Beyoncé - "Schoolin' Life"

J.R. Taylor Choreography

Friday, July 29, 2011

Kelly Rowland gave plenty of "Motivation" on Friday's "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno." Backed by @kreashaun @hyp3_franco @dluckie and @valentinenorton The "RowlDogs" have a lot to "Bark" about! The next stop on Ms. Kelly's promo schedule is Robin Thicke's One Night Stand concert in Atlanta at the Fox Theater tomorrow.  This is Ms. Rowland's MOMENT!!!!!!!

After strolling down the beach (and doing little else) in his low-budget “Should’ve Kissed You” video, and then walking the streets (and, again, doing little else) in the vid for “Your Body”, Chris Brown drifts through a snowy setting in the clip for F.A.M.E. bonus track “All About You”. And once again, nothing of any interest happens. Breezy, for your next video, please come up with a concept other than “the camera films me as a I stand there, singing”. At least this one has a cute puppy in it for a couple of frames.

ALL ABOUT YOU ( PREMIERE ) from tony harper on Vimeo.

There’s no stopping Lady Gaga. The pop powerhouse rolled through L.A. for her latest round of promotional appearances. First she hit up Fox’s dance competition “So You Think You Can Dance,” where she guest judged the day before. Gaga schooled the contestants, whipping her teal ponytail around as she wowed with her Born This Way hits, “The Edge of Glory” and “Yoü and I.”

Later in the evening, she caused chaos on the streets of Hollywood during her visit to “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” She chatted with her fellow Italian about what she likes to cook, getting nominated for five Emmys, bowling in heels, and starting a family, and once again performed “The Edge of Glory” and “Yoü and I” on the outdoor stage.




Money ain’t a thing for Soulja Boy. The “Crank That” rapper celebrated his 21st birthday by treating himself to a $55 million gift.


According to TMZ, Soulja dropped the staggering amount on a private jet. A member of his management team tells the website that the G5 was purchased as a birthday present to himself.

The ride cost a reported $35 million, but he is spending an additional $20 million to upgrade it with 12 custom Italian leather seats, flat screen TVs, four liquor bars, a travertine-tiled floor, and Brazilian hardwood cabinets.

If that’s not enough, he is replacing the in-flight lavatory with a luxurious bathroom and giving it a custom paint job to include his logo.

He also reportedly spent $300,000 on a blowout birthday bash at a Miami nightclub with guests including Dwight Howard, Bow Wow, and Sean Kingston.


Rihanna was spotted arriving to the set of a photo shoot out in LA wearing a floral print short suit with a pair of neon yellow Miu Miu flower cutout flat sandals ($550). These gladiator style sandals were one of the stand out pieces from the Miu Miu Spring/Summer 2011 Collection. What do you think of her look?

Beyoncé kicked off her morning with some girl talk with the ladies of “The View.” Mrs. Carter sat down for an interview with Whoopi, Barbara, Joy, Sherri, and Elizabeth, and also performed two songs off her chart-topping album 4, including a stripped-down version of her latest single “Best Thing I Never Had” and the soulful “1+1” while perched atop a piano.


Controversy loves company. Attention-grabbing photographer Terry Richardson (who skanked up the Glee kids and de-trashed Ke$ha) will release a photo book featuring 350 color and black-and-white photographs of Lady Gaga taken over a 10-month period. Gaga, who was recently shot by Richardson for this soaking wet Supereme shoot, will write the forward to the book, which will be available this November. Just in time for your Black Friday shopping!

Kat DeLuna works up a sweat in the high-energy video for “Drop It Low,” her latest dance floor anthem. The Dominican diva flaunts her voluptuous assets as her all-female crew the Lunatics faces off against the Uptown Boyz. The highly-choreographed clip features plenty of eye candy for the guys and girls, and even includes a salsa breakdown. Bust out Kat’s latest.

