JillScott

NEW ORLEANS (AP) - The Essence Music Festival is dropping the music - from its name, that is. The festival held in New Orleans every July 4th weekend for the past 18 years has rebranded itself The Essence Festival. Organizers say the change is designed to showcase the event as more than a music festival...

Skyzoo titled his second studio album, A Dream Deferred, based on a concept built on his 2009 debut, The Salvation. "If you're a Skyzoo fan and you have The Salvation, you know that album is about temptation," he tells The BoomBox. "Which way to go when you're tempted to go left or right and the pros and cons of those decisions...

Mobb Deep's Prodigy celebrates Black Music Month 365 days a year. The veteran rapper has roots deeply embedded in music, which go way beyond hip-hop -- from his grandmother's legendary dance academy to learning about new singers from his father when he was a kid...

Gucci Mane has been successfully sued by jewelry company A&A Diamonds for $270,000, after "borrowing" a diamond pinky ring, bracelet and necklace, estimated at a total value of $240,000. Burr. Jill Scott will star in the remake of "Steel Magnolias," alongside "The Cosby Show" star Phylicia Rashad and Queen Latifah. Th...

After filming a couple of episodes, Whitney Houston's daughter Bobbi Kristina walked off the set of her new TV show, "Tyler Perry's For Better or Worse" last week. Diddy has anointed multi-talent DJ Khaled into his super group the Ciroc Boyz, joining Rick Ross, Fabolous and their latest addition, Funkmaster Flex...

"Tonight," Jill Scott says at the top of her episode of "VH1 Storytellers," which premiered last night (May 21), "it's gonna be a little sexy, a little funny, a little classy, a little moving. This is the way I tell stories." Sounds about right...

Gino DePinto Too $hort enjoys when people refer to him as Todd Shaw. For those not in the know, the moniker is his government name and one that he greets strangers, friends and the like with. There's a whole other side to the man behind the dirty raps...

A few years ago, singer-actor Tyrese Gibson was in the running to portray Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., in the Lee Daniels-directed movie 'Selma.' When the film was shut down in the pre-production stages, Tyrese threw himself into research on the late civil rights icon, determined to produce an MLK project of his own...

It's hard to believe, but 2011 is almost out the door. This year has been a great one for hip-hop and R&B music, with a host of talented newcomers serving up anthemic songs and taking spots usually held by lauded veterans. However, respected heavy hitters in both genres also reminded us why we shouldn't count them out with the release of tracks that climbed to the top of the charts. I... Read

This year's Soul Train Awards kicked off at Atlanta's Fox Theatre on Thursday night (Nov. 17) with Morris Day and the Time performing a mishmash of their classic hits. The audience, a mix of music lovers young and old, rose to their feet as Day and the band did some funky choreographed moves...