Whats Buzzing in the Streets – Page 24

Yolanda Adams

Yolanda Yvette Adams (born August 27, 1961) is an American gospel singer, record producer, actress, and host of her own nationally syndicated morning gospel show. She has sold nearly 10 million albums worldwide, with some albums achieving multi-platinum status. She has won four Grammy Awards, four Dove Awards, five BET Awards, six NAACP Image Awards, six Soul Train Music Awards, two BMI Awards and sixteen Stellar Awards. She was the first Gospel artist to be awarded an American Music Award.She is known as the “Queen of Contemporary Gospel Music”[6] the “First Lady of Modern Gospel”, while Variety dubbed her the “Reigning Queen of Urban Gospel”.On December 11, 2009, Billboard listed her as the top-selling gospel artist of the decade from 1999 through 2009, driven by the sales of her No. 1 album Mountain High…Valley Low. President Barack Obama awarded her the Presidential Lifetime Achievement Award in 2016 for her volunteer service. She was inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame by the Gospel Music Association in 2017. In 2018, she became the first gospel artist nominated for a Tony Award for her work on SpongeBob SquarePants. In 2019, she received the Soul Train Music Awards Lady of Soul Award, and received critical acclaim for officially opening Super Bowl LIV with her performance of “America the Beautiful”.The eldest of six siblings, Adams was born in Houston, Texas. She graduated from Sterling High School in Houston in 1979. After graduating from Texas Southern University, she began a career as a schoolteacher and part-time model in Houston. Eventually, she gave up teaching to perform full-time as a lead singer.

