HOT: Geraldo Blames Rap
Some unexpected special guests appear on DAMN., the new album from Hip Hop genius Kendrick Lamar. And U2 is far from the weirdest. Al Capone vault-seeker Geraldo Rivera made the guest list, with Lamar sampling his nonsensical proclamation on Fox News that “Hip Hop has done more damage to young African Americans than racism in recent years” after Lamar’s performance on the 2015 BET Awards. Rivera responded by doubling down, saying the problem is that today’s Hip Hop creates an “us against them” mentality (“us” being “young minorities” and “them” being cops).
WARM: If You Can’t Beat ’Em, Buy Arenas With ’Em
Pearl Jam has teamed up with one-time mortal foe Ticketmaster in an attempt to purchase and remodel a Seattle arena. The band, which famously fought Ticketmaster’s almost-monopoly on venue ticketing in the ’90s (ultimately failing to change a thing), wants to upgrade the sound in KeyArena and make it appealing to potential pro basketball or hockey franchises, suggesting regular PJ concerts would be part of the deal. The TM/PJ group is reportedly playing to Seattle’s bleeding-heart-liberal constituency to get a leg up in negotiations, pointing out the anti-LGBTQ ties of the owner of AEG (the current venue’s owner), while AEG is reminding everyone of a Ticketmaster associate’s support of Donald Trump.
COLD: Stapp Making Sense?
Creed singer Scott Stapp has had some tough battles with substance abuse and mental health issues. But it seems like everyone around him is acting as if all’s well in Stapp’s world — and to be fair, in a GQ interview he at least expressed regrets over the leather pants/tank top combo he wore in the “Higher” video. But in that same interview, Stapp talked about being visited by the ghost of late Stone Temple Pilots singer Scott Weiland. The ghost didn’t waste time reminiscing about how much money they both made ripping off Eddie Vedder, instead telling Stapp to stay sober.
