If you’re of a certain age, you grew up at a time when Run DMC, DeBarge, Salt-N-Pepa, Master P, and Damon Dash were the young, hot music artists of the day.  You might remember their musical hits but never knew much about their private lives, in particular about their children.  Their kids, all grown up now, are desperately trying to come out of their famous parents’ shadow – with varying levels of success, as documented in the new reality series, Growing Up Hip Hop.

The show, slated for a Fall 2015 premiere on WE tv, “follows the next generation of hip hop royalty as they attempt to step outside the shadow of their famous families.”

 The Growing Up Hip Hop cast includes:

Romeo Miller – a musician, actor (formerly known as Lil’ Romeo) and the son of Master P.  He’s  on track to take over the music empire his father built, but is that really his path or will he veer off course?  He consistently leans on close friend Angela for guidance and support;

Angela Simmons – daughter of rap pioneer Rev. Run and niece of Russell Simmons, is a hip hop socialite, model and fashion designer of her own line, Foofi.  Angela is a social media powerhouse who’s hoping to translate her fashion success into dollars away from the comfort of her father’s fortunes.

Damon “Boogie” Dash – the namesake of his father, Roc-A-Fella co-founder and media mogul, Damon Dash.  Like father like son, “Boogie” is also an entrepreneur having co-founded Chipz Cookies as well as a record label and NYC art gallery;

Kristinia DeBarge – the daughter of James DeBarge from the legendary yet troubled group DeBarge, and a singer/songwriter in her own right.  With her father currently in prison, Kristinia leans on her uncle, hip hop legend El DeBarge, as she struggles to choose between family and fame, all while considered the outsider of this tight-knit group;

Egypt Criss – the daughter of Sandra “Pepa” Denton from Salt-N-Pepa and rap icon Treach from Naughty By Nature, is actively pursuing a solo music career.  Her overprotective mother, however, has yet to bless her career choice based on her own experiences in the hip hop industry.

TJ Mizell – the son of the late Jam Master Jay from Run D.M.C.  He’s stepped into his father’s shoes as a DJ, spinning at the hottest events around the world, yet always on his mind is his father’s mysterious and still unsolved murder.

Images: Romeo Miller/Angela Simmons/Getty/Kristiana DeBarge/Egypt Criss/TJ Mizell

– Colby C.

An Australian architecture firm looked to Beyoncé for inspiration when designing a 78-floor building, and now the design has been given the green light.

Queen Bey played muse to Elenberg Fraser architecture designer Jansen Aui for the Premier Tower at 134 Spencer Street in Melbourne. Her “forceful, multiple personas” in her “Ghost” music video, specifically, provided inspiration for Aui. The structure will highlight Beyoncé’s curves, as if she were writhing under a tube of fabric in similar fashion as she did in the “Ghost” video.

While the building captures the essence of Beyoncé around her hips, thighs, and chest, her most famous physical asset — her bootylicious rump — is missing. But let’s be real, a big ol’ booty on the side of building would be awkward.

Aui says he represented the personas Bey takes on in the video — “the muse, the fighter, the performer, and the temptress” — with the building’s different uses. Beyoncé-inspired building will be a hotel and have retail and apartment spaces.

Source

In a vote of 93-27, South Carolina House legislators have voted in favor of a Senate bill to remove the confederate flag from state capitol grounds. Governor Nikki Haley is signing the bill into law by 4pm today.

From AP:

Her office didn’t immediately say when the flag would be removed, but the bill requires that to happen within 24 hours of her signature. Then, it will be shipped to the Confederate Relic Room.

There were hugs, tears and high fives in the House chamber after the vote. Members who waited decades to see this day snapped selfies and pumped their fists. But even among the celebrations, there was more than a bit of sadness.

After the Civil War, the flag was first flown over the dome of South Carolina’s Capitol in 1961 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the war. It stayed as a protest to the Civil Rights movement, only moving in 2000 from the dome to its current location.

The push that would bring down the Confederate flag for good only started after nine black churchgoers, including state Sen. Clementa Pinckney, were gunned down during Bible study at the historic Emanuel African Episcopal Church in Charleston on June 17. Police said the white gunman’s motivation was racial hatred. Then three days later, photos surfaced of the suspect, Dylann Roof, holding Confederate flags.

“I am 44 years old. I never thought I’d see this moment. I stand with people who never thought they would see this as well,” said House Minority Leader Todd Rutherford, who called the victims martyrs. “It’s emotional for us not just because it came down, but why it came down.”

