News

*Unlike anything ever seen before, singer, songwriter and harpist, Tulani rocks out on the harp as she wails her bluesy, powerful voice while singing, dancing and moving across the stage.

Tulani, who has been mesmerizing audiences across the country, kicks off her “Unscripted” Tour and is bringing her “One Night Only” show to LA on December 1st at the Peppermint Club at 8pm (for more, scroll down for her LA show poster/promo).

Tulani has toured internationally with Lady Gaga and has opened up for Chaka Khan, CeeLo Green, Andra Day, Wyclef Jean, Jill Scott, Bobby Caldwell, Outkast, Erykah Badu and even George Clinton and the Parliament Funkadelic. This unique artist is blowing people away with music that is a blend of Pop, Funk and Soul and has been referred to as “New Century Groove.” Her sound is nostalgic and new, retro and fresh, fun and soulful. Her album “Unscripted” was released this summer and is receiving rave reviews.

Tulani has appeared on TV programs including: FOX, ABC and CBS. In print, she has been featured in Marie Claire Magazine, Sheen Magazine, and Rolling Out Magazine. Her radio coverage includes V103, Sirius XM, and MAJIC 107.5 fm.

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The Peppermint Club presents Tulani with Symphani Soto
Doors open at 8 pm.
General Admission: $15 advance tickets, $20 at the door.
Standing Room Only, Seating Upon Availability
VIP Table Packages ($400) and Super VIP Table Packages ($800) Available (click ticket link for further details)

For larger groups of 10+, please contact info@peppermintclub.com for pricing
21+. Please bring ID. Proper Dress Required

Link to get advance tickets is:

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/tulani-with-symphani-soto-at-the-peppermint-club-tickets-49394890447?fbclid=IwAR2m6cdLo7moiSGMhq_Gg2qe5dSl98rQeTxfQVEI3a5lt0qeJXQQkCFQjcY

Below are links to her sizzle reel/performances, a performance review, music and social media.

Link to Sizzle Reel/Performances:
https://youtu.be/KI5JdQrxGew

Link to Website:
http://www.tulanionline.com/

Link to Music:
https://www.soundcloud.com/iamtulani

Link to Review:
http://rollingout.com/2016/09/11/tulanis-performance-one-musicfest-described-epic/#1

Social Media:
Instagram: www.instagram.com/iamtulani
Twitter: www.twitter.com/iamtulani
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/iamtulani/

*The Starry comedy awards were set to honor the Black star power of folks such as Chris Rock, Dave Chappelle, Nick Cannon and Tracy Morgan. But the day the event was planned to go down, it was canceled.

Luenell was meant to MC the second-annual LOL Comedy Honors show, which was slated to take place Thursday at Gotham Hall. But as reported by Page Six, on the day of, organizers posted on Instagram: “Due to circumstances beyond our control, we must regrettably postpone the event.”

The event’s creator, Marsha Taylor, posted online, “Unfortunately, after over a year of hard work, all of the pieces, in the final hours, did not come together,” and, “I fought like hell to make it happen.”

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Taylor told Page Six that she revealed the bad news at an intimate get-to-know-you dinner the night before and a subsequent statement said, “We are . . . working overtime to ensure success. Dates in April/May are being considered so that the event won’t conflict with any holidays and the weather won’t be terribly cold.”

Taylor also shared: “It looked like a really big, grand production, but in truth, it’s just me . . . I did not expect it to get so big so quickly.”

The lack of sponsorship reportedly played a part in the cancellation, as “commitments don’t always come through.”

One commenter said online, “I actually flew in from Cleveland . . . to volunteer for this event and got a hotel room!” Another added, “How does this happen the day of the event . . . This is absolutely ridiculous!”

Others came to the defense of Taylor, such as Comic Nikki Carr, who posted, “We’ll be commending you for not giving up.”

An after-party reportedly still went down and said a source, “The only thing that was missing was the event itself.”

Taylor said: “refunds, we are working on processing.”

*At least 1000 members of Delta Sigma Theta sorority held a separate memorial ceremony for soror Aretha Franklin during her public viewing Tuesday at Detroit’s Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History.

Per sorority tradition, the ladies took part in an Omega Omega ceremony, which lasted nearly an hour and is traditionally performed for any member before her funeral. Standing in a semicircle surrounding Franklin’s family, the women filed in for nearly 10 minutes wearing black dresses, pearl necklaces, and corsages of African violets, the sorority’s official flower.

