George Floyd
Spotify Adds 8-Minute, 46-Second Silent Track to Playlists for Blackout Tuesday
Like many others in the music industry, Spotify is partaking in Blackout Tuesday, a day intended for pause and reflection in support of the Black Lives Matter movement. The streaming company has blacked out its flagship logos throughout the platform, but perhaps even more striking is the change its made to some of its playlists: Spotify has added an 8-minute, 46-second silent track in honor of George Floyd. The specific 8:46 length reflects the amount of time Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin held his knee down on the neck of an unresisting Floyd, even as he pleaded, “I can’t breathe.” Floyd died as a result of “asphyxiation from sustained pressure,” according to an independent autopsy report released recently. <img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1041504" data-att...
J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot Pledges $10 Million Donation to Anti-Racist Organizations
J.J. Abrams, photo by Heather Kaplan In solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement, J.J. Abrams has pledged a whopping $10 million dollars to various organizations fighting racism in America. The donation will come through Abrams’ Bad Robot film and TV production company, as well as the Katie McGrath and JJ Abrams Family Foundation. The $10 million will be dispersed over the course of five years, with an initial $200,000 investment marked for each of the following groups: Black Lives Matter LA, Black Futures Lab, Community Coalition, Equal Justice Initiative, and Know Your Rights Camp. “Enough is enough,” reads a statement on Bad Robot’s Instagram page announcing the donation. “Enough police brutality. Enough outsized privilege. Enough polite conversation. Enough white comfort.” “The ...
JAY-Z Called Minnesota Governor To Demand Justice For George Floyd
Source: Kevork Djansezian / Getty As arguably the A1 rapper in the game and a business mogul, many have called for the JAY-Z to speak up in regards to the protests across the nation. Minnesota Governor Walz revealed that the “99 Problems” rapper gave him a phone call to discuss justice for George Floyd, who was murdered by Minnesota cops on May 25. Walz revealed the phone call during a press conference on Sunday (May 31). “I received a call last night, to understand how big this was, from Jay-Z,” said Walz. “Not international performer but dad—stressing to me that justice needs to be served.” During a press conference, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz told the media that JAY-Z called him to demand justice for #GeorgeFloyd “I received a call last night from JAY-Z, not international perform...
TikTok Promises to Promote Black Creators After Censorship Accusations Make Light
Sourced from Gadgets 360. Chinese Social Media platform TikTok laid out a series of actions on Monday in an effort to address criticisms that its algorithm is suppressing black creators on the app. The actions include launching a “creator diversity council” in which the platform will aim at “recognising and uplifting the voices driving culture, creativity, and important conversations on the platform [itself]”. Continued in the blog post, TikTok says it will also reassess its moderation strategies, establish a new “user-friendly” appeals process, and develop a new creator portal for expanding communications and “opportunities for our broader creator community”. TikTok says that it will “stand in solidarity with the Black community” and participate in “Black Out Tuesday.” Tuesday will be kep...
Cactus Black: Travis Scott Shares His Support Of George Floyd Protestors Nationwide
Source: WENN/Avalon / WENN Travis Scott has joined a growing number of celebrities who have used their platforms to address the current state of race relations in America. The Houston star threw his support behind protestors enraged by the murder of George Floyd and other Black lives that were unfairly lost in a recent Instagram post, albeit later than most would have preferred. From Scott’s Instagram page: As I pace around thinking, trying to find something to ease the pain…there are almost no words that I can think of to properly express, or I can use to suppress, this enraged feeling of us continuously losing our brothers and sisters to brutality at the hands of officers, or anyone with misguided intentions for our well-being. The rage that we are feeling is from direct personal experie...
Beyoncé Demands Justice For George Floyd As Petition Hits 7 Million Signatures
Source: Gareth Cattermole / Getty As tension continues to grow in communities across the globe over the death of George Floyd and police brutality, Beyoncé is calling for justice. In partnership with the Change.org, Beyoncé took to social media posting a video urging fans to sign the petition created by a 15-year old in Oregon calling for the Minnesota District Attorney to convict all four officers involved in the murder of Mr. Floyd. “We need justice for George Floyd,” Beyoncé said. “We all witnessed his murder in broad daylight. We’re broken and we’re disgusted. We cannot normalize this pain. I’m not only speaking to people of color. If you’re white, Black, brown, or anything in between, I’m sure you feel hopeless about the racism going on in America right now. No more senseless killings...
