vibingthroughwriting

DA-PROFESSOR'S FAVORITE NOVELS OF 2011

2011-12-31T20:07:00.003-06:00

Many hot author's penned some hot novels that kept readers' eyes glued to the page.

1. MIDNIGHT BY SISTA SOULJAH
2. GODDESS OF VENGENGE BY JACKIE COLLINS
3. CHULITO BY CHARLES RICE-GONZALEZ
4. MOGUL BY TERRANCE DEAN
5. SKELETONS IN THE CLOSET BY SABRINA A HUNTER
6. ONE LYFE TO LIVE BY ERIC GRAY
7. EVICTION NOTICE BY KWAN
8. TIL IT HAPPENS TO YOU-KRISTOFER CLARKE
9. NATURAL BORN KILLERS-TERRY WROTTEN
10. TO LIVE AND DIE IN LA-TERRY WROTTEN

DA-PROFESSOR'S FAVORITE COLLABS OF 2011

2011-12-31T19:35:00.003-06:00

Many artist joined forces and created some hot joints, bringing their induvidual talents together.

1. HEY MUMA-CAM'RON & VADO
2. CRUSH ON YOU-THE NEW BOYS AND Y.G.
3. WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT?-ENVY AND BLACK KARRINGTON
4. JUSTICE-MR. DEAZL AND MR. VANN
5. GET MONEY-INFINTE WITH KAOZ AND MILAN EMPRESS
6. 24 HOURS TO LIVE-SWANNY RIVER WITH INFINITE, LAST OFFENCE, SONNY LEWIS, KING JABBAR, KAOZ, SHORTY ROC AND BONEINTEL
7. I SPOKE TOO SOON-SHALIEK RIVERS AND FRED THE GODSON
8. I'M IN LOVE-LOCO NINJA WITH LUMDIEE
9. MOTIVATION-KELLY ROWLAND AND LIL' WAYNE AND LAY IT ON ME-KELLY ROWLAND AND BIGSEAN
10-WET THE BED-CHRIS BROWN AND LUDACRIS
11. FRONT & SINNER-KAY'VION AND MIKE MILAN
12. NEED YOUR LOVING-EFFICAL DUDLEY WITH AVENUE

DA-PROFESSOR'S FAVORITE COMEBACKS OF 2011

2011-12-31T18:26:00.005-06:00

2011 was a memorable year for many recording artist, who made great comebacks, and gaining a new legion of fans, while maintaining ties with their longtime fans, who have kept their legacies alives. Here is my list.

1. CHRIS BROWN-SINGER/SONGWRITER/ACTOR
Since the incident with his jealous ex Rhianna, many have written Chris Brown off, by banning his music, and dogging him in the press. Well Chris Breezy came back in a big way. First in 2010 he performed a tribute to his Idol Motown Legend Michael Jackson on the BET Awards, then he released two mix tapes. This year, he released his fourth studio album F.A.M.E. which debutted at # 1, and had fans, who were afraid to admit that they loved him, saying his name. He was able to let people know that everybody needs a second chance, and the fans have forgiven him.

2. OAKTOWN'S 357-HIP-HOP LEGENDS AND MC HAMMER'S ORIGINAL BACKGROUND DANCERS
With the creation of You Tube, many fans had expressed their love for Hip-Hop group Oaktown's 357, who had disbanded in 1992. The positive comments, have inspired member Sweet LD to reconnect with her former group members Terrible T and Little P, who had left the group due to being cheated out of money by MC Hammer. The trio did appear on a few live internet radio shows, creating a buzz and interest by fans, who requested that they record some new music. Well Sweet LD and Little P dropped a hot and sexy single titled "Get Up On It" which has been getting good reviews and shows that they haven't lost their touch. They also were (finally) honored in Texas for their contributions to Hip-Hop.

3. MARY WILSON-ORIGINAL SUPREME, MOTOWN LEGEND, BEST SELLING AUTHOR.
For the past decade, original Supreme Mary Wilson has told several journalist that she was working on a new album, leaving many happy and wondering which direction she would go musically. Well Mary's single "Life's Been Good To Me," been getting lots of spins on internet radio, and lots of sales on I-Tunes. With it's positive lyrics and her sultry vocals, Mary is showing the fans and industries, that she's more than a sexy lady and a former background singer.

DA-PROFESSOR'S FAVORITE PORNSTARS OF 2011

2011-12-28T15:04:00.003-06:00

With the emergence of X-Tube, Porn Hub and other porn sites, many porn stars have became famous and have many fans masturbating to their work on screen.

1. CUBAN MICHAELS
2. ROMEO STORM
3. SARGE
4. BRETT EVERTT
5. RED BULL
6. REMY MARS
7. TRAPP BOY
8. JOHNNY JONHES
9. USHER RICHBANKS
10. ARQUEZ
11. EXTASCY BABY
12. CREAMZ
13. MANNY BABY

DA-PROFESSORS FAVORITE VIDEOS OF 2011

2011-12-28T12:30:00.013-06:00

1. MARSHA AMBRIOUS-FAR AWAY
This video was sad, touching, innovative and touches on several topics and issues including friendship, homophobia, bullying and suicide. I also loved how the former member of Floerty had two masculine guys rocking Urban gear (fitted caps, baggy jeans and timberlands) as oppossed to using overly flamboyant guys to play a gay couple. The sad yet touching part of the video is the message that she wrote talking about how she lost a friend to sucide, and to accept alternative lifestyles. This video became a hit with the Gay Community and many ignorant homophobes were pissed at her for winning awards for this song, but like she said in the video's message, If I saved one life, I have done my job.

2. FARRAD-THE WAY YOU DO.
Fun, energetic, colorful, and creative is how I can describe this video by this talented singer/songwriter/dancer. The video matches the song's 50's 60's feel with graphics, wardrobe that echos, I Dream of Jeanie, Bewitched, Happy Days, Motown and The Jackson 5. The fun part of the video is when Farrad is dancing with lifeless body dressed with prep sweaters, jeans and leather jackets. Every dance video doesn't have to be in the club all the time.

3. AMBITION-SHE WANNA
Pretty Ricky's second former lead singer Ambition has been on his grind, and working hard to put Pittsburg on the music map, and he's done a great job by coming up with a hot video that showcases, his dancing skills, and his sensual and sexy sides. This video features him leading a group of friends on motorcycles to a club, that has people dancing, chilling, but the video begins to get hot when he sees an sexy lady, who captures his eye and sensing that she's not happy with her man, he has a White female stripper inform her that he wants to talke to her. As she attempts to approach him, her man tries to grab her, but he has his security intervene, and she goes into a private room, for prvate party with him and White Chick and later leads into a video preview of his single "Under Ya Skin" and his single "You Know What I'm Saying" His video echos The Isley Brothers/Angela Winbush video "Floating On Your Love," but unlike the video where Lil' Kim confronts Mr. Biggs for standing her up, Ambition is seen dancing with the lady he stole. I loved how Ambition casted a Dark-skinned lady to be the lead and main object for the video, but it would have been hotter had they kissed at the end.

4. CHRIS BROWN-SHE AINT YOU
Michael Jackson has influenced many people in the industry including Chris Brown, who the late Motown legend spoke very highly of in his interview with Ebony Magazine. Well Chris has been paying homage to Jackson in his concerts, by performing medleys of Jackson's hits, and at many awards shows including the 2010 BET Awards, which is an event everybody still talks about. Well Brown finally paid the ulitmate tribute with his video "She Ain't You" which features the sexy singer performing various moves and poses that made Jackson famous, as well as donning fedoras, and suits in various colors and background that were used in Jackson's Thriller and Ghost short films. The cheorgraphy is great and it makes you think you're watching a MJ video. I loved how he wrote a tribute to him at the beginning, which shows he true love for the King of Pop.

5. LESTER GREENE-RUSSIAN ROULETTE
Gay Rapper Lester Greene is known for making cutting edge music. Well the video he did for this song was also innovative in a way; he had Out Hip-Hop producer Swanny River as the lead, which was a bold and good move being how many in the Gay community tend to shun Gays who are large and full-figured. Especially the Black and Latinos. While the video was short and deals with a guy creeping on his wife with a man, the video did had some great shots and edits, that makes the viewers tune in to see what's gonna happen next as well as hit replay to see if they missed anything.

6. KAOZ-KEEP IT HUMAN
Kaoz has been doing music and video that has gone agains the grain, but for his single "Keep It Human" he decided to do a video that is simple, yet empowering and creative. The clips of the mother having dinner with her daughter adds elements of humanity and love along with the mural of the a Black family together shows unity along with the clips of Kaoz and an Asian Guy (sepeartely) holding signs that reads that encouraes viewers to stay strong and to strive for excellence.

7. SHORTY ROC-I'M A RAPPER.
When Out award winning Rapper Shorty Roc decided to film a video for his single "I'm A Rapper" it should have come as no suprise, that he chosed to film it in Downtown Brooklyn, an section where many legendary rappers like Big Daddy Kane and Biz Markie would battle and freestyle and it's also the place where many rappers and authors be be grinding to get sales, which is what he incoporated into the video, which features Roc and producer Swanny River out selling CD's and showing those who copped them watching his video on the internet pleased with the product they brought. The close ups captures his hard and sexy sides.

R&B SINGER GIVES HOLIDAY CLASSIC A SOUFUL FEELING

2011-12-01T15:27:00.010-06:00

NOEL GOURDIN
FIRST NOEL
TOP NOTCH MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT

For decades, many singers have recorded Christmas singles and albums, and it shouldn't come as a surprise that Soul singer/songwriter Noel Gourdin would be jump on Santa's sled and record a holiday tune to get music in the holdiay spirit. His rendition of "First Noel" has a nice souful, jazzy Gospel feel, courtesy of the drums, horns, strings and electric guitar, which also adds elements of blues to the classic. Gourdin also blesses the tricks with his southern Gospel trained and flavored voice, which sounds rich and make listeners feel like they are at church on Christmas Eve and/or at a Christmas play on Broadway.
Gourdin did a wonderful good on this classic and I know that many fans will be playing this while opening their gifts and sipping on Egg Nog.

ANGELA WINBUSH'S 30 YEAR MUSICAL RUN

2011-11-22T14:35:00.074-06:00

Through out the 1980's and 90's, many talented ladies had emerged onto the music scene, and Soul Legend Angela Winbush was one who became a favorite among Soul Music lovers, and it wasn't only for her voice. In addition to being a great singer, Winbush has wrote and produced classic hits for herself, and other singers, making her one of the few Black female producers to achieve success as a singer, composer and musician, inspiring a legion of females including Chante Moore, and Syleena Johnson, while her classics have been covered and sampled by several R&B, Hip-Hop and Gospel artists. Yet with acomplishments, she had to overcome several obstacles, including fighting for recognition, a public divorce and surviving cancer, but her relationship with God helped her presevere, and this article honors this talented golden lady and her success. Winbush was born on January 18, 1955 in St. Louis to Alfred and Anna Winbush, who were active in the Civil Rights Movement, by taking part in marches and demonstrations, bringing their young daughter along. "I was bused because I came up in the civils right era. At six years old, I was on picket lines" Winbush said on TV One's Unsung. Winbush's parents had sepearated shortly after her third birthday, but she had a strong family connection, by spending time with her mother, and her aunt, uncle and cousin, who lived across the street from Angela and her mother, a former Government worker. "My uncle Elmor and my aunt Mary moved across the street and I used to run from this house back and fourth" Angela said on Unsung. "She's a family girl." her mother added. "Family gave her so much love I don't think she missed much." Like many Blacks in the south and mid-west, Angela spent most of her childhood in her great-grand parents' church which provided a spiritual foundation for her as well as provided an outlet for her to showcase her singing talent, which had the congregation suprised and touched. "Angela suprised people because she has this four-octave range. That was her God-given talent" Winbush's cousin Marytl Webster said on Unsung. Angela's mother enrolled her in vocal and piano lessons, and while she enjoyed taking the courses, she didn't plan on purusing a career in music at the time. Her goal was to be an archetect. "When I was little, I wanted to build buildings and I played with building blocks and I drew blueprints" Winbush said on STL 95. After graduating from high school, Angela enrolled in Howard University, a famous historically Black college that nuturned many talented famous alumni including Donny Hathaway, Roberta Flack, Phylicia Rashad, Debbie Allen, Wendy Raquel Washington, Anthony Anderson and Lance Gross. Originally an archetiture major, Winbush would spend her free time in the music room, singing, playing piano and composing songs, catching the attention of many students, and staff, including Gospel Music composer Richard Norwood. "I was blown away by her talent. For someone to be that young and sing like that was incrediable to me" Norwood said on Unsung. Winbush joined his Gospel choir, and became his featured soloist, where she would have the audience on their feets, clapping and shouting. Angela switched her major to music education where she learned song structure and music theory, which would benefit her in the future. She had also teamed up with Tawatha Agee and Elent Ricks to form the trio Hot Tea, who would performed around the D.C. area, opening for several legendary acts including Al Jareua and others who recruited them for background sessions. After earning her degree in 1977, Angela briefly taught high school, but followed her calling to be an musician. "I enjoyed working with the kids, but my first love was always to be a performer" Winbush told Blues & Soul Magazine. She landed a gig singing background for Jazz/Soul artist Jean Carne, but hit the jackpot, when legendary DJ Gary Byrd sent Winbush's demo to Motown legend Stevie Wonder, who quickly flew her to Los Angelas to audition for his background group Wonderlove, and like Norwood, Wonder, and his musicians were blown away by her vocal talent. The Grammy Award winning icon quickly hired Winbush, and during her tenure with Wonder, she performed background on several Wonder composed hits including Jermaine Jackson's "Let's Get Serious" and Wonder's "Master Blaster (Jammin')" which hit # 1 on the R&B charts in 1980. She also sang background for Dolly Parton and spend time watching Wonder worked in the studio producing hit records. In 1990, Angela told Dionne Warwick how she learned about all the instruments Stevie would play and would take notes and quickly master drum machines, keyboards, synsersizers and the flute. She also spent time singing in the Terry Lynn Community choir, and one day during rehearsal, she met musician Rene Moore, brother of Bobby Watson, a former member of Rufus & Chaka Khan, who had worked as a musican with several artists including The Brothers Johnson. Impressed with Moore's vocal and keyboard skills, Winbush suggested they work together as a duo and Moore agreeded. "We were both pursuing individual interest musically, and she came up with the idea of writing songs together and forming the duo" Moore said in the Billboard Book of # 1 Rhythm & Blues hits. The pair began composing for several acts includng Lenny Williams who recorded their composition "Changes" while Motown legend Lamont Doizer recorded one of their tunes, creating a buzz with recording artist, and label executives, with Dr. Cecil Hale signing the duo to Capitol Records, where they scored two top 20 R&B hits with "Do You Really Love Me" and "I Love You More." In 1982, A&M Records recruited the duo to work on Janet Jackson's self-titled debut album where Jackson scored with the duo's penned hits "Young Love" and "Say You Do" with the former peaking at # 6 on the R&B charts. The following year the duo released their third albm "Rise" which contained the classic ballad "My First Love" a song that was offered to Jackson on her debut, which she passed on and would become Rene & Angela's signature ballad due to the string arrangements that gave the classic an romantic and mysterious feel. "All those strings" singer Lalal Hathaway said on Unsung. "Everybody remembers their first love. Especially nasty little boys because if you were lucky to get a dance to "My First Love" then you might have a good night that night" Legendary DJ Tom Joyner said on Unsung. "The beginning the whole drama of the intro. I never heard anything liek that" Watson added. The song was so romantic and passionate that it led fans to wonder if the duo was actually a romantic couple. "We did date the first time we met but we found out we weren't channeled for each other" Angela finally revealed on Unsung. Despite the single's success, the album didn't do well due to Capitol's inability to market and promote Black artists. The duo also had conflicts with the label over their creativity. "We didn't have a great deal of freedome at Captial, espeically when it came to producing our own material" Winbush told Blues & Soul Magazine. The label would always insist on outside producers." Frustrated with the lack of respect., Rene & Angela switched to Mercury/Polygram Records, where the label told the duo to keep on delivering great songs, and they would handle the promotion. The duo delivered with "Street Called Desire" which went gold and spawned several classic hits including "Save Your Love (For # 1) featuring rapper Kurtis Blow, which became their first # 1 R&B hit, but it was their follow up "I'll Be Good" which became a classic that still gets play on radio and made them a household name with many speaking about the bassline in the song. "That was kind of rare for a female artist to have a record that was known in the groove in the bass" legenary bass player Nathan East said on Unsung. "That's one of my favorite songs of all time" Donald Peebles, the author of "Hidden Fires" and the blog "It's A Donald Thing" said. "I'm a big R&B/Soul counsouir. They sound good together." The success of the single got the duo bookings to appear on "American Bandstand" and "Top of The Pops" as well as the opportunties to tour with Whitney Houston and Freddie Jackson on their international tours, expanding their fan base. Making her success sweeter was Broadway star/Singer Stephanie Mills scoring her first # 1 R&B hit with her version of the Angela penned ballad "I Learned To Respect The Power of Love" The duo scored with the ballads, "Your Smile" and "You Don't Have To Cry", with the former hitting # 1 on the R&B charts, and featuring Angela primarly on lead. The album went gold and fans were anticipating a follow up. Sadly that didn't happen; "Street Called Desire" would be Rene & Angela's last album, and for years many had wondered why did the duo break up? In the Billboard Book of # 1 Rhythm & Blues Hits, Moore blamed Ronald Isley for the break up claiming that he felt wasn't going to succeed any further. That was Moore's story. According to Winbush, their partnership began to become strained during the success of "Your Smile."
We had send it in with my vocals because I always did the scratch vocals. They (the executives) said leave it like that." Winbush said on Unsung. The song, which was inspired by her grandmother became a huge hit, with music critics praising Angela's vocal performances and skills, which made Moore become angry. "My ex-partner didn't want it that way and 'you're gonna do the Chaka the way Chaka did to Rufus was all I heard" Winbush said about their arguements. "He didn't expect her to showecase over him" author Donald Peebles said. She has a God-given talent. To be honest, I really felt that he wanted to keep her in the background. Sometimes when you duos and trios, the one person who the industry wants to keep in the background are the ones who are the most talented. And when she went to showcase who Angela was, it was a how dare you moment." The success of "Your Smile" had prompted The Isley Brothers to recruit the duo to work with them on their upcoming album, and it was at an luncheon, where Angela had told the group's lead vocalist that she had already had songs written for them. "Ron said he wanted to work the people who did "Your Smile" Winbush revealed in the Billboard Book of # 1 Rhythm & Blues Hits. "I had the whole Isley catalog, so when I got together with Ronald, I already had a pocket full of tunes ready" Winbush said in the liner notes of her greatest hits compliation. Ron and his brother Rudolph were eager to work with the duo, and while Winbush was happy to work with her idols, Moore became more angry to the point of lashing out verbally and physically on the road crew, and later Angela herself, who spoke about a fight they had during a rehearsal, where Moore had her in a choke hold, forcing her to scream for help, but the turning point came when they were in the studio working with The Isley where Moore struck Winbush, which resulted in her having a concusion and bruised ribs, and Ron had said that the violence had to stop. Mercury wanted the duo to record another album, and despite the offer to provide bodyguards, Winbush refused, which resulted in Moore filing several lawsuits against her and telling the label that he did most of the work on the album. Angela countersued and in 1993, the judge ruled in her favor, gaining 50 percent of her publishing and full ownership of songs she composed afterwards. "I had to protect my publishing."
With executives doubting her talent, Winbush wrote and co-produced The Isley Brothers' 1987 comeback album "Smooth Sailing" which went gold and received excellent reviews from critics and fans, prompting Mercury to give Angela an solo deal, and she didn't disappoint; her solo debut "Sharp" became a hit while her single "Angel" became a # 1 R&B hit for two weeks and earned her two Soul Train Music Award nominations. "I wasn't suprised that people would like it, but I was supriesed it went to number one" You never know what's going to happen with a record when you put it out" she said in the Billboard book of Rhythm & Blues # 1 hits. The song also became a hit with the Black Gay community as well. "I think that the Gay community can really see that song as one of their own and that song is saying any situation you're going through you can make it" author Pebbles said. Angela had became a hot commodity in the music business. In addition to writing and producing The Isley Brother's "Spend The Night" album, she also produced two tracks on Scottish Pop singer Sheena Easton's platnium album "The Lover In Me" and wrote and produced Stephanie Mills' gold album "Home" giving the Broadway star her fourth # 1 R&B Hit. "I think that Angela is an incredible singer and a gifted songwriter and producer. I don't think she's had her due as a producer" Mills said in the Billboard Book of Rhythm & Blues # 1 Hits. "She's wonderful to work with because she knows her work and knows how to tell you exactly what she wants and she allows you to deliver it in your own style." Angela also released her follow-up album "The Real Thing" which showcased her ablility to compose, arrange and incorporate all forms of genres of music including Soul, Funk, Quiet storm, Jazz and Gospel, becoming a favorite of fans and fellow arists including singer Lalah Hathway, daughter of the late Donny Hathaway, who recruited Winbush to work on her debut album and stills enjoy listening to the title track of Winbush's follow up with peaked at # 2 on the R&B charts."Back in the day you had to do alot of things. You had to sing somebody under the table with a ballad. You had to know how to be funky and know how to dance" Hathaway said on Unsung. "She's just well wounded."
Winbush followed with "No More Tears" which became a hit with women and Gays. "It's a very empowering song to show women and Gay people that you don't have to be sitting down and crying overstuff" Peebles said. "You live your live. You party. You shake your ass. And no more tears. She was like I'm not gonna feel soryy for myself and she looked good doing it."
The album's third single "Lay Your Troubles Down" was a beautiful duet sung with Ron Isley who had became Angela's manager and boyfriend. The song had peaked at # 10 on the R&B charts and became a favorite among music lovers and romantics. "I loved it. You can see the love and chemistry between them. Lay your troubles has that Gospel orgin, but singing the song together, it was an testament in front of God" Peebles said. "I'm a sucker for a love story."
"It was fun to do with Ron and he added that sound that only he can do on record" Winbush said on Unsung. Many of their peers saw the love the duo had for each other including bassit Watts. "You can see chemistry with people. You can notice little things as time goes by" Wats said on Unsung. In 1991 Winbush produced Hathaway's top 20 hit "Baby Don't Cry" and appeared on the United Negro College Fund Telephon, ran her production company, and spend quality time with Ron, who she married on June 26 1993 in Los Angelas, making them one of Hollywood's famous Black musical couples. "They looked great together" author Donald Peebles said excitedly. "It was a dream come true because I never thought I would never get married because of the career with women is difficult" Winbush said.
After spending a romantic honeymoon in Hawaii, Angela embarked on an internation tour with her husband and brother-in-laws, where she was very popuar and well respected on the charts, but back in America, she was still being played primarly on R&B radio. "I think she didn't make the mainstream because I feel she wasn't gonna sell her self to the highest bidder on the mainstream circut because in order to go mainstream, you have to compromise yourself and I really feel that Angela wasn't gonna do that." Peebles said of why she didn't get the crossover success she deserved. Looking for more success, Anglea left Mercury for Elektra Records and in the spring of 1994, she released her self-titled album, which gained excellent reviews, and showed her ability to adapt with the times without losing her musical idenity. The album's first single "Treat U Rite" was written and produced by singer Chuckii Booker peaked at # 6 on the R&B charts, followed by her rendition of the Marvin Gaye classic "Inner City Blues" which she co-produced with Booker. It seemed that Angela was going to finally get the success that she deserved, but despite an international tour, and appearances on Video Soul and Soul Train, the album didn' do well due to executive changes at Elektra. In 1996, Angela along with ketih Sweat and R. Kelly had produced The Isley Brother's multi-platnium album "Mission To Please" which became a hit and introduced the group to a new generation of fans, who loved the remix single "Floating On Your Love" which featured The Isleys, Winbush, 112 and rapper Lil' Kim. The success of the single earned Angela and The Isleys an invitation to former president and first lady Bill and Hilliary Rodham-Clinton, who's photo appeared in Ebony and Jet Magazine. Angela's music became popular to a new generation, due to many R&B singers and rappers covering and sampling her songs including Adina Howard & Michael Speaks covering "You Don't Have To Cry" and rappers Foxy Brown and Jay-Z sampled "I'll Be Good" for their hit "I'll Be" which became a huge hit in the clubs and on Pop radio, giving Angela her first Top 10 Pop hit. "It was cute. She really didn't destroy it" Peebles said on Foxy Brown doing a great job sampling the classic dance song. Flattered, Angela joined Jigga and The Notorious BIG on the hit "I Love The Dough" re-writing and singing the hook of "I Love The More" furthering her connection with the Hip-Hop heads. "She let people know that you can join Hip-Hop, R&B and Soul together, and I'm glad that Biggie and Jay-Z honer her for "I Love The Dough" author Peebles said about the collabulation between the legends. I'm glad that they went and gave her her due. Biggie and Jay-Z are class acts." Despite the success and interest, Angela would spend time running her company, and spending time singing background for her husband, often performing a brief medley of her hits during a performance of The Isley's classic "Summer Breeze" and while many fans enjoyed her performance, there were many who felt that Winbush should have been out performing instead of being delegated to being a background singer. "I was still recording and producing with Ron so I didn't push my career because I was married and he wanted to be the forefront and that was OK, but it never got back around to me recording" Winbush said on Unsung. "I love The Isley Brothers, but I wanted to see Angela out there by herself" Norwood added. At the beginning of the new millinieum, Angela's career started to reheat, when singer Avant scored with his rendition of the Rene & Angela classic "My First Love." Impressed with the results, Winbush suprised the audience of 106 & Park and joined the young singer on stage to sing her part, which got rave reviews from the audience and television viewers, making it one of the show's most memorable performances. The following year she wrote and produced The Isley's award winning platnium album "Eternal," and despite the success and reviews, it would be the last time the duo would work together professionally and personally. Ron's cheating and issues with the IRS foreced Winbush to file for divorce. "I was hurt" Peebles said. "I was really hurt. I thought they was gonna stay together. They looked good together." Angela returned to perform to rebuild her finances, and quickly got bookings to perform at various shows and events including New York Expo, but her touring came to a halt after being diagnosed with state 3 ovavian cancer. Learning how serious her condition was, Angela had surgery, and underwent seven months of radical chemothearpy. "I wound up in a wheel chair. I couldn't stand cause my feet cound't touch the ground. I could barely walk. You don't know if you can make it cause they can't gurantee anything" Winbush said of the ordeal.
Many had came out to show her love and support including The Isleys and several family members, friends and peers, and making her recovery stronger was singer Chante Moore and her husband Kenny Lattimore scoring with their rendition of "You Don't Have To Cry." After completing chemo, Winbush's cancer has been in remission, and in addition to growing closer to God, she's been an strong advocate of health in the Black community, and raises money for several cancer organizations. Angela has been performing and appeared on the Mo'nique show where she told the audience that she completed ministry academy, and performed her hit "Angel" where she hit her trademark note and said "that ain't no tape." She recently performed in LA, where she told the crowd to be on the look out for her new record soon. "Music right now is in limbo, and people are looking for real music and Angelae brought people through different situations" Donald Peebles said of how important it is for Winbush to be recording new music in a time where quanity rules over quality. "I would really love for her to show these youngings and these slut puppies that you don't have to take off your clothers to sing a hit song. This is how you do it without taking off your clothes. She need to teach that Rhianna alot of stuff." Many music lovers and fans also feels that she needs to be honored for her contributions to music as well. "She needs to be honored, but it takes the R&B lovers, the bloggers, the ones in the music industry to advocate" Peebles said. "All the bloggers, who appreciate good music should be the ones advocating for Angela to be honored."

AN SOUTHERN GAY SINGER SPEAKS TO THE DA-PROFESSOR

2011-11-15T14:02:00.048-06:00

In 2007, I was listening to DJ Baker's award-winning podcast, and he was talking about this song called "I Likes Him" by this singer named Sanchez and how hot and catchy it was. He was write. The song had a nice beat and catchy hook that many people quickly fell in love with. Well Sanchez, who now goes by the name Rudell C has been making his mark in the LGBT industry by recording Gay versions of many popular hits and doing his own videos with guys two guys as well as forming a clothing line American Punk and an networking website which is doing well. I had the opportunity to speak with the southern business man during the past winter/early spring via telephone about his career, love songs, the reason why he shut down his clothing line, and things that makes northern boys wants southern boys.

DA-PROFESSOR: How are things going?
RUDELL C: Everything's been going good. Can't complain.

DA-PROFESSOR: A few years ago, you dropped your single "I Like Him" under the name Sanchez. What prompted you to write that song?
RUDELL C: When I wrote that song, I was in the early stages of writing and recording on my own. I was looking up beats online and I found this hot beat, and it was going to be my first time recording in a studio so i found the beat I liked and I was like I gotta write a hot song, so I put it out and it was the greatest song. Everybody like that song. Straight people like it and boys made up their versions instead of saying "I Like Him", "I Like Them."

DA-PROFESSOR: It was released under the name Sanchez. What made you decided to go by your current name?
RUDELL C: When I first came out, Sanchez was the name somebody gave me from a Gay family I was in. They just kinda gave me the name. Once I got to a certain age, I knew that I wanted to do something that would make me famous and I wanted to go by my real name and not by an alias. Singing, writing, whatever it's art, writing, everything I do, I use my real name.

DA-PROFESSOR: Which singers and artists inspire you?
REDUELL C: Oh my goodness. Number one. I know this may sound cliche, but I'm a huge fan of Beyonce. It's funny when I did "I Like Him" I was having a Beyonce feeling inside of me, but she's like a great artists and a great performer. Another person would be Michael Jackson. I've always loved MJ since I was 5 playing my tape player and dancing to his videos and music. And another person I like is India Arie. She has that raspy voice and I like how she uses it.

DA-PROFESSOR: You also had a clothing line out. What prompted you to start your own clothing line?
REDUELL C: I was having a conversation with one of my friends. We were texting and he called himself a cunt. When I got that text message, I saw Cunt and a T-shirt, and I'm like we should have our own clothing line. We see girls walk around with their shirts and boys have their little silly stuff, and I'm like Gay people dont' have shirts with their slang on it. I was like I ought to do this. I know I could do it.

DA-PROFESSOR: How was the feedback?
REDUELL: It was good. Everybody loved the shirts. I had a suggestion box on the website, and I got alot of emails. I really got positive feedback from the community.

DA-PROFESSOR: You recently closed down American Punk Why did you do that?
REDUELL: One thing about me is I don't really do something I'm not happy with. I wanna be happy with doing it and I thing with American Punk in the beginning, I think I over drove myself and it was wearing me out in the end. I did have a web designer when it came down to it. The shirts were hand made. Plus I have a full time job, so it just kinda got hard and I put a whole lot of pressure on myself to get everything done. It's crazy, it's not that I don't trust people, but I wouldn't feel comfortable handing it over to somebody I know.

DA-PROFESSOR: I'm glad I got my shirts.
REDUELL: (Laughs) So many people hit me up afterwards. I'm glad you got yours.

DA-PROFESSOR: You're from Tennesse. Tennesse is known for producing several Country Acts like Dolly Parton and Soul acts like Tina Turner and Al Green. How do you feel you're gonna add to their legacy?

REDUELL: We do have a music background and everything, and music is a big part of our culture. We have Country music fans. We have bandelo. We have big concerts and things like this. It does impacts us in those type of ways. The way I like to add to the legacy is to be a good artist and work hard and make good music. My legacy, especially with the LGBT community would be to make music that people can relate to.

DA-PROFESSOR: There are many guys who love southern guys. Tell me Reduell from your prespective, what is it about southern guys that makes northern guys wanna get with them?

REDUELL: I think one thing would be the accent. If you got a good little accent that would attract a good northern boy. A cute southern accent would be one and of course you know that they say, depending on what kind of northern boy it is, if you got a nice country booty, I'm sure they'll like that too.

DA-PROFESSOR: There are many northern boys who like southern tops (I laugh).
REDUELL: Oh. They want one of the country boys. Do you do the grills up north? The grills in the mouth. Is that a southern thing?

DA-PROFESSOR: The gold teeth? Back in the mid 1980's alot of guys used to wear caps in their mouths.

REDUELL: I guess the ones who want the southern tops, you can get the ruff necks (both laugh). With the grills in his mouth and the country grammar something like Nelly. I guess that what you would go for if you're looking for a southern top. The slang with the grills. Smile for me baby (both laugh).

DA-PROFESSOR: What else does southern guys have that makes northern guys want them?
REDUELL: I really don't know. I want to know about the northern guys. They seem interesting to me.

DA-PROFESSOR: What about cooking?
REDUELL: Yeah. How can I forget about the southern soul food (laughs). If you're from the south and you know how to cook, then I guess that's how you would keep your man at home. Keep them coming back and full (both laughs out loud). Southern fried chicken. Corn bread. Southern greens. Oh yes!

DA-PROFESSOR: In addition to singing, what other projects you're working on?
REDUELL: Right now, I have four projects I'm working on. I'm working on some writing projects. It's a Black Gay love story and it's pretty erotic and there are alot of twists and turns in that story. It's crazy because whenever people read the introduction, alot of people aske me is it real and I'm like, no. It's a fictional story and it's a good story and alot of people will be able to relate to the story eithe way because so much stuff happens throughout the the story that we in the LGBT comnunity can relate to.

DA-PROFESSOR: I read the story and it was hot and creative. What was the inspiration?
REDUELL: It came from no where. Writing has been something I've been able to do, but never done it. I've always written poetry and short stories. I did write one story once and that was when I was 16. I wrote one erotic story and I decided to give it a shot.I wanted it to be an interesting story. Not necessary a story about my life, but something realistic and full of drama. I wanted to tell a story and have people be able to relate to.

DA-PROFESSOR: You said how you like to write Black Gay love stories and Black Gay erotic stories. How important is it for Black Gays to have love stories on the market?

REDUELL: What got me interested was when I was 16, I wrote my first story and that's when I became interested in reading Black Gay literature and at 16, there wasn't much to look at. Especially in those teenage years when people are finding themselves in the community. We need that as much as we need Black Gay films. I love to see a Black Gay movie something that we can look at and say I can relate to that. It's very important because it's time we have those literature and those images we can read, and see and hear and it's something we can relate to. We haven't had our own Black Gay fiction and I'm trying to create that.

DA-PROFESSOR: If you can get anybody to be in your films, who would it be?
RUDUELL: If I had a caucassian, woman, it would be Angelie Jolie and if I had an African American character, female it would be Beyonce. I like everything she does. Alot of people think she can't act, but I think she's fine. When it comes to African American men, I would have to go with Will Smith and a caucasian man, I woud have to say Tom Cruise.

DA-PROFESSOR: If you have the opportunity to perform with any of your favorite artists LGBT and mainstream, who would it be?
REDUELL: LGBT. I would wannna perform with Bry'nt. Anye Elite. Dead-Lee. I'd like to work with him. Have you ever heard of God-Des?

DA-PROFESSOR: I met her in 2004
REDUELL: I'd love to work with her. As for as straight artists, I would have to say, I like to work with Trina. As far as female rappers. Male Rappers, if I had the change, Lil' Wayne of course. That would be interesting. Or maybe Drake. And when it comes to the singers, I would have to say Trey Songz. I really love his music, and females it would be between Rhianna and Beyonce. I like the old Rhianna alot. Alicia Keys is one of my favorite artists as well. I'm into slow love songs alot and Alicia Keys is really, really, really big. I love her music with a capital L and I like Lauryn Hill. That's one artist I'm feeling right now.

DA-PROFESSOR: Alicia was in a slight scandal concerning her husband Swizz Beatz and his ex-wife. What do you think of the situation and controversy that was surrounding them?
REDUELL: If they were already going through a divorce and they like each other, you can't help what you like. If you meet a guy and he's going through a divorce, and you like him, are you supposed to stop talking to him until the divorce is final? You can't help who you love. Now if he was still with the woman and cheating and having babies and all that then I say that's definetly wrong, but if they was in the process of splitting up, it is what it is. It's gonna happen anyway.

DA-PROFESSOR: What are your favorite Alicia Keys songs?
REDUELL: One song I really, realy like from her and it wasn't a single. "If I Were Your Woman."

DA-PROFESSOR: The Gladys Knight classic.
REDUELL: I like her version. The ones I can chose between is "Unthinkable," "If I Ain't Got You," "Diary" and "A Woman's Worth."

DA-PROFESSOR: You also mentioned MJ being an influence. What do you admire about MJ?
REDUELL: My dad did alot of tapes for me and for me, Michael Jackson's energy and his performances would always have me dancing. That's what made me love Michael overall. It was mostly watching his concerts (and) of course, everbody would mimick his moves as kids so I would be in front of the TV trying to do the moves (Reduell starts to sing) 'wanna be starin' something. You gotta be startin' somethin'.

DA-PROFESSOR: What did you think of the video he did with his sister Janet?
RUDUELL: I think it's a great song. Of course with me being 5 or 6, I didn't really understand what it meant, but looking back now, it was a great song and great video they did together.

DA-PROFEESSOR: How do you feel that MJ made an impact on both the LGBT and hetero communities?
RUDELL: I think that Michael was a house hold name. People grew up listening to MJ, so I don't think he had he necessary had to try. MJ crossed all boarders. Black. White. Gay. Straight. Hispanic. There are countries who love MJ. I feel that MJ was one of those type of people who didn't have to necessary try to make people a fan.

DA-PROFESSOR: You also stated that you love love songs. Tell me why do you feel that Black Gay men loves listening to love songs?
REDUELL: For me personally, I'm one of the slow song type of person. I love love songs. I don't know because I haven't actually been in love yet. That could be the whole thing with Gay men. It's hard to find someone to love in the Gay world.

DA-PROFESSOR: There are several Gays who want to see openly Gay singers and rappers but sometimes it's hard for them to get booked at Gay Pride Events. How does it make you feel as an artist?
REDUELL: I don't think enough people want it. I haven;t been to alot of prides outside of Tennesse. I can't speak for every state, you know. I've never been to a major state like New York or San Diego, but I know we broght Bry'nt here for our pride and like nobody showed up. Everybody was in the clug, so it 's kinda embarrassing in a way to bring somebody down and to have less then one hundred people at the event and once the event is over, you go to the club and that's where everybody's at. It's like on my God! Are you serious? So from my experience, people don't want it. We're so caught up in the lifestyle of seeing who's at the club and meeting boys that alot of people don't care about LGBT artists. I got friends who still hasn't listen to my CD. Maybe that will be something that will change over time.

DA-PROFESSOR: I remember you having videos on You Tube and one of my favorites was your video version of Usher's "Trading Places." What inspired you to do that video with a guy.
REDUELL: Well both of us are Gay and most people on You Tube know that I'm Gay, so the channell was for me to be myself. Alot of times I used my best friend, which was the closet thing I could be to a boy at the time, but finally I got my central boyfriend to be in one of my videos and I decided to do "Trading Places", so of course I wasn't gonna get a girl because I don't like girls, but it ended up being a great project overall. I think we need to use ourselves more onscreen more than we do now.

