Melba Moore To Be Honored In Newark, NJ With a Street Named In Her Honor

The Honorable Newark, NJ, Mayor Ras Baraka and Councilwoman At Large, the Rev. Louise Scott-Rountree will present a street renaming dedication, honoring The Marvelous, Tony Award-winning, Grammy nominated R&B legend, The Marvelous Melba Moore.

The event is taking place on Friday, September 8th, 2023, 11 am ET, at the intersection of William and Mercer Streets in Newark, NJ – across the street from Ms. Moore’s alma mater, Arts High School. The street will be renamed Melba Moore Plaza.

This has been a banner year for The Marvelous Melba Moore. She appeared on The Tamron Hall Show, walked the runway for the American Heart Association's Go Red For Women event, released a new single - a remake of the Ashford & Simpson R&B classic, "It Seems To Hang On", as well as earning a Star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame on August 10th, 2023.

Missy Elliott offers encouragement and advice at Norfolk State University graduation

Missy Elliot gave the keynote speech at Norfolk State University's graduation ceremony Saturday. Elliot also offered offers encouragement and advice to the graduates.

Coolio best known for '90s hit 'Gangsta's Paradise,' dies at 59

Los Angeles rapper Coolio, who rose to the national spotlight in the 1990s with his Grammy-winning hit "Gangsta's Paradise," died on Wednesday, his longtime manager Jarez Posey confirmed to ABC News. He was 59.

Coolio, whose legal name is Artis Leon Ivey Jr., was found unresponsive Wednesday afternoon while visiting a friend's house, and emergency personnel were called after he didn't come out of the bathroom, according to Posey. A cause of death has not yet been determined but an investigation is ongoing.

"We are saddened by the loss of our dear friend and client, Coolio, who passed away this afternoon," Coolio's representative, Sheila Finegan​, executive partner at Trinity Artists International, told ABC News in a statement Wednesday evening. "He touched the world with the gift of his talent and will be missed profoundly. Thank you to everyone worldwide who has listened to his music and to everyone who has been reaching out regarding his passing. Please have Coolio's loved ones in your thoughts and prayers.

[ABBC NEWS

Minnesota delegation looks to honor Prince with Congressional Gold Medal

Minnesota’s Congressional delegation on Monday is introducing a resolution to award the Congressional Gold Medal to Prince, citing his “indelible mark on Minnesota and American culture.”

The resolution for Prince is led by Amy Klobuchar and U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar, a Democrat who represents Minneapolis in the House. The full Minnesota delegation serves as original cosponsors, including Sen. Tina Smith and Reps. Jim Hagedorn, Angie Craig, Dean Phillips, Betty McCollum, Tom Emmer, Michelle Fischbach, Pete Stauber and Omar.

“Prince is a Minnesota icon,” said Omar in a statement. “He showed that it was OK to be a short, Black kid from Minneapolis and still change the world. He not only changed the arc of music history; he put Minneapolis on the map.”

The bill also puts into the Congressional record the glyph he used instead of his name for a time that Prince called “The Love Symbol.”

Under the rules, Congressional Gold Medals require the support of at least two-thirds of the members of both the Senate and House of Representatives before they can be signed into law by the president. The Prince legislation will be introduced in the House and Senate.

If the gold medal is approved and made, the bill asks that it be given to the Smithsonian Institution, which should make it available for display at the National Museum of African American History and Culture or on loan.

Prince has 20th top 10 album with ‘Welcome 2 America’

Even in death the Purple One is still hitting milestones.

Prince’s posthumous album “Welcome 2 America” landed at No. 4 on this week’s Billboard 200 chart, making this record the late singer’s 20th top 10 album. He’s the twelfth artist to reach the milestone. Prince recorded and shelved the album in 2010 but after his death in 2016, it was welcomed out of the archives. “Welcome 2 America” was released last month.

Welcome 2 America marks Prince’s first debut in the Billboard 200’s top 10 since 2014 and his highest entrance since 2009, when Lotus Flow3r/MPLSound/Elix3r debuted at its No. 2 peak.

TV One Slated To Air The Final Interview With The Late Rapper DMX On Sunday, May 16

Urban One Founder and Chairwoman Cathy Hughes announced TV One will air a special episode of its hit autobiographical series UNCENSORED featuring the late rapper DMX. Hughes made the exclusive announcement on the URBAN ONE HONORS: Virtual Press Conference on Wednesday, April 28. The special is slated to air on Sunday, May 16 at 8 p.m. ET/7C, immediately followed by the annual URBAN ONE HONORS hosted by Erica Campbell and Roland Martin at 9 p.m. ET/8C. It will feature an interview with DMX just three weeks before his passing and is confirmed to be his final and most transparent to date.

