By the Time I Get to Arizona…

They done lost their damn minds in Arizona! First it took nine years and a tourist boycott for them to observe the federal holiday of Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday, but now they are destroying the very definition of civil rights with their new immigration law that is essentially racial profiling. The new law that was signed into the books last Friday and takes effect in August allows for law enforcement officials rundown on anyone they suspect of being an illegal immigrant and ask them to produce papers proving legal status in the country.

I have my personal opinions about illegal immigrants, but allowing police Gestapo like authority challenges the very liberties upon which this country was founded, principled, and has stood upon for the last 234 years. Then again, it isn't like the past 234 years have been model when it comes to race relations, but that's another story.
President Obama says this legislation threatens "to undermine basic notions of fairness that we cherish as Americans, as well as the trust between police and our communities that is so crucial to keeping us safe." Can you imagine the tension running through that state as citizens have to be on pins and needles, but those here illegally must be beside themselves with fear of being detained? What exactly does someone look like that you suspect to be in the country illegally? It's open season on Hispanics in Arizona, because they are considered the largest violators of our immigration laws.

 But what about those born, educated and employed on United States soil? How do you differentiate them from someone that found a soft spot at the border? What is the message that we're sending to them and their children? It was less than two years ago that Republicans courted the Hispanic population for their support in the Presidential election, now Arizona's republicans have put them in their crosshairs under the guise of reform. A tourist boycott got them to get their minds right last time, it's gonna take action by major corporations and tourist to bring about change this go around. By hitting the state of Arizona in the pocket for violating the civil liberties of people, will send the message that we aren't standing for this type of racial profiling in 2010.

The time has come for President Obama and his band of merry men (and women) to put their heads together and work on immigration reform that's comprehensive, but inclusive of the rights of citizens, because a lot of you Black folks look mixed and I would hate to find out that my homie Will was sitting in a detainee camp somewhere because he left his wallet in El Segundo!

Read More

As a Child I was Told that My Love was King

But this ain’t no Sade song! Have you heard The Dream’s new song “Love King”? This is by far among the laziest attempts at a song I’ve ever heard. It sounds like I’ve heard this song at least nine or ten times before from him, maybe it’s that same piano key in the background, maybe it’s the phrasing, but it is definitely his wack songwriting. I thought he was retiring or something? I guess someone has to bring home the bacon since Christina Milian isn’t exactly churning out hits these days.

I know someone is thinking that many of Al Green’s songs sounded similar because of the horns, but The Dream ain’t Al Green and with lyrics like “I got girls in heels/Girls in Adidas/Tracy, Kim/Tameka, Fatima/Got girls on the Nuvo/Girls on Patron/Girls on that Belvedere/Pay me for the song/Got girls on my Sprint/My AT&T/Got girls on T-Mobile /Metro if it's local” it sounds more like a bad rap song than R&B, but you probably diddy bop to it on your way to the job or at happy hour…man who stole the soul?!?

Watch & listen to this crap...

Read More

The Questions

You stay up long enough and some of the craziest thoughts start to run through your head, I have to make sure I'm not on the edge of insanity, so I wanted to share a few things that have been running through my mind:

• Who the hell did Arnold Schwarzeneggar run against to become Governor of California? Gary Coleman?
• Where are the guys that made "Whoomp, There it is!"?
• Do little girls still jump double dutch?
• Whatever happened to Sandra from "The Cosby Show"?
• Can a man be a relationship expert? Seriously?
• Have you realized how bad a movie Penitentiary II is?
• Penitentiary and Penitentiary III for that matter as well?
• Where is Leon Isaac Kennedy?
• When they do sample polls, who the hell are they asking, because I never get asked my opinion?
• Did Pepa ever break her four years of celibacy?
• Also, how did Joumanna Kidd go from the prayer circle with Salt to talking about cutie runs with Pep?
• Do people really understand the quotes they post as their Facebook status?
• Do people really think The Dream is talented?
• Does Iron Man 2 look wack to you?
• Why is "New York Undercover" so wack to you now, but you can watch "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" for an entire weekend and not get bored?
• Have you ever drunk texted the wrong person and they were down for whatever?
• Did I miss the memo; has the USPS stopped delivering on Tuesday?
• Were all of Steven Seagal's movies bad?
• Can I still grow a high-top fade?
• Ever find yourself wanting to slap somebody at work…everyday?
• Will Denzel ever be as good as he was in Training Day?
• When was the last time you listened to Gregory Abbot's "Shake You Down"?
• Is anyone else jealous that White folks can seemingly eat pork without overwhelming fear of long-term health risks?
• Who was the first Nigga to eat chicken & waffles?
• Why does every woman that's had her heart broken once or twice think she can write a book? I'm just saying, it worked for Terry McMillan, but you can barely read…
• Does anyone want to cook me breakfast?

Read More

The Hump Day Song of the Week: Let's Chill

You know this is one of your favorite songs...

Read More

Allow Me to Reintroduce Myself

I woke up today and the number of subscribers doubled overnight, I guess "Ain't You a Woman?!?" had a little something to do with that, but whatever the cause, welcome to The World According to Teef. Now that you're here, you'll have to learn the way of the land and some of the goings on around here. First, if someone referred you to this blog, they should've warned you that I take no prisoners and everything and everyone is fair game. There's a good chance that you'll be offended by something you've read (possibly by the end of this blog) and I hope you learn that the discomfort is ok, because it puts your brain to work, that's the goal. I don't wake up and look to piss people off (everyday), but I do aim to challenge people to think differently, a little more or to just think, I'll point out the constellation, but you'll have to connect the dots.

You'll find that I am a hater of a few things (Tyler Perry, Reality TV, Pop music and Oprah), I'm disturbed by people who don't read, women with low self-esteem and fellas that refuse to grow up (cut the damn cornrows!) and I have been boycotting of BET for what will be 10 months Friday. Also, I tend to say the "N-word" often, though I've curbed my enthusiasm of its usage a bit in recent months. Everything else you'll find out as I reinterpret what you see on a day-to-day basis and drop it on the 1!

Those of you that have been along for the entire ride may have noticed that the blog has changed slightly and that's because my approach to life has been altered somewhat. I'm still the baddest, lowdown, mofo around since Sho'Nuff, but I've been working on some things and what you've read since January 1^st has been reflective of that. With that said, be careful of what you do, because the next blog I write might be about you!

Now to define a little of what you'll get on a consistent basis around here:

I'm Disappointed in America: This series is dedicated to some of the junk that we're fed as entertainment or lifestyle today and my rants against it. There's a good chance that one of your favorite pastimes or guilty pleasures will find your way into this category, that's ok, I'm working on you…

In Search of…: These are dedicated to celebrities that have fallen off and my S.O.S. to them.

Who Stole the Soul: This is all about my distaste for the state of Black music.

The Hump Day Song of the Week: My weekly selection aimed at getting you over "the hump" and headed towards your weekend.

80's Babies: My occasional flashbacks to a time when things were much simpler (for me).

The Summer Rules: My yearly set of dos and don's as the mercury and level of ignorance increases to nearly unbearable levels.

Memoirs of an Insomniac: The reason this all got started in the first place, my scatterbrained musings on nights when my chronic acute insomnia goes has me watching Penitentiary II at 3:30am

Aside from those common recurrences you'll read criticisms on government, find trailers for upcoming movies, recommendations for books and Broadway shows, memorialize fallen icons, wax poetic about pop culture and dig into you favorite hot button issues of the day. Oh yeah, there's quite a bit of talk about relationships going on too, but I don't fancy myself an expert or anything, I'm just a guy that's been in a few situations and has a lot to say…

Read More

I’m Disappointed in America: Booty Pop Panties

The cure for noassatall has arrived! I know you've seen the commercial for the "Booty Pop" panties designed to give you the sexy booty "just like the celebrities" as it claims. Like the celebrities huh? I guess they're talking about Beyonce, Jennifer Lopez or the ghetto superstars we see everyday because most celebrities I see on the red carpet are in need of these drawls.

White women and a few of you booty deprived sistas out there are ecstatic about this "invention", but keep in mind that wearing these joints to happy hour or the club is as big of a lie as that big weave you're wearing. You know the fellas are checking to see how that thang looks right after he looks to see if you have runover shoes on, so faking him out is just like him lying about those four kids he has.

