The fab Kelly Rowland performed "The Star-Spangled Banner" before the Floyd Mayweather/Robert Guerrero WBC welterweight title fight in Las Vegas on Saturday.
Kelly's rendition is nice. I'm happy for her success with "Kisses Down Low" but this style seems more suited for her. Curious to hear your thoughts so WATCH AFTER THE JUMP ...
Continue reading "Kelly Rowland Performs National Anthem at Mayweather Fight" »
New York City's popular HOT 97 DJ Mister Cee will reportedly join that station's breakfast show on Monday to address his latest arrest for soliciting a male prostitute, reports AllHipHop.com.
This after the radio personality, disc jockey and producer was arrested Thursday night for soliciting a male prostitute, reports the New York Daily News.
Cee, 46, whose real name is Calvin LeBrun, didn’t know that the gigolo he approached at Madison St. and Broadway in Bushwick just before midnight on Thursday was really an undercover cop, the sources said. The music man — who emerged into the hip-hop world as Big Daddy Kane’s deejay and later produced Notorious B.I.G.’s first album, “Ready to Die” — was charged with patronizing a prostitute. He was waiting to be arraigned on Saturday.
This is not the first time that Cee has been implicated with rentboys, the Daily News reported in April 2011.
Mister Cee was busted for public lewdness after cops caught him in a car receiving oral sex from another man. ... Cee and a male companion ... were in a car parked at Watts and West Sts. and "the defendants' behavior was open to public view,'' the criminal complaint said.
A police source said Cee was busted in lower Manhattan last Oct. 8 and Nov. 20, both times for loitering for the purpose of prostitution. He pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct after the October arrest. Charges in the November case appear to have been dropped.
Cee plead guilty in the 2011 case.
Hot 97 Program Director Ebro Darden has defended Mister Cee on Twitter. "Preference is not the crime. Solicitation is the crime. I never want Mister Cee fired," Darden tweeted.
AllHipHop.com notes that station management—which initially disputed the 2011 case—is being hypocritical and offering Cee celebrity justice. "My thoughts: If Cee was a regular dude, he’d have lost his job."
What a week: A closeted rap/hip-hop personality is busted "on the hoe stroll" only days after an NBA player comes out and makes history. To be continued ...
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Catching up with the High Funkstress of Fierceness better known as Ms. Janelle Monáe: The clever and stylish video has dropped for "Q.U.E.E.N.", the funky and sassy new duet between Monáe and Erykah Badu.
"Q.U.E.E.N." is the first single off Monáe’s upcoming new album The Electric Lady. Monáe spoke with Idolator about the new project. Get into the funk and watch the official music video AFTER THE TRUMP ...
Continue reading "VIDEO: Janelle Monáe and Erykah Badu are the "Q.U.E.E.N."" »
There are new developments in the tragic case of Evon "YungLT" Young, the 22-year-old transgender man who was an emerging local rapper and songwriter. Young was tortured and killed on January 1. Five men have been arrested and charged.
Trial dates have been set "for June and July in the case being prosecuted by the Milwaukee District Attorney's office," reports the Wisconsin Gazette. "First-degree homicide charges [have been filed] against Victor Stewart, 27; Ashanti Mcalister, 19; Billy R. Griffin, 26; Ron Joseph Allen, 37; and Devin L. Seaberry, 23."
Investigators believe Young's remains were transported to a landfill site in Menomonee Falls. The search was discontinued in mid-February, reports ABC 12.
Police said detectives, landfill workers, a local excavating company and dog handlers conducted an exhaustive search under "challenging circumstances," but remains were not found. Investigators have found other physical evidence to support the charges issued by the district attorney's office, police said.
Young's mother, Annette Perry, told 12 News she just wanted her child back. "It is my right as his mother to have him back. I don't care how. I just want him back," said Perry.
Family and friends refused to give up hope on finding Young's body. "We want the love and emotion from his family and see that he has supporters and people do care about him outside of those who knew him in his immediate family," said Tony Reese Jr., Young's former music manager.
Police believe that Young was killed as part of a brutal gang initiation. The "altercation stemmed from a vendetta Griffin had with [Young] and escalated into the group beating and then shooting Young."
Memorial services were held two weeks ago, reports NBC 4.
A music video dropped for YungLT's track "Room Full" in late November. Ironically, one of the murder suspects can be seen standing next to Young in the video. Watch the video AFTER THE JUMP ...
Continue reading "MILWAUKEE: Trial Dates for 5 Men Accused in Murder of Evon Young" »
PHOTOS: Le Nouvel Observateur
Keeping up with the omnipresent pop culture juggernaut better known as Beyoncé Knowles: After teasing the lead track from her upcoming album in a Pepsi commercial earlier this month,"Mrs. Carter" performed it live in Paris on Wednesday evening.
Watch AFTER THE JUMP ...
No word yet if "Grown Woman" will be an official single. "Rumors that the singer is unhappy with her choices for a single have plagued the as-of-yet untitled album," reports the Huffington Post. "And they make sense given the fact that Beyonce neglected to use her Super Bowl appearance as a launching pad for a new track.
Beyoncé also released new music in a gorgeous new spot for H&M. A few more images and watch the live performance AFTER THE JUMP ...
Continue reading "VIDEO, PHOTOS: Beyoncé is a "Grown Woman" in Paris" »
Yaasss. Now that The L.A. Complex has gone into the digital sunset ...
HBO, R20 fave and singer-songwriter deluxe John Legend and producer-director Tony Krantz are developing a new project featuring a "down low" gay rapper, reports Deadline.
