Is It Possible for Adults to be Spoiled Rotten?

Okay, you're a Grown A. Man or Grown A. Woman, right? And you usually get what you deserve via hard work, determination, etc., right?
But you can still be spoiled, right?
I mean, as grown-ups we tend to associate the word with children, but let's face it: Some off us do act like juveniles.
I mean, if you don't get your way in a relationship do you pout? Do you get mad, angry and belligerent? That's pouting.
Think about it: What was the last significant argument you had with your Sig Other (that didn't involve moolah)? Was it because of something that didn't go your way, and you just made a big stink over it?
That's. Pouting.
It's not cute, people. I know, I know, you're working on it. But we dont' have all lifetime, ya know?

Do You Ever Forgive a Beater?

If a man, or woman, puts their hands on you, is it automatically curtains for the relationship?
People fight everyday; over money, over custody, over nothing, but it's for the most part verbal.
But ever so often confrontations turn physical. And when they do, the harm is superficial or deep and longlasting, but either way it usually signals the end of the union.
Should it?
Should you ever keep a "friend" that has proven that he or she will jump on you?
Some people may say that once someone touches you then a sacred line has been crossed and you're better off living -- before you get killed! I can't disagree with that sentiment. However, the old folks have a saying also: If he'll lie, he'll steal; if he'll steal, he'll kill.
So, from that viewpoint, a liar will dead you too.
The moral of the story? Stay away from Cheaters.

Will Amerie's 'Love and War' be either?

Your girl Amerie is back in the limelight with the release of her upcoming album. She recently released the cover art, which is on some hmmmm-kay type ish.
Amerie, who is a relatively new Def Jam signee, is benefiting from moderate marketing and promotion this time out, and it figures, because "In Love and War" is definitely a do-or-die album.
But can she sing?
Actually, scratch that. Who sings nowadays?
Can she accurately convey the pain and emotion that a title like "In Love and War" brings to mind?
Will "In Love and War" be either?
Her last LP, 2007's "Because I Love It," wasn't even released in the United States (where they do that at?)
This time with "In Love and War," she is hoping for stateside success at least. In her absence she's seen newcomers like Keri Hilson become chart monsters with the help of features from people like Kanye West and Lil Wayne.
Speaking of the Young Money rapper, he appears on one of "In Love and War's" first singles, "Heard Em All," which could be a blessing or curse this time, depending on the public's response to an obvious oversaturation with Weezy.
Amerie's music, known for heavy percussion and flighty vocals, will need to come correct this time if it stands a chance.
If not, we'll be seeing ya ... "So You Think You Can DanceSing."

Honestly, Do You Want the Old Maxwell Back?

I struggled with my feelings for weeks now; trying my darndest to come up with an excuse, a valid reason why I should keep "BLACKsummer's night" in the CD player.
I finally took it out last week.
In the end though it was simply about the music. Truth be told -- and I love Maxwell -- the CD just aint all that hittin'.
Truthfully, the reason why it's done so well in sales is because, well, we need Maxwell. Music needed him.
His music is what is it not so much because of what it is, but for what it isn't.
Radio today is brain dead. Creativity -- along with record sales -- has been sapped of all its vital juices (autotune).
Honestly, I like the old Maxwell better, the one with all the hair. It's like he had Samson Syndrome or something. Once he cut his mane and started to rock the fade, it seems his music lost something.
Now, don't get me wrong, "Pretty Wings" is a sensual jam, and all. But any cut -- any cut -- on "Urban Hang Suite" would dead "Pretty Wings."
I can't be the only one out there. Truthfully, is Maxwell's new CD all that?

How Long Will Jay-Z Wait to be a Father?

Beyonce announced to the world that she was going to take a much-needed break, up to two years off, after her world tour this summer to concentrate on family: Jay-Z.
The couple were said to have been considering baby-making in the near future. Jay-Z is approaching 40 years old (December 4), while Bey is a couple years from 30.
More importantly, Jay is winding down a fruitful career as one of the best rappers in the game. He's tried his hand as a music executive and it didn't work; his acting chops are non-existent, and his label mates (besides Kanye West) are life-long proteges and understudys. It's most likely only a matter of time before he openly divulges his want and need to have a little Jay-Z running around the crib.
Bey, on the other hand, can have a very real, very powerful career in film when she wants it. She's pretty much topped out musically as well.
What's next?
Does baby make three?

