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'The Voice' Judges Play Guesstures on Ellen

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It was a heated game of Guesstures with Christina Aguilera, Blake Shelton, Adam Levine and Ellen! Watch here to see who won -- the boys or the girls!

they're adorable tbh


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TVD "Dangerous Liaisons" Sneak Peek+ Nina Dobrev, Zach Roerig and Clair Holt Spoil+ New Poster

Ke$ha starts giving interviews again, Second Coming drawing closer

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Ke$ha: There’s a Real Girl Underneath All That Glitter

Yes, It's really Ke$ha! Take off the face paint, blow out the hangover hair, and what are you left with? A ballsy, beautiful pop star who proves: It's not just the glitter that makes her awesome.


The diva shows off a new, polished look. In real life, she says, "my makeup is usually left over from the night before." (Ha!)

If you've been on a dance floor—any dance floor—since 2009, then you're familiar with Ke$ha, she of "TiK ToK," "Your Love Is My Drug" and all that tribal makeup. Also glitter. Lots and lots of glitter. But when we busted out the makeup remover for this shoot, we discovered: There is a real girl underneath. And she has freckles! And hates it when people stiff waitresses. Hard at work on her upcoming rock album, this 24-year-old icon-in-the-making (born Kesha Sebert, no dollar sign, and raised in Nashville) turned down the insanely loud volume that is her life to talk, really talk, with us.

GLAMOUR: You were cranking some rock during your Glamour photo shoot. I've heard your new album is going to be much more rock 'n' roll.

KE$HA: People say that rock 'n' roll is dead, and I am making it my mission to resurrect it. I have rock 'n' roll pumping through my veins.

GLAMOUR: Do you think it's harder to succeed in rock as a woman?

KE$HA: I know that I have balls. I have bigger balls than a lot of the men that I meet. I'm just a ballsy motherf--ker. I'm not afraid of pushing boundaries. That's what you have to do to become an icon.

GLAMOUR: Women seem to be taking over pop music right now: you, Gaga, Rihanna, Katy Perry.... Why do you think that is?

KE$HA: I definitely think women are running it right now. We are not afraid to speak our minds. It's exciting because that's what I stand for, for people to be irreverent and to be themselves.

GLAMOUR: How big's the gap between Ke$ha in real life and Ke$ha onstage, drinking men's blood and dancing with a giant bouncing penis?

KE$HA: I'm just very amused by five-year-old humor. Don't get me wrong: I do destroy men on a weekly basis. It's like a hobby. I'm like a praying mantis. They f--k me, and then I eat them. But who isn't amused by a giant, dancing penis? Sometimes when I'm sad, I make my assistant put on the penis outfit and bounce around my house.

GLAMOUR: You generate such strong reactions—positive and negative. Your Twitter handle, @keshasuxx, is a joke on that, right?

KE$HA: I'm just taking the piss out of all of it. You have to have a sense of humor about life to get through it.

GLAMOUR: You've said you're attuned to people. What turns you off?

KE$HA: I was dating a guy once who spoke rudely to a taxi driver. I got out of the cab and walked home. Treat people with respect. I've waited tables, and that's why I just exceedingly overtip. It's exhausting work.

GLAMOUR: Why do you usually break it off with a guy?

KE$HA: I'm in the middle of writing a new record. I'm taking so many different instrument lessons. I'm also designing animal-friendly jewelry and a fake-fur line. So if a man is not, like, the second coming, then what's the point? I have other s--t to do.

GLAMOUR: What instruments?

KE$HA: Guitar. I need to be badass.

GLAMOUR: Your fans have such a crazy dedication to you.

KE$HA: The people who come to my shows have dollar signs drawn all over them. They have blue lipstick. I call them my animals because they just go totally mental.

GLAMOUR: Are you going to keep rocking the body paint?

KE$HA: Oh, the body paint stays. It's my favorite thing to do. Sometimes I have parties at my house in Nashville and it's clothing-optional, and we just body-paint each other and run around, and I have a giant bed. I'm very much in touch with that side of myself.

GLAMOUR: So maybe you're not all that different than you are onstage?

KE$HA: It's not a weird sex orgy thing. You can wear a bathing suit!

GLAMOUR: What do you say to all the moms who have kids running around the house singing, "Brush my teeth with a bottle of Jack," from "TiK ToK"?

