Category: Celebrity

Roy Okupe, Nigerian software programmer and web developer, is struggling to  diversify the graphic novel world.

Okupe recently completed a story about a Nigerian superhero in E.X.O. — The Legend of Wale Williams. The story is set in futuristic Lagoon City, inspired by populous Nigerian city Lagos.

After skipping town for five years, protagonist Wale (pronounced “Wah-Leh”) Williams returns to investigate his father’s mysterious disappearance. What he finds is an unrecognizably corrupt city and a powerful “Nanosuit” his father made, which grants the wearer superhuman abilities.

Okupe who moved to the United States in 2002 to study computer science at George Washington University has not been able to shake his love of cartoons and comic books.

After dreaming up the idea for E.X.O., he envisioned turning the story into an animated film. He got to work, creating a short film to show potential investors and distributors who could turn it into a feature film.

He spent a year shopping it around internationally. Everyone he met with rejected the project. Many of them echoed the same reticence about his particular superhero.

“One producer [told] me, ‘Look you have a a nice product,’” Okupe recalls. “‘But nobody’s going to watch it because it’s based on African characters” he told mashable

That sentiment, along with general hesitation about backing a product with a subject matter that is rarely broached in the mainstream (a futuristic African city and a black superhero with predominantly black supporting characters, all presented by a completely unknown animator), put a temporary hold on E.X.O.

Now that the graphic novel is nearly finished, Okupe launched a Kickstarter campaign with a goal of $3,500, for those who want to support the future of E.X.O. To attract readers, he’s posting the first chapter of the novel for free online, well before the full summer release (no specific date yet). He’s learned a lot from his previous rejections, and hopes the buzz for E.X.O.will grow organically.

Taylor Swift and Sam Smith are top on the list of the first round of nominations for the 2015 Billboard Music Awards.

Swift has done astoundingly well with 1989, her fifth studio album but Sam Smith whose album ‘In the lonely hour’ and songs from the album are competing with her in various categories has given her a stiff competition.

Other stars nominated include Justin Timberlake, Katy Perry, Ed Sheeran, Ariana Grande, Pharrell Williams, and more.

Check out the full list of nominations below:

Top Artist
Ariana Grande
One Direction
Katy Perry
Sam Smith
Taylor Swift

Top Male Artist
Drake
Pharrell Williams
Ed Sheeran
Sam Smith
Justin Timberlake

Top Female Artist
Iggy Azalea
Ariana Grande
Katy Perry
Taylor Swift
Meghan Trainor

Top Billboard 200 Album
Maroon 5, V
Pentatonix, That’s Christmas to Me
Ed Sheeran, x
Sam Smith, In the Lonely Hour
Taylor Swift, 1989

Top Hot 100 Song
Iggy Azalea feat. Charli XCX, “Fancy”
John Legend, “All of Me”
Sam Smith, “Stay With Me”
Taylor Swift, “Shake It Off”
Meghan Trainor, “All About That Bass”

TOP NEW ARTIST
5 Seconds of Summer
Iggy Azalea
Hozier
Sam Smith
Meghan Trainor

TOP DUO/GROUP
5 Seconds of Summer
Florida Georgia Line
MAGIC!
Maroon 5
One Direction

TOP BILLBOARD 200 ARTIST
One Direction
Pentatonix
Ed Sheeran
Sam Smith
Taylor Swift

TOP HOT 100 ARTIST
Iggy Azalea
Ariana Grande
Sam Smith
Taylor Swift
Meghan Trainor

TOP DIGITAL SONGS ARTIST
Iggy Azalea
Ed Sheeran
Sam Smith
Taylor Swift
Meghan Trainor

TOP RADIO SONGS ARTIST
John Legend
Maroon 5
Ed Sheeran
Sam Smith
Taylor Swift

TOP TOURING ARTIST
Lady Gaga
One Direction
Katy Perry
The Rolling Stones
Justin Timberlake

TOP SOCIAL ARTIST
Justin Bieber
Miley Cyrus
Selena Gomez
Ariana Grande
Taylor Swift

TOP STREAMING ARTIST
Iggy Azalea
Ariana Grande
Nicki Minaj
Taylor Swift
Meghan Trainor

