I can't pretend like I been jocking Janelle Monae like others have, but I always thought her style was out there and I honestly was concerned that Diddy would eff up her ish. Her video for "Many Moons" is pretty hot though. Very Outkast-eque. As I was watching and saw some of the shots of her in different looks, I realized how classically pretty she is. My theory is that she chose to go completely left field to not be just another cute chick in the game from Kansas City. Her voice is great though, her style is fresh.

Check out a look at behind the scenes after the jump...

Reagan Gomez covers the November issue of King Magazine.

Fall back, Sarah Palin—cinnamon starlet Reagan Gomez is our all-American mom. She dishes takeout in T.I.’s “Whatever You Like” video, but proves here that her political savvy is flavorful. Talk about raising the bar.

Funny, I was just flipping through the channels and saw her on "The Parent'hood" which I haven't seen in ions and thought about how far she has come.

Labels: T.I.

According to statement released by W&W Public Relations, the singer canceled her concert in Montreal on Monday after she "got suddenly ill" during her sound check and had to be rushed to the hospital just before show time.

The statement says Jackson is being monitored at the hospital and hopes to reschedule the show. No further information was given about Jackson's condition. [SOURCE]

Hopefully it isn't anything serious, but has just not be her week, since I hear that J.D. upchucked his birthday cake all on her at his party. That's just nasty!

Labels: Janet Jackson

Jennifer Hudson made an appearance on "The View" today to promote her self titled album that debuts today, and she gushed over he wedding and that Neil Lane gigantor engagement ring! Funny how they just skimmed over his former gig as a New York loving punk, named "Punk!" I like how she threw out his Harvard education... LOL.

Click through to hear how Punk [sorry he'll always be Punk] proposed to her on her 27th birthday!

[via MySpace]

“I had no clue at all… We went to the beach during the day and he blindfolded me… and he gave me a purple shovel, because purple’s my favourite colour… and I had to dig.

“I ended up digging through all this sand. When I found it, it was like a bunch of beautiful cards… one related to the other, and the last one said, ‘Look around, take the moment in, turn around and I have a gift for you.’”

Labels: Jennifer Hudson

It's like Smith Family World Domination! Jada Pinkett-Smith looks chic and gorgeous on the cover of Jet Magazine.

When she landed her first major role as feisty freshman Lena James on the sitcom “A Different World” Jada Pinkett was cocky and a know-it-all. Today, 17 years later, as half of one of Hollywood’s power couples, Jada Pinkett Smith (Will Smith’s wife) sees herself–and her world – differently.

Wow, has it been 17 years? I feel old! She aged with "style and grace" though.

Labels: Jada Pinkett Smith

Labels: Michael Ealy, Rosario Dawson, Will Smith

Labels: Shits and Giggles

Labels: Rihanna

I am super duper excited that The Game is one, still on and two, premieres this Friday on The CW. It one of the few shows still worth watching on that channel. The season finale left one hell of a jaw dropper. Kelly left Jason, Med School confessed her feelings, and Jenay is preggers! Oh and Tasha Mack hooks up with Rick Fox! Whew.. fun times!

Check out flicks from the premiere party and you can catch the promo here.

Labels: The Game

This is the one and only funny part of all of SNL last night [its been pretty bad lately]... but Tina Fey has Sarah Palin down. The end is the best part.

Labels: Shits and Giggles

This is Barack Obama's first ad after the presidential debate that happened Friday.

My take: Barack Obama won the debate (most major polls agree), though it wasn't a complete knock out. That is because it was poorly moderated and the topics were on John McCain's playing field. I think that the economy should have been address longer.

Plus, John McCain and his creepy laugh and fugly smirk gave me nightmares!

OBAMA '08! Yes We Can...

Labels: Barack Obama

Ha ha...Chris Rock brings the funny to politics on Larry King Live. LMAO @ him on Palin, but it's true, she has only done 3 interviews!

Labels: Chris Rock

Every new R&B crooner says they are here to bring R&B back, but once you listen to Raphael Saadiq's newest album The Way I See It, you will see that he is bringing real R&B in its original form. From Motown to Curtis Mayfield, Raphael tapped into some of the best sounds in the era of true R&B. It's like a period piece as an ode to the greats.

His debut single, "Love That Girl" possesses a sense of Smokey Robinson and transports you to the late 50s when the kids gathered at the local community center for dances. In an love song about a New Orleans miss, the trumpet-heavy "Big Easy" features the renowned brass band, The Rebirth Band. Even Stevie Wonder makes an appearance in the soulful "Never Give Up." One of my favorites, "Sure Hope You Mean It" is eerily reminiscent of The Temptations and his style right out the David Ruffin playbook. To top it off he teams up with Jay-Z for the smooth remix of "Oh Girl."

