Netflix Docuseries Executive Produced by 50 Cent Secures Three Emmy Nominations

Promotional art for the Netflix docuseries “Sean Combs: The Reckoning” is shown in this undated handout image. The project, executive produced by Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, earned three Emmy nominations this week, including outstanding documentary or nonfiction series. The critical television recognition arrived exactly as Jackson faced a separate legal setback in a New York appellate court regarding a disputed life-rights agreement.

Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson spent the last two decades turning beef, television and personal history into business.

This week showed both sides of that machine.

A New York appeals court on Thursday rejected G-Unit Books’ attempt to win a default judgment against Shaniqua Tompkins, Jackson’s former girlfriend, in a breach-of-contract case tied to a disputed life-rights agreement. The same week, “Sean Combs: The Reckoning,” the Netflix docuseries Jackson executive produced, earned three Emmy nominations.

It is a strange but very 50 Cent split-screen: a legal setback over who controls one woman’s story and awards recognition for a documentary about another hip-hop mogul’s fall.

The court loss came from the Appellate Division, First Department, which unanimously affirmed a lower-court ruling denying G-Unit Books’ motion for default judgment and giving Tompkins more time to answer the complaint. The case is listed as G-Unit Books, Inc. v. Shaniqua Tompkins, Index No. 654265/2025.

G-Unit Books had sued Tompkins, accusing her of breaching an agreement by posting online videos and speaking publicly about her past relationship with Jackson. Bloomberg Law reported that the company claimed the posts violated a contract connected to her life story.

The appeals court did not decide whether Tompkins breached the agreement. It ruled that G-Unit Books was not entitled to a quick win before the case was answered.

The panel said the lower court “providently exercised its discretion” in denying G-Unit Books’ motion, pointing to New York’s “strong public policy in favor of litigating matters on the merits.” The court also noted that Tompkins’ delay in answering was “only four months” and that G-Unit Books did not allege prejudice from the delay.

The appellate panel focused heavily on service. Tompkins said she did not receive the summons and complaint. The court said G-Unit Books failed to provide evidence that she lived at the addresses where service was attempted.

At one Jamaica address, a process server was told by security staff that Tompkins no longer lived in the building. At a Greene Avenue address in Brooklyn, a tenant said he did not know her, according to the appellate decision.

The court also rejected G-Unit Books’ argument that publicity around the lawsuit showed Tompkins knew about the case. The panel said Tompkins denied knowing about the lawsuit until October 2025 and that G-Unit Books presented no evidence refuting that denial. A TMZ request for comment did not prove she had notice, the court said.

The lower court ruling, which the appeals court upheld, said Tompkins had raised possible defenses to the case. Judge Robert R. Reed wrote that Tompkins disputed that the “Life Rights Agreement” was entered into voluntarily and had identified possible defenses including duress, illegality and fraud.

That does not mean those defenses have been proven. It means the case continues instead of ending by default.

While G-Unit Books lost that round, Jackson’s television business had a better week.

The Television Academy lists “Sean Combs: The Reckoning” with three Emmy nominations: outstanding documentary or nonfiction series, outstanding directing for a documentary/nonfiction program and outstanding picture editing for a nonfiction program. Jackson is listed as an executive producer on the documentary/nonfiction series nomination.

The nominated Netflix series was produced by House of Nonfiction, G-Unit Film & Television and Texas Crew Productions. Alexandria Stapleton was nominated for directing the episode “Pain Vs Love,” while the editing nomination was for the episode “Blink Again.”

Jackson celebrated the nominations on social media, writing that “everybody had something to say” when the project was announced and that “the Emmys got something to say too."

Music Publisher Reservoir Media Secures Global Rights to T.I. Discography

Multi-platinum recording artist T.I., second from left, poses alongside Reservoir Media executives to celebrate a new publishing agreement. Pictured from left are Reservoir CEO Golnar Khosrowshahi, T.I., Executive Vice President of A&R and Catalog Development Faith Newman, and President Rell Lafargue. The Atlanta rap pioneer signed a comprehensive worldwide publishing deal with the company on Thursday covering his entire back catalog and future releases. (Courtesy photo)

T.I. is turning his legacy into long-term publishing business.

The Grammy-winning Atlanta rapper has signed a worldwide publishing deal with Reservoir Media covering his back catalog and future works, including his new album, “Kill the King,” the company announced Thursday.

Financial terms were not disclosed.

The agreement gives Reservoir a role in a catalog that helped push Atlanta trap from regional movement to global rap language. Reservoir said the deal spans T.I.’s full publishing catalog, including his back catalog and future work, and comes as “Kill the King” has debuted in the top 10 on Billboard’s Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and Top Rap Albums charts.

T.I., born Clifford Joseph Harris Jr., has released a catalog that Reservoir said includes 11 studio albums, more than 100 singles and 13 mixtapes. His hits include “What You Know,” “Bring Em Out,” “Live Your Life,” “Dead and Gone” and “Swagga Like Us.”

“I’m very excited about building a strong partnership with Reservoir as we work together to diversify the business and expand the reach of my catalog,” Harris said in a statement.

The deal arrives as T.I. is also positioning “Kill the King” as the closing chapter of his rap career. In a People interview published Thursday, he reflected on retiring from music, family life with Tameka “Tiny” Cottle-Harris and the 25-year arc from his 2001 debut, “I’m Serious,” to his final album.

That makes the Reservoir agreement more than routine catalog housekeeping. It is a legacy move by one of the central figures of 2000s Southern rap at a time when hip-hop catalogs from the CD era are being treated as long-term assets.

