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Before he faced multiple lawsuits and the disturbing allegations, P. Diddy was entangled in one of the most notorious feuds in hip-hop history—between the East Coast’s Notorious B.I.G. of Bad Boy Entertainment and the West Coast’s Tupac Shakur from Death Row Records.

Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs in Monster’s Ball (2001) | Credit: Lions Gate Films

What began as a rivalry expressed through song lyrics escalated into violence, culminating in the tragic murders of both rappers in drive-by shootings just six months apart. Sean Combs later reflected on this dark chapter in hip-hop, revealing why the situation deeply troubled his spirit.

P. Diddy Dismissed Threats Amid Bad Boy-Death Row Feud

The feud between Diddy’s Bad Boy Entertainment and Suge Knight’s Death Row Records broke out after the 1994 shooting of 2Pac, which was followed by several disses and later turned into a dark chapter in hip-hop history.

In 1997, Sean “Diddy” Combs and The Notorious B.I.G. — or Biggie — left a party in separate cars. Diddy was nearby, therefore, when another car began firing into Biggie’s vehicle. That night, Diddy’s bodyguard, Gene Deal, said he worried something was going to happen to Diddy instead.

Diddy’s bodyguard was worried for Diddy’s safety on the night Biggie was murdered

In 1997, Biggie and Diddy attended an after party together. Deal was also present, though he said Diddy had initially offered him the night off, but he felt he should be there. Deal worried something was going to happen to Diddy.

“I saw this kid lose his life — this kid died while I was pulling him out of the car,” he told Vibe Magazine. “I wouldn’t put nobody in my shoes ’cause I don’t feel like they could handle it. If I didn’t have God in my life,...

The September 2024 arrest of Sean “Diddy” Combs on charges related to racketeering, sex trafficking by force, and transportation for purposes of prostitution appears to be the culmination of years of allegations, rumors, and red flags. But despite the scandals that followed him, Combs remained prominent in hip-hop, reality TV, advertising, and more.

Among Diddy’s closest connections in music was Usher. The R&b singer began as a Diddy protege before striking out on his own and becoming one of the biggest stars in the world. Along the way, Usher raised multiple red flags about Diddy’s behavior behind closed doors.

Usher saw ‘very curious things’ living with Diddy

Usher lost his voice during the lead-up to releasing his self-titled debut album in 1994. Record producer LA Reid contemplated dropping Usher and canceling the album. Instead, Reid sent Usher to live with Sean Combs for a year of what Reid called “Flavor Camp.

The world of hip-hop and rap is infamous for its rivalries, which often end up culminating in the form of diss tracks and public humiliation. Bust history is a testament, that sometimes these rivalries lead to death. Over the years several bright stars of the world of music have lost their lives to shootings, and one name seems to have emerged following P Diddy’s arrest, Notorious B.I.G.

Diddy Aka Sean Combs in the Closer to God Mv | Credits: Youtube via @diddy

The rapper signed on to Diddy’s Bad Boy Records was gunned down just 6 months after his friend-turned-rival Tupac Shakur’s death. While the case remains unsolved, various claims have been made about the incident, and given below are two of them.

50 Cent Allegedly Claimed Diddy Combs Knew About Notorious B.I.G’s Shooter 50 Cent Jackson | Credit: The Late Show / YouTube

Notorious B.I.G aka Christopher Wallace died nearly three decades ago,...

In the months after the Notorious B.I.G.’s death, the people around Sean “Diddy” Combs were taken aback by his callousness. The rapper’s murder left people devastated, but some thought Diddy used it as an opportunity to promote himself. When his record label, Bad Boy, had an opportunity to put an artist on the cover of Rolling Stone, the label’s president, Kirk Burrowes, advocated for Biggie to take the spot. Diddy took it for himself instead.

Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs wanted to put himself on a magazine cover over the Notorious B.I.G.

Two weeks after Biggie’s murder, his second and final album, Life After Death, came out. Diddy put all his effort into promoting it. According to Bad Boy employee Lajoyce Brookshire, he denied her request to take time off to grieve.

Several months later, Rolling Stone offered Bad Boy Records a cover opportunity. Burrowes thought Biggie was...