KE$HA: Parents should not let them listen to my music if it's offensive. I wrote these songs for me.

GLAMOUR: Who are your style icons?

KE$HA: I would love to embody the attitude of Iggy Pop or Keith Richards: a ballsy mentality. Stylistically, I love Vivienne Westwood—those capes! I'm obsessed.

GLAMOUR: Your tattered American-flag shirt is very cool.

KE$HA: I wear it all the time. It represents my freedom to speak about exactly what I want to, whenever I want to.

GLAMOUR: For this photo shoot, your look is very natural. When you're not performing, how do you feel about going outside without makeup and knowing you might get photographed?

KE$HA: My makeup is usually left over from the night before. I'm not really worried about the photographs because if I tell my fans not to give a f--k about the haters, then I have to practice what I preach. I embrace the imperfections and celebrate them.

GLAMOUR: What are your favorite beauty products? Let's start with the body paint.

KE$HA: I'm coming out with my own line. And I found Bumble and Bumble dry shampoo that is like God's gift. You don't have to shower. You just put it in and instantly look like the eighties.

GLAMOUR: So what's next?

KE$HA: Eventually, I would love to be on my deathbed and looked at as an icon. Right now I'm still at the baby stages of my career. But that is the goal.

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I need new music and more news from her, asfdgoashdjföakjfdsnvökadjfngvölamlksjdfgvlbj

Mob Wives 'Big Ang' Explains Her Plastic Surgery

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New Mob Wives star Angela "Big Ang" Raiola exclusively tells RadarOnline.com that she’s obsessed with plastic surgery.

“I had a tummy tuck, liposuction, my lips injected and my breasts done three times,” Big Ang said. “The first time I had my breasts done was 27 years ago, and they put sponges in them. That was in 1985.”

Big Ang is the niece of Salvatore "Sally Dogs" Lombardi, a deceased captain of the Genovese crime family, tells RadarOnline.com that she loves to change her look and she’s already had more than six plastic surgeries -- and still wants more.

The 52-year-old attributes her obsession with plastic surgery to insecurities about her body after her first child was born.

“My boobs were so big after I gave birth, I was a 42 triple J so I had to do something,” Ang explained. “After I had the baby my boobs were dead. They just were prunes down to my waist. After my first surgery, I had them redone in 1995. They took the sponges out and put in saline implants. I had a double 36 double D when I was only 14-years-old, so I have always had a big chest."


Ten years later, she went back under the knife for another breast implant.

“I did it again in 2005, and replaced the saline with saline and silicone implants,” she said. “I’m good now, I have a 36 J and that is perfect. I think that when men look at me, they notice my height and my boobs. I am married to a 38-year-old and I am 52 and he is 6-foot-7.”

While Ang is pleased with her chest size, she’s had other cosmetic surgeries for body parts such as her lips.

“I had my lips done eleven years ago,” Big Ang said. “They put some sort of plastic collagen stuff [in]. I’m hot and I think I am sexy and men like my look, they just love me."

But it's never enough for Big Ang!

“I would like to have other surgery, like my eyes done and a slight face lift and my love handles removed by liposuction," she said. "I just need to get this liposuction fast around my bra and my backsides, and I’ll feel much better after that cause my age is kicking in."

And what better place to find a plastic surgeon than … Facebook?

“My sister found the surgeon on Facebook. She is like my manager and does everything for me,” Ang said. “I’m going in for a consultation for more plastic surgery in February and I hope to have it done in April. I’ve also had extensions for 25 years in every style and every color. I really like changing my look."


Big Ang is the Yoda of Mob Wives



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New Drake - Practice vid, lol forever.

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"practicevideos12@gmail.com // Submit Yours Today" 

SOURCE // 2

Kate Bosworth Stars in Another Wondrous Vanessa Bruno Video

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If Vanessa Bruno's nordic-inspired fall 2011 campaign video left you scratching your head, then be prepared for this one. Kate Bosworth returns for the French designer's spring 2012 imaginative ad to portray "a radiant girl who clutches onto the moon and arrives in an unknown land, on unmarred ground, as immaculate as her white ensemble," as the description notes. The actress is featured scaling walls, riding with horses, reminiscing on the past, and, of course, wearing covetable Vanessa Bruno.
This "futuristic fairy tale" is beautifully done and makes us want to learn more about the video's director, Stephanie Di Giusto (who has a fantastic Tumblr, by the way). The dreamlike theme also reminds us a bit of Michel Gondry's 2006 film The Science of Sleep. Watch "Moonlight" below.



