Bark + Bite

Frank Ocean speaks of "freedom" from coming out before "Bad Religion" performance at Lollapalooza

Frank Ocean has granted only one interview since his "coming out," but even in that interview, he still hasn't used the phrase "coming out," nor has he attached a label, such as bisexual or gay, to himself.

Before he performed "Bad Religion" at Lollpalooza, the singer gave a short speech on why the song was important and significant to him, especially in light of his recent admission and he was just as ambiguous about the whole thing.

"This next song that I'm gonna play, I guess it's pretty important to me because of some of the things that I've said in the last month. Just kind of taking some freedom for myself. Just taking the fear away. I'm grateful for that love."

As the only R&B singer to openly admit to same-sex attraction, Frank has become a lightning rod for conversations about the state of homosexuality in hip-hop at large.

But at Lollapalooza, the audience didn't seem to care about that at all as the audience sang along to nearly every word of "Bad Religion" and erupted with applause.

Check out Frank's performance from Lollapalooza below

Brandy shakes her booty to "Put It Down" at Howard Theater

Hot damn! B-Rocka is taking no prisoners in the game with this new album.

Performing in front of fans at the Howard Theater in Washington D.C. on Wednesday, Brandy performed her single "Put It Down" live for the first time. The routine featured some aggressive booty popping and hip thrusting, the likes of which are usually associated with Beyonce.

Maybe her time with Dancing with the Stars has helped or maybe Frank Gatson, Beyonce's choreographer, has whipped her into shape. Either way, she was killin' it on stage. Oh, and she still sang live on top of it. How you like them apples?

Watch Brandy's first performance of "Put It Down" below

Daley digs deep for beautiful cover of Usher's "Climax"

One of our On the Verge artists, Daley, is so talented it hurts. While he's not made his mark in the U.S. yet, Daley is hard at work building a fan base back home in the UK.

That doesn't mean he's not paying attention to what American artists like Usher are doing though. Showing his appreciation for the Diplo/Usher masterpiece, Daley covered the emotional track while in concert in London recently.

Listen to Daley's perfectly spellbinding cover below

Nicki Minaj graces Jay Leno with her presence, performs "Pound the Alarm"

Caribbean queen! It's not just a Billy Ocean song, it also describes Trini-born Nicki Minaj.

Killing two birds with one stone, Nicki sat on Jay Leno's couch to promote her participation in the new Ice Age movie, in which she voices a sass-talking wooly mammoth. She also talked about touring life and her past as a Red Lobster waitress.

The real highlight though was her performance of "Pound the Alarm," which was given a heavy dose of Carnaval flavoring. This matches the soon-to-be-released video, which was shot in Trinidad recently.

As flesh-baring suits go, Nicki's was quite the eye-popper. Her performance game has stepped up significantly since her "Itty Bitty Piggy" days. There's energy, polish and confidence there now. Also, get into Jay Leno screaming "YEEEEEESSSS!" at the end of Nicki's performance too. What a Ken Doll he is.

Watch Nicki's appearance on Jay Leno's show below

Kimbra performs "Settle Down" on Jay Leno

Hot off of the success of her duet with Gotye, Kimbra is taking the U.S. by storm. And late-night TV is getting a much needed dose of Kimbra fever.

The New Zealand star performed a rearranged, quirky version of her breakout single "Settle Down." She mixed her beat live in front of the audience, as her belts, grunts and hiccups were transformed into the pleasant background noise of her single.

Watch Kimbra's performance on Jay Leno below

Frank Ocean bares his soul in "Bad Religion" performance on Fallon

Frank Ocean made his national TV debut just now with a stirring performance of "Bad Religion," a song in which he unapologetically bemoans an unrequited love for a man.

It's a historic moment for R&B, to say the least. But sexuality aside, Frank gives a golden performance. He's grown considerably as a vocalist and performer, though he obviously remains rather reserved and shy. His smile at the end, however, shows that he's a man who is growing quite comfortable in his own skin.

Watch Frank Ocean's performance on Jimmy Fallon below

Whitney Houston Tribute: Brandy strikes back, Monica soars and more

The late and great Whitney Houston has been on the receiving end of many a tribute since her unexpected passing this year. Brandy and Monica, the two people who've been missing from every one so far, finally paid homage to their mentor at the BET Awards this year.

Monica sang "I Love the Lord," a track from Houston's The Preacher's Wife soundtrack. Clearly not one of Houston's more recognizable tracks, but Monica sang it beautifully nonetheless.

Brandy, however, brought the house down with some of the most popular jams in Houston's entire catalogue: "I'm Your Baby Tonight" and "I Wanna Dance With Somebody."

Displaying a big cat presence on the stage like never before, Brandy dominated with stunning vocals and dance moves, which is incredibly rare for the singer. It was a sight that needed to be seen to believe. And it got Brandy to become one of the top trending topics for the night on Twitter.

Cissy Houston, Whitney's mother, broke down spirits and hearts as she dedicated "Bridge Over Troubled Water" to her late daughter. Perhaps most touched was Soulja Boy, who recently lost his little brother in a car accident in March. Kanye was equally moved, having lost his mother a few years back, and Beyonce let a single tear roll down her impeccable face.

Check out the Whitney Houston tribute at the 2012 BET Awards below

Usher delivers a straight-up performance of "Climax" at the 2012 BET Awards

Awards show performances are usually a special occasion in which the conventional goes out the window. Surprise guests, eye-popping costumes, neck-snapping medlies, you name it, it happens.

So imagine our surprise when Usher failed to deliver one measly left turn during his performance at the 2012 BET Awards. Admittedly, the falsetto and vocals were damn near flawless, which wasn't the case for him on SNL, but still. Aside from his curious red Uggs, there wasn't nothing here to really get all that excited about.

Oh well, at least "Climax" is still great.

Check out Usher's BET Awards performance below