In August, Elon Musk declared of X (formerly Twitter), “Block is going to be deleted as a ‘feature’, except for DMs,” adding, “It makes no sense.” That has left X/Twitter icon Dionne Warwick scratching her head, and she’s like to have a chat with Musk about what’s going on.
Block is going to be deleted as a “feature”, except for DMs
When asked by People about Musk’s desire to remove the ability to block X/Twitter users, Warwick responded, “I have yet to speak to that young man and I intend to because I am not quite sure what he’s doing or if he knows what he’s doing. So until that happens, I’ll reserve my answer to that question.”
Warwick also spoke about a potential chat with Musk back in December, saying, “I have to meet him. I know a lot of people have walked away from Twitter. That’s prior to knowing exactly what he’s going to do. He’s new to the game. His attitude is freedom of speech, which is mine as well. However, there’s a way to do it. That’s one of the conversations I’m going to have with him. What is your true intent? I understand your freedom of speech attitude but how are you going to contain it, so it does not get out of hand?”
Through the art of sampling, artists that you never would’ve expected to link up can create a meaningful bond. As small as they can be, it’s always nice to see distinct musical worlds from different eras bridge together. Of course, it’s usually the result of a great song, and that’s exactly what happened with Doja Cat’s new single “Paint The Town Red.” It samples the legendary Dionne Warwick’s “Walk On By,” and she recently uploaded an Instagram video shouting the rapper and singer out for her homage. Moreover, the soul and R&B star also suggested that fans who might not have heard of the song check it out.
“I wanted to say, I think it’s wonderful that these youngsters who are recording today had decided to listen to some really good stuff of the old folks,” Dionne Warwick expressed concerning Doja Cat. “Those that been recording for well over 20, 30, 40, 50 years and making decisions that good music plays a very important part. So I’m thrilled that you’re discovering us, that you’re keeping us alive.” The 82-year-old earned her first Grammy nomination for “Walk On By,” which she released in April of 1964.
“Did you know that Doja Cat’s recording is gonna be released today?” Dionne Warwick continued. “Now listen, all through the recording is a song that she sampled and [I’m] somehow quite familiar with. I must say that and I certainly hope you are too. This little thing called ‘Walk on By.’ Yeah, I am all through that recording, which is very nice of her to do. I certainly do hope this is lucky and good to her as it has been to me.”
Meanwhile, this is just the latest tribute to Warwick’s outstanding career, and a more tangible display of her influence and impact. With Doja saying that she switched up her sounds a lot for her next project, we can only dream of what else she sampled. These singles have proven to be tastefully contemporary while still making reference to the past, and there’s only more heat in the vault to come. Considering that, for more news and the latest updates on Doja Cat and Dionne Warwick, check back in with HNHH.
Queen Latifah will be honored for her ongoing contributions to the arts later this year at the Kennedy Center Honors. She’ll also be joined by Dionne Warwick, as well as the Bee Gees’ Barry Gibb. The ceremony, hosted by Gloria Estefan, will air on December 3, 2023.
Deborah F. Rutter, President of Kennedy Center, shared a statement amid the news. “This year we pay special tribute to the 50th anniversary of hip hop, a uniquely American culture whose constant evolution is one of enduring relevance and impact, reflecting our society as it has grown into an international phenomenon,” she says. Rutter also adds, “Hip hop has been an important, thriving art form here at the Center for a number of years; what a privilege it is to bestow an Honors to the First Lady of Hip Hop who has inspired us along the way.”
Queen Latifah (Dana Owens) performs at Madison Square Garden on January 3, 1992 in New York City. (Photo by Al Pereira/Getty Images/MIchael Ochs Archives)
“This year we pay special tribute to the 50th anniversary of hip hop, a uniquely American culture whose constant evolution is one of enduring relevance and impact, reflecting our society as it has grown into an international phenomenon,” Kennedy Center President Deborah F. Rutter said in a press statement. She also adds, “Hip hop has been an important, thriving art form here at the Center for a number of years; what a privilege it is to bestow an Honors to the First Lady of Hip Hop who has inspired us along the way.”
