
On this week’s CULTED Weekly News Round-Up, Barcelona striker Lionel Messi is on the hunt for a new home after failing to sign a new contract, Jerry Lorenzo unveils the Fear of God Fall ‘21 collection, and Fredo & Nas drop stellar new projects to vibe too all weekend. Not to mention some incredible developments regarding LGBTQI rights in Latin America! Information is the key to progress so stay informed with the CULTED Weekly News Round-Up.
LIONEL MESSI OFFICIALLY LEAVING BARCELONA
Barcelona football club has officially confirmed that superstar striker Lionel Messi will be leaving the club after 17 seasons with the famed institution. During a statement released on Thursday the 5th of August, the Spanish club released a statement explaining that despite both sides intending to negotiate a new contract today, nothing can be agreed due to economic structural obstacles put in place by LaLiga. Lionel Messi’s salary is thought to be the largest athlete salary in global sports history (£492 million over 4 years), therefore limiting the amount of clubs that can realistically afford to pay him. Rumours have already begun circulating about the star’s future placement at other footballing giants such as Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain.
COVID RETURNS TO WUHAN AFTER MORE THAN A YEAR WITHOUT A CASE
After almost a year without a single incident the Chinese city of Wuhan has reported its first cases of Covid. Despite being the city where Covid-19 first emerged in late 2019, life in Wuhan had returned to a substantial level of normalcy as rates fell to 0 cases per capita over the last year. However, the city of 11 million residents is swiftly launching comprehensive testing of all its residents after authorities announced on Monday that 7 locally transmitted cases have been found amongst migrant workers in the city, breaking its year long streak.
THE WORLD’S BIGGEST TYRE GRAVEYARD CATCHES ON FIRE IN CLIMATE CHANGE SCARE
This week in the Sulabiya area of Kuwait, the world’s largest graveyard of over 7 million used tires has caught ablaze, raising fearful questions about the toxic black smoke currently bellowing from the 6 acre site. Over the past 30 years, Kuwait had been dumping over 50 million tyres in various manufactured holes in the desert, leading to a boiling point situation that risks exacerbating the global climate crisis as well as diminishing the local quality of life. The smoke rising from the site can be seen from space as it was first noticed by satellite.
FEAR OF GOD LAUNCH FALL 2021 COLLECTION
Fear of God has finally unveiled the fall 2021 campaign for its seventh collection. The LA based brand spearheaded by Jerry Lorenzo is returning to its mantra of minimalistic luxury with this collection that infuses streetwear staples with the brands famed mastery of formal wear. From what we can tell in the earliest imagery, the collection comprises of cashmere knits, utility jackets, box T’s as well as classic leather goods like bags and belts. When asked to comment on the new collections, Jerry Lorenzo stated ‘it’s chasing the space between elegance and comfort ability and trying to learn the plane in those two worlds’.
QATAR & ITALY AGREE TO SHARE GOLD IN OLYMPIC HIGH JUMP
In a truly heartwarming scene from the Olympics track and field day, two olympic high jumpers who gave gold worthy performances at Tokyo on Sunday decided to split the gold instead of facing a jump-off. Mutaz-Essa Barshim of Qatar and Gianmarco Tamberi of Italy both matched their highest jumps of 2.37 meters before facing off in one attempt at 2.39 meters. In a dramatic scene before attempting the jump in a ‘golden goal’ type situation, the two athletes decided to share gold instead of re-jumping. The two world class athletes are old friends and had both been injured leading up to this year’s competition, therefore splitting gold as a sign of mutual respect was unusual but not unexpected.
FREDO DROPS NEW ALBUM ‘INDEPENDENCE DAY’
Fredo is on a mission this year after releasing his second studio album of 2021 titled ‘Independence Day’. The West Londoner keeps it real and gritty on this project that truly represents the style of road rap he has come to embody. The 42 minute long project features standout singles ‘Freestyle’, ‘Talk of the Town’ and ‘Wandsworth to Bullingsdon’ as well as an array of landmark features with artists like Potter Payper and Sus. This album follows in swift succession behind Fredo’s career defining album ‘Money Can’t Buy Happiness’ featuring Dave, Pop Smoke & Young Adz. After reaching number two in the charts, it’s nice to see that Fredo is continuing the momentum with this new project.
BELARUS ATHLETE FORCIBLY REMOVED FROM OLYMPICS FOR CRITICISING COACHES
Belarusian sprinter Krystina Timanovskaya has been granted a Polish Visa to seek asylum after she was nearly forcibly extradited to Belarus for criticizing coaches who tried to make her compete in an event she hadn’t trained for. The athlete expressed fears for her safety after she was made to pack her belongings and driven to Tokyo airport on Sunday where she was able to flag the attention of local police in order to prevent her forcible deportation. This incident comes during a growing trend of totalitarian moves by autocratic Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko who earlier in the year forcibly landed a commercial flight in order to arrest a 22 year old journalist who criticised the Belarus government.
ARGENTINA BECOMES FIRST LATIN AMERICAN COUNTRY TO OFFER NON-BINARY OPTION ON ID CARDS
In a massive move towards gender equality and LGBTQ recognition, Argentina has become the first Latin American country to formally construct a new national identity system that incorporates and includes people who identify as non-binary. It has been the case for a while in Argentinian law that anyone has the right to identify themselves as gender neutral. However, this has not been reflected in any kind of passport or national documentation that residence requires, as all documents only accept male or female descriptions. Now, anyone applying for formal documentation may select ‘X’ as their gender.
NAS RELEASES NEW ALBUM ‘KINGS DISEASE II’
New York native and Hip-Hop legend Nas has officially released his new album ‘Kings Disease II’, the follow up to his 2020 hit album ‘Kings Disease’. Taking to social media on Wednesday, Nas unveiled the tracklist for the album that included surprise features by Eminem, Blxst and Ms. Lauryn Hill. The whole album is produced by Nas’s longtime collaborator Hit-Boy and will be released on Nas’s own label Mass Appeal.
RIHANNA IS OFFICIALLY A BILLIONAIRE
In a recent article released by Forbes, Rihanna has officially become a Billionaire after accumulating a total net worth of over $1.7 Billion. This staggering sum makes Rihanna the wealthiest female musician in history and the second wealthiest woman in the entertainment industry behind Oprah Winfrey. Despite having not released an album in over five years, Rihanna’s success had only accelerated with the release of her Fenty beauty line and her Savage x Fenty lingerie line.