Brooklyn’s limited-edition Jay-Z library cards spark surge in membership

Cards depicting albums by Brooklyn-born rapper are part of initiative to celebrate 50th anniversary of hip-hop

Forget new lines of sneakers or T-shirts: the most sought-after merchandise this month can be found in public libraries in Brooklyn.

In collaboration with Roc Nation, an entertainment company founded by Jay-Z, the Brooklyn Public Library is celebrating the 50th anniversary of hip-hop by issuing limited-edition library cards featuring the rapper, who was born in the New York borough.

Continue reading...

An ‘unbelievable deal’? The $200m mansion reportedly bought by Beyoncé and Jay Z

40,000 sq ft manor overlooking the Pacific Ocean in Malibu is thought to be California’s most expensive home ever

With its steep green cliffs overlooking the Pacific Ocean, Malibu is a top contender in America’s ultra-luxury real estate market. Its rise in the rankings of the favorite spots of the super-rich was solidified again in past weeks, with reports that Beyoncé and Jay-Z purchased a 40,000 sq ft oceanfront mansion in the coastal enclave.

TMZ first reported that the star couple had snapped up a modernist mansion designed by the celebrity Japanese architect Tadao Ando. With a sale tag of $200m, the acquisition appears to break the record for the most expensive home in California.

Continue reading...

Jay-Z’s bitcoin school met with skepticism in his former housing project: ‘I don’t have money to be losing’

The hip-hop mogul loves to rap about his roots in Brooklyn’s Marcy housing projects. But classes in cryptocurrency show the billionaire is out of touch, residents say

Marcy Houses, the 28-acre public housing development in Brooklyn’s Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood, is best-known as a pillar of rapper-turned-mogul Jay-Z’s New York persona. Built in 1949 as part of a push by the New York City Housing Authority to house the city’s low-income residents, Marcy had fallen into a state of dangerous disrepair by the 1970s when Jay-Z, whose real name is Shawn Carter, was growing up there.

“Where I’m from, Marcy son, ain’t nothing nice,” he raps in “Where I’m From”. “Marcy me, just the way I am always gonna be,” he declares in 2017’s Marcy Me.

Continue reading...

2022 Grammys: Jon Batiste, HER and Justin Bieber lead nominations

Olivia Rodrigo, Doja Cat, Billie Eilish and Lil Nas X also among those with multiple nominations in top categories

The highly versatile, socially conscious pianist, singer and composer Jon Batiste has topped this year’s Grammy nominations, with 10 nods.

Batiste’s nominations straddle everything from the top prizes of record and album of the year, to inclusions across R&B, jazz, roots and classical categories. His score for animated film Soul, made with Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross of Nine Inch Nails, is also nominated, as are the directors of his music video Freedom.

Continue reading...

Tiffany solicits help of Beyoncé and Jay-Z to draw younger buyers – will it backfire?

The musician sports a 128.54-carat stone in a new ad campaign – the jewelry company’s latest attempt to rebrand itself

Beyoncé has become the first black woman to wear the famous yellow Tiffany diamond, in the jewelry company’s latest attempt to rebrand itself for a younger, more diverse audience.

The musician sports the “priceless” 128.54-carat stone alongside husband Jay-Z in a new ad campaign for Tiffany & Co. Beyoncé is the fourth woman, and first Black woman, to wear the diamond in more than a century.

Continue reading...

The greatest ever songs of the summer – ranked!

From Don Henley to Drake, we rate the hottest sounds of the season

For a fleeting moment Brooklyn’s the Drums were the skinny jean-sporting indie band du jour. This is their crowning moment, all pogoing bass, petal-soft whistle riffs and a lyric about waking up on a sunny morning and running to the beach. “Oh mama I don’t care about nothing” feels like a very summer 2021 mantra, too.

Continue reading...

Britney Spears: another pop princess trapped in a man-made fairytale

One contributor is notably absent from the new film about Britney: herself. But from Rihanna to Beyoncé to Taylor Swift, female stars have always struggled to tell their stories

In the closing song of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Hamilton, we are invited to ponder the question: “Who lives, who dies, who tells your story?” It is a powerful message about legacy and ownership, as relevant to any modern public figure as it is about one of America’s founding fathers.

I think about this lyric whenever my mind strays to Britney Spears, who has found her life back under the microscope following the release of the documentary Framing Britney Spears. The story the film chooses to tell is contextualised by what we now understand as the rampant misogyny of the mid-to-late 00s, painting an empathic portrait of a woman who had not previously found much sympathy in the mainstream.

