Apollo Announces New Season of Apollo Music Cafe

 

Legendary Apollo Theater Kicks Off Third Season of Groundbreaking Apollo Music Café Series

in October 2012

 

Season to Feature Innovative Performances on the Apollo’s Intimate Soundstage

Concrete Blues:

Tre Williams and the Revelations

Friday, October 12^th

 

Mateo

Saturday, October 13^th

 

Nia Long & Sons On Essence Cover: Black Celebrity Single Moms Are Worthy of Celebration, Too

http://mybrownbaby.com/2012/07/nia-long-sons-on-essence-cover-black-celebrity-single-moms-are-worthy-of-celebration-too/

by Denene Millner

Nia Long is gracing the July issue of Essence magazine with her sons, Masai, 11 and baby Kez—looking every bit as stunning today as she did when we fell in love with her decades ago in Boyz N the Hood and love jones, and repping hard for us 40-something moms who stay fit, fly and blessed with the ability to be good moms.

In the piece, the 41-year-old star waxes poetic on embracing life as a single mom, her relationship with Kez’s father, fiancé Ime Udoka, her recent connection with her dad and living a fulfilled life. “I’m in my forties, post baby and I’m thinner than I’ve been in years,” Nia tells Essence. “The last step will be letting my hair go natural. That’s when you’ll know I’m free…”

Of course, her beautiful cover does not come without controversy. Apparently, the headline—”Nia Long: Single, Satisfied & Raising Her Boys”—has some folk feeling some kind of way about celebration of single motherhood by Nia and Essence. I dared wade into the comment section of the YBF, where I first spotted the gorg cover, and there, people are going ape crap over the fact that Nia is unmarried and has two children by two different men. Witness:

As Erykah Badu Shows, Any Female Can be Humiliated By Explicit Images

http://mybrownbaby.com/2012/06/as-erykah-badu-shows-any-female-can-be-humiliated-by-explicit-images/

By NICK CHILES

As I read the looong Twitter rant by Erykah Badu directed at Wayne Coyne, the director of her controversial new video, I immediately thought about the vulnerability of women and girls who allow others to have control over their naked or compromised images. If someone as intelligent and empowered as Badu could get caught out there, taking off her clothes (and allowing her sister to also get naked), letting someone photograph her and then trusting him to protect her and her sister’s nakedness, then how easy would it be for teenage girls and young women to make a bad decision that they wind up regretting the rest of their lives?

Some context: Badu and her sister have been exposed all over the internet for their starring roles in a racy, explicit video for Badu’s haunting cover of the beautiful Roberta Flack classic, “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face.” The music, provided by the rock band Flaming Lips, is quirky and moody. But it’s a naked Erykah and a really naked Nayrok Badu (Erykah’s sister) who elicit the shocks, as they frolic in the bathtub, immersed in liquids that look like blood and sperm and then gold glitter. While Badu artfully covers her privates, her sister lets it all hang out, showing her breasts, her quivering butt, even glimpses of her vagina. Many were left to wonder what Badu—who famously disrobed in front of strangers in downtown Dallas for her video “Window Seat”—was up to this time. What did it all mean?

ROBERT GLASPER ft CHRISITTE MICHELLE & MUSIQ SOULCHILD – AH YEAH

MOBB DEEP Announces Label Deal With RED Distribution

MOBB DEEP ANNOUNCES LABEL DEAL WITH   RED DISTRIBUTION The group’s ninth studio album due out later this year.

New York, NY- Legendary multi-platinum rap duo Mobb Deep inked a label deal today with national distribution company RED Distribution (a division of Sony Music Entertainment) for their imprint Infamous Records. The New York based label will be run and managed by Mobb Deep, which has appeared on records totaling more than 40 million in sales, with the assistance of executives and industry veterans with more than two decades of experience working the major label system.

SOB’s Legendary Sol Village R&B Showcase To Merge With Singersroom R&B Media Network

Prevalent lifestyle media network Singersroom will merge with legendary NYC music venue SOB’s starting August 2011 for the Sol Village monthly R&B showcase to enhance the star-making power of this renowned event.

SOB’s Sol Village monthly showcase presented by Singersroom.com will kick off August 17, 2011 at SOB’s nightclub on 204 Varick St. in New York City with doors opening at 7:30. The event, co-produced by Valcourt Media Group & Noizy Cricket!!, will also provide complementary beverages from Heineken.

“We are excited about the marketing opportunities this showcase presents for emerging talent and brands. Since our inception, we have been actively engaged in offering support to unsigned/signed artists and we remained committed to this goal, while creating new opportunities for advertisers,” says Gary Gentles, co-founder of Singersroom. The value behind product placement at the event or within post-production footage is priceless.”

Got (Breast) Milk? It Does Your Baby—And Your Body!—Good

http://mybrownbaby.com/2011/06/got-breast-milk-it-does-your-baby%E2%80%94and-your-body%E2%80%94good/

By ANGELA CARSTARPHEN WATFORD

Sometimes as a new mom I feel like a cow—literally—thanks to my new bootylicious bootée and my new bodacious boobs. Trust me, the description sounds better than it looks. Going from a size 2 to a size 6 in my jeans and from a cute 32C to a voluptuous 34D doesn’t make me feel Beyoncé-ish. It just makes me feel like a heifer. Pun intended. But I still feel empowered and thankful that it’s all for the health of my child. So what if I have curves—the majority of us do. But, guess what? We African American breast-feeding moms are still in the minority.