Why Music Catering to Women Wins

A few years ago, rapper Nas released an album titled "Hip Hop is Dead." What it really should have been called is "Gangsta Rap is Dead".
While the chauvinism, and degradation may have died down just a bit, truthfully, it's just gotten a lot smoooover. It doesn't take a rocket scientist, or Don Cornelius for that matter, to realize that women prefer softer music with less harsh lyrics than their male counterparts.
Think about it: The hottest rapper in the game right now is a sing-songy dude from Canada that raps about relationships and the stressfulness of being a young icon.
The days of directly sexual lyrics - aside from Ying Yang Twins and Akon -- may be largely behind us.

The Baddest Power Couples in Music

When you think of what might have been with Chris Brown and Rihanna [bubble gum pop's musical match made in heaven?] the subject of the baddest musical couples comes to the forefront.
There have been many, but they have been far and few between. Here's our rundown on what rocked it together like red beans and rice.

Millie Jackson and Isaac Hayes: Unadulterated soul-drench

Soul music's Adam and Eve were Millie Jackson and Isaac Hayes. Not because they were the first (they weren't) but because there collaboration (which lasted only for one album, "Royal Rappin's in 1979) was so quick. One part brown liquor, two parts corn starch, the couple, made beautiful music together with Jackson's edgy in-your-face style smoothed over by the buttery smoove funk Hayes brought to all his projects. Of course, the two's union wasn't so much a romance as a blend of musical convenience that was popular to do back in the day.

Ashford and Simpson: Still Solid as a Rock

When you join a soulful tenor from the fields of South Carolina with a choir-voiced chick from the Bronx, New York, you get a solid-as-a-rock soul machine joined at the hip. Nickolas Ashford and Valerie Simpson, songwriters whose credits read like a greatest hits album, have been doing it big since the early 1960s. Nick, way before Barack and Michelle, made PDA among married folks look cool. Many of their songs, such as "Reach Out and Touch (Somebody's Hand)" (recorded by Diana Ross), were actually apparent odes about each other that they wrote down and got paid for.
The couple has done it all the old-fashioned way (they met in church in New York). They wrote songs together almost immediately, selling a list of compositions to a N.Y. publisher for a $75 flat fee. They got the attention of Motown, and the rest, they say, is music history.

Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell: Sugar and Spice

New duo in modern music history has had the star potential of Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell. The makers of "Aint Nothing Like the Real Thing," and "You're All I Need to Get By," Marvin and Tammi were arguably the first and best musical tandem in black music history. In the late 1960s, Marvin, honing his vocal abilities to play off the melodic sighs of Terrell, was fast becoming the sex symbol he had long planned to be. Terrell, a singer since age 13, was by then in her early 20s, and would be the progenitor of a long list of musical powerhouses hailing from the hardscrabble streets of Philadelphia.
After passing out in Marvin's arms onstage, Terrell was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor. Her health deteriorated so quick that the duo couldn't even finish their last album.
Terrell's death in 1970 has been attributed to putting Marvin in the reflective mental space that birthed his signature work, "What's Going On," in 1971.

Ike and Tina: Rough, yet Easy on the Ears

When you think of Ike and Tina, images of domestic violence immediately come to mind, but before that there was some awesome music, driven by a tandem that thrived in electrical live performances. To put the couple's musical significance in perspective, imagine if a new musical genre (hip-hop in 1978 per say) were being created and you were quite possibly the one who to record it on wax. Ike's 1951 single "Rocket 88," is considered by some the first rock n' roll record. Add Annie Mae Bullock to the mix five years later and you've got pure fire.
The couple had a magnificient 16-year run, with Tina's shimmying almond-colored legs riding the couple's wave of popularity in the U.S. and even overseas. Soon Tina's success began to overshadow Ike's and the abuse started. The couple divorced after Tina escaped from a night of violence minutes before the duo was set to perform. Today Tina is enjoying life in Europe. Ike passed away in 2007.

