Author: Randy Slovacek

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Out Rapper Lil Nas X Covers TIME Magazine

TIME Magazine covers the rise of Lil Nas X (screen capture)

These are heady, well-earned times for rapper Lil Nas X.

Less than a year ago, the college drop-out was living on his sister’s floor.

Fast-forward to the release of his mega-hit single, “Old Town Road,” now the longest-running number-one song sitting atop the Billboard Hot 100 for 19 weeks now.

Along that journey, Lil Nas decided during Pride Month to come out as gay as his single continued its meteoric trajectory.

And now, the chart-busting country/hip-hop artist is covering TIME Magazine.

When @lilnasx’s debut single “Old Town Road” exploded online early this year and began climbing the charts, industry prognosticators anticipated a quick rise and fall. It’s now the longest-running No. 1 song in history, having occupied the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 for 19 weeks. It’s been streamed more than a billion times on @spotify alone. All of this has made “Old Town Road” the defining sound of the year, a slurry, genre-busting interpolation of two quintessential American musical genres: #country and hip-hop. Yet even from his perch, writes Andrew R. Chow, Lil Nas is still an outlier. There aren’t many black stars in country #music; there aren’t many queer stars in #hiphop. There aren’t many queer black stars in American culture, point-blank. The fact that Lil Nas has risen so far and so fast testifies not only to his skill, but also to the erosion of the systems that for generations kept #artists like him on the sidelines. At a time when debates about categorization and identity are ubiquitous, Lil Nas X represents a more unified vision of the future, one in which a young #queer black man can dominate popular #culture by being unapologetically himself. “Everything lined up for this moment to take me to this place,” he says now. “Not to sound self-centered, but it feels like I’m chosen, in a way, to do this stuff.” Read more at the link in bio. Photograph by @kelianne for TIME; animation by @brobeldesign; “Old Town Road” (p) 2019 Columbia Records, a division of Sony Music Entertainment
A post shared by TIME (@time) on Aug 15, 2019 at 5:08am PDT

In an interview for the venerable publication, Lil Nas explains what having THE number one song represents to him.

“To me, ‘Old Town Road’ being the longest-running number-one song of all time means that…everybody has great taste in music,” says the 20-year-old with a sly smile before adding, “I’m joking.”

“My reaction, just like, me…I was in a complete state of shock,” he adds in a candid moment. “I cried a little bit.”

For someone who grew up poor, being shuttled from one divorced parent to another, it can only be mind-boggling that, in addition to the chart action, “Old Town Road” has been streamed – on Spotify alone – over a billion times.

TIME notes how disparate the stars that have aligned are that brought this to be.

“There aren’t many black stars in country music; there aren’t many queer stars in hip-hop,” writes Andrew Chow for TIME. “There aren’t many queer black stars in American culture, point-blank.”

“The fact that Lil Nas has risen so far and so fast testifies not only to his skill but also to the erosion of the systems that for generations kept artists like him on the sidelines,” adds Chow.

Chow points to social media and streaming platforms for ‘democratizing’ the path to possible success in the music industry today.

When @lilnasx recorded “Old Town Road” last fall, he was hoping it could be his way out of an unhappy life. Born Montero Lamar Hill outside #Atlanta in 1999, Lil Nas grew up poor, living with one parent or another—his mother and father split when he was 6. As he spent most of his teenage years alone, he began to live on the Internet and particularly Twitter, creating #memes that showed his disarming wit and pop-culture savvy. “It was like, I’m able to go viral, but I’m not promoting anything that’s gonna help me,” he says. “Until music came along.” A gifted vocalist since he was a child—his father is a gospel singer—Lil Nas began writing and recording songs in his closet. When, around last Halloween, he stumbled across a banjo-driven beat by the teenage Dutch producer @youngkio, he saw an opportunity to combine trap—a Southern-born #hiphop subgenre propelled by vicious bass and crawling tempos—with #country, which was experiencing a surge of popularity on the Internet. “Because it’s two polar opposites coming together, it’s funny no matter what it is,” he says. For the history of #music, artists like Lil Nas were the exception, writes Andrew R. Chow. Now, by definition, Lil Nas is the rule. Read more at the link in bio. Video by @khomariflashfilms and @alexandra_robson for TIME
A post shared by TIME (@time) on Aug 15, 2019 at 8:48am PDT

That said, Lil Nas isn’t doing the cocky walk any time soon.

