Where's the money?

By RL
Desperately Fabulous Contributor.
Hello world, it's been awhile since I last post. I got caught up with March madness, the nice weather and a mild case of stomach flu. But I'm back........

Where's the money?
With record sales dropping lower & lower each week, what is an artist to do to make sure they can still make money? Most have turned to low budget videos and free internet promotion to get their records played. Sites such as MySpace & YouTube have provided artists with ways to show videos to the public without spending millions & millions of dollars. Case in point, Young Buck’s new video "Hold On" featuring 50 Cent has had over 5 million views over the past week on YouTube. While his first single released to MTV & BET called "Get Buck" is only got about 15 spins a day between the two networks.

Young Buck had this to say about the subject : "With the mixtape game being on hold the way it is, artists have to find other ways of getting their product to the people. MySpace & YouTube have saved a lot of artists time and money by giving artist a free platform to perform on. Not only for G-unit artist but for the artist who's just coming in the game and doesn't have the financial backing to put a video on MTV or BET now that artist can say he has just as much chance of being seen as a big name artist".
I know one thing if hip hop ain't dead..... It sure is broke!


March Madness
If your like me after about the first day of games you ripped up your bracket and wondered if Cinderella’s ass over slept this year. Well don't worry she woke up just in time for VCU to knock off Duke. But the rest of the tournament has basically played to form. Wisconsin lost to UNLV in a game that wasn't even close. The games from this past weekend proved to liven things up with Florida beating down Oregon, UCLA shocking Kansas, Ohio State running Memphis out of the gym and my Georgetown putting the smack down on North Carolina . For the first time in a long time all four teams have a legitimate chance of taking home the crown.


Hit & Miss
Tony Yayo of the infamous rap group G-unit is accused of slapping the son of Czar Entertainment boss Jimmy "Henchman"Rosemond. The boy was said to have been caught in the middle of a ongoing feud between his father and G-unit records. Now, I wouldn't want to mess with anyone with the nick name henchman.

Earlier this week rapper Eminem and ex wife Kim Mathers went before a judge to have a gag order put forth to have both parties stop bad mouthing each other in public.

Kim is going after the craziest baby momma award for 07'. Kim waited about ten minutes after the court hearing to go on HOT 97 and aired out some more of her ex husband’s dirty laundry. With logic that only a baby momma would understand, when ask why she was breaking the gag order she replied ‘because I just called him and he didn't pick up the phone’. Message to all baby daddy’s pick up the phone!

What? Strawberries are gay?

Apologies for posting late. But one day we will get our act together at this blog.

Star Jones Celebrated her birthday over the weekend. Wow, Al is looking very non-gay these days-NOT! Come on Al, if you want to keep up this game, stay away from strawberries and cute guys at the gym.


Was it Gal's birthday also? Why is he all front and center?


And TomKat appeared somewhere. I'm posting this picture because it really shows how much taller Katie is than Tom. Must be awkward. But I'm sure it's not the only thing that's awkward in that relationship


An Britney left rehab by having a night out on the town. I'm sure her sons really don't know who the hell she is anymore.


And Tisha, what the hell are you doing girl? Ask your trainer to give your money back because that's not sexy.


And one last thing. I was watching Oprah at the gym, I made an exception since she had Nate Berkus on the show. A lady was getting her house decorated and Oprah brought up the Secret. She said something like "wow, you're living the elements of the secret. And that's how we live our lives" WTF? This was after I decided to give giving Oprah a break after she gave a free pass to Bill O'Reilly and having several shows dedicated to The Secret. Stop the madness Oprah. Others that think The Secret is a scam weird. HERE and HERE

The Ray-J and Kim sex tape.

The Ray-J and Kim sex tape has been officially released. After watching a few minutes it became very obvious that this video was made to be sold. Secondly, Superhead is an honest woman, at least when she spoke about the package that Ray-J is working with. And thirdly, watching other people have sex is damn boring. I was doing my taxes while watching the video and to be honest I had to turn it off because my tax preparation was really getting interesting. Want to see the video? Be warned not safe for work, school, etc. View it here


Naomi Campbell showed up for work looking fabulous. See people this is how it's done. Why do some celebrities insist on covering up their faces when showing up some place they know will be filled with photographers? Own it, love it, wear it!

