Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Jah Cure's alleged baby mother speaks...brace yourself!

So rumours have been going around Jamdown for weeks now that a popular 20 year old party girl named Gordene is pregnant for Jah Cure. In an  interview published on one876 entertainment.com today she has come out and basically confirmed those rumours, saying that she is 4 months pregnant ... after meeting Cure 5 months ago.

The interview... well it's like a car crash. It's horrific and you are pained for the person involved but you can't look away.

Some excerpts:
“I am not trying to disclose anything. They are trying to say I am effing proud to be pregnant and I am going around broadcasting it to everybody who will listen and that is not true. The only reason that I am even giving this interview is to make sure that his career is not harmed by any rumours. I would never hurt him.”

Gordene has been spotted on the party circuit in recent weeks, fuelling speculation about her ‘little bump’.


“I don’t drink or smoke, I still deserve to party,” the St. Andrew High school grad said. 

Gordene earns money as a ‘party promotions girl’ working for Main Event, a party planning company. She is a student and is reading for an associate degree after which she will attempt to matriculate to a major university where she can get a bachelor’s degree in marketing. She has also dabbled in music, recording a couple of songs which were never released. She supports herself by working as a part-time ‘party promotions girl’ so that she can foot the bill for her uptown apartment.

Does Jah Cure take good care of you?

To be fair, he tries to be nice, but the pressures of everyone around him is hard because of my reputation as a party girl. And I have been with other artistes in the past before Cure. He is not 100 per cent sure he is the father, but there is a high possibility that he is the father; I have not been with anybody else since meeting him.”

How many months have you been seeing him?

“About five months, I will be pregnant for four months next week.”

Four months?

Yea, it was a fast one, I fell in love, we kicked off really well. I was very into him, but now I am more concerned with me and the baby. I still do love him. He is trying his very best to be supportive, but as an artiste, there is a harsher side because of the pressures of the people around him.”

Jah Cure, for his part, has been very supportive, yet cautious. According to word from his camp, “although he is not sure that he is in fact the father, he remains very supportive of the young lady and is doing whatever he can to make her pregnancy and herself comfortable.”
    “However, once I am proven to be the father, my 100% support will be given financially and otherwise,” said a statement from the artiste.


*blink*



Mi SEH! 



Ladies, take note. This is a lesson in how NOT to be an islandista. As fool as she sounds, the article mentioned that she was an Andrews girl. I have many Andrews islandistas as my good friends - it is a top notch school and they are usually smart and classy chicks.



There is so much foolery that I cannot comprehend in this interview that I have to itemise it.



First - why, considering that she said she is "not trying to disclose anything" would she then go and disclose everything?



Second - why would you admit that you are not sure who is the baby father, after prefacing that with saying you have been with other artistes before Cure?



Third - Why would you go bareback with a man you have only known for a month? A man who was in JAIL for 8 years? And you know what they say about jail ... eight years is a long time to be celibate, that's all we're saying.



Fourth - Why when he is privately and publicly distancing himself from you, would you still go on bout you love him?



I could go on and on now that the full has been told but I'll stop here. This just boggles the mind...mercy!

Sunday, September 28, 2008

Et tu Milan Fashion Week?

Surely you would imagine that after all the talk in the last year about the lack of colour on the runways, and with Italian Vogue putting out their big-selling 'all black' issue this summer, that the runways for Milan Fashion Week would be more colourful.

Alas ... not.

According to our friends at Shophound who have been following the shows in Milan (though not actually there covering as they did for NY Fashion Week), the numbers have been disappointing.




The runways at Milan Fashion Week looked kinda like this. See the one black spot?



Bottega Veneta led the way with a 17% 'diversity quotient' consisting of four black models and one Asian out of 28 total models.

After that, it's all single-digit DQs. Depressing.

Way behind, was D&G, with four models of colour - three black models and one South Asian model out of 51 models in total, to have a DQ of 8.9 %.

DSquared had a DQ of 9.6% for having 2 models of colour - one black, one Asian, out of 21 models.

Gucci, which just signed Rihanna to be their spokesperson in their first ever UNICEF campaign, had a measly DQ of 4 % which represented a whopping one model of colour, out of 25.

It infuriates me how so many of these luxury brands are willing to ride on the popularity and influence of black celebrities and of hip-hop culture in particular which has glorified and glamorised them but then people of colour are not good enough for their campaigns. We market them and push them but there is hardly any reciprocity and it's not right.

Rihanna to start clothing line

Well it's about time...