He tells TIME, “Everything lined up for this moment to take me to this place,” adding that he feels “chosen” to be in this place at this time.

The country-trap artist didn’t expect “this time” to include coming out, but, here we are.

“I know the people who listen to this the most, and they’re not accepting of homosexuality,” admits Nas. “I never would have done that if I wasn’t in a way pushed by the universe.”

As “Old Town Road” continued its reign at number one, the U.S. entered Pride Month, and the artist says he saw “Pride flags everywhere” and “couples holding hands.”

And so, he tweeted one of the most casual ‘coming out’ moments in music history.

What’s next for the young musician?

“I definitely feel the need to use my platform to spread positivity and do good things for the world,” he says thoughtfully. “I don’t want to be, in the last minute like, ‘Dang, I should have said something about this, you know?”

“From here, I just want to keep making whatever my ears catch hold to and happen to love.”

Read the full profile over at TIME.com.

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News Round-Up: August 14, 2019

• InstaHunks: Woofy Jeff Ferreira shows off the gorgeous Greek landscape in Mykonos. Ok, maybe I'm just looking at Jeff... #busted
Jeff Ferriera (image via Instagram)

Some news items you might have missed:

• InstaHunks: Woofy Jeff Ferreira shows off the gorgeous Greek landscape in Mykonos. Ok, maybe I’m just looking at Jeff… #busted

• OUT: NFLer Odell Beckham Jr. is still not gay and tired of the speculation – “Like, beyond it.”

• Buzzfeed: The Trump administration on Wednesday formally proposed a new rule to let businesses with federal contracts cite religious objections as a valid reason to discriminate against their workers on the basis of race, ethnicity, national origin, sex, LGBTQ status, and other characteristics — thereby skirting worker protections created by past presidents.

• kenneth-in-the-212: It’s Hump Day, and you know what that means over at KI212, Wrestle Wednesday! More at the link.

• NY Post: A former Hamptons bartender has filed a lawsuit against CNN anchor Don Lemon claiming the newsman fondled himself “aggressively” then shoved his hand under the bartender’s nose. Lemon’s legal team says the bartender asked for $1.5 million prior to filing the lawsuit. The bartender claims he experienced “severe emotional stress” due to the 2018 incident.

• PinkNews: IMDb (Internet Movie Database), which bills itself as the “world’s most popular and authoritative source for information on movies, TV shows, and celebrities,” has reversed course and announced that it will allow transgender actors to remove their birth name from its pages.

• New Music: Producer Gryffin teams with pop artist Carly Rae Jepsen for “OMG,” a synth-pop bop built on glossy beats and a candy-sweet hook. Gryffin delivers a dynamic yet elegant sonic landscape that showcases Jepsen’s reliably effusive, sunshine bright vocals.

Says Jepsen, “Gryffin is a kindred spirit in the way he thinks about music; I’m grateful to be a part of this song.”

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Douche Of The Day: Ben Shapiro

Ben Shapiro

Conservative asshot Ben Shapiro, who grew up as the child of a Hollywood executive and went to Harvard Law School, told his listeners today that “if you had to work more than one job to have a roof over your head or food on the table, you probably shouldn’t have taken the job that’s not paying you enough.”

He added, “That would be a ‘you’ problem.”

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Dow Jones Tanks 800 Points As Bond Market Flips

Donald Trump

So. Much. Winning.

From NBC News:

Wall Street took a battering on Wednesday, suffering its worst day so far this year after movements in the bond market signaled the sharpest indication yet of an approaching recession.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average, which had already shed 400 points at the opening bell, spent the day in freefall before closing with a decline of 800 points, a drop of over 3 percent. The S&P 500 closed down 2.93 percent, and the Nasdaq posted a decline of just over 3 percent.

The market selloff was the result of an inverted yield curve in government bonds, when the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note falls below the 2-year rate — a phenomenon that has preceded every recession for the past 50 years.

President Donald Trump blamed the Federal Reserve for Wednesday’s market plunge, calling Fed Chairman Jerome Powell “clueless” in an afternoon tweet. Trump has consistently lambasted Powell for not cutting rates at a faster pace, and has said “the stock market would be 10,000 points higher” if the Fed had followed a different strategy.

NBC News goes on to repeat “all of the past recessions have been preceded by inversions of the yield curve.”

