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Yeezys BACK.......Performs "Chain Heavy" and "Mamas Boyfriend" at Facebook

Kanye is back in the studio! Don't kno about you but I was glad to hear it. I really miss him and I think hip hop misses him even more. Yeezy was in Cali at the Facebook Headquarters earlier this week, giving them a taste of his upcomming album "Lost in This World". This one's called "Chain Heavy" Listen......

Jessica's "Daily Affirmation"....... What's Yours??

This video is so cute! Found it on AOL news. We should all do this every morning and the world would just be a better place. It's so funny how kids have such a great appreciation for life and they don't even realize it. As adults we complain sooooo much about what isn't and can't be that we forget to do like Jessica and be thankful for what is and can be!

Watch and enjoy!

10 Things You Thought Were Black Owned -- But Aren't

So we don't even own BET?! Yeaaaaaa jus read the article yall. You'll be surprised!

10 Things You Thought Were Black Owned -- But Aren't

BET, George Foreman Grills and Dark & Lovely No Lye Relaxer have a commonality: They're not as black as you think. For the confused, theBVX ( which like Black Voices is NOT black-owned) has compiled a shocking list of 10 things you thought were black owned but actually aren't.


10. Black Entertainment Television

If black is in the name, it must be black owned, right? The network was founded by an African American, Robert Johnson, in the '80s, but in 2003, BET was sold to Viacom, which also owns MTV and VH1. The sale made Johnson one of the first black billionaires. Ballin'!


9. Def Jam Records

The label, born out of a college dorm room and built on MCs like Run-DMC, Jay-Z and Kanye West, is commonly associated with its co-founder, Russell Simmons, who escaped a financial mishap by selling 50 percent of the label to Polygram in 1994. In 1999, Russell sold his stake in the business to Universal Musical Group for $100 million. No wonder the label's more Rihanna than raps these days.


8. Marc Ecko

If you're into urban wear, then you may already know that Marc Ecko is a thirtysomething New Jersey native who never tried to pass for black. Instead the man whose line was once considered "too white" or "too black" for some retailers has attracted multiethnic consumers by cleverly targeting urban markets. But where does the rhino fit?

7. Jimmy Jazz

The 20-year-old company, which has more than 120 stores throughout the United States, housing lines like Baby Phat, Rocawear and Coogi, was founded by James Kherzie. The young Brooklynite opened the store as an alternative outlet for hard-to-find urban brands. Despite hip-hop's lyrical mentions of the brand, the name is based on the song 'Jimmy Jazz' by punk rockers The Clash. London calling?

6. Essence Magazine

The publication that was once the second largest black publication hasn't been black owned since the remaining minority stake in Essence Communications Inc. was sold to Time Inc. in 2005. The corporation originally purchased 49 percent of the popular African American publication in 2000, leaving black women grabbing their dating advice from middle-age white men.

5. 'The Game'

The popular CW show, which is set to have second life on BET, was created by Mara Brock Akil, but one of the producers behind the black dramedy is Kelsey Grammer. Grammer is best known for his role on 'Cheers' as Frasier, and his production Grammnet was also responsible for the African American comedy 'Girlfriends.'


4. The George Foreman Grill

Say it isn't so! The household staple bearing George Foreman's name is not owned by the former heavyweight champion. The grill's inventor, Michael Boem, sought out George because he was a burger freak known to consume the item before fights. The money behind the grill? Salton Inc., which was later acquired by Applica, and George sold the rights to the use of his name in 1999 for $127 million and stock options.

3. Church's Chicken

No, we don't think African Americans have a super-size love for chicken but we do know that Church's is scattered across numerous urban neighborhoods occupied by minorities. The founder targeted areas where Kentucky Fried Chicken, at the time, would not locate. George Church started the no-frills chain in Texas before being acquired by a public company and then sold to a private equity firm. Chuuch!

2. T.V. One

The network that has revived 'A Different World" is not 1980s BET in the making. T.V. One is primarily a partnership between Radio One's Cathy Hughes and the mammoth cable company Comcast Corporation. But we do love 'Unsung,' though.

1. SoftSheen Carson

If you're thinking of hair care products, items by SoftSheen Carson probably come to mind. The 46-year-old Softsheen brand was acquired by L'Oreal in 1998 and merged with another minority brand, Carson Products. The company that helps many black women maintain their hair is actually owned by L'Oreal USA, which is owned by the parent Parisian company L'Oreal Group. We knew relaxers were a c.o.n.-spriacy.

