Ray Jr. Gives Women In Need A Fresh Start

Ray Jr. took a break from his Mayor Mondays freestyle series to give back to his community. Earlier this month he partnered with Laura’s Home Women’s Crisis Center in Cleveland, Ohio to offer eleven women a head to toe makeover. The Crisis Center is a safe haven for women and children, they offer a variety of services intended to prepare women and children for positive, productive futures. They are a bridge from crisis to stability and self-sufficiency. While Ray Jr. is no stranger to helping those in need he plans to do more makeovers for the women in his community. Alongside Hair Melodies Beauty Salon and Conscious Consulting CEO Shalah Turner, this dream was made a reality. Both Tiffany Everett (Nails) and Davia Prince (Makeup) donated their time to help these ladies transform.

“There have been a lot of negative vibes going on in the city, kids killing kids, kidnappings, murderers, etc. Mothers are the backbone of our youth and there are a lot of struggling mothers in my city so I wanted to do something nice for the women in my community. I wanted to give these women a makeover to help build their confidence to help get them back on track,” says Ray Jr.

Earlier this month Ray Jr. dropped a Bruno Mars / Kodak Black remix and an original song featuring his two-year-old daughter for his Mayor Mondays freestyle series. Fabolous also brought him out on stage to perform his energetic single “NozeBleedz” on Chris Brown’s The Party Tour stop in Cleveland. In front of a packed crowd at Quicken Loans Arena, Ray Jr. and Ripp Flamez turned up the volume and had Clevelanders reciting every word to the song. He is currently on a promo run throughout the Midwest, Ohio Valley, Carolinas and New York City.

Ray Jr. who has been crowned the “unofficial Mayor” of his hometown. The Midwest rapper has garnered much popularity and praise over the course of his career with over ten mixtapes to his name and plans to release a new project and short film this summer.

Music aside, Ray Jr. is widely known for philanthropy. With East Cleveland being one of the nation’s poorest cities, he has taken himself to task; feeding and clothing tens of thousands of people each year. He considers it a priority to remain heavily involved in his community as he continues to bring attention to it through rhyme and speech.

His current single “NozeBleedz” is now available at all digital retailers and is making a steady climb on the Urban radio charts. Check out the video for “NozeBleedz” HERE. Ray Jr’s latest project Lyrics Playlist is due out early summer.

Photo Credit: @thebnjmns

Draya spoke to Steph Lecor about her kick game and about her come up in Hollywood from reality tv to a “movie star.”

IMAGE VIA CHAMPS

Big Black Secretly Saved Enough Money To Cover His Daughter For Life

Can’t say for sure if Big Black knew that hie heart condition would lead to an early demise, but he certainly saved money like he knew.

According to TMZ, the recently deceased Christopher Boykin was ALL about his 9-year-old daughter Isis and he saved thousands over the years to ensure that her college education would be paid for.

It’s said that Black was smart with his bread, but also made some very good investments. He also wasn’t about that “I got it” life. What is that “I got it” life? He wasn’t picking up the tab at expensive dinners or buying luxury items.

This is amazing, especially considering that Black’s career on Rob & Big wasn’t THAT long.

R.I.P. Big Black

Image via Getty

This one certainly has her father’s “swing on a photographer” spirit already. She was clearly NOT feeling having the cameras in her face while having cones and kicking it with her mama…

Instagram/TMZ

Gabourey Sidibe Describes Racial Profiling Incident At Chanel

Gabourey Sidibe penned an article for Lena Dunham’s Lenny Letter site detailing the time a Chicago Chanel sales lady treated her like a second class citizen because she assumed a girl who looked like her couldn’t possibly have a dime in her pocket.

Gabby says she went in looking for a specific pair of eyeglass frames she had had her eye on for a while…but instead of being helpful, the saleswoman said she should probably hit up a store across the street for her frames:

” I was trying to purchase glasses, and she was trying to get the interaction with me over as soon as possible. Just to be sure of what was happening, I made her tell me to leave, in her pretend-polite way, three times.

I knew what she was doing. She had decided after a single look at me that I wasn’t there to spend any money. Even though I was carrying a Chanel bag, she decided I wasn’t a Chanel customer and so, not worth her time and energy.”

