the chal banz blog

So..the Grammys were Sunday and I watched bits and pieces of the telecast. The Grammys were on the same time as "RHOA" so that had my attention. I did see Chance The Rapper win for Best New Artist. I saw the tail end of Beyoncé's performance which had everyone talking...of course. As for the winners, Beyoncé won for Best Urban Contemporary Album. Adele won in the major categories like Album Of the Year etc. I would say Rihanna was the best dressed and she gave 0 fucks in the audience as she was seen blowing kisses to Beyoncé and drinking from a flask. I do admire that about Rihanna that she is so badass and she give 0 fucks. Other winners included Drake for "Hotline Bling" and Solange for "Cranes In the Sky". Sunday saw the release of several of Prince's catalog released to several streaming services like Spotify and Apple Music. Princes' catalog was previously already available on Tidal music. I was glad to hear this because I could fi...

Beyoncé opened up the 2016 BET Awards last night with a performance of the song, "Freedom" and she was joined by Kendrick Lamar and abruptly left the show. Beyoncé's mother, Tina Knowles-Lawson accepted Beyoncé's awards in her honor. Someone told me at work that Bey had to leave to go to London. Is that true? While I didn't personally watch the BET Awards telecast, I was informed through social media at many of the aha moments and performances. The "other" highlight of the show was the many Prince tributes in the form of Erykah Badu, Bilal, Janelle Monae, and Jennifer Hudson who brought the house down with "Purple Rain". I was fortunate to see a :30 second clip of the performance and I need to see the rest. Elsewhere Toni Braxton was in tow with her new man, Birdman. Speaking of Toni, her sister threw some shade on IG over Toni's decision to use Tamar's ex makeup artist. Tamar is too damn dramatic for my taste. I like dramatic but no...

Rihanna has caused a storm of controversy after posting several posts on her Instagram page regarding Lebron James. Rihanna, on several occasions has referred to the married James as "bae" upon congratulating him on his win in the NBA Finals last night. A few weeks ago Rihanna posted a picture of herself with the #23 on her body, which looked like it was sprayed in whipped cream. The act was seen as sexually suggestive and very inappropriate to many. So the question today on New York's "The Breakfast Club" radio show was, did Rihanna go too far in her love and admiration for Lebron James? If you recall Rihanna has referenced Lebron on her hit song, "Bitch Better Have My Money". Do you think Rihanna is being inappropriate or simply fanning out like the rest of the Lebron James' fans? In other music news, it looks as if things are over for couple, Iggy Azalea and her NBA player boyfriend, Nick Young. Iggy posted on social media she can no longer t...

Foxy Brown says her luggage came up missing while on a recent trip to Palm Springs. The reclusive and always controversial rapper says she had $100,000 worth of merchandise in her luggage which included several high end shoes from Gucci among other things. The thief remains at large. In other music news, T.I. just released the video for his new single, "Dope" featuring Marsha Ambrosius. Juelz Santana's home is said to be in foreclosure as well as Lil' Kim's after both artists allegedly stopped paying their mortgage. Juelz Santana has came out and denied the claims, though the paperwork leaked out. Just a few days ago, Juelz said he was returning to music after being absent from the music scene for over 10 years. I find it pretty ironic that he is returning to music now then again he has that mortgage to pay. I ain't mad at him though. People are mad though that Madonna has been chosen to honor Prince at this year's Billboard Music Awards. I really don...

Ne-Yo's ex-wife make some shocking claims earlier this week. She said while she was married to Ne-Yo, they engaged in threesomes but she didn't lick the kitty. Monyetta Shaw, Ne-Yo's ex is still likely butt hurt after Ne-Yo made her get her tubes tied and then he divorces her, gets married again, and has more children. Well Ne-Yo's new wife Crystal Remay(sp), clapped back at Monyetta but I'm not sure what she said. I guess I wasn't interested enough in her clap back. I was more interested in Monyetta's claims and I believe them. Speaking of allegations, Arsenio Hall is suing Sinead O' Connor for $5 million dollars after she claimed that Arsenio fueled Prince's drug addiction. Sinead went on to say she hates when we lose singers to drugs. Prince famously penned the hit "Nothing Compares 2 U" which was a hit for Sinead but was also a song that Prince covered himself. These claims may seem outrageous but they are not all that surprising if ...

