During an interview with Vulture, Kaytranada revealed that he was seemingly approached to work on Drake’s album, Honestly, Nevermind.
While attending a Coachella after-party, Kaytranada said he was fielded to see if he would open to produce on the body of work or “make beats.” At the moment, he replied to Drake’s supposed representative saying it would be “an honor.” However, that didn’t go over well with Drake.
After time had passed, Kaytranada alleged that word got back to him to that his “Sure, hit me up” response wasn’t warm enough. “Was I supposed to be like, ‘Oh my God, for real? Drake?’ I’m not like that,” he said.
The 2022 project, which featured singles “Sticky,” “Massive,” and “Jimmy Cooks,” was Drake’s head dive into dance music. Alight the album went to debut atop the charts, a collaboration from Kaytranada could’ve helped it remain in the top spot for much longer.
Drake wasn’t the only superstar to fumble a collaboration with Kaytranada. Later in the conversation, he confessed why his beloved remix of Beyoncé’s “Cuff It” track isn’t available to streaming platforms. Ultimately, Kaytranada nixed the upload due to financial reasons.
“Sometimes people don’t see your worth and how important you are,” he said. “I know what I mean to people.” His response was after he claimed Beyoncé’s team offered to pay him next to nothing or “less money than what much smaller artists have paid” while “retaining all the rights to the song.”
It appears Kaytranada has no problem walking away from what doesn’t serve him.
Athletes around the world have massive fan bases. Similar to the players, there are several beloved sports team mascots with followings of their own. The New York Liberty’s Ellie The Elephant has become the WNBA’s latest breakout star.
It was clear Ellie received the silver dress code notice, as the sassy elephant was rolled onto center court dressed in a mockup of Beyoncé’s tour look. With her own Renaissance World Tour dancers, Ellie slayed the mashup of “Move” featuring Grace Jones and Nina Sky’s “Move Ya Body” with hints of “Formation.”
Users online raved about the Halftime performance. Many even joked that a floral arrangement from Beyoncé would arrive at the arena soon. Ellie welcomed the idea, writing, “If this happened, tears just might fall .”
— Ellie The Elephant (@BigEllieLiberty) June 23, 2024
Ellie’s Beyhive-certified tribute stated well before see hit the Barclays Center’s floor. In a clip shared to Ellie’s official X (formerly Twitter) profile she is seen Sasha Fiercly stomping across the Snipes pre-game carpet in another Beyoncé-inspired outfit with a hand fan made up of the Renaissance cover art.
You may not be able to break Beyoncé’s soul, but it’s at least about to be tested: She’s currently facing a new lawsuit accusing her of copyright infringement, The Guardian reports.
Beyoncé, Big Freedia, Jay-Z, and Sony Music are named as defendants in the lawsuit, and it’s centered on Freedia’s “Explode,” which is sampled on “Break My Soul.” Da Showstoppaz claim that “Explode” infringes the copyright of their 2002 song “Release A Wiggle”: “Explode” features the phrase “release your wiggle” repeated and that part of the song is sampled on “Break My Soul.”
The suit claims “Explode” used “unique and distinctive lyrics and musical composition” originally from Da Showstoppaz and adds, “Defendants used plaintiffs’ words, melody, and musical arrangement from their copyrighted works. […] Any reasonable person listening to ‘Release A Wiggle’ and ‘Explode’ would conclude that the songs are substantially similar.”
Da Showstoppaz’s Tessa Avie, Keva Bourgeois, Henri Braggs, and Brian Clark are seeking to receive credits on both “Break My Soul” and “Explode,” and are aiming to receive royalties from the songs’ future earnings, along with damages.
Meanwhile, in more positive news for Beyoncé and Jay-Z, both artists made it onto the Apple Music list of the 100 best albums ever that has been blowing up the internet lately. Jay-S has one album on the list and Beyoncé has two, including one in the top 10.
The 2024 BET Awards are recognizing some of the most outstanding movies of the past year. The nominations for Best Movie are definitely well-deserved. From action films to drama, comedy, and even animation, there’s a healthy lineup of films up for the prize this year. Last year, Black Panther: Wakanda Forevertook home the award, and eight movies will stand the chance to do so this year.
Undeniably, one of the best movies released so far this decade is American Fiction. The comedy-drama playfully pokes at the topic of stereotypes surrounding “Black” books. Jeffrey Wright, in a leading role, plays a brilliant writer who reluctantly writes a book filled with Black literary stereotypes. Shockingly, the book becomes a major hit.
