Renaissance Man Showbiz and Celebrity Breaking News

Grammy winner Raphael Saadiq.The prodigy bass player and vocalist has been a driving force behind the many smash records of Whitney Houston, Mary J. Blige, Beyoncé and Stevie Wonder, to name a few.

legendary rapper Juicy J shares his “Chronicles.”A founding member of Three 6 Mafia — who has gone on to have an outstanding career in music, become an entrepreneur and author, and take home an Academy Award with his rap group — Juicy reminisced about his rise to fame from humble beginnings out of Memphis, Tennessee, in the early 1990s.Even when that iconic rap trio started making it big, none of it felt real for J, he told me.“Back in the day, we used to do radio promo shows with Destiny’s Child. I remember Kelly Rowland was telling me, she was like, ‘I love your music! I love your music!’” Juicy said.

celebrate hip-hop’s 50th anniversary, it would be an outright sin to exclude Detroit’s legendary group Slum Village from the conversation. That OG trio absolutely owned the late 1990s with their debut album “Fan-Tas-Tic” and the current group continues to make a mark on music today.

he knows he’s nice.Proudly hailing from Long Island’s 516 territory, this man’s contribution to rap is the stuff of legend. Chuck D is a founding member of Public Enemy, known for hits like “Fight the Power” and “Don’t Believe the Hype” which skyrocketed the rapper’s illustrious group and solo career, one that’s now enshrined in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.My good friend Chuck D, who I absolutely idolized in the 1980s and ’90s, joined me on “Renaissance Man” this week to reflect on the good old days, including his adventures and experiences during that golden age of hip-hop — starting with the formation of Public Enemy alongside one Flavor Flav.The duo first connected at Adelphi University in Nassau County, where they both dreamed big and took advantage of every musical opportunity which came their way.

such as Steve Harvey getting candid about their own high-profile economics.Last year, I was proud to be a guest on their powerhouse podcast of the same name, which we recorded inside a classroom of the Jalen Rose Leadership Academy in Detroit, Michigan. Now, it’s time to have these financial gurus on “Renaissance Man.”We went full Jim Cramer on the show this week, talking about how athletes and celebrities can lose their big bucks — and who should actually be taking the blame for.

have graced hip-hop in the way that Styles P has.The proud son of Yonkers has led an illustrious career since the 1990s. He’s done so not only as a solo artist but also alongside Jadakiss and Sheek Louch in the rap trio known as the Lox.After so many hits and so many years in the game, the rap legend has reached a closing chapter in his career.

Malcolm-Jamal Warner was about 7, he made a prediction.“I told my parents that I was going to either be a famous poet, a famous actor or famous basketball player,” he told me on this week’s “Renaissance Man,” adding, “so don’t ask about my game.”We all know Malcolm-Jamal went on to play Theo Huxtable on iconic sitcom “The Cosby Show.” But he’s also a musician, a poet and, most recently, starred on Fox’s anthology “Accused.” So, there’s plenty to talk about without bringing up his jump shot. He’s the definition of a renaissance man.Malcolm-Jamal’s father went to Langston Hughes’ alma mater, Lincoln University, with poet Gil Scott-Heron.

J. Alphonse Nicholson, who was on a drumline growing up in North Carolina, spent years drumming on the street in New York City before he hit the big time.“You have so many different street musicians who do that,” he told me on this week’s “Renaissance Man.” “But that’s how I made a living, man.

Kym Whitley scored her first movie role by being different — and ridiculously funny.The Ohio native had been in the popular play “Beauty Shop” and a few commercials. But when she auditioned for the part of Suga in “Next Friday,” she knew comedy was her calling. “I went into the audition and … I was hungry for it.

Bresha Webb is a proud daughter of Baltimore, who grew up with big acting dreams. But she has mixed feelings when it comes to the city’s greatest contribution to television: “The Wire.”“A lot of the roles were cast out of my high school, the Baltimore School for the Arts. So I was just upset that I didn’t get a chance to be on it,” she told me on this week’s “Renaissance Man.”She said that her classmates and teachers were cast, but she was petite and, well, too “cute” to be considered for those gritty gangster and drug dealer roles.“I looked like I was 14 forever,” she said.

he starred in the BET 2018 miniseries “The Bobby Brown Story,” fans regularly address him as the “Every Little Step” singer.That made the actor bristle until the great Jamie Foxx (who I’m praying for) gave him some advice. Woody recalled that Jamie said to him, “I come from ‘In Living Color.’ So my first role was Wanda … You got to embrace it in order to move on … You got to take it.”“I felt like that was a great conversation for me to have,” Woody told me on this week’s “Renaissance Man.” “I’ve been trying to figure out how to cope with people not calling me by my name. … It’s been helpful, though.”Getting called Bobby is really a credit to Woody’s incredible portrayal of the singer.“When I first met Bobby, he walked in, he was like, ‘Hell, yeah.

hip-hop turns 50 and we pull back the lens to see its full story, we can appreciate the rappers who truly changed the game from an artistic and business perspective. That list wouldn’t be complete without including the groundbreaking trio from East Orange, New Jersey: Naughty by Nature.They started out performing at their high school talent show and went to the moon. Initially, Vin Rock (Vincent Brown) and DJ KayGee (Keir Lamont Gist), who joined me on this week’s “Renaissance Man,” enlisted Treach (Anthony Criss) to round out the group.

