What’s good everybody? Another week has come, another week has gone.  The Chinese government strongly disapproving of the Dalai Lama’s visit with President Obama, Tiger Woods resurfacing to issue his first public statement three months after news broke of his infidelity, a man in Texas crashing his plane and killing and injuring people over an apparent grudge against the IRS and U.N. speculation that Iran may be secretly developing a nuclear warhead for a missile. Just another week in the world we live in.

Shout out to the sounding boards for always finding ways to live when the war is over.

Here is… the Last Word for the week ending Feb. 19, 2010.  

1.  Jessica Alba Gets Last Laugh Over Bullies; Throws Catholic Shield Over Film Nudity

Here’s something you can count on. You know you are a bonafide success in Hollywood when your bank account more than reflects your love for your job.

No one knows that better than Jessica Alba, who has managed to get the last laugh over those who bullied her in high school.  Needless to say being the object of many admirers and attached to many a successful movie (Sin City, current box office champ Valentine’s Day), has literally paid off for Alba, who confessed that “making lots of money has made me happy.”

“No one else helped me – I’ve done this all by myself, on my own terms. My dad’s also turned his real-estate business round and (is) doing really well, and my brother acts, models and does mortgages, so we’ve all come up in the world,” the actress told Scarlet magazine.  “Anyone out there who gets bullied should realize that they can take control of their lives and succeed.”And with success and financial independence comes a bit of power. If you’re looking for Alba to go au natural in front of the camera, think again. It’s not part of the plan, the actress said.

“No, I’ll never do a nude scene. I can act sexy and wear sexy clothes but I can’t go naked,” Alba shared with Scarlet. “I think I was always very uncomfortable about the way my body developed, and I remember my grandmother would freak out and throw a towel over me if she saw me wearing just a bra and panties.”

 Those looking for a target to blame for Alba’s non-nudity stance can put it all on the former Dark Angel star’s Catholic upbringing.

“I come from a very Catholic family so it wasn’t seen as a good thing to flaunt yourself like that,” she said. “I can handle being sexy with clothes on but not with them off.”2. Brooklyn Subway Entrance Honors Michael Jackson The location for Michael Jackson’s classic video to his hit song “Bad” will be immortalized once more, thanks to the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership.

 The New York Post reports that efforts have begun to create an artistic tribute to the King of Pop at the entrance to Brooklyn’s Hoyt-Schermerhorn station. As of right now, the project is in the planning stages. An artist has yet to be chosen by the DBP, which is deciding on the style of artwork for the tribute.

“The art could be the size of a huge mural and possibly rely on lights and projection at nighttime,” said DBP president Joe Chan.

 The subway station, which serves the A, C and G train lines, is best known for being the site of the Martin Scorsese-directed “Bad” video, which came out in 1987. The 16-minute clip featured Jackson and Wesley Snipes in a pre-New Jack City role as one of the friends  the hitmaker  takes to the subway station to show he’s still “Bad” after returning  to his “gangsta” –ridden neighborhood from private school.

According to the Post, all of the music scenes for the short film were shot at the Hoyt-Schermerhorn station.

The idea of recognizing Jackson at the station was first mentioned by NY City Councilwoman Letitia James, who proposed renaming the stop after the music legend and hanging a plaque in his honor. Despite opposition from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which claimed that subway riders would be confused with a station named or co-named after an individual, James and the DBP triumphed since the tribute will be displayed on private land on the front of a private office building at 45 Hoyt Street.3. Tracy Morgan Credits Son for Sober Mind State

 With his new autobiography, I Am the New Black, and job security with his Emmy-nominated work on 30 Rock, Tracy Morgan has much to be thankful for.

 But the success the comedian/actor has pales in comparison to the one thing he is most grateful for, his son.

 In an interview on PBS’ Tavis Smiley show, Morgan opened up about the role his teenage son played in getting him clean and sober. According to the entertainer, it all came about after a conversation he had with his son in 2007 after a judge ordered him to wear an alcohol bracelet for six months in response to being arrested many times for drunk driving.

“I’m walking around with a bracelet on my ankle and my son looking at me like I’m Kunta Kinte, like, ‘What you doing Dad? What if I start driving and drinking? Would that be cool?’ And that was it for me. That was the end of it,” Morgan told Smiley. “My son said, ‘What if I start driving drunk and kill somebody?’ That right there just made me look into the mirror, like, I got to step up my game.”

 In addition to his son, Morgan cited his father as a source for living life wisely. Prior to dying AIDS when Morgan was 17, Morgan admitted his dad taught that the key to survival was to learn from your mistakes.

 “Rock bottom for some people is death,” the funnyman said. “Some people never learn from their mistakes. They don’t learn from other people’s mistakes.”

 Evidence of Morgan’s new mindstate can be found on the small screen and big screen with his new movie Cop Out with Bruce Willis, which hits theaters this month.