Of course, what Trump is REALLY upset about is how the timing of a possible recession would affect his reelection after boasting about “his” economy for so long.

By the way – want to guess WHO nominated Powell to the Fed Chair position?

“I hire all the best people…”

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Podcast: POSE Scores At 2019 Imagen Awards; Trans Student Kicked Out Of Christian College; Ice Cream Ad Goes Awry

In this week's podcast: • POSE star MJ Rodriguez honored as "Best Actress" in TV series at 2019 Imagen Awards which recognize positive portrayals of Latinx people in the media • New ad spot compares eating ice cream with hugging your same-sex boyfriend in countries where homosexuality is punishable with prison time (what???) • Illinois becomes the 5th state to include LGBTQ history in public school curriculum • A trans student is kicked out of his Christian college for having top surgery • A masseur suing Kevin Spacey for alleged sexual battery says other alleged victims have contacted him

In this week’s podcast:

• POSE star MJ Rodriguez honored as “Best Actress” in TV series at 2019 Imagen Awards which recognize positive portrayals of Latinx people in the media

• New ad spot compares eating ice cream with hugging your same-sex boyfriend in countries where homosexuality is punishable with prison time (what???)

• Illinois becomes the 5th state to include LGBTQ history in public school curriculum

• A trans student is kicked out of his Christian college for having top surgery

• A masseur suing Kevin Spacey for alleged sexual battery says other alleged victims have contacted him

All that and more in this episode of The Randy Report

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New Netflix Series ‘Styling Hollywood’ Premieres August 30

L-R Jason Bolden, Adair Curtis (image courtesy Netflix)

The new Netflix series Styling Hollywood follows celebrity stylist Jason Bolden and his interior designer husband Adair Curtis as they run their lifestyle company JSN STUDIO while balancing marriage and life’s ups and downs.

With their talented crew of colorful employees, watch as they curate “Black Girl Magic” for some of Hollywood’s biggest stars including Taraji P. Henson, Gabrielle Union, Eve, and Ava DuVernay (just to name a few).

Styling Hollywood premieres on Netflix August 30.

Check out the official trailer below, or click over to YouTube here.

(via press release)

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Masseur Suing Kevin Spacey Says Other Alleged Victims Have Reached Out To Him

The Blast is reporting the masseur who filed a lawsuit against Academy Award winner Kevin Spacey for alleged sexual battery says two other men have told him they, too, were victims of sexual misconduct by Spacey.
Kevin Spacey in a Massachusetts courtroom last month

The Blast is reporting the masseur who filed a lawsuit against Academy Award winner Kevin Spacey for alleged sexual battery says two other men have told him they, too, were victims of sexual misconduct by Spacey.

According to court documents obtained by The Blast, the man suing the actor, using the pseudonym John Doe, says he has new witnesses.

He claims to know of two other “masseur victims” of Spacey’s “sexual assaults who expressed concern for their safety and/or do not want their names revealed publicly in the media.”

Doe says his lawyers will meet with Spacey’s to figure out the best plan to reveal the names to the actor, without harming the men in the process.

Spacey accuses Doe of refusing to turn over the names or other basic information about his allegations, including the date of the alleged sexual assault.

The actor “believes trial will be necessary” and that a “settlement is highly unlikely.”

Criminal charges against Spacey were dropped last month when a Nantucket teen, who had accused the actor of groping him in 2017, refused to waive his 5th Amendment rights.

The Usual Suspects star then made an unexpected appearance at a museum in Rome last week where he performed an impromptu reading of the poem.

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Guards Slept While Epstein Committed Suicide, Then Doctored Log Books

Accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein was able to commit suicide this past weekend without interference because the two guards that should have been watching him (fresh off of suicide watch) apparently fell asleep on the job for "some or all of" a three hour period of time, reports the New York Times.
Jeffrey Epstein (mug shot)

Accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein was able to commit suicide this past weekend without interference because the two guards that should have been watching him (fresh off of suicide watch) apparently fell asleep on the job for “some or all of” a three hour period of time, reports the New York Times.

The two staff members who were guarding the jail unit where Jeffrey Epstein apparently killed himself fell asleep, failed to check on him for about three hours and falsified records to cover up their mistake, according to several law enforcement and prison officials with knowledge of the matter.

Those disclosures came on Tuesday as the two employees were placed on administrative leave and the warden of the jail, the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan, was temporarily reassigned, pending the outcome of the investigation into Mr. Epstein’s death, the Justice Department announced.

