Since making her relationship with Chris Brown official, Karrueche Tran has been a hot topic of speculation.  It seems like she’s following the road paved by popular girlfriend-turned-pop-icon Amber Rose, who parleyed her relationship with Kanye West into endorsement deals and a reality TV pilot.

According to the unofficial famous girlfriend handbook, there is no such thing as bad attention, so get it how you live.

Case in point, pictures leaked of the beautiful 20-something posing with a pound of high-grade marijuana.  The picture shows Karrueche holding the bag of weed up to camera, making sure everyone knows she smokes well.

Questions will arise considering Chris Brown’s consistent erratic behavior. No one wants another talented, young pop-star fall because of the company they keep.

Hopefully, Karrueche was just playing and she continues to help Chris Brown heal his broken heart instead of enabling his seemingly immature behavior.

According to TMZ, the 19-year-old wanted to change her name back in 2007 but was talked out of it by Whitney, who still respected her ex-husband, irrespective of all the drama surrounding her volatile relationship with Brown.

Bobbi Kristina’s friends claim that she often expressed to them her desire to make the change after Bobby and Whitney finally divorced, but now that Whitney has passed, she is reportedly “untethered” and will go through with the name change as soon as possible.

Reportedly, Bobbi has made the decision with a sober mind and is in a “better place” than she’s been in a while.

According to sources, Ocho & Ev filming starts this spring and will document Evelyn and Chad’s upcoming wedding and new life together.

The beautiful bride-to-be has clearly took over the lead role on Basketball Wives. Instead of her stunning looks and business savvy being highlighted on the uber-popular show, it’s been her abrasive attitude that’s in the spotlight.

Even though Ochocinco had a sub-par football season, he did participate in this year’s Superbowl (his team lost to the New York Giants). But now that he is clearly in the twilight of his athletic career, his congenial personality and movie star smile seems like it will keep his pockets fat.

Stay tuned!

How many times have you wanted your man to just tell the truth when you know he’s lying. Lying is so fundamental to most men’s personalities that it has become a virtue. Begrudgingly, we’ll follow “good” liars into situations that we know don’t feel right, but he knows that we most of the time we’re addicted to some of the perks that come from being with him, making his lies seem like his way of showing me he’s protecting from something I’m not ready to face.

Recently, former Los Angeles Lakers center Shaquille O’Neal leaked excerpts from his “highly-anticipated” memoir, “Shaq Uncut: My Story,” and judging from the snippets, Shaq wants people to get to know the man, not the myth.

After talking about his then feud with Kobe, the seven-footer goes on about his on-and-off love affair on with his now ex-wife Shaunie Nelson. Shaq admits that his infidelity problems led to a rift between him and Shaunie, who has three children by the future hall-of-famer:

“At one time my ex-wife Shaunie and I were happy, but I admit it–I was a guy. I was a guy with too many options. Choosing to be with some of those women, well, that’s on me. In my mind, I never did it disrespectfully, but obviously I shouldn’t have done it all.”

Really!?! You didn’t do it disrespectfully? How does one cheat respectably? Does that mean he places a tracking device in my phone so he can steer clear of me while he’s with his side-piece? Or, maybe, he doesn’t stalk a chick until she needs an order of protection to keep him away from her apartment?

But we can’t make Shaq the face for sorry-ass-excuses-men-tell-to-rationalize-lying-to-everyone-including-themselves because, keep it way real, he’s part of a larger isolated mass of men, lumbering through the American streets looking for something — anything — that can make him feel alive.

Seriously, how do we explain a man who looks for love outside himself or his family, creating a whole different life with another partner based solely on his illusions of who he “really” is, not any truth. These illusions eventually hurt everyone involved mainly because he has told his main lady half-truths and his side-piece full-blown truths. But hey, he’ll need someone to vouch for his character after the main lady finally gets sick of his lies and leaves. What part of the game is this?

