The Queen Of Hip-Hop Soul: Mary J. Blige Covers ESSENCE’s November 2017 Issue
Grammy-winning R&B icon Mary J Blige covers ESSENCE‘s November 2017 issue and opens up about her new role in Netflix‘s Mudbound, which is set in the Mississippi Delta during the Jim Crow South. In the film, directed by Dee Rees (Pariah), Blige plays Florence Jackson, a mother of four who’s navigating her family through the dangers of being Black while living on a flood-drenched farm in the south.
“Shedding Mary J. Blige for Florence gave Mary J. Blige some confidence… like a lot of it,” Blige told ESSENCE writer Taiia Smart Young, while being interviewed in Miami. “[On set] I could hear people whispering, ‘She’s so beautiful.’ And I was like, ‘Who the hell are they talking about?'”
This issue was photographed by photographer Dennis Leupold and styled by Marni Senofonte.
Be sure to pick up this issue, hitting newsstands October 20.
#RHoA: Check out the homes of ‘The Real Housewives of Atlanta’ cast
“Real Housewives of Atlanta” castmates are competitive for prominence, for drama, for airtime.
They are also competitive when it comes to buying homes. Three of them purchased houses in metro Atlanta within weeks of each other last summer and fall: Cynthia Bailey, Porsha Williams and Phaedra Parks, ranging in price from $940,000 to $1.9 million.
We have seen two of them already on the show, with Porsha showing off her new Duluth abode this past Sunday.
Here are summaries of each house, including that of NeNe Leakes for good measure:
Porsha Williams
According to public real estate records, she purchased her Duluth home on September 20, 2016 for $1,150,000. It’s in the lavish, gated Sugarloaf Country Club community, near the home of NeNe Leakes.
The show said she purchased it for $1.4 million, but I suspect the producers purposely showed a different amount to throw people off while searching around online.
Her new abode has five bedrooms, five full baths and two half baths at almost 6,000 square feet. It has a huge chef’s kitchen, a large master bedroom and bath and a three-car garage. She lives in a neighborhood packed with homes worth more than $1 million.
Cynthia Bailey
Cynthia closed on her house September 8, 2016 for $940,000. It has been featured prominently on the show and is overlooking a small lake in Sandy Springs with a lovely deck. She purchased it after her separation from Peter Thomas and selling her Glenwood Park home over the summer.
The home has six bedrooms and five bathrooms and was remodeled in 2015. It’s on one and a half acres with a huge deck and beautiful views of the lake, as noted below:
Sheree Whitfield
Whitfield bought the land in 2012 and built her Chateau Sheree from scratch. It is now with five bedrooms and five bathrooms and 8,000 square feet. The Z-estimate value of the house is about $1.2 million. It took her several years to build it and she’s had all sorts of battles with contractors.
Bravo last year provided a video look at the inside of the home.
It’s unclear if she is actually living there right now. A house warming party was held in late October and will air during a future episode of “The Real Housewives of Atlanta.” That party caused some issues with neighbors and she ended up paying a fine from the city of Sandy Springs.
Kenya Moore
She bought a fixer upper near Sheree’s home in May, 2015. It has four bedrooms, three and a half baths. We’ve seen it quite a bit on TV since her boyfriend keeps breaking windows. She purchased it for $515,000 and spent some big bucks to renovate.
Kandi Burruss
She is the only housewife who has chosen to live south if I-20. An inveterate bargain hunter who lives beneath her means, she chose a place in 2012 for a mere $503,000 though Zillow now estimates it at well over $1 million.
Nonetheless, it’s sizable: seven bedrooms, 9.5 baths and more than 7,000 square feet.
NeNe Leakes
Not surprisingly, Leakes bought the priciest house of them all in early 2015 for nearly $2.1 million in Sugarloaf Country Club in Duluth.
At almost 10,000 square feet, her newly built home has six bedrooms, six full baths and two half baths. She and Porsha have access to a 27-hole Greg Norman-designed golf course, three private lakes and 14 tennis courts, plus an Olympic competition swimming pool.
She has lived in the area for many years.
