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The rapper Prodigy, from the hip hop group Mobb Deep, died today at age 42 while on tour in Las Vegas, according to TMZ. Although his exact cause of death has not been confirmed, his publicist announced that Prodigy, whose reeal name is Albert Johnson, was hospitalized a few days ago for complications caused by sickle cell anemia. Here are some possible life-threatening complications caused by this blood condition. “Prodigy was hospitalized a few days ago in Vegas after a Mobb Deep performance for complications caused by a sickle cell anemia crisis. As most of his fans know, Prodigy battled...

Korean is rapidly growing in popularity, in a language-learning boom driven by the popularity of the country's pop stars. A desire to learn the lyrics of K-Pop hits like Gangnam Style has boosted the Korean language's popularity explode in countries like the US, Canada, Thailand and Malaysia. A report by the Modern Language Association shows that Korean uptake in US universities rose by almost 14% between 2013 and 2016, while overall language enrolment was in decline. The latest statistics show 14,000 students are learning Korean in the US, compared to only 163 two decades earlier. The language learning website Duolingo...

While one “Game of Thrones” chapter is closing, another may be opening. “Game of Thrones” characters have been bidding farewell to their beloved characters as filming for the eighth and final season wrapped this summer. But fans are optimistic about a prequel to the hit HBO show, which is reportedly set to film in Northern Ireland in October. According to the Belfast Telegraph, filming for the new show will take place at Paint Hall studios in Belfast, where the original “Game of Thrones” series was shot. “This is fantastic news for everyone at the studio - from the cast and...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJ68ovUkw58

O.S. Kelly, a historic Springfield firm that produces piano plates for Steinway and Sons, is ramping up hiring for the first time in years as Steinway looks to shift some work here to free up space at its own facilities. Since the 1930s, workers at O.S. Kelly have produced cast-iron plates that are a key to the pianos Steinway and Sons produce in Long Island, N.Y. and Hamburg, Germany. The plates, which can weigh up to 350 pounds, tie together the guts of the pianos said Rob Hill, plant manager at Kelly. The plates demand a high level of precision,...

Joy in Thailand today with word that rescuers have found 12 missing soccer team members and their assistant coach in a flooded cave. The group of boys and their coach had been missing for 10 days. The challenge for the international team of rescuers now is getting everyone out safely. Late reports suggest that could take some time until waters recede or the group learns basic underwater diving skills to get out. In Germany, a deal was announced to end the threat to Chancellor Angela Merkel's coalition government. Interior Minister Horst Seehofer dropped his planned resignation after a compromise was...

Fans rejoiced when Fox announced that it was reviving the Tim Allen-led series “Last Man Standing” after ABC canceled it. However, now it’s been revealed that two key cast members won’t be making the jump to a new network in Season 7. According to Deadline, series regulars Molly Ephraim and Flynn Morrison, who played Mandy and Boyd Baxter respectively on the show, have chosen not to return for Season 7. Mandy is the daughter of Tim Allen’s character while Boyd is his grandson. The series is reportedly in the process of trying to recast both roles for its inevitable return...

John Legend is not interested in Sarah Huckabee Sanders’s dining experience. While leaving a Beverly Hills restaurant with his wife Chrissy Teigen on Wednesday night, John Legend was asked by a TMZ reporter if he believed Real Housewives of Atlanta star Claudia Jordan had gone too far when she fat-shamed White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, saying she’s “not missing any meals, she’ll be all right.” “Ask me ‘Should we be reuniting 2,000 kids with their families?’” Legend replied, referring to the thousands of immigrant children torn from their families under the current administration’s family-separation policy. “Yes, we should.”...

Newly crowned RuPaul’s Drag Race champion Aquaria truly broke out in Season 10 when she won the “Snatch Game” challenge with her SNL-level impression of Melania Trump — thus proving that she has comedic chops behind her stunningly Instagrammable, lookbook-ready ensembles. (“Any hole is a goal” has now officially entered the Drag Race lexicon alongside other popular catchphrases like “halleloo,” “water off a duck’s back,” “purse first,” and “hieeeeee!”) But it turns out the 22-year-old former NYC club kid (real name: Giovanni Palandrani) thought the first lady was much better comedy fodder a couple of pre-election years ago — when...

