BLACK GIRL MAGIC: HOW NORMANI AND DOJA CAT SLAYED THE MUSIC VIDEO SCENE THIS WEEK.

For those who reminisce on the good old days when music videos had a theme and story, you should be rejoicing over two ladies who gave us lewks and visuals this week. Thursday Doja Cat dropped the video for, Juicy, from her debut album Amala. Sis did not disappoint with this video. It had Lil’ Kim “Crush on You” vibes written all over it. To keep it even more “juicy” Doja dressed as different fruit with the watermelon look being the most impressive of her ‘fits. Sis even gave the app Fruit Ninja some promo, and as an added surprise Tyga graced us with his presence and a verse!

Today, Fifth Harmony’s melanated member Normani took us back to the early 2000’s with a video to "Motivation". She opens with a very relatable scene of young 'Mani sitting in front of the TV watching Rosci and Terrance J on BET’s best show 106 & Park. Her grandma in the background saying "Normani, stop making all that noise" (more confirmation that all black folks grew up the same) and when the eat drops she lovingly says "Do your thing, girl". If literally transforming into your favs fav Beyonce in "Crazy in Love" off rip doesn't get you hype, she also gave us looks from J. Lo’s “I’m Real” and a memorable dance scene from “Touch” by Omarion. Nicki tried to tell us Normani was “that bitch” and people still slept on her, but the internets are making sure she’s never slept on again!

With so many millennial's and Gen-Zer’s missing the 99’s and 2000’s, the music video streets need to give the people what they want and that’s a quality stan- producing visual! Luckily there's a new era of directors and artists who appreciate the music video art form and have us saying bye to the days of videos with no substance, ushering in a new wave.

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MTV Found the Sense They Lost and Finally Awards the Video Vanguard Award to Missy Elliott.

"GIVE MISSY HER THINGS!"

Any devout listener of pop culture podcast The Read has heard Kid Fury say this a number of times. Both he and co-host Crissle have advocated for Missy Elliott to receive MTV's Video Music Award for years now. Finally the Viacom network has heard our cry and agreed to give Missy her things.

I am Humbly Grateful to be receiving the MichaelJacksonVideoVanguard Award😭🙏🏾❤️ I Thank my FANS “Supafriends” who fought diligently to see this day come🙏🏾@KidFury @crissles who rooted for years 4 me🙏🏾 I am crying happy tears😭Thank you God @MTV @vmas am SO HUMBLED🙏🏾 pic.twitter.com/udfhBNc78k

— Missy Elliott (@MissyElliott) August 12, 2019

When you think about the creativity and innovation of music videos, if Melissa 'Misdemeanor' Elliott isn't in your top five you must've been living under a rock and need to come out to play. Missy's futuristic style has confirmed for many that she actually has a time machine and comes back to create these fire visuals. But she's not only been a pioneer when it comes to music videos, she's also a very dope writer and producer. Making hits for all your favs like Destiny's Child, *NSYNC, 702, and most notably Aaliyah. With all the features and singles she's done there's no doubt this performance will be amazing!

In preparation for the big night of the awards show, which is slated to air Monday, August 26, here are three of Missy's underrated videos that should've had her on MTV's radar years ago!

• Sock It To Me (1997)

• She's a Bitch (1999)

• Beep Me 911

Honorable Mention(s): Pass That Dutch (2003) and Gossip Folks (2002)

Just for old time sake, dancer and former Disney Channel star Alyson Stoner NEEDS to make an appearance and show out one time for the one time. She's already done a tribute to Missy in 2015 and uploaded it to her Youtube channel!

Whatever does come from this performance for the G.O.A.T. will be "Really Hot"and like she sang in the aforementioned song, "...I won't stop 'cause I'm killin' 'em" and she's right. Killin' 'em now and then, Miss!

Comment below on which Missy videos you think are underrated.

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#MusicMonday- Lolawolf.

(photo credit: News.com.au)

On this episode of "Brea's Late with Artists" we take a look at electronic r&b trio, Lolawolf.

Lol but seriously, the band members consist of: James Levy, Jimmy Giannopoulos, and...Zoe Kravitz? YES! From her films to her style, I'm here for all things Zoe Kravitz! I'm still trying to figure out how I didn't know the Princess of 'I-Do-What-I-Want-And-Regret-Nothing' (because we all know her mom is queen) was in a band??

