Natalie Nunn Covers Black Men Magazine

[Click HERE to view more pic of Natalie Nunn in Black Men Magazine]

I hardly ever watch anything on the Oxygen channel, but there's just something about The Bad Girls Club that's addicting. Part of it is all the constant fights and drama but, for me, it's the women. 

There have been quite a few that have caught my eye, but none more than Natalie Nunn. Sure, she may have this well-deserved reputation of being a "hoe"; but I assure you that my interest is nothing more than a pipe dream.

Be that as it may, Natalie Nunn is featured on this month's cover of Black Men Magazine's 40 on 40 Latina issue and I can't help but feel a sense of nostalgia, almost, as it brings back memories of the days that I would anticipate magazines like these such as KING.

Not in perverted way either...I simply mean that KING magazine set a standard for featuring women of color and its impact was widely felt throughout the magazine community. So much so that it can clearly be seen in imitation by magazines such as this one.

No other magazine has come close to matching the gold standard of KING and, while I don't mean to go off into a random tangent, it's unfortunate that KING folded largely in part to a failing economy. Yes, I'm quite aware that KING is back on shelves now; but it's just not the same. As much as the magazine was pictures of beautiful women, the textual content tied everything together perfectly and you just don't get that with the new format that KING has evolved into.

But that's a different story for a different day. Natalie Nunn is one of the more infamous cast members of The Bad Girls Club and, with this spread in Black Men magazine, it's quite clear that she's looking to extend her 15 minutes of fame.

Yelawolf (Feat. Lil Jon) | Hard White (Up In The Club) [Video]

I was able to catch this courtesy of 106 & Park on Friday, but wasn't able to watch it until a few minutes ago thanks to Tivo. That being said, I have to say that, visually, this is an incredibly dope video and makes for a great introduction of Yelawolf to the masses.

Travis Porter Wasted A Perfect Opportunity To Drop An Album At The Height Of Their Popularity

[Click HERE to download Travis Porter's Differenter 3 Mixtape]

...and, instead, recently dropped a new mixtape the other day to hold over fans as they continue work on their long-awaited debut.

Don't get me wrong, I'm a Travis Porter enthusiast and have supported these guys for their nonsensical brand of music; but I can't help but feel that they've missed out on the perfect opportunity to drop an album at the height of their popularity. 

For a minute there, "Bring It Back", "Make It Rain, "College Girl", and a few other joints of theirs were going heavy on the radio and in the clubs and the smart thing would've been to try to capitalize off of that. 

Now, I don't know what kind of label politics are going on over at Jive; but, from what I have read, Jive folded and has brought everything (artists included) under the RCA umbrella and maybe that had something to do with the Travis Porter album being put on hold. Unfortunately, that information has not been divulged; but here's to hoping that a full-length album will see the light of day here soon. 

Which brings me to my next point. This Differenter 3: Road Trips &Big Tits (that's the actual title) mixtape is not as good as any of their previous efforts and aside from the Wale assisted "My Team Winnin" and the Kelly Rowland laced "Slow Motion", Differenter 3 isn't all too different from much of anything we haven't already heard.The monotonous subject matter and mundane beat selection grows tired after three to four tracks in and It almost begs the question of whether the group is beginning to feel the pressure of living up to such high expectations. Hopefully, this is NOT the case; but who knows?

All I know is that opportunity knocks only ever so often and for a group that still has a ways to go before being "established", the questions surrounding the group vastly outweigh the ones that have been answered and a below-average mixtape is only going to magnify these uncertainties. 

I Just Remembered Why I Hate American Idol...

18-year-old Haeley Vaughn (pictured right) was a favorite of mine from the moment I first saw her at the Denver auditions and I guess it's because of her amazing story.

She was born two months premature and weighed only two pounds. Surely it's a miracle that she's even alive but, when it comes to the confidence she exudes on stage, you would never know any of this because of her bubbly personality. Something about her makes you want to root for her and it's really unfortunate that America never embraced her as their "idol".