Touching these classic sounds make the album feel so familiar. If you are a fan of the classics - Motown, Stax, Chi-town, Philly - like me, you will thoroughly enjoy The Way I See It! I had the pleasure of getting the scoop straight from Raphael on making the FAB album, his inspirations, and of course, will there ever be a reunion with Tony! Toni! Tone!?


Check out a preview of the full album on his Official MySpace! Plus, keep up with dates of upcoming shows on his official website, RaphaelSaadiq.com. Make sure to get your copy of The Way I See It, in stores now!

Watch the video for the debut single, "Love That Girl" here.

Labels: Exclusive, Raphael Saadiq

Halle Berry was spotted heading to her morning workout at her Brentwood Gym, armed with her iPod and reading materials... On of the book titled “Diagnosis and Treatment of Multiple Personality Disorder,” is actually being used to prepare for her role in the new movie, “Frankie and Alice.”

In the upcoming drama, Halle will star as “a young woman with multiple personality disorder who struggles to remain her true self and not give in to her racist alter-personality.”

Sounds deep!

Labels: Halle Berry

Labels: Tyler Perry

Jay Z has way of staying on top, so it's no surprise he made the list of New York's Top 40 in Time Out New York’s 40th anniversary issue. In his profile interview he reveals his thing for Diana Ross, working with Nas, and still keeps mum about wife Beyonce.

What about favorite moments?
Jay-Z: Damn.

What comes to mind?
Jay-Z: That’s a difficult one. I always relate it back to music—I don’t have a life outside of that. Playing the Garden, headlining that for the first time, was—Oh! I have my greatest moment! I don’t even know how I forgot this! When I was a teenager, early teenage years—maybe later, I went to see Diana Ross in Central Park, in the rain, the infamous “in the rain.” And it started raining and everyone started running. And I’m running and slid down the entire hill. Oh, it was the greatest day.

Diana was pretty hot. Were you old enough to—
Jay-Z: Yeah, I had hormones. I thought she was fantastic. Her hair was blowing. The rain was hitting her face, and her outfit was, well—It was working for me. And she really braved it out, still trying to go in a torrential rainstorm. I don’t know who said “run,” but everyone started running. I don’t even know—me and my friend. I don’t know what two guys were doing at a Diana Ross concert, but [Laughs] anyway, I think we was already in the city, okay? We slid, got up and kept running to the train.

You’re the only rapper on this list. We were considering Nas but have this 13-year rule: People on this list had to have had an impact in the last 13 years. And Illmatic was 1994. Should we have included him?
Jay-Z: Ah, wow! [Laughs] That’s a tough question. [Pauses] Yeah, only because of the impact of that album, when it’s considered one of the best albums ever created, you have to document that.

And B? What was your first meeting with your wife like?
Jay-Z: I can’t answer that question. [Laughs] Come on now.

Seriously? You guys wrote a song about being in love.
Jay-Z: I’m actually pretty open, especially in the music. And in conversation, when I get to know people. But there’s one side of my life I tend to keep quiet. You have to have some time of sanity. You can’t live with everything out there. You have to have sanctuary.

Diana Ross = Deena James, he must had fun with that! But I am amazed at him and Bey's have been so closed tight about there relationship. When dating, I get it, but the silent treatment about being married is just slightly weird. But it keeps up guessing and on the look out for any little sign of their marriage. I think they are strategically planning to keep it all private so they can write a book or something and cash in on the details!

Read the full interview here.

In other Jay Z news, both 50 Cent and Oasis has recently taken shots at him!

According to PR-Inside.com, 50 Cent claims Beyonce made Jay Z saying, "I'm a big fan of Jay-Z, but outside of the States and hip-hop circles, no one really knew who he was until he married Beyonce." I don't know, 50 is starting to sound real bitchy lately. It's not becoming of him at all.

Now remember when Jay Z played Gastonbury, to the criticism of the festival fave Oasis, and he came out singing Oasis' "Wonderwall?" Well they came back, a little late though, with a whole diss track! This is just plain laughable. Pop on Rap Beef? Listen to the song here.

Too much time on their hands...

Labels: Jay Z

After playing down the rocker chic with a more soft rock look while out doing promotions in Europe, she was spotted back in form at the Gucci Spring Collection show during the Milan Fashion Week. Platinum streaks, black boots, and all. Still works for her, though.

Labels: Rihanna

Ludacris became the first hip-hop artist to be inducted into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame on Saturday at a ceremony at the Georgia World Congress Center. That's pretty significant!!

Upon accepting his award, he said, "Just think - 10 years ago I was trying to put pizzas through the oven at Pizza Hut to make sure I didn't get fired.

