Calle 13's Residente Will Join Bernie Sanders During Rally in The Bronx

Calle 13's Residente Will Join Bernie Sanders During Rally in The Bronx

  

René Pérez of Calle 13 at Draco & Friends Concert at Coliseo 

de Puerto Rico on Dec. 6, 2013 in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

 

Calle 13 frontman René Pérez "Residente" will join Bernie Sanders on Thursday in a rally in South Bronx. The Puerto Rican singer confirmed his appearance at the free political event to his more than 5 million followers on Twitter.
"Tomorrow I will be at the Bronx with Bernie Sanders and with all the Latin Americans in NY who fight for equality."

Although Residente has not previously joined the Democrat presidential hopeful at any of his rallies or campaign events, he has expressed his support on social media by retweeting Sanders posts and/or uploading videos that, in his opinion, show Sanders' consistency in his political views. "For over 30 years, Bernie Sanders has been pleading for the hard workers and the lower classes of the USA," he wrote back in February.

Rosario Dawson, the actress and co-founder of the organization Voto Latino, will also be joining Residente and Sanders in the NYC borough Thursday. She endorsed him during a rally in San Diego last week where she gave a passionate speech about the Vermont candidate.

Cam'ron, The Underachievers & More Will Headline the 2016 Smokers Club Tour

Cam'ron, The Underachievers & More Will Headline the 2016 Smokers Club Tour

  

Cam'ron performs during 93.5 FM KDAY's 6th Annual Krush 

Groove at The Forum on April 18, 2015 in Inglewood, Calif.

 

After taking a one-year break in 2015, the Smokers Club is back this year with its annual summer tour, this time headlined by Cam'ron with The Underachievers, G Herbo, Smoke DZA, Pro Era's Nyck Caution, Mobsquad Nard, G-Jet and Liam Tracy in support.

The Smokers Club Tour first kicked off seven years ago, and has been headlined by the likes of Method Man, Redman, Juicy J, Joey Bada$$, Ab-Soul, B-Real, Curren$y and Big K.R.I.T. over the years. The brainchild of Cinematic Music Group chief Jonny Shipes -- home to Pro Era, Herbo, Mick Jenkins, DZA, Caveman and Public Access T.V., among others -- the tour is often made up of artists from the label/management company's roster. This year is little different, as Cinematic plans to put out a final Cam album at some point this year.
 
Dates are set to begin May 31 in Vancouver, British Columbia, and will run through July 14 when it will wrap up in Norfolk, Va. Check the tour poster and full dates below. Tickets go on sale this Friday (April 1) at 10 a.m.

Back in December, Billboard sat down with Shipes and Joey Bada$$ at Cinematic's new offices, where Shipes explained why Smokers Club took a break from its touring schedule last year. "I just don't think I would have been doing myself or any of the acts that I've signed justice by focusing my attention as much as I had been in the past on Smokers," Shipes said. "So we didn't do the tour this year because of that, but the tour is going out next summer and it's gonna be ridiculous, all the dope youth and then Cam['ron] is gonna be the headliner... It's not like we were not into it, it just needed to take a step back in order for us next year to really do it properly."

 5/31 - Vancouver, BC @ Vogue Theater
6/1 - Portland, OR @ Crystal Ballroom
6/2 - Seattle, WA @ Showbox at the Market
6/4 - San Francisco, CA @ Regency Ballroom
6/5 - Los Angeles, CA @ Club Nokia
6/8 - Santa Ana, CA @ The Observatory
6/9 - San Diego, CA @ North Park Observatory
6/12 - Phoenix, AZ @ Livewire
6/15 - Salt Lake City, UT @ The Complex
6/17 - Denver, CO @ Cervantes Ballroom
6/18 - Albuquerque, NM @ Sunshine Theater
6/19 - El Paso, TX @ Tricky Falls
6/23 - Dallas, TX @ Gas Monkey
6/25 - St. Louis, MO @ The Ready Room
6/26 - Lawrence, KS @ The Granada
6/27 - Minneapolis, MN @ Sky Theater
6/29 - Chicago, IL @ Concord Music Hall
6/30 - Columbus, OH @ Park Street Saloon
7/1 - Cleveland, OH @ Agora Theater
7/5 - Montreal, QC @ Petit Olympia * (No Underachievers)
7/6 - Boston, MA @ House of Blues
7/8 - Philadelphia, PA @ TLA
7/9 - New York City, New York @ Playstation
7/10 - District of Columbia, MD @ The Fillmore
7/12- Baltimore, MD @ Rams Head Live
7/13 - Richmond, VA @ The National
7/14 - Norfolk, VA @ The NorVa

Rolling Stones gear up for historic free concert in Cuba

Rolling Stones gear up for historic free concert in Cuba

The iconic tongue symbol of the Rolling Stones sits atop the similarly iconic image of revolutionary hero Ernesto "Che" Guevara on a sign placed by fans outside the venue where the Rolling Stones will play their concert in Havana, Cuba, Friday, March 25, 2016. The Stones are performing in a free concert in Havana Friday, becoming the most famous act to play Cuba since its 1959 revolution.

   

HAVANA (AP) -- Tens of thousands of jubilant Cubans and tourists swarmed the site of the Rolling Stones' free concert in Havana Friday, calling it a historic moment for a country that once forced rock fans to listen to their favorite music behind closed doors.

Coming two days after Barack Obama finished the first trip to Cuba by a U.S. president in nearly 90 years, the evening concert highlighted the communist-run nation's opening to the world and organizers expected at least a half million people to see the biggest act to play in Cuba since its 1959 revolution.

"After today I can die," said night watchman Joaquin Ortiz. The 62-year-old said he's been a huge rock fan since he was a teenager in the 1960s, when Cuba's communist government frowned on U.S. and British bands and he had to hide his Beatles and Stones albums in covers borrowed from albums of appropriately revolutionary Cuban groups. "This is like my last wish, seeing the Rolling Stones."

