What’s the deal, true believers? It’s been a slow five and
I’m ready to get on with my weekend after hearing rumblings of a government
bailout for the auto industry and Obama and family getting oriented with the
White House and his Presidential duties from an outgoing president Bush.
Condolences go out to South African singer/activist “Mama
Africa” Miriam Makeba, who died Monday (Nov. 10) and Jimi Hendrix Experience
drummer Mitch Mitchell, who died Wednesday (Nov. 12). Shout out to all the
veterans who served and sacrificed for our country as well as those currently
serving in the military, and the sounding boards for making it a better place
to be for you and me.
Well my friends let me introduce you to…the Last Word for
the week ending Nov. 14, 2008: The Hero Takeover.
1. Beyoncé Plays Hero and Villain with Wonder Woman
Desires and Stolen Leona Lewis Song
With the success of Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk and
The Dark Knight, it’s a
no-brainer that superhero films are box office gold as entertainers voice their
desire to save the world on the big screen. Enter Beyoncé, who is making it
known that she wants to bring one of DC Comics’ iconic heroes to life.
“I want to do a superhero movie and what would be better
than Wonder Woman?” the singer told the Los
Angeles Times, adding that she met with
representatives of DC and Warner Bros. to express her interest in portraying
the Amazonian princess. “It would be great. And it would be a very bold choice.
A Black Wonder Woman would be a powerful thing. It’s time for that, right?”
With all the talk about turning White superheroes Black, it
wouldn’t be too much of a stretch for B to take up the mantle. But she may want
to calm down Simon Cowell, who’s not too happy she got her hands on a song that
was originally written for his protégé Leona Lewis.
Media sources report, the track, which is called “Halo,” was
written by One Republic frontman Ryan Tedder. According to insiders, Cowell and
Tedder had agreed to let Lewis sing the song for her second album, but Beyoncé has
since recorded the track for herself and plans on including it on her
forthcoming album I AM…Sasha Fierce.
In light of plans that call for Lewis’ album to hit stores
in 2009, Tedder decided to peddle the song elsewhere.
“Leona’s diary is so rammed it didn’t look like she could
record it until next year,” said a source at SonyBMG. “Ryan didn’t want to hang
around, so he gave it to Beyoncé.”
Sounds like some diabolical trickery going on here. Maybe
they should get Wonder Woman’s magic lasso to see what the real story is with
all this. As far as Diana Prince goes, if Beyoncé isn’t your choice, who do you
think should portray the heroine when DC and Warner finally get the Justice
League member’s film off the ground?
I nominate Meagan Good, Scarlett Johanssen and Kerry
Washington. What say you?
2. George Clinton Goes Country with Sheila E; Subscribes
to Human Cloning
First, it was Bobby Brown and Sisqo. Then it was Jermaine
Jackson. Now, we got George Clinton and Sheila E. making a musical switch as
the newest cast members for the CMT reality show Gone Country.
The pair will join singer Taylor Dayne, American Idol first-season runner-up Justin Guarini, actor Richard
Grieco, Monkees lead vocalist/drummer Micky Dolenz and former Miss USA Tara
Conner for the third season of the series. Gone Country centers on a group of contestants who spend two
weeks working with songwriters on a country song. At the end of the two weeks,
the show’s host, John Rich, will decide which celebrity is most prepared to
impress a country audience. Afterwards, the winner will record and release
their single to country radio.
And while seeing Clinton bring the P-funk to country music
lovers will make for interesting TV, the most interesting thing right now for
music pioneer proved appears to be the idea of cloning human beings, which
Clinton says has been practiced for years.
“Cloning – we got generations of that s***,” the
Parliament Funkadelic frontman told Details
magazine. “The pyramids? They was for cloning. That’s why embalming lasts so
long. Get the DNA and pull ‘em back. So somebody been cloned already, but not
me. Not yet.”
“I’ve got my DNA stashed in the bank. And I got 14 kids,”
continued Clinton, who is open to being cloned one day. “So there’s plenty of
volunteers to take my DNA. It’s funky but they take it.”
Not that I don’t believe that human cloning is taking place,
but George Clinton, what the funk are you talking about? It seems like all the
rappers have taken your DNA to make classic hits. Calling Dr. Dre.
3. Former and Current James Bonds Picture Obama among
Black 007s
A few Words back, I mentioned that Marvel Comics founder
Stan Lee was open to casting Will Smith as the first Black Captain America for
the red, white and blue Avenger’s forthcoming film. That depended on whether or
not Barack Obama would be elected president.
Now that the election is over and Obama is our
President-Elect, the opportunity seems right to give iconic characters a new
look. According to WENN, James Bond himself, Daniel Craig, believes the Chicago
senator’s historic victory has opened the door for the possibility of a Black
007.
“I think the role could easily be played by a Black actor,
because the character created by Ian Fleming in the ‘50s has undergone a great
deal of evolution and continues to be updated,” said the actor and Obama fan,
who will reprise his role as Bond for the upcoming film Quantum of Solace.
While Craig believes Obama has opened the path for a Black
Bond on the big screen, former 007 Pierce Brosnan is confident that the
President-Elect could easily carry on the legacy of the fictional adventurer.
“He’s cool enough,” Brosnan told People magazine. “He’s definitely got the walk and the
talk, yes, but I think he’s going to make a greater President.”
