Phresh

Donna Summer dead of cancer

Staff — Thu, 17 May 2012 15:18:45 +0000

Donna Summer performs on stage in Berlin. (July 30, 2009), credit: AFP/Getty Images

Summer, dubbed the Queen of Disco for her many 70s era hits including: “Last Dance”, “Hot Stuff” and “Bad Girls”, passed away in Florida after a difficult battle cancer.

Summer is survived by her husband, three daughters, and four grandchildren. She was 63.

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Tia Mowry quits B.E.T.’s ‘The Game’

Staff — Wed, 16 May 2012 12:33:45 +0000

Tia Mowry has confirmed rumors that she won’t be returning for the 6th season of the BET sitcom “The Game”.

Mowry broke the news to fans on Tuesday via Twitter, writing:

There’s been no official reason for Mowry’s departure from the show, either from Mowry herself or B.E.T., but according to Mowry, she has a full plate. She and husband Cory Hardrict are currently busy raising their 10-month-old daughter Cree — the couple’s first; is preparing for the 2nd season of her, and twin sister Tamera‘s, Style network reality show “Tia & Tamera” (which has the distinction of being the highest-rated series in the network’s history), and is on a nation-wide tour promoting her book, ‘Oh Baby!: Pregnancy Tales and Advice From One Hot Mama to the Next’

It’s been rumored that Mowry’s split with the show (and the possible exit of co-star Pooch Hall who portrays Derwin Davis) may be a matter of money.

“The Game”‘s storyline follows closely the relationship between Mowry’s character, Melanie Barnett and Hall’s character, Derwin Davis. It’s unclear how the exit of Mowry —and possibly Hall— will effect the future of the show.

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Its time for a social networking site for dogs

Staff — Mon, 14 May 2012 16:51:28 +0000

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Lil Boosie acquitted of murder

Staff — Mon, 14 May 2012 13:49:26 +0000

A Louisiana jury on Friday acquitted rapper Torence Hatch, better known as Lil Boosie of murder in the 2009 slaying of Terry Boyd.

Hatch, 29, pumped his fist in the air once the jury delivered their not guilty verdict after an hour-long deliberation.
“You’ve been found not guilty. You stuck your fist up in the air and I can’t exactly say that I blame you,” the judge said.

Hatch’s defense attorney Jason Williams said of the rapper’s reaction to the verdict, “He just kept saying ‘Thank God, Thank God,’ over and over.”

Prosecutors had charged that Hatch hired Michael “Marlo Mike” Louding to kill 35-year-old Terry Boyd, who was shot to death through a window while he was inside his home. Boyd’s sister, Rochelle Wagner, is the mother of Hatch’s 5-year-old daughter. She left the court crying after hearing the verdict and did not speak with reporters.

Though he dodged a possible life sentence if he was convicted of murder, Hatch won’t be back on the streets anytime soon, he is currently serving an eight-year prison term on separate drug charges.

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William Balfour found guilty in Jennifer Hudson’s family murders

Staff — Fri, 11 May 2012 21:41:20 +0000

The tail of William Balfour, who stood accused of killing 3 family members of singer/actress Jennifer Hudson, has ended in a guilty verdict.

From the Chicago Tribune:

As Academy Award-winning actress Jennifer Hudson stood in the silent courtroom Friday, shifting nervously from foot to foot, stardom and celebrity seemed worlds away.

For all the attention, awards and accolades, Hudson in that moment was a grieving daughter from the South Side waiting for justice, her family torn apart by a crime of unimaginable horror.

She bowed her head as the verdict was read, then broke into soft sobs as a Cook County jury convicted her former brother-in-law, William Balfour, of murdering her mother, brother and nephew in October 2008.

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Halle Berry’s baby daddy wants child support

Staff — Sat, 05 May 2012 16:38:54 +0000

Halle Berry‘s contentious custody battle with former beau Gabriel Aubry over their 4-year-old daughter, Nahla, rages on. This time around Aubry has filed suit against Berry for child support.

Aubry is asking the judge in his custody case to award him $2,000 per month in child support and to order Berry to pay his lawyer fees totaling $500,000.

For her part, in the past Berry has accused Aubry of hurling racial slurs at their daughter and earlier this year of allegedly assualting a nanny by pushing her as she was holding Nahla. In January, following the advise of the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services, Aubry agreed to enter anger management classes.

