The second-annual Lovers and Friends festival was the ultimate trip down memory lane for music lovers of the “'99 & the 2000”- era. Reminiscent millennials and Gen-Z packed the Las Vegas Festival Grounds for the highly anticipated A-list lineup, and although it was hard to catch all the viral moments happening all at once—it was the talk of the weekend and for great reason.
From Usher proving once again why Las Vegas is slowly becoming his city to Mariah Carey reuniting with Boyz II Men to perform their 1995 no. 1 hit “One Sweet Day,” —the top-tier acts at Lovers and Friends are making it one of the hottest festivals on the rise. The chatter happening all weekend following the alleged birthday party altercation between Chris Brown and Usher only added to the hype of the one-day revival of one of the golden eras in hip hop and R&B.
Here are some of the unforgettable moments from the second-annual Lovers and Friends festival…
Usher Shut It Down
@xonecole@Usher Raymond performing at #loversandfriends! 🔥 #fyp #loversandfriendsfest
Las Vegas is becoming Usher’s second home, and it is further solidified each time he unveils yet another epic performance in Sin City. The 2023 Lovers and Friends festival was no different. The headliner brought out Muni Long to debut an unreleased version of “Hrs & Hrs” along with Ari Lennox, whose impressive vocals nearly stole the show. Summer Walker also hit the stage with the eight-time Grammy winner before her own set, and Jermaine Dupri, the man behind some of Usher’s most iconic hits, made an appearance too.
Da Brat later joined them and didn’t miss a beat, performing for the second time in one day during her third trimester of pregnancy. Lastly, if an altercation did happen at Chris Brown’s 34th birthday party, there was not one shred of evidence in this performance. It was immaculate.
Chris Brown Put On a Performance To Remember
The controversial superstar may be the subject of many puzzling headlines, but that didn’t stop Chris Brown from putting forth a showstopping performance. He took festival-goers back in time, belting many of his career-defining classics like “Yo (Excuse Me Miss)” and “With You.” Additionally, his special guests included longtime friends Tyga and Bow Wow —performing “Ayo” and the Y2K classic “Shawty Like Mine.” Chris kept the performance strictly about the music, pairing the stellar vocals with a positive attitude amidst rumors of the birthday altercation.
Jhené Aiko’s Return to the Stage
@xonecoleThis moment with @Big Sean and @jheneaiko at #loversansfriends = EVERYTHING! 🔥#loversandfriendsfest #fyp
The 2023 Lovers & Friends Festival marked Jhené Aiko’s return to the stage after giving birth to her first child with Big Sean, their son Noah. With a late afternoon performance, the sultry songbird was the perfect calm before the storm. Her melodic tunes swept through the crowd like a trance and were the perfect midday reset within the action-packed day of A-List performances. Saweetie graced the stage to mark her fellow California native’s big occasion, and Big Sean joined Jhené for a rendition of their “Twenty88” classics. Her longtime lover ended his time on stage singing her praises and showering her with love for taking great care of their son. The impromptu gesture left the crowd in awe of their romance, and the viral moment was 10x more intimate in person.
Mariah Carey Reunites with Boyz II Men
Mariah Carey took the stage at the 2023 Lovers and Friends Festival in true diva fashion, making the crowd chant her name following a nearly 30-minute delay. Once she arrived, she looked amazing and didn’t miss a beat per usual. Not to mention, she wrapped up the night with one of the best reunions at the festival. Boyz II Men, who also had their own festival headlining set, joined her to perform their 1995 hit song “One Sweet Day.” The “Queen of Christmas” did not disappoint, further treating fans to renditions of her classics like “Obsessed” and “We Belong Together.”
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Tracee Ellis Ross On Why She Declined The Idea Of Someone Else Running Her Hair Company
Actress and entrepreneur Tracee Ellis Ross recently revealed the driving force behind her desire to become the owner of her haircare brand, Pattern.
