Lionel B

Lionel Barnes (born 12 January 1980) better known by his stage name Lionel B, is an American media personality, best known for his YouTube videos and the Lionel B show. He is invested in sharing updates in the entertainment sector, mainly covering the hip-hop industry on his show. Lionel on youtube channel, features stories, news updates, gossip and controversies highlighting their various aspects. The Lionel B show has grown to be one of the fastest urban celebrity news channels in history with over 80 million views in a year. Lionel has worked on to become one of the most popular figures in the online celebrity news world.
Lionel B has worked with several acclaimed artists including Crime Mob's Diamond ATL, Turk from the Hot Boys, Marc John Jefferies who has worked in leading shows like Losing Isaiah, Get Rich Or Die Tryin’ and Haunted Mansion. Lionel B has also co-hosted with Jeremy Mincey who is a former Dallas Cowboys captain.
Lionel has worked up to become a thriving YouTube sensation. He has been featured in several media outlets like The American Daily Post and London Daily Post. His game application, The Adventures of Lionel B is available on Google Play. Lionel B’s game is a tribute to the 80’s culture. 
==Early life and education==
Lionel B was born in Panama City, Florida to Dr. Linward Barnes Sr. and Barbara Benniefield. He completed his middle school education in Panama city, before moving to Naples, Italy in 1993. Lionel B pursued his high school education in Italy and Germany. Lionel graduated from Bloomingdale High School in Tampa, Florida, and joined the Air Force. After serving for some time in the US military, Lionel B developed a new found passion for music production, which marked the beginning of his promised career as a media personality. 
He attended International Academy of Design and Technology in Tampa, where he learned music engineering, camera operation, video editing, and professional light, and graphic design.
==Career==
Lionel B started his career while he was still studying in college. His first venture was the foundation of a production company and record label - Tight Grip Media. Lionel B’s company produced tracks for several up and coming artists including Duece Poppi and Lark Voorhies. Tight Grip Media produced an entire album for Lark Voorhies which was titled Saved By The Bell. Lionel B has also produced rapper Blood Raw’s Hustle 4 Mine lyric music video. 
Soon after, Lionel B expanded his business, tapping into the entertainment sector and started producing satirical videos, posting them on YouTube. Lionel B's YouTube channel started to gain significant popularity in 2018. This was a result of his coverage of Nipsey Hussle’s murder of that happened in Crenshaw. 
In the same year, Lionel B released a video featuring Jay-Z, Beyonce and Offset that immediately went viral. This video showed a dispute amongst these celebrities. Lionel B’s video 
reached over 6 million views on YouTube which earned him thousands of subscribers. It was after this viral video that Lionel B became one of the hottest YouTube celebrity bloggers. Lionel B’s channel became the fastest growing urban celebrity news channel in history gaining over 80 Million Views in just a year.
Lionel B released a mobile application in 2020 titled The Adventures Of Lionel B whis is a jungle run and shooting game available for android devices. This game was created by Lionel B in order to keep the 80’s game flame burning. The Adventures of Lionel B consists of a custom soundtrack produced by Lionel himself.
==Awards==
Lionel B is the recipient of 100,000 Subscriber YouTube Award and 2019 Celebrity Blogger Of The Year.
==Personal Life==
Lionel B’s father Dr. Linward Barnes Sr. is a retired school principal and his mother Barbara Benniefield is a retired registered nurse. Lionel B’s mother passed away on July 14th, 2020 as she suffered from Covid-19. In her final hours she received a special song tribute from R&B Star Kenny Lattimore.
Lionel B has 4 children, Kyana Barnes aged 21, Lionel Barnes Jr. aged 16, Lathan Barnes aged 9, and Lyric Barnes who is 7 years old.
Lionel has always been influenced with rap blogs and forums, outlets that covered cultural news from the various diasporas, this is what he believes inspired him to start his own channel. 
==In the media==
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==References==
==External links==
Official website
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* Lionel B on YouTube
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* Lionel B on Apple Music
* Lionel B on Google Play
Category:American YouTubers
Category:Male YouTubers
Category:Living people
Category:1980 births