NEW VIDEO: The Carters – APES**T

The Carters dropped their FIRST joint album Everything Is Love with nine tracks on Tidal with the visual for single “Apes**t”. The footage shows Bey and Jay at the Louvre museum in Paris, including shots of them standing in front of the Mona Lisa painting while wearing pink and mint suits as well as shots of dancers performing in skin-colored tights and crop tops. Two performers appear on the cover of the Everything Is Love album. The video was filmed on location last month, a Tidal rep told E! News. Beyonce sings and raps in the song “Apes**t.” Sample lyrics include, “I can’t believe we made it / This is why we’re thankful” and “Have you ever seen a crowd going apes**t?”

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NEW VIDEO: Cardi B – Be Careful

Rapper Cardi B released the music video for be careful a song debuted on her Invasion of Privacy album. The song is a woman venting about dealing with a cheating man and how the man changed since he has gotten more popularity.

In the video Cardi gets married in a beautiful white dress with layered pearl necklaces around her neck with long platinum gray hair. I definitely got Madonna’s Like a Virgin 80’s vibes with Cardi’s bride look. Later in the video her husband dies and she has his funeral in the same church they got married in. It is displayed that her love turned to hate because of the behaviors of her unfaithful husband. I enjoyed the creativity of the video, again it reminds me of something Madonna would have done. Check out the video below and tell me what you think.

MuaH!

ThatGurlDomo

Nicki Minaj Announced New Album “Queen”

Nicki Minaj has announced the long awaited follow-up to her 2014 album The Pinkprint. It’s called Queen and it’s out June 15. She shared the news while walking the red carpet at the 2018 Met Gala. Watch below. Her new tracks—“Barbie Tingz” and “Chun-Li”—will appear on the upcoming LP. She recently released music videos for both. Check them out below.

Beyond prepping her solo release, Nicki has jumped on multiple tracks in recent months, including Young Thug’s “Anybody,” Quavo’s “She for Keeps,” and Migos’ “Motor Sport” with Cardi B.

Drake gives confirmation of his New Album/ Drops ‘Nice For What’ Song/Video

Drake has announced that he will be releasing his album on Friday.

The rapper broke the news during a surprise appearance at OVO sound recording artist Majid Jordan’s Toronto show.

Twitter user @GeeBoyWonder posted a video of the announcement.

“The reason I’m here tonight is because I’m back in the city finishing my album,” Drake told the audience. “I’ve got a new single dropping tomorrow night too, just in case you got some free time.”

The rapper kept himself busy in 2018, kicking off the year by surprise releasing a two-song EP, Scary Hours, in January. Lead single “God’s Plan” just enjoyed its 10th consecutive week atop the Billboard Hot 100, while second single “Diplomatic Immunity” peaked at No. 7. He also guested on OVO signee BlocBoy JB’s “Look Alive,” which peaked at No. 5 on the Hot 100 in February.

‘Nice For What’ New Video

via Forbes

Chapter 10: Its Because I Love You (The Real Me)

Christina

After my altercation with Omar, I now know, it is time for me to get away. I pack my bags and head straight to the airport. Back home is the best place for me right now, I ran away for a long time, but it seems to always give me relief when I go back. Not permanently, but to clear my head. My destination is Los Angeles California. There, I have a different life. One that I tried so hard to escape. Sometimes it’s just good to see your loved ones, to remind you of the importance in life. Although I won’t be spending, too much time there, I still want to see them. I plan to stay at the Lorder Hotel, for about a month. I could just go to the apartment that I have there. This is the one place Omar, can never seem to pinpoint me unless, I was staying with my parents.

I head to the hotel and check in. I don’t have to do much, because of my family. They’re just always glad to have me stay there. That’s why they allow me to use a different surname. All to ensure I can keep some form of privacy. Now that I’m thinking about it, that’s probably the reason Omar can never find me. The manager at the hotel is super sweet, and really makes a girl feel welcomed. Once I check in, I go to my room and take a long hot shower. As I’m standing in the shower for a bit, the phone starts to ring. After I ignore the first two rings, it continues. Irritated I turn off the water, step out of the shower, and dry off while heading to the phone. When I pick it up, the voice on the other end says in an accusatory tone, “when were you going to tell me you’re in town?”

Rolling my eyes, as I look at the phone, “Mom I literally just landed, how do you even know I’m here?”

My mother replies, “As smart as you are, sometimes I feel like I dropped you on your head at some point. Who’s paying for your hotel?”

“Goodbye mom”, I say as I get ready to hang up the phone.

“No, I’m sorry sweetheart”, she says in time to stop me from pressing the end button. Putting the phone back to my ear, hearing the silence, she knows that she can continue, “Your father and I want you to come over for dinner. I’m making all of your favorites.”

“You didn’t even know, I was coming. How are you making all my favorites?”, I ask crossing my arms awaiting her clever response.

