Sunday, June 8, 2014

Tony Awards 2014 Winners: The Complete List


Hedwig and the Angry Inch Tony Performance - H 2014
Neil Patrick Harris performs a song from "Hedwig and the Angry Inch" at the Tony Awards.

Neil Patrick Harris, Bryan Cranston and Audra McDonald were among the night's big winners.


The 68th annual Tony Awards were handed out Sunday night at New York's Radio City Music Hall.

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The awards ceremony, hosted by Hugh Jackman for the fourth time, aired live on CBS. A complete list of winners is below.

BEST MUSICAL "A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder" (WINNER) "After Midnight"
"Aladdin" "Beautiful: The Carole King Musical"

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BEST REVIVAL OF A MUSICAL "Hedwig and the Angry Inch" (WINNER)
"Les Miserables"
"Violet"

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BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE IN A MUSICAL Jessie Mueller, "Beautiful: The Carole King Musical" (WINNER)
Mary Bridget Davies, "A Night With Janis Joplin"
Sutton Foster, "Violet" Idina Menzel, "If/Then"
Kelli O’Hara, "The Bridges of Madison County"

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BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE IN A MUSICAL Neil Patrick Harris, "Hedwig and the Angry Inch" (WINNER) Ramin Karimloo, "Les Miserables"
Andy Karl, "Rocky"
Jefferson Mays, "A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder"
Bryce Pinkham, "A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder"

BEST PLAY
"All the Way" (WINNER)
"Act One"
"Casa Valentina"
"Mothers and Sons"
"Outside Mullingar"

BEST REVIVAL OF A PLAY "A Raisin in the Sun" (WINNER)
"The Cripple of Inishmaan"
"The Glass Menagerie"
"Twelfth Night"

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE IN A PLAY
Bryan Cranston, "All the Way" (WINNER)
Samuel Barnett, "Twelfth Night"
Chris O'Dowd, "Of Mice and Men"
Mark Rylance, "Richard III"
Tony Shalhoub, "Act One"

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE IN A PLAY
Audra McDonald, "Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill" (WINNER)
Tyne Daly, "Mothers and Sons" LaTanya Richardson-Jackson, "A Raisin in the Sun"
Cherry Jones, "The Glass Menagerie"
Estelle Parsons, "The Velocity of Autumn"

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A FEATURED ROLE IN A PLAY
Sophie Okonedo, "A Raisin in the Sun" (WINNER)
Sarah Greene, "The Cripple of Inishmaan"
Celia Keenan-Bolger, "The Glass Menagerie" Anika Noni Rose, "A Raisin in the Sun"
Mare Winningham, "Casa Valentina"

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A FEATURED ROLE IN A MUSICAL James Monroe Iglehart, "Aladdin" (WINNER)
Danny Burstein, "Cabaret"
Nick Cordero, "Bullets Over Broadway"
Joshua Henry, "Violet"
Jarrod Spector, "Beautiful - The Carole King Musical"


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BEST DIRECTION OF A PLAY
Kenny Leon, "A Raisin in the Sun" (WINNER)
Tim Carroll, "Twelfth Night"
Michael Grandage, "The Cripple of Inishmaan"
John Tiffany, "The Glass Menagerie"

 

BEST DIRECTION OF A MUSICAL
Darko Tresnjak, "A Gentleman's Guide to Love & Murder" (WINNER)
Warren Carlyle, "After Midnight"
Michael Mayer, "Hedwig and the Angry Inch"
Leigh Silverman, "Violet"

 


 

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A FEATURED ROLE IN A MUSICAL


Linda Emond, "Cabaret"

Anika Larsen, "Beautiful - The Carole King Musical"

Adriane Lenox, "After Midnight"

Lauren Worsham, "A Gentleman's Guide to Love & Murder"

 

