#not like us SIX TIMES ?? WITH DR. DRE ??

[oldhabitsdiescrming]

drake got fuckin' VIOLATED. good riddance bitch !!

[doyoulikethissong-poll]

Mary J. Blige - Family Affair 2001

"Family Affair" is a song by American singer and actress Mary J. Blige. It was written by Blige, her brother Bruce Miller, Camara Kambon, Michael Elizondo, and producer Dr. Dre for her fifth studio album, No More Drama (2001).

The song topped the Billboard Hot 100 for six weeks, becoming Blige's first Hot 100 number one single. It was the 12th-biggest song of the 2000s decade in the US and the 99th-biggest song of all-time in the country as of 2018. It reached number one in France and the top 10 in 14 additional countries across Europe and Oceania, peaking at number two on the Eurochart Hot 100. In 2022, Blige performed the song at the Super Bowl LVI halftime show.

As for her acting career, tumblr might know her best as Cha-Cha on the first season of the Netflix series The Umbrella Academy.

"Family Affair" received a total of 86,1% yes votes! Previous Mary J. Blige polls: #62 "As".

[battyaboutbooksreviews]

🌈 Queer Books Coming Out in April 2024 🌈

🌈 Good morning, my bookish bats! Struggling to keep up with all the amazing queer books coming out this month? Here are a FEW of the stunning, diverse queer books you can add to your TBR before the year is over. Remember to #readqueerallyear! Happy reading!

[ Release dates may have changed. ]

❤️ Spring on the Peninsula - Ery Shin 🧡 When I Arrived at the Castle - Emily Carroll 💛 Bloodline - Jenn Alexander 💚 Grey Dog - Elliott Gish 💙 Every Time You Hear That Song - Jenna Voris 💜 I'm in Love with the Villainess v. 2 - Inori and Hanagata ❤️ The Caravaggio Syndrome - Alessandro Giardino 🧡 Leather, Lace, and Locs - Anne Shade 💛 Firebugs - Nico Bulling 💙 I Married My Female Friend v.2 - Shio Usui 💜 The Final Curse of Ophelia Cray - Christine Calella 🌈 A Sweet Sting of Salt - Rose Sutherland ❤️ The Selected Shepherd: Poems - Reginald Shepherd 🧡 Rough Trade - Katrina Carrasco 💛 Aubrey McFadden is Never Getting Married - Georgia Beers 💚 Taming of a Rebel - Eada Friesian 💙 Dayspring - Anthony Oliveira 💜 The Titanic Survivors Book Club - Timothy Schaffert ❤️ Orphia And Eurydicius - Elyse John 🧡 The Fellowship of Puzzlemakers - Samuel Burr 💛 A Good Happy Girl - Marissa Higgins 💙 Winnie Nash Is Not Your Sunshine - Nicole Melleby 💜 Here We Go Again - Alison Cochrun 🌈 Women! In! Peril! - Jessie Ren Marshall

❤️ Blood City Rollers - V. P. Anderson and Tatiana Hill 🧡 The Prospects - KT Hoffman 💛 Crazy Like a Fox: Adventures in Schizophrenia - Christi Furnas 💚 WATCHNIGHT - Cyree Jarelle Johnson 💙 Love From The Sidelines - Tuesday Harper 💜 The Pleasure in Pain - Roxie Voorhees ❤️ Mal - Perla Zul 🧡 The Black Girl Survives in This One - Desiree S. Evans and Saraciea J. Fennell 💛 Darker by Four - June C.L. Tan 💙 Otherworldly - F.T. Lukens 💜 Hearts Still Beating - Brooke Archer 🌈 Tryst Six Venom - Penelope Douglas

❤️ Teenage Dirtbags - James Acker 🧡 The Heart Wants What It Wants - D.M. Batten 💛 Something Kindred by Ciera Burch 💚 Sheine Lende - Dr. Darcie Little Badger & Rovina Cai 💙 Rainbow Overalls - Maggie Fortuna 💜 Flowers for Dead Girls - Abigail Collins ❤️ Canto Contigo - Jonny Garza Villa

❤️ Court of Wanderers - Rin Chupeco 🧡 Molten Death - Leslie Karst 💛 Triad Magic - ‘Nathan Burgoine 💚 You, Me and Bad Movies - Twoony 💙 The Faithful Dark - Cate Baumer 💜 A Case for Discretion - Ashley Moore ❤️ Party of Fools - Cedar McCloud 🧡 The Last Love Song - Kalie Holford 💛 This is Me Trying - Racquel Marie 💙 Dear Wendy - Ann Zhao 💜 Sun Eater - Dre Levant 🌈 The Breakup Lists - Adib Khorram

❤️ Bad Dream - Nicole Maines & Rye Hickman 🧡 If We Were Stars - Eule Grey 💛 The Broken Lines of Us - Shia Woods 💚 Eye of the Ouroboros - Megan Bontrager 💙 Henry Henry - Allen Bratton 💜 Dear Bi Men - JR Yussuf ❤️ Paige Not Found - Jen Wilde 🧡 Mechanic Shop Femme’s Guide to Car Ownership - Chaya Milchtein 💛 Wide Awake Now - David Levithan 💙 Merciless Saviors - H.E. Edgmon 💜 Smile and Be a Villain - Yves Donlon 🌈 Crash Landing - Charmaine Anne Li

❤️ Call Forth a Fox - Markelle Grabo 🧡 Central Avenue Poetry Prize 2024 - Beau Adler 💛 Good Bones - Aurora Rey 💚 Curiosities - Anne Fleming 💙 Someone You Can Build a Nest in - John Wiswell 💜 Revisiting Summer Nights - Ashley Bartlett ❤️ Bright Spring - Emmaline Strange

❤️ Girls Night - I.S. Belle 🧡 Late Bloomer - Mazey Eddings 💛 Withered - A.G.A. Wilmot 💚 A Wolf Steps in Blood - Tamara Jerée 💙 It Always Finds Me - Anthology 💜 Dulhaniyaa - Talia Bhatt ❤️ Moon Dust in My Hairnet - JR Creaden 🧡 Blood Justice - Terry J. Benton-Walker 💛 Relinquishing Control - J.J. Arias

❤️ Selamlik - Khaled Alesmael 🧡 Houseswap 101 - Jaime Clevenger 💛 Earthflown by Frances Wren & Litarnes 💚 Covenant v.1 - LySandra Vuong 💙 Honey - Victor Lodato 💜 The Dragonfly Gambit - A.D. Sui ❤️ Double Dyno - Sharon K Angelici & Taylor Rose

[daeluin]

yes yes yes he did not like us six times but,

did y'all heard kendrick do california love with dr. dre??? that shit was out of this world. a religious experience tbh

[sunkraken]

Forever upset at not being at the Kendrick pop out show like wdym they played not like us SIX times . Ur telling me Ludwig from video games was there and I wasn’t ?????? wdym they played king kunta and alright and california love and dna and swimming pools wdym dr dre said the psst I see dead people line at the beginning of not like us. What if I kill myself hello

[slexenskee]

Hey :)

I like your playlists and I found lots of new songs that way. Would you mind posting your spotify wrapped? I'm curious 👀

This just... made my year??? Omg thank you???!

Ok plot twist I don't actually use spotify 😅 I must be the only person on planet earth that switched back to an iPhone so I could use my iTunes again... but yeah I don't use a streaming service, but I do have my most played for the year! I uploaded it here - its on my instagram as a highlight reel!

For people who don't / can't access gram:

Most Played Songs by Month:

January: Mob by Eve

Shockingly my only Eve song for the year?? Last year I had like 3. Fight Song by Eve, one the CSM EDs, was my second most played Eve song but wasn't quite in my January Top 10

February: Shiki no Real by Chanceデラソウル

Suuuper groovy future funk remix of Shiki no Uta, the Samurai Champloo ED and one of my all time favorite/most played songs in my life lol

March: You Know How We Do It by Ice Cube

I go through a huge Dr. Dre/Ice Cube/Snoop phase every year and I'm not embarrassed to say it lol (also yes these are color coded by seasons bc my iTunes top playlists are separated by seasons idk why and yes that I am embarrassed about)

April: When Your Ex Says He Wants You Back by LTB Remix

I have no idea what the real name of this remix is?? I know it's a remix of When Your Ex Says He Wants You Back by Surface, but idk which one. On a related note no idea how I managed to get a full version, the only one I've found online is this version at the very beginning of this big mix

May: Deep Down by Neverdull

I will never pass up a song that samples Crystal Water's Gypsy Woman, and I am also a massive fan of everything Neverdull has put out, so it was no surprise this was my most played song when I discovered it and was in the Top 10 for several months after

June: Blame Brett by The Beaches

Omg man did I get obsessed with this band after this song. Also a huge fan of their other single Me & Me.

July: Disco by Surf Curse

I don't dislike Surf Curse but I don't listen to much else from them but this song, that always ends up on my Top 10 lists during summer. idk what it is but it's such a great beachy vibe for me. I genuinely cannot go to the beach without listening to it several times

August: Slingshot by Good Kid

Good Kid is actually my top artist of the year, and I'm thrilled to see it. It's really rare that I like so many songs off of a band's discography, and I think I have every single one of theirs. Also in my Top 10 for August was Alchemist, Osmosis, Tell me You Know, and No Time to Explain from them.

September: Honey by ID Chief

My favorite kind of future funk is when the original song isn't so spliced you can barely hear it, but there's still enough remix involved to really modernize the disco.

October: North Wind by Six Lounge

Shockingly enough I didn't actually listen to Ao no Sumika - arguably 'The' J-rock song of 2023 - very much even though I like that song a lot. I think I just can't handle my own feels, and tbh, as far as J-rock for this year goes I liked this ED from MHA more? I think the hook is just a little smoother and catchier imo.

November: From the Start by Good Kid

While I also love the bossa nova vibes of the original Laufey version, this cover is soooo freaking good. It definitely has summer anime OP vibes and there's actually an AMV using the first JJK S2 opening that gives me so many feels.

