Artist Award Roundup: Ellsworth Kelly Award Goes to Dakota Mace, Archives of American Art Awards Medal to Jaune Quick-to-See Smith, and More

Interdisciplinary artist Dakota Mace was named this year’s winner of the Ellsworth Kelly Award, which is administered by the New York–based Foundation for Contemporary Arts. The annual grant comes with a $45,000 purse in support of a solo exhibition. Based in Madison, Wisconsin, Mace plans to use the funds to create 2,000 newly commissioned chemigrams—a painting or drawing made on light sensitive paper—using natural cochineal dye, as well as archival photography prints. She will install them at SITE Santa Fe, as part of a solo exhibition slated to open in March 2025.

This year’s winner of one of Australia’s largest art awards, the Hadley Art Prize, is Yankunytjatjara artist Vicki Yatjiki Cullinan for her 2023 work Ngayuku Ngura (My Country). The annual prize, worth $100,000, is given to “the most outstanding portrayal” of the Australian landscape. “My painting is connected to the Tjukurpa (Ancestral Stories) that I know, but also my paintings are an extension of who I am, and how I interpret my place in the world,” Cullinan said in in a statement. Additionally, the $10,000 Hadley’s Residency Prize was awarded to Melissa Kenihan, with honorable mentions given to Joshua Andree, Patrick Mung Mung, Joan Ross, and Denise Brady.

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Portrait of Lubaina Himid smiling and looking off to the side.

The Smithsonian Institution’s Archives of American Art named the recipients of its two annual awards. Retired curator Ruth Fine, who was a curator of special projects in modern art and the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., has recieved the Lawrence A. Fleischman Award for Scholarly Excellence in the Field of American Art History, while the Keith Haring Foundation and Indigenous artist, activist, and educator Jaune Quick-to-See Smith (who is currently the subject of a retrospective at the Whitney Museum) are the recipients of the Archives of American Art Medal. Together, these awards recognize those who have made substantial contributions to American art. They will be honored at the Archives of American Art annual gala on October 24 in New York.

Installation view of "Jaune Quick-to-See Smith: Memory Map" at the Whitney Museum of American Art.

Installation view of “Jaune Quick-to-See Smith: Memory Map” at the Whitney Museum of American Art. Photo Matthew Carasella

The nonprofit grant-making organization Artadia named Sofía Córdova, Heesoo Kwon, and Ranu Mukherjee its 2023 San Francisco Bay Area Artadia awardees. They will each receive $15,000 in unrestricted funds, as well as access to Artadia’s network of artists, curators, and donors. The awards were increased by $5,000 for the first time in five years.

Frieze awarded Woo Hannah its inaugural Artist Award at Frieze Seoul. Supported by the luxury jewelry company Bulgari, the award offers a debut platform for a newly commissioned work by an emerging artist at the fair, which will open its second edition next month. The winning piece, titled The Great Ballroom, suspends draped fabric reminiscent of a woman’s gradually aging breasts. The award was selected by a panel of jurors including curator Reuben Keehan, artistic director Kim Sunjung, curator Koh Wonseok, artist Moon Kyungwon, and former ARTnews executive editor Andrew Russeth.

Also selected by Frieze was Adham Faramawy for the 2023 Artist Award at Frieze London. In its fifth year, the winner similarly gets to debut a new commission at the fair in October. Faramawy’s video and sculptural assemblage And these deceitful waters probe the history of the Thames river as a site of colonization and ecological collapse. Previous winners include such artists as Himali Singh Soin, Alberta Whittle, Sung Tieu, and Abbas Zahedi.

The Pollock-Krasner Foundation awarded Oliver Lee Jackson its Lee Krasner Award in recognition for a lifetime of artistic achievement. As a painter, sculptor, printmaker, and draftsman, Jackson’s disciplinary practice and active support of African American artists earned him this honor. Additionally, the foundation awarded $2,657,400 in grants to 93 artists and nonprofit organizations around the world. “We are so pleased to recognize Jackson’s innovative experimentation in his practice, his deep commitment to community engagement, his teaching, and his leadership in the arts community with this award for a lifetime of outstanding achievement,” said Caroline Black, executive director of the Pollock-Krasner Foundation, in a statement.

Sculptor and installation artist Risa Puno is the recipient of the Brookfield Place New York 2024 Annual Arts Commission. Puno, whose piece will be unveiled next summer, creates work exploring human connection through interactive experiences. Now in its 35th year, Arts Brookfield has had a long history of supporting art through the real estate company Brookfield Properties.

Risa Puno

Risa Puno Photo Liz Ligon

The nonprofit Fundación Ama Amoedo announced ten winners across four categories for the first edition of the Fundación Ama Amoedo Grants. The categories spanned artists, art and social engagement, organizations, and publications. The winning artists included Paula Castro, Sofía Córdova, Rafael Rg, and Campo Sucio, along with Ruta del Castor and Solar dos Abacaxis for art and social engagement. They will each receive $10,000.