There were times when Republicans threatened to derail the process with endless amendments. Rep. Jenny Horne (R) made a passionate plea to her peers to stop supporting hate.

“I cannot believe that we do not have the heart in this body to do something meaningful such as take a symbol of hate off these grounds on Friday,” she said in an unplanned speech. Watch below.

In a statement posted to her Facebook page, Gov. Haley wrote:

– Colby C.

R. Kelly‘s brother Bruce Kelly says he worked 144 hours per week as a personal assistant and driver for the entertainer, and R. never paid him a dime.

Bruce says his younger brother gave him the gig in March, and they verbally agreed he’d make $700 per week. Bruce’s duties included picking up food and chauffeuring R.

But the older sibling says the hours became long and he was forced to work overtime without being paid. He says he sometimes had to wait up to 12 hours in a vehicle for his brother and he was unable to sleep, according to the paperwork filed with the Illinois state labor board.

Bruce told TMZ that R. couldn’t care less when he brought up the $11,000 he is owed. The brother/assistant says he quit after three months without pay, because he’s “not working for nobody, not even his brother, for free.”

The labor board is continuing its investigation into Bruce’s accusation R. Kelly is such a cheapskate he didn’t pay his brother for his work.

Lark Voorhies and husband Jimmy Green sat down with Entertainment Tonight‘s Kevin Frazier to discuss their quickie marriage, Lark’s mental state, and her mother’s restraining order against Green.

It was quite the surprise when Voorhies wed Green twice in April after they met on Facebook. Many, her mother Patricia included, assumed Green was taking advantage of Voorhies. But they maintain their love is real.

When Frazier asked whether Patricia’s concerns are valid, Voorhies said, “Did she call you before I got here? No, he is not. We are selectively together for all the right reasons.”

Green later said, “We’re the same as any other couple out there that’s in love and trying to accomplish business together. It’s not a scam or a way to get money.”

Music producer Green is reportedly helping Voorhies become a singer, and they’re planning to release an album together.

A few years ago, Patricia revealed that Voorhies was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, a claim Voorhies vehemently denies.

“No, I have always been mentally healthy. One hundred percent stable,” said Voorhies. “I had a sweep of textbook clinical depression in the remove of my first marriage. That’s basically all it’s been.”

Voorhies was married to Miguel Coleman from 1996 to 2004.

As previously reported, Patricia filed a restraining order against Green, claiming she lives in constant fear that he will “cause her physical harm.” Green has been living in Patricia’s home with Voorhies since their April wedding. Patricia also says she’s fearful because Green is a former gang member.

Green’s response to whether he has been aggressive towards Patricia seems to validate her concerns. “I mean not enough to get a restraining order,” he said.

He did admit to being “blunt and demanding,” however.

Watch Lark Voorhies and Jimmy Green’s simultaneously captivating and confusing interview below.

Wesley Snipes said he met with Marvel Studios to discuss bringing back his vampire-slaying superhero Blade.

“We did have a really productive and a wonderful meeting and we discussed a number of things,” Snipes told Deadline.com Thursday at San Diego Comic Con.

However, nothing has been promised.

“I don’t know where it’s on their schedule at this point, that hasn’t been decided. I guess it’s still up in the air,” Snipes added.

The trilogy grossed $415 million at the worldwide box office since the first film, Blade, was released in 1998. But fans and critics had a lukewarm reaction to 2004’s Blade: Trinity. Then Snipes ran into some tax trouble and went to jail. And it seemed another Blade installment would never grace the big screen.

However, Marvel has reacquired the rights to the Blade character from New Line Cinemas and could breathe another life into Blade in one of its other TV or movie properties. Or he could resurface in Netflix’s Daredevil series, like the Punisher will next season.

“I’ve always been a fan of these pieces and adaptations and It’d be nice to be a part of the family again,” Snipes told Deadline.

“But if we don’t do a Blade 4 or something else with Marvel, we’ll do something else. We have some other characters and some other concepts that are going to be just as exciting and hopefully just as successful.”

Snipes is currently promoting his new TV series The Player, which is about a former intelligence officer who is working as a security expert in Las Vegas, according to IMDb.

