Actor Angus Cloud, best known for playing Fezco on HBO’s Euphoria, has passed away. The cause of death has not been made public, but in a statement to TMZ, his family said:

“Last week, he buried his father and intensely struggled with this loss. The only comfort we have is knowing Angus is now reunited with his dad, who was his best friend. Angus was open about his battle with mental health and we hope that his passing can be a reminder to others that they are not alone and should not fight this on their own in silence.”

Angus was 25 years old.

Between his first public statement since his headline-making health scare and rumors about him being cloned, Jamie Foxx is being talked about a lot these days. Not to mention, his Netflix movie They Cloned Tyrone has been unanimously lauded as a masterpiece.

Seeing the multi-hyphenate in the news had me thinking about all the music he’s given us — and how he continues the R&B tradition of keeping his best work as album cuts, never to be heard by the casual fan. That’s right, “Blame It” (featuring T-Pain) is not nearly his best.

His breakthrough album, Unpredictable, is probably mostly remembered for its biggest single, the title track. However, real R&B fans know that album’s brightest moments were all on album cuts.

“Heaven,” the album’s 14th track, is a beautiful piano-driven ballad about Jamie Foxx’s daughter, Corinne. In a 2005 interview with NPR, he said:

Well, I’ll tell you, the “Heaven Will Never Be The Same” was because I didn’t know if my daughter was going to be, you know, born with complications or things like that. And the way it came to me was that there was a angel in heaven watching the plight of this couple try to have a kid, and it was God’s favorite little angel, and one day, God calls a roll call, and she doesn’t answer. And what she had done was she snuck down to Earth to bless this couple with a child, and that child is, in a sense, my daughter. And so that’s why I wrote the tune from–I wrote it from that spirit.


The song was co-written by the singer and Durrell Babbs, and produced by Tim Pierce and (you wouldn’t believe it) Babyface. Yes, that’s three straight weeks where Mr. Edmonds had a part in creating the TBT selection. Truly the GOAT.

If you’re not familiar with this gem, you’re welcome. Below is a live rendition performed on AOL Music Sessions.

With a domestic haul of $162 million — well above the $110 million projection and nearly twice Oppenheimer’s $82.4 million gross — Barbie blasted to No. 1 in what was the fourth-biggest weekend in US box office history. Overall revenue for all movies was over $302 million.

The success of Barbie gives Greta Gerwig the biggest opening ever for a female director.

Globally, Barbie and Oppenheimer grossed $356.3 million and $180.4 million, respectively.

Last week, we had song produced by Babyface, Daryl Simmons and L.A. Reid, and this week, we’ve got another one. Because those three men were really hard to escape in the early ’90s.

The trio wrote and produced Bobby Brown’s “Good Enough,” the second single from his third solo studio album, Bobby. Released in October 1992, it is the kind of the sweet-yet-nasty R&B song that we don’t get too often these days. Nothing about its lyrics are subtle, but by the power of melody, it all sounds romantic.

Though his legacy is marked by controversy and all the chaos he brought to both New Edition and Whitney Houston’s life, one thing that’s not up for debate is Bobby Brown’s catalog. “Good Enough” peaked at No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming his eighth and final top 10 hit on the chart.

One thing about Ponytail? She don’t stay single for long.

Just days after reports about her impending divorce from husband Dalton Gomez, there are now reports that Ariana Grande is dating Wicked Part 1 co-star Ethan Slater. He plays Boq, a character that has a crush on Ariana’s character, Glinda. He is reportedly separated from his wife, who he welcomed a child with late last year.

Today in 1993, Toni Braxton released her self-titled debut album in what has to be the most competitive time in popular music, especially for big-voice, female R&B singer. Whitney had released her biggest album less than a year prior, Mariah was about to release what would become her biggest album the following month, and everywhere you turned, there was a belting-ass Black woman waiting to sing you down.

However, the cream always rises to the top.