Ace Hood and Chris Brown go “Body 2 Body” with some beautiful ladies in the video for their collaboration off the Florida rapper’s upcoming album Blood, Sweat, & Tears (Aug. 9). The Dayo-directed clip was shot in the Hollywood Hills and features cameos from Rick Ross and DJ Khaled.

We’re sure you’ve kept busy this week enjoying Kelly Rowland’s new album Here I Am — as well as the VIBE vixen’s gorgeous deep blue cover art. We’ve got an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at the commanding singer from the downtown Miami set of her album’s photo shoot with photographer Derek Blanks. Jump below to watch Ms. Kelly and and crew as they make hard work look way easy.



Kelly Rowland — Here I Am Photo Shoot (Behind The Scenes)



Kelendria’s fab makeup is thanks to Latasha Wright, and the pop star’s fierce hair is the work of stylist Kim Kimble.

If you haven’t already, you can get your hands of the “Motivation” songbird’s new LP here.

Katy Perry stopped by Good Morning America this morning, and the VMA nominee answered hard-hitting questions, like what drew her to the role of Smurfette, and what shade is her new hair color really? (It’s honey.) In a bit more relevant news, Perry spoke about her pop peer Amy Winehouse’s unfortunate death last Saturday, saying “My heart felt really sad” when she heard the news. Watch the tabby-scented singer’s interview below.


When asked about the passing of Amy Winehouse, Katy notes that she has greater insight to the power of addiction through her husband, Russel Brand, a former addict whom wrote a touching tribute to Amy the day following her death. “I see how much work it takes to be clean and sober when you have addiction on your hands. It gave me a gratefulness for my husband who got clean when he was 27.”

In regards to her plans after she concludes her California Dreams tour, she just might pull a Beyonce. “I think I have to live a little bit after this tour,” Katy says. “The living will give me greater material for the next record.”

Lady Gaga is currently lobster-clawing her way through Hollywood, and this week the pop star stopped by Carson Daly’s Amp Radio show wearing a side ponytail, a cobalt blue blazer (complete with its own nipples), and one of the wackiest pairs of glasses we’ve seen her in since those cigarette sunglasses. She delivered a sensational stripped-down performance of her new single “You And I”, replacing “Nebraska guy” with “California guy”. (Is she talking about Nick Cannon?) Watch Mama Monster kill it on a no-frills set of keys below.


Gaga’s passion during this intimate performance seems totally out of place in such a sparsely-attended, brightly-lit space. But still, we can’t get enough of this song and all the leaked details about the Middle America-set video. (Plus, this is bound to continue being a crowd-pleaser on her next tour when she replaces “Nebraska” with whatever city she’s currently in.)

When about a minute of Chris Brown’s new song “Open Road (I Love Her)” leaked onto the Internet earlier this week, the kind of famous R&B star tweeted that he’s keeping it on his forthcoming album Fortune only if the whole thing didn’t surface. Well, the fate of the song is now up in the air, as you can hear the full-length track below.



“I thought I had you on a leash, like I could do whatever I wanted to / whenever I wanted to and you was gonna wait for me baby /And now the tables are turned and now I feel like you’re the master and I’m on the strings/ You’re in control of me,” sings Breezy.

The vaguely Asian melody in the background gives this sorrowful love song an interesting sound, and Chris’ control of his vocals is at its finest. “Open Road (I Love Her)” is definitely worthy of having an official release if Brown is in the mood for a downtempo number between his inevitable dance singles — maybe he’ll decide to release it on Fortune after all.

During her recent trip to Africa, Ciara paid homage to one of her inspirations, Michael Jackson. The 25-year-old dancing machine performed the King of Pop’s iconic moves during “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’” and “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough” before going into her hit “Love Sex Magic.”

CiCi, who is currently on the Malibu Rum Station Invasion Concert Tour, previously expressed her love for MJ. “It’s important for me to share with my generation the importance of Michael and what he was to music because to me there will never ever be another Michael,” “He’s as big as big gets.”

