THIS IS THE CHRONICLES OF EFREM: The Daily Buzz For Feb 11

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Kendrick Lamar Covers ‘Billboard,’ Talks Grammys, President Obama & Favorite MCs

With the 58th Annual Grammy Awards — and a potential 11-award sweep — just days away, Kendrick Lamar graces the cover of Billboard‘s latest issue. Speaking with Jody Rosen, K. Dot gives a wide-ranging and typically insightful interview about his recent White House appointment with President Obama, his new favorite rappers (who actually have something to say) and being in the early stages of his next album. Kendrick also talks about being snubbed at the 2014 Grammys and how he’s hoping for a very different outcome at this year’s awards: “I want to win them all.”

Check out a few highlights after the jump and read the full story here. The issue hits shelves on Feb. 13.

UPDATE: In a new video, Kendrick plays “Fishing For Answers” and reveals his greatest mentor, dream collaboration and one secret talent (aside from being able to rap his ass off).

On To Pimp a Butterfly:

“The album just had a deeper impact than I expected, because it touched so many homes, and not just in my own community. I guess I’m just speaking words that need to be heard in these times.”

“I wanted to have a time capsule on the record,” he says. “But I knew it would be fresh because a fresh kid is doing it. I said: ‘That’s what’s going to make it new — my lyrics and my words.’”

On President Obama:

“The way people look at me these days — that’s the same way I looked at President Obama before I met him. We tend to forget that people who’ve attained a certain position are human. When [the president] said to my face what his favorite record was — I understood that, no matter how high-ranking you get in this world, you’re human.”

“No matter how high the pedestal you reach, we all still like a beat,” he says. “Even the president has got to hear that snare drum.”

On 2014 Grammys snub:

“[The Grammy defeats] would have been upsetting to me if I’d known that was my best work, if I had nothing new to offer,” he says. “Good Kid, M.A.A.D City is great work, but it’s not my best work. To Pimp a Butterfly is great. I’m talking about the connection the record made. Good Kid, M.A.A.D City made a connection. But To Pimp a Butterfly made a bigger connection.”

On his new favorite rappers:

Asked to name favorite fellow travelers, Lamar cites Chance the Rapper, the Brooklyn ’90s-rap revivalist Joey Badass and Isaiah Rashad, Lamar’s labelmate on Top Dawg Entertainment. For Lamar, these young rappers represent a new vanguard, a cohort of 20-somethings who belie criticism of millennials as disengaged and apathetic. “When everybody looks at our generation of kids, they always call us the misfits — you know, like we just don’t give a damn,” he says. “But these individuals, they show that we do have some sense. Our generation just needs the proper people to tell us about our problems, about our wrongs and our rights.”

On his next album:

“As far as content, what I want to get across, I have an idea,” he says. “But even that’s still premature. Once I get back in that studio, things evolve into other things.

Get the rest over at Billboard.com

#EGGPLANTNATION; Meet The Tatoo’d Polemaster BRYANTOPXXX!

Meet BryanTOPXXX! Ladies et al, Why is Bryan looking down there?! Well when you GO HERE TO SEE THE PIC! You will see why! Remember its NSFW!

And YES You’re welcome!

#RHOA: Is Cynthia Bailey’s marriage in trouble AGAIN?

Cynthia Bailey and Peter Thomas‘ marriage enearly fell apart last year after a viral video spread across the Internet, showing Thomas inappropriately touching another woman. But on “The Real Housewives of Atlanta,” the couple revealed even deeper problems in their marriage, most importantly that they weren’t spending enough time with each other because of their respective businesses. Since then, the couple vowed to each other to spend more time with each other and give their marriage a second chance. But could they soon fall victim to the same mistakes and problems?

As previously reported, during the height of their marital problems last year, Bailey criticized Thomas for launching his Sport One bar all the way in Charlotte, North Carolina, which forced the couple to spend an increasing amount of time apart while he kept his new business afloat during its infancy. Meanwhile, Thomas accused Bailey of mentally checking out of their marriage and having stopped loving him. Luckily for the couple, they were able to weather the storm and keep their marriage alive.

However, while Bailey is busy supporting her new eyewear line, Thomas recently revealed on his Instagram page that he plans to launch a new nightclub in Charlotte in less than two months.

