Nessa Barrett shows off her favorite tattoo honoring her friend Cooper, her dream collaboration, her favorite nostalgic snack and more.
Beyoncé made history at the 65th annual Grammy Awards on Sunday night (Feb. 5), becoming the artist with the most awards in Grammy history. This year, the star won four awards, including two in the dance/electronic category.
Diplo, who was also up for best dance/electronic recording and best dance/electronic music album at the ceremony, took to Instagram on Tuesday (Feb. 7) to reflect on dance music and Bey’s wins.
The DJ thanked the dance music community for “being my purpose in this life and shaping my career,” adding that the genre “has and will be the most Inclusive music of our generation,” with fans of different races, sexualities, socioeconomic backgrounds and ages all over the world. “You don’t need to be a savant or a great musician to be part of dance music u just have to love to move and have confidence,” he added.
As for the Grammys, Diplo celebrated the dance/electronic music categories being televised for the first time. “Beyoncé album was legendary (i’m a beyonce a stan remember I produced some classic dance songs for her like ’til the end of time’ and ‘girls run the world,’” he wrote. “What’s important to understand was that her intention was 100%. she did the work found the real producers and she made classics .. so she deserves her flowers . and when she won i was just proud to see my nomination on the screen in the huge arena..”
The post comes amid speculation that Diplo said “they bought that” when the camera panned to him at the Grammys after Beyoncé won the award. On Instagram, however, the producer revealed that he actually said, “I’m glad to be part of that.”
See his post below.
Zach Bryan, fresh off a collaboration with Maggie Rogers and a nomination for best country solo performance at Sunday’s Grammy Awards, seemingly deactivated his Twitter account on Tuesday (Feb. 7).
When fans attempt to visit his @zachlanebryan Twitter handle, a message pops up, saying, “This account doesn’t exist,” though his Instagram account is still active.
A rep for Bryan declined to comment on Bryan’s now nonexistent Twitter handle. The deleted Twitter page is interesting, as Bryan is known for having a constant, direct connection with his fans, primarily via social media platforms.
The release of “Dawns,” featuring Rogers, was a promise fulfilled to Bryan’s fans, after he had previously vowed to release the track if the Philadelphia Eagles won against the New York Giants; on Jan. 21, the Eagles triumphed over the Giants, 38-7, writing their ticket to Sunday’s Super Bowl.
Currently, Bryan’s “Something in the Orange” sits atop Billboard‘s Hot Country Songs chart for a sixth week, while his American Heartbreak album ranks at No. 2 on the Top Country Albums chart, just behind Morgan Wallen’s Dangerous: The Double Album.
He followed American Heartbreak with the EP Summertime Blues and the live album All My Homies Hate Ticketmaster (Live From Red Rocks). True to his album title, Bryan’s upcoming Burn, Burn, Burn Tour will be handled primarily via AXS. The tour launches May 10 at John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville, Va., and concludes at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Mo., on Aug. 30 and includes stops in Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, New York and more.
Two people landed behind bars after the body of a man who went missing in Broward County was found buried in east-central Florida, authorities said Monday. Trinity Bownes, 31, his … Click to Continue »
Miami International Airport marked a record-breaking 50.6 million passengers in 2022, the busiest year on record, according to county officials. MIA barely squeaked by Orlando International Airport’s 50.1 million passengers … Click to Continue »
Hollywood has made history, drawing the biggest hospitality deal in the country since the start of the pandemic. The oceanfront Diplomat Beach Resort sold for $835 million on Monday, according … Click to Continue »
It’s a banner day for New York attorney Kurt Dominic Robertson, who is no longer persona non grata at the world’s most famous arena.
The same goes for the attorneys at Los Angeles law firm Wilshire Law Group, New York lawyer Laura Rosenberg and non-lawyer Ryan Kenneth Randall, a Las Vegas resident representing himself in a lawsuit filed against Tao Group, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and the “guy who punched me at 10:30 pm on a Saturday Memorial Day Weekend the police took into custody.”
Robertson and those others are all involved in litigation against Madison Square Garden-owned Tao Group and were barred from entering the Manhattan arena or any other MSG property under a controversial policy enacted by chairman James Dolan last year. But that all changed today when the company announced it was selling Tao Group and lifting “the adverse attorney policy for any litigation currently pending with Tao entities.” MSG paid $181 million for a 62.5% interest in the hospitality group in 2017.
“This is great news,” says attorney Kurt Robertson, who was banned from MSG properties for representing a client in a personal injury lawsuit filed against a Tao venue in Manhattan.
