6 Things 'Empire' Gets Wrong About Hip-Hop

Fox's new series, Empire, is a music-industry drama that's being promoted as The Sopranos set in the world of hip-hop. Many critics – from the New York Times to Entertainment Weekly – have praised the show and its bona fides, celebrating the "attentiveness to nuanced characterizations" and noting Timbaland's attachment makes the show "absolutely credible." It's a fine enough primetime soap opera, but there's a difference between hip-hop and hip-hoppish; the realest things on-screen are the fake Basquiat paintings in the background. If you're looking for anything resembling behind-the-scene authenticity or insight into how the game is played, Empire is a world away. Here are six dealbreaker examples where, in the eyes of this hip-hop fan, the show gets it really wrong:

Sex, Drugs and R&B: Inside the Weeknd's Dark Twisted Fantasy

so is this swearing or no swearing?" In a darkened soundstage on the outskirts of London, Abel Tesfaye is wondering if he can say "fuck" or not. Tesfaye, better known as breakout pop sensation the Weeknd, is at a rehearsal for Later...With Jools Holland, the BBC music show, about to soundcheck his smash hit "The Hills," a four-minute horror-movie booty call featuring more than a dozen f-bombs. For Tesfaye, that's relatively clean, but he knows the pensioners in Twickenham might disagree. So when the verdict comes back "no swearing," he nods and smoothly pivots to a censored version — a small gesture that says a lot about the kind of professional he has become.

"The Hills" is currently enjoying its fourth straight week at Number One, a feat made even more impressive because it took the place of another Weeknd track, "Can't Feel My Face" — Spotify's official song of the summer, and the only song about cocaine ever to be lip-synced by Tom Cruise on network TV. Tesfaye is just the 12th artist in history to score back-to-back Number Ones, a group that includes Elvis Presley, the Beatles and Taylor Swift. His new album, Beauty Behind the Madness, has sold more than half a million copies in a couple of months, and he's preparing to launch a national arena tour in November. "I'm still digesting it, to be honest with you," Tesfaye says of his success. "But the screams keep getting louder, dude."

Physically challenged blogger & photographer, Lizzy Oke is engaged

Lizzy Oke got engaged over the weekend and she took to her Instagram page to share the happy news. The Texas-based multi talented lady has been in a wheelchair since 2008 after a car accident.

Former Convicts No Longer Have To Make Their Criminal Past Known On Federal Job Applications

CREDIT: Getty Images

President Obama announced Monday (November 2nd) an executive order which bans federal employers from asking about an applicant’s criminal history until later on in the application process.

The order known as “ban the box” which describes the actual checkbox on applications that inquires if applicant have ever been convicted of a crime, is intended to help former convicts successfully re-enter into society.

While many employers who argue against the move say the checkbox is a commonsense way to vet who they’re potentially hiring, many criminal justice reform activists have long charged this process to be just one of the many hurdles for men and women who have been convicted looking to get a fresh start.

Jada Pinkett-Smith Talks About Her 'Open' Marriage to Will Smith: 'I'm Not His Watcher'

Jada Pinkett-Smith steps out of the SiriusXM studios after her interview on the Howard Stern Show on Wednesday (May 3) in New York City.
The 43-year-old actress went on the radio program and Howard Stern asked her about her notoriously “open” marriage to Will Smith.
“You gotta trust who you’re with, and at the end of the day, I’m not here to be anybody’s watcher,” Jada said. “I’m not his watcher. He’s a grown man.”
“I trust that the man that Will is is a man of integrity. He’s got all the freedom in the world, and as long as Will can look at himself in the mirror and be OK, I’m good,” Jada added.

US TO RELEASE 6,000 DRUGS OFFENSE PRISONERS

In a move that is the biggest of its kind in it’s history, the US is releasing 6,000 drug offenders from federal custody over the next few days.

The prisoners will be released from federal Bureau of Prisons custody on Friday and Monday as a result of a U.S. Sentencing Commission decision last year to cut sentences of drug offenders by an average of two years.