Written by Dianne Washington

Mos Def

Yasiin Bey born Dante Terrell Smith; December 11, 1973), best known by his stage name Mos Def, is an American hip hop recording artist, actor and activist from Brooklyn, New York City, New York. Best known for his music, Mos Def embarked on his hip hop career in 1994, alongside his siblings in the short-lived rap group Urban Thermo Dynamics (UTD), after which he appeared on albums by Da Bush Babees and De La Soul. He subsequently formed the duo Black Star, alongside fellow Brooklyn-based rapper Talib Kweli, and they released their eponymous debut album in 1998. He was featured on the roster of Rawkus Records and in 1999 released his solo debut, Black on Both Sides. His debut was followed by The New Danger (2004), True Magic (2006) and The Ecstatic (2009). The editors at About.com listed him as the 14th greatest emcee of all time on their “50 greatest MC’s of our time” list.Prior to his career in music, Mos Def first entered public life as a child actor, having played roles in television movies, sitcoms, and theater. Since the early 2000s, Mos Def has been well known for his roles in films such as Something the Lord Made, Next Day Air, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, 16 Blocks, Be Kind Rewind, The Italian Job, The Woodsman, Bamboozled and Brown Sugar, as well as for his portrayal of Brother Sam in the Showtime drama series Dexter. He is also known as the host of Def Poetry Jam, which aired on HBO between 2002 and 2007.Mos Def has been vocal on several social and political causes, including police brutality, the idea of American exceptionalism, and the state of African Americans.Mos Def was born as Dante Terrell Smith in Brooklyn, New York City, the son of Sheron Smith and Abdul Rahman. The eldest of 12 children and step-children, he was raised by his mother in Brooklyn, while his father lived in New Jersey.Although his father was initially a member of the Nation of Islam and later followed Imam Warith Deen Mohammed, who merged into mainstream Sunni Islam from the Nation, Mos Def was not exposed to Islam until the age of 13. At 19, he took his shahada, the Muslim declaration of faith. He is close friends with fellow Muslim rappers Ali Shaheed Muhammad and Kamaal Ibn John Fareed (Q-Tip) of the rap group A Tribe Called Quest.Mos Def attended middle school at Philippa Schuyler Middle School 383 in Bushwick, Brooklyn where he picked up his love for acting. After returning from filming You Take the Kids in Los Angeles, and getting into a relationship with an older girl, Mos Def dropped out of high school during sophomore year. Growing up in New York City during the crack epidemic of the 1980s and early 1990s, he has spoken about witnessing widespread instances of gang violence, theft and poverty in society, which he largely avoided by working on plays, Off-Off-Broadway and arts programs. In a particularly traumatic childhood experience, Mos Def witnessed his then five year old younger brother Ilias Bey (b. Denard Smith) get hit by a car. Bey, who later adopted the alias DCQ, was described by Smith as “my first partner in Hip Hop”.Mos Def began his rap music career in 1994, forming the rap group UTD (or Urban Thermo Dynamics) along with younger brother DCQ and younger sister Ces. In 2004, they released the album Manifest Destiny, their first and only release to date. The album features a compilation of previously unreleased and re-released tracks recorded during the original UTD run.In 1996, Mos Def emerged as a solo artist and worked with De La Soul and Da Bush Babees, before he released his own first single, “Universal Magnetic” in 1997.Mos Def signed with Rawkus Records and formed the rap group Black Star with Talib Kweli. The duo released an album, Mos Def & Talib Kweli are Black Star, in 1998. Mostly produced by Hi-Tek, the album featured the singles “Respiration” and “Definition”, which both reached in the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.Mos Def released his solo debut album Black on Both Sides in October 1999, also through Rawkus. The single “Ms. Fat Booty” charted, while the album reached #25 on the Billboard 200. Around this time he also contributed to the Scritti Politti album Anomie & Bonhomie.In January 2002 Rawkus Records was taken over by Geffen Records, which released his second solo album The New Danger in October 2004. It included contributions by Shuggie Otis and Bernie Worrell, Doug Wimbish,and Will Calhoun as the Black Jack Johnson Band. The album reached #5 on the Billboard 200, making it the most successful for the artist to date. The single “Sex, Love & Money” charted, and was nominated for a Grammy Award. Mos Def’s final solo album for Geffen Records, titled True Magic, was released in 2006.Mos Def married Maria Yepes in 1996, and has two daughters with her: Jauhara Smith and Chandani Smith. He filed for divorce from Yepes in 2006. The former couple made headlines when Yepes took Mos Def to court over failure in child-support obligations, paying $2,000 short of the monthly $10,000 he is ordered to pay. Mos Def has four other children.His mother Sheron Smith, who goes by her nickname “Umi”, has played an active role managing portions of her son’s career. She is also a motivational speaker, and has authored the book Shine Your Light: A Life Skills Workbook, where she details her experience as a single mother raising him.In January 2016, Mos Def was ordered to leave South Africa and not return for five years, having stayed in the country illegally on an expired tourist visa granted in May 2013. Also that month, he was charged with using an unrecognized World Passport and having lived illegally in South Africa since 2014. Mos Def had reportedly recruited Kanye West to help defend him, and posted a message on West’s website announcing his retirement from show business. There is an ongoing court case in relation to immigration offences involving the artist and his family.

Written by Dianne Washington

Aaliyah

Aaliyah Dana Haughton (January 16, 1979 – August 25, 2001) was an American singer, actress, and model. Born in Brooklyn, New York, and raised in Detroit, Michigan, she first gained recognition at the age of 10, when she appeared on the television show Star Search and performed in concert alongside Gladys Knight. At the age of 12, Aaliyah signed with Jive Records and her uncle Barry Hankerson’s Blackground Records. Hankerson introduced her to R. Kelly, who became her mentor, as well as lead songwriter and producer of her debut album, Age Ain’t Nothing but a Number. The album sold three million copies in the United States and was certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). After facing allegations of an illegal marriage with Kelly, Aaliyah ended her contract with Jive and signed with Atlantic Records.Aaliyah worked with record producers Timbaland and Missy Elliott for her second album, One in a Million, which sold 3 million copies in the United States and over eight million copies worldwide. In 2000, Aaliyah appeared in her first film, Romeo Must Die. She contributed to the film’s soundtrack, which spawned the single “Try Again”. The song topped the Billboard Hot 100 solely on airplay, making Aaliyah the first artist in Billboard history to achieve this goal. “Try Again” also earned Aaliyah a Grammy Award nomination for Best Female R&B Vocalist. After completing Romeo Must Die, Aaliyah filmed her role in Queen of the Damned, and released her self-titled third and final studio album in 2001.On August 25, 2001, Aaliyah and eight others were killed in a plane crash in the Bahamas after filming the music video for the single “Rock the Boat”. The pilot, Luis Morales III, was unlicensed at the time of the accident and toxicology tests revealed that he had traces of cocaine and alcohol in his system. Aaliyah’s family later filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Blackhawk International Airways, which was settled out of court. Aaliyah’s music continued to achieve commercial success with several posthumous releases, and has sold an estimated 24 to 32 million albums worldwide. She has been credited for helping redefine contemporary R&B, pop and hip hop, earning her the nicknames “Princess of R&B” and “Queen of Urban Pop”. Billboard lists her as the tenth most successful female R&B artist of the past 25 years, and the 27th most successful in history.

