Civil Rights Photographer Found to be an FBI Informant

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University – Scholarship in Action 

 

If you don't know the name Ernest Withers, I can guarantee that you know of his work. Remember the famous and horrible picture of Emmett Till? Withers took that one. Think about nearly every well-known picture of Dr. King you think of. Well, Withers probably took that one too.

Ernest Withers had access to Civil Rights leaders like no other. He was also found to have been an informant for the FBI.

The Commercial Appeal in Memphis conducted a two-year investigation into the life of Withers, who died in 2007. The investigation found that Withers allegedly worked with two F.B.I. agents to keep an eye on the Civil Rights Movement. Withers was known to have been very close to Dr. King and to have had his trust.

"It is an amazing betrayal," said Athan Theoharis, an historian, told the New York Times. "It really speaks to the degree that the F.B.I. was able to engage individuals within the civil rights movement. This man was so well trusted."

 

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Dwight Howard and His Baby Mama Drama Never Seem to Stop

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University 

One of my favorite films of all-time was "War of the Roses," starring Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner. In the film, a divorced couple starts down a dangerous and hilarious path of mutual destruction, where the goal of each is to make the other person's life miserable. At the end of the movie, both parties find that while it was their goal to destroy the other person, they actually ended up destroying themselves. Just for the record, each character dies at the end.

I think about "War of the Roses" when I see the custody battle between NBA star Dwight Howard and his ex-wife, Royce Reed. Of course I don't expect anyone to end up dead, but it's already clear that Royce and Dwight have made each other's lives as miserable as possible. Royce recently called the cops after Dwight picked up her son from daycare at a time when he was not scheduled to do so. Before that, Dwight had filed a lawsuit against Royce for referring to him as a "douchebag" on the TV show, "Basketball Wives.

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Dr. Boyce Watkins Says Black Athletes Should Boycott the Heisman Trophy

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University – Scholarship in Action 

 

When I read about the possibility that Reggie Bush may have his Heisman Trophy taken, I became irritated beyond imagination.  ”Here we go again,” I thought.  “Another self-righteous group of hoity-toity NCAA administrators making value judgments about the character of black male athletes.”
If they can’t defeat them on the field, the game is then to create artificially contrived mechanisms for evaluating the worth of the athlete from a morality standpoint.  The problem for the NCAA, however, is that when it comes to ethics, they have no room to claim the moral high ground.  In fact, you might say they are crooks.

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Black Athletes and Handguns: What Up with That?

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University – Scholarship in Action 

Shaun Rogers, a Defensive Tackle for the Cleveland Browns, was fined $400,000 by the league for violating its personal conduct policy. Rogers was caught carrying a loaded gun inside an airport. The fine represents approximately 1/17th of his $6.9 million salary.
Some would say that Rogers got off easy, since it would have been no surprise to see him either suspended or sent to jail. The player was caught carrying a loaded semi-automatic handgun in his carry-on bag at Hopkins International Airport. There's no indication regarding whether or not he realized that TSA agents actually have the ability to see inside of someone's luggage with their x-ray machine. It's hard to imagine what he might have been thinking.

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Danny Granger of Team USA Says Europeans Smell Like Dead Donkeys

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University – Scholarship in Action 

If I were an old man responsible for managing Team USA's public image, I would be cursing Twitter every day of the week. Apparently, giving young, bold athletes instant access to media was a cruel joke orchestrated by both fate and Mother Nature. At any rate, the latest athlete to embarrass himself with his Twitter account was Danny Granger. Making reference to the fact that deodorant is not as popular in Europe as it is in the United States, Granger said that Europeans smell like "dead donkeys." Here are his exact words:
"i'm dying over here ..how come nobody in europe wears deodorant? guess they didn't get the memo – smellin like dead donkey..no joke"

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TI Arrested for Drugs? Yes, I’m Disappointed

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University 

TI (aka Clifford Harris) is my favorite rapper, and the person I consider to be one of the most talented artists in America.  I've made no secret about my appreciation for his music, and from friends of mine who know him, I can say that he is genuine about reducing gun violence among our youth.  TI is also the artist that I would have gambled on to have the greatest likelihood of turning his life around.  He has a lot to live for, and people who love him.   He's made his mistakes, but I was convinced that he'd grown from them.

Now, after hearing about his arrest for drug possession, I'm not so sure if TI has learned a thing.  In fact, I'm having a hard time distinguishing TI from his self-destructive counterpart, Lil Wayne.  And yes, I will say this in public: I think Lil Wayne is an idiot.