"Now the only way I'll get fired is if I fire myself, so that's a beautiful thing right now for sure."

Hey, that's my goal in life! Snaps for Luda!

Luda will release his next album, Theater of the Mind, on Nov. 11th and features guest appearances by T.I., P-Pain, Chris Brown, Lil Wayne, Jamie Foxx, The Game, Plies, Rick Ross, Playaz Circle, and Willy Northpole. Make sure snatch up his debut single, "What Them Girls Like" on iTunes!

Continue reading to check out Swizz Beatz in the studio working on Ludacris' album...

Labels: Ludacris

Just to get you up to speed since I didn't post about it when the drama began... After the cover of Ciara nekkid on Vibe Magazine came out, word was that she was planning sue Vibe for photoshopping her clothes off, which turned out to be just a rumor.

Vibe Editor-in-Chief, Danyel Spencer, defended the cover, saying that Ciara was nude according to staff on set [despite Ciara's claims that she wasn't] and that she came to Vibe wanting to be “grown up and free.” LISTEN TO THE FULL AUDIO HERE. Vibe isn't Time Magazine or anything, but I can't imagine that she would take the legal risk of photoshopping the clothes off a person. Ciara was airbrushed, but that's standard... Danyel says that she has the original untouched photos to prove it, but won't release them.

So now, MTV recently caught up with Ciara and she still singing the same tune that she wasn't naked. She says she had on underwear... In a video posted from on set of the photoshoot, she said he had fun with the "suggestive nudity" which I just saw another show this weekend, and means you are naked but you cover the private places with hands, ect. However, she feel as though the cover was misleading.

I think, at this point, I'd rather just be quiet about things such as that but I definitely want to make it clear that I was going in to do something artistic, and I was upset that when I saw the photos, everything was gone," the singer told MTV News last weekend, from the set of her forthcoming music video for "Go Girl," which features a cameo from T-Pain. "It's very, very upsetting and somewhat misleading."

It seems like she knew what she was getting into though, but you know how they say any publicity is good publicity!

See the video after the jump...

Labels: Ciara

Looks like 50 Cent can let go of his idea to go head-to-head with Kanye West on December 16th [probably for the best], since Kanye just announced on Twitter that the album has been moved up! 808s & Heartbreak will come out sometime in November...

He also wants you to vote! Me too... VoteForChange.com. You can register and check to see if you are registered.

Labels: Kanye West

Superior Court Judge Bensonetta Tipton Lane [yeah, she's a sista with a name like Bensonetta] in the child support and custody case between T.I. and LaShon Dixon has ordered him to increase his monthly payments and for them to have joint custody of the 2 boys. The slight increase from $2000 to just over $3000 in support and time with the boys seems to be more of a win for T.I. LaShon originally asked for $10,000. Hmph... T.I. has publicly defended his financial support of his boys.

Tipton Lane also awarded the couple on Tuesday joint custody of the boys, ages 7 and 8. Dixon, 28, was granted primary physical custody. The children previously spent about 40 percent of their time with the rapper.

Dixon's attorney, Randy Kessler, said his client is still unsatisfied with the amount the judge ordered T.I. to pay but is happy to receive more child support.

"Every little bit helps," Kessler said. "She was just getting by with the children, while they lived a different life with their father. It can't be complete opposites on the other side." [SOURCE]

Note to LaShon: Get a job and provide the boys the lifestyle you want them to have by doing it yourself. I wish I got $3000 a month, plus schooling, medical, and extracurricular activities. I make it on my own income every month, no formal child support. Child support is for children not your lifestyle, that would be alimony and since you weren't married, well, sorry for ya! This just gives mothers a bad rap, like they are more concern with the men supporting their life, not the children. It just seems lazy to me.

Labels: T.I.

Or is it the other way around? Keri Hilson has chosen her collaboration with Weezy F. Baby, "Turnin' Me On" as her second single. Her album In a Perfect World... will drop November 4th. These days you can't go wrong with Lil Wayne on the track, and the Polow Da Don produced song is definitely radio-friendly.


Cover via Rap-Up

Labels: Keri Hilson, Lil Wayne

Rihanna has been popping up all over the globe, from LAX to Paris, now London as she stops by the BBC Radio One Studios. Overseas is where she'll be for awhile as she just announced a tour with boyfriend/bestfriend Chris Brown in Australia. Of the 8 dates scheduled, 7 are already sold out! That's a pretty hot ticket.


In a recent interview with Aussie radio station 2DAY 104.1 she talks about growing up in Barbados, more denials of dating Chris Brown, the upcoming tour, and the rumors of being broke...Listen to the interview:

Labels: Chris Brown, Rihanna