Ladies get ready for the Millennium Tour coming this spring 2019

Get ready to slow it down with Mario, Pretty Ricky, Lloyd, B2K, Bobby Valentino, the Ying Yang Twins, and Chingy. The group will feature all of their hits from the early 2000s and their current music on the radio now. So some of you may not know who is Mario?, Who is Pretty Ricky?, who is Lloyd, and last but certainly not least is B2K how where they found and how did they first get started?

Omarion 21 album

Collaboration with "Mr. 106 & Park" or Shad Moss aka "Bow Wow" ft. Omarion

Illusion album 

Eighties Babies album

Pretty Ricky's debut album

Marcus Cooper's first solo project ft Under and Boyfriend #2

Mario "Turning Point" 2004 

Go Album (2007) 

Mario's first debut album 2002 

 

Dancing Shadows (2018)

   

Lloyd's debut single "Southside" 

Lloyd's album King of Hearts (2010) 

Tru

Lessons in Love 

About 18 years ago back in 2001 I attended the Scream Tour when I was just about fourteen years old actually. I went to the concert with some family friends. I have told you all I have been to over 30 concerts, live shows, Broadway, the Metropolitan opera, The Governor’s Ball, and many other performances I have seen like J-Lo, Puff Daddy aka Diddy or Brother Love and the Family, Outkast, Ciara, Aaliyah, Alicia Keys, J-Cole, Beyonce, and Jay-Z, and I plan on seeing as many shows as I my body, mind, and spirit will allow me to going forward. So back to these gentlemen. I remember seeing a bunch of boys it was actually Pretty Ricky, B2K, and Bow Wow on the stage going back and forth, dancing, grinding on the stage, and so much more.

I didn’t realize what I was witnessing was that all of these men were going to become major stars and they were going to take over in a big way. There is something very special about watching African American men who just want to do something positive in their community. They want to give back with their talents in a huge way. They all have surpassed and done an incredible job as musicians and artists. So who are these fine, handsome, multitalented, young men? Some of them have grown up in a huge way they are now fathers, husbands, family men, and adding executive and other roles to their resume then just singer and musician.

Who is Mario Barrett he is an award -winning musician who is from the tough streets of Baltimore, Maryland. Mario was born September 3, 1986 he first earned his hit of the 1990s classic “Just A Friend” by Biz Markie and they remixed the song 16 years later when he was just 16 and that was his debut single that came along in 2002. He followed up with “Braid My Hair” and many other singles. When television shows like 106 and Park on BET Network debuted and he took off instantly with his songs and the girls went crazy for him. I know a lot about Mario I had the pleasure of seeing him in person at one of his live shows. My stepfather at the time was working with the A&R and Promotions & Marketing team for J Records/Arista Records and he just so happened to be on their label. He invited me one night to Mario’s listening party at a club down in Chelsea. This was back in 2007 and I remember he walked in with a silver puffer jacket, a scully, and was just grinning from ear to ear. I was taking pictures of him on my silver T Mobile RAZR phone snapping away. I couldn’t believe it but I was so excited I got to be apart of this. I have been able to see a lot of my favorite musicians in person and this was a huge gift. So to get an opportunity to write, see Mario just blossom and grow as a recording artist and musician. It’s a beautiful gift to see as a fan, pop culture blogger, writer, and lover of music.  I couldn’t believe when I saw him this year in 2019 just a couple of weeks ago Mario was featured on “Rent” the live performance on FOX Network with his fellow cast members Vanessa Hudgens and more. I was so shocked and happy for him because he just had a new album that dropped this year too. So he has evolved as an artist. They say everything happens for a reason and timing is everything. I would definitely say this is pretty perfect that he is teaming up with his fellow R&B young musicians. R&B has been in a bit of a comatose state a bit we need some artists to wake them up. I am not saying music hasn’t been great it has been amazing. It’s not selling the way that it used to with groups especially. We need more recording artists now. I would say the last five years we have been lucky to see musicians like H.E.R, Ella Mai, Alina Baraz, Kevin Ross, Daniel Caesar, and others who are breaking into the industry now. We need more R&B music from more artists who can multi task too. So to have an artist like him who can dance, sing, write, act. Remember “Step Up”, “Freedom Writers” he was featured in the film and he was just featured on “Empire” this past season so get ready to see more from Mario. Visit his website and look out for his album…….

Who is Lloyd?