That being said, I think the biggest problem I have with American Idol is with "America" itself. A few years ago, America voted off another personal favorite of mine in Syesha Mercado and I still haven't really gotten over that if I'm being honest. My thing is, how could "America" be so naive? For a country that loves stories of triumph, or an underdog if you will, how could you not want someone like Haeley to win?!

Not only has she surpassed the expectations that were labeled on her when she was born, but what she represents is individuality. She's a pop/country singer for heaven's sake?!?! How many black women do you know that are into that kind of music? Not many that I know of, that's for sure.

Be that as it may, I don't think we've seen the last of Haeley Vaughn. Her departure from American Idol was just the prelude of many more things to come and I'm really curious to see how she responds to the constructive criticism she received on the show. So what if she was a little pitchy? There have been worse singers on the show and how they managed to survive ahead of her is beyond me. All it does is make you wonder who's really pulling the strings? America or the American Idol producers? Just a little random food for thought...

SN: She was 16 years old at the time of her season

The Puss In Boots Old Spice Commercial Parody

The Shrek franchise had gotten a little "stale" if you ask me, so it's nice to see them go in a different direction with a Puss In Boots spin-off. Anyway, I came across this earlier today while watching the Patriots/Jets game and it really caught my eye because of how creative it was for Dreamworks to spoof those ever so popular Old Spice commercials. Admittedly, not much thought seems to go into movie trailers nowadays and it's ridiculous being that we are constantly bombarded with so many. I just hope that as different as this one is, that the movie itself is as good as advertised. That is, at least one could only hope.

¤ The Birds Pt. 1 ¤

"It's funny how someone can break your heart, but you still manage to love them with all the little pieces."

  
I'm not really sure why I'm choosing to write about this side of my growth, but it's been bothering the hell out of me the last couple of days so I guess it wouldn't hurt to let people in for a change in order to see a side of me that is rarely seen.

You see…I kind of have this problem with building up a "wall" of emotion if you could call it that. I'm not sure why, but I guess it's my way of preventing myself from getting hurt. So before I can even let things get that far, I use this proverbial wall as a defense mechanism.

To say that I've been hurt a lot in the past when it comes to friendships and/or relationships would be an understatement, but I'm starting to see that I bring a lot of it on myself and the hardest part is learning not to worry so much about things beyond your control. Rejection is an inevitable part of life and the sooner you realize the sad fact that trust is something that no longer holds value amongst a lot of the people in our society anymore, the sooner you'll be able to understand why it shouldn't be much of a surprise when people begin to turn their backs on you.

Point. Blank. Period. I don't trust anybody completely anymore, especially women. They too, like the seasons, tend to come and go and it's rare to find one who will value a friendship, relationship, or whatever. I feel like I'm more than good enough when it comes to being a potential friend and/or boyfriend and I try to be the best person that I can be but the moment you hurt me, it's like everything we built as a friendship and/or relationship was for nothing and I swear that I'm not the type that can just sit there and pretend that I'm cool with you and that I like you because I'm not.

...it's rare that I even give people a second chance either, but sometimes that's all some people really need. I've been in that boat a couple of times, as well, so I know what it feels like to burn bridges with someone you really care about and it seems like no matter what you do that you can never make up for the damage that's already been done. But, if you really are remorseful, then I've learned that the old adage of "actions speak louder than words" could not be any more true.

It takes a lot for someone to say sorry and mean it, but it takes even more for someone to forgive. I guess it all depends on the person though. I'm the type of person who takes everything to heart, yet will record a mental note of what people do to me so I don't make the same mistake twice in trusting someone who has already hurt me before. It's just  funny though because the one's close to you seem to be the ones to hurt you the most and I'm learning to keep myself at a distance and to not be so open.

I'm not talking about anybody in particular with all this either, by the way, but if anybody takes any of this personal then so be it. If you're cool with me, then you're cool with me; but if we don't even talk and we used to, then it's probably because I smartened up and realized that what "friendship" we had at one time was one-sided and it was just a waste of time in fucking with you in the first place. I have better shit to do and more important matters to take care of…everything else is for the birds.

