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88rising Signs First-Look Deal With Sony Pictures TV
The global Asian music and media company has hired former Imagine and NBC exec Alex Lin to spearhead its film and television development. Sony Pictures TV has signed 88rising, the emergent company that spotlights modern global Asian culture, to a first-look deal. The two will partner to develop scripted series centering Asian and Asian American culture, across all platforms, and 88rising has hired former Imagine and NBC exec Alex Lin to serve as its first development executive for film and television. Since its founding in 2015, 88rising has quickly risen — pun unintended — from a record label for pan-Asian artists to a music, media and events company that in 2018 became the first to stage an Asian music festival in the United States (Head in the Clouds, dubbed “Asian Coachella...
ARIA Appoints Annabelle Herd as CEO
Herd brings a skillset loaded with legal and lobbying work in the nation’s capital, Canberra, and extensive experience in the television industry. Previously, she carved out a 16-year career at free-to-air Network 10, where she most recently held the post of Chief Operating Officer, tasked with leading its broadcast operations; group strategy; corporate and internal communications; interstate markets; policy, regulatory, compliance and government affairs; and lobbying and stakeholder relations. And before that, she worked at senior levels with government in Canberra, culminating in a stint as Senior Advisor (Broadcasting and Copyright) and Acting Chief of Staff for then Minister for Communications and the Arts, Senator the Hon. Richard Alston AO. While in the capital, she worked as a gover...
Will Leslie Odom Jr. Be the 4th Double Oscar Nominee for Acting & Songwriting in 4 Years?
The double nods for Blige, Erivo and now possibly Odom are a sign of the increased opportunities Black performers are being given in film. Moreover, if Odom becomes a double nominee, he’ll become the second actor to do so for a film in which he or she plays a real-life character. From 1934, when the Oscars introduced their best original song award, through 2016, no one ever received nominations for acting and songwriting in the same year. That’s partly due to the fact that, years ago, singing actors didn’t usually write their own material, but relied on the work of professional songwriters. Judy Garland, Bing Crosby and Doris Day are forever linked with Oscar-winning songs, but they didn’t have a hand in writing them. This started to change in the mid-’70s. Barbra Streisand has stradd...
Hank Aaron Died Of Natural Causes, Death Not Linked To COVID-19 Vaccine
Source: Icon Sportswire / Getty The death of legendary slugger Hank Aaron is still heavy on the minds of many and new details about his passing have emerged. After concerns were sparked that Aaron died of complications from the COVID-19 vaccine, it has been confirmed that the MLB legend passed away from natural causes. Atlanta outlet 11Alive reports that an investigator with the Fulton County Medical Examiner’s office confirmed that Aaron did indeed die of natural causes. Earlier in the month, Aaron joined with a number of Atlanta notables such as Andrew Young in receiving a round of the two-shot vaccine. According to Young, Aaron did not have any adverse reactions to the vaccine and explained to 11Alive his view of things. “I talked to the fella who was his driver, and I said, ‘was hank f...
‘Star Wars’ Uses Its Force To Defend Web Series Host Krystina Arielle Following Racist Attacks
Source: Pacific Press / Getty Yes, Star Wars fans can be ridiculously racist too. Krystina Arielle should have been celebrating after being announced as the new host of The High Republic Show web series, but instead, she was the target of racial attacks. Star Wars swiftly stepped up to defend its new web series host. Yahoo News reported that immediately following the announcement of Arielle becoming the host of the new Star Wars subseries; she was met with racist criticism in response to resurfaced tweets she shared back in June speaking out about the role white people played in racist America at the height of protests that broke out worldwide following the unjust killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery. “White People: You do not get to absolve people of racism. Yo...
Kodak Black Backs Out of $1M Tweet Promise After Receiving Pardon
Source: (Photo by Johnny Louis/FilmMagic) / (Photo by Johnny Louis/FilmMagic) If all a man has is his word, Kodak Black isn’t as rich as he thinks he is. The Florida rapper promptly deleted a tweet where he vowed to donate a million dollars to charity if — by some act of a higher power—he was pardoned from his 46-month prison sentence. ” Last Day In ” Out Now pic.twitter.com/rNhW52VAgL — Kodak Black (@KodakBlack1k) January 24, 2021 In 2019, he admitted to lying on federal forms in order to buy four firearms in Miami and with his extensive rap sheet — he knew better. Last Tuesday (Jan 19), the day before that last guy in the Oval Office left with his tail between his legs, he issued a long list of pardons that include Lil Wayne and of course, Kodak Black. The aforementioned twee...
