Critically Acclaimed Producer BlackOut Behind Minaj's Smash Hit

Famed producer Winston "BlackOut" Thomas is behind Nicki Minaj's new smash single, "Roman Holiday," which she premiered in a jaw-dropping performance at the 2012 Grammy Awards on February 12, the world's biggest stage for music.

"After producing 'Blow Your Mind' for her debut album Pink Friday, which received the Grammy nomination for Best Rap Album, I was pleasantly surprised they were using my new track for Nicki to premiere at the Grammy's," states an elated BlackOut. "They informed me a month ago about the Grammy performance, so I hosted a Grammy-viewing party in Miami for a few close friends but they didn't know...everyone went wild when she performed 'Roman Holiday.' I am honored to be a producer on both of her albums and to play a part in her creative process and success."

Minaj's performance has raised brows worldwide and furor within the Catholic community, as she pulled from religious symbolisms to exploit the exorcism of her favorite alter ego Roman Zolanski, on whom the song is based. Her Hype Williams' directed Grammy performance saw her using a pope as a prop, wearing a nun's habit-like outfit, and culminated in spectacular fashion as she levitated above the stage, and over a stunned audience.

"The Grammy's chose 'Roman Holiday,'" revealed Minaj, calling in to Ryan Seacrest's morning radio show on Monday to discuss the shocking spectacle. "They heard 'Roman Holiday' and I could not play them another record after that." The single is from Minaj's sophomore studio effort, Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded, due to hit stores on April 2, 2012.

The production house BlackOut Movement is at the helm of more than 20 hit singles, including productions for Flo Rida, Jim Jones, Trina, Jah Rule, Jason Derulo and Aaron Carter, just to name a few, and is best known for the blockbuster "This Is Why I'm Hot" by Mims, back in 2007. It scored BlackOut Movement its first #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and secured BlackOut's place in pop music and in its formula for success.

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Wiz Khalifa Sued For $2.3M

(washingtonpost) Pittsburgh rapper is suing hip hop star Wiz Khalifa for $2.3 million over allegations that he stole the hit song “Black and Yellow.”

Max Warren performs under the stage name Maxamillion. He says Khalifa’s chart-topper “Black and Yellow” was lifted from his own song “Pink N Yellow.” Warren says he copyrighted “Pink N Yellow” in 2008 and Khalifa copyrighted “Black and Yellow” in 2011.

The copyright infringement lawsuit was filed in federal court in Philadelphia and seeks at least $2.3 million in damages. It names Khalifa, whose real name is Cameron Jibril Thomaz, two other songwriters and several record companies and music publishers. Warren’s lawyer declined to comment Thursday. A spokesman for Khalifa at Atlantic Records didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking comment.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Kim Kardashian to appear on 'Last Man Standing'

(thecelebritycafe) Kim Kardashian is set to appear on the TV hit show, Last Man Standing in February. She is set to play herself, a reality TV show star, on the comedy show.

ET Online reported that the storyline for the show includes Kardashian meeting one of her biggest fans, Mandy, who will be played by Molly Ephraim.

This is not the first time Kardashian will be acting on TV. Kardashian has made guest appearances on How I Met Your Mother and CSI:NY. KGMI added that she will only be featured in one episode of the Tim Allen comedy. No word yet on if the reality star could make more guest appearances.

Kardashian is following in the footsteps of Nick Jonas who recently enjoyed a guest spot on Last Man Standing. Kardashian is taking her acting career more seriously after she landed a movie role in the upcoming feature film, The Marriage Counselor.

Fans and network executives are looking to see if she will help boost ratings for Last Man Standing or if the reality star should just stick to what she is known for and what she has established herself in, reality TV.

Before the new Last Man Standing episode airs, Kim Kardashian can still be seen on E!'s Kourtney & Kim Take New York.

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Kanye West’s Ex Claims He Cheated On Her With Kim Kardashian

() She ain’t saying she’s a gold digger but Kanye West’s ex-girlfriend, Amber Rose, is calling Kim Kardashian something far worse.

“Kim is one of the main reasons why me and Kanye are not together,” Rose told Star magazine. “She’s a homewrecker!”

In the article, Rose claims the 808s & Heartbreak rapper cheated on her with the Keeping Up with the Kardashians star, who was dating NFL athlete Reggie Bush at the time. “They were both cheating,” the 28-year-old claims. “They were both cheating on me and Reggie with each other.”

Both couples eventually broke up and Rose, who is now dating rapper Wiz Khalifa, credits the alleged affair for helping her find her true love.

“I want to thank her,” the actress says. “Because if she was never a homewrecker, then I never would have met Wiz, and I wouldn’t be as happy as I am now.”

This revelation comes in the wake of reports that Bush (who you can see on TV any given Sunday) rejected the recently estranged KayKay’s romantic reunion bid.