American Fiction is smart, witty, and handles important subjects with care. Supporting roles from Tracee Ellis Ross, Issa Rae, and Erika Alexander boost the overall enjoyability of the movie. Wright is also nominated for Best Actor at the 2024 BET Awards.
Renaissance: A Film By Beyoncé
It’s common knowledge that Beyoncé is a hard-working performer. While the Renaissance album was an instant classic, the tour took things up a notch. As if she couldn’t blow our minds anymore, she released the mesmerizing Renaissance film. Altogether, this project encapsulates Beyoncé’s talent, perseverance, and impressive leadership qualities. Beyoncé herself is up for a total of five awards at the upcoming 2024 BET Awards.
The Spider-Man multiverse, or the Spider-Verse has produced back-to-back hits. The second film, Across, became a huge hit across the globe. One could argue that it was the best animated movie of 2023. The continued journey of Miles Morales was boosted by the appearance of numerous other Spider-people. The film also featured a star-studded cast, including Shameik Moore, Brian Tyree Henry, Issa Rae, Mahershala Ali, and Daniel Kaluuya, among others.
The Little Mermaid
When Halle Bailey was announced to take on the role of Ariel in Disney’s live-action adaptation of The Little Mermaid, the internet was split down the middle. Racism reared its ugly head, which caused plenty of controversy at the time. Thankfully, Disney did not budge, and Bailey nailed the role out of the park, which has resulted in a nomination at the upcoming 2024 BET Awards. With an angelic voice able to stop you in your tracks, she carried the soundtrack effortlessly. The movie also fared well critically, with Bailey’s performance receiving great praise.
The Book Of Clarence
The Book Of Clarence is a hilarious story about a man named Clarence looking to gain fame by pretending to be a new Messiah. The film is set in the Bible days following the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Several A-list actors make up the cast movie and provide an entertaining watch. These include LaKeith Stanfield, Anna Diop, David Oyelowo, Omar Sy, Alfre Woodard, Caleb McLaughlin, and many more. At the 2024 BET Awards, LaKeith is also up for the Best Actor award.
Bob Marley: One Love
The biographical film about the legendary Bob Marley might have received mixed critical reviews, but it resonated well with audiences. Kingsley Ben-Adir starred as the icon, bringing his charm and charisma to the role. Lashana Lynch and James Norton also stole the show as Rita Marley and Chris Blackwell, respectively. Altogether, the cast delivered exceptionally, and the music was also excellently handled.
The Color Purple
The Color Purple is enough to make you emotional. Now add the voices of Fantasia and Taraji P. Henson, and the tears are guaranteed to fall. The 2024 BET Awards are recognizing this exceptional musical for its amazing script, cast, and also the soundtrack. Notably, Danielle Brooks was a major standout in the movie, earning her another nomination in the Best Actress category. Directed by Blitz Bawaule, The Color Purple is indeed worth the hype. If anything, it amplifies the legacy of the iconic franchise.
The Equalizer 3
News of the reunion of Denzel Washington and Dakota Fanning was met with a great reception. After starring in 2004’s Man On Fire, the pair joined forces two decades later on The Equalizer 3. This action-packed film is the third in the franchise and packed a lot more punch than previous installments. As always, Washington shined in his role as the no-nonsense Robert McCall. Beyond the critical praise, The Equalizer 3 was also a box office hit, earning over $190 million at the box office.
Act II: Cowboy Carter, the title of the new album by Beyonce was recently revealed on the superstar’s website. The new era to follow Renaissance is almost fully upon us, as the project is expected to be released on March 29, 2024. Beyonce nearly broke the internet when she announced the album’s first two singles in her iconic Verizon ad. Since then, “Texas Hold ‘Em” has reached number one on the Hot 100 chart and became a viral hit on social media.
Fans are beyond ready for this country album, and the reception of the lead singles proves it. Beyonce has already given us a taste of what to expect from Cowboy Carter with “Texas Hold ‘Em” and “16 Carriages.” However, there are a few other things we hope to accompany the highly anticipated album. While we may not be able to enforce these terms on Queen Bey, we can certainly dream.
During a recent interview with Knox News, country icon Dolly Parton was asked if Beyonce had recorded any covers of her music before. “Well, I think she has,” Parton answered, to the delight of fans everywhere. “I think she’s recorded ‘Jolene’ and I think it’s probably gonna be on her country album, which I’m very excited about that,” she concluded. Admittedly, Ms. Parton only subtly revealed that Beyoncé’s cover could appear on the album. However, there’s a chance the track, if it exists, could feature Dolly Parton herself, which would be phenomenal. If there are guest appearances on Cowboy Carter, Beyonce, we want Dolly Parton to be one. Just imagine how iconic it would be!
