Author Archives: Jennifer White

Beyonce And Jay-Z Rock The Global Citizens Festival In Africa

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With the entire world watching, Jay-Z and Beyonce triumphantly closed out the Global Citizen Festival proving they are music’s number one couple.

The Carters hit the FNB Stadium stage on Saturday night to Hov’s “Holy Grail” with Beyonce singing the chorus made famous by Justin Timberlake. Queen Bey let everyone know that they were “here to celebrate you and Nelson Mandela.”

A unique feature of this edition of the Global Citizen Festival was a celebration of 100 years since Mandela’s birth. Messages of unity and women’s rights were also spread throughout the event by the mega show’s participants, including Pharrell Williams, Dave Chappelle and Oprah Winfrey.

As for the Carter, they promoted women and equality during their set, while also paying homage to African culture via their wardrobe, some of the music intertwined with their classics, and imagery on the big screen. For this event, the duo put aside their couples-goals and business ventures, performing as simply two of, who many consider, the most iconic artists in their respective genres. 

And although on Sunday neither Jay or Bey performed new material, their classics rocked the stadium. “Ape Sh*t” and “N****s In Paris” caused so much excitement, it felt like the trembling ground during the Battle of Wakanda in the “Infinity Wars.” On the flip-side, Beyonce sang “Halo” so beautifully, that there were definitely wet eyes around the crowd.
Jay-Z was still riding high after reminding the world why he’s considered a GOAT with his verse on Meek Mill’s “What’s Free,” an instant top contender for verse of the year.

Ed Sheeran was a rare Carter guest (they didn’t bring anyone out during their $250 million grossing “On The Run II” tour) during “Perfect.” And the duet was just that, flawless. The long anticipated performance of the smash lived up to expectations.

Jay-Z also teamed up with guest Pharrell on the “Excuse Me Miss” Remix and “Give It To Me.”

The Carters however, have proven to be each other’s best collaborators. Perhaps answering the question of what if Michael Jordan played with... Michael Jordan? And while we may never know that answer, but on the music hardwood The Carters are the closest to it. Timeless ditty’s “Me and My Girlfriend,” “Drunk In Love” and the finale “”Forever Young” made for multiple highlights, further driving home their message that “Love Conquers All.”

“It Feels good to home. Feels good to be home,” Jay said before they left the stage.

Dave Chappelle’s South African Jam Session Brings Out Jay-Z, Oprah, Ed Sheeran

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As the weekend festivities surrounding the Global Citizen Festival in Johannesburg, South Africa got into full swing on Saturday night, Dave Chappelle kept the party going until the wee hours. The legendary comedian stayed on the mic and kept the crowd at club Car Fax captivated for hours, but it wasn’t for one of his must-see stand-up shows. The entertainment icon hosted the “Dave Chappelle Pop Up Jam Session,” and celebrities such as Jay-Z, Oprah Winfrey and Tyler Perry popped in and out of the experience.  Ed Sherman briefly sang, but the party was mostly about Dave and his crew, Frederick Yonnet and the Band With No Name.

“South Africa, you guys are outstanding host,” Chappelle said around 3am. “Shout out to me, muthaf***n Dave Chappelle. I’m not just a comedian, I’m a muthaf***n movement.”

Not only did the band play a litany of classics, such as Tupac and Dr. Dre’s “California Love” and Slick Rick’s “Mona Lisa,” Chappelle himself sang and rapped some of the tunes. And while he he may never give Johnny Gill a run for his money, this was not Chappelle’s stab at being a serious vocalist. This was more like what you and your friends do at party when your favorite jam comes on: loud, proud and possibly just a bit off-key.

“Strumming my pain with his fingers,” Dave sang, inspiring the crowd to join in. “Singing my life with his words./ Killing me softly with his song./Killing me softly with his song./Telling my whole life with his words./ Killing me softly with his song.”

Later Dave and the band brought in some Otis Redding with “Try A Little Tenderness.”

“You know she's waiting,” Dave and the audience sang. “Just anticipating./
For things that she'll never, never, never, never possess, yeah yeah./But while she's there waiting, without them./ Try a little tenderness.”

When the famous baseline from Dennis Edwards’ “Don’t Look Any Further” came on, Chappelle started spitting Rakim’s lyrics from “Paid in Full” which samples the beat.