So, now you can fill out those Apple Bottom jeans you bought on sale last year and that dress you just purchased for the summer will look a little bit sexier. I guess the good thing about this product is it keeps you from going to the Dominican Republic to get shots in the gluteus maximus like you're man's favorite stripper, but it's just more proof that many of us can't be happy with what we've been born with.

Read More

Who Stole the Soul: A Group Thang

Take a journey with me back to the early to mid '90's and you'll find an element of music that is sorely missed in 2010, the singing group. Somewhere in your rotation of cassette tapes or CD's you had After 7, BlackStreet, Boyz II Men, En Vogue, Guy, H-Town, Hi-Five, Intro, Jodeci, Shai, Silk, SWV, TLC, Tony! Toni! Tone!, Xscape or Zhane. But those days are long gone, I can't even think of a group that's relevant off the top of my head now and after scanning the Billboard Top 100 R&B/Hip-Hop albums, my theory was confirmed.

Go even further back and you'll find that groups nearly dominated the soul music scene of the 70's as groups such as Bloodstone, Blue Magic, The Chi-Lites, The Commodores, Earth, Wind & Fire, The Five Stairsteps, Gladys Knight & the Pips, Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes, Heatwave, The Isley Brothers, The Jackson 5, Kool & the Gang, L.T.D., Labelle, Lakeside, The Main Ingredient, The Manhattans, Maze ft. Frankie Beverly, New Birth, The O'Jays, Parliament Funkadelic, The Pointer Sisters, Ray, Goodman & Brown (The Moments), Rose Royce, Sister Sledge, The Spinners, The Staples Singers, The Stylistics, Switch and The Whispers provided the soundtrack for the decade and carried on the tradition created by legendary groups, The Temptations, The Four Tops and The Supremes.

I think you get the point, but we're missing the music.

The Temptations brand has lasted for nearly 50 years because of a commitment to the sound and style of the group. Sure, David Ruffin and Eddie Kendricks went solo, but the group didn't break stride, as the lineup has had at least 20 lineup changes over the years, Otis Williams and the guys really meant it when they said "Temptations forever!"At some point in the last 20 years, the allure of being able to prove that you can do it on your own and not having to split the profit four or five ways has outweighed the harmony, choreography, musicianship, and concept of being part of a group.

For every Diana Ross, Michael Jackson, Teddy Pendergrass or Beyonce that broke away from a group to superstardom, there's an El Debarge or Sisqo that had minor success on their own, but couldn't sustain solo careers. Bobby Brown was famously dismissed from New Edition when his ego outgrew the group and he went on to become the King of R&B, but when Ralph Tresvant followed suit in 1990 he found that it wasn't all good without Ronnie, Bobby, Ricky and Mike (Johnny too…) behind him.

I've come to realize that I'm part of the problems of why groups don't last or have ceased to exist. As fans we become partial to members of the group and clamor to hear just that member a little more than the others. It starts with just wanting to hear him/her sing lead on a few more songs, then we want that solo album, can we blame a singer for believing the hype and going solo? The late 90's introduced 112, Destiny's Child, Dru Hill, Jagged Edge, Next and while each of these groups had a string of hits, they've all succumbed to the pull of solo stardom, lineup changes, shifts in the music landscape and ultimately dissolved. As record sales soared and the possibility of getting their hands on millions increased, members started to go it for self.

With their dissolutions went the way of the R&B vocal group, though Diddy tried to revive it by first signing New Edition (fail) and then putting together Day 26 (epic fail). Day 26 has a high school talent show feel to them and Pretty Ricky is just, well, high school. What's missing is the synergy of a group that has been friends for years, sang together for hours upon hours, perfected their steps and appear to be in sync on wax, onstage and with their matching outfits. I'm not sure if people even miss the element of the group, I know I do, it's a dynamic I enjoy in music.

We live in a "look at me" culture that shuns collaborative efforts and applauds the Herculean effort of doing it by your damn self, so the thought of putting years of effort only to share in the glory outside of the athletic arena (even there it) seems foreign to folks today. I know somewhere on the South Side of Chicago there's five brothers snapping their fingers right now, harmonizing, trying to get that old thing back…I think I'll go watch The Five Heartbeats now!

Read More

Ain’t You a Woman?!?

Shoutout to bell hooks!

I'm disappointed in Black women! Yeah, I said it! Now before you stop reading, hear me out. I'm not disappointed because of the "Nightline" special or the subsequent responses around the 'Net. I actually applaud the response, because most blogs, essays, articles, I've read dealt with the exploitive nature this topic is taking on. What I am upset with is the response, or lack thereof, to the expanding empire of exploitative Reality TV shows.

Each week there's an announcement of a new show that continues to push the envelope of tackiness towards the abyss and with each premiere I see legions of fans flock to some of the most disturbing images of Black women since BET's "Uncut" was taken off the air. But I know what you're saying, "That's not me on that TV". That's where you're wrong, that is you showing your ass every week on VH1 or BET, because there's people around the country that have limited interactions with Black women, so all they have to go on is what they see on TV. Much like I'm forced to wear the stereotype of a potential criminal, the angry Black guy, a shiftless, non-committal baby father or if I'm thought to be just plain ol' ignant thanks to the Mayweather's on HBO's "24/7", you're fighting media representations that showcase you in a less than flattering light.

Dr. Dorothy Height helped to prove that Black women could fight a war for equality on two fronts, but her work was all in vain if a blind eye is turned to the irresponsible use of the Black female image. For every Michelle Obama, Oprah Winfrey or Claire Huxtable, there's a Nene Leakes, Tiffany "New York" Pollard, Royce Reed, a houseful of chicks vying for Flavor Flav, Real, Chance or Ray J, plus Frankie and Neffie! And if you haven't noticed, these characters are hatched weekly. Less than a week after "Basketball Wives" premiered on VH1, it was announced that "Football Wives" was being developed to air later this year and just a few days ago plans for a new show named "Diary of a Hip Hop Girlfriend" was revealed. Notice the trend; we've gone from wives to girlfriends, what's next, "Drug Dealer's Baby Mamas"?

In thousands of households last night there was someone watching the behavior of the basketball wives that saw the Nightline special and thought to themselves, "I see why Black women can't get married." It is painfully obvious watching the show that money doesn't buy class and those dollars don't amount to common sense. That is, unless you're Shaunie O'Neal aka the Puppet Master, executive producer behind the show who's conveniently absent as the rest of the cast plunges from the surreal to the ridiculous. Seriously, Evelyn and Jennifer couldn't be happy that Gloria and her fiancé (Matt Barnes of the Orlando Magic) are happy and building a great family, instead they have to project their experiences on her relationship.

We saw the warning signs a few years ago when Karrine Steffans' tell-all book and subsequent promotional tour landed her on numerous bestsellers' lists and Oprah's couch, but we ignored it and deemed it as an isolated incident. Then came New York and her multiple shots at love (and stardom), Keyshia Cole introduced us to her dysfunctional family, Bravo's "Real Housewives" franchise moved to Atlanta, Fantasia got real and the beat went on and on and on and now Teairra Mari is singing about her "Sponsor" while loose lips sink the sailboats of the Black family structure in the background.

Even the guy you've entrusted to project on-screen images of you (Tyler Perry), shoots the most one-dimensional, stereotypical views of Black women, but you continue to laugh and he chuckles all the way to the bank. It seems like Essence magazine would be the perfect vehicle to approach this problem, but they seem preoccupied with the 'Single Black Woman' problem and provide a platform for this new wave of entertainment and we all know Oprah's just too busy to worry herself (or show) with what Black women actually go through daily.

Ok maybe I'm taking this too serious, maybe it isn't my fight, and maybe years of double standards within our community has rewritten the definition of a Black woman and I haven't updated my copy of Webster's. That's all hypothetical, but what is for sure, is there's a large population of women watching this madness week after week as Maya Angelou's "Phenomenal Woman" has been rewritten by Nicki Minaj, Teairra Mari and the folks at Viacom.

Read More

In Search of…Heavyweight Boxers

I'm not asking for Muhammad Ali. Don't want Mike Tyson. Not even Evander Holyfield, old Holyfield, and not old Holyfield. I'll take the days when Riddick Bowe, Lennox Lewis, Shannon Briggs, Oliver McCall, Ray Mercer and Andrew Golota were on their way up the ranks compared to this nonsense we have now. The two best heavyweights in the world won't fight each other because they happen to share DNA (Wladimer and Vitaly Klitschko) so we're forced to watch walking F'bomb Chris Aerreola on HBO every few months because the division is so irrelevant right now.

The combination of skill, speed and charm has always made the boxers in the lighter divisions stars, but the brute power and Goliath aura has made heavyweights seems larger than life over the years and that's a part of the sport that is sorely missed right now and has fans defecting to the gladiator-like appeal of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. With the current crop of "contenders", Holyfield is able to stick around and make some extra change to pay the IRS and even become a champion again at age 47. As a matter of fact, I do need Muhammad Ali and Mike Tyson, I need Joe Louis and Joe Frazier, hell I'd take Rocky Balboa at this point!

Read More

Ciara: Found & Lost

It was just last week that I sent a search party out to find Ciara, now I'm almost sorry that her S.O.S. was recognized, because she's back and her new song is the pits! Have you seen her new video "Ride"? Instead of taking singing lessons or finding good material over the last year, it's obvious that homegirl was in the gym and trolling ATL's strip clubs for new moves. The song is bad, but she's half butt naked, gyrating and grinding like she's waiting for her "Sponsors" to make it rain!

I guess after that last flop, she's gotten even more desperate and decided to get even sexier than she was in the "Love Sex Magic" video with Justin Timberlake. The lyrics suggest that "he" loves the way she rides the beat, the video suggests that we'd love her anywhere else but a song. She's almost 25 now, so I guess she's asserting her sexual independence, seems like all of her goodies are gone! But the songs gonna be a hit somewhere; most likely with teenage girls and grown men at $2 Tuesday!

Check the video out for yourself…

Read More

Talking Bout Good & Bad Hair…

It was reported earlier this week that two women were denied jobs at Six Flags in Maryland because they wear their hair in dreadlocks. Go on and get your chuckle for a moment, then take a step back and realize we live within a community in which the expression by hairstyles becomes part of the fabric of who we are.

Take a ride around this weekend and really look at your people, check out brothers with mohawks, the baby afros, ceasars, baldies, cornrows, the cats with the 360 waves spinning and the occasional brother stuck in the 80's with the Duke working. Check out how the hairstyle is just about as important as the bop in his step when he walks. But on the real fellas, Allen Iverson and Carmelo Anthony have cut their cornrows, it's about time for you to do the same, I'm tired of seeing you cats trying to hold on, that era is dead. As a matter of fact, cut those damn Mohawks too and stop sending your baby boys out there with that mess on their heads!

While you're out and about, camp out at any hair salon in the hood and you'll see a menagerie of Black female expression that isn't always good. Sure, there's the women with the dreads, the close cropped do, the Halle Barry style still works, old women rock that Della Reese style, many of you make your way to the Dominicans and get that doobie tightened up and a lot of you sit for two days with the Africans and get those microbraids and that's all well in and good, do your thang sistas!

However, way too many of you are getting your hair done like you're about to perform at the Soul Train Awards, too many of yall are rocking those big Beyonce weaves and wigs! I really don't get it, have you ever stepped back and really looked at yourself? I'm not talking about that, "I'm conceited, I got a reason" look, I'm talking about really picked apart what this hair means for you? I really want to know the reason for the weaves, I'm gonna need you to say something baby, because I really have to understand why would you bypass doing something with your hair to pay an outrageous amount for a lion's mane?

I know some of you reading this have eight extra pounds of hair sewn in right now and you're probably mad at me, but I don't give a damn, if you aren't going on tour, it really looks silly. It's crazy that next to all of those kool-aid colored, aerodynamic hairstyles some of you favor (shoutout to Trenton!), the weave is becoming part of Black female expressionism and you wonder why you can't keep a man, we like to run our fingers through your hair without pulling a track out! I'm not even gonna talk about you wig wearing chicks, let the church ladies have their thing.

The time has come for the laziness to stop, whatever happened to rolling your hair up at night? Do you still wear rollers? How much trouble is it to comb and wrap, wake up and let it down? That's part of the allure of Black women, knowing she took that extra time to look good that morning, just for you. Ask any brother if he's excited by knowing his woman really took her time to style her hair for that Maxwell concert and didn't just have her #68 wig, and watch that Nigga smile like he beat a speeding ticket!

Understand that I'm having fun, but I'm very serious, because this is reaching pandemic proportions. I saw three little girls walking into the bank the other day with lace fronts (?) on and I had to restrain myself from going to shake their mom. Whatever happened to braiding your daughter's hair and putting beads and barrettes in it? Oh yeah, we do that for our sons now…

Read More

If Steve Harvey is Speaking for Me, Somebody Get Him the Word that I Don’t Approve!

While you were sleeping, ABC decided to forego the news of the day on its “Nightline” program and run a new edition of their “Face-Off” debate series focusing on the hot-button topic of the manless Black women. Last night’s program, “Why Can’t a Successful Black Woman find a Man?” was hosted by Vicki Mabry and “relationship expert” Steve Harvey and the panel featured co-host of “The View” Sherri Shepherd, former BET News anchor Jacque Reid, actor Hill Harper and writer Jimi Izrael (The Denzel Principle). Nightline crammed three hours of a taping into a half-hour (with commercials) segment, so the meat of the conversation was probably left on the cutting room floor, and what we saw was a spliced of version of soundbytes meant to make us laugh at a serious topic.

The fact that Harvey was announced as a “relationship expert” and called himself an expert on the mind of men was troubling to me, because he’s on his third marriage, so I guess the experience of failure makes you the expert of success. I‘m not down with the panel of entertainers discussing issues among us common folk, even if they happen to be in a similar situation, their circumstances are a little different. I’m saying, I think Jacque Reid is a cougar and I’d lay my game down quite flat given the opportunity, but I’d rather have people with professional experience discussing issues of this nature.

Another issue was the exclusion of an entire population of women in the title alone, “Successful Black women” implies that this is the only group of women we should be concerned with being single, like the remaining Black women aren’t worth marrying. The marriage problem ranges from the top 1 percentile down and knows no age, so let’s address it from all angles to encompass everyone.

I know plenty of folks that are tired of this becoming news, but it’s also becoming a hustle, damn near everyone on that panel has made a buck off of the plight of the Black family and will continue to rack up appearance fees and book sales because it isn’t gonna go away anytime soon. Reid got her Lyfe Jennings on and broke down the statistical approach stating there are 1.8 million more Black women than Black men and once you start subtracting those who are already married, homosexual, dating outside the race or doing grad work at the concrete college, that pool of available men shrinks even further. Throw in the expectation that your mate has to have Denzelean qualities like Izrael asserts in his book and you find nearly 1,000,000 trying to win the hearts of five brothers.

The Atlanta crowd of mostly women became frenzied when it was suggested that Black women start to look outside of their race for mates. Really? Atlanta? Yall ready to give up on the brothers like that? The good thing about all of this attention is that it sparks a dialogue between the sexes and both sides can hear the other out on the expectations, the disappointments, the experiences and solutions based on individuals. No one can write the prescription on ensuring that more Black women are married, if they were able, it may be as simple as a little bit of Teef is all it takes…

Watch the entire program here

Read More

Y-L-E-N-O-L

I've noticed that many people aren't able to differentiate "alone" from "lonely" and by extension the emotions and actions that tend to stem from being in each state. It is crucial to understand that these words, though similar in pronunciation are worlds apart in meaning.

Websters defines "alone" as being apart from anyone or anything, to simply, just being by yourself. It could be temporarily or long-term, but I's just you separating yourself from folks. Conversely, "lonely" is defined as dejected by the awareness of being alone. In other words, being alone has caused some emotional response in you. It's a thin line between being alone and feeling lonely, that many people navigate daily, but handle differently.

When you're alone the solitude can prove useful, as that time is spent deconstructing yourself or busying yourself with the pursuit of long-term goals and ultimately improving your present state of mind and conditions. Being alone can be productive if you're using the time wisely to prepare to be a better companion, mate, friend, whatever.

However, when you ruminate on being alone, it is easy to slip into the state of its evil twin, loneliness. When you're lonely that deconstruction becomes nitpicking and everything you've ever felt you didn't like about yourself becomes paramount to your life. People are at their absolute worst when lonely, the self-loathing seeps into the interactions with folks and almost makes them a pariah because the negative energy they give off.

Being lonely causes folks to think they're the cause of everything bad in the universe, believe that happiness will never come their way, text me at 12:30am (after you've sworn me off for the 13^th time) or rears its ugly head in the form of depression. Depression. No one ever wants to speak that word, but that's what it is when you're lonely, your spirits have sunk so low that your body reacts to what your mind is telling it. Tired, melancholy, angry, sad, dejected, gloomy, grim or any synonym you want to use for it, that's what it is.

