Cleveland Cavaliers center, Shaquille O’Neal, begins filming his new reality series,”Shaq Vs.” in Pittsburgh Wednesday. The show will feature the NBA star competing against athletes such as tennis star Serena Williams, retired boxer Oscar De La Hoya and Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps.
O’Neal created the show as a way for him to train for the NBA season and thought sports fans “would really want to see an athlete play another sport,” reports USA Today. The new series premieres Aug. 18.
Fans can thank Kanye West for the creation of Jay-Z’s new single, “D.O.A. (Death Of Auto-tune),” off of his new album, “The Blueprint 3,” being released in September.
“He actually sparked the idea,” Jay-Z told Billboard. “When he heard the beat he said, ‘Man, this is just so hard! This has to be against everything — no auto-tune, none of that type of stuff!’ He didn’t know what I was going to do or where I was going to take it, but it was actually his fault.
“In hip-hop, our job is once a trend becomes a gimmick, to get rid of it. We’ve done that since the beginning of time,” Jay-Z explains. “Now people are using Auto-tune even in Wendy’s commercials, and it’s like, ‘Oh no! That’s has to go!’ It’s become part of main culture. It’s the same thing like when the old lady in Oregon starts saying, ‘bling, bling.’ It’s like, ‘I’m never saying that again.'”
Before her concert in Chicago Friday night, Beyonce participated with the Show Your Helping Hand Campaign to help fight hunger. The entertainer is working to deliver more than $3.5 million meals to food banks around the country.
The ESPY awards were held Wednesday in Los Angeles. Samuel Jackson hosted the event, which honors athletes. ESPN will telecast the ceremony July 19.
Serena and Venus Williams were also there looking classy and picture perfect.
Kunta Kinte has been harmed again. LeVar Burton, star of “Roots” and “Reading Rainbow” was injured in car accident after a 74-year-old woman turned left in front of his vehicle while driving in Los Angeles Monday night. The collision caused a five-car pileup with no serious injuries. The 52-year-old said he suffered from neck pain and was treated and released from a local hospital, reports People.
Actress Victoria Rowell, star of soap opera, “The Young and the Restless” and drama, “Diagnosis Murder,” married mixed media artist, Radcliffe Bailey, 40, June 27 in Dublin, New Hampshire. The couple met through LaTanya Richardson Jackson, wife of actor Samuel Jackson, whom Rowell worked with in the film, “Home of the Brave.” Jackson also walked the 50-year-old actress down the aisle.
“Just before the event, LaTanya said: ‘I’m going to introduce you to your husband. And you’re welcome,’ ” Ms. Rowell recalled to the New York Times.
The couple met in 2007. Rowell has a daughter from her first marriage and a son from a long relationship with jazz musician Wynton Marsalis.
The Jackson family patriarch, Joe Jackson, returned to their hometown of Gary, Ind. for a memorial service Friday for the King of Pop. Twenty Jackson cousins were also there to greet him at the 6,000-seat stadium, reports People. Although most of the cousins have not kept in touch with the Jackson clan, they still felt the loss.
“We might not have seen him in 10 or 15 years, but it’s still family,” said Fossett Turner, 55. “You don’t see him, but that doesn’t mean the love isn’t there.”
Check out a flash mob — a group of people who assemble suddenly at a public place, perform an action and disperse quickly — in Stockholm Wednesday as they dance to Michael Jackson’s “Beat It.”
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Even though the country is in a recession, hip hop moguls continue to thrive. Forbes announced Thursday the top 20 most successful hip hop artists within the last year. Jay-Z toppled last year’s top earner 50 cent to claim the no.1 spot this year. It is estimated that he earned $35 million from touring. P.Diddy came in second with an estimated $30 million from his Sean John clothing line, Ciroc vodka partnership and MTV reality shows. Kanye is no.3 with $25 million due to sales from his last album, touring and sneaker deals with Nike and Louis Vuitton.
Check out Brandy rapping:
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