the chal banz blog

Jay-Z's much anticipated album, "4:44" was released last night via streaming service TIDAL(which Jay-Z co-owns). Cellular phone service Sprint offered its current customers and future customers 6 free months if they signed up for TIDAL. Jay-Z famously scored a deal with Sprint which helped house the album. The response to the Jay-Z's new album has been overwhelming to say the least. Here's what I know(and read considering I haven't heard the album yet). No I.D. produced the album. Jay-Z name checks(and disses) Kanye West, Solange, Eric Benet(actress Halle Berry's ex-husbad), OJ Simpson(song: "The Story of OJ" and I'm assuming it references the football athlete), Future, Diddy, etc. Jay shockingly opens up about his marriage with Beyoncé(involving infidelity, stillborns, egos, children etc.). The album is currently being celebrated via social media and beyond. It is a welcome return for the New York emcee! In other music news...Socialite and...

Social media was on fire yesterday as pictures of Rihanna and a mystery man made the rounds. Rihanna and said man were seen canoodling in a pool and had many wondering who exactly the guy was. The guy was later identified as a man who has ties to Toyota overseas(I seen the man's name but I can't remember and I believe he is of Arab descent). Rihanna's new mystery man is also said to be model Naomi Campbell's ex. Now it all makes sense as to why Naomi Campbell threw shade at Rihanna when appearing on "Watch What Happens Live" earlier this year. So it seems like Rihanna may of been dating this guy for awhile and this is our first time seeing it. When exactly did Naomi Campbell date this man is unknown. But this is all very interesting, I think. Well not really but Rihanna is a big superstar(as we all know) so anytime she starts dating(or messing around) with someone its going to be a big deal. Speaking of relationships, it seems as if the relationship between ...

Remy Ma took home the award for Best Female Rapper last night at the BET awards breaking Nicki Minaj's 7 year streak! Remy definitely deserved the honor in my opinion. Someone pointed out the fact that Remy was the only nominee that actually released an album this year(her joint album with Fat Joe) which I didn't even realize. Female rappers have no problems putting out songs or getting on features but putting out albums is a totally different story. Congrats to Remy Ma for her win! Now as far as the BET awards is concerned, I was not home to watch the telecast as I was out being social. I did however had the ability to capture the most talked about moments and performances thanks to social media. One of the highlights of the night based on my seeings was the reunion of famed R&B group Xscape who sang a medley of their hits. Bruno Mars opened the show. Future and Kendrick Lamar performed the remix to "Mask Off". French Montana performed his hit single, "Unf...

This weekend is the BET awards(airing Sunday June 25 on BET) so there are a lot of festivities commemorating the telecast this week. DJ Khaled held a party at his mansion and Safaree was in attendance and upon leaving(I assume) he was greeted by Meek Mill exiting a SUV and being run up upon by some goons likely associated with Meek Mill. The video of the melee quickly made the rounds on all the blogs. Meek Mill responded on social media insisting that he was in the studio complete with pictures and the like. But upon closer inspection, Meek Mill was present during the melee once more footage of the video surfaced. What problem could Meek Mill possibly have with Safaree? Hmmm...could it be one Nicki Minaj? I don't EVER recall Safaree bad mouthing Meek Mill in the press unless I missed something. Prior to all this Safaree was photographed with Nicki's arch nemesis, Remy Ma and her husband Papoose. More as this story develops... In other music news... Bruno Mars will open th...

Nicki Minaj surprised fans when she revealed through Twitter that she and Trina have recently collaborated. The revelation caused a frenzy resulting in the news to cause "Nicki & Trina" to begin trending on Twitter. It's funny because some people were acting like this is the first collaboration between the rappers when it fact it will mark their fourth collaboration. Whose album will this collaboration appear on is unknown. Trina revealed the guest list on her upcoming album awhile ago and Nicki wasn't one of the guests unless things have changed. Maybe it could be for Nicki's album but she's been extremely tight lipped about it. Are you all looking forward to hearing this new collaboration between Trina and Nicki Minaj? In other Nicki Minaj news, the rapper revealed that she has two new songs on DJ Khaled's new album, "Grateful" which will be available tomorrow on June 23. The big question is if Nicki will be throwing more shots at Remy. I...

When news outlets started reporting that Beyoncé had secretly given birth to her twin babies, everyone in the Beyhive(and beyond) were ecstatic. But when the twins' grandfather, (the infamous)Mathew Knowles posted a congratulations to his daughter, fans were upset. Fans felt that Mathew should of respected Beyoncé enough to let her make her own formal announcement or even dad, Jay-Z. Personally I don't think anything was wrong with him doing this. He's excited about the birth of his grandchildren and we all knew that Beyoncé had had her babies. Also being the private person, Beyoncé is, she likely wasn't going to make an announcement(anytime soon) about the birth of her babies but I bet you she has footage of their birth and will share during her next album project(Beyoncé usually reveals video footage of her private life during her tours or during her new album projects). I do think some people acted out of order with this and that's okay if you disagree with me....

