Music

While it’s no surprise that Jeannie Mai is pregnant with her first child with her husband, Jeezy, the actress-turned-The Real host is still pretty shocked.

In a new episode of her Hello Hunnay YouTube channel, Mai explained that she never pictured herself being in a baby way. 

“If you took every penny I had and everything I loved and bet that I would be pregnant, I would absolutely bet against myself,” she noted with a laugh, calling being pregnant a “full-circle moment” for herself.

“I am in awe of how I grew to get to this place,” she admitted. 

“I was always — and still am — very protective of women and people who don’t want to have kids,” she tells the camera in the confessional-style show. “I don’t like the guilt and the pressure that’s placed on women to have children. Just because we’re women, it means that we have the choice; it doesn’t mean that we have to have children.”

Mai explained she had “zero idea of how to take care of a newborn,” proving that by showing off a baby doll her friends had gifted her to get her used to the idea. 

Jeezy already had two “beautiful” children, the actress said, and she was very content with not having any of her own. “That was our plan…But as you know, you’re always gonna have plan and then God reminds you who’s in charge.” 

She credits her relationship with the rapper for changing her mind.

Mai explained it was sexual abuse she suffered as a child that led to the “trust” issues that she always thought would make motherhood a non-starter for her. As she wiped away tears, Jeannie noted that all began to melt away when she felt their baby kick. 

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Though Lainey Wilson’s still a little in shock that she’s got a number-one country radio hit, the “Things a Man Oughta Know” star says she’s fired up to be a part of where country music is headed next.

“It feels like it couldn’t be a better time for me and my music. I’m proud, humbled, excited and ready to it again,” she tells CMT.

The singer goes on to say that now she’s had a taste of success, she’s “hungry for more,” and she’s hoping to achieve her goals by sticking to the authenticity and heart that helped her create “Things a Man Oughta Know.”

“I’m going to keep saying what people are thinking with my music,” she adds. “If I stay extremely honest and continue to tell it like it is, I believe I’ll remain successful.”

“Things a Man Oughta Know” hit the top of the charts last month. Lainey wrote the song with collaborators Jason Nix and Jonathan Singleton. It’s a track from her freshman project, Sayin’ What I’m Thinkin’.

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Madonna‘s oldest child, Lourdes Leon, is making her name for herself as a model right now, but she says she got some important advice from her mom that’s made her rethink what she wants out of that career path.

Speaking to Madonna’s good pal Debi Mazar for Interview magazine, Lourdes says that when she decided to start modeling, Madonna told her, “Proceed with caution and think about what you want to be known for.”

“My mom is very insistent on making me think about what I want to be known for beyond my looks,” she adds. “That’s not what I want people to remember me by. It’s not real…I want to create a world in which models have more agency over what they’re doing, and they’re not just silent clothing racks.”

Lourdes says Madonna also told her something recently that “really stuck with her,” which was, “It’s not about the money or your face or how hot you look. It’s about what you’re bringing into the world and what you’re going to leave behind.”  Lourdes says, “That always shakes me awake when I get too caught up in everything.”

Lourdes, who turns 25 today, also says if she’s out somewhere and one of her mom’s songs comes on, “I don’t cringe.”

“I’m increasingly able to recognize how influential and amazing this woman is, and how empowering to other women and ahead of her time she has always been,” she says, adding, “She’s probably the hardest worker I’ve ever seen.”

And apparently, music runs in the family: “I can sing. I just don’t care about it,” Lourdes says. “Maybe it’s too close to home.”

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Pop Evil has hit number one on Billboard‘s Mainstream Rock Airplay chart with its current single, “Survivor.”

The track gives the Michigan rockers their seventh leader on the ranking, which measure rock radio airplay.

“I don’t think there has been a song we have written ever that resonates quite like this song has,” Pop Evil says.

“This one is for all the ‘Survivors’ out there,” the band adds. “Thank you to all the Fans and our Friends at Radio for all the support on this song. This one means a lot, our 7th #1 of our career!”

“Survivor” appears on Pop Evil’s new album Versatile, which was released in May. The record’s previous single “Breathe Again” also reached number one on Mainstream Rock Airplay.

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Luke Combs was among the honorees at Wednesday night’s CMT Artists of the Year ceremony, and on hand to celebrate his accomplishments in country music was one other than the Chief himself, Eric Church.

It’s no secret that Eric has long been one of Luke’s musical idols. Both men hail from North Carolina and favor a country-rock sound, and Luke recently enlisted Eric as a guest artist on his hit single, “Does to Me.”

The old saying “Never meet your heroes” cautions against getting too chummy with your idols, but when Luke finally met Eric, they got along a little too well. The singer tells that story in an installment of CMT’s Probably Shouldn’t Tell You This series, which came out in advance of this week’s awards show.

It all started when Eric invited Luke and his wife, Nicole, over for a steak dinner. Ever the gracious host, he kept the booze flowing all night, and Luke wound up overdoing it.

“I was on the whiskey and the rest of ‘em were on the wine. But whiskey has just a tad more alcohol than wine does,” he recounts. “I was on another plane of existence that evening.”

