Just Think Vol.19: Nas and Kelis
By A.Evans
http://twitter.com/AdotEVANS
By now we've all heard and we've all formulated opinions about the controversy between NaS and Kelis. Being that men and women tend to have different perspectives I've notice that conversations revolving around this topic have definitely been divided by sex. In fact I hosted an online show via Ustream to find out what all my twitter people thought about the amount that Kelis will be receiving on a monthly basis and received some pretty good feedback. For the most part it's obvious the majority of men sided with NaS while the majority of women sided with Kelis, however there were a few occurrences where some women sided with NaS. Lets discuss the 55K settlement.
Is 55K Really Necessary?
I guess when you are a celebrity or married to one you become accustomed to a certain lifestyle, and this lifestyle then rubs off on your children, not in all cases but its safe to say in most. The divorce between NaS and Kelis left me wondering how much does one really need to live and/or to support a child for that matter. I have a really hard time grasping the fact that NaS has to pay 55K a month to Kelis, in addition to lawyer fees, medical expenses etc. There are people with degrees who work on Park Avenue and barely make that annually let alone monthly. 55K a month roughly equates to about 660,000 a year now I'm not one to say give your kids the world but seriously Kelis need 660,000 a year to raise a child, or is this to maintain her Evian bath water? In addition to child support and alimony NaS also has to pay the mortgage on their California home that Kelis will be living in of course.
Now there are rumors as to why they decided to get divorced to begin with, the most common rumor is that Kelis has a sex tape out, and NaS has a problem with that. This is where things get divided based upon sex, most women I've engaged in conversation with feel NaS should suck it up, it's in the past let it go and move on, while most men feel Kelis should have told him while they were dating, enabling NaS to think before marrying her because lets be honest marriage and dating are two different things. The most common comparison women tend to use to justify the alleged Kelis sex tape and letting it go is Reggie Bush and Kin Kardashian, what they fail to realize is, Reggie Bush found out when the whole world found out and still chose to date Kim, he didn't find out after they were married. If this sex tape were the grounds for NaS wanting the divorce I can understand but if that's your wife and you love her, for better or for worse, then tough it out Esco. Who knows what is the real cause of the divorce, all I know is that is one expensive tattoo on his forearm, I guess that's what happens when you marry a jump off, I might not ever get married (sigh)
What Do You Think?
For comments please visit www.ThinkGroupNewsletter.com
Marketing Buzz of the Week
By Max Rivers
http://www.Twitter.Com/MaxRivers
HBO Lets 'Entourage' Fans Live It Up Like Vince and the Boys:
Partners With Starwood Hotels' W South Beach to Offer Branded Bungalows
Today the newly opened W Hotel in South Beach, Fla., will debut five "Entourage"-themed bungalows, the hotel's first branded suite created for a marketing partner. The bungalows are heavily inspired by the HBO comedy and come equipped with such amenities as a stainless-steel pool table, an outdoor barbecue and stove, a private plunge pool, and artwork from rock
The $5,000-a-night package is designed for four, to mimic the quartet in "Entourage," and also includes a personal driver; an afternoon of yachting; a personal poolside cabana and jet skis; dinner for four at South Beach hotspot Solea, followed by table service at W South Beach's Wall nightclub; not to mention a PlayStation 3 and complimentary booze from Grey Goose and Heineken.
It seems a little extravagant for a recession, but Chris Spadaccini, HBO's VP-advertising and promotions, said the network and W set out to create the "ultimate bachelor pad" for "Entourage" fans while still creating value, with extra perks that fit the show's brand and story lines about actor Vince Chase; his brother, Johnny Drama; and their friends Eric and Turtle. "We really wanted to create a property where, if Vince and the boys were to jet to Miami, this is the place they would stay," Mr. Spadaccini said.
HBO and W Hotels will also be offering a more affordable alternative for guests at the 22 W Hotels across the country, called the Entourage Package. W guests can upgrade to a suite with complimentary champagne and an "Entourage" season-five DVD. All W guests will also have access to a free on-demand selection of "Entourage" episodes from seasons four and five as well as behind-the-scenes footage from the upcoming sixth season.
Real Talk: I'm Not My Brother
By Cedric D. Shine
http://twitter.com/NativeNotes
A young black man drives through the "bad" side of town late one night in a Toyota Avalon, he stops at the local gas station because he craves a Reese's pieces peanut butter cup. After pulling off he notices the police are following him, next the sirens blare and he is pulling over. He knows this routine all too well. When the cop approaches, he must remain calm, no sharp movements of any kind or his life could be ended. The police officer asks for his license and registration, he quickly hands over his license, registration, and college id. As if to say I'm not "that black man", the drug dealer, the burglar, à the one who participates in criminal activity.
