Morgan Freeman feel that the purpose of month dedicated to black history is “ridiculous.”

“You’re going to relegate my history to a month?”  ”I don’t want a black history month. Black history is American history.”

Don Cornelius, creator and host of the legendary “Soul Train” series was found dead in his Sherman Oaks, CA home on Wednesday morning in an apparent suicide.

“Soul Train,” which Cornelius hosted until 1993, changed the landscape of television on its debut in 1971, and ran until 2006 with massive influence and success around the globe, helping to launch names as illustrious as James Brown, Aretha Franklin, Smokey Robinson, Marvin Gaye, and Michael Jackson.

Law enforcement sources confirm that the 75 year old Cornelius died from a gunshot wound to the head and officials believe the wound was self-inflicted.

Don’s was reportedly suffering from “significant health issues” in the years leading up to his death, including a stroke, and a bitter divorce marred his later years – he was arrested in 2008 for beating his wife, pleading no contest to misdemeanor domestic violence.

Shawn Holley — Don’s lawyer and good friend — tells TMZ, “This is devastating news. Don was a kind, funny and brilliant man. Even though his many health battles had left him frail, he remained vibrant, courtly and always sharp as a tack.”

Roots drummer Questlove wrote a stream-of-consciousness tribute post about the importance of Cornelius and “Soul Train” on Okayplayer - it’s most definitely worth taking the time to read.

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If you’re thinking you might be able to capitalize financially on the birth of Beyonce and Jay-Z’s baby daughter, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has a message for you: Back off.

The Smoking Gun reports that a New York City clothing designer, Joseph Mbeh, tried to obtain a trademark for “Blue Ivy Carter NYC” for use on baby and toddler clothing. Not at all coincidentally, Blue Ivy Carter is the name of Beyonce and Jay-Z’s newborn daughter.

A PTO attorney looked askance at the trademark request, noting that little Blue Ivy is a “famous infant,” and that consumers would likely conclude that a clothing line in her name was somehow connected to her even more famous parents. Mbeh then thought better of the idea, and withdrew his application.

Apparently, though, PTO attorneys can expect to continue to have to deal with such applications. Another New York firm already has tried to trademark “Blue Ivy Carter Glory IV” for use on such products as fragrances and body glitter. Good luck with that.

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The wait is now over!! we bring to you the exclusive video of our very own kNERO ‘Not Drunk Enuff’

Grammy-Nominated @Torica, is back releasing her smash hit “These Shoes” that most female can definitely relate too. For those that live under a rock, Torica is the artist that brought you ‘Sick of Being Lonely‘ for Field Mob.

“THESE SHOES TELLS STORY OF A WOMAN WHO’S CAUGHT HER MAN CHEATING, BUT HE DOESN’T KNOW SHE KNOWS, SO INSTEAD OF DROWNING HER TEARS IN A BOX OF KLEENEX, SHE CHOOSES INSTEAD TO GO ON AN EXTRAVAGANT SHOE-SHOPPING SPREE TO CUSHION THE PAIN OF HEARTBREAK, AT THE EXPENSE OF HER CHEATING MAN! “

Torica launched Beauty & Beyond Holiday Drive & collected over 250 beauty/hygeine products to benefit the residents of the Atlanta Day Shelter for Women & Children. Items were delivered on Christmas Day 2011. Torica is giving back beautifully!

Download audio file (THESE-SHOES-Snippet.mp3)

PR/Media Inquiries: @kimberlynatasha Booking Inquires: @themusicgroup

SOUNDCLOUD

Kanye West led the field of Grammy nominees on Wednesday with seven nominations, including the prestigious song of the year for “All of the Lights.”

West was nominated for his solo work and his recent collaboration with Jay-Z.

British singer Adele and R&B singer Bruno Mars were close behind the hip hop superstar with six nods each.

The 54th annual Grammy Awards  ceremony will take place on Feb. 12.

The nominees were announced during a television broadcast on CBS.

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Few neophyte rappers would turn down the chance to sign with Kanye West, but that’s exactly what French Montana did. The NYC street darling revealed yesterday in an interview with Hot 97′s Angie Martinez that he rejected Ye’s offer to sign with G.O.O.D. Music. It all began when Angie snapped a picture of French and Ye’ backstage during aWatch the Throne show, but the love didn’t translate into a deal because of Kanye’s digital ineptitude?