Lloyd Polite Jr. was born January 3, 1986 in New Orleans, Louisiana he was discovered in 2001 he was initially in a boy band but the group disbanded after a short time and he became a solo artist officially in 2003 he signed with Murder Inc. records which was founded by Irv Gotti. He released his debut album on July 20, 2004 “Southside” was the title of his debut  and the first single off his album. He has had major success with hit singles like “You”, “Get it Shawty”, “Girls Around the World”, and he was featured on Young Money, Lil’ Wayne’s hit “Bedrock”. Lloyd came out with two more albums, “King of Hearts”, and “Tru” was released after a few years in 2018.

Next is the group coming all the way from the south in the sizzling hot Miami, Florida, “Pretty Ricky”  is made up of their four members : Marcus Ramone Cooper, Diamond Blue Smith, Spectacular Blue Smith, and Corey “Slick ‘em” Mathis. Who are all four of these men? The Pretty Ricky was formed while the group was attending high school. They used to dress flamboyantly and lavishly always attracting the ladies with their stylish ways. Eventually the girls starting calling them “Pretty Ricky” a name picked up from the sitcom show, “Martin” which starred Martin Lawrence. So the name is honor of the character “Pretty Ricky” who was featured on an episode of Martin when Martin goes back to his 10^th high school reunion and he runs into his nemesis and other old high school classmates.

Marcus Ramone Cooper born December 27, 1984 is the only singer within Pretty Ricky he has been singing with them all since 1997. He stands out with his vocals and has already earned himself numerous Grammy nominations for his solo project which came out in June of 2009 “Introducing Marcus Cooper”. His two hit songs “Boyfriend #2” and “Under” were both featured on the Billboard charts when he went solo. There was major controversy happening at that time and their fans wanted to know why were they disbanding the group all together. There were rumors that the other band members decided to kick him out of the group. When actually he wanted to go solo as well. The groups success after they replaced Marcus was not the same when he went solo. There other projects didn’t receive the same critical success , the public response, and accolades from the music industry and their fans. They decided after he put out his album that they would rejoin with him. A few years later they did which now brings them to their upcoming tour. The group will reunite together this spring for the Millennium tour with all four members including Marcus as well.

Who is Diamond Blue Smith…..

He was born in Miami, Florida  on August 13, 1985 and is also one of the founding members of Pretty Ricky. He is one of the hip hop artists and rappers who is featured in the group.

Who is Spectacular Blue Smith born September 7, 1986 Spectacular actually out of their group members added many different roles as a businessman, entrepreneur, and author aside from musician to the group. He actually discovered “Grumpy Cat” the cat who was featured all around YouTube with his piercing ice blue eyes and unchangeable facial expressions. He is loved by billions of people. Spectacular was featured in Black Enterprise Magazine and has been featured in many well known publications including Forbes Magazine for joining with social media.

Who is Corey “Slick ‘em” Mathis…..?

“Slick ‘em” is from Miami, Florida was born June 3, 1985 and is also one of the artists featured on many of Pretty Ricky’s hits too.

Who is B2K?

 I am so glad I have a chance to write this about B2K for me it’s sort of like a full circle moment. I saw them when I was 14 live plus my stepdad brought me home an autographed picture of them too (I wish I still had it I have to dig to find it). I truly am grateful for it though because those moments are what made me fall in love with music even more. I wanted to be a singer too but I knew there was something about the music industry and that field that attracted me more too. So I am glad I still remember those moments of attending concerts. I didn’t realize it would all pay off in the end one day. So let’s get to who these men are they were founded by initially Chris Stokes who found Immature who later became IMX. Immature which consisted of Marques Houston, Jerome Jones, and LBD “Little Drummer Boy” (get real name). Chris Stokes discovered B2K in 1998.  They are all connected because Marques happens to be related to their lead singer, Omarion Grandberry. Who is Omarion Grandberry he is the lead singer of B2K and also went solo as well . He has major hits in his career and a total of three albums, “FACE OFF” (2008) which featured Shad “Bow Wow” Moss, Omarion’s “Illusion”, and “21” (2006) which featured one of his smash hits a few of my personal favorites “Ice Box” (I love that song it got me a thru a break up when I was in college and the timing was impeccable when it came out),”Touch”, and “Entourage”.

Who is J-Boog? Jarell Damonte Houston born August 11, 1985 is the first cousin of Marques Houston he was born in Compton, California. He is not only a member of B2K but he also is an actor, dancer, he was featured in the 2004 movie, “You Got Served”.

