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So Norwood Young Isn’t Broke Or Using A Sugardaddy Afterall?


Looks like Norwood Young isn’t going broke afterall.  Despite reports of selling his L.A. mansion at a dirt cheap price and having to reach out to an alleged sugardaddy, we’ve found out that’s not the case.

 

Deets inside….

We were one of the sites to receive the bad info about just what was going on with Mr. Norwood Young and how his lifestyle came to be.  And we decided to get to the bottom of it for the real deal once and for all.

Folks have been wondering for years exactly who Norwood is and how he copped his interesting 7 Bed/7 BR & 4,832 sqft home for $ 1.2 mill back in ’97.  Most haven’t heard his songs he stays he makes his money from.  But it looks like he’s going to make more mula from his upcoming estate sale for his interesting decor, his books, Broadway, and putting his house on the market for $ 1.79 mill (he just came down from his $ 2.4 mill ask).

Just what has Mr. Norwood done in the entertainment world you ask?  We asked too.  And found these little nuggets of info.  According to L.A. Blockshopper:

Young is a singer, author and activist. He is also the author of Getting Back To My Me, an inspirational memoir that sheds light on the devastating effects of childhood sexual abuse. He first auditioned for the leading role of James Thunder Early in the off Broadway production of Dreamgirls, wherein he got the lead role.
He was also seen on the Broadway shows, Momma I want to Sing, Part.2 and Don’t Get God Started and A Good Man is Hard to Find. He is also the owner of the nightclub, Club Collage.

Norwood also told us recently that his "look" is due to sex abuse issues, not vanity or sexual orientation reasons as previously reported.  He actually revealed details about it back in February when he included it in his book:

"Keeping this a secret, it manifested into drug abuse. It manifested into psychosis. It manifested into self-mutilation in the form of more than 15 plastic surgery procedures.  I had the voice of my cousin in my head saying, ‘Shut up! It’s supposed to hurt. You’re a pretty boy,’ so I didn’t want to look like that, didn’t want to look like myself. I don’t like my eyes, I don’t like my cheeks. I would just change this stuff. And I was able to mask the reality with these idiosyncrasies in a show business community where they’re not only accepted, but admired."

We stand corrected.  Now we know….

The Young, Black, and Fabulous

The President And First Lady Welcome Janelle Monae & Others To The White House For The South Korean State Dinner


Last night, President Barack Obama along with First Lady Michelle Obama welcomed the President and First Lady of South Korea to a state dinner at the White House with Janelle Monae providing the evening’s musical entertainment. Get the deets inside….

 


 

Although it rained, the stunning President and First Lady hosted a gorgeous state dinner last night in honor of South Korean President Lee Myung-bak and wife Kim Yoon-ok.  Mrs. Obama looked absolutely amazing in her draped purple one-shoulder dress designed by Korean-American designer Doo-Ri Chung.

And the President seemed to be in good spirits despite the GOP shooting down his jobs bill in the Senate this week.

President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama’s guest list included a set of Washington dignitaries, business people and celebrities.  

 


 

Lovely decor.

And Janelle Monae donned her signature black (and white) tux for the evening.  Such a fab chick!

 

The Young, Black, and Fabulous

WAIT, HOLD UP! Usher Turns 33 Today!


Today is the 33rd birthday of pop icon Usher, who’s been entertaining fans all around the world over half of his life. Celebrate his special day inside…..

 

At 33-years-old, Usher Raymond is a force to reckon with in pop culture.  In addition to leaving his own imprint, he can lay claim to discovering Justin Bieber, which probably puts him at the top of most teen girls’ "Thank You" lists.  

And in addition to gifting Bieber to the world, through his New Look Foundation, the singer is helping create the next generation of world leaders.

And with perhaps his most precious role of all, he is a doting father whose two sons, Naviyd & Usher V, adore him

Celebrate 33 years of poppin’ & lockin’ & grinding on stages with Usher in the gallery…..

The Young, Black, and Fabulous

Drake Talks Getting Played By Rihanna, Loving Nicki Minaj, & Being Lonely+Nicki Hits “Ellen” With Her 6-Year-Old Clones


Elle magazine chit chatted with Drake ahead of his November 2011 Take Care album release. And he dished on his usual obsessions: Nicki Minaj, Rihanna, naked pics & working so hard he gets lonely.

