Kandi Burruss’ Boutique Failing Due To Bad Economy?
It looks like the bad economy has claimed yet another casualty. According to industry insiders, TAGS Boutique, owned by Real Housewives of Atlanta cast member Kandi Burruss and her business partner Hortense Chin, will be closing its doors for good soon.
Friends say sales of affordable clothing and accessories at TAGS aren’t brisk enough to keep the doors open. This, despite the fact that Kandi Burrus, who is listed as the CEO on the business license, is supposedly the most popular cast member on Real Housewives of Atlanta.
It seems Kandi’s popularity isn’t translating to sales at the cash register in her shop or in the record stores. It probably wouldn’t matter even if her fans wanted to support her. Customers complain that TAGS is rarely open during business hours and phone calls to the boutique routinely go unanswered.
Is this any way to run a business?
One frustrated customer even took to her Twitter account to inquire what was going on:
TAGS, which opened late last year, is located at 4500 West Village Place in Smyrna, Georgia. When I spoke by phone to Kandi Burrus a week before the Grand Opening, she didn’t know the phone number or the address to the shop so I could post the info for my readers.
What business woman doesn’t know the phone number and address to her own business? Mind you, TAGS was already open for business a month before the Grand Opening.
In fact, Kandi had to call her business partner to get the phone number and address to the store because the info wasn’t stored in her cell phone. Right then I had my suspicions that the business wouldn’t do well.
I also hear through the grapevine that Kandi’s business partner isn’t too thrilled with Kandi who spends more time on the social networking site Twitter.com promoting her Internet video stream talk show than she does promoting the shop.
Sneak Preview – LisaRaye: The Real McCoy
Click the above image to watch sneak previews of LisaRaye’s new reality show, LisaRaye: The Real McCoy. LisaRaye explains her humble beginnings as Diamond in the cult classic film The Player’s Club. LisaRaye: The Real McCoy debuts in April on TV One.
Thanks to J. Peak, Sr. publicist for Peak Publicity for the link!
Jennifer Lopez Dropped By Sony
According to Deadline.com. Sony has dumped fading star Jennifer Lopez from its artist roster.
The bland version of what happened, I’m told, is that the contract period had ended and that Lopez had fulfilled it with her last two singles, and that Lopez and Stringer decided together not to move forward with an album. Others insist the Sony label dropped her. There also is disagreement on how finished her upcoming album was before it was canceled. Internet reports say her 7th studio album, titled “Love?”, was supposed to come out in April and featured production from Danja, Jim Jonsin, Darkchild, Chris n Teeb from Dropzone, and The Neptunes among others. A song from it titled “Fresh Out The Oven” surfaced online in October 2009 as a buzz single and reached #1 on the U.S. Hot Dance Club Songs chart. But the official lead single, “Louboutins”, had its radio debut on November 23 following the song’s premiere and performance at the 2009 American Music Awards went to #31 on the Hot Dance Club Songs chart. UPDATE: *The song was the Power Pick of the week twice, and rose to #13 on that chart.*
Documentary: Complexion Obsession Pt. 1
Thanks to loyal reader Zuley for sending the link to this video which breaks down the controversial issue of complexion obsession and self hate in the music industry. I’ll never forget an industry insider telling me that directors only want LSLH chicks in their music videos because they don’t have to change the lighting for dark skin video vixens.
Zeta Tau Alpha: Epsilon Wins 1st Place in Sprite Step-Off 2010 Championship
On Saturday, I accompanied AG Entertainment’s Alex Gidewon to the Sprite Step Off Challenge at the Civic Center. The best part of the evening for me was the car ride there and back. We pulled up to the Civic Center in a CL65 AMG with a turbocharged V12 engine that reached top speeds in 6 seconds. The car took my breath away. All I can say is I want one!
Anyway, step show host Ryan Cameron (WVEE) said “Steppin’ is for erybody.” Well, it’s not for me. I was bored out of my skull for the 50+ minutes that we were there. Back in my college days, steppin’ was an entirely different art form than what you see today. Now it’s more lights, cameras and action than fancy footwork mixed with military precision.
So is it any wonder that an all white girl crew from Arkansas took 1st place in the majority black competition? The women from Zeta Tau Alpha’s Epsilon chapter electrified the crowd with a dazzling step routine that clocked in at just under 9 minutes. They won cash scholarships and other prizes. MTV2 will air the step show at 3 pm on February 28 and March 7.
Celebs Out & About
Rapper Fabolous attended the Moët & Chandon Presents Seal It With Rose’ Sunday Brunch at Aja Restaurant in Buckhead (a suburb of Atlanta) yesterday. Fab was in town to co-host a party (with rapper Drake) at Velvet Room nightclub, which I hear was packed wall to wall with potential baby mamas to be, last night.
Usher’s ex Trampeka Foster attended the event with her girlfriends. She still doesn’t have a man because she can’t let go of Usher who I hear is still tapping that occasionally (can you believe it?). A few industry insiders have been dropping hints that these two are still seeing each other horizontally. So don’t be surprised if she turns up pregnant. I also hear the tramp was all over rapper Fabolous at the brunch, but he totally ignored her.
Local rapper Rasheeda will probably still be rapping when she’s 65 and toothless. I know I wrote previously that she was up next. But after actually listening to her flow, I changed my mind. She’s wack and she needs to stop fooling herself. How old is Rasheeda now? 38-40?
More pics after the break!
Who Is Jazmine Cashmere? And Does Jay Z Know He’s Going To Be a Daddy? *UPDATED*
UPDATED:
Jazmine just updated her Twitter page with this important message.
Who is Jazmine Cashmere and why is every saying she’s pregnant with rapper Jay Z’s baby? It turns out Jazmine is a popular porn star over in England, but she currently lives in California.
Jazmine Cashmere is allegedly pregnant by a Rapper from New York.
According to some reports, the adult star is a few months pregnant and has even made public pictures of her baby bump.
For all of you who have never heard of her before, then you must know that Jazmine has appeared in more than 80 adult films since 2004 and has even won awards for her performances in these videos and films.
According to E-Parenting News, the baby’s daddy is none other than Jay Z! If this rumor is true, this will be Jay Z’s 2nd child. This would explain why Beyonce has been acting so looney lately, and why that rumored romance between Bey and her bodyguard Julius seems to be heating up.
You can read Jazmine’s tweets at @4bidnJazmine. We’re sure she’ll have a lot more to say in the coming weeks.
