R&B songstress Adina Howard pushed the envelope in 1995 with her hit single “Freak Like Me”. There hadn’t been a solo female R&B artist to come out with such a bold and overtly sexually themed song. Along with becoming one of the highest selling singles and most played music videos on MTV and BET in 1995, Howard’s#### allowed young women of color and future recording artists to express their sexuality freely without shame. Howard’s song enabled women to feel liberated and to express that this (sex) is what I want to do, how I want to do it, and the fact that I want to do it. In the past in society it would seem as if sex was what men wanted to do, and that a woman was doing it for the man; it was so secretive. When Howard came onto the scene she believed that women were only sexy and sensual when men wanted them to be, and she refused to be in that category. She opened the doors for women to be who they wanted to be and to be free spirited.
“Adina Howard 20: A Story of Sexual Liberation” shares Adina’s story through her own words as well as the impact that she made during the 1990s and thereafter through the thoughts of fellow entertainers, educators, feminists, family, and fans. The documentary film gives an intellectual look into the inside of the highs and lows of the life of a platinum selling singer’s life despite the polarizing feelings towards her.
Howard speaks on the banning of her music video from BET, landing a cameo role in the movie Waiting to Exhale, her relationship with Tupac Shakur, working with Jackie Chan and Jamie Foxx and the sudden halt to her career due to her comments about record exec Sylvia Rhone.
Against Da Grain Ent / Desert Storm artist Fly Ty surfaces for the first time this year, but he’s not riding solo. Ty enlists the talents of Jazze Pha and Mark Murrille who not only adds a verse, but provides the production as well. Serving the demand of the streets, “Mexico” is a slow winding single laced with cocaine-infused bars from start to finish. The Mark Murrille-produced sounds will be featured on Fly Ty’s upcoming EP My Life Your Entertainment, which you can expect later this year.
DeLorean calls upon the who’s who of Houston’s music scene for the remix to his “Picture Me Swangin” video. The song and video embody everything Houston, TX is all about. From production by Cory Mo, to the double cups and the candy painted cars, it doesn’t get much more Houston than this. Of course the infamous director Dr. Teeth does a great job pulling it all together.
“Picture Me Swangin” appears on DeLorean’s Look Alive mixtape, available now.
Denver emcee Baby A follows up his feature on Famsquad’s “Murda Dem” with
“Endzone”, the first single from his forthcoming EP “The Dispensary”. The
Clearview Films directed clip shows Baby quartbacking a team of buxom
vixens. Baby A’s forthcoming “The Dispensary” arrives March 3rd stay tuned
for more updates.
Itz Prof delivers yet another visual off his mixtape presented by 904 Star Productions titled, “Gin X Chronic”. In straight campaign mode, expect more from Itz Prof in the near future. After already dropping off the audio the young up and coming artist delivers an official video for Young Thugs impressive hit record, “Stoner”. Video produced by The HD BOYZ.
From the producer of Tinashe’s Billboard #1 song, “2 On”, Marley gets set to release his project, “Jamerican” which is set for release on March 29th.
This first music video from “Jamerican” is the smoothed out vibe on “Onto You”. This record and music video is set to be a big record for 2015! Get familiar!
While a cause of death still has not been determined for ASAP Yams, some details have emerged regarding his death. It’s reported that his body was discovered by his roommate Sunday morning (Jan. 18) in their home.
According to the NYPD, Yams, born Steven Rodriguez, was taken to Brooklyn’s Woodhull Medical Center and pronounced dead after his roommate found him laying down unconscious and unresponsive.
Julie Bolcer, a spokesperson for the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner of New York City, told the Fader that an initial examination was performed on Yams’ body but “following the examination, the cause and manner of death are pending further studies.” A more thorough report is expected in the coming weeks.
Rapper Joey Fatts took to Twitter on Monday (Jan. 19) to dismiss claims of a drug overdose and revealed that his friend had sleep apnea.
“My brother ain’t die from no overdose,” he said in a now-deleted tweet, “F### all you b#### n#####. My brother had severe sleep apnea. And was killing you f### boys daily.”
ASAP Rocky will be making his film debut later this week at the Sundance Film Festival. The Harlemnite is playing a supporting role in the film, Dope, which shows how a group of nerdy teens survive during a bad day in The Bottoms, a rough area of Inglewood, CA. After helping his then girlfriend Chanel Iman practice for her part, Pretty Flacko asked for an audition and was added to the cast. The film’s director Rick Famuyiwa said he liked Rocky’s “natural charisma and ability.”
