Alvaro Soler to Perform at This Year’s Latin American Music Awards

Alvaro Soler is ready to take the stage on Latin music’s biggest night…

The 27-year-old Spanish-German singer will perform at this year’s Latin American Music Awards, which celebrate the best of Latin pop, rock, regional Mexican, Tropical and more.

Alvaro Soler

Soler rose to prominence across Europe and Latin America with his 2015 hit “El Mismo Sol“, primarily hitting success in Italy, Switzerland and Mexico. A special bilingual Spanish-English version of “El Mismo Sol”, featuring Jennifer Lopez, was also recorded for international release in the United States, in the United Kingdom, and worldwide. He most recently released his sophomore album, Mar de Colores.

In addition to Soler, the three-hour fan-voted award show will also feature special performances by Banda MS de Sergio LizárragaBecky GCardi B, Christian NodalCNCOFlo RidaLeslie GraceLudacrisPitbullPrince Royce and Tini.

The top nominees this year include Ozuna and J Balvin with nine nods, Nicky Jam with eight, Daddy Yankee with six, and Bad BunnyBanda MS de Sergio Lizarraga, and Christian Nodal nabbing five nods each.

Produced by Telemundo and Somos Productions, the 2018 Latin AMAs will broadcast live from the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood at 8:00 pm ET on October 25 via Telemundo, with a simulcast on Spanish-language entertainment cable network Universo.

Fans in the United States and Puerto Rico have until 3:00 pm ET on October 10 to vote online for their favorite artists here.

Cardi B Makes History as Her Latest Single “I Like It” Rises to No. 1 on Billboard Hot 100

Cardi B is making history…

The 25-year-old half-Dominican American rapper has become the first female rapper with two No. 1s on the Billboard Hot 100, after her hit single “I Like It,” featuring Bad Bunny and J Balvin rises from No. 2 to No. 1 on chart.

Cardi B

Cardi B first reigned with her debut single, “Bodak Yellow (Money Moves),” for three weeks beginning October 7, 2017.

Meanwhile, Bad Bunny and Balvin earn their first Hot 100 No. 1 each.

Cardi B passes four female rappers who previously topped the tally with one No. 1 apiece: Lauryn Hill, with “Doo Wop (That Thing),” in 1998; Lil’ Kim, with “Lady Marmalade,” with Christina Aguilera, Mya and P!nk (2001); Shawnna, as featured on Ludacris‘ “Stand Up” (2003); and, Iggy Azalea, with “Fancy,” featuring Charli XCX (2014).

Cardi B’s bilingual track reworks the venerable “I Like It Like That,” originally performed by Pete Rodriguez in 1967 and taken to No. 25 on the Hot 100 in 1997 (titled “I Like It”) by The Blackout Allstars; the latter act included Tito Nieves, who also recorded a notable solo version. (In between, the composition appeared in the 1994 film I Like It Like That and earned a synch in a 1996 Burger King commercial.)

“I Like It” is from Cardi B’s debut album, Invasion of Privacy, which launched atop the Billboard 200 chart dated on April 4 and includes “Bodak Yellow.”

Cardi B is the first artist to notch a pair of Hot 100 No. 1s from a debut album since Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, whose The Heist yielded “Thrift Shop,” featuring Wanz and “Can’t Hold Us,” featuring Ray Dalton in 2013.

Cardi B is the first soloist with a pair Hot 100 leaders from a debut LP since Bruno Mars, whose Doo-Wops & Hooligans produced “Just the Way You Are” (2010) and “Grenade” (2011).

And, Cardi B is the first female soloist with two Hot 100 No. 1s from a debut album this decade, and the first since Lady Gaga, whose The Fame generated “Just Dance,” featuring Colby O’Donis and “Poker Face,” both in 2009.

Prior to “I Like It,” Bad Bunny reached a No. 36 Hot 100 high with “Te Bote,” with Casper Magico, Nio Garcia, Darell, Nicky Jam and Ozuna.

J Balvin notched a prior No. 3 best with “Mi Gente,” with Willy William and featuring Beyoncé, last October.

“I Like It” concurrently takes over atop the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, where Cardi B previously led with “Bodak Yellow,” for six weeks, and “Finesse” (one). It  becomes her second No. 1 on Hot Rap Songs, after “Bodak Yellow” (eight). Bad Bunny and J Balvin lead each list for the first time.

Jamila Velazquez to Star in the Dramatic Thriller “John Henry”

Jamila Velazquez is in for a thrill

The 22-year-old Puerto Rican, Dominican and Ecuadorian American actress has joined the cast of John Henry, a dramatic thriller from first-time film director Will Forbes.

