Azealia Banks‘ mission to end her feud with Iggy Azalea is completed.

Keen to steer her career’s ship into softer waters, the brilliant creative took to Twitter to declare that she’d be interested in marking the end of their long-running spat with a collaboration.

Flattered, Azalea responded to Banks by revealing that she also felt that their feud had gone too far and hoped to reconcile with her.

Minutes ago, Banks revealed that work on their collaborative cut is to start…tonight.

Starting it tonight ?? https://t.co/Ba6C4ESyZ0

— ?CHEAPYXO? (@XoCheapy) July 16, 2017

Your thoughts?

With her sights set on her next studio album Solange flew into England to rock her fans at this year’s ‘Lovebox Festival.’

There, armed with her romantic and introspective discography, Sol-Angel took to the stage to play for the event’s attendees before returning to the United States to be reunited with her new niece and nephew.

How she fared?

Watch below…

thank you again London/Lovebox for giving me such an abundance of love.
like that was so potent. im so appreciative.
& @Sampha my G! bless

— solange knowles (@solangeknowles) July 14, 2017

Your thoughts?

The #Beyhive have yet to cool their attack on Grammy winning R&B vet Monica after the songstress “liked” a comment that subtly shaded Blue Ivy, the eldest daughter of Beyonce.

It all started when fellow R&B diva, Ciara, took to Instagram to show off a picture of her son, Future Zahir (widely known as “Baby Future”).  One commenter suggested Cici should cut Baby Future’s locks as he was “beginning to look like Blue Ivy” – a diss to the young Carter’s famous hairstyles.  Mo liked the pic:

From there, all hell broke loose with the #Beyhive swarming her Instagram page with bee emojis.

Wielding a bevy of insults on the ‘Don’t Take It Personal’ singer’s Facebook and Twitter handles as well, the fiery attack reached such heights it prompted Mo to clapback with an official statement.

Ouch! Let’s hope this misunderstanding blows over soon.

Your thoughts?

Sevyn Streeter‘s new LP ‘Girl Disrupted’ has opened with a modest opening week number this week.

Stifled by the fact that it is yet to be released physically, the digital set impacted the Billboard 200 with 4,351 units and slid into action at #31.

Alas, her numbers see her stand as one of many acts to face slim digits this week with over half of the Top 50’s occupants moving less than 10,000 copies of their respective projects in the last chart week.

Why do you think sales have taken such a hit?

With his newly released album ‘Jungle Rules’ gunning for a top 5 debut on the Billboard 200, French Montana is looking to amp up the already brimming buzz around the project by releasing yet another visual for one of its hottest tracks.

‘A Lie,’ featuring chart-topper The Weeknd and Max B, gets the video treatment thanks to direction from Spiff TV and Montana himself.  Set in New York, the clip is a star-studded affair that sees cameos from the likes of A$AP Rocky, Juelz Santana, and more.

Get into it below:

Your thoughts?

Inez and Vindooh scored praise when they joined ‘Vogue’ to release their stunning snaps of Gigi Hadid and Zayn Malik.

In the shoot, the couple are showcased to the world as a “gender fluid” pair who share each other’s clothes.

Seem problematic? It does to some fans who have criticised the aforementioned parties for doing so.

Why?

Now, the couple have joined ‘Vogue’ to release the following statement:

The story was intended to highlight the impact the gender-fluid, non-binary communities have had on fashion and culture.

We are very sorry the story did not correctly reflect that spirit – we missed the mark.

We do look forward to continuing the conversation with greater sensitivity.

What do you make of the drama?

The critical acclaim secured by SZA‘s ‘CTRL’ now sees her sit atop R&B’s platinum throne.

How she’s celebrating this fact? By inviting her fans into her world via a dinner party she threw for friends to discuss the set.

How she did it? Via VEVO’s ‘Dinner Party‘ series.

Yet to hear the LP?

Peep its track list below…

1. Supermodel
2. Love Galore (ft. Travis Scott)
3. Doves in the Wind (ft. Kendrick Lamar)
4. Drew Barrymore
5. Prom
6. The Weekend
7. Supermodel
7. Go Gina
8. Garden (Say It Like Dat)
9. Broken Clocks
10. Anything
11. Wavy (Interlude) (ft. James Fauntleroy)
12. Normal Girl
13. Pretty Little Birds (ft. Isaiah Rashad)
14. 20 Something

Your thoughts?

Is ‘Love & Hip Hop’s Cardi B making a beeline to the top of rap charts?  Time will tell, but the growing commercial and critical response to her latest release – ‘Bodak Yellow’ – is certainly a good indication.

Unveiled in late June, the braggadocious bop’s real sendoff occurred over BET Awards weekend where she not only gave the tune a live showing, but also won over some new fans along the way.  With her glowing buzz – assisted by two BET Awards nominations (Best New Artist & Best Rap Female) – the colorful tune was hoisted to a Hot 100 debut on this week’s refreshed tally.  It comes as her first appearance on the chart.

