April 8, 2005
Brandy
Singer/actress Brandy has not been a focal point of the music or television industry for a while. Her latest CD "Afrodisiac" tanked and her sitcom was canceled years before. None of this has slowed Brandy down and she has been quietly working on a few projects that should help her re-establish herself in the near future. Brandy recently spoke with MTV and shared some of her plans with them.
First, she is working on her new FOX sitcom. The sitcom was announced months ago, but there were never any details given as to the content of the show. Apparently being a young mother to her daughter Sy'rai, has inspired Brandy to base her sitcom on herself and being a young mom raising a child. She says, "I think that it's going to be relatable for so many young girls out there with babies that don't really have a solid relationship. It could be cool with the father, but they don't really have a regular family life. I'm going to let people know that it's cool to have a child and be young and still be a good mom. It's really tough, but I'm doing it. It may not be the best in someone else's eyes, but it's the best I can do."
There is no word as to when the show will hit the airwaves, as Brandy wants to take her time developing the show because it's something that she's passionate about. She also wants the show to be funny and realistic at the same time. She says, "It's going to be me playing a character based on my life, but it's not going to be me as Brandy. It's going to be a totally different person, but with the same challenges that I go through in my life... being a single mom, raising my child, trying to have a life, trying to have friends and trying to do my own thing."
Brandy claims that she has yet to sign to a new label after amicably parting ways with her former label, Atlantic Records. Brandy seems a little less certain about where she may end up as far as a label, but says, "I could create my own thing or sign with someone else or join everything together. But I really want to take my time with my decision because I'm in a great position right now. I have so much to talk about. I have so much to share. There are so many different emotions going on inside of me right now. The songs are going to be passionate, and people are really going to be able to hear that with the new album."
She also predicts that her newest album will be her greatest work yet. Currently "The Best of Brandy" is in stores and features hits from all three of her previous albums, including remixes of her hit songs.
On the relationship front, Brandy is still very much engaged to Phoenix Suns shooting guard Quentin Richardson. She claims that they set a wedding date, but they are still trying to get to know one another. She says, "We set a date, but it's too hot in Phoenix for the date we set. And on top of that, we want to take things slow and get to know each other, because this is a relationship I really want to work."
I read some other recent interview where Brandy claimed she was 75 % done with her latest album and that she was signed to a label and the label would be holding a press conference months down the line to announce her signing. Well I should have known that was a lie. Labels usually announce signing established artists before the ink is dry on the contract, not 2 years after the fact. Brandy is still lying I see. She is not really a hot commodity these days, so regardless of what she may want the public to believe, I don't think she's signed yet because no label wants her.
Her last two albums were not as successful as her first two. It's not for lack of effort. I think both "Full Moon" and "Afrodisiac" were really solid albums. I also think that Brandy is one of the few artists that puts out consistently good music each time out. It's just that no one is really interested in good music anymore. It's such a waste and that's sad.
The sitcom sounds interesting and I hope it doesn't end up being really stupid or too over the top. "Moesha" was so stupid and it seems that Brandy is trying to get as far from the "Moesha" days as she can and with good reason. It's nice that she wants to paint a picture for young mothers and show them that they can do well, but Brandy as a young mother is not the same as the average young mother in this country. Number one, Brandy was in her mid-twenties when she had her baby, which puts her way ahead of most young moms who are teenagers. Then, Brandy is a multi-millionaire, which gives her a huge financial advantage, not provided to some young high school student who can't get a decent job at 16 years of age.
We will completely bypass the fact that Brandy actually allowed MTV to chronicle her pregnancy and the delivery of Brandy Jr., which was just ridiculous. No other young mom would do that. Well maybe Britney Spears, but that's another story. If by young moms she means those in their twenties like herself, she needs to get a life. The young mom that needs inspiration or advice from a sitcom on Fox is the young mom who needs to lose custody of her child pronto.
I would also like to add that Brandy seems really unstable, I don't think she needs to be anyone's shining example for child-rearing. Now let's focus in on the fact that we see Brandy all over the place, yet we never see young Brandy II with her. It would probably be a bit presumptuous to assume that the child is being raised by hired help and not Brandy herself, but until Brandy paints a better picture of being a mother, I have nothing else to think. Every once in a blue moon, photos will pop up of her and her daughter, but that's rare. All I ever see are Brandy at Q's games, home and away, and the happy couple at parties all over the place. When the hell is she raising a child? She seems to just be gallivanting the world without a care in the world.
