Throwback Monday

                                                 Since today's Jay-Z's birthday, I'll dedicate this throwback to him.

Jay-Z's Sit Down with the NY Times and Admits Cheating on Beyonce

Instagram: @beyonce

                                             We first had inklings of this during the infamous elevator fight. Then Queen Bey blessed us with Lemonade, where we were constantly trying find who Becky with the good hair was and how we could take care of her for Bey.
Then we were given Rumi and Sir Carter.
Then HOV gave us 4:44 because all of us hated him.
Now, Jay-Z is sitting down with the New York Times' Dean Baquet.
In the interview Jay discusses race, politics, his feud with Kanye, his mother being a lesbian and....admitting to cheating on Beyonce.
He also revealed that Lemonade and 4:44 were supposed to be a joint album. Boy bye.
If you can stomach this news click the video above or read the interview here.

Beyonce Debuts Twins and Post-Baby Bod

Instagram: @beyonce

And here they are....
Beyonce debuted twins, Rumi & Sir, via Instagram with the caption Sir Carter and Rumi 1 month today. With a series of mom, dad, little girl and baby emojis. So, for all the Stans bad at math...the babies were born on June 13th.
A lot of the Beyhive was confused because Bey says Sir Carter & Rumi. 
Was Rumi not a Carter? Is Sir Carter going to be Sir Carter Carter? Are the boy/ girl? Boys? Girls?
Then, Grandma Tina reposted the photo on her Instagram with the caption:
So Happy my baby shared a photo of her babies with the world ❤️❤️❤️proud grandma hello Sir Carter and Rumi Carter❤️🙏🏾❤️ 7/13/2017 Boy and girl what a blessing
There you have it!
In late June TMZ reported the Carters named their twins Rumi and Sir after their company reportedly trademarked the names.
Rumi is allegedly named after the famous 13th century Persian poet (you've most likely seen a quote or two on the 'gram from your friends) and Sir is allegedly named after one of Rumi's famous poems:
“ Bring the pure wine of love and freedom. But sir, a tornado is coming. More wine, we'll teach this storm 
A thing or two about whirling. ”
Some of the Beyhive thinks their queen was inspired by the name Sir from her makeup artist, Sir John.
Queen Bey kept up the ethereal theme she used when she revealed she was pregnant back in February.

Instagram: @beyonce

Can we talk about how bangin' Bey looks though!? I see a flat tummy!!

A flat stomach! Something some of us have been aspiring for for years...yet this woman is a month postpartum and looks amazing!
We didn't know the exact birthday really up until the post. Grandpa, Mathew Knowles, took to social media on June 18th to announce the babies were indeed here, which we don't know if Bey and Jay were happy with.

They're here! .⠀ .⠀ .⠀ #beyonce #jayz #twins #birthday #happybirthday

A post shared by Mathew Knowles (@mrmathewknowles) on Jun 18, 2017 at 7:12am PDT

Fans were speculating Beyonce would reveal the twins soon after she and Jay-Z were spotted and Vic Mensa's listening party on Thursday evening in Los Angeles.

Some pap photos surfaced.which prompted Bey and her squad to post her own photos of her that same day rocking a mini-skirt and blouse..AGAIN A MONTH AFTER GIVING BIRTH!!

A post shared by Beyoncé (@beyonce) on Jul 14, 2017 at 11:37am PDT

A post shared by Beyoncé (@beyonce) on Jul 14, 2017 at 11:38am PDT

A post shared by Beyoncé (@beyonce) on Jul 14, 2017 at 11:38am PDT

She definitely looks amazing and is coming back while the Carter family has been in the news following Jay's 4:44 album and him revealing how the couple had their issues. We can only imagine as fans what's next!

Jay-Z's 4:44

Twitter: @_dutch12

I've seen the memes, the gifs, the tweets and instagrams.
I've read the think pieces, the Stan pieces and the Beyhive clapbacks.
I've finally had the time to listen to Jay-Z's highly anticipated 4:44 album.
There's plenty of things I've had to process one of them accepting HOV brought back the hyphen to his name.
Okay, so this is Jay's response to Lemonade, my favorite Beyonce album. During the Lemonade era I questioned if Beyonce really was singing about her own marriage.
She and Jay have been secretive about their relationship since the beginning, so I was skeptical that they'd let us in so much. But, then the tabloid stories surfaced and made me think...but still didn't believe this was true.
I went to the On the Run tour post- elevator-gate and saw that the Carters seemed distant. Still, I thought it wasn't real life because- again- they don't tell us much about their lives. When B sang Resentment and hit the part where she sang been riding with you for 12 years  I still thought she wouldn't throw her man under the bus like this while they're on tour!