“She loved Delta and its ideals … she looked for the best in others. Her life was an inspiration,” said U.S. House Rep. Brenda Lawrence, a member of the sorority who was elected the first black mayor of Southfield, Michigan, in 2001.

Sorors saluted Franklin with words, scripture and songs, including the Delta Prayer, which filled the rotunda as Franklin’s sisters serenaded her in unison, notes The Associated Press.

Watch below:

Franklin was inducted as an honorary member of Delta Sigma Theta in 1992.

Source: https://www.eurweb.com/2018/08/delta-sigma-theta-members-mourn-soror-aretha-franklin-in-omega-omega-service-watch/

*At least 1000 members of Delta Sigma Theta sorority held a separate memorial ceremony for soror Aretha Franklin during her public viewing Tuesday at Detroit’s Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History.

Per sorority tradition, the ladies took part in an Omega Omega ceremony, which lasted nearly an hour and is traditionally performed for any member before her funeral. Standing in a semicircle surrounding Franklin’s family, the women filed in for nearly 10 minutes wearing black dresses, pearl necklaces, and corsages of African violets, the sorority’s official flower.

“She loved Delta and its ideals … she looked for the best in others. Her life was an inspiration,” said U.S. House Rep. Brenda Lawrence, a member of the sorority who was elected the first black mayor of Southfield, Michigan, in 2001.

Sorors saluted Franklin with words, scripture and songs, including the Delta Prayer, which filled the rotunda as Franklin’s sisters serenaded her in unison, notes The Associated Press.

Watch below:

Franklin was inducted as an honorary member of Delta Sigma Theta in 1992.

Source: https://www.eurweb.com/2018/08/delta-sigma-theta-members-mourn-soror-aretha-franklin-in-omega-omega-service-watch/

*Wendell Pierce says he gave his former “Suits” co-star Meghan Markle some advice before she officially became the Duchess of Sussex.

The actor, who played Markle’s dad on the USA series, told British newspaper The Daily Telegraph about a moment he shared with her while they prepared to shoot her TV wedding.

Explaining he could see her relationship with Prince Harry was getting serious, he reassured his on-screen daughter that she could call him “if the fishbowl ever starts getting to you.”

“We had a moment I cherish,” he told the paper. “I was sitting with Meghan in her wedding dress, as we waited for a set-up. We were alone. I said to her, ‘Your life is going to change. It’s going to be amazing and I’m very happy for you but I want you to know that I’m your friend, and no matter where you are or what’s going on – if the fishbowl that you’re in ever starts getting to you – you can call me’.”

During the interview, Wendell also weighed in on the antics of Meghan’s father, Thomas Markle, who gave a tell-all interview to TV show “Good Morning Britain” in June.

“If you care about Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, then that should be first and foremost in your mind before you say anything,” he sighed. “If you love your daughter, just love your daughter. It’s not for public consumption.”

While the 54-year-old, who will next be seen in Amazon’s “Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan,” didn’t attend the royal wedding, he admitted tearing up during the ceremony while watching from home.

“I got into the details,” he smiled. “Meghan’s veil embroidered with flowers representing all the countries of the Commonwealth – that was cool. And, yeah, I shed a tear. It was a beautiful wedding, with a wonderful amalgam of cultures on a beautiful day.”

Source: https://www.eurweb.com/2018/08/wendell-pierce-told-meghan-markle-to-call-him-if-the-fishbowl-got-too-much/

*TLC’s former manager Perri “Pebbles” Reid filed a defamation lawsuit against Viacom in 2014, claiming VH1’s 2013 TLC biopic “CrazySexyCool” portrayed her as a “conniving and dishonest businesswoman” who exploited the group for her own personal gain.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the case was set to go to trial September 24, but now is closed, as both parties have reached a settlement in the $40 million defamation case.

The exact terms of the settlement were not revealed.

As noted by The Muse, Tionne “T-Boz” Watkins and Rozanda “Chilli” Thomas cooperated with the filmmakers in the dramatized portrayal of their rise to fame; this helped convince the judge of the possibility of bias, as alleged by Pebbles’s complaint.