“I met up with him one time and then I met up with him again. There were things that I was used to ’cause I was already moving, like a money train,” French told Angie. “Kanye doesn’t have a phone. If you need to get in contact with Kanye, you have to EMAIL him. I mean, you can’t tell me how to do that. I don’t even know how to use an email, so I guess me and you is never gonna talk! And I’ma put my career in your hands? He’s definitely talented and I felt like if I went there, we would have definitely made history.”

“The hottest in the city” instead signed with Bad Boy Records and has nothing but love for honcho Diddy. “When I met up with Puff, everything he promised me came through,” French says. The rapper loves “everybody in New York” and is working on an upcoming project–to be executive produced by Diddy and Rick Ross–as well as a football-themed “Shot Caller” remix for the New York Giants.

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@LilKim writing checks for verses she can’t cash? It appears a gentlemen by the name of Antonio Walker has brought forth accusations that the Queen Bee has been stinging her tracks with lyrics penned by him, on top of that she’s failed to meet her commitment for monetary compensation for Walker’s services. The irony in this situation being, If Nicki has a ghostwriter he probably wouldn’t come forward for his own safety.

As some of the internet’s biggest power players, including Google and Wikipedia, protested two fast-tracked anti-piracy bills going through Congress, the US Justice Department launched an attack on one of the web’s biggest alleged scofflaws, Megaupload, and, in a counterattack, the hacker group Anonymous temporarily blacked out DOJ’s website.

Techno-pundits and mainstream observers quickly connected the dots between anti-piracy protests and the Megaupload arrests, notching the dustup as potentially the biggest salvo yet in the multi-billion dollar internet copyright wars pitting, in essence, Hollywood and itsWashington lobbyists against internet free speech and its hacker protectors.

Swizz Beatz, a.k.a Kasseem Dean or Mr. Alicia Keys, was officially listed on Megaupload’s website as its CEO prior to the site’s shutdown, but he hasn’t been implicated in the lawsuit that led to the site’s takedown. In fact, the Atlanta-based rapper’s role in the file-sharing website has come under scrutiny, as its power players seem to be based primarily in New Zealand. The indictment, which was handed down on January 5 and led to the shuttering of Megaupload on January 19, led to seven people being charged and four arrested, including the site’s founder, the oddly-named Kim Dotcom. But why didn’t the feds go after the company’s purported CEO?

(LIST: Kim Dotcom, By The Numbers)

Swizz Beatz’s name and title appeared in the now-defunct About Us page, but that’s about the only set-in-ink connection reports show he seems to have to the company. It’s likely that he was listed in recent weeks after the company’s late 2011 redesign, which saw the company partner with major recording artists, presumably for greater exposure. Beatz is not listed in the indictment as holding any share in Megaupload – Dotcom owned 68 percent, and six other non-celebs owned the rest. In fact, Beatz’s name doesn’t come up at all in the 72-page document. And it was far from Beatz’s primary gig: he also has titles as Reebok’s creative director, KidRobot’s brand ambassador and creative designer for Lotus Cars. If he acted as the CEO of Megaupload, it probably wasn’t a time-consuming job.

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She was 73.Her longtime friend and manager, Lupe De Leon, first confirmed the news to CNN. “This is a tremendous loss for the family, her friends and fans around the world,” De Leon said.
“She was a true original who could sing it all – her music defied category. I worked with Etta for over 30 years. She was my friend and I will miss her always.”

Because of her health concerns, James had curtailed her concerts in January 2010 to enter the hospital with a blood infection, among other ailments, including Alzheimer’s disease.

In May 2011, James was again admitted to a hospital in Riverside, Calif., with a urinary tract infection and the blood infection sepsis, her son Sametto James told Reuters at the time.

The winner of four Grammys and a 1993 inductee to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, James was portrayed in the 2008 movie Cadillac Records by Beyoncé Knowles. Christina Aguilera also cited James as a major influence

Why did Jay-Z and Beyoncé name their daughter Blue Ivy? Possibly because they are exceedingly wealthy celebrities for whom the act of procreation is chiefly an exercise in branding… or because “Blue Ivy” is a secret code revealing her membership in an ancient and all-powerful occult secret society. Which could it be??

