News: Are Jay-Z and "B" over?

[AKA2D '91]

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/doc_o_day/doc_o_day.html

MARCH 2--Five months after filing for divorce from Lionel Richie, the singer's estranged wife has just weighed in with a whopping--and remarkably detailed--demand for at least $300,000 in monthly support payments. According to Diane Richie, 37, the couple has led an "extraordinary extravagant lifestyle" and that she had "no limit on what I could spend," according to the below Los Angeles Superior Court declaration filed last week. The Richies, who wed in December 1996 and have two young children, live in a $40 million Beverly Hills mansion, with its 30 rooms spread over 18,000 square feet. "In addition to nine full time staff members, we also employ people to maintain our plants, detail our cars, care for our pool, groom our dog, maintain our aquarium and a painter for regular touch ups on the house," noted Richie. She also made sure to point out particular monthly expenses that Lionel, 54, needs to cover: clothing, shoes, and accessories ($15,000); dermatology ($3000); laser hair removal ($1000); massages ($600); jewelry ($5000); gifts ($5000); and vitamins ($500). There are plenty of other costs Richie listed--like $20,000 annually for plastic surgery and her nine-year-old son's $125,000 boarding school tuition--but TSG will let you discover those chestnuts. According to Richie, she began dating the pop star in 1984, when they met at the Summer Olympics in Los Angeles (she was an 18-year-old dancer). Since those teen days, the performer "paid my rent and/or mortgage, purchased automobiles for me, and regularly bought me expensive gifts," recalled Richie

[Steeltrap]

Every time I see a photo of Lionel Richie, I have to resist the images of horses in my mind.

[abaici]

After he did Brenda wrong, sista's have no sympathy for him.

[pointNclick]

What comes around, goes around. I hope she takes him for EVERYTHING he has.

[feu_declipse]

UPN signs Missy Elliott for rap reality show
A group of aspiring rap stars will tour the country with Elliott
Updated: 6:37 p.m. ET March 03, 2004LOS ANGELES - Wanted: aspiring rapper willing to get his or her freak on — on national television.


Broadcaster UPN said Wednesday it will launch a new “dramality” series tentatively called the “Missy Elliott Project,” featuring the superstar rapper known for hits like “Get Ur Freak On.”

A group of aspiring rap stars will tour the country with Elliott, UPN said, competing in weekly elimination challenges and meeting industry bigwigs while the show’s cameras chronicle their every move.

The show will be produced by the executives behind CBS’ hit reality franchise “Big Brother.” Open casting sessions have been scheduled this month for Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, Atlanta, Arlington, and Dallas.

The network has carved out a niche for itself with a slate of shows appealing to black audiences, though it has seen broad-based interest in programs like the reality series “America’s Next Top Model.”

UPN said no air date has yet been set for the new show.

Copyright 2004 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication

[Honeykiss1974]

A rap reality show ?

yet another example of why art programs are SO IMPORTANT in public schools - it fosters creativity (which is something that is lacking in the minds of those who think of these shows).

[Steeltrap]

Originally posted by Honeykiss1974
A rap reality show ?

yet another example of why art programs are SO IMPORTANT in public schools - it fosters creativity (which is something that is lacking in the minds of those who think of these shows).

Yup, I agree. But thanks to tax-cut madness (I'm going way back to the late 1970s out here in Kollyfornia), art programs are usually the first things to go.

[abaici]

Originally posted by Steeltrap
Yup, I agree. But thanks to tax-cut madness (I'm going way back to the late 1970s out here in Kollyfornia), art programs are usually the first things to go.

Thus the importance of forming arts intiatives that cater to the kiddies. My nonprofit (a couple of years off--in research and planning stages) will focus on exposing children/youth to the arts. I am not an artist, but I was exposed to music and theatre at a young age and it does shape you.

