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Here’s A Timeline Of 50 Cent’s Most Controversial Moments

50 Cent, it seems, is always stirring the pot. Just this weekend, in the midst of Megan Thee Stallion’s Tory Lanez trial, he compared the rapper to Jussie Smollett. This came not long after he likened Madonna to an alien.

For sure, the rapper is familiar with controversy and has had a lot of it during his storied career. These are some of the more notable moments:

1999: Feud with Ja Rule

For years now, 50 and Ja have had beef. It began in 1999, when one of 50’s friends robbed Ja. Later that year, 50 blatantly dissed Ja on “Life’s On The Line.” In 2000, the two got into a scrap at an Atlanta nightclub. Also that year, 50 was stabbed by rapper and Ja Rule associate Black Child in an altercation.

There’s more to the story than that, but perhaps the most amusing moment came in 2018: 50 noticed that tickets to a Ja concert were available for $15 each on Groupon, so he bought 200 seats “in the front so they can be empty.”

1999: “How To Rob”

In the summer of 1999, 50 released “How To Rob,” a song on which he details… well, how he would rob a number of rappers, including Jay-Z, Diddy, Will Smith, and many others. 50 later said of the response to the track, “That song had momentum. It had impacted where the hip-hop culture was aware of it, and me, based on it… A lot of people didn’t [respond to] it. The ones who had the egos had to respond. Because they weren’t used to somebody openly putting them out there, and who was I to say it? They all battled with each other, had stuff to say about people subconsciously. They always wrote subliminal sh*t. That’s the sucker way to do it. Just say it, if you got an issue.”

1999: “Ghetto Qur’an (Forgive Me)”

Power Of The Dollar was set to be 50’s first major label album in 2000, but after he was shot, the project was shelved and never officially released. (“How To Rob” was meant for the album.) On album cut “Ghetto Qur’an,” 50 raps about people from his formative years, including 1980s drug gang Supreme Team. An affidavit from IRS agent Francis Mace later revealed it was believed that the shooting was in retaliation to the song’s lyrics.

2005: Attempted ban from Canada

In 2005, 50 was scheduled to perform a set of shows in Canada. Ahead of that, though, Canadian politician Dan McTeague asked Immigration Minister Joe Volpe to ban 50 from entering the country. This came after multiple incidents of gun violence at 50 shows in Canada. In 2003, a man was shot at a Canada Day concert in Toronto, and the next year, another man was shot after 50’s show in Montreal. When he ended up playing in Toronto in December 2005, the show was “under the surveillance of a special police task force” but went off without incident.

2016: Mocking a teen with autism

In 2016, 50 shared a video of himself mocking 19-year-old Andrew Farrell, who was a janitor at the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport. He claimed Farrell, who has mild autism and social anxiety, was on drugs. In the video, 50 says, “Look at him, what kind of sh*t you think he took before he got to work today? He high as a motherf*cker, pupils dilated, everything.”

50 later donated $100,000 to autism advocacy group Autism Speaks and said in a statement, “I want to turn this misunderstanding into an understanding. There are people that are ignored, mistreated, and neglected with disabilities that need our support. I am calling on my fellow musicians, actors, entertainers, and all others who may not have fully considered this cause to join together to help in any way they can.”

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

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Drake Thinks Those ‘Sassy Drake’ ‘Rich Flex’ Memes Are Pretty Funny Too

One of the reasons Drake has had such longevity in pop culture is his self-awareness. Although he’s been the butt of plenty of jokes over the years, he’s never let it get to him. In fact, he’s embraced many of the memes, doubling down and even creating business opportunities out of them.

Most recently, his sassy intro on the Her Loss song “Rich Flex” in which he implores his rhyme partner 21 Savage to “do something for me” inspired a slew of cheeky memes on TikTok. In them, fans imagine the Canadian superstar rolling his neck, putting his hands on his hips, and generally using body language that matches his saucy tone. While 21 himself was floored by the memes during a recent interaction with Twitch streamer Kai Cenat, Drake got to share his own reaction during a live stream with betting app Stake (which he helped promote over the weekend by putting a million-dollar parlay on the World Cup — he lost, but Argentina won).