The art center NXTHVN, cofounded by Titus Kaphar and Jason Price, named its 2023–24 Studio and Curatorial Fellows, including Adrian Armstrong, Alexandria Couch, Marquita Flowers, Eric Hart Jr., Clare Patrick, Fidelis Joseph, Jamaal Peterman, Eugene Macki, and Alex Puz. The curatorial fellows receive a $45,000 stipend and studio fellows receive a $35,000 stipend along with 24-hour access to a workspace and subsidized housing for the year-long program. The fellows work toward a group exhibition at the end of each cycle.

The 2023 Film London Jarman Award, which takes its name from filmmaker Derek Jarman, have shortlisted artists Ayo Akingbade, Andrew Black, Sophie Koko Gate, Julianknxx, Karen Russo, and Rehana Zaman for the annual prize. The winner will receive a £10,000 ($12,726) purse.

The Joyce Foundation announced that the 2023 Joyce Awards have been awarded to Regina Agu with the Museum of Contemporary Photography at Columbia College Chicago, Sonny Mehta with Mandala South Asian Performing Arts, Marisa Morán Jahn with the National Public Housing Museum, Marlena Myles with Franconia Sculpture Park, and Julie Tolentino with SPACES. The Joyce Awards support artists of color in partnership with cultural organizations in the Great Lakes region.

Open Calls

Coinciding with its 20th anniversary, the 2024 Joyce Awards is increasing its grant amounts from $75,000 to $100,000 each. Letters of inquiry are due on September 11.

The 2023 Foundwork Artist Prize, an annual juried grant for emerging and mid-career artists working in any medium, is currently accepting applications. This year’s jury panel includes ICA Miami artistic director Alex Gartenfeld, Night Gallery founder Davida Nemeroff, artist Shinique Smith, Medellín Museum of Modern Art chief curator Emiliano Valdés, and dealer Nicola Vassell. The award comes with an unrestricted $10,000 purse and studio visits with each juror. Additionally, the winner and three shortlisted artists will be invited to participate in long-form interviews.

The Nest Heritage Craft Prize is accepting applications from Texas-based makers, artists, and artisans. The prize focuses on skill, technique, and cultural value. The winner will receive a $25,000 grant and four semi-finalists will each receive a $2,500 cash prize. A partnership with French luxury goods company Hermès will also bring a two-day showcase to Dallas. Judges include artist and philanthropist Heather Winn, Hermès chairman Robert Chavez, curator Christopher Blay, Dallas Contemporary executive director Carolina Alvarez-Mathies, and Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center executive director Cristina Balli.

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Beyoncé’s Renaissance World Tour Makes History As The Highest-Grossing Tour For A Black Female Artist

Beyoncé is one of the most successful Black female performers of all time, and she has the stats to prove it. Her Renaissance World Tour has already amassed over $295.6 million in sales, making it the highest-grossing tour for a Black female artist — eclipsing her own Formation World Tour.

According to Billboard, the European leg of Bey’s tour garnered $154.4 million on its own with one million tickets sold across 21 shows. The first nine shows alone made the Houston native the top-grossing touring act of May. Not to mention, her five-night run in London earned $42.2 million from its 240,000 tickets sold.

The outlet later predicted that, based on the tour’s current trajectory, it’s expected to rake in $415 million with 2.8 million tickets sold. Forbes, however, predicted that the IVY PARK mogul is anticipated to make $2.1 billion from the Renaissance World Tour, beating out Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour.

In terms of the overall top-grossing tour for a Black artist, The Weeknd holds that title with his After Hours Til Dawn Tour. The 64-city run grossed $350 million in sales, surpassing Michael Jackson’s Bad Tour, which earned $311 million — adjusted for inflation.

The sold-out 2022 North American leg of the Canadian crooner’s stadium tour brought in $148 million. 

When celebrating news of the feat back in July, The Weeknd shared a video of him performing “D.D.” from his mixtape, Echoes of Silence, which is a loose remake of Jackson’s “Dirty Diana.”

“My king. Then, now and forever. Rest easy,” read the caption from the Instagram post.

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Back to the Future: Chuck Berry’s son on accusation Marty McFly appropriated dad’s rock

It’s one of the most famous scenes in movie history. Before heading Back to the Future, Marty McFly introduces high school kids of 1955 to rock and roll.

Taking over the guitar of an all-Black band at the Enchantment Under the Sea dance, Michael J Fox’s white teenager leads them through Chuck Berry’s Johnny B Goode, which wouldn’t be released until 1958.

During his performance, the band member with an injured hand called Marvin Berry calls up his cousin Chuck telling him: “Y’know that new sound you’ve been looking for? Well, listen to this!”

Interestingly that dialogue has been cut from the new Back to the Future: The Musical and now Berry’s son has shared what he and his father thought of this apparent appropriation of a white kid taking credit for a black artist’s work.

