Another legendary R&B singer has passed away. Chuck Jackson, a singer in the doo-wop group, Del-Vikings, died last week at 85 in Atlanta, Georgia. Jackson is considered one of the best soul singers of all time. The crooner was most known for his hit song, “Any Day Now,” but he also had other hit records such as “I Keep Forgettin’,” “Hand It Over,” and “What’s With This Loneliness.”
“Any Day Now” landed him a record deal with Motown Records in 1960 as other prominent artists such as James Brown and Elvis Presley also covered the track. He greatly inspired legendary singer Dionne Warwick as the two collaborated and were labelmates.
“Another heartache has come my way. Chuck Jackson has made his transition. I’ll truly miss his daily calls checking on me and his wonderful voice. Rest in heavenly peace my dear friend.”
Over 20 of his singles made it on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the 1960s. He has also made over 20 albums, with his final project, I’ll Never Get Over You, being released in 1997. Jackson often referred to New York’s Apollo Theater as his second home. He was even included in the Apollo Hall of Fame documentary in 1993. In 2015, the soul singer was inducted into the R&B Hall of Fame and the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame.
PUMA and Cordae have announced the PUMA x CORDAE HI-LEVEL collection.
The eight-piece collection includes contemporary streetwear in grayscale with striking graphic prints and real cobranding, as well as time-honored shoe designs like the HI-LEVEL Suede and HI-LEVEL RS-X. The collection also include three t-shirts, a jacket, a hoodie, and sweatpants.
The collection will be offered starting on Thursday, February 23, with prices ranging from $40 to $120. The whole PUMA x CORDAE HI-LEVEL collection will only be sold at Foot Locker, but both shoe designs will be available on PUMA.com.
NBA® 2K23 Season 5 will be arriving to MyCAREER, MyTEAM, and The W* on February 24 with new content and rewards, according to a recent announcement from 2K. NBA 2K23‘s NBA 2K Producer Series will also continue in Season 5, with a brand-new tracklist that is accessible in-game and a call for international artists to submit their greatest verses.
Players will be welcomed to Miami in NBA 2K23 Season 5, the city of immaculate, white-hot beaches, tropical art deco, and Tyler Herro, the Heat’s current Sixth Man of the Year. The 23-year-old playmaker brings the fire to every game with his colorful array of abilities, and now, as the featured hero of Season 5, he is showcasing them. Additional updates include:
MyCAREER additions offer tropical rewards for players to unlock, including a Hawaiian shirt, a Ja Morant shoe and an all-new Pocket Bike to cruise through The City (New Gen) and The G.O.A.T. Boat (Current Gen) as you climb your way to Level 40.
MyTEAM in Season 5 will feature the first ever 99-rated card for reaching Level 40 in NBA 2K23, a Dark Matter Tyler Herro, and to start you on your journey to Level 40, players will receive a Free Agent Miami Heat LeBron James card. This Season’s MyTEAM rewards are jam-packed as ever so look out for rewards throughout the Season as well as a brand new Domination tier. Plus, over 400 new cards being added including ‘23 NBA: Series 2 cards with 30 new Pink Diamond Collection Complete Rewards available to earn.
The W* updates feature content surrounding the reigning champ Las Vegas Aces, including a Becky Hammon Head Coach card, T-Shirt and more. Additional updates include Clothing Bundles, Player Boosts and more.
2K Beats continues its inaugural NBA 2K Producer Series with an entire season of all-new beats from top producers BoogzDaBeast, JohnG, Kosine, Big Duke, Bizness Boi and WondaGurl. Players can record their own verses over these beats and share it on social media using #NBA2KProducerSeries to show off their own talent to the world.
You can learn more about the updates in the latest Courtside Report.
Offset denied the reports, but if these rumors are true, it doesn’t seem like Quavo and Offset will be making up anytime soon to revive the group. On his latest single, “Greatness,” Quavo offered a hint about the future of the group.
“Came in, swept the game like a storm with the motherf*ckin’ flow, Take’ did that / So don’t ask ’bout the group, he gone, we gone…it can’t come back,” raps Quavo in “Greatness.”
While it seems unlikely that we will get another Migos album, or that Quavo and Offset will continue Migos as a duo, Quavo appears to be proud of the impact the trio made throughout their career.
“This how legends was born, greatness / I couldn’t do it without the greatest group in the world, hmm, greatness,” Quavo raps on the song’s outro.
