Author Archives: Mesfin Fekadu

Could this year be a repeat for Drake at the BET Awards? Last year the rapper won video of the year and two more awards, and he could do the same Sunday, where is nominated for five honors. The only difference: He’ll actually be in attendance this year. The 27-year-old will perform at the Nokia […]

NEW YORK (AP) — The Standard Hotel in New York City says it is investigating the leak of a security video that appears to show Beyonce’s sister, Solange, attacking Jay Z. Asked about the video on Monday by The Associated Press, the hotel issued a statement saying it is “shocked and disappointed that there was a clear […]

Outkast reunited onstage after a near decade long hiatus with a jam-packed set at the Coachella music festival, their first of many performances planned this year. The rap duo headlined the first night of the music festival Friday in Indio, Calif., performing well-known hits such as “Hey Ya!,” ”Ms. Jackson,” ”The Way You Move,” ”Elevators […]

NEW YORK (AP) – Malcolm X’s family and estate said Nicki Minaj’s use of a famous photo of the Black nationalist with a rifle in his hands and juxtaposing it with a racial slur for her new song’s artwork is disrespectful and offensive. In an exclusive statement to The Associated Press on Friday, Malcolm X’s daughter, […]

NEW YORK (AP) — Drake lashed out at Rolling Stone after the magazine replaced him on the cover with the late Philip Seymour Hoffman and quoted the rapper criticizing some of Kanye West’s lyrics. In a series of tweets on Thursday, the Grammy-winning vented his frustrations and said he was “done doing interviews with magazines.” […]

NEW YORK (AP) — Marvin Gaye’s children have settled claims against a music company owned by Sony over Robin Thicke’s Grammy-nominated hit song “Blurred Lines.” The Gayes had accused EMI of not pursuing a copyright infringement case against Thicke because “Blurred Lines” has similarities to Gaye’s “Got to Give It Up.” A Los Angeles judge […]

NEW YORK (AP) — Beyonce has released her new album in an unconventional way: She announced and dropped it on the same day. The singer released “Beyonce” exclusively on iTunes early Friday. She mirrors how Jay Z released “Magna Carta Holy Grail” earlier this year — through a deal with Samsung where he gave the […]

NEW YORK (AP) — Since it began, rap has found ways to offend. Whether for political content, sexual imagery, misogyny, violence or coarse humor, rappers have found themselves having to defend their words on a regular basis, no matter how innocuous — or extreme. Those defenses have typically been defiant. So it was a bit […]

The BET Awards should be called the Drake Awards. The rapper-singer is up for 12 honors, including five nominations for video of the year, which has 10 nominees. His own hits — “Started from the Bottom” and “HYFR” — are up for the top prize, as well as his guest appearances on 2 Chainz’s “No […]

NEW YORK (AP) — Jay-Z’s got 99 problems and the Billboard chart is one. Billboard said Friday it will not include the 1 million album downloads Jay-Z is giving to Galaxy mobile phone users through a deal with Samsung. Jay-Z announced the partnership this week. His new album, “Magna Carta Holy Grail,” will be released […]

NEW YORK (AP) — Jay-Z’s partnership with Samsung for his new album, “Magna Carta Holy Grail,” is another sign of how musicians are finding new ways to push, sell and promote their music, and how the multiplatinum performer — who famously rapped “I’m not a businessman, I’m a business, man” — continues to leverage his […]

NEW YORK (AP) — Long before she became the queen of soul, Aretha Franklin sang in her father’s Baptist church in Detroit. On Saturday, she’ll headline the annual McDonald’s Gospelfest at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. Donnie McClurkin, Hezekiah Walker and Cissy Houston will be featured. But that’s not the only event on Franklin’s […]