DA-PROFESSOR: Where do you see yourself in the next 5-10 years?
REDUELL: The next five to ten years, I definetly want to be a household name for more than the LGBT community. I wanna made a name for myself for the different projects that I do.

DA-PROFESSOR: How do you feel you're making an impact on the music industry and LGBT community?
REDUELL: I feel like I'm bringing different things to the community as far as music, literature, clothing. I feel like I'm bringign different things and different products to the community that we can have.

THE SUPREMES HOT ENERGTIC BOXED SET

2011-11-08T15:40:00.040-06:00

THE SUPREMES
LET YOURSELF GO-THE 70'S ALBUMS VOLUME 2: 1974-1977 THE FINAL SESSIONS
MOTOWN RECORDS

Music lovers can't and will never get enough of The Supremes, who made an global impact on the world, breaking race, sex, gender and class barriers with their memorable hits, sequenced gowns, wigs and their spirit that showed people that anyone can achieve their goals. From 1964-69, Florence Ballard, Mary Wilson, Diana Ross and Cindy Birdsong (who replaced Ballard in 1967) had scored twelve # hits, as along with being the first Black act to perform at the Copacobana, and when Ross left to pursue a successful solo career in 1970, Jean Terrell became the lead singer and helped the group score several classics including "Up The Ladder To The Roof," "Stoned Love," "Nathan Jones," "Touch," "Floy Joy" and "Bad Weather." However with Motown holding back on support, Terrell and Cindy's replacement Lynda Laurence had left, leaving original member Wilson at a crossroads; to puruse a solo career or reform the group? She chosed the latter; she recruited Scherrie Payne as the lead singer and rehired Cindy who was on maternity leave and would be replaced by Susaye Greene, and conqured the Disco and R&B charts, with several # 1 hits before disbanding in 1977. Well fans can enjoy the group's magical hits on "Let Yourself Go" which has become the group's biggest and best-selling compliation of all time. The 3 CD set not only features the Supremes' last three albums, it also features several unreleased songs as well as alternative versions of their classics that will have you dancing and romancing.
Disc one opens with the group's comeback single "He's My Man: a hot Disco song that has funky basslines, strings and sultry and sexy vocals by Mary and Scherrie who both blend well in the background with Cindy. The song also has cool lyrics that women and Gay men love.

He calls, says get dressed
And I put on my best
Being in his arms
Brings out all my charm
You can see us glow where ever we may go
He's my man.

Following this classic is "Early Morning Love" which was a nice reunion with The Supremes and the Holland Brothers, who produced ten of their twelve # 1's and gave this song a nice Soulful Blues feel by having a hot horn section and having Wilson sing and showing her ranges adding sexiness to the lyrics about making love the first thing in the morning. Wilson also shines vocally on the Country-flavored "Where Is It I Belong" and "This Is Why I Believe In You" which during the latter, features the group singing' you make me wanna shout' with Scherrie ad-libbing powerfully. Good, but the song would have been better had Cindy had also did some solo ad-libbing as well. Payne also does well on "You Can't Stop A Girl In Love" where she displays her vocal ranges, and shows the group's growth at that time, futher displayed on "Color My World Blue" which has nice harmony and "Give Out, Don't Give Up" which has inspirational lyrics and hot percussion, also heard on "Where Do I Go From Here." "You Turn Me Around" is a great ballad with romantic and inspirational lyrics and a great lead vocal by Wilson, but the song should have been longer. The Supremes' rendition of the classic "The Shoop Shoop Song (It's In His Kiss)" is hot and shows that the group still had the capability of doing covers and making them their own,. The alternative version of "The Sha-La Bandit" is another song showing Payne's powerful singing, while the alternative version of "Color My World Blue" features Scherrie singing mid-range, Wilson's spoken seagment and more percussion. "Mr Boogie" is a hot song with hot percussion that could have been a huge hit along with the Hal Davis produced "Dance Fever" which has fans jamming to this gem on their I-Pods and using as their ringtomes. This song has a hot combination of Disco, Funk, Blues, Jazz, Country courtesy of the horn and rhythm sections, piano and bass. Adding more spice is when the Supremes sing and chant 'We're gonna boogie/we're gonna Reggae. I can't stop dancing in a soulful/Carribbean style, further showing their growth and there is really no excuse for Motown not releasing this along with the sultry romantic "Seed of Love" showing their capability to sing about romance. I predict many couples will be playing this songs at their weddings. The multi-lead on the alternative version of "Give Out, Don't Give Up" is another favorite because not only we get a chance to hear the group sing in unison, but they give this version a more spiritual feeling, while the extended version of "Bend A Little" featues a hot call and response and powerful vocals.
The ballad "Can We Love Again" is another gem that should have been released. It has a sultry Latin Jazzy Soul vibe and features Mary singing in higher ranges, while the extended version of "He's My Man" has more strings, bass and percussion and shows Scherrie cutting loose on the vocals adding Gospel flavor to the classic.
Disc 2 opens with "High Energy" which has a hot sexy feeling courtesy of the strings, percussion, Mary's sultry spoken intro and Susaye Greene's legendary singing, phrasing and trademark high notes. A great way of introducing the lady who would be dubbed the Last Supremes. Following this top charting classic is the group's last top 40 hit "I'm Gonna Let My Heart Do The Walking" a classic that still gets spins at classic parties. With it's percussion, strings, empowering lyrics and Payne cutting loose on the vocals, the song still gets fans on the floor. Scherrie also shows her sexy side on "Only You (Can Love Me Like You Love Me)" and "You Keep Me Moving" which has funky live breaks and horns, but for the latter, the group's vocals should have been more sultry. Mary shines on the ballad "Don't Let My Tear Drops Bother You" which has nice lyrics and percussion that adds elements of Latin to this soulful ballad along with the background vocalS, while the sounds of the boat floating on the ocean adds sexiness and sadness to "Til The Boat Sails Away" which fades into the Thom Bell-Linda Creed penned "I Don't Want To Lose You" which has nice lead vocals and a spoken seagment by Wilson who does a great job fronting Scherrie, Cindy and Susaye vocally. She and Scherrie does a great job singing lead on "You're What's Missing In My Life" which has nice lyrics, piano riffs that later would be used in the Roberta Flack/Donny Hathaway classic "God Don't Like Ugly" and shows their individual vocal styles.
The original mixes of the "High Energy" sounds similar to the versions that were released, but however, the original version of "High Energy" featres Susaye singing and ad-libbing in mid-range, while the vocals on "Only You (Can Love Me Like You Love Me)" are more seductive and fuller. The alternative version of "There's Room At The Top" has fuller and soulful harmony and handclaps that gives the song a Gospel feel, while Wilson shines on her version of "You're What's Missing In My Life" showing her growth and ability to sing mid-tempo songs, and the fans are still jamming to Susaye's lead on "I'm Gonna Let My Heart Do The Walking." Susaye gives the song a youtful feel and showcases her high notes and ranges, something that many artists including Michele, Mariah Carey and Chante Moore would later do on their recordings.
Disc 3 opnes with "You're My Driving Wheel" which has a hot horn section, percussion, piano riffs and strong vocals, further displayed on "Let Yourself Go", which has nice strings that adds elements of Classical music to the song, which like the former should have been larger hits alongn with "Come Into My Life" which has one of the funkiest basslines heard from any Motown artists. It gives the song a hypnotic feel along with Susaye's seductive and powerful lead vocals, which explains why she was the only member to sing at Ray Charles' funeral. Susaye also joins Mary on the ballad "We Should Be Closer Together" while Wilson does a marvelous job on the underated ballad "You Are The Heart of Me" and Scherie does well on "I Don't Want To Be Tied Down" which has great lyrics about being free and friends with benefits. The alternative version of "High Energy" features Wilson's spoken seagments, which improve throughout the song, while Susaye does a great job singing mid-range. The alternative version of "I'm Gonna Let My Heart Do The Walking" has more percussion, bells, bass, a different set of lyrics and features Scherrie ad-libbing 'Go head with your badself." My personal favorite is the alternative version of "Sweet Dream Machine" which is so much sexier than the version that was released. Giving the song sex appeal are the music, lyrics and the call and response between the song's co-writer Harold Beatty who speaks in his deep baritone voice while the ladies sing 'You're into me/I'm into you/Sweet Dream Machine in a sexual way along with making organic noises and says honey drippping while laughing. This version would have given Donna Summer's "Love To Love You Baby" a run for it's money.
This set is great, but it would have been better if the multi-lead version of "The Sha-La Bandit" was included. The set wouuld have been much hotter had the versions of High Energy with Scherrie and Cindy each singing lead wouldn't have been erased. Hearing those versions would have been heavenly, but all in all the set was well coordinated and it shows how The Supremes still had the magic and was able to have fans letting themselves go.

This review is dedicated to the late Florence Ballard who passed shortly before the High Energy album was released and to the late Phillip Howell, who would have loved this boxed set.

KING OF POP'S NEWPHEWS SINGLE HONORS HIS LEGACY AND CELBRATES HIS RECENT JUSTICE

2011-11-08T12:01:00.006-06:00

SIGGY MR.DEALZ JACKSON FEATURING MR. VANN
JUSTICE

Many artists have paid tribute to Motown legend and global Icon Michael Jackson and have wanted him and his family to have justice. Members of his family also want their beloved son, brother, uncle, father and Godfather to have justice, and his newphews Rapper Mr. Dealz and Singer/songwriter Mr. Vann pays the ultimate tribute with their latest single "Justice" a nice smooth flowing midtempo ballad paying tribute to the King and informing the world and the tablolids that Justice will be prevail.
The song starts off with Dealz son of Jackson's brother Jackie, who with Michael co-wrote the group's classic "Can You Feel It?" performing an spoken seagment annoucning his uncle's classic hits, followed with Vann, son of Jermaine, singing the hook over an accoustic guitar with Dealz, spitting some hot verses about the love that their uncle showed them as well as how he's gonna strive to be a great entertainer and how importance of justice being served (which happened yesterday with the jury finding Conrad Murrary guilty for involuntary manslaughter). What makes this song touching is the call and response between Dealz and Vann, which tugs at the heart.

This song is great, showing how Michael influenced many people over the years, and to have his newphews join forces to perform a collabulation shows that family can work together, and make great music.

This review is dedicated to Michael Jackson.

DEAN'S HOT STORY ABOUT THE MUSIC INDUSTRY IS HOT

2011-10-27T11:56:00.014-05:00

Author Terrance Dean penned another hot and shocking novel "Mogul" which is still getting thumbs up by several critics, bloggers and fans, who are always anticipated by what the talented writer has up his sleeve and what he has to share.
"Mogul" has a great story and characters that readers will quickly become attached to as well as some who you may wanna fall in love and/or sleep with, and avoids sterotypes that many people have about gays.
The story focuses on Aaron "Big A.T." Tremble, son of a legendeary, talented, well respected and down to earth Jazz musician, who's unexpected death forces him to cling to music as a form of escapism from his father's death and his first love, a guy from his high school, who migrates to UCLA on a basketball scholarship. A.T. works hards on honing his production and musician skills with the goal to being successful as well as producing quality Hip-Hop music, and shortyly after he links up with Chris another musician and Hip-Hop who attended the high school, who joins him on the grind to get into the industry. Close but no cigar; many turned death ears to their quality-produced music, but as the saying goes, one man's loss is antoher man's gain. Well the man who has common sense to recurit them was Larry "Pops" Singleton, a legendary promoter and executive who helped and guided the careers of many legendary artists to global successs, including Clip-O-Matic, who was impressed with his skills as an musician and producer as well as knowing about his sexuality, knowing that he was family. In other words, he recruited by AT and Chris because they were gay men. "Don't act like you don't know there are gay brothers in the business" Pops titled his head and squinted his eyes and pointed his finger at me. Shit without us, half these ignorant motherfuckets wouldn't be where they are today. How do you think most of them got where they are? I don't think that it's really about talented alone." Pop later took A.T. into a room and gave him a welcoming gift; a blow job and a make out session, and while Pops enjoyed servicing him, A.T. was still battling his issues of his sexuality and he would constantly have a Nelly/Kelly Rowland moment of being a dilema of deciding who to be with sexually as well as having a Bunny DeBarge moment of having A Dream about being with his first male lover who he yearned to be with. He began to put his ex on the memory back-burner by working with K-Luv another member of the group, he saw that AT had potential to become a successful producer, and after rapper Shawty Mikes insists that he produces him, AT lands an label deal, and signs a Brooklyn born rapper named Tickman, who becomes his debut artists and (unexpectedly) his boyfriend, who turns out to be a talented, mature, sexy and understanding partner. Especially when AT becomes involved with Spellman College alumni Jasmine Bourdeaux, an middle-class born woman who despite her upbrining and background didn't like to associate with her own kind and yearned to live life on her own terms, which caused conflict with her mother and impressed AT during their first date.
"Oh really?" he asked. "You would marry a broke man and live in the projects with ten kids on welfare? Jasmine laughed. No. I'm just saying love isn't about money she replied her hand over my heart. It skipped a beat. Her hand was like an electrical surge as it rested on my chest." A.T. took her back to his condo where they made love to the sounds of Sade, and while Jasmine began to feel an emotional attachment, A.T. had to constantly remind himself that she was an media destraction, but when Jasmine begin to seduce him mentally and sexually, things get hot and when he tells Pops that he wants to come clean about his sexuality, he urges him not to, fearing about the drama it may cause. Things get complicated with him and Tickman, who clashes with Jasmine and has divo moments forcing him to move into his own crib in Harlem, and while things are hot and cold, Tickman is supportive and understanding when he informs him that Jasmine is pregant with their child, but like Pop, he has concerns about him wanting to tell Jasmine the truth about his sexuality. A.T. later signs a new rapper names Southern Gent, and quickly becomes impressed with his looks, talent, and drive, but becomes disappointed when the young kid offers him ass. Pissed, A.T. decides to tell him the truth about the industry and lets him know that he doesn't have to result in fucking to get a deal.
"I hated seeing young kats being taken advantage of. I think it's because of how I got in the game. I refuse to do it to someone else." While spending time nuturing his new artist, Jasmine is telling people about her pregancy and wondering why A.T. is being distant from her, leaving her to wonder if he's seeing another female. Another dramatic event in "Mogul" is A.T.'s beef with Odyssey an executive who's known for bribing and using scare tactics to get beats and steal artists from other labels and when Tickman informs him that Odyessey tried to steal him away from the label, A.T. becomes piss and gives him a piece of his mind and an two ass-whippings, with the second one being on the red-carpet at the MTV video awards, where the crowd cheers at Odyessey getting defeated live and in living color.
The story turns sad when Tickman is shot and killed after a concert, which causes the world and industry to fell sad, and forcing A.T. to become distant from Jasmine, who becomes frustrated. It also forces A.T. to warn his boys that they need to stop taking advantage of boys because one of them would get revenge. Sadly he's right and while he wasn't the one to sleep around, he gets hits the hardest when an blogger and photographer named Craig sends Jasmine photographs of A.T. and his boys getting it on at an all-male party in L.A. in an attempt to get revenge on his boys who used him for sex and not giving him the opportunity to pursue his dreams, and while he never had sex with A.T. and has no ill will with him, he choses to bring him down to his association with the clique. "It was nothing personal against A.T." Craig said. I knew once he was crippled and taken out of the gamee, the rest would be easy It only seemed right for what they did to me." When Jasmine receives the photos, she's pissed, hurt and devestated and she gets back atthe mogul by wanting half of his empire and using their daughter as a pawn. A.T. however has her arrested for extortion, and calls on his friends for support and his assistants Kenya and Tracey coordinates an press conference and interviews where A.T. speaks about his sexuality, which gets mixed reaction from fans and peers, who refuse to work with him as well as degrade him with homophobic slurs, while many commend him for having the courage for coming out as a way to help fans come to grips with their sexuality, and while on vacation, Southern Gent gives him some shocking information about Odyessey who posted Jasmine's bail and begins a relationship with her. The info promptes A.T. to take life more seriously, and when he tells Jasmine about Odyessey's secret, she's becomes enaged, but has second thoughts and starts to live her own life by agreeing to appear on a popular show.
Terrance Dean's latest novel is a hot and good read. It keep me flicking through the pages to see what was gonna happen next and it also made me go back to see if I missed anything. He was able to avoid using many sterotypes about gays, and he was able to show the rappers having swagger, love and intelligence, and I hope that a sequel is in the works, because it would be interesting to see updates of the characters as well as answer some questions that fans have.

SINGER RELEASES SONG ABOUT THE COMFORT OF HENNESSEY

2011-10-26T12:58:00.002-05:00

XAVIER-RAYE
HENNESSEY

4.3 ON A SCALE OF 1-5

For the past three decades, many alcoholic beverages have become part of popular and music culture, and hennessey is of many drinks that musicians constantly sing and rap about in their songs as well as have in their music videos, and Pop singer/songwriter Xavier-Rayes is helping make the drink more popular with his current single "Hennessey" a smooth flowing ballad that is destined to become a hit on Quiet storm radio and in bars around the world.
What makes this ballad nice are the stings, beats, which at times could be smoother, vocals and lyrics about the drink being around to keep him comfort after a long day of rehearsing, performing and traveling.

You mean more than me than just another relationship
With you there is no equal decision to make
My friend. Good ole hennessey.

Xavier-Raye came up with a nice ballad that fans can listen to while getting their drink on. Whether it's with a partner, a group of people or solo, this song will get you in the mood for love and or a drink.

JOHNNY GILL'S NEW RELEASE SHOWS HE'S STILL AT THE TOP OF HIS GAME

2011-10-26T10:24:00.003-05:00

JOHNNY GILL
STILL WINNIING
NOTIF RECORDS
4.91 ON A SCALE FROM 1-5

When Soul singer/songwriter Johnny Gill dropped his comeback single "In The Mood," many true fans and critics were happy to see him doing what he does best; recording great, quality and tasteful music in the age where most of todays R&B singers are dropping songs that are sexually explict and blunt, and while I enjoy listening to the freaky songs, there's nothing like enjoying the sound of Soul singers singing romantic songs that makes you use your imagination and get you in the mood for romance, and that's why Johnny has been around for close to 30 years, and is one of the industry's well loved, respected and admired singers in the game, inspring many singers includng singer/songwriter JR. Skills or J.G. as he's called by peers and fans have captivated us with his strong Gospel-trained baritone in 1984, when he teamed with childhood friend Stacy Lattisaw for the hit album and single "Perfect Combination" as well as scoring a minor hit with "Half Crazy." Gill became a household name when he became a member of New Edition, and helped the Boston group crack the adult music market on their platnium classic album "Heartbreak" as well as singing on their R&B chart topping "Can You Stand The Rain" and the radio hit "Boys To Men." He also relaunched his solo career and made history by being the first album to have an album produced by two of the industry's hottest producing teams, Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis from the Funk band The Time and L.A. Reid & Babyface of the Adult Comptemporary group The Deele, and scored with the classics "Rub You The Right Way," "Fairweather Friend" and "My, My, My' which became J.G.'s signature song. He also recorded on several hit soundtracks and teamed up with Gerald LeVert and Keith Sweat for the trip LSG and scored with the hits "My Body" and "Door # 1" which earned the trio numerous award nominations for Best New Artist.
Well Skills is back with "Still Winning" his first new release in 16 years, which plans on be a hit with those who love and appreciate good music and powerful singing. Serving as co-executive producer, Gill enlisted the services of Sanchez Holmes, Bryan-Michael Cox, Troy Taylor, Vincent Watson, Kevin Ross and longtime producers Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, who long with their portuges Johnny Jackson and James "Big Jim" Wright to make this release a hit. Johnny also co-wrote and produced several songs including the title track, which has a hot live feel courtesy of the guitar, bass, beats, and the call and response he has with himself, giving it a hard Rock & Soul vibe, and while it would have been slightly better had the song had effects of an live audience, the lyrics and Skills ad-libbing 'na-na-na-na-na- compensates for the loss. The mid-tempo ballad "Let's Stay Together", which has nice and tasteful lyrics, and showcase the rare times Skills sing in mid-range. His comeback single "In The Mood" is still getting play on radio and positive feedback from fans. Written and produced by J.G. and Ralph Stacy, this ballad sounds like the sequels to his classics "Rub You The Right Way" and "Let's Get The Mood Right" with classy piano riffs, and romantic lyrics about getting ready to make love.

Tonight's the night I'm going all in
and I want you bad right now
I wanna lay you on the couch
Or we can do it on the couch
I'm gonna give you more
Let's take it to the bed
Where's nothing else needs to be said
Just give me your love. I'll give it all back girl
I'm in the mood
I wanna be next to you

A great song for couples to play while dining, cuddling, and making hot passionate love, along with "Black Box" and the inspirational "Just The Way You Are" which will become a hit with fans, who are constanly being told how they should act by their lovers. In addition to the beats, the song has great lyrics about a guy telling a female that they don't have to change and their fine they way their are.

What more do I have to say
Girl you're perfect in everyway
I'm gonna be there for you.
Whenever you need
Don't worry baby
You don't have to change on me.
You don't have to change
You can stay the same
Girl I love you just the way you are.

J.G. is joined by Keith Sweat and The O'Jays' lead singer Eddie LeVert on the smooth flowing ballad "Long, Long Time" which will be a hit with the grown folks and youth with old souls, The song has nice strings, guitars and great vocal performances by the three music veterans, who cut loose vocally towards the end of the song, showing their individual styles. Especially LeVert, who performs his trademark line 'oh baby, oh baby' riff making his songs Gerald and Sean smile in heaven. "Who Is He" is another composition that Gill co-wrote and produced that will be a hit with the adults. The song sounds likes updated versions of Donny Hathaway's "A Song For You," and Luther Vandross' "Superstar" and has lyrics about telling a current love that they don't need to be in a bad relationship and they can move on to someone who will treat them like royalty.

Can I be the man to make you feel like a woman again
Who is he
To tell you that you're not a shining star.
When I know that you are.
And who is he
To have you believe you don't deserve the best
I'm here to say you deserve the best.

A Grammy nomination is recommended for this as well as the Kevin Ross-self-penned ballad "2nd Place" where Johnny displays his ability to sing different ranges including falsetto and tenor, while "It Would Be" has the potential to be a cross over hit courtesy of the guitars giving the song a Acoustic Country feel. The CD closes with J.G.'s soulful rendition of the Paul Mc Cartney classic "My Love" which he makes his own. The guitar, strings, and piano riffs, gives the classic an romantic feel, while J.G. takes it home with his trademark powerful ad-libs and riffs, showing fans how you're supposed to cover a song.

Johnny Gill's lastest release is hot and romantic and goes to show that he's able to keep up with the young kids by being himself, which is why he will always be on top and in first place.

SEXY SUPREME'S NEW UPLIFTING SINGLE

2011-09-27T14:21:00.003-05:00

MARY WILSON
LIFE'S BEEN GOOD TO ME

True Motown fans love and admire Original Supreme Mary Wilson, for her sexy looks, sultry voice, and for working hard to keep the Supremes legacy. She's also shows all of her fans love by allowing them to join her onstage for a Supremes medley during her concerts, and greeting them afterwards. Well Wilson is continuing to show fans love with "Life's Been Good To Me" her first single since 1996's "Turn Around" which is getting lots of positive reviews from fans and critics, who is happy to see her recording again. Her latest single has a great mid-tempo, R&B/Dance vibe courtesy of the live audience affect, guitars, strings, keyboards and the call and response with her and the background vocalists. The song also has inspiring lyrics, about reflecting on how good life can be despite obstacles that often block one's path.

I've traveled from country to country
Was only trying to make it out the city
Never ever in my wildest dreams I would make history
I guess you can say this project girl got lucky
Life's been good to me.
Even though the sun didn't always shine
It's still be sweet.
Life's been alright with me
And I'm thankful for the life
I got to live my dreams.

Mary Wilson's latest release is a great song and it shows that she's more than a pretty face and a former background singer. She's a legend who can make great music that touches and inspires fans to enjoy life.

FLASHBACK REVIEW; SLICK RICK & LADY-TEE'S CLASSIC BALLAD

2011-09-27T12:17:00.002-05:00

FIRE & DESIRE
PERFORMED BY RICK JAMES & TEENA MARIE
WRITTEN & PRODUCED BY RICK JAMES
1981 MOTOWN RECORDS.
RELEASED LATE SUMMER 1981

Former label mates and soul mates Rick James & Teena Marie had Black Radio and the concert trail on lock. James was flying high with his Classic award winning album "Street Songs" while Marie grooving with her classic masterpiece "It's Must Be Magic" but they two made magic on the classic ballad "Fire & Desire" a radio hit, that got major play on Black radio, and was different any other ballad released on Motown; it was a song about bumping into a former lover, who had helped them give up their days of sleeping around and reflecting on the magic they displayed during their first kiss. What makes this song magic are the music, the lyrics and the ending of the song, where Rick speaks and Teena sings, with so much soul and passion that it makes you wanna find love.

A beautiful love song by two Soul mates, who put their passion in their music.

FACTS ABOUT FIRE AND DESIRE
1. In his memoirs, Rick wrote about how an Ethopian Princess he dated was the inspiration for the songs lyrics, and how she changed him with her love and sensitivity.

2. Teena Marie was Rick's first choice to record the duet with him, but unfortantely, she became ill and was hospitalized with a fever. Rick was going to have another female singer sing the song, but when Teena learned he was going to get another chick, Teena got up from her hospital bed, went to the studio, and recorded her part with one take. Afterwards, she returned to the hospital and made a full recovery.

3. Fire & Desire was the highlight of the Street Songs tour in 1981. Their romantic relationship had ended and while they was performing, Teena would curse Rick out under her breath and during the song's bridge.

4. Rick & Teena performed this classic on the 2004 BET Awards, and got a standing ovation. Sadly it would be the last time they would perform the song, due to Rick's death two months later. Teena continued to perform the classic live during her tours.

5. In 1997, Singers Johnny Gill and Coko remade this song for the Booty Call soundtrack.

MY CHAT WITH BRITISH SOUL VOCALIST ENRICO DELVES

2011-07-26T15:42:00.003-05:00

About two years ago, I was on You Tube checking messages, and one of the messages I received was from a guy named Enrico Delves asking me to check out his page and music. I did and I was blown away by his vocals and British accent, and his rendition of Michael Jackson's classic "Butterflies." I have a strong appreciation for British artists, so I sent him an email telling him how much I loved his music, and if he ever comes to the United States to perform, contact me, so I can check him out live. Two months ago, I learned that the talented artist was going to be peforming at the legendary SOB's, and I made sure I got my ticket, and when I sent him a message informing him I would be checking him out, he was excited to know that I was going to be in the house to give him the support, and I was excited that I was going to finally meet the talented vocalist, who has been the toast of the UK.
Born in South London, Delves started performing at the age of 10, and has been honing his skills eversince. He's performed at various cafes and coffee shops in London and around Europe, but his big break came when he won the opportunity to perform at the 2008 MOBO (Music of Black Orgin) Awards, which enlarged his fan base, and created a buzz in America, where many celebrities including Tom Cruise has asked him to perform at parties. After soundtrack, we met, and I found him to be extremely out going, fun loving, down to earth and at times dramatic (in a good way). After seeing him perform, I learned that he was going to be performing at Best Buys two days later, so I managed to score an interview with this talented and fun vocalist, where he spoke about being in New York, performing at the Mobo Awards, the challenges that many Black U.K. artist face, and his future goals.

DA-PROFESSOR: How does it feel to be back in New York?
ENRICO: Oh yeah. It's my second tgime. Well the first time I was doing a musical of an comtemporary version of A Midnight's Summer Dream. I'm selfish. Now I've come back it's about me, my solo songs and everything. It's really good. I got to perform at SOBS. I got to perform at a school called Grand Campus and today I performed at Live at Best Buy, which was a really good experience. I'm loving New York but the weather is killing me.

DA-PROFESSOR: How did you become involved with Music?
ENRICO: I realized I can sing at age 10, and I was praticing to Michael Jackson's "Man In The Mirror" instrumentals. So I kept singing over and over and over and I was like 'oh I like the tone of my voice when I do that.' So I kept on singing the hell out of that song until my mum over heard me and she's like 'Enrico is that you?' I said 'yeah,' so she started the track again, and asked me to sing and she told my dad 'you got a talented child' and this and that, so it was nice to know I got something.

DA-PROFESSOR: Besides Michael, who else influenced you?
ENRICO: Ooh. I love alot of artist. I'm a huge fan of Rashaan Patterson. He's one of my favorite vocalist. Maxwell. I love Maxwell. Tao Cruz. He's from the UK. He does Electro Pop. Usher. Aaliyah. I love old school artists like Otis Redding. My influences are truly wide. Even down to Jazz and an artist called Liz Wright. It's truly wide (laughs).

DA-PROFESSOR: I saw a clip of you performing at the MOBO Awards. Congratulations. How did you become involved in that contest?
ENRICO: Oh Thank you. (Laughs) I was part of competition; it was Western Union competition. There were hundreds of artists who applied to get the chance to open for the MOBO Unsigned Awards. It got narrowed down by a group called In Doves in the U.K. I was one of the final ten and then I had to go in front of a panel whiche was like Universal A&R's and perform for them accoustically, and they said they would call me a few days later, but they called me in a couple of hours and told me I was the winner, so I was screaming and the rest is history.

DA-PROFESSOR: What was it like peforming on the MOBOS?
ENRICO: It's not cracked up what it's make up to be. It looks glossed. You're on stage and you got the make up, the sound is pumping through the speakers, but for someone on the outside, you'll be like it looks good. It looks great, but as an artist in the U.K. and you're unsigned, there's a stigma like 'ooh, you're unsigned. Without status (Enrico pronuced the UK pronounciation of the word Stay-Tus), or in this country it's called status, Without status, you're seen as a nobody but it has helped my growth in the industry.

DA-PROFESSOR: You got some hot tracks. I like the song "Room 143" What was the inspiration for that song?
ENRICO: "Room 143." You actually remember that? That was a really old song. I did that back in Norway. I did that back in 2008, back when I did the Mobo's, but yeah, it's been years since I did anything with that song. I recorded a verse, pre chorus and a chorus, even though it wasn't fully writen.

DA-PROFESSOR: Another favorite is "Role Play" What was the inspiration for that song?
ENRICO: Thank you. Sexual frustration, like (in a a dramatic voice) Yeah! Want you want me to be? I'll be anybody. I'll be a doctor. I'll be a teacher. I'll be this and that. The song concept is being comfortable and able to play different characters in the relationships. Being able to tell your girl to wear a nurse outfit and to say it's OK. It's cool. I won't take it personally if she wants me to be a fireman. I'm not gonna take it personally because I'm a singer and be like you want me to be a fire man. You don't like me, it's only role play.

DA-PROFESSOR: You also did a Dance Song I like.
ENRICO: "Fairy Tales"?
DA-PROFESSOR: Yeah.
ENRICO: That's a song I recently did, and now I'm talking to different publishing companies. That's a song they picked. For me writing it became very personal, so I ended up taking it for myself. Rather than giving it to another artist. I'm very selfish, but not it's my song. "Fairy Tales" is my song!

DA-PROFESSOR: You made a great point about publishing. How important is it for an artist to own their own publishing?
ENRICO: Ooh. I thing it's the biggest thing in the industry. There's alot of money to make in the right avenues. So for instance, you're making moeny from performances, PRS. You're making money from publishing. Whether you're writing by yourself or writing with somebody, and you're able to make money off of sales and royalties, so you're pretty much covered (laughs).

DA-PROFESSOR: I notice that you perform with a live band. What is it like to perform with a live band and backing vocalists?
ENRICO: Ooh. I love it because it makes it more authentic. You're able to play around with it and being an artist, you're creative. When you're creative, you're always wanna tamper with certain parts of the beats and backing vocals. You wanna tamper with the chords and it makes it more authentic and intimate for my audience who are listening to me at that moment.

DA-PROFESSOR: How's the U.K. music scene for Black U.K. Artists?
ENRICO: There's a scene in the U.K. Defintelty, but it's a small scene in the U.K., because in the UK, because in the U.K. the Black population only count for 2 or 3 percent of the whole U.K., but the population is small, the support of Black artists is extremely tiny. I say the U.K. is crap for Black artists if you're doing Soul. I think you can make it if you're doing Pop, but again it goes into racial things on the sense of skin complexion if you're lighter or darker and the politics, but I woulse say the U.K. is harder to break.

DA-PROFESSOR: That was something I was unaware of, but the one thing I admire about U.K. artist is how you love the American Artist more than Americans. How important is that?
ENRICO: Ooh yeah. It's true. I would say from the 90's and 2000's the airwaves has been overloaded with American artists and alot of British influences have come from America and because we've heard it so much, it's like psychology if you hear alot of one thing, that'w what you get into, so American music is big in the U.K.

DA-PROFESSOR: In addition to singing and acting, do you plan on doing any acting?
ENRICO: Yes. I do plan to do some acting. As I said. when I first came to New York before I was doing a musical. It's something I want to look into once my music takes off.

DA-PROFESSOR: If you have the chance to work with any artist, British and American, who would it be?
ENRICO: Chris Brown. I'm really a big fan of Chris Brown. Like I said Tao Cruz. I'm a really big fan of his. Bruno Mars. Artist too many. I work with every and anybody! I'll be like a musical whore (laughs).

DA-PROFESSOR: How do you think you're making an impact ong the music scene?
ENRICO: The U.K. It's really taking places in the U.K. I'm a perfectionist and I'm aiming for higher heights, so I wass ba be massaive. I wanna be a universal brand. It's opening up in the U.K., but we've got alot more grinding to do.

DA-PROFESSOR: Where do you see yourself in the next 5-10 years?
ENRICO: Whew!! Winning Brit Awards in the U.K. Winning Grammy Awards here. Performing everywhere. I wanna be universal. To see that in the next few years.

DA-PROFESOR: What advice what you tell a young kid who wants to pursue a career in music?
ENRICO: Go for it. Go for it whole heartly. Go for it with everything and take up everythign. Take up songwriting. Practice on the vocals. Pratice on the performance. Even though you're an artist, it's always good be an entertainer. Engage your audiences.

To check out Enrico Delves' music and videos Check out the following sites

http://www.facebook.com/enricodelves
http://www.twitter.com/enricodelves
http://www.youtube.com/eme10d1c
http://www.myspace.com/iamenrico

ESCULITA'S NEED TO GIVE STAFF TRAINING IN CLASS, PROFESSIONALISM AND RESPECT.

2011-07-05T16:36:00.003-05:00

From 2002, I have attended Esculita's several times, and I've always had a great time listening to the various genres of music, as well as watching performances by Harmonica Sunbeam, and the various exotic dancers, who have made my feel good and shown me respect. Esculita's have had a great rep, but it's also gotten several bad reps from party goers, and unfortantely, I'm one of them, who received a bad taste of the staff's lack of professionalism, so I'm about to go into my Millie Jackson mode, and express how I felt about the staff's shadiness.
On Saturday, July 25, me and my Gay son had arrived at Escos (the nickname for the club) at 11:12 PM, and waited on line along with other party goers, who had arrived early to get in for free. After waiting on line for 28 minutes, security outside the club checked our ID's, and said we could go downstairs, and when we got downstaris, the guy sitting at the cashier had checked my ID and text, said I was cool, and gave me a wrist band. Great for me, but not for my son. The cashier had told my son that he couldn't get in the club, because his ID and text was not legit and that he would have to pay an admission fee of $ 20.00. He explained to the guy that his ID was legit, but the shady guy didn't believe him and insisted that he pay $20.00. Outraged, he stormed out the club, upset and with good reason. He had a legit ID and text that had the address and invite that said free b-4 12. I called my best friend Author/Blogger Donald Peebles, who gave me Esco's number to contact the manager to get the issue resolved. I called and left a message. My son suggested that we go back and speak to the secutity outside about the situation. I spoke to one Afro-Latin guard about the situation. He then called an Black African American guard over for us to explain, and he asked my son did he had another form of ID on him. My son explained to him that he had gotten his new ID in him homestate, and that it expires the following year. After looking at his ID and seeing it was legit, he and the Latin guard wanted to know was the guy who gave my son false information large or slim. I told him slim, and they both said Fernado in unison, which meant that other party goers have had issues with his lack of professional attitude. The Black American guard told us to let the cashier know that we could enter the club and if he had any problems or questions was to send for him. We returned downstaris and that's when the drama began. The guy was trying to rush me into paying quickly by asking for ID and after showing him he told me I had to pay the admission fee. I had to ask him let me finish to speak to him because he was cutting me off and cross talking me. I explained how my son was mistreated earlier, and that security said we could go in. The kid checked the ID and after seeing it was legit, he insisted my son pay. Me and my son were like we shouldn't have to pay. The kid was saying it's a few pass 12 and that he had to pay. I explained to him that he shouldn't have to pay due to their error, and he kept on saying we don't have no more wrist bands and that it was after 12. I told him that despite that, my son shouldn't have to pay being that he came with me the time that my ID was checked and being that I got a wrist band and they made a mistake. We went back and forth, and then the kid went into shady diva mode by doing the neck twirl and raised his voice a few octaves high. I felt threatned because he looked like he was going to attack us, and it's rare that I go off, but after that, I went into Millie Jackson mode and said 'you know what Bitch, I got ties with media! Not only am I gonna write you up, I'm gonna put you on blast!!. He had a attitude like whatever. Me and my son left the club pissed and upset at the mistreatment, and I felt bad because he was in town to celebrate his birthday, and for that shady bitch to act the way he did was more that upsetting. I called Donald, my son's Godfather and he was even more outraged; he actually expressed how he felt on Facebook, and gave us comfort and support. The next day at pride, we were watching the parade, and a guy was passing out flyers from Escos, and when Donald spoke to the guy about the way we were mistreated, the guy revealed that he knew what happened and that he took my son's ID and that his name was Tee-Tee. Both Donald and I try to explain to him about the situation and instead of apologizing, and listening, he constatnly cutted us off saying that it was past midnight, and that we could come to Escos as his guest that night Things got hotter when Donald told him about how he tried to attack me. The guy got silent and stiff, and when I reminded him of how I felt threatned, he quickly walked away.
How do I feel about the mistreatment of the staff? It don't see what the fuck the problem was in the first place! If the first security guard saw that my son's ID was valid and legit, then why did the cashier down stairs couldn't see it was legit? And why after being told that it was legit and it was OK for us to enter, why didn't the shady bitch listen to the situation and tried to resolve the issue by allowing my son free admission to the club. Especially since they were the ones who were at fault in the first place? Why did the kid feel the need to try to cross talk me? To brag to his friends? Was he having a bad day/Night? Was he upset that he had to work instead of shaking his ass at the club?
Well my thing is that had the staff in the basement were being professional and mature, I wouldn't be writing this blog and putting people of blog, but as Millie Jackson said in her 1981 hit "I Had To Say It!"
The purpose of owning a club is to make money and to make customers happy to the point of them spreading the word and coming back bring you more revenue. We could have been investors who were looking for clubs to invest in. The staff didn't think about that. All they thought about was getting money by being shady and unprofessional, which makes me wonder do they do this to avoid letting people get in for free before the midnight? Was that kid being selective? Well all I got to say is that regardless of what job you have, everybody deserves to be treated with respect, the way that you would want somebody to treat you and your family and friends and I would like for the owner and manger of Escos to give their staff some training in hospitality, listening and anger management, because word of mouth can help boost and end your career, and what I've heard recently heard about the way the club is, many people will avoid going, so my advice is for you to use some of that money and give the staff,(especially Tee-Tee-if that's his real name) some lessons on how to listen, and know when to leave the (so-called) Diva attitude outside the club because one day he may come across the one patron, who may hurt more than his feelings, and that would be a good look for the club, the staff and the Gay community, who despite recently having Gay Marriage legal in New York, is still fighting for equality, respect and justice. How can we get respect from the mainstream people, when there are many Gays still throwing shade at each other? Most of the times for unnecessary reasons?

