DISCONTENT AT OPRAH’S LEADERSHIP ACADEMY?

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Morning Show Update

March 7, 2007

Welcome to the Update

Freddie Bell, velvet morning voice talent is a mellifluous voice actor, broadcast-journalist, speaker and National Voice Actor. His vast voice over credits, include hosting several radio programs including the Tom Joyner Morning Show, The Love Train, It’s The Gospel in Tampa, The Freddie Bell Morning Show in radio on KSGS – 950AM, Solid Gold Soul in Minneapolis, plus This is Music, The Freddie Bell Countdown Show and The Minneapolis NAACP Community Affairs television Programs in Minneapolis.
Invite Freddie to your next event or seminar as a Keynote Speaker, covering topics including You Gotta Have H.E.A.R.T., Tuning In to R.A.D.I.O, Maximizing Your Potential, Imagination, The Secret Key To Success, Winning Through Community Service, Dreaming Your Way to Success and a variety of topics related to sales and sales management. Freddie shares ideas and techniques he used to propel Solid Gold Soul Radio into a household name and the launch of Totally Gospel radio in the Twin Cities. Call today for booking details. 888-639-9738.

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RAPPER JAY-Z SELLS CLOTHING COMPANY ROCAWEAR FOR $204 MILLION IN CASH

Rapper/mogul Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter has entered into a deal to sell clothing company Rocawear for $204 million in cash to the Iconix Brand Group, a company that licenses and markets such popular brands as Candies, Joe Boxer, Mudd, London Fog, Ocean Pacific and others. The deal, which was announced today, (Mar. 6) could also net Jay-Z $35 million in Iconix stock, if the Rocawear brand meets certain performance requirements over the next three- five years. “Iconix is pioneering a new brand management model and by combining Rocawear with their platform, my team and I can focus on our strengths in design and lifestyle marketing.” Jay-Z said. Jay-Z will continue to be in charge of all product development, marketing and licensing for Rocawear, which boasts annual retail sales of over $700 million. Iconix and Jay-Z have also reached a deal to form a new brand management/licensing company that will debut a new luxury brand titled The Shawn Carter Collection, which is due in stores in 2008.

DIDDY HIT WITH LAWSUIT

Hip hop mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs was hit with a lawsuit on March 2nd by a Los Angeles man who claims the mogul punched him at a post Oscar party last week. Allhiphop.com reports that Gerard Rechnitzer and his girlfriend were partying at Teddy’s nightclub in the Roosevelt Hotel when the incident took place.

According to Rechnitzer, he and his fiancée were leaving the party when he decided to use the bathroom. When he returned, his wife was surrounded by six men including Combs, who was flirting with her. After five minutes, he intervened but not before Combs invited his fiancée to another party he was throwing.

When he asked his fiancee to leave with him, Combs allegedly said, “What the f**k you looking at dude?’…I’ll smack flames out of your ass!” He then struck Rechnitzer, causing him to fall backwards. According to the lawsuit, “At no time was Plaintiff, who is five feet, seven inches tall with a slim build, ever a threat to Defendant….and after attacking Plaintiff, Defendant Combs intentionally, willfully and knowingly pushed Plaintiff’s girlfriend and attempted to spit on another female member of Plaintiff’s group.”

Rechnitzer called 911 and filed a police report but Combs was gone by the time the authorities showed up. He also refused medical treatment from the paramedics on the scene.

Police are still investigating the incident.

MORE DETAILS OF KELIS ARREST TRICKLE OUT

Turns out that Kelis’s husband Nas may be at the root of her sudden explosion in Miami early Friday.

Kelis Rogers-Jones, 27, was detained at 4:30 a.m. and charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest without violence after she allegedly rushed toward cops screaming racial profanities, according to a police report.

The officers were in the midst of an undercover prostitution sting along a main avenue in the South Beach nightclub district. The report said they were questioning a group of men about two suspected female prostitutes who were spotted in the area when Kelis began rushing toward them using racial profanities and screaming that one of the men in the group was her husband.

The officers asked Kelis to step away, but the report states that she continued shouting and rushed toward them. The singer had to be restrained by her friends, the report said. Kelis’ behavior “caused people walking by to stop and form a crowd. The sidewalk was blocked by the disturbance causing people to walk in the street and cause traffic to stop,” the report said.

