Singers’ Beef with Essence Is Really About Being Black Monday, September 24, 2007

Filed under: EUR, Essence Magazine, KeKe Wyatt, Music, News, R & B, african american, entertainment, gossip — ilovemypublicist @

      KeKe Wyatt 

                                                                    KeKe Wyatt /photo credit:EURweb

Keke Wyatt is not happy with Essence.com following her Q&A that appeared last month to promote her new album, “Ghetto Rose.”The 25-year-old Indianapolis native vents her frustration with the article, and claims she was “badly misquoted” when the discussion turned toward her biracial background. Many readers were also offended by Wyatt’s reference to black people as “they” and reference to her straight locks as “pretty hair.” Actual quotes from the article reads as follows:

No, I’m not all Black, but I definitely stand up for the Black people. They’ve had it rough, they can’t help the fact that they’re skin is dark, or that their nose is a lil’ wider or that the curls in their hair might be tighter.I don’t think that it’s fair for people who look like me—the light skin, pointy nose and pretty hair—to think that dark-complected people are any less than them.

My best friends are Black—I mean, Black-Black…

Prescription: Now folks may not remember that Keke stabbed her husband back in 2002. Though it may be a coincidence, at the time sales of Wyatt’s debut album, Soul Sista, increased after the singer’s arrest.

The drama with Essence is perfectly timed to the release of her new album “Ghetto Rose”.   And while a rose is still a rose, church attendance and drama alone does not sell records. A little ignorance might get you a number one single. Wyatt explains to EUR’s Lee Bailey how she was misquoted in the response, as well as in other passages throughout the essence.com article.

Listen to her response here: http://www.eurweb.com/story/eur37014.cfm

 

The Remake of Keyshia Cole Into Mary J. Blige Friday, August 24, 2007

Filed under: Keyshia Cole, Marketing, Mary J Blige, Music, News, R & B, african american, celebrity, entertainment, hip hop, media, mediatakeout.com, public relations, publicity — ilovemypublicist @

Keyshia Cole is just like you 

The seeds were planted early. When we first heard Keyshia Cole’s raspy yet distinguished voice it reminded everyone of only one person we had heard before- Mary J. Blige. Keyshia had that same swagger and toughness and that “thing” that made her a little rough around the edges but very likeable. Just like when we first met Mary back in the 90’s. Then we saw Keyshia team up with Diddy. Just like Mary. And sometime early last year the comparisons were just too many to overlook which brings us to the current marketing campaign for Keyshia Cole’s new album.

Both ladies are on the same record label so the hype can be controlled and managed internally. Nice set up right? Smart.

At first, the tag line doesn’t really make sense. Just like you? Is she trying to connect with her fans in a more personal way, trying to drive home the message, you and I are one?

Or, is there an underlying message to fuel new rumors, spark excitement for sales and set the stage for the entrance of a new diva into the world of R & B?

Do you think the record label is setting up a controversy to drive sales?

Read about the new cover and news here:

http://www.mediatakeout.com/

http://www.vibe.com/blog/vc/2007/08/keyshia_coles_new_cd_cover_sur.html

 

R. Kelly Hires the “White” Johnnie Cochran? Wednesday, August 22, 2007

Filed under: Business, News, R & B, african american, entertainment, hip hop, legal, media, public relations, publicist, publicity — ilovemypublicist @

            

When big shots get in trouble in Chicago, often as not, they call Ed Genson.

Some call him a magician in the courtroom. Others say a better word might be barracuda.

Either way, the 61-year-old Genson has emerged as one of the top criminal defense lawyers in the city, and maybe the best known.

Whether it’s Grammy-winning R&B singer R. Kelly or friends and aides to scandal-plagued former Gov. George Ryan, the high and mighty regularly seek out Genson when they’re trying to save their careers and avoid jail.

Attorneys say his face at the defense table makes prosecutors nervous. He doesn’t always beat them. But they always know they’re in for a fight.
A judge ruled Tuesday (August 21) that the videotape in the R. Kelly child pornography trial can be shown in full when the proceedings begin this September. Cook County Circuit Judge Vince Gaughan said the tape was key evidence in the prosecutors’ case, rebutting the argument by Kelly’s lawyers that the tape would unfairly bias the jury against him.

Additionally, the prosecution wants to bring in an expert to compare vein patterns in R. Kelly’s hands with the hands of the man in the tape, to prove he is indeed Kelly. The defense decried this motion as faulty science, not comparable to matching fingerprints. The judge has postponed a ruling on whether the veins argument will be allowed in court.

Prescription: Doesn’t this case bring back memories of Johnnie Cochran and OJ? Impossible odds and an attorney with unbreakable confidence.  Sometimes the  best PR strategy is to take the spotlight off the star and shine it on the back-up singers. Or, in this case Ed Genson.  Seems R. Kelly is not going to bump and grind his way out of a conviction. He’s lining up the best people for a great show we all plan to watch.

 If the veins don’t match, this case could be a wrap!

I think R. Kelly is going to get off. What do you think?

Read the full articles here:
http://www.thetimesonline.com/articles/2003/05/26/news/local_illinois/af8a9824e22dde8086256d31007c813e.txt

http://www.vibe.com/news/news_headlines/2007/08/r_kelly_hands/