Since its inception in 2012, Blackstar Film Festival has become one of my favorites. In a recent interview in Essence, founder Maori Karmel Holmes said, “When I started the festival, I didn’t realize that it was going to be an annual event, and I was mostly interested in seeing films that I knew existed in the world but hadn’t been shown in Philadelphia. I was also interested in a specific kind of film, mostly experimental, largely made by independent filmmakers and wanting to put them together in a way that would put artistic films next to social justice documentaries and […]

The post At the Movies with Notorious B.I.G.: dream hampton on It Was All a Dream first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

Since its inception in 2012, Blackstar Film Festival has become one of my favorites. In a recent interview in Essence, founder Maori Karmel Holmes said, “When I started the festival, I didn’t realize that it was going to be an annual event, and I was mostly interested in seeing films that I knew existed in the world but hadn’t been shown in Philadelphia. I was also interested in a specific kind of film, mostly experimental, largely made by independent filmmakers and wanting to put them together in a way that would put artistic films next to social justice documentaries and […]

The post At the Movies with Notorious B.I.G.: dream hampton on It Was All a Dream first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

Vice presents “Hip Hop Treasures: Notorious B.I.G.” With the guidance of those closest to him, the episode examines the life and impact of The Notorious B.I.G., as they seek to uncover his most cherished possessions. The episode, airing at 11:00 Pm on Tuesday, July 23, 2024, on Vice, centers around a quest to find and […]

Hip Hop Treasures: ‘Notorious B.I.G.’...

Get ready to delve into the life and legacy of the iconic rapper in the premiere episode of “Hip Hop Treasures” airing on Vice, Tuesday, July 23, 2024, at 11:00 Pm. In Season 1 Episode 1, titled “Notorious B.I.G.,” viewers are invited on a journey through the personal and professional artifacts of the legendary Notorious B.I.G. Known for his profound impact on hip hop culture, Biggie’s story continues to resonate decades after his untimely passing.

The episode features intimate insights from Biggie’s family members, including his children T’yanna and C.J. Wallace, along with his widow, Faith Evans. Together with Biggie’s protege, Lil’ Cease, they embark on a quest to uncover and showcase the rapper’s most cherished possessions. Among these treasures is the iconic crown famously worn by Biggie during his illustrious career.

“Hip Hop Treasures” promises a poignant exploration of Biggie’s life beyond the music, shedding light on...

Hello, and welcome to the Scene 2 Seen Podcast!

Showrunner, writer and executive producer Little Marvin, and actor-singer Luke James, chat about the second season of Prime Video’s Them: The Scare on today’s episode. The series’ cast also includes Deborah Ayorinde and Pam Grier.

Them: The Scare will once again be set in Los Angeles. The story centers on LAPD Homicide Detective Dawn Reeve (Ayorinde), who is assigned to a new case: the gruesome murder of a foster home mother that has left even the most hardened detectives shaken. Navigating a tumultuous time in Los Angeles, with a city on the razor’s edge of chaos, Dawn is determined to stop the killer. But as she draws closer to the truth,...

When Argentine rap star Trueno got into the studio to make El Último Baile, he knew he wanted to use the record to pay tribute to hip-hop’s storied, diverse history.

“It began as a way to celebrate the first 50 years of-hip-hop,” he tells Rolling Stone. “But also I feel a responsibility to represent the new school, the sound of the future.”

Across 13 songs, Trueno infuses sounds that range from old-school funk to techno-house to straight Eighties hip-hop as he pushes his signature rap style out of his comfort zone.

Nowadays, Shaquille O’Neal is best known for his work on Inside the NBA and as an Icy Hot pitchman, but he made his name as one of the most dominant basketball players of all time. This gave Shaq a leg up in pursuing rapping, and he released four albums in the 1990s. His third effort, You Can’t Stop the Reign, is now on streaming, and it notably features Jay-Z and Nas’ first collaboration.

The streaming version of “No Love Lost” marks the first time we’re officially hearing the original track. Apparently, Nas didn’t clear his verse for the album’s 1996 release.

Though Shaq had become a capable Mc three albums into his career and Lord Tariq is talented in his own right, Jay and Nas are obviously the main attractions on “No Love Lost.”

Both in their mafioso eras, neither artist disappoints, with Jay rapping, “We stepped it up,...

In the first episode of Hulu’s Under the Bridge, Reena Virk is trying to fit in with a new group of friends. Her way of bonding? Playing The Notorious B.I.G.’s 1997 opus Life After Death.

That album — his second — was released 16 days after the rap icon was gunned down to death. Virk, played by Vritika Gupta, jumps on the bed as she and other teenage girls rap the lyrics to “Kick in the Door.” In the second episode of the scripted series following the murder of the 14-year-old Indian-Canadian teen, the lyrical mastermind shows up again when Virk is invited to a vigil her classmates hold in honor of the future Rock and Roll Hall of Famer. The teens live in the suburban municipality located on Vancouver Island in British Columbia.

The eight episodes of Under the Bridge not only tell the story of Virk, but also weave in The Notorious B.

