BREAKING NEWS: Superhead is NOT a ho!

...According to her anyway.

This is a woman who built a career on writing about the hundreds of men in the entertainment industry that she has slept with, yet she was on a Detroit radio station yesterday saying that she doesn't want to be called Superhead anymore and that her success solely comes from her being able to write a book about her life.

*blink blink*

WTF??? Look... I don't like to judge people and I have the utmost respect for women who deserve it, but this chick is like the definition of a whore. How do you put out one book about sleeping with celebrities, claim that the book was therapeutic and helped you resolve that part of your life, continue to sleep with celebrities after the publishing of the first book, and then put out a second book bragging about your continued whoredom!

Then you embrace a degrading name like Superhead (she's wearing a shirt that says Superhead) and then act brand new like you're above what you are? This chick disgusts me.

Check out the interview here.

The Notorious B.I.G.'s Last Moments

This amateur footages was recently released that shows what happened on the night Biggie was shot in Los Angeles. The footage doesn't show much, but it's still amazing that this case hasn't been solved over ten years later.

This Stop Snitchin culture along with corrupt police departments are to blame.

It's Funny What the Media Considers News Worthy

This was apparently not newsworthy enough to make the major stations...

While the media is senationalizing the OJ hotel theft case, this has gone virtually unreported.

This happened in West Virginia very recently and as of 9/18/2007, Megan Williams was still being treated for this in the hospital.

She was Tortured and Raped for a whole week by six individuals, three males and three Females Between the ages of 20 and 49.

CNN normally does not reveal sexual assault victims' names. But Williams, who is hospitalized, and her mother, Carmen Williams, wanted her identity revealed.

----------------------------------------

Police said Bobby Brewster raped Williams, forced her to lick blood and drink from a toilet, and told his mother to kill Williams if she tried to escape. Authorities previously said Williams was also forced to eat rat and dog feces.

According to criminal complaints filed in the county, Williams was assaulted, stabbed in the left leg, choked with cords and beaten for at least a week. When she was found, big parts of her hair had also been torn off of her scalp. Williams says that Alisha Burton 22 cut her ankle with a knife while saying, "That's what we do to Niggers around here," police records show.

"I don't understand a human being doing another human being the way they did my daughter," Carmen Williams told The Associated Press on Tuesday from her daughter's hospital room. "I didn't know there were people like that out here."

Deputies received a tip and Saturday visited a home owned by Frankie Brewster in Big Creek , West Virginia . As the deputies spoke with a woman on the front porch, "a female inside the residence limped toward the door with her arms held out, saying 'Help me,' " according to a news release from the sheriff's department. "It's something you'd expect to see in a horror movie, not in Logan County ," Abraham said. "She was subjected to unendurable torture down there."

The six are charged with kidnapping, sexual assault, malicious wounding and battery. If convicted of kidnapping, a suspect could face a sentence of up to life in prison. The penalty for first-degree sexual assault is 15 to 35 years. Abraham said he is seeking the maximum sentence on the kidnapping charges. In addition to the Brewsters, the suspects are Danny J. Combs, 20, of Harts, West Virginia; and George A. Messer, 27, Karen Burton, 46, and her daughter, Alisha Burton, 23, all of Chapmanville, West Virginia. "They all have previous records and have been arrested numerous times," Sheriff W.E. Hunter said Tuesday. "They are familiar to law enforcement."

Frankie Brewster was charged with first-degree murder in 1994, but pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter in the death of an 84-year-old woman. She was released in 2000 after serving five years in prison, according to court records cited by the AP. All of the six individuals that are involved in this case are accused of 108 different cases of crimes all combined.

All six were being held in lieu of $100,000 bail, and all requested court-appointed attorneys, the AP reported. Investigators are still looking for two other people suspected of driving Williams to the home, according to the AP.

Carmen Williams had not reported her daughter missing, saying Megan Williams often disappeared for weeks at a time.

Carmen Williams said she is "horrified" by her daughter's injuries. "She wakes up crying, and the first thing she hollers is 'Mommy,' " she said.

Bittersweet

This is old, but I figured you would appreciate it.

The Way Jena Should Have Went Down...

It's one thing to protest for a cause if you're knowledgable on the situation and you know deep down that an injustice has been done that strikes a personal nerve within you. I'm not so sure that everybody that wore black yesterday did it out of that sense of responsibility.