Gabby says that as soon as some of the African American workers at the store recognized her as a famous person, the sales lady straightened her act up and changed her tune.

Gabby went ahead and purchased two eyeglass frames and some sandals for Taraji P. Henson, who was stuck on set filming and wasn’t able to come shopping with her that day. She says she took the incident in stride because frankly, none of it came as a big shock.

“Unfortunately, I’m used to people giving me bad service. Honestly, if I walked out of every store where someone was rude to me, I’d never have anything nice…

I’ve felt unwelcome in many stores throughout my life, but I just kind of deal with it. As a successful adult, sometimes I walk out of the store in a huff, without getting what I want, denying them my hard-earned money. Other times I spend my money in an unfriendly store as if to say ‘F*ck you! I’ll buy this whole damn store!'”

Either way, they win and I lose.

SMH! The fact that the disrespect is so common that she feels inclined to simply accept it is heartbreaking. Of course, Chanel can’t have that bad press hanging over their heads, so they made SURE to issue a public apology to Gabby:

Chanel expresses our sincerest regret for the boutique customer service experience that Ms. Sidibe mentioned in this essay. We are sorry that she felt unwelcome and offended.

We took her words very seriously and immediately investigated to understand what happened, knowing that this is absolutely not in line with the high standards that Chanel wishes to provide to our customers.

We are strongly committed to provide anyone who comes in our boutiques with the best customer service, and we do hope that in the future Ms. Sidibe will choose to come back to a Chanel boutique and experience the real Chanel customer experience.

Sounds like too little too late to us…

Splash

This girl has a whole heap of controversy falling on her these days…at least partially for doing this particular song with the “homophobic” Migos.

Do you think this one’s worth all the uproar?

YouTube/VEVO

Seriously, What Year Is This?!

According to a post in Lenny Letter, Gabourey Sidibe entered a Chanel Boutique to cop a pair of eyeglasses and sandals for Empire co-star, Taraji P. Henson. Once inside, she was not immediately greeted by the salesperson. When she asked for directions to the eyeglasses, the sales rep told her she could find discounted frames across the street on the 5th floor. Sidibe said she asked for help three more times just to make sure she was indeed being profiled.

It was not until after some of the other sales reps recognized her, that Gabby was actually treated like a paying customer. Sidibe says the poor treatment is nothing new and places her in a conundrum where she is torn between proving her wealth and taking her hard earned coins elsewhere.

“No matter how dressed up I get, I’m never going to be able to dress up my skin color to look like what certain people perceive to be an actual customer,” Sidibe expressed in the letter.

Chanel issued a statement apologizing and reassuring the world that their standards are much higher than were exhibited.

A post shared by Beyoncé (@beyonce) on Mar 7, 2017 at 5:35pm PST

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So This Is What The Cloth Talk Was All About

2017 has been good – and I mean REAL good – to Jay-Z. The producer of “The Life of Kalief Browder” recently inked a 10-year, $200 million deal with Live Nation. The deal guarantees worldwide touring where Live Nation will promote and produce Jay-Z’s tours and festivals. This means Jay-Z will be performing well into his late 50’s, so he won’t be “retiring” anytime soon.

This is the second deal that Mr. Carter has scored with Live Nation.

“Live Nation and I entered unchartered territory in 2008,” Jay Z said in a statement. “The original contract included touring, music publishing, the release of three albums and a joint venture that begat Roc Nation. The new deal is limited to touring. “For the next 10 years, we will continue redefining the live event landscape,” he continued.

Jay-Z is well on his way to becoming the first billionaire in hip-hop. #BlackExcellence

“Second Wives Club’s” Veronika Obeng Talks Her Marriage Imploding In Front Of The Cameras

Veronica Obeng has made a name for herself as a mother of five devoted to her plastic surgeon husband and their children on E! TV’s “The Second Wives Club.”

But the new reality star said her reality TV dream became a nightmare when while filming, she said she discovered her husband, Dr. Michael Obeng, was cheating on her with a host of women. Obeng said she’d just come home from a work trip abroad when one of her husband’s mistresses created a page about the affair and posted a number of pictures of Obeng, her estranged husband and herself. She said the alleged mistress tagged everyone they knew – her friends, employees and family, and included a picture of her husband during a trip to Singapore with naked women and drugs.