Reservoir Executive Vice President of A&R and Catalog Development Faith Newman called T.I. the “King of the South” and said his music helped put Atlanta’s rap scene on the map.

“His crossover successes and enduring popularity have proven time and again how much his music resonates with fans,” Newman said.

Reservoir President and Chief Operating Officer Rell Lafargue said T.I.’s music has “real cultural significance and staying power.”

T.I. won three Grammys during his commercial peak, including best rap solo performance for “What You Know” and best rap/sung collaboration for Justin Timberlake’s “My Love.” He won again in 2009 for “Swagga Like Us,” the Jay-Z, Kanye West, Lil Wayne and T.I. collaboration built around an M.I.A. sample.

His 2008 album “Paper Trail” remains the cleanest example of his crossover reach. The project included “Live Your Life” with Rihanna, “Dead and Gone” with Timberlake and “Whatever You Like,” turning the self-proclaimed King of the South into one of rap’s most reliable pop-chart names without fully detaching him from trap music’s street foundation.

Bone Thugs-N-Harmony Get Permanent Place on Hollywood Walk of Fame

Members of the Grammy-winning rap group Bone Thugs-N-Harmony — from left, Wish Bone, Bizzy Bone, Krayzie Bone, and Layzie Bone — are shown in this undated promotional file photo. The pioneering Cleveland group was honored Wednesday with the 2,851st star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. (Photo: Ruthless Records / File)

Bone Thugs-N-Harmony’s Cleveland sound now has a permanent address in Hollywood.

The Grammy-winning rap group received the 2,851st star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Wednesday during a ceremony at 6126 Hollywood Blvd., where friends, family, fans and fellow hip-hop veterans gathered to celebrate one of rap’s most distinctive groups.

The honor came in the recording category, more than three decades after Krayzie Bone, Layzie Bone, Bizzy Bone, Wish Bone and Flesh-n-Bone turned rapid-fire flows, street harmonies and grief-soaked melody into a sound no one else could duplicate.

“Cleveland is in the house,” Jerry Newman, chair of the board of the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, said as the ceremony opened.

Radio personality Big Boy hosted the ceremony, calling the day “beautiful” as fans lined the sidewalk in the July sun. He introduced the group as pioneers whose music brought national attention to Midwestern rap while helping shape the melodic, double-time style that still echoes through hip-hop and R&B.

“There’s a lot of people that pay homage and there’s a lot of sloppy carbon copies,” Big Boy said.

That was the unspoken theme of the afternoon: Bone Thugs-N-Harmony did not just make hits. They invented a lane.

Fat Joe, who spoke before the unveiling, said he had attended about 10 Walk of Fame ceremonies and had never seen a crowd spill into the street the way fans did for Bone Thugs-N-Harmony.

“I owe a great deal to Bone Thugs-N-Harmony,” Fat Joe said.

The Bronx rapper said the group supported him early in his career, took him on tour, appeared in his videos and stayed close through personal loss, including the death of Big Pun.

“They never acted funny with me,” Fat Joe said. “They took me on tour with them. They came to my videos. They showed up in my songs.”

Fat Joe said the moment also mattered because the five members were together, healthy and able to receive the honor in person.

“I love that the guys are all here,” he said. “They all look great.”

Ice-T followed with a speech that put the group’s legacy in the context of 1990s hip-hop, when biting another artist’s style was one of the fastest ways to lose credibility.

“I get a phone call. They say Bone Thugs getting a star. I said, ‘About time,’” Ice-T said.

He asked the crowd to pause and appreciate that the members were alive, together and receiving their flowers in public.

“Usually, you only see people like this — we only get together during bad times,” Ice-T said. “Let’s just applaud the fact that all Bone Thugs are alive, healthy and here.”

Ice-T said originality was the currency of the group’s era.

“Our era of hip-hop, you had to be original,” he said. “You could not sound like anybody else.”

When Bone Thugs-N-Harmony arrived, he said, there was no mistaking them for anyone else.

“When Bone Thugs hit the scene, they were like nothing we had ever heard,” Ice-T said. “That’s why I got to tip my hat to them.”

The group formed in Cleveland in 1991, originally performing as B.O.N.E. Enterpri$e before being discovered by Eazy-E. He signed them to Ruthless Records in 1993, giving the West Coast label a group that sounded nothing like Los Angeles, New York or Atlanta.

That difference became the point.

Their national breakthrough came with the 1994 EP “Creepin on ah Come Up,” powered by “Thuggish Ruggish Bone” and “Foe tha Love of $.” A year later, “E. 1999 Eternal” made them unavoidable.

Released in 1995, “E. 1999 Eternal” debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and produced “1st of tha Month,” “East 1999” and “Tha Crossroads.” The last of those, rewritten as a tribute after Eazy-E’s death, spent eight weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and won the Grammy Award for best rap performance by a duo or group in 1997.

“Tha Crossroads” did something rap was still fighting to prove in the mid-1990s: It made mourning sound massive.

Bone Thugs followed with “The Art of War” in 1997, another No. 1 album that included “Look Into My Eyes” and “If I Could Teach the World.” By then, the group’s influence had moved beyond Cleveland and Ruthless Records. Their cadence, hooks and sing-rap approach were already being absorbed across hip-hop and R&B.

Big Boy called them “veterans and relevant at the same damn time.”

During brief acceptance remarks, the members thanked God, their families, Ruthless Records, longtime collaborators and the fans who stayed with them for more than 30 years.

“From the trenches to the stars,” one member said. “We’ve been through it all, through the fire and the rain. We came from a place where opportunities were way too limited. So to be here standing with my brothers is something that I don’t take for granted.”

