Rapper-actor Chino XL died Sunday at his residence, in line with an announcement from his household. No reason behind dying had been introduced on the time of this text’s publication; he was 50.

The Bronx-born rapper, whose actual title was Derek Keith Barbosa, is survived by his youngsters, Chynna, Bella, Lyric and Kiyana; stepson Shawn; 5 grandchildren; his mom and his longtime companion Stephanie.

In a joint assertion, his daughters wrote: “Our father had many titles — King of Punchlines, Puerto Rican Superhero — however crucial one was Lady Dad. And what he gave us most in that position was his energy, straightforwardness, and talent to be tremendous lifelike. The primary factor we’re feeling now’s that our Dad is at peace, and so we’re at peace.” 

All through his profession, the rapper generally known as the “Lyrical Messiah” constructed his cachet as a revered emcee, releasing 4 solo albums and several other collaborative initiatives. Together with standout freestyles on Sway and King Tech’s Wake Up Present and a brief stint on Rick Rubin’s American Recordings, he forayed into performing with roles in Rob Reiner’s “Alex & Emma” and on “Reno 911!”

Born in 1974, Barbosa grew up in East Orange, New Jersey, the place he turned a rapper at school and took on “Chino” based mostly on his childhood nickname. Within the late Eighties, he joined forces with producer Kerri Chandler to kind the duo the Artwork of Origin. They signed with Rick Rubin’s Def American Recordings through Warner Bros. in 1991 and after releasing singles, Chino XL launched into a solo profession.

He launched his debut album, “Right here to Save You All,” in 1996, and adopted with “I Instructed You So,” which featured collaborations with Cypress Hill’s B-Actual, Kool G Rap, and J Dilla, amongst others; he later gained the rights to the album and re-released it independently. A sequence of albums adopted over the subsequent 20 years: “Poison Pen” (2006), “One thing Sacred,” a collaboration with Playalitical (2008), “Ricanstruction: The Black Rosary” (2012), “Chino vs. Balt” with Balthazar Getty (2020), and “God’s Carpenter,” a collaboration with Stu Bangas (2023).

Chino most lately made an look on Rakim’s newest challenge “G.O.D.’s Community (Reb7rth),” which launched on July 26. He’s featured on the observe “Pendulum Swing” that includes Kxng Crooked, Canibus and LA the Darkman.

Notably, Chino turned embroiled with Tupac Shakur previous to his passing resulting from a line he included on his 1996 music “Riiiot!” Shakur namedropped Chino on his basic diss music “Hit ‘Em Up,” prompting Chino to launch his personal response diss. It was unclear if the 2 settled their variations earlier than Shakur’s dying.

He signed with Hollywood supervisor Stacey Castro and began working as an actor within the early 2000s, showing in Reiner’s “Alex & Emma” as a flamenco dancer reverse Luke Wilson and Kate Hudson. He additionally acted in Brandon Sonnier’s 2003 hip-hop movie “The Beat,” which premiered at Sundance and counted Coolio and Brian McKnight in its forged. On the small display, he appeared on “Reno 911!,” “CSI: Miami” and “The Younger and the Stressed.”

Extra lately, he branched out as an creator of graphic novels, together with “Black Mass,” “Lucy” and “Pores and skin and Bones: The Descent of the Holy.”

Chino XL, the rapper whose daring lyricism and relentless fearlessness garnered each respect and controversy all through his profession, has died on the age of fifty.

In a joint assertion launched on Tuesday, the household of the New York rapper, born Derek Emmanuel Barbosa, confirmed that he had died at his dwelling on Sunday morning. “Our father had many titles — King of Punchlines, Puerto Rican Superhero — however crucial one was Woman Dad,” his daughters wrote. “And what he gave us most in that position was his power, straightforwardness, and skill to be tremendous lifelike. The primary factor we’re feeling now’s that our Dad is at peace, and so we’re at peace.” A explanation for loss of life was not instantly accessible.

The rapper of Puerto Rican descent was born within the Bronx, New York, and launched 4 studio albums all through his profession, together with Ricanstruction: The Black Rosary. Amongst his greatest hits have been “No Advanced,” “Sickology 101” with Tech N9ne, and “The Anthem” with Sway and King Tech.

