Sugar & Spice, Kathy Romero Is Nice For Muy Bueno Mondays

BET’s School for Nappy Headed Ho’s: BET, Drake & Lil Wayne [Model Minority]

Loon Speaks On Islamic Conversion [Rap Radar]

Lauren London & Her Pregnant Belly [Global Grind]

2009 All Star Starters, Or Why The Fans Should Not Be Allowed To Vote Volume 205 [Yardbarker]

The Future Of Rap Music [Dallas Penn]

Nike Quietly Goes Green [TPPS]

New Era 2010 Preview [New Era Cap Talk]

White People Film Boobs Like This, Black People Film Boobs Like That
[T.A.N.]

Casey Kasem Ends His Run On Radio [AJC]

New TSS Gear In The Smoke Shop [TSS]

In his (late) second installment of “This Week in Blackness,” Brooklyn Comedy Company’s Elon James White discusses the BET Awards and the connection Read the rest of this entry »

Kenyona For Your Wet Wet Wednesday

Where The Hip Hop Heads Really At? [Yep Yep]

Without Feathers: The Famous Chicken May Retire [SbS]

Van Halen Sues Nike [TPPS]

BET Begins Giving Reality Shows Away [The Life Files]

Dave White Does Kid Robot NYC [Sneaker Freaker]

Flip Announces Flip Channels, Adds Easier Video Sharing [Tech Crunch]

Sosa Said To Test Positive In 2003 [NYT]

Will Def Jam’s ‘Rapstar’ Game Be Hip-Hop’s American Idol? [Street Level]

50% of Core Country Music Fans Can’t File-Share [Hypebot]

Twista Talks Music Leaks [Sound Off!]

Sex, Drugs & Rock n’ Roll With Juicy J [Ozone]

Michigan Man Claims He Was N.Y. Boy Who Vanished In 1955 [CNN]

Gabrielle Union Talks About Suing Bloggers [Necole Bitchie]

Joe Buck Is Not A Talk Show Host, But He Is A Fine Accessory In Seaside Decorating [TSB]

L. Says Vote! [TSS]

GP. Says Buy A Shirt! [TSS]

I’m posting this for positve reinforcement.  Anytime someone gets something right, you have to highlight it so maybe they’ll continue in that direction.  Granted BET is an easy target, but Jeff & Eric handled this with just the right touch.  Keep up the good work fellas… we’ll let you know it your act needs some fine tuning.

It’s a wrap for Rap City.

I’ve always wanted to say that. Read the rest of this entry »

Words By David D.

In case you haven’t heard, former No Limit mega-star Master P Percy Miller is going to start up his own Black entertainment channel, named Better Black Television, to go in direct competition with BET. Ten years ago, it would have horrified us that the man behind the movie I Got The Hook Up would be in control of what shows get aired 24/7. Call me naïve, but I’m looking forward to an alternative to the mess we see on BET. This enthusiasm is a sign of the credibility Percy has gained in the last few years but more a lack of faith in any semblance of pride left in BET. Read the rest of this entry »

The once bountiful land of apt vocalists has become creatively arid, destitute of talent and pathetically monotonous. It’s terribly easy to forget that there are artists out there with voices that do not require autotune or overpowering/generic beats in order to create a palpable melody.

I, for one, had definitely almost fallen into such a lull a few months back, having tired out the collection of the few decent R&B and Neo-Soul albums from this past year or two. I was about to pull a Nasir Jones and declare the cultures dead.

But the fat lady was yet to sing.

Pic Property of BET

Maxwell, although neither fat, nor a lady, hadn’t sung quite yet either. When he eventually did, he put the genres back onto my regular rotation. Initially, it came to me in one of those Archimedean “Eureka” moments while I was looking for a song to cap off a slow jam playlist I was working on. One of my co-workers noticed me jolt, to life and began peeking over my shoulder. She then proceeded to proclaim her adoration for the once afro-puffed crooner, and requested his discography. Read the rest of this entry »

Pics Property Of MTO

I know MTO’s usual MO…so, is this really our beloved Free? We all know that when you’re fashionably “thick,” you’re only one Jell-O Pudding Pop away from being sloppy. But to think shorty’s gone this far downhill…noncipher. Read the rest of this entry »

Words By Contraâ„¢

Just when I began losing hope in BET’s ability to entertain, Terrence and Rocsi’s prepubescent behavior saved the day.

I peeped the video clips for this joint over the weekend & the on-air tension was laughable. Imagine sitting in the studio audience for this jazz. Or better still, being the impromptu Read the rest of this entry »

No, I’m not talking about the Awards show from the other night…because I didn’t even watch it, minus when I happened to be flippin’ channels & caught the tail-end Wayne’s performance .

It looks like some of BET’s corporate sponsorship finally heard the cries of millions who felt like Black Entertainment Television didn’t represent the best interests for anyone in the supposed demographic. Read the rest of this entry »

Words By David D.

There’s been plenty of talk about the ridiculousness which if BET. Most notably, the banned Boondocks episodes tore the station a new one. Personally, I have looked at the shows on BET and shook my head, buried my face in shame and even laughed at the low-budget, MTV knock-off, ignorance that the network filters into the community. I still tend to give the station the benefit of the doubt, checking it out from time to time. Last week, while watching BET, I witnessed another unbelievable, “what in the blue hell” moment.

I was watching 106 & Park and Lil’ Wayne was the guest. The interview was going well (see: he appeared sober) and Wayne refrained from a lot of the gibberish he usually goes into in his interviews. Then, out of nowhere, Terrence and Rocsi reach off camera and present the MC with a blinged out Styrofoam cup. I honestly couldn’t believe what I was seeing. Everyone knows what’s in Weezy’s cup and it ain’t Kool-Aid. He carries the cup around everywhere he goes and it’s usually filled or being refilled with the same codeine mix that led to the death of DJ Screw and a slew of other individuals. As my homeboy put it, this is like Teen Summit giving Snoop diamond encrusted rolling papers back in the day or something. Read the rest of this entry »

I ended up catching the replay of BET’s “T.I. Speaks” earlier this morning after coming home from the gym. I can’t say that I even wanted to see it in the first place, but I wasn’t ready to sleep, I was a little intrigued to see who would show up: T.I., T.I.P., or Cliff Harris, & I wanted to see how bad BET would butcher the whole thing (they’re good for that these days.) Things weren’t looking good as things opened with a video montage chronicling the childhoods of both T.I. & T.I.P. Right off the bat T.I looks calm & reflective as he answers questions. Sounding like a politician or preacher, he spoke in measured tones, making sure that he what wants to say is understood clearly.

My biggest thing is I wanted to see if he was going to Read the rest of this entry »