Rapper Rick Ross Sued for Stealing Drug Dealer's Name

by Dr. Boyce Watkins

I never bought into the hype that Rick Ross was a fraud. Everyone seemed to feel that because he was found to have been a corrections officer in a previous life, that he somehow violated the oath which says that rappers have to be criminals in order to sell records. I don't know how true or false the rumors happen to be, but the fact is that I never cared.

However, when I found out that there is reason to believe that the rapper Rick Ross took his name from the notorious drug dealer "Freeway" Ricky Ross, I thought to myself, "This is just stupid. Why can't the brother just be himself?"

 

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Suge Knight, Single Mothers, Rev. Al, Obama and More - 6/22/10

Suge Knight, Kanye West: Lawsuit, Guns and Money

• It appears that Kanye West and the infamous Marion "Suge" Knight are getting together to work out ... Read More
• By Boyce Watkins, PhD on Jun 22nd 2010 6:36PM | Comments (0)

How Love and Money Mix and How You Can Do it the Right Way

• I did the interview below on CNN Radio this week about love and money. Most of us know the feeling ... Read More
• By Boyce Watkins, PhD on Jun 22nd 2010 4:45PM | Comments (1)

Black Single Mothers and Dating: What's It Really Like?

• In this episode of 'Dr Boyce Watkins on AOL Black Voices,' we discuss black single mothers ... Read More
• By Boyce Watkins, PhD on Jun 22nd 2010 3:54PM | Comments (0)

Should Facebook Be Held Accountable for Murders by Members?

• A man was sent to prison after he did the unthinkable: He pretended to be a teenager, lured a young ... Read More
• By Boyce Watkins, PhD on Jun 22nd 2010 3:42PM | Comments (1)

Rev. Al Sharpton and Dr. Boyce Discuss the Plight of the Black Male

• Every week, I speak with Rev. Al Sharpton on various issues that affect the African American ... Read More
• By Boyce Watkins, PhD on Jun 22nd 2010 9:45AM | Comments (6)

Obama's Fatherhood.gov Commercial: Too Feminine for Black Men?

• On Father's Day, I wrote about the immense thrill of being a dad. This is one of the reasons I ... Read More
• By Boyce Watkins, PhD on Jun 22nd 2010 9:30AM | Comments (8)

BP Chooses a Black Man to Head its Claims Process

• "BP is paying all the bills right now," Darryl Willis, the vice president of resources for BP ... Read More
• By Boyce Watkins, PhD on Jun 22nd 2010 7:50AM | Comments (1)

Son of Dallas Police Chief Suspected in Killing a Cop

• Investigators are saying that the 27-year-old son of Dallas Police Chief David Brown shot and ... Read More
• By Boyce Watkins, PhD on Jun 21st 2010 8:38PM | Comments (2)

African American News Headlines - 6/21/10

• Obama steps up fatherhood advocacy with new mentoring initiative
• Rights group calls to halt Zimbabwe diamond trade
• Mary J. Blige debuts clothing line In New York
• Nigerian president vows fair elections in 2011
• LA teacher makes algebra cool with a hip-hop beat
• Are American schools returning to segregation?
• Black police officers say punch was justified
• Steffans, Studdard set for TV One's 'Life After'
• Why Jesse Jackson is still fighting
• Prosecutor: 12-year-old killed for being young and Black
• Nelson Mandela pleased with impact of World Cup on South Africa
• Grand jury decides against reopening McNair case

 

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Black Celebrity News - 6/19/10

• 

  Is the legacy of political rap going to live on?

  By AllHipHop

  7:55 AM on 06/19/2010

  OPINION - Hip-hop is more than a "Hot 16," "fresh new gear" or "swagger devoid of substance." At the end of the day hip-hop like politics is also about empowerment....

  > READ MORE

• 

  Hip-hop and Islam often go hand and hand

  By AllHipHop

  10:37 AM on 06/18/2010

  OPINION - Hip-hop and Islam intersected early on in rap's history when the young poets began to embrace the teachings of Malcolm X...

  > READ MORE

• 

  How the 'Sister Souljah moment' remains teachable

  By Lester Spence

  9:13 AM on 06/18/2010

  OPINION - For almost 20 years hip-hop was used to drive white voters to conservative political candidates, to conservative political positions...

  > READ MORE

• 

  Billboard: 'Say Say Say' most popular Jackson song

  By theGrio

  5:24 PM on 06/17/2010

  NEW YORK (AP) - Michael Jackson had dozens of hits, but his most popular one wasn't a solo smash or a tune with his brothers. It was a song with another icon...