According to its site, Pattern is a haircare company that provides a wide range of products, from shampoos, conditioners, oils, creams, and many more to individuals with curls, coils, and tight hair textures. Although Pattern would launch in 2019, the idea for the company first came to Ross a decade before --in 2008, when her hit show Girlfriends wrapped-- following a brief encounter at a beauty supply store and many wanting to recreate her past looks.
At the time, those individuals couldn't achieve the exact results because limited natural hair products were offered to the public. That instance became a pivotal moment in the star's life because she spent eleven years experimenting with professionals to create products that best suit those within the natural hair community.
In a May conference with Fortune's MPW Next Gen, Ross opened up about the struggles she faced early on as an entrepreneur trying to get Pattern off the ground and why she declined the offer to have the company be run by someone else.
Tracee On Past Struggles And Why She Chose To Run Her Company
During the discussion, the 50-year-old revealed that she is Pattern's "majority owner" because the company's overall mission to cater to those in the natural hair community was built from her "experiential knowledge."
"I'm a majority owner of my company. [Other celebrities with brands] aren't the founders of the company. Often, they join a company that exists," she said. "The mission [at Pattern] is born out of my experience. It's born out of my own experiential knowledge."
Further in the interview, Ross would add that she avoided partnering with an expert for Pattern because she felt she had gained enough knowledge experimenting with products in her bathroom.
"I didn't want to partner with an expert or a 'professional' because I felt—like so many—I had become my own best expert in my bathroom because the beauty industry was not catering to us," she stated.
Despite refusing to have a partner within her company, Ross found creative ways to build it. It includes paying a chemist with her own money to bring her visions of various products to life, and sending those samples to retail stores, ultimately leading to partnerships.
The final piece that helped Ross during her journey was receiving advice from business partners on ways to improve the brand, one of which came from Ulta Beauty CEO and Footlocker CEO Mary Dillon.
The black-ish star claimed that Dillon helped her realize how she could use her celebrity status and journey to promote Pattern, which she did. Because of that, Patten has now become a favorable haircare brand among many.
Tracee On How She Plans To Use Her Company To Create Opportunities For Others
Toward the end of the discussion, Ross disclosed how she plans to use the power of being Pattern's CEO to help others.
The High Note star explained that being an owner of a company has given her access to be around other CEOs interested in what appears to be becoming more profitable, and with that, she wants to expand that access to other people.
"I know that I have access to sit at a table with a CEO in a way that perhaps another founder doesn't. And when I do that, I make sure that those conversations are not only centered around Pattern," she said. "They're centered around creating and expanding the access for all of us."
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Feature image by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for The Webby Awards
In recent years. Projects that involve robotics, artificial intelligence, speech recognition, and related technologies can help develop students’ analytical, creative, and practical skills. However, a major challenge has been the robots themselves: they are typically big, heavy, and costly. For robots to become widely used in education, they need to be smaller, easier to setup and use, and, more important, they need to be affordable to educators and students.
In recent years. Projects that involve robotics, artificial intelligence, speech recognition, and related technologies can help develop students’ analytical, creative, and practical skills. However, a major challenge has been the robots themselves: they are typically big, heavy, and costly. For robots to become widely used in education, they need to be smaller, easier to setup and use, and, more important, they need to be affordable to educators and students.
The Great Report
2020 Global Report Sheet
In recent years, interest in using robots in education has seen massive growth. Projects that involve robotics, artificial intelligence, speech recognition, and related technologies can help develop students’ analytical, creative, and practical skills. However, a major challenge has been the robots themselves: they are typically big, heavy, and costly. For robots to become widely used in education, they need to be smaller, easier to setup and use, and, more important, they need to be affordable to educators and students.
In recent years. Projects that involve robotics, artificial intelligence, speech recognition, and related technologies can help develop students’ analytical, creative, and practical skills. However, a major challenge has been the robots themselves: they are typically big, heavy, and costly. For robots to become widely used in education, they need to be smaller, easier to setup and use, and, more important, they need to be affordable to educators and students.
