News Stories

Illustration: The Khaliseum

If you know, you know. On September 2, Shorty Roc (@shortyrocnyc) shared a moment that battle rap fans will appreciate: two of the most important figures in the culture, Smack White and Eric Beasley, pulled up on him. Shorty Roc summed it up in true form: he is in all the right rooms at all the right times, so catch up or get left.

The Men Behind URL

Smack and Beasley are the business minds behind the Ultimate Rap League, better known as SMACK/URL, the New York City battle rap league owned by Troy "Smack White" Mitchell, Eric Beasley and Jean "Cheeko" French, according to the league's history. Artists and stars including Kendrick Lamar, Drake, Jay-Z and Busta Rhymes have shown support for the league over the years.

Before URL, there was the SMACK DVD. In the early 2000s, Smack began filming interviews and freestyles with established artists like 50 Cent, DMX and Cam'ron, along with up-and-coming East Coast rappers, and packaged the footage into a DVD video magazine, PBS's Sound Field explained. He closed each volume with a rap battle, and those battles became so popular that fans would skip straight to the end of the DVD to watch them.

Turning Battles Into a Sport

Smack has said the SMACK format changed the art form. "We introduced straight acapella … no beats … round for round. We made it into a sport," he told AllHipHop, describing the three timed rounds that became battle rap's standard.

Beasley, URL's co-founder, told AllHipHop that URL held its first event on October 31, 2009. The league later launched its own subscription app, URLTV, in May 2019. Beasley has described what they built as "essentially a Black-owned streaming service where people are paying to come in and watch exclusive content that we create."

Why It Matters for The Khaliseum

That last part hits home. The Khaliseum is built on the same idea: an independent, Black-owned platform where the culture can watch exclusive interviews and coverage on its own app. Having the two men who proved that model works for battle rap pull up on Shorty Roc is a moment of respect between builders.

It also connects to Shorty Roc's roots. He is a proud New Yorker from the Bronx, and URL is a New York institution. Legends recognize legends, and this pull-up shows The Khaliseum is moving in the right circles.

From Our Cameras

Screenshot: Shorty Roc / The Khaliseum

See it on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shortyrocnyc/reel/Dcy0FgcxVLY/

Want more? Download The Khaliseum App at www.thekhaliseum.com/App for full interviews, behind-the-scenes footage and new episodes every week. For press, partnerships or event coverage, email [email protected].

#SmackWhite #Beasley #URL #UltimateRapLeague #BattleRap #SMACKDVD #TheKhaliseum #ShortyRocNYC #HipHopLegends #KhaliseumNews

Illustration: The Khaliseum

It's official. The Khaliseum is now live on Kick. On August 31, Shorty Roc (@shortyrocnyc) announced that @TheKhaliseum has launched its own channel at Kick.com/TheKhaliseum, bringing live streams, podcasts, live events and exclusive content to the live streaming platform Kick.

The promise is the same energy The Khaliseum has always brought: raw conversations, real connections and nonstop vibes. No gatekeepers and no filters, just the Khaliseum movement, live. Shorty Roc called it the beginning of "The War on the Ordinary."

Sundays at 8 PM

The launch gave The Shorty Roc NYC Podcast a live home. The show films every Sunday at The Khaliseum Studio in Decatur, Georgia, and goes live on Kick at 8 PM, as Shorty Roc has announced on Instagram. The same weekend as the launch, the podcast went live with entrepreneur and reality TV star Tomika Turner (@mstomikaturner). In the weeks that followed, Shorty Roc announced Atlanta artist Bigg Taee (@starburst_taetae22) for September 13 and singer and executive producer Erinn Stacie (@thatserinnstacie) for September 20.

The booking rule stays strict: the podcast interviews current celebrities and future stars. Not everyone gets a seat, only the ones Shorty Roc believes are built for greatness.

Why Kick?

