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Grammy winners Mary J. Blige, Jazmine Sullivan and Miguel lead the performer lineup for the 2023 Honeyland Festival. Presented by IMG and Live Nation Urban, the inaugural, two-day music and culinary event will take place at Crown Festival Park in Sugar Land, Texas, just outside Houston, on November 11-12.
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The lineup of performers will also include Chlöe, Coco Jones, DJ Mr. Rogers, Spinall, Dende, Inayah, Jae Murphy, Kiotti & Keisha Nicole, Lenora, Lucky Daye, Tay Powers, Tems and Tobe Nwigwe. In a nod to this year’s celebration of hip-hop’s 50th anniversary, the Houston All-Stars — Scarface, Slim Thug, Paul Wall, Z-Ro and Lil Keke — will also hit the stage. In addition, Nwigwe will serve as Honeyland Festival’s Houston Ambassador, exploring the immersive experience presented by the national and local restauranteurs and culinary talent that will be on hand at the event.
“We are excited to bring together icons of the music world with the leaders of Black cuisine and beverage, creating a culminating experience of Black expression for everyone at Honyland to enjoy,” said Live Nation Urban president Shawn Gee in a release announcing the festival. “From Afrobeats to hip-hop, neo-soul to R&B, the best in music will meet the best in food and beverage.”
Honeyland Festival’s schedule of performances and events will be announced at a later date, while the general on-sale begins on July 21. General admission tickets include passes to the multiple stages hosting the music performances and conversations with special guests as well as food and beverage demonstrations and cook-off competitions. For further updates and ticket information, visit honeylandfestival.com.
Lil Durk has canceled several dates of his Sorry for the Drought Tour and backed out of his Rolling Loud Miami performance.
On Tuesday (July 18), 24 dates had been marked as canceled and only five shows remained unaffected, including two hometown shows at Chicago’s United Center.
DJ Akademiks said on Instagram that he got a statement from Durk “exclusively about these cancellations,” which reads as follows: “Since I’m still awaiting to get full clearance from my doctors to travel and perform again, I have no other choice but to cancel my headlining Rolling Loud performance. While I’m home resting, I am looking forward to my two homecoming shows on the 11th & 12th in Chicago. For the rest of the country, I’ll be announcing new dates soon. #StillHealing”
Billboard has reached out to Durk’s reps for more information but hadn’t heard back at press time.
The Aug. 11 Chicago show is part of his Sorry for the Drought Tour, while the Aug. 12 show is the 107.5 WGCI Summer Jam, where Durk is still slated to perform alongside Kodak Black, NLE Choppa and DD Osama, who were slated to join him on tour. The other three shows are his July 28 show at Tampa, Florida’s MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheater, his Aug. 13 show at Noblesville’s Ruoff Music Center, and his Aug. 21 show at Houston’s Toyota Center.
His Rolling Loud Miami performance at Hard Rock Stadium was originally scheduled for this Friday, July 21.
TMZ Hip-Hop had reported last week that Durk had spent a week in the hospital earlier this month for severe dehydration and exhaustion. “My fans mean everything to me, you’re the reason why I do this,” he told the publication in a statement. “I was looking forward to touching all of my European fans, performing this week(end), attending the ESPYs and more but after performing and traveling daily I’ve become severely dehydrated and advised by my doctors not to travel due to exhaustion. Once I get my full energy back, it’s back to business which I’m looking forward to. #StillHealing”
Durk is expected to release the deluxe edition of his eighth studio album, Almost Healed, soon. He originally released the 21-track project on May 26, which debuted at No. 1 on Billboard‘s Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and No. 3 on the Billboard 200. Almost Healed contains the hit single “All My Life,” featuring J. Cole, which reached No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and topped both Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and Rhythmic Airplay.
Looking for something new to try in the kitchen? Snoop Dogg and E-40 got you covered. The rap duo are teaming up for a new cookbook, titled Snoop Dogg Presents Goon With the Spoon, which is set to arrive on November 14 via Chronicle Books, according to People. The book, which serves as a follow-up […]
It’s an understatement to say that Doja Cat‘s relationship with the mainstream music industry is fraught at best. Over the past year, the “Kiss Me More” rapper has proclaimed that she’s finished making pop music, then agreed with commenters who said her rapping was “corny” and joked that she was making an album inspired by German rave music before claiming her next album would be spoken word.
It’s fine, she was kidding about last one. But in a new cover story in V Magazine, the unpredictable 27-year-old singer said that one of the reasons she’s taking so much time working on her follow-up to 2021’s smash collection Planet Her is that she wants to be sure it is 100% authentically her.