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Viacom attempted to get the case dismissed but the court did allow the former singer to sue over “scenes where she was shown pressuring the group’s members to sign contracts without sufficient time, for scenes showing Reid exerting control over lawyers for the group’s members, for scenes that conveyed the idea that Reid improperly deducted expenses and only paid TLC $25 a week, and for a scene conveying that it was Reid’s decision to remove Chilli from TLC,” according to THR.

TLC was formed by Pebbles in 1991, and details of their deal with her production company, Pebbitone, were detailed in an episode of VH1’s “Behind the Music,” which alleged that the group owed the label approximately $500,000 when it filed for bankruptcy in 1995.

“The deal that we signed with Pebbles, it wasn’t a good or a bad deal,” Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes explained in the doc. “It’s the type of deal that new artists get. The bad thing about the deal was that Pebbles had us signed to so many deals. She just had her fingers in the pot all across the board.”

In a 2013 interview on The Wendy Williams Show, Pebbles was asked if she made TLC buy their name back from her for $1 million per letter, she refused to go into detail, citing a confidentiality agreement, but stated: “It was my name, not theirs. I created that name.”

Source: https://www.eurweb.com/2018/08/pebbles-reid-and-viacom-settle-defamation-suit-over-vh1s-tlc-biopic/

*A mystery has surrounded the tragic case of Emmett Till for more than six decades and it centers on a photo of his white classmates, particularly a white girl, who Till joked was his “girlfriend” when he visited Mississippi back in 1955.

Sixty-three years later, that girl, Joan Brody, is telling her story publicly for the first time.

Till, 14, was abducted Aug. 28, 1955, and murdered after supposedly whistling at a white woman, Carolyn Bryant, in a grocery store in Money, Mississippi.

J.W. Milam and Roy Bryant were acquitted in his murder but later confessed in a 1956 Look magazine story by journalist William Bradford Huie, USA Today noted.

Till’s murderers “killed him because he boasted of having a white girl and showed them the picture of a white girl in Chicago,” Huie told filmmakers for the 1987 documentary  “Eyes on the Prize.”

OTHER NEWS YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED: Delta Sigma Theta Members Mourn Soror Aretha Franklin in ‘Omega Omega Service’ (Watch)

In the doc, Till’s cousin Curtis Jones mentioned that Till had a “picture of some white kids that he had graduated from elementary school with … female and male.”

The girl in the photo has long been an enigma… but now, 63 years later, she has been identified as Joan Brody, who gave her first interview to the Clarion-Ledger about her relationship with Till.

The documentary’s producer, Henry Hampton, told NPR that Till showed this school photo to his folks in Mississippi, pointing to a white girl and saying she was “his girlfriend. In fact, it was his classmate.”

Upon hearing the audio interview, Brody said, “That had to be me.”

She was the only white girl in Till’s class.

“He had beautiful eyes,” she recalled while confirming that the two had quite the friendly relationship. It was at their graduation where the photo was apparently taken, but Brody said, “I had no interest in it.”

She never saw Till again…but would eventually learn about the circumstances surrounding his tragic death.

“He wasn’t a smart-alecky kid,” she said. “He wasn’t a person to smart off to a white woman or any woman.”

Source: https://www.eurweb.com/2018/08/emmett-till-reportedly-had-a-white-girlfriend-and-shes-speaking-out-for-the-first-time-watch/

“Last year was the first time I had a summer off, so I didn’t shave. I grew a beard out,” he shared. “But last year there wasn’t enough grey in the mustache yet. It looked like I had stuff in it. So I had to wait another year.”

He continued: “This year, when I didn’t color it, it was a lot more grey so I’m flipping the script. I’m gonna see how the beard game go… I’m gonna just do something different. I’m gonna stay fly till I die.”

On whether or not he continues to sport the beard… 

“I might keep it, I might not, I don’t know, man. It’s really up to the wife,” Harvey said, referring to his wife of seven years, Marjorie. “The woman you sleepin’ with determines what you do.”

And right now, he’s staying busy by hosting “Celebrity Family Feud” and serving as host and producer on “Little Big Shots.”

“I get the same 24 hours that everybody else get, God don’t give no more hours, but I pack ’em in, man,” Harvey explained. “I care about every minute of the day. You’ll be successful if you get control of your time.”

He added: “If you take every minute of the day and monitor every single minute of the day, you’d be stunned at what you can accomplish. But you gotta cut the BS out of your life. You can’t be at the club every time it open, you can’t make all the happy hours.”

The new season of “Steve” premieres Sept. 4 on NBC.