December: Standing Next to You by Jungkook

Ooof ok I'll come clean here I used to love k-pop back in 2014 and kind of got sick of the genre after EXO and F(x) broke up and was never into BTS or any of the new K-pop acts. But man this song slaps. I'm obviously a disco fan and there's some major disco grooves in this song

[worthymiral]

Kya bamba sound the realest dubplate

> Co-produced by Pyret, Don Zilla, Waana Brothers, Tobi Loyal Hustle and Triplet aka Dr Dreplo aka BarterthanditallibanmanįOLLOW GRINGO ON INSTA: KIDGRINGO (4get about Facebook this shit makes no sense at all :D )ģ LATINUM + NUTTY NEITHAN - WALK 2 WORK DUBPLATE RMXĦ SUPERDOZE + MO BAMBA - KABALAGALA INTERLUDEġ3 NUTTY NEITHAN - KWATA ECCUPA GRINGO RMXġ7 BUJU BANTON – WALK LIKE A CHAMPION GRINGO RMXĢ3 Mr MANKWA - I WANNA FORNICATE DUBPLATE BAILE RMXĢ6 BUSY SIGNAL - REAL GYALLIS GRINGU BAILEGQOM RMXĢ7 SUPERDOZE - SOLOLA BIEN DUBPLATE GQOM RMXĢ8 BLAQ BANDANA - PITA PATA DUBPLATE GQOM RMXĢ9 BLAQ BANDANA - PITA PATA DUBPLATE REGGAE RMXģ2 LAUREN SANDERSON - FAKE LOVE COVER GRINGO RMXģ3 DA AGENT - FASTEST RAPPER IN AFRICA INTERLUDEĤ1 VYBZ KARTEL - RAMBO KANAMBO GRINGO RMXĤ3 FIK FAMEICA - TONSUKUMA GRINGO TWAZIKOZE RMXĤ5 FUTURE FAMBO - BLOODCLAAT SONG GRINGO RMXĤ7 STEFFLON DON + WILEY + IDRIS ELBA + SEAN PAUL - BOASTYĤ8 MAGNOM + FEFE BUSSI - KAMPALA WHINE GRINGO RMX So this mix features well famous artistes like Nutty Neithan, Vampino, Feffe Bussi, Fik Fameica, John Blaq and Uganda's latest sensations Hitnature and Fresh Kid, as well as extraordinary mainstream-unknown talents like Ratigan Era, Superdoze from Congo, lyricist Blaq Bandana and the legendary Mr Mankwa from wayyyyy back in the 80s.Īm wishing you guys a lot of fun with this weird mix up - play it loud in your neighborhood, share it with your friends and help us spreading this huge and beautiful but hidden treasure box from da "Pearl Of Africa" - East African Dancehall to the wooorld we say!!!! These songs deserve to be heard world wide Recorded at Kleiderschrank Studios Kansanga, Nyege Nyege Studios Bbunga, East African Records Kabalagala, Statement Studios Makindye, Arnest Beats Makindye and Masters Studios Ntinda / Kampala Uganda in 2017-2019 He’s like, “Yo, we’re going to Paris, if you guys want to come out, you should come out.” We stayed there with B and Jay for two and a half or three weeks in Paris.Yes friends + family: finally this is my new mix "Gaman Juice" - I've spent about 1year recording dubplate specials n creating exclusive relicks of some of Uganda's best, biggest, or most exciting underground dancehall and hip hop songs. These people are busy as hell, so he would always let us know what’s going on. From that night, Jay kept saying, “Stay close.” Young Guru, God bless the man, one of the realest guys ever, made sure he kept me and Cool in the loop. When it was done, she played it three or four times, and she’s like, I love this, this is great. There was one record that Cool kept saying, “Yo, Dre, don’t leave there without playing him ‘Salud!’” So after he played a couple Beyoncé duet records, I was like, “Yo, can I play you one more?” It was just the beat, but he was like, “What the fuck? You wait until the end of the night to play this shit? You crazy?” I was like, “I got a hook idea.” He’s like, “Lay that shit.” As I was laying it, Beyoncé walks into the studio. Towards the end, he started playing me records that him and Beyoncé cut. He invites us over, and in a 10 or 11 hour span, we cut around five or six records. Keep feeding me.” After a couple records, we gave him one song that he loved so much he was like, “You in L.A.? Come over.” We’re in Miami right now, but we’re gonna be in LA immediately I’m booking flights. We emailed it to him, and I reminded him about that time he told me, “Yo, before we send this to anyone else, I’m gonna take your advice and hand deliver it to you first.” He emailed right back after he heard it, “This shit’s crazy. Cratesishigh: So probably eight, nine weeks ago, Cool and I started sending him ideas.

[storiesforallfandoms]

pushing buttons ~ eminem

word count: 1912

request?: yes!

@thatonegirlthatlikesthings “Hi me again I literally love your writing so much omg I was wondering if you could once again indulge my Eminem obsession cuz my baby don’t get enough love🥺🥺 I was thinking like a angst/fluff where MGK tries to hit on the reader even though he’s with Meg Fox now and Em loses it and dr Dre and Paul try to call him down but it doesn’t really work and the reader has to chill him out. I love you I love your writing and I love you bye!🥰☺️❤️❤️”

description: in which his enemy tries to push his buttons by flirting with his girl

pairing: eminem x female!reader

warning: swearing

masterlist

“What the fuck is that prick doing here?”

Marshall glared at the tall blonde standing across the room with his arm around a familiar actress. It was the night of his launch party for his new album, and he thought it was just supposed to be personal friends of his as well as his friends from the industry. However, a few others from the industry had arrived as well, including the infamous Machine Gun Kelly.

“Paul invited him,” Marshall’s girlfriend, (Y/N) responded. “Said you two should try and squash the beef. Fans are getting tired of it.”

“Squashing the beef and becoming friends with the enemy are two totally different things,” Marshall hissed.

“You don’t have to be friends,” (Y/N) told him. “Just...shake his hand, look friendly for the pictures, end the beef.”

Marshall rolled his eyes as (Y/N) wrapped an arm around his waist and gave him a slight squeeze. “I know, I tried to tell Paul he should run this past you first. But him and MGK’s manager think it’s best for both of you to end the beef. He wants to move on with his new punk pop genre, you should move on too considering the fact that you absolutely destroyed him.”

She lowered her voice to a whisper for that last part, causing Marshall to smirk.

“This is gonna push me to drink,” he muttered as he noticed Kells approaching him.

“Don’t you fucking dare,” (Y/N) hissed. “If you break your sobriety, I will be your worst nightmare.”

Marshall smiled at her before dropping it to glare at Kells.

“Hey man,” Kells started. “Listen, thanks for the invitation. I know things have been rocky between us, but I hope you know I never meant any harm by my tweet about Hailie, and I still view you as a massive inspiration to me. I just thought...maybe I’d get more recognition with the diss, and it worked. It just sort of fucked up my rap career in the process.”

(Y/N) gave Marshall a quick look before sipping on the drink she had in her hand. They were both shocked by such a mature response from Kells, especially after the stuff Kells said about Marshall following the drop of Not Alike and Killshot.

She was watching her boyfriend expectantly as he processed what had been said to him. He glanced back at (Y/N) finally before saying, “No hard feelings, man. Tensions ran high, we both said some shit, I think it’s time we get past it.”

Kells smiled and offered a hand to Marshall. Although reluctant at first, Marshall took it and shook his hand. Kells soon left and went back to his girlfriend, knowing not to overstay his welcome.

“Was that so hard?” (Y/N) asked. “At least he’s being mature about it, too.”

“A little too mature,” Marshall said.

