Politics
Rage Against the Machine See 62% Increase in Streams Amid Protests
Amidst this tumultuous period of social unrest, Rage Against the Machine’s music is back front and center. Beginning last week, the hard rock outfit returned to the charts, with their 1992 self-titled debut re-appearing on the Billboard 200, and their two other original LPs cracking the top 30 on Apple Music. That surge on the charts has continued over the last seven days, as Billboard reports. Rage Against Machine’s music was streamed over 11 million times in the last week, a 62% increase. The band’s 1992 single “Killing in the Name” accounts for 2.4 million of those streams alone, which places the song at No. 3 on Hard Rock Digital Songs Chart and No. 21 on the Hard Rock Streaming Songs Chart. “Bulls on Parade”, meanwhile, has been streamed 1.4 million times in the last week. Billboard a...
Rep. Cedric Richmond’s Smoothly Sidesteps Rep. Matt Gaetz’s MAGA Rage
Source: Pool / Getty Intense discussions between opposing elected officials isn’t a new thing but in the era of President Donald Trump, contentious disagreements are becoming the norm. An incident that occurred during a discussion between two congressmen, Rep. Cedric Richmond and Rep. Matt Gaetz, got especially testy but Richmond handled it quite smoothly. During a House Judiciary Committee session, Richmond, a Black Democrat representing Louisiana, took his turn to discuss the finer points of the pending Justice and Policing Act that the House of Representatives will soon vote on. Richmond expressed during his speaking time that the urgency for police reform as it relates to the effect it will have on saving Black lives was met with resistance as he yielded his time for an interjection. G...
System of a Down’s Serj Tankian: If You Love Our Music and Trump, “You’re a Hypocrite”
The recent political back and forth between System of a Down bandmates Serj Tankian and John Dolmayan is as jarring as some of the band’s most popular songs. While neither band member is directly responding to the other, they’ve each been using social media to share views from opposite ends of the political spectrum. Tankian leans far left, while the right-wing Dolmayan seems like he’s auditioning for a show on Fox News. On Monday, Dolmayan called the Democratic Party the “true bigots” and wished Donald Trump good luck in the November election. Now, the focus shifts back to Tankian, who is digging up old System of a Down lyrics to help illustrate his disdain for Trump. In a new Instagram post, Tankian shared the lyrics to the early System of a Down song “Temper”, which appeared on the band...
Governor Wike slams NGF as toothless bulldog
Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike on Monday slammed the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) for not standing up for embattled Edo State Governor Godwin Obaseki. He said the NGF had become a toothless bulldog as it has lost focus on its role in defending the rule of law. Wike said the Forum used to be non-partisan and a powerful voice on national issues. He noted that since the All Progressives Congress (APC) took over the NGF in 2015, governors have been turned to beggars. The governor spoke at a media parley held at Government House in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital. He said: “Before 2015, the Nigeria Governors’ Forum used to be very powerful as symbols of their respective states but APC killed it because they were protecting the interest of the ruling party. “It is quite unfortunate ...
System of a Down’s John Dolmayan Calls Democrats the “True Bigots” While Wishing Trump a Happy Birthday
Despite being antithetical to the sociopolitical ideals that have long been presented in his band’s music, System of a Down drummer John Dolmayan keeps doubling and tripling down on some far-right viewpoints. Now, he has gone so far as to call Democrats the “true bigots” in his latest Instagram rant. At this point, it may seem like Dolmayan is just trying to get a rise out of the band’s fans, but he has made it clear that he stands on the opposite end of the political spectrum than his bandmates, especially singer Serj Tankian. Already the two have expressed very different views about the ongoing protests, with Dolmayan hailing President Trump as the “greatest friend to minorities” and Tankian calling for the Trump regime to resign. Last week, Dolmayan followed up his initial comments by d...
Jon Stewart Discusses Police Brutality and FOX News in New Interview
With all that’s going on in the world, there’s no better time for the return of Jon Stewart. The former Daily Show host is back making the media rounds for his new movie, Irresistible, coming to PVOD on June 26th. Given the political nature of the film and the socio-political landscape it’s being released into, it’s no surprise Stewart has a lot to say about the current state of things. In a new interview with The New York Times, he touched on everything from Trump to police brutality to FOX News, all with his usual intelligence and nuance. Some might wish Stewart would return to the televised political comedy and commentary scene, but even if he were to return (he’s certainly not eager to) it wouldn’t be like The Daily Show. He praised the show’s current host, Trevor Noah, ...