Today we learned of the untimely death of legend Prince. I was at work today when I head the sad news. At first we all thought it was a hoax but soon after reputable sources like People magazine and CNN confirmed his death. Prince was found at 9:47 a.m. in his elevator unconscious. 10:03 a.m. the singer was pronounced dead. Reports say that Prince had a drug overdose a few days ago and had to make an emergency landing while on his way home. The media reported that Prince had the flu and would be in the hospital. It was just announced awhile back that Prince was about to pen his memoir for release in 2017. He was said to had been 50 pages deep. He also acquired his music back from Warner Bros. and he was set to work on new music for the label. Expect a resurgence in Princes' album sales in the coming weeks. Prince will be remembered his bold style, his choice of women, his musicianship, his shade, and lots more. R.I.P.

Beyoncé just released a teaser for "Lemonade". The teaser is a mere 20 seconds and features Queen Bey in cornrows with her face hidden behind her arms. Beyoncé echoes "what I'm going to do now?" before flashing that the world premiere event will be telecast April 23 9 PM EST on HBO. Are you all ready? Sony Music UK reports that "Lemonade" is the new single from Beyoncé. Word is that the video is 2 hours long. It's also being speculated that Beyoncé may drop her album on April 24 but it could very well be on April 29 since that's a Friday and that's when albums are generally released but we are talking Beyoncé and Beyoncé makes her own rules when it comes to releasing new projects. But I was just doing some reading and I found out that "Lemonade" is being described as an "album movie". I'm guessing its all the songs from her album in one video and they all intertwine in some way. Who knows? But we will all know for ...

Hey guys! I hope you all enjoyed your holiday festivities. I know I did! I had plenty of food, laughs, drinks, gossip, and fireworks! So every once in awhile we get an artist who goes on social media particularly Twitter and airs some things out. That was the case last night with K. Michelle. She took to Twitter in the wee hours of the morning to express her disdain on everything from black media to still healing from her abuse. She goes on to say how she fought with women on TV for two years who didn't believe her story and how blacks don't support one another and are always tearing each other down. Very true! I admit I didn't like K. Michelle when she was on "Love & Hip Hop" in its earlier seasons. I never disbelieved her allegations but I just hated how dysfunctional she was. I do find myself liking her a little more these days. But what do you think about K. Michelle's feelings? Do you all follow her on Twitter? In other music news, its been reported...

For today's throwback video, I took it all the way back to the year 1985. I was only 1 years old at time and I would come to discover this song years down the road. Me'lisa Morgan released her single "Do Me Baby", a Prince cover in 1985. The single went to #1 R&B and #46 Pop in 1986. Check it out!

BIG SURPRISE: So the big news of the day is that Drake has a released a new album/mixtape titled If You're Reading This Its Too Late. The project which has debuted on iTunes features a Tyga diss on the song 6 PM and Tyga has already responded labeling Drake a "bitch". Now I've only heard a few songs from the new project but I don't have a huge interest in it so I'll likely be skipping it. However I do like Drake's How About Now song! THIS JUST IN: The new Drake project is said to debut atop of next week's chart with 500,000 copies. In other music news, Keyshia Cole says that Prince has influenced her to go independent for her next album. Prince even promised Keyshia a duet. How do you think that will sound? A Prince and Keyshia duet? Hmm. Well as we see independent seems to be the way to go for most artists these days and I'm not mad at it. I'm also not mad at Diddy and Snoop Dogg who brought out a bevy of artists to perform at Madison Square ...

PRINCE MO: Lil' Mo wasn't playing when it came to her having to pee during the Essence Fest festivities in New Orleans. The pint sized singer was asked to move to the side to accompany Prince as he made his way down the corridor. Lil' Mo wasn't having it and she took her frustration to Instagram. How befitting! Catch Lil' Mo on the new season of R&B Divas L.A . premiering on July 17. BROKEN UP: Chris Brown and his longtime girlfriend Karrueche Tran have allegedly broken up. The same is being said for reality TV stars Stevie J and Joseline Hernandez. In my heart of hearts I think both couples will be back together again very soon.

If you plan on attending next year's Essence Music Festival in New Orleans, the headline act is none other than Prince. The shindig will take place during the July 4th weekend. The Essence Music Festival is known to house appearances and performances from some of the best and biggest names in R&B. There is no word yet on what other artists will appear on the bill as of yet.

Janelle Monae has revealed her new album The Electric Lady will be released on September 10. The album features the Erykah Badu assisted-single Q.U.E.E.N. and collaborations from R&B luminaries such as Miguel and Prince. Speaking of new albums...Mary J. Blige is back in the studio working on a new album. Originally the singer was working on a Christmas album(which I read was scrapped) in favor of a full length studio album. One duet we can all possibly look forward to is one with Rapture -singer Anita Baker. If you recall it was Anita Baker's Rapture song that got Mary her big break. I'm glad because while I wouldn't mind a Christmas album from Mary I'm actually more excited about a new album from her. Someone who was heavily influenced by both Mary and Anita is Fantasia. The singer who has released her new album a few months ago is finally set to release her new video the Kelly Rowland assisted-single Without Me . The video is set to premiere on July 1. 

