Real Love & Hip Hop

Rappers: Remy Ma & Papoose (Hip Hop’s Personification of Ride or Die)

In the early ninety’s Mary J. Blige was looking for a Real Love. Everyone wants that kind of love, but few us are fortunate enough to find it. She sang from the depths of her soul: "Real love, I'm searching for a real love, someone to set my heart free, real love..." Rappers Remy Ma & Papoose happened to find real love with one another and are the personification of that Real Love Mary J. was singing about.  Remy Ma and Papoose captured our hearts on the season 6 premiere episode of Love & Hip Hop New York. 

Photo Credit:@thereakremyma Instragram 

It’s been a year since Remy has been out of prison.  After doing a six year bid for literally slapping a heaux, Remy Ma is looking good, setting stages on fire and killing the game in a major way. While she was away her husband/bestfriend was there to hold her down. It’s common for a woman to hold a man down while he's locked down, but quite a rarity for a man to play that position. I applaud Pap for being a faithful man for better or for worse. You can tell by their interaction on camera, he literally loves, honors and protects Remy to the fullest extent. Their love is so TRILL that these two were married over the phone while she was away in prison. 

It wasn’t the ideal situation, but when you love someone you live by the “By Any Means Necessary Code.”  Can we say: #RelationshipGoals!!! Papoose understands how Rem felt about their phone nuptials so he reserved a castle for their wedding “do-over” in exchange for a baby to complete their family. Although Papoose has 3 children from previous relationships and Remy Ma has 1 son; Papoose wants to create a child with his one true love. They can never get the time they lost back, but Pap is making sure he does everything in his power to make sure every moment counts. I can’t wait to see what the future has in store for Hip Hop’s real life ride or die couple! 

Photo Credit: @therealremyma Instagram 

Black Girl Magic

                          Black Girl Magic

You may have seen the hashtags that read: #blackgirlmagic and wondered to yourself what does that mean exactly? Well I’m here to give you some insight as to what #blackgirlmagic (bmg) is. You, yourself possess this super power. Black girl magic is not what you’ve seen in a Disney movie with a little fairy dust and a bippity, boppity, boop! 

No, black girl magic is richer and more potent. Black girl magic is what sustains the black female in the midst of this chaotic world we live in. In a world that writes stories that read we are: “not-rape-able”, “ugly”, “sluts” and “aggressive. Black girl magic is the power to see negative imagery, read negative comments, encounter rudeness, endure discrimination and still carry yourself like a queen, a goddess and in modern terms: a BOSS ASS BITCH! 

Black girl magic is in our ancestral DNA and when we need it most it automatically activates. 

#Blackgirlmagic is being 42 years old and looking 22 years old, maybe it’s Maybeline… Nah it’s Melanin

#Blackgirlmagic is turning a Rainbow outfit into red carpet ready

#Blackgirlmagic is slickin’ dem edges down to perfection, throwing on a red lip, hence going from drab to fab!

#Blackgirlmagic is protecting your kids

#Blackgirlmagic is holdin’ down ya whole squad!

#Blackgirlmagic is the power to be hurt by men emotionally time and time again and still be able to open your heart to love one more time

#Blackgirlmagic is making a 5 star meal on a $15 budget

#Blackgirlmagic is taking a head scarf, making it a head wrap and then a fashion trend

#Blackgirlmagic is restraining yourself when you should have slapped that hoe ass co-worker

#Blackgirlmagic is praying for your enemies as well as your friends

#Blackgirlmagic is loving GOD & Trap music

#Blackgirlmagic is refusing to give up when the odds are against you

#Blackgirlmagic is standing up for what you believe in

My Black Queens continue to spread love and share that Black Girl Magic wherever you go! 

I AM HERE FOR THE WIZ LIVE 3.0

I AM HERE FOR THE WIZ LIVE! 3.0

The magicalness (my new word) of The Wiz was everything! To sit in front of the television and watch a two hour production that kept my five year old child fully engaged was phenomenal and a true miracle in itself! It took me back to my childhood when my family would sit around the t.v. with snacks to watch a network television special. I remember when the Jackson 5: The American Dream debuted on ABC in 1992 and how excited I was to be watching it with my family and how glued to the screen I was.

 What a joy it was for me to share a similar experience with my own child. My son was absolutely delighted with the onscreen production. At every scene and musical number his eyes lit up. He kept asking me questions and wanted to wear some of the costumes. He even requested I buy him the green jacket from one the Emerald City scenes for Christmas so he could rock it with his green “chucks”. Therefore, it is written that the 2015 production of The Wiz was indeed a major hit!

Emerald City Bouncer! Common

The Hair & Make Up:

One thing I know for sure is that black people know how to show up and show out and that’s exactly what they did with the hair and make-up for the cast of The Wiz. When I tell you the hair was laid and was giving me all types of Black Royalty and Regal feels. To see locs, crochet braids, afros, colored hair, asymmetrical cuts, fades, flat irons, etc… made me feel so proud to black and a woman! It was reminiscent of the 70s when we were screaming it loud that we were black and proud and unafraid to accept our own brand of beauty. Oh and then the make-up was beat to Zeus, Athena, Venus and all the gods! I was yelling things at the tv like: Yaaaaaasss! You betta be fine! Face is beat hunty! Eyebrows on fleek! I mean The Fashion Fair Cosmetics Company of yesterday’s past and the MAC team of today are just twirling their brushes in excitement.

The Dancing:

The Dancing Poppies

The dancing was so relevant and on point. To see Queen Mary herself Hit da Quan when we all know The Queen struggles in the dance department was just fantastic! The choreography was created with a great sense of bridging the generations. There was voguing and dabbing and nay nay-ing and just everything in between. The Crows were getting it, the Poppies were serving it, the flying monkeys were killing it and I loved every moment of it! My son and his friend even tried to do some of the moves in the middle of the living room.  

The Cast:

The Cast of The Wiz Live

Every person cast in the Wiz from the leads to the extras were awesome! Every person that took to that stage shined bright like a diamond. The irony of that is diamonds come from Africa and this diamond studded cast was glistening. Dorothy played by newcomer Shanice Williams was giving me all kinds of African-American Pride. A cute little brown girl from Jersey who can saaaaaannnnng! Her voice. Her facial expressions. Her eyes. Her movement. Her countenance. Her overall essence brought so much to the character of Dorothy and it resonated through the television screen. The Scarecrow’s innocence was so sweet and his voice was angelic. The Tinman played by singer Ne-yo was great. He truly was the heart of the main characters. But the Emmy worthy performance of David Allen-Grier is what really brought everything together. David played the Cowardly Lion, but there was nothing cowardly about his performance. His performance was spot on! He hit every beat. He hit every note. He hit every cue. His comedic timing was perfection and he made me want ease on down the road with him arm in arm.

I AM HERE FOR THE WIZ LIVE 2015!