HHW Gaming: PlayStation Reads The Room Postpones PS5 Reveal Event, Stands In Solidarity With Black Protestors
Source: Sony / PlayStation 5 There are much bigger issues in the world going on right now, and PlayStation has recognized that. Out of respect for the civil unrest going on throughout the country as Black Americans have taken to the streets to demand justice for George Floyd and others, Sony has decided this week would not be a good time for its PS5 reveal event. PlayStation announced today on its official Twitter account the decision stating: “While we understand gamers worldwide are excited to see PS5 games, we do not feel that right now is a time for celebration, and for now, we want to stand back and allow more important voices to be heard.” No future date has been revealed. Four hours before that announcement, PlayStation stood in solidarity with the protesters by denouncing systemic ...
LL Cool J Drops #BlackLivesMatter-Inspired Freestlye After Headass Biracial Tweet
Source: Axelle/Bauer-Griffin / Getty LL Cool J is looking to redeem himself after he joined the list of celebrities who did their best to get canceled over the weekend. Twitter was saying Ladies Love Cool J was head sprung after he pressed send on a headass tweet that stating “Imagine how people raising biracial children feel right now!!!!!! This is crazy!!!!!!”. As expected, Twitter wanted to know what the hell was LL Cool J thinking, wondering how biracial kids were feeling amid the country currently in the streets risking their lives as they demand just for George Floyd. remember when LL Cool J and Brad Paisley made that song like “if you don’t judge my gold chains…ill forget the iron chains” https://t.co/8PLgPUcRS2 — Steadman™ (@AsteadWesley) May 30, 2020 LL de...
‘Anonymous’ Hacktivists Attack and Take Down United Nations Website
After hacking and taking down the Minneapolis Police Department website, the Anonymous hacker-group continued their protest spree and hacked the United Nations website, taking down a part of the site – the United Nations Civil Society Participation website – and replacing it with an image protesting the death of Minneapolis native George Floyd. Hacktivists protest by hacking a United Nations webpage. Floyd was killed by police officer Derek Chauvin – while in custody – who restrained Floyd with a knee to the back of the neck. Floyd was handcuffed and unarmed at the time. Riots were sparked across the United States and even other countries as footage of the incident was released online. The group posted a video to another hacked page with a message to the police of Minneapolis. “This traves...
Terrace Martin, Kamasi Washington, and Denzel Curry Throw It Down on New Protest Song “PIG FEET”: Stream
Terrace Martin, Kamasi Washington (Debi Del Grande), and Denzel Curry (Cat Miller) Protests are sweeping the nation from coast to coast following the murder of George Floyd, who died while in Minneapolis police custody last week. To express their own rage over police brutality, and the systemic racism in America that allows it, Terrace Martin, Kamasi Washington, and Denzel Curry have joined forces on a new single called “PIG FEET”. Producer Martin and saxophonist Washington deliver arrangements of frenetic, and sometimes clashing, jazz to mirror the present-day chaos of this country. Curry, meanwhile, recounts a tale too often told by young blacks. “Helicopters over my balcony/ If the police can’t harass, they wanna smoke every ounce of me,” the Florida-bred MC says. “You tell me life’s a ...
System of a Down’s Serj Tankian to President Trump: “Run Donny Run Into Your Bunker”
Members of System of a Down have posted strong reactions to the protests and rioting going on in response to the death of George Floyd. Singer Serj Tankian focuses his anger on President Trump, while drummer John Dolmayan is calling out celebrities for supporting looters and violent rioters. Multiple cities are experiencing daily protests, riots, and looting in reaction to Floyd’s death under custody of the Minneapolis police officers, and reports have come out that President Trump took shelter in a White House bunker while violence erupted in Washington, D.C. Seeing those headlines, Tankian took to Instagram to ridicule the president and express his feelings on the protests: “Run Donny run into your bunker. You may be the first US President to do so out of fear of your own citizens. A rea...
SPIN to Observe Music Industry Blackout on Tuesday
The past week has witnessed a world-historical boiling point for unrest in America. Following George Floyd’s death at the hands of a police officer, people have been confronted with issues that have been around since this country was born. In conjunction with the rest of the music industry, SPIN will be honoring the blackout and will not be publishing any new stories or new interviews on June 2. We stand with our fellow publishers, artists, labels, managers, publicists and other organizations honoring the blackout and stand with the African-American community in the fight against racism, bigotry and violence. We will use the moment to reflect and respect what’s going on in society, and we can be part of the solution to help end racial inequality in the United States. We also enco...