DA-PROFESSOR SPEAKS WITH CHICAGO GAY RAPPER/SINGER

2011-06-21T17:13:00.002-05:00

Shortly before the Chirstmas holiday in 2008, I was surfing You Tube for the Brandy/Monica video "The Boy Is Mine" and during my search, I found a link to a video titled "The Boy Is Gay." Curious, I decided to check it out, and while I was watching the video, I was shocked and impressed to see somebody doing a Gay version of the Grammy-Award winning classic. Well the artist who decided to give the song a Gay Twist was Gay Rapper/Singer/Songwriter/Producer/Entreprenuer JR, who's been making music for the past decade. Born and raised in Chicago, JR, had began performing in his teenage years, landing a deal with Jive Records, but like many who were signed to the label, he never got to opportunity to record due to the label putting it's focus on R. Kelly. Frusrated, JR decided to strike out on his own, and he hasn't looked back. He's been making music and connecting with the Gay community. I had the opportunity to speak with the performer via telephone about his career, friendship with porn star Mr. Sauki.

DA-PROFESSOR: How are things going?
JR: Things are going great. I have a new CD out. My new video and single is out. I'm happy.

DA-PROFESSOR: How many CD's have you released?
JR: This is CD # 9.

DA-PROFESSOR: How did you get involved in music?
JR: As a child, I grew up listening to Janet Jackson, Paula Abdul, Michael Jackson. All of the greats and I wanted to be a singer, so I just did what I had to do to get there.

DA-PROFESSOR: What other singers influenced you?
JR: The # 1 singer would be Janet Jackson. I love Johnny Gill's voice. He's a great singer to me. TLC was my favorite group at the time.

DA-PROFESSOR: What do you admire about those performers?
JR: Janet Jackson. I admire her ability to put on a show. Her singing, her dancing, he businessmind, when it comes to how she works her contracts. Johnny Gill for him is more about his vocal ability. I don't have that, but I wish I did (laughs). TLC I love their personalities and their work ethics. Paula Abdul, she was an excellent cherographer. She still is very creative and that's what I love about her.

DA-PROFESSOR: How long have you been performing professionally?
JR: Professionally, I started at 19. I still have very old footage of me doing shows when I was 19.

DA-PROFESSOR: What made you decide to pursue a career as an openly Gay Performer?
JR: I was making music and a friend of mine said wouldn't it be funny if a guy was singing the song you're writing to another guy. And I said it would be funny.
The first CD was a joke. I was speaking my mind, but I was really serious about pursuing a career in it, but I got such an major response to it. Everybody love the idea of a guy singing to another guy, so it turned into a mission to give gay people a voice. When listening to the radio today, they're into singing songs that we can relate to. They don't know about being homeless because you told your mother you're gay.

DA-PROFESSOR: The first song I heard from you is "The Boy Is Gay" a remake of the Brandy/Monica duet "The Boy Is Mine." What prompted you to redo that song?
JR: (Laughs) One of the stories that needed to be told and again, it was meant to be fun. There was a time when i wasn't trying to be famous. I switched it around to the woman saying my man's not gay and I'm like sorry to tell you he is. Did you like the song?

DA-PROFESSOR: Yes. That was the first time I learned about your existance (both laugh). I remember speaking to you two years ago and you told me you started out as a child performer. Am I correct?
JR: Yes I was. Talent shows. Church. And when I was 15, I was signed to Jive Records. Nothing came out of it because at the time I was about to do my work, R. Kelly had released his "12 Play" CD so that was it. Everyone focused on that, and that taught me not to wait around for anyone, so that's when I started trying to get stuff on my own.

DA-PROFESSOR: Did you have problems getting out your contract with Jive?
JR: I never got the chance to record anything. I never even went to the studio, and it wasn't just me. There were about 6 or 7 of us who were waiting to get signed, but we were waiting indefintely. Then they also released Aaliyah, and she was with Jive at the time, so that's where the money and budget went.

DA-PROFESSOR: I like your song "Addicted To Boyz" and "In Love With a Porn Star"
JR: Competition, actually. There were individuals who were going towards me prior to releasing those songs. It was a competition thing. I had no idea it would take off the way it did because I made a video, and it wasn't one of my favorite songs to be honest, but I made simple, because people would love it. It's a easy hookd and there you go.

DA-PROFESSOR: I watch your videos and I notice that you features guys who are masculine, feminine, and in between. What prompted you to features all types of Gay models in your videos?
JR: Because there's more than one group of Gay individuals, period. I so that because mainstream, straight America have always put in media one type of Gay person and I don't that's a great representation of the Gay community. There's masculine, thugs, ultra feminine. Trangsgender, and that's why I do that.

DA-PROFESSOR: You also did a video with Mr. Sauki, who is one of my favorite porn stars. What was it like meeting him for the first time?
JR: For the first time I met him, he was nice and sweet, and I was very happy because he told me he masturbated to my music videos and that was all I needed to hear (I laugh). I was chubbier back then.

DA-PROFESSOR: What do you admire about his work?
JR: We're friends now. He's been like it's very professional. There are other people who are in it for the sex, and just to have sex, and they're passionate about the sex. He was like this is work for him. He's very pretty to me.

DA-PROFESSOR: Another song I like is Hatrix. What made you decide to perform to Janet's "Feedback?"
JR: "Hatrix" Oh wow. The word "Hatrix." The word hate mixed with the Matrix. I feel like I'm on fire all the time, even though it was a long time ago. I still feel like I'm caught up. And I guess that's good thing. It's OK to talk about me, but hatin' and conspirin' agaisnt me is another thing.

DA-PROFESSOR:I see that your shows features you dancing with dancers. What made you decide to dance instead of walk back and forth?
JR: Janet Jackson (laughs). I admire her concerts and I saw her live, and with this CD/DVD, all the videos will have dancing. I have a crew of dancers adn we're rehearsing. I'm hoping that next year we can do a tour, and at the end of the it, make a DVD of the tour and sell it. I didn't dance as much then than I'm dancing now.

DA-PROFESSOR: I also admire that you're also extremely smart and business-minded. How important is it to be business-minded?
JR: Extremely (laughs). I gotta say when I was at the Out Music Awards in 2009, I met Tori Fixx, and talking to him helped me a bit. Meaning he was telling me you have so many CDS you should have your music on I-Tunes. It would be a great thing to have your music on I-Tunes basically because I was selling my CDs on my website strictly from me, but now I understand to have my music on I-Tunes other than that contacts and business needs to be taken care of. Business and entertainment is what I'm all about.

DA-PROFESSOR: Which cities have you performed in?
JR: Atlanta, New York, Dallas, Florida, Ohio, Indinapolis, Portland, Oregon, Those are big cities. Last year, I was supposed to go to Brazil, but I couldn't go because for 1, I didn't have my passport, and # 2, there was some crazy things they wanted me to do.

DA-PROFESSOR: Last year, there were many Gay Teens and Adults who were being bullied and committing suicide. How did that affect you as a person?
JR: That's why I made a song and video about this. It affected me deeply, because I personally know a few people who were Gay bashed in Chicago. I don't wanna say it gets better, but people needs to be involved and try to look out for each other.

DA-PROFESSOR: There are many Gays who wanna see LGBT Rappers and singers perform at their Prides, yet many pride organizers don't wanna recruit them. Tell me from your prespective why?
JR: If they don't wanna book you, then they don't wanna book you. I'm not sure why they don't wanna book you. It's Gay pride and you have Gay performers; that doesn't make too much sense. If they don't wanna book you, there's not much you can do about that. I don't know if it's a bad repuatation that make people not wanna book you.

DA-PROFESSOR: You have several artists you're working with. Who are they?
JR: Melanie. A singer. I'm working with a young man, who's sings on my second single. His name is Tristan. There's Kyle Daquan. Domonique. Those are my artists and they're not all Gay.

DA-PROFESSOR: What other business ventures you're working on?
JR: There is a sitcome that I'm currently creating, tentatively called "Boys Town" and hopefully be recording by the end of September.
There's my second season for my dating show "R U The Boy?" I'm filming that now and that would be released in September. Then there's the Talk-show I'm looking to start towards the middle of the summer. I have a porn company that I'm putting on hold. People keep asking me to make a movie. I'm not in the movies. Recording the album. I produced a couple of tracks for Cat-Eyez.

DA-PROFESSOR: Do you plan on having a clothing and fragrance line?
JR: Actually I tried to do the fragrance line a few years ago. I took a haul back because it took alot of money to do. I didn't know about how getting it into the store, so I'm trying to stragetically do this. I did make one bottle for myself.

DA-PROFESSOR: You lived in Chicago all your life?
JR: Yes. I also lived in Atlanta for a year and a half.

DA-PROFESSOR: What was it like living in the ATL?
JR: Difficult. Very difficult. I'm a brown-skinned boy and most of the boys who are worshipped are light-skinned boys with pretty skinn and they weren't checking for me. You had a few people who were digging me, but most people are very pretty and light-skinned and I'm not a pretty light-skinned boy who's skinny.

DA-PROFESSOR: JR Me and my best friend Donald Peebles an author and blogger speaks about this issue alot. Me personally, I'm not a color-stuck person. I like both Dark and light-skinned men, but it seems like many wanna get with a light-skinned person, though they may or may not be a good person, and when light-skinned guys wanna get with dark-skinned men, many of their associates get mad. How does it feel to know that people are still color-struck?
JR: You know it's so weird. My friends who are light-skinned were on my dating show, but what I'm trying to explaint it to them they act like they don't know what the hell I'm talking about. And I hate to put this in this context, you know how there's White privilage? They don't really know they have the privilage to everything because of their skin color. Look at Beyonce. She's talented, but come on. If she was dark-skinned, it would be the bigger issue that now. So that's what I really feel. They don't realize they have privilage and they actually saying they're realizing it now since I bring it to their attention.

DA-PROFESSOR: You're from a city that has major history and where talented artists like Chaka Khan, Jody Watley and Da-Brat's from. How does it feel to come from that city and how do you plan to keep their legacy alive?

JR: Well, being an Out performer, very difficult. The new single is getting attention from mainstream America. My goal is to get people to unnderstand that Gay people are just as talented obviously because not everyone in the straight world is necessary straight. And if I kicke the door down, i can give Chicago the attention it has. Alot of people don't know their history very well cause they say I'm the first Gay rapper there is and I'm not; there was a few people before me but I would say rapper/singer alot of people don't think that Chicago people are talented.

DA-PROFESSOR: If you have the opportunity to work with any mainstream artist, who would it be?
JR: (Laughs) There's only one; Janet Jackson. I really don't need to do a song with her. I just wanna get on one of her the stages and do the dances with her. That would be enough for me (giggles). That's all I need to do.

DA-PROFESSOR: You know Janet and Michael teamed up to film the classic "Scream" video. What did you like about the video?
JR: The dancing!! I love the break down scene when they did the dancing together. That was so epic together. I really wished that they would have danced more in that video. I really do. Michael was known to be the dancer and for the females that would be Janet. I loved the weird music. I really want to make a song like that with an open Gay artist in regards to Gay bashing.

DA-PROFESSOR: Where do you see yourself in the next 5-10 years?
JR: In 5 years, I would hope to have cracked the mainstream a little more. I got a message from Trey Songz a few weeks ago saying he liked my music video and my song. I hope to reach people like that and they give me a chance to be in that creative community to share my music with the world. 10 years, I should be sitting on my ass behind the scenes, running stuff beign a puppet master.

DA-PROFESSOR: How do you think you're making an Impact on the Gay Music Scene and Gay community?
JR: The impact is very strong. It's so shocking. I have to question 'Are you talking about me? because unfortantely when "Addicted To Boyz" came out, You Tube shut my page down due to the sexual nature in the song and everytine I put up a page, they would take it down, so I lost alot of people. I'm searching people and they're searching for me. I get messages from people in Africa. Japan. Austrialia. It doesn't reflect on my twitter page. It reflects on my I-Tunes page. When I see who brought what. There are a couple of young guys from Chicago who told me I told them something, they got their act together and now he's pursing a career as a professional artist. One guy told me he was scared to come out and after seeing one of my videos and it influenced him to tell his father who he was and what he wanted to do.

MY FUN AND BOLD CHAT WITH HOUSTON-BASED GAY RAP DUO THE QURE

2011-06-15T08:20:00.006-05:00

When I first heard The Qure's single "Baby Mama," my mouth didn't hit the floor. It went through the ground. I couldn't believe how bold, raw and talented this Houston Texas based duo were. Well it's suits them well because many fans can't get enough JAPAN & APOLLO who's debut mix tape received thousands of downloads upon it's release, having fans want more. The duo met through a mutal friend and after getting their hang ups about each other, they clicked and became tight friends and music partners, who's personalities (JAPAN is the wild one, while Apollo is the mellow member) work well and it shows on their music.I had the opportunity to interview the talented duo via telephone and this was one interview that kept me on my toes.

DA-PROFESSOR: How did you two meet?

JAPAN: I'm from California.
APOLLO: I'm from Tennessee. Two different spectums of the world.
JAPAN: We were introduced by a mutual friend and we didn't like each other at first.
APOLLO: I didn't like him. (All three of us laughs).
JAPAN: We're just keeping it real. Now he's my brother from another mother. I wish a nigga would!

DA-PROFESSOR: So Apollo you're from Cali?
JAPAN: I'm originally from Cali. I'm a Cali boy.

DA-PROFESSOR: What part?

JAPAN: Sacremento born and Oakland raised. I flew back and forth between Cali and Texas and ended up going to the University of Austin for journalism and moved on from them.
APOLLO: I'm from Nasville, Tennessee. Home of country music. That don't make me country.
JAPAN: Yeah he country. (both laugh).
APOLLO: I came here for work and ended up meeting Japan and here we are.

DA-PROFESSOR: What prompted you to perform a career as an Gay Hip-Hop group?
JAPAN: It was accidential. Both of us love music and we're really, really competive. Not with each other, but anything we see another person do, we can do. If they're steam rolling, we can do it.

DA-PROFESSOR: Who are your musical influences?

APOLLO: Mine are more singer based than rap based. Old School.
JAPAN: He's the Black dude. I'm the White dude. We call it melodic and infusion. Olaot of our songs, "Revenge," "Turn Off Da Fans," and stuff like that we build on inspiration. James Brown, Donna Summer's "Hot Stuff." Those things. Dionne Warwick for "Walk." If you hear something Black, it's Apollo. If you hear a White voice, it's JAPAN.
APOLLO: Don't push it (All three of us laughs).

DA-PROFESSOR: I LOVE THE Mix-Tape. What was the concept and inspiration for the title "Gay 4 Pay?"

JAPAN: Honestly, we put the album together accidently. We were listening to tracks and we put songs to them and we started playing them in clubs here in Houston. Then in the end, we were like "Gay 4 Pay." If you wanna do anything with me you gotta pay me (All of us laugh out loud). That's real talk.
APOLLO: It kinda started out as a joke. Then we were listening to tracks, then we were like I can write to this. It started out as a joke, then we started taking it quite serious.

DA-PROFESSOR: One of my favorite joints is "Baby Mama." What was the inspiration for the song and what inspired you to rap over Lil' Kim's hit "Whoa?"

JAPAN:I'm glad you like that. I cringes sometimes when I hear that song. Believe it or not, more females love that song, more than anything. Females love that song. We thought we were gonna be pissed, but they loves that song more than anything on the album. I guess it's because 9 times out of 10, they're fucking with a dude with a baby mama.

APOLLO: Everybody's boyfriend got a baby mama.

DA-PROFESSOR: Another favorite is "Milk & Cookies." What prompted you to write about your favorite entertainers and how would you think they would react if they were to hear the song?

JAPAN: We love them all!! That was a ode. That's like an ode. That's like paying homage.
APOLLO: The sexy above the sexy.
JAPAN: If you wasn't on that list, you ain't shit. If they hear it, they should be proud of that shit (all three of us laugh).

DA-PROFESSOR: Revenge is antoher favorite. I love how you incorporated The Human Leauge's "Don't You Want Me" and Oran Juice Jones' "The Rain." He's from Texas too.

JAPAN: I didn't know that. That goes to show you Apollo again. I'm the Human League. Apollo you're so Black dude.
APOLLO: Get on my nerve. (I laugh).
JAPAN: It's one of our favorite songs.

DA-PROFESSOR: Alot of people can relate to the song because it deals with I can't believe that Bitch Motherfucker did this to me and I held you down and you're gonna cheat on me with some tired bitch! (All 3 of us laughs).

JAPAN:We love that song. Everybody can relate to that. Everybody can relate to that whether it's Apollo's verse or my verse, and in all honesty, that song is a piece of art to me. The way that we fused "I will follow him.'I think that shit is gangsta.

DA-PROFESSOR: I like the lines I called your mom's crib and told her you know your son is gay/Takes dick in the ass in the bed where you lay.

APOLLO: I was speaking from real experience. I was quite mad during that relationship.
JAPAN: Apollo's mean.
APOLLO: But I'm really the nice one. I'm America's sweetheart. I'm not a vengal person.

DA-PROFESSOR: You also did a sexual song called "Turn On Da Fans."

APOLLO: I'm pretty mild compared to Japan. He is pretty explicit.
JAPAN: Well the truth is when we wrote that it was a heat wave here, and there was a thunder storm that knocked out all the lights and in the apartment we were in at the teime was very fucking hot and it was nearly 100 degress. We wrote that song that night.

DA-PROFESSOR: JAPAN, you're from California. Oakland has produced many talented artists including MC Hammer, Oaktown's 357, En Vogue and Toni, Tony, Tone. How does it feel to be raised in a city where the Black Panther movement and those talented artist came from?

JAPAN: I gotta show up and show out every single time. En Vogue. Too Short. E-40. Ice-T. Ice Cube & N.W.A. D.J. Quick. Those guys influenced me. Being from the West Coast, they are great influences. If you ever get the opportunity to see us live, you'll see exactly what we bring every (single) time.

DA-PROFESSOR: Apollo You're from Tennessee. In additional to Country music, Tennessee is also known for producing several Blues and Soul artists such as Issac Hayes and Stax Records. How does it feel to come from the state that produces great soul musicians?

APOLLO: That's what I'm about. I love soul. I love harmonics. I love melodies. I'm a rapper and a singer, but I love to sing and I love to rap as well. We're entertainers.

DA-PROFESSOR: You're very active in the HIV Community. How important is it for you to be active in the community?

JAPAN: We want to bring more attention to that and do it in a positive way and not be demonized. That's extremely important the activism. That's the most important thing. At some point we want to bring together some kind of foundation where we can bring boys that's been newly diagonsed in our spot to give them HIV 101 and teach them it ain't over. Alot of those boys can't pick up the pieces. And that's what we wanna do for them. We also understand we gotta get their attention and get their attention through music.

DA-PROFESSOR: The South is known for people being friendly, but it's also know for people throwing the bible belt at gays. Have you ever had to fight homophobia?

APOLLO:I've never encountered it. Being in the south that's weird to hear it. But me personally I've never encountered. JAPAN have you?
JAPAN:I haven't neither.The truth is I'm like an Lantern. I've never been gay bashed and I've never been called a nigger. I've been in Texas half my life on and off. I've never experienced anything like that. Not even online.

DA-PROFESSOR: You're coming out with a new album am I correct?
JAPAN: It's called "The Virus" We are super, super, super, super stoked about this album, because it's our first original. There are ten songs on the album (and) everything is us.
APOLLO: The Virus is more mature. The songs everything can realte to. It's very emotion driven.
JAPAN: It's alot darker and not darker in a bad way, but "Gay 4 Pay" was inspired by people, places and things. "The Virus" is inspired by emotions, situations and feelings and relationships. Not even relationships with men and women, but relationships with God. Relationships with your best friend. Actually the lead single from the album is "Made To Ride."

DA-PROFESSOR: So Apollo you're the laid back one and JAPAN is the wild one.
APOLLO: He's a shit starter.
JAPAN: Apollo's the good cop and I'm the bad cop. Apollo's absoultely the ice and I'm
absoultely the fire. We feed off each other. Apollo's my favorite rapper. I'm inspired by him single everyday. That's real talk. I feel like I'm blessed to be in a group.

DA-PROFESSOR: Where have you performed at and do you have plans to do any touring?

JAPAN: We've performed all throughout the south. We got the change to play with Last Offence and Twizza' We got the chance to rap with them. After we drop "The Virus," we're putting out a remix album with ten songs and we're picking the hottest Gay Rappers. Regardless of whether they came before us or whether they came after us. I have a collabolation with Sonny Lewis. Sonny Lewis is a good guy. Apollo has a collabulation with Tim' M West.
We love Tim' M West.
APOLLO: Nobody better not say anything bad about Miss Jenkins.
JAPAN: Nobody better not say anything about Tim. I love Tim Dirty Dawg. That is my big brother. Tim has shown us n a very short period of time, how to make it happen. When Tim speaks. I'm hard-headed. When Tim speaks, I listen. Because of Tim, we did a show with him and at that show, there were producers from the Austin Music network there, and they called us a few weeks later and ask us to do a TV show. It's a 16 piece episode with musics all over Houston.

DA-PROFESSOR: What prompted you to do a remix album and reach out to the hottest Gay Rappers?

APOLLO: I think that everybody thinks we're stuck up.
JAPAN: While part of it may be true, we wanted to reach out to our brothers. Everybody's putting out really good music, you know what I mean. We're very impressed. I really wasn't really impressed at first.

APOLLO: I made him listen to the music
JAPAN: He had to literally strap me down and make me listen to shit. Not so much now.
We wanted to reach out and show love. We're all in a race to see who's gonna be the first to get signed to a major label. May the best man win. That's real talk. In the meantime, we wanna have some fun.

DA-PROFESSOR: I like for yo to give me a real answer on this one. It seems that most Pride Organizers will hire Drag Queens, but not reach out to and hire Gay and Lesbian artists. How does it make you feel?

JAPAN: In my opinion, I think that in order to embrace things like this, you have to be visionors. If a person denies us, depress us. I kinda blame it on them. It's like the first female rapper and the White rapper. There's obviously gonna be a Gay Rapper. If you don't see that and if you can't feel us and you don't wanna deal with us, like my partner used to say a bitch don't like me, they don't like themselves.
That's real talk. You have to be a trendsetter.
APOLLO: In the south, they're quick to put on a drag queen or transgender. I'm not putting down drag queens or transexuals, but they're quick to put them on insread of live entertainment. They rather see lip-synching.
JAPAN: I'm a steamroller. and I really don't accept no for an answer and wherever we go, we get in. Houston has showed us an incredible amount of love. We're the dukes of Houston. We're gonna start filming our reality show "The Dukes of Houston."

DA-PROFESSOR: If you have the opportunity to work with any mainstream artists, who would it be?

JAPAN: I wanna piece of Rhianna. I wanna piece of Rhianna. I like Rock & Roll. I like the White Boys.
APOLLO: I like more singing type dudes. I like Ryan Leslie. Big shout out to Ryan Leslie. He's a Harvard graduate.
JAPAN: To be honesty, most of the people I wanna work with are dead. I'm inspired by Old School. Bob Marley, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones.

DA-PROFESSOR: What else do you have planned besides the album and reality show?
We're thinking we're doing one more mix-tape, and shortly after that I'm gonna do a solo project "Made In JAPAN" and Apollo's gonna do a solo project "Showtime At The Apollo." We're busy boys. We both have strong work ethics. We are both furiously competitive.

DA-PROFESSOR: How did you come up with your stage names and what do they mean?
APOLLO: Apollo's Greek. Apollo the God, little G of music. The sun. He keeps it happy. He keeps it going. He's musically incline.
JAPAN: I'll keep that real. Fuck that. Apollo call himself Apollo cuz he think he fine. That's why. He think he fine. He think he got the body of a Greek God. (We all laugh).
APOLLO: Mind your business (Laughs).
JAPAN: Then JAPAN is an acromyn for Just A Pretty Ass Nigga.It's a big name, but it is what it is. I make no apologies for that. That's the name of the mix-tape "Glamour By Glamour." That's like a movement because there's too many youngsters are afraid of being themselves. Fuck youngsters, there's grown niggas who are afraid to be themselves. That's what we're talking about. That's a lifestyle. We wanna empower and embrace those who are afraid and empower themselves.

DA-PROFESSOR: How do you think that CD is gonna inspire listeners to be themselves?
JAPAN: Even before the CD, I think that everything we put out there. The pictures and everything. We are not afraid to be who we are You know what I mean.
We lead by example. To much is given, much is required. God has given us everything we asked for. Literatually. Winners think about winning all the time. We wanna win.

DA-PROFESSOR: How do you think you're making a impact on the Gay Community and Homo-Hop scene?

JAPAN: I hope we can inspire. Apollo and I challenge one another other. And we inspire one another. There's always gonna be competition, but we love each other. When one of us gets signed that's a beautiful thing. When one of us gets signed, you're turning the light on and when you turn the light on, there's a whole bunch of us in the room.
APOLLO: When one label gets one, the next label is gonna want another. It's gonna be a domino effect.

DA-PROFESSOR: What advice would you to a kat who wants to pursue a career as an openly Gay Rapper?

JAPAN: Bring it! There are two words; bring it! The world is listening to us. There were some kats who got to do somethings with Kay Slay and that's a good luck. If we come to the game talking dumb shit. Talking about sucking dick and getting fucked all the time, that's what the world's gonna see us. I think the world knows we are extremely talented and the truth is we been behind the scenes doing hair and everything. We're trailblazers. We're pioneers. We're trendsetters and I mean that.

BLACK MUSIC MONTH CLASSIC FLASHBACK REVIEW: SONGBIRD NIECY'S SOULFUL UPLIFTING DEBUT

2011-06-14T11:28:00.004-05:00

DENIECE WILLIAMS
FREE
1976 COLUMBIA RECORDS
WRITTEN BY DENIECE WILLIAMS, HANK REED, NATHAN WATTS, SUSAYE GREENE
PRODUCED BY MAURICE WHITE AND CHARLES STEPHANY
# 2 R&B/# 25 POP/# 1 UK

Being a member of Stevie Wonder's backing group Wonder Love was beneficial for Soul singer/songwriter Deniece Williams. Not only did she have the opportunity to tour the world with a Motown legend, she was able to develop her vocal and songwriting skills. The result: "Free" her debut single that became an international classic and favorite among music lovers, who still plays this classic at parties, weddings, and while dancing, cuddling and making hot passionate love with their partners. Co-written with Nathan Watts, Hank Reed and former Supreme and fellow Wonderlove member Susaye Greene and Earth, Wind & Fire members Maurice White & the late Charles Stephany, this classic mid-tempo ballad is a well written and well arranged song that touches the heart, mind and soul with music and lyrics that inspires people to be free to be themselves without restraints.
The classic opens with the keyboard performance followed by the drums, bass and cymbals. Afterwards, Niecy sings the opening line

'Whispering in his ear/My magic potion for love
Telling him I'm sincere/and that there's nothing too good for us
But I got to be free, free, free.

The song then goes into a smooth and funky, mid-tempo groove, courtesy of the bass, drums, horn section as well as the keyboard solo and ad-libs by Niecey towards the end of the song, which gave listeners a sample of what she had instored for her fans.

Deniece Williams' debut single still sounds as great as it did when first released during the Disco era, and after 35 years, fans still play that song when they want to be free.

FACTS ABOUT FREE

FREE has been remade and sampled by several R&B and Hip-Hop Artists.

Jazz/R&B singer scored a minor hit with his version of "Free" on his debut album.

Rapper Mic Geronimo sampled "Free" for his 1994 hit "Shit's Real"

R&B Singer Debelah Morgan scored a minor hit with her cover of "Free" in 1994.

R&B Singer Chante Moore remade "Free" on her 1994 "A Love Supreme" and while it never was released as a single, Chante performs this during her live concerts. She also incorporated The Commodores' 1980 R&B/Country hit "Sail On" at the end of the song giving it a Gospel feel, which is why her version is titled "Free/Sail On." In addition to singing lead, she sang background vocals with Phillip Bailey, lead vocalist for Earth, Wind & Fire, who worked with Deniece in the past and is one of her good friends.

Rap Trio Lords of The Underground sampled "Free" for their 1995 hit "Faith." Deniece appears on the song and the video singing a re-written hook 'Let the faith set you free.'

Rapper Lil' Kim sampled "Free" for her single "Can't Fuck With Queen Bee" with singers Govenor, Shalenna Thomas and Full Force.

SINGER'S VIDEO RELEASE PARTY HAD A CLASSIC DANCE FEEL

2011-05-25T19:46:00.003-05:00

Singer/songwriter/dancer Farrad hosted a party to premiere the video for his new single "The Way You Do" last night at La Pomme NYC, and I have to say that this performer knows how to throw a party. Dance music came out the speakers, while waitresses served us mini-burgers dressed as waitresses (I had 4 of them and don't try to throw shade at me for doing so either. I know many of ya'll who would be doing the same thing). After greeting and posing for photo opts, Farrad appeared on a stage and thanked the crew for putting his video together and after counting down, the video came onto the screen and it was a hot and cute piece which featured him in dressed as a chef in a diner and riding on a boat and car, giving it a Archies and Josie & The Pussycat feel. After the premiere the performer took to the stage to perform his single with his male dancers donned dressed as waiters performing various forms of dancings from the different eras, while his female dancers were dancing with blouses and mini-skirts on another portable stage gaining attention from the crowd. One great moment was when Farrad took off his shirt and threw it into the audience.
Farrad is a talented performer who knows how to throw a party and knows how to be the life of the party (he got loose when the DJ played a House version of Bell-Biv-DeVoe's classic "Poison.") and from the loved he received from the crowd, he should throw more parties more often.

LGBT MUSIC FAMILY TURNED OUT FOR AWARDS SHOWS

2011-05-25T18:29:00.003-05:00

For the past twenty years, the Out Music Awards have honored many talented Openly Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender artists, for their music and living in their truths, and Monday's night award ceremony was a great event to attend, seeing those being honored for their talent. When I heard about this event I was determined to go, and I'm sure glad that I did because it felt like being a family reunion and I have to add that everybody was looking fierce! When I arrived I saw LA Based rapper Foxx Jazell looking like a Supreme with her hot Pink dress being interviewed, and after greeting each other she asked was I doing press. I wasn't; this was my first time attending and my goal was to enjoy the ceremony and do some networking, but that changed towards the middle of the ceremony where I started to post bits of the event on facebook and while I didn't have my notebook and pen, I'm gonna do the best I can to write about what I remember and liked.
Rock singer/songwriter Melissa Etheridge was honored with a award and she send a video message taped from her home where she expressed and gratitude of being honored by the organization, as well as stating how she wished she was able to attend, but was unable due to business she had to tend to on the West Coast. Jazz Legend Paula Hampton was also honored for her career in Jazz and she expressed how she felt about being honored. "It's about time" she said while she accepted her award followed by hostess comediene Tammy Peay, adding that at 73 years old she can say anything she wants to and that she was glad that she wasn't honored when she was dead. Speaking of the famous comediene, she kept the crowd in stiches with her outspoken sense of humor, and when I tell you she didn't hold her tongue, she didn't. In fact, she constatly reprimended the audience for not applauding loudly when she introduced the acts who was about to perform. She also spoke about how she has gatherings where the only genre of music that is being played is those by Out artists and when guest asks her to play artist like Nicki Manaj, she tells them of Nicki's being gay when it's convient for her. Another highlight was when Deepa Soul the head of the Out Music awards came onstage, and performed a tribute to the Freedome Fighters with a group of LGBT youth she mentors at an organization, and when I mean they performed, they rocked, singing background, playing instruments and dancing earning a standing ovation. A great and crazy moment was when DJ Baker host of the award-winning Doo-Dirty Show presented the Best R&B Single to Nhojj with Lovani, but another highlight was the tribute to Sylvester where singer singer BSlade performed the late Icon's classic award winning classic "You Make Me Feel Mighty Real" and when I say he turned it, he turned it out! From dancing to jumping into the middle of the audience. Nobody was out their seats. Other great moments was seeing Rock/Pop singer Lori Michaels perform as well as the Hip-Hop seagment where rappers Foxx Jazell, Shorty Roc, Last Offence and Milan performed their award-nominated hit "Ride or Die Boy" with Infinite performing her joint and Baron closed the set performing the remix of his hit "Party With B."
The show also honored Former Villiage People member Randy Jones for his career and he accepted his award with a cocktail and spoke about the honor and how he was greatful for being able to be 59 years old and still doing his thing as well as sharing how far the Gay community came from the past with it's activism.

I had a great time attending the event and it showed me that being a Black Gay Man with a learning disablity shouldn't stop me from living my life and pursuing my goals.

ONE OF HARLEM'S FINEST RAP DUO'S RELEASE HOT SINGLE

2011-05-16T14:41:00.003-05:00

CAM'RON & VADO
HEY MUMA
10 ON A SCALE OF 1-5

For the past nine years, Harlem-born rapper/actor/executive Cam'Ron had recorded several hot hits with rappers Juelz Santana and singer Mariah Carey, which gained lots of heavy rotation on radio. Well Killa Cam joined forces with fellow Harlem-nite Vado for their single "Hey Muma" which is already getting spins on radio and downloads from kats who like hot joints. What makes this joint hot are the Middle Eastern beats, strings, flutes, bassline and a hot hook that men will be saying to sexy women and men who cathces their eyes at the clubs throughout the summer.

Hey yo, muma!
I'm saying
Can I come over? Cause
I'm not playing
Bend your ass over, uh, I'm not waiting
And if I'm sober, I'm blazing. Hey!

The song also showcased each of the rapper's individual flow with Cam rhyming mellow, and rapsy while Vado comes hard and rapsy which makes the song even more hotter.

One of the hottest joints of 2011.

BEYONCE'S NEW SINGLE SHOWS HER LACK OF UPGRADE

2011-05-16T14:24:00.003-05:00

BEYONCE KNOWLES
GIRL (WHO RUN THE WORLD)
COLUMBIA RECORDS
2 On a Scale of 1-5

In 2007, former Destiny's Child lead singer Beyonce had scored a hit with her single "Upgrade." Well it seems that she failed to follow her own advice on her current single "Girl (Who Run The World)" which sounds like a mash up of "Lose My Breath," "Get Me Bodied" and "Single Ladies (Put Your Hands Up)." Since she released her 2003 debut single "Crazy In Love" Knowles had became popular with releasing tunes that makes people dance, which is cool, being that she's been in the game since 1997, you would have thought that she would have did something that was more mature. Instead she did something that an average and up and coming artist would have done for their debut single. Not Beyonce who feels like she has to keep doing song that can make the kids dance. There is nothing wrong with Beyonce releasing somne hot dance tracks, but it would have been better had the song had more instrumentation and it would have been better had the lyrics been more mature (come on B you're gonna be 30 years old this year and you're a married woman. Don't you feel it's time for your music to mature)?
I feel that whenever an artist comes out with new material they're supposed to evolve and/or adapt withouth losing their identity, and it seems that Beyonce did something really quick to keep her name out in the public, but this single doesn't cut it and it's about time for her to listen to her advice and "Upgrade" her style and sound.

AWWWWWWWWWW..........A COOL AND HISTORIC CHAT WITH LEGENDARY AND NOW OUT HIP-HOP PRODUCER

2011-05-16T09:29:00.003-05:00

Whenever you’re in the presence of Producer/DJ Swanny Rivers, you’re automatically drawn to his Latin Accent, swagger, charm and is trademark scream “AWWWWW! YEAH!” He’s also a man that has a great legacy as well as a great love and appreciation for Hip-Hop, which is something that he and many feel are missing from the music industry. Born and raised in Brooklyn, Rivers was surrounded by music through out his childhood, but quickly fell in love with Hip-Hop, and like many kids who saw the birth of this popular genre, he became involved by DJaying, making beats and producing for many of today’s Hip-Hop legends, but when he decided to come out as a Gay Man, he was shunned by many due to their ignorance and homophobia. Down, but not out, Rivers began to search for openly Gay Rappers, and after discovering that Brooklyn-based Gay Rapper Shorty Roc was emerging on the scene, Rivers reached out to produce some tracks for him, but that was only the tip of the iceberg; Roc introduced him to fellow Hip-Hop head, DJ Baker, host of the award-winning DA-DOO DIRTY Show, who added him to his staff as a producer and co-host giving the show more heat and listeners. “Swanny is not only a super producer, but a super producer, engineer and a super friend” Baker said via text message.”I love working with Swanny for his work ethic. That’s why he is a part of the show. He also puts in long hours of work for Da Doo-Dirty Show and him.”
I addition to working with the show, Rivers is also running his record label with several talented artists, who will help keep his name in many music listeners and musicians mouths. I had the opportunity to chill with the outgoing Legend during a break at the BCAT studios in Brooklyn where he spoke about his career, his feelings on the state of Hip-Hop and working with the LGBT music community.

DA-PROFESSOR: Hey Swanny how’s it goingDA-PROFESSOR: Hey Swanny how’s it going?
SWANNY RIVER: Everything’s good. Working an a new project (and you know) trying to do some positive things. I’m trying to leave the negative behind me. Staying in the positive.

DA-PROFESSOR: How did you become involved with music?
SWANNY: Let me tell you something brother. I’ve been doing music since I was in the crib. My mother told me I used to get excited when my father used to play records. OK? And in my house there was always music playing. I learned how to DJ and my mother and father brought me my first turntables, and I learned to DJ from this crew from my neighborhood called the Dance Masters and DJ Scooter Love. I learned from him and I just learned to do blends. Then scratching came around. I saw Grand Master Flash for the first time. It was an instant love affair. Then I brought my first drum machine and started making drum beats and putting accapellas over it adding that to my mix and here I am (laughs).

DA-PROFESSOR: Which producers influenced you?
SWANNY: Oh. Dr. Dre. Just Blaze. Swizz Beats. The one and only Quincy Jones. I love me some Quincy Jones. I just love him period. That’s about it. The newer dudes, everybody sounds alike.

DA-PROFESSOR: How did they influence you?
SWANNY: They influence me with their style alone. Dr. Dre is that West Coast flavor that make you wanna sit back, smoke a blunt and bop your head. I like that. Swizz Beats with your club shit. I love that! Then you got Just Blaze. When he samples and how those hard drum rolls. All that good stuff. When I hear one of those joints, makes me wanna make a beat and get my artists to do their thang.

