Billboard Music Awards 2011 Performers

Sunday will mark the 2011 Billboard Music Awards. There should be a good variety of performers on hand from hip hop music to celebrate this latest show in Vegas. There will be a Lil Wayne Billboard appearance. He'll team up with singer Mary J Blige to perform a duet together on stage. This will be their song from the Diddy-Dirty Money album, also scheduled to appear on Blige's upcoming solo album. Nicki Minaj, Cee Lo Green and Snoop Dogg are among the other performers scheduled for the show. Among the presenters will be everyone's favorite young couple of Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez. The 2011 Billboard Music Awards will also award Jay-Z's wife, Beyonce Knowles, with a special Millenium award. The show airs Sunday night starting at 8PM EST on ABC. Check local listings for appropriate channel in your area. See the official website for more details on Sunday's awards show. Also check out the "Fan Favorite" award voting here.

Barack's Bash features Jay-Z, Beyonce

January 20th, 2009 saw the United States' first ever African American president take office with the swearing in of Barack H. Obama. The historic inauguration ceremony was attended by hundreds of thousands, and full of celebration. Various celebrations were shown worldwide in schools, churches and other gatherings across the United States. Tuesday night the festivities continued in DC with a star-studded lineup at Barack Obama's "Neighborhood Ball: Inauguration". The party featured talents such as Nick Cannon hosting, Mariah Carey, Alicia Keys and Beyonce singing. Various celebs dropped by as well to express their congrats and emcee including Ray Romano and Jamie Foxx. Oscar award-winning actor Denzel Washington had the honor of introducing President Barack Obama and first lady Michele Obama at the Ball. R&B diva Beyonce Knowles sang for the couple as they shared their first dance since taking office. Beyonce sang the Etta James classic "At Last" while Barack and Michele slow danced on stage underneath the spotlight. Jay-Z performed his unreleased tribute to Obama entitled "History" which is scheduled to be on his upcoming "The Blueprint 3" album. Mariah, Shakira, Alicia Keys, Faith Hill, Stevie Wonder, Sting, Mary J. Blige, will.i.am and Maroon 5 got on stage together during the show to commemorate Obama by singing a rousing collaborative version of Wonder's "Signed, Sealed, Delivered". Obama said they came up with the idea for the Neighborhood Ball because they're "neigborhood people" and Obama first cut his teeth while working to help neighborhoods. The 44th President said this Ball captures the true spirit of his campaign involving neighbors, "because together we are going to change America".

Jay-Z & Mary J on Letterman Show

Rapper Jay-Z and R&B singer Mary J Blige appeared on Friday night's "Late Show With David Letterman". The duo is currently headlining the "Heart of the City" tour which is sweeping the nation. Dave opened by asking if Jay and Mary were looking to get married, but Jay said it couldn't happen since Mary J is already married. Mary J noted that she first met Jay-Z when they did "Can't Knock the Hustle" on Jay's Reasonable Doubt album, and they've been friends ever since. Jay said they've been friends for a while and have no problems on the tour, and food tends to help prevent problems. It also came up that this tour came about after some tension between Jay-Z and R Kelly on a previous tour. Dave asked what R Kelly did to create havoc and tension while on tour. Jay-Z remarked about one St. Louis show where R Kelly walked off stage and into the crowd. Jay said he thought it was a cool trick Kelly was doing as part of the show, but then when the camera showed R Kelly on the big screen it was a different story. R Kelly began arguing with a lighting person out in the crowd. According to Jay after the altercation, R Kelly went back on stage again briefly, then left to work at the drive through at a nearby McDonald's. Backed by a live band, Jay & Mary performed their classic song "Can't Knock the Hustle" to finish off the Letterman show as well.

Jay-Z & Mary J in Heart of Miami

Wall Street Journal has a recent article profiling the double-bill concert of Jay-Z and Mary J Blige, also known as "The Heart of the City" tour. The WSJ article discusses the tour kicking off to a less than sold out audience in Miami this past Saturday. The duo opened on stage with the classic Jay track "Can't Knock the Hustle", before Mary J launched into a 90 minute set of her hits, without Jay present. The WSJ article notes that the two music stars have quite the contrast in their personalities. Jay Z, 38, is from Brooklyn's Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood and Ms. Blige, 37, from a housing project in Yonkers, just 25 miles away. Both had a tough start to success. But their personas are a contrast, too. He's a larger-than-life figure, bravado always in full bloom, who chronicles the violent, crime-ridden world from which he sprang. Ms. Blige is the modern-day version of the girl next door -- all right, a strikingly attractive girl next door. A sisterly confidante who boosts our sagging egos, Ms. Blige sings of love, independence and the need for self-respect, especially after bouncing back from the indignities of affairs with unreliable men. He's untouchable, while she tells us everything is going to work out. According to the article, Jay opened with "Say Hi to the Bad Guy" along with scenes from the movie American Gangster playing on a screen on stage. His rap set included guests Kanye West, Timbaland and Young Jeezy. The article rates Mary J's performance aboves Jigga's, saying Jay's seemed lost in the past. Check out the full Wall Street Journal writeup here.

