Source: Twitter

If you hadn’t noticed, Lil Mo has been making her presence very well known ever since she was added to the cast of “R&B Divas LA.” First she got back on our radars after talking ish about Keyshia Cole, then talking more ish about Keyshia Cole , then making t-shirts about her comments about Keyshia Cole. Now it appears she’s throwing just a bit of slight shade toward some of the members of her “R&B Divas” franchise.

In an interview with Sister 2 Sister, Lil Mo talked about how she came to be a member of the “R&B Divas LA” cast and said that she was initially offered the opportunity to join the Atlanta franchise but turned it down.

“I got a call asking if I was I interested [in 'R&B Divas Atlanta'] and I really wanted to know who the cast was going to be – I mean Atlanta was cool but the type of artists they are, it just didn’t seem like a fit,” admitted Lil Mo. “I’m more hip-hop and R&B and that ATL scene just was a different vibe. Faith Evans was the most mainstream artist on there. So I wasn’t sure about joining the Atlanta one, but when the LA opportunity came around, I was like, ‘Yeah, this is more my style.’

“The cast [of 'R&B Divas LA'] includes Kelly Price, Chante Moore, Dawn Robinson, Claudette Ortiz and Michel’le,” said Lil Mo. “I know a couple of people might make you say, ‘Damn. I didn’t even know they were still alive, but dammit when I saw the roster I was like, ‘Oh, wow.’ I’m happy to be in the company of some great singers.”

So did Lil Mo not want to be around her peers? From what I’ve seen of her career and attitude so far, she seems like she would be right at home with the ladies in Atlanta. Faith and Monifah definitely fall in the hip-hop and R&B category, as does Latocha Scott of Xscape who just joined the cast this year. In LA, the singers lean much more toward real R&B, with a lot of the women trying to even become more mainstream R&B pop-ish, but it didn’t work out. Maybe there were some personality differences that also underlined Lil Mo’s decision — or she realized she wouldn’t stand out as much in Altanta because it seems she’s clearly going to be the most vocal LA cast member.

Either way, Lil Mo says her purpose for doing the show is to signify her re-entry into the business.

 “I thought that coming back with TV would be the best way to introduce me as an artist and with music,” said Lil Mo. “I have a lot of things coming up – new album, new TV show, just a whole new life. It’s like I have been born again and the only one who could orchestrate this rebirth this way is God.”

Shutterstock

Creative folk have to quench their desire to create. In the words of author Chuck Wendig, “art harder.” But as you’re striving to “art harder” and create a masterpiece, hoping that you can one day make a living from this passion, your student loans, monthly rent, and transportation needs still await. So what do you do? You find a job that will allow you to pay the bills while providing you with flexible working hours to practice your craft without sacrificing too much of your sanity. Yes, jobs such as this do exist, and you won’t have to wait tables or tend bar. Some of them are creative, some are less than. But all of them will pay the bills while leaving time for your real career of choice.

Dominic Chan/WENN.com

From Essence

If you’ve ever had to remove a negative comment from one of your social media streams, then you know how pungent the effects of cyberbullying can be. Willow Smith has decided to take action against these kind of online attacks by teaming up with Seventeen Magazine’s “Delete Digital Drama” campaign.

The 12-year-old-singer will be one of the celeb activists behind the initiative which seeks to empower young women to disengage from cyberbullying by deleting harsh and mean comments they see on their Twitter, Facebook and Instagram pages. This announcement comes just days after her mother, Jada Pinkett Smith, released a lengthy statement about online bullying towards young celebs via her Facebook page.

You can check the rest out over on Essence. Perhaps this is the reason why Jada started talking about online bullying – kind of pre-promoting Willow’s latest endeavor.

Have you or anyone you know ever been cyber bullied?

Source: fugeesonline.proboards.com

First things first: THIS IS NOT A WHERE ARE THEY NOW? if you were wondering. Check back at the end of the week.