Source: https://www.eurweb.com/2018/08/steve-harvey-is-flipping-the-script-on-the-beard-game-watch/

*Lauryn Hill keeps a relatively low profile and rarely does interviews and the only time she makes headlines these days is when she’s several hours late for a live show.

But Ms. Hill had time on Monday to set the record straight about recent claims made against her by a former member of her band, Robert Glasper.

Glasper dished about the drama during an interview on The Madd Hatta Morning Show on 97.9 in Houston on Aug. 13, claiming Hill “stole music” for her acclaimed album “The Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill” and that she mistreated her band and can’t even tune a guitar.

Peep the full interview below, he speaks about Hill around the 27-minute mark.

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As noted by Hip Hollywood, Hill was not having it though and penned an essay adressing his shady comments.

“I chose to wait until after the anniversary to post this,” she said in a message on Twitter. “Thank you everyone for the Love! I’d like to clear a few things up. -MLH”

She also posted a link to the essay published on Medium.com, read it here.

In it, she rejects the claim that she did not write the songs on “The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill.” You may recall back in 2001, she settled a lawsuit with former collaborators over writing credits on the 1998 album.

“You may be able to make suggestions, but you can’t write FOR me. I am the architect of my creative expression,” she writes. She also dismissed the rumor that she’s not allowed to play the original versions of her songs, stating that she chooses to remix her songs “because I haven’t released an album in several years.”

She also responded to allegations that she mistreats her band, writing: “When you’re a popular artist or public figure, people can sometimes forget that you’re hiring them to perform a service, and that you’re not the one there to entertain THEM. I didn’t scream or yell. Maybe I didn’t provide the experience that a musician may have wanted or expected during that time, but I was straight-forward, direct, and about the business at hand.”

On the rumor that she required others not to look her in the eye, Hill says, “yes, [being addressed as] Ms. Hill was absolutely a requirement. I was young, Black and female.” To Glasper’s claim that other musicians like Stevie Wonder and Quincy Jones have achieved more than her but demanded less of their coworkers, Hill writes, “I adore Stevie, and honor Herbie and Quincy, who are our forebears, but they’re not women.”

Glasper worked with Hill back in 2008 also claimed she hadn’t “done enough to be so arrogant.”

L-Boogie fired back with: “Who are you to say I didn’t do enough?” she says. “Most people are probably just hearing your name for the first time because you dropped MINE in an interview, controversially. Taking nothing away from your talent, but this is a fact.”

Adding, “The Miseducation was my only solo studio album, but it certainly wasn’t the only good thing I did. I was also a member of the Fugees, another groundbreaking, multi-platinum selling group, who bridged social and cultural gaps, and were ambassadors of hip-hop all around this planet. We laid important groundwork upon which an entire generation of artists and musicians still stand. We broke through conventions and challenged limited world views every time we played.”

Glasper had not responded to Hill’s essay when this story was published.

Source: https://www.eurweb.com/2018/08/lauryn-hill-responds-to-claims-she-stole-music-for-miseducation-album/

*Somerset, New Jersey – dfree® is the leading financial freedom movement programmed to equip the African American community with the strategies and resources to live a financially empowered life. The groundbreaking organization will host its national Homecoming Conference October 25 – 28 in Somerset, New Jersey. The conference will offer an inspiring immersion into the dfree® way of life, while providing four power packed days of faith, fun and fellowship that promote financial freedom.

While dfree® provides trainings and workshops around the country all year long, the national conference offers the opportunity to hear directly from finance and lifestyle experts who provide invaluable insights about everything from credit repair to estate planning to starting a business. The conference also offers the opportunity to hear directly from people who have transformed their lives by going through the dfree® program and following its principles. “This conference is where you come to gain information, become inspired and motivated by the successes of others, and get a blueprint of how you – regardless of your unique circumstances – can become a dfree® success story,” says dfree® Executive Director Tamika Stembridge, Esq.

Highlights of the 2018 dfree® Homecoming Conference include a community revitalization workshop with  dfree® founder and community economic development pioneer DeForest B. Soaries, Jr., a fireside chat with prodigious entrepreneurial sensations Jr. Flips (as seen on the Steve Harvey Show), a workshop offering “A Guide to Senior Living”, a financial planning panel featuring experts from title sponsor Prudential, and a sports and entertainment panel featuring professionals from Major League Baseball, Capitol Records, the WNBA and more. Panels and workshops are designed to address financial topics in a practical and holistic manner that will help attendees at every stage of life make financial decisions that will positively affect their futures. Living the dfree® lifestyle includes having fun, so there is also an exciting entertainment lineup: a Friday evening Gospel concert featuring Kierra Sheard and Hezekiah Walker, and a Saturday evening comedy show featuring Rod Allison and Lisa Mills.

