“3 decades and I’m still going strong!”

I t was a night of firsts for Jay-Z on Monday evening when the Brooklyn MC took the stage at New York’s Carnegie Hall for the first time. The swanky crowd filled the Stern Auditorium at Carnegie Hall for the first of two benefit concerts, which joined Jay’s Shawn Carter Scholarship Foundation with the United Way of NYC to raise money for gifted high school students who aren’t financially positioned to attend college. Though some tickets were sold to the public, most were offered in a private sale, going from $500 to $2,500. With a full orchestra that included ?uestlove, Jay took the stage at 8:45 p.m. ET after a dramatic string build. Emerging from the stage’s side door in a white tux jacket toting a gold bottle of Ace of Spades champagne, Jigga began his evening shouting, “Allow me to reintroduce myself, my name is Hov.”

Jay strutted across the stage drinking from his gold bottle promising the crowd, “It’s just tea.” On this night, Hov pledged to eradicate the divide that separates musical genres, only differentiating between good and bad music. “All those lines that divide us, we gonna step on ‘em,” he announced to the electric crowd. During his two-hour set, Jay performed “Glory,” the new track which he dedicated to he and Beyoncé’s newborn daughter Blue Ivy Carter. The lavish auditorium was flooded with a blue hue as Jay began his heartfelt, intensively intimate ode to Blue Ivy. As Jay blast threw his hits, he was joined on stage by fellow New Yorkers Alicia Keys and Nas.

There was another first, for the first time ever, Beyoncé stepped out for the first time since becoming a new mom. She rocked a Alice Temperly skin tight red ruched dress, paired with multicolored Christian Louboutin pumps, and a gold Alexander McQueen clutch. Bey also rocked a huge blue rock on her finger and electric blue finger nail polish, I’m sure it was to honor Blue Ivy. Wondering who was home with Baby Blue? It’s being reported, that Grandma Tina Knowles stay home to look after the new born.

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B randy and Monica have been locked up in the recording studio cooking up the sequel to their 1998 hit The Boy Is Mine called It All Belongs to Me and now the wait is finally over, we have the single here for your listening pleasure! It All Belongs to Me, written and produced by Rico Love, the R&B songbirds join forces this time to kick their wrong-doing lovers to the curb! The women have definitely grown up, since their days of The Boy Is Mine. “I know you mad, can’t take no more/ But put that back, that ain’t yours/ Have a fit, slam the door but leave them bags on the floor,” the ladies sing. Take a listen after the click:

W hitney Houston and Ray-J were spotted having dinner at Sunset Plaza in West Hollywood Friday night. Just when you think the two had fallen out of touch, here they come again! In previous years the two were constantly seen together, holding hands and looking closer than “just friends” to everyone. However, both Whitney and Ray, constantly denied any romantic involvement. Later on the odd couple as spotted partying at Club Playhouse in Los Angeles. Check out the pictures, plus tons of other celebrity sightings and events, after the click:

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Fashion guru, June Ambrose, was spotted Thursday arriving at Jay-Z and Beyoncé’s downtown New York City home. She was there to prep Jay-Z for his upcoming Carnegie Hall gigs tonight and tomorrow night.

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R&B singer Ginuwine’s son Elgin Jr. turned 21 recently and celebrate with a birthday bash!

He posed with his mom and stepmom (Sole) at the bash.

And his sisters Cypress and De’jan were there too.

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Last night at Reign nightclub in Atlanta, rapper T.I. hosted the Akoo Fashion Show (his clothing line), sponsored by ReeBok and Grey Goose. Comedian Kevin Hart and Kenny Burns were the hosts of the evening. And celebs filled the place for the show, featuring none other than T.I.’s own sons, Domani, Messiah, & King as models. Tiny was there front and center to support her man of course.

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R oland Martin, a commentator for CNN, sent out a controversial tweet during the Super Bowl that resulted in GLAAD (Gay Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) demanding his removal from the news network. It all started with a tweet Roland sent after David Beckham’s H&M commercial aired during the Super Bowl: “If a dude at your Super Bowl party is hyped about David Beckham’s H&M underwear ad, smack the ish out of him!” The tweet caused GLAAD to respond by writing to Roland: “Advocates of gay bashing have no place at CNN.” Roland’s response: “Well you’re clearly out of touch and clueless with what I tweeted. Way to assume, but you’re way off base,” he wrote. “My comment was about soccer, not sexuality. It’s hilarious when idiots…see my Beckham tweet as homophobic and I rip on soccer all of the time,” he wrote.

The exchange hasn’t satisfied GLAAD, which sent a statement to the Hollywood Reporter stating, “Martin has a history of anti-LGBT views. GLAAD is calling on him to be fired, joining many other LGBT activists and bloggers.”

GLAAD has a right to stand up for what they believe and I commend them for their fight, however I think they push the envelope too far with their approach. Its one thing to call someone out on their ignorance and have a open dialogue – but to threaten the man’s job? You have taken too far!

On the other hand, I don’t appreciate the way Roland Martin tried to weasel out of his statement, claiming he was referring to the “game of  soccer.” Roland, I must give you the “side-eye-of-the-week” for that one. Furthermore, here’s a question to the fellas, if you are comfortable in your skin, why does there even have to be any comments made about the David Beckman commercial?