He said the group’s mission was simple.

“All we wanted to do was share a particular sound to inspire the world,” he said.

Another member made clear that the star belonged beyond the five men whose names were being honored.

“This is everybody’s star,” he said.

That line fit the afternoon. For Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, the Walk of Fame star is not just a trophy for past sales. It is a public marker for a sound that stretched rap’s vocabulary and made Cleveland part of hip-hop’s emotional map.

The group’s records could be spiritual and menacing in the same breath. “1st of tha Month” turned a welfare-check calendar date into a celebration. “Tha Crossroads” became a funeral song and a victory lap at the same time. “Thuggish Ruggish Bone” sounded like a cipher drifting through smoke.

That influence is easier to hear now than it was to explain then. The melodic rap that later became a default language for many artists did not appear out of nowhere. Bone Thugs helped make it commercially viable without sanding off the speed, darkness or strangeness that made them special.

At the end of the ceremony, the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce proclaimed Wednesday Bone Thugs-N-Harmony Day in Hollywood before the group unveiled its star.

More than 30 years after five Cleveland rappers chased a record deal to California, Hollywood gave Bone Thugs-N-Harmony a star. Cleveland gave them the hunger. Eazy-E gave them the door. Hip-hop gave them the sky.

The harmony still travels.

Jermaine Dupri Lawsuit Claims Sony Underpaid So So Def Royalties

Producer and So So Def Recordings founder Jermaine Dupri filed an $18 million federal lawsuit against Sony Music Entertainment on Monday. The lawsuit alleges a systemic pattern of underreported royalties tied to foundational Atlanta hip-hop acts including Kris Kross, Xscape, and Da Brat. 

Jermaine Dupri turned So So Def into one of the most important Black music factories of the 1990s and
early 2000s. Now, he says Sony Music Entertainment owes him millions from the catalog that helped make Atlanta a permanent fixture on the Billboard charts.

Dupri, So So Def Recordings, and So So Def Productions sued Sony in federal court in New York on Monday, accusing the company of underpaying royalties tied to some of the biggest records of the era. The lawsuit seeks at least $18 million in damages, plus prejudgment interest and attorneys' fees.

The case, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, turns a three-decade label relationship into a fierce fight over accounting, recoupment, and catalog money.

The complaint outlines a systematic pattern of accounting errors, alleging Sony underreported royalties, failed to report others entirely, and altered old statements.

“As it turns out, many of SME’s dealings with So So Def have not been lawful and have harmed So So Def in its business,” the complaint states. “[Sony Music Entertainment] intentionally failed to account to Plaintiffs to avoid paying millions of dollars to the Plaintiffs."

The lawsuit names a roll call familiar to anyone who listened to R&B radio in the 1990s and 2000s, including Xscape, Kris Kross, Da Brat, Jagged Edge, Bow Wow and Bone Crusher.

The sharpest allegations in the lawsuit involve Kris Kross, the teenage Atlanta duo Dupri discovered before their smash hit "Jump" turned backward clothing into a national uniform.

Dupri alleges Sony did not report producer or override royalties tied to the group's first two albums, "Totally Krossed Out" and "Da Bomb," until 2023. The lawsuit claims more than $2.2 million is still owed from those two albums alone.

“SME attempted to conceal all Kris Kross royalties due Plaintiffs for over 20 years in a separate royalty accounting system unknown to Plaintiffs,” the complaint states.

The lawsuit also targets the accounting for Xscape’s 1993 debut album, "Hummin' Comin' at 'Cha." Dupri’s side alleges Sony underreported more than $960,000 in producer royalties from that specific project.

Despite both of Xscape's first two albums being certified platinum, the lawsuit claims Sony still listed a So So Def account as being more than $1.5 million in the red as of June 2020, calling the discrepancy "unfathomable".

Da Brat’s historic 1994 debut, "Funkdafied," is also part of the dispute. The complaint alleges Sony withheld more than $1 million in producer royalties tied to the album, which made Da Brat the first solo female MC to be certified platinum.

The legal filing states the problems came into sharp focus following a 2025 desk audit by Gelfand, Rennert & Feldman, an accounting firm frequently used in entertainment royalty disputes. Dupri and the So So Def companies allege the audit uncovered years of reporting problems, missing payments, and amended statements that only partially corrected old figures.

The lawsuit notes that Dupri’s So So Def recordings and production deals helped generate more than $200 million in gross revenue over their 32-year business relationship. The $18 million sought in the suit includes more than $10 million in interest.

Sony Music Entertainment has not yet publicly responded to the filing.

Sparky D, Pioneering ‘Roxanne Wars’ Battle MC, Dies at 61

Sparky D, born Doreen C. Broadnax, is shown in an undated publicity photo. Broadnax, the Brownsville, Brooklyn, rapper whose 1985 answer record “Sparky’s Turn (Roxanne You’re Through)” made her a key voice in the Roxanne Wars, died July 4 at 61. No cause of death has been announced.

Sparky D, born Doreen C. Broadnax, the Brownsville, Brooklyn, MC whose 1985 answer record “Sparky’s Turn (Roxanne You’re Through)” made her one of the defining voices of the Roxanne Wars, has died. She was 61.

Her death was announced over the holiday weekend by her family. No cause of death has been announced.

She first recorded with the Brooklyn group The Playgirls, then broke out on her own with “Sparky’s Turn,” a direct response to Roxanne Shanté’s “Roxanne’s Revenge.” The record arrived during one of rap’s earliest full-scale lyrical wars, when answer records were not social media events but actual vinyl releases, pressed, shipped and judged by DJs, radio listeners and crowds.

