Tens of thousands of people have used Facebook to “check in” at the Standing Rock Indian Reservation in recent week, but Chicago rapper Vic Mensa actually visited North Dakota last week to participate in ongoing efforts to protect the water supply of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe from potential contamination by the Dakota Access Pipeline.
The DAPL, if you don’t know, is a $3.8 billion, 1,134 mile-long pipeline that would run oil underground from North Dakota to Illinois. The conflict over the pipeline is because it’s set to be constructed just north of Sioux land and the Standing Rock Indian Reservation near Cannon Ball, North Dakota, which is home to just over 8,000 people.
For months, the Standing Rock Sioux have objected to the pipeline due to its potential hazards and encroachment on their land. They’re asking that Energy Transfer Partners, the company behind DAPL reroute the pipeline or halt its construction altogether. They’re also asking for the U.S. federal government’s assistance in resolving the matter.
So far, there hasn’t been much attention to the situation at Standing Rock, despite what seem to be human right violations by law enforcement agencies that are policing the construction site. Law enforcement has firing rubber bullets at “water protectors,” deployed tear gas, and sprayed water cannons at them in freezing temperatures in recent weeks. And just Friday, the Army Corps of Engineers issued a statement to those at Standing Rock telling them that they had until December 5 to leave.
Mensa spent the weekend after Thanksgiving standing in solidarity with water protectors from all over the globe who are attempting to block the construction of the DAPL and, despite the ultimatum from the Army Corps, he plans to return December 4 to continue the fight. Complex caught up with Mensa after he returned from his trip Standing Rock to find out what he heard, saw, and felt.
COMPLEX: What made you want to go to North Dakota to join in the direct action at Standing Rock?
What’s going on in Standing Rock is an extreme human rights violation and I feel that as a black man in America, a member of a very oppressed group, it’s important to show solidarity with other oppressed groups. And Native Americans are arguably the most impoverished and disenfranchised group in this nation.
We have a situation here that is basically like Flint, Michigan before the water was poisoned with lead, so we have an opportunity to preemptively defend the human rights of people that have an inherent right to this land. That inspired me to go to Standing Rock.
How did you learn about the situation there? Most news outlets haven’t exactly covered it a lot, so how did you first find out about what’s going on?
I found out through a friend. Like you said, the media has almost blockaded the coverage of Standing Rock.
You have big oil money interests funding so many different parts of this system. The media being a major one. I think that’s why the media’s been so absent in the situation and why the government’s been so absent in the situation, because our nation is not really controlled by politicians, it’s controlled by the corporations. They lobby and propose a lot of the laws that oppress people nationwide for their gain. That’s why it’s important that we use our alternative platforms to publicize what’s going on.
The destruction of native people has been going on since before this was even a nation—since Christopher Columbus first landed on this side of the world. You’re not dealing with the same type of invisible people anymore. And now that we have the ability to broadcast what’s happening in our communities, with or without mainstream media support, we have to do just that.
How long were you in North Dakota? How did you get there?
I was in North Dakota for three days. I’m back in Los Angeles now and planning a trip back for the weekend. I got there on a plane, drove a couple hours to the camp. Now they’re saying it’s a lot more difficult to get into the camp because the governor shut off all emergency and municipal services for they’re not plowing the roads anymore—you have a huge conspiracy in the political system to protect the oil interests. We’re still working around it, though.
What was the experience like?
The experience was very profound. There are some people with incredible resolve down there, weathering the blistering cold and snow to defend the livelihood of the native people. There are just generations of warriors from the native tribes that are there—all the way from 15-year-old kids who’ve been wrongfully charged with felonies for nothing more than trying to defend their land and water source to 60-year-old women who have been fighting for these things for decades.