“Stop it, you just don’t like him. Let’s get a non-alcoholic beverage.”

~~~~~~

As the night continued, Marshall was pulled from (Y/N) as people kept coming and congratulating him on the album. She wasn’t too shocked, it was a normal occurrence. Luckily enough, she had come to know most of the people at the party through Marshall, so it wasn’t like she was awkwardly standing around for any amount of time.

She was at the snack table when a tall stature came to stand next to her.

“You lost your boyfriend, huh?’

(Y/N) looked up to see Kells stood next to her, a friendly smile on her face.

Despite the feud between the two, (Y/N) never had any sort of opinion on Kells. She hadn’t listened to his music - besides that one song with Camilla Cabello that blew up - and she didn’t want to form an opinion based on a beef she wasn’t even a part of. So, him standing next to her didn’t make her as angry as it had made Marshall earlier. Instead, she smiled back at him.

“Yeah,” she said. “Nothing new of course. Everyone congratulating him on the album and whatnot.”

“Seems like a lot of people just trying to kiss his ass.”

(Y/N) shrugged. “That may be true in some cases. Most of the people here who have already worked with him and known him for so long know better against that. Maybe it’s because they’ve already worked with him though, who knows. Where’s Megan?”

Kells gestured aimlessly into the crowd. “Also pulled away from me. Talking to...someone I guess.”

He didn’t sound too concerned over it, although maybe it was just the same situation (Y/N) was in. Megan was pretty popular as an actress, this was probably nothing new for Kells either.

“So, how did you and Em meet?” he asked, offering her one of the two red cups he had in his hand. (Y/N) didn’t think much of it at first. She figured he had probably gotten a drink for Megan then realized he had lost her in the crowd.

“We met through a mutual friend, actually. One from back in Detroit,” she explained. “I knew who Marshall was, obviously, but I was never really a hip hop fan. We got to talking and before I knew it, he was asking me out on a date. We were official within a month, and we’ve been together ever since. That was like...three years ago now, I think.”

She took a sip from the drink Kells had given her and cringed at the strong taste of alcohol in the cup. Noticing this, Kells asked, “Too strong?”

“Just not used to alcohol,” she explained. “I’ve mostly given it up in solidarity with Marshall. I’m proud of his sobriety, even if I’ve only been here for the tail end of it.”

“That’s lame,” Kells scoffed. “The old man shouldn’t hold you back from doing some fun shit.”

The tone of his voice plus the subtle diss caused a slight feeling of annoyance in her, but she pushed it down. Be the bigger person, she had been telling Marshall all night. She couldn’t go against that.

“He’s not holding me back from anything,” she responded. “I chose to do it. I just know it sucks to have to be sober when everyone around you is drunk or high. I want to be that one person he can confide in in those situations, you know?”

“You’re too good for him, man,” Kells said. “For real, you have a heart of gold and the body of a smoke show. You shouldn’t be wasting it all on that fucker. You should be getting with a real man.”

(Y/N) shuffled uncomfortably, now putting her cup down on the snack table. “I’m perfectly happy with Marshall, thank you. Besides, you have a girlfriend. One who is literally at this very party right now.”

He waved off the comment, as if it weren’t a real concern. (Y/N) looked around the room, desperate to find someone she knew who could save her from that situation.

Across the room, Marshall was glaring daggers into the back of Kells’ head. He could see the uncomfortable look on (Y/N)’s face, and saw the drink she had just discarded on the table. He knew something was happening, something he didn’t like.

“Why the fuck did you invite him?” he asked Paul. “Why didn’t you warn me first?”

“It needed to be an authentic meet up to end the beef,” Paul responded. “After tonight you won’t see or hear from him ever again.”

“You bet I won’t, because I’ll have him six feet under the fucking ground if he doesn’t get away from (Y/N).”

Paul looked over at the two. His face grew concerned upon seeing (Y/N)’s. “It can’t be anything too serious. He’s here with Megan, remember?”

“Do you see Megan anywhere around here, Paul?” Marshall asked.

He was so furious you could almost see the cartoon smoke coming from his ears. He was clutching his plastic cup so hard that it would’ve shattered into a million pieces if it was glass. It dropped from his hand suddenly when he saw Kells grab (Y/N)’s waist, trying to pull her closer to him. Both Paul and Dre had to grab him to stop him from going over and beating the shit out of Kells right then and there.

“Calm down, man,” Dre told him.

“He’s fucking touching her, Dre!” Marshall snapped. “She’s obviously uncomfortable, let me go over there and beat the shit out of him!”

“Not here,” Paul said. “Not in front of all these people. Go over and get her - peacefully - then you guys can just leave. This was a stupid idea from me.”

“Really fucking stupid,” Marshall hissed as he pulled away from the two. He tried to keep his anger at bay as he went over and wrapped an arm around (Y/N), effectively pulling her from Kells’ grasp. “Come on, babe, let’s go home.”

“What’s wrong, Marshall? Don’t like another man talking to your girl?” Kells challenged.

“I don’t like other men grabbing my girl when she’s obviously uncomfortable, no,” Marshall responded.

“Sounds a little insecure to me. Maybe you should work on that, man. You’ll be able to keep up with this absolute bombshell when you’re not so over jealous of her.”

Marshall’s grip on (Y/N)’s waist tightened. She tried to calm him down, but it was obvious he was past the point of no return.

“Fuck you,” he snapped. “Man, I don’t know what your fucking problem is, but you’re the one who started all of this shit. Now you’re coming here, to my launch party, trying to flirt with my girl, and now you’re insulting me?! Must be a sad existence you live, Kelly, when you can’t even be happy with your own success.  You have to keep trashing on someone else who’s doing much better than you.”

Kells’ cheeks were tinted pink with anger as he glared at the two of them.

“I suggest going to find your girlfriend while you still have one,” (Y/N) told him. “Because I will be telling her about this whole...incident between us.”

Before any other words could be said, Marshall took (Y/N) and guided her out of the building. When they got to the car, he sat in the driver’s seat for just a second, trying to make himself calm down.

“I should go back in there and fucking kill him,” he said, more to himself than to (Y/N).

“No you shouldn’t,” she told him. “He was just trying to push your buttons. He seems very happy with Megan, and there were so many other girls at that party he could’ve flirted with if he just wanted to be a scumbag. He only chose me because he knew it would get to you.”

She reached over and put a hand over one of Marshall’s that was clutching the steering wheel. On contact, he loosened his grip and realized how much his hands hurt from holding the wheel too tightly.

“Whatever his intentions were, they don’t matter,” she assured him. “I love you, Marshall, and only you. No other asshole will ever come in and swoop me away from you.”

He chuckled at her slight insult, their own way of flirting with one another. He leaned across and kissed her gently on the lips before finally starting the car.

“Let’s get the fuck out of here.”

[hazzabeeforlou]

You know I wasn’t planning on saying anything today. Especially in light of the pictures and tweet. I mean it’s ALL OUT balls to the fucking wall we’ve got the grandparents and saint Jay in the background and Louis’ birthday party and every extended friend and family going full throttle. And you know? I’m tired. I really am.

My faith in the true Louis is never shaken. It never will be. The signs are too obvious for me to even call it faith; faith is reserved for the realms of religion, and a decade’s worth of material exists on this man, hard, solid proof of what the industry continues to do. But from the disappearing bump to the wiped socials right before the immaculate conception to the announcement in the Sun, this stunt has been entirely for our benefit. No one fucking CARES about a pop star’s whoopsy baby. NO ONE. There was never any need to deep clean a baby mama’s MOTHER’S life before the stick was dry, or to use photoshop for SIX YEARS to alter a kid’s nose and chin and eyes. None of it has made any sense, from the lack of child support or custody to the ‘grandma’ raising the kid. None of it has made sense, from Jay wiping the child from her socials to Louis now tweeting about his birthday after seeing him for the first time since 2017. That’s four years. None of this has ever been for anybody but US. And you know why. There’s only one reason to shove it in our faces, for private family moments from the most private pop star to be splashed across tabloids every six months. And frankly, it’s working, isn’t it? How many followers did he lose today?

It’s a hard pill to swallow, but we’re not entitled to the truth about any celebrity. The game of publicity and closeting has endured before our fandom, and it will continue after. But I would never pay to see badly behaved celebrities, for reasons like accusations of SA to tales of them treating their staff like shit (think: Ellen/James Cordon) to who they’ve partnered with in their careers (those who work with Dr Dre, etc.). And that’s my choice because I’m consuming an art product with my money. For me, this has tarnished Louis permanently. I don’t think he needs fans like me anymore. A concentrated, seven year campaign that has lasted through THREE US PRESIDENTS tells me that he wants fans who believe what tabloids and social media tell them. The Louis of that narrative revolts me. I have two guy childhood friends who cheated and abandoned their wife and kids, and I’m revolted by them. I have no empathy, I have no sympathy.

They want me to be a fan of this Louis TM. And I will not. And I’m not sure how much longer I want to wait around, because it’s sure as hell not FUN and it’s sure as fuck HURTFUL to every identity I am.

[crystalstar8]

Knights of the Night (ch 9)

Chapter 9

Ch 1, ch 2, ch 3, ch 4, ch 5, ch 6, ch 7, ch 8, ch 9

https://archiveofourown.org/works/29139240/chapters/71536491

pairing: Jungkook x oc

genre: vampire au, college au, twilight, romance

word count: 2,620

warnings: blood (obviously), kidnapping, child kidnapping, needles, France

notes: vampires, vampire au, college, college au, so many twilight references, blood, needles, kidnapping, children, homelessness, dance, ballet, flashbacks, romance, slow burn, probably no smut, idk yet tho, France, French things, attempted genocide, inaccurate French history, bisexual main character, @strawberriewithchocolate-blog @mozy-j  @daechwitad-2​ @zobadak​​

summary: Catalina starts college in a small town all the way across the country. She doesn’t know anyone and isn’t exactly looking for friends. She just wants to focus on dance. But when she meets fellow dance major, Jimin, and adventurous, fellow freshman, Jungkook, Catalina ends up discovering a whole new side to the small college town; one that is dangerous but oh so enticing…

            The warm weather was fleeting; Catalina spent her days studying, working, and every chance she got, hanging out with her friends. The “baseball encounter”, as she’s been calling it, has been living in the back of her mind ever since, even though it seemed her friends had forgotten about it. She never brought it up, just focusing on her college life. Namjoon took her out to fancy bookstores and coffee shops, Jungkook tried and failed to teach her how to skateboard, and Jin tried and failed to help them in French. She was kept busy and she was having fun.

               All was peaceful, until a college student was reported missing in St. Briggs. Jimin cornered Catalina in dance class about it one chilly, early winter day.

               They were practicing their dance to “Body”, by Megan Thee Stallion.

               “One, two, three, turn, five, six, step and hit,” the teacher called out. “One, two, ba, ba, jump, Steve! What song are you dancing to, ‘cause it’s not this! Find the goddamn beat! Alright, everyone except Steve, take five.”

               Catalina’s final move in the dance was on the ground, so instead of getting up, she crawled over to her dance bag and pulled out her water bottle, collapsing against the wall. Jimin joined her and said, “Have you heard the news?”

               Catalina shook her head between sips.

               “A student went missing,” he said. “In St. Briggs. From our college.”

               “Aren’t they the second person to go missing here?” Catalina asked. “I don’t like the sound of that.”

               “Yeah, me neither,” said Jimin. “The first person was a little kid. My parents are freaking out about me walking to campus now.”

               “And the police have no idea who the guy is?” asked Catalina. “I mean, they don’t know anything?”

               “Not really,” said Jimin. “It’s like these people disappeared without a trace.”

               “Hm,” Catalina thought about the disappearances and the mysterious “baseball encounter”. She wondered if they were connected. “You wanna do some investigating?”

               “What are you-no, we’re not visiting those vampires,” said Jimin. “That’s a really bad idea. Namjoon told us to stay out of it and he definitely knows more about this stuff than we do.”

               Catalina knew she wouldn’t get anywhere with Jimin. She would just have to wait until she saw Jungkook to bring it up again. She knew he’d have no qualms about going on a potentially life-threatening mission.

Her chance came that weekend when she and Jungkook worked their shift together at the souvenir shop. Business was starting to pick up since the first snow was expected to arrive any day now.

Tourists started stopping by more and more and Catalina got to see what Jungkook meant by “hot tourists”. The men and the women were beautiful, and her and Jungkook both had fun checking them out from behind the counter. But today was slow, so Catalina figured she’d take the opportunity to tell him about her plan.  

               “Jungkook, what do you think about stealing that business card and sneaking around a potential lair?” asked Catalina.

               “I have no idea what you’re talking about, but yes. I’m in,” he said. The two of them were straightening the ceramic bear and eagle figurines, killing time between customers.

               “Remember those three vampires on baseball day?”

               “Uh-huh.”

               “The guy gave Namjoon a business card,” said Catalina.

               “Oh right! Yeah, I remember,” said Jungkook.

               “I was thinking maybe we could steal it and do our own investigating. I mean, what if those guys have something to do with the missing people?” Catalina said. Jungkook looked up at her with wide eyes.

               “Oh shit! Ya know, you’re probably right!” he said. “They just moved here, and then all of a sudden, a kid goes missing in this town. It makes sense.”

               “Exactly,” said Catalina.

               “But how will we get the business card?” asked Jungkook. “Do we sneak into his room or his office or whatever?”

               “That’s what I was thinking. One of us distracts him, while the other sneaks in and finds it,” said Catalina.

               “I feel like you should distract him. A classic honey pot mission,” said Jungkook.

               “Do you know what that means?” Catalina asked, snickering.

               “Don’t you seduce someone to complete a mission?” asked Jungkook.

               “You usually have to fuck someone in a honey pot mission,” said Catalina.

               “Oh, well, how bad can it be? I mean, he’s hot as fuck,” he said with a wave of his hand. Catalina’s face turned bright red.

               “I’m not- we’re…” she sighed. “Jungkook, casual sex isn’t really my thing and I don’t like him that way. I don’t think he likes me that way either.”

               “Are you kidding? What about all those bookstores and coffee shops? Those weren’t dates?” asked Jungkook. “What were you guys doing?”

               “Looking at books!” said Catalina. “He just really likes literature, and I really like coffee.”

               “Did he pay for your coffee every time?”

               “Yes.”

               “Then that’s a date,” said Jungkook.

               “We spot each other all the time. So, are you telling me it’s a date when you pay for my McDonalds or when I pay for your movie ticket?” asked Catalina.

               “That’s different,” said Jungkook. Catalina threw her hands up.

               “Okay, we’re getting off topic,” she said. “You distract him, I’ll get the card.”

               “Casual sex also isn’t my thing though,” said Jungkook.

               Catalina threw her head back laughing. “You don’t have to fuck him! Just keep him downstairs talking or something.”

               “I can do that. Are we doing it tonight?” asked Jungkook.

               “Sure.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~

               That evening, Catalina and Jungkook went to the mansion. Jungkook brought his French homework. Luckily, Namjoon was the one to answer the door.

               “Oh, hey guys! Come on in,” he said. He led them to the lounge and Jungkook immediately got his homework out.

               “I was wondering if you could help me with this,” said Jungkook.

               “Sure, let’s see,” said Namjoon. Catalina wandered off. The upstairs was thankfully not as big as the main floor, but there were many halls and many rooms. Catalina went to Hoseok’s room, starting her search from there. The next door in the hallway was open. Catalina looked inside, flicking on the light switch. It looked like a basic, model bedroom. It didn’t look like it belonged to anyone, probably a guest room. The next room was enormous and absolutely trashed. The giant bed in the middle of the room had a mountain of blankets and clothes on it. Clothes, loose papers, and books littered the floor. Beat up, crooked antique paintings decorated the walls, along with torn calligraphy banners. The Asian style furniture looked ancient, worn and battered, but luxuriously wealthy.

               Catalina moved on to the next room. This one was a bit more modern and, curiously, vaguely nautical themed. A huge window against the back wall let light shine in on the white painted wood of the furniture, the mess of easels and canvases in the corner, and the mix of paintings on the seashell wallpapered walls: realism, abstract, cubism, a few charcoal sketches of Hoseok, Yoongi, and Namjoon, and a single painting of a lighthouse looking out at a stormy sea. Catalina went to the next room.

               This one was the most modern, with dark walls and mahogany furniture. It was sleek and rustic, with a twisted wood bed frame, alpaca rugs on the ground, smooth couches in the corner with a driftwood coffee table in the center, and along every free wall, bookshelves. The entire room was spotless. This must be Namjoon’s room. At least, Catalina hoped it was. She stepped inside and went to the desk tucked into one of the bookshelves. She rifled through the drawers until she found one filled with business cards.

               “Shit,” she whispered. There were quite a few cards, but she got to work sorting through them. Most of them looked old and yellowed with age. She automatically set those ones aside. She couldn’t remember that vampire’s name, but she knew she’d remember it if she saw it. After sorting through what felt like hundreds of cards, she finally found one with the familiar name on it.

               It was a new card, simple, with just a name, an address, and a phone number on it. The name on it was Makai La’ei. That sounded right. Catalina rearranged the rest of the cards back to how she found them and shoved this one in her pocket. She was definitely running out of time, Jungkook only had so much homework.

               When she got downstairs, she went right to the lounge, but it was empty. Jungkook’s French textbook was laying open on the coffee table. Her heart skipped a beat. Namjoon wouldn’t hurt him, would he? She thought. She backed out of the lounge and looked up and down the hallway. Her heart was pounding, but before her thoughts could fully run away on her, she heard Jungkook’s voice approaching, saying, “And that’s how I went to senior prom with Dr. Dre’s daughter, Truly.”

Namjoon and Jungkook rounded the corner, both holding McDonalds bags and hot coffees in their hands.

“You guys went out?” Catalina asked.

               “Yeah, we got hash browns,” said Namjoon, handing one of the bags to her.

               “Isn’t this yours?” asked Catalina.

               “Grease gives me a stomachache,” he said.

               “I was just craving hash browns. I figured you’d want a few too,” said Jungkook. Catalina’s heart skipped a beat, but this time not out of fear.

               “I love these,” she whispered, opening the greasy paper bag to see three hash browns inside. Something nudged her hand. She looked up to see Jungkook handing her his coffee as well. Namjoon wandered off, sipping at his own coffee. “What are you doing?”

               “I don’t like coffee,” he said. “Take it.”

               “Thank you,” she said. “Did you already finish your homework?”

               “Yeah, turns out Namjoon is fluent in French,” said Jungkook. “And Korean, and Chinese, and Japanese, and German. And…what was that other one?”

               “Swahili,” Namjoon said from inside the lounge.

               “Why?” asked Catalina.

               “I was bored,” he said with a shrug. Jungkook looked at Catalina with questioning eyes. Catalina nodded.

               “Well, thank you for helping me with this,” said Jungkook, gathering his textbook and notes. “I hate this class, so any help is much appreciated. Anyway, we have to get going. We have some errands to run.”

               “Sure, no problem,” said Namjoon as he walked them to the door. “We’re all fluent in French here, expect for Hoseok, so feel free to ask any of us any time.”

               “Thank you,” Catalina said as she pulled her shoes on.