Harry Water Jr told Express.co.uk: “I was surprised by the movie, because I never got the whole script!

“And then it comes out and they got to my song Earth Angel and I was floored with what they did with it because all of a sudden there’s this huge orchestral support! It was jaw-dropping.

“Then the album went gold, so I was on a gold record! That was totally unexpected. How could anyone even know that was going to happen?!”

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Beyoncé’s Renaissance World Tour Is Heading for a $500M+ Finish

The first month of Beyoncé’s Renaissance World Tour situated her atop Billboard’s Top Tours chart in May. With reports for June, the entire European leg of the tour blew past the $150 million mark, making it the biggest non-U.S. leg of any Beyoncé tour. Now, with data for the trek’s first batch of North American shows, the bigger picture is coming more clearly into focus.

According to figures reported to Billboard Boxscore, Beyoncé earned $141.4 million on the first 12 Renaissance shows in U.S. and Canada, selling 553,000 tickets. That puts the tour’s overall figures at $295.8 million and 1.6 million tickets, current through her Aug. 1 concert at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass.

Approaching the $300 million mark, the Renaissance World Tour is now Beyoncé’s highest grossing tour yet, passing 2016’s The Formation World Tour ($256.1 million) and 2018’s On the Run II Tour alongside Jay-Z ($253.5 million).

In exceeding the gross of her own two previous tours, the Renaissance World Tour resets the record for the highest grossing tour by an R&B artist, or any Black artist in Boxscore history. Beyoncé previously held the title with the Formation World Tour and before that, with The Mrs. Carter Show World Tour in 2013-14 ($211.9 million).

Beyoncé hasn’t yet eclipsed those runs in terms of tickets sold, though it’s only a matter of time. The Formation World Tour still holds strong with 2.2 million tickets, 600,000 ahead of her 2023 stint. With 23 shows left to report in North America, expect Queen Bey to add close to 1 million more for a total of 2.6 million.

Though it has the earnings record in the bag, the Renaissance World Tour still has room to grow. Its $295.8 million is already in the region of Billboard’s initial projections of $275 million to $300 million plus, based on expected per-show revenues of $6.8 million to $7.5 million. With extra shows added due to high demand, the tour’s routing shot to more than 50 shows, with the low end of our projection ballooning to $380 million.

But Beyoncé hasn’t been earning $7 million per show. The 12 reported North American dates paced $11.8 million and 46,100 tickets each night. Grosses have swung as high as $33.1 million over two shows in East Rutherford, N.J., and as low as $6.5 million in Louisville, Ky.

If the 23 remaining shows can maintain that average or simply stay above the eight-figure mark, the Renaissance World Tour will set a whole new standard for Beyoncé.

To reach $500 million, the Renaissance World Tour will have to gross $8.9 million per show. But that’d represent a 24% drop from the first batch of U.S. & Canada dates, and there’s no reason to expect such a decline considering the remaining dates include highly anticipated shows in Atlanta, Los Angeles and Beyoncé’s hometown of Houston.

At $10 million per show, Beyoncé will hit $525 million, which would inch her past Coldplay’s A Head Full of Dreams Tour ($523.3 million). That’d be enough to make the Renaissance World Tour one of Billboard Boxscore’s 10 highest grossing tours ever.

Here’s a graph to show you where the Renaissance World Tour could end up, depending on how the 23 remaining shows perform.

At the current breakneck speed of $11.8 million per show, Beyoncé would be looking at $560 million. On the all-time leaderboard, she’s targeting classic rock heavyweights such as Guns N’ Roses, The Rolling Stones and Roger Waters as peers on the stadium stage.

Even before she gets there, Beyoncé has already broken through some hallowed territory in the Boxscore archives. Across her career as a soloist (including her co-headline tours with Jay-Z, and with Alicia Keys and Missy Elliott), Beyoncé has become the 15th artist – and third woman after Celine Dion and Madonna – to gross more than $1 billion. Further, she’s just the second female act (after Madonna) to sell more than 10 million tickets. Over 408 reported shows, she has earned $1.063 billion and sold 10.473 million tickets. By the Oct. 1 close of the Renaissance World Tour, that gross will be about $250 million higher.

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Theaster Gates’ Rebuild Foundation Transforms St. Laurence Elementary School into a Cultural Hub for Chicago

Theaster Gates’ Rebuild Foundation Transforms St. Laurence Elementary School into a Cultural Hub for Chicago

Rebuild Foundation, run by Artist Theaster Gates, is converting the St. Laurence Elementary School into a new 40,000 sq foot arts hub on Chicago’s South Side. The formerly vacant elementary school in Chicago’s local St. Laurence neighborhood has been reimagined to redeem indoor and outdoor spaces, making it a cultural hub. Set to open in 2024, the building’s adaptive reuse expanded the program and the landmark into a place of explpration, entrepreneurship, and creative education.