“I just had Lora go to the store, to buy all your favorite foods. Even though, I wish you would stay here, instead of going to one of those hotels”, she says disappointed. “Do you know how embarrassing it is, to have the manager of one hotel that you donate to, call you and say that your daughter is staying there?”

“No mom, I don’t know…tell me how embarrassing it is?”, I say waiting for her to respond.

“Sorry sweetheart, I’m just saying”, she says trying to make herself sound sincere continuing, “And your brother misses you, he really wants to see you.”

“That’s funny because, I haven’t gotten a phone call from him ever”, I say sarcastically.

“Who’s the oldest sibling? I think you should be calling him”, she states. This is the moment where my mom tries to make me feel bad, for not being the big sister that they expect me to be.

“Here we go again, bye mom”, I throw my hands up, and shake my head.

“Will I be seeing you tonight?”, my mother asked right before ending our lovely conversation.

“Yes mother, I’ll come tonight for dinner”, I respond trying to get her off the phone.

“Now was that so hard, love you sweetheart see you later”, she says.

I’m upset the manager called my mother. That’s never happened before. Which must mean that my mother, has been searching for me for a while, and has everyone on the lookout. I hate when she does things like this. This is why I moved to New York, in the first place, to get away from all this. To start my own life, and make my own money, and do what I want to do.

I get dressed and head out on the town. My first destination is to my friend Dana, owner of Dana’s diner. Originally owned by her parents, was handed down to her when she graduated college. At first, they started off with only one diner but now she managed to expand the business to four different locations. One in San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose, and Los Angeles. The diner, named after Dana herself is well known to be the haven for celebrities to get a quick bite. It’s also known for catering exclusive events. If you ask anyone in California, they must know about Dana’s.

My father was in the military for Twenty years. Once he got out, my parents used all the funds they’ve saved and put it into their dream, a PR company. Just like Dana, I was supposed to take control of my parents’ business, but I have different plans. My parents are well known in the entertainment industry for PR in consulting work. In the beginning they started off small, with just a few clients. Then they got their big break when they worked with Jay Z. After that, business started booming for them. Their life became everything they’ve hoped for, but I had no interest in taking over the business, its boring to me. I know many people would consider working with celebrities an honor but, I’ve been around it my whole life. I can’t see myself doing this, for the rest of my life. My decision has brought them so much anger, to know that I did everything in my power to steer away from the family business. Although in my eyes, it shouldn’t be that big of a deal because, I’m adopted. My younger brother however, is their biological child. I know, I shouldn’t say it like that but, I think he deserves to have the business more than I do, and if you ask him, I guarantee he would say the same thing.

Once I arrive at what I knew to be the diner, I recognized nothing. The only marker left to show me that, I was in the right place sat on top of the storefront. There it is, “Dana’s” written in big letters. Definitely not the old storefront, that I’m used to, a brand new one with cursive italic words. A smile appears on my face when I look at the sign, then I walk into the diner and look around. To see a brand new renovated restaurant. It was bright and lively, with all the bodies that sat inside. I still feel the same energy as before. but with a more modernized feel. I had no doubt that Dana would, make this place her own, and that’s exactly what she did. I’m so proud of her. I spoke to her assistant earlier this morning, and she told me that Dana would possibly be at the Los Angeles location, for meetings. Although she has other locations, Los Angeles is home to her, so that’s where her office remains.

Walking to the main counter, where there is a young blonde girl taking orders, over the phone. When she spots me, she smiles and I could see her mouth saying, ” give me a minute”. I smile at her, indicating for her to take her time. I sat down on the first stool I spotted, patiently awaiting her assistance. As I get comfortable, looking around I’m drawn to the menu on the table. Looking through the menu, I see triple the amount of entrées that were once available for customers. Just reading through the menu, begins to make me hungry. Dana is definitely doing her thing with these diners. My eyes are glued to the menu, I hear the sound of heels clicking on the floor, getting closer. I look to put a face to the noise. As I look up I see Dana talking to one of her employees, close to the kitchen area. I quickly put down the menu and hop up off of the stool. Walking over to her, where her back is facing me and I interrupt, ” excuse me ma’am

Dana

Dana stops and turns around. Before she could speak a smile appears on her face, and she hugs me tight, “OMG, What are you doing here?”, she says before letting me go.

” I just thought it was time, to come home for a little bit.”

” yeah?! I know what  that means, there’s way more to the story than that”, she says crossing her arms.

I don’t respond, I just put my head down and cover my face with my left hand. I can never lie to her. That’s when she says, ” don’t worry about it we have enough time to get into the details”, she then looks back at her employee and says, “James we’ll finish this later”, he nodded his head and walks away then she turn back to me and continues, “OK so how are you?”

“I’m not sure I’m as good as you’re doing”, I say as I look around the diner smiling

“Oh you mean this old place, I only did a few renovations”, she says.

She guides us to sit in a booth that is across from where we are standing. As we sit down she looks at me for a few moments before speaking again, “I can’t believe you’re actually here”.

