June Ambrose is Crazy Cool

One of the rising Internet divas is celebrity stylist June Ambrose. If you follow her many exploits on Facebook, or her hilarious tweets on Twitter, you know that it's irrevelant if Ambrose is playing with a full deck, because either way, the cards are stacked in her favor. You go, girl.

'Charlene' by Anthony Hamilton (Kledogg2002)

The Return of the Funky Divas

One reunion after another it's become apparent, Envogue, the New Jack Swing's answer to the Supremes, are poised to make a comeback.
The quartet has been hopping around the country (most recently the Essence Fest in Nola; and the Plymouth Jazz Festival in Tobago)doing gigs with hopes of a recording in the works. But will the record-buying public respond?

Cindy Herron, Maxine Jones, Dawn Robinson and Terry Ellis were manufactured by producer team Foster and McElroy in 1989 in Oakland, California.
There album "Born to Sing," yielded the immediate hit, "Hold On," which made the girls a household name in black families.
In 1997, Dawn, the most outspoken and vocally restrained member of the group, bolted for greener pastures. She resurfaced as part of the trio Lucy Pearl, who had more potential than actual staying power.
Off and again and on again, and shuffling members the whole time the group has reassembled its original lineup (they performed at the Trumpet Awards earlier this year) and are singing everywhere they can.
The public has been known to be downright fickle about reunions, turning out to buy albums but long since deserting the album-supporting tours and appearances that come with it.
Why will this be any different?

Solange = Sci Fi Interplanetary Funkster, Or Somethin'

When it comes to steez, Solange Knowles has something or other. And the more we see her, the more we know that it is indeed "other."
Here she is at the gay pride joint in 'Frisco and she's in it to win it. We have seen Beyonce in some getups, but at least Tina checkmates all of Bey's outfits; Solange does simply HER.

Why Hasn't He Said Something?

His Royal Badness, Prince Rogers Nelson has said nary a word on the passing of his musical rival, Michael Jackson.
Not that he's supposed to, but generally two masters in the same arena acknowledge each other in death, if not in life.
The two geniuses were musical opposites in their hey day, pushing each other to new creative heights.
"Thriller" was met by "Purple Rain."
"Bad" was countered with "Sign O the Times."
Prince was the do-it-all musician was Michael was the consummate performer.
You could be in both camps but you couldn't love both of them the same.
That's just how it was.
Now that one is no longer with us, the other's absence is stark.

Quincy Jones: MJ 'obviously didn't want to be black'

Music impresario and MJ protege Quincy Jones had a sometimes sad, sometimes funny, but totally no-holds-barred interview in Menstyle where he takes the kid gloves off about Michael Jackson.
Some gems:
On the weird ways of MJ in the studio.
Muscles (Michael's boa constrictor) used to wrap around my leg in a record session and crawl across the console. I was never comfortable with that. It was a choice between that and Bubbles—you know, the chimp."

On Michael's inability to grow up and Quincy's giving him the song "She's Out of My Life," a 'grown-up' song, to sing on the "Off the Wall" album:
"I just wanted to hear him deal with a romantic relationship with a human being rather than a rat. I'm saying that facetiously, but it's true. I saw him at the Oscars very emotional about "Ben." I wanted to hear him get in touch with a real human relationship. "She's Out of My Life" was written by Tommy Bahler from a very bad ending to a marriage. So it was very real. I was saving it for Sinatra. But I gave it to Michael. And Michael cried during every take, and I left the tears in."



Source

'Knock You Down' by Keri Hilson (Paris Mills)

THIS GIRL IS 14 YEARS OLD!

Queen Latifah: 'God bless Farrah Fawcett, she was my fave'

Queen Latifah sat down with the Los Angeles Times in an interview over the weekend and dropped science about Farrah, MJ and even Flavor Unit.
Here are some gems:
"Michael just -- there'll never be anyone like him. He just introduced us to the world, just an international megastar. And a heart of gold. And just, you know, brought attention to things going on around the world and to being an African American man."

On her movie career:
" I would love to eventually have our own studio. A real studio to produce films, television, whatever it is we like to do. To be a self-contained company, like a Tyler Perry, I suppose. You write it, you shoot it, you market it, you license it.?


Source

Vibe Magazine ends with a thud

Vibe had me at hello.
The sudden closure of the magazine yesterday struck me because it was never allowed to say 'goodbye.'
I remember when the magazine debuted in the early 1990s as a slick, long treasure trove of urban cultural hotness.
Vibe's claim to fame back in the day was its mixture of "hard" news journalism (courtesy of Jessie Washington, where is he?) and entertainment glam: photo shoots, music pieces and breaking new artists.
Its finest moment was also its most controversial. Kevin Powell's piece on who shot Tupac garnered the magazine praise outside of its circles. Of course Tupac Shakur was an interviewer's dream. He'd go off on tangents, name names, and didn't mind do-do-ing on the biggest names in hip-hop at the time: Puff Daddy and the Notorious B.I.G.
Alas, but Vibe lost its way shortly after that. Hip-hop became a bigger focus as a slew of rap magazines launched in the mid to late 1990s. Vibe became just another "rap rag" although it always thought of itself as more.
Hopefully we can see the "vibe" in another manifestation next time.

House of Dereon launches 'Sasha Fierce'

Inspired by her latest album and timed to her world tour, Beyonce and mom Tina Knowles have launched a clothing line based on the singer's alter ego, Sasha Fierce.
The collection, Tina said, is “edgier and trendier and reflects Sasha Fierce’s daring and outgoing attitude.”
Mama says the outfits Beyonce and her performers wore were an inspiration also.
“When the tour started, we noticed the definite style of it,” Tina explained. “Thierry Mugler designed the clothes for the tour, but we really wanted to celebrate the style and interpret that into a collection.”




Beyoncé, who said in a statement “the line really exudes a different side of my personality, which I am grateful that I can express,” had a lot of say in the creation of the collection, Tina said.


“She definitely tells me what she likes and what she doesn’t," Tina said of Beyonce. "It was her suggestion to line the rips of the jeans with the mesh and lace,” she said. “It makes the jeans look really different from what’s out there.”
Do you want to look like Sasha Fierce?