Anywho, while most actors, singers and more have chosen to let folks in on every single aspect of their lives thanks to their affiliations with social media sites like Twitter, Tumblr pages, reality television shows, and their quest to make errands a chance for a paparazzi photo op, there are a slew of big name artists who would balk at all that exposure. Some of the biggest names in entertainment over the years dropped albums, TV shows, had huge roles in movies and more over the years, only to disappear off of the face of the earth when the press and the people were calling for them. Why? Well, after reading the most recent issue of GQ, which profiled the rise, fall and re-emergence of D’Angelo, folks like Questlove eloquently explained it as “a crazy psychological kind of stoppage that prevents them from following through. A sort of self-saboteur disorder.”

Or maybe they just weren’t feeling folks all up and through their business and wanted to live like normal folks. Whatever motivates these artists to dip in and out of public view only they know, but we’re always happy when they come back. Here are a few, aside from the obvious Lauryn Hill and D’Angelo, who decided to step out of the spotlight when they were huge, but decided to come back later (before disappearing for a bit again).

Source: StyleBlazer.com

From StyleBlazer.com

While it can be hard to imagine now, a lot of the musicians currently ripping down stages and burning up the Billboard charts, at one point, needed a helping hand getting into the recording industry. Everybody needs to start somewhere and luckily for these artists they were introduced and mentored by just the right person to set off their careers.

From mixtapes to million-dollar deals,check out this gallery of Superstar Musicians and the Larger Than Life Proteges at StyleBlazer.com. 

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Music time!

Folks are all over the place performing and filming music videos. Rihanna and Drake, who would still make an adorable couple in my opinion, just released a preview of their video for the song, “Take Care.” The actual premiere of the video in its entirety isn’t until tonight, around 7:56 p.m. EST on MTV. The video seems a lot darker and more stripped than their last video together, “What’s My Name,” so I guess we’re going to see a softer side of the two. On top of that, Nicki did “Starships” for the “TODAY” show, Jennifer Lopez dropped a new video for her track with Pitbull called “Dance Again,” and new Roc Nation starlet Rita Ora finally released a video. The song is featuring UK rapper Tinie Tempah and is called “R.I.P.” Anywho, you tell us if you’re feeling them. Enjoy!

Nicki:

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J.Lo

Rihanna and Drake (excuse Sway who is all up and through the beginning of the short clip…):

Rita Ora:

Are these songs a pass or play for you?

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Okay, so we don’t really need them to make a comeback, but the people on this list made some of our favorite jams over the years. Some were wedding worthy jams, dance club-a-licious, and others were so ’90s we love them just because. Your definition of one-hit wonder might be different, but if we can only think of one jam that reached the top of the charts or got attention, than those artists were put on this list. Either way though, it’s all love…

Source: instrumentalmp3.info

Nicole Wray- “Make it Hot”

“I got what you want, I got what you neeeeed!” When Nicole Wray dropped that Timbaland produced-Missy laced track on us in ’98, as Missy said, she was making us all want to bob our heads. She was a decent alternative in the camp to our girl Aaliyah at the time, whose voice Wray’s was a polar opposite of (but the two women were friends–check Aaliyah in the video), but for some reason, after “Make It Hot” went gold, Wray’s career started to slow down big time. She’s done some features, but “Make it Hot” was the last time we’ve successfully heard her shine on her own.

What does it really take to make it in the music business? A few hit songs? A banging body you’re willing to show off? You would hope that the only requirement would be that an individual be talented, but there are so many people on the top of the charts proving us wrong. There have been many super talented and entertaining musicians that should have the status and household name notoriety that dudes like LMFAO (“Party Rock Anthem”) have right now, but they don’t. It’s an injustice! Wondering who? Check out our list of people who are known but not the big superstars they should be, and feel our pain as we talk about why these talented folks never blew up like they should have.

Lil’ Mo

After a co-worker shared the throwback video with me for her jam “4Ever,” I was inspired to write this story. I haven’t seen Lil’ Mo in a while (she was one of the many “Lil’”s of the new millenium), but when she first came out, singing on tracks for Missy and teaming up with Fabolous to rep for the “Superwoman” we ladies can be, she was awesome. That’s why I was surprised she didn’t blow. Maybe it was because of all the tattoos, or the fact that she wasn’t trying to shake her a** for cash like others, but alas, she’s nowhere near where she should be in her career.

