(Photo: Columbia/courtesy Everett Collection)

Black History Month: Best African-American Film Debuts These stars lit up the screen from day one.
http://www.bet.com/celebrities/photos/2012/02/african-american-film-debuts.html

 Carter v. Carter: Lil Wayne and Jay-Z’s Complicated History

Why does this all sound familiar? We all remember that Lil Wayne threw shots at Jay-Z on “I’m Good,” off Tha Carter IV, calling him “p—y,” threatening to “take him out” and even vowing to kidnap Beyoncé. And now he dissed Jay and Ye’s duo, The Throne, at the YMCMB pre-Grammys party this past Saturday (Feb. 11). But how did it come to this? Just three years ago, the two rap titans were cheesing on stage together at the Grammys during their performance of T.I.’s “Swagga Like Us.” But their on-again, off-again rapport goes back years, through a roller-coaster ride of subliminal on-wax disses, dope collabos, interview insults and mutual praise. Click on for an in-depth history of Jay-Z and Lil Wayne’s love-hate relationship. Read the rest of this entry »

(Photo: Lester Cohen/WireImage)

With the untimely death of one of her musical idols still fresh in her mind, Jennifer Hudson went out and thrilled the crowd at the 54th Annual Grammy Awards. Much like she did at the 2010 BET Honors, Jennifer Hudson delivered a hair-raising rendition of  “I’ll Always Love You” for the late, great Whitney Houston. Read the rest of this entry »

(Photo: Ebet Roberts/Redferns)

Whitney Houston (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012)

The legendary Whitney Houston died on Saturday at the age of 48. The singer, who is set to star in the remake of the 1976 film Sparkle this year, leaves behind a tremendous wealth of music, including her record hits, “The Greatest Love of All,” “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” and “I Will Always Love You.” She is and always will be an icon. Check out what Houston’s peers had to say about the shocking death of this R&B great. Read the rest of this entry »

(Photo: Steve Marcus / Reuters)

African-Americans are known for being some of the foremost pioneers of popular American music. As such, we’ve always been nominated for some of the top honors at music award shows. However, the list of African-Americans who have been bestowed with the highest honor in music—the Grammy for Album of the Year—is a very exclusive club. Here’s a list of the African-American stars who have laid claim to the coveted Album of the Year Grammy. Read the rest of this entry »

(Photo: Stones Throw Records)

 James Yancey, aka J Dilla, was undoubtedly the most slept-on hip hop beatmaker ever when he was alive. But in his death, six years ago today (February 10), he’s achieved hip hop sainthood, a mythical cult figure to those lucky enough to have heard his pioneering productions. His influence on hip hop’s sonic landscape is hard to underestimate; his work was the blueprint for late ’90s and early 2000s neosoul icons, including Jill Scott and D’Angelo, anchored the sound of Common, Busta Rhymes and Q-Tip, and was a huge inspiration to the Neptunes, The Roots and others. Here, we took on the difficult task of distilling his lengthy track record to these 10 key moments — whether turning points or benchmarks in his career or ground-breaking master works that are still blowing minds today. There is nothing like this … Read the rest of this entry »

(Photo: Courtesy Random House Publishing)

Life and Def: Sex, Drugs, Money and God (2002)

Written with Russell Simmons‘ long time friend Nelson George, Life and Def is a look at hip hop’s first mogul. From the launch of Def Jam Records in his college dorm room to his clothing line Phat Farm and his venture into film and TV production with the hit HBO series Def Comedy Jam, Simmons has met success at nearly every corner. He chronicles his relentless pursuit of the American dream. Hilarious, inspiring and insightful, Simmons holds nothing back on his battle whether it be about his drug addiction, his love of models, his relationships with everyone from Donald Trump, his ex-wife Kimora Lee to the Dalai Lama. For a trip into hip hop’s history narrated by one of its architects, this book is the ticket. Read the rest of this entry »

(Photo: Julian Wasser/Getty Images)

February 7, 2012 marks the 12th Anniversary of Big Pun’s death. Although Pun’s commercial debut came on Fat Joe’s second album Jealous One’s Envy, Joey was primarily influenced by Pun’s top-notch lyrical ability, whom he considered a big brother. So it was only right that Pun brought along Joey for the ride on his first mainstream hit single “Still Not a Player” off his Capital Punishment debut album that ultimately became the first platinum-selling album by a solo Latino rapper. As the two primary faces of the Terror Squad the pair seemed inseparable, until Pun’s death in 1998. The two solo stars made for a dynamic duo, but they aren’t the first to pull off the routine successfully. Here’s a look at some other solo acts who have formed an impactful union in rap. Read the rest of this entry »

(Photo: Courtesy Interscope Records)

M.I.A.

M.I.A. has been shocking, entertaining and offending the masses well before her Madonna collabo, the Super Bowl or “Fingergate.” Click on to follow M.I.A.’s journey. Read the rest of this entry »