the chal banz blog

L.A. Reid, the man behind the careers of TLC, Mariah Carey, and Whitney Houston has left his post at Epic Records. On top of that he is being sued for sexual harassment by an Epic employee. I wonder is that why he left? For those of you unfamiliar with L.A. Reid, he started LaFace Records with Babyface and he was formerly married to 80s R&B singer Perri "Pebbles" Reid back in the day. He was also rumored to have had a fling with Chili from TLC, something both have denied over the years. Speaking of Epic Records, Future(who records for Epic Records) has everyone talking in a good way when he posted a sentimental message to Ciara for Mother's Day. It comes on the heels of Ciara's husband, Russell Wilson catching flack for including Future and Ciara's song, Future as his "family". If you think about it, Russell is Future's son stepfather so he is his family. I don't see the big deal. People need to find something else to go on about. In new mu...

Nicki Minaj's new song, "Regret In Your Tears" is being touted as a Party Next Door(song: "Not Nice") knock off and Nicki Minaj quickly defended the song by denying the accusations. Party Next Door's screenshots of his Twitter likes reveals he was feeling similar to others about the song's similarity in his melodies and so forth. I do notice that Nicki is always blasting men(Safaree, Trey Songz, Party Next Door) publicly and women(Remy Ma etc.) privately. Remy Ma accused Nicki of stopping her "bag"(money) behind the scenes.  Speaking of Remy Ma, two other female rappers have weighed in on Remy's feud with Nicki Minaj. Khia(song: "My Neck My Back") posted a meme on social media asking her followers to name 5 Remy Ma songs and even allowed them to name the several she has with Fat Joe. Clearly Khia was being messy because there is not many people that can name 5 songs of hers. Khia went one step further by posting a picture of...

#FlashbackFriday Ciara has signed to Warner Bros. Records. The pregnant singer just shared the news via her social media. Ciara was formerly signed to Epic Records. One thing about Ciara she definitely can keep a record deal despite her her last four albums flopping. However she does manage to score one hit single per album so I'm surprised Epic didn't keep her on their roster for that reason alone. But good luck to Ciara. She's going to need it!  Keyshia Cole just released her new single, "You" featuring Remy Ma and French Montana. Upon first listen, I was underwhelmed by the song. I haven't heard the song in full but it sounds like every other Keyshia Cole song in the past year or so. I was expecting something along the lines of "Enough Of No Love". Now that was the kind of comeback single she needed at that time and she needs something a little more hard hitting. Then again like I said I haven't heard the whole song. Interestingly enou...

Remy Ma speaks on new album How is everyone on this Friday night? To be honest, I'm sleepy as hell. I went to the bar earlier and had three beers and now I feel like crawling into the bed. I actually might turn in early tonight. But before I do that, I thought I'd be nice and provide a little music update since there seems to be a lot going on in the entertainment world. Remy Ma confirmed that she just started working on her first solo album in 10 years. Tentatively titled, "Seven Summers & Six Winters", Remy will first release her joint album with Fat Joe before year's end. I would say the name of that album but I can't remember it off top and I don't feel like looking it up. R&B singer Jaheim has everyone talking about his new hairstyle after a performance at a concert. I'm sitting here trying to think how Jaheim's hair used to look but I do know when he first debuted on the scene, his hair was in braids. Anyway Jaheim's new ...

Azealia is back! Good evening folks! I'm sitting here watching "Family Feud" and I just heated up some leftover Hamburger Helper for dinner. In the meantime I have a few updates for you all! Azealia Banks revealed a few days ago that she is signing to rapper and producer RZA and his record label. I'm not sure the name of his record label but RZA did direct Azealia Banks in the upcoming film, "Coco" which is due out next year I believe. If your not familiar with RZA, he is one of the many members of the infamous Wu-Tang Clan and he directed the movie, "The Man With The Iron Fists" starring Russell Crowe.  A judge has ruled that Future's tweets about Ciara is not enough to grant Ciara the win in a defamation case she filed against her ex. Ciara claims Future's tweets put a strain on her career. No, honey your bad music career choices hurt your career and besides Ciara isn't exactly hurting. She fortunately still has a record deal...