The dfree® Homecoming Conference is hosted by Reverend DeForest B. Soaries, Jr., senior pastor, First Baptist Church of Lincoln Gardens and dfree® founder. The conference attracts pastors and ministers, community leaders, educators, students, business professionals and a cross-section of attendees with a desire to enhance their financial lives.

Source: https://www.eurweb.com/2018/08/rev-deforest-b-soaries-jr-s-dfree-shows-how-african-americans-can-achieve-financial-freedom/  ;

*The Geto Boys are mourning the loss of an original family member. DJ Ready Red, an early DJ and producer for the Houston-based rap trio, has died after suffering an apparent heart attack. He was 53.

Red (born Collins Leysath) passed away Friday (Aug. 24), according to the Geto Boys’ Willie D, who shared the sad news via Instagram.

“He gave us our sound,” Willie D said of Red, whom he called “the Musical Enforcer” and said was “responsible for most of the production of our early stuff and all of the sound on my first album, Controversy.”

“To say that he was a pioneer would be an understatement. Red was before his time,” added Willie D.

Watch below:

In 1986, Red became the first DJ and producer for the the Geto Boys, then know as the Ghetto Boys. He left the group in 1991 when they were recording their breakout album “We Can’t Be Stopped.” As Willie D pointed out, he also produced the rapper’s first solo album, released in 1989.

Source: https://www.eurweb.com/2018/08/dj-ready-red-early-producer-for-the-geto-boys-dies-at-53/

*Aretha Franklin underwent a wardrobe change between her first and second public viewing days at the Charles H. Wright African American Museum in Detroit.

For her first viewing day on Tuesday, Aretha was dressed head to toe in red, a nod to her honorary membership in the Delta Sigma Theta sorority. She wore a lacy ruby gown with Christian Louboutin heels, complete with matching nails and lipstick.

However, Wednesday’s mourners saw the Queen of Soul in a pastel blue dress with matching stilettos, according to reports. Officials from the local Swanson Funeral Home were responsible for Wednesday’s change of outfit, and owner Linda Swanson tells the Detroit Free Press fans can expect two more new looks for the legend, as chosen by her family, to ensure she is “resplendent in repose, as a queen should be.”

On Thursday (Aug. 30), Franklin’s body will be moved to the New Bethel Baptist Church, where her father was once the pastor, for a private visitation. The star-studded funeral will be held Friday at the Greater Grace Temple.

Ariana Grande has been added to the line-up of singers set to pay tribute at the funeral service, joining a bill which also features Stevie Wonder, Jennifer Hudson, Chaka Khan and Faith Hill.

Also on Thursday, a tribute concert will be held at Chene Park Amphitheatre, where her friend Gladys Knight, The Four Tops, and Angie Stone will be among the performers.

Source: https://www.eurweb.com/2018/08/aretha-franklin-has-wardrobe-change-for-2nd-day-of-viewing-2-more-looks-expected/

*The free tickets for tonight’s Aretha Franklin tribute show at Chene Park sold out just 15 minutes after going on sale Monday morning. Fortunately, the show will be streamed live online for fans who are unable to make the pilgrimage to Detroit.

The show — dubbed “A People’s Tribute to the Queen” — was organized by the Queen of Soul’s family and will run from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Thursday (Aug. 30), the eve of Franklin’s funeral. Chene Park capacity is about 6,000.

So far, the Chene Park website (www.cheneparkdetroit.com) is telling fans to check back today for streaming information, while local NBC news affiliate WDIA says it will host a live program that will air portions of the four-hour concert between 8 and 9 p.m.

The program for the tribute concert includes:

A jazz and blues tribute with Ralphe Armstrong, Aretha’s bassist and longtime friend, as musical director.

Performances from: Joan Belgrave, Doug Carn, Detroit’s Thornetta Davis and Dee Dee Bridgewater.

Visual montages will be presented throughout the event, including a signature portrait by artist Demont Pinder.

A dance choreographed by George Faison.

