Latest news with #RNB
Yahoo
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Nicki Minaj Name-Drops JAY-Z And Shannon Sharpe On 'Banned From NO' Lil Wayne Collab
Nicki Minaj just reminded everyone why she remains one of Hip-Hop's most revered and relentless lyricists. On Tuesday (June 11), the self-proclaimed Queen of Rap reunited with her mentor Lil Wayne for a fiery — and downright candid — remix of 'Banned From NO.' And let's just say, Nicki didn't come to play. The surprise drop landed less than a week after Wayne's Tha Carter VI hit streaming platforms on June 6, a release many fans thought would include a Nicki feature. While she was absent from the album's musical assistance, the remix made up for it. With the kind of lyrical prowess only Nicki can deliver, the track wasted no time trending on social media — fueled by her wordplay and the direct shots fired. Among the targets in her lyrical line of fire were Shannon Sharpe, the NFL, and even JAY-Z. She quipped, 'If I send a pic of Shannon, you ain't that Sharpe,' a jab that immediately sparked conversation. On X, she doubled down, explaining the line with a dose of humor and a not-so-subtle reminder of a February 2024 moment when Sharpe appeared to slight her. 'Yeah ni**a you thought I forgot that 'Nicki who' sh*t you did? LMFAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO j/k,' she wrote, proving that she forgets nothing. Before wrapping her verse, Nicki also took aim at the NFL and JAY-Z for what seemingly stemmed from the 2025 Super Bowl Halftime Show in New Orleans. 'NFL, fire some ni**as and then call us!' she rapped, making it crystal clear that snubbing Lil Wayne in his own hometown was not something she could look past. This remix also marks the first time Nicki and Wayne have teamed up since her 2023 album Pink Friday 2 with 'RNB.' She promoted the track on Instagram with throwback Young Money pics and a caption saluting Wayne as 'the GOAT,' reminding fans of the bond they have that helped shape both of their careers. As for Wayne, his recent Tha Carter VI drop includes 19 tracks and a roster of unexpected features like Bono, Jelly Roll, his son Kameron Carter, Andrea Bocelli, MGK and others. Take a listen to his new collab with Nicki, 'Banned from NO' below. More from Nicki Minaj Speaks On Kendrick Lamar Amid Lil Wayne Super Bowl Snub Lil Wayne Performs "Welcome To The Carter," "A Milli" At 2025 BET Awards JAY-Z Makes Million-Dollar Bet On NBA Finals
Express Tribune
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Express Tribune
Ashanti, Bow Wow, B2K lead 106 & Park tribute at 2025 BET Awards
The 2025 BET Awards featured a heartfelt tribute to BET's iconic music video countdown show, 106 & Park, with a nostalgic performance lineup that celebrated the program's lasting cultural influence. Ashanti performs "Happy", "Rock Wit U (Aww Baby)" & 'Foolish' at the 2025 #BETAwards — RNB RADAR (@RNB_RADAR) June 10, 2025 The tribute kicked off with former host Keshia Chanté introducing Ashanti—who made history as the first artist to have a video retired on the show. The R&B star performed a smooth medley of her early 2000s hits 'Happy' and 'Foolish,' drawing cheers from the crowd. Jim Jones followed with a high-energy rendition of his anthem 'Ballin',' setting the tone for Amerie's lively recreation of her '1 Thing' dance routine. Keeping the momentum going, Terrence J hit the stage to introduce Keyshia Cole. The singer delivered an emotional performance of 'I Should Have Cheated,' which had the entire crowd singing along. Mya continued the nostalgic wave with her 2000 hit 'Case of the Ex,' paired with a routine reminiscent of her original video. Shortly after, hosts Julissa Bermudez and Big Tigger brought out Atlanta legend T.I., who fired up the audience with a medley of his hits 'Bring Em Out' and 'What You Know.' Longtime co-host Free made a solo appearance, taking viewers back to 106 & Park's early years. She upped the excitement by reuniting all four members of B2K—Omarion, Lil Fizz, Raz B, and J-Boog—who performed their chart-topping hit 'Bump, Bump, Bump,' with Fizz handling Diddy's original verse. Finally, Mr. 106 & Park himself, Bow Wow, closed out the tribute with a string of fan favorites including 'Take Ya Home' and 'Like You.' He then brought out longtime collaborator Jermaine Dupri for a surprise finale performance of 'Fresh Azimiz.' Capping off the tribute, Cam Newton and Ashley Nicole Moss announced 106 & Sports, a new BET series inspired by the original countdown show, set to debut this fall.