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© Sara Pooley

The expansion of the leadership team to hire an operations strategist, a special collections librarian, and a director of finance are indications of the foundation’s growing community investment. St. Laurence Elementary School has been designed with the aim to support artists of color and their livelihood while bringing new cultural resources into the South Side community. Moreover, the incubator in the elementary school will provide essential spaces for cross-disciplinary learning and collaboration.

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© Sara Pooley

Theaster Gates and Rebuilld Foundation purchased the St. Laurence elementary school in 2014, raising funds for renovation and saving the historic building from demolition. The reimagined cultural hub is set to open in late 2024. Moreover, Gates’ is redesigning the architecture, transforming the Art Deco and Prarie Style brick school building with some detailing into a space with artist studios, classrooms, co-working floors, a laboratory for archival research, and a home for objects in Rebuild’s collections and archives. The restoration of St. Laurence follows the principles of ethical redevelopment and adaptive reuse, initially shaped by Theaster Gates’ approach to architecture.


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Crafting for Contemplation: The Minimal vs. The Ornamental


Central to the redemption of St. Laurence is to celebrate the artistic lives of the South Side and the larger Afro-diasporic community. With the leadership and support of our expanded team, we’ll be able to further our mission of providing creative resources, amenities, and programs to a community that has historically been denied access to them. In the process, we’ll be able to connect the South Side’s history to the present while amplifying Black voices and Black art. — Theaster Gates, artist, Founder, and Executive Director of Rebuild Foundation.

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Courtesy of Rebuild Foundation
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© Sara Pooley

In 2022, the Serpentine Pavilion “Black Chapel” was created by Theaster Gates. The Chicago-based artist aimed to go beyond architecture and design a space for shared emotional and spiritual experiences. Additionally, the artist in collaboration with architect Asif Khan, has recently revealed the revised version of the redevelopment of Liverpool’s waterfront. The plans include the redesign of the public spaces and the historical areas central to the Liverpool docks. Finally, Theaster Gates conceived “The Principles of Ethical Redevelopment,” encouraging artist-led, neighborhood-based development work occurring on Chicago’s South Side.

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Understanding Why an Employee is Procrastinating

Understanding Why an Employee is Procrastinating – African American News Today – EIN Presswire

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50 defining moments in hip hop history

While it’s impossible to distill a history as rich as hip hop’s down to just 50 defining moments, here are many of the music’s game-changing artists and achievements over the past 50 years:

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Aug. 11, 1973: 1520 Sedgwick Ave. in the Bronx earns its place in history as the birthplace of hip hop when DJ Kool Herc (Clive Campbell) and his sister Cindy throw a back-to-school party in their building’s community room.

50th anniversary of hip hop rap music

Nov. 12, 1976: Afrika Bambaataa makes his DJ debut at a party at the Bronx River Community Center, spinning vinyl on a sound system his mom gave him as a graduation present.

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July 13, 1977: During a two-day New York City blackout, inner city youth reportedly break into local electronics stores across the city to scrap together turntables, microphones, mixers, speakers and other audio equipment to become deejays and emcees.

1979: Sugar Hill Records is co-founded by Joe and Sylvia Robinson. The Sugar Hill Gang’s single “Rapper’s Delight,” released later that year, becomes the first rap song to be played on the radio and the first to be a top 40 hit on the Billboard Hot 100.

1980: Kurtis Blow is signed to Mercury Records, believed to be the first major record deal for a rapper.

50th anniversary of hip hop rap music

Feb. 14, 1981: Funky 4 + 1, a Bronx-based group composed of Jazzy Jeff, Sha-Rock, D.J. Breakout, Guy Williams, Keith Keith, The Voice of K.K. and Rodney Stone, become the first rap act to perform live on national television as the musical guest on “Saturday Night Live.”

1981: Street art trailblazer Jean Michel Basquiat and graffiti artist Lee Quiñones appear in the music video for Blondie’s “Rapture,” which brings the genre to the pop music mainstream. The song spends two weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.

1983: Herbie Hancock’s synth and drum machine-driven “Rockit” wins a Grammy Award for Best R&B Instrumental Performance in 1983.

1984: Def Jam Records is founded in Rick Rubin’s NYU dormitory room. The label, with Russell Simmons as its face, will go on to boast a roster that includes LL Cool J, Public Enemy, Foxy Brown, Method Man, Redman, Jay-Z, Ja Rule and Rihanna.

50th anniversary of hip hop rap music

Oct. 25, 1985: Krush Groove,” a movie loosely based on the backstories of Def Jam Records, is released. It features performances by Kurtis Blow, Run DMC, Beastie Boys, The Fat Boys and introduces the world to LL Cool J. Although panned by mainstream critics, the film is a box office success.

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July 15, 1986: Run DMC’s third studio album “Raising Hell” achieves platinum status, becoming the first hip hop album to sell one million units. It would go on to achieve triple platinum status the following year.

