Lil Wayne gets booted from ‘The Masked Singer’ on season three premiere

Sunday night’s third season premiere of The Masked Singer debuted on Fox and a certain entertainer dressed as a Robot caught the judges and audience by surprise when he was revealed to be Lil Wayne.

READ MORE: Lil Wayne ‘all goody’ after federal agents raid private jet

The rapper sang the Lenny Kravitz song “Are You Gonna Go My Way” but the audience voted the performance the least liked of the night so he had to reveal his identity. Before he did, however, judges Jenny McCarthy, Ken Jeong, Nicole Scherzinger, and Robin Thicke, joined by guest judge Jamie Foxx, were puzzled, guessing him to be Floyd Mayweather, Flavor Flav, Shaun White, Johnny Knoxville or Steve-O, according to Pitchfork.

When the mask came off, Wayne said he chose the mechanical Robot costume to score cool points with his four children.

“My kids, man, my kids,” Wayne said. “My kids watch the show with me and (I) know they’re going to like the robot costume.”

Six of the 18 new singers – known as Group A – performed in costume on Sunday, following the Super Bowl. They were introduced by host Nick Cannon as Kangaroo, White Tiger, Llama, Miss Monster, Robot and Turtle as having a collective nine Super Bowl appearances. He added that the entire 18 singers have 69 Grammy Award nominations between them, 88 gold records, three stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and more than 160 tattoos, according to PEOPLE magazine. The next two episodes will feature Group B and Group C, also each comprised of six singers. The audience will vote off three singers from each group, leaving a total of nine to perform for the Golden Mask Trophy.

“He just made this show so much cooler, right?” Cannon said after Wayne’s mask came off.

We’ve been seeing Kobe all over the place lately.

The Young Money rapper and executive just released his 13^th album, called Funeral, on Friday. The album includes two tributes to Kobe Bryant.

READ MORE: Nick Cannon let it be known that he has Gabrielle Union’s back in her claims against ‘AGT’

Wayne gave his fans a glimpse into the 24-track album on Instagram, where he sang, “Welcome to the funeral, closed casket as usual.” The number of songs on the album was one tribute to the fallen NBA legend; the other is a 24-second moment of silence on track No. 8, called “Bing James.”

The post Lil Wayne gets booted from ‘The Masked Singer’ on season three premiere appeared first on TheGrio.

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Oprah Is Busted For Promoting Colonized Book On Brown People By White Author

When it comes to the book “American Dirt”, the world is hearing from the lovers and the haters, but not too much from the voices in between. There may not be an in-between.

Released a week ago, the book quickly became a bestseller on Amazon AMZN and Barnes & Noble. However, it has been swamped in literary controversy, bringing it arguably the kind of publicity money can’t buy.

“American Dirt” was written by Jeanine Cummins, who is white, about a Mexican mother who flees the country with her son after a drug cartel kills their family.

Cummins has been accused of cultural appropriation because of her identity — she’s not Mexican or a migrant — by Latino readers and writers who say she perpetuates Latino stereotypes. Some say she may have copied the work of Latino writers such as Mexican-American poet and novelist Luis Alberto Urrea.

Cummins was born in Spain. She identified as white in a 2015 New York Times essay, Buzzfeed reported. In a 2019 interview about her new book, she identified as Latinx, according to Marketwatch.

Oprah loves “American Dirt”. She read the novel last summer before it was released to the public. “It was a visceral experience for me,” she said, praising its writing. “It had me riveted from the very first sentence.” When Oprah announced that she chose “American Dirt,” some wondered why she would support such a divisive book.

In a video posted Sunday on Instagram, Oprah talked about her latest book club selection, saying she’s heard the criticism from the Latinx community but she’s not dumping the novel. Instead she plans to lean all the way in, hosting a discussion that will bring together “all sides” of the debate for an episode in March of her Apple TV+ book club series.

In an open letter published Wednesday, 83 authors on the website Literary Hub asked Oprah to reconsider “American Dirt” as an official Book Club pick. That number is now more than 100 writers.

