African American Dataloungers VIII

I love Big Black Booty!

Yes gawd!

Colton?

Is VII finished yet?

lol r3. I knew it was only a matter of time before Colton got dragged into the AA thread. He's fine, but he better stay away from my husbands!

No he's not fine. There are many other white boys who look better than that.

r6, I know. He is probably just cute to others, but I follow him for other reasons than his looks alone.

Anybody here get into ballroom or was involved with it when they were younger?

Hahaha R3

R2, ASS ART!

Oh goody. I'm here early.

Finally I can read an "African American Dataloungers" thread from the beginning as it happens.

Judge Mablean will have a new show next year!

What about Charlamane da god? What is his story?

R13 he is annoying as fuck in interviews. I only listen to The Breakfast Club when they have a guest I like. He always interrupts people, and half the time his info on the guest is wrong and he'll even not hear correctly. He's just a fucking idiot. I don't understand why they can't get someone better.

Do any of you know of or remember the obscure and brief recording group Lushus Daim & The Pretty Vain? They had 1 album and performed on Soul Train once. While the songs didn't go anywhere, I like the tracks "The One You Love", "Attention Addict", "More Than You Can Handle" and "For You". Lushus Daim, the lead singer, also co-hosted just once on Video Soul. I'm too young to have seen those clips and they're not online. Does anyone know more about the mysterious woman known as Lushus Daim and maybe her real name? I figure if anyone would know, it would be someone on DL lol. She was obviously hired by Motown for looking similar to Vanity. Lushus Daim was gorgeous herself but not quite on Vanity's level.

I'm just going to post a few more photos of Lushus Daim. Sometimes she looked Barbie Doll-esque:

As a blonde:

last one:

is Charlamane da god gay?

Charlamane grew on me. r14, I really didn't care for him when Wendy Williams brought his dusty ass from South Carolina to be her cohost in New York.

Wendy didnt care that much about her radio show the last couple of years she was at WBLS. She got approached for her current show in 2007 and she was focused on that until she got green lit. She brought on Charlamane so she wouldn't have to find five hours worth of gossip everyday. Her gay listeners hated his ass because he gave off a homophobic vibe. But it ended up being fun because he had to sit through the gayest radio show ever.

Charlamane seems like a cool guy when he's not shock jocking, and I like that he is not phased by any celebrity. He said he and Wendy's husband Kevin had a falling out and he hasn't spoken to Wendy in a couple of years.

Nicci Gilbert, Latocha Scott, Faith Evans not returning for season 3 of R&B Divas

Soul Train Awards this sunday on BET bitches. Red Carpet with host Wendy Williams at 7 then the show starts at 8. Anthony Anderson is the host.

Keith Sweat gets the Lifetime Achievement Award. Dionne Warwick gets the Legend Award.

The Best New Artist category has both Tamar Braxtona and K.Michelle nominated-would be hilarious to see the other one's reaction if 1 of them wins.

Performers: Chaka, Jennifer Hudson, Tamar, K. Michelle, Faith Evans, T.I., Candice Glover!, Big Daddy Kane, Gladys, Ron Isley, Chrisette Michelle, Eric Benet, Doug E. Fresh, Dave Koz, Bobby V, Evelyn Champagne King, Jon B., Keith Sweat, Kenny Lattimore, Ruben Studdard, Smokey Robinson, Stokely Williams, Wale, Warren G, Eddie Levert, David Foster and James Fauntleroy

Has anyone seen all this press Kanye has been doing this week?

He absolutely lost it during this interview with Sway. Kanye is fighting a war in his head for black people, but its all contained within the fashion industry for him, for some reason. I think his thoughts would be more compelling if this war he is fighting wasn't about fashion, and about something substantial?

Anyway, Sway is a pretty laid back dude and was two seconds away from two piecing him!

Kanye's had a krazy week. I saw his show at MSG though, very good. Tribe Called Quest opened, Q-Tip looking fine (and gay)

dayum this lady's hairline be like "bye bitch!"

and tsk tsk about breaking the law.

Kanye is trying too hard. The crazy Kanye act is growing stale.

For R2 Bootymail

The link in R26 was actually for R1.

I know quite a few ballroom queens, R8. Are you a ball kid?

Anyone following the craziness of Ginuwine? After messing up a few live performances with TGT, he failed to show up at the Soul Train Awards! Tyrese and Tank gave some BS excuse like "his limo never came" or something and we all know the real reason is Ginuwine was probably high/drunk and in no condition to show up.

Then Ginuwine gets on twitter and blasts Tyrese after Tyrese said he's tired of carrying TGT. mess.

Oh lord. I know Ginuwine has had his problems with drugs in the past so I hope its not serious.

Tank is the level headed one in that group, hopefully he'll keep them together. Tyrese is a diva and Ginuwine has issues.

TGT would've been great like LSG but they just didn't have it together. R29 nailed it.

r27 Im not one of the kids myself. I guess I didn't realize or just ignored how influential ballroom is in gay culture, especially gay black culture. And it seems like ballroom is bleeding over into the mainstream too.

