Black Immigrant Daily News

Drake made a bold statement that 2020 was the hardest year in human history and fans quickly gave him some history lessons.

A video of Drake in an interview has gone viral with a quote from the Canadian rapper irking some people. The rapper is seen with short hair, and his signature heart design faded into the front of his hairline, which suggests the video is from sometime last year as he donned the special cut to celebrate his ‘Certified Lover Boy’ album.

It’s the statement that Drake makes that has people up in arms as the rapper appears to be speaking about the year 2020 and says it is the worst year in human history.

Now, the Covid-19 pandemic had a devastating effect on countries across the world, with 6.4 million people dying and more than 603 million being infected from the virus. Many countries shut down and banned gatherings to stop the virus. As a result, countries are now dealing with an economic downturn as inflation rises, and the cost of living goes up. Some countries were also hard hit, and many people also lost their lives to Covid.

“The hardest year maybe in human history that we’ve ever been through,” he begins while the video cuts to ominous music with an empty street, and the camera zooms in on a sign that says, “If you want live music back, wear a mask.”

“Forget music, as a people like, the hardest time to ever connect with people, relate to people,” the rapper says in an ominous tone.

It’s unclear where the video is from or what interview it was, but many people took to social media to school the Toronto rapper.

“This is why ppl have to study history because wtf,” one person wrote on Instagram. “Wait till he hear about slavery and segregation,” another said. “Don’t say human history, say in your lifetime. Far worst have gone on. SMH Aubrey,” another told him.

Some of the rapper’s fans did speak up in his defense.

“He meant for this generation,” one person said. “He said that we’ve ever lived through. He must’ve meant our generation,” another said.

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Photos of a very young Sean Paul during his days as a member of Jamaica’s national water polo team have surfaced thanks to one of the Grammy-winning artist’s old teammates.

The photos show a relatively young Paul along with a young man named Jake Muller together. Muller shared the photos on Twitter in response to a random tweet that asked followers to “tweet a true story from your life that sounds made up.”

In response, Muller said, “when I was 16, I played water polo against Grammy Award-winning reggae artist Sean Paul.”

The tweet accompanied three photos showing Muller shaking hands with Sean Paul. The Jamaican is seen wearing a white t-shirt and a grey cap on his head with what looks like braids peeking out.

There is also a troll-worthy photo of Paul and Muller, who are both bare-chested and wearing black speedos with nothing else to cover their abs and torsos. Paul has not reacted to the photos, but he was last spotted performing in Nottingham, United Kingdom.

Sean Paul previously spoke about his time on the water polo team, which started when he was 13 – 21 years old.

In an interview this year, Paul said he gave up a possible career in water polo sport to follow his music career. In a Guardian interview, the “Baby Girl” artist says that his family was going through immense hardship after his father was imprisoned. As he fluttered to understand all that was happening while also coping with his new economic circumstances, he turned to Bob Marley’s music for inspiration.

The singer said that after releasing his first song and being told that he would be a “one-hit-wonder,” he was determined to prove everyone wrong, and that’s when he quit water polo in 1996 to chase after his dreams of becoming an artiste. He is credited among the very few who exposed dancehall as a genre to the world.

To date Sean Paul is a 9 time Grammy nominated dancehall artist with one Grammy win under his belt.

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It looks like rap’s most infamous informant, Tekashi 6ix9ine, is having a tough go at it these days after admitting he is in a dark place.

That’s if we’re to go by his seemingly drunken Instagram Live update, which he posted over the weekend. There’s no doubt that the rapper has struggled to make ends meet ever since his release from prison. However, he may be struggling much more mentally than we know.

6ix9ine’s mental health has been such a struggle in recent times that he admitted he’s not quite sure when he will get back to rapping.

“Guys, I want to start this thing off with saying I love my fans. I know you guys have been expecting a lot of music. Just right now, genuinely I’m not mentally … I don’t want to give you guys any false hope. I’m there. I’m just trying to get mentally right, just with everything,” he added.

The “GOOBA” singer then went on to admit that he was wasted and that he was in a pretty dark place at the moment. He added that he’s been trying to shake off the dark feelings, but that was proving difficult. According to the New York native, he barely uses Instagram and the internet anymore. The situation has also prevented him from going to the studio.

It seems the Live was done in Miami, and when he filmed it, he was indeed going through a rough patch. According to TMZ, his girlfriend Rachel Wattley, who is also known as Jade, was arrested on domestic violence charges after she is believed to have punched him inside a nightclub.

The story broke today, August 29, and it was also reported that they were celebrating Jade’s sister’s birthday at the time. 6ix9ine is still supporting her and trying to get her out of jail as he said the incident was caused because of alcohol and not out of malice.

“I’m gonna get her out jail. She attacked me in front of the police I told them, ‘You have to evaluate her she’s obviously under the influence I don’t plan to press charges … I’m the one trying to bail her out,” he added.

According to police reports, the incident began after a verbal argument in the club which forced them to leave. When officers probed the couple, 6ix9ine said that his girlfriend had assaulted him.

Officers also stated that they saw marks on his face and asked witnesses what happened. Following the investigation, they discovered that Wattley apparently hit 6ix9ine and attempted to grab his chain, but he refused to press charges.

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Could a Popcaan and J. Cole collab be in the works?