An R&B tribute with Kern Brantley as musical director. Narada Michael Walden will perform “Freeway of Love,” a song he wrote for Aretha. Performances from: Cherri Black, Steffinie Christian, Angela Davis, Gwen Foxx, Beth Griffith-Manley, Kimmie Horne, KIKO, Alise King and Tasha Page-Lockhart and Ronnie McNeir, who will perform the song he wrote for the upcoming Aretha biopic.

Source: https://www.eurweb.com/2018/08/here-is-the-lineup-streaming-info-for-thursdays-aretha-franklin-tribute-concert-at-chene-park/

*Looks like Prince Harry was down with the swirl long before Meghan Markle came into his life.

When photos of him posing in his boarding school dorm room recently resurfaced online, it included an image of Halle Berry on the wall above him. The Oscar-winning actress noticed the cutout of herself pinned to an embroidered rug on his wall and promptly tweeted about it Wednesday.

“Ok #PrinceHarry, I see you!” Berry tweeted with a crying laughing emoji. She added, “#HalleBerryPosta @MissyElliott,” referencing the rapper’s memorable “Work It” lyric: “Don’t I look like a Halle Berry poster?”

Berry’s picture sits among other bikini-clad women in the photo of Prince Harry’s room at Eton College, along with a stereo and a framed portrait of his mother, the late Princess Diana.

The prince was 18 when the photo was taken, not long after Berry won her Oscar for “Monster’s Ball.”

Source: https://www.eurweb.com/2018/08/ok-i-see-you-halle-berry-notices-her-poster-in-old-pic-of-prince-harrys-dorm-room/

*LeBron James discussed the double standard for black, white athletes during the debut episode of his new HBO show “The Shop” that aired Tuesday night.

Flanked with celebs like Jon Stewart, Odell Beckham Jr. and Vince Staples, the Los Angeles Lakers forward dished about life at his mostly white, exclusive, private school in Akron, Ohio.

“Took me a while to adjust to it … I was like, I’m not f*cking with white people, that was my initial thought to white America.”

As noted by USA Today, James described a hypothetical in which a star white athlete and a star black athlete are approached by a photo-seeking fan while out in public with their families.

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“If it’s (Tom) Brady, if it’s (Aaron) Rodgers, if it’s (Peyton) Manning. And we’re doing the same (expletive), the same exact (expletive),” James began. “I’m talking about a phone is out. We’re like, ‘Yo, get that (expletive) phone out of my face. I’m with my family.’

“If we’re out with our family and we say that (expletive) and somebody posts it, and if Aaron Rodgers or one of those guys say that (expletive) and they post it, somebody’s going to be like, ‘Hey, you guys should respect Aaron Rodgers.’”

Source: https://www.eurweb.com/2018/08/lebron-james-took-me-a-while-to-adjust-to-white-people/

*Well now, isn’t this interesting. According to TMZ, the officer who busted rapper/actor T.I. back in May outside the guard shack of his gated community talked major trash about the rapper and his level of fame … and it was all captured on the officer’s body cam.

The footage was obtained from the Henry County officer who busted T.I. for public drunkenness and simple assault of the security guard. The video shows the officer talking to the guard, who had refused to let T.I. enter when he didn’t have his key.

The guard’s supervisor tells the cop, “That’s T.I., the rapper.” The cop repsonds, “He thinks his s**t don’t stink” and then laughs. The supervisor agreed with the officer.

TMZ broke the story, T.I. says the guard — who was eventually fired over the incident — had also cursed out Tiny when she called to say it was okay to let her husband enter their gated community.

T.I. was heated about the arrest and argued with cops after they took him into custody. He’s been charged with 3 misdemeanors … but most likely won’t face any jail time if convicted.

READ THIS/LEBRON JAMES: ‘TOOK ME A WHILE TO ADJUST TO WHITE PEOPLE’

T.I.’s attorney, Steve Sadow, was contacted about the about the body cam footage, however, he declined to comment.

He has pleaded not guilty in the criminal case stemming from his run-in with a security guard outside his gated community in Georgia.

T.I., also known as “Tip,” filed the documents last week, according to The Blast. He reportedly requested that his case go to trial, believing he can win the case if a jury hears the full story.

He’s also sought to dismiss all three charges, and argues that there was no “true threat” that fits the bill to warrant prosecution.

You can get the rest of this EURweb story, HERE.

