In 2006, two British soul singers made big waves across the pond. One had a dark spirit, a quirky fashion sense, and sang songs about drugs and drinking, heartache and pain. The other seemed to embody light, had a head of hair any afrobella would envy, and sang songs about romance and passion, and the…
Pop Culture
Afrobella Meets En Vogue!
Anyone who’s been reading this here blog for a while now knows — En Vogue were among my most significant beauty icons back when I was but a greasy-faced teenager who wanted to wear makeup and feel pretty but didn’t know how. In my day, it didn’t get better. En Vogue filled an important chronological…
Oprah And Good Hair
** originally posted on BV Hair Talk. My favorite part of this week’s much-talked-about episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show where Chris Rock and Solange Knowles talked about Good Hair? That one photo of Oprah back in the Eighties. The one Chris Rock referred to as “the mean news.” Oprah had the fro that dreams…
Mo’Nique Takes Late Night
Raise your hands if you’re a nightly talk show watcher! I am – if it isn’t The Daily Show and The Colbert Report, then it’s Conan or Letterman (and I’ve tried my sincere best with Jimmy Fallon, but… I just can’t. Even though I’m a big fan of The Roots). But in terms of having…
Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Day #1
Wow, bellas! It’s been a long, crazy, wonderful day. I’m writing this from a cushy air mattress at my friend Jenny’s apartment… (you might recall, the one with all the stairs. Whew!) Today was the official beginning of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week New York, and the city was absolutely electric. I got here this afternoon, and…
Yet Another Michelle Obama Hair Article
This time, by Time. Why Michelle’s Hair Matters was penned by Jenee Desmond-Harris, and homegirl did her blog research. My friends at Michelle Obama Watch, Black Snob, and Nappturality all got mentioned in the venerable newsmagazine. Score! Happy and proud of my amigas in the blogosphere! I’ll admit, my initial reaction to Desmond-Harris’ article was……
Fefe’s Back!
When Fefe Dobson burst on the scene back in 2003, rock-loving black girls around the world sat up and took notice. Here was a chick who refused to play by the record label rules. Edgy, cute, funky, and totally unique at the time. She was getting solid airplay on MTV for a minute there, but…
Dear, Sweet Aaliyah – 8 Years Gone
I wrote the following words in 2007, for a post titled simply: I Miss You. “…I never knew Aaliyah, so I can only imagine the heartbreak that her family and friends felt. Feel. Aaliyah’s death hit me harder than Kurt Cobain’s did, and I was a huge grunge music head at that time. But all…
Tyra Declares National Real Hair Day
Tyra Banks is beautiful. Tyra Banks is ambitious. When Tyra Banks gets on a topic, she gets down into it and involves herself in a way that few other models-turned-talkshow hosts do. So when I read that Tyra was declaring September 8 National Real Hair Day just in time for the new season of The…
Martha Washington = Rosario Dawson?
Little known fact about Afrobella – I grew up reading comic books. Avidly. It started with Archie (which for some insane reason was super popular in my primary school days), and when I was a bit older I graduated to REAL comics. And graphic novels. The kind of subject matter a twelve year old probably…