I came across this the other day, some guys in Atlanta I think talking about their relationships with ballroom kids.

Floyd looks HOT! Some jumpoff leaked a pic of him taking a selfie in boxer briefs. She's trying to prove he has a small penis, although we all know you can't tell when a guy isn't erect:

God this thread is giving me a headache! No idea what you bitches are talking about. This is why I DO NOT identify well with black people. Not that I am fully black anyways. -sigh-

R33 you mean trollish white DL'er trolling black posters? that's what you are. Bitch, bye!

r33 BYE GIRL! Nobody is forcing you to associate with black DLers.

any of y'all read the gossip site "diary of a hollywood street king"? It's even more hardcore/salacious than bossip and mediatakeout put together lol. I'm sure half of it's BS but it's a fun read and they really go into stories the other 2 sites don't cover.

For example in the last couple months they talked about Pebbles' alleged 2 secret children and now NeNe Leakes having been with a male sidepiece for the last few years despite remarrying Greg's old dusty, crusty ass.

Oh I see, R31. Well, it's a very underground scene so if you don't know the right people or live in the right places, you'd likely be completely unaware of its existence. And yes, ballroom is an important part of gay/SGL black culture. It's primarily a black/African American and Latino ( Black and Puerto Rican/Dominican on the East Coast and Black and Mexican with some Asians on the West Coast) scene. The scenes biggest stars are in the NYC, D.C., and Atlanta areas ( oh and there's an emerging international scene) and the biggest and most popular stars ( legends and icons) are typically transgender women ( like Leyomi, Kristina Tsunami, Sinia Ebony...) called fem queens. There are real or bio girls in the scene as well ( Danielle Ninja, Tiny Mizrahi...).

I grew up in La Jolla, California (now home to Mitt Romney. I actually had an interesting Mitt Romney encounter about a month and a half after the election up-close and personal but I'll save it for another time) which is a fairly bland, affluent, seaside suburb so needless to say there was no ballroom scene around those parts. Fortunately, I'm a dancer and a very large number of ball kids are dancers so that's one of the primary ways I became aware of and somewhat involved in the ball scene. Well, actually my mother who is also a dancer introduced me to the ball scene ( I know that sounds crazy lol). She spent a bit of time training in NYC in the 80s where she first became aware of the ball scene and met many of the icons like Willi Ninja, Pepper LaBeija, Dorian Corey and many others. She fell in love with ballroom and bought me a copy of "Paris Is Burning" when I was 12 and we watched it together. I was enthralled by the costumes, the personalities, just the whole spectacle.

I didn't attend my first ball until I was about 18 or 19 which is around the time I started training and going on auditions in LA and NYC. This is also around the time that I attended my first black pride in Atlanta and then LA ( well, this was my first pride period since I was never interested in attending SD or LA pride). This allowed me to meet and befriend MANY ball kids, particularly in NYC and ATL. They would always try to get me to walk competitions and join a house but I was too busy with dancing and school. Plus I just didn't have the nerve, although the money was very enticing for a young college kid.

And yes, thanks to reality TV ( such as Rupaul's Drag Race, Atlanta Housewives, Fashion Queens,Tamar...) a lot of the lingo has bled into the mainstream. Beyonce has had quite a few ball kids in her videos ( "Get Me Bodied", "Freekum Dress"...) and hired some to go on tour with her ( specifically Danielle Ninja and some others) and nearly all of her choreographers are ball kids or affiliated with the scene. Tyra Banks had Benny Ninja on her show many times and Isis Tsunami was ( I think) the first transgender contestant on the show. Willow Smith had Leyomi in her "Whip My Hair" video. Some group made a song about the word keke ( kiki) but they used it kind of awkwardly. And everybody knows about "Vogue" by Madonna. Ball kids have been getting a lot of exposure lately, which is great, but personally I don't want to see it go too mainstream because it will be exploited, used, spit out, and destroyed.

Here's one of the bio girls I was talking about. She's a sweetheart and the queens live for her.

Tiny Mizrahi

Here's another bio girl. She's one of my favorites, she's so sweet and fun ( and talented).

Christina Ninja

I wish I could put all my links in one post ( but this is the last one). Danielle is a very talented dancer and has worked with Beyonce many times ( among others). Love her.

Danielle Ninja

Thanks for your response r37! All the bio girls you posted killed it.

I feel like it's getting a lot more exposure too now, even if its packaged in Real Housewives etc. I just wish the kids got more credit for influencing pop culture. Because of homophobia, ballroom only gets to the masses through the women celebs that love it, and patron saint RuPaul. I think of ballroom like hip-hop; it started underground within the same ethnic groups around the same time, but you see how bankable hip-hop is now. Maybe one day the kids will be able to get their coins. But like you said, it could be exploited and destroyed if it gets too popular.

r13, Charlamagne's profile in the NY times today. Apparently, he's getting his own TV show.

R41 that shit will be cancelled asap.

a new got2breal episode is up lol

R41 Charlemagne gets on my nerves.