"DMX sat down with our team and was completely UNCENSORED,” said Cathy Hughes. “We have one hour with the late rapper in his own words. For DMX to be with us just three weeks before God called him home, I believe it's truly divine intervention. I thank Nikki from SWIRL films for staying the course because he kept telling her 'no', but thankfully we were able to make it happen. His family, fan club, friends, and supporters will be happy with the way he told his story for the last time. The two-part special will air directly before the annual Urban One Honors. I'm particularly excited because I feel like this will be the biggest night in TV One History."

The hit autobiographical series UNCENSORED explores the lives of popular personalities as they provide first-hand accounts of their success and the obstacles they faced throughout their careers. This episode will highlight the rapper in his own words as he discusses his more than 30-year career and legacy in hip hop. Raised in Yonkers, New York, by his mother, DMX was considered a “problem” as early as kindergarten. A tumultuous relationship with his mother caused him to bounce between boys’ homes and eventually detention centers. However, battle rapping solidified his love for the art, and his first break was a feature in The Source Magazine’s Unsigned Hype column in 1991. In 1992, he was signed to Ruffhouse Records. His debut album, It’s Dark, and Hell is Hot, didn’t arrive until 1998, but it peaked at No.1 on the Billboard 200. He quickly followed up with his second album, Flesh of My Flesh, Blood of My Blood, making him the first living artist to release two chart-topping albums in the same year. He eventually released six more studio albums, with three more reaching No. 1 and one reaching No. 2. His success in music primed him for acting. He starred in Hype Williams’ hip hop classic Belly and followed that success with roles in Romeo Must Die and Exit Wounds.

Morris Day book: On Time A Princely Life In Funk

A memoir by Morris Day of The Time centering around his lifelong relationship and association with Prince.

Brilliant composer, smooth soul singer, killer drummer, and charismatic band leader, Morris Day, has been a force in American music for the past four decades. In On Time, the renowned funkster looks back on a life of turbulence and triumph. He chronicles his creative process with an explosive prose that mirrors his intoxicating music. Morris' story is a fast-paced page-turner replete with unexpected twists and shocking surprises.

A major and fascinating theme is his lifelong friendship and years of musical partnership with Prince, from their early days on the Minneapolis scene to selling out stadiums and duking it out as rivals in Purple Rain. Eventually, Morris went on to release four albums with a new band of his very own, the legendary Time. He battled his addictions and came out victorious. But not before increasing tensions and embittered rivalry between Prince and the Revolution and Morris Day and the Time led the two performers towards separate paths. Through the years, the fierce brotherly love between Morris and Prince kept bringing them back together, over and over again-until pride, ego, and circumstance interfered. Two months before Prince's untimely death, the two finally reconnected and started to make amends. But Morris could've never imagined it would be the last time he'd ever see his friend again.

This is Morris Day's singular story in which the magic of music is the ultimate healer. On Time is also a deep meditation on friendship, Morris' poetic method of reconciling the loss of his close friend and longtime collaborator, and a way to commemorate an incendiary life cut short. But this book is more than just a walk down memory lane-it's a metaphorical means to bring Prince back to life. Throughout the narrative, Morris allows Prince's "voice" to protect his own legacy, to counter Morris's interpretations of events, and to essentially breathe new life into a tale as old as time-of two brothers, two bands, and a musical culture that even today pulsates with fresh energy.

BUY THE BOOK

Whitney Houston & Notorious B.I.G nominated to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame

Sixteen musical artists have the chance to go into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's class of 2020. Among those 16 artist are the late Whitney Houston and the late Notorious B.I.G.

Fans can now vote for their top five favorite artists on the list here: Rock & Roll Hall Of fame Voting

The official inductee ceremony will take place May 2, 2020, at the Public Auditorium in Cleveland, Ohio. An "induction week" to celebrate the hall of fame newbies will precede the grand ceremony.

The nominees are selected by a nominating committee and sent to "1,000 historians, members of the music industry and artists—including every living Rock Hall inductee—and the five performers receiving the most votes become that year's induction class."

Prince Estate tells Trump campaign not to use his music again

A year ago, the estate overseeing the affairs of the late Minneapolis rock star Prince said they would not give President Trump permission to play any Prince music at any campaign event.