TOP R&B ARTIST
Beyoncé
Chris Brown
John Legend
Trey Songz
Pharrell Williams

TOP RAP ARTIST
Iggy Azalea
J. Cole
Drake
Nicki Minaj
Rae Sremmurd

TOP COUNTRY ARTIST
Jason Aldean
Luke Bryan
Florida Georgia Line
Brantley Gilbert
Blake Shelton

TOP ROCK ARTIST
Bastille
Coldplay
Fall Out Boy
Hozier
Lorde

TOP LATIN ARTIST
J Balvin
Juan Gabriel
Enrique Iglesias
Prince Royce
Romeo Santos

TOP DANCE/ELECTRONIC ARTIST
Avicii
Clean Bandit
Disclosure
Calvin Harris
Lindsey Stirling

TOP CHRISTIAN ARTIST
Casting Crowns
Hillsong United
Lecrae
MercyMe
Newsboys

TOP SOUNDTRACK
The Fault in Our Stars
Fifty Shades of Grey
Frozen
Guardians of the Galaxy: Awesome Mix: Vol. 1
Into the Woods

TOP R&B ALBUM
Beyoncé, Beyoncé
Chris Brown, X
Michael Jackson, Xscape
John Legend, Love in the Future
Pharrell Williams, G I R L

TOP RAP ALBUM
J. Cole, 2014 Forest Hills Drive
Drake, If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late
Nicki Minaj, The Pinkprint
Iggy Azalea, The New Classic
Eminem, The Marshall Mathers LP 2

TOP COUNTRY ALBUM
Jason Aldean, Old Boots, New Dirt
Garth Brooks, Man Against Machine
Luke Bryan, Crash My Party
Brantley Gilbert, Just As I Am
Miranda Lambert, Platinum

TOP ROCK ALBUM
AC/DC, Rock or Bust
The Black Keys, Turn Blue
Coldplay, Ghost Stories
Hozier, Hozier
Lorde, Pure Heroine

TOP LATIN ALBUM
Juan Gabriel, Los Dúo
Enrique Iglesias, Sex and Love
Romeo Santos, Formula: Vol. 2
Santana, Corazon
Marc Anthony, 3.0

TOP DANCE/ELECTRONIC ALBUM
Avicii, True
Disclosure, Settle
Calvin Harris, Motion
Skrillex, Recess
Lindsey Stirling, Shatter Me

TOP CHRISTIAN ALBUM
Lecrae, Anomaly
Casting Crowns, Thrive
MercyMe, Welcome to the New
NEEDTOBREATHE, Rivers in the Wasteland
Chris Tomlin, Love Ran Red

TOP DIGITAL SONG
Mark Ronson feat. Bruno Mars, “Uptown Funk!”
Sam Smith, “Stay With Me”
Taylor Swift, “Shake It Off”
Meghan Trainor, “All About That Bass”
Pharrell Williams, “Happy

TOP RADIO SONG
John Legend, “All of Me”
MAGIC!, “Rude”
Nico & Vinz, “Am I Wrong”
Sam Smith, “Stay With Me”
Pharrell Williams, “Happy

TOP STREAMING SONG (AUDIO)
Iggy Azalea feat. Charli XCX, “Fancy”
Hozier, “Take Me to Church”
John Legend, “All of Me”
Sam Smith, “Stay With Me”
Tove Lo, “Habits (Stay High)”

TOP STREAMING SONG (VIDEO)
Idina Menzel, “Let It Go”
Bobby Shmurda, “Hot Boy”
Taylor Swift, “Blank Space”
Taylor Swift, “Shake It Off”
Meghan Trainor, “All About That Bass”

TOP R&B SONG
Chris Brown feat. Lil Wayne, French Montana, Too $hort & Tyga, “Loyal”
Jason Derulo feat. 2 Chainz, “Talk Dirty”
Jeremih feat. YG, “Don’t Tell ‘Em”
John Legend, “All of Me”
Pharrell Williams, “Happy”

TOP RAP SONG
Iggy Azalea feat. Charli XCX, “Fancy”
Iggy Azalea feat. Rita Ora, “Black Widow”
Big Sean feat. E-40, “I Don’t F— With You”
Nicki Minaj, “Anaconda”
Bobby Shmurda, “Hot Boy”

TOP COUNTRY SONG
Jason Aldean, “Burnin’ It Down”
Luke Bryan, “Play It Again”
Sam Hunt, “Leave the Night On”
Florida Georgia Line feat. Luke Bryan, “This Is How We Roll”
Florida Georgia Line, “Dirt”

