If you’ve ever seen Miguel in person, you might understand that he’s not every woman’s definition of a sex symbol. He’s shorter than the average man…and woman. His style is some type of funky futuristic and he’s alarmingly pretty, with smooth skin and a pompadour women spend hours in the mirror trying to perfect. If you’re one of those women who wants a roughneck, Miguel would not fit the bill. Nevertheless, there is a certain something about him, his music and performance of said music that is undeniably attractive. I’ll just say the man has that “it” factor.

But obviously he’s trying to leave that pretty boy persona behind him and tap into to that rugged, steel toe boot wearing maaaann that knows how to make you sweat. He simulated how he puts it down recently in one of his concerts in Sweden. I’m not sure his plan went over too well, as I was left a little confused afterward, but I’ll let you be the judge. What we can say is that we’re happy he practices safe sex.

Does Miguel prove that he can put in work in this video or is it a bit off?

Yesterday, I was sitting begrudgingly at my desk, trudging along through some paperwork when I decided to take a sanity break and catch up on what the blogosphere was outraged about today. Today’s point of contention was over a cake. But this was no ordinary Betty Crocker concoction. No, this cake depicted a black African woman with a minstrel-esque face, being sliced open in the genital region by Lena Adelsohn Liljeroth, a self-proclaimed anti-racist, who also just happens to be the Swedish minister of culture. The pictures alone were horrifying but the video of the spectacle is enough to reduce many to tears.

The display came courtesy of Makode Aj Linde, a black Swede who actually played the head of the cake as part of an art installation at the Moderna Museet in Stockholm. In the footage from the event, you can see and hear Aj Linde screaming in agony as Liljeroth proceeded to cut and then feed that part of the cake, which is her vagina, to the performance artist while several established members of the Stockholm cultural elite watched, laughed and merrily devoured the body.

Linde said that the cake was meant to be provocative social commentary on the issue of female circumcision in Africa as it’s viewed by the West. And according his Facebook page, he writes, “This is after getting my vagaga mutilated by the minister of culture, Lena Adelsohn Liljeroth. Before cutting me up she whispered ‘Your life will be better after this’ in my ear.”

Needless to say, I was floored at the open display of cannibalism at the expense of a grotesquely caricaturized image of a Black woman. My initial reaction was “what kind of fuckery is this?” And I wasn’t alone. A spokesperson from the National Afro-Swedish Association thought that the piece “adds to the mockery of racism in Sweden.”

But after a day of reflecting and a good night’s rest, I woke up, thought about it some more and said: On second consideration, now I get it.

To fully conceptualize the artist’s message, we have to first consider Sarah “Saartjie” Baartman, who was the most famous Southern African slave women to be exhibited as freak show attractions in 19th-century Europe under the name Hottentot Venus. Baartman was exhibited around Britain, France and places in between, entertaining people by showing what were thought of as highly unusual bodily features, mainly her large buttocks and elongated labia. Once the novelty of the Hottentot wore thin, Baartman was “freed” and eventually died from an undetermined ailment (many suspect her death was the result of the prostitution she endured in order to support herself after the being discarded by society). After her death in 1815, Baartman’s skeleton, which included her genitals, were placed on display in Paris until as recent as 1974.

Source:Hiphopwired.com

Some of the best art ever created is an imitation of life, but when that art mocks situations, people, and circumstances that aren’t the least bit amusing, there’s not much to appreciate.

For World Art Day in Sweden, April 15, artist Makode Aj Linde created a cake shaped like a stereotypical African woman’s body and then painted his face to go along with it as a piece of performance art intended to bring attention to the horrors of female genital mutilation. Whenever someone cut into the cake, he would scream in agony, but as you’ll see from the video, no one is traumatized by the simulation, they are laughing, snapping photos, recording videos, and having a jolly good time eating their cake.

The event has caused a big stir throughout the country due to photos of the Minister of Culture of all things, Lena Adelsohn Liljeroth, seen happily cutting up the cake and feeding a piece to the screaming head. Of course, the Minister is now claiming her actions were misunderstood, but the African population in Sweden isn’t hearing it.

“In our view, this simply adds to the mockery of racism in Sweden,”Kitimbwa Sabuni, spokesperson for the National Afro-Swedish Association, told the Swedish publication The Local.