When Trump appeared in Minneapolis Thursday night, “Purple Rain” could clearly be heard playing from speakers prior to the arrival of the evening’s speakers.

The estate released the following statement in response to the song being played at the campaign event via Twitter:

President Trump played Prince’s “Purple Rain” tonight at a campaign event in Minneapolis despite confirming a year ago that the campaign would not use Prince’s music. The Prince Estate will never give permission to President Trump to use Prince’s songs. pic.twitter.com/FuMUPzSWOe

— Prince (@prince) October 11, 2019

R. Kelly facing possible investigations In Georgia and Illinois

R. Kelly could be facing an investigation in Georgia after the airing of a Lifetime documentary series that chronicled allegations of abuse, predatory behavior and pedophilia against the singer.

Gerald Griggs, an attorney for the family of Joycelyn Savage, one of the women featured in "Surviving R. Kelly," said the Fulton County District Attorney reached out to Griggs a few days ago, after the show aired.

Griggs said the Fulton County DA is conducting an investigation into Kelly.

Chris Hopper, the public information officer for the Fulton County DA, said he had "no comment" after being asked if there was an open investigation of Kelly in Georgia.

Griggs said he was asked to provide a list of witnesses in regards to events that allegedly took place in Kelly's house in the northern Atlanta suburb of Johns Creek in 2017.

A Chicago prosecutor said on Tuesday that her office has been in touch with two families related to allegations against Kelly since the series aired.

Cook County State's Attorney Kimberly Foxx urged potential victims or witnesses to speak to police.

"Please come forward. There is nothing that can be done to investigate these allegations without the cooperation of victims and witnesses," Foxx said in a news conference. "We cannot seek justice without you."

[SOURCE: CNN]

Seattle-Area Post Office Renamed to Honor Jimi Hendrix

Renton, Washington is honoring one of its late legends with one of the least rock-n-roll buildings: a post office. The Seattle suburb is naming a post office after Jimi Hendrix.

The post office in Renton is down the street from where Hendrix was raised and only a few blocks from where he was buried. The decision to rename the Renton Highlands Post Office to the James Marshall “Jimi” Hendrix Post Office came after a bill to change the name passed unanimously.

"I am honored to join in paying tribute to rock and roll icon and Seattle native Jimi Hendrix with the renaming of the Renton Highlands Post Office as the James Marshall ‘Jimi Hendrix Post Office Building,” U.S. House of Representatives member Adam Smith said in a statement. “This designation will further celebrate Hendrix’s deep connection to the Puget Sound region and help ensure that his creative legacy will be remembered by our community and inspire future generations.”

The Seattle Times notes that the move to change the name of the post office was supported by the Northwest African American Museum's director LaNesha DeBardelaben.

“His legendary artistic genius chartered new territory within world music,” DeBardelaben said in a statement supporting the name-changing bill. “While his reach was international in scope, his roots trace back to Seattle and we are proud to richly celebrate his legacy as part of his hometown community.”

[SOURCE: YAHOO]

Ava DuVernay making Prince documentary for Netflix

Ava DuVernay the director of both 13th and Selma is now making a documentary about music legend Prince for Netflix.

“Prince was a genius and a joy and a jolt to the senses,” the Oscar-nominated filmmaker told Deadline tonight of the Purple Rain star who died in April 2016. “He was like no other,” DuVernay added of the Oscar winner and eight-time Grammy recipient. “He shattered every preconceived notion, smashed every boundary, shared everything in his heart through his music. The only way I know how to make this film is with love. And with great care. I’m honored to do so and grateful for the opportunity entrusted to me by the estate.”

As part of the development of the film, the estate has granted the ARRAY founder full access to the vast trove of archives recordings and, perhaps most immediately important to Prince’s global fanbase, the unreleased material by the prolific musician. The early stages of the project already have seen DuVernay, editor Spencer Averick and other members of her core production team visit Prince’s Paisley Park home and studios repeatedly during the past several months.

[SOURCE: DEADLINE]

Pharrell Williams sends Donald Trump a cease and desist letter after Trump uses his song 'Happy'

Pharrell Williams sent President Donald Trump a cease and desist letter against using the song “Happy” after the song was played at a rally in Indiana on Saturday, the same day Robert Bowers allegedly killed 11 people at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Trump is accused of violating federal law (copyright and trademark infringement) for using the song without Williams’s permission.

