Three years ago, MTV's reality scope expanded considerably with not just the return of Jersey Shore, but also the introduction to the American marketplace of its global dating franchise Ex On The Beach. What we now have with Paramount+ had its seeds planted also in 2018 when The Challenge welcomed those from the global versions of those franchises and Big Brother, proceeding the eventual re-merger of Viacom and CBS. And also in the summer of that year, there was something else...
We didn't get to return to the Beach Club after that lone season, but for its second year of operations Lindsay's summer club moved its home base from the beach to Athens in 2019 near her other main operation of her self-named nightclub in the Olympic city, which operates the rest of the year out of summer. Both operations were closed last year for obvious reasons, but the Lohan Beach House in Mykonos is back in business again as Greece and much of Europe reopens after the pandemic shutdown as cases drop despite the emergence of a new variant, and tourism spikes among travel-hungry travelers following the long year in lockdown.
It's with this in mind that, earlier this month, one of those who were chosen to work at the Lohan Beach Club in Greece reemerged a bit as part of the latest music video from two of the biggest heavyweights in hip-hop right now, and a video that's fueled some discussion about the latest controversy that's divided viewers: the act of colorism a year after the summer of upheaval led by Black Lives Matter.
A recent trend in the music industry has been of something we would usually see only on the big music awards shows: high-profile collaborations between our favorite artists that dominate the charts. It was perhaps the biggest trend that practically kept the music scene afloat during the pandemic, along with the smash success of the duels of iconic music stars on VERZUZ.
This trend of music's best coming together for the sake of #1 on the singles charts was one that garnered the ire of 6ix9ine when his accusations of Justin Bieber & Ariana Grande cheating their way to the top to spoil his comeback single eventually led him to also get a #1 track of his own by collaborating with Nicki Minaj. And other music hookups involving not only them, but also Megan Thee Stallion, Beyoncé, the late Juice Wrld, DJ Khalid, Drake, Lady Gaga, Cardi B., Chance the Rapper, Shawn Mendes and Taylor Swift topped the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart during the lost 2020.
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| Pic Credit: 2DopeBoyz |
In contrast, the ladder took just a year to go from being an up-an-comer to becoming a power player when DaBaby's 2019 debut studio album Baby on Baby peaked in the Top 10. It was then followed by his two successors -- Kirk and Blame It on Baby -- topping the Billboard 200 charts, led by the success of... of course, a collaboration: "Rockstar" with Roddy Ricch spent seven weeks at #1 on the Hot 100 singles chart, including a Black Lives Matter-themed remix released a year ago this week after the events that happened to George Floyd, and earning him three Grammy nominations.
The video for "Drop" sees the duo take to a sight most of us haven't had the opportunity to enjoy for ourselves in a couple of years: a pool party, and it taking place in the Hollywood Hills no less. The Arrad-directed clip sees them preside over the madness of summer hedonism that was dormant last year replete with water guns and ladies in bikinis, but it also inadvertently sparked some criticism. Some heads-up fans noticed that the video lacked diversity and even a few went as far as calling Gotti colorist for his casting choices. And when The Shade Room posted that criticism on their site, he replied on Instagram that those who did say something bad didn't watch the video wire to wire and reiterated that he doesn't discriminate with the hashtag, "#TellEmWatchDaWholeVideo."
It's in that crowd of ladies who joined the guys in the "Drop" video that brings us back to the beginning and that Lohan connection: while much attention was on Kailah as well as Brent's ways with Sara and Mike dropping it all, someone who was invited by Lindsay to Greece was Jonitta Wallace. Unlike the other VIP's, she grew up in the college town of Syracuse as a middle child who had a hard childhood and worked for everything from an early age, and she earned her way to moving out west to become a VIP hostess and model. But Jonitta might be known for having a huge blowup with D.C. VIP Gabi Andrews over their affection with a guy that nearly got the both of them sent home... but they were lucky that they didn't get that first flight out of Europe.
Jonitta was one of those girls casted in the "Drop" video, which garnered a couple reactions from a couple of her friends: @montricex captioned on Instagram, "#BIGBAG @lustisntlove 👯♀️ My Sister Still Remains On Television @yogotti ♓️," while Facebook friend Maurisha added, "So Jonittaa dominate the video & didn't have to share one @$$ cheek."
Her cameo in "Drop" wasn't the only thing to happen to Jonitta this month... and just after the video premiered she made her way to the city that's temporarily unseated Vegas as the home of boxing. The attention of fight fans so far this summer has been on highly-publicized battles in the ring involving not top pound-for-pound fighters who fight for a living, but those who want just a simple paycheck in the seven figures for getting into a fight for the sake of our cash... all within reach of South Beach.
Miami has hosted a slew of high-profile fight cards this spring, including last week seeing one-half of power couple the Ace Family, Austin McBloom, knock out Bryce Hall in the battle of YouTubers vs. TikTokers. And tonight at the Marlins ballpark, the second installment of the Triller Fight Club will take place with a rare title unification tussle between Teofimo Lopez and George Kambosos for lightweight supremacy as the main event, proceeded by a real-life brawl being settled between former UFC champ Vitor Belfort and social media star & animal ranger The Real Tarzann.
The first edition of Triller Fight Club in April starred YouTube megastar Jake Paul when his knockout of former UFC'er Ben Askren broke the internet, but it was the latest opponent of his big brother Logan that garnered more than just a few eyeballs. Floyd Mayweather last fought in the ring in 2017 when he looked to become the first fighter ever to reach 50-0 as a professional when he faced off against another MMA icon in Conor McGregor... and unlike what he would do with Logan Paul, he took out the Irish superstar with an early knockout.
If you know a thing about Floyd and the way he fights, you pretty much will get a tactical bout that will might everyone to probably regret paying for that pay-per-view and having to sit through him and his opponent hugging... but his appeal as a former #1 most paid athlete in the world no doubt brings the stars out. Jonitta got to enjoy this fight night from the most spacious seats in Hard Rock Stadium: a star-studded luxury box that also included Cuba Gooding, Jr., Michael Vick, Jasmine Sanders and Akon, as seen in the embedded Instagram post below.
And the former Lohan VIP wasn't the only MTV'er to be in attendance at Mayweather/Logan: Baddies ATL star Janelle from Ex On The Beach and Antonio from A Double Shot at Love Vegas also braved the rain to join the festivities. Also there and in their own luxury box was Juliette and Sam of Siesta Key and their pal Mike for the second big event that they've attended at the Dolphins home stadium after going to last year's Super Bowl as well as this year's in watching Tom Brady take ring #7 --- and we'll join them for week 2 of their Caribbean vacation on this week's Key WRAP just to come here.
- I AM DC
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