By The Associated Press BILOXI, Miss. (AP) — Musician and rapper Afroman has agreed to pay $65,000 to settle a lawsuit filed by a woman he punched during a 2015 Mississippi performance. The Sun Herald reports a judgment filed Thursday in Harrison County Circuit Court says Afroman must pay Haley Byrd in monthly installments of […]
Category: Music
Posted inAfro Briefs, Arts & Culture, ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT, ENTERTAINMENT, Music
Janet Jackson Shines at Billboard Music Awards
By The Associated Press The 2018 Billboard Music Awards paid tribute to the students and teachers affected by recent deadly shootings in Texas and Florida, while the night also featured show-stopping performances by iconic singer Janet Jackson and K-pop group BTS. Shawn Mendes and Khalid were joined onstage by the Marjory Stoneman Douglas Show Choir […]
Posted inARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
R. Kelly Stages Racy Performance Amid Protest, Allegations
By TOM FOREMAN Jr., Associated Press GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) — With demonstrators standing outside his concert protesting his presence, R. Kelly summoned his passionate fans to carry him through what has been a difficult week. Interspersing references to God with his suggestive lyrics and salty language, Kelly stirred up a crowd inside the Greensboro Coliseum […]
Posted inARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
Rapper Juelz Santana Pleads Not Guilty to Airport Gun Charge
By The Associated Press NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Rapper Juelz Santana says he’s working on new music while under home confinement after authorities said he tried to bring a gun on a plane at Newark Liberty International Airport. In federal court on Thursday, his lawyer entered a not guilty plea to charges of possession of […]
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R. Kelly set to Perform in North Carolina Despite Protests
By TOM FOREMAN Jr., Associated Press CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — R. Kelly is going on with his concert in North Carolina Friday, rejecting calls from protesters to cancel his appearance over longstanding allegations of sexual misconduct. The concert was scheduled for Friday at the Greensboro Coliseum, where protesters will also appear outside the arena to […]
Posted inAfro Briefs, ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT, ENTERTAINMENT, Living, Music
Rapper Wale Says Being Dark Skinned Hurt His Career
Micha Green, AFRO Washington, D.C. Editor, mgreen@afro.com While rap has been known to highlight women, drugs, money and violence, in recent years a more emotional style has been popularized by rappers such as Drake, Logic, J. Cole and Wale. One of these rappers isn’t like the others. Following Kanye West’s “Ye vs. The People” featuring T.I. and […]
Posted inAfro Briefs
Is It Time to #MuteRKelly?
By Micha Green, AFRO Washington, D.C. Editor, mgreen@afro.com For over twenty years, Robert Kelly, better known as R. Kelly, has been engrossed in controversy regarding crude behavior, to say the least, with young women- more specifically, teenage girls. The R&B singer, who sang the chart-topping hit, I Believe I Can Fly, has spent almost 30 years in […]
Posted inARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
Neville Brothers Saxophonist Charles Neville Dead at 79
The Associated Press Orleans-born saxophone player Charles Neville, who once backed up B.B. King and later gained fame with the Neville Brothers band and their rollicking blend of funk, jazz and rhythm and blues, has died. He was 79. His death came April 26, months after he disclosed he was fighting pancreatic cancer. In a […]
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Meek Mill: People Going Through Same Ordeal Depending on Him
By The Associated Press Rapper Meek Mill said Wednesday that now that he’s out of prison, a lot of people facing similar battles with the criminal justice system are depending on him. “I got a lot of responsibility,” he said in an interview with Lester Holt of NBC Nightly News. He said the men counting […]
Posted inENTERTAINMENT
Tekashi 6ix9ine Makes Money Rapping the N-Word. He’s Not Black.
By Lisa Snowden, Special to the AFRO A few weeks ago my son, who recently turned 10, sat down next to me on the bed where I’d been working. “Mommy, I want to be a Soundcloud rapper,” he said. My husband and I closely monitor his internet usage (or at least we thought we did), but […]
Posted inWashington D.C. News
Founding Member of Celebrated Go-Go Band Rare Essence Remembered
By Micha Green, AFRO Washington, D.C. Editor, mgreen@afro.com About 2 a.m. on April 20, Rory Felton, better known as “DC”, founding member of the famed go-go band Rare Essence, was found dead of stab wounds in an apartment in Southwest, Washington, D.C. The Washington Post reported Felton, 57, was discovered in the Bellevue neighborhood with at […]
Posted inAfro Briefs, ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT, ENTERTAINMENT, Music, National News
Kendrick Lamar the 1st Rapper to Win Pulitzer
By The Associated Press Rapper Kendrick Lamar’s “DAMN.” has won the Pulitzer Prize for music. It’s the first non-classical or jazz work to win the award. The Pulitzer board on Monday called the album a work that captures the complexity of African-American life. Kendrick Lamar won the Pulitzer Prize for music for his album “Damn.” […]