“The HOTTEST CLUB in Charlotte is 6 weeks away, The grand opening is going to be EPIC. Another PETER THOMAS ENTERTAINMENT GROUP. @sportsoneclt @baroneclt,” he captioned the photo.

According to media reports, fans also noticed that Thomas and Bailey spent Super Bowl Sunday in different cities. While Bailey was watching the Super Bowl with her friends in L.A., Thomas was at Sports One in Charlotte, watching the game with celebrities like Trina.

Now, rumors and reports are growing that the couple may, once again, find themselves too busy to maintain their marriage. Neither Bailey nor Thomas have confirmed or denied any rumors about marital drama, but considering the pressure that’s already on them being in the spotlight in reality TV, we hope that the couple is still happy. However, if they aren’t, we’ll no doubt see it play out on “RHOA.”

New R&B Music: Bryan J – Why?

R&B crooner Bryan J makes his oft-delayed return today with the brand new, smooth single “Why?”

Featuring his sultry falsetto over shimmering synths the track features a twinkling sample of Michael Jackson’s “Human Nature.” Bryan emulates MJ in his lyrics and some of his vocal inflections, singing: “Why, it’s only in our nature, babe.”

LISTEN HERE

The Razihel-produced track is the first single off his forthcoming LP, Hogansville, named after his Georgia hometown.

Rihanna Makes History As First Artist To Reach 100 Million Song Certifications From RIAA

That Rihanna reign just won’t let up! Come inside to celebrate with the Pop princess for making history as the first and only artist in RIAA Gold & Platinum history to be certified with 100 million song awards….

Rihanna just dropped her ANTI album. And she’s still dominating the music scene.

After dropping her eighth studio album, the “Work” singer is basking in her accomplishments. And rightfully so.

According to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), the Pop princess is the first and only artist to surpass RIAA’s 100 million cumulative singles award threshold. YAS! Chick is taking over the music game taking all prisoners.

Today, the Bajan beauty took to Instagram to post a pic of herself holding her history making plaque and another plaque for her ATNI album that went platinum a little over a day after it was released. She captioned, “Thank you to my kill team, NAVY we're the 1ST & ONLY in history to be @RIAA_awards certified with 100M song awards and.....#ANTI is PLATINUM! Thank u for the love! Glory be to God!!!"

Congrats Rihanna!

RiRi is set to hit the road on her “ANTI World Tour,” kicking off February 26th in San Diego. Before she goes on tour, she will rock out on the stage at this year’s GRAMMY Awards set to air February 15th.

Patti LaBelle Joins ‘The Voice’ as Christina Aguilera’s Advisor

Christina Aguilera has enlisted the help of a legend for her return to ‘The Voice.’ The one and only Patti LaBelle will serve as Christina’s chosen advisor this season to help her team to victory.

via People: “I adore Christina, so I was honored and excited when she invited me to be a part of her team and we had a ball working together!” LaBelle tells PEOPLE exclusively. “And there is so much talent on our team … everyone else better watch out!”

Aguilera, 35, took a break last season from the show to focus on her family (she welcomed daughter Summer Rain with fiancé Matt Rutler in 2014) and other projects.

Season 10 of The Voice returns Feb. 29 at 8 p.m. on NBC.

SADNESS: #BlackLivesMatter Activist Commits Suicide on Ohio Statehouse Steps!

*There is sad news to report. MarShawn McCarrel II, a 23-year-old Black Lives Matter activist, has committed suicide. According to the New York Daily News, McCarrel took his own life Monday night (Feb. 8) when he fatally shot himself in Ohio Statehouse building in Columbus.

Just hours before his body was found near the Statehouse, McCarrel posted the following message on his Facebook page about 3 p.m.:

“My demons won today. I’m sorry.” Speaking with The Columbus Dispatch, Lt. Craig Cvetan of the State Highway Patrol revealed that no one witnessed the shooting. In addition, McCarrel was pronounced dead at the scene.

In addition to Facebook, McCarrel expressed himself on Twitter as he last tweet read: “Let the record show that I pissed on the state house before I left.”

McCarrel’s impact was felt in Ohio and around the nation with his recent work with Black Lives Matter in helping to organize protests in the state after a Missouri cop shot and killed unarmed black teenager Michael Brown in 2014. McCarrel’s work with Black Lives Matter was coupled with his efforts to help the homeless in Ohio via Feed the Streets, a project launched by Pursuing Our Dreams, a youth mentorship program he founded.