Beyoncé hit up 30 Rock for her first appearance on “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon” on Thursday night. Backed by the world famous Roots crew, the white-hot singer performed a reworked version of her single “Best Thing I Never Had,” boasting a new arrangement. A “Late Night” staffer overheard B asking ?uestlove and the band if she could bring them on tour with her. You’ll see why after watching their performance.

Every thing’s just coming up Kelly Rowland this week. The sultry Here I Am siren has landed herself on yet another cover, this time for Fearless magazine’s summer issue. For the “Lay It On Me” songstress’ shoot, the former Destiny’s Child member lived up to the ladymag’s “Fun Fly Fabulous” motto with her ferocious ensemble. Is it a one piece outfit or simply bathing suit not conducive to swimming? We can’t tell, but the motivated singer looks sexy as heck in it.

Amy Winehouse's struggles to quit drugs were well documented. But her family fears that sudden abstinence from alcohol might have been what led to her death last Saturday at age 27, according to a report.

Winehouse ignored doctors' advice to step back gradually from her heavy drinking and went cold turkey in the past month, an unnamed family friend tells Britain's Sun. Her family believes that was too much of a shock to her system, the source adds.

"Abstinence gave her body such a fright, they thought it was eventually the cause of her death," says the source.

Our friends over @PEOPLE has confirmed that this is the family's belief.

The cause of Winehouse's death won't be known for weeks, pending the completion of toxicology tests.

There have been reports that Winehouse went on a bender during her final days. But the family source tells the Sun that her father, Mitch Winehouse, said in his eulogy at his daughter's funeral that he believed it was just the opposite.

"He said doctors had told Amy to gradually reduce her intake of alcohol and to avoid bingeing at all costs. Amy told him she couldn't do that. It was all or nothing and she gave up completely," says the source.

"Mitch said the shock of giving up, after everything she had been through over a bad few years, was just too much for her to take."

Wednesday, July 27, 2011


“Cheers to you!” MTV VMA nominee Rihanna tweeted last night while posting the cover art for “Cheers,” the sixth single off her Loud LP. So let’s see…“Only Girl (In The World),” “What’s My Name” and “S&M” — a threepeat of #1s. “Man Down” and “California King Bed” — a disappointing (chart-wise) double-decker. Do you think the Avril Lavigne-sampling “Cheers” can match the success of the early Loud singles? And more importantly — where’s the single release for “Fading”?

Kelly Rowland is knee-deep in her blue period, as the Here I Am siren strikes a pose on her “Lay It On Me” single cover. Rowland might be shaded in some cool indigo tones, but she’s not feeling all that blue about producer Jeff Bhasker’s slam of her single “Motivation”: “There’s no reason for me to say anything negative,” she said while appearing on BET. “‘Cause I won’t tell you the thought that is really in my head. I’ll just kill ‘em with kindness.”

Lauryn Hill gave birth to her sixth child, a son called “Baby Boy Marley,” over the weekend. There were various reports questioning the father’s identity. The former Fugees member took to Twitter to address the speculation and defend her right to privacy.


Rohan Marley, the father of Hill’s five previous children, was rumored to have left the singer during her pregnancy for Brazilian model Isabeli Fontana. While some believed he was the father of the sixth child, his tweet suggested otherwise. “I’m forwarding all well wishes to Ms. Hill on the birth of her new son,” he tweeted. “I’m sure she’ll appreciate the love being sent to her RASTAFARI R.M.”

Ms. Hill blasted back at the reports. “Contrary to the numerous reports, Mr. Marley did not abandon me while pregnant with his child,” she wrote. “We have had long periods of separation over the years, but our 5 children together remain a joy to both of us.”

Read her full letter below.

Jesse James and Kat Von D have called off their engagement and broken up.

"I'm so sad because I really love her," James tells our friends over @PEOPLE exclusively. "The distance between us was just too much."

James, 42, and the LA Ink star, 29, were engaged in January and had been planning a summer wedding around the one-year anniversary of when they started dating.

