Source: theybf.com

From blackvoices.com

After Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter signed on to produce the soundtrack of the “Annie” remake with Will & Jada Smith, the threesome have joined forces for another major music project.

The New York Daily News reports, that the Smiths’ production company, Overbrook Entertainment, produced the rapper’s forthcoming Robert Lopuski-directed film aptly titled, “Watch The Throne,” which documents the recording process behind Carter’s 2011 platinum-selling album with Kanye West.

Sources revealed to the Daily News that the Hollywood couple is “confirmed” to be in attendance during the docu-flick’s premiere at the Toronto Film Festival on September 9, though it’s uncertain whether the Grammy Award-winning rap duo will be on hand.

Carter’s partnership with the Smiths production imprint adds to the mogul’s ever growing portfolio of business ventures.

Read more at blackvoices.com

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Source: newyorkgossipgal.com

I figured Russell Simmons would make a statement about this sooner or later, and sure enough the Global Grind founder wrote a post on his site yesterday asking, “Why Is Everyone So Cray About Gwyneth’s Tweet?” Uncle Rush essentially defends the use of the n-word by anybody—black artist, white fan, etc.—and starts with a little anecdote about white folks in Carnegie Hall singing “Ain’t No N*gga” in harmony with the black people in the audience like it was the 1900s and they were singing “Lift Every Voice and Sing” while holding hands. For someone who was around at the start of rap’s entry into the mainstream I guess it might have been the equivalent of that to him, but anyway, here’s the full letter:

A few months ago, I went to the Jay-Z charity concert at Carnegie Hall. It was pretty exciting to watch hip-hop’s biggest star play the world’s most prestigious venue. However, there was nothing more exciting than him donating 100 percent of the proceeds to charity, including my $25,000 donation.

The third song that came on during the show was “Ain’t No N*gga”… the song I signed Jay to Def Jam on. Everyone in the hall was singing every word to the song. Every white girl (and there were a lot of them) was singing it to their man…“Ain’t no n*gga like the one I got!” EVERYONE was singing every word of every song for the entire set, which ended with “N*ggas In Paris.” White, black – everyone was singing along.

But a couple of nights ago, a similar milestone occurred in Paris with Jay and Kanye’s Watch The Throne Tour.  It was at this show that my friend Gwyneth Paltrow tweeted something that got me a little twisted. I follow Gwyneth on Twitter and when I saw her tweet about the “N*ggas in Paris” show in PARIS, I said ‘Damn everybody is there but me.’ I’m a bit older and I don’t get to jet-set to concerts like I used to, but when I saw Gwyneth was there, I must admit, I got a little jealous. The tweet she sent has since angered some in the black community, since she used the n-word. But when I saw it, it didn’t faze me – not even one bit.

I have to throw my hand up and stand up for Gwyneth. I know her intentions were not to be offensive … she was just proud of her friend, Jay-Z. My words are in defense of her.

I don’t have a permanent answer to the n-word controversy that appeases everyone. I remember when I tried to fix it and said we should maybe beep that word and a few others on the radio, Oprah quoted me as if I said not to use the n-word. However, for the record, I have NEVER told any artist not to use that word or any word in my life and I never will; a poet can choose their own words to describe whatever they want in their art.

And in the case of “N*ggas in Paris,” it is clear that these two poets are celebrating the fact that they now travel the world and are literally ballin’ in Paris … it started as a badge of honor, something to be proud of, something to poke their chests out at. Because for them, when they were kids, Paris was a million miles away and now it’s a private jet ride. The idea of being in Paris with a movie star, whether she’s black or white, is incredible!

There is something truly inspiring about black culture and black music, hip-hop culture and hip-hop music.  No matter what color skin you might have, there is an overriding good effect that this music has on you. It is contagious. It was this explosive expression that spread out of the inner cities of America into the walkmans of kids like Gwyneth Paltrow during their childhoods in 1980s and 1990s. It allowed white kids to begin to sympathize with the plight of many in black America. And these kids have overwhelmingly become progressive in their politics and their social concerns. Having any Hollywood starlet at your concert was unimaginable, and having her quote your lyrics as a badge of honor that she was hanging out with you, you never would have dreamed of that – until your poetry hit the market and changed the world.

So, for Gwyneth to tweet out her excitement about hip-hop taking over the planet is a good thing. She didn’t mean any harm, she just was trying to ball so hard, and like Jay-Z says, “motherf***ers can’t fine” her.