Jay-Z's Rehearsal, New Concert

Jay-Z's "Heart of the City Tour" is set to kick off this Saturday in Miami, Florida. However, S. Carter isn't stopping there with ticket sales. Jay will also be holding a special dress rehearsal at Fillmore Miami Beach on Friday, March 21st. The ticket price? A mere $160 a pop, to see Jigga warm up for his concert tour which will also include R&B singer Mary J. Blige. Here's a snippet from the email: Before JAY-Z kicks off his latest national tour on Saturday at a sold out American Airlines Arena, you can still have a chance to see his final “Dress Rehearsal” at a special performance at the Fillmore Miami Beach. It is a special opportunity to catch JAY-Z in concert before the tour begins. Tickets are limited in the intimate setting of the Fillmore Miami Beach, so they will go fast. This is the “Dress Rehearsal” for JAY-Z's first arena tour since his successful JAY-Z and Friends Tour in 2004 and the first to feature material from his 2006 Kingdom Come album and 2007's critically acclaimed American Gangster album. WHERE: THE FILLMORE MIAMI BEACH AT THE JACKIE GLEASON THEATER MIAMI BEACH, FL ON SALE: NOW AT LIVENATION.COM, ALL TICKETMASTER OUTLETS Jay will also be taking part in an inaugural concert in Canda. From The Canadian Press: Some of the music industry's heavyweights are coming to Pemberton, B.C., in what's being touted as Canada's biggest rock festival. Coldplay, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and Jay-Z are some of the headliners of the inaugural festival, which will take place July 25-27 in the small mountain town, just outside Whistler. The festival will house two stages and a dance tent with more than 50 international bands.

Money Ain't a Thang: Jay-Z & Mary J

You can't knock the hustle for real. Jay-Z and Mary J Blige seem to be in a squabble over the split of money for their "Heart of the City" Tour. MediaTakeOut.com has reported info that members from Mary's camp and members of Jay Z's are bickering over the amount of money each artist will get for the tour. One insider told MediaTakeOut.com, "[They] announced the tour without completely ironing out all the details and that's causing problems ... It shouldn't cause the tour to be cancelled or anything like that, but there's definitely some hard feeling on both sides." Sixshot.com also had the announcement of more tour dates for the show: Mar 22 Miami, FL American Airlines Arena Mar 26 Baltimore, MD 1st Mariner Arena Mar 27 Uniondale, NY Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum Mar 28 East Rutherford, NJ Izod Center Mar 30 Philadelphia, PA Wachovia Center Apr 02 Toronto, ON AirCanada Centre Apr 03 Boston, MA TD Banknorth Garden Apr 05 Greensboro, NC Greensboro Coliseum Apr 06 Washington, DC Verizon Center Apr 08 Atlanta, GA Philips Arena Apr 09 New Orleans, LA New Orleans Arena Apr 10 Houston, TX Toyota Center Apr 12 Dallas, TX Superpages.com Center Apr 15 Anaheim, CA Honda Center Apr 17 Los Angeles, CA Hollywood Bowl Apr 19 Las Vegas, NV MGM Grand Garden Arena Apr 20 Oakland, CA Oracle Arena Tickets may still be available at www.livenation.com

Top 10 MP3 Real Ringtones

Right now Mary J, Kanye West and Santana are dominating some of the hot ringtone sales. Courtesy of Funtonia, here's a look at the top 10 MP3 ringtones from their website as of January 20, 2008: No One by Alicia Keys Flashing Lights by Kanye West Into the Night by Carlos Santana f/Chad Kroeger Duffle Bag by Playaz Circle feat. Lil Wayne I'm So Hood by DJ Khaled feat. T-Pain Teardrops on My Guitar by Taylor Swift Can't Help But Wait by Trey Songz Just Fine by Mary J. Blige Kiss Kiss by Chris Brown Stay by Sugarland Check out more great ringtones at Funtopia!

50 Cent, Wyclef,Timbaland and Mary J Juiced?

This just in, baseball players and pro wrestlers aren't the only ones on roids. Now it looks like rap, R&B and movie producer superstars also turn to performance enhancing drugs to give them a boost. This comes from the Albany prosecutors report which took a look at the Signature company, which had also been linked to pro wrestlers receiving drugs. The wrestlers were given suspensions promptly by World Wrestling Entertainment. According to Canadian Press: "The Times Union of Albany newspaper cites unidentified sources in a Sunday report that R&B music star Mary J. Blige, rap musicians 50 Cent, Timbaland and Wyclef Jean, and award-winning author and producer Tyler Perry may have received or used performance enhancing drugs. Soares has declined to comment on or confirm the identities of the stars mentioned in the report. His multistate investigation has focused on Signature Pharmacy of Orlando, Fla. So far 10 defendants have pleaded guilty and some professional athletes have been linked to the probe in news reports." Timbaland definitely bulked up and got in shape quickly over the past few years. Wyclef and Mary J, your guess is as good as mine there. Read the full article here