Barbosa started his profession within the music business as a youngster and shaped the rap duo Artwork of Origin with producer Kaoz. He was later signed to Rick Rubin’s American Recordings label at 16, and Barbosa’s debut album, Right here to Save You All, launched in April 1996, receiving widespread reward.

The LP included the monitor “Riiiot!” that name-dropped a slew of celebrities together with OJ Simpson, John Belushi, and Magic Johnson, and it additionally featured the infamous line “I’m attempting to not get fucked like Tupac in jail” throughout the first verse. The music is claimed to have sparked a feud with Tupac Shakur, and the next June, the All Eyez on Me rapper dropped diss monitor “Hit ‘Em Up,” which took goal at former pal Infamous B.I.G. and the Dangerous Boy crew, Sean “Diddy” Combs, Mobb Deep, and Barbosa.

After he was launched from his contract with American Recordings, Barbosa signed with Warner Bros. Information in 1997, however his sophomore album confronted a number of delays. He was later dropped by the label after their Black music division shuttered. Though I Advised You So finally launched, it wouldn’t be till 2001 through Metro Information.

His third album, Poison Pen, dropped in 2006, and was adopted by his fourth and ultimate LP, Ricanstruction: The Black Rosary, in 2012. The double disc launched with Immortal Approach’s Viper Information and was hailed as his finest work thus far.

When talking to HipHopDX concerning the document, a deeply private and weak physique of labor, Barbosa mentioned how “quite a lot of the interior points and quite a lot of the issues in my previous have an effect on my current.” He added, “I simply type of felt just like the pen was simply type of like entering into its personal path, and it was simply type of what I needed to get out of my system like for good.”

Barbosa, who often spoke of the craftsmanship and artwork behind songwriting, participated in Mike Ford’s Hip-Hop Structure Camp in 2008 to assist diversify the sector of structure by having college students assemble Lego fashions primarily based on rap lyrics. “I’ve been on this planet for a number of many years, and I’ve moved in some fairly radical circles, however personally, I can’t recall assembly a melanated architect in my entire life,” Barbosa informed Rolling Stone on the time. “Only for these youngsters to comprehend it’s a factor, that’s necessary.”

Following information of his loss of life, quite a few artists shared tributes on social media and mirrored on Barbosa’s legacy. “Rattling… RIP to the legend Chino XL,” wrote Joe Budden on X. “Hurts to jot down, RIP Chino XL,” posted Proof.

“We spoke on the cellphone the opposite day and laughed. Our careers have been tied collectively for the reason that Wake Up Present freestyles many years in the past,” wrote KXNG Crooked on X. “I’m fucked up. Relaxation in Peace my brother Chino XL.” Crooked and Barbosa had simply joined Rakim on “Pendulum Swing,” which dropped final week.

Barbosa had shared his pleasure for becoming a member of Rakim on the monitor in an Instagram submit. “Blessed to be part of this @thegodrakim mission!! It’s an honor of excessive benefit!!” wrote the rapper on Instagram in June. “My dude and Curator of this complete mission [A&R M80] made this whole bucket record, childhood dream doable, honest gratitude.”

Whereas Barbosa was usually acknowledged for his music, he additionally featured in tv roles similar to Reno 911! and CSI: Miami, and in movies together with Brandon Sonnier’s The Beat and 2003’s Alex & Emma alongside Kate Hudson and Luke Wilson.

When talking to Truth505 in 2011 earlier than the discharge of his ultimate album, Barbosa acknowledged that whereas folks have to make a residing, his focus has all the time been on the lyrics. “I by no means obtained into this music to get wealthy. After I first began, the music that I used to be influenced by, the folks weren’t wealthy,” he stated. “I type of get pleasure from being an artist that, you’re not my fan or my supporter by chance. You’ll be able to’t discover my data in half of the locations.

“Fortunately, I’m ready in my life the place I don’t need to do too many issues that I don’t need to do financially,” he added. “So, I’m kinda completely satisfied to have the ability to say what I need and do what I need. It feels good.”

It was “as cool because it will get” the Olympic announcers mentioned as he completed a excessive bar routine.