I got my dayum LIFE from that Got2breal! Dionne changing cars when the reporter was asking about her bankruptcy! I can't.

I most definitely see the parallels between Ball culture and Hip Hop. I've even heard vogue referred to as a gay/SGL version of break-dancing. The original ethnic groups involved in both underground scenes are the same, they're both cultural movements, Hip Hop has battles while Ballroom has what we call walking( individuals compete against each other in various categories), Hip Hop has rap while Ballroom has chanting...yes there are many similarities. Unfortunately, Hip Hop ( particularly rap) has been exploited to the max. The original creators no longer control it. I do want to see ball kids get the coins and the recognition they deserve but I don't want to see the culture exploited because I don't think it could survive. On the bright side, Hip Hop still has a thriving underground scene that hasn't been tainted.

I suppose you're right about the reality shows, especially Ru, I live for Ru. It's funny because my great grandmother, grandmother, and mom are/were ( great grandmother passed) big fans of Ru long before I was and even got my dad into her. I think it's the glamor and the humor that they like. They watch Drag Race and Drag U ( they don't typically watch reality TV but watch anything with Ru on it) and one day my grandmother slipped and used the word "shade" which was so hilarious. It's so funny that lingo from the ballroom scene has reached such a wide audience, people you would never see at a ball.

Anyway, there is a newer documentary about the ball scene called "How Do I Look?", it's a more updated version of "Paris Is Burning". If you haven't seen it you should check it out. Also, after looking over my last post I noticed that I didn't show any love to the BQs. I posted about the biological girls involved in the scene because I thought it would surprise people to know that there are actual biological girls who are deeply involved in the scene. I don't like having to post over and over in separate posts about the same thing but I don't want to ignore my favorite BQs. Oh and the clips I'm posting are of just one category, vogue. And even vogue has several different categories.

Dashaun Evisu is absolutely everything! He's fearless, high energy, extremely talented. I live for him.

Kassandra Ebony. It's funny because I've never spoken to him. He'll perform at some mini ball then he disappears. But he's great and definitely one of my favs. This is mainly clips of his spins and dips.

Javier Ninja. I absolutely LIVE for this queen! His hands are legendary. His flexibility, lines, and carriage are everything!

So this is the US college student attendance numbers for 2012. Unfortunately, there was a decline in enrollment in 2012 for all students; however, the decline was fairly small for African Americans in comparison to other groups. In 2011 African American women had the highest enrollment numbers of all ethnic groups and genders ( Asian women were in second). In 2012 both African American and Asian American women were bumped to second place, but the difference between first and second place is very small. African Americans still have the second highest college attendance rates.

African American women are above the average attendance rates for women, African American men are above the average attendance rates for men, and African Americans are above the average attendance rates for the total population. Over 40 percent of all African American 18-24 year olds are enrolled in college ( remember in 1967 this was around 12 percent) and about a quarter ( in 1990 this was 11 percent) of all African American over 25 have a bachelors degree.

African Americans makeup 15 percent of all college students in 2012 ( 13 or 14 percent of the total pop.) The great news is all of these numbers will steadily increase because African American college enrollment is expected increase about 25-30 percent over the next 8 years. I'm very curious to see the 2013 numbers, African American women could possibly be back in first place and African Americans are likely 16/17 percent of all college students for 2013.

I think the combination educational attainment and the huge increase in African American entrepreneurship explain why we've been able to make economic gains (African American households making over 75,000 increased by 64 percent a rate 12 percent higher than the total population) even during the recession. African American business grew by at least 64 percent which is triple the national rate. These businesses generated receipts of 140 billion. I was wondering why African American income continued to increase while the poverty rate decreased even during a recession and I think educational attainment and entrepreneurship provides a good explanation. I'm happy to see people of color doing well. I think the next 10 years are going to be pretty interesting.

Here's the link to what I was talking about.

US College Student Demographics in 2012

September 12, 2013 by MarketingCharts staff

Last year, 17% of all college students were Hispanic, up from 11% in 2006. The corresponding figures for non-Hispanic whites were 58% and 67%, respectively, while the share of college students who were black inched up from 14% to 15% during that time period.

The share of Hispanics aged 3 and older enrolled in college last year was 6.8%, slightly above the national average of 6.7%. Hispanic females (7.6%) once again had a higher rate of enrollment than males (6%). The total number of Hispanics enrolled in college was 3.4 million.

Black Americans demonstrated higher-than-average college enrollment rates, at 8% of the 3+ population – equaling just over 3 million enrolled. Female black Americans had a substantially higher enrollment rate (9.2% of the 3+ population) than their male counterparts (6.5%).

Asian Americans had the highest enrollment rates, at 9.4% overall. Contrary to the population at-large, the enrollment rate was higher among males (9.5%) than females (9.2%). However, given a larger population of females overall, the number of female Asian Americans enrolled in college was greater than the amount of males (6 million versus 5.2 million). Overall, 1.45 million Asian Americans were enrolled in college last year.

