[WATCH] Women’s History Month: Fly Girl Jossie Harris-Thacker

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Harlem-bred former In Living Color, “Fly Girl”, Jossie Harris-Thacker was a trendsetter when she became one of the top hip hop dancers of all times. From her signature braids to her 90’s style—young girls everywhere wanted to be like Jossie. We watched In Living Color to get a glimpse of her moves and adored her as Renee in The Lost Boyz video. She was definitely the ‘it’ girl but doused in immense natural talent.

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Although she wasn’t formally trained in dance, her talent landed her featured roles in a host of music videos including, Michael Jackson’s, “Remember the Time”. As one of the most sought out dancers, touring the world with top artist such as Janet Jackson, and many others, Jossie starred as one of the acclaimed, “Fly Girls”, in Keenan Ivory Wayan’s, hit TV show, “In Living Color”, alongside her friend, Jennifer Lopez, Jim Carrey, Jamie Foxx, and Damon Wayans.

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Following, In Living Color, Jossie honed in on her natural acting talent that landed over 45 roles in many top television series. Jossie’s lead performance in the NAACP nominated short, “Brooklyn’s bride to Jordan”, led to her award winning role, “Charlie”, in Chicago International Film Festival’s best film, “Mississippi Damned”, which earned Jossie “Best Supporting Actress” award and makes her the first African American, Latina woman ever to win in that category. Jossie recently won the People’s Choice award for “Best Lead Actress”, at the Las Vegas Film Festival for her film work in, “No Weapon Formed Against Us”.

Still fine as wine, Jossie’s passion is teaching. Known as a professional acting coach to the stars, Jossie has her own, “Respect for Acting Academy” for adults and “Kids W.A.Y. (Who Are You?) Acting Academy. 

CLICK HERE to keep up with the Jossie!

Can you spot Jossie in the videos below?

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Russell Wilson Gets Down on One Knee To Ask Ciara for More Babies

Russel Wilson and Ciara

Grammy Award-Winning artist Ciara gues hosted ‘The Ellen De Genres Show’ on Thursday and was joined by her husband for the special occasion. During the show, Ciara admitted and joked to the audience that Russel’s presence makes her nervous after giving her a large bouquet of roses  the Seahawks quarterback asks the audience “Do you guys want me to make her more nervous?” As he bent down on one knee popping the question  “I have a question for you. Serious question. Can we have more babies?”  The couple who have been married since 2016 years are already parents to 19-month-old son Win Harrison, daughter Sienna Princess, 4, as well as son Future Zahir, 7, whom Ciara shares with ex Future “I mean, it would be perfect. Just give me one more at least Ciara replied  and joked “We definitely can, but we’ve got a little time before we get there.”  We definitely see children in their future as the couple who just recently launched a Children’s Book “Why Not You” named after their foundation and Charter School ‘Why Not You Acadamy’ on March 1st  focuses on the attitude they want every child to have. See the sweet moment below.

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Report: Erica Mena Attempts to Give Safaree Divorce Papers During Live Appearance

Safaree Samuels Threatens To Leave Love and Hip Hop Following Controversy With Erica Mena

Safaree thought he would be able to go out and party in peace. Wrong. Erica Mena tried to have Safaree served with divorce papers during a night out.

According to The Jasmine Brand, Erica Mena and Safaree had a wild moment in front of the Love & Hip Hop cameras at Spice’s celebration party. The party was set to celebrate some of Spice’s recent moves in music and Safaree was to perform. During the event, Mena popped up yelled at Safaree, and attempted to give him divorce papers.

When Safaree attempted to remove himself from the situation, it reportedly got a bit testy. Video from Safaree’s pre-papers performance is available below.

Last year, Safaree took to Twitter to air his grievances about Love and Hip Hop. In the clip, a pregnant Erica scolded him for not rushing to pick up their daughter who fell. “Safaree pick her up you freaking idiot. What’s your problem?”

He responds, “She’s fine. When she’s in here, when we’re by ourselves, this don’t happen.”

Erica said during the confessional, “This moment is probably setting me up to get ready for what my life is about to be. Me having to hold down my babies by myself, even when they’re hurting, because Daddy finds it to be funny. It just proves how immature he is.”

After receiving backlash, Safaree said he didn’t want the clip aired in the first place. “And y’all LHH editors ain’t s***. we told y’all not to air my baby falling and y’all still used it. Had us reshoot a whole bunch of bulls*** and y’all still used that. Y’all don’t have no respect, because that was not my response of me finding out I was having a boy!”