With her incredibly unique voice, Toni wasn’t one who could get lost in the mix. And with Babyface writing the songs, how could she lose?

After whetting our appetites with “Love Shoulda Brought You Home” (from the Boomerang soundtrack), Toni hit us with “Another Sad Love Song,” the album’s lead single. Co-written by Face and Daryl Simmons, the song has the kind of hook that makes you want to sing along. And that bridge? Arguably the best ever.

“Another Sad Love Song” would go on to become Toni’s first top 10 hit, peaking at No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100. It also earned the singer a Grammy for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance in 1994. That year, she would also win the Grammy for Best New Artist.

A Michigan jury ruled that a handwritten will from 2014 — found in Aretha Franklin’s couch, no less — should override a notarized 2010 will that was locked away in a closet. Both wills were discovered around the same time and happiness source of contention between the Queen of Soul’s kids.

Her third child, Ted White Jr., was in favor of the 2010 will (in which he’s named as an executor, while Edward Derone Franklin and Ketcalf Cunningham (her second and fourth, respectively), was in favor of the 2014 will.

TBT selections are that much easier when they fall on an artist’s birthday, and today, 50 Cent becomes two years shy of 50.

Born Curtis Jackson, the rapper’s stage name was inspired by an ’80s gangster named Kelvin “50 Cent” Martin. The original 50 Cent was serial armed robber and was particularly known for robbing celebrities. 50 the rapper was so inspired, he didn’t stop at the stage name — his debut single, “How to Rob” (featuring Madd Rapper), is an homage to Martin.

Released in August 1999, “How to Rob” is a series of scenarios where 50 Cent robs everyone from Jay-Z to Missy Elliott to Big Pun — shit, even Boyz II Men weren’t spared. Click here for a full list of the famous victims on the song.

At the time, 50 Cent was signed to Columbia Records, and the song included a line about the label’s biggest star, Mariah Carey. He not only raps about robbing her but makes reference to the label’s head and her ex-husband, Tommy Mottola, who she had divorced just a year prior (and who was also actively making her life hell at the time). As the story goes, Mariah caught wind of the song before its release and was having none of it. She threatened to leave the label if her name remained in the song, so 50 picked a new victim for that particular line: R&B singer Case.

Mariah would end up leaving the label anyway within the year, and the original version of the song would eventually see the light of day in 2017, when 50 Cent included it on his greatest hits album, Best of 50 Cent.

That second version of the song appeared on the In Too Deep soundtrack and was to appear on 50’s would-be debut album, Power of the Dollar, but the album was shelved and he was dropped from the label shortly after the May 2000 shooting that almost claimed his life. He was scheduled to shoot a video for his second single, “Thug Love” (featuring Destiny’s Child), three days after he got shot

“How to Rob” is based on a sample of KC and the Sunshine Band’s “I Get Lifted,” an album cut from the group’s self-titled sophomore LP — and get this, that album was released on the very day 50 Cent was born.

July 4, 2023, had the highest average temperature across the globe — 62.9°F — since record-keeping began. That record was matched on July 5.

The record before these last two days? This past Monday, where the globe reached an average temperature of 62.6°F. The record before this week, 61.9°F, was set in August 2016.

Experts blame global warming caused by man-made activities as well as El Niño, a natural warming of the Pacific Ocean that happens every two to seven years. The record set this week is expected to be broken again — more than once — over the next six weeks.

Yesterday, it was announced that the Pittsburgh stop of Beyoncé’s Renaissance World Tour will be canceled due to “production logistics and scheduling issues.”

In addition, the second LA show will now be the first of the three shows in that city, moving from September 3 to September 1. The Seattle show has been moved from September 13 to September 14, and the Kansas City show has been moved from September 18 to October 1.

In response to the cancelation, the mayor of Pittsburgh, Ed Gainey, has issued a statement where he explains that Bey was going to get honored with her own day in the city. He also revealed that city officials are now working with the promoters to get her to schedule a new date for the show.