Non-Hispanic whites had the lowest enrollment rates. 6.2% of the 3+ group was enrolled in college last year, with females outpacing males (6.8% vs. 5.5%). A total of 11.65 million were enrolled in college.

I thought this was very interesting.

Three Blacks Among 32 American Recipients of Rhodes Scholarships

Three of the 32 Americans named Rhodes Scholars this year are African American, according to the Journal of Blacks in Higher Education. The scholarships provide funds for two or three years of graduate study at Oxford University in Britain. Rhodes Scholars from the United States join students from 14 other jurisdictions including Australia, southern Africa, Kenya, India, and Canada. All told, about 80 Rhodes Scholars worldwide are selected each year for study at Oxford, the JBHE said.

There were 1,750 Americans seeking the scholarships this year. Of the 32 selected, six attended Harvard and three attended Yale, the publication said. The Black scholars are, according to JBHE:

Jessica Wamala: A graduate of Villanova University who majored in political science, Arab and Islamic studies and global interdisciplinary studies, Wamala is working on her master’s in political science at Villanova and is captain of the university’s basketball team. She is a chess enthusiast who will work on a master’s in Middle Eastern studies in England.

Joshua Aiken: A published poet and senior at Washington University in St. Louis, Aiken is majoring in American culture studies and political science. A resident of Eugene, Ore., he was the undergraduate student representative on the university’s board of trustees. He has been abroad before, studying in Northern Ireland and in Germany. He will pursue a master’s in sociology.

Donald Mayfield Brown: An English and philosophy major at Mississippi State University, Brown previously studied English literature at Christ Church College at Oxford. At Mississippi State, he founded the creative arts journal and serves as vice president of the philosophy and religion club. He will work on a master’s degree in modern English literature at Oxford.

The first Black person believed to have won a Rhodes scholarship was Alain LeRoy Locke, who went on to become a philosopher and literary figure of the Harlem Renaissance, was selected in 1907. “It is generally believed that at the time of the award the Rhodes committee did not know that Locke was Black until after he had been chosen,” the JBHE website said.

Nice! Thanks for those posts! I read somewhere that over 20% of African American owned businesses are in the health care and social services industry(particularly elder care)and that African Americans obtain the most degrees in computer science, which are both BRILLIANT moves. Congrats to the three Rhode scholarship recipients;I'm so happy for them!

What do you guys think about Kerry Washington right now? The Tony Goldwyn & Kerry thread is a trip. They are saying he is her real baby daddy. I will admit that I didn't think she would end up married to and having a baby with a black dude with no job like she is now. Not that he will be unemployed forever.

Glad to see that the anti-intellectual contingent in the US black community is losing steam. I'm seeing it everywhere. I'm putting it down to the President. Hope I'm right.

Is anyone here a fan of the Vampire Huntress series? My cousin was telling me all about it at Xmas dinner, and how much she enjoys reading them. Apparently the author was a fave of Oprah's. Most likely it won't get turned into a movie, since the characters are African-Americans...

Do we have tea on Michael B. Jordan from The Wire and Fruitvale Station? His star is rising.

Here he is talking with Oprah, my heart skipped a beat when he said he's never had a steady girlfriend!

:)

My goodness, OP. You have the best taste in husbands.

SMDH at Ludacris and Dwayne Wade! dirty dawgs

I dont like Dwayne or Gabrielle. I bet Siovaughn, Dwayne's ex wife is sitting up somewhere getting a good laugh.

Dwayne Wade's jump-off is the baby-mama to both of Damon Wayans Jr.'s daughters. I thought that was pretty scandalous.

Re: Kerry Washington

I adore Kerry Washington and I'm so happy for her. I don't know who Tony Goldwyn is but I can't imagine Kerry doing something like that. Plus she's a Jack and Jill girl ( but then so is Wendy Williams, argh!) and her man is fine as hell.

Re:Vampire Huntress series

I swear that a friend of mine just mentioned this book to me and he said that I'd love it. I'm not really a fan of the whole vampire thing but I think I'll check it out just to see if I like it.

Re: Michael B. Jordan

His response to that question was very interesting. Oprah should have dug a little deeper. He's a cutie.

Have any of you watched this reality show called "Thicker Than Water" on Bravo? The son on the show is so obviously gay yet he's getting married to a woman. What a mess!

Oh and the obviously gay son still lives with his parents ( along with his wife of course).

Anyone watching:

* Blood, Sweat and Heels

* Being Mary Jane (short mini-series starring Gabrielle Union) on BET

I've tried watching Thicker Than Water but its a bit much for me.

I watched about 30 minutes of Blood Sweat and Heels. I admit I watched for Melyssa Ford, to see how she is paying her bills since she really doesn't do the media thing that much anymore, and the video girl thing is over. She seems like a sweetheart. I like Demetria as well.

Chrisette Michele and Leela James have joined the cast of R&B Divas LA. Chrisette seems like she's a spicy one, so it should be interesting! That heifer Kelly Price has dropped out.

I just never cared about Chrisette. at all. I don't care for her voice either. Her performance during the Soul Train tribute to Dionne Warwick was shit.