I think when I moved, the person that took it the hardest was Dana. Although she didn’t verbally tell me exactly how she felt. I knew that me moving was going to strongly impact her life. As I said before we did everything together, she was my backbone. She knew everything that was going on in my household and she knew how I felt. She never judged me or made me feel like less of a person, she was always there for me. As I sit down looking in her eyes, and she just stares back at me. I can see the happiness but I can also see the hurt in her eyes. I know I’d love to say, Victoria’s my best friend, but while I’m sitting here with Dana, I realize that this is going to remind me, of what a best friend really is. No secrets, no lies, just loyalty and love. I reach out and hold Dana’s hands, ” I needed to get away from the New York life, it was draining me.”

“I can imagine.”

“It Just feels good to be back here, with my real family.”

“So you know what this means right?”

“Oh yes! It’s been forever since we partied together and tonight is the night”, she said before she continues, ” I already have a table, with a few ladies. I would love for you to join us. I take that back you will be joining us”, she said demanding.

“Oh I should’ve been prepared for this.”

” I agree, but we still have time to get you out of it”, she said before she popped up from the table then saying, “I have a lot of meetings to do today, so I gotta go. But I will see you at 10.”

After leaving the diner, I drove around LA, for a bit before heading to my parents house. Entering into the compound, I knew that I would have to become a different person. Those few moments slowly dragging by as I park my car in front of my parents house. This is what people call anxiety at its best. I have no idea why This happens to me every time I go home. Taking a few moments to collect my thoughts, then getting out of the car. As I look around, everything looks exactly the same way I left it. I guess mom wanted everything to remain the same. As I’m reconnecting with the environment, I hear the front door open, turning around I spot my brother Jordan, standing at the double doors. Before actually walking up to him, we look at one another for a few moments in silence. Until he finally broke his intimidating frown, and walk down the steps to hug me.

Jordan

“What made you, decide to come back home?”, he says before letting go of me.

“I’m not coming back home, I’m just visiting.”

“However you want to say it, what made you decide to visit us?”

“I thought it was well overdue.”

“I could’ve told you that”, he says walking back up the steps to the front door, then turning back at me to say, “are you just gonna stand there, or are you going to come in the house? You’re not a stranger”. I don’t respond I just follow behind him, into the house closing the door behind myself.

Our huge chandelier, hung from the ceiling, as bright as can be. The steps meet like a bridge, from both ends of the wall. Beneath it was a walkway giving access to the kitchen. The floor and steps are marble and the walls are painted tan. My mother is all about elegance, everything in our house, is made to perfection for the eyes of our viewers. My mother was a woman of class and opinion. As opinionated as she is, she made sure her house was always setting the standard, for any possible guest that may be passing through. I continue walking into the house, making my way to the kitchen, where everyone is standing around the table. As I entered the room, all eyes turn to me. My father eventually pulls out the seat next to him, indicating for me to come sit down. I smile and walk over to the seat, gently sitting down and looking back at him. He smiles as he pushes my chair in. Sitting down next to me, as he looks at my mother who is sitting directly across from him, though i was so close to her, I wouldn’t look directly into my mother’s eyes. We all were around the table, staring at one another. This is the norm in my house, everything is always completely awkward until someone breaks the silence. Multiple times than none, it’s my father. For some reason he actually believes he’s funny, although super corny it’s just what we need, to get the family talking.

“So Christina, i hear you’re popping in the streets these days?”

I slowly turn my head to make direct eye contact, “what?”

“What’s Poppin?!” my dad says, hoping to get a laugh out of someone.

“Dad no”, I reply, but he just looks at me as if he did nothing wrong, that’s when I continue, “please don’t say that again”. He’s still looking at me wondering why. My brother, just shakes his head, and grinned the entire time.

“Can someone just say grace, so that I can start eating please?”, mother said with a complete attitude.

“I’ll Say grace”, Jordan says smiling as he puts his hand out for my parents to hold them. My father displayed a great smile as he placed his left hand, on top of my brothers right hand. My mother gracefully smiled and placed her hand upon my brothers right hand, and held it tight. I followed up and held both my mother, and my father’s hand. Together we are binded, and sharing this moment to acknowledge Christ, and what he means to us. We slowly followed up with, the bowing of our heads and closing our eyes. A few moments pass, and my brother begins praying, “heavenly father, we thank you for allowing us to be together again. For my sister to come back home and have dinner with us, like old times. Heavenly father I pray we enjoy our meal and thank our mother for the wonderful job she did with the food. Amen”. We all repeat Amen, before opening our eyes.

“Thank you son, for blessing the food, Now let’s dig in”, my mother says proudly.

As the food is being distributed, my mother took no time to begin her interrogation, “So, what’s the real reason for this reunion?”

“There wasn’t supposed to be a reunion, but you insisted that I come over here. So technically that’s the real reason for the reunion.”

“You will watch your tone when your in this house”, my father interjected as he pointed his fork in my direction, ” do you understand me?”

“Yes, I understand.”