Source

This season on Basketball Wives LA, the crew from Miami heads west.  And the only way to describe this mashup, judging from the previews, is to say it will be full of epic drama. On a group trip to the Caribbean, Shaunie O’Neal and Tami Roman join the LA crew, which quickly spirals into a battle between which cast is better (guess who says “I will be that b*tch. For you.”).  And this happens amidst an already uneasy tension amongst the LA cast as they try to work through seemingly neverending issues with Jackie.  Newbie Meghan is friends with her but seems to be Jackie’s only ally.  Malaysia definitely wants no parts and Brandi and Draya seem to be leaning in the same direction.

Basketball Wives LA season four premieres, this Sunday, July 12 at 9/8c on VH1.  Check out a sneak peek of the Miami vs LA clash beforehand here:

Watch the very awkward reunion with Jackie and the other girls at a gallery event.

– Colby C.

Today at Comic Con, the four minute trailer for season six of The Walking Dead was released.  And it’s a doozy.  That’s the good news.

Besides the requisite , packs of zombies, and in-fighting, there’s a particularly eyebrow raising twist coming.  Rick seems to have lost everyone’s vote of confidence and now he has a bullseye on his back.  While that’s sobering enough, the really bad news is that we don’t get to see this play out until Sunday, October 11. Pure torture.

But until then, take a peek at the trailer to see what you can look forward to.

– Colby C.

This is a case of being in the right place at the right time and trusting intuition.

On July 9th, Courtney Best, 26, decided to take a quick smoke break in front of Papa Murphy’s pizza in Corpus Christi, TX, where she works, instead of in the back as she usually does. It was a decision that helped save a kidnapped boy.

“I stepped outside, I was standing by the trashcan, and I [saw] a white car pull up, and I just happen to take my phone with me, cause we don’t look at our phones at work, and I looked down and I saw ‘white Dodge Avenger Amber Alert,’ and I was like, ‘Nah, that’s not him,'” Best told KRIS TV.

The Amber Alert was issued for Nicolas Gomez, a 7 year old who was kidnapped from Alice, TX.

Best told KRIS TV that she saw a man with a boy, but still wasn’t convinced the boy was Gomez.

“The man was walking across the parking lot looking at me … ’cause I was the only person out here, with the little boy, and the little boy looked scared, and I was like, ‘no, that’s not him,'” she said to the news station.

“My stomach started knotting up, so I was like, ‘ahh, I’m gonna go, I’m gonna check and see,'” Best explained.

Best says she waited for the man and the boy to walk into a Dollar Store and then checked the license plate of his car with the Amber Alert. There was a match.

Best immediately called the police, but the suspect and the boy were already back in the vehicle and about to drive off.

“And I’m on the phone with 911 and I tell her, ‘look, the plates match up, he’s turning left on Staples but I’m gonna follow him.'”

Corpus Christi police located the suspect Channing Galbraith and arrested him. Gomez was returned home unharmed.

“That’s why I’m freakin’ out,” said Best. “‘Cause, what are the odds? What are the odds of me looking at my phone? And I usually don’t even look at amber alerts, as bad as that sounds, I look at them and I don’t really pay attention. And I was like, he couldn’t get from Alice in that little bit of time. Sure enough it was him.”

Best now says she’ll pay more attention to Amber Alerts.

Source

“I identified with white culture, and I wanted to fit in … I didn’t identify with Black culture, like, I didn’t like Tyler Perry movies, and I wasn’t into hip-hop music … Black culture is so much deeper than that, but unfortunately that is what’s fed through the media. That’s what people see. That’s what I saw. But then I got older and listened to A Tribe Called Quest and watched films with Sidney Poitier, and heard Billie Holiday and Nina Simone. I had to un-brainwash myself. It’s my mission, especially as an actress.”

— Zoë Kravitz opens up to NYLON magazine about her experience as one of a few Black students at a predominantly white school. The actress who is currently filming Allegiant: Part 1 also discussed what it was like being the daughter of her mega-famous parents, Lisa Bonet and Lenny Kravitz.

“I’m hyper-aware that people are judging me based on who my parents are. We had a chef, but it was never like, ‘This is the way the world works’. I knew we were very lucky, and my dad raised me in an old-school way. His mom [Roxy Roker] was from the Bahamas, and it was about manners and making the bed. It’s that old Black shit, really—like, you get smacked if you talk the wrong way. It was about having respect for your elders and being thankful for what we had. He wanted to make sure I had chores, and not because we didn’t have a housekeeper, but because of the principle of the thing … When I was about 11, my dad was trying to make me finish my dinner, but I didn’t want any more. He said, ‘There are starving kids in Africa.’ So I took an envelope and put potatoes in it and was like, ‘Send it to them.’ He was like, ‘You go upstairs right now!’ I was dead. When ‘Fly Away’ and ‘American Woman’ came out, I remember asking my cousin, ‘Is my dad really famous?’. My mom was more low-key. I was conscious of the height of her fame … Later, I came to understand culturally what she meant.”

Read Zoë Kravitz’s entire interview with NYLON here.

Widow Esaw Garner has reportedly rejected New York City’s offer of a $5 million settlement in the wrongful death lawsuit of her husband Eric Garner, who was killed by an NYPD cop in 2014, according to a source familiar with the negotiations between Comptroller Scott Stringer and the Garner family.

The Garner family’s attorney, Jonathan Moore, reportedly urged Esaw to take the settlement and seek more money by suing EMTs from Richmond University Medical Center, the source said according to the New York Daily News. The EMTs failed to give Eric oxygen, CPR, or any medical attention, and that, like Daniel Pantaleo choking him, was captured on video.

Negotiations are expected to continue until Friday, when the statute of limitations requires the family to file a wrongful death lawsuit. Previously, the family said they intend to sue for $75 million.

The $5 million is one of the largest wrongful death settlement offers stemming from a killing by NYPD officers.

While most people would find quantifying a person’s life with a dollar amount a daunting task, here’s how it’s done, according to the Daily News: “Settlements are quantified by calculating the victim’s conscious pain and suffering, as well as loss of family income.”

“The conscious pain and suffering [in the Garner case] was probably about a minute,” said a civil rights lawyer, who spoke to the Daily News and believes the settlement offer is a good one.

His net worth was estimated at $155 million as of May. But with liabilities of up to $50 million and a claim that his current assets are worth the same, 50 Cent filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection today.

The move comes on the heels of a judge’s ruling that the rapper must issue a $5M payout to Lavonia Leviston, the woman who sued him for releasing a sex tape starring her and a mutual acquaintance.  Born Curtis Jackson in Queens, NY, he’s experienced disappointment after disappointment in recent years, despite his success in 2007 selling Vitamin Water to the Coca Cola Company for and estimated profit of  $100 million.

From Forbes:

Thus far, 2015 simply hasn’t been the rapper’s best year. A few months ago, 50’s boxing promotions company SMS Productions went under, also filing for bankruptcy. Last week, a judge ordered the Grammy winner to pay $5 million to a woman whose sex tape he leaked online. The bankruptcy filing might be a way for the star to protect himself from some of the fallout from these losses.

While he has certainly made a pretty penny from the tens of millions of albums and singles he’s sold over his decade-plus-long career, the majority of 50’s hefty income has come from his business acumen and his ability to sell companies off for a massive profit. Several years ago the rapper sold Vitamin Water to Coca-Cola for billions, and it’s estimated that he earned somewhere close to $100 million for the deal. Since then, he’s gotten involved in everything from energy drinks to an underwear line to headphones, hoping to strike gold yet again.

– Colby C.

Sherri Shepherd stopped by the The View as a guest host back in May. She received such a warm homecoming that’s she’ll be making a return to the morning show in the fall, at least on a part-time basis, according to sources.

ABC is hopeful that inserting a rotating fifth host will bring much needed energy – and ratings – to the struggling show.  Shepherd will serve as one of the fifth hosts approximately twice a week when The View returns from its August hiatus.

Shepherd was part of the panel from 2007 through 2014.  Her May 2015 visit was the first time she’d been back on the show, and was right in the midst of an ugly custody and divorce battle with Lamar Sally.  Earlier this month, she finalized her divorce to Sally and agreed to pay child support for the baby boy they had via surrogate.

In today’s other View news, the network announced comedian Michelle Collins as a permanent new host in the fall, joining Whoopi Goldberg and Raven Symone.  Two other names in the running for co host chairs are Stacy London and Candace Cameron Bure.

Image: Instagram

– Colby C.

Catch Lyfe Jennings live as he hits the road in July to promote his sixth studio album, Tree of Lyfe, out now.

Upcoming tour stops include Phoenix (July 16), Portland (July 17), Seattle (July 18), Chicago (August 1), Sacramento (August 8) and Milwaukee (August 21), Macon (September 5), New York (September 17).

Lyfe will make a special guest appearance on the July 20th episode of Love & Hip Hop, which will feature the first single from the album “Pretty Is.”  Video below.

– Colby C.