He said that during a recent club outing, a female companion questioned him about being the butt of so many memes. In response, he explained, “I understand after all these years that, I feel like I have a polarizing presence. I’m almost a character in people’s movies and therefore there’s a running a dialogue. There’s jokes, you’re either the villain to some people or hero to some people. It is what it is, it just comes with the territory… I’ve always been able to laugh at myself, but I really do feel now that I mentally am able to separate the two. So I just want to stay in that zone, that’s kinda my resolution.”

You can check out Drake’s livestream with Stake below.

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Miley Cyrus Acknowledged Those Mysterious Posters And Now There’s A Countdown Clock, Too

Miley Cyrus put fans on high alert when she performed a brand-new song, “You,” during last year’s Miley’s New Year’s Eve Party on NBC. People demanded its release, and Cyrus crushed everyone’s hopes by commenting on Instagram, “This song is so new I haven’t even recorded it yet. Just wanted to do something special for YOU all!” But 2023 is looking up.

Cyrus confirmed another Miley’s New Year’s Eve Party last month, and this time, she’ll be co-hosting with Dolly Parton instead of Pete Davidson. She shared more about the anticipated special while visiting The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon earlier this month.

“Right now, Sia is coming. She’s one of my favorite artists, and I love — as many wigs as we can have as possible, so we have Sia. We have Latto. Rae Sremmurd, who are friends of mine,” she told Fallon. “I mean, as we get closer to the show, I want to start revealing who else we have, but the lineup is very me. It is curated in a way that makes no sense but makes total sense.”

And when mysterious posters popped up in major cities like Los Angeles and Copenhagen last week, it made no sense. The natural assumption was that “New year, new Miley” could only mean a new era of music was imminent, but we’ve been fooled by “You” before, so it wasn’t until this morning (December 19) that it became real: Whatever Cyrus is rolling out could make total sense really soon. All of which is to say, Cyrus acknowledged said posters across her socials.

And she updated her official website’s landing page to feature a countdown clock to New Year’s Eve.

In June 2021, Guitar World reported within an interview with producer Andrew Watt that he was “on board for another record with Cyrus, though that’s still in the planning stages.” Come early January, Cyrus teased photos with the likes of Rae Sremmurd, Mike Will Made-It and others with her in the studio.

Cyrus’ most recent studio LP was November 2020’s rock triumph Plastic Hearts. She also dropped her first live album, Attention, on April 1, which included “You” on its tracklist — proof that Cyrus does deliver, on her own time.

Miley’s New Year’s Eve Party will air live on December 31 on NBC and Peacock.

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Bad Bunny, Becky G, And Rauw Alejandro Celebrated Argentina’s World Cup Win And ‘GOAT’ Lionel Messi

Argentina won the 2022 FIFA World Cup yesterday (December 19). Latin music stars like Bad Bunny, Rauw Alejandro, and Becky G celebrated the victory of the sole Latin American country left in the competition over France.

After Argentina and France were tied 3-3, the last match in the World Cup came down to penalty shots. Argentina’s national team, led by soccer icon Lionel Messi, went on to win the penalty shoot-out and claim the World Cup for the third time. Many Latin music singers celebrated the Latin American country’s win, including Puerto Rican superstar Bad Bunny, who was wearing an outfit that was decked out with Argentina’s team colors.

“THE BEST [GAME] I’VE SEEN IN MY LIFE!” Bad Bunny wrote. “CONGRATULATIONS ARGENTINA!!!! YOU DID IT!!!! WORLD CHAMPIONS!!!! NOBODY DESERVED IT MORE THAN YOU!! NOBODY FOUGHT MORE THAN YOU!!! MESSI THE GOAT!!!!!!!!!”

Another Puerto Rican superstar tipped his hat to Argentina, Rauw Alejandro. Like Bad Bunny, he also congratulated Messi on what was the final World Cup game of his soccer career.

“God bless you MESSI,” Alejandro wrote. “Blessed to live in your timeline and be able to watch you play. OFFICIALLY WITHOUT DISCUSSION THE BEST OF ALL TIME. Congratulations to all my people from ARGENTINA!!! WELL DESERVED!!!!!”

Reggaeton pioneer Daddy Yankee also gave his props to Argentina and Messi. “Congratulations to Messi,” he wrote. “He has just closed out his career in a historic way. Respect #10.” Becky G also tweeted Messi’s name in all caps with a soccer ball emoji.

