WEEKLY NEWS ROUNDUP: NAS ANNOUNCES NEW ALBUM, MESSI LEAVES BARCELONA & MORE

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.