The year 2015 is ending on a high for Hip-Hop. Earlier in the week, Kendrick Lamar was nominated for 11 Grammy Awards, the most ever for a Hip-Hop performer in a single year. And, tonight (12/12), Chance The Rapper became the first independent artist, in any genre, to perform on the 40-year old sketch comedy franchise, “Saturday Night Live.”
Chance performed 2 songs on the SNL stage. The first was “Somewhere In Paradise” with Jeremih. As is often the case, the song was part rap, part singing and all Chance catching the spirit, as he showed his jubilation for being on stage, both vocally and physically. His lyrics were joyous, even stating that there were people in his life who said he’d never reach this point, and yet, here he was. He also covered every inch of the stage with spirited dance moves. Jeremih joined halfway through and was the recipient of a bear hug at the end from the MC who seemed overwhelmed by the moment. Chance also was supported by a full band, which included his longtime collaborator, Donnie Trumpet, with whom he released the Surfalbum earlier this year, under the collective name of The Social Experiment.
Chance’s second song was “Sunday Candy,” his sweet love song from Surf. Unlike the first performance, this one was much more staid, with Chance seated while backed by his band and choir. Even still, his joyousness shone through the rain about which he sang. To take a look at both performances, click here.
article by Parfit via ambrosiaforheads.com
Posts published in “Music”
Queen Latifah has landed a lead role in Lee Daniels’ untitled music project at Fox, which was formerly titled “Star,” Variety has learned. Three more regulars — all relative newcomers — have also been cast.
The Untitled Lee Daniels Music Pilot goes into production this month in Atlanta, and while the potential series has only been ordered to pilot at this point, Queen Latifah’s star power, combined with Daniels’ “Empire” track record at Fox, makes the project a strong contender for the 2016-17 television season.
The pilot revolves around three young women, who form a girl group with hopes of making it big in the music industry. The project has been described in the vein of “Dreamgirls,” while incorporating the manufacturing of modern-day girl groups, showcasing the allure and heartache of the cut-throat music scene, and exploring cultural themes from a new perspective.
Queen Latifah will anchor the young cast, playing Carlotta, the owner of an Atlanta beauty salon who has an amazing voice and becomes a surrogate mother to the three girls in the group, even though she doesn’t approve of their musical dreams.
Following a nationwide casting call, actress and singers Jude Demorest, Ryan Destiny and Brittany O’Grady have been cast as the leading girl group members.
Demorest (“Dallas,” “The Middle”), from Detroit, has landed the role of Star, the tough 18-year-old who spent her childhood in and out of foster homes after the death of her mother, and who will do anything to become the star she was named to be; Destiny (“Low Winter Sun”), also from Detroit, has been cast as Alexandra, the wealthy 20-year-old who grew up on New York’s Upper East Side, but who, for years, has tried to put her privileged world behind her, so she can make real, authentic music; and O’Grady (“The Messengers”), from Washington, DC, will play Simone, Star’s younger sister who dreams of the day Star will return to rescue her from the abusive foster home in which she was placed five years before.
The Recording Academy announced the Grammy Award nominations this morning. Kendrick Lamar leads the field with 11 nods. The Weeknd and Taylor Swift both received seven Grammy nominations. Other top nominees include Drake, John Legend, and Kanye West.
The Academy is committed to celebrating a diverse blend of talented entertainers, musicians, and producers, and this commitment is evident in the nominees for the Album of the Year category. According to Grammy.com. Lamar has been nominated for his “jazz-infused rap,” Alabama Shakes for their “alternative and soulful rock,” Swift for her pop, Chris Stapleton for his “classic country sounds,” and The Weeknd for his “genre-bending R&B style.”
D’Angelo and The Vanguard are nominated for Record of the Year, along with Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars, Ed Sheeran, The Weeknd, and Swift.
The Grammy ceremony will be held Feburary 15, 2016 in Los Angeles. A list of nominees follows below:
Pharrell Williams is trying his hand at real estate.
The Grammy Award winner is partnering with a Detroit housing developer, Alexander Gorlin, who is “noted for his inventive use of space, light and natural materials,” on a potential plan for “prefab housing in Detroit.”
The project is still a work in progress, and Williams and Gorlin have not yet secured the land or permission to move forward. However, it looks like the plan is to create housing out of empty city-owned land using the prefab housing model, meaning parts of the homes will be built in factories and then moved out to the locations.