In the accompanying music video, Quavo is seen looking through photos and videos of the group, and reaping the fruits of their labor by way of driving in luxury vehicles and flashy jewelry.
In an interview with the magazine accompanying the announcement, SZA revealed that she has trouble performing some of her songs due to the events that have taken place since the release of some of them.
One of her songs, “20 Something,” from her 2017 album CTRL, contains a spoken interlude from her grandmother. She revealed that since her grandmother died, the song feels a lot different performing.
“I never know [what to expect],” SZA said. “When I was performing ’20 Something’ before my grandma died, it didn’t hit me the same. And then after my grandma died, I could barely get through it at rehearsal. Who knows what any of these songs will bring up for me in real life?”
“Shooting the video for ‘Nobody Gets Me’ was really f*cking sad,” said SZA. “I cried a lot. I’m just going to wing it and see.”
SZA will be honored at 2023 Billboard Women In Music Awards as Woman Of The Year on Wednesday, March 1 at 7 p.m. EST at the YouTube Theater in Los Angeles. Fans will be able to tune into the ceremony via live stream.
In a recent interview with Rolling Stone, Liam Neeson revealed that producer Barbara Broccoli reached out to him numerous times in the 1990s. Apparently, she wanted to know if he was interested in playing the role of 007. That’s right, Liam Neeson was almost James Bond. Neeson had recently been nominated for Best Actor at the Oscars for Schindler’s List. Many were surprised to find out that Neeson turned down the opportunity to play such an iconic action star. However, for him, the final decision came down to his wife, Natasha Richardson.
When asked about the role of 007, Neeson said “I know the Broccolis. They looked at a bunch of actors. ‘Schindler’s List’ had come out and Barbara [Broccoli] had called me a couple of times to ask if I was interested, and I said, ‘Yes, I would be interested.’ And then my lovely wife [Natasha Richardson], God rest her soul, said to me while we were shooting ‘Nell’ down in the Carolinas, ‘Liam, I want to tell you something: If you play James Bond, we’re not getting married.’”
Liam Neeson And His Wife
Actor Liam Neeson attends “Marlowe” premiere during 70th San Sebastian International Film Festival at Kursaal, San Sebastian on September 24, 2022 in San Sebastian, Spain. (Photo by Carlos Alvarez/Getty Images)
Neeson added that “She gave me a James Bond ultimatum. And she meant it! Come on, there’s all those gorgeous girls in various countries getting into bed and getting out of bed. I’m sure a lot of her decision-making was based on that!” Apparently, Neeson’s love for Richardson was stronger than his desire to play the iconic action star. Therefore, he never had a serious meeting with Broccoli. However, Neeson loved to tease Broccoli about the situation. He would do so by “going behind her back, making my fingers as though I’m holding a gun, and [humming the James Bond theme].” He said he “loved doing that shit!”
Thankfully, Neeson got a second chance at further stardom with the Taken movie franchise. He was also in the Star Wars franchise as Qui-Gon Jinn in Star Wars: The Phantom Menace. However, that is not a franchise he is interested in returning to. He recently said on Watch What Happens Live! that he wouldn’t return. “There’s so many spinoffs of ‘Star Wars.’” he said. “It’s diluting it to me, and it’s taken away the mystery and the magic in a weird way.” Watch Neeson’s most recent performance in the film Marlowe now playing in theaters.
In January, Logic had another announcement: College Park, his debut independent album, is due out this Friday, February 24. The Boondocks-themed trailer highlighted Logic’s boundless creativity, and he released “Wake Up” featuring Lucy Rose to continue to paint College Park‘s thematic playground.
Today, February 22, he added “Lightsabers” featuring C Dot Castro to the mix, and it flirts with the same repetitive structure and reflective attitude.
In the “Lightsabers” video, Logic raps atop various fantastical landscapes, including a ginormous lava-spitting volcano. “It’s a good day, good day, good day, good day / Had a lot of bad ones this year / But today’s a good day.”
Elsewhere, Logic states himself and his neighbors are “shinin’ like lightsabers” and touches on reclaiming his career: “I hope you don’t give up your dreams for a nine-to-five / Don’t get me wrong, it’ll pay your bills / But if you don’t love your job, tell me, what’s the point? / Don’t disappoint, better make it a point to do it a better way.”