He threatened to depart from Love and Hip Hop: Atlanta. “That was tacky and tasteless!! It’s definitely about to be a wrap on my time with y’all. Y’all be wanting too much of ppl time to be doin dat type of wack s***!! We filmed a hr long convo for that scene and y’all chop it to 3 mins and use that and make it a focal point. Weak”

Shortly after unleashing the series of tweets, the New York native vowed to be more private. “It’s called social media let’s stop being so personal on this app. Try it for a week and let’s watch the climate change. I’m bout to be so private about my sh*t. Ain’t nobody gonna know nothing…”

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Women of TIDAL are Shaping the Innovative Future of the Platform

Women of TIDAL Tonya Nelson Fisher Alexa Disney Melanie Mercedes

Women of TIDAL are shape shifters.

Every now and then, the age-old debate on whether to have dinner with Jay-Z or take $500,000 trends on social media. Fans provide arguments for both sides of the spectrum. Some argue that a conversation during a dinner with Hov will catapult them to insurmountable heights, while others look to cash-out on-demand.

Well last September, TIDAL’s Twitter account finally put the debate to rest with the now viral response “Take the $500K,” tweeted from the thumbs of social media manager, Melanie Mercedes.

The New York University alumna has held the role of managing all social platforms for TIDAL. Now her role has evolved to community manager of social which she describes is a role that goes far beyond solely publishing on social media.

Melanie Mercedes
Melanie Mercedes

“The magic in social is being able to identify your audience and speak to them directly. When they feel seen and heard, they’re much more likely to engage in a meaningful way.”

Humanizing the brand is pivotal to keeping the audience engaged. While social media controls the direct-to-consumer voice for the platform, Alexa Disney connects the DSP and collaborating artists with external brands that coincide with their musical content and overall message.

The Sony Music alumas, where she held a similar role, stresses the importance of authenticity when pairing TIDAL or other artists with other brands.

Alexa Disney
Alexa Disney

“Fans know if it’s not authentic,” she says.

There was more push back during the beginning of her career, where many artists perceived brand partnerships to be a gimmick, rather than something that can help expand their audience. In this day and age, artists are more receptive because it helps to only add to their overall brand.

For Tonya Nelson-Fisher, the manager of music programming, she connects TIDAL’s “most passionate music fans” to their favorite genre, artists, era of music and more. In addition, Nelson-Fisher helps to curate themed playlists for specific holidays, months and even cultural icons. Back in January, TIDAL uploaded a playlist of Martin Luther King Jr.’s most famous speeches. The same goes for Maya Angelou and Malcom X.

“I think that differentiates us and helps us to stand out from the pack,” she says.

Tonya Nelson Fisher
Tonya Nelson Fisher

Nelson-Fisher promises that TIDAL will introduce new features to enhance their user experience in the near future. The digital streaming platform has added the HiFi Plus tier user experience, which grants access to lossless High Fidelity sound quality, master quality and immersive audio.

Although Tonya, Alexa and Melanie’s roles differ, they co-exist to expand TIDAL’s reach to potential new audiences, while maintaining the interest of the ones that already exist.

Their musical obsession only adds to the growth and success of the platform.

Continue the Women of TIDAL conversation on social media.

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Ex-Detective Not Guilty Of Charges Connected To Breonna Taylor’s Deadly Raid

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The only LMPD officer charged in connection to the deadly raid on Breonna Taylor’s apartment is not guilty of wanton endangerment.

The jury found former Detective Brett Hankison not guilty and acquitted him on all three charges yesterday.

Hankison was charged with endangering neighbors by firing the shots into Taylor’s apartment. The jury deliberated for about three hours before coming up with the verdict.

READ MORE: Jury selection begins in case surrounding Breonna Taylor’s death.

Hankison and LMPD officers Myles Cosgrove and Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly fired 32 shots into Taylor’s apartment.

Hankison fired 10 of the shots into Taylor’s apartment. Errant bullets penetrated a wall of the residence and entered a neighboring apartment that was occupied by a child, a man, and a pregnant woman, according to ABC News.

Brett Hankison testified he opened fire because he thought two other cops were being executed. Those two have already been cleared from the deadly 2020 botched no-knock warrant raid on Breonna Taylor’s home. 

Following the acquittal demonstrators packed Jefferson Square Park and marched through the downtown area last night with one protester saying “there’s no such thing as a peaceful protest,” adding “they won’t be controlled, this time.” More protests are expected today in Louisville.

There were no drugs were found, and the no-knock warrant was later deemed to be flawed and faulty.

Share your  thoughts with us on social media.

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GOP Blocks House Bill To Ban Race-Based Hair Discrimination

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For the second time, Republicans voted against the Crown Act, which bans discrimination of Black Hairstyles in Schools and in the workplace.  According to the HuffPost on Monday. The Crown Act failed to pass the House with a needed two-thirds majority as part of an expedited voting process, with 235 votes for and 188 votes against the bill, the latter all by Republicans.” The crown act was created to end race-based hair discrimination, which is the denial of employment and educational opportunities because of hair texture or styles that include braids, locs, twists, or Bantu knots. Hair is a Black woman’s crown and glory, but the history of our hair can be complicated for some to understand.  There are so many untold stories but who can forget about Andrew Johnson the High school student who was forced to cut his locs before a wrestling match or Deandre Arnold, the Texas teen who was suspended over her dreadlocks, banning swim caps for black hair at the Olympics and the countless women who were fired from their jobs because their hairstyles were deemed unprofessional.

