Music

Cardi B rapped “I was born to flex…big fat checks” in her 2018 hit “Money.” Now, the Diamond-certified star is literally putting her money where her mouth is: She presented her husband Offset with a $2 million check for his 30^th birthday.

Cardi posted an Instagram Story of the Migos rapper joyfully holding an enormous check replica at his birthday party Tuesday night in Los Angeles. She commented, “Happy birthday!!! He literally got it all.” Offset’s birthday was December 14, but they waited a week to celebrate.

On Offset’s birthday, Cardi posted a photo of them snuggling and commented, “I love you so much and I’m so proud of you. We have overcome so much together. I love the man that you’re becoming and I love the father that you are. Thank you for always being there for me, for being a great confidant and advisor and for never allowing me to sell myself short.”

“I’m so lucky to have you as a partner raising our beautiful kids. You have soo many projects and businesses that you are managing and leading yet you have helped me so much in this journey wit our two babies,” the “Up” rapper continued. “May life keep blessing you and you continue to thrive. I’m so excited for the world to see what you got coming.”

In October, Offset purchased a sprawling mansion in the Caribbean as an investment-slash-gift for Cardi’s 29th birthday. The couple, who secretly married in 2017, have two children:  Kulture, 3 and a 16-week-old baby son.

 

 

 

 

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In Performance at the White House: Spirit of the Season aired on PBS Tuesday night, with artists of all genres coming together for powerful, classic renditions of favorite holiday songs.

Eric Church was among them, joining the lineup alongside his trusty back-up vocalist/singing partner Joanna Cotten for their version of “Joy to the World.” Accompanied by sparse instrumentation and Eric’s own guitarwork, the country superstar traded verses with Joanna throughout the performance.

They performed from the White House’s Green Room. The PBS special aired from various historic rooms in the building, with artists performing from the State Dining Room, the East Room and the Blue Room — the latter of which is the location of the Official White House Christmas Tree.

In case you missed it last night, you can stream In Performance at the White House: Spirit of the Season on PBS’ website.

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As Ed Sheeran looks ahead to family life, he says massive, worldwide tours are not part of his picture for much longer.

Speaking to the Teach Me a Lesson podcast recently, the “Shivers” singer explained, “I would hate to get to 20 years’ time and have a relationship with my kids that had suffered because I’d chosen work over them.”  Ed said he fears missing birthdays or important family moments because he has to “play another stadium.”

Because of those concerns, the Grammy winner admitted, “I honestly think that this next tour that I’m going on, at the end of the tour, I can’t see myself going on one of them like that again.”

As for what his modified touring schedule would look like in the future, Ed mused over two options: “Six weeks in summer or six weeks in the winter.”  He did stress that six weeks was the most he’d be willing to spend apart from his family.

“I want to put as much time into my kids as possible,” the British singer maintained, adding that it’s his firm belief that “life is about passing things on to the next generation.” 

The “Bad Habits” singer kicks off his Mathematics Tour in April 2022 and will play for 27 dates across England and Europe before wrapping in September. 

Ed is married to Cherry Seaborn and the two share a one-year-old daughter, Lyra.  The singer previously revealed he would love to have more kids, but has yet to reveal when he’ll be welcoming a fourth member to his growing family.

Ed also gave fans a special Christmas present on Thursday by releasing a special a capella version of his 2020 hit, “Afterglow,” in which he sings in a church alongside eight backup singers.

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Trey Songz is reportedly being sued for sexual assault, and his accuser is demanding $20 million.

Jahuara Jeffries is suing the “Can’t Be Friends” singer, birth name Tremaine Aldon Neverson, claiming that he assaulted her on January 1, 2018 at the E11EVEN nightclub in Miami, according to The Jasmine Brand.

They attended an earlier party hosted by Diddy, then she claims that Songz invited here and her friends to the club.

The lawsuit reads: “While Plaintiff was dancing on the couch, she noticed Defendant Songz standing on the floor next to her. She then felt fingers being inserted into her vagina, turned around, and saw Defendant Songz pulling his hand away from her bottom.”

“[The plaintiff] suffered negligent infliction of emotional distress and resulting pain and suffering, disability,” the document continued.

As previously reported, Songz is being investigated for a separate alleged incident in Las Vegas. Las Vegas Metro Police say that on November 28, they “received a report of a sexual assault incident alleged to have occurred at a hotel in the 3700 block of South Las Vegas Boulevard” involving the 37-year-old singer.

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Tom Morello is helping add a bit more rage to Olivia Rodrigo‘s sound.

The Rage Against the Machine guitarist has posted a video on his Instagram showing him shredding an original solo over Rodrigo’s song “good 4 u.” Is there a wah-wah pedal involved? You’d better believe it!

