Inside the Studio 2011 - ?uestlove

In May I was excited to attend another session of Inside the Studio with The Roots drummer Amir "Questlove" Thompson. Since I love his music, writing, wit, and personality, I knew he would make for an interesting interview.

Shout out to Stacy Flygirl Wilson and her team (Laiya, Afrodjiak) for giving me interesting things to do on a Sunday night.

Read more at ItsTheLife

Vanity Fair June Issue: Katy Perry

I love Katy Perry. She has a lot of personality, and seems ready with a smart answer for anything you might say. She is on the cover of June's Vanity Fair, beating out Gwen Stefani (barely) in the pale-skin-red-lipstick category. She is so energetic, yet sexy in a girl next door type of way.



Katy is shot by photographer Annie Leibovitz in Paris, France.

French Playboy: Photography and Layouts

I found these page spreads of French Playboy, the Black Issue courtesy of Craig at KMBA a few months ago but never posted.


Leave it to the Europeans to showcase women of color in a way America doesn't.

I almost wrote that without laughing. I know the "Black Issue" is nothing more than a marketing ploy after Vogue Italia dropped a couple years ago, showing that you can feature more than 1 black model, and they can sell out an entire issue.



Though the ladies are a more slender than I'd like to see (like runway models), they are beautiful. What caught my eye was the use of color and typography in these spreads. The 70's typeface is a nice touch. the photography and styling are excellent; what you would expect from the Playboy brand.



No matter how women of color find their way to the pages, I love to see them shot and styled well, clothed or otherwise, without looking like rap video rejects. I would like to see more effort put into making them look beautiful.

Oprah's Farewell

This week Oprah aired the last episode of her long running talk show, finally moving on to attend to other interests.

I love the dual covers O Magazine released.




I love Oprah (I still think of Paul Mooney calling her the Pope (Poprah!) during one of his stand up routines), and though I have never liked her exclusion of hip hop artists not-named-JayZ, it is truly amazing the how far she has come, how much she has accomplished, and the people of all races and genders she has inspired.

MIA...surgery, a dog, and life.

Sorry I've been away for so long.

I really got sidetracked by life's events last month. My mother had knee replacement surgery. Then her dog died before she could return home and I was devastated. Yeah I know; its just a dog, but I didn't realize the impact it would have on me.

Anyway, lets move forward, shall we?