“When I first got the letter about the ban, I thought it was a prank,” Robertson continues. After calling MSG’s lawyers and learning that the ban was being enforced via facial recognition software, he says, “I decided I wasn’t going to test the policy” and allow himself to be made an example of by MSG security staff.
Robertson and other attorneys suing Tao are no longer barred from entering any MSG-owned property, including the Garden, Radio City Music Hall, the Beacon Theater, the Chicago Theatre and the soon-to-open Sphere in Las Vegas.
Attorneys suing other MSGE entities, along with all employees at their law firms, are still banned from entering all MSGE-owned facilities and risk being escorted off the premises by MSG staff if they are recognized by MSG’s facial recognition software.
The controversial rule, affecting an estimated 90 law firms, is currently being challenged by a number of private law firms along with Attorney General Letitia James, who voiced concern in a Jan. 24 letter that any attempts by MSG “to dissuade individuals from filing discrimination complaints or encouraging those in active litigation to drop their lawsuits so they may access popular entertainment events at the Company’s venues may violate state and city laws prohibiting retaliation.”
James also warned that “research suggests that the Company’s use of facial recognition software may be plagued with biases and false positives against people of color and women.”
MSGE stock was up about 2% in after-market trading on the news.
All products and services featured are independently chosen by editors. However, Billboard may receive a commission on orders placed through its retail links, and the retailer may receive certain auditable data for accounting purposes.
Lil’ Kim and MC Lyte spoke to the importance of “sisterhood” during the kick-off of Mastercard’s “She Run This” event over Grammy weekend in celebration of Black entrepreneurship in business and hip-hop.
The three-day event, which was held in collaboration with Femme It Forward to spotlight entrepreneurship in business and hip-hop, launched with a three-part panel discussion featuring rap vets Kim, MC Lyte, Salt-N-Pepa and Yo-Yo, alongside emerging artists such as Coi Leray, Baby Tate and Jozzy, and a special appearance by Mastercard ambassador Jennifer Hudson.
During the panel discussion, Lyte explained why she didn’t want to work with other women in the beginning of her career and how her mind-set changed. “All that I’d heard was that working with women wasn’t a good thing because they were so emotional. I adopted this thought, but the truth was, I had to become responsible in the way that I communicated,” she shared with an audience of mostly women at 1010 Wine and Events in Inglewood, Calif., on Thursday (Feb. 2). The Partners in Rhyme star hired a female manager 13 years ago, who has since became her business partner and COO of “everything MC Lyte.”
“There is a way that you can communicate with love and care and kindness and I had not learned that when I [first started out],” she continued. “What I can say now is this business that I’m in is the best for me because I know what sisterhood is.”
Added Kim, “I never knew what it felt like to be unprotected around my sisters. Especially in a male-dominated [industry]. It was hard, but when I was in the comfort of my sisters, I was at my peak. I felt the most powerful.”
“We did everything together,” Kim said of forging a solid sisterhood with MC Lyte, Missy Elliott, Mary J. Blige, Da Brat, Queen Latifah and stylist Misa Hilton early in their careers. Kim has collaborated with fellow female artists on “Ladies Night,” featuring Elliott, Blige, Brat, Left Eye and Angie Martinez; and Christina Aguilera’s “Lady Marmalade” remake with Kim, Pink and Mya.
And after more than 25 years in the rap game, the Queen Bee continues to show support for the new school of female rappers (she recently brought out Lola Brooke during her show at the Apollo Theater).
“Sisterhood and having your sister’s back is important, and Kim always had my back,” said Hilton. “A lot of things started to happen quickly [in her career], so all of a sudden people may try to come between us. People [would] want Kim to do a certain fashion magazine and they’d say, ‘We want to use this stylist,’ but what did she say? ‘Misa has to be there.’ Sticking together and not being afraid to stick up for yourself, not feeling like you’re going to miss out on an opportunity and realizing the power in your voice [is important]. You can demand what you want and you can bring your sisters with you.”
“Everything that I do is everything that I wanted to do when I was 7 years old,” said MC Lyte, whose debut album Lyte as a Rock turns 35 this year. Throughout her career, the Brooklyn native has crossed over from rapping to acting to voice-over work. “I wanted to be on radio, I wanted to use my voice,” she said. “I saw Tootie [played by Kim Fields] on The Facts of Life and I was like, ‘I got to get to Los Angeles because I need to do some acting.’ I wanted to do all those things, but I also realized I had to prepare myself. I couldn’t just show up because [I’m ] MC Lyte; I had to know the skill set. I went to acting school, I went to voice-over coaching classes and workshops. I was just prepared for the moment so as the opportunities lined up, I was able to show up and show out.”