It’s a rough week for Matthew Knowles. First his divorce to Tina was finalized, now Radio One has banned all music acts who are associated with him.

The ban is part of TV One’s suit against BET, MTV, and Music World Music for violating its exclusive rights to the Essence Music Festival. Mathew Knowles’ Music World Music company brokered the deal for the Essence Music Festival broadcast with TV One and his company is being accused of re-issuing the content to BET, MTV and BET’s Centric Network despite TV One’s four-year exclusivity agreement.

Now, according to EURweb, TV One’s sister company, Radio One, has pulled all of Knowles’ Music World  songs and artists from their radio stations nationwide.

“All Radio One personnel were told to pull all Music World artists out of rotation immediately and indefinitely!  We were told that the mandate came straight from Ms. Hughes and that there would be ramifications for anyone playing or mentioning a Music World artist or song on air,” an anonymous Radio One employee told them.

Radio One owns at least 12 gospel stations across the country and Music World Gospel has a strong roster of artists, including Juanita Bynum, Trin-I-Tee 5:7, Brian Courtney Wilson, Vanessa Bell Armstrong, Micah Stampley and BET’s “Sunday Best” winners Le’Andria Johnson and Amber Bullock.

Radio One has also pulled music by Destiny’s Child and other previous songs released in conjunction with Music World but the ban has not directly impacted newer solo releases by Beyonce, Kelly Rowland, or Michelle Williams who terminated their management agreements prior to the suit.

Looks like Beyonce and Kelly got out of there just in time.

Brande Victorian is a blogger and culture writer in New York City. Follower her on Twitter at @be_vic.

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If there’s one thing someone can’t accuse Teairra Mari of, it’s giving up. Mari could’ve easily faded into obvlivion after getting cut from Roc-a-Fella years ago, but the young artist pushed forth and today, she can claim a steady acting career along with a fledgling singing career. Things may not be perfect yet for the Detroit-born singer but her days are looking bright. Next up for Ms. Mari? A guest spot on VH1′s hit show “Love & Hip-Hop.” We caught up with the busy working gal to have her answer some questions we’re quite curious about. Check her responses out below!

My greatest love lesson is… OMG? My famous saying is “Don’t Chase ‘em- Replace ‘em!”

My best trait is…WOW… I never had to narrow that down. That is kind of tough to answer, but if I have to choose, I will say my resilience. I’ve been in the industry since I was 16 and I have learned so many important life lessons that has made me into the woman I am today.

My worst trait is…hands down my memory. I swear I need to take a Ginkba pill! I am TERRIBLE at remembering certain things. It’s pretty bad. However, I am making it a point to change that in 2012.

My favorite three albums of all time are…this is a hard question?! If I had to choose, it would be1. Beyonce- Dangerously in Love, 2. Jodeci- Back to the Future: The Very Best of Jodeci, 3. Sam Cooke- Greatest Hits

If I could live anywhere in the world…Italy. Such a beautiful place with great food!

My happiest time was…my Sweet Sixteen birthday party. Those were happy times in my life in Detroit. I wish I could turn back the clock to re-live an hour of that day….

If I could only wear one designer’s clothes for the rest of my life, it would be.. I never want to limit myself with just one designer’s clothing; each designer creates his/her own beautiful pieces and I am a canvas for wearing great clothes!

My biggest regret is… not telling my grandmother that I love her enough before she died. When you are young, you feel invinceable and that your family is going to be with you forever, so you take advantage of time until something tragic happens which causes you to stop and think about things. I say all that to say make sure you tell your loved one that you love and appreciate them. Tomorrow isn’t promised….

My favorite pair of shoes are…anything Hot with a 6 inch heel! I LOVE a mean shoe. Any Hot, confident lady should have a MEAN shoe game! Men appreciate a woman with mean shoe game, too!

My favorite book is..I LOVE to read! I try and read a new book per month (whether it’s fictional/ biography/suspense.) However my FAVORITE book of all time is “Coldest Winter Ever” by Sista Souljah. The satire in the title says it all.

On the top of my list of qualities for a man is...EXCELLENT HYGIENE! Their is nothing more sexier then a man that smells heavenly! Whew chile!