eyeWatch: The Miss-Education of a Barbie

The greatest thing about being HUMAN, is being able to have an opinion, a voice. Jasmine Mans is a young lady no different from the rest of us, but she does have a way with words. When playing the game of "Truth or Dare", many of us opt for the easy way out and say "truth"; while some are brave enough to take on a challenge. I'll say that Miss Mans knocked out two birds with one poem on the topic of Nicki Minaj and her "Barbiefication". “The Miss-Education of a Barbie" is a call to action not only for Nicki Minaj but, to all women in the entertainment industry. Jasmine says: I do not want Nicki Minaj to be the next Lauryn Hill or MC Lyte, I want her to rap as if women like Assata Shakur and Toni Morrison exist. The "Miss-Education of a Barbie" questions the message that Nicki Minaj is relaying to her listeners. If Nicki Minaj seeks to simply entertain audiences with shallow concepts then my poem can be written off as irrelevant to her and her fans alike. However, if she seeks to make a difference in musical history and in the lives of her fans around the world then my piece questions her methods of doing so.

Jasmine goes on to say, My poem targets Nicki Minaj because I am a long time fan and follower of her work. I recognize and applaud her lyrical abilities and the affect she has on women older and younger than myself. If we, as an audience, do not hold up a mirror to our artists, then who will? Her "Barbie" image is an objectification of womanhood. How can we expect our male rappers to pay homage and respect to women when the voice that is representing us is tainted with sexual innuendos and “child’s play?”. W.E.B. DuBois said all art is propaganda and should be used to uplift and challenge the African American community, and if art does not do such it is useless. Nicki Minaj is too powerful to be useless. I dare Nicki Minaj to be a PHENOMENAL WOMAN and not a phenomenal "Barbie." Take a look at Jasmine's performance of "The Miss-Education of a Barbie". Happy watching!

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Was she not speaking something we a lot of people were thinking?! Please COMMENT!

To check out more of Jasmine's videos, click here.
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"My Mic Sounds Nice"

You've heard the mic checks, the sounds, the music, the rhythm, and the rhymes. Now is the time to understand the legacies behind the art of Hip-Hop; with BET's first-ever original music documentary special, "My Mic Sounds Nice: A Truth About Women In Hip Hop." This is BETs tribute to the female contribution to life's greatest melody - Hip-Hop. Get familiar with legends such as MC Lyte, Missy Elliot, Rah Digga, Eve, and Trina in the words of some of the male colleagues such as Jermaine Dupri, Kevin Liles, Russell Simmons, and ?uestlove.

Directed by Ava DuVernay, the program focuses on the importance of women in Hip-Hop, the unmentioned differences in marketing, artistry, and economics. The documentary airs August 30th on BET at 10 PM EST.

Will you be watching? COMMENT!
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BET Awards 2010 Commentary

Queen Latifah - the host - started this year’s BET award show off wonderfully with a comedic introduction and a “performance” to Drake’s "Over". She looked beautiful as usual and definitely kept my attention after the opening act. Let’s backtrack…Kayne West opened the show with his single “Power” from him upcoming album, Good A** Job. Kanye standing on top of a mountain with a mic & colossal chain wasn’t as interesting as I hoped that it would be. Next up was Usher, who performed a favorite of mine, “There Goes My Baby”. I felt his performance from the live band to the lighting and effects (except the vocals). I definitely think he set the bar for Trey Songz, but I think Trey's vocals will be on point. I LOVED Nicki Minaj's acceptance speech! She definitely kept it real and gave a true heartfelt speech; minus the bit of hood that was apparent at the end. T.I. was up next and he put on a show as usual with Travis Barker (who I love) as his drummer.

And the award for "Best Male Hip Hop Artist" goes to...who else? DRAKE! If you missed the announcement, you might've thought that the award was for best group. Young Money is coming to the stage old school passe style. Well deserved award for Drake, although not surprising. Although Queen Latifah's costumes got annoying very quick, little Gabby who came out to help announce Alicia Keys was amazing! Hopefully we hear more from her in the future. Alicia did do a good job. She was glowing and looked and sounded beautiful; baby bump and all. Speaking of baby bump (or lack there of), Keyshia Cole performed B.o.B's hit record "Airplanes II" featuring Haley Williams with Eminem. She definitely wasn't herself, and I mean that in the best way, because she sounded great! Until she started to over sing the song, but overall, good performance.

Monica was next up singing her single "Everything to Me". Then she brought out legend Denise Williams, who she sample the song from. The two went on to introduce the award for Best Collaboration; which went to Jay-Z featuring Alicia Keys for "Empire State of Mind". Next on the stage was Diddy Dirty Money featuring T.I., Rick Ross, and Nicki Minaj. I can't front, that performance was all the way turned up! They killed, if you disregard the lip syncing.