Twenty-two years ago while working as the Director or A&R for MCA Records, I had the privilege of signing an African artist from London name Funmilayo. One of the many things that I learned from Funmi, was that in Egypt, when the Eqyptians wake up in the morning they greet each other with an expression “SabaH al-xeir” – which means “morning of Jasmine” or “morning of beauty”. It was their way of welcoming the morning, welcoming the day, and welcoming each other.

Take a moment to examine your own life. How do you start your day? How does it all begin? Do you jump out of bed to the sound of an alarm clock? Does someone scream at you “wake up”…Ugh, as a little girl I used to hate that. Or, do you leisurely allow your eyes to open as you stretch and slowly greet the daylight? Take a moment and just feel the difference that each event has on your nervous system.

How do your feet hit the ground as you roll out of bed? In general, how do you move throughout the world? Do you stomp around or drag your feet? Do you slam doors, move carelessly, and throw your weight around? …Or, do you move consciously with ease and grace? Are your actions considerate and deliberate?

What about your choice of words? Do you realize the tremendous amount of power and energy words have? How do you speak to others? Do you even like the sound of your own voice? How often do you swear and why?

What do the thoughts in your head sound like? Are you kind to yourself or do you silently berate and criticize yourself and others all day long? Are your thoughts consumed with regrets and comparisons or are they loving, kind, and compassionate.

In order to be kind and loving towards others, your first have to be kind and loving towards yourself. Get more rest, slow down, and stop over-scheduling. Spend more time in nature. Pray and meditate more so that you know your own deepest desires.

Wendy Credle is an entertainment lawyer and founder of the executive coaching company, Spanda Coaching. Follow her on twitter @IamWendyCredle or contact her at www.spandacoaching.com

Brandy Norwood is a living legend. In doubt? Check the receipts: 20 years of success in television, music (over 30 million albums sold), movies and the stage (she’s currently starring in Chicago on Broadway). And she is readying to star in her own BET sitcom.

But stats are not important to this triple-threat. What is?

She has figured out the key to her happiness and is eager to share. (A hint: it has nothing to do with celebrity.)

Read more in our cover story but first, check out our behind the scenes recap…

A little behind the scenes video…

Cover options!

L: Pony skin corset by The Blonds; Skirt by Cheng; Sandals by Prada; Rings by Mike Nekta and Leon Diamond; Gold fingernails by Erica Diggs

R: ZZ Top Corset by The Blonds; Crystal-banded boots by Giuseppe Zanotti Design; 14k gold fingernails by Erica Diggs

Smizing so hard…

Dress by Augustin Teboul; Lace bra by Victoria’s Secret; Earrings by Alexis Bittar; Gold fingernails by Erica Diggs

Words by Isoul H. Harris | Photography by Shxpir | Styling by Mario Wilson

SHOT ON LOCATION AT THE SKYLARK IN NEW YORK CITY

“I have never seen this Brandy before, I am just meeting her,” Brandy Norwood says firmly. She is speaking in third person, but it’s not in the obnoxious fashion one might expect from a celebrity of her stature. She has achieved a remarkable career: 20 years of acting, singing, dancing, modeling and more. In an Insta-era where “icon” status is easily attainable with the borrowing of a Léger dress and the purchasing of a booty to match—Brandy is certainly deserving of what the title once meant. But, shockingly, despite her enviable resume, the superstar feels as if she is only now discovering who she is. “I know exactly who I am now and what I’m supposed to do,” she says with a determined stare. “I know my purpose.”

Brandy is sitting on the sectional in her sizable, sauna-warm suite in Midtown Manhattan (having to perform at her optimal eight times a week, she avoids air conditioning). The soundtrack of gorgeous classical music from the Oscar-winning film The Theory of Everything plays softly in the background (it’s the only music she listens to in her suite; it clears her mind and prepares her for all she needs to tackle). Her face is makeup free, a smooth and tawny delight with enviously sharp cheekbones, which, along with her Michelle Obama guns-a-blazing arms, are the result of daily boxing, circuit training and cardio. She lives only minutes from Broadway’s Ambassador Theater where she has been lighting up the stage with her well-received portrayal of Roxie Hart in Chicago since late April. But on this warm and slightly muggy spring day, the multihyphenate entertainer looks nothing like Bob Fosse’s desperately sexy murderess.