 

More inside…

Drake still wants you to know he’s holding out to marry Ms. Minaj.  And he’s still hurt. Loves naked pics being sent to him sometimes. And never had a threesome.  Here’s some highlights from his feature in the latest issue:

On loneliness:

"When you’re on the road and moving city to city, when someone isn’t there at the end of the night, you feel empty. The 15 or 20 seconds after a man reaches his climax is the realest moment he’ll ever have in his life. And if you happen to be with somebody that isn’t someone you want to converse with, you start feeling like, I wish I was just here watching True Blood by myself."

On his fake Twitter marriage to Nicki Minaj:

"I don’t know if we were really pretending. I’d marry Nicki. I think Nicki would be one of the only people that would understand me at the end of all of this and be able to love me."

On bringing girls home to mom:

"The most intense thing I’ve ever done was bring a girl to Passover dinner. [My mom] just wants me to be happy, but I’m sure she’d love it if I married a Jewish girl."

On receiving naked pictures:

"If you send them without me asking, it’s like, You’ve done this before. But I’m away a lot. If there’s a woman I’m into, I might want to get a picture from her to handle business myself, as opposed to doing something I might regret."

On threesomes:

"I’ve never had one. I swear. I’m a one-woman kind of guy."

On being hurt by Rihanna:

"At the time it hurt, but she didn’t mean to. I’ll never put that on her. I was hurt because I slowly started to realize what it was. I guess I thought it was more. That was the first girl with any fame that paid me any mind. You spend days reading about this person in magazines. All of a sudden you have this number-one song and you’re at some birthday party and there she is. And you’re just some naive kid from Toronto staying in some shitty-ass hotel who got invited to this party on a whim. That’s just how it happened."
 

Thanks to Complex.

Meanwhile, Nicki Minaj hit up "Ellen" yesterday after announcing the AMA nominees.  She was there to surprise the two 6-year-old girls who became instant Youtube celebs after rapping her "Superbass" song to perfection:

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Nicki preached her usual Stay In School advice after saying how overwhelmed she as about the girls’ talent:

“Within five seconds of seeing this video, I was calling everyone I knew and I was also receiving a billion emails. Everyone is like, ‘You have to see this little girl.’ She blew me away!”

She told them: "Stay in school. Music is beautiful, but stay in school, okay? Put your books first and your singing second!"

 

 

The Young, Black, and Fabulous

GO BANANAS! It’s Ashanti’s 31st Birthday!


 

Ashanti turns 31-years old today!  Pump your fists and go "bananas" for the NY chick in the tribute gallery inside….

Since her record-breaking debut Ashanti hit the streets nearly 10-years ago, Ashanti has become a fixture in the entertainment world through her singing and songwriting.

And while some celebs would have just stopped there, Ashanti has totally thrown herself into several charitable endeavors, including the Boys & Girls Clubs Of America

And although the pretty singer is somewhat private about her personal life, her romance with rapper Nelly also keeps fans interested.

Celebrate Ashanti’s 31 years in the gallery.

The Young, Black, and Fabulous

ENGAGED! The Game Proposes To Baby Moms…With Cameras In Tow


The Game decided to throw in his "player card" and become a family man.  He brought cameras and the kiddies along so the world could see him propose to his baby moms and girlfriend of 7 years, Tiffany Cambridge.

 

Peep it inside…

Get More: Music News

Well look at Mr. Jayceon.  Gettin’ all official.  He dropped to one knee at girlfriend Tiffany’s job–Frank D. Parent Elementary School in Inglewood, CA–and planned all the hoopla that morning.

Game said, "As a man, this is that day where you throw your player card away and step up and be a family man.  She deserves it.  It’s been a long run, it’s been 7 years.  We’ve been off, we’ve been on, we’ve been arguing, fought, good times and bad.  And at the end of the day, as a man, this is something that I owed to her and I owe to my family.  It’s time."

Tiffany said she’s like a deer in headlights and thought she was getting set-up to get fired.  Ha!

This is Game’s second engagement, his first was to the now married Valeisha Butterfield.  Congrats!