PDP urges Supreme Court to dismiss Timi Alaibe’s case
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) youths have urged the Supreme Court to dismiss Timi Alaibe’s case before the apex court. The PDP added that any contrary decision by the Supreme Court might ignite crisis in the region. The PDP Youths, under the aegis of South South Youth Vanguard, said that they are aware that Alaibe has been making overture to the All Progressives Congress (APC) so that the apex court will favour him. The PDP Youth Vanguard, in a statement by its National Chairman, James Efe Akpofure, disclosed that they are aware that Alaibe has been wooing, telling the leadership of the party that he will join the APC if he wins at the Supreme Court. The group warned the APC not to ignite any avoidable crisis in the state over Bayelsa state governorship election that has already been ...
Penny Lane from The Beatles Song “in Danger of Being Renamed” over Possible Slavery Ties
As the Black Lives Matter movement continues to surge worldwide, citizens and governments alike are being forced to reconsider monuments to heritages of racism. In America, everyone from GWAR to Taylor Swift is calling for the removal of confederate statues, with one petition proposing they be replaced with ones of Dolly Parton. Meanwhile, over in Liverpool, England, folks are seeking to rename the famed Penny Lane — immortalized in the classic song by The Beatles — over its purported connection to the slave trade. It seems many believe the road was named for James Penny, a slave merchant who spoke against abolition in Parliament. Last week, as protests over racial injustice and inequality gripped the country, signs for the street were defaced and graffitied, with “racist” being sprayed ab...
Trouble in PDP camp over Governor Obaseki’s possible defection
File Photo As Governor Godwin Obaseki seeks a new political fortress in his bid to govern Edo state for another four-year term, emerging reports claim the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has been plunged into confusion. The embattled governor was on Friday, June 12, axed out of the race for All Progressive Congress (APC) governorship ticket over alleged “defective certificate.” Since then, Governor Obaseki has become a darling target for the state opposition parties including Action Democratic Party (ADP) but with Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) likely to be his next political destination. The Edo governor faces a tricky hurdle of being received with an open arm by PDP members. Legit.ng recalls the opposition party’s nomination process closed on June 2 while screening of aspirants closed on ...
Edo guber: PDP applauds Governor Obaseki’s infrastructural development
The Edo State Chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has applauded Governor Godwin Obaseki’s developmental strides in the various sectors of the state. The Chairman, Edo PDP, Dr Tony Aziegbemi, gave the commendation after inspecting facilities at the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium in Benin City, ahead of the party’s forthcoming primary election scheduled to hold on June 19th 2020. Addressing journalists at the stadium, the state PDP chairman expressed appreciation to the governor for approving the use of the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium for the conduct of the party’s primary election. He noted that the PDP is very impressed with the transformation of the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium, adding, “We are going ahead with our preparations and on the 19th of June, we are coming here to do what we know ...
Mariah Carey, Ciara, Snoop Dogg & More Celebrate Barack Obama on Donald Trump’s Birthday
Happy birthday? While June 14 marks Donald Trump’s 74th birthday, many are celebrating the day by honoring … a former president. Rather than wishing the current president a happy birthday, thousands of social media users have declared the day #ObamaAppreciationDay in honor of Barack Obama, leading the hashtag and others like it to become the top trending topic on Twitter with more than 250,000 tweets. (As of press time, #HappyBirthdayDonaldTrump was at No. 24.) Among those tipping their hats to the 44th president is Mariah Carey. The singer shared a photo of herself beaming alongside the former president and first lady. She captioned the Instagram and Twitter image simply, “Happy #ObamaAppreciationDay!!” Ciara also joined in, sharing a sepia-toned photo of herself s...
Taylor Swift Calls for Permanent Removal of “Racist” Confederate Statues
The Black Lives Matter protests spurred by George Floyd’s murder aren’t stopping anytime soon — unless, of course, racial equity magically appears overnight. While marching for racial justice and calling for the police to be defunded, protestors have begun taking it upon themselves to dismantle, if not destroy, statues honoring white supremacists from history like Robert E. Lee and John B. Castleman. As it turns out, they have a huge celebrity supporting that cause: Taylor Swift. On Friday, the Grammy-winning pop star released a statement calling for the permanent removal of all Confederate statues in Tennessee. “As a Tennessean, it makes me sick that there are monuments standing in our state that celebrate racist historical figures who did evil things,” Swift wrote on Twitter. “Edward Car...