NIGERIAN ACTOR CHIWEITEL EJIOFOR BAGS CBE

He was awarded an OBE in 2008, and Chiwetel Ejiofor can now add CBE to his list of honours

The 12 Years A Slave actor was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) by the Duke of Cambridge during an official ceremony held at Buckingham Palace in London on Tuesday morning.

Man kills wife's lover after finding them in bed together

Samson Malesi, 27, a guard with a security firm in Nairobi killed his wife's lover on Sunday night Nov. 1st after finding them in bed together. The victim (pictured above) Simon Wafula, 37, was stabbed several times in the stomach. It didn't end there, Malesi then drove a nail into his head, killing him instantly.

19 Year Old YouTube Star Troye Sivan Could Be the Better Bieber

Troye Sivan. I never heard of him before this past Wednesday. My twin 14 year old nieces told me about him. He’s a huge star on YouTube, where the kids are all going for their music. Today his EP, which won’t be released until August 15th, is number 1 on the iTunes album chart. Are you kidding? I am not.

Sivan could be the next Justin Bieber. Let’s just pray he’s not, in so many ways. He has a hit song called “The Fault in Our Stars.” He wrote, produced and released it in 2013, inspired by John Green’s novel. It’s not on the movie’s soundtrack. That CD produced no breakout single. You wonder why Sivan’s song wasn’t on it. We’ll find out.

He’s a new breed of kid. Last year he released a YouTube video to his millions of fans– he’s HUGE in Australia and South Africa, his two homes– announcing he is gay. The kids don’t care. It’s 2014. If a pop star had said that in 1974, everyone would have fainted. Now, what the heck! I like this generation, but I don’t know what to call them. Generation ZZ?

Anyway, here’s Troye. I’m surprised Scooter Braun hasn’t adopted him yet. But he’s managed in America by Group III, and he’s signed to Universal Music.

Oscar Race Changes: DiCaprio, Blanchett in “Carol” Rise as “Steve Jobs,” “Truth” Collapse

The Oscar race is in motion. And like a city marathon, some runners are dropping out unexpectedly.

Both “Steve Jobs” and “Truth” were thought to be Oscar players this year. Michael Fassbender as Jobs and Cate Blanchett as Mary Mapes, respectively, seemed to be hot on the Oscar trail. They received great reviews. Alas, audiences have rejected these films. They are each more or less DOA no matter how much media (including me) loved them.

Fassbender will still go on to a nomination, I think. But Blanchett will now transfer her loyalties to Todd Haynes’s “Carol.” The failure of “Truth” boosts “Carol,” ironically. Still, I hope Robert Redford gets a nod in Best Supporting Actor for playing Dan Rather. But if history is a lesson, Redford– who didn’t help himself much with “All is Lost”– will probably not do much this time either.

James Bond: “Spectre” Smashes World Records, Daniel Craig Will Return, Writing’s on the Wall

So no one liked Sam Smith’s theme song. But everyone likes Sam Mendes’s movie. “James Bond– Spectre” is an international hit, already breaking records everywhere before its US opening this weekend.

So don’t worry– Daniel Craig will be back for one more. Mendes will probably, too. All they needed to see were the numbers. And they’re huge.

Here’s the info suppliede by the company:
In total in the six released territories, the film has taken in $80.4 million, including $67.7 million from SPRI territories and $12.7 million from territories in which MGM is distributing.

In the UK, the film has opened to an estimated £41.7 million ($63.8 million USD) in its first seven days of release, securing new records for the biggest opening of all time in UK box office history.

SPECTRE took the opening record from Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban which was also released on a Monday to £23.882 million. SPECTRE also achieved a new record for the highest seven-day gross in UK box office history, overtaking the last James Bond film, SKYFALL.

SPECTRE, the 24th James Bond adventure, continues the longest running and most successful film franchise in cinema history. The film opened in 647 cinemas and on 2,500 screens, making it the widest release of all time in the UK and Ireland.