But the commute between Los Angeles, where Von D shoots her reality show, and James's home outside of Austin, Texas, where he lives with his kids, Chandler, 16, Jesse Jr., 14, and Sunny, 7, proved to be too much.



Von D confirmed the split on Twitter.

"I am no longer w Jesse," she writes, "and out of respect for him, his family and myself, thats all the info I'd like to share. Thanks for respecting that."

Nebraska, Nebraska, she loves you! Lady Gaga swung by the studios of Omaha’s KAT 103.7 radio station to chat about the concept for her “You And I” video, which she shot last week in the currently sunny Corn Husker State. She also talked to Carson Daly for his Amp Radio show. Hear Mother Monster spill the details on her latest visual over the airwaves below.

“The premise of the video is that I’ve walked all the way from New York City to Nebraska to get [my boyfriend] back,” Gaga told KAT. “I’m walking with no luggage, no nothin’. It’s just me, and my ankles are kind of bleeding a little bit and there’s grass stuck in my shoes. I’ve got this outfit on — it’s real sort of New York clothing. It’s wooly.”

Gaga continued to talk about the video for the Robert John “Mutt” Lange-produced power ballad.

“The idea that when you’re away from someone that you love, it’s torture,” the mermaid-loving songstress noted. “It’s a very powerful and awful and strange feeling when you’re away from the person that you love. I knew I wanted the video to be about me sprinting back and walking hundreds of thousands of miles to get him back.”

When later speaking with Voice host Carson Daly for Amp Radio, Gaga also noted, “There’s this fork in the road and it’s four different ways that I can go, but there’s lots of other things that can happen. All sorts of strange things that occur and it has a lot to do with bridging my past and my future as an artist.”

At the very least, it sounds like there will be more of a narrative plot line for the “You And I” vid than there was for “The Edge Of Glory.” Are you looking forward to Lady Gaga’s latest visual foray?

And where does “You And I” rank for you among your the four singles released so far from Born This Way?

Kelly Rowland is the latest artist to take it off in order to take on VIBE magazine’s 2011 shirtless theme. For the music mag’s annual Juicy Issue, the “Lay It On Me” songstress posed in gorgeous silver earrings and little else. The commanding singer looks freaking fabulous, but do you the Bag Of Bones star brings the sexy like Rick Ross? Sound off below. And for a sneak peek at the Here I Am diva’s August/September spread including Ms. Kelly’s advice on sex shops head here.

Kreayshawn performed to a room full of bad bitches (or so she claimed) at MTV’s Times Square studio in New York City earlier this month. With only a mic and DJ, the tatted rapper put on a live version of “Gucci Gucci,” the song that helped land her a lucrative contract with Columbia Records.

“When I was growing up, I would listen to all kinds of music,” said the Oakland artist, who recently directed a video for the Red Hot Chili Peppers. “My mom was like a music fiend, so she was playing everything from salsa to hardcore rap music to rebel punk music, so I got a little bit of everything.”

Kreayshawn will compete against Tyler, the Creator, Wiz Khalifa, Big Sean, and Foster the People for Best New Artist at next month’s MTV Video Music Awards.

This year marks what would have been the 40th annversary of Michael Jackson’s career as a solo artist, and though MJ is no longer with us, we’ll still be able to celebrate in style. The Jackson family has announced a tribute show in honor of the King of Pop slated for this Fall. The concert, called Michael Forever, will be held October 8 at the 75,000-capacity Millennium Stadium in Wales.

Though no performers have been named yet, the show will feature artists Jackson admired. “When I was told some of the names of the artists performing, I knew it would be fit for a king,” said Michael’s mother, Katherine Jackson, at a press conference in Beverly Hills. She was joined by her sons Tito, Jackie and Marlon and daughter LaToya.

Missing from the press event were Michael’s brother Randy and Jermaine, who are not on board with the concert. In a statement, the two said, “While we wholeheartedly support the spirit of a tribute that honors our brother, we find it impossible to support an event that is due to take place during the criminal trial surrounding Michael’s death. As everyone knows, those proceedings commence September 20.”