DA-PROFESSOR: What was it like being a Gay Latino in the Hip-Hop industry back in the day?
SWANNY: Well, I didn’t come out until the early 90’s. I’m not gonna say who, but I was working with certain kats and when I finally came out, they turned their backs on me. It was hard. It was hard. But now I’m happy where I’m at you know? In the Out Hip-Hop industry. I’d rather be here because I’m among my peers. I’m around people that are just like me.

DA-PROFESSOR: What prompted you to be a apart of the Out Music Industry?
SWANNY: When I was at home one day (and) I said to myself “I wonder if they’re any Gay Rappers. So back then there was my space so I went on my space and I typed in the search Gay Rappers and the only one that came up was Shorty Roc. So when I hit him up and he hit me back and were talking for a bit (and) I invited him to my studio and I heard him do his thing. Two weeks later, he introduced me to DJ Baker and DJ Baker doing Da-Doo-Dirty show and I loved it! I wanted to be involved with it. I’ve been doing that ever since. It’s the love for Hip-Hop really and I think Hip-Hop losted it way because everybody’s too commercialized. I like that real gritty, back packing, that real Hip-Hop. Not that (other) stuff you hear on the radio.

DA-PROFESSOR: Which Out Rappers have you worked with?
SWANNY: I worked with Bry’nt. I worked with Boneintel. I worked with Sonny Lewis. I did a track with some new rappers Splash Tea, who’s my artist. I’ve done work with Quentin Adams. He’s my artist. I’ve done work with Kin4Life, Shorty Roc, Tim’ M West, Verbal Science. Anybody else you wanna know (both laugh).

DA-PROFESSOR: You have many artist. Do you plan on forming your own label?
SWANNY: Well I’m working towards that. I used to have SR Productions, but I changed it to SR Music; Swanny River Music and I have Splash Tea. I have Bille Bad. Dirty Hanna. I call them Dirty Hood because of their name. Then I have Clover B. I have my songbird Quentin Adams. This kid is amazing!

DA-PROFESSOR: It was interesting how Quentin was searching for you. How does that make you feel having an artist seek you out?
SWANNY: It’s amazing. It’s bugged me out. I hit him up on facebook without hearing his music and he hit me back and when I heard him sing, It was like wow, he can (really) blow. And he sounds better than anybody I heard in the R&B world. I’m not gonna sugar coat it. I’m gonna tell you straight up. It felt so good and I’m willing to work with anybody, but you gotta be up to par.

DA-PROFEESOR: You brought up a good point about Hip-Hop past and present. Many artists wanna be original, but they can’t due to the corporate politics and bullshit. Tell me from your opinion why is that?
SWANNY: It’s sad. I can bring it out of them. They can do anything they want, but you got to work hard. Those straighties. Those heteros, they’re not gonna accept us, but if we put in the hard work and we put out good music. Stop talking about nonsense like what goes on in the bedroom. That’s why they’re not gonna give us any respect. Talk about everyday stuff like your block, the club and I’m sure if we work hard, they would respect us. They’re looking at us now.

DA-PROFESSOR: It seems like the industry accepts Gays who are flamboyant, hair dresses and fashion stylists,
SWANNY: They think we’re all hair dressers and fashion stylists. That’s what they think. We’re rappers, we’re doctors, we’re politicians. We’re all over the place. Those heteros need to open their eyes and see that we’re the next big thing.

DA-PROFESSOR: Where do you see yourself in the next 5-10 years?
SWANNY: 5-10 years. Honestly 10 years, I’ll be retired by then. My company will be a driving force for the LGBT community as far as my music is concerned because that’s what I’m aiming for.

DA-PROFESSOR: How do you feel that you’re making an impact on the LGBT community?
SWANNY: I don’t know if I made an impact yet, but if I did, that’s good. I want everybody to step their game up (you know). I mean Da-Doo-Dirty show. I don’t see it yet.

Swanny River's mixtape "It Is What It Is: When The Beat Drops" is avaliable for download.

DA-PROFESSOR SPEAKS WITH RAPPER FOXXJAZELL

2011-04-03T15:11:00.004-05:00

L.A. Based Transgendered rapper Foxxjazell has been becoming a hit on the
Gay music scene for the past few years. The Alabama born rapper has appeared on the Tyra Banks Show as well as performed at various Pride events around the world, and to top off her success, her single “Ride or Die Boy” got lots of air play on MTV last year, earning her several award nominations.

I met with the lovely rapper at the famous Starbucks Café while she was in New York to discuss business and to attened the Out Music Awards, which was unexpectedly canceled.

DA-PROFESSOR: How does it feel to be back in New York?
FOXXJAZELL: It’s amazing. However the weather I can do without (both laugh).

DA-PROFESSOR: How did you become involved in music?
FOXXJAZELL: Howe I get involved with Hip-Hop? I got involved at a very young age. 16. I always had a love for Hip-Hop, so therefore it’s only natural it engaged me and I was attracted to the art form.

DA-PROFESSOR: Which female rappers inspired you?
FOXXJAZELL: Salt-N-Pepa, M.C. Lyte, JJ Fad and Lil’ Kim.

DA-PROFESSOR: What make you admires those rappers?
FOXXJAZELL: I admire their overall confidence. Their female swagger. Their ability to push personal issues and make them social issues.

DA-PROFESSOR: Was it hard entering the industry as a Transgender?
FOXXJAZELL: When I was rapping at the age of 16, I was a part of an all-male Hip-Hop group. None one knew about me at that point and that is when I decided to become a solo artist. I did face some challenges as a Transgender artist.

DA-PROFESSOR: What are the challenges?
FOXXJAZELL: Some of the challenges overall is Tran phobia. Homophobia. Something the Hip-Hop community is plagued with. And overall ignorance.

DA-PROFESSOR: What prompted you to keep on doing your thing?
FOXXJAZELL: The fact that it was challenging, and the fact that no one was rocking the mic as a transwoman, and the fact that I had social issues that needed to be address and why not address them through the art form I fell in love with?

DA-PROFESSOR: I gotta congratulate you on your single “Ride or Die Boy”
FOXXJAZELL: Thank you.

DA-PROFESSOR: What prompted you to contact Shorty Roc, Last Offence and Nano Reyes for the remix?
FOXXJAZELL: “Ride or Die Boy” was written because of the fact that was my way of paying tribute to the dream boy that I always wanted to have; somebody who’s gonna ride or die for me through thick or thin. As far as contacting the other artists, I wanted to have each of those artists because they (each) brought an different element to the remix that wasn’t on the original song.

DA-PROFESSOR: The video was hot. Whose idea was it to have ya’ll kiss the sexy guy in the video?
FOXXJAZZELL: (Laughs) That was me. I actually directed the video. It was my directorial debut.

DA-PROFESSOR: That was good to see that. I hear its gotten lots of nominations for awards and play on MTV. How does it feel to get all the accolades?
FOXXJAZELL: It feels really good. It’s a music video that will look at as a piece of LGBT Out Music history, but I don’t wanna be stuck in the mode of trying to out perform it with my next project.

DA-PROFESSOR: Are you releasing any other singles from your CD?
FOXYJAZELL: Hold up with Ashley Breathe

DA-PROFESSOR: You’ve been performing at various Gay Pride events. What’s that been like?
FOXXJAZELL: It’s been really well and I’ve been well received. I’ve stepped up my performance game as far as making sure that I had a strong performance element with my dancers and having a visual for my songs so they can get the same feel of watching a video in the comfort of their own home.

DA-PROFESSOR: I know you heard about the number of Gay Teens and young adults who have been bullied and committed suicide. How does it affect you as a person?
FOXXJAZELL: It affects me as a person, dramatically and it wounds my soul because of the fact not only as an artist, but as a person I have an duty to uphold of putting out a positive image and uplifting role model that LGBT youth and look up to and see their own kind and see inspiration to see another day.

DA-PROFESSOR: You’ve made a great point about LGBT youth having models to look up to. There are many LGBT people who wanna see openly LGBT singers and rappers perform at Prides, but the artists have problems getting booked. Do you feel that now Pride organizations will be more willing to book LGBT artists?
FOXXJAZELL: I think with the downfall of the major labels we’re definitely seeing more, but I don’t see that happening anytime soon. I definitely feel pride organizations are gonna go with major label acts or the acts that are gonna guarantee big crowds first before putting on their own.

DA-PROFESSOR: From your perspective why is that?
FOXXJAZELL I think it’s part a lot of them are not educated on other LGBT artists. If they don’t see them on MTV. They’re not gonna take a change on booking a Foxy Jazell opposed to Nicki Minaj that’s gonna guarantee and the only disadvantage about that is when you book a major act like that, you tend to attract a lot of people who aren’t gay and gay friendly.

DA-PROFESSOR: Which artists mainstream and LGBT would you like to work with?
FOXXJAZELL: Nicki Manji, Ari Gold and this is a far fetch one. George Michael and Tevin Campbell.

DA-PROFESSOR: What do you think of George Michael’s success as a member of Wham! And as a solo artist?
FOXXJAZELL: I think his success based on pure talent and he was a teen idol who appealed to both women and men.

DA-PROFESSOR: What about Tevin Campbell do you admire?
FOXXJAZELL: Well honestly, I’ve met Tevin Campbell a couple of times. Never really had a deep conversation, but I admire his genuine spirit. I admire the fact that he was a really great amazing voice. As underrated he is, he’ll be always be one of my favorite male artist singers of all time.

DA-PROFESSOR: Mines too. What do you think about Nicki Manji? It seems that there are people who love her, but there are also some who thinks she’s trying to be the next Lil’ Kim. What do you think about the public not giving her a fair chance?
FOXXJAZELL: I feel that her PR team behind is a very clever smart team because they were able to put it out there she was bisexual. They were able to convey and captivate the gay audience by putting out that she was bisexual and when she got mainstream success she was cleverly pulled the bisexual card away. I feel it work for us and again it works against us, deceives once again it puts it out there that bisexual people can turn it on and turn it off

DA-PROFESSOR: Do you plan on acting?
FOXXJAZELL: I do. One of the most interesting things about that is that when I first came to L.A. I started off as an actress, but the music just happened. I was drawn to the music but my background in acting is first.

DA-PROFESSOR: How do you like L.A.?
FOXXJAZELL: I love the weather. I love the energy. The people I can do without (both laugh). They’re not as genuine as people on the East Coast. However I live on the outskirts, so I usually don’t deal with the L.A. state of mind/mentality as much as others have to.

DA-PROFESSOR: Where do you see yourself in the next 5-10 years?
FOXXJAZELL: A very successful entrepreneur.

DA-PROFESSOR: How do you feel you’re making an impact on the LGBT community?
FOXXJAZELL:I feel that it’s still too early for me to see what type of impact that I am making, but I d get lots of trans women that hit me up whether it be email, Face book or whether they see me in the street telling me they appreciate what I do, and I’m setting a good example for them. I feel from that aspect I’m making an impact but I definitely feel to see the overall picture you would have to ask me that question 5-10 years from now.

DA-PROFESSOR: What advice would you give to any LGBT artist who wants to pursue a music career?
FOXXJAZZELL: I would say go based on your talent. Don’t try to do any silly publicity stunts; any sex tapes (laughs). All those things will wear off. I’ve had my own personal reasons for doing them which I can’t condone someone else for the fact that they’re doing it for some other reason.

DA-PROFESSOR'S FAVORITE PLAY OF 2010-CYBERSEX

2011-01-21T10:39:00.002-06:00

Since the internet was invited in the late 1990's, many people have used it for many reasons including crusing for dates, sex and both, and that's what the theme that writer/actor/realtor Jason Duvall Hunter used in his play "Cybersex" which had a large turned out on it's debut last summer.
The play featured Drag Queen/Performer the legendary Harmonica Sunbeam dressed in a robotic suit hosting and playing the space android who provide the cast to enter the chat lines and recite lines about various topics dealing with sex and sexulaity including romance, sensuality, lost of innocence.
What made the play hot was Hunter featuring the music of several openly Gay artist including Foxx Jazzell as well as the dance number cherographed by cast member Cisco.
The play and script was very hot, innovative and deep and it had the audience members laughing, crying and sexually enticed, and hopefully the play will continue to be in production for years to come.

DA-PROFESSOR'S FAVORITE POP SONG OF 2010

2011-01-14T11:15:00.002-06:00

I also love Pop music and there was one artist who made a hot Pop track in 2010

TINO COURY-DIARY

The talented singer/songwriter from Pittsburg released a hot song about accidentaly stumbling on his girlfriend's diary and learning that she not only was she creeping, she wasn't really in love with him.

Coury made the lyrics about infidelity fun to listen to and the music and vocals give it a sweet edge.

DA-PROFESSOR'S FAVORITE PORN STARS OF 2010

2011-01-14T09:20:00.003-06:00

Since I've formed this blog over three years ago, I've also conducted several interviews with many in the porn industry as well as reviewed several porn dvds, and in addition to getting off, I also take watch how the star's dialouge, swagger and their sexual performances, which I based my decision on how I rate the porn stars and the movies. So here are my favorite porn stars of 2010

FAMOUS TOPS

1. TYSON-STAR OF THAT GOOD DICK TYSON AND MIXED NUTS 2
Though Tyson has Street and Thug appeal, I love the fact that he isn't afraid to display his sensual and romantic sides in his performance which includes kissing his on-screen partners.

2.Loco-STAR OF SOLITARY
Loco maybe young looking, but he's very mature and he knows how to tear up some ass. Since his began to work with Real Urban Men Productions, Loco's dialouge and character has mature along with his sexual performance and what I admire about him is how he play roles so well that you sometimes forget he's doing porn.

3.MEMPHITZ CREAM
Like You Tube, many aspiring porn stars has became famous by using the internet to get their product out their and Californian Memphitz has been one of X-Tube's most famous porn stars, who's taking his game to the next level with the formation of his own production company. The thing that makes him hot is how he uses the nut from ejaculation as cream on his food (I guess that's where he get's his stage name from) to talking dirty while jerking off and fucking his on-screen partners (it's a shame how he was dissed by Pretty Ricky member Diamond Blue). He's gonna be one of the porn's hottest new stars of 2011.

FAVORITE BOTTOMS
1.SHAWN LEGEND-STAR TWISTED THUG
Many masculine bottoms have been emerging on the porn scene and Shawn Legend is one who enjoys getting plowed on screen and when he moans he moans in his natural voice. He also loves to keep it ghetto by getting fucked wearing a pair of uptowns on.

2. BLOOD-STAR OF NEW THUG CITY 1 & TWISTED THUG SERIES
Many gay men loves guys with Southern accents and Blood's accent along with his neatly short dreads, he knows how to take dick well

FAVORITE VERSATILES
1. SKITTLES-STAR OF SWAGGER 2
When I was watching the first scene of Swagger 2, I couldn't help but to laugh at how Skittles was able to display both his masculine and femine side when he was arguing with his co-star, who called him a power bottom. He showed him that he can take dick and give dick just as well.

2. SOULJA BOY-STAR OF BLACK BY NATURE TWISTED THUG SERIES
Since he emerging on the porn scene in 2008, this porn star has been adding thug appeal in his work, which turns on lots of fans, who love fucking and getting fucked.

DA-PROFESSOR'S FAVORITE ALBUMS/CDS OF 2010

2011-01-13T12:52:00.003-06:00

This list was very hard for me to put together because I love music so much. (No one said being a music critic would be easy) but I gotta follow my heart and love for great music.

1. CRAIG DAVID-SIGNED SEALED DELIVERED-Craig David did a great job covering several Motown classics as well as adding his own flavor to them. His midtempo version of The Temptaions' "Just My Imagination" is cool and has a bluesy feel, while his rendition of Papa Was A Rollin' Stone has funky breaks during the third verses. He also rips "I Heard It Through The Grapevine" by having a hot call & response with the background vocalists. I also love how he pays tribute to The Four Tops by sampling their vocals on the album's lead single "One More Night (Standing In The Shadows of Love) which was tearing up the clubs last spring with the hot House beats. The album also showcased David's ability to sing higher ranges.

2.MICHAEL JACKSON-MICHAEL-Right before MJ died, he had recorded lots of songs with his lead vocals, and to complete the album, many producers did what they could to bring the songs to life and while it couldn't be great being that MJ had left us too soon, it showed where he was at musically and lyrically and the direction he was headed. Songs like "Hollywood" showed that MJ knew about the glamours life, while "Monster" featuring 50 Cent, who's vocals didn't need to be computerized and "Breaking News" dealt with Jackson's trademark lyrics of deceptive people and the tabloids. Albums highlights-"Hold My Hand" with Akon and his colabortaion with Lenny Kravitz on "(I Can't Make It) Another Day" showed that Jackson had never lost his Rock Edge.

3. Miguel-All I Want Is You-When Miguel tried to secure a record deal during the Latin Explosion era, many executives didn't want to market him because of his ethnic features (some actually told him he looked like he was part Japanesse) so he was pushed in the background as a writer. After years of being in the background, the talented African American/Mexican singer/songwriter decided to come to the forefront and now he's winning fans with his mixture of R&B/Funk and Rock. In addition to his vocals, Miguel has tight pen game that will sets him apart from many of today's R&B singers.
Album highlights: Quickie, Vixen, My Piece

4.EL DEBARGE-SECOND CHANCE-When El peformed at last year's BET Awards, everybody was happy to see that he still had the pipes and showmanship that made him a class act. Well the former lead singer of the family group DeBarge wasn't done there. He landed a deal with Geffen Records and the week after Thanksgiving, he dropped his long awaited album "Second Chance" which started to sell very fast to the point where record stores had to request several more shipments. The CD has the classic El DeBarge sound; inspirtational lyrics, smooth melodies, his trademark falsetto and nice piano riffs. He also honored his family and their legacy by sampling their classic "Stay With Me" for the song 5 Seconds with Fabulous and for a limited time he released a bonus CD of Christmas Tunes.
Album Highlights-"Lay With You (With Faith Evans), "5 Seconds" (With Fabulous) "Second Chance," "Joyful"

5.THE TEMPTATIONS-STIL HERE The Temptations are still tempting fans all around the world and they released a hot CD last year which was their first album of original material since 2004, and it has that classic 5 part harmony that made them famous in 1964. A mixture of love and political songs, the Emperors of Soul are showing the world that they still have the capabilities to put out great quality music.
Albums Highlights-"Change Has Come," "Let Me Catch Your Diamonds," "Shawtyismygirl"

6.ANYE ELITE-SNEAK PREVIEW & JESSE-O-LOVE AND GO CRAZY (TIE)
Anye Elite dropped a hot mix tape of hot party jams and love songs with lots to Gay themes and references including the first single "I Got Him" where he show his ability to rap as well as sing. He also did a Rock flavored song called "My Name Ain't Shawty" and an inspriational song "I Should Be Crying"
Anye's album highlights-"I Got Him" (Original and Remix), "Icon," "Exclusively," "I Should Be Crying," "My Name Ain't Shawty"
Jesse-O returned with a hot CD that has listenings dancing and thinking about love. Teaming with legendary producer Tori Fixx, the Out Music Award Nominated singer/songwriter/cheographer step up his game vocally and lyrically following with songs about being persued, falling in love with a Island Man, and dismissing a cheating lover after catching him in bed with a trick. Jesse also recorded some songs inspriational songs as well.
Jesse's album highlights-"Holla At Me," "Island Luv," "It's Over," "Sober,"

7. RON ISLEY-MR I. When Isley was released from prison, he hit the road and the studio to give his fans a hot album that has the classic Isley Brothers feel; timeless love songs. The CD is great, but what was lacking was brother Ernie's guitar riffs. The digital ones took away from the live feel, but the CD is great and it show why Ron has been able to stay in the ever changing music industry for over 6 decades.
Album's Highlights-"Put Your Money On Me," "No More," "Take It How You Want It," "Dance For Me."

8.CHRIS BROWN-In My Zone 1 & In My Zone 1 (TIE) Chris Brown did the smart thing by taking the mix-tape route to showcase his versatile singing style and rapping as well as keep his true fans talking about his talent.
The first mix tape showcased his sexual side with his versions of Trey Songz's "Say Ahh" and "I Invented Sex" with the latter being retitled "I Invented Head."
Album Highlight-"Glow In The Dark."
The second mixtape had more diversity and it could have done without much of the synsersized vocals, but he did have some hot joints including "Talk Shit"

9.JEREMIH-ALL ABOUT YOU-The Chicago native who created the hit and term "Birthday Sex" came back with the conitunation of where his self-titled debut left off. The talented singer/songwriter also featured some songs about heartbreak and pain as well as collaboarated with 50 Cent and Ludacris. For his next release I'm looking forard to seeing more from this talented performer
ALBUM HIGHLIGHTS-Take Off, "I Like," "Holding On."

10. THE QURE-GAY 4 PAY-This Texas based Openly Gay Hip-Hop duo came hard with their debut displaying their individual flows and style over some hot beats.
ALBUM HIGHLIGHTS-"Baby Mama," "Take That," "Milk & Cookies," "Revenge," "Turn On Da Fans," "Gravediggers."

DA-PROFESSOR'S FAVORITE COLLABOLATIONS OF 2010

2011-01-13T11:25:00.004-06:00

Many artists have teamed up to create hot jams and 2010 was no exception. Classic Soul and Comtemporary artists teamed up as well as several talented openly Gay performers got together to create some hot joints that have many of the smart kids talking and pumping on their Ipods and MP3 players and here are my favorite Colabs of 2010

1. LAY WITH YOU-EL DEBARGE & FAITH EVANS
2010 was a big year for El who was released from prison for parole violation, and was eager to get back to the stage. After doing some gigs in LA he was signed to Geffen Records and went to work on his comeback CD "Second Chance" which has been getting lots of great reviews from critics and fans who are happy that he's bringing quality music back. One of the jams that has people buzzing in the album's second single "Lay With You" with Faith Evans, who does a excellent job blending her soprano with his famous falsetto. The song has a great grown and sexy vibe and lyrics about wanting to spend the time laying in bed, and is the 3rd DeBarge connection Faith has had. She sang the hook of her late husband's Biggie Smalls' "One More Chance" which contains samples from DeBarge's hit "Stay With Me" and in 2002, she sang the hook of DeBarge's classic "I Like It" on Boyz II Men's hit "Relax Your Mind."

2. GLOWING-REALZ FEATURING ASHER D.
The music industry always has a Birtish Invasion and this talented young UK based rapper has been getting a great buzz with his debut single. What gives this song fire is his flow, lyrics and colab with mentor Asher D, who bring a smooth yet hard flow while his artist spits fire with his vocals. The hook is hot and inspirational and should be as a theme for those who are gonna to shine.

3.RIDE OR DIE (REMIX) FOXXJAZEL FEATURING SHORTY ROC, LAST OFFENCE AND NANO REYES
With people still having doubts and ignorant views about Gay Hip-Hop, these four talented rappers teamed up to record one of last year's hottest joints that has been getting lots of air time of MTV and Logo. The beat is hot and smooth and each of the rappers bring their indiviudal styles to the track while Nano Reyes sings the hook with fire. The song shows that Gay are capable of doing more than fixing hair and designing clothes and shows that all almost every gay guy wants to have a thug in their life.

4. HOLD MY HAND-MICHAEL JACKSON & AKON-When the King of Pop decided to resume his music career, he enlisted the services of several hot artists and one of them was Akon, who's making a name for him self with his smooth tenor voice, lyrics and sexy African looks. In fact MJ gave him props in his last interview for Ebony Magazine in 2007. They first worked together when Akon did a remix of Jackson's classic "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" for the re-released of the now classic "Thriller" album. Impressed, MJ requested more material and when Akon presented him "Hold My Hand" MJ fell in love with it and informed his staff and crew that was gonna be the first single released on his new album and true to his word it was. Sadly MJ isn't alive to see how his fans are responding to it, but he's in Heaven smiling down and seeing how people are loving the song that has a nice smooth arragnement of string and lyrics about love and harmony.

5. CALL ME-JOELL ORTIZ & NOVEL-A hot joint is all I can say about this colab by these two talented stars. Joell lyrics and smooth yet hype flow blends with Novel's tenor and falsetto and the horns and strings making it a true Hip-Hop/R&B collabo. Joell's lyrics on this track will make people think about their first loves and the ones they losted. They need to receive nominations for Best Colabo if they didn't already.

6. EXCLUSIVELY (REMIX) ANYE ELITE & KAOZ-Being influnced by Mariah Carey, it was no suprise that openly Gay singer/songwriter Anye Elite would recruit a hot rapper do appear on a remix of one of his single and the rapper he chosed was Kaoz, who adds some hot Midwestern flavor to this hot Pop/Dance track about being the one who catches the boy.

7. PUT YOUR MONEY ON ME-RON ISLEY & T.I. & GET BACK UP-T.I. & CHRIS BROWN (TIE)
T.I. was all over the headlines last year for his release from prison, his movie and his marriage to longtime girlfriend singer/songwriter Tiny Cottle from the R&B group Xscape, who's been riding with him for several years. T.I. also put in hard work in the studio and he was recruited by the legendary Ron Isley to join him on his comeback Album and it's no suprise that they did a song about being able to provide a shorty with the good life and hot passionate love making. The joint has the classic Isley Brothers sound which would have been better had Ron's brother Ernie been avaliable to play the electric guitar live instead of having the guitar riff done digitally. T.I.'s work with Chris Brown is a great inspriational song that inspires people not to let their mistakes and pitfills bring you down. You can learn from one mistakes.

8.MY GIRLS LILE THEM GIRLS-CHRIS BROWN AND J. VALENTINE-When Chris Brown dropped his second mixtape, I couldn't help to listen to this song about a guy's fantasy of particpating in a threesome as well as watching two women get it on in the bedroom. What makes this song good is the lyrics about how he's watching his girl roll up in the club like a playa, and making both the men and women look with awe and hate. The vocals didn't need to be synsersized that much, but the song will be a theme used for guys who loves to get turned on by having a women Mack and freak.

9.STATE YOUR NAME-LAST OFFENCE & BRY'NT-The rapper from St. Louie once again joined forces with the Shemar Moore of Gay Rap to record a hot club banger, where each showcases their ability to spit over a hardcore track. Giving the track it's fire is the intro with a gay claming that gays can't rap and Bry'nt going in hard rhyming in Spanish while Last O comes in and letting the haters know that he has no fear.
"I have no fear of hell
I am a Buddist"

10. I LIKE-JEREMIH & LUDACRIS-Many were suprised that the Chicago native who created the song and term "Birtday Sex" would team up with labelmate Ludacris for a hot and sexy single. Though it sounds like the continuation of "Birthday Sex" and "That Body" Luda's wild style and word play gives the song that edge while Jermih's tenor adds Pop/Soul flavor and innocence.

11.MAKE ME SAY-TYDIS FEATURING THE NEW BOYZ-What can I say, I love Pop music. A great debut from an talented singer and a cute and hot West Coast duo. Cute beats and lyrics about seeing a hottie that makes you say different things. I would love form them to do a remix to this song in a ballad form.

12-MY SECRET LUV-JESSE-O & BARON-A hot track by these Out award nominated and winning artists who joined forces to perform a hot track for those who are in secret relationships (I'm not talking about being adultrey either). Produced by Tori-Fixx this joint features Jesse's smooth vocals and lyrics and Baron's flow.

DA-PROFESSOR'S FAVORITE DVDS OF 2010

2011-01-13T09:08:00.002-06:00

Happy New Year folks.
It's been more than a minute since I've written anything on this blog.
2010 was a good year for dvds and I decided to list my favorites DVDS of 2010

1. MICHAEL JACKSON-THIS IS IT-For years Michael Jackson has always created hot concerts, and he always filmed his rehearsals, and since his passed his estate felt of the good way to pay tribute to a man who is constantly emulated. This footage showed how he communicated with his band, crew as well as showed his humble, and humourous side-something that most press refused to showcased. It also showed what it takes to put together a show and hopefully inspiring entertainers will learn that it takes more than looking pretty to put on a great show

2. MICHAEL JACKSON-VISIONS-In addition to putting on great shows, MJ had also created hot videos I mean short films. When videos was just being used as a marketing tool, Jackson decided to use it as a way to showcase his talent, and he didn't half step either; his videos were mini-movies with stories and themes, that related to the song. This 3 DVD set includes all his short films from his entire adult solo career including "Don't Stop Til You Get Enough," "Billie Jean," "Remember The Time," "Blood On The Dance Floor" and my all time favorite "Scream" his duet with his sister Janet which is the most expensive video and received the most nominations from the MTV video awards It also includes videos he did with his brothers including "Blame It On The Boogie," the classic "Can You Feel It" as well as "Say, Say Say" with Paul Mc Cartney and his last one "One More Chance." It would have been better had the video for "Shake Your Body (Down To The Ground)" was included because it was the biggest hit of the group's career and it was the first top ten single that featured Michael (who co-wrote this classic with brother Randy) as a songwriter.

3.RAG TAG-With many Black Gay films being released during the past decade, "Rag Tag" has became a favorite among Black Gays around the world. The story about two Black British childhood friends who were seperated at a young age and who reunite and resume their love was very inspirational and shows that despite having obstacles being thrown in your path (homophobic, self-righteouss father, a girlfriend, fear of being judge for not having a decent education, and a jealous undercover cock blocking business associate) love can conquer all.
Movie highlights-Rag & Tag traveling to Nigeria, Tag learning that his uncle was gay, Tag's White Girlfriend telling him that he's selfish and doesn't deserve neither she or Rag. Rag & Tag making love for the first time.

4. WHY DID I GET MARRIED 2-After seeing the first installment of this classic, everybody was waiting to see how the sequel was going to be and let me tell you, it was just as good as the first. I being modest; it was better. The scenes, acting and storyline was deep, funny and made you laugh, snap, root and cry. Especially when Malik Yoba threw liqour on Janet Jackson, who took being an Angry Black woman to the extreme by breaking things with a golf club and making her husband feel low by showing up unannounced at his job with a gay men popping out of a cake singing "It's Raining Men."
Hightlights-Shelia's second husband, dissing Shelia's first husband, who has problems accepting that fact that she's moved on, Shelia reminding him about how he abused her and telling him to get his ass out of the kitchen, Marcus' wife feeling stupid learning that it was the couple's maid and gardener/butler who was getting their freak on instead of Marcus and another women.
What would have made the movie better? The film needed to focus more on the Tyler Perry's and Shanon Leal's character's marriage. Hopefully the film would explore that in the next one.

5. OUR FAMILY WEDDING-This comedy starring America Ferrea and the sexy Lance Gross had me in stichhes, gaining an greater appreciation for Latin Culture and watching Lance grow as an actor (I can't help it that he's sexy). Like most films that deals with kids getting married, the father's are the ones who be at each other's throat and trying to outdo each other, as well as featuing the bride-to-be wanting their father's to acknowledge that they're grown women with their own minds, but this film was sort of different. It featured the groom's growing up in a single father hood household, and wanting his finacee to stand up for him.
Highlights-The fathers aruging and the finacee's mother telling them both to act like adults, Lance and America kissing in a car to the sound of Babyface's classic "Soon As I Get Home," The bride-to-be's father realizing that he has taken his wife for granted, and the scene were Forrest Whitaker and Regina King fighting at the bakery.
What would have made the movie better? Exploring Lance's character true feelings about not growing up with his mother, as well as explaining if they ever had contact.

6.THE PREACHER'S KID-For those of you who still doubt Original Destiny's Child member Le-Toya Luckett's singing abilities needs to check out this flick. You can hear her Gospel training and roots in this film that got great reviews from people who appreciate talented people. The film shows the drama of what happens with preacher kids, who parents wants them to spent most of their activities centered around church, and not allowing them the freedom and opportunity to experience life and pursue their own goals and aspirations (Especially when their over the age of 21), and forces them to rebel, and without guidance, forces them to be in conflict of whether to go back and hear "I told you so" or to be rejected or to deal with the consequences. The film also showed the drama of what goes on while one is on tour (playas, jealousy and true friendships).
Movie Highlights: When LeToya's character Angie helps the play's lead singer and main cast member on the road when she suffers an asthma attack. Another highlight, when Angie's childhood crush and friend whip's the former R&B hearthrob's ass backstage forcing him to fall on to the stage and the audience to applaud thining it was part of the act. Another highlight, when Ella Joyce's character tells Angie's father that Angie is not the only one who can take care of you. My favorite the ending when Angie, is helping her husband and friends set up a stand, and when they talking about pregnancy, a female dramatic church member who has always threw shade at Angie gets put in place by her husband.

7. JOE LIVE IN JAPAN-R&B SINGER/SONGWRITER/PRODUCER Joe has been one of R&B's popular male singers for the past 17 years, and his first live DVD shows why he's a huge hit over seas. Dressed in a tuxedo and back with a band of talented brothers including a horn section, Joe shows the crowd that sometimes less in more, and that there are artist who don't need to rely on fireworks and gimmicks just to have a hot performce. It also showed that there are many music lovers who loves intimate settings and shows, and it also explianed how people of different cultures have a stronger appreciation of R&B/Soul Music

8. THE GAME SEASONS 2 & 3-Since "The Game" made it's premeire in 2006, many fans made sure they was home to catch this hot sitcom about 3 football players from the fictional San Diego Football team, and the drama their experience in their professional and personal lives. Since the cancelation, many have protested that the show be returned to prime time and it has thanks to BET, but during the time of negotiatiions, many have been flocking to get the series to see Derwin & Melanie break up and make up, Malik fall in love and return to being a ladies man, seeing Kelly and Jason divorce and deal with their smart (in terms of maturity) daughter, and Tasha Mack be a outspoken manager and over protective mother.

9. THE RUNAWAYS-There have been many movies that were about girl groups, but the film about The Runaways was very hot and showed how a group of girls decided to beat the odds and become a Rock band. Based on lead singer's Cherie Currie's memoirs, the film had some hot moments and showed the intense romance she had with member Joan Jett, who executive produced the film that should have been released in more theatres. It showed how they had to prove to their manager, and to the world that girls are capabale of doing more than singing and wearing fancy sequenced gowns, and that they can hang with the big boys. It also shows what happens when you don't have balls to stick up for what's right.
Highlights-When Jett's character showed her high school music teacher that she can play electric guitar and that her influences was Chuck Berry. Another highlight was when the band stood up to some promoters overseas.
What could have made the film better? Showing some emphasis on member Lita Ford's character and background.

10.STOMP THE YARD 2-HOMECOMING-Despite the stepping and love scene with Collis Pennie, I was extremely disappointed with this DVD. When you're doing a sequel it has to be just as good as the first one or even better. It wasn't. The story showed the Chance being hustled in a street dance battle and trying to find ways to come up with money to pay for his 'so-called' debt, balancing school, working at his father's resturant and dealing with his current girlfriend and ex, who tries to get him back in her life.
HIGHLIGHTS-The stepping performances and battle and the Betas and Gammas joining forces to let the thug know that they will have his brother's back.
What could have made this film better? Having DJ and Megan Good return as a couple and showing how them as graduates, and having DJ coming up with a way to help Chance being that he was a former street dancer himself deal with the situation instead of just making a visit and giving them a prep talk before the battle.
Also since people have been doing lots of snitching it would have been hot had someone blackmailed Jay to make him call of the debt.

N.E. FLASHBACK-NEW EDITION'S LEAD VOCALIST'S SENSITIVE AND SULTRY DEBUT SINGLE

2010-12-14T08:22:00.003-06:00

RALPH TRESVANT
SENSITIVITY
MCA RECORDS
1990
Peaked at # 1 on the R&B Charts December 15 1990

In 1990, the members of New Edition had pursued solo projects that became very successful, and everybody was waiting for what Ralph Tresvant was going to delivered and would it be a hit. He delivered a classic, smooth flowing mid-tempo ballad "Sensitivity" which became an instant classic and a hit with the ladies and fellas. Written and produced by Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, the song has great beats, percussion, and showcases Tresvant's ability to sing lead, background and harmony, which can be heard in the call and response he has with himself. The lyrics are also timeless about letting a woman know that there are men who can provide them sensitivity.