I love these videos!!!

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Two perfect people talking

Stop the Damsel in Distress Act

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Parks and Recreation's once-funny and subversive lead character turns into an anti-feminist cliché.

If you’re looking to get into the pants of a feminist, wonkish liberal, make sure to work Parks and Recreation into your sweet nothings. The hit NBC show's main character, Leslie Knope—a hyper-competent assistant parks director played by Saturday Night Live-alumna Amy Poehler—is one of those rare female comic characters who is allowed dignity along with competence. The sitcom is a love letter to the hard-working government bureaucrats who keep our streets clean and our communities safe only to find their work repeatedly bashed by pandering Republicans looking to score points against so-called big government.

Unfortunately, everything that has made the show a winner with the smart set hasn’t resulted in ratings high enough to justify keeping it on the air. Watching the fourth season, I’ve come to fear that, in a last-ditch attempt to save the show, the writers are selling out their vision of a sweet-but-subversive sitcom and saddling Leslie with romantic story lines that buy into the boring old sexism that defines many on-air relationships.

Parks and Recreation struggled in its first season to find the unique voice now beloved by devoted fans. The first incarnation of Knope was basically the female version of Michael Scott on The Office: a self-absorbed character who is unable to relate well to others. But by the beginning of season two, the writers had decided instead to write Leslie less as a nincompoop and more as a loveable, intelligent policy wonk with a deep love of the political system. The new Leslie, who, unlike Michael Scott, has healthy friendships and is respected at her office, bears a strong resemblance to Hillary Clinton. That’s probably not a coincidence, since, during her time on Saturday Night Live, Poehler frequently performed dead-on impersonations of the secretary of state.

Poehler’s girl crush on Clinton had been a matter of public record before Parks and Recreation went on air. During one memorable "Weekend Update" segment with Tina Fey, the two women defended Clinton against sexist attacks with the immortal phrase, “Bitches get stuff done.” Throughout season two and most of season three, Leslie, who keeps a framed picture of Clinton prominently displayed in her office, fully embodied one of those competent bitches.

Above all, Leslie cares about the dignity and well-being of Pawnee residents when the other characters feel apathy. Leslie rescues the parks department from cost-cutting measures by proving its worth with a successful Harvest Festival; saves her friend from trouble by taking the fall for a hunting accident; and uses her wits to prevent a painting from being destroyed by fanatical Christians. For two years, the common thread in the show was that Leslie Knope was the hero of her own story—a nice bit of feminism that didn’t detract in any way from the humor of the show.

Then the writers decided Leslie needed a boyfriend. This shouldn’t be a problem in itself; Leslie has had boyfriends before without any meaningful compromises to her character. For some reason, however, the writers decided that hooking Leslie up with Ben, a nerdy assistant city manager played by Adam Scott, meant returning to tedious Hollywood clichés about how women can’t have both their careers and their love lives. To drive the knife in, throughout season four, Leslie stops being the hero of her own story and spends much of her time being rescued by her new boyfriend.

Things started to go off the rails with an artificial obstacle thrown in the way of Ben and Leslie’s happy coupling: an arbitrary rule established by their mutual boss disallowing office romances. The only purpose for this plot contrivance was to put Leslie in the role that anti-feminists paint as the fate of all ambitious women—trying to choose between love and work, and unable to have both. The writers expected the audience to believe that Leslie’s romance with Ben would somehow sink her reputation with the voters during her run for city council, making the citizens of Pawnee vicious tyrants enforcing the mutual exclusiveness of love and work for women. For a show that used to subvert stereotypes of feminist women, it was a low blow.

Even more insulting, once Leslie found herself in this untenable situation, the formerly competent administrator needed Ben to rescue her at every turn. When Leslie, who once swiftly dumped a boyfriend to keep the job she had, finds herself unable to break up with this new boyfriend to get the job she has always wanted, Ben saves her by dumping her first. Ben also comes to the rescue when their relationship is revealed to their boss; he quits so that Leslie doesn’t lose her job. Ben immediately goes to work as Leslie’s campaign manager, because by this point in the show, it’s just assumed that he’s her natural caretaker.