The two staff members in the special housing unit where Mr. Epstein was held — 9 South — falsely recorded in a log that they had checked on the financier, who was facing sex trafficking charges, every 30 minutes, as was required, two of the officials said. Such false entries in an official log could constitute a federal crime.

In fact, the two people guarding Mr. Epstein had been asleep for some or all of the three hours, three of the officials said.

Epstein, 66, was found dead hanging from a bedsheet at approximately 6:30am on Saturday in his cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan.

He had been awaiting trial on charges he had sexually abused scores of teenage girls at his homes in Manhattan and Palm Beach, Fla.

In related news, one of Epstein’s accusers, Jennifer Araoz, has filed a lawsuit against his estate, his longtime associate Ghislaine Maxwell and three unnamed female household staff, according to NBC News.

Araoz alleges she was repeatedly sexually assaulted by Epstein at his New York City townhouse when she was 14 and 15 years old, including a forcible rape in 2002.

She first disclosed her alleged abuse publicly in an exclusive TODAY Show interview with Savannah Guthrie of NBC News on July 10, the same day she filed papers in New York state court saying she intended to sue Epstein.

According to the complaint filed today, Araoz says Maxwell and the other staff members “conspired with each other to make possible and otherwise facilitate the sexual abuse and rape of Plaintiff.”

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Funny: Michael Henry Explains ‘This Is How You Handle A Breakup’

Funnyman Michael Henry shares this short clip on “How to handle a breakup.” No, not your breakup - your friends’ breakup.
Michael Henry know just how to handle a break-up

Funnyman Michael Henry shares this short clip on “How to handle a breakup.”

No, not your breakup – your friends’ breakup.

It seems time is of the essence since ‘Ken’ and ‘Joe’ hid the skids two days ago, which means Henry needs to spring into action to try and snatch up one of the wounded lovers asap.

Apparently, Ken and Joe like to go from relationship to relationship, so they are prime targets for Henry’s amorous approach.

Why you ask?

Because, according to Henry, recently uncoupled gays are already trained in many areas: how to be partnered, how to be affectionate, how to share, how to compromise, and more.

Plus, fresh out of a relationship, either Ken or Joe might need a “young, supple, fresh, firm shoulder for them to shed their tears on,” and Henry thinks he has just the shoulder to offer.

But apparently, for all of this to work, there has to be a masterplan to orchestrate the new relationship without being obvious.

To see how ‘evil genius’ Michael Henry calculates the best way to seize the day, hit play below or click over to YouTube here.

Laughs aside, has anyone ever seen anything remotely like to this in real life? Do love-hungry gays swoop in when a duo splits up?

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POSE Star MJ Rodriguez Scores “Best Actress” Win At 2019 Imagen Awards

The groundbreaking series POSE was honored in two categories at the 2019 Imagen Awards which recognizes positive portrayals of Latinx people in the media.
L-R Angel B. Curiel, MJ Rodriguez, Steven Canals, Janet Mock (photo: Imagen Awards)

The groundbreaking series POSE was honored in two categories at the 2019 Imagen Awards which recognizes positive portrayals of Latinx people in the media.

MJ Rodriguez, who plays “Blanca” on the acclaimed FX series, made history as the first transgender woman to take home the trophy for “Best Actress -Television.”

After thanking her mother and the creative team for POSE (Ryan Murphy, Steven Canals, Janet Mock), Rodriguez spoke to the historic moment.

“It’s so crazy to be standing up here because you’d never think in a million years you’d get an award like this being a woman like me,” Rodriguez told the crowd assembled in the Beverly Wilshire Hotel ballroom.

“Obviously, this is not just for me,” she continued. “This is for the little kids like me, and I’m just trying to speak as much as I can for my community as possible, and that goes for my Latino community.”

Watch Rodriguez accept the award in the Instagram post below.

POSE also took home the award for “Best Primetime Drama,” tying with Magnum P.I.

Angel Bismarck Curiel, who plays ‘Lil Papi’ on the groundbreaking series was nominated in the “Best Supporting Actor – Television” category as well.

The POSE team now looks to the 2019 Emmy Awards where the show has received six nominations including “Best Drama” and “Leading Actor in a Drama Series” for Billy Porter’s searing performance as ‘Pray Tell.’

The 2019 Emmy Awards will air September 22 on Fox.