Beyoncé took to social media on February 1st to let her 290 million + followers know that she will be kicking off the highly anticipated Renaissance World Tour in May. So far she has announced forty-one shows, with the first being in Stockholm, Sweden on May 10th.
The EU leg of the tour will see Queen Bee performing in both stadiums and arenas before returning to North America for shows in Canada and the U.S. All dates, locations and links to tickets can be found on her website.
Make this Valentine’s Day an evening to remember with a concert featuring the “Empress of Soul” herself, Gladys Knight! On Tuesday, February 14, Knight and the Nashville Symphony – with conductor Enrico Lopez-Yañez – will perform hits like “I Heard it Through the Grapevine,” “Midnight Train to Georgia,” “Neither One of Us (Wants to be the First to Say Goodbye)” and many more, at the Schermerhorn Symphony Center in Nashville, TN.
This event is a part of Gladys Knight‘s 2023 tour, which started on January 13. Showtime is 8pm and tickets are available on the venue’s website.
The Universal Hip-Hop Museum, which broke ground in 2021 in the Bronx, has gotten a major cash endorsement to the tune of $5 million. The federal grant will go towards completing construction on the museum, as well as other local programs and initiatives.
This past Sunday, on January 29th, several hip-hop veterans gathered with senators and legislators for the announcement and celebration. On hand were Grandmaster Flash, G. Simone, KRS-One, and others. The Universal Hip-Hop Museum is located at 610 Exterior Street, in The Bronx.
Super Bowl Soulful Celebration: An Evening of Inspiration and Culture, is the only inspirational music event sanctioned by the NFL for Super Bowl weekend. This uplifting concert brings NFL players & award-winning musical artists together on one stage for an evening of joy and praise at one of the biggest games in the U.S.
Date and location is Wednesday, February 8th, at the Mesa Arts Center (Ikeda Theater) – 1 E Main Street – in Mesa, Arizona. And legendary R&B singer, songwriter, actress and businesswoman, Patti Labelle, will join Israel Houghton and the Players Choir on the lineup. Click here for tickets.
Belizean reggae artist Nego Hights, who is now residing in the United States, is determined to Go Harder this year! He made that decision after his near death experience with covid-19 in 2020. According to the singer: “I had to give up music for the better part of 2 years and at one point was told by the Doctors that I might not be able to perform any more. After surgery and breathing issues I decided that I will perform again and started telling my self I have to go harder than before to get back and surpass where I was in 2020 before I got sick.”
After making that decision, Hights wrote Go Harder. And with the help of producer Wadadah II, he arranged and mixed the single, which is now #2 on DJ Kat’s Top 5 (UK). The production was done at DOVE Muzik Studio in Evanston, Illinois (United States). Nego Hights and the team at DOVE Muzik report that Go Harder is making a lot of noise in parts of West Africa, the U.S. and the U.K. It is also considered a hit on social media.
Hights responded to its rapid success by saying: “I would like for this song to bring out the best in the listeners, this song is all about you being your biggest fan, cheerleader, believer and supporter and I pray it will encourage and motivate the listeners to Go Harder for their goals no matter what.”
Rapper and producer DJ Quik, who is known for his production in the G-funk style of West Coast rap, is booked to perform two sets at Yoshi’s – 510 Embarcadero West – in Oakland, California on Saturday, February 25th.
These are live band shows, scheduled for 7:30 and 9:30pm local time. Both have already been sold out.
Not that he’d wish it on anyone, but it was during his ten-year sentence in prison that Lyfe Jennings developed his honest sound, thanks to isolation and Erykah Badu. It was an arson charge that put the Toledo, Ohio native in prison. His musical aspirations started in the church choir and grew up in the Dotsons, a teenage group that Lyfe formed with his brother and a couple cousins. Prison made his music deeper, according to Lyfe, and when a copy of Erykah Badu’s Baduizm ended up in his cell in 1997, he was inspired and had the feeling that this introspective edge to his music was worth developing.
Two days after his December 2002 release from prison, he recorded a four-song demo CD. The day after that, he was performing live in a club. He had only a month of freedom before he was on-stage at the famous Apollo. He was booed when he walked on-stage with an acoustic guitar, but when the Apollo audience heard his gritty falsetto and lyrical songwriting, they were swayed — swayed to the tune of five amateur-night victories in a row. Lyfe figured he’d sold 1,000 copies of his four-song demo CD during his Apollo “residency.” That, along with a ton of calls from promoters and record label execs on his answering machine back in Ohio, influenced Lyfe to move to New York City and pursue a major-label deal. Columbia had the right offer and released his debut, Lyfe 268-192 (his inmate number), in August 2004. A year after its original release, the album was reissued with a new version of “Hypothetically,” featuring American Idol winner Fantasia added as a bonus track.
The more hip-hop-oriented follow-up The Phoenix arrived in August 2006, with Three 6 Mafia and Young Buck making guest appearances. Lyfe Change — released in April 2008 — featured a handful of new production associates as well as a verse from T.I. Jennings. Lyfe moved to Warner Bros. and began working on another album, tentatively titled Sooner or Later, which he stated would be his last. It finally appeared in August 2010 as I Still Believe and featured guest spots from Bryan-Michael Cox, Warryn Campbell, Fabolous, Bobby Valentino, Ludacris, Anthony Hamilton, and Jazmine Sullivan. He did another prison stint for his actions in a 2008 domestic dispute and returned to music in October 2013 with Lucid, released on the Mass Appeal label. Like all of his previous studio releases, it peaked in the Top 10 of Billboard’s R&B chart. Tree of Lyfe, recorded primarily in his home studio, following as a Top 10 hit R&B.
MARIA JACKSON 27 MAGAZINE 