After fending off some racists traditional country fans for their fearless leader, Beyonce, they zeroed in on country star Kenny Chesneyfor looking visibly displeased during the Queen Bey’s performance. Once done with him the fan group turned their sights to ‘Clueless’ star Stacey Dashfor slamming Beyonce’s mom, Tina Lawson.
Now, ‘American Idol’ finalist La’Porsha Renae is seeking treatment from bee stings as the #Beyhive have locked in on her for damning Bey’s country showing.
As emails published by Wikileaks continue to cast a confusing shadow over Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign, the artist Azealia Banks has urged African-American voters to ask themselves on question.
T.I. has been one of the names notable for their efforts in raising awareness of racial injustice.
Hence, it’s little surprise that the King of the South is none-too-impressed with Lil Wayne‘s recent comments regarding the Black Lives Matter movement.
As reported, Weezy publicly disassociated himself from the initiative – declaring that he could not relate because he was rich, addding that he believed racism was no longer a reality. He cited the diverse nature of his audience as his rationale.
Solange has been receiving rave reviews for her new album ‘A Seat At The Table,’ yet her journey to emancipation started five years ago.
This week’s From The Vault journeys back to 2008, a time when the rising star released her first single in 5 years.
Today’s pick is retro number ‘I Decided’.
Serviced as the first single from Solo’s sophomore set ‘Sol-Angel And The Hadley St. Dreams,’ the track was produced by the mighty Neptunes and sampled the iconic handclaps from The Supremes’ ‘Where Did Our Love Go.’
In the US, the cut performed moderately well on the Billboard Hot Hip-Hop/R&B peaking at #44.
For its European incarnation, the throwback cut received a sonic facelift by British DJs The Freemasons which allowed it to access the UK and France’s Top 30 as well as Ireland’s Top 50.
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Acclaimed director and family friend Melina Matsoukas directed the cut’s video which retraced different eras in Pop culture. Travelling through time, the talented songbird can be seen as part of a Supremes-like ensemble performing during the Civil Right Movement era, as a Disco queen on Soul Train, an 80’s popstar in the MTV generation, and finally romancing a love interest in the future.
With its vivid vibrancy and use of pop art, the visual shared similarities with Rihanna’s ‘Rude Boy’ which was released a year later and was also directed by Matsoukas.
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We’ve long been rooting for Ms. Knowles – ever since ‘Hadley St. Dreams’ days. As such, we couldn’t be more amped about seeing her finally getting the recognition she deserves. What’s interesting with ‘A Seat At The Table’ is that its material isn’t far removed from what Solange has been servicing already for years.
Hopefully, the buzz surrounding the project won’t be temporary and will only allow Knowles to expand the conversation with her newly recruited supporters.
In there here and now, though, congrats to Solange for breaking through. At long last.
Still flying high on the critical acclaim of her tertiary opus, ‘A Seat at the Table,’ soulful songbird Solange delivered her debut performance on ‘SNL’ tonight (as previously announced here).
Showing off her oft-praised pipes, the singer/songwriter unveiled the first televised showing of hit songs ‘Cranes in the Sky’ & ‘Don’t Touch My Hair’ – both found on ‘Table’ (which hit #1 the week of its release).
Keen to judge how the youngest of the Knowles clan fared on the sketch comedy show? Her performance awaits you below:
After a series of delays, Alicia Keys finally unleashed her sixth album ‘HERE’ yesterday.
It’s been a rocky road for the former chart-force. Indeed, despite routinely rocking the album tally with previous efforts, recent times have seen her struggle to jump start this campaign.
“Lead” single ‘In Common’ failed to chart on the Hot 100 earlier this year and a proper follow-up has yet to materialise; the latter being surprising given that the song has been relegated to an international bonus track on ‘HERE.’
Still, on the merit of her name, Keys has remained in the spotlight – appearing as a coach on ‘The Voice’ and booking a number of promotional spots.
How has all of this impacted the performance of the LP?
Country star Kenny Chesney may have the #1 album in the U.S. right now, but for the last three days he’s also been #1 on another tally: the Beyhive hitlist.
Indeed, during Beyonce‘s controversy inciting performance with the Dixie Chicks at this year’s CMAs the camera panned to Chesney in the audience who seemed visibly uncomfortable. The look of displeasure on his face during the ‘Daddy Lessons’ showing not only became the subject of many-a-meme, but also the catalyst for a brutal Twitter attack filled with death threats, attacks on his sexuality, personal life, and so much more.
Once the onslaught of insults reached a feverish pitch, Chesney took to social media to offer an official statement. Read it below:
‘Girl on Fire’Alicia Keys is bringing some serious heat to the promo trail in support of her sixth album, ‘Here’ (in stores now).
After news the project pounced to the top of digital charts, the 15-time Grammy winner is apparently looking to replicate its success on the Billboard 200.
Taking to Fallon Friday night (November 4), the first of many reported televised promo spots, Keys found an unlikely stage companion in rising rapstress Young M.A. See their hot performance below:
The popularity of the reality television format hasn’t always translated into the best of sales outcomes for its tenants (see: Gwen Stefani, Jennifer Lopez, Christina Aguilera, Shakira, etc.), but that doesn’t – nor should it – stop them from trying.
The latest to try her hand at the table? Alicia Keys.
Four years after dividing critics and fans alike with her #1 album, ‘Girl on Fire,’ the Grammy-winning diva’s new album is finally ‘Here.’ Birthing gems like ‘Holy War’ and ‘Blended Family,’ the RCA reared set arrived on the shoulders of an unconventional campaign – one that’s seen the singer/songwriter reintroduce herself to the buying public via an “anti-makeup” movement and stint as a judge on NBC’s reality singing competition ‘The Voice.’
If the tactics will translate into sales is yet to be seen.
Yes, the move’s kept her in conversation and even helped fuel interest in “Keys – the celebrity,” but it hasn’t done the same commercially. In fact, what the ‘In Common’-led opus does not have in common with its five predecessors is the ability to boast a Hot 100-charting single prior to release. Some will argue this fact many attributes to the lack of hype around the album…
Fans of ‘All Hands on Deck’ diva Tinashe were handed quite the surprise this week when she dropped ‘Nightride’ – a 15-song EP released today. Branded as “two parts of the same project,” ‘Nightride’ – a perceived predecessor to her long-awaited official sophomore album ‘Joyride’ – is seeing the singer taken on darker tones and subject matter.
“The majority of the album was already there, so it wasn’t like that much changed,” she says. “I see [Nightride and Joyride] as two things that are equally the same. I think you can be a combination of things, and that’s what makes people human and complex. They are equally me. I don’t like to be limited to one particular thing so I want to represent that duality and that sense of boundlessness in my art.”
Officially launching her “ERA II,” tuck in below to see the slightly disturbing visual:
Ebony’s highly anticipated ‘Power 100’ list has finally been unveiled and, much to the satisfaction of fans of some of Black Hollywood’s biggest movers and shakers, it’s never looked better.
“These 100 individuals are not only authoring their own success stories, they are leveraging their platforms in order to improve various facets of black life and render us visible on the world stage,” said EBONY editor-in-chief, senior VP and head of digital editorial Kyra Kyles. “This issue reflects how important it is for our influencers to be focused on our collective community and also on opening doors for others. This is a philosophy our cover stars embody. Power is nothing if it is not shared.”
With four special covers featuring Grammy winners Beyonce and John Legend, comedian Kevin Hart, veteran rapper Nas, director Ava DuVernay, gymnast Simone Biles, San Franciscio 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, HBO television star Issa Rae, tennis champ Serena Williams,and so much more, tuck in below for the full list:
