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The childhood home of one of music’s most iconic stars went up in flames in the early morning hours of Christmas Day. According to a report from ABC13, the former home of Beyoncé, located in the 2400 block of Rosedale Street in Houston’s Third Ward, caught fire around 2 AM local time.
The fire reportedly ripped through the second story of the home where the family that lives there now was still dressed in festive holiday pajamas. According to accounts from those on the scene, no one was hurt in the fire which was reportedly under control within moments of the arrival of Houston’s Fire Department.
“They did a great job. I’m going to say in less than 10 minutes, we had a really good grip on this fire,” District Chief Justin Barnes said.
HFD is still trying to determine the cause of the fire.
The Knowles family has long since moved out of the home, but fans still consider it an iconic landmark.
While Beyoncé no longer lives in Houston, she and her family regularly host charitable events in the city. In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, the global superstar and her mother, Tina Knowles, helped set up mobile testing sites in her hometown, according to CNN.
Beyoncé has offered no comment about the fire at this time.
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Academy Award-nominated actress Taraji P. Henson is opening up about the struggles of being a Black actor.
The star became visibly emotional as she shared that she has considered quitting acting after regularly being underpaid.
In an interview with Gayle King on SiriusXM, and The Color Purple co-star Danielle Brooks and the film’s director, Blitz Bazawule, Henson addressed a report that she thought about ending her illustrious career as she struggled financially despite her fame.
“I’m just tired of working so hard, being gracious at what I do, being paid a fraction of the cost,” Henson said, according to The Huffington Post. “I’m tired of hearing my sisters say the same thing over and over. You get tired.”
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The actor became visibly emotional as she detailed the financial expense of managing her career.
“I hear people go, ‘You work a lot.’ I have to. The math ain’t mathing,” she said. “Big bills come with what we do. We don’t do this alone. The fact that we’re up here, there’s a whole entire team behind us. They have to get paid.”
According to Complex, Henson shared in another recent interview that she replaced her entire team after they failed to capitalize on the success of her role as Cookie Lyon on Empire.
In response to being asked what her best decision was as an actor, Henson replied, “Firing everybody after Cookie. Everybody had to fucking go. Where is my deal? Where is my commercial? Cookie was top of the fashion game. Where is my endorsement? What did you have set up for after this?”
Despite Oscar nominations and critical acclaim, Henson notes that she feels underpaid compared to her white counterparts.
“It seems every time I do something and I break another glass ceiling, when it’s time to renegotiate, I’m at the bottom again, like I never did what I just did,” she told King. “And I’m just tired. It wears on you, you know?”
This Christmas, Henson will star alongside Brooks, Fantasia Barrino and an all-star Black cast in the reimagining of the beloved film, The Color Purple. Henson plays the iconic Shug Avery in the Oprah Winfrey-backed release.
Henson was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button where she starred alongside Brad Pitt. She has previously said that despite asking for “half a million” in pay for the role, she was ultimately paid only $150,000. The film went on to earn $127.5 million domestically and $208.3 million in foreign markets, with a total gross of $335.8 million, according to IMDB.
“Listen, I’ve been doing this for two decades and sometimes I get tired of fighting because I know what I do is bigger than me. I know that the legacy I leave will affect somebody coming up behind me,” Henson recently told The Hollywood Reporter. She added that she is advocating for other Black actors. “My prayer is that I don’t want these Black girls to have the same fights that me and Viola [Davis], Octavia [Spencer], we out here thugging it out.”
Henson received support from Gabrielle Union who wrote on X (former Twitter) “Not a damn lie told. Not. A. Damn. Lie. We go TO BAT for the next generation and hell even our own generation and above.”
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The Detroit music community is mourning the passing of funk legend Joseph “Amp” Fiddler who has passed away at the age of 65.
According to a post on his official Instagram, the beloved performer died after “an extensive and noble battle with cancer.”
The influential producer and musician is credited as being an instrumental force in the development of the career of James “J. Dilla” Yancey. It was Fiddler who taught Dilla how to use the Akai MPC sampling machine when the two lived as neighbors in the historic Conant Gardens neighborhood in Detroit.
A trained pianist, Fiddler played keys for George Clinton and Parliament-Funkadelic from 1985 to 1996. A post on the Funkateer’s official Facebook page salutes Fiddler, “Rest in eternal musical excellence Parliament-Funkadelic keyboardist Joseph Anthony “Amp” Fiddler (May 17th, 1958-December 17th, 2023). Fly on Amp! We love you dearly!”
On his own, Fiddler worked with Moodymann, Jamiroquai, and Prince, among others. His keyboard playing also appears on Seal’s 1994 hit “Kiss from a Rose.” In 1990 he released his first solo album With Respect under the alias Mr. Fiddler, followed by 2004’s Waltz of a Ghetto Fly and most recently 2017’s Amp Dog Knights, according to Detroit Metro Times.
