometimes can work against you. Because these dark, dramatic roles that really require you to go there and peel back the layers — you get overlooked as an actor. They’ll say ‘Oh, he’s that guy from that thing.’ So the seriousness of a Naomi got me in the game of top. I was ready to make that statement.” As we chatted with the entire cast during their break, Deon Taylor opened up about his own personal relationship with law enforcement as a Black man, saying: “I’ve been affected by police officers in many different ways. From the patrolling, when I was younger, in terms of keeping people in certain areas and having a negative reaction to that in the Chicago area, and with how people police you, vs now, living in a different [area] and seeing how the police act there. You have to be a realist and understand, ok they patrol this way here, and they patrol that way there.” “That’s one of the biggest themes in the film — Alycia being from the inner city, coming back to the inner city as a cop and how people look at her and what they say to her. And she has to find out the hard way that people don’t view her as a black female cop. They view her as a cop. She’s trying to make a breakthrough. There are so many different experiences and what we try to actually do is push all of that into one film. The movie takes a complete turn based on the fact that when she’s in trouble, someone from the neighborhood helps her and breaks code. And everything that we’re taught not to do, this character does.” With everything going on in the world today regarding law enforcement, this film is a must see. The highly anticipated Screen Gems flick is in theaters nationwide October 25th.
Source: Derrick Salters / WENN / WENN Screening For New EPIX Forest Whitaker Project “Godfather Of Harlem” Attracts Celebrity Guests Forest Whitaker had the support of hip hop heavyweights, Rick Ross , Maino, Dave East and more for the Harlem special screening of his new EPIX project “Godfather Of Harlem” at the Apollo Monday night. Swizz Beatz, who did the music for “Godfather” spoke at length about his involvement during an interview with Power 105.1’s “The Breakfast Club.” Source: Derrick Salters / WENN / WENN The BAWSE definitely looked happy to be there. Source: Derrick Salters / WENN / WENN Can we discuss Cuba’s red carpet attire? Source: Derrick Salters / WENN / WENN Lil Mama has definitely stepped it up as of late. Check out more special screening shots below:
Source: Destination ATL / Destination ATL Destination Atlanta Announces Surprise Headliners For FREE Fall Concert Source: Lourdes Sukari / Lourdes Sukari Today “ Destination: Atlanta ,” a one-day music event created by Journeys and adidas Originals, announced Lil Yachty as the headliner for their second annual festival on September 28 in Atlanta . The GRAMMY-nominated QC star will take the main stage and perform fan favorites at the Georgia Freight Depot in downtown Atlanta . Additional acts performing at “Destination: Atlanta ” include hip-hop artists Kodie Shane , Marlo and Mike Floss . Festival-goers can also vibe to the sounds of DJs Heroes x Villains and Ferrari Simmons along with host, Kenny Burns . RSVP for free at journeys.com/destination!
Source: The Washington Post / Getty Cokie Roberts Dies Cokie Roberts , the legendary ABC News journalist, and political commentator has passed away. ABC News reports that Cokie passed away from breast cancer complications. She was 75-years-old. “We will miss Cokie beyond measure, both for her contributions and for her love and kindness,” her family said in a statement. Cokie named a “Living Legend” by the Library of Congress in 2008. She also won three Emmys and was inducted into the Broadcasting and Cable Hall of Fame and was cited by the American Women in Radio and Television as one of the 50 greatest women. She is survived by her husband, fellow journalist Steven Roberts, her children, Lee and Rebecca and her six grandchildren.