  > READ MORE

• 

  Legendary P-Funk guitarist Garry Shider dies at 56

  By theGrio

  5:08 PM on 06/17/2010

  UPPER MARLBORO, MD. (AP) - Shider was known to millions of fans as "Starchild" or "Diaperman," the latter because of the loincloth he often wore onstage...

  > READ MORE

• 

  Barbershop Buzz: Hip-hop, politics mix behind the mic

  By Terrence Romney

  1:06 PM on 06/17/2010

  VIDEO - When hip-hop artists speak out about politics does that matter to you? Does hip-hop influence what you do at the polls? ...

  > READ MORE

• 

  David Banner: Hip-hop must evolve or die

  By AllHipHop

  11:42 AM on 06/17/2010

  OPINION - If we don't find a way to show that we are marketable and that people from urban situations can earn money, then this dream will be over...

  > READ MOR

Wendy Williams, Bossip and Lady Drama Talk Black Celebrity Gossip

I have a great deal of respect for Lady Drama, aka Ebony Garris. Lady Drama, in case you don't know, was the person who ran Bossip.com for quite a while. She's the celebrity gossip queen of the Internet and probably the next Wendy Williams.
Not only does Lady Drama have the scoop on what the celebs are up to, she also has the scoop on making it in the entertainment business. The entertainment business may seem to be a place of glamour and excitement. But it can also be a place of bad contracts, bankruptcy and shady business managers. The interview with Ebony is below, and I consider her story to be a cautionary tale for anyone looking to make it in show business in the crazy city of New York.

 

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Black News: Did Diddy's Son Get Too Much with the Expensive Car?

by Dr Boyce Watkins

Some of us turned our heads to the side when it was reported that the rapper and businessman Diddy gave his son Justin a $360,000 Maybach automobile for his 16th birthday. People asked me what I thought about this, since I've written a great deal on how to teach your kids about money, and I used a three letter acronym: TAH - "Tacky As Hayell."
I respect Diddy and I apologize for having to lean in on him for this one, but as S Tia Brown and I discuss in our latest episode of Financial Lovemaking, you can find ways to show your children love without spoiling them for the rest of the world. By giving his son such an extraordinary gift at such an early age, Diddy may have minimized his son's ability to conceptualize the value of working hard for his success or empathizing with those who are less fortunate. In other words, receiving such overdoses of dopamine at the age of 16 is a sure-fire recipe for depression later in life.

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Rapper Slim Thug Speaks on His Black Woman Remarks

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, AOL Black Voices

Many of you may already know about the "interesting" comments made by the rapperSlim Thug, and his frustration about the lack of loyalty among black women. His comments were met with resistance by myself and Dr. Marc Lamont Hill from Columbia University, who gave him the stable advice to keep his mouth shut. I say that "Slim Thugga" needs to be quiet, not because he's wrong, but because this is a battle he can't win and still sell records. Getting every black woman in America to hate you is simply not good for business. Even Talib Kweli, a fellow hip hop artist, had something to say about Slim Thug's remarks.

On his twitter page, Slim Thug went out of his way to try to protect his image in the face of all the backlash:

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NFL Player Sues Mistress for Credit Card Abuse

AOL Black Voices

NFL star Reggie Wayne is finding out the hard way that giving your credit card number out to anyone may not be such a good idea. Wayne, who is married, is suing his ummm, girlfriend Natasha McKenzie. In the affidavit, Wayne is alleging that McKenzie did it big on Wayne's credit card without asking his permission.

As the story goes, McKenzie, who is 26 years old, just needed Wayne's credit card for a "few little things," like paying her cell phone bill and buying a plane ticket. She was allegedly going to buy the ticket to come and visit Wayne to spend "quality time" with him. To Reggie's surprise, Natasha and her friends "got a little jiggy" with the credit card and charged up $95,000 worth of "necessities." Actually, there were 333 necessities on her list, which is the number of charges she allegedly made to the account.

Reggie originally took the charges to police in April. He has had the uncomfortable challenge of keeping this information from his wife. McKenzie claims that Wayne knew about the charges all along, and that she is only being scapegoated because either his wife found out about her or he has moved on to another mistress. Either way, this entire situation is a little bit strange. Wayne is not the only athlete to be taken for big money as the result of an affair. Tiger Woods allegedly paid millions to keep some of his mistresses quiet.

