January 2023 – deando

Run-DMC To Play Final Concert As Part Of New Documentary: ‘Run-DMC Is Over’

January 22, 2023

By: RUTH HAWKINS

has announced their final concert which will coincide with a new documentary.

In a recent interview with Rock the Bells, Darryl “DMC” McDaniels revealed the iconic group will be closing the curtain on live performances with their last ever show at New York’s Madison Square Garden this spring.

“Run-DMC is over,” he said. “The only way Run-DMC gets back together is if The Beatles get back together. Can that happen?”

“The final show that we are ever going to do is going to be at Madison Square Garden in April,” DMC continued. “It’s going to be the last episode of the documentary we’re doing. Run-DMC’s last show ever. ‘Cause it’s time for Run to go be Paul McCartney and me to be John Lennon. We done did what we could do.”

DMC went onto tease appearances from fellow luminaries like Ice-T and the Wu-Tang Clan during the homecoming concert.

“The show is going to be like The Last Waltz by The Band,” he added. “We’re doing that movie idea. You’ll see Ice-T come and do a song with us. You’ll see Wu-Tang come do a song with us. Anybody can buy a ticket to the show.”

As for the documentary, DMC compared the upcoming project to Dr.Dre and Jimmy Iovine’s 2017 HBO docuseries The Defiant Ones and revealed plans to release it through Netflix — or the highest bidder — for a handsome fee.

“We’re gonna do it with Netflix or to the highest bidder,” he said. “It’s going to be a live production. Run-DMC’s doing The Last Waltz at Madison Square Garden. Who wants to pay $100 million to own it?”

Known for hits like “It’s Tricky” and “It’s Like That,” Run-DMC — comprised of Joseph “Rev Run” Simmons, Darryl “DMC” McDaniels and the late Jason “Jam Master Jay” Mizell — first hit the scene in 1983 with the release of their self-titled album.

Increasing their audience base by tapping into rock music, matched with iconic style, the “new school” rappers quickly reached superstardom. In 2016, the trio were honored with a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, solidifying their mark on Hip Hop culture.

MC Lyte Keeps Music Catalog As Divorce Settlement Honors Prenup

January 22, 2023

By: MARISA MENDEZ

MC Lyte‘s divorce from John Wyche has officially been finalized, and the rapper will keep her music catalog thanks to a prenup.

The Blast got hold of the official divorce documents. Along with her catalog and “other creative property, including royalties in connection to her creative works,” Lyte will keep everything she went into the marriage with.

“MC Lyte keeps her clothing, jewelry, watches, and personal effects in her possession, custody, or control, and earnings and accumulations before the date of marriage, during the marriage, and post-separation, her Subaru, financial accounts in her name, all furniture, furnishings, and other personal property in her possession, custody, or control,” the docs read. “She also gets to keep her term life insurance policy.”

Each party is also waiving their right to spousal support.

Lyte married Wyche, a Marine Corps Veteran and entrepreneur, in August 2017. The pair split five months later in January 2018, citing “irreconcilable differences.”

“Irreconcilable differences have arisen between the parties, which have led to the irremediable breakdown of the marriage, making it impossible for the parties to live together as husband and wife,” the docs state.

The two met at the beginning of 2016 on Match.com when Lyte sent Wyche a message.

“A few months into getting to know Lana I knew I wanted this woman as my wife,” Wyche told Essence at their wedding – which Essence said was “intimate and soulful.”

Aside from a pending divorce, MC Lyte has been busy with other endeavors. The multi-hyphenate has been back in front of the camera for a sitcom called Partners In Rhyme, which just wrapped its second season in October.

Executive produced by Bentley Kyle White and MC Lyte, the ALLBLK original series tackles the generational gap between those who grew up during Hip Hop’s golden age and those who have only been privy to its current incarnation.

While Lyte plays a version of herself, it’s not quite autobiographical.

“The light-hearted, half-hour sitcom follows the life of rap pioneer Lana Crawford [MC Lyte]. When Lana discovers she is being dropped as an artist from her label and in massive debt, the OG rap star is propositioned into managing her niece Lucious T [Precious Way from ABC’s Queens], an up and coming Instagram rapper.”

A third season has not yet been confirmed.

Home Depot’s cofounder — who retired in 2002 — says he doesn’t want the ‘woke generation’ leading business because of their ‘laziness’

January 22, 2023

By: DEAN GRACE

Home Depot’s 93-year-old cofounder Bernie Marcus — who retired in 2002 — says he doesn’t want the “woke generation” leading business, arguing that they would spend money “we don’t have” on climate mitigation and wouldn’t focus on the bottom line.

Speaking on Fox Business Network’s “Varney & Co” on Thursday, Marcus — who no longer has any day-to-day involvement with the company — said: “I certainly don’t want to see the woke generation coming up, especially the leaders.”

He said that he had been following the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos “and they’re recommending spending more money on climate control when we don’t have it. We’ve already overspent. And if anything, climate control has caused most of the problems we have today.”

Marcus didn’t elaborate on what he meant. Europe’s energy crisis stemmed largely from its reliance on Russian fossil fuels.

“We need leaders who are basically thinking about the shareholders and their employees,” Marcus added. “And I think today it’s all about woke diversity, things that don’t hit the bottom line.” Marcus provided little evidence for these claims.

