Allegedly Beyonce’s lawyers have been in litigation to block a book being published about Beyonce by Grand Central Books. The book is an unauthorized biography from author J. Randy Taraborrelli, and it’s supposed to be borderline… juicy tell all.
Some of the details that will be allegedly shared in the book include:
-Details of Beyonce’s early childhood with Matthew Knowles life long cheating
-what really happened between her and Matthew Knowles
-her ups and downs with Kelly Rowland
-all of the Destiny’s Child drama
-the celebrities that Bey dated before Jay Z
-her rocky relationship with Solange over the years
-her weight and self-esteem problems over the years
-details surrounding her miscarriage
This could all be fluff but remember late last year there was an announcement that Beyonce’s unauthorized biography would hit bookstores in 2015. Being that Beyonce wouldn’t be participating in the project, the material would have to be gleaned from interviews with secondary sources. Readers may have to look at the book with some sort of skepticism, but seeing how Bey has tried to tightly control her image over the years, this version could be more true than one she would put out.
The Gaye family is continuing to issue out lawsuits to everyone involved in the making of Robin Thicke’s “Blurred Lines” track. They recently won their case against Robin Thicke and Pharrell Willliams for $7.4 million but they are not letting this issue die down.
The family of Marvin Gaye is now going after Universal Music, Interscope Records and Star Trak Entertainment and wants them added to list of copyright infringers, according to The Hollywood Reporter. They also want the judge to hold T.I accountable for his role that he played in the “Blurred Lines” record, eventhough he did not produce it.
If the record labels are found reliable, the judge could issue an injuction on how “Blurred Lines” is distributed in the future.
Williams and Thicke plan to appeal the previous decision. There has also been talk of the Gaye family going after Pharrell again because they feel that his Oscar-nominated hit “Happy” sounds to similar to Marvin Gaye’s 1966 hit “Ain’t That Peculiar.”
Nicki Minaj has just set another record. The Young Money rapstress has become the first woman to simultaneously have four songs in the top 10 of Billboard’s Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Chart, according to Billboard. Her Lil’ Wayne and Drake assisted track “Truffle Butter” just jumped to the no. 1 spot, joining her collab with Rae Sremmurd “Throw Some Mo,” “Only” and “Feeling Myself” which features Beyonce.
Other female artists to have songs on the chart at the same time include Beyonce, Rihanna and Ashanti. They accomplished this by having three on the chart simultaneously.
The Queens spitter recently announced the U.S and Canada dates for The Pinkprint Tour, which will also feature performances from Dej Loaf, Tinashe, Rae Sremmurd and her bae Meek Mill.
The Australian rapper Iggy Azalea cannot catch a break. She may be mainstream but a lot of Hip-Hop lovers don’t care for her. Some support her while others say she isn’t real Hip-Hop. From funny memes, to negative social media comments Iggy can’t win for losing. Azalea recently quit social media saying the internet was the ugliest reflection of mankind. She has since returned to Instagram but not completely, as there was a post on her page stating that her Instagram would be run by management until further notice, as she was taking a break from social media. As of now Iggy Azalea’s first North American arena tour is also on the verge of cancellation, as the singer is increasingly unresponsive to her management and refuses to engage in promotion according to TheWrap. Allegedly Azalea will not commit to press opportunities crucial in selling the massive tour effort. The potential cancellation was also raising scheduling concerns for up-and-coming R&B singer Tinashe, who was slated as an opening act along with Nick Jonas. Tinashe announced yesterday that she would actually be joining Nicki Minaj on the Pink Print Tour. We know for a fact Black Twitter and Instagram won’t let up on Iggy for sure Lol. From the edited Sway interview video to this one below. Do you think Iggy needs to toughen up?
Five decades after his death, Sam Cooke’s life story is coming to the big screen. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Cooke’s biopic will not only focus on his life but also give an in-depth look into his murder. Romeo Antonio is set to develop the movie.
“It’s the 60s, you could do it like Selma, but it’s not the direction I’m going with,” Antonio said. “My pitch to them was a murder mystery. Who did this? And it’s being written in that fashion.”
Cooke’s younger brother, L.C Cooke and cousin Eugene Jamison will serve as consultants during filming and allow access to family documents.
