MUSIC TO MY EARS: 'ALL I SEE'- KAYSWITCH FT OLAMIDE

When two of my favorite Nigerian artistes come together on a song, it is nothing but beautiful music to my ears. Kayswitch who released Jaburata late last year, has just dropped a new tune titled All I See featuring YBNL president Olamide.

It's a good listen with a positive message. Enjoy!

bit.ly/ALLiSEE

JAZZ AT THE WHITE HOUSE

Is it just me or have the Obamas been super busy lately. I like that Barrack, Michelle, and their lovely daughters have been very engaged these passed weeks. Now for all the jazz lovers, this will capture your attention.

International Jazz Day, one of the world's biggest celebrations of jazz, is coming to the White House.
President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, plan to host a blockbuster concert April 29 featuring Aretha Franklin, Al Jarreau, Sting, Herbie Hancock and many other established and up-and-coming musical artists. The show is to be televised by ABC the following day, on April 30 the fifth anniversary of International Jazz Day.

Scores of musical performances and educational and community service programs are also planned for across the District of Columbia, in all 50 states and in practically every country, said Tom Carter, president of the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz. The jazz institute and UNESCO sponsor International Jazz Day. It was established to highlight jazz music as a unifying force for freedom and creativity.

EMPIRE IS BACK!

I'm definitely not the only one who is excited about the return of Empire. It continued from where it left off last year and as you can already imagine, it was engaging from start to finish. Hopefully they keep up this momentum in the coming episodes.

The Grim Reaper is no stranger to Empire, but the loss at the center of Wednesday's mid season premiere was unlike any of the other sudden, shocking, over-the-top deaths that came before it. After getting pushed down the stairs at the end of the winter finale, Rhonda (Kaitlin Doubleday) lost her unborn baby with Andre (Trai Byers).

"It hardens her," Doubleday says. "At first, [Andre] thinks somebody pushes her and she doesn’t believe it, and then she thinks somebody pushed her and he doesn’t believe it."

Andre's struggle with mental illness, which was first uncovered in season one, will resurface as a result of this unforeseen tragedy. "It’s like, 'Do you think somebody pushed me because you're having these visions? Is that your mental illness? Are you taking your medication?' There's a lot of drama for them dealing with this horrible thing that's happened to them," Doubleday says. "There's some dramatic, scrappy stuff that Rhonda does at the end. There are some strange surprising alliances that come." There is so much to come so keep watching!

FAVELA TOUR, RIO

My good friend and world traveler Pericles Nova did a tour of Favela in Rio, Brazil. Quite a number of people around the world have a not so good perception of Favela. But I bet after watching this video and reading a report by Pericles, you will have a change of mind.

LIL WAYNE SUES UNIVERSAL MUSIC

If this is true, then it's really sad how some music managment companies try to exploit artiste on their hard work and discovery as is the case with rapper Lil Wayne.

Lil Wayne claims he's owed tens of millions of dollars for discovering and nurturing successful recording artists Drake, Nicki Minaj and Tyga.

Universal Music Group is paying itself instead of shelling out royalties it owes Lil Wayne, according to a federal lawsuit filed by the rapper-producer's attorneys Monday in California.
Dwayne Carter Jr., known as Lil Wayne, is suing UMG and SoundExchange, claiming he's been shorted millions from his work discovering and nurturing artists like Drake, Nicki Minaj and Tyga.

Carter claims Universal has diverted tens of millions of dollars of his profits to repay itself for the $100 million it advanced to Cash Money Records, Inc.

EGYPTAIR FLIGHT HIJACKED

Woke up this morning to this breaking news and I'm just like "what is going on in the world???"


A hijacker took over an EgyptAir plane en route to Cairo from Alexandria on Tuesday morning and forced it to land in Larnaca, on the southern coast of Cyprus.
Most of the 56 passengers were released, but a tense standoff ensued for four hours, as the plane stayed on the tarmac. Three passengers, and five crew members including the pilot and co-pilot were still on board, along with the hijacker, EgyptAir said in a Facebook post at 12:15 p.m.

Although the hijacker claimed to be wearing a suicide belt and threatened to detonate it, officials in Egypt and Cyprus said they believed he may have been motivated by personal factors.

What kind of personal factor will make you hijack a plane with passengers from different parts of the world. Will be following this story.

SEAN 'DIDDY' COMBS TO OPEN HIS CHARTER SCHOOL

He's been a rapper, actor, singer, entrepreneur, record producer and clothing designer, he sure does it all. Now Sean "Diddy" Combs has taken on a new job as the founder of a charter school in New York City's Harlem neighborhood.

Combs announced Monday that the Capital Preparatory Harlem Charter School will open in the fall. The school will be overseen by Capital Prep leader Steve Perry, who founded Capital Prep Magnet School in Hartford, Connecticut, in 2005.

Combs and the board have hired Orlando-based educator Danita Jones as the principal of Capital Prep Harlem.
Combs says creating the school is "a dream come true."