A former bodyguard of music mogul Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs has claimed that Combs possessed incriminating tapes of politicians, princes and other notable individuals who attended his parties.

Combs, who has faced a barrage of accusations from physical abuse to rape and sexual trafficking, recently had his residences in Miami and Los Angeles raided by the Department of Homeland Security. Federal agents seized computers and electronic devices during the operation.

In an interview with The Art of Dialogue YouTube channel, Gene Deal, who was present the night Notorious B.I.G. was shot in 1997, she revealed the extent of Combs’ alleged activities.

Deal stated, “I don’t think it’s only celebrities gonna be shook. He had politicians in there; he had princes in there. He also had a couple of preachers in there.”

Deal added, “Can you imagine he had every room bugged.”

When asked why Combs’ media department had stayed silent on the allegations against him,...

Exclusive: Katey Sagal (Sons of Anarchy), Billy Campbell (Troll), and Rhys Coiro (Hustlers) have joined Sophie Turner in the psychological thriller Trust for Twisted Pictures and Republic Pictures.

Details as to their roles are under wraps. Other new additions set to round out the cast include Peter Mensah (Gladiator 2), Forrest Goodluck (The Revenant), and Gianni Paolo (Power).

In Trust, Turner plays a Hollywood starlet who seeks refuge in a secluded Airbnb following a high-profile scandal, only to find herself at the mercy of hardened criminals on the hunt for a score.

Carlson Young (The Blazing World) is directing from a script by Gigi Levangie (Stepmom), with Twisted Pictures’ Oren Koules producing alongside Miles Koules of Koulest Productions. The film stems from a new multi-picture distribution deal between Twisted Pictures, producer of the Saw franchise, and Republic Pictures. Production commences in Mexico later this month.

Currently starring on ABC’s The Conners,...

Exclusive: Aliyah Turner (Unsolved: The Murders of Tupac and the Notorious B.I.G.) has joined the Season 3 cast of the Starz drama Power Book III: Raising Kanan in a recurring role.

Turner will portray Krystal, a primped and pompous queen bee from the Bronx who will do whatever it takes to steal the spotlight.

In Season 3, currently airing on Friday nights, emotions are high and the stakes even higher. The show returns to Southside Jamaica, Queens following the Season 2 finale, with the family in turmoil and reeling from the Mob’s coordinated attack on Raquel (Patina Miller), Marvin (London Brown) and Lou-Lou (Malcolm Mays).

Raising Kanan also stars Omar Epps, London Brown, Malcolm Mays, Hailey Kilgore, Joey Bada$$, Shanley Caswell, Tony Danza and Antonio Ortiz. Wendell Pierce, Erika Woods, Grantham Coleman and Paul Yen also star.

Turner is best known for her role in USA Network’s Unsolved: The Murders of...

Bob Dylan has spent the past few weeks spotlighting local artists and city-specific songs while cross-crossing America on his Rough and Rowdy Ways tour. It began October 1 in Kansas City when he opened up with “Kansas City,” continued in St. Louis where he covered two Chuck Berry songs, and carried on in Chicago where he broke out Chicago blues tunes by Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf.

Perhaps the biggest curveball came October 16 in Indianapolis, Indiana when he played John Mellencamp’s “Longest Days.” It’s a relatively obscure song from Mellencamp’s 2008 LP Life,...

Dig through the 120-plus Emmy categories and you’ll discover more than double-digit nominations for Succession and Ted Lasso. You’ll also uncover the indisputable influence of hip-hop.

The ever-growing television medium is keeping the legacies of two of the most important figures in rap — and overall pop culture — alive, and now the projects are competing for Emmys. Dear Mama, the FX documentary series about Tupac Shakur and his activist mother, Afeni, earned nominations for outstanding documentary or nonfiction series and writing for a nonfiction program, while a virtual reality concert that brought Notorious B.I.G. back to life is up for outstanding emerging media program.

To top it off, rap’s ultimate entrepreneur, Jay-Z, is nominated for two Emmys, including a historic one for outstanding directing for a variety series for Rihanna’s Super Bowl halftime show. And this is all happening during the year that is the 50th anniversary of hip-hop.

MTV has announced that Sean “Diddy” Combs will receive the honorary Global Icon Award. As described in the announcement, “the Global Icon Award, originally from MTV’s Europe Music Awards (EMAs), celebrates an artist or band whose unparalleled career and continued influence have achieved a unique level of global success in music and beyond.” He will accept the award and perform live during the 2023 MTV Video Music Awards set to air Tuesday night, September 12, at 8:00pm from New Jersey’s Prudential Center. This will be his first performance at the event since 2005.