Continue reading...

Jay-Z’s Team Roc call for prosecution of police officer who shot and killed 3 men

Officer Joseph Mensah was found to have acted in self-defence in two of the shootings, with another currently under review

Jay-Z’s social justice initiative Team Roc has called for a Wisconsin police officer to be fired and prosecuted, after he shot and killed three people while on duty.

Joseph Mensah, of Milwaukee suburb Wauwatosa, killed Alvin Cole, Antonio Gonzales and Jay Anderson in three separate incidents between 2015 and 2020. He is under review for the most recent killing, of Cole, but the earlier two were deemed self-defence and he did not face charges.

Continue reading...

Woodstock 50 thrown into doubt after backer ‘cancels’ festival

Lead investor pulls funding but organisers say event will go ahead and will be ‘a blast’

There are conflicting reports as to whether a planned three-day concert to mark the 50th anniversary of the Woodstock festival has been cancelled or not.

Woodstock 50 was scheduled to take place on 16 to 18 August in Watkins Glen in upstate New York state with a lineup including the rapper Jay-Z, the singer Miley Cyrus and the rockers the Killers.

Continue reading...

The 50 best songs about Europe – ranked!

Brexit is delayed – so voyager avec nous on a trans-European tour of music, from Paris to Berlin via Finistère. Tout le monde à bord!

Poor old Lloyd went to Amsterdam and all he got was double pneumonia in a single room. And, by the sounds of it, his love life is going horribly wrong. Just don’t ask him about the price of medicine (obviously he didn’t get his European health insurance card). It’s enough to make anyone go No Deal, really.

Continue reading...

Beyonce and Jay-Z’s Surprise Album Makes Marriage Into a Spectacle

The marriage rate remains low , but Jay-Z and BeyoncA are doing their best to keep wedlock fashionable. On Everything Is Love , the joint album the couple surprise-released on Saturday, their union again glitters as a luxury item as covetable as their AlaA a boots and Aruba vacations.

Jay-Z, Beyonce release surprise album ‘Everything Is Love’

In this Nov. 4, 2016 file photo, Beyonce performs at a Get Out the Vote concert for Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton at the Wolstein Center in Cleveland. Jay-Z and Beyonce have released a joint album that touches on the rapper's disgust at this year's Grammy Awards and features a shout out from their daughter Blue Ivy to her siblings.

Jay-Z, leading on Grammy Day, attacked by Trump

Jay-Z is leading nominations Sunday for the Grammys, was feted Saturday by music industry heavyweights - and, in between, was taken to task by the president of the United States. American rap mogul Jay-Z - who took home the Industry Icon award at the traditionnal Clive Davis pre-Grammy party - leads with eight Grammy nominations President Donald Trump criticized Jay-Z on his Twitter feed, likely in response to the rap mogul's denunciations of the US leader in an interview.

The Latest: Bruno Mars wins album of the year Grammy Award

The rapper was nominated for eight Grammy nominations on Tuesday, Nov. 28. Four of the five album of the y... . FILE - In this Sunday, Aug. 27, 2017 file photo, Kendrick Lamar accepts the award for video of the year for "HUMBLE."

‘SNL’ Season Opener Ratings Fall Short Of Last Season

"Saturday Night Live" season 43 opener fell short in the ratings of last year's premiere and finale, according to Deadline Sunday. The season premiere hosted by Ryan Gosling with musical guest Jay-Z brought in 7.02 million viewers with a 1.91 rating in the coveted demographic of ages 18-49 and was aired live across the country.

Ryan Gosling reunites with Emma Stone to host SNL premiere

He's cracking up! Ryan Gosling reunites with Emma Stone to host SNL premiere... as he struggles to stay in character after being manhandled by Kate McKinnon Emma Stone reunited with La La Land co-star Ryan Gosling to help him launch the new season of Saturday Night Live. Ryan hosted the season premiere, repeatedly coming close to losing it with laughter especially when cast member Kate McKinnon manhandled his bottom in one skit.

‘SNL’ gears up for new season launch with Gosling, Jay-Z

"Saturday Night Live" kicks off its new season with Ryan Gosling as host, Jay-Z as the musical guest - and pretty likely some jokes at the expense of the White House. The sketch comedy show starts up again Saturday and is hoping to build off one of its most-watched seasons in more than two decades thanks to Alec Baldwin's turn as President Donald Trump and Melissa McCarthy's appearances as former White House press secretary Sean Spicer.