Usher has toyed with many different sounds in his time, but his look has remained relatively consistent.
Until now.
Currently on downtime after the release (and subsequently underperformance) of last year’s ‘Hard II Love,’ the R&B icon is using the window to experiment with his aesthetic.
Hopping on Instagram today, the 38-year-old shared snaps of his new blonde hair hue.
Check it out above and below.
In keeping it 100, we’d much prefer he instead debut new music sooner rather than later. Especially given how he fared on his last outing. Time waits for no one – and these days not even names that are known and loved.
Despite the video for ‘No Frauds’ featuring Drake and Lil Wayne being due imminently, the rapper has surprised fans with a teaser for solo effort ‘Regret In Your Tears.’
Lensed by Mert & Marcus, the visual looks like a highly stylized affair.
Onika is really being fervent with this flood of the media arena. We’re not complaining, but are keen to see what the end game is. Is she creating buzz? Are these even “singles” in the traditional sense? Time holds the answer.
Kendrick Lamar is already on-course for a colossal opening on the charts with latest album ‘DAMN,’ and gifts himself streaming points with the arrival of the video for ‘DNA.’
Continuing the cinematic appeal established by preceding release ‘Humble,’ the clip was was directed by Nabil and features Don Cheadle.
More than just a cameo, the award-winning actor turns in a spirited performance after being introduced interrogating K.Dot.
What are you waiting for? Check out the visual for ‘DNA’ below…
Sure this wasn’t as instant as ‘Humble,’ but continued to kudos to Kendrick for pushing his creative output to exciting heights. Kudos.
Jennifer Hudson may have an Oscar to her name and an omnipresence in the acting arena, but she still has music on the mind.
Fresh from a successful stint on The Voice UK, the songbird has returned to the studio to work on her fourth studio album.
Having already served up a taste in the form of promo single ‘Remember Me,’ J.Hud stopped by Sway’s Universe to open up about the project.
Refreshingly candid, the powerhouse revealed that she finally understands herself as an artist – rather than just a voice.
She went on to elaborate that her approach this go round is to not merely be a vessel for a producer’s vision, but to relay her own views.
Peep the informative sit-down below…
Exciting.
As keen appreciators of Jennifer’s talent, we’ve been awaiting that definitive body of work that really showcases her as the caliber of artist she can be.
Listening to articulate her goal with this LP piques our interest.
Drake has discovered that his $7.7 million mansion was burgled this month.
On April 3rd, a member of the rapper’s entourage entered the YOLO Estate and received the shock of his life when he found a woman dressed in the ‘Passionfruit’ purveyor’s clothes standing in one of his six rooms.
When confronted, the trespasser- who is yet to be named- claimed that she had permission to be in the property and admitted that she had helped herself to some of the beverages in the hit maker’s fridge.
It wasn’t long before the LAPD was called who, after stepping into the strange scene, charged her with a felony burglary and taken into custody.
The house is now available to purchase for $20 million.
Beyonce has got her legal team in ‘Formation’ in a bid to squash a lawsuit levelled against her for the 2016 hit.
The superstar singer, who is heavily pregnant with twins, was sued by a relative of deceased New Orleans comedian Messy Mya (real name Anthony Barre) back in February. She wasn’t the only name listed on the suit – pretty much everyone connected with the track and its video were served papers.
So what was the issue?
In the ‘Formation’ visual, Mya’s voice is heard twice – first at the start of the clip (“What happened at the New Orleans”) and later on (“B*tch, I’m back by popular demand.”)
The suit, filed by his sister Angel Barre, claims the samples infringe the rights in two works of Barre’s performance art, ‘A 27 Piece Huh?’ and ‘Booking the Hoes from New Wildin.’ Angel seeks royalties, damages and an order that her brother be credited as a writer, composer, producer and artist on the ‘Lemonade’ lead single.
Bey’s team say not so fast.
Her attorney Mary Ellen Roy makes an important point clear from the onset about the production company that produced the video – Pretty Bird:
“[W]hile beyond the scope of this motion, Pretty Bird licensed the YouTube Videos from Mr. Barré’s family before plaintiff Angel Barré had herself appointed as the administrator of the Estate of Anthony Barré weeks after the Music Video’s premiere — presumably for the purpose of bringing this action.”
Roy goes on to stress that Barre’s sister has grossly overstated the use of her brother’s work in the clip and its subsequent use during live performances. She notes that the claim erroneously includes ‘Super Bowl 50,’ during which Beyonce performed the song but didn’t even use the clip of his voice.
As for the use of Mya’s speech in the video and live performances on the ‘Formation World Tour,’ Bey’s motion to dismiss hits back with the fact that just 6-10 seconds were used on each occasion. Hence, it ultimately falls under the protection of Fair Use. And if it didn’t, that wouldn’t matter as the proper licences were secured by the production company ahead of time.