Small groups of people slept overnight outside the Ciudad Deportiva, or Sports City, where a massive stage had been set up for the British rock legends. Tens of thousands more people streamed toward the outdoor sports complex throughout the day.

At least half those waiting outside the concert gates to be the first to get in were foreigners, for whom seeing Cuba was as novel as seeing the Stones is for Cubans.

Ken Smith, a 59-year-old retired sailor, and Paul Herold, a 65-year-old retired plumber, sailed to Havana from Key West, Florida on Herold's yacht. "This has been one of my life-long dreams, to come to Cuba on my sailboat," Herold said.

Smith said the concert provided inspiration to come to Cuba after years of thinking about it and he didn't regret it. "We've just been taken for a ride in a '57 Pontiac. It doesn't get any better than that."

On arrival, lead singer Mick Jagger indirectly referenced the recent changes in Cuba. Obama re-established diplomatic relations with Cuba last year and called for the two countries to move toward full normalization in order to end the legacy of the Cold War and prompt Cuba to engage in more reforms of its single-party system and centrally controlled economy.

"Obviously something has happened in the last few years," Jagger told reporters at Jose Marti International Airport. "So, time changes everything... we are very pleased to be here and I'm sure it's going to be a great show."

Cuban musicologist Joaquin Borges characterized the event as "very important," saying it would be the biggest rock concert of its kind ever on the island. He predicted that it would encourage "other groups of that stature to come and perform."

"It's a dream that has arrived for the Cuban people," radio host and rock music specialist Juanito Camacho. 

"A lot of young Cubans will like the music but it will also satisfy the longings of older generations."

Some Cuban concert-goers said it made them more optimistic about the future of their country.

"This is history," said Raul Podio, a 22-year-old employee of a state security firm, who was joined by a group of young friends. "I would like to see more groups, for there to be more variety, for more artists to come, because that would mean we are less isolated."

The band's private plane carried the four British rockers, family members and about 60 technical workers to manage the huge amount of gear brought to the island for the concert, including seven huge screens and 1,300 kilograms (2,866 pounds) of sound equipment.

"We have performed in many special places during our long career, but this show in Havana will be a milestone for us, and, we hope, for all our friends in Cuba, too," the band said in a statement released before the arrival Thursday night.

While they waited hours for the show to begin, fans listened to a loop of songs by popular artists including Amy Winehouse while a lone vendor tried to sell popcorn to members of the crowd. Security was heavy, provided by private guards in yellow jackets and hundreds of Cuban police and black-clad Interior Ministry officers in black jumpsuits.

In the heat of Cuba's revolution from the 1960s to the 1980s, foreign bands such as The Rolling Stones were considered subversive and blocked from the radio. Rock music such as the Stones' wasn't officially prohibited in public, but it was disapproved of. Cubans listened to their music in secret, passing records from hand to hand.

The band's Cuba stop ends its "Ole" Latin America tour, which also included concerts in Brazil, Uruguay, Chile, Argentina and Mexico.

Former Eagle Kevin Turner Dies At 46

Former Eagle Kevin Turner Dies At 46

  

21 Nov 1999: Kevin Turner #34 of the Philadelphia Eagles walks 

on the field during the game against the Indianapolis Colts at the 

Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Colts defeated 

the Eagles 44-17.

 

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — Former Philadelphia Eagles fullback Kevin Turner passed away on Thursday, according to the Kevin Turner Foundation.

Turner, just 46 years old, suffered from ALS for the last six years.

“Myra and I lost a great son today,” Kevin father’s Raymond Turner said via kevinturnerfoundation.org. “He will be missed so much. Thanks to everyone so very much for your support and prayers during this journey. He was ready to go to Heaven, excited he said, Love y’all and God Bless.”

For full story go to:  http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/

Ice Cube Chills In Philly, Drops Off A Check To Help Students Read

Ice Cube Chills In Philly, Drops Off A Check To Help Students Read

  

Rapper-actor Ice Cube helps Philadelphia students out in a big way.

 

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – While film stars Ice Cube and Deon Cole are on the road promoting “Barbershop: The Next Cut,” — the third movie in the franchise — they dropped off a check at the School District of Philadelphia headquarters, to help young students.

Ice Cube, the rapper-actor, enjoyed an enthusiastic welcome and did not disappoint:

“So we proud to come over here and drop 5-G’s on y’all,” he said.

Cube says their $5,000 donation to the “Right Books” campaign will help K-through-3rd graders get the resources they need to read at grade level by the fourth grade:

For full story go to:  http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/

'Long Live the Phifer': Hip-Hop Writers Reflect on Phife Dawg, the Lyrical Genius & Relatable Rapper

'Long Live the Phifer': Hip-Hop Writers Reflect on Phife Dawg, the Lyrical Genius & Relatable Rapper

 

 Phife Dawg of A Tribe Called Quest visits the Tribeca Film Festival 2011 

portrait studio on April 27, 2011 in New York City.

 

Phife Dawg's rhymes gave life to rap. The Queens-bred wordsmith -- who helped form the game-changing hip-hop group A Tribe Called Quest alongside his high-school classmates Q-Tip and DJ Ali Shaheed Muhammad as well as Jarobi White -- was heralded on the mic for keeping it real while infusing his rhymes with his signature wit and humor.

On Tuesday, the rapper born Malik Taylor died due to complications from diabetes at the age of 45. To help put the hip-hop pioneer's life, personality and contributions into words, Billboard called on several esteemed journalists to share their memories of Phife Dawg and how the Five Foot Assassin was like a homie to us all.
 