Jay-Z and Beyonce: Go-getter meets Trendsetter

Jay and Bey are not necessarily newcomers to the game: Combined the couple have released 14 albums (not counting Destiny's Child material) and have sold more than 90 million LPs (do the math) combined. Their brand, emcompassed by the Rocawear label, House of Dereon and the wishes of Def Jam, Apple and other big-name corporations, will only expand in the near-term. Jay-Z's newly released "Blueprint 3" hopes to bring in another mint, but it's Bey's future that holds the most promise. Will she take to the big screen, where she's scored moderate success in such films as "Dreamgirls" and "Cadillac Records," or will she unleash another manifestation of Sasha Fierce on us? We should be so lucky.

P.S. Of course, there's more, including the Dream and Christina Milian, or even Will and Jada, but the former haven't yet earned their stripes, while the latter are so much bigger than music now.

Halle to Leno: Do I Look Pregnant?

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She's Used to Go by 'Kandi Girl'

Yhen Kandi Burruss first stepped out on the scene she used to go by Kandi Girl. Briefly. Gathered by Jermaine Dupri in 1990, the girl group, Excape quickly took over the Atlanta music scne. Their debut album "Humming Comin' At Cha," was an ode to JD's love for West Coast music at the time (He'd soon model Da Brat as a female Snoop Dogg). Burruss, who was in 11th grade when Excape's first album was released, quickly became known as "the cute one" in the group.
The group disbanded in 1998 after two more albums, but the initial success they enjoyed took its toll. Kandi is quoted as saying that the girls barely spoke to each other after the group ended. They all went their separate ways with most notably Tameka "Tiny" Cottle and Burruss becoming pregnant and raising kids.
Fast forward to 2009 and Kandi is enjoying the kind of marketing and promotion TV can bring with her success as a cast member of "The Real Housewives of Atlanta". In the aftermath of the death of Burruss's former fiance A.J. Jewell, many questions surround the singer-producer and composer.
But word is that Kandi is in the midst of recording a solo album. From the adversity, Kandi Girl is set to rise again.

'Ugly Betty' Who?

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Did Whitney Tell the Truth?

Whitney Houston earlier this week completed the sinterview of all interview with media maven Oprah Winfrey. Houston opened up like no other subject on her problems with her 14-year marriage to Bobby Brown, including her addiction to marijuana laced with rock cocaine and being battered and bruised.
Bobby Brown, as we know, has been known as a bad boy ever since his New Edition days. According to Whitney, the couple had some fun times but Bobby brought her down to her lowest level.
The interview, broadcast over two days, was at its most surreal when Oprah pulled a how-to manual on weed-smoking out of her: "“You put it in your marijuana, Oprah, you lace it, you roll it up, and you smoke it in your weed," Whitney said, with hand gestures acting it all out. "It’s like heroin and cocaine speedballing, but you level it off, with marijuana.”
Not trying to take up for Bobby, but did it all happen like Whitney said?
After the interview, ,Bobby hit back telling The Insider: "I think we corrupted each other."
In any event, it's Whitney, not Bobby, that has an album coming out. It's Whitney with everything to lose, and Bobby with nothing to gain.
However it went down, it's their perogative, ya know?

RnBCristo 'Bria's Interlude' (Drake)

Does Megan Fox Got Next?

It is purely coincidental that the same summer that actress pinup Farrah Fawcett passes away, a lioness by the name of Megan Fox fully assumes the role as The Next Hot Thing in Hollywood.

Fox, 23, has been on the scene now for about eight years. In wasn't until 2004's "Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen" (with Lindsay Lohan) that she began to get serious pub. Her star rose brighest with 2007's "Transformers" movie, although this summer's sequel was lacking.
Still Fox is becoming a major star, evidenced by the fact that the media is hanging onto her every word, including who she says expresses a crush on.
In any event, especially as the Julia Roberts and Cameron Diaz-types get older, one has to wonder, does Megan Fox got Next?
Or Now?
Fox has been criticized lately for an apparent aloofness, but she has also gone out of her way to accommodate strangers, fans and even the paparazzi. Is she built for Hollywood stardom? If she refuses to do another "Transformers," we think she'll be okay.

