Our girl Janelle Monáe is featured in the April 2010 “Shape Issue” of Vogue. This is the eccentric singer’s 3rd time being featured in the mag and this time she spoke candidly about her style and more. Check out a snippet below:

On her hair:
You might call it a pompadour, but I call it a “Monáe”.

On wearing suits:
I want to look timeless. I want to be able to look at images of myself over the years and not be able to date them. Plus, you can get in anywhere wearing a tuxedo.

On shopping:
It’s hard for me to find things that fit right and besides I am not into spending 8 hours haunting for them. I like to think of my body as a canvas and I don’t like my clothes to make the picture too busy..

[ READ FULL ARTICLE ONLINE ]

According to Vogue writer, Mark Holgat, “Janelle may be five feet tall, but everything else — the look, the hair, the talent — is larger than life.” Monáe’s debut album, The Arch Android is in stores this May.

After 2 successful seasons of “For The Love of Ray J”, singer/TV personality, Ray J is back with a new series on VH1 and this time he is bringing the whole family along.

The show, entitled “Family Business” will also co-star accomplished singer/actress Brandy and their parents – entertainment manager and mom, Sonja and musical father, Willie Norwood. I might check that out.

Up next we have Shaq’s estranged wife Shaunie O’Neal and her upcoming reality series, “Basketball Wives.” The series will center around the lives of seven women who are best friends and either the wife, ex-wife or girlfriend of an NBA superstar. Um, why is the title Basketball Wives then?

And last but not least we have Chilli and her upcoming dating show “What Chilli Wants”. Her friends say she is single because her “Chilli’s Checklist,” a catalog of standards and traits any potential dating prospect must meet, is too high and unrealistic.

Enter relationship expert Tionna Smalls. She will help find a match for Chilli. If she doesn’t, there is always season two… right?

]]> http://concreteloop.com/2010/03/vh1-tv-roundup-brandy-ray-js-family-business-shaunie-oneal-in-basketball-wives-what-chilli-wants/feed http://concreteloop.com/2010/03/music-news-drake-speaks-on-new-video-mtv-says-they-didnt-ban-gaga-beyonces-telephone http://concreteloop.com/2010/03/music-news-drake-speaks-on-new-video-mtv-says-they-didnt-ban-gaga-beyonces-telephone#comments Wed, 17 Mar 2010 11:58:50 +0000 ANGEL http://concreteloop.com/?p=405311 Drake’s upcoming music video for his new single “Over” has been teased through an on-set clip. It features the Canadian rapper rapping to the camera in front of white backdrop.

“This is my first video,” he told MTV. “I’ve shot a lot of videos before, but this is my first attempt to establish myself as Drake the artist. Shooting the other videos I’ve done has been great. I really don’t care what other people think about them, they were great experiences for me. I’ve learned a lot from them. Today, I’m shooting with somebody I really look up to and respect.”

The video is directed by Anthony Mandler. “We talked colors, we talked epic, emotion-evoking visuals,” he shared to fans. “The story is actually interesting. The song is so aggressive, and it’s sort of a love story in the video.” Drake’s debut album, “Thank Me Later” is scheduled to be released later this year.

In the wake of reports that surfaced over the weekend claiming that MTV had banned Lady Gaga’s nearly 10-minute-long video for “Telephone,” a spokesperson for the channel clarified the situation earlier this week:

“MTV did not ban Lady Gaga and Beyoncé’s ‘Telephone’ video — in fact, we premiered it on Friday, March 12, on-air and online at MTV.com, two days before this story was falsely reported,” said MTV Executive Vice President of Music and Talent Amy Doyle. “Fans can continue to catch the video as we repeat it on-air and online.”

The video has reportedly been viewed more than 14 million times on YouTube since its release last Thursday.

Model Amber Rose was spotted making her way into Curve on Robertson blvd. in Los Angeles on Tuesday afternoon with a couple of friends to do some shopping.

She also hit up the Gen Art LA Fashion Alumni Celebration at The Roosevelt Hotel later on that knock rockin’ the same glasses.

Que (formerly on Day26) is gearing up to release his solo mixtape, Q-Files, via Soul World Entertainment next week.

The club track “Shake Dat”, was written by upcoming songwriter Dari and produced by Daveyboy. The mixtape officially drops on March 23.