Mum arrested after 'trying to kill three young children with ant poison'

Arrested: Paw Eh, 31, is charged with attempted murder

A woman has been arrested on suspicion of trying to kill her three children by feeding them ant poison, police said.

Paw Eh, 31, is charged with the attempted capital murder of her two sons, aged four and seven, and 12-year-old daughter.

The girl told police in Dallas, Texas, that she watched her mother watched mix a tablespoon of poison powder with water and force the youngest boy to eat it, according to an arrest report.

Mum's touching wedding photograph tribute to son who died of leukaemia just months earlier

Still with us: The hauntingly beautiful image of Lake with his family

A mother was left heartbroken when her young son died just months before her wedding day.

But Anna Bozman Thompson made sure son Lake was a part of her big day.

The youngster lost his battle with leukaemia in May, just weeks before his ninth birthday, the Daily News reported .

When Thompson tied the knot last month, she enlisted the help of friend andphotographer Brandy Angel to pay a special tribute to her little boy.

• Angel created special edits of the couple's wedding pictures to include a faint vision of Lake, so he appears almost ghostlike happily posing with the family.

More than 200 masked bikers stage ‘Mad Max’ rideout through London streets

A huge convoy of more than 200 high-powered motorbikes and quad bikes tore through London streets in scenes likened to Mad Max Fury Road.

The eight-mile ‘Halloween Rideout’ saw riders run red lights, set off fireworks and even mount pavements, according to witnesses.

One Twitter user said, ‘Just had a Mad Max scene going on down my street, hundreds of bikes and quad bikes going down the road (and the wrong side).’

The world just got closer to a 'hypersonic space plane' that will transform 'the economics of space'

Reaction Engines, one of the brightest prospects in European space plane technology, has big news Monday morning. 

BAE Systems, the globetrotting defence and aeronautics giant, just bought 20% of the firm, and it's making a major investment in Reaction Engines' most promising ideas.

The idea is an unpiloted and reusable hypersonic space plane. It's called Sabre. Here's how Reaction Engines describes it:

China just unveiled its first large passenger plane

A state-owned manufacturer on Monday unveiled the first plane produced by a Chinese initiative to compete in the market for large passenger jetliners.

China is one of the biggest aviation markets but relies on Boeing and Airbus aircraft. The multibillion-dollar effort to create the homegrown C919 jetliner is aimed at clawing back some of the commercial benefits that flow to foreign suppliers.

The Commercial Aircraft Corp. ofChina showed off the first of the twin-engine planes in a ceremony attended by some 4,000 government officials and other guests at a hangar near Shanghai's Pudong International Airport.

"It's a major push for the country, as they want to be known as a major player" in airplane manufacturing, said Mavis Toh, Asia air transport editor for Flightglobal magazine.

Top Metrojet official says 'only possible explanation' of Russian aircraft crash 'could be an external impact on the airplane'

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia — Only an external impact could have caused the crash of a Russian plane in Egypt that killed all 224 people on board, a top airline official said Monday, raising more questions about what exactly happened.

"We rule out a technical fault of the plane or a pilot error," said Alexander Smirnov, deputy general director of Metrojet. "The only possible explanation could be an external impact on the airplane."

But when pressed for more details about what type of impact and what could have caused it, Smirnov insisted that he was not at liberty to discuss details because the investigation was ongoing.

Russian plane crash: Was a bomb placed on doomed aircraft before it took off?

Attacked? Egyptian paramedics load the corpses of victims on the crashed plane

A bomb is suspected of causing the Russian plane to crash after leaving the Egyptian tourist resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.

Russian aviation investigators confirmed the Airbus definitely broke up in mid-air before plummeting to the ground, killing 224 people – including 17 children.

Terror group ISIS posted a grainy video online and claimed responsibility for the attack.

British tourists heading to Sharm this week have been told they do not have to fly and have been offered vouchers to use on alternative routes.