“For years, people have been coming at us to do a movie about Sam. But [Antonio] was the first person who sounded like he wanted what we wanted: the truth to come out about my uncle and his death,” Jamison told THR.
Antonio is still in the beginning stages and has held an interview with Cooke’s former assistant Zelda Samuels and has linked with B.G Rhule who authored his biography One More River to Cross: The Redemption of Sam Cooke.
Cooke was found dead in 1964 at age 33 in a South LA motel room after being shot by the motel manager Bertha Franklin. She faced no charges after his death was deemed a “justifiable homicide” after a witness claimed that Cooke was the aggressor. His family never believed this story and always felt that his death was a conspiracy because Cooke fought for musicians’ rights and often clashed with mob-connected music execs. Cooke is known for hits like “A Change Is Gonna Come,” “Wonderful World” and “Twistin’ The Night Away.”
With the rise of power couples like Kim Kardashian & Kanye West as well as Jay Z & Beyoncé, having a significant other with a name of their own is now becoming apart of achieving the American dream; enter Quinelle & Sabrina Figueiredo-Vaz-Holder.
Quinelle is a rising industry tastemaker who’s resume includes Cornerstone Agency / The Fader Magazine’s Senior F.A.R.M. Representative, Day To Day Blogger for A3C Hip-Hop Festival, Editorial Assistant at KarenCivil.com and most notably Content Manger at HipHopSince1987.com; while his wife Sabrina has poised herself as one of the top freelance photographers in the field, capturing Hip-Hop elites including but not limited to: Jeezy, Ryan Leslie, Just Blaze, De La Soul, Lil B, Kendrick Lamar, Lupe Fiasco, ASAP Rocky and Cam’ron. In addition to her behind the lens work, Sabrina currently runs the boards at Sirius XM Radio as a producer and recently joined RESPECT Magazine as an Assistant Editor.
Professionally bringing together their collective efforts, they’ve recently launched their first business endeavor as a married couple. Appropriately titled Medium PR Agency, the company sets out to be a medium or connecting channel between where creatives are and want to be. Outside of their hometown of the DMV (DC, Maryland, Virginia) area, the couple has plans of securing office spaces in New York, Los Angeles and Atlanta as early as 2018.
If their past accomplishments are any indicators of what the future holds, we can only assume more success is soon to come. Congrats to The Holder’s and let’s toast to the future of Medium PR Agency!
Producer and DJ Diplo is taking a break from the studio to enter the boardroom. Sneaker brand K•Swiss has tapped the beatsmith to spearhead their new “The Board” campaign that will set forth to bring more entrepreneurs into the company. Dip will be the director of a 100-person board, which you can be a apart of, that will put their creative minds together to think of innovative ways to help K•Swiss regain prominence.
“We believe that consumer aspirations have shifted,” said Barney Waters, chief marketing officer of K•Swiss Global Brands in a statement. “Young people want their own brands, their own voice and their own businesses. K•Swiss is committed to outfitting and inspiring this generation of entrepreneurs. We have created a program with substance, where our customers get involved in the process of rebuilding K•Swiss and make real contributions. As a respected entrepreneur and global music talent, Diplo is the perfect leader for ‘The Board’.”
Diplo says is also looking forward to “The Board” experience.
“I was instantly drawn to the K-Swiss brand due to their heritage and longevity in the marketplace,” said Diplo in statement. “I am excited to be part of ‘The Board’, to bring young entrepreneurial minds into the process to help build the next chapter at such a respected brand.”
Those who want to apply to be apart of the board can visit board.kswiss.com for the application until Apr. 30th. Accepted applicants will then be invited to the program’s members-only website with a six-course curriculum that will link them with insiders. They will have discussions with the insiders about their area of expertise and then be assigned tasks related to K•Swiss business. Discussions will cover brand positioning, sneaker design, social media promotion and drafting a business plan.
Chris Brown’s ex-girlfriend Karrueche Tran has been through a lot during their rocky 6-year relationship. From getting into twitter battles with his other ex-bae Rihanna to Breezy once leaving her for Rih, embarrassing her on social media and calling her out at concerts, her heart has taken quite a beating. Now she says she is officially done with the “Autumn Leaves” singer since it was revealed that he has a nine-month-old daughter that he conceived when he cheated on her.
Tran is now seeking help from Iyanla Vanzant and will make an appearance on her OWN show Fix My Life.