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‘The Mandalorian’ Season 3: Everything To Know Including The Release Date, Plot, Trailer, & More Info

The Mandalorian kicked off Disney+ with a bang, giving the brand new streaming a service a massive hit that none of its other series have been able to match in raw numbers. Centered on the bounty hunter Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal), the first live-action Star Wars series struck gold by introducing a mysterious and adorable new character, who quickly became known as Baby Yoda. While his real name, Grogu, was eventually revealed in Season 2, the little guy gave The Mandalorian an irresistible hook as the show slowly transitioned from stand-alone episodes to a serialized epic story that’s brought in some surprising cameos from the Star Wars universe.

With Season 3 of The Mandalorian arriving in early 2023, here’s everything we know about the latest installment in Lucasfilm’s blockbuster series:

Release Date

Season 3 of The Mandalorian hits Disney+ on March 1, 2023 and will mark the longest gap between seasons of the hit bounty hunting series. However, The Book of Boba Fett that premiered in late 2022/early 2023 served as a sort of mini-season for The Mandalorian thanks to two episodes that were entirely dedicated to Din Djarin and his reunion with Grogu. If you haven’t checked them out, you should probably do so because the episodes contained some pretty key plot points that set the stage for the new season.

Following the premiere, Season 3 episodes will be available Wednesdays on Disney+ starting at 3 AM/12 AM ET/PT.

Cast

Here’s who we know is returning for The Mandalorian Season 3: Pedro Pascal as Din Djarin, Carl Weathers as Greef Karga, Giancarlo Epsosito as Moff Gideon, and Katee Sackhoff as Bo Katan Kryze. Notably, Gina Carano will not be returning as Kara Dune following some… unpleasantness. Like Marvel, Lucasfilm plays their casting decisions close to the chest, so there’s no official word whether we’ll see guest stars like Rosario Dawson as Ahsoka Tano, Temuera Morrison as Boba Fett, or Timothy Olyphant as Cobb Vanth. However, Christopher Lloyd has reportedly joined The Mandalorian cast, but again, there’s a veil of secrecy about who he’ll be playing in Season 3.

Plot

Picking up after the events of The Book of Boba Fett, Season 3 will follow Din Djarin and Grogu, who has abandoned his Jedi training with Luke Skywalker to follow the path of the Mandalorian. As the rightful wielder of the Darksaber, Din now finds himself at odds with his warrior race. He’s been outcast by his extremist clan for removing his helmet, and based on the Season 3 trailer, he appears to be on shaky ground with Bo Katan (Katee Sackhoff) who does not seem thrilled with Din’s ownership of the Darksaber as she attempts to restore the planet Mandalore to its former glory. In the background, the last vestiges of the Empire still plot and scheme to regain control of the galaxy.

Trailer

You can view the official The Mandalorian Season 3 trailer below:

The Mandalorian Season 3 premieres March 1, 2023.

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A Woman Died From Injuries Caused By A Crowd Crush Incident At Asake’s Sold-Out O2 Academy Concert

Concert security and safety protocols have been under scrutiny since the 2021 Astroworld Festival left 10 people dead in the wake of a crowd crush during Travis Scott’s headlining set. An incident at Brixton’s O2 Academy over the weekend will undoubtedly refocus that scrutiny and increase its intensity as a woman died and two remain in critical condition following similar conditions during rising Afrobeats star Asake’s sold-out concert on Friday night (December 16).

According to Billboard, emergency services were summoned after “a large crowd attempted to gain entry without tickets” and found several people with crush injuries. Eight people were hospitalized; three were in critical condition as of a Guardian report the night of. On Saturday, 33-year-old Rebecca Ikumelo died from her injuries. Asake posted on Instagram, writing that he was “devastated” by the news and offering “sincerest condolences to her loved ones.” He also urged fans with any “relevant information” to get in touch with London Metropolitan Police.

Ahead of the sold-out concert, the 27-year-old Nigerian singer had risen to stardom with the release of his breakthrough 2020 single “Mr. Money.” His debut album, Mr. Money With The Vibe, was released on September 8, 2022, and reached No. 66 on the US Billboard Hot 100. It was also one of Uproxx’s Best Afrobeats Albums of 2022 and Best Albms of 2022.

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‘Babylon’ Is Full Of Orgies And Drugs, But It’s A Kiss Between Margot Robbie And Brad Pitt That’s Getting Most Of The Attention

Babylon is the most “wild” movie that Margot Robbie has been a part of (yes, even more than The Wolf of Wall Street), full of orgies, drugs, and snake fights. But it’s a simple kiss between the actress and co-star Brad Pitt that they kept getting asked about.