-xO

La La Vasquez Stripped Down To Her Bra × Panties On ‘La La’s Full Court Life’

[Click HERE to watch the video of La La stripping down to her bra x panties]

I don't watch VH1 often but, when I do, it pays off when moments like the one that happened a week or so ago on "La La's Full Court Life" become viral. I wasn't able to catch the actual episode due to a heavy load of homework that night but, for those that missed it, La La and a few of her friends have come up with a plan to lose weight and, in order to set their starting points, decide to step on a scale to be able to better measure their progress. 

From there, La La strips down to her bra and panties, revealing quite a bit for a reality TV show, and, if I can just say so myself, she has one AMAZING body. She always has, in my opinion, and the thing that I don't get is how comfortable Carmelo Anthony could be with all this?! Lord knows that if I were married to this woman that I wouldn't want to share any of this with the world, but I think it says a lot about La La, in a sense, that she's comfortable enough with her body to be this open. I wish a lot more women were less self-conscience in this way about their body; but, then again, not many come close to La La and, Charlie Sheen aside, Carmelo Anthony is definitely winning.

Myths & Urban Legends: The Buckley Family

This is the Buckley Family. The children’s names were Susan and John. As a Halloween joke, all the kids in the neighborhood were going to get a dummy and pretend to chop its head off. 

The Buckley children thought it would be hilarious to actually murder their mother, so when the kids walked up the the door, they got an axe and slaughtered her. 

Once everyone figured out what they had really done, they called the police, but the kids were long gone by then. The only picture of them was this photo, taken by a trick or treater. The mothers body was later found half eaten.

Now, I'm not much of a believer in myths or urban legends; but I can honestly see some validity to this one. I came across this on tumblr a few hours ago while I was at work and just had to post it in hopes of getting some sort of feedback and I'm finding that a lot of people have not only dismissed this story as being a hoax, but this picture as being a trick of photo shop as well.

To be honest I don't know what to believe but, for the sake of argument and it being the month of October, the ambiguousness of it is disturbing enough and I just felt compelled to share. 

Drake's "Take Care" Album Pushed Back To November 15th

Drake released a statement on his blog earlier in regards to his album being pushed back to November 15th and I, for one, could not be more disappointed. 

October 24th was right around the corner and it sucks that sample clearances are holding things up, but here's to hoping that Take Care doesn't have any more issues before its new release date and that, in the meantime, Drake can at least get a better album set up.

Truth be told, Take Care would've been released to little to no fanfare had it stayed at its original release date and an album of all kinds of importance for Drake should have more buzz around it then it currently does. Then again, Tha Carter IV didn't have much hype around it and that only did close to a million copies...I'm not saying Drake doesn't have the same kind of pull when it comes to selling records, I'm just saying that whether you like him or not, his music speaks for itself and this album just has a certain feel to it that would suggest that it will be something worth listening to...

The new date for Take Care is November 15th, 2011. I managed to create this album in my hometown of Toronto and the thoughts and stories I wanted to get across just became so clear. It truly felt like when I was here 3 years ago making So Far Gone. So I have completed 19 songs (17 on physical and 2 on bonus), and have run into a roadblock of clearing 3 samples in time to make the October 24th date. My options were to take the songs off and make the birthday release happen, or to take an extra couple weeks to get the paper work right and give you the album they way I NEED you to hear it. The choice was clear as day for me. November 15th you will get Take Care the exact way I created it with no trimmings. This music means too much to me to get attached to dates and I do apologize for the delay but I promise that it is only for the benefit of our experience together. Club Paradise Tour will also be moved to when students are back from the Christmas/New Year break so that I can get to more schools. New dates will be released in the next week...see you all soon.


Drake

-Courtesy of October's Very Own

TAKE CARE NOVEMBER 15

¤ Chivalry Is Dead! ¤

Maybe it's just me, but the thing I don't get is how it's generally taught to be a quote on quote "gentleman", yet when it comes down it...no woman really wants that. Sure, women may complain about how they want this "knight in shining armor" to come and rescue them from the asshole they're stuck with but, my thing is, why even be with the asshole in the first place? You knew he was an asshole when you met him and, you know, it's guys like me that seem to always get the short end of the stick... 

