With the New Year, there are tons of new gadgets and gizmos.  Some are trash and some make you “wanna cop” that right now.  I’ve put together a list of a few I have run across, so let me know what you think of them.    The first thing I want to show you is a […]

    First off, I’d like to thank you for taking interests in The Socialite. If you’re just checking in, take some time to read the first two Socialite columns already in place – as Clinton Sparks would say, “get familiar.” And to those of you who are familiar, you should remember where I left off last […]

Let’s be honest. In real life, Black men have it pretty tough. Of all human species in America, Black men have the lowest mortality rates of all nationalities, with the exception of Native Americans. Jails from coast to coast are still filling with Black men at an alarming rate, and they have become a part […]

I’ll be back later this week with a new installment of Tech Talk, but this particular review is dedicated to all the beat makers, producers and aspiring tunesmiths. I want to tell you about a product from Akai Professional called the MPK49. Released in 2007, it is geared toward those who want to go studio […]

First of all, with the Celtics right now, I think people are really coming at them. It showed in some of the games in the past few weeks. In the Lakers game, Kevin Garnett got the elbow – he got the hit on the head. Then Lamar Odom gave Ray Allen that hit. You know […]

That’s it. It’s over. It’s a wrap. Done deal. Finito. No Mas. With the release of the Air Jordan XX3, Nike and Brand Jordan are sealing the legacy of arguably, but not really, the most popular sneaker of all time. Yeah yeah, the ubiquitous Nike Air Force 1s, ahem—Uptowns, might get the award for omnipresence, […]

I remember watching the 2004 NBA Draft when the Atlanta Hawks made Josh Smith their first round pick. One of the announcers (I think it was Jay Billis) said that out of all the high school players in the draft, he was the most likely to be a bust.   Despite being an incredible athlete […]

Loosely based on a once legitimate expression of prowess and entertainment, it has now became an over-exaggerated farce of its original form. Despite how it overtly plays to the highly stimulating and foregoes content, its fan base is expanding beyond its original audience and into new legions that know nothing of its true essence. It […]

    When you think of the average teenager, the first things that come to mind usually don’t involve Shakespeare or long term career goals. Jermaine Crawford, known to most of us as Duquan “Dukie” Weems on HBO’s The Wire, is not only a consummate actor – he’s also a singer, a dancer, a budding […]

All Hip-Hop NFL Wild Card Weekend Preview   Happy New Year, and with a New Year comes a new season: the NFL post season.  The NFL’s post season is the one time of the year when the terminology, “win or go home”, is at its truest.  There’s no best of five, or best of seven […]

Film writer and director Kasi Lemmons once wrote: “Memory is a selection of images, some elusive, others printed indelibly on the brain.” These eloquent words were recited by 10-year old newcomer Jurnee Smollett in 1997’s unnervingly sexy family drama Eve’s Bayou.   Both powerful memories and words play a part in her most recent role […]

As it so happens, I’ve been buried under a huge rock over the past few years. I’ve come to find out that people rarely go out on “dates” these days – unless it’s staged in a 26 minute segment and is paid for by a cable network. Please don’t tell me that bringing flowers to […]

Welcome to the 2007 year end wrapup of Knockout Nation. In 2006, we had to suffer through declarations that boxing was dead on a mainstream level. This year proved that not only is the sport alive and thriving, but that things can be even better by continuing to pit the best fighters against each other […]

    It is hard to believe 2007 is officially in the books. But as fast as this year has passed, there was plenty that happened in the basketball world these past 12 months. We saw LeBron make it to the finals, an ugly referee scandal… and we saw the New York Knicks (nuff said). […]

  What up y’all!   December 27 was special, man. We caught a flight out of Boston on Wednesday and came into Dallas for the Mavericks/Cavs game. This morning, I went over to the shoot around and caught LeBron James in the hallway where we did a nice piece for the Overtime show. He doesn’t […]

  Now that 2007 has come and gone, it’s a thankful day that we have some new fashion to look forward to in 2008. I’m not an official fashionista, but I’ve been known to rock a hot outfit at the right moment, and I do have eyes. Granted, there were a few things from the […]

Welcome to the first official Hollywood Shuffle column discussing all things movies, television, celebrity and just plain Hollywood. To kick things off, we bring you an in-depth look at the year’s rising trend and popularity of Hip-Hop in Hollywood, followed by our “Short List” of the Top 5’s of 2007! Lists are in no particular order.1. The […]

    Going from drug kingpin to film producer is not the mid-life epiphany that it seems to be when you meld the two worlds. Anthony “Tone” Gonzalez’ experience running the Bronx streets in the ‘80s serves as prime fodder for his films.   In his latest documentary, Superfly: The Untold Story of Frank Lucas, […]

    In 1935, Wiley College, a small Black college in Marshall, Texas defeated defending national champions University of Southern California in a debate. In terms of Black History, this story ofAfrican-Americans breaking the color barrier in competitive debate is a small victory. Many civil rights milestones, which need not be named, have shadowed this […]

Saturday Night Special:   12-29-07, 8:15 pm, CBS, NBC, NFL Network   Game of the Week, Pt. 1 New England Patriots (15-0) vs. NY Giants (10-5) Location: Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, NJ   *Spoiler Alert* Since all of the media outlets are making a big deal about tonight’s game, I decided to write a whole […]