Category: ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

With the rising popularity of spoken word and the rapid emergence of subgenres in poetry, the Great Publishing Company is presenting the National Underground Spoken Word & Poetry Awards (NUSPA) to honor the often unnoticed work of poets around the country. Deemed “the Grammys for poets,” NUSPA seeks to bring recognition to written and spoken […]

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The Ohio home of the late singer Gerald Levert is in ruins following an April 17 fire, with firefighters calling the home a total loss. According to reports, Levert bought the house in April 1994, and lived there until his death of a heart attack in November 2006 at age 40. The house has been […]

Oprah Winfrey recently made her first public comment about the Kitty Kelly book about her life at a New York event, Blackamericaweb.com reported. Winfrey spoke on April 19 at the New York Women in Communications Matrix Awards, where she presented an award to her longtime friend, Gayle King. Winfrey told the audience that the week […]

The Apollo Theater, the legendary venue that jumpstarted the careers of many well-known artists, celebrates its 75th anniversary this year. Helping to commemorate the theater’s anniversary and rich history, the Smithsonian Museum’s National Museum of African-American History and Culture is presenting “Ain’t Nothing Like the Real Thing: How the Apollo Theater Shaped American Entertainment,” a […]

It landed on vinyl then moved to cassette; traveled to CD before reaching iTunes to be downloaded to iPods. The history of hip hop has had a long and winding journey, but a Washington, D.C. teacher is making sure the origin never escapes her students. Special education inclusion teacher Pamela Mitchell instituted her Hip Hop […]

Keith “Guru” Elam, one-half of the pioneering hip-hop group Gang Starr, died after a long battle with cancer on April 19, Mtvnews.com reported. “The world has lost one of the best MCs and hip-hop icons of all time—my best friend, partner and brother, Guru,” longtime friend and collaborator, Solar told Mtvnews.com. “Guru has been battling […]

Since age 8, Martin Owino has fostered had a deep-rooted passion for art, especially batik, a cloth-decorating craft with origins in Africa and Asia. In fact, Owino’s passion for the intricate art was vital to his survival as a child growing up among the Luo people of Kenya. “It was how my family made a […]

Singer Maxwell has had a stellar year, releasing a top-selling album, BLACKsummers’night and several No. 1 singles including “Pretty Wings,” “Bad Habits” and now, “Fistful of Tears,” his third consecutive No. 1 on Billboard’s Urban Adult airplay chart. According to a press statement, Maxwell is the first male artist to attain this distinction. While celebrating […]

Grammy Award-winning songbird, Stephanie Mills, best known for her hits “Put Your Body In It” and “ You Can Get Over,” is releasing her first single, “Yesterday” from her upcoming CD Breathless. The album is being released independently on the singer’s own label, CJ Entertainment, and will be available in early summer 2010, according to […]

Pop singer Whitney Houston has postponed the European leg of her current tour as she recovers from a respiratory illness. It was initially believed that Houston would just miss her first four shows in Paris, but it now appears that she’ll miss three more shows in the United Kingdom, signaling that the ailment is worse […]

Vocal powerhouse and new mom Jennifer Hudson has been named the new face of Weight Watchers, an international weight-loss program, according to her Web site. The 28-year-old former “American Idol” alum has been praised for representing full-figured women in the media and has never allowed her weight to be a hindrance. So far, the Oscar-winning […]