NBA Analyst Sekou Smith Dies Of COVID-19 Complications, Twitter Mourns A Legend
Source: NBA TV / Turner Sports Beloved NBA analyst Sekou Smith has reportedly died of complications from COVID-19. He was just 48. The Turner Sports family mourns the loss of our very own, Sekou Smith. Our thoughts are with his family and friends. pic.twitter.com/97mu4bylfA — NBA TV (@NBATV) January 27, 2021 TMZ reports that Smith had been battling COVID-19. On Tuesday evening (Jan 26), NBA TV, which has employed Smith as an analyst for over a decade, confirmed his passing. “The NBA mourns the passing of Sekou Smith, a beloved member of the NBA family,” said NBA Commissioner Adam Silver in a statement. “Sekou was one of the most affable and dedicated reporters in the NBA and terrific friend to so many across the league.” Proudly born and raised in Grand Rapids, Atlanta was his current home...
Zayn’s ‘Connexion’ Has Plenty Of Space For His Voice. Thank Zach & Roger
Zayn’s most valuable asset has always been his voice. Throughout his four albums with One Direction, his falsetto memorably crested key moments of some of the band’s biggest singles, and “Zayn high notes” remains a popular YouTube search, yielding multiple videos with millions (and millions) of views. His first solo album, 2016’s Mind of Mine, found him weaponizing that instrument on maximalist, slightly mechanized pop that nevertheless occasionally buried his pipes under layers of production sheen. It’s a trend the singer stepped away from on 2018’s Icarus Falls, though the more intimate sonic moments hid inside a labyrinthine 30-song tracklist that unspooled over a languid 90 minutes. That’s why Nobody Is Listening, Zayn’s third and most accessible album yet, feels like such a gear shift...
‘Our Marriage Is Finally Over’: Teen Mom OG‘s Mackenzie And Josh Are Finished
Mackenzie has struggled to trust Josh through the years — and after the death of her mother Angie, the grief-stricken mother of three felt that her husband did not offer adequate support. But the plot thickened during the Teen Mom OG premiere: Mackenzie went through Josh’s phone and saw he was texting her cousin late at night, then posted about the correspondence on social media before confronting the two about the conversations. “Josh and I got into a huge fight. He moved his stuff out and we haven’t talked since,” Mackenzie admitted. Mackenzie revealed that Josh “has never been this mad at me” (the texts were a “misunderstanding”), and she told her sister Whitney that the “marriage is finally over.” “We’re not ...
ALBUM: Dunsin Oyekan – The Gospel Of The Kingdom
Popular Nigerian gospel music minister and pastor, Dunsin Oyekan has finally release his long awaited Album titled; “The Gospel Of The Kingdom“. Dunsin who is also known for playing the bass guitar skillfully released the album titled “The Gospel of the Kingdom” and gotten from Matthew 24:14. “The Gospel of The Kingdom Album” is a 16-track collection of powerful songs including previously released sounds like “Fragrance to Fire“, “At all Cost“, “The Anthem“, and “I’ll Be Here“. Dunsin Oyekan, filled with joy takes to his Instagram to reveal the “The Gospel Of The Kingdom Album” himself: We present to you the 16 sounds on the new album. We sing revelations not songs, these are the revelations from the Father for this time and season. “The Lord gave th...
VIDEO: Waje – Best Thing Ft Ric Hassan
Don’t miss this brand new piece of music from Waje – “Best Thing” ft Ric Hassani out now. Talented Nigerian singer with a sonorous voice, Waje has released the visual to her song titled “Best Thing” featuring Ric Hassani. There had been speculation last week that the 40-year-old singer was ready to tie the knot with Ric Hassani following pictures that were spotted online showing the singers in lovers position. The single mother in the song noted that she would love to be the soldier of her lover and be there to fight for him anytime. She was spotted in the colourful video presenting gifts like, PS5, a nice Mercedes jeep to her lover who is Ric Hassani in the video. The amazing song was produced by Crack Mallo, while the video was shot and directed by Blessing Uzzi. Watch Waje – Best T...
EXODUS’s STEVE ‘ZETRO’ SOUZA Claims He Predicted METALLICA’s Chart-Topping Success In 1985
In a new interview with the “Shockwaves Skullsessions” podcast, EXODUS singer Steve “Zetro” Souza discussed METALLICA‘s late 1980s/early 1990s transition from being uncompromising thrash metal standard-bearers to arena rock’s heaviest band. “It’s funny,” he said (see video below). “[SLAYER‘s] Tom Araya told me one thing long, long, long ago. He said, ‘Zetro, just stay heavy and everything else will fall into place.’ And he’s right. Who’s the biggest band in the world? They’re a thrash band. If you really look at it from the beginning, the biggest band in the world is a thrash band. “In 1985, I remember, I [was] 21 years old,” he continued. “I just finished the LEGACY [ZetroR...