Isn't this a strange society we live in, when young women run around preaching false spirituality and getting knocked and pretending to be in some pseudo-spiritual marriage for the sake of public image? It's even stranger that the same young woman who did that mess would get engaged to a man that she is still trying to get to know? I love Brandy, but she has as many issues as the day is long. She is practically glued to Q's hip 24/7, they've been engaged damn near a year, she packed up her entire life which includes the rarely seen Sy'rai and she is talking about wanting to get to know him so the marriage will work.
I think they should have gotten the get to know each other business out of the way before any proposals and marriage plans were discussed. They are both keepers I tell you. Brandy and Q, I mean. God bless little Sy'rai.
Michael Vick Has Herpes
According to Fox Sports, Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick has herpes and he is being sued by a woman claiming to be his ex-girlfriend. The woman is suing him because he allegedly gave her herpes. In a civil lawsuit, Sonya Elliott claims that Michael Vick gave her genital herpes in April of 2003. Miss Elliott is seeking damages, alleging negligence by Michael Vick, unwanted physical contact, pain, suffering and potential future medical complications.
Herpes is a virus that is treatable, but incurable and incurred through sexual contact. That's for all you young ones that may not know the seriousness of herpes. It is real, so be good and if you can't be good, be careful damn it.
Michael Vicks's camp doesn't have much to say to the allegation and just claim that the situation "will be resolved in a fair and expeditious manner." I'm sure there is more to this story, but we know all we need to know. From what Mike's people are saying it sounds like he does have herpes and had no problem sharing his disease with her. Now that's just nasty. It is. Sexually transmitted diseases happen, but if you know you have something like herpes it's disgusting to sleep with someone and pass it on to them.
At the same time, I'm a little tired of these women suing athletes for giving them herpes. What the hell is that? If Mike the mechanic gave them herpes would they sue him? No. It has gotten to a point where these herpes lawsuits are starting to seem like a gold-digging ploy. I don't know how much this woman is suing for, but I'm positive it's in the millions. She's just as responsible for her having herpes as he is for giving it to her.
Condoms, people. That's all I'm saying. I can't wait to see how this plays out and if she'll be awarded a large sum of money for her troubles.
Capone
Capone, one half of the rap collective Capone-N-Noreaga is finally releasing his debut solo album, titled "Pain, Time, and Glory." According to allhiphop.com, Capone has signed to Koch Records and will finally release his solo effort, which will be aided by guest appearances from Scarface, Fat Joe, C-Murder, Peedi Crakk, Raekwon and others.
Capone says, "It's time for the game to see what I've been doing, I want to dedicate this album to the hood because the hood kept me afloat all these years. Every song on this album is real whether party or pain. "Pain, Time, and Glory" is scheduled for a May 24th release.
I am happy about this. I've been waiting on a Capone solo album forever; way back since the" War Report", Capone and Nore's debut album. At the same time, I've lived without it this long and I'm sure I would continue to breathe if this album never saw light of day. I mean, it's been a long time. I haven't heard anything from this man in eons. Not on mixtapes, nothing. I don't find him to be relevant to hip-hop at this point. Yet and still I think hip-hop is in a state where anything and anyone can be successful, whether they produce quality music or not, so he has a chance.
He claims that the hood kept him afloat all these years. Which hood is this precisely? An even better question is how was the hood supporting him? Is he a drug dealer? Are the folks in the hood good clientele? I have no idea what that statement means. Lyrically Capone has always been light years ahead of his partner in rhyme, Noreaga, but that's not any type of compliment or anything. As much as I love Nore, he sucks. Capone was pretty decent, but his vocabulary and scope of the world were a bit limited and I think that hindered him from being as good a lyricist as he possibly could have been in the past. I hope that he has spent some time getting better. If he hasn't, shame on him, he hasn't been doing anything else other than being kept afloat by the hood, so there was plenty of time to hone his craft.