Well, here we are.....3 years and a set of twin babies later and we have 4:44 where HOV tells us hey, Beyhive...I cheated on your queen and...my bad.
No wonder Solange beat his a$$!
He mentions in Kill Jay-Z, "You egged Solange on, knowin' all along, all you had to say you was wrong."
The album definitely shows Jay's growth lyrically. He's singing about his real-life now. How he's changed and matured, but I'm still pissed.
Look, I'm obvi not in the Carters relationship (even though I'd die to be!) but it's interesting to hear how bad Jay treated Bey, yet she stood by him.
Did he cheat on her while they were married? When they were dating? Was it both? Was she pregnant? WHY IS SHE STILL WITH HIM!?
He mentions miscarriages, in the plural sense which makes me wonder if Bey had more than one. We knew the couple suffered the loss back in 2012 after Blue was born and Jay released Glory.

In Family Feud, Bey is actually singing on the track. Reports state Mrs. Carter okayed all of the tracks before the album was released.
I don't know what kind of therapy these two sought but it looks like it's pretty successful. But think about it, this couple has taken their painful moments and have turned it into a career game-changer for themselves....and have cashed in on the process. Turning lemons into lemonade.

Jay doesn't only apologize to Beyonce profusely, but also touches on the Kanye feud in Kill Jay-Z
"But you ain't a Saint, this ain't KumbaYe, but you got hurt because you did cool by Ye / You gave him 20 million without blinking, he gave you 20 minutes on stage, (expletive) was he thinking / '(Expletive) wrong with everybody?' is what you saying, but if everybody's crazy, you're the one that's insane."

Another element of the album that surprised me as others was Jay revealing his mother is a lesbian. In Smile he raps “Mama had four kids, but she’s a lesbian/Had to pretend so long that she’s a thespian. Had to hide in the closet, so she medicate/Society shame and the pain was too much to take."

All in all, it's apparent Jay is learning from his mistakes and is growing and credits much to that to being a dad. The music fan in me likes the growth, but I'm a female and a die-hard Beyonce fan. I feel his "apology" to Beyonce and all of doesn't seem enough for me.
You seriously have the baddest chick in the game and you played her?
To quote Baddie Bey & Prince "you play me, you play yourself"

Jay Z Pulls Music from Spotify

huffingtonpost.com

He told you himself, he's not a businessman, he's a business, man!
Hov has pulled almost all of his catalog from Spotify so it's now on TIDAL, except for his collaborations  with R. Kelly which most of us forgot they did an album together.

Billboard says , only two albums and a few stray singles remain—all collaborations: Unfinished Business (2004) and Best of Both Worlds (2002), both recorded with R. Kelly, N——s in Paris (Kanye, featuring Jay Z), Numb/Encore (a Linkin Park/Jay mashup), All the Way Up (Fat Joe and Remy Ma, featuring French Montana, Infared, and Jay Z), Clique (Big Sean with Jay Z and Kanye), and Dirt Off Your Shoulders (with Notorious B.I.G.).

Since 2015, Jay and Beyonc have been heavily promoting their own streaming service and have offered special exclusives via TIDAL.

Beyonce Posts Pregnancy Photoshoot on her Website Following News that She's Having Twins

 Just when we were all reeling from the exciting news of the upcoming birth of not one (Beyonce), but TWO Beyonces (Beytwice)....the queen posted a pregnancy photo shoot on her website that basically $h!ts on everyone else.
But what did we expect?
On the site, Bey claims she has three hearts and shows old photos chronicling her relationship with Jay, then moves on to when big sissy Blue was born and then their journey together up until present day.

Beyonce's 3 hearts explained:

She then displays an array of photos that almost look like they're from the Hold Up video with her swimming with her swollen belly.
So, if she's swimming while pregnant, she can perform at Coachella right?