“This is not a letter calling for silencing, nor censoring,” the authors wrote. “But … we believe that a novel blundering so badly in its depiction of marginalized, oppressed people should not be lifted up.

“We are asking only that you remove the influential imprimatur of Oprah’s Book Club, as you have in the past upon learning that a book you’d championed wasn’t what it first seemed to be.”

Oprah removed the book “A Million Little Pieces” from her club in 2006 when it was learned that author, James Frey, had made up parts the memoir.

Publisher Flatiron Books hailed “American Dirt” as a “‘Grapes of Wrath’ for our times” and “a new American classic,” Marketwatch reported. Cummins was paid a seven-figure advance after nine publishers bid on the book. The movie rights have been acquired by Imperative Entertainment, which produced Clint Eastwood’s “The Mule.”

For Oprah, the book was eye-opening. “It woke me up, and I feel that everybody who reads this book is actually going to be immersed in the experience of what it means to be a migrant on the run for freedom,” she said on a video posted on Twitter. “I promise you, you won’t want to put it down.”

Publisher Flatiron Books was accused of being tone-deaf for displaying barbed-wire centerpieces as decorations at an “American Dirt” book party in May. On Thursday, the publisher said in a press release it had canceled a book tour citing “specific threats to booksellers and the author”.

In their letter, authors who hate the book claim that it “is widely and strongly believed to be exploitative, oversimplified, and ill-informed, too often erring on the side of trauma fetishization and sensationalization of migration and of Mexican life and culture.”

The letter was signed by writers including Tommy Orange, author of the Pulitzer Prize finalist novel “There There“, Valeria Luiselli, MacArthur “genius” grant recipient and author of the novel “Lost Children Archive“, Jose Antonio Vargas, founder of the immigrant advocacy nonprofit Define American and author of “Dear America: Notes of an Undocumented Citizen“, and Myriam Gurba, a vocal critic of “American Dirt” and author of the memoir “Mean“, Mashable reported.

Oprah recently pulled the plug on her involvement in an upcoming #MeToo documentary featuring a woman who accused Russell Simmons of rape. Oprah backed off after being criticized for targeting Black men accused of sex crimes, but letting their white counterparts get a pass.

This article was written by Dana Sanchez for The Moguldom Nation.

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Black women in Iowa are not feeling this year’s caucus because the Democratic candidates are uninspiring

Black women in Iowa are not impressed with the Democratic slate of candidates and some say they may sit out the Iowa caucuses.

“I’m not sure if I’ll caucus this year,” Cheryl Barnes, 63, told NBC News. “Because I’m not sure about the candidates yet.”

READ MORE: Black women are galvanizing the vote in the booth and on the ballot in the midterm elections

Brandy McCracken, 42, agreed. “It will basically come down to me finding time to caucus — if there’s someone that interests me.”

In the first nominating contest of the 2020 presidential election, Barnes and McCracken are not alone in their indecision. According to the latest Iowa poll, only 40 percent of likely voters have picked a candidate and will caucus at one of 1,679 precincts.

This is a far cry from 2008 when Black women flocked to precincts to help secure a victory for Barack Obama. The difference? Some say they are feeling overlooked by candidates. Black people represent just four percent of the state’s demographics, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, and feel that candidates are trying to appeal to white, rural voters over them.

“They’re reaching out more to the rural areas of Iowa than they are in Des Moines to me,” Kim McCracken-Smith, 61, told NBC News. “And in rural Iowa, there’s no black people.”

Some added that when candidates have reached out, it didn’t appear genuine.

“I’ve just been getting these generic text messages and calls that I know are just the standard they’re reading off of the paper,” added Tyechia Daye, owner of TranZitions salon, to NBC News. “Come and see us — if you want our votes.”

For Democratic contenders, this may be a foolish strategy given that Black women are the most loyal demographic in the Democratic Party. Every vote is important; they ignore Black women to their own peril.

READ MORE: Donald Trump allies hand out cash to Black voters

“Those are the kind of percentages that get you over the hump when it’s close, and it’s going to be close in a lot of places,” Izaah Knox, executive director of Urban Dreams, a Des Moines-based community organization, told NBC News.