Diddy’s career stretches back more than a quarter century. The first of his two past VMA victories came in 1997 when he claimed Best R&b Video for “I’ll Be Missing You” featuring Faith Evans and 112. That song and video were made as a tribute to The Notorious B.I.G., who was murdered earlier that year and...

The heist movie is a timeless popular classic. It always seems like the perfect, victimless crime. When we watch this type of movie, we are usually on the side of the gang of robbers and find ourselves rooting for them to get away with their audacious crime.

The films telling the story of Danny Ocean have been some of the most popular of the modern era. Ocean’s Eleven was released in the US on December 7th, 2001. It became the fifth-highest-grossing film of the year, with global box office receipts of $450.7 million. With an all-star cast including George Clooney, Julia Roberts, Matt Damon, and Brad Pitt, it was a remake of a movie from 1960 by the same name.

With heist movies, it seems like the more challenging the heist, the more entertaining it gets for movie-goers. And what can be more challenging than stealing from the heavily-guarded casinos of Las Vegas?...

Duran Duran launched their 2023 “Future Past North American Tour” at Napa Valley’s BottleRock Festival on Saturday, May 27th.

To kick off their headlining set, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame group quickly dispatched several of their biggest hits, including “Hungry Like the Wolf,” “Notorious,” and “A View to a Kill.” In a career-spanning sequence befitting the ethos behind their 2021 LP, Future Past, the band reached as far back as their 1981 debut single “Planet Earth,” while touching on key eras with tracks like 1984’s “The Reflex,” 1993’s “Ordinary World,” and their latest LP’s “Anniversary.”

The night also included the first live rendition of the Future Past duet “Give It All Up” with Tove Lo, who performed with the band and separately earlier in the day. Following 1981’s “Girls on Film” as the main set’s closer, the band returned with a double Rio encore of “Save a Prayer” and the iconic title track.

Season 2 of last summer’s hit breakout series “The Bear” is set to premiere on Hulu on Thursday, June 22. After a tumultuous return to his family’s hole-in-the-wall Chicago restaurant, chef Carmen “Carmy” Berzatto (Jeremy Allen White) and his staff transform the greasy sandwich joint into a first-class dining experience after he discovers the slush fund his brother left behind. Despite having the extra money to make his dreams a reality, the future proves to be both a personal and professional challenge for Carmy and the crew.

Watch the trailer for Season 2 of “The Bear”:

Beginning on June 14, the new series continuation of the beloved film “The Full Monty” arrives on Hulu. It’s 25 years later and the men and women of Sheffield, England, are in reboot mode, navigating life and family. The original 1997 movie focused on a group of down-on-their-luck, blue-collar men who put on a strip show to make ends meet.

Big George Foreman is a film directed by George Tillman Jr. starring Khris Davis.

Some movies simply wait for a great story to do all the work.

Foreman’s life was quite a story.

We can’t say the same for the film.

Movie Review

Some said the voiceover was anti-cinematic, and it was Scorsese (among others) who denied it film after film. This Big George Foreman wants to have a lot of Scorsese without achieving his pace, effectiveness and, above all, grace, and narrative freshness.

Big George Foreman is a film that resorts, at all times, to the obvious, to direct compassion, to that piece of American History a thousand times told in a thousand better ways and with more elaborate plots and less flat characters and, in the end, with more to say.

It is well executed technically, it knows how to behave, but the script’s compassionate...

Biopics about star athletes or artists tend to have the same broad shape: the rise to achievement and fame, the fall from triumph (often fueled by some combination of addiction and ego), the restoration to a harder-won glory. A great biopic, like “Get on Up” or “I, Tonya,” will tease a profound portrait of the subject out of that form; a middling one will oversimplify the subject just to hit the right beats. But then there’s a film like “Big George Foreman: The Miraculous Story of the Once and Future Heavyweight Champion of the World.” That’s not a movie title — it’s the title of a parable. And it’s well chosen, since “Big George Foreman” is about a life that feels so outlandishly ready-made for the ups and downs, the lessons and inspirations, of the superstar biopic genre that you don’t even have to mess with it.

It’s always fascinating to get a glimpse behind the scenes of the lives of our favorite celebrities. That’s precisely what the new five-episode series “Family Legacy,” which debuts Tuesday, April 25 on Paramount+ attempts to grant its viewers. The show centers on the children of some of the biggest stars in the music industry — including the kids from members of *Nsync, Van Halen, Boyz II Men, and more — and shows audiences what it’s really like to be related to a global icon. You can watch with a 7-Day Free Trial of Paramount Plus.

