Music

Bravo is bringing in a mixed bag of veteran stars and new talent for the upcoming season of Real Housewives of Atlanta.

Originally reported by Variety, Bravo has also shared the season 14 cast lineup, which includes season 13’s Kandi Burruss, Kenya Moore and Drew Sidora. Former Real Housewives of Atlanta cast member Shereé Whitfield is set to return, along with longtime friend of the show, Marlo Hampton, who was promoted to official cast member. New to the reality series will be track star Sanya Richards-Ross — a four-time Olympic Gold medalist — who will receive a coveted Georgia peach.

The casting news comes after Porsha Williams and Cynthia Bailey confirmed their exits from RHOA last month.

While Bailey has pretty much moved on from the network after she announced her departure in a heartfelt Instagram post, Williams has shared she has other plans. In addition to remaining a co-host of Bravo’s Chat Room, the reality star has unveiled her new series, Porsha’s Family Matters, an upcoming spinoff based on her family.

“PORSHA’S FAMILY MATTERS ❤️‍🔥🙌🏾 Official Super tease trailer! Here we go!,” Williams captioned the trailer on Instagram. “(( Don’t miss the premiere dropping Sunday, November 28th – only on @BravoTV )).”

 

 

 

 

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A first-look trailer for producer Melvin Childs‘ new drama For the Love of Money has been released.

The film, which stars Keri Hilson, Katt Williams, LisaRaye McCoy, Rotimi, Jason Mitchell and DC Young Fly, is set to hit theaters nationwide on Wednesday, November 24. It follows Hilson as Gigi, a single mother who, when pushed to her limits out of the need to protect her daughter, returns to a life that she’s spent years trying to run away from. For the Love of Money also features guest appearances by Latto, Keith Sweat and Lyfe Jennings.

In other news, Billy Porter has been tapped to direct HBO Max’s Camp, a feature adaptation based on the Young Adult novel by Lev Rosen, Deadline has learned. The film centers on 16-year-old Randy Kapplehoff, a boy who falls hard for another young man during his summer at Camp Outland. As he goes through great lengths to get his crush’s attention, Randy grapples with the question of how “much he is willing to change for love.” In addition to directing, Porter will play the role of Mark, the camp’s theater director. Other casting details about Camp have yet to be announced.

Finally, ABFF Ventures has announced that Oscar-winning actress Halle Berry will serve as the ambassador for the 2021 American Black Film Festival. Along with her ambassador functions, Berry will headline ABFF’s popular talk series, where she will open up about her 30-year career in the industry as an actress and creative. As previously reported, this year’s festival will be a worldwide virtual experience hosted on its custom-built platform, ABFF PLAY, from November 3 to November 28. To register for ABFF, visit ABFF.com.

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Kane Brown shared a heartwarming moment with a young fan battling illness. 

Following a recent show, Kane dedicated an Instagram post to Mia, a young girl who has cancer. The post shows a series of photos of Mia onstage with the country superstar, one with his back to the camera and his arm wrapped around her with two spotlights shining upon them. Another shows him signing the back of a handmade poster that reads, “Sorry for being Xtra. Help me get my cancer fighter meet Kane?”  

“This post is dedicated to this sweet little girl Mia. You’re so strong and I know everyone in this crowd prayed for u that night. Hope you see this!!!!” Kane wrote in the caption. 

The sweet gesture came days before Kane twisted his ankle during a show in Memphis over the weekend. He’s in the midst of his Blessed & Free Tour, which continues through February.

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It’s Red season, as Taylor Swift told us last week, but it’s also fall. That’s why she’s taken to Instagram to visually recreate her 2014 Tumblr post about how much she loves fall and all the things that go with it — and of course, she’s thrown in Easter Eggs, too.

In the video, Taylor reads the post — a long list of things that you only get in the fall — out loud, while showing off the things she mentions, like “hats and scarves and knee socks and wearing tights for the first time in months.”

She then pauses to write some lyrics in a journal: “Just between us/did the love affair maim you, too?”  These are unfamiliar lyrics, which has led to speculation that they’re from one of the bonus tracks on Taylor’s upcoming release, Red (Taylor’s Version). 

Other eagle-eyed Swifties noted that while Taylor’s writing, she’s wearing a snake ring from her Reputation era, and nail polish from her Speak Now era.  One fan speculates that those will be the next two re-recorded albums we’ll get from Taylor.

After that pause, Taylor continues, “and plaid stuff and ankle boots and not caring when people make fun of pumpkin-flavored stuff ’cause you love it and are happy it’s all the rage!” 

“And people who dress their dogs in costumes on Halloween,” she goes on, showing off portraits of her cats dressed up in Renaissance-era finery.  “And fires in fireplaces and maroon/hunter green/mustard yellow color combos.”

As Taylor concludes, “And baking your first fall batch of cookies but you put too much cinnamon in it because you’re TOO EXCITED BECAUSE IT’S FALL,” we see her dumping cinnamon on cookies and eating one.

“Basic autumn lovers RISE,” she captioned the video.

 

 

 

 

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“Fight Song” singer Rachel Platten became a mom for the second time about two months ago when she and her husband welcomed daughter Sophie.  But it turns out Rachel’s been fighting her own private battle against postpartum anxiety…for a second time.