I've had a lot of free time lately so I've gotten the chance to watch more TV programs than I typically watch.Initially I was VERY hesitant to watch "Thicker Than Water" because of the religious element. And the show did start off kind of shaky given that the Tankards appear to be proponents of the prosperity gospel( I have a lot of issues with this but won't get into it now). However, for the most part, religion was kept to a minimum. The show was really about the dynamics of family relationships. I liked the fact that the family was affluent because it told a story that we don't often see on TV and a story that many can relate to. They were affluent but they had a bit of an edge, particularly the kids, which I guess is needed for reality TV. Overall I enjoyed the show.

Yes, I watched "Blood Sweat and Heels" today. I like that the women are professionals but I don't have any strong opinions about the show just yet.

Yes, I also read those things, R51.

Apparently, for the first time in Billboard's 55-year history. No African-American Artists Had a No. 1 Hit in 2013.

"In a similar role reversal, Molanphy also cited that white artists topped the No. 1 spot on the R&B/Hip-Hop chart in 44 out of the 52 weeks last year."

Explain?

I'll explain, r68. Music has finally figured out how to have black sounds without actual black people. Sure the Mileys and Justin's of the world will always have black people around them for "cred," but what this country really likes is anything black without the black people. Whatever.

I liked Blood Sweat and Heels. The apartment that biracial chick lives on is at 116th /Adam Clayton Powell , right around the block from me.

So obviously I live in NYC and all the posters for "Looking" are up and I'm not going to bemoan the lack of diversity (partly because I don't want some of these people even attempting to try to write a black character) but I will gripe about this idea that someone as painfully whitebread and bland as Jonathan Groff is supposed to be the boy that everyone wants to fall in love with. I do want to watch though because "Weekend" was amazing.

Some epic tea spillage over at LipstickAlley last week. There was a big uproar on when an anonymous poster spilled gossip about how The Dream spills gossip about Rihanna and Beyonce/Jay Z constantly. The poster implied she was given a cease and desist order/hush money. The next day, he posted on Instagram that he was stepping down from his VP position at Def Jam.

Here's some of what the poster said:

-He likes two fingers up his ass when getting head and an occasional rim job. He fleets. He doesn't like to use condoms.

-He's obsessed with Jay and Bey and creepily brings them up all the time. He obnoxiously calls and texts them in front of her to impress her. "Oh I forgot to reply to Bey. She had me cracking up the other day." kinda stuff.

-Bey is the reason that her and Jay have distanced themselves from Kanye because she does not like having to fake it with Kim. The whole clique (mainly Solo) calls Kim Gladys as in a Glad trash bag. Jay has tried to make her come around, but this is one thing she has put her foot down about.

-Bey and Jay do in fact have threesomes but only with people who have as much to lose as they do. A couple of their regulars are Kelly and Rita Ora. I almost barfed because I always heard that Matthew was Kelly's daddy too.

-He knows for a fact that Jay has sexed Kelly when Bey wasn't around which is against their rules

-Terius (The Dream) thinks Bey had a surrogate as well, but he won't say anything because he doesn't wanna offend her.

-Rihanna and Jay did and still do sleep together. Bey does not speak to her unless it's necessary which is why she goes out of her way to never be around her. She smiles when necessary but rolls her eyes to whoever is looking.

-Bey and Rih have had SEVERAL heated exchanges in front of people about trivial shit like reality shows: e.g. Bey says that Kenya was wrong for flirting with Apollo. Rih was having a separate conversation but made a point to say Apollo should have been paying attention to his wife. Next thing you know the gloves are off.

Who is the guy in R2?

Thanks for the sweet tea, R70. Nice o know the Bey/Ri feud appears to be a real one. it was made evident after Ri won the Grammy for "Umbrella" and tried to pull Jay on stage with her (he resisted). The tv screen practically frosted over from Bey's cold stare.

[quote]Bey is the reason that her and Jay have distanced themselves from Kanye because she does not like having to fake it with Kim. The whole clique (mainly Solo) calls Kim Gladys as in a Glad trash bag.

LOL!

Anybody here fans of Tonex / B. Slade?

His image was very fem after he broke up with the gospel industry, which he says was inspired by the 1998 movie Velvet Goldmine that he got the moniker "B Slade" from. Now he has morphed into wannabe trade.

Tonex has worked with a lot of R&B legends in the industry since he left the church. I think he's a talented vocalist, but people just don't get him.

The music industry has experienced diminished profits for some time now and has essentially become a tween/preteen market. The tween market is the only segment of the music industry that has grown over the last few years. And that's why the music industry is now dominated by cheesy acts like Justin Bieber, Miley Cyrus, various boy bands etc....

Artists now make the bulk of their money behind the scenes, touring or through endorsements. Therefore, a large number of established black acts are working behind the scenes writing, producing, representing other acts...because that's where the real money is. The music industry has become all about tweens and adults with tween taste.

