Page 27 - Florida Sentinel 3-19-21

Entertainment
Women Sweep Awards Shaped By Pandemic and Protest
Gospel Singer Kirk Franklin
The 63rd annual Grammy Awards combined splendor, star power and pandemic-era versatility on Sunday night to celebrate the music that emerged in a deeply challeng- ing year, highlighting the Black Lives Matter protests and — after years of pointed criticism for past slights — the role of women in pop music.
With touring artists grounded and fans stuck at home, and the music industry pulling in billions of dollars from streaming yet criticized by artists over pay, the music world has been upended for the last year.
But the producers of the show promised a night of re- spect and togetherness, with a novel outdoor setting in down- town Los Angeles in which musicians faced each other while performing — and then gathered, masked and socially distant, to politely applaud each other’s acceptance speeches.
Tirade At Son: 'I'm Not Perfect'
Apologizes For Expletive-Laden
Megan Thee Stallion won the Grammy Award for best new artist, and also for best rap performance and best rap song for “Savage,” which features Beyoncé.
Gospel singer and choir direc- tor Kirk Franklin is apologiz- ing for a profanity-laced tirade he directed at his grown son, Kerrion, who posted audio of the heated phone call on Insta- gram.
"Recently my son and I had an argument that he chose to record," Franklin said in a video responding to his son's post. "I felt extremely disre- spected in that conversation and I lost my temper and I said words that are not appropriate and I am sincerely sorry to all of you. I sincerely apologize."
Kerrion, 32, posted a recording of the argument, in which Kirk, 51, verbally berates him with a string of insults and
Women won all the night’s major awards. Megan Thee Stallion, the sparkplug Hous- ton rapper who described her young ambition as to become “the rap Beyoncé,” took best new artist, and her song “Sav- age” — which featured Bey- oncé as a guest — won for best rap performance and for best rap song.
Beyoncé, the pop deity whose every move is hyper-an- alyzed online, won four awards, bringing her lifetime total to 28 Grammys — more than any other woman, and equaling the total for the
super-producer Quincy Jones.
Accepting the award for best R&B performance for her song “Black Parade,” which was re- leased just as protests were breaking out last summer, Be- yoncé said: “As an artist I be- lieve it’s my job, and all of our jobs, to reflect the times, and it’s been such a difficult time.”
Even Beyoncé’s 9-year-old daughter, Blue Ivy Carter, took home a Grammy, her first: best music video for “Brown Skin Girl” (which she won with her mother and WizKid).
Gospel singer Kirk Franklin apologized after his son Kerrion shared audio of his expletive- filled rant.
obscenities, including telling his son that "you need to get your skinny motherf*****g a** back out the godd**n way before I put my foot in you’re a**."
Rihanna To Launch Fenty Brand Black Haircare Product Line
6-year-old Zhuri is amazing, dancing to Cardi B's, "Up." It's flawlessly executed, with the help of her dance instructor ... but it doesn't really seem Zhuri needs much instruction. Talk about projecting greatness ... this kid's gonna be a true per- former.
LeBron said the dance lesson had just ended when Zhuri got to pick any song to freestyle to, and she picked Cardi's latest single. The dance is big on Tik- Tok, but God help anyone who tries to best Zhuri, 'cause she's awesome!
LeBron wrote, "yeah it’s of-
ZHURI JAMES
ficially over for me guys!! I feel bad for whomever my Baby Z decides to bring home first!"
For her part, Cardi saw the vid and said, "Yes we all see cuteness gut bayybee I see a fu- ture superstar. Sooo adorable! I'm maaa hype lols."
LeBron James' Daughter's Amazing Dance To Cardi B's Song 'Up'
Rihanna appears to be looking to launch a new brand – Fenty Hair – to capitalize on the growing Black haircare market in the US.
On Thursday, her company Roraj Trade LLC filed an ap- plication for “Fenty Hair”. Ac- cording to the document filed with the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the brand would produce sham- poo, hair straightening items, hair waving preparation prod- ucts, bleaching and coloring
Rihanna at a promotional event for her brand Fenty in Paris on 22 May 2019.
products as well as hair glitter. Despite last month’s closure of Rihanna’s ready to wear fashion label, Fenty, the other branches of her fashion and beauty empire continue to flourish. Fenty Hair follows Fenty Beauty (the cosmetics label was launched in Septem- ber 2017) and Fenty Skin (spe- cializing in skincare and made available in July last year), both of which were seen as de- mocratising the beauty indus-
try.
Mickey Guyton Becomes 1st Black Woman To Co-Host The Academy Of Country Music Awards
Mickey Guyton became the first Black female country artist to perform on music’s highest-profile awards show when she sang her “Black Like Me” at the 63rd Grammy Awards ceremony on Sunday.
“It’s a hard life on Easy Street / Just white-painted picket fences far as you can see,” she sang, backed by a churchy choir, in the midtempo cut built on stately
MICKEY GUYTON
piano and yearning steel gui-
tar, “If you think we live in the land of the free / You should try to be Black like me.”
Released last summer amid the nationwide protests sparked by George Floyd’s killing, the song offers a vivid reality check from an artist who’s spoken frankly about the challenges faced by Black artists in the overwhelmingly white world of country music.
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