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Beastie Boys’ Adam Yauch Dead

Staff — Fri, 04 May 2012 20:31:22 +0000

MCA, one third of the hip-hop group Beastie Boys, a.k.a. Adam Yauch has passed away of cancer. Yauch had been battling the decease since July of 2009 when doctors discovered a cancerous tumor in his salivary gland.

later that year Yauch announced that he would stop touring with the group in order to seek treatment. His illness also delayed the release of the group’s last album “Hot Sauce Committee, Pt. 2.”

In 1981 Yauch co-founded the punk rock band the Beastie Boys with Adam Horovitz (Ad-Rock) and Mike Diamond (Mike D). The following year they decided to experiment with hip-hop, releasing a 12-inch vinyl rap spoof “Cookie Puss”. The three teenages, who all came from affluent New York families, were the first to break hip-hop’s racial barrier, becoming the first successfully white group in the genre. Their 1986 album “Licensed to Ill” (which featured hits like “(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (to Party)” and “Brass Monkey.” ), was the first rap album to hit No. 1 on the album charts.

Yauch was notably absent when the Beastie Boys were inducted into the Rock & Roll hall of fame 2 weeks ago. In his place he sent a letter which read in part:

“I’d like to dedicate this to my brothers Adam and Mike. They walked the globe with me. It’s also for anyone who has ever been touched by our band. This induction is as much ours as it is yours.”

When Ad-Rock and Mike D accepted the Beastie Boys’s induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame two weeks ago, they read a letter from Mr. Yauch thanking both his bandmates and the group’s fans. “I’d like to dedicate this to my brothers Adam and Mike,” he wrote. “They walked the globe with me. It’s also for anyone who has ever been touched by our band. This induction is as much ours as it is yours.”

Adam Yauch, MCA, was 47.

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NFL great Junior Seau found dead at his California home

Staff — Wed, 02 May 2012 19:40:50 +0000

The body of retired NFL legend Junior Seau was discovered by his housekeeper this morning (Wed., May 2) with a gunshot wound to the chest.

At the moment, investigators are calling Seau’s death a suicide. (Former Chicago Bears player Dave Duerson also committed suicide in a similar manner when he shot himself in the chest on February 17).

Seau, a 12-time Pro Bowler and 6-time First-Team All-Pro, was selected fifth overall in the 1990 NFL draft after an outstanding collegiate career at USC. He played with the San Diego Chargers through the 2002 season, spent 2003-2005 with the Miami Dolphins, and then signed with the New England Patriots in time for the 2006 season. In New England’s perfect regular season of 2007, he played in all 16 games and started four. Seau first retires after that season, only to come back and play in 2008 and 2009 before finally leaving the NFL for good.

“I’m going to go surf,” he told Showtime upon his January, 2010 retirement announcement. Whatever happens, I can honestly say, that that probably was my last game.”

After barely two seasons Marvel’s Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes may be on the chopping block

Staff — Wed, 02 May 2012 13:18:14 +0000

Rumors of a pending cancellation of Marvel’s popular animated series “Avengers: Earth Mightiest Heroes”, which airs on the Disney channel, has pushed fans of the show to petition Marvel to reconsider the as-yet-not-confirmed decision.

According to ComicBookMovie.com fans of the show, which recently started it’s second season, have taken to FaceBook, online petitions and message boards to protest the end of the series.

For more head over to ComicBookMovie.com

“Avengers: Earth Mightiest Heroes” stars:
Eric Loomis as the voice of Iron Man
Rick D. Wasserman as the voice of Thor
Brian Bloom as the voice of Captain American
Fred Tatasciore as the Voice of Hulk
Wally Wingert as the voice of Hank Pym/Ant Man
James C. Mathis III as the voice of Black Panther
Alex Désert as the voice of Nick Fury

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The Tone Deaf Emcee

A Gonzalez — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 00:08:55 +0000

by: A. Gonzalez

Last week we celebrated legendary Queens rapper Nas’ esteemed career by commemorating the 18th anniversary of his classic debut release ‘Illmatic’. Widely regarded as one of the greatest albums in Hip Hop history ‘Illmatic’ solidified the beginning of a prolific rap career. Nas, however, is a walking contradiction, as Jay-z pointed out during their feud “Is it Oochie Wally Wally or is it One Mic”. We’re here, however, to point out another contradiction. For every Nas song that is a lesson in lyricism there is another that is a complete shit show.

Phresh presents 5 of the Worst Nas Songs EVER!