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A FEATURED ROLE IN A PLAY Mark Rylance, "Twelfth Night" (WINNER)
Reed Birney, "Casa Valentina"
Paul Chahidi, "Twelfth Night"
Stephen Fry, "Twelfth Night"
Brian J. Smith, "The Glass Menagerie"

 

BEST BOOK OF A MUSICAL
Robert L. Freedman, "A Gentleman's Guide to Love & Murder" (WINNER)
Chad Beguelin, "Aladdin"
Douglas McGrath, "Beautiful - The Carole King Musical"
Woody Allen, "Bullets Over Broadway"
 
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE (MUSIC AND/OR LYRICS) WRITTEN FOR THE THEATRE
"The Bridges of Madison County" Music & Lyrics: Jason Robert Brown (WINNER)
"Aladdin" Music: Alan Menken, Lyrics: Howard Ashman, Tim Rice and Chad Beguelin
"A Gentleman's Guide to Love & Murder" Music: Steven Lutvak, Lyrics: Robert L. Freedman & Steven Lutvak
"If/Then" Music: Tom Kitt, Lyrics: Brian Yorkey
 

 

BEST SCENIC DESIGN OF A PLAY Beowulf Boritt, "Act One" (WINNER)
Bob Crowley, "The Glass Menagerie"
Es Devlin, "Machinal"
Christopher Oram, "The Cripple of Inishmaan"

 

BEST SCENIC DESIGN OF A MUSICAL Christopher Barreca, "Rocky" (WINNER)
Julian Crouch, "Hedwig and the Angry Inch"
Alexander Dodge, "A Gentleman's Guide to Love & Murder"
Santo Loquasto, "Bullets Over Broadway"

 

BEST ORCHESTRATIONS

Jason Robert Brown, "The Bridges of Madison County" (WINNER)
Doug Besterman, "Bullets Over Broadway"

Steve Sidwell, "Beautiful - The Carole King Musical"

Jonathan Tunick, "A Gentleman's Guide to Love & Murder"

 



BEST SOUND DESIGN OF A PLAY
Steve Canyon Kennedy, "Lady Day at Emerson's Bar & Grill" (WINNER)
Alex Baranowski, "The Cripple of Inishmaan"
Dan Moses Schreier, "Act One"
Matt Tierney, "Machinal"
 
BEST SOUND DESIGN OF A MUSICAL
Brian Ronan, "Beautiful - The Carole King Musical" (WINNER)
Peter Hylenski, "After Midnight"
Tim O'Heir, "Hedwig and the Angry Inch"
Mick Potter, "Les Miserables"
 

BEST CHOREOGRAPHY

Warren Carlyle, "After Midnight" (WINNER)

Steven Hoggett & Kelly Devine, "Rocky"

Casey Nicholaw, "Aladdin"

Susan Stroman, "Bullets Over Broadway"

 
BEST COSTUME DESIGN OF A PLAY
Jenny Tiramani, "Twelfth Night" (WINNER)
Jane Greenwood, "Act One"
Michael Krass, "Machinal"
Rita Ryack, "Casa Valentina"
 
 
BEST COSTUME DESIGN OF A MUSICAL
Linda Cho, "A Gentleman's Guide to Love & Murder" (WINNER)
William Ivey Long, "Bullets Over Broadway"
Arianne Phillips, "Hedwig and the Angry Inch"
Isabel Toledo, "After Midnight"
 
BEST LIGHTING DESIGN OF A PLAY
Natasha Katz, "The Glass Menagerie" (WINNER)
Paule Constable, "The Cripple of Inishmaan"
Jane Cox, "Machinal"
Japhy Weideman, "Of Mice and Men"
 
BEST LIGHTING DESIGN OF A MUSICAL
Kevin Adams, "Hedwig and the Angry Inch" (WINNER)
Christopher Akerlind, "Rocky"
Howell Binkley, "After Midnight"
Donald Holder, "The Bridges of Madison County"


So many AH-Mazing Twitpics and Instagrams from an incredible night!

