Secret Vault Opened -Unheard James Brown Masters and Recordings Up for Auction
Radio Facts: 
Jacque Hollander, who worked closely with James Brown as a songwriter and co-founder of his children's charity has been saying for a while that she has unheard James Brown material locked away in a vault in the suburbs of Chicago. Hollander, who once accused James Brown of raping her, is ready to break her silence. Apparently, 30 years ago James Brown, the Godfather of Soul, entrusted Hollander with a massive amount of material. "Fight for the truth," he told her. Hollander has carefully kept it locked away from everyone including his family. Allegedly Hollander has been an problem for Jame's family members as she has been the keeper of quite a bit of his memorabilia, including elaborate costumes, photographs and even the aforementioned unheard songs. She is ready now to unlock the memorabilia, souvenirs, stage outfits, recordings, masters, written material and hidden secrets. Jacque Hollander is scheduled to talk to reporters about betrayal, tribulations survived, and the upcoming auction of her entire James Brown collection. She will be answering questions on July 7-8, from a recording studio in Chicago where she will be preserving the NEVER-BEFORE-HEARD James Brown masters and recordings. "It's time to return James Brown, the greatest music legend in the world, to his fans and the people who love him," Hollander says. [caption id="attachment_154503" align="aligncenter" width="600"]
140418_ , Jackie Hollander with James Brown, From the archives of Jacquie Hollander, Rockford, Il, Sunday, J.C. RIce[/caption]
Jacque Hollander, who worked closely with James Brown as a songwriter and co-founder of his children's charity has been saying for a while that she has unheard James Brown material locked away in a vault in the suburbs of Chicago. Hollander, who once accused James Brown of raping her, is ready to break her silence. Apparently, 30 years ago James Brown, the Godfather of Soul, entrusted Hollander with a massive amount of material. "Fight for the truth," he told her. Hollander has carefully kept it locked away from everyone including his family. Allegedly Hollander has been an problem for Jame's family members as she has been the keeper of quite a bit of his memorabilia, including elaborate costumes, photographs and even the aforementioned unheard songs. She is ready now to unlock the memorabilia, souvenirs, stage outfits, recordings, masters, written material and hidden secrets. Jacque Hollander is scheduled to talk to reporters about betrayal, tribulations survived, and the upcoming auction of her entire James Brown collection. She will be answering questions on July 7-8, from a recording studio in Chicago where she will be preserving the NEVER-BEFORE-HEARD James Brown masters and recordings. "It's time to return James Brown, the greatest music legend in the world, to his fans and the people who love him," Hollander says. [caption id="attachment_154503" align="aligncenter" width="600"]
140418_ , Jackie Hollander with James Brown, From the archives of Jacquie Hollander, Rockford, Il, Sunday, J.C. RIce[/caption]
ESSENCE Festival Draws Nearly Half Million People
Radio Facts: 
Nearly a half million attendees converged upon New Orleans this Fourth of July weekend for the 2015 ESSENCE Festival, one of the country's largest live events. The annual 4-day Festival, which took place July 2-5, features entertainment, empowerment, and cultural experiences during the day and the world's best performers each night. In addition, for the first time this year, the ESSENCE Festival touched tens of thousands of fans around the world via 100 hours of produced live-stream content. Highlights of the 2015 ESSENCE Festival include: More than 80 performing artists--including some of the biggest names in the entertainment industry such as Kevin Hart, Usher, Mary J. Blige, Missy Elliott, Common and Kendrick Lamar---performed at the event's nighttime concerts.
Over 120 speakers, authors, leaders and celebrities ---including Deepak Chopra, Iyanla Vanzant, Steve Harvey, Keke Palmer, Kelly Rowland, Jussie Smollett and Rev. Al Sharpton---participated in the Festival's free daytime experience. Inaugural ESSENCE Festival 'Day of Service' commemorated the 10th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina by refurbishing schools citywide and staging a first-time community Health & Wellness Fair.
100 hours of programming including 24 hours daily of streaming video garnering more than 200,000 Live Stream views covering select performances and daily talk show ESSENCE Live. Over 100,000 social media posts driving over 1.5 billion impressions with trending status on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, as well as first-time Twitter Periscope celebrity guest segments.
Explosive growth in Festival fan mobile usage, with page views up by 80% and unique visitors growing 132% year over year---largely due to 80% increase in video consumption year over year.