Which is precisely what Massachusetts’s Frederick Richard has dreamed about, having informed media shops that he hopes to make gymnastics cool.

“It goes again to me type of feeling what my function is within the sport — It’s to develop the game,” he informed NBC, when telling them about his in style TikTok account, which has over 700,000 followers and counting.

And as he Richards nailed his excessive bar routine, NBC commentators heaped on the reward.

What commentators mentioned about Richard’s excessive bar efficiency

Richard had already led off on rings with a stable 14.03, a half-point enchancment on his rings rating in qualifying.

That momentum introduced him into the excessive bar the place he soared, arising large with a 14.833.

“There it’s,” one commentator mentioned as he caught the touchdown.

“My goodness. A monster routine,” the following chimed in.

“He didn’t simply hit it, he upgraded it,” one mentioned, referring to locations the place he added issue to the routine.

“I imply that’s what you dream about. Workforce meet. I‘m going to set the toughest routine I can do. On the most crucial time on the Olympic Workforce Finals. I’m going to hit it and I’m going to hit the dismount,” the commentator mentioned.

The dwell feed then lower to video of Richard’s dad or mum’s celebrating. Richard’s high-bar routine had social media buzzing. 

How did Frederick Richard rating general?

Richard has an excellent evening. He shined in excessive bars with 14.833, however he did effectively general with scores of 14.466 in ground, 14.033 in rings, and 14.566 on parallel bars.

The 20-year-old led staff USA.

Embedded content material: https://www.instagram.com/p/C-A_WumOIsd/?hl=en

How did Workforce USA do?

 For the primary time in 16 years, the U.S. males’s gymnastics staff claimed a medal: bronze.

Stephen Nedoroscik, a pommel horse specialist whose solely contribution to the staff rating got here on the final routine of the evening, helped clinch the bronze for Workforce USA with the very best scoring routine of the evening at 14.866. Nedoroscik is from Worcester, Massachusetts.

When will Frederick Richard compete subsequent?

Richard can be again within the health club on Wednesday, July 31 for the all-around finals. It is going to begin at 10:30 a.m. Paul Juda may also be competing.

All of the rites of passage for a youngster had been obtainable to Frederick Richard whereas rising up in Stoughton.

Soccer video games. Dances. Events. Hanging out.

Texts would pop into his telephone recurrently to see if he was up for doing one thing. And Richard’s response was nearly at all times some model of “thanks, however not at present. I’ve obtained follow.”

The invites to do the “cool issues” and the inherent peer strain that comes together with it had been always outweighed by the gymnast’s unwavering perception in himself and the incessant pull of his chosen sport, as nameless and uncool as it’s perceived to be — at the very least whenever you’re a man anyway — in the US.

“It was laborious within the sense that I felt form of alone in my journey and disregarded and issues,” he stated. “However I’m hooked on this. I’m hooked on the dream.”

A dream that extends far past simply the Olympics.

Don’t get Richard incorrect. The charismatic 20-year-old is aware of when he steps onto the ground at Bercy Enviornment in Paris on July 27, will probably be the end result of his nonetheless very younger life’s work. However it is only one step in a plan that extends far past any single talent, any single meet, any single medal.

Frederick Flips

The president and founding father of “
Frederick Flips,” a sports activities attire firm, doesn’t see himself as simply an athlete. He’s a CEO.
An influencer.
A YouTuber. A budding visionary who counts Muhammad Ali and Michael Jordan amongst his heroes.

And sure, he is aware of what invoking these names entails.

“I’m not making an attempt to repeat issues and comply with paths which have been made,” Richard stated. “I’m at all times like ‘What am I going to do the subsequent 10 years? How do I create this path that’s by no means been accomplished, this profession? It doesn’t exist.’”

No, it doesn’t.

Males’s gymnastics has been largely an afterthought within the U.S. for many years, typically working within the shadows of a girls’s program that recurrently churns out gold medalists who attain “first title solely” standing throughout the sport.

Richard is barely too conscious that this type of standing doesn’t exist for American males. He’s making an attempt to vary that
one efficiency,
one viral social media submit,
one tv look at a time.

“One among my objectives is to have somebody stroll down the road someday and also you ask them to call a male gymnast they usually truly title a male gymnast,” he stated.

