Tag: Hip Hop Heroines
An Improvement from Last Time
Hey — do you remember that Queen Latifah casting call last year? You know, the one where people stood in the snow waiting to be seen? The one that pissed a whole lot of beautiful black women off? I got lots of e mails from bellas swearing they’d never buy the Cover Girl’s Queen Collection. [...]
En Vogue, Retro Chic
Please don’t ask me to choose my favorite En Vogue video. The funky divas had a hold on me ever since Hold On. Like Lauren from Stereohyped, I too wanted to be one of them — usually Cindy, but I always thought Dawn was too fierce for words. Lots of En Vogue videos really honed [...]
Hey Mama
I’ve been thinking about Kanye West all day, following the news that his mother — Dr. Donda West, the former professor and chair of Chicago State University’s English department, author of Raising Kanye: Life Lessons From the Mother of a Hip-Hop Superstar, CEO of Super Good, the parent company of Kanye West Enterprises — had [...]
Afrobella of the Month* — Farai Chideya
NPR junkies are a dedicated lot. I’ve known some who lull their latchkey pets with A Prairie Home Companion on busy weekends. I’ve known others who are utterly obsessed with Ira Glass. NPR fanatics drive to work with Diane Rehm and come home with News and Notes, hosted by the razor-sharp Farai Chideya. If you’re [...]
My Top Five Workout Jams
I didn’t think I’d be able to really say this, and I’m so proud that I can. I’ve fallen in love with working out. I was never the girl who loved to exercise, and it became more and more difficult to motivate myself as I got older. But through trial and error, I’ve discovered what [...]
I Love an Old School All-Star Jam
Were all-star jams a phenomenon that peaked in the Eighties? Of course, there was We Are The World and Do They Know It’s Christmas, but the songs were never catchy to me. I just grew up loving the all-star jams on Video Soul, like Self Destruction (LOL at Kool Moe Dee’s stunna shades) and We’re [...]
I Miss You
I’ve been thinking about Aaliyah a lot these days. First I saw that hot, hot new Ciara video for Like a Boy, and I love that song and have ’nuff admiration for Ciara, but when I see her dancing I inevitably wind up thinking about Baby Girl. And wondering what she’d be doing now. Hey, [...]
Afrobella of the Week: Chrisette Michele
I’ll tell you, in recent weeks it’s been getting harder to come up with an Afrobella of the Week. While there are still some obvious choices coming up in the not-too-distant future, so many women I could have sworn would be all-natural forever have switched it up and gone all weavey or straight on me. [...]
Celebs Who Should Just Go Natural
My coworker went to a lot of those Super Bowl parties and after she saw Nas and Kelis at Prive, she told me — “Kelis looked mad washed out.” And I agreed with her, yeah, she’s trying to work the blonde look and I don’t know if it’s happening. But I didn’t really know what [...]
The Queen Explains
Like many other beauty and fashion bloggers, I announced the Queen Latifah/CoverGirl casting call in New York this week. Well, one of my readers came back and added a comment that revealed that things at the event were chaotic and upsetting. I had to ask my friends at CoverGirl about this, and I got an [...]
A Quick Announcement on Behalf of the Queen
Latifah, that is! Y’all already know how much I love Queen Latifah. She’s transformed from duckling in a dashiki to elegant red carpet diva swan. She makes a perfect and lovely Cover Girl. But now, Queen Latifah and Cover Girl are looking for someone to ascend to the throne, and they’re seeking a regular woman [...]
Missy Elliott: Makeup Muse and Hip-Hop Heroine
I’ve noticed something quite disappointing on some of my favorite gossip sites. Every time a post on Missy Elliott is made – photos of her at a party, or awards show, whatever; some ig’nant commenters are unable to say anything but negative stuff. It always comes down to Missy’s sexuality, her appearance, or her weight. [...]
Afrobella of the Week: Erykah Badu
Let me take y’all back a few years, back to 1997. Remember the first time you saw Erykah Badu’s video for “On and On“? I do. She strutted on the screen in that green headwrap and commanded us to listen. Erykah was – is- such a breath of fresh air in the game. She seemed [...]
Hip Hop (and Reggae) Heroine, Tanya Stephens
How can I call Tanya Stephens a hip-hop heroine, you ask? I bet Lil Kim can answer that question! Over the summer, Tanya had to get all kinds of litigious on the nip/tucked rapstress because Kim blatantly ripped off one of Tanya’s hottest dancehall anthems, “Mi and Mi God.” (Honestly, if Damian Marley wanted to [...]
Afrobella of the Week, Hip Hop Heroine – MC Lyte
Back in 1984 MC Lyte released 10% Dis, a hard-hitting track that destroyed her then-rival, Antoinette. Lyte’s boasts proved prophetic: Others write your rhymes, while I write my own, I don’t create a character, when I’m on the microphone, I am myself, no games to be played, No script to be written, no scene to [...]