CLICK HERE to view the gallery, 'Tony Awards 2014: Twitpics & Instagram!'
CLICK HERE to view the gallery, 'Tony Awards 2014: Twitpics & Instagram!'
CLICK HERE to view the gallery, 'Tony Awards 2014: Twitpics & Instagram!'
CLICK HERE to view the gallery, 'Tony Awards 2014: Twitpics & Instagram!'
CLICK HERE to view the gallery, 'Tony Awards 2014: Twitpics & Instagram!'




RECIPIENTS OF AWARDS AND HONORS IN NON-COMPETITIVE CATEGORIES

 

SPECIAL TONY AWARD FOR LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT IN THE THEATRE

Jane Greenwood

 

REGIONAL THEATRE AWARD

Signature Theatre, New York, N.Y.

 

ISABELLE STEVENSON AWARD

Rosie O’Donnell

 

TONY HONORS FOR EXCELLENCE IN THE THEATRE

Joseph P. Benincasa
Joan Marcus
Charlotte Wilcox
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Mack Wilds Discusses Remaking A Michael Jackson Classic & Weird “The Wire” Stalkers

repost by Yohance Kyles (@HUEYmixwitRILEY) June 2nd, 2014 @ 2:05pm

Though many have tried, the list of actors that have been able to successfully jump into making music professionally is a rather short one.

MackWilds4Jamie Foxx, Jared Leto, and Jennifer Lopez are a few award-winning music artists whose faces became famous first for their roles on television and film, and now Mack Wilds is one young star that is off to a great start to adding his name to that conversation.

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Appearing as Tristan Wilds, the Staten Island born entertainer first broke on the scene as one of the bright teenage talents on season four of HBO’s The Wire. He later starred as Dixon Wilson on The CW’s reboot of 90210 and was seen in major motion pictures The Secret Life of Bees and Red Tails.

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Last year, Wilds dropped Tristan and picked up Mack when he made the decision to pursue a career in music full-time. Mack Wilds’ turn as a Hip Hop/R&B performer was a hit right out the gate as his Salaam Remi-helmed debut album New York: A Love Story earned the 24-year-old critical acclaim and a Grammy nomination for Best Urban Contemporary Album.

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The “Own It” singer did not take home the Grammy in January, but Wilds is up for Best New Artist against Ariana Grande, August Alsina, Rich Homie Quan, and Schoolboy Q at the 2014 BET Awards this month.
AllHipHop.com spoke with Wilds about his impressive year, his New York album, and his experience with a crazed fan of The Wire in part one of an exclusive interview.

Congratulations on all your success. It’s been a big year for you.
Thank you. It’s crazy. I feel like I’m just now starting to scratch the surface for real. So honestly, it’s been a crazy ride, but I’m loving it.

You’ve gotten some big award nominations this year – the Grammy nom, the BET Award nom. When you first decided to make that transition from acting to recording music, did you expect your first album to make such an impact?
Mack-Wilds-New-York-A-Love-StoryHonestly, I didn’t. I’m not even going to lie to you. I didn’t know what to expect. It was a toss-up, because I knew the music that we were making was completely different from anything that was on the marketplace at the moment. With that being said, it was like the people will love this or I’m not going to hear anything from this. Thank God it was the first and not the latter. It took time though.

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 I think me in my artist ways - the whole artist mindset - I changed my name because it’s more personal and people were going to appreciate the first [album] being more close to me. It actually worked in my favor as well, giving people a fresh chance to digest the music instead of automatically saying, “Oh, this is another actor doing music.” They didn’t get a chance to, because they didn’t know Mack Wilds was Tristan Wilds.