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Sentencing Disparity Between Crack and Powder Still Exists in Most States

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University  - Scholarship in Action 

Years ago when the federal government produced disparities in sentencing of crack vs. powder cocaine, many states followed suit. As a result, the black community was devastated with Draconian prison sentences, in which individuals with barely enough crack to weigh were given dozens of years in prison.
The federal government finally came to its senses and changed the law, making it marginally more equitable than it was before. The problem is that many states have not yet made the same change.
The arguments used to justify longer sentences are that the crack trade creates more crime and that the drug is more addictive than powder. Also, the tougher sentences were imposed in 1986, when basketball star Len Bias died from an overdose. It was originally reported that Bias had smoked crack, but a teammate later testified that Bias had snorted powder cocaine instead.

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Incarcerated Running Back Maurice Clarett Tries to Get His Life Back

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, The Coalition for Black Male Athletes, Syracuse University Scholarship in Action  

Maurice Clarrett, the embattled former superstar of the Ohio State Buckeyes, is getting another chance to play football. Clarett just signed a one-year deal to play for the Omaha Nighthawks in the United Football League. This is the first time Clarett has put on a football uniform since spending three and a half years in prison for having a hidden gun and holding up a couple outside a night club.
"I am humbled by the opportunity the Omaha Nighthawks have given me and will dedicate myself on and off the field to prove that I can be a valuable member of the team and the Omaha community," Clarett said. "I am committed to working hard to earn the right for a second chance in football and more importantly in life."
Clarett is now 6-feet tall, 220 pounds, which makes him 10 pounds lighter than he was when he played at Ohio State. The coaches were astonished at his physical shape, giving him credit for keeping himself prepared. He is allowed to be out of the state for 30 days at a time, but his attorneys are hoping that a judge will rule that Clarett can leave the state for the entire football season. He is now 26-years old, meaning that he is at his physical peak.

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Jordan Miles: Honor Student Beaten by Police Because They Thought He was a Drug Dealer

by Dr. Boyce Watkins – Scholarship in Action 

Jordan Miles is a black teenager in the city of Pittsburgh. Miles also attends one of the city's most prestigious performing arts schools. On a cold winter night earlier this year, Miles claims he was assaulted by three plain clothes police officers. According to the lawsuit Miles' attorneys have filed against the city, the officers assumed that Miles was a drug dealer and conspired to file false charges against him to create a story to cover up their actions.
Miles says that he was walking to his grandmother's house when officers Michael Saldutte, David Sisak and Richard Ewing approached him. Miles claims that the officers proceeded to chase him, kick him and beat his face into the ground. The damage to Miles' face was extensive, and the officers allegedly pulled one of his dreadlocks from his head.

 

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Should Ebonics Be Taught in School?

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University – Scholarship in Action 

I wrote recently about how the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) is now seeking to hire Ebonics translators to help them to apprehend drug dealers. The group seems to believe that by learning the underpinnings of urban language, it can find a way to bring down "Pookie nem" on the corner. The website Newsy.com covered the article that I wrote, with a few other scholars providing their own insights into how and why this decision might be implemented. While I am certainly listening to the discussion, I am not sure what it would mean to establish Ebonics as it's own language or to try to teach it in school.

Does the teaching of Ebonics mean that we treat urban dialect as a class? If the kids and teachers acknowledge the language structure of Ebonics, do we continue to reinforce the use of what some might consider broken English? If the language is acknowledged in school, does that mean Employers and universities will accept graduates who speak and write in Ebonics? If not, is there any sense in solidifying a student's desire to speak in a way that doesn't match the rest of us? I'm not so sure.

 

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African American Athletes and All Their Children

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University – Scholarship in Action 

I recently read a very interesting story about how so many black athletes are being hammered by the financial devastation of child support.  Their paychecks are getting zapped to nothing, only to buy Coach purses and hair weaves for the women who’ve had their children.  Perhaps the sex was good enough to justify the misery, but I’ve never had sex that good.

New York Jets running back Antonio Cromartie is one famous case of “I’m Bound to be Broke-itis.”  Cromartie, who is 26-years old, has eight children with six women in five different states.  In fact, the Jets had to front Cromartie $500,000 to settle his paternity situation before he even started playing for the team.  There are quite a few other cases worth mentioning, but I won’t waste time laying out the issues.

What I will lay out is an added perspective that might help brothers realize  the utter stupidity of putting themselves in situations that will keep their pockets empty, kill their ability to support a family down the road and possibly lead to incarceration.  Getting caught under the neck of the merciless child support system is an absolutely horrible feeling.  Children are a beautiful gift from God, and we can all appreciate a pretty woman, but if you let this stuff get the best of you, you’re begging for a life of misery.