4. Usher, Tyrese, Robin Thicke and Trey Songz Visit a New Secret Garden

Let’s face it. Remakes in the world of music are a dime a dozen. It’s almost inevitable that at some point in time a classic song will be reintroduced with a modern day spin on what is near and dear to those who love that tune in all its original glory.

And with that comes the opinion that some songs should not be touched at all. Jay-Z illustrated that view this week when he felt that 1985’s star-studded “We Are the World” was not meant for tampering. With one Quincy Jones song remade, there now comes another reinterpretation of the famed producer’s work via Jermaine Dupri’s new take on Jones’ “The Secret Garden (Sweet Seduction Suite).”

 If you haven’t heard this tune or used it to create the perfect mood for a night of romance and intimate activity with your significant other, please know that the original version featured baby-making vocals from Al B. Sure, James Ingram, El DeBarge and Barry White.

 For the new “Secret Garden,” Dupri has recruited Usher, Robin Thicke, Tyrese and Trey Songz to create the sexual chemistry set by the legendary predecessors.  And while the new line-up is worthy of any composition, JD had to really consider if he wanted to risk messing up something Quincy perfected the first time around.

“It took a minute for me to even think about touching it. It’s a couple of components in that record that you don’t wanna touch — Barry White being one of the main components,” said the beatmaker,  who told MTV how he could not bring himself to eliminate “The Maestro” from his upgrade of the romantic hit.” I had to leave him [on the song]. There’s nobody out there in the world that’s got a voice like his or even sounded the way he sounded. So I had to make sure I could leave that. It’s gonna be interesting for y’all to hear how these young guys sound mixed in with him.”

Look for Dupri’s “Secret Garden” remake to appear on a new album from Jones, the Atlanta hitmaker revealed.  At this time, no release date for the album has been announced.

 With new line-up already set in stone, let’s explore the guys who were close to making the final cut, had JD opted to open up the garden to more vocalists.

“…I wanted to put Anthony Hamilton on there, Maxwell on there. But it’s hard, because it’s only a four- or five-man [song]. That was the hardest part for me,” Dupri shared.

 So what do you think? Will Tyrese, Trey, Thicke and Usher do justice to “The Secret Garden?” Or would it be better set with Maxwell, Hamilton, Prince or even D’Angelo on the mic? Maybe a female version of the song with Sade, Beyonce, Alicia Keys or Mary J. Blige?

What say you on this? Who would be the best to take care of the “Garden?”

 In Other Words…

Simon Cowell’s imminent exit from American Idol, could be Ashanti’s gain. WENN reports the former Murder Inc. princess is seeking talent for new record label by producing and hosting her own version of the hit Fox show. Although specifics  regarding Ashanti’s show are being kept secret, the singer’s mother/manager, Tina Douglas provided a little of what to expect.

“It’s an unscripted television show that is definitely music related. We’ll be revealing more in the coming weeks,” Douglas said. “She has her own record label, called Written Entertainment, and the show is going to revolve around her label… It’s going to be really big.”

Vin Diesel is coming back to the franchise that put him on the map. Variety reports the actor will star and produce the third chapter in the sci-fi saga that began with Pitch Black and carried on with The Chronicles of Riddick.

Although details on the film’s plot are being kept under wraps, insiders say the third movie, titled Riddick, will be closer in tone to Pitch Black and will focus on the Riddick character rather than the universe he inhabits.

At this time, dates are being worked out for Riddick  so it won’t interfere  with Universal’s fifth installment of Fast and Furious. That film, which Diesel is attached to star and produce, is set to shoot sometime this year.

Lionel Ritchie and Quincy Jones’ “We Are the Word” remake has spun off into a new effort involving an all-star line up of Latin stars. Perez Hilton reports that Gloria Estefan has gotten permission from Richie to redo “We Are the World.” The Spanish version of the charitable hit, which has been completely translated, will be called “Somos El Mundo.”

Among those lined up for the remake are Ricky Martin, Paulina Rubio, Shakira, Jennifer Lopez, Marc Anthony and Enrique Iglesias. Proceeds from “Somos El Mundo” will go towards efforts to help Haiti.

 New music from Leela James as arrived. The songstress is setting the stage for her return with the new single “Tell Me You Love Me.”

 The  Gerrard Baker-produced song, which James co-wrote with Andrea Martin and Gordon Williams, will be featured on the singer’s forthcoming album, My Soul, which is due in stores on May 25.

You can now count Jennifer Hudson among the stars sporting a milk mustache.  The Oscar-winning singer/actress, who has joined the Got Milk? campaign, will promote healthy living as well as the benefits of drinking milk in two newly released ads.

 For Hudson, the chance to promote milk strikes a personal chord, considering the drink was “definitely a part of my upbringing for sure.”

 News of Hudson’s Got Milk? Involvement comes as she works on the follow-up to her self-titled debut album, which is expected to hit stores in late Spring/Summer 2010.

As one of Brooklyn’s funniest, Tony Rock is far from following in his big brother’s footsteps, instead he’s blazing his own path in the world of comedy and beyond. With his Rock the World brand set to conquer the stratosphere one laugh at a time, Tony Rock is about to set it off with his first ½ hour comedy special, which kicks off the new season of Comedy Central this week. One of seven brothers, three of which are comedians, Rock has been making us laugh for years on stage, in film and on television most notably as Dirk Black on the long running UPN comedy “All of Us” which earned him a BET Comedy Award nomination. With a politically incorrect disposition, the hilarity of his live stand-up show has crowds laughing out loud while shaking their heads saying “Oh no he didn’t!” Currently touring the country with his one-man show, Rock took time out to talk to AllHipHop.com about what’s been going on in his world. AllHipHop.com: What’s going on Tony how have you been?Tony Rock: “I’m on the road, about to go to Atlanta, then DC then New York before my Comedy Central Special airs on February 19th. I shot it in September and its finally airing on February 19th. It’s the new season of half hour comedy specials and mine is first.?AllHipHop.com: Why did it take so long for you to get your special?Tony Rock: I don’t know, I think they thought I was gonna say cracker or something like that. They probably thought I couldn’t do a show without the vulgarity but the cursing doesn’t make my jokes, my jokes are funny with or without the cursing. I just talk on the stage like I talk to my friends. I don’t filter myself when I talk to my friends and yall are my friends. Y’all know what I mean when I say that M#### Fu**a is crazy.AllHipHop.com: Do you miss being on television? Are you working on getting back on TV?Tony Rock: I do. Actually I had a pitch meeting yesterday. I pitched my sketch comedy show to comedy central yesterday; they’re kinda warm to the idea. I guess that’s what they say to you but I’m gonna keep pitching it.AllHipHop.com: Good luck with that. I saw you on TMZ recently talking about Game and Tila Tequila so I want to get some social commentary from you.Tony Rock: Yo this is the thing here’s what I should have said, see people hate on Tila Tequila, but I LOVE Tila Tequila. First of all everybody loves Asian chicks, that’s a fact. And on top of that, she’s Asian and she’s a lesbian, that’s like having cake with pie on the inside.AllHipHop.com: But you must admit, she’s a tad off at times.Tony Rock: What girl isn’t a tad crazy? Show me a girl who isn’t crazy and I’ll show you a girl whose phone is not ringing off the hook. Every girl that other chicks be like ‘yo that bi**h is crazy, it’s a line of ni**as waitin to f**k this girl.AllHipHop.com: You are crazy. Did you go to the Grammy’s? Who did you like?Tony Rock: I didn’t watch 1 second of the Grammy’s. I’m not a Grammy dude because I can’t sit thru a bunch of acts that I don’t know who they are and I don’t care who they are. I’m more of a BET Awards guy because I know all the acts, I know who’s nominated, and I know their songs. Grammy’s are like ok we’re gonna give you a little bit of Hip-hop and then back to this white stuff that yall don’t listen to. I can’t sit thru a Lady GaGa or a country artist. I don’t even know who yall are.AllHip-Hop.com: Ok since you’re all about Hip-hop, give me your top 5 emcees.Tony Rock: In no particular order Jay-Z, Big, Nas, Rakim, and Grand Puba, honorable mention, Kool G Rap and Big PunAllHipHop.com: I’m not mad at that list but its way East coast slanted.Tony Rock: Tupac is not even in my top 10 yo!AllHipHop.com: I wasn’t saying he should be but Pac isn’t the only West coast artist who has mad a contribution to Hip-hop.Tony Rock: No I said that because my boy just asked why I didn’t say Pac, but I’m a Hip-hop head from New York. We base it on lyrical ability and lyrical dexterity. Pac never said anything like “Dead in the middle of Little Italy do we know that we riddled some middle man who didn’t do diddly”AllHipHop.com: Well he didn’t have to; he’s Pac, but what about Ice Cube? The West has plenty of lyrical dexterity.Tony Rock: Cube is dope. Cube is better than Pac.AllHipHop.com: I agree with you on that and I love the East coast too, I’m just saying the West coast tends to get over looked a lot that’s all.Tony Rock: See people are gonna take that the wrong way and think “oh he doesn’t have love for the West coast” and there are a couple of West coast cats that I do love but you said MY top 5. I can’t just put somebody in from the West coast just to show my support for the West coast; no you said my top 5 – now deal with it! AllHipHop.com: I know and I’m really trying to change your mind.Tony Rock: Don’t get mad because I have an opinion.AllHipHop.com: Ok moving on. On the show “Everybody Hates Chris” the character based on you, “Drew” was the popular one with all the girls and everything, and your brother Chris wasn’t so