"Don't need a man that will give you money
(No)
Come on let you show you what need honey
(I got what you need)
Don't need a man that will treat you funny
You need a man with sensitivity
A man like me

This song still gets spins on radio and it showed that Ralph had nothing to fear; he came out with a classic that showed that he the capability to shine as a vocalist and that everybody can use a man with sensitivity

ROCK SOUL QUEEN CELEBRATES 71ST BIRTHDAY AND 50 YEARS IN SHOW BIZ

2010-11-26T04:43:00.009-06:00

"71 years old and a survivor"
Arturo Ranger-Austin

When Rock/Soul Tina Turner appeared on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" in February 2005 to promote her greatest hits CD "All The Best," she was asked if she would ever resume touring again. Turner said that if she didn't want to give a show that wasn't so great. Well three years later, Tina had everybody excited when she announced that she was coming out of retirement, and once again she showed the world that age is just a number, and she could still rock with the best of them.
Fans have loved Tina for her voice, looks, and her trademark legs, but many love her for her ability to beat the odds, and take risks, and by doing so, she became one of the industry's most love, respected, and admireded legends, and this story celebrates her golden anniversary.
Tina was born on November 26, 1939 in Nutubsh Tennesse as Anna Mae Bullock to the late Floyd & Zelma Bullock as the youngest of two sisters, who were forced to live with several relatives due to her parents' fights, with Tina spending time with her grandparents and a white family, who provided her the love she lacked from her parents and a neighbor names Ms. Blake, who introduced Tina to the Penecostal church, where she quickly fell in love with the how the congregation honored God by dancing and singing, to the point where she became a member of the choir.
"It was fun to me" Turner wrote in her memoirs "I, Tina." So much more exciting than the Baptist chruch I knew back in Nut Bush. Here I was, dancing and singing, for the first time. It was wild." Turner's mother and church members noticed that how strong her singing voice was, and they noticed her ambitions to be an actress.
"She had a great voice then" Tina's late mother added in "I, Tina." "She would go to the movie, and if it was a musical, she would come home and sing the songs and act out the parts that she remembered seein'."
When she wasn't in church or in school, she was picking cotton and berries, something that many Blacks had to do and hated. Tina hated it to the point where she would dream about life outside of the cotton fields. Shorty after her 16th birthday, Tina's mother had asked her to join her and her sister Alline in St. Louis to finish high school, and as soon as she arrived, she was amazed at the number of Night Clubs that were around the city, and she soon found herself spending nights at The Emperial and The Manhattan, where she watched singer/musician Ike Turner & The Kings of Rhythm perform, and give the mic to a girl to sing, and like many Tina wanted to get on stage to showcase her voice. Ike was reluctant, but that didnt stop Tina.
"Many times other girls has stood up to sing and I knew they couldn't as well as I could. Even before my voice was fully developed" Tina said on "Behind The Music."
One night when her sister declined to sing, Tina grabbed the mic and performed the BB Kings classic "(Darling You Know) I Love You," and blew everybody in the club away, Including Ike, who couldn't hold his composure.
"I heard this voice come out the speaker and I said 'wow who's that? I looked around and saw it was that little girl out front and I was like Damn! She can sing!" Ike said on "Behind the Music." "Her voice was really raspy and really didn't sound high pitch like a girl. I liked it."
After that "Little Ann" as she was called at that time began to perform with the Kings of Rhythms performing at clubs, bars and college parties around the midwest, receiving rave review from the fans, who flocked to see them.
"That was the beginning of my local stardom. He was a really nice person at that time. We were like brother and sister" Tina said of the early stages of their relationship.
"That was the relaronship we had, and that's what we projected onstage" Ike added. "Two buddies. Two good friends."
During the course of their friendship, Little Ann had learned that Ike had wrote and produced for other artists, who had left him when they became successful. Little Ann decided to be loyal to her friend.
"I said to him if we ever got a hit record Ike, I won't leave you like the others" she said on ABC in 1993.
"I meant it."
One of the fans who was captivated by the duo was singer Bonnie Bramlett, a White music lover, who was part of the duo Delanney & Bonnie and an one time member of the band.
"That was around the time I firsr saw them, and it was devestating" she added in Turner's memoirs. "I thought she was the greatest thing I'd ever seen in my life. She made me cry-yes I stood there and cried like an idoit. I knew right away that that was what I wanted to do, too. And I wanted to do it just like her."
Wanting to become more that local singers, Ike had the band go to the recording studio to record a song he wrote called "A Fool In Love" which he originally recorded for a singer names Art Lassiter, who didn't want to pay him, so Ike had asked Little Ann to record the song, and once she stepped to the mike, the band watched her make history. Ike had sent the demo to several record companies, including Sue Records, who told Ike to keep Little Ann's voice on the song.
"I was gonna erase her" Ike revealed. "That was the intention, and when she got to the part when you're screaming 'hey, hey, hey, hey, hey! Wow! They (the excutives) said don't erase her. Keep her!"
Ike secured a deal with Sue Records and when the record was released, Little Ann was shocked to learn that Ike renamed the Kings & Rhythms The Ike & Tina Turner Revue.
Tina was grateful for the opporunity, but she didn't like how they relationship went from being brother-sister to romantic and she didn't like his controling ways and affairs he was having with several women, so when she told Ike she wanted out of their relationship, Ike responded with violence.
"I had no place to go" Tina said on why she stayed with him.
In addition to Ike, Tina had also was a mother. Tina had a son with former saxophonist Raymond Hill and in addition to the son she had with Ike, Tina was also raising Ike's two sons from his relationship with ex-girlfriend Lorraine Taylor, who gave the boys to the couple to raise.
The duo had other hits that followed including "It's Gonna Work Out Fine" and
from then on Tina had performed with Ike doing a series of one-nighters all around the U.S. performing at Juke Joints, Bars, Clubs, and theatres including New York City's famous Apollo and The Howard in Washington D.C. often sharing the bill with many acts, including Gladys Knight, who Tina gave her first make-over.
"If you think Tina can put on a show, you ought to see her apply foundation, not to mention blush, eyeshadow, and mascara" Knight wrote in her memoirs "Between Each Line of Pain and Glory." She arched eyebrows I didn't know I had, and created cheekbones where there has only been cheek before. By the time she put down the eyeliner pencils, I didn't recognize myself."
Knight's face wasn't the only thing she gave a make-over; she had changed the face of music with her singing and dancing. While most females at that time wore long gowns, Turner work short dresses that displayed her trademark legs, while she and the background singers The Ikettes, performed routines that were energetic, and sexual, that had females emulating and men watching. One of those men who were watching was legendary producer/songwriter Phil Spector, who had created a string of hits for the Ronnettes using his trademark wall sound. Spector had co-wrote a song called "River Deep, Mountain High" and once he saw Ike & Tina perform at a television show, he knew that she was the one who would do a great job, so he approached and paid Ike $20,000 for the use of Tina's voice; with one condition, Ike was not allowed to enter the studio, and when Tina heard the song, she was estastic because she had been yearning to do something different musicwise.
"I loved that song. Because for the first time in my life, it wasn't just R&B-it had structure, it had a melody" Tina wrote in her memoirs. "You see, Ike would always have me screaming and shouting on his songs-selling them you know?"
Like the public, the inprisoned producing legend noticed and prasied Tina's unique singing voice. "He had told me I had an extremely unusual voice, that he never heard a woman's voice like mine, and that's why he wanted to record me."
"Tina just symbolized to me the best what I needed at that time" Spector said.
The song was released in the spring of 1966, and despite glowing reviews, the song peaked A # 88 shocking, Tina, Spector and critics who felt that the song should have been a bigger hit, and while others were disappointed, Tina saw it as a acheivement, because it showed her that she had the capability to sing other forms of music, and she could do things on her own. "I never sung like that before and I wanted it. And now it's a classic." While the U.S. didn't pay the song any mind, U.K. listeners and artists loved it, helping push the song to # 3 in Britian, and receiving an invitation to tour the U.K. with The Rolling Stones, who became great friends with Tina, who gave the group's lead singer Mick Jagger how to dance. It was also where Tina felt appreciation, love and comfort, as well as learning that the European fans (Both Black & White) appreciated great music and that she didn't have to limit herself musically, and Tina decided to do that by getting Ike to include Rock songs into their reportiore, which gave the band new life, and an larger fan base, who loved seeing her perform The Rolling Stone's "Honkey Talk Woman" and The Beatles "Come Together" and "Get Back" but the duo would hit the jackpot when in their 1971 rendition of Creedence Clearwater Revival's classic "Proud Mary" peaked at # 4 on the Pop Charts, becoming their first gold single, and earning Tina her first Grammy Award for Best R&B Duo. The success of the single earned them slots on The Ed Sullivan Show, Soul Train, The Sonny & Cher and it also got them more bookings outside of the chitling curcuit. The success also prompted Tina to start writing songs, and in 1973 her self-penned tune "Nutbush City Limits" became a Top 20 hit in the U.S. and reached # 2 in Great Britian making it the last top 40 hit she would have with Ike, who had developed a serious addiction to cocaine, which made him more abusive towards Tina, who nearly died of Tuberlosis due to Ike's refusal for taking time off from performing and recording in his newly built recording studio. By then Tina had began to look for a way out, and in 1974, Ike's short term secreatary named Carol Dryer had introduced Tina to Buddishism, which gave her comfort, and strength she been looking for.
"I found that when I chanted the words, I felt different, I felt better, I felt lighter about things" She said on Vh-1.
It also had frightened Ike to the point where he freaked out to the point where he asked her to removed the candles from their house. She did, but she continued to chant whenever she got a chance, and she saw doors opening for her. She appeared in the movie musical "Tommy" and later appeared on co-star Ann-Margret's television special, but Tina hadn't was still searching for a way to leave Ike. On July 1st, 1976, the duo was headed to Dallas Texas to kick off another tour, and while many were preparing to celebrate Independence Day, Tina decided to celebrate as well. Ike had started another fight, but this time Tina decided to inform her husband that his days of mistreating her was over. When they got in the limosine, Ike struck her and she told him Alright I told you I would stay with you adhelp you through this period but no more licks." When Ike struck her again, Tina fought him back.
"It sure felt great" she said of how great it felt fighting back.
"I think my hand bounce because I hit so hard." Tina hit, kicked and scracthed Ike all the way to they got to the hotel, and once Ike went to sleep, she made her escape. With only 36 cents and a mobile card in her pocket, she fled to another hotel, asked to speak to the manager, told him her plight and asked if she could have a room and that she would pay him back. The manager gave her a room, placed , security outside her room and gave her some food. The next day, she flew to Los Angeles, filed for divorced, and hid out with friends working as a maid. "I moved from place to place for two months working my way at each one-housekeeping and cleaning, just like I had for the White woman back in Tennessee" she wrote in her memoirs. "And I know how to clean. I didn't have any money. I didn't have anything at all. So I paid my rent by cleaning." When Ike did find her, she had let him know that she wasn't going by his wife or music partner again. In other words, she was moving on without him. During the divorce proceedings, Tina learned that she was entitled to half of their assets, which caused even more friction, so Tina told her attorney to let him keep everything because her freedom was more important than material things. Tina would later get those material things by working hard. Because she had walked off the final tour, she found herself liable for the debts, and instead of crying about it, she handled her resposbilities and launched her solo career by appearing on television variety shows and performing in Lake Tahoe, Las Vegas and Candian Casinos, earning several standing ovations, and a strong conncection with Gay fans, and while the Casinos paid good money, she didn't want to remain a cabinet act for long. That would happen with the help of Roger Davies, the man who became her manager.
"I didn't want to promise that we could deliver" Davies said.
"I knew about the Ike & Tina records, but I didn't know about her as a solo act."
Turner convinced him to watch her perform at a hotel in San Francisco, and he was impressed with the first show, but when he saw the second show was just as good, Davies signed on as her manager, and when he asked Tina what direction she wanted to go in, she informed him that she was tired of singing about heartache, pain and the blues. She wanted to sing ballads, songs about romance and Rock & Roll.
Davies believed in her vision and told her she needed a new band of young energetic musicians, and to eliminate the beaded gowns and long flowing hair. Tina loved the idea and with her new band, she had performed at the famous Ritz Club becoming the talk of the town, prompting the owner to book her again, and it became a bigger success. The night of her performance Rod Stewart asked her to join him on Saturday Night Live to perform his classic "Hot Legs." A few days later, The Rolling Stones asked Tina to open for them during their 3 night appearance at a 20,000 seat arena, where Tina received lots of loves from the crowd. It was that love that made Tina decide that she wanted to play stadiums and arenas. Davies had worked hard to get Tina a record deal, but most U.S. labels weren't interested due to her association with Ike, while many felt that she was a has been, and the ones who were interested wanted her to record R&B and Dance records as well as songs about heartache and Tina told them like she told her manager, she didn't want to be pigeonholed and she wanted to sing Rock and songs about romance, so Davies knowning how the British Market had appreciated Tina had her record with many London- based artists, who believed in Tina's direction, and one of the first songs she recorded was a modern day version of The Temptations' classic "Ball of Confusion" which became an instant hit in England prompting Capitol Records to sign her, but before she began to record, the label went through major changes and she was closed to being dropped until executive John Carter went to the new label's president and got on his knees and pleased, while singer David Bowie told the execuitves that he was gonna spend his first night in New York watching Tina Turner perform at the Ritz. Once excutives saw her show, they kept her and in 1983 Tina released her version of Al Green's classic "Let's Stay Together" which became a top 5 R&B hit and top 20 Pop hit. Impressed, the label wanted Tina to record an album quickly, so she returned to England, and within two weeks, her classic solo album "Private Dancer" was in stores selling around the world making it the third biggest selling album of 1984, selling ten million copies world wide thanks the hits "Better Be Good To Me," "Show Some Respect" and "What's Love Got To Do With It" which became Tina's first # 1 Pop hit peakin at # 1 the same time she first charted with " A Fool In Love" 24 years earlier thanks to her videos being played on New York City Hot Tracks, Friday Night Videos, MTV, BET and Video Music Box. The success of the album earned Tina 2 American Music Awards and 3 Grammy awards, where she won song of the year and became the first female to earn Grammies in the Catergories of R&B, Rock and Pop. In 1985, Tina fulfilled a long time dreamed when she starred with Mel Gibson in the hit film "Mad Max 3: Beyond Thunderdome" and scored another gold single with the hit "We Don't Need Another Here (Thunderdome)" peaking at # 2. She also embarked on a successful tour and teamed with Bryan Adams on the classic "It's Only Love." The following year was a big year for Turner careerwise; she earned an American Music And Grammy Award for her rock single "One of The Living." She also earned a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, released her best selling autobiography "I, Tina" and her multi-platnium follow up "Break Every Rule" which contained the hits "Typcial Male" which peaked at # 2, "Two People" and "What You Get Is What You See." She also earned another Grammy for "Back Where You Started" and embarked on another successful stadium tour, stopping in Rio, where over 100,000 fans showed up, making her the first female to have a successful stadium tour.
In 1989 Tina released her album "Foreign Affair" which Tina served as co-excutive producer and co-produced two of the songs with Dan Hartman including "The Best" which became her signature song, and while the album got great reviews including four stars in Black Beat Magazine, the album only went Gold in the U.S. but did better overseas debuting at # in the U.K. while the follow up singles "Steamy Windows" & "Look Me In The Heart" did well on the U.K. charts. A year later, Tina decided to take a long overdue vacation, and during her time off, she decided to relocate to Europe permantely, and spend quality time with her beau German Executive Erwin Bach, who is celebrating their 24 year together as a live-in couple.
"I'm not in love with the Rock star" Bach said on 20/20
"I'm in love with a human being."
1991 was a another year for Tina though she wasn't touring; both she and Ike were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and she released a Greatest hits album titled "Simply The Best" which in addition to containing her solo hits, it included the classic "River Deep" a new version of her classic "Nutbush City Limits" and three new singles including "Love Thang," "Way of The World" and "I Want You Near Me."
2 years later, Disney had produced the film "What's Love Got To Do With It?" based on her memoirs, with Angela Bassett and Laurence Fishburne playing the roles of Tina and Ike earning them Oscar nominations, while the film's soundtrack went multi-platnium, scoring a top ten hit with "I Don't Wanna Fight" and earned several awards and nominations, while her American tour grossed millions in ticket sales and while many turned out to see the film, Turner opted not to.
"To be honest Kurt, I hope I don't have to see it" she told journalist Kurt Lorder.
"I lived it. I don't have to see it."
In 1995 Tina was tapped by Bono & The Edge of U2 to record the theme for the movie "Golden Eye" and it became a huge hit in the UK, prompting the label to have Tina do another album and tour. Something she was not ready to do at that time, but once she started to receives songs, Turner decided to have fun recording it and she decided to work with some new producers including Trevor Horn who enjoyed working with the Icon. "It was fun" Horn said on Turners "In Your Wildest Dreams" DVD "I did some more." Turner felt the same thing. "Music changes all the time. It's modern, but it's me." Many critics felt the same and when she released the album "Wildest Dreams," it quickly went multi-platnium overseas and gold in the U.S. due to the hits "Missing You" and "In Your Wildest Dreams" which featured the late Barry White rapping and singing with Tina making it one of the hottest and requested R&B singles of 1997. Turner had embarked on her first global tour in ten years, selling out arenas in Amsterdam, but her career got hot when she appeared on the Oprah Winfrey show, and performed the title track as well as spoke about her life, career, and learning to appreciate her legs in her late 40's. Turner also had Winfrey perform a dance routine with her onstage which helped the Talk show get high ratings while rapper Warren G & singer Adina Howard remade Turner's classic "What's Love Got To Do With It.
1999 turned out to be another year for the Rock Queen. She opened the VH-1 Divas concert performing her classics with Elton John and Cher as well as celebrating her 60th with a television special in the U.K. She also released her platnium album "Twenty Four Seven" and annoucned to the world that she was going to embarking on her last tour. Making the tour special was Turner giving actress/singer Gloria Ruben the opportunity to sing background for her which she did for the first leg of the tour before she hiring Lisa Fischer to finish the rest of the tour which grossed over $100 million dollars outselling N-Synch and Dr Dre. While Tina was enjoying her retirment, many artists have spoke about how much they were influenced by her talent and legacy including rapper Lil' Kim, who listed her as one of her idols, while Destiny's Child had included "Proud Mary" during their 2002 world tour. For their 50th Anniversary special, The Four Tops asked Original Supreme Mary Wilson to perform their rendition of "River Deep Mountain High" while Austrialian group Human Nature asked Wilson to record the song on their 3rd Motown tribute album "Get Ready" as well as asking her to join them on special in their homeland. In 2003, Tina started to reemerge back in the spotlight; she teamed with Phil Collins to the single "Great Spirits" for the "Big Bear" soundtrack. 2 years later she released her double CD "All the Best" which debut at # 2 on the US charts while her single "Open Arms" became a huge hit and shortly after Carols Santana finally released his and Turner's version of the hit "The Game of Love" but the highlight for Tina was when she was honored at the Kennedy Center Award for contributions to music, where many famous performers paid tribute to her with song including Rapper/Singer/Actress Queen Latifah, Rock Lesbian Singer Melissa Etheridge, former Destiny's Child lead singer Beyonce Knowles and Al Green. After spending another two years away from the spot light, the Rock legend decided to take out her heels for another round, and one of the first stops she made was on the 50th Grammy Awards where Knowles introduced Tina to the crowd and later teamed up with her to perform the classic "Proud Mary" making it the most talked about performance of the Grammy's. On Entertainment Tonight, Turner said that the her reason for performing with Beyonce was to thank her for honoring her at the Kennedy Center three years earlier. She also teamed up with long time friend Cher on Oprah and performed some of their hits, and it was there where Tina made a stunning announcement; she was going back on the road, and as always her concert sold out extremly quickly, with many fans longtime and new coming out to see her do her thang including Electronic/Dance artist Baron, who took his grandmother to see her live.The Velocity Magazine Award winning artist told me what it was like seeing her perform the day after the concert. "It’s funny cause like I told you, I took my grandmother, and my grandmother is not much older than her, so I was thinking Tina Tuner at 69 years old performing for two hours, high energy, power I have no excuse (laughs). I have no excuse not to do what I want to dream People have no excuse for not living their dreams and not to be inspired by it; to go out and do what you love. That’s what I took home; I have no excuse not to."
Tina Turner has beated the odds through out her life, and has managed to pursue her dreams and still serves as an inspiration to everybody around the world, who has faced adversity in their lives. She showed the industry that A sexy Black middle-aged women can enjoy her life and doesn't have to be placed in a box. She also showed the world that you can leave an abusive situation and survive, and she also let the world know that being happy is living out your dreams.

2010-11-12T11:33:00.002-06:00

Young U.K. Rapper plans to make Young U.K. Rapper plans to make stride with debut single
Since 2007, young rappers like Soulja Boy and The New Boyz have conquered the charts with their catchy hooks and beats. Joining the wave of young rappers is U.K. based rapper/writer Realz, who’s already had a buzz with this debut single “Glowing” which is sure to be an international hit.
Born as Junior Arkele in East London, Realz’s was heavily influenced by Hip-Hop legends 2Pac and Jadakiss’ flow and lyrical styles, and by the time he reached his late teens, he had became a hit in the underground circuit which had many Hip-Hop legends including God’s Gift talking about his lyrical styletalking about his lyrical style and flow, but his big break came when Actor/Rapper Ashley Waters discovered the young MC on You Tube and quickly took him under his wing; the star of the hit films “Bullet Boy” and “Life And Lyrics"signed him to his production company, and has been helping him record his debut album and directed the video to his debut single “Glowing” which was shot in South Africa and is already creating a buzz all around the world.What makes Realz’s single hot are the beats, strings, guitar and horn riffs giving the song a hot Rock, Funk, Psychedelic feel along with the flow by Realz and Waters, and the lyrics that are hot, and inspirational, along with the bridge.Realz’s debut gets a 12 on a scale of 1-10 and it looks like Realz is gonna give the US another hot British Invasion with his hot track.

Realz' single "Glowing" is avaliable for purchase at I-Tunes
For further information check out
www.rlzworld.com

HONORING JOSEPH JEFFERSON: A LIFE TAKEN TOO SOON

2010-10-25T20:44:00.002-05:00

Words can't explain how I'm feeling about the recent stories about the Gay kids and young adults who have taken their lives due to bullying, harrasement and lack of support and love for their sexuality. I'm also sad to learn that the recent person to take their live was Party Promoter/Activist Joseph Jefferson, who was found in his Bed-Sty apartment this past weekend.
Many are sadden by his death, but many are shocked and wonder why would he take his own life? Especially since he was well loved, and respected in the community which earned him an award at the 2008 Latex Ball?
I'm not sure what he was going through personaly, but he seemed to have a strong spirit and a good heart and fun sprit.
I first met Joseph when I started attending a support group at POCC, and I would always see him walking around greeting people. A year later, he became the facilitor and we became friends and unlike most faclitators, Joseph always asked for out input, views, opinons and ideas, and he worked hard to grant our requests.
One of the greastest memories was us watching Mariah Carey's The Adventures of Mimi tour on DVD. We had a great time watching her peform as well as the DL Chornicles.He sat next to me and gave me a hug and asked if he could borrow my copy? How could I resist?
One thing that describes his compassion was when I learned that my Gay uncle was found unconcisous in his apartment and had died upon arriving at the hospital.(His death was due to health issues).
I remember telling Joseph about the loss and he along with the other members of the group was very supported. Especially when I informed them that a guy I was interested in didn't show me any support. I recall Joseph DW & J being upset and talking about how shady that bitch was for being inconsiderate. That brought me temporary comfort.
He used to have a joke about me and my choice of men. "I see you like Exotic Dick" he would say to me.
Another thing I recall was me and Joseph speaking about our experiences being Gay men. He spoke about how what him going to the Gay Pride Parade for the first time, the fun he had hanging out and going home with a date for the first time.
He also spoke about his upbring and how his Bajan father would tell him get an education or get a trade.
He had spoke about why he stopped hanging out in the Villiage-his mother was in the hospital and she had wanted him to visit him. He had visited her prior and he wanted to hang out. The night that he hung out in the Vill, his mother had died and her death had hurt him deeply to the point where he refused to hang out in the villiage (except for outreach).
When POCC was on the urge of closing, he had fought to keep the group going and he fought to tried to save 2008's Pride In The City. The pride was canceled, but he I'm glad that he fought.
A few months later, I attended the Latex Ball and was proud that Joseph was honored for his work within the Gay Community and when I went to congratulate and compliment him on his attire he was wearing, he thanked me and told me that he was listening to the CD's I made him while he was getting dressed for the ball. I walked away touched. I almost cried.
Me and Joseph would bump into each other and we would always speak and I never sensed that he was experiencing any pain or drama in his life, which makes this even more sad for me to bear and except.
I would like to say Joseph. You were a cool person with great taste, style and grace. I wish that you didn't have to go so soon. Despite what you may have been going through, you touched many peoples lives and I want to say thank you for the impact you made on others.
I know that you are in Heaven now with your mom and you are being a great service to the Angels in heaven making sure they have Pizza, Chinese and Mexican food from Brooklyn

From your client
Ra Shawn Da-Professor Chisolm

DA-PROFESSOR CHATS WITH SINGER/SONGWRITER JESSE-O

2010-08-23T12:06:00.005-05:00

I remember when singer/songwriter Jesse-O gave me a copy of his debut cd "Exposure" 4years ago, and after listening to the single "Step To This," I was hooked. I was happy to hear an R&B/Pop Male using male references in his music, and I played that song constantly. Nine months later, I saw the Out Music nominated artist perform, and was blown away with his showman ship, and his ability to captivate his audience with his vocals and dancing. Born in Ghana Africa, and raised in The Bronx, Jesse's began to hone his singing, songwriting and dancing skills at a young age, and during his college years, he continued to develop his vocal skills be joining an accapella group at the college he attended. Upon graduating, Jesse began to write songs for several artists including American Idol Runner up Clay Akin, but decided to pursue his own solo career, and began to perform at various events opening for many hit making artists including Award Winning Dancehall Artist Sean Paul, and was signed to the music label Music Wit A Twist distriubted by Sony Music in 2007, and released his single "I Think I'm Falling In Love" which gained major play on several online podcasts, while the video was aired on the Logo Channel. He also appeared on Njohi's single "Brother." After taking some time off, Jesse-O is back with a new album "Love & Go Crazy" and doing what he does best, give a good show, and he was gracious enough to speak via email about the new phrase of his career, his hot CD and his influences and the situation with his former label.

DA-PROFESSOR: Hey Jesse Thanks for allowing me to interview you. How have things been going and what you been up too
JESSE-O: Things are going great. I’ve been performing consistently. I’ve sold a bunch of CDs on iTunes. I’m having a good time.

DA-PROFESSOR: Alot of people are happy that you finally came back out. How does it feel to be back on the scene.

JESSE-O: It feels really good. I’ve been waiting for this moment a long time. The moment I’d be able to share new music with the world. I’ve been so anxious to do so. And finally I get to. The response has been great so I’m really happy.

DA-PROFESSOR: You did your thang at the Mix tape party during Gay Pride and Black Music month and at the James Saunders Boat Ride. What was it like to perform your new and anticipated single and what was it like performing on the famous boat ride?

JESSE-O: Performing is where I have the most fun so those gigs were great to do. Getting an immediate reaction from an audience..there’s nothing like it.

DA-PROFESSOR: You dropped your album Love And Go Crazy this summer. What was the concept of the album?

JESSE-O: Well the title says it all. I wrote songs about falling in love and eventually going crazy lol…love can make you crazy and irrational sometimes. I’m sure a lot of people can relate to that sentiment. Well the album follows a person from the first time they meet someone to becoming serious, to fighting, to breaking up, and to making up..craziness! lol

DA-PROFESSOR: You decided to release the album independently what happend with to the label Music Wit A Twist?

JESSE-O: Honestly Twist dropped all of its artists after the venture, I guess, wasn’t successful as they hoped. I believe one or two acts are still signed including comedian Kathy Griffin, believe it or not. She releases her comedy albums through them. But before she came around they signed 10 new artists to song deals including myself. And as far as I know they got rid of all of us. I honestly can’t tell you for sure why we were all dropped, but I gather it’s because of disappointing sales. It's sad, but I’ve since moved on.

DA-PROFESSOR: You decided to work with legendary producer Tori Fixx How do you linked up with him and what was it like working with him as opposed to producing the album yourself.

JESSE-O: It was great. He is so talented and totally gets me as an artist. And it takes a huge load of to have someone else take care of the production so I can focus on the singing and songwriting, which are the two aspects I love the most.

DA-PROFESSOR: I love the song Island Luv, what was the inspiration for that song

JESSE-O: Island Luv is personal. It’s based on a relationship I had with someone from the Caribbean. We’ll leave it at that lol.

DA-PROFESSOR: Another favorite song of mines is It's Over. I love the lyrics when you refer to the tramp as a piece of trade and trick What inspired you to use those references and do you plan on releasing that as a single and filming a video for that song?

JESSE-O: Thank you. I just felt like using those words. Of course I was giving the gay community a nod with that one. But anyone regardless of their sexual orientation could listen to that song and relate to it. And that’s how I like to write my songs. Give them universal appeal. And if a straight person heard the song and was curious what “trade” meant, I could educate them lol. I have a lot of straight fans which is great because they totally get what I’m doing cause I make the music relatable without compromising who I am. As of now, I have no plans to release the song as a single or to shoot a video. But if enough people request for that to happen, maybe it will!

DA-PROFESSOR: My other favorites are Sober and Keep It Together which has deep and touching lyrics about the struggles that many Gay males go through (depression, wanting to get back with your ex, heartache, trying to maintain insanity and surviving) and it reminds me of New Edition's classic "Can You Stand The Rain." What isnpired you to write those deep and inspirational songs with that vibe and will you release those as singles as well?

JESSE-O: I appreciate that you noticed that Keep It Together is reminiscent of “Can You Stand The Rain”. I actually modeled “Keep It Together” after that New Edition style and the producers’ Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis’ vocal arranging style. I idolize the work of Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. I was inspired by things I was going through myself when I wrote those songs. As far as releasing them as singles, that remains to be seen. We’ll see

DA-PROFESSOR: You also collaborated with Rapper Shorty Roc and Alternative artist Baron. What was it like to finally work with those two talented artists and are there any other LGBT artist you would like to work with? It was a lot of fun working with Shorty Roc and Baron.

JESSE-O: Both those guys took the songs to new heights. So that was exciting.

DA-PROFESSOR: You mentioned that your released this cd independtly What's are the pros and cons with being independent as opposed to being signed with a major label?

JESSE-O: The advantage is that you have full creative control, and you can express yourself however you want..But on the flip side, without a major label you don’t have a large budget and are therefore limited in a lot of ways; The extent to which you can promote and the ways that you can promote. Budgets for videos, warbrobe, make up, etc are limited and you have to be creative and find ways to make things work despite the limitations; Pull favors and so on and so forth. Its tough but its great to see things work out and to see your vision come through. As an indie artist, because promotion is on a much smaller scale fewer people know or find out about you. Of course youtube is giving people the capability to reach bigger audiences if they create something original and captivating enough to attract a massive viewership.

DA-PROFESSOR: With the number of openly LGBT artists out doing their thing with their music is it still hard for Gay artists to be accepted and respected? Why?

JESSE-O: Yes its still hard. A lot of our world still doesn’t wanna hear it. Even some gay people don’t care to hear it. “Just give me good music, why does anyone need to know who you go to bed with” they will say. And they are right about on thing; the most important thing is that the music is good. However I think from a place of activism there is something important about an artist being open about their sexuality. The person is making a statement. They are saying “Im here and I’m wonderful as I am, I don’t have to make believe I’m something else to sell records”. I think that’s so important. I think most people, who are aware at all that there is a movement like this, don’t get it. But slowly, but surely, I think we are getting heard, and making a difference through art. And all we need is to make better and better art that people can really get into.

DA-PROFESSOR: In addition to promoting your album you also performed with another group a few weeks ago? Is that another project you do?

JESSE-O: Yes. I am a member of an A Capella group called “One Guy Upstate”..I was in an A Capella group in college and a few of us from the college group decided to put a new group together. We started the group last year and have done a couple shows so far. Its a lot of fun.

DA-PROFESSOR: What can fans expect from your touring?

JESSE-O: Well as of know I can’t say that I’m officially gonna be touring. I have sprinkles of shows here and there and fans can check out my schedule at jesseoworld.com

DA-PROFESSOR: I also see that you have a new set of dancers. When do you look for when it comes to recuriting dancers?

JESSE-O: I look for dancers who look good doing my style of choreography. That’s basically it.

DA-PROFESSOR: I know that you're influenced by many artists from different genres of music? Who are your influcences?

Janet and Michael Jackson, Jimmy Jam and Terri Lewis, Madonna, Stevie Wonder, Babyface, Lionel Richie, Brian McKnight, Beyonce, Missy Elliot, Timberland, Usher..just to name a few lol.

DA-PROFESSOR: I remember seeing you perform Marvin Gaye's classic "What's Going On." From your opinoin why is that song such a classic and how is it still relelvant?

JESSE-O: The message of that song will always be relevant. Particularly now you look at our world and you can’t help but wonder what’s going on, with matters such as the oil disaster, the middle east wars, etc.

DA-PROFESSOR: Would you ever considering redoing that song along with Brian Mc Knight's "One Last Cry?"

JESSE-O: Maybe.

DA-PROFESSOR: Last year we lost Motown legend Michael Jackson. How did his untimely passing affect you and how do you think his and sister Janet's music are still making an impact on both the hetero and Gay community?

JESSE-O: Like most people I was deeply saddened by MJ’s death. I lost one of the most influential people in my life..That was difficult and strange. And offcourse, Michael and Janet’s artistry are the backbone of Pop/R&B culture. Their influence is universal regardless of the sexual orientation of the people they have touched and continue to touch.

DA-PROESSOR: Which mainstream artist would you like to work with?

JESSE-O: Beyonce and Janet Jackson lol.

DA-PROFESSOR: There are alot of artist who think they can make a CD and video on You Tube but they don't know that it takes more than having good looks and a tight body to be successful. How important is Artist development?

JESSE-O: Well at the moment, I develop myself for the most part. It’s so important to learn your craft. Getting voice lessons, going to songwriting workshops, performing as much as possible to step up your performance game up. As an artist, you can always be better and should always strive to. It's important to also figure out who you are as an artist and work on communicating your uniqueness effectively to the world. All of this is important in achieving success.

DA-PROESSOR: In addition to singing do you plan on writing for other artists and do you plan on doing any acting?

JESSE-O: I don’t have any immediate plans to do either but I’m very open to both!

DA-PROFESSOR: Where do you see yourself in the next 5 years?

JESSE-O: Well I’d like to record a third album. I’d like to see my support base continue to grow. I’d like to travel and perform in other parts of the world. Basically I just want to continue to build on what I started and get better and better as an artist.

DA-PROFESSOR: What advice would you give to a gay kid who wants to pursue a career as an open artist.

JESSE-O: I’d say do it! I think its important. Its sets an example. It sends a message to the world that I am ok exactly as I am. I think that’s the main issue with LGBT life. There is a pervasive attitude that there is inherently something wrong with us. I think openly gay artists challenge that notion and help to raise the self-esteem of the collective. Don’t get me wrong this is a process that is not happening overnight. It will take time A LOT of time. But today is a start. And the more artists that are brave enough to be open, the bigger the strides we will make. I would say to any artist considering this path, it is very hard. Pursuing music is hard in and of itself but being open takes that difficulty to a whole other level. Doors will be closed and opportunities taken away. But if you see music as a vehicle for change, go for it!

DA-PROFESSOR: Thanks for allowing me to interviewing. How can viewers contact you and buy your music at?

JESSE-O: Thank you RaShawn..they can go to jesseoworld.com to contact me and purchase my music.

CHRIS BREEZY GIVES TEARFUL PERFORMANCE AND TRIBUTE TO MJ: TIME FOR HIM TO BE REDEEMED

2010-06-28T11:35:00.002-05:00

While I was on Facebook this morning a good friend had wrote a post about Chris Brown giving a wonderful tribute to the late Michael Jackson. I gave him a thumbs up and later check it out on You Tube and I was excited. Chris had the moves down packed, but when he attempted to perform MJ's inspirational anthem "Man In The Mirror" he started to break down in tears to the point where he began to cry. He was so overcome with grief that the audience started to applaud and give him love; love that he needs and the love that MJ would have given him despite of the incident that occured with his ex Rhianna.
Looking at the performance I could imagine what the award-winning star was going through; last year his idol had died while preparing to make a comeback, and he was told at the last minute that he couldn't perform due to sponsors and politics and the sentence he received. That had to have been devestating to be looked down upon while other celebrites who had done far more worse than he did (including R. Kelly who co-wrote Jackson's ballad "You Are Not Alone") got several passes. At least Chris apologize for what happen unlike the Pied Piper who still denies what he did to those girls despite it being on tape.
I could imagine Chris feeling sad because he had to wait for a whole year to give MJ who had praised him in his last interview with Ebony Magazine a heartfelt tribute. MJ's music has touched many people and his death still has many fans sad, but for Chris to have personally known and interacted with the Motown Legend has to be too much to bear, and I'm so glad that Chris was finally able to give the King of Pop the heartfelt tribute that he desereved and would have loved.

MICHAEL JACKSON A YEAR AFTER HIS HOME GOING

2010-06-25T19:48:00.002-05:00

I still can't beleive that my favorite singer Michael Jackson has passed away.
It's been a year since he's gone to the Motown studio in Heaven and since his passing many people have kept his memory alive by playing his music and remembering the love he provided for many arouond the world
It's hard for me to accpept that he has gone; sometimes I can't say his name in the past tense but I feel his spirit whenever I watch his short films and whenever I see Chris Brown Usher and his sister Janet perform.
I would love for the media to address him by his government name and respect his kids

MARVIN ISLEY DIES

2010-06-11T10:51:00.004-05:00

Bassit/songwriter Marvin Isley died last week after battling complications from diabetes. The talented and suave bassits/songwriter had died in Chicago after battling the disease for many years at the age of 56.
Marvin was the youngest member of The Isley Brothers, who had played bass and helped his older brothers co-write and produce several of their hits including "For The Love of You," "Sensuality," "Don't Say Goodnight," "Voyage To Atlantis" and the classic heavily sampled hit "Between The Sheets."
Marvin was born in Ohio on August 18th 1953 where he was exposed to music by his mother and older siblings Ronald, O'Kelly and Rudolph who was already pursuing their successful career. When his older brothers reached their peak, Marvin had relocated to Teaneck New Jersey with his family and began to play bass. After graduating from high school, he, his brother Ernie and cousin Chris Jasper had joined the older brothers band and later became members of the group making the Isley Brothers a sextet who conquered the music world with their classic albums "3+3" and the classic "The Heat Is On," which topped both the Soul and Pop album charts and released the classics "For The Love of You," "Fight The Power," and the radio hits "Make Me Say It Again Girl" and "Sensulaity." Other hits include "Voyage To Atlantis" "Here We Go Again" and "Between The Sheets" which was the last album to feature the classic sextet. Marvin, Chris and Ernie had left their older siblings and formed their own trio Isley/Jasper/Isley and released their first album "Broadway's Closer To Sunset Boulervard" which showed their Rock side, which sold poorly, due to many of their Soul music fans not accepting them perform anything form of music than R&B, so they retunred to their Soul roots with their classic "Caravan of Love" which topped the R&B charts followed and was remade by UK group The Housemartins, whose version topped the UK charts follow up "Irrestiable Woman." After releasing a third album in 1987, the group spilt and began to pursue other projects. In 1990, Marvin rejoined his older brother Ron after their brother Rudolph decided to retire and pursue a career in ministry four years after the death of their brother O'Kelly and their mother. Marvin started to play electric guitar until Ernie returned making the group a trio who recorded two hit albums "Tracks of Life" and the mulit-platnium classic "Mission To Please" which featured the album track "Let's Get Intimate" which the trio wrote and produced. The album became a hit and introduced the group to younger generation of music and an invittion to meet President Bill Clinton, but almost a year after the album's release, Marvin was forced to leave the group due to complications of diabetes, which sadly resulted in him having both of his legs ampultated. During an interview in 2001, he spoke about his regret of not making his health a priority.

"If I would have listened, if I would have understood diabetes like I understood music, maybe these things wouldn't have happened," Isley told the Atlanta Jounral Constitution newspaper.

While he was retired, his music was being played on radio and was sampled by several artists including rap group Rottin Razkals who sampled the classic "Caravan of Love" for their hit "Hey Alright."

In addition to his brothers Ronald, Rudolph and Ernie, Marvin is also survived by his cousin Chris Jasper, sister-in-law Elaine, wife, son and two daughters.

HOT SEXY AND TALENTED LGBT ARTISTS ROCKS CAFE

2010-06-11T09:32:00.008-05:00

Last week the Bowery Poetry Cafe was blessed with a hot performance by many of today's talented Gay and Lesbian and Gay-Friendly performers, who used their God-given talents to help promote the Emerald Cith Mixtape release party, and let me tell you I've never been to a show that was hot, creative and fun. Especially when they had only 15 minutes to have sound checks.
The show began with Kraven Seneca opening with some hot dance moves to the Black-Eye Peas that had the audience cheering followed by Harlem based rapper Infinitie performing her joint "Why U Hating" with Velocity award winning artist Baron who strutted around the room in Jody Watley mode, while Ifinitie brought her hardcore swagger and flow showing people that women can rock the mic without showing skin. Next up was Pop singer Dy'Ari performed his single "The Girl In Me" showing his well sculpted chest. Vocals started off light, but improved during the end of the song which got a great round of applause. While the crowd was socializing, Last Offence grabbed the mic and performed his latest single "Back It On Up" showcasing his flow and showing New York Midwestern and West Coast love. Jesse-O rocked the stage by performing his hit "I Can't Help It" along with incorporating two songs from his newly released album "Love And Go Crazy." What made his performance hot was the duet he sang with a male singer who Jesse showed intamcy with before performing a breaking out of bondage performance with the dancers. Next Dance artist Sir Ben Marx performed his hot dance single Miraclous Phenonamal wearin' athletic sweat suit and rope chain, while rapper Bry'nt rocked the crowd performing a medley of his hits "Dicks Over Chicks (The Slogan) and "Hello Goodbye" on another stage with posters of himself and with a microphone stand before going into the audience and asking the crowd to say 'get money.' Another hot highlight of the show was when Dancehall Ihsan performed her hot single "Jamaican Lady" which had all the guest of African and Caribbean descent grinding and shaking their groove things. A good and great move to show people that there are Caribbean people in the world who are Gay-Friendly and that being homophobic is not cool.
The show ended with Baron taking the stage and performing a remix of his hit "Golden" and expressing his gratitude of the show along with Lynne Rene, who helped coordinate the show.
After the show most of the artist mingled with the crowd and dance to sounds of DJ Stereotype playing hot joints by Janet Jackson, Lil' Kim, Biggie Smalls and other talented artists.