Janet Jackson was also not in attendance, though no reason was given for her absence.

The lineup will be announced on August 3. We bet Chris Brown is crossing his fingers for an invite.

It was a black-and-gold affair as Wiz Khalifa celebrated his career achievements. The Pittsburgh rapper was presented with a gold plaque for selling 500,000 copies of his major label debut Rolling Papers. Atlantic Records executives toasted the Best New Artist VMA nominee, who marked the occasion with his team including longtime manager Benjy Grinberg.

In addition, his singles “Black and Yellow” and “Roll Up” were certified platinum. “These Platinum Plaques Got me Thankful For Every Positive Person In My Life,” tweeted a humbled Wiz, who is currently on tour with Big Sean.

It’s Kelly Rowland Day round these parts, everybody! Here I Am is officially out, as is her “Lay It On Me” single art and Vibe cover, and now we get the news that Ms. Rowland will be hitting the road with Chris Brown on the singer’s upcoming US tour starting this September. The diamond-toothed R&B star tweeted on Saturday, “This Tour is about to be crazzzyyy! Not releasing the dates yet or the other acts. Don’t wanna count my eggs before they hatch!” Go ahead and count your eggs, Chris, and at least one chicken.

Ashanti blooms in the desert in a new promo photo for her forthcoming album, her first since 2008’s The Declaration. The R&B chanteuse strikes a fierce pose against a rock, flaunting her fit physique in a black-and-gold bikini and flowing gold dress as she stares into the distance.

She has been in the studio with big names including Dr. Dre, Game, and Lil Wayne, and is expected to drop a new single in the next month. The new body of work was inspired by her time in Los Angeles and real-life experiences. Tracks include “Paradise” and “She Can’t.”

Are you excited for Ashanti’s comeback?

Nicki Minaj was spotted out in Miami, Florida wearing a pair of Opening Ceremony Margot wedge sandals ($730). These orange leopard print and patent leather platform sandals feature a lace-up front, open-toe, open heel, and a high wedge heel.

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

“Ya’ll in for a hell of a night tonight. I’m in New York City. I came to show my ass,” announced Young Jeezy at his anniversary show at Highline Ballroom on Monday night. “This is a celebration, baby! This is Thug Motivation 101.”

Six years after the release of his debut album Let’s Get It: Thug Motivation 101, the rapper they call the Snowman proved that he hasn’t lost his cool. After getting a late start, he kicked things off with “Standing Ovation” before delving into more of his street anthems.

Jay-Z joined him for the “Go Crazy (Remix),” he “Put On” for his city with Kanye West, and shared the stage with his peers Fabolous, Bun B, and The Lox during the 75-minute set.

Before capping the momentous evening, he announced a release date for his next project, TM103.

If you missed it, catch Jeezy’s entire set below.

Watch live streaming video from youngjeezy at livestream.com

Game searches for his “Pot of Gold” in the reflective video for his Chris Brown-assisted single off The R.E.D. Album, dropping August 23. In the Bryan Barber-directed clip, the Compton rapper reminisces on the past as images from his childhood flash onscreen. His oldest son Harlem makes a cameo and Breezy shows off his fancy footwork.

“The video is kinda walking back through the days when I didn’t have anything, taking my son with me and showing him how we used to live,” Game said while on the Los Angeles set.

The introspective visuals end with a powerful quote from Game: “Materialism lives outside the lines of my reality.”

Rihanna is just now offering what could have been a highly viable contender. The VMA nominee mentioned via Twitter that her next single will be “Cheers (Drink To That)”, which samples Avril Lavigne’s 2002 single “I’m With You”. We can definitely raise our glass of Vita Coco for RiRi’s sixth (sixth!) Loud single. And, not surprising at all, the “Man Down” singer can’t drop a single without just a teeny bit of controversy.