"The feeling right now is of extreme loss... How do you evaluate someone whose vocal tone is a part of your personal sonic fabric? I've loved A Tribe Called Quest as a crew for so long that I routinely throw on various tracks whenever I deal with hardships, big wins or just plain cleaning the house. So to lose the life in the physical of Malik "Phife Dawg" Taylor hits on a deeper level than just a fan of his music.

It's more like a family member whose words and rhythm helped you get through tough times. His status as Q-Tip's right arm in ATCQ is only trumped by the fact that he is a top-flight MC in his own right. The fact that he consistently repped his Trinidadian roots was huge for hip-hop and the islanders that loved the music and rarely saw/heard someone rep for them in "mainstream" hip-hop.

[Phife] was the blue collar rap star that rapped like he was having a conversation with you in a local barbershop. That's what endeared him to his loyal fans. Pick any video he's been in, from whatever era of Tribe's evolving wardrobe style and you can get a sports team logo on a hat, jacket, hoodie or t-shirt worn by The Phifer. Style engineer for street beat lovers, he was a champion of it and pretty much never wavered from that uniform.

To hear his presence on the mic was one that was of calm in the midst of craziness. Listen to how he sets the tone as the first to swing on the classic Tribe and Leaders of the New School posse cut "Scenario". Calm, clever and constructive with his flow and even iller with the visuals when the video directed by Spike Lee came out. [Full of] one liners, his legacy will be one of steady substance and realness beyond measure. Long live the Phifer."
 
​Phife Dawg was truly a lyrical genius. While Q-Tip was abstract and poetic with his verses, Phife’s one-liners were straightforward and raw -- it’s that balance that made A Tribe Called Quest so iconic.

Whether he was putting Bo Jackson on blast with his opening “Scenario” verse or professing his love for women of every shade on “Electric Relaxation,” Phife was witty and relatable. This morning Genius curated “10 Iconic Phife Dawg Lyrics We’ll Never Forget” and it was just so hard to narrow down.

Not only was Phife one of my favorites on the mic, he was a style icon. I remember bugging my parents for a Seaton Hall jersey after Phife wore it in the “Check The Rhime” video. There will never be another.

Sowmya Krishnamurthy, Contributing Journalist for Village Voice, Billboard, XXL among other publications

I was in elementary school at the apex of A Tribe Called Quest. All the cool, older kids bragged about how “bad” The Low End Theory was ("bad" meaning "good" in suburban, ‘90s lexicon) and I needed to get my hands on it. I remember selecting the CD in Columbia House’s mail order catalog -- in Magic Marker. Phife Dawg was such an integral part of the iconic group. His lyricism and wordplay still have us rewinding the bars 25 years later.

Jerry L. Barrow, Managing Editor, WatchLOUD.com

I wouldn’t say that Phife was the opposite of Q-Tip, but he was an ideal complement to him. Tip was always so in control, coloring within the lines and Phife would come along drawing mustaches on the Mona Lisa. His R-rated one-liners are some of the most quoted and memorable in the game without making you feel dirty.

While Tip’s “flooded mind” was metaphorically ejaculating, Phife was busting a nut inside your eye to show you where he came from. He’s also the only MC I know to work the Barney dinosaur jingle into a verse and not sound crazy. Not to mention the leap he made in flow and content from People’s Instinctive Travels to Low End Theory gives him most improved MC emeritus status. Phife was also one of the handful of MCs like KRS-One and Heavy D to mix Jamaican/ Caribbean influences in his rhymes before and after it was trendy. He meant it. Phife Dawg was one of a kind and will be missed.
 
Kathy Iandoli, Writer/ Author who has contributed to Pitchfork, Maxim, Cosmo, Mass Appeal, among other publications

I accidentally fell in love with Phife Dawg. The year was 1992, and the Fu-Schnickens dropped their single “La Schmoove,” a joint filled with Adderall raps featuring a Phife cameo. A year prior, he became my favorite member of A Tribe Called Quest after the release of “Scenario,” but on “La Schmoove,” something felt different. He was always the most relatable member of ATCQ, but jumping on the Fu-Schnickens track, he was like the guest of honor. He stuck out. While the rest of the Fu was losing their shit rapping in that early ‘90s Das EFX branded high-sped flow, Phife strutted out in a striped sock hat (matching his undershirt) holding a bottle of water super casually. 20 years old (but he would still seek knowledge), out of everyone on that track, he really had nothing to prove. But his confidence, his charisma, his smooth delivery that cut through the Fu’s hysteria like a hot butter knife… It was just so dope. I would eventually be seven inches taller than that man, but damn was I enthralled.

I remember meeting him for the first time while on assignment many years later, and he was probably the nicest guy I have ever met (next to Jarobi). When he finally got his kidney in 2008, I cried a little for him.

And that’s the mark of a true artist: someone who can create music that makes you feel like you really know them and root for them on the sidelines. Phife was that dude. Short in stature, with confidence as tall as the Freedom Tower, he allowed us to know him before there was Instagram or Twitter or any other voyeuristic means of reaching a fanbase. He spoke through his music. I didn’t really know him but I loved him. Rest well, Phife Diggy. You always had something to say.
 
Alvin "Aqua" Blanco, Deputy Editor, HipHopWired

Phife Dawg embodied the spirit of the hip-hop underdog who puffs out his chest and talks ish, but always backs it up lyrically. He effortlessly dropped quotables whose double meanings you might not catch until way later and ultimately left a body of work that proves without a doubt he wasn't anyone's sidekick. Saying Phife was the Scottie Pippen to Q-Tip's Michael Jordan has become cliché but when it comes to A Tribe Called Quest, you couldn't have one without the other, and the Five Foot Assassin was essential to the equation.
 
