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Beastie Boys London 1993

Source: Martyn Goodacre / Getty

Fun Fact: The Beastie Boys Were Broke After Licensed to Ill.

Most would assume that upon dropping a debut album one would be rolling in riches—but all that glitters ain’t gold, as ADROCK and Mike D can attest. In a recent Guardian interview, the Beastie Boys reveal that they were actually broke AF after dropping Licensed to Ill.

“Russell [Simmons] was like, if you don’t go in the studio, then I’m not paying you,” Mike D said. “His calculation was that we would all be like, ‘Oh we want our millions. OK, Russell we’re going to do it.’ But we were all immediately, ‘F*ck you.'”

The good news is there are no ill feelings toward Simmons or Rick Rubin in hindsight, though ADROCK did add that “had it not worked out, had we broken up in ’87—and we never got paid by Rick and Russell and Def Jam—it wouldn’t be fine.”

Read more here, or just wait until the Beastie Boys Book drops on October 30.

Lifetime’s Released the First Trailer for Surviving R. Kelly.

We don’t want to see Robert Kelly’s in the limelight anymore than you do, but Lifetime’s forthcoming three-part docuseries isn’t about him. It’s about amplifying the voices of his survivors.

From Rolling Stone:

“‘Surviving R. Kelly’ traces the vocalist’s controversial past from 1970 to the present day, highlighting numerous abuse accusations of underage African-American girls. The project includes over 50 interviews, including spots from John Legend, R&B artist Sparkle, talk show host Wendy Williams and civil rights activist Tarana Burke. Kelly’s ex-wife Andrea Kelly, ex-girlfriend Kitti Jones and brothers Carey and Bruce also participated in the doc.”

Surviving R. Kelly, which was executive produced by Dream Hampton, will air in three different installments: Thursday, January 3rd at 9 p.m. ET/PT; Friday, January 4th at 9 p.m. ET/PT; and Saturday, January 5th at 9 p.m. ET/PT.

Watch the trailer below.

Roman Reigns’ Battle with Leukemia.

Professional wrestler Leati Joseph Anoaʻi, AKA Roman Reigns, is throwing in his WWE Universal Championship title due to his fight with leukemia. He revealed Monday that his cancer had returned after battling it for 11 years.

“When I was 22 years old, I was diagnosed with this,” he said in Rhode Island at the top of WWE’s Monday Night Raw program. “And very quickly I was able to put it in remission. But I’m not going to lie, that was the hardest time in my life. I didn’t have a job, I didn’t have any money, I didn’t have a home and I had a baby on the way.”

He added that he has no plans to retire, however. “I will beat this and I will be back,” he stated, “so you will see me very very soon.”

Watch his emotional speech below.

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