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Fantasia Was Set for Drama from the Jump

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University, Scholarship in Action 

One of the most magnificent voices in all of music is owned by Fantasia Barrino, the singer out of North Carolina. Most of us know that Fantasia attempted suicide recently. Of course the suicide attempt led to instant national media attention, and she was all over the news telling her story. Her management team, understanding the value the incident could have for her brand, pushed out the Vh-1 special before you could say the words "publicity stunt."
Now, I'm not here to say that I know what happened to Fantasia or whether the suicide attempt was genuine. But one thing that remains fundamentally true is that she'd been highly upset over the decline of her career. Also, we know that the television specials and additional PR from the incident have put Fantasia in the limelight in a way that far exceeds what she had access to last month. The final thing we know is that Fantasia is working furiously in the studio to get an album out in order to profit from the re-establishment of her celebrity status. Unfortunately, her team may be looking to replicate the experience of Jennifer Hudson after her difficult experience last year.

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Computer Program Now Used to Predict Who Will Commit Crimes

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Scholarship in Action 

It is being reported that law enforcement officials in Washington DC plan to use a new computer program that claims to be able to predict which citizens are most likely to commit crime. The concept conjures up images of the Tom Cruise film, "Minority Report," in which agents were able to predict "pre-crime": Crime that hasn't happened yet, and is set to occur. But far from science fiction, this program is based on reality.
The program was developed by Richard Berk, a professor at The University of Pennsylvania. The first version of the program was used to predict future murders among parolees, but it is being argued that the software can be used for all kinds of crime.
"When a person goes on probation or parole they are supervised by an officer. The question that officer has to answer is 'what level of supervision do you provide?'" Berk told ABC News.
The program could have real implications, including determining the amount of a person's bail or how long they are to remain in a halfway house upon their release from prison. The program works by using a large database of crimes and other factors, including geographic location, age, prior offenses and the criminal record of the person being considered.

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The DEA Hiring Ebonics Experts to Understand Drug Dealers

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Scholarship in Action – Syracuse University 

The Associated Press is reporting that the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) is considering hiring translators to help agents understand the language of drug dealers. Apparently, the agents are having trouble interpreting the words and sentences being used by suspects during wiretaps. The agency reached out to some translation services companies to find someone to help them with the problem. No, this is not a joke.
"They saw a need for this in a couple of their investigations," Special Agent Michael Sanders said. "And when you see a need - it may not be needed now - but we want the contractors to provide us with nine people just in case."
Yes, this story is making me laugh as much as you are. When I heard that the DEA was considering such a move, I could almost appreciate their intentions, but I think they might be a bit misguided. The first thought that came to mind was whether or not they are presuming that drug dealers speak a dialect of English which matches that of the rest of urban black America? Sure, there are going to be similarities, but most of my urban friends don't understand drug dealers either. Dealers don't just sound like rappers, but actually structure a variation of language and sophisticated codes that nearly anyone would have trouble translating. Rather than hiring an ebonics expert to understand the lingo of drug dealers, they'd be better off hiring a former drug dealer.

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Drake Sells Half a mill in Week One

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, AOL Black Voices

I took a poll of some of my industry homies last week to get a sense of how"Thank Me Later," the debut album for Drake, was going to sell. It turns out that out of those bold enough to make a prediction, my friends Michael Bivins (formerly of Belle, Biv, Devoe and New Edition) and Vigalantee (a rapper in Kansas City, MO), were closest. Vigalantee predicted 450,000 units and Mike Biv predicted 400,000. No matter how you slice it, Drake is now officially the shizzle.

It's not as if anyone is surprised by Drake's stellar debut. He and the rest of the Young Money clique did an outstanding job creating buzz for the album and Drake proved that even in the age of massive Internet pirating, he can still make his money.

 

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Son of Dallas Police Chief Allegedly Kills a Cop

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)

Hip Hop Artist Fat Joe Detained in Alleged Rape

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, AOL Black Voices

The rapper Fat Joe was detained by police Sunday night after he and his entourage were accused of sexually assaulting a woman in Madison, Wisconsin. According to TMZ, the woman is 33-years old and claims the assault occurred in a Cadillac Limousine after a concert at the Orpheum Theater.