 

The Randomness:

1.  Sparkle star Whitney Houston pulled a diva move over a seatbelt on her Delta flight to Detroit.  And got checked by the flight attendants.  Story

The Young, Black, and Fabulous

Gabby Union, Sanaa Lathan & Ciara Get GORGE For Charlize Theron’s Africa OUTREACH Project Benefit


Three of our fave gorgeous ladies, Gabby, Sanaa, & Ciara, stepped out for a cause Tuesday night in Cali.  They went out to support Charlize Theron‘s Africa Outreach Project.  Pics and details inside…

The YBF chicks whipped out their best cocktail looks for last night’s charity event in Century City, CA.  At the Annenberg Space For Photography, South African actress Charlize Theron’s Africa Outreach Project (CTAOP) hosted the world premiere of the Randall Slavin Celebrity Photo Series.

The sold-out benefit lecture was a personal, in-depth and behind the scenes tour of the images in Slavin’s project "REACH: 24 portraits by Randall Slavin to benefit the CTAOP." REACH is a collection of previously unseen portraits of some of the most influential names of our time including Clint Eastwood, Eddie Vedder, Kobe Bryant and Bill Clinton.  And Charlize’s charity is committed to reducing the prevalence of HIV/AIDS and sexual violence among African youth by supporting and collaborating with organizations that provide preventive education.

Gabby Union stepped out for the cause in a chic cream silk dress with belted embellishments and a sheer back:

Lovely.

Her girl Sanaa Lathan brought some brightness to fall in this yellow one-shoulder number and blue pumps:

Cute.

And Ciara posed it up with photographer Randall Slavin himself and Charlize.


 

And rocked this cute blush leather mini skirt and matching sheer ruffled blouse.

Would love to know what they were laughing it up about….

Photog: Kravitz

The Young, Black, and Fabulous

FOOLYWANG MATERIAL: Vybz Kartel RELEASES Line Of “Skin Brightening” Products For Men


We told you earlier that reggae artist Vybz Kartel was proud of his scary skin bleaching.  And now he has a line of prodcuts for the man to do the same thing.

Come inside to find out how you can give the man in your life light skin just like Vybz!

Although Vybz Kartel aka Adidja Palmer is currently in Jamaica facing murder, conspiracy to commit murder and illegal possession of firearm charges stemming from the shooting death of Barrington Burton, that hasn’t stopped his hustle and flow in the skin bleaching department.

The artist is coming out with a line of men’s skincare products and it will include items that can be used to lighten the skin.

But why would you do that?

Well….for some (ignorant) folks, having lighter skin implies wealth.  And during an interview where Vybz defended his use of cake soap to lighten his skin (cake soap and Vybz’s skin brightener are two different products) he said,

‘When black women stop straightening their hair and wearing wigs and weaves, when white women stop getting lip and butt injections and implants … then I’ll stop using the ‘cake soap’ and we’ll all live naturally ever after.’


And p.s., although he is starting his launch in the Caribbean, Vybz has said, ‘I wanna see them in Macy’s and all other fine retailers worldwide.’

Hmm……does Vybz has a point?  On the flip side, do people accuse the Jersey Shore kids of being uncomfortable with themselves for tanning?  Just playing devil’s advocate.

And for the record, no matter how many ways I look at this, skin bleaching is still ignorant.  Yeah, I said it.

The Young, Black, and Fabulous

Idris Elba Talks Sucky Jobs, Changing His Name, & Fighting School Kids On “Jimmy Kimmel”


Actor Idris Elba graced us all with his sexy presence on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" for the first time.  He revealed what his real name is…and why he had to change it…plus how he had to fight his way through school in London.  Check it inside…

 

"Luther" actor Idris, who explained that his mom is from Ghana and dad is from Sierra Leone, revealed that his government name is Idrissa.  So after getting made fun of and having to fight dudes at school over his feminineesque name, he got everone to drop the -sa.

 

He also revealed his dad made him get a factory job he hated at Ford twenty years ago because dad swore being an actor would never bring in money. 

The fineness of this man….

The Young, Black, and Fabulous

SPOTTED: Keri Hilson Goes Green In London


Keri Hilson‘s still trying to be different.  And she was spotted out in London rocking bright green sunglasses and yellow printed pants.  Pics inside…

 

Miss Keri Baby was rocking a look that we could so see Kelis in.  She was out partying at Indig02 and Ministry of Sound.  The shaggy sweater, the wild yellow leggings, the chunky boots and these bright green shades.  So Euro.

You feelin’ it?

Photos: SPLASH

 

The Randomness:

1.  Ne-Yo revealed that his new album will be called The Cracks In Mr. Perfect.

The Young, Black, and Fabulous