“She’s embarrassed because he doesn’t love her back. He truly is the one guy she loves, and she’s had to read about him and his other girls,” a source told Life & Style magazine.

“She calls him way more than he calls her,” another insider claims. “He’s trying to be a nice guy, but he doesn’t want to be a rebound of the next guy in her media blitz. He has zero interest in that.”

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Chris Brown Says No To 2012 Interviews

(billboard)He appeared down for the count in 2009. He'd been arrested, and pleaded guilty to felony assault for beating then-girlfriend Rihanna. He was sentenced to five years' probation and six months of community service. The court of public opinion was famously split, and more famously vehement.

But Chris Brown rebounded in 2011 with a string of hit singles -- "Deuces," "No BS," "Look at Me Now" -- as well as hot features like Big Sean's "My Last." There have been a slew of award nominations. Twitter-trending performances on the BET Awards, the MTV Video Music Awards and "Today." With a recent headlining U.S. tour behind him, Brown is filming a new movie and working on the follow-up to his first Billboard No. 1 album, "F.A.M.E." Tina Davis of TDC/Phase Too discusses the artist's slow return to the fore. Did you map out a strategy? Or is this comeback a natural course?
It was a combination. It was about us keeping the faith, and focusing on believing in God's plan for Chris. Since he was 14, Chris has had a creative vision and direction for himself. So it was easy to work with him and figure out how to deal with the setbacks. Of course, I could have said, "This is what you're going to do... this is how it's going to go," which a lot of managers do. The label [Jive Records] supported Chris and never turned its back on him. But it was Chris who came up with putting out a mixtape.

As much as some people wanted him to go away, his business life and personal life are totally two different things. And his love for music and his talent still shone throughout all of the good and bad times. So part of the strategy was to introduce his core fan base to Chris Brown now: the same talented guy who's 22 and has a little more edge.

How difficult was it to gain some positive momentum?
As you can imagine, everybody and his mother had an idea as to what Chris could do to come back. Even to the point of being in his ear saying, "Hey, you need to let go of your manager." But what Chris paid attention to was not so much the fact that this or that person had an answer. His only thing was to keep writing, keep recording, keep letting out [his] emotions and feelings within [his] music so people can better understand [him] and love [his] music.

The hardest part was trying to get people to understand that it wasn't as easy as saying, "I'm sorry," or having the right answers in an interview. It takes more than a year to deal with things that have happened in your past -- whether you're 50 or 20.

What strategic elements are you still implementing?
Not have him do interviews but to concentrate on performing and recording. It was something we set a while back. We're not trying to be rude, selfish or disrespectful to anyone in any way. If people are going to judge anything, judge him for his talent. He signed up to sing and entertain. Not to talk about his personal life. We look at it as starting all over. Our grind, our choices are different than they probably would have been three years ago. But we are humbly trying to get back into the swing of things. He has this movie and other scripts are coming our way. A couple of different companies have been talking to us about partnering with him. They're not afraid to stand next to him. They understand that hey, this young man has another 20-30 years to go. He has a right to be able to grow up and learn about being a man, being a person.

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Rihanna sells Beverly Hills Home

(latimes)Pop star Rihanna has sold her Beverly Hills Post Office-area home for $5.03 million. The house had been listed at $4.5 million in November, substantially less than the $6.9 million she paid two years earlier.

The listing describes the house as a "major fixer" with "extensive damage from moisture and water intrusion" at the roof, windows, doors and balconies. Despite the condition, there were four offers on the property.

The 8,520-square-foot, three-story contemporary contains a den, media room, breakfast area, three fireplaces, eight bedrooms and 10 bathrooms. The gated estate of more than three-quarters of an acre includes a swimming pool.

The four-time Grammy Award winner, 23, is one of the world's top-selling recording artists. She was named 2011's sexiest woman alive by Esquire magazine. Her sixth studio album, "Talk That Talk," was released in November.
John A. Woodward IV of Coldwell Banker's Beverly Hills north office and John Galich of Rodeo Realty were the listing agents. Woodward also represented the buyer.

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Taylor Swift Makes Pollstar's 'Top 25 Worldwide Tours'

()POLLSTAR magazine recently revealed their list for the 2011 “TOP 25 WORLDWIDE TOURS,” and a few Country artists made the #4 spot, bringing in over $104.2 million, and BNA RECORDS artist KENNY CHESNEY’s “GOIN’ COASTAL” tour landed at #8 spot, grossing over $84.6 million. The band U2 was at the top spot raking in over $231 million.
The magazine’s “Top 25 North American Tours” listed SWIFT at #2 with $97.7 million, CHESNEY at #3 with $84.6 million, JASON ALDEAN at the #23 spot with $27.3 million, and KEITH URBAN at #25 with $27.3 million.

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