Monday, April 4, 2022

Jon Batiste Becomes 11th Black Artist to Take Home Album of the Year Honors at Grammys


Jon Batiste became just the 11th Black artist, and the first in 14 years, to take home album of the year honors at the 64th Grammys Sunday.

The multifaceted singer and musician went into the night with 11 nominations for “We Are,” which peaked at No. 86 on the Billboard 200 music chart, and to the shock of many finished the night with five trophies.

The album took home golden gramaphones for American roots performance and American roots song, best score soundtrack for visual media (in a tie with Carlos Rafael Rivera’s score for The Queen’s Gambit) and best music video for “Freedom.”
“I focused on love and freedom when making this album. I just wanted to give some good ole Black joy to the world. My other focus is family, my mom, my grandfather who is 90, my dad, my sister, and everyone is here,” Batiste said of the win in The Recording Academy’s press room. “I wasn't prepared to win album of the year, but I hope this resonates with the young people to be yourself.”

Prior to Batiste taking home the Grammys top award, fellow jazz musician Herbie Hancock was the last winner for 2008’s “River: The Joni Letters.”

Other big winners included R&B duo Silk Sonic. The collaboration between singer Bruno Mars and rapper Anderson .Paak won record and song of the year for their hit “Leave the Door Open.” They also scored best R&B performance (in a tie with Jazmine Sullivan) and best R&B song.

Click here to see a full list of the nominees and winners.
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Precocious Prince Revealed in Rare Footage

Screenshot: WCCO - CBS Minnesota
The keen eye of Minnesota news production manager Matt Liddy, unearthed a long-lost treasure recently in the Land of 10,000 Lakes.

A Minnesota native, Liddy, was looking through archival footage for WCCO, where he works, last month when he spotted a familiar face in a story about a school strike that took place in 1970.

The resemblance to Minnesota's Muse, the Purple One himself —Prince, as an 11-year-old speaking in support of the teacher's strike was so stunning that Liddy immediately ran to the newsroom to confirm that he was not crazy.

"I immediately just went out to the newsroom and started showing people [the footage] and saying, 'I'm not going to tell you who I think this is, but who do you think this is?" he told WCCO.

According to Liddy, every single person responded "Prince."

Still, after being advised by experts that pre-teen videos of Prince are nearly nonexistent, the team at WCCO had to go the extra mile to verify the video and confirm that their footage contained a rare look at the legend who came to embody the Minnesota music scene as a child.

After restoring the video, the station found Kristen Zschomler, a professional historian, archeologist and researcher who has written extensively on his journey from Minneapolis’ northside to Paisley Park and the world.

When she was shown the clip, in which the young boy is called Skipper by his classmates (a nickname Prince had as a child), she was convinced it was the star immediately.

“I think that’s him, definitely. Oh my gosh! Yeah, I think that’s definitely Prince,” Zschomler said. “This definitely looks like Lincoln Junior High School where he would have been attending school in April of 1970."

The news team got its final confirmation when it hunted down Terrance Jackson, a childhood friend and former neighbor who was also in the singer’s first band, Grand Central, as teens.

“We go far back as kindergarten at John Hay Elementary in north Minneapolis,” Jackson told WCCO.

“That is Prince! Standing right there with the hat on, right? That’s Skipper! Oh my God!" Jackson exclaimed.

So, what did the star, who died at age 57 in 2016 from a fentanyl overdose, have to say about the striking teachers?

“I think they should get some more money because they be working extra hours for us," he said.

Watch the clip below for the entire story:

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Video Surfaces of Dead Rapper, Goonew, on Display at Memoriam Party in DC Nightclub

©Instagram
While most of the music world was focused on the 2022 Grammy Awards Sunday night —with more than a few viewers tuned in to see if the celebration would top the fireworks at the Academy Awards the previous week —a party in memoriam of rapper Goonew, went viral for a moment more shocking than Will Smith's Oscar-night slap of Chris Rock.

The Baltimore, Maryland, based musician, born Markelle Morrow, who died after being found shot last month in a parking lot at the age of 24, had his corpse put on display at a shocking memorial service at Washington, DC’s Bliss nightclub.

Video leaked from the event shows Morrow's body propped up on stage with a crown on his head while patrons danced and drank at the event, which was reportedly set up by the rapper's friends and family to honor his memory and required a $40 entry fee.

Reaction to the display was swift once the footage hit social media with most people decrying the display as disrespectful and demeaning to the deceased.
Monday, Bliss posted an apology on Instagram saying the venue was not aware of the details of the service before it took place.


“Our deepest condolences to Goonew’s family, friends and fans,” the venue wrote. “Bliss was contacted by a local funeral home to rent out our venue for Goonew’s home-going celebration.

“Bliss was never made aware of what would transpire. We sincerely apologize to all those who may be upset or offended,” the venue continued. “Please keep Goonew’s family and friends in your prayers at this difficult time.”


The Prince George’s County Police Department’s Homicide Unit detectives are still investigating Morrow's death, which the family believes was a robbery that ended in murder and are working to identify and arrest the suspect or suspects who shot and killed him. There is currently a $25,000 reward for information that leads to an arrest of a suspect in the shooting.
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