I'm a bit skeptical about the entire situation because this has been the title of his solo album since way back in 1998. In all of that time, I would think he would have moved on from that title. That was damn near 10 years ago. Sounds like someone's creativity has been at a stand still. The guest appearances seem interesting. While I respect most of the artists listed, the most interesting is C-Murder, and not in a good way. How the hell did he weasel his way onto a Capone CD? He is the most popular incarcerated human of all time. If anyone besides Monica Arnold and his brothers ever liked him before he was a jail bird, I couldn't tell. Where is all this new found popularity coming from? I must say, I don't like it at all.
I also notice my best friend Peedi Crack will make an appearance. I hope he's on there proving me wrong for talking shit about him. Koch records is probably the most popular of the independent labels, but what the hell, I could probably call up there today and get them to sign me, without them ever realizing I can neither sing, rhyme or anything. How they remain credible is a mystery to me, because they seem to have a very low standard over there. I am not saying that in relation to them signing Capone, I think he's worthy of whatever deal anyone gives him until he proves otherwise, but Koch has signed many people who they should have left alone.
I am going to buy "Pain, Time and Glory" and hope for the best, because though I talk shit about Capone, I love him like a play cousin and really want him to do well. I am also in need of good quality music and would love for him to provide me some. I'll remind you guys of the impending release of this album as the date draws closer.
Getting Unstuck
Rapper/actress Eve is slated to star in a Showtime original movie called, "Getting Unstuck". In the movie Eve will play a lesbian named Conscious who is HIV positive. The movie is based on the autobiography of Conscious, a producer for the short lived Queen Latifah talk show. She wrote a book called "Getting Unstuck: Girl to Girl, You Can Be Infected Indeed."
The movie and the book focus on how Conscious worked her way through drugs, abuse, homelessness, and HIV to a successful career. Eve is also the executive producer of the movie. In addition to starring in the movie, Eve's self-titled sitcom will focus an episode on HIV/AIDS and will feature the man who inspired the storyline, 24-year-old Martinez Brown who was diagnosed with HIV at the age of 18.
I love Eve. We all know I don't love her music, but she's always doing something with herself. I also love how she has transcended the Eve we first saw with the short blonde hair, wearing a wife beater. I think she has the potential to be the female Jamie Foxx if she keeps up at this pace. This seems like a serious role and should give Eve the ability to show her range as an actress, if she has any.
I heard this woman Conscious on the Wendy Williams show a while ago. I can't remember much about the interview, but I did love her story and I'm going to buy her book someday, because I think her story is amazing. I'm going to go out on a limb and suggest that some of you check out this woman's book as well. Hopefully her story will be translated well on film and Eve does a good job with the role of Conscious.
Faith - The First Lady
Faith Evans, the former first lady of Bad Boy Entertainment has a new CD out after taking some years off. In that time off, I don't know what exactly Faith was doing, but drugs is my best guest.
Faith recently spoke with MTV and tried to clear up some of the rumors that have been going around in reference to her departure from Bad Boy and her drug arrest. Faith told MTV, "The easiest way to put it is Puff had a lot going on. He still does. I think it's a beautiful thing. He's like a conglomerate now. But there was such a change in circumstance from the time I signed. I can't say I was able to fully benefit from the hype and popularity and success of Bad Boy. It certainly set me up well and I did achieve success. But everybody wants to get better. I want to sell more records. I want to reach more people."
Faith felt that her last album on Bad Boy was given minimal support due to things Puffy was doing business-wise. She said, "My last album in particular got caught up in the transition of him leaving his parent company, Arista. My album was sort of neglected. I don't think that's something he intended on. I totally believe he wanted me to be as big as I possibly could. But you got 10 companies instead of one. ... He realized he was at a point where he couldn't focus on my project like I needed him to. He made it an easy transition for me. I'll always respect him for not only giving me my first record deal, but not trying to hold me back."
Faith has since moved over to Capitol Records and shortened her title from First Lady of Bad Boy to simpler terms, now choosing to simply call herself and her latest album "The First Lady." Of the title she says, "The nickname did carry over, 'cause I'm the first artist in my genre at Capitol. More so, I chose the title The First Lady because a lot of my personality reminds me of people like Jackie O. and Hillary Clinton. ... Of course, they go through things, 'cause they're human like all of us. But when you see the first lady, you regard her as being the first lady. ... I've made it my business to try and handle certain turbulence in my life with a certain dignity and remain ladylike."
In 2004 Faith and her husband Todd Russaw, were pulled over and arrested by Georgia police and charged with cocaine and marijuana possession. Faith hasn't been out and about much and rarely spoke on the situation. She is now taking time to diffuse it, making it sound like she's innocent of any crime. Faith says, "Half of what was reported was not even the case. It's been over for a long time. It's not on my record. I didn't go to rehab. I don't recall seeing any evidence ... or being tested for anything. I can't reply to half of the things out there. We did get arrested. We did have to spend the night in jail. We did have to pay a lot of bond money."
Her latest album is now in stores. Faith claims that she tells her story in her own words. Buy it at your own risk.
I don't even know where to begin with this woman. I'm glad Faith is getting her life together and she has a new album and all that jazz. She always said that she left Bad Boy on good terms and it wasn't personal. I believed her. Puffy had no time for her and maybe he should have. He hasn't had any success with all these bands he keeps trying make via MTV. I think it's almost blasphemous that she would compare herself to Jackie O. and Hilary Clinton. She must still be on the pipe. I wonder what about her most reminds herself of those women.
Could it be having a baby by every man she's ever met in life and then marrying a couple of them. That reminds me of any random hoodrat and maybe J-Lo. It's possible that it's the drug addiction that makes her so similar to Jackie and Hilary. No, that would make her similar to her good friend Whitney Houston.
Faith is crazy. I'm sure they dubbed her the first lady of rehab while she was there, but it's time for her to move on from that title. I'm sick of her denying the drug thing. She claims it wasn't what the police made it out to be, but she never says that they didn't find any drugs in her car. She has yet to explain why she looked as high as a kite in her mug shot that night. I frankly don't care, but why lie?
The police have stuck to their story of finding coke and marijuana in the car. I knew Faith was bound for drug problems way back in the early days of her career. I remember one of, if not the very first articles on Faith that I read in Vibe. The interviewer was in the car with Faith and noted that Faith pulled over to smoke a blunt with her daughter Chyna in the back seat of the car. I will never forget that because I could not believe that she would pull over to smoke weed in a car with her 2-year-old child. Then the fact that she did it with the interviewer in the car and allowed it to be mentioned in the article led me to believe that her problem was serious and could only get worse.
Don't we all know that weed is a gateway drug? Led her straight to being a crack whore. Okay, I do not think that Faith is a crack whore, I just like using the term and do so whenever possible.
I like Faith's new song "Again". It had to grow on me, but I like it. I don't really listen to Faith because I hate her voice. I don't know why, I just do. It sounds horrible to me. I know I am not in the majority, but I can't help it. My friends like it, they think it's great. I think my ears are bleeding whenever I hear her. I saw some BET Faith special and she was in the booth singing. Not pretty. I don't care. Her kids were shown on the special with her and they are so cute. Her daughter Chyna has gotten so, so big. She's so grown now. She looks like she must be at least 13. Very pretty little girl. She looks a lot like Faith.
Her son with Biggie is the cutest kid I've seen in a while. He is gorgeous. He's chubby and he looks like a new and improved version of his dad. Faith says he can sing and rap. He busted a little rhyme, it was cute. The other son looks like her current husband Todd Russaw. I was not as impressed with him as I was with the others. I also didn't find him to be as cute as the other two, but he wasn't ugly. I will note that he got less camera time than the others as well.
Anyone who has a Faith album should let me know how it is, because I don't think I'd be able to listen to it at all. I hope she's gotten herself together and I hope this album does well, if it's any good.
Britney Spears
Pop has-been Britney Spears will have her own reality show on the UPN network. The show will only be six episodes, but it will chronicle Britney's relationship with her husband Kevin Federline, whom she has known for a year and been married to for 7 months. In a released statement Britney says, "From the day that Kevin and I met, there have been constant rumors and inaccurate speculation about our lives together. I feel that last year, the tabloids ran my life, and I am really excited about showing my fans what really happened, rather than all the stories, which have been misconstrued by journalists in the past. As I mentioned before, I am now going to be expressing my personal life through art."
What will make this show even more interesting is that it will consist mainly of footage that Britney and Kevin have shot of themselves over the year. According to UPN, the series will debut in May.
Oh, she's showing the world huh? On UPN. Yeah right. UPN is the like the best kept secret to non-minorities. I know some people that have never even heard of it. I'd direct them to it, but I'd hate to scare them off with those reruns of "The Parkers" and that new show "Cuts". UPN's reach is really not that broad. Not to mention that Britney's two fans do not need a television show exclusively for them. Britney can just text message them the truth about what's going on with her. She making this too complicated and nobody even cares.
I know Britney admitted to trying drugs in the past, but she never admitted to stopping after trying them and I don't believe she has. Britney Spears is but a shell of her former self and I swear it must be drugs. Short of a serious mental illness, I can see no other reason for her madness. She's a wreck. She's completely delusional about so many things in her life, mainly the state of her career. We all know she's a washed up has-been, but she seems to be promising herself that the best is yet to come.
She also thinks what she does is art. She does the word such an injustice, artists of the world should unite and protest outside of her trailer. I mean her house. Britney is also rumored to be pregnant and Kevin is rumored to be unhappy about the situation. I don't know if she's pregnant or not, but for the sake of all mankind I hope she is not pregnant. I've seen recent pictures of her and she does look pregnant. I wish she'd go away.
Ashanti Is A Thief
Okay, Ashanti isn't really a thief, but the New York Post recently ran a story that would lead you to believe otherwise. According to the paper, Ashanti's stylist Rosie Michel borrowed items from fashion designer Nicole Romano's show room and never returned them. The missing items are clothing and jewelry and are said to be worth about $2,000. Nicole Romano claims that the clothes and jewelry were to be worn by Ashanti in a television commercial.
An unidentified source claims that Nicole Romano and her staff have been calling Rosie and Ashanti in an effort to have their items returned. The source claims that Rosie was rude when they were able to get in touch with her, and says, "She even hung up on us when we were trying to collect! It's been months and even Ashanti's label hasn't been able to wrangle an explanation or payment for the missing goods out of Michel. We've never had such a poor experience working with a celebrity or stylist."
Another designer informed the Post that they've never had this type of issue with Ashanti. The unnamed designer said, "We have never had this problem with Ashanti, but then, we don't let her borrow everything that she wants."
Rosie does not appreciate being made to look like a thief and told the Post, "We have always returned everything we've borrowed on behalf of Ashanti. We are often traveling and sometimes that hampers our ability to return everything by the next day, but there has never been a case where we haven't returned everything borrowed."
Okay, this probably isn't as big a deal as the New York Post would like us to believe. Ok, so her stylist borrowed jewelry and clothing worth over $2,000 and it hasn't been returned. Hell, Ashanti probably threw it away and thought it was junk. $2,000 is a pretty slim figure for clothing and jewelry in the land of the rich and famous. I mean hell, I'm sure Ashanti has t-shirts that cost more than that. Even if Ashanti didn't throw it away, something as slight as $2,000 is probably something she didn't think would be a big deal to keep. It could simply be that she forgot. I mean what is this Nicole Romano designing for, Target?
I think the "source" from her company needs to tone it down and stop telling these Ashanti stories. All this over $2,000 in merchandise; it may be a big deal to them and that's their right, but must they talk about it to the NY Post? So while I am not a big fan of Ashanti's music ( I don't just hate on her) I am going to ask that the Post get a life and find better rumors to spread, because this one seems like a stretch. Ashanti has her upside. The fact that I haven't seen or heard a song from her in the longest time is a tremendous upside in my opinion.
I've been wondering where she's been keeping herself. For the longest Ashanti was an interesting topic of conversation. I kind of missed being able to talk about her, apparently so did the folks at the NY Post, because they seemed to go above and beyond the call of duty to try to build this simple incident into a really elaborate story. They even got quotes from another designer about how he hasn't had a problem with Ashanti returning things, yet he doesn't really let her borrow any good stuff or whatever was said. It was just too much.
Is anyone else convinced that Ashanti and her stylist are kleptomaniacs? Didn't think so. What a waste of our time.
- reported by Keshawnta J.