Rihanna Joins Forbes List as First Barbadian Billionaire

Danilo Lauria, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Forbes released its annual report on billionaires around the world Tuesday, and while it may come as no surprise who came out on top in the ranking of the world’s 2,688 wealthiest people, there were some interesting entries for hip-hop and R&B fans.

Joining transportation magnate and professional internet troll on the Forbes’ 36th Annual World’s Billionaires List — Elon Musk, who topped the list for the first time with an estimated net worth of $219 billion — were several musicians-turned-magnates.

The fashion mogul, recent divorcee and rapper Kanye West, 44, who recently tied frequent collaborator and former mentor Jay-Z for the most hip-hip Grammy wins (24), was the top-earning entertainer on the list at No. 1,513 with a $2 billion fortune.

The total was just enough for the artist, who first made the list in 2020 and recently changed his name officially to Ye, to edge his ex-wife Kim Kardashian, making her second appearance on the list after being first named a billionaire in 2021. The 41-year-old actress, influencer and law student was No. 1,645 on the list with a net worth of $1.8 billion.

Jay-Z, 52, once lauded as hip-hop’s first billionaire landed at No. 2,076 with a $1.3 billion net worth thanks to a portfolio that includes his Roc Nation empire and profits from the 2021 sales of TIDAL to Square and Armand de Brignac champagne to LVMH.

Up until now, Black musicians turned billionaires was strictly a boys club, but Rihanna changed that this year. The 34-year-old singer became the first billionaire from her home country of Barbados thanks to her beauty empire. Her Fenty Beauty cosmetics line and Savage X Fenty lingerie business helped her to a net worth of $1.7 billion, good enough for the No. 1,729 on this year's list.

Other returning notables to the list for fans of the culture were talk show host Oprah Winfrey, who landed at No. 1,196 with a $2.6 billion net worth; and filmmaker Tyler Perry, who was No. 2,578 with a $1 billion net worth.

For more information on the methodology or to see the entire list of the world’s richest people according to Forbes click here.

Motown Legend, Joe Messina, Dead at 93

Courtesy of Motown Museum

Joe Messina (right) helped define the "Motown Sound."

Joe Messina, a jazz-trained musician whose rhythm guitar playing helped define the "Motown Sound," died Monday at his son's home in Northville, Michigan.

The Detroit News confirmed the death of the guitarist, who lost his 12-year battle with unspecified kidney disease. He was 93.

The Motown Museum posted a lengthy tribute to the artist on its official Facebook page.

"It is with a heavy heart that Motown Museum announces the passing of one of Motown’s original Funk Brothers, Joe Messina," the post read in part.

"We remember Joe Messina for his prolific contributions to Motown Records and Motown Museum. In the museum’s first temporary exhibit called 'The Magic Behind the Magic,' a tribute to the Funk Brothers, it was Joe who donated the first instrument, his famous guitar... Motown Museum sends our sincere condolences to the Messina family, and to Joe’s friends and fans around the world."

Messina jokingly referred to himself as “the cream in the Oreo cookie,” due to his status as one of the few white musicians in the Motown house band the Funk Brothers.

He played on numerous Motown hits in the 1960s and early '70s as part of the iconic studio band, including recordings by Stevie Wonder, Diana Ross, Marvin Gaye, Smokey Robinson and the Four Tops, and had was one of the sole surviving players from its original core ensemble.

Alongside regulars Robert White and Eddie Willis, inside Motown’s fabled Studio A, Black guitar virtuosos he set between — the cookies to his cream — while helping lay down the backbeat for the sound that would become synonymous with Motown on his Fender Telecaster with a modified neck, Messina and his fellow Funk Brothers operated in obscurity.

They finally got their due for their crucial role in the label's hitmaking success in 2002. The award-winning documentary "Standing in the Shadows of Motown" exposed them to the world and led to several prominent live reunion shows and eventually an audience with President George W Bush at the White House.

RIP Funk Brother Joe Messina

Here in the studio recording with The Temptations pic.twitter.com/Wf2fzt17Mv

— Record Lovers (@recordlovers) April 5, 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.”

What incredible blessings tonight 🙏🏾 pic.twitter.com/uDv2kx8X0N

— jon batiste (@JonBatiste) April 4, 2022

“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.