Would Beyonce swaggerjack a fragrance?

Ambercrombie and Fitch is huffing and puffing over Beyonce's pending perfume line. A&F is worried that Beyonce may try to use her "Sasha Fierce" brand to sell perfume, which would infringe upon their Fierce line of cologne. A&F has filed a lawsuit against Bey, saying they've held the trademark for the word Fierce, since 2003.
In other news, Microsoft is trying to copyright, the words "air" and "sunshine."

Barbie: Kid Doctor

Shakira has a cool ring on (see it?)

Do You Have An Alter Ego?

The success of Beyonce's "Sasha Fierce" album brings to mind the question of alter egos.
Do you have an alter ego, a side of you that allows yourself to do things you normally wouldn't do?
Many people use alcohol or other drugs to become less inhibited and, loosen up, when they are socializing. Others simply tap into a dormant side of themselves, a side that few people get to see, when they want to.
Is it beneficial to do so? I've long ago thought that some people have split personalities, but there seems to be benefits to becoming "another person" when the time is right.
What about you? Do you have an alter ego?

Btal2006 'Falsetto' (Dream)

How Kanye West Got Slizzard at VMAs

The night of September 13 started innocently enough: Uber-star Kanye West wanted to stop by the "likka stow" with his ex-stripper girlfriend to fetch a fifth of liquid insanity before watching an obnoxious awards show (Who hasn't done that, right?).
Before settling on the Hen-dogg, Amber and Kanye entertain thoughts of buying Smirnoff and Yagermeister put turn it down (sooo close).


Kanye figured he'd take it to the neck for a sec: The VMAs were set to begin in 30 minutes. What's better than watching a bunch of feeling-theyself celebrities get awards for having their records bought by an unsuspecting public?



"Did the cameras catch that? Lemme do that again to make sure they see that I just don't give a what." Who else want some?


"Aaaah, our first victim!" (Isn't that the dude from Fall Out Boy?) Kanye talks the small talk with him, so drunk now he's intentionally picking metallic fragments of autotune on him, anything to get him to notice the huge bottle of Amber juice in his hand (get it? "Amber" juice?).
"If I drank this stuff, can I get a hug, bro, I mean, from you and Amber?" Mr. Fall Out Boy says.


"You wanna be down? You wanna be cool, you say?"
"Drank, Mofo, Drank, Mofo, Drank!" The sinister couple finds a willing accomplice: Mr. Fall Out Boy takes a spig and is immediately wobbly in the knees.


"That's it, boi, that's it. Now you're cool like us!" Kanye says. "Aint it cool?" ("It's cool, ain't it, baby?" he says to Amber, who nods approvingly.)
"Cool, now who else can we get to engage in this 11th grade display of juvenilia?" he asks.


Meanwhile outside the VMAs, thousands of regular people look on disapprovingly ... well, almost everyone does.



"Oh snap! It's Mr. Jackson!" Kanye says. "Mr. Jackson, I got this here brown liquor and if you take a swig you'll feel 10 feet tall, bra!" (hands it to Joe Jackson).
"Hmm, lemme see (holds the bottle up for 3 seconds). Nah, i already got that," he says. "My record company -- my new record company -- already got one of those, you'll see."

But they soon find another victim: Diddy.
Diddy: "Hmmm, this is good. It's no Ciroc, but it's good."



Kanye later goes up on stage and utters the now immortal phrase: "Beyonce had one of the best videos of all time!" But he did it while Taylor Swift was giving her acceptance speech for winning best female video. At press time, Hennessy had no comment.

J-Rice "Best I Ever Had" (Drake)

Women Who Love Sports: A Rare Breed

I remember distinctly in high school I was talking to a group of guys about the previous night's basketball game in which Michael Jordan scored, like, 50 points on somebody, and this girl co-worker walks up and says "Yeah, and [Scottie] Pippen had 13 rebounds."
After my mouth managed to close, I vividly remember mouthing the words, "Marry me."
Yeah, they're just that rare: Women who love sports.
Now, I'm not talking about the casual watcher that enjoys the Super Bowl (party), or the NBA Finals, when "there's somebody sexy" playing.
I'm talking about straight gamers: Women who know the game. They can tell you who's starting, what the trade talk is. I'm talking about women that HIGH-FIVE you after a spectacular play.
They are out there, but very few and far between. They need to start early (I can see it now, high school courses on learning the basics of the games, tennis, hockey, football, basketball). It would raise sportsmanship around the schools and immensely raise every social circle's sports IQ.
The down side? It'd basically guarantee a beer belly for countless women.
BURP.