~~~~~~~~~~

               “That was too easy,” said Jungkook as they were getting into his car.

               “Not really!” said Catalina. “He had a whole drawer full of business cards. I had to sort through all of them.”

               “I was talking about the homework,” said Jungkook. He pulled out of the driveway and began the drive down the mountain. “He gave me all the answers. But that explains why you were gone for so long.”

               “Yeah, and I saw the other rooms,” said Catalina. “I think Tae’s room is nautical themed.”

               “Why?” Jungkook asked. Catalina shrugged. “Well, whatever. Does that card have an address on it?”

               “Yeah,” Catalina pulled the card out of her pocket and typed the address into her maps app. It gave her a route to a location in the middle of the town. She let Siri lead them as she plugged in her phone and looked up spy music on iTunes. She found a playlist and put it on shuffle, letting the groovy guitar of “Secret Agent Man” blast through the car.

               By the time they arrived, they were well into “Hawaii Five-O”. The GPS had led them to what looked like an abandoned hospital. Jungkook drove a block past it so they could walk the rest of the way. As they walked, they reviewed the plan.

               “So, we can’t get caught, obviously,” said Jungkook. “We’re just sneaking in, taking a quick look, maybe some pictures, then getting out.”

               “Right,” said Catalina. “Quick and fast.”

They snuck in and found a basement stairwell, which they took. The rest of the hospital was empty. They could hear voices coming from the basement, so as quietly as they could, they snuck down the stairs, which led them to a cement tunnel with a metal grated floor. The tunnel gave Catalina a sense of Déjà vu, but she couldn’t figure out why. Faint voices echoed from the end of the tunnel. They reached the end and peaked around the corner. What they saw made their jaws drop. A huge, cavernous cement room with some furniture in the middle. Doors lined the walls, some open, some closed. Catalina could see from where she was that there were people in the rooms with open doors. People sitting or laying on the ground, tubes attached to their arms connecting to IV stands, blood bags hanging from the hooks.

Jungkook was snapping rapid fire pictures of as much of the room as they could see.

The voices, which were coming from a part of the room they couldn’t see, stopped talking.

“Bernard, go check the tunnel and stairs. I thought I heard something.”

Before Bernard even had a chance to move, Catalina and Jungkook booked it back down the tunnel and up the stairs. Jungkook led the way, and he was fast, so Catalina struggled to keep up with him. Once they were at the top of the stairs, they looked around for an open room. A bit down the hall, there was an open doorframe with a missing door. They darted for it, Jungkook pulling her inside and crowding her against the wall, hidden in the shadows.

Catalina was scared they’d be caught, but now she freaking out about something entirely different, namely, Jungkook’s chest and arms caging her against the wall. He was so close that Catalina could feel the heat coming off him. Her blush made its way down her neck into her chest, her breath quickening.

“He’s coming,” Jungkook whispered, his wide eyes glued to the doorway. Sure enough, Catalina could hear heavy boots crunching through the debris in the hallway, getting closer to where they were. “Do you trust me?”

“What?” Catalina asked.

“Do you trust me?” Jungkook asked again. “I saw this in a TV show. It works every time.”

Before Catalina could ask for clarification, several things happened at once: the man, presumably Bernard, began entering the room, Jungkook pressed even closer, a hand on her waist, the other finding its way to her hair, and his lips crashed against hers. She let out a squeak of surprise but quickly caught on, gripping his shirt and leaning into the kiss.

“Oh, for crying out loud,” a man’s voice said from the doorway. They broke apart and looked at him. “This is private property, guys. Get lost.”

“Sorry,” Jungkook said, flashing a sheepish smile. Bernard stepped aside to let them past, waving them in the direction of the exit. Even though her heart was still pounding out of her chest and her head was still spinning, Catalina made a point to check Bernard’s eyes. They were red.

On their way out, they heard the crackle of a walkie talkie and Bernard saying, “It was just some kids making out upstairs. This happens way too often, boss. We gotta start putting signs up or something.”

On their way to the car, Jungkook said, “That was a close one.”

“Was that just an excuse to kiss me?” Catalina joked, not sure she wanted to know the answer.

“It worked, didn’t it?” Jungkook said with a wink. Catalina blushed and shoved him.

“Shut up,” she said.

.

.

