Before They Were Famous

When you think of your average Lamborghini or Ferrari owner, odds are you’re picturing someone with a tremendous career – a doctor, lawyer, or maybe a CEO of a Fortune Five-Hundred company – but thanks his lucrative self-made career as a sports car enthusiast on YouTube, you can also add the individual known as The Stradman to that list. In fact, not only does The Stradman own one ferocious sports car, he owns a whole bunch fleet of them! But as great as things are presently going for this wildly popular YouTube influencer, it wasn’t so long ago that he was living out of his 2002 Audi TT for weeks-at-a-time as he scraped together a living for himself on $5 a day, camping out in a McDonald’s parking lot with the hopes that one day, he might just make it. And make it he did, but how did he go from scraping the bottom of the barrel to rising all the way to the top of the automobile-influencer game? Well, stay tuned because this is Before They Were Famous and you’re about to find out!

When I was a kid Coolio was at the top of his game! All my buddies were copying his hair do Gangstas Paradise was everyone's anthem. Rollingstone cited stated in 2015 "Gangsta's Paradise" was not just a defining moment in Coolio's career, but also in the history of rap music and popular culture. He's dropped 10 studio albums but never found the same success. Some even call him a one-hit-wonder despite 6 other top 10 hits. Today Coolio boasts just shy of 90K followers on Instagram. He's also had a few run-ins with the law The rapper received felony charges in "in 2001, for carrying a concealed weapon in a vehicle, and in 2009, for possession of "interesting" stuff." Most recently, per E! Online, he was charged with battery in 2013, and according to the Guardian, arrested again in 2016 after a stolen, loaded pistol was found in his baggage at Los Angeles airport. On the upside, he's become a legend in the world of Reality Television and has even landed a ton of acting gigs. He even ran for Vice President of The United States in 2020, I'm not even joking.

Before Yahu Blackwell would win the WBU cruiserweight title and now be ranked the number one contender for the WBC regional title. Before Yahu Blackwell being spotted with Real Housewives of Atlanta star Cynthia Bailey and franchising with Ritas Italian Ice outta Baltimore Rotunda. Before Yahu Blackwell winning 15 straight victories overseas and returning to the ABC moving up in weight and knocking out 3 heavyweights. Yahu Blackwell (Yadhu), grew up with three siblings and a single mother in a rough neighborhood of Baltimore, Maryland. He was passionate about boxing from a young age and trained his whole life to become a fighter. Before he'd go pro he'd receive a wake-up call when he got arrested and was facing 60 years in prison. Then, following some bad advice from his management, Yahu's first professional bout landed him in the hospital, certain his boxing career was over.

On the DARK SIDE OF FAME is a different story altogether – and Floyd, for as much of a monster as he can be in the ring, can also be one outside of it as well. As a young man, he dealt with a tragically difficult upbringing that would turn him into a man more than willing to drop comments laced with everything from racism, to homophobia, to plain old ignorance. And it’s not just his words either, whether he’s inside of the ring or out, Floyd is never hesitant to lay hands on any man or woman he feels has slighted him in any way. So, I hope you guys will join me as I take a look at Floyd Mayweather’s plunge into The Dark Side of Fame.

Over the past few weeks, one viral video has captured the attention of the entire world -- a show-down between Tajik singer, Abdu Rozik and his upcoming opponent in an MMA-style fight, Hasbulla Magomedov. Honestly, when this video first came across my phone, I had no idea what was going on – but the one thing I did know is that I had to learn more about both these young men as soon as humanly possible. Today, I’m centering my sights solely on the Three-foot, three-inch-tall prize-fighter in the making, Abdu Rozik, who despite looking like he’s only about five or six years old, is actually an 18-year-old musical prodigy. Okay, okay, maybe “prodigy” is a bit strong of a term, but the man clearly has skills on the microphone – the question is how, did he get them? And, perhaps even more importantly, what the heck is he doing signing onto a fight in an upcoming MMA match? Stay tuned to find out these answers and more!