Written by Dianne Washington

Shock G

Gregory Edward Jacobs (August 25, 1963 – April 22, 2021), known professionally as Shock G (and his alter ego Humpty Hump), was an American rapper who was best known as the lead vocalist of the hip hop group Digital Underground. He was responsible for Digital Underground’s “The Humpty Dance”, 2Pac’s breakthrough single “I Get Around”, and co-producer of 2Pac’s debut album 2Pacalypse Now.After relocating to Tampa, Florida from New York City, as a young teen, Shock G formed The Master Blasters, a sound system crew which consisted of three deejays and four MC’s. The Master Blasters would perform before large crowds at Riverfront Park gatherings on Sunday afternoons. Eventually Shock G’s reputation as a DJ caught the attention of Tony Stone, Program Director of Tampa’s WTMP radio, who gave the young Shock G a regular radio slot on the city’s top Black music radio station. Shock G hosted a daily show on WTMP as Gregory Racker, making him the youngest radio host in Florida with a regular timeslot. Later he would attend Hillsborough Community College where he studied music theory and piano. It was at Hillsborough where he met the late Kenny Waters a.k.a. Kenny K. The duo began performing as The Chill Factor and The Four Horsemen. The two also would perform in several RnB bands around the US, with Shock G serving as the keyboardist. In 1985, Shock G found his way to Oakland, California where he got a job in a music store. It was here where Digital Underground was formed. Along with Waters and Jimi Dright a.k.a. Chopmaster J they formed Digital Underground and released the single “Your Life’s A Cartoon” on Macola Records. In 1989, Digital Underground signed with Tommy Boy Records and released the classic single “Doowutchylike”.In 1990, the group’s debut album followed “Sex Packets”, which was almost a hip-hop reincarnation of P-Funk. The group then put out their smash hit “The Humpty Dance”, which remains a hip-hop anthem until this very day.“The Humpty Dance” saw Shock G take on the persona of Humpty Hump, an alter-ego that wore a Groucho Marx nose and glasses set with a comedic flare. Shock G has taken on many artistic personas throughout his career like Rackadelic, MC Blowfish, Ice Michael Boston, The Computer Woman, ButtaFly and Peanut Hakeem.Digital Underground by this point also consisted of DJ Fuze, Money-B, Schmoovy Schmoov, Ramone “Pee Wee” Gooden and a young Tupac Shakur serving as a roadie, dancer and occasional MC.Shock G would release nine albums with Digital Underground and become one of the most creative producers in hip-hop history.Over the years, Shock would collaborate with, or produce music for, the likes of George Clinton, Prince, KRS-One, Mac Mall, The Luniz, Murs as well as co-producing 2Pac’s debut album “2Pacalypse Now”.Shock G also appeared in the film “Nothing But Trouble” with Digital Underground performing as the world’s first hip-hop band with 2Pac making his professional rapping debut on the song “Same Song”.Shock G is considered, by many, as a one of the most original innovators in hip-hop history.On April 22, 2021, Shock G was found dead in a Tampa, Florida, hotel room. No evidence of foul play was found.On June 10, 2021, the Hillsborough County Medical Examiner announced that Shock G died from an accidental drug overdose.