Several airlines including Lufthansa, Air France, Emirates, Air Arabia and Flydubai all said they would not fly over the Sinai desert until results of the inquiry were known.

Pensioner collapses and dies after he is 'detained' by a neighbour for allegedly damaging a car

Police were called to the scene after allegations that a car had been damaged

An 86-year-old man collapsed and died after he was ‘detained’ by a neighbour for an hour and a half for allegedly damaging a car.

Bill Singleton became ill after police attended a home in Chadderton, Greater Manchester, on Halloween.

Officers had received reports that a man in his 80s was causing damage to a parked car and a neighbour allegedly ran over to him and detained him, the Manchester Evening News reports .

Lady details her vaginal vampire injection experience

A certain lady felt she needed to raise her sex drive and decided to have what is popularly called a vampire injection. The person's blood is injected to the affected part just like Kim K once had a vampire facial. Read what the lady wrote and share your thoughts.

Laying on the couch in a Harley Street clinic, my feet up in stirrups, I watched as the doctor positioned a syringe full of my own blood cells against the most intimate area of my body. I braced myself for the needle prick and the nurse at my side squeezed my hand. "Don’t worry," she whispered. "This is going to change your life."

Neymar and Barca players celebrate halloween dressed as Shrek and Frankenstein's monster

Barcelona players celebrated Halloween and a win over Getafe wearing  spooky costumes after defeating Getafe 2-0 over the weekend. Croatia international midfielder Ivan Rakitić later uploaded pictures of the stars via his official Instagram account.

76 year old woman kills 78 year old husband after he accused her of cheating

Investigators say a 76-year-old woman charged with murder in her husband's shooting told deputies she was angry because he accused her of cheating.
Aiken County deputies say Mary Todd also told the officers who came to her Beech Island home around 4 a.m. Tuesday that she drank too much before the confrontation.

Coroner Tim Carlton identified the victim as 78-year-old William Todd. Paramedics pronounced him dead in the couple's home.

Killer cop must die for murdering mum – Daughter

A 14-year-old, tennis player, Angel Mcleod, has demanded that the trigger-happy policeman who shot her mother, Beauty Mcleod, dead should be ‘killed immediately’, saying he has taken away her joy.

Angel said she had been struggling to come out of the shock since the news of her mother’s death was broken to her.

Beauty, who was from Anambra State, and Angel had lodged in the hotel in the afternoon of the fateful day on their arrival from Accra, Ghana, where the daughter had gone for a tournament.Beauty, also a tennis player, was allegedly shot on Sunday, October 25, by one Corporal Joseph Aminu, who was attached to the Emperor’s Guest House on Balarabe Musa Crescent, Victoria Island, Lagos.

1 dead, 1 injured in shooting at Winston-Salem State University

Police are searching for a gunman who killed one and left another person wounded at the Winston-Salem State University campus early Sunday.

Jarrett Jerome Moore is wanted in connection with the shooting.

Both victims are students, according to a police statement issued Sunday afternoon. The deceased student was identified as 19-year-old Anthony White Jr. The unidentified second victim was transported to a local hospital with "non-life threatening injuries."

The North Carolina University said a shooting was reported in the area of Lot W near Wilson Hall and Gleason-Hairston Terrace in a statement on its Facebook page. The campus was placed on lockdown at 1:30 a.m. and the lockdown was lifted at 4:50 a.m.

Halloween horror: 3 dead, 4 injured when car hits trick-or-treaters in New York

A New York City street filled with trick-or-treaters turned into a Halloween horror scene Saturday when a car jumped a curb and plowed into a group of revelers, killing three people and injuring four others including the driver.

The accident occurred at around 5 p.m. just as the group was walking down a quiet street in the Morris Park section of the Bronx.

A 52-year-old man behind the wheel of a black Dodge Charger plowed into the pedestrians on a sidewalk and then smashed through a fence in front of a home, police said. The car was left teetering on a brick wall. A child’s shoe and remnants of mangled stroller lay on the sidewalk, just feet away.