When you turn on MSNBC and see fraternities stepping, African red, black and green flags, and vendors selling T-shirts in Jena, you have to wonder if the story reinvigorated the spirit of the 1960s or if folks saw it pubbed on 106 and Park and YouTube and thought it would be a cool way to make a statement about the Struggle. Will they feel that way tomorrow? or was it just a moment? I digress...

One thing that concerns me about how the situation went down was that even though the protest was successful in bringing attention to the case and put pressure on the Lousiana justice system to reduce the ridiculous charges (even before the protest took place), the 30,000 black folks that converged on town with a population of 3,000 (85% of which are white) seems like it's going to polarize the town and the South even more. Afterall, black people and white people on both sides have strong opinions on the issue. Black people were offended by the racial overtones of the case and white folks were mad that the beating of the white student is a mere footnote and seemingly justified by protestors.

So the question is, though the sentences were reversed, did the nature of the protest do more healing or did it open more wounds? What happens when the current population of 33,000 in Jena returns to 3,000? Did it change attitudes for better or for worse? I think when the smoke clears Jena is going to be even more polarized and will be left to deal with itself.

Call it idealistic, but imagine if the NAACP and Black Leadership would have reached out to the family of the white student that was beaten, condemned the Jena 6 for the beating of their son/relative while simultaneously pointing out the ridiculous, racist nature of the charges given to the Six for a school fight. Imagine if they would have garnered their support and stood side-by-side, acknowledged fault on both sides (racism vs. violence), condemned both acts, and approached the justice system together for a better solution. How powerful would that have been?

Instead, it comes off as an Us vs. Them/Black vs. White event that makes black people more frustrated and has probably created new racism on the other side.

Still On Top of Their Game?

Queen Latifah told Billboard Magazine that she’s working on a hip-hop album after a nearly decade-long absence from rap. And Salt-N-Pepa will star in their own VH1 reality show next year documenting their reuniting attempts.

Can they do it again?

Probably not.

But I’m assuming that they are (hopefully) grounded enough to realize that. which is why I’m thinking their idea of success this time around is different.

And it’s about time.

Success in this industry has to be defined in new ways. It can’t just be about album sales and awards anymore. Especially considering that hip-hop sales are pretty much garbage right now – there weren’t even five hip hop albums released last year that went double platinum. And God only knows when was the last time that awards went to the person they should have gone to.

With music success eventually demanding a new definition, how will artists determine if they made it?

What is success in the music industry now? Especially for artists past their prime or those that don’t appeal to the main music-buying audience? And for people who refuse to be defined by the status quo?

Gene is a journalist in Phoenix. Check him out at YBPguide.com.

The Raffle Ticket Scam Game is Vicious

"Excuse me sir... would you like to donate $1 to our (insert church/organization/reputable community organization) to help fund community recreational programs to give disadvantaged youth alternatives to stay off the streets? In addition, we will be raffling off this 64-inch television at the end of the month. Make sure you hold on to your raffle ticket!"

Sometimes, a kid will even be standing there with them along with photocopied literature about the program and a mission statement. You might even find a TV box sitting beside the table.

These are the thoughts that run through most people's minds...."Hell yeah I want to help! I'm walking out of the Wal-Mart with a pocket full of change, and since you're standing in front of a reputable business I know you're legit. It's only a dollar and I won't miss it. I haven't really had time to give back to the community since I've been so busy and now I can help the community with only $1. Hell...I could even write that dollar off on my taxes. With this dollar, I will keep disadvantaged kids off the streets and possibly stop them from turning to a life of crime and possibly robbing me or breaking into my house in the future. AND you're offering me a chance to win a 64-inch TV? I'm in!"

We've all given money to people standing in front of a grocery store with these things in mind, but who has actually won the damn TV? Any of you? Probably not. Why not? Because IT'S A SCAM BITCHES! That's right. A scam!

The raffle ticket scam is brilliant, deceptive and dispicable all at once. These folks hang out around and in front of the entrances of grocery stores (particularly Wal-Marts) to scam you out of YOUR money.