It’s very peaceful. They’re essentially just organizing in numbers and just praying. There’s a lot of praying going on. So it’s crazy when they’re depicted as violent and being disruptive and starting riots because they’re literally praying in the face of heavily armed militarized police and actual U.S. Army soldiers. It’s domestic terrorism 100 percent by the United States government. It’s complete domestic terrorism and its environmental racism. The pipeline was originally supposed to be run through an area near Bismarck, North Dakota which is a primarily white area and it was deemed as too dangerous for the natural resources of those people and so they moved it to Indian Country because America doesn’t value those people or doesn’t value the Native Americans. So that’s why we’re saying no, this is wrong. And as the people of this nation, were not going to stand for that.
Earlier today, audio of another Shia LeBeouf freestyle where he dissed Drake, Lil Yachty, Hot 97, and more surfaced online. Now, Yachty has responded to Shia, saying that the situation was never serious to him, but that LeBeouf needs to stick to acting going forward. Yachty’s response comes courtesy of a TMZ interview that took place at LAX after Shia’s diss hit online.
Of course, Yachty didn’t seem too concerned with Shia’s bars towards him, and basically played off the entire thing before he jetted off with this crew. So no, it doesn’t sound like a full blown Shia LeBeouf and Lil Yachty beef is about to start, though that would be one of the crazier beefs in hip-hop history. However, it does seem like Shia is pretty serious about his rapping and probably won’t be stopping anytime soon.
J. Cole released a 40-minute documentary titled Eyez last night and it featured a preview of two new songs, one of which had the internet buzzing that the Roc Nation rapper took veiled shots at Kanye West. Whether that is true is up for interpretation—and people are definitely getting their #hottakes in—but what’s undeniable is that Cole rapped over the same beat (produced by Freddie Joachim) for “False Prophets” that Joey Badass used for “Waves.”
As it turns out, Badass was fully aware that Cole was going to use the beat before he released it. “Imma tell Cole like I told Kanye earlier this year. … I still got the best Waves of all time!” Badass joked on Twitter before explaining Cole reached out to him and played the song for approval.
“Nah but nothing but love for my big brother @JColeNC,” he said. “He played the song for me & asked for my blessing on the beat months ago. Real one #4”
J. Cole’s new album 4 Your Eyez Only is set for release Dec. 9.
Unless you caught J. Cole at a music festival or bumped one of his feature verses—you can count all from 2016 on one hand—you probably thought the guy went ghost this year. The 31-year-old rapper from North Carolina pulls back the curtain tonight with the release of his new documentary titled Eyez.
The 40-minute doc takes a look at Cole’s life since 2014 Forest Hills Drive and what he’s been up to in the studio. As it turns out, he’s been putting in work, as the release of Eyez also comes with the announcement of his new album 4 Your Eyez Only that will be released Dec. 9.
The film begins with footage of a recording session at New York’s famous Electric Lady studio. You see Cole writing lyrics (with a pen! In a notebook!) The film has no narration, so you really get a fly-on-the-wall view of what making the album was like.
About seven minutes in, you can hear a new song (the title is not stated) and even see what appears to be its video. “It’s the return of the Mr. Burn Suckas,” he raps “Not herpes infested, just perfectly blessed with a style that you can’t eff with.” He goes on to dis “the amateur eight-week rappers/The Lil Whatever, just another short bus rapper/Fake drug dealers-turned-tour bus trappers.”
During the course of the film, you can see people tracking violin, organ, bass, vocals, trumpet, and more, and see Cole directing the musicians. The project gives an idea of exactly how involved the rapper is in every single aspect of the project—you even see him getting impromptu lessons in composition and music theory.
And of course, no J. Cole documentary would be complete without some footage of him playing basketball—you can see him warming up on the court about 17 minutes in.
A second maybe-it’s-a-video pops up at around the 31 minute mark, about someone whose “fall from grace was hard to take.”
The film ends with Cole riding away quietly on his bicycle into the NYC evening.
Stream J. Cole’s Eyez on Tidal. Non-members of Tidal can sign up for a complimentary trial.
