Some way…free Breezy Bobby, ho… Bobby Shmurda Jailed During NYPD Drug & Gun Sting Looks like Bobby is Shmoney dancing to the jailhouse tonight. He was popped by police on December 17th due to his alleged involvement in shootings and drug trafficking was discovered after an NYPD investigation. Via PageSix : An up-and-coming rapper is among several people arrested in an investigation into a series of gang-related shootings and drug trafficking in New York City. Authorities said Wednesday that Ackquille Pollard was taken into custody shortly after he left a recording studio near Radio City Music Hall in midtown Manhattan. He performs under the name Bobby Shmurda. A spokeswoman for the prosecutor’s office says the 20-year-old Pollard is among a group of defendants named in an indictment that will be unsealed after their arraignments Thursday. The Brooklyn-born Pollard is best known for the hit song “Hot Boy” and for a music video that popularized a dance move called the “Shmoney dance.” The name of Pollard’s attorney wasn’t immediately available. Hopefully he hasn’t been really living his lyrics and can go free sometime soon!
J.Cole Lands Atop The Billboard 200 With First Week Debut Of “2014 Forest Hills Drive Talented Roc Nation lyricist J.Cole has been arguably the most underrated rapper on the mainstream music scene since first making his way into the game, but it looks like the fans are giving the industry standards for who’s hot a huge middle finger as his recently-released third studio album is now sitting pretty in the number 1 spot on the Billboard 200. Bringing in an impressive 375,000 in first-week sales with the release of his highly-anticipated 2014 Forest Hills Drive album , which features no other artists nor “radio-friendly” singles, Cole has yet again done what he does best and defied the odds by pushing the envelope beyond the conventional and letting the fans determine the outcome. He took to his Twitter page just days after the release stating that he was depending on the response of the fans rather than sales projections from critics to determine the true success of the album… …and later had this to say once word got around that his hard work had paid off in a massive way. In addition to sales numbers, the album was also streamed 15.7 million times on Spotify in its’ first week, setting an all-time record in the United States. Congrats to Cole on a phenomenal album & a well-deserved top spot! What are your thoughts on 2014 Forest Hills Drive ?
Out…of…pocket… Black Man Fired After Complaining About Eric Garner Joke A North Carolina man is out of a job after he says he complained about a racist joke about Eric Garner. WRAL reports: UPS employee in Raleigh says he was fired in retaliation after admonishing his supervisor for making a racially insensitive remark. Joshua Boyd, 22, said Friday that he had worked only three weeks at the UPS Customer Center, loading boxes onto trucks, when the encounter with his boss happened Tuesday. As the two worked side by side, Boyd eyed the supervisor’s chocolate bar. “I said, ‘Hey man!’” Boyd recalled. “I look at him, and he looks back at me and says, ‘Yeah, I’ll bring you down like they did that guy in New York.’” Boyd said he didn’t appreciate the reference to Eric Garner, a black man who died after being placed in a chokehold by a white police officer in Staten Island, N.Y. A grand jury’s decision not to indict the officer resulted in nationwide protests, including in the Triangle. “I quickly addressed it, so I said, ‘Hey man, that’s not funny. Can you not joke on that particular matter,” said Boyd, who is black. He said the supervisor, who is white, immediately apologized. But Boyd said the supervisor laughed about the chokehold joke two more times to other employees. Boyd said he felt like he was in a hostile work environment, so he went home. He returned the next day and had a meeting with his supervisor’s boss. He said he was told to return Thursday and meet with Human Resources personnel, who fired him. Boyd said he did not overreact to the remark. “If I ask you not to say it one time, firmly – I didn’t joke back and smile and say, ‘Hey man, don’t say that again.’ I looked at you straight and asked you not to say that again,” he said. He said UPS cut him loose “to protect their employees.” Boyd said he plans to take his complaint to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. SMH…we smell a lawsuit. Somebody’s about to get PAID.
