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A church for marijuana lovers is planning its official grand opening in Denver, Colorado on April 20 (world weed day). The new church known as International Church of Cannabis has taken over a former Christian church building and claims to be the first large venue in the world where cannabis can be legally consumed in a social environment. The church says it will "offer a home to adults everywhere who are looking to create the best version of themselves by way of the sacred plant." Members of the church call themselves Elevationists, founding member Steve Berke through the church's website said: "Our lifestance is that an individual’s spiritual journey, and search for meaning, is one of self-discovery that can be accelerated with ritual cannabis use. Elevationists claim no divine authority, nor authoritarian structure, therefore, those of all religious and cultural background are welcome to visit our chapel and take part in our celebrations." The group is ...

Canada is set to legalise marijuana for recreational use by July next year. Such use is already allowed in the US states of Colorado, Washington, Oregon and Alaska as well as California, Massachusetts, Maine and Nevada. But Canada would become the first G7 industrialised nation to do so nationwide. Marijuana for medical purposes is already legal but annual sales of recreational marijuana could be as high as £5.2bn. The Liberal government in Ottawa has put forward legislation to end the prohibition of pot, and would let adults possess 30g of the drug in public. It set the legal age at 18, but said it would be up to each province to decide if it should be higher and also how the drug is distributed and sold. Public health experts have mostly backed a minimum age of 21 as the brain continues to develop to about 25, according to a government-backed panel. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau believes the new measures would restrict youngsters' access to marijuana and reduce ...

Drake’s More Life has just hit another milestone. The massively popular playlist, which has topped the Billboard 200 for three weeks straight, has already surpassed one billion streams, according to Billboard. This is a staggering feat that dwarfs competitors. Ed Sheeran’s ÷, for instance, has amassed 599 million streams of its songs and it’s been out for five weeks. Bruno Mars’ 24K Magic — which has been out for 20 weeks — has reached 470 million streams. Both are whopping figures that pale in comparison to Aubrey’s latest numbers. The 6 God has seen this before. His last album, Views, is the most streamed LP of all time with more than 3.48 billion on-demand audio streams to date, according to the report. Released last month, More Life opened with major figures, selling 505,000 equivalent album units in its first week. It went on to top the charts and helped Drake shatter streaming records almost immediately.

2017 Billboard Music Award Nominations Revealed The 2017 Billboard Music Awards are quickly approaching and organizers are now proud to announce this year’s nominees. Leading the pack with 22 nominations are Drake and The Chainsmokers, followed by Twenty One Pilots at 17, Rihanna with 14, The Weeknd with 13, and Beyoncé rounding out the top six with eight of her own. Drizzy already broke a Spotify record last month for his More Life album, however any honors he gets during this year’s event will come from the triple platinum project Views. See the list of categories and nominations below, and be sure to tune into ABC on May 21st for the 2017 Billboard Music Awards. Top Artist: Adele Beyonce Justin Bieber The Chainsmokers Drake Ariana Grande Shawn Mendes Rihanna Twenty One Pilots The Weeknd Top New Artist: Alessia Cara Desiigner Lil Uzi Vert Lukas Graham Zayn Billboard Chart Achievement Award Presented by Xfinity: Luke Bryan Nicki Minaj The Chainsmokers The Weeknd Twenty ...

Kendrick Lamar has revealed collaborations with Rihanna and U2 on his forthcoming album. The rapper released the track listings for his fourth studio album, titled DAMN, on Tuesday, along with the cover artwork. Rihanna and U2 feature on two separate songs, Loyalty and XXX. The follow-up to 2015's To Pimp A Butterfly features 14 new tracks in total, including Blood, DNA, Fear, and Lamar's latest single, Humble. Fans on social media were excited by the appearance of Rihanna on the record, but not as keen on U2. One user said: "Kendrick has a song featuring... U2. Okay," while another added: "I really do not need to hear U2 on a Kendrick album." "Really excited about the new Kendrick album but that U2 feature... lol," wrote another user. In a recent interview with Pitchfork, Lamar teased the album, saying: "My focus is ultimately going back to my community and the other communities around the world where they're doing the...

Not long ago, Washington University introduced a class for students centered around the politics of Kanye West. Now, for his final lecture on the course this semester, Dr. Jeffrey McCune will use Kanye West in a case study for mental illness.  Professor McCune explains the idea behind the lecture saying,  'ultimately what I’m getting at in this lecture is not just about Kanye, it’s also about the larger notion of crazy and how we utilize it”. He adds that  “I want to give people permission to be enraged. Give people permission to be upset, to be angry, to be frustrated. Give people permission to have moments where they break. Give people permission to have moments where they experience depression. I want to give them permission to have those moments without being characterized as being some type of deviant figure in the community. I don’t want to take away that experience and call it crazy. It’s reasonable, and it must be addressed with love, compassion, care...

Just one week after premiering “Come Closer” with Drake, WizKid pays tribute to his native Africa in the dance-heavy video. Directed by DAPS, the visual is a colorful myriad of scenes layered with paint and special effects. While the Starboy and his team of dancers whine across the clip, paint splashes and kaleidoscope effects create dazzling images. Soundtracked by Afrobeat production, the visual also has beautiful nods to Africa. This is depicted in the headdresses and face paint worn by the gorgeous models, in some of the clothing, and the continent even decorates one of the dancers’ necklaces. Drake isn’t in the video, but he’s building quite a relationship with WizKid, who hails from Nigeria. The two previously collaborated with Kyla on their massively popular “One Dance” collaboration. Previously titled “Hush Up the Silence,” “Come Closer” is the lead single off WizKid’s forthcoming RCA Records debut album, Sounds From the Other Side.