Kick is a live streaming service founded in 2022 that launched that December as a competitor to Twitch, according to its history. According to Kick, streamers on the platform keep 95% of subscription revenue, and in the third quarter of 2025, analytics firm StreamCharts ranked Kick as the fourth most-watched live streaming platform it tracks, behind YouTube, TikTok and Twitch. For an independent network like The Khaliseum, that means a growing audience and a creator-friendly home.

How to Tap In

Follow The Khaliseum at Kick.com/TheKhaliseum and turn on notifications so you never miss a live show. Then catch every replay and past episode on The Khaliseum App.

This is just the beginning. Tune in, drop a 🔥 in the comments on Shorty Roc's post, and let us know you're watching. The Khaliseum family keeps growing, and we're taking it live.

From Our Cameras

Screenshot: Shorty Roc / The Khaliseum

See it on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shortyrocnyc/reel/DctxjK9hJ3z/

Want more? Download The Khaliseum App at www.thekhaliseum.com/App for full interviews, behind-the-scenes footage and new episodes every week. For press, partnerships or event coverage, email [email protected].

#TheKhaliseum #KickLive #Kick #ShortyRocNYC #ShortyRocNYCPodcast #LiveStreams #ATLMedia #NewEra #KhaliseumFamily #KhaliseumNews

Illustration: The Khaliseum

ATLANTA – Some success stories start in a boardroom. Tomika Turner's started in the projects of Atlanta. The entrepreneur and reality TV star, @mstomikaturner, sat down with The Shorty Roc NYC Podcast on Sunday, August 30, for a raw, funny and deeply personal conversation that streamed live on Kick.

Shorty Roc (@shortyrocnyc) hosted alongside @PrettyGoons, @leanz_live and @yurshey_ of @TheKhaliseum, and the whole crew called it an honor. In Shorty Roc's words, it was "fun as hell too."

A Star of Industry Girl

Turner joined the show from @industrygirl_show, the reality series about women chasing success in entertainment and business. Creator and executive producer Jasmine Moore told Bold Journey Magazine that Industry Girl was set to premiere on Ray J's Tronix Network in May 2026, and described it as a show about "the real experiences, ambition, and challenges of women navigating success, identity, and growth." Turner brought exactly that kind of story to the Khaliseum studio.

Growing Up Fast

Before the business talk, Turner took the room back to the beginning. She grew up in rough neighborhoods in the projects of Atlanta and had to learn independence at a young age. She watched her mother grind in business, and that example stuck with her. She became a mother at 15, and instead of letting that define her limits, she decided she was going to build something bigger than the block she came from.

Building the Empire

From there, she broke down how she turned that drive into a real business portfolio. Turner told the crew about building home health and assisted living facilities that grew into million-dollar territory. She also talked through her tax company, her consulting work and her move into Airbnb rentals. It is the full journey from Atlanta's hoods to multimillion-dollar mogul, told with no filter.

For anyone in our audience who is starting from nothing, the lesson was hard to miss: the circumstances you grow up in do not get the final say. Turner did not just talk about business. She showed how she built it, one business at a time.

Live on Kick, Replay on the App

Shorty Roc promoted the episode all week as an exclusive sit-down with "NYC roots" and "Atlanta energy," and it delivered. The conversation went live on @kickstreaming at Kick.com/TheKhaliseum, and the full interview is now available on The Khaliseum App. If you missed it live, the replay is waiting.

Thank you to Tomika Turner for opening up, and to the Pretty Goons, Leanz and Yurshey for another great Sunday at The Khaliseum.

From Our Cameras

Screenshot: Shorty Roc / The Khaliseum

See it on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shortyrocnyc/reel/DcuboAURgWj/

Want more? Download The Khaliseum App at www.thekhaliseum.com/App for full interviews, behind-the-scenes footage and new episodes every week. For press, partnerships or event coverage, email [email protected].

#TomikaTurner #MsTomikaTurner #IndustryGirl #ShortyRocNYCPodcast #TheKhaliseum #ShortyRocNYC #AtlantaPodcast #BlackBusiness #KickLive #KhaliseumNews

Illustration: The Khaliseum

The Khaliseum App just added a must-watch for every entrepreneur in the beauty business. A new interview with Patrice "Sway" McKinney, known to her followers as @sway_thepro, is now streaming on the app, and Shorty Roc (@shortyrocnyc) is proud to bring it to our audience.