“On the day of the mass murder of 11 human beings at the hands of a deranged ‘nationalist,’ you played his song ‘Happy’ to a crowd at a political event in Indiana,” read the letter. “There was nothing ‘Happy’ about the tragedy inflicted upon our country on Saturday and no permission was granted for your use of this song for this purpose.”

The White House and a Trump attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday.

[SOURCE: LAW&CRIME]

Barack & Michelle Obama statements on passing of Aretha Franklin

Both Barack and Michelle Obama released statements via Twitter on the passing of the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin. Read those statements below:

Aretha helped define the American experience. In her voice, we could feel our history, all of it and in every shade—our power and our pain, our darkness and our light, our quest for redemption and our hard-won respect. May the Queen of Soul rest in eternal peace. pic.twitter.com/bfASqKlLc5

— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) August 16, 2018

Watching Aretha Franklin perform at the White House, and on so many other occasions, made time stand still. @BarackObama and I are holding Aretha’s family in our hearts right now. She will forever be our Queen of Soul. pic.twitter.com/NhHsbKijpl

— Michelle Obama (@MichelleObama) August 16, 2018

John Legend's Emmy Nomination Brings Him One Step Closer to EGOT

John Legend has won 10 Grammy Awards. In 2015 he also won an Oscar for Best Original Song "Glory" from the movie Selma. In 2017 he won a Tony award for best revival of a play for the play Jitney.

He is now just one award away from achieving an EGOT. That is short for wining an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony.

The singer has been nominated for his executive production and starring role in the new NBC program, Jesus Christ Superstar Live In Concert.

If he wins he will join a select group that includes only 18 others including entertainment Greats like Audrey Hepburn, Whoopi Goldberg, and Mel Brooks. Others like James Earl Jones and Harry Belafonte have also achieved this feat but their Oscar wins were honorary.

The Emmy Awards take place on September 17, 2018.

Auntie Maxine on Kanye: 'Perhaps sometimes he needs some assistance'

Outspoken Trump critic Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Los Angeles) weighed in on Kanye West's latest string of hot takes this week at a meeting of the Congressional Black Caucus. Waters praised the rapper for his contributions to the African-American community while also saying he sometimes "talks out of turn."

"Kanye West is a very creative young man who has presented some of the most revolutionary material in the African-American community," said Waters, who is among Trump's most vocal critics in Congress and has repeatedly called for the president to be impeached.

"But we also think that sometimes Kanye West talks out of turn and perhaps sometimes he needs some assistance in helping him to formulate some of his thoughts," she continued.

"We don’t think that he actually means to do harm, but we’re not sure he really understands the impact of what he’s saying, at the time that he’s saying it and how that weighs on, particularly the African-American community — and for young people in general," she added. "And I think maybe he should think twice about politics, and maybe not have so much to say."

[SOURCE: SFGATE]

Kendrick Lamar becomes 1st rapper to win Pulitzer Prize for music

Kendrick Lamar has become the first rapper to win a Pulitzer Prize.

Kendrick Lamar has won the Pulitzer Prize for music, making history as the first non-classical or jazz artist to win the prestigious prize. The revered rapper is also the most commercially successful musician to receive the award, usually reserved for critically acclaimed classical acts who don't live on the pop charts.

The 30-year-old won the prize for "DAMN.," his raw and powerful Grammy-winning album. The Pulitzer board said Monday the album is a "virtuosic song collection" and said it captures "the modern African American life." He will win $15,000.

The Pulitzer board has awarded special honors to Bob Dylan, Duke Ellington, George Gershwin, Thelonious Monk, John Coltrane and Hank Williams, but a popular figure like Lamar has never won the prize for music. In 1997, Wynton Marsalis became the first jazz act to win the Pulitzer Prize for music.

The Pulitzer Prize is awarded for excellence in newspaper journalism, literary achievements, and musical composition

[SOURCE: CBS NEWS]

Dennis Edwards, lead singer for The Temptations, dead at 74

Dennis Edwards, the former lead singer for The Temptations, whose gritty voice carried some of the biggest hits of the Motown era, has died, according to his booking agent Rosiland Triche. He was 74.

Edwards, who would have turned 75 on Saturday, died Thursday night in Chicago after suffering from a long illness, Triche told CNN. Triche described Edwards as "the ultimate showman."

The Grammy Award-winner's voice was prominent on hits including "Cloud Nine," "Papa was a Rollin' Stone" and "I Can't Get Next to You."