“Fresh Prince” reboot “Bel-Air,” she had come off a heavy role and told her manager she wanted to play someone who was rich and beautiful. She wanted lighter fare.“That’s it, I don’t wanna do any more sad stories about black people,” she told me on this week’s episode of “Renaissance Man.” “I’m like, ‘I’m done. I don’t [want to] be crying in the street over my dead black boy.

Jesse Metcalfe became a household name as a shirtless hunk on “Desperate Housewives” and a regular on Hallmark, he was a Little League slugger in the Nutmeg State idolizing Yankee great Don Mattingly.“I had a pretty idyllic childhood,” he told me on this week’s episode of “Renaissance Man,” adding, “Connecticut’s a great place to grow up. I was a public school kid, played sports.” Baseball and hoops were his passion — as were the Bronx Bombers.“My favorite baseball player growing up was Donnie Baseball. I was a big Yankees fan growing up,” he said.

Broadway star Billy Porter has won a Tony, a Grammy, an Emmy and also has the distinction of bringing the tuxedo dress to the red carpet. At the 2019 Oscars, Porter changed the fashion conversation, attending in a velvet tuxedo gown by designer Christian Siriano. He called the “antebellum tuxedo gown” his biggest style moment.

creative talents at “The Daily Show.” Sure, he’s got all the accolades now, but the Louisiana native started chasing his dream post-college after moving to Chicago. There, he slept on couches and worked at grocery stores. But he has an interesting perspective on his early days.On this week’s “Renaissance Man,” Josh told me that if you aren’t used to having creature comforts, “you don’t actually know the difference.

Hosea Chanchez‘s introduction to Los Angeles was a series of unfortunate events. At 17, he dropped out of school and drove across the country with his cousin in his Mitsubishi Eclipse, expecting to stay with a family member and pursue his dream of being a working actor. His housing plans fell through, but his relative organized for him to temporarily crash with a friend.“I ended up staying one night with this young lady, and I had no idea that she was on drugs and was dating her drug dealer,” he said during this week’s “Renaissance Man.”If it sounds ominous, it was.

a high-profile fallout with Lee Daniels, who directed her in “Precious.” She is starring in my favorite show, “BMF,” and she has an upcoming Netflix special, “My Name Is Mo’Nique,” which she co-wrote with her husband, Sidney Hicks. It comes on the heels of her settling a discrimination lawsuit with the streaming giant.“You get called angry.

Renaissance Man” guest grow up on their televisions and turn into a rapping, dancing and acting triple threat before our very eyes. But he informs me his hoops game is similar to Chris Paul, so we might have to turn that threat into a quadruple. I’m talking about “Black-ish” star Miles Brown aka Baby Boogaloo.

“Renaissance Man” guest embodies that spirit from her oozing self-confidence to her taste in music. Actress and singer Mj Rodriguez is only 30, but her musical roots suggest someone born in a much earlier decade.

Gizmodo reported. The finding is the result of a decade of research by Vezzosi and co-author Agnese Sabato, which not only answers lingering questions about da Vinci’s genealogy but corrects some errors in previous research.The living descendants are all the products of da Vinci’s relatives, including at least 22 half-brothers, as the polymath had no children.Researchers hope the data can help connect how da Vinci’s genius, premature aging and left-handedness were potentially linked to his

for this week’s “Renaissance Man,” that memory came flooding back. As the host of Complex’s online show “Sneaker Shopping,” La Puma uses sneakers as a window to the lives and values of celebrities, artists and athletes who share their philosophies on kicks, their collections and sometimes heartfelt tales about soles.“What I like is that everybody has a specific sneaker story,” La Puma told me.“But also about how the first pair made you feel, how the worst pair you had made you feel.

The Renaissance Man,” we covered his journey in Hollywood, books, theater, fatherhood and the current situation in America. But there was one basic piece of advice that stuck with me, which dates back to when he was working in restaurants and still looking for his big break as an actor.“First and foremost, never mess with a waiter,” he said. “I’m not going to say what I saw, but … people f–k with your food.

late “Growing Pains” actor, Alan Thicke, a native of Ontario, must have been running a boarding house for Canadian superstars who ventured south of the northern border. Exhibit A: Wayne Gretzky.

At the corner of Barrington, I looked to my right and saw a red Cadillac Escalade. The dome light popped on, and someone got out of the back and pointed a 9 millimeter at us.

We became close friends. I would travel all over the country to see the Kings of Comedy.