Plain and simple, chivalry is dead! Long gone are the days where being a "gentleman" meant something and now that whole aspect seems only relevant when referring to that one Ne-Yo album from a few years ago. Sad, I know, but it's the truth.

All I'm saying is that we need a return towards that way of thinking. A return to where "dating" was a fashionable thing to do whereas, nowadays, it simply serves as the "foreplay" of our generation. Don't believe me? Just look at the constant "so and so is now in a relationship" to :so and so is now single" relationship status updates that happen on a day-to-day basis on Facebook. For whatever reason, people rush into these relationships for all the wrong reasons, it seems like, and all I'm saying is that we wouldn't have a lot of these problems if people were not only honest with themselves, but honest with the people their pursuing as well.

It kind of makes you feel as if true "love" doesn't exist anymore, if much at all, but I'm slowly starting to figure this whole thing out. And that's the hardest part...as much as people can tell you what "love" is, it's up to the individual to experience everything that comes along with it...you can't have joy without the pain and, for as much as I've been through with some of the women I've been interested in, I know enough to know that it takes more than one person to want something in order for it to not only have "meaning", but for it to work out as well.

By no means am I saying that I don't share any of the blame because, clearly, I acknowledge that I bring a lot of my problems with relationships on myself. I hate having to let go with a passion but, sometimes, cutting all ties with a person that has hurt you is really in the best interest of all parties involved. My question, however, is what happens when both parties share an equal amount of the blame; yet one side takes it upon themselves to absolve the other side's in order to bring closure to the situation?

...it's a game of devil's advocate at its finest and, lately, it seems as if it's all I play as I'm constantly replaying a wide range of events throughout my mind. As much as I apologized for a lot of things...a lot of things I'm still NOT understanding, nor will I ever I'm afraid; but for some reason, it always comes back to how I treated you. I was never an asshole by any means, yet it's ironic that it's a role that I can play all too well now that we don't talk much anymore. 

Is that my fault? 

...an open ended question if ever there was one; but here's to another of many that remain unanswered and are constantly swimming in a stream of consciousnesses...otherwise known as your brain.

-xO

Lil' Wayne's Public Service Announcement

Death can mirror irony at times, simply because it's almost as if people only truly appreciate you once you're dead and gone. By no means am I taking anything away from Steve Jobs, but I have to give Lil' Wayne all the credit in the world for taking the time to do something like this. A lot of artists could never be as open and candid as Wayne is here in this video and the best part of it all, at least to me anyway, is being able to see a little insight into the thought process of the enigma known as Lil' Wayne.

Angela Simmons Posed Nude For A PETA Ad?!

I came across this bit of news a week or so ago and it caught me off guard simply because of the fact that it was 1)Angela Simmons and 2)because of who her father is. 

Literally, my first immediate thought was, "I wonder how her father feels about this?!"; but, in all honesty, it really shouldn't matter what he thinks because Angela has grown  up to be a very beautiful, young woman. 

[For more on Angela Simmons 'Nude' PETA ad, click here]

It's her body and, as a woman, she's free to display it as she chooses; but it's not as if she's doing anything overtly sexual. This decision has a purpose behind it and I can completely understand her decision in wanting to be a part of PETA's ad campaign.

The only thing about it though is that it may hurt her "image" in the long run. As a devout christian, many may feel that this decision of Angela's may not have been a good one; but, again, criticism is always going to come with the territory simply because of who she is and where she comes from. I just hope that as positive of a message that these PETA ads intend to portray, that the negative aspects that could come along with this one doesn't affect the young, adolescent girls that look up to her as a role model.

Yelawolf's 'Radioactive' Album Cover

[Click image for a larger view]

I'll be the first to admit that I was late on Yelawolf...for whatever reason, I didn't think much of him as an artist and just couldn't see him as one that would stand out; but even I, too, would find it difficult anymore to overlook the talent that this guy has.