Watch the “Lightsabers” video above.
College Park is out on February 24 via Three Oh One Productions. Pre-order it here.
Bill Kramer took over as CEO of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences last July. However, since then, he has spent a lot of time managing serious issues. In the past two years, the Oscars ratings are lower than they’ve ever been in the history of the award show. Now, while re-engaging viewers, Kramer has to contend with one of the biggest television scandals of last year. It’s been almost a year since Will Smith slapped Chris Rock at last year’s Oscars. However, the Academy is still dealing with the repercussions. Kramer says that there’s now a “crisis team” in place to handle unwanted surprises during the ceremony.
In an interview with Time Magazine, the outlet asked Kramer what measures are being put in place this year to prepare for potential surprised. For one, they have Jimmy Kimmel hosting the Oscars, who is used to dealing with live TV, where things don’t always go as planned. According to Kramer, a host who can navigate unexpected moments is crucial to the show’s success. Kramer went on to say, “But we have a whole crisis team, something we’ve never had before, and many plans in place. We’ve run many scenarios. So it is our hope that we will be prepared for anything that we may not anticipate right now but that we’re planning for just in case it does happen.”
The Oscars 2022
Will Smith appears to slap Chris Rock onstage during the 94th Annual Academy Awards at Dolby Theatre on March 27, 2022 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Neilson Barnard/Getty Images)
The “crisis team” has reportedly been running possible scenarios and solutions to what could occur during the show. When asked about what those scenarios look like, Kramer explained how the crisis team will come together for various issues. “Because of last year, we’ve opened our minds to the many things that can happen at the Oscars,” Kramer said. “But these crisis plans—the crisis communication teams and structures we have in place—allow us to say this is the group that we have to gather very quickly. This is how we all come together. This is the spokesperson. This will be the statement. He also said that, depending on the crisis itself, they “already have frameworks in place that we can modify.”
Time also mentioned how the President of the Academy recently said their response to the Will Smith slap was inadequate. Then, the interviewer asked what an accurate response would have looked like. According to Kramer, people are absolutely looking at that as the award show comes closer. He hopes they can move swiftly and compassionately to engage with members and nominees in a transparent way. He says, “Let’s hope something like this never happens again—but we could have moved more quickly. And I’m not just talking about the night of the show. This is really our response after the show, and how we spoke about it, and how we talked to Will and Chris, and our hosts and our members.”
Families have known Sesame Street for their star-studded guest list for decades. The show’s 53-year run has been strong since 1969 and its guest list only continues to impressively grow. Most recently, Lizzo made a cameo on the famous children’s show. Everyone is saying her appearance may be taking the (cookie) cake of 2023’s guests. In a segment that Sesame Street posted on Twitter, Elmo and Lizzo admire a flute made entirely out of chocolate chip cookies. This is, of course, a nod to Lizzo’s ability to play the flute and the show’s affinity for cookies (i.e. Cookie Monster).
In the segment, Lizzo plays the cookie flute as beautifully as one can expect Lizzo to play any kind of flute. Soon after Lizzo plays and Elmo celebrates her magnificence, Cookie Monster enters the frame. Obviously, this is not surprising because of the monster’s affinity for his namesake. No one is surprised by the existence of the cookie flute in Sesame Street (this is Sesame Street, after all). He devours the cookie flute, and something wild happens– even as far as Sesame Street goes. Watch below:
Does this have the potential to give kids unrealistic expectations about how wonderful or delicious instruments can be? Absolutely. However, it is safe to assume that no matter what, eating a flute will not likely result in your body itself becoming a flute. Even if the flute is blessed by Lizzo, the likelihood is slim. However, if Cookie Monster can do something, anyone can do something. If nothing else, the segment will encourage cookie-loving kids to set their musical instrument achievement goals high.
Lizzo’s cameo on the iconic children’s show, Sesame Street, only tops off her fantastic start to 2023. Recently, she received the Grammy award for Record of the Year for her song About Damn Time. She was the first black woman to receive the award since Whitney Houston won it for I Will Always Love You in 1994. That was 19 years ago. Additionally, she’ll be taking the world by storm with 40 tour dates across the world in 2023 and 2024. Also, Lizzo’s size-inclusive clothing line “Yitty” is a hit that provides shape wear, and style for sizes 6XL-XS. Lizzo’s cookie flute is only the beginning for her.
