KiD CuDi is back with MAN ON THE MOON III
2008 saw a young Kid Cudi storm the industry with his debut mixtape A Kid Named Cudi which later followed with the release of his debut studio album Man on the Moon: The End of Day; featuring breakout single “Day N Nite,” plus “Make Her Say,” “Pursuit of Happiness” and more. After releasing follow up Man on The Moon II: The Legend of Mr Rager; in 2010; we saw Kid Cudi shift into other realms of releasing, leaving the Man on the Moon saga behind. With WZRD; Cudi & Dot Da Genius released the collaborative alternative rock album. The anticipation for another Man On The Moon grew, with each of Cudi’s next releases [Indicud (2013), Satellite Flight: The Journey to Mother Moon (2014), Speedin' Bullet 2 Heaven (2015), Passion, Pain & Demon Slayin' (2016) and the collaborative effort with Kanye West; Kids See Ghosts (2018)]. For fans, in retrospect, it was a necessary journey to bring us to Man on the Moon III: The Chosen; 11 years after the first Man On The Moon; well worth the wait.
Each act has a corresponding title, as the previous albums did— “Madness,” “The Menace,” “Heart of Rose Gold,” and “Powers” — that guides us through a series of varying themes and styles on the album. The album features Skepta, Trippie Redd, Phoebe Bridgers, and the late Pop Smoke.
Stream below.
Current stand outs for ELSV: Tequila Shots, Another Day, She Knows This, Heaven on Earth, Show Out.
Man on the Moon III: The Chosen release comes before the previously announced Entergalactic which was pushed back due to production on the accompanying Netflix series.
Check out our ELSV curated KiD CuDi playlist.
Ashanti & Keyshia Cole VERZUZ postponed
On Saturday (Dec. 12), just before showtime of Ashanti and Keyshia Cole’s highly anticipated Verzuz, it was announced that the scheduled battled was canceled. Later the news broke that the former Murder Inc. recording artist tested positive for Coronavirus.
“Hey y’all. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I tested positive for COVID-19. I’m OK and not in any pain. I’m actually down to do the Verzuz from my house...we’re trying to figure it out,” Ashanti admitted on her Instagram account. Though fans were extremely disappointed after learning this, many showed concerned for the star, and wish her a speedy recovery. Ashanti asked fans what they thought and many sided with the idea of the Verzuz being postponed, while some reminisced about the old Verzuz days before artists were in the same room on a stage and they streamed from their perspective locations and played their songs back to back.
Of course since its inception at the start of quarantine, Verzuz has evolved quickly over the pandemic. As the world slowly began to open up; we saw a new stage for what began as an Instagram live battle between two artists. With the addition of the Instagram Live battle, Verzuz was also prepped for streaming on Apple Music with the addition of curated playlist as sort of a cheat sheet for what to expect from each battle.
With this being the first battle affected by Covid-19 directly before its schedule, its clear the anticipation is still high with fans reacting and various memes created in response to its postponement. Keyshia Cole joined Ashanti on IG Live to discuss what happened, and their decision to postpone, also telling Ashanti to take the time to rest and recover. Cole also stated how the battle meant more than them and took a stand on women empowerment and how Female Artists need to be able to come together.
Ashanti Verzuz Keyshia Cole is planned to take place January 9th.
Here’s ELSV’s Playlist of our favorites for the battle.
ZENDAYA FOR ESSENCE 50TH ANNIVERSARY ISSUE
Fresh off her Emmy Win for Lead Actress in a Drama Series for her role in Euphoria, Zendaya covers Essence’s 50th Anniversary Digital Cover - paying homage to the amazing icon Donyale Luna.
Zendaya November/December 2020 ESSENCE cover credits:
Photography by AB+DM
Creative Direction and Fashion Styling by Law Roach
Hair by Larry Sims/Flawless/Forward Artists.
Makeup by Sheika Daley.
Manicure by Chaun Legend/opi/The Only Agency.
Set design by Ward Robinson/Wooden Ladder.
Production by Natalie Gialluca, Naydea Davis and Jordan Brewster.
Euphoria returns for two special episodes in December. Read Full Essence Interview Here.