“He betrayed you,” she told Tran. “He lied to you. He did it all publicly.”
TMZ reports that the conversation got heated at one point and Tran put Vanzant and the OWN crew out of her home. She was told the interview would be positive but when Vanzant hit her with questions about why she would date Brown after his domestic dispute with Rihanna, if she slept with him because he’s famous and challenged her about taking him back after he cheated, Tran was feeling some type of way and threw Vanzant out. She later invited them back in after a few hours.
Chris Brown has already showed us and even let us know on radio interviews that he doesn’t know how to act on social media. He even went as far as to say that he will let people know how he feels even if he deletes it later. Not too long ago Brown and Karrueche got into a social media war, where Brown exposed their threesomes and accused Karrueche of messing with Drake. For the millionth time Karrueche said only one could take so much, but still ended up taking the singer back. After news broke of Brown’s break baby, Karrueche claimed once again that she was done and has been going two weeks strong LOL. Karrueche recently posted the above photo on her Instagram with the caption “I’m president of the itty Bitty Committee.” Brown had to comment on his former boo’s post saying, “Thirst trap 101. continue to be a lady beautiful… U are perfect… Don’t let the Thot form from anger.” Should Karrueche or anyone else take advice from Breezy? LOL.
fatal shooting of mental patient Jason Harrison, 38, who was shot while holding a screwdriver after his mother called 911 for help bringing him to Parkland Hospital while he was in a crisis.
The compilation album has long been a prominent staple in Hip Hop culture. Collections such as Soundbombing, Lyricist Lounge, Cruel Summer, and Shady XV exhibited various talents as labels, crews, and like-minded musicians united on a single auditory presentation.
Mello Music Group has been one of the leading voices to seize on the idea of assembling its artists for collaborative projects. After releasing the previous works Self Sacrifice and Mandala, Vol. 1 & 2, the Tucson-based indie label returns with the 2015 compilation Persona.
Roster members Oddisee, Apollo Brown, L’Orange, Open Mike Eagle, yU, Quelle Chris, Red Pill, Rapper Big Pooh, Ras Kass and guest features contribute original songs to the 16-track anthology. Mello’s founder Michael Tolle took on the task of amassing the varied cuts into one project.
“I spend the year putting these together. It’s a constant battle, because artists want to give you leftovers. They don’t want to make the hottest track and not put it on their record. They always want to give you that leftover s**t,” Tolle explains to AllHipHop.com. “They know that this needs to be better than anything else they’ve done, because this is my record [laughs]. It’s got to pop.”
Oddisee + Apollo Brown + L’Orange + Open Mike Eagle + yU
Tolle was extremely hands-on in the conception of Persona. He picked the collaborations and the producers for each track. Tolle even oversaw the album’s artwork, taking inspiration for the creative process from famed artisan Mark Kostabi.
“Do you remember the album covers for Guns N’ Roses’ Use Your Illusion I and II?” asks Tolle. “So the dude who did those [Kostabi], he hired a team of people and told them, ‘You do this. You do that.’ I use the label and these compilations that way. I’m not a musician, but I know what I want to hear.”
“Persona” Cover Art
The music on Persona ranges from the stirring opener “Requiem” from Oddisee and Phonte to rap veteran Kool Keith spitting bars over L’Orange’s production on “Sometimes I Feel” to Quelle Chris teaming with Newark singer Bilal Salaam for the soulful ending number “All I See Is You.”
Several artists also used the project to tap into the hardships – and in some cases the hard truths – of living in modern America. On “PNT,” Ras Kass advocates for the working poor against the Republican’s 1% agenda and what he sees as President Barack Obama’s failed policies. Open Mike Eagle’s “Celebrity Reduction Prayer” assails society’s idolization of fame and those who covet stardom at any cost. yU addresses the Black community’s desire for social mobility with “Lose The Ground.”
“Hip Hop always has been and always will be activist, because it’s people speaking about things that are happening. At least if it’s ‘real,’ meaning truthful. If not, then it’s not what I call Hip Hop. [In that case], it’s not a culture, it’s a product,” states Tolle.
He adds, “With everything going on with all the killings from the police recently, a lot of people said, ‘Are you sure you should be tweeting that? Are you sure you want to say something about that?’ I don’t even think about it. Of course we would. Didn’t you feel something when you heard this? Aren’t we hear to express that through art? It’s what was happening in the world, so we had to express it.”
