Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Names and faces
⬛ Grammy- nominated rapper DaBaby is scheduled to appear in court today after being released from a Los Angeles County jail in Beverly Hills, with police saying he took a loaded gun into a store on Rodeo Drive. DaBaby, whose legal name is Jonathan Kirk, was arrested last week on suspicion of carrying a concealed weapon and carrying a loaded gun in a vehicle, Beverly Hills police said. The 29-year-old was part of a group of men who walked into a store on an upscale stretch of Rodeo Drive, police said. Store security called police after seeing a gun in one man’s waistband, and officers met the men as they returned to their vehicle, police said. The other men were released, and DaBaby was arrested and jailed. He was freed after posting $35,000 bail. An email sent to DaBaby’s representatives seeking comment was not returned. The North Carolina rapper’s song “Rockstar,” featuring Roddy Ricch, was one of the biggest hits of 2020 and is nominated for a Grammy Award for record of the year. DaBaby’s latest two albums, 2019’s “Kirk” and 2020’s “Blame It on Baby,” both reached No. 1 on the Billboard 200 album chart. The incident comes a year after a misdemeanor battery arrest in Miami after a dispute with a club owner over payment for a performance, police said. DaBaby denied involvement in the fight. In 2019, he pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of carrying a concealed weapon after a fatal shooting at a Walmart in Huntersville, N.C.
⬛ Steve Earle has recorded tribute albums before — to songwriting mentors Town es Van Zandt and Guy Clark. But this one is different. Maybe that’s because he started recording it just months after his son, Justin Town es Earle, died alone in his Nashville, Tenn., apartment of an accidental drug overdose at the age of 38. Steve Earle’s “J.T.” consists of 10 of his son’s songs and one original composition, “Last Words,” which recounts their final phone call. The details are intimate, and Steve Earle reveals more about their relationship in liner notes and interviews. The father’s homage is an album of careful curation and performance of the son’s songs, with passion poured in by a band — which once included Justin in its ranks — as they work their way through the catalog. Ultimately, “J.T.” aims to do what tribute albums are supposed to — elevate the work of the artist, offer a reminder of the songs he created, and somehow begin the painful process of sorting through an unfathomable loss.