Month: August 2025

DJ Hurricane will lead a star-studded tribute to two Hip-Hop pioneers—Jam Master Jay and MCA—during JMJ-MCA Day on Sunday (August 10) at the Coney Island Aquarium Mural Boardwalk in New York City, where the music will run from 12 to 6 p.m. ET.

The event, presented by Together Forever and backed by Category 6, Hurricane’s upcoming album, will feature performances from a lineup of Hip-Hop royalty.

Jam Master Jay’s son, DJ Jam Master J’Son, the Juice Crew’s Craig G, House of Pain’s Danny Boy, Kool Rock Ski of the Fat Boys, T La Rock, Schoolly D and Chief Rocker Busy Bee are all set to take the stage alongside DJ Hurricane, who rose to fame as the longtime DJ for the Beastie Boys.

The celebration honors the legacies of two foundational figures in Hip-Hop history. Jam Master Jay, the influential DJ of Run-DMC, helped bring turntablism into the mainstream and played a key role in merging rap with rock. He was shot and killed in a Queens recording studio on October 30, 2002. His death remained unsolved for years before two suspects were indicted in 2020.

Adam “MCA” Yauch,  a founding member of the Beastie Boys, was known for his gravelly voice, activism and vision that helped steer the group from party anthems to more socially conscious material. He died on May 4, 2012, after a three-year battle with cancer of the parotid gland.

JMJ-MCA Day aims to honor their contributions through music, community and celebration. The event is free and open to the public.

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Diddy thinking he can coach domestic abusers after being convicted himself is not going over well—his accusers and their legal teams are calling BS on the whole thing.

The Hip-Hop mogul is reportedly pitching a redemption arc that involves him mentoring others who’ve committed abuse, which his lawyers are using to try and snag a lighter sentence.

But the folks who’ve accused him say this whole “counselor” gig is a joke—and not a funny one.

Douglas Wigdor, who represents Cassie Ventura, told Rolling Stone, “This is utterly preposterous. How are you going to counsel someone else when you haven’t done the work on yourself? This is manipulation at its best.”

Let’s back up—Diddy was hit with a guilty verdict in July for violating the Mann Act, which means he crossed state lines with people for illegal sex acts.

That conviction came after a long list of lawsuits and a video from 2016 that CNN dropped last year, showing him beating on Cassie at a hotel in LA.

He apologized after the video came out, but critics say it’s way too little, way too late. His sentencing is locked in for October 3, and his team’s trying to spin this “I want to help others” angle hard.

But Wigdor isn’t buying it.

“It’s a mockery of the system. It’s a mockery of everyone he’s harmed. He needs intensive therapy,” he told Rolling Stone.

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Kodak Black is getting dragged by his ex and baby mama, Maranda Johnson, who claims the rapper put his hands on her and left her with a busted jaw—while he’s out here whining about child support.

Johnson went off online, airing out years of alleged abuse and calling out Kodak for ducking his responsibilities.

“You knocked me out and dislocated my jaw,” she said. “Police came to the house. I protected you. I’m always protecting you, I’m just always protecting your image, period.”

This comes after Johnson filed for over $56k a month in child support, based on Kodak’s reported income.

A judge didn’t give her that much, but ordered him to cough up $8,500 a month for now. Kodak clapped back, telling her to “get a job” and calling the amount wild.

But Johnson isn’t backing down.

“I never requested $56,000. Based off his income, that’s how much his children are entitled to an I’m still not even asking for half of that,” she said. She also said she’s been doing everything solo when it comes to taking care of their kids. “It’s like pulling teeth getting him to try to do anything for his kids,” Johnson said.

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Things between them got even messier after a birthday bash for one of Kodak’s kids at The Manor nightclub in Wilton Manors, Florida. Kodak invited all three of his baby mamas, and surprise—chaos broke out.

Johnson allegedly popped off, yanked another woman’s wig off and threw punches.

It didn’t stop at fists either. Cops say property inside the club got wrecked—think busted toilet, smashed monitor, broken printer.

