9/20/14 O&A Its Saturday: Ruby Dee Memorial Service Livestream Today 11am

It is Saturdayyiqlwwzy7so8c6c6nzcrA memorial for actress and civil rights activist Ruby Dee is scheduled to begin Saturday, September 20 at 11 a.m. ET/10 a.m. CT. The service will be held at the Riverside Church in New York and will feature music by Alicia Keys and Audra McDonald, reflections by former Mayor David Dinkins and Sonia Sanchez, and a eulogy by Harry Belafonte. Dee died June 11 at 91. Continue reading

9/18/14 O&A Throwback Thursday: Aretha Franklin

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Aretha Franklin began her career singing gospel at her father, minister C. L. Franklin’s church as a child. In 1960, at age 18, Franklin embarked on a secular career. Franklin achieved commercial acclaim and success to gain the title The Queen of Soul by the end of the 1960s decade.
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9/14/14 O&A Gospel Sunday: Smokie Norful- I Need You Now

GOSPEL SUNDAY

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Reverend W.R. “Smokie” Norful, Jr. is an internationally renowned musician, music composer, and recording artist. His debut compact discs entitled I Need You Now and Smokie Norful Limited Edition have garnered favorable accolades and awards across the world, including the 2005 Grammy Award for Contemporary Soul Gospel Album of the Year for his release entitled, Nothing Without You; three Stellar awards; four Dove awards; three Gospel Music Excellence Awards; an NAACP image Award nomination; a Soul Train award nomination; two nominations for the BET award for gospel music; two RIAA certified Gold selling compact discs; and countless others. Continue reading

9/11/14 O&A DIVA ALERT!: Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston- When You Believe

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When You Believe is a song from the 1998 DreamWorks musical animated feature film The Prince of Egypt. The song was written and composed by Stephen Schwartz. A pop single version with additional music and lyrics by writer-producer Babyface was also recorded for the film. The song was performed by pop divas Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston for the film’s end credits and the soundtrack album.

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9/11/14 O&A Throwback Thursday: Mariah Carey

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Mariah Carey

Mariah Carey was born and raised on Long Island, New York, she came to prominence after releasing her self-titled debut studio album Mariah Carey in 1990. The album went multiplatinum and spawned four consecutive number one singles on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart. Referred to as the songbird supreme by the Guinness World Records, she is famed for her five-octave vocal range, power, melismatic style and signature use of the whistle register.

Throughout her career, Carey has sold more than 200 million records worldwide, making her one of the best-selling music artists of all time. In 2012, Carey was ranked second on VH1’s list of the 100 Greatest Women in Music. Aside from her commercial accomplishments, Carey has won five Grammy Awards, nineteen World Music Awards, eleven American Music Awards, and thirty-one Billboard Music Awards. Continue reading

9/4/14 O&A Throwback Thursday: O’ Jays- Backstabbers and I Love music

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The O’Jays are a R&B and originally consisting of Eddie Levert, Walter Williams, William Powell, Bobby Massey and Bill Isles. The group is from Canton, Ohio and was formed in 1958. The O’Jays had their first chart appearance in 1963 with Lonely Drifter. In 1972 the trio of Levert, Powell and Williams signed with Philadelphia International and teamed up with producers and songwriters Kenneth Gamble and Leon A. Huff. The trio emerged to the forefront of Philadelphia soul aka the Philly Sound with the 1972 international hit Backstabbers. Continue reading

8/31/14 O&A Gospel Sunday: Tamela Mann- I Can Only Imagine and Take Me To The King/ I Surrender All

GOSPEL SUNDAY

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Tamela Mann’s musical career began when she joined up with the multi-grammy award winning and double platinum gospel phenomenon Kirk Franklin and the Family. Mann has also enjoyed collaborating and performing with numerous artists such as Yolanda Adams, Mary J. Blige, Al Green, Celine Dion, Bono, R. Kelly and Fred Hammond. In 2005, Tamela and her husband of 26 years David Mann created their own label entitled Tillymann Music Group, which has released several successful projects. Continue reading

8/27/14 O&A with Walestylez: Footaction and ScHoolboy Q Video Remix- Man Of The Year

By Adewale Adekanbi

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Footwear and sportwear retailer Footaction presents a new video remix of ScHoolboy Q’s hit single, “Man of the Year”. In the video Q’s sneaker preferences are front are spotlighted; these include the new styled Jordan Future and the Nike Free Flyknit Chukka. For sneakerheads the challenge is to see how many different styles you can identify. All the sneakers featured are available at Footaction. Continue reading

8/27/14 O&A Its Saturday (Preview)- Anything Goes: A$AP Rocky

It is Saturday

A preview look at a new Out and About NYC Magazine feature

scheduled to premiere

Saturday, August 30.

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Rakim Mayers better known by his stage name, ASAP Rocky (stylized as A$AP Rocky), is a 26-year-old rapper from Harlem, New York City. He is a member of the hip hop collective ASAP Mob, from which he adopted his moniker. Rocky released his debut mixtape Live, Love, ASAP, in 2011 to critical acclaim. The success of his mixtape led to a record deal with Polo Grounds Music, RCA Records, and Sony Music  Entertainment. He recorded his 2013 debut album Long, Live, ASAP, which also well received by critics and debuted at number one on the Billboard 200.

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