Who is Raz-B you know I notice RazB his birth given name is DeMario Monte Thornton born June 13, 1985 in Cleveland, Ohio actually  gets a lot of attention from the group actually people do not actually realize it but it’s really funny though that behind the scenes you would be surprised to see that he has been put in the spotlight a couple of times too. He makes up for it with his music production he established his own production company and he had a single “Fire” which was #2 on the Billboard charts too.

Who is Lil’Fizz? Born Dreux Pierre Frederic November 26, 1985 in New Orleans, Louisiana is a rapper, singer, songwriter, television personality who has been featured on Love & Hip Hop: Hollywood and currently is on the reality television show Marriage Boot camp which is featured on WETV.

B2K the name stands for Boys of the Millennium there were not many African American boy bands/ R&B groups after New Edition, Jodeci,  Boyz 2 Men, Guy, 112 and many others after the 1990s and especially the late 1990s there weren’t many who could step up and fulfill that role. So when they arrived on the scene it was a great time for them to take that place and fill the void. They first debuted with their group titled album, “B2K”.

Who is Chingy? 

Chingy is an artist born on March 3, 1980  Howard Bailey Jr. grew up in St. Louis, Missouri (Shout out to St.Louis my mom is from there and my family as well). Chingy broke out on to the scene with his first single, "Right Thurr" in 2003 I remember seeing this video all over BET's 106 and Park was huge back then. He was signed with Ludacris's Disturbing the Peace label. He has had many hits I am sure many of you know "Pullin' Me Back", "Dem Jeans", "Fly Like Me", and his most recent album Success and Failure came out in 2018 which he produced on his own. Chingy will also be on the tour with his fellow labelmate Bobby Valentino

Who is Bobby Valentino?

Bobby Valentino born Robert Wilson, February 27, 1980 in Jackson, Mississippi and was discovered in Atlanta, Georgia is the smooth talker I would definitely say. Bobby's definitely an artist who knows how to connect with the ladies. He was discovered in the nineties actually he was featured on a song called "Blackberry Molasses" which was produced by TLC's music production team. In 2005, Ludacris discovered Bobby and he was featured on Bobby Valentino's "Pimpin' All over the world" and Bobby released his self-titled album. I remember this album very well I still have it on my Ipod to this day. It brings back a lot of good memories cause I took the my ipod with me everywhere all around the world literally. I was in Italy chillin' with my best friend playing Bobby V. It was hilarious seeing her reaction when she heard some of the music. Priceless but I definitely know Bobby has some hits on his hands in his career. He followed up in 2007 with a few other singles from his sophomore album, "Special Occasion" which was on Island Def Jam. I remember he debuted "Anonymous" as the first single. I had just started doing an internship at this time for Island Def Jam so I remember this was a big year for music. A lot of hits were being pumped out like hotcakes fast, quick, and they were amazing. He followed up with five more albums, "The Rebirth" (2009), "Fly on the wall"(2011), "Dusk till dawn"(2012), "Hollywood Hearts"(2016), and "Electrik" (2018). He received a BMI Award for Song of the Year for "Slow Down", Vibe Awards, NAACP Awards, Soul Train, and Urban Music Awards. 

Who are the Ying Yang Twins 

They are known for crunk and hip hop hits that were made in the early 2000s "Salt Shaker", "Say I Yi Yi", "Wait", "The Whisper Song", and "Get Low". They 

Dusk Till Dawn album 

Bobby V Special Ocacasion 

The Kings of Crunk and Southern Hip Hop Ying Yang Twins make you want to shake it and party 

St Louis Rapper Chingy

So now that you ladies and gentlemen have been informed on who these artists are has your curiosity been settled on who are these accomplished and good looking men….Will you all be attending their shows this spring when they hit the globe trotting all across the country.  Visit http://www.b2kofficial.com/tourdates and follow them at twitter.com/b2k and instagram @b2k as well. Also follow Pretty Ricky @prettyricky , Lloyd @curlyheadedblackboy , and Mario @marioworldwide

 Follow @Chingy, @Ying Yang Twins, and @OfficialBobbyValentino 

Does Senator Kamala Harris have the IT Factor for 2020

What’s up my readers how are you I hope all of you are having an amazing day and starting off on the right foot with the New Year for 2019? So I have been noticing today I was downtown in New York City. I am normally in midtown running errands for work, personal, and many others because midtown is the center of it all. That’s where all of the action is normally. So I am in my zone it’s a gorgeous warm day today in February and everyone is getting an early preview of spring before it arrives next month. So I am walking down the street heading to the six train by Grand Central and I look up my fellow New Yorkers and tourists are snapping pictures because apparently some construction workers were allowed to put up a huge protesting sign on top of the bridge that separates between Park Avenue and Grand Central Terminal. It says in big and bold letters “Arrest Trump”. Now I was of course not offended or appalled by this at all. This is normal in New York we are known for being upfront, outspoken, and honest about our feelings on everything including politics. So that wasn’t the hilarious or comedic part. The comedic part is that tonight Trump gives his speech for the third time as commander in chief to give the State of the Union. That’s the part that makes it so incredibly hilarious and the timing couldn’t be more perfect.