Needless to say the quality of the music isn't great, but we live during a time that allows us to listen to all kinds of music from various eras anytime we feel like it. Just this morning I was listening to John Coltrane, Bessie Smith, Nat King Cole, Ella Fitzgerald, and a Carly Simon song. I rarely even pay attention to most of the new acts today because tween music doesn't appeal to me. I love Pharrell's "Happy" ( and of course Pharrell too) and it's the first current song I've liked in quite some time. And I like the message, it makes you feel good, just like Bobby McFerrin's song.

I have never understood black people's fascination with Gladys and her family.

It has more to do with economic changes that occurred over the last decade or so than Obama, R53. However, I do expect to see a bump in a few years because of Obama. Black college enrollment is expected to increase by about a third and we've known that since 2007 but I wouldn't be surprised to see a larger increase due to the influence of Obama.

I've heard his name a lot, R74 but I can't say that I've ever heard him sing.

I feel like I'm over Queen Latifah.

There's a thread on LSA about Lupita getting "certain black actresses feeling some kind of way". Apparently some are starting to resent her because she's become an overnight "it" girl with no plastic surgery, weaves, bleaching or having to put out, i.e. she hasn't payed her dues. Sad, if true.

I think a lot of people are upset with Latifah today. But maybe our expectations were too high. I expected her to come out and I was very disappointed when she didn't. I suppose it's better to have a closeted person who doesn't bash us instead of the opposite that occurs so frequently ( particularly in politics). But at the same time I feel teased. And I'm not sure why she was chosen for this occasion. I read that she is out behind the scenes so maybe that's why. Anyway, I didn't feel good about it either. I think the OPEN lesbian singer was the best thing about the performance, though. She has a pretty voice.

Lupita is gorgeous and talented. She doesn't have to pay dues. I hope she sticks around for a long time.

So Kendrick Lamar got India.Aried. I'm over the Grannies.

Excellent comparison, R82. And like India, they will throw a couple Grammys at him next year to make up for screwing him over this year.

Anybody hate-watching TP's The Haves and the Have Nots? I'm kinda living for Tika.

I've heard some good things about that particular show; however, I can't say that I've actually watched it myself. I've never been much of a soap fan. Although, I am very aware of the fine specimen of a man who has a role on that show ( black guy with a goatee). My television viewing habits largely consists of the Science Channel, Discovery Channel, History Channel and sometimes ID (this is probably boring to most people but I'm the nerdy introvert who's always talking about evolution, ancient civilizations, and the universe so I find most of the content on those channels very interesting). At the moment I'm obsessed with Nabta Playa and the simulation hypothesis. Nabta Playa was the home of a very advanced prehistoric people who are believed to be the direct ancestors of the Nubian and Egyptian people. They are also responsible for the earliest known archeoastronomical devices. The gist of the simulation hypothesis is that our reality is simulated and that we are of course unaware of it.

Anyway, I have been watching the reality show "Blood, Sweat, and Heels" and I'm actually enjoying it. The show has managed to put together an interesting assortment of personalities, some I like and some I don't. I thought the whole blog controversy was a bit silly ( probably contrived). Some of the women were acting as if it was some egregious act when in fact it was simply an innocuous blog entry about a conversation the women had in front of the camera. I like Mika (sp?). Sure she's a little sloppy but I like her personality and she's great for TV, so I live. I'm not sure how I feel about Daisy, Demetria, and the girl from Xscape, though. I agreed with Demetria about women and leadership but she seems very sanctimonious, hypocritical, and a bit shady. Melissa is pretty and pleasant; she's not entirely what I thought she'd be as a former video girl. Anyway, I'm enjoying the show so far.

I've also been watching this show called "My 600lb Life." The show features some of the heaviest people I've ever seen and it's not exactly the most uplifting show on TV. There are a lot of sad moments on the show so if you're feeling down you probably shouldn't watch it. However, most of the people do lose some weight. The show does come across a bit exploitative, but I've continued to guilt-watch.

Hypocritical should be catty. I thought I deleted hypocritical and replaced it with catty.

Kill it. Kill it with FIRE!

any of y'all watching the SWV reality show? I never knew they had such a hard time. Their debut album did quite well and then their success just waned.

Yes I'm loving SWV's new show, they really are putting it all out there. Lelee cracks me the hell up.

I never knew what a HUGE diva Coko was. She really needs an attitude adjustment. She is clearly stuck in the 90s, thinking people are going go out of their way to buy any album she sings on. Girl Bye, nobody is checking for you like that anymore! Taj better give her a reality check or they are going to right back where they started.

I know Coko said she had cancer but damn she looks rough. Go back to the early 90s and compare her face/body to now...she totally lost her looks and seems drag-queenish now.

What is that story about her teenage son not speaking to her? bizarre

I will say though-Coko can SANG. Check out the extra notes she adds in this song:

I was only ever a casual fan of SWV. They can sing but I found most of their song to be boring midtempo r&b. Their producers shouldn't have held them back from really unleashing their voices on tracks.

r91, that's actually why I enjoy their music from the 90s. Coko has a huge beautiful voice but she didn't over do it on their albums. The church girls that can really sing their faces off, Coko, Lil Mo, Fantasia, Faith, etc. really don't need to do all that hollering on their R&B tracks for them to sound good.