What Kanye needs: Alexis Phifer

The recent spazz-out by Kanye West at the VMAs (and the subsequent shamefulness on "The Jay Leno Show") speaks volumes about the influences in Kanye's life right now: He's on top of the world, making millions in dough, and got a hot model chick on his arm but ... he's not happy.
The death of his mother pretty much destroyed any semblance of a normal life for the guy. He needs one thing: His ex-girlfriend back.
This is the perfect time for Alexis Phifer to come back on the scene. She bonded with Kanye before stripper-turned-model Amber Rose came on the scene. She befriended Donda West. She knew Donda West.
Kanye seems lost right now (Did you see him and Amber drinking Hennessy at the VMAs?.
Where is Alexis?

Are you Creole, or 'Creole'?

When people talk about 'Creole-this and Creole that, exactly which one are we referring to: There are two categories in the African-American community.
In Haiti,there's a group of people of African descent, distinct in their heritage and even their culture (heavily French). The physical traits of their hair consist of variant degrees of wavy, curly locks. There religion is a hodge podge of Catholicism and ritualistic Africanism. They're called Creoles.
In Louisiana, there's a group of African-American people, distinct in their heritage and even their culture (heavily French) The physical traits of their hair consist of variant degrees of wavy, curly locks. There religion is a hodge podge of Catholicism and ritualistic Africanism. Most of them are fair-skinned, and some even have an accent.
They're called Creoles.
If we go back further, the definition of Creole was actually a European person born in the West Indies (how you like dem apples?).
Confused, yet?
It gets deeper but I don't want to get any deeper.

Among Friends, Is it Okay?

Do you refer to yourself as a "ho," or "trick," or worse?
Now, of course not, is what you'll say. But how about when you're with your girls? Do the usual standards of decency relax or is the debate over words just a facade?
Can black people "flip" meanings of words and as a result promote them outwardly as a "term of endearment"?
How do you feel about that?
Do you listen to music that trumpets these words as descriptions for black women? If so, you. are. part. of. the. problem.
I know, I know, you have a right, freedom of speech, perogative: All true, but shouldn't your freedom to swing a bat end at somebody else's nose? If so, then your saying these words should end with their ears, right?
Hurtful words have been supposedly banished and 'buried' only to come back more vicious and more powerful when it has a good beat or big storyline.
Are you and your girlfriends just bad b--tches? How do you feel about that?

Will People Boycott Kanye West?

Not that most of us would know Taylor Swift from the checkout girl at Whole Foods, but it's the blasted point: Kanye, take your meds, bro, for real.He's 'SOOOO SORRY' now.
Whether it was Hennessy or what, the "College Dropout's" interruption of Taylor Swift's acceptance speech at last night's MTV Video Music Awards left a sour taste in everybody's mouth.
As a result, many radio stations are saying they won't play anymore Kanye West music, and more importantly, many fans are raising the issue of boycott. People calling into radio stations and web sites are raising a big stink about Kanye, and rightfully so.
The latest antics just may cost the Jay-Z protege the goodwill of the people, and his most loyal fan base. As we all know African-Americans aren't the people buying hip-hop these days, and Kanye just might feel his latest outburst in the pocket.

Interestingly, Kanye West has apparently interrupted Obamaas well.

Monie and Steve "Pretty Wings" (Maxwell)

Should Hip-Hop Have an Age Limit?