J. Cole has gone platinum without features yet again. This time, he’s done it with his 2016 album, 4 Your Eyez Only. This is an impressive achievement for the Fayetteville rapper because it means that all four of his albums have obtained at least a platinum certification from the Recording Industry Association of America. It’s his second album to reach this plateau without features. 2014 Forest Hills Drive, which also had no guests, was Cole’s first double platinum LP. Released in December of 2016, 4 Your Eyez Only sold 492,000 equivalent album units in its opening week, his largest debut yet. By January, the effort earned a gold plaque. The concept-driven LP was preceded by a 40-minute documentary, Eyez. It will be followed by an HBO documentary, J. Cole: 4 Your Eyez Only, which airs April 15. Starting June 1, you can catch Cole on his “4 Your Eyez Only World Tour,” which kicks off in Columbia, SC.

Tupac Shakur’s legacy lives on in many ways. His music continues to make a Hall of Fame impact, his life is being turned into a feature film, and now, his dream café will open for a limited time in New York. The late rapper’s estate has announced plans to turn Lower East Side’s Sweet Chick into Powamekka Café, a restaurant concept that Shakur came up with prior to his tragic death in 1996. It will be open to the public from April 7-9 at 178 Ludlow St. in the icon’s home state. Tom Whalley, the estate trustee, said it will bring ‘Pac’s notebook sketches to life. “Tupac’s creative vision was limitless. He was constantly working on ideas and plans that reached far beyond music and film,” he said. “One of the things he was extremely passionate about was opening a restaurant; he even sketched out plans and a concept for a menu. We are proud to bring Tupac’s Powamekka Café to life.” As Whalley mentioned, Shakur wrote about this concept in one of his famous notepads. Over the course of ...

A new self-healing material has been invented that we may see implemented on smartphone screens in the not too distant future. The material can conduct electricity and apparently has abilities to self-repair beyond just cuts and scratches. As reported by  Business Insider , the new material that the chemists at University of California, Riverside created is made up of “a stretchable polymer and an ionic salt.” The self-healing aspect is enabled by the particular ions and molecules being attracted to each other: The material, which can stretch to 50 times its original size, is made of a stretchable polymer and an ionic salt. It features a special type of bond called an ion-dipole interaction, which is a force between charged ions and polar molecules. This means that when the material breaks or has a scratch, the ions and molecules attract to each other to heal the material.   Even more impressive is the material’s ability to repair and reconnec...

Call him Chaining Tatum. After breaking all sorts of records with More Life, Drake celebrates with a new $120,000 OVO chain. Customized by celebrity jeweler Ben Baller, the 6 God’s new piece is a multi-colored marvel. It features the label’s famous owl logo and mascot with a Hermès link chain, ice blue eyes, golden wings, and bright pink accents. All around, the solid gold piece reportedly includes 40 carats of ice blue, canary, and white VVS diamonds. According to TMZ, it cost $120,000 and was designed by IF & Co. Drizzy celebrated the new piece by praising Baller on social media. The two appear together in one video, smiling, laughing, and reciting lyrics from More Life’s “Gyalchester.” “Hermès link,” raps the 6 God. “Ice blue mink!” In another clip, Drake gives fans an up close look at the expensive piece. “@benballer out here going insane,” he wrote. Drake is fond of his jewelry. On “Started From the Bottom,” he rapped: “I wear every single chain, even when I’m in the ...

Scientists in the UK have created a new membrane 'sieve', capable of transforming seawater into drinking water. The sieve uses the world's thinnest material graphene, a form of carbon, which is just one atom thick and 200 times stronger than steel. The discovery by a team at the University of Manchester has the potential to revolutionise water filtration across the world, particularly in countries which cannot afford large-scale desalination plants. While the graphene-oxide membrane had previously been used to filter out large salt crystals, scientists have now found a way to control the pore size of the membrane. The discovery, which was announced in the Nature Nanotechnology journal, means the graphene layer can now sieve common salts out of salty water, making it safe to drink. Professor Rahul Nair, who lead the team of researchers in Manchester, says it is a "significant step forward" that will "open new possibilities for improving the efficie...

WWE superstar John Cena has proposed to fellow wrestler Nikki Bella on stage after winning a fight. The romantic gesture took place after the couple defeated two other fighters in a WrestleMania 33 tag-team challenge. Cena and Bella were celebrating a win against The Mizz and Marse on Sunday when the WWE superstar got down on one knee and presented his girlfriend with a diamond ring. "I have been waiting so long to ask you this," he said as the crowd cheered. "Stephanie Nicole Garcia-Colace, will you marry me?" he asked, addressing the wrestler by her real name. The 33-year-old Total Divas star accepted. Later, Cena shared a post on his Twitter feed, thanking his "always expressive family the WWE Universe for allowing me to have a WrestleMania moment that I will never forget". Bella's sister Brie, who is nine months pregnant and was away from the competition, posted about the "incredible moment" on Instagram I'm...

The Undertaker has called time on his career after a 27-year run that saw him become one of wrestling's most popular and enduring stars. He lost his last match to Roman Reigns at WWE's WrestleMania event in Orlando, Florida - only his second loss at the showpiece event. After his defeat, he left his trademark gloves, coat and hat in the middle of the ring and went to hug his wife, Michelle McCool. The Undertaker, otherwise known as Mark William Calaway, made his debut with the WWF, the WWE's forerunner, at 1990's Survivor Series. A multiple champion, the 52-year-old became a favourite with generations of fans. The 6ft 10in Texas native dropped out of university in 1986 and considered playing professional basketball in Europe before deciding to become a wrestler. He competed in the WCW series as "Mean Mark" Callous from 1989 to 1990 before joining the more popular WWF. Calaway is instantly recognisable to wrestling fans for his horror-themed app...