Jamila Velazquez

Described as a modern retelling of the folklore, the plot, co-written by Forbes and Doug Skinner, follows John Henry (Terry Crews), a man who has traded violence for a peaceful life in South Los Angeles. But when he meets two immigrant kids running from the leader of his former gang (Chris ‘Ludacris’ Bridges), Henry must decide whether to revisit his troubled past in order to give them a future.

In addition to Crews, Bridges and Velazquez, best known for her television roles on Twisted and Empire, the film will also star Ken Foree, Tyler Alvarez, and JJ Soria.

The indie is being produced by Defiant StudiosEric B. Fleischman, Automatik’s Brian Kavanaugh-Jones, and Kodiak’s Maurice Fadida.

Cardi B Makes History as “Bodak Yellow” Reaches No. 1 on Billboard Hot 100

It’s an extra special (and historic) feat for Cardi B

The 24-year-old part-Dominican American rapper, whose real name is Belcalis Almanzar, becomes the first female rapper in nearly 19 years to top the Billboard Hot 100 chart without the assistance of any other credited artists, as her debut hit “Bodak Yellow (Money Moves)” rises from No. 2 to No. 1 on the latest chart (dated Oct. 7). And she’s the first Dominican artist to reach the top of Billboard’s main singles chart.

Cardi B

“Bodak Yellow” makes Cardi B just the second female rapper to top the Hot 100 without any other billed artists, following Lauryn Hill‘s first solo Hot 100 entry (apart from the Fugees), “Doo Wop (That Thing),” for two weeks beginning with its November 14, 1998, debut at No. 1.

Cardi B is only the fifth female rapper ever to lead the Hot 100 at all. After Hill, Lil’ Kim ruled for five weeks in 2001 with Christina Aguilera, Mya and P!nk on “Lady Marmalade“; Shawnna reigned as featured on Ludacris‘ “Stand Up,” which topped the December 6, 2003, chart; and Iggy Azalea‘s introductory Hot 100 hit, “Fancy,” featuring Charli XCX, led for seven weeks in 2014.

Cardi B is also the first female soloist to top the Hot 100 with a debut track unaccompanied by another artist since Meghan Trainor, whose “All About That Bass” led for eight weeks beginning September 20, 2014.

“Bodak Yellow” rises at No. 2 on the Streaming Songs chart with 46.4 million U.S. streams, up 14 percent, in the week ending September 21, according to Nielsen Music. It bounds 12-3 on Digital Song Sales chart, up 85 percent to 56,000 downloads sold in the week ending September 21, marking the Hot 100’s top gain in download sales (aided by a 69-cent discount price in the iTunes Store).

The track also lifts 16-13 on Radio Songs, with 62 million all-format audience impressions, up 8 percent, in the week ending September 24.

“Bodak Yellow” spends a fifth week at No. 1 on the Rap Airplay chart and a second week atop R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay; crowns the Rhythmic Songs airplay chart, with a 3-1 rise; and debuts on Pop Songs on at No. 37.

Cardi B’s breakthrough hit also spends a sixth week at No. 1 on the Hot Rap Songs chart and a fourth frame atop Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs.

 

Rodriguez & Her Fast & Furious Co-Stars to Receive Generation Award at the MTV Movie & TV Awards

It’s a new generation for Michelle Rodriguez

The 38-year-old Puerto Rican and Dominican American actress and her fellow Fast & Furious franchise co-stars will receive the Generation Award at this year’s MTV Movie & TV Awards on May 7, marking the first time the award show will give the honor to a film franchise rather than an individual actor.

Michelle Rodriguez

Fast & Furious star and producer Vin Diesel will accept the award alongside his co-stars Rodriguez, who portrays Letty in the franchise, Tyrese Gibson and Jordan Brewster.

Since 1992, the Generation Award has honored talent with a body of work throughout their career that speaks directly to the MTV audience. Past recipients include Will Smith, Reese Witherspoon, Robert Downey Jr., Mark Wahlberg, Sandra Bullock, Jamie Foxx, Johnny Depp, Ben Stiller, Adam Sandler, Mike Myers, Tom Cruise and Jim Carrey.

MTV will air marathons of the first three Fast & Furious films this weekend. They’ll feature a trivia game hosted by stars Diesel and Chris “Ludacris” Bridges, offering social engagers a chance to win a trip to attend the MTV Movie & TV Awards.

The 2017 MTV Movie & TV Awards will be hosted by actor and comedian Adam Devine, with the telecast airing live on Sunday, May 7, at 8:00 pm EST from the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles.