UNITY IS GREAT BUT FREEDOM IS BETTER
"I think certain sides have given a lot, you know. And I think the question is, how much more do we need to give? You know, I always say this: unity is great, but freedom is better. And there's a part of this population that has sacrificed their freedom time and time again for unity, and they're tired of it. Yes, we want to have compromise. Yes, we want bipartisanship. But it shouldn't cost people [their] wages, and health care, and education. So if you're asking us to come together and that means that *my* world doesn't change, the people whose world needs to change doesn't change, I don't want that kind of unity. I want the kind of unity that leads to change for people who have waited for it. And if this pandemic hasn't showed us that we need to serve people *first*, and that needs to be a unifying message, the Republicans need to be on board with actually taking care of people, if we can unify around that then I'm all for it. But if that means we're gonna compromise and we're gonna continue to serve the one percent, the people who we have always served, that's not the kind of unity we need right now." - Yvette Simpson
As everyone responds to the news of the president elect being Joe Biden and having a democratic candidate win; It is important to see a clear transition from what we have come to see, not only in the past 4 years but for the system that has been in place for so long. It is important for us to see a clear direction of change. A Democratic Presidential win can’t be the end of a movement towards change. A female Vice President elect can’t be the final stop towards breaking barriers. This process shouldn’t stop here. The work must continue and it should be taken lightly because there is still so much that needs to get done.
As we have seen, the racial disparities when it comes to how this pandemic has affected communities and have a system in place has failed so many. This win shouldn’t take away from black lives matter movement. This win, for many, shouldn’t be the quick fix that some are taking this as. The President elect spoke about ‘uniting both sides,” after his win but this shouldn’t erase of overshadow the issues Black and minority communities have faced.
We we’re in the negative and now we are at zero -
Just as I viewed this Instagram Post, what Yvette Simpson stated embodied exactly my thoughts on how this year and this election has played out. Once again Black Women are showing up and doing the work.
BLACK LIVES MATTERS AND BLACK VOTES MATTER
Black Lives Matter.
Black Creatives Matter.
Black Art Matters.
Black Voices Matter.
Black Freedom Matters.
A Democratic win for the presidential election is just the beginning. Highlighted by both Biden and Harris in their speeches following becoming the president and vice president elect, was how Black Women have shown up again; this time to carry democracy. Biden highlighted his plans to unify a nation and what that means for America; touching on the need to come together no matter if you are Black, White, Asian, Hispanic, Native American, Gay, Straight, Male, Female... And the need for America to have an administration that reflects that.
It’s important to include the most marginalized, the most misrepresented, the most under appreciated. Its important to note that without Black voices, importantly Black Women the results would have been different and this applies across a number of spaces; professionally and personally.
A country built off the backs of its Black citizens continues to thrive because of us, yet continues to ignore the systemic racism, the high incarcerations, the missed opportunities, the police brutalities, the inequities… and the energy has to remain the same that,
Black Lives Matter. Black Creatives Matter. Black Art Matters. Black Voices Matter. Black Freedom Matters and the Election Day reminded everyone that Black Votes Matter.
As we have been heavily effected by a system built against us; a virus that continues to ravish Black Communities, an economy that fails to bring support these Black Communities and Black Owned Businesses; we must push for changes, actual changes and not promises that prop up these elected officials until they make it in. The work must continue. We all have work to do and we must do our parts.
NO OFFICERS CHARGED WITH BREONNA TAYLOR'S DEATH
ARE WE SURPRISED? CHANGE A FEW DETAILS AND THE STORY IS STILL THE SAME -HASHTAG BLACKLIVESMATTER. GET OUT AND PROTEST. JUST TO FACE ‘THE ALREADY SET UP’ POLICE BARRICADES - It’s like Deja vu; change a few details, the name, the location and the story is still the same. I can probably go back to an article I wrote years back and do this and it will flow the same- only difference is the dates. It reads the same. Unarmed black man / woman murdered by police who used excessive and unnecessary force. Police gets suspended, maybe fired but not arrested. Media digs up unrelated info to discredit black man or woman or paint them in a negative light. Police may be indicted but never charged. Protests about the decision just to be faced with police barricades with officers with their riot gear just to arrest peaceful protesters and the cycle continues over and over.
Enter white male civilian, who commits an act of terror- shoots at a crowd, shoots up a school, shoots up a movie theater, shoots up a church, killing a number of people; gets into a dispute with a police officer, isn’t shot at or killed but showed restraint. It doesn’t end, white male civilian fights with cops, aims a gun or weapon at a cop and doesn't get shot or killed. Media reports the story and somehow finds a way to lighten the story and use buzz words like he was a nice kid or he suffered from a mental illness or something that doesn't call out what they are, terrorists, murderers etc and the cycle continues over and over.
Black people protest peacefully in the name of justice against the system, its labeled a riot, and other harsh terms and police and military are brought out with their rubber bullets and their riot gear but in the same protests you have white people armed with rifles walking around antagonizing and shooting at peaceful protesters but it gets ignored or its allowed to continue without question, praised as if they are protecting some American way of life or showing some patriotism for this country. Even in their protests, while armed with rifles against their home team loosing a football game or against the mandated law to wear masks to protect during a pandemic, they get a pass. But it’s a story that has been repeating itself and none of this is anything new.
Reactions to the grand jury's decision in the Breonna Taylor fatal shooting