Last week’s episode, “Bowling for Votes,” epitomized the worst instincts of season four. Leslie, who used to be so competent that she gave a presentation while deliriously ill and nailed it, struggles to understand Ben’s instructions to appeal to the voters en masse instead of trying to win over one guy who disliked her in a focus group. Leslie’s downward spiral of political incompetence only stops when Ben punches the gadfly after he calls Leslie a “bitch,” which causes Leslie to swoon gratefully. It’s hard to imagine season two “bitches get stuff done” Leslie condoning a white knight's violent antics, much less finding such a thing arousing. Even while rating the episode a B, the Onion AV Club described the it as “not Leslie’s finest episode by a long shot.”

It’s not hard to see why the matter-of-fact feminism of earlier seasons might be slowly squeezed out of Parks and Recreation. Community, another NBC sitcom with subversive humor and subsequently low ratings, spent its third season stubbornly refusing to give an inch to mainstream sensibilities, leading to a mid-season hiatus that will almost surely result in cancelation. By sticking to more sexist romantic comedy tropes, Parks may have saved its neck from the ax, but in doing so, it’s quickly losing the charm that once made it the best sitcom on TV.


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Honestly, I don't feel as if the "no office romance" rule was much of a forced obstacle. It can easily happen in real life. I agree that perhaps there has been more of a focus on their relationship this season, but that doesn't make Leslie any less awesome or any less of a Pawnee Goddess!

Susan G. Komen reverses decision to cut funding for PP

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The Susan G. Komen Foundation has reversed its decision to cut funding for Planned Parenthood and apologized "to the American public," the Associated Press reports.




The statement issued by founder and CEO Nancy Brinker and the Susan G. Komen Board of Directors, says the foundation will immediately get in touch with its network and key supporters "to refocus our attention on our mission and get back to doing our work."

"The events of this week have been deeply unsettling for our supporters, partners and friends and all of us at Susan G. Komen," the statement says. "We have been distressed at the presumption that the changes made to our funding criteria were done for political reasons or to specifically penalize Planned Parenthood. They were not."

Komen had touched off an uproar by announcing that it had adopted criteria excluding Planned Parenthood from grants because it was under government investigation, notably a probe launched in Congress at the urging of anti-abortion groups.

Komen said today it would change the criteria so it wouldn't apply to such investigations.

"We will continue to fund existing grants, including those of Planned Parenthood, and preserve their eligibility to apply for future grants," the statement says.


The full statement:

We want to apologize to the American public for recent decisions that cast doubt upon our commitment to our mission of saving women's lives.

The events of this week have been deeply unsettling for our supporters, partners and friends and all of us at Susan G. Komen. We have been distressed at the presumption that the changes made to our funding criteria were done for political reasons or to specifically penalize Planned Parenthood. They were not.

Our original desire was to fulfill our fiduciary duty to our donors by not funding grant applications made by organizations under investigation. We will amend the criteria to make clear that disqualifying investigations must be criminal and conclusive in nature and not political. That is what is right and fair.

Our only goal for our granting process is to support women and families in the fight against breast cancer. Amending our criteria will ensure that politics has no place in our grant process. We will continue to fund existing grants, including those of Planned Parenthood, and preserve their eligibility to apply for future grants, while maintaining the ability of our affiliates to make funding decisions that meet the needs of their communities.

It is our hope and we believe it is time for everyone involved to pause, slow down and reflect on how grants can most effectively and directly be administered without controversies that hurt the cause of women. We urge everyone who has participated in this conversation across the country over the last few days to help us move past this issue. We do not want our mission marred or affected by politics - anyone's politics.

Starting this afternoon, we will have calls with our network and key supporters to refocus our attention on our mission and get back to doing our work. We ask for the public's understanding and patience as we gather our Komen affiliates from around the country to determine how to move forward in the best interests of the women and people we serve.

We extend our deepest thanks for the outpouring of support we have received from so many in the past few days and we sincerely hope that these changes will be welcomed by those who have expressed their concern.



