Chris Brown might not be welcome at BET Award shows, but this afternoon, he received a very warm welcome from everyone at NYC’s Rucker Park. Chris Brown took a second to strike a pose with two of NYC’s finest before walking on the court. They will probably want copies of that for themselves.

Not sure if Chris suited up for a full on game with the street ballers. In this video he’s wearing jeans, but he is dripping in sweat. An indication that there was more than a few layups going on.

Enjoy, ladies. Little appearances like this are all a part of his master plan to work his way back into your hearts, as if he ever got das boot.

Yes, I’m on my new/old ish: putting unfamiliar faces in upfront places. This one would be Kristinia DeBarge. As the name suggests, she’s kin to the royal DeBarge family. James DeBarge to be exact. Sing along .. Kristinia was in NYC this afternoon to help Kimora Lee with the launch of Baby Phat’s Pure Cat sneakers. The family must like friendly competition, they look an awful lot like The Simmons sisters Pastry joints.

Kristinia DeBarge, 19-years-old, was featured in the final issue of Vibe magazine and expressed her views of the good ol’ days, “I miss when R&B was like, Oooh, turn up that song right now! R&B was really good in the ‘90s. You had Usher, Jodeci, and Ginuwine. You could feel their passion. We need that again.”

Her album Exposed will be in stores/online tomorrow. The first single, “Goodbye” was released in April. Unfortunately, for her, the melody was trumped by Jay-Z’s superior use of it in “D.O.A.” I’d link you to the video, but her record company (Universal), goes out of their way to make it difficult/impossible to embed their artist’s music videos on websites and blogs, because it’s bad for the promotion of their artists. ← A whole nother conversation, for a never time. Good luck with that album, Kristinia. → no sarco.

If you are not watching Stephon Marbury destroy what’s left of his career, really what are you doing? Short story shorter: yesterday afternoon, Stephon Marbury popped up on Justin.tv, shirtless and mouthing off about everything on his dome.
When he’s not talking, he plays random songs as he drifts into radio DJ mode, “Ladies if you want to hear Drake, press 1.” At one point he broke down and started crying. When he went to sleep, he kept the cam running, like a bedtime Truman Show cam.

As we speak he’s walking back and forth on a balcony, with a bathrobe around his waist.

Watch live video from starburytv on Justin.tv

Stephon Marbury repeatedly states that his reason for the video is to show people the real Stephon. Those local newspapers guys, who are they to talk about him?

Oh yeah, he does commercials too..

What about his basketball career? From his mouth to your eyes/ears… “Basketball who cares about basketball? I’m not gonna run around like a chicken with my head cut off. I did it.. and they (the owners) get all of the money.”

The Boston Celtics offered Stephon Marbury 1.2 million to come off their bench next season. With Kevin Garnett coming back and Rasheed Wallace onboard, that’s a good chance at another championship. Not to mention easy cash for lite-work. Steph turned them down. Not like he had other offers. Guess he’s busy with Starbury.tv It’s safe to say you will never see him on an NBA court again.

Notice the friends in the background, enabling and allowing this to continue? Not the kind I ever want in my life.

Last week during President Obama’s press conference on health care, on the Tweet side, I pretty much predicted the firestorm that’s been blazing ever since he ‘stupidly’ sparked it with his comment regarding Henry Louis Gate’s arrest. Fifty-five minutes of back and forth on how to reshape health care and two seconds later the media decided to ignore it all to embrace a virtually, throwaway remark. Terrorists, sex scandals, and angry black men are the easiest things to make into headline news. Hah. Yes, I’m done ranting..

Anyway, here’s something to show that not everyone has a contentious relationship with the popo. The picture up top was posted by Sanaa Lathan via her Twitter page. Seems like, this weekend, on her way to/from Comic Con in San Diego, California, her driver was doing his best Lewis Hamilton impression. Looked in the rear view mirror, uh, oh.

What happened when the cops approached the car?

“I got us off. hehehe”

I’m more impressed that he knew who she was. Let’s be honest, WE know Sanaa Lathan, but she’s not exactly an A-Lister in the Hollywood club. Maybe Mr. Officer saw Something New and thought he had a shot.

No matter what your opinion is about the current state of music, without fail, every year there are a few releases that will meet the standards that sum up your definition of “real music.” Whether hip-hop or otherwise. For the past two years I’ve been talking up Ledisi as a voice that needs to be heard. Thanks to my tireless efforts, in 2008 she was nominated for best new artist and best R&B album Grammys. *I’m kidding.. about being responsible, not the noms.*

On August 18, Ledisi will offer up her fourth album to the world Turn Me Loose.  As Ledisi explores different sounds and continues to “tell everything, which is her usual m.o.,” there is the hope that she breaks through to a wider audience this time around.
According to industry reports, Ledisi’s first single off the album, “Going Through Changes” was the most added song to radio playlists in the first week of July. That’s certainly a good sign of things to come. Your local station not up on Ledisi? Take a listen..

Phenomenal stuff. It should be obvious, but I’ll say it anyway: that is not the official video. :]

Raphael Saadiq produced two songs. Here they are talking about the collaboration of two heads from Oakland, California.

One more, this is Jawn Murray giving a sneak preview/review via his car stereo.

August 18 - Good music week. Ledisi’s album drops. buy it. ← That’s what I have on my calendar. You should too.

Last night, there was sort of a big deal going on at New York City’s Lincoln Center. After years of speculation, rumors, and unfinished leaked songs, Whitney Houston, Clive Davis, and her fam were on hand to debut Whitney Houston’s new album I Look To You, due September 1.

The album took three years of tweaking to perfection. Clive Davis explained the delay as a simple case of artistic muse: “You have to wait for great songs to show up.”

Those lucky enough to have heard the album say it proves beyond a doubt that Whitney Houston is back.

One of the biggest crowd pleasers at last night’s event was a song called “Million Dollar Bill,” written and produced by Alicia Keys and Swizz Beatz. If you’re thinking that can’t be classic Whitney Houston, you would be right. Via Rolling Stone.. “Million Dollar Bill” is a clattering, uptempo hip-hop-inspired number. It may be the fastest ever for Houston, who keeps up nicely, even if it occasionally sounds like the balladeer is doing some stretching...

The song set off a frenzy in the hall, sending Martha Stewart, Houston’s cousin Dionne Warwick,..

Oprah pal Gayle King, Benny Medina,..

and Keys into ecstatic dance. It received a standing ovation. It also set the tone for much of the album.”

Additional writers on the album? R. Kelly wrote two songs, Johnta Austin lent a hand, Akon, and other names that won’t mean much to folks around here. Let’s just say, Whitney Houston isn’t trying to recreate the past. She’s aiming for younger ears, without selling her soul. The writers took note of that by infusing the songs with a tone of perseverance and redemption over her personal struggles.

As the last song played, Whitney Houston made a brief appearance, blowing kisses and thanking everyone for coming. Taking the mic, she talked about Clive Davis and her mother Cissy Houston encouraging her to get back in the studio to refresh her career.

For you and yours, she had one request, “Love me like I never left!”