#EMPIRE: Grace Byers & Andre Royo Talk ‘Empire’ Season 4
This season Academy Award- and Golden Globe-winning actor, director and producer Forest Whitaker (The Last King of Scotland, Arrival, Lee Daniels’ The Butler) will guest-star in a multi-episode arc on Empire, beginning this fall on FOX. Whitaker will play “Uncle Eddie,” a charismatic music icon and bonafide hitmaker, who gave an unknown Lucious (Terrence Howard) his first radio airplay. Decades later, Eddie steps up for Lucious at a critical moment during his rehabilitation, and a grateful Cookie (Taraji P. Henson) invites him to produce a song in celebration of Empire Entertainment’s 20th anniversary.
Our friends over at The Knockturnal caught up with Grace Byers who stars at the always ambitious Anika Calhoun and Andre Royo who plays Thirsty Rawlings, a shifty defense attorney.Catch our interview after the jump.
The Knockturnal: Last we left off at the big explosion, so where do we pick up?
Grace Byers: Yes. So Anika is in jail for a crime she did not commit at this point. So this is where we find her, for sure. We know at this point that Lucious has survived the accident, but not without a small price to pay if you will. And he has lost his memory, this is what we know so far, and now it’s about the after-effects of who is this new nurse that he’s working with, how much of his memory has he actually lost, and how is the family coping with that? You know? So I think that’s kind of where we meet everybody.
Andre Royo: Thirsty’s happy to have a job, since last I got fired. Lucious got rid of me. So, you know, I come back and, you know, if your boss has no memory or I [may or may not] still be fired. But I get to really establish my work with the other characters. I work with Cookie, I help Yaz out a little here and there, and I think that the family really gets a chance to see what Thirsty brings to the table as a character.
The Knockturnal: Can you talk a little about the format of the series, the process.
Andre Royo: Wow. It feels a bit of the theater, a little theatrical, the way I think. As a machine, everybody does their job, for lack of a better word. The writers go in and they come with a format in time to tell a story that involves suspense, action, drama, all at once and then we get the script and then we kinda just play. We kinda get together and sit there and try to tell the truth with our characters.
The Knockturnal: So, if your characters could edit the past, what do you think they would change?
Grace Byers: I think that Anika wouldn’t have pushed Rhonda. I think she still would have tossed her off the top of that building because Rhonda attacked her. So when someone attacks you like that, you know, even though it’s not your intention to toss them off a balcony cause that was a big thing, people were like “Why’d you kill Rhonda?” I said “the real big problem is that she pushed Rhonda. That’s a problem. But Rhonda came for her at the top of that building, and was pregnant! So if she didn’t want it, she shouldn’t have come and get it!” Okay? I can’t say nothing about that. But you know what I’m saying, she gotta do what she has to do for her and her baby. But what she should not have done and I think she does absolutely regret is the attempted murder. The attempted murder of Rhonda and the successful murder of her child. I think that she feels terrible about that.
The Knockturnal: Obviously we are in a very interesting time in our country. I would say that TV, more than ever, needs to be like a really great escape for people who need a moment off. So if you could kind of put into words what you hope people are taking away from this show, even in this crazy time, cause you guys are never afraid to have the protests on television, and have to do all that, so as actors what do you hope people are taking away from this season?
Grace Byers: For me, whether it’s this TV show, another project, art in general, any art that I created, that I’m a part of, I hope people can take an experience that they can relate to from that. That’s it. That’s all I want to say. I want to speak the truth the best I can, and to me it’s really wonderful art when someone can say “Oh my gosh, I’ve felt that, I understood that, that is me. I’ve seen me in that.” So if there’s any kind of relatability there, then that’s what’s important to me. So it doesn’t matter the topic, but it matters the experience, that’s for me.
Andre Royo: I just feel like when you come in this field, you just want to entertain. I mean, that’s the bottom line. You want to entertain. If I could educate, if I can inspire, at the same time, I don’t know. That’s not for me to want, it’s for me to do. And once I put it or get in front of that camera, I just hope that people will find the truth and the humor and the inspiration and the education in whatever I do, they see that person. I think for me and my journey as an actor, the humanity … I love this show first and foremost because it’s about family. And the scene when they get together, when the Lyon family gets together, no matter what the script or what the episode is going through, it all comes together when they get together and you see that they’re gonna live and die for each other. And I think everybody wants to feel that with their family, or with their friends, with their crew, just that community that helps each other out.
The Knockturnal: People see Empire as a symbol of a good representation of diversity, acceptance, many topics. How important is that considering the country is in a very interesting time right now politically.
