New York, United States | AFP | No, Britney Spears is not dead. Yet her fans’ hearts may have skipped a beat today when tweets purportedly from Sony Music Entertainment said “RIP @britneyspears #RIPBritney 1981-2016” and “Britney spears is dead by accident! We will tell you more soon #RIPBritney.” The …
Read More »Pearl Jam, Tupac win spots in Rock Hall of Fame
New York, United States | AFP | Rap legend Tupac Shakur and grunge rockers Pearl Jam earned spots Tuesday in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as perpetual nominee Nile Rodgers finally won recognition — in a side category. Tupac, who was slain in 1996, and Pearl Jam were …
Read More »Moses Matovu’s decades with Afrigo Band
Moses Matovu’s music journey mirrors the history of Uganda’s pop music culture and identity. He has been in Uganda’s music industry for 49 years. He started and continues to manage Afrigo Band in Kampala. Afrigo has a unique sound of Ugandan drumbeats and percussions layered over a synthesised rumba guitar …
Read More »Samba gets new rhythms 100 years after first recording
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil | AFP | Monday nights feel like Saturdays in Rio’s Little Africa neighborhood when the sun sets and the samba starts to play. Surrounded by a mostly young crowd, seven musicians sit around a table with the small four-string guitar called a cavaquinho, the cuica drum …
Read More »Kanye West emerges from hospital to meet Trump
New York, United States | AFP | Rap superstar Kanye West on Tuesday delivered a surprise even in this most unusual of political years — he met President-elect Donald Trump, marking the artist’s first appearance since a reported mental breakdown. West, a rare US celebrity to voice support for Donald …
Read More »Beyonce leads Grammy nominations in crowded field
New York, United States | AFP | Pop diva Beyonce on Tuesday led nominations for next year’s Grammy Awards but faced tough competition from fellow chart-topping artists including Adele. Beyonce received nods in nine categories for the music industry’s biggest night including Album of the Year for “Lemonade,” her contemplative …
Read More »Drake dominates Spotify for another year
New York, United States | AFP | Rap superstar Drake has dominated Spotify for the second straight year, ending 2016 as the most streamed artist and with both the most heard album and song. The world’s leading streaming service, releasing figures Thursday for the past one-year period, said that its …
Read More »Kanye suffers mental breakdown
Los Angeles, United States | AFP | Rapper Kanye West was taken to a hospital in Los Angeles after his doctor called the emergency services to report he was suffering a mental breakdown, news reports said Tuesday. The musician’s personal physician Michael Farzam told police that his 39-year-old patient was …
Read More »Kanye scraps US tour after rant about Jay Z, Beyonce
Los Angeles, United States | AFP | Rap superstar Kanye West has pulled the plug on his North American tour, organizers said Monday, two days after a rambling onstage tirade against fellow artists Jay Z and Beyonce. The “Saint Pablo Tour” was set to run through December 31 but all …
Read More »Kanye West stuns crowd with Trump support
New York, United States | AFP | Rap superstar Kanye West stunned a crowd by revealing his support for US President-elect Donald Trump while suggesting he still plans to challenge him in 2020. After a campaign in which fellow artists and African Americans overwhelmingly backed rival Hillary Clinton, the rapper …
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