What’s in a reputation

Which brings the College of Michigan junior to his title.

Fred? Frederick? He’s bounced between preferences for some time earlier than deciding on each relying on the setting. Certain “Fred” works within the U.S. however “Frederick Richard” — a nod to his French heritage — carries just a little extra sophistication internationally.

If you wish to construct a model, in spite of everything, you’ve obtained to know your viewers.

Richard took a big step in getting his title — whichever one you choose — out when he earned bronze within the all-around on the 2023 world championships, the primary by an American man at a significant worldwide meet in 13 years. It was an enormous step for a males’s program that’s been operating in place for the higher a part of a decade.

It ought to have been a joyous second. It wasn’t. Not precisely anyway. Richard’s excessive bar routine in the course of the last rotation wasn’t his finest. He thought his possibilities at a medal had been gone. Then others within the subject struggled too, resulting in a outcome Richard wasn’t certain he deserved.

It wasn’t till Nice Britain’s James Corridor came to visit to congratulate him that Richard softened. The alternate provided a reminder that for the entire methods Richard is making an attempt to develop into a crossover star whereas making his sport extra accessible to the lots, the truth is he stays “obsessive about being an athlete, pushing the bounds.”

Sure, it may be simple to get caught up in all the pieces that goes into making an attempt to construct a model. But beneath Richard’s breeziness is a resolve primarily based not on swagger or ambition however one thing deeper.

“You see Fred in (the health club) and he’s simply grinding and simply sweating and simply pushing nonstop,” stated Michigan and Olympic teammate Paul Juda. “And I’m going, ‘I must be doing that.’”

Richard has no intention of changing into a kind of influencers who develop into solely loosely affiliated with what made them influential within the first place.

He solely really feels at house when he’s within the health club with chalk on his arms, tinkering with a routine or a talent or diving into movies of the lads he can be competing in opposition to in Paris.

He is aware of a medal of any coloration can be big for the U.S. program. However why accept merely getting on the rostrum? Why not deal with attending to the highest even realizing that defending Olympic champion Daiki Hashimoto of Japan will arrive in Paris as a heavy favourite to repeat?

That’s merely not Richard’s manner. When Juda, Richard and the remainder of the U.S. group arrived on the world championships final 12 months, there was a way of reduction among the many group on having made it. That merely wasn’t ok for Richard.

“(He’s) like, ‘Yeah, however what in regards to the cooler factor? Let’s do the cooler factor and let’s get individuals to speak in regards to the cooler factor,’” Juda stated.

Increased objectives

Richard isn’t programmed to goal decrease. If he was, possibly he would have bailed on all these weekend practices and gone to a celebration as a substitute. Possibly he would have let incessantly being the one Black athlete at a meet crammed with predominantly white rivals get to him.

It by no means did. Partly as a result of he says he at all times felt accepted. Partly as a result of he understood the chance in entrance of him if he might simply keep it up.

“Youngsters look as much as these massive names,” he stated. “However I wasn’t seeing anyone who was Black like me, dominating on the world stage (in males’s gymnastics). … I wished to be that particular person. I wished the gyms to replenish with Black youngsters. That’s nonetheless considered one of my massive objectives. That’s why I do that too.”

It’s one of many primary priorities in Richard’s ever-evolving “to-do” record.

A few of his favourite days are mornings that start with a brainstorming session along with his artistic group, one which has expanded during the last 12 months to incorporate two digital camera operators and a enterprise accomplice, amongst others.

He switched majors from enterprise to movie, TV and media. His long-term objectives embrace increasing his clothes line, doing just a little performing and serving as a producer.

“Each day I develop, I study one thing new,” he stated. “Each day I get barely extra readability on what I wish to do, what I wish to develop into. And I simply now I simply really feel like something’s doable.”

That sense of readability additionally gives Richard with a way of freedom. Possibly he sticks all the pieces on the Olympics and comes house with a medal or three in his carry-on. Or possibly he doesn’t. He’s placing all the pieces he has into this second, sure. However he is not going to let the end result outline him.

“(Both manner) I’ll go house and stay my superb life that I’m already dwelling,” he stated. “So let me have enjoyable displaying off, after which I believe I’ll exhibit.”