Bobby Brown's Wife Hospitalized After Seizure

Bobby Brown is asking fans to pray for his wife who was rushed to a Florida hospital after a seizure on Saturday. 

Alicia Etheridge, Brown's manager and wife of three months, suffered from a seizure in the couple's hotel room while Brown was at a soundcheck with New Edition.

"The report that my wife was rushed to the hospital is true," Brown tweeted, according to Us Weekly. "She is recovering and is in good spirits and doing well."

Brown, who recently left rehab after three weeks of treatment, took to the stage to perform that night as scheduled. He addressed his sobriety to the crowd, saying, "I'm seven and a half years off of narcotics, 21 days clean of alcohol, and I go by the name badass Bobby Brown!"

Brown and Etheridge married in a Hawaii ceremony after two years of engagement in June. There are no further reports of Etheridge's status, but Brown has asked fans to "please keep my family in your prayers."

Joan Smalls Ranked World's Top Supermodel

At just 24 years old, Joan Smalls has been named the top supermodel in the world. The Puerto Rican-born fashion model was recently ranked number one on the list of top 50 models by Models.com. 

"It feels amazing being number one," Smalls said in an interview with Models.com. "I am extremely flattered, honored and just blessed because it just cements that all my hard work means something and it paid off."
Just this year alone, Smalls has represented brands like Chanel, Clavin Klein and Lacoste. She's graced the covers of W, GQ and Vogue magazines and she's the current the face of Estée Lauder.  

Smalls may be among the small group of women of color in the fashion world, but that isn't stopping her from making large strides. "Being in the Fenda campaign as the only girl is a great deal, especially if you're a Black girl," she said. "Some people think it's a challenge being diverse. You just have to remember who you are, where you're come from. And that's why you see me stomp and walk as hard as I can."

Other supermodels ranked on the top 50 list include Karlie Kloss, Arizona Muse and Abbey Lee Kershaw.

The President Speaks on color....

Like it or not, America is still concerned with race when it comes to President Barack Obama. The nation's first African American president was recently asked whether being black has affected his ability to govern in Parade Magazine.

STORY: Barack Keeps It 100! "I'm Not The President Of Black America"

Earlier this year, in an interview with Black Enterprise Magazine, Obama was quoted: 

“I want all Americans to have opportunity. I’m not the president of black America. I’m the president of the United States of America…”

Now in a new interview in Parade Magazine, Obama was asked again about his skin color: 

If you were female, we would ask, "How has being female affected your ability to govern?" So, how has being black affected your ability to govern?
PO: I’m sure it makes me more determined in assuring that everybody’s getting a fair shot—in the same way that being a father of two daughters makes me want to make sure that every woman is getting equal pay for equal work, ’cause I don’t want my daughters treated differently than somebody else’s sons.

By virtue of being African-American, I’m attuned to how throughout this country’s ­history there have been times when folks have been locked out of opportunity, and because of the hard work of people of all races, slowly those doors opened to more and more people.
Equal opportunity doesn’t just happen on its own; it happens because we’re vigilant about it. But part of this is not just because we’re African-American—it’s also because Michelle and I were born into pretty modest means.

And so I think about my single mom and what it was like to go to school and work at the same time. And I think about Michelle’s dad, who had a disability and was working every day and didn’t have a lot of money to spare.

But somehow our parents or grand­parents were able to give us these opportunities partly because they lived in a society that said that was important.

And as president, I want to ­affirm that that’s important and reject the idea that if we just reward those at the top, that somehow that’s going to work for everybody—’cause that hasn’t been how America got built.

Race is always a topic that will get people talking - especially when it comes to President Obama.

SOURCE: Parade Magazine

Why Streaming Your Music Is A Good Thing

Streaming music online is a touchy subject with some musicians, therefore there are a lot of different viewpoints on whether or not it is beneficial to allow free access to your intellectual property.  The fact is, the benefits and disadvantages will depend on what level you’ re at in your music career.  Figuring this out, along with your personal preferences, can help you decide what the best route to take is.    

There are some artists spanning over many different types of art, painters, musicians, writers, etc, who have expressed a view that art should not be bought or sold, and its beauty is so great that it’s necessary to a society that it’s freely shared for everyone to enjoy.  One can say that these types do have a morally correct viewpoint, and in theory, it’s a wonderful concept.  If you are this type of music artist at any level of your career, by all means, let your music stream away and be happy that someone is listening and hopefully being inspired!  However, for those of you that are starving and not o.k. with it, it might do you good to just accept the fact that streaming your music is becoming necessary evil, especially when you are an unknown.

The main reason for it being necessary is the invaluable exposure you or your young band can get from allowing your music to be streamed online.  Free for anybody to listen?  The shear fact that you have made your music free and widely available, could be the only reason new ears are listening.  Also remember that the current fears about our economy have resulted in consumers being very selective when buying any product, even if it is just a measly $0.99 song.   Allowing your music to be streamed gives a way for the consumer to first “test out” your music before making the decision to buy it which is good because people want to be absolutely sure these days that what they are buying is going to be worth the price, and they’ll actually use it.  

