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Sean Kingston was arrested on fraud charges in California on Thursday (May 23). A spokesperson for the Broward Sheriff’s Office confirmed to Billboard on Friday morning (May 24) that the “Beautiful Girls” rapper — born Kisean Anderson — was apprehended without incident on a warrant from Florida in Fort Irwin, Calif., which is about 150 miles northeast of Los Angeles.
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Kingston’s arrest came mere hours after his South Florida mansion rental was raided by Davie Police SWAT team members on Thursday, with officers taking his mother, Janice Turner, into custody and hitting the 61-year-old with fraud and theft charges.
The raid allegedly came in response to a lawsuit filed by attorney Dennis Card, who claimed that Kingston demands items and doesn’t end up paying for them, says NBC Miami.
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“He’s got basically a script, he says that he works with Justin Bieber, and that he obviously puts on a big show here, this is a rental house, he doesn’t own it, and he lures people using his celebrity into having them release things without him paying for it and then he simply never pays,” Card claimed of the 34-year-old singer.
“This evening, police in Fort Irwin, CA, arrested Kisean Anderson, aka Sean Kingston (2/3/1990) without incident on a Broward Sheriff’s Office arrest warrant for numerous fraud and theft charges,” read a statement from the Broward Sheriff’s office, which noted that, according to investigators, the singer was slated to be booked into jail in San Bernardino, Calif.
Reporters on the scene at the Southwest Ranches residence in Florida noticed officers loading vans with various items from the artist’s rental home following his mother’s arrest. Kingston attempted to calm fans’ worries in a since-deleted post to his Instagram Story on Thursday. “People love negative energy! I am good, and so is my mother! … My lawyers are handling everything as we speak,” he wrote.
Sean Kingston stormed onto the music scene as a teenager when his “Beautiful Girls” single topped the Billboard Hot 100 in 2007. His most recent project arrived in 2022 with Road to Deliverance. At press time a spokesperson for Kingston had not returned Billboard‘s request for comment.
Beyoncé is teaching her daughter Blue Ivy Carter one of the most important lessons a budding musician can learn: how to turn haterade into Gatorade to fuel your performance. Bey’s mom, Tina Knowles, revealed how the singer helped her 12-year-old daughter with husband Jay-Z deal with negative comments after Blue performed on stage with her mom during the Renaissance tour.
While appearing on this week’s episode of Vogue‘s The Run Through podcast, Tina Knowles described how blown away she and Jay were by Blue Ivy’s dancing onstage during “My Power” and “Black Parade” on her mother’s sold-out Renaissance world tour. She told Chloe and Vogue beauty commerce writer Kiana Murden that Blue’s moves were “the best” and that “every night her dad and me would get on this platform out there and we would just be screaming our heads off, like, with no shame at all.”
That joy was tempered, however, by some negative comments Blue Ivy read after the shows, which led to Beyoncé sharing some sage advice for her daughter about brushing that dirt off your shoulder.
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“One of her friends came back and showed her some negative comments and it was a great life lesson because her mom basically said, ‘Listen, if you let this get you down, then they won. So you should go and work harder. And, you know, just work harder and get your skills together and go out there and blast it,’” Knowles said Beyoncé told Blue. “So it actually worked in Blue’s favor because she was only supposed to do it one time. But now her mom was, that mama bear was on to it. It was like, she was like, ‘You go out there and kill it,’ and she did. She just grew so much from that experience.”
In her Renaissance: A Film By Beyoncé concert doc, Bey revealed that Blue Ivy fought for her space on the tour after what was supposed to be a one-off appearance. “She told me she was ready to perform, and I told her no,” Bey said in the movie, in which she also noted that the tween was devastated after reading comments criticizing her initial performance.
Bey added in the film that she was proud of Blue Ivy for training harder for future appearances rather than giving up. That pride (and good advice) clearly soaked in, because Blue was featured alongside her mom in the recently revealed trailer for the upcoming Disney Lion King prequel, Mufasa. Mother (Nala) and daughter’s (Kiara) voices will appear alongside Aaron Pierre, Kelvin Harrison, Jr., John Kani, Seth Rogen, Billy Eichner, Mads Mikkelsen and Thandiwe Newton in the film.
Listen to the episode here (Blue Ivy bit begins at 39-minute mark).
