Celebrity Style: CiCi's Flawless Skin

Ciara pulls off the caramel look with this one: Flawless makeup blending with the entire skin tone. Whatever she's using on her face, the princess of crunk is working it.

Ethnic Wars: Does 'Black' Even Matter Anymore?

with the January inauguration of President Obama, you'd think this "post-racialism" thing would cool off by now and normalcy would reign.
But racism, racemongering and racialism are all alive and kicking this year -- one would argue that from recent headlines this has been the most racial summer since the civil rights unrest of the 1960s.
Not only are we seeing the true colors of "progressives," "conservatives" and the like, but even African-Americans are acting out.
Four hundreds years after coming to this country, there is still a turbulent debate on what "black" even is.
Obama (and to a lesser extent Tiger Woods) has helped usher in a whole group of people who assign themselves to both black and white, or neither.
It's a great debate, but the question is does it even matter ... anymore?
What's black, what's not black, and who really cares?

The End of Summer: Didja Enjoy It?

As the weather cools down, the hallmark hotness of summertime is in its final stages.
Did you have fun?
Did you kick it?
The autumn brings with it its own brand of fun, and stylishness, but the tank tops, the shorts, the shirts are pretty much gone at this point.
No more bikinis, break out the leather!

Fall '09 Preview: Black Will Be Back

As if it ever left, right? Well, black did temporarily lose favor over the last few years as earth tones had the rule of the day during the fall and winter months (who doesn't appreciate a zesty burnt orange every now and then?) But now, starting next week, be prepared to rock your black outfits again. Black is back.

Chris Brown in a Past Life?

We finally discovered Chris Brown in a past life: It's the lead singer for the Sylvers, in a gay alternate universe, well, actually, the 1980s.

Mya: I'm Scerrred of Dancing All Crazy Nstuff

Pop star and "Dancing With the Stars" contestant Mya says all that moving and shaking has her scared she's gonna break something on the show.
"I had a foot fracture last year, and I've had injuries in the past. That's what my worst fear is. To get injured ... is something I'm nervous about," she told MTV News recently.
Mya says although she's a dancer, "DWTS" is quite different. "So far, rehearsals have been really tough," she said. "So it's kind of like reversing my thinking, 'cause hip-hop is so loose and not structured, and tap is so loose and close to the ground and not structured, so it's so different. I have a lot of work to do in reversing how I think. And I have a lot of partner work to do, so I hope it doesn't hurt me. But I think music and musicality is going to help me stay on the beat."
Mya needs to be worrying about the music, not the dancing. With competition from starlets Ciara, Rihanna, Christina Milian and others, her last album didn't quite cut it.

Do You Miss Your Partner in Crime?

Remember those days in high school when it was you and your BFF against the world? Life was a lot simpler back then; responsibilities have a way of melting the sheen off a person, you know? But back in the day you could afford to mess up, to act a fool, and it wasn't a fatal mistake.
You and your girl were trump tight; on some Thelma and Louise type stuff.
Face it, the streets have always been bad, but it's just that now they're deadly.
As you grow older, relationships change, people too, but that doesn't throw shade on what was. This post is about the past. Not what could have been. What was.

What 'Going Natural' Means

When you think of the phrase "going natural," it is common to assume that one means growing a 'fro. But natural doesn't have to mean a fro, it could mean braids, it could mean corn rolls, it could mind many things.
Imagine if "getting a perm" meant that your hair was straight and only straight: Misleading, right?
"Going natural" opens up a range of styles. The possibilities end with your imagination. Remember this: There are no limits.

Channeling Sasha Fierce

when Beyonce revealed her alter-ego Sasha Fierce last year to rave reviews she admitted the split personality it takes to survive in the music industry these days. She had talked of Sasha before, in quips about her stage performances and her dancing.
But when she named a whole album (okay half an album) after the persona she conditioned her fans to an edgier, fiercer Beyonce.
The question is, do we even want Bey anymore?
Should Sasha Fierce be on control for her next series of albums, guaranteeing a fresh, risque' performer with an attitude as rapid-fire and multifaceted as husband Jay-Z?
Do we want Sasha or Bey?

An Artist's Dilemma: To Go Pop or Not?

When you've back up certified R&B artists and even written songs for them, it may be easy to follow their formula, but Keri Hilson has done no such thing.
While many people listen to singers on black radio they automatically assume that if it's not rap, then it's R&B. Not true.
Pop music is a genre specifically focused on commercial appeal, often simplistic in format and lyrics with basic themes of love, betrayal, etc.
R&B on the other way, which has shifted meanings in the 60 years the term has been in use, has now come to mean a comtemporary, adult music driven by soul influences.
Artists today stay away from the term "R&B" because they think it means older, and the money seems to be on the youthful side.
Take somebody like Keri Hilson: She clearly has an R&B look, mature-sound and yet she's marketed as a pop artist. Her two hits ("Turning me Off" and "Knock You Down") from her debut album "In a Perfect World," both skewed to the younguns.
The album has sold more than half a million copies but many expected a lot more from Hilson.
Maxwell's recent success ("blacksummer'sNIGHT" was recently certified gold by the RIAA) may have single-handedly saved the "R&B" genre, as record companies have tightened their purses on anything that sounds old and retro.
If it were targeted toward an older market, say, an R&B market, would it have done better?