The Roxanne Wars began after UTFO’s “Roxanne, Roxanne,” a 1984 record built around a fictional woman who rejected the group’s advances. Roxanne Shanté, then a teenage MC from Queensbridge, answered with “Roxanne’s Revenge.” The response was sharp, funny and ruthless enough to create its own industry.

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Then came the replies to the reply.

Sparky D’s entry stood out because it did not sound like a novelty record or a quick cash-in. She came at Shanté with a hard Brooklyn delivery and the confidence of someone who understood the assignment before there was a phrase for it. “Sparky’s Turn” was not just part of the Roxanne craze. It became one of the records that made the feud feel like a real fight.

The rivalry soon moved beyond wax. Sparky D and Shanté appeared together in staged battles, sometimes leaning into the boxing imagery that surrounded the feud. In 1985, the conflict was captured on “Round One: Roxanne Shanté vs. Sparky Dee,” one of the most memorable documents from rap’s first great answer-record era.

For a later generation raised on diss tracks, beef timelines and endless commentary, the Roxanne Wars can sound almost quaint. They were anything but. They proved that rap audiences would follow conflict across records, boroughs, radio stations and personalities. They also proved that women MCs were not side characters in hip-hop’s competitive tradition.

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DJ Premier, in an Instagram tribute, called her “one of the 1st Female Battle MC’s” and said her “relentless voice and delivery” made her a force.

“I became an instant fan,” Premier wrote, recalling her battles with Shanté.

MC Sha-Rock, one of hip-hop’s first women on record and a founding member of Funky 4 + 1, wrote that “the HIP HOP WORLD has taken a tremendous loss.”

Grandmaster Flash called Sparky D “one of the dopest female MCs from back in the day.”

That praise carries weight because Sparky D’s career connects two crucial eras: the foundational days when women such as Sha-Rock helped open the door, and the mid-1980s moment when MCs such as Shanté and Sparky D kicked it wider through battle records, street-level radio and live performance.

Sparky D understood that lineage. At a 2021 Bronx event honoring MC Sha-Rock, she said, “Without MC Sha-Rock, my mother, there would be no me.”

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After “Sparky’s Turn,” she continued recording through the 1980s. Her catalog included “He’s My DJ” with Kool DJ Red Alert, “Throwdown,” “Sparky’s Back” and the 1988 album “This Is Sparky D’s World” on B-Boy Records. The records placed her in the same gritty independent ecosystem that helped define New York rap before major labels fully understood the music’s commercial power.

Her life after the first wave of fame was not easy. Sparky D later spoke publicly about addiction, abuse and the doors that closed once her early rap run slowed. In a 2007 profile, she described herself as a woman who had been through hardship and come out with faith intact.

“You gotta go through something in order to grow,” she said.

In later years, Broadnax turned toward Christianity, gospel rap and ministry. She moved to Atlanta, founded Treasure Ministries and won a Gospel Choice Award in 2007 for “This Is for the Church.” That part of her story mattered, too. It was not a footnote after hip-hop. It was how she chose to keep using her voice.

Diddy’s Pardon Push Reenters Trump’s Orbit

President Donald Trump, shown in his official 2025 White House portrait, has not announced clemency for Sean “Diddy” Combs, but the music mogul’s name has returned to private pardon discussions as Trump weighs a new round of clemency actions. 

Sean “Diddy” Combs’ name is back in President Donald Trump’s clemency orbit.

That does not mean a pardon is coming.

CBS News reported Friday that Trump is poised to pardon a group of people convicted of emissions and clean-air-related violations while still privately discussing other possible clemency moves, including Combs and other high-profile figures. According to the report, Combs and those other celebrity cases were not expected to be on the recommendations list from Trump’s pardon team.

That leaves Combs in a familiar place: close enough to power to be part of the conversation, but not close enough to know whether the door is actually open.

Combs is serving a 50-month federal sentence after a jury convicted him last year on two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution. He was acquitted of the more serious sex-trafficking and racketeering conspiracy charges, a split verdict that turned what could have been a life-sentence case into a shorter prison term — but still left one of hip-hop’s most powerful figures behind bars.

A White House official told CBS that “President Trump is the ultimate decider on any clemency related actions.”

The line matters because Combs’ case has never fit neatly into the normal legal lane. It has always carried the weight of celebrity, old New York money circles, hip-hop history, ugly trial testimony, political ego and a pardon system that often runs on access as much as argument.

Trump has been asked about Combs repeatedly since the case became a national spectacle. During Combs’ trial in May 2025, Trump said nobody had formally asked him for a pardon yet, but that he would look at the facts.

“I’d look at what’s happening, and I haven’t been watching it too closely although it’s certainly getting a lot of coverage,” Trump told reporters at the time, according to Reuters.

By October, after Combs had been sentenced, Trump said the request had come.

“A lot of people have asked me for pardons,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. “I call him Puff Daddy, [he] has asked me for a pardon.”
Embed from Getty Images

In January, Trump told The New York Times that Combs had asked for a pardon “through a letter,” but said he was not considering clemency then. Trump also said Combs’ past criticism made a pardon “more difficult to do,” according to Entertainment Weekly’s account of the interview.

That history is part of why the story keeps resurfacing.

Long before Trump became president and long before Combs became a convicted federal inmate, they occupied overlapping corners of celebrity Manhattan. Trump attended Combs’ 1998 Black and White Ball, where The New York Observer quoted him saying, “I don’t give a s--- about Puffy’s success. I just think he’s a good guy.”