Keyshia Cole has called on fans to help her choose her next singles off her recently released album Woman To Woman. Fans responded and it looks like the title track featuring Ashanti will be the next single followed by the equally popular I Choose You. Mariah Carey is currently turning up the drama on American Idol! When the singer was recently asked who her favorite American Idol is to she replied "Fantasia". Ironically Fantasia honored(like she has so many other legends) Mariah when she sang Hero(I believe) when Mariah was honored at an awards ceremony(can't remember which one) awhile back. Speaking of Fantasia her new album The Side Effects Of You has a release date of March 13. The video to the album's first single Lose To Win should be debuting any day now. In other music news... Legendary artist Prince is being honored this year at the Billboard Music Awards. The awards ceremony will take place this May.

These album titles are all unique due to the fact that they all contain numbers or some form of numbers including numerals. Check them out! 4, Beyonce Beyonce cited that her fans were the inspiration behind the title of her fourth album due in stores and online June 28(at presstime); release date may change. Beyonce also went on to say the number "4" represents many special days and occurrences in her life such as birthdays and weddings. 21, Omarion Omarion was "21" at the time of the recording of this album. I think by the time the album was released though; he was 22. 21...Ways To Grow, Shanice Similar to Omarion's album title; Shanice was coming of age hence the title "21...Ways To Grow". II, Boyz II Men The "II" represented album number two from the famed supergroup. The Carter II, III, IV; Lil' Wayne The Carter albums are a long running series of album's from the famed rapper. 8701, Usher The album's title signals the release...

This past summer we saw Prince being paid tribute to via the 2010 BET Awards. His facial expressions were priceless maybe because he knows through all the tributes; no one does it quite like him! The singer is embarking on a new tour; read below for more info. Also T.I. headed back to jail and Dirty Money finally releasing their debut album? Pop icon Prince held a press conference at Harlem's historical Apollo Theater this evening to announce his upcoming 'Welcome 2 America' tour, which Prince vaguely told the crowd will take kick off "on a purple night in December 2010." Prince added that he's bringing some friends along for the ride. Janelle Monae, Mint Condition, Esperanza Spalding and Cassandra Wilson will join the legend on the forthcoming jaunt. BET's Vice President of Entertainment Stephen Hill introduced Prince and informed the crowd that as a lifelong fan of the singer, he was equally as excited for to hear the announcement. Hill ran down ...

Prince has been making headlines with his comments concerning the future of our beloved internet. He feels the internet has become outdated just like MTV when they stopped showing videos. What do you think? Do you agree? I feel like Prince is very weird. He is a legend so he has the right to say whatever and believe what ever. I couldn't get over his facial expressions at the BET awards. They were priceless. Brandy is said to have signed with Island Def Jam Records for her upcoming album. We got a taste of Brandy working in the studio with different producers on her VH1 reality show; "Brandy & Ray J: A Family Business". There is also word that Brandy has reunited with producer Timbaland who worked with her on 2004's "Afrodisiac". So what do you think about this if its true? I personally liked "Afrodisiac" and Brandy's work with Timbaland. It might of not been her biggest selling album but the album got really rave reviews. I should of seen ...

And by the time it is released(if it keeps its September 14th date); it will be a little over a year since his current album; "Ready" was released. Earlier this year "Ready" went gold becoming his first album to do so. Trey has pretty much ran the last year with a slew of chart topping R&B/Pop singles including "Neighbors Know My Name" and "Say Aah". Oh...and the name of the new album is "Passion, Pain & Pleasure". For his new tour named after the new album; Trey will debut his new music along with all his other hits. A MTV Unplugged album and special is in the works to coincide with the album so look out for that. The BET Awards 2010 will pay tribute this year to Prince as part of their Lifetime Achievement Award. We all are aware of Prince and his influence. Just today "Purple Rain" was on VH1 and I watched a little bit of it. I never saw the whole movie though. Anyway the BET Awards will be airing on Sunday, June 27...

And it is a bit of surprise to me for a number of reasons. One; I didn't know Prince had an album coming out(if he does). Two; Prince has always had the androgynous look down packed. Look out for this magazine on your newsstands later this month.