Rest In Peace, Beverly Broadus Green
Snoop Dogg is dealing with the tragic loss of his mother. On Sunday (Oct. 21), the rap veteran posted a series of tributes on his social media following her passing. She was 70.
“Walk by faith not by sight 
Freeway Mourns Loss Of Daughter
Rest in peace, Harmony.
Over the weekend, the Philly rapper shared a heartfelt message dedicated to his 21-year-daughter who lost her battle with cancer.
You know the saying sugar and spice and everything nice, well that’s my Harmony! 
I promise y’all she was the sweetest most kind most caring generous loving adorable person I know. Allah Really blessed me putting her in my life. I love her so much and this hurts so bad 
Rolling Loud New York 2021
New York, New York!
Written: Olive Uche
Photos: Ismail “Calligrafist” Sayeed
New York City lit up for Rolling Loud this past weekend. After a one-year hiatus, the biggest rap festival returns with a star-studded lineup filled with performances from Lil Uzi Vert, City Girls, Grisdela, and more.
The 3-day festival took place at the famous Queens stadium Citi Field. Transforming the stadium into a three-stage setup with activations by Kappa, Ciroc, 300 Ent amongst others. Festival-goers were entertained with electric performances and guest appearances that made each night a standout.
All eyes were on Jack Harlow as he stole the show with high-energy performances of “What’s Poppin” and “I Wanna See Some Ass”. However, the energy intensified when Harlow was accompanied on stage by “Montero” musician Lil Nas X for an encore performance of their collaborative hit single “Industry Baby”. Caught off guard by the surprise appearance, the two had fans reciting lyrics word for word and festival-goers running from stage to stage trying to catch the performance.
Day 1 came to a close with a few standout performances from Gunna, Lil Uzi Vert, and Moneybagg Yo. But the real show stopper that had everyone talking was 50 cent. Always on brand, 50 cent performed at the Deleón stage. Performing everything from “In Da Club “Disco Inferno”, “I Get Money”, I’m the Man, and “Big Rich Town”, the set went up a notch when he brought out Highbridge artist A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie, A$AP Mob frontman A$AP Rocky, and “Rockstar” rapper DaBaby as he makes a return from his controversial moment at Rolling Loud Miami.
Setting the tone of Day 1 with a bang, Day 2 continued the momentum with performances from Rick Ross, Kodak Black, and Lil Yachty. Following the high of his seventh studio album Folarin 2, Wale didn’t hold back. Joining him on stage was Rick Ross and Q Tip to perform Poke It Out/Vivrant Thing. Closing out his set with the crowd singing “No Hands”, it was a special moment as he gave himself his flowers, reminisced on his 10-year journey in the music, and gave a quick reminder for upcoming artists.
“I remember doing this s—t with Mark Ronson in SoHo. F—g with some upcoming rappers. We was just kids. Trying to get some pizza and sneakers like Kid Cudi and J. Cole. We were around each other every day dreaming of s—t like this. So to all my aspiring artists out there, this s—t can really happen for you. 10 years later, I’m doing this motherf—er” — Wale closing out to “No Hands”
As Day 2 prepared to wrap up, festival-goers were met with the toughest decision of the night. Playboi Carti or J. Cole? Fans sprinted from the Audiomack stage to the Deleón stage in the rain to see the closing acts.
After an epic 2 days of back-to-back performances, the biggest rap festival comes to an end. Day 3 closes out with performances from Nav, Griselda, Roddy Rich, and Travis Scott. Quite like Friday, the rain wasn’t going to stop festival-goers from seeing their favorite artists. Nav performed a few songs right before bringing out Brooklyn-native rapper Rowdy Rebel to perform their joint single “Jesse Owens” and transitioning into Rowdy’s solo single “Re Route” featuring Funkmaster Flex.
The night continues with a set by Roddy Rich backed by a live band. Performing everything from “Die Young” to “Late At Night”, Roddy Rich didn’t disappoint. Despite a few artists who weren’t able to make the show due to travel delays and run-ins with the police, Rolling Loud NYC was a moment.
However, the moment that had festival-goers on the edge of their seat was Travis Scott. Hitting the stage on an elevated platform, Travis Scott was larger than life. Scott came with the heat literally and figuratively with an electrifying performance of “Highest in the Room”, “Butterfly Effect”, “Stargazing” amongst others. Rolling Loud was an amazing 3 days full of great performances.
