By RYAN PEARSON, AP Entertainment Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) — Actor Chadwick Boseman, who played Black icons Jackie Robinson and James Brown before finding fame as the regal Black Panther in the Marvel cinematic universe, died Friday of cancer, his representative said. He was 43. Boseman died at his home in the Los Angeles area […]
Author Archives: Ryan Pearson
AP Entertainment Writer
Posted inARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
Common’s Father & Inspiring Poet, “Pops” Lonnie Lynn, Dies at 71
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Lonnie Lynn, known to hip-hop fans for his soulful spoken-word poems on rapper son Common’s albums, has died. Lynn died at age 71 on Friday, Common said in an interview Monday in Los Angeles. He gave no further details. Lynn was a star high school basketball player in Chicago and played […]
Posted inHealth
After Recent Deaths, Health Is New Priority in Rap
LOS ANGELES— Hip-hop may need a checkup. The culture that in the 1990s lost its brightest stars to gun violence has in recent years seen a series of notable rappers die of drug- and health-related causes. Since 2011, hip-pop pioneer Heavy D, singer and rap chorus specialist Nate Dogg and New York rapper Tim Dog […]
Posted inARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
Will.i.am Rebuts Accusations of Song Theft
WEST HOLLYWOOD, Calif. (AP) — Will.i.am says he’s been unfairly accused of stealing a song from a Russian dance producer for use on his new album. The producer-rapper-singer has acknowledged reaching out to trance producer Arty after hearing his 2011 song with London’s Mat Zo, “Rebound.” Will.i.am recorded a new version with Chris Brown titled, […]