6Jay-Z’s Buying Beyoncé Her Own Island Now

Not content with the space occupied by us mere mortals, Jay-Z has apparently decided to buy Beyoncé a private island on which to holiday with their daughter Blue Ivy. Because, you know, that’s just something that people do. The island, located in the North Abaco district of the Bahamas, is apparently worth over $3 million (which seems like quite a good price for a private island, truth be told), offers complete privacy. You know, until the paps get those super zoom lenses and take pics from a boat in the middle of the ocean.

From The Sun:

A source said: “Jay’s been looking for a private island for the family.

“He wants to turn it into his own Necker Island like Richard Branson.

“He’s getting it partly to mark their fifth wedding anniversary but also, with Bey back in the spotlight, it’s getting impossible for them to do normal things such as go to the beach with Blue.

“A private island means they’ll be able to have quality time with minimum staff and security.”

The island, a short flight from Miami, has patchy phone reception and no satellite TV. Sounds like a nightmare.

Love the random Richard Branson reference – and I can feel this, I guess. I sometimes wish I had my own island to live on so that I could separate myself from the large swath of idiots I encounter on a daily basis (because there’s too many of them and they’d overpopulate a single island), and if you’ve got the money, I guess why not. Still, with them it does come off as a bit showy and excessive and I’m not quite sure why. At least they won’t need government permission for this one.

April 11, 2013 at 6:30 am by Jennifer

1Great Gatsby Soundtrack Listing Is Out; My Goddess Lana Is On It

Lana Del Rey, Jack White, and Florence + The Machine are some of the artists included on Baz Luhrmmann‘s The Great Gatsby film soundtrack. I think the soundtrack is going to be better than the film. I wish Beyonce and Andre 3000 weren’t covering Amy Winehouse’s “Back To Black” and I wish will.i.am and Fergie weren’t on it, but WHATEVER. Ms. Del Rey alluded to working on the film many tweets ago, and it’s true, it’s all true.

On contributing to the film’s soundtrack my lovely polarizing Lana told Digital Spy,

It was an honor to work with Baz Luhrmann on his amazing adaptation of one of the most extraordinary books ever written. The movie is highly glamorous and exciting; Rick Nowels and I were thrilled to write the song for the film.

Jay-Z produced the album, so you have him to blame or thank for all of this. On using contemporary artists for a film set in the 1920′s, he said,

The Great Gatsby is that classic American story of one’s introduction to extravagance, decadence and illusion.

It’s ripe for experimentation and ready to be interpreted with a modern twist. The imagination Baz brought to Moulin Rouge! made it a masterpiece, and Romeo + Juliet’s score wasn’t just in the background; the music became a character.

This film’s vision and direction has all the makings of an epic experience.

Beyonce and Jay-Z are busy pissing off Congress, so here’s hoping the album goes over better than their vacation.

Here’s the full tracklisting:

1. ’100$ Bill’ – Jay-Z
2. ‘Back To Black’ – Beyoncé x André 3000
3. ‘Bang Bang’ – will.i.am
4. ‘A Little Party Never Killed Nobody (All We Got)’ – Fergie + Q Tip + GoonRock
5. ‘Young And Beautiful’ – Lana Del Rey
6. ‘Love Is The Drug’ – Bryan Ferry with The Bryan Ferry Orchestra
7. ‘Over The Love’ – Florence + The Machine
8. ‘Where The Wind Blows’ – Coco O of Quadron
9. ‘Crazy in Love’ – Emeli Sandé and The Bryan Ferry Orchestra
10. ‘Together’ – The xx
11. ‘Hearts A Mess’ – Gotye
12. ‘Love Is Blindness’ – Jack White
13. ‘Into the Past’ – Nero
14. ‘Kill and Run’ – Sia

April 8, 2013 at 3:30 pm by Catherine St. Ives

17Beyoncé and Jay-Z’s Trip To Cuba Isn’t Sitting Well With The Government

Beyoncé and Jay-Z are veritable royalty in Hollywood, and everyone knows the king and queen can do what they want. Because of this unspoken rule, the couple pranced off to Cuba last week to celebrate their fifth wedding anniversary, despite the fact that tourism to Cuba has been illegal for years and US citizens need a government-granted license to travel there due to a trade embargo. They also need valid religious, cultural or academic reasons for going. Bey & Jay had neither, and Congress isn’t too happy about it.

From ITV News:

Two Republican members of Congress have asked the US Treasury Department for information on what type of licence the couple obtained before heading to Havana.

Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Mario Diaz-Balart, who both represent districts in south Florida where there is a high Cuban-American population, said: “Despite the clear prohibition against tourism in Cuba, numerous press reports described the couple’s trip as tourism.”

“The Castro regime touted it as such in its propaganda,” the letter said, adding: “We represent a community of many who have been deeply and personally harmed by the Castro regime’s atrocities, including former political prisoners and the families of murdered innocents.”