Nov. 15, 1986: The Beastie Boys release their debut studio album, “Licensed to Ill,” proving that white boys could rap, too. The trio, composed of Michael “Mike D” Diamond, Adam “MCA” Yauch and Adam “Ad-Rock” Horovitz, became the first rap group to have an album top the Billboard 200

Dec. 8, 1986: Salt-N-Pepa releases “Hot, Cool & Vicious.” The meteoric success of the sexually suggestive “Push It” propels the Queens-based group into superstardom as the first Grammy-nominated female rap group.

Dec. 4, 1986: Run DMC becomes the first rap group to appear on the cover of Rolling Stone.

50th anniversary of hip hop rap music

March 29, 1988: DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince, also known as Will Smith, release hip hop’s first double album, “He’s the DJ, I’m the Rapper.” The album goes platinum and the duo win a 1989 Grammy for best rap performance” for their family-friendly hit “Parents Just Don’t Understand.”

August 1988: The Source magazine launches, becoming the first and last word on hip-hop music on newsstands. What started as a newsletter became the top-selling music magazine in the U.S. by 1999. A “5 Mic Rating” from The Source comes to designate an album as an instant classic.

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Aug. 6, 1988: MTV debuts “Yo! MTV Raps,” hosted by Fab 5 Freddy, featuring Ed Lover and Doctor Dré. The network had been famously called out for neglecting Black artists during a 1983 interview with MTV host Mark Goodman who said, “We have to play the music we think an entire country is going to like.”

50th anniversary of hip hop rap music

Aug. 8, 1988: West Coast band N.W.A. (short for Niggaz With Attitude) release “Straight Outta Compton.” Assisted by DJ Yella, rappers Dr. Dre, Eazy-E, Ice Cube and Arabian Prince bring gangsta rap out of the hood and onto Main Street with controversial hits including the title track, “F–k the Police” and “Express Yourself.”

July 4, 1989: Public Enemy releases the single “Fight the Power,” which goes on to become a rap anthem when filmmaker Spike Lee features the hard-hitting tune in his 1989 film “Do the Right Thing.” The song also makes celebrities out of Long Island rappers Chuck D and Flavor Flav.

1992: Following N.W.A.’s lead, producer Suge Knight forms Death Row Records, which featured rappers Snoop Doggy Dogg and Tupac Shakur. Dr. Dre leaves N.W.A. in 1992 to record his hit solo album “The Chronic” on Death Row, where he’s also a producer.

May 8, 1992: An appellate court overturns an obscenity ruling putting retailers at risk for selling 2 Live Crew’s sexually explicit album “As Nasty as They Wanna Be.” Three members of the band were arrested on obscenity charges following a 1990 performance in Florida. The band’s raunchy tunes include the 1989 hit “Me So Horny.”

Dec. 14, 1992: Staten Island group Wu-Tang Clan, featuring RZA and Ghostface Killa, releases the single “Protect Ya Neck” from their kung-fu flavored 1993 album “Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers).” The band eventually becomes a brand, selling music as well as apparel.

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50th anniversary of hip hop rap music

Jan. 30, 1993: New York’s Hot 97 changes its format from a mix of Top 40 and house music to officially become a hip-hop station.

April 19, 1994: A 20-year-old rapper from Queensbridge Houses who goes by Nas releases his debut album, “Illmatic.” The jazz-infused record’s lucid, narrative-driven lyrics about urban life change hip-hop with songs including “N.Y. State of Mind,” “The World is Yours” and “Life’s a Bitch.”

50th anniversary of hip hop rap music

Sept. 13, 1994: Clinton Hill, Brooklyn, rapper Christopher Wallace, also known as the Notorious B.I.G. and Biggie Smalls, releases “Ready to Die,” which Rolling Stone calls “The Greatest Rap Album of All Time” and Pitchfork names the “Best Hip Hop Album of All Time.” It’s the only album Smalls ever released.

March 26, 1995: NWA rapper Eazy-E, born Eric Lynn Wright, dies of AIDS-related pneumonia, a week after he publicly announced he had been diagnosed with the disease.

Sept. 7, 1996: L.A.-based rapper Tupac Shakur, 25, is shot in Las Vegas and dies days later. His murder remains unsolved, though investigators are still on the case. One of Shakur’s best known songs is the 1996 diss’ track “Hit Em Up,” which takes aim at his rival Biggie Smalls.

March 9, 1997: Biggie Smalls is shot dead while sitting in a vehicle outside a party shortly after midnight. His second album “Life After Death” is released 16 days later. The L.A.. killing of the bigger than life “Who Shot Ya” rapper remains unsolved, though many believe his death was connected to the killing of Shakur.

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50th anniversary of hip hop rap music

Sept. 29, 1998: Jay-Z, a rapper raised in Brooklyn’s Marcy Houses releases his chart-topping third studio album, “Vol. 2 … Hard Knock Life.” The title track memorably mines lyrics from the stage show “Annie.”