Down Lo [is] set in Miami’s South Beach. [T]he edgy ensemble drama explores the intersection of three worlds — the party town’s popular music scene, sports and fashion circles. It deals with fame and secrets, with the stories told from multiple points of view. One of them will be that of a gay rapper living on the down low as homosexuality is still not readily accepted in the hip-hop community.
This could be a winner. The nine-times Grammy Award-winning Legend is ridiculously talented, super stylish and also a fierce progressive and vocal LGBT ally. Krantz was the executive producer of 24 during its height in the early 2000s. Most people would go the cheap and messy route—but I don't see it happening with this team.
Hopefully the producers will cast a working "actor" in the "down low" role as opposed to a rap star. The hyper-masculine and often homophobic code of hip-hop and rap apparently excludes "playing" gay or "down low" rappers on television.
Thanks RYAN CANTY!
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Pharrell Williams takes some time away from his ferosh new collaboration with Daft Punk and Nile Rodgers to interview his friend Usher Raymond. They discuss growing up, Michael Jackson and working with Sean Combs, among other things.
The full interview debuts soon on the YouTube series "Artist Talk." Watch a preview AFTER THE JUMP ...
The Coachella Festival opened Friday and one of the most buzz-worthy elements has been a promo video for "Get Lucky", a ferosh new track from Daft Punk's highly-anticipated new album Random Access Memories. The song and video features singer/songwriter, super producer, designer and fashionista Pharrell Williams and Nile Rodgers. The latter was the lead producer of Chic, the iconic seventies disco auteurs.
A one-minute video was released last night as a commercial on Saturday Night Live. The track is all kinds of brilliance and fuses Rodgers' trademark bass, Pharrell's vocals and Daft Punk's electronica. The album is expected to drop May 21.
PW was last seen walking the runway for Chanel, with his Chanel guitar and selling cosmetics. Watch AFTER THE JUMP ...
Continue reading "VIDEO: Daft Punk, Pharrell and Nile Rodgers "Get Lucky" on "SNL"" »
Miguel and Kendrick Lamar cover alternate versions of VIBE's May 2012 "Big List Issue." The interview with the Grammy Award-winning Miguel is very revealing: Despite the success of his second studio album Kaleidoscope Dream and the hit single "Adorn" ... Miguel says that Frank Ocean's game-changing revelation last summer about his sexuality "overshadowed" both of their music.
As dominant as “Adorn” was for much of last year, it seemed like once Frank Ocean dropped the bomb on Tumblr about his past relationship with a man, that he was the new “It” guy. Did you ever feel eclipsed?
MIGUEL: I don’t know if the word is eclipsed. [Long pause] That’s a really tough question to answer, man. In all reality, Frank Ocean took a big chance the way that artists are supposed to. I mean, even his album doesn’t sound like mine or anyone else’s. So sonically and how he writes and what he’s writing about and how he chooses to express himself vocally, all his choices are very unique, and I appreciate that about him. Not only did his announcement overshadow my music, but it overshadowed his as well. The general public was in awe and championing him for being brave enough to make that announcement publicly. I congratulate him for his successes. I would love to hear more of his music. He’s one of those artists that’s being himself and pushing boundaries. I gotta celebrate that.
Just a touch of ... "shade" ... in that remark, no?
Kaleidoscope Dream debuted on October 2 2012 at number three on the Billboard 200. The critically and commercially successful single "Adorn" was nominated for many awards, including the Grammy's "Best R&B Song"—which it won—"Song of the Year" and "Best R&B Performance."
Frank Ocean's major-label debut channel ORANGE debuted July 10 on digital and made No. 1 on iTunes in 10 countries. The album has attracted critical reviews, international attention and much support after Ocean revealed that the songs were inspired by his first love—another young man. Ocean posted on his Tumblr on July 3 to deliver an account of his same-sex relationship. After being at the center of a media firestorm for weeks, Ocean told The Guardian that he decided to open up about his sexuality for his "own sanity."
Ocean has been nominated for numerous awards after channel ORANGE, including six Grammy nominations. Ocean won three Grammys, including "Best Urban Contemporary Album."
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Sorry, boys. Grammy Award-winning, Puerto Rican gangsta rap and reggaeton hotness Daddy Yankee says he is not on our team—despite many rumors that spread like wildfire across social media that claimed the singer issued a "homosexuality declaration" after compromising pictures allegedly/supposedly were leaked.
"Once again social networks are the protagonists in spreading false news, which have been replicated by other media involving a public figure. The story that is circulating about Daddy Yankee’s homosexuality declaration is a false story written by an Internet portal as many others, dedicated to fabricate and disseminate news through social networks," said Helga García, president of Perfect Partners Public Relations.
You may recall the first time the rapper "came out" was in 2008 ... as a Republican and supporter of Sen. John McCain's failed presidential bid.
The Los Angeles Times and other outlets reported Wednesday that the "Gasolina" singer had issued a statement that confirmed he was gay.
For weeks, the Spanish-language media and bloggers have been working themselves into a lather about the sexual orientation of Daddy Yankee. ... The blather reached a crescendo Wednesday after photos of a man resembling Daddy Yankee kissing another man surfaced on the 'net and were picked up and reprinted by other outlets. That set off another round of innuendo: according to some accounts, Daddy Yankee released a statement acknowledging that he is gay, and asking the media to respect his and his family's privacy.
"I am a human being like any other, with virtues and defects, and I don't believe that this is a defect," he was quoted as saying in a putative "statement" to the press and his followers.
The "speculation" apparently began after Daddy Yankee was asked his opinion on same-sex marriage. The rapper reportedly gave this response in Spanish: "I have people on my team who are gay, and I respect them entirely and give them work.”
Would have been HOT if it were true. But seriously: A "homosexuality declaration"? Does this even sound like something Daddy Yankee would say? #ChildPlease
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