“According to the Moderna Museet, the ‘cake party’ was meant to problematize female circumcision but how that is accomplished through a cake representing a racist caricature of a black woman complete with ‘black face’ is unclear.”

Kitimbwa also says it’s very insulting for the Minister to say that Africans have somehow misunderstood racism. In my opinion racism—both internal and external—is about the only thing that can be understood from this mockery because I’m almost more upset with the artist who signed up for this event than those ogling the “art.”

Check out the video and tell us what you think.

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

More on Madame Noire!

• Bet You Didn’t Know: Secrets Behind the Making of “Boomerang”
• Asymmetrical Hair Styles: 7 Celebs That Are A Cut Above The Rest
• Can You See Me? 6 Signs You May Be An Attention Seeker
• Will You Watch? Jim Jones and Chrissy Lampkin Snag VH1 Spinoff
• He’s Baaack: Larenz Tate Starring in New Film, ‘Gun Hill’
• Why There’s No Hope For The Real Housewives of Atlanta
• Too Soon? SNL Spoofs Trayvon Martin Coverage
• Nicki Minaj’s Family Says She Exaggerated Her Father’s Abuse

Good news ladies and gentlemen. It’s rare that we get an artist to come back with the same skill and talent they left the game with, but it appears that D’Angelo has managed to do just that.

Recently the soul artist was seen performing in Stockholm, Sweden and he sounds good, ya’ll.

While we are a little peeved that Europe was the first to experience the funk, we can’t help but be happy that he’s back at it. Hopefully it won’t be long before he makes his way back to the states.

Now, that we’ve talked about his vocal talent, I know you want to know if the brotha’s body is right again. Well, from the looks of it D has been working out. He might not have “Untitled” abs, but the bulges in those biceps cannot be denied. Check out performances of three of his hits below.

Chicken Grease

Shyte, Damn MotherFawker

Sugar Daddy

Rihanna was forced to cancel her concert at the Malmo Arena in Sweden yesterday after she was hospitalized. Fans were concerned after she tweeted an image of her arm with an IV in it, but luckily it’s just a case of the common flu.

The “We Found Love” artist apologized to her stans in a statement:

“I am sorry to everyone who was coming out to my show in Malmo, Switzerland. I was so excited to perform for you all.

“It would have been a great time… so much better than being sick with the flu, ugh! I’m really disappointed I couldn’t be there.”

Hopefully she’ll be back on her feet soon—well wishes!

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

More on Madame Noire!

• The 6 Most Difficult Men To Date
• More than Dinner and a Movie: 7 Creative and Fun Date Ideas
• “JET” Magazine Over the Years
• Does Darker Skin Equal More Sexual Availability?
• Ask The Luv Coach: “I’m in Love With Him, But He’s Homeless”
• Offline Rules For Online Dating… The Etiquette for E-Love
• Splurge-Worthy Wraps (Plus Wallet-Friendly Alternatives)

By Charlotte Young

For the second consecutive year, a study shows that the United States is lagging behind other countries in its use of technology.

The annual study, conducted through the World Economic Forum, compares 138 countries that make up 98.8 percent of the world’s total gross domestic product. The study has been in existence since the collapse of the Internet bubble in 2001.

For this year’s report, Sweden took the number one spot followed by Singapore, Finland, and Switzerland. The US came in at number five.

Co-author of the study, Soumitra Dutta, explained to the New York Times that the analysis attempts to address the capability and “level of success of a nation to benefit from the network economy.”

Rapid progression was made with the “Asian Tiger” nations since their governments heavily invest in technology. In addition to Singapore, Taiwan came in 6th, South Korea 10th, Hong Kong 12th and Japan was 19th.

Indonesia made the most progress and moved up 14 places to 53rd.

The study also showed that the U.S. had inconsistent rankings on several of the measures that played into its competitiveness. The U.S. was 24th in households with a personal computer, 76th in mobile phone subscribers, and 52nd in math and science education.

Now that her divorce is final, Elin Nordegren is packing up her bags and babies and renovating her country home in Sweden.  With an estimated $100 million coming her way, she can surely go as far as she’d like.

Read the rest of this entry »