Over the years, the Beyhive has witnessed Blue Ivy’s growth, and they are almost as proud of her as her actual parents. Once dubbed the most famous baby in the world, she is now a 12-year-old Grammy Award winner. Additionally, her appearance on Jay-Z’s “Glory” when she was just two days old earned her a Guinness World Record. Blue Ivy appeared on “Brown Skin Girl” with her mother in 2019. Also, the Beyhive saw a lot of her in 2023 throughout the Renaissance World Tour. However, we would love to see her make an appearance on another Beyonce track, preferably on Cowboy Carter. Evidently, she has been honing her craft behind the scenes. It would be lovely to hear how her voice has matured since “Brown Skin Girl.”
Beyonce has never been one to shy away from experimentation, and we expect nothing less from Cowboy Carter. Throughout her career, she has consistently pushed musical boundaries, and it’s always paid off. Cowboy Carter is an album that will be heavily influenced by country music. However, knowing Beyoncé, she will bring her twist to it, and that’s exactly what we want. While paying homage to the roots of the genre, we believe Queen Bey will also be able to push the envelope yet again on this album.
Music Videos (please?)
Throughout the Renaissance era, Beyoncé did not release any music videos. That was a huge contrast to her last album, Lemonade, which had a video for each song. For Renaissance, the closest fans got to visuals was the documentary film. However, for Cowboy Carter, we want music videos. Pretty please. As a matter of fact, we won’t be greedy and ask for a music video for each song. Just please, give us visuals this time, Bey.
Another World Tour
Undeniably, the Renaissance World Tour in 2023 remains one of the most iconic things to happen in recent music history. Some have even called the experience life-changing, and that’s no surprise at all. Beyoncé went all out with it like we know she would again if she organizes a tour for Cowboy Carter. If anybody can surpass the excellence and spectacle that was the RWT, it is certainly Beyoncé herself. While she would have her work cut out for her, Queen Bey has never been one to disappoint. We do hope she expands to more locations this time though. Hive members in many more countries around the world would love an opportunity to see her live as well.
Move over Mission Impossible. If anyone needed even more confirmation that pop stars saved movie theaters in 2023, AMC Theaters revealed just how thankful they were for Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour and Beyoncé’s Renaissance Tour being released as films through unique deals with their chain.
“What is particularly noteworthy is how much AMC benefited from our trailblazing industry leading efforts with our highly successful distribution of two concert movies Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour and Renaissance: A Film By Beyoncé,” AMC’s CEO Adam Aron shared with Deadline. He also noted, “Literally, all of that increase in AMC’s Revenue and EBITDA is attributable to our having shown these two movies in our theatres in the U.S. and internationally.”
By their two movies alone, their fourth-quarter earnings rose by 11%, providing the theater company with $1.1 billion in revenue. This was way higher than what Wall Street had apparently initially projected for AMC.
“This is a stunning result given that neither of these films were on anyone’s drawing board until mid-year, and that they were the first movies ever distributed by AMC in our entire 103-year history,” Aron said.
“To that end, our praise for Taylor Swift and Beyoncé Knowles Carter has no limit, and we offer our boundless thanks to these two world class artists for entrusting AMC to collaborate with them as to the theatrical exhibition of their two masterpiece creations,” he added.
Fans are hoping that the break between Renaissance and Beyonce’s next album won’t be anything like the break between it and its 2016 predecessor Lemonade. Many are still holding out for visuals from the album after a video leaked online earlier this week. The video was green screen footage of what looks like the singer recording some kind of music video or visuals of something. So when she shared a new announcement video for something else entirely fans were let down at first but ultimately intrigued.
In the video Bey shared, it cuts together people doing a variety of haircare with what looks like recordings of home movies. It isn’t even entirely clear what the products specifically are. The caption doesn’t prove particularly helpful. “Hair is sacred. The journey begins Feb 20. Visit CECRED.COM” the caption reads. Though specifics aren’t included fans have speculated that it could include anything from shampoo and conditioner or even some kind of dyes. But many of the comments are more focused on what Beyonce isn’t announcing than what she is. Check out the trailer below.
In the comments, fans seem disappointment. “ima just assume the live album is inside the box of shampoo” one of the top comments on the post reads. “So what are you gonna say at my funeral now that you’ve killed me?” another, more dramatic fan agrees. Clearly many watching the video were hoping for a more musical announcement from Bey.