So, is Nicki calling Meek “big daddy” on wax AND in the sheets?? Nicki Minaj Addresses Meek Mill Dating Rumors Nicki Minaj finally stopped blushing, giggling and changing the subject when Meek Mill became the topic and adresed the relationship rumors head-on. Via HollywoodLife : Nicki and Meek have been getting super close lately! Not only do they have two songs together on Nicki’s new album, The Pinkprint, the two have been spotted together multiple times since the Philadelphia-born rapper was released from jail on Dec. 3. Nicki even spent her birthday on Dec. 8 with Meek at her side during her close, intimate dinner. While promoting the release of her new #1 album The Pinkprint, Nicki stopped by Ryan Seacrest‘s show to talk about the album and her personal life over the last year. But she seemed to become a bit flustered each time Meek was brought up! “Who sat next to you at dinner?” Ryan asked about her birthday shindig. “New boy?” To which Nicki squealed “Shut Up!” and blushed, before finally answering shyly “No, no new boy at that dinner.” Prompted by fan tweets, Ryan eventually asked straight-up: “Can you clear up this Meek Mill situation?” But Nicki dropped her coy act and directly denied any real romantic connection to the rapper. “Let me clear this up: I am SINGLE,” she stated. “People are just assuming these things and I don’t know why. This is my friend. I’m just hanging out. We don’t look at each other like that at all!” Well there you have it! We actually thought these two would make a cute couple. But Nicki’s still out here unclaimed. …and Drake breathed a sigh of relief…
SMH! Bronx Teen Arrested On Murder Charges After House Party Stabbing This story is an absolute shame. One teen is dead and several others are injured after a fight broke out at a house party in the Bronx over the weekend. Apparently the one boy looking to break up the violence is the one who was killed in the confusion. Via NYDN : A Bronx teenager was charged with murder in the stabbing death of a 14-year-old boy at a Bronx house party, police said Tuesday. Ken Goodwin, 18, is accused of killing Justin Fallu and wounding three other teens after a wild fight broke out in a Barnes Ave. apartment in Pelham Parkway about 3:15 a.m. Sept. 28. Neighbors said teens had been partying and smoking marijuana for hours before a fight erupted and the party spilled out into the lobby. Goodwin, also known as Shakil Martin, stabbed Justin and two 18-year-old boys in the chest and a 17-year-old boy in the shoulder, cops said. The older teens survived but Justin, a student at Public School 754, the J.M. Rapport School for Career Development, died at Jacobi Medical Center. Friends told the Daily News that Justin was trying to break up the fight when he was killed. Goodwin was identified as a suspect days after the bloody melee, but police were unable to locate him. Accompanied by a lawyer, Goodwin turned himself in at the 50th Precinct stationhouse Monday morning, cops said. He was charged with murder, three counts of assault and criminal possession of a weapon, officials said. Goodwin has eight prior arrests, cops said. After police named him as a suspect in Justin’s murder, he missed his court dates for his three ongoing Bronx criminal cases and arrest warrants were issued. Wow. Our condolences go out to the family of the slain boy, and hopefully the survivors will have a speedy recovery. New York Daily News
Who told him this was a good idea to begin with? Donald Sterling Pulls Out Of Holiday Fundraiser In Predominately Black Neighborhood Via TMZ : Donald Sterling pulled out of a charity toy drive in Watts Saturday night … because his security team feared for his safety in the hood with racial tensions running so high across the country. TMZ Sports broke the story — Sterling was scheduled to show up for something called the Chrismukkah Soiree “Party in the Projects.” But a rep for the ex-owner of the Clippers tells us he abruptly canceled after we posted the story. Apparently, Sterling wanted his appearance to be a surprise. We’re told his security team was worried too many people knew where he was going to be — and considering his track record with the black community … things could go south quickly. Donald’s rep says he still donated a sedan-full of toys during a Friday night event held in a much more … Sterling-safe environment — Beverly Hills. L.A. City Councilman Joe Buscaino — who reps Watts — probably didn’t help matters by coming on TMZ Live, and demanding Sterling stay away … unless he’s ready to donate much more than toys. He wanted to show up as a surprise, though? Exactly who did he think was about to be happy to see him??
