Florida Sentinel Bulletin

If you haven’t heard Alicia Keys live in concert, listen up. To celebrate the 10th anniversary of her Grammy-winning debut album, ‘Songs in A Minor,‘ Keys brought down the house in an exclusive acoustic solo concert for AOL Music, called ‘Piano & I.’

On a candlelit stage at the Beacon Theatre in New York City, the Givenchy-clad singer said, “The city really wrote a lot of that first album.” As Keys recounted endless hours spent riding the NYC subway, her show became a heartfelt tribute to her hometown. By concert’s end, the new mom received a standing ovation.

Kanye West is nothing if not consistent. As the sole hip-hop headliner at this year’s Essence Music Festival Saturday (July 2) night, the Chicago MC did not disappoint, offering up a visual feast complete with pyrotechnics, nearly two dozen dancers and elaborate lighting.

Broken up into three acts, the Louis Vuitton Don ran through more than 20 songs, ranging from tracks off his debut album to his most recent, ‘My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.’

Never one to shy away from being candid, West made mention of his now infamous incident at the 2009 MTV Awards, which set his career into what many had written off as a downward spiral. “I had a little bit to drink that night,” he admitted amidst the audience’s cheers and laughter.

West also took fans down his own personal music memory lane playing some his favorite songs, which he credited as inspiring his musical genius. “I don’t do interviews anymore because the press be trying to kill me, I let the music speak for itself.”

After ‘planking’ seemed to have swept over Hollywood faster than you can say ‘Kabbalah,’ there’s one lonely adversary who’s standing up against those that are laying down. Rapper Xzibit took to Twitter to express his extreme disapproval of the trend.

“Planking is THE dumbest sh-t ever,” Xzibit tweeted (via TMZ). “#Planking was a way to transport slaves on ships during the slave trade, its not funny. Educate.”

From Rosario Dawson and Ellen Page to Justin Bieber and Katy Perry, celebrities have been laying down straight and narrow left and right.

Although the position in which slaves were transported during the slave trade was not technically referred to as ‘planking’ the fashion in which they were positioned on wood plank beds was not unlike the stiff, face down, palm to side style.

Comedian Chris Tucker is set for an 18 date national stand-up comedy tour.

The ‘Rush Hour’ and ‘Friday’ star will begin the tour July 19th in Long Beach, CA, and continue until November 26th, ending in Oakland, CA. Tickets go on sale beginning July 15th at 10:00 am at Ticketmaster.com and LiveNation.com.

Early in his stand-up career, Tucker gained a reputation as one of the leading comics on the Los Angeles comedy circuit and was invited to participate in hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons‘ Def Comedy Jam on HBO, where he became a frequent performer.

As a high energy actor, Tucker paired up with one of rap’s greatest, Ice Cube, in the 1995 cult classic, ‘Friday’.

He then gave a remarkable performance alongside veteran actor Lorenz Tate in Dead Presidents and landed co-starring roles in such memorable films as ‘Money Talks’, with actor Charlie Sheen; ‘The Fifth Element’ with action hero Bruce Willis; and Quentin Tarantino’s Jackie Brown.

Beyond the popularity and notoriety of the previous years’ films, it was the 1998 blockbuster hit ‘Rush Hour’ that amassed a global following to catapult Tucker to international stardom.

‘Rush Hour 2’ and ‘Rush Hour 3’, both huge hits with audiences, further established Tucker as one of the great comedy actors of his generation.

Say it isn’t so! Waka Flocka Flame says he wants to retire from the rap game after 2011.

Apparently, the Brick Squad soldier is fed up with the industry fakeness and the stress that comes along with being one of the top rhyme-spitters in hip-hop. “This game 2 fake I [quit] rap after this year,” he tweeted.

Waka’s momanager, Debra Antey, co-signed her son’s disdain of the music business. “We’re all disgusted with this stuff. You can’t trust people,” she reportedly said. Antey believes her son’s retirement is a good thing, as it will help bring them closer together as mother and son — rather than manager and artist.

The Wu-Tang Clan has never been shy about flaunting their influences: from martial arts to La Cosa Nostra, chess and, of course, superhero comics. But member Ghostface Killah’s love of one Marvel icon in particular, Iron Man, is putting the Shaolin rapper in some hot legal water.

According to reports, composer Jack Urbont is suing Sony Music Entertainment and Ghostface (born Dennis Coles) over claims the rapper illegally sampled his “Iron Man Theme” from the 1960s “The Marvel Super Heroes” TV show.

Ghostface, who named his 1996 solo debut Ironman, and whose many aliases include Ironman and the superhero’s alter ego, billionaire industrialist Tony Stark (which Ghostface spells Starks), has long had a fascination with the character. But Urbont claims in his suit that two songs on Ghostface’s second album, 2000’s Supreme Clientele copied “verbatim” the “Theme” he wrote for the show.

He shot to fame as a baby-faced rapper aged 13.

But BowWow isn’t so little anymore, and the now 24-year-old has revealed to his fans that he has become a father.

After previously slamming websites who reported the news, the Like You hitmaker has admitted that he welcomed a little girl, Shai Moss, in June.

Writing on his website, the artist, real name Shad Gregory Moss, told fans: ‘My lil girl is getting BIG fast. I love every minute of it. She inspires me to go harder. Even made me treat my mother better, its like it made me into a man overnight.

Shai Moss’ mother is BowWow’s ex-girlfriend and music video star Joie Chavis.

A Rihanna concert in Dallas, TX ended early Friday night, after a fire caused the pop singer to exit the stage.

A video posted on YouTube shows a fire burning at the top of the stage at the American Airlines Center, with some sparks falling toward the floor. Some people begin to stream out.

The R&B and pop star posted several messages on Twitter following the incident.

“DALLAS!!! We set the stage on FYAH tonight!!! LITERALLY!!! I’m so (mad), I was havin so much fun wit yall too!!! I gotta come back man!!” the singer tweeted.

Dallas Fire-Rescue Captain Johnny Bates said a chair caught on fire.

Florida rapper Khia obviously has a lot of time on her hands.

In what seems like a ploy for attention, the rapper most known for her 2002 hit “My Neck, My Back,” went on her Myspace blog (of all places), and went on a rant dissing some of the biggest names in entertainment.

Khia Blogged disses against Amber Rose, Beyonce, Chris Brown, Gucci Mane, Jamie Foxx, Nicki Minaj and Rick Ross.