Written by Dianne Washington

Kobe Bryant

Kobe Bean Bryant (born August 23, 1978 – January 26, 202), often known monotonously as Kobe, is an American former professional basketball player. He played his entire 20-year career with the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He entered the NBA directly from high school and won five NBA championships. Bryant is an 18-time All-Star, 15-time member of the All-NBA Team, and 12-time member of the All-Defensive team. He led the NBA in scoring during two seasons and ranks third on the league’s all-time regular season scoring and fourth on the all-time postseason scoring list. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest basketball players of all time. Bryant is the first guard in NBA history to play at least 20 seasons.Bryant is the son of former NBA player Joe Bryant. He enjoyed a successful high school basketball career at Lower Merion High School in Pennsylvania, where he was recognized as the top high school basketball player in the country. Upon graduation, he declared for the 1996 NBA draft and was selected by the Charlotte Hornets with the 13th overall pick; the Hornets then traded him to the Lakers. As a rookie, Bryant earned himself a reputation as a high-flyer and a fan favorite by winning the 1997 Slam Dunk Contest, and he was named an All-Star by his second season. Despite a feud between the two players, Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal led the Lakers to three consecutive NBA championships from 2000 to 2002.In 2003, Bryant was accused of sexual assault, but the charges were eventually dropped and a civil suit was settled out of court. After the Lakers lost the 2004 NBA Finals, O’Neal was traded to the Miami Heat and Bryant became the cornerstone of the Lakers. He led the NBA in scoring during the 2005–06 and 2006–07 seasons. In 2006, he scored a career-high 81 points against the Toronto Raptors, the second most points scored in a single game in league history behind Wilt Chamberlain’s 100-point game in 1962. Bryant was awarded the regular season’s Most Valuable Player Award (MVP) in 2008. After the Lakers lost in the 2008 NBA Finals, Bryant led the team to two consecutive championships in 2009 and 2010, earning the Finals MVP Award on both occasions. He continued to be among the top players in the league through 2013, when he suffered a torn Achilles tendon at age 34. Although he recovered from that injury, he suffered season-ending injuries to his knee and shoulder, respectively, in the following two seasons. Citing his physical decline, Bryant retired after the 2015–16 season.At 34 years and 104 days of age, Bryant became the youngest player in league history to reach 30,000 career points. He became the all-time leading scorer in Lakers franchise history on February 1, 2010, when he surpassed Jerry West. During his third year in the league, Bryant was chosen to start the All-Star Game, and he would continue to be selected to start that game for a record 18 consecutive appearances until his retirement. His four All-Star MVP Awards are tied for the most in NBA history. At the 2008 and 2012 Summer Olympics, he won gold medals as a member of the U.S. national team. In 2018, Bryant won the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film for his film Dear Basketball.Kobe Bean Bryant was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania as the youngest of three children and the only son of former NBA player and former WNBA head coach Joe “Jellybean” Bryant and Pamela Cox Bryant. He is also the maternal nephew of John “Chubby” Cox. His parents named him after the famous beef of Kobe, Japan. He started playing basketball when he was 3 years old, and his grandfather would mail him videos of NBA games, which Bryant would study.When Bryant was six, his father moved his family to Italy to play professional basketball. Bryant became accustomed to his new lifestyle and learned to speak Italian and Spanish fluently. During summers, Bryant would come back to the United States to play summer league basketball and he also learned to play soccer. In 1991, the Bryant family moved back to the United States. Bryant earned national recognition during a spectacular high school career at Lower Merion High School near Philadelphia.As a freshman, he played for the varsity (junior and senior) basketball team. His father coached him his sophomore year of high school with Bryant playing all five positions. At Adidas ABCD camp, Bryant earned the 1995 senior MVP award, while playing alongside future NBA teammate Lamar Odom. He ended his career as Southeastern Pennsylvania’s all-time leading scorer at 2,883 points, surpassing both Wilt Chamberlain and Lionel Simmons, Lower Merion alumni. Bryant received several awards for his performance his senior year including being named Naismith High School Player of the Year, Gatorade Men’s National Basketball Player of the Year, a McDonald’s All-American, and a All-USA First Team player. In 1996, Bryant took singer and friend Brandy Norwood to his senior prom.His SAT score of 1080 would have ensured his college basketball scholarship. Bryant made the decision to go directly into the NBA, only the sixth player in NBA history to do so. Bryant’s news was met with a lot of publicity at a time when prep-to-pro NBA players were not very common. Bryant said that had he decided to go to college after high school, he would have attended Duke University.The first guard to ever be taken out of high school, Bryant was chosen as the 13th overall draft pick by the Charlotte Hornets in 1996. However, the Hornets’ head scout at the time agreed to trade their draft selection to the Lakers the day before the draft. The Lakers didn’t tell the Hornets whom to select until five minutes before the pick was made. On July 1, 1996, West traded his starting center, Vlade Divac, to the Hornets in exchange for Bryant’s draft rights. Since he was still 17 at the time of the draft, his parents had to cosign his contract with the Lakers until he was able to sign his own when he turned 18 before the season began.Bryant is a shooting guard who can play small forward too. He is considered one of the most complete players in the NBA, has been selected to every All-NBA Team since 1999. He is a creative scorer, averaging 25.3 points per