So Damani, an upcoming MC from Inglewood, CA connected with the folks over at adidas for his own shoe. Not bad for a cat who hasn’t even dropped a proper album yet. These red, black, green [shout to X-Clan] and gold flavored take on the adidas EQT B-Ball lows are seen below. Damani also recorded a take a Run-DMC classic in support of the shoe.

The folks at UNDRCROWN also hooked up the tee above. Only 100 pairs are being made and those of you on the West Coast can cop them February 21st at Millenium Shoes in Inglewood. Give this man’s marketers some dap.

So seven or so  days ago those with understanding girlfriends were soaking up the NBA’s All-Star weekend. Here’s a gang of the shoes said All-Stars were sporting on and off the court.

WOW, an thats all …not impressed.   LISTEN KIDS, the sneaker game has new rulez…I’m an 80′s baby, 82 to b exact…all this colorful shit, WAY TOO MUCH.     I FUCKED wit the ol skool ADIDAS, the suede PUMAS, the ol EWINGS(wit the EWING on tha bacc, not the Adidas, cuz those were wack)   NIKE FORCES not A1′s (they weren’t even that popular yet)… The Filas (wit da strap at tha bacc went hard), BO Jacksons (black an grey Raiders style), Grant HILLS 1 an 2, AIR RAIDS wit da straps (everyone had those, even spike lee), tha 1st PENNY’S were crazy when they dropped.. JORDANS (st8 High School kicks)    SHOES ARE GETTING WEAK AS HELL NOW AN I HOPE NOBODY COPS THOSE UGLY KANYE LOUIS SNEAKERS. Oh an Props to Damani for his kicks, maybe I ‘ll cop the next joints…

Picture yourself in a nice nightclub. All the industry’s elite is in the building, having a good time catching up. You’re an up-and-coming hustler from your perspective but a nobody to them. How do you even begin to network? There’s no one right answer for this question. Make it short and sweet though. You only got 140 characters to say what you have to say. And chances are, they won’t even respond.

Picturing this scenario may help you to conceptualize Twitter as an easy-to-use networking tool. The new site that’s taking the worldwide web by storm is only two years old. It’s the lethal uppercut to MySpace. It’s slowly making Facebook the second site you pull up. Here are a few tips, strategies, and updates to have you twittin’ correctly. Welcome to TwittaLand…

Following Vs. Followers

Unless someone’s profile is private, you can add people as you please. This means that you can be updated with all the haps on the people you follow. A&R assistants, producers, artists, managers, musicians, groupies, and regular down-to-earth supporters are networking daily. Business folks are there to maintain and make even more money! Major producers are trading twits with major artists on the regular. Watch your following vs. follower count though. You don’t want to have 500 following and 4 followers. Not a good look.

What to Twitter?

* Encouraging quotes, thoughts of the day, or spiritual upliftment. It’s like singing “We Fall Down” on amateur night at the Apollo. No matter how whack your twit is, you’re still going to get love because of it’s positive impact.

* Interesting new stories that the common person wouldn’t know about. People usually don’t have enough time but they are interested and concerned about the world around them. Include a link of the news story.

* Interesting video clips. Seeing believes with people. There are great video clips all over the net of old artists’ videos, water balloons getting popped in super 80x slow motion, or the one of the lion charging and drop kicking a hunter. Hilarious!

* Updates about all the moves you are making across your hood, city, and/or the world out there. Dj Jelly was just in Germany. Quest Love of the Roots just got back from Japan. Erykah Badu and Jay Electronica just got a beautiful baby live on Twitter! People are genuinely interested in what their contemporaries are doing in their personal/business lives.

What Not to Twitter?

The website’s first question, “What are you doing?” is definitely rhetorical! The majority of people aren’t concerned if you’re “…on the toilet”, “smoking dat good”, or “recording a hot hit that you can check out later tonight at  (insert MySpace page). Here are some major don’ts that will get you “unfollowed’ in quick click of a mouse.

* Rappers! Don’t promote your newest mix tape single every time you leave a twit. That’s the very reason people are ditching MySpace! That’s one of the quickest ways to get dropped by even one of your most loyal followers. People are on Twitter to get away from annoyances.

* Don’t get upset if someone doesn’t respond to your @! Just like walking up on someone in the club, a person will judge your approach. If you are over-eager, cocky, or down-right desperate you will rarely get a response.