Anyway, these photos have given me the ultimate life and have definitely brightened up my winter as well as the rest of the world.

Beyonce Expecting Twins!

Instagram: @Beyonce

STOP WHAT YOU'RE DOING RIGHT NOW!
Beyonce and Jay Z have blessed us with the news that the Queen isn't pregnant with baby #2 or baby #3, BUT BOTH BABY #2 & #3!
The Carters are expecting twins!
The BeyHive was alerted of this news after our Queen Mother posted this ethereal photo on the 'gram looking like a pregnant Goddess chilling among the flowers showing her baby bump. She included a caption with the photo saying:

We would like to share our love and happiness. We have been blessed two times over. We are incredibly grateful that our family will be growing by two, and we thank you for your well wishes. - The Carters

This gives 5 year-old big sis, Blue Ivy, heavy big sister responsibilities now that she has TWO young siblings to look out for.
This may be premature to say or state, but with her being pregnant with twins, I pondered the thought if she was undergoing fertility treatments #noneofmybusinesstho.
Bey stays keeping us on our toes, it was just a year ago she got us in Formation right before Super Bowl 50 and led us on the greatest musical journey of the year with Lemonade and the Formation World Tour.
This is great news for the family because all of the world wants more Yonce offspring, however, some people have expressed concern that we'll have to wait a little while for more music to be released. Also, the Lemonade singer is due to headline the Coachella music festival in April.
Will she keep that commitment?
I highly doubt she'll back out considering she's a true pro, but lately I can't predict anything anymore.
Congrats Beyonce!!
I'm so SO happy for you! 

Beyonce and Jay Z: Date Night at the Warriors Season Opener

Twitter: @lovebscott

Warriors fans flocked to Oracle arena on Tuesday night excited for the NBA season opener and to see their new addition Kevin Durant take to the court for the regular season.
However, these fans got an extra treat!
Beyonce and Jay Z arrived in the second half to take in the game.
I'm assuming their Dubs fans.
BTW, I'm mad Bey was in the Bay...and I didn't know until hours later.
The couple looked fresh to death with Beyonce rocking an Ivy Park parka, green metallic sock boots and of course, her own dad hat featuring an emoji of her Hold Up ensemble.

Throwback Monday

                                   I heard this song on my way into work this morning. Prior to that, I completely forgot about it! Have a good week!

5 Year Anniversary of Jay Z and Kanye's Watch the Throne Album

This week Kanye, Jay and all of the internet celebrated the 5 year anniversary of the Watch the Throne album.
Nobody can deny how hot that album was and still is!
It essentially paved the way for other joint projects like Drake and Future's What a Time to Be Alive. 
I was blessed enough to attend the WTT tour and see Yeezy and Hov when they were in town. Originally, I was going to opt out because tickets were a little out of my budget, but the Lord obvously wanted me to go because floor seats were available for a great price and I got to witness one of my favorite concerts of all time. 

My favorite parts of the concert were:

• Hov transitioning from Gold Digger  to Big Pimpin'
• Kanye spacing out and forgetting to rap his part in New Day
• Kanye telling the audience to be great, in a world where we're all told to be humble.
• Having the pair perform In Paris more than 5 times because they were actually filming the video for it!

Beyonce Kills it with CFDA Fashion Icon Acceptance Speech

beyonce.com

beyonce.com

On Monday night, Queen Bey accepted, The Council of Fashion Designers of America's (CFDA)  Fashion Icon Award. She did it while looking fly as hell wearing a hat that looks like it came fresh off her Formation World Tour.

beyonce.com

Presenting the award to Beyonce was organization's chairwoman Diane von Furstenberg.

beyonce.com

“The image of a woman being in charge has never looked more glamorous and more desirable,” von Furstenberg said. “She is everything all women want to be and after listening to her, no woman should ever feel belittled or insecure again. Talent, heart, strength and courage. That is what true style is about and all of that is what Beyoncé is the best example of.”
Upon receiving the award, Bey made the most profound and powerful speech explaining how back when she was starting out in Destiny's Child, alot of designers didn't want to dress them. "When we were starting out in Destiny’s Child, high-end labels didn’t want to dress four black country girls."
Boy, I bet those designers regret that choice now!
It was a family affair, husband Jay Z was in attendance as well as baby Blue Ivy and mom Tina Lawson.

