Young Thug Wants to Face Off Against Lil Wayne in 'Verzuz' Battle

Young Thug and Lil Wayne's past feud is water under the bridge, and now Thugger is challenging his former rival to a Verzuz battle. While chatting with hosts Gillie Da King and Wallo267 on their “Million Dollaz Worth of Game” podcast, the rapper revealed that Weezy is his dream opponent for Timbaland and Swizz Beatz's popular streaming series, as they are comparable in cultural influence. “It would probably have to be like [Lil Wayne],” he shared. “Because you got to think—we got to talk about influence. We got to talk about everything. We got to talk about everything. It’s not just about no rap.” “You got to understand, as rapper, as hip-hop artists, you can only go so far,” he added. “I always just focused on the next level.”

The duo's beef stems back to when they first met. "The first day he didn’t dap me up,” Thug shared of their first encounter. “Tried me. Now my feet hurt and I’ma real stepper. Left the pimpin’ hanging. He prolly had them chrome hearts on.” "I’m like, ‘Hey listen bruh, I’m never touching your hand again. Just off of that. I’m a player, I’m a real player and I don’t give no f---. Nothing about me is a groupie, no nothing! You inspired me," he continued.

J. COLE LAYS OUT HIS RELEASE SCHEDULE & THERE WILL BE PLENTY OF MUSIC BEFORE 'THE FALL OFF'

J. Cole hasn’t dropped a full-length solo album since 2018’s KOD, but it looks like the highly anticipated follow-up The Fall Off, its precursor The Off Season and another mixtape called It’s A Boy could be arriving in the near future. On Tuesday (December 29), the elusive MC popped up to share a rare Instagram post that featured an outline for either his year-end goals or an upcoming hiatus — at least that’s how it’s being interpreted by his fans. He wrote in the caption, “I still got some goals I gotta check off for’ I scram…” The post included a photo of a notebook with “The Fall Off Era” written across the top. Below the header, he wrote “Features,” “ROTD3” — which are both crossed out — “The Off Season,” “It’s A Boy” and “The Fall Off.”https://www.instagram.com/p/CJZtGT-FK4c/?utm_source=ig_embed&ig_mid=C1891563-1E1B-462E-BF03-345A0A77CB85

LIL WAYNE QUESTIONS BEING LEFT OUT OF THE GRAMMY AWARDS ON TWITTER

When the GRAMMY Award nominations dropped at the top of the month many artists expressed their issues with the list. A bit tardy to the party but still a big voice to the issue is Lil Wayne who wonders why his name is left out. Weezy hit Twitter on Sunday and posed a question to why he was not nominated for the release of his Funeral album or why is he not invited at all. “As an artist, when I see da Grammys coming up & I’m not involved nor invited; I wonder. Is it me, my musik, or just another technicality?” Wayne wrote. “I look around w respect & wonder competitively am I not worthy?! Then I look around & see 5 Grammys looking bak at me & I go to the studio.” Wayne ran u phis Grammy wins during Tha Carter III era and also snagged on alongside Chance the Rapper and 2 Chainz for “No Problem” in 2016. Does he have a point? Should Wayne have been nominated. Check out the tweet below. Lil Wayne WEEZY F @LilTunechi As an artist, when I see da Grammys coming up & I’m not involved nor invited; I wonder. Is it me , my musik, or just another technicality? I look around w respect & wonder competitively am I not worthy?! Then I look around & see 5 Grammys looking bak at me & I go to the studio. 1:47 AM · Dec 21, 2020 40.3K 6.3K are Tweeting about

What's happening in South Africa

South Africa's chief justice has said he "doesn't care" about the backlash over his prayer against a Covid-19 vaccine "that was of the devil". He was filmed last week praying fervently against vaccines "meant to corrupt [people's] DNA", drawing public criticism in a country with the highest recorded number of coronavirus cases in Africa. But Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng over the weekend said he was not a scientist but a "prayer warrior" who was concerned about the safety of vaccines. He said people must be free to express themselves regardless of the position they hold in society. "I don't care about the consequences. We've been quiet for far too long, toeing the line," he said . "You can't impose a vaccine on people. Why should you?" Last week, Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said teenage clubbing and parties were driving the country's second wave of infections. South Africa has so far confirmed 860,964 cases and 23,276 deaths. Recoveries stand at over 750,000.