After jumping from R&B to hip-hop and pop over the course of her career, Doja explained that a lot of her pushback and left turns are tied to making music she wasn’t totally down with. “I have thrown fits my whole career because I have been making music that didn’t allow me to have a mental release,” she told the magazine. “I have been making music that is palatable, marketable and sellable, that has allowed me to be where I am now.”
Now, she added, she’s making music for her fourth album that allows her to express how she feels about the world around her. “These upcoming projects are going to be very different compared to everything I have done and I am excited about that,” she said. “I do not care if people are not.”
Though the provocative black and white shots she took for the magazine have a rock and roll edge, Doja said she doesn’t consider herself a rock star. “I have made pop music. I’m currently making rap, soul and R&B music with jazz elements,” she said of her upcoming album, which she also noted is inspired by “hatred and outrage” culture.
Doja dropped the long-awaited single “Attention” in June, which asked the apropos question for a star who has gotten attention for shaving her head and razoring off her eyebrows live on camera: “Look at me, look at me?/ You lookin’?” To date, the singer has not announced a release date for the album she tweeted in May will be called First of All, the follow-up to Project Her, which peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 album chart and produced the hits “Need to Know,” “Woman,” “Ain’t S–t” and “Get Into It (Yuh).”
Click here to see pictures from the V Magazine shoot.
Chicago-based drill rapper FendiDa Rappa is officially a Billboard Hot 100-charting artist as she scores her first appearance on the list with her new collaboration with Cardi B, “Point Me 2.” Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news The song, released July 7 through Giant Music (which relaunched in […]
The road to Utopia has gotten bumpier for Travis Scott after Egyptian government officials canceled his July 28 concert at the Pyramids of Giza on Tuesday (July 18), according to multiple reports.
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The news comes after The Egyptian Syndicate of Musical Professions reportedly cited myriad issues about Scott’s forthcoming performance. The Syndicate, which ultimately approves concert permits, is said to have concerns about ensuring “the safety and protection of the audience.”
Dr. Mohamed Abdullah, in a statement on behalf of the Musicians Syndicate obtained by Egypt Today said: “Regarding the concert scheduled to be held on 28th July at the Pyramids area in Giza by American rapper Travis Scott, the Musicians Syndicate, as the entity responsible for issuing licenses for music and singing concerts in Egypt, in coordination with the Egyptian Ministry of Culture represented by the Censorship Authority for Artistic Works and the Ministry of Labor, emphasizes the necessity of considering security aspects and obtaining approvals from the relevant authorities as a top priority when organizing concerts. This is to ensure the safety and protection of the audience.”
The statement also cites Abdullah as saying that the group welcomes various art forms, “it has set conditions and regulations to safeguard the customs and traditions inherited by the Egyptian people.”
In addition, Egypt Today quotes Abdullah as saying that social media played a part in the decision to cancel the concert’s license. “After examining social media opinions and feedback, as well as the news circulating on search engines and social media platforms, which included authenticated images and information about peculiar rituals performed by the star during his performance, contradicting our authentic societal values and traditions, the Syndicate’s president and board of directors have decided to cancel the license issued for hosting this type of concert, which goes against the cultural identity of the Egyptian people,” he reportedly said in his statement.
Billboard has reached out to Scott’s reps for comment.
In 2021, 10 people died and many more were injured at Scott’s Astroworld Festival due to a crowd crush. After 19 months of police investigation, a grand jury ultimately decided that no one should be criminally charged for the disastrous event. In a statement to Billboard, Scott’s attorney Kent Schaffer said the grand jury’s decision proved that “Travis Scott is not responsible for the Astroworld tragedy.”
“This is consistent with investigative reporting by numerous media outlets and federal and state government reports that have squarely placed the onus for event safety crises on organizers, operators and contractors — not performers,” Schaffer said. “While waiting patiently for the District Attorney’s decision to not file charges, Travis Scott has been inaccurately and wrongly singled out, despite stopping the show three separate times and being unaware of the events as they were unfolding. Now that this chapter is closed, we hope for the government efforts to focus on what is most important — stopping future heartbreaking tragedies like Astroworld from ever occurring again.”
Utopia marks Travis Scott’s fourth studio album and drops July 28.
Grammy-winning songwriter/producer Jermaine Dupri is being honored by the Otis Redding Foundation. Dupri will be presented with the Otis & Zelma Redding Award of Respect at the foundation’s upcoming King of Soul Music Festival (Sept. 8-9) in Macon, Georgia.
