Yasmin Shiraz

Lil's Waynes drawers are showing & JayZ's t-shirt are covering his!

Today I visited a suburban school in Northern, Virginia to talk about my career as an author / filmmaker. I showed the students the six books that I’ve written and I even showed them the movie poster to my first film, Can She Be Saved? As an extra bonus (in case they didn’t like my books)–I brought a old copy of my magazine, Mad Rhythms. They listened to me talk about my books and my film, but they were most excited when I told them that I had interviewed Jay-Z, been to Diddy’s house in the Hamptons and they were even more excited when I told them that I had gone to Lil’ Wayne’s 16th Birthday party. Huh? These young people were in 1st through 5th grade! They were so excited when I mentioned the name “Lil Wayne.”

I guess in my mind, I love music so much, I think that its a language that is spoken only to me, but the reality is that music is a universal language that is spoken to all people. When I mentioned to the young people that I had interviewed Jay-Z, there were all sorts of “wow”s and sighs in the room. I knew Jay-Z was really, really hot with Hard Knock Life, but is he still that hot? Apparently. That was something that surprised me today.

I had a great time inspiring and talking to young people about my career as a writer, author, filmmaker. I love it so much that it never feels like work.

Lil Wayne will not start his prison sentence today. According to Rolling Stone magazine, his sentence was delayed for dental surgery. I guess he had to get all of those diamond fronts removed from his mouth cause you can’t hardly go to prison with those things in.

Untie my hands- Lil Wayne going to Prison!

Lil Wayne gets sentenced today on charges stemming from this incident. The blogosphere has been all the buzz with the going away parties that he’s had over the weekend. Whatever happens he reports to Rikers today. Today I also kick off the first day of my 2010 Politics of Hip Hop Culture tour. And for the first time, I will be including hip hop court cases in my presentation.

That’ll be the low point of my presentation because between Lil’Wayne, Gucci Mane, TI, Lil Kim, Foxy Brown, Remy Ma and Da Brat- I got more content than I want.

I’ll update the site again when the court announces his actual sentencing. Be well people.

According to various news outlets, including EOnline, Lil Wayne and 11 of his crew members were stopped late Friday afternoon for suspicion of marijuana possession. Apparently charges weren’t brought against Lil Wayne or his peoples but my goodness, Wayne Carter is currently out on bail awaiting February sentencing for a felony weapons conviction–a conviction in which he’s facing up to a year in prison.

Most people who read my blog know how I feel about artists and blown opportunities.

Lil Wayne and crew stop blowing it! This is your moment. Leave them drugs alone. Keep ‘em off your person, off your tour bus, outta your lives.

I don’t want to preach but I’m sick of seeing artists go to jail in the prime of their careers. When I say artists I mean people like: TI, Mystikal, Lil’ Kim, Da Brat, Cassidy, Beanie Sigel, Gucci Mane, Foxy Brown, Remy Ma, etc… I know I’m missing a ton of artists who’ve also gone to jail–I’ll have to get with my boy Chuck Creekmur at AllHipHop.com for the full list, but all I’m saying is:

Guard your life and protect it. If you don’t, you can lose it to the streets or to the penitentiary.

What are you showing your fans when your decisions lead you to lock down? Feel free to comment. I’m commenting because I care and somebody should speak up and let these talented artists know to stop blowin it!

Lady Gaga

I love People Magazine. I’ve been a subscriber for YEARS!!!! I love the lists that they do and since its the end of 2009, they put out a list of the Top Ten most googled celebrities. I like Top Ten lists because it lets me know if I’m out the loop or not. A couple of these people I would not have thought were most googled of ALL THE OTHER PEOPLE in the world.

1. Michael Jackson (of course, the King of Pop died this year. We’re still  saddened by it.)
2. Lady Gaga (Really? She’s THAT popular. I must admit I googled her a couple of times to check out her outfits, but dag apparently I wasn’t alone.)
3. Robert Pattinson (I’m a Twilight fan so I get it. But if Rob’s on here, Taylor Lautner aka Jacob should be on this list too and he’s not. What’s up with team Jacob?)
4. Taylor Swift (Everyone who didn’t love Taylor at least knows who she is. She’s a sweet girl and a talented artist.)
5. Miley Cyrus (Really? People are still checking for Miley like that? I had no clue. I don’t hear anybody hardly talking about her.)
6. Kim Kardashian (Seriously? I had no idea. I have never googled Kim Kardashian for anything. I don’t see the point.)
7. Susan Boyle (I guess I get it. This lady can sing and she doesn’t look like your average pop star.)
8. Rihanna( Of course, she has Top Ten singles, had a hot but abusive boyfriend, takes topless magazine photos and bottomless cd artwork. People are going to google her.)
9. Lil’ Wayne (I’m scratching my head a lil. I guess I thought I was the only one who REALLY was intrigued by Lil’ Wayne. I guess more people love him than I thought.)
10. Adam Lambert (He must have gotten on this list AFTER the AMA performance. Otherwise, how did he make this list? I have no idea)