Oopsies! I guarantee you they didn’t have any special license, but I also guarantee you no one is going to fine them, because they’re BFF with Obama and he’ll put a stop to that shit. You know, important presidential business and all. If anything, Bey can always claim she was sharing her brand of modern feminism internationally… or something.

April 8, 2013 at 12:30 pm by Jennifer

11Beyoncé and Jay-Z Are In Cuba, But Where’s Blue Ivy?

Beyoncé and Jay-Z have been married for five whole years now, so where better to commemorate their anniversary but… Cuba? The couple took their mothers with them to Havana this week, where they went out to lavish meals, posed for pictures with the locals and wore a bizarre array of animal print clothing and accessories.

On Wednesday night, they dined at La Guarida – where Jack Nicholson and Jodie Foster have previously eaten – and waitress Silvia Fernandez described Beyoncé as “beautiful, without a drop of make-up, very natural” and added: “What happened with the people was incredible.”

From The AP (via The Miami Herald):

On Thursday the couple toured colonial Old Havana wearing dark glasses and surrounded by bodyguards and excited fans. Beyonce posed for pictures with local schoolchildren while Jay-Z puffed on a Cuban cigar, and then they popped into another restaurant that boasts a rooftop terrace with a sweeping view of the harbor.

Beyoncé and Jay-Z declined to speak to reporters, and it was not clear why they traveled to Cuba. State-run website CubaSi called it a tourist trip.

Washington’s 51-year embargo makes it illegal for US citizens to visit Cuba for mere tourism, although tens of thousands of Americans travel here each year on academic, religious, journalistic or cultural exchange licenses. In the past, artists who were challenged by the government have said they visited for cultural purposes.

So, what were they doing in Cuba? (Maybe Beyoncé was spreading the message of modern feminism!) And the real question is, where’s Blue Ivy?

April 5, 2013 at 10:30 am by Jennifer

16Beyoncé Labels Herself a “Modern Day Feminist”

Beyoncé is many things: a singer, a model (?), a mother and yes, a feminist! Woo hoo! Or something. Although she was reluctant to give herself the title, Mrs. Carter discussed her views on all things ladyhood in the new issue of Vogue UK and admitted that she thinks a lot of shit needs to improve for women, but even she’s a bit apathetic when it comes to activism because who really wants to hear a woman raising hell about how unfair life is?

Take it away, Bey:

“I guess I am a modern-day feminist. I do believe in equality. Why do you have to choose what type of woman you are? Why do you have to label yourself anything? I’m just a woman and I love being a woman… I do believe in equality and that we have a way to go and it’s something that’s pushed aside and something that we have been conditioned to accept.”

She also talked about how she “met herself” when she had Her Royal Highness Blue Ivy:

“I feel like Mrs Carter is who I am, but more bold and more fearless than I’ve ever been. It comes from knowing my purpose and really meeting myself once I saw my child. I was like, ‘OK, this is what you were born to do’. The purpose of my body became completely different.”

Cue the EB readers who think she never gave birth! Come on, do your worst, guys!

April 3, 2013 at 12:30 pm by Jennifer

0Stuff That Doesn’t Make Sense: Beyoncé And Andre 3000 To Cover Amy Winehouse For Great Gatsby Soundtrack

Beyoncé and Andre 3000 are finally going to improve F. Scott Fitzgerald’s turdfest The Great Gatsby by giving us the extreme pleasure of covering the arguably better artist/songwriter Amy Winehouse for the film’s latest adaptation. Having Beyoncé and 1/2 of Outkast cover Winehouse is definitely what makes the most sense in capturing the roaring 20′s and Fitzgerald’s vision of the jazz age.

From E Online,

E! News can exclusively reveal that the “Single Ladies” hitmaker has teamed up with Andre 3000 for a duet of the late singer’s “Back to Black” for the soundtrack of the upcoming remake of The Great Gatsby.

Jay-Z is producing the soundtrack, which will be released by Interscope Records. “It’s a very different take on ‘Back to Black,’” a record company source said.

By different I am going to assume that they mean crappier.

I like Beyoncé. I like Andre 3000. I like Jay-Z. It isn’t that. And I love Amy Winehouse. I like all of these people and ideas as separate things. I don’t understand why you would throw all of this together, especially for the flailing Great Gatsby film that was supposed to come out last year. Why not just use Winehouse’s original? Or have Beyoncé write her own damn song? Why even use this song, which is so great on its own?

I don’t even know why this is making me so mad. I think because it just doesn’t make any sense to me. And when I don’t understand things I turn into Derek Zoolander: “WHAT IS THIS, A CENTER FOR ANTS?!”

It’s been rumored that Lana Del Rey is also working on a song for The Great Gatsby. Luhrmann is so style over substance, maybe even more than Wes Anderson. Both dudes love their soundtracks and their chosen color palettes above anything else.

April 2, 2013 at 5:30 am by Catherine St. Ives