I'm alone much of the time, but not lonely, maybe during the holiday season, but I will never categorize myself as lonely. If you haven't noticed, I'm working on some things that will ultimately make me better, will ultimately make my relationships (romantic and otherwise) more fulfilling.

Now for all of you lonely chicks that have become bitter and decide to lash out at your baby daddy or me, you may want to spend the time you have with yourself trying to figure out just why you're ALONE. That anger ain't cute boo-boo and neither is calling me to complain while Kobe & Co. are trying to go back-to-back. Get a journal, read a real book, watch Dr. Phil or something; just leave me be, I'm busy working on me these days and trust me, I won't holla when I'm done.

Read More

Hump Day Song of the Week: Deniece Williams "Silly"

I know a lot of folks are gone off of the new Monica single, but let's not forget where it originated...

Read More

Tales of the Tuesday Nothin’…Again!

Instead of enjoying the SVU marathon today as I plotted before noon yesterday, I'm sitting at my desk trying to perfect my busy look as I read news reports about the passing of two people that have gained legendary status in separate arenas of our culture, Dorothy Height and Guru.

Height, one of the driving forces behind the Civil Rights movement passed at age 98. Think about that, 98 years, she has seen the nation near its worst rise through the most tumultuous times, witness the prideful expression of the 70's, saw Reaganomics and crack destroy the work of the great ones in the 80's and witnessed the dream deferred partial arrival on 11/4/08. She really lived a full life.

In Guru's 43 years he rose from Boston's Roxbury to the top of hip-hop alongside DJ Premier as the group Gangstarr and released a few classic albums in hip-hop circles, as well as the innovative Jazzmatazz series. Guru had a long battle with cancer, before cardiac arrest moved him into a coma last month, before he passed yesterday. He lived a short life.

So here I am pushing through near exhaustion to make it through a day of which I'm not a fan, with millions of thoughts running through my head, but at the front of my mind is 5:00pm. However one thought has pushed its way forward, as Mama used to say…live your life!

Read More

And Now a Word from Our Sponsor…

A few years ago Beyonce and her girls sang about their independence. Then Jamie Foxx, Ne-Yo and them were happy she had her own, even Lil’ Boosie was chanting I-N-D-E-P-E-N-D-E-N-T. Just when I thought those housewives in Atlanta were setting Black women back singlehandedly, here comes Teairra Mari and her new song, “Sponsor”. What part of the game is that, it is now ok to prostitute yourself musically, as long as the beat is nice?

The song is a declaration that “I lack the ability, aptitude and attitude to acquire the accoutrements I aspire, so I’ll snare a new fool to purchase those things for me”. I guess it ain’t trickin’ if you got it. I don’t know what’s worse, the message the song conveys or the fact that Gucci Mane and Soulja Boy are rapping on the same song? Ok, it’s the message, the song is about a woman that gets pretty much anything she wants from a guy, and her only fear is him telling her goodbye. Not too bad? Check out some lyrics:

He ain’t no square, he just like to share. In love with the tipper throwing hundreds in the air, throw some over here. And Louie, drop the Louie, drop the Louie in my lap

Forget what Steve Harvey and all of those quasi “experts” are telling you, so many Black women are single because of trifling ass chicks out here just looking for a sponsor swaying the pool of eligible bachelors. Why would I settle in when I can have a woman at my disposal for a tennis bracelet, a couple stacks, a few pair of shoes and matching bags and she goes just as fast as I…you get the point. That’s just at a high level, at eye level aka my level, a sponsor could simply be the guy that gets you through a few Happy Hours and helps out with the cable bill occasionally.

The song is disturbing because there’s a population of young women out there that actually are influenced by the things they hear and proceed to put them into practice, without fear of reproach or even the hint of respect of themselves. The song says nothing about reciprocated affection, it is probably aimed at the strip club demographic, it is simply the new golddigger anthem, the “use what you got, to get what you want” mantra of 2010. Bad enough in one ear they have Nicki Minaj fetching chicks to freak off with Usher, now they have the former “Princess of the Roc” telling them to be compensated for boo lovin’ or a sexual relationship with a man, so at some point it becomes the acceptable thing to do.

Throw in the phenomenon of Reality TV celebrating lush lifestyles and groupies and we have a generation of Black girls lost. Representations of “real” Black women are so far and few in the mainstream media that it’s hard to identify one when you come face-to-face with her looking for reed diffusers at Walmart, because the image in your head has been so distorted by what you see and hear, it’s easy to juxtapose Sharee, Nene, Tiny, or Cocktail with the woman you envisioned while listening to Stevie Wonder.

I’ve noticed women taking cues from these caricatures, women that are more likely to be impressed by a man “making it rain”, than by a man interested in making a home. Yet, these are the women that end up with the men some of you had your eye on and I’m perplexed by it all, because I have no idea what anyone is after anymore. In the end, many Black women aren’t getting married, but the skeezer next to you in your pole dancing class is, I guess that makes her Ginger huh, go figure…(watch Casino people).

Read More

Ashes to Ashes…

Another month and another natural disaster, actually two, there was a devastating earthquake in China, as well as a volcanic eruption in Iceland that's left much of Europe's airspace filled with ash and grounded planes the world over leaving tens of thousands of people stranded in airports and hotels. President Obama couldn't make it to Poland for the funeral of the fallen President, and Whitney Houston was forced to take a ferry to travel to her next concert stop (pretty sure concertgoers wish she didn't make it) and participants for tomorrow's Boston Marathon up in the air about reaching the starting line in time.

These are strange days we're living in, religious zealots will tell you these are the last days, but I like to say strange. It seems as if other day that you turn on the news or pick up the paper, thousands have been displaced by Mother Nature, a far more frequent pace than I ever remember. In between those stories we have the senseless acts that the best "Law & Order" writers couldn't think of and it's all topped by the weatherman's Russian roulette forecast.

When you look at it that way, I guess I can see why people say they don't like to watch the news or read the papers. But I can't subscribe to that way of thinking, I need to be aware of the world I'm living within, need to have bits of information to keep me informed, so I don't have the dumb look when someone tells me something that's headline news. That's where I'm lost, how can folks be so oblivious to what's happening before your eyes, like it doesn't affect you at all?

There's none so blind as they that don't see - Swift

Read More

20 Years Later: People’s Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm in Retrospect

 

It began with what seemed like cries of a baby at birth, then we were introduced to Q-Tip’s nasal flow and Phife’s high-pitched delivery and A Tribe Called Quest was born. It’s been 20 years since their debut album “People’s Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm” was released during the rise of West Coast Gangsta Rap (N.W.A.) and East Coast mic rippers (KRS-One, Chuck D., Rakim, Big Daddy Kane & Kool G. Rap), but Q-Tip, Phife Dawg, Ali Shaheed Muhammad and Jarobi forged a path with their debut album that led to later classics, “The Low End Theory” and “Midnight Marauders”.

Phife’s boasts, mixed with Q-Tip’s sensible rhymes over Ali’s 70’s samples was a combination most listeners didn’t know how to interpret at first. The sound wasn’t dance music, and it wasn’t street commentary or aggressive M.C. angst, what ATCQ brought was two young M.C.’s rhyming over smooth grooves in the tradition of Native Tongue predecessors The Jungle Brothers and De La Soul, but a little more laid back with an infusion of humor, social awareness, health conscious (Ham ‘N’ Eggs) and just music to nod your head to.

The album also showcased the voices of the “other” kids in the neighborhood, those that weren’t necessarily living their lives in the rough and tumble streets, but were affected by street life and chose to channel their creativity differently and spoke about what they were learning, observing and living.

The playful tale of Q-Tip leaving his wallet in El Segundo was the first video single and reintroduced Tip after his appearance in De La Soul’s Native Tongue posse cut “Buddy” a year earlier, but it was the next single “Bonita Applebum” and its remix which classically sampled The Isley Brothers’ “Between the Sheets” that became hits and made Tribe a household name in homes that played hip hop. The call and response record “Can I Kick It?” was interpolated by Jay-Z on “22 Two’s” after which he gives a nod to its classic standing.