Who Is Sway The Pro?

Sway built her name one chair at a time. She is a licensed master barber and stylist who went on to own and run a salon suite business, according to her official site, which says she has helped hundreds of aspiring and existing owners start or grow their salon businesses. She is also CEO of Encore Salon Suites, which offers beauty professionals the chance to run their own salon without the full cost and overhead of a traditional shop.

Her coaching program describes her as the founder of Encore Salon Suites, "the first Black-owned salon suite franchise," with more than 13 years in the industry, according to her 6 Figure Salon Suite site. After learning the hard lessons of opening her first two locations, she turned that experience into systems and online training for others who want to follow the same path.

Only on The Khaliseum App

This sit-down is part of the steady lineup of new interviews landing on @TheKhaliseum App every week. The Khaliseum's mission is simple: put builders, creators and stars on a platform where their stories can reach the people who need to hear them. A self-made salon suite owner who teaches others to own their business fits that mission perfectly.

Whether you are a stylist dreaming about your own suite, a barber ready to stop renting a chair, or just someone who loves a real success story, this is the interview to watch. Head to The Khaliseum App to see the full conversation.

Why It Matters

Ownership is a recurring theme at The Khaliseum, and Sway is living proof of what it looks like in the beauty world. Thank you to Sway The Pro for sitting down with Shorty Roc and The Khaliseum team, and for sharing her knowledge with our community.

From Our Cameras

Screenshot: Shorty Roc / The Khaliseum

See it on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shortyrocnyc/reel/DdBx746xs9z/

Want more? Download The Khaliseum App at www.thekhaliseum.com/App for full interviews, behind-the-scenes footage and new episodes every week. For press, partnerships or event coverage, email [email protected].

#SwayThePro #PatriceMcKinney #EncoreSalonSuites #SalonSuite #BlackBusiness #TheKhaliseum #ShortyRocNYC #KhaliseumApp #Entrepreneur #KhaliseumNews

Boosie Badazz in 2024. Photo: SRC Agency / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0

Weeks before the official announcement, The Khaliseum's feed got an early hint. On September 11, two reels shared with Shorty Roc's page showed Baton Rouge legends @webbietrill and @boosieig2024 together again, tagged with one word: #pullup. The message was clear. A new single was coming, and fans could finally stop asking where the duo had been and what they were working on.

The clips came from @porchemadre, posted as collaborations that appeared on Shorty Roc's (@shortyrocnyc) Instagram. In one, she joked that Webbie had her "swinging from the ceiling." Six weeks later, the tease turned out to be exactly what it promised.

"Pull Up" Becomes the Lead Single

On September 29, Boosie and Webbie announced a joint mixtape called Back At It, set for October 24, Hits Culture reported. The duo then stopped by Way Up With Angela Yee to promote "Pull Up," the project's lead single, according to Complex. That interview went viral less than 30 seconds in, when Webbie jokingly asked Yee, "What? You wanna get flipped?" before telling kids to stay in school.

Back At It arrived on October 24, 2026, as a 10-track, 29-minute mixtape released through Badazz Music Syndicate, with "Pull Up" among its tracks, according to its Apple Music listing. Apple Music's editors summed up the pair as Baton Rouge rappers who have been delivering street anthems "for more than 20 years."

Two Decades of Baton Rouge Chemistry

The reunion carries real history. Webbie got his start in the early 2000s on Boosie's albums before the two released Ghetto Stories together, and he has been signed to Trill Entertainment since 2003, according to his biography. Together they made hits like "Independent" and the "Wipe Me Down" remix, iHeart noted in its coverage of the reunion. The "Wipe Me Down" remix featuring Lil Boosie and Webbie was released as a single in 2007, according to the song's history.