Trina down with the sluts. Trina will be performing at Amber Rose's annual "SlutWalk". This is the second year for the event.  Solange has posted the tracklisting for her new album, "A Seat At The Table" which will be released digitally on September 30 through Columbia Records. Solange was previously signed back to Columbia Records back in the day so its nice to see her get a major release. The tracklisting features a star studded affair of artists including Tweet, Lil' Wayne, Kelly Rowland, and The-Dream. I'm really excited to hear the new album. I've been waiting for a new album from Solange for awhile anyway.  Ciara has filed an injunction towards Future to ensure he stops badmouthing her. She feels that Future talking reckless in songs is hurting her brand. Personally I feel she is hurting her own brand. She should be so lucky people even still care about her. She's a pretty girl but I'm not feeling her personally.

Nicki dropping it low. Lil' Mama threw some major shade at Nicki Minaj on Instagram. She posted a picture of Lil' Kim, saying that Kim inspired everyone to wanna wear pink hair before going on to quote Misa Hilton(Diddy's first baby mama) saying "respect the architect". I'm not sure exactly what Lil' Mama has against Nicki Minaj but she has been sending shots her way for awhile. Whether or not Nicki has responded, you'd have to listen closely to any of her latest songs. It's almost like Lil' Mama is asking for Nicki to come at her but I think it would be an interesting battle between the two though. What do you think?  Chris Brown was caught on video at a charity basketball game arguing with someone and police were allegedly called. I'm not sure what all the ruckus was about but Chris really needs to keep himself out of trouble and while he's at it, he needs to gain some weight. He's looking a little frail these days don...

Last night's VH1's "Hip Hop Honors" went down last night! If you missed it, it was a tribute to some of the Queens that paved that way and are icons in Rap & Hip Hop. The honorees included Salt-N-Pepa, Queen Latifah, Lil' Kim, and Missy Elliott. Perhaps the highlight of the night or some of the highlights included Teyana Taylor who paid tribute to Lil' Kim. Also Rich Homie Quan performed with Lil' Kim and forgot the lyrics to "Get Money" which prompted Twitter to go all the way in. Ashanti, Eve and Keke Palmer paid tribute to Salt-N-Pepa. Rah Digga, YoYo, Da Brat paid tribute to Queen Latifah. Trina, Nelly Furtado, Monica paid tribute to Missy Elliott. Other appearances included Suga T, Babs Bunny, Diddy, Keyshia Cole, Heather B, Monie Love and many more. Oh let me not forget, Faith Evans introduced the Lil' Kim tribute which surprised many but Kim and Faith have patched thing up awhile back so that was nice to see Faith in that respec...

Lil' Wayne has suffered yet another seizure. This is the second seizure he's had in two months. People are starting to get concerned and rightfully so. Omarion and his baby mama Apyl Jones have broken up and Jones has taken her thoughts to social media. Jones' words prompted Omarion to issue his own statement. Jones also says the #BlackLivesMatter movement had nothing to do with their breakup in a video via social media. Sources say Omarion's unwillingness to tie the knot played a party in the demise of the relationship. Apryl sees herself as more than just a baby mama and certainly she should. Everyone is baffled over this and some think its a merely a publicity stunt and/or story line for themselves for the new season of "Love & Hip Hop: Hollywood". What do you think? If that ain't enough Omarion's friend, Bow Wow continues to make news for all the wrong reasons. He called out Omarion today after the breakup news saying they should go out and ...

Kelly Rowland's friend, Ciara tied the knot today in England. Guests include Jennifer Hudson. Congrats to Ciara and Russell! Now go away for awhile! I know by now we have all heard about the unfortunate killing of Alton Sterling. The 35 year old father was outside of a store selling CD's where he was killed by police. The shocking video has made its rounds on the Internet. The police involved in the death of Alton Sterling have been placed on administrative leave until the investigation is done. Justice for Alton Sterling! In other news, Wendy Williams has come under fire for comments she's made on her show. She said something along the lines of white people should be offended by organizations such as NAACP. I didn't see the video of Wendy. I figured it was too cringe worthy so i saved myself the embarrassment of watching it. I personally think Wendy went too far this time but what else is new? People say and do anything these days and it doesn't matter who they ...

