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On Friday night (May 18), Red Bull brought out a slew of gritty underground artists for its horror-themed night of hip-hop, Careful on the Pavement, as part of its Red Bull Music Festival. Bubbling rappers such as Chynna, Lil Wop and Rico Nasty put on gritty performances at New York City's Cutting Room.
DJ Kenn entertained the eager (and heavily medicated) crowd before the evening's first performer took the stage. As the clock moved past 10 p.m., rising D.C. rapper Rico Nasty stormed the venue to loud cheers. Donning her always animated clothing—a white tank top and black sweat pants with giant-sized looped earrings hanging off the side of the pants—the 21-year-old MC, who admitted to popping a Percocet before hopping on stage, engaged with concertgoers with her buzzing singles "Popping," "Trust Issues" and "Key Lime OG."
Despite gifting fans with an energetic set and engaging with fans, the "Hey Arnold" rapper said that she would rather be inside the studio creating music. "I like recording. I spend weeks at a time in studio sessions," she said after leaving the stage. "With touring, so much is on my mind. Keeping up with sh*t. And on the road, I buy so much expensive sh*t."
Nasty's set was followed by bubbling underground MCs such as Lil Wop, Bali Baby, Asian Doll and others, whose bravado-and sex-filled rhymes connected to the street and drug-infused energy of the concert-goers.
However, the highlight of the night came from Philly rapper, Chynna, who kept her set gritty by running through hard-boiled singles such "Gleen Coco," "Seasonal Depression" and "Practice." Decked out in black-and-white camouflage pants and a black crop-top, Chynna announced to the crowd that she is three years opiate free, which was followed by loud cheers.
"I felt crazy. I didn't want to be a statistic. I didn't want to go out that way and people be like: 'I told you so," or glamorize it [drugs], because I don't feel like that," Chynna told us after catching a breather. "It was nerve-wracking to be open, but when you see how many more people who are dealing with the same thing, it's good to have some kind of example of someone you didn't expect to be going through it."
Chynna also explained how having a support system was instrumental in her battling addiction. "It was hard," she said. "I had to go away for a minute and I did detox, but it was a matter of having a really good support system of family and friends."
Overall, Red Bull's Careful on the Pavement was created as an underworld environment, which is great for fans who cater to riff-raff spaces, but Chynna's announcement of her newfound drug-free life was a reminder that hip-hop's underworld can mesh with the cool lames of the world.
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Ronnie Radke has claimed that Max Georgiev was dismissed from Falling In Reverse due to allegations of sexual misconduct, accusations that Georgiev has firmly rejected.
Georgiev exited the Las Vegas metalcore group in 2024. Last week, the band’s frontman Ronnie Radke shared an Instagram post stating that the guitarist was removed after allegedly admitting to a sexual relationship with an underage girl.
“For those that are wondering why I fired the guitarist,” Radke wrote, according to Lambgoat, “it’s because he admitted to sleeping with a minor ten years before he [was] in my band [when] he was 27 years old. Have fun with that.”
Georgiev, who joined Falling In Reverse in 2018 and now performs with metal outfit Vio-lence, responded shortly after, denying the allegations. “To the fans, I have never done anything illegal with a minor,” said Max Georgiev. “Fifteen years ago, when I was 23, I still lived in Quebec, Canada.”
“Since then, I have played for several bands who never mentioned inappropriate behavior on my part,” he continued. “I have always had great respect for the fans. I have strived to play my heart out for you.”
Radke’s Instagram account has since appeared to be removed, something he addressed during a livestream. “Maybe me talking about my old guitar player getting fired for finding out he was hooking up with minors, I think that AI might’ve caught that and was like, ‘You gotta go’,” he suggested, as reported by Loudwire".
“This man not only did that, [but] the parents of the minor ten years before he was in my band found out, they confronted him, he lied about his age so he could continue doing that with her. He wasn’t 23, he was older. He’s lying about that,” Radke went on to claim.
In a subsequent statement shared on Thursday January 8, Georgiev again rejected Radke’s accusations, calling them “delusional”. “I met someone who turned eighteen a few months later while I occasionally dated her,” he said. “This was fifteen years ago, when I was 23 in Quebec, Canada.”
“Her parents never confronted me because the girl only had a mother. I never lied to her or her daughter about anything.”
Georgiev later suggested that his departure from Falling In Reverse may instead have been linked to him “taking the initiative to learn nine songs of another band”, which he identified as Disturbed.
Elsewhere, Radke has reportedly filed a temporary restraining order against Brittany Furlan, citing alleged harassment connected to a catfish controversy from last year.
He has repeatedly alleged that Furlan, the estranged wife of Tommy Lee, was involved with someone impersonating him online. The filing asks that she be required to remain at least 100 yards away from him. Representatives for Furlan have said they are “aware” of the request and maintain that the allegations are “not accurate”.
Radke also saw his defamation lawsuit against Anthony Fantano of The Needle Drop dismissed last year.