No other music genre -- not rock n' roll, not pop, not classical, not jazz -- appeals to such a wide variety of age groups as does hip-hop. Since its humble beginnings in the 1970s, hip-hop was endeared itself to legions of fans due to the music, the dress, the lifestyle, etc.
But should it last forever?
It has become routine to see grown men -- some way past their primes -- wearing baseball caps forward, backward, tilted and more as there pants -- not unlike their jawlines -- increasingly sag to the Earth.
Has Russell Simmons made it acceptable for the perennially bald Baby Boomer to wear, dress and talk "hip-hop'? Or should those who were party-age in 1978 (when the first hip-hop hit "Rapper's Delight" took to the airwaves) turn in their long-held B-boy stances?
Alot of it depends on if you subscribe to the so-called "culture" associate with music: Remember, it used to be about graffiti-tagging, breakdancing and handing with the 'crew."
Is there a stopping point, when you say, reach 40? How long can you be a B-boy?
If you're middle-aged and you have a son or daughter and y'all are listening to the same music, for the same reasons, is that okay?
Or should the parent abandon their longheld love for something more "mature"?
Is hip-hop for youngens?

Evie Evelyn - "Knock You Down" (Keri Hilson)

Solange Isn't Interested ...

In what the Haters think.
That much is obvious from the uniquely stylish way she wears, well, anything.
She's simply her own woman, and who can hate on that?
The music, however, is another thing. She recently tweeted that she will be coming out with a mix tape, only that she didn't want it to be called a mixtape. She's calling it, "I Can't Get Clearance," which is a nod to the fact that she couldn't get the samples cleared so she's just releasing the cuts underground.
ONly thing is, it aint underground. Mixtapes, by definition from the recording industry, are illegal (ask DJ Drama).

MiMi is In Effect Mode

For all you people that thought Mariah Carey would slink into the blissful wedded life after she and Nick Cannon's copulation in April 2008, Mimi is back.
The hot single "Obsessed," a not-so-coy shot at rapper Eminem, has cracked the Top 10 on the billboard charts.
The emanicipation continues.

Are White Guys Getting It In?

It is obvious that love -- that odorless, colorless, many splendored thing -- has never had a color, never had a preference other than its own reciprocation.
While human prejudices and orientations dictated who coupled with who, societal standards have finally caught up with the heart's desires.
Black women, long complaining about the scarcity of eligible brothers on the scene, are being pleasantly surprised by the caucasian attention being brought there way.
There may be racism in the world, but when the lights are off, everybody's black.
White and black. Black and brown. Brown and yellow, etc. But if American cities are any indication, the biggest beneficiaries to the love being spreaded around these days is the white guy.
When it comes to the dating game, white guys are getting it in these days.
Ahem, I said white guys are getting it in these days (slow clap).

For Kim Zolciak, Life's a Beach

When the Bravo hit "The Real Housewives of Atlanta" hit TV last season, one of the more interesting story lines was Atlanta native Kim Zolciak's relationship with her sugar daddy, the oft-talked about "Big Poppa."
Kim was seen as a well-to-do glamorous single mother with great friendships with affluent African-American women who kept their dirty laundry to themselves.
But what a difference a year makes.
On Season 2, of RHOA, Zolciak is best known for having her wig yanked in and outside a restaurant than for anything else.
The class she showed in the first few episodesseconds of Season One? Gone quicker than the Chardonnay she downs on nearly every ep.
Is it all for TV or are she and Sheree/Nene (Mary?)/Lisa at war?
Whatever.
Zolciak is reportedly single and looking to mingle with the first partially married, balding billionaire she sees.
Zolciak, who reportedly used to be a medical worker at a nursing home in Lawrencevill, Georgia, seems to have won a golden meal ticket through it all: an alliance with music insider Kandi Burruss.
Zolciak's single ""Tardy for the Party, is good music ... if you like the sound of drunken banshees, but seriously, Zolciak has single handedly become a poster child for the anti-bully.
One question: Is it real or Femorex?

Diary of a MadTired Black Woman

He long ago started calling her out of her name; she, as always, used to just grimace slightly at first, then she just chose to pay it absolutely no mind.
Then his "meetings" in the evening got later and later. She used to call at first; then she just stopped worrying about him, adopted a "see-ya-when-I-see-ya" kinda of attitude.
It seems women who had high expectations, and honorable demands, have simply gotten worn down from the beautiful struggle these days.
They used to be mad.
Now, they're just tired.
Welcome to T.B.W.S., the Tired Black Woman's Syndrome. It doesn't just happen one day, no, there are phases to this stuff.
You see it everyday: Women who used to care about what their significant others thought, could give a flying fish now.
It's what happens before a relationship is declared DOA (dead on arrival). It is almost always brought on by a Frustrated Black Man. It didn't used to be like that. But it is now.
Know a Tired Black Woman?