Beyonce had a few notable moments at the Grammys over the weekend. There were rumors that she might perform during the show and even do a tribute to Tina Turner, but that ultimately didn’t happen. When Jay-Z went on-stage to accept his Global Impact Award he called out the Grammys directly. In one particular moment he pointed out that despite being the winningest artist of all time, Bey has never won the Album Of The Year Award. What do you think of Beyonce’s announcement of a haircare line? Do you agree with fans who were hoping for Bey to announce visuals or new music? Let us know in the comment section below.
Beyoncé has something special up her sleeve. No, it doesn’t look like the long-awaited visuals for her Renaissance album. But perhaps something just as sacred. Or shall we say, “Cécred?”
Tonight (February 6), Bey took to social media to announce her new line of haircare products, called Cécred. As Bey is known to do, she kept very mum about what to expect. A video shared to Instagram shows a montage of people washing, combing, and brushing their hair. Though we’re not sure what kinds of products to expect — in the way of shampoos, conditioners, and/or dyes — Bey did reveal that Cécred is, in fact, a hair care line, simply by captioning the post, “Hair is sacred.”
Also in the post’s caption, she revealed Cécred arrives Feb. 20, and tagged the handle to the brand’s official Instagram account. On Cécred’s Instagram page is a bio reading “Haircare by @beyonce,” as well as the brand’s official website.
The website plays the same video from the social handles, however, invites visitors to enter their email address and phone numbers to receive updates.
At the time of writing, neither Bey nor Cécred have indicated if the products will be available to purchase in stores.
Fans are begging Beyonce to release visuals accompanying her RENAISSANCE album after footage of the singer filming in a green screen suit was released online. The BTS footage shows Beyonce wearing a bodysuit and a large coat decked in a shade of green reserved for post-production editing. Also known as a green screen, visuals can then be easily applied over the green material.
Fans were absolutely gagging for the full footage to be released. Begging the singer on social media to drop the full edited visuals. “RANDOM AF 2 YEARS LATER LIKE HELP MEEE WE WERE GETTING A MASTERPIECE,” the original poster of the footage wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “beyoncé i wanna see this and the rest of the renaissance visuals on youtube by the end of February,” added another fan.
2023 really was the year of Beyonce, with her RENAISSANCE tour being one of the cultural events of the year. Of course, that included an electrifying performance in her hometown of Houston. However, she wasn’t alone. Fellow Houston songstress Megan The Stallion joined Beyonce on stage during the September 23 show at NRG Stadium. The two musical powerhouses performed together, with Megan rocking a camo bodysuit. Megan flexed her twerking prowess before giving her co-star a hearty “I love you Beyonce!” during an ad-lib exchange. The crowd at NRG Stadium went absolutely wild for the pair. They were bathed in an intense red light during most of their performance. “I was there. And the stadium was shaking. The energy was insane. Houston you WIN ,” one fan wrote on social media.
However, Megan’s appearance won’t come as a surprise to many eagle-eyed fans. The weekend before the show, it was reported that Megan had pulled out of the Global Citizen Fest in New York, which also took place on September 23. Internet sleuths put the pieces together and reasoned that Megan had likely received an offer to guest with Beyonce in their shared hometown. This was confirmed in the run-up to the show when sources told various outlets that Megan had chosen to perform with Beyonce instead.
International fans of mega-star Beyonce were pretty disappointed by her newest announcement and it’s easy to see why. Earlier this year she wrapped up her Renaissance tour which followed her return album of the same name. The series of shows was an absolutely massive affair that grabbed headlines almost every night. As you’d expect, it resulted in a highly successful concert film which hit theaters earlier this month.
The Renaissance tour film is off to a hot start and has already climbed into the top 5 highest-grossing concert movies of all time in just a few weeks. But when Beyonce’s website recently went down followed by a social media post claiming that the “Renaissance” era wasn’t done yet, fans were excited. In particular, international fans were hyped when she shared a list of countries around the world including places like Brazil, Italy, Japan, and South Korea. Many fans justifiably expected that she was announcing tour dates in all of those countries but the official announcement turned out to be something else entirely. Check out the post she made below.
The actual announcement had to do with Beyonce’s record-breaking concert film. She confirmed that it was coming to theaters in all of those countries. The announcement likely would have excited fans on its own. But after they got their expectations raised with the tease of a potential international extension to her tour, the film announcement was a let down. Subsequently, fans in the Instagram comments of the post expressed their disappointment. Mainly they shared the plans they were already cooking up to see Bey perform. But those plans now turned out to be pointless.
Amid the massive success of Renaissance, Beyonce is about to hit a personal milestone. The era has clearly been lucrative for her as reports claim she’s honing in on billionaire status. What do you think of Beyonce teasing various cities around the world only to announce it was just for screenings of her concert film? Let us know in the comment section below.
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(@beyoncegarden) 
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