Yesterday the news of Mobb Deep rapper, Prodigy's passing sent shockwaves through the music industry and on social media. Prodigy was 42 and had a lifelong battle with sickle cell anemia. Prodigy had been on tour before falling ill and took a few days off to recover. TV show host, Wendy Williams spoke on the late rapper today and revealed how he was supposed to perform at her Block Party next month. She also said that she ran into him two months prior on the street. R.I.P. Prodigy. One of Prodigy's former nemesis, Jay-Z has not only added the "hyphen" back to his name but has revealed that he will release his new album, "4:44" on June 30 via TIDAL and Sprint. The first song, "Adnis" is about his father and their estranged relationship. I haven't heard the song and as for the album I'm sure we can expect a collaboration with his wife, Beyoncé. Are you looking forward to Jay-Z's new album? In other music news..Keyshia Cole is joining ...

Another day. Another Azealia Banks beef. This time Azealia is upset at up and coming singer SZA(whose new album, "Ctrl" debuted at #3 on the Billboard 200 Charts) who she feels copied her style in her video for "Drew Barrymore"(which also features the famed actress). There was a still ( click here to see it) floating around of SZA from her video that IMMEDIATELY reminded me of Azealia Banks' "Slay-Z" mixtape( click here to see it) when I seen it. Before I know it, Azealia was tweeting about it and of course social media picked up on as it will with their own thoughts. Now I will say the still of SZA was definitely influenced by Azealia. Now whether it was SZA herself or her costume designer for the video, the influence is obvious in my opinion. You know they say "imitation is the highest form of flattery". I don't have anything against SZA but I'm just stating the obvious. Of course Azealia went on to say how she had a boxing part...

Has hell frozen over? Well I was on Twitter earlier today and Azealia Banks was tweeting about doing a possible collaboration with her nemesis, Iggy Azalea much to the surprise of her followers(including myself). Azealia feels a possible collaboration would silence the (rap) girls this Summer if it were to happen. There has been no word if Iggy has responded yet. In the meantime, Azealia will drop a new single, "Escapades" this Friday June 23. Azealia also said that she's doing an interview with XXL magazine. In other music news, a teaser for the new season of VH1's "Love & Hip Hop Hollywood" features singer Keyshia Cole. The show will also star series regulars Ray J and Teairra Mari alongside new members singer, Brooke Valentine(song: "Girlfright") and Chanel West Coast(MTV show, "Ridiculousness"). Will you be watching the new season? The rumor of Keyshia Cole joining "LHHH" has been running rampant for awhile and now its...

As I suspected Beyoncé reportedly gave birth to twin babies earlier in the week. The babies however remain hospitalized because of a "minor issue". Congrats to Beyoncé and family and hope her babies have a speedy recovery. So in the never ending saga between Remy Ma and Nicki Minaj, both ladies performed at a concert in ATL(Atlanta) with Remy Ma taking the stage first and Nicki Minaj later on. A video surfaced of Remy performing "Lean Back" and Nicki performing "No Frauds" among other songs. Many speculated that since both women were on the same bill, they were likely to clash with one another but Remy confirmed that by the time Nicki performed, she was long gone. Remy took to her social media this morning poking fun at the situation and Nicki as well. I like both ladies as I've said before but I feel that Nicki is the one that is keeping this feud alive. The only reason why Remy keeps saying things is because Nicki keeps throwing shots at Remy on va...

In a video that has since gone viral, Nicki Minaj called out her detractors(Remy Ma) regarding her status in the game(in the industry) by spelling out P R A G U E(noting that an unnamed person(Remy Ma perhaps) can't spell) before bragging and strutting to her airplane. The video has since birthed what is being called the "#NickiMinajChallenge" where it features regular social media users as well as celebrities(actress: Zoe Kravitz) mimicking Nicki's strut after proclaiming their own frustrations in a comical way(sheesh I tried to explain the video as best I could and I still don't think I did a good job). Anyway, Jay Z is the first rapper to be inducted in the Songwriter's Hall of Fame. Jay Z thanked his admirers, fans and inspirations including Nas, Foxy Brown, Rick Ross, etc. Congrats to him! And congrats on the birth of his twin babies(if Beyoncé has given birth which I think she did) but nothing has been confirmed. In reality TV news, the new season of ...

New York's annual Summer Jam went down last night and it was a night to remember for several reasons. Remy Ma was one of the featured performers and for her set she brought out some legendary women in Hip Hop including MC Lyte, Rah Digga, Lady of Rage(song: "Afro Puffs"), Monie Love(song: "It's A Shame"), Queen Latifah, Lil' Kim, and newbies Cardi B("Love & Hip Hop New York), and Young M.A.(song: "Ooo"). Lil' Kim joined Remy Ma on stage to perform her verse from Mobb Deep's "Quiet Storm Remix" and Queen Latifah came out to perform "U N I T Y". Once the love fest between the women were over. It was back to business as usual for Remy Ma who performed her "SHether" dis record. Faith Evans and Lil' Kim took in the tribute for Biggie and Bad Boy alums, Total and 112 performed as well. I'm not sure who else performed or who was on the bill for that matter. The Remy Ma performance the Bad Boy se...