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Sounds like Bey a strong case. But time will tell how it all plays out.
Drake is far from impressed with the service he received at The Madison Club.
Located in La Quinta, California, the club is actually a private residential community and was handpicked by the rapper as his resting spot of choice during his time at Coachella.
He now says said choice was a big mistake.
The business, undoubtedly shaken by the backlash they received shortly after Drake’s review, answered with…
We are trying to get this issue fixed as soon as possible. Customer satisfaction is our number one priority and for you to experience such a thing is embarrassing for us as we do not tolerate racial discrimination.
Have you ever been faced with racism in a professional setting?
According to TMZ, the R&B bad boy is embroiled in another claim of abuse – this time by a photographer.
Per the report, Brown made a paid appearance at Tampa’s Aja Channelside nightclub. Management asserts that their in-house photographer was snapping pics when the singer and his crew arrived in the early hours of the morning. C. Breezy’s team told him to stop.
However, when the same camera man tried to take what he maintains were crowd shots from nearby Chris, the singer spotted him and chaos ensued.
The pap claims Chris hurdled over a couch and punched him in the face while he was cornered.
And there’s footage.
In the cellphone clip below, Chris can be seen in red and his bodyguard in yellow. Someone is clearly getting their Evander Holyfield on in the corner.
By the time police were called, Brown has bounced. The alleged victim shared the snaps below and maintains that he’ll be pressing charges.
Peep the alleged aftermath…
The incident comes on the heels of an expose on Brown’s alleged drug use, violent tendencies, and erratic behavior.
LeToya Luckett continues to flex her acting muscles ahead of the release of new album ‘Back 2 Life’ (due May 12th).
Case in point ‘Used To.’
The cinematic clip picks up after the visual for the LP’s title track, which was released in January.
Clocking in at over 10-minutes, Ms. Luckett certainly is proving generous with her output this era – holding true to her promise of delivering a video series to support her project.
Check out the vid, which co-stars Thomas Q. Jones, below…
Welcome to The Stream Scene, the TGJ party thrown to celebrate streaming gains made by some of the brightest stars in the Popverse.
Who made their way into the club this time around? Lady Gaga, Kendrick Lamar,Aston Merrygold and Beyonce.
Lamar’s new album ‘DAMN‘ is already on its way to casting a creative shadow of Drake’s hit-stained set ‘Views’.
How so?
The set, which is fronted by the single ‘Humble’, has already been streamed 50 million times and will cross the 200 million mark by the end of the week, making Lamar the first act to do so in the same space of time since Drake.
How much the album is expected to move in pure sales by the end of its first week? Between 275-300k.
Elsewhere, streams and pure sales have lifted Beyonce‘s ‘Hold Up’ to enviable new heights!
Streams garnered by her 2016 release ‘Hold Up’ recently swam past the 90 million spins point recently and, as of today, now sit at the 91,488,539 point.
Pure sales of the song’s parent album ‘Lemonade’ have been just as stellar.
By the end of 2016, the album had moved 1.5 million copies in the United States alone before streaming data pushed its to number over the 2.1 million mark!
Of course, the album’s unique rollout has seen fans opt to purchase the set as a whole instead of picking up its songs individually resulting in a less than stellar run on the Billboard Hot 100 but an epic one on the Billboard 200 where it peaked at #1.
Joining the club this week is the British vocalist Aston Merrygold, formerly of the Urban Pop group JLS.
His new single ‘Precious‘ impacted the net last week and cruises past the 20,000 spins landmark before the unveiling of his first solo studio set and the live shows he has launched to support it.
How ‘Precious’ is faring so far?
Since its arrival on April 12th, it’s been watched for a total of 744 hours and picked up 406 shares.
Will his forthcoming live shows help to push these numbers to higher ground?
Weigh in below!
Last, and never least, is Lady Gaga.
Back in February, the Pop diva rocked the NFL’s Super Bowl Halftime Show with a tame and restrained live serving out of her discography.
How the world responded? Positively.
Proving that the general public is still very much interested in her live shows, her Super Bowl online viewing figure was recently flung into new heights after it was watched 29 million times!
29,598,336 to be exact.
This news will undoubtedly give her diehard fans cause to celebrate after they pushed her new single ‘The Cure’ to #1 on iTunes USA!
Eccentric singer/actress Janelle Monae serves as one of five beautiful covergirls for Marie Claire’s May 2017 issue dedicated to female empowerment.
Hitting newsstands April 18, Monae – alongside Aja Naomi King, Emily Ratajkowski, Zoey Deutch, and Alexandra Daddario – struck their fiercest poses inside the pages of the mag that crowned them the ‘fresh faces of 2017.’
Each lending her thoughts on how ‘The Future is Female,’ tuck in to not only see more pics from the shoot, but see the behind the scenes footage as well:
