Six years later, Black Diamond may be history. Janet is recording again, has a vault of unreleased music, and Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis are reportedly back in the studio. Maybe the real question is: what replaced it?

Beyoncé sampling Selena doesn’t automatically earn my applause. I want cultural appreciation to include visible solidarity. Celebrate the music, but show up for the community when there’s no spotlight, no album to sell, and no award to collect.

For 40 years, fans have claimed Cyndi Lauper took Madonna’s “We Are the World” spot. The record confirms Cyndi was chosen, not that anyone feared Madonna’s vocals. So whose solo could Madonna have taken on vocal ability alone?

Madonna is OUT of the Billboard 200 after only five weeks, yet she now leads the 2026 VMAs with 11 nominations. As MTV’s lone original-era icon, could the network finally give its Queen all her flowers, and score the ratings with a historic performance? 👑