McCarrel’s efforts were recognized by Radio One, which honored him as one of its Hometown Champions earlier this year. On its Facebook page, Pursuing Our Dreams revealed that the award, which is given to community activists and volunteers enabled McCarrel to travel to California to attend the NAACP’s Image Awards on Friday (Feb. 5).

Accompanying the community organizer to the annual event was his mother, Leatha Wellington, who told the Dispatch that McCarrel put his causes before himself.

Wellington, along with McCarrel’s twin brother MarQuan later shared with the publication their thoughts on McCarrel as they suspect the never-ending and disturbing nature of his activism and charity work left him mentally and physically exhausted in a way they didn’t realize.

“He impacted so many people, touched so many lives,” Wellington shared with the Dispatch.

“He was just so creative,” MarQuan stated. “He just wanted to serve people.”

A nomination page for the Hometown Champions Award provided further details about McCarrel, noting that he was homeless for three months after graduating from high school. That experience, according to the nomination page, inspired McCarrel to help others.

“He is selfless and will give his last in order to make sure others don’t go without. MarShawn has come so far in life and has inspired so many people to help others,” the nomination page read.

“When MarShawn got back on his feet, he felt the need to give back because so many people helped him when he was down. MarShawn stresses the importance of having conversations with the people we feed because they’ll get hungry in 2 hours but a good conversation will carry them over for a lifetime.”

May he Rest In Peace!

Amber Rose & Blac Chyna Invade Trinidad’s Carnival

Amber Rose and Blac Chyna have invaded Trinidad Carnival.

This week, we spotted the BFF’s enjoying the annual festival showing off their jaw-dropping curves. The pair are hosting a bash together as well.

Oh? Catch this TEA! K.Michelle’s Reality show is FAKE! According to new enemy

Mona…you’ve got some explaining to do! According to the folks over at teamcurtains! Yes it seems that is the case, with the controversy that has transpired since the airing of the most recent episode of the songstress’ reality show. Last night on the second season of K. Michelle: My Life, K. Michelle rekindles her relationship with old flame/almost baby-daddy, Bobby, after he takes her on a romantic safari trip.

However, the romance was cut short when K. finds out Bobby has been “DM’ing” another girl behind her back! Later in the episode she confronts him at her house-warming party and knocks him down to size in front of his ‘Aunt CC’, who was also in attendance. You may or may not have heard of Aunt CC, the self-proclaimed “insta-famous” personality commonly seen on the internet boasting about her past tales of ratchetry and hood adventures such as “beating bitches asses” and “being shot & stabbed” several times.

Well after watching her nephew be berated on the show Aunt CC went in to full beast mode and spilled ALL the TEA on K. Michelle and Bobby’s relationship and the entire Mona Scott production! She even talks about her own personal issues with the ‘Can’t Raise A Man’ singer. Now we all know K.Michelle is no stranger to her B-list celebrity Beefs, most recently moving up the chain by calling out Adele, but CC goes as far as to compare her to the sociopath-like character from the movie ‘Gone Girl’. Check the post Below:

FULL QUOTE:

“ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!! First off thank you to everybody that support me I love all who f**ks wit me 💋😊 now back to to this vindictive B***H! See yal this why I don’t f**k wit bird bitches 🐣 it’s time for revelations yal ready for this?? 1st off My nephew Bobby only did the K Michelle show for me to get more exposure u know like lights camera Action! Ima be real cuz I’m a REAL BITCH! Her friend my Girl Paris( her friend she stabbed in the back & lied on in front of millions just for a season finale) spotted me on the gram last year showed K so they wanted me on the show for first season! Yal paying attention?? K started feeling my nephew ANYWHO when we went to NY to meet & talk Pesos, the producers loved how my nephew looked on camera and she needed a love life storyline soooooooo she persuades him to play it out on tv in return to put me on for the 2nd season which yal jus saw! DO NOT BELIEVE SH*T U SEE ON THESE REALITY SHOWS! These n***as and b***hes need storylines and they wait for yo ass to be off set and time to past to go on the Green Screen for millions to SEEE and Dog u out see she didn’t do all that shit when I was on f**kin SET CUZ I woulda YOKED HER ASS UP!! my nephew has an AMAZING HEART and I’m so mad he had to go thru all this slander for me! you see he got a lot of positive things going on and he taking the high road a road A bitch like me jus don’t take! YOU PICKED THE RIGHT ONE CUZ NOW IM COMIN FOR YOU NECK DONT F**K WIT MY FAMILY #GlennClose #Obsessed#FATALATTRACTION #Lies #Deception#GoneGirl #whoyoufooling#Wherewasmyscript # #Tamarbraxton#Ellevarner #Memphitz #lilkim #Adele#Rasheeda #Parisphillips #IdrisElba#Mynephew etc. and now you added me to the list #AUNTCC”