Dressed in a flowing top, loose ripped jeans and flat sandals, with a paisley scarf covering her head, her easy Bohemian chic is reminiscent of a Molusson gypsy from 1940s Gitanes ads. And just as the lore of gypsy life involves uprooting, Brandy leaving her comfortable existence in Los Angeles for the hectic and unpredictable life of New York City has seemingly contributed to this shift. “I’m curious, I’m adventurous, I’m spontaneous and that’s what New York is for me,” she says. “And I’m here doing something that I’ve never done and it’s given me so much purpose. It’s just given me this energy to just be. I like the movement in my life now.”

Brandy, 36, relishes the current movement in her life because earlier this year she felt stagnant. The actress had wrapped filming in Atlanta for the ninth and final season of the popular BET series The Game, where she was a fan favorite as the lovable, hood bartender turned football wife Chardonnay Pitts (for which she won a 2014 NAACP Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy). But once back in Los Angeles, Brandy began feeling anxious and unsure. She found herself questioning her future. Unfortunately, this feeling of insecurity was not new to her. After a parade of hit songs, multi-platinum albums, hit movies, a lucrative Covergirl contract and even a Mattel Brandy doll in the 90s, her career took an unfortunate turn in 2004. Her third album, Afrodisiac, a creative collaboration between her and super-producer Timbaland failed to catch fire. Then her life completely spiraled: while driving home on the evening of Dec. 30, 2006. Brandy’s Range Rover struck a car on L.A.’s 405 Freeway resulting in the death of the woman driving it. She was not charged for the crash, but she did reportedly pay settlements to the family of the deceased woman and other drivers. Because of the incident and the uncertainty of the situation, she was replaced by Sharon Osbourne for the second season of America’s Got Talent. After the accident, Brandy fell into a deep depression. “I was asking what have I done wrong and what am I not doing?” Brandy remembers. “When you are at that type of low your whys come in a lot of different ways. I didn’t want to get out of bed. I didn’t want to do anything. I really stopped dreaming.” When she began to experience similar feelings of doubt and symptoms of depression earlier this year, she knew something had to change. And those who know her well knew it too.

“I told her, ‘Bran, you just have to do the work,’” says Keisha Epps, wife of actor Omar Epps and a former member of 90s Bad Boy Records R&B group Total. She has known Brandy for nearly a decade and is one of her closest friends. “There is nothing to analyze. Just do the work.” Talking over the phone, Epps says Brandy repeated her advice out loud, and told her, “I am going to do the work,” and then hung up. The work included daily spiritual, mental and physical practices. “I made up my mind to be the best version of myself and I kept affirming every day that I’m getting ready for something,” Brandy recalls. “I did not know what it was, but I knew God had something for me that I’m getting ready for.” A few months after Brandy’s decision to move forward and focus, her agents called asking if she was interested in starring in Chicago.

Pony skin corset by The Blonds; Skirt by Cheng; Sandals by Prada; Rings by Mike Nekta and Leon Diamond; Gold fingernails by Erica Diggs

I’m gonna be a celebrity/that means somebody everyone knows/they’re gonna recognize my eyes/my hair, my teeth, my boobs, my nose.” — Roxie Hart

Chicago premiered on Broadway in 1975, the same year in which Andy Warhol released his tome The Philosophy of Andy Warhol (From A to B and Back Again), in which he wrote, “Being famous is not all that important.” Roxie would disagree; but Brandy Rayana Norwood would be #TeamAndy. The former child star fully embodies Roxie—a Vaudevillian singer obsessed with fame and its power—but in her real life, her motives could not be more different.

“I don’t view myself as a celebrity. It’s all about the intention,” Brandy says as she takes a bite of the grilled salmon salad she’s ordered for lunch. (She eats very clean, and several times a day, along with those daily workouts). “It’s not about me. I thought that it was before. But, now I know that it is about other people. Who else could it be about?” It could easily be all about her. She has received glowing reviews for her performance in Chicago, which was revived in 1996 and is now the longest running American musical in Broadway history. “[Brandy] has created a wonderful buzz [with] her knockout performance,” raved Logo’s NewNowNext and a bulk of the ticket sales are from fans flying in from around the country and abroad to see her interpretation of the legendary role. However, a funny thing happened to this ingénue on the way to the stage.

“I stepped into something that I was born to do and I didn’t know it. I walked on the stage and my entire life reawakened,” says the Grammy winner. She found acclaim, but also realized there is a power provided by the applause: the ability to help those clapping. “It’s about making people feel good about themselves and helping people dream,” Brandy says. “The vain stuff, like the pictures I took for this magazine and being in shows, I love! But it is all just the polish. I’m not a celebrity. A star guides. There is a difference.”