The film’s main character is a 90’s hip-hop geek named Malcolm who travels a different path than others his age in his crime and gang infested neighborhood.
“He isn’t a drug dealer or a gang banger,” Famuyiwa told Entertainment Weekly. “He’s into all types of music, and video games and computers. We’ve seen a lot of films about everything else in these neighborhoods—the crime, the athletes, the gangs—but you don’t see films about the regular kids who have to survive in these streets.”
Pharrell also put his two cents into the film by writing three songs for the garage band that Malcolm is a part of in the film. Skateboard P also produced the film along with Diddy and Forest Whitaker. Tyga, Vince Staples and Casey Veggies also make appearances in the film.
Second video/single, “Without Warning”, by legendary Austrian producer Flip featuring Elzhi & Phat Kat, taken from Flip’s forthcoming producer album, Reflections, available worldwide 2-17-15 (CD/LP/cassette/digital) on Ill Adrenaline Records. Reflections features lyrical heavyweights like Elzhi, Phat Kat, EDO. G, Killah Priest, Guilty Simpson, Kev Brown, LMNO, Tragic Allies, and many more.
Though President Obama addressed urgent issues at last night’s (Jan. 20) State of the Union address, like women getting paid maternity leave, equal pay between men and women, his plan for community college to be tuition-free and much more, he glazed over issues that affect the African American community.
To delve into those critical issues, over a dozen organizations are teaming up to host the State of the Black Union address, set to be aired today (Jan. 21) at 3 p.m EST on BlackLivesMatter.com.
Crucial matters that will be addressed include police brutality and violence in the African-American community, the U.S. Prison Industrial Complex and its disproportionate impact on Black people, political prisoners being held right here in America and more.
Organizations that are involved in this address include Justice League NYC, Millennial Activists United, Black Lives Matter, Trans Women of Color Collective, Malcolm X Grassroots Movement, Dream Defenders, Black and Brown People Vote, Million Hoodies Movement for Justice, the African American Policy Forum, ThinkMoor, Unchained, BYP 100, Freedom Side, Ohio Students Association, Hands Up United and the Organization for Black Struggle.
A digital town hall meeting will also be taking place tonight at 8 p.m EST via Twitter using the hashtag #SOBU for all black people “to share their reflections of this historic year and to express their vision for progress in 2015 and beyond.”
Bryshere Gray is grabbing a lot of television fans’ attention for playing the self-absorbed, bad boy rapper Hakeem Lyon on the family drama Empire. While Gray’s turn as Hakeem is his first run at acting, the young triple threat performer has been building his personal brand in the real music world as Hip Hop artist Yazz The Greatest.
Before appearing on the small screen with Academy Award nominated actors Terrence Howard and Taraji P. Henson, Yazz was rocking stages at Jay Z’s “Made In America” festival and Power 99’s “Powerhouse” concert in his hometown of Philadelphia. So it seemed to be a perfect fit for Gray to be cast as the rising rap star on producer/director Lee Daniels’ new Fox series.
The opportunity to try his hand at acting ironically allowed Gray to log in studio time with one of the most accomplished music producers in pop culture history. Timbaland was selected to help craft the original music for Empire which means the 20 year industry veteran oversees recordings by Gray, Jussie Smollett (Jamal Lyon), and others.
AllHipHop.com caught up with Bryshere Gray to get his thoughts on working with Empire‘s celebrated cast and crew, his transition from music to TV, and how he manages to stay grounded despite the breakout success of the show.
I’m from West Philadelphia, and I was an artist first. I was rapping and doing a lot of performances. I was giving back to the community by doing free high school tours. I started getting noticed by the big bosses in the music industry, so I got with the right people.
I met my manager Charlie Mack, and he told me about the audition for [the role of] Hakeem. When he told me about it, I wasn’t focused on acting. I was just focused on performing and letting people hear my music. But I did the audition full-out, and Lee Daniels loved it. He flew me to L.A., from there it’s history.
This is your first acting role. What was your mindset going into this process especially knowing you would be working alongside Taraji P. Henson and Terrence Howard?