Oct. 13, 1998: Unreleased lyrics by Tupac Shakur from years earlier are stitched into a newly released rap song, “Changes,” which samples “The Way It Is” by Bruce Hornsby and the Range. The posthumous release becomes one of the most referenced rap tracks of all time.

Feb. 13, 1999: Lauryn Hill’s “Miseducation of Lauryn Hill” dominates the 53rd annual Grammys. She becomes the first female artist to pick up five awards in one night and also the first rapper to win album of the year.

Lauryn Hill’s “Miseducation of Lauryn Hill” dominates the 53rd annual Grammys in 1999.

Feb. 15, 1999: Big L, a freestyle master from Harlem, is shot dead in a hail of nine bullets three blocks from his home. The neighborhood grieves the loss of the 24-year-old rapper; an NYPD detective calls him a “good kid.”

Dec. 27, 1999: A shooting at a Midtown nightclub leads to the arrests of Jennifer Lopez and two rappers — Sean “Puff Daddy” Combs and Shyne — who were at the club. Combs and Lopez, then his girlfriend, flee the scene after the shooting. A charge against Lopez is dropped, and Combs is acquitted in a 2001 trial. But Shyne, accused of wounding three people, is sentenced to a decade in prison.

Jennifer Lopez and Sean "Puffy" Combs at the 2000 Grammy Awards in Los Angeles.

May 20, 2000: Curtis Jackson, 24, is shot nine times in South Jamaica, Queens. The rapper will later become known nationally as 50 Cent, and the incident serves as inspiration for memorable lines on his smash debut studio album, “Get Rich or Die Tryin’,” released in 2003.

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May 24, 2000: Eminem releases the explosive “The Marshall Mathers LP,” a controversial, dark and much-revered album that rocks hip-hop with furious, unvarnished lyrics and rapid-fire internal rhymes. The Detroit rapper’s second major-label album includes the “Stan,” “The Real Slim Shady,” and “The Way I Am.”

(L to R) Rappers Eminem, 50 Cent and Dr. Dre arrive at the Shady National Convention to launch Shade 45, a new satellite radio station, at the Roseland Ballroom October 28, 2004 in New York City.

2001: In a vicious East Coast rap beef, Jay-Z and Nas exchange insults over a pair of muscular diss tracks. In “Takeover,” Jay-Z says that Nas’ music has become “garbage” since “Illmatic.” Nas responds with the inventive and profane “Ether.” The two later end their feud on friendly terms.

Oct. 30, 2002: Jam Master Jay, a Brooklyn-born member of Run-DMC, is shot dead at 37. The DJ, whose real name was Jason Mizell, is killed at close-range at a studio in Jamaica, Queens. Prosecutors have said that his assailants wanted revenge on him for cutting them out of a drug deal.

50th anniversary of hip hop rap music

March 23, 2003: Eminem and co-writers Jeff Bass and Luis Resto win an Oscar for best new song at the Academy Awards, marking the first time a rap song took the honor. Eminem, who won for “Lose Yourself,” did not attend the ceremony because he was certain they wouldn’t win.

Feb. 8, 2004: Outkast’s “Speakerboxxx/The Love Below” dominates the Grammy, winning best rap album and best album of the year. The album from the Atlant rappers, which includes buoyant songs “Hey Ya!” and “Roses,” is the first rap album to win both awards, a feat not matched for more than a decade afterward.

Feb. 10, 2004: Kanye West, a rapper from Chicago, releases his debut studio album, “The College Dropout.” The introspective record, speckled with stories and clever lines, dominates the pop charts. It includes “Through the Wire,” “We Don’t Care” and “Family Business.”

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Sept. 2, 2005: During a Hurricane Katrina relief benefit concert, West goes off script and enters the political fray by declaring, “George Bush doesn’t care about Black people.”

50th anniversary of hip hop rap music

Oct. 20, 2009: Jay-Z and the Hell’s Kitchen-raised Alicia Keys release “Empire State of Mind,” a rollicking ode to their hometown. “I made the Yankee hat more famous than a Yankee can,” Jay-Z raps.

Rapper Jay-Z, right, and singer Alicia Keys perform before Game Two of the 2009 MLB World Series at Yankee Stadium on Oct. 29, 2009 in the Bronx.

Nov. 22, 2010: Trinidadian-born, Bronx-raised rapper Nicki Minaj releases her first studio album “Pink Friday.” With eight singles including “Super Bass,” the release catapults her to worldwide fame.

Rapper Nicki Minaj arrives at The 53rd Annual Grammy Awards at the Staples Center on Feb. 13, 2011 in Los Angeles, California.

May 9, 2011: Michelle Obama hosts a poetry reading at the White House and invites rapper Common, much to the consternation of conservative media.

May 28, 2014: Dr. Dre sells his Beats brand to Apple for $3.2 billion. His 25% stake in the company netted him only around $800 million in cash and Apple shares, yet the sale briefly earned him the unofficial title of hip hop’s first billionaire.