Like Cardi, Tyler the Creator – who has been active in various capacities since 2011 – also saw his inaugural appearance on the Hot 100 this week.  With his song ‘Who Dat Boy,’ the first release from his latest album, ‘Scum F*ck Flower Boy,’ Tyler debuted at #87 on this week’s tally.  Yet, with the heightened attention and boiling controversy surrounding some lyrics found on his latest album, we wouldn’t be surprised if the song bursts into Billboard’s upper half next week.

Until we find out for sure, look below to see who’s ruling the top 25 on this week’s refreshed TGJ Chart Check:

Hot 100 This Week

Your thoughts?

Following a window of exclusivity on TIDAL, JAY-Z‘s much discussed ‘4:44’ album hit all services (sans Spotify) within the last week.

It meant that Jigga’s numbers would be easier to track in the traditional sense. Especially after the confusion that ensued when he was awarded a Platinum plaque for “selling” 1 million copies of the LP in the US – despite the project only being available on TIDAL (who didn’t report their numbers). Later, it became apparent that this was possible due to Sprint “buying” a million copies to give away for “free” to customers.

So, how do the numbers stack for the album’s first wide week of availability?

According to Hits Daily Double, the simple answer is: good enough to secure a #1. 

Jay will officially sit atop of the Billboard 200 this week and shifted the following to do so:

277,601
[Sales Plus Streaming]
———
175,441
[Pure Sales]

******************

For what it’s worth, another week at #1 looks likely. For, the 47-year-old is still in pole position on the iTunes US store and boasts more star power and hype than a number of the releases unleashed in this new tracking week.

Your thoughts?

[Photo credit: Getty]

For almost 20 years, Beyonce has proven a formidable force and 2016 was no different.

Billboard have published their list of Top 50 Music Money Makers and unsurprisingly Queen Bey has bested the rest.

The criteria drawn on to compile the tally were: sales, streaming, publishing, and touring.

While the list, in itself, makes for an interesting read, the difference between each act on certain fronts is even more riveting.

For instance, though Bey excelled in pure sales and touring (enough to make her total $20 million ahead of the act in #2 spot), other names like Rihanna and Drake outranked her streaming figure.

Check out key names, where they placed, and how they got there below…

(more…)

Michael Jackson‘s estate may have trouble on its hands if it doesn’t comply with the wishes of his producer Quincy Jones.

Quincy created a number of the late star’s greatest hits and mourned his passing with the rest his star-studded family.

Alas, things have taken a turn for the worst now that he believes his estate is refusing to cough up cash he is owed for building his discography.

How much?

$30 million.

‘Variety’ reveals…

Attorney Mike McKool delivered his opening argument in the trial, which is now underway in Los Angeles Superior Court. McKool said that before Jackson’s death in 2009, Jones had received his customary royalties from producing three albums: “Off the Wall,” “Thriller,” and “Bad.”

But, McKool argued that that changed when Jackson died and the singer’s estate took control of his finances. Jackson’s death brought a surge of interest in his catalog, and the estate reaped an increased share of the royalties from his hit songs. But Jones was not allowed to share in the bounty, McKool contended, and indeed was not even informed of the increased royalties until after filing suit in 2013.

Michael’s team thinks differently.

We believe the evidence will show that Mr. Jones is not entitled to anything but a fraction of the money he’s after. Mr. Jones has been paid over $18 million, and he will make millions more.

He didn’t get paid any of the money Michael was going to get because he didn’t do any of the work. Mr. Jones is asking for tens and tens of millions of dollars. He just wants it and he hopes you will give it to him.

The trial is set to last three weeks and will see Jones testify next week.

Your thoughts?

Nostalgia is proving a popular play in todays TV and film arenas. And Russell Simmons wants in.

The media mogul is reportedly readying a reboot of his ‘Def Poetry Jam’ series for HBO and has his sights set on Chance The Rapper to host.

If a go, the updated show would be titled ‘All Def Poetry.’

The original ‘Def Poetry Jam’ was a spoken word poetry series hosted by Mos Def on HBO; it ran  from 2002-2007.

As Deadline notes, it was an off-shoot of Simmons’ classic ‘Def Comedy Jam’ which aired 1992-97 – also on HBO. Recently rebooted (as ‘All Def Comedy’), the initial incarnation of the series launched the mainstream careers of talent such as Martin Lawrence, Chris Tucker, Bernie Mac, and Steve Harvey.

The first run of ‘Def Poetry’ earned a Tony, a Peabody, and an NAACP Image honor. So, any such revival has a firm foundation to build on.

A post shared by Russell Simmons (@unclerush) on Jul 14, 2017 at 7:47am PDT

Your thoughts?