“I had a lot of negativity enter my life a week or so after shooting,” Obeng told BOSSIP exclusively. “I decided to live my truth because so many women don’t. And I thought, ‘why did I sign up for a reality TV show and not live my truth?’ – Living my truth for so many women. I refuse to be a prisoner to the camera or my situation.”

She added: “If you want to judge, or call me a gold digger, this is my truth, take it or leave it.”

Obeng said she didn’t take the infidelity lying down, and filed for divorce last summer. The case is now winding its way through the L.A. County Superior Court system, but she said it’s been tough having to see the breakdown of her marriage unfold in front of the cameras and the world.

Obeng, who grew up with six siblings on a dirt road in rural Oklahoma, said she encouraged her plastic surgeon husband to move from Ohio to Beverly Hills to start his private practice. She said all seemed well for years as they grew the practice together as she worked as his office manager.

And the way he repaid her, she said, was to cheat with random women and prostitutes. But ultimately, she said her husband’s failings in their marriage wasn’t her shame to bear.

“It was terrifying at first,” Obeng said. “I didn’t know what to share, when to share it, or how it would be received. But the more I had to deal with with the situation of my husband’s infidelity and the women on the other side of his life – the hood rats and skanks were going to tell my story, which was not what happened. So I took all of that fear and said that truth was more important than being embarrassed. Why should I be embarrassed? You cheated on me. I worked with him, I snapped back, I cleaned his house. Why would I be embarrassed that you like hookers? Why should I be ashamed of the truth?”

In the meantime, Obeng said she is devoted to her five children and is open to a second season of the critically-acclaimed show.

“I would be definitely down for a season two,” Obeng said. “A lot has transpired. It’s empowering not just for me, but to other women. Life doesn’t stop when you find out your man has been unfaithful, that’s when it gets real.”

She said she hopes viewers will understand that she wants them to “live their truth.”

“The truth is like a lion,” Obeng said. “Set it free and it’ll defend itself. That’s my motto right now.”

The Second Wives Club Airs Thursday At 9 P.M. EST On E!.

End of a great day Honorary Degree from @HarvardUniversity thanks HArrrrrvard!

A post shared by Oprah (@oprah) on May 30, 2013 at 8:01pm PDT

Find Out Which Actors, Singers And Athletes Are Loaded With Diplomas

It’s graduation season and what’s more befitting than a list of your favorite celebrities with honorary degrees? Honorary degrees date as far back as 1478. Universities award highly influential persons with the achievement in hopes of obtaining long-lasting (financial) relationships. Although honorary recipients are discouraged from referring to themselves as “Dr.”, that didn’t stop Benjamin Franklin or the late, great Maya Angelou from tooting their own horns. Check out the list below for more of the pseudo-doctors.

Kerry Washington – George Washington University
John Legend – Howard University & University of Pennsylvania
Denzel Washington – University of Pennsylvania
Aretha Franklin – Princeton, Harvard & Yale
Morgan Freeman – Rhoades College, Boston University & Brown University
Kanye West – Art Institute of Chicago
Oprah Winfrey – Harvard
P. Diddy – Howard University
Mike Tyson – Central State University

Isn’t it great to know they didn’t have to work or pay for it while you crammed a semester’s worth of information into your brain the night before final exams?

Everybody has challenges in dealing with life. I'm so happy after such a long struggle and finally living my true self. Welcome to the world Caitlyn. It feels so good. Can't wait for you to get to know her/me.

A post shared by Caitlyn Jenner (@caitlynjenner) on Jun 1, 2015 at 10:34am PDT

Don’t Call Me Caitlyn…

In an ironic twist of events, the name “Caitlyn” is no longer desirable amongst new parents. According to the Social Security Administration, who releases annual lists of popular baby names, all four spelling variations of “Caitlyn” fell out of the top 1,000. Yikes! While it’s not fair to hold Caitlyn Jenner solely responsible for the plummet, researchers are attributing most of the blame to her 2016 Vanity Fair cover which read “Call Me Caitlyn.”

“Once parents see that a name is super popular, they are going to start avoiding it,” said founder of babynames.com, Jennifer Moss. This is the nice way of saying that once a name becomes too controversial, it’s a huge turn-off for parents. For example, “Emma” has been #1 for three years in a row, indicating popularity has nothing to do with it.

