Ciara‘s new song featuring Summer Walker has topped this week’s new music poll.
Music fans voted in a poll published Friday (Sept. 30) on Billboard, choosing “Better Thangs” as their favorite new music release of the past week.
Ciara and Walker’s R&B jam brought in more than 62% of the vote, beating out new music by Ed Sheeran, Kid Cudi, Paramore and more.
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Ciara and Walker’s delightful meeting for “Better Thangs” brings on the positive vibes: Ciara described it to Billboard as “a feel-good record” that she hopes “people hear and feel inspired by.”
“For me, joy is the ultimate feeling that I was feeling [when creating ‘Better Thangs’], and I wanted for people to feel that with this record,” she said.
“She laid her vocals on the song, and as soon as I heard it, I was like, ‘This is special,’” Ciara said of Walker’s contribution to the track. “It felt so good. It’s two friends jamming out to a song together, which is super sweet.”
Trailing behind the new release from Ciara on the fan-voted poll is Sheeran’s new track “Celestial” — a partnership with Pokémon — with 19% of the vote, and Kid Cudi’s Entergalactic album, with 5% of the vote.
Apple held the first screening for Will Smith and Antoine Fuqua’s upcoming film, Emancipation, on Saturday (Oct. 1) in Washington D.C. Though the fate of the project seemingly hung in the balance following Smith’s now-infamous Oscars slap, the screening indicates Apple is looking to release it soon.
At the 2022 Oscars, Smith walked onstage during the ceremony and surprised the world when he slapped presenter Chris Rock, who had made a joke about Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith. Since then, Smith has resigned from the Academy, some of his projects have been put on hold, and he has apologized to Rock, Rock’s family, his fellow Oscar winners and more.
Apple and NAACP hosted the Emancipation screening during the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s 51st Annual Legislative Conference for representatives from the Congressional Black Caucus, Historically Black Colleges and Universities, the Divine 9 (Historically Black Fraternities and Sororities), National Council of Negro Women, National Coalition on Black Civic Participation, Power Rising and #WinWithBlackWomen, among other social impact leaders.
It was followed by a conversation about the film with Fuqua, Will Smith and Mary Elliott, curator of American Slavery at the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, moderated by politics and culture commentator Angela Rye.
“Throughout my career, I’ve turned down many films that were set in slavery,” Smith said at the screening. “I never wanted to show us like that. And then this picture came along. And this is not a film about slavery. This is a film about freedom. This is a film about resilience. This is a film about faith.”
He continued, “This is a film about the heart of a man — what could be called the first viral image. Cameras had just been created, and the image of whipped Peter went around the world. It was a rallying cry against slavery, and this was a story that exploded and blossomed in my heart that I wanted to be able to deliver to you in a way that only Antoine Fuqua could deliver.”
Based on a true story, Emancipation follows Peter (Smith), who runs away from his plantation in search of his family, outwitting cold-blooded hunters and surviving the Louisiana swamps along the way. Peter eventually joins the Union Army. During a medical examination, his bare back, which had scars on it from a near-fatal whipping at the hands of his former plantation’s overseer, was photographed. The Independent published the photo, undoubtedly proving the cruelty and barbarity of slavery in America.
Fuqua directed and executive produced Emancipation from a script by William N. Collage. The film is produced by Smith and Jon Mone through Westbrook Studios, Joey McFarland through McFarland Entertainment and Todd Black through Escape Artists. Chris Brigham, James Lassiter, Heather Washington, Cliff Roberts, Glen Basner and Scott Greenberg are executive producing.
Cardi B is very impressed with Bad Bunny‘s concert attendance numbers.
On Saturday (Oct. 1), the reggaeton superstar performed at SoFi Stadium near Los Angeles as part of his World’s Hottest Tour, which topped the Billboard Boxscore chart in August, grossing $91.1 million.
During the show, Bad Bunny brought out Cardi for surprise performances of her breakout hit “Bodak Yellow (Money Moves)” and the pair’s chart-topping collaboration “I Like It.” The tracks peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2017 and 2018, respectively.
After the concert, Cardi took to social media to share her enthusiasm about Bad Bunny’s success in the touring space. “I was just at this stadium for the super bowl not long ago,” she tweeted. “There’s more people here today at bad Bunny’s concert then the Super Bowl! … Literally artist goal!!!!!”