“I’ve seen some plans that fill up a lot of empty space, with different types of housing, including single unit housing that look like the stuff in Lafayette Park,” said Paul Emery, chairman of the North Corktown Neighborhood Association.
John Roach, a spokesman for Mayor Mike Duggan’s office, said that there is not yet a deal in place for any of the city-owned land or for any development yet.
“The city talks to developers all the time,” Roach said Friday. “As a rule we do not comment on potential development projects unless there is an agreement in place.”
article via thegrio.com
The NAACP and TV One announced today that Anthony Anderson has signed a multi-year deal to continue as host for the 47th and 48th NAACP Image Awards. The 47th NAACP Image Awards will be nationally telecast live on TV One on Friday, February 5, 2016 as a two-hour special from the Pasadena Civic Auditorium. The live telecast will also include a one-hour live pre-show from the star-studded red carpet.
“I look forward to the NAACP Image Awards each year! The NAACP Image Awards always delivers an epic evening with the best of the best across film, TV, music, and literature,” said Anderson. “It is a privilege and honor to be asked back to host for the next two years – there is no doubt that this year’s show is going to be magnificent. I may even have a few surprises up my sleeves!”
Anthony Anderson currently executive produces and stars alongside Tracee Ellis Ross and Laurence Fishburne on the hit ABC series “Black-ish,” for which he won a NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series. He has also earned Emmy and People’s Choice Award nominations for his role in the series. Anderson can next be seen in “Barbershop 3: The Next Cut.”
As previously announced, Reginald Hudlin and Phil Gurin have signed a three-year deal to continue as executive producers for the NAACP Image Awards.
For all information and latest news, visit the official NAACP Image Awards website at http://www.naacpimageawards.net.
article by Tambay A. Obenson via Shadow and Act
In a stroke of marketing (and altruistic) genius, singer Chris Brown has pledged to donate $1 from the sale of every copy of his upcoming album “Royalty” to a children’s charity.
He made the announcement via video on Instagram where he said, “The holidays are all about giving back, so this Christmas, from now until Christmas, if you order the album, pre-order the album, one dollar of every album sold will go to Children’s Miracle Network Hospital”
“So please do your part. Give back, return it for the holidays,” he added.
Royalty, which is named after his daughter, is available to pre-order now.
https://www.instagram.com/p/-nGr9ePpSF/
article by Blue Telusma via thegrio.com
Fox’s “Empire” may be headed on its midseason break after a couple of more episodes, but the network hopes to keep its Wednesday timeslot warm by slotting a holiday music and variety special hosted by the show’s Taraji P. Henson and Terrence Howard.
The network announced Monday that “Taraji and Terrence’s White Hot Holidays,” featuring a special duet by Henson and Howard and modern performances of classic holiday songs, has been set for Wednesday, Dec. 9 at 9. Among the entertainment superstars scheduled as guests and musical performers are Mary J. Blige, John Legend and Jamie Foxx.
“Empire” is broadcast television’s No. 1 series this fall in adults 18-49, averaging a 6.8` rating in the demo and 16.7 million viewers overall in Nielsen’s “live plus-3” estimates. The show is scheduled to exit the airwaves after its Dec. 2 midseason finale, and won’t return until March 30.
“White Hot Holidays” is produced by Casey Patterson Entertainment, Don Mischer Productions, Taraji P. Henson, Terrence Howard and Vincent Cirrincione.
article by Rick Kissell via Variety.com
The network announced Monday that “Taraji and Terrence’s White Hot Holidays,” featuring a special duet by Henson and Howard and modern performances of classic holiday songs, has been set for Wednesday, Dec. 9 at 9. Among the entertainment superstars scheduled as guests and musical performers are Mary J. Blige, John Legend and Jamie Foxx.
“Empire” is broadcast television’s No. 1 series this fall in adults 18-49, averaging a 6.8` rating in the demo and 16.7 million viewers overall in Nielsen’s “live plus-3” estimates. The show is scheduled to exit the airwaves after its Dec. 2 midseason finale, and won’t return until March 30.
“White Hot Holidays” is produced by Casey Patterson Entertainment, Don Mischer Productions, Taraji P. Henson, Terrence Howard and Vincent Cirrincione.
article by Rick Kissell via Variety.com
A+E Networks and iHeartMedia are simultaneously airing “Shining a Light: A Concert for Progress on Race in America” on Friday, November 20 at 8PM ET/PT. The sold-out concert was recorded at The Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, CA on Wednesday, November 18th, and the two-hour special event will air across the entire A+E Networks portfolio in more than 130 territories globally, including A&E, HISTORY, Lifetime, H2, LMN and FYI, as well as on more than 130 iHeartMedia broadcast radio stations nationwide and the iHeartRadio digital platform. Additionally, AOL has joined in the simulcast making the historic special event available to anyone with internet access across the globe on AOL.com.