[calypsoff]

Fifty Five. Part 2

Mel’ voice scared me out of bed “Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday dear Robyn, Happy Birthday! To you!!” She shouted with a cupcake in hand, a lit candle on top “are you serious?” I said groggily “deadass ma’am, oh my god. You’re twenty six, but you look twenty” I chuckled “you really scared me” shuffling up on the bed slowly “I was out, nobody was going to wake me. How have I woke up tired still” resting my back against the headboard “wow, oh my god” Yusuf said pointing at my stomach “hey” pulling my top down “you lucky I wear panties” leaning forward closing my eyes, making my wish and blew the candle out “yay! Happy Birthday baby” Mel hugged me “aww thank you, I will forgive you all for scaring me. I love you all” Mel moved back from the hug “come here” waving Yusuf over “chile, I don’t know what I expected but I can’t believe how pregnant you are. I don’t know why I am shocked, but I haven’t seen your stomach since, I mean you are very much pregnant” Yusuf is shook “does it look that bad?” I questioned “no, just it too me back. Robyn is actually pregnant” hugging Yusuf as I cooed out, he isn’t used to it I get it “you know what we were waiting for you to wake up, but we were done waiting, we have breakfast waiting. Tina cooked so ain’t no ordering or anything so get out of bed, you missed all the birthday love last night. Noella text me like is that bitch going to respond. I said listen, her life has changed now. She is with child, we got to give her time to catch up” I huffed out smiling “how you think I feel, so I spoke to Chris in bed and then I was all comfy and then I needed to pee, my bladder felt so weak last night and I don’t get why, I will be back to my usual self, I promise” I am awful, I can’t believe how much I just slept last night, what is wrong with me.

Waving at all my team as I walked out of my room “oh god, y’all are so embarrassing. I feel like I should have dressed or something, god I am a mess” I am so shameful, here I am just walking out with my big tee on and half asleep still “oh be quiet, happy birthday baby” Jen gave me the biggest hug “thank you, that looks like a big breakfast, come here Tina” waving her over, I want to hug this tiny bitch “my tiny little child, look at her” hugging Tina “happy birthday to one of the most amazing boss, best friend” I cooed out “thank you Tina” she is so cute bless her “I heard you cooked this, it smells delicious” Mel my stylist came in for a hug “happy birthday my sexy baby mother, you are one sexy baby mother” the girls laughed “no, but am I joking. How fine does she look, her skin is popping too” he is too kind “stop it, I am just a lazy bitch now but come on babies. Let’s eat, before I become very angry. You know this baby likes food” walking towards the table “I am guessing this is my chair, seeing as it is decorated with balloons” pulling the chair back “of course, tonight we will turn up a little. But we shall start with breakfast” sitting down shuffling my chair in “is mommy blowing a fuse?” I asked, I know my mom probably is “she said where is my baby? I don’t think people are used to you being this quiet” my poor friends and family, this baby just wants me to sleep and hibernate. I want to do things, but this baby has other plans.

I have kind of peeped the start of Chris’ text and I have left it to the side because I just seen a picture of Chris and Drake in Vegas, I have just commented on his post. He really went out of his way to post such a nasty picture of me “do y’all believe that Chris liked this” I turned my phone to the table “like do y’all really think he liked that, look at me. My hair was barely done, this was before Joyce did my hair, those white folk weren’t good. I am mad at him; my hair was terrible. I looked so scared”. Mel chuckled “no it’s not even that bad, it was so sweet of him. It shows that he loved you then, you really had a forehead that only a momma could love” slapping Mel’ hand away “I am joking but to me that is sweet Robyn, I don’t know why you’re so offended” rolling my eyes “probably because his ass is in the club in Vegas but I looked terrible” a knock at the door of the apartment “get that” Mel said to Tina “you’re just being sensitive for nothing, he is in Vegas he is going to have fun but that is sweet, ok who else on the table thinks that post was nasty?” Mel announced to the table “I liked it” Jen said “see you’re just being negative about yourself; he did like you then so there you go little sensitive ass” I suppose, let me answer his text. I won’t call him because obviously he will be in there and I can’t be bothered to be shouting over that music.

To: Chris

From: Robyn

That is fine, be safe x

Pressing send on the message shaking my head “did you leave a comment on his post?” Mel asked, nodding my head “yeah, I put I really wish you didn’t with this picture but thank you baby” Mel rolled her eyes at me laughing “special delivery for you Robyn” looking behind me at Tina “what?” seeing the bouquet of roses “is it my secret admirer? I hope so” I joked, Tina placed the roses on the table “you wish bitch” grabbing the card on the roses “oohh, who is this” opening the envelope smiling “Happy Birthday Twin, sorry I can’t be with you right now. I want you to have the best day ever, I hope you like your gift from me to you, I chose this myself, so I hope you like it. I love you” I read it “oh my gosh, a gift” I beamed, Tina placed the box in front of me “House Of Miyake-Mugler?” I questioned “right, who helped him? Since when does Chris know fashion” I laughed, this is a lie “I swear I didn’t even help him, on my mother” Mel said, she knows I do not trust her. I can imagine she would help him, Chris really bought me a dress “right, let’s see what he got me. I don’t believe he can actually pick something nice” opening the ribbon on the box and then opening the box “oh we going white” getting up from the chair, pulling out the dress “oh it’s strapless” holding the dress up “oh this is cute, but it’s going to be figure hugging. I will have to get a jacket or something, you think it could work Mel? I need to hide my stomach” Mel nodded his head “that is a nice dress, he chose well. I am proud of him” Mel my stylist likes it so that means he has done well.

I hate myself; I missed my flight that left at eight so I am sat in the airport having to pay above the price I paid in the first place to get the flight at Ten which means I will get to Robyn late as hell, I text Mel that I will have to meet them at their meal because I am going to be late. I overslept, I drank a little more then I should have maybe but then I went to sleep, I shouldn’t have but I needed to sleep the booze off, I can’t be drunk on this flight. I see Robyn did text me, but she seemed annoyed, I don’t think she was happy that I went but I had a good night, I met Dr Dre, I was a big fan to him. I am sure he hated me, but Drake really made it known I was married, he announced it on several occasions and then was getting all hype about it, played Rihanna’ songs too but even though people knew who I am married too, females didn’t care. They were still there, just there sitting with me asking me questions but like, I wasn’t here for that. I mean girls are always going to be there, not like I care but I don’t want it to be more then what it is, because it’s never that. I am just happy that I had a good night, I didn’t pay for no drinks. Just good vibes, that is all I wanted. Looking down at my phone, my followers have shot up. Like we in hundred thousands now, that is because of the Vogue thing “wild” I said to myself, tapping on my tagged photos. I knew it would be full of the Drake pictures, I mean all we did was take pictures. Oh I don’t remember that one, maybe I do. It’s a group picture so it’s whatever, but what is my arm doing around her, she is something to do with Drake, I think anyways but it was all harmless.

I am stood in the disabled toilets waiting for my flight, I am stood in here because I do not want Robyn to know anything that I am going to see her in London. Pressing my phone to my ear as it rang out, I hope she pick up. I do assume that she is annoyed with me that is why I want her to pick up “hey” Robyn answered finally “happy birthday twin, aye. How are you?” I sound so husky there “I am ok, how about yourself you sounding a little rough there baby? Long night” I chuckled “could say, I did text you, you got it right?” I am saying it like she didn’t text me back “I did but you had to go out on the day of the announcement, I see the little video of you turning up too, least you had a good time. You going out tonight too?” she is not happy “I am, to celebrate your birthday twin, I think I will be. I will tell you now because you may go to sleep early, you sleep well yeah? You weren’t even picking up” I know my wife, she wants to be annoyed with me, but she can’t say anything “I slept a lot, this baby is taking out of me, but I love the dress so much. I just wanted to say thank you, you really set the tone for my birthday, I wasn’t expecting anything from you, so this was such a surprise, just shows you think about me. You have taste too, I love the dress so much” I cooed out, I am happy she liked it “you know I got you, I wouldn’t forget your birthday just sucks that you are there and I am here, I miss you” I need to stop teasing her like that “yeah” Robyn breathed out, I do hate it that we are apart “I really hate it, I wish I was there” oh god, now she is crying “stop crying Robyn, please not on your birthday. I know you been a little sad about it, I felt it in my heart but don’t be sad, I promise you we will have many more, you got mine to celebrate” Robyn laughed “you’re so annoying, I just miss you. I miss your touch Chris; it’s been so long. But I will be ok, just be careful out there, I am trying to get this all done and dusted soon, I need to have my appointment” I feel bad now “it’s been a while Robyn since I seen you too, I can only imagine you have changed. I wanted to see that change myself, I wanted to be there but we going to be ok Robyn so please be optimistic. I love you” that is my little words of wisdom done.

With every little delay I am getting annoyed, we were supposed to leave at ten and fifteen minutes has gone, and we are still here not left “excuse me ma’am” I said to the flight attendant “yes sir?” she said “why are we still here on the ground, are we leaving now?” this is annoying “we will be leaving now sir so please remain in your seat” nodding my head, I am sat in business class, this flight is long as fuck so I wasn’t about to be sat squashed in the back, I am not doing that at all. I am actually trusting both TJ and Barry with my business right now, Cena and Neima left too, they are going to work on what we discussed so I have to trust them two, I am not even going to lie how pissed off I was about them doing what they did, how can they fuck up a supplier like that. But they are my friends, so I got to just relax on that, I don’t want to break that friendship over this. I do need to mention to them that they won’t have a big role in the business like that anymore. So they won’t get the big money like they do unless they do want to work for me.

I feel so groggy, this time difference is really hitting me. It’s no good, I am going to be sleeping well tonight. I am just so glad that we have landed, and we can get off this plane, people are all rushing to get off the plane, I should be doing the same. It is so late, like I am hitting Robyn’ bed time right now. Tapping on Mel’ name, I bet Mel is panicking thinking what am I doing “I will be back, yes sorry” she said down the phone “where are you? Robyn is acting like I am holding her hostage now, have you actually landed here? Please say you have” Mel pleaded “yeah I am here, I have landed. So where are you? You told me I forgot” she did mention it “The Arts Club, it’s on Mayfair. Tell the cab to drop you off here, you will need to come by security. Tell them you’re here with Rihanna” pulling a face “is this place fancy, I have my suitcase with me?” Mel huffed out “our car is parked there, you know what. Rich will be around; I will text him to meet you. Put your suitcase in the car, don’t bring that in here, hope you’re dressed nicely” pulling a face “Mel, I ain’t getting changed. I will knock a nigga out, they will let me in” Mel chuckled “just come, hurry about it too” she disconnected the call, standing up on the plane. I need to leave “hi, excuse me sir” looking over at the lady as I shuffled out of my seat, turning to her “can I have a picture with you” pulling a face at her “me?” this weird “please, I love Rihanna and I seen recently that you both married and I find the whole story so cute” I chuckled “oh yeah, why not” this is mind blowing that people want to take pictures with me.