game for his career, along with 5.3 rebounds, 4.7 assists, and 1.5 steals (as of the end of the 2009–2010 regular season). He shares the single-game NBA record for three pointers made with twelve and he a standout defender, having made the All-Defensive first or second team ten of the last eleven seasons.In 1999, Bryant met 17-year-old Vanessa Laine while she was working as a background dancer on the Tha Eastsidaz music video “G’d Up”. Bryant was in the building working on his debut musical album, which was never released. The two began dating and became engaged just six months later in May 2000, while Laine was still a senior at Marina High School in Huntington Beach, California. They married on April 18, 2001, Bryant’s parents, his two sisters, longtime advisor and agent Arn Tellem, nor Bryant’s Laker teammates attended. Bryant’s parents were opposed to the marriage for a number of reasons. Reportedly Bryant’s parents had problems with him marrying so young, especially to a woman who was not African American. This disagreement resulted in an estrangement period, which ended when Bryant had his first daughter. The Bryants’ first child is Natalia Diamante Bryant. Vanessa Bryant suffered a miscarriage in the spring of 2005. Their second daughter is Gianna Maria-Onore Bryant.In the summer of 2003, Bryant was arrested in connection with a sexual assault complaint filed by 19-year old hotel employee Katelyn Faber. Bryant had checked into The Lodge and Spa at Cordillera hotel in advance of undergoing knee surgery nearby. Faber accused Bryant of raping her in his hotel room the night before Bryant was to have the procedure. Bryant admitted an adulterous sexual encounter with his accuser, but denied her sexual assault allegation. In September 2004, prosecutors dropped the assault case after Faber refused to testify in the trial. Afterward, Bryant agreed to apologize to Faber for the incident, including his public mea culpa: “Although I truly believe this encounter between us was consensual, I recognize now that she did not and does not view this incident the same way I did.” Faber filed a separate civil lawsuit against Bryant, which the two sides ultimately settled with the specific terms of the settlement being undisclosed to the public.Bryant is the official ambassador for After-School All-Stars (ASAS), an American non-profit organization that provides comprehensive after-school programs to children in 13 US cities. Bryant also started the Kobe Bryant China Fund, which will partner with the Soong Ching Ling Foundation, a charity backed by the Chinese government. The Kobe Bryant China Fund will raise money within China earmarked for education and health programs. Bryant has won five NBA World Championships with the Los Angeles Lakers: 2000, 2001, 2002, 2009 and 2010. Bryant has been injured off and on since 2012 and is in his mid 30’s. He played until the end of the 2015/16 season with the Lakers. On April 13, 2016, Bryant played his final NBA game against the Utah Jazz, scoring a season-high 60 points.In November 1999, 21-year-old Bryant met 17-year-old Vanessa Laine while she was working as a background dancer on the Tha Eastsidaz music video “G’d Up”. Bryant was in the building and working on his debut musical album. The two began dating and became engaged just six months later in May 2000, while Laine was still a senior at Marina High School in Huntington Beach, California. To avoid media scrutiny, she finished high school through independent study. According to Vanessa’s cousin Laila Laine, there was no prenuptial agreement. Vanessa said Bryant “loved her too much for one”.They married on April 18, 2001, at St. Edward the Confessor Catholic Church in Dana Point, California. The wedding was not attended by Bryant’s parents, his two sisters, his longtime advisor and agent Arn Tellem, or his Laker teammates. Bryant’s parents were opposed to the marriage for a number of reasons. Reportedly Bryant’s parents had problems with him marrying so young, especially to a woman who was not African-American. This disagreement resulted in an estrangement period of over two years, which ended when the couple’s first daughter was born.In 2013, Bryant had a legal disagreement with an auction house over memorabilia from his early years that his mother intended to auction. Pamela Bryant received $450,000 from the auction house for the items and claimed Bryant had given her the rights to the items he had remaining in her home. However, his lawyers asked the auction house to return the items to Bryant. Before the scheduled trial, a settlement was reached allowing the sale of less than 10% of the original items. Bryant’s parents apologized to him in a written statement, which also acknowledged the financial support Bryant had provided them in the past.In January 2002, Bryant bought a Mediterranean-style house for $4 million, located on a cul-de-sac in Newport Coast, Newport Beach. He sold the house in May 2015.The Bryants’ first child, a daughter, was born in January 2003. The birth influenced Bryant to reconcile his differences with his parents. Due to an ectopic pregnancy, Vanessa suffered a miscarriage in the spring of 2005. Their second daughter was born in May 2006. On December 16, 2011, Vanessa Bryant filed for divorce, citing irreconcilable differences, and the couple requested joint custody of their daughters. On January 11, 2013, Bryant and his wife both announced via social media that they had called off their divorce.In an early 2007 interview, it was revealed that Bryant still speaks Italian fluently. He has also conducted press interviews in Spanish. Bryant assigned himself the nickname of “Black Mamba”, citing a desire for his basketball skills to mimic the eponymous snake’s ability to “strike with 99% accuracy at maximum speed, in rapid succession.” During the 2012–13 season, he began referring to himself as “vino” to describe how his play had been aging like a fine wine.In early December 2016, Vanessa gave birth to their third daughter, and in January 2019 the Bryants announced they were expecting a fourth daughter. The daughter, named after himself, was born in June 2019.Bryant is a lifelong fan of his hometown NFL team, the Philadelphia Eagles.Kobe Bryant and his daughter, Gigi passed away in a helicopter crash on January 26, 2020.

