Alicia Keys stopped at New York City's Madison Square Garden last night (March 17) during her "Freedom Tour" and gave her hometown fans a special treat with surprise performances from Beyoncé, Jay-Z and Swizz Beatz.

Alicia Keys and Beyonce onstage together for the first time!

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Keys first performed new and old tracks like "Love Is Blind," "If I Can't Have You" and a stunning duet with former back-up singer Jermaine Paul -- who also served as an opening act along with Melanie Fiona and Robin Thicke -- for "Diary." But it was when the drums to her single "Put It In A Love Song" blared through the speakers that the crowd got most fired up. After performing her verse Keys introduced Beyoncé, who descended from the top of a staircase located towards the back of the stage and joined Keys for the remainder of the song. Ending in a dance routine, the performance marked the first time the two artists ever shared a stage

Alicia Keys and Jay-Z repping for their hometown!

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With Beyoncé making a surprise appearance onstage, it was only fitting that her husband would do the same at the self-proclaimed "House that Hovie built." As Keys momentarily stopped playing the piano, her alleged boyfriend, producer/rapper Beatz, took the stage to his own collaboration with Jay-Z "On To The Next One," before Jay-Z himself came out for a performance of "Empire State of Mind." Scenes of Times Square and the city skyline appeared on the jumbo screens behind, setting the perfect backdrop for the Big Apple anthem as the masses sang in unison and waved their hands in the air.









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Photos by Redboy

75-year-old Manu Dibango of Cameroon is suing Michael Jackson for use of a part of his 1972 song "Soul Makossa" as the riff on "Wanna Be Startin' Something" one of many hot, hot, hot tracks off his 1983 Thriller album. So how does Rihanna get in the picture???

She licensed the same hook from Jackson for "Don't Stop the Music" ( remember this:Mama se, mma sa ma makossa???????)but they did not go as far back as the original source, namely Mr Dibango.



Makossa means dance in the Cameroonian language Duala ...Take a listen to the original....to be fair he sings (mama ko mama sa ma makossa....



So here is a live version of the song...Im sure you want to know what Manu Dibango looks like although this footage was shot several decades ago....



Now Michael's version, written by Quincy Jones, sings Ma Ma Se, Ma Ma Sa, Ma Ma Coo Sa (swahili???) So I guess that will be their defense. Yes the song was influenced by Dibango's song but the lyrics are not exact.

Jay-Z sampled the beat of the song "Sould Makossa" for his song "Face Off" off the In My Lifetime Vol. 1 album. But that shit is seriously xxxxxx rated so I'm not gonna post here....Anyways, he's not facing a lawsuit so I guess he handled his handle!!!!!!!!

So a Paris court will on Feb. 17 make a decision on wether the case will move forward. Mr Dibango stands to win $600,000.

Jay-Z performs "History" at the Inaugural Neighborhood Ball on Jan. 21st. His next album is called The Blueprint 3 and will feature that song as well as "Brooklyn Go Hard"

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The original was Produced by Kanye West and featured Santogold. Screechy Don is added to the remix, bringing his unique flavour to the "Best of Brooklyn" remix.

Brooklyn We Go Hard - KUE SOUND REMIX.mp3

Super Producer from France Pierre Jaubert will be coming to the US to sign a female R&B singer for two singles for a compilation album coming up.....




Remember Jay-Z's "Show Me What You Got"? That's his track . This guy has decades in the biz. So get your voice together and send him a demo. His email is writetopierre@hotmail.com