Nearly a half million attendees converged upon New Orleans this Fourth of July weekend for the 2015 ESSENCE Festival, one of the country's largest live events. The annual 4-day Festival, which took place July 2-5, features entertainment, empowerment, and cultural experiences during the day and the world's best performers each night. In addition, for the first time this year, the ESSENCE Festival touched tens of thousands of fans around the world via 100 hours of produced live-stream content. Highlights of the 2015 ESSENCE Festival include: More than 80 performing artists--including some of the biggest names in the entertainment industry such as Kevin Hart, Usher, Mary J. Blige, Missy Elliott, Common and Kendrick Lamar---performed at the event's nighttime concerts.
Over 120 speakers, authors, leaders and celebrities ---including Deepak Chopra, Iyanla Vanzant, Steve Harvey, Keke Palmer, Kelly Rowland, Jussie Smollett and Rev. Al Sharpton---participated in the Festival's free daytime experience. Inaugural ESSENCE Festival 'Day of Service' commemorated the 10th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina by refurbishing schools citywide and staging a first-time community Health & Wellness Fair.
100 hours of programming including 24 hours daily of streaming video garnering more than 200,000 Live Stream views covering select performances and daily talk show ESSENCE Live. Over 100,000 social media posts driving over 1.5 billion impressions with trending status on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, as well as first-time Twitter Periscope celebrity guest segments.
Explosive growth in Festival fan mobile usage, with page views up by 80% and unique visitors growing 132% year over year---largely due to 80% increase in video consumption year over year.
Lecrae Inspired by the Miracle of the All Stars Project
Radio Facts: 
Grammy Award-winning hip-hop artist Lecrae’s visit to the 42nd Street headquarters of the All Stars Project last year - to meet and mentor the inner city young people engaged in the organization - turned in to so much more than expected. The All Stars Project has released a video of Lecrae’s inspiring visit. Produced by Diane Mayer in partnership with MTV, the video can be viewed: A privately funded national nonprofit organization founded in 1981, the All Stars Project transforms the lives of youth and poor communities using the developmental power of performance, in partnership with caring adults. The All Stars Project involves over 10,000 young people every year in its afterschool programs in six cities across the country.
In a conversation facilitated by Antoine Joyce, Senior Program Manager/Development Officer for the All Stars Project Dallas, Lecrae shared that growing up he turned to hip-hop to find purpose, but instead found a lifestyle that included gang life, drugs and alcohol. After turning his own life around, he is now known for his music and outreach to inner-city youth. Lecrae has sold over two million albums, and his latest, Anomaly, debuted at number one on the Billboard Top 200 and across several other sales charts as well.
The All Stars youth in attendance then introduced themselves to Lecrae and spoke about their personal experiences and hardships growing up. They shared how life-changing their involvement in the All Stars Project has been, and let Lecrae know that his music supported their choice to be positive and move forward.
Afterward, Lecrae said of his participation, “I was brought out to inspire, but left inspired.” [flowplayer id="154623"]
Grammy Award-winning hip-hop artist Lecrae’s visit to the 42nd Street headquarters of the All Stars Project last year - to meet and mentor the inner city young people engaged in the organization - turned in to so much more than expected. The All Stars Project has released a video of Lecrae’s inspiring visit. Produced by Diane Mayer in partnership with MTV, the video can be viewed: A privately funded national nonprofit organization founded in 1981, the All Stars Project transforms the lives of youth and poor communities using the developmental power of performance, in partnership with caring adults. The All Stars Project involves over 10,000 young people every year in its afterschool programs in six cities across the country.
In a conversation facilitated by Antoine Joyce, Senior Program Manager/Development Officer for the All Stars Project Dallas, Lecrae shared that growing up he turned to hip-hop to find purpose, but instead found a lifestyle that included gang life, drugs and alcohol. After turning his own life around, he is now known for his music and outreach to inner-city youth. Lecrae has sold over two million albums, and his latest, Anomaly, debuted at number one on the Billboard Top 200 and across several other sales charts as well.
The All Stars youth in attendance then introduced themselves to Lecrae and spoke about their personal experiences and hardships growing up. They shared how life-changing their involvement in the All Stars Project has been, and let Lecrae know that his music supported their choice to be positive and move forward.
Afterward, Lecrae said of his participation, “I was brought out to inspire, but left inspired.” [flowplayer id="154623"]
When President Obama Shouts Out Your Party You Must Be One of the Chosen...