Good evening all! Nicki Minaj strikes again! A snippet of rapper 2 Chainz and Nicki Minaj's new song titled, "Realize"(from his album, "Pretty Girls Like Trap Music" due June 16) has surfaced after someone recorded footage of the song playing at a listening party. In the song, Nicki alleges, "Papoose wrote the "(SH)Ether" record but I broke Aretha record". Those are some interesting lyrics there but based on the snippet I heard the song sounds a little underwhelming. Perhaps I have to hear the song in full. Just a few days ago Remy Ma released a remix to Future's "Mask Off" song and that wasn't any better. I just don't like Remy on that "Mask Off" beat. Many presumed that Remy was dissing Nicki Minaj(and there's a big possibility some jabs were thrown) on her "Mask Off" remix but it also turns out she was dissing her old friend, Rah Ali. Rah Ali famously starred in the video to Nicki Minaj's...

So I was just thinking if I ever did a post like this and to answer that question, I likely have. So consider this an update of sort. I was just thinking about how I hadn't done a "music feed"(a post related to the different trivia associated with music) in awhile and songs with names in the title is what came to mind. So here goes a list of songs with names in the title. How many do you know? How many have you heard? SALLY - Sam Sparro SALLY - Bilal IF YOU SEEK AMY - Britney Spears JESSE - Roberta Flack JUST LIKE JESSE JAMES - Cher  JOANNE - Kool & the Gang JOANNE - Trina and Tamera(remember them? My 90s R&B people might remember this little ditty)  F*** DONALD TRUMP - YG BILLIE JEAN - Michael Jackson  CAROLINE - Aminé DARLING NIKKI - Prince JACKIE - Ciara BRENDA'S GOT A BABY - 2PAC MARY MACK - Babyface MARY JANE(ALL NIGHT LONG) - Mary J. Blige FORREST GUMP - Frank Ocean    I know there are plenty more where this came from. These ar...

If you all were unaware of it but for some time Tiny Harris(T.I.'s ex wife) and Tamar had fallen out over unknown reasons. Well T.I. called out both women after Tiny posted a happy birthday shout out to her godson which is Tamar Braxton's son, Logan. T.I.(oh how I hate having to mention him) called out both Tiny and Tamar for being divas and that prompted Tamar to issue a public apology to Tiny in which she accepted. In Tamar's apology she came off very sincere but also threw some shade at some unknown people. Well Tiny's best friend, Toya Wrigh(Lil' Wayne's ex) caught wind of the shade and decide to clap back at Tamar and her response had social media on FIRE! Toya accused Tamar of being "jealous" among other things and called her out for talking about her sisters(The Braxtons), getting mad at everyone who appeared on "The Real"(the show that she was FIRED from(Toya's words, not mine)). It was just so much but I'm glad Toya called ...

So Trina posted a picture on her Instagram with Ariane(who is one of the cast members of "Love & Hip Hop Atlanta"). Ariane is not a regular cast member but a "friend of" who makes occasional guest spots on the show. Well once K. Michelle saw the picture of Trina and Ariane, she warned Trina to watch out for Ariane. K. Michelle is referring to when Ariane said that K. Michelle left her standing outside with no ride. This was seen in the last season of the show and K. Michelle disputed the claims and has been upset ever since. In other news, there was a mysterious sign floating around in L.A. and some other major other cities. The sign read "4:44" and many thought it eluded to Jay Z releasing a new album or that was the time Beyoncé is rumored to give birth. Well it turns out that everyone was wrong as the sign pertained to a movie that will be on Jay Z's Tidal and Sprint. I'm not sure why people always think that Jay Z and Beyoncé posting sign...

I saw on Twitter that Beyoncé's team sent a letter to a fan who ran a website selling unauthorized merchandise. The fan who is allegedly said to be very young pleaded with Beyoncé and her team to not pursue legal action. I believe her team was simply telling her to stop selling the merchandise but she could still have her fan site. The reason being is Beyoncé's name is trademarked so if you are going to use her name(for say like a clothing design where her name appears), you have to get permission. Now who you go through to do all that, I don't know but because I'm not in the business of designing clothes. So Remy Ma was caught throwing shade at Nicki Minaj via a Instagram post posted by DJ Clue(that's a name I haven't heard in awhile). The event is for Nicki Minaj's homecoming celebration and in the comments there was a screen shot of Remy Ma saying "home going" and if you all know what "home going" mean, its another name for dying. Ba...