Written by Dianne Washington

Viola Davis

Viola Davis (born August 11, 1965) is an American actress and producer. Having won an Academy Award, an Emmy Award, and a Tony Award, she is the first black actor to achieve the Triple Crown of Acting. Time magazine named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2012 and 2017.Born in St. Matthews, South Carolina, Davis began her acting career in Central Falls, Rhode Island, starring in minor theater productions. After graduating from the Julliard School in 1993, she won an Obie Award in 1999 for her performance as Ruby McCollum in Everybody’s Ruby. She played minor roles in several films and television series in the late 1990s and early 2000s, before winning the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play for her role as Tonya in August Wilson’s King Hedley II in 2001. Davis’s film breakthrough came in 2008, when her role as a troubled mother in Doubt earned her a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.Greater success came to Davis in the 2010s. She won the 2010 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for playing Rose Maxson in the revival of August Wilson’s play Fences. For starring as a 1960s housemaid in the comedy-drama The Help (2011), Davis received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress and won a SAG Award. In 2014, Davis began playing lawyer Annalise Keating in the ABC television drama series How to Get Away with Murder, and in 2015, she became the first black woman to win the Prime time Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series. In 2016, Davis played Amanda Waller in the superhero film Suicide Squad and reprised the role of Maxson in the film adaptation of Fences, winning the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. She went on to receive a BAFTA nomination for starring in the heist film Widows (2018).Davis and her husband, Julius Tennon, are founders of production company, JuVee Productions. Davis is also widely recognized for her advocacy and support of human rights and equal rights for women and women of color. She identifies as a feminist.