Speaking of being an actor who became a musician. A lot of entertainers have tried that in the past to varying success. Was there anyone who said to you, “Tristan, you’re crazy. People aren’t going to accept you as a singer”?
Yeah, I’ve gotten that a lot, and not even from regular people. I’ve gotten that from friends and family. I was like, “Really? You guys are scared that they won’t accept me?” I’ve always been the kid that does what he wants, so that’s one of the things that I always wanted to do. So as soon as the opportunity came – and I already knew the caliber of music that I could make – I kept going to see how that would translate into working with someone who has been a mentor to me since the age of 19 – Salaam. It turned out amazing.

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The album features production from a lot of well-known producers in Hip Hop and music in general. Did you have an idea of what you wanted it to sound like before you started recording or did you listen to the tracks and that then motivated you on what direction to take?
I didn’t. Salaam is a genius, so maybe he knew. Honestly, I don’t even think he knew. Our main thought was we wanted to make music that no matter where we are in the world – because we were both traveling like crazy – this album would bring us right back home. It would transport us back to New York. That’s what we wanted. We wanted something that feels, smells, tastes, and looks like New York. We wanted to make an album that’s an ode to our city. Something that you can listen to no matter where you are in the world, and you’ll be transported right back to New York.

One of the standout tracks on the album is your remake of Michael Jackson’s “Remember The Time.” His fans are very protective of his legacy. Were you ever apprehensive about covering such a classic MJ song?

The Boys Of Summer: Jermaine Crawford, Maestro Harrell, Tristan Wilds & Julito McCullum From "The Wire" Season 4
The Boys Of Summer: Jermaine Crawford, Maestro Harrell, Tristan Wilds & Julito McCullum From 
“The Wire” Season 4

Absolutely! 200%! I myself am a huge Michael Jackson fan. I know how we protect his legacy. You know how they say online, “I ain’t with it” - I ain’t with it. If it’s not Michael, it’s not it. Don’t try to recreate it.
With that being said, it was right in the beginning of me writing “Henny,” and I remember Salaam telling me, “Stop, just relax. Why don’t you sing ‘Remember The Time’ over this beat first? Just to clear your head. Get yourself warmed up to what you have to do.” I said, “I don’t got a problem with that. Let’s do it.” I did it, and we had fun with it.

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I didn’t hear nothing about it for maybe three months or so. Next thing you know we’re putting together the album, and Salaam said, “We’re going to use this song. We’ll probably put this here. And we’re going to do ‘Remember The Time’.” I said, “I don’t remember doing a song called ‘Remember The Time’.” “Yes, you do. The Michael Jackson song.” I was like, “Wait a minute. You know these Michael Jackson fans will rip me limb from limb?” He said, “Listen, you did a good job at it. The people want to see ‘the real,’ so we got to show them ‘the real’.” I said, “Alright, I trust you bruh.”

So I can’t even take credit for that. That was all Salaam. It was one of those - he threw me in the pool and hoped that I swam.

As a fan, what did you think about the Michael Jackson hologram performance at the Billboard Awards?
I give them an “A” for effort. Again, I’m a fan, and it felt good to see something like that, but I felt bad after watching it. This isn’t Michael. It was just weird to me. You know what it felt like? It felt like the first time I heard Rick Ross do “You’re Nobody (Til Somebody Kills You).” I liked it, but it’s weird. That’s B.I.G. You’re not suppose to touch certain things.

Was that coming from a New York resident’s perspective – growing up on New York Hip Hop and Biggie, and then you hear another artist try their take on it?
Yeah, Ross did an amazing job at it, so hats off to him. Again, I’m a New York Hip Hop head. So the first time I heard it, I kind of turned my nose up at it.

Speaking of a devoted fan base, I wanted to go back to “The Wire.” What’s one of the craziest things a fan of “The Wire” has ever said to you about the show?
MackWilds1It’s nuts. Even years later people love [the show] still. It’s a part of popular culture now. The craziest thing a fan has said to me about it? I don’t know. I had a lady stalk me one time when I was about 16 or 17 off the show. That was weird. I was 16-17, and she was like 30-something. She was definitely at every event that I went. It was very, very weird.

