source: capitalfm

The ‘Young Forever’ singer says he wishes the best for the rapper after the birth of his first child several weeks ago.

Mr. Hudson says he can’t wait to meet Jay-Z and Beyonce’s daughter Blue Ivy Carter and wishes the couple congratulations following the birth of their new arrival.

The ‘Supernova’ singer has worked with the ‘99 Problems’ rapper several times in the past, most recently on ‘Watch The Throne’ track ‘Why I Love You’.

“I just want to meet the child, you know, already a recording artist at three days old,” the singer told Capital FM’s showbiz reporter Kevin Hughes.

Jay-Z used samples of his newborn daughter’s voice on tribute single ‘Glory’, which was released only several days after her birth on 7^th January.

“I just hope to meet her soon,” he continued. “It’s so cute. Congratulations to them, lots of love.”

The ‘Young Forever’ singer admitted although he had been in contact with Jay-Z since the rapper became a father he still hasn’t sent them a celebratory present.

“That’s a good point, I should do,” Mr Hudson said. “Maybe I’ll wait until I’m over there but that would be a good idea.”

(Source: hellyeahbeyonce)

(Source: queenbknowles)

source: hollywood

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Update: Beyoncé’s rep is denying to comment on the godmother issue, but Oprah’s good friend Gayle King set the record straight this morning on The Early Show. King announced, “It’s absolutely not true that she’s the godmother. She’s friends with them, of course, and likes them both very much. She’s working on sending them a baby gift. She hasn’t even had time to send a baby gift because she’s been away.” She went on to add, “Let me just say, if (that report is) true, it is news to her.” It looks like Oprah won’t be Blue’s godmother after all, but don’t go feeling too sorry for the baby. That child is still going to get spoiled beyond belief (and then some) no matter who her godparents are. 

Earlier: We were already somewhat aware that Beyoncé and Jay-Z’s baby would be spoiled beyond belief. I mean, when your parents are two of the world’s biggest music moguls it kind of goes without saying. But rumor has it Blue Ivy will have more than just her famous parents watching over her — she’ll also have her loving godmother, which is recently speculated to be none other than Oprah Winfrey. I know what you’re thinking and the answer is yes, sometimes life just isn’t fair.

MediaTakeOut was the first to report the alleged rumor this week, also adding that Jay-Z’s good friend Tyran “Ty Ty” Smith was named the godfather. As you would suspect, the news immediately spread like wildfire, leaving everyone to wonder if there’s truth to any of it. It’s definitely possible given the fact that Bey and Oprah are friends. And who wouldn’t want Oprah to be their child’s godmother? That kid would be set for life! Heck, I’m wondering if it’s too late to ask her to be mine. 

Kathy Griffin, however, seems totally convinced that the godmother rumors are true and even offered humorous insight on the matter via Twitter. She tweeted, “R u fing kidding me??? Oprah is Blue Ivy’s godmother??? Gwyneth must b PISSED.” She is, of course, referring to Gwyneth Paltrow, who is a close friend to both Beyoncé and Jay-Z. Leave it to Griffin to try and turn this whole thing into a catfight. Gotta love her.

(Source: hellyeahbeyonce)

WHERE WAS THIS WHEN I WENT TO COLLEGE?!

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source: TIME

Rutgers University is offering a course dedicated entirely to Beyoncé, using her career and music to explore issues of race, gender, and sexual politics.

It’s practically impossible to escape Beyoncé these days—what with her releasing a new video nearly every week last year, and giving birth to the world’s youngest Billboard artist. Now’s she’s invading college campuses, too: students at Rutgers University can enroll in “Feminist Perspectives: Politicizing Beyoncé,” a course dedicated to examining one of music’s biggest pop stars, the Huffington Post reports.

Taught by Kevin Allred, a Ph.D student and lecturer in the school’s Department of Women’s and Gender Studies, the class uses Beyoncé’s music, videos, and career to explore issues of American race, gender, and sexual politics.

“This isn’t a course about Beyoncé’s political engagement or how many times she performed during President Obama’s inauguration weekend,” Allred told Rutgers’ Focus news site. Instead, the course  explores the control that Bey has over her own aesthetic (like her alter ego, Sasha Fierce), and whether the narrative she’s creating is one of an empowered or stereotypical woman.

Allred uses texts from black feminists, writings from the likes of Alice Walker and abolitionist Sojourner Truth to supplement readings of Beyoncé’s music videos and songs. Class discussions use Knowles as a jumping off point to discuss artists like Billie Holiday, Nina Simone, Amy Winehouse and Lady Gaga—who also has college courses dedicated to her own canon of work and career image. Using pop stars as a foundation for bigger sociological discussion is becoming more and more popular—even Beyoncé’s husband has a class at Georgetown University dedicated to him: “Sociology of Hip-Hop: The Theodicy of Jay-Z.”

What might you expect to see on the syllabus of Beyoncé’s class? We pored over the singer’s catalog and decided to put forth our suggestions for possible topics of discussion that might pop up on the syllabus for a future semester of “Politicizing Beyoncé.”

“Bills, Bills, Bills” (The Writing’s On the Wall, 1999)
Was Destiny’s Child’s “Bills, Bills, Bills” a presage to The Atlantic’s bold (and highly debated) piece signaling “The End of Men”?