Hey boo, ur fav song is the brand new #LOUD single ‘CHEERS’ to u being an A&R #RihannaNavy,” the oft-pantsless singer tweeted to gossip blogger Perez Hilton on Sunday.


“Uhm, RiRi. Just heard #Cheers on the radio (yay!), but they made inaudible the word ‘bastards’,” wrote Hilton. “Since when is that offensive? Grrr!”


RiRi’s reply: “WtF???? Ugh, hate that!”

We hate that, too. We can’t remember anything being censored when Fat Bastard was a main character in the child-friendly Austin Powers franchise. Anyway, Rihanna, don’t let those bastards get you down!

Monday, July 25, 2011

Beyoncé is ramping up her promo in the U.S. The music superstar has been booked to perform on two talk shows this week.


B will chat with the ladies of “The View” on Thursday and perform “Best Thing I Never Had” and “1+1” off her chart-topping album 4, which is currently No. 5 in the country.

Later that same evening, she will stop by NBC’s “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon” to once again sing “Best Thing I Never Had,” but this time she will be backed by house band The Roots.

The 29-year-old singer, who is nominated for three awards at this year’s MTV Video Music Awards, will star in the upcoming remake of A Star Is Born directed by Clint Eastwood.

“I’m slightly a bit intimated, I have to say,” she told PrideSource of her latest film role. “I feel a bit overwhelmed, and I’m still in shock. But the studio and Clint believe in me, and I feel like I’ve been really selective and I’ve waited and worked really hard and I’ve done different types of movies—from comedies to thrillers to drama when I played Etta James—and I really wanted to make sure I was ready.

Mariah Carey On HSN

Mariah Carey returned to television for the first time since giving birth to her twins. The new mom spoke about her babies and got a visit from husband Nick Cannon while launching her new lifestyle collection on HSN.

During the live chat, Mimi showed off the floral fashions inspired by her visits to Capri and joked about the name for her fragrance Lollipop Bling. “No, I didn’t select that name,” she said. “Sorry, it was something I couldn’t undo. It wasn’t my favorite name but people love it.”

She also plugged her latest fragrance collection named after her songs. “There’s a version with a very popular singer named Trey Songz and we kinda did a duet with this song,” she said of “Inseparable.” “So it’s ironic that I have this remix of the song ‘Inseparable’ and I think my label Universal Records should put it out.”

Nick paid his wife a visit and the proud parents gushed about their twins Monroe and Morrocan. “I believe our son looks just like Mariah and I think our daughter looks like me,” said Nick.

Watch footage from Mariah’s appearance below.


Nicki Minaj is puckering up for a good cause. The “Super Bass” rapper has been announced as the newest spokeswoman for the M.A.C AIDS Fund VIVA GLAM initiative.


The Harajuku Barbie will star along with Latin superstar Ricky Martin in the cosmetics company’s 2012 campaign, set to launch in February. All sales from VIVA GLAM lip products will benefit the fight against HIV/AIDS.

Famed photographer David LaChapelle is shooting the ads with the duo today in Miami. “Viva Glam Photo Shoot. Ur gonna GAG!!!!!” wrote an excited Nicki. “Can’t wait for my barbz & ken barbz to wear this new shade of lipstick! Wait til u see it! Sickening!!!!”

Minaj follows past VIVA GLAM spokesmodels including Lady Gaga, Lil’ Kim, Missy Elliott, Eve, Mary J. Blige, Christina Aguilera, and Fergie. The fund has raised $224 million to date.

This is not the first time the two have worked together. Last year, the Young Money raptress teamed up with M.A.C to release a limited edition “Pink 4 Friday” lipstick

Katy Perry walked the blue carpet last night at New York's legendary Ziegfeld Theater for the premiere of The Smurfs. The 2011 Video Of The Year nominee has clearly taken her role as the voice of Smurfette to heart — the pop star arrived in a white dress with the animated character's likeness bedazzled on the front, a pair of blue heels and even Smurf nails! Check out the little mermaid and tell us what you think of her new even blonder 'do.