Entertainment

ABOVE PHOTO:  Meek Mills (AP Photo/ Ron Harris)   By Natalie Pompilio Associated Press Rapper Meek Mill’s drug and gun convictions should be thrown out and he should be granted a new trial, prosecutors said in court Monday in an announcement that led his supporters outside to break into an impromptu dance party. Judge Genece…

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ABOVE PHOTO:  Mavis Staples performs at BottleRock in Napa, California in 2017.  (Photo: Shutterstock)   ASSOCIATED PRESS CINCINNATI — The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center in Cincinnati says it plans to celebrate the life of singer and activist Mavis Staples with one of the museum’s highest honors. The center presented Staples with the Everyday Freedom Hero…

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ABOVE PHOTO:  R. Lee Ermey  (Tinseltown / shutterstock)   By Lindsey Bahr Associated Press LOS ANGELES — R. Lee Ermey, a former Marine who made a career in Hollywood playing hard-nosed military men like Gunnery Sgt. Hartman in Stanley Kubrick’s “Full Metal Jacket,” has died. Ermey’s longtime manager Bill Rogin says he died Sunday morning from…

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ABOVE PHOTO:  Kendrick Lamar  (Photo: Shutterstock)   By Mesfin Fekadu ASSOCIATED PRESS NEW YORK — Kendrick Lamar has won the Pulitzer Prize for music, making history as the first non-classical or jazz artist to win the prestigious prize. The revered rapper is also the most commercially successful musician to receive the award, usually reserved for…

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ABOVE PHOTO:  Bienvenidos Blancos   By Steve Bryant April — which is Jazz Appreciation Month —   is soon coming to a close. In addition to the many  concerts that have already taken place, there is still plenty of music to be heard and savored for the duration of the month. This includes two exciting…

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NEW YORK (AP) — Kendrick Lamar has won the Pulitzer Prize for music, making history as the first non-classical or jazz artist to win the prestigious prize. The revered rapper is also the most commercially successful musician to receive the award, usually reserved for critically acclaimed classical acts who don’t live on the pop charts….

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By Alicia Rancilio ASSOCIATED PRESS NEW YORK — Cleo Wade is known for not only her poetry, but her positive, uplifting Instagram mantras that have earned her a following that includes Yara Shahidi and Jessica Alba. So it’s not surprising that on a day when she’s running around like crazy promoting her new book, she…

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By Stacy M. Brown NNPA In January 2014, Kenneth Thompson made history by becoming the first African- American district attorney of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. As Brooklyn’s district attorney, Thompson “ordered his office not to prosecute low-level marijuana arrests, in part to devote more resources to fight gun crimes, rape and domestic…

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By Kam Williams Hey, sci-fi fans, did you find it hard to stomach the sight of a human mating with another species in “The Shape of Water,” too? If so, have I got a movie that’ll wash the bad taste right out of your mouth! Call me shallow, but I much prefer this old-fashioned monster…

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ABOVE PHOTO:  Lena Waithe as Aech in a scene from Steven Spielberg’s new sci-fi film “Ready Player One”.   Award-winning comedy writer and actor Lena Waithe of “Ready Player One”   Interview with Kam Williams Born on May 17, 1984, Lena Diane Waithe was raised along with her sister on the South Side of Chicago…

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