Derek Chauvin’s attorney, Eric Nelson, is requesting that his client, a convicted murderer, receives a sentence of probation because he’s the “product of a broken system” who could still be an “asset to the community.”

It must be crack.

The prosecutors, on the other hand, are seeking a 30-year sentence. Chauvin was convicted for the murder of George Floyd on April 21 and is scheduled for sentencing on June 25.

Sean Love Combs — a.k.a. Diddy — has partnered with Salesforce to launch a digital marketplace where consumers can find products created and sold by Black-owned businesses.

The marketplace — called Shop Circulate — came to be via acquisition of the Nile List.

Fun fact about the Nile List? It was founded by Khadijah Robinson, who has co-hosted two episodes of No Hipsters Pod — including the very first episode.

Khadijah will be joining Shop Circulate as the head of product, where she will lead development and drive global efforts.

Shop Circulate goes live later this year.

Rapper Wisdom — a member of DaBaby’s entourage — has been arrested for attempted murder with a deadly weapon and aggravated assault with a firearm.

The arrest comes hours after DaBaby had been question about a shooting that took place last night in Miami.

According to TMZ, a group of men that included DaBaby and Wisdom got into an argument with another group of men outside a restaurant. At some point, the other group tried to run away, which is when Wisdom allegedly shot one of them in the leg.

Another person in the DaBaby-affiliated group, Christopher Urena, has also been charged with attempted murder for shooting one of the men in the other group in the back, leaving him paralyzed.

Rapper Lil Loaded — best known for his 2019 viral hit, “6locc 6a6y” — passed away yesterday.

The cause of death hasn’t been confirmed by authorities, but the rapper had posted an IG story that many have deemed a suicide note. The rapper’s attorney, Ashkan Mehryari, also believes this to be the case.


Lil Loaded — real name Dashawn Robertson — was due in court this week over the shooting death of his friend, Khalil Walker, for which he had been charged with manslaughter.

Lil Loaded was 20 years old.

Remember back in March 2019 when Russell Westbrook threatened to put hands on a heckler and his wife at a Utah Jazz game? Following the incident, the heckler, Shane Keisel, got banned from Jazz games for life, fired from his job, and kicked out of a pilot training program in which he was enrolled.

Keisel — an army veteran — and his wife, Jennifer Huff, sued Westbrook in December 2019 for defamation, claiming that he painted Keisel as racist and homophobic. They were seeking $100 million in damages.

Unfortunately for them, the lawsuit was thrown out by a judge yesterday, who explained that Westbrook’s remarks were opinion and not defamation, and that his threats were not extreme enough to recover damages.

Ursh must be feeling the pressure from Nick Cannon.

Just eight months after they had their daughter, Sovereign Bo, Usher and his girlfriend, Jenn Goicoechea, just revealed that they’re expecting their second child together. Goicoechea debuted her baby bump at the iHeart Awards earlier tonight, which were hosted by Usher.

This will be Usher’s fourth child. He had two sons — 13-year-old Usher V and 12-year-old Naviyd Ely — with ex-wife Tameka Foster.

Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes would’ve been 50 years old today, so it is only right that we honor her life with this week’s TBT selection.

“What About Your Friends” was the third single from the group’s debut album, Ooooooohhh… On the TLC Tip, and the first TLC song I can remember singing along to. In fact, when I picked this song for this post, I was under the impression that it was their very first single.

Written by Dallas Austin and Left Eye, “What About Your Friends” samples James Brown’s “Blues & Pants,” a hip-hop favorite. The song talks about friendships and how they can be affected by changes in circumstances — in particular, when a friend goes on to become rich and famous. The not-so-funny part about the lyrics is that the members of TLC — while definitely famous — were by no means rich and wouldn’t be for another six years or so.

“What About Your Friends” would become the group’s third top 10 single and one of their signature hits. And nearly three decades later, it feels just as fresh.

In honor of Left Eye, click play and get your life.

The live-action ‘Powerpuff Girls’ reboot — starring
Chloe Bennet, Dove Cameron and Yana Perrault as Blossom, Bubbles and Buttercup, respectively — is reportedly being re-written after the show’s script leaked onto the interwebs earlier this week and got panned unanimously.

Below is an excerpt from the tragic script.


The pilot is expected to be re-shot later this year. The leaked script that got panned is said to have been written by Diablo Cody, who is also executive-producing the show. 😬

Earlier this year, the show was dragged when photos from the set made their way online, with fans disapproving of the costumes.

Today is Naturi Naughton’s 37th birthday and Kiely Williams is kinda sorta in the news this week, so it’s only right that this week’s TBT selection is one from 3LW’s catalog.

“Playas Gon’ Play” was the second and final single from 3LW’s self-titled debut album. Written by Sean Hall and Nate Butler, the song is about people (i.e., haters) planting seeds of doubt in a relationship. The song manages to be age-appropriate (the group was 14-17 at the time) while being “grown” enough for any adult to enjoy it without feeling ridiculous — and we probably have Naturi’s mature-sounding voice to thank for that.

“Playas Gon’ Play” is unique because it is the one and only 3LW single where Naturi provides lead vocals. To this day, it remains a mystery as to why the best singer in the group wasn’t given more chances to sing lead. We could hypothesize, but we won’t. Not today at least.

For cultured millennials of a certain age, this is a beautiful reminder of a certain era of popular music. Click play and get your life.