Nominees of 2021 billboard music awards winners

Brandy is a woman of her word. The singer took the BET Awards stage on Sunday night for the debut live performance of her effortless “First Class” freestyle alongside Jack Harlow – a full circle clean-up after she promised last month to “murk this dude in rap at 43 on his own beats and then sing his ass to sleep.” The Kentucky rapper made his debut performance at the awards ceremony with the live debut of the Lil Wayne-assisted “Poison” from his sophomore record Come Home the Kids Miss You before Brandy took the stage to out-rap the both of them and polish it off with some vocal gymnastic harmonies on the Fergie-sampling “First Class” hook. “This black excellence at its finest/ Don’t call me, “Brandy,” no more, call me, “Your highness”/ Built up, filling my brother Ray J glasses/ This is passion/ You woke up a beast, now it’s madness/ Singer slash rapper, rapper slash actress,” she rapped with fervor. Backstage at the ceremony, Brandy told ET Online : “I’m so … [Read more...] about Brandy Takes Jack Harlow’s ‘First Class’ to New Heights With Surprise BET Awards Performance

Travis Scott is slated to perform his first individual ticketed concert since last November’s deadly Astroworld tragedy. Scott will be playing at London’s 02 Arena on August 6th. While Scott has already performed publicly since the disaster — he played a late-night set in Miami in May and played private events for a pre-Oscars party and a Coachella afterparty — the show marks the first of his own ticketed concerts. Scott’s been trickling back into live shows this year on the festival circuit with headlining dates at Primavera Sound in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Santiago, Chile and São Paulo, Brazil coming up this fall. Earlier this month, Scott was announced as a headliner for Day n’ Vegas, his first U.S. festival since Astroworld. Scott also performed at the Billboard Music Awards in May. Scott, alongside Astroworld’s promoters Live Nation and Scoremore among several other defendants, is currently facing hundreds of lawsuits and up to hundreds of millions of dollars in … [Read more...] about Travis Scott Plans First Major Post-Astroworld Concert

EXCLUSIVE : Saladin Ahmed ( Miles Morales: Spider-Man ) has partnered with filmmakers Shaka King ( Judas and the Black Messiah ) and Travon Free ( Two Distant Strangers ) to create Drac: Son of Dante —a new, 15-part webcomic series for Tapas Media and Endeavor Content , which is now free to read exclusively via the former company’s website and mobile app. The series’ first two episodes have already launched, with more to come weekly on Fridays. Drac is said to introduce a new and contemporary mythology around the origins of the iconic goth villain Dracula that will resonate with multicultural and youth audiences alike. The narrative follows Dante, an eerie, flute-playing immortal who finds himself drawn to the human condition against the natural order and better judgment of his species. Dante follows this obsession no matter how much trouble it gets him into — but a conflict for the ages erupts when his monstrous son Drac chooses a human bride. … [Read more...] about Saladin Ahmed, Shaka King & Travon Free Team On Webcomic ‘Drac: Son of Dante’ For Tapas, Endeavor Content

Kenneth “Ken” Williams, who wrote or co-wrote more than 500 songs including the classic 1972 hit “ Everybody Plays the Fool ” recorded by The Main Ingredient with lead vocals by Cuba Gooding Sr., died June 17 following a long non-Covid illness at North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset, NY. He was 83. His death was announced by his wife, the Broadway actress and singer Mary Seymour Williams. Hollywood & Media Deaths In 2022: Photo Gallery Although most widely known for “Everybody Plays the Fool,” the classic R&B song he co-wrote with Rudy Clark and J.R. Bailey, Williams was a prolific songwriter, record producer, arranger and singer for the past 60 years. Among his songs are “Love, Love, Love” (recorded by Donny Hathaway), “I Can’t See Me Without You” (The Impalas), “Let Me Prove My Love to You” (The Main Ingredient), “Only When You’re Lonely” (Holly Maxwell), “Seven Lonely Nights” (The Four Tops), “Keep on Holding On” (Margaret Reynolds), “Hoping You Will Come … [Read more...] about Ken Williams Dies: “Everybody Plays The Fool” Songwriter Was 83

EXCLUSIVE : Ian McKellen ( The Good Liar ), Gemma Arterton ( Summerland ) and Mark Strong ( 1917 ) will lead the cast of The Critic , a period thriller based on Anthony Quinn’s classic novel Curtain Call . Oscar nominee Lesley Manville ( Phantom Thread ), BAFTA nominee Romola Garai ( Suffragette ), Ben Barnes ( Westworld ) and Alfred Enoch ( Foundation ) will also star. In the film set in 1934 London, McKellen plays Jimmy Erskine, the most feared drama critic in town—with Arterton as Nina Land, the actress determined to win his favor. When Jimmy finds himself in the crosshairs of his newspaper’s new owner, David Brooke (Strong), Nina becomes entangled in a dangerous web of blackmail, deceit and murder. Anand Tucker ( Hilary and Jackie ) is directing from a script by Oscar nominee Patrick Marber ( Notes on a Scandal ), with production underway in and around London. The film is being fully financed and produced by London-based BKStudios, … [Read more...] about Ian McKellen, Gemma Arterton, Mark Strong, Lesley Manville, Ben Barnes & More To Star In Period Thriller ‘The Critic’

Jason Schwartzman ( Asteroid City ) is the latest addition to the cast of Lionsgate ’s Hunger Games prequel, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes . He joins an ensemble led by Tom Blyth and Rachel Zegler which also includes Josh Andrés Rivera, Hunter Schafer, Jerome Lance, Ashley Liao, Knox Gibson, Mackenzie Lansing, Aamer Husain, Nick Benson, Laurel Marsden, Lilly Cooper, Luna Steeples and Hiroki Berrecloth, as previously announced. The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is the latest film in a dystopian YA franchise, based on Suzanne Collins’ novels, that has thus far grossed over $3 billion worldwide. It picks up with Coriolanus Snow (Blyth) at age 18—years before he would become the tyrannical President of Panem—at a point when he’s the last hope for his fading lineage, a once-proud family that has fallen from grace in a post-war Capitol. With the 10th annual Hunger Games fast approaching, the young Snow is alarmed when he is assigned to mentor Lucy Gray Baird (Zegler), the … [Read more...] about ‘The Hunger Games: The Ballad Of Songbirds And Snakes’: Jason Schwartzman Newest Addition To Lionsgate Prequel

Sian Heder brought the Oscar audience to its feet winning her first Academy Award for adapting CODA (Child Of Deaf Adult), from the 2014 French film La famille Bélier written by Victoria Bedos. This is the first Oscar and nomination for Heder. During her acceptance speech (accompanied by an ASL interpreter), she talks about the process of getting the film made. “This was an independent film and incredibly hard to get made so I want to thank my team, my producers and all of you for believing in me, and how I wanted to make this movie,” she said. The director then acknowledges that the journey to getting this film where it is today, started at Sundance 2021. “I want to thank Sundance for starting this journey. I want to thank Apple for being amazing partners on this ride. Writing and making this movie was truly life changing as an artist and a human being.” She then went on to thank the crew, and actors involved in the project, in addition to … [Read more...] about Sian Heder, Director of ‘CODA’, Wins Oscar For Best Adapted Screenplay