Andre Torres, Executive Editor, Genius andfounder and former Editor-In-Chief of WaxPoetics

While Phife was somewhat absent from the first couple of Tribe singles, "Can I Kick It?" marked his official announcement to the world. His verse easily became one of my favorites on the album, and cemented him as an essential part of the ATQC dynamic.

I had already devoured People's Instinctive Paths by then so I knew the deal, but it was great to see everyone else waking up to Phife's laid-back style. He was the Everyman to Q-Tip's cerebral abstract vibes, bringing in pop culture references and grounding the group for the streets. Similar to Flavor Flav's role in Public Enemy, Phife played Flav to Tip's Chuck D. Adding much-needed levity to the group's boho aesthetic, Phife was the dude you wanted to kick it with.

I was never fortunate enough to meet him, but my former passion project of fifteen years Wax Poetics was able to secure a cover story with the group that will be running in a few months. I found out the writer turned the piece in just hours before Phife's passing. A strange turn of events, but one that will hopefully bring more attention to one of the greatest sidemen the culture's ever seen.

Rest In Power, Phife Dawg.

Miles Marshall Lewis, Former Editor at XXL, VIBE, BET and Ebony

"I first spoke to Phife down in his (then) hometown of Atlanta in 1998, working on a story to reveal A Tribe Called Quest’s breakup for The Source magazine, back when magazines could reveal breakups. I knew the ATL from college; we ate at Diddy’s (then) restaurant Justin’s, partied at Club 112 and recovered at Phife’s house. I expected to bond fast with ATCQ’s crate-digging, jazz-loving Q-Tip, but didn’t know how things would go with Phife. The only sport I’m versed in is boxing, not his beloved basketball. But it turns out hip-hop is a sport. That weekend, we spoke mostly about women “brown, yellow, Puerto Rican and Haitian” and the roots of rap and its commercial takeover, still relatively new back then.

Five months ago, 17 years after my breakup story on the group, I interviewed them all once again up at Sirius XM, in the booth of the Sway in the Morning show. We’re all about 45, but Phife looked the most aged, due to a 25-year battle with diabetes that ultimately took his life yesterday. But he had just as much to say about hip-hop and, this time around, social media. Instagram @iamthephifer was his drug of choice. I wished him well for their Jimmy Fallon performance that night before shooting our own Instagram selfie. I wish him well still. Rest in peace, Malik Taylor.
 
Obviously Phife's passing hits me very hard. This was the group (alongside Run-D.M.C. and N.W.A) that really made me the hip-hop fan I am. And his life as an underdawg, pun intended, is one of the most dramatic struggles in the music's history.

I just said in an IG post of some incredible vintage photo of Phife, Tip, Heavy D and D-Nice, "I know that tastes change and style is wasted on the youth, but I hope that the future doesn't treat diamonds like Phife (and Heavy D) as artifacts to be displayed behind glass for class trips...what they gave is more like water or air, in finite amount and never not necessary.

And that's basically what I wonder the most...we have no place dictating what future fans should love and listen to, what will change them or inspire them...but ATCQ and Phife's voice specifically helped build more than one gen of thinkers and lovers...so I believe it should and can do the same over and over again.
 
Brian Coleman, Author of the Check the Technique book series (Tribe’s Low End Theory is covered in Volume 1, released in 2007 on Random House / Villard)

I didn’t know Phife well, but I think we all felt like we knew him – that’s what happens when artists speak to you honestly through their music. Phife was a very honest, intelligent, funny and at times self-deprecating guy. I interviewed him at length in 2001, initially for XXL’s “Classic Material” column, about his early years, up through 1991’s The Low End Theory. The real meat of the interview appeared in my 2007 book Check the Technique, where I covered the group’s sophomore album in a great deal more depth.

Looking back at my transcription from 2001, a couple things made me smile just now:

'The Passion' Recap: Tyler Perry, Prince Royce, Trisha Yearwood & More Lead Dramatic Live Show

'The Passion' Recap: Tyler Perry, Prince Royce, Trisha Yearwood & More Lead Dramatic Live Show 

  

Host Tyler Perry appears in The Passion, an epic musical event airing 

live from New Orleans on March 20, 2016.

A week before Easter Sunday, the live production of Jesus' last days was broadcasted live from New Orleans on Fox. 

 

Fox's The Passion promised to be a sight to behold, and the live interpretation of Jesus’ final days delivered. Tyler Perry presided over the one-of-a-kind event tonight (March 20) live from his hometown of New Orleans. With Christians all over the world observing Palm Sunday, a sprawling, racially diverse crowd came out to Woldenberg Park to see the age-old Bible story given the live, musical theater treatment.

Perry hosted and narrated from the park’s main stage, backed by a jubilant gospel choir and live orchestra. Nearby, a procession of worshippers carried a large, glowing cross through the streets, which Fox’s cameras cut to during breaks in the action, for crowd interviews and testimonials. But the spectacle was most focused on Perry and his star-studded cast, which featured Jencarlos Canela as Jesus, Trisha Yearwood as Mary, Prince Royce as Peter, Chris Daughtry as Judas and Seal as Pontius Pilate.

Throughout the two-hour production, popular songs were reinterpreted by the cast and musicians and adapted into the Passion storyline. This began with Kelly Rowland and David Guetta’s mega-hit “When Love Takes Over,” sung by gospel singer Yolanda Adams to open the show from the main stage.

Next up, the story kicked in as Jesus and his apostles filed into Jerusalem. The Passion cast performed Celine Dion’s “Love Can Move Mountains" to announce the opening of the familiar story. Then, Yearwood belted her first solo song, as she announced Mary’s presence with Whitney Houston’s "My Love Is Your Love" from the main stage.