Audio podcast in a YouTube, 1 hour and 58 minutes. The first short part of the YouTube in the link, is an audio except from a video documentary of the Hammond Organ. Next is some short commentary about Hammond organs in the context of the music business. The host, Sir Walter Jones, has an expert guest, a fellow Hammond organist within the African-American Church, gospel tradition. They queue audio clips from many famous Black Gospel Hammond organists. They are personally acquainted with most of the wide variety of expert, African-American Gospel tradition, Hammond organists. They wax nostalgic. (Most keyboardists do...

Two up-and-coming U.S. rappers, XXXTentacion and Jimmy Wopo, were killed on Monday in separate shootings near Miami and in Pittsburgh, police and local media reported. In Florida, the Broward County sheriff's office said that XXXTentacion, 20, was shot while leaving a motor sports dealership in Deerfield Beach, about 40 miles (64 km) north of Miami. The rapper, whose real name was Jahseh Dwayne Onfroy, was later pronounced dead, the sheriff's department said. "The adult male victim has been confirmed as 20 year old Jahseh Onfroy, aka rapper #XXXTentacion," the sheriff's department said in a posting on Twitter....

Enjoy.

Rapper Drakes Father Tells Ladies To Stay Out Of Dudes Hotel Rooms! Good Advice Or No?

Ever since Trayvon Martin’s tragic death, his parents, Sybrina Fulton and Tracy Martin, have been fighting to make sure other families don’t have to experience the same pain as they did. Due to their heavy involvement in gun reform and social justice, Fulton and Martin will reportedly be honored at VH1’s 2018 Trailblazer Honors. Trayvon Martin’s death pushed his parents to the forefront and they have been active in speaking out against gun violence, racial and social injustice and sharing the pain of having to bury a child. In 2012, they founded the Trayvon Martin Foundation to provide advocacy for...

Donald Trumpp as 'Goldenhair'

For all those Sony fanboys who at one point argued that Ellie from The Last Us wasn’t actually a lesbian, and that the interracial kiss she shared with her dying friend in The Last of Us: Left Behind was just a moment of intense emotional reactions. However, as revealed during this year’s E3 showcase, it was hammered home that Ellie is indeed a full-on, hardcore, need-no-man lesbian. The video cinematic mixes itself in with what Naughty Dog attempts to portray as in-game play, but it’s pretty obvious that the gameplay won’t be anywhere near as cinematic as it’s portrayed in...

Variety reports on Robert De Niro’s stunt at last night’s Tony Awards. Do not play the video at work; he drops an F-bomb. Excerpt: Robert De Niro had a few choice words for President Donald Trump while the legendary actor was on stage at Sunday’s Tony Awards to introduce Bruce Springsteen’s musical performance. “I’m going to say one thing, F— Trump,” De Niro said while pumping his fists in the air. “It’s no longer down with Trump. It’s f— Trump.” The political sentiment earned De Niro a standing ovation from the crowd at Radio City Music Hall, while CBS scrambled...

AT&T will drop $100M on its four-block downtown Dallas campus, adding restaurants, a small outdoor concert venue and a six-story video wall. The renovation, which would be completed by the end of 2019, will join a number of redevelopment projects in downtown's southeast quadrant in the last year: the Statler Hotel renovation, a two-year upgrade of the Adolphus Hotel and the relocation of the Dallas Morning News to the old Dallas library. "We're looking to inject additional growth, commerce and entertainment into Downtown Dallas," AT&T Regional Vice President Mike Peterson said in a news release Monday. "This investment will result...

The first 72 minutes of The Final Year are terrific, if you love Obama. The rest of it is for the rest of us. The documentary is now available for rental on Amazon Prime for 99 cents, and it's worth at least twice that. Purportedly, it's about the last 365 days of Obama's foreign policy disasters efforts. The filmmakers were given access to document Obama's All-Stars at work: John Kerry, Samantha Power, Susan Rice, and -- perhaps most amusingly -- Iran Deal architect, Obama "mind meld" partner, and failed novelist Ben Rhodes. The first hour or so is pretty rough...

Comedians are becoming increasingly reluctant to perform on college campuses due to a sensitive culture of political correctness, and college bookers don't seem to mind. According to VICE News report published last week, several successful comedians, including Judy Gold, Jerry Seinfeld, and Chris Rock, now avoid going to college campuses because their jokes can be deemed offensive. “Why is it that everyone has to adjust to everyone else? Don’t hire me if you don’t want to hear what I have to say,” Gold told the publication. When asked to explain how she would react if her jokes offended an audience...