entertainment blog
Rick Ross Fined Over Wingstop Labor Violations
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: Johnny Nunez / Getty Rick Ross has to pay up. A company owned by Rozay has been hit for six figures worth of fines due to labor violations at multiple Wingstop stores. The scenes of the crimes were in Mississippi, allegedly. Reports TMZ: The U.S. Department of Labor says they hit Boss Wings Enterprises LLC — Rick Ross’s company — with a $114,427 fine for back wages and other penalties after the agency determined their franchises were violating labor laws. Related Stories Unclear what period of time this covers exactly, but the DOL claims that after an investigation into 5 locations — all owned and operated by Boss Wings — they found many of the employees were taking home less than $7.25/hour after factoring in all the deductions — a big no-no under ...
This On-Demand Vinyl Printing Company Aims to Revolutionize Vinyl As We Know It
On-demand vinyl printing platform elasticStage has raised £3.5 million ($4.2 million USD) to help fund “the vinyl revolution.” Led by renowned record producers Paul Epworth (Adele, Paul McCartney) and Dan Grech-Marguerat (Lana Del Rey, George Ezra, Tom Grennan), the investment will aid elasticStage in expanding its operations, team and technology as well as building key partnerships with labels and digital service providers. The company is set to drop the needle and open their first production and fulfillment center in London by the end of this year, MusicWeek reports. elasticStage has reportedly spent the past six years in development and is now ready to revolutionize the way vinyl is created and distributed with a more sustainable and ethical approach. By utili...
House Representative Rashida Tlaib Takes Aim at Music Streaming Services In New Resolution
Rashida Tlaib, House Representative for Michigan’s 13th congressional district, has introduced a resolution that seeks to establish a new royalty program. The resolution effectively continues her fight for musicians to earn a “reasonable” living from their recorded music. “Expressing the sense of Congress that it is the duty of the Federal Government to establish a new royalty program to provide income to featured and non-featured performing artists whose music or audio content is listened to on streaming music services, like Spotify,” reads the bill. Tlaib’s resolution proposes the royalty rate be administered by SoundExchange and the Copyright Royalty Board, who would calculate, collect, retain and distribute payments to the appropriate copyright ...
Controversial Music NFT Platform HitPiece Relaunches Months After Shutdown
Mere months after being slammed by the music industry at large for auctioning music NFTs without artists’ consent, HitPiece has relaunched, Billboard reports. Legions of artists lashed out at HitPiece in early 2022 after a plethora of NFTs appeared on the controversial marketplace without their consent. After major recording artists like Jack Antonoff and industry trade organizations like the RIAA admonished the platform, its website went offline. But HitPiece is now back online and aiming to be “the easiest place to create and buy authentic music artist NFTs,” according to Billboard. “HitPiece is working with the licensors of music to secure performance rights,” Felton said in an email to Billboard. “We may enter into agree...
Nostalgix On Her Record Label Dreams, Blistering Shambhala Music Festival Debut and More
It’s been just over a year since Nostalgix moved to Los Angeles, but you wouldn’t know it if you flipped through her accolades. The fast-rising house music producer and rapper embarked on an expansive North American tour. She released a dizzying string of singles and remixes on House Call Records, Night Bass, Thrive and more venerated dance labels. And last month, Nostalgix returned to her home turf of B.C. to scratch another iconic music festival off her bucket list. EDM.com caught up with the Vancouver native following her explosive debut at one of Canada’s most beloved electronic music festivals, Shambhala. Nostalgix performs at Shambhlaha’s Pagoda Stage in 2022. Triangel Productions EDM.com: How does it feel playing your first Shambala coming from Vancouver, kno...
A$AP Rocky Pleads Not Guilty in Connection to November 2021 Shooting
A$AP Rocky pled not guilty to the felony charges against him in connection to the alleged November 2021 shooting of Terell Ephron, known as A$AP Relli. According to reports, the artist’s next court date is scheduled for November 2, 2022 and received a protective order requested by Ephron’s lawyers, which now prohibits Rocky from being within 100 yards of Ephron and possessing firearms and/or ammunitions. Rocky’s lawyer, Sara L. Caplan, asked for the protective order to also be applied to Ephron, however Judge Victoria Wilson stated that the matter can be addressed if a case is filed against Ephron. In addition, Rocky will need to “clear dates” with the court if he needs to travel for work. The Los Angeles district attorney recently charged Rocky with two counts of assault with a semiautoma...
