Top 5 Artists Who Can Go A Round Or Two In A Verzuz Battle

Verzuz

Since the start of the pandemic, Verzuz battles between artists have been gaining popularity. It fills fans with a warm nostalgia but also makes people think about who will be next to go head to head. With the growing popularity of Verzuz battles, people are eager to see who would be pinned against each other. […]

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Mary J Blige and Diddy Discuss How Pop Music Tried to”Kill” R&B on IG Live

Mary J Blige

She may be the queen of R&B, but Mary J Blige expressed some concerns about the current state of her kingdom (queendom?) on a spirited discussion with Diddy on IG live in which she claims that pop music killed the R&B genre.

Diddy took to IG live on this week via Hollywood Unlocked after he had asked his followers: “Who killed R&B?” Mary J Blige joined him for a live session (which is archived here) to discuss her thoughts on the genre’s current state and how it got there.

Of R&B being “killed,” she said that “You can’t kill something that’s in our DNA. It’s going to keep transitioning from generation to generation to generation,” noting how many people her age have passed down a love of the genre to their children.

She did however, note that many mainstream radio stations have tried to kill R&B, or at least change the genre to be more in line with mainstream taste.

She first thanked the radio stations around the country that play and support R&B music before explaining that radio stations tend to jump on the bandwagon and play whatever is popular.

She said that the radio stations call it “popular music” when artists like Justin Timberlake and Adele get ahold of it, before explaining that “it [R&B] has been popular music.”

She stated that R&B can’t be killed, explaining that “we have to keep ourselves alive. You can’t kill us because we’re already in the system, in the bloodline, the DNA.”

She cited many popular R&B artists including Chris Brown, Chaka Khan, Etta James, Usher, Sam Cooke, Aretha Franklin, Jazmine Sullivan, and SWV that have not been “killed” and are keeping the genre alive.

She also encouraged R&B fans not to be “sheep” and get angry at the radio stations, but rather be shepherds and promote the genre and request more R&B on mainstream radio.

Mary J Blige’s “Good Morning Gorgeous Tour” starts September 17.

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Justin Timberlake Recognized His Faults And Apologized For His Awkward Dancing At Something In The Water

It’d been a little while since we saw Justin Timberlake take over a stage for a performance. One of the last moments came back at the beginning of 2021 when he performed with Ant Clemons for President Joe Biden’s inauguration. That drought ended when Pharrell invited Timberlake to perform with him during day two of his Something In The Water Festival last weekend. Pharrell’s near-two-hour set also included appearances from N.O.R.E., T.I., and Clipse, who reunited for their first performance together in ten years. While the aforementioned names’ appearances were memorable for their performances, there was a little more to it for Timberlake.

During his time at Something In The Water, Timberlake showed off some dance moves that were quite awkward, to say the least. With thousands of people watching, both at the festival grounds in Washington D.C. and at home through a livestream, it was no surprise that fans had plenty of reactions to Timberlake’s dance moves. After reading the comments over the past few days, the singer took to Instagram to issue an apology.

“D.C., I want to apologize to you for two reasons: here and here,” he said in a video he posted on his Instagram Story as he zoomed in on his feet. “I had a long talk with both of them, individually, and said, ‘Don’t you ever do that to me again.’” Timberlake added that his khaki pants could be the blame for his dance moves as they were “a real khaki vibe.” In the end, he promised to “get it right” in the future and then added a bunch of memes to show that he was not offended by the social media jokes.

You can view Timberlake’s video above and some of the reactions to his dancing below.

Pharrell’s Something In The Water Festival Special Guests Include Clipse, Justin Timberlake, And More

When Pharrell Williams announced the lineup for his upcoming Something In The Water Festival back in April, the flyer touted that he’d be joined by some “phriends” and “some people we can’t announce.” Now, with the festival’s Juneteenth weekend dates looming on the calendar, Pharrell apparently can announce just who his “phriends” are — and while they’re certainly exciting, they’re hardly surprising. Pharrell will be joined by a who’s-who of his former (and current) collaborators, including Clipse, Justin Timberlake, NORE, Q-Tip, SZA, and more.

Of course, Clipse, JT, and NORE are obvious picks. As part of The Neptunes with Chad Hugo, Pharrell had a hand in some of those acts’ biggest hits of the 2000s, including Clipse’s breakout single “Grindin’” and their first album, Lord Willin’, Justin Timberlake’s solo debut Justified, which included bangers like “Senorita,” “Rock Your Body” and “Like I Love You,” and NORE’s “Superthug” and “Nothin’.” Meanwhile, Q-Tip was always a production mentor of Pharrell’s, and Pharrell was even in an A Tribe Called Quest-inspired rap trio with Timbaland and Magoo in 1991 called Surrounded By Idiots (some of their demos are floating around the internet to this day and are worth a listen). And of course, Pharrell produced SZA’s fan-favorite CTRL cut “Supermodel.”

The rest of the festival’s roster is absolutely stacked as well; you can check that out below and get more info on Something In The Water here.