Edwards joined The Temptations in 1968, replacing lead singer David Ruffin, just as the group launched its funk-psychedelic sound. He left and rejoined the group several times over the decades.

[SOURCE: CNN]

Purple Rain Re-Release to be released June 23,2017

Prince’s “Purple Rain” is finally getting the royal reissue treatment it deserves. As expected, Warner Bros. and NPG Records will re-release the landmark 1984 movie soundtrack with bonus material on June 23, based on a deal that Prince made with his former record label about a year before his death.

Both the “Deluxe” and “Deluxe Expanded Edition” will feature a remastered version of the original album -- the refurbishing of which Prince himself purportedly oversaw -- along with a second disc featuring other studio tracks recorded around the same time but never formally released, including “Electric Intercourse,” “Our Destiny / Roadhouse Garden” and the instrumental “Father’s Song,” all of which have been hot bootleg tracks for Prince completists over the years. Six of the tracks were supposedly unearthed from the Paisley Park vault for the project and never before heard, including studio versions of “Possessed” and “Katrina’s Paper Dolls” and a 10-minute track whose title, “We Can F---,” probably explains why it never saw daylight.

The “expanded edition” will also feature a third disc, “Single Edits & B-Sides,” plus a DVD of a concert on the “Purple Rain” tour recorded March 30, 1985, in Syracuse, N.Y. The former features alternate cuts of tracks like “Let’s Go Crazy” and “When Doves Cry” alongside such beloved B-sides as “Erotic City” and “17 Days.”

Fans can pre-order the album starting today and will receive a download of “Electric Intercourse” if they do. The full track listings are below.

PURPLE RAIN DELUXE
 Disc One:  Original Album (2015 Paisley Park Remaster)
1. Let's Go Crazy
2. Take Me With U
3. The Beautiful Ones
4. Computer Blue
5. Darling Nikki
6. When Doves Cry
7. I Would Die 4 U
8. Baby I'm A Star
9. Purple Rain
 
Disc Two:  From The Vault & Previously Unreleased
1. The Dance Electric
2.  Love And Sex
3.  Computer Blue ("Hallway Speech" version)
4.  Electric Intercourse (studio)
5.  Our Destiny / Roadhouse Garden
6.  Possessed (1983 version)
7.  Wonderful Ass
8.  Velvet Kitty Cat
9.  Katrina's Paper Dolls
10. We Can F--k
11. Father's Song
 
PURPLE RAIN DELUXE - EXPANDED EDITION
Includes Disc One and Disc Two as Listed Above
Disc Three:  Single Edits & B-Sides
1.  When Doves Cry (edit)
2.  17 Days
3.  Let's Go Crazy (edit)
4.  Let's Go Crazy (Special Dance Mix)
5.  Erotic City
6.  Erotic City ("Make Love Not War Erotic City Come Alive")
7.  Purple Rain (edit)
8.  God
9.  God (Love Theme From Purple Rain)
10. Another Lonely Christmas
11. Another Lonely Christmas (extended version)
12. I Would Die 4 U (edit)
13. I Would Die 4 U (extended version)
14. Baby I'm A Star (edit)
15. Take Me With U (edit)
 
DVD:  Prince And The Revolution, Live at the Carrier Dome,  Syracuse, NY, March 30, 1985
1. Let's Go Crazy
2. Delirious
3. 1999
4. Little Red Corvette
5. Take Me With U
6.  Do Me, Baby
7.  Irresistible Bitch
8.  Possessed
9.  How Come U Don't Call Me Anymore?
10. Let's Pretend We're Married
11. International Lover
12. God
13. Computer Blue
14. Darling Nikki
15. The Beautiful Ones
16. When Doves Cry
17. I Would Die 4 U
18. Baby I'm A Star
19.  Purple Rain

Beyonce giving scholarships to four women

Beyonce Knowles announced today that she will be giving away four scholarships via a posting on her website:

FORMATION SCHOLARS

To add to the celebration of the one-year anniversary of LEMONADE, Beyoncé Knowles-Carter announces the establishment of Formation Scholars awards for the 2017-2018 academic year, to encourage and support young women who are unafraid to think outside the box and are bold, creative, conscious and confident.

Four scholarships will be awarded, one per college, to female incoming, current or graduate students pursuing studies in creative arts, music, literature or African-American studies. The schools selected for participation are Berklee College of Music, Howard University, Parsons School of Design and Spelman College. All details and application deadlines are available directly from the colleges.