You can tell what era of rap Russ grew up in because he’s quite nostalgic about a time when the music was progressive and aired social and political concerns. You can’t deny rap is still contagious and explosive but white people are hardly sympathizing with any black plight these days. They just want to be n*ggas for as long as the three- or four-minute song their singing lasts and then go back to their inherently privileged realities.

What’s interesting about this whole thing is that it’s come out that The Dream is actually the one who sent the tweet from Gwen’s phone that night and had he spent more time explaining that from jump instead of that “context is everything” statement, this would have died out. But apparently he wanted to make a point like Russell Simmons: The n-word is fair game for any and everybody. I guess (not.)

What do you think about Russell Simmon’s post?

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

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Ahhh, how sweet. We rarely get to see Blue Ivy in her daddy’s arms but Mr. Carter was clearly on doting daddy duty while in Paris for his Watch The Throne tour. Although Gwyneth Paltrow’s tweet about the show got all the attention, Blue Ivy made news too with her first overseas trip. What a jet-setter this five-month old is!

But why oh why are they keeping her face covered all the time? Didn’t we already see her before? In any case, we can respect their quest for as much privacy as possible.

WENN

Check out what Mama Bey wore to her grand arrival to the City of Lights.

It’s never a dull moment when Kanye and Jay-Z hit the stage to perform N*ggas in Paris. Over the weekend, they kicked off their Watch the Throne Tour in the French capital and since they were self-described n*ggas in Paris, they performed the hit song a record 11 times. Somewhere in the midst of all that, Gwyneth Paltrow, who attended the concert with Beyonce, Kelly Rowland, and the Dream, was feeling the energy and sent out a tweet with the picture above of her on stage saying:

And that’s when the beat dropped a bit. Blogger B. Scott picked up on Gwyneth’s tweet and retweeted it asking if it was OK or not, to which the actress responded:

I was surprised this was even up for discussion considering she didn’t exactly just throw the n-word out there without asterisks, but I think it’s the “for real” part that made some people say hold up, did she just call Jay and Ye n*ggas? The Dream came to the actresses defense quickly on Twitter saying:

“N[*]gga doesn’t have any power over me which is why this will be the last thing I say about it. A word means something when u react to it! Context is everything. Meaning it in the context as a Song which is how we Sold it to the world!!!!!! it is what it is. I’ve seen people not use the Word at all and have been the most racist people rather than use it in the context as the song it self. And Actually N[*]ggaz was in Paris! Lol stop wasting gods time Do something with your life! Love not War.”

Regardless of whether Gwyn got too caught up in the hype or not, I blame Jay and Kanye for this. The title of this song and it’s crossover appeal was just asking for this type of nonstop n-word controversy foolishness.

Do you think Gwyneth was in the wrong or are people overreacting?

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

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necolebitchie.com

Enough is e-damn-nough, Kanye Omari West.  You want to date Kim Kardashian – be it “the real thing” or not – that’s fine by me because you’re grown.  You want to be in the Kris Jenner web of doing whatever it takes to keep her family in the spotlight, that’s okay too.  But tell me: What in world is going on in the above picture (and what in the world kind of underwear are those)?

No, I’m being serious. Kanye is as smart as Kris Jenner (I can’t say Kim because she’s a puppet and her mom pulls the strings) so he knew that as soon as he stepped out of the car with his pants hanging that low, the internet would go crazy.  When I first saw it, I couldn’t even believe it was real because there is NO reason Kanye should be getting out of a car with his pants like that. I know he immediately felt the draft and if it were an “accident,” he would have gotten back in the car to fix the malfunction.

Oh yes, the assumption that this was “oral transaction” related? I doubt it.  Look at them: do they strike you as the type of couple who exchange “intimate car pleasantries” while on their way to an event?  Kim’s look is still in perfect condition and there’s no way she handled business and was still able to look as perfect as she did when she walked out of the house. She wasn’t giving him any type of anything in that car except maybe a pat on the thigh.

What we have here is a case of Kanye Omari West allowing himself to fall right in the Kardashian web. I suppose he feels he doesn’t have a choice now since he declared his love for Kim in “Theraflu.”  People are mad at Kim but for what reason?  She is being who she has always been (minus the pics of her wearing Jordan sneakers outside her home – please spare us) in the public eye.  In fact, I think they’ll get married and she’ll have a child with him. You can’t see that happening?  In fact, the only thing I find stupid is that Kim is gallivanting around the city with her new boo when she’s still married to Kris Humphries.