I was just at this stadium for the super bowl not long ago ..There’s more people here today at bad Bunny’s concert then the Super Bowl! …….Literally artist goal !!!!!🥲🥲🥲
Cardi also shared numerous videos of the massive crowd on her Instagram Story. “Wow, amazing!” she says in one clip. “God bless him forever.”
Cardi did indeed attend Super Bowl LVI on Feb. 13 in L.A. with her husband Offset. The all-star couple was spotted in a box during the halftime show, enjoying the halftime show performance featuring Dr. Dre, Eminem, Snoop Dogg, Mary J. Blige, and Kendrick Lamar.
Check out fan-captured videos of Cardi’s surprise appearance at Bad Bunny’s L.A. concert here and here.
Saturday Night Live hilariously addressed Adam Levine‘s alleged cheating scandal during the show’s 48th season premiere on Oct. 1.
In a nearly six-minute game show sketch, titled “Send Something Normal,” four male celebrity contestants — Levine (played by Mikey Day), actor Armie Hammer (James Austin Johnson), astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson (Kenan Thompson) and SNL cast member Bowen Yang (himself) — are challenged with replying to “a woman’s DM on Instagram in a way that is normal.” This proves to be a challenge for all of the men.
First-time SNL host Miles Teller, who plays game show host Halen Hardy, kicks things off by showing the Maroon 5 frontman a fictional DM from a woman named Elizabeth_Marie_1992. “Hey Adam. Huge fan. Love your music!” she writes. Before giving his response, Day’s Levine asks to see the woman’s most liked vacation photos, which happens to be a snapshot of her wearing a bikini. The musician licks his lips and rubs his hands before replying, “Hoooly Moly!” He digs himself into a deeper hole, adding, “Your body is making my penis smile!”
The SNL skit follows recent allegations that Levine had an affair with Instagram model Sumner Stroh, 23, despite his marriage to Victoria’s Secret model Behati Prinsloo, with whom he shares two daughters and is expecting another child. Levine has since denied having an affair, but shared in a statement that he “used poor judgement in speaking with anyone other than my wife in ANY kind of flirtatious manner.”
Later in the sketch, reigning champ Yang, who attributes his success on the game show to “being gay,” faces his own challenge when attempting to respond to a friendly DM from Dua Lipa. “Oh no!” Yang yells out before responding, Hooooly mooly! Hoooly crap! Your music makes my penis smile!”
Watch SNL‘s “Send Something Normal” skit below, and see the full episode on Hulu here. The streaming service is currently offering a 30-day free trial, which you can sign up for here. The show is also live streamed on Peacock.
Solange made her debut as a composer for the New York City Ballet, and Beyoncé is a proud big sister.
Solange wrote an original score for Play Time, choreographed by Gianna Reisen. It premiered this week at Lincoln Center as part of NYCB’s Fall Fashion Gala, and a number of performances are slated for October and May.
Beyoncé showed support on Instagram on Saturday (Oct. 1), posting slideshows featuring photos and videos from her sister’s evening at the ballet.
“My beloved sister, there are no words to express the pride and admiration I have for you,” she wrote to Solange. “You are a visionary and one of one. Congratulations on being the first African American woman to compose for the New York City Ballet. The piece you composed is phenomenal. I love you deep.”
“Might I suggest you don’t f*** with my sis,” she added.
“heart so fulll,” Solange wrote on her own Instagram page, where she also shared several photos from her big night. The score she penned was performed by the City Ballet Orchestra and a soloist from her ensemble.
“There’s a lot of nuance to it. It’s exciting, for sure,” Reisen said of the score in an interview with All Arts. “That’s what I wanted; I wanted something that would kind of keep the audience on their toes.”
Post Malone, who’s “ready to keep rocking and rolling” after a recent stage fall and some hospital time, opened up a bit about his family life in a new interview.
The artist casually announced the birth of his daughter in June, noting that he intends to keep most details about his child private. “I want to let her make her own decisions,” he explained at the time.
In an interview with GQ published on Friday (Sept. 30), Malone brought up his 4-month-old while talking about his collaboration with Moose Knuckles for a collection that includes children’s sizes.