Rutter also went on to call the 2023 inductees “an extraordinary mix of individuals who have redefined their art forms and demonstrated remarkable tenacity and authenticity in becoming an original.” “Each of them has explored new terrain,” she added, “stretched artistic boundaries, and most importantly, committed to sharing their gifts with the world.” Chairman of Kennedy Center, David M. Rubenstein, additionally shared a statement on Queen Latifah. “Queen Latifah shaped and innovated the art form in its earliest days,” he says. “Representing Black women everywhere and using the idiom to become a powerful voice for change.”
Dionne Warwick has canceled several upcoming performances due to a “medical incident.” Concertgoers will be issued refunds for tickets for shows scheduled June 22-24. The 82-year-old R&B/soul legend is said to be recovering from a “minor medical incident” according to Entertainment Tonight. As such, her planned show at the Rivers Casino Des Plaines near Chicago will not proceed as scheduled. It was supposed to take place next weekend. Future dates in New York and Delaware in July have not yet been fully addressed. ET also said that the legendary artist is “on the mend.”
In recent years, Warwick has experienced a resurgence of interest. This is largely due to her humorous and charming presence on Twitter. Her witty commentary on various topics has endeared her to younger fans. Warwick has shown admiration for Taylor Swift. She has made playful jabs at The Weeknd and Chance The Rapper’s stage names. The legend has also expressed a hilarious lack of familiarity with Billie Eilish. This has led young fans to explore her timeless music. Her catalogue includes Grammy Hall of Fame hits like “Alfie,” “Don’t Make Me Over,” and “Walk On By.”
Dionne Warwick Is The Fun Twitter Auntie We All Need
Dionne Warwick may be a music legend, but she also has a hilariously fierce attitude online. Back when Wendy Williams was still on the air, the legend even called her out by name on Twitter. “A friend alerted me that Wendy Williams was spending a lot of not nice time speaking on me,” Warwick tweeted. “I tuned in to her show to catch the last few minutes of her speaking about me and as in the past, she seems not to be able to speak without maliciously made comments.” Warwick had some advice for Wendy, however: “There’s an old saying you can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar!”
Embracing her reputation as a classic jokester, Warwick has also playfully joked about becoming Twitter’s new CEO. She even followed up on a collaboration with Chance The Rapper. Her Twitter is really a goldmine of hilarity and sass. However, there is one topic she prefers not to address: the recent feud between fellow R&B pioneer Anita Baker and former tour opener Babyface. When asked by Lil Duval to intervene and resolve the conflict, Warwick responded with a dismissive tone. “Baby, that ain’t got nothing to do with me,” she said. Stay tuned to HNHH for the latest updates.
Dionne Warwick has canceled a number of performances due to a “medical incident” and will be refunding tickets for June 22-24, according to Entertainment Tonight. ET is calling it a “minor medical incident” and says the 82-year-old R&B/soul legend (and Twitter’s favorite auntie) is “on the mend.” She was scheduled to play the Rivers Casino Des Plaines near Chicago next weekend. She has future dates in New York and Delaware in July; no announcements have yet been made about those.
Warwick experienced a burst in renewed interest in recent years thanks to her jovial and witty Twitter presence. Her commentary on such subjects as being a Swiftie, roasting The Weeknd and Chance The Rapper’s stage names, and her unfamiliarity with Billie Eilish endeared her to younger fans, who then set out to discover her timeless music, which includes Grammy Hall of Fame hits “Alfie,” “Don’t Make Me Over,” and “Walk On By.”
Elon Musk is reportedly stepping down as CEO of Twitter. While many Twitter users were elated over the news, the future of the social platform is still uncertain.
In a post shared to Twitter today, Musk revealed that he has lined up his replacement.
“Excited to announce that I’ve a new CEO for X/Twitter,” said Musk. “She will be starting in ~6 weeks! My role will transition to being exec chair & CTO, overseeing product, software & sysops.”
Excited to announce that I’ve hired a new CEO for X/Twitter. She will be starting in ~6 weeks!
My role will transition to being exec chair & CTO, overseeing product, software & sysops.
At the time, Musk had not yet named the woman who will be taking on the role, however, one Twitter favorite has teased that she, herself, will step in after Musk. Singer Dionne Warwick revealed, seemingly as a joke, that she will be Twitter’s new CEO.
“I am excited to officially take on the role as CEO of Twitter,” said Warwick. “This has been in the works for months.”