The second one, right? Yes, definitely the second one. Lo, let us clue you in on the occult secrets behind the name “Blue Ivy,” courtesy the well-respected and authoritative Twitter account “Katt Williams Parody”:

Yep, that sounds legit to us. (Global Grind disagrees: “So GlobalGrind decided to look up EULB YVI, and to no one’s surprise, the words EULB YVI don’t exist in the Latin language – At ALL.”Because the Illuminati removed them.)

But in case you’re not convinced by Katt Williams Parody, or by the many videos on YouTube that corroborate the theory, Huffington Post provides an alternate explanation:

Linda Rosenkrankrantz, co-founder of Nameberry, adds that there was a jazz singer Ivy (aka Ivie) Anderson who sang with Duke Ellington. Do Beyonce and Jay-Z know her?

“Uncertain. But when I heard the name Blue I did think of Billie Holiday and Lady Sings the Blues,” said Satran.

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Rapper Shyne has finally settled his differences with former mentor Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs, 13 years after a club shooting left their friendship in tatters.

The hip-hop star, born Jamal Barrow, was convicted of first degree assault and reckless endangerment relating to the 1999 incident in a New York club, which saw Combs and his then-girlfriend Jennifer Lopez facing police questioning in the aftermath of the crime.

Shyne had little contact with Combs as he served eight years of a 10-year sentence for the charges, but the rapper, who walked free from prison in October, 2009, has now made amends with his old pal over the phone.

He tells MTV News, “As far as Puff (Combs) is concerned, that’s been a long time coming. He had reached out to me twice while I was in the pen (penitentiary), but I just wasn’t ready for it.”

Shyne, who has since converted to Judaism and changed his name to Moshe Levi Ben-David, admits his past rants about Combs have been unwarranted as the music mogul has always tried to patch up their troubled friendship.

He says, “In retrospect, when you looked at the way he handled it, he held it down, he wore it. He ain’t (sic) had nothing (bad) to say (about Shyne); always had good things to say. It was always, ‘Yo, whatever Shyne need, we got him.’”

Now the two stars are planning to meet for the first time in over a decade.

Shyne adds, “I just feel real good about moving on with our relationship. Me and son(Combs), we gonna get together in Paris – I’m in Paris right now. We gonna get together in a couple of weeks, and we gonna sit at the roundtable.”

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He took things a step further during his Watch the ThroneTour with Jay-Z, giving the audience love advice while performing the song. During the November 2 stop, ‘Ye sent a special shout to ex-girlfriend Amber Rose in the model’s hometown. “To the city of Philly, I want to thank y’all for making the incredible person that this song was made for,” he said while performing “Runaway” in Philadelphia.

“At first, I was like, ‘Wow, maybe he is sorry for just not being a good guy and not treating me the way I want to be treated and talking down to me,’ amongst other things,” Rose said on last week’s “RapFix Live.” “I instantly was like, ‘I forgive him.’ ”

To her, it all seemed very sincere. “When I first saw it, I was like, ‘Yo, I forgive him.’ I let that go. I went through the crying and the heartbreak and all that stuff, and I moved on, and I’m so happy now that I actually have a gentleman, a great guy that I love so much,” Rose said of current boyfriendWiz Khalifa. “Then after he called me an incredible person in my hometown, he said, ‘Never find love in a strip club.’ And that’s when I was like, ‘You know what? Take your apology and shove it up your ass, because I don’t want to hear it.’ ”

The “Never find love in a strip club” line wasn’t from the Philly concert, though it is a Yeezy lyric from the Throne’s “New Day,” in which West passes life lessons to his unborn son. “New Day” was actually released in August, months before the concert, and in the song, Kanye makes no mention of Amber’s name, but it still rubbed the beauty the wrong way. According to Amber, who feels the lyric was a shot at her, the ex-couple didn’t meet in a gentlemen’s club.

“He didn’t meet me in a strip club; he knows he didn’t meet me in a strip club,” she said. “He was just being a mean, negative person, and that’s one of the main reasons why I’m not with him. He’s that; I don’t want that negativity in my life. Don’t apologize and then say something like that. It’s just rude, and it’s mean, and it’s not true.”

Later in her “RapFix Live” interview, Rose broke down crying because of the way some of ‘Ye’s overzealous fans have treated her in public. “I have people throwing things at me in the street because they’re fans of Kanye,” Amber said before she started to cry on set. “I’m just crying because I don’t deserve to be bullied like that. I’m a nice girl. I don’t bother anybody. I keep my mouth shut because I don’t want any trouble.