After we got through our awkward stage, we had a nice family dinner. We laugh, joke, and talk about all the things that I’ve missed while I haven’t been around. My father wants to hear about everything that I’ve been doing in New York. My mother acting as if she’s engaged, but try to hold back her obnoxious comments. My brother asking question after question is if he just found his best friend. I’m glad we could sit down and have this amazing meal together, but the truth is always the same. After dinner I head to what was my old bedroom. Everything looks exactly the same. I take a shower, to get ready for my interesting night with Dana.

I put the finishing touches to my outfit, looking at myself in the mirror, and smiling at what I see. I’m wearing a, long sleeve, tight fitted, one piece suit made of metallic silver. I could see every curve in the mirror. I topped it with my favorite black stiletto heels. My hair is pinned up in a neat bun, accentuating my bone structure. I added an elegant pearl earring.

The next thing I know, Dana barges in my room, making a grand entrance, ” The queen has arrived”. She takes one look at me, begins yelling out as she skips over to me, ” that’s my best friend, that’s my best friend, you betta”, she said as she walked around me clapping. She knows exactly what to say to give me hyped up. As I listen to her chanting and clapping, I start dancing and twerking in front of her. She says laughing, ” I swear we think alike”, I say as I look her up and down. She’s wearing an all black long sleeve one piece.

As we stepped outside, still laughing, I see an all black Escalade sitting in front of the door, with a man in a suit waiting with his hands folded. We stepped down the steps and straight into the black vehicle.

I’m very surprised to see that Dana had a driver, she was always the type to want to driver self around. I guess a lot has changed since I’ve left, hopefully for the better. The drive to the club, didn’t have much talking. Dana just kept pouring champagne and drinking, bump into the music. I won’t lie, I took a few sips of champagne and vibe to the music, but I was more worried about what I was going to see once I got into the club. When we pulled up to the front of the club, the driver open the door for us. I smiled at him as I got out and Dana followed. There was tight rope on two sides, leading to the entrance way by the red carpet. On the side there are lines wrapped around the building with people waiting to get in. As usual we just step to the front, Dana hugs the bouncer before both of us walk in. As we step into the club, it’s full wall-to-wall people. A young lady that works there, guides Dana and I to our table. The table is sort of, in front of the stage but secluded from the rest of the club. The young lady moves the tight rope for us to sit down. Already at the table there were about four women. I have never met anyone of these ladies before. When they saw Dana’s face, they all got excited and rushed up to hug her. I just found a comfortable seat and sat down, while Dana interacted with her associates. As I’m pouring myself some champagne, Dana introduces her associates to me. I smile and nod my head as if I’m totally interested, in meeting them.

“Hi! Dana talks about you all the time”, One of the young lady says and she hugs me tight. I’m a little thrown off by her enthusiasm. The other young lady follows up and hugs me also, but doesn’t say anything but smile. Where the hell did Dana find these, goofy ass girls. They’re cute, but nothing about them really stands out to me. After the introduction, I make my way to the dance floor. On my third glass of champagne it begins to kick in. I began dancing my life away, that’s when I noticed an attractive male staring at me as I dance. I know, I said that I wouldn’t focus on men while in LA, but the way he staring at me, makes me want to rethink things a bit. I break eye contact with him and get Dana’s attention to join me on the dance floor, but she was preoccupied with some other guy. I can’t fully make out what he looks like. After spending a few moments trying to get her attention, I decided to walk over to her to realize that she’s talking to my brother Jordan. I’m a bit confused, because Jordan was in the house when I left. When did he have time to get ready? And why is Dana and him so close to one another? A bunch of thoughts begin roaming through my head.

As I approach them, I simply ask, ” Jordan what the hell are you doing here?”

He turns around with the irritating smile he always gives me, “The same reason you’re here”

“I’m here, because my best friend…”, I say with an attitude. But as I repeat the words back to myself, I realize something didn’t seem right. I turn to Dana and ask her, ” what is he doing here?”

“To party, like the rest of us”, she says naïvely”

As I attempt to interrogate them some more. A man reaches from behind me, and grab the champagne bottle. Due to my irritation, with my brother already being here. I’m not ready to have anyone that close to me. As I turn around to give him a piece of my mind, I realize it’s the man that was staring at me on the dance floor. For some reason in that moment, the words couldn’t fully come out. I just began blushing, like a little girl. He says nothing, just pours the champagne, while staring at me. He smiles as he hands me the glass, reaching over me once more, to grab another, then pours it directly in front of me. Putting down the champagne bottle and holding up our glass, we clinch our glass together. He nods his head and smiles, then takes a sip of champagne. Throughout our entire interaction, he says nothing, just looks at me with that smile. I don’t know, what came over me. I lean in and kiss him, lasting for a A few moments, I step back in shock of my behavior. I can tell in his eyes, that he was just as surprised. He just picks up his glass, and takes another sip. I’m not sure why he’s not talking, but the silence is doing something to me. I enjoy the rest of the night. I’m glad, that I came out with Dana. Although I’m still skeptical about her and Jordan.