Years later, Combs still described Trump as a friend while talking about mogul culture, race and the image of American business power.

“Donald Trump is a friend of mine, and he works very hard,” Combs told The Washington Post in 2015.

That was before the political break. By 2020, Combs had turned sharply against Trump, endorsed Joe Biden and told Charlamagne tha God that “white men like Trump need to be banished.”

Now, the relationship sits in a much different frame. Combs is no longer the Bad Boy mogul who made wealth look like a music video. He is a federal prisoner appealing his conviction and sentence, with his name appearing again in the same clemency conversation as Prakazrel “Pras” Michel of the Fugees.

CBS reported Friday that Michel, who is serving a 14-year federal sentence in a foreign-influence case tied to Malaysian financier Jho Low, is also seeking a pardon. The Justice Department said after Michel’s 2023 conviction that he engaged in an illegal foreign-influence campaign using millions of dollars in foreign money.

That gives the latest pardon talk a wider hip-hop frame. This is not just one fallen mogul hoping an old acquaintance can shorten his sentence. It is another moment where rap celebrity, political access and federal punishment are sharing the same room.

Trump has done this before.

In his final hours in office in 2021, Trump granted a full pardon to Lil Wayne and commuted Kodak Black’s prison sentence. He also commuted the sentence of Death Row Records co-founder Michael “Harry-O” Harris, whose release was publicly supported by Snoop Dogg.

Those cases were different from Combs’ case, legally and publicly. But they helped establish the pattern: Trump’s clemency decisions can move through celebrity circles, personal appeals, political allies and public pressure as much as through quiet paperwork.

That is why Combs’ name returning to the discussion is news, even if it is not yet a pardon.

The facts are still narrower than the noise around them. Trump has not announced clemency for Combs. CBS reported Combs was not expected to be on the main pardon team’s recommendations list Friday. Combs remains convicted, sentenced and incarcerated while his legal fight continues.

But the door is not fully closed, either.

For an artist who helped define the shiny, ruthless ambition of late-90s hip-hop, the possibility now hangs on a very different kind of access: whether a president who once called him a good guy, later heard him become a critic, and now controls his clemency fate decides there is anything left to reward.

New HBO Docuseries 'Jaÿ-Z in 8' Anchors Sprawling Rollout Alongside '4:44' Catalog Expansion

In this promotional still rapper and entrepreneur Shawn "JAY-Z" Carter, left, converses with legendary record producer Rick Rubin across an audio console during production of the upcoming HBO original documentary series "JAŸ-Z IN 8." The eight-part archival project, announced alongside the wide streaming release of his "4:44" bonus tracks and a city-wide 30th-anniversary celebration for his 1996 debut album "Reasonable Doubt," is scheduled to debut this fall. (Courtesy HBO)

Jay-Z is celebrating the ninth anniversary of his 2017 studio album "4:44" by finally releasing the project's three bonus tracks across all major streaming platforms.

The songs — "Adnis," "Blue's Freestyle/We Family" featuring Blue Ivy Carter, and "MaNyfaCedGod" featuring James Blake — arrived on services like Apple Music and Spotify on Tuesday. The records were previously locked as physical edition cuts and Tidal exclusives.

The digital expansion arrives during a massive week of cultural domination for the Roc Nation founder.

HBO recently announced "JAŸ-Z IN 8," a new eight-part original documentary series directed by legendary producer Rick Rubin that will debut this fall. The project places Rubin in extended, intimate conversation with the artist across his music, lyrics, and life experiences. The network's promotional press materials released for the series include a telling quote directly from Carter: “The pain, you don't say it's necessary, you don't say you need it, but if it's there — you use it.”

The album's wider release also serves as a reminder of the strict discipline required during his late-career rollouts. Gerard Bush and Christopher Renz, the directors behind the "Kill Jay Z" video, recently reflected on the intense secrecy surrounding the project. “We had a zero-tolerance policy on any discussion of the project, period,” the directors noted, explaining that they could not even tell their own families about the album for fear of leaks.

Simultaneously, the rapper is taking over New York City to mark the 30th anniversary of his landmark 1996 debut album, "Reasonable Doubt".

The milestone is being celebrated with immersive, dual-location pop-up activations that opened on June 25 in Manhattan and Brooklyn, with the Brooklyn installation housed at 92 Plymouth Street. The interactive exhibits, which run through July 5, offer fans a multi-sensory journey through the album's historical archival memories. To tie the milestones together, Roc Nation announced a free giveaway of the "4:44" cassette to the first 44 visitors at the Dumbo pop-up location.

The ongoing celebration leads directly into a highly anticipated, multi-night concert series at Yankee Stadium next weekend. Scheduled for July 10, July 11, and July 12, the stadium dates are designed to double as a historical victory lap.

Victor Willis, Village People Singer and “Y.M.C.A.” Co-Writer, Dies At 74

Victor Willis is shown in a promotional photo from the Village People’s “Cruisin’” album era. Willis, the group’s original lead singer and a co-writer of “Y.M.C.A.,” “Macho Man” and “In the Navy,” died Tuesday after a short but aggressive illness. He was 74.

Victor Willis, the original lead singer of the Village People and the voice behind some of disco’s most durable records, has died. He was 74.

Willis died Tuesday after a “short, but aggressive illness,” according to a statement posted to his official Facebook page by his wife, Karen Huff-Willis.

“It is with profound sadness that I must announce the death of my husband, Victor Willis,” the statement said. “The family requests privacy at this time of great loss.”