It's such a joke where r&b has come now, and who/what is considered to be "r&b". Rihanna really? Bitch can barely stay in tune. We have hundreds of girls who can sang beautifully who don't get record deals or sales these days.

TLC was vocally the 2nd weakest r&b 90s girl group (ahead of only the shitty Total), yet they were the most successful. Groups who could SANG their asses off (En Vogue, Jade, SWV) and even the mediocre Xscape had some hits but didn't have as much appeal which is baffling.

The SWV show is entertaining. I hope they have more seasons.

anyone here a fan of this youtube channel? I like this guy and find him interesting and entertaining. I don't always agree with him but he makes people think:

Kevin Hart’s Latest Box Office Success Certifies Star Power:

What in the hell is going on with Kerry Washington and her gay husband?

sigh...so Brian McKnight becomes another black star who didn't pay attention to his accountants and got screwed:

anyone like Childish Gambino? His album came out recently and featured a couple nice tracks. I really LOVE his song from 2 years ago though:

r90, I just watched the latest SWV episode where Coko was singing in the booth. Damn, she can sing her freaking ASS off. Her voicebox is unreal.

It's unfortunate that Coko is still trying to break the group up over a gospel album. She needs Lelee and Taj because she will go nowhere with that stale personality, at 40 something she should know this. And she definitely needs to stop letting her mom blow her head up. It's easy to see why her solo career fell flat.

What the hell is going on with Kerry Washington and her gay husband?

I don't know, but damn that brother is fine, lips lips lips. He is one those dudes that looks so good they make me sick.

Here they are at a Oscar party photo booth:

I feel like DL's black population is at an all time low!

Anita Baker wanted by police:

I should keep up with this thread more often. Going to bookmark.

[You do realize that this is a troll, right? It does not believe what it posts. It just craves attention. You might want to stop talking to it.]

[You do realize that this is a troll, right? It does not believe what it posts. It just craves attention. You might want to stop talking to it.]

[You do realize that this is a troll, right? It does not believe what it posts. It just craves attention. You might want to stop talking to it.]

I'm so sick of the pathetic racist trolls on this site.

Anyway, yes Kerry got a good one! He's FOINE! Did y'all know Kerry was a member of Jack & Jill growing up? I wonder if her kid(s) will do that too.

R106-108 needs some serious professional help, fast.

[You do realize that this is a troll, right? It does not believe what it posts. It just craves attention. You might want to stop talking to it.]

We had a Bravo insider here that said they were a part of a reality show Bravo was doing featuring gay men. Is that show still in the works?

If they did 112, I'm sure they'll have only one black gay and he'll only like white guys.

Damn, bump

How many of us are left here on DL??? Our numbers use to be quite high, now it seems like a handful

R 106, 107, 108 take your racist ass to another thread to play. We do not want you here.

Anybody see the Flex and Shanice show on OWN last night?

Is Maya's funeral going to be televised?

So Kanye is mad because Jay-Z and Bey did not attend that wedding.

Breaking, Ruby Dee died last night. First was Maya, then Ruby, who will be next to complete the third death.

So.. what do we think about this new show?

Bump. C'mon y'all

Somebody on another thread just said he's single because he's black and looks like he went to school with white guys. Damn.

Bobby Womack has died. He was 70.

Across 110th street, pushers won't let the junkie go free, oh baby ...

Bobby was the truth......

r109 - Kerry was a member of Jack & Jill? WEALTHY WEALTHY people. Wow.

Kinda crushing on Chadwick Boseman......

Thanks for bumping, R128.

Forgot this thread even existed.

bump one more time, then giving up.......

Why are all the good looking black men playing football where their faces are covered by face masks?

Was watching highlights of the Raiders game this weekend. Some DAMN fine men on that team!!

Other than maybe Kobe and Tony Parker, are there any good looking black men playing basketball?

I guess this guy is black, but damn I just want to eat him!

I love some Amare Stoudimaire

R128: Chile, I've been crushing on him back when he was on the television show Lincoln Heights! It's great to see him playing these historically black icons in film and nailing them -- boy has a lot of range!

Too bad they decided to release Get It Up during the summer because it sort of got lost in the mix of all the big budget special effects garbage. (This was a perfect movie to release during award season, so the studios really screwed themselves with this one. They did the same thing with Fruitvale Station, releasing it during the summer, and ultimately screwing Michael B. Jordan out of an Oscar nod for Best Actor.)

His star is on the rise though and I can't wait to see more from him.

I meant GET ON UP. (Guess I've been watching too many boring Mike Mann videos this morning!!!)

r134: The director of Get On Up (honey I'm thinking Get It Up too lol) also directed The Help a couple of years ago. That movie came out in August and was a sleeper hit. Guess they were hoping the same for this movie but it didn't work. But I'm loving Chadwick!

WTF why have both r&b divas threads been deleted?