There’s something about this that makes a lot of sense of course because we are going to begin an election year next year. Before we get to the election year we have to think about what we have seen and how our country and globe has been impacted by what’s been happening. DACA Act that gives immigrants a chance to protect them from being deported. Our children and teens who are considered to be illegal immigrants have been put into locked cages and forced to be without their parents as if they are living in a concentration camp. Next we have seen major changes to the Affordable Care Act, which was first approved in 2010 by former 44^th president Barack Obama. I can make a list of things we have seen in the news that has been an absolute embarrassment for us. I feel like we have not been represented in a light where we should be proud. I know the economy is great and that’s fantastic because we had a president who literally took the time over a course of almost 10 years to work on improving, fighting to get jobs in order, and his administration managed to yank all of us to get back to normal and to help us get back on our feet. I still feel like we are going backwards there are a number of things happening that we can do a Trump Checklist and just check off over 50 things that have been written, said, committed, abused, reckless, and out right insensitive to the masses of Americans in our country.

I am addressing this topic for a reason because we know we need improvement and also the fact there are a huge number of people who are ready and able to take over the Oval office right away. I cannot believe sometimes I laugh because do we really want a president who we cannot take seriously. I hate that feeling of do we have to wake up every morning concerned that nothing is being done at all.

This brings me to my next point. There is a Caribbean American woman who is from Canada. She attended an HBCU-historically black college/university. She went to one of the most well known colleges Howard University and was very much involved heavily. Her name, her voice has been heard for quite some time and she’s getting a high compliment of being compared as “The female Barack Obama”. Some conservatives may not agree, some women may not agree with having a female president but here’s why we should never doubt ourselves or anyone on this major opportunity happening.  It does not matter whomever the female, her nationality, her educational background, her religion, or her socioeconomic status. She deserves a chance and an opportunity to become the first female president. Americans cannot forget we have never had a female president. We have other countries that are also our allies who have been fortunate to have female leaders, prime ministers who currently have or had the opportunity to be in that position of power. We need a female president because do you know what this says about our country, the next upcoming generation who will take over the country. What it says to the world about us, that we are ready. It doesn’t just take an amazing person for the job, a woman of substance, a woman who is real, relatable, human, compassionate, intelligent, articulate, classy, and most of all humble.  She can handle a role where she is completely comfortable walking in her high heels in the oval office and meeting with global leaders every single day, handling press conferences, traveling to schools, universities, attending meetings with her staff, congress, and many other dignitaries. You need a woman who is well informed, you don’t want an “Oops President”.

 I say that meaning someone who does not know what they are capable of and understand the role at all. America deserves a person who does not understand their job description at all. We have seen many amazing things happen in this decade in this new millennium that have probably blown our minds, question our decisions, question our country, but why not have a president who is female change our world. Why can’t we have a president who just happens to be female show us all of her capabilities? We deserve a president who understands the roots of what we need and deserve too. She understands we have a class system, we have people who still need to want to enjoy their lives, provide for themselves, and their families. We want to see bigger changes for people. We want to see our fellow Americans who may need financial, emotional, mental, educational support achieve and get what they deserve. Why would we want to shut anyone out who wants to come reside and live a full life here? You notice people for two centuries migrated and fought to get here. Why would we want to deter them anyone who wants to be a United States citizen and live here?

That’s the fighting energy, personality, spirit, and efficiency we need in our next president. I believe Kamala would give a new perspective for Americans.  Every president we have had gives a fresh perspective to what our society needs at that moment in time. We deserve an opportunity to give our young girls and women a chance to see a female president in America. We have seen the first African American president, the first African American duchess, the first African American female billionaire, and now we can have the opportunity to see the first woman of color as a president. I hope we all will be very fortunate and blessed to see this happen within the next year coming.  

Kamala Harris contender and has through her bid in for the 2020 presidential election