How to Watch 'Family Legacy' Premiere When: Tuesday, April 25, 2023 Where: Paramount Plus Stream: Watch with a 7-Day Free Trial of Paramount Plus. 7-Day Free Trial$4.99+ / month paramountplus.com

For a Limited Time, Get 1 Month of Paramount+ With Code: Dragrace

About 'Family Legacy' Premiere

Narrated by actor and music artist Quincy Brown, each half hour of...

The new Paramount+ docuseries Family Legacy promises to be a real treat for music fans as it offers an insight into the lives of some of the rock and pop world’s biggest names through the lens of their children. It is narrated by Sean “Diddy” Combs’ adopted son Quincy Brown, whose mother Kim Porter died from a lung infection in 2018 (Brown’s biological father is singer Al. B. Sure!). The series classic performances and moments from the likes of Diddy, Linkin Park, Van Halen, Backstreet Boys, *Nsync, Boyz II Men, TLC, Biggie Smalls, Brandy, and Melissa Etheridge. It also features revealing interviews with their children, including Andrew Hagar (son of Van Halen’s Sammy Hagar), C.J. Wallace (son of Notorious B.I.G.), Draven Bennington (son of Linkin Park’s Chester Bennington) and Sy’Rai Smith (daughter of Brandy). For Diddy’s episode, Quincy Brown is joined by siblings...

As “Dear Mama” director Allen Hughes set out to celebrate the legacy of hip hop legend Tupac Shakur in FX’s new docuseries, Hughes resolved to “demystify” Tupac’s fatal shooting that has become a legend of its own for many.

“The number one thing I said was, ‘we can’t have made this movie, and these young people walk away and think that this is sexy, dying like this’,” Hughes told TheWrap. “It’s ugly, it’s brutal, not just what happened to him, but how it affects his family and friends and loved ones.”

Tupac’s death on Sept 13, 1996 from wounds sustained in a drive-by shooting 6 days earlier, has been the subject of conspiracy theories, including alleged connections to the murder of the Notorious B.I.G. 6 months later.

“When something is that larger than life, like Camelot, JFK, no one can believe that,” Hughes continued. “It’s just little...

Image Source: Getty / Kevin Mazur

Diddy may be well-known as an accomplished music executive, a gifted producer, and a billionaire mogul. However, the "Gotta Move On" artist seemingly made a bad business decision back in the '90s after he sampled a song from Sting without his permission.

In his 1997 hit "I'll Be Missing You" with Faith Evans - a tribute to the late The Notorious B.I.G. - Diddy famously sampled a track titled "Every Breath You Take," which was written by Sting and released by his band, The Police, in 1983. For years, it's been believed that Diddy is still paying for the unauthorized sample, especially after a 2018 interview with Sting on The Breakfast Club recently resurfaced.

In the unearthed clip, Sting revealed how much Diddy was allegedly paying him at the time after cohost Charlamagne tha God asked the now-71-year-old musician if it's true that he gets sent...

Daniel Sunjata (Echoes) has been tapped as the male lead opposite Kaitlin Olson in ABC‘s character-based procedural drama pilot based on TF1’s popular detective series Hpi (High Intellectual Potential), from top TV and film writer Drew Goddard and ABC Signature, where Goddard and his Goddard Textiles are based.

Written by Goddard, the untitled Hpi remake centers on Morgan (Olson), a single mom with three kids and an exceptional mind who helps solve an unsolvable crime when she rearranges some evidence during her shift as a cleaner for the police department. When they discover she has a knack for putting things in order because of her high intellectual potential she is brought on as a consultant to work with a by-the-book seasoned detective, Karadec (Sunjata), and together they form an unusual and unstoppable team.

In the original French series Haut Potentiel Intellectuel (Hpi), created by Alice Chegaray-Breugnot, Stéphane Carrié and Nicolas Jean,...

Warner Music Group announced Monday that it has partnered with Roku to launch three, genre-based Fast channels, exclusively on The Roku Channel, the platform’s free streaming service.

The new channels – Wmx Pop, Wmx Rock, and Wmx Hip-Hop – are free to stream on The Roku Channel, through the service’s Live TV Guide.

Each of the channels will feature music videos and concerts from Warner Music’s catalog of artists as well as original programming from the company’s media brands, including Uproxx, HipHopDX, Songkick, Cover Nation, The Pit and Lasso Nation.

Also Read:

How the Major Streamers Stack Up Right Now in Subscribers and Revenue | Charts

The Fast channels will also premiere new, exclusive series, like “Iconic Records: Life After Death,” a new show about the world’s most iconic albums. The first installment will cover Notorious B.I.G’s “Life After Death,” which is hosted and executive-produced by radio personality Angie Martinez.