Grace Byers: Yeah, I feel like what we’re experiencing now isn’t new. I feel like it’s just been exposed even more. And so I feel like the concept and the idea of what this country is supposed to be is one of complete diversity and complete inclusivity. And so for me personally it breaks my heart when that doesn’t happen, you know what I mean? When you talk about intersectionality, I was raised by a single black deaf woman who was born and raised in the Caribbean. Okay? So we’re talking about multiple cultures, multiple races, you know, disability, so for me it’s important if we’re living in this country to do whatever we can through art, through our connections with individuals on and off set, in and out of work, to continue to show love, to continue to perpetuate love, to continue to stand against and speak out against anything that tries to threaten that or bring that down.
Empire is on Wednesdays on FOX.
#MUSICNEWS: Lalah Hathaway Announces Headlining Tour
Five-Time Grammy Award-winning artist, songwriter and producer, Lalah Hathaway has announced a 2018 headlining tour in support of her forthcoming eighth studio album, honestly, due out November 3.
Kicking off the new year, the trek will open Jan. 16 in St. Louis and make stops in cities including Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington, DC, Atlanta and more, with additional dates to be announced soon. Fans will be treated to a combination of Lalah Hathaway’s most beloved hits and fresh new tracks from the honestly album.
In addition, Lalah will be providing local musicians with the exciting opportunity to open up for her on the tour. As part of a new online competition, aspiring artists can submit footage of themselves performing in the hopes of securing a coveted opening act slot. The full contest details are available on www.LalahHathaway.com, with Lalah herself adding this:
“Calling all my #realmusicrebels across the country! Would you like to come open for me on my #HonestlyTour? As an advocate for local talent it’s important to me that you get your shot! There’s an opening slot in your city! Upload your musical performances to Facebook and Instagram with #IWantToOpenForLalah and #IWantToOpenForLalah[enteryourcity] (e.g. #IWantToOpenForLalahChicago ) I will PERSONALLY be reviewing all submissions! I will also be giving the opportunity to release your own single with my label, Hathaway Entertainment! GOOD LUCK!”
HONESTY TOUR DATES:
Jan. 16 – The Pageant – St. Louis, Missouri
Jan. 18 – House of Blues – Chicago, Illinois
Jan. 19 – Egyptian Room – Indianapolis, Indiana
Jan. 20 – Mercury Ballroom – Louisville, Kentucky
Jan. 21 – House of Blues – Cleveland, Ohio
Jan. 23 – The National – Richmond, Virginia
Jan. 25 – The Keswick – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Jan. 26 – The Warner Theatre – Washington, D.C.
Jan. 30 – Feb. 3 – Blue Note at Sea Cruise – Various Locations
Feb. 07 – City Winery – Nashville, Tennessee
Feb. 08 – Knight Theater – Charlotte, North Carolina
Feb. 09 – The Cone Denim Entertainment Center – Greensboro, North Carolina
Feb. 11 – Center Stage – Atlanta, Georgia
*More dates to be added*
#HIPHOPNEWS: Vic Mensa Teases DJ Drama Mixtape
Vic Mensa and DJ Drama might be up to something. The Roc Nation MC appears to be teasing a collaborative mixtape with the Gangsta Grillz DJ.
Taking to Twitter on Saturday (Oct. 21), Mensa asked fans about the possibility. “i know y’all love the freestyles,” he said. “maybe i should do a tape with @DJDRAMA… what y’all think?”
Drama appeared to celebrate the possibility, responding to the tweet with four fire emojis. It is still unclear whether the duo has already created the project, or if they will end up linking up
Mensa has spent part of the year supporting his debut album, The Autobiography. Some of the promo has included freestyles, including a rhyme fest over the instrumental to Kendrick Lamar’s “HiiiPoWeR,” and a September Hot 97 appearance, where he rhymed about JAY-Z, Aaliyah, and Tupac Shakur.
Up next, Vino is heading out on “The 4:44 Tour” with his mentor, Jigga. The trek is set to run from Oct. 27 in Anaheim through Dec. 21 in Los Angeles.
In July, Mensa spoke about how much Shawn Carter contributed to his debut album. He also celebrated the Roc Nation boss’ authenticity. “Before I ever met him, I felt like I knew him very well,” he explained. “He really is the guy from his music, so I guess I did. I bought The Blueprint on CD…and was non-stop repeat listening to that on a Walkman. Hov’s music is a real representation of him.”