The man in the car is not totally at fault. These are skills of survival, he's witnessed the Sean Bell's, Oscar Grant and countless others. He understands that blacks are profiled at a disproportionate rate to their white counterparts and if showing his college id will stop him from getting shot, he'll do it.
The one good thing about Skip Gates getting arrested for 'disorderly conduct' a few weeks ago is that it has created a very interesting dialogue about race, the boys in blue and how racial oppression is internalized. While reading 'Skip Gates please sit down' by Phantom Negro he discussed how it was possible that Skip Gates wasn't mad that he was profiled for being black but angry that he might have been mistaken for "that black man", the one who participates in criminal activity.
We can't begin to have an honest dialogue about race until everyone at the table is honest about their ill-conceived prejudices. Men of color who have moved out of the community, feeling less likely to be accused of that 'black man' status can not fight racial profiling with their right hand, while showing their college id to police officers with their left. Our action of disassociating ourselves from other black men whether wrongly profiled or not only further validates the police officer who has made racial profiling his routine.
If I'm not my brother then who am I?
Have we bought into the idea that the name emboldened on our degrees places us in a different stratosphere than black people who were not fortunate enough to graduate from institutions of higher learning? I hope not because if my memory serves me correctly, this ever growing middle class of African Americans exists on the backs of people of color who fought so that we could have said opportunities, some educated, some not.
Malcolm X said "Education is our passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to the people who prepare for it today." In many instances it has also become a one-way ticket out of the ghetto, with creative lenses that allow us to never look back at some of the conditions we made it out from, unless it's some academic discussion where our hood pass deems us worthy to discuss such issues. Why should the black man in the earlier scenario validate the police officer's suspicions by showing there is a difference between him (college educated) and someone who is not? Both are men of color, my father never went to college and he is not the black man who participates in criminal activity.
Maybe you have never pulled your college id out for the police, but you let your white colleagues joke that you're different than the others. Your classmates who discuss the tacky, angry ghetto woman who comes on campus ever so often and scolds them for acting as if they own the community, that your school sits in. No, you're special; you're different than the others. What others? Your brother, your best friends back home, Sister Mary at church. Who?
If it took Skip to get harassed for people of color to look at themselves and ask whether or not they are profiling their own people or assisting in validating the profile and stereotypes of their own, then his disorderly conduct charge was well earned. Black scholars have exclaimed, "Can you believe it happened to him"? As if his education credentials overshadow his blackness. If that's the case then we should stop having discussions of race and start discussing class. But the truth is we have to discuss both, how they impact our decisions, our prejudices and how America as a whole can move away from the dirty stains of racism and classism.
La Familia: MAKE LOVE WITH ME...NOT TO ME
By Shelli Tinae Price
http://twitter.com/ShelliTinae
www.themindofshellitinae.blogspot.com
I've often wondered where the term "make Love" came from. People, especially women, always want someone to "make Love" to them. This thought just popped in my head the other day: THE ONLY WAY TO "MAKE LOVE" IS TO MAKE A BABY. Maybe the root desire for men and women to want to "make Love" is because instinctively they are ready to procreate. It's an animalistic desire we're all born with; the need to leave a legacy.
Follow me for a second. I believe God is Love and Love is God and as a child of Love and God, I am incarnated and created in the likeness of Love and God. So the only way for me to "make Love" is for the semen of a man to fertilize one of my eggs. The initial contact of the two is a cosmic divine creation and the only way the two of us can"make Love".
Now love can be shared and I would never deny that. Depending on the energy between the two people, I believe a man and woman can have sex and can actually EXPRESS and EXTEND Love but Love was made the day you were born. People need to know that sex and making Love are not one and the same; you can have meaningless sex, sex with extensions of Love, or sex that leads you to make Love by way of producing a child.
There are a lot of people making babies but not realizing they are "making Love" ordained by the most high. All human being on this Earth are perfect and in the likeness of God and Love. We are born with the ability to create an abundance of any and everything we could ever dream of because we ARE Love...we are God.
A MAN OF LOVE
PLUS
A WOMAN OF LOVE
PLUS
THE DISCOVERY (OR REMEMBERANCE) THAT THEY ARE SOULMATES
EQUALS
THE BIRTH OF THE MOST SUPREME BEINGS
"Make love" with one you LOVE.