“…But the question should be asked: Who is the victim?” Camille Cosby Releases Statement On Bill Cosby Rape Accusations Bill Cosby’s wife Camille is finally speaking out about the rape accusations that continue to pile up against her husband. Releasing the following statement below, Camille makes it clear that she is standing by her husband in spite of 20+ women c oming forward to accuse him of sexually assaulting them. She also likens the situation to that of the highly-publicized UVA rape case , which is currently under investigation. Check out her full statement below: Wow. Do you think Bill Cosby has also been “victimized?” Or is Camille going a little too hard with the ride-or-die loyalty to her husband? WENN
SMH… Teen Charged With Crossbow Murder Of Father A 17-year-old in Delaware could face the death penalty for the brutal murder of his father via crossbow. Rawstory reports: A teenage boy in Delaware, charged with murdering his father with a crossbow, was being held without bail Saturday in a juvenile detention facility, state police said. Seth Ramsey, 17, of Harrington, was charged with first degree murder and possession of a deadly weapon, Delaware State Police said. He was accused of shooting his 41-year-old father, Todd Ramsey, in the upper torso at the family’s home, state police said. Officers had been called to the home on Thursday after Todd Ramsey’s co-workers reported him missing from the job for several days, authorities said. “When they (officers) initially arrived at the house, the two made contact with the man’s teenage son who claimed he may have killed his father,” state police said in a statement. An autopsy would conclude when the man was killed, authorities said, and no motive has been established. It was unclear if the teen had obtained an attorney or how he intends to plead to the murder charge, which carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment or possibly the death penalty. Wow, do you think it’s fair or foul to possibly give the death penalty to a teenager????
Time to stand up… John Legend Challenges The People To Fight For Change Just after releasing his inspirational duet with Common from the Selma sundtrack, John Legend is speaking out on the fight for change and placing a call to action for everyone to stand and demand policy change. Via Billboard : When Common and I wrote the song “Glory” for the stunning new film Selma, we drew inspiration from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and his contemporaries who strived and sacrificed to achieve racial equality in the face of seemingly hopeless odds. As I watched the final version of Selma, I did so with the backdrop of the streets of many of our major cities filled with protesters, crying out for justice after yet another unarmed black person’s life was taken by the police with impunity. After the events of the past few weeks, in Ferguson, Mo.; Staten Island; Phoenix; and Cleveland, things feel eerily the same. While it is important to recognize and acknowledge racial progress through the years, it is also clear that we are far from King’s dream of equality and justice for all. Slavery ended 150 years ago. The most egregious elements of Jim Crow were deemed illegal 50 years ago. But the problems of structural racism are old and ongoing. We still have a huge wealth gap rooted in decades of job, wage and housing discrimination. Voting restrictions that disproportionately affect the poor, minorities and youth are in place and growing. A persistent gap between black and white student achievement points to an education system that fails to provide a ladder of opportunity for everyone. African-American communities are being crushed by a criminal justice system that over-polices us, over-arrests us, over-incarcerates us and disproportionately takes the lives of our unarmed youth because of the simple fact that our skin, our blackness, conjures the myth of a hyper-violent negro. I did an album with The Roots in 2010 called Wake Up! We wanted to use music to encourage young people who were politicized by the election of President Barack Obama to continue mobilizing. We covered songs from the 1960s and ’70s by artists like Nina Simone and Curtis Mayfield as inspiration and a blueprint. They marched. They wrote songs. They met with political leaders. They provided financial support. They risked arrest. Today, I am part of a generation of artists who benefit from unprecedented access to our fans. Tools like Twitter and Facebook act as a megaphone, allowing us to speak directly and powerfully to millions of people. Yet our actions, or lack thereof, speak louder: 140 characters cannot excuse us of our obligation to stand up, sit in or march forward. Obama recently told the young activists gathered in the Oval Office to “think big, but go gradual.” His words reminded me of President Lyndon B. Johnson’s reluctance to tackle voting rights, as depicted in Selma. Despite Johnson’s qualms, civil rights activists refused to wait for a more convenient political time. They took to the streets and used grass-roots organization and the moral force of their argument to create better conditions so the legislation could pass. We can’t wait for gradual and incremental change. Our government is a democracy, by the people and for the people. It is time for the people to wake up, stand up and demand change. Nice. What do you think of what he had to say??
