Add award winning journalist to Beyonce’s mantel….

Beyonce will be honored by the New York Association of Black Journalists for her piece in Essence Magazine called “Eat, Play, Love”.   In the article Beyonce wrote about what she did during her year long hiatus from the entertainment industry.  Beyonce won first place in the Arts & Entertainment Category.

The award ceremony will be held in New York on May 15.

There has been much speculation and criticism behind Rihanna’s reunion with Chris Breezy but Rihanna’s shed some positive light to what she feels was best for her.

“People think them doing what they want is doing what everybody else doesn’t want, and it’s not that.”

“Doing what you want means moving forward with the way you feel and living in your truth and a lot of the time you’ll find common ground with people and sometimes there are people you won’t find that- who won’t agree with you. But it has to be your truth.”

Usher debuts the cover art and tracklisting for his seventh album Looking 4 Myself. Due June 12, the standard edition features 14 tracks including the No. 1 single R & B single “Climax,” with appearances from Pharrell, Luke Steele, and Rick Ross on the Jim Jonsin-produced “Lemme See.” The deluxe version includes four additional tracks. See the tracklisting below.

Looking 4 Myself Tracklisting

1. “Can’t Stop Won’t Stop”
2. “Scream”
3. “Climax”
4. “I Care for U”
5. “Show Me”
6. “Lemme See” feat. Rick Ross
7. “Twisted” feat. Pharrell
8. “Dive”
9. “What Happened to U”
10. “Looking 4 Myself” feat. Luke Steele
11. “Numb”
12. “Lessons for the Lover”
13. “Sins of My Father”
14. “Euphoria”

Deluxe Edition
15. “I.F.U.”
16. “Say the Words”
17. “2nd Round”
18. “Hot Thing”

Bobby Brown opened up about the death of Whitney Houston during a one-on-one interview with Matt Lauer on the “Today” show. The New Edition singer, who learned about his ex-wife’s passing through his bandmate Ralph Tresvant, recalled first hearing the tragic news and responded to criticism that he was partly responsible for her demise.

“I just started crying,” said Brown, 43. “You never expect someone close to you to just die. It was really hard.”

The toxicology report concluded that Houston died from accidental drowning and had cocaine in her system at the time of death, which surprised Brown. “I was hurt. Me being off of narcotics for the last seven years, I didn’t know that she was struggling with it,” he said. “But at the same time, it’s a hard fight to maintain sobriety that way.”

While he doesn’t blame himself for her death, he wonders what could have been done differently. “Maybe I coulda done something different to ensure that she had a longer life,” he added. “But you have to want it, you know? Some things just happen. God probably just needed her for the choir up there in heaven and that’s the biggest voice you have.”

Despite those who say he contributed to her death, he says drugs were a part of her life before he met her. “I didn’t get high on narcotics before I met Whitney. I smoked weed, I drank beer, but no, I wasn’t the one that got Whitney on drugs. I’m not the reason she’s gone.”

Their 2005 reality show “Being Bobby Brown” shined a spotlight on their relationship. “It makes me feel terrible, but I know differently. If anyone ever knew us, if anybody ever spent time around us instead of time looking through the bubble, they would know how we felt about each other. The reality show gave us a wake-up because we were able to see what other people were saying about us. We were able to see that our drug use had affected our relationship, had affected the love that we felt for each other.”

Brown, who’s about to get married again soon, will always have love for his ex-wife. “I had 14 beautiful, beautiful years with that woman. I loved that woman with everything that I am and I believed she loved me the same way,” he said. “Even though I’m getting married soon, my fiancée knows how I felt about that woman, my kids know how I felt about Whitney, that’s no secret. I was in love with her deeply.”

The Teflon Don, Rick Ross announced that he has signed Omarion to Maybach Music Group. “Today I become a made man. Omarion aka Maybach O.,” said the former B2K member, who is readying an EP. His first single “Let’s Talk” features Rozay and samples Notorious B.I.G. and Salt-n-Pepa.

Ross explained how he linked up with Omarion. “I ran into the homie, we had a few conversations and I flew him down to Miami and he played me a dozen records,” he said. “I was amazed by the music he put together. We had a few conversations and we made a situation happen. He’s a phenomenal entertainer. His dancing is incredible. He’s an actor, he’s a writer. I thought it would be a great move for both of us. I’ve been looking to enter the R&B arena, I felt he was the best artist to kick the doors open.”