Johnson got picked up later at the courthouse and slapped with five felony counts of criminal mischief. She’s now locked up in Broward Main Jail with her bond set at $12,500.

This isn’t her first rodeo either. Johnson had previous run-ins with Kodak’s other baby moms that also ended in cuffs. She’s due back in court on August 18 for this latest mess.

Johnson says she’s been holding Kodak down for years, even shielding him from legal trouble.

“You always put your hands on me, and I never sent you to jail. I never played police games with you, bro. Like, this s### is lame. Like, you’re lame for that.”

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Doechii reacted with disbelief and gratitude when Lady Gaga called her “immediately legendary” in a recent British Vogue interview, a moment the rising Hip-Hop artist described as both validating and surreal.

The “Denial is a River” performer told People she was utterly taken aback when she learned about the praise from the pop icon.

“I audibly gasped, literally,” she said. “I’m the biggest Lady Gaga fan, and she is so dedicated to her creativity and pushing the limits, so for a legend like that to say that about me, it really, really validated me in a humbling way.”

Gaga, in her British Vogue feature, didn’t hold back her admiration.

“You don’t often see someone come out of the gate with a pen that feels immediately legendary,” Gaga said. “That’s Doechii to me.”

Despite the admiration being mutual, Doechii explained why she hasn’t sought advice from the “Abracadabra” singer.

“I think when you meet Lady Gaga, she naturally has an essence about her,” she said. “You just kind of listen, and you don’t even have to ask her for anything. I think she just pours herself naturally onto people.”

Known for her genre-blending sound and lyrical edge, Doechii has already collaborated with artists like Lauryn Hill and Tyler, the Creator.

But when asked who she’d love to work with next, she didn’t hesitate.

“Let’s see. I mean, at this point, Beyoncé,” she said. “She’s the standard. Yeah, I’m going to say Bey.”

The People interview was published on May 31.

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Ice-T is stepping behind the camera with Fame and Fentanyl, a two-hour A&E special airing August 25 at 9 P.M. ET, spotlighting the deadly grip of fentanyl across America and the lives it continues to steal—including those of Prince, Mac Miller, and Coolio.

The Hip-Hop icon serves as both host and executive producer of the documentary, which weaves together harrowing stories from grieving families, law enforcement officials and the music industry’s most tragic losses.

The project aims to expose the scope of fentanyl’s devastation and educate viewers on its lethal presence in the drug supply.

“Fentanyl, for me, came out of nowhere. By the time I learned about the drug, I had already lost people to it. It’s a poison in the drug world, and I wanted to do everything that I could to make people aware of its danger,” Ice-T said in a statement about the project. “Everyone knows someone who has fallen victim to fentanyl.”

The film arrives as the U.S. sees a sharp decline in overdose deaths.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, drug-related fatalities dropped from 110,037 in 2023 to 80,391 in 2024—a 27% decrease.

Opioid overdoses, including those involving fentanyl, fell from 83,140 to 54,743 during the same period. Still, fentanyl remains the leading cause of overdose deaths, accounting for nearly 70% of all drug fatalities.

“These are the stories that everyone needs to hear,” Ice-T added.

Among those stories are the high-profile deaths of artists who unknowingly consumed fentanyl-laced substances. Prince died in 2016 after taking counterfeit painkillers containing the synthetic opioid.

Mac Miller passed away in 2018 from a mix of fentanyl, cocaine and alcohol.

Coolio, best known for “Gangsta’s Paradise,” died in 2022 with fentanyl, heroin and methamphetamine in his system.

The list continues with Rich Homie Quan, who died in 2024 from a combination of fentanyl, codeine, alprazolam and promethazine.

The documentary dives into how fentanyl is often consumed unknowingly, as it’s frequently mixed with other substances.

According to the Drug Enforcement Administration, 5 out of 10 pills tested in 2024 contained a potentially lethal dose of fentanyl—down from 7 out of 10 the year before.

The CDC also reported that overdose rates are still disproportionately high among Black, Hispanic, American Indian and multiracial populations, with the highest death rates among adults over 55.

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