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Posts tagged as “Single Ladies”

LisaRaye McCoy Confronts Colorism, Pigmentocracy In Her Directorial Debut, “Skinned”

By goodblacknews on January 8, 2016
"Skinned" to air on TV One (photo via newsone.com)
Made-for-TV film”Skinned” about skin bleaching to air on TV One (photo via newsone.com)

This weekend, TV One will premiere LisaRaye McCoy‘s directorial debut with the made-for-TV film Skinned, which tackles a very sensitive topic within the African-American community.

Skinned confronts colorism, pigmentocracy, and the outbreak of skin bleaching, as well as the use of lightening creams amongst many individuals in America and around the world. 
According to Black Enterprise and the University of Cape Town, skin bleaching has ballooned into a $10 billion market and the long-term effects of bleaching one’s skin is currently unknown. Black Enterprise reports 35 percent of South African women bleach their skin, and 77 percent of Nigerian women bleach their skin.

LisaRaye McCoy talks about "Skinned" on NewsOne Now (photo via newsone.com)
Director LisaRaye McCoy talks about “Skinned” on NewsOne Now (photo via newsone.com)

On Friday, McCoy, best known for her roles in The Players Club, All of Us, Single Ladies and the TV One reality series The Real McCoy, joined Roland Martin on NewsOne Now to discuss the notion of colorism within the Black community through the muse of Skinned’s main character, Jolie.
Essence Magazine reports, “Jolie is a young woman who is uncomfortable with her complexion and begins to experiment with bleaching and lightening creams to alter her skin tone.”
When asked why she wanted to tackle the issue of colorism in her directorial debut, McCoy said Studio 11 Films asked her to direct the movie and once she read the script, the message behind it forced her to ask, “Why do they want a light-skinned woman to direct a dark-skinned project?”
McCoy explained the reason was controversy. She said, “Controversy now sells and I wanted to have all eyes on this epidemic, because not only is it happening in Africa and our Caribbean nations, but here in America too.”
During their conversation, McCoy mentioned the lightening of former MLB star Sammy Sosa and late King of Pop Michael Jackson as instances of skin bleaching’s prevalence in our society.
McCoy later added that skin bleaching “causes skin cancer, yet it is an over-the-counter drug.”
Psychologist Dr. Kevin Washington, a board member of The Association of Black Psychologists, also joined Martin to discuss the epidemic. He said people of color have been “indoctrinated into a system of European superiority.”
“Anything that is associated with the dominate group becomes desirable,” said Dr. Washington. Adding, “Even in Cote d’Ivoire — just in May — they’ve banned skin bleaching for the purpose of health and racial identity.”
According to Washington, skin lightening “is not just a Black issue.” Dr. Washington said, “The idea of pigmentocracy takes over as a result of a hierarchy that is ascribed to the features associated with Whiteness in this country and globally.”
Watch Roland Martin, LisaRaye McCoy, and Dr. Kevin Washington discuss colorism, pigmentocracy, self-esteem, and Skinned, which premieres Saturday night at 8PM ET on TV One.
article via newsone.com

Centric Sets Pact with Queen Latifah, Orders Season 4 of ‘Single Ladies’

By goodblacknews on April 11, 2014

Queen Latifah
The Queen Latifah-produced scripted series Single Ladies has found new life on Centric, BET’s sibling cable channel.  Centric has ordered a fourth season of the romantic comedy series, created and executive produced by Stacy A. Littlejohn, which previously aired on VH1, as part of a larger content development pact with Latifah’s Flavor Unit Entertainment. Centric will also carry repeats of Latifah’s daytime syndicated talk show.
“We are thrilled to be working once again with Flavor Unit Entertainment and Queen Latifah. She does it all and we are happy to have her join us as a creative force as we continue to grow Centric into a premiere destination for African American women,” said BET Networks chairman-CEO Debra Lee.
The Single Ladies pickup was the centerpiece of Centric’s portion of BET Networks’ upfront presentation announcement in Los Angeles Tuesday.  Flavor Unit, run by Latifah and partner Shakim Compere, is already in business with BET as the producer of the scripted comedy “Let’s Stay Together.”
article by Cynthia Littleton via Variety.com
 

Beyoncé Reveals Artistry, Herself on "Beyoncé" (REVIEW)

By goodblacknews on December 17, 2013

beyonce_beyonce
Beyoncé pulled off a coup late last Thursday night when she released a terrific self-titled “visual album” – containing 14 songs, each with an accompanying video – straight to iTunes with zero advance warning or fanfare.  The record is expected to easily top the weekly album chart despite being released midway through the stanza, and according to Apple, the album had already sold more than 800,000 digital copies by Monday morning. Not only does Beyoncé rank as the year’s most accomplished and engaging mainstream pop album by a rather laughable margin, but its calculatedly shrugged-off release strategy can’t help but read as an imperious kiss-off toward the singer’s competitors for the 2013 crown — Lady Gaga, Justin Timberlake, Miley Cyrus, Katy Perry, and even her husband Jay Z — all of whom worked up gallons of sweat and employed every eyeball-grabbing trick in the book to move their product, only to be upstaged by Beyoncé’s abrupt digital data-dump.