A 2020 report by consultancy giant McKinsey & Company actually found that companies who have more diverse leadership are more likely to report higher profitability.

Marcus, who was a major donor to Donald Trump’s 2016 and 2020 presidential campaigns, also spoke about the labor market, saying that people “don’t want to work.”

“You can’t hire people,” he said. “Nobody wants to work anymore, especially office people.”

Marcus said that the reason that people didn’t want to work is that “they’re entitled, they’re given everything,” adding that government unemployment benefits were pushing people to stay at home.

“So you get this laziness … and it’s basically a socialistic society,” he said. Marcus also said that people wanted to work “three days a week,” possibly referring to the growth in demand for flexible working during the pandemic, as well as the recent push for a four-day work week.

Marcus made similar comments in an interview with the Financial Times in December.

The mantra ” nobody wants to work anymore” has gathered steam during the pandemic, with some bosses using the phrase as a scapegoat for why they’re struggling to recruit staff. Workers, in turn, say that low pay are the reason why they’ve been switching jobs and holding out for better offers.

The pandemic caused a huge change in how people think about work. Office workers realized the benefits of working remotely and with flexible hours, especially for those with caring responsibilities. Staff in low-paid, customer-facing roles like fast-food and cleaning were at a heightend risk of catching COVID. People rethought what they wanted from their careers and some used the pandemic as an opportunity to retrain for new roles.

This all caused quit rates in the US to reach record highs in 2021, though levels are slowly falling.

The civilian labor-force participation rate – the proportion of the working-age population that is employed or actively seeking work – plummeted at the start of the pandemic, data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics shows. Though it still remains below pre-pandemic levels, the participation rate has increased from a low of 60.1% in April 2021 to 62.3% in December 2022.

BLS datashows that non-farm job openings reached a record high in 11.86 million in March 2022 but have since dropped to 10.46 million in November.

“How do you have a recession when you have people that don’t want jobs?,” Marcus said during Thursday’s interview. “There are plenty of jobs out there.”

“Bernie Marcus retired from The Home Depot more than 20 years ago and does not speak on behalf of the company,” Home Depot told Insider in a statement.

Noname Says ‘We Have To Start Gatekeeping’ Black Art In Powerful Call-To-A

January 22, 2023

By: TAI SAINT LOUIS

NONAME has challenged Black artists to band together to effect social change by limiting the amount of access they offer to their art through white-owned platforms.

the rapper and activist shared a long message divided into four images as a slideshow on Instagram. In it, Noname started with a statement about the myriad ways in which Black art can be accessed by white consumers.

“One of the biggest mistakes i believe we’ve made in our struggle towards liberation in this country is allwoing white america unfiltered access to our entire culture,” she wrote. “White america has created an institution of violent policing and medical neglect that is killing us EVERY FUCKING DAY. and every day we get on their platforms (tik tok, twitter etc) and we create trends, music, art and language that they turn into billions.”

After pointing out that she believes social media is sometimes manipulated by law enforcement officials, Noname called out the apathetic attitude white consumers seem to have when it comes to music “about the plight of living or the struggle to make it out.”

She went on to draw comparisons between Hip Hop and the evolution of Blues, adding that both genres have a predominantly white audience.

“Do yall never think, maybe white people don’t organize to end economic/racist exploitation that black people face simply because they love consuming the art we make out of survival,” the Chicago native suggested.

Rather than a complaint filled rant, however, Noname also included what she considered could be one solution to the perceived problem before asking fans to drop their thoughts in the comment.

“As black artists making black art, we have a responsibility to our community and to our culture,” she wrote. “I understand needing to survive under capitalism but there is power in collective action! what would it look like if we all said, unless festivals, streaming, social media puts 10% of their profits into a black community fund we use to house and feed people, we will no longer contribute our content.”

Anticipating questions from her followers, the ” Song 33″ rapper also addressed her own upcoming appearance at Coachella in the post simply titled “gate keeping.”

“I’m about to play coachella because i need the bread,” she explained. “Trust, i’m not above anybody but if there was a collective boycott where ALL black artists refuse to share our work unless we see radical change in our conditions, i would immediately do that shit.”

Noname’s words seemed to resonate with a number of her fans, garnering over 42,000 likes and over 1,100 comments in just eight hours. Before closing off the comments, the 31-year-old engaged in dialogue with those who offered their own thoughts about the idea of gatekeeping, and even those who challenged her position.

When one commenter brought up Coachella, Noname reiterated that she was not in a position to turn down work, reminding her followers that she had, in fact, stepped away from performing at one point.

“I stopped playing shows for yearsss! for the exact reason i’m talking about and nothing happened,” se responded. “I’m not a big enough artist for them to care. sorry but i’m not about to have my mom on the street unless EVERY artists willing to make that sacrifice. i almost [did] that shit and never again.”

Noname’s Coachella performance is set to take place on the same day as Frank Ocean‘s return to the stage for his first festival performance of the decade.

He will headline both Sundays and fans are already cooking up theories that he will release new music prior to the festival, which will make its way back to the Empire Polo Club in Indio for the weekends of April 14 to April 16 and April 21 to April 23.