Fat Joe (a.k.a.Joseph Antonio Cartagena) and his entourage were held for questioning, but he was released and not arrested. The details of the case are still being sorted out in the investigation. Relative to most artists, Fat Joe doesn't get into very much trouble. The 39-year old married father of two has not, to my knowledge been accused of any sexual assault, so I'd be surprised if he waited this long to get started. He has been arrested in some of the typical rapper non-sense in the past: In 1998, he and the deceased rapper Big Pun were arrested for assaulting a man with a baseball bat and stealing his gold chain. I'm not even going to try to explain that one.

 

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Dr Boyce Money: Diddy's Son's Car- Too Much?

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 Tries to Back Pedal off Comments about Black Women

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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Nicki Minaj Gets Sued Over a Car

by Dr. Boyce Watkins

The rapper Nicki Minaj was sued this week over a pink Lamborghini that she rented for one of her videos. The company, Hollywood Exotic Car Rental, sued her for $12,000, alleging that the car was damaged and that the rental fee was not paid.

The car had been rented for $1,750 a day to shoot her "Massive Attack" music video, directed by Hype Williams.

The suit against Nicki Minaj was filed in LA Superior Court. The company alleges that the car was driven "off road" and that the damage amounted to $11,589.41. They also argue that Minaj didn't pay the three day rental fee on the car, which totaled $5,250.

 

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What's New in the world of Black Folks - 6/11/10

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?

Time for Hip Hop to Change

The age of the Hoochie Mama is over

by Dr. Boyce Watkins | TheLoop21 in Culture & Society

It's time for hip hop, and its audience, to grow up.

read more

Rappers and Black Women: Slim Thug and Talib Kweli

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University

A note to Slim Thug: You probably just need to be quiet for a while. It's not to say thatyour comments about black women were outside your rights to freedom of speech, but if you keep dissing the audience most likely to go out and buy your records, you are probably going to end up in the same poorhouse as MC Hammer. Don't get me wrong, black men love your music (at least I do), but the bottom line is that brothers don't buy albums, books, or anything else put up for sale. But when black women turn on you, it's a wrap son. Settle down and go back to the studio; it's good for your financial health.
I wrote yesterday about the comments made by Slim Thug regarding how he perceives white women to be a better dating choice than black women, as well asColumbia Professor Marc Lamont Hill'sresponse to Slim Thug's words. It seems that the debate has taken a life of it's own, now that rapper Talib Kweli has joined the conversation. In a recent essay he wrote for Vibe Magazine, Talib Kweli was ever the diplomatic artist, as he showed respect for Slim Thug, but also expressed his own concerns for his colleague's remarks about black women:

Click to read.

To read more about the debate regarding Slim Thug’s comments about black women, click here.

Your News: Rapper Slim Thug Gets Public Lashing by Black Scholar

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University

When I recently read the open letter to the rapper Slim Thug(pictured above), written by Columbia Professor Marc Lamont Hill (pictured below), I was concerned. I love "Slim Thugger" and his musical brilliance, but putting him in an intellectual toe-to-toe with one of the most brilliant young scholars in America is like puttingLennox Lewis in a boxing match with Beyonce. Marc is my boy, and incredibly sharp, and I would encourage him to pick on someone his own intellectual size. Simultaneously, I encourage Slim Thug to quietly walk away and shut up. He needs to stay in the booth and use his intellect for something other than ridiculous social commentary.
But Slim Thug asked for his public butt whooping, after engaging in one of the most feeble and misguided critiques of the African-American woman that I’ve heard in quite a while. Even for a rapper, he sounded as if he needed to be educated on what black women are all about. Here are Slim’s words, "straight out of the negro’s mouth":

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"Friend Of Failure"

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Madam prezident interviews Dre Smith Double major college student, Majoring in Pyshcology and Fashion! Fashion is not just fashion, its a lifestyle!

JENNY WAS A SELFISH BITCH!!!

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Jenny was a bitach! I analyzed jenny & its kinda funny!

"DICK IS NOT A VITAMIN"

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Ladies, its not a vitamin, casual sex should not be happening every single day!

DAMN ALICIA KEYS

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Alicia Keys is pregnant by a STILL Married Man, his divorce Is not finalized!! She's gonna lose him the same way she got him!!!

Alicia Keys Pregnant BY A MARRIED MAN!

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Everyone is congratulating Alicia, like this isnt a FUKD up situation!!!

TE AMO

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Rihanna went hard on her new Video, TE AMO. Can beyonce make the same video and not catch hell?

"The Game Iz Back"

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Madam Prezident, witnessed Tia Moury say "THE GAME IS OFFICIALLY RETURNING" and Everyone including writers and producers are RETURNING AZ WELL. See for yourself