Janet Jackson Calls Teyana Taylor via FaceTime After Teyana’s Flight Gets Delayed
Teyana Taylor was super excited to see Janet Jackson’s State of the World tour in Milwaukee, but unfortunately her flight got delayed and she missed the show.
How Fab of Janet to make that happen.
Ashanti’s BODY Is EVERYTHING For That New Ciroc Ad!
Ashanti is shutting down social media with her Hot Body shots from the new Ciroc ad she’s featured in.
Doing a major print job wth this pic so we can hang it all over our wall (and fridge) as motivation to get through these upcoming cold months.
Ashanti plays NO games when it comes to that gym life and it’s paying off for real for real. The songbird is featured in Diddy’s new French Vanilla Ciroc commercial (a new flavor dedicated to his artist French Montana) and chick looks like a whole bag of money.
She posted up a few behind-the-scenes shots on social media where she’s showing off her curves in an itty, bitty bikini. And the flicks are straight FIRE.
Before she shut down social media with her bikini shots...
The Braveheart singer celebrated her 37th birthday at 1Oak in L.A. recently. Yep, she's 37 out here looking not a day over 25.
Of course, her momager Tina Douglas and her sister Shia Douglas came out to celebrate.
Justin Timberlake Will Headline the Super Bowl Halftime Show
Justin Timberlake confirmed that he will headline the Super Bowl LII Pepsi Halftime show next year with a fun video skit on Sunday.
Goofing around with pal Jimmy Fallon, Timberlake asked in a faux-accent, “Excuse me sir, do you have the time?”
“I was going to ask you, sir, if you have the time,” retorted Fallon. Timberlake responded, “I do have the time.” The silly exchange continued, with Fallon asking, “You do have time?”
Timberlake said, “I do have time.” Eventually, the word games ended with Fallon excitedly prodding his friend, “You’re doing the halftime show at the Super Bowl?”
With that, the “Can’t Stop the Feeling” singer gave a sly look at the camera.
Last month, Variety reported that the singer was the frontrunner to headline the halftime show on Feb. 4, 2018.
The performance will come 14 years after Timberlake’s controversial appearance in the 2004 halftime show, when he removed a piece of headliner Janet Jackson’s ensemble during the “Rock Your Body” lyrics “gonna have you naked by the end of this song,” revealing Jackson’s right pierced nipple as about 90 million viewers watched live on television across the globe.
Since then, Lady Gaga, Bruno Mars, Beyoncé, Coldplay, Katy Perry, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Madonna have taken the halftime stage.
James Packer Reflects On Relationship With Mariah Carey: “It Was a Mistake”
In a new interview with the Weekend Australian, billionaire businessman James Packer opened up about why his relationship with Mariah Carey didn’t work out. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
“I was at a low point in my personal life,” he told the publication. “She was kind, exciting and fun. Mariah is a woman of substance. But it was a mistake for her and a mistake for me.” ⠀⠀⠀
The ex-couple met in 2014 through a mutual friend before going public with their relationship the following year. He proposed to the “We Belong Together” singer with a 35-carat diamond ring in 2016, but the relationship reportedly ended after they got into an argument while vacationing in Greece later that year. A source close to the singer previously told #PEOPLE, “James has not been in a mentally healthy place and has not been present for Mariah or her family” and that “his behavior was not a desirable situation for Mariah so she unfortunately had to leave him.” But Packer’s rep denied the claims.
Ellen DeGeneres and Portia De Rossi to remarry
The 59-year-old talk show host and the 44-year-old actress are reported to be planning a lavish ceremony in Australia - where Portia was born - to celebrate their 10th wedding anniversary in summer 2018.
The couple are said to be keen to renew their vows in front of friends, family and celebrity guests, including Hugh Jackman and Deborra-Lee Furness, Oprah Winfrey, Reese Witherspoon, Jennifer Aniston, Pink and Julia Roberts.
A source told Australia's Woman's Day magazine: "They're recreating the beautiful wedding they had in 2008 with a few new twists.
"This second wedding will be a fresh start for them. They're so in love."
'Arrested Development' star Portia and comedienne Ellen have been together since first meeting backstage at an awards ceremony, in 2004.
The couple - who are both fierce campaigners for equality and GLBT rights - tied the knot when gay marriage became legal in an intimate ceremony at their Beverly Hills home in August 2008.