I am excited to officially take on the role as CEO of Twitter. This has been in the works for months. https://t.co/I46A4zKh1O
Teyana Taylor is a woman of many talents. She’s a singer, a dancer, a choreographer, and an actress. Her career has spanned more than a decade. In that time, she has worked with artists like Beyoncé, Pharrell, Jay-Z, and more. While she may not be a household name as an actress, she has certainly been in her fair share of films and TV shows. Now, it seems that she is set to play the legendary Dionne Warwick in a new biopic that Taylor herself is helping to develop.
Oddly enough, Teyana Taylor got her start in film on the now-defunct MTV reality show, My Super Sweet Sixteen. The show featured extremely rich teens planning and executing their perfect sixteenth birthday parties. It was certainly a product of its time, as the flaunting of extreme wealth is generally frowned upon these days. Since then, Taylor has worked in many artistic mediums and proven herself to be a talented, multi-faceted artist. Through a friendship with Pharrell Williams, she was able to begin her music career and has now released three albums. Taylor has also continued to act, albeit mainly in more independent films. However, she recently starred in the drama A Thousand and One, a film that gives her talent a chance to really shine. With the new biopic in the works, it appears that Taylor might be setting herself up to be one of the new leading ladies in Hollywood.
Taylor Doing Right By Dionne Warwick
Teyana Taylor wears a long blazer with different patterns in red/blue/white and gold jewelry with rhinestones, outside before Thom Browne show. (Photo by Jeremy Moeller/Getty Images)
Teyana Taylor isn’t just winging it when it comes to playing the iconic Dionne Warwick. In an interview with The TamronHall Show, Taylor makes it clear that she wants to do right by Warwick and tell the story as it should be told. In fact, she says that she and Warwick talk all the time. “We talk almost every day,” said Taylor. “That’s my girl.”
In contrast to many biopics, Teyana Taylor wants to make sure nothing is more dramatized than it needs to be. She believes the story should be a truthful representation of the events of Warwick’s life. “A lot of these stories get misconstrued or dramatized to an extent,” Taylor clarified. “That’s not really where we want to go.” What do you think about this casting? Is Teyana Taylor the right choice to play the iconic Dionne Warwick? Let us know in the comments!
At Bowie State University’s Fine and Performing Arts Center, hundreds of people turned out to watch the opening of the Dionne Warwick Theater. The theater, which is now the only performing arts center in the globe to bear Warwick’s name, was unveiled with the Grammy-winning six-time nominee in attendance.
BeBe Winans, a gospel singer, attended the ceremony in person and surprised Warwick with an impromptu rendition of “Amazing Grace” to commemorate the occasion. Through videos that were played during the performance, a slew of other stars, including Phylicia Rashad, Debbie Allen, and Tom Selleck, also paid tribute to Warwick.
The tribute strengthened the bond between Bowie State, the first HBCU in Maryland, and Warwick.
Teyana Taylor let the tea spill to Tamron Hall, confirming that she’s in the process of playing Dionne Warwick in an eventual biopic.
“We’re already working on it,” Taylor said in a preview clip of their interview shared exclusively with Billboard. “We’re in the building process right now. I always wanted to make sure I could lock in with any person that I would be playing.”
During the interview, Taylor noted that she was pulling her inspiration from biopics of other famous musicians, including 1993’s What’s Love Got To Do With It about Tina Turner and 2004’s Ray about Ray Charles. “I miss when movies were like that, when you got to really get to know them and tap in,” she shared.
Details about her project portraying Warwick are still under wraps. However, Taylor revealed that the two of them are close and “talk every day.” She is also going to eat at her favorite Jersey Italian restaurant soon.
“I’ve always been a firm believer and stood on safety,” Taylor added. “She’s had a wonderful career, and I think right now is about making her feel as safe as possible to tell her story because a lot of these stories get misconstrued or dramatized to an extent. That’s not really where we want to go.”
However, Warwick’s rich musical legacy often goes unacknowledged despite her popularity with the younger generation due to her online presence and likeness being the focal point for a few viral Saturday Night Live sketches. Now, that is where her documentary, Dionne Warwick: Don’t Make Me Over (named after her 1963 song), comes in.