The most depressing aspect of men’s lying or cheating ways is the fact that they have a built-in excuse for their lack of integrity: I’m a man. Case in point, Look at what Shaq said about what he learned from being a cheater:

“You know as well as I do relationships are about maintaining… It wasn’t the big stuff, it was the small stuff, and that’s my fault. I had things to do. I was trying to win, trying to make some money. I admit I wasn’t the best partner. I just didn’t know how. I’m learning now.”

He totally excuses himself right after he admits fault by saying, “I had things to do.” The things you had to do were the little things you say you missed. It’s sad that now that he is retired he feels like he has the time take care of the little, but not with Shaunie — but Hoops from Flava of Love!? I’m not hating on Hoops, (girl, get where you can) but if Shaq was really all broken up about his divorce, don’t you think he could try to patch up his relationship with the mother of kids, romantically.

This situation screams secrecy and more lies! Maybe that’s why Shaq’s lawyer sent VH1, preventing his ex-wife from discussing their relationship on “Basketball Wives.” Why do that Shaq?

All I’m saying is that we give men way too much credit when they admit fault and too little attention to their pathologies. Little boys grow up learning how to be men from men who live without integrity, creating adolescents and young adults who can’t see women as equals, deserving of respect. What kind of example is that?

The time is over for grown men who refuse to grow up and take responsibility for their actions beyond what they say. It’s time for men to stop lying to themselves — you know Shaq, the small things — and step up handle their life not like a business but like an organic human being.

After the wasteful exuberance of another Halloween comes to an end, we now have to deal with consequences of everyone’s costume choices.  In our age of Twitter, Facebook and YouTube, anyone with a connection and interest has access to the Halloween costume tomfoolery that happens across this great country. From NHL star Raffi Torres’ decision to darken his skin to resemble his idol Jay-Z to the thoughtful Students Teaching About Racism in Society (STARS) campaign, which raised much needed awareness to the offensive ethnic caricatures, there is no doubt that when it comes to Halloween costumes, Americans still have a long way to go to find balance between taboo and disrespect.

So when our favorite comedic rapper Chris “Ludacris” Bridges–along with his intelligent, doctor girlfriend, Eudoxie–stepped out on Halloween dressed as, I think, Jack Hanna and a cheetah, respectively, I could not help but cringe on their playful display of misogyny. I’m sorry but my psyche processed the leash, the outfits and the disposition of these two famous thirty-somethings as either naive or ignorant to the gender politics which accompany such a spectacle.

I really like Ludacris as an witty lyricist, and I like Chris Bridges as a philanthropic person.  Who showed up this party?  Was this a contrived attempt to rev-up Ludacris’ into hyper-masculinity in order to revive his dormant rap career?  Nowadays, we never really know who an entertainer is coming into public sphere as, but with debates on corporate personhood rampant, I guess it’s fashionable to do something damaging yet take minimal responsibility for one’s actions. Luckily, this fact doesn’t stop me from writing.

Either way, hopefully we can all agree that the leash on Luda’s woman was in poor taste, but if you don’t, here are three reasons why leashes on a woman might seem offensive to some…

Control
Let’s keep it real, leashes are for animals that are not trained, posing a immediate threat to the safety of others.  So, what in the world does a woman have that can threaten the safety of others — basically, their sexuality.  Not only does a woman’s sexuality need to be controlled by a man but the leash suggests that the woman needs protection from herself.  When one sees a dog without a leash, regardless if the dog is trained or not, there is slight fear that that dog may succumb to his senses and attack or, in case of a female dog, act like a bitch.  Thus, if a woman is not a leash — literally, but mostly figuratively — she will lose control of her vagina, throwing herself at the first available man or woman.

It is ludicrous to think that a leash around a woman’s neck does not evoke those aforementioned feelings.  I guess I’m the naive one since Ludacris is famous off songs like “Move Bitch,” “Pimpin’ All Over the World,” and “You’Z a Ho.”  What should I except?

