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 […]
Category: Music
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 […]
Posted inENTERTAINMENT
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.” […]
Posted inARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
Nina Simone, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, to be Inducted into Rock Hall of Fame
By MESFIN FEKADU, AP Music Writer CLEVELAND (AP) — Bon Jovi, the Cars and four first-time nominees, including Nina Simone, will be inducted Saturday night as the 2018 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame class. Dire Straits, The Moody Blues and Sister Rosetta Tharpe, who died in 1973, will also earn the prestigious honor at […]
Posted inARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
Absent Jay Z Inducted to Songwriters Hall by Obama Via Video
NEW YORK (AP) — Jay Z, whose wife Beyoncé is expecting twins soon, was absent from the 2017 Songwriters Hall of Fame, where he was inducted by a charismatic longtime fan: former U.S. President Barack Obama. Obama, appearing in a taped video, told the audience Thursday that he’s been listening to Jay Z since he […]
Posted inARTS & ENTERTAINMENT, ENTERTAINMENT, Music
Forbes: Jay Z and Beyoncé Worth a Combined $1.16 Billion
NEW YORK (AP) — Jay Z and Beyoncé are a billion-dollar couple according to one estimate. FILE – In this April 30, 2017, file photo, Beyonce and Jay Z watch during the first half in Game 7 of an NBA basketball first-round playoff series between the Los Angeles Clippers and the Utah Jazz in Los […]
Posted inARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
Jay Z to Become 1st Rapper in Songwriters Hall of Fame
NEW YORK (AP) — Jay Z will become the first rapper ever inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame when he enters the prestigious organization in June. FILE – In this Nov. 4, 2016 file photo, Jay Z performs during a campaign rally for Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton in Cleveland. Jay Z will become […]
Posted inARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
Prince’s Estate Sues Jay Z’s Roc Nation over Tidal Streaming
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Prince’s record company is suing Jay Z’s company for copyright infringement, saying it streamed Prince’s songs on the Tidal music service without permission after his death. Prince (left) performs at the Billboard Music Awards at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP, File); Jay-Z (right) performs during […]
Posted inARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
Traci Braxton Starts Something New With ‘Crash and Burn’
By Rev. Dorothy Boulware Singer, reality show co-star and now, solo recording artist, Traci Braxton, stopped by the AFRO, Oct. 6. The Braxton sister who’s “second to the oldest,” who thought her personal dream had expired, finds herself singing a song to encourage others to keep theirs going. Her first album, Crash and Burn which dropped Oct. […]