Do people still call you “Michael”?
Absolutely. People call me “Dixon” now just as much as they call me “Michael.” When I’m walking up to somebody I never know which I’m going to get.

Do you have any plans to return to movies or television?
Yeah, I’m still very active in the acting world. There’s some things coming up that I’m not at liberty to discuss as of yet, but just know that I’m still very active in acting.

Download Mack Wilds’ New York: A Love Story from iTunes.

Follow Mack Wilds on Twitter @MACKWILDS and Instagram @mackwilds.
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TOP NEWS//Tracy Morgan Still In Critical Condition

Written by Cyrus Langhorne



EXCLUSIVE//Hollywood actor Tracy Morgan is living one day at a time in critical condition after being involved in a six-vehicle crash this weekend in New Jersey. #GetWellSoon



Details of his current condition and what injuries he sustained have surfaced.

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Tracy Morgan is still in critical condition with several broken bones ... and doctors expect him to remain hospitalized for several weeks. Tracy's rep tells TMZ the comedian has been more responsive today ... but sustained a number of injuries including a broken femur, a broken nose and several broken ribs. We're told he's currently recovering after having surgery earlier today on the broken leg. (TMZ)
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Music mogul Diddy sent prayers to Morgan and the people injured in the Saturday (June 7) wreck.

"Sending prayers to Tracy Morgan and all involved in the accident!! We never know what can happen at anytime!," Diddy wrote June 7. (Diddy's Twitter)
R&B singer Mary J. Blige jumped onto her Instagram page to acknowledge Morgan.

"I send angels and prayers to Tracy Morgan. Pls hang in there.," Mary captioned June 7. (Mary J. Blige's Instagram)
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The comedian's camp issued a statement on his condition over the weekend.

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"Tracy remains in critical condition at Robert Wood Johnson Hospital. He sustained these injuries in an accident that occurred early this morning as one of several passengers in a chauffeured SUV returning from a tour date in Delaware," rep Lewis Kay said. "His family is now with him and he is receiving excellent care. We don't anticipate much of a change in his condition today but will provide a further update once more information becomes available." (Statement)
Details of Morgan's horrific accident surfaced online early Saturday (June 7).

The 45-year-old former Saturday Night Live star was traveling in a limo bus that overturned around 1 a.m. Saturday morning of Exit 7A of the Turnpike in Cranbury, N.J., state police tell NBC10.com. That's just north of Trenton. State police say a preliminary investigation has found that a tractor trailer came up upon slow moving traffic and caused the crash. Six vehicles -- two tractor trailers, an SUV and two cars -- all were involved, state police said. (NBC Philadelphia)
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Google Offered $15 Million to Buy Songza


By  

Google has offered $15 million to acquire curated playlist site Songza, according to the New York Post.

The deal would give the search giant company a new music property that could improve its Google Play Music All Access subscription service or a future YouTube product, as the Mountain View, Calif.-based company maneuvers against Apple, Spotify and Amazon to gain the upper hand in the streaming music sector.

Songza chief executive Elias Roman couldn’t be reached for comment, while a Google Play executive and another Songza employee declined comment on the report. Attempts to reach multiple Songza board members were unsuccessful by press time.

Amazon.com, a Google competitor in some areas and an imminent entrant into the streaming music sector, has invested in Songza, and its VP of digital music Steve Boom is listed as a Songza director on a 2013 regulatory filing. Amazon did not return a phone call seeking comment.

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Launched in 2010, Songza streams playlists designed for specific moods or activities, often tailored to times of day or other contexts such as “getting ready to go out.” The company employs dozens of expert curators who design the playlists, with names such as “Are You Experienced? Psychedelic Space Trips,” “80s Hardcore Punk Boot Camp” and “Tonight’s Slow Jams.” It even incorporates the weather around a user’s location into its suggestions, offering “rainy-day” or “starry-night” songs, under a recent partnership with the Weather Channel’s parent company.