* Have your facts together when you speak of someone or to someone. Your not about to score points with Shaq if you tell him, “congrats on the Magic win last night.” Fool, that was 15 yrs. ago! Did you just get out the pen?!

* Don’t crowd a person. You might be cool but networking takes time.

lesbian love kissing

What’s the word Last Wordians? Here we are again. Reminiscing about Obama admitting he was wrong in nominating Tom Daschle, Michael Phelps apologizing after a picture surfaces of him smoking pot and the Steelers making history by being the only franchise to win six Super Bowls. Get well wishes to Andre Harrell, who is home after undergoing heart surgery. Congratulations to Bobby Brown and his girlfriend/manager Alicia Etheridge, who are expecting their first child together, Erykah Badu and Jay Electronica on the birth of their new daughter Mars Merkaba and Tisha Campbell-Martin, who is two months pregnant with her second child. Shout out Venus and Serena Williams for winning their eighth Grand Slam title last week and the sounding boards for taking the high and low road. So step right up for…the Last Word for the week ending Feb. 6, 2009 1. Etta James Takes Frustration Out on Beyoncé and Obama Beyoncé has garnered her fair share of criticism over the years from a variety of people. But the singer is getting it from one of her idols as Etta James blasted the Bey for singing her classic hit “At Last” during Barack Obama’s inaugural dance last month. James held nothing back during a recent concert as she made it known exactly what she thought about Beyoncé and Obama. “You guys know your President right? You know the one with the big ears. Yeah, wait a minute, he ain’t my President, he might be yours,” the 71-year-old songstress told fans in Seattle. “I tell you that woman he had singing for him, singing my song, she gonna get her ass whipped. The great Beyoncé! Now like I said, she ain’t mine. I can’t stand Beyoncé! She had no business up there singing. Singing on a big ole, big ole President day and going be singing my song that I’ve been singing forever.” Now that she has everybody talking, it looks like the whole thing was all a sham. To hear Ella tell it, the bashing was all in good fun. “I didn’t really mean anything. Even as a little child, I’ve always had that comedian kind of attitude…That’s probably what went into it,” the singing legend told the New York Daily News, adding that the crowd’s reaction to her comments prompted her to continue. “Nobody was getting mad at me in Seattle. They were all laughing, and it was funny.” She said the jokes were “not from a vicious place.” While she admits to like Beyoncé’s performance and being a bit upset for not being invited to sing “At Last” for the Obamas during inauguration night, Ella believes the President has more pressing things to attend to than her. With stepping on the toes of female music icons, it may be time for a spin-off of Celebrity Death Match called Diva Death Match. The main event will be a handicapped match with Etta and Aretha Franklin taking on Beyoncé in a steel cage with guest referee Tina Turner and interference on Bey’s behalf from Michelle Obama. Anyone care to place a bet? 2. Oprah and Tyler Perry Co-Sign Sundance Film Festival Award Winner In last week’s Word, I congratulated Mo’Nique for winning a Sundance Film Festival award for her work on the film Push: Based on a Novel by Sapphire. Now, the feature is getting a major co-sign from Oprah Winfrey and Tyler Perry. Variety reports the moguls are putting their weight behind Push by using their respective companies, Harpo Films and 34th Street Films, to promote the critically-acclaimed work. The Lee Daniels directed film, which stars Mo’Nique Mariah Carey, Lenny Kravitz, Paula Patton and newcomer Gabourey “Gabby” Sidibe, centers on an illiterate African-American teenage girl in Harlem who’s about to give birth to her second child when she is accepted into an alternative school. “I’ve never seen anything like it. The moment I saw Push: Based on a Novel by Sapphire, I knew I wanted to do whatever I could to encourage other people to see this movie. The film is so raw and powerful – it split me open,” Winfrey said. During its run at Sundance, Push became the third film in the festival’s history to capture the grand jury prize and the audience awards in the U.S. dramatic competition. As a result, Lionsgate has reportedly signed a multi-million deal for the film’s distribution rights in North America. The company plans on releasing Push this year. 3. Berry Gordy Remembers Stevie Wonder Issues; Nearly Passes on Michael Jackson As Motown Records celebrates 50 years of existence this year, the label’s founder Berry Gordy reminisces over the ups and downs he experienced at the legendary label. And while he is responsible for launching the careers of many music legends, Gordy admitted to Emirates Business that he almost deprived the world of the artist known as Michael Jackson. “When Michael was offered to me by Suzanne de Passe [current CEO of De Passe Entertainment Group, then creative assistant to Gordy], I did not want him because he was part of a kids’ group,” said the mogul, who also revealed his problems with another music icon. “I’d been with Stevie Wonder, who had also been part of a kids’ group and had an entourage with him all the time – a strict teacher, a tutor, his mother, producer Clarence Paul and a whole group of people. Plus, he was a blind singer who wasn’t making any money and I had to pay for all those people. So I was not happy with him, nor with his mother, who was even more demanding than he was.” Although he was not in favor of giving young Michael a chance, Gordy soon changed his mind after yielding to de Passe, taking a listen to the future King of Pop and being impressed by his dancing skills. And the rest, as they say, is history that you can revisit all this year with various releases that include a set of podcasts featuring interviews with Gordy, Wonder, Smokey Robinson, Diana Ross; Marvin Gaye; and the Jackson 5, among others. The podcasts are currently available on iTunes and at classic.motown.com. In addition to that, Motown: The Complete #1s, a 200-song, 10-CD box set, will be released as well as a 25-track CD called NOW That’s What I Call Motown! 