]]> http://concreteloop.com/2010/03/hot-or-not-que-shake-dat/feed http://concreteloop.com/2010/03/tv-bit-estelle-to-appear-on-bravos-shear-genius-pics-of-her-performing-in-nyc http://concreteloop.com/2010/03/tv-bit-estelle-to-appear-on-bravos-shear-genius-pics-of-her-performing-in-nyc#comments Wed, 17 Mar 2010 10:25:13 +0000 ANGEL http://concreteloop.com/?p=404972

Singer/songwriter Estelle will be making a guest appearance on reality show ‘Shear Genius’ tonight (March 17) on Bravo. Also peep some photos of her performing at the ‘Women History Month Event’ at the MTV offices on Tuesday in NYC.

In related news, Estelle’s third studio album, ‘All Of Me’, will be in stores later this year.

Actor/comedian Brandon T. Jackson celebrated his 26th birthday over the weekend at the new Bar210/Plush inside the Beverly Hilton.

Baskin Robbins was there to surprise him with a cake and celebrity guests included Marlon Wayons, Elijah Kelly, and Eve.

The rising star will be starring in the new Big Momma’s House move co-starring Martin Lawrence.

The Queen of Soul Aretha Franklin is pictured performing at Hard Rock Live! in the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino on Tuesday (March 16) in Hollywood, Florida.

The 67 year-old will be hitting up more cities for her “Gala Evening” tour which ends in August.

Check out the new video from Vivian Green for the lead single and title track from her first album in over five years.

Vivian’s upcoming third album, Beautiful, is set to be released April 6.

Producer Swizz Beatz and singer Alicia Keys officially made their relationship public when they attended the Gotham Magazine annual gala on Monday (March 15) in New York City. Alicia performed at the event.

In related news, their relationship was the talk of blogs a few months back when Swizz’s ex Mashonda put them on blast. They look happy though.

Singer Ciara and T.V personality Lala Vazquez wer spotted leaving dinner at the Katsuya restaurant on Monday night (March 15) in Los Angeles.

Rap star Drake was then spotted leaving the hot spot a few minutes later. No word on if they had dinner together or not. Cute Givenchy handbag Cici!

Check out this inspirational video from singer/rapper/poet K’Naan entitled “Wavin’ Flag” off of his latest album, Troubadour.

The song was recently chosen as the official song for the FIFA World Cup 2010 over Akon’s “Beautiful”. Shot by popular video director Nabil, the vid even features a short cameo from Reggae star Damien Marley.

After a week of being ridiculed by the media, (including Howard Stern and Jamie Foxx), actress Gabourey Sidibe was spotted out and about in NYC. She hit up the Victorinox store then went to eat at the Baltazar restaurant with what looked like to be her father.

In related news, Gabby will be co-starring in the new Showtime series, The Big C, which is scheduled to premiere this fall. She will also co-star with Zoe Kravitz in the upcoming indie movie, “Yelling to the Sky”.

Solange was spotted getting her shop on in Beverly Hills over the weekend. The singer was seen leaving the Chanel store and some other boutiques.

Solo recently released a new track entitled “Under Construction”, make sure to check it out. According to her, the new album is on its way.

Jagged Edge - Still My Girl (full) - listen
Jagged Edge has been working on their new album, The Remedy, which is supposed to drop sometime this summer. “Still My Girl” is apparently from those sessions. I actually like this song, it sounds different from a lot of the material they have recorded over the years. The track has a different sound, which makes the boys sing a little differently than how I’m used to hearing them.

Lloyd feat. Mystikal - Set Me Free (full) - listen
Check out new music from close Concrete Loop friend and supporter, Lloyd. “Set Me Free” must be from the batch of new material that Lloyd has been working on for his new album. It’s been rumored that Lloyd will release his new album via Young Money, considering all the work that he has done with them for the past couple of years. The track was produced by Bangladesh. It’s a little different sound from him, he is usually very drum heavy, but the horn sample is an interesting twist.

Jennifer Lopez - Story of My Life (full) - listen
Despite being dropped earlier this month, Jennifer Lopez is rumored to be closing a deal out with Def Jam. Although her two “promo singles,” “Louboutins” and “Fresh Out the Over” both failed with chart success, Lopez is still working on her new album, Love?, where she introduced us to her alter ego, Lola. “Story of My Life” is more alternative than most of the material we’ve heard from Lopez from this era, which has me questioning the direction of this new album.

Sean Garrett feat. Lil’ Wayne - Girls On Girls (full) - listen
Sean Garrett does pen a lot of smashes on the radio, but it seems like he can’t seem to come out with a single that will allow him to drop his debut album. It’s been a minute since he tried to release Turbo 919 and most thought he was going to be able to launch his solo career with hi feature on Mario’s “Break Up,” but it seems like nothing came afterwards. It doesn’t look promising for Garrett’s solo career at this point, and it’s a shame, because he’s a talented writer.