It wasn’t until 4:30 AM that Luke and Nicole made it to the car, where a driver was waiting to take them home. “And I had to stop in the middle of this really nice neighborhood,” the singer adds.

“Eric Church got me so drunk that I threw up on the way from leaving his house,” he admits. “I didn’t throw up in the house or anything. But in the middle of the road. It was kinda, like, semi-college-ish. I don’t think he knows that, either, so I hope he doesn’t see this.”

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Cher is singing “I Got Sue Babe” these days: She’s filed a suit accusing Mary Bono — the widow of her ex-husband and musical partner Sonny Bono — of trying to get out of paying royalties to her for Sonny & Cher hits.

It’s all pretty complicated, but in Cher’s complaint, obtained by ABC News, her lawyer is asking the court to stop Mary from using what’s called a “termination right” to avoid paying Cher royalties on songs like “I Got You Babe” and “Bang Bang.”

When Cher and Sony finalized their divorce in 1978, Sonny agreed that when it came to their hits, Cher could have 50% of “record royalties and musical composition royalties…in perpetuity and throughout the world.”

But Mary Bono is invoking the termination right, which allows artists to reclaim rights they may have signed away years ago. The suit says Mary had her team notify Cher last month that the royalty payments were going to stop.

Cher’s lawyer — the guy who won the infamous “Stairway to Heaven” copyright case on behalf of Led Zeppelin — says the provision that would allow Mary to do that is “wholly inapplicable” in this situation.  The lawyer also says Mary is in breach of contract if she stops paying.

In addition to seeking to have her royalties reinstated, Cher is also suing for damages in excess of $1 million, plus attorneys’ fees.

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Lil Nas X‘s instantly controversial video for “Industry Baby” has gotten the VEVO Footnotes treatment: You can now watch the making-of feature, complete with behind-the-scenes information and commentary from both the rapper and the clip’s director.

Here are just some of the things you can learn about the clip from VEVO Footnotes:

–The video, in which Lil Nas X and Jack Harlow break out of “Montero State Prison,” is “essentially a giant metaphor to represent Nas’ unwillingness to conform to the industry standards or be caged in because of his beliefs,” explains director Christian Breslauer.

–Lil Nas X chose the prison setting because he wanted “to go to a place people would least expect me to go in a music video. An overly masculine place and make it gay asf.”

–The Grammys you see in Nas’ jail cell are the actual Grammys he won for “Old Town Road.”

–The security guard who gets punched by Nas is Colton Haynes, one of the stars of the Teen Wolf TV series.

–Lil Nas X’s favorite scene isn’t the nude shower dance sequence: It’s the part where everyone is dancing together in the prison yard.

“The song felt like a victory lap… but also an underdog anthem, and that’s what I wanted the lyrics to reflect,” the chart-topping rapper says of “Industry Baby.” “I wanted a song to remind people I’m not going anywhere.”

(Video contains uncensored profanity & offensive language.)

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After celebrating her 29th birthday with a massive blowout on Monday attended by Megan Thee Stallion, Normani, Lizzo and more, Cardi B has won a court fight over the trial date for a copyright-infringement lawsuit filed by a photographer.

Kevin Michael Brophy is suing the “Rumors” rapper for at least five million dollars, accusing her of illegally using his tattoo of a tiger and a snake for the cover of her 2016 debut mixtape, Gangsta B**** Music, Vol. 1, according to RadarOnline.

The trial was originally scheduled to begin later this month, then was pushed to next year because Cardi claimed she needed extra time to travel from New York City to California where the trial would be held.

Her lawyer wrote, “For medical reasons, it is inadvisable for her to travel from her present residence on the East Coast to Southern California.”

Cardi’s attorney continued, “Being in the immediate post-natal period and nursing her newborn child, it would be an unreasonable imposition upon her to require her to actively be present for and participate in pretrial preparation and attendance at the trial itself.”

However, when the Grammy winner flew to Paris for Fashion Week in September, Brophy demanded that the trial be moved up to December, and that Cardi should be sanctioned and fined $8,130 for lying under oath.

On Wednesday, a judge ruled in Cardi’s favor.  “In short, the court sees no reason to advance the trial date or issue an order to show cause regarding sanctions at this time,” ruled Judge Cormac Carney, according to AllHipHop.com.

Brophy and Cardi B’s court trial is scheduled for February 1, 2022.

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Korn drummer Ray Luzier has tested positive for COVID-19.

The “Freak on a Leash” metallers announced the news in an Instagram post Thursday, adding that Luzier will be absent from their upcoming shows taking place on October 15 in Las Vegas; October 16 in Fresno, California; and October 18 in Oakland, California.

For those dates, drum duties will be handled by Aric Improta of FEVER 333. Luzier is expected to be back on stage with Korn for their Los Angeles dates with System of a Down on October 22 and 23.

Luzier is now the third member of Korn to contract COVID-19. Frontman Jonathan Davis tested positive back in August, while guitarist James “Munky” Shaffer came down with the virus in September.

 

 

 

 

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