Corey Mekell and She' Nice - 'Knock You Down' (Keri Hilson)

How Much I$ a Date With You Worth?

People kill me.
Especially conceited folks.
I was talking to this girl recently and she remarked that she refuses to go to chain restaurants on a date.
SAY WHAT?
She said that when she's dating she only accepts dates at privately owned establishments, aka ritzy places.
After I finished gagging, I started to think about it: How much does the average date cost, strictly monetarily, and if so, then what does that say about the two people?
Let's say you and someone you like settle on a place to eat.
The entree, on average will be about, hmmm, $13.99.
Let's say if you want a glass of wine, that's about $7.99.
Let's say you want an appetizer (and yeah you need to share it). Then that's another $11.
If the other person got a similar entree, then that brings the total to somewhere around $44, then you'd be wise to leave a phat tip (and don't pull out that card that shows you how much to tip, ewwwww, I hate that).
That means a date, on average, costs about $50. Basically you've accounted for roughly have of that or $25.
Is that about right, or should it be much less than that depending on the level of friendship/intimacy aka, do you come in under that (or above)?

14-year-old does "Knock You Down" w/ autotune

Would You Read Your Man's Diary?

If you're in a relationship or used to be in one, are you the type that believes in brutal honesty as well as brutal openness?
Do you tell your partner everything, or is there a shallow wall of secrecy between you and your lover?
Would you go through your man's wallet, how about his email?
If you happened upon his diary, would you take it upon yourself to indulge in page after page of his most shrouded moments?
Or ... not?

Hip-Hop: Original Style vs. Now

The first thing you notice are the boots: Huge, shiny joints.
The better to boot-stomp emcees with a quickness, they say.
Hip-hop style has changed greatly since the music has been around since the late 1970s.
Back in the day the rappers --excuse me, emcees -- use to dress.
The hair was always funky; pants were unique in more than 10 ways; the shirt or coat was in itself a work of art.
About the only thing similar to the styles of today are the huge shades, which have changed little after enjoying a resurgence a few years ago.

The fad of today is to let your drawers show. It can 't be any old way either; your drawers must hang down no lower than 10.5 inches (see Soulja Boy Tell em). The female rappers actually have stepped their game up, the few that even bother to wear clothes these days.
About the most exciting thing happening now is the shaved-head-look circulating among female stars (of course you have to line it up properly.
The male rappers back in the day dressed dynamic, spectacular. They had their clothes made instead of simply wearing the latest collection from the hot designer of the day.
That's when hip-hop was real.
That's when hip-hop was fresh.

When is Cassie's 'Electro Love' Gonna Drop?

With urban radio getting stale, and Beyonce waiting to exhale, this is the perfect time for Bad Boy recording artist Cassie Ventura to drop her long-awaited, highly anticipated, already-acclaimed (okay, let me stop), album, tentatively titled "Electro Love."
Where's the beef?
It can't be as bad as the haircut (could it)?
She dropped the ,nude pics even introduced the rabid lawnmower cut, where's the music?
Am I the only one waiting on Cassie to bust?

Golden Brooks leaves 'Girlfriends' in rearview

Seems like Golden Brooks, the fast-talking mama known on the now-defunct TV sitcom "Girlfriends" will be the first actress out of the close-knit camp to score a major acting role since the show's demise last year.
Brooks is set to play in the film "Polish Bar," which is reportedly in post-production, barring any major hitches.
It's not like Brooks, from San Francisco, has been exactly chilling.
She and her beau D.B. Woodside are expecting a baby anytime now, which will certainly change the game for the actress.
Before she becomes a full-time Mom, Brooks got some work in on "Polish Bar," and also took a turn at urban horror in the flick "My Place in the Horror," which is apparently about a family barbecue that turns into a blood orgy. Eh, not exactly, the same fan base as "Girlfriends," but hey it is a recession.