The soundtrack came to reflect a modern rock and folk songbook, especially when Jesus and his apostles were the focus. Jencarlos sang Creed’s ”With Arms Wide Open" and the Christian rock mega-hit became a prelude to Jesus’ revelation that one of his closest friends would betray him. This was manifested in Daughtry singing Evanescence’s “Bring Me to Life“ as his jealousy of Peter led him to sell out Jesus to the Roman authorities. Jencarlos responded with Train’s "Calling All Angels" as Jesus remained in the garden with his apostles.


The night took another impassioned turn as Prince Royce sang Hoobastank’s “The Reason” as Jesus was taken away by the Roman soldiers. From here, Seal emerged, playing Pontius Pilate, and joined Jencarlos in Tina Turner’s “We Don’t Need Another Hero,” as the Roman citizens elected to crucify Jesus. Seal ended with “Mad World” as the scene gave way to Perry describing the crucifixion in grizzly detail.
But of course, Perry and the cast made sure to end the story on an uplifting note. With the giant cross now carried to the stage, Jencarlos and the backing gospel choir wowed the audience with Katy Perry’s “Unconditionally,” to proclaim Jesus’ rising three days after the execution. And to send off the NOLA crowd, Adams and the Preservation Hall Brass Band ended the night with "When the Saints Go Marching In.”

Villanova Advances To Round Two With Easy Win Over UNC Asheville

Villanova Advances To Round Two With Easy Win Over UNC Asheville

  

NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 18: Jalen Brunson #1 and Ryan 

Arcidiacono #15 of the Villanova Wildcats celebrate defeating 

UNC Asheville Bulldogs 86 to 56 during the first round of the 

2016 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Barclays Center 

on March 18, 2016 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City.

 

NEW YORK (AP) — Ryan Arcidiacono scored 14 points, including a buzzer-beating 3 at the end of the first half, and Daniel Ochefu had 17 points inside as second-seeded Villanova beat UNC Asheville 86-56 Friday to roll into the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

The Wildcats (30-5) will face seventh-seeded Iowa or No. 10 Temple on Sunday in the South Region at Barclays Center, looking to reach the second weekend of the tournament for the first time since their 2009 Final Four run.

 Dylan Smith led 15th-seeded UNC Asheville (22-12) with 14 points as the Big South champions bowed out quietly.

For full story go to:  http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/

Woodberry’s Rebound Gives Iowa 72-70 OT Win Over Temple

Woodberry’s Rebound Gives Iowa 72-70 OT Win Over Temple

  

during the first round of the 2016 NCAA Men's Basketball 

Tournament at Barclays Center on March 18, 2016 in the 

Brooklyn borough of New York City.

 

NEW YORK (AP) — Adam Woodberry put back a missed shot at the overtime buzzer to give Iowa a 72-70 victory over Temple on Friday in the first round of the South Regional at Barclays Center.

With the game tied at 70, Mike Gesell worked his way to the baseline and put up about a 10-foot jumper that missed the rim and went right to Woodberry, who put it in as the red lights around the backboard lit up.

ADVERTISING

Iowa (22-10) will play second-seeded Villanova in the second round on Sunday. The Wildcats beat UNC-Asheville 86-56.

For full story go to:  http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/

Oklahoma City Thunder Player Comes Home To Philadelphia To Give Back

Oklahoma City Thunder Player Comes Home To Philadelphia To Give Back

  

Dion Waiters with students at E.M. Stanton School.

 

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — Before their game against the Philadelphia 76ers Friday night, a player from the Oklahoma City Thunder, born and bred in South Philadelphia, took time to give back days after violence rocked his family.

“I’m excited to be here,” Dion Waiters told the crowd of students at the E.M. Stanton School at 17th and Christian Streets in South Philadelphia on Thursday.

Waiters is guard for the Oklahoma City Thunder, but this is where the seed was planted.

It was at Stanton that his first grade teacher and others helped nurture his spirit. Waiters went on to high school, then Syracuse University and was drafted into the NBA in 2012. He joined the Oklahoma Thunder in 2015.

For full story go to:  http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/

Michelle Obama's All-Star 'This Is for My Girls' Hits No. 1 on Billboard + Twitter Trending 140

Michelle Obama's All-Star 'This Is for My Girls' Hits No. 1 on Billboard + Twitter Trending 140

  

The charity cut features Kelly Clarkson, Missy Elliott, Zendaya & more. 

 

Who runs the chart? “Girls!"

“This Is For My Girls,” a supergroup track from first lady Michelle Obama’s Let Girls Learn and #62MillionGirls initiatives, took over the No. 1 slot on the real-time Billboard + Twitter Trending 140 Wednesday (March 16), becoming the most shared and discussed track on the platform hours after its midnight ET release.

The Trending 140 chart measures the acceleration of conversation around artists and their music, while the Emerging Artists chart measures the volume of tweets around new artists and their songs.
 
The all-star anthem features a powerhouse collective: Kelly Clarkson, Missy Elliott, Zendaya, Kelly Rowland, Lea Michele, Janelle Monae, Jadagrace and Chloe & Halle all join forces for the single, which was written by Diane Warren.

"It's kind of like 'We Are the World' meets 'Lady Marmalade' with these strong voices and strong women," Warren told Billboard in an exclusive interview soon after the song reached radio outlets on Tuesday.

This isn’t Obama’s first trip to the top of the Trending 140. On Dec. 10, 2015, she also earned chart-topping honors for “Go to College,” her comedic collaborative rap track on the importance of college education. The cut, which famously featured Obama rapping a few bars, also became the most discussed and shared song on the social media platform for more than three hours.

“Girls,” which was executive produced by AOL's inspirational women's website MAKERS.com, will benefit the White House's Let Girls Learn campaign and the estimated 62 million girls globally without access to education. All proceeds from U.S. iTunes purchases of the song will go to the Peace Corps Let Girls Learn Fund.