TOP ROCK SONG
Bastille, “Pompeii”
Coldplay, “A Sky Full of Stars”
Fall Out Boy, “Centuries”
Hozier, “Take Me to Church”
Paramore, “Ain’t It Fun”

TOP LATIN SONG
J Balvin feat. Farruko, “6 AM”
Enrique Iglesias feat. Descemer Bueno & Gente de Zona, “Bailando”
Romeo Santos, “Eres Mía”
Romeo Santos feat. Drake, “Odio”
Romeo Santos, “Propuesta Indecente”

TOP DANCE/ELECTRONIC SONG
Clean Bandit feat. Jess Glynne, “Rather Be”
Disclosure feat. Sam Smith, “Latch”
DJ Snake & Lil Jon, “Turn Down For What”
Ariana Grande feat. Zedd, “Break Free”
Calvin Harris, “Summer”

TOP CHRISTIAN SONG
Francesca Battistelli, “He Knows My Name”
Hillsong United, “Oceans (Where Feet May Fail)”
MercyMe, “Greater”
Newsboys, “We Believe”
Carrie Underwood, “Something in the Water”

Ludacris and Chrissy Teigen will co-host the 2015 Billboard Music Awards from Las Vegas’ MGM Grand Garden Arena on Sunday, May 17. Music lovers can catch the show on ABC at 8 p.m. EST.

E! entertainment presenter and co-host of Fashion Police tells it all in her brand-new memoir Going Off Script: How I Survived a Crazy Childhood, Cancer, and Clooney’s 32 On-Screen Rejections. After revealing that ex-boyfriend Jerry O’Connell cheated on her twice, G opens up in her memoir about another unsuccessful relationship that became abusive, and hopes that by sharing her story, she can help other women in similar situations.

“Yeah, that was a tough one. I was 16, I was already lacking self esteem, like a lot of young girls, to begin with, and I got into a relationship with a boy that I thought was better than me,” Giuliana tells E! News‘ Alicia Quarles.

She continued, “Not long after we started dating, he became very, very verbally abusive to me. And then it led to, literally, making me look in the mirror and saying, ‘Look at you. Look how ugly you are. No one will ever love you…’ And the reason I ended up writing about it is because—and I’ve never revealed this—but to this day, I still hear his voice say it to me.”

But Rancic no longer allows his words to tear her down. “When I hear that, his voice, I have to block it out and go, no, no, no, no, no. He was the ugly one. So it’s just important to know that it’s not how you get kicked down, it’s how you recover. I look back at my weaknesses as a teenage girl, I realize that my weaknesses back then are my power today.”

Giuliana who is now happily married to the studly Bill Rancic, and she credits her past struggles with love to helping her snag a guy like Bill.

“I met Bill not long after Jerry and I broke up and I’m telling you, I would never have been the woman that Bill fell in love with had I not had that relationship, because I learned so much from that relationship about who I really am, what I really am looking for.”

 

Oreka Godis who is African fashion week ambassador goes down memory lane and shares old family photos as well as portray through photos the evolution of the ‘Iro and Buba’ and how fashion connects us with previous generations

“One of my favourite things to do whenever I get the chance to is to look through old family photos. It is the only real invitation you get to look at the lives of the people you know now & see who they were long before you came along. Through pictures, you can imagine who they were, their hopes, dreams, the shy and the Alan Poser. She shares her instagram page.

“Some pictures through clothes and attitude depict clues about the lives they lived, the government regime of that decade, socioeconomic position of the people and how they rebelled against conformity. Fashion is a part of who we are. Our evolving culture is woven in the fabric of everything we wear today and pictures beautifully show just how far that thread connects us to generations.

Every decade has its own defining statement piece. Hemlines go up and down over the years, prints and textures come and go but our flair for expression through the ages remains constant.” She continues.

She also shows the evolution of the iro and buba through a series  of photoshoots starting from 1960.

Grammy award winning singer John Legend is set to produce and curate music for a new musical romantic drama which will center around  a former one-hit wonder.

The role will be played by R&B singer Miguel who falls in love with music again when he coaches an aspiring singer for her audition on a singing competition show.

Legend’s Get Lifted Film Co. and Furst Films are partnering with IM Global to produce the romantic drama that will feature the directorial debut of photographer Nabil Elderkin. Production is set to begin in this September in Philadelphia.

John Legend only recently won an Oscar with Common for original song “Glory”