“Thinkin of a master plan,” Dave rapped, “cause ain't nuthin but sweat inside my hand./So I dig into my pocket, all my money is spent./So I dig deeper but still comin up with lint./So I start my mission- leave my residence./Thinkin how could I get some dead presidents.”

One of the spectators yelled up to stage and asked Dave where the afterparty was. The famed funny man replied “I’m going to bed, n***a.” He later told the gathering that the it was “Special for African Americans to be in South Africa” before heading to the bar.

The Global Citizen Festival took place yesterday at the FNB Stadium in Johannesburg with extra joy as a celebration of Nelson Mandela’s 100th birthday. Jay-Z and Beyonce headlined, with Usher, Pharrell Williams, Chris Martin and Wiz Kid also on the star studded bill. Stay tuned for LiveXLive.com for more coverage of this beautiful event.

Halsey Has Words For Victoria’s Secret

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Sunday night we finally got to see the 2018 Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show, which was taped nearly a month ago – with performances from Halsey, The Chainsmokers with Kelsea Ballerina, Rita Ora, and The Struts. But Halsey apparently has mixed feelings about her participation, following controversial remarks from VS’s chief marketing officer.

In an issue of Vogue, published November 8th – the same day the show was recorded - Ed Razek refuted the idea that the show should hire curvy or trans models for the televised fashion show, saying “Shouldn’t you have transsexuals in the show? No. No, I don’t think we should. Well, why not? Because the show is a fantasy.”

Halsey took exception with his comments and posted a message to her Instagram feed last night reading: “I have adored the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show since I was young. Performing this year alongside other amazing artists, and hardworking models/friends was supposed to be the best night of my year. However, after I filmed the performance, some comments were made regarding the show that I simply cannot ignore. As a member of the LGBTQ+ community, I have no tolerance for a lack of inclusivity. Especially not one motivated by stereotype.”

She tells fans that she has made a contribution to GLSEN, an organization that addresses LGBTQ issues in K-12 education, and continued: “If you are a trans person reading this, and these comments have made you feel alienated or invalidated please know that you have allies. We stand in solidarity, and complete and total acceptance is the only ‘fantasy’ that I support.”

Razek has since apologized, saying his comments “came across as insensitive”, and posting his own November 9th message reading: “I apologize. To be clear, we absolutely would cast a transgender model for the show. We’ve had transgender models come to castings… And like many others, they didn’t make it…But it was never about gender. I admire and respect their journey to embrace who they really are.”

But Halsey, and many other critics, don’t seem to feel that apology is enough.

If you’d like to learn more about GLSEN, or make a contribution, please follow the link above! And find out more about Halsey on Slacker’s Halsey: DNA Station!

Justice For Rita Ora!

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Nothing like a little schadenfreude with your Thanksgiving turkey, amirite? The internet was equal parts aghast and thrilled to see Rita Ora’s train wreck of a performance in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, where she was lip syncing a line or two off of the actual song – or at least, what tv audiences were hearing. Everyone assumed this was a HUGE mistake on Rita’s part, or that it was some kind of terrible revelation that she wasn’t singing live. But no one should be shocked. If you’ve watched any of the performances closely over, oh, I don’t know, the last two or three DECADES, you would know that ALL those performances are lip synced!

John Legend – who also performed in the parade – confirmed as much in a tweet defending Rita: "Fun fact. We all have to lip sync on this parade because the floats don't have the capacity to handle the sound requirements for a live performance. Hope y'all enjoyed it anyway. Know that if you come to my shows, the vocals are 100% live!”

Rita’s response simply read: "Thank you for clarifying what I was about to also tweet.”

And for those saying that Kelly Clarkson’s performance wasn’t lip synced – you’re right, it wasn’t. But Kelly was set up in the official broadcast performance area – not on a moving vehicle traveling over two and a half miles, outside, on one of the coldest parade days ever.

So congratulations to Rita, who kept her cool under a ton of internet ridicule, after a giant flub in front of one of the biggest television audiences of the year… that wasn’t even her fault. Macy’s confirmed with a tweet of their own:

"During today’s NBC broadcast of the #MacysParade several recording artists experienced technical difficulties that negatively impacted their performance.  We apologize and want fans to know these issues were out of the artist’s control.”

So THERE. Some good news for Rita Ora – she just dropped the brand new disc Phoenix, and it’s Slacker’s Album Of The Week! Listen to it over & over again here. Feel free to lip sync to your heart’s content.