Covid 19 updates in South African

South African scientists said they are working with the World Health Organization to investigate a new variant of coronavirus, currently surging in many parts of the country. The new variant known as 501.V2 was identified by a genomics team led by the KwaZulu-Natal Research Innovation and Sequencing Platform. It was discovered earlier this month, when scientists noticed a number of mutations during routine surveillance of the virus. Local scientists say that South Africa’s new variant appears to be unrelated to the one found in the UK. But it does share one important mutation. The shared mutation affects the way the virus attaches to human cells – and scientists speculate that is what is behind the faster transmission of this virus. Researchers in the UK say the mutated virus there is 70% more transmissible. But experts in South Africa say they are still gathering data on this, but expect this may be the case here too. In South Africa the new variant was first found in the Eastern Cape province and has since spread to the Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal. The country recently entered a second wave of infections, which has led to new regulations to try to slow the spread of the disease, including the closure of some of the major beaches. Mutations in viruses are not uncommon, experts say. It is not clear at this stage whether the new variants are more deadly. Scientists say more research is needed on this, and also on whether the mutations could lessen the effectiveness of vaccines. Health officials have reiterated calls for people to keep following the same Covid-prevention protocols until more is known about the new variants. Some countries have now banned flights from South Africa and the UK including Germany and Switzerland. While El Salvador has banned any travellers who were in the UK and South Africa in the last 30 days.

Nipsey Husstle's mixtape, The Marathon

Nipsey Hussle's 'The Marathon' Live Visual Album Is Coming In 2021 December 23, 2020 Nipsey Hussle's mixtape, The Marathon, officially turned ten years old. The project was first released back in December 2010, and to remember and celebrate the music and its milestone anniversary, Nipsey's estate has confirmed that fans will get the body of work via a "live visual album experience" in a message shared to the late rapper's social media. The lengthy note to fans said, "Today marks 10 years since the release of #TheMarathon. A project our team holds near and dear to our hearts for many reasons. It represents the story of Nipsey’s resilience and unwavering faith in his mission, and the authenticity and honesty in his message. It also was the first seed planted in the Marathon brand that gave fruit to many other branches that Nipsey architected, as only he could do." Nipsey's estate continued, "In commemoration of this anniversary we're proud to announce our collaborative effort with @okidokito bring to life an interactive live visual album experience coming in 2021. The experience will give viewers and intimate look at the era that helped shape this masterpiece. The people, the places, the stories, and more. Stay tuned, official drop date coming soon!"

Facebook vs. Apple

INTERNATIONAL

SAN FRANCISCO - Social networking giant Facebook on Wednesday opened fire on Apple, saying the iPhone maker's new measures on data collection and targeted ads will hurt small businesses. The dispute between the tech giants centers on changes in the latest version of Apple's iOS operating software, which include a tracking transparency feature that Facebook claims will cripple its ability to serve up targeted ads. Many of Facebook's advertisers are small businesses, and it says it relies on user data to generate ads in ways that make them more relevant and likely to make money. "This is about control of the entire internet and how they attempt to control personalized advertising," Facebook vice president of business products Dan Levy said in a conference call. The social network took out full-page newspaper ads in major markets to make its case, and launched a "Speak up for small businesses" web page. Apple initially declined to comment on the Facebook onslaught. At a data privacy conference in Brussels last week, Apple senior vice president of software engineering Craig Federighi predicted the new iOS features would cause drama. "It's already clear that some companies are going to do everything they can to stop the App Tracking Transparency feature... and to maintain their unfettered access to people's data," Federighi said. "We need the world to see those arguments for what they are: a brazen attempt to maintain the privacy-invasive status quo." US PRIVACY VS REVENUE FROM ADS Changes coming in iOS 14, the software that powers iPhones and iPads, include requiring apps to ask users for permission via the tracking feature to collect and share device-identifying data. That data is then linked with other user and device data to generate targeted ads.