2014: Critically acclaimed Philadelphia act The Roots become the house band for “The Tonight Show.”

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July 13, 2015: Lin-Manuel Miranda’s hip hop musical “Hamilton” premieres on Broadway in previews after a smash Off-Broadway run at The Public Theater. The rap-heavy biography of Alexander Hamilton swiftly becomes the hottest ticket in town, a distinction it will hold onto for years.

Lin-Manuel Miranda and the cast of "Hamilton" perform in 2016.

Nov. 12, 2019: Kendrick Lamar becomes the first rapper to win the Pulitzer Prize for music for his album “DAMN!”

In this May 30, 2018 file photo, Kendrick Lamar holds a certificate after winning the Pulitzer Prize for music for his album "DAMN," during the 2018 Pulitzer Prize awards luncheon at Columbia University in New York.

March 31, 2019: L.A. rapper, entrepreneur and activist Airmiess Joseph Asghedom, better known as Nipsey Hussle, is gunned down in the parking lot of his Marathon Clothing store.

June 2019: Forbes names Jay-Z the first hip hop billionaire due to his combined net worth from masters, album sales and various business ventures. Many would later argue that Dr. Dre beat him to the billionaire’s circle but, as of 2023, Jay-Z remains the richest in the game with an estimated $2.5 billion net worth.

June 30, 2019: Lil Nas X, born Montero Lamar Hill, comes out as gay after a performance at Glastonbury Festival, becoming the most prominent Black male figure in hip hop to openly identify as LGBTQ.

Lil Nas X performs on The Pyramid Stage during day five of Glastonbury Festival at Worthy Farm, Pilton on June 30, 2019 in Glastonbury, England.

May 6, 2022: Puerto Rican rapper and reggaeton artist Bad Bunny releases the widely acclaimed album “Un Verano Sin Ti,” cementing reggaeton’s place in the mainstream.

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Beyoncé’s Renaissance World Tour breaks records, but how does it rank next to the world’s highest earners?

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t’s a good year for pop music fans, as two of the world’s biggest acts are currently on tour: over the last several months both Beyoncé and Taylor Swift have been travelling the world playing to sold out stadiums.

Beyoncé’s Renaissance tour began in May and saw the artist play five consecutive nights at London’s Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in June. Swift’s Eras tour launched in March; she is currently in the US and will play in London next summer.

The tours of both artists have already raked in approximately $300 million each. This places Taylor Swift at the fifth spot and Beyoncé at the sixth spot on the list of the highest-grossing tours of the decade.

But the success of the sold-out shows doesn’t stop there: Beyoncé’s Renaissance tour has broken Beyoncé’s own record, becoming the highest-grossing tour by any Black artist ever, having already made $295 million and with another 20 shows yet to go ahead. Beyoncé has easily surpassed the takings of both her 2016 The Formation World Tour, which earned $256 million, and her 2013-2014 The Mrs. Carter Show World Tour, which made $229 million.

And without adjusting for inflation, Beyoncé has also far exceeded the takings of both Michael Jackson’s 1987-1989 Bad World Tour (which earned $125 million) and Tina Turner’s 1987-88 Break Every Rule tour (which earned $60 million).

Similarly, Taylor Swift’s Eras tour has already made over $300 million, which has surpassed the takings of her 2015 The 1989 World Tour, which earned $250 million. Her 2018 Reputation Stadium Tour made $345 million dollars, and given that Swift is still yet to complete nearly half of her tour, its extremely likely that she will smash her own personal best soon too.

So who tops the charts?

Elton John is the artist who has earnt the most from a single tour, raking in a whopping $939 million for his Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour, which came to a close in June.

The 76-year Rocket Man singer said goodbye at this year’s Glastonbury, playing to a crowd of approximately 100,000 people – the performance was described by The Standard’s Dylan Jones as “primal gratification on a massive scale”.

Ed Sheeran is second on the money list, with his Divide Tour (2017-19) having made $776 million, while U2 sits at third place, with their 360° Tour (2009-2011) having made $736 million.

However, when these figures are adjusted for inflation, it’s reportedly U2 who actually sit at the top of the highest-earners list.

The list of top 20 highest-earning tours of all time includes a number of bands: Coldplay, Guns N’ Roses, The Rolling Stones, AC/DC, Metallica and The Police; major pop stars: Harry Styles, Madonna, Bruno Mars and Pink; country singers: Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood; and standout rock act Roger Waters.

When the list is narrowed down to the top earners of this decade, it shifts to include international acts such as Bad Bunny, Blackpink, and Daddy Yankee, showing the diversification of music over recent years.

The 2022 World’s Hottest Tour from Puerto Rican rapper Bad Bunny, who was crowned Spotify’s most-streamed artist last year after clocking 18.5 billion streams, earned $314 million, placing him at fourth place on the list. Meanwhile the K-pop girl group come in at eighth on the list with their ongoing Born Pink World Tour. It has made $220 million so far. The 83-date La Última Vuelta World Tour from Puerto Rican rapper Daddy Yankee, made $198 million last year, placing him at ninth on the list.

