In Case You Couldn’t Find It In The Streets! Here you go!

Before her recent hosting gig at Memphis’s Level II Nightclub, Ms. Sheneka Adams sat down with Concrete Magazine to discuss her take on the entertainment industry, her image, and relationships.

You may know Sheneka as the sexy vixen in videos for Drake, Soulja Boy, and Bow Wow. Maybe you know her from her countless blog and radio interviews, magazine spreads and covers, and new title as King Magazine’s Web Girl of the Year.

Regardless, we can’t deny that Sheneka is a down-to-earth southern beauty with a whole lotta sex appeal. Check out Sheneka Adams! Read the rest of this entry »

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J. Cole talks Jay-Z, college, what we can expect from his debut album & more with the On Air Idiots. BUT there is Still no word on a release date for the album….SMH!

In step with the wave of reality shows starring black women in relationships with famous or wealthy men, VH1 debuted “Love & Hip Hop”. The show, dubbed a “docu-series” by VH1, chronicles the lives of five women connected to hip-hop either by the men they love or by their aspirations to become successful musicians.

Rapper Jim Jones’ girlfriend, Chrissy Lampkin, is the show’s narrator and the sassy firecracker determined to get Jim to fully commit and settle down, even if it means she has to propose to him. Fabolous’ baby mama, stylist Emily Bustamente, frets over Fabolous’ refusal to publicly acknowledge their eight-year relationship.

Female rapper Somaya Reece, the outspoken, voluptuous ex-fling of rapper Joe Budden, is willing to do whatever she has to…even squat in her producer-friend’s tiny attic to find success as a rapper. And the former first lady of G-Unit, singer Olivia Longott, tries desperately to reinvigorate her nearly dissolved singing career.

But one of the more unexpected roles belongs to Mashonda Tifrere, Swizz Beatz’s ex-wife, who does a turn as the Fairy Godmother of Hip-Hop Women Scorned. Her firsthand experience of losing her hip-hop lover without completely losing her mind practically grants Tifrere oracle status, and in the first episode , she doles out much-needed advice to Emily.

But let’s be real: This reality show is far from reality, and features more of the same cattiness we’ve sadly come to expect from shows of this sort. The predictability is nauseating, with any seasoned reality where the show viewer already knowing which cast members will clash. It’s obvious that Chrissy would not take kindly to Somaya Reece’s private meeting with Jim Jones, an occurrence that culminates in a verbal spar between the two in a nightclub bathroom. Naturally, it sets the stage for a season-long quarrel.

Nonetheless, Love and Hip Hop is worth watching. The show’s approach is counterintuitive for the genre. In Real Housewives or Basketball Wives, monogamy isn’t outright rejected, since the family values facade is central to their husbands’ images and careers. In hip-hop, bachelorhood is the gold standard, so to get a small glimpse at these rappers’ attempts at commitment  eventhough albeit lukewarm, reluctant and perhaps disingenuous it is still entertaining.

What do you think?

Chris Brown is an international superstar. He has 3 top 10 albums, numerous top 10 and #1 singles, and has sold over 20 million records worldwide. But after February 2009, when he had a demestic despute with his then girlfriend, fellow superstar Rihanna, no one has really thought about Chris Brown and all of his accomplishments. The general public’s perception of Brown was now that of a woman beater. And after such a horrendous crime, it was pretty safe to assume that Brown’s fanbase, which had been largely made up of women, would abandon him and as a result, his career would be over.

But Chris didn’t see it that way. Instead of taking some time off, later that same year he dropped his poorly recieved album Graffiti . Indeed his worst album, it may have garnered even more negative reviews than was necessary, given the time that it was released. But now, 3 years, 6 months of community service, and a flop album later, Chris Brown has officially fought his way back to prominence in the form of, what else? Music. After 2 highly successful mixtapes and 2 top 10 singles on the R&B charts, it was high time for a new Chris Brown album, appropriately titled F.A.M.E (Fans Are My Everything).