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ONTD Roundup

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Gaga fans set up organisation to trash Madonna and earn money for it

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From the blog:

Okay, Little Monsters. This is it! Madonna's album kickoff officially starts tomorrow and the Lady Gaga Project is paying you to make negative and cruel insults on different web sites after they post articles. A lot of people read these comments, especially on the Huffington Post, so this will hurt her. We will pay you per page hit (5 to 10 cents depending on how strong the site is on Google News). Please contact littlemonster19912@gmail.com to get in the program. The first one will be from this Friday to Sunday evening.

You will be paid for long, negative comments on any Google News approved site. The biggest one we are monitoring is the one on Huffington Post. Here is the link to Huffington Post's entertainment page. Other suggestions: Daily Mail, Entertainment Weekly, ABC News, Queerty, Towleroad, People, USA Today, UK Sun, Breitbart.com, Yahoo.com, Idolator, Just Jared, Pop Crush.

Your comments must be at least five sentences long and cover one of the following topics:

1. Madonna's new single is flopping. It's getting bad reviews.
2. Madonna is a has-been. Lady Gaga is more current.
3. "WE" is getting really bad reviews.
4. Madonna is a copycat, not Lady Gaga.
5. Madonna's Super Bowl show was awful.
6. Madonna's body parts (mostly her grotesque arms).

More to come. Please be a part of our program. Take off work this weekend and earn money here! Thanks to Little Monster Salvatore and Little Monster Rebecca for donating money to this. Thanks to Little Monster Super Amanda for suggesting we do this in the first place. PAWS UP!

Update: We have already hired more than 30 people and cannot really afford any more at this point. The song and video is being univerallly panned everywhere and it is expected to flop. It's possible Clear Channel may even drop Madonna after this album. But still, here is a list of articles on Google News that you need to make comments on.

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OH HERE GO HELL COME

The Most Disturbing Tweets From Mario Lopez's Dog

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Soooo, Mario Lopez runs a Twitter account for his dog Julio C.C. Lopez.


The tall, dark and handsome Mario Lopez has settled down with the love of his life – short, chunky, pointy-eared and clumsy Julio Cesar Chavez Lopez.

No, it’s not the Julio Cesar Chavez known for blows and knockouts; this little tub of chub is four-legged, smushed faced and the most perfect ball of love for the popular Lopez, who hosts “EXTRA” and MTV’s “America’s Best Dance Crew.” He’s the proud owner of a French Bulldog who he’s named Julio Cesar Chavez after the famous ex-boxer.

























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Bon Iver Turned Down Playing the Grammys, "We Kind of Said 'Fuck You' a Little Bit"

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In an interview with Billboard, Justin Vernon said that Bon Iver was indeed offered to play the Grammys-- but only if the band collaborated with another artist. And so as not to compromise their music, they declined.

Vernon told Billboard, "We wanted to play our music, but we were told that we couldn't play. We had to do a collaboration with someone else. And we just felt like it was such a large stage. We're getting nominated for this record that we made, me and Brian [Joseph] and a bunch of our fucking friends, and we were given accolades for it. And all of a sudden we were being asked to play music that had nothing to do with that. We kind of said 'fuck you' a little bit and they sort of acted like they wanted us to play, but I don't think they wanted us to play."

Vernon described the proposed collaborators as "awesome people" and "people that [he] would love to play a song with." But, he said, "fuckin' rock n' roll should not be decided by people that have that job. Rock n' roll should be the fucking people with guitars around their backs. And their friends. And their managers."

Commenting on the band's Grammys commercial spot, Vernon said, "There's a big misunderstanding-- I don't want to sell music. But if people are going to be selling music, and they want to sell our music without disturbing the medium of what it actually is, we want to fucking do that. I want people to hear the music that we make. I don't want to do it in any shitty way."

As you may recall, it's not the first time Vernon has voiced his opinion on the Grammys, which air February 12.

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Songs from Glee 3x12 "The Spanish Teacher"

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imagebam.com
David & Santana - La Isla Bonita


imagebam.com
David & Artie - Sexy and I Know It


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Sam - Bamboleo / Hero


imagebam.com
Mercedes - Don't Wanna Lose You


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Will - A Little Less Conversation

s o u r ce

NBC to replace 'The Firm' with 'Awake' starting March 1st.

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The Firm has lost NBC’s Thursday night account.

After dragging its heels for weeks in the ratings, NBC is pulling the John Grisham-inspired legal drama from its weekday lineup. Instead, NBC’s new high-concept drama Awake will take its place starting Thursday, March 1, at 10 PM.

