Some of my loyal readers objected to me calling elderly rapper Jay-Z "roughneck" in this post yesterday. Some of my readers are too young to remember when roughnecks were considered the ultimate symbols of male sexuality in the hood.
Posts Categorized: Throwback/ Old School
Children of the '60s and '70s remember Marilyn McCoo as the beautiful, sultry lead singer of Grammy-winning R&B/pop group 5th Dimension. McCoo was spotted feeding the homeless at The Los Angeles Mission Thanksgiving Event -- as she does every year.
Wannabe rapper Safaree Samuels posted a throwback image of himself as a wiry teenager striking a pose on his bike in his hometown of Brooklyn, NY.
"Oh Honey" by British Soul band Delegation became a regular staple on Quiet Storm radio shows when it dropped in 1978.
This popular professional athlete is now retired, but he is still in high demand as a commercial pitchman. In fact, he earns more money filming 30-second commercials than he did playing ball!
Can you guess who this famous athlete is?
See the answer after the break!
Years ago, rapper T.I., who now works for the mayor's office in Atlanta, paused to take a photo with a young fan who grew up to be Atlanta rapper Lil Yachty. Yachty, 20, is among a new generation of bubblegum rappers whose songs quickly fade from the radio. He is best known for appearing in a Sprite commercial with NBA superstar LeBron James.
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Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and his father Rocky Johnson, 1981. pic.twitter.com/azO1I5pNjd
— History In Pictures (@HistoryInPix) May 31, 2017
Actor Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson is pictured as a young lad posing with his handsome daddy Rocky Johnson. The former professional wrestler was born in Hayward, Calif. on May 2, 1972. S you can see after the break, wrestling is in The Rock's blood.
Some of you may not know who R&B crooner O'Bryan is, but you were probably conceived to one of his ballads. O'Bryan is best known for his hit song "You & I".
Here's a throwback photo taken at the old Club Kaya in Atlanta back in the day when the music business was a thriving business and live was so carefree.
Pictured L-R: Music producer Polow Da Don, DJ A&R, and DJ Mars.
This is an open post where you can discuss any subject matter. This post will not be censored or moderated. Disqus may automatically moderate certain words considered offensive. There are no rules in Open Posts. So enter at your own risk.
Photo source: @DJANR
The Hallmark Channel reunited the cast of 'The Facts of Life', including Kim Fields (Tootie), Lisa Welchel (Blair Warner) and Charlotte Rae (Edna Garrett). The ladies caught up and reminisced about life behind the scenes on the set of the popular show which ran from 1979 to 1988.
I bet you didn't know Kanye West sampled Drake's uncle, old skool singer Larry Graham, on his track "No More Parties in L.A.," featuring Kendrick Lamar.
Drake posted a photo of his Uncle Larry's album cover on Instagram.com. Kanye sampled Graham's song "Stand Up and Shout About Love" from this album.
Reality TV star Mimi Faust (2nd from right) posted a current photo and a throwback photo of herself posing with the same crew of girlfriends 10 years ago.
This little cutie began her recording career before she reached puberty. She is the youngest singer ever to have two consecutive #1 hits on the Billboard R&B charts. She eventually sold over 20 million records. The Diva is currently recording her eighth studio album. She is happily married to a good man who is a devoted father to her 3 children. Who is she?
This pint sized bumble bee grew up to marry a NBA superstar whose east coast team is struggling to win games this season. The former DJ is a bisexual whose preferences lean more towards studs than lipstick lesbians. Who is she?
Daytime talk show host Ellen Degeneres tweeted the above image of herself posing with '80s girl group Destiny's Child.
Long before they became pillars of the community and men of the cloth, Nate and Bernard Bronner were once a funk band duo in the 1980s. Nate and Bernard released 4 albums as The Bronner Brothers. Nate wrote most of their songs, including "Pretty Boys," "I'm Not That Bad," and "A Man To Love". The group was active from 1983 through 1987.
Bernard Bronner (pictured above in 1985) is now President of Bronner Brothers, one of the largest manufacturers of hair and skin care products for African Americans. He is also publisher of Upscale magazine, partner in Rainforest Films, and Show & Sales Director for the Atlanta-based Bronner Bros. He and his wife Shiela have 5 children.
The singer who inspired rapper Jay Z to name his daughter Blue Ivy has dropped a new single.
Blu Cantrell once dated Jay Z before he met Beyonce. Apparently, Jay Z was very impressed by Blu's oral skills.