 

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More Black News - 6/12/10

Gary Coleman's Wife Continues to Be More and More Suspicious

Saturday, June 12th, 2010

I was saddened to see that 1980s icon Gary Coleman died just a few days ago. What's even sadder is that...
Keep Reading »

Alvin Greene is the Political Candidate that Everyone Knows All About

Saturday, June 12th, 2010

I've seen the media dance around the obvious when it comes to the peculiar candidacy of Alvin Greene, the South...
Keep Reading »

Rapper Nicki Minaj Gets Sued Over Payments on a Lamborghini

 

 

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Brian McKnight Gets the Baby Daddy Blues

by Dr. Boyce Watkins

It appears that the singer Brian McKnight is now a not-so-proud father. Well, the child isn't exactly a baby either. According to TMZ, the child is a 14-year old that Brian hasn't exactly claimed to be his own. Well, whether McKnight chooses to address the child as his own or not, a Florida judge has ruled that Brian must now take financial responsibility for the child. The amount owed? $341,640, which comes out to just over $2,000 per month for every month since the child was born.

The mother of the child, Miriam Lee, took Brian McKnight to court to establish paternity last year. Why she waited so long to do so is not clear. From this point on, the singer is responsible for making child support payments in the amount of $11,388 per month. The ruling was a default judgment, since McKnight was not in court and didn't respond to the woman's claim of paternity.

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The Latest - 6/12/10

NBA Gets High Marks for Diversity in Annual Report Card

• According to Professor Richard Lapchick, author of the recent Racial and Gender Report Card for ... Read More
• By Dr. Boyce Watkins, PhD on Jun 12th 2010 11:20AM | Comments (0)

Obama's "Angry Black Man" Criticism: Isn't He Also Half White?

• In light of all of the interesting analysis that others have done regarding why President Barack ... Read More
• By Dr. Boyce Watkins, PhD on Jun 9th 2010 9:36PM | Comments (34)

CNN Asks Why Black Men Are Not Graduating From College

• Richelle Carey at CNN Headline News recently reached out to me to find out why black men aren't ... Read More
• By Dr. Boyce Watkins, PhD on Jun 5th 2010 4:24PM | Comments (32)

Dwyane Wade Given Temporary Custody of His Sons

• NBA star Dwyane Wade's divorce just got a little uglier. This week, the court gave Wade custody ... Read More
• By Dr. Boyce Watkins, PhD on Jun 4th 2010 8:51AM | Comments (33)

Could LeBron James' Mother Rumors Push Him Out of Cleveland?

• The world seems to be buzzing incessantly about the statements made by former NBA great Calvin ... Read More
• By Dr. Boyce Watkins, PhD on May 24th 2010 10:41PM | Comments (4)

 

Slim Thug and his comments about black women continue to get the artist into trouble.  Is he going to lose big money because of this?

Teenager Gets Beat by Cops

The Latest

Brandon Johnson: 15-Year Old Boy Beaten by Police in Indianapolis

• Indianapolis Police Chief Paul Ciesielski called for the firing of a white officer who's been ... Read More
• By Boyce Watkins, PhD on Jun 11th 2010 1:25AM | Comments (1)

OJ Simpson Fights to Get a New Trial in Nevada

• OJ Simpson's attorneys are planning to try to convince a group of Nevada judges to overturn his ... Read More
• By Boyce Watkins, PhD on Jun 10th 2010 11:58PM | Comments (0)

Oscar Grant Trial Has No Black Jurors

• On New Year's day of 2009, Oscar Grant was shot in Oakland, California. The shooter was a Bay ... Read More
• By Boyce Watkins, PhD on Jun 10th 2010 6:58PM | Comments (8)

How To Fight Like A Celebrity!

• From the Urban Daily: Have you ever noticed that celebrities always have beef, but never actually ... Read More
• By Lucette Jefferson on Jun 10th 2010 5:50PM | Comments (1)

Around the Web -- Jay-Z in Rolling Stone, Drake Was Rihanna's 'Pawn'? + More

• In his third Rolling Stone cover article, Jay-Z speaks on aging gracefully in a youth-oriented ... Read More
• By Journey Ade on Jun 10th 2010 5:45PM | Comments (2)

Oscar Grant Case Missing Black Faces on Jury

by Dr. Boyce Watkins

On New Year's day of 2009, Oscar Grant was shot in Oakland, California. The shooter was a Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) officer by the name of Johannes Mehserle. Grant was 22-years old at the time of his death, and the shooting was captured by cell phone cameras and disseminated throughout the Internet. Adding insult to injury, the Grant family just found that there will be no African American jurors in the trial of grant's shooter.

Jack Bryson, whose sons were with Grant the night he was killed, was angry about the jury selection.

"This is like a slap in the face," Bryson told The Associated Press. "This case came all the way to Los Angeles after the judge in Alameda County said they couldn't get a fair and impartial jury there.
"This is the best you can do, and you did this in two days. We could've stayed back in Oakland for this."