Mariah Carey was one of the many artists that performed at this year's Essence Festival held down in New Orleans. Other artists that performed included Da Brat, Jermaine Dupri, Maxwell, and Kandi Burruss. Speaking of Kandi, her "RHOA" co-star Cynthia Bailey says she is officially divorcing husband, Peter Thomas. She says she doesn't wish to be married anymore. We have seen the two's relationship play out on TV ever since Cynthia joined the show in season 3. Expect to see more drama on the upcoming season is which is said to be filming. LaTavia Roberson, formerly of Destiny's Child is said to be hospitalized after having some pregnancy complications. This is the second pregnancy for the star. Reports say that LaTavia was in critical condition. Hopefully good things will be in her favor during this difficult time. The big story today is about Ciara. There are stories going around that she secretly tied the knot overseas then there are other reports that sugge...

Hey people! I know its very rare that I greet you all personally but I wanted to say this post is being labeled the "Shade Edition". A lot of shade was thrown last night and over the last few days. So I'll start with Lee Daniels, creator of "Empire" who shad some words for his dear friend Mariah Carey. He said "Mariah shouldn't do reality TV!". Mariah responded by saying her new show, "isn't a reality show". Take that Lee Daniels! Ha! On a totally different note, Madonna is facing a backlash after her Prince tribute fell on deaf ears. Madonna was joined by Stevie Wonder for a somber duet of Prince's "Purple Rain". While I feel the tribute left a lot to be desired, at least Billboard did pay tribute to Prince, had they not, people would of been upset about that. Immediately after the performance, BET shaded Madonna by posting a 15 second clip with the caption, "Yeah, we saw that. Don't worry. We got you"....

The Billboard Awards are going on as I type this. With that being said, I will give a brief recap of what has occurred so far. The award show, hosted by Ciara and Ludacris opened with a performance from Britney Spears. She performed a medley of her hits including "Toxic" and "I'm a Slave 4 U". The Weeknd won for Hot 100 Artist. Wiz Khalifa won for his "Furious 7" song, can't remember the name of it. Fifth Harmony performed, "Work From Home". Meghan Trainor performed, "No". Oh yeah, Justin Beiber also performed. :( Nick Jonas performed and Shawn Mendes. Presenters included DJ Khaled, Kelly Rowland, Keke Palmer, Heidi Klum, Michael Strahan, etc. At this point I'm pretty much just waiting on the Prince tribute. In other music news, Tamar Braxton was reportedly let go from "The Real", the daytime talk show she hosted along with 4 other women including singer Adrienne Bailon. Tamar posted a cryptic message on social ...

Drake leads the nominees for the 2016 BET Awards which were just announced yesterday. Drake leads with 9 nominations. Beyoncé has 5 nominations. The BET Awards air next month. Speaking of award shows, The Billboard Music Awards will air this Sunday on ABC. Artists scheduled to perform are Britney Spears, Pink, and Ke$ha. Are their any black performers? But there are black hosts; Ciara and Ludacris. Do you all remember when Ciara and Ludacris read off the nominee list on live TV and Ciara didn't want to read Future's name on the teleprompter? Ha! But your son's name is Future! What's the difference? Speaking of Ludacris, he is back on the set for "Furious 8" which I believe will be released next Summer. It looks like we won't be seeing the first Whitney Houston hologram performance that was set to air on "The Voice" Monday. Whitney's estate had the performance pulled after it leaked online. The performance featured a duet with the show...

So word on the street is that Ashanti is secretly dating The Game. I read a story last night on another online blog and I believe it. I remember this same blog posted a screenshot of Ashanti liking one of Game's infamous underwear selfie pics. If that's not enough Game was said to be overheard but not seen on Ashanti's Snapchat, the same was said about Game. Both artists were visiting a club in L.A. Ashanti has been spending a lot of time in L.A. as of recently. Her sister has a place there and she's doing a lot of business over there. I think she's signed a record deal to one L.A. based label but don't quote me on that. It would be interesting if Game and Ashanti are dating though given their past history. Both artists recorded for labels that were once foes, Murder Inc. & G-Unit. While most of the beef has been patched up over the years there's still some ill feelings between Ja Rule & 50 Cent, Irv Gotti & Ashanti, and Game and 50 Cent. Asha...