The rhythms themselves had at times four songs spliced together mixed with Ali’s scratching that bridged the 70’s to the new a new decade of rhyming, lingo, dress and a counter-culture within hip hop, the hip-hop hippies had arrived. Over the course of the decade, De La and Tribe will carry the flag for the Bohemian hip-hopper and ultimately pave the way for organic rappers like Mos Def, Black Thought, Common, Slum Village, Talib Kweli, Little Brother and various others.

Subsequent albums will find Phife appearing on more songs (Q-Tip’s rhymed solo on many songs) and saw the group move towards more jazz infused tracks as Tip’s influence behind the boards started to show and they next two albums would become instant classics reaching platinum status (it took People’s Instinctive… nearly six years to go gold).

The group would disband in 1998 and each member took their own creative path. Tip became a solo star with a style that put distance between his work with Tribe, Jarobi went on a quest after the first album, Ali Shaheed Muhammad worked with Raphael Saddiq’s supergroup Lucy Pearl and Phife (whose battling diabetes) took a few jabs at Tip on his lone solo album, but all his since been patched up as the group has toured sparingly in the last few years, were honored at VH1’s “Hip Hop Honors” in 2007, but no reunion album has been made, leaving long-time fans with memories that began on April 17th, 1990 and 20 years later still make their heads nod.

Read More

In Search of…Chris Brown

The most forgiving people of all have not forgiven one of its babies or at least it seems that way. After each of his first two albums sold over 2,000,000 copies, Chris Brown's has barely made it 300,000 sales since it was released on December 8^th. The dancing machine has taken to Twitter, radio and anyone to listen to say that he's being blackballed by radio and retailers in retaliation for his domestic violence issue with ex-girlfriend Rihanna.

Maybe he just made a wack album? Maybe folks weren't blinded by his dancing ability and realized the boy really can't sing? Perhaps his core group of fans have matured and fallen in love with Trey Songz? I'll go for all of the above, the music isn't too good, his vocals never were and Trey Songz' R. Kelly rip-offs seem to be en vogue nowadays, plus folks seem to still be a bit bent out of shape over the way he laid the smack down on the good girl gone bad.

We've forgiven worst ladies and gentlemen, OJ, Michael (pick one, Tyson, Jordan, Jackson), Whitney and don't forget R. Kelly did pee-pee on a little girl, but we stepped in the name of love. This boy hasn't reached his 21^st birthday yet, so let's give him a chance to grow and learn from his mistakes, then make some good music.

Read More

FAN-tastic!

After five and a half months, 82 games, long winning streaks, the Nets coming close to being the worst team in league history, Kevin Durant becoming the youngest scoring champ in history, and LeBron James having another MVP season, the NBA Playoffs finally get started today. As most people like to say, the "real" season starts today at 3pm with LeBron and the Cavaliers facing the Chicago Bulls and the nonstop action won't end until at least 1am.

In other words, if your man is a basketball junkie, this is not a good weekend to drag him out to the mall with you so you can try on three dozen pairs of shoes and decide to go with some that you have at home. The world knows I'm a Laker fan, so there's no need to ask who I'm rooting for the next two months and if you're looking for me, I won't be hard to find, I'll be on my couch, glass in hand, Converse Weapons on my feet!

Read More

A Hard Day’s Night

It's never cool when you wake up and Friday looks the way it does today, overcast, gloomy, like a Tuesday. It's absolutely the worst when the day before was so beautiful and you were began it in a great mood, but watched every plan you had unravel before your eyes and the day went on and on and on and on and the next thing you know you've logged what became a nearly 12 hour day. Add in the fact that there's nothing on TV on Thursday nights anymore and we're waiting for the NBA Playoffs to begin and you have the recipe for a restless night.

I put together maybe three hours of continuous sleep last night, then clock-watched until about 5:30 this morning before starting my daily routine, needless to say I'm exhausted already. It's nights like last that make you wonder if what's on your mind is really having an effect on how you sleep and have you trying to pray it off at 3:49am, then you wonder if God is sleeping, because you're watching Informericials due to the fact there's nothing on HBO but soft porn.

I've grown envious of those of you that sleep through the night and wonder what my life would be like if I could do the same, careless whispers into the ears of the sleeping giants, but I can only wonder what if? So, while you're working today, I guess I'll treat myself to the movies to see Death at a Funeral. Even exchange for a good night's sleep while you're working…

Read More

Top Billin’: The Ascension of Zoe Saldana

Has anyone noticed that Zoe Saldana has become a star? She played "the Black girl" in that awful Brittany Spears Crossroads, was the cute girl that starred in Drumline, the only reason I watched Guess Who?, popped up in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, The Terminal, and Vantage Point but last year she appeared in back-to-back blockbusters Star Trek and James Cameron's cinema landscape changing Avatar and it was obvious that a star was born. Even more evidence is that she shares the billing with Chris Rock and Martin Lawrence in this weekend's Death at a Funeral and gets top-billing in next weekend's The Losers. The 31-year-old has become the new "It" girl of color in Hollywood and can be found on the covers this month's issues of Essence, Glamour and Nylon.

There's a sequel to Star Trek set to start filming soon, Avatar is the highest-grossing movie ever, a sequel, spinoff something will come of it and she's starring in the heist film Takers with Hayden Christensen, Idris Elba, T.I. and others this summer. Not too bad for the girl with the beautiful face and accents all through her name that seemed prime for a breakout role.

But she's a little deeper than her beauty and ability to recite lines; she was recently honored at the inaugural St. Jude Estrellas Por La Vida (Stars for Life) Gala on April 6th. Ms. Saldana has been a supporter of St. Jude since 2005 and has made it her charity of choice at events nationwide. Black Women in Hollywood recently spotlighted her and others for helping to transform the images of Black women in television and film. However, race seems to be an issue she likes to stay away from. Being of a mixed racial background, she's been able to embrace a universal cultural appeal and believes that the ethnic label in Hollywood is "the new N-word".

She also speaks pretty freely in terms of sex and nudity, claiming in Essence to "love it, love it, love it and can't get enough of it" in reference to sex. Of nudity, "I don't believe the body is something to hide." She believes that American culture is becoming more violent by not educating and making people aware of the beauty of sexuality; I am now a hater of her boyfriend Keith Britton!

Check out Zoe in Death at a Funeral (opening today), The Losers (April 23^rd) and Takers (August 20^th).

Read More

Maxwell - "Fistful of Tears" Video

My favorite song of the last ten years...

Read More

The Crazy Ex-Girlfriend

I thought Barack the Magic Negro slayed the dragon known as Sarah Palin? How many lives does this chick have? Every time I turn around she's there! She's like the ABC news, everywhere, on the news, her show on FoxNews, in the papers, in my dreams, just popping up like Lil' Wayne. Now she's on tour with the Tea Party and trashing President Obama all the way to D.C. where they plan a rally for more of her hate speech.

Barack has to feel like she is his crazy ex-girlfriend, because she has turned into a stalker, and she just keeps ramping up her speeches to call the President un-American, a liar and other words she doesn't know the meaning of. So, the stimulus plans, health care reform and the pending war on financial institutions is ruffling the feathers of the segment of the population that has benefited for nearly every piece of legislation over the previous terms and now they've started to realize that there are more Americans than them and they are outraged!

President Obama has handled it all in stride, keeping his business-first attitude, but here's where some of that South Side Chicago needs to come out of him. At the end of every speech he should tell Sarah Palin to shut the hell up and sit her dumb ass down! I know he can't do it, but it would be nice to hear it, so I'll do it, Sarah Palin, shut the hell up and sit your dumb ass down! Go back to Alaska and look at Russia from your backyard!

Read More

No Taxation without Representation

Those idiots on the road this morning weren't late for work or trying to get to the One-Day Sale at Macy's, they were on the way to H&R Block! Today is April 15^th, the date that stands out in the mind of law-abiding citizens, because today is the date income tax returns must be postmarked.

With that said, folks are in pure scramble mode, trying to find receipts, unclaimed kids in the hood and thinking of everything under the sun not to owe this government this year. Even I'm lifting my protest to play my $26 game of give and take with Uncle Sam. Any of you women that have claimed to have my lovechild got a spare kid for me to claim?

Read More

Larry King Live!

So Larry King has some Tiger Woods in him huh?

For years, the famous and infamous have sat across Larry King and submitted themselves to his grilling and confessed or lied about their deeds. His wife for 13 years filed for divorce amid claims that King cheated on her with her younger sister. His soon-to-be-ex is 50, so her "younger" sister is what, 47, 48? Either way, she's too young for a 76-year-old man on his 8^th marriage to 7 different women.