Artists Aloe Blacc, Andra Day, Nick Jonas, Tom Morello, Smokey Robinson and Big Sean join the previously announced performers including Zac Brown Band, Eric Church, Jamie Foxx, Rhiannon Giddens, Tori Kelly, John Legend, Miguel, Pink, Jill Scott, Ed Sheeran, Sia, Bruce Springsteen, Sting and Pharrell Williams. LL Cool J, Marshall Faulk, Morgan Freeman, George Lopez, Mario Lopez, Nicki Minaj, Kurt Warner and Nick Young are among the presenters joining the telecast.
Alicia Keys has joined John Legend and Pharrell on extraordinary journeys to Baltimore, Ferguson and Charleston, where they met with a diverse group of residents in communities at the center of the national conversation on racial inequality and violence. Joined by NPR’s Michele Norris with John Legend in Ferguson, award-winning journalist Soledad O’Brien with Pharrell Williams in Charleston and ABC News’ Byron Pitts in Baltimore, these visits included intimate discussions and special private performances by each for those most effected. These incredibly moving, heart wrenching and eye-opening moments will be featured throughout the two-hour concert, as well as in the one-hour special, “Shining a Light: Conversations on Race in America,” airing immediately following the concert on A&E Network and AOL.com at 10pm ET/PT.
To see Alicia Keys perform Donny Hathaway’s “Someday We Will All Be Free”, watch below:
https://youtu.be/vqt2OHsAFiU
The concert will kick off A+E Networks’ campaign to confront issues of race, and promote unity and progress on racial equity, inspired by the response of the Mother Emanuel family members in Charleston and others working for reconciliation and change around the country.
The concert and the ancillary programming will help raise money for the Fund for Progress on Race in America powered by United Way Worldwide (ShiningALightConcert.com). The fund will provide grant funding to individuals and organizations fostering understanding, eliminating bias, as well as provide support to Mother Emanuel A.M.E. Church and the broader A.M.E. denomination. The fund will support efforts to address racism and bias through public policy change, individual innovation, and community mobilization.
Tickets for the concert on November 18 sold out within 3 hours of the on-sale date raising more than $150,000 to benefit the Fund for Progress on Race in America powered by The United Way Worldwide.
To see a clip of John Legend’s performance of “Bridge Over Troubled Water,” from the event, watch below:
https://youtu.be/F4PLzIrzI6k
article by Lori Lakin Hutcherson (follow @lakinhutcherson)
The Black church has, for years, been known for not being the biggest supporter of the LGBT community, but today, Kirk Franklin, a respected force in the religious community, has come forward to apologize on their behalf.
“I want to apologize for all of the hurtful and painful things that have been said about people in the church that have been talented and gifted and musical, that we’ve used and we’ve embarrassed… and all this other horrible crap that we’ve done,” he told The Grio. “We have not treated them like people. We’re talking about human beings, men and women that God has created.”
The “I Smile” crooner explained the Bible was not written as an anti-gay work, but rather, the opposite: “The Bible is not a book that’s an attack on gay people,” he said. “It’s not a book written to attack gay people. It is horrible that we have made it where the Bible is a homophobic manual.”
Bringing it all together, Franklin said that he just wants all LGBT-identifying people to know that God is in their corner. “I mean, you want to talk about things that God gets at… pride and jealousy and envy and arrogance,” he said. “But what we also see is God sending his son to save us all, because we were all… straight, gay or whatever, lost and in need of a savior, and there’s room at the cross for all of us.”
article by John Justice via bet.com
Queen Latifah and Jermaine Dupri are on the hunt for the next big hip hop sound in the industry.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, the duo is putting in work on a new unscripted series called The Rap Game. The eight-episode series will follow five aspiring young artists navigating the vast Atlanta hip hop scene and mentored by some of the greatest names in the game.
Dupri, who acts as producer on the show, has tapped the likes of Usher, Ludacris, Da Brat, T.I. and Silento to help guide the pupils each week, showing them how to better hone their crafts.
The goal for the young hopefuls is to secure a record contract with So So Def.
article by Matthew Wright via thegrio.com