“Our natural hair is as innate a quality of Black people as the presence of melanin in our skin,” says Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-N.J.)after the vote. “Discriminating against our hair is no different is no different than discriminating against the color of our skin.” She also noted that Black people are “far too often…derided or deemed unprofessional simply because their hair does not conform to white beauty standards.”We will bring the CROWN Act back and pass it with a simple majority.  We won’t allow Republican antics to stand in the way of Black people having the right to live as their authentic selves,” in a statement from Rep. Bonnie Watson .

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Normani Announces Release Date For New Single “Fair”

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Normani has announced the upcoming release of a new single.  The former Fifth Harmony star will drop “Fair” on March 18th. 

The track follows the first single from her highly anticipated debut solo album, “Wild Side” that featured Cardi B

READ MORE: Normani says she was “empowered” by working with a pregnant Cardi B.

The “Love Lies” singer sent her fans into a frenzy as she shared new photos and the presave link for her new track on social media Wednesday.

The 25-year-old revealed back in December that the LP is “almost done.”

She admitted it’s scary putting out the “deepest part of me” for all the world to hear as she is opening herself up to criticism, but she has never felt more confident about her music.

According to Genius, “Fair” was produced by Kansas City producer HARV, who is known for his production on songs for artists including Justin Bieber, Gucci Mane, Summer Walker, Eminem, Post Malone, and Skrillex.

Continue the conversation on social media.

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Rihanna Claps Back at Heckler Who Calls Her Out For Being Late To The Dior Fashion Show

Rihanna Claps Back

Rihanna’s response to being called out for being late to the Dior Autumn-Winter 2022 Show in Paris Fashion Week on Tuesday was priceless.  As the singer and beauty mogul, walked the red carpet you can hear someone in the back of the red carpet shouting continuously “You’re Late!” and in pure Rihanna fashion, Bad Gal RiRi, looked over and said “No Shit” without missing a beat. And if we were judging off her outfit then, she was definitely worth the wait.  Stunning the crowd in a sheer, lacy black dress and leather cape that showed off her pregnant belly.  Paired with knee-high boots a half up half down and a fire red lip. One of the many stunning looks that she has worn on and off the red carpet since she’s announced her pregnancy.The moment went viral as fans came to her defense with comments like “Shes pregnant, the fact she graced them with her presence at all is amazing. “ and  I’m less pregnant than she is and i don’t want to get dressed and go anywhere.”  CHeckout the viral moment and more comments from fans belowbelow and more comments from her fans

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[WATCH] Laverne Cox Doubles Down On Awkward Mention Of Entanglement To The Smiths

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Over the weekend while hosting the SAG Awards red carpet for E! Laverne Cox awkardly brought up Jada Pinkett-Smiths affair with August Alsina while speaking to Will and Jada. 

Two years ago Jada Pinkett-Smith used the word entanglement to describe her relationship with R&B singer August Alsina despite being married to Will Smith. The world watched her show Red Table and witnessed a sullen Will watch as Jada exposed the dark side of their marriage.

During an interview at the SAG Awards, Laverne Cox awkwardly brings up the word entanglement while interviewing Will and Jada on the red carpet. 
Laverne Cox recently went live on Instagram and told her followers that she understands that they’re upset, but that she’ll only apologize to Will and Jada if they personally request it, and it happens in private.

Check out the interview below.

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Top Dawg Entertainment Signs Tampa Rapper Doechii To Its Roster

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Upcoming Tampa rapper, Doechii formerly known as Iamdoechii is joining Top Dawg Entertainment. HITS Daily Double reported Tuesday that Doechii has signed a deal with the West Coast label.

2021 was a break out year for the Isaiah Rashad collaborator who gained momentum with a new audience from her viral TikTok song “Yucky Blucky Fruitcake” and a feature on “Wat U Sed” from Rashad’s The House Is Burning LP.

The announcement comes after fans have been wondering what the future looks like for TDE.

In August, Kendrick Lamar shocked the world when he announced his next album would be his final for the famed label.

READ MORE: TDE President, Punch, speaks on Kendrick Lamar’s impending departure from label: “It’s a beautiful thing to watch.”

Doechii brings a mixture of Hip Hop, R&B and Electro-Pop. The new TDE signee took to social media to promote her next feature on David Guetta and Afrojack’s “Trampoline” which also boast collabs from Missy Elliott and Bia.

Watch the official video of “Yucky Blucky Fruitcake” released in 2020 from the Oh The Places You’ll Go EP below.

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