I know he's lived a long life and all, but how did he find 7 women that he thought he wanted to spend forever with? I'm having a hard time finding someone I would like to spend a weekend with! So, when public figures are in the middle of a scandal they go to his show, does he interview himself or will he be sitting on Oprah's couch the day after John Edwards' bust-it baby leaves?

Read More

Mic Check 1,2: Whatever Happened to the M.C.?

Back in the day before the Fat Back Band made a record using rhyme[1], the M.C. or master of ceremonies or mic controller seemed to be nothing more than an ego booster for the DJ, who was the star of the show.

It was the DJ whose mixing and scratching moved the crowd, as the M.C.’s job was to tell everyone how great that particular DJ was and to keep the party hyped with classic party lines like, “Throw your hands in the air and wave ‘em like you just don’t care!”

Within a couple of years The Sugarhill Gang ripped pages from Grandmaster Caz’s notebook, Melle Mel began a commentary on the South Bronx and the course of hip-hop history was altered, the M.C. moved from hype man to main man and became the mouthpiece of a generation.

From Melle Mel to DJ Run to KRS-One, Rakim, Chuck D., Kool G Rap, LL Cool J, MC Lyte, Slick Rick to the B-I-G D-A-Double D-Y K-A-N-E, the bar was continually raised through the 80’s as brothers with the ill street blues[2] started to put words together reporting live from the streets. It was more than beats to the rhyme[3] for these guys; it was becoming an art form as they wrote in their book of rhymes, all the words past the margin[4] to stake their claim as sole controller of the M.I.C. And we let our tapes rock, ‘til our tapes popped[5] because we needed to be able to go line for line with our favorite M.C.’s as if we were studying for a science test.

Read the rest here...Mic Check 1,2: Whatever Happened to the M.C.?

Read More

Hump Day Song of the Week: Stevie Wonder "If It's Magic"

Made a last-minute switch to the song this week because I'm starting to believe in magic again...

Read More

Every Word in this Blog's Gonna Be About You

Beautiful Artistic Joyful Incomparable Limitless Rational Eternal Sincere Bliss Liberated Revelation Delicate Alive Logical Caring Magnificent Spiritual Compassionate Wise Emotional Protected Kind Special Providence Witty Imaginative Tender Vivid Shining Original Loving Peace Marvelous Genuine Consummate Breathtaking Hopeful Leader Unique Teacher Vibrant Driven Treasure Priceless Lady Understanding Gentle Thoughtful Friend Supreme Poetic Dazzling Resilient Fresh Communicative Thinker Sweet Brilliant Intelligent Free Queen Dreamer Colorful Love Loyal Wisdom Exceptional Blissful Wonderful Exquisite Unquestioning Desire Soulful Lively Dutiful Precious Talented Determined Strong Vigorous Ideal Fragile Beaming Lovely Creative Radiant Exultant Honest Inspiring Forever

Serenity Heaven Angel Real Extraordinary Air Life Dream Amazing You

Read More

Celeb Rehab

So you mean to tell me that I can cheat on my wife, say I'm addicted to sex, go to rehab and she'll stay with me? Every Black woman reading this just gave the screen that "Nigga please!" look. That's that new "S" aka that White people stuff. The new trend that's hotter than botox and white women with fat booties is sex rehab! Tiger Woods, David Duchovny and the most recent inpatient Jesse James have been admitted to various clinics for sex addiction, all in the wake of being caught with their hands in the cookie jar. Well, not exactly, Duchovny was caught with his hands on himself and Tea Leoni filed for divorce!

A man saying he's addicted to sex is like a fish saying it loves water. Men are addicted to sex from the time we turn 11 and it's something that we just can't turn off so easily, I mean we find ways to channel that energy, but it never really strays far from the mind. However when you use addiction as a copout because a few White women start snitching about affairs that just ain't cool, and gives the disorder a bad name. I don't really know who Jesse James is or what he does aside from being Sandra Bullock's husband but when those women started coming out of the woodwork, he ran to rehab and left Sandra to pick up the pieces, days after she won an Academy Award. The greatest moment of her professional career was crushed by the man that promised to forsake all others and then he ran like a coward, hiding behind the guise of a sex addiction.

Tiger did the same thing when his golf course full of women popped up in a tabloid a day, after he spent a few million in hush money of course, but he took cover in the serenity of an intensive program in Mississippi. He emerged a refocused Buddhist and a calmer, gentler man on the golf course; we'll never know what's happening between him and Elin.

Famed addiction specialist Dr. Drew Pinsky ran a season of Sex Rehab on VH1 last year and showed the struggles of real sex addiction, as these cases had gotten so severe that it tore at the very fabric of the patients and made the day-to-day activity of life nearly impossible as some were unable to work, didn't seek work or their work fed their addiction. So, if Tiger's addiction was really as bad as he led on, wouldn't his stroke (pun intended) had suffered? I guess Buddha blessed him…

See you guys in 28 days!

Read More

Get Low Girl...

If you watched Basketball Wives last night, you undoubtedly saw an edited version of this scene in which Royce decides to shake what her mama gave her. Later in the episode, Evelyn and Jennifer claimed they were so embarrased and staged an intervention, but judging from the footage below, they had a little more to do with it than they let on...

Read More

When the Levees Broke…

While most of you were in the twilight zone watching those new millennium minstrel shows on VH1, HBO was unveiling another classic in their new series Treme. The show begins three months after Hurricane Katrina destroyed New Orleans and we find everyone picking up the pieces, literally and figuratively, of their lives and trying to return to some semblance of normalcy.

One thing is obvious from the beginning; HBO keeps a brother making a check as regulars from The Wire, OZ and The Corner are prominently featured in this show as well. There's one other main character too, the culture of New Orleans is going to figure in just about every scene, as the story is shown through the eyes of mostly jazz musicians. We're introduced to the jazz culture of The Big Easy through a neighborhood parade in the opening sequence, there's a funeral procession accompanied by a band and of course the nightclub culture was shown. Additionally, the cuisine is featured through a restaurant and a local dive bar. Yes, New Orleans is indeed a character in this series.

David Simon, creator of the aforementioned HBO series The Corner and The Wire, has once again breathed life into fictional characters with a realism that makes America pay attention to a place that they've long forgotten about. What this series presents to us is the human story of what life in New Orleans has been like since the levees broke in August of 2005. We're introduced to the poverty, joblessness, the hope of restoring the place you call home, the distrust of the government, but the spirit of the inhabitants has not been broken and will be on display along with the passion for the music. Abandon that CelebReality and watch a bit of reality television Sunday nights at 10 on HBO.

Read More

Desperate Housewives

Shaquille O'Neal owes me for 30 minutes of my time, because it is his fault that I spent a half-hour watching "Basketball Wives" on VH1! Had he gone to Sex Rehab with Tiger, Shaunie would not have gotten her gang of groupies that were chosen together for a show that will seemingly give those tacky "housewives" in Atlanta a run for their money.

Let's start there, how are you a basketball wife and you're not married? I understand where they are trying to go with this, but Shaunie and Jennifer (Eric Williams' wife) are the only ladies that have even been married. Ok, Gloria is engaged to Matt Barnes, but the other chicks are merely exes of players. Outside of Shaunie, these chicks have been with journeyman, nondescript players in the NBA, with the exception of Evelyn who was engaged to Antoine Walker for ten years, but I think he was overrated and as we now know, a degenerate gambler. Suzie who popped up halfway through the show is the ex-girlfriend of Michael Olowokandi, the worst #1 draft pick in NBA history!

That leaves Royce, hmmm, much wasn't said about Royce's connection to the show, except that she's a former dancer and possibly a groupie. It just so happens that Royce gave birth to Superman's child, that's right, she's church boy Dwight Howard's baby mama! The chick that was dropping it like it was hot by the pool (Luda liked it!) was his kryptonite and got a baby out of the deal. I wonder if Dwight didn't want his name associated with the niggerdom that she displayed on the show. Did they really have an intervention for her because they don't want to be associated with her ways? Are they trying to turn a hoe into a housewife? Why not just distance yourself instead of giving us the made-for-TV drama?

