Author Archives: Jennifer White

Taylor Swift Breaks Political Silence, To Vote Democrat In Midterm Elections

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In a time when Kanye West is arguably alienating a large portion of his fanbase with his MAGA hat and pro-Tump speeches on late night sketch shows, Taylor Swift has decided that it’s her turn to her first-ever public political stance. The iconic singer used social media to convey her support for the Democratic candidates in the upcoming midterm elections in her home state of Tennessee.

“I’m writing this post about the upcoming midterm elections on November 6th, in which I’ll be voting in the state of Tennessee,” she told her 112 plus million followers. “In the past I’ve been reluctant to publicly voice my political opinions, but due to several events in my life and in the world in the past two years, I feel very differently about that now. I always have and always will cast my vote based on which candidate will protect and fight for the human rights I believe we all deserve in this country. I believe in the fight for LGBTQ rights, and that any form of discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender is WRONG. I believe that the systemic racism we still see in this country towards people of color is terrifying, sickening and prevalent.
I cannot vote for someone who will not be willing to fight for dignity for ALL Americans, no matter their skin color, gender or who they love.”

Swift then outlined why she considers Senate candidate Marsha Blackburn to be the absolutely the wrong person to represent her state.

“Running for Senate in the state of Tennessee is a woman named Marsha Blackburn. As much as I have in the past and would like to continue voting for women in office, I cannot support Marsha Blackburn[,]” the multi-time Grammy winner expressed. “Her voting record in Congress appalls and terrifies me. She voted against equal pay for women. She voted against the Reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act, which attempts to protect women from domestic violence, stalking, and date rape. She believes businesses have a right to refuse service to gay couples. She also believes they should not have the right to marry. These are not MY Tennessee values. I will be voting for Phil Bredesen for Senate and Jim Cooper for House of Representatives. Please, please educate yourself on the candidates running in your state and vote based on who most closely represents your values. For a lot of us, we may never find a candidate or party with whom we agree 100% on every issue, but we have to vote anyway.

So many intelligent, thoughtful, self-possessed people have turned 18 in the past two years and now have the right and privilege to make their vote count. But first you need to register, which is quick and easy to do. October 9th is the LAST DAY to register to vote in the state of TN. Go to vote.org and you can find all the info. Happy Voting! 🗳😃🌈”

Her newfound public political stance has upset some of Swift’s Republican fans, many of whom took to social media with their rebuttals, admonishing the singer. Meanwhile, several celebrities jumped in the mix to support the hitmaker. One time Swift nemeses Kary Perry likes Swift’s post as did Avengers mega-villain Josh Brolin, legendary directors Rob Reiner and Joseph Khan, and of course Swift’s renaissance-man friend Todrick Hall.

Swift is slated to perform a slew of concerts around the world in this month, and will be open this week’s American Music Awards broadcast.

Lil Wayne A3C Performance Cut Short Following Incident

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In a weekend where literally dozens of noise-making, popular hip-hop figures converged on two cities, the most anticipated performance ended almost as soon as it began.  Lil Wayne’s headline outing at the A3C Music festival in Atlanta lasted for only two and half songs. The man with the number one album in the country, "Tha Carter V," was ushered off stage and into his waiting SUV after pandemonium broke out in the crowd. A reportedly violent incident occurred in the audience, causing thousands of concert-goers to stampede towards the exits.
 
According to some witnesses, at least two spectators were fighting when one got stabbed. Some witness say they saw a man a draw a gun and hoist in the air. Others say no one had a weapon. A source within the event security team told LiveXLive that they actually saw a man shoot a gun in the air. Wayne started his set at exactly 10pm with “Mr. Carter.” “Got Money” followed, and during song #3, “John,” the stampede occurred.
A3C released a statement shortly after the chaos:
 
“Sadly, there was an altercation tonight that ended Lil Wayne’s performance,” the statement read. “We are still collecting information to determine exactly what happened and will provide follow up information as soon as we know more details. Please be assured that the law enforcement officers present have confirmed that there were no weapons involved. This was a very unfortunate way to end what had been an otherwise amazing week of music, friendships and connections. Thank you to everyone for your amazing support and positive energy all week. We love y’all.”
 
A spokesperson for the Atlanta police was unable to be reached.

Soon after the performance, Wayne tweeted: “Hope everyone at A3C is safe."

“The “Greatest Rapper Alive”’ was very energetic and made sure to thank his fans for their support over the past two decades and he let everyone he would be nothing without the people on his side. He didn’t get to spend much time in Atlanta today, as he flew back to Miami after the A3C incident to make an appearance Club Liv. He had previously been in Miami during the taping of the BET Hip-Hop Awards where he received the coveted “I AM Hip-Hop” award. Bun B and DJ Khaled presented him the honor at the event, which also featured Cardi B, Lil Baby and Gunna, Lil Duval, T.I., YG, Lil Pump, Gucci Mane and Young M.A.
As for A3C today, M.A also performed as did Curren$y and the entire group of the Diplomats. Cam’ron, Jim Jones, and Freekey Zekey along with Juelz Santana. Santana has recently faced serious legal issues, having been arrested for bringing a loaded handgun to the New Jersey airport in March. Santana had been on house arrest for several months and had not been able to travel with his band of brothers while they’ve been touring. Juelz was onstage standing to the side with his wife Kimbella tonight with Wayne.
Stay tuned to LiveXLive for more coverage of this ongoing story, A3C and the BET Hip Hop Awards.