The LA cast is a mess. Chrisette is such a snob about her music.

[quote]WTF why have both r&b divas threads been deleted?

This one hasn't

I don't really watch. Does Chrisette say if she messed around with the ladies? I bet she and her boyfriend swing.

I don't really watch. Did Chrisette ever admit to messing with the ladies? I bet she and her boyfriend swing.

Blu Cantrell has lost her marbles! Poor thang.

Damn that is sad. She had the talent and looks ton be a star but the rise of Beyoncé was her downfall

[quote]She had the talent and looks ton be a star but the rise of Beyoncé was her downfall

Blu and so many others. I guess Beyonce serviced Jay-z better, they've both had him!

Blu had the balls to call out Beyoncé back when Bey first went solo lol that's probably what got her blacklisted

What did she say about Beyawnce?

thread request for Ocky Williams & Nick Delmacy/CypherAvenue! (And Prince D)

Have you fucked them? What do they look like? Their voices are so muthafuckin sexy-masc in their podcasts..bound to be a let down in reality, yeah? ..hence the moratorium on pics? What are their full time jobs..something in the media? So many questions..so much lust for these guys..so much anti-fem controversy. Surely they deserve a thread to themselves? And if you don't agree its because you're a star-tattoo-around-navel-adorned, green contact lens wearing, diva-worshiping, feminist, effeminate homosexual!

Somebody in the black porn stars thread brought up the black Baptist church community not being accepting of black gay men. Turns out the black church is turning over a new leaf, according to this new Duke University.

How many of you go to church?

Damn what happened? Is there a new thread?

I think everyone jumped to the "The Black Gay Community-where are you?" thread to chime in.

Man, how come nobody was clocking Yung Berg before now?! He is definitely a queen.

I forgot about these threads.

This is probably the best spot for this question:

Any good gay movies on Netflix or Amazon Prime?

I enjoyed The Skinny, but everything else is full of white guys/girls.

Brother to Brother is good for a med-budget movie, though it is, as expected, about an interracial relationship.

Children of God had a much higher production value, but is the same basic subject matter.

I liked Brother to Brother. It had a good historical story and of course Anthony Mackie was hot.

Bump for more information on Cypher Ave. Are there even true pictures of them?

Yass, hunty! Some Cypher Av tea! Ooops I meant: yo brahs give me some info on my niggas Ocky and Nick from Cypher Av *drops mike*

Anyone hear Nicks black-gay-bisexual-athlete-vampure masterpiece?

bump

Anyone looking forward to the premiere of "Empire" tonight on FOX?

What is the deal with Tia Mowry/Keke Palmer? There's a lot of talk about it over at LSA....

And what do you guys think of this "You're Cute for A Black Guy" video making the rounds?

R158 KeKe was on Wendy Williams yesterday and said it was all a misunderstanding. Start at around 6:00 in the video below:

also R158 about that video you posted I think it's sad but common. It is true that most gay culture we see is white guys. Most of the gay black guys we see in the media are effeminate or even drag queens/trannies. In porn, most of the black guys are used as a fetish "big black cock" or "thug porn". Sites like Sean Cody etc do once in a while use a black model but it's not enough. It's understandable that if you mostly or only see people who don't look like you in the media, that you'll fall into self-hate.

Personally I'm attracted to guys of all backgrounds. I don't mind the explaining thing if the person truly is interested in black culture (such as hair and skin maintenance lol) but just never learned about it. I do also like learning about different people. If I go black, I like getting with someone from a different part of the country or even a different country because I like different.

Thanks,r159,r160! Keke is getting dragged on LSA and I didnt know the full story.

And I like to date all races,too(with a special preference for Middle Eastern men!)But I wish we'd stop trying to gas white men up,like in that video. They are not the end all and be all. Some older white man is trying to talk me up-retired,diabetic,stingy but you wanna get with me? Yeah right...!

Personally I think KeKe would go for a hotter guy, don't you? She's stunning.

Keke took a photo with Diddy/Al B. Sure's son Quincy & Hardict. I would've had the crush on Quincy when I was her age. But then I've had odd crushes. Def backed away if I knew they were married. I knew when I was young if a married man talked to you that was bad news

She is very pretty,r162 but she needs to tone it down. She young,so maybe that will come with age...

I saw the pic with Hardrict and Keke when it first hit the net, before it even became a thing on the blogs. I did raise an eyebrow at their body language, but Im sure she was completely unaware. She did a great job of completely shooting it down on Wendy. Keke is fun and it's not her fault that people enjoy her company.

Cory always looks miserable when he is with Tia, I didn't know the guy could smile. That's what Tia needs to worry about, when he looks happier with single young ladies. He was actually having a good time for once in his life!

Just saw a promo of Tia's new cooking show on the Cooking Channel. Being promoted as her doing her family's recipes. Bad timing since its family oriented

_

Nassy !

Im bringing this thread back from the dead. Im mad that the thread on this got closed because of assholes here who can't discuss black people without it becoming it race war

Any black people left here?

I dont like this.

do we have hope for the future?

Was he family?