“Bug-a-Boo” (The Writing’s On the Wall, 1999)
In an age where “smartphone-free” parties and “off-the-grid” weeks are becoming increasingly trendy, was Beyoncé (with Destiny’s Child) ahead of her time, calling for a stop to information and connectivity overload? Will Bug-a-Boo be held in history as the representative model for technology in the late ’90s? See:

“I wanna put your number on the call block/ Have AOL make my e-mails stop”
“You make me wanna throw my pager out the window/ Tell MCI to cut the phone poles”

“Freakum Dress” (B’Day, 2006)
In identifying her partner’s possible transgressions (Verse 1: “’Cause once again he’s out doing wrong”), the subject uses ownership of her body (“He’s been acting up, but he won’t be the only one) to combat the imagery of captivity (“Been locked up in the house way too long”) in her relationship. Beyoncé’s validation comes through getting her “freakum dress” on—a garment that makes her partner “turned on by how the dress was fitting right,” and is “short and backless.” As a pop star whose catalog is filled with songs condemning cheating men, what does it mean that the singer suggests provocative, sexy, skimpy dress as a means to keep the attention of a possibly unfaithful partner?

“If I Were a Boy” (I am…Sasha Fierce, 2008)
Beyoncé addresses traditional heterosexual gender roles by swapping out her own, making claims that her female perspective would render her a more understanding and “better” male partner. Are the issues raised by Beyoncé in the song (drinking beer with the guys, chasing after girls, turning off one’s phone) exclusive to men?
Supplemental reading: Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus

“Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)” (I am…Sasha Fierce, 2008)
She’s a champion of female empowerment, but Beyoncé’s messages are often counter-intuitive. She doesn’t want a man who milks her for her money, yet she wants him to pay her bills (“Bills, Bills, Bills”). And while “Single Ladies” sounds like a celebratory song embracing a woman’s independence, her song is pushing the message that a relationship is only valid once he “puts a ring on it.” How can we reconcile the extreme representations of females she presents in her full body of work? There’s your term-paper topic.

(Source: hellyeahbeyonce)

source: reuters

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Only a handful of artists broke onto the list that sought to name the recording industry’s most influential people and was dominated by businessmen and women. The selection was determined by a combination of money, market share, Billboard chart data and other information, and a team of 15 magazine editors analyzed the results to produce the list.

Both Jay-Z and Beyonce made it due to numerous ventures outside their singing careers including Jay-Z’s Roc Nation music, management and entertainment company and Beyonce’s sponsorship deals with brands such as L’Oreal. Collectively, they were placed at No. 13 on the Power 100 list.

Azoff has been at the helm of Live Nation Entertainment, a ticket sales and concert company, since 2008 and previously represented artists such as Christina Aguilera and Van Halen.

Just behind Azoff at No. 2 was Coran Capshaw, the founder and partner of Red Light Management, who helps run the careers of groups such as the Dave Matthews Band. Rounding out the top three was Universal Music Group’s chairman and CEO Lucian Grainge.

Others on the list included Creative Artists Agency’s managing partner and head of music Rob Light at No. 7 and Interscope Geffen A&M Records co-founder Jimmy Iovine at No. 10.

Rock band U2 came in at No. 27 along with their manager Paul McGuinness based on their ability to sell more than 7 million tickets to their last tour along with their prolific chart career. Fellow rocker Jon Bon Jovi clocked in at No. 50.

Country music star Taylor Swift, 22, made the list at No. 78 for being a “branding powerhouse” with her own management company and lucrative contracts with companies such as CoverGirl. Pop sensation Lady Gaga followed Swift at No. 84, picked for the sway she holds over millions of loyal followers on Facebook and Twitter.

The list held some surprises as “The X Factor” creator and television mogul Simon Cowell ranked last at No. 100, beaten by his former “American Idol” colleague, host Ryan Seacrest, who ranked No. 64.

Seacrest was placed higher due to his numerous ventures including his syndicated daily radio show, “American Idol” hosting gig, production company at NBC Universal and his newest venture to reshape HDNet as a pop culture TV network in collaboration with billionaire Mark Cuban, Creative Artists Agency and live entertainment company, AEG.

The full list can be viewed at Billboard.biz and in the upcoming issue of Billboard Magazine, on newsstands January 30.

(Reporting By Piya Sinha-Roy; Editing by Bob Tourtellotte)

(Source: hellyeahbeyonce)

source: idolator

By Erika Brooks Adickman on Wed Jan 25 2012

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Drumroll please. Beyoncé and Jay-Z have reportedly picked the godmother for their daughter Blue Ivy and it’s none other than media mogul Oprah Winfrey! (Though, isn’t Oprah technically everyone’s godmother?) It seems only natural that the girl who will one day run the world — having already become the youngest person to make the Billboard charts — would have the Forbes Celebrity 100’s #2 gal to look after her. We imagine Mama O will only read Blue bedtime stories bearing her Book Club’s seal of approval, and that this news came as a serious A-Ha moment for Bey’s sister Solange and basically-also-her-sister Kelly Rowland. (Sorry ladies.) [Media Take Out]

(Source: hellyeahbeyonce)