Here’s what we’re talking about over our dark roast coffee:
Idris Elba will be releasing an album inspired by his role as Nelson Mandela in the biopic Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom. The album mi Mandela will feature vocals from the likes of Mumford & Sons, James Blake, Maverick Sabre and Mr. Hudson. “The album came as sort of an afterthought, if I’m honest,” said Elba. “When I was on Mandela, I was there for about 8 months and South African music was part of my research. Mandela was into his music and I wanted to understand what music he liked. So in that journey I discovered the roots of South African music.” While researching, Elba discovered that each of the numerous South African tribes has a very different style of musical expression. By bringing together a few of his favorite musicians, Elba tried to reproduce those vibrant sounds into one album. mi Mandela is set for release on November 24. [HollywoodReporter]
Bow Wow is engaged to Love and Hip Hop New York star Erica Mena. Mena let the news slip while doing an interview, Saturday. When asked if she and Bow Wow were dating, Mena said, “Uh…he’s actually my fiance!” Bob Wow treated his lady love to a giant round-cut diamond ring, while treating himself to a blinged out Rolex. [PopSugar]
We’re not sure if Andre 3000 is serious, but he knows exactly who he wants to play Outkast in the potential biopic on the group. “It would be great to make an Outkast movie right bow, but instead of really serious, make it a full comedy—like Kevin Hart would play Big Boi,” said Andre. And when it came down to who he wanted to play himself: “We should cast somebody stupid—like Leonardo DiCaprio.” That would make for an interesting interpretation. [MTV]
Omari Hardwick got a little sass from Twitter after the first picture of the Power star and his wife surfaced on the internet. Commenters called Hardwick’s wife of two years, Jennifer Pfautch, everything from ugly to looking like man. Hardwick wasn’t going to stand for that, which he made clear in numerous tweets to the haters. “I wish all of you could experience celebrity for a week to understand the LEVEL of ugly in certain diseases (called human beings),” tweeted Hardwick. “Social media has aided in the hate of my generation of public figures vs. those before us.” And we couldn’t agree more. [TheRoot]
After rumors went around the web, yesterday, that SNL funny-man Kenan Thompson was leaving the show, a rep has stepped forward to shut them down. Calling the TMZ reports “inaccurate,” the rep made it clear that “the season hasn’t even started and cast decisions are made until the end of the season.” Currently Thompson is the longest running African-American cast member on the show. We hope to see him back for many more seasons. [HuffingtonPost]