Anthony Perkins' Norman Bates is one of the most famous villains in horror cinema — or is he? After all, technically it was his mother Norma who murdered Marion Crane (Janet Leigh), Arbogast (Martin Balsam), and other offscreen victims. Or rather, it was the version of his mother who lived in Norman's head. Norman may have murdered his mother years ago, but her grip on him endured post-mortem.

How fitting that a character with multiple personalities was voiced by more than one person. "Psycho" conceals this twist by featuring "mother" only as a voice. We only hear her speak to Norman and the conversations always happen offscreen. For these moments, Hitchcock took three voices, those belonging to Paul Jasmin, Virginia Gregg, and Jeanette Nolan, and mixed them together into the voice of "Mother."

All three actors were uncredited, with their names nowhere to be seen in Paul Bass's legendary title sequence.

The ubiquitous Marvel Cinematic Universe has reached a critical mass where it is almost unavoidable. Like a supermassive black hole, it's going to keep absorbing every actor of repute until everybody has a part to play in the world of the Avengers. Because of this, nearly every actor worth their salt has been in a Marvel movie at some point or another by now. It's almost a rite of passage in stardom. While most people have generally positive experiences, there certainly have been those, like Christian Bale, who has spoken out about their lack of enjoyment in working for the Marvel content machine.

Anthony Mackie, who portrays Sam Wilson, the former Falcon now known as Captain America, was one of the McU's lesser-known actor hires when he entered the franchise. This is not to say he wasn't a legitimate performer, having been in such movies as "8 Mile," "Million Dollar Baby,...

The role of James Bond has been officially and canonically played to date by just six actors: Sean Connery, George Lazenby, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan, and Daniel Craig (David Niven and Barry Nelson don’t count as part of the canon). It’s traditionally been one of the most sought-after parts in all of cinema history, so it makes sense that while only those half-dozen stars have filled 007’s shoes over the 60-year course of the franchise, dozens more have tried out for the part and didn’t make the cut.

Although original producers Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman of Eon Productions (still run to this day by Broccoli’s descendants) always insisted that the character of Bond be English, the role has only been played by three Englishmen to date: Moore, Dalton, and Craig. The other Bonds have hailed from Scotland (Connery), Australia (Lazenby), and Ireland...

Cary Grant was James Bond before James Bond. Sixty years since the release of Dr. No and Sean Connery’s era-defining performance as 007, it sounds crazy that Grant almost beat him to the role, but as late as 1962 it made perfect sense—including to the men who produced the James Bond movies. As the Hollywood leading man who perfected the Hollywood ideal of debonair sophistication and unflappable suaveness, Grant was a class act that couldn’t be beaten, and for the better part of 30 years all of Hollywood agreed.

This included one of the two godfathers of the James Bond franchise and Eon Productions, Albert “Cubby” Broccoli. Along with his partner Harry Saltzman, Broccoli saw the long-term viability of the James Bond character as a genre unto himself. Broccoli also wasn’t a delusional producer who just wanted to cast one of the biggest stars of his heyday as 007—he...

(From left) Rachel Brosnahan, Christoph Waltz, and Warren Burke in Walter Hill’s Dead For A Dollar Photo: Quiver Distribution A disciple of Sam Peckinpah and Budd Boetticher—the latter of whom he dedicates Dead For A Dollar to—Walter Hill has been a fixture of American filmmaking for more than five decades.

To some, last week’s news that Micky Dolenz had filed a lawsuit against the Department of Justice to obtain the complete FBI file on the Monkees was a surprise: The Monkees, subversive?

But as it turns out, the made-for-tv Monkees were just one of many pop artists who’ve been the subject of FBI surveillance, monitoring, or some degree of investigation since the Fifties. When it came to entertainers, “the FBI generally opened files for very specific reasons,” says Aaron Leonard, author of the forthcoming Whole World in an Uproar: Music,...

Paris Hilton is dripping sweat during a DJ set and she reaches for a fan which offers no help. Pic credit: ©ImageCollect.com/Xavier Collin/Image Press Agency

Paris Hilton‘s DJing skills are very hot, but her broken fan is not.

The heiress shared a video as she hit the turntables with a smile on a hot summer night.

Paris has been DJing all summer long, and as the world’s highest-paid female DJ, Summer is peak money-making season.

Paris was glittery from head to toe, including her headphones and fingerless gloves.

She played Notorious B.I.G. in the background as she exclaimed how hot she was.

The heiress was smiling, but she was also sweating, and she grabbed a black fan that had stopped working.