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The second annual festival, a fundraiser for the Otis Redding Center for the Arts, will also double as a celebration of late icon Redding’s 82nd birthday (Sept. 9).
“We are thrilled to honor Jermaine Dupri at this year’s King of Soul Music Festival,” said Karla Redding-Andrews, vp/executive director of the Otis Redding Foundation, in a statement announcing the news.
“Jermaine and his father Michael Mauldin have been connected to the Redding family since he was a young man visiting the Big ‘O’ Ranch with his dad. And we are so proud of his remarkable contributions to the music industry as a songwriter, producer, DJ, and entrepreneur. He was very close to my brother Otis III, who passed away in April, and credits him with teaching him to make beats. Jermaine aligns with Otis Redding’s spirit and the foundation’s mission to inspire and empower young artists.”
Dupri — who also founded pioneering label So So Def Records — said, “The Reddings and Otis III became my musical family before the world knew of Jermaine Dupri. While I understand the family is honoring me, in my mind I am also honoring them for all they have allowed me to do, see and be a part of at a time when they didn’t have to.”
Atlanta’s esteemed Orchestra Noir will get the festivities underway Sept. 8 with “An Evening of Respect” concert at the historic Macon City Auditorium. Founded in 2016, Orchestra Noir is known for paying tribute to the cultural legacies of African American music pioneers through vibrant performances encompassing classical, jazz, blues, R&B and hip-hop. The next evening will feature The Big “O” Homecoming Show & Dance at the Capitol Theatre. During both nights, renowned artists and musicians will salute Redding’s enduring musical legacy.
Proposed to open in late 2024, the Otis Redding Center for the Arts will house the Otis Redding Foundation’s various music and arts programs for students. That slate includes the annual Otis Music Camp for students between the ages of 12-18, Camp DREAM for those aged 5-11, music education workshops, private and group lessons and the chance to perform on legendary stages such as Nashville’s Ryman Theatre. The foundation itself was established in 2007.
For more information about the festival, tickets, the Otis Redding Center for the Arts and the Otis Redding Foundation, visit otisreddingfoundation.org.
For a huge stoner, Wiz Khalifa is a model of consistency. Morning? High. Afternoon? High. Evening? High. On stage? High. Tossing out the first pitch at a game by his hometown MLB team the Pittsburgh Pirates on Monday? “Stoned AF.” That’s what Khalifa, 35, promised before landing one over the plate to kick off the […]
From show-stopping vocals to eye-popping choreography and production, Beyoncé‘s Renaissance World Tour is one of the grandest shows happening right now. In the midst of all the show’s opulent elements stands one special surprise for select dates: a dance performance by Grammy winner Blue Ivy, the eldest daughter of the superstar and husband Jay-Z, and grandma Tina Knowles-Lawson couldn’t be prouder.
“Well, this is a heels family. You’re trained early to walk in heels,” Knowles-Lawson, mother to Beyoncé and grandmother to Blue Ivy, told People. “She’s having the time of her life, and I couldn’t be more proud of her because she really worked hard.”
Blue Ivy, the second-youngest Grammy winner in history, seamlessly fit into Beyoncé’s crew of seasoned dancers, featuring ballroom powerhouse Honey Balenciaga and renowned dancer-choreography Aliya Janell.
At the tour’s Paris stop (May 26), Blue surprised the sold-out stadium with some dazzling dance moves set to a pair of her mother’s most empowering anthems: “My Power” and “Black Parade,” both from 2019’s The Lion King: The Gift (Deluxe Edition). Blue’s flawless execution of the “My Power” choreography went viral and sparked a dance trend on TikTok.
Knowles-Lawson, a credited costume designer for the Renaissance World Tour, told the publication, “She is 11 years old, and she had one week to prepare, and she’s just getting better and better. So I’m the proud grandma, always.”
Blue is the eldest Carter child; she is the big sister to 6-year-old twins Rumi and Sir Carter. According to her grandmother, the tween’s confidence has soared “to the sky” since joining the Renaissance Tour. The young dancer made her debut on the tour’s North American leg at the Philadelphia show on July 12.
Blue Ivy has earned one entry on the Billboard Hot 100: 2019’s “Brown Skin Girl” (with Beyoncé, Wizkid & SAINt JN), which won the 2020 Grammy Award for Best Music Video and peaked at No. 76.
After netting his first Billboard Hot 100 top 10 record last week with “Fukumean,” Gunna looks to take his talents on the road for two upcoming shows this September. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news Slated to be his first headlining concert in two years, Gunna will […]
