NEWS BRIEFS [12-14-18]: Southpoint Robbery [Video]; Kanye, Drake Beef; HIV Epidemic in ATL & More…
[VIDEO]: Durham Police Working to Identify Burglary Suspect
DURHAM, NC – The Durham Police Department is requesting public assistance as it works to identify, locate and arrest the suspect seen in the surveillance video below.
On Dec 1, 2018, shortly after 5:30 a.m., the suspect drove a stolen white and red pick-up truck through the front entry of the Fink’s Jeweler’s store at Southpoint Mall. Once inside he attempted to steal jewelry. It is unknown at this time how much was taken. The investigation is ongoing. No further details are available at this time. Anyone who believes they may recognize the suspect in the surveillance photos or who has other information that might assist the investigation of the case is asked to call CrimeStoppers at (919) 683-1200. CrimeStoppers pays cash rewards for information leading to arrests in felony cases and callers never have to identify themselves.
SOURCE: Durham Police Dept.
The Anatomy Of A Rap “Beef”: Here’s Why Kanye West Sent 80 Tweets About Drake
It’s been quite some time since we’ve seen a year of rap battles so plentiful and prominent. Kanye West spent Thursday (Dec. 13) evening confirming why he’s probably the second-most prominent Twitter user who needs his account deleted by firing off a mess of tweets suggesting that Drake – a.k.a. Aubrey, a.k.a. Wheelchair Jimmy – is threatening the safety of the West family. A lot of folks believe that West and Drake’s “spat” started with the latter’s feud with Pusha T this year. Actually, the two men have had a quasi-Cold War with each other for some time, and the Pusha issue seemed to be the catalyst that dragged everything to the light.
Here’s an abridged account of the beef:
The first public shade: After several collaborations and mutual public praise, Drake seems to come at West for the first time in a 2011 with an interview with The Source. “My goal is to surpass everything he’s accomplished. I don’t want to be as good as Kanye, I want to be better,” said Drake. On DJ Khaled’s “I’m On One” from that same year Drake raps, “I’m just feeling like the throne is for the taking, watch me take it,” a decidedly unsubtle jab at West and Jay-Z’s Watch the Thronecollaboration.
The (alleged) Rolling Stone diss: Drake apparently took shots at some bars on West’s “I’m In It” from Yeezus in a 2014 Rolling Stone interview. He got dragged so badly for coming at West that he denied he said anything and decided to give up magazine interviews altogether. It’s still hard as hell to get Drizzy to sit down for interviews.
Rich, light-skinned shit: After years of apparently getting along (at least in public), Drake drops “Summer Sixteen” in 2016, on which he brags about having a bigger pool than West. Yes, actual swimming pools. West responded by saying he has three pools. The world continues giving no shits.
West sneak-accused Drake of payola: In the 2016 on-stage meltdown in Sacramento that made me stop defending his ignorant ass, West took shots at Drake and DJ Khaled for working with radio to make their “For Free” collaboration the earworm that it was. Drake responded by saying he doesn’t understand why West would throw darts at him when they were supposed to be collaborating on an album.
S#!+ hits the fan in 2018: The beef went from cold and tough to sizzling medium-rare chop-house shit this year when Drake dragged West into his (also long-gestating) beef between Drake and Pusha T. Drizzy said in his “Duppy Freestyle” that he’s actually ghostwritten for West. In fact, the whole damn song was of more a shot toward West than Pusha, who returned to eviscerate Drake with “The Story of Adidion.” Drake got on LeBron James’ The Shop show and suggested that West betrayed him by leaking information of his hidden son to Pusha. West said he did no such thing; Pusha said he got the info from Drake’s longtime producer, Noah “40” Shebib.
The whole thing is over… West tweets suggesting that he and Drake still have an amicable working relationship and that the whole beef madness is fugazi…
…or is it?