For those who are interested you can download the mixtape for free on this link

BLACK MUSIC MONTH HIGHLIGHT: LOOSE END'S 25 YEAR RUN AND IMPACT

2010-06-02T11:05:00.000-05:00

When UK R&B trio Loose Ends emerged onto the music scene in 1985, they captured America by story with their music, lyrics and accent. The group was founded by Steve Nichol, a classically trained musician, who discovered Carl McIntoish at a club and Jane Eugene at a college fashion show.
The trio inked a deal with MCA Records and released their debut album "So Where Are You" which contained the single "Hanging On A String" which topped the US R&B Charts and became a favorite among music lovers, who loved the opening line 'Put your loving arms around me boy." The group appeared on many shows in the US including Soul Train, while their video were in heavy rotation on New York City Hot Tracks.
Their follow up Zarago fared better by peaking at # 7 on the US R&B/Soul charts thanks to the hit "Stay A Little While" which peaked at the top of the R&N/Soul Charts making them the first Black British Group to have two # 1 R&N hits in the US. Their follow up single "Slow Down" became a hit as well and many fans were waiting to see how far the group was going to go.
Sadly they didn't reach their peak. By the late 1980's the group became to have creative differences: Nichol had wanted to experiment with other styles of music while Jane and Carl wanted to continue recording Soul and Pop music so they two left and were replaced by two female vocalists Linda Carriere and Sunay Suleyman, and while the new line-up scored a top then hit with "Don't Be A Fool," many of the fans weren't feeling the new line-up, so they disbanded two years later.
During the late 1990's many Hip-Hop and R&B artists had began to honor the group's legacy by sampling and redoing their songs including Mariah Carey, who sampled the trio's hit "Stay Awhile" for the remix of her ballad "My All" which featured rap duo Pete Gunz and Lord Tariq, while Hip-Hop producer and DJ Pete Rock asked original vocalist Jane and Carl to sing on his single "Take Your Time" introducing the group's music and legacy to a new generation and legion of fans, while having longtime fans excited and anticipating a reunion. Well the trio has plans to reunite soon.

ME EXPERIENCE MEETING ALI-OLLIE WOODSON

2010-06-01T16:39:00.004-05:00

While I was typing my tribute to former Temptation lead singer Ali-Ollie Woodson, I decided to whip out my "Emperors of Soul" boxed set and rock The Temptations' classic "Treat Her Like A Lady" a song that he co-wrote with Otis Williams which became a huge hit for the Motown legends peaking at # 2 on the R&B/Soul charts in 1984.
As I listened to his famous riffs, I began to reflect on seeing him.
It was October 1988 and my cousin had won tickets to see The Temptations and The O'Jays live at Radio City Music Hall. She was unable to attend becasue she and her ex had moved into their apartmetn so she gave decided to give them to me and her mother, my aunt Laurtette who like me was shocked to learn that we had front row seats.
I had enjoyed the O'Jays perform, but when the Tempts came onstage, I was excited, Dressed in a Black and yellow sweater, Black linen pants and pattern leather shoes, I was in my seat excited, and my aunt ssid Shawn look at the limo. They had a limo come from under the stage, and when the DJ were announcing the group, I was more excited. Introducing Otis Williams, Richard Street, Ron Tyson and Ali-Ollie Woodson I gagged.
'Whre happened to Dennis" I asked my self as the group performed "Papa Was A Rolling Stone" It didnt' matter because I was in my seat doing the routines amd singing along to the songs (Some I never heard before).
What I remember about the concert was how he performed bass singer Melvin Franklin's parts (Melvin was recovering from throat surgery) and how he enteracted with the crowd. He shocke my hands 5 times and gave me a thumbs up. He was suprsed to see a tall skinny Black teenager in the front row enjoying the sounds of Motown. After the concert me and Laurette went to the stage door to get autographes and Otis came to the baracade and signed my picture with my pen. Then Ali-Ollie came out and told us he would be back. He was escoritng his girlfrind to the limo. (Talk about class)
He came back and signed autographs for the fans. When my aunt pulled out a 20 she told him that was all she had his reply was 'that's alright." Then he took my pictue, signed it and shook my hand for the 5th time.
Welcome back I said
Thansk he said before he left.
It was a blessing that I had the authors of my favorite song autograph my picture (though I can't find it). I almost didnt' wash my hand for 3 days.

FORMER TEMPTATION LEADSINGER ALI-OLLIE WOODSON JOINS MOTOWN REVUE IN HEAVEN

2010-06-01T12:54:00.009-05:00

Motown Legend and former Temptations lead signer/songwriter Ali-Ollie Woodson died over the Memorial Day weekend after battling cancer. He was 58. Woodson is best known for his Gospel-trained singing and shouting, but he was also a talented songwriter, musician and arranger, who had co-wrote the group's 1984 comeback hit "Treat Her Like A Lady" with the group's founder Otis Williams (See Motown Flashback-The Tempts Classic Anthm for Women October 24, 2009), which is still a favorite among R&B music lovers around the world. This artile highlights his career.
Woodson was born on October 12, 1951 in Detroit Michiagan and like many Detroiters, he started singing at the church choir at a young age. It was singing in the choir that helped him learn apprection for harmonies. By the time he reached his adoloence and teenage years, he became fascinated by the sounds of Motown and a huge fan of The Temptations, who one of the label's and world's most loved, respected and emulated groups of all times. While many of the city's youth would rush to the Fox Theatre to see them perform, Ali-Ollie had the honor of seeing the group's lead singer David Ruffin on a daily basis.
"When I was nine or ten living in Detroit, every evening around dusk, I would see David Ruffin leave his house and go by on his motorcylce" Woodson said in the liner notes of The Temptation's boxed set "Emperors of Soul." I got a thrill out of that."
Shortly after his 19th birthday, Ali-Ollie was hired by Bill Pinkley of the Drifters as a singer and musician, but he his big break came in 1977 when he learned that The Temptations were leaving Motown for Atlantic and were in search of a lead singer to replace Dennis Edwards, the group's lead singer at the time. Ali-Ollie won them over with his pipes, but he lost in the hair department.
"For some strange reason he had Orangish hair, which was a little rough on the eyes" The Temptations' founder Otis Williams wrote in his autobiography "Temptations." "We weren't sure that he would blend in with the Tempt's visiual image, so we passed on him." Ali understood and later became the lead singer of Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes replacing Teddy Pendergrass and later working with various bands and singers and writing songs. In 1983, millions of fans had tuned into Motown 25, and along with Michael Jackson's performance of "Billie Jean." everybody enjoyed the seagment were the Temptations and The Four Tops performed a battle while singina a medley of their songs inlcuding Ali-Ollie, who got more than a thrill watching. On the group's Motown on Showtime special, Ali spoke of how a chill came over his body as he watched Levi sing The Tempt's classic "I Know I'm Losing You."
"As Levi looked and Dennis and sang It's all over your face. Someone's taking your plance, a cold chill came over my body and I was like could it be me?"
The answer was yes. Shortly after the Motown special, The Tempts hwere working on their "Back To Basics" album, when Edwards' personal issues was affecting his performances, and when the group knew that it was time to replace him, Melvin Franklin, the late bass singer had informed Otis that his mother was good friends with Ali's father, and when he informed his mother of the issues they were having with Edwards, she told Ali's father to get in touch with the group, who told him to meet them in Atlanta and when he arrived he didn't have that orangish colored hair anymore. In stead his hair was full of curls. "He done something with his hair, so he looked better." Williams wrote in "Temptations." "Richard asked him to squall for us and he squalled; the audition was over. We told him to be packed and ready to leave for Los Angelas, where we were recording Basics." Though the album was almost coplete, Ali did sang lead on the album track "Stop The World Right Here I Wanna Get Off" which was only a taste of his talent. When the group began to work on their next album, Ali-Ollie not only blessed the group with his vocals, he also displayed his songwriting and arranging talents, which would help The Temptations become more than a singing group. "Ollie was a songwriter, so when Melvin's interest in writing with me declined I paired up with Ollie. His strong suit was melodies; he played several instruments in addition to being a flexible singer" Williams wrote.
Former Earth, Wind & Fire member Al Mc Kay was also impressed with Ali-Ollie's talent. While he and Ralph Randolph was producing the group, he challenged them to be better musicians.
"Ollie challenged me. 'Man you should play piano like this'" Mc Kay said in the Emperor of Soul boxed set liner notes. "Then he went out there and showed me." In the fall of 1984, The Temptation's album "Truly For You" was released to rave reviews and became an instant classic and favorite among the fans and Williams, who with Ali-Ollie co-wrote the album's lead gold single "Treat Her Like A Lady" which became the group's biggest hit of the 1980's peaking at # 2 on the R&B/Soul charts and # 48 on the Pop charts.
"It's one of my favorites and not because I wrote part of it" Otis wrote in the liner note of "My Girl: The Very Best of The Temptations." "It was one of those songs that never seems to fade." The song also showed the critics and young kids who were rocking to the sounds of Hip-Hop, and New Wave that the Temptations were able to keep up with the times without losing their idenities. In fact,the song was so hot that many teenaged boys would sing and/lip-synch this song in talent shows and wound up winning first and second place. While Ali's vocal style was similiar to Edwards, he had the ability to ad-lib amd hit high notes in both tenor and falsetto style. He also had a style look and vibe that connected him with females and males.
"He had this swagger about himself. He was cool. He had a coolness about himself that was really very inviting," Billy Wilson, President of the Motown Alumni Association said.
Ali-Ollie also had great showman ship and a great sense of humor which he blended together in concert. Right before the group would perform, "Ain't Too Proud To Beg," Ali would tell the men, 'fellas, I want you to turn to your woman, look her in the eyes and say baby,' and before you knew it, he was sining the opening line of the classic, which would have men shocked and laughing. Right before he performed "Treat Her Like A Lady," he would speak about the ladies needs, and would launch into the classic.
Ali also co-wrote the group's follow up albums "Touch Me" and "To Be Continued.." along with singing on the singles "Do You Really Love Your Baby," "Lady Soul" "To Be Continued,," and "Someone" which showcased his Gospel roots. During his first tenuere with the Temptations they had embarked on a successful tour with The Four Tops on the legendary T-N-T tour and performed on the special "Motown Returns To The Apollo" and on "Moonlighting" where the star Bruce Williams asked the group to perform on his single "Under The Boardwalk" which became a huge hit in the UK and in Europe.
Ali-Ollie was a great asset to The Temptations, but unfortantley, he began to have personal issues and show up late for performances, which would force Otis to confront him about his latness with pep talks in hotel rooms. "I've been around some singing ass brothers and you can hold your own wit the best of them and I'm including David Ruffina nd Dennis Edwards. But if you don't get your act together, you're going to be sorry" Otis told him constantly. In January 1987, he was let go and Dennis Edwards had retuuned to the group, but during the summer of 1988. Edwards left permantely, and Ali-Ollie was given another opportunity and he didn't disappoint. In fact, when the group performed at Radio City Music Hall and at Showtime on The Apollo, the fans were happy that he had returned. Especially when the group performed "Treat Her Like A Lady."
"I had my ups and downs" he confessed in the "Emperors of Soul" liner notes. "But I picked myself up and dusted myself off. I survived." When he retunred, Motown had been sold to MCA Records and under the leadership of Jheryl Busby, the group had recorded two albums "Special" and "Milestone" and scored with the singles "All I Want From You." "Special" and "Soul To Soul" which became a favorite among fans thanks to the video being in heavy rotation on Video Soul. While the latter album wasn't a big hit, it was the group's 50th album and critics had noticed Ali's ability to make a song his own. Especially on the album's single "Hoops of Fire." which he sang to his wife while cutting it. "My girlfriend at the time-my wife now-was sitting in the control room and I looked straight at her. I said baby I love you baby' and sang the first lines.
During his second tenure with the Motown legends, Ali-Ollie was inducted into the NAACP Image Hall of Fame and received a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame as a member of The group. In September 1995, The Tempations released their classic album "For Lovers Only" which featured their renditions of classic love songs including "Some Enchated Evening," "Time After Time," "You Send Me" and "Life Is But A Dream" and while the album received excellent reviews, it was a bitter sweet moment for the group. While recording, the group's bass singer Melvin Franklin had died, leaving a void that has yet to be filled, and the lack of promotion and changes of Presidents at Motown forced Ali-Ollie to leave along with a diagnosis of throat cancer, something he would battle for the rest of his life. He was replaced by Terry Week. While the group would gain larger success with the release of the mini-series and it's double platnium album "Phoneix Rising," Ali-Ollie continued to be active in the world of entertainement. He made numerous guest appearances on many televison shows including the short-lived series "Good News" where he played a member of the choir and on The Jamie Foxx, where he played a patient in a mental hosptial and performed "Treat Her Like A Lady" on piano. In addition to starring in several musicals, he also pursued a solo career releasing his music independebtly as well as forming his own group Emperors of Soul with Richard Street a former member of The Temptations and Franklin's cousin for a number of years before joining Dennis Edwards' group The Temptations Revue, where the group won reviews for their performances of "Some Enchantment Evening" and his signature hit. Woodson had also temporarily rejoined Otis' line-up for their 2002 Japanese tour when member Barrington Bo Henderson wasn't able to perform with them due to visa problems.
In late 2008 Ali-Ollie was diagnosed with leukemia and was hospitlaized for many weeks before dying from the disease in Southern California after battling it for 18 months.
Many are sadden by his death including Wilson, who describe him as a cool and caring person. "Woodson was "always a gentleman and always polite and kind to everybody. If we ever asked him to do anything, he never said, 'well, it's going to cost you.' He'd always say, 'yeah, let's go,'" said Wilson
Survivors include his wife Juanita, several children, fans, collegues and Temptations Otis Williams, Richard Street, Ron Tyson and Dennis Edwards who he was blessed to perform with.
Ali-Ollie Woodson was a very talented man, who shared his gift of singing and writing with the world, and he left us with one of The Temptations' biggest hits and favorite songs "Treat Her Like A Lady" a song that will be played for many years and will hopefully let the new breed of aspiring singers know that you have to have showmanship, classy swagger and talent.

Temptation Forever

This tribute is deciated to the memory of Ali-Ollie Woodson.

DA-PROFESSOR'S OBERSAVTION OF GARY COLEMAN'S CHARACTER ARNOLD JACKSON

2010-05-29T15:31:00.002-05:00

As a child watching "Diff'rent Strokes," I loved the show and I was a huge fan of Gary Coleman. Especially when he played in the movie "Playing With Fire."
As I sit back and have "Reflections" about the show, I'm gonna write about things about Arnold's character. Things that many people may have overlooked and didn't observed.

Many remember Arnold as being a wild, crazy and fun kid, but he was also sassy, smart, outspoken, smart and had common sense.

In the first episode, his brother Willis didn't want to live his their new father who happened to be their late mother's boss who took them in at her request. He felt that Mr. Drummond was trying to buy their love and affection with money and fancy gifts. After Willis express how he felt, Mr. Drummond apologized and when he left, Arnold decided to let Willis have it. When Willis told Arnold not to speak to him, Arnold replied by saying is this a word and stuck out his tongue and spat at him.
He also reminded Willis that if their mother was alive, she would have his behind and he told him that he was wrong for being disrespectful to Mr. Drummond who she asked to care of them. He also told him that he wasn't being fair to Momma, Mr. Drummond and him. Willis later apologized.

Another episode comes to mind is when their cousin came to visit the boys and tried to fake an accident to gain money from them When Willis took Arnold upstairs to their bedroom, he tried to break it down what was happening, and Arnold told him about their cousin's plan to rip off their dad.

Arnold was known for snooping into his brother's and sister's business, and when Mr. Drummond told him not to be telling their business, he decided to sneak into their bedroom and hide under the bed with his tape recorder to tape their conversation. He wound up getting more than an ear-full when he learned that Kimberly's boyfriend at the time didn't want his sister to attend a dance with Willis because he was Black.
When Willis' date called to cancel, Arnold spilled the beans that had Phillip, Willis and Kimberly mad. They decided to get even; when the moron came to pick her up, Kimberly strolled the stairs of their penthouse wearing brown make-up that had her date upset to the point where he demanded she change her costume.
Kimberly asked him how did he feel if he was Black. He tried to denied he was prejudice and when Arnold told him he had the proof, he was shocked. Especially when Willis and Phillip told him about himself and when Kimberly showed him the door.

Arnold was also known for giving people a piece of his mind. Especially when his back was against the wall and when he was accused of something he didn't do

One episode was when this bully had asked him to look after his girlfriend while he was away. To save his life, he did everything he could, including paying males who found her attractive and being his outgoing self. She was so impressed that she fell for him and left a letter in his locker telling him that she wanted to be with him. When the thug found out he planned to attack Arnold physically and the next day in school he forced Arnold into a closet, and while Arnold was afraid, he decided that since his back was against the wall, he was going to fight him back anyway he could. Even if it meant coming out with some bruises. It didn't happen. Instead Arnold told him that in order for people to respect him that he had remove that chip from his shoulder and give people the opportunity to get to know him and to stop bullying people. He also told him that he had to love, trust and respect him girlfriend because if he didn't she was going to leave him for somebody else.

Another episode that comes to mind was when a white student who tried to pressure Arnold into drinking. Arnold decided to give in at first, but after a talk with his father, he changed his mind and confronted the kid. who left the bathroom. When Arnold tried to hide the bottle of booze, his teacher came in and assumed that Arnold was the one with the drinking problem so he called his father and ordered them to attend a meeting with the school's drug counselor. He took the heat, but when he saw the kid in the bathroom, he decided that he wasn't going to take the fall, so not only did he confront him, he grabbed the bottle from him, poured it down the drain and told him he had to get help. The kid wound up improving his grades.

During the show, he always had a conflict with a Black girl named Lisa who always thought she was better than everybody. Lisa and Arnold used to but heads and though she was a female, he would give her a piece of her mind. One time he got so fed up with her that he decided to play a trick on her; he decided to tamper with her science project, until he, Dudley and Robbie learned that their substitute Science teacher was her mother. Fearing that Lisa would convince her to give him a low grade, he decided not to, but after hiding under the desk, Arnold learned that Darling Lisa wasn't as tough as she acted. When Lisa entered the class to snitch on the other student's playing in the hallway, her mother confronted her about tattling on other children and causing problems. She also reminded her about the talk she had with her after her father died, and that she needed to focus on school and to look after her younger siblings. Arnold decided to with his evil plan and he felt guilty after the expression on her face after the other students (who didn't like her shady attitude) laughed at her. Arnold later spoke to his father who told her that he was wrong and needed to apologize to her. Arnold tried to speak to Lisa's mother about not being too strict on her. He was rebuffed, so he decided to write a silly story about the love between a frog and it's toads.

TV LEGEND GARY COLEMAN DIES

2010-05-29T09:21:00.006-05:00

Legendary actor/writer Gary Coleman died in a Utah hospital after suffering from a brain hemmorage. The legendary actor had fell in his Utah home and was taken to the hospital where he was at first listed in stable condition, but started to lose conscioness resulting with having to be place on life support. Sadly he never made it and he died leaving behind a legacy. Coleman was known for playing on the hit television show "Different Strokes" as Arnold Jackson, the son of a house keeper, who had asked her boss Mr. Phillip Drummond (Conrad Bain) to adopt him and his older brother Willis ((Todd Bridges) after she dies. The show had dealt with issues of race, class, and issues of childhood and acceptance, which became a hit along with Coleman's famous line 'Whatchoo talkin' bout Willis?"
While from 1978-1986. Coleman had won the hearts of millions with his comic timing, his acting skills and charm, but while he was bringing people joy, he was dealing with his own pain and heartache,
Coleman was born on February 8, 1968 in Zion Illinois and was adopted by by Edmonia Sue, a nurse and W.G. Coleman rep for a Pharmacy. Coleman was also diagnosed with a
congenital kidney disease caused by focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (an autoimmune destruction and alteration of the kidney), which halted his growth at an early age, leading to a small stature and resulted in him having two kidney transplants and receiving daily dialysis. Shortly before his tenth birthday, Coleman began to start in many commercials, but his big break came when he landed the role of Arnold Jackson on the hit award winning series "Different Strokes" as Arnold Jackson, the fun loving, outrageous and outspoken kid who along with his cool, outspoken and suave brother Willis is adopted by Phillip Drummond a wealth White Businessman and his teenage daughter Kimberly, after their late mother, Drummond's housekeep asked him to look after her sons if anything were to happen to her.
One the show Coleman's character was known for his urban swagger and catch phrase "Whatchoo Talking About Willis?" (He would also say that with other cast and in different situations) and while his character was lively, fun, and full of energy, he did have moments where he would speak his mind about issues that showed "Don't let my looks and age fool you. I do have common sense."
For his role, Coleman became a hit with young kids and received numerous awards and nominations for his role.
In his autobiography "Killing Willis" Gary's co-star Todd Bridges writes about how he and Coleman used to have fun on the set and the close bond they had during the first few seasons. He also writes about how Coleman was the little brother he never had.
While each of the cast had their own amount of fans, Coleman became very popular and began making guest appearances in on many television shows including "The Jeffersons" and "Good Times" as well as many hit television movies including "The Kid With The Broken Halo" with Robert_Guillaume and Thelma Hopkins. He played Andy Lebeau an Angel who was sent on Earth to help kids solve conflicts which later became the basis for the cartoon "The Gary Coleman Show" which became a hit. He also starred in the hit NBC television movie "Playing With Fire" where he played a African-American teenager in the suburbs, who had issues accepting his parents divorce would start fires in his home as a way to gain attention and to express his pain. Many fans and critics praised Coleman's performance in this classic saying that it was a great stretch for to showcase his acting skills by playing a serious and dramatic role.
Coleman had also wrote an episode for Different Strokes where his character was mugged, which resulted in him carrying a knife for protection.
After a 8 year run, the show was canceled, after taking time off to relax, Coleman began to write screenplays as well as making guest appearances on talk shows. He also made a guest appearance on the hit series "227" as a gangster once again winning rave reviews by the pubic, but he had a hard time making the smooth transition from child actor to adult star due to his height, and Hollywood casting directors and the fans refusal to accept and see him as a adult.
"I liked "Diff'rent Strokes" up until about the last three or four years. I was bored," he told CNN's Larry King in 1999. "I was disinterested, and I was jealous because I was missing my childhood and I was missing normalcy. I knew what normalcy was, and I wasn't having it."
In the television documentary movie "Behind The Camera: The authorized story of Different Strokes," the movie detailed the struggles the cast went through behind and off the scene with Coleman's parents being more focused on his career than his physical health as well as Coleman fighting with executives to make Arnold's character mature and deal with issues surrounding teenagers.
Bridges has admitted how his own issues with family and drugs was one damper that hindered their friendship, but in his autobiography, he writes how Coleman's parents (especially his father) was becoming egotistic, making demands and and they didn't like associating with too many Blacks when his fame began to rise.
Todd is on the money; Coleman's mother had tried to petition to court to be in charge of his finances.in 1989, Gary had begun to check his business affairs and despite receiving close to $100,000 an episode, he saw that he had less than a quarter of what he had earned, so in 1989, he sued his parents and business associate for misusing his funds and in 1993, he was awarded $1, 280.000.00, but had to file for bankruptcy a few years later due to legal fees. To supplement income for the guest appearances he began to make, he briefly took a job as a security guard and while shopping for an bullet-proof vest, he was he was arrested for attacking a autograph seeker, who claimed that he attacked her.
In several interviews and court footage shown on the E True Hollywood Story, Coleman stated that when the female asked for his autograph, he obliged and signed his mane and instead of being grateful, she was perturbed that he didn't write a special message and began to verbally abuse him and when he tried to ignore her, she started to get in his face and block his presence and with his height he rightfully became fearful that she was gonna attack him so he punched her.
He pleaded no contest and in addition to receiving a reduced sentence, was ordered to pay her $1,665 dollars. He also had settled a civil suit with a man who he had an altercation with at a bowling alley who took a photo of Coleman despite his objections. The case didn't get too serious due to both parties refusing to speak about the incident that took place in the bowling alley leading the altercation that happen in the parking lot that lead to his arrest.
He also had ran to be the Governor of California in 2003 and while he lost, he loved the challenge and opportunity to focus on the concerns of overs and being able to become an intelligent man.
"This is really interesting and cool, and I've been enjoying the heck out of it because I get to be intelligent, which is something I don't get to do very often," he said in the Associated Press.
Coleman had reunited with co-stars Dana and Todd in a parade in the late 1990's bringing smiles to everybody faces, and when Dana died from an accidental overdose of pain killers in 1999, both he and Todd provided comfort to her son, who died a few weeks ago. Gary and Todd had briefly reunited in the NBC movie documentary about "Different Strokes" where they narrated certain aspects of the show and appeared together in front of Dano's grave.
Gary had also made an appearance on "Divorce Court" where the judge had spoke encourage him and his wife actress Shannon Price to work on their marriage and despite issues they remained married until his recent death.
Many are sadden by the loss of this Icon including Icon Janet Jackson, who played his brother's girlfriend on the hit show. "He left an lasting legacy" the Icon Tweeted. "I know he's finally at peace."
"We are very grateful for all the wonderful support everyone has been extending to Gary's family. Coleman's wife Shannon said in a statement read by her brother. "Thousands of e-mails have poured in to the hospital. This has been so comforting to the family to know how beloved he still is. Thank you so much for all that you guys have done and for the support and prayers that you guys have given us.
In addition to his wife, Gary is survived by his parents, brother in law, cast members Conrad Bain, Todd Bridges, Janet Jackson, Shavor Ross, and Charlotte Rae.
When asked how did he fell about his career and about what people felt about him playing himself this is what he had to say.
"I parody myself every chance I get," he said. "I try to make fun of myself and let people know that I'm a human being, and these things that have happened to me are real. I'm not just some cartoon who exists and suddenly doesn't exist."

Funeral plans are still pending at the time of this writing

DA-PROFESSOR'S COOL INTERVIEW WITH AMBITION: FORMER PRETTY RICKY LEAD SINGER

2010-04-21T07:45:00.004-05:00

When I spoke with singer/songwriter Christopher "Ambition" Myers, I was extremeley impressed with his maturity, intelligence and humility. Important qualities that will help him maintain longevity along with his vocal talents.
Born in Pittsburg, Ambition became interested in singing after listening to his mother's copy of Boyz II Men's debut classic "CooleyHighHarmony," and from then he began to practice and hone his craft on a daily basis. He later became influenced to dance after seeing Ginuwine's video, which lead him to become part of a break dancing crew that performed in Miami and Texas, but he's remembered as 4Play the second lead singer of the Hip-Hop/R&B group Pretty Ricky, replacing original vocalist Pleasure P, and helping the group score two hits with "Cuddle Up" and "Knocking Da Boots" but he had grown tired of the group's controlling ways (they wouldn't allow him to conduct interviews), so he decided to leave, and rebuild his career by collaborating with Rapper Choze, completing a novel and working on his solo debut.
"Things have been going great" he said from L.A. via telephone
"Working with people who has my best interest."
When asked which singers inspired him to pursue a career in music, his response was "I love Usher. Boyz II Men. Doesn't get better than that. Justin Timberlake. Take 6. Anybody who can do harmony." There are stories about singers being discovered signing in church, at talent shows and on street corners, but Ambition was discovered singing karoke, by his former manager, who told him that he needed to work with him. In addition to singing, Ambition had also became involved with artist development, but his big break came when he was tapped to replace Pleasure P in the Miami-base Hip-Hop/R&B group Pretty Ricky. "Actually it's funny. I do artist development and a group I was working with was Crave" he says of how he first became affliated with the musical horny toads. "I was putting their shows together. They got signed to Bluestar Entertainment (and) shortly after, Pleasure P left the group.
Ambition's manager had told him about the auditions, and he wasn't interested, but his manager was persistant saying it would be a great opportunity for him to gain exposure. Two months later, Ambition received a phone call from the group's rapper Diamond Blue at 11'o clock that night asking him to be fly to Miami to audition; the next day. He was told to be at the airport at 7 the next morning and to bring a weekend's worth of clothes since he was going to be flying back home the following Monday. He nailed the audition and got the gig.
"I left that morning and didn't come back for a year and a half" Ambition says of him getting the gig. "We started recording. We had to go on tour. We had to film videos."
In addition to the videos, they group also filmed a BET special introducing Myers to the fans as their new lead singer, but it wasn't as his original stage name. To capitalize on his powerful and sexy voice, looks, and chiseled physique, he was Christined 4Play (See Sexy Musical Horny Toads Finds New Member And Continues To Crank Out Good Music June 4th 2008). Being the new lead singer of the group brought him and the group a new legion of fans, but there were many, however, who though respected and admired his talents and looks, had refused to accept him as the group's new lead singer, while some refused to give him a chance saying how they liked the group with Pleasure. Myers totally understood the fan's feelings about the situationm and he went all out to connect with them by chatting with them online and greeting them on tour with hugs, hand shakes, and photo opts. His humility and spirit helped him have a better connection with them.
"(Well) when I joined the group, I didn't plan to outshine Pleasure" he says considering the fact he and Pleasure were cool with each other during the group's 2007 "Late Night Special" tour. "He was the only person who spoke to me. Me and Pleasure were cool."
The fans and critics finally accepted him when the group released their version of H-Town's 1993 Soul Train Award winning hit "Knocking Da Boots" (See Sexy Horny Toads Remake Classic Love Song July 18th 2008). Fans got the opportunity to hear his smooth tenor and his ability to sing falsetto. "It was crazy just seeing the people's reaction. Everybody took it very well" Ambition says of the response he got whenever he would perform, the song live. "It was crazy. I don't think I ever listened to a song that long" he said about the number of times he listened to the original version in order to do a great job.
The fans and critics began to have expectations for the group's album "80's Babies", but there were constant delays, and stories about the group adding another singer to become a quintet, but when the group released it's single "Tipsy In Da Club" they noticed that Myers had left the group leaving many to wonder what was going on the Pretty Ricky camp.
Myers says that he and the group had conflicts over material, money and the same situation that Pleasure P had gone through had transfered to him.
"First thing they're all brothers, and their father run the company. There was a physical altercation. That situation had to be canceled." Myers didn't talk most about the altercation due to legal issues.
Shorty before he departed, Lingerie (who's original stage name was changed) another Pittsburg native was recruited to join the group, and before becoming a member of the group, he was a member Crave, the group that Myers was developing.
"They signed Crave and they released the other two members" Myers says of the other dramatic event that took place in the Pretty Ricky camp, along with them posting a rumor on the internet that said Myers was killed in a motorcycle crash.
"Me and Lingerie were close. He was one of my closet friends."
Many fans are upset at the group for posting that rumor, and while Ambition is upset, he doesn't hold it personally against his former friend citing the rapper's manipulation and controlling ways for his behavior along with the little bit of money their giving him.
After leaving, the current line-up lost it's distribution deal with Atlantic Records and after signing with Tommy Boy Records, they released their self-titled album, which hasn't done as their first two gold releases, and while the group is at the cross roads, Myers is starting a new chapter in his life and career.
"I can build myself up. I'm doing alot better than when I was with them totally."
Myers returned to Pittsburg, and started to use his original stage name Ambition, which was something he named himself at the age of 11, when two of his childhood friends, who were singing at the time pulled out the dictionary and started looking for names. When Myers saw Ambition, he knew it would be a great name to match his personality.
"It goes with my personality. I try to stay as focus as possible. I've never tasted any alcohol. I never did any drugs. If you want to be an artist the partying and all can come later. I'm in LA and there are models who are so gorgeous but they're working at KFC to make a living."
Being focused has paid off; the singer scored a hit with Rapper Choze on the hit "Bad Boy" which features the hook that he wrote in only three minutes. He's also collaborating with Tino Courely, another talented performer from Pittsburg, who's single "Diary" is getting lots of airplay and positive feedback on You Tube and Facebook.
Pittsburg has produced many talented performers including singers Phyliss Hyman, Shanice Wilson, Shirley Jones, Bobby Vinton and actors Lamaan Rucker, Michael Kaaton and Sherrie Johnson, when asked how does it feel to come from a city where these legends were born and raised, Myers says he feels honored.
"It's definetely an honor. There's so much talent in the city."
He's also completed a novel about a Ninja in Pittsburg, who's seeking revenge for his family who was murdered. Ambition writing a book based on Japanese culture? Yes!
The singer also became interested in Japanese Culture at the age of ten while studying martial arts.
"When I was ten years old, I studied Ninjisto with Raymond Anderson. I studied with him for ten years. I admired Japanese culture."
He's also working on his solo debut, which he says is going to be a mixture of Dance with R&B and lots of harmony in the background.
"I'm trying to write seven singles. I wanna give everybody their money's worth."
When asked where does he sees himself in the next five years, he says he sees himself with five # 1 singles two Grammys, and doing a song with Boyz II Men.
"I would love to do a song with Boyz II Men" he says. "I actually met Boyz II Men on tour. I talk to Wanya from time to time. I would also like to work with Justin Timberlake. Of course Timberland. Pioneers in the game."
Ambition paid the Motown Philly legends the ultimate compliment and tribute by redoing their classic "Please Don't Go" with music and accapella that can be heard on his my space page.
"My favorite is Please Don't Go" he said when asked what was his favorite songs by the Motown legends.
"That was the first song that make me wanna sing."
Many fans were pleased with his rendition of the song including group member Wanya, who loved his version of the group's classic
"I let Wayna listen to it and he love it. It's the biggest compliment."
Following the tradition of sharing and giving advice to aspiring entertainers, Ambition is still involved with artist development, which is something many performers need in order to have successful careers.
"It's very important. You need to know what you can do. Everybody doesn't have to be an Usher dancing. As soon as you hit the limelight, you're a star."
His advice to those wanting to enter the recording industry:
"The only thing you can do is surround yourself by people you can trust. The music industry is filled of snakes. Study. Read books. Study very hard."

To check out his music go to www.myspace.com/ambitionthekid

A FLASHBACK: SPACEBIRDS CLASSIC TOP CHARTING HIT ABOUT A FRENCH STREETWALKER

2010-03-31T15:40:00.008-05:00

LABELLE
LADY MARMALADE
WRITTEN BY BOB CREW & KENNY NOLAN
PRODUCED BY ALLEN TOUISSANT
EPIC RECORDS
RELEASED JANUARY 1975

Whenever I watch the clip of Christina Aguleria, Mya, Pink and Lil'Kim performing the 2002 Grammy Awards, I always see you tubbers asking who was that women in the red dress singing their song? Me and a couple of other you tubbers had to inform them that the lady in the red dress is Soul Legend Patti LaBelle, who along with Sarah Dash & Nona Hendryx first recorded the song back in 1974, which became a hit during the Disco age.
By the mid 1970's Patti, Sarah and Nona (who had took a strong hand in writing the group's material) had revamped their image, style and sound; singin songs about empowerment, liberation and eroticism, changing the image of girl groups. Well in 1975, they recorded their classic hit "Lady Marmalade" which hit # 1 on the Pop, Soul and Dance charts, making the Apollo sweethearts cultural and Gay Icons as well as the first Black group to perform at the Metropoltian Opera House.
What makes this song a classic is the organ, the pre-chorus hey sister go sister and the Frecnch lyrics
voulez-vous coucher avec moir ce soir
voulez-vous coucher aver moir
(Translation-would you sleep with me tonight)

This song still has people dancing at their parties and it shows that good music will always be around.

FACTS ABOUT THE CLASSIC

1. The song had helped Labelle become icons but there were many people who thought the song was too explicit. In her autobiography "Don't Block The Blessings," Patti wrote about a time when the group was on the Mike Douglass show and they couldn't perform it because President's Nixon's daughter was a guest. When they apperared on the Cher show they had to change the lyrics to would you like to dance with me tonight.

2. The song had hepled Labelle make history; they became the first Black group to perform at the Metropolitian Opera House.

3. The song has been covered by many artists including Shelia E, who covered it on her 1991 album "Sex Symbol." A year later, female trio Soul Sister (who's lead vocalist was the lead singer of the 1980's group 9.9) did their own version of the song. In 1998 trio SWV performed the song as part of a tribute to Patti at the 1998 Esscence Awards.

4. The song made history in 2001 when Christina Aguleria, Mya, Pink and Lil'Kim took the song to # 1 earning the quartert numerous awards.

5. In 2001 and 2005 Patti, Sarah and Nona had performed this song at two tributes held for Patti.

GAY SINGER GIVES A HOT PREVIEW ON HOT MIX TAPE

2010-03-30T15:35:00.001-05:00

ANYE ELITE
SNEAK PREVIEW
ELLIS ENTERTAINMENT

4.89 On a scale of 1-5
Hot. Fierce. Cute. Those are many ways music listeners are descriing Singer/songwriter Anye Elite's debut mix tape "Sneak Preview" which is creating a buzz all over internet radio and on You Tube.
Born in Philadelphia and currently residing in Atlanta, the openly Gay performer and activist has been releasing and previewing hot music since 2006 icluding "Everytime We Make Love," "They Love It," "Just In Case" and "Thank You For The Night Live" leaving many wanting more. After some long consideration, he decided to release a mix tape "Sneak Preview" which gives listeners a sample of his singing and rhyming skills, as well as some hot ballads and party jams that will have the kids and DJ's bumping at parties, balls and various Gay Prides.

The preview begins with current single "I Got Him" which has nice and classy piano riffs, percussion, beats, cute lyrics, rhymes and a call and response between himself which improves thoughout the song and on "Over It" which contains more strings, lyrics about being tired of shady and lame ass guys.
This will a hit with Gay men and hetero ladies, who are fed up with guys who play childish games.
The smooth-flowing ballad "All That Matters" showcases Elit's ability and capability to phrase and perform riffs against strings and horn riffs. It also contains beautiful lyrics about being in love with a man without worrying and caring what others think. A great song for Gay men who's taste differs from what society thinks and a great song to play while making love.
Anye displays his street and diva side on the club banger "Icon" This hard hitting track has a hot combo of Hip-Hop, New Wave and Dance and lyrics paying homage to many legends who paved the way for us to inspire to be including Michael Jackson, Willie Ninja, Audrey Lorde. A great song for aspiring performers to listen to.
"My Name Ain't Shawty" is a favorite that will have listeners putting this song on repeat. This Rock/Pop joint sounds like a Gay version of Aretha Franklin's "Respect," Janet Jackson's "Nasty" and Queen Latifah's 'U.N.I.T.Y." due to the guitar riffs and lyrics in which Anye lets a suitor know not to call him a name that men has been calling females and gay men since the early 1990's.