Written by Dianne Washington

TMZ REPORTS Gov. Andrew Cuomo Resigns

Per TMZ some of the alleged behavior, per A.G. James, included groping, kissing, hugging and inappropriate comments — some of which could possibly amount to criminal charges, she added. Charges may actually arise from this — as one of Cuomo’s accusers has already filed a police report out of Albany County … and they say they’re investigating it now.

Cuomo, for his part, had denied wrong doing … claiming he’d never touched anyone in the ways described by the A.G.. He’d previously said he might’ve been too familiar with some of his staffers in the past — but chalked it up to him mistakenly not recognizing boundaries.

FROM TMZ

Rick James

Rick James (born James Ambrose Johnson Jr. February 1, 1948 – August 6, 2004) was an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer. Born and raised in Buffalo, New York, James began his musical career in his teen years. He was in a number of various bands and groups before entering the U.S. Navy to avoid being drafted in the early 1960s. In 1965, James deserted to Toronto, Canada, where he formed the rock band the Mynah Birds, who eventually signed a recording deal with Motown Records in 1966. James’s career with the group halted after military authorities discovered his whereabouts and eventually convicted James on a one-year prison term related to the draft charges. After being released, James moved to California where he started a variety of rock and funk groups in the late 1960s and early 1970s.After forming the Stone City Band in his hometown of Buffalo in 1977, James finally found success as a recording artist after signing with Motown’s Gordy Records, releasing the album, Come Get It!, in April 1978. It’s from this album where the hits “You & I” and “Mary Jane”, were released, helping the album go platinum and selling over two million records. This was followed with three more successful album releases. James released his most successful album, Street Songs, in 1981, which included career-defining hits such as “Give It to Me Baby” and “Super Freak”, the latter song becoming his biggest crossover single, mixing elements of funk, disco, rock and new wave. James was also known for his soulful ballads such as “Fire & Desire” and “Ebony Eyes”. In addition, James also had a successful career as a songwriter and producer for other artists including Teena Marie, the Mary Jane Girls, the Temptations, Eddie Murphy and Smokey Robinson.James’s mainstream success had peaked by the release of his album Glow in 1985 and his appearance on the popular TV show, The A-Team. James’s subsequent releases failed to sell as well as their predecessors. Rapper MC Hammer sampled James’s “Super Freak” for his 1990 hit, “U Can’t Touch This”, and James became the 1991 recipient of a Best R&B Song Grammy for composing the song. James’s career was hampered by his drug addiction by the early 1990s. In 1993, James was convicted for two separate instances of kidnapping and torturing two different women while under the influence of crack cocaine, resulting in a three-year sentence at Folsom State Prison. James was released on parole in 1996 and released the album, Urban Rapsody, in 1997. James’s health problems halted his career again after a mild stroke during a concert in 1998 and he announced a semi-retirement.In 2004, James’s career returned to the mainstream after he appeared in an episode of Chappelle’s Show, in a Charlie Murphy True Hollywood Stories-style segment that satirized James’s wild lifestyle, resulting in renewed interest in James’s music and that year he returned to perform on the road. James died later that year from heart failure at age 56.

Written by Dianne Washington

Biz Markie Dead at 57

A family source tells us Biz passed away in a Baltimore hospital at 6:25 PM Friday night. We’re told his wife, Tara Hall, held his hand as he took his last breath … and the nursing staff was there to support his family, telling them how strong he was through his fight.

A rep for Biz tells us, “We are grateful for the many calls and prayers of support that we have received during this difficult time. Biz created a legacy of artistry that will forever be celebrated by his industry peers and his beloved fans whose lives he was able to touch through music, spanning over 35 years. He leaves behind a wife, many family members and close friends who will miss his vibrant personality, constant jokes and frequent banter.”

Travel in peace Biz.