The 36-year-old singer dropped her new single "SOS (Tell Me Where You At)" off her upcoming album, which is set for release in April 2013.
Blu's debut album, Bittersweet, was relased in 2001. Her first single off Bittersweet, "Hit 'Em Up Style (Oops!)," reached #2 on the Billboard charts and made Blu an overnight star.
Sources say Blu and Jay Z's relationship didn't last because she was too smart for him.
[audio:Blu-Cantrell_SOS.mp3]More from Sandrarose.com:
LL Cool J may be 44 years old, but he can still go toe-to-toe with any man. The "Mama Said Knock You Out" rapper prides himself on keeping his sexy bod in top shape. So when a hapless burglar picked the wrong house to rob, LL wasted no time taking the crook down to the floor, according to TMZ.
R&B singer Monifah recently spoke out about dating women in an interview with Essence.com. Though Monifah once dated ex-lover Queen Latifah for many years, she still can't bring herself to admit she's out of the closet.
"I hate the term," she says, "because I've never been anything but who I am, and I've lived my authentic life."
Monifah, 41, is one of 5 R&B singers featured in a new reality TV series titled "R&B Divas," premiering Aug. 20 on TVOne. The series also stars Faith Evans, Nicci Gilbert, Kiki Wyatt, and Sylena Johnson. The series centers around the women's lives as they work together on a R&B compilation album.
Music legend Stevie Wonder has filed for divorce from his wife, Kai Millard Morris, TMZ has learned.
In the divorce docs obtained by TMZ, the music icon cites irreconcilable differences. According to the papers, Wonder has been separated from wife Kai Millard Morris since October 2009.
Wonder filed the divorce papers using his legal name, Stevland Morris, and signed with two fingerprints.
In the docs, filed by disso-queen Laura Wasser, Wonder asks for joint custody of the couple's two boys, ages 10 and 7.In the docs, Wonder agrees to pay both spousal and child support.
Television icon Sherman Hemsley passed away at his El Paso, Texas, home, according to TMZ. He was 74. Hemsley is best known to his generations of fans as successful upper east side dry cleaners owner George Jefferson in The Jeffersons.
Hemsley won an Emmy in 1984 for his star-turning role as the abrasive-but-lovable patriarch of the Jeffersons. Hemsley was introduced to television audiences in the 1970s as Archie Bunker's equally bigoted next door neighbor on All in the Family.
Ms. Melodie, one of 1980s female rap pioneers, has died according to multiple sources.
From Complex.com:
The MC (real name Ramona Parker), who was once married to KRS-One in 1988, released her first single in the same year called “Hype According To Ms. Melodie.” The following year, Diva, was released in 1989 on Jive Records. Her biggest video was “Live On Stage” and gave a memorable performance on the single “Self Destruction.” Ms. Melodie also had the opportunity to appear in Queen Latifah’s video “Ladies First.” The cause of death is unknown, but we will keep you updated as the story unfolds.
The Internet is buzzing over rapper Lil Wayne's abrupt announcement that he is banned from the Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City tonight where the Thunder will take on the San Antonio Spurs in game 3 of the Western conference NBA finals.
Wayne, 29, is a fixure at NBA games, especially at the New Orleans Saints and the Miami Heat home games (Weezy is from Nola and lives in Miami).
But Wayne won't be in attendance tonight at the OKC game.
Moments ago Wayne tweeted this:
Rapper Nas covers Complex magazine's June/July 2012 issue. Yes, life IS really good when a fading rapper no longer has a high maintenance wife (or baby mama) sucking cash out of his wallet like a Hoover.
Spotted on HHU
Gossip website TMZ.com is reporting that disco legend Donna Summer has died after a long battle with cancer this morning in her Florida home. She was 63.
Donna Summer, real name LaDonna Gaines, was originally trained as a gospel singer before breaking into the big time as a disco singer.
The 5-time Grammy winner, whose disco hits helped redefine the music industry in the seventies, peaked on the charts with her singles "Love to Love You Baby" (1975), "Last Dance" (1978), "Hot Stuff" (1978) and "Bad Girls" (1979).
Mixing soul and funk with electro house music, Donna was dubbed Disco Queen. But her star soon faded when the industry suffered from a disco backlash in the 80s.
Still, Donna achieved more success in the 1980s with her singles "On the Radio" (!980) "She Works Hard For the Money" (1982), and "This Time I Know It's For Real" (1988). Her most recent album, Crayons, was released in 2008.
