President Obama, Dave Chappelle Help Induct Jay-Z Into Rock & Roll Hall of Fame

Saturday the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame welcomed one of its most diverse and talented classes, but one star shone brighter than the rest at the star-studded ceremony.

That Class of 2021 standout was Jay-Z. The 23-time Grammy winner and one-half of music's reigning premiere power couple, along with wife Beyoncé, was feted by friends, fellow musicians and a former president as he joined the less than a handful of rappers to be given the honor.

In a video proceeding his induction President Barack Obama shared how important the music of the street hustler, turned musician and finally billionaire business mogul, had been to him personally.

Barack Obama inducts JAY-Z pic.twitter.com/HREMW5FucS

— Dr. Bryan McGeary (@BMcgeary) October 31, 2021

“I’ve turned to Jay-Z’s words at different points in my life, whether I was brushing dirt off my shoulder on the campaign trail, or sampling his lyrics on the Edmund Pettus Bridge on the 50th anniversary of the Selma march to Montgomery,” Obama said. "Today Jay-Z is one of the most renowned artists in history and an embodiment of the American dream, a dream he has helped make real for other young people like him."

The speech, part of a video featuring high praise from numerous other luminaries from the worlds of art, entertainment, music and sport; including LeBron James, David Letterman, Diddy, Chris Martin, Ed Sheeran, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Jamie Foxx, Chris Rock, John Legend along with Jay-Z's wife Beyoncé and daughter Blue Ivy, was followed by an in-person induction by currently controversial comedian Dave Chappelle.

"This is an incredible honor to induct this next man into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame," Chapelle said. "But I need everybody in rock & roll to know that even though we are honoring him, he is ours. He is hip-hop. Forever and ever and a day."

Following Chappelle's speech, Jay-Z delivered the longest of the night, beginning with some words of thanks and an acknowledgment how far hip-hop has come as an art form since the 51-year-old began his own career.

JAY-Z accepts his induction pic.twitter.com/lT7MDrLvFa

— Dr. Bryan McGeary (@BMcgeary) October 31, 2021

"Thank you, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, for this incredible honor. And you know, growing up, we didn't think we could be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. We were told that hip-hop was a fad," he said. "Much like punk rock, it gave us this anti-culture, this subgenre, and there were heroes in it."

The artist thanked a long list of family, friends, business partners, artists and others who have enabled and advanced his career. In addition to business partners Damon Dash and Tyran Smith, his mother Gloria, sister Annie and the late rapper Notorious B.I.G. — whom along with fellow 2021 inductee LL Cool J, Tupac and Jay-Z are the only individual rap artists to be enshrined into the hall — before ending his speech on an optimistic note.

"Hopefully, I'm informing the next generation that anything is possible," he said. "I don't know what's next — In fact, I do know what's next. I have to go to court Monday. There's good and bad, life is about balance — But you know, tonight, we're going to enjoy tonight. I appreciate this honor. Sorry for this long-ass speech, but I had to give it up. We did it, Brooklyn!"

While his induction stole the show, it was only a small part of what the hall touted as one of its most diverse classes ever. Tina Turner, Carole King, The Go-Go's, Foo Fighters and Todd Rundgren, were just a few of the big names from across the musical spectrum honored. 

Continue reading below to see a full list of the rest of this year's inductees:

Performer Category:

Tina Turner

Carole King

The Go-Go’s

Jay-Z

Foo Fighters

Todd Rundgren

Early Influence Award:

Kraftwerk

Charley Patton

Gil Scott-Heron

Musical Excellence Award:

LL Cool J

Billy Preston

Randy Rhoads

Ahmet Ertegun Award:

Clarence Avant

Fetty Wap Charged With Drug Trafficking

Photo Credit: Instagram

William Junior Maxwell II, better known to hip-hop fans as Fetty Wap, was one of six individuals indicted for conspiracy to distribute more than 100 kilograms of cocaine, heroin, fentanyl, and crack cocaine across Long Island and New Jersey Friday.

According to a press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office, the two-time Grammy nominee — who was arrested Thursday at New York’s Citi Field on the first day of the three-day Rolling Loud hip-hop music festival — and his co-defendants, “ran a multimillion-dollar bicoastal drug distribution organization with Suffolk County as their home base.”

“As alleged, the defendants transported, distributed and sold more than 100 kilograms of deadly and addictive drugs, including heroin and fentanyl, on Long Island, deliberately contributing to the opioid epidemic that has devastated our communities and taken too many lives,” said Breon Peace, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, of indictments in the statement. Michael J. Driscoll, a top official with the FBI’s New York Office added, “The fact that we arrested a chart-topping rap artist and a corrections officer as part of the conspiracy illustrates just how vile the drug trade has become.”

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Details from court proceedings and the indictment, paint a picture of a scheme that ran from June of 2019 to June of 2020 in which narcotics obtained on the West Cast were transported to Suffolk County, utilizing the United States Postal Service and “drivers with hidden vehicle compartments” for distribution and sale on Long Island and in New Jersey.

Maxwell, 30, was a kilogram-level redistributor for the trafficking organization according to the indictment.

What the arrest means for the career of the up-and-coming musician, whose 2014 debut single “Trap Queen” catapulted to mainstream success as it reached No. 2 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, remains to be seen.

If convicted on the charge of conspiring to distribute and possess controlled substances he faces a maximum of life in prison.

This is not the first legal challenge for the rapper, who suffered a profound personal tragedy over the summer when his 4-year-old daughter Lauren died and is still mourning the death of his 26-year-old brother Twyshon Depew, who was shot and killed in their hometown of Paterson, New Jersey last year. In 2019 he was arrested on three counts of battery for allegedly assaulting employees at a Las Vegas hotel, and he was charged with a DUI in 2017 after being caught drag racing in Brooklyn.

In 2019 he was sued by a woman who alleged he strangled and punched her during an incident inside of his Los Angeles home. That case was letter dropped by the L.A. District Attorney’s office citing insufficient evidence to prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt.

Search warrants executed during the investigation recovered about $1.5 million in cash, 16 kilograms of cocaine, two kilograms of heroin, numerous fentanyl pills, two handguns, a rifle, a pistol, and ammunition.

Facebook Announces Name Change Amid Controversies

Facebook is dead! Long live Fac... err Meta!

You heard the man-bot, right kiddos? After 17 years of representing the best of what it is to be a bleeding-edge multimedia platform, — Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said his company is rebranding itself as Meta.

The name change is in no way an effort to distance the platform from the increasingly bad press generated by its refusal or inability to deal with its sex-trafficking problem, hate-feuling algorithms or less than perfect privacy practices.

Zuckerberg instead insists that it is an effort to encompass his companies virtual-reality vision of the future. 

"I believe the metaverse is the next chapter of the Internet, and it's the next chapter of our company too," he said, adding, "While most tech companies focus on how people could connect to technology, we focus on building technology so people could connect with each other."  

Today we're introducing Meta, which brings together our apps and technologies under a new company brand. Learn more about how we’re helping build the metaverse and other news from Connect. https://t.co/6s3GKjWq4S

— Facebook Newsroom (@fbnewsroom) October 28, 2021

So what is the metaverse? Unless you're already working Big Blue or one of its digital brethren like Google, there's no simple explanation. But, in his founder's letter, Zuckerberg likened it to an immersive version of the internet, "where you’re in the experience, not just looking at it," adding, "The defining quality of the metaverse will be a feeling of presence — like you are right there with another person or in another place. Feeling truly present with another person is the ultimate dream of social technology. That is why we are focused on building this."