The Firm will move to Saturday nights at 9 p.m. for the remainder of its run — so, yes, it’s basically cancelled, no surprise there. Last night’s episode delivered only 3 million viewers and an anemic 0.8 rating in the adult demo. Awake stars Jason Isaacs as a detective who finds he is leading a complex double life after a tragic accident.

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I'm so glad this show is finally premiering! Hope it doesn't flop.

Hilary Duff Enters Final Month of Pregnancy

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Out for a midday pampering session, pregnant Hilary Duff enjoyed an appointment at Bellacures nail salon in Studio City, CA earlier today (January 26).

Keeping in casual for her mani/pedi, the 24-year-old sported a light brown fedora, striped green top, loose black pants and matching flip flops.












Checking up on their little one, Hilary Duff and Mike Comrie were spotted going to see the doctor in Beverly Hills, CA this afternoon (January 25).

The “War, Inc” actress and her hockey player hubby fed the parking meter and walked side by side to her all-important monthly pregnancy check-up.









Hilary Duff Picking Up Mike From A Hospital in Santa Monica February 2nd












1,2,3

She's massive now!

azealia in the new yawk times

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AZEALIA BANKS, a 20-year-old rapper from Harlem, has a filthy mouth. Very few lines, and not a single verse, of her hit song “212” can be reprinted in this newspaper. The song’s stark black-and-white video, shot before a plain brick wall, has been viewed more than three million times on YouTube. It shows off a thumping reggae-spackled beat, her lyrical prowess and, perhaps most important, her unique fashion sense. In the video, she’s in pigtails, denim cutoffs and a vintage Mickey Mouse sweater. And in the coming months, you can expect to see Ms. Banks and her anti-glamorous mix of Harlem swagger and downtown cool reinterpreted in numerous fashion magazines.

She has been photographed by the Dutch photo team Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin for V magazine, by Matt Irwin for GQ and by Nicola Formichetti for Elle. And in early January, Terry Richardson shot her for a spring fashion spread in T: The New York Times Style Magazine.

Fashion designers, in particular, seem to be drawn to her street-meets-chic look. Mr. Formichetti, of Mugler, played Ms. Banks’s unreleased track, “Bambi,” during his men’s wear show at Paris Fashion Week last month, and is directing the video for her next single “Licorice.” Ms. Banks even performed “212” at Karl Lagerfeld’s home in Paris last week at a party celebrating Karl, the designer’s new budget line.

No wonder some fashion bloggers are already calling her the next Nicki Minaj. But unlike Ms. Minaj, Ms. Banks still takes her cues from the street. On a recent afternoon, Ms. Banks arrived at a bustling Latin restaurant in Washington Heights wearing black spandex tights and a pink long-sleeve T-shirt, looking as if she had just left yoga (which she had). There was no Rolex on her wrist, no LV logo on her leather motorcycle jacket.

Despite her recent globe-trotting, Ms. Banks insists that she is still the girl from Harlem. “Life is the same,” she said, a sly smile forming between her churlish lips. “It would be the same thing if I were still working at Starbucks, having to deal with a manager, and a shift manager,” she said, along with customers that elicited language fitting of her lyrics. “This is a job.”

Ms. Banks grew up on 152nd Street, between Amsterdam Avenue and Broadway. Her father died of pancreatic cancer when she was 2. Her mother, who worked as a sales clerk at an art supply store, and who Ms. Banks said could be physically and verbally abusive, devoted herself to putting Ms. Banks and her two sisters through school.

Performing was always a passion. She attended private and Catholic schools in Harlem, where she danced with the National Dance Institute, a nonprofit arts group. Once, she performed at Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music and Art and Performing Arts, the so-called “Fame” school, which Ms. Minaj also attended.

The school changed her life, artistically and stylistically. She was no longer required to wear a school uniform. “That’s when I discovered Urban Outfitters, but it was so expensive,” she said. “So I would go to Forever 21 and the Spanish stores and I would put it together and make it look kind of hipster.”

To this day, Ms. Banks wears her neighborhood on her sleeve (and feet). “I wear a lot of clothes that’s going to get dirty and look cool once it gets dirty,” she said.

