News

LL Cool J celebrated the 40th anniversary of Def Jam Records with a special performance at the VMAs!

The hip-hop legend brought out surprise guests Public Enemy for the performance at the 2024 MTV Video Music Awards on Wednesday (September 11) at the Ubs Arena in Elmont, New York.

LL kicked off the set with his song “Headsprung” and continued with “The G.O.A.T.”

Flavor Flav and Chuck D then came on stage to perform “Bring the Noise” before LL continued the performance with hits like “Mama Said Knock You Out,” “Rock the Bells,” “Around the Way Girl,” “Goin’ Back to Cali,” and “Doin’ It.” He also performed the new songs “Passion” and “Proclivities.”

“He’s not only a hip-hop innovator; he’s not only a godfather, big homie and a mentor,” Busta Rhymes said about his friend.

Flavor Flav had a viral moment at the beginning of the show as well!

I...

LL Cool J hit the MTV VMAs stage Wednesday night with a medley of his classic hits and new tunes to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Def Jam Records.

The rapper — whose performance featured an appearance by Public Enemy’s Flavor Flav and Chuck D, who are two of LL’s original Def Jam labelmates — took to the stage toward the end of the three-hour show.

LL kicked off the high-energy performance with “Headsprung,” with audience members wearing the rapper’s signature Kangol hats, all in red. The cameras then cut to several people in the audience holding signs of goats, with LL rapping his song “The G.O.A.T.,” when Flavor Flav and Chuck D joined him onstage for a performance of their own “Bring the Noise.”

LL then segued briefly into his hits “Mama Said Knock You Out,” “Rock the Bells,” “Around the Way Girl” and “Goin’ Back to Cali.

Nearly 25 years after being the first to declare himself the G.O.A.T. (which his dancers referenced with posters of the farm animal), LL Cool J reminded us he’s worthy of that title at the MTV VMAs on Wednesday night. In between classics like “Around the Way Girl” and “Doin’ It,” he performed “Passion” and “Proclivities” from his recently released 14th studio album, The F.O.R.C.E., another acronym, this time for Frequencies of Real Creative Energy.

LL was introduced by Busta Rhymes, who cheekily commanded fans to “Put Your Hands Where My...

Scant months after Q-Tip publicly debated the dubiousness of an “adult-contemporary hip-hop” category on social media comes a completely Tip-produced new album by his Queens neighbor LL Cool J — the 56-year-old rapper-actor’s 14th since his 1984 debut as a teenager. In a year when both Rakim and Masta Ace released new projects, when Common teamed with producer Pete Rock for a stellar throwback album of Nineties-spirited hip-hop, LL’s new effort joins a trend. “Call it traditional hip-hop,” Q-Tip tweeted.

The Force doesn’t nod to modern drill or trap,...

Some film festivals take themselves entirely too seriously. Not South by Southwest, the Austin-based multidisciplinary mega-event where amped-up crowds welcome comedies with open arms — the raunchier the better. This year, one logline stood out as especially promising: “A 30-year-old Indian American virgin gets a job teaching high school Sex Ed.” Alas, “Doin’ It” doesn’t cut it (it’s basically 2014 Haley Joel Osment comedy “Sex Ed” with a cultural spin). The concept is funny, but the execution feels forced, in part because the substitute in question (played by Lilly Singh) is supposed to be following an abstinence-based curriculum. In theory, her deep-seated celibacy should make her perfect for the job.

The movie aims to combat the shame around all aspects of human sexuality, which seems like an admirable but inevitably controversial goal. But “Doin’ It” goes too far straight out of the gate, opening with an embarrassment no teenager can...

Sex is a lot like filmmaking. You dive in when you’re ready, trust your companions, and learn from experience. Few people start out as experts, but there’s beauty in being allowed to try and fail in different environments over the years.

In her first feature film lead, comedian and former late night host Lilly Singh plays Maya, a computer engineer who takes a part-time job teaching sex education. After an incident in her teens led to her mother moving them back to India, Maya not only repressed her sexuality but grew to actively fear it — and now she’s teaching teens about sex despite having never done it herself. Singh, Neel Patel, and director Sara Zandieh co-wrote the film, which premiered at SXSW on March 12.

Sonia Dhillon Tully plays Maya’s hyperconservative single mother Veena, a role that has unfortunately been tread and retread in the South Asian-American film ouevre.

Lilly Singh is making her move to the big screen. The multihyphenate creator, who achieved success on YouTube a decade ago using the handle Superwoman, is the star of a new film called Doin’ It.

Doin’ It, directed by Sara Zandieh, is making its premiere at South By Southwest (SXSW), the annual conference and arts festival held in Austin, Texas. SXSW attendees can choose from three Doin’ It screenings, one each on the nights of March 12, 13, and 14.

According to its official description on the SXSW website, Doin’ It stars Singh as a sheltered virgin who tries to step out of her comfort zone when she gets a job as a substitute sex-ed teacher. The film sports a strong supporting cast that includes Stephanie Beatriz, Ana Gasteyer, and Utkarsh Ambudkar.

In addition to her starring role, Singh wore multiple hats behind the scenes of Doin’ It. She co-wrote the film alongside Zandieh and Neel Patel,...

Hannah Einbinder was moved to tears. Nick Thune was moved to sing. John Leguizamo shared hard truths. Samantha Bee rallied the crowd on behalf of womens rights. And everyone who took part in Variety’s Power of Comedy Awards on Friday made fun of the awards themselves, now in their second year at SXSW in Austin, Texas.

“Nothing is more show business-y than an award that says ‘We love that you’re here’ two years after network executives have said ‘We need you to be gone,’ ” Bee told the packed house at the famed Acl Theater, a nod to the demise in 2022 of her TBS series “Full Frontal with Samantha Bee.”

Bee, who was honored by presenter Brooke Shields with the Comedy Innovator award for being one of very few women to host a late-night comedy series, noted that the event coincided with International Woman’s Day.

“There’s no...

Written and starring Lilly Singh, Doin’ It will have it’s world premiere at the prestigious film festival South by Southwest 2024. It tells the story of a 30 year old Indian-American virgin who gets a job teaching high school Sex Ed.

After teenage Maya is caught in a sexually compromising position, her mom moves the family back to India so Maya can learn proper discipline. Years later, she returns to the US to find funding for her teen-focused app, and gets a job as a substitute high school teacher so she can research her target demo. But when the principal assigns her to teach sex ed, Maya — who’s still a virgin— sets out on a quest with her best friend to make up for the high school experience she lost out on.

Anita Verma-Lallian is the founder of Arizona’s first female and South Asian-owned film production company, Camelback Productions...