Brandy’s space is filled with the work and images of those she qualifies as stars. On the living room floor of her suite, propped up on display under the television are vinyl album covers of Prince’s Purple Rain, The Fugees’ The Score, The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band and the album that means the most to her, Whitney Houston Live: Her Greatest Performances. In fact, on a wall shelf next to the television is a handmade collage with images spanning Houston’s career. When asked about whether she feels Houston is with her in any form, she grabs a box from the side of the couch and pulls out a brooch featuring a picture of her and Houston from years ago. The two first met in 1995 during rehearsals for the Kids’ Choice Awards, which Houston was hosting. Two years later, they starred together in the 1997 ABC remake of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella—Brandy in the title role and Houston as her fairy godmother—ironically, Brandy feels as if the now deceased Houston watches over her today.

“I think about her every day,” she admits. “She is everywhere. She is with me all the time. She’s always there.” And anyone who has followed Brandy since she emerged in the 90s, is familiar with her adoration for Houston. She was the architect of Brandy’s aspirations—the Oracle to Brandy’s Neo. “Whitney was the possibility of dreams coming true. I loved her. I loved her personality. I loved the way she danced. I loved her smile and her voice.”

ZZ Top Corset by The Blonds; Crystal-banded boots by Giuseppe Zanotti Design; 14k gold fingernails by Erica Diggs

Brandy says there are similarities between the two singers’ speaking voices. Brandy’s speaking voice today is akin to that of Houston’s low, raspy, tone that the legendary singer developed over the years. It was her mother, and former manager, Sonja Norwood who first noticed. “I am trying to get used to it,” says Brandy. “Sometimes I do hear Whitney’s voice when I am speaking and I am like, ‘What is happening?’”

Houston and Brandy’s connection goes even deeper. The legendary singer was found dead in the bathtub of her suite at The Beverly Hilton Hotel in 2012 on February 11—Brandy’s birthday. “I know that she’s with me all the time. I absolutely know that. I talked to her a few days before she died for three hours on the phone. We were just catching up on life. I was venting to her and she was venting to me and we were just…” Brandy’s voice trails off. In this moment, her face betrays her well-known penchant for privacy. Her eyes are watery, maybe with thoughts of what could have been, and she tilts her head maybe asking those same whys she asked of herself after the car accident; but now they could be in relation to Houston’s death.

“I was just so happy to talk with her and I didn’t care what was going on, if anything was in fact going on. I was just so happy to talk to her.”

Brandy’s mother called her that day, delivering the tragic news. “My mom told me that she had passed away and I just fell to the floor,” Brandy recalls. “I couldn’t believe it. It’s one of those things I don’t understand.” However, her daughter Sy’rai helped Brandy bring everything full circle. After seeing her in Chicago, the precocious teen declared: “Mom, Whitney would be proud of you.”

Brandy and Sy’rai’s dad, Robert Smith, a music producer, documented their road to parenthood in the 2002 MTV docu-series Special Delivery. They also told the world that they were married, which Brandy later admitted was a lie. In the early aughts, an unwed, pregnant pop star, who had grown up with a Clorox clean image, wasn’t readily accepted. The couple parted ways in 2003, but now have a loving parenting relationship. “We are a family and that’s the new phase of our life. Everything is different now and I’m just really thankful and grateful for it.” Her most recent relationship, with ex-fiancé Ryan Press, a music-publishing executive, ended in the spring of 2014. “Ryan and I were just two completely different people and we found that out when we were already in love with each other. Sometimes it happens. It hurt him, it hurt me and it hurt my daughter. It was a really hard time and another phase of the sadness that was a cloud for a while,” she admits.

An invaluable lesson did arise from the ashes of their relationship. “I will not mix business with pleasure anymore,” she says adamantly. “I think that’s one of the things that does not work for me. I get confused about who a person is. That’s one of the things that I know that I will never ever do if I am ever to have time or make time for another relationship. I want to keep my business and my personal separate.”

A large part of Brandy’s business is her fan base. She lives for and breathes by them. After every show, she greets each and every person waiting behind the theater for her. Usually it’s a memorable experience for them to meet the woman to whom they grew up listening to and call the “Vocal Bible” (because of the nuances and dexterity of her range). However, on a recent night, one of the fans left the usually loquacious Brandy speechless. “A guy said, ‘I feel like she’s back in you now. ‘Baby Brandy’ is back.’ I was like, ‘Wow.’ He was right. This is definitely the next Brandy, but the fearless, young Brandy that we saw back in the day, I have become her again.”

And just as she feels her speaking voice has changed, she has recognized physical changes as well. “I noticed out of nowhere that my cheeks are back, my face is full in a different way,” she says. “My face has never looked like this before or has never been this full even when it was full as ‘Baby Brandy’. I believe that I have reconnected with her through God.”

The actress Tasha Smith is one of Brandy’s best friends and also her acting coach and she says that Brandy is more than a talented and successful entertainer. “I have seen Brandy on the verge of giving up because of her fears, insecurities and rejection,” says Smith, who was the one who convinced Brandy to take the role on The Game. “Sometimes we get in our own heads and make ourselves draw back and not move forward. She went through what every young woman goes through. How am I going to reinvent myself? How do I get to the point where people accept me where I am now? Brandy’s story is universal and it’s about overcoming, and about not giving up. If Brandy had given up, she would not be starring on Broadway right now. and she will not have a new television series on BET (in September she begins filming the sitcom Zoe Ever After starring as a newly-divorced single mom and cosmetics mogul looking for love).

“And I have seen her fight for her life,” continues Smith. “She is a warrior and she won’t quit. I feel her overall story is showing every woman that if you press pass the obstacle, you will see the miracle.”

And Brandy’s career is astounding. Her success is far reaching and she shows no signs of slowing down. Along with the new sitcom, she has signed with a new label (she cannot mention which one yet) and will release new music this year— starting with an EP. “It’s going to be five amazing songs that are very, very authentic. It has nothing to do with fitting in. This will be my own thing and my own way. Brandy is not in a box anymore. I am going to just allow myself to just fly with my music because I want to sing different kinds of songs, and I am not afraid to sing different kinds of songs now. I am going to sing songs that I feel in my heart. I need to release about love. I want a better understanding of love. I really want to sing songs about the way I dream of feeling about love. It’s not about the love that I’ve experienced before, it’s about the love that I want to receive.”

And there is more: along with releasing a book that that will detail her life, and lessons learned, she wants to star in the upcoming Broadway revival of The Wiz. “I am Dorothy and I am meant to do it on Broadway,” she says with steely conviction. (She shows me a video of herself singing a mighty, and deeply soulful, version of the show’s signature song, “Home”.)

Her assuredness is not hubris, she is careful to point out. Instead, it’s about living to the fullest. “I don’t have a right to be arrogant. Portraying Dorothy is a dream and I just want to experience my dreams. That’s what life is about. I want to inspire someone else to believe in theirs. God created us to thrive. And I am the proof. If I can overcome, then you certainly can too.”

Pin Up Girl: Top by Cheng; Belt by Bond; Ring by Laruicci; Pant by Risto; Gold fingernails by Erica Diggs

Back To The Future: Dress by Augustin Teboul; Lace bra by Victoria’s Secret; Earrings by Alexis Bittar; Gold fingernails by Erica Diggs

Halle Berry and Gabriel Aubry‘s child support trial began this morning, and things between the former lovers and parents of 7-year-old Nahla Aubry are far from amicable.

Halle, reportedly, is tired of footing the bill for Gabriel’s lifestyle. She wants a judge to reduce her child support payments to about $3,000 from $16,000.

She has criticized Gabriel in the past for refusing to get a job and using the support for Nahla on himself. However, she doesn’t have an issue paying child support when Gabriel actually has physical custody of Nahla.

When it comes to model Gabriel’s job prospects, he says he lost work when Halle’s then-boyfriend-now-husband Olivier Martinez beat the mess out of him. But he was featured in the 2015 Macy’s Inc. campaign.

Last November, a judge barred Halle and Gabriel from making changes to then-6-year-old Nahla’s hair, after Halle argued Gabriel was trying to make the child look white by lightening and straightening her hair.

Texas police believe they’ve recovered JaJuan Dawson‘s body from a Dallas-area lake, after he fell from an inflatable tube being tugged by a boat.

Lt. Chris Havey of the Collins County Sheriff’s Office said divers found the remains Monday night in Lavon Lake. Although an autopsy has been ordered, Havey said they believe it is 37-year-old Dawson’s body.

Dawson failed to put on a life preserver while he and his family were having fun on the lake Sunday night in a rented boat.

Before playing for the NFL, Dawson played for Bourgeois High School in Houston and Tulane University. He played for the Cleveland Browns in 2000 and 2001, and the Houston Texans in 2002. He had 52 catches for 664 yards and two touchdowns, according to Click2Houston.com.