Kelis releases album art for 'Fleshtones'

Singer Kelis has released the album cover art for her album "Fleshtones," which will be her fifth album to date. Since signing to the Will.I.Am.Music Group, Kelis has ramped up her public appearances in anticipation for a big album push.

Her divorce battle with rapper Nas has simmered down for the moment, giving the singer the time she needs to prep for the album release. Her single "Acapella," has been met with decent reviews so far.
"Fleshtones" features collabs with David Guetta, who made Kelly Rowland a star overseas. Kelis is actually bigger than Kelly is over in the U.K., despite limited marketing.
She's got her detractors, including PETA, which has went after the singer for her penchant to wear furs. But Kelis is making a big run for that Rihanna money and Beyonce money, pulling off the outfits, the weird photo shoots and outlandishness associated with it.
Can she be stopped? We doubt it.

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Rihanna's 'dirty angel' pics for Rolling Stone

Rihanna continues to toy with the sex kitten imagery since the release of her album, and No. 1 "Rude Boy." This pics from her photo shoot for "Rolling Stone" definitely raise the ante and fall in line nicely with a proposition from mentor Jay-Z to be the face of a series of burlesque nightclubs he wants to kick off.

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Lena Horne, G.O.A.T.

The greatest African-American actress, singer and entertainer of all time has left us.
Lena Horne died at the hospital. She was 92.
The Brooklyn native started as a dancer at age 16, immediately attracting the eye of talent promoters. It wouldn't take long for Hollywood to catch up.
In the infancy of television, Horne was a black woman that had never been seen in Hollywood before: She had a clause put into her contract that forbid her to act in movies as a maid. No, Horne wanted roles that weren't symbolically subservient or demeaning to African-Americans. She got them.
Why? Because she was tenacious in her demands and -- let's be honest -- drop-dead gorgeous.
During WWII, Horne's star really took off. She landed her first film role in 1942, which led to her ground-breaking performance in "Stormy Weather."
Since those days almost half a century ago, the black actress has stood on Horne's shoulders as more roles and entertainment avenues have opened up.
During the civil rights era, Horne was a leading force in entertainment, championing the leading black actresses of the day.
It's become a cliche' now, but in this case, Lena Horne was truly the Greatest. Of. All. Time.


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Freaknik: A Pictorial Montage

When you hear the term "Freaknik" or "Freaknic," a certain cannotation comes to mind: Unruliness, debauchery, black people having a good 'ole time with no regard to society's woes, traffic or otherwise. Is this characterization somewhat accurate?
In the immortal words of the familiar refrain on Dr. Dre's "The Chronic" album:
"Hell Yeah!"
Let's go down memory lane, Peachtree in fact, in pictures from Freakniks past.



Adina Howard was a household name back then.



Back then, there was "No Time" for fake ones.



Let's be honest: To some people, it was a paradise. To others, it was the day the niggaz took over.



Everybody was on a Creep in the mid-1990s.



Tunes of the times: "Swing low, sweet chariot and ... Let me Ride".



They didn't mean to be so destructive, use your heart to forgive.



People were on some "goobitty gooks" stuff too.



"Still clowning with the Underground, when they come around." - 2Pac, 1993



It was all about "Electric Relaxation" - Tribe Called Quest.









Fancy cars, wild women, men in a metropolis: In 1992, you couldn't ask for a better scenario.






Freaknik does not belong in the 21st century, it died unceromoniously in 1998, choked to death by Atlanta's politicians and beaurocracy. The free-wheeling and high times of the 1990s have been killed by the fearmongering and economic waste of the 2000s. It is what it is.
In conclusion, Freaknik was not a party, it was an idea, a mind-set. Thus, it can never truly die.
It exists in the mind.





















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Beyonce is Cheetarah

If you remember the Thundercats then you know that Cheetarah was one of the hottest cartoon characters in the game back in the day. Beyonce is "the hottest chick in the game" today, right? It's only right.
Check out some "Thundercats, Thundercats, Thundercats, HO! here.




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Vivian Green: "Beautiful"

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Wayna "My Love"

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Nneka "Africans"

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Erykah Badu 'Window Seat'

Click here for the backward version of this video.