Over the weekend, R&B singer Jarvis leaked a track title "Make a Little Room" off his new mixtape which drops this Summer. The track received glowing reviews from my readers and followers on Twitter.com, who compared Jarvis's smooth vocals to struggling singers Chris Brown and Trey Songz.
Former child star Lark Vorhies is 38 now, and finally she's happy in her own skin. Why can't we be happy for her?
Yesterday, the woman known to millions of Saved By The Bell fans as "Lisa Turtle" appeared on a segment of Yahoo's The Yo Show hosted by the flamboyant Michael Yo.
Married with one child, Lark appeared to be relaxed and quite content after all these years living in the shadow of her perky TV character. Lark probably doesn't care that her mature appearance has sparked such an uproar on social networks such as Twitter.com.
Did she have plastic surgery? Is she bleaching? Maybe. But shouldn't her skin be lighter if she was bleaching? Does she wear a ton of makeup? Yes, but most women do because they fear they will be judged harshly if they don't.
Yes, kids, stars get old. And some of them drop the pretenses of going through the motions of maintaining Hollywood's standard of beauty.
The mainstream media is angry at President Obama this morning. Not because of the spiraling deficit or the lack of jobs production. They are angry that the president failed to mention the passing of Adam Yauch, also known as MCA, one third of the Beastie Boys who died of salivary gland cancer over the weekend.
I guess it doesn't matter that the ones who are angry are mostly white, and they don't really understand the complexities or the roots of hip hop anyway.
If they did understand, then they would know that the black community as a whole did not embrace the Beastie Boys in the 1980s like they did. Yes, the Beastie Boys introduced hip hop to a whole new audience -- mainly drunk college frat boys.
And for that reason, Washington Times columnist Joseph Curl thinks the president should have at least mentioned MCA to the college kids he spoke with over the weekend.
"Make no mistake," writes Curl, "MCA was no JayZ or Kanye West... Funny the 'coolest president ever' doesn’t say a word about the passing of MCA. Weird and kinda sad, actually."
Well, not as sad as a race-baiting columnist expecting the president to recognize the passing of a star because he's "half-white".
If you weren't at least 12-years-old in 1992, then you won't remember the insane hype leading up to the premiere of Michael Jackson's "Remember The Time" short movie.
The Internet was not easily accessible to everyone back then. But it was difficult to ignore the massive marketing machinery behind the short movie for Michael's 2nd single off of his multi-platinum Dangerous album.
"Remember The Time"'s music video was loosely based on Eddie Murphy's hit comedy movie Coming To America (1988).
Leading up to the world premiere, MTV and BET teased us by airing clips of the behind the scenes magic that went into making this 9-minute spectacle directed by John Singleton. When "Remember The Time" finally premiered on MTV and BET simultaneously on Feb. 22, 1992, it was one of the longest music videos ever, clocking in at just over 9 minutes.
RTT starred some of the biggest names of that era: including comedian Eddie Murphy, supermodel Iman and NBA star Magic Johnson, who 1 year earlier announced he was infected with the HIV virus and retired from the NBA.
The music video dance sequences were choreographed by Fatima Robinson. Fatima also choreographed the opening credits sequence of Queen Latifah's hit TV show "Living Single", as well as scores of rap music videos in the 80s and 90s.
What struck me the most when I first viewed this video back in 1992 were how much lighter Michael had bleached his skin, the awkward kiss between him and Iman, and the Egyptian dance scenes, which I still love!
Brighter side of Darkness was 20th Century Records' answer to the Jackson 5 back in the 1970s. Their gold single, "Love Jones," dropped in 1972, and the group's debut album of the same name was released the following year. If I'm not mistaken, these kids had only one hit, and "Love Jones" was it.
But listen to the words:
-
What is a love jones? Shucks, doll
It's when you love someone very, very much
And you just can't seem to get yourself together
The singer is describing the effects of Dopamine on his young brain. When we don't know how to describe what we're feeling, we assume we're in love, when we're really not. We're just under the powerful effects of Dopamine -- Nature's way of making you hawt for the person you are attracted to -- and hopefully, the result is that you have sex and reproduce. Then the Dopamine fades (within 2 months to 2 years) and you are left wondering what you ever saw in the person you thought you was attracted to. This is part of the reason why divorce rates are so high. 'Irreconcilable differences' simply means the sex was good and you thought you were in love, so you got married. But remember, sex has nothing to do with love!