Month: August 2022

Categories
Pop Daypop

Nicki Minaj to receive Video Vanguard Award and perform at 2022 MTV VMAs

shutterstock_1161777790

MTV announced that Nicki Minaj will make history this month as she is announced to be receiving the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award at this year’s MTV Video Music Awards, which is set to take place on August 28. The Queen of Rap has been nominated for 17 VMAs and won five in her career. Minaj now joins the prestigious list of previous Vanguard Award artists, which includes Madonna, Beyoncé, Kanye West, Rihanna, Janet Jackson, LL Cool J, Jennifer Lopez, Justin Timberlake, and Missy Elliott.

Minaj also announced that she will be performing at the 2022 MTV VMAs. She tweeted: “I’m receiving the Video Vanguard Award at the 2022 #VMAs! You don’t want to miss my performance – Sunday August 28 at 8p on @MTV Aaaahhhhh”.  She later tweeted: ““Keep #VMAs and #VMA in your tweet & tell me what song I HAVE to perform on 8/28… (don’t include #SuperFreakyGirl) GO!!!!!!!”

Bruce Gillmer, President of Music, Music Talent, Programming & Events, Paramount and Chief Content Officer, Music, Paramount+ said: “Nicki has broken barriers for women in hip-hop with her versatility and creative artistry. She has shifted the music industry and cemented her status as a global superstar with her crossover appeal, genre-defying style and continuing to be unapologetically ‘Nicki’.”

Editorial credit: Tinseltown / Shutterstock.com

Categories
Pop Daypop

Blackpink set dates for ‘Born Pink’ World Tour

shutterstock_1997899463

K-pop superstars Blackpink announced they will embark on the massive Born Pink world tour starting Oct. 15-16 in Seoul, with dates running through June 21, 2023, in Auckland. Venues have yet to be announced.

Ahead of the the tour, Blackpink will release a new single, “Pink Venom,” on Aug. 19, with a new studio album to follow (date to be announced).  The album will be the follow-up to 2020’s The Album, which featured hits including “How You Like That,” “Ice Cream” (ft. Selena Gomez), and “Lovesick Girls.”  A press release from YG Entertainment confirmed that Blackpink were in the final stages of recording a new album, and will kick off “a continuous large-scale project which will extend through the second half of the year.”  The press release also revealed that their upcoming tour would be the “largest world tour in the history of a K-pop girl group.” 

Head to the group’s official world tour website for more info: https://blackpinkofficial.com/worldtourbornpink/

Editorial credit: Florian Guenther / Shutterstock.com

Categories
News Daypop

Father and son sentenced to life in prison for federal hate crimes in killing of Ahmaud Arbery

shutterstock_1728564955

The father and son convicted of murdering Ahmaud Arbery were both given an additional sentence of life in prison Monday on federal hate crime charges, while their neighbor was sentenced to 35 years in prison. Travis McMichael, 36, was given the additional life sentence plus 10 years; his father, 64-year-old Gregory McMichael, was also given an additional life sentence, while their neighbor William “Roddie” Bryan, 52, was sentenced to 35 years in prison.

U.S. District Judge Lisa Golbey Wood said during the elder McMichael’s sentencing: “A young man is dead. Ahmaud Arbery will forever be 25. And what happened, a jury found, happened because he’s Black.”  Prosecutors had sought life sentences for all three men but Golbey Wood said she believed it was necessary to distinguish Bryan from the McMichaels, because he did not bring a firearm to the scene, but said he was “still deserving of an awfully long sentence.” The McMichaels asked to be sent to a federal prison — citing concerns about rampant inmate violence in state-run prisons — however, the rejected the requests and ordered that all three men serve their sentences in state prison.
Travis McMichael was convicted of federal hate crimes in February along with his father and Bryan, all of whom are White. Each of the men were convicted in state court and sentenced to life in prison for killing Arbery on Feb. 23, 2020. Bryan and the McMichaels were sentenced to life in prison in state court in January for shooting the 25-year-old Black man to death as he jogged through a neighborhood near Brunswick, Ga. The jury in the federal case found the defendants guilty of violating Arbery’s civil rights by targeting and attempting to kidnap him because he was Black. The younger McMichael, who fired the bullets that killed Arbery, was also found guilty of using a weapon during the commission of a violent crime.