Today.....Valentines Day?!

Ook so as we all kno, 2day is Valentines Day, the designated day of the year when we all express our love towards one another. Now this year MY valentines day is somewhat "comprimised". He's there, im here and......yea, "compromised, like I said. My and my roomate came to the conclusion, @ 2:45am tht we would drive home, just to be with these valentines of ours for the day. Too bad the niggaz didn't realize at the time tht we were willing to make such a crazy sacrifice. I've come to learn that when it comes to romance, males will never completly understand wat it means to us. Women are really simpler than you all think. The smallest things often mean soooooo much. I can admit tht I've never had a "spectacular" valentines day and im ok with tht. The day doesn't have to b spectacular. Just go a little bit out of your way to show me what i mean to u! Thats all we ask for I promise. I know tht every male isn't a scholar in the romance department and thats fine! Nothing beats a failure but a try. If i love/have feelings for you anything you attempt to do is going to b ok and if a guy does attempt to do something and it's not good enough, he's fuckin wit the wrong chick! I can't speak for every female but i'd b willing to bet that a simple but sweet valentines day would always win over no valentines day at all.

New Way to Store Ya Shoes

I check NiceKicks.com just about eryday, jus to check up on the latest shoe releases ya kno. I cam across thses clear shoeboxes made by Hupbox, pretty kool idea. I don't kno about you but I HATE shoes, with no box! Absolutely hate it! Anyway if u like to keep yo shoes clean or jus like to display em in some kinda of "artsy" way, this is they way to do it. Check out www.hupbox.com to buy theses one of a kind boxes. They'll run u about 55$ with shipping and handling (for one) so its only for those who r serious about their shoes!

HUPBOX Clear Shoebox

Posted by Alex Kroviak | Feb 3, 2010 (Nicekicks.com)

Whether you have too many crushed cardboard boxes to keep stacking, or just want to know which shoes you’re grabbing, there is always a time when a clear shoebox would come in handy. HUPBOX just made their acrylic shoebox for sale. At $40 each, these boxes aren’t cheap, but there are some benefits beyond their functionality. Impact-resistant acrylic is the choice construction material, providing not only protection for your shoes, but the option to stack higher with more confidence than with a standard box. Beyond utility, the basis for this project was to provide a means through which sneakerheads can share their passion and display their sneakers in an artistic manner.

HUPBOX Clear Shoebox

HUPBOX Clear Shoebox

HUPBOX Clear Shoebox

HUPBOX Clear Shoebox

HUPBOX Clear Shoebox

HUPBOX Clear Shoebox

HUPBOX Clear Shoebox

HUPBOX Clear Shoebox

iPad....Is it Really Worth All the Hype?

So I'm on twitter and I see iPad listed in the trending topics....wtf is an iPad? Same thing you wanted to know right? I found this article. It tells what this new found piece of technology is and whether it's really as phenomenal as we're making it. I think not. But you be the judge!

Apple Unleashes ‘iPad’ Onto the World

*Arse-bot wrote this kick-ass post
Posted Wednesday, January 27th, 2010 at 3:26 pm

I want to preface this post with that I am by no means an Apple hater. I own an iPhone that I am constantly glued to, and up until recently I owned a Macbook that I loved dearly.

That said however, I think Apple may have a flop on their hands at first glance with the iPad. Here are my thoughts:

First, let’s start off with the facts. Here are the iPad specs:

• .5 inches thin
• 1.5 lbs
• 9.7 inch IPS display
• Capacitive multitouch
• 1GHz proc Apple A4 chip (PA Semi!)
• 16GB, 32GB, 64GB
• 802.11n WiFi
• BT 2.1
• Compass
• 10 hrs battery life
• 1 month standby

At first glance, I can see the appeal. It’s bigger than an iPhone/iPod, has a pretty screen, and is relatively portable – but dig under the surface and you have a product that doesn’t really seem to have a realistic demographic.

Let’s start with current Apple customers with iPod Touches and iPhones. What’s the use of buying this product? My iPhone can do everything the iPad can, it’s more portable, has a camera, and along with my monthly AT&T service I can make calls and send texts. iPod Touch users, you can do all the same things the iPad can as well. This iPad is essentially a giant iPod Touch with optional 3G service – that will further slow down AT&T’s already struggling network.