She took a similar approach to her rapping, which she began after failed attempts at acting. Friends were impressed by her short rhymes, so with money earned from working at Starbucks, she paid an acquaintance $30 an hour to lay down tracks in a bedroom recording studio. Her streetwise crassness and clever wordplay were evident in early tracks like “Gimme a Chance,” where she raps “Even white fellows wanna jump in the hot choco’lit/ Like marshmallows, get it?”

Her youthful exuberance turned heads. At a Nike basketball event in the East Village, Ms. Banks caught the eye of Vashtie Kola, the hip-hop tastemaker and video director. “She’s 17-year-old emcee, and she spits pure fiyah!” Ms. Kola wrote on her blog.

Early fans also included Dante Gonzales, who runs conceptual parties in New York and Los Angeles called Dante Fried Chicken, where he pairs food with up-and-coming artists. “We were all freaking out over her,” said Mr. Gonzales, who introduced her to producers like Machinedrum and Diplo. “She’s so versatile, and so hyper-intelligent, but a teenager from Harlem.”

In 2009, with her music career starting to bud, she dropped out of high school and signed a development deal with London-based XL records, but early tracks failed to take off. A year later, she was looking for new label when she met Mike DeFreitas, a manager from Montreal who had a small roster of up-and-coming beatmakers including Machinedrum.

Mr. DeFreitas oversaw a club-friendly mix of “212,” shepherded the video and cultivated radio play in London. The song, which could be heard on BBC 1 in the fall, was included on the NME 2011 Cool List and the Pitchfork “Top 10 Tracks of 2011.”

It had a celebrity following as well: in December, Gwyneth Paltrow tweeted that she was “obsessed” with the video. Soon after, Ms. Banks became one of five people whom Kanye West follows on Twitter.

The aggression in “212” is palpable, not just in the beat but also in the crass lyrics, in which she asserts her dominance over a male opponent. Ms. Banks considers herself bisexual, but, she said: “I’m not trying to be, like, the bisexual, lesbian rapper. I don’t live on other people’s terms.

Now, her budding star power has landed her on a major label. Two weeks ago, she signed a deal with Universal Music and she plans to put out her first album this spring.

Ms. Banks takes it all in stride. “I’ve been out for three years,” she said. “I’ve been around.”


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sad 2 hear about her troubled home life :( and this wasn't posted already mods bc this only came out like an hour ago

Is Fashion Elitist?

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Fashion critics flocked to Cambridge and its esteemed Union on Thursday night to debate the motion ‘that fashion is elitist’- in perhaps the most elite setting imaginable.

Arguing in support of the motion were Guardian columnist Hadley Freeman, commentator Caryn Franklin and Parsons fashion professor Beth Dincuff. On the other side of the bench were Shanghai Tang founder Sir David Tang, journalist Hilary Alexander and X Factor stylist Grace Woodward. The latter supported her argument that fashion is not elitist by appearing at the debate in an Alexander McQueen dress that she bought at a sample sale for £40.

The debaters, though they differed in points of argument, all arrived fashionably late. The debate unfolded around two strands: that fashion hews to elitist physical aesthetics (or doesn’t), and that what the industry dictates is inherently elitist (or not).



The Debate Society: (from top left) Grace Woodward, Caryn Franklin, Hilary Alexander and Hadley Freeman

Starting off the pro side was Freeman, who challenged the negative connotations of the word “elitist”. ‘Fashion that is not elite is just clothing,’ she said, moving on to argue that fashion’s exclusionary nature is its more negative side. The reliance on predominantly ‘young, thin, white’ models is ‘a lazy and daft way of intimating… that that is the only form of beauty.

The fashion industry is elitist in both the best and worst senses of the word,’ she concluded.



All Walks Beyond the Catwalk founder Caryn Franklin also criticised fashion’s elitist tendencies, with a lighter touch. ‘Rampant elitism is the cornerstone of fashion’s foundation garments,’ she said.

I wear Alexander McQueen, therefore I am… part of a select group that can afford it,’ she joked. ‘Fashion has such a sense of self-importance, it comes with a dry-clean-only label as standard.’

The opponents to the motion hit their stride with Grace Woodward’s largely biographical evidence. ‘Fashion, rather than being elitist, is notably inclusive,’ she said, listing the names of industry talents who rose from humble origins.

Victoria Beckham is walking, talking proof there is no elitism in fashion.’