“I’ve been climbing up the walls, ’cause all this shit I hear is boring,” she sings on the album’s second track, by way of explanation. “All these record labels, boring.”
Of course, like Radiohead’s “name-your-price” release of In Rainbows in 2007, this is the sort of trick that can only be pulled off by an artist who has already spent decades tirelessly feeding the publicity machine, and it’s unlikely Beyoncé’s December surprise will “change the music business” any more than Radiohead’s did. Competition is Beyoncé’s lifeblood, and coming off of the commercially disappointing 4, it’s easy to see this as a gauntlet thrown down. Far more personal, confessional, and flat-out filthy than anything the singer has released in the past, Beyoncé offers some striking windows into the star’s personal life, while audio archival snippets from her early years shuttling between beauty contests and kiddie singing competitions are sprinkled throughout, hinting at the lifetime of rigorously maintained perfection and pageantry to which much of this record is a reaction.

Queen Latifah Produces "Single Ladies" Series for VH1

By goodblacknews on October 20, 2010
Lil-kim-birthday-party-lisa-raye-and-stacy-dash

VH1 can’t get enough ‘Single Ladies’

Queen Latifah project expands from film to series

VH1 has decided to go steady with “Single Ladies,” taking the original film exec produced by Queen Latifah and expanding it into a weekly scripted dramedy series, the network’s first.  Starring Stacey Dash, LisaRaye McCoy and Charity Shea as the title characters, the “Single Ladies” pic will now become the premiere of the series, launching in July 2011. Eight ensuing episodes have been ordered.  “It’s a great swing for us to take, and one we’re really excited about taking,” VH1 exec veep of original programming and production Jeff Olde said. “We are developing other scripted projects that we feel are traveling a lane that would be complementary to this. … (but) this is really our focus, and I think it’s going to be a really easy shift for our audience.”
Set in Atlanta, the “Single Ladies” pic completed filming this summer, with the series now scheduled to begin shooting before the end of the year. DB Woodside is part of the principal cast, with Latifah now scheduled to make a guest appearance in the series. Lauren London, Eve, Common, Chili, and Kim Porter also appear in the film.  Speculation that the film could serve as a backdoor pilot began nearly a year ago (Daily Variety, Feb. 5). Olde said that VH1 was prepared to hold off on its series order until after the film premiered next summer, but reaction to the film and its characters was so positive in test screenings that the network felt confident moving forward.  “As we started showing it around, (viewers) would actually be mad at us if we just showed the movie,” Olde said. “That was the thing we kept hearing: ‘What happened next?’ “
Shakim Compere and Shelby Stone are exec producing with Latifah for Flavor Unit Entertainment, alongside fellow exec producers Maggie Malina, Stacy Littlejohn and Tamra Davis. Davis directed Littlejohn’s script. “My partner Shakim and I are excited to collaborate with VH1, as they have a similar vision on how to bring this show to life,” Latifah said.  “I think ‘Single Ladies’ will really fill a hole in what is needed on television today.”
Read more: http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118025884.html?categoryid=4027&cs=1#ixzz12r755PPF
Visit Variety.com to become a Variety subscriber.

Queen Latifah Produces “Single Ladies” Series for VH1

By goodblacknews on October 20, 2010
Lil-kim-birthday-party-lisa-raye-and-stacy-dash

VH1 can’t get enough ‘Single Ladies’

Queen Latifah project expands from film to series

VH1 has decided to go steady with “Single Ladies,” taking the original film exec produced by Queen Latifah and expanding it into a weekly scripted dramedy series, the network’s first.  Starring Stacey Dash, LisaRaye McCoy and Charity Shea as the title characters, the “Single Ladies” pic will now become the premiere of the series, launching in July 2011. Eight ensuing episodes have been ordered.  “It’s a great swing for us to take, and one we’re really excited about taking,” VH1 exec veep of original programming and production Jeff Olde said. “We are developing other scripted projects that we feel are traveling a lane that would be complementary to this. … (but) this is really our focus, and I think it’s going to be a really easy shift for our audience.”

Set in Atlanta, the “Single Ladies” pic completed filming this summer, with the series now scheduled to begin shooting before the end of the year. DB Woodside is part of the principal cast, with Latifah now scheduled to make a guest appearance in the series. Lauren London, Eve, Common, Chili, and Kim Porter also appear in the film.  Speculation that the film could serve as a backdoor pilot began nearly a year ago (Daily Variety, Feb. 5). Olde said that VH1 was prepared to hold off on its series order until after the film premiered next summer, but reaction to the film and its characters was so positive in test screenings that the network felt confident moving forward.  “As we started showing it around, (viewers) would actually be mad at us if we just showed the movie,” Olde said. “That was the thing we kept hearing: ‘What happened next?’ “

Shakim Compere and Shelby Stone are exec producing with Latifah for Flavor Unit Entertainment, alongside fellow exec producers Maggie Malina, Stacy Littlejohn and Tamra Davis. Davis directed Littlejohn’s script. “My partner Shakim and I are excited to collaborate with VH1, as they have a similar vision on how to bring this show to life,” Latifah said.  “I think ‘Single Ladies’ will really fill a hole in what is needed on television today.”

Read more: http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118025884.html?categoryid=4027&cs=1#ixzz12r755PPF
Visit Variety.com to become a Variety subscriber.