N.W.A, Donna Summer, Gladys Knight & More to Receive 2024 Recording Academy Lifetime Achievement Awards
the Recording Academy’s 2024 lifetime achievement award honorees. Also announced on Friday (Jan. 5), Peter Asher, DJ Kool Herc and Joel Katz are trustees award recipients; Tom Kobayashi and Tom Scott are technical Grammy award honorees; and “Refugee,” written by K’naan, Steve McEwan, and Gerald Eaton (a.k.a. Jarvis Church), is being honored with the best song for social change award.
The Recording Academy’s 2024 Special Merit Award honorees, as they are collectively known, will be saluted at a Grammy Week ceremony on Feb. 3 at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre in Los Angeles.
“The Academy is honored to pay tribute to this year’s Special Merit Award recipients — a remarkable group of creators and industry professionals whose impact resonates with generations worldwide,” Harvey Mason jr., CEO of the Recording Academy, said in a statement. “Their contributions to music span genres, backgrounds and crafts, reflecting the rich diversity that fuels our creative community. We look forward to honoring these music industry trailblazers next month as part of our week-long celebration leading up to Music’s Biggest Night.”
Two of this year’s honorees are current Grammy nominees. Laurie Anderson is nominated for best historical album for Words & Music, May 1965 (Deluxe Edition). Karen Clark-Sheard of The Clark Sisters is nominated on her own for best gospel performance/song for “God Is Good.”
Four are being honored posthumously – Donna Summer, Tammy Wynette, Eazy-E of N.W.A, and sound engineer Tom Kobayashi.
Here’s a quick look at this year’s 11 Special Merit Award honorees: Laurie Anderson The Clark Sisters Gladys Knight N.W.A Donna Summer Tammy Wynette Peter Asher DJ Kool Herc Joel Katz K’naan’s “Refugee”
GRAMMY® AWARD-NOMINATED ARTIST, ENTREPRENEUR, AND PHILANTHROPIST FAT JOE RETURNS AS HOST & CO-EXECUTIVE PRODUCER OF “BET HIP HOP AWARDS” 2023
PREMIERING TUESDAY, OCTOBER 10 AT 9 PM ET/PT ON BET
September 14, 2023 – Today, GRAMMY® Award-nominated recording artist, actor, author, entrepreneur, and media personality Fat Joe was announced as the returning host & Co-Executive Producer of “BET Hip Hop Awards” 2023. Taped from Cobb Energy Center in Atlanta, GA, on Tuesday, October 3, the broadcast premiere will air on Tuesday, October 10, at 9 PM ET/PT on BET. This year’s show continues the celebration of hip hop’s 50th anniversary by bringing together the hottest names in music, from emerging artists to pioneering acts who have made a cultural impact through the genre. The official “BET Hip Hop Awards” 2023 nominations, selected by a voting academy of esteemed music industry insiders, performers, and presenters, were announced last week, with 21 Savage and Cardi B leading this year’s nominations with an outstanding 12 nods each. To see the complete list of “BET Hip Hop Awards” 2023 official nominees, go HERE. Fans can get in the action by voting for the DJ of the Year, Producer of the Year, and Best Hip Hop platform categories at https://www.bet.com/votehha23
“We are thrilled to welcome back a true hip hop legend in Fat Joe as this year’s host! As we round out a banner year of celebrating hip hop’s landmark half century of influencing culture, he is the perfect emcee to lead us through what promises to be an iconic night,” said Connie Orlando, EVP, Specials, Music Programming & Music Strategy at BET. “Throughout his career, he has continued to be a leader within the culture, bridging the gap between generations. We can’t wait to watch what he comes up with for this year’s show.”
“Hip hop is my life, and I’m extremely proud to return as host of ‘BET Hip Hop Awards’ 2023,” Fat Joe said. “We’re going to make this year’s award show even bigger while also celebrating our hip-hop stars and pioneers in a spectacular way. It’s going to be a legendary night of music and entertainment and you’re not going to want to miss it.”
Digable Planets
Review by Heavy Rotation Magazine Written by Tony Patterson
Cool Like Dat Trio performance live in New Orleans May 4, 2023 at The House Of Blues. Digable Planets was formed in the golden era of hip-hop,late 80’s early 90’s. Rap verses over jazzy samples records & loop samples from records way back from the 40’s 50’s and 60’s. Creative artist in that era of hiphop really conveyed a poetic form of music to there fans. Filled with literate lyrics, honey-smooth flows, and inventive arrangements, their music captivated the audience for two hours with screaming fans.