Hits Culture called Back At It the first project credited to the two of them alone since Gangsta Musik in 2004, and reported that the pair co-headlined the Southern Truth Tour in summer 2026, with stops in Jacksonville and Columbus, Ohio.

Webbie performing in Macon, Georgia, in 2014. Photo: TrillEntCMG / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0

The Woman Behind the Clips

Porche Madre is no stranger to Webbie's camp. In a 2021 interview with Shoutout Atlanta, the CEO of PM Media & Marketing named Webbie among the artists whose careers she has had a hand in, and thanked Webbie and his Savage Life team for giving her a platform in the entertainment industry. Her September reels gave fans an early look at a reunion that would dominate hip-hop conversation by October.

Illustration: The Khaliseum

Why It Matters

The Khaliseum lives in the rooms where the culture happens, and sometimes that means showing fans what is coming before anyone else does. Shorty Roc's feed carried the "#pullup" tease on September 11. By late October, "Pull Up" was out and the whole country was talking about Boosie and Webbie again. Salute to Porche Madre for the clips, and to two Southern legends for proving that real chemistry never fades.

Watch the second tease: the follow-up reel.

From Our Cameras

Screenshot: Shorty Roc / The Khaliseum

See it on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/porchemadre/reel/DdJslFeJO2n/

Want more? Download The Khaliseum App at www.thekhaliseum.com/App for full interviews, behind-the-scenes footage and new episodes every week. For press, partnerships or event coverage, email [email protected].

#Webbie #Boosie #BoosieBadazz #PullUp #BackAtIt #BatonRouge #TrillEntertainment #TheKhaliseum #ShortyRocNYC #KhaliseumNews

Illustration: The Khaliseum

TAMPA, Fla. – Ybor City got loud in a brand-new way. On Thursday night, September 10, the Loud On 7th music festival added fashion to its lineup for the first time with LOUD IN FASHION, a runway show at Showbar Ybor, and The Khaliseum was in the building.

Shorty Roc (@shortyrocnyc) made the trip with @TheKhaliseum affiliate @j1hundred1000 to cover the first-ever fashion show from @loudonseventh, hosted by festival organizer @aych302. It was history for the festival, and our cameras caught it from the runway to the stage.

Fashion Joins the Festival

Loud On 7th ran all week, September 6 through 12, 2026, with events that included a karaoke night, an R&B dinner night and the Brick By Brick concert series, according to the festival's Eventbrite collection, which lists Aych as organizer. LOUD IN FASHION was the Thursday night centerpiece.

The event listing described a "rip the runway" style show presented by Loud On 7th and @theerebelagency, with special guest performances and models, running from 7 PM to midnight at Showbar Ybor, 1613 E. 7th Ave., according to AllEvents and the Eventbrite ticket page. Tampa Bay Connects previewed it as a night celebrating bold fashion and creative expression in the heart of Ybor City.

Built From the Ground Up

The show did not come together overnight. Open casting calls and runway workshops shaped the lineup before the big night. When the lights came up, the runway energy mixed with live music and that unmistakable Ybor night heat, and the crowd stayed locked in from the first walk.

"Freezin!!" Takes Over the Room

One of the moments of the night came when @asnjayboog hit the stage with "Freezin!!" and had the whole room tuned in. Fashion, music and community all under one roof: that was the formula, and it worked.

@haleyselenellc posted a recap reel the next day, thanking Loud On 7th and Aych for keeping the city lit all week, thanking Thee Rebel Agency, shouting out @iamledouee, and crediting the models, host, artists, makeup artists and photographers who made LOUD IN FASHION happen. You can see that recap here.

Seventh Avenue in Ybor City. Photo: Infrogmation of New Orleans / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0

A Historic Stage

Seventh Avenue is one of Tampa's best-known streets. Ybor City was founded in the 1880s by Vicente Martinez Ybor and other cigar manufacturers, and its factories earned Tampa the nickname "Cigar City," according to the neighborhood's history. Today the strip is a home for nightlife and live music, which made it a natural runway for a festival called Loud On 7th.