Source: https://www.eurweb.com/2018/08/t-i-thinks-his-sht-dont-think-says-arresting-officer-on-body-cam-watch-listen/

*Although Aretha Franklin sang at his inauguration, former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama won’t attend her funeral on Friday, their spokeswoman Katie Hill confirmed.

“Unfortunately, President and Mrs. Obama will not be able to attend Aretha Franklin’s services on Friday, but they have sent a letter, which the Rev. Al Sharpton will be reading during the service,” Hill said.

According to USA Today, Obama is to give a eulogy along with former President George W. Bush Saturday morning at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., for the late U.S. Sen. John McCain, who died Aug. 25. Bush, the Free Press previously reported, also sent a letter to be read at Franklin’s funeral service.

Thousands lined up at a Detroit museum this week to honor Franklin, as the music icon’s open casket was on public display at the Charles H. Wright Museum of African-American History… check out the clip above.

Former President Bill Clinton will be among the speakers at Franklin’s funeral, as will former Attorney General Eric Holder.

READ THIS: T.I. ‘THINKS HIS SH*T DON’T THINK’ SAYS ARRESTING OFFICER ON BODY CAM – WATCH/LISTEN

The Obamas issued a statement following Franklin’s Aug. 16 death from pancreatic cancer.

“America has no royalty. But we do have a chance to earn something more enduring. Born in Memphis and raised in Detroit, Aretha Franklin grew up performing gospel songs in her father’s congregation. For more than six decades since, every time she sang, we were all graced with a glimpse of the divine,” it read.

“Through her compositions and unmatched musicianship, Aretha helped define the American experience. In her voice, we could feel our history, all of it and in every shade— our power and our pain, our darkness and our light, our quest for redemption and our hard-won respect. She helped us feel more connected to each other, more hopeful, more human. And sometimes she helped us just forget about everything else and dance.
”

“Aretha may have passed on to a better place, but the gift of her music remains to inspire us all. May the Queen of Soul rest in eternal peace. Michelle and I send our prayers and warmest sympathies to her family and all those moved by her song.”

The White House has not responded about whether Donald Trump or First Lady Melania Trump will attend Franklin’s farewell memorial service Friday, Aug. 31.

Bounce and Brown Sugar will partner with Bounce’s local Detroit affiliate, WXYZ-TV, for the special event, airing live and streaming WXYZ’s hometown coverage and commentary nationwide.

On the day she died, Trump told reporters: “I want to begin today by expressing my condolences to the family of a person I knew well. She worked for me on numerous occasions. She was terrific — Aretha Franklin — on her passing. She’s brought joy to millions of lives and her extraordinary legacy will thrive and inspire many generations to come. She was given a great gift from God — her voice, and she used it well. People loved Aretha. She was a special woman. So just want to pass on my warmest best wishes and sympathies to her family.”

Source: https://www.eurweb.com/2018/08/barack-obama-unable-to-attend-aretha-franklins-funeral-sends-letter-instead/

*Kanye West returned to his hometown this week where he chopped it up with a local radio station about his infamous “slavery is a choice” comments.

Yeezy stopped by the WGCI Chicago radio station for an interview and tried to elaborate on his “non-historical opinion,” — ultimately apologizing for the hurt he caused.

“It wasn’t the actual comment. I said “400 years, it sounds like a choice — to me. To Kanye West. Not being a historian … to me, when I hear about an entire group of powerful people being held captive for 400 years it sounds like a choice to the spirit of Kanye West. Which, I think is aligned with the spirit of Harriet Tubman. Which I think is aligned with the spirit of Nat Turner. In my non-historical opinion, I feel that these are examples of people from the past who felt similar to that. Even if it was worded incorrectly in the white man’s tongue. Maybe I could have danced or I could have spoken Swahili — because even the fact that we’re having to have this conversation in English is a form of slavery. It’s not even our language, bro.”

Watch the clip above, and read what else he had to say below.

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“The thing about being called crazy, the biggest stigma that has to be broken is that you instantly get written off. But you might be the only one who knows what they’re talking about. Also what I wanna say to everyone listening right now—I have never really approached or addressed the slavery comment fully,” he continued. “And it’s not something for me to overly intellectualize. This is something about the fact that it hurt people’s feelings and the way that I presented that piece of information. I could present in a way more calm way, but I was ramped up. And I apologize. That happens sometimes when people are—I’m not blaming mental health, but I’m explaining mental health.”

