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R&B Today -Vol. 9

© Paula Chase-Hyman

People are talking about...

* The remake of Patti LaBelle's "Lady Marmalade" by Christina Aguliera, Mya, Pink and Lil Kim. Okay I'll say it - what in the hell were they thinking? First of all, no one can do a Patti song beter than Patti! But that's a given. But the components of the song just do nothing to endear me to it.

The rock and roll edge to the song, the terrible mix of their voices and the rap - for Gods sake a rap in a Patti LaBelle song - none of it appealed to me! I'm sorry - I'm willing to give anything a listen, but this remake does not do the song justice. It sounds like a bunch of yelling as each artist tries to be heard, trying to get a little piece of it to make their own. Girls, girls, girls - this is grown folks music, go back to your teeny-boppin'.

*Sean "Puffy" Combs changing his name. No longer will he go by Puff Daddy or Puffy. He wants to be acknowledged as "P-Diddy." Whatever! You would think after escaping major jail time he'd have better things to worry about then what nickname he wants to be called.

*VH-1's Divas 2001 - a tribute to the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin. This should be a good one, with performances from Janet Jackson, Mary J. Blige and Jill Scott. I've caught bits and pieces of the Divas series each year, but I think I'll tune into this one in its entirety. Check it out Tuesday, April 10 8 p.m. Eastern Time.

*Rapper, Juvenile hitting a man over the head with a bottle of Christal. Does the madness ever end? When will these artist who love to "keep it real" realize that members of the elite, nouveau riche clique manage to keep their money and good repulations by not going around beating up people, shooting in clubs, and just generally getting in trouble. Duh!

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