The Khaliseum on the Road

Shorty Roc and J1hundred1000 brought The Khaliseum's cameras to Florida to document a first for the festival, and we are proud to share it. Congratulations to Aych, Loud On 7th, Thee Rebel Agency and every model, artist and creative who made LOUD IN FASHION a night to remember. We can't wait to see what fashion brings to Loud On 7th next year.

More from the night: Shorty Roc's second reel.

From Our Cameras

Screenshot: Shorty Roc / The Khaliseum

See it on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shortyrocnyc/reel/DdJ2zC9RvBD/

Want more? Download The Khaliseum App at www.thekhaliseum.com/App for full interviews, behind-the-scenes footage and new episodes every week. For press, partnerships or event coverage, email [email protected].

#LoudOn7th #LoudInFashion #YborCity #TampaFashion #ShowbarYbor #TheKhaliseum #ShortyRocNYC #FashionShow #Tampa #KhaliseumNews

Illustration: The Khaliseum

DECATUR, Ga. – Some guests come to promote a song. Bigg Taee came to tell her whole story. The Atlanta artist, entrepreneur and reality TV personality, known on Instagram as @starburst_taetae22, took the chair on The Shorty Roc NYC Podcast for an honest, inspiring conversation about where she started and how far she has come.

Founder Shorty Roc (@shortyrocnyc) led the sit-down alongside @TheKhaliseum staff members @drea.nichole3 and @leanz_live, and the Khaliseum crew came away calling her exactly what she is: an inspiration and a force to be reckoned with.

Sunday Night at The Khaliseum Studio

The episode was filmed on Sunday, September 13, at The Khaliseum Studio in Decatur, Georgia, and streamed live on Kick at 8 PM, as Shorty Roc announced on Instagram earlier that week. That is the weekly rhythm of the show: a new guest every Sunday, filmed in Decatur, then broadcast live at Kick.com/TheKhaliseum.

The podcast keeps a simple rule for who sits in that seat. Shorty Roc only books current celebrities and stars on the rise, people he believes are headed for greatness. Bigg Taee fit the description from the first question.

From the East Side of Atlanta

The heart of the conversation was her journey. Bigg Taee walked the Khaliseum team through growing up on the East side of Atlanta and the work it took to build a life as a recording artist, a business owner and a reality show star. She spoke about the climb in her own words, and it was the kind of story our audience comes to The Khaliseum to hear: real, local and hard-earned.

Her own Instagram profile shows how many lanes she runs in. She lists herself as CEO of @taes_beautybar, a Fashion Nova brand ambassador, an Atlanta hip-hop artist, actress, model and hairstylist, and she also runs the page @biggtaeeeattz. Few guests bring that many careers to one interview.

The Khaliseum Team at Work

Episodes like this are a team effort. Shorty Roc set the tone, with @drea.nichole3 and @leanz_live beside him at the table to help tell her story. Big thanks to the whole Khaliseum staff for another strong Sunday.

Why It Matters

The Khaliseum exists to give Atlanta's own a platform worthy of their story. Bigg Taee's rise from the East side to multiple businesses and a spot on reality TV is exactly the kind of journey we want the next generation to see. We are proud she chose The Shorty Roc NYC Podcast to tell it.

Missed it live? The full stream and interview are available at Kick.com/TheKhaliseum, and more episodes of The Shorty Roc NYC Podcast are on The Khaliseum App.

From Our Cameras

Screenshot: Shorty Roc / The Khaliseum

See it on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shortyrocnyc/reel/DdRVsoOR-AK/

Want more? Download The Khaliseum App at www.thekhaliseum.com/App for full interviews, behind-the-scenes footage and new episodes every week. For press, partnerships or event coverage, email [email protected].

#BiggTaee #StarburstTaetae #ShortyRocNYCPodcast #TheKhaliseum #ShortyRocNYC #AtlantaPodcast #DecaturGA #KickLive #AtlantaHipHop #KhaliseumNews