Elton John sits at the top of this list, followed by Sheeran and then Coldplay, who have made $617 million and counting from their ongoing Music of the Spheres World Tour.

Taylor Swift is set to play in London on June 21, 22 and 23 and August 15, 16 and 17 2024

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Beyonce’s Renaissance tour becomes highest grossing ever for a black artist

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eyoncé’s Renaissance concerts are on course to set a record for the amount made on a tour for a Black artist — and she is only halfway through.

Having conquered Europe and sold out Tottenham Hotspur Stadium for five nights running, the singer is now well into the North American leg — which recently made a star of her bodyguard.

Official Chart data states that The Renaissance World Tour has made $296 million (£232 million) — which has put it ahead of Michael Jackson’s $165 million (£129 million) made in 1997. And it is not far behind the £305 million record by Bruno Mars’s 24K Magic Tour.

Beyoncé now holds five of the top 10 titles on the all-time list of top-grossing concert tours by Black artists, occupying positions two through to five. Two of her entries are the On The Run shows she performed with her husband, rapper Jay-Z.

Beyoncé performs at London’s Tottenham Hotspur Stadium

/ PA

Beyoncé has now performed 33 of her 56 shows, which will wind up in October in Kansas City. As well as her ‘mute’ sections and costume changes, the singer has also made headlines for spending £79,000 to keep trains running late on the Washington network to allow fans a safe trip home.

The top grossing tours of all time by black artists

This is the list of top-grossing concert tours by Black artists and is not adjusted for inflation. All amounts converted from US dollars to British pounds on August 9, 2023.

  1. Bruno Mars — 24K Magic (2017-18) £305 million
  2. Beyoncé — Renaissance (2023) £232 million
  3. Beyoncé and Jay Z — On The Run II (2018) £207 million
  4. Beyoncé — Formation World Tour (2016) £201 million
  5. Beyoncé — The Mrs Carter World Tour (2013 – 2014) £179 million
  6. Michael Jackson —HIStory (1996-1997) £129 million
  7. The Weeknd — After Hours (2022-2023) £113 million
  8. Tina Turner — Wildest Dreams (1996-1997) £102 million
  9. Kendrick Lamar — The Big Steppers Tour (2022) £86 million
  10. Beyoncé and Jay Z — On The Run (2014) £85 million

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Beyoncé’s Renaissance World Tour makes history after becoming highest-grossing tour in history

  • Beyoncé Knowles has made history with her ongoing Renaissance World Tour after it became the highest-grossing tour by a black woman
  • According to the reports circulating on social media, the star who is halfway done with her shows has already made R5.6 billion ($296 million)
  • Beyonce has already completed the European leg of her tour having performed in Barcelona, Stockholm, London, Paris and Amsterdam

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Beyoncé is only halfway done with her Renaissance Tour but she has already broken world records. The superstar who has been globetrotting, doing what she does best has surpassed Taylor Swift to become the highest-grossing star of all time.

Beyoncé's Renaissance World Tour makes history
Beyoncé’s Renaissance World Tour has become the highest-grossing tour in history. Image: @beyonce
Source: Instagram

Beyonce’s Renaissance Tour becomes highest-grossing tour

The Renaissance World Tour has been making headlines since it kicked off a few weeks ago. Beyoncé‘s fans from all over the world have been coming out in numbers to watch the star, who is regarded as the best performer of all time on stage.

Apart from having to deal with a lot of technical challenges and flying with her personal toilet seats, the Renaissance World Tour is a success. According to a post shared by Chart Data, The Cuff It singer became the highest-grossing black artist in history after completing her 33rd show.

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Beyoncé surpassed fellow pop star Taylor Swift and her own previous record. The post read:

“@Beyonce’s ‘RENAISSANCE World Tour’ is now the highest-grossing tour by a Black artist in history, surpassing her own ‘Formation World Tour’.”

Beyoncé’s fans celebrate her success

The BeyHive is proud of their queen’s achievements. Social media has been awash with congratulatory messages from the peeps.

@arianaunext said:

“Literally her own competition, just pure queen things!! “

@stonesandsnakes wrote:

“Higher than Eras tour? Doubt it.”

@Goodkaaaarrmmaa noted:

“The mother that mothered your mothers! “

Beyoncé slammed for R2.9K listening only Renaissance tickets

In more news about Beyoncé, Briefly News previously reported that we all know people would lose an arm and a leg to go to the singer’s concerts, but not to just listen to her. The star has been making waves since the beginning of her much-awaited Renaissance Tour.

Beyoncé is the star she thinks she is. The star has been making waves due to her Renaissance Tour. The tour has been so popular on social media, many people are allegedly selling personal belongings to be able to get a glimpse of Queen Bey doing what she does best.

Source: Briefly News

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