Keith Emerson's Death Officially Ruled a Suicide by Coroner

Keith Emerson's Death Officially Ruled a Suicide by Coroner

  

Keith Emerson of Emerson, Lake & Palmer photographed in Copenhagen, 

Denmark in the 1970s.

A coroner's official says the death of keyboardist Keith Emerson, co-founder of the seminal progressive rock group Emerson, Lake and Palmer, has been ruled a suicide.

Los Angeles coroner's spokesman Ed Winter said Tuesday (March 15) the determination was made after an autopsy showed Emerson shot himself in the head. He says there were also signs the 71-year-old man had a heart condition.

 

Emerson's body was found early Friday by his longtime partner.

Authorities suspected Emerson shot himself but the determination did not become official until after the autopsy.

Emerson, drummer Carl Palmer and vocalist/guitarist Greg Lake were giants of progressive rock in the 1970s, recording six platinum-selling albums.

Local Universities Get Hyped Up For The Big Dance

Local Universities Get Hyped Up For The Big Dance

  

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — It’s that time of year again to fill our those brackets and it seem nothing brings out the school spirit quite like the tournament and businesses are gearing up too.

Go Owls, Cats and Hawks! Temple, Villanova and St. Joseph’s are all headed to the Big Dance.

School pride is in full force at the three schools as colleges across the nation get set for the race to the title.

“I have faith in my school and team that we’ll pull through,” said Benjamin Thomas, a sophomore at Temple.

For full story go to:  http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/

SXSW Apologizes After Making Attendee Remove Hijab

SXSW Apologizes After Making Attendee Remove Hijab

  

Ibtihaj Muhammad tweeted Saturday that she had to take off her head 

scarf to receive an ID badge.

SXSW faced some criticism on Saturday after Ibtihaj Muhammad, an attendee and member of the USA Fencing World Team, said she was forced to remove her hijab at registration.  

Muhammad tweeted that she told a registration worker that she wore her head scarf for religious reasons, but he still insisted she remove it in order to take a photo for her ID badge. She was then given the wrong ID badge with a photo of another woman wearing a hijab.

The incident involved a volunteer at the event, who has since been removed, a SXSW spokesperson confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter.

Muhammad was attending the event for her panel called "Sports as Currency of American Life."
"It is not our policy that a hijab or any religious head covering be removed in order to pick up a SXSW badge," SXSW said in the statement. "This was one volunteer who made an insensitive request and that person has been removed for the duration of the event. We are embarrassed by this and have apologized to Ibtihaj in person, and sincerely regret this incident.”
 
Muhammad tweeted that she told a registration worker that she wore her head scarf for religious reasons, but he still insisted she remove it in order to take a photo for her ID badge. She was then given the wrong ID badge with a photo of another woman wearing a hijab.

The incident involved a volunteer at the event, who has since been removed, a SXSW spokesperson confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter.

Muhammad was attending the event for her panel called "Sports as Currency of American Life."
"It is not our policy that a hijab or any religious head covering be removed in order to pick up a SXSW badge," SXSW said in the statement. "This was one volunteer who made an insensitive request and that person has been removed for the duration of the event. We are embarrassed by this and have apologized to Ibtihaj in person, and sincerely regret this incident.”

Johnny Mathis Plots New Concept Album With Clive Davis & Kenneth 'Babyface' Edmonds: Exclusive

Johnny Mathis Plots New Concept Album With Clive Davis & Kenneth 'Babyface' Edmonds: Exclusive

  

Johnny Mathis arrives at The Grammy Awards Pre-Grammy Gala held 

at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on Feb. 7, 2015 in Beverly Hills, California.

 

Over the decades, Clive Davis has breathed new life into the careers of such superstars as Rod Stewart, Aretha Franklin, Barry Manilow and Dionne Warwick by pairing them with new material or themed concept projects. Next on the Sony Music chief creative officer’s list? Johnny Mathis.

For the last few months, Davis, 83, has been working with Mathis, 80, on a new concept album similar to how Davis collaborated with Stewart on the tremendously successful five-album Great American Songbook series in the 2000s or 2014’s Aretha Franklin Sings the Great Diva Classics from the Queen of Soul.

The idea of working together came after Mathis performed at Davis’ pre-Grammy party in February 2015 and, by almost all accounts, brought the house down and the crowd to its collective feet with his performance of his past hits, including “Chances Are,” “Misty” and “It’s Not for Me to Say.”

“After the hoopla and the press coverage” from Mathis’ party performance, Davis says Sony Music chairman/CEO and Columbia Records chairman Rob Stringer approached Davis about coming up with a concept album for Mathis, who -- other than a brief break to record for Mercury in the mid-'60s -- has been on Columbia for 60 years.
 
Davis won’t reveal the concept for the album just yet, but added that he and Kenny “Babyface” Edmonds are working with the classic crooner on the project. “We’re about to go back into the studio,” Davis says of the album, which  will “definitely be released in the fall.”

Mathis, who has 16 dates remaining this year as part of his 60th anniversary concert schedule, received a Grammy nomination for his last album, 2013’s Sending You a Little Christmas. His last non-holiday album, 2010’s Let It Be Me: Mathis in Nashville, a collection of country songs spanning the 1950s-1990s, also earned a Grammy nod.

Mathis’ 1958 album Johnny’s Greatest Hits spent 490 weeks on the Billboard 200, a tally surpassed only by Pink Floyd’s 1973 album, The Dark Side of the Moon (923 weeks and counting), since the chart began publishing weekly in 1956.

Kamasi Washington on Winning First-Ever American Music Prize & How Jazz Doesn't Have to Be 'Daunting'

Kamasi Washington on Winning First-Ever American Music Prize & How Jazz Doesn't Have to Be 'Daunting'

  

One of the most notorious features of the Internet age is righteous indignation -- and nowhere is that more evident than the world of awards. The Grammys, Oscars and all their associated golden-statue-laden fetes have become targets of seemingly endless criticism, mostly for their opaque processes and out-of-touch (and usually-whitewashed) results.