Kendrick Lamar is an MC born and bred in Compton, California, who, over the course of his career, has garnered three consecutive No.1 albums on the Billboard 200 including 2015’s “To Pimp a Butterfly”, 2016’s “Untitled Unmastered”, and 2017’s thought-provoking masterpiece, “DAMN”. Following the monumental success of that last solo album, Kendrick would be tapped to shepherd the “Black Panther” soundtrack for Marvel Studios and with the help of fellow rappers like SZA, Jay Rock, Travis Scott, The Weeknd, Future, he scored yet another number one album on the Billboard 200 upon its release. But ever since then, Kendrick, well, he’s more or less dropped off the face of the planet as he takes his time preparing his next project. The question is -- without a sustained presence, can Kendrick Lamar remain at the very top of the rap game? Well, stay tuned because you’re about to find out!

When I look back at the year 2012 there are a few things that immediately come to mind – Christopher Nolan’s completion of his Batman trilogy with “The Dark Knight Rises”, anxiety over the Mayan prophecy that in December of that year, the entire world was apparently going to come to an end, and my total and complete inability to escape the smash hit song, “Thrift Shop” by Ryan Lewis and Macklemore. Trust me, folks, I tried to ignore it, but somehow that song ended up one of the highest-selling tracks of the year. Macklemore and his musical partner Ryan Lewis would even go onto win the Grammy for Best Rap Album and it seemed like this hip-hop duo was on track for total and complete worldwide fame. But flash-forward a handful of years and these two have split. What’s more – Macklemore has officially become something of a joke in the music industry, and, like many of us, has had a particularly difficult year while stuck at home under lockdown and struggling with personal demons. So, what happened to Macklemore and will he ever regain his spot as one of the most popular hip-hop artists around? Today, we’ll do our best to answer that very question.

They've dominated your social media timelines and have absolutely gone viral around the world with their pre-fight show and their videos being shared over million times across all platforms. Now the boys have the most hyped fight of the year getting more online social media attention than the likes of Logan Paul & Floyd Money Mayweather. Some are calling the match up unethical including The Russian Athletic Association for dwarfs – which I'm shocked to hear is even a thing. Others see it as nothing more than some innocent entertainment. When I say others well I'm citing a whopping 11 Million views and counting who tuned into the unofficial press conference. Online betting sites went wild over their first head-to-head competition which was a good old-fashioned push-up competition. For those just finding out about this story, both Hasbullah and Rozik are the victims of a growth disorder which is a variation of dwarfism that has resulted in them appearing childish despite both being believed to be around the age of 18 years old.

Lil Loaded, the Dallas rapper who was born in San Bernardo, California, but called Dallas, Texas home -- has passed away at the young age of just 20-years-old. When speaking with the media, his attorney, Ashkan Mehryari told them that Lil Loaded had taken his own life. A friend of Loaded’s, rapper EBK Cyrak, also backed up this theory, suggesting that Loaded took such drastic action because of a broken heart. In any situation like this, it’s always hard to know for sure what the true reasons are, but Lil Loaded was certainly going through a tumultuous time in his life. After all, this news follows quickly on the heels of his release from prison where he was held for a short period of time after being arrested on the suspicion of having played a part in his best friend tragic passing away, the rapper Savage Boosie, who was shot in October of last year. Now, Lil Loaded himself has passed on – leaving all of his fans wondering, what just happened?

Back in 2007, Flo Rida hit-track “Low” was inescapable. I’m talking ubiquitous radio play and a whole bunch of us can probably recall dancing to it at our high school proms. The single was catchy, raunchy, and helped propel Flo Rida into the national spotlight. But flash-forward about fourteen years, and most of Flo Rida’s fans are curious as to what exactly happened to him. Sure, he’s hinted at a new album release on the horizon recently, but here’s the thing -- he’s been teasing that album for a long time now. In the meantime, he seems to have gotten his side-hustle on, investing in a couple of projects like a food and drink complex, along with crashing the NFT market. Unfortunately, he’s also been making some headlines for the wrong reasons after disowning a child he had with a woman a couple of years ago. Why would he do such a thing? Keep watching to find out.