To listen to a podcast go http://www.blogtalkradio.com/ellableu/2009/07/08/Straight-Talk-with-Ella-Bleu
Artist On the rise: Danica The Morning Star
For more information and bookings visit www.myspace.com/stardanica
Purchase Danica's Album at www.itunes.com/danicathemorningstar
DON'T MISS OUT DOWNLOAD MY BEST I EVER HAD DRAKE DUET http://www.sendspace.com/file/min2dm
BORN OCTOBER 26TH IN LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, DANICA THE MORNING STAR BEGAN DISPLAYING HER SCORPION-LIKE PASSION FOR THE ARTS AS A YOUNG GIRL. HER IMPROMPTU PERFORMANCES DURING FAMILY GATHERINGS LED TO A LIFE-LONG DESIRE TO ENTERTAIN. AT TWELVE YEARS OLD, DANICA SHOWED A UNIQUE INTEREST IN JAZZ AND BEGAN VOCAL LESSONS. UNLIKE MANY OF HER PEERS, DANICA KNEW EXACTLY WHAT SHE WANTED OUT OF LIFE AND SHE WAS ALREADY WORKING HARD TO ACHIEVE IT.
HER FIRST MAJOR OPPORTUNITY CAME IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL SINGING BACKGROUND FOR VANESSA WILLAMS ON DAVID FOSTERS NBC CHRISTMAS SPECIAL. IN A PERSONAL CONVERSATION WITH WILLIAMS, SHE ENCOURAGED DANICA TO PURSUE HER PASSIONS AND GET HER EDUCATION. DANICA FOLLOWED HER ADVICE AND ATTENDED THE UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA FOCUSING HER EDUCATION ON THEATER AND CINEMA. DANICA MADE HER TELEVISION ACTING DEBUT AS A GUEST STAR ON THE WB NETWORKS MULTI-SEASON SHOW "SISTER, SISTER" ALONG SIDE TIA AND TAMARA MOWRY. SHE HAS MADE HER FILM DEBUT IN THE MOVIE "WALK HARD" DIRECTED BY JAKE KASDAN AND PRODUCED BY JUDD APATOW ALSO CO WRITING THE SONG "HARD" FOR THE FILM. SHE HAS ALSO WORKED ON TRACKS WITH MAJOR HIP HOP ARTISTS SUCH AS ALOE BLACC,OL DIRTY BASTARD, THA ALKAHOLIKS, AND IS CURRENTLY ON YUKMOUTH'S "MILLION DOLLAR MOUTH PIECE".
DANICA HAS ALSO WRITTEN AND DEVELOPED SONGS IN COLLABORATION WITH VARIOUS PRODUCERS. HER UP AND COMING R&B/ HIP HOP ALBUM "THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE LOVE~LY" PRODUCED ENTIRELY BY BOSS BEATS (WHO YOU CAN FIND ON TIMBALAND'S SHOCK VALUE) WAS WRITTEN ENTIRELY BY DANICA ROZELLE, TELLS OF HER STRUGGLES WITH LOVE AND LIFE, AND EXPOSES HER DEEPEST EMOTIONS AND FEELINGS OF DANICA ALL GROWN UP. SHE ALSO PRODUCED THE VIDEO FOR HER SINGLE FABULOUSITY WHICH YOU CAN FIND ONLINE ON YOUTUBE AT http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RR2RiUJn2H4 . HER MUSICAL WRITING TALENTS HAVE LED HER TO PLACEMENTS ON TELEVISION AND FILM, "THE SECRET LIFE OF AN AMERICAN TEENAGER" AND THE NEW FILM "THE MESSENGER" WITH WOODY HARELSON. DANICA'S TREMENDOUS SKILL IN CREATING CAPTIVATING MUSIC IS A TALENT BEYOND HER AGE, BUT IS DEFINITELY INDICATIVE OF THE TIME AND EFFORT SHE PUTS INTO HER LOVE OF MUSIC AND LIFE.
For more information and bookings visit www.myspace.com/stardanica
Purchase Danica's Album at www.itunes.com/danicathemorningstar
DON'T MISS OUT DOWNLOAD MY BEST I EVER HAD DRAKE DUET http://www.sendspace.com/file/min2dm
New Music Release
Nicatene Deejay
Radio Waves Pt. 6 TrendsetterNY.com
Radio Waves Pt.6
Young Face
Download Link
Firework Ent Co. Presents R&B= Sex Pt.1 Starring London
DJ Christion
OVERTIME NOW AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD!!!
DOWNLOAD LINK - DJ Christion Overtime Mixtape Album
Danica
DON'T MISS OUT DOWNLOAD MY BEST I EVER HAD DRAKE DUET Link -
Best I Ever Had Drake Duet
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McCafe Experience Aug 7, 2009 Wash DC
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Atlanta Football Classic Sept 26, 2009
McCafe Experience Oct 2, 2009 St. Louis, MO
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Think Group Media, Inc.
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