Read Bey's full speech here:

“Thank you Diane. It’s such an honor to receive this award from you.

You know, as long as I can remember, fashion has been a part of my life. It’s effect on me actually started before I was born.

beyonce.com

My grandmother was a seamstress. My grandparents didn’t have much money and couldn’t afford my mother’s Catholic School. So my grandmother sewed clothes for the priests and nuns, and uniforms for the students, in exchange for my mother’s education.

She then passed this gift down to my mother and taught her how to sew.

When we were starting out in Destiny’s Child, high-end labels didn’t want to dress four black country girls. We couldn’t afford designer dresses. My mom was rejected from every showroom in New York.

But like my grandmother, she used her talent and creativity to give her children their dreams. My mother and my Uncle Jonny designed all of our first costumes and made each piece by hand…individually sewing hundreds of crystals and pearls…putting so much passion and love into every small detail. And when I wore these clothes onstage, I felt like I had an extra suit of armor. It was so much deeper than any brand name…my mother and my uncle and my grandmother were with me…I couldn’t fail.

My mother designed my wedding dress, the dress I wore when I won my first Grammy…the list goes on and on…

This to me is the true power and potential of fashion. It’s a tool for finding your own identity, expression, and strength. It transcends style and is a time capsule of our greatest milestones.

So to my mother, my uncle, and my Grandma, I just want to say thank you.

Thank you for showing me that having a presence is more than the clothes you wear or your physical beauty. Thank you for showing me how to never take no for an answer. Thank you for showing me how to take risks, work hard, and live life on my own terms.

And I want to say thank you to every designer that works tirelessly to make people feel like they can write their own story. You are fairy godmothers, magicians, sculptures…sometimes even therapists.

I encourage you to not forget this power that you have or take it lightly. We have an opportunity to contribute to a society where any girl can look at a billboard or a magazine cover and see her reflection. Soul has no color, no shape, no form…just like all of your work, it goes so far beyond what the eye can see. You have the power to change perception, to inspire and empower…to show people how to embrace their complications and flaws to see the true beauty and strength that’s inside all of us.

Thank you.”

Happy Birthday Beyonce!

On this day 34 years ago, the blessed Tina Knowles bestowed to us the Chosen One. The heavenly Beyonce Giselle Knowles.
Beysus has been blessing us with her beauty, talent, moves and voice for almost 2 decades.
#HappyBirthdayBeyonce

Beyonce and Jay Z: On the Run Tour

Hey ya'll!
After giving myself many mini-strokes and heart attacks over trying to snag these tickets.....yours truly is going to the Beyonce-Jay Z joint tour this summer also known as the On the Run Tour.

So excited!
Are you going?!

Throwback Monday

In honor of seeing the Magna Carta Tour on Wednesday I hereby present this little throwback gem. I mean, when are you ever going to see Jay, Amil and Ja Rule in a song together.

Beyonce and Jay Z Go Vegan

 

wikipedia.com

Jay Z announced via his blog Life + Times that starting December 3rd he was going to adopt a vegan lifestyle for 22 days. He decided to do this a day before his 44th birthday, and we all know how much 4 means to the couple.

"Psychologists have said it takes 21 days to make or break a habit. On the 22nd day, you’ve found the way.
On December 3rd, one day before my 44th birthday I will embark on a 22 Days challenge to go completely vegan, or as I prefer to call it, plant-based!! This all began a few months back when a good friend and vegan challenged me to embrace a “plant-based breakfast” every day. It was surprisingly easier on me than I thought…
Why now? There’s something spiritual to me about it being my 44th birthday and the serendipity behind the number of days in this challenge; 22 (2+2=4) coupled with the fact that the challenge ends on Christmas day…It just feels right!
So you can call it a spiritual and physical cleanse. I will post my progress… Any professional vegans out there that have any great food spots please help out! Please ha. I don’t know what happens after Christmas. A semi-vegan, a full plant-based diet? Or just a spiritual and physical challenge? We’ll see…
Best of luck and health!
P.S. B is also joining me."

After reading this I wanted to be just like the Carters and do the same thing, but accidentally ate a porkchop for dinner....hmm...maybe start tomorrow?
To learn more about a plant-based diet, Hov recommends you click here.