4. New York, Deelishis and LisaRae. Deliver the Black Vagina Monologues Eve Ensler’s The Vagina Monologues is getting a makeover via a few good African-American entertainers. An all Black version of the Obie award-winning play is set for a tour, which kicks off today (Feb. 6) and Saturday (Feb. 7) in Washington, DC. The outing will also include stops in Dallas, TX on March 7, Los Angeles on March 21, Atlanta on April 4 GA and Houston, TX. Those attending the DC show will also see The Johnson Chronicles, a companion piece described as a male perspective on The Vagina Monologues that examines sex, relationships, fatherhood and violence. Among those cast in The Vagina Monologues are Wendy Raquel Robinson SWV member Tamara “Taj” Johnson George, LisaRaye McCoy, Jill Marie Jones Essence Atkins, Tocarra, Shar Jackson, Ella Joyce, Rolonda Watts, Yvette Wilson, Lisa Wu Hartwell, Tiffany “New York” Pollard, London “Deelishis” Charles and Myra J. According to the play’s co-producer, Rhonda B. Reece, the tour serves a greater purpose as it aims to raise awareness of the impact of violence and abuse toward women and girls. “This performance will help empower women to say no to domestic violence, which is a condition plaguing women across the world,” she told EURWeb. “The African American community has always ignored this issue, but I am glad to bring this issue to the forefront. It is time to stop talking about domestic violence and ignite solutions. This is a gigantic step towards creating a solution and I am proud to be a part of the team.” 5. Michael Jackson and Rihanna Get Hooked Into New Lawsuit Michael Jackson’s Legal Debacles tour continues to roll on as he secures a certified opening act with Rihanna. According to E! News, the hitmakers are at the center of a new lawsuit filed by 75-year-old Camaroonian music star Manu Dibango. In the suit, which was filed Tuesday (Feb. 3), Dibango claims that Jackson previously admitted to using a part of Dibango’s 1972 song “Soul Makossa” as the riff on “Wanna Be Startin’ Something,” a hit single off Jackson’s classic 1983 opus, Thriller. The riff in question is the famous line “Mama se, mama so, ma makossa.” Although Dibango and Jackson eventually reached a settlement over the unauthorized sample, Rihanna is in the hot seat for licensing the same hook from Jackson for her 2007 hit “Don’t Stop the Music.” The only thing is no one received permission from Dibango to use the sample. A Parisian court will decide on Feb. 17 whether the case will move forward. Dibango is seeking $650,000 in damages. Until the case is resolved, Dibango’s attorneys are asking the court to block Sony BMG, EMI and Warner from profiting off the contested songs. So why did Dibango waited so long to sue? Sounds a bit suspect. Maybe Michael and Rihanna should unite and address the situation on an updated version of Beat It. What have they got to lose? 6. Vivica Fox Rejects her Psychic Friends; Takes Cougar Crusade to TV It seems like yesterday that Dionne Warwick was urging folks to join the Psychic Friends Network. Now, it seems that Vivica A. Fox is becoming the new Dionne via a new commercial that features her looking directly into the camera and advising you and anyone else to shell out $2.99-a-minute to call the Psychic Friends Network. But Vivica’s sincerity in front of the camera is anything but behind the scenes. BV Buzz reports that Fox is very upset as she claims that those with the Network are allegedly “using her unauthorized likeness, footage, voice and photographs as an endorsement of their service.” As a result, Fox, who said she is “no friend of The Psychic Friends Network,” is demanding that the PFN “cease and desist immediately” with the use of the video and images. Details about why the video was shot or how the images were obtained by The Psychic Friends Network were not explained, according to BV Buzz. Nevertheless, Vivica is keeping it moving with a new gig as the host on the upcoming TV Land show The Cougar. The one-hour reality series will feature an “accomplished, beautiful and sexy woman” as she searches for love from a group of eligible younger men. “I’m so excited to be the guide for The Cougar’s quest for love,” said Fox, who did her own cougar thing a few years back while dating rapper 50 Cent. “This show will prove to be empowering and enlightening for women everywhere. Plus, 20 hot guys gathered under one roof doesn’t hurt!” Look for The Cougar to premiere in April on TV Land Prime. It’s obvious that Vivica is not psychic. Had she been psychic, she would’ve foresaw the restraining order 50 put out against her and would have realized that a cougar reality show does not help her case. In Other Words… * He may not be a pro athlete, but Denzel Washington has garnered a three peat. The Harris Poll has crowned the actor as America’s favorite movie star for the third year in a row. Washington beat out Clint Eastwood, who came in a number 2, John Wayne, and Will Smith, who tied for number three. * Case is making a return to music with his forthcoming album The Rose Experience. The singer, who is best known for his hits “Touch Me, Tease Me,” “Faded Pictures” and “Missing” is setting the stage for the new release with his latest single “Lovely.” Look for The Rose Experience to hit stores on March 24.