EMI executive responds to the Dallas Austin video

Last week the internet was buzzing with a video clip featuring Dallas Austin on which he claims that Joss Stone and Christina Aguilera “F*ck for beats”.

Just in case you haven't seen the video:
View Here

After watching the video, we at DF immediately called our contacts at various record labels, hoping that someone would go on record responding to Dallas’ accusations.We could not get anyone that would officially go on record but we did find an EMI (the parent company of Joss Stone's label) executive that agreed to an 10 min. interview but only if we didn’t use names or titles. We agreed, our policy is that we protect our sources unless we’re sued or issued a subpoena and then all bets are off (just kidding).

Here is the complete interview with the EMI executive responding to video

DF: How did you first find out about the video and what was your initial reaction?
EMI: I heard about the video a few weeks ago, although I didn’t see it until last week. After it was sent to several people in the office by an intern. I wasn't shocked by what was said because if you spend any time in a studio those conversations are common place. You hear industry rumors inside any studio. But I was surprised that Dallas let himself be taped.

DF: Why were you surprised?
EMI: Because firstly some of the things he said I know for a fact wasn't true. Jordy was never his assistant and that he openly disrespected people he has no contact with.

DF: But I think now the perception is that certain female artists may have sex with producers for tracks, is that a correct perception?
EMI: I don’t know I can only speak for artists that I’ve personally worked with. I don’t know Christina, never worked with her. But I have worked with Joss and I know what Dallas’ said was bullsh*t. Joss has the backing of the record company, which essentially means that she has financial backing. She could have anyone work on this album because the record company backs the album and is willing to pay. Are there some conditions to that? Of course but the conditions are not financial but more business and legal. Joss didn’t need to have sex with anyone to get them to work on the album. Common and Lauryn are the album, so by Dallas' logic does it mean she had sex with them also?

DF: Do you know of any producers that have sex with artists?
EMI: Look, people spend a lot of time in the studio together, so yes relationship are forged. But I don’t know of anyone offering sex to a producer for tracks. At least no artist with a record contract. Producers get paid money, nothing is done for free in this business. And no top producer is going to lay down tracks for any artist without knowing that the financial backing of the record company is there.

DF: What do you think the repercussion in the industry will be of the video?
EMI: Who knows, maybe more attention to the male domination of music producing. Maybe producers focusing more on music.

DF: Any personal repercussions?
EMI: (long pause). For Joss, this could be actually positive. I mean if she keeps her cool. She’s only 19 and has a lot to learn. But she can grow from this. As for Dallas, I don't know. I know, I would never send any young female artist into the studio with him and I’m sure I’m not the only one.


Editor's note: There were a lot things I didn't get to ask. Like reactions to Joss' interview with Allhiphop.com- maybe we can get a follow up.....

British Invasion

There seems to be a new British Invasion being lead by a trio of female singers. The buzz around Lily Allen, Joss Stone and Amy Winehouse is reaching new heights. Not so surprising when the top American female pop singers are otherwise occupied. Britney Spears in rehab, Christina Aguilera in a time wrap, Beyoncé more occupied with 'acting' and shitty fashion and Lauryn Hill still MIA.
The queen of this British hype has been Amy Winehouse. Amy has received rave reviews from almost every music blog, the Washington Post and now she's sitting pretty with the number one CD on Amazon.
I was lucky enough to see Amy live in concert last month and was blown away by her stage presence. I finally got a chance to listen to the album and that same presence seems to be missing. I understand why everyone wants to love this album, Amy writes very honest and personal music. The problem is that on some tracks the production over powers Amy's very powerful voice. The balance of strong horns and strong vocals never really comes together on the album. When the balance does comes together it comes together beautiful as on tracks 'Love is a losing game' and 'He can only hold her'. Both tracks are something out a Motown classic album and Amy's vocals carry the music and not the other way around. Is the album worth the hype, probably not but until something better comes along let's bask in an female artist who writes, performs and is honest with her music.
3 0ut of 5 stars

Conflict diamonds

I've never been a fan of Fabulous. His rapping pretty much sucks but my dislike was very much indifferent. Until this clown made a video celebrating diamonds.