Subordination
Not all, but lots of women struggle with the feelings of subordination to men within most societies.  Many would claim that America’s liberal leanings have allowed women to climb to economic heights unimaginable in other nations.  I mean, seriously, America coined “Oprah” status. But, on the flip side, even the most successful daytime television host can’t help but hear whispers about her sexuality and overall happiness because of she scoffs at traditional female gender roles; she rarely talks about marriage, takes long, intimate trips with her best friend Gayle and keeps a barren womb.

In Luda’s case specifically, his girlfriend is a doctor.  How many male doctors will allow a woman to put a leash around their neck outside of kinky sex? Even though most people will let these pictures passively run in and out of their consciousness, it indelibly leaves an imprint that allows a person such as Sandra Rose to make comments like, “Aww, how cute!”

It’s not a stretch to assume that if Ludacris showed up in animal print, regardless if the costume was tight and loose, with a leash around his neck, there would have been hell to pay from the media and, I’m just guessing, his friends, family, and managers.  We would have heard he was either whipped or he looked weak.  On the contrary, people can comment that it’s cute for Eudoxie to have a leash around her neck because she supposed to be weak and subordinate in respect to her man.

Normalizes Violence
The main the issue some women have with men is that men never really understand how stuff like this actually hurts them more than us.  It takes the threat of violence — in the myriad of ways violence manifests, from verbal to physical — to put any animal, much less an intelligent human being, on a leash.  If you have ever witnessed an animal being trained, there are many different verbal threats in order to tame the animal, which quickly turn physical if the animal resists.

Although, in this instance, outwardly Ludacris looks like “the man” and feels like “the man,” he’ll maybe have to explain one day to his beautiful daughter why it’s okay for him walk around with Eudoxie on leash, even if it’s only for one day, and how both of them, as adults, came up with the idea in the first place.  Questions must arise, “Did he force her?” … “Is she scared to lose him if she doesn’t participate?”

Not only does Ludacris look insecure, but his tweet confirms it.  Albeit in a playful manner, tweeting that you have captured a cheetah after a drunken night in Las Vegas shows he has internalized hate and accepts violence towards women — however lighthearted it is — so deeply it’s in the fabric of who he is as a person.

I know many will say it’s not that deep and it’s highly presumptuous to claim that Ludacris hates women, but much like how, as black people, we notice that some white people cannot wait until Halloween to dress in blackface and use the N-word, some men can’t wait to revel in their egomaniac fantasies, using Halloween as night to assert their masculinity in ways that illuminate how inadequate they feel the other 364 days of the year.

Think of it like this… Every time a woman suffers any type of misogynistic abuse at the hands or mind of a man, he loses his humanity. So, who is really the beast?

Beyonce’s 4 is the gift that keeps on giving to her competition. A producer, Jeff Bhasker, off her #1 Billboard album blasted Bey’s best friend and former Destiny’s Child bandmate Kelly Rowland.

Bhasker, who produced “Party” and co-produced several other tracks on the album, is displeased with the recent news that Kelly’s song “Motivation” is number #1 on the urban charts. Peep his tweets below.

Even though Beyoncé and Kelly have never directly released an album in the same quarter, many have charged Beyoncé with overshadowing Kelly’s album press with her own media barrage. This year will mark the first time Kelly and Beyoncé will battle on the charts directly when Kelly releases her highly anticipated album, “Here I Am” on July 22nd.

Inflaming the speculation, Beyoncé’s recent satellite performance on the 2011 BET Awards from the Glastonbury Festival in the UK. Unfortunately, it looked like she was upstaging Kelly, who, according to most viewers, had the performance of the night.

The media loves feuds between popular artists because it fuels their engines. Still, the most tragic and infamous dispute between R&B band mates involved The Supremes’ Diana Ross and Florence Ballard, both of whom were immortalized in the Broadway musical and subsequent motion picture, “Dreamgirls,” which starred Beyoncé as a fictionalized Diana Ross. That was just one drama-filled saga that happened over 40 years ago and was so compelling, the mainstream media is still eating off of it.