The next morning, I wake up with my head pounding. Should’ve known, this is how I’m going to feel, after my third drink. When things in the room became blurry, I didn’t stop, just kept on going. Drinking with an attractive man, that I’ve yet to get his name. The way I behaved last night, is unlike anything that I’ve done before. With escorting, I never have to do much, but be there and smile. Last night I put forth effort, to impress this man. Why? I still don’t have the answer. Attempting to get up a few times, but my body will not allow me to. As I lay in the bed staring at the ceiling, I reach over to the side table, picking up the phone then I press 9, to call the front desk. The phone rings a couple times before someone answers, “Hello, my name is Seth. This is the front desk, how may I help you?”, says the voice on the other end. Still laying in the same position, I say, “Can I get a vegetable omelet, with toast and coffee please…to room 56”. The man says politely, “No problem, it will be up to you shortly”.

“Thank you”, I say before hanging up the phone. Staring at the wall once again, finally force myself to get up. Slowly leaning up to sit at the edge of the bed. Taking a couple of deep breaths, then going to the bathroom. Turning on the warm water, I undress, it takes me forever to finally get my clothes off. Then step into the shower, one foot at a time. Standing underneath the shower for a while, feels amazing. When I begin to feel myself fall asleep, I quickly wash myself up and step out the shower. Grab the robe I have hanging on the bathroom door. While in the bedroom, I begin to lather myself with my scented lotion. I hear a knock at the door. Finishing up my lathering, I head to the door. When I open it, there is a male standing in front of me, with a cart. Stepping aside to indicate for him to come in, he roles the cart into the room, stopping midpoint and turns back to look at me.

“Is there something else I can help you with?”, he says to me with a smile.

“No! That will be all”, I reply with a smile.

He nods his head and says, “Okay!  Have a good day”. Then walks out of the room.

“You too”, I say as I close the door behind him.

Later, I decide to meet with Dana at her diner. Once I step into the diner, I realize that the diner is packed. I look around for a moment, trying to find a table to sit at. I notice my brother in the back of the diner, sitting at a booth. As I make my way over to him, I realize he’s sitting with someone else. I can’t make out the persons face. Once I get close enough, I realize it’s the guy from last night. I instantly feel a rush going through my body. I don’t want him to see me, I embarrassed myself during our last encounter. How is he going to look at me? All the thoughts roll through my mind at the same time, that I don’t realize that I have made it to their table.

Jordan looks at me confused, “Wassup?”

“I could ask you the same thing”, I say with my hand on my hips.

Jordan interjects with confidence, “This is our spot, remember you have been gone for a while.”

I reply, “Well I’m back now so…”

I look over at this handsome male, who is now staring at me, like he did on the dance floor. I try hard to be cute, then I smile at him, “I’m sorry, I don’t think we formally introduced ourselves”

Michael

“I’m Michael”, he says in the most pleasant voice.

“Christina”, I say moments after him. I then ask him, “Are you friends with my younger brother?”

“Yeah! He’s aight”, he replies.

“How old are you?”, I ask.

“Not as young as you maybe thinking”, he says smiling.

We both are playing this attention game. He won’t give in and I won’t either. I can stare at him all day. He has a natural swag, that I can’t put in exact words. Dana comes from her office and joins us at the booth.

“You made it! How you feeling?”, she ask me giggling.

“Im okay now”, I say with a slight grin. As my memory begins to come back to me, I try to interrogate Dana again, “Why were you and Jordan so close to one another, last night?”. I can tell everyone at the table wants to ignore me, but I continue, “I don’t get why you two were so intimate”. Jordan gets irritated with all my question, that he interrupts the conversation to say, “Dana’s my girl”, he then grabs her by the waist and smiles. Dana quickly pushes away from him and says, “not here”, she starts looking around to make sure no one is looking.

“Im sorry, did you say your girl?”, I ask calmly.

Jordan smiles and looks at Dana. Dana won’t even look at me.

“Eeeewwwwww!!! When did this happen?”, I ask Dana.

“I don’t know, a while”, Dana says trying to play it off.

At this point I’m boiling, suddenly Michael grabs my hand and say, “Let’s get out of here”. We both make our way out of the restaurant, and into Michael’s car that is waiting outside.

TO BE CONTINUED…

FAN FICTION!!!!! 💋

Jay -Z ‘New York Times’ Interview

Rapper/Entrepreneur Jay-Z gets interviewed by Dean Baquet from The New York Times. Jay talks about the reality, we all try to avoid. He speaks honesty and the true that many people need to take in. Touches on how he has learned about himself and becoming a better person. He mentions a lot about his ‘obligation’ to this community. I have always enjoyed listening to Jay-Z music, but the way he speaks brings me happiness. I pray that people listen to this interview and actually leave with something valuable. Below is the full interview.