I don't know maybe the video was sponsored by DeBeers. I thought Hip-Hop was at a turning point, when even Kanye West is speaking out against conflict diamonds and 50cent is toning it down. I don't expect rappers to be the most politically acute people but there is now a major motion picture outlining the horrors of conflict diamonds. And when rebels in Sierra Leone played hip-hop music when raiding villages, then yes hip-hop has some responsibility.



for the love of diamonds

The world is going to hell and Dallas is the proof

Unless you've been living under a rock, you've probably heard about the two teenagers in Dallas, Texas that videotaped themselves giving a two year old marijuana. I know what your thinking: 'where were the parents'? Don't worry, the parents were down stairs playing cards. The Fox News channel has gone on record as saying that Hip-Hop is partly responsible for the teenager's behavior. Now I don't know about you but I like Snoop Dog but he never made me give a two year old baby marijuana. In the famous words of Chris Rock "what happened to crazy, you can't just be crazy anymore?"

Hit & Miss

The 50 cent & Cam'ron beef has hit an all time high. Cam'ron released another 50 cent diss video and song. Which means 50 cent/Curtis should have his reply to that right about..... now!

Kanye West's mother is writing a book called "Raising Kanye". A better title could be "How I raised an egotistical brat" I wonder which chapter Kanye tells her he's gay.

kanye and moms

Comedian Tracy Morgan went off during a recent interview with an El Paso,Texas television station. I love it when comedians do spontaneous acts like this that are actually FUNNY!


Producer Timberland wants to help Britney Spears. Timberland said he wants to keep Britney from all the bad people currently in her camp. He has also asked Justin Timberlake to be part of the intervention. Reportedly, Justin agreed but only if Britney becomes serious about making music. Well, what about Whitney Houston, Timberland huh? She's been on that stuff and with Bobby Brown for the past decade, you can't help her?

Game Theory

I know the posts on this blog have been somewhat infrequent. But we're going through some changes and hopefully next week we'll be back to posting 4x per week!

I rarely watch T.V. since there is rarely anything on my television (I don't have cable). Sunday night was different, by accident I watched the series 'The Trap'. What is 'The Trap' you ask? Well it's a series on BBC2 which explains "the origins of our contemporary, narrow and limited idea of freedom." (those of you in N. America may be able to watch the show on BBC America)
Sunday night 'The Trap' focused on 'Game Theory'. No! Not the Root's latest album but the theory that humans are always out for number one and good deeds are only done when they are in the self interest of the person doing the good deed. Interesting stuff, right? But you're probably wondering what does this have to do with gossip.....

photo courtesy Just Jared


photo courtesy Just Jared

Well guess who decided to show up at a refugee camp in Chad with a photographer and Newsweek? Angelina Jolie, the master of Game Theory

I'm bored...the week in review

I didn't post this week because basically the gossip this week bored the shit out of me.

Whitney Houston and Ray-J made an appearance for the cameras, promoting their "relationship"

I don't even want to know what's going on there.

Star Jones was out to promote some crappy new show on Court TV. Proving once again it's never to late to use her lawyer skills.

I don't like the new look. I'm sure Al demanded that she get her body shape closer to looking like his ex-boyfriend's.

Selma Hayek is pregnant and engaged. Some rich French guy is the father.

Selma and her man.

And Newt Gingrich finally admitted that he was having his own affair during Clinton's impeachment hearings. But claims he's not a hypocrite since he didn't get caught because he didn't lie about the affair under oath as President Clinton. I'm going to stop reading the National Enquirer since I blame them for not finding out about Newt's affair and blowing this shame back then.



Dolce & Gabbana are pulling an ad after groups complained that the ad promoted violence against women.

The guy pinning her down is obviously gay and may have just wanted to try on her swimsuit. So, relax people.

Strange Pairings

This will be a short post since I'm dealing with a serious cold. I thought it was on it's way out but it came back with a vengeance yesterday.

I've tried not comment on Evan Ross, the son of Diana Ross. For one he's not famous and two he creeps me out a bit. This weekend Evan showed up at the NAACP Image awards wearing this....

All that's missing are the rhinestones. I also want to know if Michael Jackson contributed any of his DNA to the creation of Evan because something just does not add up with this guy.

Evan's idol or possible father???


And someone please tell me that rumor of Djimon Hounsou and Kimora dating are not true! The two have been seen all over town making out since Oscar night. I don't know what to make of this.... but Djimon, you in danger girl!

Week in Review

This week the Rocks went on Oprah playing the happy family and promoting Chris' new movie 'I think I love my Wife'. This is after reports that Chris and Kerry Washington his co-star are an item on and off the set and that she broke up her engagement because of her relationship with Chris. Damn, there are two women willing to put up with Chris' loud ass mouth?!


