March 6, 2025

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<i>In Spenzo We Trust</i> Trades Chicago Violence For Hip-Hop

Main Pick

Headliner: Spenzo

Representing: Chicago, Illinois

Mixtape: In Spenzo We Trust

Real Spit: Don't let Spenzo's age fool you, the 18-year-old spitter may be young, but there's nothing kiddie about his raps. On Monday (July 15), the teen released his debut mixtape, In Spenzo We Trust, and it's reflective of the world around him.

"I'm just tellin' 'em my story, so it's gonna get picked up by the people that see what I see," Spenz told Mixtape Daily about his latest project. "They see the violence, they're growing up around it or they're being in the hood. They see everything I see."

On Sunday, a day before the tape was released, Spenzo's name began to trend on Twitter, a testament to his popularity. "At the Moment" is an appropriate ode to his newfound fame, as is the Sonny Digital-produced "Different Now." On the opening track, "Englewood," Spenz paints a picture of his former life in the hood. "They tryna trap up in the rap, how is that/ Dumb mother----er you still up in the trap," he spits in his unique drawl.

With "Clearly Now," the young MC shows a different side, telling the story of his absentee dad. "1995 I became a bastard/ My pappy, who knows I give a f---? Who knows I give a f---/ I turned 15 and met the one who had, but I was just too old to give a f---, too old to give a f---," he raps before giving props to his step-dad.

It's not all serious however. The Young Chop-produced "Wife Er" is a fun auto-tuned track ...

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Trayvon Martin: How Social Media Became The Biggest Protest

Twitter was practically groaning Saturday under the weight of a sea of protests from the likes of Nicki Minaj and Miley Cyrus after a Florida jury found George Zimmerman not guilty in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin last February. These tweets, scattered with hashtags like #nojustice and #RipTrayvonMartin, were just a small part of a massive social media-spun protest between the 17-year-old high school student's shooting and Zimmerman's "not guilty" verdict.

In February of 2012, Trayvon Martin was found shot and killed, George Zimmerman standing over his body holding a handgun. Martin was unarmed, wielding only a bottle of iced tea and a bag of Skittles. Zimmerman said he shot Martin in self-defense and walked away from the scene. He was later arrested on April 11 and charged with second-degree murder in the shooting after months of protests.

Those protests, to a large degree, were created online — first with a petition posted to Change.org by Martin's family. That petition, made on March 8, saw support from the likes of Janelle Monae and MC Hammer, who both urged people to sign. The petition soon became the fastest-growing campaign in the site's history, netting 250,000 signatures in its first few days. It got 2,278,988 signatures total.

In the meantime, other social protests started to bubble, starting with A Million Hoodies, a campaign and march headed up by digital strategist Daniel Maree that also had ties to the Change.org petition.

"The big impetus for Million Hoodies for me was reading about the Trayvon Martin case and noticing that ...

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Carly Rae Jepsen’s Awful First Pitch: Tips From The Pros

Earlier this year, Carly Rae Jepsen threw out the ceremonial first pitch at a Baltimore Orioles game ... and things went pretty well.

Perhaps emboldened by her (semi) strike, Jepsen returned to the mound in Tampa's Tropicana Field on Sunday, to toss out the first pitch before the Rays/Houston Astros game. And, let's just say she probably could have used a few more warm-up pitches.

Yes, in an effort that is already being called the "worst ever," Jepsen's throw barely managed to make it past the pitcher's mound, as the ball slipped out of her hand and went skidding towards a photographer snapping pics on the first base line (the wayward pitch actually smashed into his camera, proving that she does have some accuracy).

The throw — and Jepsen's embarrassed reaction — quickly got the .GIF treatment, became a viral sensation and even showed up on ESPN's "SportsCenter."

Meanwhile, Jepsen has taken it all in stride, posting photos of her receiving a consolatory hug from Rays' pitcher Matt Moore on her Instagram, and retweeting messages of mock congratulations from her family members.

So what went wrong? Well, MTV News reached out to some baseball experts in an effort to find out ... and surprisingly, some of them even responded, including former pro (and current ESPN MLB analyst) Aaron Boone, who recommended that Jepsen re-think her entire pitching routine.