Jeremih and Partynextdoor’s Summer’s Over Tour stopped in Houston Thursday night, but the R&B singer allegedly never actually took the stage. According to Bossip and multiple concert goers, Jeremih sent a look-alike to perform in his place.
“That fake @Jeremih they brought out in Houston wore a hoodie & hat the whole show sliding from his fans like Usher,” one fan wrote of the experience on Twitter. “@Jeremih If you weren’t gonna perform in Houston just say so. I’m extremely disappointed in that imposter they brought on stage,” another fan tweeted at the artist.
Vince Staples is set to go on his first major headlining North American tour of his career in February as the Long Beach rapper has announced his Life Aquatic Tour.
The 26-date trek spans three months and will open Feb. 24 at North Park Observatory in San Diego, and stop in major cities including Seattle, Atlanta, New York City, and Chicago before wrapping up at the Phoenix Lights Festival in Arizona on April 9.
The tour will mark the first time Staples will be touring material from his critically acclaimed EP, Prima Donna, which featured both ASAP Rocky and Kilo Kish. Since the project’s release, he’s shared a “Prima Donna” short film directed by Nabil that included songs from the EP in one seamless, blended trip. Staples also made his debut mark on Apple Music with the premiere episode of his S E A (Section Eight Arthouse) Broadcast System show on Beats 1. A press release for the new show described it as a “pirate radio-style broadcast full of music and interviews curated by Vince and designated to illuminate and distract the mind.” Sounds more than good to us.
Kilo Kish will come along as support for the tour. Pre-sale tickets will be available Thursday, Dec. 1, with public ticket sales available on Friday Dec. 2. Peep the full schedule below.
Announcing the Life Aquatic Tour https://t.co/tPqbCciXUJ pic.twitter.com/M1Xlle1GQe
— Vince Staples (@vincestaples) November 29, 2016
The Philadelphia rapper announced the news via social media Sunday, less than a week after he released his 1017 vs. The World project with Gucci Mane. Though he didn’t reveal any more details about the tape—including its release date—we wouldn’t be surprised if it was delivered in the near future. Throughout 2016, Lil Uzi has released projects at a steady rate, beginning with Lil Uzi Vert vs. the World in April, then The Perfect Luv Tape in July, and, most recently, 1017 vs. The World. He’s clearly taking full advantage of the recent momentum.
As the release date for Childish Gambino’s new album Awaken, My Love! gets closer, he continues to surprise us with small bits of information. The latest treat is an update to his Pharos app. Early Wednesday morning, Gambino sent out a mysterious tweet directing his fans to the Pharos app. Many fans may have also noticed that he cleared his entire Twitter history except for this one tweet. Upon opening the app, you can now see virtual reality concert footage from his Pharos event at Joshua Tree in California back in September. The footage is available on both iPhone and Android and can be viewed in full 360 degrees.
Wiz Khalifa offered some very on brand advice to Kanye West when pressed by the paparazzi about the rapper’s recent hospitalization.
“Nah man nothing like that,” Wiz responds to the paparazzi when they ask him if he thinks the breakdown was “well-deserved.” Wiz basically decided ‘Ye just needed something medicinal to deal with everything. “He need to smoke some weed. Some some kk, make your day day all better.” Everything sounded pretty nice and sincere on Wiz’s part, but he did let one diss slip in when he added, “I’m going to send him some to the mental institution.”
Kanye West certainly lives up to his workaholic reputation. According to a new report from US Weekly, Kanye has been desperately trying to work from his hospital bed, much to the concern of his wife Kim Kardashian. She’s been trying to stop him from over-exerting himself while he’s supposed to be resting.
“Kanye keeps wanting to work. At the hospital, he requested that recording equipment be brought to the hospital so he can record in his bed,” a source told Us. “And he has kept asking to see sketches of his fashion lines… He continues to want to work and Kim has to keep telling him to rest.”