I recently started following her on Instagram and noticed that she kept talking about being on tour, so I headed on over to Youtube and got to searching. Now I'm not sure what I thought Zoe's voice would sound like over a beat, but I wasn't expecting what I heard. I guess I thought she'd have a LOT of struggle notes but she sounds great to me. But then again, her dad is extremely fine Lenny Kravitz and her mom is Lisa Bonet. Both are very talented people, so of course she was born to be great!

The band's music is definitely different than what's being played on the radio now and if you aren't open to listening to different types of music, you may be quick to dismiss it (Kind of like how I am when my friend tries to force me to listen to K-Pop. I just can't seem to get jiggy with that stuff). For comparison sake, their sound is similar to Santigold or even M.I.A.!

 "Summertime" and "Jimmy Franco" were a couple of the first songs I heard from the group. Both are super fun and make me wish I would've heard them sooner. Especially "Summertime", that could've been my anthem this past summer but there's always next year :) And let me not even get into the cuteness that is the "Jimmy Franco" video (which features ASAP Rocky as her leading man). I always wonder how people have such great chemistry in music videos and don't even be into each other like that. But for those 3 minutes and 18 seconds, they sure fooled me. Check out both songs below!!



^

Like what you've heard so far from Lolawolf? Checkout their Soundcloud for more awesomeness!!

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#MusicMonday- Banks.

Why hello there, you beautiful people!

 
Well, I'm back!...at least for the remainder of this year. I have so much to update you all on, but I'll wait for Wednesday's post for those deets.

Anywho, I thought I'd come back on this glorious Monday to expose you all to the wonderfulness that is BANKS. As usual, I'm late to the party when it comes to a few artists but I'm always happy I've discovered them.

The LA native has such a chill type of sound and the credible sources over at Wikipedia list it as triphop-like (apparently this is a genre that dates back to the 90's). She cites Lauryn Hill and Fiona Apple as a few of her musical influences and also released her debut album 'Goddess' back in September.

The first song I heard from her was "Goddess" and I immediately wanted to know more about this artist and why I hadn't heard about her sooner. Naturally, I went to Spotify and listened to everything that was available there. After an intense music sesh, I came to the conclusion that BANKS is my fav and I want her to be your fav as well! Check out the lyric video to "Goddess" below.

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Before You Go: Send Thank You Cards.

I’m so sad that this is my last post in our summer collab series! It was a ton of fun and I enjoyed sharing my knowledge with all of you, and I hope you enjoyed it as well. 

Now, this last post will feature something that is very important: writing thank you notes. In the digital age that we live in, most people send a quick email to show their thanks, but it is much more thoughtful when you take the time to actually hand write a note. 

Write a thank you note to your supervisor and anyone who you’ve shadowed. First you should buy a set of thank you cards that is sophisticated, but shows a little of your personality. Or if you are really talented, feel free to make your own. Next, start the note off by thanking the person for helping make your internship experience a great one. Then, mention something that the two of you talked about that really stuck with you. For example, if they gave you some good advice about your major, then mention that. Or if they taught you something, mention that. Just mention anything (that’s positive) that was memorable to you.

As far as handing them out, what I plan to do is give them to the receptionist on my last day, then have her hand them out the next day. This way it will be sort of a surprise to receive a thank you card from me. 

Good luck with the remaining time in your internship! If you have any questions regarding your summrt internships, feel free to leave a comment or tweet me at @tiatamjam using the hashtag #workandplay

Tia James is a student at the University of Missouri, studying Strategic Communications. She is passionate about helping others with branding, job search, and career development, which she received training on from her school’s Career Center. In her spare time, Tia loves watching movies and YouTube, and making crafts. One day she hopes to own her own agency that focuses on branding and advertising. For more advice, check out her blog at tiajames.wordpress.com

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10 Activities to Add to Your Summer Bucket List.

A few weeks ago I wrote about summer music festivals and how every year I want to attend one. Due to school, and most recently my post grad job search struggle, my funds always seem to be a little too low to go.

For us financially challenged folk, I've decided to compile a list of other fun activities we can complete this summer! Check it out below :)




If you have a summer bucket list, I'd love to know what's on yours! Tweet me at @breajallen and use the hashtag #WorkAndPlay 

Here's to trying new things this summer!

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