Radio Facts: 
As the nation celebrated its independence on July 4th, thousands of Chicago house heads ascended to Jackson Park to do what Chicagoan's do every year- experience the Chosen Few. As early as 6 am, you can find people in Jackson Park looking for a good spot to set up shop. Grills, lawn chairs, coolers, and an even cooler attitude tend to be the requirements when attending the Chosen Few. For all of the media attention that Chicago receives due to the violence, not enough attention is given to an event like the Chosen Few. In it's 25 year, the weekend long house music festival celebrating Chicago’s homegrown dance genre went down July 2-5, 2015. The main event of the weekend was the 25th annual Chosen Few Old School Reunion Picnic on Saturday, July 4, 2015 in Jackson Park, which is right across the street from where I attended high school but that is another story for another day. Nicknamed the “Woodstock of House Music," the Chosen Few Picnic may have seen numbers in the 50,000 range for it's anniversary year. For the record, there was no violence, no issues, no bullsh#t - this was plain and simply, a good time. The picnic featured performances from Stephanie Mills, Evelyn “Champagne” King and a host of others but it is the Chosen Few DJ's that keep the park rocking from sun up to sun down. This year featured Louie Vega and Kenny Dope Gonzalez, Derrick Carter, Stan Zeff, Keith Fobs and Greg Gray but as always there were sets by the Chosen Few DJs: Wayne Williams, Jesse Saunders, Tony Hatchett, Alan King, Andre Hatchett, Terry Hunter and Mike Dunn around the city and throughout the entire weekend celebration. The best tribute came when Chicago resident, President Barack Obama appeared on the Chosen Few Picnic scream to deliver a message to his fellow Chicago house heads. How cool is that sh*t? That is really more of a rhetorical question but all in all, it goes to show you the level of how music and the Chosen Few to be specific, has influenced even the President of the United States. All I can say to that is, "House music all night long!"
As the nation celebrated its independence on July 4th, thousands of Chicago house heads ascended to Jackson Park to do what Chicagoan's do every year- experience the Chosen Few. As early as 6 am, you can find people in Jackson Park looking for a good spot to set up shop. Grills, lawn chairs, coolers, and an even cooler attitude tend to be the requirements when attending the Chosen Few. For all of the media attention that Chicago receives due to the violence, not enough attention is given to an event like the Chosen Few. In it's 25 year, the weekend long house music festival celebrating Chicago’s homegrown dance genre went down July 2-5, 2015. The main event of the weekend was the 25th annual Chosen Few Old School Reunion Picnic on Saturday, July 4, 2015 in Jackson Park, which is right across the street from where I attended high school but that is another story for another day. Nicknamed the “Woodstock of House Music," the Chosen Few Picnic may have seen numbers in the 50,000 range for it's anniversary year. For the record, there was no violence, no issues, no bullsh#t - this was plain and simply, a good time. The picnic featured performances from Stephanie Mills, Evelyn “Champagne” King and a host of others but it is the Chosen Few DJ's that keep the park rocking from sun up to sun down. This year featured Louie Vega and Kenny Dope Gonzalez, Derrick Carter, Stan Zeff, Keith Fobs and Greg Gray but as always there were sets by the Chosen Few DJs: Wayne Williams, Jesse Saunders, Tony Hatchett, Alan King, Andre Hatchett, Terry Hunter and Mike Dunn around the city and throughout the entire weekend celebration. The best tribute came when Chicago resident, President Barack Obama appeared on the Chosen Few Picnic scream to deliver a message to his fellow Chicago house heads. How cool is that sh*t? That is really more of a rhetorical question but all in all, it goes to show you the level of how music and the Chosen Few to be specific, has influenced even the President of the United States. All I can say to that is, "House music all night long!"
Witnesses state woman De’Andre Johnson punched at bar called him the N-word
A man striking a woman vs a woman striking a man. A man should never hit a "lady." Is an intoxicated confrontational woman a "lady?" Other races using the "N-word." Should a woman be arrested if she hits a man first?" These are all outrageously sensitive subjects for some people so I'm going to leave it at that. What I will say is it is apparent this woman is intoxicated and confrontational in the video. She obviously did not want to let FSU Quarterback De'Andre Johnson in to get his drink and she tried to block him from the open space as she threatened him then he in-turn attempted to restrain her. Witnesses are coming forth and stating she said to De'Andre after she tried to block him, "Get off me you f'kn Ni$5er" shortly thereafter, she struck him. Did she deserve what she got or was he still wrong? In the black community someone from another race calling a black man a "Ni$%er" is considered "fighting words." Should she have also been arrested? The witnesses are willing to testify in court according to TMZ. Your thoughts?
