Chicago native Chance The Rapper delivered a stirring performance on NBC’s “Saturday Night Live.” Here’s the clip.

Fantasia Monique Barrino, known professionally as simply Fantasia, is a singer/actress.  She rose to prominence as the winner of the third season of Fox Television’s reality series “American Idol.” Following her victory, she released the single “I Believe”, which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. Subsequently, she released her debut album, “Free Yourself”, which was later certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association Of America and earned Barrino three Grammy award nominations. She has gone on to release the albums “Fantasia” (2006), “Back To Me” (2010), “Side Effects Of You” (2013), “The Definition Of” (2016).

Happy birthday

Singer/songwriter/producer/musician Christopher H. Jasper (The Isley Brothers/Isley-Jasper-Isley) 65

Singer/actor/author/model Tyrese Gibson 38

Remembering singer/guitarist Ellas Otha “Bo Diddley” Bates (December 30, 1928-June 2, 2008)

Singer Andra Day 32

On January 4, 2017, cable network TV One’s hit music documentary “Unsung” returns with a focus on girl group SWV. SWV, which consists of Cheryl “Coko” Clemons, Leanne “Lele” Lyons and Tamara “Taj” George, rose to stardom in the 1990’s on the strength of the hits “Right Here”, “Anything”, “Weak”and “You’re The One”. The episode will include commentary from Kelly Rowland, Bell, Biv, DeVoe and members of SWV. Without question, SWV was one of the seminal groups of 90’s R&B. They had a distinctive look and sound all their own, which to the present day, can nor will ever be duplicated. The episode is one fans won’t want to miss. Former Destiny’s Child member LaTavia Roberson recently sat down with  People magazine to promote  her forthcoming memoir, “I am LaTavia”, but the singer isn’t pleased with the way People spun the story. Roberson called People out via Twitter. “I am LaTavia” will hit physical and digital shelves sometime next year.  Most people only know Roberson as a member of Destiny’s Child, so it stands to reason that she’d be upset. Roberson obviously had more to discuss than Destiny’s child, so People should have taken that into consideration while interviewing her. Ok, Drake and Jennifer Lopez may have some people fooled! The two attended the Kiss At Vegas event in Las Vegas last night, and this time around, the spotlight glared on both music and affection. Lopez debuted a new track, which contained the OVO sound with a dance/EMD production. She and Drake sang and danced like they have a smash on their hands. In 2011, UK Soul singer Beverly  Knight amazed audience members with a stirring rendition of the George Michael classic “One More Try.” The performance was filmed at the Porchester Hall in London for her live DVD. Knight recorded a cover for her seventh studio effort, “Soul UK”, which was released in 2011. The project was accompanied with a live DVD. Just in time for the New Year’s Eve, rapper Cashmere Cat released the single “Throw Myself A Party.” The song was released late last night and features guest appearances from 2 Chainz, Tory Lanez and Starrah. Although Cashmere Cat hasn’t released any new material since the 2014 EP “Wedding Bells”, the Norwegian DJ has released several collaborations in 2016. In August, he shared the track “Wild Love”, a collaboration with The Weeknd and Francis And The Lights. In addition, he worked with Lanez earlier this year on the single “Trust Nobody”, which featured Selena Gomez. Rapper Future sees money in every opportunity for his latest single “That’s A Check.” The self proclaimed Future Hendrix followed up his “Buy Love” video with a second visual directed by Eif Rivera for the cash blowing track featuring Rick Ross. The visual runs through a check lists of rapper necessities: black bottles, curvaceous models, shiny Rolexes and brand name assets. Future’s frequent collaborator Zaytoven told Billboard magazine that the Atlanta rapper is preparing the next installment of his Beast Mode mixtape series, the inaugural project was released in January 2015. Proceeded by the single “Used To This”, the tape will allow listeners to experience mind blowing music, according to Zay.

Rapper Lil B is preparing to present new music to fans in the new year. It’s worth a listen.

Fans can look forward to the release of the EP “The Day Of The Dawn” from So So Def Records artist Dondria Nicole on January 13.

Happy birthday

Singer/drummer Bernadette Cooper (Klymaxx)

Singer/guitarist Emanuel Rahiem LeBlanc (GQ)

Singer/actress LaToya London (American Idol) 38

Revel by Julian Lark Cosmetics is known for their vibrant color palates, and they recently recruited So So Def recording artist Dondria Nicole as the face of their new Phattitude collection. The cosmetic line is centered around her forthcoming EP “The Day Of The Dawn”, which will be released January 13. Dondria worked with designer Julian Lark to create the 11 piece collection, each item is named after a song on her project. On Monday, the first color, an HD No Smudge Liquid Lip Stain was released shortly after her single “Options” went on sale. The entire collection will be available for purchase on January 1, and will include a Hydrating foundation primer, Dual Sided Highlighter, HD Metallic Lip stain, Matte Lipstick, Luxury Crème Lipstick and the highly anticipated HD No Smudge Lip Stain via http://www.Revelbyjl.com. In October, R Kelly released his first Christmas album, “12 Nights Of Christmas”, but it looks like fans are going to see and hear much more of the singer/songwriter/producer in 2017. During an interview with the Atlanta Journal Constitution, Kelly revealed that he plans to release 35 more chapters of his musical dramaedy “Trapped In The Closet.” That isn’t all. Kelly also intends to release a R&B/Hip Hop album, which is still untitled. R&B singer Trey Songz lost his cool after his microphone was cut off during a concert in Detroit. He was arrested following the incident. At around 11:30 p.m. last night, Songz, who was performing at the fourth annual Big Show at the  Joe Louis Arena along with Chris Brown and Lil Yachty, was told that he’d have to leave the stage because his time was up. According to Detroit News, Officers from the Gang Intelligence Unit, who were detailed to the show, tried to tranquilize the situation, but after an object he threw hit a sergeant in the head, Songz was placed under arrest. Medics transported the officer to an area hospital where he was treated and released. Meanwhile, Songz was booked for malicious destruction of property and resisting and obstructing arrest and was still in the Detroit Detention Center this morning. An arraignment is expected, but the date and time is unknown. Songz is also scheduled to appear at a similar event tomorrow at Chicago’s United Center. Let’s hope he keeps his cool this time! After years of anticipation, rapper Lil B. is finally preparing the release of his mixtape “Black Ken.” Yesterday, the self proclaimed Based God released the single “My House”, which was produced by Metro Boomin. With Bone Thugs-N-Harmony’s 1997 Grammy winning single “The Crossroads” serving as the sample for his record, Lil B glides over the airy remake with precision.

Rapper Wale and R&B veteran Usher collaborate on this track that finds the two contemplating tying the knot.

Singer/songwriter Joseph Louis Thomas, known professionally as Joe, continues to make significant strides in the music industry. His latest studio effort, “#MYNAMEISJOETHOMAS” has topped the Billboard charts and produced several hit singles. Without question, there’s more to come.