Download or read book Confessions of a Video Vixen written by Karrine Steffans and published by Harper Collins. This book was released on 2009-10-13 with total page 226 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Part tell-all, part cautionary tale, this emotionally charged memoir from a former video vixen nicknamed 'Superhead' goes beyond the glamour of celebrity to reveal the inner workings of the hip-hop dancer industry—from the physical and emotional abuse that's rampant in the industry, and which marked her own life—to the excessive use of drugs, sex and bling. Once the sought-after video girl, this sexy siren has helped multi-platinum artists, such as Jay-Z, R. Kelly and LL Cool J, sell millions of albums with her sensual dancing. In a word, Karrine was H-O-T. So hot that she made as much as $2500 a day in videos and was selected by well-known film director F. Gary Gray to co-star in his film, A Man Apart, starring Vin Diesel. But the film and music video sets, swanky Hollywood and New York restaurants and trysts with the celebrities featured in the pages of People and In Touch magazines only touches the surface of Karrine Steffans' life. Her journey is filled with physical abuse, rape, drug and alcohol abuse, homelessness and single motherhood—all by the age of 26. By sharing her story, Steffans hopes to shed light on an otherwise romanticised industry and help young women avoid the same pitfalls she encountered. If they're already in danger, she hopes to inspire them to find a way to dig themselves out of what she knows first-hand to be a cycle of hopelessness and despair.

Download or read book Dilla Time written by Dan Charnas and published by MCD. This book was released on 2022-02-01 with total page 286 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: WINNER OF THE PEN/JACQUELINE BOGRAD WELD AWARD FOR BIOGRAPHY A NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLER "This book is a must for everyone interested in illuminating the idea of unexplainable genius.” —QUESTLOVE Equal parts biography, musicology, and cultural history, Dilla Time chronicles the life and legacy of J Dilla, a musical genius who transformed the sound of popular music for the twenty-first century. He wasn’t known to mainstream audiences, even though he worked with renowned acts like D’Angelo and Erykah Badu and influenced the music of superstars like Michael Jackson and Janet Jackson. He died at the age of thirty-two, and in his lifetime he never had a pop hit. Yet since his death, J Dilla has become a demigod: revered by jazz musicians and rap icons from Robert Glasper to Kendrick Lamar; memorialized in symphonies and taught at universities. And at the core of this adulation is innovation: a new kind of musical time-feel that he created on a drum machine, but one that changed the way “traditional” musicians play. In Dilla Time, Dan Charnas chronicles the life of James DeWitt Yancey, from his gifted childhood in Detroit, to his rise as a Grammy-nominated hip-hop producer, to the rare blood disease that caused his premature death; and follows the people who kept him and his ideas alive. He also rewinds the histories of American rhythms: from the birth of soul in Dilla’s own “Motown,” to funk, techno, and disco. Here, music is a story of Black culture in America and of what happens when human and machine times are synthesized into something new. Dilla Time is a different kind of book about music, a visual experience with graphics that build those concepts step by step for fans and novices alike, teaching us to “see” and feel rhythm in a unique and enjoyable way. Dilla’s beats, startling some people with their seeming “sloppiness,” were actually the work of a perfectionist almost spiritually devoted to his music. This is the story of the man and his machines, his family, friends, partners, and celebrity collaborators. Culled from more than 150 interviews about one of the most important and influential musical figures of the past hundred years, Dilla Time is a book as delightfully detail-oriented and unique as J Dilla’s music itself.

Download or read book The Motherlode written by Clover Hope and published by Abrams. This book was released on 2021-02-02 with total page 451 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An illustrated highlight reel of more than 100 women in rap who have helped shape the genre and eschewed gender norms in the process The Motherlode highlights more than 100 women who have shaped the power, scope, and reach of rap music, including pioneers like Roxanne Shanté, game changers like Lauryn Hill and Missy Elliott, and current reigning queens like Nicki Minaj, Cardi B, and Lizzo—as well as everyone who came before, after, and in between. Some of these women were respected but not widely celebrated. Some are impossible not to know. Some of these women have stood on their own; others were forced into templates, compelled to stand beside men in big rap crews. Some have been trapped in a strange critical space between respected MC and object. They are characters, caricatures, lyricists, at times both feminine and explicit. This book profiles each of these women, their musical and career breakthroughs, and the ways in which they each helped change the culture of rap.

