Soul Fixin'

VIBE: 1993-2009
The recent death of Michael Jackson is followed by the death of another urban music & cultural icon, VIBE magazine. The brainchild of legendary producer, Quincy Jones, VIBE magazine made its' debut 16 years ago. After nearly two decades in circulation, the beloved magazine has become the latest victim of the media recession. As a teenager, the thought of working at VIBE was the dream job. I still look forward to mid-month when my copy of VIBE arrives in the mailbox. VIBE was the premier magazine chronicling urban music, fashion and culture. I wonder if I'll get a refund on my two year subscription. The magazine has yet to release an official statement but it is being reported that an assistant in the office of editor in chief Danyel Smith confirmed the sad news. Goodbye, VIBE.

Soul Fixin'

At the age of 58 Stevie Wonder is busier than ever. In the midst of a tour, Stevie is working on two albums and rumors of a third album are spreading. In honor of his late mother Lula Mae Hardaway, Stevie is working on The Gospel Inspired By Lula. "Some of it is going to be traditional gospel but some of it is going to be ... I'm trying to do some (different) stuff," Wonder explained. "I might do something in Arabic. I might do something in Hebrew. My whole thing of the title is just saying 'Spreading the good word, the message." Stevie plans on releasing the album January 11 to commemorate what would have been Lula Mae's 77th birthday. Stevie is no Aretha but he can surely sing the gospel, peep Stevie singing "I Won't Complain" at Luther's funeral in the video below.

Through The Eyes of Wonder, the second project, is described as a performance piece that reflects Stevie's experiences as a blind man. "What I want to do with our live performances is to create visuals that [give] my take on how I see the world and how most various things affected me," he explained.

Stevie did not deny or confirm rumors of a possible duet album with Tony Bennett covering the songs of Marvin Gaye produced by Quincy Jones."I'm the last one to hear about it and the first one to agree. Definitely Tony and I talked about doing some stuff together. And Quincy and I have always wanted to work together on a project."So if this is something that Quincy is doing and Tony and everyone has decided to kind of go in that direction ... obviously I'm a great fan of Tony Bennett and I've been since a little kid, you know, so I'm excited to be a part of it."

Soul Fixin'

2008 BET Award Nominations

Lil Wayne, MJB and Nelly helped announce the 2008 BET Award nominees. T-Pain's non singing a** leads the pack with 5 nominations. Kanye, MJB, A. Keys, Lil' Wayne and Keyshia Cole are nominated for multiple awards. Quincy Jones will receive the Humanitarian Award and Al "Grits" Green will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award. I'm looking forward to seeing Keyshia's mama, Frankie, act a fool on the red carpet. The BET Awards air June 24th at 8 PM. I'm not a big fan of BET, but the BET Awards are hands down the best award show on TV!!!!!