According to Women's Wear Daily, the super-fly islandista is set to launch her own clothing line. It has been hinted at for a while, but she confirmed it three days ago in an interview with WWD at the Gucci show, during Milan Fashion Week.
(photo credit: Wire Image)



Rihanna is set to follow in the footsteps of fellow pop star Gwen Stefani and launch her own clothing range. The Disturbia singer, who is a frequent front-row guest at runway shows, has confirmed she is working on her own designs. The sexy star has already dabbled in the accessories industry - she put her name to a range of umbrellas earlier this year (08) to coincide with her international hit of the same name. She tells fashion publication WWD, “I can’t say when it will be released, but it’s definitely going to happen. I’m not one to rush into anything. I want to take my time.” Earlier this year (08), Rihanna hinted she was pondering a fashion line, saying, “There might be a clothing line on the horizon, maybe underwear.” The star has also previously teamed up with retail chain H+M to design a range of casualwear as part of the Fashion Against Aids campaign.



We say 'about time' because though there are many, many, many, good-lord-too-many celebs who have their own clothing lines, there are very few who actually have an actually interesting and individual sense of style. Rihanna is one of the few. Gwen Stefani is another.

We would actually like to see a clothing line from Rihanna because we think it would definitely have its own identity, unlike so many of these celeb design labels.

In other news, let's welcome back Spanish-Caribbean islandista Jenny from the block. After giving birth to twins earlier this year, J.Lo was back to her fiercest at the Dolce and Gabban show in a lawdamercy white dress by the designers.



Dammit man. That is not even fair. To the gym we go...

Friday, September 26, 2008

Islandista on the rise - Shontelle Layne

What with her beautiful, poignant song 'T-shirt' making its way up the Billboard Hot 100 charts, we figured we should highlight islandista-on-the-rise Shontelle Layne.

According to the Barbados Nation, the song is now at no. 37 on the charts, after debuting at no. 86 seven weeks ago.


And to that we say- hurray! Truly the world is getting to see the talent of the islands more and more in the 21st century - both in sports and in entertainment.

Twenty-three year old Shontelle is the definition of an islandista - successful, educated, talented and fly. She doesn't just sing, but she also writes - for herself and other artistes and actually copped the Road March title in Barbados in 2005 with 'Colours'. She also wrote Alison Hinds' monster comeback hit 'Roll'.

And, armed with her law degree from the University of the West Indies, she has been apparently been taking care of business well before she was signed with Universal/Motown in 2006. It has long been thought that she was the 'mystery member' who copped the biggest every royalty payout from Barbados' copyright society COSCAP - $50 000 back in 2005-2006, the year of Colours and Roll. We definitely say hurray to that!

We're looking forward to watching this islandista rise and rise.

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

A likkle dancehall suss

So hear this now... Beenie Man is set to be a grandfather - at the ripe 'ole' age of 35! 

According to one876entertainment.com, his 16 year old daughter is about 6 months preggers and expecting a girl.

No comment yet from Beenie's people but rumours have been flying around JA for days and an unnamed 'industry insider' confirmed it, telling one876:

"She is not here, she is in Florida. The rumors were getting out of hand, Beenie Man is going through a lot right now, my heart goes out to him at this time because of all his other troubles. It’s tough for this to happen, but I guess it is also another life coming into the world."

A so it go. Damn shame but it does happen. Apparently the girl's mother lives in Canada but she lives in JA. Hm. I have my own views about Jamaican women and their penchant for emigrating and leaving their children back a yaad but that is a whole other post.

People have been susu-ing about who is the baby father. Some say it is a teenaged boy she was going out with a few months back, others say it is a fairly prominent DJ... awoaah! You know this isn't the last you will hear of this...

Anyways, onward islandistas!

Vybz Kartel is now a bachelor. 

*silence*

What, not appealing to you? Not me either, but it is news. I don't know how these dancehall DJs don't seem able to keep a wife. First Beenie and D'Angel didn't last longer than a sno-cone in hell and now Vybz and the woman he just married not two years ago done. Apparently she live 'a farrin' and stopped visiting him after his US visa was revoked. In two twos (well maybe more than two) she was pregnant and not for him. So that kind of done up them marriage.

Passa passa in abundance...mi seh!

Sunday, September 21, 2008

Fashion season analysis: more colourful?



(photo credit: The Shophound)

So New York and London's Fashion Weeks have whizzed by in the last fortnight or so and Milan and Paris are still to come.