Download or read book God Level Knowledge Darts written by Desus & Mero and published by Random House. This book was released on 2020-09-22 with total page 226 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “Desus & Mero are smarter and funnier than everyone writing books.”—Shea Serrano “I will never write anything as hilarious as they have. I give up.”—Malcolm Gladwell “These motherf***ers make me laugh until I choke.”—Jia Tolentino NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY NPR A wild, hilarious guide to life from the hosts of the hit late-night show Desus & Mero and the Bodega Boys podcast Who could have predicted that, after a fateful meeting in a Bronx summer school in the 1990s, Desus & Mero would turn their friendship into an empire of talking to each other. And it’s no surprise—tuning in to them is like listening to the funniest, smartest people you know dissect a topic and then light it on fire. Now they’ve written the most essential guide to life of this century*, in which all the important questions are asked: How do I talk to my kids about drugs if I do them, too? What are the ethics of ghosting in a relationship? How do I bet on sports? How should I behave in jail? How much is too much to spend on sneakers? Is porn really that bad for me? As they put it: “We want to share all we’ve learned, after years in the Bronx streets, with you: the people. So with a lifetime spent building up a plethora of information from trials and tribulations and a handful of misdemeanors, we decided to write this book—a sequel to the Bible, or maybe to The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy,depending on how big a nerd you are. Let this book be your North Star.” *NO REFUNDS

Download or read book Mo Meta Blues written by Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson and published by Grand Central Publishing. This book was released on 2013-06-18 with total page 331 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "You have to bear in mind that [Questlove] is one of the smartest motherf*****s on the planet. His musical knowledge, for all practical purposes, is limitless." --Robert Christgau A punch-drunk memoir in which Everyone's Favorite Questlove tells his own story while tackling some of the lates, the greats, the fakes, the philosophers, the heavyweights, and the true originals of the music world. He digs deep into the album cuts of his life and unearths some pivotal moments in black art, hip hop, and pop culture. Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson is many things: virtuoso drummer, producer, arranger, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon bandleader, DJ, composer, and tireless Tweeter. He is one of our most ubiquitous cultural tastemakers, and in this, his first book, he reveals his own formative experiences--from growing up in 1970s West Philly as the son of a 1950s doo-wop singer, to finding his own way through the music world and ultimately co-founding and rising up with the Roots, a.k.a., the last hip hop band on Earth. Mo' Meta Blues also has some (many) random (or not) musings about the state of hip hop, the state of music criticism, the state of statements, as well as a plethora of run-ins with celebrities, idols, and fellow artists, from Stevie Wonder to KISS to D'Angelo to Jay-Z to Dave Chappelle to...you ever seen Prince roller-skate?!? But Mo' Meta Blues isn't just a memoir. It's a dialogue about the nature of memory and the idea of a post-modern black man saddled with some post-modern blues. It's a book that questions what a book like Mo' Meta Bluesreally is. It's the side wind of a one-of-a-kind mind. It's a rare gift that gives as well as takes. It's a record that keeps going around and around.