“It’s really tough not being able to see her, but she’s coming out more often now,” he said of being on tour. “She’s huge, she’s super tall, and she’s such a legend and I’m just happy to see her. But it is heartbreaking having to leave and not be able to be with her all the time.”
He commented that he “can’t tell yet” whether his little one enjoys his tunes.
“She hasn’t cried whenever I put my music on so far, which I think is a good sign, but we’ll wait and find out,” said Malone. “I got to let her decide. I tried to play her some stuff but I can’t really tell what she’s into right now. She’s going to have to like my music, I think, [or] she’s going to get used to it — I know everybody at the house plays it for her and hopefully, they’ll get stuck in her head. Kids love my music for some reason, which is awesome, so I’m hoping that she just goes with the flow on that one.”
One thing he probably doesn’t mind missing out on while he’s busy on stage?
“The blowouts,” he said, when asked about the craziest part of new parenthood. “She will blow out sometimes and it’ll come right outside of her pants. The poop will just be dripping out and I’m like, ‘What the hell happened?’ That’s how I know it definitely is my daughter — not that I have blowouts, but that I know my way around a toilet.”
Malone was forced to cancel a concert in Boston a week ago when he was experiencing “a stabbing pain whenever I breathe or move.” The health scare — which came a week after he took a nasty spill on stage at a St. Louis show — brought him to the hospital.
“We took a good three days off, we started healing up,” he said this week in his chat with GQ. “They gave me good medicine, all the lidocaine patches and everything, so I’m feeling a whole lot better.”
Doja Cat debuted a striking look at Paris Fashion Week.
Doja — who has been keeping fans on their toes lately when it comes to teasing what her next album will sound like — played around with her style this weekend in Paris. She attended Mônot’s spring/summer show on Saturday (Oct. 1) wearing an all-black ensemble accessorized with arm makeup resembling sleek gloves, white and blue face makeup, and bright red lips.
The makeup look was created by artist Laurel Charleston.
“Hand, arm and face makeup on @DojaCat for Mônot by me,” Charleston, who’s worked with Doja previously, tweeted on Saturday.
When a follower commented, “I had to zoom in to even notice they weren’t actual gloves. Killed it,” Charleston wrote back, “That was the goal hehe.” Later, the artist noted, “To clarify, she’s not wearing gloves it’s all makeup.”
Doja shared a few selfies of her painted face, captioned with a crescent moon emoji, on Twitter after showing off a different look for a Vivienne Westwood show earlier on Instagram. Her appearance at Paris Fashion Week also included a performance at a Kenzo event. See her latest selfies below.
Tennessee’s high court on Thursday (Sept. 29) vacated a ruling that required police to publicly release their investigation of country singer Naomi Judd’s death.
The state Supreme Court did not rule on whether the records can be released, but sent the case back to the lower court for another hearing. Judd’s family filed a petition in Williamson County Chancery Court in August, saying the police records contain video and audio interviews with relatives in the immediate aftermath of Judd’s death.
Releasing such details would inflict “significant trauma and irreparable harm” on the family, the petition said. It argued that the police investigative files are covered by an exemption to the state’s public records law.
Williamson County Chancellor Joseph A. Woodruff ruled against the Judd family on Aug. 31, denying their request for an injunction to keep the records private while they pursue their legal case. The records “do not appear to fall within any recognized exception to the Public Records Act,” Woodruff found.
In addition, the chancellor ruled that specific records in the police file are public records, including body camera footage taken inside of Judd’s home. But the Tennessee Supreme Court took issue with that part of the chancellor’s order. The high court said on Thursday that Woodruff should not have ruled on which specific records are public and which are private without a full hearing on the issue.
The court vacated Woodruff’s earlier ruling and sent the case back to the Chancery Court for a new hearing.
Judd died on April 30 at her home in Tennessee at the age of 76. Her daughter Ashley has previously said that her mother killed herself, and the family said she was lost to “the disease of mental illness.”
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Astrology might be more popular than ever. Gone are the days of zodiac items being restricted to crystal shops and Etsy. Nowadays, astrology gifts are available just about everywhere — including major retailers like Amazon, Walmart, Target and Nordstrom.
