Latest news with #YoungDolph
Time Out
20-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Time Out
This hidden nightlife gem lets you party and play in one lavish setting
Save the date – AVENUE is throwing a big birthday blowout on June 4, and it's about to be draped in decadence. Themed to 'Venus In Furs', the lounge transforms into a heady blend of rose-drenched textures, celestial glamour, and after-dark allure. And American rapper O.T Genasis is set to leave you starry-eyed with chart-topping hits like the viral 'CoCo', and 'Cut It' featuring Young Dolph. From Aphrodite's touch to heavy-hitting hooks, this anniversary is for the gods – and the girls who run it. Whether you're looking for a pre-game, main event, or afterparty, AVENUE is everything rolled into one. It's open from 10pm till late, from Wednesdays to Saturdays.
Washington Post
16-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Washington Post
Something's got a hold on Ryan Coogler
CHICAGO — 'I got the movie,' exclaimed Ryan Coogler while doing the dishes. For months, the director had been trying to weave together several threads that had been loose in his mind since wrapping 'Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.' There were multiple conversations carrying on in his head at once. The murder of rapper Young Dolph. Cotton. The Stephen King novel 'Salem's Lot.' Grunge. The memory of his late Uncle James. Grief. Love.
Boston Globe
09-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Boston Globe
'Sinners,' with the devil's music and vampires, takes on the blues, religion, and old fears
Advertisement 'Mike's very ambitious,' Coogler said of the actor taking on both roles on a recent video call with the Globe. 'The bigger and bolder and more difficult the job is than something he's done before, the more likely he is to say yes.' Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up The twins take a young blues musician under their wing called Preacher Boy Sammie (played by newcomer Miles Caton). He carries a steel guitar that he claims once belonged to the legendary Charley Patton, one of the real-life fathers of the Delta blues. On opening night at the juke joint, a trio of white musicians show up singing traditional folk songs from the British Isles, accompanying themselves on banjo and fiddle. They turn out to be vampires. The vampires infect one twin's girlfriend (played by Hailee Steinfeld), who then turns him into one of the undead. A prototypical battle of good versus evil ensues. Advertisement The film, says Coogler, is about dichotomies, beginning with the relationship between the church and the blues. Sammie is the son of a Baptist minister (Saul Williams), who fears for his soul. Like a lot of Black men from the hip-hop generations, Coogler, who is 38, grew up feeling as though blues music was 'not for me.' But he had a great uncle whom he admired and visited often, a man who loved the classic blues of Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf. Making this movie, Coogler said, was his way of honoring his uncle. 'I wanted to explore that, and simultaneously make the movie that I always wanted to make in terms of the genre conventions that I love in cinema,' he said. While writing the screenplay, he immersed himself in blues lore – the story, for instance, of Robert Johnson (who learned from Patton) supposedly selling his soul to the devil at the crossroads in exchange for his prodigious talent. Coogler became fascinated with the recurring theme of blues musicians who had roots in the church, 'like Son House,' he said, 'who got sober and opened a church for a few years, then fell off the wagon and started playing blues again.' While preparing to make the movie, Coogler learned about the murder of one of his favorite rappers, Young Dolph, who was from Memphis. Young Dolph often rapped about his brushes with death and his fear that he would die young, Coogler said. 'And it did happen, and I was really upset.' But the death confirmed for him the connection between the storytelling of hip-hop and his uncle's music. Advertisement 'What gangsta rap was for me, the blues was for my uncle,' he said. 'I didn't know until I went on the The blues tropes that Coogler plays with in 'Sinners' should be taken with a healthy dose of skepticism, suggested the music historian Elijah Wald. A longtime folk guitarist around the Cambridge scene (and former Globe contributor), Wald has written more than a dozen books, including 'Dylan Goes Electric!' (2015), the basis for the recent Bob Dylan biopic 'A Complete Unknown,' and 'Escaping the Delta: Robert Johnson and the Invention of the Blues' (2005). The idea that the church considered the blues to be 'the devil's music,' Wald said in a phone call from his home in Philadelphia, is true only to the extent that any music that inspired dancing would have been seen as such. 'That's just as true for fiddlers,' he said. What's more, he said, the musicians we consider to be pioneers of the blues were in fact well-rounded musicians who could play many styles of music. They're known as 'bluesmen,' Wald said, primarily because the recording industry at the time was heavily segregated, only allowing these musicians to record what the executives believed to be 'Black' music. 'Someone like Skip James or Charley Patton was playing the current pop tunes, and country music, and blues,' Wald said. 'These were very versatile musicians.' None of which is to say that as a music scholar who strives for historical accuracy, Wald takes exception with Coogler's fantastical approach to the legends about 'the devil's music.' Advertisement 'This is a popular fantasy, and there's nothing wrong with working with it,' he said. 'But a lot of it is fantasy.' Coogler explained that he has had a lifelong interest in the idea of twins. His mother has twin sisters, one of whom is his godmother. 'They actually live next door to each other to this day,' he said. In terms of horror movies, he's always been drawn to the idea of the evil twin. 'I have a terrifying phobia of doppelgangers. It's paralyzing,' he said with a laugh. The premise of his new film 'is kind of an inside joke for people who really know me.' Even as he's confronting the heavy topic of racism, Coogler is cl;early having fun with his twin story lines of demons and the blues. 'There's a tendency to put all this mysticism on the deep, dark Delta, and have the blues be the voice of it,' said Wald. But there's one thing in particular about the story that he doesn't dispute. 'Were white people vampires for Black people in the Delta?' he asked. 'Hell yes!' James Sullivan can be reached at James Sullivan can be reached at
Yahoo
30-01-2025
- Yahoo
Man Arrested For Alleged Connection To Young Dolph's Murder Walks Free After 'Clerical' Error
A Young Dolph murder suspect has been released after he was mistakenly linked to the rapper's demise. According to Action News 5, the suspect named Shundale Barnett was recently arrested on Monday (Jan. 27) and charged with two crimes, including theft of property in connection to Dolph's November 2021 death. Justin Johnson, the man found guilty in 2024 of killing the Memphis rapper and was sentenced to life, was discovered to be the cousin of Barnett. In uncovering this information, law enforcement tracked Barnett to Indiana at the time of his detainment and was charged with accessory after the fact and attempted first-degree murder in the case. However, authorities concluded that Barnett was not involved in the case and that the charges against the man should have been dropped. The Shelby County District Attorney released a statement regarding the mistake, addressing their decision to let Barnett go. 'During the investigation of Justin Johnson, Shundale Barnett was found with [Justin] Johnson at the time of his arrest in Indiana,' the statement read. 'Based on this and other facts, a task force officer with the U.S. Marshals determined there was probable cause to charge Barnett with Accessory After the Fact, and an arrest warrant was issued as part of standard procedure. 'As the investigation progressed, the DA's Office determined that Barnett was not involved in the case and chose not to pursue charges, indicating the charge would be withdrawn. However, a delay in recalling the warrant left it active in the system. This clerical issue has now been resolved, and the charges against Barnett have been officially dismissed.' It should be noted that Hernandez Govan, the alleged mastermind behind Dolph's demise, is set to head to trial this summer. More from Man Convicted Of Young Dolph Murder Gets Additional 35-Years Added On Life Sentence Young Dolph's Killer Found Guilty On All Counts And Sentenced Young Dolph Trial: Prosecutors Claim Big Jook Put Hit Out On Rapper