Rap veteran turned actor LL Cool J is in talks to star in a spin-off of CBS’ television show, NCIS.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, LL is in talks to play the role of a tough, but likeable U.S. Navy Seal.

In July of 2006, CBS inked a seven-figure deal with LL Cool J, along with Alchemy Entertainment.

The rapper, who starred in the NBC/UPN hit sitcom In The House, from 1995-1999, was tapped to develop, produce and star in various T.V. shows for the network.

In 2007 LL starred as a detective named “Manny Baxter” in the 2007 pilot The Man, which aired on CBS.

Actor Chris O’Donnell is also up for a part as an undercover police officer on the new spin-off, which will debut during an episode of NCIS this spring.

Dr. Dre’s Detox may be shrouded in mystery, but fans can be certain of yet another artist whose contribution may end up on the finished product.

Rapper Nas has confirmed his involvement with Detox as he expressed his desire to do more projects with Dre.

“I did a joint. I think it’s crazy,” Nas told Billboard regarding his Detox collaboration with the chart-topping beatsmith.

“He’s someone I’d love to do a whole album with one day. He’s incredible. I think he’s the best producer of all time.”

With his work on Detox, Nas becomes the latest entertainer to lend his talent to the highly-anticipated project, which is slated to hit stores this year.

To date, 50 Cent, Eminem, Devin the Dude Mary J. Blige, Snoop Dogg, the Game, Lloyd Banks, Lil Wayne and Jay-Z are reportedly attached to Detox along with producers Denaun Porter, Hi-Tek, Focus and DJ Khalil.

The Detox collaboration comes as Nas ponders his next musical venture.

The lyricist, who is nominated for two Grammy awards, admitted to coming up with a few ideas while alluding to having “a couple of special things up my sleeve that should be unveiled in the next few weeks,” including one project that he promised would be “history.”

As for the Grammy recognition, the honor can be considered nothing less than a plus for Hip-Hop, according to Nas.

“In all honestly, the fact that Hip-Hop is even at that stage now, for a guy like Lil Wayne to even be nominated for the best album Grammy and me to be nominated, it’s just a blessing,” said the rapper, who received a best rap album nod for his latest album, Untitled.

“Whether I win or lose, I’m happy Hip-Hop made it that far.”