Billboard Magazine’s co-Executive of The Year Coach K checks in from BET Weekend

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The objective is clear, (Quality) Control the fourth quarter. They’re garnering comparisons to iconic hip-hop labels such as Bad Boy, Death Row and more recently T.D.E., but Quality Control principals “Coach K” Kevin Lee and Pierre “Pee” Thomas have carved out their own niche with relentless music releases that always hit the bullseye. 
 
The pair were recently named Executives of the Year by Billboard Magazine, and while their roster members Cardi B and The Migos have dominated all of 2018, QC has no plans to stop. Last night in Miami, they held a “Welcome to Miami” party in honor of their Miami based-female duo, The City Girls. The party served as a welcome for all of the in and out-of-town attendees of the 2018 BET Hip-Hop awards ceremony.  Later in the night, QC's Drip Harder by Gunna and Lil Baby was celebrated at Story nightclub, with many celebrities from music video director Eif Rivera, singer/MC Tory Lanez and street favorite Zoey Dollars in attendance.
 
While Migos are on tour with Drake, Cardi B will be one of the most anticipated performers at tonight’s 2018 BET Hip Awards taping. She joins a stacked performance slate, which includes Gucci Mane, Yo Gotti, T.I., YG, A$AP Rocky, Lil Pump, Lil Duval, Flipp Dinero, Ball Greezy and QC’s Lil Baby and Gunna. The event will also feature City Girls as award presenters, along with Wale, DJ Khaled, and Bun B.

Next week, QC is looking to put up big numbers on the scoreboard with Migos’ melodic star Quavo, who’s dropping a solo LP. His project Quavo Huncho lands on October 12, and features his group members Offset and Takeoff, as well as 21 Savage, Drake, Cardi, Travis Scott, Kid Cudi, Davido, Saweetie, Lil Baby. Be sure to tune in to the LiveXLive Facebook page for live hits from the BET red carpet today. And keep it locked to LiveXLive.com for more exclusives.

Tory Lanez says his new album, Love Me Now, is about to drop.

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Don’t cast your ballot for album of the year just yet. 2018 has definitely been a monumental year for music, especially in the hip-hop community with a cavalcade of the culture’s top tier titans dropping albums. Heavy hitters Eminem, J. Cole, Jay Z and Beyonce, Nas, Kanye West, Drake, Nicki Minaj, Migos, Travis Scott and most recently Lil Wayne, put out well received and commercially successful projects. And let’s not forget Pusha T, whose unapologetic lyrical onslaught was a critical and fan favorite. And ascending superstars have definitely had their say, as well, with Post Malone, controversy-king 6ix9ine,  Jay Rock, Nipsey Hussle, Lil Baby, and Gunna (collectively and individually) -- not to mention late-greats Mac Miller and XXXtentacion -- all releasing lauded projects this year.

And despite this onslaught of material, Tory Lanez is looking to annihilate all them. The Canadian juggernaut revealed exclusively to LiveXLive that his long awaited Love Me Now LP is coming in just a few weeks. 
 
“It’s about my n**** Uno who just Executive Produced the brand new album Love Me Now coming out October 26th," the multi-talented performer said last night outside of Miami’s Story nightclub, where Lil Baby and Gunna were having an album release party for their Drip Season joint project.
 
 “Y’all n**** is over,” Lanez added about the field of competition. “It’s too late for n****.”
 
At the top of the summer while on the Zane Lowe show for Apple Music, Lanez boasted about the large list of guest stars contributing to the album. 
 
“I got the illest features on there,” he said with a smile. “Chris Brown, 2 Chainz, I got Bryson Tiller on there. I got Lil Baby on there. I got a lot of people on there. A Boogie, PNB Rock, all fire songs.” “Keep in Touch” with the aforementioned Tiller and “Talk To Me” with Rich The Kid are Lanez’s latest singles. 
 
Tory also has an all-Spanish language called El Aqua coming down the turnpike soon as well.    Lanez, who has a residence in Miami, is just one of the plethora of MCs and singers in town as the 2018 BET Hip-Hop Awards touches down on the city. T.I., Yo Gotti, Cardi B, YG, A$AP Rocky, Lil Pump, Flipp Dinero, and the MIA's own Ball Greezy are some of the names locked in to perform today at the ceremony. The man with the number one album in the country, Lil Wayne, has been tapped to receive the “I Am Hip Hop” award that goes to rap’s biggest icons.  Be sure to tune in to the LiveXLive Facebook page for live hits from the BET red carpet today. And keep it locked to LiveXLive.com for more exclusives.