September happens to be the busiest birthday month of the year, and although Virgo season has ended, Libra season is just getting started! With the sun in Libra, and Mercury (finally) moving out of retrograde, we figured now would be a great time to round up a collection of astrology-inspired gift ideas for every zodiac sign.
Whether you’re a water sign, earth sign, air sign, fire sign, or somewhere on the cusp, this list has something for everybody.
See more below.
The Birthdate Book
$95
$100
5% OFF
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Birth charts provide a deeper understanding of yourself and those around you. The Birthday Book is a customizable, made-to-order book illustrating your birth chart with over 70 pages of detailed, astrological analysis.
Libra season is supposed to feel like a breath of fresh air (or a second wind, depending on your predicament). This hilarious candle perfectly encapsulates some of the more popular Libra traits: harmony, generosity and overthinking. Find more Zodiac candles here.
Cozy up in constellations with this luminous blanket featuring all 12 star signs: Aquarius, Pisces, Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, and Capricorn.
Zodiac Star Sign Socks
$12
Buy Now
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While you’re cozying up in a blanket, throw on a pair of zodiac star sign socks! The socks are made from a breathable, soft bamboo blend, and available in women’s sizes 6-9.
ASOS Mix-and-Match Astrology Pajamas
$22
$26
15% OFF
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Need new pajamas? This set features an allover celestial print and a relaxed fit perfect for lounging around the house. These pajamas are only available in select sizes, but you can mix and match them with shorts or pants. Click here for another affordable, celestial option. If you’re willing to spend more money, check out the Karen Mabon Cropped Astrology Satin Pajama Set ($180).
Sephora Astrology Lip Stories Lipstick
$5.50
$9
39% OFF
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A vegan lipstick with an astrological flare. This Sephora lipstick is available in multiple shades for each zodiac sign in satin, matte or a metallic finish. You can also find this lipstick on Amazon.
Astrology Coin Necklace (Cancer)
$65
Buy Now
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No matter your zodiac sign, jewelry is always a safe gift idea. Available in gold plated brass with cubic zirconia stones, this Astrology Coin Necklace measures 3/4 inches in diameter and 19-inch chain and comes in constellation of all 12 signs (Cancer is pictured above).
A perfectly affordable gift for water signs and other wine lovers, this astrology wine glass holds 15 ounces of liquid and prominently features the Aries constellation on the front and bottom of the glass and stars all over. If you rotate the glass, you’ll notice the other 11 constellations are featured as well. This adorable wine glass is available in any of the 12 zodiac signs.
Astrology necklaces tend to showcase astrological constellations or the zodiac symbol itself, like the design above. The necklace is made from alloy and gold with a stainless steel lobster claw clasp and features in the sign of Leo, but you can choose any of the other zodiac signs.
Astrology Card Deck
$18.95
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This astrology deck is perfect for astrology lovers, star gazers and anyone fascinated by the zodiac. Created by a professional astrologer, the set include 70 cards, an interactive birth chart and instructional booklet.
Scorpio Collegiate T-Shirt
$45
Buy Now
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Calling all Scorpios: here’s a T-shirt that puts your astrological sign on display. This women’s shirt is available at Revolve but in select sizes, click here for more zodiac shirts.
Pisces iPhone Case
$78
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A phone case for the sensitive but intuitive pisces. This Casetfy iPhone case is available in clear, black, kiwi, purple and bubble gum.
Know someone who has a birthday coming up? Give them a crystal box set complete with healing stones. The Capricorn set pictured above comes with six natural stones: Tiger’s Eye, Garnet, Red Jasper, Clear Quartz, Black Obsidian, and Green Fluorite.
Glow in the Dark Zodiac Art
$35
Buy Now
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How about an art piece? This glow in the dark zodiac art (measuring 5 x 5 inches) celebrates the uniqueness and beauty of each sign. The collection pictured includes Taurus, Libra and Cancer.
Ark Made Zodiac Crystal Aroma Therapy Spray
$12
Buy Now
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The Zodiac Aroma Therapy Spray is designed for every zodiac sign with special blends of essential oils and crystals to benefit your moon, sun or rising sign.
What zodiac signs lights up your life? This tiny, 3D structure showcases a crystal glass Sagittarius figure and measures 2 inches x 2 inches x 3.14 inches. The 3D design is available in any of the 12 zodiac signs.
