SCRATCHES HEAD...Chrisette Michele to perform at Inauguration.

Scratches Head! Chrisette Michelle may be the biggest name yet signed up to perform at the inauguration of the 45th President of the United States. That says a lot about the talent that has agreed to perform.

After numerous reports of artists declining to appear or rescinding their agreement after a backlash, R&B Diva and grammy-winner Chrisette Michele has been slated to perform. Normally, this would be a tremendous look for an artist like Chrisette, but in the current political environment, it could be deemed as somewhat risky. In the end, I think this will benefit Chrisette's career, even if unpopular amongst droves of fans. For one, Chrisette is going to receive an immediate boost in name recognition after this one. While she has won a grammy and her albums perform well, Chrisette Michele will become a household name after Friday, and possibly a historical sidetone.

The news of Chrisette Michele's performance comes on the heels of a highly-publicized cancellation by Jennifer Holliday, who has since affirmed her support of the LGBT community. Questlove of the Roots has tweeted that he would pay for Chrisette not to perform. Previous inaugurations boasted the likes of Beyonce and Bruce Springsteen. That hasn't been the case for the 45th President, a name we do not mention here at ddlist.net.

Michelle Obama Turns 53. Check out her recent Vogue feature 

Drake VS...Nicki Minaj's Ex Boyfriend

Chris Brown and Soulja Boy aren’t the only two hip-hop artists who could be entering the ring. After Meek Mill’s breakup with Nicki Minaj, he challenged Drake to step into the ring with him. Meek and Drake have had a longstanding feud which has provided the blogosphere with lots to talk about and some classic memes, most of which clowned Meek Mill. Drake and Nicki started off as frequent collaborators but in recent years, Minaj has been noticeably absent from Drake’s albums. Both Drake and Mill appeared on Minaj’s most recent album The Pinkprint.

While Meek Mill holds onto his street credibility, Drake has become a bona fide superstar, with Views taking second place on Billboard’s top selling albums of 2016, only behind Adele. In true superstar form, Drake has refused to acknowledge Meek Mill’s request to fight. A source close to Drake referred to Mill as a “joke of a rapper,” and threw further shade by saying that “Drake is too nice of man to kick a dog when he’s down.” Ouch.

It’s safe to say that we won’t be seeing a brawl between these two guys. Drake is from Canada, and apparently they are bringing up their boys a bit differently then here in the States. I commend Drake for understanding that he doesn’t have to prove anything when you’re successful. An elephant never swats at flies. If Drake was to acknowledge Meek’s nonsense, that would give Meek the validation of being on the same level as Drake. Some folks are just on a different level.

Mr. Potato Head's Bad Week

Real life Mr. Potato Head, Steve Harvey, is under fire for remarks he made about Asian men during a segment on his show. Harvey poked fun at Asian men saying that no one would want to date them. He also took time mock what it would be like for an Asian man to approach both white women and black women. In true 2017 form, Twitter became a sounding board for angered viewers who found Harvey’s comments and jokes inappropriate.

To make matters worse, Black Twitter went into attack mode on Harvey after he met with the President-elect (we do not mention his name on this blog) to discuss matters affecting the black community. Here’s the thing Steve: You probably meant well and thought you were doing something positive but you know good and well that African-Americans are overwhelmingly democratic voters. They are going to drag you, but maybe you’ve made it to a certain point in your career where you are more concerned with a broader appeal.

Harvey had to explain his meeting but insists he will not be attending the inauguration. Harvey’s remarks on Asian bring up a major issue that is often swept under the rug. The racism that African-Americans and Asians express toward one another has long been ignored when we talk about race relations in our country. As a black man, Steve should be more sensitive when talking about another minority group. How can his attacks on Asians be justified, when an attack on African-Americans would be ground for political unrest? Just because you look like a potato head, doesn't mean you actually have the brain capacity of a potato head. 

Soulja Boy vs…Everybody

What started out as a beef with Chris Brown on social media has caught the attention of Floyd Mayweather, Mike Tyson, 50 Cent, and now Kanye West. West wants to collaborate with Soulja Boy, if he wins a celebrity boxing match with Chris Brown. This incident reminds me of how fights used to be back in the day, except it’s not back in the day. This is not going to end well for one of these young men.

So far, it seems as if Soulja is getting more attention for his involvement. The rapper posted videos of him training and preparing for his bout with Brown. He has also conducted interviews with his coach Floyd Mayweather, where he discussed the beef and promoted the forthcoming fight. There were also reports of Soulja Boy being robbed while live on Instagram, but differing reports claimed that nothing of the sort took place.

In the wake of Kanye West’s “calling dibs” on working with Soulja Boy, news surfaced that Soulja Boy’s home was robbed and that he also owed thousands of dollars in rent money. After 50 Cent posted a screenshot of the report of Soulja Boy getting robbed, Soulja took to social media to respond, asserting that he wasn’t’ at home during the robbery and if he had been he would “shoot a n***a for my respect.” Soulja Boy also pushed back against claims that he was going to be evicted, with a rep calling story reported by TMZ to be “wildly inaccurate.”

Soulja Boy has had issues with guns in the past. In December, he was arrested after someone tipped off police about guns in his home. There are also reports that Soulja was fired from “Love and Hip Hop: Hollywood” after threatening his girlfriend, Nia Riley, who is also a co-star on the show. Soulja Boy was removed from the show’s opening credits after the first two episodes. The rapper says that he quit the show because it was “too ratchet” and teased that he has his own show in the works.

Financially, it seems that this fight with Chris Brown and the added exposure could benefit Soulja Boy in the long run, especially if he really does have a show in the works.