SOME PEOPLE WHO I THINK SHOULD HAVE MADE THE LIST:

Amber Rose & boyfriend, Kanye West

1. Tiger Woods – I know the scandal came at the end of 2009 – but dag on everyone who didn’t know a thing about him knows more than they want to now!
2. Elin Woods – Same as above and plus we know she has a twin sister now.
3. Shaquille O’Neal - His sexual exploits are making a lot of headlines where I live, plus he’s getting divorced. Maybe he’s 11 and google hasn’t told us.
4. Chris Brown – I mean come on, Are people googling Rihanna but not Chris Brown? Apparently, they are.
5. Katherine Jackson - I think she’s an awesome lady and I’d like to know how she’s handling the grandkids and Michael’s estate. She got paid. Am I alone in my wonderment?
6. Barack Obama – He’s the President of the United States. Shouldn’t we google him?
7. Beyonce’ – How could Kim K. be on a googled top 10 and not Beyonce’? If I have to explain to you why Beyonce’ should be on this list, you’ve been living under a rock!
8. Kanye West – Hey, same as #7.
9. Amber Rose - If Kim K can be on the top ten, so should Amber Rose! Kanye is wayyyyy more popular than Reggie Bush!

Anyway, if you think anyone else should be added to the top ten Googled people of 2009, let me know. I’d love your feedback.

Well, I had to share this. This is absolute proof that tattoos are more popular than ever within the African American community. Bryan “Birdman” Williams, Co-CEO of Cash Money Records, home to Lil Wayne has recently debuted his new head tattoo. I’ve heard that getting tattoos is extremely addictive. I wouldn’t know personally but I don’t think I’ve ever seen a tattoo at the top of someone’s head. I bet you haven’t either… Or have you?  Before you say, Stephon Marbury, I believe his head tattoo is on the side of his head.

Untie my hands- Lil Wayne going to Prison!

Super rapper Lil Wayne has pleaded guilty to attempted weapons possession charges and faces 1 year in prison. As AllHipHop.com reported yesterday, Lil Wayne is facing about a year in prison but will likely only serve 8 months. The plea stems from a 2007 incident in which police found a gun on his tour bus…

Thugs wanna be rappers and rappers wanna be thugs but really who wants to go to prison? My heart goes out to Wayne’s kids who will miss him during his lockdown. Some of you may know that I used to own Mad Rhythms, a hip hop/entertainment magazine, in the 90’s. And one of the reasons that I lost interest in the entertainment business is because I absolutely hated it when artists couldn’t respect or protect their blessings. Examples: Jay-Z stabbing Lance “Un” Rivera; TI buying guns from the feds, Cool C and Steady B robbing banks, etc. Most artists fight tooth and nail to get to be recognized and paid as an artist so why do they throw it away with dumb *ish like gun charges or being violent?

When I was in high school, I did a rap demo. I can’t remember the name of the song, but it was hot. So I have an affinity for female rappers. That love means that I hate the fact that Foxy Brown, Lil Kim, Da Brat and Remy Ma have all been to prison–with the two latter still being in there. It breaks my heart. Why work so hard to make it as a female rapper and then do something stupid [hit a nail tech with a cell phone, hit a waitress over the head with a bottle, or lie under oath] ? It doesn’t calculate.

So for my young’uns out there, I say to you: If you aspire to be an artist, protect your life and creativity by not doing dances with the criminal justice system. Prison is not a place for artists.

Below I’ve added Tie My Hands featuring Robin Thicke. Its one of my favorite Lil Wayne songs

Below I’ve added Lil Wayne’s “A Milli” video because I like that song. But even A Milli or A Billi couldn’t beat those gun charges…. Sad. Sad. Sad.