Ronnie, Bobby, Ricky, Mike...

"Cool it now, you better cool it down, ooooh watch out! You're gonna lose control". After watching an episode of Making the Band 4 (don't ask me why i was watching it) and seeing Michael Bivins as one of the talent scouts, it made me reminisce on the classic sound of New Edition. About 2 decades ago they were literally the ish. They were a group comprised of BBD (Ronnie Devoe, Ricky Bell, and Michael Bivins) Ralph Tresvant, Bobby Brown, and added Johnny Gill later on. They were the r&b supergroup of that era, and ultimately opened the doors for groups such as Jodeci, Boyz 2 Men, Troop, B2K, the list goes on and on. So I'm not the only guy that enjoyed hits like "If it isn't love", "Can you stand the rain" and "Cool it now", because apparently Diddy is combining individual male singers to form a modern-day "new edition". With the direction "hip-hop" is going, I can stand to hear some good soulful, mellow, rhythm and blues. Not only will this group sing, but they will also do the Kid 'n Play dance before every show. Now from the two episodes that I've seen, it looks like there are plenty talented soulful male singers. Diddy is on the prowl, with the help of Biv, Joe, and Diddy's "super" panel, we should have a new addition to the R&B charts after the season is over.

Dark Days for all Celebrities

Good morning people. Entertainment would not be what it is today without its cast of players. Whether they are actors, rappers, writers, directors, athletes, or models, celebrities make their mark in this world by displaying their talents. They invite us into aspects of their lives, and we want to know more about who are favorite celebrities are in real life. What makes their lives more interesting than ours? The fact that they put their lives on display. When you are nationally (sometimes worldwide) recognized, the price of fame is high. Privacy is an afterthought and the rest of the normal world wants to know all of your personal details. We want to know about the baby-mama drama, the fights, the arguments, the beefs.....but why don't we want to hear about the positive things that these celebrities are doing? Partly because the media thrives on negativity, but mostly because we crave it. Why don't we hear about Luda donating $2 million to charity? Is it because we don't care, or is it because the media doesn't think that it will get good enough ratings? The answer is both.


See, we as consumers would much rather hear that Jay is having problems with Beyonce because he got some video vixen pregnant 5 years ago and a paternity test (shoutout to Maury) proved that he is the father than to hear that he opened up a shelter in Brooklyn for homeless people. The truth is controversy, altercations, and sex sells. period. This could be the reason of the lackluster lyrics, and half-assed songs that make it into regular radio rotation. Do you think the reason we as consumers don't get the positive information as much as the negative is because we don't crave it as much, or because the media doesn't feed it to us? Let me know....

Back to the Blizzock

It's the summer..we know. this is the season of the all white air forces, but those are technically all season shoes now. With so many fakes, variants, seconds, gas-station j's and basement Bapes in heavy circulation, when an exclusive pair drops fireworks go off. Pictured above is the Air Jordan Spiz'ike (for everyone who wasn't up on they shoe game) and these are dummy exclusive. Them damn bootleggers make these shoes the second they see the damn thang. Hell, sometimes they even make they own ish up. I saw one pair on ebay (variant heaven) that had the brick pattern in red, and the bottom was green. That's uncalled for. I got "got" on ebay for some very good look-alikes, and paid about twice as much as they are really worth. I was good when I got them, looked at 'em, tried 'em on, I was good. Then my brother saw 'em and said "them ain't real"; and they wasn't. That will piss the ish out of a grown man, believe that. So for everyone who can enjoy a classic shoe, here's a few tips to make sure you're gettin the authentics:

1. see if the seller has a receipt - if not, make sure you check details, and reference them from an authentic pair from ebay.

2. check the price - if they are under $100, know without a doubt they are fake. period. unless they're used.

3. check seller's authenticity - if the seller hasn't sold atleast 1,000 items...BEWARE. Ask questions and check the feedback. Beware of any seller that doesn't have atleast 99% positive feedback.

4. check the pictures - some sellers steal other's pics, so the seller should have about 8-10 crisp, clean images of the product they are selling. Make sure they are detailed pictures (close-ups) and you can compare them to originals.

5. tags/boxes - any legit seller will usually take a pic of the tag. Also, if you see a picture of a raggedy ass box, chances are they are NOT legit.

There are many other "tell-tell" signs of authentic merchandise versus the fake ish, so if you know of any more...