Download or read book Finding Your Harmony written by Ally Brooke and published by HarperCollins. This book was released on 2020-10-13 with total page 392 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this moving and inspirational memoir, singer Ally Brooke recalls her journey to fame, reveals how she has remained true to her beliefs through her most difficult moments. Featuring sixteen pages of never-before-seen photos, Finding Your Harmony takes readers behind-the-scenes of her proudest musical accomplishments, solo success, and her time on Dancing with the Stars. Ally Brooke burst onto the music scene as a member of Fifth Harmony, and quickly became a fan favorite with her infectious positivity and approachable attitude – not to mention her incredible voice. Following the band’s meteoric rise to fame, she embarked on a solo career, releasing her own hit singles, joining the twenty-eighth season of Dancing with the Stars, and showing people everywhere the rewards of hard work and faith. Now in this moving and inspirational memoir, Ally opens up about the experiences that led her to the spotlight, offering lessons from the heart and revealing how her tight-knit, Mexican-American family have helped her to live fearlessly since she was first catapulted into stardom. Tracing her success from its beginnings in San Antonio, Texas, Ally details the passion for music that took hold of her at a young age, and how with the help of her family she pushed herself to achieve her dreams, no matter how impossible they seemed. While her rise to fame was rapid, it wasn’t always smooth, and Ally candidly discusses the challenges she faced along the way, sharing how she navigated tough moments by staying true to herself and her beliefs. Opening up about her journey since Fifth Harmony disbanded, Ally recalls her tireless efforts to make music on her terms, charting back to back singles in the top 40 and amassing over 200 million collective worldwide streams. She also delves into her time on Dancing with the Stars, demonstrating how she conquered her fears and insecurities on her way to a top three finish and further established herself as a role model for young people the world over. Infused with the positive approach to life and spiritual openness that have fueled Ally’s journey, Finding Your Harmony uses her stories to help others follow their inner voices—even when the outside world makes it hard. Wise, grounded, and filled with sixteen pages of never-before-seen photos, Finding Your Harmony is a fascinating glimpse into the life and heart of one of popular music’s rising stars.

Download or read book My Healthy Dish written by My Nguyen and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2016-04-19 with total page 359 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the Creator of the Popular Food Blog My Healthy Dish, a Collection of Recipes for Everyone in the Family In 2012, My Nguyen—a mother of two with a background in finance and dreams of becoming a dietitian—logged onto Instagram and started posting photos of meals she was making for her family on a regular basis. Her posts attracted more than 30,000 followers in four months, so she decided to give them more of what they were requesting via a blog titled My Healthy Dish. Two years later, she’d hit the one-million mark in followers and has never looked back! On her blog, My endorses the idea of a whole, healthy lifestyle while embracing a healthy diet. She posts recipes that are simple, delicious, and nutritious. Her approach of taking the dishes we already love and making them healthier with both beloved and new ingredients makes her recipes attractive to anyone looking to go back to the basics, cook more, and choose real foods over processed ones. In her first cookbook, My Healthy Dish, My presents more than eighty-five new recipes perfect for any family. These recipes are not only healthy, but also easy—great for the busy parent who may not have hours to devote to menu planning each week. Dishes such as stuffed blueberry pancakes, cauliflower tater tots, chicken tortilla soup, orange coconut cream smoothies, and peanut butter and jelly cookies are sure to please every type of eater. With tips related to quality over quantity and organic versus nonorganic, as well as notes on meal prepping and pages of stunning photos, home cooks will surely fall in love with this collection.

Download or read book Rated RX written by Yetta Howard and published by . This book was released on 2020 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Explores BDSM, sexuality, disability, temporality, and artistic legacies in the career of Sheree Rose, partner of supermasochist Bob Flanagan.

Download or read book Complex Presents Sneaker of the Year written by Complex Media, Inc. and published by Abrams. This book was released on 2020-10-20 with total page 548 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 1985, Nike released Michael Jordan’s first sneaker, the Air Jordan 1, and sneaker culture was born. Now thousands of people wait in line at Supreme, and companies throw millions of dollars at LeBron James to keep him in their marketing plans. The trend that saw steady growth for decades with the emergence of sports, hip-hop, and sportswear advertising has exploded into a phenomenon. And no one has watched that phenomenon more closely than Complex. Sneaker of the Year explores the past 35 years of sneaker culture with the expertise, authority, and passion that only Complex can offer. With vibrant photographs and illustrations throughout, as well as input from some of the sneaker world’s most important voices, this compilation is a must-have for hypebeasts and sneakerheads everywhere.

