• Common might permanently give up music for movies. I’ll miss him, but at least he’ll still be around. [SP]
• A small consolation for not winning the Great Album Debut Race of 2007? [AHH]
• Have minority-run foster care agencies in NYC failed the very children they were supposed to protect? []
• Dame Dash complains about Jay-Z for the millionth time. Bitter much? []
• Just in case you want to hear me and my friend Carmen Van Kerckhove of New Demographic gossip about celebrities and race on her latest Addicted to Race podcast…[ATR]
The man charged with vandalizing Tupac Shakur’s Center for the Arts in Dekalb, Ga. and throwing a noose around his statue is 43 years old and African American, meaning he is both old enough and black enough to have known better than to do something stupid and hateful like that. That’s not to imply that a white teenager shouldn’t have also known better. I’m just saying. [SOHH]
Something about E-40’s new business venture sounds eerily familiar. But I can’t. quite. place it.
Bay Area legend E-40 will celebrate his birthday and 20 years in the rap game on Thursday, November 15 at the Poetry Nightclub in the Forum Shops at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas. The Ambassador of The Bay is also set to unveil his newest business venture, a line of flavored water called “40 Water.”
[XXL]
Here’s the historical, groundbreaking cover Michael Jackson went incognito in Brooklyn to shoot. I’m unimpressed. All I see is your run-of-the mill, plastic-surgery-obsessed, wig-wearing freak sporting a suit with serious shoulder pads. I was hoping for something with a little more pizazz.
The video for Jay-Z’s new single, “Roc Boys,” premiered today, and it certainly is an improvement on “Black,” I mean, “Blue Magic.” Even if you hate the song, playing “spot the cameo” in this Chris-Robinson-directed video is entertaining enough. Is it just me, or does he clearly have a crush on Cassie? I hope he knows that Diddy will smack flames out his ass if he gets too close to his girl artist.
By now, you might have heard about the hubbub surrounding the diva-like demands Star Jones’ made when asked to speak before a nonprofit for overweight girls during Superbowl weekend earlier this year. People at Full and Fabulous claim that Star took their money and never showed up for the speaking gig, choosing to party-it-up in Detroit with Al on their dime. Star vehemently denies the charges, saying they didn’t fulfill their contract. But what about the , Star?
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According to , Jay-Z’s stressing over the less-than-glowing-reception his latest album, American Gangster, has received.
An industry insider says, “He is scrambling - the first single, ‘Black Magic,’ isn’t being played on radio. It’s the first time in his career he’s not doing well.” Jay-Z will perform the album live on VH1’s “Storytellers” on Thursday. He’ll also tour to “create buzz,” and Def Jam shelled out $500,000 for the first video, added the source. Jay-Z’s rep, Jana Fleish man, says, “It’s not true at all. It’s a conceptual album, so we’re not focusing on one single. He was inspired by the movie. And we tour to support every release.”
Now, I am sure there is some truth to the story, but should we really trust an “industry insider” who doesn’t even know that Jay-Z’s single is called “Blue Magic,” not “Black Magic?” Or maybe that says it all right there.
Can someone call Miss Manners? I’d like to know if vulva puppets are appropriate before 6pm.
Tyra’s vagina show went down (ha!) yesterday, and it was as Tyra-ish as I expected. NSFW, if you work in the kind of place that frowns upon vulva puppets.
It is bad that I not only do I hope and pray to look like Iman when I’m 52 years old, but I actually wish I looked like her now? It’s appropriate that the most glamorous 50-something in the world attended Glamour’s Women of the Year awards last night. Check out some more of the honorees and guests after the jump.
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It all started out so peacefully in this TMZ-obtained video of the brawl that left 7 police officers injured and Snoop banned from the UK. The whole thing looks, dare I say it, highly unnecessary, and it seems to have been initiated by some British cops engaging in racial/celebrity/nationality profiling. Although, Snoop could have obviously handled it better.
