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Diddy collabs with LaQuan Smith and more creatives to launch new Cîroc Passion

Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic

There’s a new flavor in town, and its name is Passion. 

Diddy‘s newest creation, Cîroc Passion, has arrived, and for the launch he enlisted the help of luxury fashion designer LaQuan Smith, personal chef Richard Ingram, and graphic designer and street artist Karabo Poppy Moletsane.

Each creative put their own spin on the alcoholic beverage in addition to creating an immersive interaction for patrons to fully experience the exotic blend of flavors. ABC Audio caught up with each of them at the official Chateau CÎROC where they dished on the experience. 

For LaQuan, its partnerships like this that he says “have helped me build my brand into what it is today.”  He adds, “Right now, it is about the sense of unification and, you know, coming together and making it make sense for the consumer and making it make sense for the creatives as well.”

Likewise, opportunities like these are not lost on Chef Richard who said he “just lets the universe direct me in the direction that I need to go.”

“And sometimes I…don’t go,” he admitted. “And most of the times I follow, you know, and I’ve been pretty successful thus far, so I’m gonna continue to go with that format.“

For Karabo, collaborating with the rapper and entrepreneur was a dream come true, literally.

“I always associated Diddy with Black Excellence,” she shared. “Never did I think we’d actually be working together and I get to take my creativity and partner with his creativity to make something new. So it’s like all the things I dream of are, like, happening now.”

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

 

Usher reflects on critics' lackluster reviews of 'Confessions' album: “It made me work harder”

Marcus Ingram/Getty Images

Eight years later, Usher is reflecting on Confessions.

The 2004 album was a staple among fans when it dropped. However, critics didn’t review the project as highly, something the R&B singer chalks it up to it being new territory at the time. 

“I feel it was partially on the story that we were telling and people getting acclimated to this new artist and having respect for or understanding of what it was for the guys who grew up with the Princes, the Michael Jacksons, the Whispers, the Isley Brothers, and the Luther Vandrosses,” Usher explained in an interview with Vulture. “They were looking at a new frontier.”

Ultimately, though, the “Yeah!” singer believes “things happen the way they’re supposed to.”

“Maybe this is the time when we look back and we begin to understand it the same way that as a kid I was influenced by music that I didn’t participate in,” he continued. “I wasn’t there for [Michael Jackson’s] Off the Wall. I wasn’t there for [Marvin Gaye‘s] What’s Going On. I wasn’t there for Donny Hathaway albums. But I could find them because there was a space to be able to hear them.”

Usher added that while he wishes that critics “celebrated” his work at the time, “It’s okay that they didn’t because it made me work harder.”

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

 

Athlete, rapper Flau'jae Johnson ready to profit from new NCAA rules

ABC News

(NEW YORK) — Lakia Johnson, the mother of Flau’jae Johnson, remembers her daughter’s basketball journey like only a mother can.

“She goes, ‘I want to play basketball.’ And I said, ‘Basketball? Well, there’s no 4-year-old girls playing basketball’,” said Lakia Johnson. “So I put her on a team with the boys – it’s been hell ever since.”

Now, under the new NCAA rules, Flau’jae Johnson is set to become one of the highest-paid female athletes in collegiate sport history.

“There’s just something about seeing that ball go to the hoop and the splash and everybody screaming,” said Johnson. “I always wanted [them] to like me, that was my goal.”

Johnson will begin playing for LSU in the fall.

“Having a university offer you a full scholarship to attend… That stunned me. Like you’re willing to pay for my education, pay for this just for me to play basketball and represent,” said Johnson.

Last year, the NCAA adopted a policy that collegiate athletes could profit through their “Name, Image and Likeness,” known as NIL, and that is now in effect.

“God just blessed me… I can take care of my family for generations just what I do in these four years right here. People don’t understand how big, big of an opportunity that is,” said Johnson. “I’m not taking it for granted; like everything I’ve gotta do I’m going to make sure I do it.”

It’s not only her performance on the court that sets her apart from other athletes. Johnson doubles as a rapper, garnering nearly one million followers on social media and a distribution deal with Roc Nation, Jay-Z’s record company. The combination means Johnson could potentially be one of the highest earning student-athletes ever.

Johnson made it to the quarterfinals of NBC’s America’s Got Talent in 2018, which spurred her career as a performer.

“[Simon Cowell] told me I was going to be a star. I took that and I ran with it,” said Johnson.

Lakia Johnson remains protective of her daughter’s hard work. She said the internet is not always a kind place.

“It was a roller coaster because the internet was in full effect and people were so mean to her,” said Lakia Johnson.

Johnson said it was important for her daughter to keep rapping to remain close to her father, Jason Johnson, who was shot and killed. He was a rapper who went by the name Camouflage.

“He died, but a connection that we shared [was] the music. It’s like I feel like an energy whenever I’m making music,” said Johnson. “I just knew that he was a storyteller and, like a poet, he really spoke for the people who didn’t really have a voice.”

Lakia Johnson said her daughter’s name was the last big decision her husband got to make before he died.

“I was a single mom raising her… Jason’s death was sudden for all of us,” said Lakia Johnson. “[Before he died] we argued 3 to 4 days about that name. But after he passed away, like a month later, I was like, ‘This is the last big decision that he’s going to have to make for her.’”

Flau’jae Johnson said she carries her father’s legacy with her, but has also learned the importance of leaving her own mark on the world.

“With basketball I have my own legacy and I’m still carrying my dad’s with music,” said Johnson.

Johnson added that she is excited to inspire the next generation of female athletes and musicians to follow all of their passions — no matter how many there may be.

“I can show little girls [there’s] another way to do it. You can keep it clean, you can keep a positive impact on people,” she said. “So keep a net positive energy and that’s how I am.”

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

 

Beyoncé's 'Renaissance' album leaks early

Carlijn Jacobs

Beyoncé’s Renaissance album has apparently leaked, just two days before its release.

According to Variety, “high-quality FLAC [Free Lossless Audio Codec] files that certainly sound like the album” were found online Wednesday. There were also social media posts that showed physical copies of the album for sale, apparently in European stores.

Beyoncé first revealed a new album was on the way last month. She has since followed up a reveal of the album’s cover art, track list, and collaborators, which include Drake, Nigerian singer Tems and producer Pharrell Williams.

Renaissance, which is the “Break My Soul” singer’s seventh studio album, is set to officially drop Friday. This will be Beyoncé’s first conventional solo album since 2016’s Lemonade.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

 

Scoreboard roundup — 7/27/22

iStock

(NEW YORK) — Here are the scores from Wednesday’s sports events:

MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL

INTERLEAGUE

Detroit 4, San Diego 3

Milwaukee 10, Minnesota 4

Colorado 6, Chi White Sox 5

St. Louis 6, Toronto 1

NY Mets 3, NY Yankees 2

AMERICAN LEAGUE

LA Angels 4, Kansas City 0

Oakland 4, Houston 2

Seattle 4, Texas 2

Cleveland 7, Boston 6

Tampa Bay 6, Baltimore 4

NATIONAL LEAGUE

Philadelphia 7, Atlanta 2

LA Dodgers 7, Washington 1

Arizona 5, San Francisco 3

Cincinnati 5, Miami 3

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.