She calmed down for a few seconds, but then started shouting at the officers and charged them again, the report said. Police also say Kelis resisted arrest while being handcuffed. She was detained for several hours at the Dade County Jail until her release on $1,500 bond.

Earlier in the day, Kelis and Nas were spotted courtside at a Miami Heat game. Also, a female fan recognized Nas and shouted, “I love you, Nas,” according to the report. Kelis allegedly responded by cursing the woman out, police said.

In other news: Nas and Kelis are set to have their own reports. Rumors about this reality show actually hit the net early last year, but Kelis told the media that they weren’t doing a reality show, rather just taping themselves for future purposes. Whatever the case, here is the info:

The MTV produced show will be called Mr and Mrs Jones and will feature the singer and her husband, rapper Nas. According to MTV president Brian Graden, the show will follow the couple as they prepare to go on tour. He said: “This is a show featuring two people whose dynamics are entirely their own. He tends to be very quiet, and she knows exactly what he needs when he needs it. While other shows have focused more on the domestic side of these couples, we are taking a much stronger point of view and catching up to them when their tour is beginning.”

NOTORIOUS B.I.G. GREATEST HITS IN STORES TODAY

Notorious B.I.G.’s last scheduled posthumous album hits stores today, March 6th, just three days short of the tenth anniversary of the rapper’s tragic death in a drive-by shooting in Los Angeles. The new set, Greatest Hits, features 16 of Notorious B.I.G.’s chart toppers and two previously unreleased songs, “Running Your Mouth” and “Want That Old Thing Back.”

The Greatest Hits track listing includes: “Juicy,” “Big Poppa,” “Hypnotize,” “One More Chance (Remix),” “Get Money,” “Warning,” “Dead Wrong,” “Who Shot Ya,” “Ten Crack Commandments,” “Notorious Thugs,” “Notorious B.I.G.,” “Nasty Girl,” “Unbelievable,” “N***az Bleed,” “Running Your Mouth,” “Want That Old Thing Back,” and “F**kin You Tonite.”

The rapper’s mentor and friend, Sean “Diddy” Combs, shared his thoughts. He said: “His name will live with Bad Boy. His name will live on through me, his children, and through his self. The music that he put out is timeless and his whole energy is timeless. He’ll always be around.”

Diddy added: “Yo, he was the most unselfish person. He always wanted to pay for dinner, or he was the type of person that always asked you, ‘How you dealing?’ He never wanted to talk about business. He was always just wanting to call to see how you doing, you know? He trusted me. He felt his business was straight, and I just loved every minute of just being around him, and he still with me. I’m going finish what me and him started. We started putting out great music and I’ma finish that. I know I’ma see him again one day and we gonna make great music together.”

BENZINO BEATS TAX RAP

Former Source magazine owner Benzino got some good news last week when he was found not guilty of two counts of failure to file tax returns in the Moakley Federal Courthouse in Boston, Massachusetts. The Hip Hop Weekly publisher was looking at a year behind bars if found guilty on the charges.

Benzino said, “I am very happy to be exonerated and that the judicial system worked. This is a case that broke through race barriers, considering there were 12 white jurors, and also broke through hip hop barriers, because I was sitting there as a representative of hip hop, with my braids and my songs all coming into play.”

He added, “It makes me think of a lot of other guys that have been trapped by the judicial system. I encourage anyone out there who has legal issues to get involved with your lawyer. I was very much involved from day one in my case. I was offered to do time before I brought it to trial, but I fought and I won. I’m a fighter, I’m always gonna be a fighter.”

RUMBLINGS OF DISCONTENT AT OPRAH’S LEADERSHIP ACADEMY

Just two months after its much-heralded opening, the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls closed ranks this week after one of the girls was sent home “due to illness”.

What started as a routine inquiry by the Saturday Star turned out to be a case cloaked in mystery at the plush school at Henley-on-Klip in Meyerton. No one at the school was prepared to give any details about the girl or her illness, and the Gauteng Education Department refused to comment because it is an independent school. School chairperson John Samuel said a girl was sent home due to an illness but would not elaborate. “We want to be respectful to the parents and to the girl by not divulging what was wrong with her.”

When asked about the promises Winfrey had made of looking after all the needs of the girls, including their health, Samuel said: “The doctors at the school tried to help her but, on their advice, it was decided that she should go home.”

Questions over the “culture” of the new school have also been raised. Some parents wanted “some aspects of African life and norms” to be considered by Winfrey. “Everything she has done so far has been wonderful and we are grateful for that, but I am praying that one of these days there will be a parents’ meeting where we can discuss the progress of the children and how to handle issues of culture,” said a grandmother who did not want to be identified. She said there had been a death in her family recently and she had asked for the child to be allowed to attend the funeral, but she was refused because “it must be a member of the immediate family”.

Another parent complained she was allowed to speak to her daughter only once a week and see her only once a month. “You can live in the most beautiful and luxurious place, but home is home, and your family are your family,” said the mother.

LIL FLIP SAYS HE’S BACK IN THE ZONE

Rapper Lil Flip is officially back in the zone after re-recording his latest album, I Need Mine, and getting settled in at his new label, Asylum/Warner Brothers. Flip’s new album will now feature guest appearances by Chamillionaire, Mya, Three 6 Mafia, Mike Jones, MJG, and Z-Ro. The album also features Rick Ross who appears on the next single, “I Got Money.”

Lil Flip wrote the treatment for the video which was inspired by the 2006 movie, Lucky Number Slevin, which starred Bruce Willis and Josh Harnett. Bernard Gourley will direct the clip when it is shot in Las Vegas in the coming weeks.

Flip told MTV.com, “It’s gonna be two big bosses. We’re living in buildings across the street from each other and we’re beefing, but at the end you find out we’re in business together.”

The rapper is also working on his reality show, Lil Flip’s American Rapper. The show will follow the would-be rappers as they learn media training, punctuality and networking skills. The winner will get a two album deal with Flip’s company.

Flip explained that he feels like he’s come full circle. He said, “Now I’m back in my zone, where I got control over what I want to make. I feel like (Sony) put my career on hold. If I didn’t have show dates and know how to hustle, a mutha****** wouldn’t have nothing, ‘ya dig? For real.”

JENNIFER HUDSON SAYS DON’T LOOK FOR EFFIE ON HER DEBUT ALBUM

With a Golden Globe, an Oscar, and an NAACP Image Award under her belt for her acting in Dreamgirls, Jennifer Hudson is now focusing on her music. While her version of “And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going” from the Dreamgirls soundtrack is rising up the urban airplay charts, she says don’t look for a bunch of Effie-style ballads on her debut album on J Records, due later this year. Production gets underway this month on the still- untitled set, said Hudson: “Well actually I start mid- March so it’s still in the creative process and finding a direction. But I can tell you that Effie is a character that I portrayed and this album will reflect me, Jennifer, and there’s a huge difference. So I hope to show that on this album.”

Hudson is expected to perform at the Soul Train Music Awards, set to be taped March 10th at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium in Pasadena, California. The show will air in syndication starting March 17th.

MARIAH CAREY GOES COUNTRY IN ‘TENNESSEE’

Grammy-winning R&B/pop singer Mariah Carey was in Nashville last Thursday singing country music at one of music city’s best-known clubs, but fans needn’t be concerned. The Emancipation Of Mimi star was at the famed Second Fiddle club to sing “Right To Dream,” a song for the movie Tennessee that she co-wrote with Willie Nelson.

In Tennessee, Carey plays a waitress and aspiring country singer who flees her controlling husband to join two brothers on their journey from New Mexico to Tennessee to find their estranged father. Her performance of the tune was filmed for the flick by director Aaron Woodley.

“People were weeping on the crew when she sang it,” Woodley told The Tennesseean. “It’s very moving, especially in the context of the film and her character.”

Woodley said he wanted to capture the flavor of Nashville, so the cast and crew shot in several locations including the downtown railroad station. They even rode boxcars from Nashville to Lebanon a couple of times. “There I am, sitting on the edge of a boxcar with Mariah Carey, breezing through town,” said Woodley. “We slowed down to go over a bridge, and there were people sitting in cars. I think they did a double-take: ‘I swear I just saw Mariah Carey on a boxcar.’”

Tennessee also stars Adam Rothenberg and Gregory Peck’s grandson Ethan Peck as the brothers and features The Wire’s Lance Reddick. The film is due in theaters later this year.

OMARION STILL HOT WITH ‘ICE BOX’

Omarion’s sophomore album 21 is maintaining its presence on the Billboard R&B Hip-Hop Albums chart, thanks to the single “Ice Box.” The tune ranked at Number Eight on the national urban airplay chart this week.

The singer and actor says he’s been developing his songcraft, and co-wrote the tune with a team that includes track producer Timbaland. He told me: “My last album I didn’t write as many songs as I did on the last album as I did this album. There’s 12 songs on the album, I wrote eight songs. So to have that element of still putting myself on record is wonderful.”

Omarion will perform a mini-concert March 15th in Los Angeles as part of the Jimmy Kimmel Live show appearance.

The singer has some other live concert appearances coming up. He’ll perform March 16th in Annapolis, Maryland; March 17th in Atlanta; and March 18th in Hampton, Virginia. Check out omariononline.com for more details.

SAMMIE ON BOARD FOR TEEN MALL TOURS

Teen singer Sammie was on board Saturday, March 3rd, to help kick off JC Penney’s Rock Your Prom tour in Morrow, Georgia. The Florida native will also be on hand March 17th in Humble, Texas at the kickoff for Seventeen Magazine’s Rock The Runway tour.

Both of these annual, national fashion events travel the nation’s shopping malls with a local model call, fashion show and concert. Sammie will perform on additional dates for both tours, alongside other performers including Drake Bell, Over It and Paula DeAnda.

Sammie is currently gaining on the urban airplay charts with his single “Come With Me,” produced by hit maker Brian Michael Cox. the tune is from his self-titled album on the Rowdy/Universal Motown label. The music video for his latest single, “Come With Me” continues to dominate BET’s top rated countdown show, 106th & Park.

Upcoming Rock The Prom dates for Sammie include:

March 10 – Springfield, MO – Battlefield Mall
March 24 – Sterling Heights, MI – Lakeside Mall
March 31 – Aventura, FL – Aventura Mall
April 14 – Orlando, FL – Florida Mall

Sammie’s Rock The Runway dates include:

March 17 – Humble, TX – Deerbrook Mall
April 21 – Durham, NC – Southpoint Mall

AL SHARPTON STRESSES IMPORTANCE OF FAMILY TREES

The Reverend Al Sharpton spoke out at two separate gatherings recently to stress to black families the importance of finding their roots. Speaking at a National Action Network gathering in New York over the weekend, Sharpton said that every African-American parent should give their child the gift of “a family tree,” according to NewsChannel 4. Sharpton was joined by the Reverend Jesse Jackson, and both said they want to inspire others to investigate their family history. Finding one’s “roots” can be daunting for African Americans whose histories may never have been written down or were lost due to slavery.

The New York-based Sharpton then traveled to Edgefield, South Carolina on Monday to visit the grave of Julia Thurmond, a relative of the late South Carolina Senator Strom Thurmond, who had once owned his grandfather, Coleman Sharpton. His grandfather was later freed.

Sharpton again noted that families should explore their histories, despite “the ugly things it might reveal. As painful as it is, it’s good that it comes out so we can deal with it,” said Sharpton

BONO’S CHARITY QUESTIONED OVER FUNDRAISING EFFECTIVENESS

Some questions are being raised about how effective Bono’s RED charity campaign has been in terms of fundraising. The U2 frontman launched the drive last year to raise money for African aid programs through purchases of things like red cell phones and iPods, and major corporations are said to have spent about $100 million on marketing. But according to a story published by Advertising Age magazine, RED has only generated about $18 million so far.

Red Vice President of Marketing Julie Cordua said the total will probably go higher when some more companies close their 2006 books, while Rajesh Anandan, the head of private-sector partnerships for the Global Fund To Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, And Malaria, said, “RED has done as much as we could have hoped for in the short time it has been up and running… The launch cost of this kind of campaign is going to be hugely frontloaded.”

Charity Navigator president Trent Stamp, whose firm tracks spending by 5,000 non-profit organizations, said the success of the RED campaign depends on whether it “inspires young people to be better citizens or just gives them an excuse to feel good about themselves while they buy an overpriced item they don’t really need.”

Meanwhile, the folks behind a website called buylesscrap.org are hoping people will make direct donations to the Global Fund instead of buying RED-branded items. Creative Director Ben Davis said, “The RED campaign proposes consumption as the cure to the world’s evils. Can’t we just focus on the real solution — giving money?”

MORE ON SHAQUILLE O’NEAL ENTERING REALITY SHOW MARKET

NBA star Shaquille O’Neal is set to star in a new TV reality show where he will come to the aid of overweight school children. The ABC summer series will feature the Miami Heat star and focus on childhood obesity and health, as he coaches Florida schoolchildren through a weight loss program. The six-episode series, announced by ABC Monday, has no scheduled air date.

Filmed in Broward County, the still-unnamed series will track the lives of the children and also follow O’Neal as he lobbies politicians on causes including school nutrition, according to Daily Variety. The show is an adaptation of a British series called Ian Wright’s Unfit Kids, featuring the former soccer star.

O’Neal is a father of six and has been outspoken about the issue of children and weight problems. This will be the six-foot-nine athlete’s first starring role in a reality TV project after appearing on Fear Factor and Punk’d and starring in the films Kazaam and Blue Chips.

EVA MENDES USES SEX TO GET AHEAD

Ghost Rider love interest Eva Mendes does not have a problem getting naked at work. The Los Angeles native took it all off in Training Day and has posed without clothes or barely covered up in a number of magazines.

She wore only boots on the February cover of Maxim, and told me she’s fine posing provocatively to get ahead: “I just know that it’s a job, and sometimes I’m going to use my sexuality to get ahead as far as posing in front of Maxim scantily clad to promote a film. I’m very comfortable with my body and I’m comfortable with using my sexuality in a photo shoot or in a film for my art. But when it gets frustrating is when people think that’s all I am.”

Mendes keeps her clothes on in Ghost Rider but had to be sewn into her shirts to keep her breasts from falling out.

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Black History Fact

Deborah McDuffie is the first African American female producer in the music industry. Her career spans an impressive twenty-five years and boasts award winning achievements in production, performance, composing, arranging, marketing, advertising, special promotions, and most recently teaching and lecturing.

A graduate of Western College with a BA in Music Composition and a minor in education, her professional career began as a music producer trainee at McCann Erickson, then the number two advertising agency worldwide. One of the first projects she participated in was the legendary “BUY THE WORLD A COKE” campaign.

Over the next ten years, Ms. McDuffie composed and produced music for Coca-Cola, NBC, General Motors, Exxon, Kentucky Fried Chicken and the Miller Brewing Company in the pop, country, jazz, gospel and rhythm & blues categories. She has composed, produced and performed with various artist from Janet Jackson and Gladys Knight to Al Green and Luther Vandross. Ms. McDuffie has writing and production credits extend to television, radio and live shows including McDonald’s Gospel Fest, Superbowl XXXIX, and the legendary Showtime at the Apollo.

She now resides in Jacksonville, FL where she dedicates herself to pouring into the community. With the assistance of a community grant from Citibank, Ms. McDuffie formed the Ritz Voices, an 80-voice all city youth chorus featuring the most talented voices in Jacksonville and outlying areas. She also established the Northeast Florida Foundation of the Arts. The NFFA was established in February of 2004 in response to numerous requests from young adult Jacksonville musicians and singers for hands-on training in the development of their artistic skills and abilities.

Ms. McDuffie’s vision was to create an institution not only dedicated to developing the talents of underserved youth population of Jacksonville, but to unify all of Jacksonville’s youths by bringing them together in collaborative artistic programs and events.

Under its banner, the Sleiman Corporation partnered with Ms. McDuffie to open the Jacksonville School of Music with a grant from NFL Charities. This phenomenal woman’s vision and legacy continues.

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Celebrity Birthdays

• Marion Barry, Jr., former mayor of Washington, D.C., 71

• Stedman Graham, Oprah Winfrey’s partner, 56

• Anna Maria Horsford, actress (Amen, Night Court, Friday), 59

• D.L. Hughley, comedian and actor (The Hughleys), 44

• Shaquille O’ Neal, NBA superstar, rapper & actor (Steel), 35

• Beanie Sigel, rapper, 33

• Bubba Sparxxx, rapper, 30

• Mary Wilson, member of the Supremes, 63

• Yvette Wilson, actress (The Parkers), 43
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Words To the Wise

Work your plan
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Contact Information
Freddie Bell
PO Box 390521
Minneapolis, MN 55439
fbellsolidgoldsoul@gmail.com
888-639-9738