NEW YORK (AP) — Misdemeanor drug and menacing charges against rapper Desiigner have effectively been dropped less than three months after his arrest in New York. The rapper, whose real name is Sidney Selby, wasn’t in Manhattan Criminal Court on Tuesday when prosecutors agreed to have his case sealed. Prosecutors and Selby’s lawyers agreed to … Continue reading
(AP)- Drake, who has skipped his fair share of awards shows in recent years, shined at the 2016 American Music Awards, already winning two trophies and debuting a new commercial for Apple Music. The rapper, the leading nominee, won favorite artist — rap/hip-hop and favorite album — rap/hip-hop for “Views” on Sunday. He was nominated … Continue reading
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Kanye West has been hospitalized in Los Angeles after abruptly canceling the last 21 dates of his national tour. A spokeswoman for the E! network, which airs the Kardashian family reality show and its spinoffs, confirmed that West was hospitalized Monday afternoon after his personal doctor called 911. Christel Wheeler said … Continue reading
JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Hip-hop star Yasiin Bey — also known as Mos Def — has left South Africa after making a deal with authorities who accused him of violating the country’s immigration laws. South Africa’s home affairs department on Wednesday confirmed that Bey had left the country on Tuesday after apologizing to the government. In … Continue reading
NEW YORK (AP) — When Bruno Mars was in the studio crafting his upbeat, funky new album, he had a dress code: Wear your finest clothes, and leave your sloppy sweatpants at the door. He said dressing up set to the mood so that he and his collaborators could write and produce groovy, smooth and … Continue reading
ATLANTA (AP) — Taboo of the Black Eyed Peas has opened up about his recent battle with testicular cancer. The 41-year-old rapper says he checked into an emergency room in 2014 after having pain throughout his body after a show and found out that he had stage 2 testicular cancer. He underwent surgery and a … Continue reading
A Tribe Called Quest will release their final record on Nov. 11, which includes material they recorded with rapper Phife Dawg who died in March. In a handwritten note posted on Facebook, veteran rapper and producer Q-Tip said they were inspired after the hip-hop group reunited for the first time in 18 years last year … Continue reading
LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) — Jean-Jacques Perrey, the French composer and pioneer of electronic pop music who was best known for co-writing “Baroque Hoedown” used as the music for the Main Street Electrical Parade at Disney theme parks, has died at age 87. Perrey died in Lausanne, Switzerland, on Friday “from a very quick and violent … Continue reading
“Mozart 225: The New Complete Edition” (Decca and Deutsche Grammophon) What measures 11 inches square and 7 inches high, weighs 21 1/2 pounds and takes 10 days and nights to play? Answer: A new box set jam-packed with 200 CDs that contains every note composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in his short 35 years of … Continue reading
CLEVELAND (AP) — The lights were bright. The beats were pumping. And the backup dancers were wearing blue pantsuits. After raucous performances from Beyoncé and her husband, rapper Jay Z, Hillary Clinton had one simple message for the packed, cheering crowd at Cleveland’s Wolstein Center: “Help us win Ohio.” Clinton’s campaign is turning to a … Continue reading
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A massive amusement complex in Dubai’s southern desert opened its first park on Monday — a Legoland with interlocking plastic blocks that both model the sheikhdom’s architectural wonders and represent the first bricks laid in developing the expanse. Much of the planned Dubai Parks & Resorts project worth over … Continue reading
NEW YORK (AP) — A powdery substance a man sprinkled into the orchestra pit at New York’s Metropolitan Opera may have been an opera lover’s ashes, police say. The freakish incident during a Saturday afternoon performance of Rossini’s “Guillaume Tell” forced Met officials to cancel the rest of the show as well as an evening … Continue reading
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Country singers Shania Twain, Carrie Underwood and Kelsea Ballerini honored each other and celebrated their shared successes at the CMT Artists of the Year show. Female singers rocked the stage, geeked out over on another and showcased women’s impact on country music’s past, present and future during the award show held … Continue reading
NEW YORK (AP) — Bobby Shmurda, a rapper once on the rise thanks to a viral music video that popularized the “Shmoney dance,” was sentenced to seven years in prison Wednesday after claiming he was railroaded into taking a guilty plea on charges he conspired with a violent drug gang. “I want to withdraw my … Continue reading
NEW YORK (AP) — Thom Jones, an acclaimed short-story writer who drew upon family tragedy and his own painful struggles for “The Pugilist At Rest” and other collections, has died. Jones died Friday in Olympia, Washington, his longtime home, according to his literary representatives, the Wylie Agency. He was 71 and died of complications from … Continue reading
Spartan Echo 