If you weren’t able to tell by my “Kanye’s Tweets Decoded” article on XXLMag.com, I’m kind of obsessed with the stuff that Kanye is putting out right now. Specifically what’s doing it for me is his apparent obsession with kings, regal items, and comparing and contrasting. Kanye indicated that the following lines were some of his favorites… mine too Ye!

‘You’re my devil, you’re my angel. You’re my heaven, you’re my hell. You’re my now, you’re my forever. You’re my freedom, you’re my jail. You’re my lies, you’re my truth. You’re my war, you’re my truce. You’re my questions, you’re my truth. You’re my stress, you’re my masseuse.’

And of course “Mama’s Boyfriend” is hilarious:

I absolutely can not wait for his album to drop

Casey Veggies – “The Panties”

Say what you will but Nicki just made Billboard history off a song that leaked accidentally:

Nicki Minaj has reportedly made Billboard history by becoming the first female rapper to have a single top the Rap Songs category in over seven years. The Young Money star’s second single ‘Your Love’ is the first record to top the charts since Lil Kim’s ‘Magic Stick’ featuring 50 Cent, [2003] according to The Boom Box.

However, the last female rapper to hold the same position on her own without a feature was Missy Elliot in 2002 with “Work It.”

Ok let’s be real… “Massive Attack” was a massive disaster but neither it, nor “Your Love” is the best of Nicki’s work. I’m anxiously awaiting her arrival. She’s gonna kill it. Whether you’re ready or not.

Jay Z – “Hello Brooklyn” from Greg Solenström on Vimeo.

Snatched off Diddy’s blog…

Graduation season = Another reason to be homesick.

Ok this has absolutely nothing to do with the blog but it’s really important to me so you’re going to have to hear about it!

My little cousin Yolandia (we call her “Peka”) is graduating from 6th grade this Thursday and I’m so very proud of her! Take a look at her bio:

Yolandia Jewel Winn has been a student at Daniel Freeman since Kindergarten, where she set an example of excellence for other students. Yolandia has maintained a 4.0 grade point average and perfect attendance. She place First in the Inglewood School District’s Spelling Bee. Yolandia is the recipient of the California State Senate Scholastic Achievement Award and the Inglewood School Superintendent’s Achievement Award of Excellence. She’s recognized by her teachers as one of the Outstanding Achievers in Academics and Social Behavior of 2010. She’s also recognized by her school’s principal, who was her 4th grade teacher, as a young, upcoming writer. Yolandia has written six books for her schoolmates to enjoy in class.

Just yesterday she was named class Valedictorian.

Peka’s definitely stealing all of my “smart kid in the family” glory by superceding almost everything I ever did in school and I couldn’t be happier! I’m extremely proud of her and although I’m not the one taking her to school every morning (perfect attendance, really?), feeding her everyday, or drilling her on her timetables… I can say that as the former “smart kid” in the family, I’ve been referred to her numerous times to help with projects.

I was one of many who drilled her on her spelling words for that spelling bee, helped her with her Obama-inspired speech when she was voted class president last year, and encouraged her to be a writer (or I’d like to think I did… lol)

It takes a village to raise a truly amazing child and I’m happy to be a citizen in her world.

Congrats Peka! Good luck with seventh grade!

::sigh:: How did I get tricked into this? Remember the last time I got caught on camera? I said I’d shy away from now on… Guess that didn’t last very long.

Can anyone give me a ride? I’m in Bedstuy

Fashawn ft. Blu – “Samsonite Man”

Saw this vid the other day but The Hundreds did the store more justice with their lens.

We get back in the whip and careen around the ‘hood.  It’s like being in a parade float with the grand marshal.  Cars screech to a halt, grinning heads popping out of windows, dudes running down the sidewalk, girls turning.  Nipsey’s got one hand on the wheel and the other flashing fingers in the air, they love him out here.  It’s only a matter of time before the rest of the world feels the same. (Read/See More)

It’s cool to see Nipsey’s store re-opened, kind of surreal to watch the intersection of Crenshaw and Slauson, so iconic in it’s own right, evolve into a nationally recognized landmark but I definitely see that falling in step with Nipsey’s rising star power.  

As for me? As much as I love Nip, I just can’t wear a Crenshaw anything. I’m from Inglewood, went to Westchester… that just goes against nature (although it didn’t stop Game in his new video). Plus I won’t even roll down my windows at on Crenshaw/Slauson let alone park and get out of my car. Good luck to those adventurous few non-locals that do!

So you know Harris… Harris Publications? The people I work for? Them! They started a new magazine called Juicy recently. It’s debut issue, featuring Ms. (soon to be Mrs.) Lala Vasquez on the cover, is on stands this month and I’m oh so excited! I was there from the inception of this magazine… when it was just a twinkle in the Harris Publications’ eye and I’m so proud to see it finally develop into something tangible.

Go pick it up and when you do make sure you pay close attention to p. 42-43 (So vain I am! I’d have you read me all day if I could!)

But seriously, the magazine is awesome! And Paula T. Renfroe, Juicy Editor-in-Chief, is just all around amazing! She really put her heart and soul into this issue and it shows. I think black women (the target audience) are gonna eat it right up! I definitely salivated over page 26 (where Trey Songz was crowned this month’s “Juiciest”) but don’t tell anyone. See for yourself! Website coming soon.

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