The Sun
13-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Sun
P Diddy forced me into sick sex sessions with male escorts while he terrorised me with beatings, says star's ex Cassie
HIP-HOP mogul Sean 'Diddy' Combs' ex had sex with male escorts for up to four days while living in terror of beatings, she told a court. Cassie Ventura, 38, said: 'You make the wrong face . . . then I was getting hit in the face.'' 8 8 8 The r'n'b singer said she was a sexual novice when she fell in love with the rapper, 55, having been won over by his wealth and charm. Within a year, she said she agreed to marathon 'freak off' sex sessions with strangers to prove her love and keep him happy. But Ms Ventura told a New York court how she began to experience a different side of Diddy — what she called 'his abusive side'. She added: 'Very controlling over my life, the things I wanted to do . . . but there's still love there. 'Control was everything from the way I looked, what I was working on that day, who I was speaking to. 'You make the wrong face and the next thing I knew I was getting hit in the face.' Ms Ventura said this was combined with fears of blackmail when Combs recorded sex sessions, which lasted from 36 hours to four days. She said the sex became her job and she took part fearing the star would release the footage. Ms Ventura later fought back tears as she told how she was made to feel disgusted with herself by Combs. Denying she wanted to engage in every 'freak off', she said: 'I just felt it was all I was good for. Diddy's $61.5m mansion where feds seized 1,000 bottles of baby oil during raid lies silent in new pics as trial starts- 'I felt disgusted. I was humiliated, I didn't have those words to put together at the time, how horrible I felt. I couldn't talk to anybody.' Asked about Combs' temper, she said: 'He'd be violent. His look would change. I wouldn't know what would happen. 'Best way (to describe it) is his eyes go black. The person I was in love with was no longer there.' Asked if she enjoyed any parts of the sex sessions, she said: 'Just the one on one time I'd get. I did feel very close to him. As sad as it was, it was the only time I could get. 'When you really care about somebody and you're in love with them, you don't want to disappoint them.' 'I never wanted him to feel I judged him for it but I wanted him to know it made me feel horrible, made me feel worthless, like I didn't have anything else to offer.' Ms Ventura testified despite being eight-and-a-half months pregnant with her third child with husband, Alex Fine, a personal trainer hired by Combs to work with her. She said she was 19 when Combs signed her on a ten-record deal to his Bad Boy Records label in 2006. 'CALLING THE SHOTS' They had sex for the first time on a boat trip in Miami after he gave her an ecstasy pill. And she alleged Combs quickly began calling 'all the shots' during their decade-long relationship. She described how the rapper would 'stomp me in the head if I was down' and beat her so badly that the whites of her eyes turned red. Prosecutors claim triple-Grammy winner Combs ran a 'criminal enterprise' coercing women into sex and threatening them if they went public. He faces charges of racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking and prostitution. Combs' lawyers conceded he was a domestic abuser but that his sex life was not a crime. He claims all of the sex acts were consensual and that his appetites were kinky but not criminal. 8 8 Combs' lawyer, Marc Agnifilo, had sought to have Ms Ventura seated in the witness box before the jury came in on the grounds her pregnancy could encourage sympathy. But the judge disagreed. Combs kept his eyes fixed on her as she took her seat. Detailing their arguments, Ms Ventura said: 'If they were violent arguments they would usually result in some sort of physical abuse. He would bash my head, knock me over, drag me, kick me, stomp me in the head if I was down'. Asked by prosecutor Emily Anne Johnson how frequently, Ms Ventura replied: 'Too frequently.' The singer added: 'Within the first year Sean proposed to me this idea where he'd watch me in sexual activity with a third party, specifically another man.' With a sigh, Ms Ventura said in a halting voice: 'It entails hiring of an escort, and setting up this experience so I could perform for Sean.' When Combs floated the idea of 'freak offs', Ms Ventura said she remembered 'my stomach falling to my butt'. Over time it turned into the fact there were blackmail material to make me feel if I didn't do it it would be hung over my head or these things would become public. Cassie Ventura She added: 'The nervousness and confusion on that moment . . . I had just turned 22. I didn't have a concept of how that would be turn-on but I also felt a sense of responsibility with him sharing something like that with me. 'I was confused, nervous but also loved him very much. Pretty quickly I knew it wasn't something I wanted to be doing, especially as regularly as it became. But I wanted to make him happy. It got to a point I didn't feel I had much of a choice.' Ms Ventura said she feared making Combs angry, adding: 'Over time it turned into the fact there were blackmail material to make me feel if I didn't do it it would be hung over my head or these things would become public. 