popular. When did the tide shift and is that why Chris got into comedy to compete with his little brother?Tony Rock: Nah (laughing) my brother has always been funny. I’m not trying to sound like some rapper or anything but I think its just that I was always more in the streets than my brother was ya know, like being at the park playing ball and kickin it with my friends in the neighborhood so they just knew me more. He was more the normal guy ya know, school, and work, and I was just running the streets doing whatever.AllHipHop.com: People always say comedians have tortured souls, were you tortured?Tony Rock: Well tortured soul is different then actual torture but yes we (comedians) are. Its just the pain of dealing with things, we just deal with things a lil different ya know? We might love a lil harder, be a lil more clingy, maybe a lil more emotionally involved so that’s when the torture comes in when it doesn’t go your way.AllHipHop.com: But you told me once before that you don’t love remember? Your never getting married remember?Tony Rock: Yeah, well eh – Kanye Shrug – (laughs) I doesn’t mean I don’t care. I get emotional and connect to some people though and if it doesn’t work there’s a sense of loss.AllHipHop.com: Who would be your top 3 females in Hollywood that you would like to date if you could date anyone?Tony Rock: Does Halle still count she just dropped two babies.AllHipHop.com: What difference does that make she’s still gorgeous.Tony Rock: Ok who else, I don’t want to say Beyonce that’s too obvious, everybody says her besides I don’t want to disrespect in case I run into Jay somewhere and he be like so you wanna date my wife huh? I’ll say Lucy Lu and Selma Hayek is she still fine?AllHipHop.com: See now you gonna get all the sista’s mad at you (laughs)Tony Rock: You said Hollywood who’s Black in Hollywood?AllHipHop.com: Umm Taraji, Gabrielle, ZoeyTony Rock: Ok you’re right its Black History Month lets change it for the sista’s. Halle Berry, that chick on that show the forgotten Rochelle Aytes and lets keep it real black Precious.AllHipHop.com: (laughs) You probably just made her day she might have her agent call you tomorrow. In the spirit of Black History month lets have a Black History Hip-Hop moment. Who would you pay tribute to in Hip-hop this month and why?Tony Rock: Well I’d have to say Will Smith, first of all because he gave me a job, but also because he was the first rapper to get a Grammy wasn’t he?AllHipHop.com: Yes.Tony Rock: Also he just always holds himself in such high regard around the crackers ya know? When he’s around them White folks he makes them think hey maybe those ni**as aint that bad.AllHipHop.com: You are out of control! You’re always so funny are you looking for new roles to play? What would be your ideal role?Tony Rock: I want to do a drama with my brother. I want me and my brother to do something serious.AllHipHop.com: You were kinda serious in that movie with Queen Latifah on HBO.Tony Rock: It was a serious movie but I was funny. There was AIDS all around me and I’m still like hey I’m funny! (laughs)AllHipHop.com: If you had AIDS would you stop having sex?Tony Rock: Absolutely.AllHipHop.com: That’s good. You strike me as the if I gotta go I’m taking all yall with me type. Tony Rock: Nah, I’d probably just move to the mountains and disappear.AllHipHop.com: On a lighter note, tell us about your special and what we can expect.Tony Rock: February 19, Comedy Central. The new season of Comedy Central presents its ½ hour specials. There were about 24 comedians who taped their specials and I was the last guy to his special and I’m the first one they’re gonna show so that should tell you something about the work I put in, its dope. I was excited all my brothers were there, my whole crew from Brooklyn, it was crazy.AllHipHop.com: Were you going in on anybody?Tony Rock: Nah I talk about the Kanye thing a lil because that was fresh in the news, I talked about the guy yelling out “you’re a liar” at Obama because that had just happened but the other stuff I just kept it observations and jokes.AllHipHop.com: Speaking of Obama, how do you think he’s doing in office?Tony Rock: I love Obama. There is nothing bad you can say about Obama. He’s the President but he’s dope because uppity Blacks love him and hood ni**as like him because you can still see just a lil bit of hood in him. Like when he gets out the helicopter and walks across the grass. Its like you can see there’s a path there for him but he’s like fu** that I’m walkin’ on the the grass and he got that lil bop in his step so hood ni**as are like ‘I can see a lil bit of myself in him’ and bougie Blacks are like Yes he represents us well.AllHipHop.com: (laughs) you are too much. You don’t have any rap albums or anything coming out do you?Tony Rock: Man I always keep a hot 16 ready.AllHipHop.com: Stop playing, let me hear something.Tony Rock: “I came a long way from getting money off the books, now I’m in LA getting money off my looks, and I’m kinda handsome so I gets mad checks I’m cashin, ni**as mad and they hatin I aint mad I’m just laughin’.”AllHipHop.com: Thanks Tony and good luck with everything.