NEWS
Sam Smith and Alicia Keys have joined forces for a duet of Smith’s ‘I’m Not The Only One’ – watch it below.
Smith was celebrating the 10th anniversary of his debut album ‘In The Lonely Hour’, which went on to make Smith the only artist to sell one million albums in the US and UK.
To commemorate the anniversary, Smith hosted a karaoke party at NYC’s gay bar Julius’, with drag queen Lady Bunny serving as the night’s emcee and DJ. Smith also unveiled a surprise duet with Alicia Keys, which they called “a dream come true.”
In response, Keys said: “This is amazing. Can you believe we never did this before? Except for right now? That’s crazy!”
The pair went on to sing Smith’s smash hit ‘I’m Not The Only One’, which would eventually peak in the UK Charts at number three – take a look at the collaboration below:
NME saw Smith perform live in London last year, rating their performance a full five stars: “Smith has delivered a beautifully designed show that echoes their creative evolution from lovelorn balladeer to something edgier and more transgressive. And the multigenerational crowd stays with them to the finish. Smith’s musical metamorphosis probably isn’t complete yet, but for now, this live triumph feels like a new high watermark.”
Meanwhile, Alicia Keys recently starred as one of Usher’s guest performers for his Super Bowl performance. She began by performing a clip of her own song ‘If I Ain’t Got You’ before Usher joined her to deliver a rendition of their 2004 collaboration ‘My Boo’.
She also surprised London fans last year in December with a 10-minute performance at St. Pancras Station, playing classics such as ‘Empire State of Mind’, ‘If I Ain’t Got You’ and ‘No One’ as well as her latest single, ‘Lifeline’.
Her last full-length album ‘Keys’ garnered three stars from NME: “With some judicious pruning and sharp sequencing, any Keys fan should be able to carve out a pretty satisfying playlist. So, in its own accidental way, it’s a double album that works perfectly for the streaming era.”
In other news, the BBC have promised Sam Smith’s Proms performance will be “entirely appropriate” after past ‘Satanic’ backlash.
NEWS
Icewear Vezzo has walked back his initial comments about Amanda Seales being a “weirdo” and a “lying little girl,” and now has nothing but love for her.
On Sunday (June 16), both Vezzo and Peezy shared a photo with Donald Trump – much to the disdain of many, including Seales.
In an Instagram post shortly afterward, the actress and activist spoke out against people who take “pictures with people who have actively harmed us as a community,” while noting, among other things, that getting close to people like the former President and acting like “the good Black” won’t make anybody “the next Martin Luther King.”
Vezzo quickly clapped back on his Instagram Story, calling Seales the aforementioned names and saying that she does nothing for the community “except tear us down in the name of building us up.” He also said she is “fake woke and full of shit” and that she lies on Black men.
The post didn’t remain up for long, however, and he soon wrote a comment on Instagram informing his audience that the two had connected.
“I talked to Amanda. It’s all love,” he wrote. “She’s a woman. I should’ve never went that hard on her no matter what she did. It’s not that serious. She’s entitled to her opinions, even tho there was an assumption made about me based off a picture with zero audio.”
He added: “I just want us to stop thinking the worse [sic] about each other before having a conversation and also learn to respectfully disagree. We are all one and we can teach one another and instead [of] tearing each other down because we disagree on something. I love all women. I have a daughter; that wasn’t cool. End of story. It’s all love.”
He also shared a video with Seales where they both were all smiles.
“This is a real queen. This is a real Black woman,” Vezzo says in the clip.
“I love my brothers. I love my people and I really appreciate that you have made moves to make moves for others,” Seales added.
In Icewear Vezzo’s initial post, the Iced Up Records boss shared a lengthy message about backing the 78-year-old presidential candidate.
“Told Donald I Made the 6 great again,” he wrote. “But naw in all seriousness everyone not gonna agree with this picture but we don’t all have to agree on everything I just know not many of us will ever have the chance to really speak up for us and address how we may really feel so I stepped out on faith I didn’t meet him as a rapper I met him as a man and a father who understands the only way to attempt change things is to address things.”
Soon after he began receiving criticism for his stance, the Clarity rapper shared a video to emphasize the importance of respectfully disagreeing with one another.
“Why can’t we respectfully agree to disagree?” he began. “You know what build great companies and great civilizations is they all went and got a team with people who think differently from them. If they went and got people that thought the exact same thing as them, then it wasn’t no need of hiring no people.”
In the post’s caption, he added: “Don’t be afraid to ask questions, don’t let social media think for you, go see for yourself. Dont agree with everything anybody does it’s not logical, & don’t draw conclusions without actually knowing what you’re talking about.”