Azealia Banks might of made up with Erykah Badu but now she's feuding with Wale. The two had a heated exchange over the treatment of black women by black men. It is a topic that many can resonate with but things got a little too ugly if you ask me. Of course Azealia was trending on Twitter for her feud and not for her music but that's okay right? I don't know but I love Azealia and her music but I don't always agree with how she gets her point across. In other music news, Ciara and Future are at it again! Future now plans to countersue Ciara and went on to say that she is a "flop" with a "relatively large fan base". Ouch! But Future ain't lie though! Ciara's career hasn't been the same since she was with Future. Though her "Ciara" album didn't perform well commercially, the singles were huge hits for her. I will say Ciara always manages to have at least one big single from each of her 10 albums! :) Not many other artists c...

Azealia Banks and Erykah Badu have ended their feud over Twitter. Thank goodness! I thought it was a rather stupid feud anyway. I don't even remember how it started. Speaking of female rappers, Eve says she is working on new music after being inspired while filming her new movie, "Barbershop 3". Are we looking forward to new music from E V E. I am! Ciara was caught throwing shade at ex Future when she wouldn't announce his name while presenting the Billboard Music Award nominations. But ain't your baby named Future? What's the difference? It's funny though because I would of done something like that too. I'm petty! I remember BET did that to Mariah Carey when they wanted her to read J-LO's name on the teleprompter but she wouldn't. Haha! I hear they offering Rob and Blac Chyna money for a reality show. If this couple couldn't get anymore thirstier? Personally I feel like once Rob loses the weight, he's gonna dump poor Blac Chyna who n...

Hey folks! So the big news stories today are Ciara getting engaged to Russell Wilson. Congrats to the couple! Still can't stand Ciara though! I think she is severely overexposed. Something tells me she'll be pregnant again soon. The other big story Chris Brown's mental state. The singer has been going off online about many a things including his beef with artist Kevin McCall. He's also beefed this week with Jacob York(I forget who he is) and his ex Karrueche Tran. Chris filled his social media with various tirades dissing, dismissing, and threatening former associates, ex girlfriends, and fans. The man is insane! I hope he gets a hold of himself and gets the professional help he needs. Seriously! Remember the news about Keyshia Cole egging Bow Wow's car? Well Lil' Mo has came out and thrown some shade at Keyshia, which if I'm not mistaken she has done in the past and to add to that, Mo has thrown shade at many a artist over the years. I forget what Mo said...

Nicki Minaj is shooting down rumors that her and Meek Mill are kaput. Speaking of Meek Mill, his beef with Drake has been reignited but does anyone care though? Keyshia Cole and Bow Wow continue to dance around whether or not their dating or smashing. Keyshia recently appeared in a picture with Bow Wow's assistant just adding fuel to the fire. And speaking of Bow Wow, his ex Ciara who is now an attention whore is postponing her Jackie tour. Was anyone gonna go anyway? But she is postponing her tour to work on what she describes, her "best album ever". So is Future gonna be working with you on your new album? Ciara's albums do shit in terms of sale but she is forever releasing albums. I can't be mad at her though because she probably has more albums than most R&B singers. At this point Ciara should go independent. At least she will benefit more financially when her album only sells 15K in total sales but I digress. And last but not least, who knew Rihanna...

Hey guys! Once again I'm sorry for the lack of updates but I have been working a lot. Ciara has sued Future for $15 million dollars. Future is also planning to counter sue Ciara and if he does I don't blame him. Ciara has really become an annoyance to me. Ever sine she's been with Russell Wilson, she has been flaunting her relationship and forcing it down our throats. I think Brandy made a comment on her Snapchat and I'm not sure who she was referring to but I think she was throwing some shade at Ciara. She said something along the lines of "people calling the paparazzi to tell them where their gonna be" and to me that's what I think Ciara does but enough about her. Kanye West has retitled his album for the fifth time, this time settling on "The Life of Pablo". Who is Pablo? No one knows except him and he just hosted a listening party for fans and his family namely the Kardashian clan who came dressed in all white and gold and blonde hair. Lil...