 

Getting To Know Tuesday Knight Interview

1. Where did the name Tuesday Knight come from?

So it's definitely not exciting as it sounds. I use to go by my government name Shane Jackson. I always thought it sounded plain and generic. I mean Jackson is the most common name ever. It doesn't sound too rapper-ish I guess. Before I put my first mixtape I needed a rap name that I was going to stick to. And I couldn't think of anything and it happened to be Tuesday night. I was in the studio with my manager and I was explaining what do you think about the name Tuesday Night? There's a bunch of metaphor ways I can play that name. He was like "yo that's kind of dope." So I just kept Tuesday Night. That's when I chose the right name.

2. Can you describe yourself in three words?

Creative, passionate, and humble.

3. What college did you attend and what was your major?

I graduated from Cornell University and I went The School of Hotel Administration. My degree is in Hotel Administration.

4. How long after working did you realize that you wanted to do music instead?

I was working him in Manhattan at Warner Brothers for 3 1/2 years straight out of college, after I graduated, December 31, 2016.

5. How long have you been writing and rapping?

For fun, I would say I started between 13 and 14 years old. But seriously tried to make it a career I would say, about two years ago.

6. Where did your inspiration for the album come from?

My recent album spoke about the transition from corporate to music. So definitely this album was straight pool of inspiration from my real life. I just want to share the thought process behind my decision. If anybody else is going through this and having to make a hard decision in life, just do what makes you happy and what inspires you. It's basically what the album is about.

7. Do you have a special place for your writing?

No, I never really write down my lyrics either. I just constantly think about my lyrics. Everything is in my head so I could be walking and I can see things. Like nature inspired me to [to write]. I can see something while driving my car and say I can make that a dope line. I'm just constantly fighting constantly thinking things that I can say at a later time throughout my career; where people would say that I'm smart because I went to school and be able to leave a memory. I used to remember everything that the teacher said. I never took notes or anything. I can come up with a rap in my head whenever. I don't know I just have a good memory.

8. Do you have an artist that inspires you? Who?

I always go back to Nas, just because that was my introduction to hip-hop. I was born in the early 90s and it was huge. I have two brothers and we was bumping his music. So I was really brought up on listening to Nas. I knew all of his tracks and I was like 5 or 6 years old. That's what inspired me to start especially my style is the way he told stories in his rhymes. Now is definitely the inspiration for me.

9. What's the difference between the corporate industry and the music industry?

The ability to be creative. Which was what was holding me back from falling in love with the corporate industry. You have a boss to tell you what to do and usually there's only one way to do it. I just tell you do it this way. With rap I can be creative, do things the way I want to do them and how I think they should be done.

10. Where do you see yourself in 5 and 10 years?

Five years from now I just want to be making decent amount of money and music so I don't need another job. I'm real humble I don't care about being a millionaire and all that other stuff. If I could make $120 grand off of writing music even ghostwriting for other people. I would be completely content. Ten years from now I will be 36, I hope to take the rent money which is like entry level money and start investing in other things. Have my own businesses and have a family fortune, to include my family and friends and make sure all our bodies are good.

11. What do you want your legacy to be?

I want my legacy to be, that I was a relatable. I was able to make people feel what I was saying. I just want people to be able to relate to my music. And help them get through certain situations in life through my music. That's what I want my legacy to be.

12. Is there anything that your fans should look forward to seeing from you in the near future?

I'm currently working on two separate mixtapes. 2 to 5 track EP’s. There's a day vibe and a night vibe. I've already started working on my next album but who knows how long that's going to take.

(It’s Because I Love You) Chapter 8: Mixed Signals

OMAR

Omar yelled, “Did you hear me the first time?”
I couldn’t speak, looking at the phone then back at Omar. I decided in that moment, to cut the conversation short whispering, “I’ll call you back”. Quickly I hung up the phone, then looked over at Omar. I thought to myself, I can play this in two ways, I can play the victim card or I could play the asshole. I grappled with the decision for a few seconds. I choose the asshole, “don’t look at me like that”, I said dismissing his presents, walking around him to the living room. He turned around and followed me, grabbing my arm to stop me,”So our conversation yesterday meant nothing?”. I pulled my hand out of his grip looking him, “You must’ve lost your goddamn mind, Don’t ever grab me again”, I said perjecting my voice. Omar threw his hands up in the air, then slowly stepped back.

CHRISTINA

I continue to walk to the living room and sat down on the couch. I looked over at Omar, who was still looking at me.

“It’s fine with me, if you don’t want to follow our agreement, I will gladly continue what I’m doing”, Omar said with a smile. He then walks to the back to the bedroom. I could hear moving around from the living room. I didn’t pay him any attention. I remained in the living room, a lot of thoughts roaming through my head. I don’t want to lose Omar, but I don’t know if I’m ready to lose Trey either. Omar made his way back into the kitchen. Grabbing his jacket on the chair, right before he put his hand on the door he looks over at me once more and says, “I’ll let myself out”. At this point my head was down in my hands. As I heard the door open, I popped up and ran to the door; closing it before Omar even fully opened it, “You’re not being fair”, I said as my eyes began to water.