Bill Withers

Bill Withers was born on this date in 1938. He was a Black singer-songwriter and musician.William Harrison “Bill” Withers Jr., the youngest of six children, was born in the small coal-mining town of Slab Fork, West Virginia. He was the son of Mattie (Galloway), a maid, and William Withers, a miner. He was born with a stutter and later said he had a hard time fitting in. His parents divorced when he was three, and he was raised by his mother’s family in nearby Beckley, West Virginia. He was 13 years old when his father died. Withers enlisted in the United States Navy at the age of 17 and served for nine years, during which time he became interested in singing and writing songs. He left the Navy in 1965, relocating to Los Angeles in 1967 to start a music career. His debut release was “Three Nights and a Morning” in 1967. Arranged by Mort Garson, the song went unnoticed at the time but was later reworked by Withers as the track “Harlem”. Withers worked as an assembler for several different companies, including Douglas Aircraft Corporation, IBM and Ford, while recording demo tapes with his own money, shopping them around and performing in clubs at night. When he returned with the song “Ain’t No Sunshine” in 1971, he refused to resign from his job because he believed the music business was a fickle industry.In early 1970, his demonstration tape was auditioned favorably by Clarence Avant, owner of Sussex Records. Avant signed Withers to a record deal and assigned former Stax Records stalwart Booker T. Jones to produce Withers’ first album. Three three-hour recording sessions were planned for the album with a six-month break between the second and final sessions. Just as I Am was released in 1971 with the tracks, “Ain’t No Sunshine” and “Grandma’s Hands” as singles. The album features Stephen Stills playing lead guitar. On the cover of the album, Withers is pictured at his job at Weber Aircraft in Burbank, California, holding his lunch box. The album was a success, and Withers began touring with a band assembled from members of the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band. Withers won a Grammy Award for Best R&B Song for “Ain’t No Sunshine” at the 14th Annual Grammy Awards in 1972. The track had already sold over one million copies and was awarded a gold disc by the RIAA in September 1971. During a hiatus from touring, Withers recorded his second album, Still Bill. The single, “Lean on Me” went to number one the week of July 8, 1972. It was his second gold single with confirmed sales in excess of three million. His follow-up, “Use Me” released in August 1972, became his third million seller, with the R.I.A.A. gold disc award taking place on October 12, 1972. His performance at Carnegie Hall on October 6, 1972, was recorded, and released as the live album Bill Withers, Live at Carnegie Hall on November 30, 1972. In 1974, Withers recorded the album +’Justments. Due to a legal dispute with the Sussex company, Withers was unable to record for some time thereafter. During this time, he wrote and produced two songs on the Gladys Knight & the Pips album I Feel a Song, and in October 1974 performed in concert together with James Brown, Etta James, and B.B. King in Zaire four weeks prior to the historic fight between George Foreman and Muhammad Ali. Footage of his performance was included in the 1996 documentary film When We Were Kings, and he is heard on the accompanying soundtrack. Other footage of his performance is included in the 2008 documentary film Soul Power.Withers was known for his “smooth” baritone vocals and “sumptuous” soul arrangements. He wrote some of the most covered songs of the 1970s. In Rolling Stone, writer Andy Greene noted that several of his songs “are embedded in the culture and have been covered countless times.” Writing for The New York Times, Giovanni Russonello considered Withers “[a] soulful singer with a gift for writing understated classics”, adding, “the ultimate homespun hit-maker, he had an innate sense of what might make a song memorable, and little interest in excess attitude or accoutrements. Ultimately Withers reminded us that it’s the everyday that is the most meaningful: work, family, love, loss.” A Billboard article considered that Withers “stands as one of R&B/soul music’s most revered singer-songwriters.” The Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson deemed him “a songwriter’s songwriter”. Musicians Sade, D’Angelo, Justin Timberlake, John Legend and Ed Sheeran have credited Withers as a music inspiration. Withers married actress Denise Nicholas in 1973, during her work on the sitcom Room 222. The couple made headlines following reports of domestic violence. They divorced in 1974. In 1976, Withers married Marcia Johnson. They had two children, Todd and Kori. Marcia eventually assumed the direct management of his Beverly Hills–based publishing companies, in which his children also became involved as they became adults. Withers worked as a professional musician for just 15 years, from 1970 to 1985, after which he moved on to other occupations. He died from heart complications in Los Angeles on March 30, 2020, at age 81.

Written by Dianne Washington