It’s my understanding that this is meant to compete with all of those netbooks out there. Again, Apple missed the mark. Sure, you can surf the web, but beyond that what else are you going to do with it? I know, I hear you Kindle and Nook fans out there, you can read books and stuff on it – but a Nook is in color and far less costly. You can also store photos and music on there – again, I can do that on my iPhone that fits in my pocket. Finally, a lot of netbook users out there want their netbooks for two main reasons – web and basic office functions. iWorks? I’m sorry, you want to compete out there you need Microsoft Office. Most of the white collar industry out there still functions on PC’s and Microsoft Office programs – the traveling business community out there is not going to risk compatibility issues while they are on the road between Microsoft Word and iWorks Pages. And even if you were okay with that risk, how are you going to type it? A touch screen keyboard works well on a small device, anything bigger than that you need a physical keyboard to do any meaningful work that requires typing (And yes, I know, there is a keyboard dock for it- I’m about to get to that). Not to mention no multitasking like the iPhone/iPod Touch – meaning you can’t have Pages and Safari open simultaneously.

Perhaps the biggest problem for Apple – which is a common one – is pricing. I know you get what you pay for, but let’s break this down. You can get a relatively top of the line (by netbook standards) HP netbook for about $35o. Seems reasonable for a stripped down laptop that is meant to be used mostly for web and basic office uses – all packaged together in a nice smaller package. Well, here’s Apple’s pricing on the iPad:

I own a 16GB iPhone, with all of my Apps, music, videos, and photos, it’s nearly to capacity. To me, a 16GB iPad-meant-to-be-a-laptop-thing isn’t reasonable; you start adding other files, more videos (because “…the iPad is awesome for TV shows and Movies!”) you are going to burn through that 16 GB pretty damn fast. So let’s say you go for the 32GB (again, they make iPhones with this capacity) and you can live without the 3G -which would cost you an additional $30/month from AT&T – so you are at $600+. Okay, well that’s “only” $250 more than that HP netbook; but then you buy the iPad and decide to reasonably use it at home or to type anything significant, you need that keyboard dock, and you better believe for a touchscreen device like this you are going to want that case. Let’s say this all costs another -and I’m being generous here I think- $100; BAM! You’re more than double the price a netbook that would more than likely meet all your needs.

So who is this iPad meant for? There’s not enough there for a traveling business-type to feasably use it, it’s too expensive for someone who wants to buy something like this to just surf the web, and I don’t see any reason a college student could use one (and I know, I am one). There are little components to each of these demographics, but nothing substantial it seems to justify the costly price tag (a price tag that Apple laughably advertises on their site right now as an “unbelieveable price”); you get up to that 64GB+3G range and you may as well just drop the extra 200 bones to get a more reasonable and useful Macbook.

The iPad is a device that you can use to:

• Surf the web without Flash plugin
• Create “office” documents without a physical keyboard (stock) and risking compatibility issues with the more widely used Microsoft Office
• Store photos and videos
• Store music
• Download and read books
• Utilize the many App Store apps on a larger screen than your iPhone/iPod Touch
• Look up maps and directions – because using this thing in a car would be safe…

Does that sound like it’s worth the $500+ price tag?

I think the Kindle and the Nook are both great ideas and products – they are also ideas that are aimed at a specific market. The iPad feels too much like a shotgun blast at several different markets with little substance to back it up. There isn’t enough included to compete in the netbook market and it costs too much to compete in the e-reader market, so where does it fit? Had apple maybe just comeout with an e-reader like a Nook or Kindle that maybe did a little more to give it an edge but still keep the price tag under $400 Apple might have a product that makes sense.

I assure you, I’m not a tech snob, and the iPad looks… neat and will probably in some way revolutionize computers down the road and it’s impressive that we even live in a world where a product like this exists, but Apple missed a mark. I love my iPhone. I use it all the time: It’s my iPod when I’m at the gym, it’s my social network outlet while I’m at work, it’s my internet on the go, it’s my handheld gaming device when I’m bored, and it even had a Kindle application for books, and most importantly it fits in my pocket and only cost me $300. Ultimately, I think Apple fanboys are going to rush out and buy the iPad, but without a clear market to corner and a hefty pricetag, I think Apple may have a flop on their hands.