Celebrities pay last respects @ Heavy D funeral

November 18, 2011 2 Comments

Tweet Update: Thousands of mourners — even Obama — paid respect to Dwight Myers, laid to rest in his own “Money Earnin’” Mount Vernon on Friday. Even President Obama acknowledged Heavy D’s passing, sending a letter addressed to the rapper’s daughter, 11-year-old Xea Myers: “We extend our heartfelt condolences at this difficult time. He will ...

Sylvia Robinson, Mother of Hip-Hop, dies @ 76

September 30, 2011 3 Comments

Tweet Sylvia Robinson, the co-founder of Sugar Hill Records, the first company to put out a hit rap record, has died, according to media reports. Robinson was in lot of ways the first rap mogul. She started Sugar Hill around a rap trio, the Sugar Hill Gang, Wonder Mike, Big “Bank” Hank and Master Gee. ...

Martin Luther King Jr.’s Playboy interview: ‘Church will lose its authenticity’

August 24, 2011 3 Comments

Tweet Nearly 50 years ago, Playboy Magazine, that regal journalistic institution, sat down for one of the only in-depth and freewheeling interviews with the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. King was relaxed, talkative and candid in a way that has been shrouded for much of the past half century as he is remembered. Now as ...

Loleatta Holloway: Disco queen

March 23, 2011 No Comments

Tweet Loleatta Holloway was born in Chicago in 1946. Steeped in Gospel, she began her solo career as Motown started to die off in the early 1970s. Disco was coming on strong. Hip-hop fans know Holloway’s voice if not her name. Her vocals were sampled by two entirely different music artists about the same time: ...

Sofia Loren: Ageless Italian Siren

March 18, 2011 No Comments

Tweet Sofia Villani Scicolone, aka Sofia Loren didn’t invent Cleavage. She re-invented it. We need to acknowledge our icons and legends before they leave us, as did Jane Russell earlier this year, as did Elizabeth Taylor recently. Loren would qualify. Way before the world was captivated by all things Snooki, we fell in love with ...

Modeling icon Bethann Hardison: Father ‘taught me I was a queen’

March 17, 2011 No Comments

Tweet It is that simple statement that made Hardison a force in not only the modeling world, but entertainment in general. Largely through the lens that Hardison has presented, the woman of color is seen for what she is: a regal creature of elegance, style and class. Hardison said she learned it from her father. ’He ...

Judy Mowatt: Fa All Ah We “Black Woman” (VIDEO)

February 23, 2011 No Comments

Tweet Known in some parts as the most prominent background singer for raggae legend Bob Marley, Judy Mowatt’s legacy still resides in obscurity. Born in Gordon Town, St. Andrew Jamaica in 1948, the aspiring nurse met upon a dance troupe that led to the formation of the Gaylettes at the same time that the Motown ...

Hadda Brooks: Queen of the Boogie

February 11, 2011 No Comments

Tweet How many Queens do you know? Of course, there is the Queen of Soul. Even the Queen of Hip-Hop Soul. But did you know who the Queen of Boogie was? Hadda Brooks was born Hattie Hapgood in 1916 and raised in Los Angeles. How big was Hadda Brooks in her day? The pope once ...

Aaliyah: Jan 16, 1979 – Aug 25, 2001

January 20, 2011 No Comments

Tweet R&B singer Aaliyah Dana Haughton was born this week 31 years ago. She was born in Brooklyn, New York, and was raised in the D (Detroit, Michigan). There’s the Queen of Soul. Then there’s the Queen of Hip-Hop Soul. Aaliyah was the Princess of Hip-Hop Soul. There is no disputing this. Since her 2001 death, just ...

Anita Baker serenades Mary J. Blige for her 40th birthday

January 14, 2011 No Comments

Tweet The queen of hip-hop soul, Mary J. Blige recently was feted with a surprise performance by her idol, Anita Baker. When Baker serenaded Blige with her hit, “Rapture,” Blige reportedly broke down in tears. The star-studded event was organized by Blige’s husband and music heavyweights such as Jay-Z and Beyonce were in attendance. Mary ...

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