"There's only one thing she can do and that's to improve, so she has that going for her," Boone wrote in an email to MTV News. ...

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Cory Monteith: Watch His Pre-‘Glee’ Starring Role on MTV

Just days after Cory Monteith's untimely death, former co-stars and friends continue to remember working with the late actor on his projects. Some of those memorable roles included his breakthrough stint on "Glee," his part in the big-screen escapade "Monte Carlo" alongside Selena Gomez and Leighton Meester, and one of his early starts on the small screen playing a rocker on the MTV series,

Before he belted out pop hits on Fox, he had a role in this other music-themed show, which aired on MTV for one season in 2007. On the music-industry drama, Monteith played Gunnar, the drummer in "it" girl Kaya's (played by Danielle Savre) band, as well as her on-again, off-again hookup. Adding to the ups and downs of that relationship, the series also touched on the tensions between Kaya and her bandmates (Justin Wilczynski and Joe MacLeod). The show follows her rising fame as the lead singer of their band.

Read How Monteith Left Behind An Incredible Legacy Of Helping Others.

Whereas "Glee" deals with the ups and downs of trying to get that big break while struggling with identity and relationships, "Kaya" focused on the drama of what happens once all your dreams of superstardom come true.

However, during the show's 10-episode run, "Kaya" had many of the same issues from "Glee," as the band attempted to hold it all together while handling major-label pressure.

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J.K. Rowling’s Secret Book: How She Pulled It Off

J.K. Rowling may have just pulled off the greatest trick of her literary career.

The "Harry Potter" author had kept a relatively low profile since her first non-wizard novel, hit shelves last September to decidedly mixed reviews. Most people assumed that we would hear about a new Rowling book maybe a year or two from now, followed by a traditional publicity rollout with perhaps an Oprah interview. But the world-famous writer decided to go a different route.

Rowling stunned readers by revealing that she had already written her next books...and it had been in bookstores since April. The secret of "The Cuckoo's Calling" by Robert Galbraith has only recently been uncovered, but how did Rowling pull it off?

"The Cuckoo's Calling"
In April, publishers Little, Brown released the debut detective novel by Robert Galbraith to a warm critical reception. Publishers Weekly wrote "Galbraith combines a complex and compelling sleuth and an equally well-formed and unlikely assistant with a baffling crime in his stellar debut." The positive reviews, however, did not translate to sales; the book only sold 1,500 copies. Journalists and critics knew that "Robert Galbraith" was a pseudonym, but without any other clues than an "About the Author" page that describe the writer as a former member of the military police, the mystery went unsolved for months.

Pulling Back the Veil
After almost three months, a single tweet was what pulled the first string that unraveled Robert Galbraith. A colleague of Richard Brooks, the arts editor for the Sunday Times, tweeted that she enjoyed "Cuckoo's Calling," commenting that it ...

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Paris Hilton Heads To Ibiza For ‘Foam & Diamonds’ Residency

Paris Hilton is headed to Ibiza.

The heiress and Cash Money signee is teaming with Amnesia Ibiza in a joint venture that will see her serve as a resident DJ at the club's "Foam & Diamonds" party, and launch a pop-up store that will sell her line of handbags and accessories.

Hilton will take over hosting duties at "Foam & Diamonds" beginning July 31, and she'll perform at the party every Wednesday until August 21. Her pop-up store at Amnesia Ibiza will be open to the general public from July 31 to August 31, and on August 7, she'll meet fans and present her collection of handbags at the club.

In between all that, Hilton will presumably be putting the finishing touches on her sophomore album, which is due later this year on Cash Money Records.

Speaking of that album, earlier this month, Cash Money CEO Birdman told MTV News that Hilton's music is going to surprise more than a few folks, adding that he (and the entire Cash Moneyt family) have been blown away by the songs she's played for him.

"I don't think people know how talented Paris is. I just left from her house [and] she was playin' me some music," he said. "She got a record we're about to come out with and she's very talented. You know she's already somethin' special as an entrepreneur ... but on the music side, I'm super excited. We all — me, [Lil] Wayne, everybody — we listened to her music and she got some hits."

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