Holy Grail Music Video

slate.com

I know we're all reeling from JT's magical performance at the VMA's, but did we all forget that Holy Grail didn't have a music video yet?
Well, until today!
The video features HOV and Timberlake having HOV look like Tony Montana at the end of Scarface.
Since Jay is now making #newrules, he debuted the video Thursday via Facebook. This is the first time a major artist has done so! Also, to keep a leg up on the competition, there's a 24 hour exclusivity agreement as well.
Check it out here!
#newrules

Jay-Z Announces New Album "Magna Carta Holy Grail"

For those of you watching the NBA Finals Sunday night, you most likely caught the commercial that Jay-Z will be releasing his 12th studio album this summer!
For those of you who missed it:


Makes sense, considering he'll be kicking off the Legends tour with Justin Timberlake this summer too.
What makes this album unique is that Jay will be teaming up with Samsun to promote the album.
Hov is such a marketing genius!
According to the New York Times:
"... the company is giving away a million copies to its cellphone subscribers as a promotion.
Jay-Z, the Brooklyn rapper, announced the deal with a three-minute commercial during halftime of the NBA finals on Sunday night. The album, “Magna Carta Holy Grail,” will come out on July 7, but it will be made available free three days earlier to Samsung subscribers through a mobile application."

Kaurdashian Pick: "The Great Gatsby" Soundtrack

The roaring twenties are making a visit to the new millenium, and they brought Leonardo DiCaprio with them!
Sure, we all loathed reading The Great Gatsby our junior year of high school...well, that was until we ACTUALLY read the book and realized this was a great story. You may have taken the easy route and watched the original Gastby movie with Robert Redford, but either way you know the story.
Not only does this Baz Luhrrman directed version just look plain cool, it has an even cooler soundtrack to go along with it.
This soundtrack includes the Jay-Z, Beyonce, Andre 3000, Jack White, Lana Del Rey, Fergie, Q-Tip, etc.
Check out the Emeli Sande's version of "Crazy in Love" at the very bottom! It's what the song would've sounded like if it debuted in 1929!

Here are a few of my favorite songs on the soundtrack:

Beyonce's "Grown Woman" Leaks Online

Well, about damn time!
We've been waiting forever to finally hear this single and it leaked just the other day.
This comes after last week's rumors of Queen  B having another Bey Bey in the oven, which I did not believe and HOV squashed immediately, emailing Hot 97's programming director simply saying "it's not true."

Grown Woman is on Bey's upcoming album and it's a bangin' Timbaland produced track!
Enjoy!

Beyonce's "Life is But a Dream" Review

hiphopnmore.com

eonline.com

Looking like Papa-Jigga Man 

Like the rest of America, my television on Saturday night was full of King Bey.
The only good thing about being sick over the weekend was my TV was full of copious amounts of Beyonce.
My eyes were glued to her Life is But a Dream documentary as well as her Next Chapter interview with Oprah.
I loved to be finally let into B's life, however I felt I wasn't let in all the way. Fans were still kept at arms length, which left me with some more questions. I was expecting to delve a little more into her managerial break-up with her father, her miscarriage and her life now as a mom. I felt Bey was talking in little fragments instead of whole sentences where I can fully get infomation.
But who am I kidding? This is Beyonce! She's the epitome of secret-keeping and this little bit she revealed to us, is a lot to her!
We finally got to see Baby Blue Ivy and can I just say she's ADORABLE! She looks so much like Daddy Hov.
The doc is comprised of snippets of: home movies when Beyonce was a littlem girl, concert performances, laptop video confessionals, Blue's sonogram, initmate moments of Jay and Bey singing to Coldplay's "Yellow".
Fans get a peak inside the delivery room on Blue's birthday, with Mama Knowles wrapping Bey's hair in rollers. Bey also reveals where she got the name for her baby girl, "We passed by a beautiful blue tree [overseas]. I think it's blue ivy. That would be quite appropriate." So much for those Blueprint rumors.
From watching these two programs with the superstar, I was left with a huge amount of admiration and respect for her. She's such a hardworking woman and wanted us all to know....when it comes to matters of the heart....she's just like everyone else.
She's still trying to navigate her way through life. We think she has it all, but even the World's Most Beautiful Woman still has trouble trusting herself.

Who would've imagined?