F.A.M.E doesn’t steer clear of Brown’s already winning formula of one radio-friendly song after another, but here he perfects what he started with his second album, Exclusive and struggled to do on Graffiti; exploring different genres while still making quality music with respect to that said genre. He’s done that here. Songs like She Aint You, a reimagining of Michael Jackson’s Human Nature and S.W.V’s Right Here (remix) and Up To You are great r&b/pop songs. Look At Me Now which see’s Chris, along with guest rapper Lil’ Wayne get overshadowed by the lyrical prowess of legendary MC Busta Rhymes, and Dueces show that Chris is quite comfortable in more of a hip-hop influenced atmosphere.

But where he has the most potential to shine is when he explores the realm of dance music. When it’s done right, that is. The criminally generic Yeah 3x was obviously made just to hop on the dance craze that’s presently sweeping through the music industry. But judging from the Michael Jackson influenced vocal Jamiroquai and inspired production of Say It With Me , it becomes apparent that Brown isn’t experimenting with dance just for commercial gain, but actually has some interest in it. And on the Benny Benassi produced Beautiful People, the most legit dance record from any of the other uber-successful pop stars, (Yeah you Usher!lol) it’s clear that he has respect for the genre also.

There are also the x-rated r&b slow jams like No Bullshit , and the Ludacris assisted Wet The Bed which are sure to make the freakiest individuals cheeks a little rosy.

The main problem here, as in most Chris Brown albums, is that there is no order in the tracklisting. There have been Greatest Hits and Best Of.. collections with more cohesiveness. But that aside, this will be the album that may put Brown’s wifebeater image to rest and put the focus back on his music. That’s if he doesn’t get angry and throw chairs and break windows at the studios of Good Morning America.. Oh he already did that… lol!

3 years. 2 months. And 18 days.

That’s how long it’s been since Chicago MC Lupe Fiasco released his last studio album, The Cool. But music listeners just knew that he would release a new album. He did after all tease us with that fact at the end of the track “Gotta Eat”. But never did fans think that Fiasco would need to go through so much hassle to release his next album (if you don’t know what hassle I’m talking about hit up Google). But finally the day is here. But will this reviewer, who also happens to be a HUGE Lupe Fiasco fan, find this victory sweet or not?

A week before the album dropped, an interview with Complex Magazine hit the net with the title: “Lupe Fiasco hates his own album”. Now as soon as I read this, I thought “now why would I want to buy an album that he hates?” Of course Fiasco tried to backtrack and explain his comments but the idea had already settled into my head: this would NOT be a typical Lupe Fiasco Album.

And boy was I right. Don’t get me wrong. The lyrics are somewhat still there. Fiasco still raps about socio-political issues in songs such as “All Black Everything” and “Words I Never Said”. He still takes us on a journey into his life and how he has grappled with the idea of suicide with the track “Beautiful Lasers” while also talking about how he has gotten hampered down by the problems wealth has brought him in the track “Letting Go”. But when I compare the lyrics on this album to the lyrics on the last two albums, while they are good, they are not as great as I know Fiasco can provide.

But then there are parts of the album that are different from Fiasco’s last two albums. First of all, when I saw that Trey Songz was featured on a track the first thought I had was “Huh”? Don’t get me wrong I’m a fan of Trey but in my eyes those two things just didn’t match up. I mean sure Fiasco did have songs on his last two albums that were dedicated to the ladies (“Paris, Tokyo”, “Sunshine”, and “Go Baby”). But compared to those tracks “Out of My Head” sticks out like a sore thumb.

Another difference that I saw on this album were the beats. It’s no secret that Fiasco is an eclectic music artist whose beats range from hip hop to rock/alternative. But on this album, a lot of the songs sounded very pop like. I assume that Atlantic had a major part in how the album sounded in efforts to make Fiasco appeal to the masses but I’m sorry it just doesn’t work for me.

I’m just going to say the things that nobody would probably expect me to say. Yes, I am happy that this album was released. Like I said, Fiasco’s fans have been waiting a good three years for this day and it has finally arrived. I’m happy that after all the trouble he went through, the album has finally hit shelves. But I feel like this isn’t the Fiasco that I became a fan of back in 2005. I feel like this is a watered down version of Fiasco that Atlantic created in order to sell records. But Atlantic needs to see that fans want the Fiasco from Food and Liquor and The Cool: the rapper who could out rhyme a good 90% of the rappers in the game today with his thought provoking, complex lyrics.