Mars Releases New “That’s What I Like” Remix Featuring Ludacris

Bruno Mars is mixing things up again…

The 31-year-old part-Puerto Rican singer is offering more remixes of his hit single “That’s What I Like.”

Bruno Mars

After sharing a new version of the single featuring Gucci Mane last week, the pop star now has added Ludacris to the track as well.

Luda opens up the new version with some suave lines about lighting a fireplace and candles to set the mood before he gets sexy saying he’ll “make you melt like ice cream” and offering to “make love all night while we listen to the sounds of this instrumental.”

From there, Mars’ chorus kicks in and then is later followed by Gucci’s verse to close.

“That’s What I Like” is the highest charting single from Mars’ studio album 24K Magic, surpassing the single of the same name by peaking at number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100.

New Trailer Released for Rodriguez’s “The Fate of the Furious”

Michelle Rodriguez is kicking it into high gear…

Universal Pictures has released a new trailer for The Fate of the Furious, starring the38-year-old Dominican-American actress.

Michelle Rodriguez

Once again, the car criminals-turned-superheroes are back in this upcoming eighth installment, this time going up again a mysterious tech terrorist, who forces an alliance with Vin Diesel’s family leader Dominic Toretto.

F. Gary Gray is at the helm of the sequel, which will bow in theaters April 14.

After Dom is seduced into a world of crime and betray those closest to him, the gang is forced to go against their former leader and end up working with one of their greatest enemies to take him down.

There’s explosions, melodrama, intense fight scenes, witty comebacks, and of course, a lot of cars going really fast –all the elements that have made the Fast & Furious a billion-dollar franchise.

The film sees the return of Diesel, Rodriguez, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Jason Statham, Tyrese Gibson, Chris “Ludacris” Bridges, Nathalie Emmanuel, Elsa Pataky and Kurt Russell along with newcomers Charlize Theron, Helen Mirren and Scott Eastwood.

Rodriguez’s “Fast 8” Filming in Cuba

It’s fast times for Michelle Rodriguez in the Pearl of the Antilles.

The 37-year-old Puerto Rican and Dominican-American actress and her fellow Fast & Furious co-stars are filming in Cuba.

Fast 8's Michelle Rodriguez & Vin Diesel

Fast 8 has the distinction of being only the second film and the first big budget movie given the green light to shoot on the island since the start of improved relations between the island nation and the United States.

The next installment of Universal Pictures’ successful franchise is currently filming in Havana, and to commemorate the milestone, the production released a new set video paying tribute to the city and its people.

The first in what star Vin Diesel has described as a trilogy that will bring the series to close, Fast 8 is keeping the series tradition of sending the franchise’s globetrotting street racing enthusiasts to various exotic locals, including Iceland in addition to Cuba.

Written by Chris Morgan and directed by F. Gary Gray, Fast 8 sees core cast members Diesel, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson and Chris “Ludacris” Bridges returning along with 2Fast 2Furious co-star Eva Mendes, Tokyo Drift‘s Lucas Black, and Furious 7‘s Kurt Russell and Jason Statham. They’re joined this time out by Charlize Theron, Kristofer Hivju and Scott Eastwood in yet-revealed roles.

Fast 8 is set to hit theaters on April 14, 2017.

Lovato to Perform at This Year’s Billboard Music Awards

Demi Lovato is ready to cool off at the Billboard Music Awards…

The 23-year-old part-Mexican American singer and actress has been added to the list of performers at this year’s Billboard Music Awards.

Demi Lovato

Lovato is set to perform her smash “Cool for the Summer.”

She joins a packed roster of performers that already includes Justin BieberDNCE, The Go-Go’sShawn Mendes and P!nk.

The Billboard Music Awards, hosted by Ciara and Ludacris, will be broadcast live from Las Vegas on Sunday, May 22 at 8:00 pm ET on ABC.

Pitbull to Guest Star on Fox’s Hip Hop Drama “Empire”

Pitbull is in an Empire state of mind…

Fox has officially announced that the 34-year-old Cuban American rap superstar will guest star on its smash hip hop drama Empire.

Pitbull

The musician and actor will play himself and perform “No Doubt About It” with Jamal (Jussie Smollett), in an episode slated to air this fall.

Mariah Carey also is coming on board for Season 2.

Previously announced for Season 2 appearances are Marisa Tomei as recurring and guest stars Mariah Carey, Chris Rock, Kelly Rowland, Chris “Ludacris” Bridges and Adam Rodriguez, among others.

Empire Season 2 premieres Wednesday, September 23 at 9:00 pm on Fox.