Paris Hilton continues working despite being hot

Paris grabbed the device and tried to make it work before she dropped it and returned to music-making.

Just in time for end-of-summer festivities, Igloo has launched a new cooler inspired by The Notorious B.I.G. — this time with a built-in Bluetooth speaker system.

Called The Notorious B.I.G. KoolTunes Playmate, the cooler-slash-stereo boasts original artwork of Biggie with the text “it was all a dream” on the top of the lid and “it’s the Brooklyn way” on the sides. On the front of the cooler are two discreet, five-watt speakers with passive radiators that lend tunes for the tailgate, picnic, beach day, or pool party.

Hip-hop superstars Eminem and Snoop Dogg will transform the 2022 MTV Video Music Awards stage for a first-of-its-kind performance of “From the D 2 The Lbc,” inspired by the world of the Otherside metaverse.

MTV partnered with Yuga Labs to bring the performance to life, which marks the first collaboration between Eminem and Snoop Dogg — who are up for Best Hip Hop with “From The D 2 The Lbc” — in more than 20 years. Otherside is a gamified, interoperable metaverse game that blends mechanics from multiplayer online role playing games and web3-enabled virtual worlds. Yuga Labs is a blockchain technology company that develops NFTs, digital collectibles and looks to leverage web3 formats for innovative storytelling.

The 2022 VMAs will be the first time Eminem has performed at the ceremony in 12 years. His last appearance came in 2010 when he performed the songs “Not Afraid” and “Love the Way You Lie.” The 60-time nominated rap star...

People often talk about second album syndrome, and the pressures that follow a great first record. Often it can overshadow conversation around the debut itself: “Brilliant album… shame about the second one.”

But while it’s true that many an artist has struggled to meet expectations after a triumphant beginning, it shouldn’t take away from the achievements made on those first records. They serve as statements of intent and have the power to change or reshape the industry, inspire fellow musicians, and drive essential conversation about our understanding of music.

Whether it’s the rock on The Strokes’ much-hyped 2001 album Is This It or the rap prowess of Notorious Big on Ready to Die, introducing a genre to the rest of the world via Daft Punk’s Homework or creating a new one entirely with Black Sabbath – debut albums can take a previously unknown artist and lift them up to global adulation.

People often talk about second album syndrome, and the pressures that follow a great first record. Often it can overshadow conversation around the debut itself: “Brilliant album… shame about the second one.”

But while it’s true that many an artist has struggled to meet expectations after a triumphant beginning, it shouldn’t take away from the achievements made on those first records. They serve as statements of intent and have the power to change or reshape the industry, inspire fellow musicians, and drive essential conversation about our understanding of music.

Whether it’s the rock on The Strokes’ much-hyped 2001 album Is This It or the rap prowess of Notorious Big on Ready to Die, introducing a genre to the rest of the world via Daft Punk’s Homework or creating a new one entirely with Black Sabbath – debut albums can take a previously unknown artist and lift them up to global adulation.

Queen + Adam Lambert, Duran Duran, Rod Stewart, Diana Ross and more all took the stage outside London’s Buckingham Palace concert as part of the Platinum Jubilee concert Saturday celebrating the 70th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II’s reign.

Following a prerecorded video featuring the Queen lunching with Paddington the Bear, the first artist to take the stage was, fittingly, Queen + Adam Lambert, who were joined by a royal marching band for “We Will Rock You.” The band’s set also featured “Don’t Stop Me Now” and “We Are the Champions...

Downtown Los Angeles is a very different place than it was when the Los Angeles Conservancy kicked off its “Last Remaining Seats” film screenings in movie palaces 35 years ago. When the annual series hits key theaters this month (after taking the last couple of Junes off for the pandemic), there will be far less trepidation in the air about the fate of some of the key theaters and the neighborhoods they’re in than there was back in 1987. One thing that’s very different, now versus then: the number of filmgoers who’ll be walking to the Orpheum and the Los Angeles, the two theaters that will host five of the six screenings.

Meanwhile, perhaps ironically, the Lrs series kicks off Saturday with a field trip to a neighborhood that was seen as deeply thriving 35 years ago, but could use its own boost now: Westwood, where the venerable 1931 Village Theater...

Superstars from both sides of the Atlantic joined forces on Saturday evening in London to put on a Platinum Party at the Palace, as part of the celebrations to celebrate the British monarch’s 70th anniversary on the throne.

Diana Ross, Nile Rodgers, Lin-Manuel Miranda and Alicia Keys joined British household names like Queen, Duran Duran, Sir Rod Stewart and Sir Elton John for the concert held in front of Buckingham Palace, the Queen’s official London home.