Editorial credit: AustenRisolvato / Shutterstock.com

Categories
News Daypop

Sources say FBI raid at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home allegedly tied to classified material

shutterstock_1668421210

Former President Donald Trump said that the FBI “raided” his Florida home at Mar-a-Lago on Monday, claiming in a written statement that the search — unprecedented in American history — was politically motivated, without providing specifics.

Trump said in a lengthy email statement issued by his Save America political committee: “These are dark times for our Nation, as my beautiful home, Mar-A-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, is currently under siege, raided, and occupied by a large group of FBI agents. After working and cooperating with the relevant Government agencies, this unannounced raid on my home was not necessary or appropriate. They even broke into my safe!”

Sources say that the search was tied to classified information Trump allegedly took with him from the White House to his Palm Beach resort in January 2021. In mid-January, the National Archives “arranged for the transport from Mar-a-Lago to the National Archives of 15 boxes that contained Presidential records, following discussions with President Trump’s representatives in 2021,” the agency said in a statement. When the National Archives discovered the missing documents, it demanded them of the former president, who eventually turned over 15 boxes of the documents in February.  The National Archives and Records Administration asked the Justice Department to examine whether Trump’s handling of White House records violated federal law.

According to a Secret Service official, the FBI notified the Secret Service about the bureau’s plans to execute the warrant just hours before agents searched Trump’s residence on Monday. The Secret Service facilitated access to the property, the official said, but did not participate in any aspect of the search.

Trump is not at Mar-a-Lago, his winter residence. He often spends his summers at Trump National Golf Club Bedminster in New Jersey.

Editorial credit: Wangkun Jia / Shutterstock.com

Categories
Pop Daypop

Panic! at the Disco release their new song ‘Local God’

shutterstock_1841482903

Panic! At The Disco released their new song “Local God”, the follow-up to the singles “Middle of a Breakup” and “Viva Las Vengeance” off the band’s upcoming seventh LP, Viva Las Vengeance, due out August 19th.

To celebrate the release of Viva Las Vengeance, the group will perform at this year’s MTV VMAs on Sunday, August 28th as well as an outdoor performance in New York City’s Rockefeller Plaza for the ‘Citi Summer Concert Series’ on NBC’s Today on August 19th.

Panic! At The Disco will also be hitting the road for the The Viva Las Vengeance Tour kicking off September 8th in Austin, TX.  Special guests include Marina and Jake Wesley Rogers with Beach Bunny will join the band on select dates in North America.  For every ticket sold on their upcoming Viva Las Vengeance Tour the band is donating $1 to their Highest Hopes Foundation. In addition, Live Nation will also be matching the donation from the entire tour, dollar for dollar.

Take a listen to Local God – here.

Editorial credit: Tony Norkus / Shutterstock.com

Categories
Pop Daypop

Beyoncé earns her 7th No. 1 album with ‘Renaissance’

shutterstock_416550760

Beyoncé’s new album Renaissance has landed at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart.

According to Billboard, its first week Renaissance earned 332,000 equivalent album units and sold 190,000 physical copies. Renaissance is Beyoncé’s seventh solo album to reach No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart; she’s the first female artist to have her first seven solo albums debut at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. In 2022 thus far, the only album with a bigger debut week on the Billboard 200 charts than Renaissance was Harry Styles’ Harry’s House, which racked up 521,500 total units.

Renaissance, released on July 29, 2022, is billed as “Act I”—the first of a “three act project” that Bey recorded during the pandemic.Ahead of the release, Beyoncé wrote on her website: “My intention was to create a safe place, a place without judgement. A place to be free of perfectionism and overthinking.” 

Editorial credit: Sky Cinema / Shutterstock.com

Categories
News Daypop

More human remains are discovered as waters recede due to drought at Lake Mead

shutterstock_1090648433

The National Park Service said that more human remains were recovered from the receding waters of Lake Mead for the fifth time this year.

The National Park Service said in a statement that rangers received an emergency call reporting the discovery of human skeletal remains at Swim Beach in the Leake Mead National Recreation Area at about 11:15 a.m. Saturday: “Park rangers responded and set a perimeter to recover the remains with support from Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department’s dive team.” The Clark County Medical Examiner was contacted to determine a cause of death and an investigation is ongoing.

