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A Chinese rapper –– reportedly known for his ability to freestyle — was accused of sleeping and flirting with his fans, then allegedly cyber-bullied over the scandal. Several outlets report, that to prove his innocence, he severed his own finger while livestreaming.

“HHH (红花会 Hónghuāhuì), one of China’s most prominent hip-hop record labels, has shut down its operations after one of its artists, MC BeiBei, a.k.a. “贝爷” (bèi yé), cut off the tip of his pinky finger during a live stream,” Supchina.com reports. “The incident happened on August 6, when the 24-year-old rapper, whose real name is Lǐ Jīngzé 李京泽 and is best known for his freestyle battle skills in China’s underground hip-hop scene, was doing a live video chat on the live-streaming site yizhibo.com. Judging from the clip, the conversation started with MC BeiBei sharing some innocuous updates about his recent activities with his followers, but it quickly spun out of control after some viewers, presumably the rapper’s diehard fans who monitor his news closely, asked him to respond to the rumors that he had flirted and slept with some fans.”

Apparently, the rapper became “agitated” and said “I’ll chop off my finger to prove my innocence.”

“He then turned away from the camera, but some chopping sounds could be heard. A few seconds later, he returned and that the tip of his little finger had indeed been cut off. While his pinky bleeds profusely, MC BeiBei appears calm and shows no signs of pain,” the site continues.

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According Supchina, HHH told Sina News MC BeiBei suffers from hyperthyroidism, which causes him to experience mood swings at times. MCBeiBei’s account was suspended and he was sent to the hospital.

“The incident has had intense negative reverberations in the hip-hop community in China. A source close to Billboard says the Chinese Association of Performing Arts has since issued a list of banned rappers, including their ID numbers,” Billboard states.

Unbelievable.

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Source: Carlo Cruz / Red Bull Content Pool

The energy was thick with excitement this past Saturday as dancers from around the country gathered for the first Red Bull Dance Your Style competition in New Orleans.

With the advent of social media, dance has received more attention outside of the usual music videos or music artist performances. Viral challenges like the “In My Feelings” challenge or the “Before I Let Go” challenge have gotten worldwide recognition. Major choreographers like Aliya Michelle have also gained followers thanks to their videos uploaded to YouTube garnering millions of views.

But even with all these platforms at people’s disposal, it can still be challenging getting recognition as a dancer, especially if you specialize in a specific style. If you’re and expert popper, you might be a star within the poppin’ community and if you kill at memphis jookin’, then surely all the aspiring jookers know your name. But where can you go if you want to expand your audience or utilize all the different styles you know while still staying true to your foundation?

This is where competitions like Red Bull Dance Your Style come in. Dancers face each other one-on-one and the winner is determined by the crowd. Thus, the competition isn’t excessively focused on technicality but on who can truly put on a show. This forces dancers to dip into their toolbox of skills for the best performance. One Dance Your Style competitor Steven Kador a.k.a. Tha 3dge explained:

“I started out poppin’ and then from there, the more I traveled, I kind of like picked up different things from the styles of each region. Like, I went to Memphis and kind of got into the whole jookin’ culture. I’ve been to Chicago, Nashville. So I pulled from the parts that I liked from each area, and I kind of built my style the way I want to do it.”

Red Bull Dance Your Style has had U.S. qualifier events in Honolulu, Washington D.C., Miami, Boston and of course New Orleans. The top two winners from each event will go on to compete in the U.S. National Final in Las Vegas on September 28. Whoever is crowned the winner here will advance to the Red Bull Dance Your Style World Final in Paris, France in October.

Each competition is anchored in the culture of the region, so considering New Orleans is known for its bounce music, it was only right that Big Freedia and her amazing dancers made an appearance. As expected, she put on a stellar show.

Source: Carlo Cruz / Red Bull Content Pool

Along with Freedia’s high energy performance, the DJ kept the dancers and the audience engaged with a mixture of old gems and new school hits. You haven’t experienced a good time until you’ve watched dancers like Tha 3dge pop to Blueface‘s “Thotiana” or Ashly Winn a.k.a. Sheik Winn show off her waacking skills to Boosie Badazz‘s “Wipe Me Down.”

Eventually, the night came to an end when the two finalists, Marquez Alexander a.k.a. Spider and Nick Fury faced off. Fury represented for New Orleans while Spider hailed from Memphis, Tennessee. You can only imagine the fireworks that erupted when the two showcased their creativity to songs like Juvenile‘s “Back That Azz Up.”

But in the end, Spider took home the crown, despite both of them advancing to compete in Las Vegas. He was visibly filled with emotions for a win many dancers dream about when battling a worthy opponent. When asked about his success, Spider had simple words:

“I’m blessed and highly favored.”

Hopefully, more wins like this are captured as Red Bull Dance Your Style makes its way to Paris and beyond.

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Source: Daniel Boczarski / Getty

Ari Lennox has everyone going crazy after she dropped her “BMO” video. The 28-year-old rising star is beautiful AF and in the visual, she isn’t one bit shy about it.

With her curls and beautiful skin on full display the entire time, Ari is glowing while bathing in a bubble bath, serving looks, and wining that waist for a little over two minutes. It’s a lot to take in… and in case fans are wondering, she absolutely checks on those garbanzo beans before the clip ends!

ALSO READ: Ari Lennox Is All Torn Up Over An Ex In This Acoustic “Whipped Cream” Visual

“BMO” is off of Ari Lennox’s debut album Shea Butter Baby, which she dropped just in time for the summer, via Dreamville and Interscope Records. Prior to the critically acclaimed project coming out, she told XXL:

“You can expect my complete self. There’s different elements on the album: I’m singing about my first apartment, about liking broke n*ggas—if your soul is beautiful then who cares? I have this joint called ‘Static’ [where] I talk about my anxiety in a metaphorical way. Just a lot of sex, soul, romance and hip-hop.”

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We’re here to say she 100% lived up to expectations. Stream Shea Butter Baby here if you haven’t and check out the beauty in the photos below.