Black Immigrant Daily News

Rihanna’s Super Bowl Half Time show is just under two weeks away, and the countdown has begun with Adam Blackstone returning as the show’s musical director.

Blackstone returns following his first Emmy award win for Super Bowl LVI Halftime Show, starred by Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Mary J. Blige, Eminem, Kendrick Lamar, and 50 Cent. The show took home three awards, including Variety Special (live), Outstanding Music Direction, and Outstanding Production Design For A Variety Special.

Blackstone was previously nominated for Outstanding Music Direction for his production of the Justin Timberlake (2018) and Jennifer Lopez/Shakira (2020) Halftime shows.

In an ABC interview, Blackstone gave some insight into his discussions with Rihanna and how she wants the show to run off.

“I asked the artist what story do you want to tell?” he said as he shared the response from Rihanna.

“The story that she wants to tell is just ‘let’s be epic, let’s let this be a moment in time that people will never have had seen or heard before,” the musician said.

Blackstone also spoke about the preparation of the show, which will require a lot of rehearsing to ensure that the production is within the timeframe. The show is expected to last around 13 minutes.

“We’re forcing a concert in the middle of the biggest sporting event in the world… A lot of the preparation honestly comes before so when we hit the stage it’s like another day,” he said.

As for deciding what possible collaborations Rihanna will include, Blackstone said it’s not as easy as some fans speculate, as the Grammy-winning artist has a large catalog of number-one songs.

“It’s a gift and a curse because you have so many hits, almost like where do we start?” he said. “She’s had some great collabs, I cannot say I think that you’ll be in for a surprise,” he added when asked about who might grace the stage with her.

Blackstone is being supported by British director Hamish Hamilton who has been working with the Super Bowl Half Time show production since 2010, director Jesse Collins and Roc Nation under the direction of Jay-Z, who is named the NFL’s Live Music Entertainment Strategist.

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Black Immigrant Daily News

Rapper 50 Cent’s series Power Book II: Ghost has been renewed for a fourth season to be aired on Starz.

The early renewal was reported by Variety, along with a surprise announcement that award-winning actor Michael Ealy would be joining the cast for season 4. The news comes ahead of the franchise’s Season 3 premiere set for March 7, 2023. Ealy’s role in the series will be as a permanent cast member, and he’s already in New York for the shooting on season 4, Starz said.

In a statement, the network’s president of original programming, Kathryn Busby, said, “The high-octane drama of Power Book II: Ghost continues to resonate with our viewers, and we’re thrilled to get season four production underway ahead of our season three debut. It’s clear our fans are ready to devour more of this explosive series, and we look forward to having Michael join our incredible cast.

Details about Ealy’s role are that he has joined the cast as a detective named Don Carter, who is said to be a rising NYPD officer on track to become Police Commissioner. However, the course of his career changes as his wife is killed in a crossfire between rival drug gangs.

Detective Carter, passionate about street violence, diverts from his original plans and now dons a kevlar vest as he leads an elite NYPD drug task force aiming to exterminate drug-related violence from his community. Carter’s struggle dealing with the loss of his wife drive’s his character’s storyline, the network said.

Power Book II: Ghost is one of three separate spinoffs that follow storylines from the original series Power, created by Courtney Kemp and 50 Cent, who helped to flesh out the series as more than a man attempting to leave street life but also on what the drugs underworld looked like based on the rapper’s own experience.

The Power franchise includes PowerBook II: Ghost, PowerBook III: Raising Kanan, and Powerbook IV: Force and BMF (Black Mafia Family).

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Black Immigrant Daily News

Lauren London has finally graced the big screen almost four years since her partner and father of her child, Nipsey Hussle, was killed in 2019.

Lauren London was recently cast in the Netflix movie You People as the character Amira. The movie is a romantic comedy film directed by Kenya Barris and co-written with Jonah Hill. The cast includes several award-winning actors and actresses, including Hill, London, David Duchovny, Nia Long, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and Eddie Murphy.

The movie centers on a new couple and their families with plays on modern love, cultural differences, and even generational gaps. Other cast members include Mike Epps, Yung Miami, and others. While speaking on the Drew Barrymore show, Lauren was transparent as she shared how her children reacted to her going back to work after her fiancé, Nipsey Hussle, was killed by a gunman in 2019.

Barrymore began by asking Lauren, “How did you find the courage to go back to work” after Hussle was killed? The actress has been out of the public eye for years, only being seen when Hussle was honored by the City of Los Angeles last year.

Lauren shared that it’s never the same, but she keeps going for their children.

“Every day is different and so some days you don’t want to, you just want to lay there.” My big reason is my children because they do deserve a really happy momAnd they deserve joy and they deserve a house that has music playing and incense going and light coming in the windows, they deserve that,” she said.

She added that she is guided by what her late partner would have wanted for her, in any case, to ensure their children had a good life.

“And you know they’re on the other side wanting you to continue life and so it’s always think about what I know Nip wanted me to do, what my children deserve and what I deserve,” she said.

She also shared the reactions of her children after they learned that she was heading back to work.

“The oldest one is like ‘you’re going to work? Oh yeah?’ Like he’s so excited for me. And he liked to see me on TV. I think he just likes to see movement,” she said.

Elsewhere in the clip, Lauren said that she has used comedy, music, and food to help her cope.

The actress also shared a lighthearted moment noting that she also eats what she wants to help her cope, but “I eat too much of what I want to eat..honey I need to slow it down,” she said, noting that she has learned how to give herself the grace to deal with the harshness of life.

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