Doodlebug made it very clear to the fans quote “ 30years 30years Digable Planets have been rocking with y’all” their are not to many hiphop trio/groups from that era of hiphop can say that. On their 1993 debut, Reachin’ (A New Refutation Of Time And Space), the threesome showed just how rich and vibrant the musical product of three distinctive minds working in harmony could be. Musically, they incorporated elements of funk, samba, and psychedelia into their street-savvy hip-hop; jazz, in particular, played a pivotal role.
It was for sure a moment in hiphop time, most people don’t equate rap/hiphop music as timeless music, however, I beg to differ’ hiphop that was created in the late 80’s early 90’s captured the social construct of the soul of the people. Disable Planets 1993 Album Reachin’ was a master piece in hiphop culture, records like, Nickel Bags, Where I’m From, & Rebirth Of Slick (Cool Like That) were classics. If your a fan of good hiphop music, I challenge you to checkout one of the most underrated rap trio’s of all times’ Digable Planets.
KENDRICK LAMAR RULED
THE “BET HIP HOP AWARDS” 2022 WITH 6 WINS
Kendrick Lamar ruled the night with 6 wins, including ‘Artist of the Year,’ ‘Lyricist of the Year,’ ‘Best Live Performer, ‘ and ‘Album of the Year’ for Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers. He shared two additional wins including ‘Best Hip Hop Video’ for “Family Ties” with Baby Keem and ‘Video Director of the Year’ with Dave Free. Drake took home three wins including ‘Best Collaboration for “Wait For U” with Future and Tems, then tying himself for the ‘Sweet 16: Best Featured Verse’ with contributions on “Wait For U” and Jack Harlow’s “Churchill Downs.”
EarthGang won for ‘Best Duo or Group,’ Latto scored ‘Song of the Year’ for “Big Energy” and Lizzo’s “About Damn Time” was crowned as the ‘Impact Track’. Hitmaka was named ‘Producer of the Year’ and DJ Dramasnagged ‘DJ of the Year.’ Newcomer Glo Rilla was crowned ‘Best Breakthrough Hip Hop Artist’ and Benjamin Epps (France) won ‘Best International Flow.’ “Caresha Please” and “Drink Champs” tied for the coveted ‘Best Hip Hop Platform’ award.
An all-star tribute to the iconic LOUD Records and its pioneering founder Steve Rifkind turned up the show with a legendary lineup of David Banner featuring Lil’ Flip, Dead Prez, Mobb Deep with Lil’ Kim, M.O.P., Remy Ma and Fat Joe, Three 6 Mafia and Wu-Tang Clan. “I Am Hip Hop” honoree Trina delivered a heartfelt speech that moved the crowd followed by Fivio Foreign closing out the show with Lil Tjay.
Baby Tate, Big Boss Vette, Deetranada, Guapdad 4000, Jayson Cash, Ray Vaughn, Reuben Vincent, Sa-Roc, Sauce Walka, and Topaz Jones blazed the stage in the highly anticipated cyphers followed by a digital-exclusive cypher featuring rising stars Armani Caesar, Kentheman, Nana, Navelle Hice, OT The Real, and Yung Pooda.
The Award show also featured special appearances by T.I. Trick Daddy, Tyrese, DJ EFN, DJ Cassidy, the cast of “Tyler Perry’s Zatima” (Devale Ellis and Crystal Renee Hayslett), Pretty Vee, and the cast of “IMPACT ATL” (Ari Fletcher, Tae, Dess Dior, Lakeyah and Jayda Cheaves).
Scarface farewell Tour
Dallas Texas, August 18th Written by Tony Patterson
Brad Jordan aka Mr. Scarface from the legendary hip-hop group Geto Boys appear to have bless the stage with his final music tour. Spanning across nearly 3 decades,. the beloved rapper have captivated story telling rhymes across the world. In his final music tour across the US Mr. Scarface have somehow managed to hit over 30 cities. With an intimate crowd at the house of blues Mr. Scareface and his band “ Formaldehyde Funkmen’ rocked the crowd with records like Smile’ My Mind Playing Tricks On Me, & Mary Jane, just to name a few. Mr. Scarface spoke briefly to the audience about his battle with kidney failure and diabetes, Scarface also shared a beautiful story about his son giving him a kidney so he could survive, his son was on stage as well. Scarface will finish off his tour August 27 in Odessa Texas if you have an opportunity don’t hesitate to see this hip-hop icon one last time.
Images Captured by Lauren Collins
w released his critically acclaimed, RIAA platinum certified debut album, THATS WHAT THEY ALL SAY in December 2020, which featured the 7x Platinum worldwide hit, “WHATS POPPIN,” which peaked at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and earned the 24-year-old his first GRAMMY nomination for “Best Rap Performance,” along with a wide array of other award nominations.