"Your timbs and your fitted
Are only cute for a minute
Your heart and your mind
Is what I'm most interested
Don't try to play me like no dame
Then you do wanna remember my name
My name ain't shawty
My name ain't shawty
My name ain't shawty
How you gonna call me shorty when I'm taller than you

The rap and spoken part

How you gonna call me shawty
when I'm taller than you
Don't you know that's I'm, a bigger baller than you (swish)
I call way more shots than you
I guess that means yous five foot two

Who the fuck is shawty?
My name is Anye
A-N-Y-E
And you would have known that
If you'd ask me
But now that I think about it
You don't need to know my name anyway
So good day!

Alot of men are gonna be pissed when they hear this song.

"I Should Be Crying" is another favorite of mine. Though the song should have been longer, the Gospel choir performance a makes this uplifting song a great tune that offers hope and comfort to those who are leaving a relationship without any regrets.

Cause I'm not crying
Laying naked on the floor
There's gotta be something wrong
Maybe this is how I live my life
Looking for the upside
I guess that I should be crying
But I don't get the reason
Cause this shall pass
Like all the seasons
I guess I should be crying
Like this is the end
But I know it's not
It's a new beginning

The Southern-flavored "Love It Up" is a hot club banger with hot lyrics about showing displays of public affection and not allowing shady and homophobic jerks to rain on his parade, while the Dance flavored "What You've Been Missing" will have the kids working the floor like they're at a ball. This is a good song letting kids know that the person who may not their cup of tea could be their true love. The song also showcases Anye's ability to sing different ranges including falsetto.
Another favorite is "Pinky And The Brain" which begins a Soul ballad before switching into a Hip-Hop/House mid-tempo ballad which feature him rapping in the lead and singing in the background.
"Exclusively" is a cool Pop song that can be used in amy soundtrack and as a movie score.
The preview closes with Anye having a Mariah Carey moment of including a remix of "I Got Him" which has more piano riffs, harder beats and more rapping from the talented star.

Yep that's my boyfrind
Yep that's my baby
Yep, yep, yep, yep, yep
That's my nigga and I got him
I got him
Got him
Yep Yep
I got him
I got him
I got him

Anye Elite's debut mixtape is pretty good. He was able to showcase his singing and rhyming talents, which will make him a star in the Gay Community and on the mainstream level. If you think that Sneak Preview is good, then we know that his album "Gay 101" is going to be as good. As long as he keeps coming up with great songs, then he will be a hot star.

Sneak Preview is avaiable on I-Tunes

FORMER MENUDO HEARTHROB RICKY MARTIN COMES OUT THE CLOSET AND FEELS GREAT ABOUT IT

2010-03-30T13:32:00.001-05:00

Ten years ago, I was having a session with my thearpist and he was saying how Singer/Actor Ricky Martin needs to come out the closet because he would be a great role model for many Gay youth.
"He's talented, attractive and masculine" he told me.
Well Ricky Martin had finally decided to let the world know that he's a gay man, which has many fans happy, and a few females upset (oh well).
Many press and fans had speculations about his sexuality, including Barbra Watlers and VH-1. Martin never confirmed or denied his sexuality; on the Behind The Music documentary, he said that it doesn't matter who he goes to bed with at night.
Now the world knows and many have wondered why he chose to come out now.

"Many people told me... 'all the years you've worked and everything you've built will collapse' the award winning star posted on his twitter page.

"Allowing myself to be seduced by fear and insecurity became a self-fulfilling prophecy of sabotage. Today I take full responsibility for my decisions and my actions."

Coming out "fills me with strength and courage. Today is my day, this is my time, and this is my moment."

Well many people are glad that the singer is embracing his sexulaity and living in his truth, and while there are many females who are shocked, sadden and disappointed, there are many who still love him, and plans on continuing supporting him and watching him shake his Bom Bom.

Martin was born on Christmas Eve in 1971 to an accountant and thearpist in Puetro Rico who spend most of his time being raised by his grandmother after his parents divoreced when he was two years ole. Martin had a close bond and inspired him to pursue his goals.
In the mid 1980's he joined the Latin Teen group Menudo, and scored a top 20 hit with "Hold Me" which got lots of air and video play on Pop radio and on the video show New York City Hot Tracks. Martin stayed with the group until 1990 due to the contract where each member has to leave when they reach the age of 16t, shows facial hair and has voice changes. Martin reached out with former member and close friend Robi Draco Rosa to produce his solo albums, which made him an star in Latin America. He also starred in many Spanish Languafe soap operas and plays before landing a role on the hit soap General Hospital. That was only the appetizer prearing the world for the main course; Martin decided to come out his comfort zone, and release a English language album which made him a global star thanks to his top charting hit "Livin' La Vida Loco," which became one of the biggest and top selling hits of 1999 and helping him become of the hottest artist of the Latin Music Explosion that began in the late 1990's. Making his success sweeter was R&B singer/songwriter Sisqo sampling his classic for his hit "The Thong Song" enlarging his fan base. He also recorded several duets with Christina Auuleria and Madonna and embarked on several successful world tours.
In the mid 2000's he took time off to relax and made news when he became the partents of twin boys that were delivered via a surrogate. Becoming a father have him a form of piece and security as well as stregnth to inform the world about his sexulaity, which he says is a great feeling for him.

How do I feel about Ricky Martin coming out?
I feel it's a good thing, because it will help many Latin and Black males deal with their sexuality, and see that being Gay is not wrong. Anothe reason is for him to let the industry know that he can still recornd quality music and that there's nothingwrong with Gay people having a openly gay man to look up to (especially since there are many closted homosexuals in the R&B, Pop, Latin, Hip-Hop and Gospel industry).

I applaud Ricky for being finally being open about his sexulaity and I will support him. I would also love for him to work with openly Gay singers and rappers as well.

I will be having my Ricky Martin moments this weekend

HISTORIC LANDMARK BROOKLYN BAR IS IN DANGER OF BEING TAKEN AWAY

2010-03-01T05:28:00.000-06:00

Brooklyn is a place where many people hang out to shop while, many out of state residetns move to famous borough and one of many spots they chose to hang out at is the Starlight Lounge, a Gay-friendly Bar in the Bed-Sty section of Brooklym that's in danger of being taken away.
It turns out that new owners a realtor named Mr. Khaled Yafai of Century 21 Mizrahi Realty had purchased the property without notifying the bar's owners Denis Parrot and Linda King, nor were they given an opportunity to renew the lease.
Now he wants them to be out by May which has many Gay activists and residents of Brooklyn pissed off. Starlight is the oldest Black-owned established that provided a place for many people to have a good time as well as provide a safe-haven for many in Brooklyn, who enjoyed being in a non-judgement enviorment. It also provided safety for many of the Gays who frequent the bar and for them to remove this landmark is totally disrespectful.
It's bad enough that Mr. Yafai didn't have the professional and decently to contact the married couple, but to try to use excuses like the bar needs to be remodeled is totally in excusable and he needs to work out a plan to have the bar stay in existance.

I'm urging all to write and fax him

Mr. Khaled Yahi
Century 21 Mizrahi Realty
816 Kings Highway
Brooklyn, New York 11223-2337
Fax (718)-998-5804

PHILLY BRED SINGER/ACTIVIST SPEAKS

2010-02-28T13:15:00.003-06:00

Phialdelphia has many historic landmarks including Philadelphia International Records which was the home to The O'Jays, Teddy Pendergrass and Patti LaBelle, Sigma Studios, Giovanni's Room and the Philadelphia School of the Arts, which produced many talented and successful singers including Boyz II Men and Anye Elite, who's carrying the spirit of Philadelphia with his talent and activism as an openly Gay singer/songwriter.
Born to a African-American mother and an Afro-Dominican father, Anye was always surrounded by music, but when his grandfather gave him a copy of Mariah Carey's classic tape "Music Box" he began to hone his singing and songwritng skills and by the time he reached high school, he began to embrace his sexuality and become an active member in the Gay community by performing at various Gay Prides through out the South and releasing several singles including "Everytime We Make Love," "Thank Your Tonight "Live" and his current single "I Got Him" which can be found on his mix tape "Sneak Preview"
I had the opportunity to speak to this talented brother via telephone and we spoke about his life, music and the meaning of his name.

Q: HOW ARE THINGS GOING?
ANYE: Things are going splended. We are getting reay for widespread distrubion for my recntly released mix tape "Sneak Preview." Getting ready to tour.

Q: YOU HAVE AN UNIQUE NAME? WHAT DOES YOUR NAME REPRESENTS?
ANYE: Anye is actually my middle name. My mother named me after fashion designer Eitneer Aigner. I'm named after a handbag. Not that flattering (both laugh). According to her, she went through painstaking measures of going to the store to make sure she spelled the name correctly. And here I am changing it.

Q: HOW DID YOU BECOME INVOVLED IN MUSIC?
ANYE: My mother and my grandfather are the two most important people in my life. They were both singers and my father played (the) guitar. It's just something that ran in the family. Also my childhood probably wasn't the best thing going so music is something I turned to for comfort.

SUPREMEWRITER: WHICH PEOPLE INFLUCENCED YOU MUSICALLY?
ANYE: Defintely Mariah Carey.

SUPREMEWRITER: I love Mimi.
ANYE: Yeah you have to. Do you prefer old Mimi or new Mimi?

SUPREMEWRITER: I love all of her stuff, but I love "Can't Let Go" and "Butterfly" when she was divorcing Tommy Mottola.
ANYE: From Mariah. Donny Hathaway, Phyliss Hyman. Kevin Aviance and (rapper) Mase.

SUPREMEWRITER: YOU'RE ORIGINALLY FROM PHILADELPHIA AND YOU ATTENDED THE PHILLY SCHOOL OF THE ARTS. HOW DID IT FEEL TO ATTEND A SCHOOL WHERE LEGENDS BOYZ II MEN GRADUATED AND CAME SUCCESSFUL AND HOW DID IT FEEL TO COME FROM A CITY WHERE PHILLY INTERNATIONAL RECORDS WAS FOUNDED?
ANYE: Whenever you have a dream of becoming successful, as many things that connect you to people who are successful, it feels good because it feels destined to be and you're walking in the legacy but ie also has a new meaning for me; it's when I came out sexuality wise and of course later on that would affect my music.

SUPREMEWRITER: YOU ALSO RELOCATED TO MIAMI AM I CORRECT?
ANYE: Yes.

SUPREMEWRITER: WHAT PROMPTED YOU TO RELOCATE FROM PHILLY TO MIAMI?
ANYE: Well actually, right from Philly, we went to Daytona Beach. We left Philly because my grandfather had retired and I was 15 or 14 years old, so I went where he went and I went to Florida.

SUPREMEWRITER: AND THAT'S WHEN YOU BECAME ACTIVE IN GAY RIGHTS?
ANYE: Yeah, but it really started more so, when I got to Atlanta, but the idea and compassion began in Florida is very Ango-Saxon; podomiatley Caucasian, and as a Black Gay man, I felt not connected and the only thing I had to connect me ot the outside Gay world was "Noah's Arc." And I didn't have Logo, but seeing those guys kinda living their lives made me say 'I wanna do the same thing so I moved to Atlanta and haven't looked back.

SUPREMEWRITER: DID MOVING TO ATLANTA PROMPTED YOU TO BECOME AN OPEN GAY ARTIST AND ACTIVIST?
ANYE: Yes. For the longest time in my mind, I seperated the two people. So there was me the singer and me the activist, and there were actually two myspace pages and websites.
And I couldn't belive that Gay people could be counted and equal. Now my music reflects that.

SUPREMEWRITER: I LISTENED TO YOUR MUSIC AND I LOVE THE BALLAD "EVERYTIME WE MAKE LOVE" AND THE LATIN FEEL IT HAS. WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO WRITE A BALLAD ABOUT LOVE MAKING WITH A LATIN FEEL?
ANYE: Well alot of people don't know this, but my father was born in the Dominican Republic and so the Latin/Hispanic influences was in my life for a while. "Everytime We Make Love" is not actually how we put it. What the title implies is more so about being in a trumultrious relationship, and the only thing you have that's keeping you together is the love making because the love making reminds you the reason why you'ree with him. "Everytime We Make Love" is actually inspried by a friends of mine's relationship, and unfortantely, I found myself in a situation where art mirrored life.

SUPREMEWRITER: YOU KNOW THAT MY FAVORITE IS THE "LIVE" VERSION OF "THANK YOU FOR THE NIGHT."
ANEY: WE MUST PUT LIVE IN QUTATIONS! (Both Laugh)
SUPRMERWRITER: WE WILL!! WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO RECORD A BALLAD WITH A LIVE FEEL?
ANYE: It was a song on a Mariah album called "I Wish You Knew" from "The Emancipation of Mimi" album and she did this songe like a Diana Ross inspired kinda vibe with the song and talk to the audience and I thought it would be cool.

SUPREMEWRITER: I also enjoyed "Them Dudes and "They Love It."
ANYE: Memories. We're talking about these songs that aren't avaliable to the public (laughs). "Them Dudes" was also alot of experimenting for me because when I first moved to the South, it was a different experience for me because how they did Hip-Hop are (like) totally different. Itw as my first time doing that with a Southern vibe.

SUPREMEWRITER: I ALSO SAW A CLIP OF YOU ON YOU TUBE PERFORMING A SONG THAT PAY HOMAGE TO MANY GAYS AND LESBIANS WHO WERE MURDERED.
ANYE: "Just In Case" didn't make it ot the mix-tape because I'm actually saving it for the album "Gay 101." "Just In Case" originally inspired by Larry Levine King from California. One of his classmates shot him in the head because it was preceived he was gay. You can't definetly say he was gay, but because he had femine mannerisms and one of the kids brought a shot gun to school and shot him. I saw that on the news and I did research on Michael J. Sandy in New York. Alot of people think we're in this wonderful society where people aren't killed for who they are, but it's still happening.

SUPREMEWRITER: YOU ALSO SAID YOU'RE WORKING ON YOUR ALBUM "GAY 101" WHEN WILL THAT BE COMING OUT?
ANYE: "Gay 101" is to be determined. The vision for the album is to tell a story of bascially my experiences and general experiences in the life, so that's from the beginning of coming out to realizing you have an attraction to guys to going out to the clubs to having sex. Kinda like give life lessons because growing up, nobody tells you this is how to be a Gay man and this is what's gonna happen in your life. There's no way to prepare you for that, so the album's supposed to prepare you for that. I want the album to be consistant to listen to from beginning to end.

SUPREMEWRITER: YOU SAID THAT YOU'RE GONNA BE TOURING? DO YOU KNOW WHAT CITIES YOU'RE GONNA HIT UP?
ANYE: We definetly want to hit up Philadelphia. New York. Boston and D.C. Miami and Atlanta. We're in the process of working on some small venues.

SUPRMEWRITER: IF YOU HAD THE CHANCE TO WORK WITH ANYBODY MAINSTREAM OF LGBT, WHO WOULD IT BE?
ANYE: It would be Mariah cause I love her like that. As far as LGBT, I would say Last Offense, Kevin Aviance. Actually (my) dream collabulation and this would be something that would have a music video attached to it or a live performance, would be Kevin Aviance, RuPaul and Jay Karan.

SUPREMEWRITER: IN ADDITION TO MUSIC WHATELSE YOU DO IN THE COMMUNITY?
ANYE: I've experience a significant amount of success with "I Got Him." Besides that, I'm involved with a youth center called the Evolution Project; it's here in Atlanta. We try to empower young people. The Georgia Health Project launced a campaign for safe-sex and I posed for that campaign.
A question homophobia campaign we have in Atlanta. I also modeled for that. Modeling is my activism.

SUPREMEWRITER: EARLIER YOU MENTIONED YOUR FATHER WAS BORN IN THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC. WHEN PEOPLE LEARN THAT YOU'RE AN PURE BLATINO, DO YOU GET THE SHOCK REACTIONS BECAUSE OF YOUR COMPLEXION?
ANYE: Yeah. Well because the resentment I had towards my father for not doing as much in my life as much as he should have, bur for me not to recognize his heritage as part of my existence, and I guess somewhere along the line, I saw people who who chose to be bi-racial instead of African-American. Once I finally had a conversation with my father's family, it kind of changed my views of his heritage and him, and when I started owning up to it, alot of comments were 'you don't speak Spanish, and you're not a certain complexion with a certain hair texture.' I'm a human being and that's what's important.

SUPREMEWRITER: HOW DO YOU THINK YOU'RE MAKING AN IMPACT ON THE GAY COMMUNITY AND MUSIC SCENE?
ANYE: Well the community as a whole, I'm bring back Faith. Some of our leaders, the AIDS epidemic wiped out our leaders and the name of the game is to stay alive, and that's the legacy of Black people in general. I hope to bring that back. What I'm doing is nothing new. Sylvester was a man performing in Drag; never changed the pronouns of the songs he sang about men, has a Billboard charting hit in the 70's. Why that didn't happen again, I attributed that to fear in our community.
As far as the gay music scene, I bring competor to the mainstream. I thing my music is accessaable and you can hear it on the radio, and for the life of me, I don't understand. Gay folks are on the cutting edge and fashionable. Somewhere in the shuffle, some of the artist sound old.

SUPREMEWRITER: ANYE YOU BROUGHT UP A REAL INTERESTING POINT. I HEAR SOME OF THE KIDS CONTRADICTING THEMSELVES BY SAYING 'WE'RE TIRED OF SEEING THESE OLD DIVAS (MEANING THE CLASSIC R&B AND DANCE ARTISTS). WHERE ARE THE GAY RAPPERS AND SINGERS? BUT YET WHEN THEY DO PERFORM AT CLUBS, MOST OF THEM DON'T WANNA SUPPORT THEM OR THEIR MUSIC, WHILE MOST PRIDES DON'T WANNA HIRE THEM. WHAT IS YOUR TAKE ON THAT?
ANYE: Well it falls to another stereotype; we are very grandy people. We're attached a value to the name brand. It has to be Whitney Houston. It has to be Debroah Cox. It has to be something that's OK with the straight world. I don't take it personally. It's up to us as Out Hip-Hop artists and Out Musicians to continue making good music and whaterver was meant to be will be for us.

SUPREMEWRITER: WHERE DO YOU SEE YOURSELF IN THE NEXT 5 TO 10 YEARS?
ANYE: The next 5 to 10 years, I see myself growing as a better person. I'm responsible for my management; I'm my own manager. We have a publicist looking into decisions. Once we network with all these Gay and Gay-friendly media outlets, networks with everyone in a good way. I think we have a media empire ready to be created.

SUPREMEWRITER: WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO A GAY PERSON WHO WANTS TO PURSUE A CAREER AS AN OPEN GAY ARTIST?
ANYE: I would say to let nothing and nobody to discourage you. There are gonna be alot nan-sayers. Do not count yourself out; there will be doors shutting on their own and you don't need to shut those doors. Because I'm singing about guys, alot of people aren't gonna want to hear that and that's true, but most of my support, especially financially is heterosexual. Don't count yourself out.

ADULT MOVIE REVIEW: PHILLY PORN STAR RETURNS WHILE NEW COMER BOTTOMS UP IN PLAZA SEQUEL

2010-02-21T10:27:00.002-06:00

THIS IS A REVIEW OF AN ADULT FILM AND ITS FOR VEIWERS OVER THE AGE OF 18 AND OVER

QUEENSBORO PLAZA PICK UP 3
STARRING VEMON, PARIS, AFRIKAN PRINCE, ANGEL, TRESHAWN
WRITTEN AND DIRECTED BY ROB GRECIOUS
PRODUCED BY REAL URBAN MEN PRODUCTIONS

When the porn flick "Queens Boro Plaza Pick Up" first dropped a few years ago, it had become one of the hottest films to be released and it had become so popular that it forced director Rob Grecio to release a follow up which was named as one of the hottest porn films of 2008 by many critcs, fans and bloggers forcing Grecio to direct another sequal, and while fans are going to be enticed by the sex scenes in this part, they're also gonna receive an education about the statiscs and reality of what happens in prison, including how much it costs to house immantes and the number of guys who get raped unintentionally. (A great tool to show those who think that going to jail just to get street credit and more attention for males).
The movie begins with Paris and Vemon laying on a futon bed kissing and reminiscing on their experences at Rikers and wondering what former imnate Angel is up too.
"Doing what we're about to do" Paris tells Venom before he kisses him on the lips.
The movie then fades into the next scene which features statics of how much it costs to house an imnate as well as graphics of the prison guards chasing the immantes, leading into the first sex scene of the movie with Angel laying on his bed resting when he hears a knock on his bedroom door. He answers it and is happy to see Afrikan Prince, who's glad he's out of prison.
"Ive been thinking about giving you some head for a long time" the Latin hunk tells the sexy Afrikan brother.
"Well let's put those thoughts into action" The Prince replies as he watches Angel unzip his jeans and sucks his dick while Prince pulls up his White T-shirt and rubs his chest before standing up to allow Angel more access to his dick.
"You got something special for me" Prince asks
"I've got alot of things special for you" Angel replies.
They then climb onto the bed and after receiving more head from Angel, Prince gives him some head and while he has problems deep throating, he sucks his side of the dick before getting fuck by Angel, who fucks him so hard that he has him screaming and moaning in a high-ptiched voice sounding like he's auditioning to be a background singer for the Purple Majesty himself. After going through his vocal drills, he receives a facial from Antel who shoots a milky load on his Chocolate face while Prince shoots his own load on hsi abs.
Next up is Treshawn who is shown looking at the Real Urban Men website (It's about time that Gay porn has their models looking at Gay Porn Websites instead of hetero porn) before receiving a phone call from a friend who asks him is he avaliable to pick him up from the plaza. Treshawn agrees and after the conversation ends, he wastes no time removing his shirt and jeans and begins to pleasure himself. While I'm not a huge fan os solos, I loved how the camera zoomed in on the hunk while he was playing with his dick and nipples making the scene sexy. Especially when he places his sneaker covered foot on the chair and shoots a medium sized load.
Venom and Afrikan Prince appear in the next scene playing card topless, with the latter losing and reminded what he has to do since he lost the game.
Prince obliges with out any complaints or problems and he begins to post-card game by teasing the winner by rubbing against Venom's swollen manhood before removing his drawers and sucking his dick and balls (not bad for a guy who's making his submissive and bottom debut).
"That shit feels good" Vemom says to Price as he contiues to worship his Philly d8ck with his mouth and tongue and hands.
Venom them helps his friend removoes his jeans and boxers, and massages his abs, legs and dick before he has a Monica Walinsky moment and sucks him off and eat his ass out causing him to lose his breath. (The time Vemon took off was very beneficial) What gives the scene fire and seduction is how Venom looks at Prince in between breaks before he he gives his ass a taste of his Philly cheesesteak and have him singing falsetto in various positions including doggy style and on top of him while Venom is holding his arms. (The Dream and Maxwel should hire him to sing background for them on their next albums).
After the post-card sex party, Vemom shoots a creamy load on Prince's face, before he storkes his friend's dick causing him to shoot a small load.
"You never could play cards" Vemon says
"I had fun" Pricne replies
"We should play cards more often."
The movie ends with Venom and Paris in bed talking about being tops and kissing before they engage in a Snoop Dogg moment of giving each other some sensual seduction before kissing and sucking each other off trying to see who's gonna be the one fucking some good ass that day.
After sucking and giving Venom's ass pleasure with his tongue, Paris winds up becoming the winner, who has the versatile Philadelphian's legs up and toes curling to the point of moraning and having Paris losing control. Espeically when Vemom rides his Eiffel Tower, but Paris regains control of the situation by smacking his ass while he fucks him doggy style. They kiss and stokes their dicks with Paris shooting a small load on his man's lips while Vemon shoots his load as Paris plays with his nipples

This film was good. In addition to the hot sex, I loved how the director includied facts about the prison system as a way to let viewers know that it isn't fun being in jail, but the film would have been better had Angel would have fucked Afrikan Prince in more positions besides doggy style as well as kissed him and spoke while fucked him. Hoepfully we'll see more work from the Latin hunk. It was good to see Vemom return after a 2 year vacation. He hasn't lost his touch (though the goatee should be more smoother) and I'm looking forward to seeing him do his thing in future projects.
Other than that the film was good and it looks like there's gonna me more guys coming to the Queens Boro Plaza Pick up for more sexual adventures.

MY SUPREME CHAT WITH AUTHOR DALE MADISON

2010-02-21T07:13:00.003-06:00

Motown Legends The Supremes' music and legacy has (and continues) to make impacts of people's life and ispire them to dream big things. People still contiues to emulate their vocal harmonies, hand movements and their costumes, but actor/talkshow host Dale Madison took things a step further; he patterened his autobiography after Original Supreme Mary Wilson's best selling autobiography "Dreamgirl My Life As A Supreme" and released his as "Dreamboy: My Life As A QVC Host & Ohter Greatest Hits."
(When you're representing The Supremes you've gotta do it in Supreme fashion, talent and style).
Originally from Chicago, Madison grew up in Baltimore listening to the Divas, and while he enjoyed watching them on Ed Sullivan and listening to their timeless classics, the music had also became the soundtrack of his life, helping him overcome many obstacles including dealing and embracing his sexuality and pursing his dreams, during a time when being Gay was thought as a mental illness. Despite his challenges, he overcame his obstacles and in addition to acting, he was the host of several shopping shows and he recently received his college degree. His book not only has a touching story, it also has some firece pictures and many of the Supremes lyrics that sums up life situations he went through including relationships (including one with a now retired senator) and his career.
I had a Supreme time interviewing this Supreme fan at his book reading and signing in New York, where he spoke about his life, The impact The Suprmes has in Gay men, and the saddness about the group not putting aside their issues to reunite.

Ra SHAWN-DAPROFESSOR: Thanks for the invitation and for allowing me to interviewing you. How does it feel to have your book published?
DALE: It's (like) a dream come true. Everything relate back to dreams. If you beleive in it long enough and you see it, you can really make it happen. So for me, the dream is happening and now I'm enjoying that part of it.

Ra SHAWN-DAPROFESSOR: WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO NAME YOUR BOOK DREAMBOY?
DALE: I know that once I read Mary Wilson's book "Dreamgirl My Life as A Supreme," If I were to write my book it would be "Dreamboy" because I felt a compainon book that needs to go with it because there are so many Gay fans who are fans of the Supremes and to write Dreamboy would be the (ultimate) compliment to The Supremes which I hope they would understand would be a compliment to them.

Ra SHAWN-DAPROFESSOR: YOU'VE DONE SOME ACTING IN THEATRE. WHAT INSPIRED YOU PURSUE A CAREER IN ENTERTAINMENT?
DALE: From the time I was born, I was drawn to the arts. I know from the first play I did in the first grade that I wanted to be in front of an audience and I know by watching The Supremes on Ed Sullivan that I loved the applause.

Ra SHAWN-DAPROFESSOR: CAN YOU NAME SOME OF THE PLAYS YOU PERFORMED IN?
DALE: I've done "Day of Absence". I've done "Black Sprit" "To Sir With Love." Messages From Cougar" I did a modern version of "Romeo & Juliet" and I've written and produce some of my own plays.

Ra SHAWN-DAPROFESSOR: YOU'VE ALSO HOSTED SOME TELEVISION SHOWS AS WELL
DALE: I was a shopping channel host. I worked for the Q.B. Network from the 1992-1994 and then from 1997-1997, I worked in New York at the Global Shopping Network.

Ra SHAWN-DA-PROFESSOR: WHAT OTHER PROJECTS ARE YOU WORKING ON BESIDES PUSHING YOUR BOOK?
DALE: I'm pursuing a career in education. I just earned my B.A. degress in 2008. I am working on my teaching credentials. I wanna use threatre and art to inspire kids to want to learn. I want to use those tools to teach reading, writing and mathmatics.

Ra SHAWN-DA-PROFESSOR: YOU MENTIONED HOW THE SUPREMES BEING INFLUENCIAL. WHAT WAS IT LIKE FOR YOU SEEING AND HEARING THEM FOR THE FIRST TIME?
DALE: It was exciting to see Black people on T.V. When you're a Black kid growing up in the 60's, and the fact The Supremes were loved by audiences both Black and White, you know you felt conected with them. Like those could be my sisters these could my aunts up there on television. They were glamorous. They had big wigs. Long eyelashes. Fabolous gowns, and when I was a little boy I wanted those wigs. I wanted those eyelashes. I wanted those gowns.

Ra SHAWN-DAPROFESSOR: HAVE YOU EVER MET ANY OF THE SUPREMES?
DALE: I met Diana Ross. I met Cindy Birdsong. Jean Terrell. Lynda Laurence. Scherrie Payne. I have not net Mary, but I spoken to her on the phone. I haven't met Florence.

Ra SHAWN-DA-PROFESSOR: WHAT WAS IT LIKE MEETING THE LADIES AND SPEAKING TO MARY ON THE PHONE?
DALE: It was an exciting experience speaking to Mary on the telephone. I kept saying this isn't Mary Wilson. It isn't Mary Wilson. She said 'Oh child stop giving me drama!. It's Mary Wilson. I (just) have a cold.' I just couldn't beleive it was really her. She sent me a post card congratlulating me on the book. I was caught off guard. I had the music on loud and the television on and when she called I said 'Oh my God! Oh my God!' She Said 'Stop the drama! Turn the music down! It's Mary Wilson!'

Ra SHAWN-DA-PROFESSOR: YOU MENTIONED THE SUPREMES HAVING A LARGE GAY FOLLOWING. WHY DOES GAY MEN WANNA CONNECT AND EMMULATE THEM?
DALE: I think like with Whtie audiences that are drawn to Icons you feel an connection that represents an image you inspire to be. We as Gay men we see the frailness and power in somebody. White men see Barbara Striesand with a lot of talent, but they see her imperfections so they love her for that. They see that in Judy Garland and Liza Minelli. With Diana Ross, they see the skinny frial girl that weights 98 pounds, but with tis wonderful voice that everybody's applauding so we're drawn to into the magic, the beauty, the frailness, the momething unique and something special because we see the weakness and we see the power.

Ra SHAWN-DA-PROFESSOR: FOR YEARS, MANY FANS HAVE BEENING WANTING TO SEE THE SUPREMES STORY ON THE SILVER SCREEN. FROM YOUR OPINION, WHY HASN'T THEIR STORY BEEN MADE INTO A MOVIE?
DALE: I think it's sad because most of the Supremes are alive and it's a shame if they don't do together like a film or a reunion tour. It cheats us in the end as fans, and what happen with female groups breake up over petty things and (they) never bond back together. Male groups like The Four Tops and The Pips stick together for years, but women will let men get in and mess up those friendships. I was so proud that Labelle had reunited and performed, but they're not as loved and mot as many people, but people would care if The Supremes reunited because people know there was bitterness that they didn't get beyond. Labelle always stayed close.

Ra SHAWN-DA-PROFESSOR: WHAT ARE SOME OF YOUR FAVORITE SUPREMES SONGS?
DALE: Forever Came Today. Relfections. I like so many off that Love Child album. One of my favorites are "Please Don't Break These Chains." I've always liked "Breath Taking Guy." I like "Buttered Popcorn." "When You Wish Upon A Star." "Everything Good About You." That was one of my favorite favorite early Suprreme songs.

Ra SHAWN-DA-PROFESSOR: IF YOUR BOOK WAS TO BE MADE INTO A MOVIE, WHO WOULD YOU LIKE TO PLAY YOU?
DALE: Blair Underwood!! I want Blair Underwood to play me!!

Ra SHAWN DA-PROFESSOR: WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE READERS TO GET FROM YOUR BOOK?
DALE: I want people to appreciate the love of The Suprmes' music and the journey of a Black Gay man is so much many things other than his sexuality.

Ra SHAWN-DA-PROFESSOR: DALE YOU'VE MAND A INTERESTING POINT. IT SEEMS THAT THE MEDAI LIKES TO PORTRAY BLACK GAY MALES AS BEING WILD AND FLAMBOYANT., BUT THERE ARE MANY BLACK MEN WHO ARE INTELLIGENT, ENTREPRENUERS, TALENTED AND CLASSY. DO YOU THINK WILL SHATTER THE STEROPTYPES?
DALE: I've been all those sterotypes and more. I've had my flamboyant years and I had all the other levels of it. I think the sterotype I'm trying to break is the fact that we're not one thing at one time. I'm so many diffetent things. Especially when it comes to role playing. Sometimes I wake up and I'm a top and sometimes I'm a bottom. Sometimes I'm fliping back and forth. So don't lock me into one thing. I'm just a Gay man enjoying life.

Ra SHAWN-DA-PROFESSOR: HOW HAS THE BOOK TOUR BEEN GOING?
DALE: The tour's been exciting. We started off in Chicago. We did it in a Gay night Club. The host hired Drag Queens to perform as Dreamgirls. Fabolus. Then my second stop was Baltimore which was my hometown where alot of my family and friends were. It was very emotional and then New York here with Reggie has been fabulous.

KING OF POP'S MOVIES CAPTURES HIS BRILLIANCE AND PERSONALITY

2010-01-31T13:01:00.003-06:00

MICHAEL JACKSON
THIS IS IT
DIRECTED BY KENNY ORTEGA

When I went to visit my family on Christmas, my sister told me that my birthday gift wasn't avaliable and she would have to have it shipped to my house. I wondered what she was going to give me. A few weeks later, she told me what I was finally gonna get for my birthday; "Michael Jackson's This Is It." I was excited because my family knows how much I love Michael Jackson and she made sure that the DVD was delivered the day it was released by texting me and letting me know how far the UPS truck was from my house, and an hour later a sexy young man delivered it to my door. Like many music lovers, I'm still sad that he passed before he was scheduled to make his return to the stage, but I'm so grateful for Kenny Ortego for perserving the clips and allowing the fans to see how serious MJ was to make sure the show would be fantastic. The film also captures many of Jackson's characteristics including his professionalim, humility, sense of humor and his ability to have people enjoy his art and work hard to enchance theirs.
The musical adventures with Jackson's hired dancers speaking about auditioning, thankng Michael for the opportunity and how he inspired them to pursue their goals, followed by a voice-over of Ortego the show's director, speaking to the staff on how the opening number was going to consist against flashes of photographs and fireworks and before you can say wow, Michael comes from a robot suit dressed in a silver blazer, blue T-shirt and red pants and goes into his concert highlight "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" allowing the music to take over his body and dancing. After performing the bridge, the film fades to him telling the musicians that they need to make the song funkier.
"I'm not feeling that part enough " Jackson said as he demonstrated in a beat-box style" before the film fades to him performing "This Is It" and show him arriving for his press conference where he informs the crowd that the performances would be his last ones.
"I'll see you in July" he said as he waved and left.
Next you see Jackson's dancers popping up from the stage, and joining Michael on stage for the bridge where they gave it they all as they danced on a slanted part of the stage if they were at an actual live show.
The show's main cheoragpher Travis Payne talks about the auditioning process and is shown in various clips sitting with Michael watching the dancers strut their stuff
"If you don't have that ooze that comes out of you, then you won't get that job" Jackson's assistant cherographer said.
Up next is the performance of "Jam" which had more bass then the original version and features the dancers in athletic clothes performing a stepping miliatry style routine with Jackson along with the intro of Jackson's single "Can't Let Her Get Away."
Another hot number is seeing Jackson rehearse with the dancers routines of "Bad" and
"They Don't Care Abou Us" which for the latter feature various clips of the dancers dressed in street clothes and black miliatry outfits, while Jackson dancers with gutarists Orianthi Panagaris, who brings fire to her solo adding more funk to the original licks. What I like about the performance was the clip of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr's "I Have A Dream" speech incorporated into the show along with Jackson singing the chorus to his single "HIStory" and the dancers doing a shoulding shaking routine to the sound of "She Drives Me Wild" and "Why You Wanna Trip On Me."
One of my favorite clips was seeing Michael perform his classic "Human Nature" with accapella with background singer Dorian Holley and keyboardist Michael Braden going over keys with the Motown legend.
"You sound great MJ" Holley tells Jackson and he was right. Seeing Michael rehearse that beautiful song was breathtaking (though it would have been more beautiful had he incorporated the vocals of SWV, who sampled this song for their hit "Right Here/Human Nature" which was also featured on the soundtrack of "Free Willy" the first album that was released on his record label MJJ Records in 1993). Especially when he's dressed in two different costumes shown in split screen.
The prep/performance of "Smooth Criminal" is hot. In addition to the footage of him at the front row of a Rita Haywood concert, it also captures his romantic ballad "Break of Dawn" in highlights and it also captures his timing with the crew as well as his ability to avoid conflicts with his staff, who had a slight misunderstanding with Jackson and the dancers about when they should start to perform. You get to see Jackson vibe with his musical director while rehearsing "The Way You Make Me Feel" during a sound check, where Braden adds Reggae elements to the songs extended intro.
"I wanna hear the song the way I wrote it" he told Braden, who replied jokingly with "It needs a little more booty."
"A little more booty?" Jackson asked while laughing.
The Jackson 5 medley features colorful backgrounds and a designed of the group's famous logo, and Jackson smiling during the rehearsal and informing that they needed to adjust the sound in his earplugs before performing a nice rendition of "I'll Be There" which contains various clips of him performing with his brothers including their performance of the Motown 25 special. Another highlight is watching the dancers dsiplay their moves to The Jackson's platnium classic "Shake Your Body (Down To The Ground)" before the legend returns to the stage and leads the dancers into the song's famous routine.
Viewers will get a chance to see Michael display his sensual and romantic side while performing his classic ballad "I Just Can't Stop Loving You" with singer Judith Hill. Making the performance sexy is the dim lights and Michael using his index finger to ask Hill to come close to him in a seducitve way. The crowd was so moved that they wanted MJ to belt out the song.
"I'm warming up to the moment" Jackson said trying to hold his composure.
"I gotta save my voice."
A funny moment was when the band started playing an Gospel number while Ortego jumped onstage and dance, making Jackson laugh.
"Thriller" was over the top with the special effects of ghosts floating around the arena and an unreleased rap by Vincent Price. Another highlight is watching Jackson and the dancers leaving the stage as the band played his single "Threatned" (A great way to let the tabloids know I'm not the one to be messed with).
The run through of "Black or White" displayed another form of Jackson's humility, when he apologizes to the band for misleading them throughout the performance, and he instructed guitarist Pangaris to continue playing if the band stops.
"Hit your highest note. It's your time to shine" Jackson says before the film cuts to interviews and performances of her and Tommy Organ.
"Earth Song" shows his humanitarian side. In addition to show him riding on the ramp, it also shows films of animals and a little girl in playing in the forest, it also had a voice over of Michael speaking about his how upset he was about the destruction of the planet.
"The planet is like a fever. This is our time to fix this problem we have. It's up to us."
This DVD would not be complete with out seeing Michael prepping his classic performance of "Billie Jean" which had the crew dancing and cheering him on, and while sadly we didn't get to see him do the famous moonwalk, it was great to see him adding extra moves that makes people wonder what did Justin Timberlake do to bring sexy back.
The adventures ends with Michael thanking the crew for their hard work and telling the dancers not to allow fear to enhance their gifts and crafts, and as they hug, the films fades to Michael performing the classic "Man In The Mirror"
This was a great way to pay homage to a man who's music and dancing is still making an impact on people around the world, and a great way to help fans cope with the loss of a great Icon, who provided the soundtrack for people lives. It was also a great way to show the tabloids his true character (hopefully they will start calling him by his given name), and show today's inspring artists what it really takes to put a show together and hopefully they will see that it take more than getting on stage and looking cute.
Many are still sad that Michael never got the opportunity to return to the stage, but watching this DVD will make you think that you're actually seeing him in concert having a great time.