Willis was the visual and vocal center of the Village People, best known for performing as the group’s policeman and, later, in a naval officer’s uniform. But his place in music history is larger than the costume.

He was the group’s original lead singer and a key songwriter behind its biggest records, including “Y.M.C.A.,” “Macho Man” and “In the Navy.” Those songs turned the Village People into one of the defining acts of the disco era and kept Willis’ voice moving through weddings, sporting events, Pride celebrations, political rallies and dance floors for nearly 50 years.

For all the camp and theater built into the Village People’s image, Willis brought a real R&B foundation to the records. The son of a Baptist preacher, he developed his voice in church before moving through theater and eventually into the studio with French producer Jacques Morali.

That background mattered. Willis’ baritone gave the group’s biggest hits a force that could cut through the glitter. The records were fun, but they were not lightweight. The hooks worked because Willis delivered them like he believed every command.

His catalog kept him in the news long after disco’s commercial peak.

In the 2010s, Willis became a major figure in the fight over copyright termination rights, using provisions of U.S. copyright law to win back control of his share of Village People songs. The case was closely watched across the music business because it showed how legacy songwriters could challenge old publishing deals decades after signing them.

Willis also spent his later years protecting the meaning, ownership and use of the group’s music. He objected at times to the use of Village People songs in politics, later defended Donald Trump’s use of “Y.M.C.A.” and repeatedly pushed back against descriptions of the song as a gay anthem, even as the record remained deeply tied to LGBTQ culture in the public imagination.

Teyana Taylor, Clipse Win Big As BET Awards Honor Lauryn Hill

Lauryn Hill did not need a victory lap.

The BET Awards gave her one anyway Sunday night, and by the time Hill finished closing the show with “Everything Is Everything,” the point had been made.

The 2026 BET Awards had a first-time host in Druski and a winners list stacked with current names. Cardi B, Kendrick Lamar, Kehlani, Leon Thomas, Doechii, SZA, Olivia Dean, Michael B. Jordan and A’ja Wilson were among the artists, actors and athletes taking home trophies.

But the show’s best moments came when BET stopped chasing the present and let Black music history breathe.

Hill received the inaugural Living Legend Icon Award. Janet Jackson surprised Teyana Taylor with the Icon of the Year Award. Clipse turned a comeback run into a three-win night. Sylvia Rhone used an industry honor to warn the music business about artificial intelligence. BET also paused for a tribute to D’Angelo, whose influence still shapes the way modern R&B moves.

That was the story of the night. The winners list belonged to 2026. The show’s soul came from the people who made that list possible.

Druski, 31, made history as the youngest host in BET Awards history, passing Kevin Hart, who hosted in 2011. He opened the broadcast by descending from the rafters in a harness while a choir performed Kirk Franklin’s “Revolution,” setting the tone for a night built around comedy, spectacle, church language and Black cultural memory.

The awards themselves delivered a few clean verdicts.

Clipse won Album of the Year for “Let God Sort Em Out,” Best Group and Best Collaboration for “Chains & Whips” featuring Kendrick Lamar. For Pusha T and Malice, it was more than a nostalgia win. It was a confirmation that the duo’s return landed as one of the year’s major hip-hop stories.

Kendrick Lamar won Best Male Hip-Hop Artist. Cardi B won Best Female Hip-Hop Artist. Kehlani won Best Female R&B/Pop Artist and Video of the Year for “Folded.” Leon Thomas won Best Male R&B/Pop Artist. Olivia Dean won Best New Artist. Doechii and SZA won the BET Her Award for “girl, get up.”

Then came Taylor’s moment.

Taylor had already won Best Actress, Video Director of the Year and the Fashion Vanguard Award before Jackson walked onstage to present her with the Icon of the Year Award.

Taylor looked stunned before she reached the microphone. By the time she hugged Jackson, the award had turned into something more personal than another industry handoff.

“There will be no me without you,” Taylor told Jackson.

Taylor has spent years moving between music, film, choreography, fashion, directing and performance, often without the industry knowing exactly where to place her. BET’s honor finally treated that range as the point.
Hill’s honor carried a different kind of weight.

Introduced by Ice Cube, Hill received the first Living Legend Icon Award after a tribute that revisited the catalog that made her one of the most important artists of the last 30 years. SZA, Doechii, Lizzo, Queen Latifah, Common and Hill’s children Selah Marley and Zion Marley were among those involved in the salute.

Hill stood through the tribute smiling, singing along and applauding as other artists worked through pieces of her legacy. Then she stepped into it herself.

After accepting the award, Hill performed “Ex-Factor.” Later, she closed the show with “Everything Is Everything.”

“I fight for y’all,” Hill said.

BET also honored Rhone with the Ultimate Icon Award, recognizing one of the most important executives in modern Black music.

Presented by Kelly Rowland, the award celebrated Rhone’s barrier-breaking career, including her place as the first Black woman to lead a major record company owned by a Fortune 500 corporation. A video tribute connected her work to artists including Tracy Chapman, Brandy, Erykah Badu, Lil Wayne, Kid Cudi, Future, Travis Scott and Tyler, the Creator.

Rhone did not use the moment just to look back.

“We make the algorithm,” Rhone said. “The algorithm doesn’t make us.”

The same point ran through BET’s tribute to D’Angelo.

His children helped open the segment before Ari Lennox, BJ the Chicago Kid, Durand Bernarr, George Clinton and RAYE honored his music. It was a reminder that D’Angelo’s reach is still easy to hear in modern soul — in the space, the swing, the church, the funk and the refusal to rush the feeling.