In 2010, Portia legally changed her name to Portia Lee James DeGeneres.
Celebrating their ninth wedding anniversary this summer, Ellen wrote on Instagram: "@PortiadeRossi and I got married 9 years ago today. Being her wife is the greatest thing I am.
Widow Of U.S. Soldier Killed In Niger: Trump’s Call ‘Made Me Cry Even Worse’
Myeshia Johnson confirmed the president told her that her husband “knew what he signed up for.”
The widow of a U.S. soldier killed in Niger said she was “hurt” when President Donald Trump told her in a phone call last week that her husband “knew what he signed up for.”
“He couldn’t remember my husband’s name,” Myeshia Johnson told ABC’s “Good Morning America” on Monday, referring to the presidential condolence call that ignited a weeklong controversy. “I heard him stumbling on trying to remember my husband’s name.”
She said Trump told her that her husband, Sgt. La David Johnson, “knew what he signed up for but it hurts anyways. And it made me cry because I was very angry at the tone in his voice and how he said it.”
The president’s call made her “very upset and hurt,” she said. “It made me cry even worse.”
Trump quickly shot back on Twitter, saying that his conversation with Johnson was “very respectful” and that he did say the fallen soldier’s name.
Johnson’s death has been front and center in a controversy Trump himself created when he drew attention to the fact that he hadn’t phoned the immediate families of all service members who had been killed during his presidency and made the erroneous claim that his predecessors didn’t make such calls.
Trump did phone Johnson last week. Rep. Federica Wilson (D-Fla.), who was in the car with Johnson when Trump made the condolence call on Tuesday, was the first to speak out about the conversation:
“Sarcastically he said: ‘But you know he must have known what he signed up for,’” Wilson told NBC6. “How could you say that to a grieving widow? I couldn’t believe ... and he said it more than once. I said this man has no feelings for anyone. This is a young woman with child who is grieved to her soul.”
Johnson’s aunt, who was also in the car, backed Wilson up last week. Trump on Wednesday accused Wilson of fabricating what he said, claiming he had proof.
“Whatever Ms. Wilson said was not fabricated,” Johnson’s widow, who is pregnant, confirmed on Monday. “What she said was 100-percent correct. The phone was on speakerphone. Why would we fabricate something like that?”
She said she has nothing further to say to Trump.
Johnson was killed during an ambush in Niger on Oct. 4, along with three other Special Forces troops. It took authorities two days to find his body, leading to questions about what occurred during the attack and whether the U.S. and Niger soldiers with him on the mission left him behind or tried to come back to rescue him.
Johnson’s widow said she’s still desperately seeking answers to what happened.
“When they came to my house they just told me that it was a massive gunfire and my husband as of Oct. 4 was missing,” she said. “They didn’t know his whereabouts, they didn’t know where he was. And a couple of days later they told me he went from missing to killed in action. I don’t know how he got killed, where he got killed, anything.”
Johnson kisses her late husband’s coffin at a graveside service in Hollywood, Florida, October 21, 2017.
She said she still hasn’t been able to see her husband’s body.
“They told he was in a severe wrap and I wouldn’t be able to see him. I know my husband’s body from head to toe and they won’t let me see anything. I don’t know what’s in that box, it could be empty from head to toe.”
Approximately 1,000 people attended Johnson’s funeral on Saturday.
The administration is reportedly rush-delivering condolence letters to families of slain soldiers amid the controversy. Three Gold Star families told The Atlantic that they hadn’t received correspondence from Trump until last week.
In fact, the White House apparently had to scramble to find contact information for Gold Star families who lost a service member since January in order to determine who Trump hadn’t yet contacted, according to an internal Defense Department email obtained by political news site Roll Call.
AND FINALLY FROM “THE CRAZY PEOPLE SHOPPING AT WALMART” FILES
'Doing The Ratty Rat'
Just wait until 2020 when it’s the Chinese Year of the Rat again. You can’t even begin to fathom the kinds of super powers that he’ll have.
EGGPLANT NATION: Meet Father D
Meet Father D! So you know what to do to see more. Just CLICK HERE TO SEE THE PICS and remember they’re NSFW!
DISCLAIMER: WE DO NOT OWN NOR ALTER any images posted on this blog. All images are found online or submitted.
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HAVE A GREAT DAY ALL!
EFREM
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