When I auditioned for the role I had the chance to audition with Terrence and Taraji in person. It was a crazy experience to be working alongside these Oscar nominated actors. Me being such a baby in the acting game, starting with those seasoned actors was mind-blowing.
When I was in the room I was like, “Okay, calm down. I’m gonna just bring it.” And I brought it. Terrence took me to the side and said, “You’re killing this. But I need you to get deeper. If you get deeper, you’re going to be Hakeem.” From there I did another take, and I was even better.
Since you’ve been working on the show have they given you any pointers?
Yeah, Terrence always gives me tips and stuff I could use to make Hakeem a well-rounded character. And Taraji always makes sure I’m comfortable. Hakeem is very disrespectful to [Taraji’s character] Cookie. He says all these mean things to her, but Taraji makes it comfortable to get in character.
Cookie Attempts To Clean Up Hakeem’s Act
Speaking of the dynamics between those two characters. One of the most talked about scenes was the one where Cookie beat Hakeem with a broom. What was it like filming that scene?
Come on man, I’m getting beat with a broom. [laughs] Everybody went through being defiant to their parents growing up and not appreciating the things their parents work hard to get for them. That’s just an example of a spoiled brat getting beat by his mom.
How did you manage that shot on set? That was pretty intense.
That was actually my first scene ever in life. So like I said, she made it very comfortable for me to say “b***h” to her, because it was love there. This is my first time working with her, and I’m calling her a b***h. It was kind of hectic. On one take I actually got hit in the head with the broomstick. That scene was very intense.
You also get to work closely with Timbaland. What is that experience like for you?
It’s Timbaland. He worked with Aaliyah to Jay Z to Beyoncé, and now he’s working with Yazz and Jussie Smollett. I’m playing with Michael Jordan right now. I’m just watching. I’m learning. I’m soaking it in.
There are some big names that are going to be guest starring on the series. As a fan of music, if you could pick any stars that you would like to see appear on the show who would you choose?
I would like to see Taylor Swift. I would like to see the beautiful Halle Berry.
There have been rumors going around that Foxy Brown will be making an appearance. Do you have any information about that?
I’m not sure about Foxy Brown being on Empire.
Who are some the artists that are getting the most play on your playlists right now?
I’m listening to a lot of Michael Jackson and The Beatles right now.
Is there a particular reason why you’ve gone back to those eras?
It’s just those eras are inspiring me to create so much of my work right now. That type of music is sparking my ambition.
Are you planning on releasing your own album?
Yeah, I plan on dropping some music in a couple of months in the middle of 2015. It’ll be available on iTunes.
What about more touring or festivals?
Yeah, we have a little surprise for you. That’s going to come out very soon.
So could it be like a Glee situation where the cast goes on tour?
Maybe, we gotta let the world decide.
With the success of the show, what keeps you grounded at this point?
I go to church every Sunday. I stay talking to my family, and I just keep good people around me. You can’t have people around you just because you have a new situation going on or they just want something out of the relationship. I have people that are constantly giving me great advice, that consistently have my back. They don’t worry about what I’m bringing in. That’s the type of people I keep around me.
Two weeks before the ceremony, six more performers have been confirmed to hit the stage at the 2015 Grammys.
Usher, Pharrell, Common and John Legend have been added to the lineup of performers for the night of festivities, which happens on Feb. 8th (CBS). Common and John Legend are set to perform their song from the Selma soundtrack “Glory,” which has been nominated for an Oscar and won a Golden Globe trophy.
Miranda Lambert and Sam Smith will also be performing.
Pharrell and Legend are also up for an award that night with a nom in the Best Pop Solo Performance category. Usher also scored a nomination for Best R&B Performance for his track “Good Kisser.”
Coach has snagged Kid Cudi to rep for their Spring 2015 campaign. The Ohio native, along with actress Chloe Grace Moretz, will be modeling spiffy bags for the second installment of Coach’s Dreamers campaign.
In photos snapped by Mikael Jannson, Cudi is styling with a sleek leather men’s backpack and a laptop case adorned with a signature Coach pattern.
“Kid Cudi’s effortless ease and coolness could not better embody the spirit of the spring ’15 men’s collection,” said creative director Stuart Vevers.
The Coach ads featuring Cudder will appear in February.March 2015 issues of select magazines.
