After the radio show, it's the after party....

SHOW HIGHLIGHTS
Today we had our second guest, Nafiys "IModel" Blakewood, former cast member of BET's College Hill, season 2 on the show . If you take a trip down memory lane, you'll remember his season the most as the one with "Jon", the wild guy liked to run around naked and with Peaches who caught heat for throwing Jon in the fire (pun intended). Nafiys breaks down why he believes his season was blackballed after its run on BET with no reunions and no invites to any events, what went on behind the scenes, the importance of twitter, modeling, and why he'd be a good match for Miss New York.
(SCROLL DOWN FOR AUDIO OF THE SHOW)



To see more of IModel visit:

www.mrblakewood.com
www.twitter.com/imodel


On the big screen, Alicia recommends seeing - Star Trek and Dance Flick

IN WEIRD AND STRANGE NEWS
Don't Be Surprised if They Ask Where The Cash At! - The European teen who auctioned her virginity for 14,000 apparently owes the German government a cut

You Bee Serious? - Thousands of bees surrounded a NYC Game Stop for hours trapping workers


WHO'S ON TOP OF THE R&B/HIP HOP WORLD
Top 10 R&B/Hip Hop Albums


Also, for commentary on celebrity news check Toni's youtube vlog at:

www.youtube.com/shortisparkle
and be sure to follow http://twitter.com/albyoungmogul one of the most motivated industry go-getters around

And thanks to all who listened! Your feedback is always much appreciated!


WWW.DNATALKRADIO.COM

Reebok Re-up

The more things change the more they stay the same. Some styles and brands stay relevant generation after generation. Everyone has owned a pair of Reebok classics at one point or another (Adidas, too. But that's another blog post for another day). Sure, yours may have been the original white or black ones and now they're showcased in shoe store displays in neon green, pink, yellow, purple and a bunch of other loud colors, but when they called them Reebok Classics I think they were on to something. Atlanta's B.O.B's is just one of the artists featured in Reebok's Classic Remix Collection, which has paired up some of the newwer innovative music artists with a classic song from the 80s with the release of a new shoe. Kidz in the Hall and Kid Sister have also been featured on the campaign with their versions of, "I'll House You" and "I Got it Made". B.O.B's remake won't officially be released until May19th, but here's a sneak peak behind the scenes.

B.O.B. Reebok Classic Remix 30 Sec. Video Spot from reebokclassicremix on Vimeo.

Mic Check

I have more than enough recent albums to keep me busy for awhile; Chrisette Michele, Keri Hilson, Jamie Foxx, Day 26, a few hip-hop albums and many more I need to check out. But there are some artists I'd like to see to put out a new album now. I know I'm greedy, but blame it on the talent. Some of these artists may be preparing for a new release, but these were just a few on my mind today.


Whitney Houston - Don't hate. Ms. Houston still and will always have diva status. Now, we've been getting pump fakes for years with rumors of a new Whitney Houston album, but I heard this time she really is working on putting together an albums soon. Let's hope so; at this rate we won't get another album from her until she's 60. Not a good look.


Justin Timberlake - Sorry Robin Thicke, my favorite blue eyed soul crooner is still JT, but you're very close on the chart. Oh, and on that new album, Justin I want a bunch of ballads with a side of that pop/r&b you do and a song featuring Lil Wayne. Sound good? Great.



Alicia Keys - I was feeling a certain type of way about her with that whole Swizz Beats/Mashonda marriage controversy came to light, but I won't let that get in the way of my love for Alicia's musical style. I know, her last album wasn't that long ago, but I'm in the mood for that intrinsic talent that captures the spectrum of human emotion and love and that's definitely A. Keys.



Mya - She's not been forgotten in the industry at all, but where is the new album??

TGT- Weren't Tyrese, Ginuwine and Tank supposed to have this super R&B trio thing going on? I think all we got was a remix to Tank's song, "Please Don't Go". Stop playing and show us what you got.



Res - This woman has kept me hanging since 2001. After How I Do, she's still worked creatively on music, worked with Talib Kweli with Idle Spacehip, did a song for the Akeelah and the Bee movie, and released an album via Internet only but no official release. I usually don't say this about artists, but since you're keeping us hanging Res, yes, I want a How I Do part 2, no lengthy comments about going in a new direction and artistic expression, but just copy the same formula for me. Thanks.

Wyclef Jean - I need some electic guitar riffing hip-hop, singing, reggae mumbo jumbo and 'Clef is the perfect person, if not the only one who can satisfy my personal taste for this. Please make the first single with someone out of left field like a rocker or someone just so it has a kick to it.

Rihanna - Perfect timing! Maybe around fall or so, if Rihanna releases a new album out. I am very interested to hear, not so much any bitter songs indirectly or directly intended to get at Chris Brown, but how her style changes or stays the same. She definitely has grown a bit from album to album, but not completely morphed into something new; this year seems to have been a growing time for her as a person and her image so I'm love to see how she reflects that on a new album.







And just because I had to take it there: Spencer Pratt. Yes, from the TV show, The Hills, who recently during a radio interview expressed his dismay at the current state of hip-hop and added in he was a hotter rapper than most in the industry, "“I’ve always known that I secretly am the hottest rapper in the game. I’m the white Jay-Z in the game.” For his sake I hope he was joking, but I'm wondering what he'd call his album? The Silver Spoon, Very Resonable Doubt, The Wack Album? You know where I'm going with this. It's not that he's white that's the issue; the white rapper thing is no longer an anomaly or anything for anyone to scoff at it's that he puts himself in the category as Jay-Z and honestly is talking like he's going to save hip-hop when he would have a lot to prove.

More selections to come!

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Group Theory

I recently caught up with some old Lost Boyz music, which reminded me as far as hip-hop goes they've always been known but somewhat underrated. They definitely gave us some good songs such as "Renee", "Me and My Crazy World", "Lifestyles Of The Rich & Shameless" and a few more. Which reminded me about the decline of music groups. The group dynamic still seems a working formula for some genres especially, like rock (which it always has), but it's highly underrepresented now. This is no new topic, but just my take on it.

We're in the age of what I like to call "microwavable music". Sure, you get some four course meals here and there with innovative and original artists, but for the most part there are many manufactured artists that don't require much grooming. Everyone has always wanted to make money but now it's the main focus.

Once groups started disbanding and people went solo, it worked for them. So, once it worked for them, whether they were a singer like Beyonce, Bobby Brown, Justin Timberlake, Sisqo, or rappers like Ice Cube, Jadakiss, (I know this is an extremely short list of many and people did this back in the day as well), the solo thing worked for you. You become the more "known" group member, and don't have to divy the money up anymore. You and your former group members claim the group is not broke up and you just wanted to do your own album, but a group album never materializes again once you reach success (unless everyone's career falls off and then you rely on the former success of the group for a "reunion")

Not to say artists aren't genuine or don't have the right to make their own music, but everyone else followed suit with the phenomenon. In this world we all want to be different, but yet fit in somewhere. New artists do what works. If being in a group is what's making the money they want to fit in, if it's being a solo artist that's what will be done. Not to say there aren't still music groups out, there's plenty, but anyone in a group is just a song and an album deal away from going solo.


Anyways, here's a throwback video from the hip-hop group whose most successful reign during the 90s put Cleveland on the map.