Nas is Coming

Nas Is Coming

You’d think a Dr. Dre/Nas collabo would result in auditory hotness, two artists who were already ascending to legendary status at the time coming together to release one of the greatest songs ever. Then you realize Nas has a knack for bringing out the worst in whoever he’s working with who is HOT at the moment. I can point out collabos between Nas and DMX or Nas and Timbaland or… well you get the point. This song makes the list not because of what it was, which was a mediocre song on a pretty solid album, but for what it wasn’t, a smash hit. Sure Nas has dropped way worse songs in his storied career, but this song simultaneously lowered both his and Dre’s stock. It was amazing that they came together to even put out ‘The Firm’, which yielded some solid songs (but didn’t live up to expectations). If I had to make an analogy, this song is like getting 3 superstars on the same team and promising a championship, but then you go 0 for 82…. and shit ain’t gravy.

Shoot ‘Em Up

What do you get when you take the melodies of Christmas classic staples like ‘Silver Bells’ and ‘Jingle Bells’ and mix them with gentle rap lyrics like “There that nigga go, hiding in the crowd/Let the trigger blow, 7 shots/now he lying on the ground” well, that would be the disaster of a track called ‘Shoot Em Up’. This song almost seems like he lost a bet. Actually it seems as if someone who completely hates Nas took a few years out of his life to befriend him and gain his confidence, then said ‘Yo I got this dope Idea that will take your career to the next level. Gangsta Christmas Shit’. Then once it was recorded Nas never heard from or saw him again. That hasssss to be what happened here as this song scrapes the bottom of the port-a-potty for inspiration. The thing is, the “Nastradamus” album this song is off of was so bad this technically isn’t the worst song off of it. That esteemed honor would fall to…

Big Girl

If there was sexual predator rap this would be it. Nas uses his improved quick flow (enhanced from a prior song Big Things in which Nas struggled to keep up with the beat like he had half a mouth full of peanut butter) to convey the sentiment you’d get from a sleeze bag trying to convince a drunk chick at the bar to let him smash behind the dumpster out back by forcibly whispering in her ear ‘it’s not dirty, it’s Spontaneous’. With a chorus revealing such gems as “You a big girl now (in a world, where these niggas are foul)/You could be aborting the next Michael Jordan/Your man don’t wanna be around”. I suppose you shouldn’t expect much. And yet even when you expect nothing, Nas finds a way to give you less than that on this track. Half-man half-amazin indeed.

BraveHeart Party

Nas managed to douse the Queen of Soul, Mary J. Blige, in wack juice for the disaster that was ‘Braveheart Party’. While collaborations between Mary J., Jay-z and Method Man produced classics like ‘Can’t Knock the Hustle’ and ‘All I Need’ respectively, Nasir went above and beyond to achieve the lowest common rap denominator. Jungle being on the track should be the first sign something is horribly amiss. BraveHeart Party was so awful you got the sense it was a leftover track that didn’t quite make the standard of excellence his worst album “Nastradamus” demanded, but then someone found a copy of it under a radiator and said ‘This latin infused calypso sounding shit might be the new hotness now. Let’s throw it on Stillmatic’. And that person didn’t have any fucks to give about the overall trajectory of Nas’ career. And that person was most likely Nas himself.

Another Black Girl Lost

Some artists need some time to develop musically, eventually evolving their voice to put out an opus that is both critically acclaimed and a commercial success. Nas in a similar manner has managed to evolve his knack for making an occasional piece of garbage to astounding depths. I present to you ‘Another Black Girl Lost’. This song is so bad that I’d rather listen to the previous 4 on a continuous loop while voluntarily filling out paperwork for strangers at the DMV. The producer on this track is the lava-hot Hit Boy, whose production work can be heard on a number of hits including Jay-Z and Kanye’s ‘Niggas in Paris’, yet and still Nas managed to find a complete brick. I imagine Nas went to the studio and demanded to browse through the recycle bin on Hit Boy’s macbook pro to find the perfect sound he was looking for. To add insult to injury this song is to serve as a sequel to one of Nas’ best records, ‘Black Girl Lost’ from the 1996 classic album ‘It Was Written’. In case you don’t click play and give this piece of shit a listen, the best way I can describe it is to say this is probably what nightmares sound like, nightmares mixed with metal being ripped apart and distant groans of pain.

Few artists this talented manage to put out this many bad songs. Actually no artist this talented does this except Nas and this list could have been part 1 of a 5-part series. That is the beauty of Nas’ music though. He’ll hit a home run like ‘Nas is Like’ or ‘Nasty’ and then drop a turd in your headphones with his very next release. It lets his fans know he is indeed human, perhaps the most human artist we’ll ever see. Nas… We salute you.

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