Quelle Chris + Red Pill + Rapper Big Pooh + Ras Kass
Despite the different performers, producers, and topics proposed on Persona, the body of work is an offering that counters the notion label compilations typically amount to disjointed clutter.
“We have this range of artists that really aren’t the same, yet I’ve got to marry this into one sound,” says Tolle. “It’s my job to marry all the different sounds of the label into one cohesive sound, so that people see how the pieces fit together. So they understand how an Apollo Brown can fit in with an Open Mike Eagle or an L’Orange.”
Tolle takes pride in his ability to gather these distinct personalities and aesthetics and put them forward as one unit. For him, the LP serves as the prevailing vocal, rhythmic, and melodic representation of his label’s brand. In other words, Mello Music Group’s public persona.
“Persona can be two things. It can be your mask, but it can also be the character you present,” Tolle states. “While we tend to think of a mask as phony, you can look at it more as the character that you carry. That’s how I viewed this project. How do I present to the world what Mello Music Group is for this year?”
(AllHipHop News) Anthony Mackie has tackled roles in movies such as 8 Mile, She Hate Me, The Hurt Locker, and Captain America: The Winter Soldier. The Juilliard School graduate is next set to star as Olympic champion Jesse Owens.
Deadline reports Relativity Studios is close to finalizing a deal on the Owens biopic. The site claims the film is set to start production in October with an expected release date of 2016. That year will mark the 80th anniversary of Owens winning a record-breaking four gold medals at the 1936 Berlin Summer Games.
The track-and-field star’s triumph in ’36 is also seen as a historical landmark because it foiled German leader Adolf Hitler’s goal of using the Olympic Games to prove the Aryan race’s superiority. Owens won the gold in the 100 meters, 200 meters, long jump, and 4 x 100 meter relay.
Another Jesse Owens movie, Racewith Stephan James as Owens, is in the works. Focus Features plans to release its Stephen Hopkins directed movie in April 2016.
(AllHipHop News) The use of rap lyrics as evidence during criminal trials has been a hot button topic in legal circles in recent years. In a recent case, a San Diego judge dropped gang conspiracy charges against rap artist Brandon “Tiny Doo” Duncan.
According to KFGO, the prosecution tried to connect Duncan to nine area shootings based on his musical content and social media posts. Authorities claimed the rapper was associated with the “Lincoln Park” gang, and his lyrics encouraged violence against rival gangs.
Seven people were charged in the 16-count indictment. Duncan was not accused of being directly involved in the 2013 and 2014 shootings.
“This is a First Amendment victory,” said Duncan’s attorney Brian Watkins. “Brandon had no knowledge of and no part in the shootings, but he was charged as though he did because he is in gangster rap. It’s entertainment, not crime.”
Judges across the country have landed on different sides with the issue of lyrics used as evidence. Last August, the New Jersey Supreme court ruled rapper Vonte Skinner’s attempted murder conviction be overturned, claiming the reading of his lyrics to the jury was “highly prejudicial” and “bore little or no probative value.”
“One would not presume that Bob Marley, who wrote the well-known song ‘I Shot the Sheriff,’ actually shot a sheriff, or that Edgar Allan Poe buried a man beneath his floorboards, as depicted in his short story The Tell-Tale Heart, simply because of their respective artistic endeavors on those subjects,” wrote Justice Jaynee LaVecchia for the 6-0 ruling. “The Court reasons that defendant’s lyrics should receive no different treatment.”
In 2013, the Nevada Supreme Court upheld Deyundrea “Khali” Holmes’ first-degree robbery and murder conviction in a 2-1 decision. Holmes was found guilty after prosecutors stated raps he had written were confessions to the crimes.
“It is one thing to exclude defendant-authored fictional accounts, be they rap lyrics or some other form of artistic expression, when offered to show a propensity for violence,” wrote Chief Justice Kristina Pickering. “It is quite another when the defendant-authored writing incorporates details of the crime charged.”
The San Diego District Attorney’s office is considering appealing the ruling in Duncan’s case. The prosecutors issued a statement alleging the community and the media have been manipulated to be misinformed about Duncan’s gang involvement