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Streaming services have relied increasingly on curation, including human-powered playlisting, as a differentiator beyond radio-like functions and algorithmically-designed song sequencing. Beats Music, for example, uses a brief fill-in-the-blanks questionnaire to deliver playlists, where users can describe their own moods or activities while requesting a genre. Apple agreed to acquire Beats, along with headphone and portable speaker vendor Beats Electronics, for $3 billion in a deal announced last week.

Unlike Beats or its competitors such as Spotify and Rdio, however, Songza doesn’t provide an on-demand streaming service that allows users to pick specific songs. It began as Songza Sets, a discovery-oriented product offered by downloadable music store Amie Street, whose founding team eventually sold the store to Amazon in 2010 and focused on Songza instead.

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The company draws revenue from advertising, and limits the number of times a user can skip a song, thereby paying non-interactive webcasting royalties similar to those paid by Pandora and other Internet radio companies. If Google were to acquire Songza, the royalty rates on songs in its playlists would increase, because of the loss of “pure-play” rate privileges extended to companies that specialize in streaming. Songza, which targets both web and mobile users, also introduced 99-cent-per-week ad-free subscriptions last year.

Songza has about 5.5 million active users, a small fraction of Pandora’s 75 million-plus listeners and significantly less than Spotify’s 10 million paying customers, among its 40 million free and paid users.

Google’s Play Music service already offers a smart-playlisting function around a song or artist, but doesn’t include human-curated playlists. As a specialist in this area, Songza is one of several companies thought to be ripe for consolidation, as large tech companies have stepped up their dealmaking in the online music arena lately.

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Along with Apple’s Beats buy, other giants are thought to be readying new streaming initiatives; Amazon is reportedly preparing to add music to its Prime service within a few weeks, while Google is believed to be launching a YouTube-branded music service later this year. Google hasn’t released any numbers, but it’s widely believed that uptake of its existing subscription service has been slow.

At the investor level, Songza has connections to two of those three. Beyond Amazon’s cash commitment and prior association with Amie Street, Google VP of U.S. retail sales John McAteer has also invested in Songza, as part of a 2012 convertible note worth $1.5 million.

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Songza raised another $4.7 million in a round announced last September, from investors including artist managers Scooter Braun and Troy Carter, as well as Lerer Ventures, Deep Fork Capital, Metamorphic Ventures, William Morris Endeavor, and author Gary Vaynerchuk.  Prior investors also include 1-800 Flowers, NBA star Baron Davis, artist manager Julius Erving Jr., and 24/7 Real Media co-founder Geoff Judge.

The original Songza was a search engine that located and streamed music files found on the web. That product was designed by user interface expert, Mozilla designer and serial entrepreneur Aza Raskin, from whose name Songza took its moniker. Amie Street acquired it in 2008.

SOURCE: http://www.billboard.com/biz/articles/news/digital-and-mobile/6113880/google-offered-15-million-to-buy-songza-report
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Dame Dash Talks CEO Beef W/ Lyor Cohen

Dame by Keith Nelson Jr (@JusAire) June 6th, 2014
Dame Dash

(Palace News) Earlier today, Dame Dash responded to Funkmaster Flex’s rant during his appearance on The Combat Jack Show last night(June 5th). In his interview he explains why he wants to have “CEO beef”, Funkmaster Flex, Steve Stoute helping Jay Z get sued and more. 