Earlier this month, Robbie told E! News that she improvised a kissing scene between her character, Nellie, and Pitt’s character, Jack, in Babylon. “I thought, ‘When else am I gonna get the chance to kiss Brad Pitt? I’m just gonna go for it,’” she recalled. “I said, ‘[Director Damien Chazelle], I think Nellie would just go up and kiss Jack. And Damien was like, ‘Well, she could… wait, hold on. You just wanna kiss Brad Pitt.’ And I was like, ‘Oh, so sue me. This opportunity might never come up again.’” The unscripted kiss made some people mad, which Robbie addressed at the movie’s premiere:

The kiss ultimately got the OK from the film’s director, Damien Chazelle, and it passed the test for Pitt too, who told ET that there’s always room for “character interpretation.”

“We all established our boundaries before making this movie,” Robbie assured, “because it’s a movie that really pushes boundaries in a lot of ways… We’re all good,” she added.

The smooch came up again during a joint interview with Robbie and Pitt on The Project. ““No [it wasn’t in the script]. I had asked for it, if we could write that in,” Pitt said while laughing. “I didn’t know when I was ever going to get a chance to do this again.” Robbie added, “I might add too that Nellie kisses probably 15 people in this movie.”

You can watch that interview below.

We, as a society, are fascinated by hot people kissing. See: The White Lotus.

(Via ET Online)

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Drake Off-Handedly Confirmed He’s Planning To Go On Tour In 2023

Alex Moss recently revealed his “Previous Engagements” piece for Drake, a 351.38-carat diamond necklace comprised of 42 engagement rings and representing “all the times he thought about it but never did it.” Well, Drake has at least committed to one thing for 2023. It appears that RIAA’s newly crowned highest-selling singles artist was semi-serious during his faux Her Loss promotion cycle with 21 Savage — or, at least about touring.

Drake was smoking hookah and relaxing by the pool during a livestream for Stake over the weekend when he was asked what he’s looking most forward to about next year. “Tour,” he said. “Ah, man, I can’t wait to see people.” He briefly reflected in disbelief that his last tour, Aubrey And The Three Migos, was all the way back in 2018. “And you know, it’s so unfortunate — the other day, I was rehearsing. I rehearsed a bunch of days, and one of the shows had gotten pushed back,” he continued. “But yeah, man, I’m just looking forward to going. It’s one thing to make the music, but to see it is the most gratifying feeling.”

It’s unclear precisely which postponed show Drake was describing, but earlier this month, his debut Apollo Theater show was pushed to January due to “production delays.”

Since 2018’s Scorpion, Drake has dropped three more No. 1 albums — 2021’s Certified Lover Boy; July’s Honestly, Nevermind; and last month’s Her Loss joint effort with 21 Savage — plus his Dark Lane Demo Tapes in 2020 and the three-song Scary Hours 2 in March 2021.

During Drake’s aforementioned fake media blitz with Savage around the release of Her Loss, he staged a spoof Howard Stern interview that teased a 2023 show in Savage’s native London. “A lot of people are like, ‘Yo, you’re like the pride of London,’” Drake said to Savage then. “That’s why that London, that O2 night, like, that has to happen. That’s gonna be some different — that’s like some real homecoming sh*t. I’m excited for that.”

In October, Drake performed in Atlanta for the first time since 2018 when he surprisingly joined 21 Savage’s set at the Morehouse-Spelman homecoming concert.

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50 Cent Had A Simple Reaction To Getting His First Song With 1 Billion Streams On Spotify

“In Da Club” was a huge moment for 50 Cent. It was the lead single from 50’s 2003 debut album Get Rich Or Die Tryin’ and it launched the album on a high note, as it ended up become the rapper’s first No. 1 single. Ultimately, the track was one of the defining songs of its era: In 2009, it ranked at No. 24 on Billboard‘s decade-end chart.

The song remains beloved, too. 50 got to perform it at the Super Bowl earlier this year and it was one of the halftime show’s most memorable moments. Furthermore, recently, Spotify revealed that the song had surpassed 1 billion streams on the platform, making it 50’s first track to do so. Currently, it has an additional 3.8 million or so streams on top of the billion. 50 shared the news on Instagram and offered a simple reaction: “take your time and make it a classic.”

