Music
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Tickets to Nipsey Hussle Memorial at 21,000-Seat Staples Center Gone in Minutes
Los Angeles plans to give recently deceased rapper Nipsey Hussle a farewell fit for a hometown king. Accordingly, the community entrepreneur and Eritrean-American will have his memorial service at the 21,000-seat Staples Center. The New York Daily News reports that the complimentary tickets for the service “sold out” shortly after they went onsite at 10…
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India.Arie's Acoustic Soul Was Successful in Its Time. I Think It Would Be Even More Successful in Today's Pro-Black Climate
Recently in black America, I hosted a meeting for the VSB x Mahogany Books (a black bookstore in Washington, D.C.) Monthly Book Club where we discussed the book, She Begat This: 20 Years of The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill by Joan Morgan, author of the famed book When Chickenheads Come Home to Roost. The book…
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'Old Town Road' Rides to the Top: Lil Nas X Lands No. 1 Song in America
Turns out “Old Town Road,” the song that wasn’t country enough for Billboard’s Country charts, is plenty hot enough to be the country’s No. 1 song. As Billboard itself reported Monday night, the viral hit catapulted from No. 15 to No. 1 on the charts over the last week. And while some of the interest…
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Watch: Beyoncé-Helmed Homecoming Trailer Promises a Powerful, Affirmative Behind-the-Scenes Look at Beychella
Let’s just hop right to it: The trailer for Homecoming, the Beyoncé-directed documentary that takes us through her historic Coachella performance, dropped Monday morning, and it promises to be more than just a smattering of behind-the-scenes footage and interviews. Peep it: The Homecoming: a Film by Beyoncé trailer features video of Beyoncé preparing for her…
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R. Kelly Fans Pay Up to $100 to Watch Human Trashbag Sing for 28 Seconds
I plan on keeping this blog about as short as R. Kelly’s performance this past weekend. Robert Kelly, who is facing ten counts of felony aggravated sex abuse in Cook County, Ill., performed for a whole 28 seconds at the Dirty South Lounge in Springfield early Sunday morning. That’s not a typo. That’s 28 seconds—as…
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The Yee-Haw Agenda Flourishes: Lil Nas X Adds Country Heavyweight Billy Ray Cyrus to ‘Old Town Road’ Remix
After Billboard, tapping into a long and cherished tradition of erasing black people from country music, decided Lil Nas X’s hit song, “Old Town Road” wasn’t white country enough to make a home on its country charts, the 19-year-old musician offered a clapback for the ages. He added Billy Ray Cyrus—a country-ass motherfucker if you…
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Money Moves: Cardi B Gets 21 Billboard Music Award Nominations
It’s that time of year again. The 2019 Billboard Music Awards are coming next month, and Dick Clark Productions and NBC announced the nominees in 56 categories across all genres of music live on Today Thursday. Cardi B, who is still enjoying her meteoric rise to fame, leads the pack with 21 nominations. That includes…
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Bey Blessed: Beyoncé Reportedly Working on New Music, Coachella-Linked Netflix Special
If there’s one thing we’ve learned about Beyoncé, it’s that when the Queen Bey is silent, it usually means she’s getting ready to bestow some blessings upon us. Whether that means new music, a paradigm-shifting performance, or one of the most resplendent and referenced maternity shoots in recent memory—well, that’s harder to predict. But! Allegedly!…
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A Purple Celebration Honoring the Life and Legacy of Prince is Coming Soon to Paisley Park
Prince fans! Want to upgrade your April? Well, head to Minneapolis and get you a dose of The Purple One. The annual four-day event celebrating the life and legacy of Prince is back, entitled, CELEBRATION 2019. From Paisley Park’s official website: CELEBRATION 2019, will honor the unique life and legacy of the prodigiously talented cultural…
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On Marvin Gaye's 80th Birthday, His Commemorative U.S. Postage Stamp Is Here, My Dear
It’s time to send your snail mail with the most soulful stamps in these United States of America. I heard it through the grapevine. Today, April 2, 2019, marks the 80th birthday of the incomparable Marvin Gaye, born on this day in 1939. As reported by The Root in November, the U.S. Postal Service (USPS)…