Jay-Z 4:44 Review

I  LOVE Jay's new album. "what's better than 1 billionaire? 2 Especially when they from the same HUE as YOU!!!"- Family Feud

He's dropping all kinds of jewels on this album and it's definitely the male equivalent to Beyonce's Lemonade. "No body wins when the family Feud's... we all hurting because we never had the tools" is just one line that speaks directly to African American community as he proceeds to outline how we can build our families by building ourselves up financially to promote growth within the culture for ourselves. He even when as far to say he's trying to give you real financial advise for $9.99 while speaking on some of the mistakes he's made in his career by not being more concerned early on about investing. He speaks of supporting black products when he says he drinks Ciroc by Puffy instead of supporting a business by people who don't care to invest in the culture. It's a hard lesson that African American's are now being forced to learn because we've been programmed not to support each other for so long but it's changing for the better.

He also spoke on things in small detail pertaining to the speculated indiscretions within his marriage, the infamous "Becky" and also Kanye. In the song titled Kill Jay Z he's revealing his inner struggles of living up to a persona that is Jay Z and closes the song saying bye to that persona in search of becoming a better version of himself. He mentioned that he was hurt after and felt betrayed after the infamous Kanye rant. He even made a reference to the Future and the ordeal that played out with Ciara that was to close for comfort because of the possibility of him potentially loosing his own family and having to idly sit by watching another man play football with his son as in Ciara with Russell Wilson. Side note: isn't is funny that everyone including other celebrities are just as wrapped up in watching other peoples drama unfold as we are? It's astonishing how so many people had such strong opinions about Ciara allowing her son to bond with her now husband Russell Wilson.

He has a song dedicated to his mother titled Smile in which he referenced his mother's gay union openly for the first time. The acknowledgement that he was just proud that his mother found true love after living her life hidden from society was accompanied by his mom closing the song with her reading a poem related to her life experiences as a lesbian. He speaks on black culture in Family Feud which is my favorite song because the family he's referencing is the culture and it's all FACTS. Take care of family first because that culture is really being attacked daily. We see it on the news damn near hourly about another disrespectful act to someone with black skin. Throughout the album he mentions multiple times how financial freedom is what we must strive to accomplish. He referenced Dumbo Brooklyn and how he was buying frivolous things early on in his career instead of  things that would appreciate in value such as real estate.

You'll also hear throughout the album not so subliminal messages to the culture which plays as the theme to this album and it's one of the reasons why I feel this is one of his best works to date. He's a man speaking about his views on family, the culture, finances and his awakening sense of pride and maturity and it's a beautiful thing witness.

Puffy on the Wendy Williams Show

This is truly a milestone moment between Wendy and Puffy with all their tumultuous past. If you're from NYC or familiar with Wendy then you know she gained her notoriety in hip hop music talking real greasy about people and one of the most infamous stories was about Puffy but from the looks of it, it's all water under the bridge now and it's a beautiful thing to witness. As you watch this though you can sort of feel the uneasiness with him coming out and was planning to hide behind the sunglasses but Wendy peeped that and asked him to take them off so she could look in his eyes. NOW even though the interview seemed sort of intense you could tell there was respect between the two of them. I believe that respect was due to what sparked both of their successes and that's the culture that is hip hop. Both have decades within that industry and we've all witness that game suck them in and spit them out and at times some have come unhinged during the process so the respect is definitely understandable. If you haven't seen it then watch for yourself below.

Once upon a time I LOVED Wendy's radio show but it took me some time to get accustom to her television presence because it really was not the same to me. In my opinion she wasn't as RAW as she was on the radio but I get it. Television is a cross over market and she needed to portray a certain image but to be completely honest I felt that it was a watered down sellout move so I didn't watch her show until 2017. She made comments and played on race in the past that I didn't agree with but as a whole I believe her intentions have somehow redirected itself back to her core (a tad bit) and I get it. She's also a woman of a certain age therefore that peeks through too so I take what she has to give and I enjoy none-the-less because at the end of the day we're all chasing a check to some degree. GET THAT MONEY!

BET Acceptance Speech Solange and Yara

Two more honorees from last nights BET awards that I absolutely ADORE were Solange and Yara Shahidi. Cranes in The Sky was definitely a BANGER and so worthy of the award. I love how Solange has carved a lane for her creativity outside of the shadows of Beyonce as we've seen historically that it's difficult to do when you have a sibling who is a mega star. I can only think of one younger sibling who successfully carved their own niche musically and wasn't constantly compared to their sibling and that was Janet Jackson.

And my admiration for Yara is due to the fact that my daughters have a young girl who is intelligent to watch  who looks like them and isn't controversial. I absolutely loved her acceptance speech and I love watching Black-ish with my girls.

Chance The Rapper won BET's Humanitarian Award

I'm not really into who's who in the new era of Rap music but I have heard of Chance the Rapper primarily for his extraordinary contribution and charity work. He donated $1 million to Chicago's public schools and he's also raised another $2.2 million additional funds and have announced his plan to bring arts programs with his Chance Arts and Literature Fund for Chicago's public schools.  All his hard work and efforts haven't gone unnoticed and last night Chance was awarded the BET Humanitarian Award and surprised with a video from Michelle Obama who congratulated Chance for his unwavering support of Chicago's youth. During the former first lady's speech she noted that she and Barack have known Chance's family for years as both families are from Chicago.

How great a feeling it must be to make such an impact at such a young age. In his acceptance speech Chance highlighted that he's only 24 years old and he has no plans of stopping.  Congrats to him and his family who must be beaming with pride right now.

The Playoff's and Father's Day

I'm not a sports fan but I did watch the final 4 minutes of the Playoff's last night to see if the Golden State Warriors would win this year and I went to sleep happy. I remember last year believing it was all in the bag and then The Cavalier's came back from a 3 game loss and took the ring. At least that's what I recall but I may be wrong because again... I only watch the last few minutes of the last game to see who wins and I only care because I like the Curry family. I've always thought Steph seems to be a real great husband and father and I love Ayesha too. However the biggest star and the reason I have any interest at all is due to little Riley. Riley is sooo full of life every time she's on screen I get a kick out of her and I love how close knit all of the in-laws appear to be as well. Just a great overall happy family and that's a beautiful thing. Winning the Playoff's is definitely a great way to start out Father's Day for Steph.


Father's day is coming up in a few days and I have absolutely no clue what to buy my husband so I'll stick with the usual... clothes!  The weather here in NJ is finally starting to change after a long stint of cooler temperatures and my husband absolutely hates shopping for clothes so I do what I do best and that's shop away. He needs some summer outfits and my youngest daughter would kill me if she didn't have anything to give her dad so I hit the internet for some summer slides, sneakers, shorts and shirts. 3 whole new outfits to be exact and I made sure to try to get him casual stuff that will carry over to next year. We'll see how that goes over plus I may book a weekend little overnight stay somewhere to get out the house. That's usually my next go to hitter. LOL Hope your weekend is great and happy Father's Day to all the great dads out there.