It turns out the song very nearly wasn’t the lead Get Rich Or Die Tryin’ single. Eminem, a producer on the album, previously revealed, “We couldn’t decide on the first single from Get Rich. It was going to be either ‘If I Can’t” or ‘In Da Club.’ We were torn, so me, 50, Paul [Rosenberg], Chris Lighty, and Jimmy Iovine decided to flip a coin.”

Revisit the “In Da Club” video below.

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All The Best New Music From This Week That You Need To Hear

Keeping up with new music can be exhausting, even impossible. From the weekly album releases to standalone singles dropping on a daily basis, the amount of music is so vast it’s easy for something to slip through the cracks. Even following along with the Uproxx recommendations on a daily basis can be a lot to ask, so every Monday we’re offering up this rundown of the best new music this week.

This week saw Rosalía and Cardi B team up to wrap up 2022 on a high note and The Weeknd bless Avatar 2 with a song. Yeah, it was a great week for new music. Check out the highlights below.

For more music recommendations, check out our Listen To This section, as well as our Indie Mixtape and Pop Life newsletters. Also find our Uproxx HQ Spotify playlist, which is updated weekly with the best new music, at the end of this post.

Rosalía and Cardi B — “Despechá RMX”

Roslía and Cardi B both showed up big in 2022 and they weren’t about to end the year without a bang. Rosalía breathed some additional life into Motomami highlight “Despechá” by getting Cardi to hop on a fresh remix. Cardi does some well-earned flexing, rapping, “You were tryin’ too hard not to watch my stories / I was shakin’ this ass, better not report me / I’m close by even though it’s hard to reach me.”

The Weeknd — “Nothing Is Lost (You Give Me Strength)”

After dropping off the cinematic album Dawn FM at the top of the year, The Weeknd has come through with a song that’s more literally cinematic: “Nothing Is Lost (You Give Me Strength),” his contribution to the Avatar 2: The Way Of Water soundtrack. Uproxx’s Aaron Williams describes the track as “a big, dramatic, epic song, full of tribal chants and drums, soaring strings, and emotive, uplifting lyrics — as befits the centerpiece song of the big, dramatic, epic comeback sequel of a big, dramatic, epic hit movie from visionary director James Cameron.”

Latto — “Another Nasty Song”

Latto has a lot of nasty songs, and last week, she delivered another one. Appropriately, it’s called “Another Nasty Song.” Indeed, there’s some nastiness, with lyrics like, “Pull up on my pimpin’, say my name while you in it / Type of p*ssy make him say my name while hе swimmin’ / Gangsta b*tch, I make him wear my chain whilе he drillin.”

Ab-Soul — “FOMF”

As we get closer to 2023, there are fewer and fewer new releases left to look forward to at the end of the year. Ab-Soul’s Herbert is a December highlight, especially since it comes six years after his previous album. The title of “FOMF” is short for “f*ck out my face,” and indeed, the song sees the TDE rapper putting up with no nonsense.

Juice WRLD — “Face 2 Face”

December 2 would have been the late Juice WRLD’s 24th birthday, while the 8th marked the third anniversary of his death. Despite that, new music from the rapper continues to surface, with last week yielding “Face 2 Face.” On the track, Juice confronts his struggles, rapping, “I won’t, I don’t wanna, I don’t wanna, I don’t wanna implode / I won’t, I don’t wanna, it’s the end of the summer, it’s starting to get cold.”

Saint Jhn – “Stadiums”

As we start to look forward to 2023, Saint Jhn’s upcoming album In Case We Both Die Young is a release to keep an eye on. There’s no tracklist yet, but it would seem that new single “Stadiums” will be on it. The tune is a collaboration with London On Da Track and is sees Jhn confidently discussing how he achieved his high status.

PinkPantheress — “Take Me Home”

For Christmas, PinkPantheress gifted her fans a new EP, Take Me Home. On the title track, the early-20s singer deals with challenges of adult life, singing, “I went to the doctor again / I said I was behind on my rent / He said it’s not a problem for him.”

Rich The Kid — “No More Friends”

Rich The Kid, it turns out, is rich. In case that wasn’t clear, he makes it known on “No More Friends.” Furthermore, he also notes that he aims to share his wealth with those close to him and he doesn’t need anybody else trying to get in on that.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.