Happy Monday! Enjoy these hot topics with your morning cup of Joe.
The Soul Train Awards 2014 are bringing all of our favorite acts back together. Rappers Missy Elliot, Lil’ Kim, and Da Brat will take the stage on November 7 to perform their hit song from the 90’s, “Not Tonight.” The song was originally recorded alongside Angie Martinez and the late Lisa “Left Eye” Lopez. Other Soul Train Award 2014 performances include Mase, Tamar Braxton, and a highly anticipated reunion of the 90’s R&B group Jodeci. It’s going to be like a 90’s family reunion on the Soul Train Awards stage! [Yahoo! News]
Would you turn down $4.5 million? Kanye West did. The rapper reportedly walked away from a multi-million deal to perform in Las Vegas. West would have only needed to perform three shows a week for three weeks at the Axis at Planet Hollywood. At that rate, he would’ve been making $500,000 per show for just nine performances, making him the highest paid performer in Vegas history. We’re sure he had his reasons. [TMZ]
The Bleacher Report’s Mike Freeman wrote a post saying that some Seattle Seahawks players think that QB Russell Wilson is “not Black enough.” NBA Hall of Famer Charles Barkley says the “not Black enough” conversation has been going on for too long in the Black community and he’s sick of it. “One of the reasons we’re never going to be successful as a whole is because of other Black people,” Barkley said on a Philadelphia radio station, “For some reason, we are brainwashed to think that if you’re not a thug, or an idiot, you’re not Black enough. If you go to school, make good grades and speak intelligent, and don’t break the law, you’re not a good Black person.” [The Griot]
Angela Bassett follows a paper trail left by her ancestors to discover her roots in slavery. Watch Bassett learn more about her family’s past in this clip from Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates Jr.