On Instagram, Rachel wrote, “I did not want to write this post…But here it is, i have postpartum anxiety again. I thought, ‘I’ll share about it when I’m ‘better.’ I’ll have a really powerful story about how i overcame it. And everyone will think oh she’s so strong bla bla.’

“But f*** that,” she continued. “i don’t want one other single mother out there to experience the same feelings of shame, loneliness, and fear that i did if maybe reading about my story NOW can help you. Because this can be hell if you think you’re alone.”

“We do not talk enough about the reality of the post partum period,” she then noted, describing what she’s going through as a “daily mental rollercoaster.”

“A wave of irrational worry or fear or depression comes and it can knock me over if i don’t use all of my tools: compassion for myself is the biggest,” Rachel explains. “But it also takes breath work, meditation, exercise, acupuncture medication…therapy, tremendous support and vulnerability and courage to ride these waves.”

Rachel adds that she’s trying to remember that she’s not just what she calls “this runaway train of a brain” — she’s “a beautiful soul…who is courageously getting herself the support she needs.”

She concludes by saying, “[I’m] sorry I’ve hid this from everyone. I didn’t want to suffer in public, not again. but i know sometimes this community is exactly the thing i need to remember how loved and supported i am, how much we all are.”

 

 

 

 

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If you’ve had “My Own Worst Enemy” stuck in your head since watching the Woodstock ’99 documentary, perhaps it’s time to replace it with another Lit song.

The “Miserable” rockers have returned with a fresh tune called “Yeah Yeah Yeah.” It’s the first preview off the group’s forthcoming album, due out next spring.

“When we started firing up to write the new Lit material, we wanted to try and get our heads in that space we had landed in during the late ’90s and early 2000s,” says lead vocalist Ajay Popoff. “We not only got back to our old school roots, but also found a good marriage between the classic sound of 1999 with a modern production vibe.”

The upcoming album will be Lit’s seventh studio effort, and follows 2017’s These Are the Days.

Along with Popoff, Lit still consists of fellow original members guitarist Jeremy Popoff — Ajay’s brother — and bassist Kevin Baldes. Original drummer Allen Shellenberger died in 2009 of cancer.

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After winning three Grammys and achieving superstardom, Megan Thee Stallion is fulfilling her late mother’s wish that she graduate from college.

“2021 finna graduate collegeeee, taking my graduation pics today,” the Hot Girl Summer wrote Monday on Instagram. “I can’t wait for y’all to see.”

Megan began her college studies at Prairie View A&M University, then when her career took off, she eventually switched to part-time, online courses to receive a bachelor’s degree in health administration from Texas Southern University.

“I want to get my degree because I really want my mom to be proud,” the 26-year-old rapper tells People. Her mother died in March 2019 after battling brain cancer. “She saw me going to school before she passed.”

Now with a sizzling music career, plus fashion endorsements, and recently becoming a Popeyes franchise owner, Megan has special plans to utilize her degree.

“I’m gonna open an assisted-living facility and use the money that I make from rapping to open it,” she says. “Then I’m gonna let my classmates run it.”

As she prepares for graduation, Megan is ready for Halloween. She posted an Instagram photo of her dressed as Pinhead from the 1987 classic horror movie, Hellraiser, complete with needles sticking out of her head and  wearing all white body paint.

“Pain has a face. Allow me to show you. Gentlemen I am pain #hottieween,” she wrote, referencing a line from the film. “Scary how good you look…even dressed as an acupuncture face white man,” commented boyfriend Pardi Fontaine.

Megan is hosting a private Halloween bash at an undisclosed location. “Y’all already know my hottieween party abt to be LIT this year,” she wrote. “I can’t wait to see everyone’s costume.”

 

 

 

 

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Scotty McCreery‘s chart-topping hit, “Five More Minutes,” is getting a Christmas makeover.

The singer’s #1 single, originally released in 2017, is the inspiration behind an upcoming Hallmark holiday movie of the same name that follows a young woman as she finds her grandfather’s old journal and learns of a secret romance.

The song was inspired by Scotty’s own relationship with his grandfather and was written after he passed away in 2015. Scotty is an executive producer on the film. 

The American Idol winner debuted the song at the Grand Ole Opry in 2016. It later became the lead single off his 2018 album, Seasons Change, and his first #1 hit. 

Five More Minutes is slated to premiere on Hallmark Movies & Mysteries channel on November 20 at 10 p.m. ET. 

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Meek Mill‘s latest album, Expensive Pain, is number 12 on the Billboard 200, but the Philly MC is insisting that his record label is not paying him.

“I haven’t get paid from music and i don’t know how much money labels make off me!!!!! I need lawyers asap!!!,” the “Going Bad” rapper wrote Monday in a since-deleted tweet.

Mill is signed to Rick Ross‘ Maybach Music Group, which is distributed by Atlantic Records.

“Ask the record label? How much have you spent on me as a artist?,” he continued. “Then you ask how much have you made off me as a artist? I’m about to make my record deal public by Monday just to let the world see what these people on!!!”

Meek’s post came after his star-studded Expensive Pain concert Saturday night at Madison Square Garden in New York City. In addition to playing back the entire album, Meek performed with several guests, including Lil Uzi Vert, Bobby Shmurda, Lil Baby, Lil Durk, 42 Dugg, A Boogie wit da Hoodie, Fabolous, Vory, Giggs, EST Gee, and Fivio Foreign.

Mill posted several videos from the show and commented, “Thank you to everybody who popped out with me!!!”

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