
The French haute couture house has quickly become the talk of the fashion blogs following the announcement of its Spring-Summer 2014 brand ambassador. Givenchy’s creative director Riccardo Tisci chose the infinitely charismatic soul singer Erykah Badu. The two first images from the campaign were unveiled on Givenchy’s brand new Instagram campaign, showing the forty-something actress in a striped long dress and a tribal-inspired tunic.
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Of course, the fact that the album was available exclusively through iTunes and not via any other digital music service helped push along the sales. Additionally, fans couldn’t buy single songs for the usual 99 cent price; instead they were forced to buy the whole album for $15.99. The album, however, included more than just 14 songs. It also came with 17 videos. You could watch only 30 second snippets of each video clip on YouTube. Called Beyoncé’s first visual album, it also included tracks from her husband Jay-Z, R&B singer Frank Ocean and rapper Drake. Another big draw? The closing track, “Blue,” features her daughter Blue Ivy in the video.
Next year’s Essence Festival is getting a dose of music royalty from Prince. The “Purple Rain” singer-songwriter is headlining the 20th annual Essence, a celebration of music and culture being held July 3-6 in New Orleans. Prince, who performed at Essence in 2004, also headlined this year’s South By Southwest Music Festival in Austin, Texas. His newest single, “Screwdriver,” debuted earlier this year. Still, Prince is best known for chart-topping hits like “1999,” “Kiss” and “Purple Rain.”
article by Associated Press via Variety.com

The King of Pop still reigns.
According to Forbes magazine, the late Michael Jackson has earned more money in the past year than any other musician — dead or alive. Between June 2012 and June 2013, Jackson’s estate earned $160 million. This surpassed the second-place earner, MJ’s living rival Madonna, who made $125 million in that time span, by $35 million. “It’s the third time in the past five years that the top-earning celebrity in the world has come from the graveyard,” reports Forbes.
According to Entertainment Weekly, Jackson’s earnings come from ”two Cirque du Soleil shows — one that tours, one housed at the Mandalay Bay Hotel & Casino in Vegas — and his half of the Sony/ATV song catalog, which includes his own hits as well as tunes like ‘When a Man Loves a Woman.’”
On the list of deceased earners, Elvis Presley comes in a distant second (with $55 million), followed by Peanuts creator Charles Schultz ($37 million), Elizabeth Taylor ($25 million), and Bob Marley ($18 million).
article via thegrio.com
Usher Raymond is on double movie duty with his credit as executive producer of the upcoming education documentary Undroppable, as well as his role in Hands of Stone as legendary boxer Sugar Ray Leonard. The project, written and directed by Jason Pollock, will explore the dropout epidemic in the U.S. educational system with direct feedback from American students. The film will be supported by a social media/video campaign that will allow them to discuss the issues they face in school.
Raymond will executive produce with Scooter Braun (Justin Bieber‘s manager) who introduced him to the project, as well as Adam McKay, Sharon Chang, Alex Soros andJohn Powers Middleton. “I knew Usher was very passionate about the issue of education, so I felt this was a great project to bring him into,” said Braun. “His expertise will be invaluable as we continue this film and movement.”
Undroppable will be completed this year for a 2014 release.
article by via uptownmagazine.com

Although African-Americans weren’t prominent in Forbes’ annual list of the richest Americans, they are definitely well-represented among Hollywood power couples. The finance magazine has released its list of the highest earning celebrity couples and perhaps to the surprise of no one rapper Jay Z and his wife, pop icon Beyoncé, top the list. The chart topping duo earned $95 million last year through their concerts, album sales and endorsements, putting them ahead of couples like Tom Brady and Gisele Bündchen, as well as Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie.
Kanye West and Kim Kardashian, who just welcomed their first child, a daughter named North, into the world, came in 5th overall, earning $30 million. Still none of these couples’ earning power combined reaches the height of say Oprah Winfrey, who, bolstered by rising OWN ratings, has made close to $3 billion in the last year.
article via thegrio.com
Director Ron Howard will debut the “Made in America” documentary about the Jay Z-curated music festival in Philadelphia Oct. 11 on Showtime.
Close to 50,000 fans attended Jay-Z’s “Budweiser Made in America” festival on Labor Day weekend last year. The two-day event included performers such as Pearl Jam, Drake, Run DMC, Skrillex, D’Angelo and Calvin Harris.
The year’s festival kicks of this weekend with performances from Beyonce, Nine Inch Nails, Imagine Dragons, Deadmau5, Kendrick Lamar and Macklemore & Ryan Lewis. Howard’s documentary serves as a backstage pass to the event, which showcases performers sharing stories of how they are “making it in America.”
It will debut Sept. 7 at the Toronto International Film Festival.
article via eurweb.com
Academy Award-winning actress and singer Jennifer Hudson was back in her home town of Chicago Wednesday to lend a hand with the back-to-school effort. The Oscar winner and her sister, Julia King, hosted a school supplies giveaway for low-income children at a South Side Salvation Army community center. “They can bring their list, pick and choose what they may need and go from there,” Hudson said.
The third annual Hatch Day celebration was in honor of King’s son, Julian, who was killed in their Englewood home several years ago along with their mother and brother. The event is always held on Julian’s birthday, who would have been 12 years old this year. “He was so into education, which is part of why we chose to give back in this way,” Hudson said.
There were enough supplies on hand for 5,000 kids, including backpacks, notebooks, pens and pencils. “You lead by example, and I feel like we’re leading by example. We’re hatching the dreams of thousands of children,” Julia King said. Hudson told NBC 5 she has an album and three films coming out, including the lead role in next month’s “Winnie Mandela,” the story of Nelson Mandela’s ex-wife.
article via nbcchicago.com

SAN FRANCISCO — Microsoft is first out with its 2013 top search trends list, with pop star Beyoncé bumping Kim Kardashian as the
Sixteen Grammy nominations (and three wins) later, the music producer-song writer-recording artist sat down with TODAY’s Savannah Guthrie to talk about the path to getting to top of the Top 40.