Messages of love and condolences have been pouring in from across the world of Hip-Hop. Roots drummer, Questlove wrote on Instagram, “Rest easy brother Amp. For all those talks during the Pfunk tour. For all the music. Especially of course mentoring the one who mentored us (Dilla)——thank you brother 🙏🏾 #AmpFiddler”
Dan Charnas, author of the book Dilla Time, shared a message and an excerpt from his book where he explored how Dilla and Amp met.. “Some people give and ask for things in return, keep score, make sure they get theirs. Some people don’t. The latter group are quite rare. Joseph Anthony Fiddler was a true mentor. He transformed countless lives with his generosity. Thank you, Amp, for transforming mine. Thinking of all his people people today.”
Detroit Hip-Hop artists are deeply morning with many sharing memories of the legendary artist.
Messages of love and respect also poured in from X (formerly Twitter).
Details about the official celebration of Amp Fiddler’s life have not been disclosed. A GoFundMe is actively seeking funds to cover his funeral expenses.
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Tiffany Haddish has officially been charged with DUI after she was arrested in Beverly Hills last month following calls to the police about a running car stopped in the middle of Beverly Drive with the driver, who turned out to be Haddish, slumped over behind the steering wheel.
According to TMZ, the Girls Trip actress’ case was under review by the L.A. District Attorney’s Office and it was determined that she was driving with a .08% BAC.
Because this is actually the second time within the last couple of years that she has caught a DUI charge after falling asleep behind the wheel (pretty much the same thing happened to her in Georgia in January 2022), a lot of people were beginning to worry about the She Ready comedian’s wellbeing. So, it came as somewhat of a comfort when she opened up about the arrest during an interview with Entertainment Tonight host Kevin Frazier saying she was in good spirits but also acknowledging that she needed to get herself together.
“I’m going to get some help so I can learn balance and boundaries,” she said.
Still, Haddish’s DUI arrests could yield serious consequences for the 43-year-old. Prosecutors in the Peach State are even pushing for stricter bond conditions.
From TMZ:
In fact, in light of her Cali arrest, Georgia prosecutors are pushing for stricter restrictions on her — wanting to modify the bondconditions from her open DUI case there to restrict her from using booze and drugs completely.
BTW … if Tiffany is convicted of both offenses, both California and Georgia have laws that require jail time for a second offense — in CA, the minimum is 4 days, in GA it’s 3 days.
A few days in jail obviously wouldn’t be the end of Haddish’s world, but the situation is still very unfortunate. What is fortunate is that Haddish hadn’t caused any accidents or injuries to others while driving under the influence.
Driving drunk is dangerous, y’all. We hope Tiffany Haddish receives the help she needs.
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It seems that Deric “D-Dot” Angelettie is living up to his Madd Rapper alter ego with claims that his catalog is better than that of the late, great James “J. Dilla” Yancey.
“I love J Dilla to death, but he can’t see my catalog,” Angelettie said on Math Hoffa’s podcast. My Expert Opinion, as reported by HipHopDX.
D-Dot was a member of The Hitmen—the in-house Bad Boy production team and he crafted hits like“Hypnotize” by The Notorious B.I.G, along with Diddy‘s “It’s All About the Benjamins” and JAY-Z‘s “Where I’m From.”
The producer sounded like one of his old skits when he added, “Put their shit up against mine. My shit is all over the place. Shit I made 27 years ago.”
Dilla fans took to X, formerly Twitter, to sound off about D-Dot’s claims to have a better catalog than the late Detroit legend who produced songs for A Tribe Called Quest, Erykah Badu, Busta Rhymes, De La Soul, and his own group Slum Village.
Another commenter pointed out a misconception that Dilla was only a “backpack” producer, adding, “The best gag I think is to call Dilla “conscious rap” or lofi because the nigga rapped solely about cars, cash, hoes, beats. Slum also. Nigga shit purely. Despite making soulful, soothing joints, the drums told U what time it was.”
Another chimed in, “J Dilla has to be one of the most misunderstood artists ever. He’s constantly portrayed as this conscious backpacker with a rigid idea of what hip-hop is. In reality he was super experimental, loved bounce and funk and rapped about jewelry and Range Rovers.”
Dilla died on February 10, 2006. The producer was also a prolific rapper who emerged from Detroit’s hip-hop underground and quickly became a favorite among the hip-hop elite with his unique drum style.
His music has been celebrated by symphony orchestras, he has been honored with a street, Allée Jay Dee, named after him Montpellier, France and his MPC is in the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture.
A book about his life and his musical stylings was recently published by hip-hop scholar and teacher, Dan Charnas called Dilla Time.