Speaking of drama, Shaunie and Gloria had to have a heart to heart, because it turns out that Shaq was banging Gloria's sister. I wonder who her sister is, hard to keep up with Shaq these days, that seems to be the only place he's scoring in his old age. Once again, these are supposed to be ladies of a certain distinction, a class level that separates them from the groupies (the lot most of them were probably picked from), but as we see in the previews, there's plenty of classlessness to come. I'm pretty sure Kobe and wife and LeBron and his lady laid in bed watching that crap and just laughed their heads off, as did most guys in the NBA, happy that their significant other wasn't participatory in that horrendous nonsense!

Read More

I’m Disappointed in America: What Chili Wants

How do you go from selling 20 million records with TLC, boo-loving with Usher to looking for a man on VH1? That's been Chili's descent since Left Eye's untimely death and she has officially hit rock bottom with the premiere of "What Chili Wants" tonight on VH1 aka The New Negro Network. So, her new show finds her trying to find a potential husband with the help of former blogger and "Relationship Expert" Tionna Smalls and even Floyd Mayweather makes an appearance trying to lay his game down quite flat! I read the other day that CelebReality stars make about $200,000 a season, so my guess is that Chili's broke! Either way, here we go again…

Read More

I’m Disappointed in America: Brandy & Ray J: A Family Affair

As if we haven't seen enough of Ray J in the last year or so, VH1 brought him back for another show, but this time with the entire family even Papa Willie. "Brandy & Raj J: A Family Affair" premieres tonight and I have the sneaky suspicion that this time around it's about trying to help rebuild Brandy's career. I'm pretty sure Mama Sonja kept an eye on what BET was able to do for Monica's career and fireworks went off in her head as she figured out a way to put the breadwinner back in position to earn her keep. We'll see if Brandy is able to regain some sort of relevance in this fickle era of fair-weather fans.

Read More

Teflon Don

Ben Roethlisberger is 2-for-2 in beating sexual assault raps. Last year, a woman bypassed the police and went straight to a lawsuit and that hasn't gotten her anywhere. Now, it will be announced Monday that the District Attorney of Milledgeville, GA will not file charges against Big Ben for the alleged sexual assault of a 20-year-old at a club in that town last month.

The authorities are saying that the evidenced gathered wasn't enough to go forth in pursuing a criminal case. It's funny how the videotape disappeared, the guard blocking the bathroom and what's said to be inconsistencies in the accuser's story didn't add up to him even being charged. The official announcement is Monday at 2pm, my official announcement is right now, must be nice to be a white Quarterback! I guess we should all keep an eye out within the next eight months for Roethlisberger, because that may be his pattern for having one too many shots of Jaegermeister and wanting his way with a PYT.

Read More

Cry Me a River, Build a Bridge and Get the F Over It!

I get it, I hurt you. But that was over five years ago, I moved away and you moved on. At least that’s what I thought, but you seem to be harboring so much animosity that you feel the need to randomly take shots at me through family, friends and Facebook. I guess you’re trying to prove how happy you are without me; the easiest way to do that is just to be happy and enjoy life with your “fiancée”.

We were a big part of one another’s lives for a long time and at some point it seemed like it may have been forever, but things change and people do too, so we went our separate ways. I suppose I did it the wrong way and I’m sorry for that, but what’s done is done. My column yesterday was about me trying to reconcile some of the wrong I’ve done to you and others, not an admission to any of your suspicions, just my way of coming to terms with who I was in pursuit of who I can be.

An e-mail and a marathon of texts later, I was damn near sorry that I wrote it, but if that’s how you need to deal, I’m good with that. If you haven’t noticed, my energies are being focused differently now, but just to let you know, if you pull a stunt like that again, I’m not far removed from the guy you used to know. There’s a possibility that karma will bring me the pain you and others have felt, I’m prepared for that, but there’s also a possibility that I’ll be able to find a love that knows no end, are you prepared for that?

Read More

From My World to EurWeb…

As many of you know, I've started a column on Eurweb.com entitled "The Bachelor's Archive" where I'm looking back over some of the relationships and situations I've been in over the past decade or so in hopes of doing things differently (better) in the future. The description says it's my online diary, but I say it's the realest sh*t I ever wrote.

This is the most honest I've ever been with myself about my dealings with women over the years and the most transparent I've ever been in terms of my feelings, emotions and prior bad acts. "The Bachelor's Archive" runs every Thursday and can be found beneath the "Columns" heading, additionally, I'll be contributing other posts from time to time.
Here are the first two installments…

Through the Looking Glass
The Ex-Files

Read More

In Search of...Ciara

Remember her? She was the next big thing or the big thing of the moment for a year or so. She dates Bow Wow, there were rumors of her and 50 Cent and she could really dance. Only one problem, the girl can’t sing! All of that dancing and lack of vocals only works if you’re brother’s name is Michael. She had a few hits, did the requisite bad movie and then her next album was delayed until it was unnoticed, even a single with Justin Timberlake didn’t make a difference. Pretty soon she’ll be showing those dance moves off at Magic City!

Read More

New Nike Commercial

Nike didn't miss a beat...

Read More

Slaves and the Master

In about 5 hours, Tiger Woods will tee off at the first hole at Augusta National and undoubtedly release a sigh of relief as he's able to get back to business after four months of everyone being all up in his business. That strong gust of wind you'll feel at 1:43pm will be the sighs of the Professional Golf Association (PGA) and Nike, because their cash cow is back in the world that he owns.

Tiger Woods sucks as a husband, but he's dominant on the links and to those entities that's all that matters. Ask the PGA if they're happy he's back, ratings were down 50% without Tiger participating. The attendance was down, sponsorships lost, interest waned, and golf became well, boring again. Tiger's press conference, ESPN interview and talk with reporters Monday were viewed by more people than watched televised PGA events in his absence. They needed him back in play for their marquee weekend.

Speaking of sponsorships lost, Tiger lost endorsement deals as fast as he got them when he was a young phenom turning pro after stepping away from Stanford. Except for the most important and most lucrative, Nike, Phil Knight called the firestorm "a minor blip" and the sneaker giant continued their agreement with Eldridge. I wonder if there's a new commercial to air this weekend…

You know who else is happy with Tiger's return? The fans! Ardent and casual fans will be excited to see him play this weekend. Die-hard golf fans will love the competition playing against "The Master" brings out of his opposition. Casual fans (Black folks), will root for him to win this weekend because it will be a middle finger to the media and everyone that spoke out against him when it was confirmed that he was indeed human. The haters will be in full-effect this weekend and use this time to commence the Tiger bashing.

K.J. Choi and Matt Kuchar are pissed that Tiger's back or at least that they're paired with him for the opening round. Tiger's used to performing in a fishbowl; these guys may be a bit off their games with the eyes that'll be following them around today, not to mention the intimidation of playing against the best that's done what you do. Ernie Els, Jesper Parnevik, Phil Mickelson, Jack Nicklaus and countless others are cursing under their breath that Tiger is back.

During his press session Monday Tiger said, "Nothing's changed. Going to go out there and try to win this thing." Translation: I'm back! Watch me do me! Tiger is the exception to the thought that no one athlete is bigger than their sport. It's been proven in the coverage of transgressions, lack of coverage for tournaments during his sabbatical and stint in rehab and the surge in interest for his return. Like his return from his 2008 injury, he may be rusty and tentative to begin, but his greatness will ultimately have the final say. I don't know if he'll win his fifth green jacket Sunday, I really don't care, but I won't bet against him. What I do know is that he's returned to the sport he owns and some are ecstatic, others are ready to boo him, few saw their chances of winning go up in smoke, but everybody's got an opinion about The Master.

Read More

I’m Disappointed in America: LisaRaye: The Real McCoy

Another night, another new Reality TV show is premiering. Tonight's offering is TVOne's "LisaRaye: The Real McCoy" featuring some of my favorite eye candy, LisaRaye, doing a whole bunch of nothing. I've been a fan since she made me realize I was ready in The Players Club, but I'm not all that interested in seeing her behind-the-scenes trying to rebuild a career.

First, I was disappointed a few years back when "All of Us" was cancelled because I couldn't get my weekly fix, now I get another chance and it's a damn reality show! The strange thing is that I actually watch the show once or twice, not just because I like to look at her, but because I'm interested in hearing her talk about her marriage and subsequent divorce from Turks and Caicos Premier Michael Misick. Scratch that, I'll be watching with the volume down…

Read More

The Hump Day Song of the Week: Prince "When Doves Cry"

Dig if you will...