'It was always in the back of my mind I'd be hurt by him. 'Sean is a really polarising person, also very charming, so it's hard to be able to decide on that moment what you need when he's telling you what he wants. 'I just didn't know. I just didn't know what would happen.' FEARED HIS ANGER Before she met Combs, she thought he was a 'larger than life' figure in the music industry. Ms Ventura repeatedly called herself 'naive' including in her belief they were in a monogamous relationship. She said: 'I was insanely jealous but also super young, didn't get it at all. I didn't get that he was him. 'As he would say, 'I'm Puff Daddy and Puff Daddy has many women'. He likes the company of women. 'I had to learn that over time. He made me feel like we were in a monogamous relationship.' She said Combs became more controlling and abusive, adding: 'If I wasn't smiling at him the way he wanted, I just looked a certain way he didn't like — maybe I was a brat or something — he would let me know I need to fix my face or watch my mouth.' Describing the 'freak offs', Ms Ventura said: 'They ranged anywhere from 36, 48 to 72 hours. The longest was four days. Maybe even more on and off with breaks. A significant part of the week'. 8 8 8 Recovery was about 'recovering from the drugs, dehydration, staying awake all that time', she said. She and Mr Fine have been married six years and have two daughters. She first announced their relationship in 2018, two months after splitting from Combs. Earlier, Judge Arun Subramanian indicated he could make the 'freak off' videos and photos public despite Ms Ventura wanting them sealed. Referring to media requests to see the material, he said: 'I'm inclined to grant the application.' Combs was again supported at court by mum Janice. He denies all the charges. He faces life imprisonment if convicted.
Daily Mail
07-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Usher announces first Australian headline tour in more than a decade
US R&B star Usher will be headed Down Under later this year, as part of his Past Present Future Tour. The multi-platinum artist, 46, is bringing the globetrotting tour for eight shows - four at Melbourne 's Rod Laver Arena, and four at Qudos Bank Arena In Sydney. It will be more than a decade since Usher headlined an Australian run, with his last visit back in 2011 on his OMG tour. The singer was last in the country back in 2018, performing alongside the likes of Salt-N-Pepa, T-Pain and Naughty By Nature for the RNB Fridays Live tour. The tour, which kicked off in the US back in August last year, has since jetted to Europe and the UK. Usher took to Instagram to make the auspicious announcement, sharing a compilation video of some of the best tour moments. Fans were quick to issue their excitement over the announcement with the likes of, 'I'm so excited, I'm headed to Australia.' Others, who had already witnessed the tour, first-hand admitted how excited they were for Australian fans. 'They in for a treat,' one fan wrote. 'A time was HAD at his London show I had an amazing time!' It seems the critics agree, too with culture bible Billboard praising the show. 'Much of the two-hour show felt less like a concert and more of a celebration of the man whose music has soundtracked lives, redefined a genre, and shifted the pop-culture landscape over the last 30 years,' they wrote. The show promises to run the gamut of Usher's 30 year career featuring fan favourites such as My Boo, U Got It Bad, and Love In The Club. The set is also sure to include tracks from Usher's ninth studio album, Coming Home, which dropped in 2022. It will be more than a decade since Usher headlined an Australian run, with his last visit back in 2011 on his OMG tour With the tour currently in full swing fans can expect a very well oiled machine by the time it hits Australian soil. Also, Usher has been on top of his performing game of late, with a bravura turn at the Met Gala in New York this week. The superstar also honed his act in a 100-show Las Vegas residency at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace and Park MGM between 201 and 2023. He also delivered a critically lauded Super Bowl performance in 2024, prior to Kendrick Lamar, who also recently announced a Down Under visit. The Past Present Future tour got off to quite the rocky start however, with Usher having to postpone the commencement of the US leg due to injury. The hitmaker ended up missing a trio of concerts after he hurt his neck preparing for the shows. Usher also recently shared his secret for keeping fit at 45. The Yeah! hitmaker is well-known for his ripped physique and six pack - and shared that his fans motivate him to stay in optimal shape. 'The consistency that comes with being a performer who has to dance and sing and still have a six pack at 45 years old? Yeah, there's a little bit of mindfulness there,' he told Us Weekly. 'But thank God that I have fans that I go work hard for every night.' Usher will play Rod Laver Arena on November 19, 20, 22 and 23, before heading north to Sydney's Qudos bank Arena on December 1, 2 4 and 5. Tickets for all dates are on sale go on sale Friday May 16.