Download or read book How Cycling Can Save the World written by Peter Walker and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2017-04-04 with total page 290 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Peter Walker—reporter at the Guardian and curator of its popular bike blog—shows how the future of humanity depends on the bicycle. Car culture has ensnared much of the world—and it's no wonder. Convenience and comfort (as well as some clever lobbying) have made the car the transportation method of choice for generations. But as the world evolves, the high cost of the automobile is made clearer—with its dramatic effects on pollution, the way it cuts people off from their communities, and the alarming rate at which people are injured and killed in crashes. Walker argues that the simplest way to tackle many of these problems at once is with one of humankind's most perfect inventions—the bicycle. In How Cycling Can Save the World, Walker takes readers on a tour of cities like Copenhagen and Utrecht, where everyday cycling has taken root, demonstrating cycling’s proven effect on reducing smog and obesity, and improving quality of life and mental health. Interviews with public figures—such as Janette Sadik-Khan, who led the charge to create more pedestrian- and cyclist- friendly infrastructure in New York City—provide case studies on how it can be done, and prove that you can make a big change with just a few cycling lanes and a paradigm shift. Meticulously researched and incredibly inspiring, How Cycling Can Save the World delivers on its lofty promise and leads readers to the realization that cycling could not only save the world, but have a lasting and positive impact on their own lives.

Download or read book Beautii J written by Beautii P. Joseph and published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. This book was released on 2015-04-07 with total page 70 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Becoming a Celebrity Stylist is every creative designers dream! It's the next level to making a true statement in the Beauty Industry as a Freelance Stylist. Have you been wondering how and what it takes to become a Celebrity Stylist? This book will guide you to the next level of your career. Beautii will share steps that helped her focus on the bigger picture. Beautii's bigger picture was to make her dreams come true. Beautii's legacy is very motivational and inspirational, she is living proof that anything is possible. She set a goal as a child to be one of the best hairstylists in the beauty industry and to build an empire that could withstand the test of time, and she has succeeded and ready to help you get on your way.

Download or read book The Body Reset Diet written by Harley Pasternak and published by Rodale Books. This book was released on 2014-03-04 with total page 258 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Get healthy in just 15 days with this diet plan from the celebrity trainer and New York Times bestselling author frequently featured on Khloé Kardashian's Revenge Body We've gone way overboard trying to beat the bulge. We've tried every diet out there—low-carb, low-fat, all-grapefruit—and spent hours toiling on treadmills and machines, to no avail. It's time to hit the reset button and start over with a new perspective on weight loss. In The Body Reset Diet, celebrity trainer and New York Times bestselling author Harley Pasternak offers you the ultimate plan for a thinner, healthier, happier life. This three-phase program focuses on the easiest, most effective way to slim down: blending. The 5-day jump-start includes delicious, expertly crafted smoothies (White Peach Ginger, Apple Pie, and Pina Colada, to name a few), dips, snacks, and soups that keep you satisfied while boosting your metabolism. Over the following 10 days, the plan reintroduces healthy combinations of classic dishes along with the blended recipes to keep the metabolism humming, so you will continue to torch calories and shed pounds. The plan also explains how the easiest form of exercise—walking—along with light resistance training is all it takes to achieve the celebrity-worthy physique that we all desire. No equipment necessary! Whether you are looking to lose significant weight or just those last 5 pounds, The Body Reset Diet offers a proven program to reset, slim down, and get healthy in just 15 days—and stay that way for good!

