Brown Sista

I remembering hearing India Arie had gone gold this week and I was so happy for her.My sister told me to pick up the album a few days ago and I am so glad I did.This sista is truly gifted.Sadly, in a week where Cassie shows just how far R&B music has sunk, few blogs if any have reported this great news.I can only speculate as to why no talents like Cassie get all the attention while artists such as India, Jaguar Wright, Heather Headley, and so many others, get overlooked.
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Everyone wants hair that looks as good as a celebrity’s. So we went to Pantene celebrity stylist Chuck Amos, whose clients have included Mya, Brandy and Vanessa Williams , and we talked to Bridget Hill, a Peter Coppola colorist recently named by Allure magazine as one of New York’s best, to dish about what styles the hottest stars are rockin’ and how you can get them. What’s Hot Now?

Big Hair
“Hair is hot right now,” says Amos. “And lots of it!” Amos suggests wearing hair big this season. Take notes from Beyoncé, who is doing things big these days - especially with her hair. From award show appearances to her sexy “Deja Vu” video, the Grammy Award-nominated songstress is donning big, wavy, beautiful curls. To create the look, try pumping up your hair (or extensions) with large hot rollers or a large barrel curling iron just before you wash your hair. “Dirty” hair is your best friend when going for the wild look, experts say. After curling hair, flip your head upside down and scrunch the roots of your hair with a dab of volumizing gel. Then apply a small amount of pomade to your ends so your hair won’t look dull or dry. Spritz with a small amount of holding spray and then go rock the party. Oh, but be sure to wash everything out the following morning or you’ll have a matted mess to deal with.
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When India.Arie broke up with what she thought would be her lifetime love, she was saddened, angry, confused and hurt - and spent the next four years unleashing her emotions through song.

But those who pick up her latest album, Testimony, Vol. 1: Life & Relationship, won’t hear any of the bitterness she once harboured. Instead, in what has become India.Arie’s philosophy, she manages to find the positive, even in a devastating split. Instead of songs about a no-good man or falling into despair, India sings about the power of forgiveness, the appreciation of a past relationship and even learning to love being alone.
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As a teen, Fantasia Barrino seemed destined to become another statistic—a wayward youth succumbing to her circumstances, which included being a ninth-grade dropout, a functional illiterate, a victim of child molestation, and a mom at age 16. But instead, as the world looked on, Barrino became a superstar with first-name-only recognition. In 2004, on the finale night of American Idol , 65 million votes were cast, more than President Bush received in the federal election that year. Fantasia received more than half of those votes. Her straight-from-the-streets soul spawned platinum record sales, four Grammy nods, one Billboard Music Award and one NAACP award.

Despite her success, Barrino, who grew up in High Point, North Carolina, refuses to forget those early struggles. In fact, she’s hoping others can learn from her mistakes. “I want to use my story as a testimony,” she says. “I want to tell people you don’t have to be perfect to be what you want to be. You want to be a lawyer or a banker? Pick yourself up and go get it.” This month Lifetime Television premieres Life Is Not a Fairy Tale: The Fantasia Barrino Story, based on her gritty New York Times best-selling autobiography.
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At the start of her recent tour, it had been nearly ten years since Toni Braxton has been in concert. She had a new album and plenty to talk about � but the first thing she mentioned was how fans at her first show in Atlantic City, N.J., almost got more of her than they bargained for.

Braxton said she left the stage for a quickie costume change. But in the eight seconds allotted to swap outfits, she forgot something: her panties. She was about to head back on stage wearing �just pantyhose and a top� when an alert member of the stage crew caught the faux pas.
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The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) is pleased to announce that multi-platinum award-winning superstar, Ciara, will co-host the 19th Annual ASCAP Rhythm & Soul Music Awards with ASCAP President and Chairman Marilyn Bergman. The invitation-only event, which honors the songwriters and publishers of the most performed ASCAP songs on the 2005 R&B, hip-hop and rap charts, is scheduled to take place on June 26, 2006 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles, California.

Ciara was recently honored with three awards at ASCAP’s Pop Music Awards, held May 22, 2006, for her chart topping singles “1, 2 Step,” “Goodies” and “Oh” from her multi-platinum selling debut album Goodies. After bursting onto the scene in 2004, the multi-talented star quickly rose to the top of the charts selling over three million albums, which produced three No 1 singles - “Goodies,” “1,2 Step and “Oh” - in addition to two No 1 collaborations - “Like You” w/ Bow Wow and “Lose Control” w/ Missy Elliott.
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