20 years ago, Queen guitarist Brian May marked the Golden Jubilee by playing the National Anthem on his guitar from the roof of Buckingham Palace.

See the full lineup below

This time around, Queen with Adam Lambert kicked off proceedings with ‘We Will Rock You’ before a catalogue of stars performed on an evening that provided something for everyone.

Highlights of the concert included Alicia Keys performing her massive hits ‘Empire State of...

On what would have been his 50th birthday, The Notorious B.I.G. will be crowned with a title his fans have always known he’s held: King of New York.

In honor of the legendary rapper, born Christopher Wallace, the Empire State Building will light up in red and white, with an illuminated crown spinning around its center on May 21. Over in Brooklyn, the Barclays Center entrance will display a video montage of some of Wallace’s records, and the Mta will release a special edition MetroCards featuring Biggie Smalls, which...

After a long five-year absence, Kendrick Lamar has finally returned. Mr. Morale and the Big Steppers is the kind of dense, complex, contradictory, and thrilling journey into the mind of Pulitzer Kenny that we’ve been waiting for. With more than 70 minutes of music, there’s plenty here to process, enjoy, and debate. Our full review is on its way. In the meantime, here are five observations from a long night of deep listening.

1. Mr. Morale and the Big Steppers Is a Double Album … Sort Of

While formatted like a double album,...

Writer/director Eskil Vogt joins hosts Josh Olson and Joe Dante to discuss a few of his favorite movies.

Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode

The Worst Person In The World (2021)

The Innocents (2022)

The Godfather Part II (1974) – Katt Shea’s trailer commentary, Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review

The Breakfast Club (1985)

Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986)

Trust (1990)

Fight Club (1999)

Evil Dead II (1987) – Alex Kirschenbaum’s review

Gremlins (1984) – Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review

The Getaway (1972) – Larry Karaszewski’s trailer commentary

The Getaway (1994)

Junior Bonner (1972) – Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review

Star Wars (1977)

The Limey (1999)

Point Blank (1967) – John Landis’s trailer commentary

Out of Sight (1998)

The Hunger (1983)

Providence (1977)

Blind (2014)

Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters (1985)

The Card Counter (2021)

First Reformed (2017) – Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review

Taxi Driver (1976) – Rod Lurie’s trailer commentary

Light Sleeper (1992)

American Gigolo (1980)

Notorious (1946) – John Landis’s trailer commentary, Glenn Erickson’s Criterion Blu-ray review

Torn Curtain (1966)

Jacob’s Ladder (1990)

Lolita (1997)

Deep Water...

Exclusive: Roswell, New Mexico star Michael Vlamis is preparing to make his feature directorial debut with Crossword, a psychological thriller in which he’ll star alongside Aurora Perrineau (When They See Us), Harvey Guillén (What We Do in the Shadows), Nick Thune (Love Life), Sarah Ramos (Winning Time), Karan Oberoi (Counterpart), Andoni Gracia (Warner. Bros’ upcoming The Flash) and Spencer Waldner (5 Years Apart).

The indie heading into production this spring centers on James (Vlamis) and Tessa (Perrineau), a young married couple coping with the loss of their daughter. While Tessa trudges forward focused on her bestselling children’s book series inspired by their daughter, James tries to find solace in the daily crossword. As the crossword takes on a mind of its own, the seams of the couple’s reality begin to unravel, revealing that death is more than a five-letter word.

Vlamis wrote the script with Kyle Anderson,...

A revelatory new biography of the Notorious B.I.G., Justin Tinsley’s It Was All a Dream: Biggie and the World That Made Him, is due out May 10, just before what would’ve been the Brooklyn legend’s 50th birthday. On the new episode of Rolling Stone Music Now, Tinsley takes us through the life story and way-too-brief discography of one of the greatest rappers ever.

To hear the whole episode, press play above, or listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. A few highlights follow:

Most fans know that Biggie and...

Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs will make his hosting debut at the 2022 Billboard Music Awards, set for May 15 on NBC.

His appearance as emcee will also mark the 25th anniversary of his first Billboard Music Awards win in 1997 for his album “No Way Out.” In addition, Combs will executive produce the live show from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

“This will be unlike any awards show. I’m bringing the love and setting the frequency at an all-time high,” said Combs in a statement. “The Billboard Music Awards truly represent the artists and where music is today, so I’m excited to curate the biggest live performances and surprises. The world has to tune in to see.”

Combs is a two-time Billboard Music Award winner for Top Rap Song (1997) and Top Rap Artist (1997). He’s had 37 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 Songs Chart and last took the stage at...