Black Panther’ Stars Award Nearly $2 Million In Scholarships To Aspiring Girl Students
Black Panther stars Chadwick Boseman, Lupita Nyong’o and Danai Gurira along with pop star Ke$ha, presented $1.8 million in college scholarships to aspiring female students Dec. 6th in Los Angeles. “We know that if we want to live in a world that looks more like Wakanda, the first step is you invest in women and girls,” Gurira said during The Hollywood Reporter‘s 2018 Women in Entertainment event. The trio was on hand to present a new scholarship called The Black Panther Scholarship, which was created by Walt Disney Studios. The scholarship, which is worth $250,000 to Loyola Marymount University, was presented through the Women in Entertainment Mentorship Program to 17-year-old Kalis Coleman from Inglewood, California, who plans to become a pediatric dermatologist.
Ke$ha was also on hand to present more scholarships for a total of $1.8 million. The scholarships were awarded to L.A. teens from underserved communities who are currently taking part in the Women in Entertainment Mentorship Program. Each of the 18 girls will receive a $10,000 scholarship to attend the university of their choice, with six receiving full-ride scholarships worth more than $250,000 each to attend Loyola Marymount University. American Airlines also gifted each graduating mentee 50,000 AAdvantage miles to help them with travel from their hometowns to their future universities, while SAG-AFTRA also gifted mentees with backpacks filled with supplies to help set them up for success when they head to college.
CDC Compares Atlanta’s HIV Epidemic To That Of Third World Countries: ‘Downtown Atlanta Is As Bad As Zimbabwe’
HIV rates in Atlanta have now been classified as an epidemic. According to a report by WSB-TV, the concern about the circulation of the disease is so high that scientists at the Center for Disease Control (CDC) are equating Atlanta’s fast-spreading HIV issue to that of third-world African countries. Per a 2017 report by the CDC, Southern states constitute 52 percent (19,968) of all new HIV diagnoses in the United States. The Center also found that in 2015, the South accounted for approximately 46 percent of all individuals living with HIV.
While the disease impacts most demographics of the American population today, the CDC specified that HIV primarily affects Black Americans with inadequate access to health care. In the Peach State, the likelihood of contracting the diagnosis jumps from one person to 51 people.
Christian Dacus, a youth HIV policy advisor with Georgia Equality, spoke with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (AJC) and attributed the growing number of patient diagnoses to a lack of acceptance of homosexuality from religious-based families, causing gay residents of Atlanta to live their lives in secret. However, he also suggested that in addition to wearing condoms, taking daily PrEP pills could aid in the prevention of HIV/AIDS. Nevertheless, protecting yourself should still be the first option. “It may prevent you from contracting HIV, but there are a slew of other STIs you don’t want, so I think condom usage is still something to be enforced,” Dacus concluded.
Ty Dolla $Ign Indicted On Felony Drug Possession, Could Face 15 Years In Prison
Ty Dolla $ign may not be in the best holiday spirit this Christmas, as the R&B singer received some potentially life-altering news over the weekend. A grand jury in Fulton County, Georgia has indicted the Los Angeles native with two felonies — felony possession of cocaine and felony possession of THC — and misdemeanor possession of less than one ounce of marijuana. If convicted, he faces 15 years in prison. The charges stem from a September arrest in Atlanta when officers pulled Ty’s limo van over and searched all seven passengers, one of whom was Skrillex. Ty was in the city supporting rapper G-Eazy and he was the only one arrested during the stop for possessing cocaine and marijuana.
Black Panthers Mural In Los Angeles Defaced With Swastikas
(CNN) A mural celebrating African-American achievement was defaced with swastikas on Nov. 29th in Los Angeles, police said. They are investigating the incident as a possible hate crime.
Four swastikas were spray painted over the faces of four Black Panthers featured in the mural in southwest Los Angeles, said LAPD officer Jeff Lee. Investigators believe it is an isolated incident, Lee said. No arrests have been made. A dozen artists had painted the two-block long mural, entitled “Our Mighty Contribution,” over two years, wrapping up in 2002, said Gregory Everett, a filmmaker and the curator of the mural. Located on the busy Crenshaw Boulevard, the mural chronicles the historical contributions of black people, Everett said. Over the past 18 years, only a few people have scribbled their names on the wall, Everett said. Frederick Douglass, Harriett Tubman and Martin Luther King Jr. are also featured on the mural.