Hilary Alexander, who recently retired after 25 years leading the Telegraph fashion team, spoke without notes. Designer-high street collaborations—or ‘fashion marriages’, as she termed them—encourage her that the field is growing more democratic. ‘Fashion really is becoming more and more for everybody,’ she said.

Are we going to call excellence elitist? I rest my case.’

The house voted in favour of the motion that fashion is elitist with 135 ayes, 123 noes and 35 abstentions.



The maverick of the debate was David Tang, who made throwaway comments about people in fashion taking themselves too seriously (taking himself seriously enough to don a tuxedo and travel from London to debate the issues he dismissed). ‘I rather like the fact that beautiful women are thin, not fat,’ he quipped after Freeman’s criticism of body image in fashion.

But Tang didn’t count on facing off with the Union member who stood to rebut him. ‘I think big women are beautiful too,’ she said.

And the house went wild - in a Cambridge Thursday night debating society kind of way.



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Lindsay Lohan - By Terry Richardson for 'Love Magazine'

Living Legend Russell Brand Interviews a Dude From Some Band Called, Like, The Beatles or Something.

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Ringo Starr will never write a book about his life, he insisted during a "Town Hall" broadcast live yesterday on SiriusXM from the Troubadour in West Hollywood, Calif. "I've been asked to write an autobiography of myself, but they really only want those eight years," he said with a laugh, referring to his time in the Beatles. "And I say, 'But there are 10 volumes before we get to that, and 20 afterwards.'"

The afternoon broadcast had Starr trading wisecracks and surreal repartee with host and inquisitor Russell Brand, who sat onstage next to the legendary drummer with a crazed grin, welcoming him to Los Angeles. "As you know, I was born in South Central," said the British Brand, wearing a leather jacket and long scarf. "Unfortunately, I'm a Crip and Ringo's a Blood."

The occasion was this week's release of Starr's new album, Ringo 2012, as an intimate crowd of satellite radio listeners read from prepared questions. One fan noted that Monday was the 43rd anniversary of the Beatles' famous rooftop concert in London – the band's final live public performance. "Is it really?" Starr replied, caught by surprise.

Starr said he had just one disappointment with that historic 1969 concert, documented by a camera crew for the film Let It Be: "The police came to stop us, and I was on the roof: 'Come on, drag me off!' It would be so dramatic, and the damn cop wouldn't drag me off!"


He announced plans for a U.S. tour in 2012 and answered questions on his life and music, including the source of his influential drumming style, which owes something to being born left-handed while his grandmother – "the voodoo queen of Liverpool" – forced him to write with his right. He remains a lefty in everything else.

Starr frequently flashed a peace sign and repeated his personal greeting: "Peace and love, peace and love." Dressed in a black suit, his black hair and beard cropped short, Starr said, "It's up to you. I'm always doing it."

Brand then held up his fingers and said, "Actually, Ringo, you did insist that if I didn't put my two fingers like that, you would break them."

"I did say that in a peace and love way," Starr deadpanned.

Asked how he felt about the digital revolution, as listeners choose to download individual songs instead of full albums, Starr said, "It's a different time, and I'm afraid to say that's what I do. If you made a record, I'd probably pick out tracks that I like and download that. That's just how it is. We have to go with that because it's changed.

"I love the modern technology now. I was a little opposed to it –'Oh, in my day, we used to have a donkey turning the wheel, and two guys chewing tape to make it soft,'" Starr joked, but also proudly noted the vinyl version of his new album.

When one fan rambled a little too long, Brand declared: 'You're the worst audience member since John Wilkes Booth."

Starr also was joined by producer and "moderator" Don Was for some final questions, and then a four-piece band for a quick set of solo and Beatles tunes, beginning with his 1971 hit "It Don't Come Easy." He stepped behind a drumkit to play and sing the Beatles' "I Wanna Be Your Man." His friend (and in-law) Joe Walsh stepped onstage for some fiery guitar during "Wings," an old Starr tune re-recorded for the new album, then closed with the Beatles' "With A Little Help From My Friends" and Buck Owens' "Act Naturally."

"I don't want to go back anywhere," Starr said when asked where in his past he'd revisit or change. "I want to deal with what's in front of me now to the best of my abilities, and sometimes that's not very good. But a lot of the days it is really great."

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