One of the biggest reasons the Bey vs. Kelly rumors persist is because of Beyoncé’s father, and former-manager, Matthew Knowles, who is known in industry circles as a shrewd businessman, especially when it comes to protecting the Knowles brand. After Kelly’s split with Knowles’ management, rumors surfaced of a heated verbal spat between Kelly, Knowles, and Beyoncé, which reportedly led to bad blood between all parties involved.

Matthew Knowles’ contemptuous stance towards former Destiny’s Child members, Letoya Luckett and LaTavia Roberson, after they sought outside management—which led to their unceremonious replacement by Knowles— only intensifies the rumors that Knowles actively worked behind the scenes to sabotage Kelly’s career on behalf of his number one client at the time, his daughter Beyoncé.

Regardless if Knowles is a shady manager or not, the rumors would die quickly if Kelly didn’t have any talent. On the contrary, Kelly’s talent is on full display with every top ten record she puts out. From her 2002 number-one charting duet with Nelly to her international dance fame, Kelly lets everyone witness her artistic brilliance. What really gets under some of her fans’ skin is how hard it seems Kelly has to work to receive half the accolades Beyoncé garners seemingly effortlessly.

Case in point, Kelly’s popularity overseas. Anytime an American artist has to go across the pond to amass the success that they may have once had in the States, it will always look like she is working extra hard for money. Not to mention having to deny rumors that her Miami condo was in foreclosure, coupled with very few believing she split amicably with her record label, Columbia Records. What seemed like a downturn to many, more than likely, was a positive shift in priorities and towards her most lucrative market, England.

The fight to the top of pop culture’s royal throne has many more shades of gray than most media outlets would lead one to believe. Realistically, neither Bey nor Kelly have next-to-nothing to do with any major decisions concerning their strategic positioning within the R&B landscape. As far we can see and know, both are mere players.

This is not say that they have no say in industry politics in regards to their careers, respectively, but when it comes to Beyoncé specifically, there are entertainment executives of all kinds that have much more to gain from Beyoncé’s reign than she does. At the top of the entertainment food chain, there are men–and women who think like men–that control the creation, production, and dissemination of what is heard and seen in popular music around the globe.

The bottom line is that men place Beyoncé in her position. Beyoncé is the most desirable woman in music, and this is not to say that her talent isn’t the main reason she able to reign, but when you play in the big leagues most of women at that level have tons of talent. So, when separating the superstars from stars, Beyoncé’s intangibles are what allow her to trump not only Kelly, but also every other woman in music.

In America, like it or not, there is a standard of beauty that is rigidly adhered to by marketers and entertainment executives. Beyoncé has what sells easily: She’s light skinned (yes I said it, please name a dark skinned woman, sans Lauryn Hill’s one historic album, that has reached the consistent levels of Beyoncé, since arguably Aretha Franklin), has long hair, and chiseled ”Roman” (i.e., somewhat European nose and facial bone structure) features. Now, there is no shortage of light skinned girls with “Roman” features, many whom are no where close to Beyoncé status, but there are a few. What separates Beyoncé from, say, Alicia Keys, however, is her femininity. Bey is the ultimate woman; she’s the woman who wants to be put in her place by a “Soldier,” and then “Upgrade” him with her bank account, all the while she’s “Catering” to her man after a hard day at work.

The gold stamp, though, came from her union with Jay-Z. The self-proclaimed “King of New York” is the man that every man wants to be. Jay-Z sets the cultural trends for black men, and their marriage gave her the powerful man that no other R&B megastar in history has had while in her prime.

Beyoncé doesn’t have to directly derail Kelly’s career, her mere presence on the charts and in the media puts insurmountable pressure on every singer in the game, including her former band mate and best friend Kelly. Don’t blame Beyoncé for playing and mastering the game, she is just playing the cards dealt, and like her superstar husband says so astutely Bey will not lose!