My Artist Find!

I really love music. Like, I LOVE music. Everything I do has a soundtrack or a song. Corny, I know, but I don't mean to do it- it just happens. Some of my favourite moments in life are when I listen to an artist that I can totally relate to, an artist that takes me back to a place that my memory alone can't take me to. I'm reeling right now because I've just been transported back to a point in my life where nothing really mattered- except contemplating the complexities of life, and not necessarily living them. But I'm older now, and the real world is oh so real. I now engage with music on a very real level: I question why Snoop leads two black women on a leash into the MTV Awards (and then consciously listen to his music selectively). Ja ne... Boys need better role models. So do girls. Lil Kim is a self confessed ho and her face is falling apart. Foxy Brown stays beating people up and the lesser known Trina's music straight up puts her out there as a whore. Then again, maybe she isn't a whore, seeing that Rick Ross isn't really gangsta. Still, we need good role models.

So here I am stalking the e-streets and I find AMANDA DIVA. Think Lauryn Hill circa '96 when she killed the Fugees' album The Score- before she flipped, cross that with the fierceness and feeling of Mary J, Gil Scott-Heron's poetry without the heroin- actually, scratch that- Ima give her Saul Williams smooth poetry. Oh shit, this woman's got me. According to Amanda's myspace, she's about to save female mceeing from itself. I know we all listen to all the Lil Kim's; the Trina's and the rest of their ilk but for real, we don't take them seriously, and I doubt the industry does either. If the case is that women won't be taken seriously unless their half nekked (lies, because no one takes Kim, Trina and Foxy seriously) then it's time for someone to step up and rep for a women on a smarter level. I hope Amanda proves that you don't have to be a Hip Hop bimbo to be heard. She's with The Aphilliates and everyone knows if you roll with DJ Drama's movement, everyone is bound to PAY CLOSE FUCKIN ATTENTION. For real though. Listen to this chick. I'm digging her.

Amanda Diva Official Site
Amanda Diva on Myspace

?uess who got their own Kicks!??

The man is excited that Nike finally decided to give him a pair of kicks and shit, frankly, i don't blame him. I would be crazy excited too, because I think every self respecting queen and princess across the world deserves a shoe modelled after my dynamic and complicated personality. What was I talking about? Oh yeah, ?uesto's very own kicks- they're called the Air ?uesto 1. Complete with an image of ?uesto with an afro pick and everything!


Pics via the ?uestosphere

Jet Magazine Cover

Funny, I named Keri Hilson my Hottie of the Month: June and who do I see on the front cover of Jet Magazine today? Yup, Keri herself. And then right next to her, my favourite new girl on the block, Teyana Taylor. Google her. Oh, and did I mention she's wearing the Creative Rec's i copped via TILTT.

Next time, don't say I didn't tell you.

Hottie of the Month: July

I should've actually changed this month's hottie to hotties but I have a thing for uniformity. This month I have not one, but TWO hotties! So here goes...

LL COOL J

Contrary to popular belief, Ladies STILL Love Cool James! The man is now 40 (in my years, that's like 90 years old!), he's toned down a little on the 90's lip licking thing. And Hey Lover just touched all the right spots for a 10 year old...lol

Honestly, any female that tells me that they never had a crush on LL are lying. Or in denial. Plain and simple. He's been killin it in the game for 23 years. Damn, I'm 23! Anywho, he's comin out with a new album and I just had to share this cover he did... Sure, I wouldn't want a man so big (or maybe I would? who knows?), but you gotta acknowledge this man is knocking at death's door (in my years) but he's still looking like he's 17! All his albums have been released via Def Jam- including his final one (due out this year), so I have to add that I love a loyal man! Peep the picture beeeelowwwww, and hit me back with the verdict.

BARACK OBAMA

Well, what can I say? The man's swag quadruples every two months! He brushes his shoulders off and of course, publicly gave his wife Michelle The Pound! I don't need to remind you that the man is half Kenyan (yes, Africa shall claim him), and he's running for PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES! Not only is he a black man in America, he's a black African man in America and his middle name is HUSSEIN! Do you get my drift? Whether or not he wins the elections, I find him so inspirational! A black man that seems so family oriented- *loves it!* And then... have you seen the number of magazine front pages he has? And he's just been featured in the Ebony "25 coolest Black men" edition! You gotta love it.

Thoughts....?

Images via Gawker, Mark Pasetsky, and Def Jam