Rich is stood waiting for me, he opened the cab door “come on, get out” he started laughing, he grabbed my suitcase for me “thank you friend” I said to the cab driver as I got out, taking my backpack with me “you come to surprise me?” Rich joked “you happy that I am here?” he shook his head “I will take your backpack too to the car, it’s a very upscale place so let’s not take big bags with you “and” moving my face away as the flash got into my eyes “that, yes paparazzi are posted outside” that looks fun, they rushed over once one of them saw me “I ain’t even famous, what the fuck. You good with my stuff?” I asked, he nodded his head walking off. Walking towards the front door, the paparazzi are really on my ass “how does it feel to be married to one of most beautiful popstars?” one shouted, the guy opened the door for me as I got inside. I am glad that is over “hi sir, what are you here for?” this big guy asked, security of course “Rihanna, she is in here” he looked me up and down “the dress code does state no trainers” I groaned “bro, I have just come on a flight from Vegas to surprise my wife that is sat in there you really going to play in my face when I am this jet lagged” he went quiet not saying a word, he nodded his head and opened the door for me, he knows not to fuck with me because either way I would go inside.

Mel and I caught eyes straight away, she breathed out. She looks so relieved to see me, you can tell they purposely sat Robyn there because she can’t see here. Robyn has her hair in a ponytail, the way I have won right now, I love when her hair is like that “sorry” hitting into someone, I am too mesmerised by the fact my twin got her hair up, she knows that my weakness, she knows this. Getting closer to the table, it’s like everyone is staring at me but not making it obvious at the same time, they are trying not to stare but they are staring. I am just behind Robyn’ chair, she is so damn loud with her mouth. Leaning over slowly, placing my one hand on the table and the other behind her chair “you finished being loud?” I said, Robyn froze and then turned to me. Her face all in mines, I have missed her so much, she yelped out getting up from the chair and I moved back. Robyn grabbed me, her arms around my neck as she sobbed out crying “happy birthday twin, I know it’s late, but I missed a flight here” Robyn is about to make me cry, she is really crying a lot. Her grip around my neck is so tight “you came” she managed to say “I came here for you, you look so good Robyn, you really do” rubbing her back as she continued to cry, she is so sad.

“Oh my god, my makeup is a mess now” Robyn stepped back trying to save her makeup “here you go mama” Jen gave her a napkin “you got me fucked up, look at me” I chuckled “hi everyone, hope y’all well. Has she been complaining about going home?” I questioned “baby she was ready to walk, I am glad you came now” Yusuf spat “we are here drinking on her behalf too” looking over at Robyn smiling “they kept you here for me, you think I would miss your birthday” Robyn shook her head “stop, I am not going to stop crying” wrapping my arm around Robyn “you look so beautiful, I wouldn’t ever miss a birthday Robyn, we missed too many important dates already, never again. You know I would follow you anywhere” pressing a kiss to the side of her face “best gift to me, look at me. I can’t stop” nodding my head understanding, Robyn’ stomach caught my eye “no way, oh my god Robyn” I stepped back, that stomach has come out. Looking up at Robyn’ face in shock, my mouth hung open “that is really a bump” she is showing “stop, don’t make a scene” Robyn hugged me, I am in shock.

We moved places with Mel to sit in the corner, Robyn is getting me fed anyways “I am so tired, look at me. When I called you I was drunk, well not so much drunk but yeah. I was so angry, I was supposed to be here for you like two hours ago, I would have been here for your cake and stuff but just like you. I am tired, we about to sleep good tonight” Robyn looks so happy, she is so damn happy “trust me, I was about to send you pictures of my fit actually, I did a ponytail for you. I was like Chris likes my hair like this” nodding my head smiling “I am in shock, you have been so busy on skype with business that you never showed me” placing my hand over Robyn’ bump “wow” Robyn raised her hand up “ignore me, I am ok” she is really crying about everything “stop it” holding Robyn’ hand “stop crying, I am here now. Once I ate we can go, I am tired. Like if I am talking shit ignore me” she is emotional “you have made my birthday, you really have. I have been somewhat so miserable, I didn’t want to celebrate my birthday, but I also didn’t want to travel back and forth, I promised myself to not be acting stupid. I am here so I stay here until it’s done, I am not travelling back and forth” nodding my head understanding “and you think I wouldn’t come to you, my clothing line is not above you” Robyn lower lip quivering “look at you, you got a tan. You look so well, you were on the shade room and I was like look at him. He looks so happy, so I didn’t want to you know, bring that down with my mood because that is unfair on you” shaking my head “stop it, well I am here now” Robyn placed her hand a top of mine “you not going to let me go now are you” she shook her head laughing.

[tabloidtoc]

Us, January 25

You can now buy a copy of this issue for your very own at my eBay store: https://www.ebay.com/str/bradentonbooks

Cover: Olivia Wilde, Harry Styles and Jason Sudeikis 

Page 2: Red Carpet -- drop sleeve romance -- Cynthia Erivo, Margaret Qualley, Aja Naomi King, Eiza Gonzalez 

Page 3: Chloe Bennet, Keri Russell, Isla Fisher, Idina Menzel, Kaia Gerber

Page 4: Who Wore It Best? Gigi Hadid vs. Khloe Kardashian, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley vs. Haley Lu Richardson 

Page 6: Loose Talk -- Rowan Atkinson on cancel culture, Chrissy Teigen on why she gave up drinking, Busy Philipps on getting used to her 12-year-old child Birdie’s they/them pronouns, Joy Behar resuming her feud with fellow View cohost Meghan McCain who recently returned from maternity leave, Arnold Schwarzenegger on mistaking Chris Pratt for Chris Evans on an Instagram telethon

Page 8: Contents 

Page 10: Hot Pics -- Angelina Jolie enjoyed a bit of retail therapy in L.A. 

Page 11: Justin Bieber took an electric bike out for a spin while on vacation in Hawaii, Gavin Rossdale holding his beloved dog during an outing in Studio City, Selling Sunset’s Christine Quinn wore pink during a photoshoot in Bel Air 

Page 12: Olivia Munn, Tori Spelling got a smooch from her and husband Dean McDermott’s pups in L.A., Emilio Vitolo Jr. and Katie Holmes walked arm-in-arm during a romantic stroll in NYC 

Page 13: Emma Slater and Sasha Farber stepped out for some fresh air with their dogs Ruby and Grinch in L.A., Dua Lipa and Anwar Hadid spent their days soaking up the sun while on vacation in Tulum, Mexico 

Page 16: Matt Damon was spotted without his wedding ring while visiting BFF Ben Affleck one month after celebrating his 15th anniversary with wife Luciana Barroso in L.A., Sutton Foster filming Younger with Nico Tortorella and Debi Mazar in NYC, during an outing Lisa Rinna took her dance moves to the streets in L.A. 

Page 17: Diplo spent the day exploring the ocean during a scuba diving session in Tulum, Bella Thorne and boyfriend Benjamin Mascolo couldn’t keep their hands off each other while playing in the ocean in Tulum 

Page 18: Jennifer Lopez works her monochrome magic 

Page 20: Winter Wonderland -- ‘tis the season to bundle up -- Kellan Lutz sipping on hot drinks with pregnant wife Brittany in NYC, Irina Shayk posed with a snowman she built in NYC, Kylie Jenner and daughter Stormi kept warm and cozy in fashionable outerwear, Bella Hadid made a snow angel following a storm in NYC 

Page 21: Martha Stewart in her snow plow in Bedford in New York, Rebel Wilson hitting the slopes in Aspen, Hilary Duff and Matthew Koma played with their daughter Banks outside in North Reading in Massachusetts, Ciara skiing for the first time during a trip with Vanessa Bryant, Laura Prepon building a snowman 

Page 22: Stars They’re Just Like Us -- Wells Adams broke a sweat during an afternoon jog in L.A., Gabrielle Union donated items to her favorite organizations through the Amazon Smile Charity Lists in L.A., Jenny McCarthy checked taking out the trash off her to-do list in Chicago 

Page 23: Ellen DeGeneres pedaled to lunch in Santa Barbara, between carrying a huge basket and walking his dog Kuma Justin Theroux has his hands full while out and about in NYC 

Page 24: Love Lives -- Emma Stone baby on board 

Page 25: Chrissy Metz and boyfriend Bradley Collins met on the dating app Bumble, after spending months in Australia Zac Efron has no plans to return to Hollywood because he’s loving life with girlfriend Vanessa Valladares 

Page 26: Hollywood Moms -- Melissa Joan Hart on her three sons Mason and Braydon and Tucker 

Page 27: Amber Rose’s sons Sebastian and Slash may be six years apart but she says they have the sweetest bond, Rachel Bilson’s daughter Briar has no idea that dad Hayden Christensen played Darth Vader, Melissa Rycroft has ruled out baby No. 4 

Page 28: Hot Hollywood -- Duchess Kate Middleton’s family made her recent birthday very special despite the pandemic -- during her low-key celebration at Anmer Hall she felt the love from Prince William and their kids Prince George and Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis and they gave her a bouquet from the kids and diamond and sapphire earrings from William which she loves -- she even received a card and gifts from Prince Harry and Meghan Markle which was a nice surprise and she may get to thank them in person as Harry and Meghan will reportedly return to the UK in June 

Page 29: After months of dating speculation Michael B. Jordan and Lori Harvey finally confirmed their relationship via Instagram when Michael and Steve Harvey’s adopted daughter posted loved-up photos of each other on their accounts 

* Nearly 17 years after the Sex and the City series finale aired stars Sarah Jessica Parker and Cynthia Nixon and Kristin Davis are reprising their roles for a revival called And Just Like That...Noticeably absent from the group is Kim Cattrall who’s had an ongoing feud with Sarah Jessica for years and has been vocal about her decision to never return to the show 

* Keeping Up With Us -- Gwen Stefani’s annulment from ex-husband Gavin Rossdale has finally been granted by the Vatican which was a huge relief for Gwen who wants her marriage to Blake Shelton to be recognized by the Catholic Church, Meghan Markle’s estranged dad Thomas Markle says that he’s very pleased with daughter Samantha Markle’s upcoming tell-all book, The Grammys has been delayed to March 14 over coronavirus concerns, Shia LaBeouf and Margaret Qualley have called it quits on their weeks-long whirlwind romance, Dr. Dre said he’s doing great after being hospitalized for a brain aneurysm, Stassi Schroeder and fiance Beau Clark welcomed daughter Hartford Charlie Rose 