I’m not sure if Barack could take time out of running the
country to get his license to kill, but Wesley Snipes could use always use the
paycheck.
4. Salma Hayek Confesses to Breastfeeding Addiction
Within her 42 years of existence, Salma Hayek has
accomplished a lot as an Oscar-nominated actress, director, producer and
activist. But the most important accomplishment for Hayek comes with raising
her 13 ½-month old daughter Valentina Paloma, a feat that includes
breastfeeding.
To hear her tell it, Hayek is in no hurry to wean Valentina
off the natural food source as she admits that nursing is “a very powerful
thing” that she does not intend to give up breastfeeding anytime soon.
“I’m like an alcoholic,” Salma told the Times Online. “It’s like, I don’t care if I cry, I don’t
care if I’m fat, I’m just gonna do it for one more week, one more month, and
then, when I see how much good it is doing her, I can’t stop.”
Despite her love of nursing, it was anything but for the
actress, who revealed how difficult it was when she first started breastfeeding
her newborn. “It’s tough. You don’t know what pain I’m in after two hours.”
And if you’re wondering if talk about breastfeeding helping
women lose weight is true, think again. Salma deads what she called “the myth”
by saying that it’s “sooo not true” as she grabbed her stomach during her
interview. “It’s like, ‘Please, everyone, can you stop telling me I look really
well?’”
In Other Words…
Some people may look good when playing a good game of
whatever, but Rihanna is looking good while supporting a worthy cause. The
singer has joined forces with Gucci to appear in a series of ads for the
brand’s fourth annual campaign to benefit UNICEF. According to reports, Rihanna
will model luxe goods from Gucci’s Tattoo Heart collection. Ads for the
all-white Tattoo Heart line are slated to hit magazines in December.
* Fans of Jamie Foxx will have another collection of tunes
to enjoy from the Oscar-winning actor. Media sources report that Foxx is set to
release his third album Intuition.
Contributors include Timbaland, Ne-Yo, Sean Garrett, Salaam Remi, Carlos
McKinney and T.I. who is featured on the lead single “Just Like Me.”
Look for the album to hit stores Dec. 16. Those wondering
about Foxx’s other job can catch the entertainer on the big screen when he
teams up with Robert Downey Jr. for the upcoming movie The Soloist, which hits theaters March 13.
* Kevin Rudolf may strike some as strictly a rock n roller,
but he maintains a strong desire to incorporate elements of other genres in his
music. According to the Cash Money Records vocalist in an upcoming AllHipHop
Alternatives interview, a trendy mash-up of previously recorded material can’t
replace a natural collaboration between talented musicians.
“To tell you the truth, I really don’t like rap and rock
together so much. To me when I do
my album I do more like a fusion,” Rudolf told AllHipHop.com Alternatives. “I
try to take what’s authentic by Hip-Hop and what’s authentic about rock and
combine them. Doing stuff like
peanut butter and jelly, let’s put rap with rock, let’s sit this with that,
they do that like it’s a gimmick. Let’s put a rock band with a rapper and it’s
fresh and new.”
“I got some crazy sh*t in my album,” Rudolf continued about
his forthcoming project In the City. “We
got Nas on the album, Rick Ross on the album, BirdMan, and they’re not mashups.
They are honest collaborations with great rappers and good music and it’s a
real thing, you know? It’s not like, “Slap them together.” To me, this is my
world, so it feels natural, you know what I mean?
As music fans await the follow-up to Nina Sky’s
self-titled debut album, one half of the hitmaking duo is making waves in the
world of fashion. Natalie Albino is gearing up to join forces with designer
Erin Magee for an exclusive MadeMe Holiday ’08 tee. The **NA SKY tee, which was
inspired by Albino’s musical background, will feature the company’s logo
written in graffiti style musical notes.
Shoppers can purchase the tee, which will be released in
black, white and purple, by visiting www.mademeclothing.com. For Albino, the
clothing illustrates her love of graffiti since she’s been tagging Astoria,
Queens with “**NA SKY” for years. Musically, the singer and her sister Nicole
are putting the finishing touches on Nina Sky’s sophomore album The Musical, which will feature production from Salaam Remi,
Ryan Leslie, and Cool & Dre.
* Everybody wants to get into the superhero business. Now,
BET wants to put itself in the mix with its upcoming animated series The
Black Panther. The show, which is adapted
from a 2005 six issue Marvel Comics Black Panther limited series written
by former BET president Reginald
Hudlin, will feature Amistad and Blood
Diamond star Djimon Hounsou as the voice of
the title character.
With his latest role, Hounsou considers it “a blessing for
African Americans and minorities to have a superhero they can identify with.”
* Samuel L. Jackson is gearing up to ride the buzz he
created with his surprise cameo as S.H.I.E.L.D. head Nick Fury in Iron Man. MTV reports the entertainer has his sights set on
playing Fury in Iron Man 2 with
hopes of bringing the character back for the string of Marvel Studio films that
set the stage for 2011’s The Avengers.
“They sorta gave me a master plan about how they want it to
work…[But] I’ll do every movie they wanna do. I’m down.”
Most heroes aren’t looking for any reward for their work,
but Sam looks to get more than his slice of the million dollar pie for his
role. Crime may pay, but it’s the good guys that will finish first in this,
with plenty of chump change to spend.