By the end of the night, the BET Awards had done what award shows rarely do well.

It named the current winners without pretending the current moment created itself.

2026 BET Awards

Full winners list

Clipse, Kehlani, Leon Thomas, Cardi B, Kendrick Lamar and Teyana Taylor were among the major winners during a night that also honored Ms. Lauryn Hill and Sylvia Rhone.

Music

Album of the Year

“Let God Sort Em Out,” Clipse

Best Group

Clipse

Best Collaboration

“Chains & Whips,” Clipse feat. Kendrick Lamar

Best Female R&B/Pop Artist

Kehlani

Best Male R&B/Pop Artist

Leon Thomas

Best Female Hip-Hop Artist

Cardi B

Best Male Hip-Hop Artist

Kendrick Lamar

Best New Artist

Olivia Dean

Video of the Year

“Folded,” Kehlani

Video Director of the Year

Teyana “Spike-Tey” Taylor

BET Her Award

“girl, get up.,” Doechii feat. SZA

Dr. Bobby Jones Best Gospel/Inspirational Award

“Headphones,” Lecrae, Killer Mike and T.I.

Film, TV and culture

Best Actress

Teyana Taylor

Best Actor

Michael B. Jordan

Best Movie

“Sinners”

YoungStars Award

Jazzy’s World TV

Fashion Vanguard Award

Teyana Taylor

Pulse Award

Druski

Sports

Sportswoman of the Year AWARD

A’ja Wilson, basketball

Sportsman of the Year AWARD

Jalen Brunson, basketball

Special honors

Living Legend Icon Award

Ms. Lauryn Hill

Icon of the Year Award

Teyana Taylor

Ultimate Icon Award

Sylvia Rhone

Note: BET’s nominees page still listed Viewers’ Choice Award voting and did not mark a Viewers’ Choice winner at the time this story was checked.

Venues in Tampa and San Antonio Refuse to Block Kanye West Summer Stadium Dates

Rapper Kanye West is shown alongside the cover art for his album "BULLY". West is currently at the center of a major political standoff in Texas and Florida, where local officials have confirmed his upcoming summer stadium tour dates will proceed as scheduled despite intense public pressure and organized campaigns from lawmakers demanding their cancellation.

Kanye West is facing intense, organized political campaigns to cancel his upcoming stadium performances in Texas and Florida. However, local officials in both states have confirmed that the concerts are officially moving forward.

In Texas, San Antonio Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones has spent the last week actively calling for the cancellation of West's scheduled Fourth of July concert at the Alamodome. The mayor publicly condemned the artist for his history of antisemitic comments. On Tuesday evening, however, Jones conceded that she had failed to gather enough support from the city council to block the performance.

"At this point, the only way to cancel this concert is if we have a public vote," Jones said Tuesday. "And we don't have the votes."

A joint statement issued by six members of the San Antonio City Council on Tuesday outlines their refusal to cancel Ye's scheduled July 4 concert at the Alamodome. The document strongly condemns antisemitism while arguing against government censorship and highlighting that the event is projected to generate $1.7 million for the city-owned venue.

A coalition of six San Antonio city council members released a joint statement outlining their refusal to break the venue's agreement. The group stated that "the City does not endorse his rhetoric by allowing the use of a public venue, just as a public library does not endorse every book's viewpoint simply by carrying it." The council members noted that they can condemn hate "without resorting to censorship, which could set a precedent toward limiting expression based on objectionable viewpoints."

The July 4 concert is projected to generate roughly $1.7 million for the city. The Alamodome staff stated the booking was treated as a standard economic decision based on public demand and facility revenue.

A nearly identical controversy is currently unfolding in Florida. U.S. Senator Rick Scott has launched a petition and directly urged the Tampa Sports Authority to cancel two West concerts scheduled for June 26 and June 28 at Raymond James Stadium.

"Floridians DON’T deserve to see their tax dollars go to give an antisemite a megaphone," Scott posted on social media.

Despite the pressure, internal communications reveal that the Tampa Sports Authority is locked into an agreement. According to the emails, the venue agreed to contract stipulations that prevent the organization from canceling the performances based on "artist identity," "public statements," or "political viewpoints." The organization stated that while they do not condone his remarks, they must "follow the principles of free speech in operating our venue."

Clive Davis, Visionary Record Executive Who Shaped Global Pop Culture, Dies at 94

 

Record executive and music industry mogul Clive Davis speaks during the Kennedy Center Honors Gala dinner at the U.S. State Department in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 2, 2023. Davis, the visionary architect who built the global commercial infrastructure for 1990s and 2000s R&B and hip-hop through landmark joint ventures with LaFace Records and Bad Boy Records, died Monday at his home in Manhattan at age 94.

The legendary music executive, whose unparalleled ear and ruthless business acumen guided the careers of Whitney Houston, Aretha Franklin, The Notorious B.I.G., and Alicia Keys, died Monday at his home in New York City. He was 94.

His longtime representative Aliza Rabinoff confirmed the death, stating that Davis passed away peacefully from age-related illness. The executive had recently been hospitalized in May with a respiratory tract infection but was released in early June. His family also released a statement on social media confirming the passing.

While history will primarily remember him as the executive who discovered and championed Whitney Houston to global superstardom at Arista Records, for 90s and 00s culture, his legacy is far heavier.

He was the one of the first executives who understood that the future of global pop music was being constructed in Atlanta and Brooklyn, and he funded the blueprints.

In 1989, Davis engineered a joint venture with L.A. Reid and Babyface to create LaFace Records. That single executive decision effectively relocated the center of the music industry to Atlanta, providing the launchpad for TLC, Usher, Toni Braxton, and Outkast to permanently redefine the sound of the 1990s.