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Gary Coleman Pictures to Be Published in The Globe Magazine

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, AOL Black Voices

There has been a great deal of public speculation of the role that Shannon Price,Gary Coleman's ex-wife, played in the actor's death. To make matters worse, some are wondering how The Globe Magazine got a hold of pictures of a dying Gary Coleman that are set to be released on Friday. Todd Bridges, who co-starred with Gary Coleman on the popular sit-com, "Diff'rent Strokes," was allowed to see the photos in advance of their being published. Bridges was not happy.

"It's horrible. It's absolutely horrible. And I hope that whoever is responsible for this, and the people that are involved in this, people that are in the pictures, I hope they burn in hell," said Bridges, when appearing to discuss the issue on Entertainment Tonight.
What was most shocking was that even TMZ, a place known for the dirtiest of dirty celebrity gossip, refused to publish the photos. The Globe Magazine apparently has no such standard. A representative of Shannon Price has stated that Shannon is "very hurt by the pictures getting out there." But the problem for Price is that she is actually in the pictures that were taken.

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Black News from AOL Black Voices - 6/9/10

22-Year Old Pretending to be HS Student Faces 6 Felonies

• Have you ever fantasized about going back to high school and doing all the things you wish you'd ... Read More
• By Boyce Watkins, PhD on Jun 9th 2010 12:59PM | Comments (0)

Eminem's 'Recovery' Proves More Than Celebrity Rehab

• During Eminem's personal journey to sobriety, his fans braced themselves for its effects on his ... Read More
• By Amanda Bassa on Jun 9th 2010 12:00PM | Comments (0)

Dee Dee Myers: Obama Can't Get Angry Because He's Black

• Dee Dee Myers, former Press Secretary for the Clinton Administration, was in hot water recently ... Read More
• By Boyce Watkins, PhD on Jun 9th 2010 11:38AM | Comments (2)

BLACK MUSIC MONTH: 7 Pop/Rap CDs You Must Revisit

• We continue to salute Black Music Month by recognizing seven CDs in the pop, rap and rock genres by ... Read More
• By Jawn Murray on Jun 9th 2010 11:30AM | Comments (1)

Rihanna's Hair Stylist Explains Her New 'Matador Red' 'Do

• Master chameleon Rihanna surprised everyone by showing up with a bright red bowl-cut at Madrid's ... Read More
• By Katie Hintz-Zambrano on Jun 9th 2010 11:00AM | Comments (0)

Rihanna Sparkles, Jada Shines, Revamps & The Ultimate Dress - Around the Web

• Rihanna glitters on the cover of Elle RiRi talks black women and fashion (StyleList) Jade shines, ... Read More
• By Lucette Jefferson on Jun 9th 2010 10:55AM | Comments (0)

FBI Says Texas Man Called Al-Qaida His 'Brothers'

• It appears that one of the biggest threats to U.S. security in the coming years may be homegrown ... Read More
• By Jeff Mays on Jun 9th 2010 10:53AM | Comments (0)

Rampage Jackson, UFC Fighter, Justifies 'Gay' Comments

• Quinton "Rampage" Jackson recently lost his anticipated fight against Rashad Evans last month, but ... Read More
• By Quibian Salazar-Moreno on Jun 9th 2010 10:33AM | Comments (0)

DA: No DNA Evidence Found on 7-Year-Old Who Was Gang Raped

• New Jersey prosecutors stated in court documents Tuesday that there was no DNA evidence of ... Read More
• By Ruth Manuel-Logan on Jun 9th 2010 10:13AM | Comments (3)

Marc Lamont Hill Responds to Slim Thug's Take on Black Women

• When I recently read the open letter to the rapper Slim Thug (pictured above), written by ... Read More
• By Boyce Watkins, PhD on Jun 9th 2010 8:57AM | Comments (8)

Peace, Confidence and Bliss

• Your Affirmative Prayer for Wednesday, June 9, 2010: My awareness of my unity with Spirit ... Read More
• By Barry Johnson on Jun 9th 2010 12:34AM | Comments (5)

BP Using Massive PR and Internet Strategies to Deal with Spill

• If you are like President Barack Obama, who says that he's looking for "whose ass to kick" over the ... Read More
• By Boyce Watkins, PhD on Jun 8th 2010 10:55PM | Comments (2)

Eve: Lets Guard Down on VH1's 'Behind the Music'

• Eve Jihan Jeffers, who is most commonly known in the world of entertainment simply as Eve, isn't a ... Read More
• By Bridget Bland on Jun 8th 2010 7:26PM | Comments (0)

 

 

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