Late last week, my cousin tagged me and the rest of my cousins in a poster. It was Love Jones, the musical. Yes, this classic romance is heading to the stage. Larenz Tate and Nia Long won’t be reprising their original roles as Darius and Nina. But Musiq Soulchild, Chrisette Michelle, Marsha Ambrosius, Dave Hollister and Raheem DeVaughn are set to star in this production. Theodore Witcher, the writer and director of the original Love Jones is also responsible for this adaptation. MC Lyte, who is also involved in the production, made the announcement on her Instagram page a few days ago. While the rest of my cousins have commented on the link my cousin shared, I have not. Mostly because I don’t know how I feel about Love Jones as a musical…
[MadameNoire]
Lia Neal And Simone Manuel Make History, First Time Two Black Women Make Olympic Swim Team Simultaneously
We all know that there are quite a few Black people out there who swim and swim very well (hence the need for such images like this one on the cover of the New Yorker by Kadir Nelson), but the prevailing story is that most of us don’t, won’t because of our hair, and would rather sit poolside than wade inside of it. Until more people see us swimming in the mainstream, that will continue to be the common belief. But Lia Neal, 21, and Simone Manuel, 19, are changing all of that. The pair, both Stanford teammates and good friends, will both swim for the U.S. Olympic team after competing in the Olympic trials last week in Omaha, Nebraska and landing a spot on the 4 x 100 freestyle team…
[MadameNoire]
Drake’s Views Album Passes Eminem As Third Longest No. 1 Hip-Hop Album On Billboard
Drake‘s Views album seems to be breaking a new record every week. The latest feat is becoming the third longest Hip-Hop album to be number one on the Billboard charts. The album, released at the end of April, has spent nine weeks atop the Billboard 200 chart and continues to grow higher. This week it surpassed Eminem‘s 2000 album The Marshall Mathers LP to move into third all-time for Hip-Hop albums at number one. The only two albums ahead of it are Vanilla Ice’s 1990 album To the Extreme that sat at the top for 16 weeks and MC Hammer’s 1990 album Please Hammer Don’t Hurt ‘Em, which held the title for 21 weeks. Views’ run is the longest one for an album since Adele’s 21 ran the top for ten weeks straight in 2012…
[HipHopWired]