Page 30: A Day in the Life -- Catherine Lowe 

Page 31: Sarah “Fergie” Ferguson has a lot to look forward in 2021 -- not only is she releasing a new book this summer which is a historical fiction novel titled Her Heart For a Compass but the Duchess of York is also preparing to become a first-time grandmother to Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank’s child -- though the little one’s arrival is still weeks away Fergie’s already started passing down her motherly wisdom to her 30-year-old daughter whom she shares with ex-husband Prince Andrew -- as for what she’s hoping to be called by her grandchild she says lots of her friends call her Duch so she thinks it will end up being Duchee 

Page 32: Cover Story -- Olivia Wilde’s love triangle -- Olivia’s ex Jason Sudeikis is devastated as her new romance with Harry Styles heats up 

Page 36: Kim Kardashian West and Kanye West behind closed doors -- as rumors of impending divorce swirl what’s really happening inside Kim and Kanye’s six-year marriage -- it was extremely draining to keep pretending that their marriage was OK when the whole world could tell it blatantly wasn’t and things between them have gotten so toxic they have no choice but to live apart 

Page 38: One for the Ages -- it’s nothing but a number -- these couples don’t mind a May to December romance -- Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones, George Clooney and Amal Clooney, Olivia Wilde and Harry Styles 

Page 39: Leonardo DiCaprio and Camila Morrone, Jay-Z and Beyonce, David Foster and Katharine McPhee, Holland Taylor and Sarah Paulson 

Page 40: Natalie Portman’s lip service with Dior’s wildly popular Rouge Dior Couture lipstick -- she stuns in a series of images that evoke the splendor of Paris and peep the behind-the-scenes moments 

Page 42: Entertainment -- The Bachelor Matt James teases what’s to come 

Page 43: Dean Hashim of 90 Day Fiance on having a daughter with girlfriend Rigin Bado 

Page 46: Fashion Police -- when bad clothes happen to good people -- Miley Cyrus, Bella Hadid, Alia Shawkat 

Page 47: A$AP Rocky, Kate Flannery, Tessa Thompson 

Page 48: 25 Things You Don’t Know About Me -- Tim Allen 

[kieralouiseb]

I AM A SPOTIFY ADDICT...

Let me start by saying, I listen to music a lot. I love it, I have always loved it, I will always love it. But I do have this terrible habit of listening to the same twenty songs on repeat until I’m sick of them. I’m working on this and trying to stop overplaying every song that I like until I hate it. However, this just means I’m now obsessed with creating new playlists for every mood. I have 14 public playlists for you to browse and they’re colour-coded (because I have too much time on my hands). If you’re interested or want to find some new music, here’s the guide to my favourite Spotify playlists :)

CHECK OUT MY SPOTIFY HERE

~vibes~ The name says it all. Absolute vibes. We’ve got a dancehall-reggae mix-up for this one.

Chronixx - “ Skankin’ Sweet ” Collie Buddz - “ Love & Reggae ” Barrington Levy - “ Murderer ” Koffee - “ Rapture ”

~ femme ~ I was watching karaoke videos on Youtube one Wednesday evening, singing a lot of Christina Aguilera and Whitney Houston. I realised that I didn’t have a playlist that was exclusively female artists and I couldn’t come up with a creative name, so femme works. Featuring:

Whitney Houston - “ It’s Not Right But It’s Okay ” Erykah Badu - “ Phone Down ” Koffee - “ Toast ” Greentea Peng - “ Mr. Sun (miss da sun) ”

~ 420 ~ This is self explanatory. A whole month of 420 deserves a dedicated playlist.

Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg - “ The Next Episode ” Afroman - “ Because I Got High ” Collie Buddz - “ Come Around ” Trixie Smith - “ Jack I’m Mellow ” SiR - “ D’Evils ” Nafe Smallz, Chip & Black The Ripper - “ Smokin’” Rihanna - “ James Joint ” Aries, Benny Page - “ Herbsmoke "

~ dusk ~ This one is aptly named as it is a sex playlist. Yes, it’s one of my favourites. It’s just got some sexy, ‘get you in the mood’ bangers.

Krept & Konan - “ So Easy ” 2 Chainz, Ty Dolla $ign, Trey Songz, Jhené Aiko - “ It’s A Vibe ” 6LACK & Jhené Aiko - “ First Fuck ” Tyler, The Creator, Pharrell - IFHY

~ blue ~ This is a bit more of a chilled vibe - a throwback to my indie days. Yes, I used to wear flannel shirts, heavy eyeliner and vans constantly.

Sticky Fingers - “ Clouds & Cream ” Oh Wonder - “ Without You ” Garden City Movement - “ Terracotta ” Catfish and the Bottlemen - “ Heathrow ”

~ grey ~ This just sums up my emo phase. 2015 to 2017. Still bangs when I'm flying down the M3.

You Me At Six - “ Bite My Tongue ” Lower Than Atlantis - “ Emily ” DON BROCO - “ Priorities ” Marmozets - “ Is It Horrible ”

Happy listening friends... (also I'm always looking to create personal and curated playlists for others, so hit me up!)

[newmusickarl]

Album of the Week – Women In Music Pt. III by HAIM

You can often tell that an album is going to be special when three of the six singles that proceeded its release, do not even make the cut for the final tracklist. This is the case for the third album from everyone’s favourite pop rock sisters, HAIM, who are back with the simply outstanding, Women In Music Pt. III (WIM3).

I must admit, having loved the energy and originality of their debut album Days Are Gone, I was somewhat underwhelmed by the HAIM’s sophomore effort, Something To Tell You. Although that record still had some great moments, at times it felt like the sisters were simply trying to recapture the magic of that first record rather than move their sound forward. However with WIM3, the shackles seem to have been fully let off, with studio experimentation helping HAIM to create some of their best and most infectious music to date.

Opener Los Angeles was supposedly one of the first written for the record and it is the perfect tone setter. Beginning with some jazz horns and a harsh snare beat, Danielle Haim’s soft vocal cords and funky guitar riff soon cut in as she then proceeds to share her demoralised view of LA life over fun, playful instrumentation. It is a fascinating contrast and then the next thing you know, the sensational opening riff of The Steps arrives and from that point on, HAIM are off flying.

WIM3 is very much the sound of HAIM hitting their stride, fully mastering their delightful fusion of country, pop, rock and R&B. What’s more the tracklist is simply littered with career best moments for the HAIM sisters - from the synth-driven groove of I Know Alone to the dreamy, summery reverb of Gasoline to the incredibly catchy Don’t Wanna - you’ll really struggle to find a song here that doesn’t put a smile on your face.

However, the record’s crown jewel is arguably Man From The Magazine, where the HAIM sisters present a stripped back, two minute takedown of sexism in music, inspired by both their own personal experiences and broader tales of women within the industry. Recorded in a single take, the sound is incredibly raw and the lyrics honest, helping the track to really stand out amongst some of glitzier production on display.

Overall, this really is a monumental work for the HAIM sisters and one that I have given heavy rotation to over the past week. Through the clever juxtaposition of the lyrical and sonic elements here, Women In Music Pt. III shows us that although it might not be constant sunshine this summer, there is still plenty to enjoy.

Best tracks: Gasoline, I Know Alone, Man From The Magazine

Tracks of the Week

Hypercolour – CamelPhat, Yannis & Foals

The British Dance duo have finally fulfilled their wish of working with Foals frontman Yannis Philippakis, with the creatives gloriously combining on this year’s summer anthem. Euphoric!

Parasite Eve – Bring Me The Horizon

Sheffield’s rock giants do not do dull and Parasite Eve is another fascinating colossus. Tribal cries, atmospheric synths, horns, huge metal riffs and a constant undercurrent of menace – this one has a bit of everything.

Wash Us In The Blood – Kanye West

With his last two solo efforts ye and Jesus In King underwhelming, Wash Us In The Blood offers a revitalised, Yeezus-era Mr. West. With timely lyrics, a welcome Travis Scott feature and some incredible production work from Dr. Dre, Yeezy season is very much approaching.

Ego Death – Ty Dolla $ign, Kanye West, FKA Twigs & Skrillex

If these four artists on a track together is not enough to make you check this one out, then the fact that it brilliantly fuses old-school dance with a modern bass beat should do the trick. Also, just when you think you know where this track is heading, these four will quickly flip the script on you.

Come Back – Nimmo

I have concluded after four years of listening to their music that Nimmo simply do not make anything less than exceptional. Their debut album The Power was one of my Albums of 2019 and if Come Back is the first taste of their next record, then it is a very promising start. Featuring an infectious piano-driven groove, heartfelt lyrics and sterling vocal performances from Sarah and Reva, it’s another 10/10 track from the dance duo.

[blackkudos]

Eazy-E

Eric Lynn Wright (September 7, 1964 – March 26, 1995), known professionally as Eazy-E, was an American rapper and rap mogul who propelled West Coast rap and gangsta rap by leading the group N.W.A and its label, Ruthless Records, pushing the boundaries of lyrical content.

Born and raised in Compton, a small yet violent city near Los Angeles, Wright had several legal troubles before founding Ruthless in 1987. After a short solo career with frequent collaboration with Ice Cube and Dr. Dre, they joined, forming N.W.A, later that year.

N.W.A's debut studio album, Straight Outta Compton, released in 1988, highly controversial then, is now ranked among the greatest and most influential albums. The group released its third and final studio album, Niggaz4Life, in 1991, and soon disbanded.

During N.W.A's splintering, largely by disputes over money, Eazy-E became embroiled in bitter rivalries with Ice Cube and Dr. Dre, who had departed for solo careers in 1989 and 1991, respectively. Resuming his sole career, Eazy-E released two EPs.

Yet Wright remained more significant behind the scenes, signing and nationally debuting the rap group Bone Thugs-N-Harmony from 1993 to 1994. But in 1995, suddenly hospitalized and diagnosed with AIDS, Wright died through its complications.