Some of these folks you can spot a mile away: they have poorly put together literature or no literature at all, they look shady and unkept, they have a clip board and raffle tickets for you to "sign-up" or they walk around the parking lot or stand at highway median stoplights to solicit their "charity" with buckets. Usually there is only one or two (otherwise, they'd have to split the take more ways).

I particulary remember one unkept guy walking around the parking lot with a piece of loose leaf paper and a pen talking about he was trying to raise money to get computers at his daughters school. I was so taken aback that I just flat out said to him ...

"C'mon bruh. You can do better than that, right? Take this dollar and get it together, man. Next time I'm out here I want you to have it down tight!"

The more polished ones come off very legit. They actually will go to store management and pitch their charity to them and get permission to stand out front. They wear clothes that reference the charity that they are using, they have professional literature defining the program and where the money will be going, and they dress their tables with fake pamplets and raffle tickets.

I knew someone that ran the raffle scam. In addition to doing all the aforementioned things, he/she would hire kids from the community to stand with him/her and give them a piece of the take at the end of the day. On a good day, he/she would bring in over $1,000 (Which is not hard considering a typical Wal-Mart sees over 6,000 visitors a day). That's hustlin!

Another scam that I've seen in my day is the guy that is trying to get home to another city/state to see his daughter in the hospital. He walks up to you in a parking lot and gives you a sad story about losing his wallet and money and has just gotten word that there has been a terrible tragedy and he just needs $20 to smoke... I mean buy a bus ticket to get home. Less effective than the raffle ticket scam, but they still use it.

Now of course there are some out there that are legit, but from what I've seen, it's going to take a lot of convincing (i.e. Bono standing there in front of the Wal-Mart as a celebrity endorser of a raffle to cure AIDS in Africa) for me to give any money to folks in front of grocery stores.

Who has been hit with these scams? Did you buy in or did you know they were scamming you? Did you call them out? What other scams have you seen?

What In The Hell Were You Thinking?

Uh, did Eddie Griffin REALLY think he was going to get away with this in front of a group of bougie …. uh, I mean …. not-so-young black professionals like this?!

Comedian Eddie Griffin was pulled from the stage at the 14th annual Black Enterprise/Pepsi Golf & Tennis Challenge after repeatedly using the “N” word.

To give you an idea of the type of folks who Griffin was performing for, all you need to know is that Al Sharpton attended the Miami conference – although not at Griffin’s performance. The crowd of 1,000 gave Black Enterprise Magazine Publisher Earl Graves a standing ovation when he came on the stage after Griffin was pulled.

I’m not mad at B.E. at all. I enjoy the publication and while I’m not sure where I stand on the whole free speech thing – especially being a journalist, I try to use the N word as little as possible.

What I choose to focus on instead is how in the world did Griffin think this was acceptable?!

B.E. hosts various events like this around the country for business professionals, often top executives. If demographic stats can be trusted, these folks are more likely to be relatively “conservative.”

This doesn’t necessarily mean registered Republicans, but just not the type of folks who would be seen laughing out loud at this kind of thing … not in public, at least … but that’s another post …

To put things in perspective, B.E. prevents their male interns from wearing dreadlocks, much less cornrows and braids. So you get the picture.

Whether Griffin’s creative freedoms were imposed upon is up in the air and somewhat irrelevant to me. Somebody needs to pull this brother aside and let him know if his comedy portfolio lacks diversity, it not only is going to hurt him professionally, but financially in the long run.

I mean Steve Harvey was able to change it up for MegaFest, one of the country’s largest Christian, family-friendly conferences led by uberpreacher Bishop T. D. Jakes. And Cedric the Entertainer managed to headline an event that had George W. Bush and his wife on the dais.

KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE, PEOPLE!!!

Once again, keeping it real has gone wrong. We got to do better.

Gene is a journalist in Phoenix. Check him ot at YBPguide.com.

On My Radar: Janelle Monae

People that know me know that I like "different" music. I mean every now and again I'll listen to mindless music ("Man dat dance wuh uuuuu-gly" ala Souljah Boy), but for the most part I like to find the overlooked gems that escapes the masses. Well folks, I think I found another one.

This chick has an amazing voice. She is from Kanas City, is signed to Big Boi of OutKast's Purple Ribbon Label and was featured heavily on the group's Idlewild soundtrack. The best description of her would be an exceptional vocalist with a classically trained voice/Andre 3000 with a vagina. You'll have to listen to her music to really understand.