Looks like there won’t be too many more children being called Caitlyn. What do you think the most popular ethnic names are?

You Won’t Believe What Happened When K. Dot Got Stopped

Kendrick Lamar was perusing around LA when he was pulled over by the po-po. According to video footage, the officer pulled over the “Humble” rapper for not having any plates on his G-Wagon. Once K.Dot realized there were cameras around, he immediately rolled up his window to shield his face. The officer seemed unaware of Kendrick’s high-celerity status, but allowed him to on about his day without a ticket or warning.

The arrest comes two years after Kendrick’s “anti-cop” BET performance of “Alright”, which gained the not-so-wanted attention of Fox News’s Geraldo Rivera. Rivera insisted that K.Dot’s music (rap) “has done worse for African American children than racism in recent years.” Ummm that’s definitely a stretch. Kendrick, on the other hand, says his music is about hope. It’s just nice to know that a brother can get pulled over and drive away safely. Glad you’re alright Kendrick!

Kenya Moore on The Breakfast Club answering the tough questions…is awesome!

POWER105.1

Why Rob Loves Blac Chyna

Tiny Harris Flaunts Her Figure On Instagram

Tip-less Tiny is out here and apparently on the prowl!

As you know, Tiny filed for divorce late last year. Despite making some effort to reach a common ground with her husband TI…things haven’t shaken out so well since he decided to let the world know Tiny’s just a distraction from him doing his music thing and smashing well-built vixens while away from home.

Now that the dust is settling and she doesn’t have a hubby at home clocking her moves while she gears up to hit the road with Xscape again, Tiny is comfortably getting cheeky for the ‘gram and setting that body out for her followers.

Tiny posted this pic late Friday night teasing her fan-base, and even teasing a possible solo show entitled “Being Tiny Harris” — before quickly deleting the allusion in the caption, that is.

Well, Tiny is a single lady now! Fellas, will you be diving into her DMs?

Instagram/Splash

Getty Images

High School Recalls Yearbooks Over “Build That Wall” Quote

A high school in North Carolina (go figure) is making headlines after a seemingly xenophobic quote made it to senior yearbooks . Somehow the girl thought it was ok to use “build that wall” as a senior quote, referring to Trumps immigration wall he wants us to pay for to keep “bad” Mexican immigrants away.

Race aside, the politics behind the quote stirred hundreds of feathers. One facebook user posted the quote, raising awareness to friends about it.

So Richmond county school system allowed this to be printed in their 2017 year book. I already knew this city was racist. Get a court date you’ll find out. This doesn’t surprise me at all.

Richmond country schools have since confiscated the year books according to a statement on Facebook.

Earlier this week, it was discovered by school administration that Richmond Early College yearbooks had errors and inappropriate comments.

The principal immediately collected the distributed yearbooks.

We regret that this incident has occurred and are currently working with the yearbook’s publisher to make corrections.

As a district, we do not and will not tolerate inappropriate conduct toward any of our students.

In each situation, our goal is to provide for the well-being of all of our students and prevent recurrences of inappropriate conduct.

Gabriel Taye’s Suicide Investigated Following Bullying Video Footage

Cincinnati is reporting some disturbing news about the suicide of 8-year-old Gabriel Taye after being violently bullied in the bathroom by his classmates at Carson Elementary School.

2 days after the footage you are about to see, Gabriel hanged himself inside his family’s home.

It is posited that the Cincinnati Public School system was negligent in not supervising the restroom after a homicide detective watched the surveillance tape and described the incident as “bullying bordering on criminal assault”.

Gabriel’s mother said through her lawyer, Jennifer Branch of Cincinnati, that no one at Carson told her about the assault when she collected Gabriel that day. In the evening of Jan. 24, his mother took him to Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center because he was vomiting. After a night in the emergency room, his mother kept him out of school the next day, Jan. 25. On Jan. 26, Gabriel went back to school but at home that night, he hanged himself.

Gabriel’s death was officially ruled a suicide, but the investigation has been reopened and new details could emerge. BOSSIP will keep you updated with the developments.

R.I.P. Gabriel Taye

Image via Getty

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