[abaici]

Originally posted by AKA2D '91
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/doc_o_day/doc_o_day.html

MARCH 2--Five months after filing for divorce from Lionel Richie, the singer's estranged wife has just weighed in with a whopping--and remarkably detailed--demand for at least $300,000 in monthly support payments. According to Diane Richie, 37, the couple has led an "extraordinary extravagant lifestyle" and that she had "no limit on what I could spend," according to the below Los Angeles Superior Court declaration filed last week. The Richies, who wed in December 1996 and have two young children, live in a $40 million Beverly Hills mansion, with its 30 rooms spread over 18,000 square feet. "In addition to nine full time staff members, we also employ people to maintain our plants, detail our cars, care for our pool, groom our dog, maintain our aquarium and a painter for regular touch ups on the house," noted Richie. She also made sure to point out particular monthly expenses that Lionel, 54, needs to cover: clothing, shoes, and accessories ($15,000); dermatology ($3000); laser hair removal ($1000); massages ($600); jewelry ($5000); gifts ($5000); and vitamins ($500). There are plenty of other costs Richie listed--like $20,000 annually for plastic surgery and her nine-year-old son's $125,000 boarding school tuition--but TSG will let you discover those chestnuts. According to Richie, she began dating the pop star in 1984, when they met at the Summer Olympics in Los Angeles (she was an 18-year-old dancer). Since those teen days, the performer "paid my rent and/or mortgage, purchased automobiles for me, and regularly bought me expensive gifts," recalled Richie

$20,000 on plastic surgery. Botox?? what else is she getting that she needs refreshers every year?

[nikki1920]

One word for Lionel: KARMA. Funny, Brenda didnt ask for doo-doo when she divorced you. *whistling*

[CrimsonTide4]

Thursday, March 04, 2004

Bad news for AllHipHop’s homey Ley, who runs our community. We hear that thug crooner Ray J and Irish from 702 are now happily engaged. The details are sketchy, but now that Ray Ray is signed to B2K’s label, maybe he can afford a rock for Ms. Irish. AND, maybe B2K can give her a deal too. They could be the Hip-Hop version of Jessica Simpson and that other dude, her hubby. So, Ley...you can stop stalking Irish now.

Our same source has told us that Michelle Williams of Destiny’s Child is also engaged but to an unknown choir director. Guess they didn’t want to do the press release like Lil’ Solange…

[CrimsonTide4]

GERALD BACK WITH LEVERT: The franchise returns.
by Ricardo Hazell

Gerald Levert
(Mar. 3, 2004) *The son of O'Jays founder Eddie LeVert, Gerald had a lot of pressure on him when he made decided to become a vocalist. His fine vocal technique was heard for the first time on the 1985 debut album by LeVert, which also consisted of his brother Shawn LeVert and their friend, Marc Gordon.
By the time 1988's "Just Coolin'" had become a major US success, Gerald had already taken time off from the parent group to produce a number of artists with Marc, including Stephanie Mills, James Ingram, Miki Howard, the O'Jays and Troop. He also wrote "Whatever It Takes" for Anita Baker's platinum-selling 1990 set, Compositions. Throw in LSG, production work for the late great Barry White and a his most recent sets on EastWest Records, and you'll find that Gerald has succeeded in making a brand name out of his own talents.

But times change. We wander from home in search of ourselves, but sometimes we're drawn back with a vengeance. Recently Gerald LeVert was drawn back in a most unexpected manner, an impromptu performance with LeVert at LA's Universal Amphitheater.

"We got back together, we came out at Universal and the crowd went crazy," said the enthused singer. "Now we're going back in the studio. We're going to record some stuff and have some fun," Gerald said. "We've talked about it and now we're basically going to solidify it. It's just like old times. We hadn't done this in a while."

Gerald told us that the performance was so spontaneous that before they knew it, the guys were literally back on stage, just like back in the day.

"We call Shawn the coordinator," said Gerald when asked how the trio stayed in touch. "He kept everybody in touch and I ran into Mark again after years and years. So, Shawn picked up Marc, we came to the show and we did our thing."

