Florida Sentinel Bulletin

Mega music makers Jay-Z and Usher are two of the urban artists who made Forbes’ list of highest paid musicians.

With elite company like company like rockers U2, Elton John and Bon Jovi, Jigga and Usher were two of five hip hop and R&B artists to make the prestigious list. Usher landed at the #12 spot after raking in $46 million last calendar. Jay-Z came in at #17 earning $37 million.

Diddy, Beyonce, old school rockers AC/DC, country singer Tim McGraw and British rock band Muse all tied for the #18 spot bringing in $35 million. Rihanna took up the 25th and final spot earning $29 million over the last 12 months.

NEW YORK — La Toya Jackson writes in her new book that the question that ran through her mind after she learned of her brother’s death was, “Who killed Michael?”

“Starting Over” goes on sale next week. June 25 will mark the second year since the pop star’s death.

La Toya Jackson writes that her brother often predicted he would be killed over his estate and music publishing catalog.

She also says she learned about his last days from talking to his children. His daughter Paris told her that “Daddy was always cold” and “he would always cry.”

Sometimes hosting a television show can get stressful and after years of dealing with illness, Montel Williams is not only becoming an advocate of medical marijuana, he’s about to sell it.

Claiming prescription drugs almost shut down his kidneys, Williams was given the suggestion by a doctor to try some cannabis sativa and it worked for him.

The Abatin Wellness Cooperative facility is heavily monitored by cameras, no weed can be consumed on the property and the “medicine” isn’t even visible to the public. He wants the center to be somewhere that your parents would feel comfortable going to for help.

Williams said he wants to change the stigma surrounding doctor-prescribed pot use. “It’s absurd. I can go get morphine pumped into my system and nobody’s got a problem,” he said. “But all of a sudden they’re really worried if I smoked a joint.”

Over the years Rihanna has acquired an ample amount of success, from accolades to show money.

One thing that hasn’t changed however is her love and support for her homeland of Barbados.

The songstress recently inked a three year deal with the Barbados Tourism Authority (BTA), to exclusively promote the island as a tourist destination. This will mean creating advertising campaigns, making special appearances, and using her social media presence to draw attention to the beautiful vacation spot.

The campaign will kick off in Bridgetown, Barbados on August 5th, with a full concert as part of her “Loud” tour.

The estranged father of Kelly Rowland is reaching out to his daughter hoping to reconcile with her after 23 years without contact.

Rowland, who is currently judging Simon Cowell’s U.K. X-Factor, has reportedly not seen her biological father Christopher Lovett since she was seven years old.

Now Lovett, 65, hopes to change that and sat down for an interview with Britain’s The Daily Mirror where he spoke on his failed relationship with his daughter.

Choking back tears he told The Mirror, “Kelly, I love you with all my heart. Please forgive me and let me be your dad again.”

According to Lovett, he failed to provide for his family, had a drinking problem and a ‘vicious temper’ that tore his ­family apart but says he loved his daughter from the very start.

“I loved her from the moment she took her first breath. I ­remember as clear as day Kelly and I singing together, from the moment she could talk. Our ­favorite songs were by Stevie Wonder. I would put one headphone in my ear and the other in hers and we would sing and sing, so happy to be together.

But then I lost my job at a ­transportation company, sank into a depression about money and began drinking more and more. The failure to provide for my ­family fuelled an anger that I will be ashamed of until my dying day.”

While Rowland hasn’t had contact with him in over two decades, she previously spoke of her father in an interview saying,

“I don’t know where he is but I hope he’s not dead. That would break my heart. I remember my dad being drunk and aggressive towards my mom but not me. I don’t know if he knows who I am or what I’ve done. He must be hiding under a rock if he doesn’t.”

Lovett also made sure to add that he’s not after his celebrity daughter’s money, but just wants to be in her life during his old age.