B iggie’s daughter, T’yanna Wallace, will be featured in the March issue of XXL Magazine celebrating the 15th year anniversary of the Hip-Hop legend Notorious B.I.G’s death. In the issue, we get a glimpse of 18-year-old daughter T’yanna all grown up! The last we saw of the teen was two years ago at her sweet 16 birthday — but now she’s a freshman at Penn State University! As tribute to her father T’yanna recreates a famous photo of her fathers, rocking a similar look her father did back in the day. Check out the picture, after the click:

O scar nominee Viola Davis is one of the most electrifying actresses of her generation. She covers the February 2012 issue of LA Times Magazine with a photo shoot that shows a dramatic different side of Viola. We actually thought the pictures were mislabeled when we first saw them. Viola goes for a close-cropped natural look with her hair and is styled in Jason Wu sculpted dress and a Costume National fox fur poncho. From the concept to the styling and the hair and makeup, Viola is seriously giving us supermodel! We can see a Vogue cover in her near future! Take a look at the amazing photos, after the click:

 

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On liking characters that are underrated, slow burners:
“Human life is about a culmination of moments, and 99 percent of those are quiet but powerful. I am always interested and intrigued with watching that.”

On nurturing her craft from a young age:
“Even back when I was 11, I knew that Isabel Sanford from The Jeffersons came from the stage. I never watched the Oscars, but I watched the Tonys every year. I wanted to be onstage. I wanted to be like Colleen Dewhurst or Jane Alexander—one of those great ladies of the theater, doing Ibsen and Shakespeare.”

Check out Viola’s full interview here.

T rey Songz is featured in the latest issue of VMAN magazine. Trey is a ferocious overachiever: rapper, producer, singer-songwriter, and actor — and he makes it all look easy. On the eve of the drop of his new record, Chapter 5, and the launch of his Anticipation 2our, the 27-year-old phenom speaks with beautiful model Selita Ebanks in her very first outing as interviewer. The discuss his upcoming album Chapter 5, his Angels With Heart Foundation, and gives advice to kids who are being bullied. In the black-and-white photoshoot by Bruce Weber, Trey goes shirtless. Check out the photoshoot after the click:

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Selita Ebanks: The world has heard four albums of your seductive voice, and Chapter 5 brings some new Trey Songz. VMAN is a men’s fashion magazine that shines light on a new kind of man. How does Chapter 5 shine a new light on you?

Trey Songz: As I’ve grown from a young man to a man, I think a lot of people have been able to see that progression [in the music], as far as my fans are concerned, as far as consumers are concerned, and just the general public. So I’ve gone from “Gotta Make It” to “Top of the World.” I’ve gone from “I Invented Sex” to “Sex Ain’t Better Than Love.” I think life is about growth and I think fashion, in a lot of ways, is about growth as well. I think the new album will reflect very much where I’m going as a person and what I’ve been through. Music, for me, is very much an expression of how I felt at the time when that song was made. And it’s almost been a year and a half since I put my last album out [2010’s Passion, Pain & Pleasure], so we’ll see how much I’ve grown and how much I’ve changed since that album’s dropped.

Selita Ebanks: Last year you launched Angels with Heart (AWH), the foundation that you started to unite all of “Trey’s Angels.” You have a really big following, and if anyone’s been to one of your concerts you’ll see signs and shirts and all the ladies going crazy, and they’re all a part of Trey’s Angels. What was your motivation behind it, and what exactly does the foundation do for the community and the individuals whose lives you touch?

Trey Songz: Angels with Heart is something that’s really dear to my heart. It’s basically for homes and communities like the one I came from, with a lot of single moms and a lot of children who’d have an amazing future ahead of them if only they had that, and only that, to focus on. I remember coming up in Virginia, and a lot of kids would get in trouble after school and get into situations they didn’t need to be in because they’d be home alone and they didn’t have places to go. I came from a situation where I got clothes from the Salvation Army and I was on welfare, so to be able to contribute to people who are in need, like how I needed and how my mother needed back then, it’s something that I’m truly blessed to be able to do. I eventually want Angels with Heart to have community centers where kids can go and study after school. We had a benefit concert in November, and dedicated a whole month to giving back. It’s something I’m very in love with.

Read the full interview here.

K erry Washington is bringing it, on the cover of the March issue of Essence Magazine. Kerry will star in ABC’s greatly anticipated show Scandal (which debuts next month). She will become the only Black actress to lead a drama based on a real-life black woman — high-profile crisis management adviser Judy Smith — in a prime-time TV series. The March issue of Essence also highlights the Black Women in Hollywood Luncheon honorees Kerry, Shonda Rhimes, Octavia Spencer, Paula Patton and Pam Grier. The luncheon is slated to take place February 23rd at the Beverly Hills Hotel.

T he producers of “Real Housewives of Atlanta,” True Entertainment, have announced they’re partnering with the TLC network to produce a new Atlanta-based reality show called “Preacher Wives.” The show will follow the “First Ladies” of Atlanta area churches as they play out their roles in the congregation and at home. The press release notes that they are “outspoken ladies who work to ensure that their churches run as smooth as Southern-churned butter.” Information is sketchy beyond that, no word on which “preacher wives” will be joining the cast. TLC said production has not begun and a launch date has not been made though it will likely be in the fourth quarter. All I know is, I want my check. I believe my walls are talking, I had a discussion about doing this same ideal with Los Angeles preacher wives.