"The last time we performed together was around 94, 95. It's been about 10 years. We did that with no practice or talking about it. So, what do we have to lose writing some songs together after old times. I've done my thing and will continue to do my thing. I never thought we'd get back together to do our thing."

You look at most successful groups and realize they all have a common denominator, they all break up. LeVert was no different, as we now know.

"We had our differences," said Gerald. "We didn't agree on a number of things musically. Now that we're older we have a better idea about what we'd like to sing about. I know I've been through some things, Marc has and Shawn has as well. We're grown. We understand things better and we know each other. I'm going to be Gerald LeVert, I'm going to do my thing and I have my thing with my father. He has the O'Jays and I have LeVert. It's like a franchise. As black people we don't get together enough to try to make things happen and I think the older you get the smarter you get regarding this album. The O'Jays are about to get back together as a group and even if we record a bunch a songs and don't drop an album we can just give the O'Jays some songs you know what I'm saying?"

Gerald LeVert is contemplating a return to the days of his career's youth as he and his former partners in songs reunite, but he told us that his primary focus is to become the best male crooner he possibly can. Though he is obviously his father's son in every sense of the word, Gerald says he emulates the smooth, suave mannerisms of Luther Vandross.

"I learned a lot from my dad, but I've also learned a lot from Luther Vandross," LeVert told EUR/EURweb. "I watched Luther and I learned a whole lot. I learned how to pace myself. I learned that you don't have party and tire everybody out, you can talk to the crowd. Things like gestures that he does. I learned a lot from him regarding how he conducts his business and the like.

"You know, I had heard a lot of things about Luther before I met him about him being hard to deal with and how he's this and that, but he's about his business. Being on stage you've gotta be about your business, he is and that's how come he demands the dollars that he does."

Wow, LeVert is 'bout to be back on the scene and hopefully they'll be crispy and clean after years of separation. That's it for now, but if you know anything about Gerald then you know he loves to talk about music and boy did he.

We'll have more from our conversation with him in a future edition of EURweb. For now, if you'd like to catch up on what he's been up to just log on to www.geraldlevert.com. Yeah, his web address is so obvious ... but not really.

[CrimsonTide4]

OH and I really do believe that Solange could have been a FRAGGLE back in the day.


Oh and I will put my own self in my handbasket to hell. Thanks

[lovelyivy84]

Originally posted by nikki1920
One word for Lionel: KARMA. Funny, Brenda didnt ask for doo-doo when she divorced you. *whistling*

Not true. She got half of the publishing rights for all of Lionel's hits.

Believe me, Brenda Ritchie ain't hurtin.

[desirethegreat1]

Students disown blackface at GSU

By ETAN HOROWITZ
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 03/04/04

Hundreds of students gathered at a Georgia State University ballroom Thursday to speak out about a racial incident at a fraternity party in January.

School officials called the meeting after word spread around campus and students started posting fliers to protest the incident.

During the weekend of Jan. 24, the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity hosted an off-campus party with the theme "Straight Outta Compton," with guests encouraged to wear hip-hop clothing, said Rebecca Stout, the assistant vice president and dean of students.

Two fraternity members showed up in blackface, and members of a historically black fraternity that was in attendance reported the incident to university officials the next week. The fraternity that reported the incident, Phi Beta Sigma, did not want to file charges against Pi Kappa Alpha or the students, so the university did, Stout said.

The two students have been suspended from their fraternity, and the university has charged them with discriminatory harassment under the student code of conduct, Stout said. Discipline may range from diversity training to possible expulsion. The university also filed charges against the fraternity, and a hearing will be held in a few weeks.

About a third of the student body at Georgia State is African-American. Organizers estimated that 700 students attended the forum Thursday. After it was over, some students hugged, while others cried and shook hands.

"All students were able to express that racism will not and should be tolerated at Georgia State University," said Alvatina Upshaw, 22, a junior from Atlanta.