Read More

Purple Reign

1984. Year of the Prince…Prince Rogers Nelson, better known as Prince, that unpronounceable symbol, The Artist Formerly Known as Prince or simply, the most apt, The Artist. It was this year that Prince challenged the King (of Pop). Before the summer of 1984 Prince was an immensely talented but misunderstood musician that seemed to embrace Rock & Roll as much as he did to wearing G-string beneath a trench coat. His biracial, androgynous appearance raised eyebrows and question marks about him, but one thing was certain, he was a musical genius. He had written, composed, arranged, sang and played nearly every instrument on his first five albums and had hits with songs like “Little Red Corvette”, “Controversy”, “I Wanna be Your Lover”, and “1999”, but his next project took him to heights that few artists had reached and at the time, Michael Jackson owned.

Purple Rain, the album and movie were smash hits that summer and have stood the test of time and become classics, one because of the other. The album, Purple Rain was a soundtrack that really wasn’t. The album was released a full month before the movie hit theaters and in many ways, tells a better story. Backed by The Revolution, Prince experiments with his sound, infusing more rock and crafted the most memorable music of his career. Only nine songs deep, the album went on to sell nearly 14 million albums and is considered one of the top 10 to 15 albums ever (depending on whose list you’re reading). Recall some of those songs in your head right now, “Purple Rain”, “The Beautiful Ones”, “When Doves Cry” or the almost raunchy “Darling Nikki”, my mom always moved the needle on that song, but what had you heard that sounded like those songs before or since?

There was a month to get to know the album by the time to movie came out. 26 years later I don’t know if the movie was ever good or was the music just that good. Today, the album seems like one long video, but then it was a cinematic event. Tell me you didn’t shed a tear or two when he sang “Purple Rain” at the end? Prince, Apollonia, Morris Day or Jerome couldn’t act a lick, but the music made us forget about that and enjoy the movie for what it was a movie about the behind-the-scenes happenings of a struggling musician. It wasn’t supposed to set trends or even adhere to industry standards; it was a vehicle to further the careers of Prince and his protégés. Did you expect it to be nominated for Best Picture (the title song won for Best Song)?

I’m mean c’mon, Prince’s character was named “The Kid” for crying out loud! Can you even remember any dialogue besides “You have to purify yourself in Lake Minnetonka”? Warner Bros. didn’t think much of the film at first either, but after it made $80 million in the box office, Prince was given the opportunity to make a sequel, Graffiti Bridge. Bad idea, the movie was wack and the album that accompanied it didn’t reach the magic created by Purple Rain. Prince disbanded The Revolution in 1987 and has gone through various musical, spiritual and business evolutions in the past 20, but remains a creative artist with unmatched talent, but is still just as weird as he was in 1984. I think I’ll watch Purple Rain this weekend, don’t front like you don’t have the DVD too!

Read More

On Broadway...Fences

Take a trip to the theatre, the real theatre and check out Denzel Washington in August Wilson's "Fences". During it's run in the late-80's, "Fences" won a Tony Award for Best Play and James Earl Jones won Best Leading Actor for the same role that Denzel Washington will occupy over the next few months. Check out the website for additional information, cop some tickets and you may see me there...

Read More

In Search of Lauryn Hill: The Obsoletism of the Female Emcee

Where have you gone Lauryn Hill and how do I get there? Someone has to save the species of the female rapper from fading into bolivion (Leave Mike Tyson be PETA) or being reduced to mere sex toys. You had so much left to say, so much left to do, little Black girls need you. I need you; I can't go on listening to the Barbie doll with the Tourette's-like flow. I understand your life has undergone many alterations since "The MisEducation of Lauryn Hill", but your story is the story of millions of women and your voice so powerful that you could help many of them through situations and maintain an outlet for yourself.

Instead, we have a generation of Black girls lost listening to a female M.C. that wants to put something on my sideburns (listen to "Bedrock") and feeding a sex kitten image to a throng of sex-starved people that exceeds the magical Summer of Love. This is not a Nicki Minaj dis blog; this is reality rap about the lack of diversity rocking the M.I.C. for the ladies.

During the heyday of sex pistols Lil' Kim and Foxy Brown (1995 – 2001) there were a variety of female emcees that gave a wide-range of styles, stories, and looks for the public's consumption. There was the aforementioned Hill alongside Kim and Foxy, as well as Eve, Da Brat, Bahamadia, Missy Elliott, Trina and the burgeoning Remy Ma. Ten years later, only Trina has some sort of relevance at this point as personal demons, prison time, Hollywood, shifts in consumer taste and bad plastic surgery has derailed the rest, leaving Nicki Minaj as the leader of the new school and the Queen of royal badness (Shoutout to Latifah).

As Eminem has proven, there's nothing wrong with being the only one that matters, as long as you have the talent, really have something to say and something to offer besides T&A. My friend keeps telling me to download pre-Young Money Nicki Minaj, but that's about as irrelevant as the female M.C. is now, because that's not what we're getting from her. The Nicki Minaj on my radio station and video channel every 10 minutes is this life-size, anatomically correct Barbie doll, Harajuku Barbie to be exact!

We all know that sex sells and if skills sold, Trina would probably be, lyrically Jean Grae. Not familiar with the name? That's because she's a dope M.C. that's been bubbling on the underground for quite some time, but has never broken through because of the double-standard placed on females within the rap game. Yes, you can be nice, but can you be nice and sexy? Because that's what it's gonna take for you to blow up or you have to have a rap rabbi that happens to be white hot at the time. Lil' Kim rode Biggie's back, Foxy had Jay-Z and Nas, Trina had Trick Daddy, Lauryn came alongside Wyclef and Pras, Eve had the Ruff Ryders and Nicki Minaj has the cosign of Lil' Wayne. Even the pioneer female rappers of the golden age had to be sponsored by a known male M.C. before she rocked the mic. Is it impossible for a woman to stand alone in such a male-dominated arena?

In a not-so-shocking mirror of society, capable women are reduced to just that, being a woman and not often regarded as equals even when they are superior to their male peers. Name five rappers that were better than Lauryn Hill in 1998? You'd be hard-pressed to do so, but like women in corporate America, she's categorized as the woman that does the man's job, and overlooked as the best person for the job.

The female emcee seems like a novelty nowadays, a feature to spice your song up, eye candy for a video, the mascot for a crew. It's almost impossible to take them seriously when she's spitting musical porn and you really can't get to what she's saying, because she's half-butt naked! I saw Eve in Ludacris' "My Chick's Bad" remix video and the light of hope was sparked, then I saw the new Nicki Minaj video. So, I sat down and sent this S.O.S. for Lauryn Hill.

Read More

The Line

This past weekend was a test for fellas in new relationships. The tests for most probably began Thursday afternoon and ended somewhere after Easter dinner, and many of you failed miserbly! The test came in the form of a phone call, text, e-mail, on your Facebook wall or an old-fashion face-to-face conversation, it went a little something like this, "Why Did I Get Married Too?" comes out tomorrow, do you want to go?

In the back of your mind, you heard "dundundundun", because it was decision time. Understand ladies, men want to see Tyler Perry movies about as much as we like to get our Prostate examined, but it's one of those things you may need to do for your long-term health. For guys in newly formed relationships, it's a debate because you really don't want to go, but you don't want to let her down either. The internal struggle begins and you do everything you can to make a logical decision, you pray, talk to your boys, make excuses, do it all, to find a way of telling her no and keeping the relationship in tact. What to do, what to do?

This is the perfect opportunity for you to draw a line in the sand and let her know what you're willing to take and what you have no tolerance for. Tyler Perry's film should definitely stay on the veto list. If you give in and decide to take her, you have said yes to every emasculating idea she can come up with, being the purse holder while she tries on fifty dresses two sizes too small, going to baby showers, hosting book club meetings while Kobe and LeBron are playing and the most heinous of them all, going to see Chrisette Michelle. Fellas, you have to think a little faster, your answer should've went like this, "You know ticket prices went up last week, how about I run down to the barbershop, grab a copy, cook you dinner and we watch it without all those Niggas talking through the film?"

Most of you ladies are able to guilt your man into taking you by dangling the carrot of withholding sex to get him to the theatre, that's that reverse rape (read) thing you guys do. It works, I know, I've seen the aftermath of a neutered man, so sad. You force him to sit through 100 minutes of Black man-bashing and made him pay $50 for it! Just be lucky that you have that sucker-for-love as a man and not me, because I would've looked at you like you disrespected my mother for even suggesting that I go see that crap!

Read More