Co-directed by Dave Wooley (the co-author of Dionne Warwick: My Life, As I See It and Say A Little Prayer) and David Heilbroner, the documentary serves as a reminder of Warwick’s impact has had in her over six-decade-long career. The conversation about nepotism babies in the music industry has fizzled out. However, there is there’s still a conversation to be had about musical families to which Warwick belongs to one of New Jersey’s most famous ones.
The Drinkard Singers, Cissy Houston, Whitney Houston, and Warwick all share a bloodline. Although her late cousin Whitney Houston may be more widely known to today’s music lovers, Warwick has an equally robust catalog and impact. In fact, pop singers like Rihanna and Lizzo owe a great deal to Warwick for the doors she knocked down in the genre after she became the first African-American woman to win a Grammy award in the pop category in 1968 for her song “Do You Know The Way To San Jose?”
While we await the day Warwick gets her major studio-backed biopic like her cousin, in which she hopes Teyana Taylor will play her, the documentary Dionne Warwick: Don’t Make Me Over is a great place to start familiarizing yourself with Warwick’s life story.
As a classically trained musician and songwriter, Warwick’s music is the actual musical manifestation of trickle-down economics. As a result, Warwick’s music has influenced and been covered by some of the most revered musicians, including Aretha Franklin, Luther Vandross, and Ahmad Jamal, not to mention the dozens of times her work has been sampled.
Warwick’s 1967 song “I Say A Little Prayer” was reimagined by the late Aretha Franklin. It became one of the singer’s most popular songs receiving several placements in television and movies, the latest being Sing 2. Her 1964 song, “A House Is Not A Home,” was covered by jazz music icon Ella Fitzgerald in 1968, gospel music trailblazer Mavis Staples in 1969, and R&B titan Luther Vandross in 1981. Her 1973 song “You’re Gonna Need Me” was sampled by one of hip-hop’s most respected producers, the late J Dilla, in 2006 on his song “Stop!,” Usher in 2004 on his song “Throwback” featuring Jadakiss off his diamond-certified album Confessions, and “Want You Back” by rapper Fabulous in 2012 which features Joe Budden and Teyana Taylor.
Next, her 1964 song “Walk On By” was sampled by rap legend Slick Rick in 1988 on his iconic track “Mona Lisa,” Logic in 2013 on his track by the same now. The song was also covered by Aretha Franklin the same year and in 1969 by the late Isaac Hayes. Lastly, Warwick’s 1963 “Anyone Who Had a Heart” was sampled by Mos Def on his song “Know That” in 1999, and former G.O.O.D. Music signee Cyhi the Prynce in 2014 on his song “Napoleon.”
Warwick also embodies what it means to be socially responsible with your platform as an entertainer. Neck and neck with her lengthy discography, Warwick’s advocacy work is just as vast. A large portion of Warwick’s documentary Don’t Make Me Over is dedicated to showcasing her philanthropy and advocacy work across several causes, including AIDS research and LGBTQIA+ rights.
Long before Lady Gaga was singing about being born this way or Sam Smith spoke out supporting the Marriage Act, there was Dionne Warwick’s 1985 song “That’s What Friends Are For.” The track, a cover of Rod Stewart’s 1982 single by the same name, was recorded by Warwick featuring Elton John, Gladys Knight, and Stevie Wonder to raise funds for AIDS research during the height of the epidemic. After its release, the song became a major hit raising over $3 million for amfAR, The Foundation for AIDS Research. According to the documentary, it has raised $10 million for AIDS research. It will continue to raise money perpetually as Warwick signed away the rights to the profits to the organization. The song also earned Warwick another Grammy for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group and the top spot on the charts.
Another cause Warwick lent her voice was misogyny in rap music in the 1990s. While it remains a pervasive problem over twenty years later, at one point, the New Jersey native called a meeting of hip-hop’s biggest names to discuss the matter. Rap legend Snoop Dogg, an attendee of the meeting, recounted how he was out gangstered by Warwick, making him rethink his role in the problem. In recent times, Warwick’s advocacy work has mainly been done behind the scenes. Still, there are moments when the musician takes to her beloved Twitter page to speak on a matter (most recently, Britney Spears’ conservatorship).
Yes, Dionne Warwick is the undisputed Queen of Twitter and everyone’s favorite Internet Aunt, but let’s not forget her hefty contributions to popular music as we know it today.