Did DJ Funkmaster Flex’s rants against Jay Z result in the demise of the Hot 97 personality? The Breakfast Club hosts Charlamagne Tha God, DJ Envy, and Angela Yee lead Jay to Flex’s rotting corpse in this comedic parody of Boyz N The Hood.
(AllHipHop News) Rapper/reality show star Lil Scrappy sat down with DJ Smallz Eyes to talk about some of today’s socially relevant topics. The Atlanta-based performer touched on the Michael Brown killing in Ferguson, Missouri and his views on relationship between the police and the community.
After expressing he questions African-Americans’ progress, Scrappy stated prejudice still exists in this country even among Black people. The 31-year-old entertainer reflected on African slaves being “big business”, and then he addressed the Brown police shooting.
“I don’t know what exactly happened, cause I wasn’t right there. But what I do know, police are trained to defuse a situation, and they’re trained to protect. I don’t feel like they’re doing that,” said Scrappy. “I feel like it’s some bulls**t. I don’t feel like it’s just all White police. I feel like it’s police period.”
The cast member of Love & Hip Hop Atlanta added police officers are underpaid and have to put themselves in danger. Plus, Scrap thinks citizens sometimes do not respond to cops in the most effective way, but that does not give license for anyone to lose their life.
“Some of us are smart-heads. We don’t wanna hear that s**t – ‘Don’t talk to me, I’m going through s**t everyday,'” He said. “If that makes you that mad to [want to] kill me, you don’t need to be no police. Buddy, you need to be in the army… We need you where the terrorists at. You’re gun happy like that we need you over there. We don’t need you around these kids.”
Preston Harris releases his single “Love Crazy” from the eponymous EP, produced by Hit-Boy. With a sweet and simple message, “Love Crazy” evokes the genuine romance that Mr. Harris embodies.
The two-part track examines the highs and lows of young love, while championing the self-empowerment and security of a committed relationship. Whether it’s over the sultry guitar stabs of the first part or airy keys of the second half, Preston Harris’ vocals inspire a type of honest romance and balanced love. The track is the lead single from the San Diego native’s Love Crazy EP, which is due this February under Hit-Boy’s HS87 umbrella.
Last night’s “State of the Union” address felt like a victory lap for a president that has been trounced since he walked into office. To be honest, he should be allowed to brush some of the dirt off his shoulder. I’ll give him that, because I’ve been pretty supportive of Barack Obama.
However, there is another side to the union that was hardly mentioned in the address. Where do I begin?
Lets start with the stateside unrest that permeates all over the nation.
“We may have different takes on the events of Ferguson and New York. But surely we can understand a father who fears his son can’t walk home without being harassed. Surely we can understand the wife who won’t rest until the police officer she married walks through the front door at the end of his shift.” – Barack Obama
The president said, “The shadow of crisis has passed,” but I am not certain whom POTUS was referring to. A crisis remains for a segment of everyday Americans and it is more than New York and Ferguson. Police are killing unarmed citizens at an alarming rate. 1 person of color is killed every 28 hours by a police officer, security guard or vigilante, one study says. This statistic doesn’t include those that are brutalized, beaten or harassed on a daily basis. This statistic doesn’t take into account the emotional and psychological ramifications of such fear tactics. (Please read-#DearObama: Use Your State of the Union to Move from Words to Actions on Race and Policing”) Obama referred to the concern for police safety alongside the issue of Ferguson but the reality of the matter is they do not compare. There is not a long standing nationwide epidemic of citizens murdering the police.
When President Obama was elected, I pushed and campaigned vigilantly to help get him in office. I never had illusions that things would inherently get better because he was a Black president. Still, seeing my daughter and niece have visions of being president after shaking his hand was more than priceless. Fast forward 6 years and my daughter is marching in protests against police brutality, and she is acutely aware of what is going on in the world. Kids still have their dreams, but some of them are definitely afraid to come out of the house.
Since we are on the topic of fear, lets talk about the inability of some Americans to make a decent living wage. That’s scary.
“Tonight, after a breakthrough year for America, our economy is growing and creating jobs at the fastest pace since 1999. Our unemployment rate is now lower than it was before the financial crisis.” – Barack Obama
When Eric Garner was murdered by the New York Police Department, he was selling loose cigarettes on the street to provide for his family. Selling “loosies” is an illegal act, by law, but there are good, honest folk that cannot get a living wage through traditional means. African Americans are floating at 10.4% unemployment nationally in the U.S., a stark contrast to the rest of the nation at 4.8%. The African American rate of unemployment almost always hovers around twice that of White Americans.