Music industry legend and Motown Records founder Berry Gordy Jr. has pledged $5 million to establish The UCLA Berry Gordy Music Industry Center. The center — launched in affiliation with The UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music — will open during the 2024/2025 academic year.
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“I’m thrilled to create a center that provides opportunities for students at UCLA to prepare for careers in the music industry,” said Gordy in a news release. “Music is powerful, inspiring, universal, crossing over political, cultural, social and economic barriers. It reaches ALL people and has been the guiding force in my life. These students will be the future innovators, artists, and executives that will lead us through the twenty-first century.”
“This center will position The UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music to become the leading music industry program in the world,” stated Eileen Strempel, inaugural dean of the school of music. “It will help empower us to recruit and attract the best faculty and students, and to conduct research in cutting-edge fields. Thanks to Mr. Gordy’s gift, our program will be the leading force in shaping the twenty-first century music industry.”
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Dedicated to expanding Gordy’s legacy of teaching and mentoring, the center will support the development of new courses and offer a specialized curriculum in songwriting and production. To further raise awareness about careers in the music industry, the center will provide funding to create partnerships with primary and secondary schools. It will also sponsor research for explorations into technology, streaming algorithms and social justice.
“Berry Gordy is an American treasure,” said fellow music industry veteran Michael Ostin who is also a member of the dean’s advisory board. “What he created at Motown was truly remarkable as he combined creative and business acumen in a way that it had never been done before. He represents everything we want to embody in our music industry program. He is also known for his generosity. It is no surprise that Berry would make such a benevolent and transformative gift to help educate and train our next generation of industry leaders.”
Under Gordy’s direction, Motown Records became one of the music industry’s most successful and influential independent record companies. Its legendary roster of hitmakers includes Smokey Robinson, The Miracles, Diana Ross, The Supremes, The Temptations, Marvin Gaye, Michael Jackson and The Jackson Five, among a host of others.
“I’ve always known Berry as generous and gracious,” commented Robinson. “At the start of my career, I benefitted from Berry’s mentorship. He was always a teacher at heart. What I love about this center is that it is guided by his philosophy that truly great music comes from nurturing young talent and getting them to think holistically about their art and their careers.”
Drake is embracing Metro Boomin’s “BBL Drizzy” diss. The 6 God flipped the troll against Metro and rapped over the soulful production during his guest appearance on Sexyy Red’s “U My Everything.”
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The Tay Keith-produced Drizzy and Sexyy collaboration arrived as part of the St. Louis native’s surprise In Sexyy We Trust project on Friday (May 24).
The OVO boss lists off some of his favorite tropical getaways before leaning into the BBL Drizzy nickname and running with the persona since he’s paying for girls’ surgery enhancements, but doesn’t want Sexyy to cave to the trend.
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“Me and the surgeon got history/ I changed a lot of girls’ lives for real/ They need a new body, they hittin’ me, ayy/ BBL Drizzy, they want a new body, they ask me for it/ The last one, Jung, he did it for free ’cause I sent over so many past ones for him/ But Red, don’t even worry about all of that shit/ Just keep it natural for ’em, I swear,” he raps.
Fans seemed to salute Drake for embracing the “BBL Drizzy” diss — which features an AI sample crafted by comedian King Willonius — and lent their stamp of approval for what he did to the comedic beat.
“Flipping BBL Drizzy into him rapping about paying for BBL’s is something even Metro will laugh at,” one person wrote to X.
“U My Everything” serves as Drake’s first offering since the dust settled on the explosive rap war between the 6 God and Kendrick Lamar earlier in May.
Sexyy Red’s 14-track In Sexyy We Trust landed on streaming services on Friday (May 24) with frequent collaborator Tay Keith serving in the role of executive producer. “We got a genuine brother-sister relationship. I f— with her heavy,” Keith told Billboard of his relationship with Big Sexyy in April. “We just continue to keep it going. Every time we get in the studio we make a hit.”
Drizzy and Sexyy Red previously connected on For All The Dogs standout “Rich Baby Daddy” with SZA. Outside of Drake’s assist, other features on the project include Mike Will Made-it, Lil Baby and more.
Listen to “U My Everything” below.