The “She Runs This” campaign includes an immersive “Small Business City” built in Meta Horizon Worlds, a TikTok challenge kicked off by Hudson, an ad campaign furthering Mastercard’s mission to help Black women entrepreneurs thrive, and a Fearless Fund grant contest in partnership with Fearless Fund, a Black-owned venture capital fund aimed at helping women of color. Mastercard and Fearless Fund are providing Black women small business owners with $20,000 grants, plus digital tools and mentorship to help them “build, protect and sustain their business.”
Additionally, Mastercard and Amazon have teamed up for a small business marketplace spotlighting Black women-owned small businesses. The digital marketplace allows owners to share their brand origin stories and connect directly with customers on Amazon Live. Customers can also explore the shoppable social hub of products from exclusively Black women-owned small businesses on Pinterest.
According to Mastercard, 80 percent of U.S. women entrepreneurs, solo-preneurs, small business owners and content creators have endured financial challenges. In recognizing this universal financial obstacle faced by entrepreneurs along with the challenge of battling racism and racial bias, Mastercard is honoring hip-hop’s 50th anniversary by helping equip Black women entrepreneurs with the financial tools, resources and education to successfully accomplish their dreams.
She’s got big Swift energy! Latto declared herself a fan of Taylor Swift by posting a selfie with the superstar from the 2023 Grammy Awards on Monday (Feb. 6).
In the snapshot, Latto sticks her tongue out as Tay plants a kiss on her cheek from her table at Crypto.com Arena. “Swiftie,” the rapper wrote simply in the caption, using a clinking champagne emoji and a pink heart to punctuate her sentiment.
Related
Both artists were nominated at this year’s Grammy Awards, with Swift winning the prize for best music video (for All Too Well: The Short Film) and earning nods for song of the year (for the 10-minute version of the Red (Taylor’s Version) favorite) and best country song (for “I Bet You Think About Me (Taylor’s Version) (From the Vault)”), while Latto was up for both best new artist and best melodic rap performance (for the live version of her breakthrough hit “Big Energy”).
Elsewhere in the ceremony, the Midnights singer reunited with ex-boyfriend Harry Styles, who eventually went on to win not only best pop vocal album, but also album of the year for his 2022 album Harry’s House. She also celebrated Viola Davis reaching EGOT status on her personal social media accounts following the How to Get Away with Murder actor’s historic win for best audio book, narration, and storytelling recording.
Before she lost out on the best new artist trophy to Samara Joy, Latto opened up to Billboard ahead of this year’s Grammys about why she still considers herself a new artist, reasoning, “Every month I feel like I’m constantly evolving. Especially the content I’m about to roll out — it’s a whole fresh new me.”
Get a look at Latto and Taylor’s Grammys meet-up below.
While everyone knows SEVENTEEN divide its 13 members into three sub-groups of the Hip-Hop Unit, Vocal Unit and Performance Unit (ask Wednesday‘s Emma Myers for a crash course), “BSS” is another unit that any fan of the chart-topping group should know after releasing their first single “Just Do It” nearly five years ago.
Consisting of members Seungkwan, DK and Hoshi, SEVENTEEN’s BSS dropped their first EP, Second Wind, today (Feb. 6), consisting of three new tracks and two unexpected featured guests. Led by the new single “Fighting,” the boys teamed up with breakout Korean hip-hop star Lee Youngji, marking the first time SEVENTEEN or any of its sub-units featured a rapper in a song. A high-energy anthem, “Fighting” is a perfect fit for three of SEVENTEEN’s most animated and energetic members as the stars empathize with the struggles and stresses of daily life but pledge to encourage and cheer for the listener.
Like the sporty highlight medley video, BSS embrace an athletic theme for the accompanying “Fighting” music video, rocking stylish and sporty looks, including a soccer jersey and pieces from an Adidas and Gucci collaboration. Youngji makes an appearance for her verse, spitting fire during the bridge while Seungkwan, DK and Hoshi offer comic relief with cameos in the background.
Alongside “Fighting,” Second Wind also features the retro, synthesizer-focused track “Lunch,” plus Norwegian singer-songwriter Peder Elias features on the solemn-but-hopeful pop cut “7PM.” Like nearly all of SEVENTEEN’s music, all the tracks have the group’s primary producing member Woozi and go-to producer BUMZU on the credits. SEVENTEEN’s leader S.Coups also co-wrote “Fighting,” showing how, even if only three members perform new music, the K-pop group is always tightly and creatively knit.
Watch BSS’ “Fighting” with Lee Youngji below:
