Mary J. Blige Bares All In LA Confidential
Mary J. Blige, to me, is the true definition of the strength of a woman. She’s been from the bottom, to the top, to the bottom and back up to the top. Blige, 42, has been an indomitable force in the music business for more than two decades, ever since Sean “Diddy” Combs, her friend, mentor, and executive producer of her first album, took her under his professional wing. She has gone on to sell more than 50 million albums and is the only artist to have won Grammy Awards in four categories (R&B, Rap, Gospel, and Pop), having been nominated for the award 29 times, and winning nine. She has also begun an acting career. She’s been in the requisite Tyler Perry movie and last fall completed the upcoming Lifetime Network film Betty and Coretta, about the widows of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr., in which she stars as Dr. Betty Shabazz opposite Angela Bassett’s Coretta Scott King.
She’s featured in the newest issue of LA Confidential where she leaves no stone unturned as she dishes on her past drug use, including sniffing cocaine at the Grammy’s, and how she used alcohol to cover up the issues that she had within herself. She blames her drug addiction on being molested when she was just five years old and says she is still reminded of the incident when she smells a certain type of lotion. She also reveals how she was affected by Whitney Houston’s death and why she never sought out rehab to help her with her drug and alcohol abuse.
KEVIN SESSUMS: I think a lot of Betty Shabazz’s empathetic—even wounded—dignity can be traced back to when she was the daughter of an unwed teenager herself back in Detroit. Can your empathy, your dignity, be traced back to your own wounded childhood?
MJB: I still have the child within me. She’s more around now than ever. She wasn’t around in the early days because I was pushing her back. I didn’t want anybody to hurt her.
KS: Somebody did hurt you. You were molested. I’ve written about my own molestation—though some people think those kinds of things should be kept to oneself. (more…)
Mary J. Blige Covers October Issue of Ebony
Mary J. Blige has come a long way from her “What’s the 411” days. At the height of her success, Blige later admitted that she was simultaneously dealing with long time bouts of drug addiction, alcoholism, and depression, as well as an abusive relationship with then-boyfriend K-Ci Hailey of Jodeci. She has since made an amazing come-back and married her long time friend and manager – Martin Kendu Isaacs.
It’s hard to believe Mary J. Blige is 40 years old. She covers the October 2011 edition of Ebony magazine with style and elegance in a strapless leopard print dress. My only problem is her weave which looks atrocious and not what we would expect from the Queen of Hip Hop Soul. In the article, she talks about how she found out about Amy Winehouse’s death: (more…)
How to Wear Lace Front Wigs
Ladies, please take a look at the picture of Ciara above. That is how NOT to wear a lace front wig. Let me start by explaining what inspired this post. Quite frankly I’m scared. Scared for my Kenyan sisters who are notorious for copying trends without researching the trend. I went to my hairdresser this past weekend. She had on what she thought was a lace front. It looked like 10 dead racoons piled on top of her head. This same atrocious looking lady, tried to convince me to get my hair done just like hers. In her defence, she’s really good at what she does. So I chose to assume that she was not responsible for the mess on her head. I politely declined her offer and insisted on sticking to my same old comfortable style, which looks amazing if I may say so myself.
As with most things, it’s better to start with definitions. Simply put, lace front wigs are full wigs with mesh lace attached in front and beyond the “hair line” of the wig, which is custom fitted, trimmed, and temporarily glued to ones skin around the hairline. You can’t see where the lace starts or ends. The mesh lace also provides for natural looking partings in the hair. The difference between a full lace wig and a lace front wig is that full lace wigs can be parted anywhere throughout the wig, while lace front wigs can only be parted in a limited portion of the front. (more…)
Ebony Magazine 65th Anniversary Covers
Last week I shared with you an iconic Ebony magazine cover of Mary J. Blige as Diana Ross. Ebony magazine is celebrating its 65th anniversary with a special look at 12 of its most iconic covers. Editors of the publication asked their favorite entertainers to pose in modern-day recreations of those covers for a one-of-a-kind look back at the past. See more tribute covers after the break. (more…)
Mary J Blige As Diana Ross For Ebony Cover
Ebony magazine is celebrating 65 years of publication. So they decided to recreate a 1970s cover of Diana Ross. Mary J. Blige is wearing the same clothes and makeup as Ms. Ross did way back then. Is it that Mary is more beautiful or is it that we now have photoshop? Let me stop being messy 🙂 What do you think?
AMARIE ADHIS 