Anyway, Kanye should have his fun (and Kim should say her prayers because Kanye has quite the rep of being a jerk in his relationships) and live it up or whatever he’s doing. But please, let us stop this publicity train before it completely wrecks.

Mercy.

Oprah, Jay-Z, Magic Johnson, and Diddy are only a few celebrities who have managed to move their fame into different realms of business.  While they were wealthy in their respective fields, there’s never been anything wrong with a side hustle!  Most of us have them to bring in more income so why not the [already] rich and famous?

Here, we check out some of our favorite hustlers…

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Happy New Year!! Well, 2012 is finally here and that means that your favorite celebs will be giving us yet more things to talk about. But let’s give them another week to before ratchet season starts, shall we?  Here are a couple of gems you may have missed, including an engagement that just happened last night, during the last week of 2011!

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Everyone wants to know who the mistresses are that Kobe’s been cheating with since his wife filed for divorce, but Sanaa Lathan says don’t look at her.

The actress jumped on Twitter this afternoon to shut down speculation that “She touched his face” and “was shaking her a** in front of him to the music,” during a Watch the Throne Concert at Staples Center in LA Tuesday.

NY Daily News reported:

According to our source, Lathan, 40, who’s the voice of Donna Tubbs on “The Cleveland Show,” came to the concert with a girlfriend, and Bryant, 33, who was with teammate Matt Barnes and a bodyguard, were initially seated on adjacent couches in the club-like friends-and-family VIP area behind center stage. Kim Kardashian , Beyoncé and Jake Gyllenhaal were among the other celebs in attendance.

Eventually, Lathan and Bryant ended up standing next to each other, and that’s when our source said the actress, who was drinking champagne, became progressively more flirtatious with the NBA star, who stuck to soft drinks, presumably because he’s in training. Lathan, attired in a Hot white-chiffon dress over what appeared to be a black bra, was “whispering in his ear” and at one point stroked the ballplayer’s face. “It seemed like a pretty intimate gesture,” says the source.

At one point she left her seat and when she came back, she made sure she was standing next to Kobe again,” says the source She also danced to Jay-Z and West’s performance in front of Bryant.

“She was throwing her head everywhere. Her hair was like slapping him in the face,” laughs the source, who adds that at one point, one of the straps of Lathan’s dressed slipped enticingly off her shoulder. When West performed “All of the Lights,” Bryant and Lathan danced together.

Regardless of what this anonymous “source” saw, Sanaa says it ain’t like that, tweeting:

Can a girl have some fun at a jayz/kanye concert w/out being linked 2 a breakup? I AM NOT, NEVER HAVE BEEN, INVOVLED W/KOBE IN ANY WAY.

Anybody who pays attention knows I’m not his type… Blank stare. #blackgirlsrock #dontbelievethelies

You have to agree with her on that point, but you just never know with celebs. Is Sanaa tweeting the truth?

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

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OK, so it’s been a while since Kanye West has been boo’d up with anyone and Kim Kardashian is… single-ish, I suppose, but I really need for these two not to get together. But it may already be too late.

According to a source who attended an after-party for Jay-Z and Kanye’s “Watch the Throne” concert in Los Angeles, the two were all over each at the private event.

“Kanye was eating Kim up like she was a piece of cake,” the source says. “He was all over her — caressing her head, touching her waist.

“I think he was dying to kiss her, but there were too many people in the room.”

Now, of course this could all just mean he was looking for a little sextracurricular activity, but Kanye seems to be the serial monogamist type, and Kim, well we know how fast she chews them up, spits them out, moves on to the next, and comes back again. The source added that Kanye didn’t talk to anyone else, and at one point to two got up and went outside, although it wasn’t clear whether they left together.

Amber Rose hinted on Wendy Williams last month that the two may have been more than just friends at one point before, so Ye could just be waiting for the ink to dry on those divorce papers. Kim might set a new record with this one.

Do you think Kim Kardashian and Kanye are more than just friends? Are they a good look together or a hot mess?

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

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We couldn’t let you go without wrapping up the weekend with a little celeb dish.

Check out whose relationship is over, who’s is heating and hooking up and what legend is recuperating from an illness….

Read the rest of this entry »