I’m sitting in the bed watching my husband watch Love Jones on his laptop and it reminded me of a conversation I had with Big Sister Gorgeous One last week about the lack of Black Romance movies, Belle’s post and Tyler Perry.

Diva: Check out Belle’s post today.
TJ: a belle in brooklyn is talkin bout willie lynch? I may need a drink
Diva: No you won’t…lol.
TJ: ok…why dont tyler perry films count? They making money.
Diva: She had me in the beginning but I got lost in the middle. Cause Tyler Perry’s characters aren’t “normal” according to the standards she established with the Love Jones comparison.
TJ: They’re romantic stories.
Diva: She’s saying that we don’t know people like those characters.
TJ: Don’t know people like Tyler Perry characters? Really?
Diva: I BELIEVE that’s the point she’s trying to make. But that’s about where I got confused…with the wheel…and the underclass. But I think it’s a good start. Because I agree….I would love to see more romantic comedies with black people LIKE ME
TJ: I don’t. Actually I see why I quit reading Belle in Brooklyn. Black people like you? Oh the right socio-economic status….gotcha.
Diva: And same interests! Here’s an example since we’re talking about Tyler Perry. What was that damn movie….Daddy’s Girls? I don’t have girlfriends hooking up with the barely working father of 3 by the crack whore
TJ: Ok…Here is the deal with Tyler Perry. His films – they make a profit. So somebody sees something in them.
Diva: That shit don’t take me away to fantasy land and make me wanna see em over and over again.
TJ: And I will be really glad when all of the people who look down on his films. Get some 8mm cameras and some passes to Sundance since they so culturally inclined or think they are.
Diva: I think we support Tyler Perry’s movies because we want to see more of ourselves in movies.  And that at some point we’re going to expect more from him
TJ: All of his films arent daddys girls
Diva: As a consumer I have a right to expect more from him as a film maker
TJ: Some of y’all had a problem with Precious and I’m sorry
Diva: You always throwing up the yalls!
TJ: Yep
Diva: Divisive ass! I LIKED PRECIOUS!
TJ: I ain’t divisive. When you have a post that starts out attacking his films, when he done built a studio…and is providing real roles for folk…not to mention buying into a project like Precious…maybe that’s his pathway into more substantial work….his entree if you will.
Diva: Truth be told…..Tyler ain’t put his name on that shit til after Lee Daniels had taken it to the indie crowd. Is she really attacking his films or just using them as an example?
TJ: See he went out and wrote the plays and got the films made, shot it in his house. Where is the work ethic of the folk who always feel the need to take a shot? I mean outside of spike lee? And heck, it would even be tolerable if all the yip yappers went and financed SPIKE LEE films! But that would be too much like constructive.
Diva: HEY~I support Spike!
TJ: Most of the bougie yet pretentious elite does not. If they did, then his movies would be makin profits too. Like Tyler’s. LOLOLOL
Diva: So are you saying that the bourgie yet pretentious elite is who supports Tyler?
TJ: No. I’m saying they complain yet by and large they are not constructively supporting alternatives.
Diva: But TJ you have to agree that there is a big difference in Love Jones and Why Did I Get Married. It didn’t even have any substance. And haven’t we decided that Sharon and the actress who plays Angela are one trick ponies? Can’t we get some more Brown Sugars and some Love & Basketballs? Hell….some Claudines!
TJ: Yes, but the folks who made Brown Sugar and Love and Basketball ain’t makin em no mo. So it’s time for the new jacks to step up with they 8mms and they Sundance credentials.
Diva: Well why the hell not? Where they at?
TJ: Well folk like Tracey are into reality tv cause it pays more and Kenneth ain’t there to tell her “oh hell naw”
no more. Other folk are just doing mainstream projects cause thats what gets green lighted….if that in this economy. Miramax HAS been shut down!

I like it….

Ladies and Gentlemen…..Aubrey Graham.

Aubrey Drake Graham (born October 24, 1986) is a Canadian actor and recording artist. He originally became known for playing Jimmy Brooks, the basketball star that became physically disabled after he was shot by a classmate on Degrassi: The Next Generation. As a rapper, he performs under the mononym Drake, and is often billed as the new version of The Fresh Prince. Drake continued to recognize a close affiliation with Lil Wayne’s Young Money Entertainment, before officially signing with the record label in June, 2009. His first studio album, Thank Me Later, is expected to be released on the label in late 2009

I am a fan of the Degrassi series and have been since it originally aired during my pre-teen years. I would sneak out of bed and stay up until the wee hours in the morning when PBS would air the series. After I found out that my generation’s characters were adults now with kids of their own in school….I tuned in. I’ve also always been a fan of Aubrey’s character, Jimmy.

That being said….when “Drake” first appeared on the scene I was excited for him. I had high hopes and thought he would truly live up to the claims of being “a new version of The Fresh Prince.” Just last week I was telling TJ how impressed I was with his song, Best I Ever Had. Then I listened to the lyrics. He used “fucking” in every line of the chorus. Then there was the BET performance with pre-teen girls on stage shaking their asses like women do for dollars. THEN…..the video. I logged on to a gossip blog today to look for something specific and at the top of the page was Drake’s video, directed by the “great” Kanye West.
This is the worst bullshit I’ve ever seen in my entire life! The entire video is grown ass women bouncing their breasts….PERIOD. They run, they jump, they bend over, it’s all about breasts. How the hell do you get compared to THE FRESH PRINCE (who will ALWAYS be held in high regard for his integrity) and you sign with Lil Wayne and put out some FUCKING garbage for a video. I am extremely disappointed and this has just solidified my boycott of Drake as an artist.

I will not post the video on my blog because I have more respect than that for women.