The question, especially relevant to us islandistas is - has there been more colour on the runways? Have we been seeing women like ourselves (well, not really like ourselves because the average islandista is not 6 feet tall but you get our point) reflected?

The fashion industry has been taking some licks over the last year or so over its lack of diversity with women such as Naomi Campbell (one of our favourite islandistas, even though she's crazy scary), Bethann Hardison and Iman speaking out. The industry responded, tetchily and defensively at first but then with a few efforts, most notably the Italian Vogue all-black special which set the fashion industry alight.

So, has this all had any impact at all where it matters - on the runways and in the magazine pages? For New York's Fashion Week, blog Shophound maintained a Diversity Quotient which they included at the end of every review. They also did a full report, listing the DQ for all of the shows  they attended.

So what did it show? Well, things have gotten marginally better at least. Instead of just the token one black model (or none at all) designers have been making the effort to include two or three per show. Prominent black designer Tracy Reese led their stats, with 36% of her models being non-white. John Bartlett was close behind with 30% diversity. Brian Reyes followed with 27% and Ports 1961 and Ruben Singer both had 25%. At the other end of the scale, Jil Stuart had a measly 6.4% diversity quotient.

According to Reuters, Diane von Furstenburg, who as head of the CFDA (Council of Fashion Designers of America) had urged designers to consider more diversity for their shows this season, also featured a number of black models as did DKNY. There was even a  young black albino model, 17 year old Shaun Ross, who was featured in the Patrick Ervell show.

Still many shows only featured one or no models of colour. And things were even more woeful for Asian and sub-continental Asian models. In fact, Shophound reported that Lakshmi Menon was the only South Asian model featured. And we know islandistas come in all colours so this still does not augur very well.

Designer Michael Angel claimed:

"I don't ever think about color, nor do I think of race. That is the most backward way to think."

Hmm. Funny. His DQ was a measly 6%. Which actually represented a whopping one black model out of 19- Anabela, who modeled 3 out of 44 looks. Hmm. I guess he's trying hard not to be too 'backward'.

Anyhow, things are changing slowly or rather we should say moving slowly because truthfully it is still too early in the game to know if this represents a real shift or if it is just a temporary response to the blacklash of the last year. They say black never goes out of style but in fashion that has just not been the case.

Islandista catwalker, the Dominican (Republic) model Arlenis Sosa, armed with her brand new Lancome contract, got quite a bit of attention, as did Sesilee Lopez. Both were featured in the all-black issue of Vogue. Sosa actually made her fashion week debut in NYC and walked for some pretty big names such as Oscar de la Renta, Donna Karan, Carolina Herrera, Proenza Schouler, Zac Posen, Narciso Rodriguez and Tommy Hilfiger. So that Italian Vogue issue is already starting to do its work.

Naomi sees a change. She says she is encouraged enough by the black representation on the catwalks that she is considering bowing out of the business. In an interview with the Times of London, she commented:

"This time they [designers and editors] have stepped it up. I feel positive. That means that I can go soon."

Really, it remains to be seen. I think we all  - bloggers, consumers, models, designers and so on, need to continue holding their feet to the fire.

So let's do that.

Sunday, September 7, 2008

Things that make us go hmm...

Straight from the 'things that make us go hmmm' vault, a tale of a certain WI cricketer and his unorthodox method of approaching the ladies.

Apparently this cricketer who is often described as being quite outgoing and confident on the field is not so much so with ladies ...sort of. According to our sources, during the course of his many travels, he spotted a young lady recently who caught his attention at an airport.

Now, the regular thing that most West Indian men would do is go up and start chatting up. But West Indies cricketers seem not to be regular folk these days. Instead, he got his 'assistant' (brrr? what exactly do these overpaid cricketers need assistants for?) to sidle up to the chick and take note of her information - whether the assistant sneaked a peek at her arrival/departure form or just the tag on her suitcase, we don't know, but we're creeped out by it!

Then he called her a few days later using this information. Poor soul, she wasn't the cricket-watching type so she did not know him from Adam. And she wanted to know how de hell he knew her. So he told her.

Islandistas, we couldn't tell you what her reaction was because we fell about laughing at that point and didn't ask. However, we can well guess. "What... in de...stalkerish... HELL?!?!"

I mean really, that is like secondary school behaviour where yuh too shy to approach the object of your affections so you get your friend to ask a question for you. It's cute when you're a teenager. It's not cute when you're a grown ass man. And it is definitely not cute when you get someone to check out their info and then call them up. Then it's just strange and disturbing and smacking of arrogance ... but in a strange and disturbing way.

Well, well, well...