Does Kerry Washington want to be the new Ms. Rock?


And ANS is finally on her way to the Bahamas to be buried next to her son. I need to get over my addiction to ANS and move on....


And according to TMZ Puffy punched an man after trying to get the man's fiance to leave the club with him. I hear a big fat lawsuit. Now, we know where Justin is learning his behavior. Doesn't Puff have newborn twins and a crazy girlfriend to look after?


And Bobby Brown was arrested for back child support payments. He was released after a DC radio station posted his bail in exchange for a week of hosting a radio show.


George Lucas hit up the Oscars with his new woman. Millionaire banker Mellody Hobson. Well go on then George.....


And finally, the Jolie-Pitt family is adding another baby. This time the globe stopped on Vietnam. The adoption papers were filed this week and the adoption could be finalized by early next week. Now if only she put some effort into improving her horrible acting abilities....yawn!

Better late than never

By R.L.
Desperately Fabulous Contributor

I know this post is almost two weeks late but things have been busy and the editor went on an extended vacation. Let's break down the events I attend during the NBA all-star weekend.

The Good
Celebrities where everywhere and for the most part most were willing to stop and talk for a minute. The biggest star surprise came when I ran into 50 cent at the Palm's Casino. After letting his ten 300 pound bodyguards know which blog I wrote for and then saying I thought rappers Cam'ron & Ja rule were whack. His bodyguards went and got him for me and before you knew it I was giving dap to the biggest rap crew in the business, well not height wise but you know what I mean. After a few drinks 50 and his crew had to make their way out to a club appearance but 50 cent made sure that if I wanted to stay and drink it would be on his tab. The funniest part of our meeting was when some girl in the distance said is that Mase with 50? See and some white people tell me I look like Pharrell Williams.


* Women, Women & Mo women! To all the young ladies that conducted themselves in the right way all star weekend I say "thank you". I was little worried that having All Star weekend in Vegas would be like having Mardi Gras in a casino. Most young ladies I saw weren't dressed like they where going to a Lil' Jon video shoot but rather like young women going out to have a good time. Majority of the ladies I came in contact with were on vacation from work, school or just wanted to take in All-Star weekend. I've always said in order for women to start finding good men they must first start being good women & if the women in Vegas are any indication men have a lot to look forward to.

The Bad

* Have you ever heard the praise "too many people can spoil the party"? That's exactly what it was like on the strip during one day in Vegas. It got to the point by Saturday I was taking the monorail back and forth because the streets were just too packed with people. While walking along the strip I heard an elderly man say if this many people would have came out and voted, George Bush wouldn't be president. Like Kanye West said 'we can't make it to the ballot box to choose leadership but we'll make it to All star games & to the dealerships'.

* If I see a another grown ass man in a white T-shirt I'm gonna call his momma. I saw so many white shirts during all star weekend I thought the Klan took over the strip. I think white t-shirts should only be sold to kids under 18 because it's obvious grown ass men just don't know how to dress anymore. And then some what to turn around and say that a women is stuck up because she won't talk to them. Think about it, do you think your father got your mother by wearing a white t-shirt?

Hit or Miss Rumors

* I know most of you already have heard or seen Britney Spears on crack. First she shaves her head then she shows up at Kevin Federline's house demanding he bring the kids out of the house. The only problem was that it was 3 o'clock in the morning & raining outside???? I know one thing is for sure Christina Aguilera is somewhere saying "I told you that bi*ch was crazy"

* Rapper Foxy Brown was arrested again for assault in South Florida after a disturbance broke out in a beauty supply store over hair glue. Now I could say something funny about this but if she's fighting over hair glue for some reason I think she might come looking for me & honestly I don't need those problems.


* Ciara has categorically denied that she has a relationship with 50 cent. Whenever you have to categorically deny anything it's most likely true.

*Puffy's son Justin was sighted this week getting lap dances at some club, the problem was he's only 12. When ask about this Justin just said "take that, take that".


* Rapper Akon said this week that he could have had Beyonce & Alicia Keys at one time but chose not to? Have you people seen Akon? I'm going to take a guess and say this, he's off that purple stuff with this. I mean if you're going to lie about women wanting you at least stay in your same field buddy. As Jay-z would say "We don't believe you, you need more people"