Often times, people cannot get jobs because of disparities in education.
A recent study by the Southern Education Foundation states that the majority of American students are living in poverty (read the full story here). The parameters of poverty are loosely defined, but about 51% of all school aged children qualified for free or reduced lunch last year. The article also noted that, while the U.S. economy has gotten better, poverty has continued to rise.
So, when Brother Obama speaks of middle class economics, I would have liked to hear him address the poor and outline the real world need to help those “that aspire to be middle class.” We almost never hear “poor” in these state of the unions. Americans should keep in mind that the vast majority of poor people are White, even though people of color are the faces of poverty. And, the beat goes on.
There are so many other issues, but I’ve got to evoke change on those matters that I can touch and feel with people willing to put in the work.
“Will we allow ourselves to be sorted into factions and turned against one another…or will we recapture the sense of common purpose that has always propelled America forward?” – Barack Obama
America is like the Titanic that has yet to hit that iceberg. Making that U-Turn won’t be easy.
As a people, we have to make some changes. The lip service must stop. The empty rhetoric must stop. The silence towards injustice must stop. The blatant, flagrant racism must stop. We have to start caring more, giving more, helping more, and injecting the main vein of this country with more love. Period. When, the president says, “The State of the Union is strong,” I wish he would have state something like “The State of the Union is stronger than it was when George Bush and his regime dumped a pile of mayhem on a brother.” His swagger was at an all time high last night, but that doesn’t change the heart-wrenching realities of the day.
There is no victory lap yet. Things are better. But, there is no victory lap until we turn this thing around.
(AllHipHop News) With all the discussion about the lack of diversity in the acting categories for this year’s Academy Award nominations, a report by the Associated Press reveals there is a different trend taking place on television.
According to the findings of an AP analysis, ABC, NBC, and Fox have a higher percentage of African-Americans in prime time than the percentage of Blacks in the country’s population. The U.S. Census puts the percentage of Blacks in the population at 13.2. African-Americans accounted for 15% of the cast members on ABC and NBC fall shows.
Fox led the way in that statistic. This fall 21% of the roles on the network’s prime time programming were played by African-Americans. In 1999 it was only 6.5%.
These numbers do not include the new show Empire which features a mostly Black cast. Other Fox series like New Girl, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Gotham, and Red Band Society all present African-American actors and actresses in major roles.
The ensemble casts of NBC series like Law & Order: SVU, Parks & Recreation, and Grimm feature minority characters. ABC has several series with African-American leads including the family comedy Black-ish. Producer Shonda Rhimes’ hit ABC programs Scandal and How To Get Away With Murder star Black leading ladies Kerry Washington and Viola Davis respectively.
However, there was still stagnation for other minority groups on prime time television, and three of the four big networks still had a greater percentage of White roles than the national population. Non-Latino Whites make up 62.6% of America’s population. Yet, 79.2% of CBS’ characters, 72.7 percent of ABC’s characters, and 69.7% of NBC’s characters were Caucasian. 60% of the casts on Fox were White.
“One can make the argument it’s been progress over 15 years, but it’s still been 15 years and that’s a lot of time to go by to see some of these changes incrementally,” former NAACP President Kweisi Mfume told the AP. “We can get pleasantly and romantically drunk by looking at all [Rhimes] is doing… But at the same time, she’s one person at one broadcast network.”
(AllHipHop News) TDE emcee Ab-Soul decided to share his top five rappers with his 500,000 Twitter followers. The These Days… album creator posted a message on the social media site naming two New York representatives, two Midwest rap stars, and one rhymer from the Dirty South for his personal G.O.A.T. list.
Ab has earned the respect of fellow Hip Hop artists as well. Legendary producer Pete Rock placed the California native on his list of Top 5 emcees dead or alive. Jay Z also expressed his appreciation for Soulo’s work when he wrote on Twitter in 2013, “love this guy and the entire movement.”
Last night’s “State of the Union” address felt like a victory lap for a president that has been trounced since he walked into office. To be honest, he should be allowed to brush some of the dirt off his shoulder. I’ll give him that, because I’ve been pretty supportive of Barack Obama.
