AM Prep-Music
Published Monday, Sept. 23, 2024 | 10:40 p.m.
Updated Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024 | 12:05 a.m.
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — A Memphis man testified on Monday that he and a second person shot and killed rapper Young Dolph after Big Jook, the brother of rapper Yo Gotti, put a hit on him. Cornelius Smith identified himself and Justin Johnson as the two people seen on a Nov. 17, 2021, surveillance video exiting a white Mercedes outside a Memphis cookie store about 30 seconds after Young Dolph entered the store and then opening fire in broad daylight. Smith was testifying in the first day of Johnson’s trial on charges of murder, conspiracy to commit murder, and being a felon in possession of a gun. Smith also faces murder and conspiracy charges.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A man convicted of sending his 17-year-old son into a restaurant to rob and kill rapper PnB Rock was sentenced Monday to 31 years to life in prison. Judge Connie Quinones handed down the sentence to Freddie Trone in Los Angeles County Superior Court. A jury on Aug. 7 found Trone guilty of one count of murder, two counts of robbery and one count of conspiracy to commit robbery. Both sides at Trone’s trial agreed that the teen walked into Roscoe’s Chicken & Waffles in South Los Angeles in September 2022 and shot the Philadelphia hip-hop star, whose legal name is Rakim Allen, while robbing him of his jewelry as he ate with the mother of his 4-year-old daughter. The prosecution said he was acting on his father’s orders, while the defense, which plans to appeal, said Trone was only an accessory after the fact.
WASHINGTON (AP) – Johnny Cash arrives at the U.S. Capitol today. An 8-foot-tall bronze statue of Cash will be unveiled at the Capitol’s Statuary Hall. The statue shows Cash with a guitar on his back and a Bible in his hand. Cash’s family will be among those present for the unveiling. The Cash statue is one of two representing Arkansas, where he was born. The other statue is of civil rights leader Daisy Bates, which was unveiled earlier this year.
NEW YORK (AP) – With the death of Benny Golson, Sonny Rollins is the last musician alive who appeared in the 1958 photo “A Great Day in Harlem.” The photo shows 57 great jazz musicians, including Dizzy Gillespie, Art Blakey, Gene Krupa and Charles Mingus. It was taken for Esquire magazine and has been called the most iconic photo in jazz. Golson died Saturday at the age of 95.
LOS ANGELES (AP) – The first time Serj Tankian (TAHN’-kee-an) heard a System Of A Down song on the radio, it was in Los Angeles not far from where they mixed it. He says it was both elating and revealing. Tankian says making music is an intimate experience with just a few people in a room. He says hearing it on the radio means the realization that people beyond his six friends are hearing it. Tankian will have new music coming this Friday, when he releases an EP called “Foundations.”
Kenny G recalls one of his early gigs was playing with Sammy Davis Jr., and it sticks out because his mom was there. Kenny G says in a video posted to his social media he had a small solo, and then Davis turned around and said, “That kid’s going to have his own band in a week!” Kenny G says his mom was so proud, and he did not have the heart to tell her it was “a shtick in the show” and he never even spoke to Davis. Kenny G has a new autobiography out today called “Life in the Key of G.”
Carly Rae Jepsen is getting married, or as she puts it on social media, “very engaged over here.” Jepsen posted photos wearing her engagement ring next to her boyfriend, producer Cole M.G.N. They met while working on her “The Loveliest Time” album that came out last year. It will be Jepsen’s first marriage and his second.
Perhaps you’ve heard about the Pharrell Williams biopic being made in Legos. Now you can make the Lego version of yourself to pose with the Lego version of Williams. The website www.PieceByPieceGenerator.com allows you to choose skin tones, hair, clothes and expressions to make a digital version of a personalized Lego minifigure. You can then download a photo of just your minifigure, or a photo with Williams. The Williams film “Piece By Piece” will hit theaters Oct. 11.
NEW YORK (AP) - Melissa Etheridge, Selena Gomez and H.E.R. (HER) will appear in an upcoming documentary about female musicians fighting for equality. “Louder: The Soundtrack of Change” also features Chaka Khan, Linda Ronstadt, Mickey Guyton, Rhiannon Giddens and Kathleen Hanna. It will stream on Max starting Oct. 17.