Chris Brown is kicking-off the new year by announcing that the first single from his long-awaited 10th solo album Breezy will drop Friday, Jan. 14.  Titled “Iffy,” the song will drop along with a music video, for which Brown shared a cinematic trailer. Chris told his followers: “BREEZY SEASON COMING! 2022 NEW ERA UNLOCKED.”

Breezy is the follow-up to 2019’s Indigo.  Brown also revealed that Breezy will feature 16 tracks, saying:  “THIS GONNA BE MY 10th album. The amount of songs on this one will be the same amount of songs as my first album. KEEP IT CLASSIC… Chris Brown to BREEZY!”

To pre-save “Iffy”, head to the link here.

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The anticipated collaboration between Conway The Machine and 2 Chainz is here with the release of their collaboration ‘TRU Bethel’.

The song that was played on Instagram Live about one and a half years ago and was never released officially, but it was included on Conway’s Missing Bricks EP earlier this year that was an exclusive vinyl release.

The gospel-themed tune — produced by Trizzy Williams — can be heard at the link here.

http://onsmash.com/music/conway-machine-tru-bethel-feat-2-chainz-new-song-stream/

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Whoopi Goldberg has tested positive for COVID-19 with a breakthrough case of the virus. Joy Behar, Goldberg’s co-host on ‘The View,’ announced the news on the show Monday. Said Behar: “Why am I here instead of Whoopi? Well, Whoopi, unfortunately, tested positive over the break but she’ll be back probably next week. Since she’s vaxxed and boosted, her symptoms have been very, very, mild. But we’re being super cautious here at The View.”

Behar, co-hosts Sunny Hostin and Sara Haines, and guest host Ana Navarro are filming ‘The View’ from home ‘out of an abundance of caution’ this week. Hostin said on Monday that she and her mom also tested positive for COVID-19 over the holiday break but have since recovered. Navarro’s father also tested positive for the virus but was able to join the family for New Years.

The 66-year-old Goldberg is fully vaccinated and boosted. Goldberg and Hostin’s positive diagnoses come amid the surge of COVID-19 cases due in part to the highly contagious omicron variant.

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‘Squid Game’ creator Hwang Dong-hyuk confirmed in a recent interview that he’s presently in talks with Netflix over a second and third season of the show.  Following its Sept. 17 debut, the South Korean show became the Netflix’s biggest series in its history — reaching 142 million member households globally and becoming the first to surpass 100 million views.

According to The Korea Times, Hwang said:“I’m in talks with Netflix over season 2 as well as season 3. We will come to a conclusion any time soon.”  During a November special screening and Q&A for the series, Hwang shared that he had been working on a season two storyline and was currently in talks with Netflix over another season.   The writer-director shared: “I do have a basic storyline for season two — it’s all in my head — and I am currently in the brainstorming stage. It will happen, someday, but as for when I cannot tell you the details.”

Squid Game follows Seong Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae), who receives a mysterious invitation to join a tournament of traditional Korean children’s games with a deadly twist. Held in a secret location, the games offer its 456 participants a shot at winning 45.6 billion in prize money.

https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2021/12/squid-game-season-3-hwang-dong-hyuk-netflix-in-talks

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Former UNLV basketball star (and one-half of the Gonzalez Twins) Dylan Gonzalez has accused Trey Songz of being a “rapist.”  Dylan tweeted, “Trey Songz is a rapist. Lord forgive me I Couldn’t hold that in another year. See you in 2022.”  Dylan and her sister previously played college basketball at the University of Nevada but left to focus on their music career. Along with her tweet, she reposted the message to her Instagram Story. She did not further elaborate on her accusation against Songz.

Songz has been facing similar accusations:  earlier this month, Jauhara Jeffries filed a $20 million civil lawsuit against Songz for an alleged sexual assault that took place on New Year’s Day in 2018 on Star Island.  And in November, TMZ reported that the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department was investigating Songz after a woman came forward and claimed that he sexually assaulted her at The Cosmopolitan when he was in town for his 37th birthday at the hotel’s Drai’s Nightclub.

Songz was set to perform a New Year’s Eve celebration at the Chicago Theater, but it was canceled due to the COVID-19 surge.

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The Weeknd has announced that his new album Dawn FM will drop this Friday, January 7. The artist – real name Abel Tesfaye – teased the news over the New Year weekend on his Instagram.  On Monday, The Weeknd confirmed that the album will be out this week, writing in a caption alongside a video teaser of new music: “new album : dawn FM // january 7th.”  

