• Beyoncé Criticized by Animal Rights Groups for Photos with Tiger, Elephant in Thailand

    Over the weekend, Beyoncé posted a photo to her Instagram account of herself, Jay-Z and their daughter Blue Ivy petting a tiger cub during their recent trip to Thailand, and though the picture is absolutely adorable for a number of reasons — as you can see up above — not everyone is happy about it. According to "Vulture," animal rights organization World Animal Protection criticized Bey for her photo-op, which took place at Phuket's FantaSea theme park, saying that the animals in these parks are subjected to abuse and suffering."When you look behind the scenes, vacation snaps like these support an industry that relies on animal cruelty," World Animal Protection wrote in its criticism. "Many tourists unwittingly contribute to the suffering of wild animals like these. They're simply not aware that their 'once in a lifetime' photo means a lifetime of misery for that animal."During this same trip, Mrs. Carter was also photographed riding a baby elephant, which summoned the wrath of One Green Planet, who said that "there is an incredible amount of suffering involved in Thai elephant tourism," and that the elephant in the photo "was likely taken from his mother and forced to endure a six-month 'breaking' period, during which time he was locked in a small enclosure and continuously beaten by his mahouts (trainers)."This is not the first time Queen Bey has been criticized by animal rights groups. In 2013, French designer Isabel Marant created a pair of sneakers for the singer that were made out of the skins of stingrays, crocodiles, anacondas, ostrichs and calfs, which greatly upset PETA. She is not alone, though: You can check out a list of musicians who have angered PETA here.
  • Jay Z Says Hip-Hop Played Important Role In Race Relations in America [WATCH]

    Leading up to the 50th anniversary of the historic Selma to Montgomery marches, Oprah's OWN network will be airing a series of civil rights-related programming. Yesterday the network aired a special "Master Class" episode that featured a variety of firsthand accounts from "iconic masters," including rapper and business mogul Jay Z (born Shawn Carter).
  • 8 Artists with At Least 8 No. 1 Albums: Ranking The Octopping Albums from Elvis Presley, The Beatles, Jay Z and More

    Fifty years ago on this day Elvis Presley released Roustabout, a soundtrack for the film of the same title, starring the performer. It was his eighth no. 1 album, an extension of his record for most albums atop the Billboard 200 by one artist (which would soon be surpassed for good by The Beatles). Interestingly enough, only eight acts have had at least eight albums top the American charts. We at Music Times decided to find out each of those acts' no. 8 no. 1 and measure them up against each other.
  • NME Names Best Albums of Decade: Arctic Monkeys and 'AM' Take Top Spot; Jay Z and Kanye West Earn Best Track with "N----s in Paris"

    While the rest of us music publications were running around compiling our albums-of-the-year lists, NME was going above the crowd and releasing its albums-of-the-decade list (not to say they didn't do an albums-of-the-year list as well). The Arctic Monkeys took top prize for the last four years with its 2013 release AM. The British publication may have given home field advantage to the Monkeys for albums but its pick for track of the decade thus far went to a very American act singing about another region in Europe: "Niggas in Paris" by Jay Z and Kanye West took that prize.
  • Beyonce, Jay Z Instagram [PHOTOS]: “XO” Singer Shares Christmas Pics During Holiday Season

    It looks like New York’s power couple – Beyonce and Jay Z – are having quite the Christmas. How do we know? Bey was kind enough to share with her followers … all 21.9 million of them … some photos of her enjoying the day. So, what are Jay and the “XO” singer doing? Well, not exactly sure but whatever they’re doing consists of a helicopter and some champagne!
  • The-Dream Shares New Song "Fruition" From Upcoming Album [LISTEN]

    Earlier this month, R&B singer-songwriter The-Dream debuted his new single "Fruition" the old-fashioned way: through the radio. Now, a radio rip of the single has surfaced online, which you can check out below. The track is a slick piece of R&B driven by some electric piano, drum machine, and electric guitar licks, and sounds like no other mainstream R&B artist currently working right now.
  • Jay Z and Beyoncé Outbid For Most Expensive L.A. Mansion Ever By Minecraft Founder Markus Persson

    When it comes to life, Jay Z and Beyoncé are winning just about everything. Having incredibly successful music careers, expanding their empires beyond music and being a happy family through the process is about as good as it gets. However, even with all of that winning, they can't top the general population every time. According to reports, Jay & Bey were in the hunt for a mansion in Beverly Hills, but Minecraft's founder Markus Persson purchased the home.
  • Fox News Disses Jay-Z, Jon Stewart and 'The Daily Show' Come to Hova's Defense [WATCH]

    Fox News committed a big foul when it dissed Jay-Z recently and brought up the rapper's past as a drug dealer. Sean Hannity took issue with Hova's inclusion in a meeting with New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo to discuss justice system issues in the wake of the Eric Garner decision. Jon Stewart and members of "The Daily Show," as usual, did not understand the reasoning and decided to fire some satirical shots at the news organization, "Consequence of Sound" notes.Hannity shortened Jay-Z's entire résumé to being "a guy who sold crack, was a drug dealer and actually shot somebody," citing an excerpt from the rapper's book.Hova left that lifestyle long ago, as pretty much everyone in America knows, but that was not enough for Fox News. "Daily Show" correspondent Jessica Williams explains it perfectly in the clip below."Hova has done quite a few other things since his dealing days. You would think that'd impress people on Fox, because we all know how much they like to preach to black folks about responsibility, self-improvement and what's wrong with the black community," she says.
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