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Celebrity style: Thandie Newton

How many actresses do you know have studied archaeology and anthropology in college?
How many of them can claim to be of royalty?
How many can say they named their daughter after the lead character in an alien film?
Thandie (/TAN-dee/) can.
Born to a Zimbabwean mother and English father, actress Thandie Newton grew up straddling two worlds. She claims her mother is from the reknown Shona tribe in Africa, and that she is a princess.
That makes Thandie royalty.
She has two daughters, Ripley and Nico, born of her marriage of 12 years to English producer Ol Parker.
One of her more interesting quotes from a while back was when she disclosed that she was gay as a teenager.
"We're all potentially bisexual," she told the Advocate. "It all depends on your circle, your upbringing and all kinds of things. Or maybe I'm just talking about myself. I could've easily fallen in love with a woman over a man."
That husband of hers just doesn't know how dramatically different his life almost was.


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The Kanye Factor

The hottest rapper not in jail is Kanye West.
Sorry, Jay-Z. Apologies to T.I., Lupe, etc. Kanye musically has the Midas touch, and his peers know that more than anybody. Ask Common or John Legend, who's albums breathe Kanye's elastic soulfulness. Ask Maroon 5. Ask T-Pain. Ask Drake.
Kanye's time to take the throne is now, similar to when Jay-Z, by default, reached hip-hop's highest echelon. If it were not for the untimely deaths of the Notorious B.I.G. and 6 months before him, Tupac Shakur, it is arguable that rap fans would even know Jay-Z outside of New York.
Kanye is in a similar situation, with his mentor, Jay-Z, comtemplating time off to spend with Beyonce, and no elite rapper on the scene or for the forseeable future, now just may be time for Kanye to assume rap's top throne. All he has to do is stay out of jail, and stay alive (both are hard for a rapper these days). Of course, there have already been missteps, but nobody's perfect.
The measure of a good artist used to be in his/her crossover appeal. Kanye nailed that in one album and has since taken off into the other-worldly-realms of exploring rock and classical music.
The throne is his for the taking, but will he take it?



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Book illustrates 'Lil Oprah'

Humble beginnings from the richest woman in entertainment led a New York artist to draw a whole book about her.
London Ladd's latest tome is called "Oprah the Littler Speaker" and describes the multimillionaire media queen's early life in the backwoods of the Crooked Letter.
While he didn't have pictures of Oprah as a child, Ladd said he used his 5-year-old godchild as a model.
While Oprah has some competition as America's top TV maven, Ladd already threw somebody more famous.
Ladd, who's also drawn Martin Luther King Jr., said Oprah was this generation's miracle worker.
"She's like Midas," he told the Syracuse.com. But I can relate to her story. It's about simple, humble beginnings."
No, Mr. Ladd, you're like Midas.

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Beyonce Kicks Off House of Dereon Ad Push

With a killer album done, a monster tour finished, and a gaga video all wrapped up, Beyonce is turning her attention to her mother's first love: The House of Dereon.
If a big ad campaign is any indication, the Creole-flavored fashion house is coming out this summer with a vengeance, and Mathew and Tina's eldest daughter will be the face of it all.
Look for sister Solange to lend an assist, but it will be just cursory compared to the glam that Bey and Mrs. Tina have in store.
This is not the first time that Bey has pushed TeamFamily. But Mama Tina Knowles, who filed for divorce last year, has had time to put alot of thought into the House of Dereon's spring and summer offerings.
Don't expect to see anything you've seen before, if Beyonce's recent fashions are any clue.
But then again, she has been hanging out with the fashion equivalent of an electric chair lately.



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Beyonce, Lady Gaga's 'Telephone' rings loud

The sizzling hot phenomenom which is for henceforth called BeGaga has altered space and time as we know it with their 9-minute epic video for "Telephone".
Beyonce, at her Sasha'ing best, brings the muscle; Lady Gaga the wired brains as two of music's biggest females debuted their hit song to enormous results on the Web. Some music TV channels have banned the video due to suggestive and downright odd sensual scenes.
But not Youtube. The clip is on pace to become the most-watched video on the Internet. Ever.
Talk about girl power.
Watch.



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Keri Hilson acoustic version of "Knock You Down"

Miss Keri "Babay" knocks it down with this acoustic version of "Knock You Down," from Billboard.





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Will 'Precious' rep for the big girls?