In any case, her new album/EP "Metropolis Suite I of IV: The Chase" just dropped about a week ago and I'm really feelin it. You probably won't find her music at your local music store, but it's worth the online purchase.

Below are four samples/styles of her music. Enjoy.

No More Edumacation

"Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in!"
-Paulie from Sapranos

How ironic... school has kept me away from the blogosphere for a few weeks, yet an article about knowing when to leave school brings me back.

I read this article in Maxim magazine about how we use grad school as a crutch before entering the real world. It blasts folks for going to school and getting advanced degrees in fields that will not significantly increase their incomes in the long run.

Is that fair? Sure... going to grad school right after college is a way for many who are not sure about what they want to do with their lives to figure it all out, but does that mean they should be blasted for valuing education?

Here's the article. I'm actually copying it directly from the magazine. That's right folks---no copying and pasting. It's the least I could do.


------------------------------

You know who you are. You're the twenty- and thirty-somethings who refuse to grow up and get a job. You're the research assistants, TAs, philosophy master's candidates, and other lifelong academics who hide behind syllabi and aged book-slinging zombies mindlessly shuffling through the ivy-strewn graveyards of your glory days. Or worse yet, you're the guy who flunked real life and decided to go back to school. To all you professional Peter Pans out there: We're calling your bullshit. you're officially on notice.

Exceptions to the Rule

First, let's be clear that the venom being spewed here today isn't directed at everyone over the age of 21 who's currently in school. We're not going to say it's a wast of time and money to study to become a doctor; that would be preposterous. Emergency rooms will always be understaffed, and network television will always need young medical professionals around whom to base prime-time dramas. Plus, census figures show that advanced degrees in medicine, engineering, computers, law, and business translate into higher earnings.

That's not to say those last two haven't earned our scorn. What's law school after all but the great American fallback? You want to know why a million bad jokes start with there being too many lawyers in the world? Because when a college senior puddings his pants at the prospect of entering the real world, law school is an easy out--a three-year stay of execution from commitment, responsibility, and accountability. And don't give us that "I love the law" shit. If you loved the law, that wouldn't be a stack of dog-eared Maxim magazines next to your toilet; it'd be Sam Waterston's autobiography teetering on a pile of John Grisham paperbacks.

Then there's the MBA--a horseshit degree if there ever was one, invented by businessmen solely interested in surrounding themselves with "their kind," i.e., those privileged enough to piss away 30 large per year learning Excel and PowerPoint. The only reason anyone would need an MBA is because more and more business jobs are requiring them, which is today's equivalent of "No Irish Need Apply." Only this time it's economic discrimination: Such a requirement has less to do with finding the most qualified go-getter for the job and more with making sure the new hire won't look out of place lipping cigars, quaffing brandy, and swapping Skull and Bones stories with the rest of the gang.

But at least a law degree or MBA can make you rich. The shit we're kicking up today is aimed squarely at the sad lot who stretch a higher education beyond four years in order to study something like dance, poetry, art, or the most worthless of pursuits: English.

Money for Nothing

"You really have to look at the math when you're doing this," says Liz Pullman Weston, author of Deal With Your Debt. "What is the payoff going to be down the road? On average, for liberal arts and social sciences, it doesn't pay off to get that master's--especially when you have to borrow money to get it." To reach this conclusion, Weston broke out the abacus and examined the average salaries for specific degrees according to U.S. Census Bureau records. Using the same kind of "present value" calculations that lotteries perform when a toothless hillbilly opts to take the money and run instead of in annual installments, she came up with lump-sum dollar amounts that represent what different degrees are worth in future earnings. On average, a master's in business or engineering is worth in excess of 300 grand more than a bachelor's in either field.

For liberal arts and social sciences, however, a master's is actually worth less than a bachelor's when you take into account what you spend to get it. "The Census Bureau's figures show that someone with a liberal arts master's degree earned just $5 a month more than someone with a bachelor's in the same field," Weston said. "Getting the degree costs you more than you will earn back with it." Sucker.

But it's not just the waste of money that boils our balls. It's that suddenly it's OK for people to tread water in a pool of perpetual adolescence. When did avoiding adulthood become a career ambition?

---------------------------

I'll finish posting the second half tomorrow if you all are interested.