"Yeah, that was a surprising one," says Kamasi Washington, the Los Angeles saxophonist and bandleader whose 2015 debut album The Epic went un-nominated at this year's Grammys, despite its commercial and critical success. "But you know, the Grammys are always a bit... unpredictable. Predictably unpredictable," he continued, laughing.
 
Last week, though, Washington was announced as the inaugural winner of an award that could potentially serve as an industry corrective: the American Music Prize, conceived as a clear-eyed, music-centric designation for the best debut album by an American artist. Chosen by a panel of 25 music-industry experts, the award comes with a $25,000 cash prize, but more important, according to founder Scott Murphy, is the prestige. "It's about it being announced that you've made one of the best, if not the best, debut albums in all of America in a 12-month period," Murphy tells Billboard. "It's pretty significant."

Murphy, who founded the Australian Music Prize in 2005, sees this new award as filling a gap in the awards "market" -- the U.K. has the Mercury Prize, Canada has the Polaris Prize, Australia has its own award, and "America doesn't have one," says Murphy of the realization that prompted him to begin putting the prize together. "What's going on?"

So about two years ago, Murphy began research on what it would take to create an American equivalent, taking around 100 meetings during a two-week trip to the States with people from all corners of the industry. He learned from the RIAA that there are around 80,000 albums released in the U.S. annually, and a little less than half of those are from American artists -- clearly too many albums for even the most efficient judges to survey. To narrow the scope, Murphy determined that the prize would be most valuable as a way to support artists who had just released their first album -- a conclusion encouraged by the fact, according to Murphy, that most winners of similar prizes are debut albums anyway. "We believe the reason for that," says Murphy, "is that when we're talking to the judges, we tell them the number one criteria is originality."

With the pool of potential prizewinners in the realm of three digits instead of five (the panel only considers albums that have sold more than 1,000 copies because, as Murphy put it, "It's become very easy for anyone to make and release an album"), it was time to get down to the business of figuring out which debut album by an American artist released between Aug. 1, 2014, and July 31, 2015, should win. The project's broad scope was reflected in its diverse shortlist, which included everyone from rapper Azealia Banks to country traditionalist Chris Stapleton to singer-songwriter Natalie Prass.
 
Yet it was Washington who ended up taking home the top honors, an entry from a genre (jazz) that rarely sees recognition outside its own hallowed walls. "Jazz just seems to live on this island," Washington tells Billboard. "It's cool to have it be recognized in a construct that includes other styles of music. Usually, the only time you have jazz alongside another style of music is at a jazz festival."

The saxophonist, who first entered the national spotlight as a contributor to Kendrick Lamar's acclaimed To Pimp a Butterfly, has spent the past year making waves as jazz's next great crossover hope -- a title he is even more qualified for after a recent sold-out performance at New York's Webster Hall, a large theater better known for Just Blaze's weekly dance parties than for showcasing jazz talent. "People there were just enjoying the music," Washington says of the show. "It wasn't like some kind of theoretical study. You can just have a drink and chill and dance with somebody. It's not this daunting thing."

Making his music approachable is one of Kamasi's highest priorities. "I think people psych themselves out before they listen to jazz a lot, thinking that they have to like, put on a suit or something. That's not what it is," he says. "People need to realize that even the greatest jazz musicians, when they listen to jazz, they're not like, analyzing it and deconstructing it -- they're enjoying it. It's like listening to any other style of music. It's saying something to you, and you kind of just absorb it."
 
Now that he's developed an audience, Washington's band, filled with L.A. jazz and session scene stalwarts, is preparing to release some American Music Prize contenders of their own. "That's something we're trying to work on -- just getting them out in the right way, you know?" Washington says of potential upcoming projects from his bandmates. "Some of the guys are talking to Brainfeeder [Washington's label] about doing it, I'm not sure if they've worked that out or not. It's a lot for one entity to put out, you know? We're thinking of maybe even doing some type of imprint situation. There's just so much music. It could almost be its own little thing."

Potential jazz empire aside, Washington is relishing his win, a brief respite before he begins a busy festival season that includes stops at Coachella, Pitchfork, Bonnaroo, and more. "It's very inspiring -- with people for whom music is a very important part of their life -- to have my album mean that much to them that they called it the best," he says. "It's cool to do things your way and have it work out."

"It's good for artists to know that whether they're commercially successful or not," concludes Murphy, "that there are people out there who are listening."

Beyonce Sings Whitney Houston's 'I Will Always Love You' at School Fundraiser in L.A.

Beyonce Sings Whitney Houston's 'I Will Always Love You' at School Fundraiser in L.A.

  

Beyonce attends TIDAL X: 1020 at Barclays Center on Oct. 20, 2015 

in the Brooklyn borough of New York City.

Beyonce gave her first major live performance since Super Bowl 50, lending her talent to the Center for Early Education's 75th Anniversary Gala at Los Angeles’ Shrine Auditorium on Saturday night (March 5).

 Bey delivered such popular songs as “Crazy in Love” and “Halo” during the set, but her standout performance was undoubtedly a cover of Whitney Houston’s version of "I Will Always Love You." Watch fan-shot footage below.

 

The singer has covered the Dolly Parton-written ballad several times over the years, including during a tribute to late actor Paul Walker in 2013, E! reports.

It’s been rumored that Beyonce and Jay Z’s 4-year-old daughter, Blue Ivy Carter, is enrolled at the Center for Early Education -- described as a “socio-economically and culturally diverse independent school for children” -- but it has not been confirmed that she is enrolled there, according to E! The school teaches pre-school through sixth grade.