Most importantly, in the first stages of your music career, not enough consumers know about you for it to be worth you trying to sell your music through a distributor like iTunes or CD Baby.  Sure, you can register with one of these distributors and you may get a small number of loyal, local fans, that will buy your music, and you may receive a small royalty check.  Royalty checks, no matter what the amount, are kind of neat to receive, but if you factor in the monthly/yearly cost to have your songs registered with  iTunes, and the more expensive, non-monetary, cost of keeping your music sheltered, it just doesn’t make sense.  Knowing how tough it can be for a starving, up and coming band, any money, no matter how small the amount, does seemed needed, but in the long run, getting a $100 royalty check every six months won’t do as much for your career as opening it up to everybody, and letting it stream.

There will be a certain point in your career, however, where you’ll have to decide when the best time will be to start really focusing on selling your music.  This decision can be made based off your personal opinions about art and intellectual property, or based off the numbers that you proved you can hit, or you can project.  We all remember Radioheads big deal a few years ago, where they allowed anyone to download their whole new album off their website for free.  This left a lot of people angry, and guaranteed, most were probably those who stood to profit from Radioheads proven track record of selling mass amounts of records.  Up until their latest album, The Black Keys would allow anyone to stream any of their music off their website, but in a recent interview, they revealed that it was time for them to stop this, realizing that streaming just doesn’t make sense for established, revenue-generating bands. What this really means is that someone figured that they had potential to make huge profits if they just stop giving free access to their music.  

If you are one of those types that would care to make some dough from the work they put in their music (there’s probably a lot of you), the best thing to do is be patient about it.  As long as you write good music, stay persistent, and effectively market it, people will buy it.  The thing that a lot musicians don’t seem to understand is that ther’re a lot of opportunity costs when starting out a music career, and giving free and easy access to your music through streaming it online, at least in the beginning, can be the one investment that will pay off the greatest.   

How to get a record Deal...

Want a record deal?  Here is what you need to do.


To get signed, it used to be enough to simply have a talent and bump into the right person, or by sending your demo into a label, but not any more.

With the changing landscape of the recording industry, A&R’s are a lot more hesitant to sign unknown acts, so unless you can prove to the record label that there’s a good chance they’ll recoup the money they invest in you, its very unlikely you are going to get signed.

So, what are A&R’s looking for when they’re getting ready to potentially sign someone? Here are a few things you can to do to increase your chances of getting their attention.

1. Having an amazing draw at your shows  
If you want to get a record deal, you need to prove that you can draw in big crowds to your shows. These crowds pay for tickets and show up at all your gigs. They buy your merchandise, sing along to your lyrics, and go home and tell everyone how amazing you are. These are the type of fans every label likes to see.

2: Sell Units (Physical or Digital)
As well as selling out live shows and making good money on merchandise, another thing record labels want to see is you selling units. This shows that people are willing to support you, and your fan base is still willing to spend money on your music. You won’t be expected to sell anywhere near the amount that major artists do. Record labels realise that there’s only so much promotion you can do as an independent artist. Despite this, they do want to see some numbers. If you can prove you can sell a good amount of songs, A&R’s will be more interested considering you for their label.

3: Have a big, engaged fanbase.
Having large numbers is a good thing, but not enough by itself. Having a large number of Twitter followers for example, who never retweet you or mention you in their feed, is ultimately worthless. If you have 17,000 people on your mailing list,  but no one reads any of your emails for example, your list is pretty much garbage. The goal is to build a big, loyal and engaged fan base. Anything less, you’re just wasting your time.

Michael Clarke Duncan DEAD!

Michael Clarke Duncan has passed away, his fiance, Rev. Omarosa Manigault (of Celebrity Apprentice fame) has said in a statement.  Michael never recovered from having a heart attack back in July.  

He will be most remembered for his performance in "The Green Mile" playing opposite Tom Hanks. The 6-foot-5, 300 pound actor appeared in dozens of other films, including as "Armageddon," "Planet of the Apes" and "Kung Fu Panda," He was 54 years old. 

Alicia Keys Enlists Nicki Minaj for "Girl On Fire" Remix

The cover art for Alicia Keys' fifth album "Girl on Fire" is sexy, and the "No One" singer is continuing to delve into her inner vixen for the album's title track. 

"Girl on Fire" will be released in three versions -- the original recording, plus a “Bluelight” version, and the “Inferno” remix which will feature Nicki Minaj.

Keys will premiere the single live at the 2012 MTV Video Music Awards on Sept. 6. A snippet of the song can be heard in a promo for the awards show. 

Keys' "Girl on Fire" LP drops on November 27. In addition to her husband Swizz Beatz, other features on the album include Babyface, Rico Love, Gary Clarke Jr., Emeli Sandé, Jamie xx, Sevyn, Jeff Bhasker and Pop & Oak.