His Trunk Muzik mixtape has been in constant rotation on my ipod as of late and I was eagerly anticipating this album of his to be dropping the same day as J. Cole. As is common with a lot of these projects it was pushed back, but something tells me that the anticipation will be well worth the wait.

Led by the Lil' Jon assisted "Hard White (Up In The Club)", Radioactive has all the potential to be an impressive debut; but my only problem, so far, is with this album cover?! It's a bold move for an artist making his debut NOT to have his face on the cover and for, Yelawolf, I think he NEEDS that. Talent alone won't make this guy a success, but I'm sure his A&R team have a plan as to how they are going to market him...I just hope that plan doesn't hurt him in the long run.

Nicki Minaj Covers Cosmo

[For more of Nicki Minaj in Cosmo, click here]

I'm not ashamed to say that I've read a Cosmo magazine before but for that, I would have to blame my friend Jackie. She suggested that I read one a while back (she actually gave me one to read) and I actually did just to see why women love these things so much...

Needless to say I still don't have a clue, but it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. But that's beside the point. Nicki Minaj is featured on the latest cover of Cosmo and I found it interesting to note that Nicki is now the second black woman to grace the Cosmo cover in the last 3 years (the other two being Rihanna twice).

Now as astonishing as that is, I think it speaks volumes for Nicki Minaj. Her crossover appeal beyond Hip-Hop has been more than she could have ever imagined, I'm sure, and it's nice to see her create her own niche. 

Truth be told, I've always considered her the "Black Lady Gaga" and that label is starting to stick with all the outfits, personalities, and radio success that she's having; but it'll be interesting to see where she goes from here. Her sophomore album will be instrumental in her future success but the thing I hope doesn't happen is that she focuses so much on appealing to her "pop" audience that she neglects a Hip-Hop audience that has embraced her from the beginning...

Drake | Headlines [Video]

.

The video for "Headlines" premiered today on 106 & Park but, luckily, I was able to catch it on Sunday when Drake premiered it on his website. All that said, the more and more that I watch this video I can't help but think about all the Illuminati undertones that it is carrying and it's crazy because I've never bought into any of that nonsense to begin with. People have too much time on their hands if you ask me but, nonetheless, I'm really feeling the direction that Drake is taking with this sophomore album of his. Take Care is shaping up to be a much more concentrated effort than his debut and, from what I have heard so far (i.e. "Marvin's Room", "Dreams Money Can Buy", "Club Paradise", "Headlines", "Free Spirit"), I'm anxious to see what the overall response will be from the critics and naysayers.

¤ Wednesday Is Just The Day Before Thursday. But On Thursday... ¤

"Has it really been that long?"

That's the thought that has been running through my mind constantly ever since I logged back into my Blogger account a week or so ago and it's crazy because I had told myself a year ago that I was going to be better about updating this thing. For some reason or another I've always found excuses not to but, I promise, THIS time will be different. 

Needless to say, I have plenty of things of note to talk about and I assure you that I will address everything in due time; but, for now, I think a quick overview of things will serve just fine.

What can I say? This past year has been a proverbial roller coaster. From friends, to family, to women...I've been through more than my fair share of "trust issues" with all three and it seems like everything has been constantly rotating around in a vicious circle. I never seem to learn my lesson, it seems, but I'm slowly starting to grasp this concept that sometimes keeping your guard up is in your own best interest.You can only wear your heart on your sleeve for so long and, the more that I do, the more I seem to be hurt by it. 

Is it my fault? Yes, I acknowledge that fact wholeheartedly, but it's what makes me, me and I wouldn't change that for the world.

As you can see, this is quite the constant "internal conflict" that I have going on here; but hopefully the next couple of blog entries will help as I delve deeper into this beautiful mind of mine. I can't promise that everything will make sense but what I can promise is that I won't glorify any aspect of it in order to make me sound any better than who I am as a person. Instead, my intent is to present you with the unbridled truth [as seen through my eyes] and the best starting point, I think, would have to be this crazy little thing called love...

-xO