“What do you mean I’m not being fair? I gave you an option. You told me that you were going to handle it, and you didn’t, so explain to me how I’m not being fair?”, Omar said waiting for me to respond.

“It’s not that easy for me”, I reply looking down feeling ashamed to look him in the eye.

Omar replied sarcastically grabbing the door again to open it, “Well it’s not that easy for me either”.

I push the door close once more then responded, “You’re just saying that because I said it, I’m not saying it’s hard to leave Trey just because but you know damn well that you’re saying that you can’t stop messing with Victoria just to be an asshole. Unlike you I don’t throw my feelings around anywhere”.

Omar getting tired of the back-and-forth and finally said, “Christina what are you saying to me?”

I said with tears running down my face, ” l don’t know, I really just don’t know”.

“Well when you figure it out you let me know, but until then you can’t tell me who I can and can’t see”, Omar grab the door once more and this time he left slammed the door behind him. I said in the same spot by the door for at least five minutes.

I don’t know how I’ve gotten to this place. This place of loneliness. It’s so dark and quiet here. No matter how hard I try to find the light the dark continues to turn the switch.

For a couple of days I stayed in the house in complete silence. I’m sure by now, I have many missed calls but I really had no interest in talking to anyone. I couldn’t even tell my best friend about what I was dealing with, because we are dealing with the same guy. Anyone else I could possibly talk to about it, would tell me what I didn’t need to hear. Laying in my bed I close my eyes and thought to myself, who do you want? Is it Omar or is it Trey? I kept repeating those same lines in my head over and over again, hoping to get the answer that I needed.

As I was in my own thoughts, I heard the doorbell ring. Hoping that the person would go away so I could remained in my bed. Once I realize the person wasn’t going to leave. I got up out of my bed and walk to the door when I looked out of the peep hole, it was Victoria. All I could think to myself was, “this is not the person I want to see you right now”. I actually feel bad for those thoughts in mind but I couldn’t help it. She had gotten tangled up in a love triangle without even asking for it. I open the door and there she was standing there with a bottle of wine in her hand.

“I have been calling and texting you, but you haven’t been answering, thought you might need some of this”, she said as she out of the bottle of wine.

She walked into the apartment and I close the door behind her. She walked into the kitchen and put the bottle down on the kitchen counter then looked back at me, that was right behind her.

“So what’s going on and why the hell do you look like this?”‘, she said awaiting my response looking me up and down.

I didn’t say anything I just grabbed the bottle opener out of the first drawer and begin opening the wine bottle.

“Please don’t tell me this is about Trey again?”, she asked still awaiting for me to respond.

I still remain quiet grabbing two glasses out of the cabinet and began pouring the wine. Then simply handed one glass to Victoria and walking into the living room. I sat down on the couch with the wine glass in hand, finally taking a sip. Victoria hurried over to the couch, sitting next to me eager to know what I was going to say next, “So it is about Trey?”, she asked to bring her wine.

“Yeah it’s about him”, I said sipping my wine once more.

“What did he do now?”, she said waiting for me to respond.

“I don’t know, he just doesn’t know what he wants. One minute he wants to be in a committed relationship the next minute he wants to be single, I can’t deal with his flip-floppy ways”, I said frustrated taking another sip.

“You have to tell him it’s over, I know it’s going to be hard but its the right thing to do. You can’t keep putting yourself through this. He’s not worth it, no man is worth it”, she informed me.

I loved all the words Victoria’s feeding me, but is better said than done. I really need to look inside myself and be strong.

Victoria turn to look at me and held my hand ,”I do have something to tell you, I don’t think you’re going to be very happy about it”. I see that she was honestly worried about what I would think so I just asked, “what’s wrong?”. She was still silent trying to figure out how to make the words come out. I held her hand, then nodded my head for her to continue to speak. She finally spoke, “Omar asked me to move in with him?”. Was I losing my mind? Did she just say Omar wants her to move in with him? Are you fucking serious right now? Why would he do that? I try my hardest not to let any tears fall from my eyes. I can’t believe him. He’s really trying to hurt me, and he’s doing a damn good job.
To Be Continued…

Domonique from OnPointCelebz INTERVIEWS Shawnna

She is a really pretty girl…Loved the answers she gave…OnPoint!

Rapper and Love & Hip Hop Star Rasheeda talks reality TV Experience

I loved interviewing Rasheeda. She is too sweet…OnPointCeleb!

OPC: What made you decide to pursue a career in the music industry?

R: As a young girl I just loved music. I loved the stories. I love how they made you feel [at] certain times in your life. Being little and watching my mom turning music on and dance [going] from one move to another, I was like “I want to make people feel like that”.

OPC: Who influenced your decision to be a rapper?

R: It was just hip hop period. The whole look of it, the swag and the look it was just so dope and cool like in the old school before anything was watered down. It was just real stories talking about what’s going on in their hoods and making people dance and feel good. I was just like you know what that’s exactly what I want to do and what better way to do it than through rapping, rhyming, putting together a mixtape.