Peep more of D Dot getting schooled, and Dilla praise, in the gallery.
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Muni Long has shared another update on her medical health. The 35-year-old Florida native shared with fans last year that she had been diagnosed with lupus. The development caused her to cancel her highly-anticipated 2022 tour to support her Grammy Award-winning single, “Hrs & Hrs.”
On (Dec. 3), the singer-songwriter, born Priscilla Renea Hamilton, took to social media to share a new update on her health, writing: “So apparently I’m autistic, and my free self is the version of me that I began repressing at the age of 22 because it made people highly uncomfortable. It started first with me doing insane amounts of drugs and then when that didn’t work I just held it in. Which led to lupus,” Long penned on X.
“And now the lupus has gotten to a point where it’s effectively impossible to contain. And in order to free myself from the rollercoaster that is autoimmune disease, I have to let my emotions, thoughts and feelings out…. But…. Autism! OMG WTF THIS IS SO WACK [weeping emoji].”
She concluded: “But at least knowing I am autistic explains SO MUCH.”
The brave revelation was met with support from fans.
Long followed up the three-part post on Dec. 4 writing, “A lot of days I just wanna put my head in the pillow and scream… minus the pillow tho.”
Long told The Breakfast Club last year that she contracted a bacterial infection from a microphone in 2018, and that triggered her Lupus, adding, “So when you have any type of bacteria, especially in your lungs, the inflammation is crazy. So I deal with that. As I’m talking, you can hear me tryna catch my breath,” according to Baller Alert.
She continued, “I deal with that on a daily basis. I take a lot of medicine to like function normally and that’s not something I normally share. Because that’s my journey, I’m not looking for sympathy.”
According to BlackDoctor.org, “Lupus is a disease where the immune system attacks instead of protects. The immune system is the body’s natural defense against disease. In lupus, the immune system creates antibodies that attack the body’s own tissues and organs.”
African American women in particular seem to have a higher risk of getting lupus. As many as 1 in 250 will develop the disease. Women who suffer from lupus are twice as likely to give birth to a child with autism.
We send Muni Long best wishes on her health journey.
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After a weekend of having Black journalists pull CVS-length receipts on him and his management, agents, and publicists—Lenny Kravitz clarified his statements to Esquire magazine that seemed to imply that he was snubbed by Black media.
In the original comments, the rocker said, “To this day, I have not been invited to a BET thing or a Source Awards thing,” Kravitz adds, “And it’s like, here is a Black artist who has reintroduced many Black art forms, who has broken down barriers—just like those that came before me broke down. That is positive. And they don’t have anything to say about it?”
The comments incensed Black journalists, including BET’s Entertainment Director Yesha Callahan, who noted that she had reached out to Kravitz’s team as recently as mid-October only to be ignored. Callahan’s post has since been deleted.
But, others co-signed the experience.
According to theGrio, Kravitz sent a statement exclusively to them which clarifies his remarks, writing, in part, “The comment I made was not about ‘black media’ or the ‘black community.’” the 59-year-old rocker said. “I was specifically referring to black award shows in particular. My comment was meant to express a concern about ensuring that black artists are being recognized for their work in what is now being called “non-traditional” black music, which it is not.”
He added, “Rock and roll is the music we were instrumental in creating and is a part of our history. We must retain our heritage and celebrate that together. BET and countless others have paved the way for this type of recognition. I hope that by sharing my concern a spotlight will be shone on this issue. Love and peace.“
BET has not specifically addressed the comments. However, Callahan shared that the company recently created a video package highlighting Black non-traditional artists.
Social media users are split about the comments. While some believe that Kravitz and others have not gotten their “flowers” from Black media—insiders and others recognize the power dynamics at play including the fact that Black journalists are often snubbed on red carpets and their media requests are often rejected by the non-Black representatives of some of their faves.
One thing is for sure, if BET invites Kravitz to this year’s awards show… He better show up.
Kravitz’s 12th studio album, Blue Electric Light, will be released March 15, 2024.
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The iconic Ramova Theatre is set to reopen in Chicago with the help of Quincy Jones, Jennifer Hudson and Chance The Rapper. The three natives of the city are now part of an ownership group that has reclaimed the theater which first opened in 1929.
The Ramova was a popular movie theater in the Bridgeport neighborhood of South Side Chicago until it shut down in 1985, according to Blavity.
“I believe the cultural divides in our communities will always be bridged and uplifted by music and the arts,” the 90-year-old Jones said in a statement. “With Ramova, I see a future where the rich cultural heritage of Chicago shines even brighter alongside the country’s most talented artists, which will inspire future generations to come and bring glory to America’s Second City.”