Download or read book Depreciating Assets written by Jessica Vaughn and published by . This book was released on 2020-12-15 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: With a new lens to artist Jessica Vaughn's multidisciplinary practice, Depreciating Assets investigates labor, diversity politics, and the material environment of the American workplace. The project examines how affirmative action and other office equity measures are intersected by corporate infrastructure and, specifically, the physical layout of office space.Across four interwoven sections and related appendices, Vaughn assembles her photographs and critical writings alongside xeroxed images, diversity training video stills, and manipulated open source documents of the US Government. The project considers and distills the symptoms of late 20th and 21st century work culture produced by open office plans and modular architecture's promise of malleability, compliance, and universality - provisions that bid for increased efficiency and productivity at the expense of visibility for Black workers and workers of color. The project also includes an interview between Vaughn and curator Magdalyn Asimakis, in which the two draw connections between the operations of the corporate environment to the structural failings of arts and cultural institutions to practice equitable inclusion of artists of color, or to develop a language and praxis in support of diverse programming that extends beyond compliance, optics, and concerns of the market. In its design, Depreciating Assets replicates the style, materials, and colors outlined by the US Government Publishing Office-standards set to ensure design efficiency and the economical production of their internal documents. The book draws from a familiar copyshop color palette and uses varied paper stocks in accordance with Paper Standard specifications. In doing so the project takes on and examines the homogeneity imposed by so-called 'corporate efficiency measures,' and the fundamental tension between diversity initiatives and one-size-fits-all approaches to office resources.The publication concludes with an afterword by the author contextualizing the project's themes within the contemporary reality of global pandemic, economic precarity, and protests against racist state violence, noting how in the absence of an adequate governmental response to structural problems, workplaces implement ad-hoc solutions (such as plexi-dividers) that still leave workers vulnerable and at risk - most acutely, Black workers who are often underinsured.

Download or read book Untold Night and Day written by Bae Suah and published by Abrams. This book was released on 2020-05-05 with total page 153 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The acclaimed Korean author weaves a “disturbing, beautifully controlled” metaphysical detective story “of doubles, shadows, and parallel worlds” (Financial Times). It’s Ayami’s final day working the box-office at Seoul’s only audio theater for the blind. Her last shift completed, she walks the streets with her former boss, searching for a missing friend. Their conversations take in art, love, food, and the inaccessible country to the north. The next day, Ayami acts as a guide for a detective novelist visiting from abroad. But as they contend with the summer heat, the edges of reality start to fray. Ayami enters a world of increasingly tangled threads, and the past intrudes upon the present as overlapping realities repeat, collide, change, and reassert themselves. Blisteringly original, Untold Night and Day upends the very structure of narrative storytelling. By one of the boldest and most innovative voices in contemporary Korean literature, and masterfully realized in English by Man Booker International Prize–winning translator Deborah Smith, Bae Suah’s hypnotic novel asks whether more than one version of ourselves can exist at once.

Download or read book Republic Earth written by Daniel White and published by Bookpod. This book was released on 2014 with total page 66 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Republic Earth is an educational, social, political, economic and technological ideology that aims at the establishment of a full global democracy that values all aspects of humanity around the world. Republic Earth primarily aims to build a global online democracy using the technology of the digital revolution, as soon everyone on Earth will be connected if they wish to be. Republic Earth also aims to increase the interconnection of peoples around the world in such a way that fosters a meaningful retention of all human cultures and languages throughout the globe." -- Republic Earth website.

Download or read book Friends Lovers and Everything in Between written by B. Shaun and published by . This book was released on 2013-05-13 with total page 300 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is a book about a group of friends from High School as they grow old together learning the life lessons of Life, Love, Friendship, Family, and other things they couldn't get through without the power of friendship

Download or read book The Black Market written by Charles Moore and published by . This book was released on 2020-10 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Art collecting can be time-consuming, complicated and confusingfor the beginner . . . but it doesn't have to be.In this clear and easy-to-follow guide, you'll gain the necessary knowledge and skills to begin building your own art collection. The purest form of hope, dreams, and sentiments, a single art image can reveal long-held secrets, spark the imagination, offer a sense of belonging.Art conveys the words the artist often might not have been able to speak out loud. In The Black Market: A Guide to Art Collecting, long-time art collector and art historian Charles Moore introduces novice collectors and would-be collectors to the art world, its deep roots, its connections to our past, and its hope for our future. If you ever wanted to become a collector, sought to learn more about African American art, or want to deepen your art knowledge, The Black Market is an immersive and essential tool for developing a meaningful and awe-inspiring collection.