 

The post Black women in Iowa are not feeling this year’s caucus because the Democratic candidates are uninspiring appeared first on TheGrio.

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Oprah Is Busted For Promoting Colonized Book On Brown People By White Author

When it comes to the book “American Dirt”, the world is hearing from the lovers and the haters, but not too much from the voices in between. There may not be an in-between.

Released a week ago, the book quickly became a bestseller on Amazon AMZN and Barnes & Noble. However, it has been swamped in literary controversy, bringing it arguably the kind of publicity money can’t buy.

“American Dirt” was written by Jeanine Cummins, who is white, about a Mexican mother who flees the country with her son after a drug cartel kills their family.

Cummins has been accused of cultural appropriation because of her identity — she’s not Mexican or a migrant — by Latino readers and writers who say she perpetuates Latino stereotypes. Some say she may have copied the work of Latino writers such as Mexican-American poet and novelist Luis Alberto Urrea.

Cummins was born in Spain. She identified as white in a 2015 New York Times essay, Buzzfeed reported. In a 2019 interview about her new book, she identified as Latinx, according to Marketwatch.

Oprah loves “American Dirt”. She read the novel last summer before it was released to the public. “It was a visceral experience for me,” she said, praising its writing. “It had me riveted from the very first sentence.” When Oprah announced that she chose “American Dirt,” some wondered why she would support such a divisive book.

In a video posted Sunday on Instagram, Oprah talked about her latest book club selection, saying she’s heard the criticism from the Latinx community but she’s not dumping the novel. Instead she plans to lean all the way in, hosting a discussion that will bring together “all sides” of the debate for an episode in March of her Apple TV+ book club series.

In an open letter published Wednesday, 83 authors on the website Literary Hub asked Oprah to reconsider “American Dirt” as an official Book Club pick. That number is now more than 100 writers.

“This is not a letter calling for silencing, nor censoring,” the authors wrote. “But … we believe that a novel blundering so badly in its depiction of marginalized, oppressed people should not be lifted up.

“We are asking only that you remove the influential imprimatur of Oprah’s Book Club, as you have in the past upon learning that a book you’d championed wasn’t what it first seemed to be.”

Oprah removed the book “A Million Little Pieces” from her club in 2006 when it was learned that author, James Frey, had made up parts the memoir.

Publisher Flatiron Books hailed “American Dirt” as a “‘Grapes of Wrath’ for our times” and “a new American classic,” Marketwatch reported. Cummins was paid a seven-figure advance after nine publishers bid on the book. The movie rights have been acquired by Imperative Entertainment, which produced Clint Eastwood’s “The Mule.”

For Oprah, the book was eye-opening. “It woke me up, and I feel that everybody who reads this book is actually going to be immersed in the experience of what it means to be a migrant on the run for freedom,” she said on a video posted on Twitter. “I promise you, you won’t want to put it down.”

Publisher Flatiron Books was accused of being tone-deaf for displaying barbed-wire centerpieces as decorations at an “American Dirt” book party in May. On Thursday, the publisher said in a press release it had canceled a book tour citing “specific threats to booksellers and the author”.

In their letter, authors who hate the book claim that it “is widely and strongly believed to be exploitative, oversimplified, and ill-informed, too often erring on the side of trauma fetishization and sensationalization of migration and of Mexican life and culture.”

The letter was signed by writers including Tommy Orange, author of the Pulitzer Prize finalist novel “There There“, Valeria Luiselli, MacArthur “genius” grant recipient and author of the novel “Lost Children Archive“, Jose Antonio Vargas, founder of the immigrant advocacy nonprofit Define American and author of “Dear America: Notes of an Undocumented Citizen“, and Myriam Gurba, a vocal critic of “American Dirt” and author of the memoir “Mean“, Mashable reported.

Oprah recently pulled the plug on her involvement in an upcoming #MeToo documentary featuring a woman who accused Russell Simmons of rape. Oprah backed off after being criticized for targeting Black men accused of sex crimes, but letting their white counterparts get a pass.

This article was written by Dana Sanchez for The Moguldom Nation.

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