I’m not saying this album is AWFUL but it’s just okay. I’m sure there will be some Fiasco fans who go out and purchase it because they support Fiasco. Just like I’m sure there are some Fiasco fans who won’t because they don’t support Atlantic’s version of Fiasco.

I just hope for all of our sakes that Atlantic doesn’t try to water Fiasco down on his next album.

Rating: C-
Favorite Track: Beautiful Lasers

Marsha Ambrosius burst into the landscape of popular music  in the fall of 2002, along with poet Natalie Stewart as half of the poetry/singing duo Floetry. Since the disbanding of Floetry, Ambrosius has become a very sought after songwriter and feature guest. Signing her first solo deal with Dr. Dre’s Aftermath label, she wrote and sang with the likes of Busta Rhymes, The Game, and Nas. After parting ways in 2009, Ambrosius signed with J Records and began work her long-delayed solo album.

The outcome is Late Nights & Early Mornings, and what an outcome it is. With no shortage of sexy, the album is very reminiscent of another soul music titan of today, Jill Scott. But unlike Jill, where innuendo and between the lines chatter is where you’d find the obvious, Marsha just lays it out for you on a silver platter of such sleek production, it makes you unaware of the simplicity of the lyrics. The repeated hook of “Sex so good/ Do You Remember?” on first single Hope She Cheats On You (With A Basketball Player) or “Let me do it all night/ Let me do it all night/ I wanna do it all night,” on the title track gives no need for use of imagination. Marsha wants to do it all night.

The album starts off with the sexy With You. Co-written with Alicia Keys, the song has a very ‘Say Yes’ vibe to it, reminiscent of the sound of Floetry, but not quite direct homage. Actually, the track Your Hands is the only obvious song that seemed written with Floetry in mind, not Ambrosius as a solo artist. Without Natalie Stewart’s poetic ramblings layered with Marsha’s cry-filled vocal, the song comes off as prolonged and boring by the 2 minute mark. This song would would have been better suited as a 30 second interlude.

No matter the subject matter of the song, Ambrosius consistently sounds as if she’s, at any given moment, about to break down and cry her poor heart out. Call it annoying or singing with “emotion,” it’s never seemed more appropriate than on the declarative, Lauryn Hill penned Lose Myself , and the wonderful second single Far Away. People tend to appreciate songs about different subjects. There’s more to relationships than the basic love/hate. There’s more to life, which is probably why Far Away has been so deeply relatable by so many.

With an album full of slow-jams and mid-tempo love songs, something a tad bit upbeat would have been appreciated; which is maybe why Ambrosius, singing a sped up, dance groove version of Butterflies, the hit song she wrote for Michael Jackson for his 2001 album Invincible, was featured at the end. Instead, it came off sounding dated and unnecessary.

Seperately, the songs here are solid and stand well on there own, but grouped together on an album, it gets a little boring. But even with it’s shortcomings, Late Nights & Early Mornings is needed. R&B music, and artists that sing it well, seems like it’s disappearing from earshot more and more each year. If this is how the journey of Marsha Ambrosius’ solo career starts off, than I’ll hop on for the ride.

Beyonce has given an intimate interview to the upcoming edition of Cosmopolitan magazine.

Bey revealed she likes to make an effort to make herself feel attractive.
She said: “You should put on good music and something that makes you feel great.

“I love a pair of high, sexy stilettos with a beautiful dress, but you have to find out what works for you – whether it’s doing the whole smoky eyes thing or a natural look. And never be predictable. Mix it up, surprise him, change your hair – be the woman he knows with a little bit of a twist.”

“The most alluring thing a woman can have is confidence. You can be beautiful but if you’re not secure in yourself, you don’t come across as sexy.

“You have to feel good about yourself to make others feel good about you. Don’t focus on the bits you don’t like.

“Look at yourself in a different way and work out what it is you do like.”

This is why I love Bey! Fabulous advice! I’m sure Jay Z isn’t complaining…