In case you missed the festival, be sure to head over to the Rolling Loud Youtube channel to watch.
Day N Vegas 2021 Recap
Written & Photos: Ismail “Calligrafist” Sayeed
Day N Vegas returned to the desert after a hiatus due to Covid and minus a headliner switch was an amazing weekend of performers and stages. Day N Vegas is one of my favorite festivals to photograph because of the diversity of their line up, with the likes of Kendrick Lamar, Thundercat, Jazmine Sullivan, Tyler The Creator, Mereba, Griselda and late additions like Post Malone.
Kendrick Lamar easily stole the show at the festival, giving one of his dopest performances ever in my opinion and the opinion of many others… bringing out Baby Keem and amplifying the black experience, his lighting and attention to details showed throughout the set, while also having the biggest audience of the weekend.
Overall the weekend didn’t disappoint and we are excited to see what next year brings.
We can’t forget how Tyler was the perfect closer for the festival with his high energy performance, impromptu commentary throughout the show and giving all of himself as a performer as usual!
‘Superstar’: Leon Russell Remembers His Much-Covered Classic
The sad passing of Leon Russell in November 2016 had many of us reappraising both his career achievements and his marvellous songbook. The posthumous release of his final album On A Distant Shore was another reminder of his legacy. Today we look at one of his most-covered numbers with the help of Leon himself, who reveals its little-known connection to a major female vocalist from the mid-1960s onwards.
“Superstar” was, of course, eventually turned into an effortlessly classy, adult contemporary production by the Carpenters, in a characteristically smooth rendition that we came to know so well.
That version was based on the earthy but romantic story of a woman’s one-night stand with a rock star, whom she then hopes will return to her. For that reason, its working title was “Groupie Song,” and when it was first recorded by Delaney & Bonnie, with vocals by its co-writer Bonnie Bramlett, it was under the title “Groupie (Superstar).”
Like Eric Clapton, Russell was part of the circle of musical friends that came to be known as Delaney & Bonnie and Friends. As far back as the mid-1960s, Leon and Delaney Bramlett had played together in the Shindogs, the house band for the hit TV music show Shindig!
After signing to Stax, the Bramletts had released their first album Home in May 1969, with Russell on keyboards and further contributions from Stax alumni such as Booker T and the MGs, Isaac Hayes and William Bell. Soon afterwards, they moved to Elektra for The Original Delaney & Bonnie & Friends, and by the end of the year, were touring with Clapton and the musicians with whom he would form Derek and the Dominos. The single that accompanied that tour, ”Comin’ Home” (on another new label, Atlantic) featured “Groupie (Superstar)” on the B-side.
The first superstar
In a BBC Radio 2 documentary on Russell made by this writer in 2010, Singing This Song For You, Russell explained the song’s origins. “Rita Coolidge was the first person I ever heard use that word, ‘superstar,’” he said. “She was talking about Dionne Warwick, who was down in Memphis cutting a record, and Rita said ‘She was the first superstar I ever saw.’
“So that kind of struck me, I was not familiar with the word, and I started trying to started trying to write [the song], and I ended up finishing it with Bonnie Bramlett,” he continued. “And then Karen [Carpenter] sang it, and of course she had a definitive version.”
Coolidge, meanwhile, was the featured vocalist on the song (by now called “Superstar”) when it became part of the set for Joe Cocker’s Mad Dogs and Englishmen tour, album and film, with Russell as musical director.
After covers by Cher, Vikki Carr, former Smith singer Gayle McCormick, and others, the Carpenters recorded their version in early 1971 and it was released by A&M that summer. It topped the Adult Contemporary chart, went to No.2 pop and made the Top 20 in the UK. As A&M co-founder Herb Alpert said in the BBC documentary: “The Carpenters were always looking for good material, and Richard Carpenter had an ear for great melodies. And Leon had that touch.”
Among the countless readings of the song that have continued to arrive, there was one that took it to a new soul audience. Luther Vandross recorded it for his third studio album, 1983’s Busy Body, cleverly combining it with Aretha Franklin’s R&B classic “Until You Come Back To Me (That’s What I’m Gonna Do).” Released as a single the following year, the medley reached the soul Top 5. In another moment of poignancy, Bonnie Bramlett performed the song live at Music City Roots Live in June 2016, with Leon in the audience, just five months before his death.
Listen to the best of Leon Russell on Apple Music and Spotify.