Kid Cudi Says Only a “Miracle” Will Mend His Friendship With Kanye West
Kid Cudi graced the cover of the latest issue of Esquire, where he opened up about his public fallout with former friend Kanye West and shared that it would take a “miracle” for them to rekindle. The artist explained that he did not appreciate the backlash he received on social media following their back-and-forth about Cudi’s friendship with Pete Davidson, the then-boyfriend of Ye’s ex-wife Kim Kardashian. Cudi stated that the messages and comments Ye’s “trolls” on Twitter and Instagram left him infuriated as they were bothering his mental health, especially considering the fact that he was not directly involved in the relationship of Davidson and Kardashian. “I’m not one of your kids. I’m not Kim. It don’t matter if I’m friends with Pete or not friends with Pete. None of this shit had an...
R. Kelly’s Request To Exclude Jurors Who Saw ‘Surviving R. Kelly’ Is Denied
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: Cook County Department of Corrections / Cook County Department of Corrections R. Kelly’s legal troubles seemingly have gotten even worse. His team’s request to exclude jurors who have watched Surviving R. Kelly has been denied. As per Variety his lawyers will have to rethink their strategy concerning their client’s current trial in Chicago. This week their petition to remove individuals from the juror panel who have watched the docuseries or are privy to some of the allegations in it. Jennifer Bonjean, Kelly’s lawyer, submitted a motion detailing their concerns. “Any person who has seen the documentary would possess information about the allegations in this indictment (and unrelated allegations) that would unquestionably interfere with his/...
Kid Cudi Says It’ll Take A “Motherf*cking Miracle” For Him And Kanye To Be Good Again
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: Jason Koerner / Getty Friendships in the rap game can at times be fickle depending on circumstances and misunderstandings, but Kid Cudi isn’t even humoring burying the hatchet with Kanye West as their relationship seems broken beyond repair. Months after making it clear that he and Kanye West are no longer cool with one another, Kid Cudi has once again reiterated his stance on their relationship and shot down any notion that they’d be hugging it out anytime soon. In an in-depth interview with Esquire the Man On The Moon artist didn’t just say it would take a “motherfucking miracle” for him and Kanye to be friends again, but even got into detail about how one-sided their friendship had been for quite some time. Related Stories “I’ve been on every one of th...
A$AP Relli Feels “Vindicated” After Alleged Shooter A$AP Rocky Is Charged
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: Irfan Khan / Getty This past Monday (August 15) A$AP Rocky was hit with charges for a 2021 shooting that took place in LA that left a man with non-life threatening injuries and now the victim is speaking out about the incident and couldn’t happier with how things are playing out. TMZ is reporting that A$AP Rocky’s victim, A$AP Relli is more than content that his former homie has been charged with two counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm as he feels the justice system is working in his favor. Relli’s lawyer, Jamal Tooson tells TMZ that his client felt “vindicated” when the charges came down as the incident left him reeling in the following months even though he wasn’t actually hit by any of the bullets. Related Stories The lawyer goes on to say R...
Kanye West Requests Yeezy Gap Gear Be Sold Out of “Trash Bags”, Twitter Reacts
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: Yeezy GAP / YEEZY GAP Billionaire rapper/producer Kanye West is nothing if not unpredictable. The star is being criticized for the merchandising presentation of his new Yeezy Gap collection. In a now-viral post, a Twitter user wrote, “This is how they are selling Yeezy GAP. The sales associate said Ye got mad when he saw they had it on hangers and this is how he wanted it. They won’t help you find ur size too, you just have to just dig through everything.” Related Stories Per Page Six, an eyewitness said that, “The sales associate said Ye got mad when he saw they had [his clothes] on hangers” because “this is how he wanted it.” “They won’t help you find [your] size,” they added, “you just have to just dig through everything.” See More: EX...
Shinedown Scores Record 18th Mainstream Rock Airplay No. 1 With ‘Daylight’
Shinedown retakes sole possession of the record for the most No. 1s in the history of Billboard‘s Mainstream Rock Airplay chart, as “Daylight” tops the Aug. 20-dated survey. The song is Shinedown’s 18th No. 1 and lifts the band out of a tie with Three Days Grace for the most rulers since the chart began in 1981. Shinedown and Three Days Grace have traded the record since February 2020, when the former scored its 15th No. 1 with “Attention Attention.” Shinedown pulled into the lead by itself with its 16th No. 1, “Atlas Falls,” that August, and the back-and-forth continued with Three Days Grace’s 16th No. 1, “So Called Life,” this February; Shinedown’s 17th, “Planet Zero,” in March; and Three Days Grace’s 17th, “Lifetime,” in July. “Daylight” is also Shinedown’s eighth consecutive Mainstream...