Hmm…Aside from the grammatical errors, what do you guys think of Aunt CC’s rant?

OH LAWD! Leolah Brown Promises Mind Blowing Revelations

Last month Bobby Brown's sister Leolah Brown announced she was writing an exposé on what really happened to Whitney Houston and her daughter Bobbi Kristina Brown.

Now the book is nearly complete and Leolah promises minds will be blown...

Leolah writes on Facebook

Sometimes I wonder about her!

Lamar Sally Filming A Reality Show About Being A Single Dad

*Lamar Sally is again talking about his ex-wife Sherri Shepherd to Radar Online, saying she has made his life “a living hell” over her decision not to acknowledge...

*Lamar Sally is again talking about his ex-wife Sherri Shepherd to Radar Online, saying she has made his life “a living hell” over her decision not to acknowledge their surrogate baby.

The former co-host of “The View” is currently appealing a Pennsylvania court ruling that forces her to pay Sally child support for their one-year-old son Lamar Jr. (LJ), who was born via surrogate. Sherri is also still trying to get her name removed from LJ’s birth certificate.

“My honest opinion is that it’s very hurtful that she would take it this far because the first conversation that we had is that we both wanted a baby,” Sally, 44, told Radar Online. “We both paid for the surrogate—she paid for the majority—and we talked about it numerous times: about LJ being born. So for her to come out now to take it this far to the Supreme Court is just baffling to me. It hurts that LJ is growing up without a mother.”

Shepherd has not been part of LJ’s life at all since his birth, which took place after Lamar and Sherri split.

“She has never met LJ,” Sally confirmed. “She has never reached out for anything. She has never asked for pictures.”

Sally said she even returned a holiday greeting. “I sent her a Christmas card the first year he was born—he was like four months—and it came back,” he said.

Shepherd has also never sent LJ any presents or cards either.

“Never received anything,” Sally said. “We don’t communicate. She prefers to go through lawyers.”

“It hurts now because when she’s on TV, she will refer to him as ‘Lamar’s child,’” said Sally. “I’m like, ‘This is our son. This is our baby.’ So it’s very hurtful that she doesn’t recognize him in public or private.”

For Sally, Shepherd’s actions are extremely confusing.

“I don’t know why she doesn’t want to be a part of his life,” he said. “He’s a really good baby. He’s charismatic and always laughing and smiling. She’s really missing out on a lot. He’s really something special.”

“Sherri has literally made my life a living hell as far as what she has done to my reputation in the media, what she has put me through,” Sally continued. “I am $100k in debt because of this with lawyer fees.”

“And now she’s left me to be a single parent of a sick child,” he added. “It’s just not right.”

Reflecting on everything, Sally is shocked by the way Shepherd handles the situation.

“To have it come from someone that I loved and loved enough to marry and become a stepfather to her child… she won’t let me have anything to do with my stepson [and] she doesn’t want to be a part of LJ’s life,” he said. “It’s bad.”

Sally is now in the process of filming a reality show to share what his experience has been like trying to raise LJ as a single dad, and to communicate his side of the story in his ongoing battle with Shepherd.

Letoya Luckett & Wendy Raquel Robinson Laugh It Up While Showing "Here We Go Again"

Over at Boogalou Restaurant & Lounge, Letoya Luckett and her new blonde made their way tot he carpet for Toya's brand new scripted series:

The former "Single Ladies" star has moved on to another show, and it's actually good. Plus, it doesn't hurt that she gets to work with her real life boyfriend on an episode or two, Rob Hill, Sr.