Four years later, Davis repeated the maneuver in hip-hop. He partnered with Sean “Diddy” Combs to launch Bad Boy Records as an Arista joint venture in 1993. The move gave a young Brooklyn executive the major-label distribution machinery needed to turn The Notorious B.I.G., Faith Evans, Mase, and 112 into an unstoppable, platinum-certified commercial empire.

When the industry shifted at the turn of the century, Davis did not lose his grip. After leaving Arista, he founded J Records in 2000 and immediately proved his instincts were still on-point. He signed a young Alicia Keys, guiding her 2001 debut studio album, "Songs in A Minor", into a multi-platinum, Grammy-sweeping juggernaut that shifted the entire trajectory of 2000s neo-soul.

Tay Keith, Producer Behind 'Look Alive,' 'Nonstop' and 'Sicko Mode,' Dies at 29

Grammy-nominated producer Tay Keith is shown in an undated promotional portrait. Keith, born Brytavious Lakeith Chambers, was found dead in his Nashville apartment on Thursday. The Memphis native fundamentally shifted the sound of late-2010s hip-hop, bringing his city's signature heavy bounce to global hits like Travis Scott's Sicko Mode and Beyoncé's Before I Let Go from her "Homecoming" live album.

The tag told you who made it. The drums told you where he was from.

“Tay Keith, f--- these n----- up” was crude, unmistakable and usually followed by something stripped down, hard and built to move. It was not just a drop. It was a producer’s signature at a moment when producers were becoming part of rap’s front-facing language.

Keith, the Grammy-nominated producer born Brytavious Lakeith Chambers, was found dead Thursday in his Nashville apartment, police said. He was 29.

Metro Nashville Police said Chambers was found in his Martin Street apartment during a welfare check. Police said no foul play is suspected. His death remains unclassified pending autopsy results.

Keith’s death lands hard because he helped put Memphis back in the middle of mainstream rap’s daily conversation.

He came from a city that had already changed Southern rap through Three 6 Mafia, 8Ball & MJG, Playa Fly, DJ Squeeky, Gangsta Pat, Project Pat, Yo Gotti, Young Dolph and a long line of producers and rappers who made darkness, bounce and bass feel like local language. Keith did not clean that language up for the mainstream. He made the mainstream come to it.

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“I always knew music was gonna be my outlet,” Keith told The Fader in 2018. “I just didn’t know when, or how it was gonna happen.”

It happened with BlocBoy JB.

Keith and BlocBoy were not an industry pairing cooked up after the city was already hot. They were Memphis kids who knew each other’s timing before the rest of the country caught on. When “Look Alive” arrived in 2018 with Drake on it, the record did not sound like a local act being invited into pop. It sounded like one of the biggest rappers in the world stepping into their room.

The beat was stripped down and cold. BlocBoy gave it movement. Drake gave it reach. Keith gave it the floor.

That year, his run got ridiculous. He produced or co-produced Drake’s “Nonstop,” Travis Scott’s “Sicko Mode,” Eminem’s “Not Alike” and Lil Baby and Gunna’s “Never Recover,” featuring Drake. “Sicko Mode” brought him a Grammy nomination for best rap song.

Keith was barely in his 20s, and his sound was already moving through some of the biggest records in the country.

That is usually where the industry starts sanding off the regional edge. Keith’s records kept their accent. The drums stayed dry. The bounce stayed Memphis. The empty space was not empty; it was where the record got its nerve.

Memphis rapper BlocBoy JB, left, and producer Tay Keith pose in an undated throwback photograph shared to BlocBoy JB's Instagram Story on Thursday. The rapper posted the image with the caption "Damn Cuz You Just Hurt Me Bad" following the announcement of Keith's death at age 29. The long-time friends and collaborators rose to global prominence together with their 2018 hit Look Alive. (Screen capture via Instagram/blocboy_jb)

He could still move outside the expected lanes. Keith produced Beyoncé’s version of “Before I Let Go,” the Frankie Beverly and Maze classic that became part of her “Homecoming” release. He later helped push Sexyy Red into the wider conversation with “Pound Town,” a record plenty of people laughed at until the beat, the joke and the personality all started working at once.

Keith heard it before the room did.

“People were trolling the shit out of me,” he told Billboard in 2024. “It wasn’t much good feedback. It was coming from even people around me, ‘What you doing?’ I saw the potential. That’s as simple as it was, me believing in her.”

That was the job. Hear it early. Stand on it. Let everybody else catch up.

Keith’s production did not beg for approval. It gave rappers a hard, open lane and made them decide what to do with it. BlocBoy could dance inside it. Drake could turn it into chart language. Travis Scott could fold it into spectacle. Sexyy Red could make it blunt and funny.

The center still held because the center was Memphis.

Keith also finished college while his career was exploding. Middle Tennessee State University said he graduated in December 2018 with degrees in integrated studies and media management. By his last week of school, he had his first No. 1 single.

“There wouldn’t be any point for me to come to college if I didn’t want to finish it — I could have just focused 100% on music,” Keith told MTSU. “By my last week of college, I had my first number one single, so it didn’t make any sense to drop out.”

After news of his death, BlocBoy JB posted the kind of grief that does not need polish.

“Damn Cuz You Just Hurt Me Bad,” he wrote in an Instagram Story.

In another tribute, he wrote, “We talked everyday.”

Fellow Memphis producer Hitkidd wrote, “I ain’t even got the words, we been doing this since 2010 @taykeith.”