Morello captioned the video “Freestyle jamming to the hits pt. 1,” suggesting we may be getting more Pop Against the Machine solos in the future.

“good 4 u” is one of several hits off Rodrigo’s 2021 smash album SOUR. The track credits Hayley Williams as a co-writer due to its similarity to Paramore‘s “Misery Business.”

In related Morello news, the guitar icon recently auctioned off the axe he played alongside grandson on The Tonight Show last month to raise money in support of Kellog’s workers on strike. The funds were used to provide hot meals to those on holding the picket line in cold weather.

 

 

 

 

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Don’t worry, fans: There’s no trouble in paradise, as far as Nick Jonas and his wife Priyanka Chopra Jonas are concerned.

Some fans got concerned when Priyanka, whose Instagram handle used to be Priyanka Chopra Jonas, dropped the “Jonas” from the feed’s name. But according to the actress, who appears in the new Matrix film, she was just trying to be consistent with her social media.

Asked why she made the change, Priyanka told ETimes, the entertainment website of The Times of India, “I don’t know. I wanted the username to match my Twitter, I guess.”

She added, “I just find it really amusing that everything becomes such a huge deal to people. It’s social media, guys. Just chill out!”

Nick and Priyanka, who wed in December of 2018, recently celebrated their third anniversary.

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Before they became parents, Tyler Hubbard and his wife, Hayley, also figured they’d spank their kids occasionally. After all, that’s how both of them were raised, the couple explain during a new episode of the Meaning Full Living podcast, which Haley co-hosts.

The couple are parents to three young children now, and they haven’t yet used spanking as a form of discipline. That’s simply because they realize it’s not the best way to communicate with their kids’ particular, individual personalities, Tyler explains. For example, he remembers one time when he raised his voice to his oldest daughter, three-year-old Liv.

“She got scared, and she got upset. I thought, ‘Man, that’s terrible,’” the singer recounts. Rather than keep leaning into that stern, disciplinarian side, Tyler says he apologized to his daughter for raising his voice.

“I was able to come to her level and say, ‘Daddy is really sorry. I should not have talked to you that way,’” he continues. “Haley and I want compliant kids, but we also want kids who trust us and want to talk to us about things.”

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Beyoncé and Jay-Z could become the first married couple in history to compete against each other for an Oscar.

Queen Bey’s “Be Alive,” from King Richard, and Jay’s “Guns Go Bang” with Kid Cudi, from The Harder They Fall, are among the 15 songs on the Academy Awards shortlist for Best Original Song. Five will be nominated. Neither of the two superstars have been nominated for an Academy Award in the past.

Cudi has a second song on the list, “Just Look Up,” with Ariana Grande, from the Netflix movie Don’t Look Up.

H.E.R., who won an Oscar this year for “Fight for Youm” from Judas and the Black Messiah, is on the list with “Automatic Woman,” from Halle Berry’s latest film, Bruised. The four-time Grammy winner composed the song with Berry’s boyfriend, Van Hunt.

Jennifer Hudson, who also is a previous Oscar winner, made the list with “Here I Am (Singing My Way Home)” from the Aretha Franklin biopic, Respect. Hudson won her Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for Dreamgirls in 2007.

The nominations for the 94th Academy Awards will be announced on February 8. The Oscars will air on ABC March 27.

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As their incredible 2021 comes to an end, the boys of BTS — JHope, Jimin, Jin, Jungkook, Suga, RM and V— individually sat down for a series of tell-all interviews Vogue Korea recently and reflected on the past year.

V admitted he became more of an introvert this year, adding, he used to be an extrovert but a recent MBTI personality test revealed he became more withdrawn.  “I don’t think these changes are a bad thing,” he shared.  V also discussed BTS’ “My Universe” collaboration with Coldplay and revealed that, after the band heard him sing, they told him “I was like the second Chris Martin.”

Suga said he is “happier” than he was before because of the success he’s enjoyed in 2021 and, when asked about his future, remarked, “I’ll always be a member of BTS.”  He noted some people pushed him to give producing a try and cracked, “I’m not responsible enough to take responsibility for anyone.”

As for RM, he’s thinking of a different future.  The singer recently had “a eureka moment” when looking at Claude Monet and Vincent Van Gogh‘s paintings and became “envious” they were able to communicate “directly with a boy from Korea” hundreds of years after they died. RM says he’s “fascinated by art” now and is strying art history to learn the “longevity of painters.”

Jimin reflected on the stress of the pandemic, and confided, “It felt like my whole life’s work was being negated.”  He admits that feeling made him focus on keeping BTS’ momentum going.

As for Jin, he admits he’s learned to appreciate his lazy days and declared, “I think that resting should be entirely selfish.”  

As for Jungkook and J-Hope, the two expressed hope and excitement for the future.

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