MOTOWN FLASHBACK: DIANA ROSS & THE SUPREMES FAREWELL CONCERT

2010-01-14T21:56:00.001-06:00

ON January 14, 1970, Diana Ross & The Supremes took the stage at the Frontier in Las Vegas and performed their last show together, marking the end of an era and the end of Motown's top selling female group , who had scored 12 # hit records and became the first feamel group to top the UK charts with their classic "Baby Love."
When it was announced that the lead singer Diana Ross was leaving to pursue a solo career, many were sad including original member Mary Wilson, who stayed with the group unti they disbanded and hiring Cindy Birdsong, who had replaced the group's original member and founder Florence Ballad 2 years earlier.
Well fans who were lucky enought to attend that concert had some great memories and though I didn't make my debut until 11 months later, whever I listen to the Farewell album, I can sfell a sense of saddness because they never had a proper farewell tour, and many had wondered if both Diana and the group featuring her replacement Jean Terrell could make it. The answer was yes. For a while, the new Supremes were hotten than Diana; the new line-up had scroed four gold records including "Up The Ladder To The Roof" and "Stoned Love" wheile Diane scored a # 1 hit with "Ain't No Mountain High Enough, but the latter didn't have a ntoehr #hit until 3 years later. She did becme a successful actress earning an nomination for her portrayal of Billie Holiday in the hit movie "Lady Sings The Blues."
That concert was filled with great singing and solos by bothe Diana and Mary and featured many guest in the audience including Smokey Robinson and his first wife Claudette, Marvin Gaye and many of the Gordy family, while Ed Sullivan send them a telegram and proclamimed them as the hottest act of the 60's were know becoming two of the hotttest acts of the 70's

DA-PROFESSOR'S FAVORITE OVERSEAS ARTIST OF THE 2000'S

2010-01-14T21:00:00.002-06:00

I was having an conversation with my Godfather this evening and hea asked me about his favorite British singer Craig David.
"He's workking on new material" I told him.
Wjile we were talking I begasn to reflect on how many artist from over seas (London, Austrailia, Belgium and Africa) made an impact and invaded the states with theri music and since I'm a huge lover of international artist I decided to post a list of my favorite overseas artists

1. Selwyn-First R&B singer to emerge from Austrialia
2. Simon Webbe-British Soul/Folk singer/songwriter/actor and member of UK group Blue
3. Dizze Rascal-British Garage/Hip-Hop MC/producer
4. Dido-British singer/songwriter who sang the hook of her hit "Thank You' on Ememien's hit record "Stan" which created a buzz and forced Arista Records to rerelease her debut album in the states.
5. Akala-British rapper/producer/CEO and the first rapper to perform in Vietnam
6. Human Nature-Austrialian Pop/Soul group, who finally conquered the United States with their ramake of the Barbra Strisand-Barry Gibb classic "Guilty" with rapper Kelly K.A.E. and their 3 CD's of Motown classics.
7. Blue. British Pop/Soul group who scored several hits and recently reunited after taking time off to pursue solo career with Simon Webbe becoming the most successful member.
8. V.S, A group formed by Singer Simon Webbe, who disbanded after they were dropped from their record label. They did record a album called "All Kinds of Trouble" and a hit with the ballad "Love You Like Mad" the group consisted of three males and two females who could singer, rap and dance.
9. Criag David. Award winning and nominated Brithsih singer/songwriter and occasional rapper, who was overlooked by many awrd shows in Britian, which caused many acts including Elton John and U2 to protest.
10. S Club 7 A Pop/Soul group who became a household name with their relevision show and break through hit "Never Had A DreaAm Come True" which peaked at # 10 on the US Pop Charts and did well on the US Adult Comptemporary Charts.

N.E. FLASHBACK-CLASSIC RADIO GROUP BY ORIGINAL BOSTON QUINTET

2010-01-11T15:42:00.003-06:00

NEW EDITION
I'M LEAVING YOU AGAIN
WRITTEN BY RICKY BELL & RALPH TRESVANT
1984 MCA RECORDS

When New Edition released their self-title for MCA Records in 1984, many teenagers and college students played the album including the classic radio hit "I'm Leaving You Again," a smooth ballad written by group members Ricky Bell and Ralph Tresvant, who showcased his maturing vocals on this song that's a favorite among the fans, who, like myself wish that it was released as a single. (His phrasing improved during the song). This first time I heard this song was at one of my neighbor's birthday party, and when I heard the intro I took noticed and fell in love with the song to the point of taping it constantly.
What makes this song beautiful are the keyboard riffs that was sampled for Bow Wow & Ciara's 2005 top charting ballad "Like You," beats and lyrics about telling a girl that though I love to spend time with you, remember I'm in the music industry and I have to go out on the road due to the popular demand of the fans.

Girl I'm leaving you again
And I thought I tell you in
I know how you must feel
But if your love is for real
Try to understand that
I'm in popular demand

Another great part of the song is the ending which has a cute classic soul/do-wop rhyme, while Tresvant performs a falsetto ad-lib.

This is my all time favorite song by New Edition, which showed that they were able to create a beautiful song about trying to balance a love life and a career as a professional singers, and hopefully it will serve as a guide for guys who wanna maintain both. It's also a great song to play at parties.

FACTS ABOUT THIS SONG

1. The song wasn't released as a single, but it was a radio hit meaning that it received lots of air play on radio including 98.7 Kiss FM in New York City. It did become a hit in 2005 when rapper Bow Wow and ex-girlfriend singer Ciara sampled this classic for their ballad "Like You," which topped the R&B chars and peaked at # 3 on the Pop charts, going gold with sales of over 500, 000 copies.

2. The song was co-written by group member Ricky Bell and Ralph Tresvant, and it was one of two songs the group wrote on their self-titled double platinum release. The other song was "Kinda Girls We Like" which was written by the whole group.

DA-PROFESSOR'S FAVORITE 2009 ALBUM RELEASES

2010-01-08T12:07:00.003-06:00

1. Janet-Number Ones
2. Adam Lambert-For Your Entertainment
3. Jeremiuh
4. Jadakiss-Tha Last Kiss
5. Whitney Houston-I Look To You
6. Teena Marie-Congo Square
7. Pleasure P-The Introduction of Marcus Cooper
8. Pretty Ricky
9. Le-Toya Luckett-Lady Love
10. Sky D & Le Grange Evolution-Join The Revelution
11. Tina Turner-Tina Live!
12. The Supremes & The Four Tops-Magnificent
13. Alicia Keys-The Elements of Freedom
14. Bobby Brown-Gold
15. Bry'nt-Pornstar 2-The Director's Cut
16. Nathaneil P. EP
17. Lionel Richie-Just Go
18. Boyz II Men-Love
19. J. Holiday-Round 2

DA-PROFESSOR'S FAVORITE ARTISTS WHO GAINED SUCCESS AND LAST LAUGHS

2010-01-05T03:03:00.004-06:00

You know those sayings success is the revenge and look who has the last laugh?
Well many singers and rappers were caught in dramatic situations that caused the media to have field days with their situations as well as put fans in akward situations as to wonder who should they beleive or support. Well the situations these artist were in showed the industry and the world that artist who have heart, strenght and good character comes out on top, while the fans have the last laugh.
Here are my choices

1. LeToya Luckett-Original member of multi-platnium sellling group Destiny's Child.
Ten years ago, when BET premiered the group's video for their Grammy-Award winning hit "Say My Name," many kept their eyes glued to the television set, and when it came to the part where the ladies was doing a famous rolling routine, many including Luckett and La-Tavia Roberson were shocked to learn that they were replaced by Michelle Williams and Farrah Franklin without the proper notification. Luckett and Robertson had issues with management, and when they wrote Matthew a letter saying that they wanted to get seperate managers to help have better communication, Matthew became scared, and instead of handling the situation as a mature adult, he replaced them, which forced them to hit him, Beyonce and Kelly Rowland-Knowles and Columbia Records with lawsuits. The result; both ladies received a settlement for an undisclosed amount, royalties from both of the group's albums as well as their greatest hits CD and a Grammy for "Say My Name" considering the fact that they co-wrote the song and sang background on it.
Success Story: Le-Toya opened a boutique, starting performing at malls, houseparties, and earned a record deal with Captiol Records, and in 2006, her solo album "LeToya" debutted at # 1 on the album charts, while her single "Torn" was named the Top ASCAP single of 2006, due to the sampling of The Stylistics' classic ballard "You Are Everything." The song's video was also # 1 on 106 & Park for 2 months making her the first female to have a video retire since Aaliyah, and the only member of Destiny's Child to have a # 1 video on the BET show. She's also starrred in a play, released her second album "Lady Love" and has two movies dropping this year.
The Last Laugh: LeToya showed the world (and Matthew) that she can sing and she don't have to shake or show her ass to have success.

2. Naturi Naughton-Original member of Award winning trio 3LW
Shortly after the trio dropped their second album, fans started to see the group appear on televison shows without Naturi, leaving many to wonder why she left. Turns out that she didn't like the group and management ideas of having a sexy image considering the fact that they were in their mid teens at the time. She felt that they should grow into womanhood and when they get to a certain age, then go with the sexy look. They was against it, and group members threw made shade at her and caused drama, but the turning point came when they threw mash potatoes in her hair during an arguement at KFC. She filed a lawsuit against the group and management, but decided to take the Vanessa Williams route and drop it, thinking success is the best revenge.
Success Story: She returned to high school, went to college and scored a role in the hit play "Hairspray" with Tevin Campbell and when Sister2Sister founder Jamie Foster Brown saw her at castmate Darlene Love's birthday party, she scheduled an interview with Naturi, who finally gave her side of what went down, and informed the journalist how nobody ever asked for her side of the story. Once the story hit, she received lots of fan support and love, but that was the tip of the iceberg. A year later, she landed the role of a lifetime; portraying Grammy-Award winning rapper Lil' Kim in the hit movie "Notorious" winning more than rave reviews, despite receiving flack from Queen Bee, who felt that she was too Black to play her (In other words, too dark). She also started in the ramake of the classic "Fame" and scored her first solo hit with her rendition of the song.
Last Laugh: Naturi took the high road and starred in a hit musical and two blockbuster films and blossomed into a beautiful woman, while her bandmates are typecasted as Cheeta Girls.

3. Christina Aguleria-Grammy Award winning Soul/Pop singer/Songwriter.
When Chirstina released her first single "Genie In A Bottle," many teenagers was drawn to her looks, while their parents and grandparents were drawn to her Soulful voice. "That girl got Soul" was the response many adults said after hearing her sing. They were right. The Half Latin/Half White singer honed her chops by performing on the Mickey Mouse club and listening to the music of Billie Holiday, Etta James, Whitney Houston, Janet Jackson and James Brown, but her record label wanted to capitlize on the growing Teen Pop market and they had her do songs that was catering to that market as well as having her redo songs in lower ranges, while her former manager had her doing a series of one-nighters that left Christina, her band, dancers and crew physically exhausted. Her wardrobe stylist even said that she had to constanly alter everybody's stage costumes everynight. Things changed when her current managers intervened and told her label the tour was going to be officially canceled for health concerns.
Success Story: After scoring a hit with the remake of the Labelle classic "Lady Marmalade" with Mya, Pink and Lil'Kim the critics began to take notice of her R&B roots, but the label wanted her to contiue being a Pop tart. Christina told her label that she wanted to have more creative control of her next album and she wanted to have more of an R&B and Rock flavor. In other words; she gave RCA an ultimatium; either let me do it my way or let me out my contract! The label granted honored her request and shen she released "Stripped" in the fall of 2002, it became her biggest selling album to date thanks to the hits "Dirrty" and "Beautiful." 5 years later, she performed a soul wrenching tribute to James Brown by performing his classic "It's A Mans World" at the 2007 Grammy Awards.
Last Laugh: Christina showed the industry that music needs to be color-blind and that nobody should have to be placed in a category because of their skin color or gender.

4. Jennifer Hudson-Oscar-Grammy Award winning singer/actress
When Jennifer Hudson appeared on the 3rd season of American Idol, many felt that she was going to win. She lost that title to Fantasia, Simon told her that she wouldn't succed. Jennifer handled it with class, thanking him for the opportunity.
Sucess Story: Jennifer auditioned for the role of Effie White in the film "Dreamgirls" and after being called back several times, she beated out many hopefuls including Fantasia, and not only did the movie become a hit, she became a overnight sensation, winning several awards including an Golden Globe (where she acknowledge the late Supremes' founder Florence Ballard), and an Oscar for best supporting actress. She also performed the movie's theme "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going" with the original Effie herself; Jennifer Holiday on the 207 BET Awards.
2 years later, Jennifer was presented with A Grammy-Award by her idol Whitney Houston last year, giving her comfort after the death of her maother, brother and newphew.
Last Laugh: She showed Simon that talented and sexy full-figured women can succeed, and you can't keep a good and grand woman down.

5. Adam Lambert-American Idol contestant, and popular singer
Adam Lambert auditioned and competed on American Idol winning the fans and judges including hard to impress Simon, who couldn't say anything bad about him. Simon even complimented the theatre trained singer for his voice and style, and though he made it to the top 2, he wasn't crowned the next American Idol. He did however, secured a record deal and an exclusive cover story for Rolling Stone Magazine where he revealed he was gay. When he performed on the American Music Awards, he gave one hot performance; he kissed his male keyboardist on the lips and placed his head in two of his dancer's crouches. His performance was too hot for ABC to the point where his appearance on "Good Morning America" was canceled.
Success Story: The Early show asked him to appear on their program, and he was later interviewed by Barbra Walters, who he told "yes I'm a homosexual. Deal with it!
Last Laugh: People are starting to finally realize that once you mess woth the gays, you're gonna have consequences to suffer.

6. Pleasure P-Grammy-nominated singer/songwriter and former lead vocalist of Hip-Hop/R&B Group Pretty Ricky.
Pleasure P's strong helped the sexy horny toads score two gold albums and several hits including "Grind On Me," "Age Ain't Nothing But A Number," and "On The Hotline," and performing on major tours arund the world, but by the end of their
2007 tour, Pleasure left the group and sued it's manager for non-payment of royalites and tour money, and secured a solo deal.
Success Story: Plesure released his solo debut The Introduction of Marcus Cooper, scored three hits and Grammy Nominations, and respect as a solo artist, and unlike many who bash their former group members, he took the high road and refuses to judges or talk bad about them as people.
"It's my daddy I fell out with, but I'll always love my brothers" he told Jet Magazine in 2007.
Last Laugh: He was able to do well

7. Mark Curry-Rapper/songwriter and former artist on Bad Boy Records
When aspiring rapper/songwriter Marc Curry met Sean Puffy Daddy Combs in the mid
1990's, he beleived that he was going to become a successful multi-million dollar rapper. He had wrote songs for Puffy and made guest appearances on many of the label's album cuts and singles, creating a buzz and fan base who was anticipating the release of his own solo album. Sadly that never happen. Curry found himself teaching Puffy how to rap and whenever he asked when he would be able to record his album, he was told to wait and it wasn't the right time. Curry later learned that there was no intention for the label to release an album on him and after many years of fighting, he decided to leave the label and industry.
Success Story: After being forced to retire, fans who recognized him wanted to know why he didn't release an album and they also wanted to know the real deal about Puffy and his label. That inspired him to write a book about his experiences with Puffy, who dismissed the book along with Wendy Williams who claims that his story is irrelevant. There were many however who were interested in what he had to say, and while the book didn't become a blockbuster, it began to circulate into book stores such as Borders, Barnes & Nobels, and the Hue-Man book store.
Last Laugh: All comebacks doesn't have to be big and major, and Marc Curry showed people that he had the heart and balls to pen his life story and how shady Puffy is, and whether or not the book becomes a bestseller, the main thing is that the truth is out.

8. Janet-Award winning Icon
Janet Jackson has been a star since she was a child. From acting to singing, she has blossomed into a talented star and sexy woman. In 2004 her career was almost derailed due to an wardrobe malfunction. At the 2004 Superbowl, she and Nsyench lead singer Justin Timberlake performed a performance of Justin's solo hit "Rock Your Body" and right after he sang the line 'you'll be naked by the end of this song' he grabbed her bra off and exposed her breast when in reality he was supposed to grab the leather part of. He got too horny. Many people called in complaining while President Bush added his two cents in. The saddest event that happened with Justin punking out and not showing the Icon who gave his group the opprtunity to open up for her during her Velvet Rope tour, while the Grammy Awards wanted both to appear on the show and apologize. Justin obliged, while Janet refused being that she gave a public apology a few days after the superbowl, which resuleted in the show preventing her from taking part in a tribute to Luther Vandross and many Black Entertainers boycotting and protesting about the unfair treatment the legendary Icon was being treated
Success Story: Miss Janet celebrated her 40th birthday two years later by releasing her long-awaited album "20 Y.O." and rocking the Today Show and the Billboard Music Awards, showing the crowd that she's moved on and you need to focus on the music.
Last Laugh: Miss Janet's current CD Number Ones made history be being one of the first CD's to be released whee all the singles hit # 1 with her current single "Make Me" hitting # 1 on the Dance charts.

DA-PROSSOR'S FAVORITE NOVELS OF THE 2000'S

2010-01-04T12:07:00.005-06:00

1. Dark-Kenji Jasper
2. Breathe-Blair Poole
3. In Da Life-Hank-Michael Christopher
4. In Love With A Thug-Reginald L. Hall
5. Basketball Jones-E Lynn Harris
6. Redrum-Charazz
7. Bishop-Miz
8. Hidden Fires-Donald Peebles
9. My Boyz, My Brothas-Dwayne Vernon
10. That's The Way Love Goes-Daryl C. Diggs
11. Fly On The Wall-
12. Rap Superstar-Debra Clayton
13. I'm On My Way-Christopher David
14. The Day Eazy-E Died-James Earl Hardy
15. Passion Marks-Lee Hayes
16. A House Is Not A Home-James Earl Hardy

DA-PROFESSOR'S FAVORITE COLLABS OF THE 2000'S

2010-01-04T09:50:00.006-06:00

Here are my favorite collaborations of the 2000s
Alot of artist had linked up to record some hot tracks that still gets spins in clubs and on radios and here are my favorites.

1. Lady Marmalade-Mya, Pink, Christina Aguleria & Lil' Kim
2. Dilema-Nelly & Kelly Rowland
3. Son of A Gun-Janet & Carly Simon
4. Down For The Count-Talib Kweli & Hi-Tek with Rah Digga & Xzibit
5. Let Me Blow Ya Mind-Eve & Gwen Stefani
6. All Eyes On Me-LeToya Luckett & Paul Wall
7. Pocketbook-Jennifer Hudson & Ludacris
8. Throw It On Me-Baron & Blackbird
9. Not Home-Bry'Nt and K.O.
10. Contagious-The Isley Brothers With Chante Moore & R. Kelly
11. Music-Erick Sermon & Marvin Gaye & Ride With U-Joe & G-Unit (Tie)
12. Diary-Alicia Keys & Tony, Toni, Tone
13. Baby Boy-Beyonce Knowles & Sean Paul & Soldier-Destiny's Child & T.I., Lil' Wayne & Juelz Santana (Tie)
14. Private-One Chance & Akon
15. Gold Digger-Kanye West & Jamie Foxx
16. We Belong Together (Remix) Mariah Carey With Jadakiss & Stylez P
17. Wanna Be Starin' Somethin' 2008 Michael Jackson & Akon
18. This Is Wasn't How It Was Supposed To Be-Journalist & Floerty
19. Roll Out-Labelle & Wyclef Jean
20. One Minute Man-Missy Elliot With Ludacris & Trina
21. Start To Fade-Novel & Smokey Robinson
22. Holla At Me-Jesse O & Shorty Roc
23. Get Ready-Ginuwine With Snoop Dogg & The Rook
24. Above The Law-Barbrs Striesand & Barry Gibb & Crayons-Donna Summer & Ziggy Marley
25. I Wanna Be Loved-Gladys Knight & Jamie Foxx
26. Stan-Emeneim & Dido
27. Dirrty-Christina Aguleria & Redman
28. Same Script Different Cast-Whitney Houston & Debroah Cox
29. It Wasn't Me-Shaggy & Rik Rok & Son of A Bitch-Lady Saw & Marsha (Tie)
30. Problem Child-Jadakiss & Stylez P
31. U-Turn-Brian McKnight With Fabolus & Six John
32. Guilty (One In A Million) Human Nature & Kelly K.A.E.
33. So Into You-Fabolous & Tamia
33. Candy Shop-50 Cent & Olivia with Marcus Houston
34. Get Crunk Shorty-Nick Cannon With Ying Yang Twins and Fatman Scoop
35. Make Me Better-Fabolous & Ne-Yo
36. Umbrella-Rhianna with Jay-Z & Chris Brown
37. Hood Boy-Fantasia & Hood Boy
38. Drop It Like It's Hot-Pharell & Snoop Dogg
39. So Confused-Pretty Ricky & Butta Creame
40. Superwoman-Lil' Mo & Fabolous
41. My Place-Nelly & Jaheim
42. Special Delivery-G-Dep With Ghostface Killa, Keith Murray and Craig Mack
43. Ain't It Funny-Jennifer Lopez & Ja-Rule With Cadillac Tah
44. Hit The Freeway-Toni Braxton & Loon
45. Call On Me-Janet & Nelly
46. Migrate-Mariah Carey & T-Pain
47. Cutie (Remix)-Selwyn & Stan Bravo
48. Boomin' (Remix) Selwyn & Mr. Cheeks
49. How Many Licks-Lil' Kim & Sisqo
50. Set It Off-Out Mobb
51. Pop Champaigne-Bry'Nt & Last Offesnse
52. Da Hot Shit-Bell-Biv-DeVoe With Posta Boi & Shamari
53. Signed, Sealed, Delivered I'm Yours-Blue With Angie Stone & Stevie Wonder
54. Brother-Njohi With Baron, Jesse-O, Buttafly Soul
55. Debate (Remix)-Johnny Dangerous With God-Des & Tina G.
56. Can't Last A Day-Tenna Marie & Faith Evans
57. Let's Make Love (Remix)-Deepside With Papoose
58. Party And Bullshit (Remix) Rah Digga With Missy Elliot & Eve
59. It's Not Worth It-Brandy With Michael Jackson
60. Hold Ya Mouf!-Dizzie Rascal With God's Gift
61. I Know What You Want-The Flipmode Squad & Mariah Carey
62. Everything I Do-Beyonce & Bilal
63. Let's Get Married (Remix)-Jagged Edge & DJ Run
64. Feelin' Freaky-Nick Cannon & B2K
65. Tell Me No-Whiney Houston & Santana
66. I'm A Hustla (Remix)-Cassidy & Mary J. Blige
67. Notorius-The Notorius BIG With Puff Daddy and Lil'Kim
68. Thank God I Found You (Make It Last Remix) Joe & Mariah Carey With Nas
69. Sex-Ginuwine & Sole
70. Stutter (Remix)-Joe & Mystikal
71. Invinceable-Michael Jackson & Fats
72. Anything-Jahiem & Next
73. Regret-LeToya Luckett & Ludacris
74. Here We Go-Trina & Kelly Rowland
75. Brooklyn-Fabolus With Jay-Z & Uncle Murda
76. Hot Boyz-Missy Elliot With Eve & Nas
77. Hell Yeah!-Ginuwine With Baby
78. Bling Bling-B.G. Wtih Lil' Wayne & Manny Fresh
79. Hello-Ice Cube With Dr. Dre & MC Ren
80. Crazy In Love-Beyonce Knowles & Jay-Z
81. What Chu Like-Da Brat & Tyresse
82. Mama Said-Novel & Kool G. Rap
83. 1000 Kisses-Will Smith With Jada Pickett Smith & Tra Knox
84. One Call Away-Chingy & J-Weav
85. Like You-Bow Wow & Ciara
86. Secret Lover-The Isley Brothers & Avant
87. Busted-The Isley Brothers & J.S.
88. Roc The Mic (Remix)-Nelly With Beanie Seagal, Freeway & Murphy Lee
89. What Becomes Of The Broken Hearted-The Funk Brothers & Joan Osborne
90. Put It On Me-Ja-Rule & Lil' Mo
91. You-Lloyd & Lil' Wayne
92. So Excited-Janet & Khia
93. I Wanna Fuck You-Akon & Snoop Dogg
94. Tear That Pussy Up-Young Jeezy & Lloyd
95. Give It Up To Me-Sean Paul & Keisha Cole
96. The Show-Kelly Rowland & Tank
97. Beautiful Liar-Beyonce Knowles & Shakira
98. Tell Me-Bobby Valentino & Lil' Wayne
99. To Love A Woman-Lionel Richie & Enrique Iglesias
100. I Won't Be The One To Let Go-Barbra Streisand & Barry Manilow
101. Numba 1-Kardinall Offishall & Rhianna
102. Let's Get It-G-Dep & Black Rob With Puff Daddy

THOUGHTS FROM DA-PROFESSOR

2010-01-04T07:55:00.002-06:00

Since I'm up, I midas well post somethings I've had on my mind onto this blog.
It seems that people wanna throw shade at President Obama for his reaction about the Nigerian who tried to blow up an airplane headed towards Detroit during the Christmas holiday.

I've heard crazy comments like he wasn't wearing a neck-tie to why did it take him along time to address the issue, to he was to laid-back during his speech.

Give the man credit; People need to be grateful that he took time from his vacation to address the issue and admit that they were mistakes made during the screening of the terrorist and futhter investigation is going to be done.

Barbra Walters calling Michael Jackson's kids mysterious.
I thought that was very tacky for an established journalist to refer to the late Motown Legend and music Icon's kids with that title.
Michael knew what it was like having being chased and followed by photographers, and he and ex-wife Debbie Rowe wanted to create an loving and normal envoirment for his kids, and having their faces covered with makes was a great move to keep the press for trying to cash in on the kids, who were raised well. Whenever I watch the clip of Michael's daughter Paris speaking at the memorial, you can say that her daddy raised her and her brothers right, and I would hope Barbra would show his kids some respect and exept the fact that they're biologically his.

Adam Lambert appearing on the Barbra Walters count down. I liked how he conducted himself and said that whoever he sleeps with doesn't take away from his talent and that people need to deal with him being a homosexual.
I don't get how ABC felt his performance on the American Music Awards was too much, but when Madonna was interviewed on ABC about her "Justify My Love" video, they showed the video in it's entirety uncut and unceansored.

The coverage of Actress/singer Alaina Hall.
When I learned that the star of "227" had died from breast cancer, I was shocked to learned that many of the media outlets including BET didn't mentioned it until many people started to write about it on Face bok and their blogs. It was the true fans, who got the ball rolling, and though I'm sorry that actress Britney Murphy had died, Alainia should have gotten the same amount of coverage being that she was a legend who paved the way for many to today's starlettes.

The MTA attempting to elimante student train and bus passes.
They've been trying to do this stupid act for years, but it always fail.
With billions of people ridng the trasnit on a daily bases, there's really no excuse why the system is always strapped for cash. Trying to eliminate the student fare passes ain't gonna help them get anymore money.
A bad move since many white kids who attend private school in the city rely on public trasnportaion, and when their parents have to use the money they give them for their video games to buy them a monthly metro card, they're gonna get started turning into bad kids and when they start robbing and stealing, it's gonna be hell. Plus most kids from rich families be the main ones partaking in crazy activites such as drinking, smoking, doing drugs and having sex.
IF they wanna help save the system, they need to show Obama the books and stop spending the moeny recklessly and put it to good use

A NEW START

2010-01-04T07:52:00.002-06:00

Hey there
I wanna wish everybody a happy 2010.
So far the new year is going good for me so far.
I've been hanging out with cool people with positive vibes and energy and I'm also learning to focus more on the positive aspects of my life. Of course I'm gonna have my ups and downs (who doesn't) but the main goal is to move on from the experience because there will be something greater installed for me.

GETTING READY FOR 2010

2009-12-30T13:07:00.004-06:00

In 2 days, it will be a new year.
I'm looking forward to growing on a spiritual, mental and physical level.
This year was pretty hetic for me. I was able to survive the loss of my grandmother and I'm almost recovered from the surgery I had the day before Thanksgiving.
I'm looking forward to growing as a person and seeing what 2010 has to offer.

Thanks for those who showed me love and I wish each and every one of u a Happy New Year

Song inspired by this post

A CHANGE IS GONNA COME
PERFORMED BY WAYNE BRADY
WRITTEN BY SAM COOKE
2008 CONCORD RECORDS

THINGS THAT HAD MUSIC FANS HAPPY

2009-12-30T12:18:00.004-06:00

1. The comebacks of Whitney Houston and Maxwell.
2. Donna Summer's concert in Brooklyn.
3. Minnie Rippleton & Teena Marie finally being paged homage with the Unsung Documentary.
4. Adam Lambert coming out the closet and telling Barbra Walters that he's a homosexual and to deal with it! & Kelly Rowland finally getting new management.
5. Janet Jackson re-teaming with Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis for her upcoming album.
6. Finally finding out why Jody Watley and Jeffrey Daniels left Shalamar.
7. Tina Knowles finally divorcing Matthew.
8. Evan Chandler taking his own life.

MY FAVORITE COLLABS OF 2009

2009-12-30T11:59:00.003-06:00

Here are my favorite collabs of 2009 Both released singles and album tracks

1. POCKETBOOK-Jennifer Hudson & Ludacris
2. REGRET-LeToya Luckett 7 Ludacris
3. WITH YOU-Asher D & Muteya Buena
4. LIKE I NEVER LEFT-Whitney Houston & Akon
5. WHO'S REAL-Jadakiss With Swizz Beatz
6. STEP YOUR PEN GAME UP-Up & Set It Off-Out Mobb
7. LETTER TO BIG-Jadakiss & Faith Evans
8. CAN'T LAST A DAY-Teena Marie & Faith Evans.

MY FAVORITE SINGLES OF 2009

2009-12-30T11:39:00.003-06:00

HERE ARE MY FAVORITE SINGLES OF 2009

1. Raindrops-Jerimuh
2. Stop Callin' Me-Khalif
3. Call You Tonight & I Didn't Know My Own Strength (Tie)-Whitney Houston
4. Make Me-Janet
5. Your Love-Pleasure P
6. Like This-Brutha
7. Beat It Up & Hello Goodbye(Tie)-Bry'nt
8. Party with B & Celebrity (Tie)-Baron
9. I'm Here To Entertain You-Adam Lambert
10. Black-Pretty Ricky
11.You And Me-Wayne Brady

MY FAVORITE ADULT/PORN STARS PART 2

2009-12-30T11:14:00.003-06:00

Here is a breakdown of my favorite porn stars in categoires

Famous on/off screne couple
City Boi and Jiovanne-These southern boys have been bringing their southern hospitality to their work in several films including Measuring Up and Payback's A Bitch which in the latter, Jiovanne was topped on screen for the first time. The duo also showcased their versatility in Black In Nature
I would love to see this duo show more sensuality (especially when City is going to be the main top) and them having a equal amoung of topping time.

Famous Bottoms
June-This Latin hunk has no shame in taking some good ass dick in his ass. Since he's been on the scene since 2007/8, he's been making guys sweat and lose their breath with his tight Latin ass, which shows bottoms that they're no less than a man.

Neo-This guys gives off mad sensuality and knows what he likes. His performances in Give A Thug A Bone and Assualt With A Blatino Weapon shows that Black guys can put it on you just ass good as females

Famous top of 2009
Loco-This hot sexy, young, mature brother knows how to lay the pipe down and he knows how to make his partner satisfied. If he continues to remain down to earth and don't get caught up in negavitivy, he will have a long career.

Famous Verstaile of 2009
Nubius-This Tall muscular hunk can give dick as well as take it. From getting hit from guys half his size to banging out tall brothas, he gives a complete description on how to get sexually taken care of. Plus he knows hows to kiss

Remy Mars-Known for getting his ass tapped, the Philly native shocked many fans when he topped Thug Nasty in the flick "Thugboy 7" and though he has alot of pratice, he did a pretty decent job.

Porn Stars who have potential

Spyder-This slender sexy brotha made his debut in Give A Thug A Bone, and while he's blessed with a huge dick and slender body, he didn't get a chance to really shine towards the end. He gives off alot of sensuality, and I feel that writers need to have him perform sensual acts (Kissing, necking and rubbing) before he gets his dick sucked and fucks. He was able to make his onscreen co-star cum several times and for a person to do that without hard pounding shows that he has skills that need to be developed.

Black Mamba-This sexy slender dark-skinned Black/Latin brother showed the true meaning of being a Blatino. In addition to his accent, he displayed lots of sensuality, class and charm in the film "Fever For Da Flaver-Orlando" and viewers who love Chocolate Black Latin men will having multiple orgasims and wanting to take Spanish lessons when watching this film. I would love to see him maintian his sensuality and contiue to kiss in future projects.

The biggest comebacks:
T-Malone: This Porn role model made his return in Layin' Pipe and picked up where he left off at; showing the industry and the world that masucline looking men shouldn't be looked down on because they like to receive dick instead of give it.

Supreme Castro: When Supreme got fucked in the films "Take Em Down" 1 & 2, many were shocked, pissed and hurt that he got dicked down by the industry's famous Blatino Top. (I felt sorry for him)
He went back to his roots in the film "New Thug City" where he plays a ruthless drug dealer, who uses his dick to punish those who late with his loot and to test their loyalty. Though his dick had slight problems getting errected, he was able to regain his topping status and hopefully he will remain on top of his game.

Famous 3 ways
The second scene in the flick "Jeans, Hoodies & Boots" What I liked about that scene was how the guys were into each other, and they complimented each other with their sex skills, by displaying their personalties.

MY FAVORITE ADULT/PORN STARS OF 2009

2009-12-30T11:02:00.003-06:00

Here is a list of my favorite Adult/Porn Stars of 2009

1. Dream (On Top of My Game 2)
2. Loco (Layin' Pipe)
3. Jiovanne (Measuring Up, Payback's A Bitch, Black In Nature)
4. Magic (Thugboy 7) and Paris (Layin' Pipe
5. Spyder (Give A Thug A Bone)
6. City Boi (Measuring Up, Payback's A Bitch, Black In Nature)
7. Vivid (Give A Thug A Bone)
8. Dangerzone (Thugboy 7)
9. June (Layin' Pipe, 3 The Hardway)
10. Remy Mars (Thugboy 7)
11. Mr. Saukei (Thugboy 7)
12. Nubius (Black In Nature)

MY FAVORITE ADULT FILMS OF 2009

2009-12-30T10:50:00.002-06:00

Here are a list of my favorite Adult/Porn films of 2009

1. Layin' Pips (Real Urban Men Productions)
2. Top of My Game 2 (Chocolate Creame Productions)& Thugboyz 7-Born To Fuck (Flavaworks Productions)
3. Measuring Up (Pittbull Productions)
4. Guess Who's Cumming To Dinner (Chocolate Creame Productions)
5. Measuring Up & Payback's A Bitch (Pittbull productions)
6. The Movers (Chocolate Cream)
7. Black In Nature (Edward James Productions)
8. Give A Thug A Bone

HONORING A LEGENDARY TOP: ABDUL DUKE FAKIR

2009-12-26T14:01:00.003-06:00

When I learned that I was born the same day as Duke of The Four Tops, I was excited. To was born the same day as the guy who's a member of the world's famous singing group who until 1997 was the only group to have all original members without a change in personel for 43 years. Now he's the only suriving member of the legendary group, who's keeping the legacy alive with Theo Peoples, Ron Mc Neir and Raquel Payton, the son of the group's late vocal arranger Lawerence, who along with Renaldo "Obie" Benson and Levi Stubbs had died from cancer.
I admire Duke for keeping the legacy going and for honoring his 3 best friends, who gave us wonderful music and showed the industry that a group of Black guys can weather any storm togehter and they did. I wish that some of today's groups would follow their examples.

Known for his trademark glasses and smile, Duke always gives the fans his best when he sings his line on the group's million selling classic "Ain't No Woman (Like The One I Got). He always acts like he's writing when he sings the line 'Like a page on a letter.'
He always shows his sense of humor during the group performs their debut hit "Baby I Need Your Loving." After the group does a call and response, Theo always says take it off/Take it off, and Duke jokingly tells a audience member hey man put your clothes back on.
When they group performs their live version of Heatwave's classic ballad "Always And Forever," Theo always tells the brothers in the audience that it's a nice song to sing to their ladies, but Duke reminds him 'Now you know everybody can't sing.
That's right buy her a Mercedes, she'll be singing to you.

Duke is also knows for his loyalty to long-time friends and fellow Motown artists including Otis Williams of The Temptations and Mary Wilson of The Supremes, who perform together from time to time.
In his autobiography, Otis said that after the Motown 25 special, he was telling Duke that he and The Four Tops should perform the battle of the bands on the road.
"That's a great idea" Duke replied.
That tour lasted for 3 years.
He's also good friends with Mary Wilson who he dated during the 1960's. When his marriage was having problems, he and the sexy Supreme began to date and live together, having artists calling them the true sweethearts of Motown. In her autobiography, Mary said that whenever he wasn't on tour he would say SweatPea I'm bringing some of the guys home and she would cook up a big dinner and would have fun. She also said that Duke's the true love of her life, and though they ended their romance, they've remained friends, and when The Four Tops was having their 50th anniversary special, Duke personally called Mary and asked if she would love to perform their version of the classic "River Deep Mountain High" with them and she agreed. In fact, on the show, Duke personally introduced her to the crowd who rewarded her with a standing ovation as she strutted on the dress in her red dress.
Duke has great taste in women.
One characterestic I've learn is his humility. On their 50th anniversary DVD, he spoke about how he kept his promise to his mother when he brought her a house. His late mother worked as a domestic, and when he saw the couple she was working for attending the group's concert, he asked Berry Gordy for an $10,000 advance. Gordy gave him $20,000, and Duke told his mother that she can retire and he would take care of her for the rest of her life.

Abdul Duke Fakir is a classy, talented, humble man and I like to wish him a happy birthday and to continue keeping the group's legacy alive.