Black Immigrant Daily News

Tems won her first NAACP Image award on Monday night for her cover of Bob Marley’s “No Woman, No Cry” featured on the Black Panther: Wakanda Forever soundtrack. The song won the award for Outstanding International Song category at the 54th annual NAACP Image Awards.

The Image Awards presented by the NAACP recognizes the outstanding achievements and performances of people of color in 80 competitive categories, including film, television, streaming, music, literature, and podcasts.

Along with Tems, Shenseea was also nominated in the Outstanding International Song category for “Diana” along with “Bad To Me” by Wizkid (RCA Records/Starboy/Sony Music International), “Last Last” by Burna Boy (Atlantic Records), and “Stand Strong” by Davido featuring Sunday Service Choir (RCA Records/Sony Music UK).

Meanwhile, Rihanna has also announced the winner of the Outstanding Music Video/Visual Album category for her song “Lift Me Up,” which was one of two soundtracks she recorded to be used as soundtracks for the film Black Panther: Wakanda Forever released late last year.

In the meantime, the NAACP Image Awards will continue to announce the winners for the non-televised categories throughout this week, leading to the final live ceremony on Saturday, February 25, on BET from the Pasadena Civic Auditorium in California.

Tem’s cover of “No Woman No Cry” was released in July 2022 and debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard World Digital Song Sales chart. The track spent almost a dozen weeks on the US Afrobeats Songs Chart, peaking at No. 7 and also peaked at No. 50 on the Billboard US Digital Song Sales chart.

The original “No Woman No Cry” was co-produced by Bob Marley, Chris Blackwell, and Steve Smith and released on the legendary reggae artist’s 1974 album ‘Natty Dread.’

Rolling Stone ranked Marley’s live version of the track as the No. 37 Greatest Songs of All Time, particularly for its themes that spoke to the economic and other oppressive circumstances that women faced in Jamaica in the 1970s that resonated with the hardships women faced across the world.

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Black Immigrant Daily News

Rapper T.I. is backtracking from his previous comments that he bargained with the feds for his freedom by selling out his dead cousin. After being called a snitch by the likes of Boosie Badazz, the rapper now says it was all a joke, and he didn’t expect it to be blown out of proportion, especially after his long-time friend called off the release of their joint album.

T.I. recently made the comments on his brand new podcast where he was talking about an incident when he was a youth who got caught up with the law along with his cousin. He claims that his cousin told him to pin a gun charge on him so that Tip could escape jail time.

Many people like Boosie felt that if the story was true, T.I. was no better than any other snitch. Boosie also shared in a Vlad Interview that the rapper had never mentioned anything like that during their decades-long friendship. He believed he did it to get podcast views rather than the incident being real and T.I. being a “truthteller.”

T.I., however, says he had embellished the story.

“It came off a conversation I was having with my patna and I were having and that conversation was ‘hey bruh if me and you catch a case together and I die before you, it’s mine’… off of that conversation, I created a set of circumstances and I thought that the embellishment was clear when I said that I talked to my cousin and he told [he was ok,’” T.I. said to Richard Benjamin from Trapper of the Trap News Network.

The rapper added, “humor, satire and sarcasm, it escapes them,” and said that he understands the outrage even though he was pushing the boundaries of the narrative.

“I can offer some alternative perspectives to the way things are being viewed by the majority… open up the conversation about taboo topics. Free thinking,” T.I. said.

TIP added about the story, “it came from a very real place but I added embellishment to it to fit the needed discussion.”

The Atlanta rapper was asked about the court case and said that it was eventually dismissed due to the suppression of evidence after it was discovered that the police conducted an illegal search and seizure and even offered to show paperwork to prove he did not snitch on his cousin.

TIP was dragged by Boosie earlier this week as he became impassioned as he said that his joint album with the rapper is off since his uncle and other friends and family warned him not to associate with Tip. In an Instagram response, T.I. hit back at Boosie who he said could have called his phone rather than go on Vlad and blast him.

“To get on da net & speak on shi*t you’ve never spoke to me about is leaving me to believe you been hiding ya heart the whole time!!!! I’d NEVER speak “certain disrespect” on your name/reputation bout a “IF” homie,” he said.

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Black Immigrant Daily News

The man who shot and killed California rapper Nipsey Hussle in cold blood and left him to die in front of the store he opened to help the community has been sentenced to life in prison.

Eric R. Holder Jr. will have to serve 60 years in jail before he is eligible for parole. A judge handed down the hefty sentence more than three years since he shot and killed the rapper in a rage over allegations that he was an informant. According to the LA Times, Holder was sentenced to 25 years to life on the first-degree count, an additional 25 years to life for a sentencing enhancement since a gun was used, and 10 years for the shooting of the innocent bystanders.

Holder Jr. was found guilty by a jury last year of the first-degree murder of the hip-hop artist, but his sentencing was put off until this month. Superior Court Judge H. Clay Jacke II handed down the of-delayed sentence to Eric Holder Jr., who is only 33 years old.

Along with being found guilty of first-degree murder, Holder was also found guilty of two counts of attempted voluntary manslaughter and two counts of assault with a firearm after shooting two innocent bystanders when he shot and killed Nipsey Hussle.

Judge Jacke’s sentence was handed down after Nipsey’s close friend Herman ‘Cowboy’ Douglas gave a victim impact statement in court, and a letter from Holder’s father read in court. Despite the lengthy sentence, the judge noted that Holder was not eligible for the death penalty.

Holder’s attorney Aaron Jansen had asked for Holder’s sentencing to be delayed as he moved to get his conviction reduced from first-degree murder to manslaughter or second-degree murder, which was rejected by Judge Jacke.

During the sentencing on Wednesday, Douglas told the court he was standing with Hussle when Holder killed him. Douglas shared that the rapper’s death left a deep void in the South Los Angeles community where Hussle had dedicated himself and his success to building up the community and creating opportunities for the youth.

“Nipsey was my friend, he was like a son, he was like a dad,” he said. “Our community right now, we lost everything, everything we worked for. One man’s mistake, one man’s action, messed up a whole community.”

He continued, “Our community right now, we lost everything. Everything we worked for. … thousands of jobs we don’t have no more. Homies don’t have nothing to do. They backsliding, they robbing people now,” Douglas said. “All our stores are closed down. The whole community relied on Nip.”Douglas also directly addressed the judge, “I don’t care what you give this guy. It ain’t about the time. I just want to know why. The world wants to know why. Why someone would do that?”

Douglas also broke out into song- “hit the road Jack” after Holder was sentenced, causing the judge and deputies to admonish him and send him out of the room.

Hussle, whose real name is Ermias Asghedom, had grown up with Holder, and the two were also aspiring rappers, but only Nipsey Hussle became successful. Evidence led by the prosecution claimed that Holder shot the rapper about a dozen times, with one shot ripping through his spine. Had he survived, he would have been disabled.

Holder’s attorney had stated that his client did kill the rapper but said that a lesser verdict of voluntary manslaughter was appropriate since Holder reacted in the heat of passion and shot the rapper.

Jansen says his client planned to appeal the verdict.

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