OPC: What are the qualities one must have to be a real MC?

R: Just that confidence…must have a certain amount of swag not trying too hard. Being comfortable with oneself and being original. That’s like the main [Key].

I loved interviewing Rasheeda. She is too sweet…OnPointCeleb!

OPC: What made you decide to pursue a career in the music industry?

R: As a young girl I just loved music. I loved the stories. I love how they made you feel [at] certain times in your life. Being little and watching my mom turning music on and dance [going] from one move to another, I was like “I want to make people feel like that”.

OPC: Who influenced your decision to be a rapper?

R: It was just hip hop period. The whole look of it, the swag and the look it was just so dope and cool like in the old school before anything was watered down. It was just real stories talking about what’s going on in their hoods and making people dance and feel good. I was just like you know what that’s exactly what I want to do and what better way to do it than through rapping, rhyming, putting together a mixtape.

OPC: What are the qualities one must have to be a real MC?

R: Just that confidence…must have a certain amount of swag not trying too hard. Being comfortable with oneself and being original. That’s like the main [Key].

OPC: How did the group Da Kaperz come about? How long was the group together? And do you still communicate with the other members?

R: I just apart of [Da Kaperz] for about five years and I do still communicate with the Keya. I haven’t seen Kiki in a while, but when we see each other we say ‘wassup’ and catch up. And one of the other young ladies I was just with her about two weeks ago.

OPC: What did you learn from being in the group?

R: I just learned that you have to kind of evaluate you situation and learn that everyone’s not going to always agree. You got to split you money. (She begins laughing) Those were some of the things; I think the difference with that situation was that we were so young like pre-teen and teenagers. We were trying to grow within ourselves. I really learned a lot more stepping outside the situation but in I just think sometimes like outsiders can cause problems and everybody has to learn to differentiate those types of things. But for the most part that was some of the funniest parts of my career and my life being young and [working with] the girls I was friends with.

OPC: Are you still apart of the duo Peach Candy with Kandi Burruss? And what’s your personal relationship with Kandi?

R: Me and Kandi still do music. We actually have a record together right now that is on my album called ‘Legs to the Moon’. We haven’t done another Peach Kandi project but we are always working together. So there’s still a little Peach Kandi action going on. (Laughing) [Kandi and I are best friend].

OPC: Explain your growth from when you first started as a young rapper/artist to the woman/entertainer you are now?

R: Girl that’s a lot (Laughing) you know learning from experience and going through different things business wise and personally from being a mother, a wife, an independent artist to was signed to a major and learned a lot from the situation but learned that being independent allows you the flexibility to be you and make decisions and really buckle down on that on business so your able to be successful. You learn so so much. The main thing I learned though was learning to be comfortable with me and doing what I love doing.

OPC: What has been your favorite part of this journey?

R: From then all the way to now it’s performing. I don’t even know [how to describe it, that moment] when you don’t even have to rap your lyrics and everyone’s throwing them back at you.

OPC: How did you end up being casted on Love and Hip Hop Atlanta?

R: My name was going around a lot. When it came to the whole love and hip hop thing I sat down with Mona. People were just like Rasheeda Rasheeda Rasheeda she’s a female rapper, she’s married in a relationship and it just [made sense]. When we got to talking she heard my story and knowing about me in the industry she was kind of like okay lets run it lets go.

OPC: What was the best part of filming Love and Hip Hop Atlanta?

R: I can’t tell you, you have to stay tuned. But [honestly] what I enjoyed the most is being able to open up about my relationship with my husband and us experiencing this together.

OPC: How did you feel when you won Mix tape female artist in the 2009 and nominated by the BET Awards in 2010 as best female Hip Hop?

R: For me to have them recognize the grind from my ‘bubble gum’ record to everything I been going through proved that it didn’t go unnoticed, and they looked and said this chick deserves this. That was a great experience.

OPC: You are known as the “Boss Chick”, how did that name come about?

R: You can kind of see it in the show though can’t you? (Laughing) Independent female who has been grinding, hustling, and going hard for top music. Just that woman who is trying to take control of her own goals, dreams, and destiny. Being that independent women, I do have a very strong foundation but at the same time I’m really really focused. I just try to insteal that in other women because we can easily get sidetracked and think we have to compromise. I just really wanted to push that out there.

OPC: What can your fans look forward to in the upcoming year?

R: Well my album “Boss Chick Music” is available on itunes now. Of course look out for ‘Marry Me’ music video which will be released very soon. We gave you a preview on the show. The ‘Legs to the Moon’ music video which features Kandi will also be released. A lot more music and a lot more Rasheeda on TV.

OPC: What kind of legacy would you like to leave in the industry?

R: Rasheeda was the girl who made us feel good about ourselves. When I turned her music on I felt confident. I felt like I could concur the world. When I heard that Boss Chick music she made me feel like I was that chick and anything is possible. When they listen to my music, I want them to feel like their friends like home girls [that can relate to one another].