“COME HOME THE KIDS MISS YOU TOUR” DATES:
Dates with support from City Girls *
(additional dates to be announced)
9/5 – Cincinnati, OH – The Andrew J Brady Center *
9/6 – Nashville, TN – Nashville Municipal Auditorium *
9/8 – Irving, TX – The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory *
9/10 – Houston, TX – 713 Music Hall *
9/11 – Austin, TX – Moody Center *
9/13 – Phoenix, AZ – Arizona Federal Theatre *
9/17 – San Diego, CA – Viejas Arena *
9/20 – Inglewood, CA – The KIA Forum *
9/23 – Seattle, WA – WAMU Theater *
9/24 – Vancouver, BC – Rogers Arena *
9/25- Portland, OR – Veterans Memorial Coliseum *
9/27 – Salt Lake City, UT – Maverik Center *
9/28 – Denver, CO – 1STBANK Center *
9/30 – Minneapolis, MN – The Armory *
10/1 – Chicago, IL – Credit Union 1 Arena *
10/2 – Detroit, MI – Fox Theatre *
10/5 – Toronto, ON – Coca-Cola Coliseum *
10/7- Brooklyn, NY – Barclays Center *
10/8 – Philadelphia, PA – The Liacouras Center *
10/9 – Boston, MA – MGM Music Hall at Fenway
10/11 – Washington DC – The Anthem *
10/14 – Miami, FL – PFL Solar Amphitheater at Bayfront Park *
10/1 5 Tampa, FL – Yuengling Center *
10/16 – Atlanta, GA – State Farm Arena *
THE ESTATE OF PRODIGY OF MOBB DEEP DROPS VIDEO FOR THE SINGLE
The Estate of Prodigy Of Mobb Deep drops the video for the latest single You Will See today. The video is a collage of past and more recent verite footage, live show clips and excerpts from music videos that show Prodigy in some of the most classics settings throughout his life and career.
You Will See is the first visual since the artist’s passing in 2017 and it’s available on Prodigy’s YouTube channel.
Watch new video here: https://youtu.be/w4gStbh5Bp
You Will See is the first single off the upcoming full length The Hegelian Dialectic Volume 2: The Book Of Heroine setto drop later this Summer.
About Prodigy:
One of the most iconic rappers in hip hop, Prodigy passed away on June 20th, 2017 due to complications from sickle cell anemia, the disease he battled throughout his entire life.
Black Star, Duo of Yasiin Bey and Talib Kweli, Reunite for First Album in 24 Years, ‘No Fear of Time’
Black Star, the acclaimed and long-dormant hip-hop super duo of Yasiin Bey (formerly Mos Def) and Talib Kweli, have reunited for their first new album in nearly a quarter-century… but you’ll have to be a subscriber of the podcast network Luminary to hear it.
On May 3, Black Star will release their much-anticipated second LP No Fear of Time — the duo’s first since their 1998 self-titled debut album — exclusively on Luminary, along with new episodes of The Midnight Miracle, a podcast featuring Bey, Kweli and Dave Chappelle; the first two episodes of the podcast are out Friday, offering up a preview of No Fear of Time, produced entirely by Madlib.
Talib Kweli Confirms New Black Star Album With Yasiin Bey Is On The Way
Back when Yasiin Bey was known as Mos Def, he and Talib Kweli formed the group Black Star and released an album under the same name. It went on to be hailed as one of the most lyrically and culturally dense albums in the Hip Hop archives, and listeners are excited for the duo to reunite for a new project.
BUN B AND HOUSTON PRODUCER CORY MO DROP
“HESITATE” ft. Talib Kweli, Tobi Nwigwe & David Banne
New York, NY – Houston hip-hop legend Bun B and producer Cory Mo dropped “Hesitate,” the first single off their upcoming collaborative effort Mo Trill. 
Hesitate features Talib Kweli, Tobi Nwigwe and David Banner.The single is the prelude of Bun and Cory’s upcoming project Mo Trill. The album features a roster of hip-hop heavyweights, including 2 Chainz, Benny The Butcher, Ceelo Green, Wale, just to name a few, as well as co-productions by Jazze Pha and Zaytoven.
The Fugees to Reunite for Tour Celebrating 25th Anniversary of ‘The Scoretrack album is one of the best hip-hop albums of 2021 hands-down, the record entitled Alpaca’ is one of the most unique hip-hop tracks I’ve ever heard it’s a cross between something from Santana’ one of the best guitarist of all time and the rapper Future’ in his early years. If I had to give an opposing take on this album I would say that Stalley needed to put a few more up-tempo trap records on the album to give the young emcees something to like as well, as the album is constructed I would say the age group that would enjoy this album would be, 30 years plus.