In her statement, Hudson referenced her late mother, Darnell Donnerson who was killed in the city in 2008. “My mother always taught us to take care of home first, so to support the rehabilitation of this extraordinary theater with such a rich history in Chicago means more to me than one could imagine,” Hudson said. “I am honored and thrilled to help build this new home for artists and highlight this special community in new ways that will reach far beyond the neighborhoods we call home.”
The Ramova Theater features an iconic sign and spanish-inspired architecture, it became the jewel of the neighborhood — a place for people to gather and communities to come together, according to the official website.
It will now be reimagined as a 1500+ person live concert hall, independent craft brewery, beer garden and grill.
“We’re doing a complete rehabilitation to this pillar in the community, bringing back its historic grill, creating a world-class entertainment space, adding a brewery where we hope people will meet their new best friends. We’re working closely alongside locals who have kept this space standing to allow us this opportunity to do something special for Bridgeport and Chicago,” developer Tyler Nevius wrote.
The Ramova Theater, which is recognized on the National Register of Historic Places, will also amplify educational programs and workshops, as well as community initiatives from local non-profits.
“Chicago will always be part of who I am,” Chance The Rapper said in his statement. “I joined the team at Ramova to give back to the city that’s given me so much and to provide a stage to showcase the incredible talent Chicago has to offer. This is our moment to revitalize Chicago neighborhoods through one of the most beautiful ways possible — the arts.”
The space is set to open in Fall 2023.
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In a blow to Hip-Hop artists, an Atlanta judge has ruled that lyrics by Young Thug and other of his YSL associates can be used at his RICO trial.
“They’re not prosecuting your clients because of the songs they wrote,” Judge Ural Glanville said after a November 8 hearing, denying free-speech concerns raised by Brian Steel, an attorney representing Thug (born Jeffrey Williams).
According to Vulture, “These are party admissions,” said Michael Carson, a prosecutor, during the hearing. “They just happen to come in the form of lyrics.”
The issue of using rap lyrics in court is one that has been pressing to the hip-hop community. In November of 2022, more than 100 rap artists including Drake and Megan Thee Stallion signed a letter to protest the use of lyrics in court. As previously reported by HipHopWired, artists, industry leaders, and legal experts have joined together in a call to “Protect Black Art,” publishing an open letter in The New York Times and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution urging legislators across America to limit how creative expression can be used against defendants on trial. Specifically, it calls for an end to the racially discriminatory practice of treating rap lyrics as confessions.
The letter reads, in part, “Beyond the obvious disregard for free speech and creative expression protected by the First Amendment, this racially targeted practice punishes already marginalized communities and their stories of family, struggle, survival, and triumph.”
It was published by Warner Music Group.
The letter was released just months after one success when the state of California put forward a bill banning lyrics from being used in court–it passed both the State Senate and State Assembly. Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the bill in October of last year.
Earlier last year, on Wednesday (July 27th), the RAP Act was introduced on the floor of the House of Representatives by Democratic Representatives Hank Johnson (GA-04) and Jamaal Bowman (NY-16). The Restoring Artistic Protection Act looks to protect artists from the wrongful usage of their lyrics against them in civil and criminal court cases.
“Rap, hip-hop, and every lyrical musical piece is a beautiful form of art and expression that must be protected,” Representative Bowman said in a statement.
Despite the blow, there is no doubt that the battle will continue. Because hip-hop doesn’t give up and we don’t back down.
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Legendary R&B group, New Edition, is set to be the next big thing on stage in Sin City.
The sextet announced Monday (Nov. 6), that New Edition: Las Vegas will kick off February 28 for at least six shows. “We just caught lightning in a bottle,” said Ronnie DeVoe, according to USA Today. All six members will perform at the Wynn Las Vegas Encore Theater, where acts like Diana Ross, Lionel Richie and more have taken the stage.
The announcement came days after the group performed a tribute to the Spinners at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony in New York City.
“We’re looking to touch that stage and continue on with the legacy,” DeVoe added.
“This is going to be more theatrical than our Legacy and Culture tours,” Bobby Brown said. “This will be a lot more intimate. We wanted it to be up, close and personal for our fans.”
The theater sits nearly 1,500 fans, who will enjoy their many classic hits.
Vegas has been a destination for R&B audiences with Usher soon to wrap up his successful residency before performing at the Super Bowl.
The group says that now is a great time for them to have their residency. “We have each other, we have our health, we have our families. Everybody’s still here,” Ricky Bell said.
New Edition also says that the residency is a good time for new music. “It makes sense,” DeVoe said. “I think it’ll be a great time to get in the studio and put our vocals on something new and fresh, so we can deliver that to our fans in anticipation of their residency.”
The group hasn’t released new music since One Love nearly 20 years ago.
“Our audience got a chance to see growth, bond, brotherhood,” Bell said of their recent tours. “Sometimes that’s bigger than any record because people come to look for separation. But I think we’ll give them the glue.”