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New York’s Cash Cobain continues his impressive hot streak with a new version of his song “Dunk Contest.” Renamed “Grippy,” this new song serves as somewhat of a remix and features J. Cole, making for an unexpected pairing. Cole starts things off rapping about a shorty he put in his phone as Grippy, rapping, “She […]
PinkPantheress wants fans to “Turn It Up” just in time for the summer. The British pop star dropped off her first single of 2024 with the starry “Turn It Up” on Friday (May 24). Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news Sampling the keys from Selena’s crown jewel […]
Sexyy Red released her third project In Sexyy We Trust on Friday (May 24) via Open Shift/gamma. Her frequent collaborator Tay Keith — who has produced her biggest hits like “Pound Town,” which earned both artists their first Billboard Hot 100 entry with the Nicki Minaj-assisted “Pound Town 2” remix, and Sexyy’s first Hot 100 […]
Vince Staples released his Dark Times album on Thursday night (May 23) via Blacksmith Recordings and Def Jam Recordings. Dark Times is Staples’ seventh and final project on Def Jam. “Eleven years ago, a young, uncertain version of myself was given an opportunity with Def Jam Recordings. I released my first project under their banner, […]
Three weeks after the cancellation of the Lovers & Friends Festival in Las Vegas, the prayers of Usher fans are being answered. Billboard can exclusively report that the eight-time Grammy Award winner will now perform his classic album Confessions during a special one-night-only performance at the 2024 Essence Festival of Culture. Presented by Coca-Cola, the annual four-day event will take place July 4-7 in New Orleans at Caesars Superdome.
Confessions’ 20th birthday isn’t the only anniversary being saluted that weekend. Under the theme of celebrating 30 years of “We Love Us,” Essence itself is marking the festival’s own milestone birthday with a star-studded lineup that includes R&B/pop icon Janet Jackson, a special performance by Birdman & Friends Presents 30 Years of Cash Money Millionaires, three-time Grammy winner Victoria Monét and eight-time Essence Festival veteran Charlie Wilson. Tank and the Bangas will also be part of a New Orleans takeover with a curated performance alongside special guests and fellow New Orleans natives Teedra Moses, HaSizzle and Dawn Richard.
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Another highlight will be a tribute to Frankie Beverly & Maze, who reigned as the festival’s closing act during its first 15 years. “As we commemorate this year’s festival, Essence will give flowers to the entertainers who started the all-white Sunday-night tradition,” states the press release of the tribute that will also include a “passing of the torch moment” curated by Grammy-winning songwriter/producer Bryan-Michael Cox. The series of evening concerts will be hosted by Keke Palmer, Pretty Vee, Big Tigger, Punkie Johnson and Kenny Burns with special DJ sets from Raj Smoove, DJ Clark Kent and DJ Beverly Bond.
DJ D-Nice will bring his popular Club Quarantine to the Superdome as well. That multi-genre lineup will feature Method Man, Sheila E., Big Boi, Donell Jones, Tweet, Machel Montano and Lloyd. Each night will also showcase specially curated performances that include Grammy-winning band The Roots & Friends featuring Ari Lennox, Mickey Guyton, special guest T-Pain and the reunion of R&B supergroup TGT (Tyrese, Ginuwine and Tank). Rounding out the list of evening performers: Ayra Starr, SWV, Busta Rhymes and Jacquees. More talent will be announced in the coming weeks.
“For three decades, the Essence Festival of Culture has blossomed into a pillar of our culture,” said festival vp Hakeem Holmes in a statement. He continued in part, “As the festival approaches its 30-year milestone, we are excited to welcome and celebrate with all of our closest family and friends around the world. It promises to be an enriching four days of daytime and evening experiences. Last year, we proudly generated $316 million for New Orleans and Louisiana, and we look forward to another year of new memories. This is your formal invitation to join us … for a celebration of unparalleled Black joy.”
Major partners in the 2024 Essence Festival of Culture include AT&T, L’Oréal Groupe, McDonald’s USA and Target Corporation. For more information and updates, visit ESSENCEFestival.com.
For the first time in the league’s history, the WNBA will be expanding outside the United States by adding a team in Toronto starting with the 2026 season. So naturally, the Global Ambassador for the Toronto Raptors was in attendance. Drake — spotted out in public for the first time since his ugly feud with […]