Next up, Chris Brown with a Tribute to the late Michael Jackson. I missed the performance, but I did hear him and just glad that BET gave him a chance to hit the stage. He was probably overwhelmed by performing for the same people who lost respect for him last year after the infamous situation. I'm happy he received a standing ovation and was embraced. Hopefully he can come back full force, sooner than later. Thank Me Later, or now if you must...DRAKE hit the stage with a medley and was joined on stage by Young Jeezy (who looked crispy in his all white - the jacket was on point). They performed "Lost My Mind" (remix) and Drake was into his performance to say the lease. I was hoping he would perform "Light Up" and Jay would make a surprise appearance, but - that didn't happen.

And the award for "Best Male R&B Artist" goes to Mr. Trey Songz! He was up against some stiff competition; Chris Brown (who the crowd went wild for) and Usher to name a couple. His mother is beautiful and was so happy for him, as she should be. El Debarge followed and some may have said he danced more than he sang(and that the performance was random) - but it was a high energy performance...Gary Coleman was honored by Todd Bridges and Tyrese honor to Teddy Pendergrass by singing his classics. The tributes were kept alive by Kim Burrell, Karen Clark Shepard, Fred Hammond, Kirk Franklin, and Yolanda Adams with a tribute song to Haiti. John Legend was the Humanitarian Award recipient of the Night for his work in the US and Africa with the "Show Me" campaign; who provides clean water, nutrition, and education to help break the cycle of poverty. AWESOME ACCEPTANCE SPEECH!

In my opinion, Trey Songz performance was better than Usher's although he did go a little too in at the end. He paid homage to Prince with a little bit of classic "Purple Rain", overall, good job to Trey! The award for "Video of the Year" went to Beyoncé and Lady Gaga for "Video Phone", in which neither ladies were present LOL!

Now for that Prince tribute...It started off with words from Stevie Wonder, who "saw Prince dance" lol and began with a performance from Janelle Monae. She was extremely animated as usual; while performing "Crazy" and had Prince looking at her like...OKAY! Esperanda Spaldin was next followed by Alicia Keys and Patti LaBelle - who went IN! Chris Brown took home an award on behalf of his fans, the "Fandeominum" award.

And one of the last performances of the night: "My Chick Bad" by Ludacris featuring Nicki Minaj. Tommy Lee on drums was on Drums and then came DJ Khaled featuring the new dream team, T-Pain, Busta Rhymes, Rick Ross, Nicki Minaj, Diddy for the "My Chick Bad" Remix followed by the "All I Do is Win remix". I LOVE LOVE LOVE that song! Great ending! I wish I was there, but that will soon come.

Some random things you may have seen in the audience of the show: Brandy looked great, until I saw her on stage. Lisa Raye was wearing white...surprised?, Tiny is now a blonde...again. Overall this was one of BET's best shows.

Congratulations to all of the winners and nominees of the night! What are/were your thoughts on the show?
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eyeLIKE The Budget Babe

While going about my day as normal, browsing for cool fashion sites via Google Chrome, I came across this site called The Budget Babe. I LOVE IT! It shows you a ton of very chicly put together outfits inspired by our favorite celebrities; Queen LaTifah, SJP, and Kim Kardashian - who are just a few examples. What they do is give you the celebrity's look, and show you pieces similar to the ones that that celebrity is wearing. What's so great about that? The pieces are MUCH CHEAPER! Just because it's a recession doesn't mean we have to sacrifice beauty! Need to see it to believe it? Well look...

Now, you see those numbers? They match to a caption underneath the picture; which tells you the price of the item and where to find it. You can see it on the site TheBudgetBabe.com. Check it out and have fun, Ladies!

Stay Couture, Aliciia

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Women's effFIRST

And the First Grammy Award Winning Female Rapper is...


Besides being a queen, Queen Latifah has made a big impact in almost every genre of the entertainment business if you ask me. She's a singer, actress, model, spokesperson for Covergirl Cosmetics (with her own line - the Queen Collection), and so much more. Kudos to Queen Latifah for being a Woman, a Phenomenal Woman!

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Fast Car.

Fast car, the second single from Queen Latifah's album Persona, released on August 25, 2009. This is definitely a new sound from her and to be honest, I'm not completely sure of how I feel about it yet. The video is cool, although it seems a little self-absorbed to me. The video was directed by Juwan Lee. The roster of the cameos was crazy! You can see Jadakiss, Angie Martinez, Paula Patton, Robin Thicke, Common, and the single's producers Cool & Dre. Happy Watching!

So what do you think of the "Queen's" new video: fresh or flop?

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