NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA // FRIDAY, JULY 4TH 2008 » So many celebs came out to support, perform and attend the 2008 Essence Music Festival this year on Independence Day. Rihanna, Chris Brown, Kanye West and J. Holiday all performed friday night at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center and Louisiana Superdome. Solange, Bow Wow, Chris Paul, LeBron James, and more were all at the festival for the first day on the 4th. Check out more pics after the cut.
Remember that post about Jermaine Dupri launching a new record label? Well, TAG Records was officially launched last night in L.A. at Kress, and celebrities like J. Holiday, Tichina Arnold, Slim Thug, and more came out to show their support. TAG Records is a joint-venture between Jermaine Dupri, Def Jam, and TAG Body Spray, where JD will take the executive position as president and will be responsible for developing the label’s musical talent, in addition to setting the creative vision of the New York-based company. Check out more flicks from the party after the cut.
17-year-old rapper Soulja Boy has cranked his way all the way to the top of Forbes Magazine’s Hottest New Music Stars 2008 list. He shares the list with the likes of Sean Kingston (#2), J. Holiday (#4), Flo Rida (#5), Jordin Sparks (#7), and more. The list was populated by artists who had big hits in 2007. How were they determined, you ask? Check out the info below:
To compile a list of the hottest new stars of music, we examined several measures of popularity and success. To start off, we looked at the top searches and downloads on peer-to-peer networks during the past 12 months as measured by BigChampagne, as well as press mentions as measured by Factiva.
Then we looked at U.S. digital track downloads and album sales in 2007 and the first two months of 2008, as measured by Nielsen SoundScan. Finally, we took a look at “mastertone” ringtone sales during the same period, as measured by Nielsen RingScan (mastertones are ringtones that play a snippet of the actual recording of your favorite song). [ VIA FORBES » ]
#2: SEAN KINGSTON #3: COLBIE CAILLAT #4: J. HOLIDAY #5: FLO RIDA #6: PLIES #7: JORDIN SPARKS #8: HUEY #9: HURRICANE CHRIS #10: ONE REPUBLIC
Too bad a good 40 - 50% of this list probably won’t even be around in 2013!
Y’all know it’s that time of the year again. Spring Bling 2008, BET’s annual spring break celebration, was filmed this year in Riviera Beach, Florida. You already know this shit is gonna be on repeat for the next couple of months. So until that happens, maybe these flicks will hold you over!
It has been confirmed by local news channel WMDT 47 in Salisbury, Maryland, R&B singer J.Holiday was arrested Thursday night after being pulled over on Route 50 for racing with another vehicle … and having some weed in the “back of his lac!” Sgt. Frank Russo said when the officers pulled J.Holiday (real name: Nahum Grymes) over, they picked up a strong odor resembling that of marijuana coming from the singer’s car, which led to a search of his vehicle. According to WMDT, a small amount of marijuana was found in the center console of the vehicle. Holiday and his passenger, George Jackson, both face charges of drug possession, while the driver of the other car, Rolland Wesley, faces traffic-related charges.
Last week was the debut of a few nasty rumors. Supposedly Fantasia was pregnant, Soulja Boy’s mom had passed away, and J.Holiday had died in a plane crash (even though he’s on tour and riding a TOUR BUS). I would love to know where some of these ridiculous rumors start…
FANTASIA AND HER 6-YEAR-OLD DAUGHTER ZION
According to a few sources, over the past 9 months Fantasia has been missing a few shows (50+ to be exact lol) due to exhaustion/being sick. Needless to say, the folks at Broadway weren’t happy. When the star doesn’t show, a stand-in fills in for them, and the people who attend the show are entitled to a refund. So they lose a lot of money when this happens. But anyhow, back to the rumor. Apparently the NY Post’s Michael Riedel added to the story stating that the American Idol winner was pregnanty with Young Dro’s baby, making it seem like that was the reason why she was missing all of the shows. Fantasia has since then come out and clarified all of the misconceptions with a statement:
It is true that she has missed some performances because she has gotten sick from time to time over the nine months, but doing eight shows a week is a lot so she missed a few.
Fantasia, who already has a 6-year-old daughter, Zion Quari, is scheduled to end her extended Broadway run as Miss Celie on January 6th. Chaka Khan and Bebe Winans join the cast as Sofia and Harpo on January 9th. Check out our clear up of the rest of the rumors after the jump! CONTINUE READING
MISSY AND KEYSHIA ON STAGE AT THE “DOUBLE UP TOUR” IN ATLANTA
PHOTOS BY BEN ROSE FOR WIRE IMAGE
R Kelly’s currently on tour with Keyshia Cole, Ne-Yo, and J.Holiday, and the crew touched down in Atlanta last night. I’m hearing Keyshia’s giving a little trouble behind the scenes though. I was reading on Fresh’s site that homegirl wasn’t too happy about her dressing room arrangement (and the show line-up) at the previous show in Columbus, Georgia. She did NOT go on stage that night because she didn’t wanna go BEFORE Ne-Yo! Why? Because she believes that she’s bigger than he is. Wow… Lol. Style Razzi has all the info on that. But it looks like they came to some kind of agreement cause she hit the stage last night in Atlanta. If anyone went to the ATL show last night, PLEASEEEEE hit us up! I wanna know who came first … Keyshia, or Ne-Yo?? Lol!
But on the real, she needs to chill out with that. Drama on the road is not cool, especially when you have to be around these people almost all day long for a period of 2 - 4 months. Wasn’t she the one causing issues a couple of years ago during Kanye’s tour?? It was something between her and Fantasia if I remember correctly.
“Suffocate” is the third single released from Holiday’s lastest album, Back Of My Lac’, in stores now! Here is the video premiere for that single as well as Sean Kingston’s new single, “Take You There,” and Styles P, “Blow Your Mind,” featuring Swizz Beatz, which you can view after the cut!! CONTINUE READING
Sooner You Get To Love