First Look: New Grammy Museum Lays Down Roots in Mississippi

First Look: New Grammy Museum Lays Down Roots in Mississippi

  

A first look at the Grammy Museum Mississippi in Cleveland, Miss.

The $20 million project opens its doors on March 5 with a Beatles exhibition. 

 

Cleveland, Ohio, has the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Now Cleveland, Miss. -- two hours from Memphis and Jackson -- has the Grammy Museum Mississippi. Owned and operated by the Cleveland Music Foundation and curated by Los Angeles' 7-year-old Grammy Museum, the 28,000-square-foot space opens March 5 with a traveling exhibit, Ladies & Gentlemen... The Beatles!, and 10 permanent collections.

Housed on the Delta State University campus, the museum will serve as an educational attraction, as well as a tourist destination, drawing patrons to the area, which is known for such native sons and daughters as Howlin' Wolf, Elvis Presley, Faith Hill and Ike Turner. With the Delta Blues Museum, the B.B. King Museum and other blues-devoted attractions nearby, Grammy Museum executive director Robert Santelli emphasizes that "Mississippi is well stocked"; it doesn't need a new house of blues. Instead, the role of the museum, built for about $20 million, is to "contemporize the state's relationship with popular music today. There has never been a museum like this in the South."

Cleveland was selected specifically because of Delta State. "We wanted to be next to a university," Santelli says. "The museum serves as a resource to DSU and K-12 teachers throughout Mississippi. At first, we're going to have far more students than tourists, but the [goal] is for it to become self-sufficient and self-sustaining."  Ideally, the Mississippi location will also begin to develop its own exhibits, such as on the Mississippi Delta or on local bluesmen.

Santelli adds that the Grammy Museum hopes to roll out two more museums over the next five years, although no cities have been earmarked for future sites.

Jones & Jones Consulting

Jennifer Lopez Signs New Deal With Epic Records

Jennifer Lopez Signs New Deal With Epic Records

  

Jennifer Lopez performs onstage during the 2015 American Music 

Awards at Microsoft Theater on Nov. 22, 2015 in Los Angeles, Calif. 

The singer reunites with longtime mentor L.A. Reid at the Sony Music-owned label.

Jennifer Lopez has returned to Epic Records, Billboard has confirmed, signing a new long-term contract with the Sony Music-owned label and reuniting with longtime mentor, Epic chairman and CEO L.A. Reid
Says Reid: "I'm thrilled to welcome Jennifer back home with me to Epic Records. Jennifer is a true global icon with a magnetism that sears across music, film, and TV and I'm excited to be working together again."

The singer, businesswoman and American Idol judge had released six albums via the Epic label between 1999 and 2007, including her biggest seller, 2001's J. Lo (3.8 million sold, according to Nielsen Music). In 2010, she left for Universal Music Group's Island Def Jam, where Reid was CEO at the time, yielding two albums, 2011's Love? on Island and 2014's A.K.A. via Capitol.

The recipient of the 2014 Billboard Icon Award at the Billboard Music Awards, Lopez has charted 29 singles on the Billboard Hot 100, including four No. 1s ("If You Had My Love," "I'm Real," "Ain't It Funny" and "All I Have"). She also scored a pair of No. 1s on the Billboard 200 albums chart -- 2001's J. Lo and 2002's J to Tha L-O! The Remixes -- among eight top 10 sets. Her multi-genre appeal is evident in other impressive chart accomplishments, including her 16 No. 1s on Dance Club Songs and three No. 1s on Hot Latin Songs.

Lopez has sold 12.5 million albums in the U.S., according to Nielsen Music.

In January, Lopez debuted a Las Vegas show called All I Have, which continues through the end of the year at AXIS at Planet Hollywood. She's won six Billboard Latin Music Awards and is a finalist for Hot Latin Songs Artist of the Year, Female at the 2016 Billboard Latin Music Awards.

Lopez is represented by longtime manager Benny Medina and attorney Aaron Rosenberg of Myman Greenspan Fineman Fox Rosenberg & Light.

Bobby Womack's Daughter to Premiere 'Bravest Man' Radio Show With Ghostface Killah, Mike Dean & More

Bobby Womack's Daughter to Premiere 'Bravest Man' Radio Show With Ghostface Killah, Mike Dean & More

  

Bobby Womack photographed in a space suit.

 Soul legend Bobby Womack died in June 2014 after a long battle with colon cancer and diabetes, bringing to an end one of the greatest, most influential careers in music history. This Friday, on what would have been Womack's 72nd birthday, his daughter GinaRe Womack will launch The Bravest Man in the Universe Radio in conjunction with LetsLinkRadio.com, a weekly hour-long audio/video-streamed celebration of the late musician's life. The show takes its name from the title of Womack's 27th and final studio album, released June 8, 2012.

 The radio show's first episode will feature some of Womack's family as well as special guests such as Ghostface Killah, Mike Dean, DJ Green Lantern, Rat King MC Sporting Life, Wu-Tang producer Mathematics and more. In addition to spinning some of Womack's iconic hits from his career -- including his work on albums by Aretha Franklin and Sly and the Family Stone and writing credits on songs by Janis Joplin and the Rolling Stones -- the playlist will also include previously-unreleased tracks from an upcoming legacy album, rarities and b-sides.

 Womack's daughter will also use the platform to stream her self-produced documentary Outside Myself as well as rare and unreleased interviews from her father's life in the coming weeks.

 Womack, inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2009 by Rolling Stones guitarist Ron Wood, was working on a final album called The Best Is Yet to Come at the time of his death, which was scheduled to feature Snoop Dogg, Stevie Wonder and more. Tune in on Fridays starting at 3 p.m. ET to catch Bravest Man Radio.