The Notorious B.I.G. summed up his public persona as well as anyone when he rapped the immortal words, "Heartthrob? Never. Black and ugly as ever. However ...". He didn't back down on stereotypical perceptions of skin tone or even obesity. He wanted you to know that he was what he looked like. And more.
So it is with the star of "Precious" Gabby Sidibe, a plus-sized actress who portrays an HIV-positive young mother with a demonic parent.
The catch with "Precious" is that you would think that Sidibe identified with the title character just a little bit. The only thing is, she doesn't.
In a recent interview she said, that all it took was "one conversation. One sentence from me to know that I'm not that girl."
Biggie Smalls, who terrorized rap when he was alive, traded on the fact that he was a big guy, and dark-skinned and the antitypical ladies man. He had women in spite of that fact.
He rapped for you, but he repped for the big, black guys. Like him.
Will Sidibe try to separate herself from the millions of "Preciouses" out there that perhaps look up to her in some way now? She has a right too, but will she? It's entirely her call.
She is a very talented and happy woman who is obviously comfortable and confident in her skin.
And that, in a very important way, is precious.


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Efff Who Pumps, anyone?

Despite the vulgar term, which we will happily pronounce as "Eff U pumps" fierce stiletto heels, I'm told, hurt something awful.
I used to work in ladies shoes (at a department store that will remain anonymous for now) and I can tell you that women, despite cruxificion-like pain, will do what they need to do to make it happen.
The term "Eff U pumps" has been around for a few years, but most people heard about it when British singer Amy Winehouse put it in a song.

It is, according to Wikipedia, "a slang expression for sexy women's shoes, particularly those featuring bare heels."
The thing is, some women can barely walk in said shoes. Truthfully, men don't need to see a type of shoe to know when it's "that" time. In fact, barefoot may do more for the libido.
But you do what you have to do, don't cha?



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Is Everybody a Model Now?

Just a few short years ago you had to actually be working for a talent agency to be considered a model. I mean, you had to actually have face shots, and in most cases, a real, live, walking, talking agent.
But along came Myspace, Facebook, Bebo, Black Planet, and Xango, or whatever.
"Models" exploded out of the woodwork. Their credits were simply club shots that somebody took of them with a group of people on the dance floor. Some simply bought a new bikini, a lace front and slapped it on the Internet -- POW -- a model, just like that.
I mean, what would Tyra Banks say?
Now, don't get me wrong a person can choose to make a living or be as entrepreneurial as their work ethic allows, but com'on. All of a sudden the Internet is filled with fiddyleven models?
And the only pose they know? The booty pose, that's it.
Is it me, or can anybody be a model nowadays?


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The Man Your Man Could Smell Like

During an already zany Super Bowl last month (Geaux Saints), a commercial came on that rocked the socks out of fans everywhere for not only it's strong character, but it's hilarious ending.
Former NFL player Isaiah Mustafa plays the part of "the man your man could smell like" and kills it.
It's been said that his Myspace, which had only a handful of friends, shot up to the thousands after the commercial aired. Mustafa's brash character came about while playing around on an answering machine with college buddy Jake Plummer, whom he played with at Arizona State. The supremely confident guy is clever, sharp but what makes the commercial work is a wicked ending, where producers used a mechanized device to slide him upon a beast of burden at the very end.
It's cool, it's sleek, and people are probably walking around smelling like Old Spice right about now.
The viewer is left wide-eyed and drop-jawwed. And women have a new idol to worship.
Oh, and, he's "on a horse."


p.s. Watch the making of the Old Spice commercial here.


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Regina King: Hardest working woman in showbiz?

Movie star Regina King is among a small cadre of African-American actresses we've literally seen grow up before our eyes (Janet Jackson and Cookie being among the others) on television.
Born and raised in Los Angeles, it would be easy for King to be "Hollywood," in all senses, but the 39-year-old actress is as cool as a fan.
Any movie of note within the last 15 years, it's a good chance that King has been in it, from "Friday" to "Boyz In the Hood" to "Mighty Joe Young," to "Jerry Maguire", okay, breathe, 3 ..2..1, then "How Stella Got her Groove Back" to "Enemy of the State" to "This Christmas" to "Ray", and the exhaustive list goes on.

King has been married and divorced, mostly recently being linked to actor Brian White. But the latest news is that she is now dating former "Cosby kid" Malcolm Jamal Warner.
Somehow, Theo seems right for her, doesn't he?
And that doesn't even taken into account her extensive career on TV, starting from "227" up to last year's "Southland."
Say what you want about the quality of roles and screentime but one thing is apparent: Sistergirl is most definitely one of the hardest working girls in show business.


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