Dawn FM is the follow-up to The Weeknd’s 2020 release After Hours.  He has since released multiple songs, remixes, collaborations and videos, and also starred in and co-wrote the forthcoming HBO series The Idol.  Dawn FM will be The Weeknd’s fifth album, in addition to three mixtapes he released in 2011.

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The producers of the documentary film “Betty White: 100 Years Young” say a theatrical screening will proceed as scheduled on the comedy legend’s 100th birthday, despite her death on December 31st, just a few weeks shy of that milestone.

Producers/directors Steve Boettcher and Mike Trinklein said in a joint statement: “Our hearts mourn today with the passing of Betty White. During the many years we worked with her, we developed a great love and admiration for Betty as a person, and as an accomplished entertainer. We are thankful for the many decades of delight she brought to everyone. Betty always said she was the ‘luckiest broad on two feet’ to have had a career as long as she did. And honestly, we were the lucky ones to have had her for so long. We will go forward with our plans to show the film on January 17 in hopes our film will provide a way for all who loved her to celebrate her life—and experience what made her such a national treasure.”

The documentary will feature appearances by Ryan Reynolds, Tina Fey, Robert Redford, Morgan Freeman, Carol Burnett, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Clint Eastwood, Jay Leno, Jimmy Kimmel, and many more.   The film was expected to screen at 900 theaters across the U.S. on White’s birthday, Jan. 17, 2022. You can learn more about the documentary at Fathom Events’ website.

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Michael Keaton is set to reprise his role in the upcoming HBO Max movie, “Batgirl.” Keaton, who starred in Tim Burton’s 1989 “Batman” and the 1992 sequel “Batman Returns,” will return as Bruce Wayne alongside Leslie Grace, who will play Batgirl, in addition to J.K. Simmons, Brendan Fraser and Jacob Scipio.  “Batgirl” has no scheduled release date, but is set to debut in 2022;  the film centers on the heroine whose real identity is Barbara Gordon, the daughter of Gotham police commissioner Jim Gordon (Simmons).

Keaton will be seen as the Caped Crusader in the upcoming Warner Bros. adventure “The Flash” (in theaters Nov. 4), a multiverse-spanning story directed by Andy Muschietti (“It”).  The movie features Ezra Miller reprising his role as the title character, and will catch up with Keaton’s Batman 30 years after moviegoers last saw him in the role.  “The Flash” also will feature the return of Ben Affleck as the Batman from “Justice League.”

https://ew.com/movies/michael-keaton-joins-batgirl-movie/?utm_medium=browser&utm_source=ew.com&utm_content=20220101&utm_campaign=1745601

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Kodak Black was arrested on a trespassing charge over the weekend in South Florida. Authorities at the Broward Sheriff’s Office said Black was taken into custody in his hometown of Pompano Beach early Saturday morning. Investigators did not immediately release details about what prompted the arrest.

Black — legal name is Bill Kapri — later posted bond and was released. Neither his publicist nor his attorney immediately returned an emailed request for comment. Black had a three-year federal prison sentence for falsifying documents used to buy weapons at a Miami gun store commuted by President Donald Trump on his last day in office in 2020, after he had served about half his sentence. He was later sentenced to probation last April for assaulting a teenage girl in a South Carolina hotel room. Black was originally charged with rape, but accepted a deal and pleaded guilty to first-degree assault.

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A&E and Lifetime revealed that the first episode in their two-part documentary about Janet Jackson —titled “Janet” — will premiere on Jan. 28.   Made in cooperation with Jackson herself, Lifetime also shared a new three-minute trailer for Janet, which is being described as an “intimate, honest, and unfiltered look” at Jackson’s life and career.

The trailer also reveals many of the artists who were interviewed for the documentary: Missy Elliott, Janelle Monae (who also inducted Janet into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame), Whoopi Goldberg, Samuel L. Jackson, Mariah Carey, Teyana Taylor, Tyler Perry, and many more.  Janet also features exclusive interviews and never-before-seen footage from throughout Jackson’s childhood and career, with the documentary taking her back to her hometown of Gary, Indiana to her independence with ‘Rhythm Nation’.  The documentary also touches on her infamous Super Bowl wardrobe malfunction, as well as her close relationship with her late brother Michael, who she simply refers to as “Mike.”

The four-hour long Janet, which was “five years in the making,” was executive produced by both Janet and her brother Randy Jackson, and directed by Ben Hirsch. The documentary arrives on what marks the 40th anniversary of Jackson’s 1982 self-titled debut LP.

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