Adding: “I don’t know if I properly apologized for how the slavery comment made people feel. I’m sorry for the one-two effect of the MAGA hat into the slave comment, and I’m sorry for people that felt let down by that moment. And I appreciate you giving me the opportunity to talk to you about the way I was thinking and what I was going through.”

Source: https://www.eurweb.com/2018/08/kanye-west-now-everybodys-woke-w-donald-trump-as-president-watch/

*Jamie Foxx and his sister DeOndra Dixon, who has Down Syndrome, sit down with “Dateline” Friday to share heir amazing story and the Academy Award-winning actor opens up about what his younger sister has taught him.

“I learned how to live. Sometimes we get caught up in our world on the extras of everything – ‘Ah, the Mercedes is not the right color!’” Foxx, 50, says on Friday’s episode of “Dateline”, per People. “And then you see this girl over here, ‘I just want to live. I want to dance. I want to love.’ So she brings you back down to what life is.”

As noted by the Global Down Syndrome Foundation, Dixon is no stranger to breaking barriers. The Quincy Jones Award Recipient is a Global Ambassador and a Special Olympics athlete.

Dixon shares that when her big brother isn’t around, she misses him, but Foxx asks her: “And what do you do? You text me. You say, ‘Where you at?’ And, ‘Where the money at?’”

Foxx previously spoke about his adoration for Dixon during a 2014 interview on the now-defunct “Queen Latifah Show,” Page Six also reports that the comedian even placed her in his “Blame It” video, which led to her becoming an ambassador for the Global Down Syndrome Foundation. He even arranged a meet-and-greet with her favorite artist, Chris Brown.

OTHER NEWS YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED: Kanye West: ‘Now Everybody’s Woke’ w/ Donald Trump as President [WATCH]

In related news, business manager of the stars Kevin R. Foster was convicted Wednesday of defrauding R&B singers Ne-Yo and Brian McKnight of millions through a sports beverage investment scam, nj.com reports.

Foster’s conviction came just two years after he was first indicted on wire fraud, money laundering and other charges by a federal grand jury in Ohio.

Source: https://www.eurweb.com/2018/08/jamie-foxx-shares-lessons-learned-from-sister-w-down-syndrome-manager-found-guilty-of-scamming-ne-yo-brian-mcknight/

*Traci Braxton has opened up about the future of “Braxton Family Values” and why Phaedra Parks joined the hit reality series this season.

She told ESSENCE that she asked the former “Real Housewives of Atlanta” star to join her on an adventure to Wyoming and South Dakota to learn about the history of Black cowboys.

The duo also herd cattle and live like cowboys with former rapper Flava Flav, Tiffany “New York” Pollard, and comedian Kym Whitley, according to the report.

Braxton said the trip came about after she and her sisters had a fallout following reports that filming for BFV had come to a halt as the family refused to return until they renegotiated their contracts.

“I was down in the dumps with my sisters…and it was one of my business ventures, my Black Cowboy Whiskey,” she said, referencing the whiskey brand where she’s a brand ambassador. “And I wanted to reenact being on a ranch with black cowboys.”

OTHER NEWS YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED: Kanye West: ‘Now Everybody’s Woke’ w/ Donald Trump as President [WATCH]

Parks told ESSENCE during a recent press junket that the two were “herding 1500 heifers for over 100 miles.”

“[We were] by ourselves, camping out, really learning about how cowboys survived. Learning about Stage Coach Mary, who was one of the only African-American women who participated in cattle herding, so it was really good. It was really good. I loved it,” she added.

To help kick the blues, Braxton planned a girls trip to the spa with Parks, reality star Natalie Nunn, and comedian Luenell.

“It reminded me of my sisters. It was nothing but girls there and it reminded me of my sisters because we got to laugh with each other and cry with each other,” she recalled.

Fans will get to see Parks and Braxton’s great cowboy adventures in the show’s seventh season as well as deets on sister Toni’s wedding to Birdman.

Traci told ESSENCE that “Toni had to put it on hold for a little bit because she’s in a movie, a new movie — her and Towanda — so Toni was like, ‘Okay. I just gotta do this movie.’”

Source: https://www.eurweb.com/2018/08/traci-braxton-reveals-sad-reason-why-phaedra-parks-joined-braxton-family-values/