EUR This N That | Urban Black News Blog

Estelle: unconventional and hot!

Could it be?!?!?! Seems like John Legend’s new label debut Estelle is causing a blip on my otherwise flat-lined music radar.  You know every several years some artist from across the pond will throw a rock over here stateside and knock us in ear; Estelle is poised to do just that.  Along with being a talented singer/rapper hybrid this UK bred phenom is also an unconventional beauty, which is just what we need to break the monotany of what we’re seeing these days in the industry.

With her first single ‘American Boy’ from her new album “Shine,” she’s certainly caught my attention. Check out the vid (featuring Kanye West) here:

And THEN she goes anotha further and  twists it up with this funky little ‘Just a Touch’ from back in the day inspired cut ‘Wait a Minue Just’ that features her label sugar daddy John Legend.  My ears are perking up like a startled puppy.  Check THIS out:

How far will she go?  The Gods only know…the only problem is radio/video channel gate keepers are the Gods and they know just how to barricade the doors of fresh and new…

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“What’chu talkin’ ’bout…Divorce Court?”

GARY … GARY …  GARY! What’s, as Bernie Mac would say, “goinz on?”  After not being able to get a fruitful acting gig as of late, this must be the only other route.  Get married and take your acting “chops” to Divorce Court.

Gary Coleman, 40, and his 22-year-old wife, Shannon Price, are supposedly taping their makeshift “reality show” on TV’s “Divorce Court” May 1 and 2.  

Judge Lynn Toler will hear how angry Coleman gets and all about their “ugly monthly fights.”  Not to mention Coleman’s reasoning for not having friends and his alleged disappearances in the middle of the night, according to Price.

“If he doesn’t get his way, he throws a temper tantrum like a five-year-old does,” Price says, according to a transcript of the show from The Associated Press. “He like stomps the floor and yells, ‘Meehhhh,’ and starts throwing stuff around. He bashes his head in the wall, too.”

Coleman says he goes off because he’s not being heard and that “the male is always the bad guy.”

“When I try to state my case or explain things to her or try to get her to understand my point of view,” Coleman says, “my point of view doesn’t matter.”

Coleman also admits to trust issues.  Back in February 2008, Gary told People magazine that this relationship was his ”first-time-ever romantic relationship.”

“I don’t have any friends and don’t have any intention of making any,” he says. “People will stab you in the back, mistreat you, talk about me behind your back, steal from you. And they’re not really your friends. (They’re) only there because you’re a celebrity or because they want to get something from you.”

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Black Youth Defy Alcohol Targeting

It’s not a secret that in most major cities in America, liquor is one thing that’s not hard to find.  Everyone has heard the phrase, “You can find one on every corner”, when referencing liquor stores in the black community.  But, The Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth at Georgetown University has found that while the exposure and alcohol consumption ads, music, and media bombard the lives of black youth, they are not taking the bait. 

The center’s findings show that African American youth between the ages of 18 and 20 are drinking far less than their white counterparts.  And that finding should not be overlooked because alcohol consumption in African Americans has been found to be much more deadly than for whites.  Not only does the consumption of alcohol contribute to the three leading causes of death among African-American 12 to 20 year-olds (homicide, unintentional injuries (including car crashes), and suicide), but it also, according to the center’s report, says as they age, African Americans suffer more from alcohol-related diseases than other groups in the population.

Another finding from the report states that African American youth’s drug of choice is alcohol, yet they still drink less than whites.  The report sites the 2004 National Survey on Drug Use and Health showing 19.1% of African Americans between 12 and 20 used alcohol in the 30 days prior to the survey, compared to 32.6% of whites, and 9.9% of African-American youth reported “binge” drinking, compared to 22.8% of whites.

The report gives the community several wake-up calls.  The most important of those being that the black community are not sheep to be herded into the latest trends of social acceptance.  The community is producing trendsetters that hold the potential to not delve into more serious drugs as an epidemic and truly become ”our future.” 

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YouTube offers divorce?

A New York woman has tried her luck at a video presentation of what appears to be a plea for help from the general public.  She goes off on her husband, gives up the goods on their relationship and all of this may even hurt them both when it’s time to hit the court, according to divorce experts. 

Tricia Walsh-Smith, is married to Broadway executive Philip Smith who is 25 years her senior.  Her emotional tirade on YouTube has attracted 150,000 viewers.  Some lawyers are calling it a ”scary, new step.”

We have attached the video, so you can watch Walsh-Smith go through their wedding album on camera, accuse her husband of trying to evict her out of their apartment, and even hit him with some embarrasing remarks about their sex life.  That part ruins his reputation on the playground.  There won’t be any younger women for a while.

His attorneys say that they are “appalled.”

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American Airlines Got Some ‘Splainin’ To Do”

  We’ve all heard of the “friendly skies”, but some people have gotten carried away.  A 21-year-old woman has filed a $200,000 lawsuit against American Airlines alleging employees on a flight from Dallas to Los Angeles didn’t watch her back while she slept.  But, someone else did.  Another passenger got in the seat beside her, proceeded to masturbate and ejaculated in her hair, according to a lawsuit she filed last week in Tarrant County.  The suit also states that the woman alleges that employees of the airline have knowledge of risks involved when they do not “police the passengers to ensure that passengers do not hurt one another.”

     The lawsuit also gave details of the woman’s trip stating that as she settled in for the last leg of her trip where she fell asleep, she awoke about 20 minutes before the pilot announced that they were descending into L.A. and looked around to find unknown man in the seat next to her, staring at her and masturbating.  She turned to the window and instinctfully ran her hands through her hair out of nervousness where she noticed “a substantial amount of an extremely sticky substance in her hair.”  No flight attendants came to her rescue, but another passenger in the row in front of her comforted her and verified that there was indeed semen in the woman’s hair.  But, an employee did notify airport police when the plane landed and the man was arrested.

The only statement the airlines has made was to a Houston television station last year and a spokesman said the company regretted the incident, but the flight crew took appropriate action.  The woman is seeking punitive damages and a jury trial.

 But I have to say, after hearing the story, I wonder, HOW THE HECK DID HE GET IT IN HER HAIR?  But my biggest question is …WHAT IS OPRAH GOING TO HAVE TO SAY ABOUT THIS?  It is just as much her favorite airline as Southwest is Tom Joyner’s.  -Jacci B.

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No Slap On the Wrist for Snipes

Apparently, reference letters don’t carry that much weight in federal court these days.  Wesley Snipes tried every angle he possibly could and a federal judge still sentenced the action star to the maximum three-year sentence on tax charges.  Prosecutors came after the actor asking for three years, one year for each of Snipes’ convictions of willfully failing to file a tax return.

Snipes’ lawyers submitted three dozen letters from family members, friends and colleagues Denzel Washington and Woody Harrelson.  The lawyers argued probation for Snipes with no prison and no fine because he had no previous criminal record and all three convictions were misdemeanors. 

The sentencing lasted all morning without a decision. A jury found Snipes guilty in February of willfully failing to file taxes for three years, in the amount the government stated at $2.7 million.  The attorneys concluded that the government’s sentencing guidelines were not fair for tax convictions such as these.

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