Early life and Ruthless Records investment

Eric Wright was born to Richard and Kathie Wright on September 7, 1964, in Compton, California, a Los Angeles suburb noted for high crime rates and gang culture. His father was a postal worker and his mother was a grade-school administrator. Wright dropped out of high school in the tenth grade, but later received a general equivalency diploma (GED).

Wright supported himself mainly by selling drugs, and introduced his cousin to the illicit occupation. Wright's music manager Jerry Heller recalls seeing Wright selling marijuana, but not cocaine. Heller would claim that Wright's "dope dealer" label was part of his "self-forged armor". Wright was also labeled as a "thug". Heller explains: "The hood where he grew up was a dangerous place. He was a small guy. 'Thug' was a role that was widely understood on the street; it gave you a certain level of protection in the sense that people hesitated to fuck with you. Likewise, 'dope dealer' was a role that accorded you certain privileges and respect."

In 1986, at age 22, Wright had allegedly earned as much as US$250,000 from dealing drugs. However, after his cousin was shot and killed, he decided that he could make a better living in the Los Angeles hip hop scene, which was growing rapidly in popularity. He started recording songs during the mid-1980s in his parents' garage.

The original idea for Ruthless Records came when Wright asked Heller to go into business with him. Wright suggested a half-ownership company, but it was later decided that Wright would get eighty percent of the company's income and Heller would only get twenty percent. According to Heller, he told Wright, "Every dollar comes into Ruthless, I take twenty cents. That's industry standard for a manager of my caliber. I take twenty, you take eighty percent. I am responsible for my expenses and you're responsible for yours. You own the company. I work for you." Along with Heller, Wright invested much of his money into Ruthless Records. Heller claims that he invested the first $250,000 and would eventually put up to $1,000,000 into the company.

Musical career

N.W.A and Eazy-Duz-It (1986–1991)

N.W.A's original lineup consisted of Arabian Prince, Dr. Dre, Eazy-E, and Ice Cube. DJ Yella and MC Ren joined later. The compilation album N.W.A. and the Posse was released on November 6, 1987, and would go on to be certified Gold in the United States. The album featured material previously released as singles on the Macola Records label, which was responsible for distributing the releases by N.W.A and other artists like the Fila Fresh Crew, a West Coast rap group originally based in Dallas, Texas.

Eazy-E's debut album, Eazy-Duz-It, was released on September 16, 1988, and featured twelve tracks. It was labeled as West Coast hip hop, gangsta rap and, later, as golden age hip hop. It has sold over 2.5 million copies in the United States and reached number forty-one on the Billboard 200. The album was produced by Dr. Dre and DJ Yella and largely written by MC Ren, Ice Cube and The D.O.C.. Both Glen Boyd from the Seattle Post-Intelligencer and MTV's Jon Wiederhorn claimed that Eazy-Duz-It "paved the way" for N.W.A's most controversial album, Straight Outta Compton. Wright's only solo in the album was a remix of the song "8 Ball", which originally appeared on N.W.A. and the Posse. The album featured Wright's writing and performing; he performed on seven songs and helped write four songs.

Ice Cube left N.W.A in 1989 because of internal disputes and the group continued as a four-piece ensemble. N.W.A released 100 Miles and Runnin' in 1990 and Niggaz4Life in 1991. A diss war started between N.W.A and Ice Cube when "100 Miles and Runnin'" and "Real Niggaz" were released. Ice Cube responded with "No Vaseline" on Death Certificate. Wright performed on seven of the eighteen songs on Niggaz4Life. In March 1991 Wright accepted an invitation to a lunch benefiting the Republican Senatorial Inner Circle, hosted by then-U.S. President George H. W. Bush. A spokesman for the rapper said that Eazy-E supported Bush because of his performance in the Persian Gulf War.

End of N.W.A and feud with Dr. Dre (1991–1994)

N.W.A began to split up after Jerry Heller became the band's manager. Dr. Dre recalls: "The split came when Jerry Heller got involved. He played the divide and conquer game. Instead of taking care of everybody, he picked one nigga to take care of and that was Eazy. And Eazy was like, 'I'm taken care of, so fuck it'." Dr. Dre and The D.O.C. sent Suge Knight to look into Eazy-E's financial situation as they began to grow suspicious of Eazy-E and Jerry Heller. Dr. Dre and The D.O.C. asked Eazy-E to release him from Ruthless, but Eazy-E refused. The impasse led to what reportedly transpired between Suge Knight and Eazy-E at the recording studio where Niggaz4life was recorded. After he refused to release Dr. Dre and The D.O.C., Suge Knight told Eazy-E that he had kidnapped Jerry Heller and was holding him prisoner in a van. This did not convince Eazy-E to release Dr. Dre and The D.O.C. from Ruthless, and Suge Knight threatened Eazy-E's family: Suge Knight gave Eazy-E a piece of paper that contained Eazy's mother's address, telling him, "I know where your mama stays." Eazy-E finally signed Dr. Dre and The D.O.C.'s releases, officially ending N.W.A.

The feud with Dr. Dre continued after a track on Dre's debut album The Chronic, "Fuck wit Dre Day (And Everybody's Celebratin')", contained lyrics that insulted Eazy-E. Eazy responded with the EP, It's On (Dr. Dre) 187um Killa, featuring the tracks "Real Muthaphuckkin G's" and "It's On". The album, which was released on October 25, 1993, contains pictures of Dre wearing "lacy outfits and makeup" when he was a member of the Electro-hop World Class Wreckin' Cru.

Personal life

Wright had a son, Eric Darnell Wright (known as Lil Eazy-E), in 1984. He also had a daughter named Erin who has legally changed her name to Ebie In October 2016 she launched a crowd-funding campaign to produce a film called Ruthless Scandal: No More Lies to investigate her father's death. It ended unsuccessfully in December 2016.

Wright met Tomica Woods at a Los Angeles nightclub in 1991 and they married in 1995, twelve days before his death. They had a son named Dominick and a daughter named Daijah (born six months after Wright's death). After Wright's death, Ruthless was taken over by his wife. According to Jerry Heller, Wright had 11 children with eight different women.

Illness and death

On February 24, 1995, Wright was admitted to the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles with a violent cough. He was diagnosed with HIV/AIDS. He announced his illness in a public statement on March 16, 1995. It is believed Wright contracted the infection from a sexual partner.During the week of March 20, having already made amends with Ice Cube, he drafted a final message to his fans. On March 26, 1995, Eazy-E died from complications of AIDS, one month after his diagnosis. He was 30 years old (most reports at the time said he was 31 due to the falsification of his date of birth by one year). He was buried on April 7, 1995, at Rose Hills Memorial Park in Whittier, California. Over 3,000 people attended his funeral, including Jerry Heller and DJ Yella. He was buried in a gold casket, and was dressed in a flannel shirt, jeans, and his Compton hat. On January 30, 1996, ten months after Eazy-E's death, his final album, Str8 off tha Streetz of Muthaphukkin Compton was released.

According to his son Lil Eazy-E, Eazy-E was worth an estimated USD$50 million at the time of his death.

Musical influences and style

Allmusic cites Eazy-E's influences as Ice-T, Redd Foxx, King Tee, Bootsy Collins, Run–D.M.C., Richard Pryor, Egyptian Lover, Schoolly D, Too $hort, Prince, the Sugarhill Gang and George Clinton. In the documentary The Life and Timez of Eric Wright, Eazy-E mentions collaborating with many of his influences.

When reviewing Str8 off tha Streetz of Muthaphukkin Compton, Stephen Thomas Erlewine noted "... Eazy-E sounds revitalized, but the music simply isn't imaginative. Instead of pushing forward and creating a distinctive style, it treads over familiar gangsta territory, complete with bottomless bass, whining synthesizers, and meaningless boasts." When reviewing Eazy-Duz-It, Jason Birchmeier of Allmusic said, "In terms of production, Dr. Dre and Yella meld together P-Funk, Def Jam-style hip-hop and the leftover electro sounds of mid-'80s Los Angeles, creating a dense, funky, and thoroughly unique style of their own." Birchmeier described Eazy-E's style as "dense, unique and funky", and said that it sounded "absolutely revolutionary in 1988".

Several members of N.W.A wrote lyrics for Eazy-Duz-It: Ice Cube, The D.O.C. and MC Ren. The EP 5150: Home 4 tha Sick features a song written by Naughty By Nature. The track "Merry Muthaphuckkin' Xmas" features Menajahtwa, Buckwheat, and Atban Klann as guest vocalists, and "Neighborhood Sniper" features Kokane as a guest vocalist. It's On (Dr. Dre) 187um Killa features several guest vocalists, including Gangsta Dresta, B.G. Knocc Out. Kokane, Cold 187um, Rhythum D, and Dirty Red. Str8 off tha Streetz of Muthaphukkin Compton featured several guest vocalists, including B.G. Knocc Out, Gangsta Dresta, Sylk-E. Fyne, Dirty Red, Menajahtwa, Roger Troutman and ex-N.W.A members MC Ren and DJ Yella.

Legacy

Eazy-E has been called the godfather of gangsta rap. MTV's Reid Shaheem said that Eazy was a "rap-pioneer", and he is sometimes cited by critics as a legend. Steve Huey of AllMusic said that he was "one of the most controversial figures in gangsta rap". Since his 1995 death, many book and video biographies have been produced, including 2002's The Day Eazy-E Died and Dead and Gone.

When Eazy was diagnosed with AIDS, many magazines like Jet, Vibe, Billboard, The Crisis, and Newsweek covered the story and released information on the topic. All of his studio albums and EPs charted on the Billboard 200, and many of his singles—"Eazy-Duz-It", "We Want Eazy", "Real Muthaphuckkin G's, and "Just tah Let U Know"—also charted in the U.S.

In 2012 an Eazy-E documentary was released by Ruthless Propaganda, called Ruthless Memories. The documentary featured interviews from Jerry Heller, MC Ren and B.G. Knocc Out.

In the 2015 film Straight Outta Compton, Eazy-E is played by Jason Mitchell and the film is dedicated in his memory.

Discography

Studio albums

Eazy-Duz-It (1988)

Str8 off tha Streetz of Muthaphukkin Compton (1996)

Extended Plays

5150: Home 4 tha Sick (1992)

It's On (Dr. Dre) 187um Killa (1993)

Impact of a Legend (2002)

with N.W.A

N.W.A. and the Posse (1987)

Straight Outta Compton (1988)

100 Miles and Runnin' (1990)

Niggaz4Life (1991)

[judefan816-blog]

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