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After Biz Markie’s death was announced Friday (July 16), reactions from his hip-hop peers — including Questlove, Q-Tip and Wyclef — started to pour in, in remembrance of the jovial “Just a Friend” rapper.
“Biz built me,” Roots mastermind Questlove started his touching tribute on Instagram, recalling how the veteran MC taught him where to dig for the best records, or even 8-tracks. “I’m using all the education he taught me,” he added. “We will miss him. But he will be here forever.”
“This one hurts baad,” A Tribe Called Quest’s Q-Tip tweeted. “Damn I’m gonna miss u.”
In a statement via Markie’s rep late Friday, his family said, “Biz created a legacy of artistry that will forever be celebrated by his industry peers and his beloved fans whose lives he was able to touch through music, spanning over 35 years.” Read more tributes below:
It didn’t take long for Normani to transport her fellow music stars to the “Wild Side,” thanks to the eye-popping video for her new Cardi B collaboration. The “Wild Side” song and video came out at midnight on Friday (July 16) and immediately transfixed celebs from Megan Thee Stallion to Halle Berry with its fierce fashions, colorful sets and groundbreaking choreography.
“The video the song … everything,” Meg wrote via her Instagram story, celebrating her “WAP” teammate Cardi teaming up with a new female star. “That was the best video I have ever seen in my entire life,” Lil Nas X added on Twitter. “I am in [awe]. I am inspired!”
“I have chills,” JoJo tweeted. “I am bewitched and bewildered by the EVERYTHINGNESS of @Normani x @iamcardib. … I am so turned on and excited and inspired like wheeeetttt??!!!!”
Watch the video (again) and find more reactions below, including from Latto, Becky G, JT from City Girls and more.
.@theestallion pic.twitter.com/0Djmz5uHes
— fernanda / wild side (@chancemani) July 16, 2021
Patti LaBelle is happy to share things with her friends — but in a new interview, she reveals the time that Sir Elton John nearly stretched that kindness to its limit.
On the latest episode of Andy Cohen’s Watch What Happens Live, the iconic diva told a story about how, back when she was singing with the Bluebelles, John was working with her in the studio as a pianist. After some long nights in the recording booth, LaBelle would invite her band up to her flat for some food.
“I cooked for him and the band because nobody had any pounds, you know? We were in London,” she said. “So I would invite them up to my loft every night and give them tupperware to take home because nobody had food. I said to them at the time, ‘Bring my tupperware to the next show.’ They didn’t.”
LaBelle went on to say that years later, she received a phone call from the Rocket Man himself, and she made a very simple demand. “I get a call years after that saying, ‘Hi, Patti, it’s Reggie, I want you to come and see me tonight,’” she recalled of the star born Reginald Dwight. “I said, ‘Reggie, who are you opening for?’ He said ‘I’m Elton John now.’ So I said, ‘Punk, where is my tupperware?”’
Naturally, John decided it was only fair to pay LaBelle back for the tupperware that he had lost. “He left this on the piano,” she said, as she produced a stunning, diamond-encrusted ring shaped like a cross. “I said, ‘Elton, your ring!’ He said, ‘Patti, that’s your tupperware.’ I’m so happy for his success, and I haven’t sold it!”
Check out the full clip from WWHL below:
Biz Markie, the bombastic rapper behind the Billboard Hot 100 top 10 hit “Just a Friend,” died at age 57 on Friday (July 16).
“It is with profound sadness that we announce, this evening, with his wife Tara by his side, Hip Hop pioneer Biz Markie peacefully passed away,” reads a statement from Markie’s rep. “We are grateful for the many calls and prayers of support that we have received during this difficult time. Biz created a legacy of artistry that will forever be celebrated by his industry peers and his beloved fans whose lives he was able to touch through music, spanning over 35 years. He leaves behind a wife, many family members and close friends who will miss his vibrant personality, constant jokes and frequent banter. We respectfully request privacy for his family as they mourn their loved one.”
His cause of death is unclear, but the New York MC (born Marcel Theo Hall) was hospitalized in April 2020 because of diabetes complications and reportedly suffered a stroke while in a diabetic coma last year as well.
In 1988, Markie released his debut album, Goin’ Off, which peaked at No. 90 on the Billboard 200 albums chart and included his first Billboard hit, with “Make the Music With Your Mouth” peaking at No. 84 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart in 1987.
But Markie’s big breakthrough to the mainstream came with his sophomore album, 1989’s The Biz Never Sleeps, which included his one-and-only Hot 100 entry: “Just a Friend.”
His signature hit reached No. 5 on the Hot Rap Songs chart in December 1989 and then crossed over the next year, reaching its No. 9 peak in March 1990. The single’s success helped its parent album, The Biz Never Sleeps, crack the top 10 of the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, where it achieved a No. 9 best in late 1989.
After “Just a Friend,” Biz Markie landed three more top 10s on Hot Rap Songs: “What Comes Around Goes Around” (No. 4 in 1991), “Let Me Turn You On” (No. 7, 1993) and “Young Girl Bluez” (No. 4, 1993).
“Just a Friend” interpolates Freddie Scott’s 1968 song “(You) Got What I Need” and also inspired yet another song, Mario’s “Just a Friend 2002,” which reached No. 4 on the Hot 100 in 2002.
I Need a Haircut, released in 1991, was Biz’s third and final album to hit the Billboard 200 albums chart, following Goin’ Off and The Biz Never Sleeps.
In addition to music, Markie also acted in movies and television, becoming a fixture on the children’s TV series Yo Gabba Gabba! with his “Biz’s Beat of the Day” beatboxing segment.
Shares of Tencent Music Entertainment (TME) fell 9.2% this week and are down 63.2% since the all-time high in March. The once-high-flying Chinese music streaming company, listed on the Nasdaq, closed at $11.70 on Friday (July 16), having lost $2 billion of market value in five days.
A string of negative news has hammered Tencent Music shares. On Friday, Morgan Stanley downgraded TME to “equal-weight” and slashed its price target from $23 to $14. The move follows news that Chinese regulators are taking a tough stance on Chinese companies listed on U.S. stock exchanges. Although Tencent Music was spared from a forced sale, China’s State Administration of Market Regulation determined on Monday that the company must sever its exclusive relationships with record labels.
Tencent Music sits in a web of relationships and ownership stakes with the world’s largest music companies. It has a joint venture with Universal Music Group and an agreement to form a joint record label with Warner Music Group. It also has licensing deals with UMG, WMG, Sony Music and independent label rights group Merlin. What’s more, Tencent Holdings, which owns a majority of Tencent Music, is part of a consortium of investors that owns 20% of Universal Music Group and about 2% of WMG. There is no indication Chinese authorities view Tencent Holdings’ ownership stakes as problematic.
Tencent Music owns three of China’s top music streaming apps — QQ, Kuguo and Kuwo — and accounted for 77% of the country’s monthly active users in December 2020, according to Chinese research company QuestMobile. The company posted 15% revenue growth in 2020 and a 24% year-over-year gain in the first quarter of 2021. Its shares peaked at $23.18 on March 23, valuing the company at $51.8 billion, just shy of Spotify’s $52.6 billion market capitalization.
But Tencent Music was collateral damage in the Archego Capital Management crash in March 2021. Around the same time, Goldman Sachs downgraded TME and cut its 2022 revenue forecast by 10%. Plus, streaming companies appear to have lost some allure in recent months: Spotify’s share price is down 37.2% since March 23 and Netflix has dropped 10.6% from its 52-week high on January 20. As of Friday, the 26 analysts tracked by Refinitiv have a median price target of $21.53 — 83.8% above Friday’s closing price.