I own a big home now and have retired so I don’t want any of Kelly’s fortune, I just want her love. I just hope she does not become such a big star in England on X

Factor that she forgets about her dad ­completely. “I’m getting old now – I just hope she reads this and doesn’t leave getting back in touch with me before it is too late.”

Lovett also revealed a time where he drove 8 hours to a Destiny’s Child concert to watch her perform and tried to give her a note but security guards who did not believe he was her real father, denied him.

Comedian Katt Williams was back in jail over the weekend, after an incident with a tractor trailer driver in Palmdale, CA on Saturday.

According to TMZ:

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ … a man doing tractor work on a Palmdale home where Katt was staying claims three women approached his vehicle and began attacking him with rocks and dirt clods around 4:30 Saturday afternoon.

The man, who says he suffered facial injuries in the attack, called his wife to pick him up — but when she arrived, Katt pulled up in an SUV and blocked their exit.

That’s when the man called 911.

The L.A. County Sheriff’s Dept. quickly arrived to the scene — arrested the women for assault with a deadly weapon and busted Katt for felony intimidating a witness.

Katt was hauled to a nearby station, where he was booked. Bail was set at $50,000. Williams was released later that night.

Getting arrested is nothing new for 39-year-old actor.

Williams was arrested for a burglary in 2009, and again in 2010 on assault charges.

In an upcoming exclusive interview with hiphopdx.com, Mobb Deep’s Prodigy reveals that he shares the same sentiment as Lupe Fiasco in regards to Obama being, “the biggest terrorist.”

“I would have to agree with him,” said P. “Most of these politicians and these government officials…most of them are the real terrorists.”

Prodigy says despite his incarceration he kept a close eye on Obama’s politics.

“Yeah, I was definitely checking [Obama] out and seeing what he was doing and what he was about. But I already knew ahead of time – I’ve been studying all that type of stuff since like 15, 16 years old, so… You can’t pull the wool over my eyes. I already know what time it is.”

The Queens rapper said he has a full grasp on the misgivings of politicians and the US government.

“There’s nothing you can say to confuse me about any of that type of stuff. I know it’s all a game that they’re playing. It’s all a facade,” he said.

NEW YORK — Saxophonist Clarence Clemons of Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band has suffered a stroke.

A person who has worked with Clemons in the past confirmed Sunday night that Clemons had the stroke. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the person was not authorized to speak on the matter. The person had no additional information on Clemons’ condition.

Clemons is known as the Big Man in the E Street Band and his sax has been one of the most defining elements of the band’s sound. He has suffered from numerous ailments over the last few years. He had double knee surgery and even had to perform from a wheelchair at one point.

But his health seemed to be improving. Just last month, he performed with Lady Gaga on the season finale of “American Idol.”

He is 69 years old.

CULVER CITY, CA — Standing on the soundstage where Fred Astaire once danced and Dorothy skipped down the yellow brick road, Morgan Freeman accepted the American Film Institute’s Life Achievement Award.

Clint Eastwood, Sidney Poitier, Helen Mirren, Samuel L. Jackson, Tim Robbins and Forest Whitaker were among the stars who feted Freeman during a ceremony Thursday at Sony Studios, former home of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

The storied Stage 15 — which AFI Chair Sir Howard Stringer said was once graced by Astaire and Judy Garland in film — was transformed into an elegant ballroom, its walls draped in red and gold and dotted with giant framed photos of Freeman, whom Poitier introduced as “a prince of the craft of acting.”

In a room filled with hundreds of his colleagues and friends, Freeman listened to star after star share what they admire about him and his work. The 74-year-old Oscar winner sat at the head table near the center of the room, beaming.

Jackson told the actor he was inspired by both Freeman’s work and his words. “In a world of too much cubic zirconium, you are the real thing,” he said.

Whitaker called Freeman an “adviser, a beacon, a confidant, a shoulder to lean on, protector, and friend,” both in real life and in the characters he has played on film.

The AFI ceremony will air as a special on TV Land on June 19.