Ava DuVernay Won’t Be Directing Marvel’s Black Panther

Despite taking meetings, magical Black woman/director Ava DuVernay will unfortunately not be piggybacking Selma by helming Marvel’s Black Panther. The reason: creative differences. “We had different ideas about what the story would be… we just didn’t see eye to eye,” she said. “Marvel has a certain way of doing things and I think they’re fantastic and a lot of people love what they do. I loved that they reached out to me.” The film notably depicts the first African-American superhero in mainstream U.S. comics; Chadwick Boseman was cast as the protagonist. “In the end, it comes down to story and perspective,” DuVernay added. “Better for me to realize that now than cite creative differences later.”

Read it at NME.

Dr. Dre Is a Huge Fan of J. Dilla

Hip-hop legend Dr. Dre is truly a super producer, but even he has idols. The headphone hawker debuted his The Pharmacy program on Apple Music’s Beats 1 on Saturday, revealing his admiration for late music great J Dilla’s passion and production. “There’s actually a lot of producers that I like to listen to,” Dre said. “A lot of producers out there that I respect, a lot of producers that I get inspiration from, but you know what? I’m gonna write a prescription for just one. What I want right now is just a dose of Dilla.”

Dre went on about the Detroit-born beatmaker, sharing a story about his last days. “One of the most incredible things that I liked about Dilla is, Dilla was in his hospital room on his deathbed and he had his machines in his room, in his hospital room and he was still making beats before he passed away. Now you’re talking about dedication to what you really love and your passion? It gets no deeper than that.”

Another rap/producer hybrid, Q-Tip, also kicked off his weekly Beats 1 segment last week, blending hip-hop, rock, afrobeat, salsa, disco and more.

Read it at Rolling Stone.

Q-Tip Says The Last Zulu LP Is Nearly Complete

Speaking of Q-Tip, the former A Tribe Called Quest front man says his long gestating album The Last Zulu is almost complete. Finally. “I’m trying to keep up with my counterparts Sade and D’Angelo and take eight years, nine years between records. I’m very aware of that,” said Kamaal, whose previous studio LP, The Renaissance, dropped in 2008. “I’m just trying to uphold our pact that we have.”

Tip says he’s excited about the music (duh), but more surprisingly, expresses that he’s still improving musically. “The sound is, it’s hard to describe, but I’m just excited about music. I feel like I haven’t even peaked. I’m just hoping that I can have people join me on my little insights, know what I mean? I think that we’re in a crossroads in many ways, not only as a nation but in the world.”

Read it at Billboard.