Dame Dash was one of the most powerful record executives during one of Hip Hop most volatiles times in the early 2000s. During that time his Roc-A-Fella artists had engaged in beefs with D-Block, Nas and others. However, Dash now feels that CEOs should no longer benefit from rapper beef:

These CEOs  have made so much money off of rap beef for so long. It’s not like when two rappers have a problem with each other they sit them down to squash it. They actually put a battery in their back. Sort of like a battery might have been in Flex’s back and have them beef with each other and make money off the winner.
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Six months after Dash’s DD172 Record label released Curren$y’s Pilot Talk II, Curren$y signed to Warner Bros Records. At the time, Lyor Cohen was the chairman and chief executive at Warner, a fact Dash says Cohen used against him by using Curren$y:

I also noticed that these corporate people were trying to bomb on me and making it look like I had a beef with a rapper to keep the beef off of them. But I couldn’t really answer right then and there, because guys like Lyor Cohen were using people like Warner Bros [Records] money to fund his personal issues. So, I can’t fight a man when he’s using somebody else’s money, especially when I’m funding other businesses. So I was like, Imma let him get that off. Imma see what they do for the next five years.

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Lyor Cohen left Warner Bros Records a year after signing Curren$y, which Dash viewed as making him vulnerable. Cohen is now running an independent label, 300 and Dash remarks that he doesn’t have “other people’s money to use to do all of those corporate tricks he used to do.” Dash wants to “make money off of CEO beef instead of making money off of rap beef.” One monetization method Dame has come up with is holding a public debate with Lyor Cohen. One of Flex’s claims was that Dash accused Cohen of being a culture vulture, however used his financial backing for Roc-A-Fella when Def Jam purchased a stake in the company in 1997. According to Dame, not only did he not “use any of Lyor’s money”, he sold a stake in the company to improve Roc-A-Fella’s independence. Preview The Palace App.

When Flex was like ‘you used their money.’ No I didn’t use any of Lyor’s money. I used Universal’s money. I sold it. We sold it. We made equity and we sold half. The reason why we sold them half is so they can fund it. We were partners 50/50. We built equity and earned it based on a multiple. But of a businessperson, or rather, a person who has a job wouldn’t understand that.
SOURCE: http://allhiphop.com/2014/06/06/dame-dash-talks-ceo-beef-w-lyor-cohen-responds-to-funkmaster-flex-more/
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EXCLUSIVE//Tichina Arnold Blast Bad Boy Records' French Montana

EXCLUSIVE//Former "Martin" actress Tichina Arnold has stepped forward to lash out at Bad Boy Records' French Montana for recently taking a jab at her on Instagram. #TooHotForTV




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Rather than ignore the joke, Arnold unleashed her wrath at the New York native for poking fun at one of her recent photos.

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"Man oh man. Mr. Montana, I've perused (read through with thoroughness and care) your #instagram profile description, pictures & posts... but despite my determined effort, I STILL don't have a CLUE to one very simple question... "Who ARE you?".. I mean other than reading that you've dated a Kardashian, and you seem to enjoy taking extraneous pictures with LEGITIMATE celebrities, I'm baffled (perplexed, confused) as to WHO you are & WHAT you actually DO? How do you contribute to society? What do you do to HELP those in need? What philanthropic works have you done? Are you on the board of any charitable organizations? Do you posses your own charitable organization? Do you own your name? How many of your followers are actually REAL followers and not computer generated? Oh.. And one other thing, if you are gonna post or repost things about other people (such as myself). FYI: Maybe you should put more effort into aligning yourself with people who can ASSIST you with building your brand for longevity, only THEN will you be prepared to (as your boy Martin would so clearly put it) "Stomp with the big dogs". [sic]" (Tichina Arnold's Instagram)

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After a few more emotional remarks, Arnold suggested for French to consider making charitable contributions.

"But either way, I'm pleased to know you are a true fan of the Martin show despite what criticisms you have. Your continued support is proof that for over 30 years, I have CONTRIBUTED something of VALUE on television to many people (including yourself) and many generations and hopefully more to come. Hit me up and maybe I can hook you into individuals who have "Serious Inquiries" regarding hiring you. I just need to know what exactly it is that you are SELLING, because unfortunately, I STILL don't know. Keep your head up & GOD Bless! TICHINA ... Oh! One more thing, if you know of anyone who has an auto immune disease such as #Lupus, go check out my 501c3 organization at www.wewinfoundation.org - Unfortunately thousands of women (and men) battle with this constant life threatening #autoimmune #disease everyday. It would be AMAZING if you made a donation instead of losing 40k in one on one basketball bets with your cohorts. Your positive & monetary support would be GREATLY appreciated. Thank you for your time." (Tichina Arnold's Instagram)
Montana's online diss popped up onto his Instagram page back on May 24.