The Unruly Boss is rubbing shoulders with some of hip hop’s finest as he continues his vacation in Turks and Caicos with Drake and others. The Jamaican dancehall artist has been on the Caribbean Island since August 23, when he first shared photos of himself on Air Drake. Popcaan was spotted there with OVO label boss Drake at the beach, at parties, and out and about the villa they were staying at, where he appeared to spend time chilling and living it up.

On Tuesday, Popcaan shared that he was getting his self-care on as he shared a photo dump of himself at the spa where he was getting a facial. He also later posed for a photo with platinum-selling, Grammy-award-winning artist J. Cole and basketball player Kevin Durant.

In other videos, the artist shared several videos where they were picking out lunch- a bunch of giant-sized lobsters as well as videos of Drake being a daredevil as he rode around on his jet ski.

Other photos also showed Popcaan getting his hair shampooed by an unknown woman and him being kind to a thirsty baby crane. “Pull up to the bar on a jet to the ski,” he captioned the photo dump.

Popcaan has been working on his upcoming album Great is He, although he has not revealed a release date for the track. He previewed the album’s name in February, but he has not given any updates since. It’s unclear if being with J. Cole is an indication of music to come, and Popcaan has not said anything beyond the photos he posted.

The upcoming album is dropping under Drake’s OVO label, which previously released his mixtape ‘Vanquish’, and ‘Fixtape,’ the latter of which debuted at No. 2 on Billboard’s Reggae chart and Billboard’s 200 charts at No. 94.

With songs like “Bank and God,” “All I need,” “Friends Like These,” and “My Way,” Drake had also argued that Popcaan should have been nominated for a Grammy for the 2020 project.

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Vybz Kartel’s upcoming EP announcement has left fans more curious than ever as the artist has been promoting a track for the project with the photo of an unknown woman whom he confesses his love for.

The EP True Religion is scheduled to release on September 30th, but while fans are excited about new music from the Gaza Empire boss, many are also curious as to who the woman is as Vybz Kartel has shared her photo with a snippet of the soundtrack “True Religion” in the background.

Vybz Kartel was previously thought to be in a relationship with Tanesha ‘Shorty’ Johnson. The two are not married, however, despite sharing three lovely boys, two of whom have kicked off their music careers.

Despite the new confirmation that the artist is now engaged, there has long been speculation that things were not working out between him and Johnson, who was his muse for the 2020 album To Tanesha where the artist appeared to address some of the pains from their relationship.

Vybz Kartel’s management exclusively confirmed with Urban Islandz that the mystery woman posted up with the artist is his fiancée Sidem Öztürk.

Last week, Kartel shared several photos of Öztürk and one with him hugging her from behind in what looks like a photo taken for family members on visitation at Horizon Adult Remand Center.

Vybz Kartel / courtesy

According to the deejay’s representative who spoke with us exclusively, “True Religion” is a song dedicated to Öztürk, who is now engaged to Vybz Kartel. The two have been together since 2015. “When he was at Horizon initially and their relationship has blossomed since then,” the rep said. The song does sing about forgiveness before one can love again, giving an idea of the artist’s state of mind.

While few details were shared about the EP, the artiste’s management, however, disclosed that there is a title track coming called “Like Royalty,” which homages Öztürk and will be “the sound of the EP, which is also a dedication to Sidem.”

Kartel and Öztürk were first linked together in 2018, but many Gaza fans directed hate at the artist’s new flame, with some calling her a “snow bunny” even though Öztürk’s social media accounts disclosed that she is actually of Middle-Eastern descent, specifically Kurdish heritage and from Turkey. Her latest updates since then show that she resides in the United Kingdom.

At the time, Kartel had put the haters on blast for disrespecting his lover. “Shes white? Lol come offa mi page wid simple minded ignorant rubbish,” Kartel had written at the time.

Urban Islandz understands that the artist will address the backlash he received from some Gaza fans for his decision to be with Öztürk in a track called “interracial.”

“Songs like “interracial” have the “same vibe as well. Cool and deadly reloaded,” the rep said.

Meanwhile, Gaza fans who have kept their eyes peeled for updates on possible features with other dancehall artists will need to wait a little longer.

“No, there are no features as yet. Let’s wait and see nuh…the EP will do the talking. Just wait and see, artistically it will not disappoint,” his rep told us.

Vybz Kartel is well-known in the dancehall world in Jamaica and is also famous among even hip hop and rap icons. The artist is also the inspiration for a new generation of artists like Skillibeng and Masicka whom he collaborated on “InfraRed.”

The artists have often shared their appreciation and the lessons they have learned from Vybz Kartel.

Vybz Kartel also appears to be keeping up with the movements in the local dancehall scene as we’re told he’s the biggest fan of his sons, Likkle Vybz and Likkle Addi, who have not only grown up in the time since he’s been away, but they are also now fulling running his Adidjaheim Records Label.

They also recently launched their separate label, Uptown Gaza Records, as the brothers continue to pursue music as a duo or solo.

In the meantime, among Vybz Kartel’s favorite young artists aside from his sons are Skirdle Sparta, the son of his friend Tommy Lee Sparta, and Jahshii. The artist also keeps up with Skillibeng, Squash, and Chronic Law, who are all past the ‘young artiste stage’ but still among his top 10.

Vybz Kartel is presently awaiting the outcome of his Privy Council appeal. The artist is challenging his murder conviction on several grounds of facts and law and is represented by attorney Isat Buchanan.

The dancehall legend has also been receiving much public support from artists like Dexta Daps and Busta Rhymes.

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