At least four other sets of human remains have been found this year as Lake Mead experiences historically low water levels. The drop in water levels has been cited as a reason for the discovery of a 50-gallon barrel containing the body of a man police believe was the victim of a murder in the mid-1970s or early 1980s. Last August, the federal government declared a water shortage in the Colorado River Basin for the first time, stating that the water level in Lake Mead, which is the largest reservoir in the United States by volume, had fallen to 1,067 feet above sea level and was at 35% capacity.

In July, a set of human remains was found in Swim Lake and the body 22-year-old Lily Kristine Hatcher was found near the Boulder Islands where she went missing on June 30.

Editorial credit: Michael Alford / Shutterstock.com

Categories
News Daypop

Police search for 2 suspects after 9 are injured in downtown Cincinnati mass shooting

shutterstock_2171712075

Police are still searching for two suspects after nine people were injured in a mass shooting near downtown Cincinnati early Sunday morning. Eight men and one woman ranging in ages from 23-47 were hospitalized; all nine had been released from University of Cincinnati Medical Center as of 10:30 a.m.

Cincinnati Police Lt. Col. Mike John said that the shooting took place following an altercation between two groups of people shortly before 2 a.m. outside Mr. Pitiful’s bar in Cincinnati’s historic Over-the-Rhine district, estimating that 15-20 shots were fired in the shooting.

According to Lt. Col. John, as the shooter was actively firing, Officer Joe Shook – who has been with the Cincinnati Police Department since 2016 –  fired a shot. It was unknown whether the bullet struck the shooter, adding that the shooter fled. At a second news conference on Sunday, John said that more shots were fired after the shooter fled, leading police to believe there were at least two shooters.

Cincinnati Mayor Aftab Pureval said the shooting was “unacceptable” while praising officers for their response:  “The gun violence we are seeing is not the gun violence of the past that was concentrated around the drug trad. We need community support, the citizens of Cincinnati to realize this is a devastating trend and to work with us to resolve the differences without gunfire.”

Editorial credit: Jonathan Weiss / Shutterstock.com

Categories
Pop Daypop

Take a look at the new trailer for the Post Malone concert documentary ‘Runaway’

tmp732b22da-9991-496b-b95f-786cd8477277

Post Malone takes fans behind the scenes of his ‘Runaway Tour’ in an upcoming documentary. Amazon Freevee’s Post Malone: Runaway will debut on the streaming service on Aug. 12.

The new trailer for the hour-long documentary shares onstage and backstage looks at Malone’s 2019/20 tour, and goes in-depth on his life and career. The Runaway Tour was canceled with five shows remaining in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Malone will return to the road this fall for a 33-city trek in support of his latest LP, Twelve Carat Toothache. The tour kicks off Sept. 10 in Omaha, wrapping up two months later on Nov. 15th in Los Angeles.

Check out the trailer for Post Malone: Runaway – here.

Editorial credit: Kathy Hutchins / Shutterstock.com

Categories
Pop Daypop

HBO Max’s Selena Gomez cooking show ‘Selena + Chef’ to return for Season 4 premiering Aug. 18

shutterstock_1272954331

Selena Gomez’s cooking show Selena + Chef has been renewed for a fourth season on HBO Max. The 10 episode season of the unscripted series will premiere on August 18th with three episodes, followed by three more on August 25th – and the final four on September 1st, exclusively on HBO Max. Selena + Chef premiered in August 2020, inspired by Gomez spending more time in the kitchen during the pandemic.

In season four, Gomez heads to the beach with her friends and family, where Selena will continue to learn the joys of cooking with all-star chefs in a beautiful Malibu beach house. Season 4 featured chefs include Adrienne Cheatham, Devonn Francis, Gordon Ramsay, Kristen Kish, Ludo Lefebvre, Matty Matheson, Nick DiGiovanni, Paola Velez, Priya Krishna and Rachael Ray.   As in the first three seasons, each chef will highlight a different charity. To date, the series has raised $400,000 for 26 nonprofit organizations.

You can view the Season 4 trailer –  here.

Editorial credit: Tinseltown / Shutterstock.com