"I wish Martin could see this right now. He would tear her a** up," a caption read to a photo of Arnold sitting aboard a plane. Montana followed up the caption with "Nahhhhh" (French Montana's Instagram)
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Hot 97 Hosts Ebro Darden and Peter Rosenberg Respond to Chuck D’s Criticism of Summer Jam

Public Enemy's Chuck D Files $100M Lawsuit Against Universal Music Group
Public Enemy's Chuck D Files $100M Lawsuit Against Universal Music Group

In a wide-ranging stream of tweets that began by calling Hot 97’s Summer Jam a “sloppy fiasco” on June 2 and has continued as recently as Thursday evening, Chuck D’s timeline has been scattered with the remnants of a conversation about hip-hop, social activism and radio business. 


Hot 97 on-air hosts Ebro Darden and Peter Rosenberg were pulled into the fray directly and indirectly, responding to remarks that include the charge that Hot 97 is a “CORPlantation.”


“I assume what he was trying to get at is what a lot of people say as far as blaming Hot 97 and radio in general for the demise of hip-hop culture,” Rosenberg told Billboard Thursday. “In Chuck’s case, and what I thought made his points particularly not salient, was he was like blaming the ills of the world basically on radio. Like talking about the prison system and all these terrible things that he was basically attributing to the powers that be.”

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In a telephone interview, Darden and Rosenberg expressed having a cordial, albeit not intimate, friendship with the Public Enemy frontman and said neither had spoken to him on the phone about the tweets.
During Darden’s tenure as the station’s program director (which officially ended in March), he has been consistent in using a clear, open rhetoric to explain how ratings metrics drive song selection.

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“I think there’s validity to what he’s saying as to, ‘I guess Hot 97 could be more local,” Darden said. “But people that listen to us when we research the songs don’t vote those songs high enough to stay around. I have this debate and I put the onus back on the public to participate.”

This has been in response to the sentiment that Hot 97 doesn’t do enough to help develop and provide a platform for local underground artists. 

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“When people ask (the audience) what their favorite music is, they should be talking about these songs that supposedly represent these ideas that are more conscious and socially aware,” Darden said.


Darden and music director Karlie “Hustle” Stenius have demonstrated a concerted effort to grow local music — in addition to its festival stage at Summer Jam, Hot 97 sponsors a monthly “Who’s Next Live” showcase for up-and-coming artists and has an online “Battle of the Beats” voting forum for new songs.

“I’m sure that if I was to have a conversation with Chuck D, I would agree with him on certain issues about what more radio could do,” Rosenberg said. “But the way he stated it now, it’s not accurate. It’s not reflective of what the actual role of the station is.” 

Chuck D and Rosenberg traded several tweets, including Rosenberg explaining the purpose of his Sunday evening underground hip-hop show.


“I didn’t really understand everything he was saying,” Rosenberg said. “I understood the beginning of it and then some of it was like, ‘I don’t fully follow this anymore and I’m going to get out.’ What’s really the upside to me trying to argue on social media with someone who is as admirable, awesome and as important of an artist as Chuck D?”

In addition to stars like Nas and Drake, the 55,000 Summer Jam attendees also saw Troy Ave perform – a New York artist that progressed from “Who’s Next Live” to the festival stage to the concert’s main stage.
“When you’re talking about people like Ebro and myself, you’re talking about people that literally are lifetime radio people who love it and listen to it,” Rosenberg said. “I wish radio sort of served a more grand, positive purpose. But it’s entertainment and a business. And that’s it.”
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